CONNECT people to Christ and POUR into their lives His teaching so they'll OVERFLOW for the glory of God

'Baptist and Reflector' Tagged Posts

Invest in Others

One of the most memorable quotes I remember from Dr. David Puckett at Southern Seminary is this:  “We are like dwarves sitting upon the shoulders of giants.  We see more, and things that are more distant than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great…

Pursue God’s Agenda

“Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master,” (Matthew 25:21). That’s what we want to hear when we stand before God. That judgment comes out of Jesus’ “Parable of the Talents.” Literally, a “talent” in that parable is a measure of money, but I believe, parabolically-speaking, it represents anything that God has made us stewards over — time, money, aptitude, family, position, etc. We’re to be faithful with what He’s put us over, and the entire point of that parable is that God will hold us accountable for our stewardship…

Walk with God

Meditate on the following word and concept for a moment: con·tam·i·nant kən-‘ta-mə-nənt noun : something that soils, stains, corrupts, or infects by contact or association. It sounds alarming, doesn’t it? It certainly is. In fact, it’s potentially fatal. Therefore, we must take contaminants seriously and vigilantly guard ourselves against them…

Use Your Influence

Focal Passage: Esther 4:13-17; 8:3-8 One of the great joys I’ve had over the past three springs is being the head coach of my oldest son’s tee ball team. In fact, the season’s already a fourth of the way done. What a combination of challenge and real joy it is leading 3- to 5-year-olds to learn and love the game of baseball!…

Overcome Your Fears

Focal Passage:  Joshua 1:1-11,16-18 Over the next few weeks, we’ll look at how we can grow as leaders.  Perhaps you don’t think of yourself as a leader, but undoubtedly everyone is a leader in some capacity.  However, godly leadership isn’t something you’re just born with.  Certainly, I was a leader in many ways before the Lord saved me, but because of the…

Encounter the Risen Lord

I pray you had an amazing Easter weekend!  He’s alive!  Glory to God in Christ Jesus!  I don’t know about you, but I get utterly pumped up at Easter time. We strive at West Main Baptist to help Easter surpass Christmas in the hearts of our people.  The Christmas season with its manger celebrating the incarnation of Jesus is undoubtedly special, but…

Receive Comfort–Give Comfort

One of the questions that inevitably forms in our mind when tragedy strikes is, “Why did God allow this to happen to me?”  That’s a legitimate question with multiple layers of answers, some of which we probably will never know this side of glory, but this week’s text provides us with at least one of the answers to the “why” question:  God…

Recognize God’s Presence

My 5- and 2-year-old sons love to sing children’s Bible songs.  One of their favorites is “The Wise Man Built His House upon the Rock.”  Although they, along with the other kids at our church, like to make a fun lyrical change and sing “The rains came down, and the BUGS came up!”, that song helps us all remember a crucial biblical…

Balance Grief with Hope

Jesus tells us in John 16:33 that in this lifetime we will have trouble, and in the wake of trouble comes grief.  Grief is a common human experience.  We all know what it is because we’ve all been through it or are in it now.  So, the real question is not “Will I experience grief?”  Live long enough, and you surely will. …

Young, Southern Baptist… and Kingdom-focused!

I wasn’t born and raised a Southern Baptist.  I was a born and raised a sinner. In 1980, I was born to my family in Bowling Green, KY.  You hear of people who are “E. C. Christians,” meaning they only go to church at Easter and Christmas, but my family wasn’t even that.  I guess my story is quite different from Brad…