Category: Church

I just got done reading The Future of the SBC. Written by a professor at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Here is a sumarization of the main points he makes:

(1) Doctrinal Integrity – Will Southern Baptists continue to stand for sound doctrine? In particular, are Southern Baptists going to believe in the divine inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture?
Prediction/Warning: Unless Baptists return to expository, Bible-centered preaching and an unswerving commitment to the inerrancy of Scripture, doctrinal drift is inevitable.

(2) Biblical Authority – Will Southern Baptists submit their lives and opinions on the authority of Scripture, or will cultural and pragmatic pressures force us to “reinterpret” the Bible?
Prediction/Warning: Unless Baptists refocus on living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ as ithe Christian life is defined in Scripture, cultural pressures from within and without the church will lead to increased moral compromise and worldliness in our churches.

(3) Baptist Polity – Will Baptists hold to their traditional confessions in issues regarding the doctrine of the church, such as the appropriate practice of church ordinances and the scriptural offices of the church or will we compromise our historic beliefs in order to become more homogenized with other evangelical Christians?
Prediction/Warning: If the current trajectory of Southern Baptists is not redirected, key Baptist distinctives about ecclesiology and church polity will be increasingly compromised and ignored.

(4) Hyper-Calvinistic Soteriology – Will Baptists change their soteriology such that persons are no longer seen as having any capacity to respond to God’s invitation to salvation? Will Baptists take a “hyper-Calvinist turn” than hinders missions and evangelism?
Prediction/Warning: The resurgence of Calvinism will slow over the next few decades, but will exert a stronger influence on the SBC in the future than has been the case in many years.

(5) Denominational Identity – Can Southern Baptists survive as a denomination in what is often depicted as a “post-denominational era”? What does the future hold for Southern Baptists in a day when denominational name brand loyalty is at an all-time low? How will traditional Baptist entities such as Lifeway and NAMB intersect with the emerging church movement? Will the Cooperative Program survive?

Prediction/Warning: Without a course correction in which SBC entities earn again the respect and confidence of Southern Baptists, other evangelical groups will fill the void left by a disconnection between individual Baptists (and their local churches) with the SBC. The day is over that Baptists will use an approach just because of denominational name brand identity.

FOr those of you who don't know, I am a history buff (some would say that is an understatement). A part of history that I really enjoy is Civil War History. Currently, I'm rewatching the movie Gods and Generals. Right now, I'm at the 1st Battle of Bull Run (or Manassas depending on where you are from). For those of you who don't know, this is where Gen. Jackson got his nickname "Stonewall." The story goes that one officer was trying to encourage his troops to stand firm. He saw Gen. Jackson mounted on his horse while the battle was raging about. He pointed this out to his men and said something to the effect of "Look men. See Gen. Jackson standing like a stonewall."

I think we can learn quite a bit from the life of Gen. Jackson. He was only a man. He wasn't perfect. So, we shouldn't imitate him; however, we can take some qualities he had and apply them to our lives (after bouncing them off the Bible, of course).

First, he was deeply spiritual. In the movie, he is shown reading his Bible with his wife, praying, etc… Was he a Baptist, Presbyterian, or some other religion? I don't know; however, from what I have read, he took his faith in God seriously and appears to have a solid relationship with God.

Second, he knew his life had a purpose. In the movie he is portrayed waling alone and praying to God prior to the battle of Manassas. He prays to God and tells God that 1)he knows God wills him to be there at this time and 2)he knows God will watch over him and only let him come to harm if it is God's will.

Finally, after the battle, Gen. Jackson is asked by a soldier how he can stand there unwavering in the line of fire. Gen. Jackson's answer basically says that he trusts God. When God wants to take him home–to heaven–God will do so. Before that time, Gow will watch over Jackson therefore he has nothing to worry about.

What can we as christians learn from this? Well, if Gen. Jackson believes God can protect him in battle from bullets, explosions, etc…, can He not also protect us? If God is protecting us, why do we refuse to go to the limit and do what God wants?

Imagine a scene in your typical church on baptism Sunday. Several people are going to be baptized. They get up, go down into the baptistry, the pastor asks them several questions so they can publicly confess their conversion, they are imersed, everyone claps, we sing, everyone goes home.

Now, imagine the same situation except in a land where it is illegal to be a Christian. Instead of a pastor, a young girl is being baptized by her dad in a swimming pool. As she prepares to be baptized, he asks her several questions:

Do you believe in Jesus?
Has He forgiven your sins?
Do you promise to walk with Him always?
When they come into our house and take us away, when they beat us and try to get us to deny Him, will you still follow Jesus?

–Exerpt from http://bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=21325

Did you catch that last question?! "When they come into our house and take us away, when they beat us and try to get us to deny Him, will you still follow Jesus?" Christian, are we prepared to give up all that we have–including our lives–for the cause of Christ? That would never happen you say. True…it may not happen here in America that way…yet. However, this isn't really about dying for Jesus. It is about LIVING for Jesus. What is the state of our heart? Are we really committed to following Jesus? When we sing the invitation hymn that goes "…I have decided to follow Jesus… Though none go with me still I will follow. No turning back…" do we really mean it? Or is it simply a song that we sing for invitation? Do we mean those words? Or are we singing a song?

The local religious leader began to stir up the town’s people against a new follower of Jesus, a young man called N. Stones were gathered, and the villagers rushed to lay hold of N., dragging him to the predetermined place for stoning. 

Just as the first stones were raised in the villagers' hands, a sudden storm with a mighty wind and rain materialized. The deluge drove the villagers away. N. was shaken, but unharmed.

This angered the religious leader even more, and he made a plan with others to try again. Several days after the attempted stoning, the same young men seized N., holding him down while they kicked him, beat him and cut his throat. The young victim survived this brutality and was hospitalized.

We visited N. in the state hospital, offering legal advice and medical assistance. I told him, "This is illegal and is against your constitution. We can go to the state prosecutor, who will assist you."

His response, however, was, "Thank you for your offer of help, but the Bible says to forgive those who persecute you. I am going back home and will visit with those who beat me. I will tell them that God forgave my sins. I forgive them."

Just as I wrote in this blog post about living for Jesus or dying for Jesus

Are we called to die for the cause of Christ? Certanly if the situation demads it. But, isn't it harder to lay down my life every day at His feet and live for Him instead of myself??

My daily routine includes parusing the prayer requests on the Board's Intranet, going over the highlights off Baptist Press, and prayer. This morning, several stories on BP really struck me. The first is how a seemingly random encounter was used. It highlights how mindful we need to be of God's Kingdom and the Kingdom work He would have us to do.

FIRST-PERSON: The shopping trip from heaven

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)–Not in my wildest dreams would I have thought that a shopping trip in South Africa with Christian author/speaker Beth Moore would turn into a movement of prayer — and a missionary devotional book called "Voices of the Faithful."

I had never met Beth or heard her speak in person until the eventful week in 2002 when she came to teach Southern Baptist missionary women from all over southern Africa. We went shopping one afternoon during some free time, and Beth asked me all about my missionary work. As the conversation developed, she found out that I, too, was a writer.

“I’ve always wanted to write down missionary stories,” she said. “Would you be interested in collaborating with me on something like that?”

Honestly, I didn’t know what to say. But that day started a year of prayer and seeking God on the matter.

I received this from a coworker today. It is shared with her permission. God is Awesome!

Many of you know that my mom was diagnosed with bone cancer a couple of years ago. Her condition has continued to worsen as the cancer has slowly spread. Bone cancer is extremely painful and she has been taking morphine for quite awhile now. A couple of weeks ago she was to begin 18 weeks of chemo once a week on Thursdays. Because of her breast cancer they are unable to give it to her in the normal way and were going to put in a “port” in her neck to administer the chemo. Before beginning treatment she went to Minnesota for a week to visit her older sisters – “for the last time.”

When she returned to Wisconsin, she began to vomit and couldn’t keep anything down. After about a week she was admitted into the hospital. They tried to perform a brain scan but the vomiting wouldn’t let them continue. They were able to do an MRI and some other tests and were able to confirm that as far as they were able to determine, the cancer has not spread to her other organs yet. They couldn’t figure out what was causing the vomiting, however, and any medication they tried didn’t work.

On Thursday, my mom had a very bad day. She was in a lot of pain and the vomiting continued. She was weak and just wanted to die. She cried out to God around midnight to either take away the nausea and vomiting or to take her Home. A short time later a nurse came in with a pill for her to take. She said it would help with the nausea. My mom took the pill and almost immediately began to feel better. The next day when her two doctors came to check on her they asked her how she felt. She responded that she felt much better and that the nausea and vomiting had stopped. They asked her what had changed. She told them about the nurse who came in with some medicine for her.

They told her that they had not prescribed anything new for her. They checked the charts and there was no notation made for the medication given in the night. They asked my mother for a description of the nurse and they had no one who matched that description working there. They then brought the big pill book for her to identify the pill she was given. She found it and pointed out a small yellow pillow. The doctor confirmed that it was a pill given for nausea but he said that her medical bracelet that she always wears because she is allergic to many kinds of medicine indicated that she could not have this pill. He then made a note in her charts that she could be given this pill.

Both of her cancer doctors are born-again Christians. One of them said, “It must have been an angel. There’s no other explanation for this.”

Yesterday she was able to leave the hospital. She is currently staying with one of my sisters so someone can be with her 24/7.

Also enjoy reading the story about the baptistry that refilled.

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jul/05070704.html

Clearly, Jesus would not vote for something like gay "marriage"; however, this issue brings up an interesting question: What question should guide what we do and think?

On the surface, What Would Jesus Do–WWJD–appears to be a good philosophy. And it is if done correctly. However, while Jesus was God our impression of WWJD is not supposed to be our final authority. What we think is based on human reason, thought, and results in , really, making our own god. How do we know what Jesus would do? We have to look to the Bible–the word of God–to really find this out. Since Jesus is God and God cannot commit sin, he would never lie. He would never do anything contrary to what He had already said. If God says homosexuality is a sin in one place, He would not condone it in another. So, done right–looking to the Bible for the answer to the question–WWJD could be ok. If, on the other hand, we base our answer to WWJD on what we THINK Jesus would do, then we have created our own god.

Have you ever read In His Steps? It is a book about a pastor who challenges his congregation to do ask WWJD before they make any decision and the results in their town. The book is in the public domain and you can download In His Steps here.

I was reading BPNews yesterday and found this article about Emergent Evangelism. This article deals with something I have been thinking about for several months now. How do you "grow" the church? Here is a quote from the article:

Only a return to Scripture can cure a wandering church in need both of repentance and resolve to accurately and passionately preach to people in great need of the salvation of God.

How do you grow the church? Not by "programs." Not by "get big quick" schemes. The church gets bigger by getting more people saved. DUH!

Do you ever look at the stats and see how many Southern Baptist churches fail to baptize one person in a year? This is just sad. As a church, we need to wake up! Look at Europe! What cultural christianity! How sad!

Numbers aren't important, but if we really believe that Jesus is the answer, why don't we tell people? Why are we sitting on our padded pews every Sunday barely singing while a lost world goes to hell?!

Cyndi and I visted Salem Baptist Church Sunday. The people were very nice and friendly. They are a smaller congregation (200ish people). They have a small building and are in the process of moving to a new location with more room. They are a growing congregation.

It is interesting how we got hooked up with them. My parents were at the convention in Nashville. Messengers from Salem were at the Convention in Nashville. They ended up in line next to each other at a barbecue joint. They got to talking and we ended up being invited.

Well, as usually happens, I heard a sermon on this topic last year and forgot about it. If you want to listen to the sermon, it is available as an mp3 here.

Here is why you should believe the Bible:

It is a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses who report supernatual events that took place in fullfilment of specific prohpecies. They claim their writings are divine rather than human in origin.

Don't believe me? Look up 2 peter 1:16-21.