“Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;

“But let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for I delight in these things,’ declares the Lord.” (Jer. 9:23-24)

Remember those words. They will be on the test.

The word “rhapsody,” we’re told, comes to us from the Greek “rhapsodia.” That word is made from “rhapso” meaning “to sew” and “ode,” a song. Literally, a rhapsody is a patchwork composition, parts of various songs stitched together into one.

I have my needle and thread this morning. I’m ready to pull together some thoughts on this fascinating declaration from our Heavenly Father for our benefit. In time, with continued reflection and study, my composition will be seamless. But not today, I’m afraid.

Last week, on Facebook–where “friends” try to compress large thoughts and long paragraphs of meaning into two or three pithy sentences–I urged pastors to begin their worship services by walking up to the pulpit and quoting these two verses from Jeremiah 9.

I suggested that the worship leader (the pastor should always be the opening and primary worship leader) should look his people in the eye and with a clear, almost dramatic voice, call out from memory–most definitely not reading–the words of this text. Do it slowly, forcefully, authoritatively.

This is in contrast to the trite manner in which so many worship services begin. “How y’all doing this morning?” “Well, aren’t we having a pretty day?” “Is everyone happy today? I said, ‘Is EVERYONE happy today?’ Maybe you didn’t hear me–IS EVERYONE HAPPY TODAY?”

Oh please. Spare us.

You can do better than this, pastor. Instead of beginning the worship service berating us for not answering your silly question forcefully enough, why not direct us toward the Lord. Lift us toward Heaven. See if you can actually help us worship.

After posting the suggestion about Jeremiah 9:23-24 on Facebook, the next day I made a comment regarding Galatians 2:20. That drew a response from Philip Price.

Price is the new director of missions for the Jackson County Baptist Association, headquartered in Pascagoula, having just left the First Baptist Church of Leakesville, MS (where I’ll be leading in revival in a few weeks). Philip said, “Interesting you would pick those two scriptures.”

The Galatians verse is his favorite and the Jeremiah passage was his text a few days ago when he addressed the state-wide meeting of directors of missions, his new peer group.

Until Philip said that, I was “past” Jeremiah 9:23-24. But that drew me back.

I’ve since memorized it and am attempting to retain it by lying in bed reflecting on its content and quoting it back from time to time.

Let’s take it apart and sew it back together. With me now?

Continue reading →

Every pastor I know is held by two scriptures at opposite poles–and also torn between them.

On the one hand, “The laborer is worthy of his hire.” That word from I Timothy 5:18 is a quotation of several Old Testament references. The New Testament will not let the super-spiritual among us dismiss the idea of compensating the minister with something like, “The Bible teaches that the ministers should get out and hold jobs like everyone else; there’s nothing in there about paying the preacher.”

Bad wrong. Read your Bible.

But on the other hand, the other reality that Scripture nails down as a line the minister must not cross says, “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (I Timothy 6:10).

On one side, the minister must never put a price on the work he does. He must look to the Lord as the Source for his needs.

On the other side, he should be adequately compensated. The church must do the faithful and responsible thing in providing for these the Lord has called, equipped, and sent into His fields to labor.

He has a hard time saying this. So, I’m saying it for him.

Some thirty years ago, Dr. Bill Prout was a professor of religion on the faculty of Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, MS, where I served the First Baptist Church. I was Bill’s pastor, but he himself was a former pastor of Southern Baptist churches. He often supplied pulpits in the area for absent ministers and took interims when churches were between pastors.

I wrote an article for the old Baptist Program (the wonderful Leonard Hill was editor) based on a conversation Dr. Prout and I had. Fifteen years earlier, when he arrived in the community and began to fill the pulpits, he told me the average check to the visiting minister was 50 dollars.

“It’s still 50 dollars,” he laughed.

A friend who worked at a local bank ran the numbers and informed us that 50 dollars in, say, 1960, would have to be about 125 dollars fifteen years later, in order to have the same buying power. I quoted him in the article and urged churches to be more generous and faithful in taking care of their visiting ministers.

And now, that truth has come full circle for me.

Continue reading →

What started this for me was something a friend said Sunday morning.

We bumped into each other at a restaurant after church. He said, “I’ll miss your sermon tonight. I’ll be in such-and-such a city.” Oh? what’s going on there?

“Fantasy football. Our statewide meeting.”

I said, “You have meetings for these things? If they’re fantasy, can’t you just fantasize you’re there?”

He could tell in a heartbeat that I have no knowledge of how fantasy football works and absolutely zero appreciation for the sport. After all, is it a sport if it exists only in the fantasy world?

He smiled, “I have to be there. I’m the reigning champ.”

Might as well have remarked about weather conditions on Mars.  He lost me.

Readers will understand if I say you fantasy-football people have lost your cotton-picking minds.

Now, real football–well, that’s something else!

Or, then again, is it?

Continue reading →

I made a preacher mad at me the other day. I apologized and he forgave me, but I don’t regret what I did.

Here’s what happened.

I received an email from the man of God telling how a group of liberals is petitioning the Federal Communications Commission to end religious programming in the United States. This would stop Charles Stanley, David Jeremiah, and a whole host of religious programmers from broadcasting their messages.

The e-mail was a “forward,” of course. My friend had not written it, but merely read it with alarm and forwarded it to dozens of his friends.

I clicked on “reply all,” which sent my response to everyone who had received his note.

I said, “My dear brother, where have you been! This is a hoax! It has been around for nearly 40 years. The FCC never was petitioned to stop religious programming and couldn’t if it wanted to.”

I added, “This meaningless petition has been circling the earth for all these decades, causing gullible, although well-meaning, Christians to tie up God’s resources and their time in bombarding the FCC with thousands and thousands of pieces of mail every year.”

“Christians of all people should not pass this stuff along when they can’t verify it,” I said.

That’s how I hurt his feelings. So, I apologized.

Then, last week, that same petition arrived again.

Continue reading →