Baptist City Blog

God's Secret Agenda

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

God has a secret agenda in all that He does. Yes, your suspicions are true. God has an agenda with all that He does. He has a reason as to why He wrote His Word. He has a scheme as to why He expects you to live a certain way. You will find this secret agenda is revealed in the verse above. God says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." His agenda is for you to live a peaceful life and to have an expected end.

It's a Big World

Acts 22:21

"And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles."

One of the fears Paul had after he got saved was his past. He knew that he would have a hard time serving the LORD since he gave his life before salvation to kill those who were Christians. When Paul got saved, he went to Jerusalem. While there, he was praying in the temple when God told him to quickly get out of Jerusalem because his past would hinder him from witnessing to the Jews. God said, "Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles." God was not done with Paul. God reminded Paul that he lived in a big world, and though the Jews would not hear, the Gentiles would.

A Glad House

Psalm 122:1

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD."

My family has gone to church every Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night since the day I was born. When I was a child, my parents knew the importance of church and made sure I was in church every time there was a service. When I became an adult and had my own family, my wife and I have continued this because of the importance of church in ones life.

Really?

"The State Department said it's gonna take several months, and the investigators say that it will cost more than millions of dollars, to go through Hillary's 33,000 e-mails. Yet we are supposed to believe that Hillary's tiny personal staff went through twice as many e-mails in little more than a month." -Rush

What it takes

“The President has acted unconstitutionally, and it is the President — not Congress — who must back down.” — Sen. Jeff Sessions (R, AL), on Obama’s executive amnesty, quoted in Slate, 2/18/15

This, ladies and gentleman, is how it’s done. Truth, law, justice, and a political call to arms, in 16 words.

Sadly, Sen. Sessions’ moral clarity and vigor are rarities in Washington, even among Republicans. Not for the first time, Sessions is one of only a handful of Senators standing athwart history, yelling “Stop!” In the wake of the federal judge’s ruling that shocked the Regime by halting Barack Obama’s executive amnesty in its tracks — albeit temporarily — the cave-now-gop chorus is as loud as ever.

From The Limbaugh Letter March 2015

Worshipping a Subject

Acts 14:15

"And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:"

As was prophesied in the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit used men like Paul and Barnabas in a mighty way. While in Lystra, there was a man who was crippled from birth. He had never walked to the store, never played in a ballgame with his friends or taken an early morning walk with his pet. The only way this man could get around was if someone carried him from place to place. There is no doubt this is a truly sad story.

FBC Bulletin

The 03/15/15 FBC Hammond bulletin is up at Baptist City.

Being Full of the Holy Ghost

Acts 7:55

"But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,"

The early church came to a point in their growth where the apostles needed help with the administration of the church. They decided that they would seek out seven men who were "full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom." (Acts 6:3) One of those men who was appointed a deacon in the church was Stephen. It is quite interesting that Stephen was not just a man with a title, but it was very evident that he was full of the Holy Ghost. The result of being full of the Holy Ghost was that Saul could not get away from this good man's testimony and his life was eventually change. When you study Stephen's life, you see there were four definite evidences of being full of the Holy Ghost.

Bible Thoughts by Terry Hedderman

Sunday, 3/8/15 Ps 143:1 Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. A reminder: ¹Any answers to prayer are 100% because of His goodness and 0% because of our merit. ²He has no favorites or pets. ³Also, notice “in thy righteousness.” He cannot answer outside of His character. Attention everyone in a leadership position!!! The Commander is about to speak. Ps 82:3 Defend the poor and the fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. School teachers, principals, youth directors, coaches, bus captains...do you ACTIVELY and AGGRESSIVELY stand up for the kids who are always getting picked on? Even the ones you don’t like personally? That “stupid” one; that “goof ball,” the one who seems to have been custom made to get picked on; the one whose actions “call for” someone to “put him in his place”...that kid is a child of the same Heavenly Father as you, and He has put you in a position and charged you to protect His kids. SMH.... (BTW, to those that I, no doubt, offended back at HBHS: please forgive me. Message me personally, and I’ll apologize to you directly.)

Think about this...

Jeremiah 4:3 says, "...Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among the thorns." You can't live your life among the thorns and not expect them to influence your life. You can't sow among liberal teachers and not expect their teachings to influence you. You can't sow among liberal lifestyles and not expect their children to influence your children. When you live among the thorns of the world, you are going to have thorns sprout in your own life. If you don't want to have a thorny future, then don't live among the thorns.

...Alen Domelle