A Hat Divided

I was recently shopping for a hat to support my favorite college football team and came across this hat. (Click on the picture to see it more clearly)

Just in case you can't make it out, the back of the hat says "Arkansas Razorbacks." I have a feeling that there is a pretty small market for hats that support both the Bulldogs and Razorbacks. Maybe our executive pastor could use it since he recently moved from Arkansas?

--Mark

War and Peace

Here is a great article written by Russell Moore of Southern Seminary.

The article is called "Who Would Jesus Bomb? War, Peace, and the Christian"

The entire article is worth reading. Here is a brief quote:

"We shouldn't tie dye our shirts and pretend a United Nations enforced peace can end bloodshed. But neither should we callously cheer the violence of war, as if it were a video game. Yes, we should visualize peace-but only a real peace, when the true Emperor of the universe rules over a world so pacific that we cannot even imagine the violence we once saw on CNN, or on Animal Planet. On that day, and maybe not until that day, there won't be the sound of rattling swords, firing guns, or bombs bursting in air."

--Mark

Christmas Music

I know it might be a little early for Christmas music, but I thought I would mention a Christmas CD that I have enjoyed and found encouraging.

Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson: What I especially appreciate about this retelling of the Christmas story is the emphasis placed on the gospel and how the events of the Old Testament led up to the events of Matthew 1-2 and Luke 2.

You can listen to the entire album for free at Andrew's Web Site by clicking here.

Here are a couple of videos from a live performance of the album.

"Matthew's Begats"



"Labor of Love"




--Mark

NPR and the Prodigal Son

A few weeks ago on my way in to work I was listening to NPR and heard a financial segment where they were discussing giving an inheritance to your children. The "financial expert" being interviewed was giving advice on how to fairly divide your inheritance between your children. He made a comment that it was not wise to give a large sum of money to an adult child as an inheritance if they have proven to be irresponsible with money. Next, one of the gentlemen said that this discussion reminded him of the story of the prodigal son (from Luke 15:11-32).

As they spoke of how they felt this biblical example applied to their discussion and how you don't want to be like the father in the story (giving all your hard earned money to a child who will just waste it away), one of the men said, "Yeah, the father was a sucker!"

As I thought about what they were saying, I first thought that this parable from the teaching ministry of Jesus is not about financial planning. Living in America and especially the South we encounter many who are familiar with the Bible but who do not understand or accept the message of the gospel.

Next, I thought about how the father in the parable represents Christ and his abundant love for those who do not deserve it. Jesus taught the series of parables in Luke 15 to respond to the Pharisees who criticized him for hanging around sinners.

This type of love poured out on those who have not earned it is foreign to many in our culture. Jesus was willing to suffer and die in our place, not because we have earned his attention, but because He loved us.

I am thankful for what this passage teaches about God's love and am challenged with the church's responsibility to faithfully take the message of the gospel to the culture in which we live.

--Mark

Proactive Prayer

This week in PowerSource we are going to look at one of Paul's prayers from 2 Thessalonians 1 and seek to discover how we can pray proactively for one another.

I was challenged by this quote from Dr. Charles Lawless, who is a professor at Southern Seminary. The quote is from a Baptist Press article, which you can read here.


I perhaps am most concerned that we pray far too little. Most of our praying is reactive rather than proactive; that is, we pray after we hear about a strife-torn family, after we learn of a wayward teen, or after we are challenged to intercede for missionaries. Seldom do we pray proactively for our Bible study teachers, our pastors, our state convention workers, our denominational leaders or our missionaries.

I hope to see you there.

--Mark

Our Speaker this Sunday

This Sunday Dr. Richard Land will be with us to share from God's Word.

Since 1988 Dr. Land has served as the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. He is an author and the host of his own weekly radio talk show.

You can find out more about him by visiting his web site.

Real Hope

I found this quote encouraging and thought I would pass it along. It is from a book that I am currently reading called How People Change by Christian counselors Timothy Lane and Paul Tripp.

"The gospel calls us to look at the messiness of life in a radically different way. The good news of the gospel is that Christ has conquered sin and death, and with them every meaningless and destructive end. Our final destination infuses every word, action, desire and response with meaning and purpose. There are no completely hopeless situations. The gospel welcomes us to a hopeful realism. We can look life in the face and still be hopeful because of who Christ is and where he is taking us.

The authors go on to say:

Your destination is secure. All of the things that are truly worth living for cannot be taken away from you! Yes, you can lose your job, your health, your house, your car, or your friend. The loss of any of these things would be hard. But you cannot lose your identity in Christ. You cannot lose his love and grace. You cannot lose his gift of forgiveness or the place reserved for you in heaven. When you keep your eyes on this destination and pursue the things that move you there, you can live securely in a world where it seems as if nothing is guaranteed. You will not escape the difficulties of life, but you can rest assured that your Savior will use each one to prepare you for the place he is taking you......It is about taking an utterly honest look at all earthly life through heaven's lens. There we find real hope."

--Mark