Mitchell Landress

Basking In The Promise of The Incarnation A promise is only good if someone keeps it. Great promises require great people. The greater the promise, the greater the need for the person making the promise to be great. Long ago a man, a woman, and a serpent stood before God in the midst of a beautiful garden. Each cowering in shame before their Maker. Lawlessness had been unleashed, depravity now flooded into the hearts of mankind and the close presence of God was now removed. Hope was lost and death was imminent. Then God made a promise – a great promise. The serpent would be crushed, the power of death would be taken back and the rebellion that separated God and man would be atoned for. One would come forth from God to rule the nations with a rod of iron, to sit on the throne of an eternal kingdom, and bring everlasting peace to a world in turmoil. Who could fulfill such a great promise? The world waited for an answer. They looked to altars of sacrifice, anointed priests in holy attire,

Are We To Be Removed From Suffering? Often the argument comes up, when the church is discussing the tribulation that is to come at the end of the age, that God will not allow those whom He loves to go through such tribulation. There are at least two reasons why we must proclaim this to be false. First, there is no way to reconcile the presence of martyrs in the book of Revelation and the exalted status that they receive with the idea that Christians are removed from trouble. This would mean that some Christians received a preferred treatment. It is true that God is capable of keeping His own from tribulation (Rev. 3:10), but at the same time there is much to be gained from laying down your life for the gospel (Rev. 6:9-11). There is also a second reason why we believe that God’s ultimate desire is not to keep us from trials and tribulations. The reason is that He is able to keep us safe through the tribulation. The idea here is paralleled to the way that God keeps us safe in death. Whe

Our secretary asked me this morning to write out a list of all the things that I am thankful for so that they could be published in our church's weekly Enewsletter. So I gave it some thought. I wanted to be specific, because true gratitude is specific. The list is numerous and goes from the very serious to the very silly. Still, it is all true of me and in writing out the list I found that I am a grateful person. I encourage you to write out your own. Here is mine. The Spirit of Christ within me that both teaches me from His Word and disciplines my rebellion. Numerous copies of the Scriptures that water my thirsty soul. A beautiful wife who reminds me daily of the importance of laughter and still enjoys holding my hand. A wonderful son whose smile is as constant as it is contagious. Parents who are still giddy in love with each other. The youth who refresh me weekly with their questions about Scripture and ability to laugh at me and themselves. Those of the congregation who never c

Can We Be Grateful When Life Is Too Good? Thanksgiving is an act of faith. It is the response of a submissive creature to its Creator. In Leviticus, Israel is instructed to bring offerings of thanksgiving to God. Throughout Psalms David sings praises of thanksgiving to the Lord for His deliverance and protection. Isaiah gave thanks to God when he saw through revelation what the future of Israel would be. Jesus, on the night of His arrest, gave thanks as He shared the Passover with His disciples. Thanksgiving is not about the comfort of our situation. Offerings were made by the Levites while they wandered through the wilderness. David wrote Psalms of thanksgiving in the midst of constant warfare. Isaiah gave thanks to God for the distant future, knowing that in the short-term his nation would be destroyed. Jesus ministered out of a thankful heart, knowing that His betrayal and crucifixion were imminent. Thanksgiving is not the response of pleasant situation, it is the resolve and trust

Reflection On How To Celebrate Halloween Halloween is not what it used to be. Even in my generation we have seen the face of Halloween change from a child centered holiday that was characterized by candy and silly costumes to an event that is now centered on fear and gore. The focus has even reached the level of theme park events being centered on horror. Busch Gardens in Tampa will host their Howl-O-Scream event again this year. Curious as to what was involved (after seeing a disturbing television commercial) I looked on their website and to my surprise I found that you had to be 13 years old to log in due to violent content. The question that must be asked by Christians is this – Is it good to willingly subject ourselves to fear? Fear is a very present reality in everyone’s life. Right or wrong we have enough real fear in our lives without subjecting ourselves to greater and false fears. As Christians we are commanded to fear God and God only (Proverbs 1:7. Matthew 10:26-28). As Jesu

Do We Suffer The Problem Of The Corinthians? Last weekend my wife and I went with some friends to Walt Disney World for their Annual Christian concert "Night of Joy" The concert was sold out and I was looking forward to spending a few hours in worship with several hundred believers. What I ran into was not at all what I expected to find. One concert that Jennifer and I were most intent on seeing was David Crowder. He is known for his Christ centered lyrics and uplifting rhythms. As soon as we walked into the venue I realized that Disney had erred in their choice of location. The concert area was far too small and even though we were there forty minutes before it began, the crowd was pouring out of the room. The security immediately roped off the area and would not allow anyone else to enter. This was not the problem. The problem came when other people who had been in the concert and had left to go to the bathroom or to get drinks tried to return. The security would not let th

The Weakness of Islamic Evangelism Lately I have been struck by the testimony of those who have suffered at the hands of kidnappers in Iraq. One issue that comes to the front of my mind is Islamic evangelism. Christian Science Monitor reporter Jill Carroll spoke to ABC News of her captors holding her at gunpoint and forcing her to read the Koran, which she did. After several days they asked why she had not yet converted to their beliefs. Explaining that she needed more time she continued to read. Again the question came to her about conversion. Finally and saddest of all, she told them that she would convert because she feared for her life. But this leaves us with a strange view of the Koran and the way that Islam chooses to do their evangelism. If the Koran were powerful in and of itself, those who seek to convert Christians to Islamic beliefs would not need to use guns in the process. That is, you should automatically appeal to your most powerful source. The fact that they use guns s

Reflections On Biblical Wisdom And Cooperate Ideology I have a friend, who some would consider young, who pastors a moderate size church in, well ...we will just call it a large state. Paul graduated High School on time and went straight to College. After college Paul went to Seminary with no break in between. He finished both college and seminary in a timely manner. It also needs to be said that his academic achievements were outstanding in both college and seminary. Paul, however, finished seminary at the age of 26. By most peoples standards Paul is a young man. He is not immature. He married and has one child. Most importantly, he is a man of strong convictions, all of which are grounded in the truth of God’s Word. Worldly experience is not on his resume, neither is any bad church experience. So why do so many men like Paul have a hard time gaining trust for leadership in their church? More than this, why are so many churches reluctant to hire young men as their pastors? The answer

Reflections on Sending Our Students Back To School Each August brings a big day for many of our students. The first day of school yeilds feelings of both excitement and anxiety. Several of our students are entering into their last year of public school before they go off to college. They are excited about senior privileges; parking spaces, graduation photos, college applications, and completing the work that will lead them to their graduation day. Others are starting over at a new school with all of the fears and expectations that accompany that process. Part of me wants to go with them, not just because I enjoyed my days in school, but because I genuinely want what is best for them. While I cannot get on the school bus with them (nor would they want me to) that faithful morning, my prayers will go with them. When the Apostle Paul was writing to the church at Ephesus, from his prison cell, he had this same sort of concern. He wanted to be there with the congregation, but could not. So

Reflections on Scripture Memorization Most spiritual disciplines can be accounted for by the budgeting of your time. Taking time to read your Bible, time to pray, time to witness to other people, but one spiritual discipline stands out from the rest. This is the discipline of Scripture memorization. It seems that it is easy to remember all sorts of things. I can remember my wife’s cell phone number, countless user names and passwords, and my personal favorite – song lyrics. I have countless songs stuck in my brain from the not-so-fabulous 80’s. Oh, that my brain were a hard drive that I could go in a delete out all the junk and then defragment for extra space. No such luck! Scripture memorization is so much harder to remember than any of these. Why? I really do not know for sure, but I have an idea. I think it is due to the fact that Scripture is living and active. So it just doesn’t go in peacefully. It goes in cleaning house and the flesh fights against it. In essence, Scripture memo

Reflection on Attempting To Make Godly Decisions A brief overview of 2 Samuel gives us a peculiar insight into the mind of God, at least I think it does. This is why I doubt myself. Jeremiah tells us that "the heart is more deceitful than anything else and desperately sick – who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:8-10, HSB). Therefore, I cannot judge right and wrong simply on my feelings, though I do find myself following them too often. Since my heart is sick it must stand in judgment of something else –God, and how He has spoken through Scripture. Now back to David in 2 Samuel. David had a desire to build God a house and the reason appears to be that David’s palace was nicer than the tabernacle. Man’s judgment was wrong, but it did not sound wrong. Even Nathan told David to proceed with his plans – that was before the Lord spoke to him (2 Samuel 7:4vv). The Lord would not allow David to build the temple, which seems to be a rejection of David as a person or at least as a king

Reflections On A Week In Mexico When Matthew records Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five, the first of the beatitudes is recorded like this – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. Luke shortens this phrase and leaves it simply as “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 6:20). Now it could be that Luke means exactly the same thing and has taken “in spirit” as an assumed part of the phrase, but it could be more. In fact Luke gives great attention to the poor in his gospel and frequently brings them to the forefront. The question is left for us though – is there anything great about being poor? It is hard to imagine, especially living in such a materially saturated society that being poor could have a blessing to it. Often the poor of society receive the worst of public education, the least of health care and live life entirely in the day with no security of tomorrow. So what is it that God could possibly have

Is it ok to blend in with pop culture's music? Driving back from the Southern Baptist Convention gave me a lot of time to think. With my wife and son in the back seat asleep and with the cruise control set on the speed limit, sternly fixed in the slow lane, the mind wanders to the deep truths of Scripture. One thing occurred to me in my long trek home- my taste in music has definitely changed. I remember when I became a Christian. The music that I listened to felt wrong for the first time and so I quickly found “Christian” music that sounded a lot like the secular music that enjoyed. I found it of course, it is not hard when I look back, it seems that most CCM artist today make new Christians their target audience. Unfortunately, many Christians never get beyond this point- which brings me to my point ... and I do have one. Being conformed into the image of Christ is a process, brought on by the work of the Spirit inside of us. He does this by giving us a progressively purer image

Meditation on Mark 1:21-28 It must seem peculiar to some that church can be so boring to so many people far so long a period of time. What is amazing is that so many people are comfortable with "boring church." When Jesus went into the synagogue at Capernaum in Mark chapter one- things were anything but boring. Why?-that would be a great place to start asking our questions. Two things stand at the forefront. One, Jesus taught with authority. Too much teaching in church is done in a spirit of weakness and lack of confidence in the text of Scripture. When we gain confidence in God's Word as innerant, infallable, and inspired our preaching cannot be without authority. How could they be - the words are straight from the mind of God. Therefore, they must be both authoritative and bold. Secondly, we see Jesus confront a man with an unclean spirit. What is a man with an unclean spirit doing in the synagogue you might ask? Another good question, but we see uncleaness scattered th

Being a father is no small matter. Daily I am confronted with seeing the fruit of bad parenting. When I leave my home in the morning the students at the bus stop reflect it. As I pass by the local high schools I see it in greater numbers. Even in the church I work at I see it. Children are rebellious against authority, angry in their speech, mean to their peers, and constantly ready to fight. If not this, the opposite is true. Students are often withdrawn, separate- living in a constant state of hopelessness. Why? This is something I need to know and I need the answer soon. If there is any way that I can avoid seeing my son end up this way I will take any and every measure to do so. The Apostle Paul makes two comments that read almost the same and taken together they seem to function as a whole. In Ephesians 6:4 he says: Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. In Colossians 3:21 the phrasing is almost the same: Fa

Church should be a place of refuge and healing. After a long week out in the midst of the world we should come in the doors of our local church and enjoy the fellowship and refreshing that God’s people can share. Unfortunately, we tend to make it a place where we put on our best show. If we are not careful we will begin to dress like those around us, talk like those around us, and even pray like those around us. We do this out of a feeling that maybe we would not be accepted if people saw us for who we really are. Have you ever noticed that sometimes our prayers are more directed to the people beside us than the God who is among us? We mention upcoming events, troubles, and situations as if God needed to be informed by our knowledge. It is a great revelation and comfort to know that God knows the things that we need before we even ask Him (Luke 12:30). So how should we pray? I believe that a God honoring prayer should first and foremost be directed personally to God. Not just the openi

**The following was a thank you note written to pastor Ken Westbrook to go in the Sunday Bulletin on the weekend of His retirement. When the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Philippi he expressed his appreciation for them with these words. "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you." (Philippians 1:3) Literally, "on" or "upon" every remembrance. That is, every time that the church at Philippi crossed his mind it caused his heart to give thanks back to God for all the church had done for him. Every once in a while God will send someone into your life who will do just this. A simply thank you will not do, but for the rest of your life you will be grateful to God for what that one person has meant. I think I understand what Paul was expressing in these words. It was one year ago that I first received a phone call from Ken Westbrook. He talked fast, thought fast, and did not seem to be too impressed with me. For some reason, that I may never know, he call

Originally written on April 16, 2006 Each morning during my prayer time I pray that the Lord will give Noah two things. First, I pray that God will give him the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ and secondly I pray that the Lord will provide for him a wife to love him for the rest of his life. A good wife is essential to understanding the importance of church- we are the bride of Christ. The issue of salvation, however, is more pressing and reverberates through my mind all the day. There are at least two errors that I could make if am not careful and I try to keep myself aware of these constantly. First, there is the possibility that I (and the rest of the church as well) would forget that my son has inherited a sinful nature like the rest of mankind. He has and this is already evident. Therefore he is to be treated like every other child. Secondly, is the great possibility that I would try to force him to accept the message of the gospel. Ministers and parents alike fall into this tra

Originally written on February19, 2006 What does Martin Luther have to do with a True Love Waits Weekend? Good question! The question came after I skipped through the powerpoint of my sermon on the Sunday of True Love Waits . One of the slides that I skipped over had a reference to Martin Luther. I had to get my powerpoint presentation caught up with my talking. The reference to Martin Luther had a point. Actually, it was a good point and I wish that I had mentioned it. When Dr. Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church at Wittenburg in 1517, the first point on the document was that Jesus Christ meant for the entire Christian life to be lived as an act of repentance. The Catholic Church at the time was practicing penance occasionally and Luther took issue with this. So what does that have to do with True Love Waits? As sinful people we are all guilty of falling short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). There is no area of our lives that this rings true than in the area of sexual

Originally written on 12-18-2005 On December 9th Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media released The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. This movie, based on a series of children’s books by the late C.S. Lewis, has already proven to be a financial success with a weekend worldwide income of over $107 million. How the movie will set with both Christians and non-Christians is still yet to be seen. The Christian imagery in this movie is readily apparent to any believer, especially to those well-versed in Scripture. However, these images may not be as visible to those who do not come from a church background. We would do well to ask- was this Lewis’ intent? Though many people call the Chronicles of Narnia a Christian allegory, Lewis himself described them in a different fashion. Lewis refers to this tale as a "supposal." In his own words he states, "Supposing there was a world like Narnia, and supposing, like ours, it needed redemption, let us imagine

Originally written on October 16, 2005 In I Samuel 13:14, after Saul had acted in foolishness by sacrificing to the Lord, Samuel comes to him and tells him that his kingdom will not endure forever. Following this, he states that Saul will be replaced by a man who is "after [God’s] own Heart." What exactly does this mean? Saul had one overarching problem. He was afraid. He was afraid of people, he was afraid of giants, and he was afraid of a young boy who had the admiration of the people. He should not have been this way. The Bible states that he was tall and extremely handsome. Great qualifications for a king by this worlds standards- but not by God’s. Often when we think about David being labeled a man after God’s own heart we tend to think about a shepherd boy writing songs and playing a harp in the field and certainly this is a part of it. But I believe that the Bible calls David a man after God’s own heart because he refused to be afraid in the face of the enemy. He stood

Originally written on August 7, 2005 I remember the first time my father spoke to me as an adult. I was thirty. I had always looked up to my dad because he has many characteristics that are larger than life. Our relationship had always been that of a father and child. It did not change as I became a teenager and as I entered adulthood this unchanging relationship was the cause of much strain. So I was caught off guard as my dad began to speak to me over lunch one day at Chik-fil-a. As he spoke to me he began to confess the things that he had done wrong in raising my brother and me. It was a remarkable moment. Mainly because I noticed very few of his mistakes. He always worked to provide for us, loved my mother with all his heart, gave us plenty of hugs and kisses, and told us that he loved us everyday. So why would he admit to making mistakes in raising his children? After all, he had done a pretty exceptional job. The truth of the matter is that no matter how good we do as parents and

Written for the Mothers of Northwest Baptist Church Formed by the hands of God you were And taken from man’s side The crowning act of God’s creation And with you did abide The hope of earth’s redeemer The promise of a child In each and every young girls heart A desire to receive Grace from her Creator And not what can be achieved And grace it was from God’s own heart The joy of a babies smile Though labors brought this prize to her It was worth it all the while And grace it is and not reward Your Word has taught so clear The many women counted righteous Still shed their childless tears But for these many God did send One last child all His own To wash away the sins and pain Of wasted years unknown That sin did take its toll on us And now did come the cure From a virgin’s womb -a Son With blood that was so pure A gift to her and to us That all the world may know The greatness of a mother’s day When to the cross we go So we bring to all our moms A rose from all of us The greatest gift th

Written for the Senior Adults at Northwest Baptist Church A Word God spoke and by it made The earth and ocean’s wave A Word to keep and treasure for A generations sake A Word of promise, hope, and love And to the weak gives strength And if a man would keep this word His days would gather length And so a few did choose to seek This word of life from God And many days he granted them On this earth to trod The children follow these faithful guides And listen to their lore For in their heart they knew so well Their God they did adore A foundation strong and sure to stand God has built upon these wise And crowned them with a silver crown The Proverbs call a prize And so today with God we stand To honor and acclaim Your faithful service to the Word And treasure of His Name For what we carry you gave to us And on this foundation stand These faithful words you brought to us Are from our God’s Own hand

Originally written on July 24, 2005 On Tuesday The Oprah Winfrey Show aired an episode devoted to people who had suffered tremendous loss at the hands of other individuals. These parties were brought together under the pressure of extreme emotional scaring and anger. When these individuals were in front of each other they were asked to retell their side of the story, recall all of their feelings, admit their wrong doing, and ultimately ask for forgiveness from the individual that they had harmed. This so-called new approach has been labeled as "restorative justice." Oprah called it a radical new approach to emotional healing and was in awe at the success people found who took part in the exercise. What was not brought to the light was the fact that this approach is radical, but it is by no means new. In the New Testament James understood this principle very well. In James 5:16 he states "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you m

Originally written on July 17, 2005 Anyone who has ever read through the book of Exodus cannot help but notice the many commands of God to the people of Israel. These many commands can at times feel burdensome, especially when we don’t have a good idea as to why many of the commands were given to Israel. If we look carefully into the text we can find the occasional glimpse into what the Spirit intended when these Scriptures were written. As I look at the ministry of Youth and Children, all new verses leap out at me as I read through the Bible again this year. The other day I could not help but notice a few verses out of Exodus 12 and 13 that specifically speak to Youth Ministry and parenting. After God had told Moses what to do for the exodus and the preparation of the Passover (before the event actually occurred) he told them the reason why they must reenact this event yearly. In Exodus 12:26 God tells Moses "When your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean to you?’ you ar

Originally written on June 30, 2005 Being one of the few remaining families in the world who do not have some form of cable or satellite for their televisions, it is no surprise that the Landress home receives only one channel really well. So on Saturday morning I found myself in a place that I had not been in a long time. Enjoying the childhood pleasures of Sesame Street. Sesame Street is a place where you expect to hear songs that help you remember your numbers, alphabet, and colors. Most of which I am happy to say I still remember really well. What I did not expect to find was a lesson in Theology as I slowly sipped my coffee at 7 a.m. My theology lesson came to me via Cookie Monster. In typical fashion he was expounding on the wonderfulness that only a cookie can bring- a feeling that I share with this warm fuzzy creature. Then he made a comment that I will try to quote for you the best that I can. He said "Normally I would say that I am not going to eat cookie, but let’s face

June 1, 2006 Sin has a way of crippling us and it is not as obvious as we might think. Sin is subtle and comes to us in the most gentle of ways. When the writer of Hebrews attempts to encourage the church to remain diligent to the faith he does it by writing a letter filled with warnings. One of those warnings has to do with the connection between disobedience and unbelief (3:18-19). Disobedience is equated with unbelief in these two verses, because Israel did not enter the land of rest by disobeying God, rather they failed to believe that God would keep His word to them. Disobedience is the fruit of failing to hear God’s word. At first this does not seem to apply to us at all. We hear God’s word all week long. Or do we? When sin settles into our hearts it begins to harden our senses (3:13). We do not hear God’s word like we used to and preaching, as well as Bible lessons, begin to sound more like traffic noise from the freeway than words spoken to us from God. The writer of Hebrews re