Bartimaeus Baptist Temple

Blessings to you, loved ones.  My life is much busier now, but the highlight of my week is till getting to see you on Sundays.  I might not be able to answer your calls or texts right away, but please know I will get back to you as soon as I can.

We had a great Homecoming.  It was a joy to see so many there.  Y’all can come any time.  WE won’t always have barbecue, but I try to make sure we always get a good helping of God’s word and there’s plenty of love to go around.

If you know children, or even remember being one, you’ll know the truth of what I’m saying.  When they get in trouble, it’s always someone or something else’s fault.  It may be easier to spot in children, but we don’t grow out of it as much as we’d like to think.  Our excuses just get more nuanced and elaborate.  It might be for something we do, or for something we don’t do.  It doesn’t matter, as long as we can shift the blame off of ourselves.  Excuses come in many forms.  Sometimes what we’re really saying is that whatever is expected of us was not as important as something else.  We didn’t want to, so we made up a reason.  Sometimes in life we do have to make those choices, but we better have our priorities straight when it comes to our relationship with the Lord.

Earlier this year we went over the parable of the wedding feast that Jesus gave in Matthew 22:1-14.  The one we are covering this time may sound familiar because it is similar in construction to that one, but the emphasis here is a little different, though the outcome is the same.  We’ll be in Luke 14, with the focus on verses 16-24.  I’m expecting to see you there.  No excuses!  🙂

Love you all,

Larry

Dear BBT family and friends, as many of you will have been informed by now, we lost our beloved sister, Anita Hooks, last Thursday.  Funeral services will be held at the church at 2:00pm this Saturday.  More information is available here.

We will also hold a memorial service at our regularly scheduled time on Sunday.  We’ll sing the songs she requested back when everyone was taking turns picking songs, and provide time for anyone to share.  The service is open to anyone who would like to honor her memory.

We will miss you, Anita, but we’ll see you when we get home.

Blessings to you, loved ones.  It has been a busy week for me.  I’m sorry to say I haven’t really talked to anyone this week, but you are all in my prayers.  I had the opportunity to speak at the National Church Conference of the Blind convention this week.  The theme verse for the week was 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all things for the glory of God.”  When I saw that, several other passages came to mind regarding doing what we do for His glory, and about His glory.  I was asked to do a short devotional message and also one of the main sermon slots, so I tackled two others, figuring the theme would be adequately covered by the featured speaker.  My schedule now being pretty full, you all are getting both messages, one last Sunday and one tomorrow.

But there’s something i hope you noticed about that verse above.  It begins with a “therefore.”  That’s a sure sign that there is context that should be examined.  Now in this case, the admonition will stand on it’s own and I am making no criticism of the choice, but it provides an opportunity to talk about context, and the passage we’ll examine tomorrow brings up a red hot issue in today’s world.

In fact, I have looked at this several times with a desire to teach on it, but because of the context I shied away from approaching it.  The part that sprang to mine is Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people, knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”  Great quote, right?  But look back one verse and you find, “Slaves, obey those who are your human masters in everything, not with eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.”  See why I kept putting it off?

Don’t Christians teach that slavery is wrong?  Pretty much everyone in the western world believes this now, but we all know it wasn’t always so, and we are arguing over whose version of history is right.  If we are going to rely on the Bible as our standard and agree that slavery is wrong, what do we do with passages like this one? Does it have any relevance in today’s society?  I hope you will join us tomorrow as we try to answer these questions.

Love y’all!

Larry

Blessings to you, friends.  My prayer for us this week is that we boldly proclaim the truth in love.  The giants will be powerless against it.  I’ve been thinking a lot about the future of our ministry.  We’ll always have a focus on ministry to people with disabilities, but why is it that we do that?  It is because everyone needs Jesus, and we want to make sure everyone gets the opportunity to meet Him.

We need to see people the way God sees them.  We need to see people the way God sees us!  In this kind of ministry, it’s easy to get distracted from the main thing.  We see the need, and we focus on the need we can see.  Everyone wants to be seen for who they really are and loved anyway.  We must avoid our natural tendency to stop at the surface.  It makes us feel good to do something immediate and see a result, but often we miss the real need in so doing.  Many of us are facing some kind of disability.  Some struggle with financial problems.  Others battle internal enemies we cannot see, but that sometimes manifest in unpleasant behavior.

One time, Jesus was preaching to a packed house.  It was so crowded that no one else could get in.  He had already performed healing miracles, and everyone was flocking to him.  Among them were 5 men, one of whom was paralyzed.  They were determined to get to Jesus, knowing that He could heal the paralyzed man.  Finding that they were never going to be able to carry the man through that crowd to get to Jesus, they got up on the roof and broke through to lower him right in front of Jesus.

There are many things we can learn from this story, but what happens next is what I want you to see this time.  It is pretty obvious what these men want and they will get it, but that isn’t where Jesus starts.  His first words to the man who is paralyzed are, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”  Jesus sees past the apparent need to the real one.  If He ad only healed the man, it would have done him no lasting good.  He might enjoy his life a bit more while he had it, but he would have died with no hope.  The Bible tells us we’ve all sinned, and we all need forgiveness.  Jesus, through the pronouncement of forgiveness and the act of healing, establishes that He is the one who can offer it. (Luke 5:17-26)

We have been commissioned by our Lord to make disciples of all the nations.” (Mt. 28:19) We can start right here in our own community.  It is uncomfortable, but God did not call us to be comfortable.  There is great need, and we do what we can to meet it, but the greatest need of all is the saving power of Jesus Christ.  We must see people the way that God does, and love them that way, too.

I hope you will join us this Sunday.  I sure enjoyed our fellowship last Sunday.  Lets keep bringing them in!

Love y’all,

Larry

Fear not my friends, You have not lost your salvation and gone to Hell.  You just live in Texas and it’s summertime.  🙂  I hope everyone is able to keep cool.  Thank you again, Pris, for coming in on Sunday mornings to get the AC going.

It was good to see most of us back last Sunday.  Cindy says she is feeling much better, so maybe we can get everyone next time.  Better yet, let’s bring someone!  I know that many of us, myself included, aren’t getting out much these days, but let’s not miss those opportunities we do have to share the love of Jesus and invite those we meet to join us.

This Sunday, we will be in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.  Recently some good things have happened for our country, but there is still a battle raging.  The forces of evil have not given up.  Though they have been slowed  on one front, they continue to advance on others.  How is the Christian to respond?  We must stand and even fight for the truth, but we must do so with love and humility.  We must remember that the true enemy is not the people who oppose us, but the spiritual forces behind them. (Eph. 6:12) We must speak the truth of God’s word, because to do otherwise would not be loving.  It would be closer to the hate of which we are often accused, because without the truth they will be lost forever.  It will also help to remember that we were once just as lost, and it is only by God’s grace that we are saved from the same judgment. (Eph. 2:8-10)

So, we come to one of those controversial passages that some might prefer to leave out or explain away, but if we finish the thought, we find the grace of God.  Paul reminds the church at Corinth that sinners don’t get into God’s kingdom, and he lists a number of offenses specifically.  (1 Cor. 6:9-10) Then he concludes the thought with this, “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor. 6:11)  There are two ways to read the first part of this statement.  Doubtless there were some there who did not practice any of the listed sins.  However, everyone is covered by the word “unrighteous” until they repent and follow Jesus.  Therefore I think the proper understanding, based on the issues Paul was addressing in the church, is that there were some there who had not repented.  Thus, only some of the people to whom he wrote would be among those to which the rest of verse 11 applies.

It is no secret that many who appropriate the name of Christ are not really His.  When we see churches embracing some of the very sins Paul lists in verses 9 and 10, we can only conclude that these are not true churches at all.  They may contain sincere believers, but the churches have gone astray and no longer follow Jesus.  Let us be devoted to the truth, humbly loving each other and those who need to know what true love is.

I love you all!

Larry