Encourager Conference May 1-5

Dr. Paige Patterson
As the eighth president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Paige Patterson brings 28 years of experience in the education of pastors and missionaries. The focus of his ministry is made up of an intense commitment to evangelism. He will be bringing the evening messages.


Dr. David Allen
David Allen served as senior pastor of MBBC from 2000-2005 and currently is the Dean of the School of Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He will be bringing the messages at the noon services.


Chad Fletcher
Chad Fletcher, the worship pastor at MBBC, will be leading praise and worship for all the services.

should I feel bad I find this amusing?

Dr. Phil's test

Your total score is 50

Interpretation of Results
Others see you as fresh, lively, charming, amusing, practical, and always interesting; someone who's constantly in the center of attention, but sufficiently well-balanced not to let it go to their head. They also see you as kind, considerate, and understanding; someone who'll always cheer them up and help them out.

we might as well be Sodom and Gamora

I write this to show you what an awful state we are in, as Americans. When police are arresting those that are trying to bring relief with water or ice chips to someone who’s hydration was taken (leaving her to die of starvation and dehydration), something is terribly wrong.

Michael Schiavo claimed malpractice and won 1,000,000 dollars. 700,000 dollars for Terri’s rehab and 300,000 dollars for him personally to assist her.

At that trial, he testified under oath that it was his desire to care for Terri for the rest of her life. At that case he made no mention of any comments by her that she wouldn’t want to live in such a state.

Later however, Michael shares with the Schindler family and to the courts that Terri had indicated one time when they were newly married that she would never want to live like that.

Her family and friends disputed that since she was a devout Roman Catholic, she wouldn’t have wanted to be taken off the feeding tube or hydration.

Florida statutes state:
1. diagnosed to be in a perpetual vegetative state with no hope of recovery
2. if it has been so stated in writing by the patient

This is what the press wasn’t telling us:
Barbara Weller, an attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents, essentially told Terri, "You had better say you want to live or they will kill you. Just say you want to live." Terri responded with a drawn out, "IIIIII," then screamed out "waaaaaaaa" so loudly that a police officer stationed outside the room came in.

“Just as what happened in Germany prior to Hitler’s rise to power, when euthanasia and abortions were legalized, it is conceivable that we are being prepared and desensitized to the horrible deaths of innocents, in preparation to accept genocide. You can see other examples of how we’ve turned away from modern cases, Rwanda, Africa, etc., where tens upon thousands of people are being murdered by Islamists.”

The lawyer on Michael’s side is very much a part in euthanasia and he says by looking into a persons eyes, he can tell whether or not they want to live or die and if he “sees” they want to die, he will assist you in killing yourself.

Michael was also very good friends with the judge in that case. Judge Greer should never have been able to reside over that case.

This really hacks me off! I mean Michael was basically given permission by the government to murder his wife! Gosh! What else?! And the "great" state of California is thinking about making euthanaisa legal...In case you're wondering what Euthanasia is, it's:
Nazi euphemism for the deliberate killings of institutionalized physically, mentally, and emotionally handicapped people. The euthanasia program began in 1939, with German non-Jews as the first victims. The program was later extended to Jews.

Identified or Simply Interested?

I have been crucified with Christ . . .
—Galatians 2:20

The inescapable spiritual need each of us has is the need to sign the death certificate of our sin nature. I must take my emotional opinions and intellectual beliefs and be willing to turn them into a moral verdict against the nature of sin; that is, against any claim I have to my right to myself. Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ . . . ." He did not say, "I have made a determination to imitate Jesus Christ," or, "I will really make an effort to follow Him"-but-"I have been identified with Him in His death." Once I reach this moral decision and act on it, all that Christ accomplished for me on the Cross is accomplished in me. My unrestrained commitment of myself to God gives the Holy Spirit the opportunity to grant to me the holiness of Jesus Christ.

". . . it is no longer I who live . . . ." My individuality remains, but my primary motivation for living and the nature that rules me are radically changed. I have the same human body, but the old satanic right to myself has been destroyed.

". . . and the life which I now live in the flesh," not the life which I long to live or even pray that I live, but the life I now live in my mortal flesh-the life which others can see, "I live by faith in the Son of God . . . ." This faith was not Paul’s own faith in Jesus Christ, but the faith the Son God had given to him (see Ephesians 2:8 ). It is no longer a faith in faith, but a faith that transcends all imaginable limits-a faith that comes only from the Son of God.

3 things I absolutely cannot stand:

1. How 5 or 6 people walk slowly side by side through the halls at Mac.
2. Stupid drivers like the one I encountered today....I was changing lanes and as soon as I put my blinker on, the idiot behind me decides he'd like to change lanes real quick and get in front of me. So as I was moving over, he gets right beside me and honks his horn like crazy as if I were running him off the road. Then I just marveled in astonishment at the stupidity of this guy as he changes back to the lane we started from!!! Grrrrr. I seriously wanted to run over the guys head!! I am not a hostile person normally I assure you.
3. How many people get so caught up in the politics of the the church, that they forget what and Who it's all about. Many are so rigid and hellbent on how they feel things should be done, they're not allowing themselves to hear God and His plans....There are some people who've forgotten we are all part of the Body of Christ and committies aren't formed to make all the decisions for the Body but rather with the Body. And it really does frustrate me how lately people in the church are so concerned about the politics, they forget why they were made. In more secular terms...like how the seperation of church and state was formed to keep the government from telling people how and who to worship but now-a-days people are twisting it around to mean there's no place for God in our courtrooms, schools, and press. It hacks me off. "Jesus said to them, 'Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.'"-Matthew 12:24-26 (NASB). In the same way, the church divided against itself cannot stand.

P.S. Go here!! http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/lyle_24/myhero.html

I am a disciple of Christ

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished with low living, sight-walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lifted by prayer, and labor by power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problems recognizing me - my banner will be clear.