Center Ridge First Baptist Church

Sometimes you wonder how a church will do once you are gone. It’s been over six years since I left FBC in Center Ridge. I learned a lot while I was there, made a good number of mistakes, and helped them some, I hope.

They have overcome my inadequacies as a pastor and have grown so that they needed a new sanctuary. I was honored to attend the dedication of a new 300-seat auditorium yesterday. The relationships we established while serving there for four and a half years are special to Deana and me. I felt great joy being able to go back.

Russ Rhoden is one energetic dude! He says the key to CRFBC’s growth has been their ability to connect with students. They will have around 120 kids on campus each Wednesday night. They feed them, play loud music, and teach the Word.

I claim no responsibility for how the church is doing but I am pleased to have pastored them from April 1999 to August 2003.

Lottery Headlines

The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery is in the news. Two headlines caught my attention last week.

The first story was about a woman who tried to claim winnings with an illegal scratch-off card. Subsequent stories have her family members claiming someone must have switched cards with her because she would never do that on her own. The bottom line is this: the lottery has exposed the criminal element, whoever it is. We knew this would happen and crime statistics from other states with lotteries was given as evidence last year when we were voting on the lottery.

The second story was from the same incident. The lottery commission was praising the security measures it put in place to protect against fraud. The commission even acknowledged to criminal element inherent in a gambling by setting up and celebrating the security measures. On one hand you might wonder why Arkansans would allow something like this to become law. On the other hand, the potential for ill-gotten gain overshadows the risk.

The lottery is a clear sign that Arkansans, as a whole, have given up depending on God to provide for them. May Arkansas know and embrace Jehovah Jireh of Genesis 22.

Life's Not Fair

I’m watching the playoff game between the Yankees and Angels. A handful of bad calls by the umpire crew. Two against the Angels. One against the Yankees.

The announcers interviewed Yankee Manager Joe Girardi during the last commercial break and asked about the strange calls. He can’t say much without being chastised by the MLB office so he just said, “You just try to keep posting zeros for them and runs for us.”

That’s great advice for Christians as we face the details of everyday living. Often it’s not fair. We face one situation after another where the breaks go the other way. Not to worry, though. Just keep trusting the Lord and do your best. Remember, he is at work in all things to bring about good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

Life may not be fair but God is. And he is bigger than life.

Thoughts on an Early Sunday Morning

It’s not yet 7:00 and I’ve been up almost 4 hours. Not sure why I couldn’t sleep but around 3:00 I woke up and began thinking about today. I was sleeping pretty good until then.

I was thinking about poor choices I made as a teenager and young man. I thought about how some of those decisions have impacted my life in drastic, obvious ways. All the decisions changed my life in one way or another. A few years ago I preached a sermon from the book of Ruth in the Old Testament. I talked about Ruth’s decision to follow Naomi back to Bethlehem, how God used her faithfulness so that she became great-grandmother of King David. That never would have happened if she had not make a few good decisions.

Decisions do make a difference.

But my past is checkered with poor decisions; just a few good ones sprinkled in along the way. Mostly, my poor decisions have been times when I chose to do what I wanted rather than what God desired. That is called sin and it is a terrible mistake.

But I was thinking about today when we will baptize a girl who has placed faith in Jesus Christ, repented of her sins, and confessed Jesus as her Savior and Lord. Because of that good decision her sins are forgiven, she’s been washed in the blood of Jesus so that her black sins stain her no more and God sees her as white as snow.

Her baptism is a symbol of the transaction that took place in her life when she made the decision.

So I couldn’t sleep. Not so much because of my mistakes playing in the cinema of my mind, but because of the memory of my own decision to follow Christ.

It’s hard to sleep when you’ve got so much to look forward to and such good news to share with others.

Wireless Internet
I am sitting at San Francisco Bread Company drinking coffee and using the free wireless internet. Can’t do this at home or at the office today because my HughesNet connection is slow. I violated the Fair Access Policy so HughesNet bumped my speed way down, even slower than dialup. I can’t wait until AT&T gets DSL out here. Looks like they’ve stopped working on our road and are working a few miles away. They stopped just 2 miles from my house!

Anyway, that’s not what I’m writing about today. I’m blogging about having a good communications connection. I could have stayed home or went to the office (next door) but the communication would have been horrible. Slow. Interrupted. Frustrating. So I chose to drive 15 minutes into town and spend a little money to get the fast and clear connection.

I had to spend money on the FREE internet connection because I feel bad sitting in here without buying a cup of coffee…and a bagel sandwich. So the better connection was not really free. It cost me time, inconvenience, and money.

But it is worth it!

What about your communication with God? You can take the easy way out and put little effort into it. You’ll get about that much out of it, too. If your communication with God has been spotty or weak or slow, then you need to ramp up your effort and spend some quality time with God.

It will be worth it!

Focused

Here is an honest confession. My vision is messed up. Without corrective lenses I can see things from a few inches to a couple of feet from my nose clearly. Beyond that, it’s really blurry. With corrective lenses I can see everything else but the up close stuff is blurry. So I either wear glasses to see at a distance and take them off to read or I wear contacts and use reading glasses for the up close stuff. The next step is bifocals, I guess. Or expensive surgery!

The point is more clear than my vision: if I continue as I have then something will always be out of focus. I need to make adjustments so that I can see clearly both near and far.

The same can be said for a church…for our church. We can easily lose sight of some things when we focus only on specific things. I’m NOT saying that a church should be doing everything that comes to our minds or across our desk or into our mailbox. Associations, conventions, and parachurch groups always have something NEW AND IMPROVED. What I am saying is that we must focus on essentials and not lose sight of any of them.

For example, we must make disciples. That means we are to share the gospel with people who do not follow Jesus Christ. We must focus on evangelism if we take seriously the task of the Great Commission. And we are to do it all over the planet.

Another example is that we are to assimilate these new disciples into church fellowship, according to the Great Commission. That part of the GC is not a mandate for church membership but an emphasis on the importance of identifying with Christ and with other believers. Only within the context of a local church can a believer mature into the disciple God wants him to be.

The last example of an essential on which we must focus is the maturation of believers. Each one of us can be more mature in following Christ. Nobody has already arrived at full Christian maturity and we won’t as long as we are on this earth on this side of the grave. So the church must teach all that Jesus taught so that we can all become more like him.

Whew! That’s a lot to do. Where do we start? What’s most important? What should be our focus?

All of it. Making disciples. Assimilating disciples. Maturing disciples. When a church takes its eyes off any of these it will eventually lose focus on all of them.

Early on Saturday Morning

Saturday mornings are much quieter than weekday mornings. No school traffic and less work traffic. There is an increase in one kind of traffic: bicycles! But the make much less noise. A noise that’s actually kinda soothing.

Settling in with a cup of coffee and something to read while the rest of the family still sleeps. Listening to our dog bark lazily at something across the road. Noticing the absence of clock alarms sounding.  All is quiet on this cool autumn morning. The first Saturday morning of the new season!

I’ve read from the Psalms this morning how God watches out for the helpless. Though the evil, the arrogant, and the selfish take advantage of so many people, God promises to care for those faithful to him. Faithfulness carries with it the reward of God’s protection and blessing. This is not always evident in this life but always present throughout eternity.

I will focus on this promise and consider how God may want to use me to bring this promise to others.

Apologizing for Bad Behavior

The last few days have been rich with examples of bad behavior. First there was the US congressman from South Carolina, Joe Wilson. Mr. Wilson listened to President Obama’s speech Wednesday night with emotions rising within him. Then when the President said that his healthcare plan would not be extended to illegal aliens, Mr. Wilson could stand it no more. “You lie!” The joint session of Congress could not have been any quieter than at that moment. “You lie!” rang through the hall. People from all political persuasions immediately called for Mr. Wilson’s apology, which he gave.

 

Then Serena Williams was on the verge of being eliminated from the US Open Tennis Championships when a line judge called a foul on her, giving her opponent a point. Because of the point, it was match point against Williams. Williams, one of the best tennis players in the world, lashed out at the judge using language we would be embarrassed for our children to hear. Tournament officials got involved and Williams left the court, giving the match to her opponent. She later apologized.

 

Next, it was time for Kanye West to act foolish. And he came through in fine fashion. His friend deserved the award on MTVs VMA telecast but another artist took the prize. While Taylor Swift was making her acceptance speech, West takes the stage and claims that Beyonce’s video was the best and should have won. The uproar was immediate. I was watching a football game but began receiving Tweets about it as it was happening. Entertainment insiders and outsiders called for an apology. He posted an apology on his website but later removed it.

 

Not a good week for your last name to start with a W.

 

I think Wilson, Williams, and West should have apologized for their terrible behavior. More importantly, I believe they should change their behavior. Emotions should not overtake a person so that they misbehave. Attitudes should not be more important than manners. Everybody has a right to their opinion and to disagree with others. How that disagreement is voiced is as important as the right to disagree. When you think that you or what you have to say is more important that someone else, you have sunk to a level below decency and manners.

 

To Joe Wilson, Serena Williams, and Kanye West: hopefully, genuine apologies have or will be given and better behavior will validate the apology. If your actions don’t back up your words, don’t bother to speak.

 

P.S. Mr. Wilson, I’m not opposed to what you said, just how you said it.

Where were you on September 11, 2001?

It was just a few minutes after 8:00 A.M. and we began to get calls telling us what was happening across the northeast. I worked at ICT Group in Morrilton, Arkansas. ICT is a call center handling customer service calls for many of the nation’s leading mortgage companies. I was in a training class when I heard the news.

The rest of the day was different than previous days. While we tried to carry on as usual, that was impossible. The uncertainty bred a sense of fear throughout the building. Rumors about wars, rising gas prices, and the end of time spread quickly.

Many people – some Christians, some not – asked me if this was the beginning of the end. Is this Armageddon? These questions opened the door for me to share the gospel freely. I would respond that I didn’t know if this was the end of time but I did know how important it was to know for sure you were ready for it. I spoke freely of Jesus Christ and am thankful for the opportunity.

The quick, strong response by the United States under the direction of President George W. Bush restored order and kept us free and safe. The sacrifice of the US military personnel is heroic and the key to our success in the fight against terrorism. My prayers have been that God would bless each person responsible for the freedom, safety, and strength of the United States.

Many families will mourn tomorrow. They lost loved ones on 9/11 on American soil. They lost loved ones over the past 8 years overseas. We all must pray that God keeps his promises to comfort the sorrowful and punish the wicked.

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Obama's Speech

Have you read the text of the prepared remarks the President plans to give today? I did. It didn’t take long so everyone should read it. I think it’s a good speech and my child should hear it. The only disagreement I have is over the state of the environment. I don’t believe it is as fragile as the President does.

But the speech avoid politics and he certainly has the freedom and power to speak to children in the public schools. His influence upon the public schools in other ways should be of greater concern. I have a niece in private school. She won’t have to hear this speech unless her parents read it or show it to her. I have a similar choice: I can take my son out of school today. I will not do that given the prepared remarks I have read. I hope the President sticks to the teleprompter. And I hope there is no Q&A time allowing him to inject politics into the classroom.

I am praying for my son and others to hear a message of encouragement and responsibility that spurs them on to excellence. I’ll take care of teaching him morality and ethics, right and wrong.

Morning Light

"The path of righteousness is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day." (Proverbs 4:18)

I'm in the Ozark mountains, skies are overcast. Still, I can see the morning light come through chasing away the darkness. I want my life to reflect Christ so clearly that it chases away the darkness in the lives of people I meet today. Not just like a sunrise on a cloudy day but a full noon sunlight on a cloudless day.

My righteousness is as filthy rags but I no longer am clothed in my own but I now wear the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Let it shine today!

 

Twelve and a half years

Today is our anniversary! Deana and I have been married twelve and a half years. We were talking this morning about the way we have changed over the years. We decided to love each other and that has helped us experience some amazing things. I stick to my decision and my love for Deana is as strong as ever…that hasn’t changed. One thing that has changed is the things about her that I love. I know her better now than then and there are so many things about her that are lovely and loveable.

So I wanted to take a minute today to tell you that I love Deana and to tell Deana that I love her. We got a late start so we may not make 50 years, but if you think about it we are already halfway there. Twelve and a half for me and twelve and a half for Deana equals twenty-five years! Maybe we will make it to fifty!

Saturday Morning Thoughts

I love Saturday mornings. Typically, I wake up with Riley because we have been snuggling on Friday nights for a long time. He’s a good snuggle buddy but, like his older brothers, he’s almost at the age where snuggling with Daddy isn’t such fun. For now, though, I’m enjoying every moment.

Then we have breakfast. Sometimes, it’s pancakes (World Famous Pancakes) or cinnamon rolls or muffins. Today, it’s chocolate chip muffins and a cup of coffee. This is one of the few times we all have breakfast together.

But then my Saturdays usually take a turn toward the office. Today is no different. A couple of hours at home then the rest of the day at the office. This week, my Saturday is not a day off because of a three day seminar in Nashville. Most weeks, I just lollygag. So I need a plan to get everything done by Thursday afternoon so I can enjoy some time alone and with the family on Friday and Saturday. I’ll work on that, but for now, I’m enjoying my coffee and family.

I’ve gotten behind on my seminar assignments…again. I had a good plan six weeks ago but deadlines are here and I’m still reading and writing. I gathered all the books and even began reading, but one thing after another came up and I pushed aside the assignments. Most of the distractions were important things but not all of them needed my immediate attention. Then there were the “time gremlins” that stole my time but gave nothing in return.

When I worked in JC Penney during my college days, we had customers who shopped but never purchased anything. We called them “TWs” because they were time wasters. With a sales goal looming over your heard each week, you didn’t want to get stuck with at TW! But I let TWs have my time with these assignments and now I’m scrambling to get them completed.

Christians have been given an assignment from the Lord – the Great Commission. If we want to complete the assignment we must get on and stay on task. There will be many TWs and time gremlins along the way. Distractions await at every turn. Those serious about the task will focus on their responsibilities and draw strength from the Spirit; they will rely upon the Lord for direction and motivation.

The unique thing about this assignment is the due date: we continue working on it until we die or until Jesus returns. At first glance, that seems like an easy obligation; but when you realize that you don’t know when that due date will arrive, you should feel a sense of urgency to get busy. I want to become more and more like Christ so I can be more and more effective carrying out my task.

In Defense of the Association, State Convention, and SBC

I am in favor of a Great Commission Resurgence. I would have voted to assemble the Task Force if I had been able to attend the SBC annual meeting in Louisville in June. I am committed to praying for the Task Force daily. I believe the local church should hold all agencies, institutions, etc., accountable to be good stewards of the resources we send them.

This is the purpose of a Great Commission Resurgence and I hope the Task Force will stay on task. Getting side-tracked by a personal agenda would be easy and tempting; but the churches of the SBC do not want representatives of a handful of megachurches to restructure the denomination to suit them.

Now, let me defend the existence and work of the Pulaski Baptist Association, Arkansas Baptist State Convention, and the Southern Baptist Convention from the perspective of a small church pastor who desires to see his community and world impacted by the church he leads.

Pulaski Baptist Association, under the leadership of Danny Johnson, is a group of churches working together in places like Little Rock, New York, Mexico, St. Louis, and New Orleans. Using a modest budget, the association staff does some preliminary groundwork and planning that helps churches like mine get plugged into ministry. Our church sends 3% of our undesignated receipts to PBA – that’s not much money. In return, we get the planning mentioned above plus the availability of vans to use on our trips. That saves us the expense of owning and operating a van ourselves. We have an older van but it is not road worthy for a long trip. PBA also gives pastors opportunities for fellowship where we encourage each other and have lots of fun. We need that. Ministers receive support for further education. Danny takes groups of pastors and leaders to convention meetings and mission vision trips. Even if our church is not able to go on a trip, we participate through our contributions. We are impacting lives through PBA.

The Arkansas Baptist State Convention receives 10% of our undesignated funds. This funds missions and ministry around the state. Their staff helps us with education, training, and planning. Bob Fielding and Robby Tingle have helped us with logistics of planning an international missions trip. The Arkansas Baptist Builders coordinated work in New Orleans so our teams could spend the week helping remodel houses damaged by Hurricane Katrina. ABSC sends about 42% of our contribution to the Southern Baptist Convention where additional ministry and mission work is carried out.

The biggest advantage of being part of the SBC for our church in recent years has been our partnership with SBC missionaries in Russia. We are able to work directly with TeamSOAR, led by Rusty and Lori Hart in Ekaterinburg. I have made two trips since coming to CRBC and plan to take one trip each year and lead many in our church to also go. While in Russia, we are able to plug into the work already ongoing and we also can help establish new work in the region. Our impact in that part of the world is greater because of the SBC.

A proposal by the Great Commission Task Force that hinders these relationships in any way will face opposition by small churches like ours. Big churches have pulled support away from local associations and state conventions in recent years. Many have reduced Cooperative Program contributions, too. The truth is, they don’t need associations, state conventions, and the SBC; and small church can’t make it without this cooperation.

The Last Days

For those of you familiar with my preaching/teaching, you are probably surprised by the title of this blog post. Let me clarify what I am talking about: summer vacation is almost over and school starts next week!

Riley and I have been watching “Phineas and Ferb” all summer and we love the theme song. It starts like this: “A hundred and four days of summer vacation and school comes along just to end it.” That’s what’s happening. Except I’m not sure how you get 104 days of it, though! I’m counting about 75 or so.

Anyway, as the summer break comes to a close, Riley and I get to spend the days together because his normal childcare is taking the rest of the summer off. What can we do? More “Phineas and Ferb” for one thing! Riley is also going with me as I make home visits and associational meetings. He’s a trooper. All he needs is him MP3 player and his Nintendo DS and he’s good to go.

I wish everyone was so agreeable. If Christians were “good to go” we might see more ministry, more missions, more evangelism…

We are, after all, living in the Last Days. One day Jesus will return to gather all the believers and establish his millennial reign on earth. Just like Riley and I are making the most of the last days before school starts, don’t you want to make the most of the last days before Jesus returns?

So get involved in the ministry and missions your local church is doing. Share the good news of Jesus Christ with someone today. Be found faithful by impacting eternity now.

Bruce Chesser

I consider Bruce a friend although we never hung out together or shared personal concerns. We don’t know much about each other personally. We came to Little Rock at about the same time. He came to pastor one of the largest Baptist churches; I came to pastor one of the smallest. But over the years I found Bruce to be a friend.

 

The main reason for this is that he took the time to have breakfast with guys like me and to know our names. And he seemed to like the time we all spent together. I did. I had a job in another town, spent all my time at the church, had almost zero interaction with folks outside those two circles and family, but could sit in a fellowship hall or IHOP and feel like I belonged.

 

So, thanks, Bruce. And the best of the Lord’s blessings for you and your family as you head to Hendersonville.

God Still Moves

I’m not sure I can adequately express what I’m thinking but I have to try. When I say that God still moves it’s not like I thought he had stopped; this is more an affirmation than a revelation. A southern gospel song has the words “it’s good to know how it feels.” I believe God’s presence is more than a feeling and that he is with me even if I don’t feel it, but it IS good to know how it feels!

 

Worship tonight was as good as I’ve experienced in quite a while. The songs were spot on. The prayer time was phenomenal. The Word was so relevant. I hope I’m not the only one who realized it! If you were there, didn’t you sense it, too? God was moving among us, stirring us and drawing us nearer to him.

 

Personal decisions I’ve made recently coupled with some specific needs within our church and an awareness of our responsibility to the Gospel seemed to create the perfect storm, if you will. I’m convinced that God wants to move like this all the time but I know that we have to be ready and open to receive it. So God moved.

 

Maybe some were just spectators and didn’t get it. Maybe some were bored or turned off. Maybe some were drawn closer to God. Maybe some, like me, know that revival is coming. Would you like to know the key to revival?

 

Humble.

 

Pray.

 

Seek.

 

Turn.

 

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV

 

Humble.

 

Pray.

 

Seek.

 

Turn.

 

God still moves!

Staying Caught Up

That was a fast week. I really need to relax more. The problem is that I’m lazy and don’t stay on top of my work; so I’m always busy. Does that make sense – lazy but always busy? I don’t like being called lazy, even if I’m the one calling me names!

So today is a new day, a fresh start for me. I’m reading and writing in preparation for a leadership seminar I’m taking later this month. Something I read this week got my attention. Spiritual Leadership by Blackaby and Blackaby says that leaders must maintain a routine. We often think of routine as boring, monotonous, or mundane; however, the discipline of routine keeps leaders focused on what really matters. I’m easily distracted; therefore, I need routine. I need a schedule. This is not to say that I won’t or can’t allow important things to interrupt my schedule, but it is to say that by scheduling the important things I know I’ll get them done.

I’m using Outlook and my Blackjack II for organization and reminders. I’m hoping to get an iPhone in September, but I digress! The most important element of motivation and organization is prayer. Through prayer I will draw nearer to God and understand what he wants me to do and how he will help me do it. Through prayer I will stay focused on the important people and tasks in my life. Through prayer I will become more like Jesus Christ, the ultimate “on-task” leader.

Every priority in my life has suffered because of my lack of organization, my procrastination, and my laziness. Enough of that! Today is a new day.