A New Sermon Series

Some time ago, I acquired the book, "The Man of Sin," by Dr. Kim Riddlebarger. Like so many of my newer books, it has languished on my shelf. It has an intriguing title and subject.

As a student in college, I and my wife made friends with two other couples. One had gone to college to study music. He later quit to take a full time job. The other man had begun college to study for ministry. I alone was the struggling college student.

We had a common calling.

We also had a common interest.

Eschatology.

Eschatology is the study of last things. It is concerned with end times, the return of Christ, and things like Final Destiny. (That sounds so terminal.)

We would get together on Saturday evenings to eat a meal together and to fellowship. While our wives contented themselves with conversational topics of whatever women like to discuss, we men talked eschatology.

We debated.

We argued.

We agreed.

We speculated.

We were stimulated.

I learned more though those discussions about eschatology than any formal study I've done of the topic. I had to read and study just to keep up with these guys.

I find that people have a great interest in end time issues. Church members want to hear the latest as well. From time to time, I've tackled these topics from a preaching and teaching standpoint. My standard approach has been to address topics relating to eschatology or to preach through books like 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Pretty general.

Until now.

I've heard plenty in my time about just WHO antichrist (The Man Of Sin) is. Incidentally, he's been just about every American President of the past, including the current one who occupies the White House.

Given my "education," from my friends, subsequent study, a personal interest, my aquisition of this book, and now renewed speculation about who this Man is, I've recently felt I needed to address a specific eschatological topic.

The Man Of Sin.

I have been to man out a new sermon series I call, "The Spoiler." This is who this Man is called in Isaiah 33:1. Thus, this Fall, Lord willing, I will be delivering a series of messages on this one topic. As of tonight, I put my volunteer researcher on the topic. It was like throwing fresh meat to a hungry lion.

I can hardly wait to see what I will say.

Stay tuned.

E4 Conference

I just arrived home from the first ever E4 preaching conference sponsored by the Louisiana Baptist Convention, Louisiana College, and New Orleans and Southwestern Seminaries at First Baptist, Pineville, LA.

It was refreshing and challenging. I walked away with a new list of preaching ideas, and a few reminders of the art. It was good also to network with great Christian leaders who taught and participated.

In particular, I was struck with the ability and passion of two professors of religion from Louisiana College, Dr. Chuck Quarles and Dr. Jason Meyer.

Their presentations were passionate, scholarly, and challenging. It is wonderful to think that these men are teaching our students at the college. I pray that the students will catch some of their "scholarship on fire." We desperately need it.

To be back on the Louisiana College campus, however briefly, brought back a flood of memories from my own college experience.

Bright young students.

Red brick buildings.

Tall pine trees.

And chapel.

Yes, chapel. The chapel service was worshipful and refreshing. The college chorale sang wonderfully. The preacher spoke passionately. The students listened intently. (I noticed. I was watching.)

I was able to catch up with one student from our church. He told me of the record enrollment this semester. He had to stay in a hotel for a couple of weeks. Here is what happens when a Christian college takes its Christian moorings seriously.

Because my own Alma Mater once strongly conservative now seems less so, I happily embrace LC as my own.

Congratulations, President Aguillard, faculty, and staff for a job well done.

And just beginning.

I am proud to be a Louisiana Baptist and proud to send students from our church to that institution knowing that their Christian faith will not be called into question, but strengthened.

We need more colleges like Louisiana College.

An Act Of God?

Again, I share a picture and comment from my friend, Dr. Rick Hyde. We might consider him a "guest blogger" on this site. He knows of my love for signs and the sometimes unintentional messages they bring.

Let him speak to this one:
It's not a church sign ... but it's interesting.

I went to the Lifeway Christian Store in Little Rock and took this picture with my phone camera.

I was unhappy when the SBC voted to change the name from Baptist Book Store to Lifeway Christian Store a few years ago. (I was there .. I voted against the change.)

Well ... God himself ordered this latest modification of the name ... strong winds brought the "Christian" part of the sign crashing down recently. Luckily (no, make that blessedly) it was in the middle of the night and no one was injured.

This might be a good time to go back to calling it the "Baptist Book Store."

What do you think, readers?

Celebrating Failure

"These days its not just that the line between right and wrong has been made unclear, today Christians are being asked by our culture today to erase the lines and move the fences, and if that were not bad enough, we are being asked to join in the celebration cry by those who have thrown off the restraints religion had imposed upon them. It is not just that they ask we accept, but they now demand of us to celebrate it too."
— Ravi Zacharias

I recently heard of a woman whose divorce had become final. Her response to her "liberation" was to trumpet it from various social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace.

In response, some of her "friends" joined in congratulating her, as though she had just received a big job promotion and raise.

Is a divorce a reason for a fandango? Should its finalization be cause for celebration?

At the very least a divorce -any divorce- is an admission of failure. A relationship failed. A marriage died. Something is dead.

And people want to celebrate?

Do they celebrate the brokenness of lives now separated after saying "till death do us part?" Do they celebrate the inevitable hurt and feelings of rejection that children experience when their parents no longer live together? Do people really want to celebrate what must legally become to some extent and adversarial relationship regarding property, parental rights, and bank accounts?

There is no cause for celebration. A divorce is a death, and its decree a death announcement. The court case is a funeral. Picking up the pieces is for many, and especially children, is grief work.

None of those things are easy.

None of those things are reasons to celebrate.

Please understand if I don't congratulate you.

One can discern the demise of a culture and the denigration of humanity when people celebrate things that should cause them to weep instead.

I weep.

I Had Lunch Here Today

More later...

At My Age..

...seems like simple pleasures are the most satisfying.

Yesterday was my birthday. I found many well wishes in my electronic inbox. People were very kind to remember. I had lunch with one of my prayer partners- he even bought it!

My wife and son gave me a pair of shoes and a new belt to replace one that (popped) became unusable. With age comes an expanded middle. I had several cards waiting on me. I was advised to "do nothing I did not wish to do." How does one do this and pursue his vocation?

There was even grilled steak for supper.

I enjoyed all these things immensely.

But I really enjoyed the strawberry cake. We had staff meeting and there it was- homemade strawberry cake. As I was growing up, Mother knew that was the cake I wanted. For some reason, my father always insisted on making my picture sitting beside it with the candles lit. I suppose somewhere I have 18 pictures of successive birthdays- each with me sitting beside a strawberry cake.

I have to admit that it has been years since I had homemade strawberry cake- the kind that uses the frozen berries in the cardboard can with metal ends. Some got close, but cherry cake with canned strawberry icing just isn't the same.

But for my birthday one of staff secretaries' husband made the finest cake I've had in years. Like the cartoon dog, Snuffles, I exclaimed my groans of delight. If I could, I'd have jumped into the air and floated down like he did.


As I took the first bite and realized it was just like momma's, I got a bit misty-eyed. Memories returned of birthdays gone by. I thought of my mother- now in glory. That was the best birthday present of all.

Mother is gone, but her recipe lives on.

Simple pleasures like homemade strawberry cake are the best.

I got another birthday present, too. I'm going to redeem it tomorrow. I'll write about it -and the results- in a later post.

Now, if I could just get that old Beatles tune out of my head...."You say it's your birthday..."

Talitha Cumi

Early this morning, I got a phone call. Calls this early never bring good news. Sure enough, it was a lady in our church who told me of a teenage girl who attends our church with her grandparents. The girl had fallen off of a golfcart on to a sidewalk and hit her head. At that time, she was in Pediatric ICU. There was a hematoma in her skull and she was unresponsive.

I told my wife about the situation and she was troubled. I took a shower and prepared for church.

At approximately 7:15 this morning I took my wife's hand and we prayed for this young lady and another child we heard had been involved in a lawn mowing accident.

As we prayed, I led out. I was reminded of Jesus' words to Jairus' daughter in Mark 5:41. Jairus had requested Jesus' presence to heal his sick child. But before he could arrive, the child died. Jesus told the crowd when he arrived that the girl was not dead, but sleeping. He was ridiculed. Then Jesus took her hand and said, "Talitha Cumi," which is Aramaic for "Little Girl Arise." Indeed the girl awakened. Jesus raised her from the ded.

You can see a powerful video here, or here:


I prayed, repeating the words of Jesus, "Talitha Cumi" and went to eat breakfast.

Later, as I finished getting ready, I could hear my wife in the living room on the phone. She had been trying to reach the grandmother of the girl who had been injured and get the latest report. I heard her laughing, crying, and pounding the bar in kitchen.

The girl had just awakened and begun to talk to her family.

My wife asked the grandmother when this happened.

As it turned out, it had happened about the time we were praying for the girl to awaken which was ten minutes earlier.

God heard our prayer!

Coincidence? I find more coincidences occur when I pray.

I shared the story with my prayer partners and later with my church. There was spontaneous applause and cheers.

After church we went to the hospital to visit the girl and her family. We told them of our prayer, the answer, and the church's response to the story of healing and answered prayer.

The girl in particular was fascinated. "They clapped and cheered for me?" she asked.

"That's right," I said. "They clapped and cheered because you are an answered prayer."

The words of the prophet Isaiah came to mind several times today, "Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear." Isaiah 65:24 (NIV)

Indeed, God answered while we prayed, "Talitha cumi."