April 29, 2007
Image of the Invisible God - Colossians 1:15-20
Higgins Lake Baptist Church, Pastor Kevin

Library Clips lists many ways to post to your blog .

Seems that my favorite method isn’t on the list — ScribeFire, a Firefox extension (previously called Performancing for Firefox) .

Scripture texts to pray for your children.

A great resource for pastors — 20 Years of Pastors Conference Audio from Desiring God. (via: DG blog)

Hot on the heels of my post this morning on Spiritual knowledge and good works from our study yesterday in Colossians 1 where we addressed the idea of spiritual wisdom leading to service, is this timely piece from John MacAthur — Lay People: Servants Not Spectators.

During yesterday morning’s worship service we looked at Paul’s prayer for the church in Colossians 1. One important truth that sticks with me this morning is that spiritual knowledge should lead to righteous living. Paul prayed that the believers at Colosse would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding (Col.1:9). And he prayed that, because he knew that when that happens, the result should be that the believer walks in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Col. 1:10).

We study God’s Word not merely to gain wisdom—we do so to be filled with God’s wisdom that will lead to obedience—good works—and in turn that leads to an increased desire for more of the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Spiritual knowledge should lead to service and service for God’s glory should spur us on to more knowledge—and the cycle should continue—one promotes the other. We can’t be all knowledge with no good works, and we can’t be all good works with no knowledge. And remember, that we do good works, we serve, because Christ saved us. We don’t serve for salvation—we serve because of salvation.

April 22, 2007
Paul’s Prayer for the Church - Colossians 1:9-14
Higgins Lake Baptist Church, Pastor Kevin

Great encouragement for Pastors here via video from John Piper Q&A at the ReFocus Conference.

Al Mohler on Facing the Reality of Evil at Newsweek/Washington Post. Here’s an excerpt.

Christianity does not deny the reality of evil or try to hide from its true horror. Christians dare not minimize evil nor take refuge in euphemisms. Beyond this, we cannot accept that evil will have the last word. The last word will be the perfect fulfillment of the grace and justice of God.

My father shares a helpful piece today about heaven: Seven Mistaken Notions About Heaven

Praying for all affected by this tragic situation at Virginia Tech this morning.

In the evening worship service last night we wrapped up a brief series on contentment. This morning I’m reminded of the familiar passage from Psalm 37:4. “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Simply put, contentment is about delighting yourself in the Lord as opposed to delighting yourself in your desires. If you are earnestly seeking the Lord and your soul thirsts for God (Psalm 63:1) and clings to God (Psalm 63:8) your desires will be God shaped and God pleasing. And the outcome for the one who delights in the Lord is contentment and the desires of their heart.

April 15, 2007
Where’s the Evidence? - Colossians 1:1-8
Higgins Lake Baptist Church, Pastor Kevin

Kevin Jr. with his hand crafted bow–it’s really a nice piece of work.

I was privileged to attend the Declaring His Glory conference with my oldest son late in March. This was a great opportunity not too far from home to hear some wonderful speakers and challenging messages.

The audio is now available on the West Cannon Baptist Church website. Speakers were Jerry Bridges, Gary Gilley, James Grier, Dwight Peterson and Doug Crawford.

The Greatness of God
Jerry Bridges
MP3 (42 minutes, 9.7 MB)

The Holiness of God
Jerry Bridges
MP3 (33 minutes, 7.6 MB)

The Man of God
Doug Crawford
MP3 (67 minutes, 15.4 MB)

The Abundance and Delights of God
Gary Gilley
MP3 (36 minutes, 8.2 MB)

See! I Make All Things New
James Grier
MP3 (42 minutes, 9.5 MB)

A Faithful Steward
Gary Gilley
MP3 (48 minutes, 11.2 MB)

The Emergent Church
Gary Gilley
MP3 (53 minutes, 12.2 MB)

A Pure Vessel
Jerry Bridges
MP3 (50 minutes, 11.4 MB)

Our Greatest Need
Dwight Peterson
MP3 (51 minutes, 11.8 MB)

To download these to your computer:
PC users should right click and “Save link as”
Mac users click and hold and “Download link to disk”

Pulpit Magazine shares a helpful two part series on the common pitfalls and foundational keys to evangelizing your children.

NeverThirsty.org shares today a clear answer to the question “What is Easter all about?”

Easter: Jesus Lives Again!

It is about the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Quotes from ancient sources are included that reveal that Jesus really performed miracles and died. This is the true story of Easter.

Phil Johnson fires a clear shot, a wake-up call, about what the church should do in order to reach people in a postmodern culture.

Here’s the quick, short list:

1. Remember why we’re not modernists.
2. Recover the role of teaching in the church.
3. Re-emphasize the certainty of revealed truth.
4. Reinstate holiness on our list of priorities.
5. Regain our true missionary emphasis.