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Highland Lakes

Last week I went to a pastor’s conference at Highland Lakes Baptist Center near Martinsville, Indiana.

Highland Lakes Baptist Center is both one of the nicest camping facilities you’ve ever seen, and also the headquarters for the Southern Baptist Convention in Indiana. It is 400 acres of rolling, wooded hills that contain a wonderful Worship Center, a rustic Welcome Center that looks like a lodge in a state park, a large cafeteria facility, various cabins and bunkhouses (heated and air-conditioned, thank you very much), an outdoor swimming pool, an obstacle course, a Frisbee golf course, and various trails for hiking.

This isn’t a commercial for Highland Lakes, and I didn’t really take advantage of any of those wonderful facilities. I saw them as I drove in and out of the property. They looked very nice.

I spent the majority of my time at Highland Lakes sitting in a room with fourteen other pastors from around the state. We spent our time being taught by, conversing with and being prayed for by seven other men, former pastors all, now working out of the state organization to do all they can to encourage pastors and strengthen churches. In fact, that’s pretty much their mission statement.Read More

Weekly Update for Sunday, April 29, 2018

  • National Day of Prayer: Thursday, May 3 from 12:00-12:30 pm at Linton City Hall.
  • Mother’s Day Banquet: Monday, May 14 at 6:30 pm. Lori Jones will speak on forgiveness. Sign-up sheets are in the narthex. Please note-they need you to list yourself, and how many additional guests you will have with you.
  • There is a sign-up sheet for graduates on the Welcome Center. If someone in your family is graduating from high school or college, we would love to know about it.

Weekly Update for Sunday, April 8, 2018

  • Work Day: April 14, at Baptist Collegiate Missions in Terre Haute. All work is outside: Ramp repair and paint, hand rail and yard work. If interested contact Wally Liechty, or sign up at the Welcome Center.
  • Trustee meeting: April 15, following the morning service.
  • There is a sign-up sheet for graduates on the Welcome Center. If someone in your family is graduating from high school or college, we would love to know about it.

Evidence for Easter

I love Easter. We’ve just come through what for pastors is the most wonderful and exhausting time of the year (along with Christmas). But I love it. I love sunrise services, shared breakfasts, and the increased crowds on Easter Sunday. But most of all I love the Truth that Easter celebrates.

I don’t love the view of Easter that equates it with springtime, the yearly cycle of birth-death-and rebirth, and some vague sentiment of “what Easter means to us all”. I especially don’t love the claim that Jesus’ resurrection was a myth.

I’m with the Apostle Paul: if Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead, “we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Cor. 15:19) If I didn’t really believe that Jesus rose from the dead, I’d quit the ministry and go get an honest job.

There are what are called “minimal facts” about the death of Jesus and what happened next. That means that even disbelieving, skeptical scholars admit the following:Read More

Easter Week Schedule

Photo by Eberhard Grossgasteiger

Palm Sunday service (March 25) at 10:00 am.

Good Friday service (March 30):
Tenebrae (Service of shadows) service at 7:00 pm.

Easter Sunday (April 1):
Sunrise Service and breakfast at 7:00 am
Sunday School at 9:00 am
Worship at 10:00 am
(There will be no evening service)

Weekly Update for Sunday, March 18, 2016

  • Trustee meeting: this Sunday, following the morning service.
  • Palm Sunday: March 25. The children will do the procession of palms at the beginning of the service. We’d love to have your children or grandchildren participate!
  • Sarah Mission Circle meeting: March 26, 1:00 pm in the library.
  • Good Friday service: Here, March 30 at 7:00 pm. This will be a special service called a Tenebrae service or “Service of shadows.”
  • On Easter, April 1, we will have a Sunrise Service at 7:00 am, followed by a breakfast in the Fellowship Hall. Sunday School will be at 9:00 am and Worship at 10:00 am; there will be no evening service.
  • Teams of two are needed for the Tree House in May and November. See a member of the Christian Education Board if you’re interested in helping.

Weekly Update for Sunday, March 4, 2018

  • This Sunday evening, we will be hosting Dr. Elmer Towns. Dr. Towns has written over 100 books, is an editor, college and seminary professor and co-founder of Liberty University. He will teach from his latest publication, I Am God the Son.
  • The Christian Education Board needs a team of two in the Tree House for May and November. Please let one of them know if you feel called in this direction.
  • March 25 is Palm Sunday. The kids will do a procession of palms at the start of service, then up to the Tree House. We would love to have your children and grandchildren take part this year.
  • Greeters are still needed for months from July through December. Please see the sign-up sheet at the Welcome Center.