FIFS: 1 Corinthians 3:10-15

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 Mankind has been created by God for eternity and God has placed that longing in each one of us. As a result of this longing, man has sought news ways to live as long as possible. When it comes to eternity, according to the Bible, there are two options. Option #1: Eternity with God, conscious, and eternally living. Option #2: Eternity separated from God, conscious, and eternall dying. In 1 Corinthians 3:15, Paul makes a reference to being “saved”. He is talking about the eternal life that we will experience when know Christ as our personal Savior.

Paul wrote,  “10.  According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.
11. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
13. each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.
14. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.
15. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

In this passage, Paul gives the reader some building plans. He makes reference to foundation and building materials. Each one of us is building a life for ourselves. The difference maker is this: what are you building your life on and with. If we are to experience eternal life, there are some things we msut do.

1. If I am to experience eternal life, I must make Jesus Christ my eternal foundation. (3:11)

Paul instructs the Corinthian believers that he has given to them a foundation that is liek none other. There is no other foundation than Jesus Christ. Jesus is the foundation that eternal life is based upon. This foundation is established in the individual when we recieve Christ personally, believing that He was crucified, died for our sins, and rose on the third day as a living Savior.

2. If I am to experience eternal life, I must understand the danger of temporary foundations. (Matt 7:24-27)

If the foundation is wrong or weak, everything above and on it subject to come crashing down. If you don’t know Jesus, you have constructed a temporary foundation for your life. Jesus told the story of two builders, one built a house upon the rock and the other a house upon the sand. Both experienced storms. The house built ont the rock remained and the house built upon the sand fell, and the fall was great. In this life, we can construct dangerous and temporary foundations. What do these look like?  1. Finances  2. Fame & Fortune  3. Family  4. Flesh. Temporary foundations won’t enable you to weather the stroms of life.

3. If I am to experience eternal life, I must build with eternal materials. (3:12-15)

The things we do here in this life will determine the rewards received in our eternal life. Once I am sure of my foundation, I must then begin building with those things that will last and stand up at the time of judgment (gold, silver, precious stone). Building with hay, wood, and straw gives us the picture of doing things in life in human power and wisdom, and will all burn in the face of judgment.

Each one of should examine and make sure our foundation is sure and is eternal. As we build a life, build with those materials that honor and please the Lord.

A Marriage of Evangelism and Relationships

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I am always intrigued when a secular newspaper writes about matters pertaining to Christianity, especially the Southern Baptist Convention. The USA Today printed an article recently entitled, “Southern Baptists Urge Their Members to Evangelize More”. You can read the article here. This article highlights the need for increased evangelism and the possible reluctance to do so, in the face of the North American Mission Board’s national initiative that begins in 2010 called GPS, God’s Plan for Sharing. I’ll write more about GPS later.

The conclusions drawn come from a pool of 15,173 people who were surveyed by Lifeway Research. The results of the survey reveal the top two ways that people today would be somewhat willing to “receive information” about Jesus. I was not surprised by these two conclusions.

63% would be somewhat willing to receive information about Jesus in a personal conversation with a family member.

56% would be somewhat willing to receive information about Jesus from a friend or from the church.

The reason that I don’t find these results surprising is that I strongly believe that relationships matter. I believe relationships build the bridge that carry the gospel from those who believe to those who need to hear. Ed Stetzer, the Research Director for Lifeway said, “Baptists like to talk more about evangelism than to actually do it.” That is a spot-on assesment.

Other outreach methods were presented and were not favored as highly. These methods included print advertising, notes on doors, billboards, radio, television, and door-to-door knocking. Here again, no big surprise. I can understand why knocking on doors might be the least favorable approach. The majority of people have a fear of being rejected that keeps them from this form of evangelism. There are others who do not feel adeqaute enough or feel as if they know enough to speak to someone on a “cold” visit. Above all, this article reinforced a principle we have all heard before. People want to know how  much you care before they will care about how much you know. Relationships matter.

Orthodox vs Unorthodox

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I was talking with a member of my church the other day and I heard a statement that caused me to stop and think. We were talking about the sudden growth over the past several months of one  churches in our local baptist association. Here is the statement that caused me to think, “They certainly are doing some unorthodox things down there.” I sort of smiled and made a few comments. That conversation really caused me to think about how we as “church people” may think about how other “church people” do ministry.

According to Webster, “orthodox” is defined as “adhering to what is commonly accepted”. So, Iwould have to believe that the label “unorthodox” would assert that someone or something is not adhering to what is commonly accepted. Tow questions come to mind. First, who has determined what is commonly accepted? Second, can this common acceptance be applied across the board to all church ministry?

This particular church is doing some out-of-the-box ministry. They are seeking some creative ways to reach people that other churches are not. Most of their ideas are new to our area. As a result, it is drawing attention. I believe this entire issue of whether or not this church, or any other church is doing something considered to be “unorthodox” depends solely on the lens you are looking through.

Here is what I mean. If a person is looking through the lens of ministry that worked in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and are still convinced that still works, to them that would be “orthodox” ministry. As a result, anything that is new and different, even if it is reaching people, will be considered “unorthodox”. Far too often, this where tradition creeps in and becomes the driving force of ministry rather than the true needs of people.

We as a New Testament church are in grave danger if we allow tradition to dictate “what is commonly accepted” as methods of ministry instead of allowing God’s Word, the felt needs of people, and the landscape of ouor culture to develop our ministry methods.

Redefining Things Around Here

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I must admit that my posting here has not been what I desired it would when I started. My desire and intent for starting this blog was to write about matters of the Christian faith, denomational work and things pertaining to the church. Although I have written in that spirit, it has not been with any frequency.

I want to redefine and establish at least for myself what I want to accomplish here. I intend to write more about church life and the burden for community. In the near future I will be writing a series of posts on the local baptist association and what I believe is its future. Throughout the next three months, I hope to write on the issues that will be dealt with at the Souther Baptist Convention annual meeting in Louisville, KY that I am planning to attend. On Friday, there will a post entitled “Scripture of the Week”. This may be a scripture that spoke to me during the week or it may be a preview of one of Sunday’s messages. In the middle of the specific posts, there will be variouos posts dealing with ministry, church, and faith.

A Class Act

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It seems that all we hear of these days when it comes to sports teams is the negative. Whether it is news of professional players taking steroids, teams fighting on the floor of a basketball court, or athletes being arrested for serious crimes, it seems to be one bad story after another. So, to hear something uplifting is encouraging.

An act of true sportsmanship took place when the Dekalb Illinois high school basketball team played the Milwaukee Madison high school team. Dekalb head coach Dave Rohlman taught led his players in a most selfless act that you will have to read for yourself. Click here to read the article.

A Presidential Connection

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I find presidential history fascinating. I enjoy reading about their personal lives, their accomplishments during their presidency, and matters pertaining to the office of the president. I particuraly enjoy reading on the lives of Lincoln, Grant, FDR, and Kennedy. Today, my son Jordan was reading, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Special Edition.  Inside was a list showing how John F Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln were connected. This list is eerie to say the least, seeing how they lived at least one hundred years apart. What do you think?

* Both Kennedy and Lincoln were deeply involved in the civil rights issue of his era. in Lincoln’s time, the issue was slavery: In Kennedy’s, it was segregation.

* Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth was born in 1839.

* Kennedy’s assassin, Lee Harvey Oswalk, was born in 1939.

* Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy who warned him not to go to the threatre that night.

* Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln who warned him not to go to Dallas.

* Both were shot on Friday.

* Both were shot were from behind.

* Both wives were present whent heir husbands were shot.

* Booth shot Lincoln in a theater and ran into a warehouse.

* Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse and ran into a theater.

* Both presidents were succeeded by men named Johnson.

* Both Johnsons were Democrats from the South.

* The Johnson who succeeded Lincoln was born in 1808. The Johnson who succeeded Kennedy was born in 1908.

* Both presidents’ last names have 7 letters. Their successors first and last names combined have 13 letters. The combined letters in the names of their assassins’ first and last names have 15.

College Football Bowl Season

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College football is a wonderful thing. This season has been very exciting to watch and follow. With the regular season and conference championships over, there are no games being played now. Sigh. However, the bowl season looms large on horizon. Posted below is this year’s bowl schedule. My personal predictions are in red. Feel free to leave your predictions in the comment stream. Good luck.

 

2008-09 College Football Bowl Schedule
 
EagleBank Bowl
Wake Forest vs. Navy
New Mexico
Colorado State vs. Fresno State
magicJack St. Petersburg
Memphis vs. South Florida
Pioneer Las Vegas
BYU vs. Arizona
R+L Carriers New Orleans
Southern Miss vs. Troy
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia
Boise State vs. TCU
Sheraton Hawaii
Hawaii vs. Notre Dame
Motor City
Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan
Meineke Car Care
West Virginia vs. North Carolina
Champs Sports
Wisconsin vs. Florida State
Emerald
Miami (Fla.) vs. California
Independence
Northern Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech
Papajohns.com
NC State vs. Rutgers
Valero Alamo
Missouri vs. Northwestern
Roady’s Humanitarian
Maryland vs. Nevada
Texas
Western Michigan vs. Rice
Pacific Life Holiday
Oklahoma State vs. Oregon
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces
Houston vs. Air Force
Brut Sun
Oregon State vs. Pittsburgh
 Gaylord Hotels Music City
Boston College vs. Vanderbilt
Insight
Kansas vs. Minnesota
Chick-fil-A
LSU vs. Georgia Tech
Outback
South Carolina vs. Iowa
Capital One
Georgia vs. Michigan State
Konica Minolta Gator
Nebraska vs. Clemson
Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi
Penn State vs. USC
FedEx Orange
Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech
AT&T Cotton
Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech
AutoZone Liberty
Kentucky vs. East Carolina
Allstate Sugar
Utah vs. Alabama
International
Buffalo vs. Connecticut
Tostitos Fiesta
Ohio State vs. Texas
GMAC
Ball State vs. Tulsa
FedEx BCS National Championship Game
Florida vs. Oklahoma

Women Pastors and the SBC

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It appears that the Georgia Baptist Convention will lose one of their churches. The Associated Baptist Press is reporting this possible separation between the GBC and FBC Decatur, GA. You can read the article here. The reason for this separation is the result of FBC calling a woman as the senior pastor in 2007. There are many opinions as to whether or not this separation should happen. Each SBC church is autonomous and is able to establish their own rules and call the staff members they choose. On the other hand, churches choose to cooperate with their state conventions and SBC because they share like-minded purposes and share the statement of belief known as the Baptist Faith and Message.

I believe heart of the matter here is not whether or not FBC Decatur had the right to call a female pastor. They certainly had that right. The issue is whether or not the GBC can consider FBC Decatur out of fellowship based on the long held and recently affirmed position that scripture teaches that the role of the pastor should be filled by men.  I would expect the GBC, as well as the Florida Baptist Convention, of which I am the pastor of a cooperating church, to consider an SBC that calls a female as pastor to be out of fellowship.

 In the article above, a hint is given as to how all of this came about. FBC Decatur has ties with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. The CBF is a baptist denomination that broke away from the SBC because of their liberal views on issues such as this one.

 What would this separation mean for FBC Decatur? In the event the GBC considered Decatur out of fellowship, they would lose all voting rights at the annual meetings. The separation would also mean the GBC would no longer accept contributions on behalf of FBC Decatur. This is not a matter of just votes and money, it goes much deeper than that. It is a matter of biblical principle. State conventions are not out for just the money the church can contribute. There comes a time when a stand for the Bible must be made, regardless of the outcome.

Tim Hawkins – “Cletus Take the Reel”

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This year at the Florida Baptist Pastor’s Conference in Lakeland, Florida, the conference attendees will be given a special treat. Among what is arguably the best lineup in quite some time (of which I will write more about later). Those attending this year’s conference will have a chance to listen to Christian humorist Tim Hawkins. Enjoy this sample of what you will hear in Lakeland.

God Bless the Gulf Coast

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I am often amazed b y the staying power and resiliency of the human spirit. The people who live along the Gulf Coast of the United States (TX, MS, AL, LA, FL) model this staying power as well as anyone else. Yearly, for approximately six months, they are forced into a “keep-one-eye-fixed-on-the-gulf” frame of mind. Since 2005, the Gulf Coast has been ravaged by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Ivan, Ike, and Tropical Storms Gustav and Faye.

It is difficult and heartbreaking to watch the residents along the coast endure storm after storm. Without a doubt, the nation has seen the protedctive hand of God in the misdt of all these storms. Here are just a few of the pictures of the latest storm to hit the Gulf Coast.

 

Through all the destruction, despair, and devastation, God is still praiseworthy. He is to be praised. The Bible tells us He is our Rock and our Fortress. Nothing escapes God’s care and knowledge. My favorite contemporary Christian music group of today is Casting Crowns. They recorded a song that speaks  of our necessity to continually praise our Creator, even in the worst of times. The song says it all, “Praise You in This Storm.”