Posts from 2018 (Page 3)
A Friend Who Bears With Us
I’ve heard my dad tell the story often. When he was a boy, the family took a vacation to Yellowstone Park. If you have ever been to Yellowstone, or to most any area known to have bears, you have seen the signs everywhere: “Do Not Feed The Bears.” This is no secret. For whatever reason – maybe he didn’t see the signs, maybe he believed it wasn’t all that serious – my great-grandfather decided not to heed that warning. They…
The Christian Nation
This week we will celebrate Independence Day, commemorating the Declaration by the Continental Congress that the 13 colonies constituted a new nation separate from the British Empire. We are all fortunate to live in the United States; that is certainly something worth remembering, and we should thank God for this privilege. But that thanksgiving can go too far. A good example comes from just this past week, where First Baptist Church in Dallas held a “Freedom Sunday” service. They took…
Why Are You Idle?
Jesus once told a story about a man and the laborers he hired. He went early in the morning into the marketplace and bargained with his laborers for a day’s work. Late in the afternoon, he returned to the marketplace and found still other workers standing there. To those who were loitering while they should have been working, he asked, “Why do you stand here idle all day?” The answer of those workers was as inadequate as the course they…
A Family Resemblance
Today is Father’s Day. I hope all of the fathers and grandfathers reading this have a happy day. I remember the first time my parents came and visited when I was preaching in Spicewood. An older gentleman in the congregation asked my father, “Are you Bryant’s daddy?” My dad responded, “Does he owe you money?” That was good for a laugh, and the fellow in question never tired of retelling that story on me. But, you know, it is not…
A Wall of Separation
This week, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop, in which a baker refused to craft a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage due to his religious beliefs. There were a number of issues in play, but the Court hinged their decision on the Colorado Civil Rights Commission’s overt hostility to the baker’s faith. This is a very narrow holding that does not really address the larger questions the case raised, leaving many on both sides of…
Living With Joy
I read one time about an incident that occurred in a restaurant. I want you to visualize a man at a buffet style establishment. He is standing at the salad bar. Do have that picture? Now picture him covered in Thousand Island Dressing. It is running from his hair, over his glasses, down his face, all over his jacket, pants, and shoes. We are not just talking about a little salad dressing here. We are talking 2 gallons of Thousand…
How to Make Decisions
Toward the end of services today, we are going to honor our graduating high school seniors. They have reached an important milestone and are now about to embark on a new stage in their lives, where they will face many decisions that will define who they become. It highlights a point of significance for all of us: the choices we make are important. Throughout our lives, we are all constantly making decisions. We must decide where to live. We select…
Father, Forgive Them
I want you to try to imagine what it might have been like in the city of Jerusalem on a fateful spring Friday. Picture yourself being brought under the spell and excitement of that hour. There were three prisoners about to be executed for their crimes. Two were revolutionaries convicted of plotting to overthrow the Roman government. The other was a young prophet who was viewed as a threat in his own right. The crowd on hand for all of…
An Encouraging Word
Two cowboys were riding across the open plains at some point during the late 1800s. They crested a hill and, down in the valley below, they saw a herd of buffalo, a rare sight by then. One of the cowboys turned to the other and said, “You know, those are about the mangiest, ugliest looking critters I have ever seen”. His companion agreed, and they turned and rode away. As they left, one of the buffalo remarked to another, “I…
The Model Church
We have been studying the book of Acts on Wednesday nights, and, for several weeks now, we have considered the events of Pentecost recorded at the beginning of the book: the Holy Spirit is poured out, empowering the disciples to speak in languages they had never learned; a questioning crowd gathers in response; Peter preaches the first gospel sermon, that Jesus has been raised from the dead and declared to be Lord and Christ by God; and forgiveness of sins…
Do Not Grow Weary
Baseball season is now underway, and the World Champion Houston Astros unveiled their banner at the home opener this past Monday. Even if you were not watching the game, you probably saw it on the news – things did not go smoothly. But, to be fair, they had no prior experience in unveiling a World Championship banner. I am new to this area, but not to Astros fandom. One of my earliest memories in sports is attending a game at…