Jingle Bells, to you too buddy!

Hehehehe.  I couldn't help it.  I'm not exactly a Jingle Bells kinda guy.

Well, Christmas time has rolled around on us once again.  You know, I'm not nearly as big a fan of Christmas since I've had to start paying for it.  However, I have been the Beneficiary of a wonderful surprise.

Upward Flag Football

Michael, my son, has now played two seasons of flag football.  I really like the layout, and mission of the way they do things.  Of course, it's flag football, so, there's no tackling.  This is what the wife likes best.  Michael has already broken his collar bone twice, so needless to say, she's a little concerned.  However, with Upward every player is guaranteed to play, and to play every spot.  Officially they don't keep score, which works well with the idea that its not about winning or losing but how you play the game.  Eventually he will move on to what he calls, "real football", but these first two years gave him a clue anyway.

The games are fun to watch, and get occasionally competitive.   The boys keep score, even though they're really not supposed to.  funny.  I have helped out a few times this year carrying the down marker.  My problem with that is I'm too busy rooting for my son, or watching the game to keep up with it.  As always there are questionable calls but the refs overall do a good job, considering they're not pros by any means. 

Hats off to First Baptist Church in Fairview, TN, for hosting this opportunity.  Now, we have to gear up for the real deal.  I'm just not sure how well Michael will take to being hit.

Oh, well, enough for now,
See ya'

No Longer Pastor of MRBC

It is with a heavy heart that I have resigned from Missionary Ridge Baptist Church. I believed God would do great things there, but alas, if He does, it will be without me.

I could rant here about bad things, and vent frustration, but this is not the forum, and I'm biased. I think it would be extremely wrong for any man claiming to be mature enough to be an Ordained Minister to follow such a path. I'll only say that I regret my own shortcomings. The last year before my Sabbatical were hard on me. Hence the complete absence from blogging. I was very discouraged, and it affected everything. In January I began a short 2 month Sabbatical in order to over come this. During that time God began to renew my heart and overwhelmingly impressed me with what I believe is the direction the Church should go.

Simplify! I believe there comes a time in a Church's existence when it has to step back and ask hard questions. I believe like Ronnie Stinson Sr. of Trace Creek Baptist Church in Mayfield, KY says, "The light that shines the farthest shines brightest at home." I don't believe that cookies and donuts and coffee before Sunday School, or candy for kids is what really grows a Church. There are a great many churches that are large, but they have compromised their message doing so. They replaced, "God commands all men everywhere to Repent!" with "come and we'll give you a cookie". Don't get me wrong, I think social events and possibly giving kids a treat once in a while is not necessarily a bad thing. However, Jesus noted that the large crowds that followed Him only did so because of the miracles, and free food.

What we have to do is strip away everything except the core of what makes a Church a Church. Sunday Morning Worship. That's it. Most folks don't know that in the Grand scheme of things Wednesday Night Services, and Sunday Schools are new deals in the Church. That's right. Neither started getting anywhere before the mid 1800's. However, being a practical man, I believe they are greatly useful, and many communities just plain expect them. So, I proposed that MRBC strip away every program, or service except for the main four, Sunday School, Sunday Morning Worship, Sunday Night Worship, and Mid-Week (Wednesday) Services. And then look at how each service could be used to help Christians go from Won to Winners. The Steps were simple: Worship, Edified, Serve, Win.

1. Worship was to focus us on Jesus Christ, and help us to grow in our devotion and Love for Him. No motivator known to man will take a person to the ultimate commitment in their life like Love. Money, Fear, Fun, Food, or whatever else will only keep folks just so long.
   
2. The Next Step is Edified - That is to be taught, Discipleship. This is where the basics of the Faith are established, and fostered. Every Christian should be rooted and grounded in their faith and know what they believe, not what their Pastor believes, or what the Church, or denomination believes. I've often taught that folks should search the Scriptures to see if what I say is so, and NEVER EVER take what I say at face value. If you know the Scriptures on your own, you'll know when a man has gone off his rocker.
   
3. Next is Serve. Every Christian should be involved in serving other Christians. The Bible is clear in Ephesians 4 and other places that God places each member in the Church to contribute. The saying I hate the most is, "I don't think this Church will meet my needs." What they're saying is this Church doesn't serve me. Godless. My question is always, first is this where God is planting me. 2. Where in this Church can I serve. You'll note that Jesus always got the Apostles involved in Ministry, first in basic ways, and progressively more advanced.
4. Last, and very important, Win. This is where the Christian has grown to become a Soul Winner. Both through a formal outreach ministry in the Church, and through informal personal outreach. Its important that Christians know with absolute certainty that God has never saved a Christian that He intend to keep faith to himself!! Those who say, "I think its just between you and God." are just looking to cover up their lack of a testimony! Every person you find in God's Word who was truly affected by the presence of God couldn't keep it quiet.

That's the base vision. There's more. Every level of ministry has its foundations, the things that give it sure footing and power. I don't care what anyone says the fact is plain, unless a person is truly born again he can have no personal ministry, and if he has no personal ministry he cannot be involved in Church ministry. However, the foundation of the personal ministry of the Christian is found in three things:

1. Drawing Near to God in Faith. Initiating faith. That is not about gaining salvation, so much as it is about getting faith started by picking up the cross and following Jesus.
2. Adding to Faith. Faith that is not growing is dying, its that simple. 2 Peter 1:1 - 11 exhort us to "add to" our faith. So, its not just enough to come to Jesus, we must move on.
3. Maintain Faith. We do this through three spiritual exercises that integrate the whole person:
1. Mental Exercise. 1 Timothy 4:11 - 16 God tells Timothy to give attendance to Reading, Exhortation, and Doctrine, to meditate on these things and give himself wholly to them that his profiting would appear to all. The battle starts in the mind. That's where sin starts, and so God says that's where we start battling sin. If you note in Romans 6 the word "know" shows up a lot. Note that in verse 3 “Know ye not", verse 6 "Knowing this”, verse 9, “Knowing that”, verse 11 "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves", then in verse 16 "Know ye not”. Get it?
2. Spiritual Exercise. Watch and Pray. Simple. A little bit of pay attention goes a long way. Stay alert.
3. Physical Exercise. Morality, that is how you behave. Act like a Christian. God's Word is full of commands to live Righteously in this evil world.
   

Well, somehow in sharing this I evidently did so in a way that was offensive and upset some folks that I care a great deal about. I was completely crushed after being skewered for over an hour on a Wednesday night, and then again last Sunday. All of the excitement I felt that God had finally answered my prayer was gone. All the effort I had gone through and the overwhelming assurance that I truly had a confirmed vision from God about the direction of the Church was trampled under.

They never heard the Sermon about the foundations of Church Ministry, and when I did get to preach the one about the four functions of the Church I doubt they paid attention to it. Now, don't think I'm blaming them, I'm not sure now what I may have said, nor how badly I may have said it. I'm not going to blame them. I think a man takes responsibility for his own actions, then moves to correct what he can. Too many people are so eat up with pride that they could never bear the thought that any problem they face could be their own doing. But I digress.

I tried this, but in the end my heart was devoid of the desire to fight the battle. It appeared obvious to me, and my wife, that I had lost the confidence of the people, and nothing I could do at that point would win it back. I Long to see this vision carried out. I believe that God gave me this vision so certainly that I put every thing I had worked for on the line. I still do. However, now I wonder was it for MRBC, or was it for another Church? I also wonder, of course second guessing yourself is never good, whether the battle was over, and I rushed leaving. The folks at MRBC have been very good to me over the years, and I'll never forget their generosity, or willingness. They are good people, as far as people go. That's the problem. We're all sinners, and no one, nor any Church is perfect. The key is Love. We must learn to love like Jesus loved. As I often said, "Love anyway."

With that I'll leave you. Saying Thanks to the folks at MRBC for all the good memories. My prayer is that whether present or absent I will hear of their faith, and that they continue in all things excellent.

Spiritual Endeavors Part 1

Today, I want to talk about Spiritual Disciplines. Its kind of difficult because when most Americans hear "Discipline" its immediately negative, painful and hard to do. Actually its nothing more than actions of correction. They can be negative, but they can also be positive. For example, prayer. Prayer is always positive. Unless you are a Roman Catholic and Hail Mary's, Our Fathers, and the Jesus Prayer is what you say for self punishment (Penance) . The problem with our culture is that we're taught in every way to avoid self control. Even the Public School system encourages the lack of it. It does so by avoiding asserting external discipline when a child misbehaves, and when handing out free condoms to students. All of the arguments they use defeat any effort they weakly expend at teaching a kid to discipline himself in any other effort. I could easily say, "They're not going to do homework anyway, so we shouldn't assign it." Isn't that the EXACT logic they use for Condoms? "They're going to do it anyway, so we should teach them to be safe at it." Instead of standing up, and asserting self control, they cave in and destroy it, and the efforts of every parent who has diligently tried to build it into their children's lives. The same with Churches. We Preach that person should read their Bible, Pray, Fast, and be faithful to attend the worship services, and yet Church after Church will put a person into a position of service who is unfaithful, doesn't really read their Bible, or pray, and hasn't fasted in years, if ever. It defeats the message we're trying to preach. Every Sunday School Teacher, Deacon, Treasurer, Song Leader, and especially the Pastor, should be faithful in every one of the disciplines that I'm going to cover. If they are, God has promised blessings upon their lives, and upon the Church they serve. Look at Joseph. He was faithful to do what was right, and God blessed him, and the places and people he served were blessed as well.
So, the question is, are we going to work together to bring about revival, or are we going to blindly keep allowing the world to go to Hell by the millions because of our laziness? I say we get off our butts, and get on our knees in prayer and repentance, and do what it takes to correct our ungodly nature, or at least keep it in Check.

Now, we need a little Scriptural basis for this endeavor. I mean a valid question is "Why, on earth, would I want to live a life of self denial and self control?" I say its valid because God provides answers, and God doesn't give answers to useless and troubling questions.
First. We need to recognize the base nature of man. There are many who believe man is basically good, and that "given the opportunity" he'll choose to do right. Bologna, or Bull, which ever you like. God's Word says that men are altogether bad, and that given the choice they'll go their own way, and that is the way of sin. Read Romans 1 - 3 when you get a chance. Romans 3:10 - 18 sums it up nicely:

10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

So, as you can see you are a wretch, yes you (and me unfortunately). In Jeremiah 17:9 God says of the human heart, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" What this means is that if you think your heart doesn't need discipline, you've been deceived. That's why the next verse in Jeremiah says, "I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." What this means is that what you think of yourself is not accurate, what your mom thinks of you is not accurate, what your wife, brother(s), sister(s), dad, children, and friend(s) think of you is not accurate. Only God can accurately judge. And He says, you need discipline.

Actually if you are NOT SAVED by the grace of God through faith in Christ, you need salvation! You need to repent of your sin, and your sins (they are different). Jesus died on the cross to redeem you from sin, was buried, and rose again the third day for your justification. Thanks to His work on the cross we can now find Grace, Mercy and Forgiveness with God! email me if you want to know any more.

Second, We need to understand Spiritual Disciplines, or Exercises in relationship to that Deceitful heart. You see we have a base sinful nature, (yes all of us), and left to itself it'll lead us down a path of sin (any of them you pick). Spiritual Disciplines are a way to correct the child in us that is bound up in foolishness. And, according to Proverbs 29:15, "The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame." That's why Paul said in First Corinthians chapter 9 verse 27 (written normally as 9:27) "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." You see we must, as Christians, practice these things in order to keep ourselves in line, or allow God to get us in line. Its just like maintaining a fire. Just because you got it started doesn't mean its going to burn there all night. Some one is going to have to keep wood on it. The same is true with human hearts as is true with wind up clocks. Every know and then they have to be maintained.

Third, we need to be Disciplined in order to serve God. Romans 12:1 - 2 tells us:

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The only way to "Be transformed" is to work at it. Much of it God does, but even He expects us to "put our hands to the plow" and not look back (Luke 9:62). In Haggai we find that God required the people to get up and get at it BEFORE He blessed. Now, understand this is in relationship to SAVED people, the work God requires of those who are NOT SAVED is different, and NO amount of spiritual disciplines are going to get you saved. They only help you act more like you are saved. You cannot "earn" salvation, it is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast, but we are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus UNTO GOOD WORKS (see Ephesians 2:8 - 10). So, we need to be transformed, and we need to be workers to the field, but we need to be disciplined in order to complete the picture. God tells Timothy through Paul in 2 Timothy 2:15, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." What that means is that we must be diligent to behave in a way that is pleasing to God, diligent to know the Word of God, and diligent to be about the work of God. Diligence, by the way, is another way of saying "through self control you pay close attention to."

This is by NO MEANS an exhaustive study of the need for Spiritual Disciplines. However, it should give you enough information to understand the need for them. As we go through in the coming days, or weeks, studying them or talking about them, I hope to explain how they relate to countering some base part of our nature, like giving counters selfishness, Fasting counters self indulgence, praying counters self sufficiency and pride, worship counters rebelliousness, Bible Study counters ignorance and sin, service counters laziness, and Witnessing counters apathy and spiritual death. Now, that's not an exhaustive, or exclusive list, because praying also counters selfishness for example.

Now, in another post, I'm going to tell you about my Kubuntu 7.04 upgrades (NICE OS).

Where you bin?

I know, its been a while. I've been up to a lot of things since I last blogged. I've been playing with some Ubuntu derivatives. Right now I'm running Linux Mint, and lovin' it. I discovered that most of my ills related to Kubuntu, were Kubuntu. I tried two or three of the feisty Herd Cd's only to be miserably affected. Two of the three wouldn't even load a kernel! However, the Ubuntu CD's worked just fine. Weird huh? Anyway, I'm really enjoying playing with a laptop that actually works for the most part. I say "most part" because when I load the proprietary driver for Nvidia the sound goes bad for VOIP software, and 2D games. 3D games have no issues with sound. I think setting up dmix will fix this with the latest versions of alsa, but I just haven't cared enough to fool with it.

I've also started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University classes. Ardent helped by sponsoring this thing for us, and I REALLY appreciate them for that. St. T would have done well to do things like this. But, that's another story. I'm thinking about posting some OpenOffice.org templates that I've been assured I can share for free, that are the forms used in the class. I have created a template for the Cash Flow Plan, Dumping Debt, and the Basic Budget form so far. I think Dave is onto some things, and I really appreciate his honesty in that much of this he didn't create he just packages it well. :-D. My Wife and I are looking at being out of debt in 2 1/2 years! Not including the house, that is.

Last Saturday, The family got out and cleaned up the Garage, it took us about all day!! I hauled off 2 loads of trash, and forgot to haul off the regular house trash! I have made up my mind that this place is going to get shaped up, or shipped out! I was tired of tripping over things, and not being able to find what I needed. So, we now have more room out there than I know what to do with! This coming Saturday, we're going to work on the rest of the basement! I don't think the kids (or the wife) believed I meant business until we actually started. Now they're worried, because they know I do. When we get done this house will be so much lighter we may have to tie it down! On a very sad note, we had to put our Golden Retriever down due to getting into the habit of biting. I took him off Saturday morning, and spent 60 bucks to get that done. I had such hopes for this dog, and to have it come to this is aggravating at the least. We've invested a lot of time, money, and effort into training, we just missed this thing. So, if you get a dog, discipline him early or life will get hard for you.

Anyway, I guess you can see now that we've been very busy. It seems a lot of things are going on all at once. We're finally over the sicknesses that seemed to get us down over and over again, even though Angela didn't get sick she did get something on her back that has caused some worry. Hopefully as we get our house in order, Spiritually, Physically, and Financially things well look up.

We also found a leak in the Church's water line, just after the meter. We lost 45,000 gallons of water. Can you believe that? We're still trying to figure out where the water went because there is no indication inside the Church, and there is no indication in the ground immediately around the pipes that this much water has been spilled. We're afraid we may be on top of a sink hole or cave. One appeared just down the road, so this isn't far fetched. I hope not.

Sickness Stinks!

Good Grief! Since Wednesday Night I've been afflicted with a "severe" case of the same thing that had gotten both my children down. Fortunately neither of them had it as bad as I got it. I'm just now coming back to some semblance of normalcy. I was able to actually eat solid food yesterday, after 2 days of no food what-so-ever, not because of an upset stomach but because of a VERY painful throat. My Temperature climbed so high Friday night that I went very close to convulsions, my wife says I did, but I think I was just shaking like that because I felt so cold. Normally for you to get in that shape it has to get at or above 104 degrees. I remember being that hot once when I was a boy, due to pneumonia, bronchitis, or something like that. My sleep patterns are so hosed that its going to be hard to get them where they should be. Its good to be back in the land of the living, even if its only partially at the moment. The Dr. (Ryan Mire of Heritage Medical one of few I would highly recommend) said I'd be contagious for 48 hours after starting the medicine, but wouldn't be 100% until some time after that. The nurse and Dr. both seemed rather surprised, if that's the right word, at the extent of the infection.
I think there maybe a connection to the backed up drains at the club where I exercise, the two kids and just getting real tired. Getting up and starting work at 3:50 am and then taking Christine to the Emergency room That night at 10:30 because of strep throat which caused me to worry. And, before her Michael had it, so more worry. Their cases weren't accompanied with the sheer pain mine came with fortunately. Once we got them on the Antibiotic their temps were fairly easy to control as well. I guess that's the blessing in this is that while they were sick, and that's bad enough, they weren't severe cases. I worried more about them, and I guess I forgot to pay attention to me, and wound up catching a double dose. I don't care what the risk is, if you are a man at all you're not going to refuse your son or daughter while their in pain. My daughter especially just wanted to sit in my lap for a little bit, and what daddy is going to say "no"?
Another blessing was that God helped me find a preacher to fill in today at Missionary Ridge. I was so out of it, to be honest, I just didn't care, but with Angela's careful prodding I worked on it, and God got it done. So, Bro Cecil Gilliland (sp? forgive me brother if its spelled wrong) is taking care of things today, and I pray God's blessings on his messages. One of these days I'll live in a land where nothing defiles, or makes unclean! I wont have to visit hospitals, or call Doctors. I wont have to preside over Funerals or visit cemeteries. I can't wait.

No Church, Waiting on Laptop, and Drums

I hate sundays with no Church. Due to the snow and icy road conditions this morning, left over from last night, we canceled Church. I hate doing that, but I know the people well enough to know what that'll do to the crowd. I know what you may be thinking, but I don't want folks feeling less than "spiritual" because they can't get out on the snow or ice, its not their fault. I also don't want some to try, and wind up wrecking their car hitting some odd patch of ice. I have found myself much more cautious about the snow since I've learned what it means to care about others. You think you know when your single, or living in Mom or Dad's house, but you don't really. Its not until someone is completely dependent on the decisions you make that you realize how important it is to consider what you do, and its affect on them, before you do it. Anyway, I remember in my younger days I would have plowed ahead and had Church anyway, and praise God there are those who can do that now, but now, I'm more reserved. I guess the two kids, and wife have made me a softy.

On another note, I sent back the HP, and as I said they were aggravating, but they finally returned my money. So, I've returned the HP and ordered a DELL, E1705, with the Intel T7400, 17" WUXGA (some outrageous resolution), and 4 years of accidental coverage, instead of 2 and its cheaper than the HP anyway. I would have liked the hp Intel version, don't get me wrong. I liked the 2 hard drive idea. I also have NO problem with HP in general. I really think they have the best server line with IBM coming in VERY close to 2nd. However, I like Dell's Laptops and Desktops. I Like IBM's midrange hardware better than anyone's, and I don't know of a second best there that's close. AIX on RS/6000 boxes just can't be beat for midrange power. All that said, I think its fair to say I'm not really attached to any particular vendor,however, there's one I can't stand, and they generally produce an OS that you can look out of, but if you open their glass panes you'll let the bugs in if you know what I mean. So, I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival, it'll probably get here sometime around the first of next month. Some reviews site its not very pretty and the speakers in it aren't very exceptional, but that's ok. I can add speakers, or headphones for sound, and looks aren't involved in my purchase plans. (I did price an Alienware laptop, because they look cool, but they couldn't come close to the price point of Dell.

The other interesting goody to come into the house is my son's drum set. We bought him a low end DDrum D2 drum set for about 380 at a music store in Bellevue, TN. My son just started jumping up and down Saturday when he came home and found it in his room. Again, I'd like to have a Digital camera to show it to ya' but alas, that's low on the purchase priority list. They're nice enough for starting, and they came about right with all the used drum sets I found that were worth having. Not only that, but I have a 2 year warranty (1 year from the store doubled by the Ccard I used). I think he'll take to it fairly well, if he can ever get me off of it. It reminded me of how much I enjoyed playing when I was in High School. Its amazing what you can remember, BTW, when you sit down behind one. My daughter wasn't so happy, 'cause now he has one more thing to irritate her with, and because she doesn't have a real Piano. (not to mention the fact that her casio keyboard cost about that much when we bought it a few years ago, and that she's been able to play sports, take Piano lessons, and everything else he hasn't for quite some time, but that's another story). Well, generally speaking everyone's happy here now, and life is good. God is great folks, and why He's so nice to me I'll never understand. He's given me a good family, a great wife, and two good (well, for the most part anyway) kids, and a great job doing what I love (on both sides, the Church and Ardent).

That's all for now. God bless.

Bye Bye Sugar Coating

Well, I've been preaching this kind of stuff for years. I have long believed that you CAN NOT win a soul to Christ using the flesh! A person will not be won to the Spirit after having the flesh appealed to first!! Why do I say that? Because for years now the SBC (at least the TBC) in their "Youth Evangelism Conferences" have used "Christian Rock" or "Contemporary" music to attract young people. Well, I read in the December 15, 2006 The Sword of the Lord an Article with the following Headline:

"Compromised Youth Ministries Now Admit Failure"

Imagine that? The first half of the article is a quote from Christianpost.com's article quoting Time's "IN Touch with Jesus" for November 6, 2006. whew, that was a chain to follow. Anyway, I finally find out that I'm not alone in my stand against Christianizing the World's music!!! Sorry, but I lived the Rock-n-Roll scene for real, AC/DC, Journey, Motley Crue, etc. etc. concerts, the whole nine yards. I have always held to the FACT that you cannot convert something of the world and call it Christian without putting it through the fire, melting it, and remolding it. THIS is exactly what modern Christianity has failed to do with Rock Music. Had they put it through the Fire of God's Word, they'd find out from its history, and its layout (the beat) that it is NOT healthy, spiritually or physically. The Word of God COMMANDS us to come out from among the World, NOT make friends with them, or appeal to their flesh in competition with worldly pursuits!! I especially appreciated this part from the Editor of The Sword of the Lord,

Over the past few decades churches by the thousands have caved in to the pressure of the culture. They compromised their values and capitulated to "what kids want." What they wanted was entertainment, a good time, fun and games, rock music, no work, no demands and certainly no standards. Now they are forced to "fess up" to their failure. The churches went along, and so did the kids (for a while).

So, now does anyone believe me? Those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will. Because they are more worried about glorifying Christ than they are about putting up good numbers for the associational report letter!!

The Summary of that article was to enforce the idea that true Bible Based Worship, was what gets kids, adults, women, men, boys and girls, into Church, and its what keeps them there! God centered Churches are what we need, NOT seeker friendly, or man centered Churches! I'm not here to please men, I'm here to please Christ!

The problem I have now is that there are those who are wrapped up in their sin of selfishness, and pride who will refuse to accept these facts regardless of what the Bible says, and facts show. They'll point to the very few who keep attending Church to "prove" they are right. I remember way back, before I went to Bible College, I left the TBC's (Tennessee Baptist Convention) Youth Evangelism Conference and swore to never return because it was nothing more than a Rock Concert with a little bit of Jesus sprinkled on to make it look good! Why? Because while the hectic music was playing I saw all manner of godless behavior, and NO worship coming from the youth attending, and because as soon as the preaching started, they became restless and uninterested. Imagine that? If the music was what those who push it on us say it is, WHY does it not draw these young people to a full commitment to Christ? I have long held that music should move your heart to bow before God, to praise His greatness, and think of all His benefits as the Psalms tell us. I have also used as a guide to the music I listen to, the Bible. If a song isn't Biblical in its message, its of the Devil I don't care if Billy Graham sings it himself!

Finally let me finish with one more Quote from Dr. Shelton Smith of the Sword:

Youth groups that are entertainment based are destined to fail. Kids need to get a steady diet of Bible teaching and strong preaching with an emphasis on Scripture, salvation, sanctification, separation, standards, soul winning and the surrendered life!

Amen.

Sundays Good, Mondays bad.

I love the weekend. It has Saturday, which is my general purpose only real day off. It also has Sunday The real first day of the week, Church day, and football day (If you like to watch football). Anyway, today was our Church's Business meeting and we scheduled out our Valentine banquette, Vacation Bible School, and Revival. The Revival is especially interesting to me, because I've been mulling over setting it up as a Bible Conference, where you have a different preacher each night, and either leave it up to God, or assign them topics, or Bible passages (Like a book of the Bible, etc.) and then turn them loose. I really liked the ones I have attended, and since our last Associational Crusade, its really been on my heart. The dates are for the Revival the week of the 15th of July through the friday of that week, and for Vacation Bible School, it starts June 11th and goes through Friday of that week. I'm really looking forward to both. Before I go to bed I'm going to update the schedule and the Web Site for the Church.
Oh, today was my Sister's 39th Birthday, hehehehe. Not that I would tell you how old she is or anything. I try to call her every year, or go see her, but today being Sunday going to see her was out.

Well, that's a short one for today. I'll post more later.

Christmas and KJ2000 Reading

Well, Christmas is over, and all the gifts have been unwrapped around our house. This actually turned out to be a better Christmas for the kids than I thought it would be. We spent last Saturday with the family from my side, and had a GREAT time. We played Cranium (a neat game, and the more people the better). We snacked, and opened presents. We all swapped "White Elephant" gifts, which was real fun. I wound up with a bottle of soap from Bath and Beauty, or whatever its called. My Wife, Angela, wound up with the gift she brought, an empty Harmonica case. :-). My sister's Husband wound up with an older Wireless access point I had retired. I updated it and made sure it worked before I took it.
Sunday Evening we went to My wife's side's get together. Another good time. We had a great meal, and exchanged gifts. It was good. WE also had Sunday Morning Worship services at Missionary Ridge (Just in case you were wondering). I hope your Holidays, Christmas in particular, have been good to you. I really hope you focused on Family, friends, and the Christ who set us free. I know some of you will point out that Christmas was originally a Pagan Holiday, not Christian as many suppose. However, I feel that most of the traditions around this day can be redeemed. Just as God commanded the Israelites to melt down the gold and silver from the pagan temples and use it in the Temple, I think traditions that can be put through the fire of God's Word, and can come out OK, are fine. Like exchanging gifts in celebration of Christ's birth. Now, we all know that Jesus was NOT born on Dec. 25th, as there are too many indicators to the contrary. However, we can celebrate that He was born. His birth in and of itself did not redeem mankind, but had He not come into this world, and set aside His glory, we would have never had a Christ to redeem us at all!! Not only that but the story of Christ's birth teaches us a great many things that are backed up by other Scriptures. I'll probably go into them a little bit at a time over the next few weeks (yes I know afterward) so you can be prepared for Next year. I meant to this year before Christmas, but it just didn't work out.
For one: God shows that there are no age limits on those whom He can use. God used a girl, no more than 16 years old (Mary) to be the mother of His Son, Anna and Simeon we're "well stricken in years", with Anna being at least 84 years old, then there were Joseph, a young man, Elizabeth, probably middle age, Zacharias her husband, the parents of John the Baptist, who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. So you see, whether you are young or old God can use your service, and enable you to do extraordinary things. Not only that, but God can use Rich and Poor, Jew and Gentile, Slave and Free. He doesn't care whether you have an education (Matthew the publican, Paul the Apostle) or not (Peter the Apostle). You can be a fisherman, a shepherd, a Carpenter, a Tax Collector (publican), or even a leper. God used Kings, and slaves to write His Word, and to bring Jesus Christ the Living Word into this world. All the ground is level before the Cross, and there is no such thing as a big I and a little you. This is the consistent message of the Bible as a whole, and especially in the Birth of Christ.
Another tip, notice how God inconvenienced the WHOLE WORLD, to make it possible? God can move mountains if we'll only believe.

Now, the KJ2000 update. I ran into a snag. There appears to be an issue with the text, that I just can't get over. Here's a snippet from the email I sent Dr. Couric on Dec. 5th:
I found something that has me, well, kinda thinking.
In Galatians 3:16 the KJ2000 says, "Now to Abraham and his descendant were the promises made. He says not, And to descendants, as of many; but as of one, And to your descendant, who is Christ." However I couldn't find ANY such passage in Genesis. They all use "descendants" plural (except in one place that was specifically talking about Isaac). What do we do there?
I think that's why they went with "seed" in the KJV. My problem is I never got to take any Hebrew, I know how to tell a plural vs. a single Greek word, but with Hebrew I'm in the dark

end snippet.
This may not seem to be much of a big deal to some, however it deals with the prophecy of Christ's coming. And, if we force the plural onto a place in the Old Testament where there is no plural then we're not being faithful to God's Word. So, until I hear back my reading of that version has stopped. I haven't heard anything from Dr. Couric in a while, and I pray that everything is well with him.

Wednesday Evening Lesson

Tonight we're back in Habakkuk. chapter 2

We found 5 woes for sinful man, or The 5 Woes of Judgment.
1. Woe to the Oppressive. (4 - 8)
This addresses those who have no decency in the way they treat those who are under their authority. Its about those who while in office, or while in a position of advantage, treat others with an emboldened harshness and cruelty. This can be applied to just about any situation, like those in governmental offices and those religions which are violent when in power, but "peaceful" when in the minority. Take Islam, or Muslims for example. In this country, and in some other places, they claim to be "tolerant" and "peaceful", however in every country without exception, where they are in power they persecute and kill Christians. This is peaceful and tolerant? I don't think so. Catholics (Roman that is) aren't any better. When the world was theirs they killed and persecuted more Christians than anybody, and refused to allow their own people to read the Bible. Yet now, when the world isn't at their call, they "love" and "respect" everyone. Right. Some groups of Baptists haven't done themselves any favors, along with some other groups of "Christians". Too many groups flaunt and carelessly use and abuse the position of influence once the get it, and the backlash is horrible. Sorry, but anyone who in a position of influence or power, who is unkind, abusive and cruel toward those who cannot safely retaliate, appeal or otherwise find relief, is who this passage is addressed to! Those who misuse power should know that it becomes what the passage describes as "Thick Clay" around your boots. In Van Leer, TN they have red clay. I know because we owned about 124 Acres of it. This stuff was horrible if you didn't farm it right. If you tried to walk through a real muddy field of this stuff you'd better be ready to carry a few pounds. I've had it get so thick it pulled my boots off! Every time you carelessly step on another weaker (be it in authority, number or physical strength) person, you pile it on, and as the passage says, it'll come back to bite you!

2. Woe to the Greedy (9 - 11)
This addresses those who could care less about anyone else in the world, or their needs, only their own survival and advancement. The key to this passage is the idea that one would sacrifice anyone to make sure they survive whatever "evil" or bad time, may come around. They want only for themselves, and care only for themselves, and would not so much as sacrifice a penny to see that someone else was better, or taken care of. They only care to make sure their life is good, and their retirement fund is fat. Its not bad to have a retirement fund, I have one, its bad to feed it at the expense of helping someone who is your neighbor. Heaping things unto yourself in an effort to make sure no calamity comes your way is one thing, what's even worse is doing so at the direct expense of others! This is what drove the Native Americans off their land, greed. White men wanted land that had gold, Indians were in the way, so we moved them. We couldn't do a just thing, and live in peace, no, we had to send them on the trail of tears to statisfy our lusts. May God have mercy. God has a plan, I believe that. God had a plan to use the Chaldeans to judge Israel, He also had a plan to judge the Chaldeans.

3. Woe to the Unjust (12 - 14)
This addresses those who build their business, city, country, whatever, through injustice, and cruelty. Like in many ways the US in which I live. Yes, I confess, this country has abused a few races for its own advancement. Native Americans, and African Americans to name two most obvious. I don't know of a treaty made with a Native American tribe this country ever followed through on. History has shown, and it has proven true, that no country, or race, can subjugate or enslave another for very long before they get fed up with it and do something about it. No one who robs someone else's house to furnish their own is going to live there for very long! I call this the "Microsoft passage". They built their business with some very unjust practices, and I believe they have long since seen their best times pass. Of course, this goes for any Church or religious group as well. Any Church, Baptist or otherwise, which doesn't receive those whom God has cleansed, is due judgment! I've known of, and have known personally those who would not witness to Black men about Jesus. What a sin. What an injustice, to withhold the truth of salvation from a lost soul. To allow them to die without Christ and spend eternity in Hell because you don't like their culture, or their color is injustice of the worst kind! Not only that, but to then persecute, and abuse them for those same reasons is the target of this passage.

4. Woe to the Drunks and Pushers (15 - 17)
This addresses both those who push drugs and Alcohol on to someone else so they can take advantage of them, and those who take them. Why? Because if you stay away from those things, your life will not have the problems brought on by them! Forget for a moment the physical problems brought on by drinking and doing drugs, (I still live with a few), the mental issues alone are worth avoiding it! Mental issues like making very bad decisions, and signing on to very bad deals, or giving away very important or valuable things. Not to mention the stupid things you do that the pusher is going to use against you at some future time. However, What God is really after are those who purposefully try to get their neighbor drunk so that he can take advantage of him in some way, like clean out his house, rape, or take embarrassing pictures for money.

5. Woe to the Idolaters (18 - 20)
This addresses anyone who tries to "Put God in a box". At first glance you'd have to agree with God here, its not very smart to create something, and then subject your self to the thing, and claim what you know is dead ('cause you made it) is actually alive. However, the truth is this is the kind of "god" most people really want. They want a god they can "create" in their own image. They don't want the real God, because He will not be subject to what YOU think, or want. They want a god they can live with, so they create one that will bend to their whims of what is right and wrong! Its much easier to create a god than it is to worship the real one. The Real, True, Living God will not be bound by what you think. Your thoughts, as are mine, are so much lower than His. God despises this as much as any, because this directly attacks His Lordship over your life. This directly attacks His glory. You see anything you create is going to be less than you. If that's so, and as Romans 3:23 says we've all fallen short of the glory of God, then what we create is going to be EVEN LOWER! No, its high time we quite trying to make God, and God's Word conform to our wants and whims, and started allowing God's Word, and God to transform us to His Will!

In all these things God says He will be glorified, and He will judge. So, Habakkuk, God says, "You can relax, I'm going to honor my Name, and I'm going to do what it takes to make sure everyone on the earth knows that I am God!" When Jesus died on the Cross He demonstrated His hatred of Sin, His love for sinners, His mercy, and His judgment. God showed in Christ just how wicked sin is. But, there is a way, a way through Christ the risen Lord, to forgiveness and mercy! Go to Him before your sins find you out!

Thanksgiving Day

Wow, its just about over. I don't get NFL network, so I've missed every Pro game played today. Oh, well. I did get to spend a good day with my whole family together. Its the first time my side of the family has been together for longer than I can remember! I think there was one Thanksgiving about 4 or 5 years ago. . . but I'd rather forget that one. Lets just say I'm glad God taught me grace, and leave it at that.

Anyway, I hope your Thanksgiving was good, plenty-o-Turkey, and trimmings! We all went around the table and shared something we're thankful for. I was thankful for my job. Yep. Both of 'em. I appreciate the Church, and I'm glad I no longer work for DCI at St. Thomas. Of course I hear that they've lost two since I left, which aught to tell them something, but it wont, and they wont care. You know what? I don't either. :-D. I thank God He saw fit to guide me out of that position and into a better one with less stress.

Wednesday Evening we looked over Colossians 3, and the verse in particular that tells us to let the peace of God rule in our hearts, and be thankful. Thankfulness is an attitude, an action, and an affirmation. An attitude in that, generally speaking a person is thankful. Now, it would be stupid for me to try and look God in the eye and say "God, Thank you for the flat tire on my truck." However, it would be wise of me to look around and say, "God, Thank you for providing so graciously for the tires, and for giving me a job were I can earn the money, and for the physical ability to change the tire, oh, and for not making all four go flat at the same time." You see a person with the attitude of gratitude isn't going to be any more happy about the bad things that happen than anyone else. He is going to see all the things that could be worse about the bad things that happen, and be thankful God is there to help him through.
Thankfulness is an Action. Its more than just saying, "Thank You." Its doing something in return, and out of appreciation to the things done for you. We say thanks by giving a card, saying thank you, cooking a meal, giving a gift, doing a job, or chore. We say thanks by what we do, more than we'll ever say things by what we say. Have you ever seen a kid get the toy he was so longing for, who DIDN'T brag about it? Thankfulness shows itself by the way we act.
Thankfulness is an Affirmation, or a Determination. A determination not to let life get you down. Sometimes we just have to dig in, and say Thank You, even when we have so much to look around and get depressed about. There is so much bad news on TV, that it can really begin to work you over. It can get so bad that even in the face of good things, you see a bad thing. Thankfulness says, "I'm going to live, and live abundantly, live above the strife and depressing news, live on a higher plane." Are you thankful?

Well, Happy Thanksgiving! and may God bless you and yours throughout this Holiday Season!