The musical Jesus Christ Superstar has been a part of our cultural milieu for forty years. It’s hard to believe. There is probably nothing we remember more keenly from that creation than Mary Magdalene singing about Jesus: “I don’t know how to love him . . .” Can’t we identify with that? Do we know how to love Jesus? Despite his obvious humility and compassion, Jesus is intimidating to most people. We see him as divine, as a miracle-worker, and as good in all the ways we are not good. We see him as knowing too much about us for us to ever be comfortable with him. We are supposed to simply love him, but most days we don’t have a clue how to do that. Some days you have to wonder if we know how to love at all. Love still means “like” for most of us. We looove chocolate and days off, shopping and partying, golfing and kicking back. To love is to want, to desire, to need. You see what we love and you wonder if we know anything about love as self-giving and as sacrifice.

Emil Brunner, a world-class twentieth-century theologian from Switzerland, titled his volume on Christian ethics The Divine Imperative. What is the “divine imperative,” the one thing we must do if there is any hope for us? In John’s Gospel, chapter fifteen, Jesus says: “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.” What does that mean? He says, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.” What commandments? He says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” And he says, “Greater love has no one than this, that you lay down your life for your friends.” Jesus tells them they are his “friends,” and he repeats, “This I command you, to love one another.” Mary Magdalene asks, “How do we love Jesus?” Jesus himself says, “By loving one another.” This is the divine imperative: love one another as Christ loves you.

Another Mother’s Day has come. Where is there a more sentimental love than the love we celebrate today? Mother’s love, for many, is second only to God’s love. For those who never experience God’s love, mother’s love may be the only unconditional love they ever know . . . if, of course, Mother’s love is unconditional. What do you do with a day like this if you didn’t have a mother like mine? God rest her soul. One thing we might do today is demythologize motherhood. We do not honor our mothers by making them something they are not. There are no perfect mothers.

Eugene Kennedy, in The Pain of Being Human, says it is natural for us to idealize our childhood. We would like to remember it as perfect. But no family is perfect and none ever will be. Furthermore, he says, no healthy thing is perfect. This is a basic truth of life, and when we forget it we get into trouble. Human beings, Kennedy says, thrive in environments that are healthy, but not perfect. Mothers need to be honored, not on the basis of their perfection, but because of the good gifts they have given us. Maybe Mother’s Day would be a good day for some of us to forgive our mothers their sins against us. Mothers are human.

Erich Fromm gave us a treasure in his little book, The Art of Loving. It bears re-reading, and not many books do. Its understanding of love is as compatible with the biblical revelation as any you will find in a book of psychology. One section of the book deals with parental love, and Fromm distinguishes between “motherly love” and “fatherly love.” Fromm is not distinguishing between men and women, or even mothers and fathers, but between two kinds of love:  “motherly love” and “fatherly love.” All mothers cannot give “motherly love,” and all fathers cannot give “fatherly love.” Some fathers find it easy to give “motherly love,” and some mothers naturally give “fatherly love.” “Motherly love” is the unconditional love in which life begins. Normally, as babies grow, their many experiences with their mothers are crystallized and integrated into the one experience, “I am loved.” Later it becomes, “I am loved because I am my mother’s child.” Finally, it becomes, “I am loved because I am.”

Motherly love is unconditional. “There is nothing I have to do to be loved. All I have to do is to be.” “Motherly love” does not have to be earned or acquired. It simply is. “Motherly love” is our birthright. “Fatherly love” is different. Remember, this is not to suggest that all mothers and all fathers love alike. These are two ideal types of love, and each is important no matter who gives it. The father is a secondary figure in the earliest stage of a child’s life. Mother is the home we come from, she is nature, soil, and sky. She is the infant’s natural world. Later, the father comes, representing the way into the larger world of thought, of ingenuity, of adventure. Mother has the function of making a child secure in life. Father has the function of teaching and guiding the child to cope with realities and problems outside the sphere of mother. Father shows the child what is expected, and what is not permitted. “Fatherly love” is more conditional. It says, “I love you because you learn from my guidance and fulfill my expectations.” You say, “But surely some fathers love as unconditionally as mothers, and some mothers place conditions on their love.” Of course, but these two kinds of love are important, no matter who gives them.

Fromm is saying that there are two important kinds of love for the growing child. One gives a sense of unconditional security, epitomized traditionally by Mother. The other challenges the child to seek approval, to become independent, to achieve, to act, to become responsible, epitomized traditionally by the Father. These two loves complement each other, and each of us needs both. Fromm says “motherly love” and “fatherly love” are intended to develop into a motherly and fatherly conscience, and this seems true. But I believe God speaks to me both as eternal Father and eternal Mother, and I need both. And, in Jesus Christ, I am kept under a divine imperative that is my only hope for a meaningful and fulfilling life.

A certain man went to see a psychiatrist because he was depressed. He went to see the best psychiatrist because he could afford the best. “Give me something for this depression,” he said, “I can’t work, I can’t sleep, I don’t eat.” The doctor finished his evaluation and said, “Here is your prescription. If you will follow the directions to the letter it will make you well.” The man took his medicine exactly as the doctor had prescribed. And after he had done fifty hours with “Meals on Wheels” in an East Harlem ghetto, and after two months of being a “Big Brother,” and after establishing a pattern of seeing his aged mother once a week, and after rediscovering his wife and children, he was cured of his depression. It is the divine imperative because we cannot afford to take it or leave it.

We are under the holy and glorious burden of a divine imperative. May God grant us the wisdom and the will to love as we are loved. Amen.

Royal Lane Baptist Church – Sanctuary

Tickets are $20, $10 for students with ID and $10 for members of Royal Lane Baptist Church.

A portion of the ticket sales from this concet will go to Exodus Ministries Dallas.

Flyer: Project Eve May Concerts

Our summer mission trip to San Antonio is less than ten weeks away! So far, 22 Royal Laners have committed to spending the week in San Antonio being the presence of Christ in that community. At the moment, we are planning to work on five different projects, but we need more missioners if we’re going to be able to do that! If you haven’t already signed up, please consider participating in the mission trip. I promise you … it will be a week you will never forget!

To help you make your decision, here is an overview of the week …

We will depart Sunday afternoon, July 15th. We will be living on the campus of the Baptist University of the Americas, where Linda Cross is currently on assignment. We will be staying in brand new student housing. Each apartment has two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen. Our evening meals will be catered by Bernard Coleman-McGraw, a Hurricane Katrina refugee, who promises that we will NOT be underfed.

The organizations we will be supporting are:

Alpha Home, a non-profit treatment center that provides women specialized services for substance abuse and pregnant/post-partem interventions. We will be doing painting and repair work, as well as collecting and assembling items for the new resident welcome kits.

Rosemont Apartments, a local apartment complex. We will be working with Baptist Temple to do a day camp/backyard Bible club. We will also participate in a community feeding program and a literacy program.

San Antonio Food Bank, a non-profit organization that serves as a clearinghouse by receiving and storing truckloads of donated food, produce, and other grocery products. We will be working in the community garden, preparing sack lunches, and sorting/packing donations.

Baptist University of the Americas, an institution for the training of Hispanic church leaders. We will be building a prayer garden on their new campus for the students and faculty to use. That will also allow this plot of land – which is currently undeveloped – to be classified as non-taxable, thereby saving the university thousands of dollars each year.

Christian Assistance Ministry, a non-profit organization that provides temporary assistance to individuals and families in crisis situations, most of whom are homeless. We will be working in the clothes closet, serving meals, and assembling hygiene kits.

In addition to working hard for these good and worthy organizations, we also plan to have a little fun while we’re in The River City. Our tour guide, Adam Simmons, will be planning events for us that are sure to make this trip even more memorable. Never been to The Alamo or The River Walk? Then this is your trip! We are also likely to visit one of the Colonias and meet some of the people in that community.

As you can see, there is plenty of work to be done (and fun to be had!) on this trip. There is work to be done outside for the hearty and heat-tolerant, but there’s also work to be done indoors (in air-conditioned comfort). No matter what your level of skill or physical ability, there is a place for you on mission trip. (There always is!) So spread the word … we need more missioners!

Here is a PowerPoint deck that we used in our mission trip forum last Saturday. It contains photos and additional details about the trip.

If you have any questions or need additional information, don’t hesitate to contact me (Garland Hamic)!

gjhamic [at] gmail [dot] com

1 John 4:7-21

Someone has counted and claims that the admonition “Fear not!” appears 365 times in the Bible. Once, says the counter, for every day of the year. But there is no day when fear is not a reality in our lives. Fear is part of the human condition. Being afraid is a part of living. What are you afraid of? Years ago a team of market researchers asked three thousand Americans, “What are you most afraid of?” The No. 1 fear was speaking in front of a group. The second greatest fear was heights. Three fears tied for third place: insects, financial problems, and deep water. What are you afraid of?

When we are really afraid, it isn’t funny. Everyone is seriously afraid of something, something that threatens to take more than we are willing to give. It needs to be said, of course, that fear has some very positive uses. Appropriate fear is your best friend, your guardian. Without it, we couldn’t make it through a single day. We ought to be afraid of snakes and lightning! The person with no fear isn’t brave, but foolish. Fear can be positive. Someone once said, “A good scare is worth more to a person than good advice.”

When fear moves beyond its natural and appropriate functions, however, it can be a terrible enemy. When fear dominates us, pre-occupies us, and allows us no peace, fear is no friend. Then it becomes a malignancy in the soul, a threat to all the things that make for life. In our faith there are resources for dealing with the destructive aspects of fear. Faith has an answer to fear. Faith can conquer fear. There’s an old saying: “Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. There was no one there.” But what exactly is faith’s answer to fear? Let me share with you three stages in my understanding of fear and faith.

First, courage is faith’s answer to fear. I grew up believing that courage conquers fear. It is an understandably popular notion. Courage is fear’s opposite. Therefore, courage must be fear’s antidote. How many times were you told as a child to “be brave”? It is not bad advice. At least, sometimes it is not bad advice. Strength comes to us largely through resolve. I determine that I will be strong, and it helps me to be strong. Someone encourages me to be strong, and it helps me to be strong. “Be brave” is often exactly what I need to hear.

The problem is, sooner or later we encounter fears that are simply greater than our courage. We all possess courage in a limited supply. Courage, like gasoline, runs out. Being brave proved sufficient for getting me through walking by a “haunted house,” and for jumping off the high diving board, and for getting shots from the doctor. Being brave still gets me through some things. But in the face of certain other threats – - such as dying, or losing someone I love – - bravery is not enough. Courage runs out. Faith’s answer to fear is not simply courage.

Second, love is faith’s answer to fear. This is what we read in the epistle of 1 John, which has a lot to say about love. It says, “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them” (4:16) It says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” (4:18) 1 John doesn’t say courage is fear’s antidote. Love is. This was a very important discovery for me. Fear is overcome in being loved, and in knowing and accepting that we are being loved.         Haven’t you found that to be true? Pastoral psychologist Myron Madden used to tell of a time during the Cold War when Kruschev was making threatening noises and everyone was feeling a little tentative about the state of the world. The Madden’s son was a little boy then, and he was greatly upset by all of this. One night the child came into his parents’ room and expressed great anxiety about whether the Russians were going to destroy them. He was terribly afraid. No amount of reasoning on the subject and no reassurances seemed to help at all. Certainly talking about America’s military strength didn’t help. Finally, almost in desperation, Dr. Madden said:  “Look, you are our little boy. We love you more than anything in the world, and we’re going to do everything we can to take care of you.” Strange, but that seemed to satisfy him, said Madden, and he went back to his play.

Knowing we are loved can be a profound antidote to fear. How many dark nights have you gotten through because you knew somebody loved you? Knowing we are loved by God can help us deal with the greatest fears of all. In that first-century world in which John was writing, the Christians seem to have been more afraid of the coming judgment than anything else. They believed Christ would return at any moment and the world would experience its final judgment. It was pretty fearful stuff. John was saying, “If you know who God is, and how much God loves you, you don’t need to be afraid of judgment.” Knowing that we are loved, knowing we are supremely loved by God, helps us deal with fear. This is faith’s answer. But there is more. There is one further discovery I made about faith’s answer to fear.

Third, the verse in 1 John actually reads “perfect” love casts out fear. “Perfect,” or “perfected” love, literally means “fulfilled,” or “completed,” or “mature” love. When love has run its course, or completed its work, fear is gone. It isn’t simply knowing that you are loved that casts out fear, but being loving. We are to grow from being loved to being loving. This is both spiritually and psychological sound. And when I am loving to the point of being “full of love,” there is no room for fear. Fear is the most self-centered of all emotions. It is the heightened awareness of self that is caused by what we experience as threats to the self. Paul Hoon (Interpreter’s Bible) says: “The cure for fear lies partly in eliminating external threats to the security of the self; but it lies more in eliminating excessive consciousness of the self. Love supremely does this.” Fulfilled love casts out fear because when I am full of love or concern for someone or something else, there is no room for this excessive concern within myself.

In 1957 a Little Rock pastor wrote a piece on Elizabeth Eckford, one of nine black high school students chosen to integrate an all-white high school. On the first day of school the Arkansas governor surrounded the school with National Guardsmen. This pastor watched Elizabeth walk up to the guardsmen with their guns, tear gas, and billy-clubs. He watched her turned away, and watched her queenly poise as she walked a long block through a howling mob, and he watched her wait thirty-five minutes in silent dignity for a bus, all the while being insulted and threatened with injury. That evening the minister when to Elizabeth’s house. He asked the girl how she had remained so calm on the surface, and if she had been afraid. She said she had been afraid she would cry, but that was all. She said that before she left home that morning she read Psalm 27 and should him her Bible. The pastor turned in Elizabeth’s Bible to that great psalm: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” He read on: “When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.”

Faith’s answer to fear is courage and love; and, to the extent that God’s love is perfected within us, we will not be afraid. Amen.

Three points. First, we are all sheep – - not very bright, vulnerable, and afraid of being alone. Second, the world is a wilderness – - full of challenges, dangers, and temptations. Third, we are allowed to select our shepherd. Here is something I find very interesting. New Testament scholar Kenneth Bailey says the Early Church did not use the cross as its primary symbol as long as the cross was being used in the Romans for executions. He says it would be like us glorifying an electric chair. For its primary symbol the Early Church used the figure of a shepherd with a sheep being carried on his shoulders.

In our text from John 10, Jesus says: “I am the good shepherd.” There were different kinds of shepherds. To this day the figure of the shepherd is prominent in Israel. In the uplands of Judea, in the south, there is a plateau that is thirty-five miles long and about half that wide. It is not agricultural land, but produces enough grass for sheep to graze. No flock grazes alone, so the shepherd is always on duty. The grass is scarce enough that sheep can nibble themselves away from the flock and even fall into a ravine. The shepherd must see to the flock’s needs, and guard them from predators, such a wolves and thieves.

Some shepherds own the sheep they guard, or belong to the family that owns them. Others are “hirelings,” outsiders hired to watch the sheep. But if trouble comes, the hireling may decide to run away. The good shepherd, however, will risk his life for his sheep. Jesus himself said: “What one of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.’” (Lk 15:4-6)   In today’s reading, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd, and a good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)  We are all sheep. We need a shepherd.

The world is wilderness. Creation, in itself, is good, a beautifully good gift of God. Genesis tells the story of humankind’s fall into disobedience and sin. Sin always has consequences, which is the main reason it is a sin. Consequences. A pure, loving relationship can become a destructive clash of wills. A home can become a hell-on-earth. Kingdoms betray their founders’ vision, and nations rise against nations. Eden’s garden becomes a wilderness, and all people are at risk.       Natural causes are morally neutral, and history is ambiguous. The world is a wilderness. Humankind needs all the help possible.

How do we select a shepherd? One of our biggest problems is thinking we don’t need a shepherd. It is a most dangerous way to think. The myth of self-sufficiency rarely has a happy ending. We may be self-confident, or self-reliant, but we are not self-sufficient. We are sheep, not wolves! We should pray for people who never ask for another person’s advice or point of view, as for the person who has never said, “I was wrong.”

How do we decide who will guide and possibly control our lives? It should be someone who has our best interests in mind. But our consumer culture develops creative sales and promotional strategies that can make anyone appear to have our best interests at heart. If television commercials don’t make you cynical, nothing will! Whatever the promises the sponsors make, even if they promise to be our best friends forever, we have learned that as soon as they have our money, they vanish.

Jesus didn’t do commercials. In fact, when people came to him with a question, he rarely gave them an answer. He would send them on an assignment, or say simply, “Follow me.” When we come to Jesus, what we usually need is not an answer, anyway. It is a different perspective, or a different path. Jesus was constantly confronted with problems and questions. Here are some of his responses, which were not necessarily answers to questions: “Let the dead bury the dead and come, follow me.” “Sell what you have and give it to the poor and come, follow me.” “If any would come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their crosses and follow me.” We are sheep. We need a shepherd.

Jesus, as our shepherd, will lay his life on the line for us, and has done so. The shepherd in ancient Israel was seriously accountable for the sheep. In the book of Amos, a shepherd rescues two legs and a piece of an ear from a lion’s mouth! (3:12)  You have to get very close to the lion’s mouth to do that! Who else will do for us what Christ has done? Furthermore, who is as qualified to lead and guide us as the One in whom our humanity has been revealed in all its fullness and promise? The truth is, only Christ is qualified to be our shepherd.

What will it mean if Christ is our shepherd? It will mean being led through green pastures and beside still waters, and it will mean being led through streets running red with blood and by scenes of horror beyond belief. Christ never promised us a rose garden. He never offered us the victory of our choice, but participation in the ultimate triumph of the kingdom of God. Still, he is the One we seek and know we need. Henri Nouwen once said, “In the middle of our longings, we discover the footprints of the One who has created them.”

I recently re-connected with Weston Ware, down in Cedar Hill, a friend from the long road, whom some of you know. Weston is 79, but mostly unchanged – - easy-going, kind, the social conscience of a tiger, one of the best Baptists ever ordained. He has spent his life in the service of applied Christianity, moral and ethical issues. I don’t know what it cost him, and he would say it didn’t. We talked about Royal Lane and how proud I am of you, and he reminded me of when “North Dallas was the most conservative residential area in the nation – - on race, on women’s rights, on the economy, on everything.” I assured him God hasn’t given up on us yet. Weston is one of those who made me willing to remain a Baptist, a man whose Shepherd is Christ.

There have been others, others who selected Jesus as their Shepherd, and became an example for me. In 1969, some people thought Martin Luther King, Jr., was only seeking publicity and fame. French Christian writer Jacques Ellul wrote an article suggesting that King was actually following Christ at great risk to his reputation, with both blacks and whites. Ellul wrote: “To be on the side of the oppressed and at the same time have to tell them that their explosions of violence are futile and will bring no real change – - this is the most thankless position anyone can take. It is the position of Martin Luther King, and we know how vulnerable it is. It is also the position of Jesus in relation to the Pharisees (who wanted to organize resistance to the Romans) and the Zealots.”

You see, my sisters and brothers, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, who urge us on, all of us who make Christ the Lord our Shepherd, the Shepherd who goes after the one lost sheep and brings it home on his shoulders. Amen.

1 John 3:1-7

What child has not played imaginatively with thoughts of growing up? One of the most exhilarating phrases for children is, “When I grow up.” “When I grow up I’m going to a scientist.” “When I grow up I’m going to be a ballerina.” “When I grow up I’m going to be a veterinarian.” We have all been there. When we were children the world was bursting with possibilities. To think of “someday” made the heart pound.

What a pity if we believe that because we have peaked physically there is no more growing to do.  It is especially tragic to assume that all our spiritual growth has been achieved. The New Testament is clear about growth being a lifelong adventure. What a shame to think we are ever fully grown. Rather late in his life the apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians that he had not “arrived” spiritually, but pressed on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ. (3:13) If Paul had not “arrived,” chances are we haven’t either.

In 1 John, one of the loveliest letters in the New Testament, the writer says that God loves us so completely that our true identity is “children of God.” We are God’s children now, says John, and “it does not yet appear what we shall be.” What we shall be” – - what a phrase! Are we still eligible to play “When I grow up”? Yes, we are. Consider three possibilities concerning what we shall be when God’s love has rendered us fully grown.

First, when we grow up we will be free from our desperate need to prove ourselves. We will be liberated from our infantile self-centeredness, so that we can genuinely love other people. By the time we acquire all the signs of status we think will impress people, we find out that people are not nearly as interested in who we are as in who they are! Some people never outgrow the childish need to control center stage. We become more subtle about it, but we still seek attention and approval. Our actions shout: “Look at me!” “Look at me!” The saddest human tragedy is the child who never grows up. When we grow up spiritually we are secure in who we are as children of God, secure enough to love and care for others.

Second, when we grow up we will not be afraid any more. We will not be afraid of the dark. We will not be afraid of dying. We will not be afraid of poverty. Most of all, we will not be afraid of failure. Failure is the No. 1 unpardonable sin in a culture that worships success. We have been almost brain-washed that the most important thing in life is to succeed. What we do doesn’t matter as long as we are successful at it. Many of us live in fear that we won’t make it, that we won’t measure up, and that our failure will lead to rejection. You feel like it’s the ninth inning, there are two outs, it’s the World Series, and you’re the next batter. When we grow up we will be secure in who we are, and in whose we are. God’s love transforms us. In the fourth chapter of 1 John these words: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” (4:18)  We will be free enough to risk failure. When we grow up we will not be afraid any more.

Third, when we grow up we will have our values straight. We will not spend our time, energy, and other resources on trivial pursuits. We will not waste our one precious life on things that do not matter. We will not manufacture mountains out of mole hills. We will not let inconsequential remarks and petty attitudes burn our digestive tracts. We will learn to master circumstances and situations rather than being mastered by them. Kierkegaard wrote of being “trampled to death by geese.” Someone once spoke of being “slain by secondaries.” And I remember seeing a book with the title, The Tremendous Trifles of Marriage. When we grow up we will know what matters, and what does not matter. We will have our values straight.

These are not bad aspirations, are they? They sound like worthy goals. But are they realistic? Can we simply outgrow the little child who still lives inside us? Here is where we need to hear the gospel.

The gospel confirms our childish immaturity. We have set higher standards than we can reach. We are so immature. We are such children! But, the gospel says, we are God’s children! The gospel is “good news” in that it says we are accepted as we are. God loves us despite our childish self-centeredness, our childish fears, and our childish values. This is a most remarkable gospel. Not many of us have genuinely believed it, because it seems so incredible.

God understands what earthly parents do not, that love motivates growth. Far more effectively than rules and demands, unconditional love motivates growth. If you say to me, “Grow up!” that demand has confirmed me in my immaturity. You have not only told me I am a child, you have communicated the distressing message that I am unacceptable to you until I change. If, on the other hand, you say to me, “I love you as you are,” you have opened the doors of a thousand possibilities.

1 John 3:2 says, “Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him.” God loves us as we are in order to make us like Jesus Christ. We become like him, not by straining, but by believing and accepting God’s love. The most beautiful thing about children is their total lack of pretension. They are who they are. This is why Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me . . . for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Our problem is that we think we are grown. We think we cannot come to God as little children, honestly, just as we are. But God doesn’t say, “Grow up!” God says, “Come home.”

Surely you have heard this Fred Craddock story. Dr. and Mrs. Craddock were having dinner in the Tennessee mountains when an elderly gentleman stopped by their table. “Evening, folks,” he said. “I’m Ben Hooper. Where’re you from?” Then when he found out that Craddock was a preacher, he pulled up a chair and said, “Let me tell you a story.” He told of being born in rural Tennessee without knowing who his father was, and of the sense of shame he had growing up. Still just a boy, he started going to a little backwoods church because no one knew him, and he liked the preacher who was loud and dramatic. Once, when he stayed too long after the service, the preacher caught him. “Boy,” he said, “who are you?” His eyes bored down on him. Before the boy could say anything the preacher said, “Wait a minute! I know who you are. You’re a child of . . . let’s see, you’re a child of . . . you’re a child of God! Yes, I see a striking resemblance.” Then he smiled, tousled the boy’s hair, and said, “Now go out there and claim your inheritance!” Fred Craddock said, “I remember hearing about a man who was twice elected governor of this state, and I believe his name was Ben Hooper.” The old man smiled and said, “Yes, and what I just told you was the day I was born.”

Beloved, we are God’s children now. And God knows what we shall be. Amen.

• This scholarship of a minimum of $500 is open to candidates who consider themselves “children of Royal Lane Baptist Church” and is only to be used for undergraduate studies. Current high school seniors or present undergraduate students are eligible to complete an application.
• A person may only receive this scholarship one time.
• The application due date is May 6th. After you submit your application to the church office, you will be contacted to schedule an interview with the scholarship committee.

Scholarship Form

Donations to the Royal Lane Baptist Church Scholarship Fund may be made in honor or in memory of a loved one. Make checks payable to RLBC and  indicate on the check that the donation is for the “Scholarship Fund.” Dedications will be made known as a part of the scholarship presentation.