Sound Words

What do a left-handed assassin (Judg 3:12-30) and a head crushing wife who is grotesquely handy with a tent peg and a hammer (Judg 4:17-22) have to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ? This is a dilemma with which every person preaching, teaching, or studying the book of Judges has to grapple. Pastor David’s essay titled Christ as Warrior King: Preaching Christ from Judges answers such a question. Check this essay recently published in the Spring 2008 edition of The Tie, published by The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Christ as Warrior King: Preaching Christ from Judges 

Ten days from now will be the first year anniversary of the death of my mother. She died last year on my birthday, May 20th 2007. As I reflect on the past year living without the presence of my mom I have competing emotions. There continues to be sadness. It was difficult to see the devastating effects of sin in the world and to watch cancer sap her physical vitality and ravage her body. Since her death I have missed many of the little things she used to do like call me during elections seasons and ask me who to vote for. I miss the way she always pronounced Lydia Grace’s name wrong and countless other reoccurring, pleasant moments that seem to constantly pop back into my mind. I miss sharing the special moments of our family life with her. She did not really care that one of the boys hit a triple in the baseball game the night before but she wanted hear about it and I wanted to tell her. But the sadness I feel is that of separation and not anxious depression. My feelings of joy for her override my sadness with eternal realities. I would not want my mom to come back from being present with the Lord and she would not want to come back (2 Corinthians 5:8). Through faith in Christ she knows by experience what I pray for, long for, and dream about.

It sounds scandalous and I even hesitate to write the words but I will; I am glad my mom died on May 20th, 2007. Now do not get me wrong I did not want her to die and instructed the Doctors to use every means possible to preserve her life. But despite all efforts to the contrary she did die and I do not begrudge it because it was the unfolding of God’s good purpose in her life. The Psalmist beautifully declares, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” (Psalm 139:16) The days that He prepared for my mom were full of many things: difficulties and joys, triumphs and tragedies, as well as health and physical suffering. She was a sinner who I am sure wounded others at times and she possessed some deep wounds and anguish of soul which remained until her lungs gasped for one last breathe. Nevertheless, according to God’s plan and because of His amazing grace she died believing in Christ and with her sins forgiven.

Hers was simple faith. Jim Elliot (martyred missionary) after graduating from Wheaton College once said of his father, an uneducated itinerant evangelist, “He cannot spell Deity but he walks with God.” My mom never read a theology book or chatted it up with me about the logical order of the decrees of God but she died believing that “through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:15).

I have been asked with Mother’s Day approaching, “Is it a sad time for you?” The answer is “yes, in a way,” but it is probably not what those who ask think. The fact of my Mom’s death does not make this Mother’s Day worse it makes it better. Perhaps more than any other Mother’s Day, all of my thoughts, even the sad ones, lead me back to the gospel. More often than not, my sad thoughts end with me smiling because I remember that the gospel is true and my Mom knows that better than me.That makes this the most wonderful Mother’s Day of all for me and my Mom and that will be true until we hug again in a New Heavens and New Earth with the glory of Jesus lighting our smiles. Until then . .  Yes, it is a Happy Mother’s Day for me because the gospel is true.

As a kid that loved baseball, Ted Williams was one of my heroes. He was not playing at the time I was growing up but my dad and many others considered him the greatest hitter to ever play the game of baseball. Carl Yastrzemski played left field for the Red Sox when I was a child but Ted Williams’ shadow still loomed large. Read More

The Exodus account begins by describing what God had done to keep His promise to Abraham that He would multiply his descendants into a great nation (Genesis 12:2; 17:5-7). “But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them” (Exodus 1:7). The multitude of Israelites was a living expression of the mighty blessing of God that had triumphed over seemingly insurmountable circumstances.

But when Pharaoh looked out at that very multitude he saw a curse. He said, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us” (Exodus 1:9). His theological understanding of the world led him to oppose and oppress what God declared a blessing (Exodus 1:11-22). Pharaoh’s response was a self-protective move that revealed that he rejected what the true and living God had declared was a blessing. The unfolding of God’s promise was working against his plans, desires, and agenda.

We live in a generation of professing believers who have embraced a little Pharaoh Theology. God said “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28; 9:1) and “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward . . . Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!” (Psalm 127:3, 5). Yet many believers do not celebrate and treat a full quiver as a reward. Far too often children are seen as necessary liability to carry on the family name but something you should not get carried away with.

It is always a dangerous thing to take what God describes as a blessing and call it a curse. It is not uncommon among Christians for those with the fullest quiver to be treated like they must be crazy to have or to want that many children. “Glad it is you and not me” is a frequent refrain. Is the fruit of the womb a reward and a blessing or not? And who has the right and the authority to define the answer to that question? Is it acceptable for us to disagree with God concerning this one issue?

The Bible calls us to celebrate life on every front. We must oppose the systematic war on children taking place in modern day death camps known as abortion clinics. We must be willing to rescue children who are in danger from every corner and crevice of the globe through adoption; just as our Lord has rescued us from every, tribe, tongue and nation. And every time we cast our gaze on gathered multitudes of children in parks, malls, and even church picnics and begin to think “Oh no!,” we must immediately say “Get thee behind me Pharoah! It is written - Blessing!”

Check out Pastor David’s latest Baptist Press article Listen To Some Jerry Clower and find out how listening to the story telling of Clower can make you a better sermon listener.Featured sermons are posted here weekly. Check out the Downloads to listen to and download all past featured sermons.