One morning as I was taking a shower this text came across my mind: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.” I didn’t give it much thought until a few days later… There I was sitting in the bath tub at a spiritual crossroad. I felt as if all of hell was pulling at my soul. Tempting me, sifting me…sifting me…wait, was God communicating something to me a few days ago. I had no idea. Everything was cloudy. Here I was a youth pastor. I am supposed to be leading teenagers. I … [Read more...] about Review of Tempted and Tried
I am happy, I just express my happiness in a different way than you…
The other day I went bowling with a group of people from my church I consider good friends. I’m not good at bowling, but I always have fun—it’s one of those things I do just to do it because I enjoy it. I enjoy being with the people I went with as well. But then something happened a few days later that caught me off guard. A conversation that went something like this: “Are you happy?” “Yeah…” “You just seem unhappy.” “Okay... I’m happy.” “When we went bowling you didn’t act like you were having a good time.” “I had a great time.” “But you didn’t seem like you were having a good … [Read more...] about I am happy, I just express my happiness in a different way than you…
Sharia Law: Constitutional Menace or a Religious Freedom?
Originally published at From Law to Grace When you hear the words, "Sharia Law," what immediately comes to mind? If you said an Islamic legal code that is incompatible with the laws of our nation and states, you would probably be in "good" company, at least in Oklahoma. Whether or not you would be 100% correct is debatable. I must admit that when I hear "Sharia Law," I do not have a positive dispostion toward this Islamic code. I suspect this is the case with many people, including many Southern Baptists. Our reticence in allowing Sharia Law to be used AT ALL in the United States … [Read more...] about Sharia Law: Constitutional Menace or a Religious Freedom?
Shut Up and Work
There are times in my life that I am reminded that all the stuff I say, all the stuff I know, unless there are hands and feet behind it doesn't mean anything. Here in the part of Iowa I live in, there is a surge of water being released from an overfilled and overstressed dam. This surge in an already bloated river will flood many basements and destroy some homes. Our church has organized to send people to help our family who is in the path of the water. We have been packing and moving quickly before the date of the release. As I was packing, I was joking with some guys. We were talking … [Read more...] about Shut Up and Work
Trevin Wax’s Important Baptist Press Article
Baptist Press has recently published an article by Trevin Wax entitled, "Being Southern Baptist among & for Evangelicals." Southern Baptists are in an identity crisis right now, trying to decide what it means to be a Southern Baptist. At the risk of oversimplifying, there are traditionalists who think that the key is to look back at the cultural, theological and ecclesiological identity that identified Southern Baptists and work to restore that identity. Brad Whitt has articulated the traditionalist viewpoint very well. Then there are the "reformationists" who believe the SBC needs … [Read more...] about Trevin Wax’s Important Baptist Press Article
Right on the small–wrong on the big
Originally posted at my blog earlier in May. ---Doug I've spent a good bit of time these past weeks reading in early medieval Britain. Fortunately for me, the books have been mostly translated into modern English. Except for one from the 1800s that left the most important quotes in the original Latin. Shows a bit of a focus change in education: Latin was once a bigger deal than it is now. Of course, I'm now going to be spending this summer getting a better grasp of it… Moving on, one of the situations I learned about in this process was the conflict in the fifth and … [Read more...] about Right on the small–wrong on the big
Does My Waistline Undermine My Message?
This post was originally published at sbcIMPACT on January 14, 2009. Since then, I have had some health problems and can no longer call myself "the best conditioned morbidly obese man in America" - plus that sumo guy did that marathon a couple of weeks ago anyway. But I am approaching this from a self-control perspective and trying to do something about the problem. All you young guys, remember this: it's a LOT easier to keep the weight off than to take it off. Hope you enjoy this! Everywhere I go I carry with me a public testimony to my failed struggle with self-control. I am more than … [Read more...] about Does My Waistline Undermine My Message?
How Does Submission to We the People Work?
I wouldn't normally post up two posts by myself in a day, but since Dave has been out of pocket some today and this post has a "timely" basis for today, here it is. It has been a pretty slow day around anyway thanks to the holiday. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. - Romans 13:1 I daresay that most, if not all, of us are very familiar with this verse. Since our series of discussions about patriotic worship, I have been pondering the unique status that our form of … [Read more...] about How Does Submission to We the People Work?
Imagining That Godliness Is a Means of Gain
Editor's Note: This is a repost of a post that originally appeared at my blog Jeofurry's Jesus Journey. As a pastor, there are some things in the Bible that stick out more than others to me. Paul's "pastoral epistles" are of particular note in this category. I know that I am not just like Titus or Timothy, but I can certainly learn a thing or two from the advice that Paul dispensed to these young men. Actually, we all can, but that is for another time. The reason this comes up for me now is because of something I saw on TV last night. I was flipping channels and came across a … [Read more...] about Imagining That Godliness Is a Means of Gain
Monday Ministry Musing: The Most Important Church I Pastor
I’ve had to learn something the hard way again…imagine that!!! The Lord is painfully showing me the need of being a faithful pastor to that which Jonathan Edwards called your little church: “Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little church.” I cannot be a faithful pastor to my wife and son at “big” church until I am a faithful pastor to my wife and son at our own little church. I think many pastors struggle with this. I know I do. I work at the office preparing sermons, spending time in study, time in prayer, time planning, and time solving all the worlds problems … [Read more...] about Monday Ministry Musing: The Most Important Church I Pastor