Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Are robots taking over? Probably. Are you in imminent danger? Probably not. How bad will it get? That remains to be seen. This week we will discuss how much of your life you should turn over to a machine; how just following directions poses problems for both robots and humans; whether you should trust a TV spokesperson to sell you robot in...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Recently I shared with the Heaven Citizens Facebook group my list of ten games I recommend if you are thinking about starting a game collection. Whether you’ve never played a game in your life, or if you think entertainment begins and ends with checkers, I think you’ll find some information that might make your days in Satan’s world a bit...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I. Hate. Zombies. Don’t bring up the Walking Dead with me. Don’t tell me how the zombies in your show or movie are different. I don’t care. This week we will discuss the “walking dead” among the Lord’s apostles; the global impact (or lack thereof) in one particular zombie apocalypse; the zombies...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! The story of the werewolf is a metaphor for the battle of good and evil within all of us. Are you human, or are you an animal? You get to choose. This week we will discuss the closest thing to a werewolf the Bible has to offer; the original werewolf and his modern kinfolk; my own checkered history with Halloween and trick-or-treating; and...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Vampires are evil beings that find their sustenance by sucking the life force out of their unsuspecting victims. They are not fictitious. They are all too real. This week we will discuss the bloodsucking parasites that afflict us daily; the three sorts of victims vampires seek out and how you can avoid being two of them; vampiric preachers...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is the third and final installment of my conversation with Jared Bollman and Brian Haynes. Jared preaches for the Fifth Street church of Christ in Beaverton, Oregon, and hosts the Man Up podcast and the Biblically Speaking YouTube channel. Brian preaches for the Cornelius church of Christ in Hillsboro, Oregon. Together they host the B...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Today we have more from my conversation with Jared Bollman and Brian Haynes from the Biblically Speaking podcast. Both men preach in western Oregon, the land of my birth — Jared in Beaverton, Brian in Hillsboro — so there’s an extra connection there. Here we discuss Frankenstein and the implications it has for people today who would try to...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We begin Monster Month on the podcast with a conversation about the fears that Satan’s world brings out in us, the sort of treatment we can expect from Satan and from God along the way, and how we can find faith to survive and thrive. My guests are the cohosts of the Biblically Speaking podcast, Jared Bollman and Brian Haynes. Make sure to...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Today I’m sharing with you my list of my favorite bad guys from the Bible. I shared the list with my Facebook group, Heaven Citizens, and now I’m sharing it with you. Feel free to agree or disagree as you like. Enjoy. Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ in Georgetown, Texas. He is the host o...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Autumn always makes me think of trees, with the changing of the colors. Of course, trees have been changing color in Texas for a couple of months, and autumn has nothing to do with it. This week we will discuss the surprising rise to the top of the king of the trees; Joanna Gaines’s horrible judgment in trees and why I forgive her; a tree...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! They say the pen is mightier than the sword. Me, I’ve never seen a pen that can cut a sword in half. Swords are powerful things; the more we know about them the better.  This week we will discuss the road from weapons of war to weapons of peace, and back again; a sword of myth and legend that may be too powerful to use; the cool stripy mar...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This week’s episode is for all the football fans out there. If you are a friend and you think I’m talking about you, you’re probably right. Today we will discuss the kind of children who don’t whine, and why you should be one; a pair of mice and what they can teach us about the maze of life; the extreme unlikelihood of college football ref...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! It’s nice, if a bit intimidating, to be in the room with people smarter and better read than you. That’s how I felt in this week’s conversation with Phillip Martin and Brent Moody. We wrap up by discussing how to build a library. You may be surprised at some of the suggestions they make. Fewer books. Getting rid of Bible dictionaries and c...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Two good friends of mine help me cap off our five-week trip around the globe this week. Phillip Martin serves as preacher and shepherd for the Eastside church of Christ in Sharpsburg, Georgia. Check out his work at gospeldefender.com and tacticalpreacher.com. Brent Moody preaches for the Decker Prairie church of Christ in the suburban Hous...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Two good friends of mine help me cap off our five-week trip around the globe this week. Phillip Martin serves as preacher and shepherd for the Eastside church of Christ in Sharpsburg, Georgia. Check out his work at gospeldefender.com and tacticalpreacher.com. Brent Moody preaches for the Decker Prairie church of Christ in the suburban Hous...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! San Francisco is perhaps the most unique city in the United States, for better or for worse. Probably both. This week we will discuss the short and winding road, and how San Franciscans have turned it into a blessing instead of a problem; the disaster of 1906 and how humans’ best efforts made it far, far worse; Norton I, emperor of the Uni...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! In our trip around the world this month, we land in Paris – home of great bread and snooty waiters. But we’ll leave the topic of restaurants for another day. Today we will discuss how Napoleon’s triumph measures up with that of Jesus Christ; whether residence and citizenship are synonymous concepts; why intense planning couldn’t safe a tho...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is from a livestream I did for the Heaven Citizens Facebook group this week. If you don’t know about Heaven Citizens, seek us out and join in the fun. I took some time to point out some good things Hollywood has done for us over the years, and to celebrate some noble, virtue-affirming ways we can entertain ourselves. Enjoy.  Hal Hammo...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! In our trip around the world this month, we land in the home of Wrigley Field, deep-dish pizza, and “Da Bears.” Not my style, but Chicagoans clearly disagree. And that’s fine.  This week we’ll discuss the city’s insulting nickname it’s worked so hard to earn; its greatest moment and vilest villain and how they relate; its most successful m...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! From Nimrod to Sadaam Hussein, Babylon has implications far beyond its walls. It is one of the most important cities in human history, and in the Bible as well. This week we will consider the great harlot of Revelation (PG-13 rated, I promise); Babylon, American-style, and how it-slash-we might fall; Babylon’s contribution to the wonders o...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This week Kris Emerson and Phil Robertson are addressing the topic of youth. Both have extensive experience with young people; in fact, as this episode premieres, Kris and the church in Lindale have just concluded a weekend especially targeting the needs of young Christians. In this conversation we discuss a book all three of us have read...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! "Do Hard Things" by Alex and Brett Harris is a favorite of all thee of us. In this segment we discuss the value of young people setting high standards for themselves. Hal Hammons serves as preacher and shepherd for the Lakewoods Drive church of Christ in Georgetown, Texas. He is the host of the Citizen of Heaven podcast. You are...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.” I lost track of how many times Solomon’s words from Ecclesiastes 12:1 were drilled into my head as a child by people whose youth had been long since lost. Most of my friends — the ones who were listening, anyway — seemed to think the message was, “Make sure you don’t have too much fun.” I’...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Fantasies are by definition unspeakably wonderful and virtually unattainable. Living in a fantasy world can bring a smile to your face right now, but it’s likely to end in something more like a nightmare. This week we will discuss the folly of seeking perfection in imperfect people; the “field of dreams” and what we will do to play there;...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Go to https://www.balancingthechristianlife.com/  to find out more about Kenny Embry and his podcast, Balancing the Christian Life. Go to https://whova.com/web/-ktUVwMqnD9fszQViQSvXUVkH2DuxaJ9wkFaaL7ygps%3D/?fbclid=IwAR1JJn-qJ5zNgwW-SU-tOBil4mOThOLBeexJIT7gBALy5ox4GQ6N3RUEcyI to register for the conference. Free options are available! Hal...