The ABSC and us!

Every month, OFBC gives 5% of her tithes and offering to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. This week, Jane and I had the privelidge of getting to see exactly where this this money goes! We were invited to a new ministers retreat at the convention building in Little Rock on Monday and Tuesday. We weren't sure what to expect, but we weren't going to turn down a free dinner and hotel stay!! It turned out to be one of the most refreshing, encouraging and exciting two days we have experienced in quite a while! In the end, we were blown away by what all our convention can do and is doing for churches across our great state! First, a couple of stats...

Did you know that there are approximately 1,500 Sounthern Baptist Churches in Arkansas? Of those, roughly 1,100 have a membership of less than 100!! I had no idea! Even more amazing to me, the average congregation size in Arkansas is 70!! That means Omaha First Baptist represents the average congregation meeting each Sunday acroos the state.

Our Arkansas Baptist State Convention offers assistanse in every conceivable aspect of church life! Whether we need tax or legal help, or even help planning and executing mission and outreach projects, they are ready and willing to do whatever needs to be done! I am excited about how we will be taking advantage of these resources over the coming weeks and months and I ask that you pray for them as they seek to help our churches grow the Kingdom in Arkanas!! If you would like more information about the ABSC, check out their website!

I'm still around!

Chloe and Lydia

It has been a while since I posted anything, but I am still here! Things have been CRAZY the last couple of months!! Lydia was born on April 22nd and has been such a blessing! I WILL be updating more and posting more soon. Keep checking back!

Can it be true?! 90% of baby's with Down Syndrome are aborted!

Dr. Mohler discusses a horrific case out of Florida. The parents of twins decided that they would not be willing to raise a child with Down Syndrome, so they chose to have him aborted. The doctor terminated the life of his twin who did not have the genetic markers of Down Syndrome. The most excruciating aspect of the entire story was this one statistic: 80-90% of babies showing the markers for Down Syndrome are now aborted. How many people with Down Syndrome have you known in your life? How can it be that our culture has determined that this is a condition that we should eliminate from society. And why? Because there is too much work to raise a child with Down Syndrome? Because one of these lives will not "contribute" as much to society as a completely healthy one? And where does that end? What "disabilities" are bad enough to warrant the Holocaust of any child that shows a genetic predisposition to them. Please pray for our nation. Pray for our leaders who have the ability to enact real change for the lives of the unborn. Read the entirety of Dr. Mohler's article here. You can also read news articles about this particular story here and here.

Barrabas and Me, from Desiring God

David Mathis at Desiring God Ministries has posted an Easter article looking at the trials of Christ in a VERY interesting way. Who do you relate to in the Easter story? For sure the crowds screaming, "Crucify Him", Peter or even Judas. But Barrabas? Read the article here. With only a week or so until our Easter celebrations, we need to remember who we are and what He did for us at the cross. And we must never get over it.

Atheist Preachers? Al Mohler Discusses a Growing Problem.

I am so thankful that I have grown up under pastors who not only believe in God, but seek His will in everything they do. Read Dr. Mohler's article about evangelical preachers who don't believe in God. How can we expect the lost to see Christ as their savior if those tasked with teaching them don't believe it themselves? This is a cause for prayer, not only for these churches, but also for our pastors. Pray that they don't lose heart under the pressures of ministry and that their faith in God grows only stronger each passing day.

Kevin DeYoung on the balance of charity and evangelism

Kevin DeYoung has a post that sort of follows up my earlier post on charity and evangelism. Read the entire article here. In his post, Kevin tries to balance both sides of the debate between those who argue for social justice above the gospel and those who argue that the gospel and social justice are mutually exclusive.

Important article from Dr. Mohler

Here is a fascinating, yet terrifying article from Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In it he discusses the rising problem of girls being discarded in preference of boys. As the father of three daughters, this brings tears to my eyes. It also underscores the need for more parents to be willing to adopt this babies and also for education for the parents in these countries about ways to give these daughters away without murdering them. You can read the entire article here.