May 9, 2021 | Sunday Morning
If I called you a “fool” would you be angry with me? Even if you were, I might be more angry with myself than you would be. I would have to have lost my temper to call you a “fool.” It is not something I would ever do lightly or when I was in control of my emotions. With that point in the background, remember that Proverbs is one of the 5 Biblical “books of wisdom.” The others are Job, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes and then some of the Psalms. There are no “books of foolishness” in the Bible, and yet the Bible is full of fools and foolishness. In contrast to wisdom is foolishness; in contradistinction to the sage, or wise man, is the fool. Proverbs gives us the word “fool” over 60 times, and it is found 7 times here in chapter 17. And curiously, there are 3 different Hebrew words translated “fool” in this chapter. “Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince” – v. 7. “A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool” – v. 10. “Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly” – v. 12. “Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?” – v. 16. “He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy” – v. 21. “Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of...
May 7, 2021 | This Sunday in Baptist History
Would you say that a person could be both a Christian and a Democrat? Should a Christian have fellowship with a believer who is a member of another political party? If you were an American patriot in 1776, could you have Christian fellowship with a Tory – a British loyalist? Morgan Edwards, who was born on this day in 1772, was one of the most important Baptist leaders of his day. He was a highly educated graduate of Bristol College, the first Baptist school in England. In 1761 he emigrated to America and became the pastor of the Baptist Church in Philadelphia. He was a leader in the Philadelphia Baptist Association. He was a principle in the establishment of Rhode Island College. One of the first men to record the history of Baptists in the United States was Morgan Edwards, publishing “Materials Toward a History of the Baptists.” It is often stated, in these days when history is being redefined, that the doctrine of the pre-tribulational rapture did not exist until the days of John Darby, who died in 1882. That lie is destroyed by Morgan Edwards. While a student at Bristol in about 1740, he published a 56 page essay stating it was his belief that the Lord Jesus Christ would return to receive His own people prior to the Tribulation which would be prior to the Lord’s Millennial reign. But Morgan Edwards was one of perhaps two Baptist leaders who did not support the Revolutionary War. He was never arrested, but during the war his travel was restricted to the Philadelphia area. About that time, he resigned...
May 2, 2021 | Sunday Morning
Wednesday I said that when we are trying to evangelize, we should do our best to avoid superfluous questions. There IS an answer to the question, “Where did Cain get his wife?” but it doesn’t need to distract from our friend’s spiritual condition and his need of salvation. The man who asks, “Can God create a rock so big he can’t lift it,” or “How many angels can sit on the head of a pin,” is trying really hard to keep from hearing that he is a sinner who is in need of a Saviour. Table those questions about the rapture and Millennial Kingdom. Avoid all the questions you possibly can. But sometimes that man has legitimate doubts and problems which simply must be answered. The scripture we just read is extremely important, because in it God mentions a man – a foreign king – who had, at that time, not yet been born. It is another point of evidence, proving the divine nature of the Bible. Isaiah 45 was recorded about the year 712 BC, and its subject, Cyrus, is reintroduced to us in II Chronicles and Ezra 1 about 175 years LATER. This prophecy is not referring to any other man, but a future king of the Medes and Persians. But that is not really my subject for this morning. Cyrus was raised an idolater – most likely a polytheist – worshiping more than one imitation God. To that man God says, “I am the LORD – Jehovah – and there is no one else, there is no God beside me.” And Cyrus is told that Jehovah...
Apr 29, 2021 | This Sunday in Baptist History
James Barnett Taylor was born in England in 1804. His family moved the next year to New York City. At the age of 13, James was born again – he placed his faith in the sacrifice which Christ Jesus made on the cross. After that he was baptized and joined the First Baptist Church. The same year his father moved the family to Virginia, where at the age of 16, young Bro. Taylor began to preach the gospel. He was ordained on this day in 1826 by the Sandy Creek Baptist Church. In 1826 J. B. Taylor became pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Richmond, where he served for sixteen years. During that time there were 660 members added to the church, three new churches were started out of their ministry and about a dozen men were called from their membership into the ministry. After his ministry in Richmond, he went on the pastor several other Baptist Churches. Bro. Taylor believed in an educated membership and ministry. He led in the formation of several Sunday Schools and Bible societies. In 1839 he was elected to be the chaplain of the University of Virginia. He was also very interested in the spiritual condition of the Blacks in his state. He was appointed to work with the secretary of the Freedmen’s Bureau, and his last sermons were preached in Alexandria to Black congregations. He ministered faithfully during a very difficult time in American history, dying on December 22,...
Apr 26, 2021 | Lessons on Bible Trivia
Your next door neighbor – the one who has lived there for fifteen years – tells you one day that he is selling his house and moving to a condominium. You are shocked. You didn’t see that coming. Then a week later the “For Sale” sign goes up. You see people coming and going next door. There is an open house. Two weeks after that, above the “For Sale” sign, there is another which says, “Sale Pending.” Exactly five weeks after your neighbor’s announcement, a van pulls up and furniture begins to move into the now empty house. You are curious about your new neighbors. Will they be as tolerable as your former neighbor? Eventually, a car pulls up and a man, woman and three kids pile out and run into the house. You carry a plate full of cookies next door and introduce yourself. In the course of your conversation you tell them that you are a Christian, and you invite them to church. It is then you learn that your new neighbors are Muslims. There are about 3.5 million Muslims in the United States. That is not a large percentage – slightly more than 1% – but the scene I just painted is becoming more and more common. In England there are 2.6 millions Muslims in a population of 66 million – more than 5%. As their numbers grow, they are going have to find places to live; your neighborhood is one such place. Even if they don’t live next door, you may find them at places you do business – banks, stores, gas stations. To your...
Apr 25, 2021 | Timothy Parrow
Dear Pastor and Brethren: A Better Month March has proved to be a better month in the sense of being wanner in temperature and a better attendance in the services. Some, however, have been unable to attend due to sickness, leaving our attendance for the month as follows: 9, 11, 11, and 12 for the four Sundays in March. A Special Urgent Need – I Jn.3:17 On the 6th of April, we received an urgent audio message from Bro. Jose Manuel Garcia Alarcon, pastor of the church on the island of Tenerife, Spain. Due to the Covid-19 infection and the extreme measures taken by the Spanish government, everything was shut down except for buying groceries, dog walking, and garbage disposal. Spain is a socialist/communist country. Due to these extreme measures, In January, 2021, Bro. Garcia was forced into retirement and was paid 1500 euros ($1792. 54 ). They have been using that money for living expenses ever since, getting help from their three daughters and their husbands as needed. He has filed for his pension, but because of the government shutdown he won’t receive it until June or July or later. As a result of these negative economic measures, Bro. Garcia is concerned that they will have to shut the doors of the meeting place and stop having public church services unless the Lord supplies the funds necessary to keep it open. The church has been in operation for twenty-six years since the Lord used us to establish it on April 9th, 1995. Your giving enabled us to establish that church, and they have remained faithful. Right now, the...
Apr 22, 2021 | This Sunday in Baptist History
John Koontz died on this day in 1832. He was buried in a small family graveyard on a hill overlooking the Shenandoah river. Bro. Koontz was perhaps the first Baptist preacher to proclaim the gospel in what was then known as Shenandoah County, Virginia. His ministry was such a success that he nearly died years before 1832. His preaching roused the violent hatred of many native Virginians. On one occasion, near Smith’s Creek, he was met by a gang who forbade his preaching. When a highly respected local man, Captain Learhorn, insisted that he preach, he proceeded, but after the meeting the gang threatened the preacher with death if he ever came back. Undeterred he eventually returned. When he was discovered and beaten with the butt end of a large cane. Again refusing to promise never to return, the beating continued until Bro. Koontz was nearly disabled with broken bones and internal injuries. Sometime later, he and a close friend, Martin Kaufman were in a house awaiting the announced preaching hour. Koontz was in separate room when a man burst in and began beating Kaufman with a stick, thinking he was the preacher. Many blows fell before the man became aware that he was mistaken. Shame made him slink away, but Kaufman had been severely wounded. On another occasion a group of men had arrested Bro. Koontz and were transporting him to jail. When a man, who had earlier heard the preacher, tried to rescue him, he was beaten off. A few miles further up the road, the evangelist warned the mob to be careful, because if he was...
