By Jeff Ginn The old saying goes, “Everybody loves an underdog.” I think it is because underdogs exceed expectations. They give us hope that we, too, though overwhelmed, can win. On Valentine’s Day in 1992, two Alabama high schools met in a regular season basketball game. They were the Fort Payne Wildcats and the North Jackson Chiefs. The game was hard fought and went into overtime. The refs were calling a lot of fouls that night. Player after player fouled out. Before it ended, the Chiefs, who had a limited roster, only had 2 players on the court. It was 2 against 5 and they were down by 1 point with 5 seconds left. Against those odds, what are the chances? Little to none. The one Chief inbounded the ball to his teammate who streaked down the court with five Wildcats chasing him. He shot a layup and missed, but no Wildcat thought to block out the player who inbounded the ball. He was trailing the pack, got the rebound, and tossed in the winning shot as time expired. The crowd went crazy because everybody loves an underdog. We serve a God who loves the underdog. He glories in exceeding expectations. Often our weaknesses are a platform on which His power is displayed. The story of Gideon in the Bible is a clear … [Read more...]

By Rick Warren “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28 NIV). Grief, loss, and pain are an inevitable part of life. But did you know that God uses these things to help us grow? He does it in three ways.First, God uses pain to get our attention. C. S. Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain.” Pain is God’s megaphone. We rarely change when we see the light. We change when we feel the heat. Proverbs 20:30 says, “Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways” (GNT). Second, God brings good out of bad. One of the most famous verses in the Bible is Romans 8:28: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (NIV). When you experience a loss, it’s an opportunity to grow in character. You can’t control the pain you go through, but you can decide whether it’s going to make you bitter or better. You decide whether it’s going to be a stepping-stone or a stumbling block. You have to remember that even in your pain, God is working for your good. Third, God prepares us for eternity. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, “These little troubles are getting us ready for an … [Read more...]

By Steve Horn Chuck Colson writes in his book, The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why it Matters: We cannot treat the local church like a restaurant, picking and choosing from the menu, visiting another whenever we feel like it. Church membership involves making a covenant with fellow believers. It takes time to develop unity with others at any depth, and this never takes place, ever—not at any time or anywhere—without conflict. (P. 155) Here is the essence of Biblical fellowship. If I am in common belief with another, I must protect against all threats of fellowship. The first church faced a threat against their fellowship. Read Acts 6. Immediately, the leadership acted to protect against the threat of fellowship. Have you allowed something to disrupt your fellowship with another who holds with you a common belief? Prioritize Biblical fellowship and make it right! Don’t be too quick to give up and jump ship to another fellowship. Soon will come the time when you face conflict there. The kingdom of God is better served when you apply grace to the conflict. Steve Horn is senior pastor of the First Baptist Church, Lafayette. This editorial first appeared on his blog. … [Read more...]

By Waylon Bailey Is anything more important than imparting the good news of God to the next generation? This week we had the Evangelism Conference for Louisiana Baptists meeting on our church campus. The theme for the conference concerned imprinting the next generation. What does this mean and how do we do it? Here are some of the highlights I gleaned from the meeting. While God has given the church to help encourage, educate, and disciple children, this is primarily the work of the family. Both the immediate family and the extended family can and must imprint children with a biblical worldview and a passion to live for God. Eric Hankins particularly preached about this subject. He pointed out the truth that children are wired from God to learn from their parents. This truth seems difficult for many people to comprehend, but children want to be like their parents. Eric pointed out that studies commissioned by Coors, MTV, and Anheuser Busch show that the most influential people in children’s lives are their parents. This effectively demonstrates that the family is God’s plan to thwart the sinful culture. In a day in which we assume that children are vulnerable to every voice except the voice of God and the … [Read more...]

By Gary D. Myers ANGOLA (BP) - The joy seemed so out of place in such a bleak setting -- the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. But that overwhelming joy on the faces of men who may spend the rest of their lives behind bars spoke volumes about the power of the Gospel. Just a few days before Christmas, a group of faculty and staff members from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College made the trek to Angola to celebrate graduation inside the walls of our state's maximum security prison. It was a cold, rainy day. The gray skies over the prison were punctuated by tall fences topped with razor wire -- not-so-subtle reminders about the purpose of this place. Once inside, the security was even more evident. Visitors had to pass through several chambers with iron bars and a metal detector to get inside. I expected all of this, having been to Angola many times to cover events related to the seminary's prison degree program. The joy of the Christian inmates always surprises me. The chapel, simple compared to most of our churches, was brimming with graduation candidates dressed in black robes and excited family members. For me, it was a glimpse at what heaven will be like. Leavell College's … [Read more...]

By Steve Horn I have started out this year preaching from Philippians. I routinely say that my favorite book of the Bible is whatever book I am preaching from that week and my second favorite is Philippians. So, I am having fun this month re-visiting some of the most powerful truths I have ever discovered in God’s Word. This past Sunday, I preached from Philippians 3. I am especially fond of this chapter. I encourage you to take a moment and read this wonderful chapter. I desire that my life be characterized as a forever pursuit of Christ. Verse 14 seems to be something of the apex of this whole letter: "I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus." We pursue Christ because Christ is worthy. We also pursue Christ because staying in pursuit of Him helps us to succeed against the constant temptation of compromise with the world. Let this pursuit of Christ define your . . . Goals—Set as your goal the goal of Christ and pursue that goal. Realize that you are not there yet. If you think you are there, rethink that. You are not there yet. Friends—Ask God to help you to find good examples and follow those examples. Priorities—Re-order your priorities continually and re-visit those … [Read more...]

By Brian Gunter Ten years ago, I witnessed the tragedy of fifteen mothers walking into a Fort Worth abortion clinic to take the life of their unborn child. I pleaded with them to reconsider as they went in pregnant, then a few hours later came out broken and full of regret. I spent my first morning outside an abortion clinic with my Hebrew professor from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Eric Mitchell, who had been to that sidewalk many times before. We shared the gospel with those women and prayed for God to turn their hearts away from death to life. I went home and tried to clear my mind, but I could not erase the memory of what I had seen that day. I wondered who those fifteen little boys and girls would have grown up to be. I asked myself: What would I do if I knew that some crazed mass-murderer would walk into my local elementary school tomorrow and murder fifteen children? Would I try to stop him? And then I asked myself: Is there any real difference between a school shooting and that abortion clinic where another fifteen children will be slaughtered tomorrow? Every day in America, three thousand babies are torn to pieces in abortion clinics in our communities. That is about the same number of people … [Read more...]

By David Jeremiah EL CAJON, Calif. (BP) - The late-1960s TV comedy "Get Smart" featured a lovable, bumbling secret agent, Maxwell Smart, and his partner, Agent 99. Agent 99 was smart and classy, yet humble, and was always there to rescue Smart when he bumbled himself into a predicament. Although Maxwell Smart was the comedic star of the show who always managed to blow his cover and reveal his presence to the enemy, Agent 99 was the true secret agent who got the job done in a professional way. I want to use this image to ask you to become a different kind of agent: God's "Seekret" Agent. The number 99 plays a notable role in one of Jesus' parable of the lost sheep (Matthew 18:12-14; Luke 15:1-7). Jesus introduces us to a shepherd who has a flock of 100 sheep. When he counts his flock, he discovers one is missing. So he leaves the 99 sheep and goes in search of the one lost sheep. God wants each of us to be that kind of "Seekret" Agent who is continually aware of the need to seek out those lost sheep that have not yet made it into the sheepfold of God's safety and salvation. Two important lessons can be drawn from the parable of the lost sheep. It is not just a parable about evangelism. It is also a parable about … [Read more...]

By Waylon Bailey We don’t like to wait. We have learned to think that everything should be waiting for us when we show up. That kind of mentality affects our relationship with God as well. Instead of thinking that we exist to serve God, we begin to think that God exists for the purpose of giving us what we want when we want it. What does the Bible say? When Nehemiah learned of the anguish of the people in Jerusalem, he spent time with God learning God’s will and God’s way. Nehemiah was neither a priest nor a prophet. He was a leader, a man accustomed to acting decisively when called upon. How amazing that Nehemiah gives us this lesson concerning waiting on God. What should we do? First, we should seek a word from God. Years ago, I decided that I needed to take everything to God in prayer. Of all the things I have desired for my life with God, that has been one of the most difficult. Every time I think that I will pray about all things I find myself going off on my own and leaving God out of the decision. It is hard for me to wait, but I need to hear from God and learn His way. That means waiting on God. Second, we need to practice solitude. God can speak in the middle of a busy intersection, but the truth … [Read more...]