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Glorious Holiness

2010-03-16T17:59:00Z

"Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" (Exodus 15:11)

Our finite minds would never grasp the idea of holiness if not for the revelation granted to us in the Scriptures. God’s "separateness" requires even the awesome four-faced, sixwinged Seraphim to "rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come" (Revelation 4:8).

Samuel’s gentle mother, praying before the tabernacle, was no doubt moved by the Spirit of God to proclaim, "There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee" (1 Samuel 2:2). Her short statement of faith is the core of holiness--the separate unique character that only the Creator of the universe can possess.

Those who have been "born again" (John 3:3) are called "saints" (Romans 1:7, etc.) when they were "created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:24). Our "holiness" is part of the "gift of God" from the One who is holy, "without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14).

Because our Creator, Lord, and King is "righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works" (Psalm 145:17), it should come as no surprise that "as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15-16).

The "great and precious promises" (2 Peter 1:4) given to us by our gracious Lord are the spiritual means by which we can "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Corinthians 7:1).

Our destiny is sure. Our duty is clear. "Yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength" (Isaiah 49:5).

Walk Through the Bible Tomorrow Night

2010-03-16T13:07:00Z

How NOT to pack a truck ...

2010-03-15T19:55:00Z

Just a couple of photos on how NOT to pack a truck full of Buckets of Hope. This truck just came in and we couldn't even get the door open because the load had shifted. Buckets weren't palletized correctly, not stacked properly, and they were allowed to shift on the way to Cornerstone.

Did I say we had a problem?

Approximately 650 buckets and they were a mess!

A close-up view of the absolute mess that our volunteers had to work with. Thank you, Cornerstone members, for not grumbling too much (heh!) and getting these off the truck.

Oh, by the way, they had put everything on OVERSIZED pallets so everything had to be taken off and then re-palletized here. The good news is, 650 more families will get to eat when these arrive.

In Time of Trouble

2010-03-15T19:51:00Z

"For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock." (Psalm 27:5)

In this psalm of praise, David expresses his confidence in the Lord, even though "the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh" (v. 2). In spite of the danger, he looks to God for safety. "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (v. 1). Why did God preserve David? The answer is at least twofold.

First, David had a heart for God. "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple" (v. 4). "Thy face, LORD, will I seek" (v. 8). "Teach me thy way, O LORD" (v. 11).

The second reason is the nature of God Himself. God, by His very nature, hates evil and extends grace toward His own. He is pictured here as a warrior conquering the evil enemies of David. His laws forbid their actions; His gospel robbed these evildoers of their grip; His final kingdom will be rid of them. Until God's justice, His gospel, and His purpose all fail, we can be sure that He will act.

In our text, David is hidden in the Lord's "pavilion." The word, which literally means a protective covering, was used for the tent of the commander-in-chief. Here, with the commander-in-chief, is the most fortified, guarded, and safe area of the battleground. If the pavilion falls, the battle is lost and God has failed. Hidden in His pavilion, we are as safe as He. He sees to it that we are not frightened (v. 13) amid the din of battle, and we shall share in the ultimate victory.

In this world, we have tumultuous war; in the next, unbroken peace. Assured of the outcome, we can "wait on the LORD: |and| be of good courage" (v. 14).

Time Change Tonight!

2010-03-14T03:11:00Z

Change your clocks before you go to bed ...

You'll be sorry if you don't!

Stealing Moses ...

2010-03-13T20:12:00Z

How would you like to deal with this guy? This is an artist's rendition of what Michael the Archangel might look like. We won't know until we get to heaven but I think it's pretty good.

Tomorrow night at the 6pm hour, we will deal with Jude 9, where we find a strange description of Michael and satan fighting over the dead body of Moses! Wow ... what's that all about.

I will tell you ... See you tomorrow!

Buckets of Hope -- Pic Set #3

2010-03-13T19:54:00Z

Michael R. working with a driver to get a load through our front door.

Our volunteers palletized and shrink-wrapped pallets of 24 & 36 buckets. They could only be stacked 5 buckets high total due to the height and the total weight for the load.

Steve C. was an enormous help as he prepped the pallets to be stacked.

I will put up more photos as I have the time. The North American Mission Board (NAM and the Texas Baptist Men (TBM) have requested photos of our operation. Gerry Jones, one of the key men in the TBM told me that our people had put together an efficient receiving center and he was proud of us.

I am proud of YOU ... everyone of you that took your valuable time to come by, carry a bucket, count money, prepare food, or whatever you did. God bless you richly!

Buckets of Hope -- Pic Set #2

2010-03-13T19:48:00Z

We had our ladies ready to check in the people bringing buckets. Here, Gayla G. and Alvina W. work the "overflow table" ... they are smiling because we were just starting!

Here is the Primary check-in table manned by (l to r) Linda H., Mary C., Sharon E., Monica and a driver. Sharon E. was instrumental in reconciling the money received with the buckets that arrived. She handled over $5,000 cash the first day.

Buckets of Hope -- Pic Set #1

2010-03-13T19:42:00Z

I'm sorry ... this week has been a blur of activity; along with regular church activities, we have been receiving the Buckets of Hope from all over Texas. Some with one or two buckets, some with a trailer load ... they came all week.

I have a few minutes now so I will drop some photos here for you to enjoy. While you are enjoying, would you take a minute and lift a prayer to our Heavenly Father, thanking Him for the people involved and for the safe handling so far.

Here I am with a couple of men who brought a trailer load of buckets. They sure were glad to see all the volunteers that we had to help with the unloading process.

Michael R. was instrumental in seeing that we had a plan and that we worked the plan. Even for our small part, the logistics had to be worked out in advance where we wouldn't be swamped.

The Beginning of the Creation

2010-03-13T19:21:00Z

"But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female." (Mark 10:6)

These words of the Lord Jesus Christ ought to settle once and for all, for those who take His words seriously, the controversial question of the age of the earth. The earth was created essentially at the same time, He said, as the creation of Adam and Eve. Christ was quoting from Genesis 1:27: "male and female created He them." This greatest of God's creative works was "from the beginning of the creation," not 18 billion years after the beginning of the creation, as modern old-earth advocates allege.

One can understand why atheists believe in evolution and an almost infinitely old universe, for they really have no other alternative. One who believes in a personal God, on the other hand, only dishonors God if he believes such humanistic speculations rather than God's Word. God is omniscient and omnipotent, as well as loving and merciful, and He would never do anything like this. The great ages assumed by evolutionary geologists supposedly involved billions of years of suffering and dying by billions of animals before man ever evolved. Surely this would have been the most inefficient, wasteful, and cruel method that ever could have been devised for "creating" human beings. Since man's creation was God's main purpose, there is no conceivable reason why He would waste billions of years in such a meaningless charade as this before getting to the point.

In fact, the only reason He took six days instead of an instant of time was to serve as a pattern for man's work week (Exodus 20:8-11). In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ was not only a creationist, but was Himself the Creator of all things (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; etc.). Therefore, He is the best possible witness as to when He created man and woman, and He said it was "from the beginning of the creation!"

His Everlasting Arms

2010-03-11T17:49:00Z

"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee." (Deuteronomy 33:27)

The third verse of "I Am His, and He Is Mine" recalls former times of alarm, fear, and doubt, but testifies of the rest and peace in His love, cradled in the "everlasting arms" of the Savior.

Things that once were wild alarms Cannot now disturb my rest;
Closed in everlasting arms, Pillowed on the loving breast!
O to lie forever here, Doubt and care and self resign,
While He whispers in my ear--I am His and He is mine.

This verse reminds us of the evening when Jesus and His disciples were in a boat and a violent storm arose. They awoke Jesus from His sleep and cried, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" (Mark 4:38). Of course Jesus cared, for He loved them. So "he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still" (v. 39). To His disciples, He said, "Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?" (v. 40). The time would come when they would need that faith and peace. They would learn to rest in His loving care.

The song also reminds us of the special loving relationship between Jesus and the disciple John. "Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23). A deep intimacy with Him was John's, and can be ours, if we will only pillow our head on Him. No passage expresses that intimacy as well as the Song of Solomon, using the analogy of husband and wife to reflect the self-sacrificing love between our Lord and His children. "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine" (Song of Solomon 6:3). The affairs of this life interrupt our times of intimacy with Him, but there will be a day when we will "ever be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Buckets of Hope

2010-03-09T19:46:00Z

I will be putting up a bunch of pictures taken as we have unloaded trucks, put buckets on pallets, and gotten them ready for shipment. We will receive our last delivery on Monday the 15th, and the trucks come in the next day to take the buckets to Florida. Our buckets should be in Haiti by the 1st of April. Here is an article found online about BOH.

“Buckets of Hope”

“Buckets of Hope” are beginning to pour into Florida as they continue their journey to Haiti. A recent comment on Facebook stated, “Buckets of Hope is easily one of the best relief ministries I have seen. I am a college student and work for a Baptist association in Missouri, but I have a home church in Springfield, Ill., and people have just swarmed this idea... It is going to help out so many people...”

Photo: Loaded up and headed to the collection point. The Christian Friends Bible Fellowship class (Melvin Benson, teacher) of First Redeemer Church in Cumming, Ga., was happy to fill 24 Buckets of Hope for the people of Haiti.

See more photos and share yours on the SBDR Facebook page.

Read a local news story and watch a video about North Carolina “Buckets of Hope.”

Many have given sacrificially to help Southern Baptists meet the needs of the millions of Haitians affected by the earthquake. Give thanks to God for the multitudes of Southern Baptists for sharing the love of Christ through prayer, monetary gifts, and “Buckets of Hope.”

Buckets of Hope Chow Line

2010-03-08T22:21:00Z

The Chow Line formed quickly as the ladies set out the lunch meal; smothered hamburger steak, mashed potatoes with the skins, green beans, and cake. It was fantastic. Notice the Youth Minister and Doug were right there.

Mary C. seems to be saying, "Don't mess with my food!" We won't, Mary.

Buckets of Hope Kitchen Crew

2010-03-08T22:17:00Z

When you work in the kitchen, you get to taste your cookin' ... and these ladies did just that; hot, buttery homemade rolls. Yum, yum!

(l to rt) Gayla, Alvina, Dana, and Head Chef Debbie! They had butter dripping down their chins ...

Buckets of Hope Has Started ...

2010-03-08T21:35:00Z

DATELINE: Monday, March 8th ... D-Day for Buckets of Hope (BOH) to be delivered to Cornerstone Baptist Church. We are the collection site for a number of Associations, both BGCT and SBTC. We were desperately needing shrink wrap for the pallets and it arrived via this truck.

Everyone got all excited when this truck pulled in thinking it was loaded with buckets for us. Fortunately, it was empty, but headed south to start picking up buckets at College Station and other locations.

The Pastor in a Suit and a Tie ...

2010-03-08T15:24:00Z

The First Lady thought I should post this as she thinks I have been waaaay too casual in other photos. Enjoy ... it won't happen again very soon!

The Duty of Rejoicing

2010-03-08T13:23:00Z

"But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee." (Psalm 5:11)

It may seem strange to think of rejoicing as a Christian duty, but the Scriptures do contain many commands to rejoice, and many of these are given in circumstances of grief or danger, as is the case of our beautiful text verse.

"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice" (Philippians 4:4), Paul wrote from a Roman dungeon. In the upper room the night before He was to die on a cross, the Lord Jesus said to His disciples: "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (John 15:11). And then He said: "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service" (John 16:2). But then He said again: "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24).

If David could rejoice while fleeing from murderous enemies, if Paul could rejoice while chained unjustly in a Roman prison, if the disciples could experience fullness of joy while facing martyrdom, and if the Lord Himself "for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame" (Hebrews 12:2), then our Christian duty of rejoicing in all circumstances may not be such an unseemly command after all.

We can rejoice, as our text reminds us, "because thou defendest them." Furthermore, He Himself provides the joy, for "the fruit of the Spirit is . . . joy" (Galatians 5:22). It is not that the Christian will never know sorrow, for Christ Himself was "a man of sorrows" (Isaiah 53:3). But He also was a man of joy and, in Him, we can be like Him--"as sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing" (2 Corinthians 6:10).

Photos from Girl's Lock-in

2010-03-08T03:16:00Z

I made my appearance at the START of the girl's lock-in on Friday night at Cornerstone Baptist Church. After snapping a few pics, I decided it was time to leave.

The girls loved the Wii "Just Dance" game. Here you see them with controllers in hand, trying to mimic the dancing girl on the monitor. I hear Michael R. is fantastic at this game. Who taught him to dance?

They're still at it!

More happy faces. They all had a great time.

Another Jesus

2010-03-06T13:48:00Z

"For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." (2 Corinthians 11:4)

The verses following our text contain an enlightening warning about false teachers. One should not carelessly follow a personable religious leader merely because he "preaches Jesus" or urges audiences to "receive the Spirit."

"Jesus" is quite popular among worldly people today, but not the true Jesus. The popular Jesus may be the baby Jesus in the manger at Christmastime, or the buddy Jesus of Nashville "gospel" music, or the success-counseling Jesus of the positive thinkers. He may be the romantic Jesus of the Christian crooners, the rhythmic Jesus of Christian rock, or the reforming Jesus of the liberals, but none of these are the Jesus preached by the apostle Paul, and therefore not the real Jesus who saves men and women from their sins.

Jesus in reality is the Lord Jesus Christ, the offended Creator of the universe (Colossians 1:16), who had to die as man on the cross to redeem us through His shed blood (Colossians 1:14, 20), and who then rose from the dead to be set "far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named" (Ephesians 1:21). Finally, it is this Jesus "who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom" (2 Timothy 4:1).

The Lord Jesus, as He really is, is not the popular Jesus of T-shirts and bumper stickers, politicians and entertainers. He was "despised and rejected of men" (Isaiah 53:3) so they "crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Corinthians 2:8).

He is the mighty God, the perfect man, the only Savior, the eternal King, and Lord of lords. God-called teachers will not preach an imaginary Jesus who appeals to the flesh, but rather the true Christ of creation and salvation.

Annie Armstrong Easter Offering

2010-03-05T19:37:00Z

The Southern Baptist Convention, which we are affiliated with, promotes and receives two major offerings each year in the churches. The first is the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering which we just took part in, and the second is the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering that we are starting to promote.

The Annie Armstrong offering goes 100% to our home missionaries, that is, here in the United States. The Lottie Moon offering is for our foreign (overseas) missionaries. Small churches, missions, home missionaries, and bi-vocational churches receive support from this offering. When I was a pastor in Wamsutter, WY, our little church received a lot of help directly from the loving gifts of SBC churches nationwide.

You will be hearing more this month about this mission offering and I am asking you to pray to see what your part will be in this. We will be taking this offering throughout the month of March, ending the 1st Sunday of April which is Easter.

Let's see what God would have us to do ...