Aug 30, 2018 | Wednesday
As I considered a text for tonight’s devotion I looked at this verse several times. It is one to which we refer very often, and yet I have never preached from it. I considered skipping over it in our current study because its meaning is so obvious. Is there anything...
Aug 27, 2018 | Timothy Parrow
Dear Pastor and Brethren: Visitors This Month We had five new first time visitors this month as follows: Sierra McGee, Cory Hardy, Easton Stephens, Travis Barzee, and a young woman named Angel. There is a story that accompanies each of these individuals about which...
Aug 27, 2018 | Sunday Evening
For some time now, we have been looking at two books – both of which come from the pen of Solomon. It wasn’t intentional on my part, and we were into Ecclesiastes for a few weeks before I realized it. We must remember the penman is not important, because the true...
Aug 26, 2018 | Sunday Morning
Let’s say that a man is worried about robberies in his neighborhood, so he sets up surveillance cameras. They are linked to three computers, making a recording of everything that takes place on his property. Through an ap on his phone, he can view his property in...
Aug 23, 2018 | This Sunday in Baptist History
In 1750 Benjamin Foster was born into a Congregational family at Danvers, Massachusetts. He proved to be an intelligent boy and at eighteen earned gained entrance into Yale College, where he quickly excelled. When the subject of baptism came up for discussion before...
Aug 23, 2018 | Wednesday
Ironically, one of the problems with modern social technology is the isolation which it creates. You’ve probably heard or read articles about this, so I will only point to it and move on. People have several hundred “friends” on Facebook and others on...
Aug 19, 2018 | Sunday Evening
In creative writing classes, teachers tell their students to write about things which they know personally. There comes the time that we must research things and report on them. But for the sake of a good story, personal experience is the best source of information....
Aug 19, 2018 | Sunday Morning
I would like to use Solomon’s words in why in which he never intended. But I do knowing exactly what he meant, so it’s not out of ignorance I am headed in a different direction. What God’s prophet was pointing out is pretty obvious. Where sin controls people – most...
Aug 17, 2018 | This Sunday in Baptist History
I don’t usually share historical notes which come within my lifetime, but with this I’ll make an exception. In January 1954 Quebec’s Premier Duplessis introduced “Bill 38” which amended the “Freedom of Worship Act.” It basically declared that...
Aug 16, 2018 | Wednesday
I suppose there could be many qualities by which some people would like to be known. Someone might, for example, want to be remembered as beautiful. Another might want to be known as kind, generous, forgiving, loving or intelligent. Intelligent – what is...
Aug 14, 2018 | Sunday Evening
Have you ever gone to the grocery store and gotten behind a family of six pushing two full grocery carts? There you are with your small basket hoping you’ve added things correctly so you’ve got enough cash. Finally the big family in front of you reaches...
Aug 13, 2018 | Sunday Evening
Have you ever gone to the grocery store and gotten behind a family of six pushing two full grocery carts? There you are with your small basket hoping you’ve added things correctly so you’ve got enough cash. Finally the big family in front of you reaches...
Aug 12, 2018 | Sunday Morning
Is there such a thing as thinking for personal enjoyment? How many people think about things simply because we have the ability to think? Is there entertainment in thinking, or is it just a part of work? To put it differently, when you have nothing specific to...
Aug 9, 2018 | This Sunday in Baptist History
The persecution with which the Jews tried to stifle the early Christians, provided the impetus for the scattering of God’s evangelists throughout the Mediterranean. The same thing occurred in North Carolina 1700 years later. The Colony of North Carolina had already...
Aug 9, 2018 | Wednesday
When my wife made a stop at the church one day last week, she found an invitation stuck in the door. It announced the “Franklin Graham, Decision America, Pacific Northwest Tour.” Tomorrow night at one of the larger venues in Spokane, Graham, supported by...
Aug 3, 2018 | This Sunday in Baptist History
William Wickenden was an elder in Rhode Island’s second Providence Church. He was a signator of the first compact of Rhode Island in 1637 and served as a member of the legislature. In 1655 he visited the Dutch colony of New Netherlands (New York), to preach the...
Jul 26, 2018 | This Sunday in Baptist History
Baptists do not believe in receiving support from the State, but depending on the circumstances, and beyond praying for governmental leaders, they may support the State even in fiscal matters. In second half of the 16th century, Europe was ablaze with religious...
Jul 26, 2018 | Wednesday
Here in verse 1 we have another reference to someone who is “foolish.” It surprised me to learn that this is only the fifth time the word “foolish” has been used in Proverbs. I thought it was in every chapter several times – but it was a...
Jul 24, 2018 | Timothy Parrow
Dear Pastor and Brethren: Visitors This Month Although no new visitors came this month, we had four repeat visitors whose names are as follows: Charlotte Renfrow; Jacob Mason and girlfriend, Macy; and Earl Oswalt. Pedro Garcia is the only new Mexican man with whom I...
Jul 22, 2018 | Sunday Evening
When was last time you asked yourself: “What is my purpose in coming to church this morning? What do I hope to experience or gain? What will my presence add to the service? Will I be a blessing to someone? Will I be blessed?” A related question might be:...
Jul 22, 2018 | Sunday Morning
Have you ever found that your first impression of the day determined the character of the rest of the day? You slept fitfully, or you had a terrible dream, or you over-slept and the day began with a jolt. For some reason, the next eighteen hours were completely...
Jul 19, 2018 | This Sunday in Baptist History
On this day (July 22) 1575 two men were carried from England’s Newgate prison to Smithfield where they were tied to stakes and burned to death. One was a husband with a wife and nine children and the other was married but as yet without a family. Their crime was...
Jul 19, 2018 | Wednesday
In Matthew 20 the Lord Jesus gives us one of the Kingdom of Heaven parables. “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers...
Jul 15, 2018 | Sunday Evening
Our text this afternoon lends itself to a short lesson on the Christian’s responsibility toward government. You may think that you know this subject better than the preacher, and you may be right. You may say that you know this subject, and this kind of sermon...
Jul 15, 2018 | Sunday Evening
Many of you won’t recognize the name in the title to this message. You are too young to know “Buddy Holly” and your music tastes have never run down the same path. That is all right, because for the sake of an introduction to this message, I’m going to...
Jul 12, 2018 | This Sunday in Baptist History
As we have seen in these notes over the years, some of America’s Baptist churches have had unusual names. Imagine a visitor coming into your service. When you ask him about his spiritual condition he replies by saying that he is a Christian and a member of the Polecat...
Jul 12, 2018 | Wednesday
Often on these Wednesday nights I feel like I’m preaching to the choir. Rarely do we have a visitor, and some of you have been hearing me preach since the week you were born and even before. Many, many times I feel like I’m facing the wrong audience. The message...
Jul 9, 2018 | Sunday Evening
Not everyone should be a brain surgeon; most people don’t have the knowledge and skill. Not everyone should run marathons, because many don’t have the physical strength or health. Not everyone should be parents, because many people are nothing but 40-year-old...
Jul 8, 2018 | Sunday Morning
It is said that Sir Isaac Newton wanted to make some studies of the sun, involving looking directly towards it. He took all the precautions that he could think of and went off to his work. After a couple of hours, he jotted down his notes and went to bed. A few...
Jul 5, 2018 | This Sunday in Baptist History
On this day in 1663, after 12 years of lobbying, John Clarke, obtained a British charter which established Rhode Island as America’s first colony providing true freedom, including religious freedom. While many Baptists are aware of this fact, many are not aware of the...
