Cyndi and I have started the process of finding a church home since we moved to Richmond. Today, we visited Staples Mill Road Baptist Church. We visited there once before when we were house hunting. They are a member of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia. They currently have an interm pastor and are looking for a new full-time pastor. The church seems active in missions, evangelism, etc…. There are also several other people at the church who work at the IMB.

Before we left Columbus, we had a Sunday School shindig. Part Amazing Race part going away party. We took some pictures. To see them, go to http://techs4jesus.dynup.net/webpics/20050514_SSFellowship/ the flickr set of the pictures. Enjoy!

[Update 22 Dec 2012 07:22] Updated link to flickr set AND added the picture

Cyndi and I were sitting in a hotel room recently (we were house hunting in Richmond…more on that later) and I was surfing the 'net. I came across this article on group think. It was an interesting read. Here are some quotes:

The world’s path to success is changing fast. In the new 21st-century institution – be it a school, church, corporation or government — hard work and dedication won't suffice. Getting ahead in the global community will mean compromise, conformity, group thinking and submission to the ground rules of the consensus process.

Today, a more sophisticated version of this brainwashing process drives the social transformation. Governments, schools, businesses and service organizations — even churches — are using it to mold compliant citizens and group thinkers. It usually serves their purpose, for it helps root out individualism and the "intolerant" attitudes that could bring conflict and division. When bonded to the group and trained in the new relational rules, few dare offend the majority by take a contrary stand.

Notice those last few words: "…few dare offend the majority by take a contrary stand." What makes it possible to take the stand? Knowing you are right. Knowing why you are right. This is why it is critically important that we as Christians know the Bible, believe the Bible, and know why we believe the Bible. If we stand firm on our "firm foundation," we can once again influence our society.

My friend Bill recently made a post on his blog where he describes some interaction he had with his daughter. In a nutshell, she wanted Bill to read her a book about the flood (Noah's Flood) so he did. The next day, she got the impresstion that God doesn't love us. This is my response.

Yes, God is a God of love (when I speak of God here, I speak of the God…the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob); however, he is also a Holy God. Being holy means he cannot love sin. So, here is what is important (and you don't get this from just one story in the Bible):

1) God created humans to be perfect…no sin.
2) Man chose to sin and rebel again God in the Garden.
3) This rebellion caused the Holy God to have to deal with the sin. He kicked the original people out of the Garden for their rebellion.
4) Since the original man, every man (person) born has inheritied this sin nature.
5) God loves us, and wanted to restore our relationship with Him.
6) God sent His Son (the God-Man [100% God yet 100% man]) to earth. He lived a sinless life on earth.
7) He was offered up on the cross as payment for our sin debt.
8) God loves everyone equally. He offers His gift to anyone and everyone regardless of status, race, color, etc…
9) All though God is love, He is also holy and cannot tolerate sin.
10) He loves us, but if we refuse to accept His love, we must be punished. 11) We may or may not see His punishement while we are alive; however, this WILL happen once we die if we have not accepted His love while we are alive.

Think about it like this. Parents love their children but still punish their children when they do wrong. Do the parents cease to love their children when they punish them? No. The two (love and punishment) are not mutually exclusive.

I don't know what book was or what it said, but did it mention the rainbow? How God promised to never again destroy the entire world by flood? Did the book go into the gift God provided? Here are some links to some flood books for kids that would probably include the WHOLE story:

Noah's Ark and the Ararat Adventure
Noah's Ark and the Great Flood
The True Story of Noah's Ark

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that the Bible must be taken as a whole. It isn't potluck. A person can only understand things by looking at the entire "picture"

Will they just skip over the plagues, death, flooding, and occasional harshness of our Loving God?

I hope not because God is not only love. He is other things as well. You cannot understand the love of God without understanding God in His entirety. 

Will her knowing the full story from the bible cause others in her church to be uncomfortable?

Again, if people are like this, one must question if we are talking about the same God. This is why it is very important to pick a church that believes the ENTIRE Bile. Not just parts. Not just potluck. Not just the good parts. Not just the "bad". They need to believe it all…all or nothing. Without that, one only gets part of the picture. 

How do you reconcile the apparent dichotomy of being told he is a Loving God and then seeing what he does throughout the old testament?

Again, one has to take it all. The God who loves everyone so much that He sent His son into the world to die that we might live hates sin and cannot tolerate it. You have to take everything. If one views the entire picture instead of focusing on one thing there is no problem reconciling everything.

Yesterday, the Men of Highland Baptist Church went to Priceton WV to help out Heaven Sent Ministries. While we were there, Lyle shared many stories with us. Here is one of them:

HSM helps sponsor an orphanage in India. There, they have a baptistry (essentially, just a concrete hole in the ground. You can see a picture of it here. Well, this orphanage needed a well, so they drilled one several years ago. When it was being drilled, the well was cursed by the Hindus in the area. The director then prayed to God and asked Him to provide water in such a way that everyone would know what happened (kind of a modern day Mt. Carmel experience). Well, they reached water after drilling only 150-200 feet! The other wells in the area are 800-900 feet deep. That is exciting, but there is more!

Fast-forward two years. That area is in a drought. Eventually, the pump became exposed and burnt up. While they were waiting on the pump to be repaired, Lyle went over to baptise some people (about 70). They had to go get water and truck it in in barrels. They filled the baptistry, Lyle baptised the people, then left. Several weeks later, Lyle received a call from the director.

To conserve water, the orphans had dipped the baptistry dry and watered plants with it. Well, this concrete hole filled up with water again! They dipped it out once again to water plants. Guess what? It filled up again! And not just a trickle either…water was shooting into the baptistry from the ground. They saw what was going on, cleaned out the baptistry so they could drink the water. Guess what?

Water filled up the baptistry from April to August. The flow of water stopped only when the pump was returned and placed into service once again.

Bear in mind, this wasn't because of rain, or seepage. This place is a desert! God caused that water to flow into that baptistry to provide for the needs of those orphans when their well was inoperable.

Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow!

I always like to think about situations to see what I can learn from them. Recently, I posted about a modern day miracale. Here are two things I think we can learn from this:

1. God still does miracales. And not just healing miracles either. God made the water flow into that baptistry. God met the needs of those orphans in a miraculous way. If he did it in the past, he can do it again.

2.Sometimes we have to step out in faith first. What would have happened if the people had refused to take some of the little water they had and baptise with it? What would have happened if the widow in the Bible had refused to make the cake? We don't know the answer, but God may want us to take the first step before he meets our needs. God may or may not have made the widow's flour and oil not run out if she hadn't made the cake. God may or may not have met the orphanage's water need if they didn't use some to baptise. But, we do know that if we do what God wants with what we have at the moment, God will provide what we need.

I was surfing Pensees blog today and came across this article. It led me to discover this Christian Apologetics site hosted by Lifeway. I never knew this existed before. It looks like a wealth of information free for the viewing. Good job Lifeway!

I subscribe to the e-mail version of the Baptist Press. Yesterday, they had this story.

I have written several posts about the state of church in America and why we are no longer effective. This article has several good points about the state of the church, what is needed, and why. Here are some teasers:

In the church the word "revival" often refers to a series of special meetings, usually with an out-of-town singer or speaker. However, the word itself is summed up in what was done for me under the table and what was done for the bride at church — to bring out of a state of unconsciousness and restore to full alertness. 

Today, let's pray for the Lord to revive His people and His church. Starting with me and my church.

 

I subscribe to an e-mail list by David Cloud. I don't agree with everything he says, but all of it is usually a good read and makes you think about what you really think about certain subjects.

One thing that really bugs me is how unrespectful people are while the pastor is preaching. Today, Mr. Cloud's e-mail dealt with this very thing. I cannot find the entire article on his website, so I have posted the e-mail in its entirety here. I couldn't find anything on Mr. Cloud's website about what he considers acceptable use of his material, but I think this falls under fair use. If you are the copyright holder and want this document removed, please contact me and it shall be done.

Here are the main points made by Mr. Cloud in his e-mail:

HOW TO CONDUCT YOURSELF DURING PREACHING

"But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15).

1. SIT RESPECTFULLY AND ALERTLY
2. DON'T DISTRACT OTHERS
3. LISTEN WELL
4. TREAT THE INVITATION SERIOUSLY

Of these, there are two that aggravate me to no end: #2 and #4. I work sound at Highland, and so we get to see everything that goes on in the service. You wouldn't believe the number of people who wander in and out, out and in while the service is going on. I don't understand. And, if that weren't enough, the invitation is the time in the service for people to respond to God's call on their life. It isn't time to put on your coat, gather you stuff, or, worst of all, walk out of the service to beat the rush out of the parking lot! If God isn't dealing with you, you should pray that others in the service would allow God to work in their life (and you probably should be trying to figure out why God didn't say anything to you that Sunday!).

In short, remember we don't go to church to be entertained. We don't even go to church to hear what the preacher has to say. We go to church to 1)Worship Almighty God and 2)Hear what He has to say to us through the preacher.

Dr. Criswell

was called to be pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. The legendary George Truett, after forty-seven years as pastor, had died. The young Criswell was given the daunting task of following this great preacher.

Under his leadership the church grew dramatically. In his early years as pastor he preached through the entire Bible, taking almost eighteen years to complete the task. He was known for his stand on the inerrancy of Scripture and wrote the important book “Why I Preach the Bible Is Literally True.” He became the leader against liberalism among Southern Baptists.

After a full life of ministering the Word he loved, Dr. Criswell was called home to Heaven on January 9, 2002.

–From the Sword of the Lord

If you are interested, the W. A. Criswell Foundation has put his sermons online so you can download and listen to them.