So far in Hell Or High Water, we’ve seen that . . .
Hell is that awful, final, forever realm in which too late comes too early (that’s the WHAT); and
The well-deserved wrath of God will stand forever in vivid contrast to the undeserved favor of God (that’s the WHY);
but now, perhaps the most important question of them all: WHO?
Here I am with Danny Miller, pastor of Bethesda United Methodist Church near Lexington, NC.
I spent the last four nights preaching at Bethesda’s annual Revival Series.
Along the way, I gave the people a sneak preview of material from Crash Test Dummies and prompted a number of them to pick up their own copies of The Storm Before The Calm, Head Scratchers, Solve, and The Shadow Of A Doubt.
Yep. It’s new.
Some new photos, easier navigation, ministry highlights, books, more books, and soon a place to access recent messages from Good Shepherd. We wanted to update it in preparation for the September release of Crash Test Dummies. It looks something like this:
Check it out at the page that hosts this blog, www.talbotdavis.com
I spent Friday morning tooling around the PGA Championships with both my wife Julie and my father-in-law Ted.
It’s an annual tradition, developed first at the Wachovia, then at the Quail Hollow, and ultimately at the Wells Fargo. This year, of course, “the” course was used for the PGA, golf’s final major championship of the year.
Week 2 of Hell Or High Water.
Whew!
Recognizing that our status as relatively comfortable Christians makes us ask very different questions than the persecuted believers asked in Thessalonica, the message landed here:
The well-deserved wrath of God will stand forever in vivid contrast to the undeserved favor of God.
Hell Or High Water got off to an excellent start last week.
Minds were opened, hearts were softened, and, praise God, souls were saved.
There’s more of the same this week, I believe.
Why The … ? is a message that asks “why in the world would there be such a realm at all? Why would God establish or allow or tolerate a domain in which too late comes too early?”
Many of you have heard of Gideon because his name is on the cover of every hotel room bible you’ve ever seen.
But the Gideon inside the pages of the bible is more interesting than the one on the cover.
And the inside Gideon found himself bargaining with God in Judges 6. His nation is overrun by the invading Midianites and he hears a summons to action. To say that he balked is an understatement. Here’s what happened:
In I Kings 19:4-5, in the aftermath of a roller coaster season of spectacular success and stunning betrayal, the prophet Elijah prays this prayer:
‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.”
It’s the worst prayer in the bible. It’s a suicide prayer.
I don’t hear many pastors of churches our size and style talk about funeral ministry.
Sometimes I get the impression that if your church is somehow “contemporary” or “large” or even “mega,” then people in the congregation don’t die, so pastors don’t have to devote much time or attention to funerals and memorials services.
Last Sunday night (July 30), I couldn’t wait to get up the next morning.
Why?
Because I knew I could start going over my first Hell Or High Water sermon, and I knew that I really liked it.
The message led to an invitation to say YES to Jesus — an invitation that we altered for the 11:30 gathering, leading to an overwhelming response.
