By Jeff Ginn It was an exciting day when I got my high school senior ring. Not long afterward I was riding with my friend in his new pickup truck. We were headed to play a basketball game. I decided to take off my ring and lay it on the dashboard of the truck. As we rounded a curve in the road, the ring slid along the dash and promptly dropped into the AC vent. We tried to fish out the ring but with no luck. My friend took his truck to the dealership but they said that it would cost more to take out the dash and retrieve the ring than it was worth. As far as I could see, there was nothing to be done. Months went by and my friend sold his truck. For all I knew, I had kissed that ring goodbye forever. Years later my family and I were living in South America as missionaries. The phone rang and my mom said that someone had returned my ring! I could scarcely believe my ears. Here’s the story of how it was returned. The truck had ended up in a junkyard as scrap. Someone had taken out the dashboard to salvage a part. In doing so they spotted a ring. They saw that it was from West Memphis High School and the year was 1979. My name was carved into it as well. Armed with that information (and a good dose of old-fashioned … [Read more...]
Are you miserable?
By Steve Horn I ran across an article that ranked states according to the “Most Miserable” and “Least Miserable.” To my surprise, Louisiana was ranked second as “most miserable.” That’s funny, because a few years ago Lafayette was touted as the “Happiest City in America.” So, which is it? Are we indeed the happiest city in the most miserable state? Or, are all of these things in the eye of the beholder? I mean, after all, what other states can you, at certain times of the year, eat boudin for breakfast, a shrimp poboy for lunch, boiled crawfish for dinner, and have king cake for dessert? Now, I know that I am biased and have limited experience living in other states, but I love the state in which I live. Besides, the same report claims North Dakota tops the well-being list. No offense to North Dakotans, but really? The report does cause me to think about a few things that even have some spiritual significance. Things are rarely as bad as they seem. Yes, to somebody, Louisiana might look miserable, but to many more of us, we are full of faith, full of life, and consider Louisiana paradise. In life, what might seem bad, upon reflection is not all that bad. Conversely, things are rarely as good as they seem. Just … [Read more...]
Dealing with church conflict
By Stewart Holloway One of the nastiest tools in the Enemy’s arsenal is church conflict. Such conflict brings a lot of heartache and can stifle a church’s ministry for years - or even stop it all together. In some ways, church conflict is inevitable – the enemy will come against your church. However, church conflict does not have to be destructive. If you are prepared in advance, you can handle it appropriately. Therefore, I want briefly to share some principles for handling conflict in the church from 1 Corinthians 1:10-17. If there is no conflict happening in your church right now, consider this preventative maintenance. If there is conflict in your church, well, you can use this today! Key leaders can save the church from destruction. Chloe was that person in Corinth. She was a merchant lady in whose home the Church at Corinth likely met. Chloe wrote Paul asking him questions about some problems that had developed. DO not think of Chloe as a gossiping bitty. She was a concerned church leader. People like her are in every church. They may or may not have the leadership positions, but they can rise up as key leaders in difficult times. These saints of God are wise enough to see problems and find help. They are wise … [Read more...]
God’s grace is our hope
By Jeff Ginn In the early 1900s Los Angeles, California was rapidly growing. To supply the city with needed water, a massive, concrete dam was built in the mountains above the city. The St. Francis Dam was finished in 1926. Once the reservoir filled, the seemingly indestructible dam held back more than twelve billion gallons of water. Almost immediately upon its completion, cracks began to appear in the massive wall. Fissures widened. Seepage grew. The engineers and architects were aware of these issues, but they felt that these faults were in keeping with a dam of this size. They further believed that there was time to correct the problems. But two-and-a-half minutes before midnight on March 12, 1928, the St. Francis Dam catastrophically failed. Hundreds of lives were lost as a wall of water and debris swept down the St. Francisquito Canyon. It remains the second greatest loss-of-life disaster in California history behind only the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. Small fissures and cracks should not be ignored. Left unattended, they widen. They threaten the integrity of the very structure they populate. What’s true for concrete structures is equally true for our lives. Small cracks in our character cannot … [Read more...]
Four opportunities for you and Christ’s church
By Waylon Bailey I write “Lagniappe” to give you a little something extra every week. Sometimes I write about what’s happening soon or how the church is doing. Today I want to write about opportunities you and I can take to be a blessing to others. Here are my four things. First, be intentional about looking for opportunities to share Christ with other people. The Apostle Peter gave us this exhortation, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). Peter’s words indicate that many of these people may be challenging our faith and hope. The Apostle saw this as an opportunity. We should respond not as to a challenge but as to a tremendous open door. Make your response with gentleness and respect. Second, deliberately pray for close friends and acquaintances to know Christ. Make it a habit to call their name before God. Pray that God would bless them in every way. Third, invite someone to something. We have many ministries where people would have an interest. Encourage them to come, or even better, ask them to attend with you. Life is so difficult and challenging that many people know they need help. … [Read more...]
Don’t be a sore loser
By David Jeremiah EL CAJON, Calif. (BP) -- In the movie "On the Waterfront," Terry Malloy was a dockworker who had been a promising young prizefighter until a mob-connected union boss instructed him to deliberately lose a fight he could have won. Later Terry found his own life in danger and was in anguish about having thrown the fight. "You don't understand," he said to his brother. "I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am." In throwing the fight, Terry had thrown away his career, his future and, most of all, his self-respect. The late W.A. Criswell once preached a sermon on Demas. In Colossians 4:14 and Philemon 1:24, Criswell pointed out, Demas was working alongside the apostle Paul in Rome. But years later Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:10 that "Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world." Demas could have been somebody. But he wasn't willing to let loose of the world. 'Remember Lot's wife’ The Bible has many stories of men and women who could have been somebody. Instead they became half hearted followers, half-committed disciples, people who started down the road but looked back. They weren't willing to choose the right … [Read more...]
Finish your race well
By Jeff Ginn A good start doesn’t guarantee a good finish. I learned that lesson by running distance events in high school. The runners that sprinted the first couple of hundred yards and gained an early lead were not necessarily (nor even likely) to be the ones that finished the race well. This is illustrated well by a couple of world-class milers. The first man ever to run the mile in less than four minutes was Roger Bannister. He did so in 1954. Later that same year, a second runner accomplished the same feat and set a new world record. His name was John Landy. Soon enough those two runners met in a long-awaited duel. It was dubbed the “Miracle Mile.” 100 million people listened via radio to see who would win their match. At the gun, Landy had a strong start. In fact, he led the race until the final curve. Because of the way the sun was set in the sky, he could clearly see his shadow and Bannister’s shadow on the track. He estimated that he was some 10 to 15 yards in the lead. To confirm this, he turned his head to gauge Bannister's position. Bannister took that opportunity to pass him on his blind side. In doing so, he edged out a victory over Landy. A sculpture of the race-deciding moment stands today near the … [Read more...]
A prayer for President Trump
By Steve Horn In our church, First Baptist Church, Lafayette, we have each week a prayer focus called This One Thing. We encourage our entire church to be focused on this one thing of prayer for an entire week. This week, we have asked our church, in the spirit of Presidents’ Day on Monday, to pray for President Trump and Vice-President Pence. Back in December 2016, I had the unique privilege of offering a prayer just before the Louisiana Electoral College formally cast their votes for President. I want to share with you the content of my prayer that day in hopes that you might join me in praying along these lines for President Trump today. Heavenly Father, As the Psalmist declared, “Some trust in chariots and some trust in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord, our God.” (Psalm 20:7) We give You thanks today as we should do in all things. We give You thanks for grace upon our nation. We give You thanks for the opportunity to participate in an election. We give You thanks for the election of Donald Trump. And now, oh God, we pray in the spirit of the prophet of old, Zechariah. We pray for favor and union. We pray for unity in our nation and we pray for the favor of God to rest on our nation. … [Read more...]
Turning failure into triumph
By Rick Warren "A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful” (Proverbs 28:13 TLB). We usually think of failure as something negative. But wise people know how to take advantage of it. They learn from it. They use it as an education. Failure is one of the primary tools that God uses in your life to make you what he wants you to be.How can failure be good? God uses failure to educate us. Mistakes are simply learning experiences. Some lessons can only be learned through failure. The Bible says, “A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful” (Proverbs 28:13 TLB). If you’re not making any mistakes, you’re not growing or learning. If you’re not taking any risks, you’re not growing. The freedom from the fear of failure is the freedom to grow. God uses failure to motivate us. “Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways” (Proverbs 20:30 GNT). Often we change when we feel the heat, not when we see the light. When you fail, God may be trying to get your attention to move you into a new direction. God uses failure to build our character. “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to be … [Read more...]
Pursue Christ, pursue contentment
By Steve Horn I read somewhere this week that our society suffers from “inextinguishable discontent.” We are on a perpetual quest for more or better. We want a better job, a better boss, a better wage, or a better retirement plan. We want a better marriage or a better spouse. We want a better car, a better house, and a better wardrobe. Some of us just want a better golf swing. And, we live for “what’s next.” We find ourselves wishing for next weekend, or our next vacation, or our next phase of life. All the while in this quest for better and next, we miss today. We miss now. And we miss contentment. And, we learn from Paul that this is not the life worthy of the call of Christ. Consider the text. In comparison, though, Paul addressed the Philippians that he had learned the “secret to contentment.” Just as is the case with joy, true contentment is found in Christ. Joy and contentment seem to run on parallel tracks. Since Paul used that word, “learned,” we ask the question of the text, “What had he learned? The Connection Between Circumstances and Contentment Here’s the simple lesson: There really is no connection between circumstances and contentment. Look at the phrases of this text: whatever circumstances (v. 11); … [Read more...]
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