Pastor John Scripture References: Matthew, Mark and John

  German bombers dropped deadly cargo into Liverpool’s heart, and many buildings were destroyed. However, for Christians, one of the most significant casualties of the 1941 Blitz was Church House, containing one of the finest private theological libraries in England. It belonged to J. C. Ryle, the first Anglican Bishop of Liverpool.

Pastor John Scripture Reference: John:9:1-41

  As any athlete knows, pain is information, and useful information at that. As attractive as a world without pain might seem, the reality is far from desirable. The absence of pain is a serious pathology, characteristic of leprosy. The leper’s great curse is that he cannot feel pain, so, without realizing it, he puts his hand in the fire, and it becomes burnt beyond use. His feet become damaged and infected without his knowledge, and untreated, they are ruined.

  6 And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” Genesis 6:6-7 (ESV)

  A year after Hitler’s land-slide referendum confirming him as Führer in 1935, the German city of Berlin hosted the International Congress for Population Science. The aim of the conference was to bring together the world’s leading eugenicists, population scientists, and anthropologists. The meetings “marked the apex of international support of Nazi race policies.”1

  Aiden Wilson Tozer was a minister of the Christian and Missionary Alliance who served for almost five decades in the United States and Canada. He spent thirty-one years at Chicago’s Southside Alliance Church, whose congregation increased tenfold under Tozer’s preaching. Among his many books are The Pursuit of God, Knowledge of the Holy, and Success and the Christian.  In this passage he talks about the paradoxical nature of genuine Christianity.

  The First Baptist Church of Perryville will have their church picnic/pig roast at noon on Saturday, August 9 at McCoy’s Farm Pavilion at noon. Pork, hot dogs, drinks, condiments, and paper products will be provided by the fellowship team.  Please bring a covered dish or dessert (already sliced) to share.

Pastor Chris Scripture Reference: Colossians 4:2-6

  Peter Riddell is Professorial Dean of the Centre for the Study of Islam and Other Faiths of the Melbourne School of Theology in Australia. Today, the expression, “shari‘a” – as in “shari‘a law” and “shari‘a finance” – is heard with increasing frequency. It is important to get clear on just what shari‘a is, particularly since some Muslims wish to bring it to prominence and even dominance around the world.