What's with the Name?

by Bob Sezter, Jr

So what's up with the name, "The First Baptist Church of Christ"? It's a question we get a lot from newbies to our family of faith.

Which is a good thing. Because the question gives us a chance to explain we are not a garden-variety First Baptist Church. This is said not in arrogance or in judgment, but as a simple statement of fact. The truth is, we are more progressive in spirit, liturgical in worship, and welcoming and ecumenical in our reach than most First Baptist Churches in the south (and perhaps beyond the south, but I claim no expertise in Yankee religion!).

READ MORE

"Gotcha!"

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
Gotcha is the universal trademark of the trickster or tease. He or she fires off a prank or pun and waits for a reaction from the target. When realization dawns, the one so afflicted (or delighted!) turns to see the jokester watching in amused glee. The polished provocateur points, winks, and says, "Gotcha!"

There are a lot of gotchas in the Gospels.

One of those occurs in the 18th chapter of  Matthew. Jesus is offering some practical tips on managing the inevitable spats that occur within any family, especially the family of the church. And for once, Jesus' teaching sounds imminently doable. Matthew, notepad at the ready, is scribbling furiously. "This is good!" he muses. "I've got to get this in my book!"

READ MORE

11-Minute Warning

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
Now here's a scary thought: The typical guest visiting our Sunday morning worship service decides within the first eleven minutes whether he or she is coming back! That is one finding of a recent study about reaching those without a church home.

The so-called "eleven-minute rule" means the person negotiating his or her way to the top of Poplar for the first time is not undecided for long. From the moment he or she lands on our property, the clock is ticking. And at every step along the way, he or she is making judgments, consciously and unconsciously, about whether this place and this people are a good fit.

READ MORE

Jesusland

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
Not infrequently, Jesus shows up in some pretty surprising places. According to recent news reports, the face of Jesus has been seen in a pizza sold in Australia, a poppy petal photographed in the high desert of California, and in the swirling images on a tie-dyed T-shirt in Cleveland. (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/popup?id=2729440)

But of all the Jesus sightings reported in the news of late, the one that most piqued my interest occurred in Kinston, North Carolina. There a utility pole draped in kudzu, created a jaw-dropping sensation. The locals say the kudzu, hanging from the pole and electrical wire, looks like Jesus hanging from his cross. And from the AP photo I saw of this signal event (pun intended), they are right!  (http://www.macon.com/2011/06/29/1614332/holy-kudzu-vine-in-nc-town-said.html).

Kent Hardison, a commuter who passes the kudzu draped utility pole each day, considered blasting the offending vine with herbicide. But as Mr. Hardison peered at the vine, he had an epiphany: "It looks like Jesus!" And then the sobering realization hit home: "You can't spray Roundup on Jesus!"

READ MORE

Church after Church

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
Recently, Jonathan Alderman and I were talking in the parking lot after Wednesday night church. Most veteran FBCers realize the parking lot, as well as the sanctuary, can be holy ground. Often, in encounters on the asphalt, "church after church" unfolds.

That evening, Jonathan and I were talking about his sister, Amelia Anne, who died much too young in 2009. He recalled Amelia Anne's love of stories. Indeed, those of us who knew and loved Amelia Anne can vouch that "story" was her primary dialect.

"Whenever I needed an answer from Amelia Anne about something," Jonathan said, "I could never get a simple yes or no answer. With her, it was always, ‘Let me tell you a story.' Eventually, she would give me an answer to my question, but only after she told her story. Sometimes, the story was the answer."

READ MORE

Ride On

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
A couple of weeks ago, I went on a long bike ride on one of those 102 degree days. This was not as daunting as it sounds. While biking, one gets a breeze most of the time, especially when whizzing downhill. And in Macon, one's t-shirt is soaking wet within the first ten minutes. A wet, clammy t-shirt plus a steady breeze makes for pretty effective cooling.

That day I had a route mapped out in the countryside beyond Bolingbroke. At first, I was blissfully breezing along, marveling at the beauty of the pastures, horses, and farms that rolled past to my left and right. I took care to stay hydrated, gulping frequently from my water bottle. The ride was a lot of fun, but taking longer than I anticipated. Much longer.

READ MORE

Really Seeing

by Bob Setzer Jr.
When I was about 9 or 10, my mother took me to the eye doctor. He told me to look at a page of different colored circles, each about the size of a bead, and asked what I saw. No problem. I saw the shapes and patterns clearly. Or so I thought. Actually, I saw the "wrong" shapes and patterns, the ones you see if you are color-blind. That's when my mother figured out why I sometimes wore one blue sock and one black one.

Being color "blind" doesn't mean one cannot see colors, except for a rare form of the malady. Rather, most color-blind people (usually boys and men) see colors a little differently. For example, it's hard for me to discern hues of color, say purple as opposed to blue or tan instead of brown. I was an adult before I learned a "green light" was actually green; growing up, I thought the light was white, like the light bulbs in a house; the "green" part I took to be a reference to a bygone age when traffic lights were actually green. (To tell you the truth, I'm still a little suspicious about this one. Grass is green; I can't believe a traffic light is that color.)

READ MORE

Membership

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
What does it mean to be a "member" of the First Baptist Church of Christ?

Is a member someone who was baptized in the 1960s following  Vacation Bible School, but has not been seen or heard from since?

Is a member someone who was once active in our church but moved away years ago and never joined another congregation? And what exactly is a "non-resident" member? How can one be a member of a church without being ever being present to the church?

Is a member someone who drifted out of active participation with a local community of faith, years ago, but still shows up for the Christmas Eve Service?

READ MORE

Safe and Free

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
I hold in my hand a glossy DVD case embossed with a gently waving American flag. The flag frames a photo of a Chinook helicopter hovering in the sky. The title on the case reads, "Memorial Service, 21 February 2007, Fort Campbell, Kentucky . . . Bravo Company, 160th Special Operations, Airborne."

This DVD was given to me by the grandmother of one of the young men remembered in the memorial service. She is a fellow pilgrim in the journey with Jesus at the top of Poplar. I will always remember going to her house upon learning her grandson had been killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan. There were no magic, preacherly words to say, to make everything better, just an offering of shared anguish and of tears.

READ MORE

Thinking about Osama

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
I'm about to get myself in real trouble.

Osama bin Laden is the man we all love to hate and Lord knows, he deserves it. The mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on our nation unleashed immeasurable suffering and loss for thousands of American families. Further, the political and economic consequences of his diabolical design continue to define our world in costly and terrible ways.

Still, when I see those video clips of that pathetic, graying old man hunched in front of his 14" color TV set with a remote in his hand--as though he still controlled the fate of men and of nations--I find something strange, ugly, and repellent welling up within me: pity. I can't help but feel pity that some mother's son turned into such a spectacle of shame, hatred, impotence, and utter isolation, which to me is a pretty good working definition of "hell."

READ MORE

What Is It About You Preachers?

by Bob Setzer, Jr.

"So what is it about you preachers? Why is preaching so important to you?"

Someone asked me that after hearing how badly I missed being in the pulpit on Easter. Thankfully, I was where I needed to be that Sunday, by Bambi's side in the immediate aftermath of her mother's death. And I knew the First Baptist family could not be in better hands with Edd Rowell as our guest preacher.

Still for me, not preaching on Easter was a significant loss. Any preacher who doesn't long to be in the pulpit on Easter, passionately proclaiming “Christ is risen indeed!”, really needs to look for a new line of work.

"So what is it about you preachers? Why is preaching so important to you?" Hmm. Let me count the ways.

READ MORE

In This World=Trouble

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
In John 16:33, Jesus proclaims, “In the world you will have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” It is a promise we need in the wake of seeing the devastation and ruin wrought by recent killer tornadoes.

I saw some Google satellite pics that reveal before and after shots of the tornado-seared landscape in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. The swath of utter destruction left by that black, billowing cloud packing 200 mph winds is hard to fathom. The loss of life and property is mind-numbing and heartbreaking. According to one report, there are nearly 400 people dead or missing in Tuscaloosa alone.

READ MORE

A Grieving Good Friday

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
On Easter Sunday morning, I worshiped in Greensboro, North Carolina where Bambi's mother, Mrs. Lilly Wilson, passed away the Friday before. Certainly given the circumstances, I was profoundly grateful for the great Good News of Easter that Christ robbed death of its prey. But I sorely missed being with God's people at the top of Poplar, rubbing shoulders with beloved fellow pilgrims, soaking up the beauty of stained-glass light, and thrilling to the music of the best choir this side of heaven.

I was thankful my friend Edd Rowell was available to fill the pulpit with his usual wit, wisdom, and passionate faith. And I was grateful for staff colleagues and others who urged me to stay by Bambi's side in North Carolina rather than rush back to Macon to preach. Still, for any preacher who loves his or her craft, being out of the pulpit on Easter is a trying ordeal.

READ MORE

Holy Week

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
As this column is being written, the church is in the midst of Holy Week. But though the dark shadows of Good Friday yet loom, there is no doubting how the story will end. On Easter Sunday, Jesus will rise with the dawn to vanquish the darkness of sin and death, so on that blessed day we will gather to sing and shout our Alleluias.

The journey of Lent--the forty days preceding Easter--is a time to enter more deeply into Jesus’ suffering and passion.  During Lent, we revisit Jesus’ challenge to Jerusalem--and us--as he unmasks our hypocrisy, pride, and willful blindness. Seeing the escalating tension, we feel the tightness in our stomachs as the story rushes toward it terrible climax. On Palm Sunday, we leave the top of Poplar with heavy hearts. As one child told his mother, tears streaming down his cheeks, “They killed Jesus again!”

READ MORE

Competing Processionals

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
In their short but masterful work, The Last Week, Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan imagine two processions entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

The first was a peasant band, cheering wildly, as their champion rode into town for the Passover festival. John’s Gospel tells us the adoring crowds cut down palm fronds to make a carpet for their advancing king (John 12:3) The crowds cried, “Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!” (Mark 11:9-10). The object of their affection sat astride his donkey, gaze fixed ahead, stoic and silent. As his admirers would soon learn,  he was indeed a king, but not the king they wanted or expected.

READ MORE

Selling Easter?

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
Recently, the news wires hummed with the story of a church in Ohio sponsoring an Easter Sweepstakes. Two lucky winners will walk away with $500 each just for showing up for Easter Sunday worship!

Apparently, such theatrics "work" if the goal is to pack the pews with lottery winner wannabees. Last Easter, the sponsoring church more than doubled its usual attendance.

Today I read about a Georgia pastor who is planning to jump his motorcycle, Evel Knievel-style, over nine buses outside a Baptist church in Florida. This enterprising daredevil for the Kingdom also plans to jump through a wall of fire.

READ MORE

Photo Albums

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
On my study shelves, there are six church directories from Macon’s First Baptist Church. The earliest hails from the mid-80s and features pictures of secretaries with typewriters at their elbows (and not a computer monitor in sight), shots of elegantly dressed ladies stepping out of boat-sized sedans, and photos of ministers sporting bushy mustaches and “preacher hair” even more pronounced than my own!

But aside from the humor in looking back and seeing how times and styles have changed, those church directories are a precious archive of dear saints, many of whom are now gone, who have journeyed with Jesus in the company of God’s people at the top of Poplar. These are the faces, the memories, and the snapshots of grace that tell us something of who we are by telling us something of who we were.

READ MORE

Room for Elephants

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
Last Sunday night, we began our Spring Ethics Series, “The Church and Homosexuality.” The Great Room was packed with a polite, attentive audience. Craig McMahon, a member of our church and University Minister at Mercer, led us through an exploration of the seven biblical texts that speak specifically to homosexual practice. Having served as a pastor for 25 years, Craig knows how tense an issue this is for most local churches. He also knows the struggle many families face in embracing their gay sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, and other loved ones, while feeling conflicted about the moral and religious implications of that acceptance.

Craig didn’t solve all the issues surrounding our theme for the evening, “The Bible and Homosexuality,” nor was that our goal. But he did treat the biblical text with respect and understanding, probing for the real meaning of what the Bible meant in its original context, the  first critical step in understanding what the Bible means for us today. Essentially, Craig argued that much of what is under consideration when the Bible speaks of homosexuality relates to such deplorable practices as gang rang (Sodom and Gomorrah) or the Greco-Roman practice of turning boys into sex toys (1 Corinthians 6:9), and not what we think of as homosexuality today. In his thoughtful sharing, my friend, Craig, showed me anew how much the Bible has to offer on most any subject, when interpreted aright.

READ MORE

Japan's Catastrophe

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
Like most Americans, I am deeply saddened by the horrific destruction unleashed in Japan. Truly, the dimensions of this catastrophe--including the continuing threat of a nuclear meltdown--are apocalyptic in scope. It is heartbreaking to watch the shell-shocked survivors, sifting their way through a wasteland.

We have eight students from Japan in our English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) ministry. They all report their families back home in Japan survived the catastrophe, as does our own Yumiko Jones. In addition, I understand the families of the Japanese nationals working at the local YKK factory are, for the most part, safe as well.

READ MORE

The Real Jesus

by Bob Setzer
As a boy, growing up in the Bible belt, the death of Jesus seemed simple enough: he died for my sins. To me, Jesus' childhood, youth, and adulthood were mostly just warm-up acts for the epic, world-changing moment when he died upon the cross and won the salvation of the world.

It's not that my childhood version of the story was altogether wrong. The New Testament does makes stunning claims about the cosmic meaning of the death of Jesus (Mark 10:45; John 1:29; Romans 5:8; Hebrews 9:26; 1 Peter 1:20 for starters). And I still believe Jesus' death on the cross—answered emphatically by his resurrection—is the "big bang" at the dawn of God's new creation, the crux (from "cross") of everything that ultimately matters.

READ MORE

I Can't Forget Haiti

by Bob Setzer
Our first night at the mission compound in Haiti, a smiling Haitian pastor told us, "You will leave Haiti, but Haiti will never leave you!" So far, his prophecy has proved true.

I can't forget the beautiful, neatly-dressed children singing and chanting their way through the school day. They live in a gray, barren world of dirt and crumbling concrete yet they are joyous and cheerful in a way most more affluent Americans are not.

READ MORE

Another Interpreter of Dreams Saves Egypt

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
Long centuries ago, God used an obscure Hebrew ex-con to save Egypt. After serving time for most of his twenties, this young man interpreted Pharaoh's troubled dreams and was catapulted to Egypt's second-in-command. From that exalted position, he saved Egypt from a famine and in saving Egypt, saved that part of the world. The young man who went from prison to the palace was Joseph. He was 30-years-old when he began his storied service to the world (Genesis 41:46).

More recently, God used an obscure Google executive on the rise to save Egypt. His name is Wael Ghonim and like Joseph at the time of his ascension, Ghonim is 30-years-old. Ghonim was also a dream interpreter, using his Facebook page to give voice to the dreams of the Egyptian people. And like Joseph, Ghonim served time, in his case for daring to oppose the modern Pharaoh, President Hosni Mubarak. After his release from jail, Ghonim was at the center of the firestorm that erupted in Tahrir Square. Eighteen days later, an oppressive regime came tumbling down.

READ MORE

Super Bowl Flub and Sufficient Grace

by Bob Setzer, Jr.

As someone who offers up the high-wire act of public performance every Sunday, I have more sympathy than most for Christina Aguilera’s widely publicized flubbing of the national anthem at the Super Bowl. What appears so easy from the comfort of one’s stadium seat or pew, can become nearly impossible when adrenalin or anxiety sabotages the brain’s ability to do its job.

The question as to why a wildly successful pop singer can’t belt out the national anthem, without forgetting the words, is easy enough to answer: she was trying to sing a song with a daunting vocal range before the glare of spotlights and cameras, more than 100,000 fans, and viewers from half the civilized world.  Further, she felt the need (shared by most performers at the Super Bowl, it seems) to strut her vocal talents instead of simply offering up the stirring beauty of the song.

READ MORE

Founders and Football

by Bob Setzer, Jr. 
With Super Bowl XLV almost upon us, much is being made of the matchup between two storied franchises: The Green Bay Packers who dominated pro football in the 1960s and the Pittsburgh Steelers who reigned supreme in the 1970s.

As a kid, I watched mesmerized as Vince Lombardi paced up and down the sidelines in that gray fedora and overcoat, always conjuring up a way to win. A decade later, the Pittsburgh Steerlers were at their manliest and meanest just as the steel industry was tanking. It gave the locals--and the nation--something to cheer about during a trying economic downturn. Now having returned to their former greatness, these two larger-than-life sports franchises are poised to battle it out on the gridiron.

READ MORE

Recreation Retreat

Check out the photos from the retreat.

Site Password: fbcfamily

__

READ MORE

Defining Spam?

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
Recently, I came across a software jewel that has made my life in cyberspace much easier. It is a utility that nests in my email program called “Unsubscribe.” This little ditty makes “un-subscribing” to emails from marketers, organizations, or news providers wonderfully easy.

Often, stopping subscriptions to an e-newsletter or weekly email flyer is a laborious process. The user must email the marketer or news provider and ask to be removed from the distribution list. The other party then sends an email confirming one really wants to stop their incoming messages. The user must send yet another email confirming, “Yes, I really want to stop your service!” Most of the time, this works, and one’s inbox is not quite so crammed with SPAM.

But with my new favorite program, “Unsubscribe,” one just hits the magic onscreen button that says “Unsubscribe” and Voila, the offending marketer is gone!

READ MORE

Better to Give

by Bob Setzer
At our most recent Wednesday night’s conference (January 5), we did some celebrating. The celebrating was spontaneous and deeply felt as we received the news our church ended 2010 in the black. 2010 was a difficult year financially for many people in our church and community. As one person at conference observed, “It’s tough out there.” But despite the trying economic climate, our church rose to the challenge of vanquishing our deficit and starting the new year on a firm, financial footing.

Our budget gifts for 2010 totaled $684,665.19 with income exceeding expenses by a little over thirty-five hundred dollars. Of the $684,665.19 given to the mission and ministry of our church, 10.1% of those receipts (a tithe) was directed to missions beyond the local church, primarily through our partnership with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. In addition, another $47,032.52 was given to special missions causes such as Haiti Relief, Habitat for Humanity, the Crisis Closet, the Liberian Student Fund, Ricks Institute, the Circle of Hope, and more besides.

READ MORE

From Ephesus to Tucson

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
The book of Acts is dotted with riots caused by Paul. Then as now, Paul had a finely-honed knack for annoying people.

In Acts chapter 19, Paul and his helpers, Gaius and Aristarchus,  incite another riot. Paul’s preaching is causing a dip in sales of silver idols of the local goddess, Artemis. Some enraged silversmiths drag Gaius and Aristarchus into a 25,000 seat amphitheater. The theater is soon packed with a raging mob that shrieks, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Things are about to get ugly for Gaius and Aristarchus. Paul is restrained by friends from entering the theater, lest he inflame the situation even further.

READ MORE

Why Does Change Have To Be So Hard?

by Bob Setzer, Jr.

One week into the New Year, much January 1 resolve is flagging fast. What seemed so easy when greeting the new year has now turned into the daily grind of fighting temptation. The reservoirs of will power are draining at an alarming rate. It won’t be long before the thin, svelte new You--so clear in the mind’s eye--will perish in the greedy grab for another donut. Or the heartfelt promise to rise early and knock out 30 minutes on the treadmill will be squashed with one thump of the alarm’s snooze button.

Some people have wised up and learned to “win” the game of New Year’s resolutions by never making any. At least they don’t have to face the looming spectacle of failure. And a few people succeed in making needed changes: they go cold turkey and quit smoking or drinking, or begin a diet/exercise regimen that keeps the pounds off for good. But in early January, most of us find ourselves stranded in the netherworld of dreams: we can imagine a new, improved Self but seem powerless to create one. Why does this have to be so hard?

READ MORE