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My Post.

The importance of the Cross

Please check out www.worshipmatters.com and scroll down to the second blog which is entitled "Are we forgetting the cross?" Have we forgotten the cross in our worship and in our preaching? For me I know that I sometimes have erred in thinking that everyone understands the cross...but the truth is they don't. Do you understand why the cross was needed? I pray you do....so you will make me accountable to always have it in the forefront of all we sing and preach at New Beginnings Baptist Church.

Singing but not worshipping

So I'm studying Romans chapter 12 and I have noticed something. In verses 1-3 Paul basically outlines what it means to truly worship by stating that we should be "living sacrifices" that are "holy and pleasing to God" and that we do this by "not conforming to the pattern of this world."
However, I couldn't help but noticed that a few verses later he is challenging the members of the body (Christians) to use their gifts. Now we have all heard the saying that 20% of church members do 80% of the work.....I don't know if that is an accurate number or not but I do feel confident in saying that the majority of Christians do nothing more than attend church and are rarely involved in ministries within or outside the church.
Having said that I just wonder if Paul would say to us that you couldn't be a "living sacrifice" if you aren't PLUGGED into a church meaning working and participating in a ministry....and your backside being planted in a chair or pew singing songs isn't a ministry.
So I think Paul would say and I believe the scriptures in Romans 12 IS saying that you can't be a true worshiper of God unless you are using your gift in a ministry!
Sooo...based on that thought it would seem that a large portion of the American church is just singing on Sundays and really aren't worshipping.
Are you just singing or are you plugged into the body of Christ using your gift for the advancement of the Gospel?
Quit singing and start worshipping....its a whole lot more fun!

Renewing the flesh?

I've been preaching through Romans 12 the last few weeks and I am really chewing on verse 2...you know the whole "renewing your mind" thing. Yea...it seems to be an easy verse to understand and for the most part it is but I've been thinking about renewing the flesh. The good 'old flesh....I like renewing it and it shows by how much time I spend renewing it. Our flesh needs renewing...it does...just go a few days without a bath or don't brush your teeth for a week..you'll catch on real quick that your flesh needs renewing. You see most of us get up each morning and brush our teeth, take a bath and eat...why you say? Well we need renewal and so we do things that renew our body...which is why we feel so much better after a shower. However, we also renew other parts of our flesh....you know the sin part of our flesh. We watch stuff on television that we shouldn't watch and I ain't talking about just shows with nudity or stuff...but just general stuff on T.V. that brings no glory to God...I mean ZERO glory to God. We know that it doesn't bring glory to God...but we watch it anyway. We listen to stuff, tell stories about stuff, e-mail stuff, read stuff, surf stuff and dwell on stuff that does nothing for renewing our spiritual minds.....but does plenty for renewing our flesh.
What's really strange about us is that we get frustrated that our walk with the Lord isn't what we want it to be and we wonder why?
Well of course it can be what we want...we are renewing our flesh mind and not our spiritual mind!!
So how do we renew our spiritual mind? Well that's the question the church needs to be asking itself. How do we continue this "transformation" (Rom. 12:2) that started with our salvation in Christ?
The answer is.....the Word of God. Yep...no shortcuts...no skipping the hard part...the answer is still contained in the scriptures...and for that matter the answer will ALWAYS be found in the scriptures. (II Tim. 3:16-17)
I believe part of the answer for renewing your spiritual mind is found in Phil. 4:8-9....what do you think?

Congratulations Travis Cardwell

Congratulations to my good friend Travis Cardwell who is graduating this Saturday (May 6th) with his master's degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Houston.
He has stuck it out for 4 1/2 years to get to this point...and I respect that a whole lot.
I am really glad you did this because since you've graduated from seminary I don't have to go...I'll just hit you up for information for all of my sermons..HA!
Truly though...you've worked hard and you deserved a BIG HIGH FIVE!
One of these days some church is going to have the great priveledge of you being their pastor. You'll do well I know.
Congrats again!

Together for the Gospel

What an incredible week I had at the Together for the Gospel conference for pastors held in Kentucky. I arrived not knowing exactly what to expect but before the week was over I was humbled, convicted and encouraged. What a true joy is was to sit with over 2500 men devoted to the service of the Lord and listen to some of the greatest preachers in the world preach to well...the preachers.
The Lord used this week to refreshen, refocus and realign those of us who stand in the pulpits across the world to preach the Gospel. I left with a better understanding of who I am , what my role is and what I should be preaching and how I should be living.
I also was able to attend with several friends of mine who are on staff at various churches and our time together is always a blast and an encouragment as we are all facing similiar struggles.
The last night of the conference I had the opportunity to participate in a round table discussion with 6 other pastors, teachers, seminary students and laymen to discuss what what we had learned or been reminded of. That discussion was recorded and can be listened to by going to the Alethia Ministries link on the right hand of this webpage.
At this link you will be able to listen to our discussion and will hear 6 guys being honest about what the Lord spoke into their spirits this week and how each one truly desires to make their lives count for Christ.
A BIG THANK YOU goes out to New Beginnings Baptist Church which graciously allowed me to attend the conference. I hope you will see the fruit of this conference by seeing more of Christ behind the pulpit and less of me.
Another Thank you goes out to my friend Travis Cardwell for inviting me and then putting up with me for a whole week.
What a BLESSING it is to preach Christ!

HE IS ALIVE! HE IS RETURING! HE IS GOD...AND I BELONG TO HIM!!

simple

Do you remember when the Christian life was simple? I mean back in the youth group days you just went to church...read your Bible....listen to music...etc. Now adays as an adult...it's just gotten extremely complicated...so many choices...so many decisions. Am I right? Maybe its just me but this walk with Christ can be complicated sometimes.....I guess that's part of the refiner's fire...causing us to depend upon Him more and more.....I can't wait for Heaven...surely it's simple up there!

My very own BLOG

WOW! My very own BLOG......yea...whatever.