Wednesday, November 30, 2016

From the Shepherd's Heart...Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Week-after-week this great church moves to one emphasis to another, most of the time with equal value.

However, there are a few weeks that just jump out and we are headed to one of those weeks. This Sunday we being our annual mission emphasis with these elements:

*  Week of Prayer for International Missions
*  Mission Speakers this Sunday.  Joel and MaryEllen Ragains from New Albany, Indiana will be with us.  I will share more on Friday in this blog.
*  Sunday night is our annual and only church-wide Christmas party and mission emphasis.  The church will provide the ham and you are asked to bring vegetables and desserts for the 5:30 meeting.  The Ragains will be speaking, as well, providing another opportunity for you to get to know them better.
*  We being our On Mission 1:8 Christmas Offering.  This year we are giving through the On Mission 1:8 Offering - more about this on Friday, as well.

So delighted our Louisiana Mission team arrived home safely.  They will be sharing in the Wednesday, December 7 service at 6:10.

This Friday and Saturday is the Men's Retreat at CampToKnowHim.  It is FREE.  Don't miss this wonderful time of fellowship and challenge.  Activities begin at 2:00 Friday but you just come when you can.

There will be a SEC Championship Party at CampToKnowHim beginning at 1:00.  Everyone is invited - even if you did not get to attend the retreat.  Ladies and families are encouraged to come.

Sunday Night, December 11 - 6:00

"ADORE HIM" - An Evening of Christmas Worship

"Jingle Jam" - special Christmas event for ALL the family on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 6:10 in the auditorium presented by our Children's Ministry.

Sunday Night, December 18 - 5:00
Drop-In Lord's Supper

Sunday, December 25 - 10:15 Worship Service Only.  The service will only last 45 minutes ending by 11:00.

Sunday, January 1 - 9:00 Sunday School
10:15 - Worship
No Evening Activities January 1.

No Wednesday night services on Wednesday, December 21 and 28.

One last word...Chili Cookoff tonight at 5:00 with the winner getting a free ticket to the Nashville Main Event Men's Conference or a free ticket and hotel accommodations for the Johnny Hunt Men's Conference.  Men AND Women are invited to participate with your favorite Chili.


Monday, November 28, 2016

Parents: It’s Time to Wake Up About Pornography, Sexting, and Your Children By Randy Alcorn

While speaking about sexual purity at my church several years ago, I told parents that if they’re going to let their children have unrestricted Internet access in the privacy of their own rooms, through computers, tablets, phones, or any other device they might as well buy thousands of pornographic magazines and stack them in their children’s closets and say, “Don’t ever look at those.” It amounts to the same thing.
After my message, a sincere Christian mother came up to me. She was offended by my warning to parents not to allow their children to have unmonitored Internet access.
“I can’t believe you said that,” she began. “My son has Internet access in his room, and I trust him! He’s a good boy.”
I told her, “I was once a seventh grade boy. I’ll tell you right now, you think you’re honoring your son by trusting him, but you are setting him up for a fall. You could hand him a gun, and his life might turn out better than if you just hand him over to the Internet.”
If this strikes you as an overstatement, you simply do not understand the devastating effects of pornography. The great majority of children, especially boys but also girls, who are allowed access to pornography will view it, either inadvertently or purposefully, and many of those will become addicted to it, ruining their lives and in many cases ruining their future marriages.    
That pornography is “harmless” is a lie from the pit of Hell. Scripture says that Satan goes around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, and sadly, we are losing our daughters and our sons.
For years, such predictions and warnings sounded like the overreactions of religious zealots. But recently an outpouring of information on the negative impact of pornography is available from mainstream researchers and secular sources. (Even GQ Magazine for men shared a piece in 2013 titled, “10 Reasons Why You Should Quit Watching Porn.”) Many researchers recognize, even from their non-Christian worldview, that children’s early exposure to addictive pornography and behavior such as sexting (taking and sharing provocative selfies) is harming them deeply.
The cover title for Time Magazine’s April 2016 issue was “PORN: Why young men who grew up with Internet Porn are becoming advocates for turning it off.” This lengthy, non-faith based article highlighted the real-life sexual problems that men who grew up with Internet porn are facing in relationships (like not being physically able to become aroused by a real encounter with a woman because of the way porn use has altered their brain’s chemistry/functionality).
The New York Times tweeted this tag line to a recent article: “The longer you wait to give your children a smartphone, the better.” Brian X. Chen writes about how increasingly younger kids are being impacted by pornography and sexting:
Ms. Weinberger, who wrote the smartphone and Internet safety book “The Boogeyman Exists: And He’s in Your Child’s Back Pocket,” said she had surveyed 70,000 children in the last 18 months and found that, on average, sexting began in the fifth grade, pornography consumption began when children turned 8, and pornography addiction began around age 11.
In an article for The Atlantic, Hanna Rosin cites research about the wide-spread practice of sexting:
A recent study of seven public high schools in East Texas, for example, found that 28 percent of sophomores and juniors had sent a naked picture of themselves by text or e-mail, and 31 percent had asked someone to send one. …boys and girls were equally likely to have sent a sext, but girls were much more likely to have been asked to—68 percent had been. 
…This year, researchers in Los Angeles published a study of middle-schoolers showing that those who sent sexts were 3.2 times more likely to be sexually active than those who didn’t. 
A police officer friend told me that hardly a week goes by when he doesn’t get a call from a distraught parent who has discovered nude pictures of their daughter are being sent all over the school or across the country because she posed for a friend, or took the picture herself. Those images can never be fully recalled, nor the shame erased from memory. 
Officer John Rasmussen, a school resource officer in my area, explained he often shares with families how the devastating effects of sexting and pornography knows no bounds.  “I’ve frequently found the youth involved come from believing families who have raised ‘good kids.’”
Christian parents would never have believed it if you had told them 25 years ago that one day most kids would be carrying around a little device that would allow them access to pornography and on which they could receive naked images sent by their classmates while the young person is doing homework, in bed, or sitting in church.
Hanna Rosin explains how Major Donald Lowe and his fellow officers at the Louisa County Sheriff's Office have talked to kids about the consequences of sexting:
Lowe’s team explained to both the kids pictured on Instagram and the ones with photos on their phones the serious legal consequences of their actions. Possessing or sending a nude photo of a minor—even if it’s a photo of yourself—can be prosecuted as a felony under state child-porn laws. He explained that 10 years down the road they might be looking for a job or trying to join the military, or sitting with their families at church, and the pictures could wash back up; someone who had the pictures might even try to blackmail them.
“Locally we see a blackmail tactic used time and again.  It usually starts with ‘send me just one pic’,” says Officer Rasmussen. “And that first picture may not be considered too provocative by most, but the kid is manipulated with shame and fear that someone will find out. Coercive requests follow, like, ‘Send me more or I’ll send this one out to your friends and family.’ This can very quickly progress to, ‘Now meet me for “_______” (sex act) or I’ll share all the photos.’”
I’m a grandparent to five boys, the oldest of them 12. Like many of you, I find this information, and the related statistics, chilling. (And remember, it’s not just boys who are looking at pornography; young girls are too. Nor are girls the only ones participating in sending inappropriate pictures.) The reality is, if you have children in grade school and older, even if they themselves aren’t exposed to or involved in these practices, some of their classmates certainly are, and as the years go on, more will be.
So what can concerned parents do?
1. Realize your responsibility to protect your children. If your child has a smartphone or has access to a phone, a tablet, online gaming console, or a computer, they are vulnerable. As a parent you might wonder, “Do I have the right to interfere? Isn’t that being nosey?” Your job is to interfere, and to know what is going on in your children’s lives, as well as what happens when they’re at friends’ houses and at school. You need to protect them, just as if you were standing next to a freeway and would feel an obligation to put your arms around them and say, “Stay off that freeway.”
You and your spouse need to decide what age is appropriate for your children to have their own phone, as well as the capabilities their phone has when do they do get one. (Some parents concerned about being able to safely reach their children have provided a phone that can only make calls and text certain numbers.)
2. Start the conversations about the dangers of pornography now. Given the ever-younger ages of kids affected, there’s a great advantage in talking to your kids early—probably much earlier than you might think. Several parents I respect have used and recommended the book Good Pictures, Bad Pictures by Kristen A. Jenson to talk with their children about the dangers of pornography in an age-appropriate format. (The book also provides positive, practical steps for kids when they are inadvertently exposed to inappropriate images.) Older teens could benefit from the many purity-related resources available from ministries.  (For instance, see my article Guidelines for Sexual Purity and Dannah Gresh’s Seven Secrets to Purity for Every Teen Girl.)
Realize too that the conversations shouldn’t be just one time, but ongoing. One mom of boys writes, “What I am coming to see is that my boys and I just have to have conversation after conversation after conversation about the topic and about how most of their friends are going to struggle with this and most of society is struggling with this.”
3. Establish clear guidelines in your family. Install a pornography-filtering and accountability-reporting program on computers, tablets, and smartphones (realizing it can’t screen out everything). See this article for various options. Establish, and enforce, rules in your home about keeping electronic devices, including phones, out of private rooms. (Some families have a “drop basket” or a “station” where everyone, including parents, deposits their phones when they come through the door.) Require that computers and televisions stay in high-traffic areas.
4. Talk to your children about the great rewards and happiness of purity, and the destruction and unhappiness of impurity. Talk about how good sex can be inside marriage. Explain how sex is one of the best things God has made, but it becomes the very worst—the most devastating—when it is taken out of its God-given context. Scripture, especially in Proverbs 5-7, provides a great basis to talk to kids about the dangers of impurity and lust. (Some parents have gone through my book The Purity Principle with their teens.)
This is a battle for our children, with their lives and futures at stake. May Christian parents answer the Lord’s call to protect their children, and train them in the joys of purity.

Article Sources

More Resources

Randy Alcorn, founder of EPM
Randy Alcorn (@randyalcorn) is the author of over fifty books and the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

From the Shepherd's Grateful Heart...Wednesday, November 23

What enormous days of difficulty we are experiencing...school bus accident in Chattanooga, drought, the worst political season this generation has ever witnessed, cancer, divorce, hurt, protest, anger, disrespect, and the passing of loved ones.

So, what do we do as we approach Thanksgiving?

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;  His love endures forever."  Psalm 107:1 (repeated 118:1, 29)

My heart has been warmed and comforted by this verse this week.  NOTHING happening in my life or the life of our church, community or nation changes who God is.  He is good and His love endures forever.

Our main source of joy is not our health, our families or our nation.  It is our Lord!!!  And everything is well with Him and He can still fill our hurting, angry, disappointed hearts if we will "give thanks" instead of complaints.

It's time to thank the Lord.  He, alone, has sacrificed His Son for us; redeemed us by His blood and given us a hope transcendent of this world. We are His children and the sheep of His pasture.  I am somebody because of Him and deeply loved and valued because of Him.  His love will never run out and I can never out run his grace and mercy.

In Psalm 107, four times he says, "Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness.."

Will you give thanks to God for who He is and what He has done.  If you will, your heart will be warmed, your spirit uplifted and hope return.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

Notes:

Remember, the church office closes today at noon and there are no services tonight as you prepare and enjoy Thanksgiving.

(There will not be a blog post this Friday).




Tuesday, November 22, 2016

"Precious Jesus" by Rambos

I love this music and message.  It has ministered "refreshing rain" to my soul this week.  I pray it will yours. (This is from a newly released album as of November 11, 2016 called "Rambo Classics: Rambo McGuire"

(HINT: Go to YouTube and search "Rambo Classics" and listen to the entire album)

Here are the words:

Who is refreshing as an ocean in the desert
As lovely as the flowers in the snow
Who is as watchful as an Eagle o'r her young ones
As gentle as the summer breeze that blows

Precious Jesus, 
Sweet Rose of Sharon
There's peace and triumph
When you speak His Name
Loving Savior, 
My sunshine in the midnight
He's my guiding star
That shining all the day

Who is the one who
Understands my burdens
And He just smiles
And hums a happy melody
A liberated soul can't sing
About being bound for long
Without looking back
And realizing He set me free






Monday, November 21, 2016

Why Does the Universe Look So Old? by Tim Challies

When it comes to the age of the universe, Christians find themselves in a bit of a conundrum. At least, those Christians do who hold to a traditional interpretation of the first two chapters of Genesis—an interpretation that leads them to believe the universe is something less than the billions of years indicated by contemporary understandings of the scientific data. Those, like me, who hold to a six-day understanding of creation have to face this question: Why does the universe look so old? Why does it look older than it actually is? This is a question Dr. Albert Mohler took on at a Ligonier Ministries conference several years ago and his response was (and remains) helpful to me.
Before I comment on his answer, I want to point out that all Christians, no matter their interpretation of the opening chapters of Scripture, have difficult questions to face as they attempt to strike harmony between Scripture and science or, better, between God’s book of special revelation and God’s book of natural revelation. Those who believe the universe is ancient have to grapple with the existence of death before the fall, for example, or why the creation account is so clearly laid out as if it all takes place in six literal days. It is not only young earth creationists who have to admit the existence of difficult questions.
As Dr. Mohler considers the age of the universe he tells why he is drawn to the six-day view: “In our effort to be most faithful to the scriptures and most accountable to the grand narrative of the gospel, an understanding of creation in terms of 24-hour calendar days and a young earth entails far fewer complications, far fewer theological problems, and actually is the most straightforward and uncomplicated reading of the text as we come to understand God telling us how the universe came to be and what it means and why it matters.”
But why, then, if the universe is so young, does it look so old? His first answer is this: The universe looks old because the Creator made it whole. Accordingly to a literal interpretation of Genesis 1 and 2, God did not create a universe that began in an infant or primordial state before maturing over billions of years, but a universe that actually began in a state of maturity. When it was still young it already looked mature because this was God’s design. Indeed, this was the case with the first human being. “When he made Adam, Adam was not a fetus; Adam was a man; he had the appearance of a man. By our understanding that would’ve required time for Adam to get old but not by the sovereign creative power of God.” Adam and Eve were created whole, mature, grown up, and were placed in a garden that was also whole, mature, and grown up. “The garden was not merely seeds; it was a fertile, fecund, mature garden. The Genesis account clearly claims that God creates and makes things whole.” There is our first answer, that the universe looks old because God created it to look old. This was design, not deception, just as was the case for Adam, the human being who had no history, no parents, no infancy, no childhood.
The second answer is this: The universe looks old because it bears the effects of sin. Sin is an evil intruder into the world and one that brought about God’s judgment. This judgment was expressed in the catastrophe of the great worldwide flood and in a million lesser catastrophes since. These catastrophes have marked, stained, and scarred all that God created. We bear the effects of sin in our tired eyes, wrinkled skin, and aching bones, and in equivalent ways the earth is marked and marred by sin. Paul says in Romans 8 that the world is groaning, “And in its groaning it does look old. It gives us empirical evidence of the reality of sin.” The universe looks old rather than young to display the evidence and consequences of sin, for once we see this we are but a short distance from considering the joy, necessity, and beauty of redemption. A suffering world is crying out for the deliverance that will come.
To my mind these are compelling answers, though they are admittedly somewhat speculative in that neither one can appeal directly to chapter or verse. I will give the final word to Dr. Mohler: “At the end of the day, if I’m asked the question ‘why does the universe look so old?’ I’m simply left with the reality that the universe is telling the story of the glory of God. Why does it look so old? Well that, in terms of any more elaborate answer, is known only to the Ancient of Days. And that is where we are left.”

Friday, November 18, 2016

Preparing for Sunday, November 20

Pray for our Louisiana Mission Team.  The first "wave" left this morning and the second "wave" is leaving this afternoon.  It looks like 16 will be making the trip.

As we approach Thanksgiving, it is a time of giving thanks for the harvest season God has provided.  Now not too many of us will actually be eating food we have harvested from our fields, but the concept is still the same.  We give thanks for what God has provided.

The harvest season was very special to the Jews to the degree they had something called "first-fruits."  God demanded the "first-fruits" of the harvest be brought to Him.  There is an interesting principle that develops in Scripture over this concept that I want to look at this Sunday as we gather for worship.  I've entitled the message "The Principle of the First."  I look forward to sharing it with you Sunday at 10:15.

Reminder:  no Sunday night services here as we are moving them to celebrate with our Rainsville Community of Faith at the annual Community Thanksgiving Service hosted by the Rainsville Community Church at 6:00.  Jason Bell, Pastor, Nazareth Baptist Church, will be preaching.  I look forward to seeing you there!!

Also, this Sunday at 3:00 is decorating the church for Christmas.  Just show up at 3 and those in charge will lead you to what to do.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

From The Shepherd's Heart...Wednesday, November 16

We are joining hearts with many in our area who are praying for rain and for strength and protection over the fire fighters.  Only God can change this situation and provide the rain we need.

Thanks to all the Veterans who brought items for display tables this past Sunday. It was a great addition to our weekend honoring of our Veterans.

This Friday the following will be leaving to serve with the Don Avenue Baptist Church, Denham Springs, LA:  Isaac Mays, Michael Evett, Michael Helms, Tom H Evans, Jamie Hutchison, Nelson Overby, Greg and Sharon Wigley, Jimmy Traylor, Whitney Wigley, April and Luke Murdock, Kyle McLain, Melodie Brown, Alex Mays, Joseph Helms, Ethan Maness and Andrea Rains.


We join to pray for them for safety in travel, for strength for the work (they are doing construction work on the building), and to be a blessing and encouragement to the Don Avenue Family and Bro. Tom Higginbothm, Pastor.  They will return on Wednesday.

This Sunday afternoon we will meet at 3:00 to decorate the church for Christmas.  If you can come, please do and stay as long as you can.

This Sunday night we will join with other sister churches in our area for our annual Community Thanksgiving Service hosted by the Rainsville Community Church at 6:00.  Pastor Jason Bell, Nazareth Baptist Church, will be preaching.  I am not going to Louisiana on the mission trip in order to attend this Sunday night meeting.  I hope you will come to support our community of faith and be encouraged by the service.

Due to Thanksgiving, there will be no Wednesday night services on Wednesday, November 23. Also, we are closing the office at 12 noon on Wednesday and the office will be closed Thursday and Friday, November 24 and 25.

Upward Basketball is just around the corner.  If you would be willing to serve as a coach (head or assistant), cheer coach, concession stand commissioner or worker, referee, lead a half-time devotion, greeter or clean-up, then let Whitney Wigley know or use the insert in this past Sunday's bulletin.

Don't forget tonight is Business Meeting at 6:10 following by our teaching the Word of God in Philippians 3.

Monday, November 14, 2016

What Does the Bible say about Transgenderism? by Kevin DeYoung

Some would argue that the Bible says nothing about the explosion of the transgender phenomenon in the Western world. After all, there is no verse that says, “Thou shalt not transition from a man to a woman.” But neither are there any verses that talk explicitly about gun violence, anorexia, waterboarding, fossil fuels, vaccines, GMOs, HMOs, or Pokemon Go. We should not expect the Bible to speak in 21st century terms to every 21st-century eventuality.
But that hardly means the Bible provides no guidance for Christians trying to make sense of our transgender moment. In fact, when it comes to transgenderism, the Bible actually has a lot to say—not by a prooftext here or there but by a rich and pervasive understanding of gender and sexual identity.
Obviously, transgenderism, as a cultural trend, is massively complex, touching on fields as disparate as genetics, fashion, medicine, law, education, entertainment, athletics, and religious liberty. We need Christians thinking through, and talking to, all of these issues. We also need Christians patiently loving, counseling, and befriending those who feel that their psychological identity as male or female contradicts their “assigned” biological sex. In asking the question, “What does the Bible say about transgenderism?” we are asking a question that can take us in a dozen different directions.
I want to focus on just one of those directions. If we are people of the Book—people who believe, like Jesus, that the Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35)—then the transgender question, if it is to yield fruitful responses in any of these areas, must start with a biblical understanding of male and female.
And what is that understanding?
In short, the Bible teaches that God made us male or female, and no matter our own feelings or confusion, we should act in accordance with the biological reality of God’s good design. Transgenderism falls short of the glory of God and is not the way to walk in obedience to Christ.
There are three big Scriptural building blocks that lead one inexorably to this conclusion.
1. Gender Binary
The Bible knows no other gender categories besides male and female. While men and women in Scripture may express their masculinity and femininity in a wonderful diversity of ways, Scripture still operates with the binary categories of men and women. You are one or the other. The anomaly of intersex individuals does not undermine the creational design, but rather gives another example of creational “groaning” and the “not the way they are supposed to be” realities of a fallen world. Likewise, the eunuchs in Matthew 19 do not refer to sexless persons, but to men who were born without the ability to procreate or who were castrated, likely for a royal court (for more on the challenge of intersex, and the question of eunuchs, see Denny Burk, What Is the Meaning of Sex?, 169-183).
The biblical understanding of male and female is more than just an assumption writ large on the pages of Scripture. We know from Genesis 1 and 2 that the categories of male and female are a part of God’s design for humanity. Indeed, when God created the first human pair in his image, he created them male and female (Gen. 1:27). He made the woman to be a complement and help to the man (Gen. 2:18-22). Far from being a mere cultural construct, God depicts the existence of a man and a woman as essential to his creational plan. The two are neither identical nor interchangeable. But when the woman, who was taken out of man, joins again with the man in sexual union, the two become one flesh (Gen. 1:23-24). Dividing the human race into two genders, male and female—one or the other, not both, and not one then the other—is not the invention of Victorian prudes or patriarchal oafs. It was God’s idea.
2. Gender Identity
Someone with respect for Scripture may say at this point, “I agree that God makes as either male or female. But you are confusing biological sex with gender. I know transgender Christians who desire to embrace God’s design for men and women, but they also believe that who God created them to be does not correspond with the sex assigned to them at birth.” I don’t doubt that there are persons like this out there (and in our churches). While some people embracing a transgender identity may do so on a lark, many strongly feel that only by living as the opposite sex can they full embrace their true self.
The question is not whether such persons and feelings exist. The question is whether the is of our emotional or mental state equals the ought of God’s design. Most Christians reject this thinking in a host of other areas, from eating disorders to unbiblical divorces. We understand that following Christ means dying to ourselves (Matt. 16:24), being renewed in our minds (Rom. 12:2), and no longer walking as we once did (Eph. 4:17-18). Being “true to ourselves” is always a false choice when it means going against God’s Word.
As much as contemporary academia says otherwise, the Bible believes in the organic unity of biological sex and gender identity. This is why male and female are (uniquely) the type of pair that can reproduce (Gen. 1:282:20). It’s why homosexuality—a man lying with a man as with a woman (Lev. 18:22)—is wrong. It’s why the apostle Paul can speak of homosexual partnerships as deviating from the natural relations or natural function of male-female sexual intercourse (Rom. 1:26-27). In each instance, the argument only works if there is an assumed equivalence between the biology of sexual difference and the corresponding identities of male and female.
3. Gender Confusion
The third building block follows naturally from the other two. If the binary of male and female is God’s idea, and if we are meant to embrace, by divine design, our biological and creational difference as men and women, then it stands to reason that the confusion of these realities would be displeasing to God. And so we see clearly in the Bible that men should not act sexually as women (Lev. 18:22Rom. 1:18-321 Cor. 6:9-10), that men should not dress like women (Deut. 22:5), and that when men and women embrace obviously other-gendered expressions of identity it is a disgrace (1 Cor. 11:14-15). We do not have an inalienable right to do whatever we want with our physical selves. We belong to God and should glorify him with our bodies (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
I have not begun to answer all the important questions about pastoral care, counsel, and compassion for the hurting and confused. But with the cultural winds gusting as they are, we cannot assume that Christians—even those in good churches—know what to think about gender or why to think it. Hopefully this brief post, and these three building blocks, can help us ensure the right foundation is in place. After all, the goal is not to build a wall to keep people out, but that God might build up his church in truth and grace that we can welcome people in, calling his image bearers to embrace the life that is truly life (1 Tim. 6:19).

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

So What Do We Do Now? By David O. Cofield

I am writing this on Monday, November 7, 2016 and it is scheduled to go "live" on Wednesday, November 9 at midnight.

The Presidential Election is now behind us and while at the time of this writing I do not know who will win, the question I pose today is "So What Do We Do Now?"

Since my answer is not dependent on the person or party that wins the election, I can write this article with full confidence before the election. My answer is founded deeply in the Word of God.

For you see, whoever wins the elections will not change the Gospel or what the church is about.  So, what do we do now?

1.  We pay our taxes.  - Mark 12: 17
Jesus affirmed his followers pay what is due to Caesar and that He has already provided everything we need to legally pay our taxes.

2.  We pray for our leaders - I Timothy 2: 1-2
No matter who are leaders are and what your view of their policies, followers of Jesus pray for their political leaders - those in authority over us.  Paul further suggest, by praying, our attitudes and lifestyles are affected to lead peaceful, quiet, dignified and godly lives.  For more, read this blog. by James Emery White.

You might want to read what Max Lucado wrote about how to pray for President Obama here.

3.  We honor our leaders - I Peter 2: 13, 17
Peter is writing to persecuted believers challenging them to have godly attitudes of honor toward the vile, evil emperors of their day. We would be wise to remember the government leaders of the New Testament days were far more pagan, hostile and unjust than anything we face in America. Honor is not dependent on their actions, but our attitude and their office.  No follower of Christ is to be rude toward those God has placed in authority.

4.  We give thanks for them. - I Timothy 2: 1b
In this season of Thanksgiving, let us give thanks to God for them.  It was through God's power and authority they were granted the privilege to lead.  Yes, whoever was elected is most likely a part of the judgment of God on this nation, but again it is God who is in control, not man.  For that, we are thankful.

My last word, let's keep focused on what the church is to do - share the Gospel which is the only power promised by God to change lives for now and eternity.

Monday, November 7, 2016

Six Reasons Why Adultery Is Very Serious by Tim Challies



Adultery is a serious matter. At least, it is a serious matter in the mind and heart of the God who created sex and marriage and who put wise boundaries on them both. But why? Why is adultery such a serious matter. Christopher Ash provides six reasons in his book Married for God and I am going to track with him as we go.
Adultery is a turning away from a promise. In the mind of the adulterer, the pursuit of another person is not first a turning away but a turning toward—a turning toward someone who is desirable and lovely. “I deserve him.” “She meets my needs.” “He understands me.” “She does the things my wife won’t.” But at heart, adultery is first and most significantly a turning away. It is a turning away from one to whom promises were made in the presence of witnesses. Most importantly, it is a forsaking of promises made in the presence of God and, in that way, a turning away from God himself.
Adultery leads the adulterer from security to chaos. Because the adulterer has turned away, he or she enters into a life of torn loyalties. “Once the promise is broken, the barrier is breached, the secure wall of marriage is torn down, all hell breaks loose. And an adulterer finds he or she has not after all exchanged one secure place (his marriage) for another secure place (the new home with the new partner). That is the illusion, but the reality is much different. Adulterers soon find they’ve entered a world in which unfaithfulness is the norm—after all, if one set of vows can be broken, why not another?” Even when the adulterer remains loyal to that new partner, there is still the divided life, the divided family, the divided memories. “To the adulterer, the grass seems so much greener the other side of the fence, but it isn’t nearly as green as it looks.” The adulterer’s actions lead away from the security of stability and into disorder.
Adultery is secretive and dishonest. Adultery is inherently secretive, inherently dishonest. It has to be because no one wants to trumpet that they are breaking a promise. Adultery loves the darkness and flees the light and for as long as it can it tries to remain a secret. “Whereas news of a marriage is broadcast by joyful announcement and invitations, news of adultery leaks out by rumor and under pressure.” Ouch. That alone should tell us what is at the heart of adultery, for sin loves to remain in the darkness while righteousness loves the light. Adultery depends upon a dishonest secrecy.
Adultery destroys the adulterer. Adultery does no favors to the adulterer. To the contrary, it undermines and erodes character and integrity. “Like all secret sin, it eats away like some noxious chemical at the integrity of the one who commits it. The moment any of us drive a wedge between what we say we are publicly and what we actually are privately, we injure ourselves at the deepest possible level.” Isn’t that always the way with sin? It promises so much but delivers so little. It promises freedom and delivers captivity. It promises fulfillment and delivers emptiness. Adultery destroys the adulterer even as it promises joy and life.
Adultery damages society. We can widen the scope from the individual to the society around him and see that the damage continues there, too. Adultery does harm to the very fabric of society. “Each act of adultery is like a wrecker’s ball taking a swing at the secure walls of the social fabric of society. It stirs up hatred and enmity. It encourages a culture which reckons marriage boundaries needn’t really be quite so rigid.” We love to think our sins are our own, that they concern only us. But no, our sin goes far beyond ourselves and impacts others. With adultery we see this even in the ways friends or colleagues are uncertain how to speak, how to react when they learn of adultery. We see the damage it does if and when they say “At least he’s happier now.” The adulterer removes one more brick from the foundation of marriage.
Adultery hurts children. Adultery does grievous harm to an innocent party—children. “Because children are right in the thick of it, in the intimacy of the family home broken by cheating on promises, darkened by secrecy and lies, riven with conflict and hatreds.” Children thrive when there is structure, when there is stability, when there is peace and order. Children are harmed when adultery brings chaos and conflict and disunity. Children are innocent parties who are terribly harmed when adultery separates their parents.
In these ways and many more, adultery is a matter of the utmost seriousness. No wonder, then, that the Bible contains such serious, repeated warnings against it: “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). “Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; none who touches her will go unpunished” (Proverbs 6:27-29). “He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself” (Proverbs 6:32). “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous” (Hebrews 13:4).

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

From the Shepherd's Heart...Wednesday, November 2, 2016

We welcome November and the spirit of Thanksgiving that it brings.

To the left is the picture I promised you Sunday night when God promised "rest in the time of trouble."  (Habakkuk 3: 16).  I love this picture with the man calmly standing in the door of the lighthouse while the storm rages around him.

Roxanne and I are so appreciative of your expression of appreciation you showed on us Sunday night.  Thank you to our Fellowship Team for the beautiful decorations and presenting all the food.  Thank you church family for all the food you brought, for every card and note you wrote, for every gift you gave and every hug and kind word you shared.  We have already started receiving the "daily" gifts scheduled through all of November. Many of you had already shared cards and notes during the month - and for ALL of them we are so grateful and honored.  Your kindness is most appreciated.

It is an honor to be a pastor, but I am grateful God saw Rainsville First and put our name on it before we were even aware of it.  It has been a joy and delight to get to know you these last fifteen months and to serve you.  My spirit is high, my vision is clear, and my tank is full for the days ahead.

Sunday was a bitter-sweet day as we suffered the loss of Mrs. Peggy Zeldam.  It is the first member of our fellowship to pass since I have been your pastor.  And for her to be in prayer meeting and Sunday School that morning only to leave to go home due to not feeling well.

We will celebrate her life on Thursday with  a service at noon at Rainsville Funeral Home.  Her beloved pastor from Michigan is coming to participate in the service, as well.  Visitation will be Wednesday from 3-9 and Thursday from 11-Noon at Rainsville Funeral Home.  We will be providing a meal for the family on Thursday.  If you can bring a dish, it would be appreciated.

Thanks for your kind offering Sunday night for the Gideon ministry.  You gave $770.00 for the ministry.  Don't forget we have the special cards in which you can honor someone or memorialize someone with a Gideon offering.

Kendle's Friends is this Saturday.  We look forward to this wonderful quarterly event.