BROOKLINE – In this technology age, many online and downloadable Bible resources are available. Dan Swadley, pastor of FBC Brookline, near Springfield, had used various Bible software programs in sermon preparation. After comparing them, he chose WORDsearch, a LifeWay product. Swadley has an education technology degree and said education “has always been important to me.” “We rely on the Holy Spirit to give us the message, but there is a part of it that’s academic. I found WORDsearch is … [Read more...]
‘Conversion: How God Creates a People’
Lawrence, Michael. Conversion: How God Creates a People. Wheaton, IL: Crossway. 137 pp. $14.99. When people find out I’m a pastor, they often want to tell me about their relationship with God. These can be wonderful conversations; there are few things more encouraging than meeting people with an evident love for Jesus. More often than not, however, I leave those conversations discouraged. Many people identify as Christians but don’t seem to have any interest in Jesus or his church. … [Read more...]
Raising Christians to spiritual adulthood
Recently, a secular journalist wrote a book, called “Death of the Grown Up,” where she catalogued the shift in western culture over the last 10 years. The book has some fascinating statistics: • Nearly one out of three 30-year-olds have not left their parents’ home. • There are more adults today in America, ages 18-49, who watch Cartoon Network more than they watch CNN. • The average video gamester in 1990 was 18; today, it is 35 years old; many spend 20 hours a week playing. • The … [Read more...]
‘Taste and see the Lord is good’
I was more than a little worried that my new diet was going to be altogether too difficult. Oh, these meal plans. The first day went something like this: Meal one: 6 organic, conflict-free cashews and a teaspoon of orange peel, zested Meal two: 3 almonds, 4 banana strings and 2 medium-sized ice cubes For meal three, the instructions were to lick three carrots, read the label on a box of rice cakes and then stare long and hard at those jeans that once fit. A little harsh, right? Is … [Read more...]
‘Joy to the World, the Lord has come!’
“Joy to the world, the Lord has come!” “O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant! Come and behold him, born the King of angels!” “Hark! The herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King; peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled! Joyful, all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies, with the angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem!” Christmas is a time of joy. As these songs remind us, because the eternal Son of God came to this earth, peace … [Read more...]
‘Presence, not presents’
Ah, Christmas shopping. When you can find yourself completely enveloped in the smell of evergreen. And sometimes pepper spray. When my five kids were little, I remember sometimes feeling my children thought my Christmas list was some sort of magic lamp. Make a wish, rub my list and POOF! It was under the tree. I might even remember one of them wishing for three more wishes. Every year I would resolve not to be manipulated. I would be very determined…as I wrote all their “wishes” down on … [Read more...]
Jesus as the firstborn
Jehovah’s Witnesses have a disturbing take on the apostle Paul’s description of Jesus as the “firstborn over all creation.” Consider how the Watch Tower renders Col. 1:15-17 in its New World Translation: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; because by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and on earth, the things visible and the things invisible, whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All other things have … [Read more...]
Sutherland Springs: Proof texts and guns in church
After the recent horrific church shooting in Sutherland Springs, TX I saw a lot of varied reactions on social media. Of course there were renewed calls for stronger gun control laws and there was the predictable defense of Second Amendment rights. Many of social media posts both for and against gun control came from self-identified Christians. I believe that followers of Jesus should be vocal in this debate, but that is not subject of this post. I want to discuss the exegesis of some of … [Read more...]
The cost of ingratitude
In Romans 1:18-22 the apostle Paul traces the downward course of human departure from God, beginning from ingratitude to Him in verse 21, to the deepest moral depravity in the statements that follow. In verse 18 he says that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” – a warning we would do well to heed in these critical days. It all begins with ingratitude to God. Three times Paul says that … [Read more...]
Baker takes a look on the inside during annual convention sermon
RAYTOWN – Building off of a cryptic title, Kirk Baker, pastor of First Baptist, Camdenton, delivered the annual sermon to Missouri Baptist Convention annual meeting, speaking on “Chicken, cheese and cereal.” The title was a playful take off of Velveeta, a “cheese product,” Wyngz, a chicken-based snack with no wing meat, and Froot Loops, the sweet cereal that yet contains zero fruit. His text was 1 John 3:11-16: “For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love … [Read more...]
Missourians trust Scripture to transform
JEFFERSON CITY – John Stroup sat in a prison cell when the gospel arrested his attention. Now, through Freeway Ministries, which he and two other members of Crossway Baptist Church, Springfield, established, he strives to capture criminals for Christ and plug them into the local church. “I was raised in a drug-addict, drug-dealer environment,” Stroup said. “Everybody I knew is pretty much dead or doing life in prison.” In 2008, Stroup himself was serving time behind bars, when he … [Read more...]
Young Bible readers more likely to be faithful adults, study finds
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Most churchgoing Protestant parents of young adults say their kids grew up to be Christians. But half of them don’t actually practice the Christian faith, their parents say. And the biggest factor predicting their spiritual health as young adults is whether they read the Bible regularly as kids. Those are among the findings of a new study among Protestant churchgoers about parenting and spirituality from Nashville-based LifeWay Research. LifeWay Research … [Read more...]
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