tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-221172632009-11-14T23:54:38.024-05:00Commentary where faith meets real life (even when the collision is messy).Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.netBlogger261125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-54393325213579303802009-10-17T22:29:00.003-04:002009-10-17T22:41:07.459-04:00

"Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself." -- Proverbs 26:4Just about everyone has heard of the feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys. What they might not know is how it all started. In 1878 they had a dispute over the ownership of a hog. That led to a twelve-year war which resulted in the deaths of three Hatfields, seven McCoys, and two outsiders.

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-40343588466203610012009-10-11T22:00:00.006-04:002009-10-11T22:17:10.013-04:00

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Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-73011091764130730462009-09-21T19:38:00.004-04:002009-09-21T19:46:52.886-04:00

One of the most important ways to have a balanced Christian life is to balance your prayer life with your Bible reading. Psalm 119:147 reminds us of the need to balance prayer with Bible reading, as it says, "I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word." So when you rise at dawn to pray and read God's word, how do you pray? Here are six key verses in Psalm 119 to guide

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-7600281687489322942009-09-16T22:14:00.004-04:002009-09-16T22:22:09.904-04:00

Psalm 102 teaches us how to pray when we are in distress.It was written by someone who suffered through the exile in Babylon, but it applies to anybody in suffering. Like the changing weather, this psalm expresses the psalmist's changing mood.1) Clouds gather (v. 1-2). He first cries out to God. "Lord, hear my prayer...Do not hide Your face from me in my day of trouble..."2) Gloom and darkness (v

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-37480233765565115232009-09-13T15:29:00.008-04:002009-09-13T22:27:51.606-04:00

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Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-78525415174554598262009-08-15T18:03:00.002-04:002009-08-15T18:09:27.855-04:00

When Isaiah saw the Lord, he was painfully aware of his own sin. "Woe to me!" he cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." (Isaiah 6:5)When we see the brilliance of God's glory, we see more clearly the darkness of our own sin.We saw it was an accident, but God says it was an abomination.We

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-70759402847951511622009-08-11T22:19:00.003-04:002009-08-11T22:21:55.590-04:00

Dr. Geoff Hammond resigned as president of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, according to a report in online edition of The Christian Index.The resignation happened after a day-long meeting of the full trustee board today, August 11.The future of the board leadership is uncertain. Please pray for the North American Mission Board.

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-26255801162103709202009-08-01T12:40:00.004-04:002009-08-01T12:48:34.966-04:00

The executive committee of the board of trustees of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention is considering removing its president, Dr. Geoff Hammond, for "insubordination," according to a report in The Christian Index. The executive committee meets on August 11, but the full board may meet with them to make the decision.I rotated off the board of trustees of NAMB last

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-54339927766349642832009-07-24T16:24:00.002-04:002009-07-24T16:30:47.149-04:00

I read two interesting news stories today on FoxNews.com about two very different reactions to the Bible.In North Korea, a Christian woman was executed for distributing the Bible.In Glasgow, Scotland, an "art" display encouraged visitors to deface the Bible to show their contempt for its message.Two different kinds of hostility were expressed toward God's Word: fear from the North Koreans, hatred

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-68414099737853781642009-07-12T18:47:00.002-04:002009-07-12T18:55:31.768-04:00

Six churches in Baghdad, Iraq were bombed today, killing four people and wounding 32 others, according to a CNN report.While there have been occasional attacks at American churches, such as the man who shot a pastor in Illinois or the gay rights protesters who interrupted services at another church, by and large we Americans have no idea what it is like to go to church and fear you might die or

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-36291187169367141442009-06-27T15:57:00.003-04:002009-06-27T16:02:39.538-04:00

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Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-58301776284316144342009-06-24T14:56:00.003-04:002009-06-24T15:14:17.372-04:00

I am in Louisville, Kentucky, attending the Southern Baptist Convention. Today we passed a resolution on President Obama. My guess is that the media may distort this resolution, so let me include a summary of it here.The resolution makes several positive statements about the president, then explains about which we disagree, and concludes with a promise to pray for the president.Here is a summary

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-10121360686091414212009-05-30T18:22:00.004-04:002009-05-30T18:28:43.750-04:00

TEN THINGS THAT WILL NOT BE IN HEAVEN:1. No sea. (Revelation 21:1)2. No tears. (Revelation 21:4)3. No cemeteries. (Revelation 21:4 - no death)4. No hospitals. (Revelation 21:4 - no pain)5. No temple. (Revelation 21:22 -not needed because God is there on His throne).6. No sun. (Revelation 21:23- God is the light.)7. No night. (Revelation 21:25; 22:5 - and thus no evil or fear.)8. No locks. (

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-3857668760434021602009-05-09T22:15:00.006-04:002009-05-10T17:46:52.387-04:00

Should the North American Mission Board (NAMB) merge with the International Mission Board (IMB)? In a surprise statement, Tim Patterson, chairman of NAMB, said yes. Read the article here.He may be right, but I'm not sure. NAMB is a very different animal from IMB. IMB has a simple focus: sending missionaries to other nations and people groups around the world. NAMB is much more diverse, including

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-58551320126954136602009-05-01T19:55:00.003-04:002009-05-01T20:01:07.356-04:00

Calvinism is a term for the teaching of John Calvin that God is sovereign and salvation is all of God, not earned by man. However, the five points of Calvinism were developed after his lifetime, and some people have taken Calvinism where Calvin himself never went, adopting a view of double-edged predestination that teaches some people are predestined to damnation before the foundation of the

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-72456083566212501302009-04-30T18:42:00.008-04:002009-04-30T19:05:07.023-04:00

We finished work today, although there remains work to be done before the Jackson's can get into their home. Lou, the crew chief from Operation Noah, said that we had given this couple hope that it can happen and they can eventually get back into their house. They had been trying to do a little here and there and hire a few work crews when they had the money, and they were discouraged and feeling

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-74370243616265040442009-04-29T22:03:00.006-04:002009-04-30T17:13:40.155-04:00

We had a great day on Wednesday and got a lot done.Julie, the homeowner, came by again with her daughter and granddaughter (picture with Frances). They were really excited and grateful to see the progress we are making. They showed us pictures they took after the hurricane, showing how devastating it was before they began renovating. I just wish we could finish the house this week, but it will

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-85897302251840680632009-04-28T19:23:00.007-04:002009-04-29T08:10:12.963-04:00

Today we got a lot of work done at the house, which is located in the Upper 9th Ward of New Orleans. Glenn built his sheetrock wall to cover a huge hole with a lot of help from Frances, and Dan and James also put down a lot of baseboards and thesholds. Most of the rest of us painted or helped them with those projects. Julie and Debra spent a lot of time painting the baseboards. Bob scraped the

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-92082631578774245822009-04-27T20:56:00.011-04:002009-04-27T22:01:33.023-04:00

On Monday we began our work. We went to a closed church which had been transformed into a warehouse for Operation Noah, and got our supplies. Then we went to the home on Piety Street in New Orleans, in a neighborhood where more than half of the homes are abandoned. We began work on a home that is basically a duplex. A family lived in one apartment, and their adult children live in the other

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-75001202893290821832009-04-27T20:43:00.014-04:002009-04-27T21:58:05.583-04:00

Here are some pictures from our visit to the French Quarter on Sunday night. We enjoyed a meal at Cafe Maspero. We walked down Bourbon Street, famous for it's bawdiness, and saw the bar with all of the homosexual rainbow flags. We moved away from there pretty quickly. Then we went to Jackson Square where St. Louis Cathedral is located, and across from the Square we had the French donut, called

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-31070882688872021442009-04-26T22:54:00.007-04:002009-04-26T23:06:43.936-04:00

We arrived in New Orleans on Sunday afternoon, and checked in to our lodging at Hopeview Baptist Church in Chalmette. This is a church that closed, and was taken over by the North American Mission Board as the operations center for Operation NOAH. They made the Sunday School classrooms into dorm rooms with bunk beds, and the worship center is a cafeteria and meeting room. We were given an

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-56292327610089929532009-04-26T22:47:00.006-04:002009-04-27T21:47:55.935-04:00

On Sunday, we left our hotel in Mobile, Alabama, and drove to Gulfport, Mississippi, where we went to church at New Evening Star Baptist Church. This is the church that we helped in January 2006 to repair after it was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. At that time, Rev. Charles Harris was pastor. They have a new pastor now, but Rev. Harris and his wife were there, and there is a picture of him (

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-10570803308424903862009-04-25T22:09:00.005-04:002009-04-26T22:47:22.959-04:00

We left Rincon at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, and drove all the way to Mobile, Alabama, before stopping at our hotel for the night. We ate lunch at Lane's Packing, the famous peach place, in Fort Valley, Georgia. Here's a picture of us at the peach at Lane's. Everybody is doing well.We have decided to go to church on Sunday morning in Gulfport, Mississippi, at an African-American Baptist church where

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-65978878225487085892009-04-24T15:39:00.003-04:002009-04-24T15:42:35.037-04:00

Pray for the 12 people from our church going to participate in Operation NOAH (New Orleans Area Housing) April 25-May 2. I will attempt to post pictures and reports on this blog regularly.Pray for: v\:* { BEHAVIOR: url(#default#VML) } o\:* { BEHAVIOR: url(#default#VML) } w\:* { BEHAVIOR: url(#default#VML) } .shape { BEHAVIOR: url(#default#VML) } st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) } <!--

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22117263.post-77194495004361866882009-04-24T15:25:00.004-04:002009-04-24T15:35:47.781-04:00

On March 28, 2009, I posted a blog at MyChurch.org about a book I was reading, Why Men Hate Going to Church by David Murrow. I never dreamed that the post would generate over 4,300 reads and 177 comments in less than a month. I even got the cartoon you see here, thanks to Steve Waldrip of Horn Lake, Mississippi.But now it's time to stop asking questions and start giving answers. So this blog is

Brother Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00487895077204597740brotherbob@windstream.net0