Late Monday Musings

This past weekend was filled with family fun, special worship experiences, and intense pastoral care opportunities.

Journey of Hope Conference

At Perdio Beach, AL, our family enjoyed some time on the beach, courtesy of the Journey of Hope Ministry. I heard a missionary from Malawi speak and she brought me to tears. Also, they had a very powerful prayer experience. Representatives from diffierent ministries stood at various sites in the room: New Orleans, Peru, Christian Women's Job Corps. Malawi, and the Middle East were all featured. Specific prayer requests were distributed. I truly felt a burden for these ministries as I prayed for each of them.

Terri and I are writing an online bible study based on John 15. After spending time with folks from this ministry and seeing the quality of their ministry, I am please to be affiliated with them.

Sunday School Class Party

Saturday night, we attended a Sunday School Class party. The food was good. The devotion, led by Ricky Dickson, was powerful and very pleasing to me. He shared the importance of being a witness through relationships. Then, several present shared their excitement about our church.

Sunday Services

While our Sunday School attendance was down from previous weeks, the morning worship attendance was still strong. We observed the Lord's Supper. During the invitation, a young man (28) made a profession of faith and his wife came for membership in our church. This will be the second twenty-something male we have baptized this year. I am thrilled. The Lord's Supper was meaningful.

Our Sunday Eveing Worship Service attendance continues to grow. Our Childrn's Choir is meeting during the evening service. They are preparing a rearrangement of a classic children's musical entitled "Down by the Creekbank."

Tradegy Strikes

Several families were impacted by traumatic events and health challenges this past weekend. I have had a heavy heart for them. Late Saturday a member of my church and I traveled (more correctly "flew") down to Gulfport to be with a family who had a son involved in an unfortunate accident. The surgery was finished at 1:30 AM and I made into the bed at 4:10 AM. I was at church on time. However, I pray I didn't preach any heresy, since I was really in a fog.

Sunday Night Bible Study

"Majoring on the Minor" - Romans 2:17-29

I. Religious Conceit is Harmful (Romans 2:17-20).
II. Religious Conceit is Hypocritical (Romans 2:21-24).
III. Religious Conceit is Hopeless (Romans 2:25-27).
IV. Real Conversion is in Holy (Romans 2:28-29)

Recently, I have heard plenty of talk about "Cultural Christianity," which is the practice of religion without committed followship of Jesus. Especially, in the South, we have a lot of folks who consider themselves Christians, but they have never really spiritually surrendered themselves to God. Furthermore, their faith is directed more toward the institutional church and their allegiance to a local church is customary, because their family has always been there.

Closely related to this type of practice was that of many Jews during the time of Paul. They trusted in their religious heritage, rituals, and knowledge. Paul exposed their hypocrisy in this passge.

Perdido Beach and the New Pastor at FBC Lucedale

Greetings from the Beach

A longtime friend of my wife's, Joyce Overstreet, has helped start a new minstry for women: Journey of Hope. They are hosting a conference this weekend at Perdio Beach Resort in Alabama. Currently, my wife and I are writing an online Bible Study for the ministry. So, they asked us to come down and meet some of the ladies. We brought the kids and they have had a great time. We arrived here around 2:00 PM yesterday. We will have to leave around 2:00 PM today. We have a Sunday School Class party later tonight.

The beach is beautiful this morning. There's a crystal blue sky. The high is supposed to be 70 degrees. While brief, this has been a blessing.

New Pastor at FBC Lucedale

Bill McMullan is the new pastor of First Baptist in Lucedale. He is 36. Formerly, he was the pastor of First Baptist Kemp, TX.

I met Bill at our Minister's Conference last Tuesday night. He is planning to enter the Ph.D. program at New Orleans Baptist Seminary, which is where I recieved my doctorate in 2005. On Thursday, I attended a funeral in Lucedale and he was there. We went back to his church and he gave me a tour.

He is full of enthusiasm about his new place of service. It was thrilling to hear him excitedly share his dreams and plans for the future. I know he will do a great job.

Watch a video of Bill preaching a few years ago here.