Mercy Swimming

Praise God! He has been faithful to see me through 4 1/2 years at Seminary. I'm so thankful to my beautiful wife, Alicia for her amazing support. I am also thankful for the people at the First Baptist Church of Liberty for their patience, kindness and encouragement.

If you are interested in attending, the ceremony begins at 10:00 AM at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's Havard School of Theological Studies, Saturday, May 6th. The address for the ceremony is Park Place Baptist Church, 4105 Broadway Street in Houston (see the map for details).

Click here for a preview.

Praise God for His mercy that is new every morning! See you Saturday!

Posted by Travis Cardwell at 6:19 PM | Permalink | Comments

If you are familiar with Mark Dever, or Nine Marks Ministries, you will know that he argues that "The first and most important mark of a healthy church is expositional preaching. Expositional preaching is not simply producing a verbal commentary on some passage of Scripture. Rather, expositional preaching is that preaching which takes for the main point of a sermon the point of a particular passage of Scripture.”

Thabiti Anyabwile is an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, in Washington, D.C. and he has written an article entitled 9Marks of a Healthy Church MEMBER: Expositional LISTENING. I commend it to you. Perhaps you are stuggling with the importance of expositional preaching in your own congregation. Maybe you are involved in a church where the Bible is faithfully preached and you are looking for ways to enhance the role of Scripture in your weekly schedule. This article will help and encourage you to cultivate habits of expositional listening that will help you to "not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers , but to delight in the Law of the Lord day and night."

May God bless the reading, preaching, and listening of His inspired Word!

(HT: Nine Marks Ministries)

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Check out this blog by Billy Newhouse on Church Dress. Don't just read it, but think about it, comment on it and form your own stance on the issue. I'd like to know your stance by the way. I agree with Billy!

Posted by Travis Cardwell at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments

I would like to invite any of you who are able to attend the Chapel Service at SWBTS's Havard School on Monday, April 17th at 11:10 AM. Read all about it here. Dr. Jim Hamilton will not only be preaching but also leading the congregation in God-centered worship. I hope that you will make every effort to attend.

Click here for directions to the Havard School or phone the office at (713 ) 634-0011.

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Listen to Dr. Hamilton's interview on the Gospel of Judas. Go to the last 10 minutes of the interview to hear Dr. Hamilton.

(HT: Denny Burk)

Posted by Travis Cardwell at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments

Dr. Danny Akin, the President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, has recently written well on the balance of Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility that should be pursued in Baptist life and beyond. You can read this well written article here. I think he is very fair and truthful on the issue and I encourage you to read and consider his thoughts. I would also like to hear what you think. I hope that I never seem like that person who is trying to “sub-vert” or disguise his beliefs. There is no point in dodging theological issues that make us nervous. May we be people that ask questions and seek the most biblical and Spirit-led answers. May God Conform our lives and mold our minds to be more like His Son!

Enjoy!

Posted by Travis Cardwell at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments

Many young pastors would do well to listen to the sound advice of Jerry Johnson, Senior Pastor at The First Baptist Church of Liberty. Over these 25 years he has gained much insight into the local church and especially in some of the practical outworkings of pastoral ministry. This interveiw is also available at the Alethia Ministries Blog.

Hard copies of this interview will be available on Sunday April 16th at FBC Liberty, as Bro. Jerry preaches his last sermon as Sr. Pastor. A donation of $5 is suggested for each CD. If you can't make it to church on the 16th send a self addressed envelope to FBC Liberty, (Attention Alethia Ministries) P.O. Box 88, Liberty, TX 77575 (with your $5 enclosed...cash only please).

Enjoy "25 Years of Pastoral Ministry with Bro. Jerry Johnson" by clicking on this link.

Posted by Travis Cardwell at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments

On Sunday, March 26th, I had the honor of preaching at Grace Reformed Baptist Church. I have much respect for their pastor, Brad Baggett and am in debt to him for much of my ministry and theological perspective. You can listen to it here.

I preached on 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, continuing my sermon series entitled "A Church on the Brink." You can access notes from my previous sermon here, here and here.

May God cause our lives to orbit around the "blazing center" of His glory!

Posted by Travis Cardwell at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments