The Law of Responsibility includes loving others. The commandement to love is the entire law for Christians. Galatians 5:13-14, "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Jesus calls this ""my" commandment, "Love each other as I have loved you." Any time you are not loving others, you are not taking full responsibility for yourself; you have disowned your heart.

Problems arise when boundaries of responsibiolity are confused. We are to love one another, not be one another. I can't feel your feelings for you. I can't think for you. I can't behave for you. I can't work through the disappointment that limits bring for you. In short, I can't grow for you; only you can do that. Likewise, you can't grow for me. The biblical mandate for our own personal growth is found in Philippians 2:12-13, "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." You are responsible for yourself, I am responsible for myself. (more)

I admit that I have been lax in writing my blog lately, and I have even felt a little guilty about it so I am writing now. Perhaps my lack of writing has been based on a lack of comments from readers, I'm not sure. Maybe no comments are a good thing. I have been reminded this week several times of several people who have read the blog, but didn't comment. But whetever the case, I am ready to write about whats on my mind.

People often have the misconception that Baptists are protestants who origianlly came from the Roman Catholic Church. With this day of people removing their "denominational" name from their churches, I believe it is important to continue to define our belief system. A few days ago someone commented to me me, "Oh, you are from that church who is in the Baptist denomination." Well, thats a little bit of a pet peve of mine, so I had to explain that Canton Baptist Temple is actually a non-denominational church. Usually when I make that statement, people look at me very strange. Nevertheless, it's true. When Canton Baptist Temple starting meeting in August of 1937, it was founded as a church that would be independent of denominational ties. A natural question at this point would be, "OK, so why the name Baptist on the sign?" I'm glad you asked. The doctrinal belief system of our church is a Baptist belief system. That means that there are certain truths that we hold, and by the name Baptist you can be fairly certain of our basic beliefs. I am sure that you would not take a bottle of pills without a label on it, and I caution you about worshipping in those places who boast of having "no label." (more)

This entry is not necessarily "spiritual" -- well at this point anyway. I actually never know what I am going to write until I type it, so here goes . . . July 4th has come and gone this year. It was on a Wednesday, so there was not really any extended weekends or anything, which is a little bit of a bummer. Next Year it will be on a Thursday, so it will be another one of those middle of the week holidays again. Anyway -- one thing I used to really look forward to as a kid was FIREWORKS! Our family would always go and see them, and usually in different locations each year. I can remember seeing them from a boat at Lake Lanier, at Disney World, at Six Flags over Georgia, in the metroplis of Downtown Stockbridge, GA and one and on my list could go. This year, I didn't go see them at all. I didn't even watch them with the Boston Pops on television.

Fireworks events are usually a spectacular display of color and light that is used as a celebration. Fireworks and black powder were used to celebrat important events long before the American Revolutionary War. The very first celebration of Independence Day was in 1777, six years before Americans knew whether the new nation would survive the war; fireworks were a part of those festivities. In 1789, George Washington's inauguration was also accompanied by a fireworks display. As I think about Independence Day, I am often reminded of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in which 56 men signed a contract that defined the reasons for separation from Great Britain. The final paragraph of the Declarations, says, "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

As I read that statement, I am reminded of those who gave their life so that I could have the freedom to worship God as I am led of the Spirit. So, as I write this -- I think maybe I should have gone to see the fireworks celebration in town because we really do have something to celebrate. Next year, I will do it for sure! How did you spend your Freedom Day?