Mammaw Is On The Move

Who would believe that I have 10 people that will be living in my home in the next few days. Yeah - I know – normally when I tell people that we will soon have a new member in our home – most think – ‘He’s obviously going to have another baby.’ Well that would be a fair assumption based on the fact that we have added someone to the house almost every year for the past 9 years.

This time circumstances are different. Rather than having a new baby – we are moving my grandmother “Mammaw” in to live with us. My grandmother is 88 years old and her health has been deteriorating over the past few years (as you would expect of anybody at her age) however the pace has picked up over the past couple of months.

My mom has been caring for her in West Monroe while trying to deal with her own debilitating health and Mammaw’s condition has become too difficult for my mom to manage by herself. She has had lots of visitors over the past week as people came by to wish her well. I am headed to West Monroe to catch up with my family when I get off work tonight.

I have spent the past week – moving furniture around the house and rearranging furniture. Yesterday afternoon – a local medical equipment provider delivered a hospital bed and bed side adjustable table as well as oxygen machine and a wheel chair. We got the bed all set up with clean sheets and a blanket and I did a little decorating in the room to make it look inviting to Mammaw. She has spent the past 40+ years living in the house there in West Monroe. I know that she is going to miss it.

Tomorrow we plan to get up – have a nice breakfast and then to be on our way to Denham Springs. If you have some time – pray that God would grant us a un-eventful trip and that my Mammaw would not be too anxious about the move. She knows that her life in this world is drawing to a close and is content with God’s will. She says that she is ready to put off her body of flesh and trade it in for a incorruptible one – yet while she is still with us - it is certainly difficult to have the mind of an adult and to live in a body that responds more like a new born.

Notes from the Expositors Conference

This years expositors conference certainly lived up to the mark that was set from their inaugural conference in 2007. Dr. Steven Lawson and Dr. Ligon Duncan both provided exceptional teaching from God's word on the importance and necessity of Expositional preaching. Together the emphasized passages in Acts where they looked at the early church's commitment and faithfulness to preaching the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Lawson noted that 1 of every 4 words in the book of Acts are part of sermons and that that there are 19 major sermons or defenses of the faith that make up the book of Acts - preaching was at the forefront of the early church. Lawson's final message was titled, "Preaching that is Innocent of the Blood of All Men," and really captured the theme of the conference.

Lawson - "There is an approach to preaching today that withholds the full consul of God. It preaches grace but not the requirement of the law - It has no real nutriments."

He also noted - from the various passages in Acts that - there are seven marks of the expositor that will keep his hands clean of the blood of those who hear his message. Following are some of the key comments from Lawson's message.

1) For the faithful expositor - there will be a posture of Humility. "There is no half-way humble - you are either humble or your are not." The longer the life that Paul the Apostle lived the lower he grew down into humility. Paul said, 'I am least of the Apostles 1 Cor 15:9, Least among the Saints Eph. 3:8, I am foremost of all sinners. 1 Tim 1-15'

2) The Expositor will have a heart of Boldness - the humble expositor preaches not for his own acclaim but for the glory of God. There will always be full disclosure - whether publicly or from house to house - Acts 20:20.

3)The Expositor will have a tone of sobriety - "Gravitas" Solemnly testifying of repentance towards God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 20:21 -The expositor must be "blood earnest - a serious man."

4) The Expositor must have a "Resolution of Will and Determination of Will " A Strong Sense of Duty. He may be weary in the work but not weary of the work. Paul says that he was constrained by the Spirit. "And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit," Acts 20:22 Men who are called to preach God's word ought to live as if we are immortal until our time is done.

5) The Expositor will embody a Life of Service - pressing on that he might finish his course. "But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." Acts 20:24

6) The Expositor will have a sense of urgency - knowing that he will never see certain men again. The Expositor preaches as a dying man unto dying men. I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Acts 20:25-27

Expositors Conference 2008

Wow! A year has already passed and it is time again for the annual Expositors Conference hosted by Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Mobile, AL.

Pastor Dale Crawford and I will be attending along with a couple hundred other pastors from around the gulf coast. Pastors and teachers who attend the Expositors Conference are are committed to proclaiming God's word by preaching from the Bible in an expositional style. This style of teaching is as old as the Bible and is faithful to the exhortation given by the Apostle Paul where he writes to Timothy:

2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

It is common in our day to bring hip and relevant messages to congregations in hopes to capture their attention. This would be fine if the intent was to teach people how to have a better marriage or how to quite addictive habits - but it is not the means that God has given to convert the lost nor the means given to feed his sheep.

Men may have needs such as the ones previously mentioned but these needs pale in comparison to being taught God's Word and seeing the Glorious Jesus Christ revealed in the scriptures.

May God continue to raise up generations of preachers who will be faithful in preaching and teaching from the Holy, Infalliable, and Divinely Inspired scriptures.