I saw in the newspaper this morning another signpost… “for those who have ears to hear.” The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, has found that more than one-quarter of Americans age 18 to 29 have no religious preference or affiliation, and fewer than one in five attend services regularly. That makes them easily the least religious generation alive today, perhaps the least religious ever...

“God formed man from the dust of the ground,” Genesis tells us. But don’t stop there! The remainder of the text speaks to the nature of humanity. “God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being.” (Gen. 2:7)

The 40 Days of Lent began yesterday on Ash Wednesday for millions of Christians all over the world.  I imposed ashes upon the foreheads of my flock last night in a meaningful and humbling service to mark the beginning of Lent. These next six weeks are a season for looking inward at ourselves and outward at Christ. It’s all about letting of things that are destructive and sinful and embracing the way of Jesus.

I’ve often thought that we Baptists are “liturgically challenged” when it comes to appreciating the great themes of the Church Year. But I take in heart in the coming of Ash Wednesday because it is supposed to be an awkward experience of somber reflection and repentance, a time of being starkly reminded that these bodies we inhabit will indeed turn back...

It’s official now. Hell has frozen over. The New Orleans Saints are Super Bowl Champions! Growing up in central Mississippi, I was five years old when the New Orleans Saints franchise played its first game. The Saints became a regional NFL team for those of us in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama with no other professional sports teams to cheer for.

It wasn’t until 1979 that under the leadership of a quarterback named Archie Manning the Saints had their first “non-losing season” with a record of 8-8. Later came those infamous bags and the nickname the “Aints.” Then in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina having an NFL football team in New Orleans at all was the looming question.

People said for years that hell would freeze over before the Saints ever got to the Super Bowl—much less win the Super Bowl. However, as of Sunday night, ice skates are now being issued at the...

We’re beginning a new worship experience at FBC this Sunday (Super Bowl Sunday) and we are excited about it! We’re calling it “Fresh Start.” Why? Well, because it starts early—at 9:00 a.m.—and we hope it will be a fresh encounter with God for people who may be unchurched, de-churched, or churched-yet-stuck-in-a-rut.

This has been a slow, deliberate process for us. We have chosen not to jump on some alternative/contemporary worship bandwagon. This is an additional worship service—not an alternative one. The worship we do at First Baptist is probably best described as traditional, somewhat liturgical, and reverent. I like it. Yet in these times we are being beckoned by Jesus to fish for people in deeper, uncharted waters.

Worship is not a consumeristic enterprise where we shop around until we find a place that meets all our felt needs. Worship is about God, not us. Worship happens...

I received the following email forwarded from a fellow-pastor. His friend’s daughter is with a medical mission team from Missouri serving in Haiti. It is an unfiltered first-person account of the human misery and suffering going on following the devastating earthquake. Pray for her and the other medical personnel who are absolutely overwhelmed yet serving heroically in the name of Christ. If you feel compelled to give, please visit the “Helping Haiti” icon on our home page.



You just would not believe the things i have seen.  people everywhere with missing limbs. 2 babies died today.  one man died with a pulmonary embolism (blood clot) bc they ran out of heparin.  our team brought heparin.  they are sick and lying on stretchers and bleeding. one nurse broke down today and said that last tuesday they were just cutting people limbs off that were crushed and they had nowhere to dispose...

As a husband and father of three boys I try to do my portion of the tasks that fall under the heading of  “housework.” It has taken years of training, but I have to admit it is nice to have a clean house. Problem is that when you have three boys (four if you count me) who live under the same roof, the house simply will not stay clean for very long. I’ve concluded that the only way to keep a clean house is to get all the cleaning done, then immediately take the whole family on vacation and leave town! A clean house is good, but obsessive orderliness sucks all the life and joy out of a home.



There is little-known Hebrew proverb that says: “An empty stable stays clean, but no income comes from an empty stable” (Proverbs 14:4 TLB). Another translation puts it this way: “Where there are no oxen, there is no grain; abundant crops come by the...

The massive devastation and loss of life in the already desperate nation of Haiti is mindboggling. At this early point in the catastrophe, damage assessment and loss of life are still unknown, but we know it will be incredibly high and beyond our ability to grasp. My 10 year old came home from church last night moved with compassion wanting to do something to help. I suggested that we find out what groups are already on the ground in Haiti and then send a donation. He said, "No, I want to take it there myself."

We settled for making an online donation for immediate disaster relief to World Vision and praying for Haiti before bedtime.

In time, after the assessments are completed and order restored, there will be numerous opportunities to give and to go. Right now, we must do what we can. We will try to provide updated information on this website of the ways you can best give, help, and...

 

Most people celebrate at least two Christmases—Christmas with immediate family and Christmas with extended family. It may even be as many as four Christmases if you’ve had divorced parents and step-parents added to the mix—hence the movie by the same name. As for me, I’ll be celebrating Christmas with my wife and children, followed by a long trip to Mississippi where we will make the Christmas circuit through my parents and in-laws homes. So that makes three Christmases for me.

What’s been on my mind this Advent season is the stark fact that we are all confronted with two Christmases whether we realize it or not. There’s the cultural Christmas experience complete with Santa, reindeer, snow, warm fuzzy Christmas songs, and most importantly the giving and receiving of gifts.

Then there’s the Christian Christmas experience as told through the Gospels of Luke and Matthew of God sending God’s own son in the form of a baby in the most unconventional, unpredictable way imaginable. Nobody expected it to happen this way. Messiah was to come, everyone thought, amidst royalty and privilege and power. Of course, according to the Christian tradition, it didn’t happen that way at all. God came from way beyond left field. It took the intervention of angels to convince folks that it was really true.

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I read in this morning’s Raleigh News & Observer about a recently released report from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. It further confirms the new realities facing Christians, churches, and church leaders. We must all wake up and smell the blended faith!

In a nutshell, it is a “build-your-own-religion” approach—much like building your own ice-cream sundae. Here are a few interesting thoughts from this study to consider:         

One-third of Americans say they regularly or occasionally attend religious services at more than one place.

It is now the norm for Americans to blend multiple religious beliefs and practices--from Christianity to Buddhism to New Age.

 Pop culture and the Internet and are probably more powerful teachers than Sunday School teachers (Scot Thumma- Hartford Institute for Religion Research). These survey...