Jesus never said that life as a Christian would be easy. Those who say such things obviously don’t remember the words of our Lord when he said, “In this world you’ll have trouble, but be courageous—I’ve overcome the world!” (John 6:33b) In the 9th and 14th Chapters of Luke Jesus lays out the cost of being His disciple. If we choose to follow Christ completely, our lives will change dramatically and perhaps even be turned upside down. The only wise choice is to follow Jesus, but he still calls on us to count the cost – because the cost is high. This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, August 29, 2021. Handouts with slide content can be requested at fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com .
Get Up! Get Your Stuff and Go!
It doesn’t matter what ails you. It doesn’t matter what obstacles stand in your way. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been for help, what solutions you’ve tried, or how many years you’ve been dealing with the problem – Jesus can help. In our study of the 5th Chapter of John we saw Jesus heal a man who had been a paraplegic for 38 years. Only Jesus could speak hope into such a situation as this. Only Jesus could bring physical healing to this man. And only Jesus could save him from a fate worse than his physical state because only Jesus could save him from eternal death. That same saving power is ours through the blood of Jesus Christ. It reminds me of the song, “In Christ Alone” by by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend.
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My comforter, my all in all
Here in the love of Christ I stand
Here is the link to our Agape Life Bible Study class session from the 5th chapter of John in which Jesus heals a man at the Pool of Bethesda.
The Power Of Jesus Is More Than Enough To Conquer Your Greatest Fear
This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, August 1, 2021. In the 5th Chapter of Mark we see Jesus involved in 3 situations that are all filled with fear – mental illness (demon possession), long-term illness, and death. Each of these strike fear in the hearts of those who face them personally and those who love the people dealing with these life issues. Jesus proves to be more than capable of handling each with power, grace, and understanding. Our study today focuses on the last two – long-term illness and death. Handouts with slide content can be requested at fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com .
He’s With Us Through This Whole Thing
Today marks 9 months since my prostate cancer surgery. I had my 9-month visit with my doctor this week and my blood work has remained unchanged ever since the surgery. There is no detectable PSA and consequently no detectable cancer cells. He was thrilled to see me as he has been at every checkup. He told me again how happy he was with the results and I flippantly asked, “What did you expect?” He replied, “I fully expected you to be on radiation at this point as well as hormone therapy. You really should not be doing this well.” He said that when he saw the pathology report and when he saw the MRI and then when the report came back from M.D. Anderson that showed my entire prostate had been taken over by the cancer and that it had taken over the seminal vesicles and that it was in the margins (the marginal tissue of the prostate next to the surrounding tissues) and that it had moved into the lymph nodes – well he figured I would be struggling. Then he looked me in the eye and said that “the Lord was definitely by my side throughout this whole thing.” All I can say is AMEN.
But here’s the even greater truth – even if none of this good news had come, the Lord would still have been by my side through this whole thing. The three boys in the fiery furnace knew that God was able to deliver them and even told the king that, but then they said that if God didn’t deliver them they would still worship Him and Him alone. And who showed up in the midst of the fiery furnace? Jesus showed up – He was with them throughout that whole thing. God didn’t promise us deliverance from the the trials and troubles of this life. In fact, he promised us that they would come. But He also said that He would be with us throughout this whole thing.
“And, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
Who Is Trampling on Our Religious Rights? We Are.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
We love to proclaim our God-given freedoms and complain loudly if we think those freedoms have been “abridged.” We watch with great concern as the Supreme Court renders decisions on any aspect of those freedoms afforded us by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We complain about laws and regulations that restrict our rights or the rights of others and we petition the government through our elected representatives and through our personal efforts and protests when such grievances arise. However, perhaps the greatest deterrent to our living out our faith – of freely exercising our religion – is us.
It is our own complacency and our failure to “exercise” our faith by using the freedoms we share in this country. It is our own fault that we don’t use our freedom of speech to boldly proclaim the truth and hope of Christ – everyday, everywhere we go, to everyone we meet. It is our own fault that we don’t use platforms like digital media to publish our belief in the God who created the universe and yet wants to have a personal relationship with us. It is our own fault that we choose a thousand other activities to supplant the assembling of ourselves together in corporate worship. It’s our own fault. We can’t blame the government or other people who don’t share our beliefs. It’s all on us. We are not making full use of the freedoms we have as Americans to share the Gospel message of Jesus. We have used our freedom to pursue selfish and pointless goals that at best relegate God to a small part of our weekly schedule or, at worst, push Him out of our lives completely. We have squandered our freedom while ignoring the One who gave us the freedom in the first place.
So, Christian – before you moan and complain about how someone is trampling on your rights, look at your own life and see if you have been actively exercising those rights to further the cause of Christ. Have you taken advantage of your rights as an American citizen to tell others about the grace of God found in Jesus? Have you taken advantage of your rights as an American citizen to proclaim your faith in Christ through your personal actions and through your involvement with others who wish to do the same. The free exercise of religion includes the freedom of speech, of the press, and the right of the people peaceably to assemble. What a gift we have been given in the United States of America. Let us no longer use our God-given gift of freedom to trample on the very rights He has given us.
My Uncompromising Mother
My mother grew up during the depression as one of 9 children of a Baptist preacher. Times for hard for all of them, but especially for a young lady who was taller than the average man. And quite frankly, she probably could have taken on any average man and won the fight. She grew up in a God fearing home and became a God fearing wife and mother and she was a force to be reckoned with. (I tested her many times and I don’t recall one time I came out on top.)
In her work for the state of Texas in Child Protective Services she was that same force only in the cases with which she dealt, she took it personally. When she came across a child who had been abused there was nothing that would keep her from protecting that child and seeing to it that the abuser would never have that opportunity again. Judges, Sheriffs, other Law Enforcement Officers, District Attorneys, Defense Attorneys, and even her own staff and her bosses in Austin feared her. She was relentless. She saw abuse as evil and believed strongly that it was not to be tolerated, but to be obliterated.
I learned much from her tenacious spirit, but one of the things that sticks out is her uncompromising faith based on the Word of God. Today we think of compromising as good and uncompromising as bad. It’s true that compromise is something we have to learn how to handle in order to get along with people around us. But there are times when we need to be uncompromising. When it comes to our faith in Jesus Christ we must stand firmly on the truth of God’s Word. We don’t have to be belligerent or obnoxious when we take our stand, but we must stand tenaciously holding to the truth. Thanks, mom, for teaching me that sometimes we have to firmly stand and oppose the things in this world that are evil, and thanks for teaching me that God’s Word is truth – truth on which we can stand firmly and not compromise with the values the world calls good.
We the People Must Pray
Scripture has much to say about the relationship between Christians and the governments under which they live. We are told in Romans 13:1 that no authority exists except by God and that authorities that do exist have been established by God. We know we are to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s, but we must also remember that we have been given a roll of support for those in governing positions. In 2 Peter 2:17 we were told to honor the emperor. In Romans 13:1 and in 1 Peter 2:13 we are told to submit to the governing authorities. In 1 Timothy 2:1-2 we are told to pray for those in authority over us – for those who are in high positions. We are to intercede on their behalf and give thanks for them. This last one is rather hard to do when our personal beliefs and opinions are at times the exact opposite of those in authority and yet, the command is there and we have no choice as followers of Christ but to submit to that command.
However, an even more sobering thought is that, in America, We the People are the ultimate authority. We the People are the ones in charge. We the People are the ones who decide who comes and goes in those higher places. We the People are responsible. The buck stops with us. So if we pray for those in authority, perhaps the most significant prayers should be offered for ourselves – We the People. Until we the People are on solid footing in total subjection to our Supreme commander, the Lord God almighty, then our decisions as the governing authorities in America are flawed at best and disastrous at worst. We really can’t blame the governing authorities because the governing authorities are us. We can’t point to Washington or to our state capitals as the source of our societal evils when we ourselves will not acknowledge the sin that so easily entangles us.
It’s time to pray for America and those who are in positions of authority. It’s time to pray that We the People will come to recognize God as the one who has placed us in this position of leadership in our country and act accordingly. May God Bless America and may god bless us as individual Americans who must assume our God-given and constitutionally-mandated responsibilities as the governing authorities of our great nation.
Respond to Injustice with Prayer
Thursday is the National Day of Prayer. Perhaps we should take a page from our founding fathers and humbly seek God’s face in the face of injustice.
After the Boston Tea Party, King George punished the city by instituting the Boston Port Act, March 7, 1774, effectively closing the harbor to all commerce.
Upon hearing of the Boston Port Act, Thomas Jefferson drafted a Day of Fasting, Humiliation & Prayer resolution, to be observed the same day the blockade was to commence. It was introduced in the Virginia House of Burgesses by Robert Carter Nicholas, May 24, 1774 and was supported by Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee and George Mason. It passed unanimously. It was to be “a Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, devoutly to implore the Divine interposition, for averting the heavy calamity which threatens destruction to our civil rights.”
The King’s appointed Royal Governor, Lord Dunmore, was so angered by this Day of Fasting, Humiliation & Prayer resolution that two days later he dissolved Virginia’s House of Burgesses. Virginia’s colonial leaders went down the street and gathered in Raleigh Tavern, where they decided to form the Continental Congress which met in Philadelphia a little over three months later. About a year later they reconvened as the Second Continental Congress and one year later voted for Independence.
The Wisest Person I Know
Wisdom is a trait often sought by people who have to make decisions; who have trying times and want to know how to deal with them; for people who are just tired of bumping up against the road blocks of life. We seek wisdom and yet we seem to find very little of it. God tells is in the book of James that if we want wisdom we should just ask God for it and he will be glad to give it to us. However, too often we just want to talk to someone, talk to someone who agrees with us, or maybe just talk to someone in our own mind because we know that person will definitely agree with us. No matter. We just want wisdom.
What a blessing it is when the person who you consider to be the wisest person of all is also the one to whom you are married. Pam is without a doubt the wisest person I know. Of course, if you ask her if she is wise she would deny it vehemently. But that she truly is. And the best part is her wisdom is not earthly wisdom but rather the godly wisdom she has gained from reading and studying God’s word. I cannot number the times she has answered my concerns with scripture or with some godly principle she has been developing. She is able to see straight through my angst to the heart of the matter and speak truth to me. Sometimes I wanna hear it – sometimes I don’t, but it is truth nonetheless and it is always applicable truth.
Last fall I had to have a radical prostatectomy. During the process God gave me peace I had never known before. Peace that, no matter what the physical outcome, God was still God and that all would be well with my soul. I found myself in the hospital with so much peace that I prayed with my nurses and doctors and found great joy in doing so. Since the beginning of the year I’ve been dealing with some serious back and hip problems. In the process I had to get an MRI which is no fun for a person of my size. (When they bring in a tub of lard to grease you up so that you will slide into that small tube, you know you’re in trouble.) When I came out I talked with the technician as he was wheeling me out. I asked him to stop so that we could pray. I prayed for him and again found great joy in doing so. He told me he was a believer and we enjoyed great fellowship in the labyrinth of hallways leading to the front door. The pain was still there but the joy completely overrode the pain.
When I told Pam about the day and about praying with the young man at the hospital she was happy for me. Then her wisdom immediately kicked in and she said the when I’m in the hospital I am full grace and peace knowing God will take care of me. She went on to say that sometimes here at the house I forget how God has helped me by strengthening me and giving me peace when I needed it. She went on to say God is ready to grant me that same peace at home. There it was – God’s wisdom coming from the mouth of my wife. Too often, when we get home, we think we can relax because we have arrived at our personal sanctuary – a place we go as a retreat from the world around us. But in our struggle against the wiles of the devil we can never relax.
Now your response might be “Well, Duh.” The fact is when you are in the midst of the struggle you often don’t see truth as well as you see circumstances. Pam helped me see the truth in the midst of the circumstances and it’s only by God’s wisdom that she was able to discern the truth. It’s also God’s wisdom that showed her how and when to say it.
Without a doubt, she is the wisest person I know. And, if you aren’t convinced, consider this – she married me!
“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” James 3:17
Shuppim & Huppim
I was reading through 1 Chronicles this morning as part of my daily Bible reading. In this particular section – Chapter 7 – we find one of the countless lists of names. I actually enjoy reading through the genealogies, primarily to look for names that I recognize so that I can see from whence they came. I also enjoy the times when the scripture highlights something particular concerning one of the people mentioned like when Ephraim’s daughter, Sheerah, built Lower and Upper Beth-horon and Uzzen-sheerah. Fascinating!
However, today I was struck by the fact that we are absolutely boring when it comes to naming our children. My name is Bob. Just Bob. Three letters and two of them are the same. In 1 Chronicles 7:12 we find the names Shuppim and Huppim. I am in hopes that someone reading this will name their twin boys Shuppim and Huppim when the time comes for naming their precious bundles of joy. You may find it cruel but I dare say that, much like the boy named Sue, they will grow up strong and able to deal with anything that comes their way.
I can hear Ma Kettle now – calling Shuppim and Huppim to come in for supper. Try it. You’ll like the way it sounds.
From The Back Porch 