Short Studies | Stephen Baker Books

“I Remember The Day The Lord Saved Me" (Larry Styles Testimony)

Thu, 13 Mar 2014 18:18:59 -0400

“I Remember The Day That The Lord Saved Me”

A STORY OF HOPE

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

(2 Corinthians 5:17)

Larry Styles is an amazing man. Amazing, because of what God has done in his life. Larry is a member of Whitfield Baptist Church in Dalton, Georgia and serves there as a Deacon. Every week, he goes to the Whitfield County Jail, to minister to the men who are incarcerated there. Larry is married and has two children. God has used his life in a great way, to have a positive impact on many people.

It was not always this way though. Larry was a founding member of a local street gang. He was a drug dealer and addict, and an inmate in the same correctional system where he now ministers. I know Larry Styles personally, and he is for real. God has radically changed his life. Here is his story...

A Troubled Past

My name is Larry Styles.4 I'm a member of Whitfield Baptist Church. I'm an ex-drug addict/dealer and convicted felon. I've been in and out of jail since I was fifteen years old. I was a member of the “Rat Hole Gang” from 1972 until 1981. I've been arrested for burglary, assault, contributing, three misdemeanor and two felony drug charges.

Overcoming Anger

Tue, 11 Mar 2014 00:00:09 -0400

OVERCOMING ANGER

The Bible gives us the formula for true anger management

Nothing can cause problems for you and others like a bad temper. The Bible has much to say about the dangers of anger. For instance, “Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.” (Proverbs 22:24, 25) God’s Word also has good things to say about those who are slow to become angry. “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” (Proverbs 16:32)

Given what the Bible says about anger, how can we learn to control our tempers? God’s Word has the answer. “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19, 20)

Often, arguments escalate into fighting and violence because the other person does not really understand what we are trying to say and we do not understand fully what they are trying to say. Because of our different personalities and methods of expression, there is a natural arc of distortion when we talk to one another.

How To Study The Bible

Tue, 25 Feb 2014 18:18:22 -0500

Interpretation: Understanding God’s Word.

From the upcoming book The Written Word - Bibliology from an Independent Baptist Perspective

Through Illumination God teaches us His words. Through Interpretation we use rules of Bible study to understand God’s Word. It is both necessary for God to illuminate His Word, and for us to use proper methods of interpretation. This is because the human mind is a filter, through which information can be distorted by preconceived notions, and points of view. Whether we recognize it or not, believers from Pentecostal backgrounds come to the Bible with one point of view. Believers from Calvinist backgrounds come with another; and non-Calvinistic Baptists come with still another. Imagine, for instance, if a teacher were instructing students from a Communist society about the importance of Democracy. No matter what the teacher said, the students would have been programed to believe differently. The same is true with understanding the Bible. We need rules of interpretation to get around our own backgrounds, and points of view. The Bible cautions us to, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." - (2 Timothy 2:15)

Overcoming Revenge

Fri, 13 Dec 2013 17:51:32 -0500

REVENGE

Putting vengeance in its proper place

In ancient Israel, God gave a very strict civil law for the Jewish people to follow. For example, “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” (Exodus 21:24, 25) This was the law of the nation of Israel: exact justice for any wrong done to another.

In the New Testament, Jesus taught that Christians should live their personal lives in an entirely different way. “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:43-45)

Revenge, is rooted in our desire to get back at someone for a wrong that they have done to us. We tend to be very sympathetic to ourselves when we do wrong to others. However, we have little patience with others when they wrong us. The Bible does not teach that revenge is wrong. It just teaches that revenge does not belong to us. It belongs to God.

Overcoming Bitterness

Tue, 10 Dec 2013 21:24:26 -0500

OVERCOMING BITTERNESS

Getting the sour out of your soul

The Apostle Peter said to Simon the Sorcerer, a man who tried to buy the power of the Holy Spirit with money, “For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” (Acts 8:23) Bitterness is something that can hold you in bondage, take away your joy and leave you living under a cloud of pain, anger and depression. Anger turned out is wrath. Anger turned in is bitterness. If we think of bitterness as a tree, it all starts with a seed.

THE SEED of bitterness may be something hurtful that someone has said to you. It may be something bad that someone has done to you. Whatever it is, if internalized and left unforgiven, it will lead to a root.

THE ROOT of bitterness fixes itself in your heart and mind. It causes you to hold on to bitter memories of wrongs that others have done to you. Just as it is hard to pull a well-rooted weed out of the ground, it is hard to remove bitterness from your soul. Bitter roots inside create bitter fruits outside.