Sailing Into Summer!
Sunday Night Check-In for June 1
It’s time for the Sunday Night Check-In and I hope the week ahead is a good one for you. We have five new subscribers - welcome! Ready or not it is time to sail into summer! Even though school is out, it seems like plans just ramp up and there is so much to do!
This week I’ll be kicking off the Summer Series at the Oxford Church of Christ in Oxford, Mississippi this Wednesday night. Their minister, Les Ferguson, Jr., is a longtime friend. I have admired many of the ministers I’ve been acquainted with at Oxford, but have never had opportunity to visit. I’ll be teaching from Psalm 84. You should subscribe to Les’ newsletter and enjoy that each week. If you’re in the Oxford area it would be great to see you!
Saturday it is my privilege to speak at a funeral for a dear sister who lived to be 101 years old. I will likely write more about that next week.
FORSYTHE
This morning we continued our series through the Seven Ones of Ephesians Four with THERE IS ONE FAITH (Notes & Audio Here). We had a seafood boil following worship/class and those who made it happen worked so hard to feed about 100 people! I admire their skill and tenacity! It was a big day at Forsythe as we announced a proposed expansion of our fellowship hall. I have been here since 2008 and back then there was discussion that the fellowship hall was too small. I look forward to the day when we will have much more space to meet in. There is still much to do before that happens. Next Sunday we will study There is One Baptism and someone has already told me they want to be baptized that day! Looking forward to that.
LISTENING
I’m enjoying Aaron Williams lately.
READING
This week I read Danny Dodd’s new book, DEVOTED TO DISCIPLESHIP: LEARNING TO WALK AS JESUS WALKED. I liked Danny’s typical no-nonsense approach to the subject. He writes with clarity, urgency, and with much information. I think this would be a great class resource, particularly for new Christians. I also think it would make a great mentoring guide for someone needing direction for their walk with the Lord. I appreciate Danny making this book available. I am about to finish Adam Hogue’s CHOOSING WORDS THAT HEAL. This is a great reminder about the power of our words - always a needed reminder. Goodreads tells me I am way behind in my goal to read 100 books this year, having read a mere 18. I better get busy! Our Bible reading program is reading 2 Samuel and I am way behind and need to catch up! Our Men’s Devotional on YouVersion is making our way through a plan called My Utmost for His Highest, 30 devotionals from Oswald Chambers’ famous devotional. If you’d like to join us, friend me on the Bible App and I’ll add you right in.
THE HOLY LENS TRANSITIONS
This week on The Holy Lens you can read prayers by
, , Daniel Kirkendall, and . Join us HERE!Two Developments at The Holy Lens
A new book with 101 Devotionals From The Holy Lens is coming soon! I should be turning it in to the editor this week and as soon as we can get that finished up, it will become available on Amazon! I’m so excited to share this community of prayer with everyone.
The Holy Lens is transitioning a bit. I’m finding it has been a blessing to cooperate with so many great writers - but it has also become difficult for me to manage well. So, that part of The Holy Lens is coming to an end. I’m still considering ways to continue The Holy Lens either at the current newsletter location or placing it as a feature here at Hope Remains. Simplifying the process is the goal. Things will go on as usual through the month of June, Lord willing.
I haven’t had my camera out in a while, the opportunity just hasn’t presented itself. Hopefully soon. Lawson Chapman teased us in the Substack App’s social media called NOTES with a photo that was amazing. He is set to release some more photos of the northern lights tomorrow. If you like coffee, dogs, landscape/nature photography, then Lawson’s photo roundup is for you.
I think we are going to see a lot of photos of the Northern Lights this week. I’m looking forward to it. Maybe I’ll get to see them one day, but for now, I’ll enjoy the photos of others.
OTHER STACKS
Posts that I’ve saved to revisit this week include….
Joshua Luke Smith’s Litany of Longing: Prayers from the Beatitudes
OK, this is not a Substack, but I thought this article in Men’s Journal was super interesting: Grandson of 10th U.S. President Has Died at 96 Years Old
As a young boy playing on my grandparents’ farm in West Virginia, I remember summers so hot and dry the red clay would split wide open. To a kid, those cracks looked like canyons—deep and dangerous. The earth felt sunbaked and brittle, like it was thirsting for something it couldn’t find.
I didn’t know it at the time, but my soul was just like that ground.
I had been born into a drought of grace. A world where love felt conditional. Where you had to earn your worth. Where church sometimes felt more like performance than peace. My heart was dry, cracked, desperate for something more—though I couldn’t have put it into words.
Then I met Jesus.
Not the stained-glass Jesus who frowned from a distance. Not the rule-keeping Jesus who only came close when you were “good enough.”
No, I met the Jesus who is the water of life.
He didn’t just fix my behavior. He flooded my heart.
He stepped into the places I thought were too broken, too hardened, too far gone—
and made them soft again.
That’s what grace does. It doesn’t just dampen the dust. It makes dead things bloom.
If you’re tired, cracked open, or barely holding it together, I want you to know this:
Jesus meets us in the drought. He is the rain. And he never runs dry.
— Adam Davis posted this on Facebook and I wanted to share it here as well. He should get a Substack going!
Thanks for reading (if you’re still with me!). I hope the week ahead is filled with the best blessings God can give you. The night owl has done his work. Night owls and early birders all welcomed here. Take care, friends. Work hard, rest well, and stay connected. The world needs you.
Glad for the goings on, John! I might have to look for that seafood boil! Down the road in Baltimore, Old Bay is the king of spices. (I'm a fan!)
Love Ps 84. During an abrupt job change, God gave me that chapter and I headed to Baltimore. It was one of the best decisions and I made a ton of friends. But the part about even the sparrow finding a nest in the altar; God never abandons us. He will hide us in a place.
The red clay piece too, absolutely! Thanks always John!
I have to tell you that I'm going to miss writing for The Holy Lens but thank you for the opportunity.
I'm so far behind in my reading. Since being on Substack a year, I'm reading so much on here that I've neglected my other reading.
I'm going to look for northern lights tonight. It usually means there was an X-class solar flare which could affect our radio and electrical infrastructure. I got great photos last year when they were out.