Correcting My Mistake From This Morning

I am very thankful that I serve a forgiving God, who forgives all my sins and provides me with eternal life. I am also very thankful that I serve a forgiving congregation who forgives my many sins and deficiencies and tolerates my many mistakes and shortcomings.

For example, this morning, in the first worship service, I made a mistake. I got confused as to where I was in the Bible and attributed a quote by John the Baptist to the Lord Jesus Christ. Although I realized my error later on and corrected myself in the 2nd worship service, I still owe a significant portion of our congregation a big apology.

Here is the truth… It was John the Baptist, not Jesus Christ, who said to the self-righteous religious leaders of the day… ““You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7)

That said, I still stick by my statement that in a very real sense ALL the words of the Bible are the words of Jesus! So my mistake did not invalidate my main point in that portion of the message: the doctrine of the wrath of God is taught throughout the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament, Gospels and Epistles.

Thanks for letting me set the record straight.

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My Lovely Valentine

"Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved!" - Song of Solomon 1.15

This is the 18th time I am able to proudly say that the beautiful lady standing beside me is my Valentine. In the summer of 1994 I was home from graduate school, visiting my parents in southern Illinois. After a week of vacation, I said goodbye to my parents and pulled out of the driveway in my little blue Honda CRX for the lonely twelve hour drive back to Fort Worth, Texas. As I drove away my prayer warrior mother cried out in her heart, “Lord, it’s time!” You might be thinking, time for what? Time for her son to meet “the one.” In a matter of weeks her prayers (plural because she had been praying for my future wife for several years) were answered.

Here’s how it happened. The last weekend of August I got a call from a buddy of mine who wanted me to go with him to a singles fellowship that evening at Southwayside Baptist Church. I didn’t really want to go. But Tim was persistent, saying, “Oh, come on man, who knows…you might even meet your future wife there tonight!” Who could walk away from an offer like that! I truly didn’t expect that to happen.

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My Favorite Easter Song

We did this song this morning and I love it!

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Coming Off My Mini-Sabbatical

I am in the process of concluding a mini-sabbatical (3 1/2 weeks) and am grateful for the time I’ve had away to rest and refresh myself spiritually. More congregations need to demand that their pastors take these types of breaks to protect themselves against the pitfalls of ministry. And yes, there are many pitfalls.

The North American Mission Board recently published some alarming statistics gathered by my old friend Darrin Patrick:

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God’s Kind Providence to Give Me a New Friend

God provided a new friend for me today. In God’s kind providence I was privileged to meet, via internet and telephone, a pastor from North Carolina named Jonathan. I am excited about this friendship for what we have in common. We both have a condition called Barrett’s Esophagus.

Barrett’s is found mostly among sufferers of GERD (acid reflux disease), like Jonathan and myself. More importantly, and frighteningly, Barrett’s is a high risk condition for Esophageal Cancer, which is not exactly the best cancer to have.

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Exciting Days Ahead

Well, it has been one of the longer droughts here at pastorbrett.com and that is due to the fact that I have had a busier than usual season in ministry and family life. Sometimes it just gets that way. But on the positive side, it is all good. God is really working in our church and in my life and perhaps I will be able to share some about that in the future. For now, let me say that I hope to carve some time out this weekend to post something as well as put some posts in the docket for publishing next week.

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Parenting Moments Lead to Spiritual Applications

Tonight I was watching the kids while Superwoman went shopping for groceries and necessities. The kids enjoyed playing, which being translated means when it came time to start thinking about showering and getting ready for bed, the house was a disaster.  As I struggled to keep them on task in cleaning up, the thought hit me:

IF ONLY MY KIDS HAD THE SAME ENTHUSIASM FOR PUTTING TOYS UP AS THEY DID FOR GETTING THEM OUT!

Between my verbal encouragement (attempting to keep them on task) I was daydreaming about what it would be like for them to attack their chores with joy and enthusiasm, when suddenly another thought hit me:

IF ONLY I HAD THE SAME ENTHUSIASM FOR REPENTING OF SIN AS I DO FOR COMMITTING SIN!

Ouch. Ok, God. Just as my kids need to be trained and grow in many areas, so do I.

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Who does the Internet think that I am?

So here is how the Internet sees me…

I know the print is small and you may not be able to read it, but from left to right, here are the categories associated with me on the internet: sports, management, genealogy, family, and religion.

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Back from Vacation

First night - at Point Park on Lookout Mountain

Our family vacation this year consisted of two weeks of travel to my parents and then to Lacey’s parents, along with a retreat for Lacey and I mixed in. We spent 49 hours on the road, including 33 hours with the kids, 16 hours just Lacey and I, and 15 hours with the former family dog (we found Barney a new home in Illinois). It was truly great to spend quality time with family and reconnect with friends. But it is also great to be back home and we are excited about what God is doing in our lives here in Jacksonville and especially at Harvest!

Chase shooting my old Red Ryder - first time for him to shoot a BB gun.

14th anniversary for Lacey and I at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for the Harvest Senior Pastors and Wives Retreat.

Family picnic at the Chimneys campground in the Smokey Mountain National Park with Grandmama and Grandaddy and our cousins

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On Vacation

Sorry for the quiet blog. I had a lot to get done in preparation for vacation. Now I’m on vacation. I do hope to blog sometime next week, so check back then.

Since I’m quiet this week, perhaps you would be interested in visiting a few of the blogs I try to keep up with regularly:

www.timellsworth.com – Tim is a good friend of mine and although he does not blog nearly as frequently as he used to, when he does, it’s good.

www.albertmohler.com – The President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is one of the most influential and compelling voices in evangelical American Christianity. He is great with book reviews and recommendations but his specialty is social commentary from a biblical perspective.

www.whatsbestnext.com – I like this site because it gives me great ideas and tips for greater productivity and effectiveness.

http://matteroffactsite.blogspot.com/ – Ordinarily I’m not a regular reader of blogs whose target audience is Christian women, but I make an exception for my cousin, Sherri. She is a godly woman and a very creative writer with a great sense of humor (think Erma Bombeck).

http://purgatorio1.com/ – just for fun.

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