It is with a heavy heart that I have to tell you that we will not have Vacation Bible School at Church on the Bluff this year.  I cannot see there being a time this summer when parents would be willing to allow their children to mingle with other children in a closed building and rooms for a couple of hours each night.  Even more so now that there is a slight rise in COVID-19 cases.   

 

                I suppose that the biggest disappointment concerning the virus pandemic is the loss of Bible teaching time.  Our Sunday morning Bible study classes have been temporarily halted and now VBS.  There is just something special and productive about getting together and reading, studying, and discussing the Bible.  I’ll not consider the church completely “open” until we get back to Bible study times again.  Please make that a matter of prayer.

 

                On a much brighter note, we have decided to begin our Wednesday night services again!  I know the attendance won’t be as before, but the Bible study we do and the fellowship we have will be another small step toward “back to normal”.   And I do believe we will not only get back to normal, but perhaps we have learned to love that normal we had.  Didn’t we kind of take it for granted?  I will continue to do videos for Wednesdays and Sundays, but for those who are able to get out, the times we have together are precious.  Let us not take our time together for granted any longer.

 

                As I close, I want to mention one more thing.  Last week I chastised the city of Birmingham for their foolish decision to cut ties with the Church of the Highlands.  I stand by what I said but let me explain how that decision adversely impacts Christian churches and hurts their ability to spread the Gospel.  By their move the city of Birmingham has literally branded conservative churches as “hate groups”.  They have officially said to the world that Christians are haters, are racist, and are uncaring. Despite the unbelievable track record of love and care that churches espouse and produce, we are now being falsely chastised and maligned.

 

                We may be tempted to say “well, it’s their loss”, and it certainly is, but it goes deeper than that. Think about it:  The government of Birmingham has made the church no more than a political opponent. Now, viewed through the lens of politics, churches can be publicly chastised and hindered in their mission….by the government.  I’m not much on conspiracy theories but I see the devil’s fingerprints on all of this, and it demands our attention.  If we can be censured because of conservative political leanings the true wall of separation between church and state has been breached.

 

Say good things about COTB!     

        

 

                As I write, I’m sitting on a patio looking at the mountains of Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  Angie and I will leave shortly and head back home, but it has been a wonderful time of rest and time with family. Yet my spirit groans.  I hurt for our nation and the division that is ever growing.  Just when I thought it had hit its peak and that perhaps things would begin to settle down…boom!  It gets even worse. I honestly believe that Satan has begun to finally make strides in his fight against the church here in the United States.

 

                When churches were shut down during the Covid-19 crises I kept quiet and urged caution in calling it a plot to quieten the voice of the church.  When the protests started I could understand the pain and outrage of watching a man of color being killed slowly by a white man who had sworn to protect citizens of his city and I agreed with their desire to make their voices heard.  I thought I was listening.

 

                Then the looting, destruction, and burning started. I saw piles of bricks strategically placed so that “protesters” would have handy means of destruction and I wondered how anyone could miss the obvious signs of outside interference with a dark agenda. But honestly, I thought it would die down. Then the unbelievable. A kind-hearted, loving man who worked tirelessly to grow a church that could minister to the health and physical needs of all people as it ministered to their spiritual needs was cruelly and hatefully vilified for the sin of being a conservative voter.  The church that ministered to the needs of any and all people no matter their race, ethnic origin, political beliefs, or sexuality was unceremoniously kicked out of the neighborhoods that truly needed all the services they offered.

 

                Really….was anyone surprised that evangelical Christians overwhelmingly vote conservatively? Does it surprise you that a minister of God would agree with someone who stands against abortion, discusses the reality of two sexes,  believes that marriage is intended to be between a man and a woman, espouses equality between races, and disavows white supremacy?  What is wrong with that line of thought?

 

        I don’t know how it came to this.  I don’t understand how people who hold conservative values have somehow been turned into the “monster under the bed”.  I know, without a doubt, that a liberal, one-sided, biased news media has certainly abetted that line of thought, but I don’t understand how they have been so successful in convincing people that anyone who disagrees with the groupthink of liberalism is automatically hateful, xenophobic and racist.

 

        We evangelical Christians are called haters. You want to know what hate looks like?  Who spits on someone who wears a certain hat?  Who assaults someone because they are wearing a particular t-shirt?  Who refuses to serve someone in a restaurant because they dare have on the wrong apparel?  It ain’t conservative Christians!

 

        I am a pastor. I believe the Bible and believe that it teaches values that line up with conservative beliefs. And that means I love all people regardless of their race and want the best for them in every way.  Please…please…stop listening to the lies of those who tell you otherwise.

 

Say good things about COTB! 

             

Bro. Tony

Along with hundreds of thousands of people I watched in horror as a police officer callously knelt on a man’s neck until he died.  It was disgusting.  But now we must try to determine the desired outcome after the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.  What is it that we seek?

 

First and foremost. I think we can all agree that we need to seek JUSTICE.  We know that God is a Just God.  His word, the Bible, is full of God’s desire for justice. He is crying out for justice for George Floyd.  His death was unnecessary, and it was senseless.  The people responsible must be held accountable and face the full consequences of their actions.  Everything needs to be above board and transparent.

 

After viewIng the video, I also think we can agree that there needs to be major CHANGE.  Everyone wants to see changes made so this doesn’t happen again.  This is a tougher challenge because there is no one thing that could change to assure these horrible incidents don’t occur again.  It was not just racism.  It was not just an overuse of force.  It was not just purposeful police brutality.  It was not just a callousness for human life.  It was a combination of some or all of them (and probably even more).  Yet each ingredient must be faced and acknowledged. 

 

This is especially frustrating because all these things have been addressed before. This is not the first time a killing such as this has occurred. So, we ask why haven’t the necessary changes been made?  That’s a good question because when we answer it. we will have a strong foothold on the next question:  How?  How do we make the changes?  I think that we all agree that changes need to be made to make sure this scenario isn’t played out again.

 

Now let me address one thing that we should not seek:  VENGEANCE.  In seeking to justify revenge a man wrote yesterday that the Bible said, “an eye for an eye”.  Using that from the Bible to permit revenge is a serious misquote and taking scripture out of context.  In fact, Jesus Himself, discounted that notion in Matthew, chapter 5.  Jesus never taught retribution.  Quite the opposite.  Jesus taught peace and said that Christians could (and should) have a peace that is beyond understanding of the human mind: a peace that He gives.  Vengeance leads to violence which leads to vengeance which leads to violence which leads to….well, you get the picture.  Racism is a matter of the heart and as such will never be prevented by either vengeance or law.  I’ve always said that Jesus is the answer to every question and the solution to every problem.  I stand by that in this time of civil unrest.

 

To any who are advocating violence and destruction I have a couple of questions:  to what end and for how long?  At what point will you say that you have burned enough buildings, beat enough white people and police, and destroyed enough property so you can say that you have successfully avenged George Floyd’s death?

 

I will preach that we as Christians must stand up for justice for George Floyd and the others who suffer merely because of the color of their skin. And I will preach that we as Christians must help implement change so that no one is treated differently by people in places of authority.  But I will not preach that we as Christians should use violence to achieve those goals.

 

May God be glorified in the outcome of this horrendous mess.  Take this opportunity to praise the name of Jesus.

 

 

               This is the first column I have written since March 23. That is over two months ago.  A lot of things have happened since then:  Many people have died, people have lost their jobs, not a few businesses have closed permanently, and yet another wedge driven between people of different political slants and ideologies.

 

                There are several things that have happened that have been real “eye-openers” for me.  One is that I have developed an even stronger distrust of and disdain for politicians.  I have seen them toy with people’s lives and livelihoods in order to gain political footholds and push personal agendas that have nothing to do with the crisis.  I have seen a selfishness and callousness in their ranks that I never thought I would see. It is both disturbing and sad and makes me really concerned for the direction of our wonderful nation.

 

                Having said that, I also want to say that I am also amazed at how this event has revealed the world’s misunderstanding of the work and power of the church.  I supposed that it shouldn’t surprise me that lost folks view the church through very biased eyes, but I always hope for the best.  Take the work of the church, for instance.  I honestly believe that when they ordered the church viewed as “non-essential” those in charge thought that the influence and ability of the church would be weakened perhaps even abolished.  Yet the church kept working and flourished as compassionate lovers of people.  The majority of organizations that mobilized to help those affected by all the shut-down orders are churches! While our government argues over who will get credit for any benevolent action, the church has shown up and shown out. More people have been touched by the church during this panic than before!

 

                As for as underestimating the power of the church, did people really believe that a lock-down on attendance would somehow weaken the church? Yes, it has affected income somewhat, but it also increased the presence of the Gospel online in the social media many times over.  It has strengthened the desire to assemble as we realize we may have taken that right for granted. I believe that the physical presence of the church will be greatly increased, not diminished, when this event is over.

 

                And, honestly, it shows that the government cannot and will not ever have the power to destroy God’s church.  That should give us Christians a new boldness. Despite all the world can do, and is trying to do, we still exist, and we still thrive, and God will prosper us as He promised He would!

 

Say good things about your Savior and your church!

 

 

               There is a famous story written by Hans Christian Anderson called “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. In it, two weavers promise an emperor a new suit of clothes. They tell him that the new suit is so special that it cannot be seen by people who are “unfit for their position, stupid, or incompetent”. From that point onward no one, even the emperor, will admit that they cannot see the amazing new suit of clothes for fear of being labeled as stupid or incompetent. He prances around in a parade almost naked, looking pretty foolish, because everyone has been cowered into silence. That is, until an innocent child sees him and says (and I’m paraphrasing here): “Mama! He ain’t got on no clothes!”.

 

                “The Emperor’s New Clothes” was written in 1837 but another famous writer wrote this many years before: “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools”. (God, through the hand of Paul in Romans 1:22 NIV). It’s almost as if both authors looked to the future and saw this era in which we are living. Well, I know one actually did. But what else can you say about a society where if I told a man who was dressed as a woman and calling himself a feminine name that he was male, I would be called the one with a problem? Or if I just made a simple statement that males and females are physically different, I’d be called ignorant? Yet, that is exactly the case.

 

                When it comes to all this gender bending insanity we need to stand up and say that the emperor ain’t got on no clothes! I don’t have a “gender assigned at birth”, I have a gender assigned by God. The doctor or nurse that filled out the birth certificate didn’t assign my gender, he or she merely recorded it. I am male, not because I think I am, but because I’m physically a male. It is an established, scientific, provable, immutable fact.

 

                How foolish it is to tell someone they can choose their gender. It is insincere, senseless, and harmful. Yet here we are in a world that parades “trans-genderism” around impressionable school children, teaching them that they get to choose. Worse yet, we have parents doing the same thing. We allow males to use female restrooms and locker rooms and even allow males to compete athletically with females. There is neither a scientific reason nor a logical thought for all this except to say that someone has sold this culture an invisible set of clothes.

 

                My heart goes out to the unfortunate people with emotional and mental issues that drive them to want to be a different sex. I truly feel sympathy for them. But the best way to help them is not to affirm their problems, it is to help them discover the person they are; the person God created them to be. And as importantly, don’t be afraid to stand up against such policies that allow and encourage this misbehavior. The emperor is naked. Don’t be bullied into silence.              

 

Say good things about your Savior and your church!

 

 

                I watched a video on the news of a man strapping on a jet pack and flying around a big city. That was amazing. That sort of thing was just “science fiction” as I was growing up. So were cordless communication devices that allowed people to speak to each other and view each other even a thousand miles apart. We are now experimenting with self-driving cars, drone deliveries, and other such things that just a generation ago would have been impossible. It’s called innovation; aka “progress”. A lot of amazing things have changed as our scientific knowledge has increased. Who knows what technology will bring us in the years ahead?

 

                Unfortunately, because technology has changed, many people believe that somehow other things have changed. Because we can access information quicker, view events across the nation as they happen, and even fly with a jet pack, some think that humans have somehow evolved on other levels…. because we have advanced so far, so quickly, with technology; that everything has changed. Not so….and that is where the Bible becomes so vitally important in our world. Yes, the Bible was written thousands of years ago. But that certainly has not made it obsolete.

 

                You see, the Bible isn’t about technology. It is not about world history. It is not about medicine. The Bible is about human beings. More specifically about the human relationship with our Creator. While many things have changed, humans have not. Human nature is still rife with greed, selfishness, hatred, lust, and thirst for power. Nothing scientific or technological will ever change that; it will not control that. Only a relationship with God will ever show us how to live, how to love, and how to fulfill our purpose.

 

                So, when the Bible tells us of only two sexes and God’s purpose for those two sexes, it is still as true today as it was the moment God wrote it to us. When the Bible tells us that God created us in the womb and so we have no intrinsic right to destroy that life it should guide us to oppose abortion today as we always have. In short, people haven’t and (won’t change) so the Bible doesn’t change. It doesn’t have to be updated or abridged. It was God’s perfect word when He gave it to us, and it is His perfect word even now. Study it, learn it, and by all means….live by it!

 

Say good things about your Savior and your church!

 

                “Religion can have an important influence in moral decision-making, and religious reminders may deter people from unethical behavior”. That is a quote from an article about the effects of religious music on moral behavior. Do you see anything wrong with that sentence? As a pastor I would word it like this: “Religion should have an important influence in moral decision-making, and religious reminders should deter people from unethical behavior”. Now, keep in mind the article wasn’t written by Christians as a Christian study. It was from a secular psychological viewpoint. What struck me about it was that it tells us what the secular world thinks about the moral behavior of us Christians!

 

                They look at Christians and see hypocritical behavior. They know we profess a clean, moral lifestyle yet they see us living in ways that betray that profession. Religion can have an effect…but it doesn’t necessarily have an effect. I know that one problem is that a lost person cannot possibly know how a Christian should live; their expectation is based on some unrealistic idea of perfection and even then, it is their definition of perfection. Believe me, Satan has placed such a spiritual blindfold on the lost that they will never be satisfied with Christian activity; they will always find something wrong.

 

                “How can a Christian be against immigration?” “How can a Christian force a woman into a ‘back-alley’ abortion?” “How can a Christian vote for Trump?” (That is one of my favorite false assumptions). “How can a Christian……..” You get the picture. Those things actually give us opportunity to share our faith and tell people exactly why their assumptions are wrong and how our Christian beliefs drive us.

 

                Unfortunately, they too often see us engage in behavior that is decidedly un-Christian according to Biblical standards. They see us speaking with hatred in our hearts and they see us treat people in ways that would not please Christ. They see us acting and reacting to common, everyday life situations the same as some who are not Christian. They see anger, jealousy, and greed. They hear harsh words and vile things coming from our mouths. Is it any wonder, then, that they say our religion may influence our behavior but not necessarily?

 

                Let’s be the Christians that people, all people, look at and know that our religion, our beliefs, our relationship with God doesn’t just influence our behavior but drives our lifestyle.

 

Say good things about your Savior and your church!

 

                14,000,000,000 years is a very long time, isn’t it? Science says that is the age of the earth; the beginning of life. If Christians dare to say that we believe that God created humans as a separate, distinct, crown of creation much later than that we are ostracized as being “science deniers”. Do we deny proven science? Does all evidence point to a single cell “something” eventually developing into the complex world in which we exist? Let me share with you why I don’t buy into that.

 

              First, because of the perfectness of the human body. Our bodies are amazingly complex with so many parts that function perfectly with their counterparts. The key word is “perfect”. Everything must work together perfectly, or something must be done to correct it…if possible. Lungs, heart, brain, circulatory system, digestive system, and all the others must work together. Evolution teaches us that all body parts evolved into perfectness; that at one time, and for a very long time, they didn’t function as they do now. You know what that tells me? It tells me that for an extremely long period of time there had to be human-like shapes with these organs and tissues developing…..but they couldn’t be alive because the organs were not doing what was necessary for life to exist. I therefore believe that it is scientifically impossible for human beings to “evolve” into perfectness.

 

             Secondly, the fossil record doesn’t support it. Bones have been found that are purported to be over a million years old that are “humanoid” in shape. There have been no fossils found that are “almost” humanoid in shape before that. Then some are found that are “anatomically 100% human” and are said to be 55,000 years old. There are no intermittent fossils in between that show an evolution of humans. Either the human existed all at once…or didn’t exist at all. I’m not saying we haven’t changed in height, weight, or even appearance in some respect due to medicinal breakthroughs and eating habits, but we have always been human.

 

             Next, is the wording of the evolutionary writings. Amongst everything I’ve read there appear certain words that allow the writers to bridge unexplainable gaps to tie the “evidence” together. Words such as “probably”, “apparently”, “theoretically”, “possibly”, “could be”, and others allow them to state what they think happened as fact. 2+2 doesn’t probably equal 4. It definitely, without question, equals 4. So, humans “probably” stepping aside from their monkey ancestors at some point doesn’t meet the standard of proven science. Despite the certainty that evolutionist have, there is admittedly a lot of jumping over the unknown to prove the known.

 

             Then, there is science, itself. Not every scientist agrees. Did you know there are many scientists that do not believe in evolution? There are many who, armed with the same scientific knowledge, come to a different conclusion. In fact, in my opinion, the overwhelming number of scientists who read the available data and come to the conclusion that evolution is a fact, do so because of the alternative. Read Psalm 19. The first six verses claim that nature itself proves there is a God. The following eight verses say that because God exists, He speaks to us and is right and just. We must listen to Him. Those verses make men seek to prove there is no power higher or no knowledge greater than theirs.

 

Say good things about your Savior and your church!

 

                What determines how you think and feel about the issues of the day? What is it exactly that makes you feel the way you do about what is going on in the world? It is safe to say that the variables are many. We are influenced by our culture, molded by our upbringing, guided by our prejudices, and even driven by certain fears. Those things work together to build our “worldview”…how we look at things. But I feel that it is precisely because our worldview is predicated on those things that we have so much conflict and turmoil around the world and in our own personal lives. Culture, fear, prejudices and such allow for some pretty outrageous beliefs…such as one race being superior to another or that a male has inherently more worth or value than a female. It also gives us groundwork for believing that same-sex attraction is just another way of living or that a person can become whatever sex he/she/they/ze/vis/syrs, etc., desires. It literally lets us boil down our lifestyle to “let your conscience be your guide”.

 

                That isn’t a good thing. People’s consciences often allow them to do horrible things. People’s consciences allow for robbery, violence, murders, rape, hatred, and so forth. People will rob others and not feel bad about it. People will hate other races and go to bed and sleep like a baby. Obeying our conscience will allow us to lie, steal, and injure without regret. Living according to what our conscience allows will cause us to go past justice to get revenge. In other words, when our worldview is based on the whims and fancies of culture and personal feelings things can go south quickly. Isn’t that what we see in the world every day? But there is another way; a better way.

 

                The alternative is a “Biblical worldview” and that worldview is basically a belief in two things: there is a God and that God has spoken to us. You see, our worldview is based on only two possibilities. Either we believe there is a God, or we believe there isn’t a God. There are no other lines of thought; we are going to believe one way or the other. When we believe there is no God then we have no basis for anything except how we feel about it. Our conscience is literally our guideline for every thought and action we take. However, when we believe there is a God and God speaks to us then the basis for our decision is “what does God tell me to do” and we live by that…no matter how we feel.

 

                For instance, suppose we have a boss who we feel overworks us and/or under pays us. Our conscience will allow for putting forth less than our best, leaving early, perhaps even taking liberty with our honesty with him/her. But what does the Bible say? The Bible says work your hardest and take only what is yours. It’s simple. Or perhaps you know someone who is confused sexually, believing himself/herself to be a sex other than what is biological? He or she is a great friend, good person, and deserving of your love and concern. Conscience says go along with it and it’s OK. The Bible says God created two sexes and people are born with one of those two sexes. It says to love that person and try to help…not affirm their sickness and encourage their confusion. Our conscience allows us to hate our enemies and do what we can to undermine them, hate them back….whatever. The Bible says to love them and do good to them…no matter how we feel.

 

                There is so much difference in the way we behave and act toward others when we have a Biblical worldview. There are so many ways our lives are better when we have the absolute truth of God guiding us. Therefore, we must make the decision to live by the Word of God or live by a humanistic worldview. And, Christian, it must be all the Word or God.

 

Say good things about your Savior and your church!