Category Archives: Uncategorized

by Anthony Baker | January 18, 2019 · 12:50 pm

Spurs and Schedules

Friends and foes, I really wish I could sit down at my computer to write out all that’s going on in my life. Some of you would be excited, others could care less, but I hate long periods of silence.

Nevertheless, I’m currently on an extremely spur-of-the-moment trip out of town. It had to be taken now because of how my schedule is going to be changing starting February 1. On that day, after 13 months, I’m going to be driving a school bus again.

Believe me, between the reason for this trip and driving a school bus again, I’m going to have more stories to tell.

Maybe this weekend I’ll continue with my series on things to do in 2019.

It all depends on how the spur affects me.

8 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

by Anthony Baker | January 14, 2019 · 5:05 pm

New and Improved iOS Sharing Extensions

New and Improved iOS Sharing Extensions

New and Improved iOS Sharing Extensions

— Read on en.blog.wordpress.com/2018/03/28/new-and-improved-ios-sharing-extensions/

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

by Anthony Baker | January 12, 2019 · 10:02 pm

Under His Protection

I found a post by a young mother who thought she cracked her phone, but in reality she found a wonderful illustration of how sometimes things aren’t what they seem.

It is Well With Her Soul

It is officially my birthday and I am so excited to be celebrating with the ones I love and to start my morning with some of my most favorite things – a good cup of coffee, a journal and the word of God.

I pray that today’s journal notes are an encouragement to you and that your 2019 is off to a great start!

What is it like to have God protecting you?

For the Lord God is our sun and our shield.
He gives us grace and glory.
The Lord will withhold no good thing
from those who do what is right.
Psalm 84:11

I recently cracked my phone, like REALLY cracked my phone! Do you know the type of crack, the one where chards of glass seep through and you fear a cut every time you answer a text? Yes! My phone was in VERY bad shape.

It all started with a…

View original post 766 more words

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

by Anthony Baker | January 12, 2019 · 9:28 am

Wholesome Words Needed

This morning I saw a news story about an actor who said ever single American who voted for President Trump should be f-worded. Earlier, a newly-elected congresswoman publicly called the President a “mother______,” and AOC backed her up. We need to be careful not to take their example and respond in kind, no matter the temptation. Vulgarity may get attention in the short term, but wholesome words are what we need.

Proverbial Thought

Proverbs 15:4

“A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.”
“The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.” – NIV

Healing Words

There are so many people in this world who are sick and suffering. Their suffering is not physical, necessarily, but emotional and spiritual. The world is full of down and discouraged men and women, but a word of comfort spoken with kindness can be like life-giving medicine.

A wholesome tongue, or a tongue that brings healing, is compared to a life-giving tree. Wholesome, nurturing, healthy words are like food for the soul; food that is found on a tree with roots that run deep, all the way down to the Water of life.

The unattractive need to hear that they are beautiful in God’s eyes. The broken hearted need to…

View original post 257 more words

4 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

by Anthony Baker | January 8, 2019 · 8:10 am

Why I Need Stress

Stress in your life? Mike offers a refreshingly different take on it and actually illustrates the benefit of it – at least by attacking stress instead of running from it.

I’ve always thought trucks made great object lessons. This post supports that thinking 🙂

New Hope for Dry Bones

Stress. It isn’t exactly what a person wants. I have never, not one single time, gone to God in prayer and asked for more stress today. I’ve never told my wife that I want to be stressed out by her. I’ve yet to ask my kids to stress me out. I haven’t gone to work, riding in my truck thinking, “I sure hope work is more stressful.”

Nope. I don’t ask for stress because I don’t like it.

Sometimes I feel like I am pulled in four different directions and at any moment, I’m going to snap because I am at the end of how far I can be stretched. This tension causes stress.

But, I’m not sure we can survive as a species without stress. There has to be some outside force that causes us to act. Without any stress at all, I may not budge from wherever I…

View original post 541 more words

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

by Anthony Baker | January 4, 2019 · 12:04 pm

What Just Let the Air Out of My Tires?

A lot of us can sympathize with Matthew Winters. It’s time to refocus on what’s most important, weed out the unnecessary, and put Jesus Christ first. I would add that sweeping our own driveways and parking lots of all the things that may puncture our spiritual tires is also vitally important.

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

by Anthony Baker | December 30, 2018 · 10:36 pm

Control Your Anger

This morning I mentioned that, among other things, I want to control my anger more this year. Not that I have a problem with anger issues, but that I simply want to avoid getting angry over things that offend me. I need to do a better job at turning those things over to God.

Then, as I was working on putting together the directory for all our posts on Proverbial Thought, I came across this post. Coincidence?

Proverbial Thought

Proverbs 14:29

“He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.” (KJV).
“Those who control their anger have great understanding; those with a hasty temper will make mistakes.” (NLT).

The Emotion of Anger

The Book of Proverbs gives us a smorgasbord of wisdom that applies to every area of our life: It gives us wisdom in our relationships, family life, dealing with finances and walking in righteousness. But it also gives us a window into our heart, and helps us to consider our emotions as well. In the above Proverb, Solomon addresses the emotion of anger.

Anger is not necessarily a bad thing. It is an emotion, and when we are treated unfairly, we are going to get angry. However, what we do with that emotion is what makes it good or evil. If we can control our anger, it…

View original post 343 more words

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

by Anthony Baker | December 24, 2018 · 11:11 am

The With Us God: The God Of Peace!

If Pastor Randy said nothing else in this post but the following, it would still be worth reading and “liking”: “If your confidence that God is with you only when the circumstances are good, then your faith is shallow and insincere. Our Confidence In God Must Be Rooted In The Character Of God, not in what God will do for you.”

But Pastor Randy Burbank (not a Baptist, sadly), makes some solid points in this piece which are as applicable around Christmas as at any other time. God is with us the whole year round.

Kingdom Pastor

(This is the final installment of my current message series, The With Us God)

Here are the names we have looked at thus far. Yahweh Yireh—The God Who Provides.Yahweh-Nissi—The Lord Who Fights For Us.Yahweh-Shammah—The God Who Is There! William Shakespeare wrote in his tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” a famous line: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would be as sweet.” His point was that a name did not change the essence of a thing or a person. There is nothing significant about a name. And to a degree he is right, but not always. Change the name of the skunk to honeysuckle and he will still stink. It doesn’t change its nature.

However, when it comes to Immanuel, the With Us God, the name is uniquely special in both meaning and power. These names of God from the Old Testament say something about…

View original post 2,120 more words

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

by Anthony Baker | December 23, 2018 · 10:11 am

Fear In the Christmas Story

This was from last year, but it bears repeating.

The Recovering Legalist

Christmas Sermons

You may have never considered it, but it’s a challenge to come up with Christmas sermons year after year without being too repetitive. Sure, one could simply preach through Luke 2 every year, but a little creativity can go a long way.

This year I will preach a couple of sermons I have preached in other places, but they will be new to the folk here at South Soddy Baptist. The first Christmas sermon of the year will be based on the notes I’m going to share with you this morning.

To Fear, Or Not to Fear

Did you know there are actually some honest-to-goodness phobias related to Christmas? Here are just a few.

Selaphobia – the fear of flashing Christmas lights.
Ghabhphobia – the fear of presents or gifts.
Krikophobia – the fear of church services.
Cyssanophobia – the…

View original post 517 more words

Celebrating His Coming: Thoughts for the 4th Week of Advent

I know this might appear a little self-serving, since what I’m reblogging today is a post from a blog I’m a part of, but it’s more than that.

Daniel Klem has been doing a wonderful job holding down the fort through the Christmas season, submitting encouraging posts dealing with the Advent season. Why not go read what he has written for today, along with previous posts throughout the past four weeks. I’m sure you’ll be blessed, and so will he 🙂

Merry Christmas

Proverbial Thought

Welcome to the fourth week of Advent!

Tradition holds that the final week of Advent is all about Love and Adoration for our Lord and Savior.

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. -Philippians 2:9-11, KJV

christmas holly beside white painting concrete wall Photo by Markus Spiske temporausch.com on Pexels.com

Jesus, the God-Man, came and lived as one of us to redeem us from death into life. Because of this, He has been exalted by the Father. How much more should we make Jesus famous around the world?

The day is quickly coming when the choice to love and worship Jesus will be taken away. We…

View original post 62 more words