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James 3:10 My brother out of the same mouth pour blessing and cursing. This should not be so. 

A few weeks ago, God graced me with the honor of baptizing an 80+ year old mother and saint of King Jesus.  Ms. Mildred, as we affectionately know her, cooks one of the best breakfasts I've ever had.  It was during one of those breakfasts that she had prepared for me and my family that she asked to speak to me about something.

Her tone was serious.  I was eager to hear from her.  She asked if I would baptize her and I immediately asked her to tell me why she wanted to be baptized (after all, she has been a member of our local congregation for many years).

Her reason was biblical, and one I am hearing more and more frequently as a Pastor.  She had been baptized as a younger girl, mostly because it seemed like a good idea.  Yet, God had not regenerated her heart and therefore all she was for years was a person who went to church services, had gotten dunked, and lived life like she wanted to.  But all that changed in the years thereafter.  At some point Ms. Mildred did indeed have a life-changing encounter with the Risen Savior, and she has loved and served Him ever since!

And as the years passed by, the Holy Spirit began to convict this dear old saint that she had not been obedient to biblical believer's baptism.  So, though her body surely did not enjoy the long flight of stairs to get into and out of our baptistry, and though her breathing condition made her labor all the more, Mildred honored God.  And the joy of Jesus was on her face as she came up out of those waters!  Hallelujah!  What a Savior!

What a wonderful picture of what God's saving and sanctifying grace really does in our lives.  God's Spirit convicts and then encourages and enables our obedience.  We are compelled to obey even if it hurts us or demands sacrifice from us.  Thank you, Sister Mildred, for the reminder that "Jesus Paid it all, All to Him We Owe."

May Ms. Mildred's example inspire others to follow hard after Christ, regardless of the cost.  May her family members and friends who have not yet had their lives changed from the inside out by Jesus humbly seek the grace and mercy of God.  May God increase her tribe for His glory!

We have a Wii and we have a program called Wii fit. It is an exercise dealie . . . how in the world exercise could ever be thought of as fun is beyond me, but, anyway, one of the goals of this program is to create good posture and balance.  Anyone who knows me knows that balance and me are, well, not well acquainted.  I am the reason weebles wobble and do fall down.  So, it is a hoot for my family to watch me "balance" on the Wii.  There is one game in particular called soccer head.  In soccer head you are supposed to stand on the Wii board and move your upper body to hit the soccer balls with your head.  Now, this is a hard enough challenge but you also have to miss the stinking panda bears and dirty tennis shoes they throw at you.  Well, I have consistently scored under 10.  I see one coming to the left and jerk all the way left to get it, then to the right and jerk all the way to get it and then they throw one through the middle.  I inevitably cannot get my body back to the middle.  I cannot get it to stop swinging from one side to the other.  The ones in the middle always get away, and the pandas and tennis shoes on the outside always kill me.  No balance whatsoever!

This week a couple of things have reminded me that waiting is truly against our sinful nature, but absolutely necessary in the big plan of salvation and sanctification. The Bible refers to waiting in several different places.

As I type this, I am sitting at a desk in my brother's home in Richmond, KY.  The window beside me reveals the rolling bluegrass countryside and several horses are feeding nearby.  A light drizzle is falling from the sky.  A warm cup of coffee spews its steamy aroma towards my nose.  I have a belly full of food from yesterday, as well as my bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats this morning.  I do not hear any bombs going off, no small arms fire, no artillery,no warplanes overhead.  My wife and children are safe and sound enjoying cousins and sisters and nephews and nieces.  Later today we will all link up to eat lunch with my mom, sister, brother-in-law and their children.

We Americans continue to be spoiled by God's goodness.  His kindnesses to us are immeasurable.  Even the most miserable among us is pretty well off compared to so much of the world.  And while I do not particularly like our current national leadership, nor approve of the direction our nation is headed, still here I sit in the lap of luxury enjoying a day of peace, quiet, rest and study in God's Holy Word.  I am so thankful.

But I suspect I am not thankful enough.

How could I be?

So, let me offer a simple prayer today:

O Lord, our God, our Help in Ages Past, today I come to You in and through the finished work of Your Son and our Savior, Jesus the Messiah.  I come to You today simply to say, "Thank You."  I thank You for the gift of eternal life in Jesus, and for sealing and guaranteeing that life to me by the indwelling presence of Your Holy Spirit.  I thank You that I am not in hell today; for that is precisely what I have earned before You.  I thank You Lord Jesus for taking my hell upon yourself on the Cross.  What a Savior You are!  Thank You, God, for the gift of my wife.  Her love for me shows off Your love; for she loves me with a determination that defies what I deserve.  Help me treasure her more, lead her more, and care for her more like You do, Lord Jesus.  Thank You for the gift of my two daughters.  Their beauty makes my heart flutter, and I am so happy in them.  Please keep their hearts in Your hands and make them women who delight in King Jesus above all.  Lord, thank You for placing me into a new family of brothers and sisters and sons and daughters.  I could live a thousand lifetimes and not do one thing to deserve to be the Pastor of Corydon Baptist Church.  It is all of Your grace, O sovereign God.  My joy in these precious people grows day by day.  Jesus, please be the Chief Shepherd of us all, so we can experience the fullness of joy that comes by abiding in You.  Use us as the family of God in Christ to show off Your glory in the Gospel.  May we never take one another for granted as we make our pilgrimmage here below.  Lord, thank You for pilgrims of the past, who traveled roads far rougher than ours, to ensure we could live in a place of Gospel Peace.  So many gave so much more than we.  We thank You for them, and praise Your holy name.  Lord, thank You for the Church of the world suffering greatly for Your sake.  Draw close to them and make Your name great among the nations through them.  Thank You, Lord for those sacrificing their comforts now for our political freedom.  Please bless them and give them courage in the battle.  O Lord, I could thank You for a million years and not scratch the surface of Your mercies.  They are indeed new every morning to me.  I love you, Lord.  I want to love You more.  I trust You Lord.  I want to trust You more.  Make me a grateful man, for the Fame of Jesus' Name, amen.           

On Friday night I had the great pleasure and privilege of attending a play at LHCC. I was able to see the Crone kids and Julia Griffin shine on stage in amazing ways and I loved every minute of it...I was as proud as a peacock of them all. :))) The play was about the Velveteen Rabbit and his desire to be real...what was the only thing that could work to make him real....sacrificially loving his owner. At the end of the play, I heard a beautiful voice flowing over the audience from the back singing, "Love, Love, Love,". I could not believe that voice was coming from Miss Julia Griffin...i wanted to stand up and say, "That is my niece." I was so proud of her. She continued to stage where she finished her song and explained to the rabbit that he was real because he had truly loved another. She then waved her wand and the rabbit grew legs and feet and was real...all because of love. During Pastor Keith's sermon this past Sunday, I found myself thinking of her little song (which she wrote herself) and wondering if we really understand love the way Jesus lived it and taught it and expects us too. I wondered that about myself and have been in prayer since I left service Sunday. I heard Pastor Keith say that we need to smash our own self Kingdoms and care about others' lives during the week. This caused me to see things about myself that I was sad about. I started with thinking about how I love my family...so many times when I could be with my husband...I find myself on my cell phone or my computer. Many times even if sitting with him, i am a thousand miles away in my thoughts and not loving him at all. I thought about my girls and my new son. How many times have I wished and cried for "me time" and allowed the wonder of being a momma go far away from me. How many times have i had opportunity to serve my girls and griped from the inside out because my life was so boring and mundane. And then I thought of my church family...do I smash my little kingdoms each week and reach outside of myself to serve them?  Can I honestly say that I do that with joy and expectation of blessing? Do I hurt when they hurt and laugh when they laugh? Do I even know when they hurt? Are the only sorrows and tribulations and hardships that I know of connected to my little kingdom---my life, my family, my bills?? Do I rush at the opportunity to clean bathrooms for those who are in need or is there more important ministry for a person like me? Do I care if the shut-ins ever get visited or do I expect those lesser than me to do that duty? And then I thought of the world outside of that? How many times a week do I offer Jesus to a world that is dying or do I just think somebody else can deal with that mess? Do I look for hungry people with intent to help or accuse them or misspending food stamp money and consider them less than worthy of help? Do I care that single mommas are exhausted and tired and need help or do I just figure they made their bed and they can sleep in it? You can imagine that these questions have caused me some pain in myself. I am wrestling with them and wrestling with some of the answers. I have found that in many areas, I have no conviction. I can answer resounding yeses to them...in other areas, I am sadly, brokenly lacking. But Romans 8 offers me hope;; "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." He saved me and his grace changes me. This message has caused me to think about my love for others...it has caused me sorrow and pain but it has worked to sanctify me and to say to me that it IS love that makes me real. It is love that marks me as a Christian...it is love that says to the world I am a disciple of Jesus. It is love that moves outside of me and my little kingdoms and reaches to a sad, broken, lonely world around me. I am praying for God to change me and to create in me his heart for people...his heart for others...to MAKE ME REAL IN THE AREA OF LOVE TO OTHERS. Praise God for change that is driven by grace and love from a very real, very personal Savior. Dear Jesus, I yearn to be real.

Our Sister Lori Beard is currently traveling.  Received this "blog entry" from her which she obviously did on a phone and probably after only mildly recovering from this incident she describes.  Enjoy!

Okay. Here's the thing...i left Louisville airport today with great excitement traveling to NC. Of course i was routed through Detroit MI. Because that makes so much sense. Well i am sitting on my plane in Louisville and we begin to taxi...picking up speed... when i feel the plane begin to turn. No cause for alarm till the pilot announces we have a small plane problem..we r going back...uh...back where.

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7).

"Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children is their fathers" (Proverbs 17:6).

Last Sunday, June 17th, 2012, my Dad preached his last sermon as the Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Richmond, KY.  He retired after pastoring that congregation for over 31 years.  All his children and grandchildren were present.  It was precious. 

Rarely am I rendered speechless!  But, as I sat and listened to my Dad preach his final sermon as Pastor of that church that I grew up in, I was speechless.  It was such an odd experience for me.  The emotions even still are so mixed and scrambled that I cannot really make heads or tails of them.  I was grateful to a church that stood by my family for 31 years, messy and demanding as it was on them.  I pondered how many people from that church my Dad had buried (only one man who was on the pulpit search committee that called him there is still alive).  My wife's own parents are two of the members of that church that my Dad buried.  I was sad at the closing of an era.  Cleaning out the home (parsonage) where I grew up with my sister and two brothers was almost surreal (not to mention the effect it is having on my brother who has lived there practically all his life and only recently got married and moved out).

But, as the Country Crooner-Theologian Patty Loveless once said in a song, "Life's about changing nothing ever stays the same." 

Well, almost nothing stays the same. 

My Dad chose to preach as his final sermon the very first sermon he preached as Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church over 31 years previously.  Now, that's a testimony to consistency in the pulpit!  The gospel never changes!  The sermon centered on the bloody cross-work of Jesus the Christ on behalf of all those He would save.  My heart and soul were moved to yet deeper adoration and awe of the awful cost Jesus paid to rescue me from sin and death and damnation.  My Dad ended his pastorate the way he began it - by preaching Christ crucified and risen for the salvation of unworthy sinners!

Jack Marshburn, the Pastor I was privileged to serve with in NC for nearly 10 years, likes to tell preachers he's praying that they will end well.  That's a prayer for grace-enabled, gospel-infused endurance.  That's a prayer for faithful Bible preaching.  That's a prayer to fight the good fight and finish the course for God's glory in the gospel of Christ.

Last Sunday I saw my Dad finish well by the amazing grace of God's Spirit.  I was so proud to be his son.  I am so proud to be his son.  May the Lord grant Dad many more years to proclaim the good news of Jesus, and may He also give Dad some days of rest in his "glory years."

Thank you, our Lord and Savior for choosing to give me a Dad who loves you and whose zeal for Your gospel has not waned through the years, but has only grown stronger!  I am so blessed.  I give You glory and worship Your Holy Name.  Please draw ever-nearer Dad in his "retired" years.  Fill his heart with Your love and His eyes with Your glory.  For Jesus' sake, amen. 

Just a quick "Thank You" to our military on Memorial Day seems far too small.  Not to mention those who have bled the grounds of the world red on our behalf as Americans.  We are spoiled rotten by God's mercy in this Nation, and one of the primary means God has used to protect us and our freedoms is our military's sacrifices.  So, to troops past and present, I say "Thank You."  We met and worshipped yesterday in freedom (spiritual and political).  We should be quick to thank God for Marines, Soldiers, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen and Sailors and their families serving around the globe.  Thank you!

That said, let us never forget the words of the Psalmist: "Some trust in chariots and some in horses but we will trust in the Name of the Lord our God."

May God keep us a free people, but if He does give this Nation justice (and what we deserve from Him is wrath), may we as His people in Christ cry out with Job, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him!" 

And God give us grace to fix our eyes on the only Ultimate sacrifice that will matter forever: "He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His stripes you were healed.  For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls" (1 Peter 2:24-25).

May we never forget the cross, the blood, the resurrection life in Jesus Christ the King!