Feb 27, 2020 | This Sunday in Baptist History
Most American colonies, states and districts did not begin their existence practicing religious liberty. Two exceptions were the colonies of Rhode Island and New Jersey. Later Texas would join that list. Texas was originally a part of Mexico under the 1824 Mexican...
Feb 26, 2020 | Wednesday
Last Wednesday we spent a few minutes in an exposition of this paragraph. I gave our thoughts the very obvious title – “The Virtuous Woman.” I also said that we’d come back here this evening. You may have thought that we’d take 3 or 4 verses and lay into them more...
Feb 24, 2020 | Sunday Evening
The world of popular music has changed just a bit since I was a child. I grew up with Broadway show music and big bands – that was what my parents liked. Then I began to listen to classical music – Beethoven; Tchaikovsky; Mendelson and Rimsky-Korsakov. But many people...
Feb 23, 2020 | Sunday Morning
When I make the statement, “I like classical music,” what do you think I am saying? Some might think, “Oh, Bro Oldfield likes opera.” Actually, there is very little opera that I like, because most of it is sung in foreign languages. I haven’t learned...
Feb 20, 2020 | This Sunday in Baptist History
James Smith Coleman was born on this day (February 23) in 1827. He was saved by grace when he was eleven-years-old, after which he joined the Beaver Dam Baptist Church in Kentucky. When he reached adulthood he was elected county sheriff, but one evening after...
Feb 20, 2020 | Wednesday
After a couple of years we come to the last verses of the Book of Proverbs. These are not actually proverbs but a poetical treatise on the beauty and characteristics of a good wife. And most likely it was patterned on some actual person’s wife. Solomon’s? Probably...
Feb 16, 2020 | Sunday Morning
Let’s start with an hypothetical. An acquaintance of yours knows that you are a Christian. You have spoken to this person about Christ a time or two, but there hasn’t been much response. Then one day he comes to you with a troubled face, telling you that he has a...
Feb 13, 2020 | This Sunday in Baptist History
The first record of what became the first Baptist church in the city of Boston reads: “The 28th of the third month, 1665, in Charlestown, Massachusetts, the church of Christ, commonly, though falsely, called Anabaptists, were gathered together, and entered into...
Feb 13, 2020 | Wednesday
Let’s entitle this message: “Lemuel and His Mom.” This is very different from the usual devotions we have been pulling from Proverbs thus far. In fact, there are no proverbs at all in these verses. And like the last chapter, these are not from the lips of Solomon –...
Feb 9, 2020 | Sunday Morning
I am currently reading a book entitled “Creating Christian Indians.” It was written by Bonnie Sue Lewis and was published 18 years ago by the University of Oklahoma. It describes the work of Presbyterian missionaries primarily among the Dakota Sioux and our own Nez...
Feb 6, 2020 | This Sunday in Baptist History
Henry Havelock was not a pastor or missionary, but in the midst of doing other things he did represent his Saviour. Henry was born in 1795. His mother regularly gathered her six children together to read the Bible and pray, so he grew up with serious considerations...
Feb 6, 2020 | Wednesday
As I said last week, our proverbist, is now in the midst of giving us groups of related thoughts. And just as we have skipped over many of Solomon’s proverbs, we won’t look at all of these. Our verses tonight bring me back to my childhood, when I loved collecting...
Jan 30, 2020 | This Sunday in Baptist History
Benjamin Stinton is not a well-known name, but this man links together two others who were very well known both in their day and in ours. Benjamin was born in England on this day (Feb. 2) in 1676. Although blessed by the Lord with a sharp mind, he was not afforded the...
Jan 30, 2020 | Wednesday
If a man who writes psalms is a “psalmist” is a man who writes or records proverbs a “proverbist”? Our proverbist, whether Solomon or Agur, is now in the midst of giving us groups of related thoughts. We won’t look at all of them – just the ones the Lord highlights...
Jan 27, 2020 | Sunday Evening
The subjects of “Global Warming” and “Climate Change” are pervasive – they are everywhere. “Global warming” came up in conversation on Wednesday right here as the rain washed some snow off the church roof. It is on the news; it’s a part of the weather report; TV’s...
Jan 26, 2020 | Sunday Morning
All of us know what it is to be late – late for an appointment; late for work; late for church. Some us know it more intimately than others. There are cultures where it is expected that people should to be late. Some people have linked the words...
Jan 26, 2020 | Timothy Parrow
Dear Pastor and Brethren: A Brief Summary of the Blessings of 2019 With the prospects of a new year before us, I think it would be profitable to see a summary of the Lord’s blessings during the old year. During 2019 the Lord sent us thirty first-time visitors to our...
Jan 23, 2020 | This Sunday in Baptist History
Britain’s “Act of Toleration,” enacted in 1689, ended a period of severe persecution against the Baptists in that country, but it did not provide all that Christ’s churches taught or deserved. While it was no longer compulsory to attend the services of the Church of...
Jan 23, 2020 | Wednesday
I like certain kinds of old things. I don’t understand antique furniture enough to enjoy them or to have them. A piece of antique china may appeal to my eye once in a while, but I usually feel no need to buy it. A well-cared for 150 year old postage stamp is a...
Jan 19, 2020 | Sunday Evening
As your pastor and the primary preacher/teacher here for 29 years – one of my fears is“tediousness.” For example, I often preach the gospel, but there are only so many ways in which it can be done, and I work hard not to say the same things in the same way all the...
Jan 18, 2020 | This Sunday in Baptist History
Our subject this morning was a man with a very unique and interesting name; it is theological and prophetical. His family name was Noel, which you probably know means “Birth of God.” This man was born in England in 1799 and was raised in the Church of England. The...
Jan 16, 2020 | Lessons on Bible Trivia
Our subject this morning was a man with a very unique and interesting name; it is theological and prophetical. His family name was Noel, which you probably know means “Birth of God.” This man was born in England in 1799 and was raised in the Church of England. The...
Jan 16, 2020 | Wednesday
I have just finished a good size book written by C.H. Spurgeon, a third of which are prayers to God. I don’t know if these were written for the book; if they were private prayers; or if they were public prayers which had been recorded by stenographers. I have had...
Jan 13, 2020 | Sunday Evening
I’d like to talk to you tonight about “Expectations.” I almost preached this message last Sunday evening, but the Lord led me instead to “Patient Urgency.” And then this week this almost devolved into merely the introduction to a different message. If I go ahead with...
Jan 9, 2020 | This Sunday in Baptist History
Samuel Harriss was born on this day in 1724. He was born again 36 years later. Before his conversion Harriss served his community as sheriff, justice of the peace, colonel in the militia, and Captain of Fort Mayo. In the family’s Episcopal religion he was for a time a...
Jan 9, 2020 | Wednesday
There is a bit of mystery in these verses. For example, who are these people, and what should we make of their names? Every thing in the Bible has been placed there by the Holy Spirit for a reason, but sometimes determining that reason is difficult. There are...
Jan 6, 2020 | Sunday Evening
Have you ever known a married couple who were opposites or were very different from each other? She was 6’2,” and he was barely 5′ tall. He was extremely handsome while she was as plain as a wooden post. She loved her Bible, while he preferred his...
Jan 5, 2020 | Sunday Morning
In which camp are you? There are people who believe each new decade begins on January 1, in a year which ends in 1. They correctly say that life began on the first day of the first year of time – January 1, 01. So our next decade will begin on January 1, 2021. Back in...
Jan 2, 2020 | This Sunday in Baptist History
On this day (January 5) in 1527 two well-known Anabaptists paid the price for their faith in Christ and their love for the Word of God. George Balurock was stripped to the waist and beaten nearly to death, and Felix Manz was drowned in Lake Zurich. Many historians...
Jan 2, 2020 | Wednesday
On Monday night’s evening news I saw a video of a SUV upside down at some intersection in North Spokane. The explanation was that there had been a collision with another vehicle. There were no major injuries, but the driver of the SUV had been hanging upside down in...
