Blameless

The rotating responsibility, opportunity, and pleasure to preach the message at the Annual Community Thanksgiving Service was mine last night. Since I’ve been at my church for only three years, I’ve not had the chance to do this and it was a great joy. The service is a combined ministry of Martindale Baptist Church (this year’s host), Holly Springs Baptist Church, Pleasant Grove Baptist Church (new to the service this year), and Cross Road Baptist Church. As Larry Walters, pastor of Martindale, has said, “Maybe with four churches we can fill up one building.” We didn’t. But the worship and fellowship were worth the time spent.

My message was based on 1 Corinthians 1:4-9. One of the things Paul was thankful for concerning the believers in Corinth was their salvation. “He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 8). Do you remember when you were a kid and the teacher would try to find out who hid the erasers? Each of us would point at another kid and blame him. We wanted to avoid having the blame laid on us because along with the blame came the punishment.

I could wax eloquent here trying to convince you that I have not and do not do anything wrong. But those of you who know me would quickly point out that lie I was telling. The truth is this: I am a sinner. If God were to go through a list of alleged sins I’ve committed I would have to say that each of them were my fault. I am at fault!

But the Lord Jesus Christ to the blame. And the punishment. My sins will always be my fault but Jesus’ death on the cross will always take the blame.

I am thankful that I am blameless. An old gospel song says, “He looked beyond my fault and saw my need.” I needed forgiveness and redemption because of my sins – my fault. Jesus interceded and met my need.

Will you accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ today? You are at fault, too, but Jesus will take the blame.

Admit you are a sinner.

Believe that Jesus is the son of God and his death on the cross is the only remedy for your sin problem.

Confess Jesus as your Savior and Lord and Commit to live your life to honor him.

If you have just followed these easy steps to becoming a follower of Jesus Christ or would like to know more, please leave a message on this post.

Parenting 101

It’s not that hard. Much of parenting is instinctive. And what kids want the most from their parents is pretty simple to give them. They want you to spend time with them. You’ve figured that out, haven’t you?

When my oldest and middle sons were about 8 and 10 years old, they went with me on the annual church float trip on the Buffalo River in north Arkansas. The oldest, Jim, rode in a canoe with one of our friends and Caleb, the younger one, rode with me. The weather had been rather dry that Spring and floating the river required lots of paddling. At times we even had to push ourselves along the bottom as the water was pretty shallow in places.

By the end of the day, I was wore out. You can imagine how much help an 8-yr-old was.

The next day at church I was complaining about being tired and sunburned and sore. From my perspective, it was an awful float trip.

I overheard Caleb talking about the trip when someone asked him how it was: “It was a great day. I got to ride with my Dad.”

Parenting isn’t so hard. It’s not that expensive. It is a matter of priority and time. That which is important to us gets our time and attention.

I’ve tried to remember that principle ever since that weekend with my boys. Love is spelled T-I-M-E. I think Zig Ziglar first said that.

Apps

I’ve had my iPhone since early September. A selling point of the iPhone is the hundreds of applications you can load on the phone. Apple and its partners have apps for almost everything from banking to games to recipes to sports scores. A person could spend hours searching through the apps trying to find a few he likes. I’ve found about five dozen. And I’m still looking!

What if we searched so diligently through the Bible to find application for our lives? The search would be much simpler because everything in God’s Word applies to our lives whereas only a few dozen of the thousands of iPhone apps actually apply. The apps on the phone are supposed to make your life so much better and more fun and more productive. The Bible does that perfectly!

The Bible is the perfect application for your life. I have a Bible app on my iPhone. I need to make sure I have a Bible app for my life.

Update on GCR

I've been in favor of a Great Commission Resurgence since the Spring when Danny Akin, Alvin Reid, and Johnny Hunt really began talking it up. Putting more emphasis on the Great Commission is a good thing. As the months have passed and the task force was assembled and meetings held across the country, I've noticed something that disturbs me. The emphasis seems to be on the Cooperative Program while using the words "Great Commission."

The Cooperative Program (CP) is the way Southern Baptists cooperate to fund missions and ministry around the world. Our church gives 10% of our undesignated receipts to CP. This amount goes to our state convention. Of our CP dollars, about 58% stays in Arkansas and the other 42% goes to the national convention where it is disbursed to agencies and boards of the SBC. The convention's six seminaries get part of the money. The International and North American Mission Boards get part fo the money. The training of our young ministers and our support of missionaries world-wide are the most important aspects of CP.

If Southern Baptists want to fulfill the Great Commission, we will be more successful working together and pooling our resources. CP and GC are not synonymous but CP directly impacts GC. It seems that the leaders of the Great Commission Resurgence focus more on CP and less on GC.

A Great Commission Resurgence (GCR) should emphasize reaching the lost whever they are on the planet. A Cooperative Program Resurgence (CPR) should emphasize our stewardship of resources to accomplish the GC.

We need CPR to accomplish GCR. But the two are different issues. Interrelated, but different. Would anybody be against a GCR? Malcolm Yarnell asked that question in response to Johnny Hunt's tweet. Hunt was replying to a story that IMB shortfalls could affect 600 positions. He said, "Why would anyone still oppose a GCR?" GCR and funding are related but not the same thing.

I want to see our churches impact eternity by getting more serious about the Great Commission. In order to do that effectively, we need CPR. But one shouldn't use GCR to rally support for his desire to change. CP.

Again, GCR does not equal CPR. In fact, GCR is not exactly GC.

Deer Season

I bagged my first deer yesterday. Really. Our dog drug up a carcass – complete with everything except the meat. The lazy hunter didn’t dispose of the remains, he just took what he wanted. So I took a large trash bag and, well, I bagged my first deer yesterday.

I used to hunt. I went with my Dad a few times and enjoyed getting out there and listening to the sounds of nature. But I’ve never seen a deer when I had a loaded gun in my hands. I gave up hunting a long time ago. I get it, it’s just not my thing. I’d rather shoot one with a Canon than a rifle.

When I came to Cross Road to meet the people, preach for them, and let them vote on me (we Southern Baptists have some strange rituals!) we had a Q&A time after lunch. Someone asked about my hobbies and I rattled off golf, photography, and travel. A voice from the back of the room said, “Don’t he like to hunt and fish?”

I remember one particular hunting trip when I was a teenager. My Dad and I went with one of his buddies from work, Jack Derreck. Jack reloaded his own ammunition and was proud of his work. He was bragging about it as we walked back to the trucks. When we finally made it, Jack took a handgun from behind the seat of his truck (it was perfectly legal and accepted back then) and demonstrated his craft. He took aim at the nearest STOP sign and pulled the trigger. The bang was loud. But we saw the lead from the shell squirt out the end of the barrel and land about ten feet in front of him. Way short of the target. We all agreed that something was wrong, got in our trucks, and drove off.

That’s my Deer Camp Story. If you are a hunter, I hope you have a great experience this year so you can tell you story, too.

I hope our trash man doesn’t read my blog.

Yard Sale 4 Missions

We had a great day at CRBC. The yard sale started out under cloud cover and the apparent threat of rain. That kept the crowd away. But the skies cleared and the sun came shining through by mid-morning and the shoppers came out in big numbers.

The total amount sold was not so big but we moved a lot of stuff. Over both weekends, we collected almost $1,000 for our 2010 Russia Mission Trip. So many people helped. Most of our families donated items for the sale. Several men and women helped promote, prepare for, and clean up after the event. And so many worked during the hours of the sale.

Hopefully, by Tuesday all the left-overs will be gone - ARC is picking up everything except the furniture. Not only did we raise money for a good cause, but we also will help a worthy cause here in central Arkansas.

Thanks to all of you who helped in some way. When our teams walks the streets of Talitsa next Spring, you will be part of it! To God be the glory.

ABSC

Day One of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention is behind us and what a day it was. Reports, sermons, and business sessions filled the agenda.

I particularly enjoyed sermons by David Uth, JD Greear, and Emil Turner. I was inspired by reports from Robby Tingle for the Missions Ministries Team and Rex Horne's OBU report.

And you can't beat meeting and catching up with friends. Afterall, the ABSC is a collection of churches and people who want to work together to reach the world for Jesus.

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!