With the NFL football season now thankfully underway (Is there anything worse in the sports world than that stretch between the end of the NBA finals and the kickoff of the NFL season?! It's like athletic purgatory.), it's time to see which team of pros is going to rise to the occasion and bring home that Lombardi Trophy. Maybe it'll be the other Harbaugh this time. Whatever happens at the end, one big difference at the start of this season is the fact that we have the real referees out there. It's easy to forget, unless you're a Packers fan, that the 2012 season began with replacement … [Read more...] about The Replacements Are Way Better!
Bless Your Heart: A Biblical Look at the Heart of Man (by Ben Simpson)
Ben Simpson is the pastor of West Main Baptist Church in Alexandria, TN and his blog is part of that church's site. Helen Keller once said, “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched—they must be felt with the heart.” We certainly live in a culture and day where the heart has been elevated to preeminence. How many times have we heard someone give the advice, “Just follow your heart!”? That’s the wisdom of the age, but it’s not just isolated to secular communities. You very well might just as easily hear that from folks who claim to follow Jesus … [Read more...] about Bless Your Heart: A Biblical Look at the Heart of Man (by Ben Simpson)
Why Is Church Membership Important? (by Ben Simpson)
Ben Simpson is the pastor of West Main Baptist Church in Alexandria, TN and his blog is part of that church's site. Church membership is on the ropes. Anecdotal evidence abounds as our church has knocked on nearly every door here in the city of Alexandria. So many times we’ve heard, “I’m a Christian, but I don’t need to ever go to church.” Compelling evidence also exists in the statistics of our denomination. The Southern Baptist Convention boasts a membership of over 16 million Christians but at the same time reports that only just over 6 million attend a Southern Baptist church … [Read more...] about Why Is Church Membership Important? (by Ben Simpson)
Of Garbage Dumps, Cesspools, and Outhouses: Aromas That Repel (by Ben Simpson)
Ben Simpson is the pastor of West Main Baptist Church in Alexandria, TN and his blog is part of that church's site. The Bible makes it clear that those who follow Christ are to smell like Him. No, don’t go running out to try to find a bottle of pure nard perfume to anoint yourself with (John 12:3). God is talking about a spiritual aroma and not a physical one. He tells us through Paul in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are a fragrance of … [Read more...] about Of Garbage Dumps, Cesspools, and Outhouses: Aromas That Repel (by Ben Simpson)