tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24132559036358412082012-01-05T17:17:22.595-05:00The place where Michael Ruffin asks questions, raises issues, makes observations and seeks help in trying to figure it all out so that together we can maybe, just maybe, do something about it.Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.comBlogger8171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-23870569269552504812012-01-05T17:08:00.002-05:002012-01-05T17:17:22.605-05:00

It is the Twelfth and Last Day of Christmas.I hope and trust that we have reflected well on the miracle of “God with Us” during these Twelve Days.I hope and trust that these devotions have prompted us toward and aided us in such reflection.I hope and trust that we will continue to reflect on the wonder of God’s act of Incarnation in Jesus of Nazareth and on the wonder of God’s ongoing act of

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-6522121119973714432012-01-04T06:30:00.000-05:002012-01-04T06:30:04.675-05:00

“What did you get this Christmas?” is a question we often ask and answer in the days following Christmas Day.We reach a nice level of maturity when the question in which we are more interested is “What did I give this Christmas?” It is, after all, more blessed to give than to receive.The most important question of all, though, is “Whom did we receive this Christmas?”The right answer, of course,

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“For God so loved the world that he gave,” that most well-known summary of the Good News tells us.What God gave, of course, was God’s Son, which is a way of saying that God gave a big part of God’s self.Christmas—the Nativity—the Incarnation—that First Act in the Drama of Salvation that was the life of Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Christ, Jesus the Son of God, Jesus the Son of Man, was all about

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-64223049848685837762012-01-02T20:07:00.010-05:002012-01-02T22:00:52.725-05:00

By the end of my Winter Quarter at Mercer University in 1977 I knew that I would marry Debra Kay Johnson if she would have me and she had given me some indication that she would; by the beginning of the Spring Quarter I had begun to ponder the reality that I had no money and no job (except for the $60.00 that I got for my one Sunday a month gig as Pastor of the Fairmount Baptist Church somewhere

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-70983961023980196932012-01-02T11:33:00.002-05:002012-01-02T11:35:59.965-05:00

Circumcision has no religious significance for a Gentile family such as mine; our male babies are circumcised by the doctor back in the nursery before we take them home from the hospital—if my family’s experience is typical, parents are not even present for the procedure.Once we get home, we do, however, tend to the wound and watch over the healing.On the day after Jesus’ eighth day Mary and

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-19519925188932930842012-01-01T13:52:00.003-05:002012-01-01T13:54:03.559-05:00

On the eighth day of his life, the boy child of Mary and Joseph was circumcised and given the name Jesus.His circumcision was something he shared with all other Jewish males and his name (Hebrew “Joshua”) was one he shared with many other Jewish males; both his circumcision and his name, therefore, underscored his commonality with other people.They also underscored his uniqueness among people,

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-2933171431185124842011-12-31T11:17:00.002-05:002011-12-31T11:20:38.970-05:00

At Christmas time we celebrate the Incarnation—in Jesus Christ God was among us in the flesh.At Christmas time we embrace the Re-Incarnation—the Church is the Body of Christ enlivened by the Spirit of Christ in the world today and thus bears witness to the world of the continuing fact of “God with us.”At this Christmas time let us also acknowledge another kind of Re-Incarnation, a difficult,

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-47283715968708314342011-12-30T06:00:00.000-05:002011-12-30T06:00:09.770-05:00

Christians believe in reincarnation.Now that I have your attention, let me explain what I mean.Christmas is all about the Incarnation, about the gracious mystery of God in the flesh, about the great truth that in Jesus of Nazareth the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.Pentecost, which will be here before we know it, is all about the empowering of the Church by the Spirit of God to be the

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-75602441764828396972011-12-29T09:56:00.001-05:002011-12-29T09:59:38.469-05:00

“Incarnation” is a big and important word. We use it to name the coming of the Son of God in the flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. It thus names the central truth of Christmas: God was with us (the meaning of “Emmanuel,” another of our big and important words) in Jesus Christ.When we join the big and important word “Incarnation” with the big and important words “Emmanuel” and “

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-69141707154285941252011-12-28T10:12:00.002-05:002011-12-28T10:14:39.766-05:00

[I am offering a brief devotion for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas.]The Church has on the Fourth Day of Christmas traditionally remembered the death of the Holy Innocents, those male children two years old and younger who were killed by order of Herod in his effort to destroy the recently born “King of the Jews” about whom the Magi had told him.The Bible’s description of those events is,

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-26069485663431833872011-12-27T09:37:00.002-05:002011-12-27T09:39:13.172-05:00

The Church has for centuries on the Third Day of Christmas remembered St. John; tradition identifies John, who along with his brother James was numbered among the Twelve Apostles, as the “disciple whom Jesus loved” of the Fourth Gospel and as the author of that Gospel as well as of the three Epistles of John and the Book of Revelation.It is John’s Gospel that tells us that in Jesus Christ “the

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-33794834603542519282011-12-26T12:04:00.004-05:002011-12-26T12:10:51.910-05:00

[Note: I am offering a brief devotion for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas. I hope you find them meaningful.]The Church has traditionally on the day following Christmas Day remembered St. Stephen, the first Christian to give his life for his faith of whom we know. As Stephen was being stoned to death for his faithful Christian witness, he prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”It

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-34850618989624432032011-12-25T16:04:00.002-05:002011-12-25T17:25:19.703-05:00

[Note: I will be offering a brief devotion for each of the 12 Days of Christmas. I hope you find them meaningful.]On this First Day of Christmas, let’s stop for a moment to reflect on the great truths that in Jesus Christ the Word became flesh and dwelled among us, full of grace and truth, and that in Christ the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Let us reflect further on the fact that we,

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-6277758058263924052011-12-24T09:18:00.004-05:002011-12-24T09:25:59.676-05:00

Since December 1 I have been posting each day on Facebook a "thing I'm pondering during Advent." Here is the entire list:1. How only God could make me capable of containing all the grace I've received in my life.2. The great distance--still--between who I am and who God is calling and forming me to be.3. How, because Jesus comes to us, our love should always be expanding and never contracting

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-64707411143027821042011-12-20T16:43:00.011-05:002011-12-23T10:27:23.212-05:00

Last summer Dr. Ali Binazir wrote a blog post in which he posed the question, “What are your chances of coming into being?”He considered such questions as (1) the odds of your parents meeting, which he estimates at 1 in 20,000, (2) the odds of that meeting leading to a relationship that produces a child, which he estimates to be 1 in 2000, (3) the odds of the right sperm from your father joining

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-20512564836231148752011-12-11T12:39:00.002-05:002011-12-11T12:45:09.925-05:00

(A sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Advent based on Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; John 1:6-8, 19-28; and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24) Put yourself in their place. Decades ago their nation had been devastated by an invading army and many of their people had been carried off to live in a foreign land where many of their descendants yet remained. A few years ago some of those exiles began to return which led to

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-80833102135429143802011-12-07T21:37:00.004-05:002011-12-07T22:05:40.547-05:00

Most Christmas memories from my childhood are, I must admit, most excellent.A few aren’t. Two in particular come to mind.The first involves my acting debut—unless you count my dynamic recitation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem The Swing at the graduation ceremony for Miss Sylvia’s Kindergarten Class of 1964 (“Riveting—almost like you were at that park across the street from the swimming pool”

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-34718718470502882142011-12-05T13:35:00.001-05:002011-12-05T13:37:07.624-05:00

I've penned words to another Advent hymn. This one is called "Come, Lord Jesus, Come" and is sung to the tune IN DULCI JUBILO ("Good Christian Men, Rejoice"). If you'd like the words, provide me with an email address and I'll send them along...

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-29798886984917979312011-11-30T11:27:00.001-05:002011-11-30T11:30:14.969-05:00

Some of the things that make planning Advent worship difficult, particularly in traditions that don't have a long history of observing Advent, are that (1) there are few well-known Advent songs and (2) it's hard to teach a congregation new ones when they only sing them every 12 months. No doubt the time will come when more of our existing Advent hymns get into our memories like our Christmas

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-80712821232918030762011-11-27T12:29:00.001-05:002011-11-27T12:31:17.479-05:00

(A sermon based on Isaiah 64:1-9 & Mark 13:24-37 for the First Sunday of Advent 2011) This first Sunday of Advent is for the Church the first day of the New Year; it being the first day of the New Year, it is appropriate that we spend a little time looking ahead. And so our Mark text encourages us to look forward to the time when Jesus Christ, the crucified and resurrected and ascended Messiah,

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-51223528916893662312011-11-24T08:43:00.003-05:002011-11-24T08:53:16.745-05:00

1. The one 40+ years ago when my Aunt Dot Mulling passed out on the back porch of Mawmaw and Pawpaw's house.2. The one where we stayed in Louisville and took advantage of the Take Five restaurant's "Dinner and a Movie" deal for Thanksgiving dinner.3. The other one where we stayed in Louisville and a member of the little church I served as pastor had died and they had the funeral on

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-58645545520093999782011-11-23T16:37:00.001-05:002011-11-23T16:39:18.820-05:00

1. The ruthless faithfulness and insistent grace of God.2. The love, grace, peace, faith, and joy persistently embodied in my wife.3. The wonderful people that our children are now and are in the process of becoming.4. The educational institutions that made a difference in my life, especially Miss Sylvia's Kindergarten, Gordon Grammar School and Mercer University.5. The families of faith

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-39979202158138319892011-11-23T11:46:00.003-05:002011-11-23T11:52:16.315-05:00

1. That the nature of the political discourse in our nation is so negative and counter-productive.2. That the Super Committee exists at all and that, since it does exist, that it proved incapable of accomplishing anything.3. That "celebrity" has become an occupation.4. That so many public servants serve narrow interest groups rather than the public.5. That so many Christian leaders are so

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-10196215246651101902011-11-11T17:08:00.003-05:002011-11-11T17:13:46.918-05:00

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Smokin’ Joe Frazier died of liver cancer on November 7, 2011. He had a career professional record of 32-4-1.Although I was only twelve years old at the time, I have very clear memories of the build-up to and the aftermath of the “Fight of the Century” between Muhammad Ali and him that was held in Madison Square Garden on March 8, 1971.I recall going to

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-32291317149910578422011-11-11T15:13:00.005-05:002011-11-11T15:23:05.486-05:00

(A sermon based on Hebrews 10:19-25 preached at the First Baptist Church of Fitzgerald, Georgia on Sunday, November 6, 2011) Encouragement is one of the most important gifts that we can offer each other in our homes. Indeed, home should be a place where we build one another up and where we offer strength to each other. After all, the world is tough and out there we can get beaten up and beaten

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-70521002378820807412011-11-11T15:05:00.002-05:002011-11-11T15:10:51.733-05:00

(A sermon for All Saints Day based on Hebrews 12:1-2 preached at the First Baptist Church of Fitzgerald, Georgia on October 30, 2011) This is a day on which the Church looks back and remembers those members of our church family who have finished their race here on earth and have gone home to be with the Lord. For some of us they were members of our family as well as members of our church family.

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-28931143008917906412011-11-11T14:53:00.004-05:002011-11-11T15:00:14.960-05:00

(A sermon based on Genesis 33:1-17 preached at the First Baptist Church of Fitzgerald, Georgia on Sunday, October 23, 2011) We live in hope of reaching the ideal and our ideal for our homes is that they will be oases of peace and security and well-being. We hold that same ideal for our church homes. The truth is, though, that we don’t reach the ideal at home and we don’t achieve the ideal at

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-16365378895058032212011-11-11T14:44:00.002-05:002011-11-11T14:51:13.574-05:00

(A sermon based on Matthew 12:46-50 preached at the First Baptist Church of Fitzgerald, Georgia on Sunday, October 16, 2011)“Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in,” said the poet Robert Frost. Another way to say that is to say that home is where your family is because, usually, your family will take you in even if and even when no one else will. Our

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-86515182771330887272011-11-11T14:32:00.004-05:002011-11-11T14:41:47.232-05:00

(A sermon based on Luke 12:32-34 preached at the First Baptist Church of Fitzgerald on Sunday, October 9, 2011) One of the words we use to refer to church is “home”; we say things like “First Baptist is my church home” or “First Baptist is my home church.” During the next few weeks I want us to consider together the ways in which we might need to come home to our church home. Church is home,

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-12362688612399528862011-09-25T12:27:00.003-04:002011-09-25T12:34:24.220-04:00

(A sermon based on Genesis 3:8-9 for Sunday, September 25, 2011) The moving narratives of Genesis are meant, among other things, to help us understand what our experience as humans in this world and before God is all about. God had told Adam that he could eat from any tree in the garden except for the one called the tree of knowledge. But Eve and he ate from it anyway maybe out of rebellion or

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-78400505221301263172011-09-19T08:52:00.002-04:002011-09-19T09:00:31.785-04:00

(A sermon based on Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 for Sunday, September 18, 2011) It was a good and beautiful garden into which God placed Adam; it is a good and beautiful world into which God has placed us. Just as God told Adam to till, to keep, and to subdue the garden, so does God tell us to till, to keep, and to subdue the world. It is ours to enjoy, to develop, and to care for.Adam’s good life in

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-57999368718444770152011-07-26T15:38:00.004-04:002011-07-26T15:46:31.712-04:00

Disclaimers:(1) I ordinarily don’t publicly get into politics.(2) I have no inside information.(3) I “know” only what I watch/read/hear on various media.(4) I am a fan of “No Labels” and the Coffee Party who wishes we had a viable moderate 3rd party option.(5) I am accomplished at putting 2 and 2 together and coming up with 5.(6) I am not completely without sense.Now the theory:Last year Senate

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-62319605108079358432011-07-18T16:52:00.002-04:002011-07-18T16:54:15.297-04:00

Look in the right-hand column of the blog to order my new book Living on the Edge: Preaching Advent in Year C. It should prove helpful to preachers preparing for Advent 2012. It will also provide helpful devotional reading during any Advent season.

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-41949637281084499222011-07-17T12:23:00.002-04:002011-07-17T12:30:16.336-04:00

(A sermon based on John 12:9-11 preached at the First Baptist Church of Fitzgerald, GA on Sunday, July 17, 2011)I once had an e-mail exchange with Norman Greenbaum. You may not know who Norman Greenbaum is. He’s a musician who recorded a lot of material over the years but who is best known for one song, “Spirit in the Sky,” which was a hit in 1970. Imagine how I, an 11 year old Christian boy,

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-73843590987330112052011-05-19T10:05:00.001-04:002011-05-19T10:05:56.102-04:00

Some folks are saying—and unfortunately the media are giving them lots of attention—that the world will end this Saturday, May 21, 2011.Could be.I doubt it.Just in case, though, I need to get some things out there.For almost fifty years I fantasized about being a guitar player but did nothing about it. A year ago, at the tender age of fifty-one and a half, I decided that I’d stop fantasizing and

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-24683090651869928342011-05-02T17:11:00.001-04:002011-05-02T17:14:45.489-04:00

You’d think it would be so simple. You’d think that I would be able to look at a simple formula like “Osama bin Laden killed thousands of Americans + Now American forces have killed Osama bin Laden = Justice has been done” and feel good about it. I don’t feel good.In saying that I’m not saying that I believe that bin Laden should not have been brought to justice. He caused vast amounts of

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-29205902856707500852011-04-20T21:12:00.005-04:002011-04-21T07:00:01.313-04:00

In 1969 when I was ten years old I played on one of the worst baseball teams in the history of baseball—the Barnesville (GA) Little League Red Sox. We went 1-14 that year, although I am proud to say that our one win came in our next-to-last game of the season and was over the first-place Braves, a loss that cost them the league championship. I can still replay the last two outs in my mind; the

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-67844124860595556782011-04-12T04:40:00.000-04:002011-04-12T04:40:00.568-04:00

At 4:40 a.m. on April 12, 1861 Confederate forces opened fire on Ft. Sumter in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, thus initiating the first battle of the American Civil War, an internecine conflict that would result in the preservation of the Union at the cost of some 620,000 military deaths plus an unknown number of civilian casualties. Southern tradition and Ruffin family legend maintain

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-77202354447056951442011-03-17T15:49:00.007-04:002011-03-17T16:04:16.384-04:00

Some ways of life have a distinctive rhythm.For example, think of a school. One thing I miss about my former career as a college professor is the rhythm of the school year, a rhythm that is dictated by the academic calendar. The first day of class in the fall semester brings with it the excitement of new beginnings and new challenges; the mid-term brings with it the opportunity for evaluation,

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-41264092754036616992011-03-14T16:41:00.003-04:002011-03-14T16:52:49.347-04:00

We picked up the trash in the yard, some of which had been there for a long time and some of which had been recently discarded by vagrants and trespassers.We cut back dozens and dozens of plants and trees and vines, some of which were clearly in the past very nice and will no doubt, once they recover from their severe pruning, be beautiful again.We collected and discarded items that were lying

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-47201200971660555712011-03-06T11:55:00.000-05:002011-03-06T11:55:00.606-05:00

[A Communion Devotion based on 2 Peter 1:16-21 & Matthew 17:1-9 for Transfiguration Sunday 2011]There were things that Peter, James, and John, as well as the other disciples, wanted to know. Jesus had been talking about things that lay in the future; some of them, such as his crucifixion and resurrection, lay in the near future while some of them, such as his coming in glory for judgment, lay in

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-69930215654225373072011-02-27T12:23:00.001-05:002011-02-27T12:29:56.926-05:00

(A sermon based on Isaiah 49:8-16a & Matthew 6:24-34 for the Eighth Sunday after Epiphany 2011) Under the best of circumstances our ability to remember is flawed and limited. It takes a while for some fact to come back to us. The password we have used for a particular internet account for years suddenly escapes our memory. We see someone that we usually see in a particular setting in a

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-34641502282214273522011-02-20T11:59:00.001-05:002011-02-20T12:25:06.547-05:00

(A sermon based on 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23 & Matthew 5:38-48 for the Seventh Sunday after Epiphany)Put me in a room full of Ruffins and it is clear that I belong; I look like a Ruffin. Put my children beside me and it is clear that they belong to me; they look a lot like me and a lot like my parents. But—I am not just like all the other Ruffins, not even my Father—and I don’t want to be.

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-80413547424135030632011-02-13T11:59:00.000-05:002011-02-13T11:59:00.635-05:00

(A sermon based on 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 & Matthew 5:21-37 for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany 2011)We are all about building a life.Individuals build a life by developing a family, by advancing in a career, and by growing in our humanity.Christian individuals build a life by growing in the image of Christ, by developing attitudes and lifestyles that are characterized by grace, love, and respect,

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-87208885303715113242011-02-06T12:26:00.002-05:002011-02-06T12:30:15.328-05:00

(On January 23, 2011 Sarah Holik, Children's Minister at FBC Fitzgerald, GA, was ordained to the ministry at Parkway Baptist Church in Duluth, her home church during her seminary years. Today, February 6, 2011, Rev. Holik preached in our morning worship service and at the end of the service her new home church family gathered around her to bless her in her ministry. This is the text of the

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-91994157311093195832011-02-03T11:36:00.003-05:002011-02-03T11:47:43.985-05:00

On Wednesday nights I’ve been leading our folks in a study of the Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120-134); our guide for the study has been Eugene Peterson’s excellent book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society.At our most recent session we dealt with Psalm 123, which begins this way:To you I lift up my eyes,O you who are enthroned in the heavens! (v. 1).About

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-2641058473898132082011-01-30T11:59:00.000-05:002011-01-30T11:59:00.788-05:00

(A sermon based on 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 & Matthew 5:1-12 for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany 2011)When an airliner takes off with me aboard, the same thought always passes through my mind just as the plane loses contact with the runway: “Human beings aren’t supposed to do this.” Behind the thought is the sense that leaving the ground and heading into the sky is a foolish thing for people to do;

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-25002857985482505332011-01-24T21:12:00.005-05:002011-01-24T21:21:15.027-05:00

(Sarah Holik, Children's Minister at First Baptist Church of Fitzgerald, was ordained to the ministry on Sunday evening, January 23, 2011 at Parkway Baptist Church in Duluth. My assignment was to deliver the "charge to the church" which I based on 1 Corinthians 1:1 and the text of which follows.)++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Effective pastoral leaders are committed to bringing

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-29961074284194435392011-01-23T11:45:00.000-05:002011-01-23T11:45:00.454-05:00

(A sermon for the First Baptist Church of Fitzgerald for Sunday, January 23, 2011; the text is 2 Peter 3:18)One way to summarize the state of First Baptist Church would be to observe that while we’ve come a long way we still have a long way to go. Such would be an accurate statement for our individual lives as well, of course.We have over the past year made good progress in some important areas.

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-19252269181880163072011-01-16T11:59:00.001-05:002011-01-16T12:16:16.954-05:00

(A sermon based on 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 & John 1:29-42 for the Second Sunday after Epiphany 2011)“God is faithful,” Paul wrote to the gifted but troubled church at Corinth; “by him,” he said to them, “you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).God is still faithful. And just as surely as God called the Corinthian Christians into the fellowship of

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-73132524677323337072011-01-11T11:49:00.003-05:002011-01-11T11:54:37.281-05:00

[Note: I write a weekly column entitled "When You Stop & Think About It" for our church newsletter. What follows is this week's column. In the limited space available I can't go into much detail or work with much nuance. I hope to expand this into a fuller blog post.]Being a public servant is dangerous and we should pray for those who serve. That danger was tragically underscored again last

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-29489495853553258352011-01-09T12:28:00.003-05:002011-01-09T12:37:08.701-05:00

(A sermon based on Psalm 29 & Matthew 3:13-17 for the Baptism of Our Lord)God says the same thing to you and of you that the voice of God said to and of Jesus on the day that Jesus was baptized: “This is my beloved child.” And you need to hear it. Some of you just need to be reminded of it because you’ve been too busy to think about it but some of you need desperately to hear it and to believe

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-37618387657978875712011-01-06T19:16:00.003-05:002011-01-06T20:02:39.893-05:00

My wife and I are responsible adult human beings—and have been for a long time.So, when we got married in June 1978, one of the first things we did was take out a health insurance policy with one of America’s leading insurers. We paid the monthly premiums on that policy and thus kept it in effect until I entered seminary in August 1979 when we were able to take advantage of the very sweet deal

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-38345194464011832562011-01-02T10:45:00.000-05:002011-01-02T10:45:00.489-05:00

(A sermon based on Ephesians 3:1-13 & Matthew 2:1-12 for Epiphany Sunday, January 2, 2011)January 6 is the day of Epiphany (manifestation, unveiling, revelation) on the Christian calendar; it comes twelve days after Christmas and marks the end of the Christmas season. Many churches do what we are doing which is to observe Epiphany on the Sunday before the day of Epiphany.If you’ll stop and think

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-84786602899771505472010-12-29T09:05:00.002-05:002010-12-29T09:09:01.408-05:00

Please accept my invitation to check out my new blog This Preaching Thing.There, in brief (300 words or less) posts, I reflect on the ministry of preaching in which I have been involved for almost forty years.Let me know what you think.My other blogs--On the Jericho Road and Prayer 365--will continue...

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-35786674108502439292010-12-26T10:45:00.000-05:002010-12-26T10:45:00.316-05:00

(A sermon based on Hebrews 2:10-18 & Matthew 2:13-23 for the first Sunday after Christmas Day)Here on the day after the day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus, our attention is called to the rest of the story: “Since…the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-52821999601669788332010-12-22T17:00:00.000-05:002010-12-22T17:00:02.033-05:00

From 1993-1999 I served as a professor in the School of Religion at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. At that time Belmont was still related to the Tennessee Baptist Convention—a relationship that has since ended—but even during my time there the college in general and the School of Religion in particular had a very Moderate bent. I was philosophically and theologically comfortable

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-61389164730821951542010-12-21T17:04:00.000-05:002010-12-21T17:04:00.856-05:00

It was during the years I spent at Mercer that I began to gain some knowledge of and appreciation for who Baptists were and what Baptists had traditionally championed. I remember no particular lecture or conversation or book that set the process of enlightenment in motion; it must have happened to me by osmosis over the three years that I was consistently exposed to the influence of such fine

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-41167222028995711152010-12-20T20:05:00.003-05:002010-12-20T22:23:55.372-05:00

I was a Baptist before I was a Christian.Allow me to explain.My mother always bragged about the fact that she took me to Sunday School and church for the first time when I was ten days old which means that I was enrolled in the Sunday School of Midway Baptist Church, located in Lamar County, Georgia, four miles outside of Barnesville on City Pond Road (a road that I spent my entire childhood

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-13727962905428763572010-12-19T15:26:00.003-05:002010-12-19T15:34:47.094-05:00

(A sermon based on Isaiah 7:10-16 & Matthew 1:18-25 for the Fourth Sunday of Advent) It falls to me today to say something about the Incarnation…about the Word becoming flesh, about God in Christ becoming human, about the significance of the coming of the Son of God. It’s the kind of event, really though, that should and does render you speechless; indeed, I wish in the depths of my spirit that

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-85350881408043805322010-12-12T12:18:00.002-05:002010-12-12T12:21:32.213-05:00

(A sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent based on Isaiah 35:1-10 and Luke 1:46b-55)Please exercise your God-given imagination with me for a little while…You are young Luke Skywalker, living on a backwater planet on the edge of nowhere with your aunt and uncle, working at what amounts to an intergalactic junk business, when some old guy shows up talking about “The Force” and destiny and eventually

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-4331561336540675742010-11-28T15:09:00.002-05:002010-11-28T20:20:11.081-05:00

One hundred years ago today, on November 28, 1910, a baby was born in Nashville, Georgia to a family named Giddens; the parents assigned the little boy the name Howard Peterson.It was around thirty-five years ago that I first met the man that the baby grew up to be when I walked into his office at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. I was a sixteen year old prospective student; he was, and had

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-61108478840520510992010-11-28T10:37:00.002-05:002010-11-28T10:43:01.849-05:00

(A sermon for the First Sunday of Advent based on Romans 13:11-14 & Matthew 24:36-44)This is the time of year when lots of house cleaning goes on because we know that people are coming. Family members are coming for the family gatherings, co-workers and friends and neighbors are coming for the parties—we expect them and so we’re getting ready for them. Everything will be just so…because we

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-51730640087176751432010-11-16T22:01:00.002-05:002010-11-16T22:05:00.918-05:00

Here is the text of the response offered by Druid Hills Baptist Church to the Georgia Baptist Convention Executive Committee's recommendation to disfellowship the church. It was delivered today by Carey Charles at the annual meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention in Albany, Georgia.My name is Carey Charles; I am a Deacon from Druid Hills Baptist Church and I am the 4th generation of my family

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-42852739524331635502010-11-16T15:54:00.002-05:002010-11-16T16:03:25.818-05:00

As reported in this Associated Baptist Press article, messengers to the Georgia Baptist Convention (GBC) today voted to to accept an Executive Committee recommendation to declare that the Druid Hills Baptist Church of Atlanta is "not in cooperation" with the GBC because they have a woman serving as co-pastor of the church. That woman is Mimi Walker; the other co-pastor is her husband Graham

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-87374280052464609102010-11-07T10:31:00.001-05:002010-11-07T10:33:50.043-05:00

(A sermon based on Luke 20:27-38 for Sunday, November 7, 2010) A Simon & Garfunkel song observed that there were “nothing but the dead and dying in my little town.” There are lots of dead and dying people in our little town, too. And there are lots of dead and dying people in our text. There are two groups of dead and dying people in this passage. First there are the Sadducees. The Sadducees

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-22178038651456688252010-09-21T10:00:00.005-04:002010-09-21T20:09:27.253-04:00

I’m sitting in a motel room in Decatur, Georgia, some 180 miles from my home in Fitzgerald, Georgia, as I write this. I’m here because yesterday morning someone in our church family had surgery in Macon (more or less half-way between Fitzgerald and Atlanta) and someone else had surgery in Atlanta and either today or tomorrow someone else who is in the hospital in Atlanta will be having

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-74062414462480407192010-09-19T14:16:00.002-04:002010-09-19T14:24:48.049-04:00

(A sermon based on Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 & Luke 15:1-10 for Sunday, September 19, 2010)When I was a child my parents, like many parents do with their children, taught me some prayers. They taught me to pray as I was getting ready to go to sleep,Now I lay me down to sleep,I pray the Lord my soul to keep.Guide me safely through the night,And wake me with the morning light.And they taught me to

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-74476743396196846472010-09-05T12:20:00.002-04:002010-09-05T12:23:46.521-04:00

(A sermon based on Jeremiah 18:1-11 & Luke 14:25-33 for Sunday, September 5, 2010)It matters what First Baptist Church as a community of faith decides to be and what we decide to do. It matters what the people who make up First Baptist Church decide to be and to do. God has purposes and plans that God is working out. But our decisions and actions matter. How we allow our hearts and spirits to

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-80895272548477858002010-08-22T12:31:00.003-04:002010-08-22T12:35:04.785-04:00

(A sermon based on Luke 13:10-17 for Sunday, August 22, 2010)While neatly defined categories don’t work, I can fairly say that everyone here today falls into one of three categories. First, some of us are broken down and busted up and messed up and we need God to put us back together. Second, some of us think we have it all together and have it all figured out—particularly when it comes to who

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-33321868924457834772010-08-14T22:00:00.002-04:002010-08-14T22:27:23.053-04:00

One day, when I was a boy and had never heard of Pearl Harbor, I heard my father telling a story to someone about something that had happened when he was in Hawaii during World War II. I asked him, “Was Hawaii in World War II?” When he stopped laughing, he said, “Yes.”I was amazed; the scene that played on the movie screen in my brain involved people wearing grass skirts and leis, firing rifles

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-7659021085719799092010-08-08T12:19:00.002-04:002010-08-08T12:24:20.245-04:00

(A Communion Meditation based on Matthew 9:10-13)Whom would you invite to have dinner in your house? Most of us would not invite someone with a bad reputation or someone who committed obvious sin. Most of us would not invite someone who was an outcast from society, whose presence in our home would make our friends and neighbors look upon us with suspicion. Moreover, we usually want to be

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-53223015535902277022010-08-07T16:54:00.009-04:002010-08-07T20:59:29.139-04:00

A very wise man in a church I once served as pastor liked to remind us, “That which unites us is stronger than that which divides us.”That’s a good principle by which to live whether it’s in a church fellowship or in a fellowship between churches or in a larger fellowship between smaller fellowships of churches.While that principle is not spelled out in the official statements of the Baptist

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-10094567701493131162010-07-25T12:23:00.003-04:002010-07-25T12:31:14.473-04:00

(A sermon based on Genesis 32:22-32) Sometimes I wonder how interested the church and the people who make up the church, including me, really are in doing things God’s way. We could hardly be blamed for shying away from it, for, as our text reveals, really getting in touch with God and having God get in touch with you and being on journey with God and having God be on journey with you can be

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-88599122449545883002010-07-05T18:23:00.003-04:002010-07-07T08:59:48.055-04:00

I make a lot of typographical errors myself and so I am not hard on others, particularly bloggers and Facebook note writers who don’t have the advantage (or disadvantage) of an editor, when they do—but occasionally one will catch my eye.Such was the case today. A friend was writing about watching a July 4 fireworks show but his middle left finger acted when his middle right should have and he

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-80142916972149777062010-07-01T22:59:00.002-04:002010-07-01T23:03:58.138-04:00

There are people who express some misgivings about church mission trips. They say, for example, that such mission trips can actually be church group vacations dressed up to look like mission trips. We took our church group vacation this year to exotic Perry County, Alabama.Don’t get me wrong—Perry County is a lovely place. The county seat of Marion is a nice small town that houses two fine

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-8953337959929464872010-06-23T22:09:00.010-04:002010-06-24T16:01:02.897-04:00

It is 8:00 on the last night of my Panama City vacation and I am sitting on the balcony of our borrowed sixth floor condominium watching the sun set on this day, on my time of rest, perhaps on the pristine beauty of the scene before me, and, hopefully—and with hope is the way that I have slowly come to realize I must think about it—a way of life that is as American as baseball, hot dogs, apple

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-34587886651420020442010-06-14T21:11:00.003-04:002010-06-14T21:23:49.755-04:00

A document called a “Certificate of License” hangs on my study wall; it reads, “This is to certify Michael Lee Ruffin who has given evidence that God has called him into THE GOSPEL MINISTRY was Licensed to preach the Gospel as he may have opportunity, and to exercise his gifts in the work of ministry” (capitalization and punctuation reproduced exactly as they appear). The document goes on to

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-3652404449978391542010-06-13T21:32:00.006-04:002010-06-14T06:58:51.947-04:00

[On Saturday, June 12, I was privileged to get together with friends with whom I attended Gordon Grammar School some 40 years ago; most of them I had not seen for a long time and some of them I had not seen for 40 years. Being the minister in the group, I was honored to be asked to offer a eulogy in memory of our childhood friends who have already left us. These are the remarks I prepared.]

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-71564884457027273812010-06-13T17:06:00.002-04:002010-06-13T17:10:06.444-04:00

(A Sermon for the Ordination/Installation of Deacons based on Numbers 13 and preached on Sunday, June 13, 2010. I borrowed the title and acknowledge the inspiration I received from Henri Nouwen's book.)The church needs leaders. In the way that our church functions, we look to our deacons to be spiritual leaders among us. Note, please, how I put that. We look to our deacons to be spiritual

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-6683168047679772422010-06-06T15:17:00.004-04:002010-06-06T15:28:32.368-04:00

I have been about the business of being a minister for over thirty years now so I can accurately be classified as a veteran but I confess that the anticipation of certain worship services still fills me with a tension that borders on dread.That is especially true of a service that is going to include a baptism or the Lord’s Supper.While every worship service is a foray into holy territory, a

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-49922492380606341222010-06-05T12:11:00.008-04:002010-06-05T12:23:12.025-04:00

Unless you choose to live as a hermit (which is understandable) or choose to pay absolutely no attention to baseball (which is not) then you have heard about the perfect game that wasn’t. In a game played between the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Indians on June 2, pitcher Armando Galarraga had retired 26 consecutive batters which put him one out away from pitching a perfect game, which in

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-7011620242652525462010-05-29T22:54:00.013-04:002010-05-29T23:42:04.689-04:00

So tonight I was coming back from where I had been and that great old Steely Dan song in which they sing “I’m never going back to my old school” came on the radio and I thought, “In three out of four cases, me neither.”Allow me to explain.My educational career began in 1963 at Gordon Grammar School in my hometown of Barnesville, Georgia. Gordon was a 1st-8th grade school that consisted of three

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-51640073767521463232010-05-27T19:10:00.003-04:002010-05-28T10:22:16.409-04:00

With Memorial Day upon us and Independence Day following close behind, my thoughts have turned to the value of patriotism.I confess that in years past I have spent quite a bit of time pondering patriotism’s too frequent mutation, under the influence of fear, arrogance, and xenophobia, into nationalism and jingoism. I confess furthermore that I am still troubled by those who talk and act as if

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-39780194522047147942010-05-13T15:28:00.003-04:002010-05-13T15:39:10.538-04:00

There are many directions in which an article with that title could go and so you may already have developed some expectations about its content.You might expect that I am going to talk about the trouble with believing in God when God cannot be, in any way that would pass laboratory scrutiny, experienced. Well, (1) either there is a God or there is not, (2) if all that is real is what we can

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-21215443695676229322010-05-02T09:36:00.004-04:002010-05-02T12:18:44.641-04:00

(A sermon based on Matthew 23:1-12 & Philippians 3:12-21 for Sunday, May 2, 2010) A few years ago, not long after news about a prominent Christian leader’s moral failures broke, I was watching a televised discussion that involved, among others, Chris Matthews and Tucker Carlson. Matthews was lamenting the hypocrisy of the situation. I was agreeing with what he was saying. It is, after all,

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-74060278345746620352010-04-25T12:30:00.005-04:002010-04-25T12:38:34.207-04:00

(A sermon based on the story of Ruth for Sunday, April 25, 2010) The story of Ruth is in some ways a very particular story about a very particular woman who played a very particular role in God’s purpose of salvation. But the story of Ruth is also in some ways a story that has lessons that will enable every follower of the Lord who will take them to heart to follow him more truly and to serve

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-871159466750917322010-04-13T09:00:00.002-04:002010-04-13T09:03:10.420-04:00

I hope that all my Baptist friends and readers, whether of the SBC or CBF variety or the conservative or moderate bent, will read this article by Dr. David Gushee and will join me in saying "Amen" and then living like we really do agree.

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-82052978530025519722010-04-08T14:58:00.005-04:002010-04-08T15:23:47.180-04:00

I confess that until I read this article I had no idea what the religious makeup of the Supreme Court of the United States was but now I find that we are faced, if the reportedly impending retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens happens, with the possibility that there will be no Protestant Supreme Court justices. Six of the current justices are Roman Catholic, two are Jewish, and Justice

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-65136219244384767832010-04-04T12:21:00.003-04:002010-04-04T12:26:18.781-04:00

(A sermon based on John 20:1-18 for Easter Sunday 2010)One day a few years ago I visited the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. I didn’t have much time so I picked up a visitor’s guide that identified some “must see” pieces in that massive collection. I walked from painting to painting and from sculpture to sculpture, briefly looking at each one and dutifully reading the brief

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-52924930612057313392010-04-02T17:42:00.003-04:002010-04-02T17:49:31.638-04:00

(A meditation based on John 19:16-42 for the 2010 Good Friday Tenebrae service)I don’t know how many people saw Jesus hanging on the cross; it was a good number, I imagine. We are told of quite a few people being there, such as his mother and some of his followers as well as some Roman soldiers. We are also told that a lot of people were able to read the inscription that Pilate had placed on

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-602307733546177872010-04-01T21:35:00.005-04:002010-04-02T08:56:40.183-04:00

I heard about a pastor who would, at the conclusion of the Easter Sunday service, say, “I’d like to say ‘Merry Christmas’ to all of you that I won’t see again until then.”On the one hand, I think that’s tacky and I would never dream of saying something like that.On the other hand...well, let’s just say I’m not immune to temptation.Simply put, I cannot for the life of me understand folks who are

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-58263313229787352012010-04-01T15:59:00.003-04:002010-04-01T20:14:43.074-04:00

(A meditation based on John 13:1-17, 31-35 for Maundy Thursday 2010) On Friday we will see the crucified Jesus.On Sunday we will see the resurrected Jesus.But here on Thursday we see the serving Jesus.That sight tells us a lot about Jesus. See him there, kneeling before his disciples—including Judas who will betray him and Peter who will deny him and Thomas who will doubt him and the rest who

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-24325250479769590392010-04-01T06:46:00.000-04:002010-04-01T06:47:20.452-04:00

(Note: This is a reprint of my post from April 1, 2007.) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Today is April 1st and thus April Fools' Day. The extensive research I did on the subject (five minutes looking at a web site or two) revealed that the origins of the day are uncertain. The roots of the day probably lie in various pagan observances that were marked by such jocularities as

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-79961482768134568702010-03-28T19:08:00.004-04:002010-03-28T19:12:36.244-04:00

(A sermon based on Luke 19:28-40 for Palm Sunday, March 28, 2010)[Note: my Holy Week series is "We See Jesus!" The theme verse for the series is Hebrews 2:9: “We do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”] On that first Palm Sunday, people

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-36575301698027038872010-03-14T12:21:00.002-04:002010-03-14T12:25:24.073-04:00

(A sermon based on Genesis 1:26-31 & Matthew 23:23-24 for Sunday, March 14, 2010; it is the sixth in a series.) We have been talking about the way forward for First Baptist Church. We have said that the way forward will be built on the three main things of worshiping God, following Jesus, and being formed by Scripture. We have also said that our pursuit of those three main things will be

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-26804169268684223332010-03-08T09:22:00.005-05:002010-03-08T09:32:04.766-05:00

(A sermon based on Luke 10:25-42 for Sunday, March 7, 2010. This is the fifth in a series called "The Way Forward.") We have been talking about the way forward for the First Baptist Church of Fitzgerald; so far we have said that the way forward involves a focus on worshiping God, following Jesus, and being formed by Scripture with every aspect of that three-pronged focus being undergirded by

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-71409703009431419532010-02-21T12:21:00.005-05:002010-02-21T12:26:14.647-05:00

(A sermon based on Matthew 6:5-15 & Romans 8:26-27 for Sunday, February 21, 2010; it is the fourth in a series) We have said that the way forward for First Baptist Church is for us to focus on worshiping God, following Jesus, and being formed by Scripture. Today I want to say that all of those emphases, indeed, that everything about the church’s life, must be undergirded by prayer. To be a

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-57519134843474666592010-02-18T21:33:00.005-05:002010-02-18T21:56:58.794-05:00

At 10:55 a.m. on a beautiful day in 1977 I was walking across the lovely campus of Mercer University, that part of the campus that is now saddled with the rather cumbersome and unnecessary designation “the Historic Quad,” to take the mid-term examination in my theology class when the professor whose course that was ambled up beside me and said, “Mike, may I ask you a question?” I of course said

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2413255903635841208.post-73524243960228488522010-02-14T12:25:00.004-05:002010-02-14T12:33:22.221-05:00

(A sermon based on Deuteronomy 6:4-9 & John 5:39-40 for Sunday, February 14, 2010; it is the third in a series called "The Way Forward.")We are talking about the way forward for First Baptist Church; we have said that the way forward involves an intentional and determined focus on worshiping God, on following Jesus, and on being formed by Scripture. I put the worship of God first in the list

Michael Ruffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18387955769638547701noreply@blogger.com0