Yesterday we helped to sponsor a Little League Baseball clinic in conjuction with the East Brewton Little League and the JDCC Baseball teams. The EB Little League hosted the event, the JDCC Baseball team under the leadership of Coach Darrell Blevins conducted the clinic, and Ridge Road Baptist Church provided a meal, distributed gospel goody bags, and had the opportunity to preach the gospel to the ballplayers and their parents. The clinic was broken down in to two parts by age, the first being the younger group of children ages 5-8, and the second group made up of 9-12 year olds. There was a tremendous turn out and a tremendous open door to preach the gospel to those in attendance. We got to preach to the 140 or so ballplayers that came out as well as many of their parents and coaches along with the whole JDCC Baseball team. Everyone was extremely attentive and the gospel message went forth with clarity. We were able to put a bag in to the hand of each ballplayer in which was deposited a John/Romans scripture portion, a sermon book on Christianity, a chick tract, an Easter invitation, some trading cards and a small toy. We had over twenty volunteers from Ridge Road on hand to support the effort. It was a great success and we thank God for the privilege to represent the Lord Jesus Christ in our community. Praise the Lord.
Baseball Outreach Update
March 9th, 2010Great Bible Conference
February 22nd, 2010We hosted our second annual Winter Bible Conference this past week and it was a tremendous success. We had Pastor James Knox from the BIBLE Baptist Church of Deland, Florida. Bro. Knox taught the Book of Philippians and handled the book masterfully as he represented it riches in their context applied personally to each and every one of us. We had two sessions each night anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. The first night we worked through chapter one, the second night chapter three, and the third night chapters two and four. The meeting was well attended and God used his word to meet many needs in our church and in our individual lives.
Treasures of the Snow
February 13th, 2010Hast thou entered in to the treasures of the snow? (Job 38:22)
We had the rare pleasure of getting quite a bit of snow yesterday. Here are a few of our church kids enjoying it.
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- Taylor, Noah, and Owen
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- Matt, Josh, and Sara
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- McKenzie and Emalea
The Faith of Christ
February 8th, 2010One of the greatest Bible truths to be grasped in establishing one’s assurance is that of the faith of Christ, the perfect, divine faith of God’s own Son which is imputed to us when we exercise our own feeble, human faith in His finished work (Rom 3:22). I have many times dealt with those who through personal sin, or a feeble mind, or an overactive conscience, though trusting in Christ alone, begin to struggle with the simplicity which is in Christ with questions as to whether they had the right kind of faith or enough faith in order to be saved. The doctrine of “the faith of Christ” is generally the blessed truth that diffuses such doubts. Personal faith is a necessity in the new birth (John 3:15-18). The Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of the whole world (1 John 2:1), but His saving virtue must be individually appropriated by personal faith in the gospel (Rom 3:26). But thank God, though our faith is often weak and beggarly, the wavering and failure of our faith does not result in the condemnation of our souls (1 Tim 2:13), because we have been justified by “the faith of Jesus Christ” (Gal 2:16). Have you ever considered who the first person to believe the gospel was? It was the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 12:39-40, Matt 16:21). Thus He is the author of our faith. And praise be to God, He is likewise the finisher of our faith, for his faith is unfailing (Heb 12:2). Christ’s faith was God’s gift to us (Eph 2:8) when we believed. And now we can look toward eternity with the very same confidence as the great apostle Paul, not having our own righteousness… but that which is through the faith of Christ (Phil 3:9).
If
February 6th, 2010The following is a poem by Rudyard Kipling. They say that J. Frank Norris could quote it in its entirety from memory. I think Kipling had a terrific grasp of manhood.
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!
–Rudyard Kipling
Learn the Language
February 4th, 2010It is increasingly evident to me, from all of the missionaries I speak to and the few places that I get to visit that it is essential if a missionary is going to “make it” and prosper on the foreign field he’ll have to learn the language. In a recent prayer letter, Mike Fluech missionary to Malawi, relayed the story of lending his open-air preaching voice to the aid of a police officer attempting to get the attention of the angry crowd to locate the owner of a parked car that needed to be moved. When he yelled out in Chichewa (the native language) for the car owner to come at once, a hush fell over the angry crowd of over 500 souls. As they looked at the white man that spoke like them the crowd actually broke out in a round of cheering and applause. The missionary is naturally viewed with suspicion in a foreign land regardless of what his intentions are; and knowing the language of the native people goes a long way in diffusing that suspicion. Don’t you want all of these foreigners to learn English if they are going to stay here? While in Zambia with missionary Mike Dobbins it was amazing to see the look on the faces of many of the nationals as they heard Mike address them in their native Bemba. As you can imagine it is basically impossible to be an effective personal worker without knowing the native tongue of the people you are ministering to. Mike Roberts after eighteen years in Vietnam speaks fluent “street” Vietnamese and he attests to the fact that simply knowing the language (which shocks the nationals) opens many opportunities to be a witness. Count Zinzendorf, the German nobleman that founded the Moravian settlement of Herrnhut, once made a visit to the island of St. Thomas which had a thriving mission work among the slaves there founded and staffed by Moravians from Herrnhut. After a thrilling visit the Count had a special surprise for the 800 slaves gathered on the last night of his visit for a special church service. After only a brief stay on the island Zinzendorf stood and began to preach in Dutch Creole which he had begun to study since arriving on the island. The local slaves were greatly moved by this act, and many souls were saved that night as a result of the preaching. If you decide to go to the foreign mission field make up your mind before you ever start deputation to learn the language!
Bible Conference Topic Announced
February 2nd, 2010We’ve announced the subject for our Annual Winter Bible Conference on February 15-17. Pastor Knox will be teaching from the Book of Philippians. There’s no guarantee that we’ll finish the book, but it will be a great study for our church. The Book of Philippians is “high ground” and I’m greatly looking forward to the study. We’ll begin each night at 6:30 PM and we’re going to get in two sessions (approximately an hour each) on each night. It would be great for you to start reading through the Book of Philippians over and over in preparationg for the Conference. And don’t forget to pray, pray, pray, and expect great things from God.
New Times, New Stations
January 29th, 2010The Road To Glory Radio Broadcast Programming Schedule
Monday through Friday on WTJT 90.1 FM from 8:15 – 8:30 AM
Monday through Friday on WEBJ 1240 AM from 7:00 – 7:15 AM
As of the first Monday in February, the Ridge Road Baptist Church radio outreach, the Road to Glory Radio Broadcast, has a new station and a new time; actually two new stations and times. The church’s will was to transition from 90.1 FM in Brewton to the Christian radio station in Baker, Florida, WTJT 90.1 FM. The new station gets great reception well in to Brewton and a good bit of the current area that we were covering on 90.9, and stretches further South toward Crestview, DeFuniak, and Ft. Walton Beach. The new time is 8:15 AM, Monday through Friday and we’re looking forward to what the Lord will do with our programming on the new station and time. On the same day that the broadcast goes on the air on WTJT we’ll begin broadcasting again on WEBJ 1240 AM weekdays at 7:00 AM. We felt like this would be a great time to step out on faith (and that’s precisely what we’ve done) and expand the radio ministry. The Road to Glory Broadcast will replace the long-running Church of Christ program on WEBJ. We’ll be airing the same programming each day on both stations, but we’ll certainly be reaching two different listening audiences. Please pray that the Lord might bless this expansion, and as you have the chance tune in yourself for a blessing.
Note: If you live outside the listening area you may access the WTJT website at http://wtjt901fm.com/ and tune in for a live internet stream of the program.
Proper Expectations for Children
January 28th, 20101. Immediate (Unquestioning) Obedience (Eph 6:1-3)
All of us have had the painful experience of getting behind a mother in the grocery store telling the toddler (or adolescent!) in the buggy not to touch that twenty times. This is probably the rule rather than the exception. For some reason, we have forgotten that it is not reasonable for an adult to argue with a four-year old over anything. Children should be trained to obey, and to obey immediately. There could come a day when their life depends on immediate, unquestioning obedient, but whether the situation is life or death, this kind of obedience is what the scripture sets forth and a proper expectation. Disobedience is rebellion (1 Sam 15:23) and it should be rooted out at the earliest age possible.
2. Absolute Honesty (Ps 58:3)
We are surrounded by a culture that promotes American legalese above Bible Christianity. In such culture, “minor untruths” and “white lies” are perfectly acceptable as long as you don’t get caught. If you believe the Bible, you know that the Devil is the father of lies (John 8:44). The common adult practice of lying to the Boss, the IRS, the Pastor, the wife, etc. usually begins with lying to the teacher, the coach, or the parent, and sadly enough, a great deal of this goes on with the knowledge (and even endorsement) of one or both parents. Such a practice will breed instability in every relationship that child will ever be a part of. Our children should be taught to “put away lying” (Eph 4:25); and they ought to reminded that God said that “all liars have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone” (Rev 21:8).
3. Put the Needs of Others First (Phil 2:1-4)
This is the proper measure of maturity in a well-developed society. Fathers put the needs of their families first; mothers meet the needs of their children before their own, etc. Our children ought to be held to a similar standard of maturity. Their lusts should not dictate the needs and overall program of the family. Their selfish desires should not dictate the ministry of a church. They ought to be taught that the needs of the team, the company, or the company are greater than their own.
4. Genuine Appreciation (1 Thess 5:18)
My generation is eaten up with a sense of entitlement and younger generations are growing progressively worse. Your children should be taught that they are not owed anything. Children should be steered away from being so picky. It should be second nature to say “Thank you”, and it should be heart felt at that.
5. Earn their Keep (Gal 4:1)
It is not some form of psychological abuse to expect children to pitch in with the work load in the home. What is abusive is to never expect children to do anything in the home and then thrust them in to the world expecting them to have the capacity to make their own way. The Bible declares that “it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth” (Lam 3:27). The not so uncommon sight of Mom at the sink, Dad on the lawn mower, and the kids on the couch is a perfect shame to Bible Christianity. Children should reasonably be expected to pull their weight and earn their keep in the home.
6. Do their Best (Col 3:23)
Be it in school, in sports, in relationships, and most certainly in church, children should be expected to their absolute best every time. If a child’s best is a “C” is a challenging subject, he should be congratulated. If a child’s best is an “A+” and he brings home a “B” he should be reproved. Solomon said it best when he said, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might…” (Eccl 9:10). It is never too much to ask a child to do his best.
7. Espouse Your Religious Convictions (Ps 78:1-8)
If you have arrived at your religious and spiritual convictions intelligently and believe them to be correct you should have every expectation that your children might share those same convictions. No parent that believes in a literal, burning hell would want to raise a child that didn’t. It is our duty to pass along our intelligently held religious beliefs, and it proper to expect our children to espouse those same beliefs. We ought to have a desire to see our children excel us in spiritual matters.
Proper Expectations for Ourselves as Parents: If we’re going to set forth some reasonable expectations for our children, we should certainly have some reasonable expectations for our influence as parents. The truth is that our children will generally mirror our priorities, reproduce our work ethic, and they will likely do in excess the things we do in moderation. Most daunting of all, our children will largely take their conception of God and Christianity from us. God is all-powerful and we should be a consistent source of strength to our children. God is all-knowing and we should be a faithful source of guidance for our children. God is sinless and benevolent, and we should express His goodness in relating to our own children.
The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. (Prov 10:28)
Who’s Team Are You On?
January 26th, 2010You may have heard about the Focus on the Family Super Bowl ad that has liberals and feminists so bent out of shape. It features Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Tebow and his mother. Mrs. Tebow was encouraged to abort baby Tim due to complications with her pregnancy, but needless to say, she refused the medical advice in favor of obeying God and she’s never been sorry she did. If I was going to spend millions for ad time during the Super Bowl I would emphasize the gospel instead of the pro-life agenda, but you have to admit, Tim Tebow is a simple and salient living example of why choosing life is the right thing to do. The real comedy of the whole matter is the response that this ad is garnering from the left. Of course there is certainly no outcry over the advertisement of alcohol that destroys thousands of families every year. There’s no protest over the nakedness that is sure to be featured on the sideline (cheerleaders) and in the commercials. To any sound mind, such nakedness obviously degrades women. But the feminists that have so effectively destroyed America are out in force to put a stop to the airing of this pro-life ad. Here’s the quote of the week from Jemhu Greene, president of the Women’s Media Center, “An ad that uses sports to divide rather than to unite has no place in the biggest national sports event of the year — an event designed to bring Americans together.” Is the Super Bowl designed to bring people together? Let’s put a random selection of Colts fans in a room with a random selection of Saints fans and I’m sure we’d all be inspired by the sense of togetherness. Wait, here’s a better quote of the week from yours truly, “You’d have to be an idiot to be a feminist.”
