Took this photo at the TCPS/Okolona jamboree last night. Small school, small town football... it's the best thing going in sports these days. No TV cameras, nobody talking about "the next level", just blocking, tackling, throwing/catching, coaching, BBQ plate fundraisers, concession stand hamburgers, classmates, and teammates. I hope it never changes.
This is the most detailed MRI scan of an unborn baby.
At just 20 weeks, she is moving, turning her head, kicking, even standing. Her beating heart is also visible.
Human life is a miracle. 😊❤️🙏
No matter how mature you are, Christian living is all about the basics:
• Read your Bible regularly
• Talk to God in prayer
• Fight against temptation
• Gather with the saints
• Live in obedience
• Follow Jesus
The Bible was written on three continents.
Asia.
Africa.
Europe.
In three languages.
Hebrew.
Aramaic.
Greek.
By over 40 different men:
Shepherds.
Kings.
Prophets.
Fishermen.
A tax collector.
A doctor.
A tentmaker.
Written in palaces and prisons.
In deserts and cities.
In freedom and in exile.
Across roughly 1,500 years.
66 books.
One continuous story:
Creation.
Fall.
Redemption.
Christ.
Most of these writers never met.
No committee planned it.
No editor stitched it together.
Yet it opens in a garden with the Tree of Life
and closes in a garden with the Tree of Life.
Different writers.
Different centuries.
Different cultures.
One voice.
Because behind the human hands was a divine Author.
Men held the pens.
But God wrote the story.
Just so we're clear.
When I say God, I mean Jesus.
Not the universe.
Not energy.
Not good vibes.
Not love and light.
Not manifestation.
Jesus Christ.
The Word who was in the beginning.
Alpha and Omega.
The Great I AM.
Crucified for my sins.
Buried.
Risen the third day.
Seated at the right hand of the Father.
Reigning forever.
If you love Jesus you should love what Jesus loves, and that ultimately means you should be an official, active, and serving member of your local church (Eph. 5:25).
Church membership should be normal for Christians. Lives lived in regular accountability demonstrate the gospel’s reality to the world, particularly through the mutual love that Jesus identified as the mark of his followers. This is both biblical and strengthens evangelistic witness. Weaker and newer Christians gain feeding and accountability through membership, and mature and seasoned believers demonstrate authentic Christian living.
Hebrews calls believers to “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works,” explicitly warning against forsaking assembly “as the manner of some is” (Heb. 10:24–25). This suggests participation isn’t optional but essential to spiritual health.
Church membership preserves biblical truth by establishing who bears responsibility for rooting out false teaching and protecting the gospel when leadership itself becomes compromised. Paul’s letter to the Galatians exemplifies this. I say this as a positional elder in my church — Paul appealed to the whole congregation rather than leadership alone to address doctrinal corruption. Think about it: how are you to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal 6:2), which positions mutual care as a central Christian obligation, if you’re not actively in a membership role? Thessalonians similarly exhorts believers to “encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thess 5:11), framing encouragement as a reciprocal responsibility that requires presence and investment.
Healthy membership equips believers to recognize heresy when taught or communicated and transforms them from passive consumers into active defenders of the faith.
Acts depicts the early church persevering in apostolic teaching, communion, and gathering daily, with believers holding possessions in common (Acts 2:42–47), a portrait of intensive communal engagement rather than individual isolated devotion or nominal affiliation.
Ultimately, practicing membership glorifies God as Christians gather to form his body, living under the life giving words of scripture, fellowshipping with one another sacrificially, and reflecting his character.
They left home as boys 8 decades ago to go out and save the world. Last night they sat at the WWII Memorial together and celebrated their country's 250th. Still heroic.