The last Monday in May is a unique holiday, a day which is more of an observance than a celebration. Memorial Day does not usually generate as much holiday enthusiasm as Christmas, Easter, or Independence Day. However, we should be careful that the meaning of the Memorial Day does not become lost in the busyness of our festivities.

This important holiday is not just another “day off” but a day to remember those who have lost their lives in the military service of our country. This is a day to remember those who, according to Henry Ward Beecher, “hover as a cloud of witnesses above this Nation.”

In a culture that is increasingly attention-deficient, remembering is a painful but necessary discipline.  Remembering historical facts should help us to remain consciously aware of the harsh realities of global conflict.  Revisiting stories from the battlefield may enable us to learn from both the successes and the failures of our national ancestry. When we remember the fallen we keep alive the individual and corporate legacies of valor and courage that inspire and challenge us to be responsible citizens of the free world.

To fail to remember is to develop a convenient amnesia that eventually robs succeeding generations of acquaintance with our national heritage.  To fail to remember creates a contagious apathy that leads to a neglect of both our freedom and our citizenship.   To fail to remember can produce a false sense of protection and a perceived exemption from future warfare.  A loss of memory eventually leads to a loss of national identity.  Remembering is a painful but necessary discipline, a discipline that forges vision from memory, and a discipline that extracts wisdom from knowledge.

In The Roadmender  Margaret Fairless Barber suggests that “To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward.”

This year take time to observe Memorial Day.  And make it a day to remember the past with gratitude and to look to the future with hope and faith.

(Barry Howard serves as senior minister at First Baptist Church of Pensacola.)

by Barry Howard

In 1859 Charles Dickens published A Tale of Two Cities, a historical novel set inLondon andParis detailing the social and economic challenges experienced during the French Revolution, a conflict that impacted most ofWestern Europe. That era was marked by political upheaval and transition, a growing disparity between the haves and have-nots, and industrial and vocational reformation.  Dickens’ novel, however, emphasizes the recurrent theme of resurrection, chronicling how several individuals faced the challenges of those days with perseverance, determination, and resilience.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.   –Charles Dickens

Though we are definitely not living in the worst of times, we are certainly experiencing the toughest economy in recent years…a challenging time to keep your business afloat, a challenging time to be searching for a job, a challenging time to make ends meet.  But the worst of our times can bring out the best in us.  Challenging times can fortify our courage, strengthen our character, and deepen our faith.

Your faith and your attitude can determine whether you view your problems with pessimism, desperation, and despair, or whether you muster your courage and confront your challenges with perseverance, determination, and resilience.  If your attitude is positive, you can face the challenges of coming days with a firm faith and a proactive perspective.  But if your attitude is negative, you will likely face these days with a sense of helplessness and hopelessness.

This year is an election year. Will we emerge into a more healthy economy or sink into a more turbulent one? Will we move toward resolution of global conflicts, or will those conflicts intensify?  Will there be a genuine restoration of trust in our national leadership, or will trust continue to deteriorate?  Will we notice a resurgence of authentic faith-based decision-making, or more of a trend toward moral and ethical ambiguity? No one knows for sure what the future holds, or the severity of the obstacles that will arise during the coming year. One thing is for certain: Your attitude when dealing with your complications will determine whether you approach life as a victim or an overcomer.  If you find yourself in need of an attitude adjustment, why not begin now?

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord  (Romans 8:37-39 NIV.)

(Barry Howard serves as Senior Minister ofFirstBaptistChurchinPensacola,Florida.)

 

by Barry Howard

Often I am asked, “What can I do to grow as a Christian?”  There are several things that may help you grow in your faith but one of the most important things is to read the Bible everyday.

Sounds simple doesn’t it?  But developing a daily discipline of reading the Bible can be challenging because it requires changing our daily habits.  However, you are never too young or too old to start.

During the past few months, I have participated on a study team of pastors and scholars who have been investigating the impact of “The Bible and Your Life.”  Responses to our survey indicate that reading the Bible privately once a week or more is the “game-changer” in putting faith into practice. Those who read the Bible privately on a regular basis are much more likely to look to the Bible for guidance in making life decisions than those who read the Bible seldom or never.

In analyzing the responses to our survey which indicate a strong correspondence between Bible reading and faith application, Dr. Penny Marler, professor of sociology at Samford University, surmises that, “In a world that presents us with many options and distractions, what we choose to spend our time doing says a great deal about what is important to us and the more we engage in a particular behavior, the more important it becomes.”

Consider some of the advantages of reading the Bible daily.  Daily Bible reading increases our knowledge of God’s word.  Regular Bible reading gives us a more intimate and personal acquaintance with the biblical text. It helps us to discern God’s plan for us. This daily discipline encourages us to integrate the teachings of the Bible into our daily lifestyle. Daily Bible reading confronts our personal sin and affirms God’s forgiveness. This practice inspires us toward faithfulness and consistency in all of our tasks. Reading the Bible daily helps us to understand the contextual meaning of passages whereas those who read the Bible only occasionally or who read only a selected verse or two are more likely to superimpose their own presuppositions on the text.  And finally, daily Bible reading helps keep your life and faith in focus.

Years ago, Lord Tennyson wrote, “Bible reading is an education in itself.”  Here are some helpful strategies to develop a daily Bible reading plan: 

¨      Begin by using a companion devotional guide.  Our Daily Bread, Open Windows, and the Upper Room are just a few examples of devotional booklets that include both a daily Bible reading selection and a few inspirational comments and stories. There are also a growing number of online devotional sites, such as www.d365.org, that provide relevant daily devotionals, and other sites that you can subscribe to that will send daily devotional readings directly to your inbox.

¨      Try reading the Bible book by book.  Some suggest alternating your reading between New Testament and Old Testament books.

¨      Read a chapter a day from the New Testament and the Old Testament plus a Psalm and one chapter of Proverbs.  This approach provides a balanced diet of biblical perspectives. And because Proverbs is divided into thirty-one chapters, it makes for good systematic reading because of its compatibility with our monthly calendar.

¨      Read the Bible in one year.  Many Christian publishing companies offer printed schedules for reading the Bible through in one year. The assignments for daily reading may prove challenging to slower readers but the rewards of knowledge and inspiration are definitely worth the challenge.

If you want to grow in your faith there are many practices that will enhance your spiritual maturity: daily prayer, regular worship participation, ethical decision-making, and ministry involvement.  But one of the best places to begin your journey of spiritual growth if you are a new Christian, or to deepen your faith if you are a maturing Christian, is to develop the discipline of reading the Bible daily.

In extolling the significance of Bible reading, Billy Graham proposes that, “The word of God hidden in the heart is a stubborn voice to suppress.” If you really want to put faith into practice, resolve to spend quality time reading the book every day.

(Barry Howard serves as senior minister of First Baptist Church of Pensacola.)

By Barry Howard

For the past three years, I have been privileged to participate in a Pastor-Scholars Studio, in partnership with Duke University and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and funded by The Lily Endowment.  As a part of the Studio, I have been engaged in a project group consisting of Dr. Mark Biddle, professor at Baptist Seminary of Richmond; Rev. Amy Butler, pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.; Dr. Gary Furr, pastor at Vestavia Hills Baptist Church in Birmingham, and Dr. David May, professor at Central Baptist Seminary in Kansas City.  Our project was to explore the impact of “The Bible and Your Life,” and our primary instrument was conducting a survey of like-minded Baptists regarding the importance of the Bible in their faith and practice.

Our project team retained respected sociologist, Dr. Penny Marler, of Samford University to facilitate the administration and analysis of the survey.  After our results were compiled, I asked Dr. Marler, a devoted Christian, a few questions about her analysis of the responses:

Barry:  What one thing about the survey surprised you the most?

Dr. Marler: That personal Bible reading was so strongly related to the importance of and knowledge about the Bible—even more so than reading the Bible in church or with one’s family.  Whether lay CBF respondents were older or younger, male or female, better or less well-educated didn’t matter at all:  the Bible’s importance in one’s life was predicted by how often someone read the Bible alone.

Barry:  If you were a pastor, what did the survey indicate you should be emphasizing to your congregation?

Dr. Marler: First, I think that all laity should have a personal Bible.  Parents should make age-appropriate Bibles available to their children.  They should not only read the Bible to/with them but they should also make intentional space/time/creative instruction available so that children and youth can explore the Scriptures on their own.  Adults should model personal Bible reading.  Similarly, adults should be encouraged/challenged/affirmed in personal Bible reading: as Sunday School or Bible Study homework, as a part of devotional practice, and even for pleasure.

 

Barry: Why do you think that personal Bible reading is such a crucial influence on individual lifestyle? 
Dr. Marler:  In a world that presents us with many options and distractions, what we choose to spend our time doing says a great deal about what is important to us and the more we engage in a particular behavior, the more important it becomes.  It’s really an affirmation of Reformation Christianity: the centrality of the Scripture and the priesthood of all believers.  It is also, strikingly, resonant with what is known about the way that human faith develops and grows.  The Scriptures provide images and stories that resonate with the struggles of persons to make meaning in their lives.  There are stories about love, betrayal, commitment, suffering, faithfulness, sacrifice and fulfillment—and, of course, in these stories we are not alone because the Bible is the story of God’s engagement with us.  Immersion in those images and stories makes them more natural back- and fore-grounds for making sense of our lives. 

The responses to our survey emphatically indicate a direct correspondence between regular private Bible reading and faith application.   Our conclusion seems almost over simplistic:  Reading the Bible privately as a regular practice equips an individual to become a stronger, faithful, and more effective follower of Jesus.