Tag Archives: faith

Midnight Worship

Posted on March 10, 2014 | 2 comments

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25

On the night my father died, our family gathered in his room. After weeks of battling physical ailments, death was near. While we did not grieve as those who had no hope, we still grieved. And we sang.

As we circled the room where our family patriarch was dying, we sang hymns and choruses of faith. It felt like midnight in our souls, which made it a good time to worship. It is good to worship the Lord in the pleasant Continue reading →

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Posted in Christianity, prayer, Uncategorized, worship

Tagged Christian, Christianity, death, devotional book, discipleship, faith, God, praise, Religion and Spirituality, worship

Why Men Struggle with Friendship

Posted on February 10, 2014 | 1 comment

God made us for relationships. Yet many men- many men- will find meaningful friendships hard to build and sustain. We end up isolated and miss the benefits of close relationships with other men. If that isn’t you, great. But for many men, friendships are like doing a rubiks cube- challenging, intimidating and a little unnatural.
Let me mention three reasons for our difficulty in building lasting friendships.
1. We tend to stay superficial. Continue reading →

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Posted in Christianity, Church, friendship, Sunday School, Uncategorized

Tagged bible study, Christian, Christianity, discipleship, faith, friendship, God, men, Religion and Spirituality, small groups, Sunday School

The Segregation of the Church

Posted on February 3, 2014 | 1 comment

There are so many ways to divide the church. Our past has often included division by race. I am glad to see that changing. I love that my church has people of different backgrounds and races. Heaven will certainly include people of every tribe and tongue.
Segregation by race has been accepted and justified by the homogenous growth principle. That is the principle that people tend to come to Christ through churches that are much like they are. But isn’t the ideal something better than churches that are segregated by race?
Today’s churches have a new way to divide. They are often segregated by age. Continue reading →

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Posted in baptist, bible, Christianity, Church, integration, segregation, southern baptist convention, Uncategorized

Tagged Baptist, Christian, Christianity, church, Church planting, faith, God, Jesus, Religion and Spirituality, southern baptist convention

What Politicians Can’t Do

Posted on January 21, 2014 | Leave a comment

I’m thankful for politicians. Or maybe I should better say, I’m thankful there are people who actively participate in our free country as politicians. Just wish more of them had common sense, biblical morality, a Christian world view and did their own plumbing. But, I digress.
I want to note that there are some limits to what politicians and governments can do. So, before getting too willing to ask our government to take over every aspect of our lives, let me note some things they can’t do.
1. They can’t change hearts. Politicians can change Continue reading →

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Posted in baptist, Christianity, Church, faith, politics, Uncategorized

Tagged Baptist, bible, Christian, Christianity, faith, God, politicians, politics, Religion and Spirituality, voting

What Baptists Believe

Posted on January 13, 2014 | Leave a comment

I’m finishing a biography of John D. Rockefeller. It is 650 pages long- which is about 450 pages beyond sufficient. I realized that the author- an otherwise excellent writer- doesn’t seem to understand Baptists much. (Rockefeller joined a Baptist church when young and stayed a Baptist all of his life- though in the more theologically liberal branch.) Earlier, I read a biography of Harry Truman. (Truman joined a Baptist church when young- though he didn’t stay very connected or influenced.) The author told me what he had for breakfast on multiple occasions, but hardly spared a word for what Baptists believed. I doubted that he knew.

I thought to myself, “If those fellows don’t know what Baptists believe, I’ll bet some others don’t either.” So, here is a brief synopsis.

A couple of quick disclaimers. Baptist belief in argumentation seems to be overly developed, so note that there are some differences of opinions about some issues. Note that this is my belief about Baptists beliefs (as a Baptist believer) and may not necessarily be matched by everyone using that title. And, these things are believed by many in the broader conservative, Evangelical world. Also, I can’t cover everything here, so I’ll just focus on a couple of basics.

1. Baptists believe that the Bible is God’s word Continue reading →

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Posted in baptist, Christianity, Church, evangelical, faith, southern baptist convention, Uncategorized

Tagged Baptist, bible, bible study, Christ, Christian, Christianity, faith, God, Jesus, Religion and Spirituality, SBC, southern baptist convention, Sunday School

What Education Can’t Do

Posted on January 6, 2014 | 4 comments

I spent a lot of time getting educated. Perhaps I needed more of it than most? I am so thankful for my educational opportunities and commend education to you. But let me note some inherent limitations.

1. Education doesn’t make you wise. My favorite definition of wisdom is “seeing things as God sees them.” Education can make you smart, but that isn’t the same as making you wise. Want some tuition-free advice? Seek wisdom. (See the book of Proverbs for additional tuition-free advice on the importance of wisdom.)

2. Education doesn’t make you godly. Godliness–seeking to be Continue reading →

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Posted in baptist, Christianity, Church, discipleship, education, faith, Uncategorized

Tagged Christianity, discipleship, education, faith, pastor, seminary

The Heart of the Matter

Posted on December 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

I have treasured Your Word in my heart so that I may not sin against You. Psalm 119:11

Your heart is critical…

…A friend of mine told me about preaching on the back of a flatbed truck next to Red Square in Moscow some years ago. The communist government had just fallen and many people there were searching for meaning and purpose. My friend was put on the back of the truck, given a microphone, and told to preach to the walking masses through a translator. Continue reading →

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Posted in books, Christianity, discipleship, faith, Uncategorized

Tagged bible, Christianity, faith, God, Immersed, Moscow, relationship with god, Religion and Spirituality, scripture, spiritual growth

High Dives and Discipleship

Posted on December 6, 2013 | Leave a comment

I still remember my first time jumping off the high dive.

In the summertime I spent a lot of afternoons at the community pool in my small town. Most of my time was spent in the shallow end, splashing and playing with my brothers and friends. I watched other kids jumping off the diving boards at the deep end of the pool. It seemed fun and exciting, but too scary for me.

As the summer progressed, I thought more and more about what it would be like to overcome my fears and worries and plunge into the deep, blue water of the deep end. I even walked by that area of the pool a few times to calculate the possibilities. The deep water was so inviting, yet I was so frightened to plunge in.

Finally, I could take it no longer. Continue reading →