I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I had a great Thanksgiving.  It started kinda early but was it was fun.  I learned how to stitch someone up who gets hurt.  Ron passed out Wednesday night and took a nasty fall.  His nose was broke, and his lip was busted up pretty bad.  He also hurt his neck.  However, his neck is not broke and we are very glad about that.  I never though I would have so much fun in the emergency room that early in the morning on Thanksgiving.  Sherry and I laughed so hard at Ron as he talked out of his head, but that was only after we knew he was gonna be alright.  Then the doctor let me watch as he put 19 stitches in Ron’s nose and lip.  Ron is now at home healing,  Sherry said she is keeping him knocked out so he can heal.  So be praying for him.

Then after dropping Ron off at home, I began eating.  I really had fun hanging out with the family.  We went to Daniel and Susan’s house for lunch.  We ate, ate, and ate before playing games.  Then we went to the Rudolph’s and ate some more.  Do you think it’s sinful to ask God to bless food when you know that you are sinning by eating it?  I mean really.  I looked at that cake on the Rudolph’s table and knew I was to full to eat any, but I asked for a piece anyway.  Then had the nerve to ask God to bless it.  You know how we like to compare ourselves to others so that we can feel better about ourselves.  I caught myself  doing that when I was biting down on that moist vanilla cake with butter white icing and coconut sprinkles all over the sides.  I said to the Lord, “I’ve only been to two Thanksgiving gatherings today.  What about Matt and Melanie?  They just left going to like their fourth or fifth gathering.  They should be in trouble, not me!”  I don’t know if He got on to them or not, but He didn’t stop getting on to me.

I hope all of you had a good time without sinning as I did.  I look forward to seeing all of you in church Sunday morning.  Don’t forget to be practicing your Christmas songs for Sunday night.  Sunday night will be our fifth Sunday singing.  We want to make it all about Christmas.  I can’t believe it’s almost December.  Time flies when your having fun.  I really am having so much fun here.  I love you guys so much, and I want to thank all of you for loving me and my family.  We’ve not been here a year yet and you guys treat us like we are a part of your families.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

I want to thank you Lord for everything you have done in my life.  I’m so glad you are in control of my life and not me.  I don’t know what you have in store for me for the rest of my life, but I’m excited about living it because I know you are there with me every step of the way.  I love you!

In Christ,

Toby

November 22, 2009 Luke 17:11-19
 

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November 8, 2009 John 4:27-38
 

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We had an amazing time in the Bahamas.  We had so much fun and ate so much food.  We had steak, shrimp, crab cakes, lobster, duck, lamb, chicken, and did I mention Lobster.  I ate four lobster plates Tuesday night.  It was so good, and they would bring as much as we wanted.  We arrived home last night and the first thing we ate when getting to Henryville was a 99 cent cheeseburger from McDonalds.  My stomach was like, “whats up with this; what happen to the good food”. That cheese burger was a reality check.

I want to thank everyone for allowing us to go on this vacation.  I want to give a special thanks to Charlie and Barbra Hester for watching our children for the week.  You are awesome!  I also want to thank Matt for filling the pulpit while I was away.  I hear that he did a great job, and I want to thank him for all the hard work.

That being said, I can’t wait to get back in the pulpit.  Woo hoo!!  I may preach a couple hours Sunday to make up for lost time LOL!!  We really missed all of you and can’t wait to see you Sunday.  I will be preaching about being thankful.  So please come and worship the Lord with us.

I was excited to hear about the massive amounts of food that the youth got through the scavenger hunt.  Go youth!!  I was also excited to hear about all the help we had at the food pantry last Saturday.  I can’t wait to go tomorrow to help with the Thanksgiving baskets.  I was also thrilled to hear that our church gave 180 shoe boxes for operation Christmas child.  Wow!! I heard it was double what we gave last year.  That’s awesome.  Thanks to all of you, and thanks to Sherry for all her hard work promoting it.  Just think, that’s 180 kids who will hear the gospel through the efforts of First Baptist.

I can’t wait to see you all Sunday, and don’t forget that we are going to be going to the Memphis Methodist Church for a Thanksgiving service Sunday night.  We are going to meet at the church and carpool over there because they have limited parking.

Your pastor,

Toby Jenkins

BOOK REVIEW OF ZONDERVAN ILLUSTRATED BIBLE BACKGROUNDS COMMENTARY, VOLUME 3

by Rev. William J. Mazey

Walton, John H., general editor. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, vol. 3. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. 2009. 529.

Introduction

Do we really need another set of commentaries on the Old Testament? I have to admit that I was asking myself that question when I read about the contest on the Koinonia blog. But I entered the contest anyway, not thinking that I would win. But I was one of the people chosen to receive one volume of the five volume set. My responsibility for winning this free volume was to review it and post the review on a blog.

I chose to receive and review volume 3, which covers 1 Kings through Esther. My first reason for choosing this volume is that Nehemiah is one of my favorite Old Testament books. My second reason is that I am preparing to preach through Ezra followed by Nehemiah after the first of the year. Third, I figured I cannot have too many commentaries on Ezra/Nehemiah. My reasoning for entering the contest may have been flawed, but I won and received the commentary. Then I began to go through it.

Summary

The look of the commentary is actually quite impressive. The book itself is larger than most commentaries. The type of paper used and the text type make it very easy to read. There are many pictures and illustrations included to help the reader with insight into the Biblical setting. The pictures and illustrations are literally quite impressive. Most readers will be surprised at the number and quality of the pictures.

The general editor gives opening remarks on the methodology used in preparing the commentary. These are both interesting and helpful. The General Bibliography is also helpful. Each book ends with a Bibliography and Chapter Notes. There are a very large number of references cited. Each individual author did a lot of work in preparing their commentary. The commentaries could be considered both academic and practical.

Critical Evaluation

I glanced over the sections of 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles and Esther. They seem to be very good and well constructed. They should prove to be valuable assets to my library. Since I am preparing to preach through Ezra and Nehemiah I spent more time on going through each of these sections. They have already proved their worth to me in as I do my sermon preparation.

I would like to give one example from both Ezra and Nehemiah as to their benefit to my study. The following is an excerpt from pages 418-419. The People’s Response (10:1-4). Weeping and throwing himself down 10:1. Weeping, not silently but aloud, like laughing is contagious. The people also wept bitterly…….. Ezra kept on throwing himself down on the ground. He had been kneeling before. The prophets and other leaders sometimes used object lessons, even bizarre actions, to attract people’s attention… Kidner comments, “Instead of whipping a reluctant people into action, Ezra has pricked their conscience to the point at which they urge him to act.” To me, Ezra was modeling what the people needed to do. They needed to repent with all honesty and urgency before God. Ezra and the people are in this together.

The second example comes from page 441 and the comments are from the familiar passage of Nehemiah 8:10. “The joy” occurs only here and in 1 Chronicles 16:27. Most commentators interpret this joy as having the Lord as its object. In other words, our joy in the Lord as we eat as we eat and labor before him will sustain us…. However, arguing from the fact that “strength” means “stronghold, fortress”…..Wong has argued for “the joy of the Lord” as a subjective genitive, that is the Lord’s joy in us, as that makes more sense. He suggests, “In other words, it is Yahweh’s joy over his people that is the basis for the hope that they will be saved or protected from his anger. Thinking practically doesn’t it make you feel both secure and strong knowing that Almighty God has joy in you?

Both of these books are covered well by the author. He presents a good addition to the Ezra/Nehemiah library of commentaries. There are 329 Chapter Notes on these two books, not counting the Sidebar and Chart Notes. It appears to be a thorough study of Ezra/Nehemiah.

Summary

This volume has proved valuable to me in my sermon preparation. It is a good size and easy to read. I did receive volume 3 for free, but I was not paid for this review. If the other volumes in the five volume set are as good as this one, I would recommend this set to any pastor to purchase and use. This commentary set would also be a good addition to any church that has a library. The bottom line is it is good! Get it and use for the glory of God.

We leave in the morning heading to Cincinnati to catch a plane to Jacksonville.  Then Saturday morning we get on the boat headed to the Bahamas.  We will celebrate our anniversary of  14 years  cruising on the Atlantic.  I plan to write a post or two from the Bahamas.

My wife:

My wife is the most amazing woman, and I love her with all my heart.  It is truly amazing what God has done in our lives.  The first part of our marriage was bad.  Our relationship was so bad that no one in either one of our families thought we would make it.  Even after being married for some time Sonia’s nieces didn’t  call me uncle.  I didn’t blame their parents either.  I let drugs and alcohol take control of my life, but my precious wife stayed by my side through thick and thin.  She never left me, even when I treated her so horrible.  She is a gift from God, and I am so thankful that God saved us.  In the words of Johnathan Edwards, she is a daughter of Abraham.  I am so thankful for her and can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her.  I just wanted to tell her publicly “HAPPY ANNIVERSARY”, and thank you for loving me!!!  Oh yeah, they call me uncle now!!

In Christ,

Toby

I just want all of you to know that I love you and I’m praying for God to draw you to Himself through this.  I have no idea what it feels like to lose a son.  The fact is, most people don’t know what you are going through, but I know someone who does.  Our Lord knows exactly what it’s like to loose a Son.  However, He didn’t loose a Son, He gave His Son to bear His wrath in our place.  That’s a thought that goes beyond anything we can comprehend.  The Bible says that it pleased the Father to crush the Son.  God’s love for us is so amazing.  I just want you to know that He knows what you are going through, and He loves you more than you love yourselves.  Philippians 4:6-7 says, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  I know that the days ahead of you will be hard, but I want you to know that you don’t have to face them alone, for He will never leave you or forsake you.  And I want you to know that I and this church will walk through those days with you.

A word to the Church:

Thank you Church family for pouring your love out on this family like you have.  It is awesome to see the  flock, God called me to under shepherd,  sharing each others pain and sorrow.  When one hurts we all hurt.  You all showed through your actions that we are growing in unity and becoming the body of Christ that He would have us to be.  To God be the Glory!!!!!!!  May we continue to share in their grief in the days, weeks, months, and years to come.

Your Pastor,

Toby Jenkins

Our hearts are heavy for the Rudolph family who lost their beloved son Tim Rudolph.  We want to invite everyone to the visitation and service.

Visitation: Monday-2:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. @ Pyke Funeral Home in Henryville.

Funeral Service: Tuesday-11:00 a.m. @ First Baptist Church Henryville.

The family ask for all donations to be made in the name of Seth Johnson at New Washington State Bank

If you need directions to the First Baptist Church just click on the Direction tab under About us.

Hello everyone!  I hope that your doing good.  I’ve been so busy with finishing school, writing sermons, and deer hunting that I’ve not been writing to many blogs these days.  I have one more week of school and then I’ll be able to breath again.  I really miss visiting everyone, having plenty of time to prepare a sermon, and reading the books I want.  Just one more week.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  But to be honest, I really enjoy school.  I love the academic setting and always knowing what’s going on in the theological world.  Yesterday I sat in on a panel discussion about whether or not the multi-site church is biblical.  Then went to Systematic class and talked about penal substitution.  After Theology class I went and listened to Stephen J. Nichols deliver the Gheens Lectures, “Cultivating the Garden: Theology as Image-Bearing,”. Don’t be jealous, that’s sinful.

Well it is time for me to head back to school for another fun filled day.  I hope everyone is enjoying this weather.  Be praying for my wife.  She is so excited about going to the Bahamas that I’m scared she gonna have a heart attack or stroke.  I’ll see you all tonight at the business meeting.  To God be the Glory for the great things He has done.

Your pastor,

Toby Jenkins

If you have prayer requests for your brothers and sisters in Christ to lift before the Lord during November, Click on Prayer Requests for November 2009  above, then type the prayer request in the comment box below.