I have a simple theory…
Writing is almost like creating something from nothing: from the mind into reality. Therefore, writing brings the writer joy because in his DNA is the ink stain of the One who created him.
In every writer is a little bit of the Author, evidence of His handiwork.
My actual keyboard š
Filed under Apologetics, blogging, writing
That was the question my wife asked me the other day. I mentioned this blog and then out of the blue she asked me, “Why don’t you write anymore?”
Funny thing, I write all the time! The problem is that I have not been writing articles/posts for the blog that started it all. But what really caught me by surprise was the question. What ever happened to “You spend too much time on that blog”?
Have you ever had that feeling? You know, that kind of feeling that tells you winning is not an option. Like, “danged if I do, danged if I don’t” kind of stuff.
Here’s the thing, either way it’s really a win. Why? Because it just shows my wife cares.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Valerie š
Greetings, my friends. Maybe you’ve noticed, but my writing here on the blog has been becoming more and more infrequent. I hate it, but it was bound to happen.
Unfortunately, I love to write, and because I have not been writing much lately, my soul feels like a wet sponge that hasn’t been wrung in a long time – a little sour. Honestly, that’s the whole reason I am writing at this moment. I need to wring some stuff out.Ā
That just sounded gross.Ā
But there is something else in my life, not to mention watches, that has taken up my free time: it’s painting. Not only do I love to write, but I also love to create things on paper with paint. And when people find joy in what I paint, like when they comment on how something I’ve written helped them, I feel a sense of accomplishment that few other things offer.
I say all that because one of the reasons I’ve not been writing much is my painting. When I get focused on my art (and writing is similar), I forget about other things and time tends to get away from me.Ā
But speaking of time getting away, I’ve been putting off something for a long, long time, and it’s way past time to finish what I started.
For several years I have been chipping away at a doctoral degree. As a matter of fact, for the last 3 years, I have been so close to finishing it’s not even funny. But everything from surgery, moving a couple of times, deaths in the family, the daily work of ministry, two pastorates in four years, an empty nest, a mother with cancer, and not to mention all that had to be done to pastor a church through COVID-19… all of these things took precedent and my degree was placed on the back burner.
But now the time has come – I must finish my D.Min. requirements in order to graduate in July.
One reason the time has come is that the “time is up” for my mother. Hospice is now in charge of her health care and she has been given, at the most, 6 months to live. If the truth be known, she wasn’t expected to live this long with stage-4 pancreatic cancer.Ā
I want to get my doctorate while my mother is still alive to see it. I told her, “OK, Mom, you’ve got to live until July.” She said, “OK.”Ā
Because of this, I cannot guarantee that I’ll be around very much. Just think about me now and then when you haven’t heard from me and I’ll keep you updated on the progress – and my mother.
God bless,Ā
Anthony
P.S. I would always love it if you’d buy a painting or a print š Look me up at @AnthonyCBakerArt on Facebook!
Glad it’s over, but at least I’m better prepared for the next catastrophe. Amen?
Thank you, everyone. All of you who have read any of my posts, all of you are appreciated, even Stephen in Canada š
Tonight, at 6pm our time, we are going to be having a New Year’s Eve service. It won’t be a long one, nor will it be a traditional-like service. All I plan to do is read a verse or two from the Bible and ask if anyone would like to share a word or two about the past year. Then, as Jesus and his disciples did right before He was taken to be tried, we will have our version of the Passover meal: the Lord’s Supper.
Jesus said of the Passover meal, and by extension the celebration of that last supper we observe today, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Paul said that as often as we partake in the communion meal, we “proclaim His death” until He returns. I want to offer it tonight for both those reasons.
Remember Jesus. If that is one thing we probably did not do enough of is think of Jesus during the last year. On the other hand, it is very possible that many people who never thought about God at all had their minds on things eternal. Did we as Christians take advantage of that opportunity? Did we think about life and death as much as those who were without hope?
I can’t help but think that the Church has been given a rare opportunity, at least a once-in-a-lifetime chance to offer Christ during a time of great uncertainty and questioning. For most of the past year we have seen something comparative to the Ethiopian reading a scroll he barely understood and we as Phillip being sent to answer his questions. How many of us have even considered the answers?
Proclaim His death until He comes. The second thing about communion is that by partaking in it we show that we have put our faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross. We believe that His blood was shed and His body was broken on our behalf, and that Jesus was buried only to rise again. And we believe, as He promised to rise again, He also promised to return. Therefore, we partake with a grateful and expectant heart as we proclaim to the watching world where our faith lies.
Before I go, I want to clue you in to the subject matter of my next substantive post. As some of you may have read, a man named Stephen has been leaving some pretty harsh and antagonistic comments here on the blog. I have honestly come close a time or two to blocking him. However, I’ve not been able to do that.
So, in a previous comment to Stephen, I said that I would like to take his accusations and false charges and answer them one-by-one. Unfortunately, a lot has happened over the last couple of months and I forgot to do so. However, I am in the process of compiling ALL Stephens comments going back to January of this year. From these comments I am going to pull specific issues and questions that I will attempt to address. Please pray that the Lord will use the material I post to open the eyes of blind and allow the hard-of-hearing to hear His voice.
May the joy of the Lord be your strength in 2021.
Put Jesus first in all you do.
Filed under Bethlehem Baptist Church, blogging, Church, current events, Future, God
(Speaking to a friend about blogging, I said) We plant and water seeds of hope and love and joy and grace. We sow these seeds all over the world!
Rarely will we see a harvest, but the Holy Spirit knows how to take that divinely inspired “click” and turn it into new life.
It will be interesting, and wonderful, to one day see what God was able to do with the crazy medium of Christian blogging.
To HIM be the glory!
Filed under blogging, Christianity, hobbies, ministry, Uncategorized
Dear friends, I want to copy a post so that I can republish it. I want the original to stay where it is, but a new one to be published. Does that make sense?
That is what I have been doing with the posts at ProverbialThought.com.
But now, because of this new and “wonderful” block editor, I cannot figure out how to do what I need. And when I try to go back to the traditional editor (the one that worked well for me for 10 years), all I do is click on the option, but nothing happens.
I hate block. I don’t care how many more features this system offers! I never asked for it. I was happy with what I was using. It worked. It allowed me to become the blogger I am… I was.
One of the reasons I have not been blogging of late – even though I have a lot I could be writing about, especially my daughter’s wedding last week – is this new editor! Did I mention that I hate it?
Filed under blogging
First things first, I want to thank a fellow blogger for sending the funds to pay for a year’s worth of ad-free blog posts. I won’t name him on here, but it was a serious blessing. May the Lord bless in return!
Next, to the point of this short post,
I want your help in determining the posts/articles/papers I will write over the next few weeks. It’s not that I have writer’s block; I want to write what you want to read.
You see, there are things I would like to address, including why it is understandable for a Christian to vote for Donald Trump – in response to all the other articles from the Left and left-leaning Republicans who pontificate otherwise.
But some of the things I think are important may not be important to you, or at least most of you. There may even be some subjects about which you would really like to hear my opinion.
And since I don’t have a lot of time to write in the first place, I’d like to make my time count.
Here’s your opportunity to fill the calendar.
Starting this Tuesday, August 17th, and all the way through Tuesday, the 29th of September, I will only write about what YOU suggest. And, if you get it in early enough, I WILL write about it (the best I can, depending on the subject matter).
I’m looking forward to seeing what you suggest. Just leave your suggestions in the comment section.
And who knows? Your suggestion could lead to something groundbreaking, an inspiration that could change the world, even save lives! Millions of them!Ā
You just never know š
God bless, stay well, and thanks for reading!
Anthony
(which has nothing to do with what I’m about to ask)…
I came across a list of questions I had written a while back.
I think I had compiled them as an introduction to a sermon on James chapter 4.
But as I glanced over them tonight, a heaviness came over me, along with a feeling that I should share these questions on my blog.
So, here they are:
1. What could you do today that you’re putting off till tomorrow?
2. What are you planning for in the future that is robbing from today?
3. What good do you feel led by God to do?
4. How many years have come and gone? How many resolutions have you made and not kept?
5. How many years do you have left?
6. Are you filtering your plans through God’s will?
7. What is His will for “now”? (Oh that we could have more of a “now” faith!)
Some people are so busy planting seeds for the flowers in the future that they forget to smell the flowers that are already in bloom.
Filed under blogging, Future, Life/Death, Preaching
As I write this, it is late Saturday night and I am thinking about my sermon for tomorrow. Iāve been looking at my notes, the Scripture, and thinking about the overall theme, paying particular attention to how I might be able to draw the sermon to a close. For some reason, I donāt know why, invitations have become more difficult for me in the last year or so.
But itās not the Sunday morning sermon that concerns me ā at least thatās not the reason for me writing this letter to you. Itās the content that you and I are expected to deliver to those watching on Facebook, YouTube, or whatever other streaming service you prefer.
I don’t want you to get tired of doing it. I don’t want you to get discouraged and give up too soon!
I donāt know about you guys, but I have been producing more Bible teaching since the pandemic began than any other time in my life! I literally post online content 6 days a week, twice on Sunday and Wednesday! Thatās EIGHT original content presentations a week! Granted, what I produce during the week is not as deep as what I might deliver on a Sunday or Wednesday night, but sometimes it is deeper. Sometimes it could qualify for a full-fledged sermon. But is 8 times a week a little much?
Especially if you feel nobody is watching? Anybody with me?
Without a doubt we pastors are working harder than ever before. One reason I can say that with complete confidence is that we are, at the very least, using spiritual, mental, and emotional muscles weāve never used before. We are in uncharted territory most days. That can drain a person.
Yet, what does your congregation expect out of you? How else are you able to stay in touch or connected throughout the week? I know this might sound self-serving or vain, but is what you are doing online partly due to the fact that you donāt want to appear as idle or taking advantage of the social distancing?
How many of you are beginning to question the efficacy of all the online content we are producing? How many of you are beginning to feel like youāre having little to no impact? Iām not going to lie; Iāve been feeling that way more often each day.
Nevertheless, what I donāt know is what God knows. What I am doing is the best I can with what Iāve been given. I am using every means possible to keep church (and all thatās involved with that word) in the lives of my flock. Iām doing all I can to make holy lemonade out of COVID-19 lemons. And only God knows what really happens on the other side of the computer or smartphone screen.
Though not exactly the same context, I am reminded of the following verse:
āAnd let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.ā (Galatians 6:9)
No farmer expects to make pie out of the fruit of his labor the day after he plants the first seed. Likewise, we donāt have any idea what this surge of biblical content is going to affect in the future: no one has ever had the opportunity to calculate the germination times.
We are planting and watering in fields where the Word of God has never been sown. We are flooding the airwaves and the internet with more of the Gospel message than at any other single time in history! And all that we are doing, all that we are sowing, and in all the areas and hearts where our ministry is reaching… Have we forgotten it is guaranteed to produce fruit of some kind? His Word does not return void!.
Maybe you didnāt need the reminder. Maybe itās just me. But I just want you to know that we were put here for this time. What we do in this time will affect not only today, but tomorrow, too. We may never live to see the results of our plowing and cultivating and planting, but future generations may be feeding on the fruit decades after we have left the plow.
Donāt grow weary, gentlemen. Be encouraged! Stay strong! Keep up the good work!
Sometimes the only one in the field is the farmer. Keep farming while the weather permits.
Filed under Bethlehem Baptist Church, blogging, Christianity, Church, coronavirus, ministry, Preaching, the future
Half of it is covered with my “stuff.” There’s my paints, paper, brushes, a candle for when I am reading, my coffee, magnifiers for looking at watches close up, my Bible, and my laptop.
I didn’t really have time to sit down to write, but the open computer and the longing for that tactile feeling of my fingertips clicking the plasticky, rubbery keys of the keyboard… You know, for the writer, it’s like a drug!
I’ve got reading to do – LOTS of it.
At 1 pm I am supposed to be somewhere.
There’s so many things to talk/write about, yet I just don’t have the energy (emotionally or physically) to do it.
But man, the feeling of that keyboard and the visual proof on the screen that creation is taking place…
I gave in. I’m here. Forgive me.
But I promise, should you want to visit for dinner (or supper), I’ll make sure the table has plenty of room.
I feel much better, now.
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No, I can't talk without using my hands.
The Recovering Legalist 