Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

I thoroughly enjoyed preaching the series on proving the inspiration of the Bible several weeks ago, but I want to make sure I give credit where credit is due. There are two main sources where I compiled information given in my sermons: Kyle Butt and Wayne Jackson. Kyle is the director of biblical research for Apologetics Press in Montgomery, Alabama, who so happens to be my first cousin. He really inspired me to present this series of lessons on the inspiration of Scripture. Wayne Jackson developed the Christian Courier, another great resource for the church, and he also preaches in Stockton, California. Wayne's material on Babylon is found in chapter eight of Kyle's book, Behold the Word of God, and material from the other sermons on proving inspiration are found there as well.

Both of these men have made significant contributions to the defense of New Testament christianity, and I pray that they will continue to labor for the Lord as long as possible. I am grateful that men like this have provided this kind of information, for they have worked long and hard to compile such facts for their writing. Though I might not have mentioned all of this in my sermons, I felt like this was a proper and sufficient way to give them the credit for my sermon inspiration. I pray that other preachers will take advantage of such sources like Apologetics Press and the Christian Courier for the benefit of their hearers. May the Lord continue to bless the efforts of all of you who labor for His kingdom.

Attributes of the Early Church

I just started a new set of lessons on Sunday nights at the Bridge. I am spending some time addressing some areas of emphasis on restoration as we look back to some attributes of the early church. Sunday we looked at how the early church was continually devoted to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42). I have just posted it on my sermon link for those who are interested.

I'm looking forward to this coming Sunday when we look at how the early church was making noise, something that I think we've lost to a certain extent. If any of you are reading this, feel free to make some comments or observations about why this is. I look forward to hearing from you!

I Didn't See That Coming!

I was waiting for George Lopez to come on television, so I caught the last few minutes of Malcolm in the Middle on Nickelodeon. I never watch that show, but I saw one of the funniest things. There was a huge traffic jam, and everybody was outside of their vehicles waiting for it to be resolved. The dad on the show saw a pigeon rolling on the ground, as it had been caught up in a plastic, six-pack holder. He wanted to do a good deed, so he freed the bird and watched it hover from his hands. Out of nowhere, a dog leaps up in the air and chomps down on the freed fowl. All you can see are feathers flying everywhere!

Isn't life a lot like that? Every now and then we have things pop up out of nowhere and take us by surprise. Whether at home, work, etc., we all have times when we didn't see something coming. How can you respond to an unexpected surprise? Remember the five P's: Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. I think this can especially hold true for someone surprising you with questions about your faith.

Peter says we need to always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us (1 Pet. 3;15). The best way to do this is be a diligent student of the Bible (2 Tim. 2:15). Has anyone surprised you lately with a Bible question? Let's study our Bibles to make sure we're prepared to handle what pops out around the corner!

Our boat is faster than yours!

Several years ago, I had the privilege of travelling to Alberta, Canada to bear hunt and fish with my family and some other good friends. One particular day, my brother and I, along with Bob and Rob Simpson, were doing some fishing at one of the lakes in two separate boats. At the start of this particular fishing expedition, it was very apparent that the boat Chris and I were in was much faster than the Simpson's boat.

As Chris and I decided to showboat our speed advantage, we started going around their boat in circles yelling, "our boat is faster than yours!" The Simpsons just smiled and took it at face value, knowing there was nothing they could do to outrun us. We were in a race car, and they were in a 4 cylinder!

As we were really enjoying our bragging rights, just then, it happened: we ran out of gas! Suddenly, the boat that was running circles around the other, was out of commission. We had to swallow our pride and yell "we're out of gas." As much as we hated to do it (mostly because of how we had acted), we had to rely on our friends (if they still were) to bail us out of this embarrassing situation.

To ensure that they got a hand up on us after what we had done, they decided once they caught up to us that they would just wave goodbye to us and motor along the water. I don't know about Chris, but one of my thoughts was, "maybe that wasn't the brightest idea!" Thankfully, the Simpsons circled back around and came to our rescue, towing us back to the shore. Yes, you're right if you guessed that around the campfire that night we got quite a ribbing from everyone.

I wanted to tell this story just for fun. I saw Bob Simpson at my parents' fish fry the other night, and I hadn't thought about this incident in several years. Yes, there are some spiritual applications, but I'll save those for another time. I hope you enjoyed a laugh at my expense. I hope you have a great day!

Booneville Senior Adult Rally

Today I travelled with some of our senior adults to Booneville, Mississippi as the church there hosted their annual senior adult rally. The Booneville congregation is such a warm and loving bunch, and they cook a fine meal for lunch on this special day. I want to say thank you to Jim Estes and his crew who worked hard to make this day a success. Lance Foster, who preaches in Iuka, MS, was the speaker for the day. He did a tremendous job speaking on the theme "Older Should Mean Wiser." It was nice to be with the Fosters, with whom I found out I had several connections. It's truly a small world!

Special thanks also to Greg Pollock. I was able to sit down and chat with him, which I had never really had a chance to do before. It's always great to connect with some preacher friends and share some stories. He is doing a wonderful job preaching for the Booneville congregation.

I look forward to our senior adult rally September 26 with James Watkins, and I hope to see you there!

The Science of It All

I uploaded the link this morning to my sermon from last night. I was inspired to speak on such a topic after listening to my cousin, Kyle Butt. He squeezed into 90 minutes a wealth of information to prove inspiration of the Bible. Last night we studied the scientific foreknowledge of God's Word. I wished I had more time to discuss it at length, but I managed to speak for approximately 32 minutes.

I encourage you to listen to the sermon, but I highly encourage you to read Kyle's book, Behold the Word of God, which is available as an e-book on apologeticspress.org. Many questions will be answered for you: who is Ignaz Semmelweiz?; what's the big deal about the water of purification?; what's behind the command not to eat certain animals in the old law?; were all of the medical prescriptions by the Egyptians good?

Next Sunday evening, I'm preaching on the proof of the Bible's inspiration by using some material that Wayne Jackson has compiled on the prophecies concerning Babylon. Again, I will post this lesson to my blog the following day. I'm really looking forward to it. One of the great things about preaching is the ability to learn more as you go about teaching others.

I hope you have a great week!

I Thought I Knew the Right Way!

I recently spoke at my home congregation in Portland, TN for their summer series. After finishing a great supper with my parents, I made my way to the church building ahead of them. Before I got to the building, I decided to take a stroll down memory lane and drive by the park where I used to play baseball.
After noticing how much the park had changed, I then decided I would drive by Watt Hardison Elementary School to bring back some early school memories. After enjoying my stroll down memory lane, I decided to go on to the church building. When I came to the stop sign, I turned right. Whoa, what just happened!? I knew immediately I had turned the wrong way. It had been so long since I had been through there, but I thought I would at least remember which way to go. I thought I knew the right way!
I believe many times in life we think we know the right way. In the overall longevity of humanity, this has been one of the problems that has plagued mankind. What we often think is the right way turns out to be in fact the wrong way. I'm not talking about taking a wrong turn on the road!
What really plagues us is when we make a decision that we think is right, but it is actually the opposite of the direction God wants us to go. Think about people in the Bible who turned down a path that was opposite God's path: Eve (when she allowed the serpent to deceive her), Cain (when he killed Abel) and David (when he chose to commit adultery with Bathsheba). I know the Bible is full of examples like this, but these are some with which we are very familiar.
Have you made a wrong turn lately? One of the great things about life is the ability to learn from our mistakes. The next time you have a choice to make, consider what direction God would have you go. Jesus said in John 8:29 "...I always do the things that are pleasing to Him."