God Loves Marriage and Deacons

Sunday is going to be another great day at FBC!

First, we will celebrate the marriages of 43 couples who have been married for 50 years or more. 

Marriage matters at First Baptist Church because marriage matters to God.  God designed for the marriage between a man and a woman to be a vivid reflection of the relationship that Christ has with the church.  Few things are a more powerful witness of God’s love and grace than a faithful marriage.

Today’s society approaches marriage like we think about wearing clothes—we wear them for a season or until we are tired of them…then we throw them away.

We desire faithful and Godly marriages among our faith family.  We long for men to love their wives, for women to love their husbands, and for children to see the gospel on display every day in the way that their parents treat one another.

Don’t miss Sunday.  In the 11:00 service, we will recognize these couples who have been married for a combined total of over 2,517 years, and we will celebrate our great God who has given us the gracious gift of marriage!

Second, we will begin the process of electing deacons to serve our church. 

The early church chose deacons as they had needs (Acts 6:1-7).  Likewise, FBC is selecting men to serve as deacons for the ministry areas of caring and senior adults, facilities, Lord’s Supper, personnel, sound and television, transportation, bereavement, and men’s ministry. 

In too many churches, the deacon body is seen as a group who argues over and rubber stamps the initiatives of others.  Not so at FBC!  I am thankful for the good and godly men who love and serve our faith family by meeting needs.

The deacon body and committee structure were recently combined to focus and enhance our ministry efforts as well as increase effectiveness and efficiency across the board.  Deacons serve as “Point Men” for particular areas of service and provide leadership to their team/committee which executes ministries.  Deacon Point Men meet needs, maintain unity, and support the ministry of the Word through their service.  They also are liaisons to the corporate meetings of the deacon body and give regular attention to church finances and serve as a sounding board concerning potential significant pastoral leadership initiatives.

Deacons are biblical.  Read and pray over Acts 6:1-7 and 1 Timothy 3:8-13, talk with others in the church about those you might recommend, and turn in your nominations before November 14.  You can pick up a form at church.

I look forward to seeing YOU Sunday with a Bible in your hand and someone by your side.

Pastor Todd

Midweek at FBC--A Talking Heart

Our words reveal our hearts.  Our words reflect our hearts.  Our words proceed from our hearts. 

As a tree is revealed by its fruit, a person is known by his words.  We speak according to the kind of people we are.

Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.  You brood of vipers!  How can you speak good, when you are evil?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.  I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.  Matthew 12:33-37

See you at Midweek!

Pastor Todd

loving God, loving people...El Salvador

Several great folks from our First family just got back from a week in El Salvador with Paducah’s Starfish Orphan Ministry.  How good it has been to read the heartfelt words and see the many pictures from this incredible experience.  

http://starfishorphanministry.blogspot.com/ has alot of good stuff to see and read, and you can check it out for yourself.

"learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause."  Isaiah 1:17

 

God is opening our eyes, and he is giving us a greater heart for the peoples of the world!

Pastor Todd

Before God Moves

Comparing the ministry of Charles Spurgeon with the “principles” of great awakenings as recorded in James Burns’ Revivals, Their Laws and Leaders, Lewis Drummond writes:               

   “…there is always an ebbing tide before the awakening flood comes.  A general defection from “the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) often infects the Church just before awakenings dawn.  Dullness and lethargy pervade God’s people.  Dark days settle in.  These periods are also characterized by straying from the central task of evangelism.  Churches and pastors begin to substitute secondary ministries for this primary responsibility.  Priorities get reversed.

     Along with these problems, deviations from apostolic theology can subtly creep in.  Compromise on ethical and moral principles tends to follow hard on the heels of doctrinal errors.  A critical and blasé  attitude envelops many as people grow cynical about those whom they label as “puritanical” and “pious.”…Some actually defect and fall into open sin.  In a word, plain “worldliness” takes over, and the Church sinks into a Laodicean syndrome.  Yes, church programs go on, often with greater fervor.  There is a form of godliness but a denying of real spiritual power (2 Timothy 3:5).  With spiritual power missing, and the Church neither hot nor cold, it stands in dire danger of the Lord’s Laodicean rejection (Revelation 3:16).

     Although ebb times seem inevitable, the Church and the people who make up the Church are not thereby exonerated and blameless for their defections.  In the final analysis, believers become what they want to become, and bear the consequences of their own actions.  Christians also reap what they sow, individually and collectively.”

O God, how today’s Church needs you to move!

Pastor Todd

Gospel Children: Pressing the Next Generation Up into the Gospel

Our First Family is blessed to have a God-focused, Christ-centered, gospel-driven children’s ministry. Our pastor for children’s and family ministries, Josh Cornett provides great leadership not only to the children of our church, but also to our parents.  Amy and I are certainly beneficiaries of his excellent and holistic work, and he is helping us to be more intentional, more strategic, more God-honoring, and more faithful in our parenting.

You will want to check out Josh’s excellent blog, Gospel Children: Pressing the next generation up into the gospel at http://gospelchildren.wordpress.com.  This is a great resource which will come your way regularly when you subscribe to Gospel Children.  Amy and I always look forward to the next post of Gospel Children.

Josh recently posted a recent article which appeared in the Wall Street Journal.  This article provides good words for anyone with boys.  Having four of our own, we were eager to read the following and encouraged by Thomas Spence's words. 

Check it out...How to Raise Boys Who Read - Hint:  Not with gross-out books and video game bribes

In addition to others, Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr.,  president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has commented on this article.  Read his thoughts here. 

Gospel Children is a great resource!  Subscribe today!

Pastor Todd

The Beach, My Boys and John Spurgeon

The Bradys are in Seagrove, FL this week.  In between building sand castles on the beach with Jack, William, Isaac, and Benjamin, and eating peel’ em and eat ‘em shrimp with mom, Grandad and Grandmama, I a devouring Lewis Drummond’s biography Spurgeon—Prince of Preachers (Kregal, 1992).

While I feel as though Charles Haddon Spurgeon (the 19^th century’s greatest preacher) is vacationing with us this year, it is his father of whom I find myself most fond this afternoon.  The following quote by Charles’s father makes me realize the importance of parenting and children.

“As the parent of seventeen children, I have frequently worn a shabby coat, when I might have possessed  a good one, had I cared less for my children’s education.”

                                                          John Spurgeon

Pastor Todd

Get Low

Attention all Paducah residents.   Get Low is showing downtown at the Maiden Alley Cinema.

Get Low, starring Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, and Bill Murray is a movie inspired by the true story of Felix “Bush” Breazeale, who attracted national attention and the largest crowd to assemble up to that date when he threw himself a living funeral party in 1938 in Roane County, Tennessee.

“Bush” Breazeale was Amy’s grandfather’s cousin.  If you have time and want to read about this most interesting character, check out www.sonyclassics.com/getlow/.  There’s more information about the movie and some good history as well.

This post is neither a personal commendation of the movie nor a condemnation.  Whether you like the movie or not, at least you will enjoy some downtown time at the Maiden Alley Cinema. 

You’ll also be able to tell people that you have seen the movie about your pastor’s wife’s grandfather’s cousin!

Ha!

Pastor Todd