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Blog post7 am. I’m standing in line at a local “doc in the box”. I won’t mention which one. It doesn’t open for another hour but there are already 4 people in front of me in line. I’m curious what they are here for. They don’t look or act sick. Is it perhaps the same as me? I’m here for a rapid result COVID-19 test. I’m not symptomatic. I have no fever, no cough, no more congestion than I normally do. I feel fine other than I get out of breath easily – whic
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Blog postHello, my name is Joel. I am white and I am racist. Hold on. Hold on. Don’t cancel me yet. There is a second part of that statement. Give me a chance to explain. I am a racist – and (no matter who you are reading this article) you are too. Still want to cancel me? Please - bear with me a few moments and read the rest of this article.
No, I am not a neo-Nazi, name-calling, bigot. I do not wave around a confederate flag. I do not use the n-word -
Blog postEveryone seems to be weighing in on the George Floyd situation. Everyone has an opinion or perspective and many have rashly jumped into the social media sphere to give their perspective on it. I don’t want to give my perspective. I would rather stay out of it. But as a pastor, people look to me for guidance during tumultuous situations like this. And as a pastor, maybe I do bear a responsibility to take a stand. A friend of mine recently told me his son asked
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Blog post***EDITED***
As a matter of clarity and full disclosure, I did publish an article in mid-March on why I believe churches should not close their doors. That article can be found here:
http://surrenderdaily.blogspot.com/2020/03/to-assemble-or-not-to-assemble-response.html
And for absolute full disclosure, while I never closed the doors to the church I pastor, I did strongly encourage my congregants to be safe and stay home as much as possible. We -
Blog post***EDITED***
Since originally published, it has been pointed out to me that during other events such as the Spanish flu and similar hisotical situations many churches have closed. I don't have the facts to back this up, so I am ready to stand corrected, but I do not believe churches were mandated to close, but rather were asked to close for the public good. Furthermore, I would like to have historical evidence as to whether all churches closed, some churches closed, or o -
Blog postThe very first sermon Jesus preached was only nine words long - “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”. The bible tells us that throughout his ministry, Jesus did two things.
(1) He healed the sick, cast out demons, etc – that is, he helped people. (2) He proclaimed the good news of the kingdom.
What does that mean – Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand?
We are part of a kingdom. God’s kingdom. God created all that is in the universe and -
Blog postYou've seen the memes all over social media. They are memes intended to encourage Christians to not give up. They are meant to lift one another up. The details may vary, but the bottom line is that they are all trying to say this:
God will not put you in circumstances you cannot bear
It seems well and good. It feels well and good. And perhaps the intentions are good. But there is a very big problem with these meme's and this statement:
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Note: Biblical references are listed at the bottom of this article.
Our fragile society is about to shatter, but the good news is that it can be fixed and YOU can be the one to fix it. What makes our society so fragile is the paradox of political correctness, which sounds good in principle, but is really just a house of cards ready to fall under its own weight. The ultimate end-game of political correctness is that everyone is offended, and when that happens, we become -
Blog postWhen you consider the events of the day, how can it be a Good Friday? It began in the wee hours with a betrayal. One who walked with Jesus for three years, who knew him well, who sat under his teaching, who saw his righteousness, and who supposedly understood who he was sold Jesus to his enemies for the price of a common slave. How could this be good?
That betrayal was followed by even greater treachery. An illegal and secret religious trial was conducted where liar -
Blog postPsst. This really is a “spiritual” post, but you might have to get all the way to the end before the big reveal.
When you see those words - Spoiler Alert - what is your immediate thought? Do you want to stop in your tracks and turn away; or are you compelled to read on like you are going to get something special to which no one else is privy? We all respond differently to those words, but I recently heard about a studysome researchers at UC San Diego did that suggested ge -
Blog postI used to love that old Jeff Foxworthy bit - You might be a redneck if...
If you have any church background whatsoever, you know what it means to be called a Pharisee. The Pharisees were a group of religious leaders that flourished during Jesus’ time. They were known for their knowledge and adherence to the law, which is a good thing. But they were also known for their self-righteousness and hypocrisy, which is a really bad thing. They put man-made rules on a level -
Blog postWe are about to elect a new president of our United States of America. Depending upon your political bent, you are either excited that the current president is finally leaving office or you are sad that he cannot be re-elected again. But for both sides of the political landscape, we are all somewhat concerned about the outcome of the upcoming election. On both sides of the debate, we are all asking the same question: “What if _____________ actually gets elected?”
As a pas -
Blog postAs a pastor, there are certain sermon series you preach that after completing them (or as you are completing them) you determine to be foundational to the growth and well-being of the church. As a foundational series, it becomes a resource that every member of the church, whether it is a member that has been a part of the fellowship for many years or a new member who has only been around a few months, needs to hear. In fact, it become a resource that members can go back to from time
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Blog postThe title of our Advent sermon series at Pawnee Baptist Church this year has been “Fear Not.”
The series is based on the idea that it can be scary to follow God’s plan for your life – and it is derived from the fact that almost every time an angel appears in scripture, he must begin the conversation with some form of those words – Fear Not.
In the story of the birth of Jesus, there are several angelic appearances, but there are not enough available “Sunday Mornings -
Blog postDo you recall the old song by Buffalo Springfield – There’s Something Happening Here? Remember the lyrics?
There's something happening hereWhat it is ain't exactly clearThere's a man with a gun over thereTelling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that soundEverybody look what's going down
There's battle lines being drawnNobody's right if everybody's wrongYoung people speaking their mindsGetting so much resistance from behind
I think it's -
Blog postOne of the most difficult things for a Christian – and for a pastor in particular – is to separate the issues of human rights and self-preservation from the issues of Christian ethics and morals when faced with such an ominous event such as the Paris bombings and the ISIS threat. In many respects, it is a matter of comparing that which is good and acceptable to that which is righteous and better. It is also a matter of distinguishing between the responsibilities of the state and the
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Blog postJames, the half-brother of Jesus, said that Elijah was a man just like you and me. Yet, when I consider the many things that Elijah did I can’t help but wonder about that. Elijah had more courage than I could ever imagine myself having. Would I have the faith and courage to approach the President and say that God was bringing judgment upon the country because of his leadership – the way that Elijah did to King Ahab? Would I have the faith and courage to stand before the entire
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Blog postPicture Credit: (15th Century German Lithograph as taken from "Biblica Bible Atlas")
…that is the question. Is it appropriate – or let’s tone that down a bit – is it OK for a Christian to lay a fleece before the Lord the way that Gideon did? With any background in church at all, you probably know the story of how Gideon tested God not just once, but twice, by asking him for a miraculous sign concerning whether he should lead Israel in a battle against the Mideanites b -
Blog postI was watching a movie a number of years ago – honestly I don’t remember the name of the movie or what it was about – in fact, it may not have even been a movie, but rather a TV show. It really doesn’t matter. What matters is what stood out to me about one of the characters in the story. The character was not at all a good person, and he blamed his personality flaws on God – or rather the absence of God. He proclaimed that as a child he prayed earnestly that, if God were
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Blog postThis past Sunday we talked about how Jacob struggled with God (Sermon Link) . Jacob and I are kindred spirits in many ways, I think. Over the course of many years, I have had a number of personal and spiritual struggles myself – as I am sure most of you have as well. These struggles have ranged from extreme selfishness to excessive materialism to uncontrolled anger – all of which are sins in their own right. However, most of these struggles were not so much about those sp
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Blog postIt is one of those strange things that probably every pastor knows about, but probably few really talk about – and heaven forbid any of us should admit it in a blog like I am about to do.
As a pastor, some days you deliver the word that you believe God has given you and everything goes smooth – the delivery, the response from the congregation, and even the perceived movement of the Holy Spirit in the service. Those are very encouraging days. Other days, however, you do t -
Blog postI mentioned this in my sermon this past Sunday (podcast here), but as I look back on my life, I realize that despite being active in church and Sunday School my entire life, it was really only during those periods of my life where I had a real, spiritual mentor that I experienced consistent, steady spiritual growth. In my sermon, I mentioned three people that had a significant impact in my life – two youth pastors (Taylor and Randy) and then the man I still to this day consider my spiritua
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Blog postFor this week's blog, I have invited a friend of mine to be a guest blogger. Nathan Brown is a co-worker of mine and is the Discipleship Coordinator for the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches. Nathan developed the circles of discipleship graphic that I shared with you in church this past Sunday. He also has a very good discipleship website: www.disciplingnewconverts.org. In his article below, Nathan shares his thoughts about what personal discipleship looks like.What
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Blog postThe other day I was driving home from work, and as I stopped at a red light downtown I saw a really strange site. A man was walking across the crosswalk. In the big city (well, in a city like Birmingham anyway), that is not an unusual site. What made it strange and unusual, however, were his demeanor and his clothes – yes, his clothes. His demeanor was that of a broken down, oppressed homeless person, walking with a bit of a shuffle as if he were struggling with som
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Blog postThis week’s Pastor’s Blog is not about the church, not about our mission, and really it is not about anything I have preached about over the last few months. In fact, this week’s Pastor’s Blog is a bit self-oriented. I say it is self-oriented rather than self-ish, because honestly as a pastor, it is not just for my benefit, but for the sake of the entire body of Christ. And to those reading this who are not a part of my congregation, I say that everything in this blog will appl
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Blog postWell, there’s been a great deal going on and I haven’t been able to do much writing lately… blog or otherwise… but did you by chance see the USA Today article on May 15 titled “Human Embryonic Stem Cells Are Cloned” (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/05/15/human-stem-cell-cloned-mitalipov/2156325/)?
Stem cell research has always been one of the most ethically controversial fields, but it has also been a field that has made and delivered upon great medical promises. In case you -
Blog postSo this is my third entry for this new blog – “The Heavens Tremble.” After the first two entries, I asked one of my sons to give me critique on the posts. His response was “It’s very fire and brimstone.” Thinking about it, I have to admit there is some truth in that and I couldn’t decide whether it was something to apologize for or to defend. Perhaps it is because I have been recently reading through the Old Testament. I probably read through the New Testament twice
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Blog postRecently, movie producer Donald Luciano plead guilty to possession of child pornography. Now I certainly realize that there have been child molesters around since the beginning of time, so what is so special about this particular case? After all, he's just another sick individual that the justice system has finally cracked down on, right? And we should crack down on them. There is absolutely nothing more despicable than an adult who would prey upon a child. Well, let me take that bac
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Blog postThe Heavens Tremble is a new blog whose goal is to provide evangelical commentary on current events that – as the saying goes – causes heaven to tremble. It is not intended to be a replacement of my other blog, Surrender Daily (www.surrenderdaily.blogspot.com), which is where I post devotionals and other spiritually reflective posts. This blog is more specific to current events and how I suspect that they are propelling us full speed into the wrath of God and the end times. We know f
Books By Joel J Dison
Indescribable Joy: Discovering the Principles of Joy from Paul's Letter to the Philippians
Apr 4, 2013
by
Joel Dison
$3.99
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