Originally posted on Facebook on Friday, April 21, 2023.

This month the Laymen Fellowship worshipped together at Spring Hill (we meet together with a different fellowship for each month). And, these words were dropped in my heart during our Bible study,

[I paraphrase]

"Jesus said, 'And, I will build My church…'

The word that Jesus uses for church ἐκκλησία or ekklēsia was a common word of that time. It is not an exclusively Christian word. Simply meaning "the called out ones", there were a lot of ekklēsias, assemblies that were gathered for various purposes.

So, what differentiates an ekklēsia is who is called out, what they are they called out for and by whom are they called out.

We are called out by Christ, but how do we know that we're in Christ church [ekklēsia] (versus the many other varieties of 'churches')?

We will know that we are in Christ's church because Hell is loosing.

Jesus said, 'I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.'"
-Tony Evans

Hell is losing because we're standing on faith in Jesus.

Join us.

Originally posted on Facebook on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.

MEN: There is 2X the opportunity for fellowship this Thursday, April 20, 2023:

Men's Lunch Fellowship – 12:00 PM
New Horizons Christian Fellowship
1010 Victory Lane
Starkville, MS 39759

Men's Laymen Fellowship (with dinner) – 6:30 PM
Spring Hill M.B. Church
1692 Louisville Street
Starkville, MS 39759

NOTE:
The men of the Laymen Fellowship are seeking to aid some of the smaller communities in Mississippi like Wren and Vaiden that sustained significant tornado damage but did not receive the same attention as areas like Amory and Rolling Fork.

Leadership has asked each man to come prepared to donate $25 or more to this effort.

Join us.

Originally posted on Facebook on Thursday, April 6, 2023.

Men from across Starkville are coming together again in a couple of weeks for our monthly Laymen Fellowship.

This month we're seeking to aid some of the smaller communities in Mississippi like Wren and Vaiden that sustained significant tornado damage but did not receive the same attention as areas like Amory and Rolling Fork.

Leadership has asked each man to come prepared to donate $25 or more to this effort. In the words of Vernon West, "Let's put feet to our prayers."

Join us.

Thursday, April 20, 2023 6:30 PM

Spring Hill M.B. Church
1692 Louisville St
Starkville, MS 39759

Originally posted on Facebook on Thursday, April 6, 2023.

Yes, God established the order of the family; husbands as head of their wife and family (Ephesians 5:23).

But the position is not the point. God's glory is, through our reflecting His love and ministry (Ephesians 5:25-33).

Jesus was plain, there will be no such distinction as husband and wives in heaven (Matthew 22:28-30). We are equals spiritually as a result of the cross (Galatians 3:28).

We execute our earthly roles to bring people to that spiritual reality. Marriage and family are holy institutions of redemption, to reconcile as many people to the Father as possible (Malachi 2:15).

Insofar as our "positions" are concerned, they do not operate in the way we men often attempt to assert them, quite the opposite actually.

We do not lord over others. To lead or oversee is to get beneath. To be the greatest means to be servant of all as the Lord Jesus gives us example (Matthew 20:25-29). And since we seem so passionate about commands, we as husbands are commanded to love our wives as Christ loved the Church, giving Himself for us (Ephesians 5:25).

What Christ did made the church possible. His redemptive love established her. He showed her how to love by His example (Matthew 16:18, Hebrews 12:2).

If we have accepted the call of the ministry of husband, we should do likewise (Ephesians 5:25-28).

If we focus on the plank in our eye as husbands, we won't have to worry ourselves about the speck in our wife's eye.

She wants and is built to follow. Eve has been looking for a Man since the fall (Genesis 4:1).

That Man is Christ. Be as He is to her.

That's an order (Ephesians 5:25).

#perfectourlove

Originally posted on Facebook on Friday, March 31, 2023.

Gun owning Christian, here.

I've seen this statement floating around about the rock in the hands that killed Abel versus what killed Goliath and it not being about the rock.

I have thoughts to share on that.

As a Christian, I love you and I encourage my fellow believers to stop mixing Christianity with politics. It misrepresents God.

As a fellow citizen, I fully support your constitutional right to have "a rock". But, what I don't think we want as a society is people walking around with claymores -weapons able to simulate the firing of hundreds of rocks and causing mass casualty.

I personally don't think that we should be even able to own weapons with rapid-fire ability to cause mass casualty, that could potentially fall in the hands of a bad actor.

Because that's the argument, right? It's not the thing but a bad actor misusing the thing?

The accompanying argument I frequently hear is that even if we had restrictions on certain classes of weapons, bad actors are bad actors because they don't play by the rules and will get restricted weapons by some other means.

Fair point. But, I don't see how that means we do nothing.

People break into houses but are we resigned that break-ins are just part of the world we live in and just leave your doors open to make things easy for criminals? Or, do we invest in security: cameras, locks, gates, safes? Do we work with local law enforcement to establish patrols, etc.? Don't we do all we can to make it harder for criminals to commit crime?

Likewise, shouldn't we make it harder for bad actors to get access to weapons with the rapid-fire ability to cause mass casualty?

The question is how do we do that?

According to CDC data and a report from the New England Journal of Medicine, firearm related deaths has overtaken motor vehicle crashes as the number one cause of death for children 1-19 years old.

Laws, campaigns, and advances in technology dramatically decreased motor vehicle fatalities.

How can we make it harder for bad actors to get access to weapons with the rapid-fire ability to cause mass casualty? What can be done to protect our neighbors and children from firearm fatalities?

The answer is not "nothing".

Originally posted on Facebook on Wednesday, February 22, 2023.

Did you know there is a group of men, who meet every week to pray for the students, families and staff of every school in Starkville and Oktibbeha County? And by every school, I mean every school: public schools, Headstart, Starkville Academy, Starkville Christian and Mississippi State University.

Today, those men went to be with our neighbors in Louisville, MS who are grieving from a devastating act of violence.

To our surprise, we were met by hundreds of men who had come together from all over with hearts torn for this community.

Chief Sammy Shumaker, spoke to the assembly and gave us a call to arms as men. He likened the challenges we're facing to a football game. He said [I paraphrase],

"The main problem I see, is that we (men) have taken a hit in the game that rocked us. We tapped our helmet to come out, which we need to do sometimes to regain our composure or recover, but the problem is we never returned to the game. However, we still have an opponent, the game hasn't stopped and women have come off the sidelines and put on your helmet and shoulder pads, taking hits they weren't designed for.

We need to go get our stuff back and get back in the game."

What a word.

And then, Will Hill, Mayor of Louisville, Mississippi called the assembly to prayer.

A pastor and dear brother of mine, Johnny Buckner often says that our response to the Word should be indicated by a change in your posture.

So, I got on my face, repenting of our loveless attitude and negligence towards our neighbors, asking that God move on the hearts of the men to make Himself known, not only to them but to the children, families and schools of Louisville and Winston County.

When I pray for a move of God, I never know exactly what it will look like but I know it will happen because He hears us when we pray from His heart (aka in His name). And, when I position myself through the activity of obedience, sometimes I get to see it.

And today, I saw a move of God.

It was remarkably unremarkable.

No fanfare. No loud voices. Just men standing, mostly in silence, together.

The spirit was quiet, committed, unified.

They stepped up. They organized. They planned how they would come together every week for their community.

As I write this, there is the sound of a mighty rushing wind all around my office.

May God add such that are being saved. And, may they turn the world upside down.

Pour out Your Spirit, Lord! Bring us to repentance that we may enjoy times of refreshing that come from You, together.

Amen.

Originally posted on Facebook on Friday, February 17, 2023.

When conversation becomes a courtroom, it is also dangerous to serve as the prosecution because that's the spirit of Satan who is the accuser of men before God (Revelation 12:10) and if as a witness, I must be careful not to mischaracterize someone because God hates a false witness (Proverbs 6:16–19).

When conversation becomes a courtroom, it would be wise to call a recess and make every effort to take the conversation out of the courtroom where you're opponents and back to the courtyard as friends.

Note to self as a lesson from marriage.

"Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny."
Matthew 5:25-26

#perfectourlove

Originally posted on Facebook on Sunday, February 12, 2023.

I got angry and sinned today.

I confess that I allowed my anger to drive me to speak to someone in an unloving way.

I repent and have sought reconcilation.

Ephesians 4:26 is huge!

"Be angry, and do not sin"

We're not commanded to not be angry. Think about that.

Anger is not a bad emotion.

It can be very appropriate.

We're told "be angry" AND "do not sin".

The key is not to allow anger to control you as it did me today.

Moving forward I will start by acknowledging my feelings and stopping and saying out loud,

"I am angry."

It's weird, but this is a combat tactic of disruption and creating separation.

It allows me to then decide how to direct that feeling in a way that is helpful and not harmful.

Remember when anger first appears in the Bible? This was God's instruction:

"Sin lies at the door.
Its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."
-Genesis 4:7

To those who can accept it, sin is being unloving. Always. Conversely, love is the fulfillment of the law of righteousness. (Romans 13:10)

We should learn from the instruction of the Father, the example of Jesus Christ and the tutelage of the Holy Spirit to "possess our own vessel" (1 Thess 4:4) and RULE, commanding everything in our lives, including our emotions, to further the interests of Love.

I have not already attained, but I press.

#PerfectOurLove