Baptist City Blog

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Dealing with a Condemning Heart

1 John 3:20

"For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God."

In the verse above, John talks about Christians having a condemning heart. Though many times people feel that a condemning heart is more of a present day problem, we can see from the Scriptures that people from all ages have had this problem of dealing with a condemning heart.  This is because sin is an every person problem.  Sin has existed since the Garden of Eden, therefore you will have people who have a condemning heart. Dealing with your condemning heart will determine whether or not you have the confidence needed to serve the LORD.

Let me first of all remind you that the past is the past.  Too many people let their past beat them up when they need to remember that they cannot undo the past. One sad thing about life is that there is no reset button. Once you have done something, you will have to live with that action for the rest of your life.  You can't undo what you have done, so stop letting your past condemn you. What you need to do is move on and start doing right.

Second, every action has consequences. If you don't want your heart to condemn you, then you need to realize that every action has consequences.  There are consequences to being unfaithful to your spouse.  There are consequences to quitting on God.  There are consequences to surrendering to temptation. If you don't want to have a condemning heart, then stop doing those things that the consequences are condemning.

Third, you might not have to live with people, but you have to live with your heart.  Many people think that they can do something and no one will ever find out.  Well, you might be right about no one finding out, but the problem is that your heart will know what you have done.  You may do wrong with someone else and never see them again, but you will have to live with your heart for the rest of your life.

The only answer to dealing with a condemning heart is God and His Word.  If you will start listening to God and doing what His Word commands you to do, then you can silence your condemning heart. Doing right has a way of quieting the condemning heart.

According to the verse above, the result of an uncondemning heart is confidence.  You will never have the confidence you need to serve God until your heart stops condemning you. It is amazing how confident you will become in the Christian life when you start doing right. You will have confidence to teach God's Word.  You will have confidence as a soul winner.  You will have confidence as you walk through life.  Confidence will be natural because you will know that what you are doing is right.

Christian, my desire for you is that you live a confident life because your heart doesn't condemn you, but it commends you.  Always remember that you have to live with your heart, so only do the things that will cause your heart to commend your actions. Be careful today, and every day, to do those things that you won't regret years down the road.

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Resist to Submit

James 4:7

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

The Christian life is often accomplished through opposites.  What I mean by this statement is that in order to obey God I must disobey the flesh.  For instance, in order to properly love I must hate.  I cannot love something without hating what which will hurt that which I love. Therefore, love without hatred is not true love. Thus, the whole Christian life is accomplished by balancing the opposites of life.  Whenever I get out of balance, I end up committing sin and harming my testimony.

No doubt, one of the greatest battles you will face in your Christian life is overcoming the Devil.  Let me make this very clear, the Devil is a real person.  If you believe in God, then you must believe there is a Devil, for God tells us that he is real.  In fact, I believe that not only do most people believe there is a Devil, but most people will tell you that they hate him.  Yet, the truth is most Christians end up succumbing to the Devil's temptations.  Though we hate him, it is amazing how we end up listening to him. In the verse above, God gives us the way to overcome the Devil.

If you are going to overcome the Devil, then you must first submit yourself to God.  The word "submit" means "to place yourself under ones authority." In other words, you will never succeed in overcoming the Devil until you place yourself under God's authority.  Until you yield yourself to God and stop making yourself the authority, you will never succeed in overcoming the Devil.

Moreover, in all submission there must be resistance.  Follow me carefully as I try to explain this.  Submission is not doing something when you want to do it. Submission is doing something that you are told to do when you don't want to do it, and have the power not to do it.  That is why God said you must submit to Him in order to overcome the Devil.  There will be resistance in your attempt to submit to God.  For instance, when God commands me to go soul winning, there are times when my flesh does not want to go.  Thus, though my flesh may resist going soul winning, I must submit to God's authority and push myself to do it.  This can be said about anything in the Christian life. Submitting to God is not easy because you will always find resistance either from your flesh or from others.  Therefore, you must expect resistance when you submit to God.

Furthermore, God says the way to submit to Him is to resist the Devil.  The easiest way for you to submit to God is simply to resist what the Devil tells you to do.  The easiest way to submit to God's instruction to be faithful to church is to resist the Devil's invitation to stay home. The best way to submit to walking daily with God in His Word is to resist the Devil's invitation to stay in bed.

Likewise, the way to resist the Devil is to submit to God.  Too many people are trying to give you all kinds of "Christian psychology" regarding overcoming the Devil when it is as simple as submitting to God.  If you want to resist the Devil, then simply submit yourself to God and His authority.

Submitting to God and resisting the Devil ultimately comes down to a choice.  In every choice of life, you must choose to submit to God and resist the Devil. You must understand that if you submit to God, then you are resisting the Devil. Yet, if you resist God's authority and what He wants you to do, then you are also submitting to the Devil. You simply must decide to whom you will submit.  Let me encourage you to submit to God, and you will be successful in resisting the Devil.

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The Last Days

2 Timothy 3:1

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come."

In the verse above, God warns us what the last days will be like.  When God talks about the last days, He is talking about the final days before He comes back to take His children home to Heaven.  He warns us that in the last days there will be "perilous times." The word "perilous" means "dangerous; hazardous; full of risk." In other words, the last days will be very hazardous for the Christian. Why will they be so hazardous?  The reason is because there will be so many sins that will be prevalent for Christians to fall into.  In the following verses, God shows us what the sins of the last days will be.

In 2 Timothy 3:2-5, God says that the last days will be filled with these sins: "For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."  When you look at this list of sins, you can see that we surely are living in the last days.

Because we live in the last days, every Christian should be careful not to succumb to the sins mentioned above.  Christian, you are as capable of committing any of these sins as is a lost person.  One of the reasons God warned us about the last days is so that we can beware of the sins that we must fight.  Each of the sins mentioned above will become more and more prevalent as we get closer to the LORD's coming.  Because of this, we will have to be more conscience of their presence so that we can avoid, or as the Scriptures says, "turn away" from them.

Furthermore, because we live in the last days, you should get busy serving God.  We don't know when the LORD is going to come, and it would be terrible for Him to find us not serving Him.  In these last days, Christians need to be more involved in their church's outreach ministries.  In these last days, Christians need to lead more people to Christ.  More Christians need to be involved in their church bus ministries in these last days.  In these last days, more Christians need to be leading people to Christ through soul winning.  In these last days, we need more young people to burn their dreams and surrender their lives to serve God full-time in the ministry.  We don't need Christians to do less in these last days, we need Christians to do more.

What are you doing in these last days to prepare yourself and others to meet Christ? Do you have some sin that needs to be cleaned up before Christ comes? Do you find yourself doing less for Christ than what you used to do? Do you find your heart growing colder towards the things of Christ? Christian, we need you in these last days to do more for Christ.  Whatever sin you have in your life, clean it up! Though you may already being doing several things for Christ in your church, let me exhort you to step up your efforts in each area.  Don't be caught doing nothing for Christ!  Go to your preacher and find out where you can get involved in your church so that we can reach more people before these last days come to an end.

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How to Treat the Preacher

1 Timothy 5:17

"Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine."

The Book of 1 Timothy is about the position of the pastor.  You will find in 1 Timothy the requirements God has set forth for the person who desires to hold the position of pastor, what He expects from the pastor, and how the church member should treat their pastor. Though preachers are men at best, the position they hold is an honorable one.  God said in 1 Timothy 3:1, "This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work." You will notice that God places the honor upon the position more than He does the man, and that is why the position is very sacred.

In 1 Timothy 5, God speaks to the church member about how they are to treat their pastor. For over 20 years I have traveled as an evangelist and have seen the good and bad of how people treat their preacher. God will hold every church member accountable for how they treat their preacher. Let me show you what the Scriptures say about how you should treat your preacher.

First, you should respect your preacher. In 1 Timothy 5:1 it says, "Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren;" You will notice the respect that God expects church members to give to their pastor.  You are not to be demanding of a pastor, for you would not be demanding of your parents.  You should give your pastor the due respect he deserves. In other words, address him properly.  I believe the pastor should never be addressed by his first name.  His office demands respect.  Whether or not you respect the man, you should respect his office and address him properly.  Respect him when you disagree with him by approaching him in a proper manner.  Don't be demanding, but respectfully let him know how you disagree.

Second, pay your pastor well. You will notice in the verse above that God says that the pastor is "...worthy of double honour..." In other words, you shouldn't pay your pastor the bare bones just so he can get by, but you should pay him a worthy salary. Too many pastors barely make it financially because their church won't pay them properly.  God will hold those church members accountable who don't pay their pastor a worthy salary.

Third, don't listen to unverified accusations about your pastor.  In verse 19, God says the only time you receive an accusation about a pastor is when you have two witnesses.  Notice it is not two people who have heard something about your pastor, but two people who have seen the pastor do wrong. Don't be caught up in destroying your pastor's name because you listened to unverified accusations.

Fourth, the pastor should be held accountable for his sin.  In verse 20, when a pastor sins, and this is talking about physical improprieties, he should be publicly rebuked.  Though I don't believe that church members should be publicly rebuked, I do believe that the preacher is publicly accountable.  Though some may not like this, every preacher is accountable for his purity. If he abuses his position by being unfaithful to his spouse, then scripturally he should be publicly rebuked.

Last, God commands to give guarded honor to the man of God.  In verse 21, God cautions about lifting one preacher higher than another.  In other words, all preachers should get the same honor.

Be careful how you treat your preacher.  God holds you accountable for how you treat your preacher, and likewise, holds him accountable for how he leads you.

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Increase and Abound

1 Thessalonians 3:12

"And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:"

In a day when mediocrity is acceptable, God in His holy Word commands the Christian to "increase and abound." God is not a mediocre God.  When you study the Scriptures, you will find that God is a God of excellence.  In the verse above, He commands the Christian to "increase and abound." The word "abound" means "to possess in great quantity.  Several times in the Scriptures God commands us to abound, or to have a great quantity of something.

First, in the verse above, God commands us to "...abound in love one toward another..." In other words, God does not want Christians to be people who lack in the area of love. Loving people is not determined by others, but loving people is a choice.  You choose whom to love.  You don't love people because of their status or their appearance, but you love people because you choose to love them.  You shouldn't love people because of what they do for you and how they please you, but you should love people because they need to be loved.  Your love for people should never be lacking. You should always have an abundance of love stored up so that you can love others.

Second, in 2 Corinthians 8:7, God commands us to abound in faith.  Your faith in God should never be lacking.  Whenever God commands you to do something, your faith should be such that you immediately obey.  The only way you are going to abound in faith is through hearing and doing what God's Word tells you to do.  According to Romans 10:17, "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Your faith will never abound unless you hear God's Word preached and read It daily.

Third, God commands in 2 Corinthians 8:7 to abound in knowledge.  Yes, we should be a knowledgeable people.  I believe we should not just be knowledgeable about the Word of God, though if that is all the knowledge you have you will succeed, but you should also be knowledgeable about life.  What I mean by this is you should know what is going on in the world's affairs so that you can be a better witness to others.  When you abound in knowledge, you will have a better chance of witnessing to all classes of people.

Fourth, in 2 Corinthians 8:7, God commands you to abound in grace.  I like to say that when God talks about people having grace that He is talking about having people skills.  Listen, you don't have to be a jerk to be a Christian.  You should abound in grace, or people skills, so that you can live peaceably with all men.  When you abound in grace, you will be able to get along with obstinate people as well.

Do you abound in these areas? Work hard in each of these areas to abound so that you can be the Christian that God wants you to be.  Ask God to help you to abound.  God is the master of all of these areas, and He can certainly teach you and help you to abound if you are willing to let Him help you.

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Getting to Know Christ

Philippians 3:10

"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;"

Getting to know Christ should be the desire of every Christian.  That was certainly the desire of the Apostle Paul in the verse above.  More than anything else, Paul desired to know Christ.  He didn't just desire to know Christ on a casual basis, but He wanted to know Christ in a personal way. As I think about the verse above and knowing Christ, several thoughts come to mind.

First, anybody can know Christ in a personal way.  I am so glad that God did not reserve closeness with Him for only a certain class of people.  God makes available for every Christian the opportunity to get close to Him.  God says in Hebrews 4:16, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."  Notice again in Psalm 91:1, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."  In both verses God shows that anybody has the availability to come into His presence.  Thus, anybody has the availability to get close to Christ.

Second, you will not get close to Christ without suffering.  This is why most people never get close to Christ because they run from suffering.  I'm not saying that you should run to suffering, simply that you should not run from it when it does come.  It is when you are suffering that you have the opportunity to get close to Christ.  The reason God chooses suffering as the avenue to get close to Him is because through suffering you must die to yourself.  Notice in the verse above it says, "...and the power of his resurrection..." There can be no resurrection if there is no death.  Christ cannot get close to you when you are filled with yourself. He can only get close to you when you have died to self and need Him.

Third, through suffering you get to know Christ on a different level.  What I mean by this is that through suffering you will see Christ in a different light than you have before.  You get to know people in a different way when you suffer and go through hard times together. A marital relationship grows stronger as the couple struggles through hard times together.  Likewise, your relationship with Christ grows more personal as you both go through suffering together.

Last, it is through suffering that you are conformed into the image of Christ.  In the verse above, God talks about being "...conformable unto his death;" In other words, when you die to yourself in your sufferings, it is then that Christ can conform you more into His image.  Thus, when you are conformed into the image of Christ you get to know Him on a personal level.

How much do you really want to know Christ?  The only way you will succeed in knowing Him is through suffering.  You can run from suffering, or you can welcome it as an opportunity to know Christ in a more personal way.

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Understanding God's Will

Ephesians 5:17

"Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is."

The will of God is probably one of the most misunderstood subjects in the Scriptures. Too many Christians think that the will of God is a "where" when God's Words shows us that it's a "what." I will understand where God's will is for my life when I do God's will.  I think it is important to know where God wants you to serve, but it is more important to do His will.

In the verse above, God tells us that He is about ready to show us what His will is for our lives in the following verses.  God's will is not a spooky thing that you might stumble across, for God does not work that way.  God's will is very evident, especially when you study the Scriptures.

First, God's will is for you not to be influenced by the world.  You will notice the Scriptures say in verse 18, "And be not drunk with wine..." Yes, God's will is that you don't drink alcohol, but this statement is even more than that. God is teaching that His will is for you not to let the world influence you in any way.  Christian, you must watch your influences. The world's influences will convince you not to serve God. If you want to do God's will, then don't allow the world to influence you.

Second, God's will is for you to be filled with the Spirit.  Again, the Scriptures say in verse 18, "...be filled with the Spirit." Instead of being influenced by the world, God wants you to be influenced by His Spirit.  Everyday of your life you should yield yourself to God's Holy Spirit and ask Him to influence everything that you do that day.

Third, God's will is for you to sing spiritual songs.  In verse 19, God talks about singing songs.  Now if God wants you to sing "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,..." then that would mean He would not want you to sing the world's music.  You are not going to listen to worldly music and not sing their songs. That means God's will is for you to be sure to listen to the right type of music, and also sing the right type of music.

Fourth, God's will is for you to be thankful.  In verse 20, God commands us to always be thankful.  I know, this is not what most people want to hear about God's will, but if you are not being thankful for everything, then you are not obeying God's will.  It's not hard to thank people for the good that they do for you.  This is God's will! Furthermore, it is God's will for you to be thankful for everything that happens to you in your life.  Though that may be hard, it is God's will.

Fifth, God's will is for you to get along with people.  God says in verse 21, "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." This is not talking about compromising so you can get along, but this is talking about doing your best to get along with people.  God says the way to do that is simply to submit yourself to what they want.  In other words, God's will is for you to lay your desires aside so that you can fulfill the desires of others.

Last, God's will is for husbands and wives to get along.  God spent the rest of the chapter dealing with the marital relationship.  Getting along with your spouse is as much a part of God's will as being filled with the Spirit of God.  If you don't get along with your spouse, then you are disobeying the will of God.

Are you doing God's will for your life? God's will is not very difficult.  God's will is more what you do than where you do it.  If you will do what He wants you to do every where you go, then you will find where He wants you to do it for the rest of your life.

Seeing We Have This Ministry...

2 Corinthians 4:1

"Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;"

If you have a ministry in which you work in your church, let me remind you that it is a great privilege to be able to serve.  I have had the privilege my entire life of being involved in the ministry to some degree.  Because I have been involved in it for so long, I have to be careful that I don't take for granted the privilege I have to serve God.  Think with me if you will; the God of the Universe allows frail and sinful humans like you and me to represent Him.  God could have chosen many other objects to represent Him, but He chose us.  God could have created something that could never sin to represent Him, but He chose humans, who have a choice to sin or do right, to represent Him.  No matter how big your ministry is, you are privileged to work for Christ.  Because we are privileged to work for Christ in a ministry, we are reminded in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 to do several things.  

First, seeing you have this ministry, don't quit! Notice it says in the verse above, "...seeing we have this ministry...we faint not;" The ministry is not going to be easy.  There will be times when the ministry will seem like it doesn't profit at all, but you must not quit.  There will be times in the ministry when trials and tribulations will come your way, but you must not quit.  There are people who depend on you to keep going, so you must not quit.  God is depending on you to keep going, so you must not quit.  

Second, seeing we have this ministry, be honest.  In verse 2, God talks about living honestly.  In other words, you should be honest in how you deliver the Word of God.  You have no right to deliver the Word of God to fit your own lifestyle or opinion, your responsibility is to deliver the Word of God truthfully.  Too many times we try to make the Word of God fit what we believe, but instead we should make what we believe fit the Word of God.  Furthermore, be honest in your dealings with people.  Remember you are representing Christ.  Don't ruin the ministry with an immoral life.  Be honest with what you tell people.  Be honest in how you live.  You represent Christ; therefore, you should be honest.  

Third, seeing we have this ministry, then make it about Christ and not about you.  God says in verse 5, "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord..." Too many people want to talk about themselves more than they talk about Christ.  Listen, the ministry is not about how many degrees you have or what you have accomplished, it is about Christ. I am weary of Christians who constantly remind people in the pulpits or classes they teach of how many college degrees they have, what they have accomplished or how great they think they are.  The ministry is not about you, the ministry is about Christ; so make it about Him.  

Last, seeing we have this ministry, live for the eternal.  In verse 18, we are reminded to live looking "...at the things which are not seen..."  If you are going to be successful in the ministry, then you must not live for temporal things, but you must live for the eternal.  Take your eyes off of possessions and money and place them upon the eternal treasures you lay up in Heaven.  That is the only way you will survive the ministry until you die.  

The ministry is a great life. "Therefore seeing we have this ministry...," let's live according to what God commands us in 2 Corinthians 4.

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

The Core of Most Trouble

1 Corinthians 10:7

"Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play."

It seems like nearly every week you hear about another sports figure being arrested or getting himself in trouble with females.  In recent years, many of the admired sports figures have lost their clean image because of revelations about improprieties with women or run-ins with the law.  Society constantly tries to figure out why these public figures get themselves into so much trouble, but they continue to avoid the answer to the problem.  Society wants to run to psychiatry to find out the problem when the Scriptures have the answer.  The answer is found in the verse above.  

The children of Isreal did wrong when they stopped working and started playing.  Notice the verse says, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." Accroding to the previous verse, you will notice that this lifestyle led Israel to doing "evil things." Because they stopped working, they had time on their hands to do evil.  Their playing around got them into serious trouble.  

One of the main reasons that sports figures get themselves into so much trouble is because they are playing when they should be working.  The core of most trouble is playing when you should be working.  Rarely do you find a person getting into trouble when they are working. Most people get into trouble when they have too much time on their hands and are playing.  

When I was a teenage young man, I kept myself out of trouble by working.  I often tell young people that I wasn't any better than they are, I was just busier than they are.  I started working everyday at age 13 to keep my summers filled and to stay out of trouble.  My parents did not have to force me to work, because it was my desire to work and stay out of trouble.  My parents had chores for me around the house, I knew that work would keep me out of trouble.  

Parents, the best way to keep your children from getting into trouble is to teach them the value of working.  By allowing your children to sit and play video games and watch TV all day, you are teaching them to play and not work.  Don't get me wrong, I believe there should be time to play, but work should always come first.  Give your children chores around the house and make them work before they can play.  

Likewise, as an adult you should be a worker and not a player.  If all you do is play, then you will find yourself getting into trouble more often than not.  Stay busy working and you will keep yourself from doing wrong.  The best repellant to sin is work.  Sin doesn't like work; sin likes to play.  So if you will stay busy working, then you will find it is much easier to stay away from sin.  

The core of most trouble is playing and not working.  If you are having trouble overcoming sin, then look at your schedule and see how much of it is filled with work.  If you will tire yourself through work, then you won't have the energy to do wrong.  We all have a sin nature inside of us, so the best way to keep that nature from controlling us is to work.

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

Building on Another Man's Foundation

1 Corinthians 3:10

"According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon."

Life is a series of building upon that which others have already built.  What I have right now is a result of what someone has built for me.  My job now is to build upon what has been given to me so that the next generation will also have a foundation upon which to build.  

In the verse above, the Apostle Paul acknowledged that someone will build upon the foundation that he laid in his lifetime.  Though Paul built a great ministry, it was only the foundation for the following generation to build upon.  Whether or not the next generation liked the foundation, it was their responsibility to continue to build upon the same principles set forth in that foundation for the next generation.  

When I think of this, several thoughts come to mind.  First, life is not all about you.  You have no right to think that your life is about what you get out of it.  Let me remind you that everything you have, someone before you had to build the foundation for it.  For example, there are many patriots in the past who built the foundation for a free America. The responsibility of each generation is to build upon the foundation using the exact same principles that made their foundation strong.  Likewise, we fundamental Baptists should build upon the principles that previous generations gave to us.  Don't change those principles, but keep building upon those principles by passing them on to the next generation.  

Second, by living for the present and not for the next generation, we ultimately destroy the foundations that were previously laid.  One of the greatest mistakes this present generation is making is that they are destroying the foundations for the next generation. Sadly, the next generation will have to repair what the present generation is destroying if they want to enjoy the privileges that we have today.  

Third, we should be thankful and give respect to those who have built the foundation upon which we stand.  I watch many leaders today who destroy the leaders of past generations by downplaying their accomplishments.  There are pastors who have a national platform that are destroying the name and reputations of previous builders.  In fact, if they could replace the names of previous patriots with their own name, they would do it in a heartbeat.  We must be careful not to forget what the previous generations have done for us and give them their due respect.  

Christian, let's be careful about destroying the foundations that have been built for us.  Instead, build upon those foundations by using the exact same principles that previous generations used to build the foundations for us.  The least you could do as you build upon another man's foundation is to continue to build by teaching the next generation the fundamental principles that built the current foundation upon which you stand.  Be sure to build upon the foundation of your family, heritage and the fundamental Baptist beliefs that the next generation can build upon. Don't be guilty of destroying the sure foundations of principles that have already been tested.