BrentwoodBaptist.com Blog

Loving God With Our Minds

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:52:35 GMT

Baptists, throughout their history, have not been a people that value education or intellect. We are a people of emotions. A thoughtful and rational presentation of the gospel was considered to be “old, dry religion.” We would much pre...

The Truth About Jesus

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:53:46 GMT

Why does the world think Jesus is interchangeable with any other religious leader or founder? Why does our culture think Jesus is on par with Buddha, Mohammed, Joseph Smith or. . .well, you can fill in the blank. Why do people think that Jesus is just ano...

The Empty Tomb

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:02:57 GMT

If you go to the Holy Land and take a tour of Jerusalem, you will be taken to the place that, according to historians and the traditional stories, Jesus was buried. The tour guide will give you a few minutes to step up to the protective gate and look into ...

IF

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:52:51 GMT

“If” is a big word in the English language. Should you look this word up (as I just did) you will discover “if” has to do with possibilities, opportunities and the consequences that come when those op...

Answering An Important Question

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:35:35 GMT

Jesus was asked, what is the greatest commandment? This sounds like a question I would ask. If I can only keep one commandment, which one do I really, really have to keep? Jesus responded by saying "Love the Lord your God with all of...

Stories

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:53:18 GMT

My dad is a great story teller. If you ever are part of our family dinners, we eat, we laugh and then Dad tells stories. We laugh until our sides ache. Funny thing is, I already know all of the stories. I know about Dad and his older brother skipping s...

Personal Responsibility

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:11:02 GMT

What do health care, the financial crash, and our spiritual walk have in common? Personal responsibility. Now, bear with me a moment. The dirty little secret that no one is talking about in all of these debates about health care is that most of the hea...

My Goal for the New Year

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:18:47 GMT

I have grown too old and too frustrated to go through the annual illusion of making resolutions for the New Year. If I had a dollar for every resolution I’ve made I would be a rich man indeed. If, however, I had a dollar for every resolution I h...

The Sign

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 20:59:22 GMT

There are lots of things in the Bible that cause me to stop and wonder. There are lots of things I don’t understand, and there are more things that I understand, but then don’t know how to handle. And here is one of them. When th...

The Place God Makes Himself Known to Us

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:59:22 GMT

Every Christmas we find it remarkable that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Most of us believe Jesus would have made a bigger impact in Jerusalem or Rome. But Jerusalem and Rome were big cities, crowded with commerce and busy with government affairs. Like N...

I Really Do Love Christmas

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:06:13 GMT

Sometimes people think I don’t like Christmas and in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. I love Christmas. I love the story, I love the characters, I love the message of hope - of God coming to our world. What I don&rsquo...

Getting the Christmas Tree Up

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:57:27 GMT

I was a little late getting the Christmas tree up this year. OK, I was a lot late. In fact, as I write this blog, the tree waits for me to complete the finishing touches. I think, however, I am due a little compassion and understanding. I was sick over...

Obedience

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:59:03 GMT

When I was a kid you obeyed first and asked questions later. If you were told to do something, you did it. Asking “why” only got you the standard, “because I said so” reply. To hesitate or argue—well, tha...

An Average Day

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:03:19 GMT

Today is an average day. There is nothing too special about it. I will get up, grab my coffee and newspaper. That's the way my day starts everyday. I will look over the internet news and check on Alabama football (yeah, I am a fan). Then, I will loo...

Certainty

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:06:25 GMT

When I was a kid, my family used to go to the lake every weekend. One of the rituals we developed was a swimming race. We would drive the boat out from the shore, dive in and swim as fast as we could to be the first one on the shore. I can still remembe...

Christmas Deal

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:13:50 GMT

Today is Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday is the Monday after Black Friday, and Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving that marks the beginning of the madness of Christmas shopping. Cyber Monday is the largest day of ordering on line for the holidays. ...

We Live Our Lives in Worship

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:02:51 GMT

As I have said many times before, “The good news of Christianity is not that we can get to God, but that in Christ Jesus, God has come to us.” God engages us. He initiates this divine encounter where He, in a myriad of ways, reveals H...

God Shows Up

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:56:47 GMT

Every story begins the same way—God shows up.

Keeping Christianity Relevant

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:21:16 GMT

Some critics accuse Christianity of being an escapist religion.In AA, it’s called the “geographical cure.”Have you ever skipped a stone across water? ...

Holiness

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:42:14 GMT

Most of do not take holiness seriously. <...

Limits

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:38:30 GMT

The world constantly tells us to break thr...

Being Good Stewards

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:05:34 GMT

Why do we always take better care of something when it belongs to someone else?&...

Bargaining With God

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:24:50 GMT

While readi...

We All Need Down Time

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:20:53 GMT

A few weekends ago I went online to do my banking.&...

The First Buddhist Chaplain in the U.S. Army

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:46:05 GMT

The September 8, 2009 Tennessean had a front page story about the first Buddhist chaplain in the United States Army. The article was about the growing religious diversity of the American military. That's not the part that caught my eye. The ...

Habits

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:25:31 GMT

We are creatures of habit. In spite of all of our desires to be free and spontaneous, most of us follow a fairly predictable set of routines. We get up at the same time every morning, we get dressed in the same order every morning, we drive the same rout...

The Value of Memorizing Scripture

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:28:36 GMT

In the temptation story of Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus responds by quoting Scripture from memory. He doesn't argue with Satan. He doesn't debate. Jesus defeats Satan's attacks by quoting Scripture. The wilderness temptation of Jesus is...

How to Begin to Study the Bible

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:42:12 GMT

So you want to get started studying your Bible, but where do you begin? Let's begin with a few observations about the Bible itself. First, the Bible isn't one book. It's a collection of 66 books. There are different writers, compilers and ...

College Football

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:48:31 GMT

You don’t have to talk to me very long to understand I am an avid fan of college football. Most of the teams have reported back to begin practice and we are days away from the first games! I can’t wait! But as intense as every Saturd...

What I Have Been Reading

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:01:08 GMT

Whenever people ask me what I am reading, my first reaction is a long pause. Yes, I do read a lot, but more and more, I am rereading a lot. I am reading again great classics of the Christian faith. I am reading Reinhold Niebuhr. I am reading Richard Ni...

Thoughts from the Book of Luke

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:00:20 GMT

In my own personal study (reading without preaching or teaching in mind), I am going through the gospel of Luke. I did find it strange to be going through the Christmas story at the beginning of July, although, it did give me time to look at what was goin...

Cultural Heroes

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:59:26 GMT

I’ve been reflecting on the recent events that have affected so many in our culture. The deaths of Michael Jackson and Steve McNair impacted everyone in Middle Tennessee in one way or another. There have been all kinds of articles and opinion...

The Language of Our Culture

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 20:02:16 GMT

When I graduated from seminary I was very prepared to pastor the churches where I went. I knew how to prepare a sermon. I knew how to lead a church business meeting. I knew how to visit the hospital. And then, everything changed! All of my study now is...

Keeping the Sabbath

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:02:53 GMT

Keeping the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments few of us keep well. For most of us, Sunday is a crowded and hectic day. We get up, get dressed, get the kids ready and fight through traffic to find ourselves a place in the pew. We go to eat lunch, may...

Whiners

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:03:38 GMT

I’ve grown so very tired of what passes today as political discourse. People get on television or radio and they yell at each other. There are no real ideas discussed, or no solutions offered to the complex problems we face. Political success i...

When You Want Change

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:45:39 GMT

I have grown very frustrated watching all of the news programs and trying to keep up with all the change that is going on in our economy and our world. North Korea is launching rockets and exploding nuclear tests. GM has gone bankrupt and the economy may...

Death of an Abortion Doctor

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:44:41 GMT

I was shocked to hear of the murder of Dr. George Tiller in the foyer of his church in Wichita, Kansas. Dr. Tiller was the doctor who was nationally known for his performance of late term abortions. He was "Public Enemy Number One" for those in t...

Two Things Every Believer Should Know

Thu, 28 May 2009 16:43:44 GMT

Every believer should be able to tell me two things real fast. First, they should be able to tell where they are reading the Scripture. Every believer should find a way to be in the STUDY (note: I did not say reading!) of the Word. No exceptions. Second...

Church Membership

Tue, 26 May 2009 16:40:49 GMT

Every now and then someone will want to know if the topic of church membership is in the Bible. And of course, the answer is no. I can't point to any verse in the Bible that says "Join a local church." Membership is a corporate term. When...

Keeping the Sabbath

Wed, 20 May 2009 16:42:56 GMT

Torture

Wed, 13 May 2009 16:39:17 GMT

Over the past few months, there has been a lot of political debate over the issue of torture. Certain techniques of interrogation were used against prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay. These practices include sleep deprivation and water boarding. According...

Chores in Our Lives

Tue, 12 May 2009 16:36:43 GMT

I can remember when I was a kid I would always wish for the day when I would be a grown up and I could do whatever I wanted to do. I wouldn't have anyone telling me what to do. I wouldn't have to do chores. I could just do whatever I wanted to ...

Swine Flu

Tue, 05 May 2009 16:35:20 GMT

The other night I was watching the news and they introduced a medical expert to explain how easily the swine flu could be transmitted from one person to another person. His insights included telling us the swine flu was very contagious and we need to do t...

Twitter

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:32:30 GMT

In last week’s USA TODAY, the Life section was dominated by a headline about Twitter. “Glued to your gadget?” the subtext asked. “You might be losing your human link.” Ironic, isn’...

The Pace of Life

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:31:07 GMT

There are no windows on submarines. OK, there may be windows on subs they use for tourists, but on a serious submarine, there are no windows. So, how does a sub “see”? A sub uses sonar – sounds waves that are sent out and b...

Reflecting on Easter

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:29:50 GMT

The day after Easter always brings a down time for reflection. The energy required to adequately celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ leaves me a little spent in the days following. I can’t help but go back in my mind and try to understan...

Something Needs to be Changed

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:27:56 GMT

Too many times when we realize something in our lives need to be changed, we try to change everything at once. We want to buy new clothes, get a new hairstyle, change all of our friends and eat at new restaurants. We want to start reading the Bible more,...

Worried About the Economy

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:26:48 GMT

Everyone is worried about the economy. Things are slow (OK, that’s a slight understatement) and no one seems to know when they will pick up. We listen to what our leaders have to say. We watch the stock market reports and try to figure out wha...

Church Growth

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:24:40 GMT

Recently, the news has been reporting the results of a national survey of religion in America. The big news? 15% of the people interviewed said they had no religion. Those who are against faith touted this as a new marker in the religious life of our na...