Mount Pleasant Baptist Church

For Whom Should A Christian Vote?  “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God , and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:4 When one is saved, he should be for what God is for and against what He is against. He should be as Christ-like as possible. With this in mind, if Christ were voting, (and He is through us, since we are His ambassadors — II Cor. 5:20), how would He vote? He would surely vote against those standing against biblical principles and vote for those standing for godly principles. Since there are no candidates that make 100% of their decisions based on biblical guidelines, our vote should be for one that is the closest to using these guidelines. Granted, it is getting harder to determine who is lined up the closest to the biblical standard.  However, there are several areas a nominee’s philosophy, life, and standards ca

Daily Devotional in I Corinthians 14  Daily Nugget: In I Corinthians 14, Paul makes it clear that the gift of prophecy is one of the most needed gifts. He remarked that the ability to speak in a foreign language was a special gift, however, it did not benefit many people. The gift of prophecy, on the other hand, edified many in the body of believers. This gift also encouraged (exhorted) and comforted believers (vs. 3). The gift of prophesy, because they did not have the entire Bible at the time, involved some futuristic predictions of God’s workings; but it also included something else. Prophesy also included the ability to instruct and explain the teachings of the Bible. As Jesus was not with them at the time, and not all the books of the Bible were readily available to them, they needed someone to tell them future things. They needed, and God provided, someone to tell and warn them of some upcoming events. They also needed someone that would have divine help to explain what t

Daily Nugget: Paul continued teaching about the sign gifts in this chapter. Although he knew how the gifts could be encouraging to early Christians and give the church a powerful testimony, he saw one spiritually-inspired attribute of higher value. Paul saw how essential it was to have true love for others. This love is not necessarily the emotion the unsaved understand. It is a love that only a Christian can truly understand and have. The indwelling Spirit of God can make it possible for one to love others in a way that is not possible without God’s help. Paul knew the gifts were either temporary or that they would be somewhat different in the future. The preacher knew that when “… that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” He knew when the entire collection of writings were put together, our Bible, that the gifts would be no longer necessary for Christians. Many would clearly know all God wanted him to know within the pages of the inspired Word

Daily Devotional in I Corinthians 12  Daily Nugget: Chapter 12 begins Paul’s discourse on spiritual gifts that were given to the early church. Because this church, and others at the time, did not have the compiled Word of God as we do today, God gave the early Christians special gifts so they, and others they ministered to, would know God was using the Christian. They were “sign gifts” as a sign that God was still with them. It encouraged all involved that God was still working amongst man. The nine gifts (vss. 8-10) for that era included: Wisdom: this gift helped the possessor to make decisions. Knowledge: Not knowing the past, present, and future as we can today by reading our Bible, they needed a person that could tell them spiritual truths. Faith: During this early dispensation people did not live by faith, as we are to do today. They needed one to encourage them about the things of God that they could not see or prove. Healing: This sign gift allowed one to heal. When

Double-minded Squashed Squirrels “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” James 1:8 Squirrels have a high “squashed” rate. Perhaps they are excited by the load of nuts they are carrying or excited about getting more, but their indecisions when crossing a road often get them killed by speeding cars. Actually, it is not the car’s fault in most cases.  It is usually is the squirrel’s.  They quickly dart across the road, but when they see a vehicle approaching, their decision process gets them killed. Often, they dart to the middle of the road, then they change their mind and dart back to where they came from. “Wait, I’ll go to the other side of the road;” they again change their mind and then “squash”!  Their ever-changing mind gets them run over because they got in the way of a car that did not deviate from its course. Many people are often of the same double-minded thinking. They decide on one goal in their lives; then “No wait, I change my mind.”  They go in an

Did you miss Pastor Rickey Lance's Oct. 7 sermon in Hebrews 5?   It is now available.

Daily Devotional in I Corinthians 11 Daily Nugget: Many of Paul’s letters were spent rebuking (vs. 17, 22) the Corinthian church. Because they never truly rid themselves of the snares of their past worldly lives, it hampered them quite often from growing in the things of the Lord. Scriptural instructions intended to help them grow spiritually and get closer to their God and Christian brethern, often became a source of contention amongst themselves and caused division instead (vs. 18-19). One such instance was their conducting of the Lord’s supper. The ordinance of the Lord’s supper was to help them remember (vs. 25-26) what Jesus had done for them. It was to be a time of solemn remembrance of the sacrifice God’s Son made for them, His body was broken, and His blood spilt for their sins. Instead, they took that time and made it into a feast. Some went hungry. Some got drunk (vs. 21). Others were embarrassed for not having what others had (vs. 22). The meaning of the Lord’s suppe

Daily Devotional in I Corinthians 10 Daily Nugget: The compiled Word of God, the Bible, has many purposes. It tells man the mind of God; what He likes and disapproves of; how to live; how to die; how to be successful; why one fails; and many other important life lessons. There is another purpose for having God’s preserved Word. That reason is so man can learn from examples of those in the past. A wise man should not want to repeat the errors of others. Reading and learning from others mistakes is one of the reasons God allows us to have His preserved Book. “Now these things were our examples …” vs. 6 “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples and they are written for our admonition …” vs. 11 Although the vehicle of temptation, sin, and trials have changed appearance and may not look like they did 6,000 years ago, basically they are the same. Man may no longer be tempted to have a chariot like his Roman neighbors, but today he is tempted to lust after a car just lik

Daily Devotional in I Corinthians 9 Daily Nugget: At the beginning of this chapter, we see that Paul faced a situation that many of us have also faced. Paul was doubted. His call to serve God was in question. In his case, it was doubted if Paul really did see Christ and was able to be called an apostle. Obviously, in our case, that would not be a situation, but we too can become objects of the scrutiny of others in our service to the Lord. Paul’s defense was that he did see Christ (Acts 9:3-6, and again in Acts 18:9-10), but there was a more visual proof that God was using the man. The same proof can also determine today if one is being used of the Lord. That proof is in examining the fruits produced, and what is actually being done for the Lord. If God is using a person there will be evidence. In Paul’s example, the man was leading multitudes to the Lord, people were getting healed, many miracles were performed, and he was starting churches. How could anyone stand there and

Did you miss Brother Bryan' Kilpatrick's II Thessalonians chapter 2 lesson?  It is now available .

Beware the Yoke Bill Brinkworth One of the principles that will distinguish a strong Christian from a weak one, when practiced, is taught in II Corinthians 6. Not adhering to God’s teaching on this doctrine has ruined many Christian lives and testimonies. It is the number one robber of joy for a child of God. The doctrine Paul teaches in this chapter is the separation of a Christian from those who are not saved (II Cor. 6:14-17). “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” II Corinthian 6:14 The double-negatived “not unequally yoked” can be somewhat confusing to our modern vernacular, but it simply means “do not be yoked together with unbelievers.” The yoke spoken of here is referring to the wooden implement that bound two farm animals together. It was common that two oxen or mules would be joined together with this device so that they could plow a field to

Daily Devotional in I Corinthians 8 Daily Nugget: Paul dealt, in this chapter, with yet another problem those in the Corinthian church were facing. At the time there was much idolatry occurring in the area. Food, including meat, was given to the “gods”. As part of the worship, many ate the meat. Some of the Christians got very upset if any child of God ate the meat. There was much contention in the church over this matter. The preacher knew there were no other “gods”, so it did not bother him to eat meat given to a non-existent deity. He saw, however, how many were offended over this practice. His recommendation, in such a situation, was a wise suggestion. He knew that many of those that were offended by the eating of the meat were weak Christians. Maybe some of the converts had just gotten saved and come from a background of worshipping the different idols. For this reason, Paul said if it was going to offend someone not to eat the meat. It would be a terrible thing if a person

Hear Pastor Rickey Lance's Wednesday night lesson from his continuing series on the life of Christ. The Lesson is in Luke 9 and can be heard at:  Life of Christ.

Daily Devotional in I Corinthians 7: In this chapter, Paul gave those in the Corinthian church some marital advice. In verse 13-20 the preacher addressed one problem that had most likely been asked him: What should one do if one is married to an unsaved person. His wisdom was to stay together, if the other person was willing to.   It must be one of the most difficult situations, when one is married to an unsaved person. The Bible advises a Christian to never marry an unsaved person to begin with (II Cor. 6:14), but it does occur. Perhaps a person did not know about what God had said about it; they thought the person would get saved or they could change them; or they may have gotten saved after the vows were said. No matter how the situation occurred, many have found themselves in the situation where one spouse is not saved.   Paul’s advice was not to separate. His advice was, if the mate was pleased to stay, to let them stay (vss. 12-14). Such a situation is most difficult a

Pastor Rickey Lance's Leviticus 19 lesson from August 29. 2-18 is now available at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=N1xTm0WZ4u4&t=84s

Perishing Together “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” Prov. 13:20 Recently, I saw a photograph that showed a biblical principle quite clearly.  In the snapshot was a tangle of two large snakes.   A King Cobra had bitten a large Boa Constrictor behind its head and hung on to it with its deadly bite.  In reaction, the constrictor quickly wrapped its large muscular body around the Cobra’s body. In a short time, both died.  The constrictor eventually died because of the Cobra’s venom. The Cobra died of the other snakes unrelenting death squeeze. Both snakes died because of the other’s harmful action. So many people are similarly a danger to each other and are not aware of their “death grip” on others.  They live the way they think or feel is right to them. Many times, they even encourage others to live just as they do, even if it is against common sense and contrary to God’s will.  In the end, both suffer great los

Did you miss Pastor Rickey Lance's  September 9, 2018's Sunday Morning Message?  It. is now downloaded and you can hear it at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4qLX-jwutI&t=0s&list=PL9AnO3QVYiX8eGjfiBv5U8yZhUuzSGd3f&index=23

We caught up with loading some more of Mount Pleasant sermons and lessons on YouTube.  If you missed Brother Blalock's August 30 message you can listen to it now.