New Milestone- 5000 Hits (Officially)

I recently put a hit counter on the site just to know how many people have visited the site. Since the 17th we have had almost 5000 hits with 1100 unique visitors. I'm sure we have more like 25000 hits, but I only recently began the count. Who will be the 5000th hit? It should happen any minute now.

An Excellent Sermon by Jordan Thomas

Here is a sermon preached by Jordan Thomas on November 9th, one week after Jill's accident. The text is Romans 8:1-11. There is something wrong with the video right now, but when he "reads" the text he is actually quoting it. If you were going to memorize one chapter of Scripture I would recommend that it be Romans 8, it is probably the most "complete" (it shares the gospel clearly and outlines the whole story of redemption from beginning to end) chapter in the Bible.

Email Questions

I would prefer that you email me privately with questions and I will either respond directly to you or on the blog. My email address is jonathandbaird(at)gmail.com. I didn't want to put a hot link on here because there are bots that can capture my email address and I would get a ton of spam.

International Outreach at Home

Our church is involved in a great program that pairs host families with international students from SAU. Mark and Vicki Harmon are hosting an international student in their home from Africa, and through that relationship our church has been able to participate in this program at SAU. During the holidays, many of the international students are unable to go home and so they are left on campus by themselves. Host families volunteer to take them in and allow them to be a part of their holiday traditions. We have about 15 international students who are being hosted by families in our church. I am so glad that we have a church family who is concerned with showing Christ's love to the nations through going, sending, praying, and (in this case) welcoming.

What are you or your church doing to reach out to people across the world? Think of opportunities like this that may be in your back yard.

A quick update on Scott:

I have been able to spend some time with Scott over the past few days and he is still doing as well as could be expected. Sunday night I was honored to be able to preach in his presence at Wyatt. Last night he came to our church wide Thanksgiving feast where we introduced the international students and host families.

I know he still covets your prayer, and specifically you can pray for his parents as they continue to prepare to move down to El Dorado. They will need to sell their house soon, and also Scott's dad is searching for a job in the El Dorado area. If anyone knows someone looking for a house in the Greenbrier area or knows of a job in El Dorado (or surrounding areas) please contact me and I'll pass the information along. Bro. Charles is a very talented man (the apple didn't fall far from the tree) and has experience in accounting, fund raising and was the President of Central Baptist College in Conway for many years. They didn't ask me to put a commercial up for this, but I thought it was incredibly appropriate.

I also wanted to thank you all for continuing to read this blog and I wanted to welcome any suggestions for how it might be done better. Many of you have asked for specific information and please know that I take all suggestions/ questions into consideration.

I know many of you are still struggling and I would like to open up the dialogue to any theological questions that you may have. I know in times of tragedy there are questions about God's goodness and sovereignty and I've tried to address those issues, but I know that there may be more. Your feedback is very important. Chances are, if you have a question, there are many others who have the same one.

Do Hard Things

This is kind of piggy-backing off of what Adam said below.

In addition to committing yourself to a rock solid resolve and consistency, you should also take this opportunity to do some of the things that you have been putting off. Have that difficult conversation with your spouse that you have been dreading for months (or years). If you are an unbeliever, consider the claims of Christ and call out to Him in repentance and faith. If you have been "dating" the church and have not joined a group of believers who will keep you accountable and help you to grow, find a good church and join them. Confess your sins to a trusted friend who will help you be more accountable and will help you work through your failures.

Some of the most convicting reading I have ever done is Jonathan Edwards resolutions found here.

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

I have a book in my library entitled “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction” by Eugene Peterson. I have to admit that I have never gotten around to reading it but I have always loved the title. The blurb on the back of the book says:

“In an age of thirty-second commercials, thirty-page abridgements and instant banking, it is not difficult to get a person interested in the gospel. It is terrifically difficult to sustain and interest. What we need is not another prescription for quick success, but encouragement to persevere as disciples and pilgrims. Above all, we need to learn to pursue a long obedience in the same direction.”

Jill’s death has challenged many of us in our walk with God. As the wound was fresh many commitments were made concerning bible study, prayer, marriages, discipleship, etc. My question is, how are we doing now that routine life has begun to dull the sting of our great loss? Have our commitments begun to waiver yet? Have you begun to take your focus off of Christ and put it back on other things? I know in my life the fight for a Christ focused life has gotten more difficult each day.

One thing I noticed while reading Jill’s journal is that her amazing relationship with Christ was not made through earth shattering spiritual experiences. It was made through a simple consistent walk with Christ. Jill understood that her walk with Christ was not made by huge sweeping New Years resolution like commitments but rather a long obedience in one direction. She set her sights on Christ anew everyday. As time goes by and God continues to heal his people we need to transfer the reliance of our walks with Christ from the pain of Jill’s death to just a simple obedience rooted in the simple fact that God is God and he deserves our lives. Let’s continue to look freshly upon Christ each new day.

Mark Driscoll on Serving Your Spouse

I'm in Dallas at the Song of Solomon Conference. Last night, Mark Driscoll talked about how he prays that he will outlive his wife. This sounded really weird at first, but then he began to explain. He said that he wants to grow old with his wife, serve her until she dies and then preach her funeral so that he will have the privilege to say wonderful things about his wife in front of their church. He quoted Ecclesiastes when it says that "the end of a thing is better than it's beginning" and asked us what our funeral would be like because that is what we are preparing for.

I had the privilege to be a part of Jill's funeral, and it was not sad, because Jill had been such a servant. We didn't have to search very hard at all to find good things to say about Jill. Seeing Scott's joy in talking about how wonderful his wife was, is one of the most encouraging things I have the privilege to hear.

I have a question for you. Do you serve your spouse in such a way that your funeral will not be sad, but will reflect the great joy that you gave your spouse and those around you?

Update on Scott

I just talked to him on the phone and he is doing well. He went to a Hogs basketball game last night and had a good time. He will be going to Lufkin this afternoon and spend some time with Jill's family. He will be coming back to El Dorado on Sunday and will be there all next week.

It was good to hear from him. I think it does me much more good than him to talk with him.

The Role of Scripture in the Grieving Process

At Wyatt Baptist Church a couple weeks ago Clif Johnson talked about how we can use Scripture in times like these.
Here is what he said:

"In the book Pilgrim's Progress, Christian is on his way to the celestial city and he encounters an evil monster named Apollyon. They begin to fight a ferocious battle. During the fight Apollyon lays a blow so forceful on Christian that it knocks Christian's sword (the word of God) out of his hand and out of reach, and puts Christian on his back. Apollyon walks over to Christian, stands over him and mutters, "I am sure of thee now," meaning, without your sword the victory is easily mine. Without scripture to fight with, we will be defeated in our thoughts, and then our actions. There will not be a time where we walk away from a sermon and say, "That did it for me. I won't have any more doubts, any more questions, any more battles." We will fight every day of our lives to plant the right thoughts and take captive the evil ones. And what we must remind ourselves is that scripture is ultimate reality and truth. Our emotions are not ultimate truth, and they do not need to inform our idea of truth. We must let scripture, ultimate truth, inform our emotions."

This is excellent counsel from a very wise man. The role of the Word in the fight of faith is crucial. Without a strong grounding in that reality, you will be tossed about by emotions, the culture, your sinful desires, your confused-ness about reality, and will be easily led astray by human wisdom and philosophies. I am not telling you not to listen to the world, just get a grip on ultimate reality before you go looking for answers in the world. We all must trust in something before we make any decisions about what is true and what is not. The Bible is trustworthy and will not lead you astray.

God, Don’t give me peace…

This has been a weird week as I have settled back into my job and home life. It is difficult to carry on the routines of normal life when it feels like a big part of my life has been stripped away and my thoughts are constantly with Scott and Bryce. However, this is the way it has to be. Diapers must be changed, meals must be cooked, and paychecks must be earned. However, as I operate my life with a knife stuck in my heart in many ways I am thankful for the blade. My wound keeps sending me to Christ. I don’t want things to get back to the way they were. I want to love my wife and kids more than ever. I want to watch TV less and seek God more. I want to serve my wonderful church more faithfully. Most of all I want more of Christ. I do not want time to heal this wound. Nor do I want to dull the ache with the TV or Internet. I don’t even want to find refuge by just busying myself with family time. I want my refuge to be in Christ and Christ alone. If he does not give me peace, then I don’t want peace.