MINISTRY UPDATE: MAY 8, 2019

I am pleased to announce that on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, Morrison Baptist Church in Barney, GA elected me Pastor during the monthly business meeting.  I have been serving as Interim Pastor since March 13.  I look forward to serving God together with my Christian brothers and sisters at Morrison in this new capacity.  As Pastor, I will be preaching each week: Sundays at 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.; Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.  Many thanks to God and the members of Morrison Baptist Church for this opportunity.  

MORRISON BAPTIST CHURCH: MARCH 10, 2019

PREACHING

Morrison Baptist Church

Barney, GA

March 10, 2019

11:00 a.m.

For more events, see my SCHEDULE page.

MORRISON BAPTIST CHURCH: MARCH 3, 2019

PREACHING:

Morrison Baptist Church,
Barney, GA,
11:00 a.m.

For more scheduled events, see my SCHEDULE page.

YOUR CANDIDATE LOST...NOW WHAT?

 

The election is over.  Some people are happy that their candidate won.  Others are not happy, because their candidate lost.  What should a person do if his/her candidate lost the election?  The Bible gives us four ways Christians should react to the leaders in government, even if they did not vote for them.

First, remember God is in control, not the government.  During His trial, Jesus told Pilate, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above.” (John 19:11, NKJV)  After His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18, NKJV)  God is the sovereign king of the universe.  He is in control.  God places people in positions of power and removes them at His pleasure.  Instead of fretting about who is in office, trust in God’s sovereign plan.

Second, pray for our leaders.  No matter who is in office, we should pray for them.  The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, his protégé and ministry partner, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2, NKJV)  We must remember that Paul wrote those words while Nero was the Emperor of Rome, who persecuted Christians.  Even if the person who is in office is a bad leader, we should pray for them anyway – pray that God would change their heart and make them a good leader.  If the person who is in office is good, pray they stay that way.

Third, obey our leaders.  The Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Christians in Rome:

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.  (Romans 13:1-7, NKJV)

Ouch!  In other words, we must obey our leaders, even those we do not like or deem worthy, for three reasons: 1. God put them there.  2. You will risk the wrath of God and the leaders if you don’t.  3. You must obey them to have a clear conscience.  There is only ONE exception to this rule in the scripture, found in Acts chapter 5.  That chapter records the interaction of the Apostles with the Sanhedrin.  When the Sanhedrin commanded the Apostles to stop preaching about Jesus they replied, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29, NKJV)  If the authorities tell you to do something contrary to God’s commands, you are not obligated to obey.  God’s commands outweigh the commands of men.   Otherwise, we are commanded by God to obey our leaders.

Fourth, honor our leaders.  Once again, Apostle Paul told the Romans to give honor to those to whom it is due. (Romans 13:7)  Also, Peter, the same man who defied the Sanhedrin, wrote, “Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.” (1 Peter 2:17, NKJV)  We are not to be churlish and rude to our leaders, even those with whom we disagree.  Instead, we are to show respect to them, as we should to all people.  Honor and respect are sorely lacking in our society today.  To dishonor our leaders is, ultimately, to dishonor God.  How can we claim to be a good Christian when we act with contempt toward others?  How can we talk of God’s grace, when we do not extend grace to others?  A bad attitude ruins our witness.

So your candidate lost...what now?  Remember God is in control.  Pray for your leaders. Obey your leaders.  Honor your leaders.   

   

Can Divorced Men Serve as Ministers or Deacons?

It is a familiar story.  A man who serves as a minister or deacon of a church gets a divorce.  Immediately, regardless of the circumstances of the divorce, he is forced to resign.  In addition, he is forbidden to serve as a deacon or minister in the future, no matter how much time has elapsed since the divorce.  So, all at once he looses his family, his career, his church and possibly his home (if he lives in a parsonage or some form of housing owned by the church).  This total loss of everything he holds dear is devastating on every possible level.  But does it have to be that way?  Does the Bible really say that a divorced man cannot serve as a minister or deacon?

To discover the answer, let's look at what the Bible actually says on the subject.  There are only three verses of Scripture that directly address the subject: 1 Timothy 3:2, 12 and Titus 1:6.  These verses were written by the Apostle Paul to two of his younger students, Timothy and Titus.  He gives identical instructions to each of his students on the qualifications of ministers (called elders or bishops).  Only in his letter to Timothy does Paul list the qualifications of deacons, which are almost identical to those of ministers.  Paul gives these qualifications to Timothy and Titus to help them in the selection of ministers and deacons in the churches they serve. One of the qualifications Paul gave to Timothy and Titus is that men who serve as ministers or deacons must be "the husband of one wife."  This qualification has been taken to mean that a man who is divorced and remarried cannot serve as a minister or deacon, because he has been married more than once.  There are three reasons this opinion is incorrect.

Divorce Is Not Mentioned

The first reason why it is incorrect to say that the Bible says that divorced men cannot serve as ministers or deacons is because divorce is not mentioned in the passages which list the qualifications for those positions.  To say that the phrase, "husband of one wife" refers to divorce is to read into the passages something that is not explicitly stated, thus distorting the original meaning of those passages.

Current Condition

The second reason it is incorrect to say that the Bible says divorced men cannot serve as ministers or deacons is that the passages which discuss the qualifications for each position are written in the present tense, indicating the current condition of the individual, not his history.  In 1 Timothy 3:2 Paul wrote that a bishop "must be [translated from the word 'einai' - the present infinitive form of the Greek word 'eimi', which means 'to be']... the husband of one wife."  He is to be the husband of one wife NOW.  A man who is divorced and remarried is currently the husband of one wife.  In 1 Timothy 3:12 Paul wrote that deacons must "be [translated from the word 'estowsan' - the third person plural present imperative form of the Greek word 'eimi,' listed above, which means 'they must be'] the husbands of one wife."  Once again, he is to be the husband of one wife NOW.  In Titus 1:6 Paul wrote that an elder is to "be [translated from the word 'estin,' the third person singular present indicative form of the Greek word 'eimi,' mentioned above, which means 'they are']...the husband of one wife."  Yet again, this is the present tense, the current condition of the man.  He is to be the husband of one wife NOW.  What is in the past is in the past.  God's grace covers the transgressions of the past for those who repent and believe, even sins against one's spouse. (1 John 1:9)  Sins of the past should not be held against a man.  His current condition should be examined to determine his fitness for service as a minister or deacon.

Divorce Means It's Over

Some would argue that because marriage is a life-long covenant, God does not recognize a divorce; therefore, a man that is divorced is still married to his first wife in God's eyes, making any subsequent marriages adulterous or polygamous, violating the "husband of one wife" requirement for ministers and deacons.  Although marriage is a life-long covenant, there are situations which break that covenant.  Jesus said that divorce and remarriage is adultery, except in the case of "sexual immorality." (Matthew 5:32; 19:9)  If the spouse is guilty of sexual immorality (infidelity), the innocent partner is permitted to divorce and remarry.  The Apostle Paul wrote that someone is no longer bound to a spouse who leaves them, and that those who are "loosed" from a spouse do not sin if they remarry. (1 Corinthians 7:15, 27-28)  These are exceptions to the general rule that marriage is life-long.  Furthermore, when speaking to the "woman at the well," Jesus told her that she spoke truly when she said that she had no husband, although she had five husbands in the past and was living with a man that was not her husband. (John 4:16-18)  If God does not recognize divorce, Jesus would not have made that statement.  Divorce, right or wrong, ends a marriage.  When it's over, it's over.  The innocent party is allowed to remarry.  Such circumstances should not be held against a man seeking the position of minister or deacon.

For the reason listed above, it is incorrect to deny a man the opportunity to serve as a minister or deacon because of a prior divorce.  The Bible simply does not teach that divorce disqualifies a man from service as a minister or deacon.

There are those who will also argue that divorce violates the requirement that ministers and deacons "rule their houses well." (1 Timothy 3:4-5, 12)  Once again, the Bible refers to the current condition of the man, how he currently manages those who are currently members of his household.  Whatever may or may not have happened in the past is irrelevant.

Can divorced men serve as ministers or deacons?  Yes.