Overcoming our Fears

This past Sunday we baptized three boys. One of the boys has a fear of getting water in his face. He has been working hard the last few months to overcome his fear, but it has been difficult to say the least. After all, he is only 7 years old. As we prepared for baptism, his mom told me what he said, "I do not want to do this but I will because I made a commitment." He was referring, of course, to his commitment to Christ. He was not excited about baptism but he is excited about his new relationship with the Lord. He faced his fear because he believed the Lord would take care of him. God gave him the strength to follow through with his baptism.

How many of you can relate to this young boy? You face fears on a regular basis. It may be a fear of failure, a fear of the unknown, a fear of lonliness, a fear of rejection, fears from without, and fears from within. As believers, we serve a God who will give us the strength to face and overcome our fears. All we need to do is trust Him. Just before the baptism, I told the young boy, "You will be safe in my hands. I will have a firm grip on you and I will not let you fall. I will take care of you." Jesus tells us the same thing in His word, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand" (John 10:27-28). I never cease to be amazed at how God uses little children to teach us valuable lessons about life.

What kind of return are you getting on your investment?

That question might create a number of frowns in light of the nation's economic situation if I were speaking about money. However, I am talking about investing in people's lives. A few weeks ago a mission team from the church went to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. We learned of the investment Bartow First Baptist Church has made in the First Baptist Church in Puerto Plata. Manolo, the pastor, shared how a mission team from our church went there in 1975 and was instrumental in leading him to the Lord. Since that time, the church has grown to an average attendance of 375. They have 700 students enrolled in their Christian school. The church has sponsored 30 plus missions through the years. Manolo just finished his Doctorate of Ministry degree and teaches students at the Seminary in Santo Domingo. When we went to San Marcos, a woman performed drama for the children attending Vacation Bible School. She asked us to tell the church that they payed for her degree in drama and she would spend her life paying us back. When we went to a mission in Santo Domingo, one of the workers thanked us for teaching them how to lead Vacation Bible School.

It is a priviledge to see how our church has seen a thousandfold return on our investment in Puerto Plata. However, you don't have to leave the country to invest in people's lives. You come into contact with people every day who need a smile, hug, word of encouragement, or need help you can provide. You never know how your simple act of kindness will impact that life. Let me know how the Lord has used you recently to touch a life.

My 1st Blog

Sean and I have been talking about blogs for some time. Sean did a great job reworking the website to make it a little more user friendly, information friendly, and giving it a contemporary look. Post your comments to tell us what you think about the website. According to Wikipedia, a blog is an abridgment of the term “web log”. It is usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. My desire for this blog is to give you an opportunity to look at issues you face every day from a biblical perspective. Every day we face major decisions, crises, highs and lows, heartache, disappointment, grief, joy, happiness, and celebrate major events in our lives. In the coming weeks, I will share with you some theological issues as they relate to our lives and ask you to weigh in on them. I close with a question. Our Sunday School lessons have focused on the book of Revelation. Several people have asked when I will be teaching the book of Revelation again. Here is the question, “Would you like me to teach the book of Revelation in the fall on Wednesday nights? If so, let me know.