My friend David sent me a link to a Fox News article about an ad campaign launching on Washington D.C. buses that asks “Why Believe in a God? Just Be Good for Goodness’ Sake.” The ads have certainly sparked controversy, but I’m not as bothered as you might think. For me, it would be tragic if someone saw the ads and decided that rationalism excluded the possibility of God, but I actually think the opposite may be true, and it causes me to wonder if the humanist group that sponsored the ads really thought their branding through.

WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

We’re down to the final study in our Wendesday night journey through the “one another’s” of the New Testament. This one is pretty awesome - we’re to comfort one another. It’s based on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, a familiar passage to many. It concerns itself with Jesus’ second coming, which forms the basis of our comfort of one another. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

I was deeply moved by today’s reading from J. Sidlow Baxter’s devotional, Awake My Heart. He speaks of the mysteries of life, what W. A. Criswell used to call “the imponderables of God.” Baxter mentioned birth, life, personality, human experience, Satan, eternity, etc. All of these are unexplainable. We can begin, but we can never conclude any definition of them.

Baxter goes on, however, to quote an unnamed old Puritan as saying, “Never let what you don’t know disturb your faith in what you do know.” Further, Baxter proclaims that “breaking into all this mystery comes a glorious, transfiguring fact which not all of these problems can discount: it is THE FACT OF CHRIST. He is a certified historical fact; a supremely significant fact; an experientially realized fact….”

We live in a highly skeptical age. To deny this is to prove that one has his proverbial head in the sand. We live in the age of the offensive atheist, exemplified by authors such as Richard Dawkins, who espouses a near hatred of conservative Christianity and writes it off as idiotic nonsense that should be put to an end. In the mix, Christians find themselves wavering and doubting.

So, what do we do with our big questions? I don’t know about you, but I believe God can handle our biggest questions. He has answers. Whether He will provide them or not is within the divine prerogative of God. But in the midst of all of the mysterious, imponderable concepts of spiritual, eternal things lie the rock solid, unbreakable truths of Christianity. In the words of Paul, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” (1 Timothy 3:16)

Click here to view “Another Interview With God,” a dynamic flash presentation that clearly explains why not everyone goes to heaven when they die.

Eternal Life

What does God have to say about Himself? If we were to start from scratch and read the Bible for the first time, bringing no previously formed assumptions with us, we’d make certain discoveries very quickly, for instance…

God is Big!

If we started at the beginning of the Bible, we’d discover with the very first phrase that God must be big. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) He formed the vast universe in which we exist. Not too far into your journey through the Bible, you’d also quickly discover that…

God is Holy!

We try to define “holiness” by adding up all the good qualities of mankind, but God is really in a class all by Himself. He’s perfectly free from even the possibility of sin and error. Because we have discovered God’s greatness and holiness and moral perfection, we must certainly be struck by the reality of our own sinfulness. Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

Because God is the holy and just Creator, He must hold every one of His creatures to the same standard, and that standard is defined by His own definition of goodness. So, are you good enough?

The best way to find out is to take God’s test, the Ten Commandments. Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever stolen anything, no matter its value? Have you ever used the Lord’s name in a vain or meaningless way? Have you ever lusted for something or someone you weren’t supposed to have? Then you’ve failed, along with the rest of humanity. Paul went on to state that “the wages (fair payment) of sin is death.” We are dead already because of our sins. Spiritually, we are separated from God and if we die in our present condition, we’ll spend eternity apart from this holy God in hell forever. Why? Because that is the fair sentence for our crimes. However, you would also discover…

God is Love!

The Apostle John said it plainly, “God is love.” (1 John 4:8, 16) That doesn’t simply mean that God loves us, it means that His very nature defines love. To prove that His love is greater than any we could offer, the Bible is clear that God went to the greatest possible extreme to show His love for people by giving His Son, Jesus… “But God commendeth His love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

Even though we’ve failed His “perfection” test for us, He still loves us, and He’s done everything necessary to make a way for us to know Him personally and to enjoy Him for all of eternity in heaven. Our sins have interrupted any possible relationship we might have with God, but Jesus died for our sin, in our place, to pay its penalty. But we aren’t saved automatically. We are expected to respond to all that God has done for us. We also need to discover that…

God is Wise!

We often miss this because when we think of wisdom, we think of the smartest people we know. Truthfully, God’s wisdom trumps ours infinitely. God always has a better plan than we do. This is true in spiritual matters as well.

Left on our own, we would devise all kinds of religious systems to use as our vehicle to pleasing and appeasing God, but He has a better plan. God’s plan is rebirth! “Jesus answered and said unto Him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5) So how can you be “born again?” God has given us two important words: repent and believe. Turn and trust. We must forsake our own way of salvation and by faith, embrace Jesus’ death as the sacrifice for our sins.

Do you want to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and have the free gift of eternal life today? Acknowledge your own sinfulness and receive Him as your Savior. You can express your heart to Him in a prayer like this… Dear God, I admit my sinfulness and I know that I don’t deserve heaven. But I believe that Your Son Jesus died on the cross and rose again to pay my sin penalty. I receive Him now as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

If you’ve made that commitment, or if you have more questions, please write, call, or visit us soon!

In this decade, conservative Christianity has lost some great giants of the faith. I was reflecting on the passing of Jack Hyles, long time Pastor of First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana. He was an interesting character with a unique leadership style. Far too many young Pastors went to their ministerial deaths trying to imitate his every move. Nonetheless, his impact on the independent Baptist movement and on the kingdom of God in general are immeasurable.

Then I think of W. A. Criswell. He pastored one of the most influential churches in the world, First Baptist Church in Dallas. He once spent almost eighteen years preaching through the entire Bible. His defense of the faith, his exposition of the Scriptures, and his charismatic style made a lasting mark on Baptist life and thought.

Another giant among men who has passed away this decade was Adrian Rogers, Pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, often called the flagship church of the Southern Baptist Convention. Like Criswell, Rogers’ impact upon the nation’s largest non-Catholic denomination was immense, serving as president of the Southern Baptist Convention three terms. His preaching was practical and poignant, but his wisdom in leadership was what elevated him above the average preacher.

On Sunday, May 6, two other leaders were taken on to heaven. Dr. Lee Roberson, Pastor of the Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee and founder of Tennessee Temple University, went home to be with the Lord. Within an hour of his passing, Dr. Viola Walden also slipped into her eternal home. She had been personal secretary to Dr. John R. Rice since he began The Sword of the Lord. At age 91, she was at her desk at work on the Friday before she died.

God’s timing, sovereignty, and wisdom are all unquestionable attributes. I know that His intention was to take them home, to give them a final rest with the saints. But from our perspective, they seem like missing links in modern Christianity. My great question would be, who will replace them? Who will be the anchors of the church in the next half century? Have we reached the end of an era of Christianity that will never be revived again?

Some would say that the face of Christianity must change. I’ve listened to far too many upstarts criticize the elder leaders among us as “behind the times.” I have a different perspective. Though we’re moving swiftly through the information age with little clue what lies next, we can still rely on twenty centuries of a very faithful pattern. Namely, God has always raised up men who have challenged their generation to think biblically.

Consider Paul, Peter, and Polycarp who faced Rome without trepidation. Think of Athanasius, who stood virtually alone to combat Arianism. Dwell upon the reformers who, with all of their shortcomings theologically, stood against the established church leadership of their times to call Christianity back to sincere and emboldened faithfulness to God’s Word. And think of the evangelistic-missionary age with the Spurgeon’s, Torrey’s, and Moody’s.

Until Jesus comes again, He’ll be building His church out of the stock of saved humanity. He’ll be calling forth leaders to stand in the gap for the land. And they will respond, for Jesus promised it would be so. With all the “missing links” the real question that remains for us is, are we willing to continue the tradition? Will we be surrendered to a life of holiness and passionate, Spirit-filled zeal? To say that the survival of God’s kingdom depends in any way on our abilities would be negligent of the self-sufficiency of God. But to recognize that the future of God’s Kingdom depends upon our availability simply serves to remind us that God has chosen to use people in the redemption of this lost and sinful planet. Will you stand in the gap?

This past Sunday was perhaps the most awesome day of ministry I’ve ever experienced. Like the old gospel song says, “Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.” It wasn’t great planning, great music, or great preaching that made the day great, it was our great God visiting us in a powerful way in response to a whole lot of concerted, passionate praying.

Last Wednesday, our prayer service, which normally consists of calling out some requests, a short pastoral prayer, and a long Bible study, turned into an extended session of a concert of praise. Multiple people were praying out loud for their lost friends and family and giving praise to God for His working in their lives. At the conclusion of our payer, I almost felt that teaching would be an interruption in what God was really doing, and perhaps it was.

Sunday began with an intense prayer circle, seven men gathered together a half hour before Sunday School. We prayed over our time and it was well worth it. Together we asked great things of God. Sunday School itself was right on target as we learned about “serving God with holiness.”

Then the worship hour came and we sang songs to honor the King with a particular emphasis on the Holy Spirit’s role in our lives. The message was all about the power of the Holy Spirit. I left out two illustrations that I later realized would have been detrimental to the point of the message. I felt an anointing more powerful than ever in my ministry. I had boldness to say things without regard to the approval of people.

The invitation came and God did an awesome work. The altar filled with people praying and weeping for the fullness of the Spirit, praying for lost loved ones and other needs. A young man and a young lady received Christ as Savior. The invitation went through three movements as things kept happening. Joy Ewalt, for whom we have been praying for healing from cancer came and testified that God had completely healed her from brain cancer. Tests show that her head is now clear and she gave all the glory to God and the credit to prayer.

We left later than ever before and people continued to attest to God’s working in their lives in a very powerful way. I left church feeling so small, so undeserving, and so grateful that God would allow me to experience such an event.

Sunday afternoon our Deacons gathered for a time of training and we exchanged testimonies of the godly men who have inspired us in the past. I recalled my grandfather’s strong convictions as a Deacon for over a half century of time and the other stalwart men who influenced me throughout my childhood. In the evening service I preached about “The Sanctity of the Womb” where God has performed some great miracles in the lives of John the Baptist, Jeremiah, Paul, and others.

We had prayer for young girls facing this difficult decision to choose life, for women who have had abortions to find the freeing forgiveness of God, and for America to turn a corner on the abortion issue and repent before God. We also had prayer for some couples currently struggling with infertility and for Loving Choices, a local pregnancy support center. We’re also currently praying for healing in the life of one of our Deacons, Nick Gann.

One thing I am continually remembering is that we cannot dwell on these now past events in the “remember that day…” sense. Instead we must look forward to the awesome things God can do every time we meet. There is no reason why each worship experience cannot grow in intensity so long as our hunger for God, our commitment to holiness, and the passion of our prayer grows as well.

May God continue to visit us in special ways in our individual lives and every time we meet together, and may He continue to raise up Spirit-filled, Bible-drilled, prayer-skilled warriors for Christ’s Kingdom!

Live peaceably with all men… Easier said than done. Everything in us wants to fly off the handle when we are inconvenienced or insulted. Paul’s words were nothing new, they had been modeled by Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Nonetheless, these words are revolutionary as far as human society is concerned. To seek peace, to refuse the right to get even, is one of the greatest accomplishments any person could ever make.

My Sunday began on the wrong foot. First, I’d gotten pulled over by a Deputy on Saturday night for speeding down an unpopulated street. I had church members in the car! My speed had crept up and I hadn’t even noticed. I also hadn’t noticed that I was gaining on the Officer, who kindly allowed me to pass him so that he could pull me over. Thankfully, he gave me a warning only. I mentioned to him that I was going from one house to another as part of a Sunday School class progressive dinner, but I managed to leave out the little detail that I am the Pastor of the church.

After a late Saturday night, I got up early and experienced printer problems before church on Sunday. Then the little issues began to trickle in. People were stressed. There was a little tension. A microphone was missing and we had a big musical for the morning and my mood was not terribly worshipful and contemplative. Then we prayed. Though our prayer circle got started twenty minutes late, my heart changed as we approached God’s throne. A little later the choir sang that “He alone is worthy.” I began to realize again what being at church was really all about - and it surely wasn’t about my trivial issues.

By the end of the evening, God had moved in a very special way and I was reminded again to “let it roll.” Most of the issues we attack really aren’t worth our effort. If our reactions to others are not mixed with a healthy dose of compassion and understanding, they are rarely beneficial to us or to them.

Something special happened last night. In my exhaustion (late night, long morning, no afternoon nap…), God anointed me in a special way for the message. Everything flowed from the text in Romans 12:17-21. The message was a simple one about forgiving people, especially people outside the family of God. There was an extra dose of boldness, clarity of thought, and eloquence. The words just seemed to be there when I needed them. When it was all over, several people said it was a particularly impactful message. Glory to God alone!

My task this week is to live what I’ve preached… to let the little things roll and get the big picture - that He alone is worthy! God is so good and His people are such a wonderful family. May my heart and yours be praising and thankful to the Holy Giver of Heaven!

“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.” -Acts 17:16

Paul was “stirred” or literally, agitated in his spirit. Often we are agitated by the world because our values are insulted, but Paul’s zeal had little to do with his own values. His zeal was for the glory of God. He saw an entire city turned away from the living God and given to every kind of false belief. The place was steeped in idols, a hotbed of man-made religion and it stirred Paul to the core. He was agitated. So what did he do about it? He preached Christ to them.

No Christian today should be able to look around at our world and not be stirred to consider the lostness of mankind. George Truett was once walking through downtown Dallas with his college roommate. Once when the signal allowed them to cross the busy intersection, Truett froze in his place. His roommate spotted tears in his eyes and inquired as to what was wrong. George Truett motioned with his hand toward the crowds on the sidewalk and said, “Look at them, they’re so lost. They’re all lost.” Many Christians are simply annoyed by the wickedness of the world, but we must be more than annoyed, we must be deeply moved.

Following this deep moving within our soul ought to be a commitment to restore the glory of God. There should be in every believer a compelling zeal for God’s glory. We should want with all of our hearts for God alone to be glorified in our world. That means introducing people to the Lord of the universe through His Son, Jesus Christ. Are we ready to see the need, take up the cause, and tell the world about Jesus?

“Turn… And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding…” -Jeremiah 3:14-15

The period of the prophets was marked with the terrible tragedy of a declining spiritual leadership. It was an age of false prophecies and empty messages. It was a duplication of the age of which the Apostle Paul speaks when he proclaims, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

Our supercenter generation today is begging for an entertaining, ear-tickling message as well. We don’t want to hear about sin, about repentance, and about hell. We’d rather hear about how to change diapers and how to get rich from the pulpits of America than to hear about our need to turn back to God in humble repentance. Jeremiah issued an amazing prophecy here. Turn… and then God will give you truthtellers, pastors according to his heart.

I love growing churches. I believe God can use megachurches and there are some great ones in existance today, teaching the truth and making disciples. At the same time, the current wave of huge churches which teach only half of the Bible’s truths is an indicator of our times. We are stuck on having relevant teaching at the expense of truthtelling. May God give us hearts of repentance, that we would turn and seek His truth!

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who will also do it.” -1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Paul’s prayer for the people of Thessalonica was a heartfelt prayer for their permanent cleansing. “May God completely cleanse you and set you apart for His purposes… May He preserve you until Jesus comes again.” Then Paul notes that the God who called them to the Christian life would be faithful to keep His promise. They would be cleansed. They would be set apart. They would be found blameless when Jesus comes becuase of His miraculous intervention in their lives.

The fulfillment of God’s promises toward His children does not hinge on our faithfulness but on God’s faithfulness. Our being found blameless at the throne is not contingent upon our ability to wash ourselves with religion, but on His ability to preserve those that He saves. We didn’t save ourselves, yet so often we begin to believe that we must somehow keep ourselves in the favor of God. Each time we make a mistake, we come to the conclusion that surely this time God will be finished with us.

While we should never treat sin lightly, we must realize that God’s patience with His children is inexhaustible. This is no license to sin, it is rather motivation to serve our loving Father faithfully. To know in advance the victorious outcome of our life of faith frees us to run the race with patient endurance for “our God is faithful, who will do it!”