Once there were two brothers who inherited their father’s land. The brothers divided the land in half and each one farmed his own section. Over time, the older brother married and had six children, while the younger brother never married. One night, the younger brother lay awake. “My brother has six children to feed and I have none. He should have more grain than I do.” So that night the younger brother gathered a large bundle of wheat and left the wheat in his brother’s silo. That very … [Read more...]
Jesus on the Shelf?
“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good.” Proverbs 15:3 “The Elf on the Shelf” has become a popular activity in many homes at Christmas time. Children giggle and hide when they see the elf, thinking that what the elf sees will affect what they get for Christmas. Many parents get enthusiastically involved and actually like the fact that it may make children be better behaved. As Christian parents, have we neglected to teach our children that … [Read more...]
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
I get it. Sometimes we have difficulty letting go of the season. I was thinking that this year we should try something different. We could try doing Christmas. And then when it’s over, we could wait until next year to do Christmas again. My good friends—who also happen to be my neighbors—kept their Christmas lights up, and even the tree up, until June last year. June! It was so cute. They still turned the lights on every night. When summer rolled around we were trying to decide if it was a … [Read more...]
Celebrating Advent, or Twelve Days
When I was a kid, we had great Christmas times. Mom would bake, family would come in. My dad and I would chop down a tree every year. School was out; it was a great season. I loved all our traditions, save one. On Christmas day, at around 10:45 a.m. my dad would say, “Alright, let’s take it down.” He was referring to the tree. We would pull all the decorations down and pack them away and place the poor dead tree carcass in the back field. And with a late lunch that day, Christmas was … [Read more...]
MBCH blesses 700 children with Christmas gifts
Missouri Baptist Children’s Home has been inundated by Christmas gifts provided by generous churches and Christian people for the children and youth in our care. This year, more than 700 children in all MBCH ministries will receive Christmas gifts because of these generous contributions. From decades of experience, we know many of our children begin to see God’s love through the generosity of Christian people at Christmas. You will never fully know the joy you create in our children when … [Read more...]
What a box of bungie cords can tell us at Christmas time
Story telling is an important part of our communicating the miracle of Christmas. Recently I heard one of our state missionaries, Jim Misloski, tell a unique story using a bungie cord. I asked him where he got the story? He said his wife Paula came up with it. I asked Paula to tell her story. As the Christmas holiday season approached, their pastor asked if she would consider gathering and leading an adult Christmas program. She said, “Ha, I had participated in many “cantatas” over the … [Read more...]
A Christmas cantata provides sweet memories
It was Advent 1964. I trusted Jesus as my Lord and Savior earlier that year. I was 10 years old. With Christmas approaching, I looked forward to one of the most anticipated Sunday evenings that Grace Baptist Church in Springfield, Tenn., would have – a Christmas cantata titled, “The Night the Angels Sang.” John W. Peterson’s 1958 cantata that heralded the angelic announcement of Jesus’ birth as told in Luke 2:8-20 was to be presented following months of rehearsals by the choir. I sat and … [Read more...]
Music instrumental to our worship
Then David spoke to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, by raising the voice with resounding joy. 1 Chr.15:16 (NKJV) In my younger days, when I was trying to ‘make it’ as a musician, I had 10-15 trumpet students per week. This was a source of great enjoyment for me. I would work each student over for thirty minutes a week. We would practice arpeggios, lip slurs, etudes and … [Read more...]
The ministry of adoption
What do you think of when you hear the word “adoption?” Perhaps it’s a young couple unable to have biological children who adopt a baby needing forever parents. Over the years, Missouri Baptist Children’s Home has placed innumerable babies in loving adoptive homes; in recent years our ministry has expanded and changed to include different types of adoption. Some may be situations one would not typically think of as adoption. Sometimes children/youth come into state custody due to abuse and … [Read more...]
Evangelism not enough to fulfill Great Commission
News flash: American churches are in crisis. According to stats at the 2017 SBC annual meeting in Phoenix, SBC churches have seen a decline in membership, baptisms, average worship attendance, and total giving. Nearly 4,000 churches close every year in North America. I am grieved that churches are clearly losing the effectiveness of discipleship. It’s no mystery at all to say that the world we live in is in trouble. That’s an understatement. What has gone wrong with the harvest? What is … [Read more...]
Stewarding finances to make disciples
Last month at the annual meeting of the Missouri Baptist Convention, we introduced a brand new look and logo for the Missouri Baptist Foundation. This new logo represents our past, our present and our future together. I thought it would be good to take a moment and tell you what this new logo represents. You will notice the simple logo consists of three green bars of ever increasing length along with our name. The three bars remind us of our original mission, as we were created to … [Read more...]
True Gratitude
“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” 1 Chronicles 16:34 (NKJV) When our children were young, they were always excited to get new clothes. They were especially glad when their dad would say, “Let’s see how fast those new shoes can run!” If they got a new outfit, he would say, “Let’s see if those new clothes are snuggly!” They would demonstrate their shoes running as fast as they could and end up hugging their dad and saying, “Thank you, Dad!” … [Read more...]
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