The Barnabas File

I love to hear about the Cross! I relish the preaching of the Cross. I have read numerous books on the implications of the Cross. Every observance of the ordinance of communion and Good Friday service renew my affection for the Cross and devotion to the Cross.

You see, it was the Cross that made a difference in my life. I was reared in a non‑Christian home, and though my father did not give much credence to the Lord and the Cross, he had learned about that truth as a child. How do I know? Well, it wasn’t because he told me, but he sang it to me. Often on Saturday evenings as a young child I remember my father having friends over to our little home where they would play their guitars into the early hours of the morning. Always in his repertoire, was the playing of the hymn, “The Old Rugged Cross,” which I recall his singing from memory with great expression and seeming significance. He had heard it as a child in a little country church snuggled deep in the hills of West Virginia. Thus I had heard about this Cross long before I started attending church where I was later saved as a teenager.

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“For You are my rock and my fortress; therefore for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.”

 – Psalm 31:3

Who should boast he needs no guide to tread a path unseen,

Who should brag he can conquer hills and valleys and beasts so very mean.

A humble servant knows his need as he treks through barren land,

He trusts a Guide to pave the way, following His perfect plan.

-mhb

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John 14:30-31

Introduction
 
As of late we have been hearing the President of the United States multiple times refer to COVID-19 as our “Invisible Enemy,” and that it truly is.  The Coronavirus has paralyzed our country as well as nearly all countries around the world.  Never in my six decades of ministry have I experienced absence from my local church for this length of time, except for going through a time of illness.  Yes, the Coronavirus is an invisible enemy attacking at will here and everywhere but we also have another “Invisible Enemy,” Satan, called the “Prince and power of the air,” in Ephesians 2:1-2.  

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. John 15:13

And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. James 2:23

Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, famous evangelist, said that the New Testament records tell of forty people, each suffering from the same disease, who were healed by Jesus. Of this number, thirty-four were either brought to Jesus by friends, or He was taken to them. In only six cases out of forty did the sufferers find the way to Jesus without assistance. Of the vast number of people who find their way to Jesus today, most of them reach Him because the friends of Jesus are concerned about the welfare of their souls.

Introduction

When statisticians tell us that fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches, a high percentage of pastors’ marriages will end in divorce and seventy percent of pastors constantly fight depression, something certainly needs to be addressed. Have you ever considered that your pastor might need a time away from ministry in order to be refreshed and possibly even extend his years of service to the Lord and His people? In my study I am finding that Baptists are far behind some denominations in caring for their pastor’s physical and spiritual welfare, many even having a “sabbatical policy” in their constitutions. Please consider with me, the concept of pastoral sabbaticals.