From the Shepherd's Heart....Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Hello church family.  I pray you are doing well.

Tonight Bro. Keith Beatty will be leading Bible study here at Rainsville First at 6:10.  I will be preaching tonight at the Men's Revival at Antioch Baptist Church in Fyffe at 7:00.  I am praying many of our men will be attending there as you have already this week.

We are praying for our youth and leaders as they leave Friday for Youth Camp.  They will return Sunday night.  I am thankful for Bro. Craig and all the leaders.  I look forward to being with them Saturday night.

This Sunday I continue the message "Jesus, the Hometown Preacher" from Luke 4: 16-30.  Are you broken hearted?  Do you need a heart healed?  We'll be talking about Jesus who heals broken hearts.

Sunday night I will be continuing the series "Worship: The Passion of God for God" with a message "Benefits of Praising God."

Also this Sunday morning we will be baptizing and doing baby dedication for the Overby's.

Next weekend is a BIG weekend for our church as we focus on the most important ministry of our church - Sunday School.

Saturday, August 6 - Sunday School Leadership Conference.  Click here to see who is leading us.
This is a conference for EVERYONE who wants to see us reach and disciple people through your Sunday School class.  It all begins at 8:30 and will end promptly at 12 Noon and its free.

On Sunday, August 7, Alan Raughton will be speaking in our service.  Several of our adult leaders have heard him before and LOVE HIM!!!  You will, too.

Praying today for:
Jimmy Traylor and Wynell Heaton as they bury their brother today in Rossville, GA.
Youth Camp
Ray Harris who had surgery yesterday and is home this morning.
Abbie Olson who is back in the U.S. after serving in Ethiopia this summer.  Praying for rest.
Gracie Delvin seeing a doctor today.
Glenda Gray, Gabe Smith, Lanie York, Margaret Miller, Teresa Clifton, Tinsley Andrews, Rebekah Hogsed, Becky Mitchell, Christy Cooper.
Rejoicing over a great Men's Conference last weekend and a wonderful day of the Spirit moving at RFBC this past Sunday.
Rejoicing for Levi Crow and Hayden Maness joining the church for baptism.
Rejoicing Bryson Ritchey and Trevor Carson are both playing football this season!!!!
AND Savannah Willingham is coming home Friday for good!!!!!!!

I think I will just say, "Well Glory!!"  God is good and I'm glad I'm a child of the most High God.

Awesome Worship Advice From a Hilarious Christian Comedian by Tim Hawkins

Looking toward this Sunday, July 24, 2016

I am looking forward to being back in the pulpit this Sunday.  I have enjoyed hearing Bro. Craig, Bro. Damon and Bro. Fred and enjoyed being off last Sunday to take care of Roxanne; but I am excited to be back preaching this Sunday.

We continue our study through the Gospel of Luke with a message based out of Luke 4: 16-30 "Jesus, the Hometown Preacher."  Jesus was a preacher and we are going to look at his first sermon and His text He used.

Also this Sunday morning you will hear from Jeremy Taylor as he shares his testimony.  Jeremy is teaching one of the two new Sunday School classes beginning August 7.  He will be teaching the co-ed class targeting those born 1985-90.

Sunday night I will continue the series "Worship: The Passion of God for God" with part three of the message "The Body Language of Praise."

See you Sunday as we gather for Sunday School at 9; Worship at 10:15 and 6:00.  Love you. Blessings

From the Shepherd's Heart...Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Good Wednesday church family.  Catching up.....

*  Missed being with you Sunday.  I know you enjoyed Bro. Frank Whitaker's preaching and had a great day celebrating the mission trips to Mobile and Nicaragua.  I look forward to hearing the message and report on CD.

*  Tonight is our Business meeting where we will consider the special motion I spoke about and introduced June 26.  Both the Deacons and Stewardship Team will be joining to make this recommendation tonight. Also, we dive into one of the greatest passages in all the Bible as we start (but won't come close to finishing) Philippians 2: 5-11.

*  Pray for our men as we go to the Men's Conference in Nashville Friday and Saturday.  Pray for Scott, David, Chad, Isaac, Jamie, Tom, Nelson, Paul, Joey, Jesse, Alex, Nate, Eli, Wyatt, Nick, Kyle, Jason, Joseph, Nathan, Garret, David and Keith.

*  Then Bro. Paul Long and Antioch Baptist Church is having a Men's Revival next week.  Our men are going Monday for the 7:00 service and will meet at the church at 5 to go and eat prior to the service.  I am preaching on Wednesday night of the revival.  Pray for me.

*  Was so excited to get to share (via print) the exciting Sunday School news this past Sunday.  We are beginning two new adult classes August 7!!    Jeremy Taylor will be teaching a Co-ed class targeting those born 1985-90.  We are adding a second Co-ed class targeting 1980-85 and Gary Blevins will be teaching this new class as Monty Price continues to teach the current class.

*  August 7 will be Promotion day in Sunday School, as well as all children's classes (except Daphne Garrett's) moving into their new space in the basement of the Student Center and all youth classes moving into their new space in the Student Center.

*  Continue to prepare for the Sunday School Leadership Conference set for August 6 beginning at 8:30 until noon.  Click here for more information.  We are expecting other churches to attend as the news of this conference has caught fire in DeKalb Baptist Association.  This is for all teachers plus care group leaders, secretaries and any member of a class who cares about reaching people and making disciples through Sunday School.  Sunday School is the greatest ministry of our church!!

*  The Student Center renovations are coming along well.  Can't wait for the remodeled and expanded facilities.

*  Be praying for Student Camp July 29-31 as Bro. Craig and the leaders make final preparations.

*  We are feeding the Nehemiah and P52 teams on Tuesday, July 26.  Items needed for the meal where in the bulletin this past Sunday.  Contact Melinda White or Petrova Tillery for more detail.

*  Our new children's ministry kicks off this fall.  Continue to pray for Whitney and the team God is assembling for leadership.  There was a sign up in the bulletin this past Sunday (and it will be in the bulletin this coming Sunday, too) where you can indicate area(s) where you would like to serve on Sundays and Wednesdays this fall.  I'm so excited about this new ministry God has led Whitney and our church to do.

Be looking out for August 14!!!  A Reveal Party for the new Children's Ministry is coming!!!

*  Worship Choir rehearsal begins back this Sunday at 4:30.  Warning: Bro. Keith has been working on Christmas music.

* Financial Peace University is going to be taught again this fall beginning August 21.  Contact Gary Blevins for more information.

*  I want to give a big "Praise the Lord" for this church who has staffed all of our coaches and cheerleading spots for Upward Football.  Thank you for your service and commitment.    Two seasons in a row now with football and basketball.  Thanks for all the dedication of our Football Commissioner, Drew Hogsed, and the Upward Team:  Gary Blevins, Donald Coots, Greg Wigley and Whitney Wigley.  Praying for a great season of sharing the Gospel and reaching boys, girls and parents for Christ.

*  Thanks for your prayers for Roxanne. She has done better than expected and we are grateful.  She has restrictions on her until July 29, so she will not be at church until afterwards. Thanks to all who have texted, called, prayed and brought food. We are so blessed by your love and concerns.

Why Are So Many Christians Unhappy? by Jim Johnston

Joy is the emotion of salvation. We rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory (1 Peter 1:8). If you’re a Christian, the Spirit gives you soaring delight in Christ. His beauty and greatness thrill your soul.

But quite a few believers struggle to experience joy. Why is that?

Some people by nature tend to be sad, and joy is an ongoing challenge. When I read Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s classic, Spiritual Depression, I was surprised that he mentions temperament or personality as “the first and foremost cause.” He may be right.

But there are other reasons. Young moms are often surprised at how tired they are — sleepless and exhausted — and they wrestle to find joy. If you are grieving or suffering, you may not realize that God has specific joys for you in your present circumstance. And don’t forget that our enemy hates us and will steal every ounce of joy he can.

But the most miserable Christians I’ve seen are those who live with a foot in both worlds.

They hedge their bets. They have one eye on heaven and one on earth. They call on the name of Christ, but they still try to find security, satisfaction, pleasure, or fulfillment from this world. They’re riding the fence. And they’re not happy.

Is that you? The only way to have joy is to say a full “Yes” to God. Which means saying “No” to the world.

The Great Yes

It is important for every Christian to be convinced that God is good. And what’s more — God alone is good.

If we are not absolutely convinced that God alone is good, we will not be able to say “No” to other gods that promise joy but deliver sorrow. We don’t dare to imagine that there is even a sliver of good apart from God and his will for our lives. Not a shred.

The Psalms drive this truth home.

I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” (Psalm 16:2)

And again,

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. (Psalm 73:25)

And again,

I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are . . . my portion in the land of the living.” (Psalm 142:5)

In the New Testament, James writes,

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. (James 1:16–17)

Every ounce of good in this world comes from God. Nothing can possibly be good unless it comes from God. A joyful Christian believes this truth. She banks her life — and her joy — on it.

Calvin put it this way:

it will not suffice simply to hold that there is one whom all ought to honor and adore, unless we are also persuaded that he is the fountain of every good, and that we must seek nothing elsewhere than in him. . . . For until men recognize that they owe everything to God, that they are nourished by his fatherly care, that he is the Author of their every good, that they should seek nothing beyond him — they will never yield him willing service. Nay, unless they establish their complete happiness in him, they will never give themselves truly and sincerely to him. (Institutes, I, 2, 1)

God is good. God alone is good. And all good comes from God.

Best of all, God gives us himself. And he is our joy — the unspeakably glorious delight of our hearts. David says,

In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)

The Great No

Satan tempts us to think we can find something good and satisfying apart from God. But we must declare a strong, resounding “No” to anything that promises good without him. This great “No” is at the heart of Christian joy.

The essence of sin is looking for good outside of God and his will. That is how our mother Eve was deceived.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it wasa delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. (Genesis 3:6)

We stumble in the same way she did. When I dig beneath the surface of any sin in my life, I find that I am trying to get something good apart from God and his ways. That good thing might be pleasure, security, significance, satisfaction, justice, belonging, comfort, some physical need, etc. But I try to get it without God.

In the end, it is idolatry. I am looking to something other than God to meet my needs and satisfy my desires. These gods promise joy, but they deliver misery.

That is why a half-hearted Christian cannot have ongoing joy in Christ. David says,

The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply. (Psalm 16:4)

And again,

For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity. (Psalm 31:10)

We run after other gods to find joy, but we find sorrow.

A young woman knows that she shouldn’t marry a non-Christian, but she thinks she will find love and security in this relationship — even though God is not in it. She wants something good, but she is looking to another god to provide it, and her sorrows will multiply.

A man thinks he will find fulfillment in pornography or hooking up after work. Sexual pleasure is a good thing in God’s way. But this man is looking to another god to give to him, and these brief seconds of pleasure will turn to gravel and ashes in his mouth.

A woman looks for significance through gossip. She feels important when she talks about what other people are doing. She is not finding her worth in Christ. She is running after another god for her sense of value.

An unforgiving man holds a grudge. He thinks that it is his responsibility to make things right. Justice is a good thing, but he is not looking to the “Judge of all the earth” to give it to him. He is running after another god.

So choose today whom you will serve. Look to God and his will for every good gift in your life. Say with the psalmist, “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup” (Psalm 16:5).

Half-hearted Christians are not happy Christians. Hope in God, and don’t run after other gods. That is the path to joy.

Isolation from the Church Is Dangerous by Josh Buice

Several years ago when we lived in Tennessee, my wife was visiting her parents in Georgia.  She went to go inside after being outdoors with the children and she called for our dog, but he didn’t come.  After searching around, she walked behind her father’s wood working shop and discovered a coyote holding Chipper, our little 6 pound shih tzu (who was 10 years old at the time of the attack), in his mouth.  She immediately started clapping her hands and as she approached the coyote, he dropped Chipper and ran off into the woods.  After a tedious surgery and a hefty bill at the local veterinarian’s office, little Chipper survived.  After more than 6 years, the same exact thing happened to my in-laws’ dog just a couple of weeks ago.  He was rescued by my father-in-law behind his shop where a coyote had him firmly clamped in his jaws in a death grip.  After a trip to the same veterinarian, their dog looks as if he will make a full recovery as well.

As I was considering the coyote’s hunting strategy, it occurred to me that they prey upon the isolated family pet or animal that becomes separated from its mother.  Isolation is the key strategy for the coyote.  As we consider the Christian life, we must be reminded that isolation is the key strategy for the devil as well.  If he can somehow create circumstances and division that leads to isolation, he will move in for the attack.  How many times have you watched people become isolated due to relationship problems, job responsibilities, or other factors that create a distance from an individual and their church?  In many cases, that specific case doesn’t end well.  The person ends up drifting away or joins another church looking for a close bond with another group of Christians.  However, if it’s a broken relationship that created the isolation, that same pattern will likely follow the person from church to church.  Satan is good at what he does, and he places much of his emphasis upon creating division and isolation.

What Causes Isolation?

There are a multiplicity of reasons that isolation can creep into a Christian’s life, and not all of the open doors for isolation are sinful.  A good job promotion can be the cause or a sick family member who requires much attention and care.  There are sinful patterns that create isolation from the church as well, and obviously both the isolation and the root cause need to be addressed properly.  As with many other sins, isolation from the church can sneak up on a family without notice.

Is it sinful to have relationships with people outside the church?  Absolutely not, but it is sinful to neglect the church and to put your primary focus on relationships within your place of employment, business circles, or recreational activities.  Isolation is one of those sins that can go undetected for a while, and before long, there is a sudden coldness and unhealthy wall built up between an individual and their church family.

In short, isolation is the devil’s oldest trick in his black book of sinful temptations.  Remember the words of the apostle Paul to the church at Corinth in his second letter, “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3).  If Satan can lure a person off into an isolated wilderness, he will likely do much damage to that individual before the person can escape.  This happens in a person’s thought life, a person’s relationships, a person’s finances, and on the Internet in the dark hours of the night.  Beware – Satan’s goal is to destroy you (1 Pet. 5:8).

Why Is isolation From the Church Dangerous?

1. Isolation creates distance from the church body.
2. Isolation kills community.
3. Isolation makes a person or family vulnerable to Satan’s attacks.
4. Isolation can cause a person to make improper decisions based on fleshly motives.
5. Isolation from the church opens up the mind for influence from the world, the flesh, and the devil.
6. Isolation can lead a person to depression.
7. Isolation inhibits ministry.
8. Isolation makes a person or family self-serving and self-centered.
9. Isolation can often cause a person or family to have a negative attitude toward the church.
10. Isolation creates a rogue attitude of independence that’s misguided and deceptively false.
11. Isolation builds insulation that prevents accountability.
12. Isolation creates loneliness and intensifies the burdens of life.

Addressing the Problem of Isolation

Just as with any other sin, isolation must be addressed or it will continue to separate and divide.  The mortification of sin is a necessary practice and ongoing commitment of sanctification in the life of a believer.  Isolation must be put to death just as other sins that can be harmful to the church of Jesus Christ.  The individual or family who has become isolated must be corrected by the church.  They must not be allowed to remain in a state of perpetual isolation.  Ultimately, the determining factor will rest upon the isolated family’s response to this particular sin.  Will they admit it?  Will they recover well within the church as opposed to continuing to drift away?

We must learn to see the church as a blessing from God rather than an inconvenience.  We must never look at the church as a violation to our spiritual privacy fence.  We were never called to walk the journey of the Christian life alone.  Surround yourself with gospel preaching, gospel singing, and gospel friends who will be honest with you.  When the church is honest with you, receive it.  Take heed so that you will not fall (1 Cor. 10:12).  We all need the church.

Addressing the problem involves a church committed to holding members accountable and Christians who are willing to receive correction.  Sadly is the case today that many Christians life their lives behind tall privacy fences beyond the gaze and interaction of any outside influence.  This must not be the case as a Christian.  We are all prone to wander off from the path.  In certain cases it may be a sinful temptation or merely laziness.  Just as John Bunyan depicted in The Pilgrim’s Progress as Christian and Hopeful followed Vain-Confidence off of the true path onto a different path that eventually led them astray.  They became lost and eventually were captured by Giant Despair.  They found themselves prisoners in the dungeon of Doubting Castle.  In their despair, Hopeful said, “O that I had kept on the true way!”  Avoiding isolation is a constant work of sanctification.  Robert Robinson wrote these words in his hymn in 1758, and we sing it often as a reminder of the danger of walking off from God:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

The post Isolation from the Church Is Dangerous appeared first on Christian Blogs - Delivered By Grace.

Who is Jesus? on Larry King

This is a panel discussion with Larry King. This You Tube version is edited with the responses of Dr. John MacArthur.

In God We Trust, Not the Government by Wade Burleson

The Founding Fathers of the United States of America universally rejected democracy and hoped that future generations would never turn the United States into one. The word "Republic" was intentionally chosen to describe the United States:

"I pledge allegiance to the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands..."

The United States was to be ruled by law. The Founding Fathers feared democracy because of a "share the wealth" mob mentality that eventually becomes the downfall of all democracies. Those who "have not" will eventually elect those politicians who promise them the most from the public treasury.

The wealthy are then forced to give "their fair share" (i.e. "taxed") in order give "something for nothing" to the receivers. Soon, a spirit of entitlement permeates the culture, and the public treasury will eventually go bankrupt attempting to fulfill the promises of elected politicians. The Founding Fathers knew that a democracy could not exist as a permanent form of government. They feared it.

Alexander Fraser Tytler wrote more than two centuries ago the reasons democracies fail:

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship."

James Madison, a Founding Father, wrote just as eloquently in the Federalist Papers, No. 10:

“Hence it is that democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and in general have been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths … A republic, by which I mean a government in which a scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect and promises the cure for which we are seeking.”

Our country has transformed from a Republic in its early days to a democracy in these latter days. It's possibly too late to hit the reset button, but in the end, failed governments are not necessarily a bad thing. "In God we trust," not our government.