Faith

PASTOR’S CORNER, David Harris, Fellowship Baptist Church, Liberal

If you are a member of a Christian church, how do you talk about going to a Sunday meeting? For many of us, the language is something like, “I will be attending church.” Or perhaps, “I won’t be attending church!” There is nothing wrong or misleading about this – but is it enough? I think there is a better way to talk (and think) about being with the church.

Members of a local church should not simply attend a church service like we would attend a movie, a concert, or a sporting event. There is nothing wrong with those things, and to go to one simply as an attendee is just fine.

PASTOR’S CORNER, Mark Cress, First Southern Baptist Church, Liberal

When we hear his name, we associate it with great strength – and Samson was definitely physically strong. But we also associate Samson with great weakness – his self-reliance, casual relationship with God’s law and his Nazarite vow (no haircuts, no alcohol, no physical contact with dead carcasses – Numbers 6:1-21), and his insatiable desire for women.

It’s ironic how physical strength and spiritual weakness often go hand in hand.    

One of the mistakes we make when reading his story in Judges 13-16 is the assumption that Samson didn’t really go off the rails until his encounter with Delilah. It’s easy to look at the last step that directly leads to someone’s demise and think that it was the last step that did them in.

People rarely, if ever, ruin their life in a single moment. So how does it happen? It happens one small step at a time.

PASTOR’S CORNER, Mark Cress, First Southern Baptist Church, Liberal

Have you ever tried to bargain with God? Is there an ongoing negotiation right now in your spiritual life?

Maybe you’ve never spoken these prayers out loud, but have there been similar silent dialogues like these?

“Lord, if you give me that job with the massive pay increase, I will be incredibly generous with the extra income.”

PASTOR’S CORNER, Mark Cress, First Southern Baptist Church, Liberal

G.K. Chesterton said, “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

I was talking with a man once who shared a story with me about his neighbor who had gone above and beyond the call of duty to serve him while he was laid up after a surgery. After hearing the story I made a comment about how grateful he must have been to have the help of his neighbor. The man responded to that comment by saying, “Yeah, I probably should have said something to express my gratitude. Oh well, I’m sure he knows my heart”.

Sometimes we say crazy things… “I’m sure he knows my heart”? My wife tells me I’m too literal, but every time I hear someone say that, I can’t help but wonder (sometimes out loud) if the person they’re talking about is a cardiologist. I’m all for believing the best about others, but in all reality, how can anyone really know your heart unless you take the time to express what’s on your heart?