Bartimaeus Baptist Temple

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  For security reasons we do not publish it, but you can contact me directly or leave a message if you don’t have it and would like to join us.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

Hello loved ones.  I hope you enjoyed your Christmas celebrations this week.  As was the case for many this year, Linda and I didn’t get to see everyone we would have liked to, though not for reasons related to the virus.  Still we enjoyed the company of friends and family and are grateful for God’s blessings.

As 2020 draws to a close, few will be sorry to see it go.  Corona virus, riots, and political upheaval have made it a year we will not soon forget.  I haven’t even touched on the challenges we’ve faced as a church this year.  Will 2021 be better?  We certainly hope so!  We know that our troubles are not over.

Across the country over the next few days, pastors and other leaders will be looking for words to inspire hope for the year to come.  Believers will turn to God and to His word for that inspiration.  I’ve never been much for convention, but it seems appropriate for me to do the same.  The need is undeniable.

Therefore, I turned my attention this week to one of Linda’s favorite passagesI know that she is not alone in drawing strength from it.  I’ve included a few more verses for just a little bit of context.  We’ll be reading from Isaiah 43:15-19.

This is part of Isaiah’s prophetic message to the nation of Israel.  Recurring themes are Israel’s determination to sin and Yahweh’s determination to redeem.  He alludes to their past and then presents to them a future in which they will once again be judged and once again be redeemed.  But He says in other words, “don’t expect me to do it the same way.”

As we look through the scripture, we can see that this is the way God works.  We cannot put Him into a box or explain Him with a formula.  The Bible does not present us with a set of rituals, actions, or incantations to which God must respond in predictable ways, though some have tried to treat it that way.  God is infinite and infinitely creative.  His nature never changes, but His methods will always surprise.  We can look to the past to teach us about God’s nature, but when we look to the future, we should be ready for Him to do something new!

Join us for our final service of 2020 and expect a new thing in your life!

Love y’all,

Larry

Merry Christmas y’all!  This Sunday will be our official Christmas celebration at BBT.  It will be a little different this year but just as special.  We have all that we truly need because Jesus came to us on that day over two thousand years ago. The will never be a greater gift than that!

So we are going to celebrate together.  We will have a short service.  We’ll sing some carols and I’ll read the Christmas story from Luke 2:1-14 and say just a few words…I promise!  🙂  Then, just maybe, I might sing a few.

If that doesn’t scare you off, come join us for a light afternoon meal at the conclusion of the service.  If you do not normally attend, please let one of us know you’re coming. If you want to bring gifts to share you are welcome to do so, but there will be no formal gift distribution this year.

Keep Kimi in prayer.  She was rushed to Baylor earlier today with chest pain and severe breathing difficulty.  That is all the hard info I have so far.  The assumption is that the blood clots have relocated.

On a happier note, Cindy’s covid test came back negative.  We look forward to seeing her Sunday.

Love you all,

Larry

Blessings to you, loved ones.  I hope you all had a joyful Thanksgiving holiday.  I certainly enjoyed the time we spent together last Sunday.  Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen.

I know that for some of us things might not have gone the way we hoped this week.  The holidays are supposed to bring families together, but sometimes it doesn’t work out that way.  Old feuds are reignited. Personalities clash.  Expectations are not met.  Some people would happily skip this time of year.  Now we’re moving on to Christmas and complicating things further with gift exchanges.

The family is supposed to be our safe place, but for many it’s just the opposite.  Why are so many of our families so broken?  The first answer is simple enough.  They are made up of broken people.  We’re all born into sin, and even after we find Jesus we struggle with our flesh.  We make mistakes.  We hurt each other.  We go and do things outside of God’s design.

I believe that Satan attacks the family in particular because he understands its importance.  God designed it to show us His love in all its forms.  Our families are supposed to mirror God’s family.  Destroying the family destroys something fundamental to who we are.  For this reason, we aught always to strive to heal broken relationships.

But what if the family cannot be healed?  I have often been somewhat troubled by these words of Jesus, “For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.” (Mt. 12:35-36 NASB)  In many places around the world today, these words would not be hard to understand at all.  Converting to Christianity often means ostracism or worse from one’s own family.

A few years ago, I realized how these words apply even to us, who usually don’t suffer more than a bit of scorn for our decision.  It still hurts, but isn’t fatal.  A true follower of Jesus will live a life that looks at least a little like Jesus.  He or she will make choices in accordance with what is right and true.  Wherever light and darkness meet, the darkness must give way.  If you are living for the truth, you will be opposed, and that opposition may come from those closest to you.  This kind of brokenness Jesus told us to expect.

That doesn’t mean we give up.  We keep on loving, keep on forgiving, keep on praying, and keep on speaking the truth.  We pursue peace.  We put our own pride aside and confess when we are in the wrong.  We long for the day when Jesus returns and reunites His family.  But it does mean that until that time there are some wounds that will not heal and some relationships that will not mend.  Do not be discouraged.  If you have done all that you can do, leave the rest in God’s hands.  Keep standing in the truth, and do not compromise the things that matter.

Your church family would be delighted to see you on Sunday.  Come join us, and let the joy of the Lord be your strength.

Love y’all!

Larry

Hello loved ones. This will be a quick update as I am writing it from the Uber on the way to church. The big question for those who haven’t already heard is about Kini. She did get to go home on Tuesday and is recovering with the help of medications. Priscilla also seems to be doing better, though she said she still does not have an apatite.

The inspiration for today’s message came from a prayer request I recently received. The person wanted prayer to “hate sin.” That’s not a bad thing, but my immediate thought was this, “I will pray that he will love God.” It is in growing our relationship with God that we will come to love what He loves and hate what He hates. I didn’t find a place in my bible where we are told to hate sin. I did find some where we are told to hate evil. We have to come to the place where we see our willful sin as the evil that it is. I hope you’ll be able to join us today as we read Psalm 97. Let’s learn to love our awesome Lord.

Love y’all!

Larry