More than a year ago, I embarked on a journey of writing two Bible studies commissioned by Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, TN. At long last, the journey is complete. Biblically Sound: Embracing Doctrine for Life is the second study, and it is now available for purchase through the CreateSpace Store and on Amazon. Biblically Sound is a 10-week study of basic Christian doctrine from an admittedly Baptist perspective. This study is great for small or large group Bible study, Sunday school classes, or special doctrinal emphasis teaching as a congregation.
Don’t think of this study as a seminary-level systematic theology class. I have intentionally stayed away from much of the technical language found in formal, academic study of theology while still dealing with several nuanced views of theology. You will find that I direct you to the Scripture to answer questions because it is the Bible that forms the foundation of our theology.
If you want to see how one church used the study, you can watch the videos from Bellevue Baptist Church’s women’s ministry here. The large group time was co-taught by Donna Gaines (wife of Pastor Steve Gaines) and Jean Stockdale (longtime MOMS Bible study teacher at Bellevue).
You can always purchase copies of Biblically Sound and Biblically Correct through CreateSpace or Amazon. However, if you are interested in purchasing 10 or more copies for your church, please feel free to contact me by email or phone (you will find that information on my faculty profile), and I can work with you on pricing for large orders.
My 10-week Bible study on ethics and engaging the culture is now available for Kindle. You can purchase Biblically Correct through the Kindle Store on Amazon. If you have already purchased a print copy, you will be able to purchase the Kindle version at a reduced price through the Kindle MatchBook program (it may take a few days before this is available).
If you are interested in purchasing the print version, you can find it here or on Amazon. You can also watch videos of Bellevue Baptist Church’s Women’s Ministry teaching through this study on Right Now Media or at Bellevue’s website.
My next study, Biblically Sound: Embracing Doctrine for Life, should be available in the next month or so.
If your church is interested in working through either of these 10-week studies, I can assist you in getting larger quantities of the books. Feel free to click on my faculty profile on the right side of the page to contact me.
This is a guest post from my wife, Melanie. She originally wrote this post for Biblical Woman, the blog site for the Women’s Programs at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The post originally appeared here.
I was sitting on the conveyor belt in the baggage claim area of the Jackson International airport when the tornados came through Jackson, MS. The airport staff had directed us to take shelter there until the storms passed. I had already heard of the casualties in Arkansas, children who lost parents, parents who lost babies. My own mother was on the road somewhere in the storm trying to get home. As I sat there in the darkness, the familiar emotions of fear and worry consumed me. Immediately, though, I also felt God’s presence and reassurance that, “I am with you and will never leave you. I love you and the people you love and I have a perfect plan for each of your lives.”
There is something you must understand, though. This is not the first time the emotions of anxiety and worry have swept over me almost causing me to lose my breath. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t even the thousandth time. God’s sweet voice of reassurance is a tune I have come to know and claim as truth in my life. I struggled with fear and worry some as a child, much like other kids my age. I was scared of the house catching fire or snakes being in my bed.
However, it was not until I became a mother myself that I sat down at the banquet of anxiety.
Once I saw the positive pregnancy test, I instantly felt responsible for a life other than my own. After our first daughter was born, fear would overwhelm me as I was giving her a bath or rocking her in my arms. Some days I would only nibble at the banquet, knowing that most of my fears were irrational. However, other days I allowed myself to fully take in the diet of worry. On those days, my joy was lost. My thoughts of what “could” happen tumbled out of control if I was not careful. The Lord blessed us with more children, and with each one, the feeling of fear and anxiety continued like old, worn jeans that you know you should throw out, but keep around for comfort sake.
“What if I wasn’t paying attention and something happened to them?”
“What if I didn’t feed them the right things?”
“What if I didn’t do the right things to protect them?”
“What if we didn’t have the right toys/equipment/safety devices for them?”
At some point in time, all of these questions haunted me. However, I began to realize that all of my concerns had one common focus. Me.
The more I focused on myself and my abilities, the more I saw my shortcomings and faults. However, when I took my eyes off of myself and placed them on an almighty, powerful God, I began to see how the God who tends to the lilies can be trusted with all of my concerns. As my children grew, the Lord began to teach me magnificent truths that took me away from the banquet of anxiety and led me to the true Bread of Life where I can feast on His goodness.
God used 2 Timothy 1:7 many times to speak truth into my heart: “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” It is not God’s plan for us to consider ourselves crazy because we have irrational thoughts of worry. He has given us a sound mind. That means I can trust him as He leads me to make the right decisions throughout the day. If I am in a close walk with Him, He will guide my path and give me a sound mind.
In my life, the antidote to fear and worry has always been a deeper understanding and appreciation of the sovereignty of God.
For example, I cannot keep my children safe 100% of the time, but I know God loves them even more than I do and whatever He chooses to allow in their lives is for the purpose of His glory. In the same manner, I trust God for clarity of mind so that I can make the best decisions for my family that I can make. I forget things. I accidentally overlook things, but by the grace of God, His sovereignty more than makes up for my faults.
I praise God that he has taught me to recognize fear, worry, and anxiety in my life, not as mental issues, but as trust issues. The more I trust in the precious sovereignty of God, the more I am at peace with whatever He brings my way.
I have recently been a part of a number of conversations about why the church seems to focus so much on the sin of homosexuality right now. That is a very valid question in light of all the other sins we see listed in Scripture. However, I believe one of the main reasons this has become a focus of the church is due to the fact that the homosexual lifestyle has been promoted so strongly in the culture. In some respects, we are simply responding to the most evident pressure point in our culture. While homosexuality is certainly not the only–or greatest–sin addressed in the Bible, it seems to be the one that comes with the most cultural approval today.
For that reason, I am thankful to Dr. John Mark Caton and his staff at Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church in Allen, TX, for producing this video resource addressing homosexuality and the church. I had the privilege of sitting down with Dr. Caton and participating in this interview back in October, and it is now available on YouTube. I pray you find it useful.
The 2013 edition of the Official Baseball Rules produced by Major League Baseball defines a wild pitch as “one so high, so low, or so wide of the plate that it cannot be handled with ordinary effort by the catcher.”
Robbie Ross, a left-handed relief pitcher for the Texas Rangers and outspoken Christian on the team, threw a wild pitch the other day, but not from the mound at Rangers Ballpark. Ross’ pitch came on behalf of the NOH8 campaign. An article on the sports news site SB Nation suggested the idea that Ross’ involvement was wide of orthodox Christianity as it reported, “While it may seem an oxymoron to some for two devout Christians to showcase their religion on a campaign in support of gay equality, it made perfect sense to the Rosses.”
NOH8 is “a charitable organization whose mission is to promote marriage, gender and human equality through education, advocacy, social media, and visual protest.” The campaign uses photography to promote its message, often showing supporters with duct tape over their mouths to symbolize stopping negative speech toward homosexuality.
Ross and his wife, Brittany, were recently featured in a photo shoot for NOH8. In a subsequent interview, Ross proclaimed that he wanted to display his Christianity as part of the message. He said:
Being in sports, and being around all kinds of different people, you just want to accept everyone for who they are. My wife Brittany and I are Christians, and we believe we as Christians should love everyone and show everyone love, and if this is the best way to do it, then we want to support them.
As with many Christians who try to find biblical support for homosexuality, Ross and his wife have elevated the concept of love above God’s specific statements regarding sin. For them, love means inclusion, acceptance, and approval of all lifestyles even if they are labeled as sin in Scripture. In response to a question about biblical passages that label homosexuality a sin, Brittany Ross stated:
I just don’t think it matters if it’s a sin. We all sin, we all know that, so if we just stop focusing on sin, we can start loving each other.
The article reports that Robbie “quickly jumped in” and said:
If you went Biblically off of everything we’re doing now, during our every day, I’m sure there are one or two sins throughout our day we don’t even realize we’re committing.
There it is. In the minds of the Rosses, sin no longer matters—only love and acceptance.
As a fan of the Rangers, I really like Robbie Ross. I had been impressed by his boldness to let others know about his faith. In baseball, all pitchers miss the plate on a regular basis. It’s called a ball. However, the best pitchers don’t throw wild pitches. On this issue, Robbie Ross has more than missed the plate—he has thrown so wild that his pitch can’t be handled with ordinary effort by orthodox Christianity. This pitch requires leaving the accepted doctrines and interpretations of Scripture. It promotes the homosexual agenda in such a way that minimizes the teaching of Scripture. In baseball terms, this pitch was wild and went to the backstop, advancing a runner along the way.
After Paul discusses homosexuality in Romans 1:26–27, he continues to talk about the depravity of mankind for the rest of the chapter. He notes a number of sins that represent a depraved mind. Finally, he makes a piercing statement about those who condone such sinful behavior. In Romans 1:32, Paul writes:
And although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
Paul tells us that sin deserves God’s punishment. Thankfully, God has provided the way of salvation through the death, burial, and resurrection of his Son. However, Christians who deny the need for repentance and salvation are like those Paul condemned in Romans 1:32. In spite of knowing what God commands, they give hearty approval to those who live in sin.
I pray that the Rosses would go back to their “pitching coach” and work on their delivery again so they can avoid throwing any more wild pitches.
More than a year ago, I embarked on a journey of writing two Bible studies commissioned by Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, TN. At long last, the journey is complete. Biblically Sound: Embracing Doctrine for Life is the second study, and it is now available for purchase through the CreateSpace Store and on Amazon. Biblically Sound is a 10-week study of basic Christian doctrine from an admittedly Baptist perspective. This study is great for small or large group Bible study, Sunday school classes, or special doctrinal emphasis teaching as a congregation.
My 10-week Bible study on ethics and engaging the culture is now available for Kindle. You can purchase Biblically Correct through the 
This is a guest post from my wife, Melanie. She originally wrote this post for 
Ethics as Worship 