The confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers.

The nation’s largest inland navigable water system.

Southern hospitality and charm.

The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region.

Median age: 41.4 years.

One of only two cities named in Hooray for Hollywood.

         A lively “underground” musical scene.

“Quilt City U.S.A.”

The 78th largest media market in the U.S.

Designated by UNESCO as the world’s 7th City of Crafts and Folk Art.

Boasting a highly successful symphony orchestra serving a 5-state region.

Business, medical, educational, and entertainment center for a quarter million people.

Paducah.

Home.

Would not Christ have us love the city that we call home? I think of Jeremiah 29:7 and God’s heart that the Jewish exiles pray for the prosperity of their city. How blessed we are to be able to enjoy the same privilege of prayer, and to do so in a beautiful place where we have chosen to live and to raise our families!

You’re probably more than aware of the changing face of Christian missions. The mission field is no longer “out there” – it is here. Are we willing to open our arms to the people here?

In just a few days we’ll be hosting our first COMMUNITY CONNECTION weekend. Please consider this a special invitation from Pastor Russ and myself to join us here at First Baptist Paducah at 6:00 this Friday evening (April 17) for a special dinner … and a chance to begin a refreshing dialog about loving Paducah.

Our special guest for COMMUNITY CONNECTION will be Dr. Van Sanders, who will help us wrap our minds and hearts around the unique opportunities for Christian ministry that Paducah affords. We’ll focus our attention particularly on unreached neighbors, ethnic minorities, and other people groups who can far too easily fall off our radar screens.

Saturday morning’s activities will include going out in teams into strategic neighborhoods for prayer, service, and relationship-building.

And then on Sunday morning, our church family will come together for a single worship service at 10:15. (Sunday School for all ages at 9:00.)

Don’t miss COMMUNITY CONNECTION.

Because this is home.

Pastor Charles

We are proud to share this Easter sermon from 1 Corinthians 15 by Pastor Charles!  Click here to listen or download (Recorded live at First Baptist Paducah on April 5, 2015): 2015.04.05.WeShallAllBeChanged.1Cor15.CharlesMoore

By now you’ve likely learned of the Al Shabaab terrorist attack in Kenya. 147 are dead on the Moi campus of Garissa University College. At least another 79 are injured. Somali Islamists have extended their broad swath of terror in Africa by snuffing out young people, and specifically those young people who claimed to be Christ-followers. In the prime of their lives, our brothers and sisters have been gunned down in this brutal assault on humanity. It’s the country’s deadliest attack since the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in 1988.

One news report I read labeled the atrocity “senseless and barbaric.” What explains such evil on Planet Earth? Does evolution account for it? Does “survival of the fittest” make any sense of atrocities like this?

No. An accidental human race not only exposes the foolishness of its proponents, but it robs its adherents of any vestige of purpose when tragedy strikes. If evolution is true, there is no redemption. There is no hope. There is no Easter on the horizon.

Today is Good Friday. Why do we call it “good” when so many of the events that we recall today were bad? After all, it’s the day of Christ’s brutal execution.

We call it “good” because Christ’s death on the cross was the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan. A plan to pardon human sin. A plan that was, and is, good. By way of a cross, God took the greatest injustice ever perpetrated in all of human history and transformed it into the world’s only hope (First Corinthians 15:3).

Psalm 85:10 sings of a day when righteousness and peace will kiss each other. That was Good Friday. The “peace on earth” announced to the shepherds when Christ was born would come by suffering and a cruel crucifixion.

Was it undeserved suffering? Yes and no. Christ did not deserve it. We did.

Like the description in yesterday’s news report, the cross was barbaric. But that’s where the comparison fades. For the cross was anything but senseless. As a matter of fact, the cross of Christ is the only thing in the universe that makes perfect sense. It was the moment of the kiss.

It was love in action. Grace under fire. Reconciliation on enemy soil. Peace where there was no peace.

We can almost hear the words of our Lord Jesus (Luke 23:34): “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you …’” (Matthew 21:5).

We’re entering into that wonderful time of the year when we approach, in our mind’s eye, not just the cross of Christ – but also His glorious empty tomb! But there are a number of important days between now and Easter morning, and we must make the most of each of them. To that end, I want to remind you why Palm Sunday matters.

In London, England, Charles Spurgeon (not Dickens) preached a sermon based on Christ’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (the historical and Scriptural origin of Palm Sunday). Spurgeon’s message was delivered while the American Civil War was erupting here, and I share with you an excerpt from that day’s sermon: “There was an expectation upon the popular mind of the Jewish people, that Messiah was about to come. They expected him to be a temporal prince, one who would make war upon the Romans and restore to the Jews their lost nationality. There were many who, though they did not believe in Christ with a spiritual faith, nevertheless hoped that perhaps he might be to them a great temporal deliverer, and we read that on one or two occasions they would have taken him and made him a king, but that he hid himself. There was an anxious desire that somebody or other should lift the standard of rebellion and lead the people against their oppressors. Seeing the mighty things which Christ did, the wish was father to the thought, and they imagined that He might probably restore to Israel the kingdom and set them free.”

Spurgeon rightly discerned in his analysis of that first Palm Sunday that – for many if not most of the participants – the main point of the moment was missed. The redemption for which the crowds of people longed was a salvation that Jesus never intended to provide – at least not in ways that aligned with most people’s expectations.

How quickly we settle for a substitute plan! A cheap gospel! A personal agenda! A works righteousness! A system of any kind that puts me back in the driver’s seat! A temporal encounter with “goosebumps” instead of a lasting encounter with the Lamb!

Beloved, such deadly detours can divert us when we misunderstand the nature of the kingdom of Christ. It can become for us all about politics, or all about moral reform, or all about social justice, or all about our private “quiet time” …

Stay tuned for this Sunday’s sermon at First Baptist Paducah, as I will attempt to answer the critical question, “What is the kingdom of God?”

Don’t miss the real Palm Sunday. The King has come. And, just as He promised, the King will come again.

Last night our church family enjoyed the privilege of celebrating the faithful ministry of Jason and Tammy Williams. Thank you, Pastor Jason, for allowing us the opportunity to show you how much you are loved, and how much you will be missed.

As I was pondering all of the affirming things that could be said about Jason, this one rose to the top of my heap: Jason is a man of the Book!

Jason loves God’s Word. He desires to live by and to teach with precision God’s Word. He desires to lead his family according to God’s Word. And Jason counsels and ministers by the precepts of God’s Word. “Scripture alone” drives Jason’s heart and his passionate service for our Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 1:1-3 captures Jason well: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

Thank you, Jason, that you did not want the glory to be yours. Even in your official farewell, you wanted all praise reserved for the King of kings and Lord of lords. Thank you.

Because you are a man of the Book, Jason, I know that First Baptist Paducah can look forward to many reports of many good things that Christ is doing in and through your life and ministry. I pray our Lord’s most precious and permeating blessings to be upon you, Tammy, Hannah, Joshua, Sarah Elizabeth, Abigail, Caleb, and Daniel. Always.

Pastor Charles

We blog. God laughs.

I should never have written that part about the weather having “turned a corner” in the direction of spring. So I suppose I’ll never be accused of being a prophet (at least not in that sense).

Anyway, digging out (again!), we move on. I thought I’d focus on a topic that to me is warm and sunny no matter what.

Growth Groups.

Last Sunday night we completed a month-long pilot Growth Group so that those who are prayerfully considering serving as leaders or facilitators could get a taste of a model for in-home, small-group discipleship. About 25 of us enjoyed the time of bonding and pondering en masse how the Lord might use Growth Groups to bless our church and community. It was wonderful to be together for such a special purpose.

We’ll soon announce plans for a major launch of a plan to salt the Paducah area (geographically and spiritually) with small groups aimed at building the body of First Baptist Paducah, advancing Christian maturity, and creating missional tentacles into the lives of our neighbors and friends. Please join me in prayer that Christ will be exalted in the hearts of many through a ministry that has the potential to revolutionize how we “do church” (First Corinthians 9:22).

If we are to be faithful to our Lord in this generation, we must reach reach the Millennials, who are often skeptical of the traditional and institutional church. Here’s a great opportunity to knock it out of the park in terms of demonstrating the love of the body without the cultural handicaps of “church building” or “you must come to us” or “you must look like us” or “you must sing like us” or “you must act like us.”

Stay tuned. The best is yet to come.

Early this morning I opened the car door at the dry cleaners. The icy wind cut through my legs like a knife. Aaaaaaargh. Enough already. Single digits be gone!

But, I’m giddy to report, I think we’ve turned a corner. It’s entirely (as in, 100%) sunny outside my office window, and the forecast for Tuesday is 65 degrees. Yes, the weather icon for that day includes a lightning bolt, but I’m all for a little thunder and lightning if we can also enjoy the 65 degrees. Spring is no longer a distant hope, my friends. When I see you Sunday, we can officially bid each other a “Happy March!” February was brutal – the coldest since the dawn of weather records in Paducah’s history – but it’s nearly over.

So how’s your walk with Christ? Maybe you’ve taken a bit of a winter hiatus in your spiritual pilgrimage. That kind of thing can slip up on us, you know. Just as we can throw dietary caution to the wind and eat our way from Thanksgiving through the New Year – and well beyond – sometimes it’s easy to lapse into a bit of spiritual laziness during the season of crackling fires and long winter naps.

Unfortunately, however, spiritual laziness can leave behind more unwanted residue than even fudge and frosted cookies. So, if that describes you, consider this is your personal call to action: GET BACK IN THE RACE!

Joel R. Beeke, president of the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, writes: “The Christian life is a race. Through the gospel, God summons us to sustained and persevering effort. He empowers His children by grace – free and undeserved blessing through Christ. But He does not carry them to heaven on flowery beds of ease. Faith is a living, athletic grace. God’s mercy motivates Christians and energizes them to press on and overcome great obstacles. Christ blazed the trail before us. He now calls us to follow Him to the end (Hebrews 12:1-2).”

“But, Pastor Charles, you’ve been calling us to rest in Christ!” Indeed I have. And the word today is not in contradiction of that. We find our identity, purpose, value, and passion for all of life in Christ. We stand on faith alone, but not on a faith that is alone. Our faith in Jesus Christ is accompanied by purposeful living for His glory. So get back in the race.

During the brunt of the last winter storm that was mostly snow (instead of ice), I laughed out loud when I drove by the car (just a few blocks from the church) in this photo that I’m sharing with you today. Look familiar? It’s how some of us feel right now.

But, by faith, we are not bogged down. We are not snowed under. We are not stuck in a ditch. We are not unable to reach the finish line. Instead, we choose to pursue “with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

So go ahead and face that trial of yours head-on. Embrace it as a tool in your Master’s hand for your eternal good (and nothing less). Smile in the face of that hurdle that you’ve been asking God to remove. He will, in due time.

But for now, just get back in the race!

You may remember that I’ve always enjoyed the preaching of the physician from Cardiff, Wales, who ended up as pastor of Westminster Chapel in London. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones received his M.D. in 1921, and experienced a profound conversion to Christ sometime between 1921 and 1923. He was a profound thinker and a lover of God’s Word. Lloyd-Jones longed to see “a great spiritual awakening” in his day. After a series of “disappointments” that put him right where he was supposed to be (and isn’t that always the case?), he preached in London for thirty years. Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ preaching was precise, logical, and passionate. Thousands were drawn to Christ through the Westminster pulpit.

Among many dimensions of his preaching that I have admired is Lloyd-Jones’ insistence upon our need for the work of the Holy Spirit in and through us. He talked about Light and heat. Word and Spirit. Logic and fire.

We all agree, at least theoretically, that dead intellectual orthodoxy is insufficient to save. Without Christ there is no hope. Without His Spirit there is no power to change a single life. Lloyd-Jones believed that the only cure for evangelical compromise (which is sure to come without this) is revival. And Lloyd-Jones understood real revival to be nothing less than a miracle sent down from God. Ian Murray in The Fight of Faith records Lloyd-Jones from 1959: “During the last seventy, to eighty years, this whole notion of a visitation, a baptism of God’s Spirit upon the Church, has gone.”

Some of us may disagree with the nuances of Lloyd-Jones’ understanding of “the baptism of the Holy Spirit,” but surely we must agree that revival is a pouring down of the Spirit into the lives of Christ-followers who would be otherwise powerless and joyless in their Christian service. Talk about a cure for spiritual depression! Like Lloyd-Jones, we know there is something sorely lacking when the church becomes “barren institutionalism.”

My heart really resonates with this piercing observation from The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church by Reggie McNeal: “There is a dimension beyond planning that is critical for us to understand. We can settle for our imaginations, our plans, and our dreams. In fact, I think the North American church has done just that. We have the best churches people can plan and build. But we are desperate for God to show up and to do something that only he can get credit for.”

Specifically, how might you and I begin to pray for the glorious fruit of Spirit-drenched revival in our day? HERE’S WHAT I WOULD PROPOSE THAT WE OFFER UP AS OUR FIRST REQUEST: That we might know in all its fullness the love of God for us in our Lord Jesus Christ! I’m going to ask you to read this passage, aloud, every day for a week: Ephesians 3:14-21. Would you join me in taking up that simple but powerful challenge?

I’ll close with a story by Thomas Goodwin that’s included in Lloyd-Jones’ Joy Unspeakable, and I pray that it will bless you as you delight in Christ’s amazing love for His own (and that includes you).

“A man and his little child are walking down the road and they are walking hand in hand, and the child knows that he is the child of his father, and he knows that his father loves him, and he rejoices in that, and he is happy in it. There is no uncertainty about it all, but suddenly the father, moved by some impulse, takes hold of the child and picks him up, fondles him in his arms, kisses him, embraces him, showers his love upon him, and then he puts him down again and they go on walking together.

That is it! The child knew before that his father loved him, and he knew that he was his child. But oh! the loving embrace, this extra outpouring of love, this unusual manifestation of it – that is the kind of thing. The Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16).

As the doctor-turned-preacher reminded us, we need the Holy Spirit, and to be “carried not only from doubt to belief but to certainty, to awareness of the presence and the glory of God.”

From Inc. Magazine to Northeastern University to health.com, the word is out that a little gossip can be a good thing: “Gossip can actually be good for your business, your customers, and the bottom line.”

According to Stanford University researcher Dr. Matthew Feinberg, “Groups that allow their members to gossip sustain co-operation and deter selfishness better than those that don’t.” O.K., we get where some of these guys are coming from: there’s a positive side to getting important information into the ears of those who need to hear it. Particularly if you’re trying to sell a product that needs some press.

As you ponder the potential power of gossip, especially via the social media, consider this from the journal Science: “In lieu of direct experience, social tittle-tattle allows people to learn about others across a very wide group … That, in turn, gives people cues on who to befriend (or not) without having to actually have to spend lots of time with them first.”

Not denying potential marketing and social “advantages,” I simply want to issue a loving and pastoral word of caution in the midst of all this “news”: Somehow we may be falling into a cultural trap that considers gossip no big deal.

In God’s universal indictment against the sinfulness of the human race which He gave us through the Apostle Paul, we read these words (Romans 1:29-30): “They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

It may go without saying, but gossip is nothing trivial in the eyes of our holy God. James 3:8 describes the human tongue as a restless and poisonous evil.

Paul also raised the problem of gossip when he wrote to the church at Corinth (Second Corinthians 12:20): “For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish – that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit and disorder.” There gossip is again listed among a number of other despicable human behaviors.

According to Scripture, what are some examples of gossip? Telling a secret (Proverbs 11:13). Talking too much about others (Proverbs 16:28). Using our words to fuel a fight, even if unintentional (Proverbs 26:20). Discussing topics that we should avoid (First Timothy 5:13). Causing division between or among Christian believers (Proverbs 6:19).

Can our words cause division, add fuel to a fight, or betray a confidence even if we believe our statements to be true? You bet they can! That’s gossip.

You and I must avoid speaking gossip. You and I must avoid listening to gossip.

Every pastor I know has had his heart broken more than once by church members who didn’t stop gossip in its tracks. Most church members have likewise been injured by the same speeding bullet at one time or another.

I appreciate this careful analysis from Christian attorney William Bontrager: “Gossip is a means by which we are often drawn into the conflicts of others. We need to know what it is and how to deal with it biblically. It is critical for the Church, individual Christians, and Christian leaders, to know the part gossip plays in conflict, for gossip causes great division in our churches. First, let’s define gossip. Webster says: ‘Idle talk and rumors about others; chatter.’ The Greek word in the New Testament is defined ‘whisperer’ (one who will not speak openly or aloud). The Old Testament Hebrew word meant ‘slanderer or tale-bearer’. I want to propose the following as a definition: ‘Gossip is the vocalization of potentially destructive things about another, whether true or false, when that other person is either specifically identified or readily identifiable, and when that other person is not present and able to respond.’”

When gossip catches a church on fire, the facts are the first thing to fly out the window.

While First Baptist Paducah is experiencing a season of great peace as we are presently enjoying, let us commit to beware of the deadly disease of gossip. While we’re healthy, let’s commit ourselves as a church family to be humbly and prayerfully vigilant to protect this local expression of Christ’s body from all future assaults (from within or from without).

Let’s re-commit ourselves to grace and truth.

Warren Wiersbe, once senior pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago, said this: “Truth is the cement that holds society together. If people can get away with lies, then every promise, agreement, oath, pledge, and contract is immediately destroyed. The false witness turns a trial into a travesty and causes the innocent to suffer. But we must speak truth in love and use truth as a tool to build relationships as well as a weapon to fight deception. When truth is in the heart, then the lips will not speak lies, spread gossip, or attack the innocent. People with truthful hearts will keep their vows and promises. People of integrity don’t have to use oaths to strengthen their words. A simple yes or no carries all the weight that’s needed. More trouble is caused in families, neighborhoods, offices, and churches by gossip and lies and the people who keep them in circulation than by any other means. The Lord wants truth in our innermost being, and he wants us to love the truth and protect it.”

May an emerging social trap not trap the church.

Beloved Congregation, I would love to hear from you on this important topic.

“Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on My holy mountain (Joel 2:1)!”

I was invited on the evening of January 8 to participate in a relatively small meeting of ministry and civic leaders in Texas. My connections there are friends from Second Baptist Houston, as well as one of the sponsoring organizations called the American Renewal Project. It was a prayer meeting, and a call to overcome spiritual complacency and prayerlessness “for such a time as this.” You probably already know how burdened I feel that First Baptist Paducah become a praying congregation at all levels within our church family, so I flew to Houston very eager to learn more about how other spiritual leaders are motivating Christ’s sheep to pray.

By the time I departed early the next rainy morning, I understood the plan of action being proposed by those who organized the Texas event. Pastors across the nation are being asked to seek God for creative and real ways to motivate His people to pray for our nation in a spirit of “prayer over politics” – a very important priority distinction I might add – that the body of Christ might be known more for our humility and dependence on the Lord than for our particular political engagement. This is not to minimize political participation or other participation within spheres of cultural influence (Christ commissioned us as the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world” in Matthew 5), but the point is that we ought to take our position in the public square with full recognition that political posturing can’t – and won’t – change the heart of America. Only the gospel of Jesus can accomplish that.

With desperate need for Christ’s intervention and power on the front burner of our passions, about half a dozen prayer gatherings – across the nation – will take place this year, perhaps bleeding into early 2016. The first will happen on the campus of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. In each host state, that state’s governor will call and convene the prayer meeting. Not one of the meetings is designed to include a single political speech – the only purpose will be local, regional, and national prayer and fasting after the example of the Book of Joel.

In Joel’s day the ancient Hebrew prophet was called to preach to a nation in absolute crisis. God used Joel to announce the only solution that was available to the people: they had to gather together, repent of sin, and pray desperately for God to intervene on their behalf. The specific command was for everyone to stop immediately what they were doing and come to a sacred assembly: to turn to God with all their hearts “with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning” (Joel 2:12).

Why did God desire fasting, weeping, and mourning – contrition and humility – from the people? A “solemn assembly” (Joel 2:15) was a gathering for people to acknowledge that their nation had drifted away from its foundations in morality, faith, and faithfulness. Because of their moral decline, the people were not prepared to face all of the external threats that were rising up against them. God wanted His people to understand that their internal moral and spiritual threats were far more dangerous than any external threat like economic crisis, uncontrollable disease, and even invasion by an enemy army.

“For the day of the Lord is awesome; who can endure it (Joel 2:11)?

Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana will convene the first gathering on January 24. I had the honor of spending some time with the governor and hearing firsthand his Christian testimony and his heart for prayer. Governor Jindal desires that his state be the launching pad for what many are praying will become a national awakening of prayer, repentance, and revival. May the Spirit of God make such transformations (one person at a time, and one heart at a time) a glorious reality in our land in and in our day!

The Lord our God is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster” (Joel 2:13).

Ah, yes.

“Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations” (Joel 2:17).