Category: Newsletter

This is a generalization and doesn’t apply to everybody… but it does apply to somebody.

When you tell us “I am a church-hopper,” and you go from place to place, what that sometimes tells us is that you can’t be counted on to stick around and be a part of our lives… and that is what Church is supposed to be… sharing life together in the body of Christ. A family.

If you were a relationship, I would call you a fling. You can’t be counted on to hold my heart for the long hall. You get a piece of my heart, but then you leave and I am hurt because I trusted you with a part of me, and now you are gone.

If you were an employee, I’d call you a temp. You contribute for a while, but I can’t invest too much in you because you are going to leave and all I’ve built in you will be lost. I can’t count on you for the big stuff… because I never know when you will leave for the next big thing.Read More

The other day, in a moment of happy coincidence, I found myself in the glad company of two older preachers, and the three of us spent a few minutes together, laughing and talking and encouraging each other. It was wonderful. And once again a thought occurred to me that I say rarely but live constantly: I love preachers.

I love to be with preachers, I love to hear them talk, I love to hear them talk about what they do, I love laughing at their stories. I treasure their advice (well, most of it, anyway), I’m grateful when I can benefit from their experience, and I’m glad when there is something I can do to lift their spirits. I love to serve them, to bring them glasses of water, to stand up straight when they talk to me, and to say “Yes, sir!” and “No, sir!” when they ask me questions. I love hearing of their triumphs in the Lord’s work, and my heart breaks to hear of their heartaches through years of dealing with people and churches.

No offense, but this is sort of a private club. I really believe it is a rare person who truly understands the joys and heartaches of being a preacher, who is not a preacher themselves.Read More

I was born and raised a Baptist. As a boy, I heard things like: “Baptist born & Baptist bred; and when I die I’ll be Baptist dead!” ; “If I find one hair of my head that’s not Baptist, I’ll pull it out!”, and other memorable quotes from Baptist preachers. I really like what Evangelist B. R. Lakin once said, though: “I used to be proud of being a Baptist ‘til I found out how many of us were in the penitentiary!”.

There are Baptist distinctives, and I do believe them. If I didn’t, then I’d go join up with a group that did teach what I believe. I’m not one who thinks that denominations are necessarily a bad thing. I think genuine Christians can acknowledge each other as real followers of Christ, and still disagree over matters of church government, how baptism should be administered, and exactly what the Holy Spirit does, etc. . When we disagree on things like that, it’s probably best for us to find a group of other like-minded Christians with which to worship and work. It’s like athletes who love baseball, playing on different teams, with different coaches, practicing in different ways, but all for the love of the game. Only, with us, it isn’t a game, and it’s all for the love of Jesus.Read More

As I write this, I am sitting at my desk on my first day back from vacation. For the past three Sundays I have not had to preach. I love to preach the Gospel and teach the Bible more than anything, even more than music (and for those of you who know me well, you know that’s saying something). But it’s always good to have a break from the labor of preaching, and I think it’s good for a congregation to have a break from their pastor now and then, too.

So for the past three weeks I have had a rare privilege of worshipping in three different churches as a part of the congregation. I have heard good messages from three different pastors, and amazingly, all the messages had to do with “the church”. In fact, I stole the title for this article from my friend and brother Tobey Johnson, who is the pastor of Gray Road Baptist Church in Indianapolis, where my father and youngest brother are members. (It’s a compliment, Tobey: I only steal from the best!)Read More

Success is not a bad thing. Nor is money, or power. Whenever we set out to do something, we should try to do it to the best of our ability. No one wants to hire a contractor who is only going to do an “ok” job. No one wants the dentist who only gets it right half of the time. We want someone who is good at what they do, someone who will succeed in the task before them. We also want to be that person who does that work. But there comes a point where the drive to be successful can become the ultimate thing, an unappeasable god that sets out to rule us, instead of a tool for us to use.

Our culture is obsessed with success. From the time our kids are in grade school they are taught to compete against each other and to win… at all costs. Why is this a bad thing? Because eventually we all fail.Read More

I had a disconcerting experience at Moody Pastor’s Conference last month. They asked for all the pastors who have been in the ministry for thirty years or more to stand up. I shrugged and thought, “Hey, that’s me!” So I stood up. I looked to my right to see my friend and colleague, Larry Spear, still seated. I said, “Stand up; you’ve been in the ministry longer than I have!” He looked surprised and said, “I guess that’s right!” and stood up with me. We looked around, and we got another surprise: we were part of a minority, probably less than 10% of the total of the thousand-plus pastors at the conference.

When Larry and I first started going to this conference together in the mid-nineties, we used to see this group of three or four older guys, always sitting together and drinking coffee between the sessions. We haven’t seen those guys for a few years…and now we’re the “old guys” sitting around, drinking coffee between the sessions!Read More

I still miss Ginny Franklin. I still hear her feisty, playful voice in my memory sometimes. I’ll say, “Well, I’m trying.”…and I’ll hear her say, “Yes; you’re very trying!” Or I’ll say, “I’m going to go.” …and I’ll hear her say, “Go-right-ahead…gourd-head!” Virginia Franklin was the first person to make my wife and I feel at home in the First Baptist Church of Linton. She was a corker!

One Sunday after church, she took my wife and me out to lunch (again!). This time, we were joined by Max and Katie Slough. Max was the long-time pastor of the Glenburn United Methodist Church; I’d known him before, and we became re-acquainted when we moved to Linton.

Sitting there over what was left of our lunch, I breathed a huge sigh and commented how tired I was after the morning’s services. Max responded, “Of course you are! You preached this morning; virtue has gone out of you, just like when Jesus healed.” He was referring to three references in the King James Bible: Mark 5:30, Luke 6:19 and Luke 8:46.
After a woman with “an issue of blood” touched the border of Jesus’ garment and was instantly healed, Jesus knew it immediately: “And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched Me, for I perceive that virtue is gone out of Me.” (Luke 8:46 KJV)Read More

I recently overheard in a restaurant a conversation in which one person talked long & loud about “judgmental” Christians & “all the hypocrites in the church”. The other person listened & nodded, agreeing with the assessment. You may be thinking, “You shouldn’t eavesdrop!” I wasn’t; I was across the room. (Some people don’t have an “inside voice”!)

A friend of mine told me about another conversation in which “hypocrisy in the church” and “judgmental Christians” were roundly condemned. People say these things as though the church has a corner on hypocrisy. Actually, it seems to me that you can find hypocrisy anywhere you find people…not just in the church.

We’re always hearing about another politician caught in an embezzlement scandal, or who plagiarized his speeches, or was unfaithful to his/ her spouse. Sometimes they are Christians, but as often they’re not.Read More