The Country House

It is interesting to note the number of small, community (rural) churches in East Texas. There seems to be one "on every corner." You could even go so far as to say, it's the buckle of the Bible belt. Yet, with so many churches, there are so many not saved, serving the Lord, or spiritually growing. An interesting question arises then (which may actually be a separate issue from the thought above): What has been, is, and will be the impact of small, country churches in East Texas? (And yes, it is very opened-ended...so just go with it!)

The Pastor's Friend

The following article was printed in the Landmark Baptist. I thought it was a good article for all of us to read. And let me say, I thank God that I have a church who loves their pastor!

(From the April 2009 issue)
A good pastor is a best friend to his church members, but sometimes the favor is not returned. Church members mean well - they really like their pastor - they are just too busy with their own lives to think about doing anything to help him out.
If a pastor is to be shown the appreciation that is due every dedicated man of God, some church member must become the "pastor's friend." The congregation as a whole will not think to give him a needed raise in salary. When the "pastor's friend" brings it up, everyone else will think, "Sure he needs a raise; why didn't I think of that?"
It will be the "pastor's friend" who suggests a special service on Pastor Appreciation Day. The "pastor's friend" will know his birthday, and his wife's, and his children's. The "pastor's friend" will remember how many years he has been in the ministry and help plan a special day to celebrate the day marking his call to the ministry.
The "pastor's friend" will look for ways to lighten his workload. And there are many ways to do so.
Every church must have a member who is the "pastor's friend," or else the pastor will probably be taken for granted. Good pastors are not too concerned about money or praise. But it means a lot to God's man to just know that he is appreciated and respected.
Who is the "pastor's friend" in YOUR church?

Churchgoers Survive Potluck Nightmare (thanks to the Sacred Sandwich)

Tragedy struck Langley Baptist Church on Sunday afternoon when every covered dish at the church’s monthly potluck was a green bean casserole. Stunned onlookers watched in horror as family after family arrived with the same popular side dish in tow. By the time grace was said over the meal, there were over twenty-five green bean casseroles lining the buffet table with no meat dish in sight.
Marilyn Perkins, supervisor of the Langley Baptist potluck, recalls the terror of witnessing the casseroles flooding in. “I’ve heard scary stories from other churches about excess hominy or okra, but you never think it’s going to happen to your church,” she said in tears. “All I could think at the time was, Why us, Lord… why us?”
Repercussions from the church disaster were felt throughout the community as area grocers reported a shortage of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup and French’s French fried onions.
A few brave church members weathered the green bean avalanche by using large amounts of sweet tea to wash it down, while others, dazed and hungry, fled to their homes. A small faction of survivors, led by Jim Fairbanks, found shelter at a nearby McDonald’s restaurant. “Deacon Fairbanks was quick-thinking and showed amazing courage under pressure,” said Anita West. “Just when I was about to go down, he threw a Happy Meal to me. He saved my life.”
Deacon Fairbanks, however, shrugged off Mrs. West’s praise. “The real hero was Frank Woodburn, who tripped while helping other members cross the parking lot to the golden arches. I’ll never forget him lying there on the concrete, refusing my help and screaming, Save yourself! Now that’s a true hero. Frank will be missed.”
Despite the initial panic, church officials were able to restore order and send people home without further incident. Reports of one member being detained for trying to sneak extra wafers out of the church’s communion tray could not be confirmed.
In the aftermath of the ill-fated potluck, theories abounded as to why this catastrophe took place. Speculation on the cause ran the gamut from the 25 cent sale on Libby’s green beans at McGonigle’s Market to a sign of the Apocalypse. The main theological issue under debate, however, was whether it was part of God’s sovereign decree or the tragic outcome of man’s free will exercising the right to bring a lame side dish to church.
Church member Claude Anderson believes it was God’s judgment. “I’ve told them for twenty years they shouldn’t be calling it pot-luck,“ explained Anderson. “That’s an affront to an Almighty God Who doesn’t deal in luck. I just hope this egregious sin against God doesn’t ruin my chances to win the lottery. I’m feeling pretty good about my numbers this week. Cross my fingers.”
Seven year old Kenny Myers, son of members Todd and Carrie Myers, tried to put things in the proper perspective. “I’m just glad they weren’t brussel sprouts. Seriously, I woulda puked.”
Dale Morton, pastor at Langley Baptist, planned to hold a special service next Sunday to help his congregation deal with the emotional effects of the disaster. “This is a hard time for my flock,” explained Morton, “and I’m not sure the Bible has all the answers for a tragedy like this. So I think it’s important to let the people have a time to grieve and cry out to God. I mean, come on! That’s a lot of green bean casserole, even for Baptists.”
When asked if the story of the Israelites complaining about the provision of God’s manna would have any significance for his congregation at this time, Pastor Morton grimaced. “Shoot… I didn’t even think about that. Now I’m going to have to trash the analogy to Stephen’s martyrdom and rewrite my whole sermon.”

Political Hypocrisy

[The following excerpt is taken from the June 14-21 issue of World Magazine.]

"The IRS concluded that Wiley Drake, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Beuna Park, California, acted as an individual and not as a representative of his church when he endorsed presidential candidate Mike Huckabee last summer in a press release and on his radio show. The ruling means the church's tax-exempt status is not in danger."

Now for my thoughts:
You have got to be kidding me. The IRS seriously investigated this man? What a ridiculous way to spend taxpayers' dollars. Furthermore, if they investigated pastor Drake, why are they not investigating men like Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Priest Michael Pfleger, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Rev. Al Sharpton?!? Oh, I forget, the above mentioned men are of the liberal persuasion thus they can do no wrong.

As for myself, I do not endorse any candidate from the pulpit, however, I will speak with you after the service and tell you what I think about a candidate. And yes, I have that right as a U.S. citizen (remember, the first amendment?). Furthermore, I unashamedly speak about ISSUES from the pulpit. And yes, that is legal! (If you do not believe me, then check the laws. I have researched this issue and a church is 100% lawful in speaking for/against the issues. The only restriction in this arena is in the endorsing of a candidate - which is still debated in some areas.) The IRS cannot stop a person from doing such, for we as Americans have freedoms, and we as Christians have an obligation to speak out against sin of all kind. For example, I have preached against same-sex marriage, yet at the same pulpit I have preached that we should be a good citizen of our country.

May God have mercy on our nation.

"Providence has given our people the choice of their rulers,and it is the duty, as well as privilege and interest,of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." - John Jay

"How To Survive In An Age Of Apostasy: Learning From The Lessons Of History"

The church today is quite possibly more susceptible to false teachers, doctrinal saboteurs, and spiritual terrorism than any other generation in church history. Biblical ignorance within the church may well be deeper and more widespread than at any other time since the Protestant Reformation. If you doubt that, compare the typical sermon of today with a randomly chosen published sermon from any leading evangelical preacher prior to 1850. Also compare today's Christian literature with almost anything published by evangelical publishing houses a hundred years or more ago.

Bible teaching, even in the best of venues today, has been deliberately dumbed-down, made as broad and as shallow as possible, oversimplified, adapted to the lowest common denominator - and then tailored to appeal to people with short attention spans. Sermons are almost always brief, simplistic, overlaid with as many references to pop culture as possible, and laden with anecdotes and illustrations. (Jokes and funny stories drawn from personal experience are favored over cross-references and analogies borrowed from Scripture itself.) Typical sermon topics are heavily weighted in favor of man-centered issues (such as personal relationships, successful living, self-esteem, how-to lists, and so on) - to the exclusion of the many Christ-exalting doctrinal themes of Scripture.

In other words, what most contemporary preachers do is virtually the opposite of what Paul was describing when he said he sought "to declare...the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). Not only that, but here's how Paul explained his own approach to gospel ministry, even among unchurched pagans in the most debauched Roman culture: "I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you i weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." (I Corinthians 2:1-5)

Notice that Paul deliberately refused to customize his message or adjust his delivery to suit the Corinthians' philosophical bent or their cultural tastes. When he says later in the epistle, "To the Jews I became as a Jew...to those who are without law, as without law...to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (I Corinthians 9:20-22), he was describing how he made himself a servant to all (vs. 19) and the fellow of those whom he was trying to reach. In other words, he avoided making himself a stumbling block. He was not saying he adapted the gospel message (which he plainly said is a stumbling block - 1:23). He did not adopt methods to suit the tastes of a worldly culture.

Paul had no thought of catering to a particular generation's preferences, and he used no gimmicks as attention-getters. Whatever antonym you can think of for the word "showmanship" would probably be a good description of Paul's style of public ministry. He wanted to make it clear to everyone (including the Corinthian converts themselves) that lives and hearts are renewed by means of the Word of God and nothing else. That way they would begin to understand and appreciate the power of the gospel message.

by contrast, today' church-growth experts seem to have no confidence in Scripture's power. They are convinced the gospel needs to be "contextualized," streamlined, and revamped anew for every generation. Forty years of that approach has left evangelicals grossly untaught, wholly unprepared to defend the truth, and almost entirely unaware of how much is at stake. The evangelical movement itself has become a monstrosity, its vast size and visibility belying its almost total spiritual failure. One thing is certain: the cumbersome movement that most people today would label "evangelical" is populated with large numbers of people who are on the wrong side in the Truth War.

[Entire quotation taken from John MacArthur's The Truth War, pgs. 165-168.]

What A Mix!

Well, since there is not much to be discussed concerning Big 10 football (sorry, Anoetos, but we all know the Big 12 is better!), I decided to use Leland's comments and see what everyone else thought. So here is the first of a few posts that actually came from "y'all"!

Leland asked:
Should people of different races worship together in the same church? Is it wrong for two believers of different ethnicities to marry?

In many places, this is a very divisive issue. What do you think the Word of God says about such a mixing of races?

You're All Wet?!?

Why don't we talk about baptism for a bit? There seems to be much confusion over this ordinance that Christ gave to His church. Many people believe that one must be baptized in order to be saved. Others teach that baptism is not really necessary at all. Some teachers, like R. C. Sproul, have misconstrued the early churches teaching on baptism. How can we (believers, a.k.a. Christians) mess up such a simple ordinance? In fact, many people have messed up the other ordinance (the Lord's Supper) as well (but, we'll talk about that later). So, what does baptism represent? Why do we baptize someone? What method of baptism is scriptural? Who can baptize? Etc...

I'll post more in the comment section soon.