Growing up, I always thought that I had a lot of Native American blood in me. As I grew older I came to
realize that I had Scottish, Irish, and British blood, also.  In fact, I’ve told many folks that I considered
taking a name that best represented my culture and my “people”.  I settled on “Sleeping Elk McTavish”.
Fortunately, wise companions talked me out of doing that, and it was a good thing because DNA
evidence showed that I had little, if any, Native American blood.
My brother, Stephen, enjoys genealogy and has done extensive research on our family.  It is very
interesting to learn about ancestors, isn’t it? But have you ever given much thought to your “spiritual
ancestors “?  I have read a couple of books about Billy Graham and in doing so, I came realized that he
had spiritual ancestors with very familiar names. Famous religious leaders littered his spiritual ancestors:
D L Moody, Wilbur Chapman, and Billy Sunday, for instance.
There was one name that caught my attention, however: Edward Kimball.  Kimball was no great pastor
or dynamic evangelist. He was a Sunday School teacher who had a heart for the teens he taught in his
weekly classes. He had a particular burden for one young man and ended up going to a shoe store
where the boy worked after school.  He witnessed to him and led him to the Lord in a stockroom.  That
young man was D L Moody.  Billy Graham could trace his spiritual ancestry back to a guy who taught
teenagers the Bible on Sundays.
We may never know it until we get to heaven, but don’t you think it would be such an honor to be
family member of someone’s spiritual ancestry?  If you have ever taught in Sunday School, Discipleship
Training, RA’s, GA’s, or other places of teaching, you probably are. 
Say good things about your Savior and His church.

Do you know that the Roman chariots were built to specifications so that they would be about as wide
as the rear ends of two horses? That came out to be 4’8 ½ inches. So, what does that have to do with
anything? If you measure the width of the rails that trains run on today, you will find that they are 4’ 8
½” inches wide. I won’t bore you with a lot of details, but the width of train rails was decided by
something that was designed over 2,000 years ago. And, here is an interesting tidbit. NASA engineers
wanted to make the solid rocket boosters of the Space Shuttle a certain size, but had to downsize them
so that they could go through a train tunnel that was built for train tracks that were…4’ 8 ½” wide. Even
NASA was affected by the size of two horses’ rear ends!
We never know how our actions today will affect the future.  But we do know that our actions today can
affect the future. That should make us take more seriously our responsibility to make wise and careful
decisions in every aspect of our lives. We don’t know that tomorrow holds, but we can, and will,
certainly affect the lives of people way down the road of life.  That is a sobering thought; what an
awesome responsibility.  
But here is the good news about that:  We know a Savior that does know what tomorrow, and a
thousand tomorrows, holds and He gave us a book of instructions on how to live today so that we affect
the tomorrows in good and positive ways.  We live today so that God’s will be accomplished tomorrow.
Whatever decisions are made in the future, let’s allow them to be made on a solid foundation because
we lived out our Christian life in obedience to God’s Word, not by what the world says is needed at the
moment. If the width of the rear ends of two horses affects you today, think about what a Godly life will
do for your children and grandchildren….and more.
Say good things about your Savior and His church.

I read an interesting exchange between a democrat/liberal lady and a republican/conservative lady
about Charlie Kirk’s murder.  The conservative lady was bemoaning the fact that, in her church, nothing
was said about Charlie Kirk during the service.  The other lady was responding that too much has been
made of his killing while there wasn’t much outcry when two Democratic Minnesota lawmakers were
gunned down in their homes.  Are their concerns valid?
To a point, they are. But there are logical reasons why neither should be too concerned.  Let me deal
with the liberal lady first.  There are basically two reasons why the murders were treated with different
levels of outrage and despair:  Notoriety and effect.  Charlie Kirk was a national figure. People all over
the United States (as well as around the world) had heard of him and had very strong views about the
things he said. The Minnesota lawmakers were limited in their public personalities and views to their
local state.  Charlie Kirk had a tremendous effect in the college communities in which he spoke and
encouraged debate. Thousands and thousands of young people attended his gatherings and he had an
undoubtable effect on so many lives.  Because of their particular responsibilities to their state, the
lawmakers…not so much.  Please hear this:  All of the murders deserve outrage and anger and the
perpetrators need to receive equal punishment or justice will not be served.
But should churches consider him a martyr?  Charlie Kirk was, no doubt, a man of God who used his
platform to honor and lift up Christ.  I’ve seen several times where he unabashedly gave his testimony
and proudly proclaimed his Christianity. There have been people saved right on college campuses.
However, he was doing what the Bible tells us all to do in our chosen workforce, family, and social
opportunities: “As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’”  (Matthew‬
10‬:7‬ NIV‬‬).  And he did a spectacular job of it, probably the best I’ve seen.  I respect Charlie Kirk and
I am amazed at what he accomplished as he journeyed across the nation to college campuses. I thank
God for him and I don’t know if we will ever see his like again very soon. I certainly hope we do.  Our
nation needs it and the Christian community needs it.  His faithfulness, courage, and boldness will be
sorely missed.
Say good things about your church and about your Savior.

I’ve said many times that our government constantly and consciously tries to distance our nation from
God.  The reason is simple, as stated in Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people cast off
restraint.”  When a nation, at the least, acknowledges God, the laws and culture reflect His words.  If
there is no God, then there is no restraint…no call for moral-centered self-control.  Anything goes.
Senator Jerry Nadler declared that God has no place in Congress.  That was revealing and disappointing,
but, no, Senator Tim Kaine claimed in a congressional hearing:  “The notion that rights don’t come from
laws and don’t come from the government, but come from the Creator — that’s what the Iranian
government believes,” he said. “It’s a theocratic regime that bases its rule on Shia (sic) law and targets
Sunnis, Bahá’ís, Jews, Christians, and other religious minorities. They do it because they believe that
they understand what natural rights are from their Creator. So, the statement that our rights do not
come from our laws or our governments is extremely troubling.”  That is a complete dismantling of our
wonderful Declaration of Independence which says, in part:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –That to secure these rights,
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
It clearly states that our unalienable rights come from God and that the government exists to protect
those rights. Yet, here is a public government official who says that we should keep God out of our
government, our morals, our laws, and our culture.  I’ll tell you what is “extremely troubling” for our
nation…the line of thought from government officials as vocalized by Senator Tim Kaine.  How will God
bless a nation that seeks to govern without Him?
Say good things about your church and about your Savior.

‬This column should come out on or around September 11.  That is a date that will live in
the minds of people for many years to come.  Most of us can remember where we were
and what we were doing when we heard the news.  I was actually watching a news
program when they interrupted with the story and watched the second plane crash into
the tower.‬
But do you remember the church’s reaction to the horrific event?  We called special
prayer meetings more than once over the next couple of months. People joined together
to pray for the stricken families and for the nation. I would venture a guess that the
prayer lives of Christians increased at least ten-fold. Why?
As far as prayer is concerned we are very good at being “emergency pray-ers”;  our
prayer lives are typically mundane…maybe even lethargic.  But when there is an
emergency?  We fall on our knees quickly.  I’m not saying that we shouldn’t pray extra
hard when a problem or situation arrives, but perhaps we could consciously pray more
often.  Prayer is more than asking for God to take action.  It is also a time for
thanksgiving, worship, and seeking God’s will in the everyday things of life. 
A praying Christian will always draw closer to God, and a praying church will know
praising Him with good works.
Say good things about your church and about your Savior

Beginning Sunday, we will be promoting the Myers-Mallory offering for Associational
Missions. The Metro Birmingham Baptist Association is 180 churches joined together for
the purpose of spreading the Gospel as we minister to the needs of people around us.
As a church, we give some of our tithes and offerings to support the missions of the
association.‬‬
But it’s not enough to do everything that could be done.  The Meyers-Mallory offering
compliments the giving through the Cooperative Program.  It allows our local churches
to help fund the WMU. You know the tremendous work that they have done for 125
years. It goes to the work of the Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief.  I think you would be
surprised at all the work that they do around the entire country when disaster strikes. It
also supports Church Planting and Partnership Ministries … among other vital ministerial.
Our Goal is $1,000. Let me urge you to give generously.
On an entirely different note, our Nominating Committee is meeting and praying as we
look for workers within the body of the church. The committee members are Duane
Terpo, Amber Price, Wanda Chancellor, and Chris and Libby Lee.  Pray for them and
pray for those they will contact. And … pray for the Lord to lead you to a place of service.
Say good things about your church and about your Savior.

I read recently that a prominent Baptist pastor implied that having more than two children was a selfish
act due to the impending disaster of global warming. Therefore, it could be classified as a sin. So now,
we are sinning because we are not as alarmed as we should be about global warming?  First, let me say
that a person’s beliefs about prognostications of weather patterns should not be a theological/doctrinal
issue.  There are strong arguments on both sides of the issue, and a person is not “falling short of the
glory of God” by weighing the evidence and deciding which one has the strongest case.
Personally, I do not see a coming apocalypse of damaging heat patterns that will melt polar ice caps and
raise the oceans water level to flood stage.  Many “record highs” have indeed been recorded over the
last few years, but records are primarily based on data collected since 1880.  That’s only 145 years.
Basing fatalistic forecasting on data so relatively recent is, in my opinion, somewhat naïve. 
Adding to that, the science pointed in an entirely different direction only 50 years ago. Remember the
impending doom of the “new ice age” in the mid-1970’s? Knowledgeable and respected scientists of
that era said we would freeze to death…and soon.  As far as I can remember, that didn’t happen. And
honestly, “global warming” as a catch phrase fell out of favor and now we are to be alarmed by “climate
change”.
The main reason that I’m not alarmed and taking drastic steps to preserve the world is that it’s not
Biblically sound.  2 Peter 3:10 says: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will
disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it
will be laid bare.”  Does that sound like a slow, life-draining process to you?  When it happens it will
happen and everyone will know it is happening and there is not one thing humanity can do about it. We
will not postpone it in any way.  Our task, then, as Christians is to do the best we can to see that people
are spiritually prepared. Don’t worry about that which you cannot change. Is the world getting hotter? 
Maybe.  Will it get colder again? Possibly.  Is the Lord God going to do what He says He will do? 
Absolutely.

‬The upcoming mayoral election in New York City is going to be interesting.  The leading candidate is a
proud Democratic Socialist.  As far as I know, he will be the first mayor to openly govern with socialist
ideology. There has been a lot of talk about that…especially words of warning and impending doom. 
The democratic socialist governmental philosophy has been discussed for years and there are extremists
on both sides.  So here is what I say:  I hope he wins.  Honest.  Let’s put it to the test.  In by far the
largest city in the U.S. we can have a real life experience in democratic socialism.  We can at long last see
if it works or not.  Is socialism the utopia that people dream of?  Is capitalism the best way to provide for
America’s citizens?  We will see…and hopefully put to rest the question once and for all.
But here is the part that “ruffles my feathers”.  Without a doubt, in most of the discussions, people will
claim that Jesus was either a socialist or that He would have preferred capitalism.  I’ve said it
before…Jesus wasn’t interested in governmental affairs. His kingdom was, and is, far above the political
fray.  His message was to all people, under all circumstances:  Love God above all else and clothe
yourself with His righteousness. This will allow us to obey his other commandments.  Love your neighbor
as yourself, do good to those that abuse you, pray for your enemies, help those in need.  
The gospel of Jesus Christ will work in whatever the political landscape.
Say good things about your non-socialist, non-capitalist, Savior.  The Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
Bro. Tony

‬Our “Old Fashion Hymns” service was fantastic. Everyone I talked to said they would like to do it
again … and we will.  Those old hymns contrast sharply with the newer ones, as well as the praise
choruses. Not that one is better than the other.  Any song that glorifies God and our relationship with
Him through Christ, is a good song.  I heard a well-known pastor say that the “older generation” sang
about Jesus and the “newer generations” seem to sing to Him.  Absolutely nothing wrong with either.
Have you noticed, though, how many of the older hymns speak of heaven?  A lot of hymns about
heaven!  I’m sure there are several reasons but, as Richard Sadler would say “in my humble, but
accurate, opinion” I look at it like it’s a product of the times in which the song were written.  It was a
different world back then.
One of my grandfathers was a coal miner and the other was a sharecropper.  Their life experiences were
vastly different from mine.  They got up before dawn and worked extremely hard all day long…often
until after sunset.  Their wives were home taking care of kids, cooking (minimal, but delicious meals),
and cleaning.  They, too, labored all day and into the night.  They would then go to bed and repeat the
process the next day.  There were no entertainment venues, malls, fast food joints…or even restaurants,
for that matter. My daddy and Angie’s daddy knew what it was like to plow behind a mule. The times
were simple, but they were tough, hard years.
So what is on your mind when you think about spiritual things?  Heaven. Face to face with Jesus. Streets
paved with gold, a mansion to live in.  No pain from hours and hours in the mines or hot fields. No
sorrow from losing a child with an illness that was later very curable.  “Onward to the prize before us…” I
am looking forward to heaven, I want to see Jesus.  I’m ready to see the family that is there.  But maybe,
just maybe, I don’t yearn for it quite as hard as those that sang this every Sunday: ‘Some glad morning
when this life is o’er, I’ll fly away; To a home on God’s celestial shore, I’ll fly away.”
Say good things about your Savior.