According to the findings of a new LifeWay Research study, two thirds of Americans born between 1980 and 1991 identify themselves as Christians, but most do not regularly pray, read the Bible or attend church. One in four attends religious worship once a week or more, but two out of three rarely or never attend a house of worship. Fewer than half believe the Bible is the written Word of God and is totally accurate in all it teaches...

For some reason unknown to me, I accepted an invitation a couple of months ago to coach a baseball team made up of 11 and 12 year boys. (Of course, the driving reason behind my accepting this task was the fact that I have an 11 year old son.) Somebody had to do it so I said “yes.” We held practice 2-3 times a week for over a month and then the season began after Easter break. So far, we are 0 and 3. That’s zero wins and three losses...

 As soon as the glory of our recent Easter Sunday morning worship service concluded I rushed home, loaded up the family, and headed to Disney World. It felt kinda like being the MVP after the Super Bowl. “Jesus is risen! So where are you going now?” “I’m going to Disney World!” The irony didn’t go unnoticed.

Two of my children came home from school this week and asked me if I was “for or against" the healthcare legislation. This interest in “whose side are you on?” came not through healthy classroom debate, but from the mouths of their friends. Through the eyes and ears of their children, parents often teach their kids to “size people up” and make them “one of us” or the “enemy.” This is a troubling pattern of discourse that is taking place throughout our society and it often proceeds from mouths of Christ-followers...

First Baptist Church is in the process of having a study/conversation on the issue of receiving as new members those who have been previously baptized by a mode other than immersion when the prospective member considers his or her baptism to be a valid expression of Christian baptism. That’s a mouthful, but it’s a very relevant and important issue for us to address. It's also very important that we are able to be courageous, respectful, and honest as we approach the topic.

 From time to time, I hear the occasional comment about the good ole days when the church used to have old fashioned revivals. I remember them well from my youth. Revival services used to last for two weeks. Then they evolved to one week, to Sunday-Wednesday, to Sunday a.m. and p.m., and eventually vanished altogether...

   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...