Website for Stoney Point Baptist Church

If you haven’t done this in a while, I encourage you to check out the website of Stoney Point Baptist Church:  www.spbcfamily.com.  While it is not “finished” yet, there are new features on it that I think may be helpful to some of you.

A big thanks to Kelly for getting the ball rolling and for Jennifer for her help, as well.  The largest portion of the “credit,” has to go to Daniel.  He is a whiz at all things computer-related and has done a tremendous job of giving the website more of what it really needed.

And thank you in advance for taking a look at it.  Go back from time to time to see the new things that will be added.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

I’m really digging this passage right now. 

 ¹⁹For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.

 ²⁰And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;

 ²¹To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

 ²²To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

 ²³And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

 We began looking at this passage during our Wednesday Night service last week with the theme of “Now What?” 

What I mean by this particular theme is this:  Now that we have been saved, what are we to be doing?  What should drive us, motivate us, and get us up and going day after day?

Our jobs?  Our families?  Our health?  Our bills?  Surely our lives are more important than those things (even though those things do have some importance). 

If we believe the Scriptures, we should believe that our lives are to be lived for God’s glory and for the upbuilding of His great Kingdom.  To that end we should be willing to become whatever we need to become (short of sin) in order to reach more people with the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

To often, we want to be who we are as individual Christians and as churches and expect everyone to conform to our way of doing things.  This is not biblical.

We should NEVER change the message.  It is true today, tomorrow, and forever. 

We should, however, re-evaluate how the message is presented and do all we can to reach everyone we can for the sake of the Kingdom.

What do you think?

When God is Most Glorified in Us

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

(Let’s look at that again, this time a little bit slower)

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

I read this in a book by John Piper, the Pastor for Preaching and Vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  He is also an author, scholar, guest evangelist, and many other wonderful things. 

Piper’s passion is to exalt God and to show that God is inifinitely worthy of exultation. 

This particular quote has recently caught my heart, especially as I witness professed followers of Jesus not being satisfied with anything. 

If we say we believe in the sovereignty of God, we must believe that God ordains the things that are.  If this is true, then being satisfied with the things that are is part of being satisfied in God. 

Do you want to glorify God? – Then be satisfied in Him.

Be satisfied in the blessings that flow from His hands.  Be satisfied with the trials that have made their way into your life.  Be satisfied with your looks, your job, your bank account, your everything. 

Be satisfied with what God decrees and know that is for His glory and your good.

Be satisfied.

Need a Coach–Coach Johnny Darden is Available

Yet another article about Coach Darden in the Knoxville News Sentinel here:  http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/apr/15/darden-says-hes-not-done-yet/.

A well-deserved award to the best coach I ever had the privilege of knowing personally.  As stated in a previous post, he helped tremendously in reinforcing the lessons that my parents taught me.  It was not just about basketball, of course. 

Perserverance, patience, passion, purpose and a whole lot of other words that start with letters other than “p”. 

Thanks again, Coach Darden.  I’m praying that another group of young men will have the honor of calling you “Coach.”

Words from the Cross

Everyone is invited to “Words from the Cross” — a special Good Friday service at Stoney Point Baptist Church.  There will be seven ministers preaching on the seven sayings of Jesus as He was crucified.  The ministers are:  Tim Tatum from Thorngrove Baptist Church, Matt Giles from Lyons Creek Baptist Church, Mike Vincent from Riverdale Baptist Church, Matthew Cooke from Ebenezer Baptist Church, Ronnie White from First Baptist Church of Straw Plains, Larry Young from Holston Baptist Church, and little ‘ole me.

It starts at 7pm.  Don’t worry, it will not last as long as you might think.  Feel free to come as you are and bring some friends along as we worship the Savior together.

A Recap of March Gladness

It just occurred to me that I never gave a “final word” on the March Gladness services held at Stoney Point.   Here are a few things:

1.  There was amazing continuity among that sermons.  Major themes were–changing in order to reach out, living up to our calling, being more concerned about people than traditions, and salvation.

2.  When things go wrong, sometimes it makes things right.  We were excited about Dr. Hollie Miller being with us on the last night–until I spoke with his wife just a few hours before the service.  She said that due to an illness that Dr. Miller couldn’t speak at all.  This meant, of course, that he couldn’t preach.  I thought and prayed about who to contact to fill in.  Finally, I asked Rev. Larry Young from Holston Baptist Church and he accepted.  He preached a message from Romans 1:16.  Following the sermon a young lady came to the altar and accepted Jesus as her savior.  Praise God for things going off plan.

3.  I was rejuvenated by the services.  Pastors rarely get the chance to hear “live” preaching.  Not only that, but the men who preached all love Jesus and it was evident that God is at work in their lives.

4.  There is more work to be done and I am excited about what God is doing and is going to be doing in our church.  This past Sunday we had 2 adults accept Christ and many others on the altar.  The Holy Spirit touched lives and people responded. 

Our March Gladness services were really special.  However, I look for even greater things to come.

Hoping for One More Win (At Least)

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported today that Coach Johnny Darden was let go as the boy’s basketball coach at CAK.  You can see it here:  http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/mar/31/darden-will-not-return-cak/.

Coach Darden was my basketball coach at Carter High School.  He is a good coach and a good man who tried to instill in his players moral character as well as teaching them the game of basketball.

He leaves CAK with 599 career wins.  I know that winning basketball games is not the most important thing to him.  However, I wish him at least one more win.  600 is a nice, round number.

God Bless you, Coach.