Project 1189

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Several months ago, while I was on a morning run through Clear Creek Park, the Lord distinctly laid something on my heart. He emphasized that I was to lead our church to read straight through the entire Bible from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22—all 1,189 chapters. He also stressed that we should read from behind our pulpit in our sanctuary.

In obedience to His instructions, we are going to read through the entire Word of God beginning Sunday, March 11 and ending Sunday, March 25. Every person who wishes to participate in reading a portion of the Scripture, will be asked to sign-up for a time slot on the sheet posted in the Sanctuary. The weekday schedule will look like this:

 Week of March 12-16 & March 19-23 / 10am-6pm

Pray about how the Lord wants you and your family to participate. Maybe He will lead you to read or just drop in and listen while others read—just obey Him as He leads.

Here are three important things I believe the Lord wants us to accomplish through PROJECT 1189:

  • Renew our dedication as a church to hearing and obeying the Word of God
  • Renew our commitment in our families to the Word of God
  • Renew our passion as individuals to the Word of God

Nehemiah Sermon Series

Posted in Discipleship, Preaching1 Comment

I’ve been preaching for about 32 years now and some books of the Bible have gone virtually untouched in my preaching. Until the beginning of 2012, that was true about the book of Nehemiah. I may have preached one or two sermons from Nehemiah through the years, but I’m not even certain of that. Last year I felt prompted to preach through the entire book of Nehemiah, but I wasn’t sure about the timing. I continued to pray about it and finally began the Nehemiah sermon series on January 1, 2012.

As anticipated,  Nehemiah is full of practical, Godly leadership principles. Nehemiah’s quest to lead the Jews to restore the crumbled walls and burned gates of Jerusalem in 52 days was one of the greatest leadership ventures in history. Did you know that originally Ezra & Nehemiah were on one scroll. Later when the Jews divided the scroll they called them 1 & 2 Ezra. The chronological setting for the Books of Ezra & Nehemiah stretches from 537-433 B.C.

Over the next weeks, I will continue to work through this great book. Here are links to the video of each of the sermons in this series:

Resolutions

Posted in Discipleship, Evangelism, Ministry, Worship1 Comment

My friend, Dr. Paul Chitwood serves as the Executive Director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention.  He recently published a very well-written challenge that I would like to share with you.  I echo the following words of Dr. Chitwood as we seek to magnify and honor the glorious name of the Lord Jesus in 2012:

With this first 2012 post, I’m hoping a New Year’s resolution list for Kentucky Baptists will be well received. I offer no earth-shattering new insights. I simply challenge us to be faithful to the basic call of Christ upon our lives and obedient to the fundamental teachings in God’s word. If every Kentucky Baptist would commit themselves to the following resolutions, our churches would flourish, every lost person in the Commonwealth could hear the gospel, and the cause of the Great Commission would be rapidly advanced.

First, would you resolve to walk closely with Jesus through concerted prayer and daily Bible reading? Our Lord exhorts us in John 15:4, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” The first call of the gospel is the call to be in Jesus Christ. He is the source of spiritual life and spiritual power. Apart from him, we will remain powerless.

Second, would you resolve to obey Jesus in all things? Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it” (Luke 11:28). Matters like sexual purity, financial stewardship, personal honesty, sobriety, and refraining from gluttony are not negotiable for those who have confessed Jesus as Lord of our lives.

Third, would you resolve to share Jesus with at least one lost person each week? The command to be witnesses and the promise of the Spirit’s empowerment to that end are clearly stated in Acts 1:8. As for the lost, “how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard” (Rom 10:14)? Yet, multiple studies and surveys reveal most of us never take the initiative to tell lost people how to be saved. Pray that God would give you the opportunity to share the gospel with just one person each week.

Fourth, would you resolve to love and serve Jesus’ bride with more passion than ever before? Your church isn’t perfect but it needs you. And you need the church. We simply cannot be faithful followers of Jesus apart from his church. Love and serve her.

Fifth, would you resolve to commit more of your resources to Jesus’ Great Commission? The sin of greed has captivated us. Rather than starting with a tithe and giving generously beyond that, the average church member gives less than 3 percent of their income. If we merely gave a tithe, church ministry budgets and the Cooperative Program mission budget would triple, resulting in an exponential harvest of souls in Kentucky and around the world.

“Purdy” Green Hills

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A couple of months ago, my sister-in-law, told me about a Bluegrass Festival she recently attended with my brother. She mailed me a CD of David Evans, one of the musicians she heard at the event. I have listened to the recording dozens of times—I especially like the song called “Purdy (Pretty) Green Hills.”  That’s the way Mr. Evans sings the word “pretty” in the song.

The song tells the story of a man who picks up an old hitchhiker. The driver asks the old man where he wants to go and this is his reply:

 “Purdy green hills, purdy green hills”….He said, “take me into them purdy green hills.”

Now, before you even think it, I know those words would make an English teacher sweat like a UK Football season ticket holder, but hang with me. The song even talks about going into a country store and buying some “bloney” (bologna). You know you’ve got a great song when it talks about eating country bologna. Can I get an “Amen”?

Let me say that I LOVE Shelbyville. I LOVE living here. I LOVE our church. I LOVE the topography and beauty of the area. Every morning when I lace on my New Balance running shoes and trot around our community, I thank God for placing us here. BUT, as a person who grew up in the “purdy green hills” of Eastern Kentucky, I perfectly understand the old man’s words in the song. You can take a boy out of the hills, but you can’t take the hills out of the boy.

This past Saturday, as a part of KBC’s Super Saturday, I traveled back down into those “purdy green hills” to teach three conferences in Prestonsburg. Prestonsburg is in Floyd County, my home county. Saturday morning I rose early and ran a 6-mile loop through the streets of the town where I spent so much time as a boy. I recalled Saturday outings with my mom, trips to town with my grandfather—I even ran right by my great Aunt’s home before she rose for the day. We ate at the Jenny Wiley Lodge where I played many a game of ping pong as a teenager and where I attended my high school prom.

Laura and I will probably never live in Eastern Kentucky again, but every now and then, it does my heart good to visit “them purdy green hills.”

Lessons from the Ark

Posted in Church Chat, Discipleship, Funny, Life Happens, Preaching1 Comment

Someone recently sent me an email about Noah’s Ark.  As a preacher, it caused me to think of several sermon ideas I missed over the years.  Read over the following “Lessons from the Ark” for yourself and see if you find them as helpful as I do.

Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah’s Ark . . .

  1. Don’t miss the boat.
  2. Remember that we are all in the same boat.
  3. Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark.
  4. Stay fit. When you’re 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
  5. Don’t listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
  6. Build your future on high ground.
  7. For safety’s sake, travel in pairs.
  8. Speed isn’t always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
  9. When you’re stressed, float a while.
  10. Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
  11. No matter the storm, when you are with God, there’s always a rainbow waiting.

I want to thank my email friend for the sermon ideas and the “kernels” of wisdom.  I hope they help you as they have me.