The Detroit Lions and a Sentimental Thanksgiving

Nov 24

Posted by Mike Stallard in Sports | 1 Comment

Today, Novemeber 24, 2011, the people of the United States celebrate Thanksgiving, a holiday that ultimately remembers the Pilgrims and early foundings of the colonies that eventually became the United States.  Those of us who are Christians add our own desire to thank God for all the things that He has done through Christ, is continuing to do for us, and will do one day when He returns.  Seeing that the Pilgrims were Christians we identify with them when others in our culture do not. 

However, the mainstay of the holiday in America has come to be family, food, and football.  I do not view those as evils in and of themselves.  They all have a special place in our hearts.  Outside of our relationship to God, there is nothing more significant that our relationship to our families.  Of course, I have always had a special relationship to food!  There has never been a pumpkin pie I did not like.   I could talk about my family with great emotion and remember the family feasts in very positive terms.  But here I want to talk about football, not as a man who loves football, but in a way that shows the connection of football and family.  Read the rest of this entry »

The Biblical Basis of the U. S. Constitution

Oct 26

Posted by Mike Stallard in American history, Government | No Comments

Last Monday (October 24, 2011) I delivered what we call a Faculty Forum Paper during the chapel time at Baptist Bible Seminary.  The topic was “The Biblical Basis of the United States Constitution.”  Although I have made presentations of this topic in Sunday School classes, ABFs, and small groups, this is the first time I have committed my thoughts to a formal paper format.  It is my conviction that the Founding Fathers were steeped deeply in Judeo-Christian ethics and not secular Enlightenment thought.  While they may have adopted a kind of  “Christian Enlightenment” in the sense of using reason more strongly than past generations, they nonetheless did not erase a predominately Protestant view of the Bible and the world as the underpinning for life.    I would not mind getting feedback from others on my paper.  The link is given below.

Biblical-Basis-of-the-United-States-Constitution

On being a witness at a trial…churches and tax assessment

Oct 26

Posted by Mike Stallard in Baptist Distinctives, Government | No Comments

Yesterday (Tuesday, October 25, 2011) I was a witness at a trial for the first time in my life.   I was a witness for Northmoreland Baptist Church (Pastor Howell) in the Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania area.  The church is challenging a tax assessment of its multi-purpose room by the county.  As I was sitting there, I was thinking that this was an honorable way or method for people to work out their complaints with each other.  In some places in the world, this kind of disagreement would not be handled this way at all–in fact disagreement with authorities would not even be allowed.

My testimony was for the purpose of showing Baptist views of worship and that the church in question was using its facilities in a way consistent with Baptist theology and tradition.  In doing so, I feel like I not only supported the cause of Christ for the church but also did my civic duty for the community.

Memories of Bobby Goldsboro and “Come Back Home”

Oct 7

Posted by Mike Stallard in Music, Rapture | 2 Comments

I graduated from Butler High School in Huntsville, Alabama in 1971.  It was that year that a song came out in an album with the same name — “Come Back Home” (shown here–released by United Artists).  It was by Bobby Goldsboro who had already become my favorite songwriter and singer.  He crossed over from country to soft rock to pop and all around.  I enjoyed his style.  But this song more than all the others got my attention.  “Come Back Home” is a song that is a prayer asking for the Lord Jesus to return to earth– “if only for the children, come back home” says the last line of the chorus. 

What is especially intriguing is that I did not become a Christian until 1974.  Why would I listen to this kind of a song?  I played it over and over and over.  I think the reason was that the Spirit of God was speaking to my heart.  I was listening to Billy Graham whenever he came on television.  I had picked up a Bible to try to understand it.  I was in search mode for my life.  This was one aspect of my search.  The song captivated me and made me think about the fact that the Bible said Jesus was still alive and that he was coming back.  The song told me we would not make it on our own if He did not come back.

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Why I love Billy Graham…

Oct 7

Posted by Mike Stallard in American history, Billy Graham | 3 Comments

 I can never hate the man who should receive a lot of credit for me coming to Christ.  Over the years I have disagreed with him on many things he has said and practiced.  I believe differently about the details and I do things in church work differently than Dr. Graham.  But I have never come to a place where it seems ok for me to vilify him as I have seen others do over the years. 

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was the only preacher I would give serious attention to.  I do not know why that is the case.  But when he came on television I was riveted and I paid attention and thought about his words. 

Then in June 1974 my twin brother and I began a spiritual search to find a church that “sounded” like Billy Graham.  We were twenty years old and not raised in church.  We began to attend various kinds of churches, listening to see if it sounded like Billy.

When we came to the West Huntsville Baptist Church in Huntsville, Alabama, we knew we had come to the right place.  While mulling over the claims of the gospel of Christ, my brother and I spent two months attending services and studying the Bible’s teachings.  Then on August 18, 1974 through the message and ministry of Dr. Sam Wolfe, the pastor of the church, both my brother and I answered the call to trust Christ.  That day I trusted him as my savior.  I certainly cannot deliver myself from my sin.  I have not gotten over the impact the gospel of Christ had in my life that day.  Much of the credit goes to Dr. Graham.  Because of that, I will never ever be able to express an out of bounds negativity or downright hatred for such a man who has served as a servant of the Lord to bring many to Christ.  When I get to heaven, I will look him up and hug his neck and say “thanks.”

Thank You Dr. Aubrey Malphurs

Sep 14

Posted by Mike Stallard in Barndollar Lectures | No Comments

Next week Aubrey Malphurs will be here for our annual Barndollar Lectures (September 19-22).  Dr. Malphurs was one of my teachers when I was at Dallas Seminary.  I once went to see him to talk about church planting which had been in my heart for several years.  He gave me the famous DISC test and interpreted it for me in relation to whether I was “wired” to be a church planter.  The conclusion was that I was wired for that.  Later I planted New Life Baptist Church in Scranton, PA.  I would probably not have done such a thing if I had not had encouragement from Dr. Malphurs.

Council on Dispensational Hermeneutics 2011

Sep 14

Posted by Mike Stallard in Council on Dispensational Hermeneutics, Dispensationalism, Holy Spirit | 2 Comments

Next week is the fourth annual Council on Dispensational Hermeneutics held at Baptist Bible Seminary (Sept. 21-22).  Our topic is Dispensationalism and the Holy Spirit.  I am a little amazed at the paper proposals that came in.  Certainly they are from good men and will tackle special issues such as the baptism of the Spirit.  However, there were no papers that dealt strictly with the filling of the Spirit and the debates surrounding Ephesians 5:18-21.  Furthermore, there were no papers on cessation of the sign gifts.  Perhaps we can come at those issues next year or in later meetings.  Elliott Johnson told our steering committee last year that dispensationalists used to own the issue of the Holy Spirit.  However, it has come to the place of being neglected in many dispensational circles.  The council this year is partly designed to address this problem.  Those of you who are traditional dispensationalists, please pray for our meetings as we interact with each other on these important issues.

God and Calamity

Sep 2

Posted by Mike Stallard in Apologetics | No Comments

Earlier today I skimmed through the 1974 book Philosophy of Religion by Norman Geisler, one of my former profs when I was doing doctoral work in theology back in the 1980s.  The problem of God and calamity is the physical problem of evil.  In short form, it is the question of how an ominpotent and loving God would allow physical calamities like hurricanes, tornados, disease, etc., to cause hurt and death.  This form of complaint against Christian theism is raised at many different points with calamities being only one of them.

Geisler gives an overview of his theistic solution to physical evil in the following way:

“In summation, there are many different functions served by physical evil.  But all physical evil is necessary to  the moral conditions of free creatures (human or angelic), which conditions are necessary for the achievement of the best possible world.  Natural evils are necessary to a natural world and a natural world is essential to (or, at least not incompatible with) the conditions of full freedom that are necessary for the achievement of the best possible world.” (p. 395)

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Hurricane Irene: God and Calamity

Aug 29

Posted by Mike Stallard in Apologetics, Weather | No Comments

Hurricane Irene, which had downgraded to a tropical storm, came through our area (Scranton, PA area) yesterday bringing a deluge of rain and high winds.  We are a little over two hours west of New York City.   Some areas lost power and there was minor wind damage in the form of tree limbs downed.  However, at my house the lights flickered once and nothing significant happened.  We are grateful for this but join those who mourn for lost loved ones due to this storm.

When I got up this morning, the sky was crystal clear, the clearest blue I have ever seen.  It is as if God used Irene to wash the sky.  It has been a beautiful day.

Last week in chapel at Baptist Bible Seminary I spoke on “God and Calamity” in light of my church’s summer ministry doing tornado relief work in Alabama.  It is part of my gearing up to deal with the apologetics question of how a good God could allow such things as tornados that kill people.  Later that day was the earthquake on the east coast.  Now with the hurricane, my students don’t want to see me preach in chapel any more!

The content of my sermon was based on Jesus’ statements in Luke 13:1-9 which seems to push believers to consider more important matters.  The audio of my sermon “God and Calamity” is available online at http://www.bbc.edu/chapel.asp.  Let me know what you think.

The Christian Conversion of Abraham Lincoln

Aug 24

Posted by Mike Stallard in American history | 1 Comment

Lincoln was sometimes criticized during political elections in his career because he never joined a church.  He was accused of being an Atheist.  Apparently, he rejected to some degree his parents’ Baptist heritage.  But as he grew older and rose in the political ranks, he seemed to talk about spiritual things more.  He began attending Presbyterian churches and even had one of his children baptized.  One interesting testimony is given from one pastor who asked him if he loved Jesus.  His response was the following:

When I left Springfield I asked the people to pray for me.  I was not a Christian.  When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian.  But when I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ.  Yes, I love Jesus.

Source:  A Patriot’s History of the United States by Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen.  Their sources for this statement are documented in note 137 on page 857.