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).

It’s a bit gray in Paducah these days. Not for long. Spring is sure to come. But it’s hard to see it from here when the temperature has dropped all day from a morning “high” of 22. Brrrrrrr. (If you’re reading this on Thursday, it could be even worse.)

So in anticipation of this very special Sunday I pulled out some colorful pics from our team’s recent trip to China. Enjoy. I hope they whet your appetite for Sunday’s missions celebration.

Color can be a powerful thing. When in China we learned, for example, that among the Chinese blue represents immortality. That’s not the same in Iran or in Israel, but every culture transmits its own powerful and colorful traditions.

American missionary and lyricist Fanny Crosby, who was herself blind, learned to use color to share the gospel of Jesus. Black for the sin-stained heart, red for the blood of Christ, white for the spotlessness of redemption, etc. You may even remember our study of the wilderness tent of worship, and how God used color to stir the hearts of His people to praise: “You shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns …”

This Sunday will be colorful in the warmest and best sense of the word. It won’t feel like winter at all. We hope that you’ll be with us as we thank God for our friends who’ve just returned from the mission field. What a glorious day it will be! Sunday School will begin at 9:00 a.m., followed by a spectacular worship experience beginning at 10:15. Don’t miss any of it.

The love of Christ will chase away the gray. It will feel much more like April than January, and I look forward to seeing you here.

This is a 2-Part Series of Sunday messages titled “The Power Of His Grace” from 2 Corinthians 5:17, preached by Pastor Charles Moore. Click here to listen or download (Recorded live at First Baptist Paducah on December 28, 2014 and January 4, 2015):

2014.12.28.ThePowerOfHisGracePart1.2Cor5.17.CharlesMoore

2015.01.04.PowerOfHisGracePart2.2Cor5.17.CharlesMoore

Our Second Annual Christmas Extravaganza was a smashing success! For those of you who haven’t heard, the “Mystery Trip” took us to the Windy City this year. Everyone loved Chicago, and all 26 of us enjoyed the fellowship, fun, and food. Maggiano’s for an exquisite Italian dinner, and the classic Walnut Room the next day, were culinary highlights.

It wasn’t the Polar Express, but train travel to and from our destination was uniquely conducive to making the trip feel like a big family vacation. “What happens on the train, stays on the train.” We’ll just leave it at that.

Themed photo contest. Field Museum and Art Institute. Roaming seven floors of Water Tower Place. Historic hotel right in the hustle and bustle of Michigan Avenue. “I Love Lucy” on stage. Photobombed in broad daylight! Enough laughter to fill Lake Michigan.

We were treated to a private trolley tour of the sites and lights of the city, Navy Pier, and the tip of the Gold Coast (including the skyline view from Adler Planetarium). Outdoor German market, shopping along the Magnificent Mile, and cheering the Cats to victory from 400 miles away.

Garrett’s and Ghirardelli’s. Frango and Fred (Mertz). Taxis, trees, and tinsel. And enough snow flurries blowing around in the air to make it feel like Chicago. Picture perfect.

What will we do for 2015? I suppose the mystery continues …

Thank you, Lord, for a family of believers with whom we can “do life” together. You are so good to us. Help us treasure each other as a reflection of how much we treasure You!

Here’s a Christmas carol that you might not have noticed: Zechariah’s prophecy (Luke 1:67-79). The lyrics are about John the Baptist, and the song has been often titled The Benedictus. It’s in this part of the Christmas story that we learn some of the most important connections between John and Jesus. Zechariah’s song is a glad song (Verse 68): “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people!”

What does it mean to be redeemed? Bible scholars tell us that this verb clearly includes the notion of deliverance by a deliverer – what we might call a rescue – and that it often carries with it the imagery of release at a cost.

If we look ahead to Luke 24:21, a great part of the disappointment and sadness being experienced by the two walking along the Emmaus Road comes from their dashed hopes that Jesus was going to deliver them. There’s no doubt that many of Zechariah’s contemporaries had hopes for a political redemption. They were well acquainted with the Exodus from Egypt which still serves as one of the greatest examples of a rescue in all of human history.

But our Lord Jesus was primarily about the goal of spiritual rescue! You and I need to be rescued because we are by nature – along with Adam and everyone since Adam – spiritual rebels who deserve nothing but the wrath of God.

In a commercial transaction, there are four components: the buyer, the seller, the price paid, and the item purchased. In the “transaction” of salvation, the buyer is the Lord Himself. The seller is sin and the curse of God’s Law. (We are not redeemed from the devil, but certainly from lots of devilish things.) The price paid is Christ’s own life. And that which is purchased is a people for Christ’s own possession who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:14). The purchase is equated with forgiveness of our sins (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14). To be redeemed is to be forgiven!

I thought you might enjoy some of Charles Wesley’s original hymn lyrics, which we seldom sing today. These are almost verbatim from 1739:

 The one death that was required as full and final payment for ALL our sins was a sacrificial death – and it required bloodshed – in keeping with the ancient pattern of the sacrificial lamb (Hebrews 9:22; First Peter 1:18-19).

And something God purchases He never gives away! That’s one of the many reasons why I love Christmas. I’m reminded of a humble love that won’t let me go. Christmas points to the cross of Christ.

So maybe Dr. Seuss was right:

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,

Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?

“It came without ribbons! It came with tags!

“It came without packages, boxes and bags!”

And he puzzled three hours, ’till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!

Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.

“Maybe Christmas … perhaps … means a little bit more!”

O.K., so Thanksgiving is here. Many of you are off to see family and friends. Others are hosting a houseful of people. Just in case “family” drama reaches all-time-high proportions wherever you are, keep your head on straight.

I grew up watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Every year. It was part of the holiday. Eileen, living on Long Island with her family, remembers seeing the parade in person and being swept away – literally – by a sea of onlookers. But both of us remember our helium-filled friends. This photo is from 1979. Remember Underdog?

Be Underdog if you have to this Thanksgiving. Don’t let little holiday inconveniences rob you of the spirit of thanksgiving (the small “t” is intentional – it’s a year-round calling). It might not be easy when Uncle So-and-so makes that one ridiculous comment, but don’t let it bother you. Life is too short. And your witness for Christ is too vital.

Remember Sunday’s sermon and the cross-reference: “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).

So be Underdog. I’ll try too.

Yours by servant love,

Pastor Charles

“Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Jesus shared those words as part of what we call the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:34). Commenting on that verse Matthew Henry observed: “There is scarcely any one sin against which our Lord Jesus more largely and earnestly warns His disciples, or against which He arms them with more variety of arguments, than the sin of disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of life, which are a bad sign that both the treasure and the heart are on the earth.”

John Gill said of the same text: “It is very wrong to anticipate trouble, or meet it before hand; if it was for no other reason but this, that every day’s trouble is enough, and should not be needlessly added to, by an over concern what shall be done for tomorrow; or how shall the necessities of it be answered, or the trials of it be endured.”

This morning we all came into the office shivering and at least in partial disbelief that it’s so cold. Pastor Tommy strolled in like the little boy who won the spelling bee: “Did you see the carpet of leaves in front of the Carson Foyer? It’s amazing.” Indeed it was. And it hit me like a ton of bricks: I must not miss the moment. Yes, those leaves need to be cleaned up. But not now. For now they’re aglow with a short-lived yellow that will take your breath away if you’ll let it. Kind of like “the lilies of the field.” It’s the song of God’s glory, again. Don’t miss it.

Which brings me to the trial (using Gill’s word) of leaf raking. Still with me?

There’s much to love about fall, but I’ll bet that raking leaves isn’t your favorite autumnal pastime. I know that we loved jumping in those great big piles of leaves when we were children, but that was an anomaly, was it not? The actual raking part seems often so futile. One sturdy gust of wind, and the landscape looks like we never touched it. There seems to be no end to the debris, and to the seasonal job of relentless raking.

I’m edge-of-my-seat curious. Does Christ’s prohibition against worry include the fear that my lawn might not look like a golf course every day?

Henry nailed me. Disquieted. Distracted. Distrustful.

Maybe he nailed you too. Because I’ve been watching all you guys with your fancy schmancy lawnmower-turned-leaf-sucker-chopper-eater machines. I stared in horror as one man went round and round on a parking lot until he utterly destroyed every leaf in sight. I felt like a kid getting sick on a ride at the fair (remember the Tilt-A-Whirl?), and I wasn’t even doing it myself. The dust cloud that man created could have choked a horse. If there is global warming, that dude caused it.

So I did some simple research and some even simpler math. Since Google seems to be the authority on everything, I went there to find out that there are approximately 200,000 leaves on one oak tree. When you figure out how many trees there are per acre (on average) in our neck of the woods, the numbers become more than overwhelming. In some of the more forested areas around here, they’re astronomical – like 250 trees per acre! I know all the trees aren’t oak trees, but I don’t have time to get more specific. You’ll get the point anyway. Take a parcel of some 300 acres – even if only half are “wooded” – and you end up with about 40,000 trees. You guessed it: 8 billion leaves.

I’m worn out just thinking about it.

Still commenting on Christ’s words, Henry went on to write: “But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far.” Therein lies my problem. Maybe yours too. It’s not that I can’t be concerned about my lawn. (I have a duty.) It does need to be tended. It’s just that I take things too far. (I too often miss the delight.)

After all, the only way to get through an afternoon of leaf raking is to make certain that you never look up and see how many leaves are still hanging on!

Pastor Charles

P.S. I took the first photo this morning. Anna Shelton snapped the second photo on November 13, 2013 at 8:36 a.m. Yes, one year ago today. (We compared notes this afternoon.) The moral of the story is this: Don’t worry too much about the leaves. We may not be here next year, but they will.

Sunday message titled “Out of the Bathwater, Into the Fire” from 1 Corinthians 3, preached by Pastor Tommy Tucker.  Click here to listen or download (Recorded live at First Baptist Paducah on October 26, 2014): 2014.10.26.1Cor3.OutOfTheBathWaterIntoTheFire.TommyTucker

Sunday I preached morning and evening at Calvary Baptist Church in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. Thanks to all of you who prayed for me. Calvary Church sets aside one weekend every year to celebrate our Reformation heritage, and it was a treat for me to be invited to fellowship with some of our brothers and sisters who are serving Christ in the Northeastern United States.

The city of Windsor was founded in 1633, only thirteen years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. With cell phone camera in tow, I set out from there. My longtime friend and host, Pastor Duane Farley, and I were able to walk the main street of absolutely picturesque Longmeadow, Massachusetts. I included some photographs of the church on the town square. As you can see, there’s nothing quite like autumn in New England.

If you know much about me, you know that I enjoy church history. I wanted some of my downtime to include a dose or two of Jonathan Edwards. Edwards is one of my heroes. “Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will.”

You may remember that Edwards graduated from Yale at the age of 17. He was a brilliant theologian, an insatiable student of the Scriptures, and a passionate preacher of the glorious gospel. “The happiness of the creature consists in rejoicing in God, by which also God is magnified and exalted.”

Much of the preaching ministry of Jonathan Edwards and America’s Great Awakening took place in the Connecticut River Valley. Edwards was born in 1703 and grew up in East Windsor, which is now South Windsor. Go figure. In 1743, while the pastor at Northampton, Massachusetts, Edwards preached the famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” at Enfield, Connecticut. You’ll see a photo of me at the Enfield site and a shot of the church building now at that location.

In 1740 Edwards wrote to the great evangelist George Whitefield (whose burial place I did not get to see on this trip, but perhaps next time): “May God send forth more Labourers into his Harvest of a Like Spirit, until the kingdom of Satan shall shake, and his proud Empire fall, throughout the whole Earth and the Kingdom of Christ, that glorious Kingdom of Light, holiness, Peace and Love, shall be established from one end of the Earth unto the other!”

Jonathan Edwards is buried at Princeton, where he had served for a brief season as university president. Jonathan’s father, Timothy, pastored for 64 years and died the same year as his son (1758). Timothy is buried in a beautiful cemetery in South Windsor, where I discovered grave markers dating back to the French and Indian War. Timothy’s epitaph reads in part: “The man of God who nobly pled his Master’s cause …”

May the same be said of each one of us, and of the people called First Baptist Paducah. Happy Reformation!