Citizen of Heaven

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! J.R.R. Tolkien has to be considered one of the most influential authors of the 20th Century — especially by Christians. His stories speak directly to great spiritual and moral truths for those inclined to listen. This week I am sharing my conversation with two Christians who know Tolkien far better than I. Josh Everett is a professor of En...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Who am I? That’s the most basic question there is. We spend our entire lives trying to find the answer. And Jesus gives it to us by telling us who we were in sin and who we are capable of becoming by His grace. This week we will discuss Jesus’ true identity and the implications it has for us; what a true Christian is, according to C.S. Lew...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! It seems the more we are blessed by God, the more discontented we get. Why is that? The problem is, we have fallen into the trap of building our house on the world’s sand instead of Jesus’ rock-solid promises. The quicker we realize that, the sooner we can find the joy He has promised us. This week we will discuss the secret to contentment...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! I talk a lot on this podcast about achieving, about striving for improvement, about not settling the achievements of the past. But sometimes you need to go back to square one and remember why we are here in the first place. This week we will talk about how we reorient ourselves in times of stress; how the most important of the Ten Commandm...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Get three preachers to comment on a combination of the gospel and sports, you’re bound to go long. And we did. So here is the second half of my conversation with Brent Moody, preacher at the Decker Prairie church of Christ in Houston, and David Osteen, preacher for the O’Connor Road church of Christ in San Antonio. In this final segment, w...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Running, boxing, wrestling—sports metaphors are all over the Bible. If you’re a sports fan, the Bible speaks to you in your own language. I’m joined this week by Brent Moody, who preaches for the Decker Prairie church of Christ in suburban Houston, and David Osteen, who preaches for the O’Connor Road church of Christ in San Antonio. We dis...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Somehow I made it through more than 100 episodes without talking about my home state. But I’ve been back in my ancestral homeland for close to a year now, and that’s long enough. So saddle up. This week we will discuss stereotypes and whether we truly deserve them; the strange bedfellows that Texas politics makes; the pros and cons of sece...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Every day is a learning experience — or at least it should be. When we position ourselves to learn, we grow; when we don’t, we stagnate. And when the subject is our walk with Christ, that can be tragic. This week we will discuss Jesus’ frustrations with His own apostles, the simple answer to the JFK assassination, some suggestions for carr...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! “How is ‘bears’ a topic for a Bible-based podcast?” some of you are already asking. I’ll admit, it’s a bit of a hodgepodge this week. But I kept seeing things I wanted to address that had to do with bears one way or another, and finally I decided to just go with it. So here we are. This week we will discuss the dangers that come with laugh...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! This is Season 3 of the Citizen of Heaven podcast — episode 106a, Parenting (uncut). I am Hal Hammons, and I am a citizen of heaven, and your embedded correspondent in Satan’s world. Thanks for checking in. Is it possible to rear godly children in an ungodly world? Absolutely. God’s people have been doing it for centuries. But we have to d...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Is it possible to rear godly children in an ungodly world? Absolutely. God’s people have been doing it for centuries. But we have to do it God’s way, no matter what the world may tell us. I am joined today by Rickie Jenkins, preacher and shepherd for the Campbell Road church of Christ in Garland, Texas — also by Phil Robertson, the preache...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Foolishness is running wild in the world today, and Jesus is here to help. The problem is, we often define “foolishness” and “help” very differently than He does This week we will discuss Jesus’ commentary on financial planning; who the “fool” of Psalm 14 truly is; how “lawnmower parenting” is cutting our children off at the knees; and how...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! If you are a Christian, that means you have volunteered to serve in the army of Jesus Christ. Like many volunteers, you may not have known the full scope of the war that is going on. But believe me, it is terrible. But it is worth the fight. This week we will discuss who is our true enemy (and it’s not your neighbor), the philosophy that u...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! The existence of suffering is one of the oldest arguments against the existence of God. But God has always wanted different things for us than we wanted for ourselves. People of faith accept and embrace that — even when it hurts. This week we will discuss the purposes pain plays in our lives; the historical connection between the absence o...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Adventure means excitement for a child. To an adult it usually means something complicated at best, terrifying at worst. They’re both right. The key is not to embrace or avoid adventure; it’s choosing the right one. This week we will discuss the challenges that come with walking by faith; the impact of two bicycle repairmen from Dayton, Oh...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Is the internet the irresistible and desirable future for the church, or is it the church’s doom? What are “social influencers,” who are they influencing, and for what purpose? We cover this and more in the second half of my conversation with Kris Emerson and Dr. Kenny Embry. Kris preaches for the Lindale church of Christ in Lindale, Texas...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! It’s a new world out there, for better or worse. And the internet is its university, its playground, and its courtroom. There’s no point in pretending otherwise.  We will explore the pros and cons of the internet with my two guests. Kris Emerson preaches for the Lindale church of Christ in Lindale, Texas, and hosts the Excel Still More pod...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! To celebrate 100 episodes, I tried to pick out the things above all others that I like to preach, read, hear and play. I’m not sure I was successful, but what follows is the best I could do. So today we will discuss our own wandering in the wilderness and our anticipation of Canaan land; lessons in governing we can learn from fictitious, s...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! We need goals to stay motivated and on course. Maybe it is a particular number on the bathroom scale. Maybe it is getting all the way to Revelation chapter 22 this year. In any case, the goals need to be reasonable and measurable if we are to maximize our chances of success.   This week we will discuss how we “do” the Christian Graces of 2...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Cowboys are part of American history — and even more than that, American folklore. It’s a lifestyle: play by your own rules, answer to your own conscience, and ride quietly off into the sunset at the end of the day. Noble hero or ruthless outlaw? Depends on who is making the movie.   This week we will discuss the difference between herding...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! 2 Timothy 3;16-17 promises that God’s word will make us adequate in all spiritual things — including “training in righteousness.” So we have the equipment. How to go about using it, that’s another matter. Today, to help us understand what it means to train and to be trained in the things of God, I’m joined by Stephen Russell, evangelist fo...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! Everyone wants to be happy. But most of us aren’t — at least it seems that way. For people in Satan’s world, that’s understandable, and even good — maybe they’ll search for a better way. We as Christians, though, have no excuse.  This week we will discuss why pursuing happiness is actually part of the problem; where Chip Gaines finds that...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! No, I’m not quitting this podcast. Nor am I quitting my job, my marriage, or my faith. But many people do. And depending on the situation, that can be disastrous.  This week we will discuss one preacher’s unfortunate approach to adversity, What drove Chip and Joanna Gaines to abandon their hit TV show, the various rocks people are lobbing...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! The world is on fire — and not in a good way. I can see it. I can smell it. I suspect you can too. But adverse and even dangerous circumstances are the rule in Satan’s world, not the exception. God promises peace to those who seek it. But you must seek it — especially when it seems impossible to find. This week we will discuss the one fear...

Register your feedback here. Always good to hear from you! A pattern is a template, a plan used to construct something — whether it’s a dress, a house, or in our case, a Christian. It can be specific, it can be general. But to build the item in question, it must be followed. Today I’m joined by Lonnie Oldag, who shepherds and preaches for the Quinn church of Christ in Russelville, Alabama; and Ste...