I thought we would begin this week with a picture of Steve Hartman, back when he was the pastor of Windsor Spring Baptist Church in Hephzibah, GA. Hephzibah was the wife of Hezekiah in 2nd Kings 21. Hephzibah, GA, is a suburb of Augusta near the Georgia-South Carolina state line. Oh yeah, the other people pictured above are Teresa and I who celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary yesterday. ❤ Continue reading
For reasons I do not understand an old post saw some new life today. A follower came across “Remember What We Are Called To” in her reader this morning, originally published June 30, 2015. The subject is 1 Peter 3:15 which I just preached on again Sunday morning as part of a series through 1st Peter. The context back in 2015 was the Supreme Court decision striking down state laws banning same-sex marriage. So with a new introduction here is the body of that post. Good shelf life on this one (just remember it’s from the archives when I mention President Obama).
1 Peter 3:15 is the basis for Christian Apologetics. Apologetics may sound like apologizing but an apologist is one that defends the Christian faith. It’s about being prepared to answer questions about why we believe what we believe. One must be well versed in scripture and certain that his own faith has been built on a sure foundation. Apologetics may involve boldness, defending a faith that is not always popular, but care must also be taken not to offend. We will offend people by sharing the Gospel; but we must be sure is the cross that offends and not us. Continue reading
I am preaching through the 1st Epistle of Peter at Unity Baptist. On Sunday morning our text included the verse most often used as the basis for Christian Apologetics: “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” 1 Peter 3:15. To emphasize the significance of apologetics I pointed out that our Sunday school curriculum will have a unit on the subject in December. I also pulled a couple of books from the shelf in my office and mentioned that the concept could probably be found in many other books even without the word apologetics in the title. One of the two books I held up as examples was The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, edited by Ed Hinson and Ergun Caner. Continue reading
I became aware of the Popeye’s vs. Chick-fil-A sandwich rivalry last Saturday. It was too late to make the Satur-deja Vu but the memes were fun while it lasted. So what really happened? Popeye’s did not run out of chicken. They had set up a line of supply they thought would satisfy demand, which they considered optimistic, through the end of September. The public response to the social media war surpassed all expectations and they were not prepared to meet that kind of demand. They never ran out of chicken but lines were long, shortages were widespread, and employees were working long hours and overtime in every location. Click here to read the real full story of how the decision made at the corporate office (in Miami by the way) to shut it down. It wasn’t as much of a decision as a realization. Continue reading
After Expectations was posted another thought occurred to me about dress. Do you expect the pastor to wear a tie, coat and jacket to every church service? Some church members have been offended by a pastor in slacks and a Polo shirt after not clearly explaining their expectations beforehand. A person once felt so strongly about style of dress that he said “I don’t think I would attend a church if the pastor came out wearing a suit.” In an attempt to not make clothing too important, he made the issue of clothing too important. My take is that the pastor should dress according to the standards of the congregation. Some pastors insist on a coat and tie even though no one else is wearing one. That seems a little out of step to me. I have no problem wearing a button up shirt with a tie if that’s what the congregation expects but currently I wear black dress pants and either a button shirt (often times solid color or with a print) or a two button Polo. For about a year I wore black Wrangler jeans and cowboy boots. (They were solid black, very formal dress cowboy boots). The church congregation and I agreed on our expectations. Continue reading
A friend in-real-life was listening to one of my sermons recently and had a question. He wanted to make it clear that I was not going over his head but wondered if everyone in my congregation was always able to follow. I told him that some of points in the case I was making were repeated from things we had either studied or I had preached before. I kind of figured they would remember some of it. The other thing I pointed out was that my particular audience had a lifetime of experience; some of those church members had been at that church since before I was born. I would tailor my presentation for a youth group or a congregation with many new believers. You gotta know your audience.
That conversation got me thinking. A speaker should know their audience but at the same time a church congregation, men’s meeting, conference organizers or Sunday School class should know what to expect from a speaker. Here is what to expect from me personally. Continue reading
Been under the weather the latter half of this week. Did not get everything published I would like but have some notes that I will be working into posts soon, hopefully. Can’t say for sure if this post will be any good but I’d rather try than not try. Pray for my congregation as I still hope to preach in the morning.
What do you think of the MLB Players Weekend uniforms? I’m not saying they look like bags of garbage but some have gone there:
I am not one of those guys that studies biblical prophecy while pointing to current events in the newspaper going “See, this is what God said would happen.” That can set a dangerous precedent and sometimes you end up looking foolish. I remember listening to a preacher back in the 80’s, and I remember his name but won’t use it here, that said that if Michel Gorbachev was not the antichrist then he was certainly paving the way for him. He had a poster made up of the birthmark on his head in the form of a dragon and the smaller marks in the shape of three 6’s. This was before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev later taught an economics course for the University of Georgia and made a tv commercial for Pizza Hut. He is still alive but at 88 has yet to reveal himself as the antichrist, the Beast or any other figure in Revelation. Continue reading
Mac & Cheese is a permanent addition to the Chick-fil-A menu. I think it’s very similar to KFC and Captain D’s if you are familiar with those. It reminds me of baked in the oven at home and is nothing like Kraft Dinner. It is the side I didn’t know I was missing. Continue reading
I was introduced to blogging by the original Internet Monk Michael Spencer. He was smarter than the average bear but lived in a rural community in southeastern Kentucky. Beginning just after the 2000 election he took advantage of the World Wide Web and as an early adopter of the new blogging platform quickly grew an online community of followers around the world. I had certainly never heard of a blog in 2000, back when I was accessing the internet via AOL and used their free hosting to create my own webpage. It wasn’t until after Michael started podcasting that I felt strongly enough that I had some things to say and joined WordPress in 2008. Hindsight being 20/20 blogging peaked somewhere between 2006 and 2008 so I came on board just in time to see blogging begin its decline across the board.
Back in 2012
The Master's Table 