By Mark Proctor
Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia

Focal Passage:  Ruth 1:6-18

In seminary we learned to think in terms of “doctrines.”  When we studied a passage, we were asked, “what doctrine is being taught here?  Is the doctrine of God?  Perhaps of atonement?” It’s a helpful approach when studying Ruth 1. We often zero in on verses 16 and 17 with their forceful commitments and conclude that “God is love.” Of course that’s true but there’s a more resounding doctrine.  Ruth 1 tells us about the doctrine of sanctification — how God uses time, trouble, and tenacity to create in us a heart that can be used for His purposes.   [Read more…]

By Mark Proctor
Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia

Focal Passage:  Judges 16:4-6,13-20

Cornelius Plantinga wrote a delightful little book called Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be (Eerdmans, 1995) that every one of us should read. It’s about sin and sin’s opposite, shalom with God.  There, he states, “… shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight — a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed … in other words … the way things ought to be.” God has a way things ought to be, a perfect order and a perfect peace. [Read more…]

By Mark Proctor
Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia

Focal Passage:  Judges 6:11-16, 25-32

My wife Cynthia once was arranging a table decoration in the house and asked me, “Is this okay?”  It seemed a silly question because no one on the planet is less qualified to approve table decorations than me and she knows it. I’ve had a full decorating bypass. So how do we respond when asked to do something for which we are so clearly unqualified? We cower; we make jokes; we question the sanity and purpose of the one asking us in the first place. Quickly turning to glance behind me as if she were speaking to someone else, I replied to Cynthia, “Are you talking to me?” [Read more…]

By Mark Proctor
Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia

Focal Passages: Judges 4:4-10, 12-16

Even a cursory examination of Israel’s history in the book of Judges will reveal a glaring theme:  Israel had been given the land, every inch of it, and “no man shall be able to stand …” (Joshua 1:5 ESV). This was God’s plan. And as is too often the case, mankind had a better plan. The closing strains of the book of Judges tell us what it was: “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25) even forgetting the Lord their God (Judges 3:7). They forgot God and did their own thing, with predictable results:  the enemy “persisted in dwelling” in the land God had given to His children (Judges 1:35).

And there is the classic struggle in the life of all God’s children. His way which results in promise and blessing or our way which results in constant battle with the enemy. Such was Israel’s existence, such is ours. How refreshing it is when God sends a willing human voice, bold and confident, to speak to us straight from God’s heart. When we first meet the prophetess Deborah in Judges 4 we know little of her background and less of her qualifications. But we know she is willing to go, willing to speak, sitting under the palm of Deborah judging Israel, getting up and going with Barak. Her speech and her actions all testified to her willingness. [Read more…]

By Mark Proctor
Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia

Focal Passage: Proverbs 24:10-12; Mark 10:46-49

The day comes for us all, the day we have to take a stand. Scrawny little Ted Newton had to take a stand against school bus bullies in the 1992 classic movie Beethoven. When enough finally became enough, Ted stepped off the bus, turned to face his rivals, and raised his little miniature fists only to see his enemies cower with fear and retreat. His bravery worked. In the midst of his self-congratulations for his prowess, he failed to see his hulking dog Beethoven who had been standing behind him all along. The bullies saw Beethoven but little Ted didn’t. And the bullies fled.

Our previous studies in Joshua reminded us over and over the command of the Lord, “be strong and courageous.” Courage and strength are commands for the faithful not for personal gain but for the glory of God. The precious texts in today’s study give us a practical application of that courage:  to “rescue those who are being taken away to death” and “… those who are stumbling to the slaughter” (Proverbs 24:11 ESV) and those who are cast away from society (Mark 10). [Read more…]

By Mark Proctor
Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia

Focal Passage: Joshua 24:14-28

I have a treasured book in my study containing some of history’s greatest speeches. I often read them finding myself wishing that I could compose and deliver such stirring homilies. What made those speeches great was not the composition but the passionate soul of the speaker. In Joshua 24, we hear the passion of the retiring, elderly Joshua as he delivers one of his last lectures. “Choose. Choose today. You’ll worship something, with your time, your money, your eyes, and your heart. And you have plenty of options.  But you have to choose today just like I have.” [Read more…]

 

By Mark Proctor
Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia

Focal Passage: Joshua 22:1-8

An experienced backpacker will tell you in chilling detail of the dangers of reaching the summit after a long ascent up a mountain. With muscles weakened by fatigue and clothes soaked with sweat, the high country winds above the tree line can bring on hypothermia quickly. The top is no place to forget the rules.

In the 22nd chapter Joshua is dealing with the same human tendency among the children of Israel. The battles have been fought and it’s time to rest. “Go to your tents,” he says, “but don’t forget the rules.”  [Read more…]

By Mark Proctor
Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia

Focal Passage: Luke 1:26-38

Twenty years ago, on the same week God called me from the engineering business into the ministry, my wife delivered another announcement:  we were expecting our third child. I was terrified — a career change and an unexpectedly expanding family.  At once, natural, human emotions threatened to eclipse the sovereignty of God. That balance is the struggle that makes up the fabric of every human soul. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was no exception. [Read more…]

By Mark Proctor
Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia

Focal Passage: Joshua 10:6-14

Remember the old western movies with their dramatic musical scores? You could watch with your eyes closed and tell when the plot was about to change. The music became louder and more intense, the action slowed, and everyone prepared for a shoot out. Justice was at hand.

The Bible contains those same pivotal moments. One such moment occurs in Joshua 9:14 where we read that the inhabitants of Gibeon, the very ones Joshua was to clear out of the land, heard Joshua was coming so they came to Joshua incognito and in fear, seeking a protective order. Joshua was wary and “… did not ask counsel from the Lord” (Joshua 9:14) but entered into a covenant with them. Cue the music. This is serious. Three days later when Israel arrived at their cities, they learned the truth:  they had been taken in by imposters, tricked into agreeing not to attack the very people God sent them to attack — all because they didn’t seek the counsel of the Lord. [Read more…]

By Mark Proctor
Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia

Focal Passage:  Joshua 6:12-25

Teachers, look at your students. Pastors, look at your congregants, and parents, look at your children. Those are warriors, battle-weary with hearts hurting from skirmishes in a mean, merciless world. What will we tell them?

Joshua faced the same dilemma. As God’s leader he had to tell God’s wearied children how they were to move ahead to a land God had given them. We usually go over the walls; this time we go around.  We usually shout to scare the enemy. This time, we’ll remain silent at first. And instead of the ark being only a part of our worship now it is part of our battle also. In this sixth chapter Joshua told his warriors that God has predetermined the people, the process, and the product.  Their job only was to trust and obey. [Read more…]