Setting the Stage – John 2:1-11

Jan 15, 2017 | Sunday Morning

As a diamond is to a cubic zirconium, so is the Bible to all other books. While one is the genuine article, and the others may be helpful, they are not of the same value. A knowledge of the Bible means an acquaintance with the God of eternity. HOWEVER – a mere...

January 15

Jan 12, 2017 | This Sunday in Baptist History

It was on this day in 1549 that Elizabeth was arrested as an Anabaptist. We don’t know her last name, but we do have records of the details of her trial before a council of Roman Catholics. Council: What do you think of the Mass? Elizabeth: I do not approve of your...

A Good Name – Ecclesiastes 7:1

Jan 12, 2017 | Wednesday

Solomon has spent six chapters describing life in some of its darkest shades. “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among man.” Actually there are lots of evils under the sun, which the news throws into our faces night after...

January 8

Jan 6, 2017 | This Sunday in Baptist History

James Carroll was born into poverty on this day in 1852, while his parents were living in Arkansas, having moved there from North Carolina, via a stay in Mississippi. Almost all the wealth of the Carrolls was incorporated in the slaves which they owned, but with the...

The Dove – Matthew 3:13-17

Jan 5, 2017 | Wednesday

If we, as Baptists, had a symbol, what do you think it ought to be? I suppose one of the symbols of Catholicism might be the crucifix. Taking the image of Christ off the crucifix, would we want the cross to be our symbol? It is so highly abused today, that frankly,...

Great Expectations – Philippians 1:19-20

Jan 2, 2017 | Sunday Evening

Do you read much in the way of biography? My personal reading is very eclectic. I read spiritual and devotional books, and mysteries, histories and biographies. I am currently reading about the University of Washington rowing crew in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The...

New Year’s Attitudes – Acts 1:1-11

Jan 1, 2017 | Sunday Morning

There are many similarities between the saints at the dawn of 2017 and saints at the dawn of Christianity. But I don’t know if the idea of the “New Year” is shared between them. Ancient cultures did celebrate various solar time-markers, but if they did, I...

January 1

Dec 29, 2016 | This Sunday in Baptist History

Daniel Marshall arrived in the Colony of Georgia on this day in 1771. He was originally from New England, but he had been serving the Lord with Shubal Stearns in North Carolina for a while before feeling led of the Lord to move south. Stearns and Marshall were...

The Treasures of the Snow – Job 38:22

Dec 29, 2016 | Wednesday

This verse came to my mind yesterday, as I was out blowing and shoveling the snow. To be honest, I misquoted it – I said to myself, “Hast thou considered the beauty of the snow?” That thought morphed into what might become a devotional message for tonight....