Let's Not Just Praise The Lord

A popular gospel song is titled, "Let's Just Praise the Lord." But one worship leader took issue with it--a worship leader with great credibility in the evangelical world at that.

The late Don Hustad provided music for Billy Graham's radio ministry, then worked as organist for Graham's televised crusades. Hustad later taught at Moody Bible Institute and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He published an article in "Christianity Today" in 1979 titled, "Let's Not Just Praise the Lord."

Hustad's point was that "just" signifies completion. When a parent tell a child, "Just hush!" it means end-of-conversation. Hustad argued that it's not enough just to praise the Lord. We must take the additional step of obeying the Lord.

Hustad argued that this applied to worship. "Praise and worship" is a popular descriptor these days, but praise and worship is nothing new--it's as old as the Old Testament. And the church has praised and worshipped the Lord for the past 2000 years. Hustad believed praise leads one into the presence of the Lord, but the next step is surrender to him. Thus, it's not enough just to praise the Lord.

A mentor of mine taught me years ago that a worship service should begin with a hymn of praise to God the father, and then the music and scripture should move to other themes such as salvation and devotion and culminate with commitment. I've had some serious discussions with music ministers over the years about this, and I tried to convince them I was correct!

And what Hustad asserted applies to the Christian life.

Jesus told a parable in Matthew 21 about a father and two sons. The father told the first son, "Go and work in my fields today." The son said "no," but relented and went to work. The father told the second son the same thing. He said "Yes, I will," but he never made it into the father's fields. Jesus asked the religious leaders which son did the will of the father. The answer is obvious. Then he said, "The tax collectors and harlots enter into the kingdom of God before you" (Matthew 21: 31).

The religious leaders were represented by the son who initially said "yes" but who didn't do the father's will--they rejected the gospel. The dregs of society, the tax collectors and harlots, were those who heard the gospel, obeyed the heavenly father and experienced transformation.

Praise leads us into God's presence, but it's not complete in itself. And as Jesus reminded us, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My father in heaven" (Matthew 7: 21).

In Remembrance Of Me

Canadian Army Lt. John McRae was in the line of defense that withstood the German assault in Belgium in 1915. The Germans resorted to chemical warfare using chlorine gas but the Canadians held fast. Later McRae officiated at a colleague's burial. In the ensuing days he noticed how quickly the poppies grew over the newly-dug graves. He wrote "In Flanders Fields" that became the national poem of Canada, and a loving tribute to all the dead in World War I.

My mother had three brothers who served in World War II. John Wesley, whom we called "J," was the one who gave me my middle name. He served in the war and was discharged. Raymond was a glider pilot and flew on D-Day. Uncle Raymond never talked about his service, but his son later told me the glider was used to move men and materials behind enemy lines without detection. The casualty rate for glider pilots was 70 percent on D-Day. Uncle Raymond was in the fortunate minority.

And there was the final brother, Melvin. Uncle Melvin was shell-shocked, as it was called in those days, and never had significant conversations or did meaningful work the rest of his days.

It's always fitting to pause and remember the sacrifices of our veterans who ensure the freedoms we enjoy in America.

Jesus likewise gave us a memorial to the cross of Calvary. On the night of his last supper with his disciples he took familiar elements of the Passover meal and assigned new meaning.

The bread, he said, represented his body that was about to be unjustly broken. A few hours later he was man-handled, abused and nailed to a Roman cross. And the cup, he said, represented his blood that would be shed for the sins of the world.

Roman execution was a fact-of-life in the first century. Citizens saw criminals nailed to crosses where they remained for days subjected to pain, the elements and shame, since they were crucified naked. But Jesus died within six hours. In some way our finite minds can never comprehend the sins of the world were laid on his body on the tree and he died quickly.

Knowing that we tend to forget things we shouldn't, Jesus exhorted his church to observe the Lord's Supper and remember the magnitude of his sacrifice. "This do in remembrance of me" is a motto hewn into countless communion tables throughout our churches, and we do well to remember with gratitude the price paid for our forgiveness.

It's appropriate to remember our military heroes on Memorial Day, Veteran's Day and Independence Day, but it's also appropriate to remember our spiritual hero who gave his life for us.

Keep On Keeping On

Science debates the concept of perpetual motion; that is, once an object is set in motion, is it possible to continue motion forever? Whether this is physically possible is debatable, but that it should happen spiritually is non debatable. The inspired apostle Paul wrote, "Continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast" (Colossians 1:23).

What Paul meant is that if we stop moving forward in our Christian lives, we lose ground. Perseverance is the key to victorious living. Perseverance is much better than a good start and a bad ending.

Jesus taught about a sower whose seed fell in various locales. One group of seeds quickly germinated and sprang up, but withered in the sun. Another group likewise sprung up but had no rootage to sustain them. The point is obvious. A good start isn't enough! I've known some people who seemed to make a good start in their Christian commitment, but who weren't committed for the long term and withered.

Another analogy the scripture uses is infancy. New Christians are called babies, but mustn't remain babies. I don't think I've known anyone whose body remained infantile through adulthood, but I've known several cases in which cognitive skills remained infantile; thus grown men and women had the minds of little children. Both of these cases are tragic, and it's also tragic when believers fail to grow beyond spiritual infancy and remain spiritual infants.

Aesop made famous the story of the tortoise and the hare. What a foolish contest that was since the hare was much faster. But after a good start, the hare took a break. The tortoise made steady progress and won the race. As Aesop said, "Slow and steady wins the race."

We cannot afford to "take a break" from the path of Christian growth. When we stop we actually go backward.

And it's true that many people along the faith highway have taken the exit ramp.

Jeff Foxworthy makes us laugh with his redneck jokes, for example, "You know you're a redneck if your life has been changed by an episode of 'Walker Texas Ranger.'" He also gave us the redneck dictionary. One of our Southern verbs is "usedtuhcould," as in "Can you dance?" And the response is "I usedtuhcould!"

Their number is legion in Christendom--those who used to be committed to the faith. They used to attend Sunday School, or teach, or give or be a deacon or sing in the choir or have a joyful faith. But now all of this is past tense.

Going forward doesn't mean we don't mess up, for we all do. But it means we get up when we fall and press on to the glory of God.

Lambs Among Wolves

The early church faced opposition as they tried to evangelize the Roman world. Emperor Nero came to the throne and instigated the first wide-spread persecution of Christians. Many were arrested and torn apart by wild animals in the Coliseum as the masses looked on in sport. Others were daubed in pitch and set afire as human torches for Nero's garden parties.

But the church faced persecution, too, from the religious leaders. These were the same men who opposed Jesus. Instead of joining as his partners in the work of God, they saw him as a threat.

Jesus had forthrightly warned his followers this would happen. "I send you out as lambs among wolves," he said (Luke 10:3).

The church faces opposition today from an increasingly secular society putting restrictions on her work. Surprisingly the fastest growing religion in America today is Wicca, or the religion of witchcraft. Apparently all the witches weren't removed in Salem, Mass. so long ago!

But the church also faces opposition today from religious leaders who see the work of Christ as a challenge to the status quo.

A pastor was fairly new in his church when he talked with a long-time member.

"I've been coming here for 63 years," the man said.

"I've guess you've seen a lot of changes," the pastor said.

"Yes sir, I have," the man said, "and I've been against every single one of them!"

I've never believed in change for change's sake, but neither have I ever believed in maintaining a tradition for no good reason.

It would've been a complete change in life for Donna and me had we pursued an opportunity in Virginia some 20 years ago. I still remember the chair of the pulpit committee who took me into their beautiful sanctuary for the first time. The man was a retired military officer. "Michael," he growled, "if you come to this church you'll come out that door on Sunday and sit in that chair."

In those days I was enough of a rebel that I probably would've used a different door and chair on my first Sunday just to show him this tradition was meaningless. Now as a more "mellow" man I would probably click my heels and salute like an MMI cadet and say, "Sir! Yes, sir!"

I've thought about this incident many times over the years. With the world going to hell in a handbasket, what difference does a door and a chair make? The church must never be so committed to long-standing tradition that we fail in our larger mission. We may, indeed, turn out to be opponents rather than proponents of the work of God's kingdom, and be wolves rather than lambs. -30-

Division Almost Always Means Disaster

I mentioned in my Mother's Day sermon that President Woodrow Wilson gave us the first Mother's Day in 1914. The backdrop of this story is intriguing and instructive.

Wilson was serving as governor of New Jersey when supporters urged him to seek the presidency. His path in 1912 was made a bit easier when he faced down two Republican rivals, not just one. Former President Teddy Roosevelt decided he wanted to make a come-back, regretting his decision not to seek re-election. The problem was that his successor, William Howard Taft, who had been Roosevelt's vice-president, had no intention of stepping aside. Republicans renominated Taft, not Roosevelt. Roosevelt was so angry he formed a third party, the Bull Moose Party. Both Republicans polled 50 percent of the vote, but since they split it, Wilson won with 41 percent of the vote.

Incidentally, it was Wilson's vice president, Thomas Marshall, who is principally known for his observation, "What this country needs is a good five-cent cigar." And it was while campaigning as a Bull Moose that Roosevelt famously was shot and continued his speech as planned since his speech papers inside his coat pocket slowed down the assassin's bullet.

It's interesting that Roosevelt demolished his legacy, demoralized his successor and still made Mt. Rushmore!

I might make some application to today's political climate, but I'm not a political commentator. The point I make is that division almost always means disaster.

King David wrote long ago: "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!" (Psalm 133:1). It is good for a nation to seek unity, but it's imperative for the church. Satan defeats God's people when he causes us to turn against ourselves.

I was pastor of a church years ago where two brothers attended with their families. I soon learned, however, that the brothers hated each other. It boiled down to the inheritance their father left them, and how they disagreed on the proceeds. The brothers entered worship from different doors so they wouldn't have to speak to one another. Whereas I was grateful to have a chance to preach to them week-by-week, I never understood the hypocrisy of singing "I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God" when they weren't.

The Apostle Paul shared a golden nugget of human relations in Ephesians 4: "Let your moderation be known unto all men" (v. 5). One translator rendered the word "moderation" as "sweet reasonableness." God's people should never insist on their way to the exclusion of the beliefs and feelings of others, but instead should seek to get along with every brother and sister in Christ as the Bible commands.

 Division almost always means disaster.

Worship Wars--The Saga Continues

I was a teen-ager when I started to ride the band bus to football games. Often band members began a song about 100 bottles of beer, and then sung it down to a single bottle of beer. Coming from a teetotaling home I was in another orbit and never understood why kids wanted to sing about beer bottles.

But fortunately, we got a reprieve.

Peter Noone and "Herman's Hermits" came along with their chorus, "Henry the Eighth," and it killed the beer bottle song! And since those days I've heard Noone in concert and joined in with the audience to sing this fun song. Noone always gets a laugh when he says, "Second verse, same as the first!"

Sometimes church music is like the "Henry" chorus. I was at a conference when we sang a song called, "I Could Sing of His Love Forever." And we almost did. We sang it for 10 or 15 minutes. As one of my buddies standing nearby whispered to me with mock seriousness, "I get it! I get it!"

We teach in public speaking that repeating one's main points is a good memory tool, but no speaker simply repeats whole paragraphs. I'm unaware of any other discipline where repetition is used in the same way some use it in worship. The Apostle Paul argued that not only the heart but the mind should be engaged in worship (1 Corinthians 14:14).

Another trend in some places is the dearth of congregational music. A pastor friend visited a so-called contemporary church and said the music was sung by a praise team without any congregational music. How odd, I thought, since congregational singing has been an important way lay people participate in public worship. If people aren't involved in worship it becomes more a spectator sport than a corporate response to the love of God.

Some worshippers tell me they can't sing, so they don't. I sometimes chide them a bit and ask if they ever sing the National Anthem or "Happy Birthday." We sing the anthem because we love our country, and we sing the birthday song to those we love. The Bible commands us to sing to honor the Lord--vocal quality isn't a factor. I believe we lose something important when the congregation doesn't participate in worship through singing.

Worship wars aren't new. The worship in Corinth 2000 years ago was raucous and confusing; therefore the Apostle Paul counseled that "everything be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40).

Modern worship planners must consider appropriate worship elements, including music, using our best thinking as well as the most open of hearts.

Call Your Mother

An ABC tribute to Gilda Radner some time ago reminded me of the number of people we’ve lost in the last few years who made us laugh: John Belushi, John Candy, Phil Hartman, Bob Hope, Grady Nutt, Rodney Dangerfield, Jerry Clower and others.

Humor has great value. Solomon said laughter is medicine for the soul (Proverbs 17:22), and sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is to have a good laugh.

Lincoln, a man who suffered depression or "melancholia" as it was called in those days, talked about the value of humor in the stressful days of the Civil War.

 “With the fearful strain that is on me," he said, "if I did not laugh, I would die.”

Lewis Grizzard was a fine Southern humorist. But, occasionally, he stepped aside from humor and made some pretty astute observations about life. He did this, I believe, in one of his books entitled, “Call Your Mama—I Wish I Could Call Mine.”

Me too, Lewis.

I guess I thought my mother would live forever. She was a constant in the changes of my life.  But there came that terrible December in 1993 when our family had gathered for Christmas and she was so sick she couldn’t function. I thought maybe she'd worked too hard preparing the house and the meal, but she lay down on the couch and didn't have energy to get up. My wife and sister forcibly took her to the local hospital. An X-ray turned up something ominous, and the doctor thought she needed to go to a larger hospital for tests.

The Monday following Christmas the doctors at Birmingham’s St. Vincent’s Hospital confirmed the dread diagnosis: cancer. In seven weeks she was gone. 

Those were weeks of trial as my siblings and I scheduled time to be with her and take care of things. One of the most stressful rites of passage is caring for aging and dying parents. In addition to the shock of impending loss there's the demands of everyday tasks that must be done.

I read something recently about the trauma we experience when our mothers die. Mothers, the article stated, represent unconditional love, and we're often unprepared for a world in which no one else seems to fill that role.

God knew what he was doing when he invented the family and put mothers in them. She is the family's heart, civilizing us and teaching us to care. Mothers fill a role no one else can. They love us and are proud of us no matter what.

May 8 is Mother’s Day. 

Be sure to call your mother. 

I wish I could call mine.

Learning From Moses

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited America last year, addressing a joint session of Congress on March 3. Concluding his remarks he pointed to an image of Moses directly in front of him on the chamber wall. Noting that Jews and Christians revere Moses, he pleaded for partnership between our nations.

It's interesting that three people have distinct honor in the U.S. House chamber. From the well where Netanyahu spoke, or our presidents during the State of the Union speeches, Gen. Washington's portrait is to the speaker's right. We honor our first commander-in-chief and our country's founder. To the speaker's left is the portrait of a Frenchman, Gen. Lafayette, who helped us win independence. And directly in front of the speaker is the image of Moses.

Moses is recognized as the emancipator of the Hebrews, but was an unlikely hero. He was an illegal alien in Egypt as a Hebrew raised in Pharaoh's court. Then he killed an Egyptian and became a wanted man. He lived in what the King James Bible calls the "back side" of the desert for 40 years.

I remember driving through the desolate Arizona desert several years ago and can only image how much more desolate the "back side "of the desert would be!  

And then we read of Moses' dramatic call experience at the burning bush.

Moses was short on self-confidence. He told God he couldn’t speak and that the Lord should send someone else. He told God that Pharoah wouldn't believe him. Probably his real reason for not wanting to answer the call of the Lord was the fact that Egyptian post offices had wanted posters with his picture! He was a fugitive from Egyptian justice.

But when Moses got his priorities straight and obeyed the Lord, God fashioned him into the man we honor today as the Abraham Lincoln of the Hebrews.

Moses' story is the story of many of us who feel we have nothing to contribute to the work of God. We often compare ourselves to others who are gifted and feel we fall short. And deep in our hearts we wrestle with our hidden sins--those episodes no one knows about but us. It's no wonder that modern believers often reject the call of God to service with excuses like Moses made: "send somebody else."

But God knows what he's doing He's chosen to do his work through willing workers privileged to share in the joy of the work. Today we don't remember so much the failures of Moses, but his successes, when he got his heart right and said "yes" to the Lord. We can learn a valuable lesson from him. God overcomes our weakness with his strength.

Ringing Doorbells for Jesus

Church members went to several neighborhoods on a recent Saturday and rang doorbells. We met people who belonged to other churches and encouraged them to support their congregations, and to those who didn't attend, we welcomed them to our church. I was proud of our folks who came and supported this effort and was happy to meet so many nice people.

But one man wasn't nice. He scowled at me and said he was an atheist and, furthermore, his neighborhood was posted for no solicitation. He, in effect, told me to get off his lawn.

I've thought about this an awful lot since. I've thought that I've never met an atheist who was happy! Those I've met are always angry at something or somebody.

I wonder who this man was angry with?

Maybe he was angry with America where we honor God. Our founders acknowledged "divine providence" and "nature's God" in our founding documents. It's true many of our founders weren't evangelical Christians--they were deists who believed God existed, but weren't so sure we could know him. But they acknowledged the hand of God in our founding. And President Eisenhower asked Congress to add "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954.

I wonder if he was angry with our adults and youth who did the canvassing? Some people do destructive things with their time and can be a threat to law-abiding folk. Our canvassers, many of them new believers, smiled sweetly and invited people to join us in learning more about the scriptures. Who could be angry with such wholesome activity?

He did say he was angry at us because he thought we violated his neighborhood association rules. However, city ordinance trumps neighborhood rules and most local municipalities allow churches to go door-to-door. As I say, we weren't selling anything, but only giving a printed invitation and a kind word.

The First Amendment gives us the right to practice our faith and to speak freely. Part of our faith is sharing the good news with others. It's a divine imperative. Jesus gave his church the Great Commission and mandated we not keep the message to ourselves (Matthew 28: 18-20). We shouldn't be crass or unkind, of course, but as long as we respect the freedom of others to accept or to reject, we're well within our rights.

Several of us discussed what further we might do. Someone suggested light-heartedly that we form a prayer circle around the atheist's house! I suggested we simply pray for him. That's not against the law. And as Don Moen wrote in his chorus, "[God] works in ways we cannot see, he will make a way."

Spending Our Lives For Noble Purpose

The Smothers Brothers discovered Pat Paulsen many years ago when they heard his night club act. They brought him on board and used him first as a writer for their variety show, and then as a part of the comedy cast. Part of Paulsen's "schtick" was his six campaigns for president. He gave us several memorable lines.

"I am neither left wing nor right wing. I'm middle-of-the-bird."

"In America, any boy can grow up to be president. Or, if he never grows up, vice--president."

"I am against welfare for poor people. All they'll do is pay rent and buy food."

Well, yes, money is only good if we can spend it for something valuable.

This is the basis of one of Jesus's most well-known stories. He told of a woman who had ten coins and lost one. The homes in first-century Palestine most often had earthern floors covered with stalks of flax as a primitive carpet. How easy it would be for a single coin to roll underneath the flooring and be lost to good use.

The point of Jesus' story is that someone apart from God is like a coin lost to usefulness. This doesn't mean that a non-believer can't do good things. Many do. They're good citizens, good neighbors and good Americans. But a non-believer is not exercising the greatest usefulness--investing their life in God's work.

The God of the Bible is fully capable of doing his work alone, but he offers us opportunity to partner with him in this work. The work of God has value and is eternal. In some way that we may not understand at the moment, his work has eternal consequence.

I remember one weekend many years ago. We'd only been back shortly to Alabama from the seminary in Kentucky, and I became friends with a neighboring pastor in Jacksonville. This man, in his early 30s, succumbed to cancer and his funeral was the same weekend that a plane crashed in Mississippi killing three members of the band "Lynyrd Skynyrd."

The attention of the media was on the crash, and it was a tragedy, to be sure.

But the media paid no attention to the Saturday funeral I attended where we honored a brother in the Lord who served faithfully and was taken from us too soon. But as John said in Revelation, our deeds follow us into eternity (Rev. 20: 13).

We do know that this young pastor's preaching of the gospel and bringing people to faith was a sterling example of a coin used for noble purpose.

Those who don't serve the Lord through his church forfeit their birthright. They're a coin lost to finest use.

How Then Should We Worship?

It was a strange comment. He was with a group who came to our church to use our facilities for a civic event. I was fairly new at the church and he told me he went to a neighboring church. "We don't worship like you do," he said with a smile.  I got the impression he was making a judgment about our worship.

His comment, however, reminded me that every church I've known worships differently. Every church is a unique mix of folks with unique social and denominational traditions.

I've been to a few Episcopalian services over the years and I appreciate the grand reverence of their worship. The readings and prayers highlight the majesty of God and their services remind us of the holy God Isaiah saw in his call experience (Isaiah 6).

I had the happy experience of being stated supply at a PCA (Presbyterian) church for nearly four years. The Book of Church Order prescribed how services should be conducted. I was forced to think through the prayers I offered since the pastor prayed four or five times in each service. I appreciated the mandated petition to God for forgiveness and the assurance of pardon spoken to the people as we confessed our sin. The PCA minister ends the service with a blessing instead of a benediction, and a kind lady gave me a document with several blessings on it after seeing my unfamiliarity with this tradition!

Donna and I served an American Baptist church in Indiana when I was in seminary in Louisville. The folks there enjoyed putting her on the piano bench and singing the gospel songs of the South. They loved gospel preaching, too, and told me their best pastors always came from Alabama and Georgia!

I have a cousin who preached in Africa and he showed a film of the people dancing and celebrating when one of their number accepted Christ. He said the celebrations sometimes would last an hour. I've wondered how this would go over in our time-conscious American services!

When I was a child my mother's only sister took us with her to a revival service one night in her Nazarene church in Georgia. I still remember my aunt running down the aisle testifying of God's goodness to her.

Another unique phenomenon in the South is the cowboy church. Ranchers and rodeo folk enjoy worshipping together and the music is most often sung with guitar rather than organ or piano or synthesizer.

So many worship styles, yet all offer praise to the same Lord.

If we bring people into his presence, welcoming all without partiality, and if we offer a word of hope and encouragement, I believe we've worshipped well.

A FRIDAY TO REMEMBER

The wind in my face was bitterly cold in downtown Dallas a few years ago. My continuing education classes had ended at the seminary in nearby Ft. Worth, so the afternoon was free for some sightseeing.

A chill came over me independent of the temperature when I walked onto Dealey Plaza and saw firsthand those sights emblazoned in my memory: Elm Street, the triple overpass and the sixth floor window.

I thought back to that terrible Friday in November, 1963. Our class had just returned from lunch when Mr. Vines, our principal, made an announcement on the intercom.

“Boys and girls,” he said, “some of you may’ve heard already that our president’s been shot. Let’s try to finish out the day in school and I’ll let you know the latest news when I hear more.”

Nevertheless, the senseless death of President Kennedy so paralyzed us that I don’t remember our doing much work in school that Friday afternoon. I remember being glued to the television throughout the weekend and during the funeral on Monday.

That Friday in November will live in the bad memory section of my brain forever.

This week the world remembers another bleak Friday on which Jesus of Nazareth was murdered.

His death was senseless, too, for he’d done no wrong. In fact, bribed witnesses had to be brought in to lie about him at his trial. One of the thieves who died with him realized Jesus' innocence: “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong" (Luke 23: 41).

British writer Richard Jefferies told of a little boy who gazed at a graphic painting of Calvary and exclaimed, “If God had been there, he would not have let them do it!”

But God was there! He wasn't removed from the event at Calvary. Paul insisted “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself" (2 Corinthians 5:19).

God was present at the cross, and he showed us that he loves us in spite of disobedience, that he offers forgiveness to all and that he wants to be our partner in building a life filled with hope.

God’s redemptive plan wasn’t completed on Friday. The Father was faithful to his son and raised him on the third day. Now God promises to welcome all his children on the other side of death.

In light of God’s ultimate plan we believers have renamed that awful Friday. 

We call it Good Friday. 

And so it is.

Because He Lives!

It was April 19, 1992. First Baptist Selma’s choir, under the direction of Gordon Welch, was to sing “Symphony of Praise,” and a large crowd gathered on Easter evening to enjoy the music.

The choir had begun only a minute or so when there was interruption.

Laurie Manderson was first to react with a shriek when her father, Billy Driggers, clutched his chest and fainted. He was having a heart attack. Fortunately Dr. Park Chittom was also in the choir. He and Selma dentist “Blue” Howell administered CPR while waiting on the EMT crew. Billy spent time at Vaughan Hospital and then at Carraway Hospital in Birmingham.

The cantata was rescheduled for May 24. It was a great night when Billy walked out with them to a standing ovation. Billy Driggers came back from the dead!

Next week we'll celebrate even a greater miracle when Jesus rose from his grave in Jerusalem. His resurrection ensures new life for those who follow him.

Because of Easter, we have life with the living Christ.

The Christian life isn’t a solo, but a duet. We live it in partnership with Christ. As the apostle Paul wrote, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

There is a sense in which the old life of disobedience dies when we come to faith in Christ, and the son of God takes up residence in our lives. Some insist, “I can’t live the Christian life.” This may be true, but Christ can! Others say, “I’m afraid I can’t hold out.” This may be true, but Christ will strengthen you. We don’t live the Christian life alone.

Because of Easter, we have a life committed to mission.

The risen Christ gave the blueprint in Acts 1:8. The disciples were to take the message first to the Jewish nation, for “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). But then they were to take the gospel to the hated Samaritans. Jesus’ blueprint speaks to our prejudices for he insisted redemption is for everyone: black and white, rich and poor, prisoner and free.

Modern believers accompany Christ into a world of need and pour out our lives in service.

Because of Easter, we have life eternal.

Columbus sailed into the unknown in 1492, but returned with a message: “There’s nothing to fear. A new world awaits!”

Jesus crossed into the realm of death and returned with a similar message. Death for the believer is a portal to a new world.

Bill Gaither’s song is correct, “Because he lives, I can face tomorrow / Because he lives, all fear is gone.”

Baptizing Our Pocketbooks

Giving has always been an important way to worship the Lord, and an important way to invest in the Lord's work. It's also a spiritual barometer that measures our love for him. Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there is your heart also" (Matthew 6:21). The principle is that our hearts follow our treasure....

How might we determine our life priorities? For most of us it would be with our checkbook. I've found that younger people don't write many checks anymore, and some don't own a checkbook. Great Britain will stop using paper checks in 2018, so the USA is probably not too far behind the move to electronic banking.

I saw Metro riders in D.C. swipe their wallets on the turnstile to ride the subway. Someone explained the readers could see the fare card inside the wallet. Maybe we'll do this at the supermarket one day soon.

However we spend money, our money is a solid indicator of our priorities.

March 6 was a memorable day as we commemorated 180 brave Texans who died at the Alamo in San Antonio. The commander-in-chief of the Republic of Texas was Gen. Sam Houston, who turned the tide and defeated Santa Anna on April 21 at San Jacinto.

Gen. Houston was a hard-living man who finally came to Christ about 10 years before his death in 1863. His conversion was in large measure the result of his wife Margaret's witness.

Margaret Lea grew up in Marion, Ala. and was schooled at the Judson Female Institute, now Judson College. Her father, Temple, had been a circuit-riding Baptist preacher, and her mother, Nancy, has the distinction of being the only female delegate to the meeting in Greensboro in 1823 when the Alabama Baptist Convention was founded.

Houston met Margaret in Mobile and married her in 1840. Margaret was his third wife, and by all accounts, his favorite!

On the day he trusted Christ, Houston came forward and took the hand of the pastor. "I give you my hand and with it I give my heart to the Lord," he said. Houston was baptized in a local creek the same day. When the pastor raised him from the water he said, "Sam, all your sins are washed away." To which Houston replied, "God help the fishes!"

Another interesting fact is that Houston found he'd mistakenly left his wallet in his baptism clothes. "Preacher," he said, "you baptized my pocketbook!"

This was prophetic, for Houston gave generously to his church for the rest of his life, and also supported a new Baptist school in Waco that was to become Baylor University.

On the day of our baptism, we all should've baptized our pocketbooks, too.

All Satan's Apples Have Worms

All Satan's Apples Have Worms
Michael J. Brooks

We've just come through the Christmas season after which many of us made exchanges. We took something back that didn't fit, or something back that didn't work, and got a replacement. Jesus talked about an exchange in Matthew 16:26: "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

The soul is the part of us that communes with God. Humankind is unlike the plant and animal kingdoms since our Creator invites us to fellowship with him. And according to Jesus, it's never been beneficial to exchange our soul for something less.

Our first parents did in Eden. Adam and Eve listened to the voice of the serpent who promised they could be their own gods. However, they were banished from paradise and the presence of the Lord.

The prophet Jeremiah warned King Zedekiah of Judah that God would use Babylon to punish him. The king made an alliance with Egypt to save himself, but Egypt fell. Zedekiah then turned to the idols of Canaan and erected false images in his palace. But he didn't turn to God. The king lost his throne, his sons and his freedom.

Jesus met a young man and loved him, as he still loves all young people whose lives are filled with promise. He told the young man to sell his possessions and follow Jesus. But the young man loved money more than he valued his soul.

It's foolish to trade anything in exchange for one's soul because nothing we get in exchange is ultimately worth it. Of what value is a little money, prestige or power if we're living beneath the privilege of knowing, loving and serving God?

A fable tells of a lark whose beautiful song filled the forest, but who was hated for this attention by a crafty rat. The rat hatched a plot to destroy the lark. He came and praised the bird's music, telling him it was such a shame that he had to search for food instead of singing all day. Then the rat offered to provide food for the lark.

"How much will it cost?" asked the lark.

"One worm for one feather," the rat replied.

At the end of the day the lark was so full of worms that he couldn't sing, and had no feathers left to fly away. The crafty rat destroyed him.

An evangelist of another generation, John R. Rice, used to preach a sermon entitled, "All Satan's Apples Have Worms." And so it remains a great tragedy when people choose things of lesser importance over the opportunity to commune with God.

Godly Sorrow

Godly Sorrow
Michael J.Brooks

Hollywood actress, Zsa Zsa Gabor, who was also Miss Hungary 1936, offered some advice for Valentine's Day: "Marry for love. Keep marrying 'til you find it." Accordingly she's been married nine times! She's obviously had some troubled relationships.

The apostle Paul had a troubled relationship with the Corinthian church. He founded the church, along with his friends Aquila and Priscilla, but critics arose to poison the relationship. They said he wasn't a genuine apostle since he wasn't in the original band of 12, and they insisted he was only after their money. This trouble relationship caused Paul to write a stern letter to them--he called it a "painful letter." He defended his calling and chastised them for daring to criticize a man of God so unjustly.

Paul referenced this painful letter in 2 Corinthians 7 telling the church it made them sorry, and he was glad (vs. 8-9)! He rejoiced that their sorrow brought repentance and a changed life. Then he explained that their sorrow was "godly sorrow" as opposed to "worldly sorrow" (v. 10).

Worldly sorrow means that one gets caught with hands in the cookie jar, regrets to be so exposed but does not change one's lifestyle. We've seen this often in the lives of celebrities who are scorned, allegedly renounce their wrong but really don't forsake it.

I think of one political leader who put together a support group of three leaders to hold him accountable. I met one of these men at a conference and talked with him about this work for a few minutes. But by all accounts, this political leader never left his deviant lifestyle.

In contrast, godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance and a changed life.

Charles Colson, a tough-talking ex-Marine, was known as President Nixon's hatchet man. Colson reportedly said he'd run over his own grandmother if it helped the president. For his Watergate-related crimes, he spent six months in the federal prison at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery.

During this time Colson found Christ and wrote about his experiences in his book, "Born Again."

The critics said he was only sorry he'd been incarcerated and doubted his commitment. But Colson proved his sincerity by going back to prison, time and again, telling inmates about the love of God.

Prison Fellowship counters recidivism--the fact that the majority of inmates return to prison. The organization teaches faith, honor and character so that inmates aren't just punished, but rehabilitated.

President George W. Bush awarded Colson the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2008--interestingly, a medal first authorized by President Nixon. Colson went to prison for one president and was honored by another.

His godly sorrow brought repentance and a change of life.