Providence4/24/2024 ![]() Photo by Pedro Miranda on Unsplash Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. Psalm 115:3 ESV The day that I believed that the Lord was calling me to ministry was a day set up by the providence of God as well as a day I realized God’s providence in my whole life! Let me explain. I was at church camp the summer before I started high school. Sometime during the middle of the day there was a bible study time that was not taught by the main camp preacher. The guy who was speaking that day was talking about our “testimonies” of how we became Christians. He started to talk about how he had always believed himself to have a boring testimony. He was born to believing parents who brought him to church, he was saved at a young age, he didn’t have to hit rock bottom to come to Christ. This caught my attention because he was pretty much describing my testimony as well. Then he said that his testimony wasn’t boring, it was a great story of God’s grace and mercy. He didn’t have to endure a rock bottom to come to Christ! He said he later realized that his upbringing by Christian parents and his lifelong discipleship in the church was God preparing him for ministry. When he said this, I knew the Lord was speaking right at me. God in His providence placed me at that camp, that day, with that speaker, so that I would realize that God in His providence had been shaping me my whole life to prepare me to serve Him and His church. John Piper defines providence as God’s purposeful sovereignty. God’s sovereignty means He can do whatever He wants whenever He wants, providence points to how God uses His sovereignty with divine purpose and design. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” … And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. Acts 9:3-4,20-22 ESV Paul (Saul in the above verse) was on his way to persecute Christians when the Lord Jesus Christ intercepted him on the road to Damascus. By God’s providence a man who was wreaking havoc on the church became one of the Lord’s Apostles. A man who once put Christians in chains became someone who by the power of the Holy Spirit led people out of the bondage of sin. But like my testimony above, God’s providence can be seen in Paul’s whole life. Paul was a Pharisee and a son of a Pharisee (Acts 23:6, Philippians 3:5), this means he was well educated in the Scriptures and zealous in his pursuit of Judaism (Galatians 1:13-14). If the gospel of Jesus Christ were a puzzle, Paul was a guy who had all the pieces set before him, he even had sections half-way put together, and on the road to Damascus he finally could see what picture the puzzle was making. In a similar way by God’s providence someone was put before you to share the gospel with you! By God’s providence your unique life experience has been preparing you for the work of every Christian, to glorify God by making disciples! And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Acts 8:27-28 ESV In Acts 8, Philip walks up on this Ethiopian reading from the prophet Isaiah. What a lucky coincidence for Philip! Except it’s not luck and it’s no coincidence but the providence of God. This is a divine appointment. In verse twenty-six an angel of the Lord tells Philip to go that direction but doesn’t say why. Philip doesn’t need the why. The why was given by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Great Commission to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). The Great Commission is for us today as well. We are to “Go” and while we are going “make disciples.” Knowing who to share the gospel with is easy because we know that “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23ESV). ALL! ALL is who we share the gospel with because ALL people need the gospel! Just as God placed people in your life to share the gospel with you, He will place you in others’ lives so that they will hear the gospel from you! You might never walk up on someone who is reading a messianic prophecy from the book of Isaiah but that doesn’t mean you’ll never walk up on someone that the Lord in His providence is drawing to Himself. So go and make disciples! Take courage! Be Bold! The Lord is with us! There is a lot more to be said about God’s providence. A couple years ago I bought a new book from John Piper entitled Providence. Piper is one of my favorite authors, so I knew I had to get this book. When the book came in, I was shocked. I was shocked because it is huge with over 700 pages! I thought I had a good understanding of God’s providence, but I can assure you I do not know enough to write 700 pages! The book has remained intimidating on my shelf, but I have decided to start reading it. I should be finished reading it in a couple…months! Check back later this year for a review!
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Never Blue4/2/2024 ![]() Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20 ESV My favorite color is blue, always has been. When I was kid growing up in the 90’s I always wanted to be the blue Power Ranger. When I was at the doctor’s office, I always chose a blue lollipop. At the dentist I always took the blue toothbrush. When reading a book, I always reach for my blue highlighter first. There is a blue pad of sticky notes on my desk right now. I really do like the color blue, but I will never vote for blue. I’ve always tried to be independent when it comes to elections. My loyalty is to the Lord not to a political party. In the past, for different offices, I’ve voted for both Republicans and Democrats, but I can say today I will NEVER vote for a Democrat again. That’s not to say that I’ll always vote for Republicans, although in our mostly binary election system, that for now will probably be the case more times than not. I don’t care if a candidate is running for County Clerk or President of the United States if there is a “D” next to their name I will NOT vote for them. I will not vote for anyone who identifies themselves with the political party who champions the murder of babies and the mutilation of the image of God. I want to be clear this is not me endorsing the Republican Party or any of its candidates. This is not an attempt to get you to vote for President Trump in November. To be transparent I didn’t vote for President Trump in the Primary last month and I’m still praying and considering whether I’ll vote for him or write-in a candidate, but what I can guarantee is I won’t be voting for President Biden. The Democratic Party hates God, hates humanity, and hates Christians. If you didn’t know that you are simply not paying attention. Most recently the Democratic Party has shown this by actions taken by President Biden on Easter weekend. On Good Friday President Biden signed a declaration making Easter Sunday the “Transgender Day of Visibility.” Easter Sunday is the most important holiday for Christians, the celebration of resurrection of the Son of God. To declare Easter Sunday to be the “Transgender Day of Visibility” is nothing short of blasphemy. As you would expect this caused quite a bit of backlash from Christians across the country. On Easter Sunday the President doubled down and posted across social media a message to “trans Americans” by twisting Scripture. In it he said, “You are made in the image of God, and you’re worthy of respect and dignity.” That’s true! They are made in the image of God, and they are worthy of respect and dignity, but respect and dignity demands that we do not affirm their delusions. Respect and dignity demands that we care for them by pointing them to truth. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27 emphasis added). God decides our gender not us. God makes no mistakes. There is no such thing as a transgendered person because you cannot change your gender. There is no such thing as a non-binary person because God only makes male and female. This very declaration by President Biden, the leader of the democratic party, is a hundred percent in line with the Democratic Party’s platform. It proves that the Democratic party hates God, humanity, and Christians. Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary said, “The White House action was an affront to Christianity and to morality, to be sure.” “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139:13-16 ESV
There is also the issue of abortion. As Christians we believe that life begins at conception. As Southern Baptists, our doctrinal statement the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 says “We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.” Some try to say that the Christian argument against abortion is new but that could not be further from the truth. The Didache, an early piece of Christian literature dating somewhere between 70AD to 100AD, states, “You shall not murder a child by abortion, nor kill a child at birth.” The Democratic Party platform states “We believe unequivocally, like the majority of Americans, that every woman should be able to access high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion.” The platform also calls for the repealing of the Hyde Amendment which would allow your tax dollars to be spent on the murder of babies. Andrew T. Walker, an associate professor of Christian ethics at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said this yesterday in his article for WORLD Opinions, “If the modern Democratic Party has not crossed your moral line at this point, well, you have no moral line for it to cross. The events of this past weekend should prove just how incompatible the Democratic Party is with anything resembling Biblical Christianity.” Christian, the Democratic Party is sick and the fact that a large group of people in this country still support the Democratic Party is proof that our country is lost and in need of a savior. That savior is NOT Donald Trump. That savior is NOT a politician at all. The savior this country needs is not a President but a King, the King of Kings! These sad realities about our country will not be changed at the ballot box. These things will only be changed by a move of God. Do you want to be part of God’s working in this country? Then start sharing the gospel today! AuthorTrevor Williams is the Lead Pastor at Ector Baptist Church in Ector, TX. Archives
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