Children Are Born Believers in God, Academic Claims

A recent article in the Telegraph says that “Children are ‘born believers’ in God and do not simply acquire religious beliefs through indoctrination.  He told the BBC:

The preponderance of scientific evidence for the past 10 years or so has shown that a lot more seems to be built into the natural development of children’s minds than we once thought, including a predisposition to see the natural world as designed and purposeful and that some kind of intelligent being is behind that purpose. . . . If we threw a handful on an island and they raised themselves I think they would believe in God.

He went on to note that children are more likely to believe in creationism rather than evolution, regardless of what teachers or parents may teach.

I find this rather encouraging that someone in the academic realm has been stating what Christianity has been stating for centuries. I wonder how the other academics will react? I, for one, am delighted.

Books for Trinidadian Pastors for Pastor’s Conference in January

Dear friends:

I will be leading a Pastor’s Conference in January in Point Fortin, Trinidad, and would like to provide them with small but helpful book by Art Azurdia called “Spirit Empowered Preaching.”

I have set up a Wishlist at Amazon where you can go and directly purchase a book for us. The book will be sent to Boone’s Creek Baptist Church where I pastor. I’m hoping to bring down 35 to pass out to the pastors.

Can you help? You can buy them new for $12.23 (plus tax and shipping), but there are also other options where you can buy them used.

Keith Green’s Dear John Letter to the Devil

Gotta love the early 1980’s print on his shirt. I just thank God for Keith Green and miss him dreadfully.

Bro. Matt’s E-Newsletter For The Week of 10.27.08

(Note:  I send a newsletter out to the members of Boone’s Creek Baptist Church, Lexington, KY.  It’s received a good response.  Here’s this past week’s newsletter.)

Bro. Matt’s E-Newsletter
From Bro. Matthew Perry, Pastor
Boone’s Creek Baptist Church, Lexington, KY
For The Week of October 20, 2008
http://www.boonescreekchurch.com – church homepage
https://bromattsblog.wordpress.com – my blog
http://expositionalogistix.wordpress.com – my blog geared for preachers

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TAKE OUR SURVEY
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We have developed a survey to help us understand patterns and trends in church attendance. Won’t you help us out? It’s just ten questions. Closes on Wednesday, the 29th, so you’d better hurry!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=FDczMy0j3Ay5nedIys9e_2bA_3d_3d

Thanks so much. We have 37 respondents so far!

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WHAT’S INCLUDED?
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• • This Past Sunday’s Sermon: “Remember With Joy”
• • Boone’s Creek Fighter Verse: Romans 5:1-5
• • Your Weekly Tuning
• • NEW! Digging Deeper In the Word: Devotions From Our Sunday Morning Sermon
• • Must-Read Articles and a Must-Listen Sermon
• • Fisherman’s Net: Featured Website for the Week
• • What’s Coming Up At Boone’s Creek? (Look for info about Trunk For Treat on 10/29, help with our Election Day Ministry!)
• • Some Good Medicine: Closing Cheer for Your Week

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THIS PAST SUNDAY’S SERMON
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This past Sunday, we celebrated 223 years of kingdom work at our Homecoming. Praise God, we had 217 in attendance with many old friends returning, new attenders visiting, and many hearts and minds touched by the Word and Kristian Booth’s wonderful testimony. I preached on “Remember With Joy” from Philippians 1:3-11. You may access the mp3 file here: http://sermoncloud.monkserve.com/EKK/256/2008-10-26.mp3. To listen to more sermons, log on to http://www.sermoncloud.com/bcbc .

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Boone’s Creek Fighter Verse: Romans 5:1-5, ESV
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Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

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Bro. Matt’s Weekly Tuning:
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I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now (Philippians 1:3-5, ESV).

I’ll never forget the time when I went to visit Bro. Mahanes while he was in the hospital. It was either around Christmas or New Year’s Day 2004. After I exchanged pleasantries with the family and was caught up on the situation, I remember Bro. Mahanes telling me, “Bro. Perry, remind those beautiful people at Boone’s Creek to be partners in the Gospel!” The very thought of that brought him great joy even in the midst of his ailments. No matter where you put a true preacher of the Gospel, either behind a pulpit or in a hospital bed during the holidays—they still have that heart to preach.

The book of Philippians was written to them by Paul from prison. Bro. Mahanes found joy in this notion in a hospital, Paul found joy in this actuality among the Philippian church while incarcerated! Why did this bring Paul (and Bro. Mahanes), this partnership in the gospel?

The word ‘partnership’ comes from the Greek word koinonia which is often translated “fellowship” or “communion.” Think about partnerships – comedy teams such as the Three Stooges, Abbott & Costello, Martin & Lewis. Even business partners fall into this. You are one act, one entity under the same umbrella seeking the same goals and vision. It’s a sharing something in common. We have a fellowship with one another based on the gospel! And this partnership shows itself in many different ways!

But the first understanding we must see is this—as churches, we must understand what the Gospel is! Through God’s electing love, He comes to redeem sinners from his wrath into his mercy through the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross for our sin. It is a moving from fellowshipping with the world, with sin, and with the devil and fellowshipping with Christ! 1 Cor. 1:9 says, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

So we are partners in the Gospel because of what the Gospel of Christ has done in redeeming and transforming our hearts from darkness to light, from sin to salvation! This is the fellowship! This is the commonality!

What is dangerous for so many churches is that they have exchanged the commonality and fellowship of the Gospel for fellowship on the basis of family, friends, denominational ties, and other earthly things. When the fellowship and partnership of the Gospel is lessened or compromised, that leaves an open door for Satan to introduce false teachings and practices in the church. I am thankful that Boone’s Creek Baptist Church has a history that has shown both a partnership in the Gospel and times when there was a partnership with earthly things – this the Lord did not bless and prosper.

Partnering with the Gospel is about linking arms with a body of believers who are passionate about sharing Christ, about strengthening His people, about spreading God’s glory, about giving to the Lord’s work (again, not to pay bills, but to help the Gospel spread, as the Philippians church had done – Philippians 4:10-11).

What do we partner with? Hobbies that we cannot do without? What do we identify with most of all? If your answer does not have Christ or His Word as priority, take time to repent right now and ask God to give you a heart that would be joined to Him and His mission!

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Digging Deeper in the Word
Devotions From our Sunday Morning Sermon
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(These are included on the back of our sermon notes each Sunday to help you reinforce what you learned during our Sunday Morning sermon.)

Monday, October 27, 2008: Read Philippians 4:10-20. The Philippian church entered into a partnership with Paul to help him advance the Gospel on his missionary journeys. In what way did they demonstrate their partnership with Paul? What does it mean to “share” in Paul’s “trouble?” Do we share in the labor of not only sharing the Gospel, but contributing to our church to help the Gospel reach further?

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: Read 1 Corinthians 1:4-8. According to this passage, how do Christians come into fellowship with Christ? When we come to Christ, do we lack any spiritual gift at all? Has Christ changed your heart to where He is your life and breath, to where you hunger and thirst after Him? Take time to thank God that He has provided everything you need and will “sustain you to the end” (1:8).

Wednesday, October 29, 2008: Read 2 Timothy 2:8-9. Paul wrote a number of his letters while imprisoned. Yet, in Philippians 1:3, he notes how he prayed “with joy” even while incarcerated. What reason do we see from 2 Timothy 2:8-9 that helps him maintain that joy? Is Christ sufficient for us to remain joyful, even in the most trying of circumstances? Do we see Paul as an unrealistic super-saint who doesn’t understand our issues, or do we see that He is

Thursday, October 30, 2008: Read Galatians 2:20-3:6. Paul noted how he had been “crucified with Christ,” yet Paul questioned whether the Galatians received Christ by faith or were “being perfected by the flesh.” They tried to live for Christ who saved them by grace through faith, but did so by living according to the law and by their own power. Why does Paul refer to the Galatians as “foolish” (3:1)? Do you find it difficult to live by faith in the Gospel, or do you try to live by your own strength and power? What role can church play in strengthening us? Pray for God’s work in you to live by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for you (2:20).

Friday, October 31, 2008: Read Romans 3:21-26. While our culture celebrates Halloween, many in the church celebrate Reformation Day to commemorate Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenburg, Germany in 1517. Luther noted that Romans 3:21-26 is “The Heart of the Gospel.”

Saturday, November 1: Read Matthew 7:1-6 as we look at “America’s Favorite Verse.” See you at Sunday School and church.

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Must-Read Articles/Must-Listen Sermons
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Walk The Aisle: How Did the Altar Call Come Into Use?
By Douglas Sweeney and Mark Rogers, Christianity Today

Here’s an excerpt:

The pastor closes his sermon: “The Holy Spirit bids you come. The congregation, praying, hoping, expectant, bids you come. On the first note of the first stanza, come down one of these stairways, down one of these aisles. May angels attend you. May the Holy Spirit of God encourage you. May the presence of Jesus walk by your side as you come, while we stand and while we sing.” And come they do. Week after week, in churches all across the America—and other parts of the world—scenes like this play out at the end of thousands of sermons. The congregation stands and sings “Just As I Am” or “Come Just as You Are.” Sinners walk the aisle and pray for salvation.

This common evangelistic method, known as the altar call or the public invitation, has not always been around. Successful evangelists such as George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, and John Wesley never gave an altar call. In fact, they did not even know what it was. They invited their hearers passionately to come to Christ by faith and regularly counseled anxious sinners after their services. But they did not call sinners to make a public, physical response after evangelistic appeals. So where did the altar call come from? When did it begin?

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FISHERMAN’S NET: Featured Site of the Week
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International Mission Board, SBC
http://www.imb.org

Kristian Booth’s MySpace Music Page
http://www.myspace.com/kristianbooth

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What’s Coming Up here at Boone’s Creek?
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Trunk For Treat, Wednesday, October 29

Begin inviting parents and their children to be a part of this great time of fun, fellowship, and so much more. We will use this time as a way to acquire a list of prospects for our church. We will set up a booth where we will take pictures of their children, then take down their address and send them their child’s picture along with information about our church and an invitation to join us for worship and Sunday School.

Saturday, November 1: Kenneth Clayton and Kellyn Barker’s Co-Ed Wedding Shower—yes men, you are invited to come as well.

Tuesday, November 4: ELECTION DAY! That’s right, and not just any election day. This Election Day is to elect our 44th President. As good citizens of this country, I want to encourage you to exercise your right to vote. The polls are open from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. If you are going to be out of town, submit your absentee ballot. We live in a great republic that gives us the power to choose our leaders. So pray, then vote!!

Wednesday, November 5: Sunday School Worker’s Meeting at 6:00 in the sanctuary

Saturday, November 15: BMen Kickoff for 2008-2009, featuring Bob Van Brugen who will present information on his trip to the Holy Land.

Wednesday, November 19: Church Council Meeting, 6:00 p.m. in Room 101

Tuesday, November 25: Churchwide Thanksgiving Dinner at 6:00 in the Fellowship Hall. $3.50 per individual, $10.00 per family. No prayer meeting or TeamKID the following Wednesday.

Sunday, December 7: Lottie Moon Kickoff during our Sunday School Hour. All adult classes meet in the sanctuary. Also, Children’s Christmas Musical that evening at 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 14: Churchwide Christmas Dinner and Blood Drive after service; Adult Christmas Musical that evening at 7:00 p.m.

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SOME GOOD MEDICINE: CLOSING CHEER FOR YOUR WEEK
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Ever heard of a church sign war? This is likely fake, but really funny.

http://jdgreear.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/10/church-sign-war.html

Lord willing, I’ll see you Wednesday! Blessings!

Sermon Posted: God’s Lessons on Anxiety

We have just posted my sermon from yesterday: “God’s Lessons on Anxiety” from Matthew 6:25-34. 

Money For Something (Piper Vid)

(HT: Blake Craig)

An Old Keith Green Video

The Lord really used Keith Green’s music and ministry to bring me back to Himself and to help crystallize His call on me into the ministry. Here’s a clip of Keith singing, “Your Love Broke Through.”

“Reading the Bible for Personal Application” (iMonk Interviews David Powlison)

Michael Spencer, who serves at Oneida Baptist Institute in our beloved state of Kentucky and who runs the Internet Monk blog, interviewed David Powlison. Here’s the iMonk’s bio on Powlison:

David Powlison, M.Div., Ph.D., is a counselor and faculty member at CCEF and is the editor of the Journal of Biblical Counseling. He holds a Ph.D. in History and Science of Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a Master of Divinity degree from Westminster Theological Seminary.

Dr. Powlison has been counseling for over thirty years. He has written many books and articles on biblical counseling and the relationship between faith and psychology. Dr. Powlison is an adjunct professor at Westminster Theological Seminary and has taught across the world. David and his wife, Nan, have a son, two daughters, and one granddaughter.

Click here for the full and exceedingly helpful interview.

Calling Cards, iPods, and the Worth of Words, Part II: A Lesson from the iPod

(This sermon was preached on Sunday, July 13, 2008 at Boone’s Creek Baptist Church, Lexington, KY. To listen to the sermon in its entirety, click here. To read Part I, click here.)

On occasion, you may see someone walking down the street with a very small device that is used to listen to music called an iPod. In fact, I have an iPod right here — it’s a small one called an iPod shuffle that holds 1 GB worth of files. I have songs and sermons on this that I listen to while walking or in my car. What makes iPods so distinct?

If you take a look at one, you will notice the simplicity of the layout. Mine is silver with one big button on the front that includes the play/pause button. Simple. In his book, Simple Church, Thom Rainer observes how certain companies such as Apple, Google, Papa John’s, and Southwest Airlines are part of a trend:

Simple is in. Complexity is out. Out of style at least. Ironically, people are hungry for simple because the world has become much more complex. The amount of information accessible to us is continually increasing. … The result is a complicated world with complex and busy lives. And, in the midst of complexity, people want to find simplicity. They long for it, seek it, pay for it, even dream of it. Simple is in. Simple works. People respond to simple.

If that is the case with our culture at large, should this not also be the case with us as Christians in regards to our speech? In the first portion of verse 37, Jesus says, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’ Why is Jesus making this point?

Your character should be such a model of truthfulness, you won’t need the stack of Bibles or your momma’s grave or even feel the need to swear to God Himself. Your character will be such that when you speak, they know that you are speaking the truth. You won’t need to lace your conversation with extraneous comments so people will take you credibly.

God gave King Solomon great wisdom. In Ecclesiastes 5:1-7, we read some helpful wisdom for today:

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. [2] Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. [3] For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words.

[4] When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no plea sure in fools. Pay what you vow. [5] It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. [6] Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? [7] For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear.

You see, the number of words does not equate to wisdom and devotion. “Let your words be few.” Words are precious, so when we speak, we should make them count.

Dan Doriani is a pastor in Missouri who gives us a helpful illustration. Suppose you say to your child on Thursday evening, “If you help me clean the yard tonight, I’ll take you for ice cream on Sunday. The child immediately replies, “Do you promise?” What is this question? It’s questioning the credibility of the dad. Maybe the dad let the child down previously. Yet, whatever the reason, there is a check in the child’s mind that the Dad will come through.

Take a mental inventory of what you say. How do you use your speech? Do we use our speech to honor God’s good truth and character, or do we use our speech to be thought of greatly by men?

Why Does God Care About Marriage, Part II: Marriage is the Primary Bond

Larry Cunningham in an article in Reader’s Digest a number of years ago told about the time he was visiting friends. While there, they received a telephone call from their recently married daughter. After several tense minutes on the phone, the mother told the father to pick up the extension. The newlyweds had had their first big fight. In a few moments, the father rejoined us and tersely explained, “Said she wanted to come home.” “What did you tell her?” I asked. “Told her she was home.”

Matthew 19:5-6 quotes Jesus as saying, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:5-6). Here, Jesus quotes from Genesis 2, establishing once again that marriage is not a new institution nor simply a cultural one, but a spiritual one. It’s not just about a ‘piece of paper,’ but it’s an acknowledgment that the God of heaven has joined you together.

Each culture has struggled with the role of marriage, and they did as well in Jesus’ day. In Matthew 5:31, “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ In fact, the Pharisees bring this up in Matthew 19 when, in expressing disagreement with what Jesus said, noted, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” (Matthew 19:7). So, since this is mentioned in Matthew 5 and Matthew 19, permit me if you will to help understand.

Turn with me to Deut. 24:1-4

“When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, and if she goes and becomes another man’s wife, and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the Lord. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. (Deuteronomy 24:1-4)

Granted, this is a heavy passage. Many have interpreted this to be a way to get out of a marriage, but this is not the case. This is dealing with the matter of adultery and how divorcing someone improperly will lead to adultery. The whole passage hinges on the understanding of a phrase found in verse 1: “he has found some indecency in her.” What is this indecency? The indecency was not adultery, because adultery was punishable by death. But it may have been some indecent act that led up to adultery that brought disgrace and betrayal upon the union. In this passage, we see not an excuse for divorce but the potential harm and evil that comes from it. It serves as a warning that divorce can bring about adultery if a marriage ever takes place.

You may say, “Well, why did God allow this, if he’s so against it?” Jesus enlightens, “Because of your hardness of heart, but it was not so from the beginning.” God gave that provision to protect women from the death penalty and to warn men not to give up on their marriages too quickly.

Now, obviously, while we do not do the death penalty for adultery in 2008, do we see any relevance? Absolutely. God put all these issues and warnings in place so we would take his institution of marriage seriously. It is not something to trivialize or trifle with. We are to leave our father and mother and to join with our spouses so the two will become one flesh! Jesus says in Matthew 5:32, “But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Why sexual immorality? Because the trust and the bond has been shattered. Does God want us to reconcile, if possible? Absolutely. Is it difficult if not next to impossible under those circumstances? Believe it!