Anybody who knows me well, knows I read. I read a LOT. I guess the best answer I can give for why I read so much is two fold — first, I have an insatiable quest for knowledge. I want to know things, but more than things I want to know TRUTH. Yes, I am still one of those “weirdos” that still believes there are far more things that are black and white in this world than are not. I am also from a generation that believes in questioning things, even established things so that we might know with certainty their authenticity, validity and worth. Second, I’m a dumb country boy. The path that God has taken me on in both my life and ministry has been one that has not availed me the open door to attend college and seminary. Sure, I have some college under my belt, but as far as having the liberty to finish and polish off my education — well, that just hasn’t been meant to be for me, and that’s OK.
It has been my experience as I’ve moved through the stages of my life thus far, that in questioning things I get answers. Answers that many times were opposite of things I had been taught growing up. I have also found that in questioning and challenging things, I tend to cause a bit of consternation among those who simply believe in accepting things as they are and never seeking absolute truth. Why is that? Challenging closely held beliefs causes insecurity. It causes doubt. It causes one to begin asking themselves if they, in fact, had been taught right as well. That said, I continue at the ripe old age of 44 to personally require that I question things. This life is too short to have lived it and look back and realize you were duped and that you had every opportunity to know that which was right, yet refused to take the path of more resistance.
I’ve been reading a book by a brother I have just recently become acquainted with, his name is Jim McClarty. Jim is the pastor of Grace Christian Assembly in Smyrna, Tennessee and in just a few short days of reading some of his work I have really been inspired, encouraged and edified. The one book I am referring to is “A Guide To New Covenant Giving“, and is available for download at their church web site.
The book tackles the much debated subject of whether tithing is to be the accepted norm for modern day churches, but that is not the subject of my post. Toward the end of his book, he addresses the matter of tithing as it relates to the lack of preaching/teaching of complete doctrine in its entire scriptural context. I have to say his remarks caused me to really think about some things.
Hey everybody! Sorry for the amount of time that there has been nothing new added to my blog, but it seems like life tends to happen despite our best efforts sometimes. I do have much praise to offer God here though, because in the time since I last wrote an entry God has seen fit in His divine providence to grant my wife a new job. She became a victim of the recession back in January and had been unemployed until just a few weeks ago. If anyone tries to tell you things are looking up, think again. We are in tough economic times right now, make no mistake about it. We’re just so thankful that we serve a sovereign God who knows everything though, including just what we need and exactly when we need it!
Now, on to the subject of this post. God has seen fit to mold me into more and more of a grace preacher today, and I’m so glad of that. He has challenged me on so many of my long held beliefs, has changed me on many of those beliefs, and in so doing has caused this man of unclean lips and limited capabilities to become a grace preacher. Lord, that I may never cease being exactly that — a grace preacher! I’ve never been so liberated in all of my life. I’ve never been so changed in my preaching as I am in the day I am in right now. God needs more grace preachers! God needs more men to become acquainted with those wonderful Doctrines of Grace, standing against the modernistic, man-centered theology that says God has done His part and now it is time for man to do his. God needs more men to boldly stand behind the pulpit proclaiming that God is sovereign! He needs more men to stand up and preach that the very best that man can do is make matters worse, and that God is God, God is over everything and that includes choosing whom He will elect to salvation.
A man died yesterday. Most people would look at that first sentence and think to themselves that a bunch of people died yesterday, so what? That would show the depths to which our society has strayed apart from God and true compassion for their fellow man.
This was a man I knew. This was a man who battled many demons throughout his life, and despite so many interventions by family and others, just couldn’t find his way to hope. I’d known him since I was a little boy, he was only about 8 years older than I am.
Hopefully, as we grow, age and mature in this life, we learn lessons. Life lessons that teach us and further assist us as we grow as human beings. We learn these lessons from wise people, from being educated, and sometimes we learn them from the school of hard knocks.
Ministry is no different. As we grow, age and mature in the ministry, we should be learning lessons. I know I have. I’ve been preaching since I was 15, but not in any full time capacity until 1997. Since 1997, I’ve pastored one church. Yes, one church. I only led that church for 3 years, and that by God’s will and my choosing. You see, after only 3 years in my first church, I learned extremely valuable lessons, some of which would literally require me to just go sit down on the sideline for a while so I could digest them as they entailed serious questioning of beliefs, practices and approaches to ministry.
As I have embarked over the last year or so on my journey of alerting others to the peril of our course as Baptists, it only stands to reason I have encountered various responses ranging from confused looks that simply don’t know what I’m talking about, to angry retorts that once you scratch the surface a bit you find that those angry retorts are based not from a factual opposition but rather a fearful ignorance of the facts at hand.
However, I have become very encouraged in recent months as I see brief glimpses of what could be. I’m encouraged that the younger generation of preachers aren’t so much interested in toeing the “party line” as they are getting hold of genuine, biblical truth. I’m encouraged that the younger generation of Christians as a whole are totally willing to open their eyes as well as their mouths and question “Why?” when they run across something in our path that simply doesn’t make sense.
In this video, Dr. Bryan Chapell gives a very balanced and thoughtful look at how our nation began and has evolved over the years since its founding. There is a lot of misunderstanding and, frankly, some blatantly inaccurate assumptions and statements made today that America has always been and was founded as a Christian nation. For the record, I think Dr. Chapell hits the nail on the head and is correct in his assessment of how our nation was truly founded.
I am totally ashamed of myself. I think I totally fell off the blogging bandwagon after my blog crashed and I lost all my content, rebuilt it, and then life got in the way. Life does tend to do that sometimes, ya know…
I think I’ll be starting to get myself back on track though, Lord willing. In the last month there’s been the central air conditioning going out of the house and getting a new system installed, there’s been the car in the shop getting an all new suspension system installed, there’s been all the activities leading up to and including getting our daughter graduated from high school, and then there was the surprise curve ball of getting to spend a little time in the hospital due to an intestinal blockage. Fortunately, that last one resolved itself without the need of surgery, but it is a bit concerning that it’s the second time in 2 years this has happened to me.
Regardless, God’s grace is abounding and He is most definitely good to myself and my family. Even when the fires and storms rage around us, we still remember that we’re safe in the arms of the Savior and it is His responsibility to guide and navigate us through even the most difficult times. We just have to lean on Him!
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