The Value of a Friend

Back in the mid 80’s I was pretty sick of one song in particular. Working at our college radio station, the most requested song was probably Michael W. Smith’s “Friends.” People were singing it at graduations, people would call in and request it to be dedicated to a friend, on and on. Don’t get me wrong; I hold no ill will toward Mr. Smith; I just got sick of the song.

In fact, my radio partner, David King, and I came up with the bright idea of speeding up the turntable (younger readers can ask their parents) and we told people it was the Chipmunk version of the song, just to add some variety. Ironically, some started calling in and even requesting that! (I’m sure we broke several copyright laws or something on that one, and I’m hoping the statute of limitations has run out on that particular crime; if not, it was David’s idea!)

Anyway, those college days and the message of that song were both called to mind recently. My good friend Rodney Albert wrote on his blog of the continuing decent our alma mater has taken into the depths of liberalism, relativism, and about a dozen other –isms (you can read about it here if you want more details). And, bless his heart, he mentions our friendship as one of the few positive results of his time there.

I have to admit I nearly got a bit teary-eyed when I read that. No sarcasm here: I went to college as a new Christian, and God used Rodney’s sage advice (read browbeating arguments) to keep me from falling down into the pit of the neo-orthodox/liberal theology that was being presented into the classroom. He is more than just a friend; he is a mentor, role-model, and brother.

But the whole thing has made me think. How much appreciation do I truly show for the friends God has placed in my life? Sadly, I’ve lost touch with many people whom God used to bring me to His Son. Tina Cantrell, the girl I went to church for in the first place. David Brown, the friend who sat me down at camp and presented God’s truth to me. I haven’t heard from either in years. Not a very good friend, am I?

I’ve even fallen out of touch with Scott Johnson, who was best man at my wedding . . . talk about pathetic (me, that is). Bob Lay roomed with me for three years in college (talk about cruel and unusual punishment!) and likewise stood up for me at my wedding. We occasionally email and send Christmas cards, but is that being a real friend?

I’ve done better with some like Rodney; we try to keep up with each other (if nothing else we read each other’s blogs!). Cheryl and I try to keep tabs on Joey and Jeri Rodgers who adopted a newlywed couple far from home at Southwestern Seminary. But even there, we’ve slipped.

I know those reading this don’t know these people (assuming anyone is even reading this). But I needed to mention the names again, anyway. And I need to take the time to get back in touch; to let them know that God used them for His glory in my life; to tell them I appreciate them, even if I haven’t shown it.

Those familiar proverbs come to mind (all ESV):

Proverbs 17:17 - A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 18:24 - A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 27:9 - Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.

We ought to appreciate our friends more. We ought to spend time on our knees thanking God for them; they put up with us after all. And we ought to take time to let them know it. I’m going to try to do a better job of that.

And I might just go home and cue up an old Michael W. Smith record!

Some Flag Day Thoughts

A we proudly fly our flags on this Flag Day, remember these words from Francis Scott Key, author of our national anthem…

The patriot who feels himself in the service of God, who acknowledges Him in all his ways, has the promise of Almighty direction, and will find His Word in his greatest darkness, ‘a lantern to his feet and a lamp unto his paths.’ He will therefore seek to establish for his country in the eyes of the world, such a character as shall make her not unworthy of the name of a Christian nation…

As well as stanza four of our National Anthem itself:

O! thus be it ever when free men shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation;
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just;
And this be our motto, “In God is our trust!”
And the star spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

HAPPY FLAG DAY!

Does The Missouri Baptist Convention Need Saving?

Two weeks ago, 11 pastors from some of the largest churches in the MBC called a meeting (at least some folks were invited; not me) to express their “concerns” over matters in the state convention. The cute little title for this meeting was “Save Our Convention.” One email that went out prior to the meeting (which I obtained a bootleg copy of) stated:

Folks, these are desperate times!

That email went on to say that the main issue was:

…the political agenda of a select group of individuals seeking to control the direction of this convention to the neglect of the voices of the masses. It is our belief that this agenda has culminated in the manipulation of the Nominating Committee process as well as a tightening of the reins in the area of church planting and a lessening of involvement among our fellow Missouri Baptists.

Can you say “fear mongering?”

During that meeting in St. Louis (which I didn’t attend, largely because I wasn’t invited) information was passed out stating the concerns more fully. (Thanks to David Krueger’s blog for posting this information for the rest of us to see; and for a very good commentary on it).

That handout said in part:

What is Our Purpose?

1. To break the power-hold that a small group has on the Missouri Baptist Convention.

2. To halt the spread of a legalistic spirit and allow for diversity of opinion on non-essentials.

3. To include all those who want to work together with the Baptist, Faith and Message as our guide.

Can you say “innuendo?”

Furthermore, the statement laid out these objectives:

Goals for Missouri Baptist Convention

• Elect new slate of officers President 1st and 2nd Vice President Recording Secretary

• Reject Nominating Committee Report if it is not reflective of people who represent the MBC as a whole and adopt a substitute minority report.

• Reject Presidents Nominations for the Nominating Committee if those nominations are power brokers and do not reflect the MBC as a whole.

Can you say “ridiculous?”

If the issue is the political machinations of a small group of men and women (who by the way are named in the report), then how is that solved by replacing it with the political machinations of this group instead?

The question is: Does the Missouri Baptist Convention need saving?

The answer is “Yes” and “No.”

No, the MBC does not need saving from the current Executive Board, which according to the SOC group is a mere ignorant puppet of the reported power mad individuals they list. I know several Board members and know them to be much more intelligent than that.

No, the MBC does not need to be saved from the remnants of Project 1000, the movement several years ago to reclaim a conservative direction in our state. That movement is over and done with. The only evidence the SOC group can point out to the contrary is an article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, which we all know clearly beats with the pulse of the average Missouri Baptist. (Can you say “sarcasm?”)

No, the MBC does not need to be saved from any of these perceived threats, none of which has any factual basis. However…

Yes, the MBC does need to be saved from individuals who spread fear and division.

Yes, the MBC does need to be saved from those who would continue to lead us down a path toward moral relativism (see my previous post), many of whom do seem to be involved in church planting as the above statement maintains.

Yes, the MBC does need to be saved from those whose best solution to “power brokers” is to become their own power brokers. (Read those stated goals again). I guess it’s OK to politick and control as long as you’re the one doing it, right?

Yes, the MBC does need to be saved from those who say they are concerned about the “masses” not being represented when they haven’t consulted those “masses” themselves. The last time I checked, I wasn’t a power broker, which would make me a “mass,” I guess. No one asked me if I was offended. No one asked me if I felt left out. And yet the SOC group assumes to speak for me.

Yes, the MBC does need saving from those who highlight the service of certain individuals on boards and agencies trying to show their supposed “control” while neglecting to mention that several of the SOC members have themselves served on just as many boards. But no one accuses them of a “power-hold.”

The MBC needs our prayers. Our state leadership and our state staff need our support. And we ought to be concerned about our direction as a state. Yet, for some reason, I’m much more concerned about the agenda of the SOC and their misinformation and innuendo than about anything else.

(For a much more insightful take on this, read the blogs by Rodney Albert or David Krueger)

What Ever Happened To Sin?

From alcohol to pornographic advertising, it seems as though some self-proclaimed conservatives are not as conservative as one might think. On a discussion list for supposedly conservative Missouri Baptists, the ongoing debate is over the use of alcohol (see my previous post for my opinion about that; if you really care about my opinion, that is).

What is so surprising is the large number of pastors on this list who not only have no problem with alcohol in general, but are going to great lengths to support its consumption. And when someone suggested that one argument against alcohol is the predominance of sexual images in its advertising, these same pastors gave a somewhat “oh well” response.

Someone likened it to the overtly sexual ads being run by Hardees these days, which are appalling, and again the response was flippant and dismissive. Derisive comments about “boycotts” were thrown out, as if it would be ignorant of Christians to avoid supporting that particular chain because of its offensive ads. In voicing my concern, I was told, “just flip the channel.”

Is this what the church has become? We no longer oppose sin, we just ignore it and pretend its not there. I understand that we are surrounded by a sinful world system, and it would be impossible to avoid any and all contact with every business that has any connection to sinful behavior in any way. I’m pretty naïve, but I’m not stupid.

But that sort of extremism is not what I’m talking about. It’s not a matter of looking in every nook and cranny to find any hint of any sin anywhere. Yet when a company like Hardees or the beer industry flaunts it in our face, mocking us, assuming this is the sort of trash that will encourage people to buy their products, shouldn’t Christian people respond? Shouldn’t we see this as a genuine slap in the face to Biblical morals? Or have I really become that much of a prude? (and even if so, is that so bad?!)

There seems to be a slow erosion of moral values even within the church. People talk about Jesus eating with the sinners, etc. However, I don’t seem to recall Jesus ever speaking flippantly about that sin. Yes He ate with them, but He also called attention to their sin, the seriousness of it, and called them out of it. He didn’t just pretend it wasn’t there by “flipping the channel.”

And whether we like it or not, there is a biblical command to “come out from among them and be separate” (2 Corinthians 6:17). Not in a haughty, judgmental way; but in an obviously observable one. We don’t live like the world, we don’t act or think like the world, and we should not accept what the world accepts.

I’m honestly concerned about our Missouri Baptist Convention. Not just about the politicking going on (see Rodney Albert’s blog for a wonderful take on this), but where we are heading on these moral issues. If we fail to stand for the Biblical moral values, I wonder how long God will bless our efforts. As someone reminded me lately: No purity, no power. I pray the MBC will continue to have both.

Another Attack on the Family

In a sick and twisted irony, in the days leading up to the celebration of Mother’s Day, the liberal wackos have chosen to spew forth more offensive anti-family garbage.

British news agencies tell of a recent report from the environmentalist organization Optimum Population Trust which suggests that having too many children is bad for the planet. That’s right, I’m not joking. You’re kids are harming the ozone!

The report suggests that “The most effective personal climate change strategy is limiting the number of children one has. The most effective national and global climate change strategy is limiting the size of the population. Population limitation should therefore be seen as the most cost-effective carbon offsetting strategy available to individuals and nations.”

John Guillebaud, co-chairman of OPT and emeritus professor of family planning at University College London, said: "The effect on the planet of having one child less is an order of magnitude greater than all these other things we might do, such as switching off lights. . . The greatest thing anyone in Britain could do to help the future of the planet would be to have one less child." Professor Guillebaud says that, as a general guideline, couples should produce no more than two offspring.

The report concludes that “having large families should be frowned upon as an environmental misdemeanour in the same way as frequent long-haul flights, driving a big car and failing to reuse plastic bags.”

As an added vulgarity, the OPT website cites the supposed “cost” of each individual child over a lifetime, and then adds: “A 35-pence condom, which could avert that £30,000 cost from a single use, thus represents a ‘spectacular’ potential return on investment – around nine million per cent.”

This is just the further extension of the environmentalist claim that humans are mere parasites on the planet, a message related even in so-called “family films” like the recent Happy Feet.

Of course, this all flies in the face of the biblical command given by God that man should be fruitful and multiply.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Gen 1:27-28 (ESV)

Actually, God even had a second chance to get it right. Just in case He hadn’t realized the CO2 problem that would have resulted form all those kids, He could have started over after the Flood. But even after wiping out the whole of creation and starting again, he repeated the command.

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Genesis 9:1 (ESV)

God clearly tells us that children are a blessing and reward:

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! Psalm 127:3-5 (ESV)

You would think that the Creator of the Universe would be smart enough to know how much CO2 emissions each of these little blessings would emit and whether or not they would “damage” the planet. You’d think He would have considered that before encouraging “quivers full” of the little guys.

Here’s a suggestion. Good Christian people of the world, be fruitful and multiply. Have as many of those blessings as God will allow. Bring them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord so they will be Christ honoring people.

And for the liberal environmentalist children haters, go ahead and listen to the OPT lies. In a generation we’ll out-number you!

National Day of Prayer

One of my all time favorite books is called The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. I use it as a devotional and often use some of its prayers in our worship services.

In recognition of today as the National Day of Prayer, I offer this prayer from that collection for myself, my family, my church and our nation:

Most High God,

The universe with all its myriad creatures is thine,
made by thy word,
upheld by thy power,
governed by thy will.

But thou art also the Father of mercies,
the God of all grace,
the bestower of all comfort,
the protector of the saved.

Thou hast been mindful of us,
hast visited us, preserved us,
given us a goodly heritage -
the Holy Scriptures,
the joyful gospel,
the Saviour of Souls,

We come to thee in Jesus’ name,
make mention of his righteousness only,
plead his obedience and sufferings
who magnified the law both in its precepts
and penalty, and made it honourable.

May we be justified by his blood,
saved by his life,
joined to his Spirit.

Let us take up his cross and follow him.

May the agency of thy grace prepare us for thy dispensations.

Make us willing that thou shouldest
choose our inheritance and
determine what we shall retain or lose,
suffer or enjoy;

If blessed with prosperity may we be
free from its snares,
and use, not abuse, its advantages;

May we patiently and cheerfully
submit to those afflictions which are necessary.

When we are tempted to wander,
hedge up our way,
excite in us abhorrence of sin,
wean us from the present evil world,

Assure us that we shall at last enter
Immanuel’s land where none is ever sick,
and the sun will always shine.

An Argument Against Alcohol

“Dad, why don’t we drink alcohol?”

“Because the Bible says in Proverbs 20:1 that ‘Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.’”

“What does that mean, Dad?”

“It means that drinking makes you stupid, son.”

Case in point. Jeff Gordon won last weekend’s NASCAR race at Talladega; his second in a row and the 77th of his career, breaking the late Dale Earnhardt’s career total. Since Earnhardt won 10 of these races in Alabama, the faithful there took exception to Gordon’s surpassing their hero, and they rewarded him by tossing beer cans and other items onto the track. Drinking makes you stupid.

This isn’t the first time this has happened. A couple of years back Gordon defeated the legend’s son, Dale, Jr. at the same track and had a similar coronation display. This time, track officials even warned the fans prior to the race that such behavior would result in arrests. Yet the beer toss happened anyway; and indeed, 14 fans were arrested and banned for life from the Talladega Superspeedway.

The issue is not the fans' displeasure over Gordon; we’re all entitled to our opinions. But the beer barrage is not only in poor taste and shows poor sportsmanship; it is a danger to other fans, some of whom are children. Drinking makes you stupid.

The debate has been raging in SBC and MBC circles about the virtue or vice of alcohol. We’ve had the issue thrown in our face by some new church starts who think alcohol consumption is a non-issue and in fact even hold some of their Bible studies in bars and breweries.

The argument is that the Bible is neutral on the issue, sometimes holding up the virtue of drink, other times condemning its abuse. There is some validity to that on the face. But the issue runs deeper.

Scripture also says this:

Philippians 2:4 - Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Romans 14:21 - It is good not to eat
meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

We live in a culture where alcohol is a problem for millions. They struggle with it’s effects in their lives and for us to take a casual approach to the issue may cause them to stumble. I have a friend who has that exact experience.

After years of sobriety, he attended a Sunday School gathering where alcohol was tolerated and even promoted. Seeing those he respected consuming alcohol broke down the barriers he had erected regarding the matter. As a result, he fell into sin. Drinking made him stupid.

Don’t misunderstand. This brother’s sin is his own. The SS class didn’t force him to do it. But their cavalier attitude toward drinking was in violation of both texts quoted above.

We need to open our eyes and quit pretending that we live in a culture in which we will never have to deal with brothers like this. They are everywhere. They are in our churches. They are obviously at the race track. Our Christian liberty needs to take a back seat to their best good. Abstaining from alcohol is the wisest choice for them and for us.

“Dad, why did those people do such a stupid thing? Someone could have gotten hurt?”

“You’re right, son. But remember ‘Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.’”

Gun Control or Sin Control

The liberal wags didn’t take long to begin honking their gun control horn in response to the tragedy of last week. The typical party line is that if this maniac didn’t have access to a gun, none of this would have happened.

Along those lines, one could argue that if England had instituted stricter knife control legislation, Jack the Ripper would have been out of business. Or maybe if Rome had legislated more restrictions on lion usage, thousands of Christians wouldn’t have died in the Coliseum.

Of course those are ridiculous statements; just as ridiculous as those who want to blame this tragedy on the gun. Let’s face it: mankind is depraved. And because mankind is depraved, we will continue to find new and horrifying ways to exhibit that depravity.

Horrific crimes happen every day without the use of guns (and that’s not even taking into consideration the number of murders that happen each day in the legally protected medical sterility of our nation’s abortuaries). The choice of weapon is not the issue. The blackness of man’s heart is.

Our nation needs to once again wake up to the reality that our only hope is in Christ. Only Christ can make the heart new. Only Christ can remake us into people who would rather love than kill. Apart from grace in Christ, we are no better than the Cho’s of this world.

There, I said it. My wife told me not to, but it’s true. “There but for the grace of God go I” is not just a cliché. Without the grace of God at work in our hearts, each and every one of us is a slave to sin (Romans 6), and slaves to sin can be led to do any number of horrific things, including murder. It’s there in your heart whether you realize it or not. And only Christ can remove it.

Our nation isn’t in need of stricter gun laws; we need to remove the restrictions on the Gospel that have been slowly creeping into the national law books. We are in need of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Nothing else will change the black heart of sin.

So let’s get going Church. Push for more “sin control.” Preach the Word. Make Disciples. And to God be the Glory.

Phantastic Phinish at Phoenix!!

PHINALLY PHOENIX!

For those who don't know, after 15 years of trying Jeff Gordon finally won at one of the few tracks he's not won at during his stellar career; and tied the late, great Dale Earnhardt for career wins at the same time.

For those who don't care, I'll try to get back to normal programming soon.

GO 24!!

Hope For Life in the Wake of Death

Following on the heels of the tragic loss of life in Virginia, the US Supreme Court made a welcome defense of life. In the case of Gonzales v. Carhart, the court voted 5-4 to uphold a ban on the dreadful procedure of Partial Birth Abortion. Though this ban affects only a small percentage of the over a million abortions/murders in this nation each year, it is a step very much in the right direction.

President Bush even made a statement following the vote to applaud what he calls a decision which "represents a commitment to building a culture of life in America." Even more exciting for those who value life is the concurring opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas. He says:

I write separately to reiterate my view that the Court’s abortion jurisprudence, including Casey and Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113 (1973), has no basis in the Constitution. (emphasis added)

Death and tragedy surround us, but this is a welcome ray of hope and light. Praise God for men like Justice Thomas.