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Go 901: Sharing Jesus by Asking Questions (Mk 10) Chris Altrock – Sept. 24, 2017

This entry is part [part not set] of 2 in the series Go 901

Questions Shaped my Life

Do you believe Jesus is the Christ?

         Would you preach this Sunday night?

In many ways, those two questions shaped my life from 1984 to the present.

In 1984 Marlon McWilliams asked me that first question as we stood in the baptistry on a Sunday night at the Cloudcroft Church of Christ: “Do you believe Jesus is the Christ?” I answered “Yes!” and Marlon baptized me. That one question gave birth to my salvation.

Later, in 1986, Wesley Lane asked the second question: Would you preach this Sunday night? He wondered if I’d be willing to deliver the Sunday evening message at the services of the Cloudcroft Church of Christ. Barely a Christian a couple of years, but eager to give it a go, I answered “Yes!”

It was my first sermon. I prepared diligently. I hand wrote pages of notes. I was certain it would take up the full 30 minutes I’d been allotted. My delivery was a blur because I was so nervous. When I stepped down, and we sang the invitation song, and I looked at the clock on the back wall, barely ten minutes had passed from the time I began my sermon to the time we sat down after the invitation song. Still, it was my first taste of preaching. Something I’ve done now for 25 years.Read More »Go 901: Sharing Jesus by Asking Questions (Mk 10) Chris Altrock – Sept. 24, 2017

Go 901: Sharing Jesus by Praying Prayers (Eph. 6:19-20) Chris Altrock – Sept. 17, 2017

This entry is part [part not set] of 2 in the series Go 901

Praying for Cesar

A few weeks ago I ate Mexican food with Doug, a friend of mine, in Selmer, TN. Selmer is a small town in middle TN. Perhaps fifteen years ago, that might have been an impossibility–eating authentic Mexican food in a small town in middle TN–unless you count Taco Bell as authentic Mexican food. But these days Selmer boasts three family owned Mexican food restaurants.

Doug introduced me to Paula, whose family ran this restaurant. They moved to Selmer from Mexico. Paula introduced us to her daughter, Jessica, an eighth grader, who helped around the restaurant. She introduced us to her son, Cesar, a senior. Cesar played football for the local high school. My friend Doug had taught both Jessica and Cesar in school. Cesar had recently been coming to the church Doug works part time for. A fellow teenager at school, a member of that church’s youth group, had reached out to Cesar and invited Cesar to start coming to church with him.Read More »Go 901: Sharing Jesus by Praying Prayers (Eph. 6:19-20) Chris Altrock – Sept. 17, 2017

Over Our Heads: Accept One Another (Rom. 15:7) Chris Altrock – Sept. 3, 2017

This entry is part [part not set] of 4 in the series Over Our Heads

All the Same

Last year at about this time of year I spoke at a retreat of church leaders up in the northeast. We were studying the gospel together. When I say “gospel” I mean what the Bible means–the story of Jesus and the significance of his birth, life, death, resurrection and return. This was core stuff we were plowing through together.

In the midst of our study, one of those church leaders stopped me and started debating my Bible translation. I was using the ESV. Others in our group had the NIV. But he had the KJV. In the midst of our study of the gospel, this church leader launched into an argument about why the Bible translations the rest of us were using were flawed and why the church must use the translation he was using. Everyone in the church, he demanded, must not only believe the gospel. Everyone must also read from the KJV.Read More »Over Our Heads: Accept One Another (Rom. 15:7) Chris Altrock – Sept. 3, 2017

Over Our Heads: Life from Within (Rom. 8:9-11) Chris Altrock – Aug. 13, 2017

This entry is part [part not set] of 4 in the series Over Our Heads

Genetic Challenges

Recently an international team of scientists reported they had figured out a way to successfully edit DNA in human embryos.[1] The research was aimed at helping families plagued by genetic diseases. These scientists used a gene-editing technique to correct a genetic defect causing a heart disorder that leads seemingly healthy young people to die from heart failure. Scientists say the same approach could be used to prevent a host of inheritable diseases like Huntington’s disease, cystic fibrosis, an inherited form of Alzheimer’s disease and cases of breast and ovarian cancer caused by mutations in the genes.Read More »Over Our Heads: Life from Within (Rom. 8:9-11) Chris Altrock – Aug. 13, 2017