Watts' Words

On this Friday morning, I just received and read the newsletter from Lucedale-First Baptist.  Dr. Eddie Davidson’s column centered around Matthew 2 and the story of the Wise Men.  He speaks of how the Wise Men were “Drawn” to the point of being “Compelled” by a sense of “Oughtness.’  I have never heard that term, but believe it to be a great term in the work of the Lord.  He makes the point that these Wise Men came to Jerusalem based on the activity of God in their lives. Pondering this thought while reading his column, thinking about the modern-day, Americanized Baptist (that would be me) Church, I attempted to consider the question of “God’s activity among us.”  We spend time in small groups be they called Sunday School, Life Groups, or whatever we choose to call them.  We spend time in large groups which we call “Worship Services”.  We have other times of Bible study.  The question for me is this; “With all our study, meetings, and knowledge...

I read this post today about 'what it takes to lead a successful church revitalization" and thought, "We may want to put him in a red, yellow, black, and blue, suit and stitch a HUGE "S" in the middle of his chest."   This is from Thom Rainer.  My thoughts are: “If it takes all of this in one person, no wonder we have such difficulty in “Revitalizing God’s Church.”  Now, don’t get me wrong, I find nothing wrong with any one of these and admittedly each of these is an integral part of Church Revitalization.  To see these written in one article is a bit overwhelming. While I believe these need to be seen by anyone who senses the Spirit’s leading to do the arduous and difficult work of Revitalization, I must add that some of the most needed personalities might not be on this list.  These might include: Pray-er Witness-er Love-er of God Love-er of People Love-er of the community While I could offer several more, I’m not really the professional, hear from Dr. Ra...

Most of us know the story from Luke 15 known as the “Prodigal Son.” The title of this post will confuse some while others will smile and understand it completely Simply stated, a Father had two sons and the younger of two sons approaches dad asking for his inheritance which his dad gives. A few days later the young man took his money, his inheritance and went to a distant place where he wasted all he had in ‘wild living.’ When the money was gone, so were his friends. Broke, the boy wound up in a pigpen eating the same slop as the pigs. The Bible says that when he ‘came to his senses’ (that phrase is a sermon unto itself), he got up and went home to his father because he knew that His father’s servants had better living conditions than what he was enduring. Arriving at home, he asked to be received as a servant. Yet his dad, who had been and was still watching for this rebellious boy to come home, received him as a son. A ring, a robe, and shoes were brought and placed on the boy as sym...

Not long ago I was eating breakfast where I eat a couple times each week and heard some men talking about ‘preaching’.  Listening to people talk about ‘preaching’ is always a little humorous and sad at the same time.  It is a dichotomy to me.  (Sorry Bob C).  The humorous part is this; many if not most people (particularly those my age and older) tend to think of preaching in terms of style.  In the deep south no self-respecting preacher would finish preaching until his hankie was in his hand, his clothes were wet with sweat, and his voice was hoarse from speaking so loud, long, and forceful.  As my friends said on this particular morning, “Now, that’s preaching!!”  Admittedly and as a confession, I can get ‘wound up’ and ‘passionate’ about the message and have moments that are like this, so perhaps I am a ‘throw-back’.  But from the preacher side of the pulpit, it is rarely, if ever, a plan to speak loudly or softly.  Rather, it is (to use a...

The lessons we learn in life seem to stick with us (or at least me) based on the ‘way’ or ‘how it it’ that I or we learned them.  For instance, when I was a kid my dad told me the fire was hot.  Believe it or not, I was an obedient kid and didn’t stick my hand in the flame (in his presence), but when he wasn’t around?  I now know that fire is hot and will burn!!  You could say that truth is “branded in my mind (and on my finger).”  Examples of this could be told ad infinitum but you get the idea.  The way you learn something, either through experience or repetitive teaching, determines how well something ‘stays’ with you AND how well you really understand it. Now to the natural world.  Since moving in our present house, I have begun a little ‘raised garden.’  The idea came from my pastor and friend, Tommy.  Living in an area and serving 2 wonderful counties where farming is the primary vocation or advocation, my little raised garden is but a ...

Years ago, my parents introduced me to a broadcaster named Paul Harvey.  I used to love his “And the rest of the story” because it was so pointed, poignant, and powerful.  He was not known to mince words, but he was not unkind.  He was not a news reporter, he was more a cultural observer.  I was reminded of his voice and humor when I read the following on a Facebook feed.  At one time, I had the audio of him delivering this message.  While it is not ‘politically correct’ (neither am I) and espouses the work of a ‘devil’ (which I believe because the Bible teaches it – and the world largely denies it), these words, spoken 50+ years ago reach the level of prophecy because they are coming true or have come true before our very eyes.  If you wanted to destroy the USA, what would you do?  Would you use a frontal assault on a country that has arguable the greatest military might in history?  Would you attempt to detonate an explosive device in some ...

After writing my last pitiful blog encouraging all to fill out their ACP, I received this article, written by Roc Collins (formerly a Mississippian), through a tweet from Dr. Randy Davis.  Randy said, “That will preach, Dr. Roc”.  Take a minute, it will be worth it. Be blessed. FOUR REASONS WHY COUNTING IS IMPORTANT JUNE 14, 2019 By Roc Collins Director of Strategic Objectives, TBMB I recently overheard someone cynically remark, “It seems like everybody is way too focused on numbers in church.” I understood what he was saying, but I would argue that focusing on numbers is a godly pursuit. Before I deepen the chasm of cynicism even further, please hear me out. Every number represents a person so valuable to God that He’d be willing to send His only Son to die in their place. That’s value! As it’s been said: We count people because people count. Here are four important reasons why counting makes an eternal difference. Roc Collins (1) Counting is consistent with the Bible.  ...

About this time each year, many people within the church begin to wring their hands in fear and frustration because the time is coming when we, as Southern Baptists, are asked to turn in a report of our numbers, successes and failures,  for the past 12 months.  We call it the ACP which is short for “Annual Church Profile.”  For better or worse, over the past few years, there has been an effort to update the way we report as well as an attempt to streamline what information we actually turn in.  The year we changed from SBDS (Southern Baptist Directory Services introduced in 2000) to the SBC Workspace (in 2016), was a difficult year for many reason.  Pointing fingers does us little good.  It was tough for everyone involved.  But honestly, now we are past that and it’s time for all of us to report once again.  I am taking a few minutes to write this because I DEEPLY believe we need EVERY CHURCH to report.  Sadly and truthfully, some have little...