Posted on July 2, 2008
As we’ve journeyed through some of the “one another’s” of the New Testament, I’ve become more and more convinced that these are some of the Bible’s most difficult teachings to keep. I can look in my own life each week and see examples of times I’ve not honored these principles. But to ignore them will destroy the fellowship of God’s people.
We (beginning with me) must use them as an evaluation tool of our willingness to relate to one another differently than we would if we did not belong to Christ. This week’s “one another” is again really three “one another’s.” In fact, they spread out over two chapters of Romans, and I want to allow James to illustrate the truths. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 25, 2008
We’ve been going through the “one another’s” of the New Testament on Wednesdays at Bethel and it’s been a nice journey so far. I think the Scriptures themselves can simply break our hearts over the need for a close bond of fellowship within God’s family.
The first was “love one another,” which had to do with extending an unconditional, God-like love toward other believers as a witness to the world that we are Jesus’ disciples. Last week was “wash one another’s feet,” which emphasizes service to other believers. It’s humbling to picture Jesus stooping at our imperfect, dirty feet to cleanse us in His rich fellowship.
This week’s study is from Romans 12:10 in which Paul says, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another.” I think it’s a challenging admonition. Loving and serving are tough, but this one is equally tough because it requires us to give up so much of our selfishness. I think there are three key ideas conveyed. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 24, 2008
This past Sunday I preached from the fourth commandment, which is really two commandments in one: 1.) work six days, and 2.) rest one. We explored the extreme views on sabbatarian doctrine - legalism which asserts we must keep every point of the Old Testament sabbath laws and liberalism which ignores the underlying sabbath principles altogether. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 10, 2008
This week is our church’s Vacation Bible School, a week filled with what I call “blessed chaos.” Yesterday, my day started around 8:30 am and ended about 11:00 pm. It was filled with a hospital visit, some technical support, a few phone calls, getting our laptop and projector to run a song DVD, talking to some rather energetic kids about missions, and a counseling chat with a couple of friends. It was fifteen hours of blessed chaos. What does that phrase mean, anyway? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 2, 2008
As I prepared my message a couple of weeks ago on this topic, “No Lone Rangers Allowed,” my Ministry Assistant emailed me to see if I was sure I wanted the title to go into the bulletin as I had sent it to her, which was “No Lone Rangers Aloud.” What’s funny is, it proved the sermon title true. Had I been a lone ranger leader, I would have looked rather silly. That’s why there are no lone rangers aloud… I mean, allowed! Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 29, 2008
I believe God blesses the areas of our church’s life in which we are most willing to be sacrificial in our investment. Further, if we’re unwilling to invest in a group of people, I think God often withholds the blessings of growth in that area. We’ve done some heavy investing in our children’s ministries and God has blessed. We expanded our budget, hired staff, and recruited more willing and loving volunteers and we’ve seen child after child come to know the Lord and become a part of Bethel, their parents usually with them. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 21, 2008
I love preaching! In fact, few other activities bring me the joy of standing before God’s people delivering a message from His Word. I’m passionate about it! What I’m really passionate about is seeing the change it brings about in people’s lives. When I preach the Word faithfully and passionately, people change into Christlike disciples. And I change too! Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 4, 2008
Saturday, I flew a kite! It was a beautiful breezy day and my daughter had just gotten a cheap (99 cent), flimsy kite, so we headed over to the front yard of the church. On the way I thought, “This is never going to work, but at least we’ll have a nice walk on a pretty day.” Much to my surprise, the kite flew easily. In fact, it soared to at least fifty feet - pretty impressive for a five-year-old and a Dad with no kite-flying experience. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 1, 2008
Last night I finished a series of revival services at Eastside Baptist Church in Fayetteville. Their pastor, James Goff, formerly served as Assistant Pastor at Bethel and has been at Eastside now for eleven years. Our services were times of divine blessings as God spoke powerfully through His Word. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on April 23, 2008
I’ve just gotten back to my room after the final session of the 59th annual meeting of the BMA of America. I expressed my concerns in my last post, and I do think there are plenty of weaknesses to be addressed. But I really want to focus on the positives. I really am excited to be a part of this association of Baptists. Why? Let me share some of what God is doing around the world through the BMA… Read the rest of this entry »
