The Plowman

Moving

2007-01-05T12:13:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm moving this blog over to Wordpress. Several things have prompted the move. The main reason, however, is when I transferred over to Blogger Beta, I was not happy with the limited control I had over the page layout, so here goes. My new url at the New Plowman is http://arator.wordpress.com I hope to see you there.

Friday Photos: Sunsets

2006-12-29T04:31:00.000-06:00

This week's Friday Photos is about sunsets. The first sunset was taken from my front yard on Christmas eve. The second sunset was taken this Wednesday from work. Check out a whole raft of other fine photos at the Friday Photo Group. Have a blessed weekend, a happy new year, and May God bless you and yours.

Screwtape Letter #5

2006-12-28T13:54:00.000-06:00

"My dear Wormwood,"

(Editor's note: These posts on the Screwtape Letters are the result of the high-school Sunday school class that my wife and I teach at Trinity Baptist church, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If any of this material would be useful to anyone for a similar purpose, please feel free to use it, modifying it in any way you feel necessary. If you have any suggestions, comments, or observations, I invite you to please post them here. This is a work in progress, looking for any honest and sincere help you might offer.) Vocabulary: draught: a single act of drinking or inhaling; (a British spelling of the word draft) chalice: A large cup or goblet, usually used for drinking wine, often connected with the Lord's Supper. patriot: a person who vigorously supports and defends his country ardent: enthusiastic or passionate pacifist: the belief that any violence, including war, is unjustifiable under any circumstances temporal: limited by time and space; the physical world barbarous: savagely cruel; exceedingly brutal sophistical: clever but fallacious reasoning unchastity: Lacking self-control, self-restraint, especially in, but not limited to the sexual realm. partisans: A strong supporter of one side. diffused: Spread out over time. bereavement: the state of having been deprived of a loved one, usually through death Lesson: In this letter we will look at the factors of suffering in the life of the Christian, and its effect on his walk of faith. In this letter we find that World War II has begun, and Wormwood is ecstatic because of the various sufferings that it is causing his "patient." Screwtape warns him in this letter not to be overly optimistic because suffering often drives Christians closer to God, not further away. Note first one passage which reveals some incorrect theology: If, on the other hand, by steady and cool-headed application here and now you can finally secure his soul, he will then be yours forever - a brim-full living chalice of despair and horror and astonishment which you can raise to your lips as often as you please. When Jesus comes back to judge the world in righteousness, Satan and the demons will not be rejoicing over the "gains" they had made up to that point. Hell will not be a place where Satan reigns, it will be a place where Jesus reigns. and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:10-15, ESV) The devil's business is to try to shake our faith: So do not allow any temporary excitement to distract you from the real business of undermining faith and preventing the formation of virtues. We have way too many promises in God's word to loose heart when trials come. Let us cling to them in all hope: Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, "I believed, and so I spoke," we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:1-18, ESV) The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (Romans 16:20, ESV) Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:6-11, ESV)

"Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape"

Joy to the World

2006-12-22T12:16:00.000-06:00

And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, "You shall not eat of it," cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field." (Genesis 3:17, 18, ESV) I know this is not what you expected. You might ask "So what's with a title like Joy to the World, followed by a picture of a hand full of grass burrs, followed by a Scripture passage about the fall" The third verse of this great hymn by Isaac Watts is the key to this post: No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make his blessings flow Far as the curse is found. Let me tell you how far the curse is found on my place. It is found at the foot of a small tree, with a good deal of bark and cambium scraped from its tiny trunk; damag by deer antlers in the middle of the previous night. One big buck had "scraped" a number of our smaller trees, including several small apple trees and the White pine pictured below. The pine had been our Christmas tree three seasons back. When I bent down to get a close shot of the damage, my left hand quickly came up with a hand-full of this curse. And that is where Joy to the World comes in. That is what Christmas is all about. Christ came to put an end to all of that, and though we live in this age of the already but not yet, we have a sure hope that one day sin and sorrow will grow no more, neither will thorns infest the ground. Also, this creation will not strive with it self, so that rutting bucks won't mindlessly try to destroy young trees. Sure, these things are nothing compared to personal sin and misery and estrangement from God, but they are connected and related. So the next time your car breaks down or your co-worker dissapoints you, or you come down with the flu, or a loved one dies; then remember just how far the curse is found, and what great joy it is to this fallen world and all in it, that Christ came to fix all of that. That is what Christmas is all about. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:19-23, ESV) Check out some other blogger's fine Friday Photos over at the Friday Photo Group

Screwtape Letter #4

2006-12-19T00:58:00.000-06:00

"My dear Wormwood,"

Vocabulary supplication: To ask or beg for something earnestly or humbly. superficial: not thorough, deep, or complete subtle: so delicate or precise as to be difficult to analyze or describe cynical: distrustful of human sincerity or integrity luminosity: being filled with light, so as to shine from within puerile: childishly silly and trivial subjective: based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions Lesson 1. "The best thing, where it is possible, is to keep the patient from the serious intention of praying altogether." A. Most Christians have this long-standing common belief that standard, or prepared prayers are not real, as in prayers memorized and "said" in childhood. Prayers read out of a book cannot be genuine. Is this true? B. The flip side of this is to opt for "something entirely spontaneous, inward, informal, and unregularised", thinking this style is somehow more real, more sincere. Is this true? C. Screwtape says that we are animals and "whatever [our] bodies do affects [our] souls." How does this relate to praying with eyes closed, head bowed, and/or on our knees? Does it really make a difference.? 2. When our prayers attend to someone other than God there is a misdirection of our prayers. With this approach our prayers are really aimed inwardly, as we attempt to pray in such a way so as to produce a desired feeling or emotion. Feelings and emotions are very much subject to a multitude of external factors such as health, rest, and stress, just to name a few. So when we pray we need to be careful to pray with God in mind, with his interests at heart - namely, to and for His glory and honor, and not our own. How do we do this? 3. "Whenever there is prayer, there is danger of His own immediate action He is cynically indifferent to the dignity of His position, and ours, as pure spirits, and to human animals on their knees He pours out self-knowledge in a quite shameless fashion." God is indeed generous and gracious when we come to Him humbly and in sincerity. How do we pray to God in this manner? For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him. (2 Chronicles 30:9, ESV) But he gives more grace. Therefore it says,“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6, ESV) 4. "You must keep him praying to it - to the thing that he has made, not to the Person who has made him." We have a bad habit of making God in our own image, or praying to an idol of our own making, and thus our prayers go as far as the ceiling, and no further. It could be that our view of God contains too much of the incarnation of Jesus, and not enough of the exaltation of Jesus, seated at the right hand of the Father. How do we pray "to the Person who has made [us]", and not just "the thing [we have] made"? Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in* blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. (Revelation 19:11-16, ESV) Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11, ESV)

"Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape"

Screwtape Letter #3

2006-12-14T00:43:00.000-06:00

"My dear Wormwood,"

Vocabulary expurgated: to remove something that is thought to be objectionable or unsuitable. innocuous: not harmful or offensive. rheumatism: a disease marked by pain and swelling in the joints. domestic: relating to the running of a home or to family relations. utterances: a spoken word or statement, or vocal sound. piqued: a feeling of irritation or resentment because one has been slighted. Lesson The whole third chapter of James is devoted to the general topic of how we sin with the tongue.What are some specific ways that we sin with our tongues? The two that immediately come to mind are lying and verbal abuse, but there is a much lesser known, subtle way in which we sin with our speech. In letter three of The Screwtape Letters, we find ourselves dealing with the subject of Christian conduct in close community. It seems that the closer the relationship is, the more prone we are to sin with our mouth. Why is it that we are the most careless with those whom we claim to care the most about? When this lesson from letter three took place several weeks ago, every student read a portion of the letter, and then we discussed ways that we sin with our mouth, and ways that we can fight those tendencies. The following points are just an outline of that discussion. 1. "The Enemy will be working from the centre outwards, gradually bringing more and more of the patient's conduct under the new standard," We can be thankful that "He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world" and He won't let it rest with us. God's Spirit is in us working out God's good pleasure in us, fitting us to wage war with remaining sin. Jesus is Lord over our whole being, even our speech. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12,13, ESV) And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.(2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV) 2. Screwtape reminds Wormwood to "Keep his mind off the most elementary duties by directing it to the most advanced and spiritual ones." Here again as in previous lessons, we see that the mind plays a key role in the Christian's walk of faith. We can never drop our guard, even for a second. We must be constantly vigilant. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2, ESV) This portion of letter three also reminds us that the Christian walk is simple. It may not be easy, but it certainly is simple. All of our Christian life can be boiled down to "Trust and Obey". There really is no such thing as advanced and spiritual duties. It all comes down to trusting in Christ alone for your salvation, and seeking to reflect the love of Christ as you live and walk among others. 3. "Make sure that . . . he is always concerned with the state of her soul and never with her rheumatism." I think what is going on in this section is the concept of religion that is confined to the spiritual and never reaches the physical. We should pray for someones soul, but we should also be concerned about their physical needs as well. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:14-17, ESV) 4. "When two humans have lived together for many years, it usually happens that each has tones of voice and expressions of face which are almost unendurably irritating to the other." How easy it is to expect the worst from others. When we are already aggravated with some one, then it is even easier to build a case against someone with the even the slightest look or tone. A Christian should never be a cynic. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:7, ESV) The best way to avoid feeling like this is to communicate. Ask the person what he meant by that expression or look, or tone. Whenever possible, try to put the best possible face on someone else's behavior. 5. "In civilised life domestic hatred usually expresses itself by saying things which would appear quite harmless on paper. . ." At this point the discussion of our use of language is pointed straight back on each one of us. We have a responsibility to be fair in estimating other people's motives when speaking to us, but we have an even greater responsibility to speak to others with honesty. We have a responsibility not only to be honest with our words, but also to be honest with the way we use those words. Communication is such a complex art. Words and sentences have meaning, but with the use of analogous and equivocal language, sentences can carry quite a number of meanings. With the use of tone, inflection, volume, emphasis of certain words, and facial expressions, many more meanings can be carried with the use of the same words. When dealing with the tongue, a Christians responsibility goes far beyond what he says. Let's close with this declaration and warning from our Lord: For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, (Matthew 12:34b-36, ESV)

"Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape"

Driscoll and the Devil

2006-12-08T13:20:00.000-06:00

(Photo, courtesy of Timmy Brister.) You might, and you might not be comfortable at Mar's Hill church, pastored by the fire-brand preacher Mark Driscoll. From what I can gather, Mar's Hill is a bit on the edge as regards worship style. You can't get past that preaching, though. I do enjoy Driscoll's preaching, because he preaches the plain Gospel with no apologies. His style seems to cut through the fluff and do what the preaching of God's word is suppose to do: give glory and honor to God, through the person of Jesus Christ. I thank God he is where he is and is doing what he is doing. I'm not sure exactly how to express this, but I am fairly convinced that Driscoll has captured, at least in part, something that has gone largely missing in "church" for quite some time now. Let's describe it as a quality, and let's call that quality masculinity. Some call Driscoll's style nothing more than taxi-cab-driver crudity, but I believe there is something more there. Now before you turn me off, hear me out. I am not saying that he has this quality down to a science by any stretch, but after I got over the initial shock of Driscoll's graphic approach to preaching, I detected in him a sincere love for two things. Hopefully you will see it coming through too, if you get over your prejudices and just listen to his preaching. Those two passions that I detected in all of his preaching I have heard so far were a love for the lost in Seattle and around the world, and a love for Jesus Christ. I hear a radically different style, to say the least, but I have also heard the Gospel, crystal clear in every message of his I have heard to this point. If I am not mistaken, this is what is called contextualization, or cultural relevance, without loosing the message. His ministry is reaching many people in the largely unreached Northwest, many people who have been hostile to our parents' and grandparents' styles and methods of evangelism and worship. And to all of that I say praise be to God! A good bit of what is contained in the previous two paragraphs has been sitting in my future-posts folder for months. Impressed with the pastor who calls himself a "jack hammer for Jesus", among other things, I thought it would be neat to write something about him. I had never even heard of Mark Driscoll six months ago. The name kept popping up here and there this summer on the blogs, so one day, seeing a link for a sermon by Driscoll, I downloaded it and listened. It was edgy, harsh at points, even shocking, but refreshing. My next encounter with Driscoll was in connection with the recent Desiring God conference, where Driscoll was a scheduled speaker. I realized more fully Driscoll was a bit of a controversial figure in the larger evangelical arena when I heard comments by Piper and others in one of the two Q&A audios released from the conference. You can listen or download all of the audio from that conference, including both Q&A sessions from the web site at Desiring God. The topic I thought I would concentrate on at the time I first decided to post on him was his attire, his lack of a sense of dressing for the occasion, as that was alluded to once or twice in the afore-mentioned audios at the Desiring God conference. I was going to say something about whether he might consider dressing up for a daughter's wedding, say in a dozen years or so. I was going to be largely positive, recommending you listen to some of his messages, with the petty caveat on appearances and special occasions. My focus on Mark Driscoll all changed last week when, thanks to a post by Pastor Art Rogers, I downloaded and listened to a bit of audio featuring a Q&A session by Dr. Paige Patterson in chapel on November 28 at Southwestern Seminary. The very first question came from a professor at Southwestern, Jason Lee, who quoted from Mark Driscoll's book, The Radical Reformission. In the chapter titled The Sin of Lite Beer, Driscoll makes the case that women's suffrage and prohibition were both movements which were the result of the feminization of the Church around the turn of the 20th century. Professor Lee went on to read a section from the book:

"Prohibition is a pitiful result of syncretism and sectarianism. It matters because alcohol is a very real example of the pitfalls of syncretism and sectarianism. Prohibition began as a syncronistic liberalism that took away alcohol and the Christian freedom to drink. This happened because churches aligned themselves with a non-christian feminism that attempted to eliminate the pub as a gathering place for men to do theology, politics, and business. This syncretism undermined the clear teachings of Scripture, in an effort to fabricate a theology that supported its cultural form of morality."

Professor Lee then asked Dr. Patterson if he agreed with Driscoll's assessment or not, and why. Dr. Patterson's reply was the most slick, subtle, ad hominem argument I have ever heard. Without giving any evidence for his objection to the position whatsoever, Dr. Patterson moved on with his worn out rendition of why alcohol is not "the best" for the Christian, with a bad joke thrown in for good measure. Here's Dr. Patterson's response. You have got to see it to appreciate it:

"Well, first of all, let me begin by saying Driscoll is an individual that I think that you would be well to read some of. He is a very provocative thinker, and had some great suggestions along the way. This is probably not one of them. I would say in this regard that he has made himself relatively famous, or infamous, as the case may be, as a proponent of the consumption of beverage alcohol. I find his linking of feminization of the church with prohibition to be a very unlikely scenario, to say the least. The two things I would say is that I do not believe there is a precise passage of Scripture that says you will not drink, what the Bible is very clear about is statements like this. Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosovever is deceived thereby is not wise. Now very interestingly we've got a situation that exists right now in church life in America where people are saying "well, it's fine to drink, you just shouldn't get drunk. Drunkenness is wrong." Well that fails to observe that drunkenness is largely the result of drinking. In the second place it's very interesting that in Proverbs 20:1 nothing is said about drunkenness at all. What it says is that Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Now if Brother Driscoll or anybody else wants to be in the category of the not-wise, then that's their privilege. I'm going to come down in the area of the wise, at least on this one, and I'm going to say that there is every reason in the world why a Christian ought to leave alone anything that enslaves him.

Wow! What can you say to that? To begin with, I could be wrong, but I don't remember anywhere Mark Driscoll being "famous, or infamous, as the case may be" concerning alcohol. I know his preaching style and way of saying some things, along with his shabby dress, has gotten him in some hot water, but I haven't heard anyone comment on Driscoll's views on beverage alcohol. So, this sounds a bit like misrepresentation on the part of Dr. Patterson. Then there is the poor handling of Proverbs 20:1. It embarrasses me to hear someone in the position of Dr. Patterson abusing the hermeneutical tools of the literal principle and the analogy of Scripture (or perhaps, the absence of the use of these tools). That sets the stage for a negative way of calling a brother in Christ a fool. Dr. Patterson should be reminded of our Lord's warnings against such talk, found in Matthew 5:22. Probably least of all in this whole ramble by Dr. Patterson is the fact that he never gets around to actually refuting Mark Driscoll's assertion. Nothing like that good-ol-boy charm from Arkansas, and a bad joke to cloud the issue, and make everybody think you just made a slam dunk. It doesn't really matter if Driscoll was correct in his assesment, Dr. Patterson didn't prove him wrong, not in the least. Later on in the Q&A, a student asks Dr. Patterson what can the current generation do to continue the reforms in the SBC which were only begun at the Conservative Resurgence. Here is a portion of Dr. Patterson's response, beginning about 25:24 into the audio:

"Every generation must fight its battles. . . The way to understand this, I think is something that my colleagues will instantly agree with here, and will say this is easy to do. And here it is. Imagine that I were the devil . . . what would I do? Would I be worried about what's going on in the brothel? Unh-uh, wouldn't even show up. It's all going my way. Would I be worried about what's going on where ever Mark Driscoll is in a bar somewhere? No, I wouldn't worry about that. Got that going my way. What I would worry about is what's going on at Southwestern seminary. . .

Well this last little dig was the capstone for me. What an arrogant, disrespectful treatment of a brother in Christ. What un-charitable, un-christlike behavior. Earlier, in this same Q&A session Patterson declared that we need to "get our people back to the simple business of witnessing." And then, here he is, almost in the same breath, making sport of the pastor of a church that is the fifteenth fastest growing church in America, in the least-churched metro area in America. If I were in any way associated with Southwestern, I would be ashamed. What bothers me even more, is the fact that I have found nothing in over a week on the Internet to indicate any outrage among our own denomination over such un-christian behavior. I guess the SBC is too busy fighting the big battles over Patterson, Rankin, and the IMB. After all, Driscoll isn't even a Southern Baptist. He's probably a heretic any way, because he doesn't dot his i's and cross his t's the way we do. Just a few days ago I listened to a sermon by Pastor Mark Driscoll titled Why Should We Worship Jesus?, dated November 21. In it he comments on his view on drink and how it relates to worship. For Driscoll, even beverage alcohol is a part of his 24/7 view of worship. You should listen to it. You can listen to the audio or watch the video. Just look in the sidebar on the right for "Why should we worship Jesus?" If you wonder about his passion for a lost world, you should listen to his message titled Loving the City, dated October 3. Don't let someone who doesn't know influence you against this fine servant of our Lord and Savior. This leads me to say something that is probably going to anger many, but that's too bad: I'm sick to my stomach of Southern Baptists - Not the simple man in the pew, that Dr. Patterson and so many others brag about being the backbone of the SBC, and not all of those faithful pastors and missionaries around the world - I'm sick of all of the stuffed shirts, most of them above the rank of humble pastor, those who hold some position of prominence on a state or national level. Any time they get around a microphone all they carry on about is Southern Baptist distinctives, as if we are God's gift to the world, and ever other denomination, Christian though they may be, are just second-class citizens in the kingdom of God. If you haven't figured this out yet, let me tell you, God doesn't need our 5,000 missionaries, or the biggest missionary machine in the world. God can pick up any old crooked stick and draw a straight line with it. God is working through many other denominations in small, quiet ways, that very few ever hear about. And maybe, just maybe, they are being more faithful, more effectual for eternity than we can even begin to realize. I'm also sick of hearing "How many baptisms did they have last year?" or some variation thereof. What I hear far too little of in the upper muckety-muck of the SBC is "Are we being faithful?" and "Are we honoring God?" I think we should all repent on our faces before God.

Screwtape Letter #2

2006-12-03T18:04:00.000-06:00

"My dear Wormwood,"

Vocabulary: despair- The complete absence or loss of hope. sojourn- A temporary stay. liturgy- A form to which public church worship is conducted. toga- A loose-flowing outer garment worn in ancient Greek and Roman culture aspiration- A hope or ambition of achieving something. vermin- usually referring to mice or rats, but generally any animal harmful to mankind. hypocrisy- Claiming to have moral standards that one's behavior does not back up. humility-A modest or low view of one's own importance. ledger- A book of financial accounts. condescension- To show feelings of superiority. Questions: 1. Screwtape informs his nephew that "hundreds of these adult converts have been reclaimed after a brief sojourn in the Enemy's camp and are now with us." One of the great hallmarks of Baptist belief is the doctrine of The Security of the Believer, or The Perseverance of the Saints. How should we understand Screwtape's statement in light of Scripture? See Romans 8:35-39, John 10:28,29, Luke 8:4-15, and 1 John 2:19. For the warnings of presumption, see 1 Corinthians 10:12, Hebrews 10:26-31. 2. Note how the distractions described in this letter change in nature in the last paragraph. What is the difference between flaws and sins? See Romans 12:3, Romans 14:10-12, and James 4:11,12. 3. Note in this letter, as in the last letter, Screwtape emphasizes the need to keep the patient from thinking: "Handle him properly and it simply won't come into his head." In light of this how do we fight the Christian battle? See Romans 12:1,2. 4. What does Screwtape mean when he says "he still believes he has run up a very favourable credit balance in the Enemy's ledger by allowing himself to be converted,"? Are we guilty of acting as if we are doing God a favor by showing up at church? See Ephesians 2:8-10.

"Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape"

I Hate Winter

2006-12-01T12:31:00.000-06:00

There, I've said it. Some time each October my wife and change the exchange of pleasantries from "Good morning, [Sugar]" (several variants are possible.), to "I hate winter!" I use to feel a bit guilty when I said it, thinking it probably was being unthankful or disrespectful to God. Then I thought, "The Garden wasn't this way before the fall, and Heaven won't be this way. I bet the new heavens and the new earth won't be this way. What do you think? The great snow fall of November 30, 2006, ending in the wee hours of December 1. The tracks are mine. At 12:30 a.m. I had to walk the last quarter mile to my house. After 22 miles driving from my work to the house, I got stuck in a drift climbing the hill just south of our house. You notice It is a sunny day today. We will be running around in shorts and t-shirts by the weekend. Those of you who enjoy snow, and love winter, you need to repent. One more time: I hate winter! Check out all of the other fabulous photos at the Friday Photo Group

Public Radio and Salem Witch Trials

2006-12-01T12:22:00.001-06:00

At the advice of a post at Joe Thorn's blog, I subscribed to the podcast of This American Life, which is a radio journal dealing with odds and ends of interest in American life. The title is evidently pretty much self-defining. What may not be so evident is who's view of This American Life is being put forth. The Chicago-produced program is a product of National Public Radio, which means that their perspective is left of left, pro-gay, pro-abortion, anti-Christian, etc., etc. You get the idea. Listening to my first podcast of This American Life I quickly recalled why I quit listening to anything public radio years ago. The particular program which prompted Pastor Thorn to recommend This American Life revolved around the Tulsa-based Pentecostal pastor "Bishop" Carlton Pearson. Pearson was a big deal here in Tulsa in the 80's and 90's, but fell from favor in a big way when, a few years ago he denied the existence of Hell and embraced Universalism. His racially integrated congregation of five thousand on the affluent south side of Tulsa rapidly shrunk to just a few hundred. And then he was officially declared a heretic for his views by the body of African-American Pentecostal bishops that he was affiliated with. The program was worth listening to, as Pastor Thorn suggested. I found parts of it quite interesting. Living in Tulsa, and knowing a bit about the story I found some of it quite revealing. I found it sad, as did Pastor Thorn, but in a very different way. I too am sad over the personal losses described in this documenting of the rise and fall of a prominent Pentecostal pastor. I am sure Pearson's views came from pure motives, in search of the truth, but the hard fact of life is that there are consequences to ideas. What "breaks my heart" most of all is the fact that public radio did this piece at all. That is one reason, I think, why many are and will be mostly affected by the personal losses, because the program was written to elicit empathy, to paint Carlton Pearson as a brave maverick, become martyr, who stood on his convictions and paid a high price. You know this is the direction the piece is going to go from the very beginning by the tone set in the introduction:

"Every century in our country there have been heresy trials. And people have been cast out of their own communities. It didn't end with Salem witch trials."

It is a shame that this piece will possibly be heard by millions of "spiritual" unbelievers, and this program will even further solidify their moralistic therapeutic deistic spiritual unbelief. I am sure that Joe Thorn's comments in this post were not intended to be a full commentary on the program, so I am not being critical of him in this post. Having a closeness, community-wise, to this story, I felt I needed to say something. What did trouble me a bit about Pastor Thorn's brief comments, and, again I am sure he had more thoughts on the subject than he revealed in his post, was the lack of a sense of anger over the reproach brought upon the Gospel. This man, as Pastor Thorn pointed out, has jettisoned a vital aspect of the Gospel. I can understand sadness over the man's soul, for it is in grave danger, but our love for the Gospel should cause us to rise up as Paul did and say:

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8,9, ESV)

All is not lost, however, in the airing of this piece on Carlton Pearson. God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick. There are some positive things to say about this piece:

It is encouraging to see that Pentecostals do have a sense of orthodoxy. There are limits to their nonsense, after all. The Word-of-Faith gospel, the Health-and-Prosperity gospel, and the Turn-or-Burn gospel are bad enough, and they are bad, two out of three coming very close to heresy in their own right, but at least most Pentecostals won't go for the gospel of Inclusion.
This story is a prime example of the importance of a high view of Scripture. Not far into the program it is made quite evident that in order for Pearson to hold his view on Hell, he had to abandon an inerrant view of Scripture. It is not clear by the story which view fell first, but it is obvious that a high view of Scripture was not a non-negotiable in Pearson's world view.
I think it is fair to say that the overall body of Pentecostalism embraces a man-centered Arminian theology. As was pointed out by Ascoll and White in their recent "debate", Universalism is the logical, thinking conclusion of a man-centered Arminian system. Carlton Pearson was simply being consistent. If Jesus died for every soul that has ever lived or ever will live, then no one will go to Hell. The blessed thing about most in the SBC is that their Arminianism is not nearly so man centered in its emphasis, and their theology is largely compartmentalized (non-systematic). Very few Southern Baptists, clergy or lay, ever come to the conclusion of Universalism. Care needs to be taken, however. The conservative resurgence has brought new emphasis on the importance of Scripture, and as time goes by some who are serious to study and try to be systematic in their theology may very well come to embrace Universalism.
Hell is real. We need to preach it. I was listening to the White Horse Inn podcast from last week entitled Smooth Talk Flattery, discussing Romans 16, and one of the things they emphasized was that you don't have to quit believing in something to deny it. You just have to quit preaching it. In their discussion the scandal of the cross was the object, but the same principle easily applies to the doctrine of Hell. Again we need to preach on Hell. The good news of the Gospel means nothing apart from the anger, wrath, and righteousness of God, which finds at least part of its expression in the doctrine of Hell. You pastors, preach it, and then preach Christ.

All in all, A Modern-Day Heretic was still a very worthwhile piece to listen to. On the other hand, I wouldn't recommend just anyone to listen to this far-left-leaning piece. If anti-Christian propaganda makes you see red and want to throw things, then don't listen to it. Just one last caution: caveat emptor.

The Screwtape Letter: Intro and Letter #1

2006-11-24T12:31:00.000-06:00

"My dear Wormwood"

Introduction (Editors note: This post is the first in a series of studies of The Screwtape Letters, by C. S. Lewis. Our Sunday-school of high-schoolers began this study about six weeks ago. We are taking one letter each Sunday, reading it out loud, and then commenting on it. Our main purpose has been, not to study the devil and his demons, but rather to study our own selves from a biblical perspective. Our emphasis is on the grace and mercy of God in justifying and sanctifying us through Jesus Christ our Lord, by the power of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us. Taken into class each Sunday, these lessons are mere outlines. I will make an effort to fill them out a bit before posting them here.) Epigraphs: An epigraph is a quotation put at the beginning of a piece of literature, either at the beginning of a book, or chapter, that sets a tone or introduces a theme. The two epigraphs at the beginning of The Screwtape Letters, by C. S. Lewis, are:

"The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." Luther
"The devil . . the prowde spirite . . cannot endure to be mocked." Thomas More

What do you think the tone o this book of "letters" will be? During the middle ages Christians depicted the devil as wearing red suit with horns and a tail, intending to mock him. Parody: Parody is imitating something else usually for satirical (comic) effect. This style of literature's main purpose is to have fun with a topic. Lewis depicts Hell as a parody of Heaven. How does the Bible describe Hell? Background: These "letters" were written in England during the Second World War. The British people suffered greatly due to shortages due to rationing. They also suffered due to nightly bombing raids on English towns and cities by the German "blitzkrieg" or "lightning war". By day the British could watch their airmen do battle with the German Luftwaffe over the skies of Britain in the Battle of Britain The odds were overwhelming with 640 British planes to 2600 German planes. Screwtape Letter: Letter #1 Vocabulary: materialist- Someone who considers material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values, or that nothing exists except matter. naïf (naive)- Showing a lack of experience, wisdom, or judgement. jargon- Special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand. abominable- something greatly hated, causing moral revulsion. athiest- Someone who does not believe in God. aberrations- That which leaves the accepted norm, that which is unnatural and unwelcome. logic- reasoning using strict rules of truth to prove something true or false, probable, or improbable. Questions: 1. Who is the "Enemy"? 2. Who is the "patient"? 3. What is meant by "...oh, that abominable advantage of the Enemy's!"? 4. What are some realities that we cannot touch and see?

"Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape"

Next week: Screwtape Letter #2

Friday Photos: Community Service

2006-11-24T08:40:00.000-06:00

Last Tuesday evening we went to the community service that our church is involved in through the local "West Side Ministerial Alliance". The Alliance is represented by a variety of church denominations, but not as diverse as we could be. They are all baptistic, mostly Anglo, some charismatic. Our hosting church this year was Red Fork Baptist Church. I always enjoy these community services, held around Thanksgiving, though generally not on account of the Christ-centered emphasis. These community services help me keep things in perspective at my own church. The music at my own church frustrates me at times, but after just a short time at this year's community service I was realizing the far surpassing value of our singing service. We have a better Minister of Music, better hymn book, far heartier congregation of singers, and two angels on piano and organ. On the preaching of the word, my pastor was not slated to preach this year. The pastor of the local AOG church was. I am always curious and eager to hear what any preacher of God's word has to offer, but not because I don't have a faithful pastor at my own church. I just enjoy good preaching. I wasn't dissapointed. After the preacher got up and tried to tell us that doctrine doesn't matter, because it's all about unity after all, after close to a dozen lame jokes, then my pastor got up and prayed the best five-minute message you have ever heard in a closing prayer at a community service. One thing that surpassed anything I have seen in a church on the West side was their stained glass. The photos pictured here look out over the people as they walk into the sanctuary. There was quite a bit more glass around the building, but this was the only one that was lit up for a decent shot. Apparentely Red Fork Baptist Church is a very missions minded church. Lining the walls of the vestibule and along both sides of the main sanctuary were flags from all of the countries where Southern Baptist missionaries are serving. I had never seen this done before; very interesting, and quite colorful. It seems to be an effective reminder of what the great commission is all about. Don't forget to go see all of the great photos at the Friday Photo Group.

Change

2006-11-21T08:31:00.000-06:00

Yes, I have been messing with my template. If anyone can point me to the correct bit of code to remove to get the blog title off of my header logo, I would much appreciate it. In the mean time, I have work to do. Have a good day all.

Defacing Graffiti

2006-11-15T13:39:00.000-06:00

What's the world coming to? Vandalizing vandalism, the depths of debauchery. What's next?

Friday Photos: Hardy Cyclamen

2006-11-10T00:08:00.000-06:00

Ivy-leaved Cyclamen, Cyclamen hedrerifolium is a treat for me this time of year, when few other plants are blooming. The foliage, which is remarkable in its own right, dissapears when spring turns hot. The Blossoms begin sparingly in October, and then the foliage returns in November. At this time the inverted blossoms, looking earthward with petals pointing backward to the sky, begin to appear more abundantly. They will continue to bloom well into the new year. Once the flower has been pollinated, the petals fade and fall, and the flower stem begins to curl up so that the "fruit" containing the developing seeds will be in contact with the soil when the seed pod dries and opens in about a month. What can we do with this for a Christian application? Well, as pretty and neat as the Hardy Cyclamen is Christians should not follow its example. We should keep our faces turned upward, toward the Father above, and we should seek to scatter our seeds just a bit farther afield. Don't forget to look at all of the great pics over at the Friday Photo Group. Have a great weekend. This Sunday, worship our great God and Savior with all your heart, mind, and soul.

Alcohol Again

2006-11-07T00:57:00.000-06:00

I just received my weekly dose of The White Horse Inn, where the "usual cast of characters were discussing Romans 14 and 15. "The Romans Revolution" has been the topic all this year. If you haven't heard it you need to go back and catch it. It has been a wonderful survey of the book of Romans. The topic this week was on The Weaker Brother, and, among other things, Michael Horton cited some interesting statistics comparing the per-capita instances of alcoholism among various religious groups. Jews, Episcopalians ,Catholics, Lutherans, and Presbyterians have the lowest instances of alcoholism, which all happen to view alcohol as a gift from God. Now for those who view alcohol as a sin: Baptists, Methodists, and Mormons came in with the highest per capita instances of alcoholism. Interesting. The basic thrust of the discussion on the White Horse Inn was that the "weaker brother" who insists that everyone else practice his weakness is really an inverted Pharisee. At one point the discussion got around to the "encyclical" that "we" passed this year at Greensboro. You've got to hear it to realize how silly we really look to just about everybody.

Friday Photos: Chestnuts

2006-11-03T12:49:00.000-06:00

There are two totally different kinds of trees commonly called Chestnut. In the genus Castanea are several species that produce edible nuts. Pictured below is a nut, still in the husk, of Castanea mollissima x dentata, a hybrid between Chinese Chestnut and American Chestnut. In a totally separate genus, Aesculus, is a number of tree species that go by the common name Horse-chestnut, whose nuts are anything but edible. Also known as Red Buckeye, pictured below is a couple of seeds, still in the husk of Aesculus pavia. While still in their husks, still hanging on the tree, each kind of Chestnut is easily distinguished from the other, but once they have left their context of origin, you have to be very careful. One must look very closely to tell the two apart. It is very important to do so, as eating the wrong nut could do great harm. That is the beauty of the binomial naming system of genus and species, invented by Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778). Names mean something, and they mean the same thing today that they did a couple of hundred years ago, and they will still mean the same thing a hundred years hince, if the Lord tarries. Wouldn't it be nice if words held that precise quality in church matters for more than a decade, words like evangelical, fundamentalist, and Calvinism. We think we have a cute device that makes it all work, namely by adding prefixes such as pre-, post-, and hyper-. If the label doesn't fit any more, because the object has changed, you just adjust the label; post-evangelical, for instance. Surely there is a better way. Like when something changes, you call it something else. It is kind of like sufixing every policical scandal in the last thirty years with -gate. Somebody give me some aspirin, my head hurts. Check out all of the really fine photos at the Friday Photo Group.

Luther's 95 Theses, October 31, 1517

2006-10-31T14:06:00.000-06:00

When Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenburg, Germany on this day in 1517, it probably wouldn't have amounted to very much if it were not for his students. Still considered a marvel for its day, the 95 Theses were translated by Luther's students into the German language and distributed to every hamlet in the country within a couple of weeks. That is what set the forrest on fire. Thanks to Luther even we Baptists are not crossing ourselves and saying the Ave Maria today. Be warned, if you don't think so, you may be a Landmarker, regardless what Dr. Moore says. Every year at this time I love to pull up a copy of the 95 in Latin. I'm very rusty, but I still love to try to piece them together. Many, even in the reformed tradition, don't know much about the contents of Luther's 95. Guess what? The five sola's aren't in there. Neither are the five points of Calvinism. It's mostly about the authority and sufficiency of Scripture alone. Hmm, sounds just like the problems we're having in the SBC right now. Thanks to Project Wittenberg, Here's Luther's 95 Theses in Latin:

"Disputatio pro Declaratione Virtutis Indulgentiarum." Martin Luther
Amore et studio elucidande veritatis hec subscripta disputabuntur Wittenberge, Presidente R. P. Martino Lutther, Artium et S. Theologie Magistro eiusdemque ibidem lectore Ordinario. Quare petit, ut qui non possunt verbis presentes nobiscum disceptare agant id literis absentes. In nomine domini nostri Hiesu Christi. Amen.
1. Dominus et magister noster Iesus Christus dicendo `Penitentiam agite &c.' omnem vitam fidelium penitentiam esse voluit.
2. Quod verbum de penitentia sacramentali (id est confessionis et satisfactionis, que sacerdotum ministerio celebratur) non potest intelligi. 3. Non tamen solam intendit interiorem, immo interior nulla est, nisi foris operetur varias carnis mortificationes. 4. Manet itaque pena, donec manet odium sui (id est penitentia vera intus), scilicet usque ad introitum regni celorum. 5. Papa non vult nec potest ullas penas remittere preter eas, quas arbitrio vel suo vel canonum imposuit. 6. Papa non potest remittere ullam culpam nisi declarando, et approbando remissam a deo Aut certe remittendo casus reservatos sibi, quibus contemptis culpa prorsus remaneret. 7. Nulli prorus remittit deus culpam, quin simul eum subiiciat humiliatum in omnibus sacerdoti suo vicario. 8. Canones penitentiales solum viventibus sunt impositi nihilque morituris secundum eosdem debet imponi.
9. Inde bene nobis facit spiritus sanctus in papa excipiendo in suis decretis semper articulum mortis et necessitatis. 10. Indocte et male faciunt sacerdotes ii, qui morituris penitentias canonicas in purgatorium reservant. 11. Zizania illa de mutanda pena Canonica in penam purgatorii videntur certe dormientibus episcopis seminata. 12. Olim pene canonice non post, sed ante absolutionem imponebantur tanquam tentamenta vere contritionis. 13. Morituri per mortem omnia solvunt et legibus canonum mortui iam sunt, habentes iure earum relaxationem. 14. Imperfecta sanitas seu charitas morituri necessario secum fert magnum timorem, tantoque maiorem, quanto minor fuerit ipsa. 15. Hic timor et horror satis est se solo (ut alia taceam) facere penam purgatorii, cum sit proximus desperationis horrori. 16. Videntur infernus, purgaturium, celum differre, sicut desperatio, prope desperatio, securitas differunt. 17. Necessarium videtur animabus in purgatorio sicut minni horrorem ita augeri charitatem. 18. Nec probatum videtur ullis aut rationibus aut scripturis, quod sint extra statum meriti seu augende charitatis. 19. Nec hoc probatum esse videtur, quod sint de sua beatitudine certe et secure, saltem omnes, licet nos certissimi simus. 20. Igitur papa per remissionem plenariam omnium penarum non simpliciter omnium intelligit, sed a seipso tantummodo impositarum. 21. Errant itaque indulgentiarum predicatores ii, qui dicunt per pape indulgentias hominem ab omni pena solvi et salvari. 22. Quin nullam remittit animabus in purgatorio, quam in hac vita debuissent secundum Canones solvere. 23. Si remissio ulla omnium omnino penarum potest alicui dari, certum est eam non nisi perfectissimis, i.e. paucissimis, dari. 24. Falli ob id necesse est maiorem partem populi per indifferentem illam et magnificam pene solute promissionem. 25. Qualem potestatem habet papa in purgatorium generaliter, talem habet quilibet Episcopus et Curatus in sua diocesi et parochia specialiter. 1. [26] Optime facit papa, quod non potestate clavis (quam nullam habet) sed per modum suffragii dat animabus remissionem. 2. [27] Hominem predicant, qui statim ut iactus nummus in cistam tinnierit evolare dicunt animam. 3. [28] Certum est, nummo in cistam tinniente augeri questum et avariciam posse: suffragium autem ecclesie est in arbitrio dei solius. 4. [29] Quis scit, si omnes anime in purgatorio velint redimi, sicut de s. Severino et Paschali factum narratur. 5. [30] Nullus securus est de veritate sue contritionis, multominus de consecutione plenarie remissionis. 6. [31] Quam rarus est vere penitens, tam rarus est vere indulgentias redimens, i. e. rarissimus. 7. [32] Damnabuntur ineternum cum suis magistris, qui per literas veniarum securos sese credunt de sua salute. 8. [33] Cavendi sunt nimis, qui dicunt venias illas Pape donum esse illud dei inestimabile, quo reconciliatur homo deo. 9. [34] Gratie enim ille veniales tantum respiciunt penas satisfactionis sacramentalis ab homine constitutas. 10. [35] Non christiana predicant, qui docent, quod redempturis animas vel confessionalia non sit necessaria contritio. 11. [36] Quilibet christianus vere compunctus habet remissionem plenariam a pena et culpa etiam sine literis veniarum sibi debitam. 12. [37] Quilibet versus christianus, sive vivus sive mortuus, habet participationem omnium bonorum Christi et Ecclesie etiam sine literis veniarum a deo sibi datam. 13. [38] Remissio tamen et participatio Pape nullo modo est contemnenda, quia (ut dixi) est declaratio remissionis divine. 14. [39] Difficillimum est etiam doctissimis Theologis simul extollere veniarum largitatem et contritionis veritatem coram populo. 15. [40] Contritionis veritas penas querit et amat, Veniarum autem largitas relaxat et odisse facit, saltem occasione. 16. [41] Caute sunt venie apostolice predicande, ne populus false intelligat eas preferri ceteris bonis operibus charitatis. 17. [42] Docendi sunt christiani, quod Pape mens non est, redemptionem veniarum ulla ex parte comparandam esse operibus misericordie. 18. [43] Docendi sunt christiani, quod dans pauperi aut mutuans egenti melius facit quam si venias redimereet. 19. [44] Quia per opus charitatis crescit charitas et fit homo melior, sed per venias non fit melior sed tantummodo a pena liberior. 20. [45] Docendi sunt christiani, quod, qui videt egenum et neglecto eo dat pro veniis, non idulgentias Pape sed indignationem dei sibi vendicat. 21. [46] Docendi sunt christiani, quod nisi superfluis abundent necessaria tenentur domui sue retinere et nequaquam propter venias effundere.
22. [47] Docendi sunt christiani, quod redemptio veniarum est libera, non precepta. 23. [48] Docendi sunt christiani, quod Papa sicut magis eget ita magis optat in veniis dandis pro se devotam orationem quam promptam pecuniam. 24. [49] Docendi sunt christiani, quod venie Pape sunt utiles, si non in cas confidant, Sed nocentissime, si timorem dei per eas amittant. 25. [50] Docendi sunt christiani, quod si Papa nosset exactiones venialium predicatorum, mallet Basilicam s. Petri in cineres ire quam edificari cute, carne et ossibus ovium suarum. 1. [51] Docendi sunt christiani, quod Papa sicut debet ita vellet, etiam vendita (si opus sit) Basilicam s. Petri, de suis pecuniis dare illis, a quorum plurimis quidam concionatores veniarum pecuniam eliciunt. 2. [52] Vana est fiducia salutis per literas veniarum, etiam si Commissarius, immo Papa ipse suam animam pro illis impigneraret. 3. [53] Hostes Christi et Pape sunt ii, qui propter venias predicandas verbum dei in aliis ecclesiis penitus silere iubent. 4. [54] Iniuria fit verbo dei, dum in eodem sermone equale vel longius tempus impenditur veniis quam illi. 5. [55] Mens Pape necessario est, quod, si venie (quod minimum est) una campana, unis pompis et ceremoniis celebrantur, Euangelium (quod maximum est) centum campanis, centum pompis, centum ceremoniis predicetur. 6. [56] Thesauri ecclesie, unde Pape dat indulgentias, neque satis nominati sunt neque cogniti apud populum Christi. 7. [57] Temporales certe non esse patet, quod non tam facile eos profundunt, sed tantummodo colligunt multi concionatorum. 8. [58] Nec sunt merita Christi et sanctorum, quia hec semper sine Papa operantur gratiam hominis interioris et crucem, mortem infernumque exterioris. 9. [59] Thesauros ecclesie s. Laurentius dixit esse pauperes ecclesie, sed locutus est usu vocabuli suo tempore. 10. [60] Sine temeritate dicimus claves ecclesie (merito Christi donatas) esse thesaurum istum. 11. [61] Clarum est enim, quod ad remissionem penarum et casuum sola sufficit potestas Pape. 12. [62] Verus thesaurus ecclesie est sacrosanctum euangelium glorie et gratie dei. 13. [63] Hic autem est merito odiosissimus, quia ex primis facit novissimos. 14. [64] Thesaurus autem indulgentiarum merito est gratissimus, quia ex novissimis facit primos. 15. [65] Igitur thesauri Euangelici rhetia sunt, quibus olim piscabantur viros divitiarum. 16. [66] Thesauri indulgentiarum rhetia sunt, quibus nunc piscantur divitias virorum. 17. [67] Indulgentie, quas concionatores vociferantur maximas gratias, intelliguntur vere tales quoad questum promovendum. 18. [68] Sunt tamen re vera minime ad gratiam dei et crucis pietatem comparate. 19. [69] Tenentur Episcopi et Curati veniarum apostolicarum Commissarios cum omni reverentia admittere. 20. [70] Sed magis tenentur omnibus oculis intendere, omnibus auribus advertere, ne pro commissione Pape sua illi somnia predicent. 21. [71] Contra veniarum apostolicarum veritatem qui loquitur, sit ille anathema et maledictus. 22. [72] Qui vero, contra libidinem ac licentiam verborum Concionatoris veniarum curam agit, sit ille benedictus. 23. [73] Sicut Papa iuste fulminat eos, qui in fraudem negocii veniarum quacunque arte machinantur, 24. [74] Multomagnis fulminare intendit eos, qui per veniarum pretextum in fraudem sancte charitatis et veritatis machinantur, 25. [75] Opinari venias papales tantas esse, ut solvere possint hominem, etiam si quis per impossibile dei genitricem violasset, Est insanire.
1. [76] Dicimus contra, quod venie papales nec minimum venialium peccatorum tollere possint quo ad culpam. 2. [77] Quod dicitur, nec si s. Petrus modo Papa esset maiores gratias donare posset, est blasphemia in sanctum Petrum et Papam. 3. [78] Dicimus contra, quod etiam iste et quilibet papa maiores habet, scilicet Euangelium, virtutes, gratias, curationum &c. ut 1. Co. XII. 4. [79] Dicere, Crucem armis papalibus insigniter erectam cruci Christi equivalere, blasphemia est. 5. [80] Rationem reddent Episcopi, Curati et Theologi, Qui tales sermones in populum licere sinunt. 6. [81] Facit hec licentiosa veniarum predicatio, ut nec reverentiam Pape facile sit etiam doctis viris redimere a calumniis aut certe argutis questionibus laicorm. 7. [82] Scilicet. Cur Papa non evacuat purgatorium propter sanctissimam charitatem et summam animarum necessitatem ut causam omnium iustissimam, Si infinitas animas redimit propter pecuniam funestissimam ad structuram Basilice ut causam levissimam? 8. [83] Item. Cur permanent exequie et anniversaria defunctorum et non reddit aut recipi permittit beneficia pro illis instituta, cum iam sit iniuria pro redemptis orare? 9. [84] Item. Que illa nova pietas Dei et Pape, quod impio et inimico propter pecuniam concedunt animam piam et amicam dei redimere, Et tamen propter necessitatem ipsius met pie et dilecte anime non redimunt eam gratuita charitate? 10. [85] Item. Cur Canones penitentiales re ipsa et non usu iam diu in semet abrogati et mortui adhuc tamen pecuniis redimuntur per concessionem indulgentiarum tanquam vivacissimi? 11. [86] Item. Cur Papa, cuius opes hodie sunt opulentissimis Crassis crassiores, non de suis pecuniis magis quam pauperum fidelium struit unam tantummodo Basilicam sancti Petri? 12. [87] Item. Quid remittit aut participat Papa iis, qui per contritionem perfectam ius habent plenarie remissionis et participationis? 13. [88] Item. Quid adderetur ecclesie boni maioris, Si Papa, sicut semel facit, ita centies in die cuilibet fidelium has remissiones et participationes tribueret? 14. [89] Ex quo Papa salutem querit animarum per venias magis quam pecunias, Cur suspendit literas et venias iam olim concessas, cum sint eque efficaces? 15. [90] Hec scrupulosissima laicorum argumenta sola potestate compescere nec reddita ratione diluere, Est ecclesiam et Papam hostibus ridendos exponere et infelices christianos facere. 16. [91] Si ergo venie secundum spiritum et mentem Pape predicarentur, facile illa omnia solverentur, immo non essent. 17. [92] Valeant itaque omnes illi prophete, qui dicunt populo Christi `Pax pax,' et non est pax. 18. [93] Bene agant omnes illi prophete, qui dicunt populo Christi `Crux crux,' et non est crux. 19. [94] Exhortandi sunt Christiani, ut caput suum Christum per penas, mortes infernosque sequi studeant, 20. [95] Ac sic magis per multas tribulationes intrare celum quam per securitatem pacis confidant. M.D.Xvii.

Sunday School: Catching Up

2006-10-29T08:23:00.000-06:00

Looking back on my posts, I realize I haven't posted anything "Sunday school" since late August. Back then we were going through The Baptist Faith and Message 2000, and I was posting some semblance of what I was teaching in class each week. In an attempt to begin again posting weekly what we are doing in class now, I thought I would write a (not so) brief catch-you-up-with-what-we-are-doing type of post. We had gotten to article 14, and were having very good and profitable class dicussion when a couple of things occurred: The new class year started, and my computer did a hard crash. I thought I was safely backing up all of my data, but due to a misunderstanding of the way my back-up software worked, I had not. I finished out the class year with hand-written notes. When the new class year started in Sept. we lost about four seniors, so I stopped the BFM lessons with article 14: The Christian and the Social Order. Actually we wrapped the last four articles all into one lesson, explaining that the first part of the document lays out what we believe, and that the latter articles define how we act in the world as a result of what we believe. In the future I plan to go through the BF&M 2000, article by article, about every other year. With a new group I wanted to start with something fresh, but I didn't have the material I was looking for, so we looked at church music for about six weeks. This was something I was wanting to do anyway. It was a very informal Q & A format where we talked mostly about the contents of lyrics, but also about music style. We talked a bit about preferring one another in love by understanding that the older folks liked a certian style of music too. We touched on how the communion of saints touched on singing music from every age. We covered the contrasting categories of objective/subjective, God-centered/man-centered, and then we disucssed the concepts of trinitarian hymns and psalter-style hymns. We had alot of fun discussing music in general as well as the music we sang the previous Sunday morning. I would send them into the morning service with 3x5 cards and have them critique the music service for the presence or absence of what we had been discussing during the class. I am convinced that these exercises have improved their understanding of worship in music. You should never underestimate kids. They are bright, you just need to give them something so they can show you just how bright they are. If you are teaching youth in Sunday school, I would heartily recommend you spend some time going over these concepts in music. It will improve their understanding and practice of worship in church. We are currently in our third week looking at The Screwtape Letters, by C. S. Lewis, trying to glean a better understanding of the nature of sin, temptation, and man. One reason I waited to begin the class, was that I was trying to save a buck or two, gathering up used copies hither and yon. The general lot of kids seem to be interested, and several of them are quite active in Q & A. The best part is no parents have cornered me yet wanting to know why I'm teaching their child about demons. My plan is to read one letter each week and then draw out lessons from them, and then ask questions to try to draw the students into the process. As always, anybody with suggestions or questions, please drop me a comment. I need all the help I can get.

Addendum

2006-10-28T04:09:00.000-05:00

I forgot to include a couple of juicy quotes from the message I highlighted in my previous post. After you read these, you will have to listen the audio, just to find out how these quotes fit into the message.

"She can be as plain as a mud fence."
"Neither one of us had the gift of tongues."

You have a great week end, and when you get to church on Sunday, worship God with all that is within you.

The Church: Why? and What?

2006-10-28T00:05:00.000-05:00

Ever since I began blogging about a 18 months ago I have tried to get my pastor, Rod Harris, to join me on The Plowman and write a post every once in a while. He is the one who got me started reading web logs in the first place. I know he is a voracious reader of blogs, and remembers everything he reads. I often hear things in his messages, that I have read the previous week or two on someone's blog. He has a very keen wit, so I know he would be interesting to read. We discuss often what we read on the blogs about SBC life, so I know he is very knowledgeable of the machinery of the state and national conventions. I just can't seem to get him to write anything for me. Listening to his Wednesday message earlier today made me realize that he does his blogging from behind the pulpit. As some of you may know, I record, edit, and post pastor Rod's sermons on a podcast called Bulldogs and Piggies. As I listened to this Wednesday's message, getting it ready for publication, I realized how relevant it was to what is going on in SBC life. Simply titled The Church: Why? and What?, pastor Rod first discusses why the believer needs the Church, what is the Church, and what makes a church. It was so clear and succinct, and the application at the end was brief, but to the point. By way of application he laid out three things that the Church needs to do in a rapidly changing world:

We need to make sure we live out the truth we profess.
We need to work on incarnating the gospel daily, making the gospel flesh and bone as we meet people.
We just need to be the Church, who God called us to be. Easily said, but difficult to carry out. I figure as long as he is going to preach like that, then I am going to comment here, and try to provide a simple outline. Maybe two things will happen: You'll be curious enough to follow the sermon or podcast link in the right margin, so as to benefit from this sage's vast knowledge and insight. And hopefully someday I will irritate my pastor enough to cause him to jump in there and represent himself on The Plowman, or on his own blog.

Friday Photos: Fall Landscape

2006-10-27T00:39:00.000-05:00

IMG_4390.JPG, originally uploaded by Wayne Hatcher.

Well fall has finally finally hit here in Oklahoma. Most of the trees are starting to turn a bit now. These Sassafras trees are really beginning to turn. My wife Suzan slipped out and took these shots while I wasn't looking (actually, I was asleep).

IMG_4395.JPG, originally uploaded by Wayne Hatcher.

Here is a close-up of a holly she also took. It had rained in the night, and by mid-morning, drops still hung to the leaves. Be sure to catch all of the other wonderful photos at the Friday Photo Group.

Preaching at My Church

2006-10-23T00:09:00.000-05:00

Well, pastor Rod returned from his well-deserved vacation to give an interesting message last Wednesday evening that he titled "I Did Not Know Chico Was a Baptist." My assistant recorded this so I haven't yet heard the entire audio, so I am just as curious as you are to know what "Chico" and "Baptist" has to do with this message, but while editing the audio for publishing, ~~but~~ I think it has something to do with all of us being ministers in the church and not just the pastor. If you are curious about this and the two messages delivered this Sunday, click the "Bulldogs and Piggies" link in the right margin. In this Sunday-morning message, from Matthew 7:21-27, pastor Rod focused on the problem of false professions, of assent without faith, profession without possession, of "salvation" without lordship. Pastor concentrated on two indicators of this fatal problem: 1. Verses 21-23 clearly reveal that a mere verbal profession of faith accomplishes nothing. There are many who are confident that they are saved, but it is a false confidence. Right doctrine with out a right relationship to God in Christ is of no value. Luther, Whitfield, and Wesley were all examples of men who knew the truth, had right doctrine, long before they were saved. We also see that good deeds aren't enough either. The issue is relationship. The issue is being rightly 2. Verses 24-27 point out that mere intellectual knowledge falls short of saving faith. The real issue is what is your life built upon? A set of facts you have agreed to? Or have you acted upon those facts by putting saving faith in Jesus Christ. See the analogy of the two houses built on different foundations. Saving faith goes one more step beyond assent to the facts, to acting on those facts. Are you willing to live the faith you say you believe? No one but God alone can tell whether you are savingly trusting in Christ alone. Salvation is a gracious gift of God, but there is a cost in believing, namely dying to self and living for God. It's not a perfect life, but a struggling life giving glory to God. What does the future hod for you. This Sunday evening, pastor Rod is nearing the end our study of the book of Joshua, covering the first 28 verses of the last chapter. I suspect the last message in this series will take place next Sunday evening. This passage probably contains the most famous quotation in the whole book: "And choose this day whom you will serve, . . .But as for me and my house. we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15, ESV). It is hard to live as light, when everything around us is geared for darkness. It is hard to be faithful, when all we ever see is unfaithfulness. In chapter 24, Joshua, at 110, on the threshold of eternity, challenges the children of Israel to a life of faithfulness to God. In this passage, when Joshua calls the children of Israel to a life of faithfulness, he is also calling us to a life of faithfulness. 1. In verses 2-13 we see that a lifestyle of genuine faithfulness demands a remembering of what God has already done in our lives. The central theme in this passage is what God had done in the past. This is something each of us need to do from time to time. We need to stop and reflect where we would be if God hadn't stooped 2. In verse 15 is that famous line mentioned above which points out that a lifestyle of genuine faithfulness demands a persistent determined choosing. Showing your reverence to God by serving Him faithfully in sincerity. In this passage Joshua is charging the children of Israel to get off the fence and whole-hartedly choose one or the other, God or the idols. This call to choose is not a point-in-time choosing, but a continual, ongoing choosing; choosing today, tomorrow, and every day that follows. This concept goes hand in hand with this morning's message, in that salvation involves this same concept. Salvation is not just a point-in-time decision, but an ongoing process, in one sense. It's not just "Who did you trust in way back then?", but "Who are you trusting in today, and every day?" 3. In verses 16-28 there is a call to vigilant watchfulness in a lifestyle of genuine faithfulness. Joshua warns the people to put away the idols that were already in their midst, and to incline their hearts toward God. May we also be found faithful. Everybody have a good work week. Listen to a sermon or two online this week. I do.

Faith Healing

2006-10-20T00:26:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid in the 60's I can remember watching Oral Roberts' preaching and healing services on my grandparents' black-and-white TV set. Always under a tent, he would be strutting up and down the platform, hands a waving, sweating like a politician with his shirt sleeves rolled up, and mopping his brow with a white handkercheif. That was pretty neat stuff for a kid of eight or nine. Oral Roberts turned to building a univrsity in 1963 and a hospital in 1981, each here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Pictured above is the prayer tower, located in the center of the Oral Roberts University campus, where it is told that in 1980, while up in the tower praying, Oral Roberts had a vision of a 900-foot Jesus who told him to build a hospital. The City of Faith hospital lasted only eight years, basically proving too costly to run. Tulsa, with a population of around 200,000 at the time, already had four major hospitals. The City of Faith is now called the Cityplex Towers, with a few floors leased out to a small specialty orthopedic surgery center. Beside some other non-medical businesses leasing space, the facility remains largely unoccupied. The common joke around here in the 80's was "Why would a faith healer need a hospital?" All of the buildings on the ORU campus take on the futuristic architecture similar to the prayer tower and the Cityplex towers. It is an interesting campus, although I can't vouch the academics. Kathie Lee Gifford is an alumni, if that is any indication. Don't forget to see all of the wonderful photos of all of those other "churchy" bloggers around at the Friday Photo Group. Y'all have a good weekend. When you go to church on Sunday, remember, it's not about us, it's all about giving glory to God and to the Lamb.

Pulpit Supply This Sunday

2006-10-15T22:57:00.000-05:00

Our pastor Harris was out of the pulpit this Sunday on a much needed vacation. In his absence we were treated by the "pulpit supply" of Bowden McElroy. Many of you know Brother McElroy from his web log Interregnum. The message he delivered was entitled "Love Does No Harm", and was taken from Romans 13:8-10. Below you will find a brief outline. You can listen to the mp-3 audio here. Brother McElroy also supplied Trinity's pulpit back in March. You can listen/download those two messages at Trinity's audio site. We are always sad to see pastor Rod absent from the pulpit, but brother McElroy was more than capable in providing a faithful gospel-centered message. Thank you, brother Bowden McElroy.

What makes the church? The church is a body, a group of believers, gathered together in the name of Christ who do this: Leave no debt outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another. (Romans 13:8)
Love is an action, a debt to be paid, not a feeling.
Love is ongoing. Love never quits. We can never say "enough".
Love does no harm.
Challenge: Think about what a church is. It is not a building, set of rules, or grouping of tradions. God has called you here to love one another.

Friday Photos: Our Lord's Community Church

2006-10-13T04:41:00.000-05:00

These two photos were taken at Our Lord's Community Church, in Oklahoma City, where my wife and I met our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter to hear a couple of lectures by Michael Horton. Although I enjoyed both lectures that I heard, Dr Horton is at his best when he is leading a round-table discussion with his three friends, Kim Riddlebarger, Ken Jones, and Rod Rosembladt on The White Horse Inn. It was still well worth the trip. The OKC Conference on Reformed Theology hosted Dr. Horton during their fifth annual Conference on Reformed Theology. Dr. Horton also spoke at the conference on Friday, but I couldn't get off work to go. The audio from the conference should be available at www.reformokc.com in the very near future. At least that is what I was told. See all of the other excellent photos from Christian bloggers at the Friday Photo Group

Saying the Amen

2006-10-11T00:32:00.000-05:00

Here is a good post to encourage you to participate in church by saying the amen. Jesus begins a number of statements with "Amen dico vobis. . .", which is "Truly I say to you. . ." in Latin. When we use the word amen, we are affirming the truth of a statement made by another. When Jesus says "I am the way, the truth, and the life. . .", He is, among other things, calling Himself The Amen. We should be careful how we handle one of our Lord's names, but we should use it and mean it, all the same. Just some thoughts on a post about speaking up in church. Let me know what you think about a noisy congregation. Pastors, does it distract, or encourage you?

Sunday Notes, October 8

2006-10-08T22:51:00.000-05:00

I am going to start posting my notes of the Sunday messages at my church. My hope is that some of you will find the brief outline helpful, and maybe even prompt some of you to go to the download site, or even cause you to subscribe to the podcast and actually listen to the messages my pastor preaches. In any case I hope you will enjoy it. Drop me a comment to let me know what you think. Listen to the audio and find out how well I take notes. Please don't correct my spelling, though; that is why I got married. The links to the podcast, download page, and auto-iTunes subscriber are in the sidebar toward the top. Sunday Morning Message Pastor Harris describes his first pastorate, as he introduces this message on The Demands of the Gospel, from Matthew 7:13-20.

"When we moved from Fort Worth to the metropolis of Masham, Oklahoma, it was an adjustment. We got up and watched every car come down the road. There weren't that many of them. People would say "I went through Masham once, but I missed it. There was a truck parked in front of it.""

1. The truth of the gospel demands a clear-cut choice. Christianity begins with a choice. This passage lists the choices as two, which are two ways to salvation, one true, one false. There is but one way to salvation and life. It is a narrow way. Jesus puts the difficulty at the front of the gospel. That is not the way we evangelize. We make it sound nice and simple and easy, and then make the disclaimers: "Now, the Christian walk is difficult at times." Jesus didn't con anyone into the kingdom. That is the way we need to be. The narrowness of the Gospel lies in the fact that there is only one way to God. That is greatly hated in our pluralistic society. The SBC, some years ago, put out a series of prayer guides showing Christians how to pray for the salvation of peoples of other faiths. This set off a fire storm. We were accused of hate crimes. All we were conveying in this practice was that there is only one way to God, through faith in Christ. I still love the definition of religious liberty given by Donald Gray Barnhouse: "You are absolutely free to go to hell any way you choose, or you can go to heaven God's way." 2. The truth of the gospel demands diligence against false teaching. There are false prophets, on tv and behind pulpits. It doesn't matter how often they quote the bible. We have an obligation to judge every message, and test every word we hear. Here's a test for false prophets: 1) There is more than one way to God. 2) There are no disturbing doctrines in their message. 3) What kind of fruit does it produce? 3. Conclusion: "All have sinned". The road we are naturally on is that wide path. Has there ever been that time that you have gotten on that narrow way? No one just happens by that way. You have to make a choice. God, by his Holy Spirit, has to save you. The narrow road calls us to both embrace and reject. Sunday Evening Message Future Faithfulness, from Joshua 23 1. Future faithfulness is built on a grateful past. To confess that God is sovereign is to say that He providentially works so that what ever goes on around me, God's hand is in it. We should not trust our feelings, but what He has said in His word. Joshua pointed the people back to the things God had done on their behalf to preserve them and in conquering the people around them. Emotions should play a part in our faith, but they should never be the basis of our faith in God. Biblical faith is not a leap in the dark. We have reason to believe because of what God has said in His word. 2. Future faithfulness is established by personal obedience. Because God has blessed, we are obligated to joyfully obey Him. These charges by God were not racial in nature, but rather religious. See in verse 16: "if you . . . go and serve other gods and bow down to them. . ." God was not concerned with mixed marriages, but rather the people of God marrying unbelievers. 3. Future faithfulness is reinforced by a solemn reminder. Joshua reminds the people that God's faithfulness is a two-edged sword. The God who is faithful to bless when you obey, is the same God who is faithful to punish when you disobey. God has called us to faithfulness. May we be found faithful.

Making Gates

2006-10-06T11:02:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't been posting much lately. That will probably continue for a bit. With cooler weather and the ever-increasing tidy-up projects, more of our free time has been spent outside. For the last couple of weeks I have been welding a gate together from scrap oilfield pipe, and an antique spoked wheel. We have always wanted an exit from the front yard west into the pecan orchard, so as cooler weather arrived I began the project. I made the breach in the fence over a month ago, and then had the hardest time finding the material needed to do what I wanted to do. The gate is up in the gap but I am still working on the nifty little latch. I should be finished with all but the brushing down and painting this weekend. This gate is the widest of my three yard gates because the other two were too small to allow our new mowing machine into the front yard. This Sunday next I suspect that Pastor Rod will be discussing gates, as he has worked his way through The Sermon on the Mount to that point (Matthew 7:13, 14) where Jesus commands his hearers to “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.". I remember the first time I heard a message from this passage from Thom Smith, now pastor of Randolph Street Baptist Church, in Charleston, West Virginia. It must have been twenty-five years ago. The thing I remember him stressing most was that most people draw the wrong analogy from the two gates. The two gates do not represent belief versus non-belief, but rather the one, true belief versus all of the multitude of false beliefs. Pastor, Sunday-school teacher, Brother, as you preach, teach, walk, what kind of gates are you building for people to walk through? Be sure to check out all of the other bloggers photos at the Friday Photo Group on Flickr. I have started a set on Flickr named Making Gates that I will be adding to as my gate project progresses. Check it out.

Friday Photos: Storms

2006-09-28T23:48:00.000-05:00

A line of thunder storms formed over eastern Oklahoma last Thursday, bringing us much needed moisture, without any of the nasty weather in the mix. The next day, the line reformed about a hundred miles east, over in western Arkansas. This time it was a bit more dicey, but still nothing really severe, just lots of rain. This first shot was taken about 3:45 p.m. from just east of the Port of Catoosa. Yes, Tulsa has a sea port. Later, back in Tulsa, this next shot was taken about 7:20 p.m. at the corner of 51st and Mingo, while I was waiting for the light to change.

He plants His footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm.

Have a blessed weekend. Be sure to check out all of the other excellent photos at the Friday Photo Group.

What's Wrong With Southern Baptist Churches?

2006-09-25T23:03:00.000-05:00

What do you think? Are Southern Baptists, as a group, "better off or worse", than the larger group in America that we are a part of, known as "Protestant Evangelicals"? How do we Southern Baptists fit into that larger group? Do we set the curve, or are we a part of the curve? When it comes to doctrine, faith, and practice, how do we stack up with the larger group? I just read Tom Ascol's post which discusses the push in the SBC for decisions and baptisms, and how low the retention rate is one year later. He goes on to say "When this is the typical fruit of typical evangelism--the kind that focuses more on getting decisions than making disciples--it is impossible to think of every reported baptism as a person rescued from hell." It looks to me like we are probably no better off than the larger group we are a part of. The following is a sampling of what I have been reading, but mostly listening to, in the past few weeks. Mostly discouraging, it has made me think that the SBC needs to quit quibbling over minor issues, such as alcohol resolutions, private prayer language, and baptism policies in the IMB, and start worrying big time about education, discipleship, and the gospel. I believe that these minor issues are just symptoms of a much larger problem, which is a largely uneducated, undiscipled, and unregenerate church. First, listen to the audio from the September 15th broadcast of the Albert Mohler Radio Program titled Which Comes First: Allegiance To God Or Country?, in which Dr. Mohler discusses a recent study done by the Pew Research Center which indicated that only 62 percent of American Evangelicals said that God came before country. That means that 38 percent polled don't understand that our citizenship is in heaven. I wonder how many of those polled were Southern Baptists. Another podcast that I listen to on a weekly basis, this one from the September 3rd broadcast of the Whitehorse Inn titled Zeal Without Knowledge The following are interesting exerpts from that podcast. The whole program is well worth listening to also:

(Speaking of modern Evangelicals) "The Gospel is gone (Rod Rosenblat)." "The leader of the second Great Awakening, in many ways, was Charles Finney. And he wasn't an Arminian. I don't want to give Arminians a bad name. He was a Pelagian. . . . He said that the church is basically a society of moral and social transformers. Finney gave rise to both liberal activism and conservative activism (Michael Horton)." "Jessie Jackson and Jerry Fallwell both have the same theological father, and it's Charles Finney (Kim Riddlebarger)" "All kinds of different political positions that are identified either with the left-wing side of the aisle, or the right-wing political side of the aisle, were all comprehended in this one revivalistic movement that has now split into liberal Protestantism and conservative Protestantism, but it's all basically moralism (Michael Horton)." "If our hearts are going to be on fire, the way God has made us is that the conduit to the heart is the mind. Mindless zeal has no virtue to it whatsoever . . . I don't know of any issue in the church today that's more grave, more serious, has more lasting consequences than the debate over imputation, a word that most evangelicals don't even know what it means. But there you're talking about the very heart and soul of the gospel itself. . . The term "Evangelical" is a misnomer in this day and age. How can in the world can you be an Evangelical, and never heard the term imputation? . . . The tragedy is that Christians think they know the Cross, but they don't. You remember the theme of the Reformation, post tenebras lux, after darkness light, but now the gospel has receded once more into the darkness. It's eclipsed, even in the so-called Evangelical church. If you ask an ordinary self-proclaimed Evangelical what the gospel is, they're saying "getting purpose for my life", "having Jesus in my heart", "having meaning to my existence", "having a personal relationship with Jesus". Those are all nice things, but that's not the gospel. The gospel has a content of the person and work of Jesus, whose work is appropriated to us by faith, and by faith alone (R. C. Sproul)."

And if that isn't discouraging enough, listen to the September 17th broadcast, also from the Whitehorse Inn titled Pursuing Faith in a “Follow Your Heart” Culture. The second quote is of an audio clip on the program. Here again, the entire audio of this program is worth the listen.

We're talking about the importance of words, and particularly what do you do with a so-called religion of the Book, what do you do with a religion that says "faith comes by hearing the word preached. What do you do with a faith that says you have to be grounded in the teachings of Scripture, a text? What do you do if that is your faith and you live in a culture that says "What are words for?" (Michael Horton) "We see it even in the seminary setting, where we get much of the cream of the crop of the churches of the reformed world. Twenty years ago, when I was the academic dean here at Covenant seminary, the students who came in and took the remedial Bible test, at that time, twenty years ago, one third of the incoming students did not pass the Bible test, two thirds did. Here, twenty years later, it's exactly the opposite. Two thirds of the students do not pass the Bible test, one third do. There's been that large a transition even in a half generation of the Bible knowledge of the best of those coming out of Christian homes, and the most wonderful of our churches. It's the erosion, not only of Biblical knowledge, it's the erosion of family, it's the erosion of church, it's just the way in which our culture has more and more attacked the family as well as the church. (Brian Chappel, President, Covenant seminary, St. Louis, MO)

And coming from Friesville back on September 7th is this disturbing quote from the post Finney's Follies:

You have read what I have stated before, but I’ll say it again, we in the evangelical community have a problem with seeing authentic faith from those who are “converted” in our churches. We experience many, many responses to our “gospel call” when we offer them. We have churches that are baptizing by the hundreds, if not thousands, and yet we find that many, if not the vast majority of these “converts” are falling away from the faith within a short period of time. Ray Comfort has claimed that 80-90% of “converts” fall away from their faith within the first year after their “conversion.” Billy Graham has been known to claim that somewhere in the area of 75% of the church is lost. Jim Elliff makes the claim that the Southern Baptist denomination is, on the whole, unregenerate.

Even yesterday in church my pastor began his message with similar statistics: "Three-quarters of all Americans claim to be Christian. . . If this is so, then where are they, as far as influence in the culture?" So, what do you do? Where do you start? Does any body have a clue? Does anybody even care? Sometimes I wonder. What do you think? I'd like to know.

All the Way My Savior Leads Me

2006-09-24T17:00:00.000-05:00

Our minister of music, Jim Davis (pictured left), surprised us this Sunday morning with special guests and special music. Pictured beside Jim is Noel Kaiser and his wife Phoebe. Listen to Jim, Noel and Phoebe's offering of All the Way My Savior Leads Me. Phoebe accompanied at the piano. Jim's fourty-plus years in music has benefited him with many such friends in Christian music. He never misses an opportunity to invite them to Trinity when they are in town and available. We are blessed. Thank you, Jim. Editor's revision, Sept 26: I made a terrible mistake. Although Jim knows the Kaisers through the Singing Churchmen, it was Ed and Betty Roseborough who made the contact initially to invite Noel and Phoebe to Trinity this past Sunday. Thank you, Ed and Betty.

Friday Photos: Plumb Lines

2006-09-22T08:51:00.000-05:00

This small decorative sandstone wall was probably not built with a plumb line, because it is only about five feet tall, but the plumb line clearly shows that the wall has begun to lean due to an inadequate footing. Because the weight at the end of the string is constantly drawn to the center of the earth, it is impossible for a plumb line to "lie", it is definitely the wall that does not measure up. God's law acts in the same way, showing each and every one of us that we have missed the mark (Romans 3:23) and need a different foundation, which is Christ (Matthew 7:24; 16:18).This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” (Amos 7:7-9, ESV) Be sure to check out the photos of other excellent Friday-Photo Bloggers at the Friday Photo Group on Flickr.

Ten indicators that you might not belong in the SBC

2006-09-19T22:14:00.000-05:00

1. The message you preached/heard last Sunday had more quotations from Presbyterians than from Baptists. 2. Most of the blogs you read are named after taverns. 3. You have a hard time finding something worth singing in the Baptist Hymnal. 4. Your Sunday-school class decides to build a piñata for an upcoming class party, and everybody brings the state Baptist newspaper for building material. You wish Baptist Press came in hard copy too. 5. You try to spell words without using c's and p's. 6. You are considering names for your next child so that his initials will be R. C. 7. You suggest to your Sunday-school class that they use the Heidelberg Catechism for their next quarter's study material. 8. You own and have read every book John Piper has ever written. 9. An Advent wreath is the centerpiece on your dining-room table during the holidays. 10. You realize that now that your children are all grown, infant baptism isn't such an issue any more. (Mark Dever makes the point that at least one reason that the PCA is presently one of the fastest growing denominations in America is that Southern Baptists are joining it in droves. (By Whose Authority?; 9Marks; Washington, DC; page 26)) Bonus indicator: You have a hard time deciding wether to name your new family pet Bobby, or Paige.

Friday Photos

2006-09-07T20:25:00.000-05:00

The Biltmore Estate: Home of George Vanderbilt On our way back from Greensboro this spring, we stopped and toured the Biltmore Estate, home of George Vanderbilt, grandson of the railroad tycoon Cornelius Vandebilt. When I first started walking through this fabulous house, located in Asheville, North Carolina, the first thing I thought of was "What extravagance!" After all, with a grand staircase at least ten or fifteen feet wide, and a giant wrought-iron chandelier within its spiral hanging from fourty feet above, what else can you think. Don't get me wrong, I'm not jealous. I have a nice five-bedroom house on four acres in the country, but the square footage of the magnificant Biltmore castle equals 175,000 square feet. That's equal to four acres! You can imagine my other thoughts. "Couldn't the money been put to better use? How much house does one family need?" Our tour began on the ground floor, where everything was big; big rooms, big halls, big stairs, a huge library, big windows, big everything. Working our way up everything became progressively smaller. When you got to the servants quarters on the fourth floor, two people could hardly walk side-by-side up the back stairs or down the halls. The bedrooms were just adequate, no more. And then it dawned on me; these bedrooms, halls, staircases, and even windows were larger than anything in my own home. How marvelous it must have been to have been a cook, or a chamber maid, or the butler in this place. From the fourth floor, the view was breathtaking. There was no lack of food, clothing, or shelter for anyone in the economy of this household. I am sure that the entire staff of this magnificent project benefitted from the wealth of the master of the house. For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Psalm 84:10 ESV) In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? (John 14:2 ESV) But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV) Be sure to check out all of the other Friday Photos at the Friday Photo Group on Flickr.

Friday Photos, Last Year's Labor-Day Vacation

2006-09-01T08:43:00.000-05:00

The Mackinac bridge, Labor Day, 2005

Sunrise over Lake Huron, Labor Day, 2005

These photos were taken last Labor Day at the annual Mackinack bridge walk. We were staying with our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter, who lived near by. They have since moved, and now live in Oklahoma City, where there is more sunshine, warmer winters, and many more opportunities for my wife and I to get to see our "Jelly Bean". The five of us walked across (Well, the little one was strolled across.) in a couple of hours. With Lake Michigan on your right, and Lake Ontario on your left, the walk begins on the upper peninsula end of the bridge and ends in the lower portion of Michigan. This Labor-Day walk has been going on for a ton of years, and I am told that it symbolizes the migration of all of the sane folk back to civilization before winter sets in. Be sure and check out the Friday Photos Group posted on Flickr. The group has grown to 39 members, and many of your favorite bloggers post photos there.

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #14

2006-08-29T05:49:00.000-05:00

We come to that article, finally, that defines what it means to be Southern Baptist. Not just Baptist, but Southern Baptist. Evangelism and missions are the two reasons that Baptists in the United States came together in 1845 to form the Southern Baptist Convention. The North American Mission Board, and the International Mission Board are the two agencies that make up the organizational bulk, and is the very heart of the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC is known around the world for its second-to-none missions organization, and their passionate commitment to reaching the lost for Christ with their 5000-plus army of full-time missionaries on the foreign mission field. Since the devastating hurricane disasters in 2005, the North American Mission Board, NAMB for short, has earned a reputation for first-class rapid response in domestic disaster relief, especially in the areas of providing hot meals and fresh, clean water. NAMB also sends missionaries to plant churches here in America, rural as well as urban, in areas where Baptist churches are not the norm. Article 11 marks the beginning of the articles that define what we do, not just what we believe. The first ten articles have laid the ground for what we do, for what we are suppose to do as ambassadors for Christ. Article by article we have created a giant mosaic called a biblical world view. In that biblical world view we have rightly assayed the character of God, of man, the dilemma that exists between God and man, and the reconciliation to that dilemma that is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Now that we have all of this information, it is time to do something with it. Coming to these truths for the first time, if you are not a Christian, your first responsibility is to bow the knee, repent of your sins, and confess Christ as your Lord and Savior. After that, it is the responsibility of each and every one of us to go and tell, to make disciples of all the nations, on our block, in our town, and around the world. Let's look now at Evangelism and Missions.

XI. Evangelism and Missions It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations.

We have the duty to evangelize: Christ commands us not once, but five times to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-49, John 20:21-23, and Acts 1:8). Paul tells the Romans that he is under an obligation to preach (Romans 1:14-17). He later states that Christ sent him to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 1:17). In 1 Corinthians 9:16, Paul adamantly declares that necessity is laid upon him, and goes on to proclaim "Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel." Paul commands his young brother in Christ, Timothy, to "preach the word" (2 Timothy 4:2). Peter declares in Acts 10:42 that "he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead." We have the privilege of evangelizing: In Romans 1 above where Paul announces his obligation to preach the gospel, he is quick to add, just one verse later, that he is eager to preach to those in Rome. In 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, Paul describes the preaching of the gospel as something he has been entrusted with. Indeed, what a great duty and privilege it is to evangelize. God does not need us, but He stoops down and uses us, allowing us to share in the joy that He has in the salvation of lost sinners, in the ever-increasing worship brought about by new believers being brought into the fellowship of the redeemed.

The new birth of man's spirit by God's Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ.

I am surprised that no reference to John's first epistle is given in this article's listed Scripture passages. John repeatedly makes the connection between love for God and love for our fellow man ( 1 John 3:10, 11, 14, 16-18, 23, 4:7-12, 19-21). We therefore should have a desire and make every effort to obey our Lord's commands, using the means He has given us, to proclaim the gospel to a lost and perishing world. We preach to the lost, realizing that we were once lost, without hope in this world (Ephesians 2:12), and someone had compassion on us and shared the good news that Jesus saves sinners.

The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.

The above underlined parts are new to the 2000 version. They represent a strengthening of the 1963 version, which at this point reads: It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by personal effort and by all other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ. Notice the differences. First, notice that all Christians are commanded. The five verses listed in the introduction, as well as the passages listed in the "we have a duty" section above, bear clear witness to this fact. Secondly, notice that we are not commanded by one of the apostles, but by Jesus Christ Himself, who is our Lord. Thirdly, notice that our duty to seek the salvation of the lost is by means of the spoken word. The new wording has replaced personal effort with verbal witnessing undergirded by a Christian lifestyle. Verbal witnessing leaves no doubt that we are to proclaim the gospel to the lost, whereas personal effort is not quite so clear. Notice also that our walk needs to correspond with our talk. Our lifestyle has to back up, or undergird our message. We most certainly must live before the world as examples of obedience to Christ, but a godly lifestyle is not enough. We must go and tell. We must be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks [us] for a reason for the hope that is in [us] (1 Peter 3:15). As Paul points out in Romans 10:13-15, salvation comes primarily by means of the preached word: For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? and how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? and how are they to hear without someone preaching? and how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" Conclusion When it comes to evangelism, we are all evangelists. We should, therefore, prepare ourselves by constant study and meditation upon God’s word. We should be eager to tell the world about our great Savior. When it comes to missions, we only have two options: to go or to send. If we go, our churches, through the Cooperative Program, send us out with their funding and their prayers. If we send, our joyful giving to our church, through the Cooperative Program and our constant, earnest prayers are a must. Verses Listed Under Article 11: Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-6; Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthew 9:37-38; 10:5-15; 13:18-30, 37-43; 16:19; 22:9-10; 24:14; 28:18-20; Luke 10:1-18; 24:46-53; John 14:11-12; 15:7-8,16; 17:15; 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2; 8:26-40; 10:42-48; 13:2-3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 3:1-11; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Timothy 4:5; Hebrews 2:1-3; 11:39-12:2; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Revelation 22:17. Previous Lessons: Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1 (An Introduction) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #2 (On the Doctrine of Scripture) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #3 (On the Doctrine of God) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #4 (On God the Father) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #5 (On God the Son Baptist, What Do You Believe? #6 (On God the Holy Spirit) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #7 (On the Doctrine of Man) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #8 (On the Doctrine of Salvation) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #8 (Continued) (On the Doctrine of Salvation) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #9 (On God's Purpose of Grace) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #10 (On the Doctrine of The Church) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #11 (On Baptism and the Lord's Supper) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #12 (On The Lord's Day) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #13 (On The Kingdom of God and Last Things)

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #13

2006-08-23T01:12:00.000-05:00

What do we as Baptists believe about the kingdom of God and the last things? We are going to look at these two articles together, because they are very much related to one another. The only thing that really separates these two articles is the concept of time. Article 9, on the Kingdom, has to do with God’s sovereign rein here and now, in time and space. Article 10 deals with the wrapping up of history and God’s glorious plan of redemption, and the peering beyond time and space into eternity, where all that is wrong here and now will be set right forever. When we combine these two articles for consideration it makes it easier to see that the Kingdom of God has two aspects: the already, and the not yet. We can see the already when we read passages like Matthew 28:18: And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. We can see the not yet in passages like 1 Corinthians 15:25: For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The future fulfillment of the kingdom of God can also be seen in passages like Revelation 21:4: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Article 9 clearly and accurately teaches that God’s Kingdom is already here, firmly in place, and yet we can plainly see from our surroundings that not everything is as it should be. The final consummation of the age will only take place when Christ returns to judge the living and the dead. You may have noticed as we have moved farther from the first articles to the latter articles in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, that these latter articles have been less detailed than the first articles. Those first articles on Scripture, God, and man deal with vital doctrines of the Christian faith. We need a fairly detailed and concrete statement on these doctrines. Perhaps as you have noticed items missing as we have discussed latter issues. That is especially true here. Why is there no mention of the role of the church in government in Article 9? Why is there no talk of a millennium, a rapture, or the tribulation? The reason for this is that among Southern Baptists there are several views concerning these matters. Let’s look now at Articles 9 and 10.

IX. The Kingdom The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King. Particularly the Kingdom is the realm of salvation into which men enter by trustful, childlike commitment to Jesus Christ.

These two sentences pretty much wraps up the entirety of the concept of the God’s kingdom. An earthly kingdom is always defined by two distinctives: land and possessions, and subjects. God’s kingdom is this way too. He has a general sovereignty which extends over all of what He has created, which is everything. There is nothing too large, nor anything too small or insignificant to fall beyond the sovereign care of God. All of the earth belongs to God (Exodus 19:5), His are the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10), and even the roll of the dice are determined by God (Proverbs 16:33). Even a sparrow falling to the ground is not outside of the domain of our God (Matthew 10:29). In a more specific sense, God’s kingdom is made up of men and women, boys and girls who have bowed the knee to Him. When questioned about His kingship, Jesus told Pilate "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). As we mentioned above, just before His ascension Jesus told His disciples that all authority had been given to Him, in heaven and on earth, and yet His only directive to them was to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20).

Christians ought to pray and to labor that the Kingdom may come and God's will be done on earth. The full consummation of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age.

Right out of the model prayer (Matthew 6:9,10) that our Lord gave his disciples, and us, we are to desire the coming of the fullness of the consummation of the age. We are to long for that day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns (Hebrews 9:28). This last sentence rightly assesses the situation, that the full consummation, or completion, of this kingdom waits for one thing and one thing only: the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. More about that in the next article. Scripture passages listed with this Article: Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 9:6-7; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Matthew 3:2; 4:8-10,23; 12:25-28; 13:1-52; 25:31-46; 26:29; Mark 1:14-15; 9:1; Luke 4:43; 8:1; 9:2; 12:31-32; 17:20-21; 23:42; John 3:3; 18:36; Acts 1:6-7; 17:22-31; Romans 5:17; 8:19; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28; Colossians 1:13; Hebrews 11:10,16; 12:28; 1 Peter 2:4-10; 4:13; Revelation 1:6,9; 5:10; 11:15; 21-22.

X. Last Things God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.

As I pointed out above, there is no mention of millennium, rapture, or tribulation in this article. Only what is vital to this doctrine is mentioned here, and that is the way it should be. Here is what really matters when discussing the Last Things:

God is on His timetable, not ours. Nothing anybody does or can do is able to speed up or hold up God's perfect plan (2 Peter 3:8,9).
Jesus will return, personally, visibly, physically. He will judge all men in righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:10).
There is a Hell, and those who are unrighteous will go there at the last judgment, to be punished for ever (Mark 9:47,48, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, Jude 1:7).
The righteous will be reunited with their bodies, but they will be glorified, Just like Jesus (1 John 3:2), absent of corruption of any kind, perfect in every way.
We will live in Heaven for ever with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Friday Photos

2006-08-18T09:05:00.000-05:00

Waterless Clouds

A Three-Button Sweat

It sure has been a hot summer here in Tulsa. Here is a couple of pics demonstrating tripple digits. We did get a little over an inch of rain Monday evening, but that just made Tuesday unbearable. Besides, we are so far behind on rain for the year that 40 days and 40 nights wouldn't be enough. Check out the other Friday Photos at Flickr. There are some "cool" pictures of water that will help you beat the heat.

Light Wine from Stein

2006-08-16T22:42:00.000-05:00

Same Great Oinos with Only a Quarter of the Calories (and Gladness of Heart, Too) Well, If you haven't read it, you certainly have heard of the bomb-shell research Dr. Mohler alluded to in his now-famous declaration of total abstinence over the air waves last Wednesday on his radio show. For a refresher course, or if you don't know anything about what I am speaking, you can check out my post from a couple of days ago. I have since obtained and read this scholarly work by Dr. Robert Stein, and find it quite interesting. After reading it, I am curious why Dr. Mohler mentioned it all, for instead of advocating a total-abstinence position, such as Dr. Mohler was verbalizing, it called for a mixed, or watered-down approach to wine consumption. With the aid of primary sources from the ancient Greeks, the intertestamental Rabinic texts, and the early church fathers, an acceptable wine would be a wine that had been mixed one part wine to three parts water. Curious as to how this would taste, I decided to conduct an experiment. I felt like I was back in organic chemistry lab at college. With one ounce of Mogen David (Dr. Stein specifically mentioned this as a possible choice.) and adding three ounces of water you get what you see in the photograph above. Noticed how much darker the contents of the bottle are by comparison. How did it taste? Not bad. Not bad, at all. I tell you what: I'll go for it if Dr. Mohler will. Now, about changing the wording of Article VII, Baptism and the Lord's Supper in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 back to the original wording found in the 1925 Baptist Faith and Message (then Article XIII).

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The act is a symbol of our faith in a crucified, buried and risen Saviour. It is prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation and to the Lord's Supper, in which the members of the church, by the use of bread and wine, commemorate the dying love of Christ.

I plan to post a more in-depth, serious piece in a few days concerning Dr. Stein's paper, but for now, this will have to do.

Martin Luther and Wade Burleson

2006-08-16T08:34:00.000-05:00

R. C. Sproul tells of Rome's opposition to Martin Luther for translating the Bible into the German language:

They warned, for example, that letting the laymen read the Bible could open a floodgate of iniquity. Luther responded to that by saying, yes, a floodgate of iniquity could be opened by unskilled people. That is why God has put teachers in the church. But he also said the basic message essential for every Christian to understand was so clear, so manifest, that a child could understand it. It is so important and so worthwhile that if it risks the opening a floodgate of iniquity, Luther said, so be it. R. C. Sproul, Now That's a Good Question (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1996), p. 226.

Legalism in the church hasnt changed much in 1500 years:

But those who argue with me argue with all sincerity. To them, it is I who have "destroyed" the gospel. If I don't agree to their prohibitions and mandates, then my gospel is not truly the gospel of the Bible, and I am the one who is marring the gospel. I believe they look at the gospel through a filter. Maybe it is the filter of their upbringing, past personal disappointments or failures, or simply fear that a simple gospel, without certain prohibitions will lead to licentiousness.

Wade Burleson, Grace and Truth to You, Sunday, August 13, 2006

An Abstinence Statement I Can Respect

2006-08-15T22:24:00.000-05:00

Well, Dr. Albert Mohler didn't make it. Dr. Mohler's comments on alcohol consumption, which he made last Wednesday on his radio show were a disappointment, but no surprise. I don't want to be guilty of playing favorites, so I better say what needs to be said. I do like Dr. Mohler. I share his nuanced view of the doctrines of Grace. I listen to his week-day radio show via podcast regularly. He's right on the money on most everything, every thing that is important, at least. The topics he covers on his program are usually current and relevant issues facing our culture, and he always has a solid Christ-centered approach to his commentary. On Wednesdays he has a format called "Ask Anything Wednesday", where the callers are free to ask virtually any kind of question. This last Wednesday (August 9) A lady simply asked him what his views on alcohol were. This segment occurs 22 minutes, 45 seconds into the program. Pastor Ben Cole very kindly has made available a written transcript of Dr. Mohler's statement. Dr. Mohler's position wasn't news to me. Several weeks back, I stumbled across an audio file of a student forum on the alcohol consumption policy at SBTS, that Dr. Mohler and Dr. Russell Moore conducted at SBTS sometime earlier this year. It was a very interesting forum, lasting about 57 minutes. Dr. Mohler's opening statement was especially informative, starting off with a history of the SBC's position on alcohol consumption, beginning with the SBC's roots in protestant revivalism of the mid 19th century, to the women's temperance movement, and through prohibition, which he describes as "a failed cultural experiment." He explains those movements' views on the "evils of alcohol", but you clearly get the flavor that Dr. Mohler also embraces these views as his own. Within the framework of a history lesson, as only he can do, Dr. Mohler articulately and smoothly makes a compelling argument in favor of total abstinence, based, not on Scriptural evidence, but based solely upon a social arguments. What can I say. He's just plain wrong. In much the same way as the other big wigs of the SBC have done before him, he has effectively denied the sufficiency of scripture, by going outside of scripture to mandate something that God's word does not mandate. We all have areas of inconsistency in our theology. This just happens to be one of those areas for Dr. Mohler. On the whole, I haven't wrung my hands over the situation this time. This simply is not as big of a deal as the others who have weighed in before him, for one simple reason: Dr. Mohler didn't go running to the press to let everybody know what his views on alcohol were. A lady called in to his program and asked him what his views were, and he told her (and us). Dr. Mohler isn't attempting to discredit pastors Burleson or Cole, or anybody else. He simply answered a direct question, honestly and candidly. Dr. Mohler is one of the most transparent, guileless men in the Southern Baptist Convention. He is the best spokesman and representative the SBC has. I am surprised, however, that his close friends Ligon Duncan, and C.J. Mahaney haven't had a greater influence on him with regard to the alcohol issue. Maybe they will now. Personally, I think an abstinence policy at our seminaries is a good idea, just as long as it is for the right reasons. What would I like to hear in an abstinence statement from a seminary president? It would look something like this:

In light of the intense focus we have here at Southern in preparing these young men and women for service in Christian ministry at home and abroad, and in light of their relative youth and inexperience in judgment, in regard to the consumption of beverage alcohol, we feel it is best to have a total abstinence policy in place. In order to show our student body that we would not require of them something that we would not hold ourselves to, the faculty and staff have also committed themselves to this higher standard during our time here at Southern seminary.

The only real statement I have heard on total abstinence that does not deny the sufficiency of Scripture has come from my pastor, Rod Harris. It is short and to the point: "Knowing my propensity to excess in other areas, I just figure I very well might have trouble with alcohol. It has never interested me, and I think it would be best if I abstained." Now, there is an abstinence statement that I can respect.

Lady Plowman Turns the Earth in Texas Over Alcohol

2006-08-14T22:54:00.000-05:00

My wife is amazing. She had carpal tunnel surgery on her right hand last Wednesday. By Monday she had had all she could take, after reading the comments for five days over at Southern Baptists of Texas Convention blog. With her right hand in a brace, and strict orders from her doctor not to do such nonsense with said right hand, she procedes to bang out a comment on the alcohol debate over there, giving them what-for. She's right on the money, too. It's all about being counted righteous in Christ, and not blaming anything or anybody else for your sin. It's just you and the exceeding sinfulness of your own sin. If you've ever argued with her daddy, you'd know better than to tangle with Mrs. Farmer Brown. Go check it out. She made me proud.

Brush Arbor Meeting

2006-08-13T14:38:00.000-05:00

Jackets laid aside, white shirt sleeves rolled up, and women waving cardboard fans, it looked and felt like a brush arbor meeting. To get the feel for our meeting Sunday morning, after the air conditioning blew up, listen to the "Call to Worship" and "Offertory Music" located in the side bar. The message was good too. You need to hear it. It was all about Jesus and Christian Morality. In the offertory music, the duet rumblings you hear in the background are our beloved music man, Jim, humming along with the piano, and our "building" man, Bob, explaining to Pastor Rod what's going on with the air conditioning. Anyone is welcome to download the offertory music file for private, non-commercial use. Enjoy.

Tag, You're It

2006-08-12T12:23:00.000-05:00

I’ve been tagged by Brother Bishop (Jeff) Young. Now, I will start off by saying that I am not going to abide by the rules. I'm 50 years old, and I've got more than one book that did this or did that. I also contemplated bogus answers to mess with your minds, when I realized that the real answers would do more damage than anything else. I am sure no one would be surprised to read that a horticulturist had been meaning to read Hortus Third, or that he would want Stalking the Blue-Eyed Scallop, by Euell Gibbons on a desert island. So here they are. Enjoy. 1. One book that changed your life: The Trinity Hymnal, 1976 edition, and The Second London Confesson; then later in 1991, Desiring God, by John Piper. 2. One book that you've read more than once: Out of the Silent Planet, by C.S. Lewis. First as required reading in high school, a number of years later as an adult. I didn't get it in high school, but later I did. Along with the other two books in the trilogy, this novel is a powerful alegory dealing with sin and redemption. I have also found it necessary to reread The Time is at Hand, by Jay Adams. 3. One book that you'd want on a desert island: Other than the Bible, Saint Augustin's Confessions, in Latin. Depending on how long I'd be there, This would be a great opportunity to brush up on my Latin and my prayer life at the same time. 4. One book that made you laugh: Right Behind: A Parody of Last Days' Goofiness, by Nathan D. Wilson, and The Mantra of Jabez: Break on Through to the Other Side, by Douglas M. Jones. 5. One book that made you cry: Old Yeller, by Fred Gipson, and probably Through Gates of Splendor, by Elisabeth Elliot. 6. One book that you wish you had written: Here's the list:

Hermeneutics for Dummies (and Southern Baptists)
Wine, Women, and Song: Reclaiming the Culture by Taking Every Thought Captive to Obey Christ
Beware the Calvinistas: Memoirs of Twenty-five years in a Small, Rural, Independent, Reformed-Baptist Church, with Plural Eldership
Psalam et Mente: Recovering the Hymnody of the Puritans, and Beyond
Living in the House at Pooh Corner - the Blessings of Dad Reading to His Children
I Learned More About Human Nature in the Hen House than Anywhere Else
Baking Your Own Bread and Breast Feading Don't Make You More Holy (This one would be authored by my wife.)
"Do You Work?" - Confessions of a Homicidal Housewife at the Grocery Checkout (Also by my wife.)

7. One book you wish had never been written: Systematic Theology, by Charles Finney, and the Scofield Reference Bible, edited and annotated by Cyrus I. Scofield. 8. One book that you are currently reading: By His Grace and for His Glory, by Thomas J. Nettles, Mark Dever's little book By Whose Authority?, and I have just finished Timothy George's book Amazing Grace: God's Inititative - Our Response. This last book is a very easy read. Even an Arminian pastor could read it, and I think, enjoy it. 9. One book that you've been meaning to read: Calvin's Institutes. I have used it as a reference for years, but have never had the time, or discipline to crack open page one and stick it out to the end. I would also love to read the new (anything less than five years old is new to me.) Whitfield biography by Arnold Dallimore, and also Iaian Murray's biography on Lloyd-Jones. Obviously, these are all large large two-volume sets, so I probably won't get around to them until I retire, or throw my computer away. I am supposed to tag four people. Nuts on that. This sounds too much like a chain letter. I think I may be the last blogger in the world to have been tagged, so those thousands of dollar bills will never begin pouring into my in-box. I have noticed that some of you out there have admitted to being tagged more than once. Look, if you haven't been tagged, and feel left out, drop me a comment, and I will tag you. Fair enough? Now I've got to get busy on my Sunday-school lesson. Love in Christ, Wayne Hatcher a horticulturist by profession, a truck driver by necessity, and a child of the King, by the Grace of God

Friday Photo

2006-08-11T00:01:00.000-05:00

Cheese Toast 2 Originally uploaded by Wayne Hatcher.

I have been thrashing it out this week with some folks over at www.sbtexas.com/blog. over ~~alcohol~~ the sufficiency of Scripture. To understand the full meaning of the cheese toast, you need to go over there and read the comments under the post "Biblical inerrancy and alcohol use by Christians". Don't forget to view all of the other Friday Photos at the Friday Photo Group at Flickr. Have a good weekend.

Welch's or Wine: No Comment - Well, Not Much

2006-08-10T00:26:00.000-05:00

Now Bobby Welch has weighed in, among other things, on the alcohol resolution. In many ways, there is nothing much worth commenting on. As far as I can tell, he doesn't start out defending his position, as some of those who have weighed in before him have. He simply begins by attacking his opponents. When I got up yesterday morning, all of the blogs I read had his name somewhere in the title or first paragraph of their posts. There has been adequate commentary, so I don't feel the need to comment on his statements. Here is a list of those posts.

I do feel the need to comment on one thing. I believe in providence. I don't know why things happen when and the way they do, but I do not believe that anything happens by accident. Last week a friend, just out of the blue, brought me a VHS cassette of the movie The Untouchables, with Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, and Robert De Niro. He said he thought I would like it. I had never seen the 1987 movie, which is not uncommon for me. There are many movies I have not gotten around to watching, for a number of personal reasons. For some reason, I decided to watch this movie. The Untouchables is all about America's prohibition of alcohol, and the mob. The story is set in Chicago in 1930, and Robert De Niro is Al Capone, while Kevin Costner plays Eliot Ness. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to draw a one-to-one correlation here, on any level, but there was something that sent chills through me viewing the character played by Robert De Niro. Al Capone was so suave, so charming in public, especially with the press, but you could tell, just barely, that there was more to the man than just charm and dimples. I got that same uneasy feeling upon first seeing Bobby Welch and Paige Patterson at Greensboro this spring. First impressions mean a lot to me. Some people call it prejudging, but I call it carefully reading the minutiae: the tiny details of someone's mannerisms, a smile, a wink, a word. I am often wrong in pegging a bad guy as good, but never the other way around. I'm not saying these men are evil, I'm just saying they like to win, and don't and won't take loosing lying down. I wonder if either of them has a baseball bat in his office.

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #12

2006-08-09T09:59:00.000-05:00

I have mentioned in the past how heavily I have leaned on my pastor’s notes when writing these posts on the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. In preparation for Article 8, on The Lord’s Day, I have found that pastor Harris’ notes in the main were virtually a transcript form of his Wednesday-evening message of January 25, 2006 (listen to the audio), so I have decided to publish his outline here, with only minimal editing. Introduction Why is it we gather for worship on Sunday? Why the first day of the week? Are we violating the Sabbath? What about those folks who worship on Saturday? Are they just nuts? What is to be our relationship with the Sabbath? Is the Sabbath a Christian institution? Is it merely for the Jews? This is one of the long-standing debates within the Church. What is to be our attitude toward the Sabbath? Which is part of a larger controversy – “What is to be our relationship to the Old Testament Law?” Here again we must recognize that godly people disagree on this subject. There are those who believe the Law is binding on the believer as well as the Jew. There are those who would modify that and say that the 10 Commandments are binding. Others would say it bears no relationship to those who are in Christ. Still others would insist that it does to some degree. As I try to work through this and untangle the knot – I have to acknowledge some of my presuppositions. I must acknowledge, up front, that I bring certain convictions to this question:

God exists.
He is Sovereign, king, lawgiver, he makes the rules.
He has spoken, revealed himself through the Scripture.
His word is faithful and true..
God has a people.
I reject a strict Dispensational approach to the Scripture.
I do not believe that God has two separate people: the Jews and Christians.
I do not believe that the OT was for the Jews and the NT is for Christians.
There is continuity and discontinuity between the Old and New Testaments.
Something is new about the New Testament.
I read the OT from a NT perspective.
The focus of all the Scripture is Christ! (See article 1 page 7, the last sentence.)

Thus I’m convinced that as New Testament Christians we read the Old Testament in light of the New Testament. The New Testament has logical priority over the Old Testament. Which is the higher, more complete revelation of God; the O.T. law, or Christ? The New Testament regularly refers to believers as “slaves” of Christ. Christ is our master/law-giver. Look at the Mount of transfiguration, with Jesus, Moses (law) and Elijah (prophets). Hear The voice of God – “This is my son, listen to him.” With that in mind… What about the Sabbath? For the instituting of the Sabbath we must look to Exodus 20:8-11. Here we find the institution of the Sabbath Day. What day was it? The seventh. Why is this? It was to commemorate the work of creation. God set it up to be a day of “rest” and worship. It became one of the four major emphases in Judaism: The Temple, the Scriptures, traditions and the Sabbath. Let’s ask a question for thought: What does it mean “God rested”? Was He worn out from all that “creat’n”? Was He tired? Did He need to rest? Note throughout the Scripture the promise of entering into His rest. The Sabbath was a picture of this. I believe it is a picture of entering into Christ. All the OT rituals pointed to Christ. What was given as a picture of Christ and His work on our behalf was twisted and perverted into a means for man to prove how righteous he was because of what he did (observe the Sabbath)! What was intended to be a blessing became a “burden.” (See Matthew 12) The Sabbath was to be a day “set aside” to focus upon worship. It was to be a day given to God for the purpose of rest and spiritual development. Now, what of the Lord’s Day? The early church gathered on the first day of the week. Why is that? To honor and remember the Resurrection! The Lord’s Day commemorates the work of redemption – the “new creation.” Where do we find the New Testament command that “changed” the Sabbath? We don’t! Acts 20:7 Revelation 1:10 The command is in the implications of the text and in the practice of the early church. Even secular historians note that these early believers met on the first day of the week. The following passages might indicate that a specific day is not commanded (Galatians 4:8-11; Colossians 2:16-17; Romans 14:5-10; Hebrews 10:1), yet we must balance that with Hebrews 10:23-25 to gather together for worship regularly. Now look at our Statement of Faith. VIII. The Lord's Day The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord's Day should be commensurate with the Christian's conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Note the following:

It is a “Christian” institution.
It is “For regular observance.”
It “Should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion both public and private…”

There is some concern with the last sentence. If this statement were applied to all the articles it would render them meaningless. This is a change from the 1963 statement.The 1963 statement was a much stronger statement, reading thus: “…and by refraining from worldly amusements, and resting from secular employments, work of necessity and mercy only being excepted.” Why was it changed? A number of people are asking that question. There was talk of seeking to replace the Article viii of the 2000 with article viii from the 1963. It would appear that the change was an accommodaation to our culture. At the time of the adoption of the 2000 BFM a reporter from the Orlando Sentinel, following the convention’s vote, wrote with tongue in check the following :

"Now that the NFL Tennessee Titans (based in the SBC’s headquarters, Nashville) have made it to the Super Bowl, Southern Baptist have conveniently decided that refraining from worldly amusements on the Lord’s Day is not longer advisable."

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #11

2006-08-07T00:00:00.000-05:00

VII. Baptism and the Lord's Supper Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12. (Verses conspicuously missing from the list: The baptism of Saul in Acts 9; the baptism of Lydia in Acts 16:13-15; the baptism of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:25-33) Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are two ordinances instituted by Christ, and belonging to Him. They both have a rich meaning and significance, but so much controversy and misunderstanding has swirled around them. In many instances one or both of these two ordinances are what define a denomination. We as Baptists are a prime example. After all, we are Baptists. We wouldn’t be called Baptists if there wasn’t something very distinctive about baptism that we hold near and dear to our identity. That distinctive is that we believe that baptism is for believers only. During the time of the Puritans in the early 17th century in England there emerged a body of believers, who after careful study, came to the conclusion that nowhere in Scripture was infant baptism taught. Thus emerged the Baptists, of whom we as Southern Baptists draw our direct heritage from. One of the first notes of distinction that needs to be mentioned in regard to Article 7: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper is that we call them ordinances. In some other churches we hear them referred to as sacraments. What is the difference? Does it really matter? Well, it does matter, because how we label these two activities determine the significance of the practices. When referred to as an ordinance, which simply put, is a command, and that is exactly what Jesus did. He commanded first that we should "Do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19). Later, after His resurrection, just before Jesus returned to the Father, He commanded us to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). When referred to as sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper take on a role that is greater than Baptists are willing to allow. A sacrament, strictly speaking, is considered a means of dispensing grace. Through a sacrament something is actually being received or changed. The extreme example here is in the Roman Catholic church, where an infant is baptized into the church, initially washing away the original sin inherited in Adam. Baptist do not believe that baptism has any meritorious value what so ever. It is the same with the Lord’s Supper. The taking of the Holy Communion, as Roman Catholics call it, takes away sin for the participant, by offering up Christ as a sacrifice to the Father for those sins. Again, Baptist do not hold to this, seeing the re-crucifying of Christ at each mass as an abominable act (Romans 6:10, Hebrews 7:27; 9:12, 26; 10:10). Now for the many Protestant denominations who use the term sacrament, these radical descriptions come nowhere close to what they believe. Suffice it to say Baptists do not believe that either of the ordinances do anything. So why do Baptists baptize by immersion? Why is sprinkling not enough? There are several reasons. First, the word itself is pulled directly from the Greek word baptidzo which means to immerse. Note at the baptism of our Lord, that John was doing it in the Jordan, and that Mark describes the end of the baptism as Jesus came up out of the water (Mark 1:9, 10). Baptism clearly involves more than just a few drops of water. Secondly, immersion more adequately and fully portrays the symbolism of baptism. Going down into the water signifies going into the grave. Christ died and went into a grave, and with Him we have died to our old life. Christ arose from the grave to live again, and with Him and in Him we too have been raised to newness of life (Romans 6:3-5, Colossians 2:12). Article 7 has this same kind of wording built into it, as you will notice. Why is baptism for believers only? Why do we not baptize infants? The answers are simple. To answer the first question, Christ only commands those who have believed (become disciples) to be baptized (Matthew 28:1-20). Lydia was baptized immediately after she believed (Acts 16:13-15), and the Philippian jailer did likewise (Acts 16:31-33). To answer the second question, we can find no better response than that given in Keach's Catechism: Q. 102. Are the infants of such as are professing believers to be baptized? A. The infants of such as are professing believers are not to be baptized; because there is neither command nor example in the Holy Scriptures, or certain consequence from them, to baptize such. Nowhere in Scripture is the practice of infant baptism shown to have happened, nor is it commanded anywhere in Scripture. Even in the two passages in Acts above where the household was also baptized, it is clearly in the context of conversion. One has to go beyond what Scripture states to assume that there were infants in those households. What is baptism? Does it save the recipient? We have already stated that baptism is only for those who have already believed. The rock-solid declaration of salvation by grace alone, as lined out by Paul in Ephesians 2:8,9, does two things. First, he proclaims what salvation is: a gracious gift of God through placing our faith in Christ. Secondly, Paul makes sure we know what salvation is not, by stating that is not of works. Baptism is a work, something you do, or rather, have done to you. By definition baptism cannot have anything to do with salvation. So what is the significance of baptism? Baptism is one of, if not the very first act of obedience to Christ. Baptism openly identifies the new believer as a follower of Christ. It shows that the new believer is willing to follow, to obey Christ. Baptism expresses the new believer's faith in a number of vital truths central to the Christianity:

the triune nature of God
sins having been washed away, cleansing by the blood of Christ
being united with Christ in His death & resurrection
Through Christ God has given you new life, now, and in the world to come at His return.

What about those passages in Scripture that seem to say that baptism is a part of salvation (Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16, John 3:5, Romans 6:3-5)? A principle of Bible interpretation called the Analogy of Scripture is helpful here. The Analogy of Scripture, simply put, states that we interpret Scripture with Scripture. If there appears to be contradiction between scripture, the more-clear passage interprets the ambiguous passage. To take this principle a step further, the didactic or teaching passages, such as found in the epistles, are to take precedence over the historical narratives of the Gospels and Acts. The last sentence on baptism marks an addition to, not the 1963 version, but the 1925 version of the Baptist Faith and Message, in which the phraseBeing a church ordinance", and also the word "membership" are added. Take a look at the 1925 Baptist Faith and Message: Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The act is a symbol of our faith in a crucified, buried and risen Saviour. It is prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation and to the Lord's Supper, in which the members of the church, by the use of bread and wine, commemorate the dying love of Christ. Have you ever heard the term alien immersion? No, it is not baptism by an extra terrestrial. Alien immersion is baptism by anyone other than a Baptist minister in a Baptist church at a duly scheduled ~~business meeting~~, I mean, church service. An interesting example of this very thing occurred at the Southern Baptist Convention this year (and in years past, I am told). Numerous new believers from all over the country came with their pastors to be baptized at the convention. So that there would be no misunderstandings, this little asterisk was included in each bulletin: *Because baptism is an ordinance of the church, all baptisms will be conducted with full approval and support of a sponsoring home church, with members of each present to witness. Interesting, isn't it? The problem with this goes by a term called Landmarkism. Landmarkism states, basically, that Baptists constitute the only true Church, and baptism in any other church is no valid baptism. Also connected with this is the notion that baptism is membership. That is why many Southern Baptist vote to accept someone's profession, and to have them baptized. Have you ever noticed that there is never a subsequent vote to accept them as members. A fundamental problem with Landmarkism is the making of essentials out of nonessentials, thus narrowing the fellowship and cooperation between churches and believers. Baptism is important, and it needs to be administered in the right way, by immersion, and to only those who have professed faith in Christ. Beyond that, baptism can be administered by any other true believer, any where, and at any time. Now, I am sure that will raise a few eye brows. Certainly, the norm for baptism should be in the presence of a body of believers, a local church, but it should not be so organically connected with church membership. Now we will turn our attention to the second paragraph of Article 7, concerning the Lord's Supper. Much trouble can be avoided right at the start to emphasize that this is not the Church's Supper, it is the Lord's Supper. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ instituted it by taking a Passover meal (Exodus 12) with His disciples and giving it a new meaning. On this occasion, Jesus Himself was the sacrificial lamb. The wine represented His blood poured out unto death, and the bread represented His body broken for His people. He commands His disciples to do it in remembrance of Him (Luke 22:14-20). There are warnings in Scripture concerning taking the Lord's supper in a light manner, or with open, unrepentant sin (1 Corinthians 11:17-34). Obviously, the Lord's Supper commemorates a very serious event, so we should treat it very seriously. How important is the Lord's Supper? Well, it is important enough for our Lord to command us to observe it. Therefore it should not be a mere feature of worship added on at the end of a service. It should be the centerpiece of a service, as it has the Gospel as the theme of its imagery. How often should we observe the Lord's Supper? That is a hard question that has no concrete answer. We should not do it so often that it becomes common or routine. On the other hand, we should not observe the Lord's Supper so seldom that we are not familiar with it. Its frequency of observance will vary from church to church. What did Jesus mean when He said "This is my body."? The Roman Catholic view of transubstantiation takes a very literal reading of this statement, and believe that the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ at the consecration by the priest. The Lutheran view of consubstantiation believes that Christ is present with the bread and wine. We as Baptists do not believe either of these two views. The Lord's Supper is most commonly referred to as a symbolic memorial of Christ's death on the cross. We use it as a tool to remind ourselves of the consequences of sin, and the great price that was paid to redeem us from sin and misery. There is an added element that is far too often missing in Lord's Supper observances. In reaction to the errors of the Roman Catholic and Lutheran views, we fail to emphasize that in a very real sense Jesus is present. What is open and closed communion? Open communion is the policy that any baptized believer can participate in a Lord's Supper observance. Closed refers to the policy that some churches have, which limits participation to members only. This is just another symptom of Landmarkism mentioned earlier in this lesson. One of Landmarkism's main tenets is that the Baptist church is the one, true church. All others contain errors in doctrine, and are not true churches. Placing most, if not all of their emphasis on the local church, they have forgotten the larger context of the Church catholic, or the universal Church of all times and in every place. Certainly each local church can set their own policies concerning open or closed communion, but in opting for a closed policy they minimize, if not deny the rich truth of the larger body of the faithful. Previous Lessons: Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1 (An Introduction) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #2 (On the Doctrine of Scripture) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #3 (On the Doctrine of God) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #4 (On God the Father) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #5 (On God the Son Baptist, What Do You Believe? #6 (On God the Holy Spirit) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #7 (On the Doctrine of Man) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #8 (On the Doctrine of Salvation) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #8 (Continued) (On the Doctrine of Salvation) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #9 (On God's Purpose of Grace) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #10 (On the Doctrine of The Church)

Railroad Graffiti and the Imago Dei

2006-07-27T23:50:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure why, but railroad graffiti intrigues me. Maybe it is because of its mobile nature, or the fact that it is essentially vandalism, or the fact that some one (or ones) created all of this by hand with just a few cans of spray paint. To say the least, it is very creative, reflecting a creative Creator who made us in His own image. Every one of us reflects the image of God at some point, no matter how debased or debauched. Although I have made it a practice to post one of my photos each Friday, this is my first official offering of Friday Photo, which is made up of several bloggers who set aside Friday's posts for posting their favorite photos of the week. You can see the groups offerings on Flickr.

Semantic Gymnastics and Scriptorture - Is Dr. Patterson Guilty of Blasphemy?

2006-07-26T01:01:00.000-05:00

The presidents of Southeastern and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminaries have each weighed in on the alcohol issue, both taking a total-abstinence stance, each from different positions. In his article in Baptist Press on June 30, Dr. Danny Akin, president of Southeastern came from a personal, anecdotal position, thus effectively denying the sufficiency of Scripture. I wrote about alcohol and the sufficiency of Scripture in my post, The Sufficiency of Scripture - I'll Drink to That. Now, the July 7 issue of Baptist press features Dr. Paige Patterson's approach to the alcohol issue, in which he attempts to stay a little closer to Scripture. The only problem with the article is, well, that it's basically all wrong. Between Dr. Patterson's knowledge deficiency in the biological sciences, and his atrocious hermeneutics, there is very little of value in this article, except to point out a fine example of Fundamentalism on steroids. Let me point out just a few examples of what I am talking about by citing a few examples from Dr. Patterson's article.

The wines varied in kind and strength. However, four basic varieties may be distinguished, all of which are described indiscriminately by "oinos:"

If they are all indiscriminately described by one word, how is it that they are distinguished?

(1) Freshly pressed grape juice, which had been stomped out by the, hopefully, clean feet of a local family in their private wine vats, or else crushed in grape presses of stone. In the climate of Palestine, fermentation began within 24 hours, so pure unfermented grape juice was available only for a brief time.

The "four basic varieties" that Dr. Patterson speaks of is more of a bad description of the wine-making process. The grape is an amazing berry. In many ways it is quite unique. It has a low enough acidity, with a pH of about 3, to prevent spoilage bacteria from getting a foothold during the fermentation process. It also has a high enough sugar content to create a wine containing about 10 per-cent alcohol. There is one thing missing from the above description by Dr. Patterson. When a grape approaches ripeness, it begins to have a frosty look, the way a cold window pane looks when you breathe on it. You can see that frosty look on the grapes pictured above. That's called the "bloom", which is yeast. Now, the farmer doesn't"t put that yeast on the grape. God puts it there. He has put it there ever since Genesis 1:12. We need to be very careful not to throw around the term "pure" when we are talking about what God has made. An amazing thing happens when the skin on a ripe grape is broken: the yeast takes the sugar on the other side of that grape skin and immediately begins to turn it into alcohol. Man doesn't have to coax the yeast, or add some other "foreign" ingredient, to make it happen. It just happens. That is why man has been making wine for millennia. The grape was made to make wine. And Dr. Patterson is wrong: in Palestine fermentation doesn't happen within 24 hours. It happens immediately.

(3) Sometimes the wine would be left on the lees to ferment still further. This provided a real knock-out punch, one evidently imbibed by only a few since it often turned insipid and unbearable. (Jeremiah 48:11).

One would get the impression from this paragraph that the lees somehow cause fermentation, which is not true. As I have pointed out the yeast takes the sugar and converts it into alcohol. When the sugar has been consumed the fermentation process stops. To leave wine on the lees, even in the time of Christ would be an act of sloth. The lees is nothing more than solid matter from the pulp, seed parts, and bits of skin. The resulting impact of such a practice would be to make the wine bitter, not insipid. It had no "knock-out punch". The reference to Jeremiah 48:11 is ill placed. I cannot see why it is used at all. This is a example of terrible hermeneutics. Let's look at Jeremiah 48:11-13: "Moab has been at ease from his youth and has settled on his dregs [ or lees, KJV]; he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile; so his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed. "Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his jars in pieces. Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence. (Jeremiah 48:11-13 ESV) In this passage God is clearly using metaphor to describe Moab as having not experienced any chastisement from God, in spite of their gross wickedness. The punishment of Moab is being described in wine-making terms. Wine, after the initial fermentation period was poured off into new containers, leaving the lees, or dregs, behind. There is no stretch of the imagination that can make this mean what Dr. Patterson implies.

In strict fairness, one must acknowledge that the ancients, however noble, imbibed without reluctance. Evidently the prophets and the apostles did not view this as wrong, so long as it was a small glass of wine (see varieties Nos. 1, 2 or 4 mentioned above) taken with the noon or evening meal. These wines, of course, were locally produced.

From what source would Dr. Patterson conclude that the prophets and apostles did not view this as wrong? Scripture, maybe? I can't think of any extra-scriptural documents authored by the prophets or apostles. So if they expressed in the Scriptures that there was nothing wrong with consumption of wine, then I would guess that is what God wanted them to express within the pages of sacred Scripture. And this qualifier of a small glass . . . taken with the noon or evening meal - I didn't catch the reference to those passages of Scripture. But wait. It gets even more convoluted.

At this point, however, a significant difference exists between what is permissible and what is best for the child of God. In addition to the constant clear identification of drunkenness as a highly disreputable and debilitating sort of sin, please note the following: -- The Nazarite (one who was especially separated unto God) was prohibited from the use of wine altogether (see Numbers 6:3; Judges 13:4-7, 13-14). -- In Jeremiah 35:1-10, the Rechabites are highly commended by God and by Jeremiah for their total abstinence. -- John the Baptist, touted by Jesus as "the greatest born among men," was a total abstainer. He was evidently patterning his lifestyle after that of the Nazarite Law, and thereby expressing God's prescription for what is the best for a godly man.

I cannot read how Dr. Patterson can conclude that these instances show how total abstinence is the best for a godly man. Also consider the following problems with Dr. Patterson's treatment of these passages. 1. The passages Dr. Patterson quotes from Judges are in reference to the to-be mother of Samson, who was a Nazarite. Now wasn't he a fine example of a godly man? So I can be a womanizer and still be a godly man, just so long as I never drink wine. 2. The Numbers passage and one of the Judges passages also prohibits the consumption of grapes, raisins, and vinegar made from wine. Is it best for a godly man to abstain from these items as well? Do you think Dr. Patterson has never eaten a grape or a raisin? 3. If John the Baptist was the greatest born among men, simply on the basis of of his total abstinence, what does that say of Jesus, who did not abstain? At this point in Dr. Patterson's article he provides labels for a number of passages of Scripture that warn against strong drink. Many of these passages have to do with drunkenness and not merely the moderate use of alcohol. Here is just one example from this section:

-- Another result of strong drink is overindulgence. "Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may follow intoxicating drink; who continue until night, till wine inflames them!" (Isaiah 5:11).

Yes, I can see it. That strong drink pins you to the floor and pours itself down your throat until you have overindulged. The drink doesn't make you overindulge. A man's gluttony, which is sin, is what makes him to overindulge. Now, look at how Jesus making the water into wine in John 2 is explained away:

In Jesus' miracle at Cana of Galilee (John 2:1-11), one can neither affirm with certainty that Jesus turned the water into a non-intoxicating wine nor that He drank no wine Himself.

I think we can safely say that the wine which Jesus made was alcoholic. As I have pointed out at the first, that is what wine is all about: the grape and the yeast getting together. Dr. Patterson creates a stage-one oinos that is a myth. There is no such thing.

But the following evidences cannot be easily bypassed: -- The text nowhere indicates that Jesus participated. Either way the argument is from silence.

Jesus didn't participate? Heavens, he made the stuff. Silence under most circumstances is no argument. It usually indicates that something is so obvious that it doesn't need to be mentioned. Of course Jesus participated. It would be rude not to.

-- The governor of the feast obviously was able to identify "good wine" by tasting it, indicating that there was no intoxication on his part. On the other hand, by the governor's own testimony, by the last stages of such a feast participants generally had their senses sufficiently dulled so that they could not differentiate between good and bad wine. Was this feast different? Is this why Jesus agreed to attend?

John 2 says nothing about senses sufficiently dulled. John 2 doesn't indicate that the lesser wine comes out last because the participants can't differentiate between good and bad wine. Bad wine isn't even mentioned in this passage either. Dr. Patterson can't even recount what is in the passage accurately.

-- From a standpoint of logic, the "oinos" that Jesus produced was more likely pure, rather than fermented, grape juice, since that which comes from the Creator's hand is inevitably pure. Also, there was no time for fermentation to take place subsequent to the miracle. Furthermore, the ancients always acknowledged that the best "oinos" was the unfermented "oinos," i.e., that which came from the initial mixing of the grapes.

1. Logic and Dr. Patterson are not personally acquainted. 2. We have already dealt with this pure thing. I think I would be perfectly frightened of blasphemey if I kept talking about what came from the Creator's hand when I didn't know what I was talking about. 3. No time? Duh! Why do you think it was called a miracle? Duh, and double duh. 4. Where is the citation of these ancients always acknowledg[ing]?

-- The accusation that Jesus, in contrast to John, was a socialite, a glutton, and a winebibber is manifestly void of foundation (Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34). Because Jesus enjoyed social contacts and openly mingled with the people, some assumed that He had a propensity for food and drink. If Jesus had been a winebibber, He must have also been guilty of gluttony, which is clearly identified as a sin. In fact, Jesus was neither, and again there is no evidence that He drank "oinos" or anything other than the fresh, natural fruit of the vine.

Yes, it was void of foundation, but just because Jesus was not a winebibber, doesn't mean He didn't drink wine. In the Matthew 11 and Luke 7 passages, Jesus clearly states that The Son of Man came eating and drinking. Read between the lines. If Jesus was accused of winebibbing, then it's probably because He was seen with a glass of wine in His hands, and He was drinking it. And here we go again with this fresh, natural and pure bit. We can't get away from this nightmare without "SOME ADDED OBSERVATIONS" to wrap things up.

-- In the accounts of the Lord's Supper in the Gospels and in 1 Corinthians, the word wine (oinos) is mysteriously absent. The disciples took "the cup" and drank the "fruit of the vine." The absence of the term "oinos" is curious, to say the least.

Acne, bad breath, and ear wax are also mysteriously absent from Scripture, but that doesn't mean Jesus didn't have them, and many other things I won't go into. None of those things seem curious by their absence (to me, anyway). In this article there was just way too much arguing from silence.

-- Wine has one, unqualified, good use in Scripture and that is as a metaphor for the wrath of God. This metaphor is utilized in both Old and New Testaments (see Revelation 19:15). The "oinos" of God's wrath is unmixed or undiluted, fresh from the wine press, unhindered by fermentation of any kind. Hence, purity of judgment is emphasized.

This is simply not true. Why does he not cite the following two passages? And there are many, many more. You do the work on your own. Do a word search on wine. Psalms 104:14,15 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart. Proverbs 3:9, 10 Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

-- The bishop (pastor) is to be free from wine (1 Timothy 3:3). One would presume that this admonition, at least in part, is for an example. If so, here again the ideal would be total abstinence for all who make up the body of Christ, i.e., the church.

Dr. Patterson must be referring to the King James here, where it says not given to wine, which is properly translated into modern English in most recent translations as not a drunkard, or not a brawler. Good grief, I am no Rhodes scholar, but I have enough grasp of Elizabethan English to know what not given to wine means. Come on, Dr. Patterson.

-- For the believer to say, "Let me get as close to sin as I can without being guilty," indicates a strange mentality indeed! The object should rather be to stay as far away as one can from even the appearance of evil, and as close to Christ as possible (1 Thessalonians 5:22).

What serious Christian ever says this? By this logic I need to stay as far away as possible from food, my wife, and my Ricky Skaggs CD's. it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person." (Matthew 15:11, ESV) The end is in site. Dr. Patterson concludes:

(1) Many of the most excruciating and debilitating events of history are associated with wine. The Bible has almost no good word about it and, in fact, usually associates tragedy and sin with the use of wine. For example, after a life of exemplary behavior, Noah became a stumbling block to his own children, necessitating a curse on his grandson, as a result of wine. This first mention of wine in Scripture is bad.

By this logic, we should ban airplanes, since airplanes dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We should also ban firearms, since they commit murder. Let's quit eating food, as it commits gluttony. Baptists need to become a monastic order, as sex causes adultery and fornication. We all need to become vegetarians, as meat clogs our arteries.

(2) To whatever extent wine was used by Jesus, clearly it was in small quantities and either at meals or for medicinal purposes. Certainly no tragic industry was supported by the selling and buying of wine. This latter point is crucial for the believer. A believer in no way can justify drinking if thereby he is contributing to the sustenance of an industry responsible for two-thirds of the violent deaths, two-fifths of all divorces, one-third of all crime, and untold millions of dollars in damage to private property. Such would violate all laws in the Bible, and especially the Corinthian principles outlined below:

Dr. Patterson does finally abandon the sufficiency of Scripture here at the last. After all, it is the industry that causes all of these evil things, and not the sinful heart of man. Conclusion: There is much more that I didn't touch on, but my time is limited. suffice it to say Dr. Patterson uses semantic gymnastics and scriptorture in his article, from first to last and everywhere in between. He may have stayed closer to Scripture than Dr. Akin, but he was never very close to the true meaning of the passages he cited. If I were a student at Southwestern, I would be embarassed. As I have said in my previous post on this subject, the issue is not about wine, but about rightly dividing the Word of God. What we have here is a prime example of fundamentalism deluxe and a gross lack of true scholarship, which amounts to the same thing. I am really sorry. I didn't intend to be mean. Believe me, I tried to hold back my sarcasm as much as possible. This kind of nonsense ought to make us weep, not laugh. I am not laughing. Your comments, please.

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #10

2006-07-23T15:36:00.000-05:00

In this lesson we are going to look at Article six of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, concerning the doctrine of the Church. What is the church? Who makes up the church? When did the church begin? Who is in charge of the church? What is the duty of the church? Let’s see if we can answer some of these questions as we look at Article six: The Church. What is a church? Let’s begin by defining what a church is not. A church is not a building. There were no church buildings for the first 300 of the church’s history. Believers gathered in homes or barns or out in the open, or if they were being persecuted, even in caves and catecombs. The building is where the church meets – thus the New England Puritans spoke of the Meeting House – the house in which the church met. A church is not simply an organizational unit of any particular religion. You will never hear anyone talking about the Buddhist church or Jewish churches. In that sense the church is a thoroughly Christian term. The New Testament word for church is ekklesia. The prefix ek means out, and the root kalien means to call. Thus the church or ekklesia is literally the called out ones. Now, on the positive side. According to the NT, the church is primarily a body of people who profess and give evidence that they have been saved by God’s grace alone, for His glory alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. The church is the collection of people committed to Christ and to one another in a given area. (Acts 2:41-47) The word church also carries a broader meaning, which is reflected by the second brief paragraph of Article six. The word ekklesia appears in the New Testament 115 times, and 93 of those occurences refer to the local assembly of believers. The other 22 occurences refer to the church in a universal, or catholic sense. The word catholic, when used with a small c, is a very good word. It is used to signify the redeemed of Christ in every place, in all ages. In this way the church is divided into two categories: the church militant, and the church triumphant. The church militant is made up of all believers currently living; those who are still fighting the fight here on earth. The church triumphant is made up of all those believers whose rest is won, all those who have gone on to be with the Lord. Let us look now at Article 6, on the church. A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ… The church is the possession of the Lord Jesus. It is the bride of Christ. We must not loose sight of the fact the church belongs to the Lord Jesus (Ephesians 5:22-32). is an autonomous local congregation… What is meant by autonomous? It literally means a law unto itself. Is each local Baptist church really its own boss? Well, yes and no. In the sense that there is no church hierarchyabove the local level, each individual church is autonomous. The associations and conventions a church might be member of have no authority over that local church. In the sense that Christ is the head of the church, then He governs over each and every local church, as the later phrase governed by His laws points out. Every local congregation is under the lordship of Jesus Christ. of baptized believers... This is one of the hallmarks of the Baptist church. We are a "believer’s" church, unlike some Christian denominations that baptize their infants and consider them members of that local church body. Granted, these denominations, Presbyterians most noteably among them, do not grant full membership priveledges, or consider these little ones to be saved, but they do consider them a part of the church family. Associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel… What does it mean to be in covenant? To be in covenant with a local body of baptized believers means that you are not there just for your own benefit, but for the benefit of others. We are agreed serve one another, as in Galatians 5:13, Colossians 3:16, and 1 Peter 4:10. We voluntarily unite ourselves to one another around common beliefs. In this way we are doing physically on earth what we are spiritually in Christ, that is united (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12). In our fast paced, mobile society, this is a fact that is very often overlooked in many churches. This short phrase in Article 6 could and should be strengthened by adding and union with Christ. Observing the two ordinances of Christ… And they are baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which will be discussed in our next article. Here the BF&M 2000 gets it right. The church belongs to Jesus Christ, and so too do these two ordinances belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. They are not ordinances of the church, as Article seven claims. In our next lesson we will look at the differences between these two views, and what difference it makes.. governed by His laws, We are governed by His word, the Scripture. Even this Baptist Faith and Message 2000, that we are studying, is not what governs us. exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. This phrase continues the thought of our governance by God through His Scripture, and especially emphasizes our desire and responsibility to evangelize (Matthew 28:19) Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. Though the local church seeks the Lord’s will through prayer and study of His word, the day-to-day implementation of governance is carried out by its congregation in a democratic fashion. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. This sentence should be one that makes each one of us, as members of a local church, to take seriously the decisions we do make as a congregation. Nothing we do is without consequence, and we will have to give an account to our Lord for decision we make, both in church matters and elsewhere, therefore we should approach all church business prayerfully and carefully. (Romans 14:12) Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture. That second sentence is an addition to the 1963 edition, and has created quite a stir among some. Note first, that those officers which are prescribed from Scripture are pastor and deacons. That does not mean that the local church is limited to those two offices. The church can, as they see the need, have lesser officers such as Sunday-school directors, ministers of music, or other ministry administrators. Secondly, note that the limitation of men only to the office of pastor is not an issue of gifts or abilities, but rather an issue of Scriptural mandate (1 Timothy 2:9-14). Men are are further limited based on qualifications deliniated in Scripture. The pertinent passages on this subject are 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:6-9, and the role and origin of the office of deacon is found in Acts 6. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation. What a thought. The church is not only a local body of believers, but the body of all believers of all ages in every place. One of the practical implications of this concept is how we view the church thorughout all of history. Humanly speaking, what we have of our faith as Christians in general, and Baptists in particular, has been handed down from one generation to the next, many times at very great expense. Many have even lost their lives for the sake of the Gospel. We have a responsiblilty to treasure up what has been entrusted to us, and pass it on to the next generation. What a great responsibility and priveledge. Paul uses the word entrust(ed) twelve times in his epistles. Look how he instructs Timothy to pass on what has been entrusted to him by Paul, so that the process can continue on till the end of the age (1 Timothy 2:1,2). Also, the unity (again, Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12) that all believers have by virtue of all being in Christ, combined with his being in our midst (Matthew 18:20) when we gather in His name, then each and every local worship service is quite a gathering. That can best be described by quoting Hebrews 12:18,19,22-24: For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. . . But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
I would again like to thank my pastor, Rod Harris, for supplying his study notes on The Baptist Faith and Message 2000, of which I have leaned heavily, especially on this lesson. You can listen to his Wednesday evening messages on The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 at http://web.mac.com/pwhatch Previous lessons in this series Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1 (An Introduction) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #2 (On the Doctrine of Scripture) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #3 (On the Doctrine of God) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #4 (On God the Father) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #5 (On God the Son Baptist, What Do You Believe? #6 (On God the Holy Spirit) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #7 (On the Doctrine of Man) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #8 (On the Doctrine of Salvation) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #8 (Continued) (On the Doctrine of Salvation) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #9 (On God's Purpose of Grace)

The alcohol resolution and the Dallas Morning News

2006-07-20T23:52:00.000-05:00

Pastor Ben Cole of the Baptist Blogger, has bit down on this alcohol deal like a bulldog, and it appears he is not about to let go any time soon. Read his article in the Dallas Morning News, responding to the resolution on alcohol presented last month at Greensboro. I guess this ruins his chances for SBC president any time soon. God's blessings be upon him.

Rain Lilies

2006-07-20T21:10:00.000-05:00

Rain lilies are one of my favorite summer flowering bulbs. Their common name comes from the fact that they have a tendency to bloom profusely right after a summer shower. Here in Oklahoma any summer shower is a welcome site, but this summer has been particularly dry. God blessed us with about three inches over a two-day period last week. Over the next few days the various Rain lilies in our flower beds were just a bustin’. The Rain liliy pictured here is Zephyranthes grandiflora, a standard pass-along plant in the south that has been shared over back-yard fences for ever. It is the first species of rain lily we started with more than a dozen years ago. The grandiflora, signifying this species of Rain lily as having a rather large bloom, in fact the largest bloom in the genus. The genus Zephyranthes gets its name from the fact that the delicate, paper-thin flowers dance in the lightest breeze, or zephyr. You can view the other species of Zephyranthes we grow over at Flickr.

Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound [and see what it does], but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:7-8 (ESV)

The Sufficiency of Scripture - I'll Drink to That

2006-07-17T01:25:00.000-05:00

At Greensboro many of the "sermons", reports, and speeches used a common word: Inerrancy. It was almost always in connection with the conservative resurgence. I am very thankful that a faithful group of men fought that fight twenty-thirty years ago. Without that fight, at this year's convention we might have been voting on same-sex marriage and whether or not to ordain gay bishops (sorry Jeff), like some other conventions were doing. Inerrancy is very important, but it doesn't go far enough. As was evident by the wide popularity of the resolution on alcohol at this year's convention, the idea of the sufficiency of Scripture is in short supply among Southern Baptists. This one subject of alcohol is not really so important, in and of itself, but it is an indicator of bigger problems. Ignoring the sufficiency of Scripture (among some) is the source of a good deal of the problem(s) currently being experienced in the IMB. Back in April Wade Burleson cited a definition for Fundamentalism, which he cited from John Piper, who had in turn cited from J. Gresham Machen. It contained a list of seven indicators. It was quite a good definition. I would like to submit my own definition of Fundamentalism, one that contains just one point, but one, I believe that takes in most of the seven cited on Pastor Burleson's blog: Fundamentalism is inerrancy without sufficiency. The first four verses of Matthew 23 comes readily to mind, but that is probably too harsh for good men who probably do mean well. Perhaps Mark 7:1-16 would be a bit more appropriate, though still a bit harsh. A good number of the younger bloggers have argued against the alcohol resolution using the sufficiency argument, and they did quite a good job of it too; at least until they began to clarify and qualify themselves among the give and take of the comments after their post. They would virtually undo all they had argued for in their posts by "apologizing" their way out from under sufficiency. After an anecdotal challenge or two virtually all of them would respond with something like "Oh, the stuff has never touched MY lips." or "I teach my children that total abstinence is the best policy in today's society." This leads me to believe that they were holding to sufficiency only in theory. I ask you, are we just playing with ideas, or are we taking every thought captive to obey Christ? What better way to show our Miller-Time society how Christians can responsibly enjoy all of the good gifts that God has given us, and give Him glory in the process. You notice I have not laid out my argument for alcohol from Scripture. I don't need to. I failed to mention that there was one young man who did a superb job of defending the position of the normative use of alcohol from the Scriptures, without crawfishing, even from the remote recesses of the comments section. That young man would be Pastor Joe Thorn at Words of Grace. You can read his three straight-shooting posts here, here, and here, in that order, and don't skip the comments. So now, what to do? Let's all dig in and be men and women of the Word. Hold it not only as inerrant but also as sufficient. We should begin anew to ask "What does God's word say on a particular subject?", and cease from asking "What do the precious, long-held, beloved traditions of men say?" Alcohol is not the problem topic in the SBC today. Sufficiency of Scripture is. Let's get back on track and get as many laborers as possible into the field, for they are white for harvest. Sometimes I think there are many in the IMB who have lost site of this. Let's help them remember.

It Is Well With My Soul

2006-07-16T17:35:00.000-05:00

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul; It is well, it is well with my soul. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And has shed his own blood for my soul. My sin--O the bliss of this glorious thought!-- My sin, not in part, but the whole, Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more; Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! O Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll, The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend; "Even so"--it is well with my soul.

Horatio Spafford was a Presbyterian layman from Chicago in the 19th century. He was a lawyer by profession, and held considerable real estate on the shore of Lake Michigan just prior to the great Chicago Fire of 1871, which wiped those holdings out. He penned the words to this hymn sometime shortly after the drowning at sea of his four daughters late in 1873. "It Is Well With My Soul" is this week's offertory music (found in the sidebar), and was presented by David Hoyt.

Baptist, What Do You Believe #9

2006-07-09T23:51:00.000-05:00

Introduction In this lesson we are going to look into the purpose of God in saving sinners. This article naturally flows out of the one that came before it, namely the article on salvation. Even at first glance, a common theme stands out in these two articles. The four terms that are defined at the end of article 4 are the same four terms that make up the gracious purpose of God in the first paragraph of this article. Those four terms are regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. We saw in last lesson that the process of salvation is made up of these four acts, and that all four of these acts are brought about by God and not man. That is why the two paragraphs in this article occur together. Salvation that begins with God, ends with God. One of the questions we asked in our last study concerned the nature of salvation as respects time. Are we saved all at once, in an instant, or is salvation a process that takes our whole lives? The basic answer to this question is yes. We are saved in an instant when God pronounces "Not guilty." at our justification, as our regenerate hearts believe in Christ, and we repent of our sins. We are also being saved the rest of our lives as the Holy Spirit is working in us, sanctifying, conforming us (Romans 8:29) to be more like Jesus, until one day, either at His return, or glorified in heaven, we will be like Him (1 John 3:2). In this lesson we will try to explain this mystery. V. God's Purpose of Grace

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners.

God has a purpose, and it is to save a people for Himself. Why and how He saves is His business, and we really don't have the right to question Him(Romans 9:20,21 and 11:34) You cannot get around the word election because both the word and the concept are there in Scripture many times.

The Concept: As we saw in the article on salvation, Jesus didn't make salvation possible, He purchased sinners with His own blood (Acts 20:28). This purchasing, by the very nature of purchasing, means that those who were saved had to be elected, or chosen, to be saved. Paul deals extensively with this concept, beginning in Romans chapter 9, and he touches on it numerous times elsewhere in his epistles.
The Word: The word elect / election appears many times in the Bible. And don't forget the common use of the word choose / chosen.. (Mark 13:27, Luke 18:7, Romans 8:33, 2 Timothy 2:10, Titus 1:1, 1 Peter 1:1, Romans 9:11, Deuteronomy 7:6, 1 Thessalonian 1:4, 1 Peter 2:9)

Now, many people try to get around the election of God by arguing that God's foreknowledge allows Him to look down the corridor of time and tell who will and who will not believe in Jesus, thus determining who He will elect. That would be fine, but who would God see if He were to do such a thing? Would He see some with faith and some without faith? This simply does not work. Ephesians 2:8 tells that even the faith that we exercise is a gift of God. Romans 3:9-18 tells us that no one seeks after God. If God used his foreknowledge to elect, then nobody would be saved. Note that this purpose of God is gracious. God does not have to save any one, yet He does, and at the highest price imaginable, the death of His only begotten Son. We are all rebellious sinners, guilty of cosmic treason against God, and deserving of hell, yet God graciously is saving a people for His own possession from every nation, tribe, and tongue.

It is consistent with the free agency of man,

So how do you square God's sovereignty with this free agency of man? The basic answer is that God is Sovereign, and man is free, but not autonomous. Autonomy gets to the heart of original sin. Satan said to Eve "You will be like God" (Genesis 3:5). This has been the desire of mankind ever since, to be independent, to be autonomous. We want to be the captain of our own ship, the master of our own destiny. The key to it all is that God is God and we are not. Man is free. Unless physically forced by someone stronger, we always freely act according to our greatest affection. Every moment of every day of our lives our choices are driven by our greatest desires. The only thing that limits us in choosing God is our nature. All of us have a sin nature, which basically amounts to the fact that we are out to please ourselves and not God. The unregenerate individual has no concept of his greatest joy being found in God (Psalm 37:4).

and comprehends all the means in connection with the end.

One of the objections some people raise is that if I am elect of God, then I don't need to do anything. God is going to save me no matter what I do. The only problem with that is that we are commanded from God's word to repent and believe (Acts 2:38). We are commanded to come to Jesus (Matthew 11:28). As believers we are commanded to preach the gospel to the lost (Matthew 28:19, 1 Corinthians 9:16). Others will raise the objection that if I am not among the elect of God, then there is nothing I can do to change that situation. The Bible is full of Whosoever's (Luke 6:47, John 3:15, Acts 2:21, Acts 10:43, Romans 10:13, 1 John 4:15, Revelation 22:17). As we saw in Article 4 on the doctrine of salvation, the gospel is offered freely to all. Salvation doesn't happen in a vacuum. We are saved by the gracious act of God, but we are also saved when we hear the gospel of grace, are convicted of our sins, respond to the call of the Holy Spirit, and believe and repent (Romans 10:14-17). One of the counter objections that I would raise is that if God does not elect some, if salvation is up to us and not to God, then why should we ever bother to pray? Why pray for the salvation of a friend or loved one? Why ever pray for the Holy Spirit to come down and save? Why should we ever pray for revival and renewal?

It is the glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.

The best commentary on this is found in the first chapter of Ephesians and the eleventh chapter of Romans. If salvation is all of God and none of man, then it naturally excludes boasting, and promotes humility. All we can do is fall on our faces and worship a great God who graciously has saved us.

All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

This is the easy part. Since salvation is not a date on a calendar - the day you walked forward and gave your heart to Jesus - but rather the gracious four-part action of God spoken of in the article on salvation, then the God who regenerates you is the same God who justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies you. The God who has the power to bring the spiritually dead to life also has the power to faithfully keep us to the end. This endurance is not a passive thing. Surely it is God who saves us and keeps us saved, but we are also commanded to see to our salvation on an ongoing basis (Philippians 2:12, Hebrews 4:1, and 12:15). As I have said before, salvation is not a date on a calendar. Saving faith involves the ongoing question you must ask yourselves constantly: "What (Who) am I trusting in right now for my salvation?" Salvation is who you believed in and on back when you first believed, but salvation is also who you believe in and on right now. This paragraph emphasizes the firmness of our salvation to the end, but also points out the consequences of sin. Sin brings misery, always. That misery can come in a multitude of forms, but that misery always includes lost fellowship with God, and that is the worst misery the true believer can experience. Note the causes of sin in the believer: neglect and temptation. We must always be diligent to use the means of grace given to us. We should not neglect regular worship (Hebrews 10:25), prayer (Luke 21:36, Luke 22:40, Ephesians 6:18), and the regular reading of God's word (2 Timothy 3:16). What about those who once "followed Christ" but no longer do so? John says that those who no longer walk with us were never one of us, else they would never have left us (1 John 2:19). So, those who are God's children, God will keep, and God's children will be careful and diligent and use the means of grace to endure to the end. The old tongue twister I learned years ago was The faith that fizzles before the finish was never firm at the first. May we all be diligent and be found faithful in that great day. Previous Lessons: Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1 (An Introduction) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #2 (On the Doctrine of Scripture) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #3 (On the Doctrine of God) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #4 (On God the Father) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #5 (On God the Son Baptist, What Do You Believe? #6 (On God the Holy Spirit) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #7 (On the Doctrine of Man) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #8 (On the Doctrine of Salvation) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #8 (Continued) (On the Doctrine of Salvation)

Independence Day

2006-07-03T22:27:00.000-05:00

In recognition of Independence day, and an overly political Southern Baptist Convention, here's a '49 Chevy shot March 1, 2006, in the middle of the night at a UPS facility near Vinita, Oklahoma. Happy fourth, everybody.

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #8, continued

2006-06-24T17:55:00.000-05:00

Article 4: Salvation (Continued) Conclusion The beauty of this article on salvation, even with the one minor problem mentioned previously, is that it approaches salvation from a God-centered perspective, rather than a man-centered perspective. Salvation is initiated by the Holy Spirit in regeneration. Justification is the declaration of God the Father, declaring us righteous based on the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and accepting the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross in our behalf. Once declared righteous in Christ, we proceed to become righteous by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. In glorification we enjoy all of the blessings of salvation in full, that up to that point were only "seen in a mirror dimly" (1 Corinthians 13:12). This article is also careful to point out two other very important aspects of salvation. First, that salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone (~~Acts 4:21~~ Acts 4:12). Many commonly view Jesus' illustration of the narrow gate and the wide gate in Luke 13 as a contrast between seeking God and not seeking God. What is really in view here is the difference between the narrow gate of ~~Acts 4:21~~ Acts 4:12 and 1 Timothy 2:5, and the wide gate of "There are many ways to God.", or "It doesn't matter what you believe as long as you are sincere". The second very important detail found in this article is that repentance and faith must be found together. Repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ is only possible by that change of heart that is wrought, hammered out, by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. There is none of this nonsense that we can believe in Jesus now for salvation, and at some later date, give our lives over to Him in obedience. So, as I asked in the beginning of this study on salvation: Is there enough in this article to point you to Christ for salvation? I think not. This is one reason why the articles are set up the way they are. Once the foundation of all authority is laid, namely God's word, we need to understand what is contained in the next two articles. Salvation really means very little until we have a knowledge of who this righteous, holy, and just God is. We also need to know who we are, and what our predicament as fallen creatures is. Last of all, to understand the significance of salvation, we need to know who the Savior is. The beginning of regeneration by the Holy Spirit is our conviction of sin, and then our seeing the need for a Savior. Only after all of this occurs does salvation make any sense. So, now for the other questions asked at the beginning.

What are we saved from? We are saved from the wrath of God (Romans 1:18).
What are we saved for? God's holy purpose, to the praise of His glorious grace (Ephesians 1).
Is salvation a one-time thing, or does it take you your entire life to be saved? Answer: We have been saved. We are being saved. We will be saved. All of this is to say that salvation begins at justification, and you are saved. But that is not the end of it, for you are being saved by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, making you more and more like Christ. Still more is involved as you pass from this world, where you inherit all those blessings in their fullness.

In [Christ Jesus] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13,14 ESV) One question that continues to nag on me. If the Southern Baptist Convention is made up of a minority of believers holding to the doctrines of Sovereign Grace, then how has a strong particular-redemption phrase in the first paragraph of this article escaped the notice of the majority. Next week we will look at God's Purpose of Grace, where there will be even more wonders to behold. The more I study the BFM 2000, the more I wonder if anybody has bothered to read it. Maybe I should be happy and shut up. I know that when I teach it the way it is written, and back it up with Scripture, the class frowns and fusses a bit, but then they accept it because that is how God's word teaches it. Hopefully, some day it will all soak in and begin to cause them to see the power and majesty and beauty of a sovereign God and Savior. Previous Lessons: Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1 (An Introduction) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #2 (On the Doctrine of Scripture) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #3 (On the Doctrine of God) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #4 (On God the Father) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #5 (On God the Son Baptist, What Do You Believe? #6 (On God the Holy Spirit) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #7 (On the Doctrine of Man) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #8 (On the Doctrine of Salvation)

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #8

2006-06-17T22:47:00.000-05:00

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ Acts 2:21 (ESV) And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:8-10 (ESV) Jesus, looking at him with sadness, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” Luke 18:24-27 (ESV)

Saved? What are we saved from? And what are we saved for? How does one go about being/getting/finding saved/salvation? Is salvation a one-time thing, or is it a process that lasts all of our lives? Much confusion surrounds the doctrine of salvation. Get these questions wrong and you come up with something less than salvation in the reconciled-to-God sense of the word. This week we are looking at Article 4 of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, on the doctrine of salvation. What about the BF&M2000; does it accurately lay out the biblical doctrine of salvation? Does it say enough, and is it clear to the average reader? Is there enough in these brief paragraphs to lead a lost person to Christ? Is there enough here to teach you how to proclaim the gospel to a lost and perishing world? Does it accurately describe what Southern Baptists believe? Let's dig into the contents of the doctrine of salvation in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. IV. Salvation Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, The word redemption involves the idea of buying something back. The most common illustration is one of someone buying another person out of slavery. God is described as redeeming Israel when He brought them out of the land of Egypt in 1Chronicles 17:21. Both Paul and Peter refer to the lost as being slaves to sin (Romans 6:16-20, Titus 3:3, 2 Peter 2:19). Salvation redeems us from the guilt and power of sin, through Jesus Christ. The whole man is redeemed, body and soul. Being in Christ makes us new creatures now (2 Corinthians 5:17), and at the resurrection in the life to come (1 Corinthians 15:52-54). Christ redeems his people from the curse of the law (which brings death) in Galatians 3:13. and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, I am sorry, but someone nodded off when this phrase was written. It should read something like this: and is offered freely to all, through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. I am assuming that this phrase was intended to express the idea of the gospel call and offer going out to all humanity. Neither Calvinist nor Arminian believes that the offer is limited in any way. As modified, we have in this phrase the free offer of the gospel (Matthew ll:28, John 7:37). The original wording implies, though probably not intentionally, that the offer goes out freely, but the all is limited by only those who believe. That is clearly not what Scripture says. who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. Christ's blood, which represents his violent death on our behalf on the cross, is what has obtained (purchased) this redemption (1 Peter 1:18,19, Revelation 5:9). When you obtain something by paying for it, you are usually buying a set amount of something. Jesus did not merely make salvation possible, He saved a people (John 6:37, John 17:6-24) from every nation, tribe, and tongue (Revelation 5:9, Revelation 7:9). This one short phrase lends a particular, rather than a general flavor to the entire Baptist Faith and Message 2000. It was that way in 1963 version, as well. This redemption is eternal. We were not leased or rented, we were bought. It shall never end (John 6:58) In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. Jesus Christ is the unique saviour, and that salvation comes through faith alone.

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart othat God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Romans 10:9,10 (ESV) Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17 (ESV) And there is salvation bin no one else, for cthere is no other dname under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 (ESV)

I underlined the word justification above, because it is the one word that is not present in the 1963 BF&M. The 1963 edition does go on to include justification in the definition list below, in effect combining point A and B into the first point. In every other respect, the 2000 and the 1963 are virtually identical. The 1925 BF&M, however, gives the doctrine of Justification its own separate article. Although the scope of this brief survey does not permit it, it would be interesting to study the changes also made from 1925 to 1963. A. Regeneration, or the new birth, (John 3:3) is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 2:2). It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, The sinner is saved by a gracious work of God. The believer is a recipient, passive in the transaction. Yes, man has to repent and believe, but even that faith that wells up in the heart of man is a gracious gift of God.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV)

The word wrought is considered an archaic word, not a word used in modern English much any more. Gramatically, wrought is the past tense of the verb to work. As it is most commonly used today, the word wrought is used in connection with the beating and shaping of metals with an anvil and hammer. to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour. Jesus is not just Savior, He is also Lord. You can't have one without the other. Repentance is just the first act of service (1 Thessalonians 1:9). B. Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer unto a relationship of peace and favor with God. Justification is a word act. The scene is the court room. God is the judge bringing the gavel down at the end of a trial, declaring the defendent not guilty. In justification, God doesn't make us just; He declares us just, based on the righteousness of Jesus Christ. This declaration is gracious and full. It is gracious because we don't deserve it. It is full because we do not need to bring anything to make it complete. It already is. Justification is the part of salvation that happens once, and only once, in an instant. C. Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God's purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person's life. This is the part of salvation that takes all of our Christian lives. It never ends until you die. The Christian walk is not easy. It is accompanied with trouble on every hand. We will fall many times, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will get up and continue on. Notice that the reason that we are set apart are to God's purposes, not ours. Sometimes it is impossible to know what God is doing in and through us, because it doesn't seem to make us happy, or it doesn't fit the way that we think would be best. D. Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed. Either when we die, or when Christ returns, we will no longer be limited by our sinful natures. Glorification is that final part of salvation in which the believer receives the full measure of all that has been promised. Up until this point the believer has to rely on faith, but in glorification, the believer sees, tastes, touches all the blessings promised of God, even God Himself.

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV) Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2 ESV)

Later this week I am going to try to post some conclusions to this lesson. We probably won't make it through this in one week, anyway. I apologize (if you noticed) for revising this post while online multiple times. Trying to patch the Ponderosa back together after our trip to Greensboro occupied most of Saturday, when I usually put the finishing touches on the lesson. Thanks for your patiences. Previous Lessons: Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1 (An Introduction) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #2 (On the Doctrine of Scripture) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #3 (On the Doctrine of God) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #4 (On God the Father) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #5 (On God the Son Baptist, What Do You Believe? #6 (On God the Holy Spirit) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #7 (On the Doctrine of Man)

SBC Day 2, Wednesday Evening

2006-06-14T23:40:00.000-05:00

Well, what do you say. "It's over.", I guess. The only reason we came back this evening was to see if "anything" would develope out of the IMB report. There were a few ripples. At the point of "questions" two men stepped up to the mic and both each directed their question, not at Dr. Rankin, but the new chairman of trustees, John Floyd. Each messenger in his turn ask Dr. Floyd what he was going to do concerning "certain trustees" not being allowed to attend all meetings of the IMB, and of the excessive use of executive (closed) sessions. Dr. Floyd responded both times to the effec "I don't know what you're talking about." My pastor said afterward concerning the response, "What condescension. What an insult." The point was made, and publically, so the monkey is on the IMB's back, and they are going to have that monkey for the next 12 months. There was also the unveiling of a large bronze statue of the Rev. Billy Graham standing in front of a cross, holding up a Bible in one hand with the other arm raised, in his typical style of offering the gospel. There was also a brief appearance and address by Cliff Barrows. It was all nice, a nice gesture, but. . . Impressions Keep in mind, this was my first SBC ever. I was raised a Southern Baptist. I am a Southern Baptist now. The first twenty-five years of my adult life I raised a family of five in an independent, rural, reformed Baptist church. Three pastors and twenty-five years later, I woke up one day and found myself in a reformed Episcopal church, to which my wife and I said "Hey, what are we doing here? We're Baptists." So here are a few random impressions of my first convention. 1. The music was better than I thought it would be. My pastor's wife asked what kind of music do I like, to which I replied, "I don't know. I haven't heard it yet." More on this some day. Maybe. 2. Everybody clapped for everything. After praying, after preaching, after singing, after business. If we were doing God's business, why were we constantly applauding man for everything. 3. Too many frivolous resolutions and motions, especially the ones that passed. 4. Too much preaching. Now this comes from someone who listens each work day on an iPod to 25 min. of Piper, 26 min. of Sproul, 38 min. of Mohler. I also listen to my pastor's three messages twice, because I record and publish them, and want to make sure the audio quality is fit for the internet. Then there's the odd conference messages I pick up, and the audio of of other pastor's sermons. I guess I should have said "Too much shallow, man-centered, mediocre preaching. Some day I will tell you what I really think. 5. Words too often used: inerrency (without the accompanying "sufficiency"), ten percent, and baptism (without the accompanying "regeneration"). More on these later, maybe. 6. Words not used often enough: soli Deo gloria I'm sorry. It's late. I really did enjoy the convention. I will have to post a counterbalance soon. There was much good, much encouragement, if you looked for it, but I just can't get the phrase "Ringling Brothers" out of my head. Go to the blogs I linked to in the previous post. They've all updated this evening, all good stuff. Go to Wade's blog also. I'm going to paste his photo in the margin of my dictionary next to the words gracious, patient, and longsuffering. It's late. I've got to get to bed. We shove off at dawn.

SBC Day 2, Wednesday Morning

2006-06-14T11:54:00.000-05:00

Well, despite heavy rains, there was a considerable crowd at the second day of the convention. It was an interesting morning, with a speech by Secretary of State Condelesa Rice, a report from Dr. Mohler on Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and debate and votes on a number of resolutions. Pastor Rod and I are on the bus now, headed for lunch with our wives. Dr. Mohler's address will probably proove be the high point of today. He spoke to the health of the seminaries in the SBC, and the role of truth as a reflection of God, and subsequently, the character of God. Dr. Mohler stated that SBTS existed for three things: 1. for the truth 2. for the church 3. for the world Again, what I love to hear from a minister of the gospel, Dr. Mohler spoke on these subjects in light of "how to deliver the maximum glory to God alone. Dr. Tom Ascol spoke from the floor, requesting that his resolution, which did not make it out of committee, be voted on to be considered anyway. This required a two-thirds majority, which it did not get. Dr. Ascol's resolution was one basically calling for honesty in reporting church membership numbers, which by implication is a call for churches to take the responsibility of church discipline seriously. A representative from the committee on resolutions responded by saying that the reason why the resolution didn't make it out of committee was because we don't want to get rid of those records of people who no longer attend, because we need them for contact and prayer purposes. It seems like a lame excuse to me. No body said anything about throwing three-by-five cards in the trash bin. Good grief, you can remove someone who never attends from a church roll, and still keep the "card" for information purposes. I grew up with this: "Oh, you can't take someone off the rolls, that might send them to Hell.", or something like that. A resolution which did make it out of committee, and indeed was passed by the convention, was one regarding the SBC making a strong statement discouraging the use of alcohol. Brave arguments were brought against this resolution by Ben Cole, Jeff Young, Marty Duren, and Dr. Ascol, but to no avail. We can pass a resolution to discourage something that Scriptures does not, but we cannot pass a resolution which promotes something that Scripture speaks plainly on. I haven't met any of these young men (Well, Dr. Ascol is older than myself.), but if this is a picture of the future of the SBC, I think we are going in the right direction. Judging from their deportment, articulation, and emphasis on the glory of God, the best years of the SBC are ahead. Go check these guys blogs out. Their reports are all interesting, much more detailed than mine. Art Rogers Tom Ascol David Phillips Marty Duren

SBC Day 1

2006-06-14T00:09:00.000-05:00

I was going to post something on the road Sunday and Monday, but there really wasn't anything worth writing about. It was two days of driving with lots of pretty scenery. Though I have been to every state west of the Mississippi, I haven't been west of Arkansas in the south, so Tennessee and North Carolina were special treats. The landscape is hard to write about, so you will have to wait till I get some pics posted. . . some day. This morning at 6:30 Pastor Rod, Suzan and I went to the Founders breakfast, where Mark Dever was to preach on Romans 9 and 10, Why aren't my loved ones saved? . After Dever, the preaching was pretty much downhill the rest of the day. Pastor Dever gave three reasons from the text why those that Paul longed to see saved weren't: 1. Because God hadn't saved them. 2. Because they don't believe. 3. Because No one was telling them the good news. Under this last point Pastor Dever went on to answer the question "How should we tell the Gospes?" A. That it is an urgent decision. B. That it is a costly decision. C. That it is infinitely worth the cost. In conclusion several points were made, including, but not limited to, the following: 1. Pastor Dever gave examples from Scripture as well as church history, of those who were patient and persistent with their loved ones: God with Paul, and Monica with her son Augustine, for example. 2. "The Gospel is full of whoevers" 3. It is not up to us to limit the gospel. 4. We Calvinists often use our theology to excuse our laziness. The Convention 1. The preaching peppered throughout the business was energetic, loud, illustrated, emotional, innovative, but not half as good as Pastor Rod on his worst day. One bright spot was a report from a young man, I missed his name, during the NAMB report. He had a church plant in NYC, and he said several times that his goal was to "display the greatness of God to the world.", and not xx number of baptisms or decisions. 2. Frank Page from South Carolina was elected president, with 50.48 percent in a three way race, just barely avoiding the necessity for a runoff. Mark Dever got the most votes for 1st Vice President on the first vote with 29.72 percent, but lost to Jimmy Jackson in the runoff, 51.44 to 47.86 percent. We voted on 2nd vice president, but no results before we adjourned last night. I will try to post on this tomorrow, as there was a considerable amount of humor involved? 3. I was hoping to see some people I was familiar with. I saw the obvious: Tom Ascol, Mark Dever, Tom Nettles, Wade Burleson. I did not get to meet them, but it was nice to see a real face with familiar names. I did unexpectedly see Steve Parks (For you Tangleites/Trinitites). He brought a motion to the convention. Pastor (Bishop) Jeff Young brought a comment to a motion made. Ben Cole also raised a question on one of the reports. I've never met Cole, and have only traded a few emails with Young. Now Steve Parks: well I could tell stories for weeks about Brother Steve. I've got to get some snooze. Bus leaves at 7:30 in the morning.

Greensboro or Bust

2006-06-10T23:29:00.001-05:00

I will not be posting a Baptist, What Do You Believe? installment this week. It won't be needed until next Sunday. Another brother will be leading a review lesson this Sunday morning in my Sunday-school class. By the title of this post I've already let the cat out of the bag. Yes, were going. My wife and I, along with our pastor and his family, are making the 16-hour trek from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Greensboro, North Carolina. This will be my wife's and my first convention, so Pastor Harris is going to hold our hands. For the congregation back home and others interested, I plan to post some From-the-Laymans-View articles while at the convention, maybe with a few photos sprinkled in. They might not be worth a flip, but I will let you decide that. From all that has been going on lately, this year's convention could prove to be one not to miss. In going, we certainly want to help, to represent our home church, to give it a voice at the convention. The five of us from Trinity certainly have our opinions concerning the issues that are pressing this year, but I think that all of us want to hear the discussion and debate, if any, to try to get the whole story and everybody's point of view. I have been saving this picture since shooting it back in March, thinking I would write a post titled something like "Can It be Salvaged?" I am glad that never took place. I am inserting it now to illustrate the need for regular, faithful maintenance, so our great convention, and especially the IMB doesn't wind up like this old barn near Muskogee, Oklahoma. These past few months I have been so encouraged by the upbeat, optimistic words of Pastor Wade Burleson in his blog. He never misses a chance, as he did in this Friday's post to praise the efficiency and effectiveness of the IMB, and his fellow trustees, and the faithful missionaries that are sent out by them (and thereby all us all). My prayer for this coming week is that we all pack our hammers and nail aprons, and leave our wrecking bars at home. A word about the home front. Anybody thinking about burglarizing should be advised that the Marine will be at our house, and Barny (Fife) the attack Beagle will be guarding Pastor's home.

More Classical, More Traditional Music

2006-06-04T17:17:00.000-05:00

Are you trying to resist that popular wave of modern worship music, but can't seem to find anything good to listen to? Well, Old Fashioned Christian Radio is the place you have been looking for. This site is different from all the other sites I have mentioned and placed in my sidebar, in that this is not a resource for mp3 files, music lyrics, or scores. This site provides streaming audio. In other words, it is an internet radio station. As far as web sites go, this one is "U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi.", but it does a good job at what it does, which is stream classical-style traditional Christian music over the internet. The site has settings for dial-up, as well as broadband users, and you can purchase the cds of the music aired right there on the site. Go check it out.

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #7

2006-06-03T22:38:00.000-05:00

Article III, Man Review Questions: 1. What is regeneration? 2. What is illumination? 3. Why is the Holy Spirit called the Holy Spirit? Introduction This week in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 we turn our attention to Article 3: Man. What makes us different from the animals? Is there any difference, or are we just grown up germs? Is it simply that we have won the cosmic lottery, and wound up at the top of the heap? Or could it be, as Article 3 begins, that we are the special creation of God? At first glance, if we are His crowning work then something is very wrong with this picture. As we work our way through the doctrine of man, as laid out in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, we begin to see the picture rightly, as God would have us see it. The Creation of Man Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God's creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. What is so special about man? Where in Scripture are we told that man as the crowning work of His creation?

We are made in God's own image and likeness: Genesis 1:26
God gave us dominion over all else that He had created on earth: Genesis 1:26; Psalm 8:6
God blessed man: Genesis 1;28
Only after the creation of Man did God say that His creation was very good: Genesis 1:31
Man is the only creature that God breathed the breath of life into: Genesis 2:7
We are made just lower than the angelic beings, and with glory and honor: Psalm 8:5
God sent his only begotten Son to die on a cross and redeem His people: Romans 5:8

The underlined portion above is the only part of Article 3 that constituted a significant change from this article in the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message. Obviously, the societal mores in the 21st century are not what they were in the middle of last century. Even though homosexuality was a known sin in 1963, it was not an accepted practice in general society. Today, on the other hand, homosexuality has passed into, not only accepted practice, but is all but considered as perfectly normal in America. The added wording is intended to show that the creation story specifically includes gender, and in fact shows God to be kind and generous in providing complimentary companionship as a part of His crowning work of creation. It is only after the fall that prohibition against the perversion of homosexuality has to be spelled out (Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:27, 1 Corinthians 6:9). Man's Rebellion and Fall (Genesis 3:1-24) By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation. Not long after being placed in the garden, Adam and Eve disobeyed the one and only command of God by, first desiring the benefits of the forbidden fruit (being like God: Genesis 3:5), and then taking and eating it (Genesis 3:6), thus bringing sin into the world. We are also told in this section that the temptation was prompted by Satan. All of humanity was represented in Adam, and consequently, all humanity inherited a sin nature. On a personal note, I believe that the phrase his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin is too weak. The next sentence leaves no doubt that all are indeed sinners by virtue of being the posterity of Adam, but the word inclined weakens the idea a bit. An inclination can be changed. while a nature cannot. David said in Psalm 51:5 "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." This verse points out the inherency of our sin nature, and as the next sentence of Article 3 states, as soon as we are capable of sin, we do so. As Christian parents, this should not make us wonder what the age of accountability is, but rather should cause us to raise our children as Timothy was raised, knowing from childhood the sacred Scriptures, which were able to save him (2 Timothy 3:15). What better blessing any parents could give their child, than for them to never know a time when they didn't have saving faith in Christ Jesus. God's Gracious Act of Redemption in Christ Jesus Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. Here we have a nutshell version of the gospel. Because man is a sinner by nature, that is all he is capable of. It takes a gracious God to bring man back (Ephesians 2:8,9). Man cannot and will not come to God (Romans 8:7), so God must do so by the power of the Holy Spirit, through His son Jesus Christ. Only then can we fulfill the creative purpose of God (Ephesians 2:10). The Dignity of Every Human Being The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love. Here we are where we started with the doctrine of man. Man being made in God's image makes him special, having full dignity, and sacredness. The article gives two proofs for the dignity of all mankind: being made in the image of God, and Christ dying for His people. Man bearing the image of God is the reason God condemns murder (Genesis 9:6). In Acts 17:26 Paul points out that all of the races have their origin in Adam and Eve, and later in verse 30 he tells his hearers that God has commanded all men everywhere to repent. Jesus, when He gives the great commission in Matthew 28:19 tells His disciples to make disciples of all nations. John, in Revelation 5:9 records that God has saved people from every tribe and language and people and nation. All peoples everywhere, therefore deserve our greatest effort to reach them with the gospel of grace. Previous Lessons: Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1 (An Introduction) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #2 (On the Doctrine of Scripture) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #3 (On the Doctrine of God) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #4 (On God the Father) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #5 (On God the Son Baptist, What Do You Believe? #6 (On God the Holy Spirit) Technorati Tags: The Baptist Faith and Message 2000

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #6

2006-05-27T22:29:00.000-05:00

Article II, Section C: God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service. Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28- 32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.

Introduction We Baptists know very little about the Holy Spirit, and yet it is not because of the lack of Scriputral material. The Scriptural references listed with this section on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit alone are witness to this fact. A quick word search of Holy Spirit turned up ninety-three passages, ninety of them from the New Testament. Add to that references to the Holy Sprit, like Spirit (Gen. 1:3; 6:12; Judges 14:19) and helper (John 14-16), and the references to the third person of the Trinity more than triples. So, why do we Baptists know so little about the Holy Spirit? I believe there are at least three possible reasons:

With so much ostentatious hoopla that surrounds so much of what we call the Charismatic movement, I believe that Baptists want to stay as far away as possible from the so-called Spirit-filled stuff. Pastor Harris put it so well in a recent Wednesday-evening message on this subject when he said "Afraid of going out on a limb we refuse to get in the tree!"
Another reason has to do with the nature of the Holy Spirit's work. What He does is not all that visible. When we talk of God the Father, we talk about His acts of creation. We can look all around us and see physically all that He has done. Throughout the pages of the Old testament we see the wrestling match between God and His chosen people, Israel (Gen. 32:28). We see His hand in the raising up and tearing down of empires. God the Son takes on flesh and blood and dwells among us. Jesus walked the dusty roads of Palestine teaching, preaching, and praying. He heals, drives out, and overturns. Most of all, we see the passion of our Savior, and we see Him raised again the third day. The work of the Holy Spirit is so different from that of the Father and the Son. He works in the Spiritual realm, largely unseen. He is much like the wind (John 3:8) You can't see the wind, but you can see its effects, if you pay attention. Look at the paragraph before us in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, and note the work He does: inspires, illumines, exalts, convicts, calls, regenerates, cultivates, comforts, bestows, seals, enlightens, and empowers. These are all things that cannot be directly seen, although, like the wind, you can see the effects of the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those whom He indwells.
And finally, one big reason little is known about the Holy Spirit is because of the nature of His role. His job is not to proclaim or put forth Himself, but to show forth Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 15:26: "But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me." Paul echoes the same idea in 1 Corinthians 12:3, when he says that "no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit." John also states that the Spirit of God will "confess that jesus Christ has come in the flesh." The third person of the Trinity takes a subordinate role in redemption. His job in this gospel age is to promote Jesus Christ.

Who is the Holy Spirit? Section C gives us just one brief sentence concerning who the Holy Spirit is: The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. We can fall back on the main paragraph that deals with the doctrine of God as a whole and get a few more details. The last sentence there says that He is one with the Father and the Son, and with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. If God is spirit (John 4:24), don't we mean the same person when speaking about the Spirit of God (Gen. 1:2)? That might be a possibility to consider except if it were not for the numerous times when the Father and Holy Spirit are mentioned together as distinct persons. In Genesis 1 verse one speaks of God in the beginning, and in verse two it is the Spirit of God that is hovering over the face of the waters. At Jesus' baptism God speaks from heaven, while at the same time the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove. At the great commission, Jesus commands His disciples to baptize disciples in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Even though God is a spirit, and does not have a body like men, the Scriptures makes a distinction between the Father and the Holy Spirit. Here again is one of those mysteries that should make us marvel and worship rather than doubt. The Holy Spirit, just like the Father and the Son, is personal. He can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), He can be blasphemed (Mark 3:29), and He can be lied to (Acts 5:3). If you drop down two verses to Acts 5:5, you notice that Peter, after first asking why Ananias had lied to the Holy Spirit, goes on to state that he has not lied to man, but to God. Here we have a firm affirmation to the deity of the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of God, fully divine. Why is the Holy Spirit called the Holy Spirit? Why don't we call the Father and the Son holy? Why is there this adjectival addition to the third person of the Trinity? Is it because the Holy Spirit is more holy than the Father and the Son? By no means. This would violate the orthodox formula of the Trinity: one in essence, three in person. The three persons exist in one essential Godhead, all sharing the same attributes, no one person being more or less of anything than the other two. The main reason the Spirit of God is called the Holy Spirit, is because of the work He performs. Look again at the list of verbs above drawn from Section C: inspires, illumines, exalts, convicts, calls, regenerates, cultivates, comforts, bestows, seals, enlightens, and empowers. The Holy Spirit's primary work, at least in this gospel age, is to draw out lost sinners out of the world through regeneration. Once justified, the Holy Spirit moves on to work in us sanctification through things like illumination, bestowal, enlightenment, and empowerment. Both of these acts are separating us out of the world, making us fit for special use, making us servants of the King. What Does the Holy Spirit Do? Well, we have answered much of what the Holy Spirit does in the previous paragraph dealing with the whole concept of holiness. Before we conclude this brief look at the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, lets look at the Holy Spirit's part in the saving of lost souls.

Conviction of sin: Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged (John 16:7-11). The gospel has no appeal to the lost sinner until he is aware of the desperate plight that he is in. Thanks be to God that He has sent His Spirit into the world to attend to His preached word, and convict men of sin and righteousness and judgment.
Regeneration: Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8) Born again? That is what regeneration is all about: being re- generated, born again, made all over again. (In the Greek and the Hebrew language there is just one word for the English words breath, wind, and spirit. The English rendering is determined by the context.) Again, all praise and glory be to God for this essential initial gift from the Holy Spirit to us poor retched sinners who were spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1, Colossians 2:13, Romans 8:7,8)

Conclusion: After the Holy Spirit convicts, calls, and regenerates us, He comes to dwell in us and provides all of the other things listed above, fitting us for service in the King's army. If you try to work your mind through all of this you won't really have time to ponder things like baptism in the Holy Spirit, or second blessings. There is already enough here to stand in amazed silence for the rest of our days. May we do so. Previous Lessons: Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1 (An Introduction) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #2 (On the Doctrine of Scripture) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #3 (On the Doctrine of God) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #4 (On God the Father) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #5 (On God the Holy Spirit)

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #5

2006-05-20T01:59:00.000-05:00

God the Son This week we move on to the second section in Article II, concerning God the Son. If ever there is a need for doctrine in the Christian faith, it is at this very point. The faith we call Christianity finds its name from the very one who is its hub, its keystone, its very heart; from Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior. It is a popular saying among many Christian circles, that doctrine divides. That is the main reason so many denominations, especially the newer ones, are very light on doctrine; they hate confrontation and division. They have adopted that famous line from Rodney King: "Can't we all just get along?" Yes, doctrine does divide. That is what it is intended to do. It divides true Christianity from false Christianity, or those belief systems that call themselves Christian. Many groups believe in Jesus, but just as we spoke a couple of weeks ago about the need to define which God, we also need to define which Jesus. The Jehovah's Witness and Mormons believe in Jesus, but they do not believe that He is God. Islam revers Jesus as one of the great prophets, but not as the only begotten Son of God. Controversies over who Jesus is have raged ever since He became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Jesus asked His disciples "Who do people say that I am?" (Mark 8:27) Battling heresy on a number of fronts, the Church nailed down a doctrine of the deity of Christ at the council of Nicea in 325, and the doctrine concerning the dual nature of Jesus at the council of Chalcedon in 451. The so-called Higher criticism in the 19th century, and the Jesus Seminar in the 20th century attempted to take away from, to diminish our Lord and Savior by discrediting the inerrancy of Scripture. Even in our day, Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code has sent shock waves throughout our culture, attempting to cast doubt on the reliable nature of the New Testament concerning the person and work of Jesus. I do not intend to go line by line through Section B, as I have in the other lessons, because the paragraph is pretty straightforward, reading very much like the historic confessions would read on God the Son. The Scripture cited with this section more than adequately cover the material found therein. The paragraph covers both the person and the work of Jesus Christ. In theological terms this is a division between Christology and Soteriology, or basically a division between who Jesus was, and what Jesus did. In a nutshell, this is the gospel. Article II, Section B. God the Son

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord. Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:14; 53; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16,27; 17:5; 27; 28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1-18,29; 10:30,38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:15-16,28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20,28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5,20; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6- 21; 8:1-3,34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7- 9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16.

Christology: Who is Jesus? Jesus is in a class by Himself. Look what the Section B says about who Jesus is:

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. . . .taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind . . . . fully God, fully man, . . .

In these statements we see that Jesus was:

Eternal God (John 5:18; 8:58) and the Son of God (John 10:36), and yet, at the same time. . .
Real flesh and blood, not just in appearance, but in His very nature (1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:14), and also. . .
Jesus was not one part God and one part man, but fully God (Colossians 1:19), fully man (John 1:14; Philippians 2:7,8).

Jesus must be these things in order to be able to do what it is He came to do. Soteriology: What did Jesus do? This is so much more relevant a question than the trite quip "What would Jesus Do?". It is far more important to know, understand, and embrace with one's whole being what Jesus did do. Let's look at the remainder of Section B:

Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, . . . yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, . . . in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.

There are three things that Jesus did while on earth that are essential to salvation:

Jesus lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus obeyed completely and perfectly God's holy law. He did for us what we could never do for ourselves: satisfy the demands of God's holy law.
Jesus died the death of a criminal. He died in such way that signified that He was cursed of God (Galatians 3:13). He bore the wrath of God on the cross in our place.
Three days later Jesus Christ rose from the dead (Acts 2:24). This signified God's satisfaction, that the price paid was sufficient to meet God's righteous justice.

It is all summed up in 2 Corinthians 5:21: For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. What a great transaction: our sins laid on Him on the cross; His righteousness (from those thirty-some-odd years of perfect obedience) laid on us who believe. This section on God the Son goes on to finish the story of Christ's work after His life, death/burial, and resurrection:

Jesus ascended into heaven (Acts 1:9).
Jesus is our One Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5), effecting reconciliation between us and God (Ephesians 2:16).
Jesus will come again some day to judge the world and consummate His redemptive work (2 Timothy 4:1).
Jesus dwells in every believer (2 Corinthians 5:17).

There are so many other particulars that Jesus did that relate to this central message of the gospel: He crushed the head of the serpent, conquered death and hell, established His church, broken our bondage to slavery, vanquished our fear of death, and on the list goes; but all of these are subsumed under the topic of what Christ did in His person and work. The material found in this one paragraph on the doctrine of God the Son is enough to keep us occupied, and wondering, and praising God for the rest of our lives. Let us begin to do so.

Previous Lessons: Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1 (An Introduction) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #2 (On the Doctrine of Scripture) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #3 (On the Doctrine of God) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #4 (On God the Father)

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #4

2006-05-13T18:07:00.000-05:00

Article II, Section A: God the Father Words for Review from Last Week: incomprehensible, deism, dualism, pantheism, polytheism, immutable, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, righteous Introduction In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, and as He does, he instructs them to refer to God as Our Father. In the gospels Jesus refers to God as Father more often than He does any other name or title for God. This paragraph dealing with the first person of the Trinity touches only on the issue of God as Father. To be sure there are many more facets and categories dealing with God, but this brief description is only concerned with God's governance or economy in time and space over what He has made. Other attributes of God will surface elsewhere in latter articles of this confession, where they will fit better. Article II, Section A. God the Father

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men. Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff.; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7.

God as Father reigns . . . God reigns and rules, but His reign is a fatherly reign. God's reign over His creation, especially over the sons of Adam, is not the cold, calculated reign of a monarch, but the reign of a father over a household. God is sovereign, no doubt, but His sovereignty is in context of His goodness. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Luke 11:13 . . . with providential care over His universe, His creatures, Providence is a word you don't hear very much any more. In previous centuries in America Providence was commonly used as a name for God. From providence we get the word provide, which is made up of a root and a prefix. The prefix pro gives the meaning of forward or ahead. You see the idea in words like propeller, which pushes a boat forward. When you promote something, you are pushing something forward, setting it out in front, so that it can be seen better. The root of provide comes from the Latin word videre: to see. We see that root word in words like video, visible, and vision. When you put the root and the prefix together, you get to the heart of the meaning of provide. To provide for your family is to see future needs, and then plan accordingly. God's providential care is exactly like that. His seeing of future needs aren't just good guessing, wisdom, or insight. The eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-seeing God of the universe sees and knows all things, past, present, and future. Those categories of time and space have no meaning in eternity. The Bible says that He sees the end from the beginning. Isaiah 46:10 One of the most touching stories found in the pages of the Old Testament is found in Genesis chapter 22, where God commands Abraham to take his son Isaac and sacrifice him up on mountain top in the land of Moriah. The key passage is found in verses 7 and 8 with an exchange between Abraham and his son: And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. And of course, you know the rest of the story. God did provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. . . . and the flow of the stream of human history . . . Again, Isaiah 46:10 is a fitting verse: declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ God is in control of all matters in the universe, from the greatest to the smallest. His providence extends even to the flow of the stream of human history. . . . according to the purposes of His grace. First of all, God is a gracious God. He hasn't left us in our sins, He graciously has made a way to be reconciled to Him. Secondly, all of the flow of the stream of human history is according to His purpose, which is gracious. We cannot see the big picture, because we are not God, so, much of what we see seems to us not to be good. Why is there evil in the world? Why are there natural disasters that kill and injure "indiscriminately"? We have so many of these kind of questions. The short answer to the situation in general is all about sin. As transgressors of a just and holy God, we don't deserve even a fraction of the good we do receive. God could have consigned us all to Hell immediately as he did the angels who rebelled against Him (2 Peter 2:4). Paul's praise of God's grace in Ephesians 1 is a good place to begin to see the gracious purposes of our God and Father. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. Here is an echo from the opening paragraph of the article, namely a quartet of absolutes. God is not just the most powerful, most knowing, most living, most wise. When God finishes showing Job who He is in chapters 38 through 41, Job responds by saying "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted." (Job 42:2) To get a small peek at what it means to be all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise, you should read these four chapters in Job. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. When God saves us He adopts us into His family. We enjoy all of the privileges of sonship.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, John 1:12
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:15-17
. . . to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Galatians 4:5-7

He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men. Sometimes called common grace, God takes good care of all men, whether lost or saved. This bountiful common grace provides an opportunity to repent and believe. God reveals Himself as good to all mankind, by not giving us, as sinners, what we deserve on the spot.

Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” Acts 14:17
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, Acts 17:26-30

Conclusion This brief paragraph on the first person of the Trinity is by no means exhaustive, but there is plenty here to get us started on the majesty and splendor of our great God. Next week we are on to the second section in Article II, God the Son. Previous Lessons: Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1 Baptist, What Do You Believe? #2 Baptist, What Do You Believe? #3

Audio Resources: A great audio clip to get you fired up about the names of God is S. M. Lockridge's My King.

R. C. Sproul's audio series on The Names of God is an excellent survey of the meanings and significance of the names of God. You can order the CD Series from Ligonier Ministries, or you can listen to the streaming audio, which happens to have just finished airing, online from Ligonier's 30-day archive page (for the next few weeks from this post's posting).

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #3

2006-05-06T21:08:00.000-05:00

Article II: The Doctrine of God Questions for Review from Article I: 1. Why is the Doctrine of Scripture Article I? 2. Why was the wording in this article changed in the 2000 statement? 3. Who wrote the Bible? 4. What is the purpose of the Bible? 5. Who is the central focus of the Bible? Introduction With the foundation of Article one firmly laid down, dealing with the doctrine of Holy Scripture, we are now ready to move on to Article two, concerning God. This is the best and most logical progression of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. In Article one, we have established that we have a sure and authoritative word, as we stated last week, in which we can confidently speak truth concerning our faith and practice as Baptists. Because Article one states that "The Holy Bible . . . is God's revelation of Himself to man.", and "All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.", it is just natural and right that Article two deal with the doctrine of God. Last week we dug deep and laid a "firm foundation". This week we climb to the pinnacle: the doctrine of God. In Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). Which God? When we begin looking into Article two, we want to remember and be faithful to Article one. In other words, use God's Holy Scripture to describe and define God. The reason it is necessary to have a doctrine of God, especially in this day, is that many have used all sorts of sources other than the Bible to define their god. Perhaps most popular of all is the god each individual spins out of his own fallen, perverted head. The problem is best described in the introduction to a lecture my pastor gave back in October of 2005 on the doctrine of God:

"The vast majority of Americans say they believe in God. I have no reason to question that – in fact I think they do. The problem is, “Which God do they believe in?” Is it the God who has revealed himself in history and in the pages of the Bible or is it the god of Islam, Mormonism, Hinduism, New Age thinking, pantheism or paganism? Is it a god of one of the world’s religions or a designer god of their own making? Our culture is very spiritual."

We will cover only the opening paragraph this week, following each of the next three weeks with each person of the Trinity separately. Let's look now at the opening paragraph of Article 2. Article 2: The Doctrine of God There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. The Incomprehensibility of God This word incomprehensible doesn't mean we can't know anything about God. We just cannot know God exhaustively. If we could, then God wouldn't be very great, would He? The only reason we know anything about God is that He desires to be known by His creatures, and reveals Himself to them. There is, and always will be more to know about God. Even in heaven we will not know all there is to know about Him. What a thought to consider; that in heaven we will never stop learning about Him, never stop being amazed, never grow tired of worshiping, throughout all eternity. This concept of incomprehensibility is not stated explicitly in the article, but the profusion of the absolutes (infinite, perfections, all powerful, all knowing, perfect, highest, and eternal) greatly imply the idea. One God The opening statement, There is one and only one living and true God rules out many things:

dualism: two equal and opposite powers in the universe are locked in eternal combat.
pantheism: all things are god or contain god.
polytheism: there are many gods.

There is only one God: Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 46:9. May The Force Be with You God is Intellegent, Spiritual, and Personal, not an impersonal force or source of energy. No, He doesn't have a body like men, but He is intellegent and personal, and yes, He is a He. God is Active. To say that God is Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the Universe, is to say that he has been active, and still is, and forever will be, concerning the universe and His created beings.

In creation: He created all that is.
In redemption: When man fell, God made a way to redeem men.
In preservation: He preserves all of creation, before and after the fall. Without Gods hand on the universe it would all fly apart into oblivion.
In governance: God is in charge of this universe, which means nothing happens by accident.

To say that God is Creator is also to say that He was not created. He is self-existent. God is the only being who has the power of being in and of Himself. All others have a derived being, a contingent being. When Moses asked God's name at the burning bush in Exodus 3:14, God told Moses "I am who I am." God never refers to Himself as "I was", or "I will be". Unlike all of God's creatures, who are constantly changing, God just IS. In other words, there is no change in God (James 1:17). He, like His Son, is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Infinity God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. What do these words mean?

holy: God is other, separate, in a class by Himself. He is not like man, or any other created being.
infinite: God's holiness has no boundaries, no beginning or end. That is why God is incomprehensible. No one can get his mind completely around it all.
all other perfections: This is just a quick way of saying that infinite in holiness is just the first in a long list of God's perfections. God's other perfections include immutability, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, righteousness, truthfulness, love, judgment, and wrath.

Open Theism God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. Because of the relatively new aberration of Open Theism, this sentence was added in the 2000 BF&M. It restates, more pointedly, what the previous sentence obviously implies by all other [infinite] perfections. Open Theism states that God does not know the future, but He is a good guesser. God's word clearly teaches otherwise: I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' (Isaiah 46:9, 10) Our Duty To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. It goes without saying that God, as described in this brief article, deserves nothing less than our highest love, reverence, and obedience; even as the catechism begins with: The chief end of man is to glorify God and to love Him forever. This is not just our obligation, this is the reason we were made. The Trinity The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. This last sentence sets up the next three sub-articles, each one dealing with a separate person of the Trinity. The wording of this sentence draws heavily from the historical creeds and confessions of Christianity. It carefully maintains the unity of one God, while affirming the mysterious reality of the Trinity. In the next three weeks we will be looking more closely at the three persons of the Godhead. Previous Lessons: Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1: Introduction: Creeds and Confessions Baptist, What Do You Believe? #2: Article I: The Doctrine of Scriptures Acknowledgement: I would like to express my appreciation for the Wednesday evening teaching series by Pastor Rod Harris, on the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. He was kind enough to give me his entire set of study notes and other resources on this series entitled What Does it Mean to be Baptist?, delivered between October 5, 2005 and March 29, 2006. In my lessons I have drawn heavily from his notes, as well as the delivered messages.

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #2

2006-04-29T22:48:00.000-05:00

The Doctrine of Scripture Questions for Review 1. What are the differences between a creed and a confession of faith? 2. What does orthodox mean? 3. What is a heretic? 4. What are some reasons for Baptists to have confessions? 5. What are some reasons for Baptists to know and study their confession? 6. What are two hallmarks of Baptists? Introduction The world knows Baptists better for what they don't believe (in) than for what they do believe. "Baptists don't smoke, drink, or chew, or go out with girls that do.", is a catchy phrase I hear often at work. Especially, Baptist don't dance. When the push for the lottery a couple of years ago came to Oklahoma, the Baptists were against it. I can remember as a young adult when liquor-by-the-drink became law, the Baptist opposed it. Now I'm not against Baptists standing up against the moral ills of our society, but one has to ask the question, "Does anybody out there know what we DO believe?" Perhaps an even more important question follows. Baptist, What Do You Believe? That is the title of this series. That is my main goal in this study, to make you ask yourself what it is that you believe. In my Sunday school class I periodically grill my students with a series of questions: "What do you believe about your faith? What does it mean to be a Christian? Does it matter what you believe? Is it important to know why you believe what you believe? Can you explain to a classmate their need for a Savior, and how to repent and believe? As a Christian, where do you go to find out what your faith is all about?" I go on to impress upon them that they are going to be the future pastors, teachers, music directors, deacons, etc., etc. I have noticed, that in the past year, the reality of what kind of shoes they are expected to fill has had an effect. One of the best, most effective, systematic ways to know who you are as a Christian (first) and Baptist (second) is to study the document your Southern Baptist Convention has adopted. In doing this, they have declared "This is what we believe." Being Baptist and Being Biblical Being a Baptist has historically meant being biblical. We are known as a people of the Book. There should be no contradiction here. All of the confessions of faith from the very beginning of Baptist history have had their basis in Holy Scripture, and have dealt with the nature and importance of Scripture as their very first article. The BF&M2000 is no exception. Why is The Scriptures the First Article of the BF&M2000? The article on the Scriptures is the foundation of every other article found in this confession. Without a trustworthy source for our beliefs, how can we know that what we believe is true? Without having an authoritative standard to go by, we are reduced to all of the other religions of the world, which is nothing more than the opinions of men. Once we establish the content, quality, and purpose of the Scriptures, then we can go and confidently speak with authority on all of the other articles that follow. Note that after each article there are numerous references to Scripture that back up the statements made. Changes in the BF&M2000 1. The Holy Bible . . . is God's revelation of Himself to man. This is a strengthening of the 1963 article on the Holy Scriptures, which stated: The Holy Bible . . . is the record of God's revelation of Himself to man. The two statements sound alike, but the real difference is substantial. To say that the Bible is a record of God's revelation is to imply that its authors were nothing more than reporters and historians who chronicled the events as they happened or as they were told to them. This one word lends the idea of a second-hand source to the Bible. It leaves open the option of fallibility and errancy. This stronger statement in the 2000 revision reflects a more conservative leadership in the convention, and reflects more accurately what most SBC congregations have believed all along. 2. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. This sentence was added in the BF&M2000. Again, this addition makes a stronger first article, and reinforces Baptists' historical belief in inerrancy. 3. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation. This last sentence of the article on the Scriptures replaces a similar sounding last sentence in the 1963 confession: The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ. Again, a stronger statement has replaced a weaker. Among other things, in a very subtle way the 2000 statement comes down solidly against the Scofield style of dispensationalism. From the seed of woman in Genesis 3:15, to the offering of Isaac in Genesis 22, to Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness, to Psalm 110, to Isaiah 53, to the Alpha and the Omega of the Revelation of John, to all the others in between that I failed to mention; Christ is the scarlet thread that runs throughout Holy Scriptures. The Bible is Truth This does not mean that the Bible is exhaustive truth. God's word cannot teach us how to repair lawn mowers, or prune apple trees. It doesn't truthfully tell us everything about everything. But concerning those things it touches it is . . . truth, without any mixture of error. Article I. The Scriptures (with references interspersed)

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. (Exodus 24:4; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21)
It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. (Psalm 19:7-10; See especially Psalm 119; Romans 15:4)
It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. (John 17:17)
Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. (Psalm 119:160; Hebrews 6:18)
It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, (Psalm 119:89; Isaiah 40:8; Luke 21:33; 1 Peter 1:25)
the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. (Acts 17:9; Romans 16:25, 26; 2 Timothy 3:17)
All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation. (Genesis 3:14,15; Luke 24:25-27, 44-46; John 5:39; Hebrews 1:2)

Previous Lessons: Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1

2006-04-23T08:16:00.000-05:00

Introduction: Creeds and Confessions Creeds What is the difference between the two? A creed, such as the Apostles Creed, is usually much shorter than a confession. The main reason this is so is that the primary purpose of a creed is to define the barest minimum requirement for orthodoxy. In other words, anything outside the boundaries of a creed defined non-Christianity. A creed often arose in response to vital disputes in the church. These disputes usually dealt with the nature of Jesus. Was He truly a man? Was He truly God? How do you define the Trinity? Creeds, like confessions define what one believes. The word Creed comes from the Latin verb credo, which means "I believe". Creeds, because of their nature, defining essentials, are more binding. To not accept a creed as representative of your beliefs means to not believe in true Christianity. This is called heresy. A person in this position is called a heritic. For instance, if you do not believe that Jesus is God, as the Jehovah's Witness believe, you are not a Christian. Confessions Confessions as a rule are much more detailed than creeds. Whereas creeds usually consist of one paragraph or article, confessions have many articles, with several paragraphs each. Confessions contain the same essentials found in creeds, but they also contain what would be called non-essentials. the essentials are defined in more detail, and the non-essentials are thoroughly defined. Confessions are not so much a binding statement to insure orthodoxy, but they are more a declaration of what a group of like-minded people believe. In other words: What is it that holds us together? What is it that makes us first Christian, and second Baptist? Why Do We Have Confessions of Faith and Why Do We Study Them? Baptists from the begining of their existence have had confessions of faith. There are several reasons for this. The report in the front of the BF&M2000 explains several of these reasons.

"Baptists are a people of deep beliefs and cherished doctrines." If you have something you believe deeply and cherish, then you will want to defend what you believe. A confession does this by laying out in logical, systematic order what we believe.
"Through out history we have . . . [adopted] statements of faith as a witness to our beliefs and a pledge of our faithfulness to the doctrines revealed in Holy Scripture." This statement shows a two-fold purpose for confessions: a witness to the world, and a pledge to God and each other to be faithful to God's word.

One of the first Baptist confessions, the First London Confession of 1646 states in it introduction that it was published "for the vindication of the truth and information of the ignorant; likewise for the taking off those aspersions which are frequently, both in pulpit and print, unjustly cast upon them." Why Do We Keep Revising our Confession? Again, to borrow from the preamble to our BFM2000: "New challenges to faith appear in every age." The preamble goes on to explain the issues of the day that brought about the need for each revision and addition to the previous confession. If nothing else, language changes; words' meanings change. Is a Confession on Equal Footing with Scripture? Baptists have never held their confession up to the standard of Holy Scripture. Note in the preamble statements number two and four:

(2) That we do not regard [confessions] as complete statements of our faith, having any quality of finality or infallibility. As in the past so in the future, Baptists should hold themselves free to revise their statements of faith as may seem to them wise and expedient at any time. (4) That the sole authority for faith and practice among Baptists is the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Confessions are only guides in interpretation, having no authority over the conscience.

Baptist Hallmarks There have been two hallmarks to Baptist belief from the very begining. They are religious liberty, and the priesthood of believers. They are cherished blessings, and at the same time the source of much dispute among baptists. Again, let's look at one of the closing paragraphs of the BFM2000 preamble: "Baptists cherish and defend religious liberty, and deny the right of any secular or religious authority to impose a confession of faith upon a church or body of churches. We honor the principles of soul competency and the priesthood of believers, affirming together both our liberty in Christ and our accountability to each other under the Word of God." Religious liberty and the priesthood of believers are not priveledges, they are responsibilities. Many people use these two catch phrases to justify reletavism. Religious liberty or liberty of conscience does not mean that every belief is true and valid, it means that I have the responsibility to respect other's beliefs, and to know what I believe and why. The priesthood of believers does not mean that I have the right to interpret God's word any way I see fit. I have a responsibility as an individual to study God's word, and with the aid of others who have gone on before me, to determine what that Word says. Long or Short? The farther you go back the longer the confessions seem to be. Is this a problem? Why is our BFM2000 barely one tenth the length of the 1689? Which is better, and why? Here is a comparason of length among two confessions, one modern and one old, and the Apostles Creed. The Apostles' Creed: 110 words Baptist Faith & Message 2000: 4044 words (3016 without scripture references), with 18 articles, and 78 paragraphs. 1689 confession: 16,806 words, with 32 articles and 707 paragraphs. One thing that makes our shorter, but not too short, confession better is that it provides breadth for many churches to come together and cooperate on issues such as missions and education. As we cover the various articles in the coming weeks we will look at how the brevity allows latitude on non-essential issues. Reference material: Preamble to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 The 1689 Confession The Apostles' Creed

Downloading Sermons by Series

2006-04-22T10:10:00.000-05:00

I have just put up a new link near the top of the side bar which makes it much easier to browse and download the audio sermons that we have available at Bulldogs and Piggies. I only have two categories at this time, BFM2000 and Guests, but I will add pages as time permits featuring other sermon series. I hope that this "series" arrangement will make browsing and downloading audio files much easier than before.

The BFM2000 page features an 18-part study of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, which was delivered by Pastor Rod Harris on Wednesday evenings.
The Guests page contains the five sermons preached by Pastor Wade Burleson preached here in early April, 2006, during special meetings. Our audio equipment gave us fits during these meetings, so the audio leaves something to be desired on several of the messages. Our apologies.

Please feel free to download these sermons and distribute them where ever you see fit.

You Were Grafted In

2006-04-19T08:07:00.000-05:00

It has been such a warm spring, and yesterday was so beautiful, I got up early before work and grafted a young pecan tree so that it would bear paper-shell pecans in the future. Every time I graft I think about Romans 11. What a wonderful, startling, and fearful picture of being included in God's gracious covenant. I took pictures to show the process. You can view the slide show if you like. Update: I failed to mention that this is called a four-flap banana graft, and the variety being grafted on is "Pawnee". Yes, I know, in Romans 11 Paul is referring to olive trees. Even though I am sure the type of graft was different, the same principle applies. I guess the illustration that grabs me is the fact that that little "dead" piece of scion wood gets its life from the stock, or "root". Simply amazing.

Extend Resurrection Day

2006-04-17T23:35:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of ways to bring Resurrection Sunday with you into this new work week:

Listen to our pianist, Rebekah's offertory special from yesterday. You can find the audio file to Hear the Bells Ringing, They're Singing in the sidebar. The audio is a little rough, but that's because it's live. Listen to it soon; download it if you like; the file will be traded out with whatever she plays next Sunday (if it's not a copywrited tune).
Listen to Pastor Rod's sermon, Resurrection Hope from yesterday. Wade Burleson's preaching was very good last week, but I feel like Dorothy in Oz: "There's no place like home. . . There's no place like home. . . There's. . . ." Again, the audio is a bit rough, but that was because our #1 lapel mic went on the fritz, so the old back-up had to be pressed into service. Listen to the message and not the audio quality, and give God the glory for a risen Savior.

Wrapping up Pilgrims Progress

2006-04-14T00:01:00.000-05:00

Well, last Sunday the young men in my Sunday-school class finished reading the Pilgrim's Progress. During our discussion time, we talked about how much was made over Christian and Hopefull by the heavenly host (Luke 15:7)Nas they were being escorted up into the Celestial city. I also mentioned to class how it was expressly pointed out how an opening to Hell existed even near to the Clestial city, ever so much as one existed near the begining and in the middle of the pilgrim's journey. We also discussed the contrast between the reception of Christian and Hopefull, and that of Ignorance; how he could not produce his scroll, and that the Lord of the place would not even see him, and how he was carried away to the opening of Hell.

This Sunday I am confident Pastor Rod will present an excellent Easter message, so in Sunday school we are going to wrap up Pilgrim's Progress by looking at the life of John Bunyan. I did that a bit at the begining of our reading several months back, but I have found some more material from an audio biography by Dr. Piper on the life of John Bunyan that has aired this week in four parts, so I am going to give a bit more detailed info on Bunyan's life. I also began reading Tom Nettles book, By His Grace and for His Glory, and have just gotten to the chapter that discusses Bunyan, so I plan to use some of that too.

The week after Easter I will begin taking the class through The Baptist Faith and Message 2000, article by article. I will be leaning heavily upon Pastor Rod's notes from his recently-finished Wednesday-evening lessons on the same subject. If you would like to hear those audio tapes, they are available online at Bulldogs and Piggies. They began back in October and you can find them under the title "What Does It Mean to be Baptist? (#'s 1-18).

Christ is Risen!
He is Risen indeed!

Have a blessed Resurrection day.
Wayne Hatcher

Church Music

2006-03-26T15:20:00.000-06:00

While Tom Ascol was away last week, he had Ken Puls filling in as guest blogger at Founders Ministry Blog. His topic over a four-part series was Finding Our Voices in Worship. In this series Puls guides the reader through three tests to use in selecting music for worship.

Part one deals with the veracity of music.
Part two deals with the suitability of music.
Part three deals with the authenticity of music.
Part four gives suggestions for ways to help a church find its voice. (not yet posted)

These tests are made up of scriptural as well as pragmatic considerations. To be sure, these tests are very general, leaving a bit of wiggle room for musical style and taste; but if you are honest in your assessment, and truly desire to please God through your church singing, then you will find this series of posts most helpful.

Pilgrim's Progress: The Enchanted Ground

2006-03-26T08:28:00.000-06:00

Our readings take us this Sunday to the final leg of Christian and Hopeful's journey. One of the best things that our Savior has given us for that journey is the support of fellow like-minded travelers and a good testimony of God's grace in us. As is illustrated here, let us make good use of both to shake off the "drowsyness" of this world.

We will probably read on past the listed passage today, as summer is creeping up, and I want to start a study of the Baptist Faith and Message soon. Besides, my wife and her girls have already finished PP, as they are faster readers than my boys.

I saw then in my dream, that they went till they came into a certain country, whose air naturally tended to make one drowsy, if he came a stranger into it. And here HOPEFUL began to be very dull and heavy of sleep; wherefore he said unto CHRISTIAN, "I do now begin to grow so drowsy, that I can scarcely hold up mine eyes; let us lie down here and take one nap."
Chr. "By no means," said the other; "lest sleeping, we never awake more."
Hope. Why, my brother, sleep is sweet to the labouring man; we may be refreshed if we take a nap.
Chr. Do you not remember that one of the shepherds bade us beware of the Enchanted Ground? He meant by that, that we should beware of sleeping; wherefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:6 )
Hope. I acknowledge myself in a fault; and had I been here alone, I had, by sleeping, run the danger of death. I see it is true that the wise man saith, "Two are better than one". (Ecclesiastes 4:9) Hitherto hath thy company been my mercy; and thou shalt have a good reward for thy labour.
Chr. "Now," then said CHRISTIAN, "to prevent drowsiness in this place, let us fall into good discourse."
Hope. "With all my heart," said the other.
Chr. Where shall we begin?
Hope. Where God began with us.

What a Week!

2006-03-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

What a whirlwind week this has been for Southern Baptists. If you don't know what I mean, then you have some considerable reading to get you up to speed. Follow the links in this post, and follow the links found at those web logs, and after about a week of steady reading you will be up to speed. I am sure that the emotions of countless concerned Christians, Southern Baptist and otherwise, have been on an emotional roller-coaster ride as they waited for news from the International Mission Board meeting this week in Tampa, Florida. One day news was good, then the next it was not so good. Business from one day which looked favorable, on closer scrutiny didn't look so good the next. New policy papers superseding the "Blue Book" were the end one day, only to reveal glimmers of hope on closer scrutiny the next. And then cries of "Where was the apology?", and "With this kind of secrecy descending over the IMB, I don't know if I can give to the Cooperative Program any more." Since this issue surfaced shortly before the first of the year (It has really been below the surface since last summer.) I haven't posted much on it because there were numerous others who, being closer to the situation, have been doing a very fine job of it. As this came to a crisis this week, there were a few things that I feel haven't been said, or haven't been adequately emphasized.

"Where was the apology?" I have yet to hear Wade Burleson complaining with this question, so why should anyone else on his behalf? I have read every post Wade Burleson has posted on Grace and Truth to You, and I have yet to find a harsh or unkind word. He doesn't take swipes, is not sarcastic, doesn't gripe. Read his last two posts here and here, and look at how a godly and gracious Christian man responds to great personal upheaval. We all have before us an object lesson of what it means to obey Philippians 2:5. Wade wants Christ to be magnified in his life, as well as in the IMB. He's a part of the IMB, so it starts with him. He has larger motives than just his own personal reputation.
"I don't know if I can give to the Cooperative Program any more." Cutting off funds is going to help all of those missionaries - uhhh, how? When they all have to come home, the lost are going to be reached - uhhh, how? Sounds to me like cutting your nose off to spite your face. It is way too early to be saying, or even thinking, things like this. A great post that I did read, which emphasized the missionaries, was by Marty Duren, at the SBC Outpost. A better post you will not find to both inspire and convict concerning those laboring in the mission fields.
The Sovereignty of God: Especially for us in the reformed tradition, where is our confidence in the doctrines of grace? Is our God on his throne, or not? I thought about Wade a couple days ago in light of these events. Is it too dramatic to say he may be the Luther, or Edwards, or Whitfield of our day? What is God doing, or about to do through him? I found this same theme of God's sovereignty, much more eloquently than I have put it, at CrossConnect, by David Phillips.
Determined and optimistic: Again, I found one - there may be more - post that wasn't doom and gloom. Bowden McElroy at Interregnum, who I had the priveledge to meet a couple of weeks ago, had this to say: "I am neither shocked, outraged, depressed, or angry over the recent changes Wade and Marty have written about. Instead, I am determined." This comes from a man who very likely will see one, if not of his daughters enter the mission field in the not too distant future under the umbrella of the IMB.

Back when I use to blog on a wider range of issues, I always liked to quote something, anything from Douglas Wilson. I try in vain to keep up with what goes on over at Blog and Mablog, since his pen is never idle. When I find the time I can always find something good to read there, even though I don't agree with much of his ecclesiology. Besides, I enjoy his "serrated" wit. Turns out, even Wilson may be watching the comings and goings over at the IMB. In yesterday's post he drops a line that indicates he very well may be: "Keeping track of all the groups that go all the way back is almost as hard as keeping track of all the Presbyterian microbrew continuing church movements that go all the way back to Thomas Chalmers. Oh, and I forgot the Baptists. Their trail of blood goes all the way back." You never know who may be watching. That's something we need to keep in mind too.

Special Guest Speaker

2006-03-19T15:55:00.000-06:00

My pastor has been on a well-deserved vacation this week. In his place we were blessed to hear Brother Bowden McElroy both this morning and evening. I became acquainted with Brother McElroy a few weeks ago through his web log, Interregnum, only to find out a few days later that my pastor knew him. The next thing I knew he was slated to speak this week to provide much-needed supply for my pastor. The name of his two messages were The Blame Game, from Psalm 3, and Fear, from Psalm 3. You can also access these two sermons at the podcast site at Bulldogs and Piggies. Thank you, Brother McElroy.

Pilgrim's Progress: The Flatterer & Atheist

2006-03-16T16:43:00.000-06:00

Well, we finally worked our way through the Delectable Mountains, and the story of Little-Faith. Moving on to the next section, I have selected to post a much shorter passage, one that my class will be able to work through in a single Sunday. The proximity of these two short passages resting side by side is evidence of the fact that pitfalls in the Christian journey can be disguised behind plesantries (flattery), or have no disguises at all (atheist). As followers of Christ we must be prepared for the kisses of the enemy (Proverbs 27:6) as well as his blows.

The Flatterer
So they went on, and IGNORANCE followed. They went then till they came to a place where they saw a way put itself into their way, and seemed withal to lie as straight as the way which they should go; and here they knew not which of the two to take, for both seemed straight before them; therefore here they stood still to consider. And as they were thinking about the way, behold a man, black of flesh, but covered with a very light robe, came to them and asked them, "Why they stood there?" They answered, "They were going to the Celestial City, but knew not which of these ways to take." "Follow me!" said the man; "it is thither that I am going." So they followed him in the way that but now came into the road, which by degrees turned and turned them so from the city that they desired to go to, that in a little time their faces were turned away from it; yet they followed him. But by and by, before they were aware, he led them both within the compass of a net, in which they were both so entangled that they knew not what to do; and with that the white robe fell off the black man's back: then they saw where they were. Wherefore there they lay crying some time; for they could not get themselves out. Chr. Then said CHRISTIAN to his fellow, "Now do I see myself in an error. Did not the shepherds bid us beware of the flatterers? As is the saying of the wise man, so we have found it this day: 'A man that flatters his neighbour spreads a net for his feet'". Hope. They also gave us a note of directions about the way, for our more sure finding thereof; but therein we have also forgotten to read, and have not kept ourselves from the paths of the destroyer. Here David was wiser than we; for, saith he, "Concerning the works of men, by the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer." Thus they lay bewailing themselves in the net. At last they espied a shining one coming towards them, with a whip of small cord in his hand. When he was come to the place where they were, he asked them whence they came? and what they did there? They told him, "That they were poor pilgrims going to Zion; but were led out of their way by a black man clothed in white, who bid us," said they, "follow him; for he was going thither too." Then said he with the whip, "It is FLATTERER, a false apostle, that hath transformed himself into an angel of light". So he rent the net, and let the men out Then said he to them, "Follow me, that I may set you in your way again." So he led them back to the way which they had left to follow the Flatterer. Then he asked them, saying, "Where did you lie the last night?" They said, "with the shepherds upon the Delectable Mountains." He asked them then, "If they had not of those shepherds a note of direction for the way?" They answered, "Yes." "But did you," said he, "when you were at a stand, pluck out and read your note?" They answered, "No." He asked them why? They said they forgot. He asked, moreover, "If the shepherds did not bid them beware of the Flatterer?" They answered, "Yes; but we did not imagine," said they, "that this fine spoken man had been he". Then I saw in my dream that he commanded them to lie down; which when they did, he chastised them sore to teach them the good way wherein they should walk. And as he chastised them, he said "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent". This done, he bade them go on their way, and take good heed to the other directions of the shepherds. So they thanked him for all his kindness; and went softly along the right way, singing: "Come hither, you that walk along the way; See how the pilgrims fare that go astray! They catched are in an entangling net, 'Cause they good counsel lightly did forget. 'Tis true they rescued were; but yet you see They're scourged to boot. Let this your caution be!"
Atheist Now after awhile, they perceived afar off one coming softly and alone, all along the highway, to meet them. Then said CHRISTIAN to his fellow, "Yonder is a man with his back toward Zion; and he is coming to meet us." Hope. I see him; let us take heed to ourselves now, lest he should prove a flatterer also. So he drew nearer and nearer; and at last came up unto them. His name was ATHEIST; and he asked them whither they were going? Chr. We are going to the Mount Zion. Then ATHEIST fell into a very great laughter. Chr. What is the meaning of your laughter? Atheist. I laugh to see what ignorant persons you are, to take upon you so tedious a journey, and yet are like to have nothing but your travel for your pains. Chr. Why, man; do you think we shall not be received? Ath. Received! There is no such place as you dream of in all this world. Chr. But there is in the world to come. Ath. When I was at home in mine own country, I heard as you now affirm, and from that hearing went out to see; and have been seeking this city these twenty years, but find no more of it than I did the first day I set out. Chr. We have both heard and believe that there is such a place to be found. Ath. Had not I, when at home, believed, I had not come thus far to seek; but finding none (and yet I should, had there been such a place to be found, for I have gone to seek it farther than you), I am going back again, and will seek to refresh myself with the things that I then cast away for hopes of that which I now see is not. Chr. Then said CHRISTIAN to HOPEFUL, his fellow, "Is it true which this man hath said ?" Hope. "Take heed, he is one of the flatterers; remember what it hath cost us once already for our hearkening to such kind of fellows. What! no Mount Zion! did we not see from the Delectable Mountains the gate of the city? Also, are we not now to walk by faith? Let us go on," said HOPEFUL; "lest the man with the whip overtake us again. You should have taught me that lesson, which I will round you in the ears withal: 'Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causes to err from the words of knowledge.' I say, my brother, cease to hear him, and let us believe to the saving of the soul". Chr. My brother, I did not put the question to thee, for that I doubted of the truth of our belief myself; but to prove thee, and to fetch from thee a fruit of the honesty of thy heart. As for this man, I know that he is blinded by the god of this world: let thee and I go on, knowing that we have belief of the truth, and "no lie is of the truth". Hope. Now do I rejoice in hope of the glory of God! So they turned away from the man; and he, laughing at them, went his way.

May the Mind of Christ My Savior: Author's biographies

2006-03-15T08:36:00.000-06:00

This beautiful hymn amazes me because it comes, lyrics and tune, out of the 20th century. It reads and sounds like it should come from the Puritan era. Kate Barclay Wilkinson, the author of "May the Mind of Christ My Savior", was born in 1859, in Wooland Bank, Timperley, Cheshire, England. A member of the Church of England, she was involved in a ministry to girls and young women in west London. It was cited in some of the biographies that I read that her husband was an engineer. It should be instructive to us all of how a woman of an obviously high social standing spent her talents for the Kingdom of God. The words to her hymn, as well as the example of her selfless life, should cause us too to seek to have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5-8). Kate Barclay Wilkinson died on December 28, 1928, in Kensington, London, England. Arthur Cyril Barham-Gould, composed the hymn tune ST. LEONARDS. He was born in England in 1891 and educated at Ridley Hall at Cambridge. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1927. He served from that time at various churches until his death. He died on February 14, 1953, in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. Both of these figures being servants of God in the Church of England; would that that church were filled with such servants even today.

May the Mind of Christ My Savior

2006-03-14T09:16:00.000-06:00

May the mind of Christ, my Savior, Live in me from day to day, By His love and power controlling All I do and say. May the Word of God dwell richly In my heart from hour to hour, So that all may see I triumph Only through His power. May the peace of God my Father Rule my life in everything, That I may be calm to comfort Sick and sorrowing. May the love of Jesus fill me As the waters fill the sea; Him exalting, self abasing, This is victory. May I run the race before me, Strong and brave to face the foe, Looking only unto Jesus As I onward go. May His beauty rest upon me, As I seek the lost to win, And may they forget the channel, Seeing only Him.

The Proper Vision

2006-03-10T06:55:00.000-06:00

Many posts over the Christian blogosphere, probably more than any of us realize, have been devoted to this won't-go-away controversy concerning the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board. I have grown weary of all of the logical arguments, all of the rational positions, all of the speculations of intent, good will, bad will, etc., from either perspective. What I want to see is more posts like the samples I have excerpted below. To borrow from the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, in this matter, let's have an eye towards the "great objects" of God's Kingdom (Article XIV: Cooperation) Art Rogers at 12 Witnesses, commenting on the book Eating the Elephant by Thom Rainer and Chuck Lawless.

The main tenet, with which I must agree, is that the structure is not the primary problem of any church. It is the focus of the church that becomes the root of all problems. Have we got God's heart for the lost in the forefront of our minds? When we are able to do that, we can move toward whatever programming we may need. If we truly value the lost, we will give up our own comfort and be willing to risk much to get the job done.

Pastor Wade Burleson at Grace and Truth to You

I hope that we as Southern Baptists can come to the realization that what we are striving for in our mission efforts around the world is the evangelization and discipleship of people in need of a Savior.

Not-So-Traditional Hymnody

2006-03-05T17:20:00.000-06:00

For those of you who enjoy the rich, full, Scriptural content of those old hymns, here are a couple of sites dedicated to solid lyrics. This first site uses the old lyrics of days (many) gone by, and either "modernizes" the tune or creates a new one. The other site is thoroughly modern, creating brand new church music. It all depends on what you are use to, but I think most will find the music available at these two sites profitable. This link gets you to Bob Kauflin's Blog. The music resources are found in the right margin. CD's and music books are available for purchase, as well as other resources. Kauflin's blog is very good too if you are involved in leading music in worship, no matter what style of music your church has. Indelible Grace Music has a good many freely downloadable files of sheet music, piano scores, sample audio files, and great articles. CD's of the performed music are also available for sale here. Go to the "Resources" block in the left margin. If you are a Mac user, this site is NOT Safari-frendly. Use Firefox instead.

Pilgrim's Progress: The Delectable Mountains & Little Faith

2006-02-22T09:17:00.001-06:00

This lesson was intended for last Sunday, but since we got winter-stormed out, it will be tackled this next Sunday. All of the other posts and calendar items intended for last Sunday will all be handled next Sunday also. We did actually have Sunday morning service. The turnout was light, but for those who came it was well worth the price of admission. You ought to go over to Bulldogs and Piggies and listen to the audio of Pastor Rod’s message entitled A Godly Perspective on Stuff from Matthew 6. In working our way through John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress we come to that part dealing with Christian and Hopeful arriving at the Delectable Mountains, shortly followed by their encounter with Ignorance and Little-Faith. Concerning this last character, a very short piece of the exchange between Hopeful and Christian caught my attention:

Hopeful: Why did not LITTLE-FAITH pluck up a greater heart? He might, methinks, have stood one brush with them, and have yielded when there had been no remedy. Christian: But for such footmen as thee and I are, let us never desire to meet with an enemy, nor vaunt as if we could do better, when we hear of others that they have been foiled; nor be tickled at the thoughts of our own manhood, for such commonly come by the worst when tried.

Our discussion will center primarily around our attitudes in our Christian walk; how we view our and our brothers' standing in Christ:

Don't despise a brother who has fallen, looking on him as somehow weaker or less spiritual than you are, because he is not. We should seek to hold up and restore, not to glory over another's fall into sin. Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Galatians 6:1
Don't be arrogant and think that it could never happen to you. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12
Realize and understand that the God who saves us is also the God who sustains us and keeps us. It is not in our power to bring about our own salvation, and it is not in our own power to preserve ourselves, either. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39
Realize that anything we are or ever hope to be is not because of our own efforts, but God's But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10
Lastly, we should realize that even though salvation, from first to last is of God, and even though we are told the believer is secure, we are commanded to work, to strive, to examine and test concerning our salvation. Philippians 2:12, Luke 13:24, 2 Corinthians 3:15

Traditional Hymnody

2006-02-12T17:10:00.000-06:00

Just a quick post. For those of you who love the old traditional hymns, I have found two wonderful resources. The first one is The Center for Chruch Music. A few weeks ago I stumbled across the other great site supporting traditional hymndoy. It is A 21st Century Puritanism