By Bobby Gilstrap As a young pastor, only a few years out of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, I was excited to accept the call to serve a small church in Durant, Oklahoma. The church had been a strong, mission engaged church that was giving 25% of all undesignated offerings through the Cooperative Program. This church was an area leader supporting the cooperative mission causes of the Southern Baptist Convention, giving sacrificially for many decades. In 1995, as the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention approached, I discussed attending the SBC Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia with our church leadership. The premise of my argument was that this church needed to have a voice since it had given tens of thousands of dollars over decades of cooperation. With such a high cooperative investment, we should have representation during the annual meeting when decisions were made by messengers of our convention. After a brief discussion, it was determined the cost of such a trip was just too high and it was not feasible. I felt it was critical that our church have first-hand representation and a voice at the annual meeting rather than reading short meeting reports in the media. Therefore, my wife and I … [Read more...]

By Rick Warren “God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love . . . he sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:9–10 NLT). Everything in life changes — relationships, jobs, fame. One minute you feel like a hero; the next minute you feel like a zero. But there’s one thing in the universe that will never change: God’s love. Knowing that God still loves you no matter what happens — your failures, your brokenness, your sin — provides a rock solid foundation in your life. Consider the small word “so” that goes before “love” in the Bible’s most famous verse, John 3:16. The verse says, “God so loved the world . . . “ (NIV). God loves you with an extravagant, lavish love that can never be taken away. It’s beyond comprehension. He loves you on your good days and your bad days. He loves you when it’s raining and when the sun is shining. God says he doesn’t want you to just recognize this lavish love intellectually. He wants you to recognize it emotionally. Love is God’s nature. God created the universe and everything in it for no other reason than so he could love it. And God created you so he could love … [Read more...]

In fewer than three weeks at our annual convention in Dallas, June 12-13, Southern Baptists will elect a new president. The two announced candidates are Dr. J.D. Greear and Dr. Kenneth Hemphill. J.D. Greear ran two years ago and lost to the current SBC president Steve Gaines in a close and controversial decision. After his loss, some suggested that J.D. should be elected without opposition this year because he was such a good sport last time. He was a good sport. Almost every losing candidate across the decades of Southern Baptist life has been gracious in defeat. However, it was never the practice, or even the suggestion that they automatically would be the president the next rotation. We do not elect two presidents at a time. Things change a lot in two years, as they have this last two. Any group of Baptists or even one Baptist may nominate whom they will for president. But no one can confer the office on someone. It is not our practice and should not be. Only the messengers in session can elect a president. So, again this year, the average Baptist messenger will exercise the right to decide who will lead the convention. I am supporting Ken Hemphill for the office. It is not because of personalities. I like both of … [Read more...]

By Stewart Holloway Have you ever choked on anything? I’ve never choked, but I’ve had difficulty swallowing and that was bad enough. Choking or even coming close to choking is no fun. Yet, every day, people choke on Jesus. They cannot swallow His teaching. They cannot swallow His demands. They cannot swallow the commitment He requires. In John 6:60-71, we see three responses to Jesus: desertion, devotion, and deterioration. We want to be devoted, but a lot of people desert and deteriorate. In other words, they choke on Jesus. How do you know if you might choke on Jesus? Well, one way you choke on food is when it is too much or not what you expect, and that’s usually what happens when people desert Jesus or deteriorate in their faith – He’s too much for them or not what they expect. Typically, it’s not the big issues of the faith that people choke on, it’s the basics. No one wants to be a deserter! So what do we do? How do we avoid choking on Jesus? We become devoted. How do you do that? You resolve to do so. I know of no other way to say it. You commit. You’re all in when others are all out. You decide to follow Jesus, moment by moment day by day no matter what comes along the way. I pray that … [Read more...]

By Steve Horn By now you all know that another school shooting has happened — this time in Santa Fe, Texas. Closer to where I live, in the town of St. Martinville, Louisiana, my wife’s hometown, several students died the same day in a car accident. Fun events for seniors, who were anticipating their last day, were canceled. As I sat down to put some thoughts down, I got a news alert that a plane has crashed in Cuba. Meanwhile, high school graduations in my area were happening all weekend. Keenly aware that these graduating seniors aren’t reading my blog today or any day, if I could address every graduating senior, my words would go something like this. Be thankful. Life is fragile. Life is short. Life is far from perfect. The only way to live life to the fullest is to be thankful. Be thankful because you know you didn’t get to where you are by yourself. Be thankful for parents, teachers, coaches, ministry leaders, the military, police, first responders, doctors, dentists, nurses, and many others. Most of all, give thanks to God. I went to a high school sports awards program the other night put on by our local paper. I was thankful and impressed that most every student gave thanks to God. Alex Haley, author of … [Read more...]

By Joe McKeever Only Jesus. No one has been to Heaven except the One who came from there. (John 3:13) How clear is that? He is the One who knows. No one can come to God the Father except through Jesus. (John 14:6) How clear is that? He is our mediator. No one can know God unless Jesus reveals Him to them. (Matthew 11:27) How clear is that? He is the revealer. There is no other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Only Jesus. (Acts 4:12) How clear is that? He is our Savior. Jesus said He was given authority over all mankind. (John 3:35; 13:3; 17:2 and Matthew 28:18) How clear is that?  He is Lord. Here’s an outline that sums it up for me.  It got me out of bed in the middle of the night recently. Use it if you can and if the Lord leads. There is only One who has come from Heaven – and He alone is our AUTHORITY on matters of Heaven and eternity. (John 3:13) That’s why even the Father told people, “Listen to Him!” (Luke 9:35) There is only One who has gone to the cross and made atonement for our sins–and He alone is our SAVIOR.  (John 3:16) That’s why the Holy Spirit draws people to Him. He is the door. (John 10) There is only One who has risen from the dead and … [Read more...]

By James Dobson What will be your legacy on behalf of those you love? Will you help them build a foundation of faith that will sustain them through the trials of life and take them into the better world beyond? Will they be there to greet you and the rest of your family and Christian friends on the other side? That is my prayer for you. A day of celebration is coming like nothing that has ever occurred in the history of mankind. The Guest of Honor on that morning will be One wearing a seamless robe, with eyes like flames of fire and feet like fine brass. As we bow humbly before Him, we will hear a great voice out of heaven saying: Now the dwelling place of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Rev. 21:3–4) And, again the mighty voice will echo through the corridors of time: Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living … [Read more...]

By Richard Land As we prepare to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Israel's independence (May 14, 2018) we need to explain to others, and to remind ourselves, why many evangelicals fervently support Israel and the Jewish people. According to Lifeway Research in Nashville, at least half of self-identified evangelicals believe that at some point in the future most Jewish people will accept Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah. Additionally, large segments of American evangelicalism believe that God has made certain promises to His chosen people, the Jews, that He did not make to Gentiles — including possession of the Promised Land of Israel forever, in belief, in unbelief, in obedience and in disobedience, unconditionally forever. These beliefs are based on the Abrahamic Covenant that God made with Abraham (Gen. 12:1–3). In this covenant with Abraham, God not only promised the land of Canaan to the Jews forever, He also promises to bless those who bless the Jews and curse those who curse the Jews. Consequently millions of evangelicals believe that if they want God to bless them individually, and America collectively as a nation, then they need to bless the Jews. This means among other things, that anti-Semitism … [Read more...]

By Rick Warren “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7 NLT). It takes more than willpower to stop worrying. You already know that, because you’ve already tried it. You’ve thought, “I shouldn’t worry about this,” yet you just keep on worrying about it. It’s going to take more than your willpower to stop worrying. It takes four things: 1. You have to get to know God. Jesus says in Matthew 6:32, “People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things” (The Message). If you don’t have a relationship with God, you have every reason to worry. You’ve got to get to know God! As a believer, you have a heavenly Father who has promised to take care of you. You are God’s child, and children get special privileges. When you worry, God says, “You’re my child. Why are you acting like an orphan?” 2. You have to put God first in every area of your life. Matthew 6:31-33 says, “Don’t worry at all about having enough food and clothing. . . . Your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that you need them, and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to” (TLB). Anytime you take God out of the center of your life and put … [Read more...]

By Steve Horn What if your Mother’s Day is not a Hallmark movie? Naomi, the mother-in-law of Ruth, had every right to ask that question. Ruth could too for that matter. After a couple of names and places in the opening verses 1-3, verses 4 and 5 have a staccato-like feel filled with a series of events that could simply be labeled, “Bad News.” The Bible tells us that at some point in this time of the judges, there was a famine in the land of Promise.  (Ruth 1:1). Living in Bethlehem (a town that means by the way, the house of bread), there was a man by the name of Elimelech (God is my King) and his wife, Naomi (Pleasant or Sweet One). They had two sons — Mahlon and Chilion. By the way, Mahlon means “sickly” and Chilion means “frail.” Can’t you see it? It’s a rather sad tale. “Hello, my name is ‘God is my King’ and this is my wife, ‘Sweet One.’ We are from the ‘House of Bread,’ but we left there, because there was a famine in the land, and we were about to starve to death. Meet our two kids, ‘Sickly’ and ‘Frail.’” The old line, “If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all” comes to mind. We might laugh, but believe me, they weren’t laughing. It could be that their move to the land of Moab was … [Read more...]