march 2012
refueling the spirit

Bless the Lord, o my soul, … who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. Psalm 103:2,5

There they go again, gas prices, rising. My mother asked me recently if I could remember the gas lines from the early 70s. But I usually had my head stuck in a book (really, probably a comic book) in the back seat. Most of us hope we do not face that kind of shortage again. American society is built on mobility.

If you can't afford to put gas in your car, you will eventually have to park it. To get going again, you need to refuel. The same is true with your spirit.

In the modern world, many people are saying that we don't really need church and prayer. They say that if we just treat people right and act decently, then everything will go well. One of the problems with that philosophy is that most of us human beings get tired out from doing good things for others. The demands of justice and mercy are never ending.

And if we are not careful, we will run out of fuel. Cynicism will take us over. Like a physical body that has not had enough sleep or the right kind of food, our spirits can grow exhausted and malnourished.

Worship, fellowship with Christian brothers and sisters, prayer and Bible study, these are the energy that reawakens our compassion. Without the energizing regular experience of encounter with Christ through church and prayer, we will lose our strength.

And these experiences do come at a cost. They cost us our time. When we budget that limited commodity, do we include time for God? Sometimes that price is costly. But there is always an abundant supply.

february 2012
we are free indeed

... and the truth will set you free. John 8:32

I love my cats. Lilly and Oliver have been with us for a few years now. We adopted Lilly from the Chatham County animal shelter. We found Oliver as a twelve-week old kitten wandering in the shrubbery behind the old fellowship hall. Since they have come into our home, we have had a lot of fun watching and playing with them.

Cat owners, like other pet owners, revel in sharing stories about the common characteristics of house cats and about the unique brilliance of their own cats. Other cat owners will delight when I talk about the cute way that Oliver will climb onto the couch next to me, look up at me and tilt his head, squint his eyes and then yawn out a big "Meoooowwww." Or the way that Lilly will jump onto the computer table and nuzzle her head against mine.

Cat owners find common ground in these cat actions because cats act on instinct. Cats are not all the same. They have unique personalities. But they act on instinct, not according to rational thought or personal will.

Humans act according to instinct too. We are usually surprised when it becomes clear to us how many choices we make thinking that we are acting according to our own will only to find that we are really reacting in an instinctive way. This is one of the major insights that Sigmund Freud and psychiatry have given the world.

But it's not a really a new insight at all. A long time before Sigmund Freud, the Bible declared that we have natural impulses that push us to act in certain ways. But the Bible also tells us something else. As human beings made in the image of God, we do not have to be slaves to our instincts. We can rise above our natural impulses. When the Spirit lives within us, He gives us power to overcome our nature.

Our natural instinct is to strike back when we are attacked; Jesus says, "Turn the other cheek." Our natural instinct is to hate those who hate us; Jesus says, "Love your enemies." And Jesus not only tells us to do it. He gives us His Spirit to help us.

So do not think that there is nothing you can do about it. In Christ, we are set free indeed.

january 2012
the end is near. or is it?

What I say to you I say to everyone: "Watch." Mark 13:37

It’s 2012! According to several New Age observers, this is the year that the world will end. There are a few different suggestions about why 2012 will be the end of this world as we know it. Many of these revolve around the supposed details of a Mayan calendar. The Mayans were a great civilization located in Mexico before the Spanish conquered that part of the Americas and wiped out those old civilizations.

The Mayans were very sophisticated and had developed a very accurate calendar. According to some who have studied it, the Mayan calendar indicates that the world will end in December 2012. But others think that the calendar ending only indicated a new cycle of years, like coming to the end of your 2011 calendar on the wall. You throw it out and buy a new one for 2012.

People will continue to debate the meaning of the Mayan calendar and the possible end of the world. As Christians, we look into the teachings of Jesus and the Bible on this subject, not the Mayans — no matter how smart they were.

The Bible is very clear that the end will come with the return of Jesus to judge the world. But the Bible is also clear that we will not know for sure the time of the end. Jesus himself said, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark 13:32, NIV)

Jesus was clear about one thing. He was very concerned that some of His followers would be so involved in the things of this world that they would not be alert and ready for His return. “Keep watch,” He said repeatedly.

Will the world end in 2012? None of us knows. We long for Jesus to return and straighten out the mess that this world is in, but we also want God to be patient so that men and women will have a chance to know Him. Even so, we repeat the statement of hope that was common among the early Christians believers, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

december 2011
beginning of something good

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. Luke 2:10-11

When I was about 17 years old, I wrote a Christmas song. I was thinking about the story in Luke of the shepherds leaving their sheep to go and see the baby Jesus after the angels had announced His birth.

Think about that, the angels did not announce the birth of God’s Son to the king in Jerusalem or to the Roman Emperor or even to important preachers. God had His angels announce the birth to some of the poorest working-class people in the land. Luke liked to emphasize that part of Jesus’ ministry — reaching out to the outcasts and poor.

I began to think about the shepherds. As they decided to go to Bethlehem and see this baby, would they have left someone in charge of the sheep? Maybe they woke up a 10- or 11-year-old son or nephew and put him in charge of the sheep. Maybe as he stood there, sleepily keeping watch, he sensed in the air of the night sky something momentous had taken place in the universe.

The song is called “The Beginning of Something Good.” The closing stanza of the song is:

So come along and sing with me.
Walk through the meadow, swing from a tree.
Let's celebrate this happy time.
I don't know why I only know that it is mine.
It's the beginning of something good.

Invite Christ to begin something good in your life this Christmas.

november 2011
witnessing at home

... and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8

As November arrives among us, our thoughts turn to preparations for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We are already being bombarded with reminders to buy Christmas presents and holiday decorations of various kinds. Our children and grandchildren are making their lists and checking at least twice to make sure we have the details recorded accurately.

Thanksgiving and Christmas is also the season when we collect our offerings for International Missions, both the Lottie Moon Offering for the Southern Baptist International Mission Board and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions Offering. These are important opportunities for us to participate in the global proclamation of the gospel. Because of these funds, people will hear the gospel in places where there is no other witness for Christ.

As the story of Christmas and spirit of Thanksgiving are in the air, and while we are thinking of telling the gospel story, this is also a good time to think about opportunities we have to witness to our neighbors and friends about our faith. People are thinking about the story of Jesus' birth already. We have an opening to talk about that story and what it means for us.

Baptists have always been a witnessing people. We should pray that God will help us find the chances to reclaim that heritage of faithful witness. We give money to send missionaries around the world, but increasingly our own neighborhoods are full of people who really do not know the story of Jesus and salvation. God calls us to give our money to missions, but God also calls us to witness for Him in our own world.

october 2011
always there

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth .... (Gen. 1:1)

The universe is vast. When the ancient readers of the Bible were reading these words, they may not have envisioned a world much larger than the lands and sea they could see from where they lived. Now, scientists tell us that the universe encompasses spaces so vast we hardly imagine them.

And before any of the vast area existed, God was there.

The story of God's people in the Bible is the story of a small nation of people who were constantly conquered, enslaved, taxed and trampled by larger empires. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Rome, the Barbarian hordes are all considered the most important players in the history of the ancient world. But while these empires were enforcing their will upon many nations, the Israelites were preserving the story of God's action on this earth through His people.

So even though the Egyptians and Romans did not know Him, God was there.

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away" (Matt. 24:35)

One day there will be no universe as we think we know it now. But even though all of this world will pass away, God will be there.

We live in troubled times. The economy is weak. Morality seems to have been forgotten. It's hard for us to find hope. But that is because we have forgotten. No matter what the circumstances or the times. God is there.

"And they will call him Immanuel which means 'God with us'" (Matt. 1:18).

september 2011
pain and revival

Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. Psalm 85:6-7

This month will mark the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attack that destroyed the World Trade Center towers in New York City. Many of us will remember vividly where we were when we first heard the news or saw the video of those planes crashing into the towers.

We mourn the devastating loss of life; we celebrate the heroic efforts of those who rushed in and those who spent months in rescue and search for survivors; we cherish the sense of community that brought us as a nation together around this tragedy.

In a number of ways, the years since the fall of the towers have been increasingly painful in the United States of America. The sustained recession that continues to plague the country has made many feel that God is turning against us as a nation. It seems that every new day brings more bad news in our individual lives and our communities.

The day after the fall of the twin towers, churches all across the nation, including Rocky River Baptist, held special services of prayer for our nation. Many predicted that churches would become full again after years of decline, as people remembered that life is fragile and temporary and can be taken away so quickly. But even though we have endured many terrible things in our country and our world in the last ten years, we have not seen much revival of interest in Jesus in the United States.

We have been talking a lot lately about the need for an economic revival. But we are in desperate need of a spiritual revival. We cannot manufacture a revival, but revival often comes in the life of an individual or church when they really commit to asking God for it. God will not revive us spiritually if we act like we are satisfied with the spiritual life we have!

Many people complain that God is not doing enough to help them, yet at the same time, their lives indicate that God is not a high priority. Jesus said that if we want to be His followers we must deny ourselves and take up our cross, that is give up our own agenda to follow God’s agenda for our lives. Is this cost too high? God will not be treated as an accessory. If we want God to help us through, we must love Him with all our hearts.

august 2011
not just a building

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7 (ESV)

I am writing this article in the midst of a week of Vacation Bible School here at Rocky River Baptist. Each night, between 70 and 80 children and youth are spending a few hours laughing and playing and singing together around the church, activities that are marking them with church experience as a part of their lives.

They are also hearing the gospel and seeing it lived out in the lives of the adults who are teaching them the gospel story. Their minds are being marked with Jesus. It is a moment of renewal for our entire church family to spend this week together around our new fellowship building with these young people. Our minds are being marked with Jesus, too.

This month also marks the first time we have had to dip into our reserve funds to make the monthly payment on our building debt. That wonderful building that we all enjoy so much, that elicits glowing compliments from every new visitor, that place where we all are being marked with Jesus, we are still paying for it. And that requires everyone working together.

When we first undertook the building debt our fund-raising committee asked church families to commit to giving an extra $10 each week, above and beyond your regular tithes and offerings to the church. Some have continued to contribute in this way. A few families have taken the initiative to give an extra $20 per week or more to pay the building debt.

In this recession, many churches are struggling mightily with regular expenses. I commend you, the members of Rocky River Baptist, because you have continued to give faithfully. For some of you, giving more is just not possible. God blesses whatever you are able to give. But for those of us who can, we need a renewed commitment to giving to the building fund above and beyond our regular gifts to the church.

Will you consider renewing your monthly gifts to the building fund? All of those young people are well worth the expense!

july 2011
what never changes

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.  Hebrews 13:8

The world has changed. Since I was a boy, we have seen the introduction of cell phones and personal computers. When I was in college, my wife Vicky typed my papers on a typewriter. The first comic books that I bought when I started collecting cost just 25 cents. Now they are four dollars!

When I was a kid, adults always talked about how the world was getting so much more criminal and violent. Television shows were increasingly showing material that once was considered immoral. The vocabulary of the young people was full of words that were never uttered in polite company.

And now as an adult, I find myself making the same criticisms that my parents made. The television programs of my youth are tame compared to what anyone can see at anytime of the day now. I understand why my parents found it so unsettling.

There are good changes, too. I take a daily non-drowsy allergy medication that is a relatively new drug. I can instantly connect with friends and family almost anywhere in the world through computers and cell phones. Many aspects of life have been improved through technology and scientific achievement.

But even with these changes, many things have not changed. The reality of human sinfulness and the gospel of God’s grace are the same as they were for all of human history. We ache to have the latest technology and fashion, but we always find that new things never really satisfy the empty places in our souls.

That’s because each of us is made to be a child of God, to have fellowship with God in our hearts and lives. There is no activity or possession or even relationship that can take the place of that one most important thing.

The human heart has not changed. God’s love has not changed. And it never will.

june 2011
father's day

And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. Romans 8:15-16

In June of 1980, I was playing Jesus in a community production of the musical “Godspell.”  It so happened that one of our productions was on Father’s Day of that year. We always began our warm-up session with a voluntary group prayer. We gathered that Sunday and held hands to pray in preparation for that day’s show. Since I was playing Jesus in the show, I began the prayer with “Happy Fathers Day .....”

What an amazing thing to know that God loved us so much that He sent His Son as a sacrifice for our salvation. And that because of Jesus’ sacrifice, God becomes our Father, not in the metaphorical sense in which we often refer to God as father of all humanity. The New Testament writer Paul puts it in these terms, "... he predestined us to be adopted as his sons ....” (Ephesians 1:5) God is our real Father; He chose us.

A cartoon in the June issue of the Sandy Creek Baptist Association newsletter shows two children and one suggests to his friend that God must really get a lot of cards on Father’s Day since He has so many children. What might we give to God to make this an extra special Father’s Day for Him this year?

One of my favorite Christian songs is called “A Child’s Love.” Written by Bryan Duncan, it talks about how as we grow older we become more cynical and less gracious; but, as he watches his young son playing, he is reminded of the joy we bring to God’s heart when we love him with the innocent love of a child. “Don’t let me live without a child’s love, ... teach me, dear Lord, to have a love for you, a child’s love.”

God witnesses all of the horrors that occur in this world and His heart breaks over every one. But in the same way that our own children and their love for us encourage us in this messed up world, so our adoration and love of Him lighten the heart of our Father God.

Smile to God, and tell Him, and show Him that you love Him.

may 2011
preparation

When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous have a refuge. Proverbs 14:32

One event has dominated the local news like no other in recent memory — the passing of severe storms that brought multiple areas of tornado damage to our state including the nearby community of Sanford. The destruction brought to us by these storms elicits expressions of dismay and thanksgiving. And there are many lessons we may learn from this terrible tragedy.

We often hear people say that a person never knows what might happen next. But such assertion usually relates to some minor inconvenient circumstance. But these tornadoes definitely remind us life may change dramatically in a very short moment. You may personally know people who are going through their days right now with no more home to sleep in. Such dramatic disruption of life might happen to anyone of us at any time.

In addition to this, we have learned that such disruptions will reveal the character of neighbors and friends and others. There are three kinds of people in the middle of a tragedy: those who help, those who stand around and watch, and those who take advantage of others’ misfortune.

We have a hard time understanding how someone can loot the homes of people who have seen their lives demolished by tornadoes. But those people are always there. But remember that there are many more who have come to help than there are those who have come to steal.

Finally, we can remember that preparation really does matter. People who had made a plan and practiced their plan had a greater chance of getting through the tornado without injury. Preparation helps you understand what your priorities need to be in a crisis.

Crisis will be a part of our lives. We cannot possibly know every potential tragedy that might come our way. But recognizing the possibility and preparing the best we can with God’s help makes us better able to survive and thrive in a world where crisis is inevitable.

Ultimately the words of Proverbs remind us that our best preparation is to live to please God and receive His eternal reward.

easter week 2011
rebuilding devastated lives

This week's news in North Carolina has been dominated by the tornados that devastated various areas in the central and eastern parts of the state. You all know by now the large death toll in addition to the photos and videos of demolished homes, vehicles and sometimes entire neighborhoods. Reports of cars in treetops and images of debris from businesses flown hundreds of miles from the spot where they once stood all mark our minds with the massive destruction wrought by these storms.

As so often happens in such circumstances around the world, our hearts are warmed by the large outpouring of help when these tragedies occur. People from many states have come to North Carolina to help clean up and rebuild. Volunteers from over 50 churches met together at Jonesboro Heights Baptist Church in Sanford on Monday for assignments from the North Carolina Baptist Men disaster relief team. Many others have come in since and Facebook is buzzing with volunteer information and opportunities.

Every day people find their lives in shambles, emotionally, physically and spiritually. Many of us have experiences ourselves or had moments among our family members in which life has come apart. When a house is blown apart by a tornado, the owner cannot hide the damage. And if he is willing to accept help, friends and neighbors and many others are there.

But many of us who have emotional and spiritual devastation in our lives are not willing to let anyone see. We do not want to be vulnerable to others who might take advantage of us or avoid us because of our weakness.

I wish I could say that church is a place that is different. I wish I could say that in church we have a safe place to share the devastation that afflicts our lives. I wish that I could say that in church we find a crowd of people gathered to help us rebuild and clean up. People who will not sit in judgment but who understand that this tornado of life might have hit them just as easily as it did you. People who were eager to listen and love, protect and restore.

I sometimes get frustrated that church is not like that. But then I remember that it can be. If a few of us are willing to show love instead of harsh criticism. If a few of us are willing to take a risk to help someone rebuild their shattered family, their lost integrity, their missing hope.

This is Easter Week. The Christ who died is the Christ whom God raised up alive again. God invites us to allow Him to rebuild our lives and also to join Him in helping others to rebuild their lives. Will we allow God to make our churches into places where people are restored instead of discouraged? If we believe that such a church is what we want, then we must be willing to be that kind of people.

april 2011
perspective on the diamond

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you but Jesus Christ and him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2

It's almost Easter, which means it is also spring training. No doubt if you have watched any baseball news this spring you have noticed the intense talk about a new contract for Albert Pujols, all-star slugger for the St. Louis Cardinals. Pujols' career has been amazing and he commands the highest of salaries and the highest regard from baseball fans everywhere.

Given his status in the United States, we might think that Pujols is a self-obsessed celebrity, greedy for all the money he can get. But Scott Lamb and Tim Ellsworth have recently written a book about him, documenting that this baseball star is not about fame and money. Ellsworth, writing about his book in the first 2011 issue of Faith and Family Values magazine, highlights the spiritual side of Albert Pujols.

According to this article "... at age thirty, Pujols has more home runs than Babe Ruth, more RBIs than Hank Aaron, more hits than Pete Rose, and more runs than Ricky Henderson at the same age." According to former teammate Larry Walker, Pujols is "as down-to-earth as you can get."

Ellsworth's article continues:

Pujols isn't one to revel in his celebrity. Though his talents have made him immensely wealthy, he has used that wealth to bless others. In 2005, Pujols and his wife Deidre launched the Pujols Family Foundation that works primarily with families of children with Down syndrome and with the impoverished in Pujols' native Dominican Republic.

It is the Lord Jesus who is the true hero of the Albert Pujols story. ... "In baseball, every night there's thousands of people telling me how great I am during a game," Pujols told an audience of men in 2010. ... "That can go to my head really quickly if I don't keep my spirit in check. Humility's getting on your knees and staying in order with God's will for what he wants from me...."

"I look up at the sky every time I get a base hit and every time I cross the plate to remind myself that it's not about Albert Pujols. It's about the Lord Jesus Christ."

We love sports in this country and celebrate our favorite athletes with almost idolatrous fervor. Remember these words of Albert Pujols as you are watching him swing the bat and as you are teaching your kids to play, "It's not about Albert Pujols, it's about the Lord Jesus Christ."

march 2011
love, acceptance & forgiveness

Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:8

People will be people.

Some people have the idea that all of the earliest Christian congregations were places of blissful interaction between God's Spirit and the believers in Jesus, who loved each other unconditionally. While there is a brief mention of such a time in the beginning of the book of Acts, anyone who actually reads the rest of the New Testament will be struck by how those early Christians pretty much behaved with the same selfishness that we do.

1 Corinthians is a dramatic example of a typical church — full of squabbles, power plays and self-serving behavior. Paul begins by complaining that they have divided into factions. One group thinks Apollos was the best preacher, others think that Paul was best and another group thinks that they are really super-spiritual because they only follow Christ.

Then, Paul remarks that they are missing the point of the Lord's Supper. They divide up into cliques. One group celebrates the supper before others get there, so they will not have fellowship with those others.

Finally, there are certain people who believe that they know the right way to worship. They believe they are more holy than others because they have special spiritual power during their worship and that anyone who does not do it their way does not really know the power of God.

Sound like any churches you know?

In the midst of his description of this too-typical church family, Paul pens one of the most profound descriptions of what our hearts should really be like in Christ. "If I speak in the tongues of men and angels but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal ... love is patient and kind .... It does not insist on its own way .... Love never fails."

Most of us hear these words only at weddings when the promise of everlasting love feels so real in the excitement of a new relationship. But we really need to hear these words more when we have spent years together, trying to live as the body of Christ, and each week facing the disappointments and insults and heartaches that accompany any regular human interaction.

Do you believe that God can create such love in the hearts of Christians in spite of such disappointment and resentment? "Lord, I believe; Help my unbelief." (Mark 9:24)

february 2011
love, acceptance & forgiveness

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

Lately on Sunday evenings, we have been studying the book, "Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness" by Pastor Jerry Cook. Pastor Cook outlines his understanding of what the New Testament teaches about how Christians should live and how a church should operate.

You might guess that, based on the title, his main contention is that individual Christians and Christian churches should always operate with these three special qualities. Love, acceptance and forgiveness should be evident in everything we do because that is what Jesus is like.

Among the many important points that Pastor Cook makes is that our marriages and family relationships should also be characterized by love, acceptance and forgiveness. Too often, he says, we act like vultures perching and waiting for our spouse to make a mistake so that we can pounce on them.

It is easy for our attitude to communicate to the people we love that they just aren't good enough. But Cook asserts that the greatest gift we can give our family members is real acceptance.

We can sometimes fake a good Christian image in public, but to know the truth about a person's heart we should look at how they treat the people who are closest to them.

God has shown us His love; God has accepted us in His family; God has forgiven us for our sins against Him and others. God invites us to express our gratitude to Him by living our lives with the love, acceptance and forgiveness He has given us.

january 2011
dangers of the cold

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.  Matthew 24:12-13

I am writing these words on the first day of winter and already we have experienced more cold than usual. You do not need to be a scientist to understand the effects of cold on the human body. If you stay out in it for just a little while you can readily feel those effects: your reactions slow down, your body shakes involuntarily to try to get warm and you lose strength.

We are not surprised, then, when we read authors who use the metaphor of cold to talk about the human heart. Jesus warned that an increase in wickedness would be accompanied by hearts that have grown cold. Many are shocked when they hear stories of people who have committed torturous acts against other people. In these cases, the normal human emotions of empathy and sympathy have been turned off; the heart is cold.

We also are in danger of seeing our hearts grow cold. We may never be tempted to inhuman brutality, but we are daily tempted to focus on ourselves and lose our love for God and others. When the circumstances of our lives bring suffering and pain and fear and heartache, our natural instinct is to become cold to protect ourselves.

The warmth of God’s love and presence is the only remedy for and protection against a cold heart. Jesus’ words say that those who endure to the end will be saved from this love going cold.

As we grow cold, we are tempted to withdraw from God. But the remedy is to run toward Him. Find warm-hearted believers, worship and pray and study the Bible with them. Obey God’s commands and look for opportunities to serve people in need. This is the exercise that strengthens the heart of faith.

december 2010
God's time

… the gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures regarding his Son …. Romans 1:2-3

Approximately 1,800 years before the birth of Jesus, God spoke to the Hebrew ancestor Abraham and told him that through his descendants all the world would be blessed. About 600 years later, God told Moses that He would raise a prophet like Moses to be the leader of God's people. About 200 years after that, God told the Israelite king David that one day one of David's descendants would be king over God's people in a permanent kingdom of God.

All throughout the history of Israe,l many prophets spoke about the anointed one whom God would send to deliver the Israelite people. Isaiah proclaimed a suffering servant would come to bear the people's sins. Micah told that Bethlehem would be the birthplace of the promised deliver. These are only a few of the many prophecies that announced God's good news of a coming Messiah (which means "the one anointed by God").

We know now that all of those prophecies point to Jesus who lived in ancient Palestine, taught about God's kingdom, healed the sick and cast out demons, died on a Roman cross and was raised from the dead. Jesus is the fulfillment of all of these prophecies.

God knew all along that He would one day send Jesus to be our Savior. All of the history of the ancient Hebrews is God's leading the world to that time when Jesus would come. That coming was the answer to every prayer. And Jesus remains the answer to every prayer.

In God's time, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. In God's time, we are born again when we allow Jesus to come to us personally and become our Lord and Savior. This Christmas, remember and give thanks for God's greatest gift — Jesus Christ.

november 2010
deciding together

... you also, like living stones are being built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood…” 1 Peter 2:5

On Tuesday November 2, many of us will go to the polls to vote. This is a special privilege we have in the United States. We cherish it, if we are smart, and work to keep the process fair and free. Democracy is a way of life we defend and celebrate.

For those of us who are believers, it is also clear that we live in another political realm — the kingdom of God. God’s kingdom, as the name suggests, is not a democracy. God is king. If we are smart, we will do what God says. God always knows best. 

Recently some leaders in Baptist life have used this idea that God is our king to assert the idea that our churches should not run democratically. The church, they say, should be a theocracy. That means that God is the decision maker. But who decides what God’s will is in that case? When a pastor says he wants to make the church a theocracy, what he often means is that he wants everyone to do what he says God wants.

So, in Baptist life we offer everyone who commits himself to be a member of the church the chance to speak and vote on the decisions of the church. We believe that when all of God’s people decide together, then there is less chance that one person’s agenda will prevail. We believe that the contribution of every member is a part of the voice of God’s spirit.

This is less efficient than just letting one person decide. But is affirms what we believe is a central teaching of the Bible — that all believers have a personal, living relationship with God who wants to communicate to each person and through them to all of the church.

october 2010
spiritual drought

The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.  Isaiah 58:11

Hot and dry. Everywhere we go lately, someone is talking about the need for rain. Even the townsfolk are checking the weather every day looking hopefully for indications of rain.

We easily recognize the symptoms of dry earth. As believers, we also experience times of drought in our life with God, those long periods when we have no direct sense of God’s presence with us. The Psalms provide some important guidelines to handle our spiritual dry periods.

Psalm 1 says that God’s blessing come to us when we avoid evil and we delight in God’s law. The law of God for Christians is the law of love, "Love God with all your heart … and love your neighbor as yourself." When we find our delight in loving God and others, the Psalm promises that we "…will be like a tree planted by streams of water."

Where do we find those streams of water? Psalm 23 reminds us that when we accept God as our shepherd then He leads us "beside the still waters." When we try to find water with our own wisdom, we will grow thirstier. When we follow God, then He will take us to the purest streams.

When we have found this "living water" (see John 4:10) of God’s presence and leading, we will then be refreshing to others as well. Psalm 84 says "Blessed are those whose strength is in you .... As they pass through the valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs ...."  As we allow the Lord to refresh us, we will refresh each other with God’s love.

september 2010
i will give you rest

The Lord replied, "My Presence will go with you and I will give you rest" Exodus 33:14

Back to school. Not everyone is excited about that reality, but the time has come. Young people will wrestle with the intricacies of algebra and personal pronouns. School teachers will wrestle with the delicate nuances of discipline and instruction.

For some of us who are older, back to school means the renewal of acquaintances, but Facebook and text messages have largely eliminated the separation of summer. The face-to-face time in school will be just a continuation of endless conversations still made primarily through cell towers and DSL lines.

Finishing school was something that most of us looked so much forward to. Those 12 years of public school humiliation finally done and perhaps four more years of college where new possibilities sometimes brightened into new hopes for the future. But always the looking forward to the time when there were no more papers and no more equations.

Only to find that adult life is a continuous back to school. Every day, some challenge to be conquered, some new lesson to be learned. Work, romance, married life, children, illness, mortgage, an endless stream of lessons constantly arriving at my door. Once I think I have mastered one, two more lessons arrive, with no guidebooks or Cliff notes or highly-trained educator to guide me toward the solution. And the only grades are the success and failure of real life.

Even religion so often appears to us as a new lesson to be mastered. God and heaven are presented to us as another challenge to conquer. In this world of lessons to learn, Jesus calls us to give up struggling to make ourselves worthy of grace.

Over the cry of all the relgioius voices calling out to you with the perfect plan for you to follow, I hope you can hear the voice of Jesus calling out, "Come to me all who labor and are carrying heavy loads and I will give your rest."

august 2010
recommitment to faithfulness

But be sure to fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you. 1 Samuel 12:24

Every August here at Rocky River, we celebrate our annual Homecoming with a special preacher and "dinner on the grounds." This year, we will celebrate Homecoming on Sunday, August 8, and our guest preacher will be Gordon West, Director of Missions for the Sandy Creek Baptist Association.

Homecoming is a time when I am reminded of all those blessed saints who have passed on and left a legacy of faithfulness here. I think about Ed Clapp and P.D. Short and their quiet faithfulness. I think of the sweetness of Dorothy Johnson and the feisty spirit of Mary Joyce Wright. I remember the wit of Herbert Buckner, the energy of Willie Duncan, the smooth baritone voice of J. Warren Brewer. I remember watching Mary Edith Teague make the cross from the organ to the piano through all those years of service. I could name so many others.

"Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful…" These words appeared recently on a local church sign. They are from an old favorite gospel song that mirrors my sentiment exactly. I pray that when I leave Rocky River, my legacy will be one that our youth and children will remember as faithful to God and to the people here.

Many of you are building on this legacy right now. As we celebrate this Homecoming, let us renew our commitment to be a faithful church by renewing our individual commitment to be faithful people.

july 2010
recommitment to giving

Remember this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

Like many other churches and organizations, Rocky River Baptist has been affected by the current recession. In some respects, we are in very good shape. We still have some surplus funds for emergencies, and our general receipts are ahead of our expenditures for the year so far. We are quite a bit behind on meeting our budget, but we have tried to be frugal with spending.

The finance committee has begun to meet and is working to lower our budget for the new church year. In the office, Amy and I will continue to try and keep spending down as well.

I understand that we are facing a tough economy. Because of your faithfulness to give in these tough times, we are still paying our bills and meeting our needs and giving generously to the missions of Christ through the Southern Baptist Convention, the State Baptist Convention of North Carolina and the Sandy Creek Association.

But there is an area in which we need you to consider renewed giving. Each month we make a payment of over $3,000 on the loan for our new fellowship building. When we began making these payments, we asked each family to consider giving an extra $10 per week to cover that payment. When we started this campaign, you responded well and we had enough coming in each month to cover the monthly payment. That is no longer the case. The building fund giving has dropped in this church year so that we are not collecting nearly enough each month to make our payment.

For those who have continued to contribute to this effort, I say thank you. Some of you committed from the beginning to give even more than the extra $10 per week. Please consider at this time committing once again to give at least an extra $10 per week if you can. If you can give more, we need your help. We have enjoyed the new building so much. It is a valuable addition to the ministry we do here at Rocky River. We are all using it for many events. Let's support it with our contributions.

june 2010
why get married?

Therefore what God has joined together let man not separate. Matthew 19:6

Why get married? This is the question I find myself asking repeatedly lately.

Most of us have heard the often-repeated assertion that in the United States about 50 perent of marriages will end in divorce. These statistics are challenged by some researchers, with the actual number ranging from 33 percent to somewhere between 40 and 50 percent. Divorce rates have dropped slightly since the highest rates we experienced in the 1980s. A part of the reason for this drop might be that more couples are living together and opting out of marriage, although the biggest majority of American adults will be married at some point in their lives.

Among the reasons that marriages are not working so well anymore, I believe that the most prominent may be an attitude that is growing throughout our society. Increasingly, we are a society of people who are focused on our own individual happiness with no tolerance for seeking the good of others. Many parents in previous generations saw their whole purpose in life as making a better life for their children. Now, so many indulge themselves with no thought for their children's future.

This sin is as old as humanity — selfishness. Since love has been redefined as something that makes you "feel" good, it is inevitable that getting married and having a family is going to fail a lot of the time. But if we remember that the real definition of love, God's definition in the Bible, is serving others, then we begin to see that marriage is an opportunity for spiritual growth.

When I say I love my wife, I am not saying that being with her always makes me feel good (although in my case it does, sweetheart!). I am saying that I want to serve her, be with her, and take care of her. In good marriages, this works both ways, so that as you look after each other, you both feel and know love.

In this short space I cannot address this entire topic thoroughly. Some people have abused this biblical notion of love and used it to heap abuse upon their spouses. That is not love and such marriages are already in default. But without a sense that I am in marriage to serve my spouse, I will be disappointed with what marriage can really contribute to my life.

may 2010
the place of "rest"

At that time Jesus said, …"Come to me, all you who are weary and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:28-29

I have a quotation that I keep on my bulletin board in my study. This quotation is from an old dead guy named St. Augustine. Well, "saint" is not really part of his name, but they call him that now. Professors in college refer to him as a "Doctor of the church." He was not a medical doctor. In the funny ways that professors talk, "doctor" means "teacher."

The quotation is a prayer from the first chapter of Augustine's most famous book, his autobiography, called "The Confessions." The quotation is "You excite us to praise You, because You made us for Yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in You."

Augustine thought, and taught, (he was a doctor!) that God created us to be in a relationship with Him. If we are not in a good relationship with God then our hearts will be restless. But Augustine also believed that if we surrender ourselves to Jesus (read that phrase again and think about it — surrender ourselves!) then we will find the rest that our hearts want so desperately.

Some people have believed in God all of their lives but have never known "rest" for their hearts. But it is available. We look for the answer to our restlessness in so many places, but there is only one place that it can come. "Our hearts are restless until they find rest in You."

april 2010
be cautious of abuse, even in the church

The Lord heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

Some days are better than others. No doubt this is true for everyone in different ways. But for many people, every day is a miserable journey toward forgetting some tragic event in their lives.

I suspect this is true for the many victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests that we have read about so often lately. So much of this story is tragic, the betrayal of a truly sacred confidence and the shameless cover-up that allowed perpetrators to continue their abuse, the fact that the current Pope was one of the Vatican leaders who threatened local Catholics with excommunication if they made the charges public or reported them to law enforcement. Of course, the real tragedy is the disrupted lives of the young victims.

In thinking about this tragic abuse of power and position, I encourage you to take thought for your own children and grandchildren. I do not like the climate of fear that many want to encourage but the Bible never whitewashes the reality that people are sinners.

Do not assume because a person is a respected public figure, even a preacher or a priest, that they are a decent human being. Take sensible precautions. Notice your child's habits and emotions. Notice if they act differently when they are going to be alone with a particular adult. Teach your child early about inappropriate behavior. Listen to them when they talk about their lives.

And do not suppose that because you are not Catholic you do not have to be careful. In the Baptist church we do not have the same system, but we often get the same results. Because we do not have any authority over our churches, a church worker can abuse children, be dismissed and find a new job at another church without anyone having the courage to speak out about it. There are many stories like this in religious institutions all over the world.

Finally, if you have been the victim of abuse, understand that this tragedy is not God's will for you. Jesus weeps with you when you have been abused. In this season, when we meditate on the work of Christ, his crucifixion and resurrection; please know that Christ knows what it is like to suffer abuse and shame. But He also has the power to raise your broken spirit back up from its silent grave.

march 2010
is it "good" because we do it for the church?

This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. Mark 7:6-7

Every Christian denomination agrees that a Christian should try to live a godly life. Even though we often emphasize beliefs, every church encourages its members to do good works not just believe good things. Paul encourages us to think about things that are "honorable" and "praise-worthy."

The problem with saying this is that for so many people "godly things" equals "church things." Of course, church should be one of the good things that a Christian person does. But the problem arises when we make the subtle shift from thinking that church things should be good things to seeing things as good because they benefit the church. Instead of allowing God to make us and our church a godly presence in the world, we start to assume that the only godly thing is whatever we do for the church.

I think that this is the reason that each of the Christian denominations has sometimes found itself involved in evil things like the Crusades or the Inquisition or racial discrimination. We start to think that anything we do to benefit the church is the godly thing to do. But the Bible is full of warnings like those that Jesus gave to the Pharisees. "You strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel." (Matthew 23:24) or "You make the word of God meaningless through your traditions!" (Mark 7:13)

I hope in your Christian life you are helping to make the church where you attend a place of God's grace and love and holiness. I hope you are willing to give up your own traditions and sacred cows so that the church can be a place where God is proclaimed honestly in words and in actions.

No church is a perfect place and those outside the church often criticize us unjustly, but their criticisms sometimes are true. May God help us to do what is right, not just what our traditions say is good.

february 2010
traditions and the good news

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge .... Ephesians 3: 17-19

Modern philosophers debate the meaning of abstract words as a regular part of their work, but most people see no need to go to all that trouble. We do not need to think much about it.

However, the meaning of words does matter. Words articulate our thoughts and help to shape our thoughts. So when we read in the Bible that we should "love" or that "God is love" or that "love never fails," we realize that it matters what the word "love" means.

I once helped a man find his way to Christ, but he struggled greatly with a lot of what we practiced in the church. He asked me one day why we always talked about love. It seemed an odd question to me, and I never fully understood his problem with the word. But this incident did show me that people understand these terms differently. Therefore we need to try and carefully define them.

It seems that almost everyone is willing to say that "love" is the most important part of religion. Anyone who believes in God or some supreme power wants to connect that idea of God with love.

Now in the defining of the word "love" we Christians have something very concrete to which we can point. The essence of love is the cross. Whatever "love" means for other people it must always mean that for us. "God loved the world so much that he gave His only Son…" and "No greater love can a person have than to lay down his life for his friends."

For Christians. the word "love" means the self-sacrifice that comes for the good of others. That "love" is perfectly expressed in Jesus. And only in Jesus can we know such love.

january 2010
traditions and the good news

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone .... Galatians 6:9-10

2009 will be a year long remembered. Some people will remember it as the first year in the presidency of the first African-American president. Some will remember it as the year of escalation in a series of wars that seem to have no end in sight. Perhaps most will remember it as the year of the Great Recession.

Good news is hard to come by in this most volatile of years. Everybody is looking for some good news, but most people are not looking in church to find it. While almost everyone still claims to admire Jesus and his teachings, almost everyone is turning away from church as you and I have known it most of our lives.

It is not hard to understand why many people are not looking in church to find answers to their problems. Everywhere they look churches are arguing over seemingly insignificant issues. Church people are desperately holding onto traditions and ideas that most of the world finds ridiculous.

We are not really sure which traditions and ideas we should keep and which we should reexamine. Many church leaders are preaching loudly that we must refuse any compromise with what is modern. Others are declaring with the same intensity that we should update everything.

There is a growing movement of people who have decided to abandon the traditional church. Many churches will insist on protecting themselves and their traditions. They will one day die. But every genuine act of service done for Christ will live forever.

In this new year, let us grow in our determination and faith that we will not allow the bad news of this world to crush the spirit of the good news we know in Jesus. Let us open our hearts more each day to serve others out of the overflowing love God shows to us. The world grows cynical, but we will not lose hope when our hope rests in Christ.

december 2009
immanuel

The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him, “Immanuel” which means, “God with us.” Matthew 1:23

Bethlehem is a famous town. If you go there today, you can take a tour and see a home typical of what a home might have looked like in the time of Jesus. In spite of the constant conflict in Israel and the West Bank, Bethlehem remains a popular pilgrimage spot for Christians from all over the world.

But it was not such a famous place 2,000 years ago, when Mary and Joseph made their visit in response to a demand from the emperor. Some pious Jews may have revered it as the “city of David,” but to most of the world it was not an important town. Yet here is where God became man. When that most famous baby was laid in that well-known manger, Bethlehem was the most important place in the world. No person on earth except for Mary and Joseph had any idea what was taking place in that little town. Yet it was the most important event in human history.

The significance of most things is hidden to us. The tone of voice with which a parent imparts some wisdom to a son or daughter may ring in that child's ear for a lifetime. The angel told Joseph that the baby would be called “Immanuel” and that means “God is with us.” Even then, Joseph could not have known how true that was.

In Christ, the presence of God is with us. He is not confined to a church sanctuary, or a mission pew. As you gather around your Christmas tree with your family, He is there. As you weep at the gravesite of your mother who will not be with you on this Christmas, God is there. As you revel in your children's delight, as you sing carols for your neighbors, as you pray in desperation for guidance and help, God is there.

Most of us are not important people to the world; we do not live in an important place. Yet, God is with us.

november 2009
giving thanks

What a blessing it is to have served with you these thirteen years. The time has gone by so quickly! Your continued generosity to me and my family is a constant source of blessing for me. Thank you for all the many prayers and gifts and words of affirmation you continue to bestow. I cannot begin to say “thank you” to each individual person who works to make Rocky River what it is, but there are a few specific words of gratitude I would like to share with you.

For over a year now Charity Dixon, Bobby Gales, Charlie and Julie Teague have been working with our youth in Sunday night meetings and recreation events. I know next to a relationship with Christ, the most important thing a young person can have is the influence of godly adults. These four are providing that for our young people. I am very grateful.

You have heard me say many times that we are very blessed with a number of musicians who help us out with our worship services. I am so grateful to Dawn Allred, Kelley Moody, Alice Sue Teague and Bonnie Moon for their willingness to play for us and especially for their sweet spirits in doing so. Gayle Black continues to bless us with her conscientious direction of our choir. Chip Price and Angie Burke are leading and teaching our children in music. Helen Nunn has stepped up to keep the hand bell choir active. For each of you I am so grateful to God.

Too often we take our Sunday School teachers for granted. Increasingly in this day and age people do not want to take on this responsibility. So we all say a big “thank you” to each of you who takes the time to prepare and teach Sunday School each week.

There are so many more I could list. I am grateful for everyone who works to make this a wonderful church family. I invite you to take the time this week to write a note or make a call and tell someone that you appreciate what they do.

october 2009
celebrating halloween and freedom

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 1 Corinthians 8:9

On Saturday, October 24, we will share together at the church in our annual fall festival, where our children (and some brave adults) will dress up in costumes and “trunk-or-treat.” We have a lot of fun every year at this event. All of us enjoy seeing our children dressed up in their costumes.

Even though we do not refer to this as a Halloween festival, we all understand that we are doing this as a part of the Halloween season. Many churches avoid anything that could be considered a celebration or acknowledgment of Halloween because of its association with witchcraft, Satanism and the increasingly-graphic depictions of gore. Our church chooses to take a moderate position between two extremes: We discourage the use of violent horror images or any acceptance of occult practices, yet we also celebrate with costumes and candy.

The name "Halloween" is a conflation of the name, as used in the historical Christian calendar. November 1st is actually the Christian holy day All Hallows Day or more often called All Saints Day, in present terms.

The Roman Catholic Church uses this day to recognize all saints and martyrs. Some protestant churches recognize the members of their church who have passed away. For a number of reasons, All Hallows Eve became associated with increased demonic activity and some New Age pagan groups have adopted it as an important time of celebration.

The New Testament attests to the reality of spiritual evil. We should not take this lightly. Christians should avoid getting involved with occult practices, even if they appear to be only play. Tarot and Ouija board readings or séances to some are only innocent games, but the spiritual dangers are real to persons who are vulnerable and gullible. You may be able to participate and walk away, but you may be encouraging someone else to get involved in activity that will draw them to the occult.

I believe that dressing up at Halloween, passing out candy, even watching a horror movie can be innocent fun for Christians. In Christ we are free. But, as Paul advises, we should never use our freedom as a license to indulge ourselves when we may be hurting others. And we should beware — because sometimes real dangers lurk beneath innocent-looking faces.

september 2009
answer the call to ministry

…renew a steadfast spirit within me… Psalm 51:10

A new church year! Another summer come and gone. Fall is just around the corner. I want to begin this new church year by saying thank you to everyone who has faithfully continued to support Rocky River over these past few months.

Like most churches, our attendance drops during the summer, understandably as members take vacations and weekends at the beach and the lake. But we have continued to remain strong during the summer months because some of you have remained faithful with your time and money. Thank you.

I also want to say thank you to each of you who has agreed to serve in some official capacity in the church. We are blessed to have many of you willing to be teachers and leaders or to serve on committees. Thank you for your willingness and for the faithful service you will give to the church this year.

Since we are starting a new church year, this is a time of recommitment and renewal for each of us. The blessings which God has given us have come because some of you and others before you were willing to give of their time and money to support the church. The burden is always lighter when each of us takes our share.

The church is a place of worship, fellowship, education and service. You have something to give that someone in this church, someone in this community, needs. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth.” But as many have noted before, you cannot give any flavor if you don't get out of the saltshaker.

God is calling you to ministry and giving of yourself in His service. You are the perfect person for that calling. Listen and answer. We need what you have to give.