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March

Posted on 2Mar CATEGORIES: Uncategorized

Greetings! So it’s not often that I get to write the article for the newsletter so when I do, I like to do it from a musical viewpoint. I would like us to look at one of my favorite songs called, “Lord, I Need You” by Matt Maher. This song is so beautiful, and slap full of truths! We have done it for a few weeks, but I would like to take the time to go a little deeper with the song. This song is literally taken straight from scripture. The lyrics below may look confusing because of all the scripture references jammed in there, but please take the time to read the scriptures that go with the song.

Lord, I come, I confess ( John 1:9) Bowing here I find my rest (Jeremiah 6:16, Matthew 11:29, John 14:27) Without You I fall apart (Colossians 1:17, Hebrews 1:3) You’re the One that guides my heart (Proverbs 3:5-6)

[Chorus:]

Lord, I need You, oh, I need You (Psalm 40:17, Psalm 70:5, Psalm 86:1, Philippians 4:19, Hebrews 4:16) Every hour I need. You My one defense, (Hebrews 7:25, 1 John 2:1) my righteousness (Romans 1:17, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Philippians 3:8-9) Oh God, how I need You

[Verse:]

Where sin runs deep Your grace is more (Romans 5:20-21) Where grace is found is where You are (2 Timothy 2:1)And where You are, Lord, I am free (2 Corinthians 3:17) Holiness is Christ in me (John 14:23, Romans 8:9-10, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 3:16-17, Colossians 1:27)

[Bridge:]

Teach my song to rise to You (Psalm 33:3, Psalm 119:11) When temptation comes my way (Matthew 6:13, Matthew 26:41, Luke 11:4, Luke 22:40, 1 Corinthians 10:13, James 4:7) And when I cannot stand I’ll fall on You (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) Jesus, You’re my hope and stay (1 Corinthians 3:11, 1 Timothy 1:1, Titus 2:13, 1 Peter 1:3-5, 1 Peter 5:10)

Thank you for taking the time to look at this. I encourage you to come to choir practice Sunday nights at 6. Right now we are working on music for our Easter service this year! I would love to have you join us!

God Bless,

Tyler

February 2016

Posted on 31Jan CATEGORIES: Uncategorized

Holy ground, special ground

From inside the cavernous big-city facilities in the pathway of major urban expansions to the smaller, rural churches heavily laden with our rich Mississippi Baptist history, we are amply reminded of who we are, whose we are, and from whence we came. It’s been quite a while now since Richard Curtis, the state’s first Baptist preacher, debarked his Mississippi River raft in the early 1800s and

started organizing Baptist churches in the southwest portion of what was soon to become the State of Mississippi. We no longer have to flee bellicose Native Americans or angry Catholics from Louisiana, as did Curtis, but the battle for the souls of Mississippians is just as critical today as it was back then.

In a state with nearly 2,200 Mississippi Baptist churches alone, many people have simply opted out of attending church. Others take their church attendance far too casually. Whether they realize it, many of these people have allowed their relationship to falter with Almighty God and his Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Learned people have made the argument, not entirely invalid, that one needn’t go to church to be an observant Christian. That may be so, but the difficulty of practicing a true faith without being a part of a body of believers is surely more than most people can overcome in this increasing materialistic and pagan world.

A church is an aptly-named sanctuary from the pressures of the world, and a refuge for the spiritually downtrodden. The mere hour that it takes to attend a modern worship service can do more to restore a person’s zest for life than many hours of psychotherapy. In addition, the Sunday Schools and Discipleship classes that surround a worship service gird us for the never-ending fight against the evil one.

Little ones begin the process of Scripture memorization that will serve them through a lifetime. Royal Ambassadors and Girls in Action learn of missions around the world and begin the process of finding their own place in Kingdom work. Church is a lighthouse beacon for the lost. Church is the solid anchor in the storms of life.

Church is the refilling station for the spiritually exhausted. Church is all those good things, and much more. Church is, above all, holy ground, but in our enlightened post-Christian culture, virtually nothing is considered holy. To the world’s ears, holy is nothing more than a meaningless word to be placed for dramatic effect in front of a variety of vulgarities and suggestive phrases. Certainly, the sociopaths who dominate the American entertainment industry seldom think of using the word in any other context.

Christians should not be deceived. Holiness is and al-ways will be important to God. Even the simplest reference materials list more than 654 biblical instances of the use of the words holy and holiness. The latter part of Hebrews 12:14 states, “…without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

When we enter church, we are standing on holy ground. However the world chooses (or not) to define holy, the word should have special meaning to us when we tread the precious soil on which our houses of worship are built. We must be circumspect. As the culture’s standards of conduct continue to devolve around us, we have to maintain our standards, We cannot allow just any activity to be pursued on holy ground. We cannot allow just any event to be held on holy ground. There are many legitimate uses for holy ground. Each of those purposes should be bathed in prayer, sanctified as holy, and given over to the glory of the Father.

Disregarding the ways of the world, let us live by the words of Hebrews 12:14, else the true meaning of the word holy be tragically explained to us on our day of reckoning.

William E. Perkins

Editor, The Baptist Record

This article originally appeared in the January 14, 2016, edition of The Baptist Record.

January 2016

Posted on 6Jan CATEGORIES: Uncategorized

Happy New Year!

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything to God’s glory.”

1 Corinthians 10:31

Happy New Year, Emmanuel Family! Elgen, the girls and I are so blessed to be kicking off another year with you – you all are so special to us and, as we thank God specifically for His blessings, our church family is right at the top of our list.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a bad New Year’s resolution keeper. I mean, REALLY bad! I always out with the best of intentions, but, by the third week or so, my need for good food, or extra time, or whatever takes my eye off the prize has usually caused me to leave my great intentions in the dust. So, this year, I’ve decided to not do resolutions. I’ve decided to make worship commitments to God to improve myself, or recommit myself, or rededicate myself to being the most productive member of the family of God that I can be. That’ll call for some realignment of thinking on some issues, but it’s worth it if my actions, or my words, or my thoughts are going to be a Christ-honoring witness– which is where we all should be.

I’d like to challenge you to forego the usual resolutions this year, too, and make some commitments to worship God through your life in 2015. Don’t make it something that you do just for a year, but something that you start that will become a lifestyle change.

Here are just a few areas to consider:

Commit to being more regular in worship. It’s where the family of God comes together to praise, and we are commanded to gather in

unity.

Commit to joining a Bible Study class on Sunday morning. Come on, now, it’s just an extra hour on Sunday – you can do it! And,

it’s where you will grow in friendships, and grow in Bible knowledge – it’s important!

Commit to being involved in a ministry – either here at the church, or in some other way. Remember, what God has done for us should give us the motivation we need to get out of our comfort zone and minister to others.

Commit to praying daily for Emmanuel Baptist Church – pray for our vision, our ministries, our passion, our boldness, and our leadership.

Commit to make tithing a priority in 2016. We’ve come a long way over the past year, but there’s more to do. Remember that our ability to reach beyond the walls of this place and make a difference for the Kingdom begins with your faithful support of the church. Join us as we go even farther in 2016!

Commit to giving something of yourself in service to someone else. Not only is service a command emulated in action by Christ, but it should be a basic part of our DNA as Christians. And, the joy you will receive as you meet another’s needs in Christ is beyond any-

thing you could expect.

So, as we kick off this New Year, let’s do it right. Let’s focus on loving, serving, and reaching in 2016! And, remember, whatever you do, do it to God’s glory. That’s our act of daily worship.

In His Love,

Bro. Heath

December 2015

Posted on 12Dec CATEGORIES: Uncategorized

The Birthday of a King!

I’ve already told Tyler, I love Christmas songs (and, so I hope we sing lots of them)! Hymns, to me, are great theological lessons. They teach us about the majesty of God, the glory of our Creator, and they don’t gloss over the more difficult concepts of our understanding of who God is on their way to praise the more easy to understand ideas. They are high, as God is high. And, Christmas hymns tell the story of Jesus’ birth in a way more beautiful than simple words (with the exception of Scripture) ever could.

The words of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” relate to us the anticipation that the Children of Israel felt, and now we feel today, when we consider the coming of the Messiah foretold in Isaiah 6:14,“Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” When we consider Immanuel, God with us, we think about the coming of God in such a lowly, yet profound, way that even shepherds could understand and appreciate.“Silent Night,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” and “Away in a Manger” tell the beautiful story of the birth of the Christchild. The peace conveyed in these simple words and comforting music tell the Gospel story of the night of Jesus’ birth in a way that enables us to imagine a peaceful night on which the Prince of Peace made His entry upon the earth. They’re almost lullabies, yet their words explain in no uncertain terms that God had, indeed, come to earth that night.

In stark contrast to these quiet songs of love denoting the birth of a baby, several hymns tell the moving and powerful story of the birth of, not only a baby, but a King. On the hillside outside Bethlehem, the silence was shattered as angels came from heaven to announce the coming of Jesus. Luke 2:13 says, “And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among

men with whom He is pleased.’”

Just imagine the unrestrained joy coming from heaven as the angels announced Christ’s birth! Oh, to be a shepherd on that night! But, we can feel something of that when we hear “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Angels, from the Realms of Glory,” “Angels We Have Heard on High,” and “Joy to the World.”The songs are triumphant, as is their subject.

This year, as we gather together to worship Jesus by meditating on His birth, let’s not simply sing these great songs ofour faith. Let’s really listen to their words as they call us to remember, worship, learn, hear, and experience this singu-lar event in the history of humankind. Let’s sing, with William Harold Neidlinger, these words, “Alleluia! O how the angels sang. Alleluia! How it rang! And the sky was bright with a holy light, ‘Twas the birthday of a King.”

In His Love,

Bro. Heath

November 2015

Posted on 4Nov CATEGORIES: Uncategorized

Thanksgiving as Worship

“. . . seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” (2 Peter 1:3-4)

I hope you’ve been enjoying our family conversation about worship over the past few weeks. As we enter the month of November, which culminates in a national celebration of thanks, perhaps it is appropriate to take a look at the act of thanksgiving as a form of worship.

It’s hard to believe it, but there was actually a time in the life of our nation when our government set aside a day to recognize how blessed we are as a country, and to honor and celebrate God for those blessings. If we think back to the Pilgrims whose survival of that harsh and painful first year in the land that would become America, we are gripped by what those settlers were truly thankful for. So many had not survived, so many crops had failed, and it seemed as if either the land, the elements, or starvation would exact a continuingly high toll. But, they survived. By God’s grace and mercy, that ragtag band of settlers began to see light at the end of a dark, cold tunnel.

Thanksgiving was surely in order. And, give thanks they did. And, from that point forward, we began to marvel as God showered His blessing on this incredible nation. If thanksgiving is the act of acknowledging unmerited favor, then the act of giving thanks is the highest form of worship. We have been learning that our worship is a response to what God has done for us – not anything we have done for Him. So, like those first Pilgrims, we gather to recognize God’s provision: for our lives, for our blessings, for our freedoms, for our families and our friends. We also acknowledge that without the ultimate gift – His Son, Jesus Christ, whose death on the cross paid our sin debt and gave us right standing before the Father – all of those other blessings we just mentioned would be hollow and meaningless. We give thanks because our lives are a testimony to benevolence and mercy. We give thanks because in doing so, we show love, which is a small example of the overwhelming love God has shown to us.

In the passage above, we see that God, in His divine power, has given us everything we need to pursue and live a life of godliness, or excellence. This isn’t something we’ve earned – it was a gift, free to us, but at an unspeakable price to God. Why? So we could partake in His divine nature – God created us to be so much more than just human – we have been given the precious gift of being called a child of God and co-heir with Christ of God’s kingdom. Now, if that’s not a cause for thanksgiving, I don’t know what is!

Treat thanksgiving as worship – and share the reason for this season!

In His Love,

Bro. Heath

October 2015

Posted on 17Oct CATEGORIES: Uncategorized

True Worship

“But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23, HCSB)

Jesus said these words to the Samaritan woman at the well, but it’s just as important for us to know today. This woman’s questions to Jesus about where and how to worship revealed something really important – she didn’t know how to worship God, or, even more important, why she was worshipping God. Granted, she had her problems, as Jesus revealed, but, very likely, at the heart of the matter, she was living the way she was because she wasn’t worshipping God the way she needed to.

So too with us. I wonder how many of the things we endure in life are because we don’t really understand who God is, and what worshipping Him really means?

Beginning Sunday, we’re going to be taking a look at worship: why we worship, how we worship, and Whom we worship. My prayer is that we will begin to see that worship of the Living God is about so much more than the hour we spend together on Sunday morning – as important as that is. It’s about more than music, more than hands raised in praise, or more than just hearing His Word and being stirred by it. Worshipping God is about all of that – but, first and foremost, it’s about living a life the other six days that matches the devotion and faithfulness we show on the seventh.

Worship is about every day. It’s about being in such total surrender to God that we are able, through our closeness to Him, worship Him in spirit and in truth. Really, it’s about what God is doing in our lives – realizing it, accepting it, and letting it guide and motivate us on a daily basis. So, we see that our worship of God is about what He has done, and is doing, in us, and not so much what we do. In the end, it gets back to God, and His work in our lives. We are merely a reflection – and our worship gives back to Him some part of Himself that He has invested in us.

I hope you’ll join us on Sunday morning – after Bible Study, of course! Another important way we worship God is through our study – making the learning of Him a priority in our lives that hauls us out of bed in time to be here by 9:45. You can do it! I’ll see you here!

In His Love,

Bro. Heath

August 2015

Posted on 11Aug CATEGORIES: Uncategorized

Someone Prayed for You!

Isn’t it nice to know that somebody prayed for you? It kind of gives you a good feeling inside, to know that someone took the time to remember you at the Father’s throne. But, what if that someone was Jesus? How great is that! Well, he did. Just before He was to be arrested, Jesus lifted His head to heaven and prayed – first, for Himself; then the Disciples; and, finally, for each one of us:

“I pray not only for these (the Disciples), but also for those who believe in Me through their message. May they all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You. May they also be one in Us, so the world may believe You sent Me.

I have given them the glory You have given Me. May they be one as We are one. I am in them and You are in Me. May they be made completely one, so the world may know You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me.

Father, I desire those You have given Me to be with Me where I am. Then they will see My glory, which You have given Me because You loved Me before the world’s foundation.

Righteous Father! The world has not known You. However, I have known You, and these have known that You sent Me. I made Your name known to them and will make it known, so the love You have loved Me with may be in them and I may be in them.” (John 17:20-26)
Jesus Christ, Savior, Messiah, Son of the Living God – prayed for you. Then, He died for you. Then, He rose from the grave for you. Surely he is worthy of the best praise and worship we can offer!

May 2015

Posted on 7May CATEGORIES: Uncategorized

Fabulous Faith!

“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace

with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Also through Him, we have obtained

access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of

the glory of God. And, not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions,

because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces

proven character, and proven character produces hope.” Romans 5:1-4, HCSB

Oftentimes, when we think about faith, we think of Jesus’ parable about the mustard seed. If we would have just that tiny, miniscule amount of faith, we can release tremendous power – power to move mountains. But, I’d like us to just take a minute to think about the power of hope and faith’s central role in giving the kind of life-changing hope that God offers through salvation.

Paul didn’t waste too much ink on the topic, getting right to the point, as was his usual approach. In his letter to the church in Rome, he explained how faith is the root of very good thing. Look at the passage above to see all that little faith can do: first, it can declare us righteous. It can give us “right-standing” before God. This is a gift from Jesus to us at the moment we accept Him as our Lord and Savior. Without this righteousness, we cannot approach God’s throne. We’re lost, without hope. But, since the end goal is hope, we press on, through faith, which opened us to righteousness.

Second, and since we have obtained the righteousness of Christ through faith, we have peace. And, not just any kind of peace. We have the peace that surpasses all comprehension – peace with God through Christ. By faith, we have the kind of peace that those without Christ can only dream of, and hope for. There’s that word again – hope. But, let’s keep going. Third, by faith we have righteousness, and by righteousness we have peace, and, by faith, we have access to grace – that all-consuming, never ending, grace that gives our new lives meaning and purpose, and enables us to live freely a life of service in the name of Christ. Grace is freely given to us, and it should be freely shared by us to those who need it – it’s what drives us to love, and serve and reach.

Fourth, faith produces joy. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God – that God is exactly who He says He is, and that our worship, service, and very lives bring Him honor and glory. It’s the joy that cannot be created, or replicated, by the human mind or heart. It can only come from the overflowing reserves of a loving God. It also means that we can continue to have joy in the tough times as well – Paul calls these times “our afflictions.” It’s the power behind the lyrics, “I will praise You in this storm, and I will raise my hands’ that You are who You are, no matter where I am.” The true test of the maturity of our faith is the degree to which we can praise God when our circumstances call for us to retreat into doubt and darkness.

And, we have to endure afflictions, because they open up a whole new world of experiences: endurance, which produces character, which produces hope. Finally, we get to hope. How? Because it all began with faith – tiny little faith that defines the character of the believer. And, how does the faith come about? Well, Paul tells us that, too, a few pages over in Romans 10:8-10, “On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim: if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. With the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation.” Allbecause of faith. Try it out for yourself!

In His Love, Bro. Heath

April 2015

Posted on 6Apr CATEGORIES: Uncategorized

Is Our Picture Clear?

Matthew 26: 36-46; Luke 22:41-46

As we look closely at that last week of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry, so many things stand out vital for us to see and know. Jesus spent a great deal of these last few days alone with His disciples – spending time with them, teaching them, preparing them for the ministry they will have after He returns to the Father.

But, there came a crucial moment when Jesus needed to be alone with God. He took Peter, James and John with him to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Jesus tells them in Matthew 26:38, “My soul is swallowed up in sorrow – to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.” Here was the Savior, the Son of God – Jesus – so overwhelmed with what was about to happen to him that he needed to spend one more night in prayer with his Father, but he didn’t want to be alone. He knew what was about to happen. He knew that Judas was already bringing the mob to find Him, that he was going to betray Him, and that this would set into motion the horrible events leading to His death.

Can you imagine the loneliness that must have consumed Him? I cannot. So, He went to be alone with God one last time. Matthew’s account says that Jesus, “fell facedown and prayed, ‘My Father! If it is possible let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’” Luke records that Jesus went only a stone’s throw away from them to pray, pleading the more familiar, “Father, if You are willing, take this cup away from Me – nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.” I won’t even go into the complete inability of those with Him to do what He asked, to stay awake while He was praying. The Bible tells us that on two separate occasions, he left them only to return and find them sleeping. He had spent the last few days of His life trying to get it to sink into these disciples that He would soon be leaving them, that He would soon become the sacrifice.

Maybe they just didn’t get it. Jesus said,“You couldn’t even stay awake with Me for one hour?” He charged them to pray for themselves, and left to continue his lonely, wearing, conversation with His Father. As He prayed, however, something incredible happened. Luke continues, “Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. Being in anguish, he prayed more fervently, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Have you ever prayed so hard that you bled? Probably not. Me neither. But, then again, we have never been called upon by God to take the sin of all mankind on our shoulders, to pay humanity’s sin debt with our own life.

But, the Jesus I want us to see is, not necessarily the man who pled with God to find some other way. It was the Son of God who, understanding that what was about to happen was the only way, walked out of that prayer time with God recharged, refocused, re-strengthened and prepared to accomplish the will of God for our salvation. Look at what Matthew says here in verse 46, “Get up; let’s go! See – my betrayer is near.”

We no longer see a weary, worried, distressed and sorrowful Jesus. We see Jesus as powerful, in command, and ready to bear the cup that God had placed upon Him – the cup that bears within it the sin of all mankind and God’s righteous judgment. The cup that will separate Him from His Father in a personal, spiritual, intimate way. Can you imagine the deafening silence of God? Probably not – because Jesus accepted that price on our behalf, so we would never have to.

“Get up – let’s go!” He said.

Do we really understand the magnitude of that sacrifice? Is our picture clear of what exactly happened after Jesus left that garden? His was. If we, too, fully comprehend the depth and breadth of what was accomplished on our behalf on the cross, and through the empty tomb three days later, our sense of utter unworthiness should force us to come crashing to our knees. But, Jesus’s words call us to rise and take the gifts of joy, peace and eternal life which we have been given to a dark, lonely world – “Get up – let’s go!”

In His Love,

Bro. Heath

February 2015

Posted on 6Apr CATEGORIES: Uncategorized

Are You Pursuing God?

“My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.” Philippians 3:10 (HCSB)

All of us have a decision to make – are we going to be content, satisfied, with going through the motions at church, or are we going to be on fire for the Living God? It’s a simple question, with only one right answer, but your decision will impact every single aspect of your life, starting with your relationship with the Father.

A.W. Tozer, in his book, “The Pursuit of God,” deals at length and with a great deal of candor about the thing that should be first in our lives – an unquenchable, insatiable, burning desire to know God. And, I’m not talking about knowing Him in the academic sense, but knowing Him relationally – gaining an intimacy with our Savior that can only come from conforming your life to His, your will to His, and working hard to experience Him in every corner of your being. To be, as Tozer says, “a thirst for God, and they will not be satisfied till they have drunk deep at the Fountain of Living Water.” I wish people still wrote like this!

Tozer lays considerable responsibility for the lack of fire in the church at the pulpits. He says, “But this hunger must be recognized by our religious leaders. Current evangelicalism has (to change the figure) laid the altar and divided the sacrifice into parts, but now seems satisfied to count the stones and rearrange the pieces with never a care that there is not a sign of fire upon the top of lofty Carmel.” He continues, “It is a solemn thing, and no small scandal in the kingdom, to see God’s children starving while actually seated at the Father’s table.” Wow. Translation: too many leaders in today’s church have an incredible knowledge of Christ – they know all about Him, in fact – but they don’t know Him. And, that lack of intimacy in knowing Christ can and will only result in shepherding generations of Christians who lack that intimacy as well. Clearly, as leaders, we must do better – for our own sakes, and those to whom we have been called to minister.

But, we also, as individuals, have a sacred obligation to strive to know the Creator more. We were created to grow spiritually, to burn with a desire to love deeper and learn more – to never stop pursuing the God who saved us. That’s what Paul was talking about in Philippians 3:10. He had everything the world would offer him – he was a recognized leader in the Jewish church. He knew his stuff, but that’s all it was – stuff. He never really understood what “surpassing value” (v. 8) was until he had an intimate encounter with the risen Lord. From that point forward, Paul wanted “to know Him;” not just intellectually, but to have a deep, abiding, personal relationship with Him. It was the singular focus of his life, and guided everything he did. This is our example – we need to pay attention.

God has called us to know Him better, by giving Christ His fullness. We only have one question to answer: will we be on fire for Him?

In His love,

Bro Heath