Getting Used to the Dark by Vance Havner

A great sermon from Dr. Vance Havner. I think this describes perfectly how we are becoming more like the world instead of more like Jesus. May it be a blessing to you.

Getting Used to the Dark by Vance Havner

Does Daddy Go?

  Daddy had a little boy,

     His soul was white as snow.

  He never went to Sunday School

     Cause Daddy wouldn't go.

  He never heard the Word of God.

     That thrills the childish mind,

  While other children went to class,

     This child was left behind.

  As he grew from babe to youth,

     Dad saw to his dismay,

  A soul that once was snowy white,

     Became a dingy grey.

  Realizing that his son was lost,

     Dad tried to win him back.

  But now the soul that once was white,

     Had turned an ugly black.

  Dad even started back to church,

     and Bible study too;

  He begged the preacher,

     "Isn't there a thing you can do?"

  The preacher tried, failed, and said

     "We're just too far behind;

  I tried to tell you years ago,

     But you would pay me no mind."

  And so another soul was lost,

     That once was white as snow;

  Sunday School would have helped,

     But Daddy wouldn't go.

The Guide

An explorer attempting to travel in and map unfamiliar territory came
to a place where he had to cross some very high mountains that were
rugged and threatening. Knowing how risky his task would be, he
searched for a qualified guide.

One man offered his services for a considerable sum of money. "Have
you ever traveled through those mountains?" asked the cartographer.
"No," the man said, "but I’ve been part of the way and have been told
how to proceed from there." The cautious explorer said, "I’m sorry,
but I will not risk it."

Another person volunteered, and he too was asked, "Have you ever
been over those mountains?" "No, but I’ve been to the top and looked
down on the way that leads where you want to go." The explorer considered
his offer. Then he said, "No, I’m afraid to trust myself to your leading.
I want to travel with someone who has been there already."

Finally a man was brought to his camp who said he knew the way.
"Sir," he explained, "the place you are going is my home — and I
am returning there in three days. I will lead you through the mountain
pass and show you my home." The traveler knew immediately that he
had found his guide.

Do You Struggle With Contentment?

How do we know if we are struggling with contentment? Alistair Begg gives this list,

1.Thoughts of money consume my day

2.Other peoples success makes me jealous

3.I define success in terms of what I have rather than what I am in Christ

4.My family is neglected in my pursuit of money and things.

5.I close my eyes to the genuine needs of others.

6.I am living in the paralyzing fear of losing what I have.

7.I am prepared to borrow myself into bondage.

8.God gets my leftovers, rather than my firstfruits.

(Madefor His Pleasure p. 146)

Lessons Learned in 2011

2011 has closed and 2012 has dawned. I look forward to 2012 with hope and the courage of possibilities. This time last year I was looking at 2011 with confusion and uncertainty as I had lost my job at Lewisville Baptist and was working part-time at Target for $7.75/hr because pastors are not eligible for unemployment insurance. We also started our new church and knew not whether it would last. Our church has flourished and I begin a fulltime, permanent job in Raleigh this week.

Even though 2011 was a year of uncertainty, it was also a year of being formed and fashioned into someone new. I have learned how to persevere through difficult times, be content in whatever state I am, and take life as it comes instead of wrestling with it to shape it into my own image. I have learned how to have peace in the midst of chaos and uncertainty. These lessons are more valuable than fame or fortune.

It is my sincere hope that I will apply these lessons to life in 2012 and that God will be glorified every step of the way.

Glad To See It

In a recent Baptist Press article, it was reported that NAMB is working with a bivocational pastor advocate group to encourage more bivocational pastors to plant churches. NAMB's VP of mobilization, Aaron Coe, was quoted in the article as saying "we must leverage the laity to plant churches,and we need to do it through a bivocational church movement."

I couldn't agree more. As my post on planting a church with little or no funding proposed this exact scenario, I am happy to see that NAMB's leadership is beginning to embrace this approach. Bivocational church planters is nothing new. That is how the SBC used to plant churches in our greatest period of growth in the 1940's and 1950's. Sometimes the old ways are best.

The Beauty of the Small Church