Category Archives: Relationships and Family

Topics related to how we deal with the people God has placed in our lives.

Visiting Charleston, S.C. (Part 1)

Vacation (or Holiday, for you Brits)

Last week my family went on vacation. With the exception of Katie, the daughter who stayed home and watched the house and dogs (and used too much laundry soap), we all loaded up and drove to Charleston, South Carolina, to stay with our oldest daughter, Alicia, and her husband, Josh.

But it wasn’t just family. Roy and Esther Cavender (close friends from Hopkinsville, KY) also endured the long, 8-hour drive in our mini-van to Charleston. In case you’re counting, that’s four adults and one teenager in a single vehicle for the equivalent of a regular work day.

Have you ever gone on vacation with another family to another family’s house in a distant location? Let me clue you in to a fact of life – you’d better be REALLLLLY good friends.

Happily Married

One thing about going on vacation with people that are not in your immediate family is that you come to appreciate why you are married to whom. In other words, we all have differences which we can appreciate (Isn’t that “reyeght” Roy & Esther and Alicia & Josh?).

For example, my wife and I know how to get along (most of the time). We know what the other one likes and dislikes (most of the time); we know how certain situations make us feel (OK, I’m stretching it); and we know what is most likely to tick the other one off (Sure do!). That’s not the case with friends and family that don’t live under the same roof all the time. Vacationing can be a learning curve…with disputing GPS’s.

Staying in someone’s house, as opposed to a hotel, can save money and offer more time to spend together, but it sure has the potential for stress. Don’t get me wrong – we’d do it again! It’s just now that it’s all over, I like the way my wife and I do things. I’m pretty sure everyone else feels the same way.

We Had a Good Time

But even though there were some awkward and tense moments in and on the way to Charleston, we did have a fun and enriching time. We got to spend quality time with friends and family, meet new people, eat new foods, see new places, and experience the time away we so desperately needed. I even made a fish fly.

So, in the next few posts I will share my thoughts on some things I saw and did while in Charleston, including, but not limited to, the following:

  • photo 1 (6)The Confederate Museum
  • Shooting machine guns with my son-in-law
  • Going to the beach
  • Alligators in the back yard
  • Shopping
  • Visiting the Emanuel A.M.E. Church

Have I piqued your curiosity? Let me know if there’s something specific about which you’d like to hear.

I’ve got a lot of stories, it’s just a matter of narrowing them down to the magic 500 words or less, you know.

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Filed under Life Lessons, places, Relationships and Family, Vacation

I’m Sorry, but It’s Mother’s Day

The Gripe

My dearly beloved, we have gathered here today to read the sometimes uncaring and cold-hearted commentary of a man without the “wo”;  a male without the “fe”;  and a testosterone-producing, horsepower-loving, father and husband who sometimes leaves the toilet seat up – on purpose. But that being said, I am not completely insensitive.

For example, I love kittens and puppies, the laughs of little children, and the occasional chick-flick. But more to the point, I understand that for some women, Mother’s Day is not the happiest day of the year.

Just the other day someone shared with me a link to an interesting and eye-opening article, An open letter to pastors (A non-mom speaks about Mother’s Day). I read it, thought about it, and got it. The only problem is that I (the pastor) am not the only one who contributes to the whole Mother’s Day celebration – mothers do!

If dad forgets to say, “Happy Mother’s Day, dear,” the wife gets her feelings hurt and then there’s Hades to pay. If the kids forget to say, “Happy Mother’s Day!” or forget to make a card out of noodles and Elmer’s glue, start handing out the tissues and Xanax. If the pastor forgets to make a big deal out of the holiday, or forgets to purchase carnations to distribute at the end of the service, then some little old lady will be demanding a special meeting to discuss his replacement.

So, as one who’s congregation is made up of more women than men, by a large – not a good word – significant percentage, what in the name of Oprah am I supposed to do???

The Plan

Here’s my plan: I will try to please everybody.

Mothers, we love you. Single women, we love you. Wives without children, we love you. Single, expectant mothers, we love you. Women who’ve lost their children, we love you. Women who want to have children but can’t, we love you. Those of you who had an abusive mother and still nurse the scars, we love you. Women who have adopted or are foster parents, we love you. Women who teach and mentor kids that are not your own, we love you. And what’s more, ladies, God loves you and understands your story more than any earthly man, even more than Dr. Phil.

Now, to those of you who just hate kids and want nothing to do with them, well… I guess I can’t please everybody, after all.

The Song

So, I’m sorry, but it is the Mother’s Day weekend, and some traditions must go on. Each year on this blog I post one of the best Mother’s Day songs ever written, if not the best; I can’t help it if it doesn’t please everybody.  Just understand it was written by a half-brained male with frequent-stayer points at the Dog House Inn.

My Mother :-)

My Mother 🙂

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Filed under current events, Humor, Parenting, Relationships and Family

My Predictions

I Listened

After listening to the arguments before the Supreme Court of the United States, I believe, unless God moves on the hearts of 5 of the Justices, same-sex marriage will become recognized as a Constitutional right. More Justices than not continually stressed that “marriage is a Constitutional right,” so why restrict it? One Justice – Kennedy, I believe – even suggested that not allowing a woman to marry a woman would be equal to “sexual discrimination.”

Supreme Court

Because I believe the SCOTUS will rule against the States, based on what I would call nothing more than a “fairness” bias, there will be substantial immediate and long-term consequences for our culture, especially for Christians.

Predictions

The following are only the predictions that first come to mind. I am confident this list will not be all-inclusive.

  • Vulgar celebrations will commence. The in-your-face LGBT crowd will celebrate with exuberant joy, much like what happened in the spirit world when Christ breathed his last breath on the cross. It will be demonic, like most gay-pride parades are.
  • Marriage will be devalued forever. When this ruling comes, marriage will never be the same, for the whole purpose behind this movement is not simply to gain access to marriage, but to destroy it.
  • Litigation will go through the roof. After this ruling comes, one that declares marriage a fundamental right to whomever, every form of relationship will claim equal status. And because of that, trial after trial will ensue until multiple partners, animals, and farm equipment enjoy the same “equal protection under the law.”
  • Pastors will become prime targets. As much as some want to say this won’t happen, I believe it totally will. As with Christian bakeries, photographers, and florists, pastors who refuse to marry gay couples will be accused – no, convicted – of everything from sexual discrimination to hate crimes. Because it will come to the point where a pastor must violate his beliefs or go to jail, he will be targeted by those who have always wanted him to suffer for his beliefs. I predict this with utter confidence.
  • Churches and Christian colleges and institutions will be forced to close. Let’s face it, this is one of the results many in the gay community are salivating over. When this ruling is passed, the next step will be to mandate that Churches and Christian colleges change their bylaws and guidelines or, at the least, lose their tax-exempt status. For many, this will force closure. For example, if my little church was forced to all of a sudden have to pay property tax on our sanctuary and gym and fellowship hall we would have to close the doors – we don’t bring in that much revenue. It will happen, believe me.

So, in a nutshell, those are a few of my predictions. However, the cultural ramifications are probably incalculable.

But on a positive note, God is still God, the Righteous Judge, and His law will stand long after Washington D.C. is dust.

Help us, dear God, to stand strong in love, but “having done all, to stand” (Eph. 6:13). 

Update: Below is a link to a Wednesday evening service at my church where I preached a message based on the above post.

Click on the picture to hear the sermon I preached.

Click on the picture to hear the sermon.

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Filed under America, Culture Wars, current events, Defending Traditional Marriage, Marriage, Relationships and Family, the future

Intercede for Marriage Today!

Today Is a Big Day. I thought you should know about it.

Folks, there are so many things going on in our country today, so many things that I cannot even begin to address them all. You know about what’s happening in Baltimore, don’t you? I hope so.

But do you know what is going on today in the Supreme Court? Oral arguments are being presented in a key case that will affect the whole nation and the definition of marriage.

I would seriously encourage you to look at the times below and pray accordingly.

(The following was copied from Pray4Marriage.org)

Courtroom Schedule – 4/28/15

On April 28th, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will hear oral arguments about the constitutionality of marriage for the states of Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee.

KEY QUESTIONS

There are two questions that will be considered by the Court. Ninety minutes is allotted to oral argument on question 1; 1 hour is allotted for oral argument on question 2.

  1. Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?
  2. Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?

KEY CASES

Obergefell v. Hodges (Ohio), 14-556
Tanco v. Haslam (TN), 14-562
DeBoer v. Snyder (MI), 14-571
Bourke v. Beshear (KY), 14-574

Read the Family Research Council’s Amicus Brief on all these cases

COURTROOM SCHEDULE

10:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Mary Bonauto, well-known same-sex “marriage” lawyer who serves on the staff with GLAD.

10:30 – 10:45 a.m.
Donald Verrilli, Jr., Solicitor General of the United States, will argue against God’s definition of marriage.

10:45 – 11:30 a.m.
John Bursch, former Michigan Solicitor General, will argue that states are not required to recognize same-sex “marriages.”

11:30 a.m. – Noon
Douglas Hallward-Driemeier, the attorney on record for one of the central cases and the only lead lawyer with an established Supreme Court practice, will argue that same-sex “marriages” must be recognized.

Noon – 12:30 p.m.
Joseph Whalen, Tennessee Associate Solicitor General, will argue for a state’s right to limit marriage to one woman and one man based upon a 2006 Tennessee referendum that passed by 81% of the vote.

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Filed under Culture Wars, current events, Defending Traditional Marriage, Defining Marriage, Relationships and Family

“Pleeeease, Daddy!”

As I watched, my heart broke, my eyes flooded with tears, and I nearly had to leave the theater – that’s how I felt when I watched a particular scene in the movie Do You Believe?.

lacey Do You Belive Movie still

Credit: Still from “Do You Believe?” Movie

Alex PenaVega (of Spy Kids fame) played the role of a young woman named Lacey. Early in the movie she is shown sitting on a couch, on her cell phone, begging her father to either come to visit her, or let her spend some time with him (as I type this my eyes are beginning to water).

Totally desperate for his attention and affection, through barely contained sobbing, she cries out to her daddy, “pleeeease!

Now I’m crying. Seriously. Read on and you’ll understand why.

Not long ago, Katie (my middle daughter) called me up in the middle of the night…then called again…and again… She was at college and really, really ill.

Long story short, she wanted me to come get her…in the early hours of dark morning…before I had to get up and drive a school bus! It was an hour there, an hour back, not to mention loading her stuff, and I needed to be on a bus at 6:20 a.m.! But what was I supposed to do? She was my daughter, and through tears she asked, “Pleeease, daddy, I want to come home!”

I made record time to Bryan College.

Yesterday was a long day, from getting up early after going to bed late, to church last night. Then, at around 9:30 p.m. my little girl, Haley, asked, “Daddy, would you watch a movie with me?”

I looked down at my watch…my eyes were already heavy…I thought to myself, “It’s not going to be long before she’s grown and gone like the others.”…What’s another long day, right?

“Sure,” I replied. “What do you want to watch?”

The reason the scene in the movie got to me was that there are so many little girls out there…girls of all ages…each one willing to give anything for a little time with Daddy. And where are the dads? What is more important to them than a little girl on the other end of the line, soaking her cell phone with tears, crying “Pleeese, Daddy! Pleeeease!“?

More tears.

I like the way the New Living Translation renders Jesus’ words regarding fathers and their children…

You fathers–if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” – Luke 11:11-13

My heart broke as I watched Alex PenaVega’s character weep for her daddy. It broke because the scene she was acting out was all too real – there’s a lot of hurting people out there who may never find comfort in a father’s arms.

Oh, would to God that men would be men and be the heroes their little girls need! Heaven only knows how many precious lives would be spared abuse, broken marriages, and life-long addictions if only daddies would be daddies!

How wonderful it is to know that we as believers have a Father in heaven, our Abba Father, who loves us more than any earthly father ever could! But does that excuse us dads from being our little girls’ knights in shining armor? Absolutely not!

A daddy’s role is to strive to be like our heavenly Father: one who is compassionate; one who listens; one who is patient; one who is strong as an oak tree, uncompromising, yet still available for make-believe tea or midnight retrievals from the dormitory.

Men…dads…be there for your daughter; God’s collecting her tears.

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Filed under Movie review, Parenting, Relationships and Family

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Choir Girl

Last night I had the rare chance to go hear my own daughter sing at Bryan College. It was wonderful! I wish all of you could have been there, especially to hear “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” Powerful!

Katie at the doorNow, since Katie has gone to college, she has been busy, busy, busy…even touring with the Bryan College Chorale. On the rare occasion I have had to hear her display the music education she is receiving, all I’ve had to record it with was my iPhone. Last night all I got was a picture with her as she was handing out…what do they call those things?…bulletins? Menus? Billings? Keepsakes?

That has made me sad.

But WAIT!…

Earlier this month Katie and her personal choir (at least that’s the way this daddy sees it) performed at the Northside Presbyterian Church PC(USA). — on a side note, I’m not big on the denomination right now — Fortunately for me, since this was on a Sunday morning and I had other obligations, they did a wonderful job at recording the whole thing!

But before you watch it, let me tell you why I am sharing this (besides being proud of Katie and her backup singers). One of the greatest hymns ever written was penned by Isaac Watts, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” Listening to it last night brought me to tears.

The Wondrous Cross

How often do we do that? Survey the cross? How often do we just pause for more than a few moments and measure out the height, depth, length, and breadth of the place where “sorrow and love flow mingled down”? If we did, we would think less of ourselves and more of Him.

For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. – 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NKJV

So, I hope you enjoy the video of Katie’s choir (incidentally, she is standing all the way to the far right). But after you listen to Isaac Watt’s famous hymn (beginning at the 32:48 mark), ask yourself the question the old man in the movie Do You Believe? asks the preacher: “What are you going to do about it?”

If you will see the cross for what it is, it will make a difference in your life.

(UPDATE: Katie just watched this and said, “We were not ready for that concert. We got our practice time in on the road.” This was their first concert.)

Oh, and “Jesus Paid it All” is awesome, too!

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Filed under God, Love of God, music, Parenting, Relationships and Family, worship

Honey Maid Fatalism?

Yesterday evening, just before I was about to head on over to the church, my wife saw a commercial on the television she had on while she was doing taxes for a client. She said, “Did you hear what that commercial just said?”

“No, what commercial?”

OK, before I go any further, before any of you get too judgmental, my wife is an accountant and this is income tax season – she barely has time for sleep and is doing tax work every available minute. Therefore, even up to 30 minutes before time to leave for evening services at church, my wife – the pastor’s wife – was still sitting in front of two computer screens and listening to a television for background noise. 

“There was a commercial from Honey Maid (they make graham crackers),” she said. “Here, I’ll just rewind it…watch this…”

Evidently this commercial is not new, but would anyone with any sense like to explain to me what I just watched? Does this not in any way concern any of you? What in the world does it mean when you say, “What makes us wholesome never will”?

Some of you (you know who you are) don’t understand why this commercial upsets me. After all, it’s only a reflection of the pagan, post-Christian culture in which we live, right? “It is what it is,” some might say, “so just move on.” But this commercial DOES anger me! As a matter of fact, it does more than anger me – in breaks my heart. Let me tell you why.

First, it condones divorce, even going so far as to making it a positive for the children involved. In the first few words we hear a father say how that he never thought he’s get a divorce, but now he sees it as just that many more people to love the kids. Really? That’s akin to stating, “Hey, divorce ain’t that bad, just look at how happy the kids are!”

Second, it promotes brokenness. Yes, I said it “promotes” it. Even though this commercial is linked to a larger advertising campaign, #NotBroken, that aspires to celebrate the diverse landscape of the modern family unit, it’s actually celebrating brokenness as an inherent virtue. There is nothing in this commercial that promotes wholeness, is there? There’s nothing in this commercial that calls for the support of intact, nuclear families, is there? No, only the celebration that families come in all shapes, sizes, colors, AND sexual orientations.

Third, it’s fatalistic and hopeless. The money quote from the commercial is, “What makes us wholesome never will.” In other words, whatever it was that we as a culture ever thought was normal and healthy, forget it – we will never be “wholesome,” for there is no such thing…except for Honey Maid crackers.

But, supposedly, this is our culture. Mondelez International senior marketing director Gary Osifchin said of their add campaign, “[W]e’re holding a mirror up to America and celebrating all-American families. We’re on a journey here where we are very much showing America who they are. … It’s reality.[Source] Maybe so, but it’s not by God’s design.

We’ve given up on promoting nuclear families; now we’re celebrating the pieces left over from a nuclear blast, and supposedly the kids are happier for it.

 

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Filed under America, Culture Wars, Defending Traditional Marriage, Defining Marriage, Divorce, Parenting, Relationships and Family, World View

Birds and Bees 2.0

The following is fiction, but based on a sad, tragic reality: children are growing up in a culture with no norms, no absolutes, and no foundations but the shifting sands of desire. The “birds and the bees” are not what they used to be.

Here’s a helpful link should you get confused with gender-related terms: CLICK HERE.


Teigan’s Story

Teigan was getting ready to leave school, when at that moment, just as soon as she exited the gender-neutral bathroom, she saw what looked to be a cis gender female with a large belly. Looking down at her own sun dress, she thought to herself, “I wonder if I could look like that?”

Teigan was just like any other gender-fluid child; gender was whatever the mood of the day dictated. Although born a male, Teigan’s parents refused to impose any stereotypical roles; they encouraged role experimentation and never referred to him as “son,” only “child.” Therefore, if Teigan wanted to wear a nice dress out to dinner with her parents, then her parents would select the most appropriate ribbon for her hair. If Teigan wanted to play ball with the other boys, he would put on his Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirt and jeans and head out to the park. Teigan’s gender preferences were as fluid as water in a mountain stream, changing direction with every obstacle and shift in terrain.

Thinking of the cis female (a female who identifies as a woman/has a feminine gender identity) h- saw earlier at school, Teigan was excited to ask h- parents the question all adults dread: “Where do babies come from?” You see, there were times when Teigan wanted to be a mommy, just like the cis female h- had seen earlier. But it was the particulars of “how” that confused h-.

According to Facebook, there are over 58 different genders one could select when signing up for a new account, and Teigan knew there was no way h- could choose just one. Teigan was not a just a boy or a girl, h- was whatever h- felt that day…and that posed a problem. You see, Teigan had noticed that the only genders with large bellies (the ones with child) were typically cis females, along with the occasional gender questioning or FTM. In most cases, the one with the large belly never fluctuated gender like Teigan did. “How, then,” Teigan wondered, “could I get a big belly to show off my dress, but then wear blue jeans later with the cis boys?”

Teigan had gotten gold stars for paying attention in h- sex education classes. H- had learned all about how tadpoles and eggs become something called a parasite, or fetus… but h- was still confused. The time had come to ask his parents.

“Dad, Papa, where do babies come from, and how can I have one?” Teigan asked.

Teigan’s father’s eyes shot over at his husband’s with a look of “what do we say?” Dad sat down his latte and replied, “Papa will tell you all about it.” Papa, realizing his husband would only end up acting like a wife if he refused, agreed to give Teigan a thumbnail sketch of the new “birds and bees,” or as it’s understood today, “Birds and Bees 2.0.”

Papa began: “You see, Teigan, when a loving couple wants to have a baby, depending on their gender, sexual orientation, or surgeries that may have been performed, they might go to bed and hold each other really close. At that point, when they get really, really close, a baby is made.” Papa continued: “For others, they just go to bed and wake up the next morning, after which they decide to go have a baby made for them.”

Teigan, still a little confused, then asked, “But how can I get a big belly and have a baby, too?” With excitement, Teigan added: “It would be fun to waddle around like the cis female I saw at school – I think she was a teacher – and wear a big, pretty dress! If I fall in love and get really close can I get a big belly and have a baby, too?”

“I’m sorry, Teigan, but we haven’t evolved that far…yet,” Teigan’s other father, Dad, said. “We’ll just have to wait and see what Mrs. Clinton can do.”

Heartbroken, little Teigan began to cry. As the tears began to wash away h- sparkly blush, h- whimpered, “But I want to have a belly like those cis females who are always cis females.”

“Maybe someday,” said Papa. “Yes, maybe someday,” said Dad.

“In the meantime,” Papa asked with a smile, “why don’t we go get some ice cream?”

Awesome!” exclaimed Teigan. “What should I wear?”


My Thoughts

When I was a child, a long time ago, my dad told me the “facts of life,” which included the “birds and bees” info. Included in that awkward lecture, however, were references back to the book of Genesis, where we are told God made “male and female,” not cis male and cis female. It was certainly a simpler time.

What are we doing to our children? What kind of harvest are we going to reap after sowing such seeds of confusion? Are all the options we’re creating in order to satisfy and coddle a morally bankrupt and confused generation going to strengthen familial bonds? Will the term family even survive the next generation?

God’s Thoughts

And [Jesus] answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made [them] at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ “and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh‘? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” – Matthew 19:4-6 NKJV

 All comments will be strictly monitored.

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Filed under Culture Wars, current events, Defining Marriage, Humor, Relationships and Family

The Brief Departure of a Friend

A pic of Ty and his oldest daughter (from her Facebook page)

A pic of Ty and his oldest daughter (from her Facebook page)

Today I received the sad news that a brother in Christ, Ty Sweeney, went home. He was only 38 and died of complications resulting from a heart attack. And, like with the loss of others I’ve known, news of his death was an oxygen-sucking blow to my gut.

I didn’t know Ty as well as some other friends of mine in Hopkinsville, KY. I saw him at church (it was a big church) and played music with him a few times. Once he even loaned me his cedar-topped guitar – that was a GREAT guitar. But what I did know about Ty was that he was a great musician, songwriter, and that he loved the Lord and his family.

I lost my dad when I was only 24. For a moment I felt like my whole life would come crashing down around me. However, with the grace of God and the peace that came with the assurance I would see him again, the loss was tempered with the knowledge that our separation was only temporary. My prayer is that his wife (Sarah) and two daughters (Conley and Claudia) will find comfort in the same Hope.

For the saints of God, death is only a brief departure; sweet reunions are still to come.

Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5).

Click HERE to listen to Ty Sweeney’s music.

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Filed under Christian Unity, Life/Death, Relationships and Family

Serving Up Thanksgiving, Family-of-Faith Style

A Combined Service

Anthony Import 11 30 14 194Last week we welcomed the congregation of Tiftonia Church of God to our Riverside Baptist. It was the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving, the night many churches set aside a time for a community fellowship.

Being that it was a Tuesday night, there wasn’t a big crowd. However, enough showed up from both of our churches to, well, “have church.” And that we did.

Brother Michael Fugatt, the new pastor of Tiftonia Church of God, brought a great message from Psalm 100, blessing us all. And, for the record, he didn’t speak in tongues (just in case some of my Baptist brethren were wondering).

All in all, we had a wonderful, intimate time of godly fellowship. At the end of the sermon, Bro. Fugatt requested that all of us gather around the altar, hold hands, and pray. But when Pastor Fugatt prayed, he prayed that God would bless and encourage us (the Baptist church!!) and cause us to grow in number! It was truly a Kingdom prayer from a fellow believer and brother in Christ.

The Challenges

Now the sad part is that so many would have never allowed another denomination to worship with them. That’s very sad.

For the record, I am a Baptist, and for that I make no apology. But just because I am Baptist, that does not mean I may only worship with other Baptists. No, Baptists aren’t the only ones going to heaven, I can assure you; only those who have been born into the family of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Many of my fellow Baptists would never come together in worship, even once a year, with those in the Church of God denomination because of our different takes on several ecclesiastical issues and certain doctrines, especially those regarding the gifts of the Spirit. However, as it is with Baptists, not every Church of God congregation is exactly like the next, nor is their pastor. It really pays to be more gracious than writing off every congregation just because of the name above the door.

Believe it or not, there is room withing the family of God to disagree on the interpretation of certain passages in First Corinthians. There is room withing the family of God to disagree on how to handle church finances, ordain and hire ministers, etc. There’s room for differences, just as long as what it takes to make us “family” is agreed upon.

The Family Table

On Thanksgiving most of you probably sat at a big table, surrounded by family, and had a meal. Some of you, if not most of you, sat across from other family units, like brothers and sisters-in-law, or a crazy aunt and uncle. Maybe you shared a meal with some cousins you see only once a year – for good reason. But here’s the thing: you did it because they were family.

My wife and I lead a family unit, and our unit does things a little differently than the rest. So, when we come together with other family units for Thanksgiving or Christmas, we rarely discuss the different ways we run our households; we just enjoy the fellowship and the food. Why can’t we do that more often as Christians?

Many in the world make excuses for their atheism by pointing at Christians and their denominations. They say things like, “See, your beliefs can’t be true; you can’t even agree!” What community services provide is the chance to show that real Christians, true believers in Christ, can have their different ways of doing things when at home, but still come together for a family reunion, a meal around a common table of faith.

Of course, there are times when fellowship with other churches must be avoided; heresy cannot be tolerated. But the fact is that there are more times than not when genuine believers should come together once in a while to break bread, if for no other reason than to show the world that we are children of the same Father, co-heirs with Jesus our brother, regardless how we run our individual homes.

Now, will someone pass the manna?

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Filed under baptist, Christian Unity, Christmas, legalism, Relationships and Family, Thanksgiving, worship