THINK ABOUT IT            5-10-24  
MISUNDERSTANDING MOTHERS

Is a mother mean or loving when she does what this mother did?

• I loved you enough to ask where you were going, with whom, and what time you would be home.

• I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover that your new best friend was a creep.

• I loved you enough to stand over you for an hour while you cleaned your room, a task that should have taken 15 minutes.

• I loved you enough to let you see my faults in everyday life – Children must learn that their parents aren’t perfect – only Jesus is!

• I loved you enough to let you accept the responsibility for your actions even though the penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.

• But most of all, I loved you enough to say “No” when I knew you would hate me for it, and perhaps never get over it!

Mothers who act in this fashion are loving, not mean. 

(Source Unknown)

THINK ABOUT IT

David Stone  

Lakeway Baptist Church   

Humble, Tx.

THINK ABOUT IT           5-9-24  
THINKING ABOUT MOTHERS

THINK ABOUT IT            4-21-24

MY TRIP  

THINK ABOUT IT           4-13-24 

 HISTORY   

Since I hated history in school, until I was saved and discovered its importance, this article is very meaningful to me. This is not an endorsement of the author. I am simply saying he gives us something serious to think about. HDS

“Though it was written two hundred years ago, Jane Austen’s fiction is still popular since so much of it still rings true to human experience. In her novel Northanger Abbey (1817), for instance, the heroine Catherine Morland makes a statement that is amazingly prescient about the modern boredom with history. In Catherine’s words, history “tells me nothing that does not either vex or weary me. The quarrels of popes and kings, with wars or pestilences, in every page; the men all so good for nothing, and hardly any women at all—it is very tiresome.” Many in the modern world, sadly even Christians, see the past as little more than this: a tiresome account of a few big names with little wisdom to impart for life today. At best, it may offer a couple of hours of entertainment and diversion via a movie or a novel. 

History, important to God

How different is the Bible’s perspective on the past. Here, history is obviously important to God, since it is the realm where God ultimately brings about the salvation of his people by entering into the very fabric of time and taking on our humanity, sin excepted, in the person of Jesus Christ. This divine activity in the realm of history should not be restricted to the Bible. Though it is impossible to trace out his footsteps across the sands of time in detail, it is blasphemous to deny that God is at work. His work may often be hidden, but it is biblical to confess that he is providentially guiding history for the glory of his Name and the good of his people. As such, to quote the seventeenth-century Puritan Richard Baxter, “The writing of Church-history is the duty of all ages, because God’s works are to be known, as well as his Word.” Reading Church history should lead therefore to the praise of God and his adoration.

The individual and history

Men and women are historical beings, immersed in the flow of time.  Without the past our lives have little or no meaning. When a community forgets its past, it is like a person suffering from dementia: they really cannot function in the world. So we must study history, and as Christians, this means Church history. 

This reading of the history of God’s people can also provide us with models for imitation. For instance, in Hebrews 11–12:2, the writer uses the history of God’s faithful people in the old covenant to encourage his readers to run the “foot-race” of faith. He wants them to draw encouragement from the lives of past believers to press on in faith and obedience towards the final goal. 

And we soon discover that this story of the past is not simply that of an elite few, but encompasses every believer’s life and that we can learn as much from the so-called minor figures of Church History as from the “big names.” As the American apologist Francis Schaeffer reminds us: with God there are no little people!

History—a path to humility & freedom

Studying church history also builds a deep sense of indebtedness to others who have gone before us, and thus helps to cultivate the great virtue of humility. The study of our past informs us about our predecessors in the faith, those who have helped shape our Christian communities and thus make us what we are. Such study builds humility and modesty into our lives, and so can exercise a sanctifying influence upon us. As Jesus said in John 4: “Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour” (ESV). 

The study of Church history also liberates us from the tyranny of present-day ideas, what C.S. Lewis calls “the idols of our marketplace.” Consider Francis of Assisi’s attitude towards poverty. For him the word “poverty” (paupertas) was a bride to be embraced since he believed that it gave him true freedom. For modern Westerners, Christian and pagan alike, poverty is generally viewed as an unmitigated economic disaster that places severe limitations on one’s freedom. This example reveals the way that Church History can call into question what we take for granted as an absolute and reveal it to be merely relative and culture-bound. 

Little wonder then that the eighteenth-century Evangelical Caleb Evans once said that “every Christian ought to be a good historian.” Michael A. G. Haykin

Michael A. G. Haykin FRHistS is the Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality and Director of The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

THINK ABOUT IT             4-11-24  
NORMAL  

Throughout the COVID pandemic it was common to hear people express their desire for things to get back “ to normal “. But the cold hard fact is that we never will. Some things will never return to what they used to be. And no amount of complaining will change that.

I remember, as a boy, listening to the old folks reminisce about the past- “how it used to be” or “the good old days”. The more I heard the more determined I became to never do that. Guess what? Now I do the same thing, and someday you will do the same.

We all tend to look back at our experiences- good or bad. And in regards to some things we wish we could go back.We long for those carefree days we once enjoyed. We want things to go back to “normal”, but they won’t. We wish we could go back to the time when we were young, healthy, strong, and life was fun, but we can’t.

So here we are- where ever that might be for you. For good or bad, this is the new normal and it is what it is – like it or not. Day after day we find ourselves stuck in circumstances we can’t control or change. The only question is, “What will you do?”.

Life is a painful struggle. You might feel trapped in a prison of despair. Your prospect of escape is nonexistent. Life seems unfair and you wonder “Why?”, “Why me ?”, Why this?”, Why now?”. But you can’t find any answers and that frustrates you all the more. You don’t have the.answer and neither does anyone else. So what now?

The only hope for any of us is God. The sad thing is that most folks shut Him out. They disobey His commands and doubt His promises. They get bitter rather than better. And they feel justified in feeling the way they do. I wish there wasn’t any such thing as cancer, heart disease, etc. It would be wonderful if sin and suffering didn’t exist. It would bel nice if we never had to deal with wicked people, crime, and nature disasters, but we do. It’s obvious that we don’t live in a perfect world, but that’s the way it is.

However, that doesn’t mean that we can’t get help. God has helped others and He can help you. I’m not telling you that if you attend church, read your Bible everyday, and do your best to obey God that your problems will disappear. However, I am telling you that even if your situation doesn’t change you can change. As impossible as it might seem God can enable you to endure and even profit in some way from your troubles and trials.

You can do as you please, but I pray that you don’t rob yourself of any chance for happiness by grieving over days gone by and complaining about your current circumstances. As Christians we aren’t home yet and we have the assurance that the best is yet to come. There is coming a glorious day when “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.(Rev.21:4). That will be the new normal. Until then let us cling to God’s promises and sing His praise. Think about it – HDS