Thinking about Life and the Lord!

I just returned from my 13th Arkansas Baptist Convention annual meeting. This year it was held over 5 hours away from Marion in Rogers, Arkansas at the fantastic facility of Cross Church at Pinnacle Hills. It is different to go to the annual meeting of the ABSC with literally NO responsibility as president of the Executive Board or the Convention. The positive thing about this is I got to sit back and observe our convention from a semi-objective point of view. What did I learn? 1. I am getting older! While I am not by far the oldest among all the messengers, I have noticed over the past few years that I appear to be getting older. This is a great thing! Why? Because this means that unlike other state conventions across the SBC, we have younger pastors and staff members attending our annual meeting. This is a great sign for the future of our convention. 2. I am not cool! I did not show up as a messenger at the state convention wearing skinny jeans, loafers, spike up and/or fro...

Pastoring a Baptist church for many years (12 1/2 in Marion, AR) I have come to hear some of the worst, as well as some of the most creative excuses one could ever imagine come out of the mouths of seemingly good church members as to why they can not possibly serve the Lord. To be quite honest with you I kind of get a kick out of some of the excuses because the church member gives it to me with such enthusiasm and such defensiveness you would think they were on trial for murder, rather than being asked to help serve food at a student event, attend a special program, or do something as simple as go to Sunday School. All the while you know in your heart that the excuse of how they really needed to go and "check the thermostat" at their Lake house this weekend isn't really quite as "urgent" as it was presented. Excuses....why do we make up creative lies called "excuses" and use them as a basis for not serving God or others in and through our local churc...

I read a Calvin and Hobbes © cartoon that seemed quite appropriate. Young Calvin came up with a new money making scheme. He overturned a cardboard box for a stand, wrote some words on the box, and placed it on the street next to his house. He sat behind the box and waited patiently for customers; however none came. Before too long, Hobbes, Calvin’s stuffed tiger came by and asked him, “So how is business?” Calvin replied annoyed, “Just terrible.” Hobbes then looks at the words written on the box that read, “A swift kick in the seat of the pants- $1.00!” Hobbes sat down to sympathize with Calvin’s lack of business and said, “No business? Boy that is hard to believe!” Equally befuddled and disappointed Calvin threw out his arms in exasperation and said, “I just cannot understand it either! Everybody I know needs exactly what I am selling.” What the world needs from us, what our families need from us, what our co-workers need from us, and what our churches need from us is contributi...

This November I will be leading another tour to visit all the sights in the Holy Land . I always enjoy leading such a great adventure and seeing God’s Word come alive in people’s lives. One of my favorite places to go is the boat ride on the Sea of Galilee . I seem to always think about that time Jesus came to His disciples walking on the water, and Peter called out to the Lord to walk on the water. Jesus told Peter, “Come!” At that point Peter had a decision to make about his faith in the Lord. He had to step out of the boat or sit down in the boat depending on his faith. You know it is easy for us to say that we believe the Lord and that we put our faith in Him, but it is another thing to step out of the boat and walk on water when He tells us to “Come.” In other words, there are times we know in our heart God has called us to do something and go outside our comfort zone, but to do so requires active faith. It takes faith to go on that mission trip, go to the Holy Land on a t...

In 1972, NASA launched the exploratory space probe Pioneer 10 . Its main mission was to reach Jupiter and send back information about that planet. It was a bold plan because at that time no satellite had gone beyond Mars. Pioneer 10 accomplished its mission and so much more. It swung past Jupiter in November, 1973, then passed Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. By 1997, Pioneer 10 was more than six billion miles from the sun. Despite that immense distance, Pioneer 10 continued to beam back radio signals to earth. The most remarkable thing was that those signals were powered by an 8-watt transmitter, which radiates about as much power as a bedroom night light. Not even the most optimistic scientist could have ever imagined what that little 8-watt transmitter could do. Yet even now it is transmitting important messages back to NASA from unexplored space. So it is when you and I offer ourselves to God in faithful obedience. So many people look at their lives and think to   t...

I have to be honest with you. By nature I am not a very politically correct person. In fact people who are always seeking to be politically correct kind of make me cringe a little. These people are the pleasers. You know what I am talking about don't you? While I think we ought to be sensitive and caring toward others, there are some people out there who run so far to the extreme of this that they will compromise even their own core values, beliefs, and worldview.   One example that comes to my mind is the whole concept of being "lost." This is a term that I still use regularly to refer to "a person who has never trusted Jesus into his or her life to forgive their sins, be the Lord over their lives, and possess the assurance of heaven." Every where I turn nowadays I am being told that I cannot call lost people "lost" because it might damage their self-esteem and their personal feelings toward the church. To that I say, "Are you kidding me?...

Before Paul wrote to the church at Galatia about the Fruit of the Spirit in chapter 5, he asked a very penetrating question in Galatians 4:15: “What has happened to all your joy…” That question needs to be asked in the church today. What has happened to all my joy? What has happened to all your joy? William Barclay has said that “a gloomy Christian is a contradiction in terms, and nothing in all religious history has done Christianity more harm than its connection with black clothes and long faces.” Let’s look at three common joy busters that steal joy from our lives. The first joy buster is unsatisfied expectations! Do you ever feel like you’re just going through some joyless routines in life? If the truth were known some of us are discontent with the way our lives are progressing. It could be that your expectations for your marriage or your job have not been met. Or, maybe your kids aren’t living like they should. Perhaps you don’t have everything you want – a bigger hou...