Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Amazing Wonders VBS


First & Second Graders at our 2012 VBS
Our Vacation Bible School is off to a great start! This morning, we had 32 children come learn about our “Awesome God! Amazing Power!” The kids were energetic and well-behaved, and I expect we’ll see even more of their friends show up tomorrow.

 Special thanks to all our staff this year. In all, we have 30 volunteers (youth & adults) helping our program run smoothly.

This year's VBS offering will support the Missionary Aviation Fellowship.  They deliver food, water, medicine, and Bibles to remote ares of the world. The boys took an early lead today by bringing $17.21, while the girls are close behind with $15.50. That means we already have $32.71 toward our goal of $100!

VBS is a great way to reach out to our community. One of the parents came up to me afterwards and said, “Thank you so much for doing this!”

Praise the Lord for a wonderful first day. Please keep praying for our program tomorrow and Thursday, and be sure to join us at First Southern this Friday at 6pm for Family Fun Night.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

SBC Makes History in New Orleans

Pastor David Crosby nominates Dr. Fred Luter as next President of the SBC
Today, we had the privilege of gathering in New Orleans to elect the first African-American President in the 167 year history of our Southern Baptist Convention. After nomination, Dr. Fred Luter ascended to the platform of the convention. Baptist Press describes what happened next...

It's customary, current SBC President Bryant Wright said, when there is only one candidate for elective office, for the SBC recording secretary to cast one vote for everyone.

"However, this chair on this occasion believes this historic moment should fully belong to the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention," Wright said. He instructed the messengers to stand if it was "their pleasure" that Luter be elected president.

It was.


[Almost 8,000 messengers stood and gave a rousing ovation]

As Luter came to the podium, he wiped his eyes, pointed toward heaven, and wiped his eyes again.

"To God be the glory for the things He has done," Luter simply said. "God bless you. I love you."

Wright wrapped his arm around Luter's shoulders as he prayed for the man elected to lead the Southern Baptist Convention as of Wednesday evening, June 20.


It was an emotional moment for all of us in the room. But as Danny Akin noted in the IX Marks at Nine meeting tonight, our work has just begun. This must be more than symbolic. We have elected our first African-American president of the SBC and shown once and for all that we have repented of our denomination's past. Now we must support Dr. Luter as he leads us into the future.

Free Book on Calvinism & the SBC



This book is available for free in ePub or mobi (Kindle) formats through the Founders website. It will be necessary for you to set up an account, but there is no charge, and no credit card info is required. The book was posted just this morning and demonstrates the power of technology in theological dialogue. 

Allow me to give a little background. Less than three weeks ago, a document was released called “A Statement of the Traditional Southern Baptist Understanding of God’s Plan of Salvation” which took aim against New Calvinism and the doctrines of grace. The document already has over 650 signatures and has been endorsed by many of the SBC’s non-Calvinist leaders. It sent the blogosphere into a frenzy and even prompted our SBC President Bryant Wright this morning to call Calvinism “the elephant in the room.” 

This short e-book began as a series of posts on the blog of Tom Ascol, director of Founders Ministry. It is a quick but reasoned response, seeking to set the record straight on this touchy subject. 

Personally, I use the label “Calvinist” sparingly, but I do believe the Bible teaches the doctrines of grace and I preach them unashamedly. I am happy to cooperate with my non-Calvinist brothers for gospel causes, but I believe that salvation is only best and fully understood when we see it as an act of God’s sovereign grace, all for His glory.

Monday, June 18, 2012

June 2012 Pastors Update

Here's my Pastor's Update from our quarterly business meeting yesterday...

Praise the Lord, we’re making progress in our mission to “make disciples of Jesus Christ by reaching and teaching everyone.” Worship service attendance is growing and we have several who are moving toward baptism and membership. More people are participating in Wednesday night Bible Study, and we have an average of twenty visitors to our website or podcast every day. We are also reaching our community by handing out free water and flyers at local events and have been able to minister to grieving families by hosting memorial services.

Four issues that need our special prayer are: children’s ministry, spacing issues, leadership development, and mercy ministry. We are noticing more and more families visiting the church looking for a children’s program and we need wisdom how to minister to these families. As attendance grows, we’re also feeling the space limits of our sanctuary, and that our current leaders are getting spread very thin. These are wonderful problems to have! Long-term, we also need to find a way to show the love of Christ in our community and find a holistic, biblical approach to help people with financial need (Soup kitchen? Homeless shelter? Rehab ranch? Food pantry? Job skills training?) Please partner with us in prayer over these opportunities.

As you know, we’re approaching the end of our series through 1 Corinthians on Sunday mornings. I have enjoyed this book immensely and am praying for where to head next. Some of the top contenders are Ecclesiastes, 2 Corinthians, and Titus. Look for a series on Prayer in late July, then a brand new expository series to begin sometime this fall.

March and April were a challenging time for our family as Natalie began to experience fatigue, shakiness, dizziness, and dangerously high blood pressure. This led to many doctor visits, tests, and two late night visits to ER. I’m reminded how blessed we are to have family health insurance. Insurance is a significant cost to our church, but it has saved our family tens (maybe even hundreds) of thousands of dollars. Thank you for obeying God’s word and giving “double honor” to those who labor at preaching and teaching (1 Timothy 5:17) so I can care for my family and give adequate attention to the ministry. We will continue to keep everyone updated as Natalie meets with the endocrinologist and we learn more about her condition.

New Blog

Today I'm closing up shop and launching a new blog called Pinch of Clay. You can visit it by clicking here . Please stop by and...