Congratulations!

Congratulations to Beth and Brandon on the birth today of their daughter Emily!  Mom, dad, and baby are all doing fine- and so are the grandparents!

Finding A Pastor Is Going to Become More and More Difficult

That because fewer and fewer persons entering ministry are interested in serving in local Churches.  The Associated Baptist Press reports

College students who feel called to work in ministry want to make a difference for God’s kingdom. But a significant number don’t believe the local church is the place to do it, according to guidance directors for ministerial students at some Baptist schools.

…

“The reality is that for the entire lifetime of these young people, they have grown up in a culture where there is a lot of church conflict and a lot of denominational conflict,” he said.

Many students know little about their denomination, but they know firsthand about forced termination of church staff, conflict within congregations and a perceived lack of respect for church leaders, said Micheal Summers, director of church services at Wayland Baptist University. “I see a high level of disillusionment with the local church among students.”

…

And most distressingly of all

On a practical level, some students also see financial incentives to enter youth ministry rather than the pastorate. They are acquainted with youth ministers who immediately move from college to multi-staff churches where they enjoy financial security greater than pastors who may graduate from seminary and start their ministry in a small congregation, Hancock said.

Or in other words, our children are growing up greedy.  We really do reap what we sow- with our conflict, our mistreatment of ministers, and our tendency to teach our children that money matters most of all.  In the future, finding a Pastor is going to become exceedingly difficult if these trends continue.  And there seems to be no reason to believe that they won’t.

Youth Day

It went grandly. Here are some photos of a few of the participants. The young folk are to be congratulated because they all did a wonderful job.

 

 

The Crisis In Christian Ethics

Christians in the modern world are often indistinguishable from their non-Christian neighbors and co-workers when it comes to the subject of ethics.  Indeed, many Christians have no idea what ethical behavior is or what is expected of them.

Tonight, in an effort to address this trend, we will commence a detailed study of the Sermon on the Mount.  In it we will discover the core of Christian ethics and – hopefully – relearn ethical behavior.

The Reviews Are In

The pulpit committee which visited some weeks back has informed me of their ‘review’ of the morning sermon.  In sum, their opinion of me is that

1- I don’t preach long enough.

2- I don’t give a long enough invitation.

3- I write too much.

I suppose, all in all, I would rather be short winded and ‘leave ‘em wanting more‘ than long winded.  And I would rather be guided by the Spirit in the length of the invitation than by convention (i.e., we must sing 5 stanzas of the hymn before the invitation may conclude).  And I would rather produce materials (books, commentaries, etc.) that are informative to a wider than local audience than spend my time playing video games or watching YouTube or hanging out at the local coffee shop as is the custom of many Pastors.

Worship Matters

There’s a fine lesson in the Baptist and Reflector this week on worship that folk should take a look at.  You can read it here.

Announcement

This Sunday is Youth Sunday.  Dustin Boham will be preaching in the morning service and the young people will be teaching our Sunday School classes and filling the choir.  Be sure to come!

Do You Know What’s On Your Kids Myspace?

While looking for an address in Petros I discovered a link to one of our local children’s Myspace page.  I’ve not investigated Myspace but have heard of it on the news (as a place where 59,000 sex offenders have had their pages removed) and was both amazed and a bit disgusted by what I found there.

First, some of the children I know have pages that are, shall we say, terribly inappropriate, profane, and vulgar.

Second, it struck me that their parents either do not know, or worse, do not care that their offspring have such vulgar internet pages of their own.

Parents, do you know what’s on your child’s Myspace page?  Don’t you think it might be a good idea to find out?  Or do you not mind them presenting themselves to the world as sexually active, curious, profane, drinking, seekers after carnal pleasure?

If they won’t tell you their Myspace page, just visit www.myspace.com and search for either “Petros, TN” or “Petros, Tennessee” or “[child's first name], Petros, TN” and prepare yourself to be dismayed.  And prepare to have your heart broken.

Now, to be sure, there are a number of persons with quite respectable and appropriate pages.  But for every 2 of that sort, there are 10 of the other.

Be A Rock

An old Jewish saying says

There are times when the entire world denies the truth you know within.  There are times you must be a lion, a deer, an eagle, a tree — but now you must be a rock.  Now you must not flinch, not in any way even acknowledge the existence of the mighty waves that come crashing down upon you, conspiring to grind you to sand, to sweep you away to join them in the vast ocean.  You must be the hard, unmoving rock that lies at the essence of your soul, the voice from beyond all this ephemeral reality, from beyond all time and space, that says, “They are nothing. There is none else but He.”  It begins with you. And then it happens in your world: The outer crust of facade begins to crack, the essential reality is revealed, the storm dissipates as though it never were, and all things begin to say, “I am not a thing. In truth, there is none else but He.”

Seminary Extension Schedule

Big Emory Baptist Association

Seminary Extension 
Fall 2007
Spring 2008

Course Offerings

Fall 2007  (September 24- Dec 17)

BB 3100— How to Understand the Bible   -  Tuesdays at 7 PM
TH 3200 — Systematic Theology   -  Thursdays at 7 PM

 

Winter 2008  (Jan 7 – Mar 3)

OT 3103 — OT Survey I   -  Tuesdays at 7 PM
NT 3166  — NT Survey I   - Thursdays at 7 PM

Spring 2008  (Mar 31- May 26)

OT 3104 — OT Survey II   -  Tuesdays at 7 PM
NT 3167 — NT Survey II  -  Thursdays at 7 PM

For course information, fees, and textbook costs, and location of course offerings – email the Pastor