Solid Rock Independent Baptist Church

22/11/2024

This is copied.

“Alcohol is a product of amazing versatility.
It will remove stains from designer clothes.
It will also remove clothes off your back.
If by chance it is used in sufficient quantity, alcohol will remove furniture from the home, rugs from the floor, food from the table, lining from the stomach, vision from the eyes, and judgment from the mind.

Alcohol will also remove good reputations, good jobs, good friends, happiness from children's hearts, sanity, freedom, spouses, relationships, man's ability to adjust and live with his fellow man and even life itself.

As a remover of things, alcohol has no equal."

-The Houston Chronicle

13/10/2024

Just watching a teenager in church here in Zambia. As she finished teaching a class of kids in Sunday School, she took a picture of the kids.

Not a selfie...

Maybe... just maybe... serving others might be the cure to the self absorbed self centered selfie culture.

Maybe....

05/03/2024

Have we replaced a command with generosity?

In my many years as a US pastor and latter a foreign missionary I have been greatly impressed with the generosity of God’s people. While a Pastor I saw a family take money from their small retirement account and use it to buy a bus so our church could run a bus ministry. I have seen many Christians give thousands and thousands of dollars for world missions. I have seen mission’s teams who have come and left far more than they needed to in terms of finances. The generosity of followers of Christ is often truly astounding. When I was a pastor, we never lacked nursery workers, we never lacked people to help with building and the maintenance of the church property. Over two decades I could fill page after page with the sacrificial generosity of God’s people. I am grateful for it. I am thankful for it. I praise God for it.

But has that generosity (a good thing!) replaced a great thing? In every church in every nation, and on every mission field the greatest need is to evangelize the lost, and to disciple the new believers. This is the greatest thing. Generosity is good. It is also commanded. But if we obey the lesser and neglect the greater are we in danger of deceiving ourselves into believing we are obedient?

Can we be absent from the ONE thing Jesus expressly commissioned his churches to engage in and justify ourselves into thinking we are good Christians? Dare I say… Have we given to relieve the responsibility of going? Now… by going I DO NOT mean to a mission field in some 3rd world county, although that is a possibility all should consider. What I mean is going to your relatives, your co-workers, your neighbors, your community. Have we justified our way OUT of this responsibility by looking at our generosity? Do we think we are being obedient to the great commission through our giving while our doing is absent?

Have we replaced a command with generosity?

And IF we have are we not disobedient?

04/03/2024

Have we replaced a command with a call?
Scripture clearly commands us to “Go Ye” into all the world. Yet often we hear people say, “But I’m not called to that”. I have heard people say they are not called to evangelism, not called to missions, not called to teach a class, and not called to disciple anyone. Have we replaced a command of our Lord to go into the world with a mystical call? Have we become more fearful of going without a “call” that we just don’t do anything, justifying this with the claim, “Well… I’m not called”. Does a person have to be “called” to tell their neighbor about Christ? Does a person have to be “called” to disciple others? Does a person have to be “called” to seek and reach the lost? No. Certainly God does call people for specialized work like being a Pastor of a church, or to be a missionary to a people. But even Paul set off to Asia, and Bithynia but the Spirit forbad them. Here Paul is trying to go to a place where he is NOT called. Notice Paul did not sit and wait for a call. He made a plan to go to two places that had a need WITHOUT A CALL FROM GOD. And God used this zeal, and God directed him. Paul was actively obeying the clear express will of God to go into all the world, and through this obedience God directed him to the specific location he was to go. It can sound spiritual to say, “I’m not called”. But you are commanded. It sounds spiritual to say, “I’m a missionary where I reside”. Great! What have you done in the last 2 months? What is your plan to reach lost people in the coming few months? Can we be honest about the missionary efforts of our resident home missionaries? Most who claim this are not trying to reach this neighborhood or that segment of their city. When pressed about how to reach the Muslims in their town, or the drug addicts, or the business class, or the neighborhood down the road from the church, or the Spanish speaking people across from the church parking lot… often what do people say? “Well… you see…. I’m not called to that” Have we replaced a command with a call? And IF we have, are we not disobedient?

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15

17/04/2022

Resurection Sunday the infallible proofs of the resurection

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1197754504330263&id=100003741554278

21/09/2021