Every Christian an Apologist?

Always be ready to give a defense to anyone
who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. -- Peter

An apologist, according to the dictionary, is “one who speaks or writes in defense of someone or something .” Applied to Christianity an apologist would be a person who can defend and explain the Christian faith. The late Paul Little, the late C.S. Lewis, Josh McDowell, and Norman Geisler are several whose books are still available from bookstores and the internet.
The thing is, according to Peter, every single believer should develop into an apologist. Every believer should have some kind of response to anyone who questions their faith.
You don’t have to be an expert in theology or be fluent in languages of the Bible. All you have to do is have an intimate, personal relationship with Christ and be in the process of becoming a disciple.
I overheard one teenager, who had recently received Christ and been baptized, talking to another teenager. He said, “I like to hang around the church any time I can And have you noticed how I’m not as angry as I used to be? I’m different since I became a Christian.”
Now that’s an apologist in action! And he didn’t even know it. He was confirming what Jesus had done in His life.
You can grow in Christ by becoming active in discipleship, Bible study, and a mission or ministry team. You too, can be an apologist.

Sgt. Herb Pettigrew

Herb's life was the Lord, his family and the army -- in that order. He served in the Army and National Guard for almost 40 years. It was time, so the Lord let Him go home on Sunday afternoon at 4:06 PM.

I've only known Herb and Liz for about 3 years, since moving to Grace Fellowship, but he was always one of the warmest people I've met. Always ready to laugh. I'll miss him at the "Spit and Whittle Club" at McDonalds each morning.

He was a blessing to me. Thank You, Lord, for another fine man you've allowed to grace my life.

Israel Anyone?

We're beginning to look at different travel agents for a group tour to Israel next year sometime. Summer is the best time, but it's the most expensive, too. The Fall is the best time, weather-wise and cost wise. Winter is next best.

I'm talking to a tour company that I worked with before. They are very accomodating and helpful. Let me know if you're interested in going to the promised land.

I'm Just a Hog for You, Baby

I admit it, I listen to the old 50s music on XM Radio. Phase 1 of the Rock and Roll era was from 57 to 63 -- then the British invaded. So, many songs on the 50s channel predate the beginning of Rock and Roll. I heard one the other day: I'm Just a Hog for You, Baby. The chorus says: "This little piggy likes pizza; this little piggy dig potato chips; but THIS little piggy wants to feast on your lips!" I can't even type it without chuckling.

The thing is, many of the songs, even in early southern blues and rock and roll, talk about sin, God, God's plan for marriage, right and wrong. Like the song "You Send Me": "I want to marry you and take you home." That's a far cry from "One Night with You" that came later. All the early critics of rock and roll would be glad to return now to those first lyrics and styles.

Our lives are like the transition of music stylings, too. If we don't watch out, our lives will slowly, almost without notice, slip one little step at a time into a activities and attitudes that we would never have entertained before. Keep alert to a growing indifference toward sin and relaxed morals. Being "a Hog" for the things of God is okay. Really.

Global Warming or Islamic Jihad?

Well, I'm supposed to be scared to death of global warming, according to proponents of a faulty science scheme. But let's suppose that global warming is real. How long before it destroys the USA? A century or two? Fifty years? A decade?

I'm also supposed to be afraid of Islamic Jihad -- the militant Israel haters and America destroyers -- murderers and terrorists. These people are serious! They want us wiped off the face of the map. They get into our country over porous borders with plans to kill us and undermine our culture.

Between global warming and Islamic Jihad, I think Islamic Jihad poses the imminent threat. If the Al Gore's of the world would spend as much energy trying to protect our children and innocent citizens from terrorists as they do protect a few caribou from oil rigs, we might indeed be safer and more self-reliant.

Let's see: Global warming, on one hand, that stimies productivity, is based on psuedo-science, and flushes millions of dollars down the toilet, verses Islamic Jihad that wants me dead NOW! I think I'd rather the USA be concerned about the Islamic Jihad.

Note to believers: God is still on His throne and absolutely nothing happens that doesn't cross His desk first! And whatever happened to Christians abiding in the shadow of His wing? He is our Savior, and the One who loves our very souls. So, I'm okay with world events as long as I abide in Christ, and He in me. He, afterall, is sovereign, and "all power is given unto [Christ]." All power means all power. Whew! Now don't you feel better?!

A good example of discipleship

I witnessed a good example of discipleship tonight -- actually over the last several months. It involves the music program at Kaufman ISD. I recently attended the concert for the Junior High and High School bands. They were awesome, and they've won a number of significant awards this year. Yes, indeed, it was a great concert.

Tonight I attended the concert for Nash Intermediate School -- 5th and 6th grade bands. It was a good concert, too. A few more flats, some woodwind squeaks, and less polish than the high school band, but they were good. The band instructor, Teri Sanchez, a member of our church, explained how several students were highly motivated and practiced a lot. They had reached performance markers on the high school level and were recognized and given awards.

I thought, this is how discipleship works. Go for the newer believers first like this music program goes for the youngest children. Over several years of practice, learning, instruction, and more practice they will mature in their craft. They will be more than tolerable to listen to. They will be quite enjoyable.

In the church, we need to make disciples out of believers as soon as we can. Start them out learning the notes, how to make an instrument "work", and laying the groundwork for future maturity and ministry. At first the music they play will be simpler, squeakier, but challenging. Eventually they will find themselves sight reading in high school competitions.

Being in the band since 5th grade does not make a performer an automatic sensation in high school. Work, discipline, and obedience will make the novice into a master musician over time. Christians are the same way. Just being in church and attending week after week, even for years on end, does not automatically make a believer a mature, productive disciple. In fact, many long time church attenders think they have the right to administrative and leadership positions because they've been in church so many years. But they may be immature, ineffective, run of the mill Christians. (Lord, save me from being a "run of the mill" Christian).

Discipleship starts early; stays consistent; makes demands on the Christian; and insists on cooperation and submission to authority. But the result will be sweet music to God's ears as the whole church ministers and worships from the position of maturity and power.

May -- give me warm!

Now, don't get me wrong but I love the north. (To most Texans, the north means Oklahoma). I love Ohio and really love New England. One reason is the four distinct seasons, glorious leaves, and real snow -- lots of real snow.

But this Texas winter is tough. At least in the north you know whether or not to wear longjohns and you know how many layers you need to stay warm...so, you stay warm. In Texas, however, it can be frigid in the morning and warm in the afternoon. So if the forecast says upper 60s and you dress for that, you wind up leaving the house at 5:3o AM dressed for 60s. Only thing is, it's 32 at 5:30 AM!

Look, once the "piggies" get cold, it's over. I don't care how warm the rest of you is, if those piggies are cold, you might as well give up.

Anyway, my point in all this rambling is I'm glad for the warm weather. I can ride my bike and save money, but most importantly I can leave the house with a short sleeve shirt on in the morning without freezing to death. Give me warm!

Exciting Day -- What a Great God!

I have just a few things to praise the Lord about today...

Well, we've completed our capitol stewardship campaign and received more commitments than our basic goal! The same week (Fri) we closed on the sale of our original property on Hwy 243, so it now belongs to KCCC and we've received our money. In addition to that, about 8 people, including 3 couples joined the church this morning.

And, if all goes well, I'll finish my tax return and get it in before the deadline on Tuesday.

So, God is indeed good. Thank You, Lord. "Praising Jesus, for the things He's brought is through." \O/

Our building -- His building -- to the glory of God!

I am always excited when the schools use our building for a concert. I can hear the 6th grade band playing right now as I write this blog. The parking lot is jammed with cars parked on both sides to the street!

Praise the Lord for this opportunity.

We will be distributing tickets to Heaven's Gates, Hell's Flames as people leave tonight.

I just get excited to be able to offer our building, the Lord's house, in service to others.

Heaven's Gates, Hell's Flames

This is going to be interesting. When we booked HGHF for Easter (like last year) we didn't know that Spring Break would be the week before. That means that all our teenagers will out of school and unable to invite school friends during that whole week!

Sooooo....I'm proposing that we make this a town-wide evangelism effort. Sunday, and several days next week when kids are out of school anyway, we should put a flyer on every door in town. And, put a poster in every store window. This can be done!

We could pass out Free Tickets at Brookshires on Saturday, Sunday, and any other day that teenagers and mission team members can do it.

This is going to be interesting.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Okay, okay...I know it's been almost a month since my last blog, but I'll get back to an "almost daily" posting. They may be short, but they'll be there.

Anyway, I want to praise the Lord for His goodness, for His kindness. Through the up times and down times, He remains faithfully present. I wouldn't trade my relationship to Christ for anything.

DiscipleNow weekend was great. There were some decisions made, but decisions don't tell the whole story. I was impressed by the number of teens that participated. I was equally impressed with the host homes, teachers and food preparers and other helpers. Everyone was really into ministering to these young people. Darin did a great job organizing and facilitating the event.

The "Still Building for Kingdom Growth" campaign is going great. People are getting on board. And giving has already increased -- even before the campaign commitments in April. Revivival and giving have always gone together.

My family is grateful for the many expressions of love and comfort we've received since my father's death in January. The good thing is that it is the only death He will ever have to suffer. From now on it's life forever. We will miss this temporary separation until the Day of the Lord!

Live for Jesus, that's what matters.

My Thoughts on the Superbowl

Well, New England lost the game. They weren't beaten by the Giants, they just lost it. They didn't bring their game to the stadium.

Now, of course, people around here are gloating over the fact that the team I was rooting for lost. Most of them are Cowboy fans. That's the irony. At least the Patriots made it to the Superbowl. Losing in the Superbowl with a 18-1 record is better than losing TWICE to the Giants that won the game.

It seems to me that both teams in the Superbowl are better than the Cowboys...even the loser.

My point is this: I'm ready to move on. It's a game. I learned about that while I lived in Cleveland during the Cardiac Kids era. I watched the Browns lose in heartbreaking overtime playoff games by a field goal. Now THAT was disappointment. The Patriots loss to the Giants was nothing in comparison.

God bless you all! And God bless the Giants.

Al Gore is "the man"?

Well, now a group of "christians", Baptists no less, have listened to Al Gore's sermon-like presentation on the inevitable dangers of global warming. One even called him a prophet.
Of course, this group, sponsored by Jimmy Carter, and addressed by other liberal officials, are not embraced by Bible-believing conservatives like me. Let me point out just a couple of things.

First, a prophet of God was a "forthteller" declaring the revealed word of God. It was from God and about God, not about an unproven scientific theory.

Second, I remember in the 1970s and 80s that there was a movement to change the lifestyles and habits of the world population because the planet was going to (not overheat) but return to the ice age!!! I wish these scientists would make up their minds.

Third, Jesus spoke of the end of the world as we know it on numerous ocassions. And His revelation to John speaks about the end of the world in gruesome detail. Global warming is not an issue. Jesus didn't spend one minute warning us about it. Search carefully from cover to cover; read the Bible with careful attention -- it ain't in there!!

Al Gore, if you would only use as much passion and energy trying to rescue men's souls from the real flames of eternity, you might finally do some good.

The Lord provides for His church

The church is the Bride of Christ. And Jesus protects, cares for, and fulfills His Bride. Yesterday was a good example of how He blesses her.

At Grace Fellowship we experienced the presence of the Bridegroom in our midst. He was loving, caring and good. A believer would be able to sense it -- the reality of His love and faithfulness.

Three teenagers gave their hearts to Christ and asked to be baptized or join the church; two families, one with a teenager, and another with six kids, officially joined our church.

One member told me that the presence of the Lord was "thick" today. I kind of like that.

Much more made it a good day, but just suffice it to say that the Lord proved Himself again. Every once in a while the Lord's presence will be "thicker" than at other times...just to show us He still cares. \O/

Do you want to feel better?

Create a new file or document on your computer and name it "Hillary Clinton", then close it. Then, go to the file and right click on it; choose delete. It will ask, "are you sure you want to send Hillary Clinton to the Recycle Bin?" Click Yes. You'll feel better.

Now, on your desktop, open the trash bin. Choose "Empty Contents?" When Hillary Clinton disappears you'll really feel better!!

If you want to make your day complete, name the file "Bill and Hillary Clinton", then follow the process. You are going to feel so good when Bill and Hillary go away.

Praise the Lord anyway!

Back in the 70s, while everyone else was doing Disco, I was operating a Christian Bookstore and pastoring a church. A great deal of excitment was occurring in the Christian community... the Jesus People Movement, a growing house church movement, and Christian coffee-houses.
A very popular book at that time was called "Praise the Lord Anyway!" It was all about how bad things often happen to Christians. We live in the same tragedy prone world as anyone else. But God should be praised anyway.
From one perspective, it was kind of a pyschological thing -- kind of a "keep your chin up", "take your knocks", "stick it out" thing. But the basis for this idea is planted firmly in the Word. Job said, "I brought nothing into the world, and I'll take nothing out of the world, God be praised." David talked about praising God, even in the trials of life.
My point is, even when faced with life's more difficult trials, God is still the same no matter happens to us. Was He holy, kind, majestic, all mighty, and gracious before our crisis? Then He still is DURING our crisis, and AFTER our crisis.
So, Lord, I want to praise You anyway. My family has walked through the valley of the shadow of death recently, but You were with us. Thank You, Lord. I want to praise You for just being You. \O/

My Father's Obituary

Robert Deaton, 77, of Weatherford passed away Monday, Jan. 14, 2008.Funeral: 10 a.m. Friday at Lakeshore Drive Baptist Church. Interment: 1 p.m. in New Gordon Cemetery, Gordon. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at White's Funeral Home.Memorials: Donations in his name are requested to the Christian Witness Ministry, 1512 Highglen Trail, Kaufman, Texas 75142.
Robert Deaton was born April 18, 1930, in Ranger to the late Charles Nathan and Delphia Chipman Deaton. A graduate of Baylor University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the Rev. Deaton was a pastor and planter of new churches in Texas and Ohio. In addition to pastoring, Bob taught school in Cleveland, Ohio, and Mansfield.
The Rev. Deaton also served as chaplain with Victim Relief Ministries and operations officer for Christian Witness Ministries. He was a member of Lakeshore Drive Baptist Church in Weatherford.
The thing Bob loved the most was the Lord and was proudest of his family and his ministry for the Lord.
He was preceded in death by a son, Bryan Deaton.
Survivors: Wife of 59 years, Marene Deaton; children, Darril Deaton and wife, Dawn, Marlene Deaton and Ronald Deaton; grandchildren, Darin Deaton and wife, Alexis, and Denise Deaton; sister, Pauline Pennock; and brothers, Charles W. Deaton and Jack L. Deaton.
Published in the Star-Telegram on 1/17/2008.

Long week...finally over

Finally returned to Kaufman late this afternoon. It's been a long, busy week. We held my father's funeral yesterday and it lasted an hour and forty-five minutes. It was an encouraging service, uplifting in many ways -- laughter mixed with tears.

I helped conduct the service and spoke of my dad's unique life. He witnessed to Albert Einstein, traveled with Billy Graham, employed and witnessed to Lee Harvey Oswald, and shared the gospel with Jack Ruby in jail. He helped untold thousands of people and shared the gospel to just about anybody, anywhere. I told a lot of funny stuff about him, then opened the mikes for others to tell funny stories. It was really great.

I appreciate your prayers for my family. Continue to pray for my mother...she's strong, but still, it's a sudden and difficult loss.

While I'll be going to W'ford every so often to help mom with business/estate things, it will be great getting back into my routines at church. Grace Fellowship has been really good to us through this time. My heart rejoices at the people's outpouring of love.

Long week and only half way through

It's been a long week already. We took care of the funeral home business today. Dad's funeral will be Friday morning at 1o AM at Lakeshore Baptist in W'ford.

The shock of dad's unexpected death still affects everyone -- especially my mom. But throughout the day we've encouraged each other with funny stories about his life. So we've laughed and cried and laughed all day. As a matter of fact, one of dad's desires was for people to tell funny stories during the service.

Alexis and Darin need prayers...to complicate the whole week, she's experiencing some unexpected pain and will require a procedure tomorrow. We need God's grace this week.

I'll have to say one thing, I'm proud of the people at Grace Fellowship. My church family has been so supportive. I'm sorry there's not more people could do right now, because everyone wants so very much to do something. I thank God for the Body of Christ and for the local church I'm associated with. \O/

Saturday afternoon journal entry

I always tell disciples to read the Word and record what God said to them. Then, respond with what they would say back to God. Here's an example from my journal. It's part of a conversation I had with the Lord today:

12:27 P
"Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic..."
God: Late night TV is filled with charletons and thieves that rob people of their money and capitalize on their desire for the miraculous. If a person does not receive miraculous healing or financial help from on high they are told it is their fault -- their lack of faith. But it was the faith of friends, not the faith of the paralytic that brought My response. My grace is not boxed up by people's lack of faith.
Yes, I respond to your faith. And, yes, I answer prayers that are offered up in faith. "Without faith it is impossible to please Me." But praying for others, applying your faith on behalf of others, is the very definition of intercessory prayer. I love to hear intercessory prayer.
Example: Why should you even apply your faith and pray for the salvation of others? After all, they're not even believers and haven't even expressed faith for salvation toward Me. But it is your faith that appropriates My grace and power on their behalf -- that moves My Spirit to woo them to the Son. It is your faith that puts starts My divine wheels of salvation rolling on behalf of the unbeliever. Yes, they must come to a place of trusting Christ for salvation, but even that is not a mature faith that I require...it is childlike. Your faith can greatly affect the lives of others.
Darril: Lord, please remind me, even push me, to pray for others. Remind me to appropriate my faith -- as imperfect as it is -- on behalf of my fellow disciples; the flock you have given me; unbelievers that I know; the city and school district I live in. Thank You for recording this story in Your Word for me. It helps me understand how powerful my prayers for others can be. One of the things that I appreciate about You, Lord, is that You show how simple it is to live for You. Does it take effort, faithfulness, and perseverance? Of course, but it's not complicated.
Be glorified somehow in my life today. I just pray that at the end of the day You will have found something pleasing about my life...even if it's just my faith to pray for others. Amen.