Pastor's Blog

Nothing greater than leading a man--a husband and dad--to open his heart to Jesus.  Prayers were answered and angels were rejoicing this morning!  It's already been a GREAT day!

Sometimes the most challenging aspect of our Christian life is waiting on the Lord.  We like instant, microwave type responses when we have a need or when we lift up a prayer.  God usually doesn't work that way.  In Psalm 62 David composes a song about waiting on the Lord.  If anyone knew what it meant to wait it was David.  After being anointed as king, David waited a dozen or so years before he actually became the king.  David was on the run, hiding in caves, and even fleeing to the land of the Philistines because Saul was chasing him.  David learned to wait.  Even when David had the opportunity to take Saul's life, he would not lift his hand against God's anointed.  He chose to wait.

As we wait on the Lord we need to keep our eyes on WHO we are waiting for.  David reminds us that God is our Rock, Salvation, Defense and Refuge (62:2, 7).  God teaches us truths and insights during our time of waiting that prepare us for what we are waiting for!  Most of all, He reminds us that He is worth waiting for! 

My favorite verse is 2 Corinthians 5:15

"And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again."

Since high school this has been my life verse.

The Lord has called our family to leave our beloved Hampton First Baptist Church and begin a new journey in ministry at First Baptist Church of St. Charles, Missouri.

Last night I met with our deacons, deacons' wives and personnel team to share the spiritual markers of God's working in our life and leading us to St. Charles.  Through the tears--they showed awesome support, unbelievable encouragement, and they gathered around us and prayed for us.

Then, this morning I shared with our church God's new call on our life.  Again, the church stood in support of our family and prayed over us.  The day has been sad.  I love our church family deeply.  For the last 9 1/2 years I have poured my life into this family.  God has brought great change, great excitement, great growth, and great unity.

As I think of the love expressed to us over the weekend--I am thankful for Hampton First Baptist--what a church!!  I know that exciting days are in store for Hampton--and for us as we begin our new ministry at First Baptist Church of St. Charles.

Our last Sunday at Hampton will be May 20. 

Hebrews 13:5-6 reminds us that the Lord will never leave us nor forsake us.  The Lord's presence brings great comfort.  We never face a challenge, a difficulty, or a test alone.  He is with us.  The Lord's presence brings great conviction.  The Lord knows every thought, deed, word, and attitude.  We can't hide anything from Him. The Lord's presence is with us forever.  We can experience His presence now, but one day we will experience the fullness of His presence when we meet Him face-to-face.

I was so blessed this weekend!  I loved the acoustic feel, Scripture reading, drama, Lord's Supper, and time focusing on the cross on Friday night.  Our first Good Friday service was reflective and worshipful as we looked back to the cross.  I felt so overwhelmed to think about God's love demonstrated through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross.

Saturday morning was fun!  We had music, puppets, the plan of salvation and hundreds of Easter eggs!  We had a tremendous crowd and beautiful weather for our egg hunt.  Many stayed to hang around and have a cookie and visit!

Sunday morning was fantastic.  The choir and praise band was awesome!  What a blessing!  The excitement and unity was amazing.  What a great day in the house of the Lord!  Jesus is alive!  He is risen!  Hallelujah!

What a mighty God we serve!  What a loving and gracious God we serve!  What an infinite and intimate God we serve!  Thank You for the cross, Lord!  Thank You for shedding Your blood!  Thank You for rising from the dead!  Thank You for offering hope and forgiveness and eternal life.

There are many hymns that I dearly love.  One of my absolute most favorite is "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" by Isaac Watts.

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

It is Good Friday.  Why is it good?

"Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3

"God demonstrated His love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

"He made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us..." 2 Corinthians 5:21

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins..." Ephesians 1:7

"And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins" 1 John 2:2

"And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."  Isaiah 53:6

"To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood..." Revelation 1:5 

Jesus explained to His disciples as He instituted the Lord's Supper:  "This is My blood of the covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins"  Matthew 26:28

Thank You Lord Jesus for the cross.  Thank You for Your sacrificial death for my sin.  Thank You for the sinless life which You lived, and my punishment for sin which You bore.  Thank You for following the will of the Father.  Thank You for finishing Your work.

Thank You for saving me!  Thank You for calling me to preach the Gospel that Jesus saves!

John R.W. Stott in his excellent book The Cross of Christ wrote:

"The Christians' choice of a cross as the symbol of their faith is the more surprising when we remember the horror with which crucifixion was regarded in the ancient world.  We can understand why Paul's 'message of the cross' was to many of his listeners 'foolishness', even 'madness' (1 Cor. 1:18, 23).  How could any sane person worship as a god a dead man who had been justly condemned as a criminal and subjected to the most humiliating form of execution?  This combination of death, crime, and shame put him beyond the pale of respect, let alone of worship."

As we remember Good Friday we focus on the cross!  There the love of God and justice of God met as Jesus paid the penalty for our sin.

Galatians 6:14 "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

We had a great day in worship yesterday!  I am still singing "Oh Happy Day, Happy Day You wash my sin away! Oh Happy Day, Happy Day I'll never be the same! Oh no.  Forever I am changed!"  I absolutely love that song!  Last night as I listened to the choir and praise band practicing for this Sunday, I sat in awe and worship!  I am looking forward to celebrating Resurrection Sunday!

Yesterday was also a day of service.  Due to some unforeseen complications we needed multiple stickers placed on about 10,000 mail-outs for this week.  I asked for some members to be there at 3:00 yesterday afternoon to help, and we had over 50 people show up.  We finished by 3:45, and then put candy in over 800 eggs for this Saturday's egg hunt!  Thanks to all who helped!

Thank you to all of our Sunday School teachers, care group leaders, and workers.  In the month of March we were over 500 three out of four weeks in Sunday School, and we averaged over 500 for the month!  Thank you to all of you who are parking in the front of the building, on the grass off the east side of the parking lot, and on the grass by the preschool playground.  Thank you to all who are making contacts throughout the week, and inviting new guests to our Sunday School class activities.  Thank you to our preschool, children, and student ministry Sunday school teachers.  You are doing a great job.  Your Sunday School students may not really understand the time, preparation, and sacrifice that you make each week to invest in the church of tomorrow, but the Lord does! 

These are exciting days! 

I took some time off yesterday to have lunch with Josh at school.  Yesterday, Josh turned 9 years old!  Just before we came to visit with the search team at Hampton we found out that Juli was pregnant.  What joy Josh brings to our life.  He is smart, funny, outgoing, and an awesome blessing to our life.  He already has learned so many verses in AWANA!  God's Word is being hidden in his heart.  He also has a great voice.  I love to hear him sing.  Our family is so blessed to have awesome boys.  Happy Birthday awesome Josh!

As I was jumping into Hebrews 11 this morning, the last verse of Hebrews 10 caught my attention.

Hebrews 10:39 "But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls" (ESV).

Life can have many challenges, but God calls us to press on and not shrink back.  We are challenged in Hebrews 11 to examine the faithful saints of old who walked with God through some very difficult trials.  These saints persevered through faith.  Their lives weren't perfect, but praise the Lord Hebrews 11 does not mention their failures, only their faith.

With the testimony of the faithful behind us...Hebrews 12 begins:

Hebrews 12:1-2 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a could of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God."

Don't shrink back.  Keep the faith.  Run your race.

After finishing all of the letters of Paul (Romans-Philemon) on Sunday, I have jumped into the Psalms.

Psalm 20:7 "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God."

Proverbs 18:10 reminds us "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it, and are safe."

Have you thought about the names of God and how they remind us of His character?

Our God is...

Abba

Adonai

Almighty God

Ancient of Days

A Consuming Fire

Creator

Deliverer

Dwelling Place

Elohim

Father

Fortress

The Fountain of Living Waters

God of all comfort

God of heaven

God of my salvation

God of the whole earth

Hiding Place

Holy One

Horn of My Salvation

I AM

Judge

Keeper

King

Light

Maker

Most High

Portion

Potter

Redeemer

Refuge

Rock

Savior

Shepherd

Shield

Strength

Wall of Fire

I just received the Sunday School attendance from yesterday...560!  That is our highest Sunday School attendance ever.  Thank you to our faithful SS teachers and workers.  Again, thanks to all the student workers who made this weekend such an awesome time!  I knew we had a great day, and I felt confident we were over 500--but that is a WOW day!  Tim Yancey (Faithful Beginnings Class) was taking chairs out of the cafe and moving them into their class for the 56 in attendance. How wonderful it is to have such a huge group of young adults.  Let's keep the momentum moving as we approach Easter Sunday!

And we rejoice with Brock and his profession of faith yesterday!  Seeing people saved is always an awesome thrill.

The church at Philadelphia (Rev. 3:7-13) had an "open door" placed before them.  Paul used this term to picture "open doors" of service and ministry.  Yet, as we look at the church with the open door, Jesus also said that they had "little strength".  Thus, we come to the obviously challenging spiritual equation:   Open Door + Little Strength = crisis moment.  The Lord loves to use ordinary people and open extraordinary doors of service.  He sees our weakness, but He also knows our willingness.  When we choose to walk by faith, and not by sight we are willing to walk into situations that are over our head to follow the Lord.  We may experience what Henry Blackaby terms "the crisis of belief" when the challenge looks far greater than what we can handle.  That is where our faith steps in...when we see the Object of our faith, the Lord Jesus, we recognize that we can do all things that God calls us to do through Christ.  Thus, we come to a new equation:  Open Door + Little Strength + Sufficient Christ = Awesome Opportunity.

Our students finished up their Disciple-Now Impact weekend.  It was a tremendous time of bonding and Bible study.   I was able to help in the high school mission project on Saturday with 7 Bridges Ministry.  We went into Atlanta and served homeless people who lived under the overpasses.  It was very eye-opening to see the poverty along with the gracious attitudes of those whose lives have left them with little hope.  That is why we sought to share the love of Jesus and pray with these dear people.

I must also share my extreme appreciation for all the student workers, Bible study leaders, host homes, drivers, and those who donated food.  You were such a blessing to our students.  Thank You!  Know that your labor is making an impact on our students.  And a special thanks to our Student Pastor Craig McAdams.  We are so blessed to have Craig impacting the lives of our students.  Great job, Craig!

I pray that you are staying in the Word this week!  I finished 2 Corinthians, Galatians and Ephesians about 3 a.m.!  Sometimes the Lord wakes me up in the middle of the night, and I have the tremendous privilege of hearing His voice in the stillness of the night.  Keep reading!  Keep praying!  See you on Sunday!

We have had an exciting and busy last 2 days with the Large Group Performance Evaluations for the regional choirs at our church.  I was able to hear three groups from Luella High School yesterday, and watch Luke sing in 2 of them.  What a joy!  The halls have been filled with hundreds of students, the music has been excellent, and our staff has done a wonderful job.  Today, is the last day for choir evaluations and we transition from choir music to gear up for the concert this weekend!

On Saturday night Stellar Kart, Finding Favour, and Me in Motion will be leading us in praise and worship and a concert!  Our students begin Disciple-Now Impact Weekend on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and it goes through Sunday morning.  I am looking forward to an awesome weekend!  The concert begins at 6 p.m. on Saturday and is going to be a blast.   There's still time to come and join us!

Colossians 3:16 tells us to "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly..." I pray that you have been in the Word this week.  It's been a joy for me to read Romans on Monday and 1 Corinthians on Tuesday.  I started 2 Corinthians this morning, and look forward to completing it before the night is over.  God's Word does so many wonderful things in our life:

God's Word:

Builds us up Act 20:32

Cleans our life John 15:3

Comforts Psalm 119:50

Convicts Jeremiah 23:29

Delights Psalm 1

Equips 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Builds our Faith  Romans 10:17

Feeds our soul  Matthew 4:4

Guides our life  Psalm 119:105

Heals  Psalm 107:20

Brings hope  Romans 15:4

Provides peace Psalm 119:65

Guides our prayers  John 15:7

Reveals our heart James 1:22-25

Revives  Psalm 119:25

Sanctifies  John 17:17

Saves  2 Timothy 3:15

Strengthens Psalm 119:28

Gives us understanding  Psalm 119:99-100