Hillary On The Wrong Side of History

By Chuck Baldwin
March 31, 2006

[NOTE FROM BRO. MATT:  I know that this is a hot button issue of illegal immigration.  Normally, I wouldn't touch a political issue, but I will when a politician misuses Scripture for political advantage.  Hillary Rodham Clinton did just that.  But as far as Bro. Baldwin's views are, I'd like your opinion.  Is he off-base?  Is he extreme?  What do you think?]

In an attempt to justify massive illegal immigration to this country, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) completely mischaracterized the Biblical story of The Good Samaritan. Obviously, there is nothing unique about politicians misusing the Scriptures. What the average politician knows about the Word of God could fit into a thimble.  And that goes for Republicans as well as Democrats!

Specifically, Mrs. Clinton voiced her opposition to a House measure subjecting illegal aliens and those who hire them to criminal penalties saying it "is certainly not in keeping with my understanding of the Scriptures, because this bill would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably Jesus Himself."

However, there is absolutely nothing about Jesus' parable that remotely relates to the subject of illegal immigration. Absolutely nothing! The story of The Good Samaritan is simply a lesson in Christian compassion. The Good Samaritan was willing to stop and help a man who had been beaten and left for dead. Jesus compared the actions of the Good Samaritan with those of a priest and a Levite who walked by the dying man and refused to help. What in the world does that have to do with illegal immigration? Nothing!

However, if one wants to examine the Scriptures to find teachings relevant to the subject of illegal immigration, he can certainly do so. Let's start with Nahum chapter three.

The prophet Nahum warned Israel that their stubbornness and disobedience to God was evidenced by the fact that "the gates (borders, ports, entry ways) of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars." (Nahum 3:13) In this passage, the prophet made it clear that open gates or borders, which allow enemies easy access to a nation, constitute an imminent threat to any nation. How right he was!

Furthermore, Moses told the children of Israel in very clear and concise language, "Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor's landmark." (Deut. 19:14) "Landmark" refers to territory, boundary, or border. Moses further declared, "Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor's landmark." (Deut. 27:17)

National borders or boundaries are extremely important to the security and survival of any nation! In fact, the Bible promotes nationhood and condemns internationalism!

To the Old Testament nation of Israel, Moses said, "When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people." (Deut. 32:8) Notice that God "separated the sons of Adam." God "set the bounds of the people."

That God has separated nations and expects them to function independently of other nations is also seen in the New Testament.  Read the inspired author, Dr. Luke: "And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds (boundaries, borders) of their habitation." (Acts 17:26)

National boundaries are divinely ordained. Nationhood is divinely ordained. Independent governance is divinely ordained. On the other hand, internationalism, globalism, multiculturalism, etc., is not of God.

Certainly, God instructed His people to be compassionate to "strangers." (See Deut. 10:19; Exod. 22:21.) And no nation has been more compassionate, more understanding, and more tolerant of "strangers" (i.e. non-citizens) than the United States of America!

For the duration of our nation's existence, America has allowed millions of immigrants to become U.S. citizens. However, for the very sake of our country's survival, immigration must be lawful and respectful. The immigrant is expected to obtain citizenship in accordance with our country's laws. Also, the total number of new immigrants must be carefully monitored and regulated in order to maintain the health and stability of our culture and economy.  Furthermore, the aspiring immigrant-citizen must be expected to assimilate into the foundational fabric and spirit of America.

Listen to the words of President Theodore Roosevelt: "In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag. We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language. And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people." (Jan. 3, 1919)

However, those who advocate amnesty, guest worker status (which is just another name for amnesty), or other types of legalization for illegal aliens are promoting something much different from both the Scriptural and historical models. If the people of the United States allow G. W. Bush and Hillary Clinton to get their way on illegal immigration, America's demise will be faster than anyone can possibly imagine!

Already, more than 20 million illegal aliens live in the United States. In fact, according to The Center for Immigration Studies,
three-fourths of all U.S. population growth stems from (mostly) illegal immigration.

There is more. According to the Bureau of Justice, 29% of all federal inmates are illegal aliens. And according to statistics provided by the House of Representatives, illegal aliens cost state and local governments more than $13 billion per year.

Let's face reality: illegal aliens are criminals! They broke our laws to come here. They break our laws to stay here. Furthermore, the employers that hire illegal aliens are criminals! Illegal aliens do not save money for Americans; they cost money, and a lot of it!

America is a nation of law. The supreme law of the land is the U.S. Constitution. Nowhere does the Constitution allow for illegal
aliens. There is nothing in our laws, our history, or our traditions that allows for illegal immigration!

Illegal aliens not only trample our nation's laws, weaken our economy, burden our local and state governments, they also spit in the face of those many thousands of honest and honorable people from all over the world who attempt to lawfully immigrate to our country!

I have many personal friends who have either recently become U.S. citizens or who are yet in the process of becoming U.S.citizens. Each of them is a honest, hard working person who
desires to become an AMERICAN. They are not trying to create another Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Zimbabwe, England, or Honduras here in America. They simply want to be an AMERICAN, just like Teddy Roosevelt explained.

Yet, now we are being asked to repudiate our laws, compromise the decency and character of our people, and jeopardize our very security just to allow millions of lawless people to invade our country! I say, NO WAY!

Opposing illegal immigration is not un-Christian, and it is not un-American. Neither does opposing illegal immigration make one a
racist or a fascist!

Hillary Clinton is on the wrong side of Scripture and on the wrong side of American history. So is G. W. Bush and a majority of U.S. senators!

America must secure it's borders! We must make a concerted effort to deport all illegal aliens found to be here. We must
severely punish any American company or employer who knowingly hires illegal aliens. Furthermore, we must send a clear and convincing message to Mexican President Vicente Fox that if he does not start effectively policing his northern border, we will consider him a terrorist and treat him accordingly!

And there is one more thing: we must evict every senator or representative from Washington, D.C., who refuses to protect our nation's borders and who aids and abets illegal immigration in any shape, form, or fashion! And we must do it now!

© Chuck Baldwin

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Terri Schiavo’s death — one year later

Remember Terri Schiavo?  Dr. Albert Mohler of Southern Seminary notes that our attention-deficient society has all but forgotten her and moved on to other things (click here to read his article).  To often we define 'life' as what that 'life' can contribute to society and the culture at large.  Thus, the abortion advocates say that the human embryo is not 'life' because it cannot contribute, the terminally-ill elderly person, the ones in a vegetative state, and those falling into those categories often desire to have their lives ended (or in the case of Michael Schiavo, desire to end the life of his own spouse) because they cannot contribute to society, drain the resources of the caretakers, or whatever other reason may be out there.  I understand as a pastor that hard decisions need to be made and have counseled many who have struggled with this issue of when to end life and when not to.  I'll speak more on this later on, but Schiavo's death and the way it was publicized and politicized does not bode well for the future of our country.

Note what Gary Bauer of American Values had to say:

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo. If any good can come of her passing it is the recognition of the importance of electing legislators determined to stand up for our most innocent and vulnerable citizens; legislators who will appoint judges who recognize the right to life at the foundation of our Constitution.The Schiavo tragedy also highlighted the contributions that the disabled can make to the lives of those around them. Weighing in two years before her death, a New York Times editorial philosophized: “True respect for life includes recognizing not just when it exists, but when it ceases to be meaningful.” As usual, the Times just didn’t get it.

We live in a nation where nine of every ten Down syndrome babies are aborted once their disability is detected; a society whose courts have created a jurisprudence to justify “murders of convenience.” While our society disposes of its weakest members, it is the weak and disabled among us who have the innate strength and ability to compel us to strive for and fulfill the most profound and difficult of human obligations – to love unconditionally.

My friends, Terri Schiavo’s heroic life was an inspiration to all those who knew her or learned her story. Let’s hope her life inspires our nation to renew its commitment to protecting all human life.

Where do we draw the line?  Any thoughts? 

Terri Schiavo’s death — one year later

Remember Terri Schiavo?  Dr. Albert Mohler of Southern Seminary notes that our attention-deficient society has all but forgotten her and moved on to other things (click here to read his article).  To often we define 'life' as what that 'life' can contribute to society and the culture at large.  Thus, the abortion advocates say that the human embryo is not 'life' because it cannot contribute, the terminally-ill elderly person, the ones in a vegetative state, and those falling into those categories often desire to have their lives ended (or in the case of Michael Schiavo, desire to end the life of his own spouse) because they cannot contribute to society, drain the resources of the caretakers, or whatever other reason may be out there.  I understand as a pastor that hard decisions need to be made and have counseled many who have struggled with this issue of when to end life and when not to.  I'll speak more on this later on, but Schiavo's death and the way it was publicized and politicized does not bode well for the future of our country.

Note what Gary Bauer of American Values had to say:

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo. If any good can come of her passing it is the recognition of the importance of electing legislators determined to stand up for our most innocent and vulnerable citizens; legislators who will appoint judges who recognize the right to life at the foundation of our Constitution.The Schiavo tragedy also highlighted the contributions that the disabled can make to the lives of those around them. Weighing in two years before her death, a New York Times editorial philosophized: “True respect for life includes recognizing not just when it exists, but when it ceases to be meaningful.” As usual, the Times just didn’t get it.

We live in a nation where nine of every ten Down syndrome babies are aborted once their disability is detected; a society whose courts have created a jurisprudence to justify “murders of convenience.” While our society disposes of its weakest members, it is the weak and disabled among us who have the innate strength and ability to compel us to strive for and fulfill the most profound and difficult of human obligations – to love unconditionally.

My friends, Terri Schiavo’s heroic life was an inspiration to all those who knew her or learned her story. Let’s hope her life inspires our nation to renew its commitment to protecting all human life.

Where do we draw the line?  Any thoughts? 

Membership Matters

Periodically, I will republish a blog entry from a former blog I had. Enjoy!

"Membership Matters" by Chuck Lawless

Dr. Chuck Lawless, the new Dean of the Billy Graham School of Evangelism, Missions, and Church Growth at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville, KY, has written a wonderful volume entitled "Membership Matters: Insights from Effective Churches on New Member Classes and Assimilation." This is a wonderfully practical book! Included are:

* Survey findings with charts and graphs, accompanied by real stories from churches of all sizes;

* Appendicies which provide practical resources on church covenants, intivation letters, ministry opportunities checklist, etc.

* A pastors' forum gives firsthand insights into making membership matter.

I am encouraged by the trend of seeing churches training their congregants to the fact that church membership is more than a name on an roll. Southern Baptists need to learn this most of all, when only five million out of sixteen million members attend church on any given Sunday. Where are the other eleven million? They are likely resting in the fact that they "made a decision" many moons ago. But God saved us to bear fruit and be involved in a worship lifestyle made evident in ministry. Membership classes help every member everywhere to understand this necessity.

This is a great book! I also recommend Dr. Lawless' other work called "Discipled Warriors."

Speaking the Truth in Love

A church was looking for a pastor, so they invited several candidates to come and preach for them. One minister spoke on the text, “The wicked shall be turned into hell.” The head elder was not in favor of him. A few weeks later, another preacher came and used the same Scripture for his sermon. This time the head elder said, “He’s good! Let’s call him.” The other board members were surprised, and one of them asked, “Why did you like him? He used the same text as the other minister.” “True,” replied the head elder, “but when the second man emphasized that the lost will be turned into hell, he said it with tears in his yees and with concern in his voice. The first preacher almost seemed to gloat over it.”

One of the temptations when we preach is having the audience first in mind rather than the One who called us. As a result, we find ourselves preaching on issues that will not offend nor bring discomfort to our listeners. As a result, we avoid topics such as hell and our accountability before a holy God.

Yet, I believe that another temptation is to preach with the desire of obtaining a reputation of preaching hard regardless of what anyone else will think — and this, too, can become a source of pride as well. This first preacher mentioned in the above illustration gloated over preaching hard on a hard text.

I am all for expository preaching, where the preacher exposes (the root word of expository) what the text is saying as opposed to preaching that imposes the preacher’s meaning and desires on the text. And as we do preach verse-by-verse, texts will come up that are difficult not only to preach but will be difficult for our congregants to hear.

I plead with you (and I speak to myself as well) to keep Ephesians 4:15 in mind: “Speak the truth in love.” When we neglect love in preaching the truth, we come across as cold, calculated, and calloused to the hearts of our hearers. When we speak all love but neglect the truth, the compromise can creep in.

There is nothing more loving that speaking the truth! But when you preach the truth, ask God during your sermon preparation and even while you are preaching to give you a love and an empathy for your people so that you may see them truly as God sees them — in desperate need of connecting with the Sovereign God of the universe. To them, while you are preaching, you represent and speak the Word of God! So speak, feel, and love as God would!

Copyright (c) 2005 by Matt Perry, Matt Perry Dot Com. All rights reserved. You are encouraged to share this with whomever may find this of value. All we ask is that you please give credit to the author and ministry which he represents and that you do not change the wording. And please include the contact information: Treasure The Word, c/o Boone’s Creek Baptist Church, 185 N. Cleveland Rd., Lexington, KY 40509. (859) 263-5466.

Christmas, the Schools, and the Constitution

Sent November 28, 2005
by John W. Whitehead

“I think there’s something wrong with me. I just don’t understand Christmas. I like getting presents, sending cards, decorating trees and all that. But instead of feeling happy, I feel sort of let down.”

–Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Christmas, 1965

When I was a child in the 1950s, my parents didn’t have much money to spend at Christmastime. I remember one Christmas when I wanted a cowboy gun and holster from Santa Claus. I got the toy pistol, but Santa, it seems, couldn’t afford a holster. So my dad made one for me out of one of my mother’s old leather purses. It didn’t look like the ones on TV, but it worked pretty well. And it made me feel good that my dad cared enough to do what he could to make a little boy’s Christmas dream come true.

Being poor didn’t really matter all that much because there was magic in the air. And the magic of Christmas was promoted in the schools. We sang Christmas carols in the classroom. There were cutouts of the Nativity scene on the bulletin board, along with the smiling, chubby face of Santa and Rudolph. We were all acutely aware that Christmas was more than a season to receive—it was a special time to give as well.

But times have changed. Violence and turmoil surround our schools. Police officers walk the hallways, and embattled teachers act more like wardens than instructors. Sadly, the timeless celebration of Christmas seems to have been lost in the mix as well. Schools across the country avoid anything that alludes to the true meaning of Christmas—such as angels, the baby Jesus, stables and shepherds. For example, a member of a parent/teacher organization at a Connecticut elementary school was in charge of decorating a large display case in the school’s entrance. For the upcoming December holidays, she was planning to put up a display called “Festival of Lights” and feature a display with a crèche for Christmas and a Menorah and Star of David for Hanukkah, along with a document that explains the histories of both events. However, she was told by school officials that no religious objects could be used in the display.

A kindergarten teacher in a Texas public school was informed that he could not mention the word “Christmas” or tell the historical Nativity story because someone in the district might sue. All other secular customs of the “winter holiday” were deemed to be okay, just not the religious symbols of Christianity. According to the school principal: “We cannot tie candy canes, trees, wreaths, Santa Claus, etc, as a religious symbol. What we can teach is the secular side of holidays. We can have the tree, candy cane, wreath, Santa Claus, etc, anything that is secular. No religious words can be attached. We cannot read aloud to the students any book pertaining to religious beliefs or happenings brought by you [the teacher] or the students. The student who brings a book can read/look at the book silently.”

Another incident that highlights this extreme Christmas phobia involves a Michigan elementary school, where the principal issued a directive specifically forbidding references to God, Christianity or the birth of Jesus Christ. This is censorship, pure and simple.

I have yet to understand how anyone can discuss the true—or even historical—meaning of Christmas without at least a reference to Christ. Surely something has gone wrong when America’s children are encouraged to celebrate the fictional Rudolph but are refused the opportunity to even mention Jesus, who was an actual, historical person. To claim that Christmas is something other than it is—a holiday with a religious foundation—is both dishonest and historically unsound.

Indeed, Christmas (Old English Cristes Moesse, “the Mass of Christ”) was instituted, and for centuries kept, as a religious holiday (as in “holy day”). Originally, Christmas included festivities, but its primary purpose was to provide a time for spiritual renewal.

Unfortunately, far too many parents, students and teachers erroneously believe they cannot celebrate the religious nature of Christmas in the public schools. Whether through ignorance or fear, Americans are painfully misguided about the recognition of religious holidays. Ironically, the most targeted religious holiday for exclusion is Christmas—also the most popular in American culture. Are our schoolchildren to be forbidden from learning about one of the most culturally significant events because it has religious overtones?

There are constitutional ways to celebrate Christmas in the public schools without violating the United States Constitution. These are succinctly set forth in The Rutherford Institute’s “Twelve Rules of Christmas.” While it is true that public school teachers, as agents of the state, may not advance religion, they are allowed to discuss the role of religion in all aspects of American culture and its history. And this includes the religious aspects of the Christmas holiday.

Indeed, teachers can use Christmas art, music, literature and drama in their classrooms, as long as they illustrate the cultural heritage from which the holiday has developed. Religious symbols, such as a Nativity scene, can be used in this context as well. Of course, any holiday observance should occur in an educational setting, rather than in a devotional atmosphere. Teachers should also remember to offer students and their parents the school district’s opt-out policy as an alternative to the teaching about any particular religion.

While our Constitution does not give carte blanche to promote religion in the public schools, neither does it dictate a cleansing of Christmas from the classroom. Students may enjoy the same freedom of religious expression that is allowed any other time of the year—in or out of the classroom. This means that students can freely distribute Christmas or Hanukkah cards to their friends and teachers, just as they would a birthday card. Such cards can even mention the words God and Jesus Christ.

The trend toward erasing traditional Christmas practices from our daily life is discouraging and disheartening. In a society already known for its selfishness and consumerism, it seems that a religious holiday would be an opportunity to celebrate something more essential, something wholesome and good and also something that would remind us of our nation’s history—one that is dominated with a spiritual and religious heritage.

In fact, rather than making Christmas the height of the selling season, why can’t the focus be on celebrating family and friendship, camaraderie and memories? Why can’t it be a time to reflect and celebrate our freedoms? Why can’t it be a season of extending a helping hand to the less fortunate? Why can’t it be a time to step back and meditate on the original meaning behind the Christmas holiday? And why can’t these important traditions be taught in our schools?

It has been 40 years since Charlie Brown, as he puzzled over the glitz and commercialism of the modern age, asked, “Doesn’t anyone know the true meaning of Christmas?” Linus responded by telling the story of Jesus Christ’s birth, as recounted in Luke 2:7-14, to his friends and classmates. What Charles Schulz’ beloved 1965 cartoon did not capture, however, was the growing aversion on the part of many school officials and public figures to anything remotely related to the true Christmas story. Hopefully, as our children ponder what Christmas is all about—a subject that almost certainly arises in the classroom—our teachers at least will realize that they have the right to truthfully answer the question. If so, our children will have the opportunity to experience the richness of our traditions and culture. And what better time than Christmas?

—-

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. Information about the Twelve Rules of Christmas and The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.

Want to read more? Visit The Rutherford Institute website!

——————————————————————————–

The Rutherford Institute 1440 Sachem Place Charlottesville, VA 22901 Phone: 434-978-3888/ FAX: 434- 978-1789/ website: http://www.rutherford.org

Preparation for Sunday

One pastor never prepared during the week, and on Sunday morning he'd sit on the platform while the church was singing the hymns desperately praying, "Lord, give your message, Lord give me your message." One Sunday, while desperately praying for God's message, he heard the Lord say, "Ralph, here's my message. You're lazy!"

Some brag about how the Holy Spirit carries them on Sunday even though they do not spend time in prayer preparation from Monday through Saturday. It is more than about making a sermon, it is about the Holy Spirit making the man who is the vessel to deliver the sermon which the Holy Spirit gives! Study does not negate the Holy Spirit's work.

No! In fact, study helps galvanize the Holy Spirit's message in the speaker, thus having the sermon that's meant for the congregation transform the one preaching to that congregation.
Second Timothy 2:15 says, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." We are to be students of the Word who know how the wield the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God! Why? When you look at Ephesians 6 and the armor of God, what is the only offensive piece of armor we are given? That's right — the sword of the Spirit! We have to know how to use our sword against the enemy and anything that sets itself up against the Kingdom of God.

I tell myself this first and foremost: don't be lazy in your study of the Word of God during the week. You will find a church transformed because they are hungry not for methods and gimmicks, but for the Word of God and the Living Bread and Water whom the Word presents — the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ.

May God bless you as you wield your sword!

“Lawful Recreations” by James Meikle

Time is one of the talents put into every man's hand, and is more precious than we are well aware of.

To prepare for death, and to improve for eternity–may well employ our time though ever so long. O! then, howmay my heart weep to think how much precious time I have trifled away! O to be wise in all time coming!

Lawful recreations are allowed by God. But in this, how soon may we go beyond what is lawful! Too much pleasure in them, too much time spent about them–spoils all. When our amusements become a part of our employment, or call us away from something more necessary or noble–it is high time to drop them altogether!

(Distributed by Grace Gems — http://www.gracegems.org)

May God helps us to attack what is important and necessary rather than be distracted by trifles. 

“Lawful Recreations” by James Meikle

Time is one of the talents put into every man's hand, and is more precious than we are well aware of.

To prepare for death, and to improve for eternity–may well employ our time though ever so long. O! then, howmay my heart weep to think how much precious time I have trifled away! O to be wise in all time coming!

Lawful recreations are allowed by God. But in this, how soon may we go beyond what is lawful! Too much pleasure in them, too much time spent about them–spoils all. When our amusements become a part of our employment, or call us away from something more necessary or noble–it is high time to drop them altogether!

(Distributed by Grace Gems — http://www.gracegems.org)

May God helps us to attack what is important and necessary rather than be distracted by trifles. 

Overcoming my addiction

I praise God that He gives us the strength to overcome addictions — and he has put me on a path to overcome mine, but I have a long, long way to go.  It is really an addiction that began in college and continued on through seminary — right into married life where it all came to bloom.  All night study sessions getting ready for the test the next morning.  Being locked up in the library.  Then getting married and leading an increasingly sedentary lifestyle.  Then on top of all that, I have been in the ministry going on 15 years, which allows for an increasingly sedentary lifestyle — on top of that, I'm am in Baptist ministry, which seems to feed my particular addiction more and more because it is just part of our culture.

My particular addiction that God is helping me to overcome is that of food.  A little history.

I graduated from high school weighing a whopping 135 pounds soaking wet.  In high school, I actually dropped down to 117 (which was about 25 pounds below what I should have been) because my trust was in my girlfriend at the time rather than in Christ.  She didn't want to eat lunch, so I didn't eat lunch.  Very unhealthy from every angle.  But by the time I graduated in 1989, I was 135 and stayed that weight pretty much all through college when I graduated in 1994.

During college, I was a music major at Palm Beach Atlantic College.  Aside from the jokes that music majors really didn't do much, nothing could have been further from the truth.  One study noted that the three hardest fields of study in academia are law, medicine, and music.  I didn't go into music because of any of that — God called me into the ministry and at that time it was music ministry.

At that time, everything seemed to affect me negatively — though it wasn't necessarily bad in and of itself.  But in order to get through, I had to practice on my piano 1.5 to 2 hours per day, plus be involved in a number of extra classes that were required but where we obtained no credit.  Plus, I had a couple of extra jobs just to get by.  I was busy, busy, busy with bad sleeping habits and addicted at that point to caffeine and pizzas whose establishments delivered into the wee hours of the morning.  I stayed skinny, but the pattern was set.

By the time I graduated seminary the first time and got married, I was a meatier 175.  But when I graduated, I was engaged to my now wife Cindy.  I had a steady job, no more ridiculous class schedules, no more late nights to study for music history and hymnology tests.  No more working two jobs, plus doing my church work.   I was settled with the woman God gave to me.  And I was peaceful, relaxed …

… and expanding.

Bad habits would develop.  Have a hard day at work?  Go eat.  Need to celebrate?  Let's go eat.  Having a fellowship at church?  GOTTA EAT!  It's almost as if gluttony is the unspoken, pardonable sin amongst us Baptists.  It's our culture.  But in reality, food can be the worst addiction of all.  It's not illegal or necessarily immoral, but it numbs the pain and the hurt and any issue that can go on the in heart. 

At the beginning of the year, I found myself between 40 and 50 pounds overweight (206).  For those with large or even medium frames, 206 is really not bad.  But the point is, I have a small frame and was 40-50 pounds overweight.  And it really began to affect me.  How?

(1)  Walking up stairs.  Walking upstairs from my office to the sanctuary is not a long walk, but I found myself winded slightly.  I began to have to time and space out when I would go upstairs.  If I walked upstairs and immediately had to talk to someone or preach, I would have to work and labor to catch my breath.  As a pastor and preacher, that is not acceptable.

(2)  Airplanes.  A deacon friend and I flew to New Orleans to scope out some upcoming missions opportunities in that region.  We flew a Comair flight to New Orleans.  You know how you have to put your carry-on bag either in the seat underneath you or in the overhead compartment?  I put mine in the seat underneath me.  When we were in the air and I had to bend over to get it, I almost choked because my gut had become so big that it pushed into my diaphragm.  (If you find yourself laughing at this, that's your right.  But it is a struggle and it causes more pain than just physical.)

(3)  The jokes.  One friend of mine who lives in another part of the state began joking to me, "You're beginning to look like a Baptist preacher."  Others come up and pat me on the belly and make comments.  And do you know what they would always do afterwards? 

Laugh.

And it may have been funny.  And for many, it certainly may not have been intended maliciously.  But I now know that most folks who struggle in this area look in the mirror and begin to acquire a sort of self-loathing.  And they acquire another trait which is far more harmful … 

(4)  I began to feel enslaved and doomed to this.  Yes, I as a minister of Gospel who preaches about how we can be free from self and free in Christ, would find myself telling my wife, "You know, I really don't think I can lose weight."  No matter what I tried, I kept gaining.  And gaining. 

But my wife began a program called Lose It For Life by Steven Arterburn.  It's been really good.  It's not like a lot of diet fads.  Basically, it's lots and lots and lots of water.  Exercise (and they give you good tips on how to do this in the midst of a busy day), cut down on snacks, and no eating snacks after 8:00.

As of March 29, 2006, I am now 191 — I have lost 15 pounds by the grace and glory of God.  My goal is 165-168.  You may say, "Matt, you have 25 pounds to go!"  YES!  I do.  But knowing that God has set me and is setting me free from my addiction to food and soft drinks now only gives me hope that I can be healthier, it's also a time of worship that God can truly set one free from anything that enslaves.

God must be our all-in-all, but for too many of us, food is.  We must preach against this as we do other sins.  Stephen Arterburn noted that pastors preach against every other sin — all the while carrying 200 pounds extra weight in the pulpit.  We must lay this down as well.  I love food — but I love my God more and He must be my 'comfort food' as the Bread of Life.  I will pray that you all indeed feast on Him and Him alone.

God’s Word and Deed All in One

In his wonderful work, "The Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text," Sidney Griedanus writes something that really chimed with this pastor.

"For us today, words are often cheap.  We think of words merely as something which is said.  'Action speaks louder than words,' we say, and thus we tend to separate words and action and ascribe greater value to action than to words.  Although we would hesitate to call God's words 'cheap,' we often cheapen God's words by separating them from his deeds and, thinking about his words merely as words about his deeds.  The Bible however does not separate God's words from his deeds.  God's words are his deeds in the sense that they accomplish his purposes.  … Similarly, God's word proclaimed by the prophets is not merely information about God's deeds but is itself a deed which accomplishes God's purposes (see Jeremiah 1:9-10, cf. 5:14). … In fact the preaching of the prophets was part and parcel of GOd's redemptive activity on earth.  Donald Miller articulates this idea dramatically:  "When … the prophets announced the word of God to men, they were not merely making speeches or just trading with ideas about God.  Their word was rather … an embodiment of the agony of redemption, initiated at the Exodus but straining to be brought to fulfillment in a yet greater deliverance." (pp. 2-3).

Isn't this amazing for preachers?  Victor Furnish notes that when the prophets spoke, they did not do so just to describe an event, but "it was an even.  The word uttered is a deed done. … It was a word in which Yahweh himself was actively present and decisively accomplishing his purposes." 

So why would preachers try to appeal to congregants for life-changing outside of the life-changing active Word of God. 

Psalm 33:6-9
    By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
        and by the breath of his mouth all their host. …
    For he spoke, and it came to be;
        he commanded, and it stood firm.

Jeremiah 1:9-10
    Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,

    "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
    [10] See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
    to pluck up and to break down,
    to destroy and to overthrow,
    to build and to plant."

God’s Word and Deed All in One

In his wonderful work, "The Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text," Sidney Griedanus writes something that really chimed with this pastor.

"For us today, words are often cheap.  We think of words merely as something which is said.  'Action speaks louder than words,' we say, and thus we tend to separate words and action and ascribe greater value to action than to words.  Although we would hesitate to call God's words 'cheap,' we often cheapen God's words by separating them from his deeds and, thinking about his words merely as words about his deeds.  The Bible however does not separate God's words from his deeds.  God's words are his deeds in the sense that they accomplish his purposes.  … Similarly, God's word proclaimed by the prophets is not merely information about God's deeds but is itself a deed which accomplishes God's purposes (see Jeremiah 1:9-10, cf. 5:14). … In fact the preaching of the prophets was part and parcel of GOd's redemptive activity on earth.  Donald Miller articulates this idea dramatically:  "When … the prophets announced the word of God to men, they were not merely making speeches or just trading with ideas about God.  Their word was rather … an embodiment of the agony of redemption, initiated at the Exodus but straining to be brought to fulfillment in a yet greater deliverance." (pp. 2-3).

Isn't this amazing for preachers?  Victor Furnish notes that when the prophets spoke, they did not do so just to describe an event, but "it was an even.  The word uttered is a deed done. … It was a word in which Yahweh himself was actively present and decisively accomplishing his purposes." 

So why would preachers try to appeal to congregants for life-changing outside of the life-changing active Word of God. 

Psalm 33:6-9
    By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
        and by the breath of his mouth all their host. …
    For he spoke, and it came to be;
        he commanded, and it stood firm.

Jeremiah 1:9-10
    Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,

    "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
    [10] See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
    to pluck up and to break down,
    to destroy and to overthrow,
    to build and to plant."

Getting It Right from the Beginning (Al Mohler)

“In the beginning,” Scripture says, “God created the heavens and the earth.” That first biblical affirmation points to the priority of the doctrine of creation within the system of Christian doctrine. Nevertheless, even the doctrine of creation presupposes a biblical notion of God and the authority of his revelation in Scripture. The Christian believer does not acknowledge the creation and then infer a Creator. Indeed, it is not God who must be explained by the creation, but creation which must be explained by the Creator. Today, Dr. Albert Mohler explores the doctrine of creation, and its crucial relationship to the Christian worldview. 

Read the rest of Part I here.

The doctrine of creation does not stand alone. The universe has not been set adrift in time without purpose or divine direction. The Christian affirmation of God requires an affirmation of His continuing sovereign Lordship over the created order. This affirmation sets the Christian worldview apart from alternative worldviews which recognize no continuing divine direction. 

Read the rest of Part II here.

Is George Barna’s group really that helpful?

Those of us in the evangelical realm have likely heard of George Barna and The Barna Group .  From their website, they describe themselves as the following:

The ultimate aim of the firm is to partner with Christian ministries and individuals to be a catalyst in moral and spiritual transformation in the United States. It accomplishes these outcomes by providing vision, information, evaluation and resources through a network of intimate partnerships.

A noble aim indeed!  By conducting Gallup Poll like research, this group aims to help us understand the trends in the evangelical and cultural realm so the church may take this hard data they provide and use it in their ministry. 

The most recent issue of "The Barna Update" seems to give some rather encouraging news.  The title is, "Barna Survey Reveals Significant Growth in Born Again Population."  How encouraging is that!  He notes that

"45% of all adults meet the criteria that the Barna Group uses to classify people as 'born again.'  That number is up from 31% in 1983.  The percentage hovered in the 36% to 43% range from 1992 to 2005.  The current figure represents the largest single-year increase since 1991-1992."

For so many of us who lament the direction our country is taking spiritually, this should be encouraging news, right?  Well, I am an optimist by nature — but also a realist.  Notice the criteria the Barna Group uses to determine who is born again and who is not.

“Born again Christians” are defined as people who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Respondents were not asked to describe themselves as “born again.”

Now, while all these components are good to have, is this truly all there is?  Have they repented and turned from their life of sin (Luke 13:5b)?  Do they see the Scriptures as the revelation of God with the centerpiece being Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:16-17)?  Barna notes that the relationship with Jesus "must be important," but has Christ transformed them? 

He defines evangelicals in this way, but also adds seven other conditions:

1. Their faith is very important in their life today.
2. They believe they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians.
3. They believe that Satan exists.
4. They believe that eternal salvation is only possible through grace, not works.
5. They believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth.
6. They assert that the Bible is accurate in all that it teaches.
7. They believe that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today.

As for #1, this is so entirely subjective that books could be written on it.  How does one codify what "important" means?  Asking the blessing over the food?  Going to church one time a month?  Just being a good moral person?  It is truly important define 'important!'

As for #2, this is good — taking Matthew 28:19-20 seriously and Acts 1:8 seriously.  But note how this is worded:  they believe they have a personal responsibility.  This is vague as well — I can know my responsibility to a number of things, but still not do them.  This does not answer the question as to whether they are being obedient to this responsibility — it is just saying they know they should do this. 

As for nos. 3 through 7, Satan could attest to these things as well (see James 2:19).  I do not think this is a good gauge.  This is just simply an intellectual assent to some facts about the Gospel and the Scriptures — it does not show if there is any fiduciary love, any trust, any commitment, any loyalty to all that Christ is and what He has done.  It does not show whether the Gospel has truly gripped their heart! 

What do you think?

Is George Barna’s group really that helpful?

Those of us in the evangelical realm have likely heard of George Barna and The Barna Group .  From their website, they describe themselves as the following:

The ultimate aim of the firm is to partner with Christian ministries and individuals to be a catalyst in moral and spiritual transformation in the United States. It accomplishes these outcomes by providing vision, information, evaluation and resources through a network of intimate partnerships.

A noble aim indeed!  By conducting Gallup Poll like research, this group aims to help us understand the trends in the evangelical and cultural realm so the church may take this hard data they provide and use it in their ministry. 

The most recent issue of "The Barna Update" seems to give some rather encouraging news.  The title is, "Barna Survey Reveals Significant Growth in Born Again Population."  How encouraging is that!  He notes that

"45% of all adults meet the criteria that the Barna Group uses to classify people as 'born again.'  That number is up from 31% in 1983.  The percentage hovered in the 36% to 43% range from 1992 to 2005.  The current figure represents the largest single-year increase since 1991-1992."

For so many of us who lament the direction our country is taking spiritually, this should be encouraging news, right?  Well, I am an optimist by nature — but also a realist.  Notice the criteria the Barna Group uses to determine who is born again and who is not.

“Born again Christians” are defined as people who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Respondents were not asked to describe themselves as “born again.”

Now, while all these components are good to have, is this truly all there is?  Have they repented and turned from their life of sin (Luke 13:5b)?  Do they see the Scriptures as the revelation of God with the centerpiece being Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:16-17)?  Barna notes that the relationship with Jesus "must be important," but has Christ transformed them? 

He defines evangelicals in this way, but also adds seven other conditions:

1. Their faith is very important in their life today.
2. They believe they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians.
3. They believe that Satan exists.
4. They believe that eternal salvation is only possible through grace, not works.
5. They believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth.
6. They assert that the Bible is accurate in all that it teaches.
7. They believe that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today.

As for #1, this is so entirely subjective that books could be written on it.  How does one codify what "important" means?  Asking the blessing over the food?  Going to church one time a month?  Just being a good moral person?  It is truly important define 'important!'

As for #2, this is good — taking Matthew 28:19-20 seriously and Acts 1:8 seriously.  But note how this is worded:  they believe they have a personal responsibility.  This is vague as well — I can know my responsibility to a number of things, but still not do them.  This does not answer the question as to whether they are being obedient to this responsibility — it is just saying they know they should do this. 

As for nos. 3 through 7, Satan could attest to these things as well (see James 2:19).  I do not think this is a good gauge.  This is just simply an intellectual assent to some facts about the Gospel and the Scriptures — it does not show if there is any fiduciary love, any trust, any commitment, any loyalty to all that Christ is and what He has done.  It does not show whether the Gospel has truly gripped their heart! 

What do you think?

Are You Kidding Me?

No. 11 seed George Mason defeats No. 1 Connecticut 86-84.  This is the first time a double-digit seed moved on to the Final Four.  I remember the last time that happened.  I was sitting in a hotel room in West Virginia at a family reunion and watched LSU advance in 1986.  This is a thrill. 

Sometimes fellowship is better than a fight. Sometimes not. (Phillip Johnson)

One thing you'll quickly notice if you make even a casual study of historical theology is this: the history of the church is a long chronicle of doctrinal development that runs from one profound controversy to the next.

In one sense it is sad that the history of the church is so marred by doctrinal conflicts, but in another sense that is precisely what the apostles anticipated. Even while the New Testament was still being written, the church was contending with serious heresies and dangerous false teachers who seemed to spring up everywhere. This was so much a universal problem that Paul made it one of the qualifications of every elder that he be strong in doctrine and able to refute those who contradict (Titus 1:9). So the church has always been beset by heretics and false teachings, and church history is full of the evidence of this.

Obviously, then, we who love the truth cannot automatically shy away from every fight over doctrine. Especially in an era like ours when virtually every doctrine is deemed up for grabs, Christians need to be willing and prepared to contend earnestly for the faith.

On the other hand, even in an obsessively "tolerant" age such as ours, the opposite danger looms large as well. There are some people who are always spoiling for a fight over little matters, and no issue is too trivial for them to overlook. It seems they are looking for reasons to take offense, and if you're not careful what you say or how you say it, they'll throw a major hissy. More often than not, it's an insignificant issue, an unintentional slight, or an inadvertently indelicate "tone" that provokes the tantrum. (Ironically, these same folks are sometimes more than willing to tolerate major doctrinal errors in the name of "charity.")

Scripture includes all the following commands: "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men" (Romans 12:18). "It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3). "If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds" (2 John 10-11). "I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them" (Romans 16:17). "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations" (Romans 14:1). "Follow peace with all men, and holiness" (Hebrews 12:14).

Clearly, there are two extremes to be avoided. One is the danger of being so narrow and intolerant that you create unnecessary divisions in the body of Christ. The other is the problem of being too broad-minded and sinfully tolerant—so ecumenically minded that you settle for a shallow, false unity with people whom we are commanded to avoid or whose errors we are morally obligated to refute.

It would seem that the only way to be faithful to all the above commands is to have a sound and biblical understanding of how to distinguish between core doctrines and peripheral ones.

But search for serious material that carefully discusses biblical guidelines for making such distinctions wisely, and you'll come up mostly dry. This is an issue I fear most Christians have not considered as soberly and carefully as we should, and it would be my assessment that one of the crying needs of the church in this age of mindless postmodern subjectivity is a clear, careful, and thorough biblical understanding of when it's time to fight and when it's time to fellowship.

Few subjects interest me more than this. It seems a pretty obvious and foundational issue for the church and her leaders to settle. You might think the early fundamentalists ought to have done extensive work on the subject, but as far as I can see, they didn't. They treated several key doctrines as fundamental, based mainly on what happened to be under attack by the modernists, and they declared themselves devoted to "the fundamentals."

But they didn't always keep very clear focus on the distinction between what was fundamental and what was not. As a result, later generations of fundamentalists often fought and fragmented over issues no one could rationally argue were "fundamental." Predictably, the fundamentalist movement slowly collapsed on itself.

There are some valiant efforts currently underway to improve and preserve the best remnants of the fundamentalist movement. I sincerely wish them success. But it seems to me that unless the brightest minds and most careful theologians in that movement are willing to go back to this basic question and carefully think through the biblical and theological rationale for the original distinction between fundamental and secondary truths, certain things that ought to be clear will remain murky, and fundamentalism will be doomed to repeating cycles of failure.

If there's anyone left in the "evangelical movement" who is truly evangelical in the historic sense, the same thing applies to them, by the way.

(From the Pulpit Live blog, March 23, 2006)

GoldenPalace.com buys William Shatner’s kidney stone for $75,000!

Click here to read the article from William Shatner’s website. 

I’m thankful that it went to such a good cause as Habitat for Humanity — but a kidney stone?  William Shatner is a terrific actor (he’ll tell you so himself) who is most well-known for playing Captain James T. Kirk on the old Star Trek classic — and has now won two Emmys for his excellent work on Boston Legal as the lawyer Denny Crane. 

I just thought this was quite amusing that of all the things to raise money, an actor’s kidney stone would even be remotely in the conversation.  Yikes!

GoldenPalace.com buys William Shatner’s kidney stone for $75,000!

Click here to read the article from William Shatner’s website. 

I’m thankful that it went to such a good cause as Habitat for Humanity — but a kidney stone?  William Shatner is a terrific actor (he’ll tell you so himself) who is most well-known for playing Captain James T. Kirk on the old Star Trek classic — and has now won two Emmys for his excellent work on Boston Legal as the lawyer Denny Crane. 

I just thought this was quite amusing that of all the things to raise money, an actor’s kidney stone would even be remotely in the conversation.  Yikes!

NAMB trustees to place Reccord under ‘Executive Level controls’

By Art Toalston

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)–Robert E. (Bob) Reccord, president of the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board, will work under several sets of “Executive Level controls” signaled by NAMB’s trustees during a special meeting March 23.

The trustees based their deliberations on a 19-page report by a nine-member trustee task force created in response to an article in the Georgia Baptist Convention’s newsjournal, The Christian Index, which set forth a range of allegations about NAMB’s evangelism and church planting strategies; the size and makeup of its missionary force; and management issues related to Reccord.

“We want the Southern Baptist Convention to know we’ve responded to the issues [through the task force report] and because of that response we believe that you can trust what we’re doing here at NAMB,” trustee chairman Barry Holcomb said in a news conference after the meeting.

“We want Southern Baptists to know you can trust the North American Mission Board to take your Cooperative Program dollars that you generously give through the state conventions,” Holcomb said, “and you can trust us with your Annie Armstrong Easter Offering to be on mission and to do the work of God’s Kingdom.”

The task force report will be posted on www.namb.net today (NOTE:  It is now posted — click here

The 58-member trustee board unanimously approved a six-part plan to establish the Executive Level controls for Reccord during a meeting stretching seven and a half hours at NAMB’s Atlanta-area headquarters in Alpharetta, Ga. The meeting was held in executive session because SBC trustees typically meet in private when dealing with personnel issues.

NAMB’s chief operating officer, Chuck Allen, submitted his resignation on March 22.

Allen “resigned for reasons that did not involve our discussions today in the board meeting,” Holcomb said. “Chuck Allen has been a friend of the trustees. … We stand ready to assist Chuck Allen in whatever future ministry opportunities God has for him.” Holcomb, otherwise, declined further comment about Allen’s departure.

Reccord has been NAMB’s president since its founding in 1997 as part of the Southern Baptist Convention’s restructuring, called “Covenant for a New Century.” NAMB primarily was formed in a merger of the SBC’s former Home Mission Board, Radio and Television Commission and Brotherhood Commission. At the time Reccord was pastor of First Baptist Church in Norfolk, Va.

Under the accountability plan for Reccord, a trustee subcommittee will be appointed by Holcomb “to develop a set of Executive Level controls to be used as a guide” related to various issues raised in the Feb. 16 Christian Index article.

The subcommittee, which Holcomb said he hopes to name during the coming month, will propose controls for:

1) “directing the travel, speaking, and on-campus office time required for the President….”

2) “the use of RFP’s” (Request For Proposals), akin to bidding to compete for work being outsourced by NAMB.

3) “when the President … wants to develop new initiatives, including the appropriate oversight and approval by the Board.”

4) “clarifying what constitutes poor management by an executive officer and how it should be handled.”

5) providing Reccord and NAMB “with greater levels of accountability to the Board and the Southern Baptist Convention.”

Under the sixth part of the plan, the board assigned “its duly elected officers, in perpetuity, with the role of monitoring these controls, utilizing them as part of the President’s annual review, and reporting the status of these controls annually at an assigned full Board meeting.”

Holcomb, pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Adalusia, Ala., noted that SBC President Bobby Welch attended the meeting.

“I phoned him about a week ago and I said, ‘Bobby, we’d like to invite you to be there for our meeting. I would like for you to be able to say to Southern Baptists that the board of trustees of the North American Mission Board handled the business at hand. And he sat through almost our entire meeting. He was very pleased with how things went and he said, ‘Barry, the board has done an excellent job. They’ve addressed the facts. And Southern Baptists don’t have anything to be ashamed of.’”

Reccord said in a statement: “I am thankful that the trustee process worked. That’s why we have such a process. While we jointly found opportunities and areas on which to strengthen and improve, I celebrate the fact that the deep and thorough financial and practices audit gave us a clean bill of health, including the status and history of our reserves.” 

Holcomb said Reccord told the trustees “that he understands that, as president of this agency, he is under our directorship. … He said, ‘I am willing to work with the trustees in whatever parameters we need to,’ in order to address the concerns that Southern Baptists may have about the North American Mission Board. …

“I don’t want to speak for him, but I think it would be alright to say he recognizes, just like all of us, that he’s not perfect and we’re not perfect, and there are certain areas that we need to improve,” Holcomb said. “I think the recommendations that the board adopted today will help him. I think in that sense he is very happy to follow this process.”

“[Reccord's] job is not in jeopardy,” Holcomb said, noting that no disciplinary measures were taken by the board; “we found nothing to sustain any kind of thought of wrongdoing, anything unethical, anything immoral … .

“Dr. Reccord is a very visionary leader, and I think with any visionary he’s going to do things and lead in such a way that it puts us on the cutting edge of what we’re trying to in missions and evangelism,” Holcomb said. “And we’re at a point now of looking back at some of those things and some of those decisions and saying, ‘Here’s some things that worked and here’s some things that really didn’t work and we wouldn’t do that again.’ …

“But I think the trustees overwhelmingly today said, ‘Dr. Reccord, you are the visionary leader that God has given us.’”

William J. (Bill) Curtis, the trustees’ first vice chairman, said during the news conference that the trustees are “prepared to acknowledge that it is a shared responsibility for where we are at this point.”

“Rather than just place all the responsibility for some of the concerns that have been raised on the shoulders of the ELT [NAMB's Executive Leadership Team], as trustees we also acknowledge that this is a process that together we need to take ownership of and work through for the improvement of the agency and the good of the SBC,” said Curtis, one of the task force’s members and pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Florence, S.C.

Another task force member, Tim Patterson, pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., said, “We did not give Dr. Reccord a pass on anything …. We asked very tough, very pointed, very particular questions, because we want Southern Baptists to know that we want everything dealt with that is an issue.”

Said Holcomb: “We do not want to give the impression to anyone that we do not welcome criticism. As we worked we realized, ‘Hey, this is going to make us better, this is going to make us stronger.’”

Asked by a reporter about a fear among NAMB employees of being terminated if they raise concerns about the organization’s direction and operation, Holcomb and Curtis acknowledged that some staffers have voiced such fears.

Curtis said the task force report will reflect a concern “to see what we can do to remedy that.”

Patterson said the trustee task force appreciated the openness its members received.

“Everyone within this building and outside that we asked information of was very forthcoming, very helpful. No one was reticent or holding anything back. They [would say,] ‘What do you need? Anything else you need?’ And when we asked for personal opinion, they gave us personal opinion. No one that we asked held back anything.”

Reccord said he hopes NAMB now can refocus on its ministry.

“This has been a time of great distraction for all of our staff from the task of North American missions,” he said in his statement. “And while, like Nehemiah, we were committed ‘Not to come down from the wall,’ the forces of distraction were strong. Now it is time to get back to the work. Where mistakes have been made, I have made a pledge to use this process to correct those errors and work with our trustees to make NAMB a stronger agency.

“Our trustees have spent a multitude of hours and much energy reviewing all the facts and now I trust that Southern Baptists will trust their trustees and these processes and that we will move on together as we focus on reaching North America for Christ.”

The trustees’ nine-member task force, in addition to Holcomb, Curtis and Patterson, included Larry Thomas, director of missions for the Red River Baptist Association in Heber Springs, Ark.; Terry Fox, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Wichita, Kan.; David Crump, pastor of Aspen Park Baptist Church in Broken Arrow, Okla.; Timothy (Tim) P. Dowdy, pastor of Eagle’s Landing First Baptist Church in McDonough, Ga.; Albert (Al) Y. Kawamoto, a member of Arlington Park Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas; and Ellie Wade Ficken, a member of Vaughn Forest Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala.

NAMB trustees to place Reccord under ‘Executive Level controls’

By Art Toalston

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)–Robert E. (Bob) Reccord, president of the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board, will work under several sets of “Executive Level controls” signaled by NAMB’s trustees during a special meeting March 23.

The trustees based their deliberations on a 19-page report by a nine-member trustee task force created in response to an article in the Georgia Baptist Convention’s newsjournal, The Christian Index, which set forth a range of allegations about NAMB’s evangelism and church planting strategies; the size and makeup of its missionary force; and management issues related to Reccord.

“We want the Southern Baptist Convention to know we’ve responded to the issues [through the task force report] and because of that response we believe that you can trust what we’re doing here at NAMB,” trustee chairman Barry Holcomb said in a news conference after the meeting.

“We want Southern Baptists to know you can trust the North American Mission Board to take your Cooperative Program dollars that you generously give through the state conventions,” Holcomb said, “and you can trust us with your Annie Armstrong Easter Offering to be on mission and to do the work of God’s Kingdom.”

The task force report will be posted on www.namb.net today (NOTE:  It is now posted — click here

The 58-member trustee board unanimously approved a six-part plan to establish the Executive Level controls for Reccord during a meeting stretching seven and a half hours at NAMB’s Atlanta-area headquarters in Alpharetta, Ga. The meeting was held in executive session because SBC trustees typically meet in private when dealing with personnel issues.

NAMB’s chief operating officer, Chuck Allen, submitted his resignation on March 22.

Allen “resigned for reasons that did not involve our discussions today in the board meeting,” Holcomb said. “Chuck Allen has been a friend of the trustees. … We stand ready to assist Chuck Allen in whatever future ministry opportunities God has for him.” Holcomb, otherwise, declined further comment about Allen’s departure.

Reccord has been NAMB’s president since its founding in 1997 as part of the Southern Baptist Convention’s restructuring, called “Covenant for a New Century.” NAMB primarily was formed in a merger of the SBC’s former Home Mission Board, Radio and Television Commission and Brotherhood Commission. At the time Reccord was pastor of First Baptist Church in Norfolk, Va.

Under the accountability plan for Reccord, a trustee subcommittee will be appointed by Holcomb “to develop a set of Executive Level controls to be used as a guide” related to various issues raised in the Feb. 16 Christian Index article.

The subcommittee, which Holcomb said he hopes to name during the coming month, will propose controls for:

1) “directing the travel, speaking, and on-campus office time required for the President….”

2) “the use of RFP’s” (Request For Proposals), akin to bidding to compete for work being outsourced by NAMB.

3) “when the President … wants to develop new initiatives, including the appropriate oversight and approval by the Board.”

4) “clarifying what constitutes poor management by an executive officer and how it should be handled.”

5) providing Reccord and NAMB “with greater levels of accountability to the Board and the Southern Baptist Convention.”

Under the sixth part of the plan, the board assigned “its duly elected officers, in perpetuity, with the role of monitoring these controls, utilizing them as part of the President’s annual review, and reporting the status of these controls annually at an assigned full Board meeting.”

Holcomb, pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Adalusia, Ala., noted that SBC President Bobby Welch attended the meeting.

“I phoned him about a week ago and I said, ‘Bobby, we’d like to invite you to be there for our meeting. I would like for you to be able to say to Southern Baptists that the board of trustees of the North American Mission Board handled the business at hand. And he sat through almost our entire meeting. He was very pleased with how things went and he said, ‘Barry, the board has done an excellent job. They’ve addressed the facts. And Southern Baptists don’t have anything to be ashamed of.’”

Reccord said in a statement: “I am thankful that the trustee process worked. That’s why we have such a process. While we jointly found opportunities and areas on which to strengthen and improve, I celebrate the fact that the deep and thorough financial and practices audit gave us a clean bill of health, including the status and history of our reserves.” 

Holcomb said Reccord told the trustees “that he understands that, as president of this agency, he is under our directorship. … He said, ‘I am willing to work with the trustees in whatever parameters we need to,’ in order to address the concerns that Southern Baptists may have about the North American Mission Board. …

“I don’t want to speak for him, but I think it would be alright to say he recognizes, just like all of us, that he’s not perfect and we’re not perfect, and there are certain areas that we need to improve,” Holcomb said. “I think the recommendations that the board adopted today will help him. I think in that sense he is very happy to follow this process.”

“[Reccord's] job is not in jeopardy,” Holcomb said, noting that no disciplinary measures were taken by the board; “we found nothing to sustain any kind of thought of wrongdoing, anything unethical, anything immoral … .

“Dr. Reccord is a very visionary leader, and I think with any visionary he’s going to do things and lead in such a way that it puts us on the cutting edge of what we’re trying to in missions and evangelism,” Holcomb said. “And we’re at a point now of looking back at some of those things and some of those decisions and saying, ‘Here’s some things that worked and here’s some things that really didn’t work and we wouldn’t do that again.’ …

“But I think the trustees overwhelmingly today said, ‘Dr. Reccord, you are the visionary leader that God has given us.’”

William J. (Bill) Curtis, the trustees’ first vice chairman, said during the news conference that the trustees are “prepared to acknowledge that it is a shared responsibility for where we are at this point.”

“Rather than just place all the responsibility for some of the concerns that have been raised on the shoulders of the ELT [NAMB's Executive Leadership Team], as trustees we also acknowledge that this is a process that together we need to take ownership of and work through for the improvement of the agency and the good of the SBC,” said Curtis, one of the task force’s members and pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Florence, S.C.

Another task force member, Tim Patterson, pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., said, “We did not give Dr. Reccord a pass on anything …. We asked very tough, very pointed, very particular questions, because we want Southern Baptists to know that we want everything dealt with that is an issue.”

Said Holcomb: “We do not want to give the impression to anyone that we do not welcome criticism. As we worked we realized, ‘Hey, this is going to make us better, this is going to make us stronger.’”

Asked by a reporter about a fear among NAMB employees of being terminated if they raise concerns about the organization’s direction and operation, Holcomb and Curtis acknowledged that some staffers have voiced such fears.

Curtis said the task force report will reflect a concern “to see what we can do to remedy that.”

Patterson said the trustee task force appreciated the openness its members received.

“Everyone within this building and outside that we asked information of was very forthcoming, very helpful. No one was reticent or holding anything back. They [would say,] ‘What do you need? Anything else you need?’ And when we asked for personal opinion, they gave us personal opinion. No one that we asked held back anything.”

Reccord said he hopes NAMB now can refocus on its ministry.

“This has been a time of great distraction for all of our staff from the task of North American missions,” he said in his statement. “And while, like Nehemiah, we were committed ‘Not to come down from the wall,’ the forces of distraction were strong. Now it is time to get back to the work. Where mistakes have been made, I have made a pledge to use this process to correct those errors and work with our trustees to make NAMB a stronger agency.

“Our trustees have spent a multitude of hours and much energy reviewing all the facts and now I trust that Southern Baptists will trust their trustees and these processes and that we will move on together as we focus on reaching North America for Christ.”

The trustees’ nine-member task force, in addition to Holcomb, Curtis and Patterson, included Larry Thomas, director of missions for the Red River Baptist Association in Heber Springs, Ark.; Terry Fox, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Wichita, Kan.; David Crump, pastor of Aspen Park Baptist Church in Broken Arrow, Okla.; Timothy (Tim) P. Dowdy, pastor of Eagle’s Landing First Baptist Church in McDonough, Ga.; Albert (Al) Y. Kawamoto, a member of Arlington Park Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas; and Ellie Wade Ficken, a member of Vaughn Forest Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala.

John Ortberg’s 3 points of ministry to difficult people

by Rebecca Barnes, Editor, Church Central Today

After Maureen began attending our small group Bible study she began telephoning us nearly every day to discuss her problems. We soon learned every detail about her failed marriage, her wayward child, her overbearing boss, her health problems. It was usually a one-sided conversation that involved little more than several uh-huhs from me. It wasn’t that I didn’t care about her, I just didn’t want to have to care every day, and for someone who apparently gave no thought to reciprocating that care.

You probably have a Maureen in your life, too. If you are in ministry you probably have several Maureens. Difficult people seem to gravitate toward churches. That’s a good thing. Jesus said it is the sick who need a doctor.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Oh Happy Day

LSU 62, Duke 54.

‘Nuff said.

The Dying American Church (Thom S. Rainer)

I am by nature an optimist. I have seen the hand of God too often in my life to live in a state of despair and defeatism. But the state of evangelism in the American Church is such that I do have my moments when I wonder if the Church is headed down the path of many European congregations: decline and death. The facts of a 2004 research project I led are sobering. It takes 86 church members in America one year to reach a person for Christ. Now I realize that such statistical studies are imperfect, and I make no claims of omniscience, especially in matters such as the regenerate population. But if the research is even close to accurate, the reality is that the Church is not reproducing herself. In just one or two generations, Christianity could be so marginalized that it will be deemed irrelevant by most observers. Why has the American Church become evangelistically anemic? The research points to several possible factors. First, the Church and many of the Christians who serve in the churches have become doctrinally ineffective. Repentance is often avoided as a key truth of the gospel. Hell is rarely mentioned, despite its abundance of references in Scripture. And regenerate church membership and church discipline are sometimes perceived as relics of an old and irrelevant era. When these and other key issues are avoided or even watered down, the Church loses her power, and the gospel is no longer the gospel. Second, church leaders are becoming less evangelistic. A survey of pastors I led in 2005 surprised the research team. Over one-half (53 percent) of pastors have made no evangelistic efforts at all in the past six months. They have not shared the gospel. They have not attempted to engage a lost and unchurched person at any level. They have become busy doing many things, but they have chosen through their lack of actions to be disobedient to Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:19, and many other clear passages of evangelistic mandates. Third, Christians in churches often get caught up in the minor issues and fail to become passionate about the major issue of evangelism. I served as pastor of a church that spent two hours in a business meeting debating over a 5 percent differential in the cost of two similar pieces of furniture. I wish I had seen such passion for the lost and the unchurched in our community. The numerical evidence seems clear. The American Church is dying. We are not reproducing Christians. American Church growth is typically the transfer of members from one congregation to another, rather than the conversion of the lost. I guess I could blame the churches, her leaders, and stubborn church members. But I must confess that I too often fall short in my own evangelistic zeal. Sometimes I get so busy that I fail to do the main thing. Perhaps the first step for all of us is the confession of our own sins of disobedience, our own failures to take the evangelistic mandate seriously. Perhaps if we determine that the problem begins with me, then we can be a part of the solution. Will you join me in a personal evangelistic renewal? The results of our evangelistic efforts are in the hands of a Sovereign God. But we can be His instruments for this renewal. Perhaps then the American Church will see new life and new hope. Such is my prayer. I hope it is yours.

Tolerant Intolerance (or is that Intolerant Tolerance?)

Isaac Hayes, and entertainer by trade and scientologist by religious preference, recently quit his animated voicing duties at on “South Park” because an episode made a parody of scientology.  Isaac Hayes said he couldn’t tolerate the show’s religious “intolerance and bigotry.”  Matt Stone, creator of South Park, noted, “This is 100 percent having to do with his faith … He has no problem — and he’s cashed plenty of checks — with our show making fun of Christians.” (Newsweek, March 27, 2006, p. 23). 

The watchword in our society is ‘tolerance.’  But tolerance for most folks only goes so far — they desire tolerance for their own mindsets, yet they are intolerant for those who actually have the audacity (sarcasm intended) to say something against their beliefs.  In our day, not only does something have to be accepted and tolerated, it has to be seen as right.  Nothing is wrong nor should it be made fun of— if you say so, you’re being intolerant and not playing nice. 

We see this during election cycles.  Some folks stand up and say some terrible things about our President (whether W or Clinton or Reagan or Nixon — whoever) and they say they are invoking free speech.  But if someone else stands up and disagrees with these folks, then they are called down for disagreeing.  Where’s the tolerance?  Why are they not defended in their free speech — even if they disagree?

We Christians have to know we will be made fun of and persecuted for our faith (2 Timothy 3:12).  People will mock and make fun.  But instead of ’standing up for our rights,’ let’s just keep living the live knowing this will happen, but realize that God will repay whatever is done to us.  Let’s keep our eyes on Him rather than on man’s opinion. 

 

Missing the Mark in Ministry to Gays (PreachingNow.com)

Missing the mark in ministry to gays

Tim Wilkins was once involved in a homosexual lifestyle. Today he is a Christian and has a ministry (www.CrossMinistry.org) to persons struggling with homosexuality. In his most recent newsletter, he writes: “Society in general and churches in particular mistakenly believe freedom from homosexuality is marrying, having 2.3 children and a dog in the back yard. A 2001 secular study on the possibility of change shows the depth of this ingrained ‘doctrine’. Dr. Robert Spitzer, a Columbia University professor, interviewed men and women who said they used to be homosexual; I was one of many he questioned. As beneficial as his study was and as much as I appreciate the visibility it gave to change, his study measured heterosexual function of the former homosexual — again missing the real issue.

“But” you ask, “don’t homosexuals need to become heterosexuals?” No! Scripture never states nor implies all people must be heterosexual; it does say explicitly, however, that we are to avoid all forms of sexual immorality, which includes homosexuality. With that in mind have we not at times given the impression that homosexuals must “convert” to heterosexuality? Jesus did not say “Go and make heterosexuals”; He said, “Go and make disciples.”

“But” you ask, “isn’t heterosexuality the opposite of homosexuality?” No! The opposite of homosexuality is holiness!

The term “former homosexual” is inadequate if not inappropriate. We mistakenly think a person who has found freedom from same-sex attractions is now heterosexual. The former homosexual man or woman may now experience heterosexual feelings, but heterosexuality should never be his or the churches’ goal. Heterosexuality is in many cases, but not all, a byproduct of the homosexual’s dealing with the primary issues — a distorted self-image and faulty thinking — both of which Satan uses to “gain control.”

The church will do well to remember that singleness is not a sin, immorality is. What all this means is that most of churches’ advice to the homosexual misses the mark entirely!

(Tim will be leading his “More Than Words” conference at First Baptist, Dallas, on May 6 and at First Assembly of God, Raleigh, on August 12. Visit his website, www.CrossMinistry.org for information)

(Produced in the PreachingNow Newsletter from http://www.preaching.com, March 21, 2006).

Basketball Team and Prayer Tradition (WKYT)

Basketball has become a winning tradition at South Laurel High School, with the boys winning the state championship last year and making it to the quarter finals this year.  But something that happens after the games has also become a tradition- one that players and coaches value even more than winning.

The power of prayer can send cheers through a crowd of thousands, or silence an entire gym, especially when it’s led by a high school senior basketball player.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Click here to read how Walt was the AP High School Player of the Year. 

Man-Centered Praise Choruses?

This Sunday, our church will commission five of our members who will be on-mission to New Orleans to help in the clean-up of the Hope Church in Waldheim and in other surrounding areas.  The name of the team is NO LiMiT (New Orleans, Louisiana, Missions Team) and the key verse around their trip is Psalm 147:5:  

Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
       his understanding has no limit.

The entire Psalm is about the greatness and worth of God’s power, provision, protection, and His proclaimed Word. 

Whenever I study the Psalms, I always turn to the three volume commentary on Psalms by James Montgomery Boice (1938-2003).  His commentaries along with John MacArthur’s are infinitely pastoral in tone but scholarly in depth and content.  Dr. Boice in his notes on Psalm 147 quoted Marva Dawn from her wonderful work Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down on how many of our praise choruses actually exalt the worshipper rather than the One who is worshipped!

For instance, one song by Rita Baloche called “I Will Celebrate” goes as follows:

 I will celebrate, sing unto the Lord
Sing to the Lord a new song (repeat)

With my heart rejoicing within
With my mind focused on Him
With my hands raised to the heavens
All I am worshipping Him
((c) 1990, Maranatha Praise, Inc.)

Notice the subjects of the sentence — in this short chorus, the worshiper is the subject a half dozen times.  All the while, we do not know anything about this God we are worshiping from this chorus (and thousands of hymns and choruses like it sung across this land), but we know all about what the worshiper is doing and singing and saying and feeling. 

Isn’t that the exact opposite of what is supposed to be happening in worship?  Psalm 147 only uses two pronouns to describe what the worshiper is doing.  But almost two dozen times does the Psalm recount who God is, what He has done, and what He desires for His people. 

So give me “Holy, Holy, Holy” and this wonderful hymn over all the others.  Let’s know the God we worship.  Let’s tell of His might and sing of His grace!

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessèd, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great Name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice, like mountains, high soaring above
Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish—but naught changeth Thee.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
But of all Thy rich graces this grace, Lord, impart
Take the veil from our faces, the vile from our heart.

All laud we would render; O help us to see
’Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee,
And so let Thy glory, Almighty, impart,
Through Christ in His story, Thy Christ to the heart.

What do you think? 

Family Watch Dog!

John Walsh of America’s Most Wanted fame has developed a website at http://www.familywatchdog.us to show all of the registered sex offenders that live in our respective neighborhoods.  In the state of Kentucky, Florida, Indiana, Virginia and West Virginia, pictures of the sex offenders are included.  I pray this will be of use to all of you who have young children to be on the lookout and stay safe. 

Christway Media — great devos of Dr. D.A. Carson

I would like to commend to you Christway Media for a good, meaty devotional each day.  These devotionals are from D.A. Carson’s “The Love of God, Book II” (and taken by permission).  Maurice Bergeron is the curator of this ministry.  In the devotional you see the four Scripture readings at the beginning are from the McCheyne Bible Reading system to help you through the Scriptures each year.  The devotionals are taken from one of those Scripture readings.

—

March 19

Exodus 30; John 9; Proverbs 6; Galatians 5

THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING OF Galatians 5, taken together, tell us a great deal about the Gospel that Paul preaches.

  In the first part, Paul is still trying to persuade his Gentile Christian readers in Galatia that adding Jewish heritage and ritual to their Christian faith does not add something to it, but subtracts something from it.  In particular, if they submit to circumcision, then “Christ will be of no value” to them at all (5:2).  Why not?  What harm could arise from being circumcised?  Paul explains that the Gentile who allows himself to be circumcised “is obligated to obey the whole law” (5:3).  That was the symbol – significance of circumcision:  it was the mark of submission to the law – covenant.  But to take that step betrays a massive failure to understand the true relationship between the law – covenant and the new covenant that the Lord Jesus Christ introduced.  The former prepares for the latter, announces the latter, anticipates the latter.  But to commit oneself to obeying the terms of the law – covenant is to announce that the new covenant Jesus secured by his death is somehow inadequate.  These Galatians, who have in the past clearly understood that men and women are justified by grace through faith, are now “trying to be justified by law,” and in so doing “have been alienated from Christ”; it means nothing less than falling away from grace (5:4).  The ultimate righteousness will be ours at the end, when Jesus returns.  Meanwhile, “by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope” (5:5).  To understand the crucial significance of Christ this way means that those who believe in Christ Jesus — what he has accomplished for us in his central place in redemptive history — know full well that circumcision itself is neither here nor there (5:6).  But circumcision actually subtracts from Christ if one undergoes it out of a desire to submit to a covenant that in certain respects Christ has made passe.
http://www.christwaymedia.com .

BOOK DISCOUNT:
Looking for a book by a respected Christian author? We have arranged with Trinity Bookstore a special discount for our subscribers. When you make your purchase insert our special discount code “CWM04″ within the “Special Shipping Instructions” box at the checkout. [ Visit http://www.trinitybookstore.com ]

–
On behalf of Dr. Carson and ChristWay Media,
 Maurice “Moe” Bergeron
   List Manager

 

Praise God — He worked in our Youth Rally

Praise God — after the Josh Martin Band led in worship music and Pastor Roddie Taylor preached, God moved in a number of young hearts.  We had about four come saying they wanted to get serious about their Christian life — and one received Jesus Christ as her only Lord and Savior.  Pray for her — her name is Megan.

Pastor Taylor will commence with the revival services over the next three days.  Pray that God would grant a joy and delight in Him in the hearts of all the people for Christ Jesus!

Why Men Don’t Preach Sovereign Grace

Tim Challies linked to this and I’d have to agree!  This is an actual hymn that is not in too many hymnals from what I’ve seen. 

 http://preacherthoughts.blogspot.com/2006/03/why-men-dont-preach-sovereign-grace.html

Why Men Don’t Preach Sovereign Grace

Tim Challies linked to this and I’d have to agree!  This is an actual hymn that is not in too many hymnals from what I’ve seen. 

 http://preacherthoughts.blogspot.com/2006/03/why-men-dont-preach-sovereign-grace.html

Prayer for Roddie and Stella Taylor

 

I ask for your prayers this weekend for our revival services.  Pastor Roddie Taylor and his wife Stella from Trinidad are coming to our church as he will conduct some revival services and our annual Youth Rally.  We know we cannot schedule revival, but we do need to set our sails so when the Holy Spirit does move and blow, we will be sailing in His direction — not ours. 

Psalm 85:1-13
    To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

    Lord, you were favorable to your land;
        you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
    [2] You forgave the iniquity of your people;
        you covered all their sin.  Selah
    [3] You withdrew all your wrath;
        you turned from your hot anger.
    [4] Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
        and put away your indignation toward us!
    [5] Will you be angry with us forever?
        Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
    [6] Will you not revive us again,
        that your people may rejoice in you?
    [7] Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
        and grant us your salvation.
    [8] Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
        for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
        but let them not turn back to folly.
    [9] Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
        that glory may dwell in our land.
    [10] Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
        righteousness and peace kiss each other.
    [11] Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
        and righteousness looks down from the sky.
    [12] Yes, the Lord will give what is good,
        and our land will yield its increase.
    [13] Righteousness will go before him
        and make his footsteps a way.

The IMB Trustee Chairman sends an open letter to laymen and pastors

Dear Southern Baptist brothers and sisters,

Thank you for your passion for sharing Jesus. These are great days of opportunity and advancement in our work for the Lord. Advances are being made on a scale never before known in the history of Christianity. For this we join together in praise to our Savior.

I have addressed the following letter to pastors because they are the teachers and guardians of the Word for their congregations. Their sacred duty is a calling higher than that of the President of the United States and, as such, I wanted to address them concerning these doctrinal matters. But feel free to look over their shoulders and read this material.

There has been no small controversy concerning some of our recent decisions. However, as I have shared this information with pastors and others, most have expressed joy because information they had previously received was incomplete. Seeing the greater context has helped many to appreciate the decisions recently made. I pray you will have the same experience.

We are on a great adventure together. It stands to reason that our adversary would love to put us against one another. Let’s put all blame on our real enemy and work harder than ever to reach every person with the Gospel in our lifetime.

Thank you so much for your prayers. We are your servants and we appreciate every word you share, even the constructive criticism. I pray our hearts will be obvious as you read these pages.

For His Glory,

Tom Hatley
Chairman, International Mission Board trustees
Southern Baptist Convention

(To read the letter to pastors, click here.)

“I Gave Up Nothing” — A Brief Look at Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

 

 

“I gave up nothing [a promising medical career]; I received everything. I count it the highest honor that God can confer on any man to call him to be a herald of the gospel.”

Who said this? Why, none other than Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) — one of the greatest preachers of the 20th century! In fact, a wonderful treasure of his life and work can be found at the Martyn Lloyd-Jones Trust. When one hears this wonderful man of God preach, we understand how Christ had captured Him — how the Word of God gripped him to the glory of God!

I highly recommend to you a wonderful volume by Dr. Lloyd-Jones called “Preaching & Preachers.” He writes:

“The work of preaching is the highest and greatest and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called. If you want something in addition to that I would say without any hesitation that the most urgent need in the Christian church today is true preaching; and as it is the greatest and the most urgent need in the Church; it is obviously the greatest need of the world also. . . . Is there any need of preaching? Is there any place for preaching in the modern church and the modern world, or has preaching become quite outmoded? The very fact that one has to pose such a question, and to consider it, is, it seems to me, the most illuminating commentary on the state of the Church at the present time” (p.9).

Like Paul, Dr. Lloyd-Jones could say,

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8, ESV).

By the world’s standards, Paul gave up everything: wealth, worldly intelligence, status, and an unbelievable heritage. All those things that the world put in Paul’s credit column of the ledger that was his life is now in his debit column. What’s left to Paul’s credit? Only Christ. Paul, like Lloyd-Jones, gave up nothing (I should say, Lloyd-Jones like Paul gave up nothing).

I hope this will springboard your look into Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ life and ministry — it will be well-worth your time, I promise you!

Copyright ? 2005 by Treasure The Word. All rights reserved. You may transmit this electronically to as many as you wish or make up to 1000 hard copies of this devotional. All we ask is that you give proper credit to the author, his ministry, his church, and not change the wording.

“I Gave Up Nothing” — A Brief Look at Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

 

 

“I gave up nothing [a promising medical career]; I received everything. I count it the highest honor that God can confer on any man to call him to be a herald of the gospel.”

Who said this? Why, none other than Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) — one of the greatest preachers of the 20th century! In fact, a wonderful treasure of his life and work can be found at the Martyn Lloyd-Jones Trust. When one hears this wonderful man of God preach, we understand how Christ had captured Him — how the Word of God gripped him to the glory of God!

I highly recommend to you a wonderful volume by Dr. Lloyd-Jones called “Preaching & Preachers.” He writes:

“The work of preaching is the highest and greatest and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called. If you want something in addition to that I would say without any hesitation that the most urgent need in the Christian church today is true preaching; and as it is the greatest and the most urgent need in the Church; it is obviously the greatest need of the world also. . . . Is there any need of preaching? Is there any place for preaching in the modern church and the modern world, or has preaching become quite outmoded? The very fact that one has to pose such a question, and to consider it, is, it seems to me, the most illuminating commentary on the state of the Church at the present time” (p.9).

Like Paul, Dr. Lloyd-Jones could say,

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8, ESV).

By the world’s standards, Paul gave up everything: wealth, worldly intelligence, status, and an unbelievable heritage. All those things that the world put in Paul’s credit column of the ledger that was his life is now in his debit column. What’s left to Paul’s credit? Only Christ. Paul, like Lloyd-Jones, gave up nothing (I should say, Lloyd-Jones like Paul gave up nothing).

I hope this will springboard your look into Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ life and ministry — it will be well-worth your time, I promise you!

Copyright ? 2005 by Treasure The Word. All rights reserved. You may transmit this electronically to as many as you wish or make up to 1000 hard copies of this devotional. All we ask is that you give proper credit to the author, his ministry, his church, and not change the wording.

What is the Gospel?

Here is an interview on the Way of the Master Radio with Mark Dever about the nature of the Gospel. I am glad Tim Challies posted this on his blog, because I fear that many in our churches do not know what the Gospel is in full.

Enjoy!

Here we are at WordPress

Here we are at Word Press.

O Lord, I Desire to Be Humbled

Under a sense of my sins and unmerited mercies, I desire through grace, in sincerity and humility of soul, to approach to the Author of all my mercies, and to lay before You, O merciful Father! all my plans–desiring Your divine direction.

And, in the first place, I confess my own sins. I desire to be humbled under my natural proneness to evil and aversion to good; for my many sinful thoughts, which You, O Lord, know; for my wrong conceptions of the great Jehovah, and the smallness of my holy fear when in Your presence, calling on You before whom all the earth should tremble.

I also desire to be humbled for my limiting God, as if he were not Almighty; for not placing all my faith and hope on Him alone, but on appearances and probabilities; for my ingratitude to God for His many matchless mercies to me in feeding and clothing me, and giving me favor in the eyes of men with whom I had to do. Providence has never failed me, but always supplied me; yet in the time of prosperity I sinned, and joined with sinners in their follies, which now I lament, and desire to be humbled for.

O to learn the language of Your rod!

O Lord! I desire to be humbled for . . .
all my prevailing lusts and passions;
my spiritual pride,
my ignorance of the things of God,
my barrenness under the gospel,
my lukewarmness about the things of Christ;
my carelessness about pious duties.

Ah! that ever I should doubt the good will of Him who heard my cry and delivered me out of the hand of my fierce afflictions, manifesting His mighty power. I desire to be humbled for my earthly-mindedness and my desire after temporal things–riches, honor, and glory–which perish and pass away. I desire to be humbled for that great mountain of sins accumulated on me since my last season of prayer.

And now I desire to lay before You my petitions. And first of all, O to be daily getting nearer and nearer You; to be growing more and more acquainted with lovely
Jesus, increasing more and more in grace, becoming more and more like You, and daily less conformed to the world; to be delighting more and more in spiritual things, given more and more to meditation on the glory to be revealed, loving Him more and more, who loved me!

O to be delighting in God all the day long, living in His fear as before Him always, learning more and more submission to His disposals in providence, and more and more persuaded of the rectitude of His will, the equity of His law, the longness of His patience, and His care of His own. O to get some victory over prevailing sin, and that which so easily besets me! O, Let never the greed for money get a hold of my heart; keep me from covetousness.

Now, O Lord, in the hope that You will hear, I lay all my petitions before You. Choose what you will, cast away what you will–I will be content. I commit myself to You. I take You as my God and Father, for my Savior, for my Sanctifier forever. O hear!

I desire in truth, O majestic Jehovah! to call these heavens over my head, the hills and mountains aroundme, the growing grass–to be witnesses, that I this day subscribe with my hand to be Yours, wholly Yours. Amen, amen! So be it!

James Meikle, July, 1752.
(from a paper found among his remains)

(Distributed by Grace Gems, who sends out quotes of this nature daily.)

Miscellaneous Musings

Today is busy, busy, busy, but I still would like to post a few things in no particular order.

Sermon from this past Sunday

I preached on King Josiah from 2 Chronicles 34 on the topic, “How To Know Revival Has Happened.” We schedule revival meetings each Spring and ours kicks off with a Youth Rally on Saturday the 18th at 7:00 p.m., followed by the revival services led by Pastor Roddie Taylor from Trinidad on the 19th through the 21st.

If you’d like to listen to the sermon via RealAudio, click here. This will be up for the next month or so.

I Get Fearful When I Hear of People Angry

Sometimes people come to me with such anger and rage in their hearts over past (or sometimes present) grievances with someone else in their life, I begin to get nervous. Last night we looked at Genesis 4. Cain’s anger led to murder and all murders have anger backing them. Jesus even mentioned that if you have anger in your heart you have committed murder in your heart as well and that your worship is cut off and useless until that anger is dealt with and reconciliation ensues.

If you find yourself angry, settle your accounts quickly — for God’s sake, for your sake, and for your relationships’ sake.

The IMB-Baptism Issue

The issue does seem to be the eternal security issue, not just the mode of baptism. One pointed out correctly that this will always be the case with Southern Baptists — immersion will always be the mode. But whether a baptism that takes place in evangelical churches that do not hold to eternal security, that’s the primary issue here that is now being made policy.

The NCAA Tournament Begins

For me, the Tourney is the Super Bowl, the World Series, Daytona, and the NBA Finals rolled all into one. This is the best time of the year for this college sports fan. I am both a Louisville Cardinal fan (no tourney this year after a Final Four run last year) and a Florida Gator fan (grew up an hour from Gainesville). I’m happy with their No. 3 seed. We’ll see how far they can go this year after winning the SEC tournament for the second straight year.

Who do you think will make it to the Final Four? Here’s my picks:

Atlanta: Texas (Duke is just running out of steam)
Washington, D.C.: UConn (Calhoun just knows how to win)
Oakland: UCLA (or Gonzaga — have you seen that Morrison kid?)
Minneapolis: Florida (this is a biased pick — Go GATORS!!)

For a printable bracket in pdf format, click here.

The Academy Award speech we should have heard (Dennis Prager)

http://PatriotPost.US/news/oscars.asp

I’d like your thoughts.

IMB releases position paper on baptism

Ben Stratton recently sent this out in his newsletter out concerning the IMB’s new view on baptism:

On Tuesday, March 7, the trustees of the Southern Baptist International Missions Board released “A Position Paper Concerning The IMB Guideline on Baptism”. This paper can be found here. It is a good article and explains why the IMB rejects missionary candidates who have not been baptized by doctrinally sound congregations (Baptist churches). I encourage each of you to read the article and tell others about it.

Also the trustees of the IMB have invited pastors and any interested Southern Baptists to e-mail their feedback to imbtrustees@imb.org

What are your thoughts on the matter? I know that John Piper of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis has said that he does not feel this is a hill to die on and will receive members who have been sprinkled. I believe that being immersed is the biblical way because (1) Jesus did it that way (Mark 1:10) and (2) the word ‘baptism’ comes from the Greek baptizo which means to immerse or to dip. So I would have to agree with the IMB.

But what do you think?

Seasoned With The Psalter

I have started a new blog entitled “Seasoned With The Psalter” which will be a distilling of our Wednesday night prayer services in which I go over the Psalms. These will be posted each Thursday. The first post was on Psalm 87: “Glorious Things Of You Are Spoken.”

There’s also a blog that I have especially for pastors and preachers called Homileticalogistix (Homiletical Logistics) to help encourage pastors who have a passion for expository preaching.

City moves to condemn SBC church using eminent domain (BP)

It’s finally happened.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (BP)–City leaders in Long Beach, Calif., have classified the Filipino Baptist Fellowship’s building as a blighted area and are forcing the congregation out in order to make way for condominiums.

The path for the case was laid when the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 last summer in Kelo v. New London, Connecticut that a city’s use of eminent domain to transfer property from one private party to another may qualify as a “public use” protected by the Constitution.

John Eastman, director of The Claremont Institute’s Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence who is defending the church, said the case -– the first involving a Baptist church — may play a key role in reversing the high court’s eminent domain decision.

(Click on the blog title to read the entire article.)

ABC Moments in Breakout Moments

The ABC Moment in breakout churches is often the make or break in pastorates. Here it is:

Awareness. Leadership and key persons become aware that the church is not nearly all God intended it to be. At this stage it is common for church leaders to seek some type of outside perspective, such as attending a conference, zealously reading about issues related to the church, or hirign outside consultants. There is a keen desire to learn and improve.

Belief. This is where a leader confronts the brutal reality of the church. The facts serve as a wake-up call to make needed changes. This does not cause despair, but rather a strong belief that God can do something great even in these situations.

Crisis. When the change takes place, there’s a crisis in the heart of the leader, in the members of the church, and even in the attitudes of the members toward the leader. This is often a painful stage and is the time when many pastors leave. (p. 72).

This shows the strength needed in the leader and the prayer that must take place to change hearts so the church goes from where they are to where God needs them to be.

Why Would the Church Hire a Loser?

by Ken Johnson, Consultant
The Ken Johnson Group
Posted at the Church Central site
March 8, 2006

I worked with three pastors whose churches declined in attendance, giving and membership during their tenure as leader. Then, all three pastors accepted positions at larger churches. Why would a church look at a ministry history of decline and hire a loser?

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Persistence Needed Amongst Our Leaders

Here’s a great quote from “Breakout Churches” by Thom Rainer:

Most of the breakout churches in our study did not experience explosive overnight growth. For most, the path of growth was slow, methodical, and strewn with obstacles. Persistent, never-say-die leadership was a key instrument that God used to grow these churches to the next level. Giving up was always a temptation but never an option (p. 66)

These leaders, Rainer goes on, are ones who not only grasped vision, communicate vision, and implement vision, but “they consistently had a vision that was outwardly focused. In other words, a key component of their vision was to reach those who were not yet a part of the church” (p. 66).

Inspiring, wouldn’t you say? No institutionalistic churches in this bunch, that’s for sure.

Are You Pitching Tents or Looking for Greener Pastures?

Too many young pastors who are called to smaller churches are ready to leave as soon as they arrive on the field. They are looking for greener pastures, pastorates who have further reaching ministries, more influence, and a more comfortable living. It is rare among my contemporaries (I am 34 years old) to have one stay at a church for more than 3-5 years.

After reading “Breakout Churches,” I am even more convinced that if God truly called one to a particular ministry (small or large), then that minister should stay and invest a great deal of time in that ministry if the Lord wills it.

As The Rainer Group researched thousands of churches to see if any were breakout church (see the criteria from yesterday’s post), here’s another statistic that stood out to me.

• The average tenure of a breakout church leader exceeds twenty-one years.
• The average tenture of other churches is approximately four years.

The issues of why the tenure of pastors is so short is many and multi-faceted. Pastors leave for greener pastures, or to escape ultra-stressful situation due to the viciousness of the congregants, some others treat their pastors as CEOs expecting quick results. Look at what else Rainer says:

“And ironically, while these lay leaders demand quick results, they can be reluctant to give the pastor any authority to carry out the initiatives they expect to take place. The result is frustration for both parties. No wonder it is not uncommon to see pastors leave under pressure or even be forcefully terminated in such situations” (p. 58).

Now, long term pastorates are not the ultimate solution, but “I believe that long tenure is one of the key requisites for churches to move from mediocrity to goodness to greatness.” (58) Pastors too often leave at the first sign of conflict, but “breakout church leaders endured the pain and did not leave. They were tenacious. Their short-term pain brought long-term gains.”

Some of you who read this are seminary students, some of you are members of the church where I serve, some of you are friends in the ministry. I am convinced we should not be looking to grab the brass ring, but we should pour our heart and soul into the ministry where God has placed us. Preach the Word of God and love your people not as numbers but as just that … people — souls who need strengthening in Christ or souls who need Christ.

I hope that we as pastors are willing to pitch our tents in the pasture God’s placed us. Too many pastors will tell you — those greener pastures aren’t so green up close.

What They Did NOT Find in Breakout Churches

I’m reading a book that will both change and validate how I feel about church growth issues. The Rick Warrens and the Bill Hybels and the Ed Youngs often leave this pastor discouraged due to their ’success’ and ‘numerical growth’ in their respective churches. But God has brought along a breakthrough with Thom S. Rainer’s “Breakout Churches: Discover How to Make the Leap.”

After doing surveys on thousands of churches with a rather stringent criteria, they found 13 breakout churches. The criteria?

• 26 conversions annually since the breakout year.
• Church has averaged a conversion ratio of 20:1 (it takes 20 members to win one person to Christ in one year).
• The church had declined or plateaued for several years prior to its breakout year.
• The church broke out of its ’slump’ and maintained it for several years.
• The slump, reversal, and breakout all took place under the same pastor (showing that a change of leadership isn’t necessary to have a breakout).
• The church, since the breakout, has had a clear and positive impact on the community. (p. 20)

Look at what they did not find!

• The pastor involved in the transition was not leading by the sheer force of his charismatic personality, but a modesty pervaded their leadership style.
• Their churches were surprisingly slow in adopting new methodologies and latching on to the latest and hottest trends in the national church scene.
• A deliberately created and clearly articulated vision statement had little or nothing to do with the breakout to greatness.
• The location of the church, by region of the country or demographic patterns in the community, was not a factor in the breakout process.
• The name of the church and any decision to remove or keep the denominational identity was not a factor in breaking out.
• Developing a strategic plan was not imperative to growth.
• The breakout churches were conservative theologically, and it shows how important to be doctrinally clear, but solely being doctrinally correct does not move churches to greatness. (pp. 25-26).

How about that? How about THAT?!?! I am strongly considering having our On-Mission Team read through this or at least having it distilled for them when we meet again for discussion. In the coming days, I’ll share more of this. But if you can spare about $20-25 and are a church leader, this is a great book to have on your shelf!

 

Being On-Mission is a Non-Negotiable for the Church

Many of us in the evangelical world (especially amongst us Southern Baptists) have grown weary with ‘institutional church.’ In other words, we have grown disillusioned with church as an inward looking entity and … institution rather than an outward looking organism. This happens for various reasons which will be outlined later.

It is much easier for a church to simply ‘keep house’ and to get locked in to business as usual. And, if I may use another cliche, we simply must begin thinking outside of the box — all the while remaining true to the glorious doctrines of the blessed faith as outlined in the Scriptures.

Below are two links about those who are outside the box thinkers. The first is an article from the IMB about a family who returned ‘home’ to South Asia following the death of their eight-year-old son. Conventional wisdom says, “Stay in the States where its safe.” Read their story with delight and reflection!

The second one was forward to be from one of our members who, from what I gather, took a similar trip in South Asia a number of years ago — so this story is very near and dear to him. Again — outside the box ministry work.

Missionaries return ‘home’ following family tragedy.

Backpacking Girls Reach to the Ends of the Earth

Our church has and will be undertaking the Acts 1:8 Challenge that will help us become a worldwide missions center. Yesterday, we had our first “On Mission Team” meeting which will show us how to prepare, learn, pray, give, go, tell, send and multiply in fulfillment of this Acts 1:8 Challenge put forth by our Lord Jesus Himself.

Any outside the box thinkers out there when it comes to reaching your world? I’m convinced this is a mandate for our church:

Upward in worship
Inward in discipleship
Outward in ministry and missions.

For individuals, it is this. We are called to:

Spread the glory of God.
Strengthen the church.
Study His Word.
Share with the lost.

Just some thoughts.

Are You a Storehouse Tither?

[This is a tract I gave to the members here at Boone's Creek Baptist Church, but may it be a reminder for us as well. --- MRP]

Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need (Malachi 3:6-10, ESV).

“What is a storehouse tither?” Well, in our language today, we would say it is the tither who gives an undesignated tithe. See, there are many who give contributions to special items such as missions, special offerings for those who are in need, or even to the building fund (just to name a few) and they designate those gifts to go to that certain fund. And as wonderful as those gifts are — and as much as God loves the cheerfulness in which that gift is given — this is not a storehouse tithe.

A storehouse tithe is a tithe that is undesignated, given to what’s called the general fund. You see, when tithes were first instituted in Numbers and Deuteronomy, they were given to help the Levites (that is, the priests) to help them in their spiritual ministry and in the upkeep of the Temple. This tithe was to be brought into the storehouse of the Temple for use for any needs (both physical and spiritual) that may come up in the course of their day-to-day ministry. When the people were obedient and gave their storehouse tithe, the ministry of the Temple flourished. When they were not, it was the result of the people’s disobedience and the ministry of the Temple disintegrated.

The same is true in our day. We are a New Testament church who are still commanded to give their storehouse tithe and to give it first and to give it fully. Remember, “Bring your full tithe into the storehouse.”

This is an imperative, not an option. We have our nice homes, our bells and whistles, our nice clothing and jewelry, we fund our hobbies, we finance our habits — but where is God in the equation. For many, the question isn’t, “Is God first?” For many, we have to get to the point, “Is God anywhere at all in our money?”

What happens when we do not ‘storehouse tithe?’

1. When we do not storehouse tithe, we are running from God.

Look with me at Malachi 3:6 and the first half of verse 7:

For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.

God shows us His immutability. God never changes. How He was in the past is how He is now is how He will be in the future. In other words, He is faithful. And this attribute is polar opposite of how Israel was during Malachi’s time.

If you read through Malachi, you see God having a conversation with His people. He tells them first, “I have loved you.” But Israel looks around at their poor, rundown condition and their lack of prosperity and then asks, “God, how have you loved us?” They could not see the evidence of it.

He then tells the priests and the religious leaders in 1:6, “You have despised my name.” The priests, who felt they were doing everything just fine thank you very much, asked God back, “How have we despised your name?” They felt they were offering the right sacrifices and doing all the right things. But they were offering blind, lame, and blemished animals rather than the very best. God even says, “You wouldn’t offer your civic leaders this, would you? But you do Me.

In Malachi 2:10, God shows His anger toward Israel for joining with unbelievers in marriage and thus were “joining themselves to a foreign god.” Plus, in that day, divorce was rampant — they did not remain faithful to their vows. Yet the people could not understand why God was not showing His favor toward them. They were not being faithful to God nor to each other.

Next, God says, “You have wearied me with your words.” Israel again asks, “How?” Israel had spoken of how God was unjust. They felt they were the epitome of faithfulness and godly morality, but God wasn’t blessing them. Yet those around them who were evil (that’s everyone else but them, you see) were prospering. They were saying, “God is not just.” God reminds them that the day of the Lord, the day of judgment is coming. Then you will see how just I am.

Then He says, “But what about you?” In verse 5, God condemns them of sorcery; adultery; false testimonies; swindlers; extortioners; disregard for the needy, the widow and the fatherless!

Is this not a picture of today? Worship by routine, corrupt clergy, blindness to one’s unfaithfulness, believing God should bless even while we are in open sin, disregarding God — until something goes wrong, then He’s to blame! We change our devotions constantly. During one part of our lives, we were on-fire for the Lord in sincere worship and service — but now we may have changed! We shrug our shoulders at sin, we do everything godly by the motions, church and worship become less appealing. We change!

But God doesn’t. Because of God’s faithfulness and patience, we are not consumed. In every generation, those who call themselves His people change. And we may in our thoughts see these as awful issues, but by not tithing, do we see that this is a sin comparable to all those mentioned throughout Malachi?

2. When we do not storehouse tithe, we are robbing from God.

During one Sunday morning service at Ashland Avenue Baptist Church, then-pastor Hershael York stood behind the pulpit during the middle of the service and began to speak. He said, “Dear church family, there is something that has come to my attention that I as your pastor must deal with. I regret doing this during a Sunday morning service, but since this is when most of our church family attends, this seems to be the best time. I apologize to those of you who are guests with us this morning, but I must take care of some family business.

“It seems that someone has been stealing from the Lord’s treasury.”

As you can imagine, all the air went out of the room. You could have heard a pindrop in that rather large sanctuary. Dr. York went on: “I feel the need to tell you that I personally am not guilty of stealing from the Lord’s treasury, and neither are any on staff here at Ashland Ave. But I fear there are many in this room who are guilty.” You can imagine how they were beginning to shift in their seats looking around at who may look guilty.

Then he dropped the bomb: “We are stealing from the Lord in our tithes and offerings.” With that, the air came back in the room and people seemed relieved. Many thought, “Wow, that was a good one, preacher. You really had us going there for a minute.” And slowly people began to talk with one another and then came laughter as if to say, “Wow, I’ve been had!”

Yet Dr. York stayed behind the pulpit and then said, “I can see from your reaction that you do not see this as a very serious matter. But to God, it is of the utmost seriousness. Do you want to be convicted of robbing God? I don’t.”

You know, some folks got upset with Dr. York over that. But when you look at this passage, is he not right? The passage reads as follows:

[8] Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed
you?’ In your tithes and contributions. [9] You are cursed with a curse, for you
are robbing me, the whole nation of you. [10] Bring the full tithes into the
storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test,
says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and
pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need (Malachi 3:8-10).

Just like when they asked, “How shall we return?” with an attitude of, “We’re already devoted to you already,” so too they asked, “How have we robbed you?” “We’ve offered the sacrifices, we come to the temple, we do all these things — how have we robbed you?” The answer?

“In your tithes and contributions.” That is, God’s people were not bring a tenth of the resources that God had provided them and were not bringing them into the storehouse. They were robbing Him of His due! It’s even happening now! The average church member contributes between 1.5% and 2.5% of his total income specifically to the Lord’s work.

This issue is simply a symptom along with the other problems to a deeper situation — and that is the sin of unbelief! Lack of faith in being a storehouse tither stands right along disengaged worship, corrupt preachers and clergy, unfaithfulness to your marriage and friends, and blindness to your own sin even while you point out the sins of others.

3. When we storehouse tithe, we receive the blessings of God!

In our upside-down world, we buy our bells and whistles first. So many fund their hobbies and their habits and give them priority. Then we buy our clothes so we look good, feast on our food. Then we take care of our home and pay the bills (if there’s any money left over from that). Then Sunday rolls around and we are reminded of the offering time, we think, “Oh man, I can’t afford to tithe — I don’t have any money.”

You know what God is saying here? He’s saying, “You challenge Me! Take Me at My word and see what I will do. Come on! Test Me! Remember, I don’t change!

And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

Those of you who are familiar with the Scriptures may remember a time when Jesus, as He was tempted by the devil, told him, “It is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Matthew 4:7, cf. Deuteronomy 6:16). Satan was trying to manipulate God into sin so Satan would get the glory. Here in Malachi, God is challenging His people to taking Him up on His Word.

Are we willing to do that? Are we willing to give God what is due Him — the full tithe into the storehouse?

Copyright © 2005 by Matt Perry, Boone’s Creek Baptist Church. 185 N. Cleveland Rd., Lexington, KY 40509. (859) 263-5466. Copy as many as needed. http://www.boonescreekchurch.com . All Scripture references are from the English Standard Version. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Are Stay At Home Moms a Threat?

Are stay at home moms a threat to civilization? Those of you who are shocked by this question should take note of the fact that ABC’s “Good Morning America” program devoted segments to this question on two successive days, featuring the arguments of Linda Hirshman, a prominent feminist thinker.

Click on the title of this blog entry to read the entire article by Dr. Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY

What a Little Paint Can Do

A couple of weeks ago, I asked one of our members who is a very gifted artist to paint a mural in the hallway of our children’s area. I saw the wheels in her brains turning and she finally said, “Sure — I’d love to.” The result was a kid’s wing that had been entirely repainted and a Noah’s Ark mural with a checked border. She said she had some other ideas to make it a type of zoo theme.

When Sunday came and all the parents dropped off their children, you could not imagine their surprise and delight! And it seemed to get the creative juices flowing about what they could do to their rooms. There was a buzz about our church that had been missing for a while.

All over a little paint!

What’s the point? The point is that we get so locked in to our ‘church culture’ and our committees and our ‘way of doing things’ that I believe we miss the greater good of church life — God has granted everyone gifts to bring to the table of His Kingdom work.

• This woman could paint — and she was thrilled and excited to put that gift to work for the Kingdom!
• Some may play a musical instrument besides the piano and organ — do they have a place to contribute? You bet they do — if we allow ourselves to climb outside of that box!
• Some are people persons who have a way of making others feel warm and welcomed and loved — where could they serve? Maybe a greeter or a part of the Welcome Center!

My goodness, I find myself thinking in a box even now to come up with other ideas. But the point is this — God gifted you to give! It may not be as a missionary or a pastor or preacher, but it’s somewhere.

I’m telling you — this small revelation that I believe God granted me based on 1 Corinthians 12:12-14. One body, many members, many gifts, many talents — all doing Kingdom work. Such an elementary truth — but revolutionary!!!

I guess it just took a little paint to drive the point home.