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Graduation Photos

So What's Next?

"So What's Next?" That is the question I as asked on Friday. I was picking up my graduation appeal, and the guy helping me was just making small talk. He had probably already asked a hundred people the same question. I can't believe that it has been four and a half years since I started at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

I am not one of those prosperity Gospel guys, but I will have to say that God has really taken care of me. When I first arrived at Southern, I prayed for three things: a job, Godly friends, and a Godly wife. I have received all three. I have received all three above and beyond what I imagined. I first prayed this prayer in a dorm room in sampy hall, not much bigger than our master bed room. Now I will be going full time at FSBC and have a nice brick home.

How marvelous is the Lord our God, what is man that he is mindful of him. Or who am I that you are mindful of me O God!

I can remember a long conversation I had with my Dad on the boat house just weeks before I left for Southern. We talked about how all things seem to work out. I remember being dropped off in this strange town, not knowing a single soul. Now, we are expecting to see as many as 75 at my graduation party. It is amazing how things work out!

Praise God for the blessings that he has given my family and me. And thank you family for support Becki and I in this effort.

So what is next, serving the LORD full time in Southern Indiana as an Associate Pastor of Students.

Are you a Christ-follower?

October is here!

I love many months on the calender but I do love the month of October. Let me give you a few reasons why: Tennessee Football, Carmel apple ciders from Starbucks, cool crisp mornings, Trunk or Treat, Halloween, and fall decorations these are a few of my favorite things!

Part of what I love most about October is the change of the season. October is part of the harvest season. It is a time where we put of the the shorts and pull out the jackets and hoodies. The month makes us all think of harvest. The harvest that has been worked for so hard during the hot and dry summer/spring. The Bible has lots to say about the harvest. Including the fact that as long as the earth endures we will have the seasons and the harvest.

"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease."

-Genesis 8:22

There are times that it seems we are just planting and watering, then watering and waiting. But friends, we should be encourage! As long as the lord allows, we will have harvest. Though we toil, day and night. Though we wait to see. We will see people come to Christ, we will see his kingdom expanded, we will see his word fulfilled!

I think that Satan must hate October, because it serves as a reminder of the fact that he will soon reap what he has sown.

If only you had been here Lord!

"If only you had been here Lord!" the words that Martha spoke to our Lord when her brother died. You can find this quote in the Bible in the gospel of John chapter 11 verse 21.

I have to say that as a minister, I have stood at many gravesides and heard others make a similar statement. This week I found myself asking this very same question, when I found out that a young girl named Kim passed away. She was 13 when the Lord took her home. She and her family have been very faithful to their church, my home church. She passed from cancer. There was not much the doctors could do to help her. She gave her life to Christ before the Lord said enough and took her home. I didn't get to make the funeral and burial. Even if I had been with the family, what can you say? Who knows what losing a child or sister is like unless this has happened to you.

But still the question is in my head, "Where were you Lord?" You could have saved her. You could have healed her. I don't understand why you didn't, you loved her.

When I reflect on this passage in John Chapter 11, I see several things that comfort me. I see our Lord and Savior allowing one of his loved ones to suffer, died, and brought back to life.

We see that Jesus was asked to come by the two sisters; therefore, he knew that Lazarus was sick and dying. He knew for two reasons: he was sent for by them and well because he is the God-Man. He did not give up any attributes when he became a man, he only added onto himself the blood. He not only knew the severity of the illness, he knew that he would lead to death.

Having this knowledge, what he did amazes me. He did not come quickly to heal his friend, but waits until he is dead. He not only waits until he is dead, but he waits 4 days after his death. He could have been there, and healed him! He could have saved everyone the grief. He could have kept them from getting the grave ready!

Also having this knowledge, he meets those who are morning and weeps with them. Why would he do such a thing? Jesus knew that he was going to raise Lazarus from the shortly. But he wept. It goes to show you that the LORD hates death, he always has. He knows what it feels like to lose one of his children to death, because he has been there. He weeps I think to show how much he cares, and to comfort those who are morning. It shows that there may be weeping at night, but joy comes in the morning!

He did come to Lazarus and his family. He did heal him. He did what he does best, restore what was once lost to sin and death. But the kicker is that he didn't come the way that Martha and Mary had requested. He didn't heal Lazarus before he died. I think the point is that Jesus will always come for his children, just perhaps not the way we pray that he will.

I don't know why Jesus waited to raise Lazarus, and I don't know why he didn't heal Kim either! But I do know that he has his reasons. I do know that he has control. And I do know that he is Holy, Righteous, and Good.

The Bible does not say this, so I am only speculating, but I think that Jesus wept this week. I think that he wept for Kim's family and the pain they felt; but I also think that he wept out of joy. The joy in knowing that one day, he will be able to do what he does does best, restore. He will be able to restore Kim to her parents, her brother, and her church family!

Suspenders In Heaven.

Suspenders every Sunday was the dress of my late Sunday school teacher Russel. Russel spent 50 years serving in the youth department as a Sunday School teacher. At 2:30 PM this past Saturday, The LORD took Russel home. I don't know if there are suspenders in heaven, but I sure hope so. I hope that he is wearing the best set that the kingdom of God has ever seen. The Bible does not exactly say but I think that there is great rejoing in heaven when a believer comes home. I think that the bells of heaven ring out when a child of God enters into Glory.

A few things about Russel that few people know is that every Christmas he would give all the youth $ in an envelope. He would always say "you all teach me more than I teach you" and "teaching the youth keeps me young".

Russel was also a WWII veteran. He could never talk about what he experienced overseas so many years ago with crying. He served his country with bravery and loyalty. I will always be thankful to him for his willingness to serve.

I also most thankful that he was willing to serve the local church and his LORD through 5o years of service. Thank you Russel and thank you LORD for using him in my life. You will be missed

What I learned in Seminary!

Today, I just received an email from SBTS informing that I need to have my graduation picture taken. After a five and a half years at Southern Seminary I have learned a few things.

One thing that I have found is that seminary professors are like mountain climbers. You always want to go with the experienced ones, because the young bucks have something to prove. Let's not forget that they just finished or are finishing their PHD and man they want someone to pay for what they have been through!

Second, don't kid yourself, seminary is not a vacation. If you are called to seminary, don't got to a seminary church, go to a church that really needs you. Just because you are in school you do not have an excuse to not serve in a local church.

And finally, Satan seeks division. Let's not kid ourselves into thinking when we banter theology around with church members and other students. We have a lost world to reach. We can all agree that the gospel is urgent and commanded. So share the faith.

Reflections on New Orleans

This past Saturday I returned home from a mission trip to New Orleans. I have to say that I was not prepared for the vast destruction that is still in the city. It was very difficult to lead the first day. When I told my wife about it that night she told me that one of the Operation Noah Rebuild leaders had said "If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, being in New Orleans is worth a 1,000 pictures." So many people had just given up and abandoned their homes. We were working in the lower ninth ward, and it was a ghost town. Some said to me that is a dangerous place, but there is no one there to fear! It was eerie.

I also saw all the homes that were marked with the body count. They think that most of the people died in their attic. Can you image, climbing in the attic to get away from the water; hearing it enter slowly. The heat, darkness, and stench of the water mixed with sewer, and that is the last thing that you know on God's Green earth. The darkness, heat, and hopelessness all around as you slip into eternity. If that is a Christless eternity then you will only know this hopelessness forever! It breaks my heart. We should weep for the city, we should pray for the city, and we should help to rebuild the city.

This city was home to many families for many years it is not like they woke up one morning and decided to live below sea level! IT WAS HOME! If someone asked you to leave your home, your roots, would it be easy for you I wounder. Let us stop criticizing the people of New Orleans and start helping them!

Married and Child-Free?

Today, I was watching Good Morning America, which featured a story about happy and successful couples who are choosing to remain child free. The reasons in my opinion seem to be mostly financial. But we must ask does the Bible speak about this issue?

The Bible is what we must always return to in order to make decisions about life and what we are to do. The word of God is clear about two things: one marriage was instituted for humans to leave and cleave to their spouse and to "go forth and multiply". The Bible is also clear that children are a gift from God.

Therefor it is my opinion that it is not an option for Christians to consider. We have an obligation to our creator to have children. Children are part of the deal when you get married. If you cannot have children, that is a different story. There are thousands of children waiting to be adopted right now. It wouls still be a gift even if they don't posses your DNA.

Check out the who story at http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AmericanFamily/story?id=3413039

"I don't mean to make people upset"

"I don't want to make people upset, I just want to be happy."

These were the words that a former man, now women used on the Tyra show today. He said that he always knew he was suppose to be a women. But he was born a man. The audience applauded his courage for being on national television. As I watch this, I thought to myself, "How dead we are in our sins." Do we really think that we know better than God what sex to make our bodies? This is an abomination to the Lord! And there will be a price to pay. When Tyra asked this person for advice, they said,

"Just don't let anyone tell you that the thing that makes you happy is wrong."

How far from the truth this really is, I mean let's just think of an example. You know what made Hitler happy? Killing off the Jewish people. So I guess we were wrong in stopping him from doing so right? No way. It seems that right and wrong a only apply when it is convenient to the individual. I mean it is all about me right? WRONG, dead wrong.

There is a price to pay for breaking God's law. It is just like breaking the law of gravity. You will be eventually broken. May God give these people mercy and light, may he save their bodies and souls from this gross sin.

Creation Museum

The evolutionist have had their museum for to long, now it is our turn! That's right, there is now a creation Museum opened just across the river from Cincinnati, OH. They have spent about 29 million dollars to open this fine museum. You can find the website below:

http://www.creationmuseum.org/

I will be planning a visit for our church family soon. This will make you think about the evidence, because all scientist use science. The difference is that some come with a worldview the want to impose on the evidence. Is the earth really millions of years old? Did men live with Dinosaurs?

A culture that has lost its mind!

I have always heard about how great the 1950's were. Like they were some kind of golden era in American culture. But if you want to know what I think, people have always been just as rotten as they are today. But in the 1950's people didn't talk about the sins like we do today. The main difference between now and then is that we publicly broadcast our debased minds on TV and XM Radio.

For example, earlier today while i was eating lunch I caught a little bit of the Tyra Banks show. I have seen this show before, and didn't love it. But when you only have like two channels what are you going to do? The topic today was "Dating out of your comfort zone". I thought well this is interesting, i guess the nice girl will want a guy who is a little rough. OH NO! This was about a girl who had wanted to date other girls since high school, but was afraid to do so... until now! That's right, She dated a woman on national television, even kissed her. After the date, the girl claimed that she was not sure. This type of behavior is exactly the type that Paul speaks of when he talks about a nation that has been abandoned by God.

"28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done."
-Romans 1:28

Let's be honest, as Conservative Christians we have lost the culture war. This culture has been lost to total depravity. I do not see this getting any better in the near future. On the other had I do not think that the world is in any worse shape than it was before the flood. At that point in history, there was only one righteous family left. I think that it is because of America culture turning its back on the Holy, Righteous God, that we have been left to our own devices. The American culture has betray itself! After teaching secular humanism in the public schools and colleges we wounder why things like the VTech shooting happen. Look for more of these shootings to happen as we continue to go down the spiral that is found in the first two chapters of Romans. How long O Lord will you put up with America? HOW LONG, will you delay your judgement?

The Real King of the Road & BMV

Here is my ride! She is sweet. I think that this is like an off white color, a cream maybe. I went to the BMV of Indiana yesterday, but they sure don't make it easy on new residents. You see I have to have the following to get a Driver's licence transfer:

Original Birth Certificate

Original Social Security Card

Old Driver's licence

A sample of blood

The promise of my first born

DNA analysis

Proof of residence

Previous Doctor's visit

Family medical history

Place of Employment

Pet medical history

etc....

All in all i would say they are not helpful, but my new ride is!

Breathe

I was asked in the last week if animals go to heaven. This is an interesting question. They said, "I don't read about them not going to heaven!" Another said, "It just wouldn't be heaven to me without my pets!" This all goes back to the question of what makes humans different from animals? I think the answer is in how we were created.

"7 Then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust from the ground (G) and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, (H) and the man became a living being. (I)" Gen 2:7

You see the animals were not made the same as we were. We see two differences, one were were made in his image. That is not even the angels are made in the image of God. And two we see that he breathed into us. These two references are not made to the animals. I do think that there will be animals in heaven. I don't think that there is anything about a cat or dog that lives on past death. I think the only thing that lives on is our memories of them. So to answer the question, I don't think they to heaven, but I don't think they go to hell either. I think that they just stop existing. Don't take this to hard, because you see our only care when we get to heaven is that we will Glorify God. When we make this the desire of our heart we will be overjoyed to praise him for saving us from sin, saving us form ourselves. Praise be to God for his creation and for his salvation he gives freely to us!

King of the Road

Welcome back 1977! That's Right I now have my 1977 Ford LTD. It just glides on the interstate. While this is not the picture of my car. Mine is is excellent shape interior wise. The car has a Cleveland 400, 6.6L, V8. You might be thinking to yourself, self how can you afford to drive that car. Well last night I got about 17 miles to the gallon. That is not bad. About like a standard truck.

As I was driving the car home last night, I thought about the fact that the original owner had passed away. He must have been so proud of this car. I also had a chance to go through a library of church member who had recently passed away. The family had already had their share. I got some great Billy Graham books. As I reflected on the fact that I now had a car from a man I never knew, and a library from a man I barely knew. This made me wounder, what will become of my library, truck, house, etc... The things that we often times take some much time to look after, and collect, spending time, money, and energy will eventually end up in the hands of someone else. If not a family member, a complete stranger. So why do we spend so much time washing cars, cleaning houses, mowing lawns, etc... It is all going to go to another one day anyway!

Do You Want to Be Healed?

This past Sunday I spoke to our youth about John Chapter 5. In this section we see that Jesus comes into a room full of crippled people. He picks one one from the crowd and asks a question to him that I find very strange. He says in verse 6 "Do you want to be healed?". What person in their right mind would not want to be healed? But the man said yes. Now another thing that I find puzzling is the fact that at the time of the healing, the man did not know who Jesus was; because, when asked who had healed him the Bible says that he

"13Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place."

I know that God healed this one many among many for his glory. He healed a man that was not even a believer at the time. I guess there are several implications that could be drawn from this text but one that stands out for me is the fact that some claim this ability to heal in the name of Jesus, others in the name of science, and others in the name of a false God. But at the end of the day, the true healer is only Jesus. Giving life in a way that no one else can. The point is that he doesn't just make a claim, he backs it up!

I think back to all the times that people have promised me this or that, then they don't deliver. One thing that we know for sure is that Christ will always deliver! Because he is the great Deliverer. So let's not be upset when we are let down by men, for it is our nature. But let us praise God for never failing.

God gave it to me!

Today I received in the mail a prayer handkerchief. WHAT A JOKE! I mean honestly who believes this junk! If I were a non-believer I would just laugh and think that Christians were missing a large amount of brain cells. This is yet another example of people trying to use the death of Christ for a financial gain. IT MAKES ME ANGRY! I hope that the person who sent this is convicted of his sin and repents soon.