Bible Memorization Tool

I ran across a nifty little Bible memorization program that has really helped me lately in my own Bible memorization. It’s found at www.memoryverses.org and it’s free. The program itself is pretty simple–don’t look for fancy graphics, etc., but it covers all the bases you need. I’ve found it very usable and it’s been just the tool I’ve needed to take my own Scripture memorization to the next level.  Download it and let me know what you think.

Giant Killers

I listened to a powerful two part interview of worship leader, song writer, and author Dennis Jernigan on Dr. Richard Land’s radio program “For Faith and Family”. Dr. Land was interviewing Jernigan about his newly released book Giant Killers: Crushing Strongholds, Securing Freedom in your Life . I have been a big fan of Dennis Jernigan ever since he was a regular guest worship leader back in my college days at Southwest Baptist University. Not only is Jernigan a gifted songwriter (You Are My All In All, Great is the Lord Almighty, Nobody Fills My Heart Like Jesus) but he has an incredible testimony about how God’s grace, mercy, and power delivered him from a lifestyle in bondage to homosexuality to a life of forgiveness, salvation, purpose, and genuine love. I encourage you to take a few minutes and listen to this powerful interview and share it with someone you know who may be struggling with real bondage to sin.

Dennis Jernigan Interview

The Future of the SBC

Last week, Dr. Al Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, addressed the issue of the future of the Southern Baptist Convention. He echos what many of us have been saying about our convention’s need to adapt and look hard at how we can more effectively be about Kingdom work as Southern Baptists. Dr. Mohler lends a wise voice to this multi-layered and often loud discussion taking place among our denomination.

For some of you who are in the midst of this “discussion”, you probably have already heard this address and have strong opinions one way or the other about Mohler’s views. For many of you who don’t follow denominational happenings, what Dr. Mohler has to say may be a real eye-opener about what’s been going on. Take a few minutes, watch this video, and pray for our denomination. I have also included some links to some great postings and articles that do a good job of going into more detail.

Video of Dr. Mohler’s Address at SBTS

Tom Ascol’s Article, “Southern Baptists Must Change Or Die”

Marty Duren’s Article, “Southern Baptist Seminary President Talks Change In Chapel”

The Great Commission Resurgence Website

Arr-me-hardy–It’s Kelsie the Pirate

Kelsie-the cutest pirate to sail the seven seas!

Five Years Ago Today…

My wife’s latest blog entry sums up better than I could why today is a special day for us. Please take a second and click the link below and read it.

Boo-Hoo-ed But Blessed

An Aetheist’s View of “Stadium Rock” Spirituality

Wow. This article kind of says it all about what isn’t right with some brands of evangelicalism today. Most of us would say that we are far from this extreme form of enterainment-driven church, but the real challenge is to look at what we do in our churches that are shades of this. We really need to stand on the fact that the Gospel is the only life-changing message that exists; that all of the Christian life, even our worship, is for the purpose of glorifying God and serving others, not having my needs, desires, or hankering to be entertained met; our methods must be biblical and must not communicate that the preaching of the Gospel is just not enough or is somehow insufficient for this generation. The article and link to the website are below.

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/shaken-but-not-stirred-by-stadiumrock-spirituality-20090728-e02k.html?page=-1

SHAKEN BUT NOT STIRRED BY STADIUM ROCK SPIRITUALITY

Catherine Deveny

July 29, 2009

THE promise of awesome worship. That’s what got me rocking up to a Planetshakers meeting. And I wasn’t disappointed. They said ‘‘awesome’’ 20 times.

Planetshakers is a megachurch, which is like a spiritual mega-meal deal. Pizza, Coke, chocolate bavarian. If we could masticate it for you and pump it into your stomach, we would. Because we love you. And so does Jesus.

Standing outside Planetshakers surrounded by chirpy, bogan-cool teenagers fizzing with excitement, one of the two gay atheist friends I was with described the crowd as “very Australian Idol”.

It was the first time I’d been excited about going to church. I spent every Sunday of my first 18 years sitting on wooden pews listening to a bloke talking about his imaginary friend in the sky who did magic tricks. Women were virgins, saints or whores. Men were the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Outside Planetshakers it felt as if we were about to see a rock concert. And we were. As the band fired up and went off like a frog in a sock, I thought: “I don’t care what they’re selling but I’m buying it.”

Christian pop, ’80s power anthems, Metallica meets Cheap Trick. A mosh pit for Jesus was jumping with teenagers in rapture and a balcony of Planetkids went off for Christ. Music blared from the stadium sound system while the screen seduced us with slick videos edited so fast the phrase ‘‘subliminal image” kept popping into my head. Lyrics flashed up: “Come like a flood and saturate me now.” I wondered what Freud would have made of the disproportionate use of such words as ‘‘come’’, ‘‘touch’’ and ‘‘feel’’, and the phrases “move within me” and “being filled”. My favourite was “King of Glory, enter in”.

Sexual psychoanalysis aside, the Planetshakers are clearly awesome, with lyrics such as: “How can I explain the way u make me feel ’cos Jesus your love for me is so unreal.” Several references were made to not being ashamed of Jesus (despite no one having suggested they were).

The room was buzzing with anticipation. I felt like a kid expecting Santa to arrive. It felt as if Jesus was going to turn up any minute.

Then out came the pastors. Middle-aged blokes peppering talk about Jesus with constant references to the footy, reality shows and McDonald’s. Almost swearing with ‘‘flipping angry” and “What the heck?” and plenty of ‘‘awesomes’’ thrown in to convince everyone they were down with the youth.

A pastor banged on about sacrifice and said it wasn’t important how much we sacrificed just as long as we gave as much as we could. No matter how small it was. I didn’t know what he was on about until the giving cards came round. And a little bucket for coins. No lid with a slot. A big open bucket, so you could be shamed by your paltry donation.

Then there were the plugs for the Mighty Men’s night and Beautiful Women Seminar. Male volunteers were encouraged to get involved with the ladies’ seminar with the promise of ‘‘being able to tell 3000 women what to do’’. Beautiful women. Mighty men. Note: not mighty women and beautiful men.

Then the headline pastor came on, all charisma and awesomeness. He spoke of worship, sheepgate, building in salvation, sheepgate, sacrifice and a bloke called Eliashib. And more sheepgate.

As people yelled, “Yeah!”, “Amen!” and ‘‘Awesome!” I wanted to yell, “I don’t get it”. I love the way religion convinces people by making things deliberately incomprehensible and you feel too shy to say ‘‘I don’t understand’’ lest you reveal your stupidity.

After ‘‘sheepgate’’ the pastor asked us to close our eyes and bow our heads. He urged people who had left Jesus, had never had him in their heart, or were confused, to raise their hands so they could be prayed for.

He sounded like a real estate agent. “One over there, thank you, sir. Anyone else? I’ll wait a few moments. Yes, one down the back.” Dummy bidders anyone? Then bewildered-looking new disciples were led out by the old hands.

The crowd left believing they had been moved by God and touched by Jesus. They hadn’t. They had been seduced by slick video packages and had their emotional desire for love, community and certainty met by manipulation. It wasn’t the Holy Spirit; it was just people.

Aren’t we awesome enough?

My Daily Prayer

Lord, I need you today—I need you everyday.

In and of my self, I am insufficient. In and of myself, I am unequipped to be who you want me to be, to do what you want me to do.

I set aside my preconceived notions about what your plans are for me. I set aside my tendency to look at others as either the role model for what I am to do and be, or as a source of jealousy because of how you choose to use them.

I thank you that I complete in Christ, and I ask you to help me to live up to who I am in Christ.

Help me to do all things in accordance to your plan, your way, in your timing, and according to your will.

Help me find my sufficiency in you. Help me find my satisfaction in you. Help me find my purpose in you. Help me find my contentment in you.

And may all I do, say, think, believe, experience, and desire bring glory and honor to you—which is my ultimate purpose in life

God’s Goodness

My girls--Katie, Dana, and Kelsie

Yesterday,  Dana and I received some great news. As a breast cancer survivor (of 5 years this August),  Dana has been encouraged by her oncologist for several years to undergo testing to see if she has the genetically inherited mutations of the BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 genes, commonly referred to as “tumor suppressing” genes. If she had, indeed, inherited those mutations, we would have faced decisions about further preventative treatments and surgeries, as well as the heightened chance that our daughters would have inherited the mutation. Five weeks ago, Dana underwent the testing in Louisville, and we found out yesterday that the results were negative. Needless to say, we have been so thankful to the Lord and have lifted prayers, tears, and sighs of relief of praise to Him since the news.

One of the things I have thought and vocalized over the past day, along with many others,  is how good God is–and truly He is. But as I spent time in prayer this morning, the Spirit really challenged me to consider this question:  would you  still believe that I am good if the tests hadn’t turned out as they did?

I remember when Dana was first diagnosed with cancer five years ago,  feeling overwhelmed with the fear that this aggressive cancer would take away my 29-year-old wife and best friend, the mother of, at that time, our 3 one-and-a-half year old children. However, through the surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation, and recovery, I saw God’s goodness displayed in so many ways. He showered me with grace to get through each uncertainty and fear. He provided our family with dear brothers and sisters who showed us the very definition of God’s love, and He provided my wife with a supernatural strength, faith, and determination that leaves me humbled to this day.

At times like these, we need to be reminded that we simply live in a sinful, fallen world whose condition each of has contributed to with our own sinfulness. We do not deserve any grace, mercy, love, or blessing from Him, yet He bestows those things so abundantly. In this world where our ultimate prize and reason for existence is to bring glory to Christ, we must understand that He is so often most glorified when our lives reflect the truth that His grace is sufficient in the midst of suffering, that He truly does work all things together for good, and that suffering really does produce perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope.

So, thank you God for your goodness shown in negative test results. Thank you God for your goodness shown in healing and recovery. And yes, thank you God for your goodness shown through Your presence and grace in the midst of cancer. You truly are always good.

McCarthy Night at the Mustangs Game

We had a great time last night at Phil Welch Stadium here in St. Joe as our church converged on the ballfield to celebrate “McCarthy Baptist Church Night” at the Mustangs game. Despite the incredible humidity, everyone seemed to have a blast–I know my family did. A few of the highlights from the evening were:

Some of the guys from our worship choir sang the National Anthem, while parachutists from the Navy dropped onto the field with the American flag.

 

Jack Flook threw out the first pitch. Yesterday was Jack and Un-Ae’s 31st anniversary, and Jack had flowers for her and the game announcer wished them a “Happy Anniversary” between innings.

Stephen and Crystina Goss participated in a between innings game. Stephen was blindfolded and had to feel the faces of several women, including his wife, and when he thought he found her, give her a kiss on the cheek. Fortunately for him, Stephen found his wife!

 

Ryan Beck, our Student Pastor, participated, ironically, in a between innings game that was sponsored by a local casino. Probably thanks to divine intervention, he did not win.

 

To top it all off, Kelsie, my daughter, lost her first tooth in the 5th inning. She was very excited.

 

Katie and Caleb sharing a sno-cone.

Happy Birthday, John Calvin

Today is the 500th anniversary of the birth of the great pastor, theologian and reformer, John Calvin. Calvin was, and in many ways remains, one of the most influential men in the history of western civilization. The church owes Calvin a great debt of gratitude for allowing himself to be boldly used by God. Below is a great post by Tom Ascol of Founders Ministries. He summarizes well why Calvin was and is so vital to Christianity. The link to his blog is below, as well as in my list of favorite blogs to the right.

Tom Ascol, Founders Ministries Blog

How are you celebrating Calvin’s 500th?

July 10 marks the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth. His impact on western civilization is hard to measure. Recently I was asked to provide 3 reasons that Calvin is important today. Here is what I wrote:

1. Western civilization owes an incalculable debt to John Calvin because his exposition of Scripture’s view that all creation is the theater of God’s glory helped set a vigorous, world-changing agenda for vocation, culture-making and society. The political freedoms and other blessings that we enjoy have been granted to us by God, in large part, through the outworking of ideas that were first systematized and promoted by Calvin.

2. Calvin has left a great legacy for the church by virtue of his personal testimony of grace, humility, industry and perseverance through desperate times. It is far easier to vilify him than it is to consider his life carefully in light of his historical context. In a hard age when church and state were in complete upheaval, he maintained a steady course as a faithful pastor. Despite his preference to “die a hundred other deaths” than to give himself to pastoral ministry in Geneva, he nevertheless took up that cross and bore it well. Despite threats, opposition, sickness and mistreatment from those who should have been his supporters, he pressed on in his calling to shepherd the people of Geneva, strengthening the church through consistent preaching and teaching and leading them to send out missionaries to preach the gospel in hard places.

3. In my estimation the most significant reason that Calvin is important for us today stems from his exposition and theological writings. His commentaries are models of exegetical skill and power and set a standard for all successive Protestant commentaries. His Institutes demonstrate the inextricable relationship between doctrine and life by combining exegetical, historical, systematic and pastoral theology that is written not for the academy but for the church. Calvin’s influence is so profound in this area that a man can scarcely regard himself as educated while remaining unacquainted with his works.

With all of his flaws–and as with all sons of Adam, he had many–all Christ-followers owe a debt of gratitude to the Reformer from Geneva. His advocacy of civil punishment, even to the extent of death, for religious ideas is something that most believers, especially those of us the free church stream, abominate. Likewise, we Baptists cannot tolerate his position on paedobaptism (a position that, according to this picture and this explanation from the ruins under the present church structure, the church he served evidently did not share with him in earlier centuries). After all, the best of men are men at best. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that he was–and remains–a great gift to the church.

How will you celebrate Calvin’s birthday? In the true spirit of the Reformer from Geneva and, more importantly, in keeping with the biblical, missional gospel which he taught (see FJ 75), I am laboring with a team of 8 from Grace Baptist Church to make Christ known to an unreached people group in SE Asia. We got here today and look forward to 10 days of working with field personnel here with the IMB.

Pray that God will use us to make disciples and add to that glorious multitude of worshipers “that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” for whom our Savior shed His precious blood.