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Your Christian Heritage

4/29/2018

Former Vinesville Baptist Church - now New Rising Star Primitive Baptist Church

Everyone needs to know their Christian heritage. My grandparent's "family church" - meaning the church with your Christian heritage handed down through generations is called, Bethsalem Baptist Church in south Chilton County, Alabama. You'll find "Ausbuns" buried in the church's cemetery.

Vinesville Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama is also part of my heritage. This church has transitioned into New Rising Star Primitive Baptist Church as the community changed. My father was saved and baptized there.

Having a Christian heritage doesn't mean you're saved, but it does mean you have a legacy of great-grandparents, grandparents, and a mom and dad who taught you the Scriptures and made church attendance a priority.

Every believer has a heritage, from the first person who shared Christ with you to your parents bringing you to Sunday School.

Not only do you have a heritage, but you give a Christian heritage when you share the Gospel with a non-believer. Every evangelistic encounter is beginning a new Christian heritage. Someone shared the Gospel with the Ausbuns centuries ago - and that legacy continues today.

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7 Things Churches Must Repent Of

3/12/2014

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Have you ever sensed something is wrong at your church? You read your Bible and in Acts the apostles are sharing their faith, devoting their time to prayer, churches are exploding and people are placing their faith in Christ. If you attend church, here are seven things you and your church might need to repent of:

1). Not sharing your faith. If you really believe Christianity is the best message to the world, why are so few believers telling non-believers how to be saved? Your church must equip and train its members how to share their faith, how to overcome objections, and how to share their personal testimony. This might be the reason SBC baptisms are the lowest since 1948.

2). Not tithing. The Cooperative Program is the unifying mission of the Southern Baptist Convention. If your church doesn't give 10% to the CP, you're robbing God (Malachi 3:8-10). Why would a church ask for members to tithe, when the church isn't tithing? Jesus called this hypocrisy. God might not be blessing your church financially because your church is robbing Him.

3). Not supporting their pastor. Any member can destroy their church and their pastor's reputation through gossip, slander, not praying for him, and refusing to listen what the Lord has placed on his heart each week. If you don't support your pastor, you should prayerfully ask God to change your heart or consider another church.

4). Neglecting corporate prayer. Jesus said my house will be a place of prayer (Luke 19:46). Is your church known for its prayer ministry? Does your church have a prayer ministry? If your church is ineffective, this might be why.

5). Neglecting orphans and widows. James 1:27 is an often forgotten Bible verse, but it reminds us that pure religion involves ministering to orphans and widows. I visited a widow in our church this week who told me she was lonely. Children of divorce struggle with their family being incomplete.

6). Neglecting the community. Does your church have a benevolence fund? Does it help non-church members in the community? Its hard to go to the nations when you're not going across the street. Most likely the reason your church was planted in your community decades ago was to reach your community.

7). Neglecting the nations. Jesus commissioned His followers to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:19). He didn't start a mission board or collect an offering to send others overseas. Your church should be giving, praying and learning about international missions.

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3 Books I'm Reading this Thanksgiving

11/28/2013

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I enjoy reading. I make it apart of my devotional time. I have a personal goal of reading at least one chapter a day, and I'm usually reading 5 to 8 books at once. I typically will read anything except fiction. I've found that reading the right books will actually help your personal growth and knowledge of God's Word. Christians who refuse or can't find time to read likely remain stagnant in their spiritual lives. Thanksgiving and Christmas usually allows me more time to read.

Here's three books I'm reading this Thanksgiving:

Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay, wrote I Am A Church Member. Our church's staff, deacons, praise band, and church council are all reading this book right now. I wish every member of FBC Moreland (and every church) could read this. One of the things I've seen in nearly 9 years as pastor is people get saved, get baptized, get excited, and then ask, "What's next?" How they answer this question determines if they remain involved and the level of involvement at church. This short book explains the function of a church member.

I love Billy Graham. I remember in 1999 when I was a youth pastor at First Baptist Church, Largo, Florida - I drove across Tampa Bay to look at a monument of Billy Graham's first sermon. He began preaching on the streets in downtown Tampa while at Bible college. Earlier this month Graham turned 95 - I remember seeing him preach once in person in Nashville, Tennessee in 2000. Next Thursday, our Boy Scout den will be at our home and we're showing the "My Hope America" DVD to the young men and their families. Graham's message is always the same: Jesus Saves. His newest book: The Reason for My Hope: Salvation makes an outstanding Christmas gift.

Our women's ministry is beginning a new Christmas study on Wednesday. The Women of Christmas is a biographical study of three ladies in the Christmas narrative: Elizabeth, Mary & Anna. Character studies are important because they help us remember that people in Scripture were real people; experiencing the same challenges, disappointments, emotions, and surprises as we do. Another outstanding character book study is John MacArthur's Twelve Ordinary Men.

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3 Signs it's Time for You to Change Churches

12/11/2012

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Because of my job I'm not able to church hop - but changing churches has become the norm. In this USA Today article, it claims 80% of people who join megachurches will be gone in 2 years, even if they complete a new member's class.

Church hopping is truly the "all about me" experience. Attend the Beth Moore study at First Baptist, Youth Group at First Methodist, and the Saturday night Weekend Worship at Community Church. Why attend one church when you can pick what you want from 3 churches?

When you change churches frequently, you avoid the ABCs of church membership: Accountability, Buildup (a "B" word for Growth), and Commitment.

If you do change churches, here are 3 signs it's time for a change:

1). Your church doesn't preach or teach the Bible. I could stand up on Sundays and Wednesdays and read the newspaper, share about a book I'm reading, tell funny jokes I found online, complain about the Democratic Party, and share illustrations of great Americans from the past.

Jesus did not preach this way in His most famous sermon in Matthew 5-7. He quoted Scripture, taught against sin, and boldly shared the narrow way of salvation. The church you attend must preach and teach God's Word.

2). Your church isn't engaged in ministry and missions. The church in Acts 6 was so involved in ministry, they had to appoint deacons. Why? Because there was too much work for the disciples. The Bible says the number of disciples multiplied greatly.

If your church isn't making disciples of all nations, it's not a Great Commission church (Matthew 28:19).

3). Accepted Immorality. If you attend a church and there are open homosexuals telling everyone they were "born gay" and there's nothing wrong with their lifestyle - and the pastor and church leadership refuses to confront it, instead pretending it doesn't exist - 1 Corinthians 5 offers instructions on how to address immorality within a church.

If a church won't discipline people, the people won't grow as God wants them to. Hebrews 12:11 says God disciplines us for our own benefit - and it produces fruit.

Resources

9 Marks of a Healthy Church
Movement towards Larger, Contemporary Churches (LifeWay article)
When Is It Time to Leave a Church? (Albert Mohler audio)

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Your Christian Heritage

7 Things Churches Must Repent Of

3 Books I'm Reading this Thanksgiving

3 Signs it's Time for You to Change Churches

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