Archive for the ‘Blog Posts’ Category

Today there are over 500 South Carolina Baptists that are coming together to talk about the impact of the Great Commission Resurgence.  This was a recommendation that was overwhelmingly passed by the Southern Baptist Convention this summer. It has to do with the way we have to look at missions, missions giving, and a lost world.

Over the last couple of days I have been rereading some reports preparing for this meeting today. It has reminded me once again of the importance of our missions conference and the sense of urgency that we need to have about a lost world. This week here in our church we are going to have the opportunity to see some great missionaries who are doing some significant things around the world. This is an opportunity that most people do not have.  My prayer is that our folks will take advantage of this opportunity and make it a priority. This is important for a number of reasons.

1. It gives a greater perspective of what we are to do with our lives.
2. It unites us as a church around a great purpose.
3. It reminds of us of the obligation that we have to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.
4. It ignites in us a sense of urgency as we realize that there are literally billions that have never had the opportunity to hear the Gospel.

I have been praying about this meeting today and my prayer is that we will be able to rise above personal interests and projects, our own philosophies and have a heart for the world. I hope that you will join me in praying for this effort. This meeting will be very significant for many people.

Mike

Yesterday during our message, I shared how to pray for your kids.  A lot of people commented on the message and asked me to provide the list that I gave in the service yesterday.  The Bible talks
a lot about what we are to do and provide for our children. The book of Proverbs is a great handbook for parenting. In the first seven chapters of Proverbs there are ten parental warnings about how we are to teach and encourage our children.  Here’s a list of seven things that every parent needs to be doing as they pray for their children.

1. Pray that they will know Christ as their Savior.  Religion is not enough. We should make sure that our children have an opportunity to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
2. Pray that you will be consistent in your walk with Jesus Christ. Our children are constantly looking at us no matter what our age, and so often they will take a cue from us in so many areas. There are two specific things we need to remember. (A) What we use in moderation, they will abuse in excess.  (B)  What we neglect, they will reject.  If we don’t take seriously  studying the Word of God, being involved in the body of Christ, sharing our faith, living for the Lord…they will certainly not think it is a priority.
3. Pray that you will practice the right God-given values and priorities. If you have any doubt about your values or priorities, there are three areas where you can look and it will give you a clear indication. (A) What you are talking about (B) How you spend your money (C) How you spend your time.
4. Pray that God will give to your kids the right values and priorities.   Hopefully they will be able to see this in our lives.
5. Pray that God will give you the wisdom to take advantage of the tools He provides. The things of God and the work of Christ should always be kept in front of our kids.  They must continually be encouraged to understand that serving the Lord makes every part of life better.
6. Pray that they will understand and apply the truth in their lives daily.  Much of what they hear in our culture is simply not true whether it is through the media or the culture, through economics, politics, or in many cases, man-made philosophy, and it will lead them in the wrong direction. Our kids are going to have to learn to live in a minority until we see revival in our land.
7. Pray that God will bring the right influences in their lives.  Every parent needs weak-side help. Ask God to give you a great Christian who happens to be a coach or a teacher, a special friend, a youth worker or another relative to be a Godly influence in their lives.

Certainly there are many other things that we need to pray for our kids, but these need to be practiced diligently.  Deut. 6: 6-9 gives us very clear instructions on what we are to do with our kids. The problem that we have today is that many parents are only doing the minimum in terms of preparing their kids spiritually, when we need to be doing the maximum.  None of us have arrived in this area. There are certainly strides that each of us needs to make but this is a beginning.   By being consistent in these areas we honor the Lord and we make a real investment in the lives of our kids no matter what their age.  These principles are applicable whether your children are preschoolers or older adults. These principles of prayer are also powerful for grandparents as well as parents.

Mike

This weekend provides us with a tremendous opportunity to celebrate the birth of our nation, to be reminded of the part that the Lord has played in the founding of our nation, and the responsibility and challenge of being a follower of Christ in a secular nation.

We have some wonderful things planned. Saturday night.  We have LIFE in the Park which will be a time of music, games, entertainment, inspiration, fireworks, and food. This will be a great place for you to spend Saturday the 3rd. It begins at 7:30 p.m. and will conclude with a fireworks display. We are holding it at Boiling Springs Park. You can go to our website and get more information about this event.  This gives you a great opportunity to invite your friends, neighbors and co-workers to a very open and non-threatening environment and it is a great place for us to build relationships where we can share our faith. You will run into many people that you know on Saturday night and I hope you will not be hesitant to seek to make it clear to them where you stand in your relationship with the Lord.

On Sunday morning, we are having one worship service at 10:30 a.m. It will be a time of great worship, celebration and challenge.  We will be talking about the respect that we should have for our nation and the responsibility we have to our nation.  July 4^th is a great time for us to declare the freedom that we have found in Christ. I certainly hope you will take advantage of this opportunity.

Following is a prayer written by Mike Smith, editor of the Spartanburg Herald Journal dealing with the media.  It is a tremendous  statement and gives great perspective on the media and how we should respond to it. It is well worth your reading.

Lord, we thank you that we live in a nation with free speech and with a free press. We are grateful that our Constitution gives us the right to disagree and the ability to learn the truth about our society and our government. But we live now in a world that doubts even the existence of truth, in a society that constantly tries to redefine falsehood as truth.

The primary virtue in our society has become tolerance. We are tolerant of most activities and most ideas. Our culture values all ideas equally except the idea that some philosophies are wrong while only one is right. In short, we tolerate everything but the truth.

In such an environment, give the news media a renewed commitment to genuine truth rather than the fallacy that all ideas, concepts and philosophies are equally true. Let the media be dedicated to its role as a watchdog, not only of government but of all institutions and elements of our society. Help us to remember the difference between journalism and advocacy.

Lord, the traditional institutions of the media are crumbling under economic pressure. While some of us may be tempted to celebrate this destruction, the death of these institutions will leave a void that will be filled by less responsible avenues of information. Already, news outlets that seek to provide objective information are over-shadowed by outlets that seek only their own segment of our population and tell that fraction only what they want to hear. This divides rather than unites us. This often obscures rather than reveals the truth. And it furthers the antagonism in our society that demonizes anyone who disagrees with the prevailing views. Lord, give our people a renewed hunger for the truth rather than the confirmation of their own preconceptions and prejudices. You have told us that the truth will set us free. Too many of us are not interested in learning the truth and too few of us are interested in spreading it. Change our hearts Lord. Give our nation a true curiosity to learn the truth and allow those news outlets who reveal that truth to grow and prosper.

Lord, too often we see a media today that looks down its nose at traditional social institutions, at ethical standards other than its own relativism, at faith itself. Give those of us in the media respect for those institutions, values and faith. Help us to realize that God is not mocked, and when people of faith and devotion to you are denigrated that our society is harmed, cheapened and made a little more brutal.

Lord, give us a media that lifts us up rather than drags us down. Give us a media that celebrates the good rather than the evil. Help our media and our society to move away from the voyeurism and the celebration of degradation that characterizes much of our entertainment. Help us not to revel in gossip and the tearing away of others’ privacy. Help us to rise above an interest in seeing others debase themselves by surviving tortures and being stripped of human dignity. Lord, give us a news and entertainment media that pushes us to become better rather than to reduce us to our basest level.

Lord, make us a media that acknowledges evil but refuses to celebrate it. Make us a media that exults in triumph and perseverance and joy and virtue. Lord, make us a media that tells us what is happening and tells us forthrightly and honestly. Make us a media that not only tells us what’s wrong, but make us a media that also points us to whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable. Let us report on what is excellent or praiseworthy as well as what is outrageous and shocking.
Lord, make us a media that acknowledges the worst in us, but refuses to wallow in that evil. Make us a media that encourages us to rise above that evil by also focusing on the best in us and celebrating rather than mocking the good.

Finally Lord, no news is as important as your gospel. We are all part of the media who should be spreading that good news. That is the only story that can truly change the world. Give your people a passion for spreading that news that dwarfs all other interests. In Jesus name, Amen.

Yesterday we talked about the story from 2 Kings 4 about the widow and the oil.  Many times it is hard for us to apply the truths of scripture when we look through the filter of a very complex society.  Rather than starting with our circumstances, we need to begin with the Word of God.  We saw several things in the encounter of the widow woman with Elisha.

First of all, no one is immune from pressure, whether it is financial or in any other area of life.  Being a follower of Christ does not mean that we are going to be spared any type of challenge or obstacle.  It does mean that we are not going to walk through it alone and He will be there to sustain us. We must depend upon Him rather than ourselves.  Remember, selfishness drives us from God but proper stewardship draws us to Him.

Secondly, God will always begin with what you have.   We try to work to put ourselves in a position to be acceptable in every area. But God wants to us to begin with what we have, and He will use that for His glory.

Thirdly, in the end it is all about faith and obedience.  Having the faith to trust the Lord and then the action of obedience, putting into practice the principles we find in His Word.

Very few people have a real understanding of what is going on in this world, but if we follow these simple principles, we can live above the fray and know the victory that is in the Lord. You will be surrounded by people this week that probably have no comprehension of these principles.  It is your responsible and opportunity to model and share these principles with them.