Bartimaeus Baptist Temple

Good day friends.  I hope it has been a better week for you than the one before.  It certainly was a warmer one.  We had hail at my house a couple of nights ago.  Abut the only thing left for February to throw at us is a tornado.  A lot of us probably feel like we’re already in one, but we know the one who can calm the storm.  Better days are coming.

We decided last week to base returning to the building on whether we could get a thorough cleaning done.  We weren’t able to do that, so we’ll have the call again.  If you need the number, contact one of us or leave a message here.

Has anyone ever called you religious?  What did you think of that label?  It hasn’t always been this way, but now it seems not even Christians want to be identified as being religious.  You’ve probably heard and maybe even used the phrase, “It’s not a religion; it’s a relationship.”  I’m pretty sure I’ve used it.

We understand why an unbeliever might feel this way, but how did religion get such a ad rep even among the religious?  Books have been written on that question, but I think we might feel differently if we defined religion the way God does.  Read James 1:26-27.

Love y’all!

Larry

Blessings to you, loved ones.  I hope you’re all staying warm during this unusually cold season.  Surprisingly, it has been colder.  It was -8 degrees on February 12, 1899.

We have decided to discuss week by week when we will be returning to in-person meetings, so watch this space for updates.  This might be a good time to point out that you can subscribe to updates from the web site via email.  On a computer or mobile device in desktop mode it is at the bottom of the sidebar on the right.  On your phone you will find it at the end of the page.  The email address you provide will not be used for any other purpose, but i should say that the company behind WordPress is managing this feature and stores the addresses.

We will be meeting by phone tomorrow.  If you have not been receiving the text messages with the conference number, contact us and we will be sure that you get the information in whatever form you need it.

Tomorrow is Valentine’s day, so I get to talk about love.  You all know it’s my favorite subject.  I also know that many of us are hurting, and this might be a tough one.  Sometimes we don’t feel loved.  Sometimes we’re disappointed because our expectations about what love should look like are not met.  People let us down.  We might even begin to think that God has let us down.  Your enemy will certainly try to make you think so.

What if love comes in forms we may not immediately recognize?  Some years ago while I was reading in John, Chapter 11, my attention was drawn to these words in verses 5-6.

⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.

This seems to indicate that the reason Jesus stayed where He was after hearing that His friend was sick was because He loved him.  We would have expected this to read “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then came quickly to the place where Lazarus was staying.”  But that’s not what it says.  Jesus had something much bigger in mind.  It would involve more suffering for Lazarus and his family, but the result would be something greater than any of them expected, affecting the lives of many others who would witness what he was about to do.

I pray that you’ll be encouraged by this message.  When you can’t understand what is happening to you, when god seems far away an in no hurry to come your way, when love seems like nothing but a nice notion, know that God has not forgotten you.  He has something better in mind that goes beyond anything you have imagined and touches more lives than your own.  Trust him, and act on that trust.

Love y’all!

Larry

Hello friends and family.  It’s Saturday afternoon as i write this, 73 degrees and sunny.  Welcome to Texas winter, y’all!  My heart is warm too, as I thank the Lord that we are all getting back to health.  Unless something changes, we plan to be back at church on February 7.  Tomorrow will be virtual, and I’ll send out a reminder before the service.  If you wish to be included, let us know.  Linda has something to share with us.  Don’t miss out!

I will be speaking from James 3:1-12.  It seems there’s not much we can agree on lately as a country, but there’s one point on which we do seem to agree that I  think would be a good place to start.  That is that words matter.  The battle over what has been said and who has the right to say it has escalated to the point of absurdity, but everyone seems to be in agreement that what is said has power.

James would agree.  He says in verse 6, “And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.”  Back in verse 2 he says in part, “If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man…”

The tongue can be a weapon, and too many of us fire it without sufficient thought to the damage we may cause.  Often it’s ourselves we end up shooting.  If I hand you a loaded gun, chances are you are going to handle it very carefully.  You know the damage it can do.  If we would give the same care to what we say, we could avoid much pain and misery.

It can also be used for good.  We can speak words of love, healing, and restoration.  We can speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves.  We can proclaim the Good News that Jesus provided the way of salvation.  Join us as we explore God’s powerful words together.

Love you all,

Larry

Hello friends and family.  My prayer for you this week has been for health, and that we all grow in our relationship with the Lord such that we can see His goodness even when our circumstances tempt us to question.

I am happy to report that Ruth did not have the virus and is doing much better now.  Edith is doing fine and plans to be back at work on Monday.  Pris and Kimi are still struggling but showing signs of improvement.  I apparently developed bronchitis but have medication now and seem to be improving.  From what I could gather, Don is also getting better.

Anita became ill with Covid-19 last Tuesday and has been in the hospital.  She was hoping to go home today when I spoke to her.  She sounded good.  Cathy’s x-mother-in-law has passed away and she is asking that we pray for the Kilgore family.

We emphasize prayer a lot here.  Each week I type up the requests that come out of our Sunday services so that we can remember them throughout the week.  We believe in prayer.  We believe we have a God who can and does answer prayer.  But is that all prayer is?  What are we to think when the prayers seem to go unanswered?  I’m sure I’m not the only one who has asked at some point in his journey why we pray at all.  God is sovereign and is going to do what He is going to do.

What is prayer really?  Is it simply the means by which we express our wish list for God, or is it meant to be something more?  It will always have the aspect of supplication, since we are in communication with the Creator of all things, infinitely greater than ourselves.  Thus it will also involve worship and submission to His will.  But I haven’t mentioned the most wonders characteristic of prayer.  It is an open door to a relationship with this almighty being who greatly desires that we enter in.  He knows us, loves us anyway, and wants us to know Him; truly know Him.

During this time of trouble, I imagine many of us have put in more prayer time than we might have in happier days, but has it been quality time?  Have we left space amidst our cries of pain to hear the still small voice speaking to us?  Are we so focused on our troubles that we cannot hear the very words that would comfort and bring healing?

we know that Jesus Himself spent a lot of time in prayer.  On one such occasion, His disciples asked that He teach them how to pray.  His answer is notable for its brevity.  We know from examples of Jesus’ own prayers as well as those of his followers recorded elsewhere in scripture that Jesus is not setting down a liturgy to be repeated.  Rather He is describing the attitudes with which we approach God in prayer.  He then follows up with assurances that our Heavenly Father is ready and waiting for us to come to Him, and faithful to answer.  Our text will be from Luke 11:1-13.

I hope you can join us.  I’ll send out a reminder via text to the regular attendees with the dial-in number.  If you would like to be included, please contact us via the web site or on Facebook.  We will not be doing a live online session, but the message will be uploaded later.

Love y’all!

Larry

Happy New Year all!  We don’t seem to be off to a very happy start, but we can still choose to rejoice.  I’ve already let everyone know that we’re going virtual for the next couple of weeks because several of us are sick, but in light of the current concern that requires at least some explanation.

I don’t think it’s appropriate to spell out everything here, but members will be able to discern the situation from what I am saying.  On Thursday I became convinced that the symptoms I was feeling indicated something more than a cold or allergy.  I immediately called Cathy to see if we could arrange to have a service without me, but then learned that one of the people I rode home with was also sick.  At that point it seemed safest to go back to a virtual venue.  Two of the  six people who were in that vehicle have tested positive for Covid-19 and I am almost certainly the third.  If you need more detail, you may contact one of us directly.

Regulars should have received a text from me with the dial-in number for the conference line that we used last year.  For security reasons we do not publish it, but you can contact me directly or leave a message if you don’t have it and would like to join us.

I do have a message in mind, but don’t think I have the energy to prepare and deliver it for tomorrow, so we will probably just have a time of fellowship and prayer.  We’ll try to answer any questions you may have, and I want to discuss different ways we might hold our virtual services.  The phone line by itself has the advantage of simplicity but also limits what we can see and do.  The two weeks I mentioned above is likely to become at least one more.

Now I’ll address the elephant in the room.  Did we make a mistake by meeting?  I say we did not.  We decided as a church to set aside fear and come together as the Lord would have us do.  We knew there was risk, and we took steps to mitigate it.  I trust that we will meet again soon, but with several of us now needing to quarantine and still others sick with non-covid related ailments, there just aren’t many left to come and hold a service.

Last year when we were meeting on the phone, we talked about making better use of virtual tools to extend our reach but didn’t really explore that after we began meeting again.  So we are given another opportunity, but I can tell you I’ll need help if we are to make progress.  It will have to be a church-wide effort.  Once the threat of Covid-19  has lifted it will involve turning as many of those virtual connections as we can into physical connections.  We were made for community.  These screens are a wonderful blessing during this time, but they cannot substitute for real human contact.

I love you all.  Be strong and courageous!

Larry