Commited to Verse By Verse Exposition?

Ran across this and thought I would share. Enjoy.

“A famous example of verse by verse exposition is seen in his (Calvin’s) return to Geneva after his banishment three years earlier. In September 1541, Calvin re-entered his Geneva pulpit and resumed his exposition exactly where he had stopped three years earlier – on the next verse. Similarly, Calvin became seriously ill in the first week of October 1658 and did not return to the pulpit until Monday, June 12 1559 – when he resumed at the very next verse in the book of Isaiah.”

Steve Lawson, The Expository Genius of John Calvin, page 33

Answers to Objections ____ Romans 3:1-8

· This very morning millions of Americans will wake up and run wrap their Sunday paper. Many will turn to the headlines while others will get the chuckles from the funnies. A hand full will diligently read the sports pages and a brave few will look at the real estate wondering about the current state of the housing market. Many whether they admit it or know will seek advice and wisdom in the dailies. Some will try their luck wit the Horoscopes. Others will be a little more grounded and look at the columns of Ann Landers or some kind of Dear Abby styled help column in search of guidance in dealing with and awkward situation.
· That is what we see when we look at the beginning of the third chapter of Romans. Paul has been written by a group of Christians he has never met, but they seek the Apostle’s wisdom and the Lord’s direction as they have some life situations that have manifested.
· Instead of asking how they should break up with their boyfriend, the best way to get a stain out of a favorite blouse or the proper etiquette for awkward situation they seek Paul for spiritual counsel about how to address the objects to Christianity that some raise.
· This must have been an uncomfortable situation for this young by fast growing metropolitan church. Yet we see that they must have put pride aside as they wrote openly to a man they had never met to discover how to reach those they had formed relationships with. Paul presents for use a very simple question and answer session that will help strengthen our faith and answer questions that we might be asked.

Romans 3:1-2 What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? 2 Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.
· The questions at hand for Paul were “Why should I, a Gentile, here in Rome want to convert to Judaism to be a part of this new Jewish religion? What does following the weird custom of cutting my body do for me spiritually?”
· These were valid questions. Even if these objections were from people who really were going to be spiritually rebellious no matter what the answer, these questions were ones that were going to come up over and over and were going to have to be addressed.
· Paul’s response is not to tell them in some Nike slogan way to “Just do it!” Not at all. Instead he tells them that there is a laundry list of reasons why one would want to be part of a group who are faithful to God.
· Please notice though that he never endorses the Judaic faith as the way to go but instead only informs the reading audience that there are many great things about the chosen people of Israel. Paul tells us and the 55 A.D. readership that they are a special people because God has put them in charge of writing down and caring for God's revelation, the Holy Scriptures.

Romans 3:3-4 For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? 4 Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: "That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged."

· In this Q&A Paul is presented with a question that seems a bit disconnected from the last but if we realize that this is still dealing with the Jewish and Greek populations it will make sense.
· If a veteran solider with many years of combat experience and many campaign ribbons sudden went a.w.o.l, that is absent with out official leave, would this mean that his military employer would desert him too. If this solid solider sudden abandon his post does that mean the army and his nation would abandon him in the same fashion. Not at all. The solider would still be considered active, His branch of service would still search him out and bring him back, but e would have to deal with the consequences of disobedience and his failure to remain firm and steadfast a wartime.
· This is the same for us or any one of Judaism. If we fail to be faithful to God, it does not meant that God will in return refuse to be faithful to His person in the promises He made to us. Jehovah God will gloriously continue to faithful to us when we turn and run when there are difficult times.
· Our unbelief does not render God null and void. It only enhances the tender and devoted care of God more as we see that He is never fleeting even were the stare at His wonders and lie to ourselves and say he does not exist. That He is not real or that He does not care. That God is either a psychological crutch of a deeply disturbed person or nothing more than the absentee landlord of our hearts who does not get involved in the day to day triflings of our lives. While this is enough to make a lover flee and it is quite frightening to think what if God left us, we can find even greater comfort in the truth of Hebrews 6:19, that the anchor of our soul is sure and steadfast.
· The faltering faith of Israel does not change the immutable position of God that he has called and elected His people to salvation. In fact we will find later in the 11th chapter of Romans that God’s faithfulness to His chosen people will result thin those who believe being grafted back in to the Family Tree of Yahweh.
· Let us look another objection that was raised back in the city of Rome. The Question presented seems to be one presented by the Whitehouse press corp. as it is one question with two parts. Maybe it was just posed by a double talking politician.

Romans 3:5-8 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) 6 Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world? 7 For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say, "Let us do evil that good may come"?--as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.
· I think that Grigori Rasputin the Russian priest and mystic sent this one in. You see Rasputin had this idea that justified his sins and sent a huge wave of people in to a devious lifestyle of a variety of immoral or evil practices. The “Mad Monk”, as he was known to promote sin as away to add to God’s glory and mercy. The mystical healer taught that the more we sin the more the red rich coopery blood of Jesus is worth, so we owe it to God as good steward of salvation to live life to it’s fullest enjoying all that can he had - wine, women, wealth, what have you. Rape, Robber, rudeness, resentment, all recommended.
· This is the same concept that is being presented to the Apostle Paul. The question that has come up is that “if our wrong doing only underlines and confirms God's right doing, shouldn't we be commended for helping out? Since our bad words don't even make a dent in his good words, isn't it wrong of God to back us to the wall and hold us to our word?”
· Wow what Gaul to ask a man who humble claims the title of Chief of all Sinners this. Can you hear this on a radio call in show, “Hi, Paul, yeah, I am a first time caller but a long time listener. Oh and a Big fan. I have your first book and going to buy your second. Anyway, It seems to me that if I sin, more doesn’t God get more glory for being more gracious and more merciful. That only means that I should try harder to sin make God look better right? The way I see it, God can’t judge me or punish me if I do all of this for Him. Right? Can I say hi to my mom and give a shout out to my boys at the factory?”
· Can you imagine what would take place over the air waves? I think you could hear a great, deep, slow cleansing breath that would almost have an underling growl like a Doberman as Paul sets forth to defend the Gospel and unleash Truth of Christ.
· Paul would declare war and began to unload the artillery of the Gospel like the intelligent masterful five star general of the Lord’s army that he is. Don’t foe a minute think that Paul was have just been a Jesus bully, nothing more that a pugilist with a Holy Spirit Haymaker. No, Paul would have intently listened to statements like, “If my lies serve to show off God's truth all the more gloriously, why blame me? I'm doing God a favor." And with the skill of Patton and McArthur, he would have planned his points of attack and arranged his conversation to keep from being flanked by miscellaneous information and useless arguments.
· While these objections can seem to be cage rattling at the very least, any of us felt this way the first time we drove a car. With sweaty palms we pushed in the clutch, check the mirrors, grindingly changed gears, looked back at the rear view mirror and now the speedometer and over at an anxiety ridden parent.
· We feel the same way when we first start to deal with questions from people. We get that same ball in the pit of our stomach and the beads of swear began to form on our brow. This why Paul is answering he hard questions directs young Timothy and us in 2nd Timothy 2:15 to “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
· So what hard Questions are you dealing with and how will you over come them. How will you teach others? How will you cure your own doubts?

Free Sermon Organization

Many years ago when I entered in to ministry I found a really cool freeware or shareware program called Bible Key by Paul Apple. It was a great program for keeping filing sermons, keeping track of when and where preached, where you got sermon material from, and file away various illustrations. It did lots of other stuff to like help you file it with regard to topic, scripture, was it part of series as well as there were a couple of huge data bases full of other preachers sermons that could be used for your own inspiration, devotion or aid in your own sermon prep. Well, Bro. Apple who still pastors and is still out there is no longer keeping up this program and with each update or new version of windows, the code apparently becomes more antiquated and functions less with Ms Windows. The last time I tried to install it, well it was a no go if you know what I mean. I really like that program and never found another one that I liked (although I am open to suggestions). I looked for a while but nothing manifested that seemed to equal Bible Key or it is was way out of my price range at the time. Actually, even the high dollar ones seemed to do less than the freebie.

Well, for years I just wrote sermon notes or outlines on paper. Or Post-its. Or napkins. In Notebooks. Occasionally I typed on up and saved it, but I did not always have a working computer. Sometimes good ole PC would die and you are still left with nothing. I decided awhile back that if I was going to invest the time God gives me and use the resources He allows me to obtain or borrow for His sermons, then I needed to be a better steward of what He shows me and what He gives me. This was born my lo-fi, low-tech, low-budget sermon management system.

I created a new folder under My Documents and named it My Sermons.

Then I opened up My Sermons and created another new folder and named this one John as that was the book that I was preaching though. Simple but effective

All went fine as I typed up some sermon notes until I went to save the sermon by the sermon text instead of the title (I chose to use the text since the Bible never changes by the approach to a sermon or the title may). My problem stemmed from not being able to use a colon- “:” in that sermon text. Nope, John 3:16 could not be the name. Well instead of throwing out the system that I (under the power of God) devised, I decided to use the semi-colon- “;”. Not as accurate, but John 3;16 will save to the hard drive and so will Genesis 1;1 – Revelation 22;21. Problem solved and crisis adverted. At first I placed each chapter in its own folder. This might cause some people problems down the road as complete thoughts are sometimes cut into by chapter or verse division. So if you started in Roman 1:17 and ended with oh, Romans 2:7 then you might not see that you have addressed part of the text when you go back. This is part of the reason I just save all sermons by text name in the same Book folder and allow the natural sorting by name and number take effect and do the work for me. The other reason is I hated to even to a simple right click and make another folder because then I have to keep clicking into more folders. My Documents>My Sermons>Bible Book is enough for me. I have also used alphabetic letters at the end of a name when I was working a Scripture from two angles to keep from saving one on the other. Kind of like “John 3;16a” or “John 3;16b” or for notes on a text that are not the actually sermon I would do “John3:16 notes” Sub outline for notes and you get an outline and not a manuscript although I don’t ever do a word for word manuscript. Actually what I do in prep is more to work out the text and the thoughts. I have to do this to drag the out of my head so that I can formulate them to make sense for the public.

I also have some sermons in files for special occasion, by series, a few by topic, or ones that were part of a event (like from a Disciple Now weekend), Sunday evening teaching, prayers, sermon ideas, sermons from others. I also will on occasion store a bibliography of books used freo prep in the folder of a Bible book for future reference anf anything else that I think that I might need for the furutre. For me this keeps everything from jumbling all togather and gives me a simple way of keeping everything separate and neatly tucked away for further use or review. Oh, and the best part is that it is on the cheap.

I hope this helps you and believe that just about any operating system and word processer can do this.

If you care I have picked back up preaching in Romans so if you need some sermon fodder let me know an I'll send you what I have. And if you have any suggestion on how to make this better (or criticisim - but beware I am a pretty big guy - haha) let me know. Maybe you found the perfect program that iI need and it does better job

Precious Memories Isaiah 43:23-28

• Memorial Day is a very special holiday. It is striking different than most holidays because it is not about celebrating with family as much it is about remembering those who have sacrificed themselves for us.
• I am not aware of a single giddy song that has been penned like Frosty the Snowman was for Christmas. I am not aware of any special chocolates candies being sold or gifts being exchanged.. No Memorial Day is more about deep thoughts about those who have laid down their lives for us and remembering exactly what is that we have forgotten.
• In truth, it is sad that we have to take the time, set aside a day and have it preprinted on a calendar. We should have the presence of mind to hold these brave and valiant servants in a higher regard and not let their courageous service slip away.
• That is why I think what we say and do hear today is gravely important. What we remember here today is of astounding importance because it points others as well as our own hearts to what is most important.
• As we look at this mornings text I pray if will be painfully clear what it most important what or who should be remembered most of all. Who is it that gave their live in service for us and our countrymen in such a way that they should be remembered above all others?

Isaiah 43:22-28 "But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob; And you have been weary of Me, O Israel. 23 You have not brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings, Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings, Nor wearied you with incense. 24 You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices; But you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities. 25 "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins. 26 Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted. 27 Your first father sinned, And your mediators have transgressed against Me. 28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; I will give Jacob to the curse, And Israel to reproaches.




We Have Forgotten God
But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob; And you have been weary of Me, O Israel. 23 You have not brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings, Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings, Nor wearied you with incense. 24 You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices; But you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities
• The first portion of our text can be summed us as “We Have Forgotten God.” Listen to the words of God as He directly speaks to our shame. Not only does God address the shameful lack of attention, but his neatly lists them for us.
o First the Great Adonai reminds us that we have forgotten God as we have forgotten our relationship with Him. It is brought to our attention that we pay little attention to our relationship with God as we do not call upon the name God.
o But this portion of Word does not address just the fact that we are indifferent towards God, but that we are worship something else other that Him. Our actions of piety are really about ourselves. We are living religion and not faith.
o As the Lords address our lack of desire, “Nor wearied you with incense,” He does not beat around the bush. He openly and honestly tells that we have not worn Him out. He is not bone weary from being overcome with so many requests. We have not worn out our welcome because we have spent too much time with Him. Yahweh’s ears do not ache because we have prayed too much.
• Quite the contrary has happened. Verse 24 call us out. Isaiah 43:24 You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices; But you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities.
o We have not brought our Redeemer God the sweetness of our sacrifices, but we have devoured sin like candy. We have weighed Him down with our sins and burdened Him with our faults. We kept bringing Him our sin and piling up the trophies our offences, indiscretions and purposed transgressions
o Instead of carrying to God the offering of our sins in which we admit We Have Forgotten God, we need to confess our failure and take purposeful steps to live for Him.


God Has Not Forgotten Us
God shifts out attention in this next verse as He directs us to how He is still fulfilling His side of the relationship. And even though we have forgotten God we need to understand that God has not forgotten us.

25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.
• Like unfolding the flaps of a gift box to see what is inside, El Shaddi, the Almighty, opens up for us how He has not forgotten us.
o God pulls away the tissue paper to reveal to us the excellency of God's gift of salvation. Look at the focus of who does the salvation work for us.
o I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake. It can unmistakably be seen God is the One who cleans the sin in our life. He and only He as the Almighty have the capabilities to remove the stain and the stench of sin that is ground in to our souls like grass on the knees of a 5th grader after recess.
o What is even more important and drastically more impressive is His faithfulness found the second half of this verse - I will not remember your sins. Not only does God not forget us but he purposely forgets our sins.
o This is where God’s remembrance of us comes into play. It His remembrance to continually forget the sins we have committed against When we yield ourselves to Him and with a penitent heart ask for forgiveness He no longer remembers
o Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more."
o We should find great satisfaction and have supreme gratification in these words as we find that we can feel confident that our Savior will not leave and will not fail.
o And if we do have fleeting moments of faith … if we do find ourselves feeling as sure let us be reminded these words in Isaiah 44:21 “Remember these, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me! It is true that God Has Not Forgotten Us.




Remember Our Situation
There is still a point that must be addressed. This point deals with us. We must Remember our Situation. Let us look at the Text again to see what we are talking about.

• 26 Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted. 27 Your first father sinned, And your mediators have transgressed against Me. 28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; I will give Jacob to the curse, And Israel to reproaches
• Here we find ourselves with the imperative to remember God. This is a command that is to start now and keep going coupled with the design of never stopping.
• This command leaps from the pages at the Bible. Yet, it is not the situation that we are in. Not we find out grim situation in the rest of this text.
• We are told that we need to be acquitted. That our sins need to be canceled out. We need exoneration from our sins. The reason that we need this pardon is that we have a long line of sin in our lives. It started with Adam has never stopped. For our personal sins we are inform that we are cursed and will be castigated. Reproach stands waiting for us. Rebuke is ahead.
• What we really need as we Remember Our Situation is that we are in need of God’s everlasting grace. We are in need of His beautiful mercy. We are not in need being embraced by Him, but crashing head first into His Love. We desperately must barrel into His benevolence, into his fellowship and in to his compassion. As we Remember Our Situation as sinners we must also know that we need Christ from on high to save us as lowly sinner. We need His goodness to drench us are entrust ourselves to Him and handover our determination to be our own. For years we have walked apart from Him. We have chosen to do things by our own feeble power. We have disgraced and shamed ourselves. In the process We Have Forgotten God and we have forgotten our first love. We walked way from God, but God Has Not Forgotten Us. As much as we may try to forget our sins, time will come when we have to Remember Our Situation. For you and me, today, right here, now in fact, we can instead commit ourselves to Christ and walk not only in freedom from our sin, but in full fellowship with God.
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Man on the Run – Psalms 3

This text lends itself to the adaptation of a movie, but in fact it is a song. This is a song that was sung in worship just like psalms are commanded by Scripture to be sung in worship today. But honestly I can see this particular Psalm turned into a movie since it is a story that resonates in the hearts of everyone due. Like any good movie it is based on a real story, had a villain, a victim and a hero. But this song need not be related to a stuff theater as it is good fro the Friday Night Gridiron, the Monday morning meeting, the mall during a tax free weekend, the modern battle field, a hospital waiting room, the family reunion, or the rough and tumble playground.

Join me as we read Psalm 3 with the topic of a Man on the Run

Advancing Attack: 1-2
Psalms 3:1-2 A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son. Lord, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. 2 Many are they who say of me, "There is no help for him in God." Selah
• Painted before us is a picture of a man on the lamb. He is running for his life. David is not on a battlefield like with think of with modern warfare. No, David’s battle is a fight for his very life. The king is being pursued and tracked down like an escaped criminal. His pursuers are relentless. Every where he turns he is being chases down. He his footsteps have to be guarded because he can afford to be seen by anyone. David does his best to cover his tracks because every little thing is intelligence for Absalom to gather in his quest to eradicate David. Poor King David has gone from the man on the throne, the King of Israel, to being treated like a common dog being hunted by the men who formerly served him. What betrayal. What treachery. Am man of God’s Heart now is running for his life as his son, Absalom hunts him life game.
• You may remember Absalom from your private studies as David’s son. He is described as being the most handsome mad in Israel, kind of like a Clark Gable, a Brad Pitt or McDreamy. He was the prefect specimen of a man, flawless to the point of perfection. The Bible tells us that he was physically prefect and loved by everyone.
• Absalom used this to his advantage as He would stand at the gates of the city and greeted everyone who entered in, giving the instruction of what to do, and where to go, acting like he had an official position and power. In doing so Absalom gained the loyalty of everyone who passed by and became the face of the Kingdom. He was adored and everyone began to forget about his father David, the real king. David’s own flesh and blood was stealing the Kingdom from under his Crown.
• David’ Enemy was Familia, or family. His offspring, His own son - who else can be a closer enemy that family. Talk about an uncomfortable situation to be in. The son you loved and raised is now raising a nation against you. Being hunted down by your heir, being forced into this new and difficult situation as you are now Enemy No. 1 in your own kingdom. All trust was gone, no secrets we held as Absalom knew David like no one else. These first two verses are the desperate cries of a man deposed of the throne as he senses the Advancing Attack.
Surety of Security: 3-4
Psalms 3:3-4 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head. 4 I cried to the Lord with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah
• Notice the change in David’s tone as he recounts his Surety of Security. As Death Squads close in, His thoughts are not of “Where can I run now?” He is not trying to fashion sort of make shift MacGyver style weapon for a last stand. He is not worried that his son wants his head on a platter. No, instead his thoughts are not on what he can do, but “Who is God? and “What can our benevolent God do?”
• He calls God his Shield. The One who goes before him and buffets the attacks that come. Jehovah is his Instrument of Safety. David calls Him, Jehovah-Magen - Lord my Shield - Deut. 33:29 Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph! Your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread upon their backs."
• God is the one who stands before us; He is the one who takes each blow. He stops the advancement of evil for overcoming us. He is the shield that we hid behind and cling to when the adversaries of our soul assault us. It is God who blocks the attacks of the enemy who seeks to destroy both David and us.
• We must understand that God not only shields us from the fiery arrows that come from a distance, but also from closer attacks. Remember that Absalom was his son. He was family and is there anything closer than family?
• Let me make this clear before we go any further. With God as our shield we are not guaranteed to be free from attack but we are guaranteed that it will be futile. Our Great and Mighty Shield and Savior covers us from all around. Our enemies may continue to shoot their arrows, but we will victoriously continue in the Surety of Security of God’s unending love.
• In turn we must continue to trust God to carry us though even in times of great stress and difficulty. We must allow God to buffet the attacks. Trust God and allow Him to shield you and protect you and you will see your faith grow exponentially.
Confidence in Our Creator: 5-8
Psalms 3:5-8 I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. 6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me all around. 7 Arise, O Lord; Save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly. 8 Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah


• Let us look at the last four verses of Ps. 3 as David displays Confidence in Our Creator.
• He shows us that in the midst of the fight for his life we is able to trust God and calmly sleep. The anxiety of what to do next to have his person has slipped away as he awakes refreshed in the Lord who has kept him through the night.
• With insurmountable odds, 10,000 readied warriors chasing after him and circling in, he begins to praise God instead of fretting and call upon his Lord to deliver him.
• Look at verse 7. What strong and powerful words as he calls upon Yahweh to deal his enemies a blow like he has in the past. He cries for him to strike them again in the face. But not to just bloody their nose or blacken their eye, but to hit their Chin. David is calling for God to break the glass jaw of the invading army.
• His cry is not just to punch his enemy to stun them or to fight back. Not at all. David is asking God to strike them in such a might way as to knock their teeth out of their mouth. To destroy their ability to attack him. David heart is that God will disenable them. To take his adversaries out of commission.
Don’t just stop them from hurting me but stop them from being able to hurt me or anyone else again. That is what he is taking about in this verse. David has Confidence in Our Creator and his ability to over power all who oppose Him or His people


What is your Advancing Attack?
Do you have the Surety of Security?
Today you can have Confidence in Our Creator…
And no longer be a Man on the Run.

10 Things God Can't Do

God can't get tired.
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary.
—Isaiah 40:28


God can't take on a job he can't handle.
Ah, Lord God! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for you.
—Jeremiah 32:17


God can't be unholy.
And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"
—Isaiah 6:3


God can't be prejudiced.
In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him.
—Acts 10:34-35


God can't break a promise.
My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of my lips.
—Psalm 89:34


God can't remember sins he's chosen to forget.
I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
—Isaiah 43:25


God can't make a loser.
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ.
—2 Corinthians 2:14


God can't abandon you.
Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, he is the one who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.
—Deuteronomy 31:6


God can't stop thinking about you.
How precious also are your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with you.
—Psalm 139:17-18


God can't stop loving you.
Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
—Jeremiah 31:3


Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Campus Life.
June/July 2002, Vol. 61, No. 3, Page 24

the gospel in motion

Tonight I was reminded again of how great my church family is. I love them and would never trade them.

Sunday morning was off the hook as we covered Luke 1:1-25. We talked about leting God remove the disgrace from our lives. Powerful.

the evening was as nothing to slouch at. Grady McDonald, Student pastor at New Harmony Baptist in Tyler, Tx. His youth ministry, Quest Ministries, did a wonderful portrail of the Gospel and the Power of Christ to a Lifehouse song. I posted a video of this drama done by someone else a while back if you don't have a clue what I am writing about.

After a amazing drama, Grady broke open the Bread of Life like it was a loaf of bread fresh the oven and then he put a healthy heap of butter on it. I love how he worked the text like Randy Coulture does his opponent on the ground.

Theo-rap

Voice makes Theological History by being the first to ever rap at John Piper's church.

Not only cat he spit, but this cat is flowing some serious doctrine. Forget gangster rap, Doctrinally sound, Theological rap is on the scene. I can't wait to have a big trunk Lincoln roll up on me at the street light bumping and thumping about Justification, Kenosis or propitiation

great quote of the day

William Jay: “They are bad interpreters of the Scripture, who give it meanings which it never had; and by their supposed ingenuity, render its readers uncertain whether it has any proper and determinate sense.”

trust no one and search for yourself

why the Gospel is important

nuff said

Pay the Fee

I am typing my sermon for tomorrow knowing fully well that i will abandon them at some point and just get "real and honest." so as I am typeing a group called "Fee" comes on that is just rock'n and i felt that i needed to let you know.

Rock on in the Name of Jesus,

Chris <><

bible fight club

in the dank basement of a tattoo parlor believers of a multitude of faiths or the lack thier of gather to duke it out about the Bible and other matters from a Christian view. ink is not require but expect nothing but bare knuckle Bible thumpin'.

http://asap.ap.org/data/interactives/_lifestyles/podcasts/0913asap_BFC.mp3

Matthew 6:25-34 Gucci or God

Have you ever spent time watching children play Maybe you have watched your child or grand child play on the playground? If you watch these bundles of joy for any length at all you will notice that they are worry free. They run with reckless abandon, not worried about dinner, or how the mortgage payments will be made this month. As they go down the slide and swing from the monkey bars they never stop to count the cost. They don’t rationalize over the jungle gym. No, they let their hair blow in the wind as they run their hearts out never stopping to think about skinned up knees or repairing the brakes on the pick-up.

Well in Matthew Chapter 6, we find Jesus’ cure to the anxiety that tightens up our chest and rules our lives. Join me as we read this great truth together.

Matthew 6:25-34 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? (26) Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (27) Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? (28) So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; (29) and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (30) Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? (31) Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' (32) For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. (33) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (34) Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

As we begin our quest we see that Jesus is meeting us where we live. He addresses our needs. Those things in which we could not survive, he begins with needs because we could not live without them.

The way Jesus is speaking, it would seem to say that we are spending to much time worrying about what we eat an what we wear. Could Jesus really be speaking to our fashion conscious culture? Fashoniestas beware! I mean, really does it matter if your shoes are made by Steve Madden, Kenneth Cole, or Jimmy Choo? No, but we will spend to the name and scoff at the lesser desired brands. We will demand to have such so we can meet the pressure that we feel from our peers. I promise you, Jesus does not care if you purse is Gucci or faded glory. He cares about you, not the clothes.

It is a betrayal of our relationship to with Christ, to worry more about if my meal comes from the trendiest eatery or my clothes from the latest boutique than we do about our walk
as Christ followers.

Jesus turns his attention to nature in verse, (26) Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

He reminds us that birds are not caught up in the trivial worries of life and this world. They simply trust God for their provisions. They are not working eighty hour weeks to get night crawlers. They don’t work high tension, passionless jobs that are robbing them of their joy and time with their family.

God desire for our lives is not to be entangled in worrying about this life. His desire is for us to trust Him like the birds do.

Remember the kids playing in the sandlot we were talking about a while ago. Those kids trust us to take care of them – to provide for them their daily PB&J and deliver them from bullies. God designed that relationship to model His care for us so that we would see our care for our children and know that His care for His Heavenly Children, you and me, is so much greater.

The issue that surrounds us is that our lack of faith in God. When we worry we are having a spirit of distrust about God’s ability to take care of us. We do not trust Him to be the “Almighty,” to be in power and in complete control.

So what does worry do for you? I can not honestly think of one good thing that comes worrying. Worrying robs you of your health and destroys your youthful looks. Worrying decreases your thought capabilities, worrying steals your joy, and worrying sabotages your relationships. But ultimately worry weakens your faith.

So really, what can “worrying” do for you? Jesus said it this way. (27) Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? Worrying will not add years to your life, add hair to your head or increase you looks. As far as I can tell, or research, there is nothing positive or productive about worrying.

(28) So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; (29) and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (30) Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

In these verses, Jesus hits the nail on the head. We don’t have faith. Worry is doubting God, having reservations him and mistrust. Worrying means we don’t trust God, we don’t believe.

My Aunt Sandy is a woman that compared to most of us is a person of extreme faith. But there was a time in her life when she was struggling to make it. The ends just did not meet. She was strapped and did not have the money to pay the light bill let alone buy groceries. So what was Aunt Sandy to do … well she prayed. She sought God for counsel, asked for His direction and prayed for provision.

Later when she was looking in her purse she found a twenty dollar bill. That was the last money needed to pay the light bill. You could say that we had over looked it in her purse, that it was a coincidence but what about the knock on the door.

Oh wait I haven’t told you about that. Later that day, there was a knock on the door and when she made it up from the back of the house to open the door, who do you think was there? No one, but there was two brown paper bags filled with groceries. No, you can’t get me to believe she over looked the bags when she went in the house the day before. That my friends is what we see in Matthew 21:22, “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

So Jesus urges and really He is commanding more than simply advocating, that we stop worrying and stop thinking about things that are out of our control. In verse 31, He says, (31) Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

In Verse 32 Jesus says that the gentiles, or the non-spiritual, non-Christ pursing people, they worry. They struggle to figure out where their next meal will come from, they have no clue when they will need something. But Jesus tell us that God all ready know our need. He is cognizant of our needs when and where we will need food, clothing, for whatever. This is because He is omnipotent, or all knowing. Life does not sneak up on God. You will never hear Jehovah
say “I did not see that one coming” or “what happened here?” He is all knowing and all seeing. Not just of you physical needs, but he sees the needs of out hearts. He knows our need of
Salvation that is why he provided us with Jesus. That is why he created Heaven and crafted Eternal Life.

God knew we needed to be rescued, to be saved form worry and anxiety. So He gave us a cure.

Read verse 33 along in your Bibles with me... (33) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Jesus’ solution is to redirect you life; to calibrate it completely in a new way. Jesus charges us to focus upward instead of inward. So it is a sight issue. With all the stimulating things in the world we get distracted. We get blinded by the Hilfiger and the Hurley, the Ford and the Ferrari, the Gucci and the Guess.

Our eyes get pointed toward thing here on Earth, those things in the “here and now, and we lose sight of the everlasting and eternal.

Jesus’ answer is simple – Pursue the Kingdom – and He will take care of the rest. “Keep your eye on the prize,” He says, “and I’ll provide everything else.”

Seek His Kingdom, seek His Righteousness, seek His Holiness, seek His Purity, seek His Truth and seek the meaningful Eternal Things. When you do everything else will fall into place. Other things will seem trivial, non-essential things will fall away like leaves from a tree. So many things that once ruled your life will no longer find the same importance. Pursue Him and He will add to you and He will supply your needs.

So what are we to do. Well there is one more verse that we need to deal with (34) Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Trust Him and never turn back. Let each day come and go a stop worrying about what is going to happen. Stop letting worry destroy your life and take each day, one day at time, with the help of God, with His care and Provision for you. Let Jesus take care of the things you can not, and start living the life God has called you to.

Psalm 78:70-73 Greatness starts in the Pasture

Note: as always this is what i started with , but what happens in the pulpit is not ways waht is written down. for some reason i used the words "deep doo doo" and wmy wife and daughter feel that is not very pastoral. oh well. here is the "doo doo" free version.

When you woke up this morning, did you have a sense of awe? A feeling that God was going to something awesome n your life? Did you feel that sense of purpose ready to burst forward in your life.

Well, most of us feel that are lives are boring. Hum-drum. Nothing special about them. We get up brush out teeth, get dressed, have a little breakfast and drive to work. We toil at work, have some lunch, go back to laboring, and drive back home. Nothing special about it. Nothing to write home about. Nothing newsworthy.

For David his days were pretty much like this too. He got up, washed up at the brook, had a little something for breakfast and watched the sheep. Sometime in the day he would find a shade tree and eat some leftovers for lunch. Afterward he would go back to watch the flock. Talk about unexciting, dull, lack luster, dreary task.

Occasionally he would chase off a predator or have to track down a way ward sheep. But that is about it. For David this was about dull as a job on the manufacturing line. Over and over it was pen the sheep, chase the sheep, herd the sheep, protect the sheep, water the sheep, feed the sheep, and do it all over again. But this servant sheep herder had a future that was beyond his belief and a destiny to fulfill.

I bet some of you feel taken for granted. You feel that what you are doing does not matter. And maybe your not even sure that God is on your side because you have no clue what you are suppose to be doing let alone how he is working in your live. The Bible tells us that if our victorious God is for us then who can be against us. The problem seems to be that we will not release ourselves to him and allow him to work. We tend to want to fight Him instead. We try to do own, we say we that we can do it, but we really can’t

Listen to a simple sheep herder turned king as he write a quick summary of his life and how God worked in it.



Psa 78:70-72 He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; (71) From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. (72) So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

So do you know where you are going in life, what your destiny or God’s plan is. Probably not, most of us are just floating along. But I feel that we can learn from David that we need to take the time to prepare for the greatness God has for us even when we don’t know what it is. Through faithfulness and obedience we will be prepared for the opportunities that God ushers us forward into. If we rush, and hurry, and push when it is not there then we will miss out on the little things that count as well as the important opportunities that we desperately need

But, we won’t be able to make the most of them and enjoy the blessing if we rush by. We will miss the little things and we will lose out on the important ones too. It’s like the song that the music group Alabama sings “I hear a voice It says I'm running behind I better pick up my pace It’s a race and there ain't no room for someone in second place I'm in a hurry to get things done Oh, I rush and rush until life's no fun All I really gotta do is live and die But, I'm in a hurry and don't know why”

You might not be sure of what you are doing with your life, where you are going or what your purpose is. I ask you, be patient. Be patient and don’t force the issue.

Moses was a man who forced the issue. Go had a plan for Moses life, but Moses just could not wait. He was in a hurry and tried to push God’s time line ahead. In the process he ended up killing an Egyptian man had to flee for his life and his freedom. By the time he was able to fulfill God’s will for his life he was now 80 years old. Don’t be in such a hurry that you take short cuts that will cost half your life and make you wait 40 years before you can do what you need to. Just because everything is not popping and zooming and happening just like you think it should, does not mean that God has lost sight of you. God know where you are at and what is going on. You are not insignificant or meaningless; you are his creation that he bought back with the blood of His only Child, Jesus. You matter and everything you do matters

We must realize that nothing God has you do is inconsequential, it all matters. Who you date, what you do, where you work, how you life, who you marry, how you treat others, where go, what you buy and most importantly, what or should I say, who come first in you life.

David’s skills were learned in a season when did not have the most glamorous of jobs. Every talent and ability that David needed for his future kingship he honed in the meadows and pastures. In those fields of green filled with grazing and bleating sheep he was not only learning to be the Shepard of the flock but the Shepard of a nation.

So do you know where God is taking you? Probably not, but if we don’t take the time to prepare and make the most of the opportunities to we won’t be ready for the big break in life that God provides. We will not be able to enjoy and make the most of the blessing that God presents us with.

Let me share Psa 32:8 with you,”I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.”

We need to understand that our vision is limited, but our Eternal God is able to see all space and time. God knows where the pitfalls of life are and he can guide us through life if we are will trust Him and not fight Him to have our way. God, as a loving heavenly father will direct us, he will instructing us and show us our life’s path.

But in the process of waiting to see God’s plan revealed and the details come forth, we must all so be very care full that we don’t develop and attitude that we are owed something by God. That we have something due to us from Our Creator, the one who gives us each breath and gives us faith. I want to share with you a lesson that a gentlemen, Mr. Patterson ad retired military trainer, taught me while I worked with juveniles. His wisdom to me was that there were only two things I had to do in life. Stay Black and die. All we have to do is be ourselves and die. Just be you, and I’ll be and live to the end. I don’t have to be popular, successful, fruitful, famous, or glamorous. God owes us nothing, but he gave us everything in Jesus and his death you us. God’s treatment of you and me is way better that we honestly deserve.

As David was stepping in sheep manure, he was earning lessons not just it sheep care, but lessons that taught him to be as strong and compassionate leader.

For me I didn’t learn lessons in the pasture, I learned them in prison. I would have never believed you if you would have told me that I would be training to be a pastor when I enrolled to correctional officers academy for TDCJ. But it was there that I learned lessons that molded me as a pastor and improved my shepherding skills. God used some of the worst people in the state of Texas to teach me life lessons about people that come in really handy. Oh, and the inmates were not that nice either.
I would have never thought welding would teach me about marriage of that, sacking groceries would help me as a father, but God did. He knew.

Look at the last verse - So he shepherd them - He performed toward them the office of a shepherd.
According to the integrity of his heart - literally, “According to the perfection of his heart.” That is, he was upright and pure in the administration of his government. Deal fairly, and rightly. Treat people right
And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands - literally, “by the understanding of his hands” - as if the hand had been endued with intelligence. The skill he needed to be king, he learned in the field.

While you may realize it, God is preparing you through various life experiences to be victorious in life and to minister to others. He is preparing you to lead others through seemingly normal situations. In the every day life scenario of wake up, brush teeth, got work, eat lunch come home, eat dinner, wash clothes, go to bed and get up and do it all over again – in the middle of what you think is a boring, tired routine – God is fashioning you for greatness and service.

hand it to them

We have been talking about bulletins at Church recently. Some would like to have custom printed ones, but the price is just to much for our small Church. I personaly think we should go with one design for a quarter and then switch to another. Or go with a dynamic looking monthly service. below I have listed a couple of links for advertising and better bulletins.


Branding through the church bulletin

A Better Bulletin

How to Create Buzz

Church Bulletins That Don't Suck

Bringing sexy back to the Church

The week @ Church, we talked about sex. You should have seen the faces. Some people decided to not come even because of the topic. Thisis the overview of what I said. I know I said more, but I don't have those notes.

• We removed the kids this morning for a children’s worship experience, not because we are going to be graphic, but so they don’t ask you questions when you look so nervous and so you can give full attention to Scripture.


• There will be very little application or how to, we will not be giving you a put tab “A” into slot “B” kind of sermon.


• I will not be sharing personal testimony or giving cute illustrations. We look at the Scripture and let it guide us now matter who scary it is.


• Take a trip down to the local grocery store and you will see magazine after magazine with articles about sex. Women’s magazines, Men’s magazines, automobile and even music magazines are filled with sex.


• Turn on the television and you will be bombarded with inappropriate ideas of sex.
  Flip the TV off and the radio on and you hear songs like Salt b’ Pepa singing “let’s talk about sex baby, lets talk about you and me” Or how about Color me Badd with their song about song called I want to sex you Up. Those are some older ones an I understand that David Allen Coe had some that the Cowfolk like that are very raunchy in there lyrics. And Justin Timberlake had is song where say he is bring Sexy Back.


• They world is educating us and our young people on sex, but this is not right. This is not the way it should be.


• God created it but for the most part His Church is quit on it. It is time that the Church let God bring sexy back so we approach sex the right way, because if all the Church does is point their collective finger and tell you how not to have sex, then who will teach them what it the right way to have sex.


• So here is the deal - Singles people are having sex while Married couples are not. We pray teens are not having sex, but their grandparents are since the invention of the little blue pill. Viagra had changed the age range of sex lives


• In truth sexual transmitted disease statistic are rising the fastest in the senior population because they are having sex. So this message is for all of us.

Gen 2:21-5 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

• Gen 2:21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. We see the Work of Creation being continued in God’s creation of a wife for Adam in from of Eve.


• Gen 2:22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. As Jehovah has removed the rib, He has created the most beautiful woman that Adam had ever seen. Then he brought this stunning creature to Adam. We see God playing suitor here.


• Gen 2:23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." This is now bone of my bones – Eve was something that Adam had longed for and God had provided.

• John Calvin put it this way, He said “Adam indicates that something had been wanting to him; as if he had said, now at length I have obtained a suitable companion, who is part of the substance of my flesh, and in whom I behold, as it were, another self.”


• Adam is in complete understanding that Eve is not only part of his body, but she is a part of his life.

Gen 2:24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

Leave and cleave is how we have traditionally talked about this.

• Be leaving they are making a public commitment of loyalty of their love.


• By leaving they are making a commitment to intimacy.


• For Real intimacy to happen there needs to be alone time if you know what I mean.


• Real Sex needs real privacy –away from family and work and kids and what have you.


• Become one flesh –they joining of two, the tender, God glorifying love between husband and wife.


• This is the union of two souls being knit together


• The Hebrew word behind this means to intertwine or to mingle together.


• This is intimacy, closeness and understanding


• Intimacy needs communication. When there is poor communication there is poor physical relations.


• Even the world know that sex is communication- they use the euphemism – that they “knew them Biblically”


• To know some one you have to have communicated with them


• Communication is talking and it being in contact, being in touch


• 1Co 7:3-5 Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. (4) The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. (5) Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.


• We need to be wary of not having intimate relations between husband and wife because not only do you belong to your spouse, but we are warned that Satan will use it marital celibacy as a weapon of evil.


• Paul says this because, if natural lustful man is left alone he will defile the marriage bed some how some way.


• Pro 5:18-19 - Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love.


• 1Co 6:18 - Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.


• When you flee, you need to run right it the arms of your spouse.


• Paul encourages sex between husband and wife because of the intimacy, because of the communication, because of the please and because of procreation.


• Gen 2:25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.


• Read S.O.S. 7:1-10


• This is a wisdom book in the Bible, the guy who wrote proverbs, Solomon, wrote this to.


• Hebrew teenage boys were not allowed to read this. Some people wanted to remove it from the Bible, other people try to say that it is about Jesus and the Church


• Son 7:7-8 make this hard to believe, yet we always say we believe the Bible is literal
  
  Don’t forget the closeness and intimacy of our marriages is a representative of the deeply personal relationship we are to have with the Lord spiritually.
  
  Go and honeymoon again and return to an intimacy between husband and wife that honors Christ and His death.

10 Factors for Higher Attendance in Church Plants

10 Factors for Higher Attendance in Church Plants

The Center for Missional Research conducted a study led by Ed Stetzer and Phillip Connor to research what characteristics were shared by growing churches plants. They discovered 10 factors associated high attendance. Ps. thanks Kent Shaffer for pointing this out.

Location

>> Church plants that begin in school facilities have some obvious benefits, such as visibility, access, parking, classroom/worship space, and usually low costs.

>> Longer-term—after the first year—church plants meeting in both schools and movie theaters exhibit higher attendance. They find these locations conducive to reaching people and accommodating continued growth.

Ministry

>> High attendance church plants know that reaching children is one effective way to reach families. Special children’s events such as a fall festival or Easter egg hunt help church plants gain and sustain attendance.

>> High attendance church plants also conduct block parties as an evangelistic outreach.

>> High attendance church plants use holidays or other opportunities to attract people and to be attractive to those who are already attending.

Promotion

>> High attendance church plants mail invitations to services, programs, and events. They keep community awareness high, which keeps their visitors, attendees, and members involved and informed.

Training

>> High attendance church plants provide training for new members and communicate clearly the expectation that they participate.
Expectations

>> High attendance church plants require new members to sign a church covenant. They know that it’s imperative for new members to take their commitment to the church seriously as soon as they’ve committed their lives to Christ.

Financial

>> High attendance church plants are very intentional about financial stewardship.

>> High attendance church planters receive financial compensation and health insurance, allowing them to focus on the church’s growth, not their own basic needs.

Staff

>> High attendance church planters are assessed for their suitability and are full-time, not part- or half-time.

>> High attendance church plants have multiple staff from the beginning, facilitating steady and more sustainable growth.

Missions

>> High attendance church plants look for missional opportunities and start at least one church within three years of their own plant.

Leadership

>> High attendance church plants conduct leadership training, build their leadership base, and delegate leadership roles to church members.

Achievement

>> High attendance church planters have a vision of what God wants to do, and they don’t get distracted from the accomplishment of that vision.

Jesus in a Pink Dress

Anthony Bradley has a serious of posts that speads of where America is in the Gospel converstaion and where we really need to be. He goes under cover so to speak and I love that he is where the heathen is and not expecting he heathen to show up at Church.

Read these in order.

Jesus In A Pink Dress Overlooking The Grateful Dead, Part 1

Jesus in a Pink Dress, Part 2

Ten fold ministry

A preacher's work is never done and often misunderstood. Take a look at this Brit's blog about Ten propositions on being a minister by Kim Fabricius. You will cheer, you will cry.

The Preacher's Coffee or Scriptural Baptism

The Preacher's Coffee by Ben M. Bogard

I have a pleasant story, which I wish to tell in rhyme, About a circuit preacher who lived in recent time. He was a circuit rider for good John Wesley's brand; And rode the finest circuit in all the blessed land.

At one of his good charges, some members, not a few, Became quite sorely troubled about the word "into". The Good Book says quite plainly, in Acts in chapter eight," They went down into water," as Baptist people state.


The preacher preached a sermon of extra zeal and might; And to his satisfaction, he set the passage right." 'Into' does not mean 'into,' but only 'at' or 'nearby'. They went down to the water and got a small supply.

"But near the place of worship, there lived a sister Brown. And for her splendid cooking, she'd gained a great renown. Her yellow-legged chickens, her lucious cakes and pies, Had often made that preacher roll up his weeping eyes.

And her delicious coffee! In all the circuit round, The preacher oft admitted, its like could not be found. So when he preached his sermon with extra power and length, He loved at the Brown's table to revive his ebbing strength.

But sister Brown was a Baptist, the strongest in the land; She oft reproved the Methodists for changing God's command. She heard the preacher's sermon, and thought the subject o'er. Then asked him home for dinner, as she oft had done before.

She ground her good brown coffee, her kettle steaming hot, And put it "at" or "nearby" the famous coffee pot.S he poured her guest a cupful (I think it was no sin),"But you forgot, dear sister, to put the coffee in."

"No, no, dear sir, that's coffee; I ground a good supply, And put it "at" the kettle ('into' is 'at' or 'nearby'). By the logic of your sermon (I thought it rather thin), If 'at' or 'nearby' is 'into' I put the coffee IN.

"So if you will truly promise, no more such stuff to teach, I'll go and make some coffee, in line with Bible speech. And this time I will follow instructions to the dot, And put the coffee INTO, not 'at' or 'near' the pot


Ben Bogard pastor, semiarian, writer,founder of the American Baptist Assocation, preeminent assocaitional baptist and was one of the greatest debaters in the Baptist Church during the first part of the 20th Century. Bogard debated men from several denominations and a woman (Aimee Semple McPherson)