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Posts about church (in general) or church (the church I am a member of, specifically)
Sorry for the lack of posting this week. Cyndi and I went to the Southern Baptist Convention and Pastor's Conference and just got back home yesterday. I wanted to live blog from the convention, but I decided not to try that hassle.
I want to go to San Antonio next year….perhaps then. Anyway, if you are interested in reading what I thought, you'll have to read more (hint…click the link below). Continue reading “My Thoughts on the 2006 Southern Baptist Convention in Greensboro, NC”
I just wanted to let everyone know that I have finished posting new Salem Baptist Church sermons on the church's homepage. I'm sorry for the delay…our duplicator was broke and I was unable to get copies of the messages until recently.
This morning in chapel, we heard from a missionary to India. He talked about many things, but what hit me the hardest was a video he showed. In this video, they talked about a group of 12-15 national church leaders. These leaders meet every week for an accoutability group to make sure everyong is keeping up with everything. A portion of that time is spent talking about how they have shared their faith. In two weeks, this group had shared the Gospel with… Continue reading “How Real Is Our Faith?”
For some reason, this page has become a catch-all page on my site. In spite of me spending almost all day working on dead links, htaccess files, and the link, I can’t get everything. If you came here looking for something else, search for it. I’m sorry for the extra step.
According to Guy Consolmagno, a Vatican astronomer, I’m a pagan. For those who know me, this may come as a shocker…
I was surfing today and came across a post about today being Dietrich Bonhoeffer's birthday. If you want more information on the man, look at the results of this Google search.
These two news reports just go to show the sad state of "the church" in America:
With Christmas falling on a Sunday, some churches break from tradition
Some churches to shut doors Christmas Day
What's more important: Santa or The One True Living God? Presents or Worship? Gifts or Worship? Come on people! Take a break from your self-centeredness for an hour on Christmas morning this year. You claim to be "christian," but you are not Christ-like. If you want to open presents that morning, just wake up a tad earlier. Better yet, why not practice some delayed gratification and open presents after church? Or how about opening them the night before? Think about your answers then tell me if you are a christian or not. Here are some examples:
Oh, we can't open them the night before, Santa hasn't brought them. Ahh, your true self is showing through. Are you teaching your kids the real reason for the season or that Santa brings them presents? What happens when they find out you've been lying to them all their life about Santa? Might they start to not trust other things you say?
We'll get busy with presents and forget church. Set an alarm and put it up and do what is necessary to get to church on time. Stop opening presents if you have to. Tell you kids to put them away…they'll be there when you return.
The kids can't wait. What's more important…God or worldly things?
Christians in America, we all need to step back, evaluate our lives, read the Bible, and decide are we "Christian" or are we truly Christians!?!?! Being a Christian is more than getting up and going to church on Sunday. Heck, its even more than going to church 3 times a week, being chairman of the deacons, and a Sunday School teacher! Christians were first called Christians because they were Christ-like. Is your life truly reflective of Christ? What does your Bible say about gathering together:
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching
On the internet last week, I heard rumours about FEMA wanting to reemburse churches for their disaster relief help. Here is a collection of articles:
Say it Isn't So — FEMA to Reimburse Churches for Aid?
FEMA Plans to Reimburse Faith Groups for Aid
NAMB to FEMA — No Thanks!
I'm glad that NAMB has already said no.
On September 22nd, I posted about "the fast Bible". Today, I was catching up on my blog reading when I noticed that Dr. Mohler had also posted about this on his blog. I just thought this was interesting and wanted to give everyone else the chance to read what he said.
The 100-Minute Bible is the perfect symbol of our age of truncated attention spans and rampant biblical illiteracy. At the current rate of declining interest and literacy, 100 minutes will soon be unacceptably long.
The Bible Cut Down to Size — Scripture and the Modern Attention Span
I read this story today on The Bible for Slow Readers. You should give it a read. Here are some quotes:
In the beginning was the Word. But the Word went on a bit, so a new version of the Bible has been produced for readers with short attention spans.
The 100-minute Bible, aimed at the "hurried and harried" generation, was launched at Canterbury Cathedral yesterday by its author, the Rev Michael Hinton.
First were the "modern" Bible versions. Then came the paraphrases. Then this.
Folks, we have to figure something out before we jump on this bandwagon. Is the Bible a "special" book written by men who were inspired by God to write down exactly what He wanted recorded? Or is the Bible just another book with good moral lessons? If the Bible is the first, then every word in the Bible is as important as any other word. The words are there for a reason.
Monday Morning Insight has a post asking if pastors should have close friends in the Church. I thought I would weigh in on what I think.
Let's start by looking at scripture. What does the scripture have to say about friends and friendship?
Here is a link to all verses that contain the word friend. Some ones I want to highlight are below.
6If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
7Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
8Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
16Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?
17A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
18A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend.
24A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
5Open rebuke is better than secret love.
6Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
7The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
3Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
4And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
5But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
14Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
From the results of the search, we can see the Bible has TONS to say about friendship. From several verses (see Deuteronomy 13:6-8 and Proverbs 17:16-18 from above) we can clearly see that friends can be a bad thing. From yet other verses (Proverbs 27:5-7 above) we can see that friends can serve a purpose. From yet other verses (Luke 12:3-5 above) we can see that Jesus had friends on earth. We can even see in John 15:14-16 that Jesus says calls those who have accepted Him friends. So what is the problem?
I think the problem–just like in most things–isn't the thing but our implementation of friends. Clearly friends and friendship is Biblical. Friends serve to encourage, lift up, help, and keep each other on track. However, I think we have list sight of the last one. We want friends. We want others to like us. How do we do that? We are "nice" to each other.
In our culture, being nice has been transformed into "doing favors for", "thinking more of", and "don't say 'mean' things." Biblical friendships would entail speaking tough love to people. Helping them improve and get closer to Christ.
In a business meeting or other situation, friendships shouldn't stop us from doing the right thing. Since when does being a friend entail always siding with your "friend." If that is what is expected, one should evaluate if the "friend" is a real friend or not.
In conclusion, I don't think there is anything wrong with pastors having friends. Having friends–both in and out of the church–is acceptable. However, those friendships should be Biblical friendships and neither party should feel pressured to NOT do the right thing.