​     Songs were used in the Old Testament to teach, to caution and to express gratitude toward God. Songs were written for significant events such as the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex. 15), as a reminder of God’s laws and manner for living (Deut. 32), as expressions of thanksgiving for God’s gifts (1 Sam. 2), as cries for help in time of trouble or discouragement (Ps.13), and as pure praise to God (Ps. 8). The songs we sing today still perform these functions as we obey the command to sing and make melody in our hearts to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19).
 
     Singing is one-way for everyone to actively participate in our assemblies. Each person can direct and express their deepest feelings to God through the songs we sing. Listening as others sing has some benefit, but only by singing the words ourselves can we realize the full meaning and depth in our inner being. It is not how well we can carry a tune that impresses God when we sing, but the active expressions and confessions of our hearts in song. As an additional   benefit, Jesus himself sings with us in our assemblies (Heb 2:12), and we praise God together with Him in song. Let’s resolve to continue to sing with the spirit and understanding in our assemblies. 

Clark Tatum

​It was a revolutionary idea and a turning point for me when I decided to take God at His Word. There were two specific words that caught my attention: Never and Every. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness. These words are found in Lamentations 3:23 and they will change our life and our direction in life.
 
When I most wanted to give up, when I was all but convinced that God would surely give up on me, I decided to believe that the words never and every were true. God’s love NEVER ends. It is worth noting in the original Hebrew language, the word never translated in English means never. His mercy never ends. His mercy is new EVERY morning. This means that we can open our eyes every day knowing because of God’s mercy we are right with God. Not because we were perfect yesterday, or the day before, but because today, like every day, God extends His mercy. His mercy never comes to an end to anyone who will receive it.

Clark Tatum

​When I coached T-Ball we did not keep score. Not officially, at least. The closest we came to keeping track was limiting the number of runs allowed: each inning both teams batted until they made three outs or scored seven times. The point of not keeping score was to give the young players an opportunity to learn the basics of the game. However, there does come a time when we are ready to start keeping score and collecting stats. It is the same way in business and in life. We need to make a habit of keeping score in certain areas and keeping track of where we are in order to get to where we want to be. It is why we check our bank balances during the month, and it is why, if we are smart, we evaluate our progress in the less tangible areas of life. No one stumbles into holiness accidentally.
 
No Christian experiences sustained growth without an effort to measure progress and chart results. Without the grace of God and the blood of Christ we have no eternal hope of heaven. And yet, Paul tells us to run our race in such a way as to win the prize (1 Corinthians 9:24). He is talking about being the best we can be for the sake of the gospel.

Clark Tatum

​Dear Heavenly Father, We give thanks for Your steadfast love and Your generosity in spite of our sinfulness. Your compassion for us, and the sacrifice of Your only Son upon the cross is an ever-present reminder of Your love and our sinfulness. We give thanks for Your constant care, for the food that we eat and the air that we breathe. Especially do we praise You for the spiritual life You have breathed in us when we clothed ourselves with Christ. We offer our thanksgiving for the faithful who have gone before us and those who will come after. Thank you for allowing us to enter the year 2020. As believers we ask you to help us develop an even greater intimacy with You at the helm of our lives. Help us to let go of any grudges we might have against anyone so our personal service and worship to You will be pure and You will receive the glory You deserve. We pray that if any of us are holding on to stuff that hinders our spiritual walk that we will be willing to drop whatever it is, whether it is an action or an attitude that is not in line with the Spirit of Christ. We thank you for your mercy and grace you extend to us through Christ Jesus. We pray that a spirit of forgiveness will prevail in our lives and any wounds from our sins or the sins of others will be forgiven as we seek to forgive, as you forgive us. We also ask You to raise people up in our fellowship to serve in ways they were unable or perhaps unwilling to serve in previous years. Help us spur one another on toward love and good works.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. 

Clark Tatum

For most businesses, this year typically follows the pattern of last year. And with most individuals, today nearly always bears a striking resemblance to yesterday. The majority of businesses, ministries and lives are carried by momentum. This works for you or against you. It all depends. It's the principle of the greased tracks: in whichever direction you consistently move, you tend to pick up speed. Each new day becomes a magnified version of the one before. When you’re headed in the right direction, this is a good thing. When you’re headed nowhere, it is frustrating and will stunt your spiritual growth.
 
If you have stalled out in your daily walk with the Lord or you have gotten off path you need to change direction and create a new momentum. We often save it for another day, not today, falling back on our favorite excuse: What’s the use? One day can’t make a difference. There is a little bit of truth to that. A solitary day of eating right, working right, talking right, thinking right, living right won’t make a lot difference all by itself. But do it today and do it a few times more and get some grease on the tracks and gain some velocity and build some momentum and your day-to-day efforts will give the future a whole new look. Go with God today and you will see every day with God does make a difference after all.

Clark Tatum