I would have to preach Psalm 46 to myself again and again and again. Today? I preach it to myself still.
Scripture is more than just words on a page. They’re not magical words on a page that come true when you say them in the correct order or read them by moon light. They are more than mere words on a page because they tell of who God is.
In Psalm 46, God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found.
Because He is this, “we will not be afraid”. This does not read, “we don’t have to be afraid”, it is “we will not be afraid”.
I would, and still do, have to preach that to myself often. Because you are God, I will not be afraid. Even if the earth shakes and the mountain tops melt into the depths of the sea, even if the water rages and foams, even if turmoil is in my inner man, I will not be afraid.
~rest~ (Selah)
While all around me was and can still be in confusion, there is a river that “delights in the city of God.” Where God is, all things are subject to Him. Though the earth shakes, mountains melt, nations rage, kingdoms foam, the earth becomes mush… The LORD of Host is with us, “the God of Jacob is our stronghold.”
~rest~ (Selah)
Come.
Come, see the works of the LORD. He holds all things by the power of His word. He is the LORD of angel armies. He provides for the needs of His people and even for the needs of those who curse His name. He causes wars to cease. He shatters the works of man.
I will not be afraid.
I will preach this again! For the sake of my soul, I will preach this today!
Beginning January 7, 2018 on the first Lord’s Day evening of each month I have invited 12 pastors in the region to gather with us and preach what is burning in their soul.
If at all possible, I want you to attend all of these gatherings. You will meet pastors from as far south as St. George, UT to as far north as Cottonwood, ID. You will meet local pastors from Southern Baptist Churches and local pastors from other faithful bible preaching churches.
As fast as the nation has moved away from God, God has fortified a faithful post of biblical preachers in our day. These are only 12 of them. There are many others like them. I’ve said it many times, and I still say it today; “It is a good day to be the church.”
Here is the list of names and dates for the first half of the year.
We are in a day where the general population of the nation no longer looks at the preacher as a man of God.
When the man of God in our day mentions God in the marketplace he faces a dilemma. If he speaks, the listener may increase in his abuse of him, but if he doesn’t speak he has no inner peace.
The preachers in our day who obey the Lord are learning, like the prophet Jeremiah discovered; that God’s word is burning in his inner-man like a burning fire shut up in his bones.
In 2018, I have asked these preachers to not hold back from what is burning in their souls. Where the atmosphere of the spiritual landscape in our day and nation is different than Jeremiah’s, I want this church to hear what is Burning in the Soul of these men.
May God bless his preachers and may God bless His hungry people.
Through the remainder of 2017 I will be address biblical marriage on Sunday nights. It is my hope that you would consider attending the Sunday night gatherings of Eastside Baptist Church. This is not just a “how to improve your marriage” series, this is as much a series of messages for the youth and young adults who are not married yet to consider biblical teachings about what marriage is and why it is an important subject for all of us to give attention to it.
In this post I explain the reasons behind parents teaching their children to listen to the preaching. The hardest thing to teach a child in church is to listen to the preaching.
Tips for Church and Family
Parents:
Be consistent
Talk about this at home before you arrive.
As the grow older help them desire to listen to the preaching.
If a child needs to go to the bathroom every week, make a trip to the bathroom before you enter the auditorium.
Church:
Do your best to not get up and leave during the preaching.
Be sure to turn your phone off.
Display a discipline of not using your phone for messaging or games.
In this post I encourage parents to read ahead in the scripture text at home and teach the children to listen for key words, listen to what songs we sang, ask them later what they heard.
Tips for Church and Family
Parents:
Read the text that your church is preaching through at home several times before the coming Lord’s Day. Make this a habit even if the children don’t understand what’s going on.
Note key words for the children to listen for.
Teach about those key words.
Only bring quiet items into the church house
Follow up with questions after.
Ask; “What songs did we sing at the church house today?”
Today, I begin a series on church and family. I will lay out several short clips over the next few weeks from my Sunday evening teaching entitled “For Church and Family.”
These should be considered for consideration only. This is not a prescription or a requirement. I believe it will be helpful in all of our homes.
In this introduction I lay out a case for parents, children and the church as a whole to begin a needed conversation about what is helpful for family and church when we gather together. These posts will include a video clip from the October 15, evening teaching with ideas, cautions, encouragements and considerations.
A primary Scripture text over the past several weeks in the series of messages on parenting has been the benefit of Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go…” The key in this text is that we should consider the way the child should go not the way the child’s will wants to go. This is in relationship to behavior primarily. It can apply to the path of life but for the use in this series it is primarily used in behavior.
It has been my prayer that this be a blessing. I respect that a family who attends Eastside Baptist Church has a hard work to do. I think it is a good work. Yes, sometimes, a good work is hard work, but in the end it is a reward.
My encouragement to all parents in this God ordained work is to not grow weary in doing good (Galations 6:9).
On any given Lord’s Day at Eastside Baptist Church we will have from 20 to 30 children under the age of 12 in our morning gathering. That is a blessing from God. Treat it as such and bless the Lord for it.
Tips for Church and Family:
Parents:
Consider using the term “Lord’s Day” when you speak about Sunday’s.
Take time this week when you gather your children together and communicate what it looks like for your family when you gather at the church house with the church family.
Age appropriately, include your children in the discussion by asking them what they think you expect from them on the Lord’s Day.
Discuss why you expect them to behave as you instruct.
Protect yourself from being frustrated with your children.
Don’t grow weary in doing good.
Church:
Be patient with the children and their parents. It is a blessing to have them with us.
Pray for parents as they give helpful instructions to their children.
Pray for the children to want to heed their parents instructions.
God will protect those He has redeemed, the church, and all that belong to it. This sermon series in Isaiah is now 10 sermons strong as we approach chapter 4 this Lord’s Day (October 15).
Gather with us on October 15 for the next sermon; “The Glory of the Church” at 10:30 a.m. in Twin Falls, Idaho. If unable to gather with us in person consider live streaming HERE:
Isaiah has established a strong case for the Gospel with the first two messages in chapters 1-3. In chapter 4 he “Swings for the fence” and does not disappoint.
He identifies the Messiah as the “Branch of the LORD. He lays the ground work for a fruitful gospel harvest, the “fruit of the earth”. Here he makes it clear that those in danger are the ones who look for a refuge, those who are hungry look for food, those who are weary seek rest, those who know of a coming storm seek for shelter.
This is part 2 of a 5 part series on the “5 Solas”, being published in the Twin Falls Times News. If you would be willing, visit the full column HEREand share the link from the Times News. This helps communicate to the Times News that a column like this is read.
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Grace Alone
Last month I examined the first of what is known in church history as the five “solas”; Scripture Alone.
Any church not holding to the Holy Bible is not presenting a true truth about God. There are obviously other religions but if they are not holding to Scripture alone then they are not a biblical church. This is not hateful speech as some want to claim. It is an honest expression from an historical vantage point. There may be other religions, but there is only one church of the Holy Bible.
This month, let’s examine what the Bible says about salvation.
Salvation is by grace alone. This is another marker of the great reformation.
First we have to give meaning to what we mean when we say that “salvation is by grace alone.” It is useless to talk about salvation unless there is reason to be saved. There is no need to talk about salvation at all unless it is understood that mankind needs to be saved from the wrath of God. If we need to be saved from the wrath of God it is necessary to see that God alone is good and that there is no good in mankind.
We are taught in our culture that we can do anything. It is quite amazing the things humanity can do. But if man is to be saved from the wrath of God we must see that only a loving and just God can save man and that man needs God to do this on his behalf.
If man is basically good or can become good enough to be saved from the wrath of God we have no need for a savior and no need for a God. This is what other religions teach. But not what the bible teaches.
There is a need today for honesty among the various religions in the valley.
As for me, I have already stated my case for Scripture alone; by Scripture, I mean the 66 books of the Holy Bible.
Scripture is clear on the natural order of humanity since the fall of Adam and Eve. We are sinners. We are born this way (Job 14, Jeremiah 13, Psalm 51, 1 Kings 8). This is a clear teaching in Scripture. All men everywhere are sinners from conception. We are born enemies of God, sinners.
Because we are sinners, the Holy Bible teaches that we can do nothing to save ourselves or even to do anything to prepare ourselves to be saved. The bible says we must be “born again” (John 3).
Think about it with me… we had no say in our birth. We didn’t have a say in who our parents would be, we didn’t choose our skin tone, we didn’t choose our hair color, we didn’t determine our sex. All things were ordered by God. If we are to be born again as Jesus says then what do we have to do with our salvation? This is a work of God that He does and He does alone by grace. If there was something we could do to save ourselves we would boast about our own goodness, but we don’t have any goodness.
Either God saves sinners who are spiritually dead and incapable of saving themselves or sinners have something good within them to have influence upon their well being and thus have a say in their salvation. Salvation by any other means than grace is an inadequate salvation.
Salvation is by grace alone.
Any other salvation is not the salvation of the bible. Mormonism and Islam needs to be publicly honest in that their religions are religions that put man in charge of his own salvation. There’s no need for God to do anything to save humanity if man can contribute to his salvation. It would be a completely absurd act for God to send His only begotten Son to die for anyone if there is another means for men to be saved.
No, the Holy Bible is clear, the sinless Son of God died upon a Roman cross for the sins of men while we were dead in our trespasses. Salvation is by the means of God’s goodness, His grace.
