My Sabbitical July 1-31

The church I pastor has graciously given me a sabbatical for the month of July.  This is only the second sabbatical I have had in my 46 years of being a pastor.  It was with interest I heard Dr. Jeff Iorg's podcast last week on the issue of rest.  I have included the link to the podcast at the bottom if you want to hear it in its fullness.

But Dr. Iorg said there are "Models of Rest" in the Bible.  The first is the Sabbath day found in Genesis 2:2 when God rested on the seventh day.  He did not rest because He was tired, but rather to set an example and put into pattern the normality of resting every seven days.  These days are to be days to worship and reconnect with family.  But let me just suggest, that we don't observe a sabbath very well.  For most people, the "day of rest" is just another day to get done what we did not get done the other six days.

The second model found in the Old Testament was the feast weeks.  There were three feasts extending from one Sabbath to the next.  These eight days were set for the Jews to worship God and recalibrate their lives around who God was and what He had done.

Lastly, there was an entire year of rest granted for the land and for new married couples.

He summarizes with three main purposes of these rest periods God ordained.

1. Remind us God is our creator, provider, and sustainer.

2. Refocus our life on God and His presence in our life.  The focus of our life is not work, but God.

3. Rejunate us for work.  

As I begin this sabbatical on July 1, I will step away from blogging and social media in order to focus on God and rest.  I will admit, as a pastor, this is a bit scary.  As a pastor, there is never a time when my mind and my heart are not engaged with God's people and His work.  To take 31 days of disconnecting will be hard, but I believe it will be healthy and good.

Pray for Roxanne and me as we spend these days with God, each other, and family.

Here is the link to Dr. Iorg's podcast.

Blessings;

David

Young Man, Don’t Even Make that First Sports Bet by Tim Challies

 It’s impossible to avoid the advertising and impossible to miss the claims. Sports are great, they say, but do you know what makes them even better? Adding a little wager. Sports are exciting, they say, but even more exciting when you’ve got a bit of money riding on them. So why not enjoy them all the way? Just download our app and try it out. It’s easy. It’s harmless. And it’s so much fun.

In the past few years, sports betting has exploded into the mainstream. You can’t watch a game without seeing ads for it and, if you’re within their target audience, you can’t surf the web or visit an app store without seeing the banners. If you’re a man, and especially if you’re a young man, they’re after you. They want you. And they know you’re vulnerable.

But young man, I want to encourage you: Don’t consider it. Don’t do it. Don’t even make that first bet. I’m going to give you four reasons that betting is not only unwise but also sinful—four reasons that you should avoid it altogether.

First, betting is an expression of idolatry. We all understand what it is to have a discontented spirit and to want to have more than we do now. Yet God commands us to be content with what he has provided. And, even better, he also promises to provide all that we need. Ultimately, we are to be content in him, no matter what we have or don’t have. Betting is a sure sign of discontentment and proof that you have an idolatrous relationship with money—proof that you are looking to money to provide what God wants you to derive from your relationship with him. “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5).

Second, betting represents an illicit form of gain, not one that receives God’s blessing. God means for us to work to earn money, not to gamble for it. “He who tills his land will have plenty of food, but he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty. A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished” (Proverbs 28:19-20). Betting is the ultimate form of “making haste to be rich” instead of laboring to have enough. God does not sanction gambling as a means of gaining wealth. He will not bless it.

Third, betting is a failure to love others. God calls us to love others and to always seek their good. Yet by definition, betting is a form of taking rather than giving. It is not the exchanging of goods or services for money, but the enriching of one person through the impoverishment of another. You can only win when somebody else loses. Hence, to win at betting may be a greater evil than to lose at it, for in losing at least you are only victimizing yourself. “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Betting is not loving, not just, and not merciful.

Fourth, betting is dangerous. All sin is progressive and all sin aims at the uttermost. The invitation to sin in a small and seemingly harmless way is actually an invitation to sin in the greatest and most substantial ways. Adultery begins with just a peek and murder begins with just an angry thought. In that vein, the invitation to make even a small bet is actually the invitation to theft, to addiction, and to financial catastrophe. “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent … For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird, but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives. Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors” (Proverbs 1:10, 17-19).

I don’t mean to deny the claims that betting makes sports more exciting. If you’ve ever participated in a really good fantasy league, you’ve probably experienced a kind of “enhancement” to sports that makes them all the more exciting. But what you need to know is that everything in this world is ultimately disappointing. The greatest thrills still fall short of what we long for. Hence, there will always be an element of disappointment or dissatisfaction. That’s true of sex, true of drugs, true of gambling, and true of everything else. You would almost think that God has purposely put dampers on even the greatest pleasures to help us understand that nothing in this world will ultimately satisfy our restless souls—and, of course, to cause us to look beyond this world. And should you win thousands or millions, even that thrill will soon fade and your heart will continue to be restless and discontent.

So, my friend, don’t listen to their lies. Don’t let them persuade you. Don’t make that first bet.

But if you are unpersuaded and choose to disregard me—if you go ahead and make that first bet—I have a hope for you. I hope that you’ll lose badly. Losing badly would be God’s grace in your life and his means of warning you away from much more dire consequences. As De Witt Talmage said a very long time ago, “The only man who gambles successfully is the man who loses so fearfully at the start that he is disgusted and quits. Let him win at the start, and win again, and it means farewell to home and heaven.”

The God Revealed to Job is Our God Today

In 2019 I did a year-long study leading our church through the Book of Job.  I called it "The Pain of Suffering Alone."  I was recently reading again some of the highlights of the book of Job when I once again climbed the peak of God's sovereignty as revealed to Job in chapter 42.

It is in the backdrop of chapters 38-41 when God reveals through a series of unanswerable questions of who He is over opposed to who Job thought, as a mere man.  Then the great response of Job in 42:2 "I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of YOurs can be withheld from You."

Job finally grasps that God is so great that He can and does control supernatural evil in his good government of the world.  Evil is not without control and is not independent of the all-powerful God.  There is no eternal struggle between God and Satan.  That was settled before the foundation of the world and Satan knows his limited abilities.  

As one said, "Satan is on God's leash."

Luther described Satan as "God's Satan."

Romans 8: 28 is true even in Job 42 - God is able to work everything (evil and good) for HIs purposes.  And no purpose will be withheld from Him.

Do you "know" this?  (42:2) If so, it will change the way you look at EVERYTHING in your life personally, family, church, community, nation, world.  EVERYTHING....God is bigger and better than it all.

Blessings;

David

Mature in Purity from Sin HOW HIGH ARE GOD'S STANDARDS FOR PURITY? by Andy Davis

 

"When Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure." 1 John 3:2-3  

"Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." 2 Corinthians 7:1

 Maturing Christians develop a lifestyle pure from sin in sex, speech, relationships, and pleasures. Essential to holiness is purity… freedom from the defilements of sin. If we are to be conformed to Christ, we must purify ourselves, body, soul, and spirit, from anything that contaminates us. There are four key areas of purification that scripture focuses its attention on, and though these four do not exhaust every possible realm of purification, yet they are the most significant. They are: sex, speech, relationships, and pleasures.

Sexual purity is vital to holiness. From the moment that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked. That moment began the battle for sexual purity that has continued to this present day. Any discerning Christian can see how vital this issue is by seeing the overwhelming attack Satan makes on this weak spot. If we were charged with defending a walled fortress during the Middle Ages, and from the top of our defenses we perceived the enemy constantly assaulting one specific spot in the walls, we must conclude that that place is vulnerable and obviously weak. Satan has been attacking souls throughout all of history and he knows very well what he is doing. Consider the internet: about 12% of all websites are pornographic, and 20% of all mobile searches are for such material.

Beyond the internet, we see devastating statistics on fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and all other manners of sexual sin. Satan is relentlessly attacking our souls sexually. God calls Christians to absolute sexual purity, and Jesus says our commitment to sexual purity should be to the level of cutting off our right hands and gouging out our right eyes if they lead us to sin in this area. He clearly warns us about hell in direct connection with sexual sin (Matthew 5:30). God’s standards are sexual abstinence except within the context of monogamous heterosexual marriage. And Jesus extends it to our thought life, for all sin originates in the mind.

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"If we are to be conformed to Christ, we must purify ourselves, body, soul, and spirit, from anything that contaminates us."

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Next, we must purify our speech. James says, “If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man” (James 3:2). He says the tongue is a “restless evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8). The ways we can sin with our speech are many: lies, gossip, slander, complaining, arguing, blasphemy, false doctrine, boasting, etc. God calls on us to reign in the tongue. Helpless, we should pray, “Set a guard over the door of my mouth, O Lord” (Psalm 141:3)! Since “out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34), we must begin by purifying our thoughts (as we just said concerning sexual purity). If we tend to complain, we must kill that sin in the mind with a heart of trust and thankfulness to God.

Third, we must seek holiness in our relationships by purifying them of bitterness, rage, anger, pride, and unforgiveness. These defiling sins destroy marriages, end friendships, ruin families and churches alike. The call to forgive those who have sinned against us is consistent and clear. So also is the command to get rid of all bitterness… deep-seated malice against others. To have a heart free from these pollutions is to walk light and free in this world, and humble too, because it is based on how much God has forgiven us.

Finally, God calls us to be pure in lawful pleasures…to not allow anything that he permits to gain idolatrous mastery over us. This includes food, drink, entertainments, hobbies, possessions, music, sports, movies, games, etc. We are surrounded by a myriad of blessings in this prosperous and comfortable age. It’s easy to become addicted to those blessings without even knowing it. A simple test is to fast from them occasionally. Paul said, “All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12). To be mastered by a lawful pleasure is idolatry. God calls us to a self-controlled life which we live for the kingdom of God and not for temporal pleasures.

You can view the original blog here. 

This Lord's Day (June 16, 2024) at Rainsville First Baptist Church

It is important for each church to have a mission statement.  Rainsville First Baptist Church has set as its mission "Glorifying God by Transforming Lives Through the Gospel and Discipleship."

We are spending five Sundays to walk through this mission statement and this Sunday is week number 3.  

Here is the million-dollar question:  "Can a person really change?"  

We will explore the statement "transforming lives" this Sunday and seek to answer the question of how effective is change in a person's life and how do a person change.  

Also this Sunday we will witness the baptism of Andi Andrews and Walker Jackson plus celebrate all of our men on Father's Day.

Blessings;

David

Don’t Speak Up: On the Spiritual Discipline of Silence by Mark Dever

One of the main things I do as a pastor is to encourage church members to speak. I want them to speak about the gospel to non-Christians. I want them to speak words of encouragement and correction to their fellow church members. Evangelism, discipling, and preaching—three of the nine marks—are all about speaking.

Yet it’s worth spending a moment on the flip side of the coin. There is a time for Christians not to speak.

Listen to Jesus: “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you” (Matt. 7:6).

Here and elsewhere, Scripture teaches that sometimes we should be quiet (see also Prov. 11:22; 23:9; Ecc. 3:7). Obedience does not always mean speaking up.

WE MUST EXERCISE DISCERNMENT

Jesus means for us to exercise discernment when we speak. He wants us to ask ourselves, “Is this person going to respond like a dog or a pig?”

So Solomon teaches in Proverbs 9:8: “Do not reprove a scoffer or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.” The same action, but two different reactions. The same words, but a wise person responds one way and a scoffer another.

Sometimes, we love others by correcting their sin, as in Matthew 18:15. Other times, however, we should leave them alone, as in Matthew 7:6.

David was a wise man. He accepted Nathan’s rebuke. But we could also list many scoffers in Scripture who didn’t.

SPEAKING CAN MAKE THINGS WORSE

As evangelicals, we often feel guilty for not evangelizing more, or not speaking a word of correction to a friend in sin. And sometimes that sense of guilt is correct! But here, Jesus identifies another way we can err: speaking up wrongly, at the wrong times, and to the wrong person.

If you watch a young person who’s very excited about a particular idea, you will often observe a trail of people in their wake who now oppose that idea. Why? Because they haven’t yet learned how to read their audience. So they argue and argue, and people respond by taking the opposite side. In fact, the knot of their opposition grows tighter the more a person argues.

We once had one brother around our church who believed in infant baptism. My keen and passionate Baptist staff all had the instinct to argue with him, yet I quickly forbade them from doing so. I explained that arguing with him would harden him in his position, and he would only get better at making his arguments. “Instead,” I said, “ignore the topic, love him, encourage him in the fruits of the Spirit, and let him find on his own what Scripture says in that contested territory.”

I’m happy to say that that man, by God’s grace, is now a Baptist minister.

DON’T SPEAK TO THOSE WHO WON’T LISTEN

Jesus had hearers who did not believe; he knew what it was like to be attacked. So he is certainly not telling us in Matthew 7:6 to avoid talking to unbelievers about the gospel. Instead, he’s referring to a category of persons who actively reject the message, whether through their indifference or hostility. You have shared the gospel or offered a correction, and they have proven unteachable.

His words about dogs and pigs in chapter 7 is similar to what he says in Matthew 10: “And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town” (Matt. 10:14).

Three times in the book of Acts we see Paul make this decision—in Pisidian Antioch (13:44–51), Corinth (18:5–6), and Rome (28:17–28).

It’s not that Paul didn’t bring the message to people. He brings the gospel to everyone. But after a certain amount of time, he knows it’s time to move on. He knows he cannot force people to believe.

GETTING PRACTICAL

What does this mean for us practically?

Suppose you share the gospel. The person proves unresponsive or even oppositional. Sometimes you do well to bring up the gospel again. But sometimes it’s best to be quiet and to pray.

We need boldness, but we also need wisdom.

We need humility about ourselves, but we also need discernment about others.

We should pray that God will lead us by his Spirit to know when it’s best to be quiet, to pray, and to live a life that commends the gospel, and when it’s best to add more of our own words.

I’m reminded of what Peter wrote to the wives of unbelieving husbands: “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives when they see your respectful and pure conduct” (1 Peter 3:1-2).

In other words, ask God for the wisdom to know when continuing to evangelize someone or correct someone might only harden them—when it’s better to simply turn around and talk to others. If you need help, ask your church’s elders. They will have sincere, if not inerrant, guidance. Ask them and other Christians to pray with you.

Jesus teaches in Matthew 7:6 that loving others involves exercising discernment. And sometimes discernment results in prayerful silence.

You can view this article online here in its original format.

The Southern Baptist Convention meeting this week in Indianapolis

The Southern Baptist Convention (of which Rainsville First Baptist Church voluntarily cooperates to enhance its mission) is meeting this week in Indianapolis.  Actually (against what most believe), the Southern Baptist Convention is only in operation two days a week when it meets for its annual meeting.  

You may watch the proceedings of the convention here.  

The Pastor's Conference beings on Sunday night and is all day Monday.  Charles Billingsley is leading the music for the Conference.  You may watch it here.

This Lord's Day (June 9, 2024) at Rainsville First Baptist Church

This Lord's Day at Rainsville First will be led by the preaching of Isaac Mays.  Isaac is one of our members whose deep love for the Lord and the Scriptures is
quite evident as you talk with him and certainly have you hear him preach or teach.  

Eli Reynolds will be leading the music.

On Wednesday night, June 12, Isaiah Craig will be preaching in the 6:00 service.  Please, notice the time change for the Wednesday night service. This is the first night of beginning at 6:00.

Thou Art My All - by Charles Spurgeon

 Thou Art My All (by C. H. Spurgeon)

Dear Lord, in thee I view my all,
And lovely is thy name.
For though on earth I slip or fall,
Thy love remains the same.

Each day reminds me I am weak
To stand against my foes;
And, but that I thy help may seek,
I’d fall beneath my woes.

But thou hast said my strength shall be
According to my day.
Thy promise has been kept to me,
And still will be I pray.

For what are we if left to roam
In life’s deceitful way?
Yet farther off, not nearer home,
Our feet are prone to stray.

Then never have us Lord to tread
This world without a guide.
And never let the tempter lead
Thine erring sheep aside.

“I will not leave, nor yet forsake
My people here below;
Until in glory they shall wake
And purer regions know.”

For further reflection: Deuteronomy 33:25–27