Pastor’s Page
Pastor’s Page Introduction
On this page I want to share some things that I have written over the past several years. Some have been published in the local paper, The Montgomery Herald, some have been published by Ethics Daily, an online Baptist paper, and some have not been published for various reasons. I am placing these articles here because they provide insight into what I believe to be important and indicate the kind of church that First Baptist, Biscoe is since it has given me employment for more than 27 years. The following is the introduction to my first article for the Montgomery Herald:
Tammy has asked me to write a monthly article for the newspaper. Since I am a preacher, you might think that writing is something I do all the time. Not so. My weekly sermons are delivered from outlines that no one else could use! Writing scares me because I am not able to gage whether the reader has understood what I am trying to say. However, Tammy’s request has come at the right time for me since I have been pondering, for some time now, how different the message of Jesus is from the public perception of Christianity in America. I write now because I feel that the church has lost its way and is in danger of turning away from the example of Jesus. This article will serve as an introduction to those that will follow.
The church of twenty-first century America has reduced Christian beliefs. It has tamed the radical Jesus so that He approves of the way we are in the world. Listening to folk talk you’d think that Jesus blessed the rich and not the poor (Luke 6:20), that he said bomb your enemies instead of love them (Matthew 5:43-45), that he praised retaliation and banned forgiveness (Matthew 6:12-15), that he called his followers to pride and not humility (Matthew 23:11-12). The task ahead for the church is to reclaim Jesus. The task will not be easy because those who claim most loudly to be his followers are often the ones who have performed the reduction.
The work of the church is now, as it always has been, to proclaim the message of Jesus. Proclaiming Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of God that turns our values upside down. Ours is a world that uses the deadly sins (pride, greed, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth) as virtues and the virtues (humility, generosity, love, kindness, self control, faith, zeal) as vices or foolishness. People who go to church are sometimes taught to live lives completely counter to the Founder of our faith. The preachers who know better are often afraid to speak the truth they know because they are frightened that they might lose their jobs or split their churches. The church is called not to applaud the values of the world but to be, on earth, an outpost of God’s everlasting Kingdom.
Growing Up
Sin
What Makes Jesus Run?
Seeing Our Sin
Women In Bible
The Woman Who Proclaimed That We Should Not Let her Speak
In The Kingdom of God Women Are Fully Human
Suffering, Jesus and Us
Advent People
Creation
I Only Know Why
Grace
Grace in Creation
Grace as Forgiveness
The Reduction Of Christmas
Why We Can’t See the Truth