Service Cancelled Tonight at LMBC!

As strange as it may seem, the decision about whether to cancel a church service due to weather conditions can be a difficult one to make.  My personal inclination is to never cancel a service and to let each individual make his/her own personal choice about venturing into the weather. But, I am becoming increasingly more cautious with these decisions every year.

A few times over the years the decision has been easy because there was so much snow that it was impossible for us to clear the parking lots. On most occasions, however, it is much more difficult simply because you cannot predict whether a given snow storm will produce what is forecast or know exactly the impact it will have on the community.

You also have to take into account the difficulty of operating our ministry when there is the potential of significant numbers of people absent from their areas of service due to snowy/icy weather. And, if you continue with the schedule in spite of the conditions, some of our dedicated staff will try to be present even if they would not choose to do so otherwise. The consequence is that some people are unduly jeopardized by a decision to continue with a service when there is snow.

In addition, a church our size simply cannot mobilize for services without sufficient time to prepare, nor can we cancel a service effectively without plenty of time to get the word out. Consequently, the decision about canceling or conducting a service when weather is threatening usually has to be made well in advance of us knowing the full impact of a storm. That means that we may choose to cancel on the basis of the information we have at the time only to have conditions improve rather than worsen.

As you can see, a lot of factors play into any decision to cancel a service when the weather is snowy. Having heard horror stories of people injured or even killed trying to get to church in bad weather, I now choose to err on the side of caution more often than I did in the earlier years of my ministry. I love our people too much to place them in jeopardy of a fall or car accident on slippery roads/parking lots.

Since we aren’t having services tonight due to these weather conditions, take the evening and spend it with your family. God will be pleased if we use this opportunity to give quality time to those that matter the most to us.

Why Did Christ Come?

1. To Fulfill O.T. Prophecy.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. (Matthew 1:21-23)

The virgin birth was more than a means to protect Christ’s sinlessness, it was a “sign” declaring Him to be the Messiah (Isaiah 7:14).

2. To Reveal God To Man.

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.    (John 1:18)

If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. (John 14:7-11)

3. To Be A Sympathetic Priest.

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. (Hebrews 4:14)

4. To Show A Godly Example.

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps…    (1 Peter 2:21)

5. To Sacrifice Himself For Sin.

For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:1-10)

He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

6. To Seek And Save Sinners.

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15)

Finding the Will of God

About fifteen years ago I came across a book concerning the will of God that transformed my thinking on the subject. Recently, the author has expanded the book and added a lot of new material that I believe is well worth the purchase price.

“Decision Making and the Will of God” is unlike any treatise you have ever read on the subject of finding God’s will. The primary reason is because it approaches the subject from a totally different (and I think biblical) perspective. Early in my Christian life I struggled with knowing God’s will for my life. After all, if there is only "one" choice that places you in the “center” of His will, it is essential that you “find” that singular choice or face missing God’s “perfect” plan. Most books on the subject I read provided a “formulae” that I thought was very arbitrary in their approach. And, I couldn’t help but feel that God, for some reason, was making the process feel like a search through a haystack for a needle.

Dr. Garry Freisen presents what I believe to be the most biblical and best approach to knowing God’s will for your life. At first reading, you may initially reject his ideas because it is significantly different to the approach most of us learned earlier in our Christian lives. But, if you will let the scriptures speak for themselves I think you will discover that God’s will is not “hidden” as some have been led to believe. Actually, though God has a sovereign will (that is secret and unalterable) and moral will (revealed in His inspired word and must be obeyed), I no longer believe that God has an “individual will,” as traditionally presented. You have probably heard a formulae for finding God’s will that goes something like this: What does God’s Word say about your choice? Have you talked to and listened to godly counselors on this matter? Do you have peace about your choice? Do the circumstances align to confirm your choice? Are there open or closed doors ahead of you? Etc., etc.

Do you see how some of these questions can lead a person to total inaction while making the most important decisions in life? The “way of wisdom” is the best way to know God’s will and it removes the fear of missing “God’s best.” Dr. Friesen argues poignantly that the "way of wisdom" is God's means for guiding our lives.

Two other books that address this same subject from a similar perspective are “Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach,” by Kevin DeYoung and “Finding the Will of God: A Pagan Notion?” by Dr. Bruce Walke. These are shorter books about the will of God, but both provide excellent material worth considering in the discussion of this subject. Although they interact less with the biblical text than Dr. Friesen's book, they are both very practical and biblical in their approach to doing God's will.

Men's & Women's Brains Are Different

I don't know where this video was done or who the speaker is, but it is so funny I decided to share it with others.

An important leadership quote...

"Successful leaders always keep True North {i.e., the mission} uppermost in everyone’s mind. Adapting methods can be a point of leadership-strength as long as organizational mission remains in the forefront and new methods connect with changing circumstances. (Don’t say, “We’re trying this new … ”  Do say, “We’ll better fulfill our mission if we … “) Organizations that believe changing their methods is changing their mission (True North) die. They cling to antiquated, ineffective programs, strategies, and techniques. However, organizations grounded in mission and committed to agility are more likely to thrive. An added benefit, adapting methods is perceived not as weakness but strength." --Dan Rockwell, Leadership Freak


It is sometimes true that churches are unable to separate their mission/message from their methods. Consequently, they wrongly believe that changing a method is equivalent to changing their mission/message. It is one of the reasons you see churches using the same methods that were used in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. No one questions their motivation or genuine commitment to Christ, but they are dying congregations because they refuse to use the most effective means of communicating their mission/message. Dan Rockwell is not necessarily addressing church life, but he is right when he says that "organizations grounded in mission and committed to agility are more likely to thrive."

Top Ten Biblical Discoveries

This is an excellent article from "Parchment and Pen" and I repost it for your enjoyment. You can find other articles at  reclaimingthemind.org  --David Lemming

TOP TEN BIBLICAL DISCOVERIES IN ARCHAEOLOGY – #1 DEAD SEA SCROLLS

~ tim kimberley ~

Old Testament Scribes

How accurate is the Old Testament we hold in our hands? It’s popular today to attack the accuracy of the Bible on the grounds of its lack of effective transmission. Popular authors claim the Bible we have today has simply been copied too many times, with too many textual errors, to be believed as the very words of God handed down to us over the millennia.

Every single copy of the Old Testament was hand copied up until the printing press came along in the 15th century AD. Imagine that, some of the books of the Old Testament were copied over and over for more than 3,000 years (traditional view of dating). Can a document copied so many times by hand truly be accurate today?

Tradition tells us the Hebrew people were meticulous copyists of Scripture. Scribes were so aware of their task they would go to great lengths to make sure their hand-written copy of Scripture was free from error. Hebrew scribes were bound to the following rules:

1. They could only use clean animal skins, both to write on, and even to bind manuscripts.
2. Each column of writing could have no less than forty-eight, and no more than sixty lines.
3. The ink must be black, and of a special recipe.
4. They must verbalize each word aloud while they were writing.
5. They must wipe the pen and wash their entire bodies every time before writing God’s name.
6. There must be a review within thirty days, and if as many as three pages required corrections, the entire manuscript had to be redone.
7. The letters, words, and paragraphs had to be counted, and the document became invalid if two letters touched each other. The middle paragraph, word and letter must correspond to those of the original document.
8. The documents could be stored only in sacred places (synagogues, etc.).

Silver Amulet Scroll and Nash Papyrus

With all the careful scribal work a shockingly few number of Old Testament ancient manuscripts exist until today. The silver amulet scroll is by far the oldest. The scroll was mentioned as #4 in this top ten series. The amulet scroll dates way back to 600 BC. This is fantastic but it is only a couple verses of the entire Bible. So we can get a feel for the accuracy of those couple verses but not be able to get a good representative sample for the entirety of Scripture.

The Nash Papyrus dates to around 200 BC. It’s also a wonderful discovery but similar to the amulet scroll it only contains a hand-full of verses. Gratefully those verses are the Ten Commandments, but nonetheless our only 2 manuscripts of the Old Testament from the BC era are a very small representation of the entire Old Testament canon.

Codex Aleppo

Codex Aleppo is the oldest entire Old Testament possessed by humanity. The manuscript dates to around 900AD. The priceless manuscript is indeed magnificent. When analyzing the more than 2.7 million writing details that make up the Old Testament, the manuscript appears to be very precise in its creation. Although we have such a beautiful manuscript, the elephant in the room is that this manuscript dates from 900AD. Many New Testament manuscripts are older than our oldest Old Testament manuscript. Most of the Old Testament was written over 1500 years before Codex Aleppo.

1946-47

The greatest biblically relevant archaeological discovery, made in the winter of 1946-47, would shake up the biblical and archaeological world. John C. Trever has done a good job reconstructing the story of the scrolls from several interviews with the Bedouin people.

Muhammed edh-Dhib, a 15 year old Bedouin living in Bethlehem, was with his cousin in the region of the Dead Sea. Jum’a Muhammad, the cousin of edh-Dhib, noticed some possible cave openings while out shepherding some goats. Edh-Dhib made it into a cave and discovered something that had been untouched for more than 2,200 years. He reached into a pot and retrieved some scrolls and showed them to Jum’a.

The impact of these scrolls were not readily apparent. The scrolls were taken back to the Bedouin camp to show the rest of the family. The Bedouin kept the scrolls hanging on a tent pole while they figured out what to do with them, periodically taking them out to show people.

The scrolls were first taken to a dealer named Ibrahim ‘ljha in Bethlehem. In one of those famous dumb moments of history ‘ljha returned them saying they were worthless. Undaunted, thankfully, the Bedouin went to a nearby market, where a Syrian Christian offered to buy them. A sheikh joined their conversation and suggested they take the scrolls to a part-time antiques dealer. The Bedouin left one scroll with the dealer and then sold three scrolls to another for the ridiculous sum of $29!

George Isha’ya, a member of the Syrian Orthodox Church, heard about the scrolls and contacted St. Mark’s Monastery in the hope of getting an appraisal, news of the find then reached Metropolitan bishop Athanasius Yeshue Samuel, better known as Mar Samuel.

After examining the scrolls and suspecting their astronomical worth, he expressed interest in purchasing them. Four scrolls found their way into his hands. More scrolls continued to arrive on the scene. By the end of 1948, nearly two years after their first discovery, scholars had yet to locate the source of the manuscripts.

What was all the fuss about? After careful analysis and scientific analysis at the University of California, Davis it was determined that a new era of Old Testament biblical manuscripts had arrived. We were witnessing what appeared to be the discovery of an entire library of Old Testament and ancient Jewish writings. How old were these books? Remember our oldest complete Old Testament had been 900AD. An entire scroll of Isaiah was found and dated to around 200BC! Can you believe that, in one discovery 1100 years of biblical hand-written copies were spanned.

Magnitude of the Discovery

Archaeologists were able to track down the origin of the first scrolls and together with the Bedouins ended up finding a total of 972 manuscripts from 11 different caves. All 11 caves are in the southeastern Dead Sea area of Israel. The area receives almost no rainfall making it a perfect climate for ancient manuscripts to last thousands of years without decomposing.

The scrolls contain verses from every Old Testament book except for one. Only about 1/3rd of the scrolls are biblical writings. 2/3rds of the manuscripts are not biblical but pertain to Jewish life at the time. Think of it as stumbling across the 1,000 volume library of a Christian with many books of the Bible but then all sorts of books about 21st century Christian life and thought. This is the equivalent of the Dead Sea Scroll discovery. Many of the non-biblical books discovered were not known to even exist!

The scrolls, for some insane reason, were put up for sale in the Wall Street Journal on June 1, 1954. They were purchased for $250,000 and brought to Jerusalem where they eventually became housed in a museum called the Shrine of the Book where they reside today when not circulating in museums around the world. The scrolls today are considered priceless. Just to purchase a replica facsimile copy of 3 of the scrolls currently will run you $60,000 (a donation of replica scrolls to Parchment & Pen will not be turned down).

Significance of the Discovery

The scrolls are still, after decades, a discovery still being digested. The 972 manuscripts have shed great light on the accuracy and complexity of the Old Testament. The Isaiah Scroll, in comparison to Codex Aleppo and other manuscripts, show that the message of the Old Testament has not been changed over millennia. More articles and books have been written about the Dead Sea Scrolls than any other archaeological discovery with biblical significance. The scrolls are shedding a great deal of light on the Jewish religious world of roughly 200BC-90AD. The scrolls are generally showing the modern-day Old Testament to be an extremely accurate representation of the original writers.


Work in Progress

Google has announced a new deal with the Israeli Antiquities Authority to photograph all of the scrolls in order to make high-resolution photos available to anyone online for free. The scrolls continue to amaze and delight us; where we once had only a couple fragments of the ancient Old Testament we now enjoy an abundant library.

Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas

This is an excellent biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Check it out...

The Prodigal

A very touching adaptation of the story of the prodigal son. It's worth the time to watch it!

One Bible Only?

There has been a controversy raging in our “corner of the world” that is barely a blip on the screen in most places across the country. It has to do with whether God has preserved His Word in only one translation of the Bible (KJV) or whether there are other translations that are equally viable for Christians to use. Sadly, this controversy has brought division among Christians that otherwise agree on core doctrines of the faith, but disagree on this matter. I have read extensively on both sides of the debate as I believe nothing is more important than knowing that the Bible in my hand is the Word of God. And, of the many books I have read, “One Bible Only?” represents accurately what I think is the right view on this issue and is easily accessible to most Christians. (A brief rebuttal to this book has been written by KJV only proponents, which I have also read.)

Too much of what I hear bandied about among KJV only advocates is, in my estimation, unsupported by the historical/biblical data. I believe that those who espouse the KJV only position are genuinely concerned that if they explain the history of the Bible accurately and the variants that exist in the manuscript evidence, that they will somehow undermine the faith of believers. However, failing to accurately represent the facts, as well as being illogical in your reasoning about those facts, is not only misguided, it impugns the character of God’s church. For many people the details of manuscript transmission, textual criticism, translation methods, etc., etc., is too complex to pursue personally. Consequently, they trust others to think through the issue for them and then parrot what they’ve been told by those individuals. Unfortunately, some of the “experts” are basically doing the same thing and haven’t thoroughly investigated the matter for themselves. Still others have apparently studied the evidence and dismissed it as inconsequential, since it does not support their position. In its place they have embraced a “faith” position that does not rest on the revelation of God (the Bible), historical data, manuscript evidence, or a sense of logic. The fact is, you can repeat unfounded arguments as many times as you like, but repetition of those arguments does not make them true. And, it is not genuine scholarship or honest investigation to merely read the writings of those that agree with your position. You must be willing to study the thoughts of those that differ with you in order to understand both sides. Actually, we should follow the evidence where-ever it leads us, which I think leads you away from the KJV only position.

The historical position of the church has long been that inspiration rests in the original manuscripts of the Bible and that God has preserved His Word in the vast number of copies that have been handed down (copied) through the ages (nearly 6000 of the NT alone). Since no two extant manuscripts match any other manuscript exactly, the need for careful textual analysis (i.e., textual criticism) has enabled us to discover with a high degree of accuracy what God said in the originals. The relatively small amount of uncertainty (less than 2% of the total text) does not affect any doctrine or core belief of the Christian faith. Even the highly revered (by KJV only advocates) Textus Receptus was derived using textual criticism employed by Erasmus, Stephanus, and Beza. Further, it is illogical to compare other translations to the KJV (as if it is the final authority) to determine if they are correct in their wording of the Bible. The Bible was not written in Elizabethan English, but in Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic. It is to the original languages and manuscripts that appeal must be made when clarifying a passage or word. In addition, there is no translation of the Bible so perfect that there is no need to consult the original languages. Nor can it be proven by KJV advocates that God has preserved His Word in a single, identifiable, and publicly accessible ancient manuscript that perfectly represents the originals. Without this singular manuscript the “KJV only” position falls apart. Instead, the historical data shows that God’s Word has been preserved in several thousand manuscripts that have been meticulously compared by textual scholars to determine the original readings. I agree that the quality of some translations of those manuscripts is better than others. However, teaching that the only acceptable Bible in the English language for the English speaking people is the KJV is an irreparably flawed position. It is simply illogical and unsustainable from the evidence, as well as being unnecessary in order to prove that we have God’s authoritative Word.

If you want to read an excellent book from the faculty of Central Baptist Seminary about how we got the Biblical text and why we can trust it to be an accurate rendering of the original manuscripts, then by all means read this book.

This is another excellent book concerning the "KJV Only" controversy. It is gracious in tone and avoids the vitriolic language that seems prevalent in some books on the subject. Included is a complete history of how we got the Bible with a thorough section dealing with the textual issues that underlie the erroneous arguments of the "KJV Only" advocates. This book will enlighten you with biblical/historical evidence supporting what has long been the position of the NT church. If you can still find a copy of “King James Onlyism: A New Sect,” it is worth every penny you pay to purchase it.

Dr. James D. Price was professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at Temple Baptist Seminary in Chattanooga, TN, from 1972 to 2005 and Academic Dean from 2000 to 2005. He has a B.S. Degree in Engineering from Purdue University, a Master of Divinity degree from Northwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in Hebrew and Biblical Literature from Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Languages. He is a trusted scholar that holds dear the fundamentals of the Christian faith.

Are You a Good Person?

I hope you'll watch this video and ask yourself if you are ready to meet God. You matter to Him!!