diversity, confomity, unity and division

I recently ducked out of going to the national meeting for the national work that my Church works with. With health, vehicle and school concerns, not to mention I thought the Church could use the money better toward local outreach, I did not go. Boy howdy, did I miss some interesting things.

At some point during the business sessions, a gentleman from southern state (not Texas) asked for a motion to be entertained. The motion he presented was that "for the sake of unity, all speakers use the Authorized Version only!" "for the sake of unity" is the part that drives me crazy. In his mind, if everyone that uses his preferred translation, we can be unified. in his mind, conformity is unity. It seems to me that in his "unifying" motion he actually was causing division as he making a translation preference a test of fellowship.

For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. (Php 3:18-19 NASB)

Later this same gentleman made an additional motion of the same spirit. This time he asked that only "Baptist" be allowed to present. He apparently had an issue that someone that was brought in to do special music was at Church that did not have "Baptist" in the name. The woman that sang was from a "Baptistic" community church and had been at a Baptist Church, and is Baptist at heart. The woman had only come to celebrate the Sovereignty of Christ and His Glory in Song. I wonder if at any point in her preparing to minister in song did she realize that she would be possible banned for not being “Baptist.”

Not only would this limit those who sing to being Baptist, but also the preaching, leadership conference and breakout sessions. In truth, even the great Charles Spurgeon would not be able to preach at our convention/association because he was never ordained by a Baptist Church (by his choice he was never ordained) nor did he ever pastor a Church with Baptist in the name.


The out come of this all was that wise people saw that these motions were tabled. And we will have to wait till next year when they meet in Waco, Tx to see what will happen.
A few more thoughts ...
Who authorized this Bible? The best reason to use the King James Bible is the precedent that it has be widely and predominately used for 400 years. Yet the KJVO crowd that presses that we must used the Bible that was used back at the 1611 time mark fail to realize that they would be dragging the Apocrypha back into the Church. Additionally, if we must use this Authorized Bible, then should not use the same Hymnody and play the same style of music. Why do we not dress the same, maybe we should bring back the wigs and robes!

One last thought …
When the man who proposed these motions began, he made sure to mention that he knew nothing of the Biblical languages, that he was ignorant of such. Why would you ever begin a charge with telling those you want to persuade to your view point with a statement that basically says “I have no clue what I am talking about?”

More from Dr. Bart or Praisegod Barebones

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Andrew Fuller on Baptist Antiquity
The great preponderance of Baptists living between 1609 and 1950 believed that Baptist history began in the first century and was uninterrupted from then to now. The mechanism of that succession was a matter of debate—whether it was something akin to J. R. Graves's theory of church succession or a looser theory of the succession of Baptist thought. But the prevalent modern idea that Baptists sprang from the Reformation either as a brand-new concept in Christian history or as a resumption after a 1500-year hiatus...a miniscule number in the 1600s, 1700s, and 1800s believed such a thing.What I find interesting is the way that Baptist status as a small sect fostered their approach to history. In the following quote you'll read how Andrew Fuller easily imagined Baptists enduring the Middle Ages without leaving behind any historical record. Perhaps our denominational size enables our present view of history?
Yours I received & therewith Mosheim’s 2nd vol. For wh. I thank you. I have found strange feelings in reading the 1st. I have been used to read in the Old Testament numerous Promises & Prophecies of the Glory of the New Testament state. When I took Mosheim in hand I expected to find the history answer the Prophesy—But alas, I found after the first century little else but cartloads of vain traditions, Persecuting Heretics to death, Broils & Contests about Ch. Preferments, in short comprising every evil work! I sat down quite dismayed till one thought relieved me. It was this. Suppose an historian was to write a History of the state of the Church here in England in the 18th Cent. What would he write? Why, if he was popular and in high place (without wh. his history would not reach many centuries forward) he would tell us who filled the Archbishoprics of York & Canterbury, & who the Bishoprics of . . . . . . . The various veerings about for Ch. Power, the sects of the age &c &c. However we could say Blessed be God pure & undefiled, Religion has been upheld tho’ by an obscure people independent of these Church crawlers. So thought I, doubtless Pure Religion in every period has been carried tho’ perhaps by a people so obscure as seemed unworthy the notice of Ancient Historians, from whom we know the Moderns must derive all their materials.-To John Sutcliffe, Olney, England, from Andrew Fuller, Soham, England, 28 January 1781.

From Dr. Bart not me

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

J. R. Graves: Radical Ecumenist?

a must read, though provoking - Chris <><

preach brother preach

sometimes people say things that are awesomne, and some live them out..

“Church has become a football game that's never played. Imagine the
frustration fans would feel if their favorite football team suits up for the
game, goes into the huddle, gives the pre-game interview but never steps on the
field to actually play,” said the Rev. Senator James T. Meeks in a statement.
"Well that's the current routine of today's church. Members pack the pews, sing
worship songs but never go into the streets to help the people God called on us
to take care of such as the homeless, the sick, the hungry and the
lonely."

Shaking off the routine of "church," Salem Baptist has kicked off
Vision 2007 – a 26-week community outreach initiative will get churchgoers not
just talking the Christian talk, but walking the walk. Instead of Saturday choir
rehearsals, Salem congregants will head out for a 10 a.m. to noon day of service
– outreach activities that range from feeding the hungry and conducting worship
services in prisons to building houses and tutoring young students. Instead of
Sunday school, church members will engage in "Service School," applying the
Bible's command to serve in their local community.

read the rest here

i think they might have the right ideas

indexed

so i came across the blog that put really great ans sometimes more wry than dry humor on index cards you have to see it!

what it is my ace boon coon

"Bodily resurrection is what you get at the intersection point between the lines of God as the good and wise creator and God as the judge who will set everything right at last. Give up either, or both, and what you're left with isn't Christianity."

- Nicholas T. Wright, Jesus Lives or Christianity Dies Washingtonpost.com, (April 4, 2007)

Baptist History Celebration

It is not official yet, but quiet possibly, I will be at the Baptist History Celebration in Charleston, S.C. at the beginning of August. I’ll keep you up to date as this was my wife’s idea and not mine. I truly have the best wife in the world!

howard stern wants to have prayer

I came across this article in while reading the Christian Post. It seems that Stern and crew wants this pastor to come on and take on all caller with thier most challenging question and are willing to give him a hour of programming to do it. While I think that the idea is great it would seem the the motive might not be as honorable. ck it out and see what you think

carson by the ton

if you happen to be a lover of D.A. Carson more than N.T. Wright then you must drop by Andy Naselli's Blog for for his pleathora of Carson Mp3 links. that's all pure carson by the truck load.

rosie siad it is enron's fault

Rosie: Was 9/11 inside job to protect Enron?Blog suggests destruction of federal investigations factor in terror attacks

i could tell you more but it would just blow your mind. Ck it out here.

seeing the bible in modern maps

Baylor is #1

Baylor ranks highest of peers
[3/23/2007]

Relevant magazine ranked Baylor the No. 1 Christian college in the United States in its current issue. The magazine, whose tagline is "God. Life. Progressive Culture." rated colleges on academics, student life and spiritual life. The grades in each category were averaged and the magazine then listed the top five. Read the full story here.

Other winners included, in descending order, Calvin College, Pepperdine University, Wheaton College and Biola University - not so bad neighbors.

fight the good fight, not hit and run

I love pedagogary, especially when it is Christian higher education. This stuff butters my toast for some reason. As of late in the baptist circles it seems there is a fight to be a good school of real scholarship and Baptist. I don't see the problems myself with the mass exodus of colleges and university running from their Baptist breathern there must be some that feel a bit stiffled. In the Christian Post today there is an article about five N.C. colleges that want to seperate thier schools from their supporting brothers of faith. It seems in all cases of this type of sepertation, the problem stated is they feel that they need to be able to choose and appoint thier own trustees so they can be successul school of academia.

As you would have guessed i see it a bit diffrent. First if you can not intergrate you faith with scholarhsip you must not be the right leadership. Sorry if it hurts your feelings, but the Cross was public and so is our faith. faith and education must be fused or it will "Harvard" on us in a heart beat. Second, if you feel a man or woman is the proper trustee after countless hours of prayer and that this is the person that you feel God is calling to be a servant to the school as a trustee and they feel the same call, then it is your job to sell them. Just like the President has to market his appointees you will need to do the work to show your constituents that this is the right person. If the fact that you are not willing to do the work because it was be too time consuming and to diffcult comes into play you must not think that is truely the right person. It if is just to hard, then once again I would suggest that the problem might be that you are not postioned in the right place rather than everyone else is wrong because they have not been swayed by your lackadaisical attempt to persuade minds that hold diffrent views. This would be like giving up on the lost becuase they don't see it our way. oh, wait! We have done this too. It seems to me that administrators should fight the good fight and not resort to a childish

guerilla hit and run tatic.

Strong words yes, but I think they they have merit and are worthy of critital thinking.

Warning: more thoughs on such subjest are likely to be posted in the future.

banned for all the right reasons

Sometimes in life things puzzle me. Others leave me completely flabbergasted

Case in points is the the article featuring Brown University reinstating a suspened Christian group.

The thing the boggle the mind first is the lack of a known reason for being suspened. It almost seems that if the is no reason for the dismissal then it should have never have happened. maybe they jsut for got. maybe Brown actually violated someone's rights. who knows.

The second boggler is the lack of Christian love and compassion shown by "Allen Callahan, associate Brown chaplain, wrote in an e-mail to students that the group's leaders were 'contemptuous and dishonest'." wow, talk about grace and forgiveness.

the third and final mind blower(also the probably reason they were booted) is this, "The fellowship is aligned with a denomination that embraces Calvinism, opposes ordaining women and gays, and considers the Bible the inerrant Word of God." How evil they must be for seeing God as supreme and soveriegn, holding to a conservative and historically correct view of the pastorate, and to top it all of the really believe the Bible. how what were they thinking.

better or worse

For all though who have been waiting ...

I have finally been to the doctor now and have found out only minimal information about what caused me to black out while driving home from Seminary last week. The good doctor is now ordering many more tests and procedures, but she don't feel that they will reveal much of anything. Acutally, the doctor suspects the test will come back looking fine. She suggested that the problems is a virus. Now this sounded crazy to me but as I talked with more and more hospital staff I heard more stories of a virus that people have that are also fainting with. Crazy I say. The doc thinks that I had the samething that they had, only I was driving.

Well you may have notices the blog has changed once agin. Now it is truely cool as it has an artic feel with the polar bears theme working to keep things from getting to hot. That is the good news.


Now for the bumper car issue. Last Tuesday, after talking the Dr. Charlie Homles, President of BMA Theological Seminary about setting up annuities for Scholarships and a Dept. Chair. I then proceeded to drive home, but beforei could make my way there I blacked out and regained conciousness about a 1/4 to a 1/2 mile aways. In the process of the I ran two stop lights, crossed four lanes of trafic, and hit one guard rail and almost went over the railing, crossed a nother four lanes of traffic and hit another railing before stopping. Or at least that is wat they tell me. We still do not know why i blacked out, but will be spending a fortune trying to figure out.

oddities

Are oddities and fun facts and odd knowledge you kind of thing. This this might be the site for you....

Factropolis

For Steve

i understadnthe controversy. Hope this helps

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/augustine/quote.html

of Doctrine

In the essentials we need unity, in the non-essentials we need freedom; but in all things we need love.

- Rupertus Meldenius

of axeheads and fishnets

II Kings 6:1-7 Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, "Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us. (2) Please let us go to the Jordan and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live." So he said, "Go." (3) Then one said, "Please be willing to go with your servants." And he answered, "I shall go." (4) So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. (5) But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, "Alas, my master! For it was borrowed." (6) Then the man of God said, "Where did it fall?" And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float. (7) He said, "Take it up for yourself." So he put out his hand and took it.

Recently I shared this text with the Church I pastor as I shared the burden the Lord had placed on my heart. I began by simply sharing that the man with the axe head was faithful in trying to follow through but could not. In the middle of being faithful and being a servant, the head of the axe he was using had become loosened and fallen into the water. For the would-be lumberjack this was a great travesty. The objective would not be reached, the valued head was lost. There was no hope.

The second man was Elisha, a prophet of God. He was called and anointed by God to be his conduit, to be His voice, to deliver His message and share His vision.

The Servant saw the lost axe head as time to quit and pack it up for all was lost. Elisha, God’s man had a different vision. He was something that may other would not have had the vision for. He saw a stick as the answer. If it was common for a stick to float iron up from the river bottom, then the servant would have thrown a stick in the water. But he did not have the vision for this. The prophet did have a vision. And it was on that was not conventional. Now if he was to have asked the axeman about this he would have told him that it would in float. This is true for us too. We say that it won’t float about many things because we do not have God’s vision. We know that God’s chosen men present God’s plans and not mans, but we hear it all the time that “this won’t float pastor” or “we have tried it before and that won’t float!”


Then I presented to the Church the direction I felt the Lord was moving the Church and the plan that He had laid on my heart to accomplish it.

After this I shared from the Book of Luke


Luke 5:1-9 So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, (2) and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. (3) Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. (4)
When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep
and let down your nets for a catch.” (5) But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” (6) And when they had done this, they caught a great
number of fish, and their net was breaking. (7) So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. (8) When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (9) For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken;

From Here I explained to the Church that we needed to quit dragging our feet in reaching the community for Christ and to let down our nets and trust Him.



This is the jist of it. let the comments begin.

just not good enough

the stripped down version of the blog was just not happening for me. so i re-did it and juiced it up a bid. not to much thought. now i just need a new picture as the current one is gruesome!!!

things that make you go hmm...

One walking with me observed, with some emphasis, “I do not believe as you do. I am an Agnostic.” “Oh,” I said to him. “Yes. That is a Greek word, is it not? The Latin word, I think, is ignoramus.” He did not like it at all. Yet I only translated his language from Greek to Latin. These are queer waters to get into, when all your philosophy brings you is the confession that you know nothing, and the stolidity which enables you to glory in your ignorance.

~C.H. Spurgeon

happy breath day too who

The music minister at our Church sent this to me ....

http://www.mybirthverse.com/

this site generates a Bible verse just for little ole you on your special day...

who would have ever thought that


i tried it and for my b-day it can up with this ....

Matthew 5:3 NIV
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

to be baptist or not to be

yes that seems to be the question


My blogpal Steve @ Citizen Bezner has been writing about Christian Education. I found the article and think that it is very intrsting and I support some of the student comments. Let me know what you think.

Just posted to day!!!
Student Senate fights for non-Baptist groups

I laid the egg

This was the week before the business meeting and I gave an over view of where I see the Lord taking us. Easter. This will be a big Sunday for us as we will be doing things that we have not done in 35 years and things we have never done before.

Taught from II Kings 6 and Luke 5. It went great. They seemed to be okay wit hit all. No one died, no tears were shed and not even one person fainted. One even said "lead and we will follow." I explained that what we really need to do is have a re-launch and that since we are over 135 years old that I might take some time to turn this big old boat around. So we are praying and planning and plotting. I laid the egg or the ground work (your choice) for the future.


Additionally the church was a buzz this morning because we have a new family visiting and they were nothing like us. They were Afro-American our congregation is generically Anglo. We were dressed country casual they were dressed to the nines in their Sunday best. It was kind of neat to see the people get up and greet them. Electricity was in the air and the places was a buzz. Worship went well. Music was good the preach was said to have been great, but I was preaching so I know it was okay at best :^) This was a couple that I had met the wife on Friday and had talked with her at the Post Office. So many times we talk to people and never see them so this was a definite encouragement.

who is in your pulpit?

I have this weird hang up. As pastor I feel that the Pulpit of the Church that Christ had entrusted me to lead and equip should not be treated like a woman of ill repute. This is not to say that I bar anyone else from preaching or that people that might have different views are not allowed to herald the Word of God from behind it. I do feel that there is a matter of spiritual stewardship and oversight in which that I should not foolhardily let those who would espouse doctrines contrary to Scripture or allow heterodoxy be professed as truth. At times I have presented doctrines and given the various view points of different group and explained each view from Scripture, explained my beliefs and left the final decisions to be made in the heart of the individual. In truth I have asked a friend to come and preach for me sometime that strongly holds a different view than I do but the point is not a major one to me. Additionally I will share with congregation before that there are different views, that I do not hold this one and that we will have further teaching on the subject. We use our Sunday evening services for training and teaching. We are hoping to build up and equip believer to carry the Gospel out in the world on a day in, day out basis.

So does my pulpit protection make me a good pastor or an evil person? Well I would have thought the fore before the latter but I keep getting verbally and intellectually assaulted by people by their view of what I have always felt was the proper act of a Shepherd.

Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
(Act 20:28-29)

I guess I should stop reading some people blogs. They are are depressing me as I never know I was such a vile heretic preaching a false gospel.

In closing I put forward as query, if one brother believed that Jesus was a rock cutter and not a carpenter would that end your fellowship with him. Note – I don’t know anyone who holds this view so I felt it was a safe example.

ding dong the king is dead

This post is made with great sadness.

Last week I was taking a masters in motion class (take a whole semester and cram it into one week) when we began talking aobut Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I brought up in the converstaion that I had never heard anything but a social or liberation gospel message from him. I added that if this was all he preached than he was failing as a Pastor and as a Christain. The Professor Dr. Thom South commented that when he was completing his doctoral work he had a classmate who's PhD. work was on MLK. His friend told him that in all of his research that he only found one account of a possible salvation experience. the account he found was a testimony of Dr. King relating that when his sister and her friend went to the alter when he was about 9 years old that he went to because he did not want her to get something that he was not. this of course is not a true testimony. Hopefully he did fully retrust Christ. Please no flaming hot emails of anger and hatered. The reason I write this is because of a recent article about Dr. King that is not very flattering.

So I leave you with two quotes from the article to bait you into reading it and the link to find it.

"Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of men and not
concerned about the city government that damns the soul, the economic conditions
that corrupt the soul, the slum conditions, the social evils that cripple the
soul, is a dry, dead, do-nothing religion in need of new blood," King preached
in 1962 to his congregation at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

King didn't believe the story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale was true, for
example, or that John the Baptist actually met Jesus, according to texts
detailed in the King papers book. King once referred to the Bible as
"mythological" and also doubted whether Jesus was born to a virgin, Carson said.

Writings show King as liberal Christian, rejecting literalism

It was founded by Jesus

There are two main ideologies of when the church was started. The first is that its origin is at Pentecost. The second is that it was founded by Jesus. The third is that it began with the ministry of John the Baptist. I go with the Second camp. Yes I know that many will vehemently argue against this point as they look down their noses at me, but this is what I feel Scripture teaches. While to some this means nothing, I think that it is of importance because it affects other areas of theology.

With this in mind, this is what we talked about last Sunday night when only a handful could make it to church when the surrounding creeks and river were over flowing.

Our Lord established his church during his personal ministry and not on the day of Pentecost.

1. The church had a commission to preach before Pentecost (Matthew 28:19, 20).
2. The church baptized people before Pentecost (John 4:1, 2).
3. The church had the Lord's Supper before Pentecost (Luke 22:15-20).
4. The church held an election before Pentecost (Acts 1:15-26).
5. There was a church roll before Pentecost (Acts 1:15).
6. The words of Jesus, "Tell it unto the church," were spoken before Pentecost (Matthew 18:17). How could one tell anything to a church that did not exist!
7. There were about 3000 additions to the church on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41). A church must be established before it can have additions.
8. Our Lord left his house (Mark 13 :34). By inspiration the Apostle Paul identifies "the house of God" as "The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:15).
9. The first spiritual gift set in the church was the gift of the apostles (1 Cor. 12:28). The church had to be in existence before the apostles could be set in it.

The Scriptures are clear in their testimony that Jesus established his church personally and left it in the world when He went back to the Father.

gone in sixty seconds

no not the movie. acutally this is in refrence to how long it was talking to upload my blog. too long. not acceptable. so i went with one of the blogger pre-made templates so speed up the process. but i know that this is not enough for me so a few things will be added in the future to spruce it up.

Bonhoeffer for Friday (Or Early Saturday)

BONHOEFFER for FRIDAY


The Name of Church


The space of the church is the place where witness is given to the foundation of all reality in Jesus Christ. The church is the place where it is proclaimed and taken seriously that God has reconciled the world to himself in Christ, that God so loved the world that God gave his Son for it. The space of the church is not there in order to fight with the world for a piece of its territory, but precisely to testify to the world that it is still the world, namely, the world that is loved and reconciled by God. It is not true that the church intends to or must spread its space out over the space of the world. It desires no more space than it needs to serve the world with its witness to Jesus Christ and to the world's reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ. The church can only defend its own space by fighting not for space, but for the salvation of the world. Otherwise the church becomes a "religious society" that fights in its own interest and thus has ceased to be the church of God in the world. So the first task given to those who belong to the church of God is not to be something for themselves, for example, by creating a religious organization or leading a pious life, but to be witnesses of Jesus Christ to the world.


- Dietrich Bonhoeffer -


from Ethics 63-64
from A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer Carla Barnhill, Ed., HarperSan Francisco, 2005

WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE SAY ABOUT ITSELF?

Gleaned (read cut and pasted) from Pastoral Reflections on Bible Translations: Why We Preach From the English Standard Version


WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE SAY ABOUT ITSELF?

Some statements from Scripture about Scripture:

Given by inspiration of God — 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19–21
The very words of God — 1 Thessalonians 2:13
All we need to know God — Luke 16:29, 31
A perfect guide for life — Proverbs 6:23
Pure — Psalm 12:6; 119:140
True — Psalm 119:160; John 17:17
Trustworthy — Proverbs 30:5–6
Perfect — Psalm 19:7
Effective — Isaiah 55:11
Powerful — Hebrews 4:12
Nothing to be taken from or added to — Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32
For everyone — Romans 16:25–27
To be obeyed — James 1:22

Some poetic images from Scripture about Scripture:

Sweet like honey — Psalm19:10
A lamp to guide our life — Psalm 119:105
Food for our soul — Jeremiah 15:16
A fire that purifies and a hammer that breaks us — Jeremiah 23:29
A sword — Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12
A seed for salvation planted in us — James 1:21
Milk that nourishes us — 1 Peter 2:2

The truth and nothing but the truth

My position may differ from many Americans but I feel that I have better understanding of the issue at hand. You may not have heard about Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, will use a Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson during his ceremonial swearing-in Thursday.
While at face value this might not seem to be a problem it think this is a problem being over looked. Most people that I have heard or read that have an issue with this argue about the fact that it has more to due with his faith not being Christianity. I do not feel this is not the issue. I feel that the matter at hand to be dealt with is the truth. First, our nation was created for the freedom to worship the One True Living God, not for the freedom of worship in general. We can find this easily by looking at what the first colonist believed and worshiped as well as what they were trying to escape. It we look at what they consider faith and what their considered witchcraft and cultic we can see they were not open to all faiths. While this is a problem and the afore link article give a notion of this, it is not the overwhelming issue for me.

I problem that I have is more to do about the standard of truth. When all other government representatives are sworn in, they use the Bible. This is the accepted standard of truth. All representatives are sweating to do up hold the their duties with the help of God.

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

If we begin swapping out gods for the Yahweh. The oath is not the same because the teaching promises, and principals are not the same. The truth is not the same. If the oaths are personalized then the truth is subjection. It is a personal truth. Only food for a specific person (or persons).

On additionally issue I find with the article more that the situation is that they mention that the use of the Quran that was previously owned by Pres. Jefferson is a justification of acceptance of all religions. Actually the call it toleracne but I feel their definition is different than mine. An allowance is different than a wage. I we allow just anything now, then I believe that we will be give a wage or payment to the falsehood of a universal, all inclusive religion mind set that will future erode the truth and harm our faith's future in America.

feed back as usual is appreciated

don't rss feed the animals

The masses have spoken and I have found it in my humble graciousness to grant them their request. We now have RSS Feed. I think. Let me know it if works for you.

Bonhoeffer and the Emerging Church

some of you love BonHoeffer and othes of you the emerging church. well here si somethign for the bothe of you. kind of like killing two birds with one post.


Ph.D. Application Paper - Bonhoeffer and the Emerging Church

how someone else prepares an expository sermon

i can not for the life of me think of where i found the link the fourth part of this series, but i figured if i wanted to share with you i would want to do a better job and start you out at ther first part of this four parter. i found it very affriming. i do much of hwat he does myself. but not all.


how i prepare an expository sermon

sprinkle or submerge, baby or believer

Byroniac said...
Well, I'm certainly not going to settle the credobaptist vs. paedobaptist debate. The best I've managed so far is to muddy the waters a little. I do have some problems with paedobaptism as a credobaptist, such as the following:

1. (OK, help me out here Chris) the Greek Baptizo was transliterated instead of translated, as it means "immerse" or "dip" from what I've read.

Yes my brother you are right, to make whelmed (that is, fully wet) to immerse, to dip, to dunk, to submerge.

Joh 3:22-23 After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. (23) And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.

There is no need for there to be much water if we are sprinkling babies like kids splashing at the city pool in the summer.

2. Linking OT circumcision (males only) to NT baptism (males and females). Lydia was baptized (Acts 16:14-15) and in other instances households were baptized, which would include females (the NT pattern as best I understand it is believers-only).

The Gospel of Thomas might help in this - 114 “Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life." Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven." Ha

3. Related to my comment above, there are NO explicitly paedobaptist references in the NT that I know of. All explicit references are Credobaptist in nature (I believe deliberately, in order to establish the apostolic pattern at first).

Your right again. With out a passage saying that they carried the infant down to the spring, that Paul bid them grace and peace as he urged them to wash the tottler for the remission of sins or the sake of the covenant, or Jesus saying for bid not the children for bid the children to be immersed. Additionally if we play out the first Adam and the Second Adam in parallel, we see that Adam was in an adult form, able to be cogent and conscious of the workings of God. Likewise, Jesus at his baptism as was in an adult form. The Jesus baptismal formula show that Jesus was able to believe as “Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.” Matt 3:15
Finally when we see covenants established in the Scripture like God’s with Abraham, we see an adult, who can use logic and make decisions, entering into the bond of a coventant

4. (Calvinist disclaimer) Paedobaptism by its very nature is designed to show membership in a covenant and not necessarily election unto eternal salvation. My understanding of this is probably simplistic, but I cannot see what benefits the infant possibly acquires outside of earthly covenantal membership benefits of the church, if God is truly not obligated to grant salvation to the baptized infant by the act of baptism. Even if Calvinistic election is not true, paedobaptism effectively shows nothing positive in the spiritual realm if the individual does not come to belief and salvation in Christ that I can see (it's simply a case of quite literally "going through the motions" and "joining the club").

What would the purpose of bringing them into a covenant if they were not to be partakers of the Kingdom of God. This would be superfluous head start to no where. It is much like amputating both of a man’s legs during a routine checkup because there might be need in the distance future. Unfortunatly, this leaves its proponents much like the ma, with out a leg to stand on.

5. The strongest arguments for paedobaptism generally come from two areas: historical church tradition (see #3 above) and Scriptural inference (if paedobaptism is true, it is a puzzling difficulty to explain the lack of a single explict paedobaptism in the NT as one would reasonably expect... however, this point is softened somewhat by the paedobaptist focus on the many references to household baptism in the NT).

Paedobaptism and Credobaptism are both positions worthy of respect and study. However, I believe both sides would agree that the two are mutually exclusive: they both cannot be right. In my opinion, that honor falls to Credobaptism alone. However, this is not a fellowship issue among Christian brethren, or at least should not be.

If we go off of history as the basis for Paedobaptism we, must be prepared to embrace heresy. First we must be rebirth ourselves into Roman Catholicism. Next we must deny our history that includes the believers that we persecuted by the Catholic and Protestants. Yes those that they documented as Anabaptist - the rebaptizers and dunkers and the Catabaptist – drowners. Furthermore History has also preached for simony, indulgences and slavey. Please explain why we would follow one and not adhere to the others. What about OT Laws?

y r u a baptist

“Every Baptist ought to know why he is a Baptist, and to know it from the specific commands of God’s Word. Not to have such knowledge is for our churches to be harmed in every way.”


----- George W. Truett, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, 1897-1944

BONHOEFFER for FRIDAY

i know next to nothing aobut Bonhoeffer. but Steve of Citizen Bezner does. His PhD dissertation at Baylor is on this very subject.


The Comfort of Tradition


It is not till such times as these that we realize what it means to possess a past and a spiritual inheritance independent of changes of time and circumstance. The consciousness of being borne up by a spiritual tradition that goes back for centuries gives one a feeling of confidence and security in the face of all passing strains and stresses. I believe that anyone who is aware of such reserves of strength need not be ashamed of more tender feelings evoked by the memory of a rich and noble past, for in my opinion they belong to the better and nobler part of mankind. They will not overwhelm those who hold fast to values that no one can take from them.


- Dietrich Bonhoeffer -

from Letters and Paper from Prison 57

from A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Carla Barnhill, Ed., HarperSan Francisco, 2005

The Sword of Surprise

The Sword of Surprise
by G.K. Chesterton

Sunder me from my bones, O sword of God
Till they stand stark and strange as do the trees;
That I whose heart goes up with the soaring woods
May marvel as much at these.

Sunder me from my blood that in the dark
I hear that red ancestral river run
Like branching buried floods that find the sea
But never see the sun.

Give me miraculous eyes to see my eyes
Those rolling mirrors made alive in me
Terrible crystals more incredible
Than all the things they see

Sunder me from my soul, that I may see
The sins like streaming wounds, the life's brave beat
Till I shall save myself as I would save
A stranger in the street.

theological implications of Cinnamon Bun Bread

For a much need addition to your tummy during this season of celebration the birth of Christ i would like to share this recipe that I recently found.


Cinnamon Bun Bread

It sound good, looks good and when I or my wife can make it, will taste good.

oh, as to the theological implications of Cinnamon Bun Bread, i'm still working it out! :^)

the gift that keeps on giving ... but only if you are married

i despise xanga, facebook, bebo, myspace and such realted creatures. Every once in a while something good comes along like this post from Dione, a young lady that grew up in the same neighborhood i did as well as attended the same church.


Gifts - Thursday, December 07, 2006


Ok so I read this in a book...

" My body is a gift and God gets to decide who to give it to, not me. And the best presents are the ones that are all wrapped up, not the ones that have been opened and rewrapped and now no longer sticks."

It also has this verse...

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (New American Standard Bible)
19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

children bobbing like carrots and potatoes

My friend at Byron of Isaiah 8:16 as recently posted about question and a mini-response to a poetry blogger's thoughts about paedobaptism and credobaptism. I have some thoughts of my own, but not enough time to go into it in depth or to plug-in in all the Scripture. Maybe Byron will drop by and settle the whole sprinkle the baby or dunk a believer controversy...

To argue for paedobaptism and assert that more Scriptural that credobaptism would seem to defy proper theology. To say that it is indeed appropriate to submerge infants because one can not prove salvation of an adult member is the issue because some have “crept in unawares” is fool hearty at lest as it says that we should ascend the helm of judgment. A lowered standard of Church Membership is not justification for heterodoxy, if so homosexuality would be an appropriate remedy to a bad marriage. What other left over Roman Catholic traditions that have not been fully reformed would one like to add to Scripture? This doctrine would seem to be equivalent to the Mormon heresy of baptizing for the dead.

Baptismal water should only ripple for a professing believer and not be a soup broth of children bobbing like carrots and potatoes around the pot roast of believers. It is the "get them all wet" attitude that would seem to be inappropriate as it belittles and contradicts the Doctrines of God. It would seem that God’s sovereign election would have been superseded by man’s fancy and His willed election is now trivial as we have baptized all into the kingdom. That is those God foreordained and men chose. Truely a universal(ist) error. This alone creates a problem of those that have not “crept in unawares,” but of those who were purposely brought in by the unaware. Additionally by dipping the innocent we create a false hope and security. How is this superior? Non-believers are now under the influence of the of the paedobaptistic waters with the idea that they too will inherit the Kingdom of God. Now the false Christ claimers, the unregenerate are the face of Christ’s Church

taking time for tilly

MJTilly of The Foolishness of Preaching
and fellowship class wrote ...

Love that quote. But doesn't it seem to steer awfully closely to what some would perjoratively call "Lordship" salvation? I ask with two motives: 1) to point out that what some deride as a form of "works" salvation or legalism, may be more Biblical than it's given credit for -- see James for this perspective (of course, it should be noted for the record that I say that while in the midst of wrestling with this concept) and 2) to feel you out for your take on that subject.

This was in regards to a quote from Dr. Hulitt Gloer.

"Faith is trusting God with your life to the point of obedience."

Thanks for you honesty in your posting. I did not see the works angle in the quotation … but I’m still thinking about it. As for the Lordship Salvation, I personally do not see a problem with it. In truth I found that I was believed this prior to my discovery that there was a doctrine by that name. Later when I found that there was a heated controversy about it was shocked. I did not see it as an issue.

Lets us address the term “Lord” for a moment. The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary defines a lord as “a master; a person possessing supreme power and authority; a ruler; a governor.”
I think that Jesus has possessing supreme power and authority, that he does rule over and governs my life.

From Thayer’s –
1) He to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord
1a) the possessor and disposer of a thing
1a1) the owner; one who has control of the person, the master
1a2) in the state: the sovereign, prince, chief, the Roman emperor
1b) is a title of honour expressive of respect and reverence, with which servants greet their master

Others like the New American, Easton’s, Vine’s only do more justice to the term “Lord” having authority over us.

So if we look at the term lord like this and bring in Romans 10:13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED," I think we are admitting that we are submitting ourselves to the Authority of Jesus.

Then look at Luke 6:46 “Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? He Jesus gives us the idea that he does hold the clout of “Lord” and that obedience is suppose to come with it.

In closing I thing someone like John Piper could do a better job of bring the Lordship/obedience/faith

Additionally I think the quote deals more with the fact that as we grow in faith, we are trusting God more, we are surrendering more in the relationship and we are growing to be obedient in all area of are life. We submit ourselves more. Think sanctification.

More could be said and should be said about this, but my mind is a bit fuzzy at this moment and my eyelids droopy.
In closing a want to at least leave you with a few more verses that can kind of go with this. Are at least in my mind they do ….


Joh 14:21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
Joh 14:24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.

PS. You webpage for the Sunday School looks great!!! More that teach should do this.

the future of baylor

from wikipedia...

In 2000, the university sought to expand its vision of a scholarly institution with a strong sense of Christianity. Baylor, under then President Robert Sloan Jr., created a written statement to detail the exact goals of this vision. This statement was appropriately titled, Baylor 2012, the year by which the school hopes to achieve its aims. The university intends to "enter the top tier of American universities while reaffirming and deepening its distinctive Christian mission." It was presented in September 2001, and approved by the Board of Regents shortly afterwards. The Vision is based upon twelve key imperatives designed to create a more fulfilling educational experience in a unique Christian environment.

The twelve imperatives are:

1. Establish an environment where learning can flourish
2. Create a truly residential campus
3. Develop a world-class faculty
4. Attract and support a top-tier student body
5. Initiate outstanding new academic programs in selected areas
6. Guide all Baylor students, through academic and student life programming,
to understand life as a stewardship and work as a vocation
7. Provide outstanding academic facilities
8. Construct useful and aesthetically pleasing physical spaces
9. Enhance involvement of the entire Baylor family
10. Build with integrity a winning athletic tradition in all sports
11. Emphasize global education
12. Achieve a two-billion dollar endowment

faith = obedience

"Faith is trusting God with your life to the point of obedience."
- Dr. Hulitt Gloer

losing faith

wow. some times you read about some one and what has happened to them and you go "wow!" in this blog check out what happened to Dr. Bart Ehrman.

CHURCH AND EDUCATION -OR- THE LACK THEREOF

gre help

in my quest to get more info about baylor and their religion program i figured that i would goolge around and see what i could find. in the process i hit upon this about taking and studying for the gre. he also gave some insight about the test and the money side, that is you get money for it.


How to Study for the GRE

blogs i regularly peruse

citizen bezner
jesus creed
sibboleth
big daddy weave
pulpit pimps
isaiah 8:16
fide-o

when the koran hits the fan

wow the is article i nthe Houston Chronicle blew me a way. It seems war between the mason and and the muslim as broke out it katy, tx. If any one kind enjoy this is would be Byron of Isaiah 8:16 and Byronic fame, so ck him out too.

Baylor prof says Schaeffer remained a fundamentalist

i am not to familiar with Francis Schaeffer but i have an understanding that he has been of great aid to the church. the Baptist standard has an article that you might want to at least gloss over

Baylor prof says Schaeffer remained a fundamentalist

David Ritsema at New Testament Studies Blog - Seeking Knowledge In Order to Serve has blogged an intresting post uses of the Ot in the NT. This is of keen intrest to me ask I have just finished a masters course at BMA Theologial Seminary with the amazing profesor Dr. Phillip R. Bryan.

to read or to read better

if you are like me you like a great book, even a good book. i used to be a voracious reader ... but then i got hooked on magazines and reading on the net. this type of reading only fuels my A.D.D. i am trying to be a better reader and omprove my speed. with this in mide i share this with you for your pleasure of becoming a better readers.

How to Be a Bookworm...

81-Year Degree Plan

some times poeple are given great honor for what they have done. some times the good guys wins in the end. this is the case here as we see a man get a degree at 81 yrs old.

The 81-Year Degree Plan: BBA Degree Awarded to Oldest Recipient in Baylor's History

Bob Dylan on the Bible

“There are over 20 million Bibles distributed every year, and the Bible can be read aloud in 70 hours – though you might want to take a nap between the Old and New Testaments. Nine out of every ten Americans own at least one Bible – what’s up with the other guy?”

—Bob Dylan, Theme Time Radio Hour, Episode 19: “The Bible,” 6 September 2006.

shoul i stay or should i go ...

better yet, should we fight to keep them or just let them go .... colleges and seminaries that is. There has been so much fighting over these pedagogary institutes it makes one wonder - SBC Leader Says Fighting Over Baptist Colleges a Waste of Time

baylor stuff

As the reading audience around here knows, after i complete my master's degree I would love to pursue a doctorate, phd to be percise. One school seems to be where my heart is purposed. Baylor. Please no hate mail, just prayers ... I'll take tuition money too. :^) So if you read around on Baylor you get all kinds of views. here are some links to some of the most intresting or from insiders.

oh and some on Baptist/Christian education


Baylor: A University in Need of Change

Excuse me, it’s a Baptist college

Baylor, Bibles, boots and education

Well, who'da thunk it?

The Francis Beckwith Story

academic-freedom-or-religious-education

Get your Mojo on

"The education of David Jeffrey" by Jennifer Green

From the Chronicle of Higher Education

truth...

"Truth is the consistency and agreement of our ideas with the ideas of God." - Jonathan Edwards

sneek peek for all you regular readers

Next fall, as per my inside source, will have a special SBC guest. The Lion. That is right, at the Brand lecture, Paige Patteson will be adressing the BMA Theological Seminary body. I understand that the topic will be on glossa, γλῶσσα, the gift of tongues. So will the unleashed Lion be able to tame the tonuges issue amoung Baptist. Well, we will have to wait and see.

the making of community

Kyle Sears is planting a new church in Hutto, Tx called Resonate. While I really dig the name (it's just too cool), I found a thought proving post on thier blog from back in June. I have provided the whole post, but would love to hear what you think about community.

June 21st, 2006

The Making of Community

Posted by Kyle Sears in Love

How do you go about creating community? Just because you live in a community doesn’t necessarily mean you live in community. I’ve found that one of the greatest needs of my generation is the need for community. We grew up in disconnected homes, and that lack of being connected has made us value a rich, community-driven lifestyle. Sites like Digg and MySpace are all about groups of people interacting together. Massively-multiplayer online games (MMOs) like World of Warcraft seek to establish a connection.

But very few of us actually have a true sense of community, of reliance and appreciation for each other in a tangible sort of way. Most of the time, we encounter communities where we don’t belong, or where cliques squelch any individuality that we have.
Unfortunately, this happens at church, too. Many churches are glorified high school cafeterias, where “outsiders” aren’t truly welcomed (at least not before they join). We say we’re a community of believers, but often that means we’re a community of people gathered around an event or a program. Jesus made it clear that true community forms around a cause (Matthew 4:19).

At Resonate Community, we want to show people how to live inside-out, or lives of authentic transformation (I’ll post more on what this means later). This lifestyle is available to anyone and everyone, even if you’ve never been to church before. I think that, as we help others find this kind of life, they’ll want to join us in our cause. And as we bond together, community forms. Suddenly, it’s not about what we wear or what kind of car we drive or how busy we are, but it’s about helping others find the heartbeat of God. As Resonate Community gets started, we want that passion to sustain us. Not everyone is going to “get it.” Some people will always think that church means wasting your time for an hour or two on Sunday morning. We think there’s more to it than that. Church can be a place where people find who they really are, and are happy with what they see.

to phd or not and then what?

not awaly do we get what we want, notr do we know what we are getting in too. As well, i have had some questions about perusing a PhD or not. Then I have the wonders about beings A "fresher" or a new PhD grade trying to get a teaching position. the link below has a great help and a new source of worry.

http://sibboleth.blogspot.com/2006/11/teds.html

phd or nor

thininking aboout research, academiaand pedagoary at the collegette level. think again. Daniel (not Dan) may persuade you to not get a phd after all. or this is really good advice for what you should do if you want to.




Sibboleth: TEDS

Thank you, Dr.House

The other night, on Friday, November 10, 2006 on an episode of House, entitled Fools for Love, on USA network; Dr. House (of the shows name sake) made a funny. He said that he was kept up late at night because of the Loch Ness monster, Global Warming, Evolution and other “mythical things”. The last part in quotes and italics because I had already begun to laugh and can’t quite remember what he said. I just was goofing over the equality of the Loch Ness and Evolution. I hope this thought brightens your day as much as it brought joy to my heart.

Jesus vs. Us

The life of Jesus on earth may be divided into two great periods,

(a.) that of his private life, till he was about thirty years of age; and

(b.) that of his public life, which lasted about three years.

The uniqueness to this to me is that Jesus took thirty years to prepare for three years of ministry. On the opposite end of this spectrum is that we have many ministers that take three years to prepare for thirty years of ministry.

a new low

you must read this article or you won't believe me!!!

gay mega church joins united churchs of christ

Apologize Now

American Legion Called on Senator Kerry: Apologize Now
October 31 2006 Standard Newswire

MEDIA ADVISORY, The National Commander of The American Legion called on Sen. John Kerry to apologize for suggesting that American troops in Iraq are uneducated.
"As a constituent of Senator Kerry's I am disappointed. As leader of The American Legion, I am outraged," said National Commander Paul A. Morin. "A generation ago, Sen. Kerry slandered his comrades in Vietnam by saying that they were rapists and murderers. It wasn't true then and his warped view of today's heroes isn't true now."
While addressing a group of college students at a campaign rally in Pasadena, California, Monday, Kerry suggested that they receive an education or "if you don't, you'll get stuck in Iraq."
"While The American Legion shares the senator's appreciation for education, the troops in Iraq represent the most sophisticated, technologically superior military that the world has ever seen," Morin said. "I think there is a thing or two that they could teach most college professors and campus elitists about the way the world works.
"And while we are on the topic of education, why doesn't senator Kerry and his comrades in Congress improve the GI Bill so all of today's military members - reserves and guard included - can achieve the educational aspirations that the senator so highly values?" Morin said. "The senator's false and outrageous attack was over-the-top and he should apologize now."

For the 'Reverends'

"In ourselves we are poor, sinful erring creatures, and daily do we have occasion to blush and hang our heads in shame. Therefore we respectfully request that none will address us as 'Reverend'. No worm of the dust is due such a title.

- Arthur Pink

what is wrong with the name baptist

This is in refrence and rebuttal to an artivle by jospeh Harris which ha can be found here http://www.miniedition.net/, or more easily here, http://www.bmaweb.net/news/061019_opin_harris_name_baptist.htm.

Unfortunately to many Baptist Churches are stinking up the place. Some make it so hard for others to use the identifier of Baptist without being treated unfairly.  I am all for Baptist being on the sign.  I even argued/discussed with at current seminary professor and students from his Church about why they dropped Baptist from their sign.  But I was reminded that the great Baptist Spurgeon pastored two churches that we not Baptist.  Was he wrong for pastoring and preaching at these churches?  Is it more important to be Baptist in name or Baptistic in teaching?  In truth there are some churches that use the Baptist moniker that are truly Pentecostal.  So what of them? Are they better for the name of Baptist?  What happens when a good name is tarnished?  One of the unique thing about a church that does a membership class, a 101 class or what ever they call it, is that they go over who they are, who they associate with, what they believe, and why? In this you find out if the Country Church or the New Life Fellowship are Baptist are not.

One last situation to ponder – You were to plant a church in a small town where there have been three prior Baptist Churches. In which, one had a horrible money scandal, another an adulterous legacy and the third was recently ravaged with Child Pornography. The Baptist name was now much.  When you knocked on a door and said you we asking some “spiritual questions” and the found out you were Baptist, every time you were cursed and the door was slammed because the community had been betrayed and the Baptist before you had failed them.  Who it be stewardship to starchy wave than Baptist flag in their wounded faces, or instead, suck up our Baptist pride and present Jesus to them and later teach them why we feel so strongly about the Baptist faith.

After all it is Jesus that saves and not the Baptist name.

With this said, I am a Baptist, love being Baptist, our church carries the name Baptist, and I even love the ol’ landmarks.

Has Harvard returned to thier roots

Has Harvard gone back to God?? Have they repented.??

BOSTON - Harvard University, founded 370 years ago to train Puritan ministers, should again require all undergraduates to study religion, along with U.S. history and ethics, a faculty committee is recommending.
The surprisingly bold recommendations come after years of rancorous internal debate over what courses should be required of all Harvard students. The current core curriculum has been criticized for focusing on narrow academic questions rather than real-world issues students would likely confront beyond the wrought-iron gates of Harvard Square.
The report calls for Harvard to require students to take a course in "reason and faith," which could include classes on topics such as religion and democracy, Charles Darwin or a current course called "Why Americans Love God and Europeans Don't."


Ck out the rest of this article at Harvard mulls over religion courses

Godtel Minitries Need

Godtel Minitries has a few needs.  If you can help them, then please do.
Lufkin Needs
(936) 637-2520  

1. Prayer


2. Financial Help


3. Canned black-eyed peas


4. Canned tomatoes


5. Green peasNacogdoches Needs

(936) 569-7914(936) 560-4282

1. Prayer


2. Financial Help


3. Personal hygiene items


4. Towels


5. Canned Vegetables (all kinds)


6. Meat


7. Twin-size mattresses


8. Twin-size sheets (fitted & flat)

Livingston Needs
(936) 327-8863

1. Prayer


2. Financial Help


3. Funds for Building and Land


4. Personal hygiene items


5. Canned Vegetables (all kinds)


6. Tomato Products

Byroniac: Ubuntu Christian Edition

for all you Godly linux users this is for you.

Byroniac: Ubuntu Christian Edition

Not sure if this will come in rReformed, Charasmatic, Free Will, Non-Denom or General Versions. ck back on that.

What ever floats your boat

This last weekend was Diboll Days. It came, extracted life fron our bodies, and left to come again in two years. There might be a reason that it is only done every two years. We may need to use that time to rejuvinate ourselves. Our Church, Pine Grove Baptist, had a float. It was the first time we have done this from what I have been told. But I think it went well. We went with the theme of "America bless God" instead of the norm of "God bless America." When asking God to bless us we are aking God to make us happy. In truth it should be the other way around.

One thing that stands out about the parade is that when we were rounding the corner by Brookshire Brother's. The flags that were part of the parade were beautifuly flying and an older hispaninc man in a vertern's hat, stood up at attention, removed his cap and saluted the flag as a patriot. I was a beautiful moment. Simply, it was a grand highlight of what was a great parade adn a great entrane for Pine Grove Baptist as a vital, living Church.

Final Words

I was looking at Francis Beckwith’s Blog today as his name was mentioned in class today. As I was scanning his blog I read his post about Former President Slone final Commencement Speech of Baylor. . thisi s a must read. You can also view the hole enchilada at Baylor site too.

this is a must read !

bad to worse

it has been a while since i have blogged, but thensome times something comes along that just makes you want to ask" R U smokingcrack?" this is one of them .....

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/41685_73857_ENG_HTM.htm


ck it out and let me know wat you think.

is allah the same as our God

Some would tell you that God and Allah are the same. fell that thisis not the case as God has son and Allah does not. Further more we find a diffrence in what they



ALLAH: "Fight, slay Unbelievers wherever ye find them. Seize them, beleaguer them, lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war."Qur'an, Sura 9:5

CHRIST: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Why God Never Received Tenure at any University

1. He had only one major publication.

2. It was in Hebrew.

3. It had no references.

4. It wasn't published in a refereed journal.

5. Some even doubt he wrote it himself.

6. It may be true that he created the world, but what has he done since then?

7. His cooperative efforts have been quite limited.

8. The scientific community has had a hard time replicating his results.

9. He never applied to the Ethics Board for permission to use human subjects.

10. When one experiment went awry he tried to cover it up by drowning the subjects.

11. When subjects didn't behave as predicted, he deleted them from the sample .

12. He rarely came to class, just told students to read the Book.

13. Some say he had his son teach the class.

14. He expelled his first two students for learning.

15. Although there were only ten requirements, most students failed his tests.

16. His office hours were infrequent and usually held on a mountaintop.

Bibliographies

Many times we do research work for a lcassthat sits on desk, get filed in a drawer, lost on the hard drive or even thrown away. This does not profit the Family of God and the Body of Christ. So I share as found below in the PDF format.



Bibliography of Creativity
Bibliography of Ecclesiology
Bibliography of Man

thought of the day

“Amen’s” in the pew don’t mean anything if they are equaled or usurped by the “un-uh’s” at home.

FLUXBLOG: Games Of Leather, Weekends Of Fun

FLUXBLOG: Games Of Leather, Weekends Of Fun

a must read interview of the guy that wrote Body Piercing Saved My Life: Inside the Phenomenon of Christian Rock. Thsi is a great interview that will give you some insight on how we are seen by the outside.

Q and A

A few questions have been proposed and now is the perfect time to answer them.

Q -“Why did I resign from Carlo and was it to pursue education?”

A - I resigned from Carlos because I felt that God had used me all that we wanted to in that ministry. It was a place where I grew and was challenged and so was the congregation. I felt that God was done with us there. I had no clue where I would go after this or if I would go anywhere. The sad part is that everything that we did for Christ, was slowly undone by some people as we were leaving, and a bunch of other things were proposed to be done after I would be gone and could say nothing. I made my heart cry and my soul bleed to see what was happening. Unfortunately, I was not purposed by God to be there. It was almost like; God was going to let them have enough rope to hang themselves. Not very spiritual, but true. It is amazing how a church can go from 17 to 55 and be unhappy because of the growth and crush the new believers and drive away the new members. Unfortunately, I think of sermons about the Prayer of Jabez in which were have heard that God will not give us more if we don’t act as good stewards of what He has entrusted us with already, Anyway, God was showing us that this was coming to and end to us. Actually, I think that I tried to stick it out a little longer that God wanted us to. Oh, and I would have kept going with the education with or without the pastorate at Carlos. I feel God will use me in religious pedagogy later on as well as the pulpit.

Q - “Why in the world would you choose Baylor University?”

A – I would not have Chosen Baylor. I have felt God showing me this University for some time now. I have fought it on and off, but have come to the point where I have said “God I am not going to fight you, I will submit to You and be happy, because you know what is best for me, even if it is not what I would want.” Baylor will be drastically different from my Missionary Baptist roots. Mid America would go well with what I believe, or Mid-Western, Southwestern, even Southern would have been a closer fit. They are not known for their conservative views if you know what I mean. . As an SBC pastor told me one, we say we conservative and they are liberal, they say we are fundamentalist and they are moderate. I think that is will be great for me from a personal development point. Additionally, they are rated as a top notch Research University. I hope to stick close to the Chancellor Robert Sloan. He is a great guy and conservative. He is the one that cast the Vision 2012. At 20 plus grand a semester in the Ph.D. program, I would have never chosen to go to Baylor, but when the King says go, you go.

pro ecclesia - pro texana

God has a way of doing things to us and with us that we would never do by ourselves or have he strength to pull off. I bring this up because the Lord has brought Baylor University up to me several times and has been making it more and more evident that it is where He would like me to do my PhD work when it time comes. Now this is not what I would have chosen for myself, but if this is what He truly wants for me, then I will pursue it with joy and tenacity. But Baylor is not the kind of school that my background is. I am conservative, fundamental, Associational, Missionary Baptist and a touch Independent Baptist and to top it off a landmarker. So as you can see Baylor will be one of those places that God uses me to push me, to stretch me and to grow me. It will be different and exciting. So, I guess after I am done at the BMA Theological Seminary, I will become a Baylor Bear.

I guess that you could say that Baylor is pro ecclesia, pro texana, and not pro chris-a.

BGCT gets it right...

In Texas the BGCT is not looked upon fondly by many. In fact a previous pastor I had called them the "Baptist God Cant Trust." but in the article below entitled BGCT gets it right the guys get a little props for a change.

http://baptistblogger.blogspot.com/2006/06/bgct-gets-it-right.html

the ringing of the bell

follow the link to a great article on rob bell.

the ring of the bell

follow the link to a great article on rob bell
here is a power quote from bell after they have poked at him.

Bell's detractors have accused him of championing a postmodern fad, of relativizing Scripture, of elevating form above substance.

When people say that the authority of Scripture or the centrality of Jesus is in question, actually it's their social, economic and political system that has been built in the name of Jesus that's being threatened," Bell says. "Generally lurking below some of the more venomous, vitriolic criticism is somebody who's created a facade that's not working.

Changes in life

A lot has happened as of late. I graduated with a Bachelor Of Arts in Religion. I resigned from the Chruch where I as Pastor. I have decided to pursue the Master of Arts of Religion instead of the Masters of Divinity. Not something that I would have even thought about a few weeks back. But things change. I still think the M.Div. is the way to go. I have also found myself part of the book Earnestly Contending for the Faith By Dr. John W. Gregson. He wrote the Fifty year history of the B.M.A. Theological Seminary. It is a really great book and I have enjoyed reading it.

my simple resume

Christopher D. Price

PERSONAL:
Born May 3, 1976 in San Diego, California
Married Denise Foster on June 26, 1998 (BSE, ETBU, Spring 1996)
Licensed at Calvary Baptist Church, Crockett, TX in September, 1998
Daughter, Remington born September 2, 1999 (six years old and amazing)
Ordained as Pastor by Carlos Missionary Baptist Church, Carlos, TX on June 26, 2005

MINISTRY EXPERIENCE:
March 27, 2005 – Present     Pastor                 Carlos Missionary Baptist Church, Carlos, TX

Responsibility includes exposition of Scripture, administering ordinances, providing direction for educational ministries, training teachers, outreach programming and soul winning, and new families.  Additionally, added children friendly elements to worship, developed relationships with the community, led in church remodeling program.

August 2004 – March 27, 2005     Pulpit Supply
     
2003–2004     Youth Team Leader                              Central Baptist Church, Crockett, TX
     
Responsible for translating the Pastor’s vision to the ministry of the youth, provide direction and leadership of youth ministry team, aided in transition between youth interims, established a  hybrid discipleship sports outreach ministry.

2001–2002      Youth Pastor                                    West Side Baptist Church, Crockett, TX
Implemented weekly discipleship class, monthly fellowship, and developed youth ministry as family ministry.  Worked to train youth to influence their surroundings as Christians and be bold for Christ.  
1999–2000      Pastor of Youth and Outreach                              North Side Baptist Church, Mineola, TX
Responsibility included the planning and leading of all programming for discipleship, worship, ministry, fellowship, and evangelism of youth as well as direction all evangelism and outreach efforts at North Side.
OTHER MINISTRY EXPERIENCE:
AWANA Leader, Sunday School Director / Teacher – children, youth, college and career, adult; Vacation Bible School Director and Teacher (Youth), Monthly Men‘s Devotional Leader and Nursing Home Minister, Pulpit Supply and Substitute Teacher for a Christian Academy, Worked with Media Ministries – Internet, Digital, Video, Audio, Print, Chaplaincy Training, BMATS Student Body Vice-President, B.J. Allbritian Ministerial Alliance Member, Outreach event planning, and recruiting for Seminary.

EDUCATION:
Angelina College                                                                           Lufkin, TX
Core classes
Jacksonville  College                                                              Jacksonville, TX
Core classes

Baptist Missionary Association Theological Seminary                                                      Jacksonville, TX
Graduated May 20, 2006 with a B.A.R. and concurrently working on at M.Div. at B.M.A.T.S.


1520 E. Pine Street, Jacksonville, Texas 75766
Home 903-586-3208   Cell 936 -852-3627
theprices@ndemand.com

when it is you time to go ...

Dan “the man” Phillips of Pyromaniacs has a great blog entry about how we never know when God will call us home.  Or death as we know it.  It is a must read.  http://bibchr.blogspot.com/2006/04/when-its-your-time-to-go.html#links