I’ll be upfront: as an independent Baptist pastor, I am concerned. Statistics bear that various groups are sliding, and every indication is that established independent Baptist churches are seeing fewer people added to the church by baptism.

Easter Sunday is just two days away. I love this time of year when we have the opportunity to focus on and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord!

If there is anyone in the world who has reason to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is a born again Christian.

You and I both know that faith is more than a feeling. It’s action. Steps. Moving forward. Progress.

Scientists tell us that lightning flashes around the world some 6,000 times per minute. The Bible teaches us that, like a bolt of lightning, our lives appear like a flash and then we are gone forever.

In part 1 of this post, we set the context for wanting our music to be honoring to God and offered three principles related to music. In part 2 we looked at seven more principles, for a total so far of 10:

The Bible teaches us that we are to direct our thinking toward those things that honor God and are good for us. Part of the reason for this, is that our thinking takes us somewhere. When we direct and align our thinking with the Bible and wisdom, we find life and peace. However, when we allow our thinking to become negative and worldly, we discover outcomes that diminish us and hurt others.

I have learned in the ministry that things are always changing. Transition, change, and flexibility are good words for a church.

In part 1 of this post, we set the context for wanting our music to be honoring to God, and we looked at three principles related to music:

I love spring! After cold, harsh weather, the sun shines warmly on us. Spring is preparation for growth. People are preparing their gardens by pulling the weeds that have grown during the winter months. We are tilling the soil, adding nutrients to help those seeds, which will be planted, to grow into plants.