by Greg | Apr 28, 2010 | Blog Posts
A denomination (not Baptist) has as their slogan: “God is still speaking.” That is certainly Biblical when you consider the many times God breaks into the scene and because of this people begin to imagine new possibilities of living and relating. All week long I have been working on my sermon for this Sunday and I am wondering about God still speaking. Yes, I believe God speaks to me (and hopefully through me) for the sermon. But specifically I am wrestling with how God is speaking in Acts 11 where Peter is “explaining himself” to the Jerusalem Church. The problem was the Gentiles. Not all of them, just the ones who, and here I am quoting, “accepted the word of God.” (Acts 11:1) This meant that Peter and the others were rethinking what it would mean to live and relate with others, specifically the Gentile believers. Peter concludes with these powerful words: “Who was I that I could hinder God?” (Acts 11:17b) I wonder about me; how do I attempt to hinder God and therefore stand in the way of God speaking something fresh and alive? What about you? Do you think God is still speaking? Of course this can all get rather dangerous, right? Many times I have heard people tell me something like, “the Lord told me…” in order to defend their prejudices or personal views. Hmmm….this whole business of God speaking can be tricky. It would be easier to just believe that “God said it, I believe it, and that is that.” Yet if God is still speaking that means there is more to be said....
by Greg | Apr 22, 2010 | Blog Posts
What is the “face” of a church? Bearded? Bespectacled? Steepled? Bricked? Anglo? African-American? Young? Old? Formal? Casual? Traditional? Modern? American? Latino? You and I know that there is no one face to the church which the Bible refers to as the body of Christ. There are many faces. This past Sunday the congregation of First Baptist Church welcomed 29 new faces to our church family who joined our membership. It was a great response for a single Sunday. What a gift we have been given with these who have come to call First Baptist church their home. They were of differnet ages, gender and ethnicity. No one face is “the” face of FBC but all of the faces help paint a more complete picture. Your face is part of the larger family too, wherever you worship. First Baptist has adopted the stewardship theme: “I am First Baptist Church” and throughout 2010 and 2011 we will celebrate the many images and faces that make up FBC. Of course our church’s theme could be any church’s theme. What do you picture or imagine when you here the words, “I am the church”? To the ancient but cosmopolitan city of Corinth, Paul the Apostle wrote to the church: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body– Jews or Greeks, slaves or free– and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 Indeed, the body does not consist...
by Greg | Apr 13, 2010 | Blog Posts
Second to The Masters tournament itself, Tiger Woods has been the center of attention this past week. It should be stated from the outset that many, many are pleased in Phil Mickelson’s win. He seems to be a fine man, devoted to his wife, and humble in character. Somewhere in the shadow of Mickelson’s victory, however, is Tiger Woods. When Tiger won his first Masters he was 21 scoring 12 under par (I am not sure what that means) which at the time set a record for the course and he was the first African-American to win a major golf event. That was in 1997. Since that time Tiger Woods has dominated attention both on the golf course and off. There is no need to repeat the last four months of sad news related to Tiger Woods. Needless to say, his return to the golf course has been met by cheers, jeers, planes, and pundits Many people love him; many people revile him; and many people just ignore him. I have wondered what it must be like to live as Tiger Woods: every expression analyzed; every action judged; and every decision questioned. Now he is back and although he did not win The Masters he is still indisputably a great golfer. I sat there amazed that he could even focus long enough to finish a round of golf with all the world watching. What can we learn about ourselves through Tiger Woods? He who is without sin cast the first golf ball? Issues of choices, sin, passing judgment and consequences come to mind. So do redemption, restoration and hope....
by Greg | Mar 30, 2010 | Blog Posts
Remember when you were a child and you made your first friend in school? Our earliest memories remind us of the importance of friendships. Everyone needs a friend and so good friends are a gift. Amy and are blessed to call on several as our dear friends. Each summer we vacation together and catch up on one another’s lives. For the rest of the year we are busy raising children, working our jobs and from time to time going to funerals. You see we are at that age where many our parents are also at that age. I just returned from one such funeral of the father of one of our friends. We all sat on a pew together and thought about our own fathers, some living and some that have passed on. Of course, that is what friends are for – sharing together in one another’s lives. The interesting thing about our friends is that we are in many respects quite different. We live in different cities: Birmingham, Atlanta and Augusta. We work different jobs ranging from sales to homemaking. In our group are Baptists, Episcopalians, and non-denominational. We have different political views, effectively canceling out one another’s votes each election. What holds us together is common love and respect for each other. “Friends” was how Jesus referred to his followers. “You are my friends,” Jesus says to those who would be called later to lay down their lives for one another. The Greek word for “friend” in the Gospel is philos, a word that theologian Raymond Brown translates as beloved. In the Gospel of John the two...
by Greg | Mar 18, 2010 | Blog Posts
Now that the days are getting longer and the weather is getting warmer (well, slightly warmer anyway), my mind has been wandering to the back yard. Specifically I have been glancing towards my raised vegetable bed. Currently I still have a mess or two of collards left from the fall planting. Soon I will be picking the last of the collards and preparing the ground for tomatoes and peppers. The problem I have, however, is that I do not have enough room for all the things I want to plant. Sooooo….I have built another raised bed. The biggest challenge in building another bed is hauling the lumber from the store to my house. I do not own a pick-up and I am too cheap to rent one. Of course this is not a problem if you do not mind hauling lumber on top of the car – and I did not have a problem. My kayak straps secured down all my planks and 4x4s on the top of my MINI just fine. Who needs a pick-up? My next challenge will be getting fresh manure transported for fertilizer. Is it any wonder that Rodger Murchison does not want to ride in my car? The season is about investing in the future. When the garden is planted, I then dream of fresh tomatoes and basil. We all do this in one way or another. Some go and buy new clothes (remember Easter outfits?) and in wearing them feel themselves renewed. People charge into spring cleaning their homes to cast off the old and refresh all things as new. I believe that...
by Greg | Mar 2, 2010 | Blog Posts
As you can imagine, meal times are pretty important around the DeLoach Ranch. I am certain has been true for many generations. My grandfather’s favorite table blessing went something like this: “Bless the Meat, even the bones/Got anymore, bring it on.” While we giggled my grandmother glared disapprovingly in his direction. We DeLoaches love eating and we love eating as a family. Mealtimes were not a picture from the canvas of Norman Rockwell. My grandmother’s house did not have a dining room, or china, or linen napkins. We (seven of us) all ate in the kitchen crammed around a table fighting over the last biscuit and working our way in and out of the unfolding flow of conversation. We discussed politics, religion, grades, feed prices and milk prices, but mostly we laughed, fussed, and teased. In other words, we were a family and the table centered us. One by one we grew up, some of us moved away and all of us married. Both my grandparents are now deceased and my father has since remarried. Still, from time to time, we come back home bringing our own children and our own stories and find a place at the table. In fact, we need several tables when we all show up. As a husband and father meal times are just as important for me as they were in my childhood. True, we are busy with church, sports and school, but we strive hard to prioritize eating together for breakfast and supper. Soon both of my sons will be driving and it will not be long before they too will move...
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