Pastor’s Ponderings

 “The Best Laid Plans”

Maybe we can blame Robert Burns. He was the one who first wrote the famous quote in a poem entitled “The Mouse.”  John Steinbeck borrowed the last part of that quote to title one of his novels. What did Robert Burns say? “The best laid plans of mice and men go awry.” Boy, does THAT describe 2020. We knew where we were going and how we would get there. Our plans were settled. But we forgot that “a man’s heart deviseth his way (we make plans): but the Lord directeth his steps (the Lord ultimately determines where we go)” (Proverbs 16:9).

In my final sermon of 2020 I mentioned two big lessons I learned this year, and I wanted to reiterate them here.

1) My plans don’t matter. I had much of 2020 mapped out. I had my sermon series’ in place. I knew what the choir would sing at Easter, God and Country Sunday, and even Christmas. March hit, and everything went out the window. We forgot the words of James when he wrote, “¹³Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: ¹⁴Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. ¹⁵For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”

I’m not saying that planning is wrong, but everything I do should be done in God’s will with God’s blessing. Rather than making my plans, I must allow God’s will to shape my life so my plans are His plans.

2) God’s plans do matter. Over and over during His earthly ministry Jesus made it clear that He “must be about my Father’s business”

(Luke 2:49). He worked the “works of Him that sent me” (John 4:34). He often told people, “No” so He could tell His Father, “Yes.”

So what are your plans for 2021? Whatever they may be, please make them with God’s will in mind. Remember that you may make the plans, but God directs the steps!

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I love my self-defense class, but it can be rough. The instructor puts us in pairs every session, and we hit, kick, punch, gouge, and whatever else is necessary to protect ourselves. Yes, we do hold thick padding to protect ourselves, but I often walk away with a sore chest from Del Cavazos hitting me so hard.

Jon, our instructor, is always telling us to avoid fights! “Don’t go down that dark alley. Cross over to the other side of the street.” The best fight you will ever have is the fight you avoid. Recently I remarked to him, “This is a class where our ultimate goal is never to use any of what we learn” (think Algebra).

As soon as those words came out of my mouth, I thought of the Christian life. How often do we see the truths God has for us yet ignore them. James told his readers to be “doers of the word, and not hearers only, . . . (James 1:22). We forget that the parable of the wise man who built his house on the rock was a reminder to DO God’s Word and not just listen to it.

James goes on to say that we deceive ourselves when we only listen. There must be action! John says it well: “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3).

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We have some important business meetings coming up. Sundya night, January 10, we will present the need for new Air Conditioners/Heaters for the gym. While this is routine maintenance that usually would not need a vote, the deacons and I looked at the total cost and felt it should go before the church. The vote will take place January 24, and we will have a way that everyone who wants to vote can vote, even in these unusual times!

This will lead up to another business meeting in which we vote on remodeling the auditorium. This has been a couple of years in the planning, and we hope to get this done during the pandemic. We will have to shift everything out of the auditorium building if this happens.

Be in prayer about this, and we pray that 2021 can, indeed, be a year of rebuilding, and that we will be a Comeback Church!

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I have asked from the beginning for you to pray for me and my family in five areas. Thank you for doing so, and please continue to plead with God that I would have:

1) Courage

2) Wisdom

3) Strength

4) Victory

 Pastor’s Ponderings

 “Joy” 

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

Is there anything better than joy? Scripture is full of great statements like the one delivered to the shepherds by the angels, but ironically the word does not occur in the first eight books of the Bible and only two times in the first twelve books of the Bible.

Some of the great “joy” verses include; Nehemiah 8:10, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Psalm 16:11, “in thy presence is fulness of joy.” Psalm 30:5, “weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Psalm 51:12, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.” Psalm 126:5, “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” Isaiah 35:10, “And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain  joy and gladness, and sorrow and singing shall flee away.”

I could easily list 30 more familiar verses. In addition to the angels’ proclamation of joy, we find the wise men “rejoiced with exceeding great joy” (Matthew 2:10) when they saw the star that led them the Jesus.

But several times Scripture mixes joy with difficulty. We have already seen this in Psalm 30:5 and 126:5. “How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality” (2 Corinthians). “and ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost” (1 Thessalonians 1:6). Probably the greatest example of the mixture of joy and affliction occurred on the cross, for Jesus “endured the cross, despising the shame” because of “the joy that was set before him” (Hebrews 12:2).

Why am I talking about joy mixed with sorrow? Because that is a great description of 2020. But we must focus not on lockdowns but the Lord; not on sorrow but the Savior; not on bitterness but a baby; not on elections but on elation as we remember that first Christmas night in which “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

As my wife explains in her article, this will be the most unusual Thanksgiving and Christmas season we have ever experienced. Who know, I might have Christmas dinner at Denny’s this year!

But I will always have the joy of the Lord! Our joy should not depend on circumstances but on certainty. I am certain Jesus Christ is Lord! I am certain He died for my sins and rose from the grave! I am certain I’ve got a home in heaven awaiting me! Praise God for His joy on this earth, and the joy we will experience forever!

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Our 78th church anniversary is scheduled for December 6. Though we will not have any elaborate celebrations (we’ve cancelled so many this year) we will still celebrate those who courageously met on December 7, 1942, to establish the Calvary Baptist Church of Cleburne, TX. That evening I will give a concert that I originally planned for my anniversary (but I got sick).

The next Sunday will be Memorial Sunday as we remember loved ones who passed on to heaven this year. It has been especially difficult as we have seen sparsely attended funerals that would have been packed out other years. You still have time to get a name to my wife by Wednesday, Dec 9, along with the year of birth and year of death.

This will sound like a rerun, but our Christmas at Calvary celebration on December 20 will be very low key. We will still observe the Lord’s Supper that Sunday evening. The following two weeks we will only have a 10:30 Sunday morning service with no Sunday school or evening services. Also we will have no Wednesday services on Dec 23 or 30.

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A little humor to close out my column!

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I have asked from the beginning for you to pray for me and my family in five areas. Thank you for doing so, and please continue to plead with God that I would have:

1) Courage

2) Wisdom

3) Strength

4) Victory

5) Vision

Pastor’s Ponderings

“Thy Kingdom Come”

It’s that time again. Every two years the advertisements tell us why this candidate is great and why the other cannot be trusted. I have watched very little live television the past few months, but when I turned on the TV recently and three consecutive political commercials came on, I turned the TV back off.

I encourage everyone to do their civic duty and vote in this, and any, election. But I so look forward to a day when God’s will is done in earth as it is in heaven. Isaiah described it this way: “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4).

Christ will establish His Millennial   Kingdom after the tribulation period. After the thousand years is finished He will make a new heaven and a new earth “wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). What a day that will be!

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MARK! I love this New Testament book. We began a series preaching through this book last Sunday. It is the shortest of the Gospels, but its still 16 long chapters. It is a gospel of action with Jesus moving from event to event in a swift manner.

It begins and ends with the same thought: Jesus is the Son of God. I hope you will make every effort to be here weekly as we look at our great Savior and see afresh what a great God we serve.

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By the time you receive this newsletter most of you will already know that Evangelist Allen Hatch has passed into glory. He was a special friend of Calvary Baptist Church. He last preached for us Sunday night, June 7. I would encourage you to go back and watch this final sermon.

After the service he asked us to pray for him. A group of us gathered around him and lifted our petitions to the Lord. In a way, those requests were answered on October 28. Allen Hatch left his diseased broken body and was escorted into the very presence of Jesus Christ. Whatever he sang before he arrived into glory, its even better now!

This has happened with so many of our friends and family this year, and we have not been able to honor their lives properly because of the pandemic. I hope you will join us on December 13 for our annual Memorial Service. If you have a loved one who has passed away since December of 2019, please give the name along with the years of birth and death to my wife by December 1. We will have special music and take time out of the service to say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

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Several new restaurants are opening soon in Cleburne. Recently I said to my wife, “McAlister’s Deli opens October 30, and Chick-Fil-A opens November 5.” She replied, “It sounds like November 5 is a good day to go to McAlister’s Deli.”

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This time of year is always special for me and my wife. It was seven years ago that we moved to Cleburne and I became the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church. With any endeavor, we have seen good times and difficult times. I think of the number of people who have become a part of Calvary over these last few years, but I also remember so many who have gone “unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn” (Hebrews 12:22-23).

I am grateful for the blessing of Pastor Payne and his wife who continue to faithfully serve the Lord at Calvary. I think of the many souls saved and victories won, but I also remember some battles we have lost. I can best sum up these seven years with the chorus written by Andrae Crouch:

Through it all, through it all.

I’ve learned to trust in Jesus,

I’ve learned to trust in God.

Through it all, through it all,

I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.

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I have asked from the beginning for you to pray for me and my family in five areas. Thank you for doing so, and please continue to plead with God that I would have:

1) Courage

2) Wisdom

3) Strength

4) Victory

5) Vision

 Pastor’s Ponderings

 “Amazing”

As I reflect back on the Prayer March my wife and I and the Paynes recently attended, I don’t have a sufficient adjective to describe what we saw. I could say it was astounding, phenomenal, or incredible, but that wouldn’t do it justice. I will settle for “amazing.”

We arrived at the Lincoln Memorial about 10:30 on Saturday morning, September 26, 2020. We rode the elevator up to the interior of the memorial to get a view of the crowd. At that time most people were on the grounds of the memorial or standing near the reflecting pool. That would soon change.

Every moment more people walked and drove up, and the numbers kept climbing. People began lining the reflecting pool, and soon they stretched all the way to the WW II Memorial.

Music from Michael W. Smith played (many old hymns) and the crowd got excited as Vice-President Pence and his wife joined the celebration, though he left soon thereafter.

The intention was to say a specific prayer at each of the seven stations. That plan was off because of the huge crowd (estimated to be 100,000 by one counting). It took us almost 30 minutes to get to station # 2, the World War II Memorial, and some people actually started the march there (see map below).

Someone in the crowd told us to pray on our own at each station rather than wait for the officials to pray. The crowd was so large everyone had to improvise.

At every station one of our group asked for God’s blessings on our country in a specific area. I incorporated those prayers on the calendar at the center of the newsletter and encourage you to pray for these seven areas yourself.

We were especially moved by a dear black woman we met at station 5, the National Museum of African History & Culture (her picture is in Betty’s article). She walked right up to us and said she loved us and thanked us for coming to the march. She believed this country can come together across racial lines.

A little further down some of the marchers had surrounded a police SUV. Rather than cursing the officer or trying to destroy the vehicle, they had their hands on the SUV praying for its occupant and all law enforcement officials.

We finished up at the U.S. Capitol with Mrs. Judy praying for our Congress, state officials, and judges. To see so many crying out to God for this country was moving. You can watch a replay at prayermarch2020.com

It was equally amazing to visit the Museum of the Bible which opened in 2017 at a cost of $550 million. The exhibits were amazing (there’s that word again).

The entrance had brass gates containing the first lines of Genesis in Latin. The first floor had a children’s area that was closed and a gift shop.

The second floor started with the Bible in America, tracing its history from the first settlers to the 21st century. The Bible in the World exhibit showed the influence of the Bible in films, music, literature, and fashion. The Bible Now area presented a live feed of global data concerning Bible usage.

The third floor started with The Hebrew Bible Experience, which included 30 minutes of significant stories from the Old Testament beginning with creation and ending with the prophets. We then moved to The Word of Jesus of Nazareth, a walk through the village including a home, a synagogue, and a carpenter shop. Artifacts over 4,000 years old were here.

The next floor contained The History of Bible Artifacts, including scrolls and rare printed Bibles. We saw how the Bible moved from God’s mind, through a writer, and onto printed paper. They used a large section of the museum for a special display on the King James Bible, demonstrating the significant role it has played in history.

I cannot do justice to the museum in this brief article. I hope you get a chance to view this masterpiece dedicated to the Word of God. I cannot imagine going to DC again without attending the museum.

I also want especially to thank Bro. Terry Williams and Bro. Donnie Williams for preaching while I was gone. The livestream worked great and we watched both services from our hotel room. The Paynes were delightful travel companions.

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I have asked from the beginning for you to pray for me and my family in five areas. Thank you for doing so, and please continue to plead with God that I would have:

1) Courage

2) Wisdom

3) Strength

4) Victory

5) Vision

 Pastor’s Ponderings

“Hope & Perspective” 

Thomas Paine wrote a series of pamphlets from 1776 to 1783 titled “The American Crisis”. The opening line of the first booklet was written shortly after the Revolutionary army retreated across New Jersey and defeat seemed imminent. “These are the times that try men’s souls.”

I believe these same words are relevant now. I will not spend time telling you what you already know. What I want to do, instead, is give you two vital elements needed to survive these unusual times: Hope and Perspective.

Hope ultimately comes from God. Ironically, the word “hope” is not found in the Bible until the book of Ruth, where it is mentioned once. It is also found once in Ezra, but 15 times in Job. If ever a man needed hope, it is Job. It is also found extensively in Jeremiah and Lamentations, two books that are depressing because the nation of Judah has turned from God.

But the book of Psalms is especially prevalent because so many chapters in that book begin with a negative outlook but end with great hope in God. Psalm 146:5 states, “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God.” Happiness comes from God’s help and our hope. Let me encourage you to keep your eyes on “things above”

above” (Colossians 3:1) during these trying times.

I also want us to maintain Perspective. These are, indeed, times that are trying. But I think of my father, who turns 90 in December, and everything changes.

He was born in 1930 and lived his childhood in the Depression. At one point he spent time in an orphanage because of family problems. He lived during the uncertainty of World War II and turned 20 in Korea as a sergeant in the Army. He lived through the strife in the 60’s, the Vietnam War, man landing on the moon, Watergate, and the “malaise” of the 70’s (He also fathered six, ahem, wonderful children, ahem, from 1957 to 1967).

He has witnessed firsthand the best and worst of times, but you will never see him without a smile on his face. As I see the road he traveled, I am reminded that so much of the goodness (or harshness) of life depends on your viewpoint.

The greatest hope I can give is found in that classic hymn, “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow.” The chorus says:

Many things about tomorrow

I don’t seem to understand,

But I know who holds tomorrow,

And I know who holds my hand.

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I am excited to announce that we are open for business on Sunday evenings. We begin in-person services again at 6:00pm, August 30, with our own Dr. Carl Baugh preaching.

Please be in prayer for our Wednesday teen and children’s services. I am looking at sometime in October to resume On Track. I want to see how the school districts fare with Covid-19 during August-September before making a final decision.

And I thank Calvary members again for their understanding during these unprecedented times (boy, do I miss precedented times). I have had many express their opinions to me, and they were all welcome. I am grateful that not a single person, even with the volatile issues facing us, was ugly toward me.

But I do know of many pastors who have had extreme pressures placed on them by well-meaning members. Please pray for me and other spiritual leaders across the nation as we try to navigate these difficult days.

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When my wife and I took off for a few days recently, I was once again thankful for those who filled in while we were gone. I am grateful for the four men who preached. We watched every sermon, thanks to the live-stream, and I thought Bro. Payne, Bro. Donnie, Bro. Eddy, and Bro. Andrew were all exceptional. I have said this before, but with this caliber of preaching, I feel like I am asking Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig to pinch hit.

I’m also thankful for the great job Matthew Sisk has done broadcasting our services, literally, around the world. It was such a pleasure being 400 miles away but participating in worship services with my church family!

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I have asked from the beginning for you to pray for me and my family in five areas. Thank you for doing so, and please continue to plead with God that I would have:

1) Courage

2) Wisdom

3) Strength

4) Victory

5) Vision

 Pastor’s Ponderings

 “Encouragement”

Hebrews is a book of warning and encouragement. The author sees Jewish Christians on the verge of stepping away from Christianity and going back to Judaism. These Christians experienced persecution and peril at every turn. Though none had been killed yet, they had land and possessions taken.

The author of Hebrews gave many warnings to keep them from straying, but he also encouraged them to keep them staying! And he told us to do the same.

“But exhort one another, while it is called Today” (Heb. 3:13). “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Heb 10:25)

That verse is so compelling today. We are told to keep assembling because some had quit the church meetings. Instead of forsaking the assembly, we are to encourage the assemblers. The closer we get to the return of Christ, the more we should encourage each other, and we are closer every single day.

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My greatest concern for Calvary Baptist Church is that we stay in God’s Word during these trying times. I did not know Bro. Payne’s article would be about the Bible. But I encourage you to read it.

To help with your Bible reading, I included Scripture reading on the calendar in the middle of this newsletter. I chose the 119th Psalm for us to read as a church this month.

It is the longest chapter in the Bible, 176 verses. It is divided into 22 sections of eight verses. Each section begins with a letter from the Hebrew alphabet (22 letters). Notice the first two letters are ALEPH and BETH. These became Alpha and Beta in the Greek language and gave us the word “alphabet.”

All but two verses contain a reference to the Word of God. The readings will be Monday thru Saturday with a couple of extra days in case you miss reading one day. Let’s stay in God’s Word so God’s Word will stay in us.

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They are skeptical about almost every Old Testament story before 850 BC (or so). They will tell you the Patriarchs are myths, the conquest under Joshua is a fairy tale, the book of Judges is made up, and King David is no more real than King Arthur.

For these minimalists to believe, they need absolute proof from outside to Bible that the Bible stories are real, but this is simply impossible. No 4000 year-old manuscript exists that mentions Abraham. Bible characters are not mentioned by the Egyptians, so they must not have existed. Most minimalists believe the nation of Israel was invented by some writers during the exile (after 600 BC) and the Bible stories are completely unreliable.

A few pieces of evidence are quite interesting. One scholar studying contracts from the ancient near east found the price of slaves increased through the centuries. The only time they were 20 shekels was the time of Joseph when he was sold for that exact amount.

The Merneptah Stela, an Egyptian stone monument written in honor of Pharaoh Merneptah (son of Rameses II) mentions Israel being in Canaan in about 1205 BC.

A stele written for King Mesha of Moab mentions King Omri and refers to the house of David. Archaeologists looking in villages from the 13th century BC were amazed to find something missing that they found in all the areas surrounding Canaan: pig bones. While they can be found along the coast where the Philistines lived, further east, and further north, they are not found in central Palestine.

Some final thoughts: Other ancient documents from the time of the patriarchs mention that a barren wife could give a slave girl to her husband so an heir would be born (Gen. 16), the preferential treatment of the eldest, and the association of the house gods with the inheritance of family property (Gen 31:34). This evidence clearly demonstrates that the OT stories are based in fact, not fiction!

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I have asked from the beginning for you to pray for me and my family in five areas. Thank you for doing so, and please continue to plead with God that I would have:

1) Courage

2) Wisdom

3) Strength

4) Victory

5) Vision