Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/09/06 08:13:30 AM |
Age 56, AR |
I have been thinking the same things for awhile now. I just sent this article to my Pastor. He is very conservative, but I see things that are getting a little close to the emergent church thinking. It's very suttle. At first I thought taking a person, when they come forward, to a private room, was not right. They need to repent openly, before the church. Right at the front bench, on their knees. I do agree with coming forward, by the way. I am also shocked that Charles Finney was a Pelagian. Shocked!! We hear these names of the old time preachers and think they are the rule, but this is blasphemy. A.W. Tozer had a private prayer language. He believed in different fillings of the Holy Spirit and that we had to be open to it to receive it. What or who does that sound like? We should be open to whatever God has for us at salvation. We are depraved and he does it all. How can a dead man lift himself up to meet God? I listen to Tozer often on SermonAudio.com.
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- Re: Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 04/11/07 05:29:02 PM | | Age 50, IL | Don't be so afraid of Finney... He just believed we have more free will than Calvin did. We are not sinners to be pitied... but punished. Calvin just gave everyone an excuse to sin.. Finney would preach for hours removing the sinners hiding places with scriptural intelligence and logic. Finney gets blamed for todays' alter call tragedies when his alter call was nothing like the non sense we have today. Lives were changed... communities were changed. Free will means you can make a decision for God today. Unfortunately Calvin did not see it this way. Click here to reply to this post

Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/08/06 09:32:20 PM |
Age 60, TN |
I'm a licensed Baptist Minister of several years and I've come to a similar viewpoint that you express. I'm glad someone of your import is finally speaking out about the "worldly" church. Back in the early 1990's we tried to get a "statement" acknowledged or passed at the annual convention pertaining to the incompatibility of following Christ and being a Masonic Lodge member. It went down to defeat since at best estimates, roughly 1/3 of SBC pastors are said to be Masons. If that little statistic doesn't highlight the problem, nothing else will. I recently read in the TN state convention paper that one of our mission board directors has his own personal "prayer language". How can this man be hired to a high position in Nashville? Something stinks at the higher levels of our leadership!! What you've researched only serves to explain why so many of our churches are falling for the Rick Warren Sunday rock'n roll concert new church paradigm. We'd better wake up before God writes Ichabod over and on the SBC and it's member churches!!!!
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- Re: Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/11/06 09:16:48 AM | | Age 40, NY | we all need to take a step back and recognize what has happened here... the issue is not about denominations (which are unbiblical (1 cor 1:10-13). we need to set the 'denominational allegiance' aside, and obey our ONE TRUE leader, which is Christ alone. what has HE told us?? He has told us (over and over and over) that we MUST leave ALL NOW and follow HIM, or we are NOT worthy to be His disciple! this is convicting for us all, and certainly not the 'feel-good, "abundant" life Jesus' we have been taught about in so many 'churches'. Jesus said we would know the tree by its fruit! what is that telling us? it is telling us to be fruit inspectors, and to judge within the church!! Jesus commanded us to do this, for the protection of 'His body'!! we certainly have reaped what we have sown. we have 'sown' a different Jesus, one who says 'repeat this prayer after me', or 'just walk forward in church', or 'sign this little card' and you can have 'assurance of salvation'. WHERE do we find that in scripture?? we have no business preaching a different Jesus. we have NO business giving people assurance of their salvation... that is God's job alone to testify to. we need to be faithful teachers and let God do the work, and bring the assurance. also, we are commanded to 'test ourselves' to see if we are in the faith. we are commanded to REMOVE the leaven from within the church. but, this false, wimpy 'Jesus' we have taught has birthed a false and wimpy 'church'. once again i say, we have reaped what we have sown. God will not be mocked. and He will remove His Spirit from this false 'religion'. lets all read HIS word, and do it - so that we are not deceiving ourselves! lets ALL stop being followers of MEN. lets all stop being lazy by letting others 'feed us'... and REPENT, and follow our Great Shepherd who is calling out to us! the One who tells us to 'come out and be separate' - and NOT to be unequally yoked with unbelievers! let us all reach out to make dispciples GOD'S way, by 'dropping the net' of methodology of mere men... that is where God's power will prevail!! rev 3:7-13 Click here to reply to this post
- Re: Re: Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/16/06 07:37:03 AM | | Age 56, AR | You're right 40, NY, that it's not about a denomination. It is about following Christ and him alone. I have recently heard a phrase, "non-essentials of the faith." I really don't believe there any non-essentials. We need to study and learn all of this word and practice it. SOme of us though, get stuck on certain issues, not related to the word. Nothing that will change the eternal security of the believer. Like walking the aisle, acknowledging Christ, repenting publicly, letting everyone know there is a Godly sorrow for repentance. The work of the heart is all of the Lord. Nothing like walking the aisle or signing a card is going to make a difference one way or the other in their eternal security. The card, as you know, is to make sure they are visited, included in the body, counted on the roll. A specific number was put in the bible of 3000 saved in one day. Drawn by the Lord. How did they know that was the number, by counting. Maybe they didn't fill out a card but they were numbered. And make no mistake about it, there were many who were not actually saved, and fell away from the grace of God preached. I don't care whether they walk the aisle or fill out a card or run or skip or stand on the rooftops, as long as they are in the faith. Those things are not important. I think they need to be introduced to the existing body as a fellow believer. If I had heard of a brother who was saved, I would be thrilled, but if I saw and met him, I would rejoice with him, and the body. So, yes, you are right, it's not about denominations, as some would have us believe. It's about saving faith in Jesus Christ and him alone. Some only condemn the Southern Baptists' because they are more publicized. We are in the last days. Let's not turn away from the children of God. We need each other. Click here to reply to this post
Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/07/06 10:27:25 AM |
Age 55, MN |
Jim, Thank you for your two wonderful articles on this topic. I fully agree with you and think our entire evangelical movement needs to take a serious look at what are the true claims of the gospel and what are the signs of a true conversion. Pastor Bob DeWaay
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Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/07/06 01:10:40 AM |
Age 62, TX |
1. LAW - "It is no use giving us rules of conduct; we cannot keep them. Let God go on saying' Thou shall not,' yet we shall to the end of time. A lecture will not solve our problem; we need a Saviour, the Son of God. He was not only 'made flesh' in the womb of Mary; He was 'made sin' on the Cross of Calvary. For our sake God made Jesus to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in Christ Jesus we might become the Righteousness of God." Basic Christianity by John R. W. Stott, p.77
2. LORD - Is there a scripture that encourages us to accept Jesus as Saviour? Jesus is the Saviour! Have we not been made the offer to make Him Lord? Many want His Salvation without His ownership of our time, money, possessions, our family, and our ever-loving-devotion with all our hearts. Salvation is not about happiness but peace. Salvation is not about rights but serving. Salvation is not about control but surrender. Salvation is not about self-esteem but humility. Salvation is not about leading but submission. Salvation is not about me but about Jesus Who owns me.
3. FULL of the SPIRIT - Being spiritual full is not about my church, its not about worship, its not about music, its not about programs, its not about preaching, its not about Bible study, its not about my attendance, or even its not about the kind of people saved or unsaved attendees or non-attendees. How can I not be overfilled if I am able to read the Holy Gods divine revelation in the Bible everyday? This is so unbelievable exciting. I read the Bible and weep with joy and humility. Read to me a genealogy. Do you know what it says? It is so very exciting if the Holy Spirit is illuminating the meaning! I am so astounded, I weep.
4. GODLINESS - How can I not be overflowing with godliness if I am permitted into the Holy of Holies to commune with the Maker and Sustainer of the universe Who so loved the world that He made my presence in His Presence possible by the propitiation of my sin? In His Presence is the only place that I am whole. At all other times I am a broken sinner.
5. PRAYER - Think about this. Jesus takes my worthless prayer and places it with His and presents it to the Father. I get to pray all the day long with Jesus as my High Priest! And it is my privilege to speak of His Glory at every opportunity. All other conversation is in the way of talking about Jesus.
6. BORN AGAIN - I suffer pain for the lovers of this world, its sports, its food, its entertainment, its pleasure, its greed, its lust, and its selfishness. With all I have I yell in ways to get them to listen: Oh, if for a minute they could see with the eyes of angels or visit the grave they would still not believe, but if they enter into His Holy Presence nothing is ever the same! Born again! A new creature! He who hungers and thirst after righteousness will arrive. Jesus looses not a single one. All others confound my understanding in their unbelief and absence of desire to participate in the only eternity in the divine Presence.
7. RELATIONSHIP - How excited is your spiritual leader? When was the last time your pastor met the life changing God one on one? Is he overflowing from this encounter with Holy God? We should care more about Who he knows and how well he knows Him than what he knows. But churches do not.
8. DIVINE ABSENCE - Maybe the problem with church attendance is that God doesnt show up when the 37% of the members do.
9. HALLELUIAH - When meeting another like myself its halleluiah time! When two or more are gathered together in my name . . . Old Glen gboydsmith@sbcglobal.com
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- Re: Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/09/06 02:49:09 PM | | Age 62, KY | Beautiful! Beautiful! I wish I had a copy of what you wrote to read it over and over again. So well said. Who are you? One of God's disciples? Click here to reply to this post
Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/06/06 06:29:41 PM |
Age 64, FL |
This article points out all the reasons I am not a Baptist.
As children (about 80 years ago) my Mother, Uncle and cousins were delighted when Grandpa bought a phonograph. One Sunday afternoon they put on a record and were dancing happily around the house, when a "good" Baptist from their church saw them. These little children were told they must stand up before the whole church and confess their "sin", or get kicked out of church. My Mother and Uncle refused and he never went to church again. He was one of the dearest Christian men I ever knew. It seems to me the Baptists are very much like the old Pharisees.
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- Re: Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/07/06 01:15:07 AM | | Age 62, TX | Works and Phariseeism is the log in most of our eyes. It happens when we take our focus off Jesus. Old Glen gboydsmith@sbcglobal.net Click here to reply to this post

Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/06/06 02:24:09 PM |
Age 44, NE |
Insightful article that points us to Christ's call to discipleship - "Come, follow Me." Evangelicals seem to have distorted the message to "Come, get saved." While salvation begins the process of eternal life here on Earth, Christ wants us to continue in this new life by abiding in Him and being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Thanks for this well-presented writing that does not come across as ranting against any one person or group in spite of using a particular denomination as an illustration.
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Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/06/06 11:32:36 AM |
Age 43, TX |
An excellent article that applies not just to Southern Baptist, but to all evangelical denominations. In addition to what you have stated, I would like to add the insistance to the lordship of Christ. If Jesus is not their Lord, he is not their savior. The whole concept of Jesus as savior, but not as Lord is totally unbiblical. I believe that the process of conviction is the wrestling between God and man as to who will be Lord of their life. They need to be left there until the question is settled. We may settle for a conditional surrender, but God only accepts unconditional surrender to His lordship.
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- Re: Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/06/06 02:57:54 PM | | Age 44, NE | It's good to read of your concern for people to acknowledge Jesus Christ as ruler ("Lord") of their lives. We need to see more Christians living out this reality.
Regarding your statement that Jesus cannot be a person's Savior without being their Lord, you may want to compare Mark 12:30 with Deut 6:5 to see at least one way the word Lord is used in the New Testament. Jesus uses the Greek word translated "Lord" (that *can* be understood as master or ruler) to translate the Hebrew "Yahweh" that is God's name. I don't think the Jewish leaders of Jesus' time were too concerned if Jesus' followers called Him "Master Jesus" or "Sir Jesus." But when they insisted that He was "Yahweh (Lord) Jesus," this was intolerable because it equated Jesus with God.
If we ask people to state that "Jesus is Lord" at the time of salvation, we are asking them to personally acknowledge that He is the God of this universe (Yahweh) who satisfied God the Father's wrath against our sin by living a perfect life and shedding His blood through His death on the cross. I think we must be careful not to make the requirements for living the life of a disciple (growing in sanctification and submission to Christ's rule, that is, His lordship) the same as the requirements for entering the life of a disciple (complete faith/trust in Christ as Savior). This conviction and wrestling, as you stated it, is this process of sanctification.
If we require absolute, complete, and "unconditional" surrender to Christ's "lordship" (this is, rulership) as part of the salvation experience, I'm afraid there are a miniscule number of people who are truly saved. I frankly don't recall one evangelical who proclaimed (publicly, at least) that, unless you surrendered *every* part of your life to Christ when you trusted him for salvation, you could not become God's child. Salvation is simple but it is not easy.
I commend you for your desire to see Jesus Christ's rule and reign be part of every Christian's life. Click here to reply to this post
- Re: Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/06/06 02:20:57 PM | | Age 45, AR | Sir, your assertion that true salvation is Lordship Salvation is neither biblical nor Baptist. One is forced, ultimately, to arrive at a place where he advocates Falling from Grace, abandoning the biblical truth of Eternal Security, when he adopts this new-found heresy of Lordship Salvation. As a a saved person, I should make Jesus the Lord of my life, but if I fail to do so... he is faithful and unfailing, to keep me in his eternal state of protection. My salvation depends on Jesus, not on my ability to surrender to Jesus' lordship. Paul spoke of his own struggle in Romans 6-8. Also see Phil 3:9: "I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me." NLT Click here to reply to this post
- Re: Re: Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/07/06 02:23:15 PM | | Age 40, SC | Saved by faith alone. YES! But it brings life... godly spiritual activity to our souls... that loves and desires more of God! A saved person won't... CAN'T continue in apathy. James (ch 2) was not looking at the theology of salvation but rather what authentic Christianity looked like: Saving Faith works. Your faith is justified or vindicated to the world around you by the activity/ works that follow ("...I will SHOW YOU my faith by my works" vs 18). The SBC actually ranks highest among major denominations with saved membership, so forget your jabs at the Baptists; but Jim Elliff is right, we should accept no unregenerate membership at all!
One problem has been our focus on "Church membership" rather than "Making Disciples". No where in the Bible are we told to make church members or converts. No where in the Bible is an invitation given to be a church member. I am more bothered by the unregenerate church members who DO come to church than those who don't. They are holding back the church from moving forward. I can more simply delete the membership of the absentees. The unregenerate church members who are regular in attendance have a totally different agenda than the Kingdom of God. Their's is the country club church, or the family owned franchise church. They are the well intensioned dragons that make the pastor's life a nightmare.
The Great commission is to Make Disciples, not just converts. We are to take the initiative to "go" (church service is not primarily for evangelism), share the gospel, yes - "baptize", but then fully teach all that Jesus commanded! Churches are happy to get them dunked and on the rolls and on the pew. And then they wonder what's wrong with the church. Forget all these "best sellers" and "church planting strategies". If we actually read what Jesus said and obeied it, we would find things a bit more simple than we thought. Click here to reply to this post
- Re: Re: Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/07/06 02:48:52 AM | | Age 33, RO | It is a perversion and distortion of the true Gospel to claim that one can take Christ as Savior and refuse His Lordship over his life and still claim to be regenerate. Try doing a study of the actual words that Jesus, His disciples, the apostles really preached to people, of the requirements that God puts forth for salvation. It is quite shocking. I did this once and copied in a separate notebook every verse in which Jesus or the apostles preached of God's requirements for salvation or the characteristics of those saved. You will be amazed how many times repentence is mentioned, DOING the will of God, keeping the word of God, following Christ. No, it's not a works salvation. Nobody here says you need to attain perfection as a condition to salvation, nobody would ever be saved since we are all depraved. Nobody is saying until you have all of the details of your life in accord with God's commandments you don't show you are saved. What the Bible DOES say however is that if one doesn't live as a LIFESTYLE in a way that honors God, he is deceived. That you have not succeeded yet in straightening all the areas of your life in accordance to the Bible is one thing, it may be a matter of growth, but there MUST BE the recognition that Chist is LORD and will be no less in your life and the little amount of Christian doctrine that you as a new convert would know or understand you MUST BE WILLING TO APPLY. We do have holy desires and still fail in many respects and can be frustrated at our own sinfulness, but if the DESIRE is not there in the first place to obey Christ as Lord, you may say what you will, you have never been saved to start with. That is a true Biblical message, though it doesn't tickle people's ears so is not popular.
"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not [in Gr. IS NOT SUBJECT TO] the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John 3: 36) Click here to reply to this post
- Re: Re: Re: Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/11/06 08:23:42 AM | | Age 40, NY | well said! so many in the church are deceived into a false sense of security... and God will NOT be mocked. we WILL reap what we sow. over and over again Jesus made it clear we MUST be willing to give up ALL NOW, or we are NOT worthy to be called His disciples. the road is narrow which leads to life. we cannot have it both ways, which is SO prevalent in christianity today - (just add Jesus on to everything else we WANT - after all He gave us the 'abundant life', right??) HIS abundance is nothing like what WE desire from our flesh! are we willing to 'drop the net' and leave our families behind?? if not, we are NOT His disciples, because that is what HE asked of us all. we need to stop fooling ourselves and others with this 'different Jesus' we are proclaiming. God, help us all. Click here to reply to this post
- Re: Re: Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/07/06 02:30:06 AM | | Age 33, RO | A.W.Tozer on the meaning of accepting Christ ('What It Means To Accept Christ', excerpt from 'That Incredible Christian'):
"To accept Christ is to form an attachment to the Person of our Lord Jesus altogether unique in human experience. The attachment is intellectual, volitional and emotional. The believer is intellectually convinced that Jesus is both Lord and Christ; he has set his will to follow Him at any cost and soon his heart is enjoying the exquisite sweetness of His fellowship.
This attachment is all-inclusive in that it joyfully accepts Christ for all that He is. There is no craven division of offices whereby we may acknowledge His Saviourhood today and withhold decision on His Lordship till tomorrow. The true believer owns Christ as his All in All without reservation. He includes all of himself, leaving no part of his being unaffected by the revolutionary transaction.
Further, his attachment to Christ is all-exclusive. The Lord becomes to him not one of several rival interests, but the one exclusive attraction forever. He orbits around Christ as the earth around the sun, held in thrall by the magnetism of His love, drawing all his life and light and warmth from Him. In this happy state he is given other interests, it is true, but these are all determined by his relation to his Lord.
That we accept Christ in this all-inclusive, all-exclusive way is a divine imperative. Here faith makes its leap into God through the Person and work of Christ, but it never divides the work from the Person. It believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, the whole Christ without modification or reservation, and thus it receives and enjoys all that He did in His work of redemption, all that He is now doing in heaven for His own and all that He does in and through them.
To accept Christ is to know the meaning of the words "as he is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4: 17). We accept His friends as our friends, His enemies as our enemies, His ways as our ways, His rejection as our rejection, His cross as our cross, His life as our life and His future as our future.
If this is what we mean when we advise the seeker to accept Christ, we had better explain it to him. He may get into deep spiritual trouble unless we do." Click here to reply to this post
- Re: Re: Re: Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/08/06 11:46:01 PM | | Age 62, TX | Tozer! Thank you for the quote from this saint wise in the ways of our Lord. He has the gift to say what the faithful feel and the Scripture proclaims. Old Glen gboydsmith@sbcglobal.net Click here to reply to this post
- Re: Re: Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/07/06 01:20:51 AM | | Age 62, TX | Baptist or other antinominist, consider that the issue over eternal security is about:
1. conditional grace based upon continued faith (falling from grace), 2. unconditional grace that holds faith will continue for the elect (election or predestination/Reformed/Calvinist), 3. and preservation and perseverance of the saints that holds that grace is effective even if faith ceases (once saved always saved - antinomianism).
All three positions believe in eternal security because Christ is competent! The question is: What is the part of the faith of the believer? Old Glen gboydsmith@sbcglobal.net Click here to reply to this post
- Re: Re: Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/06/06 06:26:00 PM | | Age 40, NM | I see your point and agree. There certainly is a process of "sanctification" that comes AFTER salvation. But your use of Romans 6-8 seems off to me. Romans 6 and 8 speak of great victory, while Romans 7 speaks of a losing battle. It seems (although I'm no authority) that the difficulty that Paul describes in Romans 7 has to do with his efforts to live according to the requirements of the law, apart from grace (in his past as a pharisee, but not a believer)which is IMPOSSIBLE! But God's grace is God's power granted to God's people to "say no to ungodliness". That's why at the end of all of Paul's epistles he closes saying, "may the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all", or something to that effect. Since these letters were written to believers, he must not have been talking about "saving grace", but the grace to overcome, the grace to live in victory, the grace to represent Christ well as his ambassadors, the grace to refuse to give in to temptation, etc. I believe Paul was walking in such victory when he penned the book of Romans, but was remembering how difficult it was before Christ to please God in chapter 7. True Christians will also walk in true victory as well. I don't believe the author is calling into question the doctrine of eternal security, just that many who call themselves Christians are not, which lines up with Jesus teaching that 1) many will be surprised on judgment day to find out they were not known by Christ, and 2) the road is narrow and "few" there be that find it. Click here to reply to this post
- Re: Re: Re: Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/08/06 11:37:16 PM | | Age 62, TX | "True Christians will also walk in true victory as well," you say. How can we measure the "true" victory obtained by another's servant? I am so very blessed and privileged to have been raised in a Christian home and to have never strayed far. Victory for me has been a war but easy compared to the addicted, the impoverished, the wealthy, the beautiful, and those without great Christian parents. I know without a doubt, that without my privileged status in the family of God, I would have been a far worse sinner and backslider than all those who struggle with their past. My Lord has given me no more than I can bear and no more opportunity to sin than I can most often resist. I am certain that the stumbling victory march of many is far more glorious to the righteousness of God than mine that is approved by the eyes of men. Old Glen gboydsmith@sbcglobal.net Click here to reply to this post
Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/06/06 10:49:35 AM |
Age 73, KS |
Our pastor graduated from Southwestern Seminary in Ft. Worth. His sermons are nothing more than a buildup to his invitation, which can last up to 30 minutes. He is a firm advocate of the concept that if you respond to his invitation, you are saved. Also, he is big on having people recite the sinners prayer and, thereby, being born again. Often asking several people, especially children, at once to recite it.
We live in a sparsely populated area with very few choices regarding churches. SBC seminaries must teach the basic doctrines of the Christian faith (as in Romans through Revelation) rather than teaching men to put on a performance, Sunday after Sunday, in an effort to inspire sinners to come to the front of the church in an emotional outburst that will last, maybe, for 48 hours.
Best regards. And God bless you!
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Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/06/06 09:58:49 AM |
Age 45, GA |
When I read the title I was angry being a Baptist second and a follower of Chirst first. But when you talked of getting back to the basics and that numbers don't mean anything it is the desire of the group to know about Christ and a desire to follow him that is needed. I was totally floored. You are saying what I have been preaching to anyone who will listen that we need to get back to studying the Bible and seeing what the principles are in it and applying them to our lives this is only done by prayer and reading the word and asking what does this mean to me and how can I put it to use to the glory of God. We need more people talking like this and demanding an accounting of our leaders but first we need to look at ourselves and make sure we are doing everything we can to spread the message of Christ love and sacrifice and let the Holy Spirit do its work in all. Ours is not to convert any but to tell all. As to the issue with kids the main reason I believe that the fall away when teenagers is not the failure of them believeing in the first place but the failure of parents and teachers to grow them up in God's ways. We just like in schools today have given our responcability to others and then complain that our children are being taught nothing. This has to end if we are going to be who God wants us to be.
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Re: Southern Baptists, An Unregenerate Denomination (Part 2)
| Posted On: 07/06/06 07:46:12 AM |
Age 33, RO |
Thank you for this article and especially for the link to the one about children's conversion. I would be very interested in more materials about bringing up children for Christ and discerning their spiritual condition.
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