(outline adapted from Mark 9:30-41) There is nothing wrong with wanting to be great.  Everything is wrong, however, with pursuing greatness outside of the parameters set by Christ.  Just as the mistakes of the first-born child can serve to instruct his younger siblings and protect them from repeating his errors,…

Adoniram Judson is perhaps the most famous Baptist foreign missionary.  He caused a sensational stir when he changed his Congregational paedobaptist convictions to become a committed Baptist.  He is widely regarded as the father of American foreign missions.  This title is appropriate because he was the first vocational missionary, and…

In the last post we discussed Peter's wondrous turn of phrase: "growing in grace". I likened it to a plant that grows in the soil, and we discussed briefly being rooted in Christ and established in the faith. I want to return to Peter's primary thought today, and specifically to…

“…this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Act 1:11). A beloved southern gospel song starts with the words “Jesus is coming soon…” While no one knows how soon, all who read and…