Category Archives: Uncategorized

#SBC17 What I Look Forward to in Phoenix

Posted on May 11, 2017 | Leave a comment

The Southern Baptist Convention is in Phoenix, AZ this June and it will be different for me. I am the 1st Vice President of the Convention this year. That plus .79 cents (plus even more for taxes) gets me a soft drink at Circle K. There isn’t much power to the position but I did have a chance to learn more about the SBC. I will even lead a brief part of the convention on Tuesday afternoon. (A good time for controversialists to make their move if ever there was one!)

Here is what I’m looking forward to at the convention in Continue reading →

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Posted in Christianity, sbc, southern baptist convention, Uncategorized

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When Your Grandchild Gets Baptized

Posted on April 17, 2017 | 2 comments

Few things move a man emotionally like grandchildren. We do things for those little rascals that we never thought of doing with our own children. “Oh, you want a cookie before supper? Sure, have two!” And few things can move a Christian man more than the salvation of those little tykes.

Our oldest grandson is 7 1/2 years old. (The day comes soon enough when we stop counting those half years.) I started praying for him (and the rest of the grands) before he was ever born. I prayed that he would come to know the Lord as his Savior and that he would follow him as Lord. I’ve been burdened to pray for this oldest one especially for the last few months.

To our great joy, he recently Continue reading →

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Posted in baptism, Christianity, Church, Easter, Easter Sunday, grandchildren, Uncategorized

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Palm Sunday

Posted on April 7, 2017 | 1 comment

I love the Easter season. I love the worship, the witnessing opportunity and that my wife makes deviled eggs. I love the truth that the empty tomb communicates. I love the joy and hope that the resurrection provides.

Palm Sunday is always a meaningful part of the Easter season. At our church, we take communion in all three of the Sunday morning services Continue reading →

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Posted in Christianity, Easter, Palm Sunday, Uncategorized

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The Greatest Danger

Posted on March 30, 2017 | Leave a comment

Perhaps the greatest danger for many Christians, churches and ministries is something other than gross immorality or theological liberalism or direct rebellion against the plans of God. Dangerous as these things are, the greatest danger for many followers of Christ is something more insidious. This danger is subtle. It is not so easily recognized. But it just as deadly. This terrible danger is apathy.

Apathy (and her cohort, procrastination) is the Continue reading →

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Posted in bible study, Christianity, Church, evangelism, passion, prayer, Uncategorized

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Feeling Lost

Posted on March 27, 2017 | Leave a comment

Good word from my sweet wife.

Vickie Munton's avatarwateringcanblog

It was a grand adventure.  For a young mom with two preschoolers and an infant, taking Daddy to the airport was a HUGE deal.  It didn’t happen very often, and the excitement of the trip to the airport helped to ease the anxiety of Daddy leaving for a few days. Seeing that big plane take off, then waving to the oblivious passengers, the joy of the moment turned into reality.

He was gone.  I was alone.  And I couldn’t find the car.

In the excitement of the moment, I had forgotten to memorize where we had parked the car.  I don’t always pay attention well when he’s the one driving.  I should have been more observant.  I should have written down the exact location on my crude palm pilot (aka, my hand) like I often did to remind myself of things I absolutely needed to remember.

But I didn’t.

This…

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The Cooperative Program Rediscovered

Posted on March 23, 2017 | Leave a comment

One of the the things I want to do in my time of service with the Southern Baptist Convention is to encourage greater support for the cooperative program (CP). Oddly enough, more attention than ever has been paid to the CP through some recent dust ups with churches and the ERLC- one of our SBC agencies. Perhaps the CP is being rediscovered.

Every church in the SBC can decide how much- if any- they give to missions through the cooperative program. Every state convention can decide how much they forward on to national agencies. Every convention can debate the percentages that each agency should receive. But, I contend, the CP remains a marvel of opportunity. Here are some of the blessings of this method of mission giving.

First, the CP has been remarkably Continue reading →

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Posted in baptist, cooperative program, giving, International Mission Board, sbc, southern baptist convention, southern baptist convention, Uncategorized

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Flavors of Evangelism

Posted on March 21, 2017 | 1 comment

I like ice cream. Who doesn’t? Ice cream comes in all kinds of different flavors from vanilla to chocolate to pistachio. The basics of ice cream- dairy and sugar- remain the same whatever the flavor, but there are lots of different types.

Evangelistic methods come in different flavors. The basics of evangelism are always the same. Evangelism is the sharing of the message of the gospel with those who are lost. The message of the gospel is the same that it has been for the last two thousand years. (I Corinthians 15:1-8 provides a great summary of that message.) The necessary response to the gospel remains unchanged. We are separated from God by our sins. We need to repent of sin and place our faith in the Lord Jesus who died for our sin and rose from the dead in order to be saved. This is the basic message of evangelism.

But, like varieties of ice cream, there are varieties of ways- what we might call evangelistic methods- by which we do the work of evangelism. Let’s talk about Continue reading →

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Changing How You Think

Posted on March 17, 2017 | Leave a comment

Good word from my sweet wife.

Vickie Munton's avatarwateringcanblog

The seasons are changing, and after weeks of unseasonably warm weather, the daffodils have bloomed and the landscape is changing.

All to be covered in a fresh blanket of snow.

Because I love the warmer weather, it would be easy for me to start whining about the sudden change of temperature–

–if it wasn’t so beautiful.

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A Determined Heart

Posted on March 9, 2017 | Leave a comment

“Now Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.” Ezra 7:10

This verse first jumped out at me while in college. I underlined it in my devotional reading (A habit I still employ) and used it to teach children’s church (I still apply my  sermons to children- and to immature adults). It has been meaningful to me and perhaps you will find it to be that for you.

Note that Ezra “determined in his heart” to do three things. That is, these are the commitments that Ezra made and actions he vowed to take. Perhaps you might make the same determination in  your heart.

First, Ezra determined Continue reading →

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Posted in bible, bible study, prayer, small groups, Sunday School, teaching, theology, Uncategorized

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Less Whining, More Praying

Posted on March 2, 2017 | Leave a comment

It is a simple goal boiled down to a sound bite. Simple, but profound. “Less whining, more praying.”

I want my future to have less and more. I want less whining, less complaining and less caterwauling. I want less grumpiness, irritability and fussiness. But, I want my future to have more and more of one thing: prayer.

Here are three reasons to join me in this goal.

–Praying is more Christlike than whining. We are not very Christlike when we whine. Complaining is not a spiritual gift. (I just checked again. It isn’t in the list of spiritual gifts. Really, I checked this quite thoroughly!) Continue reading →

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Posted in faith, prayer, Uncategorized

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