Category Archives: Preaching

by | June 22, 2013 · 8:38 pm

Global Influence of “Playing” On the Computer

Thanks to Rob Stroud’s post on Mere Inkling, I had an idea…

They say,

  • “I don’t know why you do that blogging stuff. It seems like such a waste of time.”
  • “Don’t you have anything better to do than play on your computer?”
  • “Don’t call that ministry; knocking on doors is the way to get out the word.”
  • “Nonsense! I haven’t got any use for computers. They should just take ’em all out and burn ’em.”
  • “Why do you spend so much time on that silly blog? Who reads it, anyway?”

I say,

  • At the time of this writing, The Recovering Legalist has nearly 900 subscribers. That’s more regular attendees than 90% of churches have total members. Numbers aren’t everything, but every number represents a soul.
  • If the computer was created for anything, reaching the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ should be the ultimate goal.
  • Real people in real need sit in front of computer screens, so every time a person reads my blog it’s like I was invited into his or her home.
  • This blog has been up and going for over three years. But since February of 2012, not even a year and a half, The Recovering Legalist has been read in at least 135 countries. Some of those countries would never let a Christian missionary cross their borders.
World influence map

Global influence of The Recovering Legalist

“And [Jesus] said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” – Mark 16:15 KJV

 Christian bloggers are media missionaries. That is why I spend so much time “playing on the computer.”

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by | June 11, 2013 · 12:30 am

Still At It

“You Still Preaching?”

I don’t hear it too much any more, but I used to hear it rather frequently. Family members, old friends, former acquaintances, and the average person I never wanted to see again would come up to me and ask, “Hey, you still preaching?”

Maybe it’s the thing to do. Maybe it is customary to ask a person if they are still doing what they were doing the last time you saw them. It makes sense. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked,

  • “Are you still unemployed?”
  • “You still sick with that sickness thing?”
  • “You still married?”
  • “You still running off at the mouth about things you know nothing about?”
  • “You still planning to party with Hitler for eternity?”

I just don’t get why people ask if I am still preaching. It’s like they think I’ll change my mind or walk away from the ministry, or something.

Some Statistics

In reality, it’s not that unreasonable to ask someone who once accepted the call to ministry if he is still preaching. Even though it sorta feels like an insult, I shouldn’t be surprised by other people’s shock. I mean, it has been nearly 30 years since I made my calling public. I’ve known more than one who have walked away the first year.

If more people knew the statistics, few would would ever enter the ministry. Stop and think about it, would you enter a career with the highest rate of heart attacks? Would you take out student loans for a degree that demands you work multiple jobs? Consider these sad facts…

  • 70% felt God called them to pastoral ministry before their ministry began, but after three years of ministry, only fifty percent still felt called.
  • 80% of pastors’ spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.
  • 70% of pastors constantly fight depression.
  • 80% of adult children of pastors surveyed have had to seek professional help for depression.
  • 70% of pastors do not have a close friend, confidant, or mentor.
  • 80% of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.

Still Preaching

Yet, I’m still preaching. It may surprise people who haven’t seen me in a while, but I’m still doing the Lord’s work and still following the call I first heard when I was 16. It may sound strange, but I can’t help it.

“But if I say I’ll never mention the LORD or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!” – Jeremiah 20:9 NLT

“For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” – 1 Corinthians 9:16 KJV

photo (16)Today is the anniversary of my father’s death. Not long ago I went to his grave and placed my Bible on his tombstone. There, glistening in the sun, were the gilded words “Rev. Anthony C. Baker.”

“Daddy,” I said, “I’m still at it.”

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by | June 5, 2013 · 1:23 am

Tent Makers Unite!

In February of 2012 my wife and I decided to attend a special retreat for bivocational ministers and their wives. The retreat was held in Pigeon Forge, TN, at the Music Road Hotel and Convention Center.

We had a great time.

Bi-Vocational

Just in case the above term is unfamiliar to you, a bivocational minister is one who performs the duties expected of a full-time minister/pastor, while also having to maintain other (secular) employment. The size of their church or congregation (or how much they are compensated) has no bearing on their abilities or calling. They are only serving where God has sent them.

Unfortunately, bivocational pastors are often stigmatized as “second-rate” leaders. Some people think that if they were more qualified, more gifted, or better speakers they would pastor larger churches. The fact is that most churches, especially in my denomination, are led by men who are more than qualified to maintain a “higher station.” However, the real issue is that most congregations are smaller (35-100) and cannot afford to pay a full-time pastor.

Tent Makers

So, bivocational pastors carry on in the tradition of the Apostle Paul. Although Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:14 that it is perfectly acceptable for “those who preach the Good News [to] be supported by those who benefit from it (NLT),” he chose to continue to make tents (Acts 18:1-3). But unlike Paul, many of today’s bivocational pastors have to work another job in order to survive. Some do it by choice, but most do it out of necessity, especially those with families.

Now, it may sound bad, but there is an upside to being bivocational: we know what it is like to live in the real world. We have to deal with employers and employees. We know what it’s like to have problems at work, then go to church. We have schedules to juggle, bills to pay, etc. We are just like the people to which we minister. We don’t live in ivory towers.

Extra Tough

But one of the real downsides to being a bivocational pastor is the loneliness. Many don’t understand that we have the same demands, if not more, as pastors of larger churches – yet, with no staff. On top of that, we don’t have time to go on ministry retreats, sabbaticals, or attend conferences during the week. We can’t even get together with other pastors for breakfast to “talk shop” like full-time ministers do – because we’re usually at work. And because of all of this, we get lonely. We get discouraged. We get tired. But it doesn’t have to be that way all the time.

Bivocational Pastors and Wives Retreat

I’ve said a lot to say this: even though it is hard to make the time, sometimes we have to make the time, regardless. That is why, even though it was inconvenient, my wife and I went to the retreat in Pigeon Forge. We needed the encouragement. We needed to be around others in the same boat, on the same sea.

If you are a bivocational minister, you need to seek out and maintain friendships with other men you can trust, especially men in the same kind of ministry. It is so important that you don’t try to do things alone. Likewise, there are probably other men out there who could use your friendship.

Churches, do your pastor and yourselves a favor: plan to send your pastor and his wife on a retreat. Both of you will benefit from the encouragement. He will be strengthened, and his burden will be lightened.

Towards the end of our retreat, a beautiful time of prayer took place. It was a little impractical for us to wash each other’s feet, but we did do something special. Scripture says “how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news,” but sometimes those feet don’t feel so beautiful, or loved. I wish all of you could have heard the weeping and seen the tears as grown men, God’s men, got on their knees and humbly prayed over the feet of their brothers. I felt like I was in a room full of heroes.

One member came up to me the Sunday after the retreat and asked, “Something happened to you last week when you were gone, didn’t it?”

I said, “Sure did…“

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by | May 24, 2013 · 10:02 am

Preaching by Fire

Fiery Preaching

W. A. Criswell once said, “There is something wrong if a man charged with the greatest news in the world can be listless and frigid and dull.” In other words, as John Wesley put it, “Put fire in your sermon, or put your sermon in the fire.”

If there is anything I try not to be is “frigid and dull” when I proclaim the gospel. For that matter, I hate be “frigid and dull” in business meetings. I would make a horrible librarian, I suppose. My preaching style is one that seeks to wake the sleeping, not put people to sleep.

By the Fire

But even though I like to keep some fire in my sermons, I have never preached with a fire. This Sunday will be a first.

campfire 1Our church is having Vacation Bible School this weekend, and the theme is “Hay Day!” The stage in the main auditorium is set up to sorta look like a cross between a farm and a cowboy campsite – complete with an electric fire. On Sunday morning is when everything will wrap up, so the stage will remain set up for a campfire sermon.

It’s gonna be interesting, that’s for sure. Lord willing, I am going to remain 75% in character as I talk with a fellow cowboy/farmer about the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19). It should be entertaining for both the children and adults. Let’s just pray the sermon, preached by a fake fire, is full of some of that real “fire” John Wesley described.

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by | April 21, 2013 · 2:02 am

Mad World

(Guest Post by David Welford)

When I was born I joined a special club. It is not a club I had any choice in joining, but it has an exclusive membership conferred on those who join through the occupation of one, or even both, of their parents. You see my father was a preacher. Actually my father still is a preacher. He still has Rev. in front of his name, and at eighty-two years of age he is still preaching in a small Methodist circuit in South Devon in the United Kingdom. At the time of my birth Dad was in his very first church, and I was the first of four preacher’s kids (PKs) born to my parents.

The first time I was aware of being a PK was when I started school. One of the older girls who attended church decided to take me under her wing. As time went on various comments by friends made me aware that there was something different about me. Something I didn’t understand at the time. When I started secondary school I soon identified the problem. It was my father’s occupation. But why would the fact that my father was a preacher make me some kind of pariah at school? I could understand why teacher’s kids and police officer’s kids were selected for special treatment, but what had preachers ever done to cause their offspring to be singled out?

A comment on a previous blog that referred to life as a PK made me sit up. Heather Mertens said; “I’m not a PK but just being His kid makes me feel like the world doesn’t get it.” If we are His kid, then the world is going to treat us the way that many PKs get treated at school. Being His kid makes us different and the world sees it and hates it. The world hates the fact that His kids have been changed by the experience of sitting at His feet, and the world will do all it can to drag us away from Him. The battle never ends. The pressure is relentless. The world just doesn’t get why we follow Him and want to be part of His family instead of indulging in everything that it, the world, has to offer. I couldn’t choose not to be a preacher’s kid when I was growing up, but I could choose to walk away from God and back into the arms of the world. But why would I when God has made me so aware of how special I am to Him?

Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. Psalm 84:10 NIV

(Guest Post by David Welford)

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by | March 12, 2013 · 3:21 pm

A “Perfect” Role Model

Sermon Prep

Not long ago I was doing some research for a sermon on Jonah. In the process I came across a Muslim website that made an interesting observation (and I will paraphrase), “The Bible proves it is not true because God would not allow the prophets’ reputations to be smeared.”

It went on to say (paraphrasing, again), “What kind of role model would a prophet be if we read of him making mistakes?”

What kind of role model? That’s a good question! Was the Muslim author trying to say that role models had to be perfect in order to be real? Here’s a shocker – in one way or another, everybody is a role model.

If the defining characteristic of a role model is “perfection,” that would rule out King David, Solomon, Moses, Joshua, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Peter, Paul, Sarah, Mary (all of them), the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, and many, many others…

…especially Jonah.

Jonah

Now, Jonah wasn’t exactly the type of person after which I would want to pattern my life, but he was a prophet of God. He had some serious character flaws, though. He was angry, disobedient, and was a racist who constantly talked suicide. He even spouted off to the Lord for being too forgiving!

No, Jonah’s not the type of person I would want to emulate. But hold the whale puke! I am more like him than I thought!

  • I have run from God.
  • I have harbored racism at times, as much as I am ashamed to admit.
  • I have been angry and disobedient.
  • I have wondered if life was worth living.
  • I have even wanted to see whole cities destroyed, innocent people and all, after September 11, 2001.

I have been more like Jonah more than I care to admit.

The Encouraging Part

The fact is that the Bible is not only full of role models, but models of the people we already are. Flawed, broken, and human. But here is the encouraging part: even when we are not perfect, God can still use us – and change us.

  • Jonah ran from God, but God pursued.
  • Jonah disobeyed God, but it didn’t derail God’s plan.
  • Jonah got angry with God, but God responded to him with the understanding kindness of a wise Father.
  • Jonah even wanted to die, but God never belittled him. He only focused Jonah’s attention on the bigger picture: 120,000 souls, not to mention animals, whose lives were spared (Jonah 4).

I thank God that the Bible doesn’t white-wash humanity. There are so many examples of how people, just like me, can find hope, even when we’re not perfect.

The Perfect One

It is not hard to come to the conclusion that there were some really dysfunctional people in the Bible. But you know what? That’s what adds to the authenticity of Scripture. There are no “perfect” role models in the Bible, except for one – Jesus.

“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.” – 1 Peter 2:21-22 ESV

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” – Hebrews 4:15-16 NIV

I want to be more like HIM!

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by | January 14, 2013 · 1:49 am

Monday Monkey (Monkey Ain’t a Preacher) Episode 32

He’s Back!

It has been a long while, but due to popular demand by at least two popular people, Mr. Monkey is back with a new episode.

What is about?  Well, just watch it.

Quality

By the way, forgive the production quality of this episode. I was sleepy. But hey, I played a mean ukulele!

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by | January 1, 2013 · 11:57 pm

13 Things (I Don’t Want to Do)

Year-End Sermon

On Sunday night, December 30, 2012, I preached the final sermon of the year at Riverside Baptist Church. It was an honor to stand before the congregation and deliver a word from the Lord. So, what was the message I chose to encourage and motivate us all as we faced the new year?

Forgetting the past and reaching toward the things before has been preached countless times. Beginning again has been covered, as well as how to have a prosperous new year. Therefore, this year I decided to do something a little different. Instead of talking about resolutions or remembering, I simply listed 13 things I do not want to do in 2013.

I Don’t Want to…

1. Believe another politician. Why did I ever? I won’t do it this year, that’s for sure. Even if he/she is telling the truth, how would I know? Let God be true, and every man a liar, especially those running for office (Romans 3:4).

2. Eat more in one sitting than the average family in Africa eats in a week. (Prov. 23:21; 21:17)

3. Lie, cheat, or steal, even when it’s socially acceptable. This is especially important during tax season, but there are many times we lie to each other, deprive each other, and take what isn’t ours. Have you ever told someone you were “fine” when you actually weren’t? You lied. Used two coupons instead of one, just because the cashier didn’t notice? You stole.

4. Be angry.  Anger rarely solves anything. Angry people are miserable and always finding fault. Angry people turn a leisurely drive into a demolition derby. “Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools” (Ecclesiastes 7:9).

5. Whine or complain. What do I have to complain about? Really?

6. Tell people how stupid they are. I don’t understand why some people act the way they do, but I need to be a little more understanding of idiots, morons, ignoramuses, and bone-headed nincompoops. They must answer to God, not me, for their actions (Rom 14).

7. Add another x to my large. I can’t afford any more clothing. Even now I must wear Hawaiian shirts year-round because nothing will stay tucked in. I mean, seriously! The last thing I need is to expand the “temple.” (1 Corinthians 6:19)

8. Lose another favorite sock. I can’t figure out how it happens, but something has to be done.

9. Waste time.  Today I listened to my two girls play with a new ukulele. They laughed and sang.  Soon they will be grown, and there will be no more music, games, or bedtime stories. “Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away” (Psalm 144:4).

10. Get a divorce.  Many do it because the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence. They don’t realize the unnatural stuff has a nasty aftertaste. I want to stay with the woman God gave me. Who could be better than a gift from God?  “Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth” (Proverbs 5:18).

11. Give one more dollar to a guy on the street….without offering the gospel as a condition. If he wants a dollar, then fine. I’ll give him $5 if he lets me tell him about Jesus.

12. Be on a reality TV show. So many people say, “Anthony, your family would make a great reality show.” I say, “Yes, I know.” However, it ain’t gonna happen. The world isn’t ready for it.

13. Forget to pray. I don’t pray enough. More is better. What I need is to follow David’s example and pray morning, noon, and evening (Psalm 55:17). I shudder to think how much I’ve given up by forgetting to spend time with God.

James 4:17  “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

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by | December 2, 2012 · 4:58 pm

Christmas Is the Gospel

The first Sunday of December brought with it many sermons about Christmas, I am sure. Riverside Baptist Church was no exception. The message this morning had to do with Christmas, but especially the “good news” of Christmas…the Gospel.

You may never have the opportunity to visit our little church in Chattanooga, but today I am going to give you an opportunity to hear what I preached. The recording isn’t fancy, but it is understandable. I recorded it on my iPhone…the same one I used to record Mr. Monkey acting like a fool (or is that me?).

Pick up a Bible and turn to the book of Luke, chapter two, and follow along.

Listen: Christmas is the Gospel

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by | October 24, 2012 · 9:28 pm

15 Awesome Quotes on Preaching (by Chris Jordan)

Today I was fortunate to cross paths with a brother in Christ, Chris Jordan. He is a pastor and author in Canada.

This post of his is worth reading, especially if you are one of those who stand behind a pulpit each week. I was convicted by several of the 15 quotes he included.

 

 

15 Awesome Quotes on Preaching.

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