In Part 1, I described two inadequate responses to spiritual dryness and practical crisis. First, many turn to worldly methods of addressing their problems or of drowning their sorrows. Second and more importantly for my purposes, many submit to the tyranny of the urgent. Their Christian life is defined by urgent concerns and finding answers…
In the days when ocean vessels were driven by wind and sail, nothing was so feared by seamen as the doldrums. The “doldrums” is a popular nautical term that refers to the belt around the Earth near the equator where sailing ships sometimes get stuck on windless waters. Known to sailors around the world as…
Prices are sky-high. This is getting serious. What is going on? I dislike saying that God is trying to do anything—as if God is making an effort to accomplish something but somehow falling short of His intended purpose. The nuance of how we say something does matter. For instance, I might say. God is trying…
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. Daniel 1:1 To the people of Judah this was a terrible time in their history. They thought Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion was disastrous and they would have hated him. There are always two perspectives to…
The FBFI NYC Regional Fellowship met on September 13th at Bethel Baptist Fellowship in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. About thirty men in full time ministry attended along with their wives, children and faithful servants in our churches. Overall, more than 60 attended the meeting as Heritage Baptist Church and Bethel Baptist Fellowship co-hosted the event. We…
Most Christians know the feeling. You sit down to read the Bible and pray, wanting to enjoy a passionate experience of God, but … crickets. You struggle to focus on the text, and what you grasp seems irrelevant to your pressing concerns. Your prayer time is dry, and your burdens don’t feel any lighter afterwards.…
“Grant” by Ron Chernow,1 a volume that I am currently enjoying, is the life story of the eighteenth president of the United States. One of the subplots of this well-written tome is the vast difference between the two most important Union generals during the War Between the States. Khurram Naik, in a 2020 blog, wrote…
As a pastor, preaching the word of God, I have tried to keep politics out of the pulpit. I prefer to preach civic responsibility and the stewardship of the vote that is providentially entrusted to all adults in the USA and includes believers. Withholding your vote is an abdication of stewardship. I rarely mention…
Two years ago, we harvested two small shoots from a mature fig tree. We planted them in pots and kept them side by side in the sun. The following spring, they both budded and put out leaves, but neither grew much at all. This spring, we had room to plant one fig tree in the…
I’ve spent the last year writing a verse-by-verse devotional on the Book of Ecclesiastes. Below, I’ve shared the original version of a devotion that was later shortened to fit on a single page. “Cast your bread upon the waters, “the Book of Ecclesiastes advises us, “for you will find it after many days” (Eccles. 11:1).…