We are very excited to have the opportunity to share God’s love with young children through this ministry. Please invite anyone you know, and we’ll look forward to seeing you there!

If you are interested in helping with Praise Factory please contact Dale Baker at daleb@calvarybaptistlenexa.org or Chris Fees at isujazzdog@gmail.com. Even if you can commit just one evening a month, we’d really appreciate your God-honoring service. We will be having a meeting of all Praise Factory volunteers on Sunday, August 29, after church.

At my grandparent’s farm stands a majestic walnut tree; one of the largest I have ever seen.  My grandparents purchased the farm in the early 1900’s and when they did they had few things on the place, but that walnut tree was one of them.  The tree was adjacent to the house, next to the cellar.  This walnut tree has withstood many things through the years.  Woodpeckers, blue jays, sparrows, robins, and others have all used the tree as a safe haven for a home, although it didn’t seem to mind.  The tree has also had to endure some rough elements: blistering rain, violent storms, powerful winds, numbing snows, scorching sun, yet when I go back to the farm, there stands the walnut tree as majestic as ever.  It has been the shelter of shade that my grandparents would sit under in the noonday heat.  It would be the “air-conditioner” in those humid, summer nights as my grandparents would sit there until dark, staring at the road, and talk about nothing in particular.  I remember my father telling once he never wanted that tree cut down.  I guess there was not too many trees like that one.  That walnut tree was faithful in that every year it would bear seed, and all the walnuts would fall to the ground making it a menace for anyone who would mow the lawn.

The years have taken their toll on the faithful tree.  Branches would get brittle, crack, and fall to the ground.  The worst moment was when the house that my grandparents lived in burnt down, and scorched half of that tree.  No one thought it would survive such a calamity, but even though the scars of that time remain on it, the tree still lives and bears seed.  The reason for this is that the tree has strong roots.  There is an old well just parallel to the walnut tree where it gets nourishment.  There it has been faithful year after year, maybe someday I can tell my kids about that walnut tree, and the many fond memories and reminiscent nights we spent around her.

The faithful walnut tree recalls to my mind another tree of long past.  It is the tree that David talks about in as he compares the righteous man to it when he says in verses 1-4, How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked.  Nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!  But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.  And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in due season.  And its leaf does not wither; and whatever he does, he prospers.  The righteous man is compared in those verses to a tree that may have people take refuge in him as shelter.  He might have to withstand the elements of this life: blistering attacks from the enemy, violent storms trying his faith, powerful winds of pressure trying to sway him one way or another, numbing indifference from the world, scorching sin tempting him, yet the righteous man stands there in the end, majestic by the grace of God.  He can be a shelter of hope for weary pilgrims who sit under his faith in safety and watch the road of life from a distance.  And this righteous man’s faithfulness is seen because he yields his fruit in due season, though it may irritate many who attempt to run over his abundant fruit as it falls into many lives.

This does not deny the fact that the righteous man is human.  He has all the scars and mortal fragility that plagues the flesh like anyone else.  But as he matures this brittle, weak condition will gradually fall away, and he will grow stronger and more majestic through the years.  The source of this righteous man is also the root; he will be like a tree firmly planted by water.  I hope someday I cannot only tell my children about this faithful tree, but my prayer is that they can see it for themselves in me.  When I think of this tree in , I echo my father’s comments, whatever you do, don’t cut it down!  There are few of them around as it is.

Pursuing godliness with you,The
Pastor Brian

C. S. Lewis once commented, “the real problem is not why some pious, humble believing people suffer, but why some do not.”  Jesus predicts that those who follow Him will suffer for Him.  “Happy are you when people will insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me” ().  If you are a believer, it is assumed you will suffer.  But Christianity is not a sadistic religion.  The end is not in the suffering, but in the glory.  Paul wrote in , “we exult in our tribulation.” Why do we rejoice in our trials?  Because of what Paul says in the previous verse, “we exult in the hope of the glory of God.”  Why did Jesus “endure the cross, despising its shame?  The reason was that it was for the joy set before him” ().

The problem with many Christians is that their suffering becomes an end in and of itself.  They focus on being despised at the expense of the joy; they wallow in the tribulation and forget the glory.  The perspective of the Christian with pain should be the blunt declaration of Job.  “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord” ().  Remember Job had lost nearly everything he loved and owned, and the truth of his statement is that things change, trials come and go, but the Lord will always be glorified.  This packs a walloping blow against those who want to elevate their pain and suffering over and above the fact that God uses pain merely as a tool for His own glory.

The Christian who is driven to despair loses their focus from their God who will be glorified to the means to accomplish this end.  They no longer are looking to Jesus as an example of how to suffer well.  They no longer see the perspective of , “Therefore do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.  For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”  The eyes of the suffering saint are on the Savior who will bring us out of our trial, which is a deliberate instrument of His glory.

Our suffering becomes joy when we understand that nothing, including trials, will replace or distract the Center of the Universe from getting the praise He deserves.

For His Glory and Our Good,
Pastor Brian

Recently I decided to go pick some blackberries and gooseberries on my parent’s place.  Those of you who grew up with some summer delicacies understand my delight of a fresh blackberry cobbler and gooseberry pie.  Having convinced my wife to make me a blackberry cobbler, I swaggered into the woods with a few buckets, gum boots, and a long stick to warn snakes that I’m coming.  A couple hours later, I emerged with the goods; two buckets full of fresh blackberries and gooseberries, and I could have gone back for more. I am convinced that berry picking’ is something of a lost art.  I think it would do well for anyone under the age of eighteen to make a vow of abstinence from Game Boy, texting, Face book, or any other gizmos for berry picking.  Will Rodgers once quipped, “What this country needs is cleaner minds and dirtier finger nails.”  An afternoon of berry picking’ will suffice Will, thank you very much. There is some suffering you must endure for blackberries and gooseberries.  For instance, I hate the heat, specifically, the sultry, humid heat of summertime.  For some, sweat tends to glisten off people, like drops on top of a lemon meringue pie, for me sweat flows like a gushing dam.  Another burden to bear is mosquitoes; those insects constantly were swarming around my ear, never really landing with in arms reach.  When they did land it was in the middle of my back, so I had to endure their attack.  Then of course, I had to counter the defense of blackberries and gooseberries, namely the thorns. The brambles have an uncanny way of reaching out and grabbing you, so I looked as if I had been attacked by barbed wire.  Still having endured sweat, snakes, mosquitoes, ticks, heat, and thorns, I emerged with nature’s candy.  And later that evening was eating the fruits of my labor.

Life is like a bowl of berries.  Wild berries that is; the kind that reaches out and grabs you and won’t let go. This life has a way of making a nuisance of oneself and leaves us bitten, scrapped, and terribly exhausted. What is interesting for the believer is that trials are temporary pain that results in everlasting joy. Notice how happiness is often connected to trials.  Jesus said, “Happy are you when you are persecuted for righteousness sake.” “Happy are you when you are reviled for My sake.” James tells us “happy is the man that endures trials for when he is tried he will receive the crown of life.” “Consider those happy who are steadfast”.  Peter writes, “When you suffer for righteousness you will be happy.”  “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are happy.”

Scripture is rich with evidence that though life gives us some nasty scraps and trials reach out and bite us, we will taste the sweet glory of Jesus.  The Apostle Paul’s words still pack with flavor, “this light momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.”

Delighting in God with you,
Pastor Brian

A few months ago I was taking my daughter and my nieces on a truck ride in the back-country of Missouri. It is the land of rolling hills, curved dirt roads, echo hollows and fresh country air. We passed many farms that told the tale of days gone by. They have been vacated for some time, but their landscape portrays a story. There was one particular lonesome farm house that we came to when our truck sailed around the bend. It had not been inhabited in many years. I do remember as a young boy meeting the occupants, but they have long since left this world. It was one of those homes with personality. The porch had long spindles cascading up toward the roof. Its white outer shell was surrounded by dilapidated ‘outbuildings’; a smokehouse, well, storm cellar, the works. The house was fortressed by a rickety picket fence that not even Tom Sawyer with his wit could salvage. It was quite a scene; nothing noteworthy, except as we were strolling by I could hear a wind chime making its ring. With the gentle spring air as a partner, it was making a symphonious tone. I initially became cynical; “does a wind chime make a noise if no one is there to hear it?” But immediately I was struck by the simplicity and then the beauty.

Whoever owns the property has purposely or not left that instrument hooked on the front porch as a memento of what used to be, a home full of life and warmth and sound. Chairs are vacant, the house is shuttered, flowers are not kept, yet there blows the wind chime a constant reminder that despite the surroundings it can still make glamorous music.

What a picture of a Christian living in this sin saturated age. If you have noticed lately, our culture gets more and more alien to purity and beauty. If we gaze too long at our culture we may be tempted to think that our best days are behind us. We now stand looking at a sin sopped society that calls good evil and evil good. You may even agree with Milton that Paradise has indeed been lost. But Jesus brings the world the sound of the gospel, and he brings it through His people. Paul tells us as Christians that we should stop for a moment, sit back and consider. Consider that God has called us into the world, and when He did it wasn’t because we were wise or mighty or noble to the world. But we were weak and foolish to the world, and God chose that preciously to do two things: shame the world and glory in Himself (). Sort of like sitting back and enjoying a wind chime calling out to the world around it while stapled to a house that is rotten and falling down. It is no accident that later on Paul says that as believers we are nothing more than jars of clay that have a treasure (the gospel) in them so that the power and glory belong to God (). Our ‘houses” may look worn and ordinary, but our soul sings with the gospel to the world who listens.

For years I gave God leftovers and felt no shame. I simply took my eyes off scripture and instead compared myself to others. The bones I threw at God had more meat on them than the bones others threw, so I figured I was doing fine.

It’s easy to fill ourselves up with other things and then give God whatever is left. says, “when I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.” God gets a scrap or two only because we feel guilty for giving Him nothing. We mumble a three-minute prayer at the end of the day, when we are already half asleep. We throw two crumpled-up dollar bills into the church’s fund for the poor as an afterthought. Fetch, God!

“But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?” says the LORD. –

The priests of Malachi’s day thought their sacrifices were sufficient. They had spotless animals but chose to keep those for themselves and give their less desirable animals to God. They assumed God was pleased because they had sacrificed something.

God described this practice as evil.

Leftovers are not merely inadequate; from God’s point of view they are evil. We should stop calling it “a busy schedule” or “bills” or “forgetfulness.” It is called evil.

God is Holy. In heaven exists a Being who decides whether or not I take another breath. This holy God deserves excellence, the very best I have. “But something is better than nothing!” some protest. Really, is it? Does anyone enjoy token praise? I don’t. I would rather you not say anything than compliment me out of obligation or guilt. Why would we think God is any different?

Pastor Dale

Our desire is for you to know and love our great God in Jesus Christ. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions about Jesus Christ.