Monthly archive - July 2006

Vote “Stopped” at Henderson Hills

Pastor Dennis Newkirk confirms on his blog that the elder council will not ask the church to vote on the bylaw change they had proposed. It is not clear whether this is a postponement or a cancellation, but in either case, the bylaws of Henderson Hills Baptist Church still require that members be scripturally baptized, and for that I am thankful. We must be careful about reaching the conclusion that this move is the result of public pressure. Pastor Newkirk and the elders at HHBC have been nothing if not thoughtful and deliberate in this process, and this can not have been an easy decision for them. And in any case, with the public challenges, and in some cases vicious personal attacks, they have already faced, it seems that they have weathered the most difficult part of this particular storm. It doesn't make sense that they would postpone the vote after all that for that reason. I have seen since I began following this story a disconnect between what has been said about this change and what the change actually proposed to do. My previous post contains the exact language to be changed, and the effect of that change would have been the possibility that someone could become a member of HHBC without being baptized at all. In one of his messages to the church, Pastor Newkirk responded to the question of many, "Why would you want a member who hasn't been baptized?", by saying, "We wouldn't." He has said repeatedly that they are only talking about accepting those who were perhaps sprinkled as children, and have not come to a clear conviction of their need for believer's baptism, and those who are physically unable to tolerate immersion. I have said many times that I think there is room for flexibility of mode for the person who understands and desires to be obedient in believers baptism by immersion but is medically prevented. I don't think we should abandon common sense in pursuit of a rigid, legalistic attitude toward baptism. They should be accepted. For the person yet to be convinced of the need for believer's baptism, my first question would be of their reasons for desiring membership in a Baptist church. I would want a church to love, embrace, and teach that person, but they don't appear to me to be a candidate for membership. The need for an exception here is much less clear to me. If you'll allow me a military analogy, it seems to me that these exceptions could be addressed tactically rather than strategically. A tactical approach would require individual attention to individual circumstances, and HHBC's elders have proposed the strategic move of removing the requirement altogether. I think this is where their greatest error lies, and perhaps the postponement (cancellation) of this vote reflects a desire to move to a more tactical approach. I pray for an approach to be found that would preserve an historic, and I believe biblical, Baptist distinctive, as well as preserving the fellowship HHBC enjoys with other Southern Baptist churches.

Messenger Excerpts on Baptism

In it's services this weekend, the members of Henderson Hills Baptist Church will vote on approving the recommendation of their elder council to remove the requirement of baptism for church membership. Here is the portion of the bylaw they propose to change (PDF), with the change noted:

Membership will be granted to anyone who offers a biblical testimony of salvation, has been scripturally baptized and agrees to accept the responsibilities of membership.

As has been previously noted here, the Baptist Messenger, Oklahoma's state Baptist weekly, has published several articles about this proposal. These articles are available online, and they are excellent. What I would like to do here is to share with you some quotes that did not appear in the online edition. One page of the July 20 Messenger was dedicated to responses to the Messenger asking several pastors and associational DOM's how they would explain their church's belief to a person who wants to join but has not been baptized. Here are some selections:

Baptism is an issue of obedience, not an issue of church preference. It is not an act that an individual church developed as part of its membership requirements. Instead, baptism is at the heart of our obedience to Jesus as Lord of our lives...If someone wishes to identify himself with a local body of believers through church membership, we should be certain he has been obedient by identifying himself with the head of that local church, Jesus Christ, through believer's baptism.

- Shane Hall, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Clinton, Oklahoma

Scriptural baptism requires a scriptural candidate, who is a person who has been eternally saved by grace as the result of trusting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Immersion is the scriptural mode, and the scriptural administrator is the New Testament church. Scriptural baptism is a prerequisite to church membership.

- Otis Cayton, Director of Missions, Frisco Baptist Association

Baptism is a step of obedience to clearly identify with Jesus Christ. It is like putting on the uniform of God's team. One is already a part of God's team as he accepts Jesus Christ as Savior, Baptism is an open declaration that Jesus is now the Lord of one's life. Having fulfilled these two requirements, one has full priveleges of membership in our church.

- Bob Green, Pastor, Arrow Heights Baptist Church, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and President, BGCO

To remove baptism from the requirements for membership may also suggest that we can remove baptism from church authority. Is there an established authority for baptism? If not, anybody could go into the "baptizing business." It wouldn't have to be a church. A prospective member could go to a Baptizing Company, be baptized and the bring a certificate and a picture of the baptism to the church he wants to join. This would remove the necesity of giving proof of genuine conversion.

- Ralph Crawford, retired pastor, Olivet Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Everyone is welcome to attend [our church,] but membership is only for those who are willing to obey the ordinances given by Christ through Scripture. Church members must be willing to publicly declare their faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Church members must be willing to declare death to sin, death to the old way of life and a commitment to walk in the newness of life found only in Christ. God has ordained baptism as the way for these truths to be proclaimed publicly. Therefore, since this is the biblical interpretation for baptism, we only accept the baptism of believers of like faith.

- Blake Gideon, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Idabel, Oklahoma

Baptism cannot save a person's soul, only faith in Jesus Christ. Those who go into the baptismal waters without a personal relationship with Jesus only get wet, and nothing more...If someone wants to join our church, but has not been baptized, we don't ask them to do anything more than the rest of us have done: every member has professed a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and has been scripturally baptized by immersion.

- Jeff Moore, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Altus, Oklahoma

A person who wants to join our church and has not been baptized will need to be baptized to join the church...They must first receive Christ as their Savior, Then, because they have received Christ, they will want to be baptized to demonstrate what Christ has done for them. Their baptism also identifies them with other baptized believers who are a part of the body of Christ. The church is the body of Christ on Earth today. Baptism identifies them with that local body of believers as well as all believers in Christ.

- Ted Kersh, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Claremore, Oklahoma

Baptism is a public testimony of our faith in Jesus Christ, and is a testimony of our willingness to be obedient to Jesus. We believe baptism not only represents being unified with Christ, but also represents being unified with His body, the church. To be a member of the church, it is important that a person publicly identify with Christ and His church by being baptized by immersion the same way Jesus was baptized. Because Christ commanded us to be baptized, baptism is a church ordinance, and it is a prerequisite to the privelege of church membership.

- Buddy Hunt, Pastor, Immanuel Baptist Church, Duncan, Oklahoma

Dennis Newkirk, Pastor/Teaching Elder at Henderson Hills, has been the recipient of some ungodly, shameful personal verbal attacks by fellow pastors in recent weeks, and for that I am ashamed and sorry. I have communicated this privately to him. Let me be clear: I wish no ill toward the elders or members of Henderson Hills. I believe that the proposal on which they are voting is an error, and if they affirm it I will advocate their removal from our fellowship, so foundational is this doctrine. But in no way do I believe this error makes them any less Christian, or any less a church, for that matter. It just makes them less Southern Baptist, and I'm sorry about that. But I believe their leaders have truly sought God's will in this matter, and that they are sincere in their desire to follow. It is difficult to fault that sincerity. I am convinced that, whatever they decide, they will continue to make a significant impact for the Kingdom. Remember this great church in your prayers this weekend as they make this important decision.

Missional?

At the risk of drawing the ire of Steve McCoy, who has been unforgiving of the misuse or misunderstanding of this word, I think I'm ready to take a stab at it. Art Rogers has written some excellent posts (1 and 2) on "programming evangelism." He suggests that the time-honored approach of confrontational evangelism, the church going out into the neighborhood and knocking on doors to share the gospel, may have seen it's best days. I couldn't agree more. In an American culture where the church was recognized as having an important and respected place in the community, and where the authority of the Bible was at least recognized, if not always applied, this approach was an effective one. Unfortunately, that American culture no longer exists. In the 1950's, vacuum-cleaner companies largely sold their products through door-to-door salesman. This approach was effective, as people were too polite to ignore the knock or otherwise be rude to a man who was working hard to make his living. It was an effective way to sell vacuums. But the culture has changed. People are busier than ever, and most would think nothing of slamming the door in the face of someone who arrives unannounced to sell them something they don't think they need. Just ask your friendly neighborhood Mormon missionaries. Our association regularly sponsors "FAITH Blitzes." We ask people to meet at a particular church on a Saturday morning, where we divide into teams of two or three and head out with a stack of FAITH questionnaires and a map. I understand the motivation for this, but a couple of things about it concern me. First, the purpose of these events is to share the gospel, and I'm certainly not opposed to that. But using the FAITH questionnaire, you begin the conversation by announcing that you are "surveying the neighborhood," when it is really just an excuse to share the gospel. I don't know that any information is collected or used, except to get to the transition question about what the respondent understands it takes to get to heaven. Perhaps there is more use made of "survey data," but the whole approach seems disingenuous to me. Often it is reported at the end of one of these campaigns that one or two people prayed to receive Christ. I'm truly grateful for any genuine conversions that take place, but I can't help wondering how many doors are forever closed to the gospel because "those people from the church" kept knocking while someone was trying to sleep in, catch up on housework, or whatever the Saturday activity was that might have been interrupted. This past Sunday night, I finished a series of three sermons, preaching through Paul's letter to Philemon. Before Paul comes to his point of not "ordering" Philemon to do the right thing regarding Onesimus, he shares with Philemon what his prayer has been for him:

and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.

- Philemon 6 (ESV)

This verse stood out to me in a way it never had before. It seems to me that the essence of being missional is sharing our faith in such a way that people see "every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ." This cannot happen when we confront someone at their door, while their dinner is cooling on the table, their baby is crying, and their phone is ringing. It happens when we share our lives with people.

As I told my church, we must be intentional about developing friendships with people who need Jesus. And those friendships must be genuine friendships, where our interest is truly in that person, and not about manipulating that person into a decision. People can spot a phony quickly, and we must not be that phony. We must invest ourselves in their lives in such a way that, when they face difficult circumstances, we can be the one to stand beside them and point them to the Answer.

We can bemoan the fact that our time-tested approaches are no longer effective, or we can embrace the call to live authentic, missional lives, engaging the lost in relationships that will allow them to see the good Christ has done in us. Door-to-door salesman are simply not effective these days. Hoover and Kirby have learned this lesson and adapted their approach. Will the church?

Stress?

I found this indicator for stress on several sites, and if you've not seen it, you may find it useful:

I'm not sure exactly how it works, but this is amazingly accurate. The attached photo has 2 almost identical dolphins in it. It was used in a case study on stress level at St. Mary's Hospital. Look at both dolphins jumping out of the water. The dolphins are identical. A closely monitored, scientific study of a group revealed that in spite of the fact that the dolphins are identical; a person under stress would find differences in the two dolphins. If there are many differences found between both dolphins, it means that the person is experiencing a great amount of stress. Look at the photograph and if you find more than one or two differences you consider taking some proactive steps to reduce the level of stress you experience daily.

To see the photograph, click here.

Winners and Losers

Congratulations to Guy Muse, our man in Ecuador, who wins this contest with a guess of $4950. Please email me with mailing instructions, and I will get that Starbuck's card out as soon as I return from the Arctic Edge, our VBS adventure that begins tonight at 6:00 pm. Contest entries, in order of the values guessed, were:

Anthony $2500 Kevin S. $3570 Kevin B. $4237 Amy W. $4500 Guy M. $4950 Bob C. $5546 Jeff R. Y. $5547

All's fair, Jeff? Really? I hope you still feel that way after this contest... Thanks to all who entered. I hope you enjoyed this bit of weekend nonsense as much as I did. I should have my little yellow machine back by the weekend. Please pray for the teachers and workers involved in our VBS, and most of all for the children who will come as we share the truth of God's word and plant the seeds of the gospel in their hearts this week.

Contest for the Weekend

Well, it's about time we had a little fun around here, and it seems appropriate to me to use the least fun event of my life recently in order to do it. And as I have been the beneficiary of more than one blog contest that has netted me more than one Starbuck's gift card (you know who you are), I thought it was time to return the favor. There are some wonderful photographers in the blog landscape, men like Joe Thorn, Dennis Newkirk, and Joe Kennedy, to name just a few. If you want to see some great photography this weekend, check out these guys' work; it'll be worth your time. I am not much of a photographer, but I will be using a couple of photographs I took for this bit of weekend fun. As you know if you are a regular reader here, I hit a deer just over a week ago, and smashed up my little yellow Suzuki. I really like that car; it's taken me to Albuquerque and to Greensboro, as well as to countless hospital visits, shopping trips, and other excursions, delivering great gas mileage, and reasonable comfort all the while. I really didn't want to see it totaled, and I'm happy to report that it will be repaired, though I was shocked at the amount of damage the deer had done. Which brings us to the contest.

The Car

My car is a 2003 Suzuki Aerio GS Sedan with just over 60,000 miles. It has power windows & locks, A/C, cruise control, a 6-disc CD changer, and remote keyless entry.

The Damage

In addition to what is clearly seen in the photos below, the radiator and A/C condenser were damaged beyond repair.

The Contest

I have rounded the repair estimate to the nearest whole dollar. I will send a Starbuck's gift card to the commentor who guesses, The Price Is Right style, closest to the actual repair estimate dollar figure for damage repair without going over. I have told several people what the estimate was; if you're one of those, please don't guess. It wouldn't really be guessing, anyway, would it? The deadline will be midnight Sunday, July 23.

Mohler and Young on Baptism

Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, has written eloquently on the subject of baptism and its relationship to church membership on his new blog dedicated to SBC issues, Conventional Thinking. His post that deals with this topic stems from a proposal by the elders of Bethlehem Baptist Church, a non-SBC church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that is strikingly similar to the move proposed by the elders at Henderson Hills. While I encourage you to read his entire article, I will quote below the portions I believe have relevance to the Henderson Hills discussion.

With all respect for my Presbyterian brothers and sisters, I do not believe that the “baptism” of infants is any baptism at all. I can say that with great love and respect, knowing that Presbyterians who love the truth in their own confessional standards will respect a Baptist who does the same. As I often remark to evangelical Presbyterians, we may be the last people on earth who can have a real disagreement. That said, baptism has been understood by all major branches of Christianity, throughout the centuries of Christian experience, to be a requirement for church membership and the fellowship of the Lord’s table. Thus, for Baptists to receive into the membership of a Baptist church (or to invite to the Lord’s Supper) any believer who lacks such baptism, is to receive non-baptized persons as if they were baptized. Any compromise of Baptist conviction concerning the requirement of believer’s baptism by immersion amounts to a redefinition of Baptist identity. More importantly, it raises the most basic questions of ecclesiology. We must give those questions intent attention in these days. Otherwise, will there be any Baptists in the next generation?

For an extremely well-written allegorical treatment of this issue, please visit Prayer and the Ministry of the Word, the blog of Jeff Richard Young, pastor of Corinth Baptist Church near Ravenna, Texas. Here is an excerpt from his excellent post titled Mr. and Mrs. Sprinkled Prospect:

Eventually Dennis restored order and said to the Prospects, “It’s simple. You just have to be re-baptized to join the Baptist church. That’s what our last pastor used to do.” That almost made me choke on my iced tea, but I managed to swallow, and said, “Dennis, we Baptists recognize that baptism can only be by immersion. Therefore no one who has merely been sprinkled can be ‘re-baptized,’ because he wasn’t really baptized in the first place. The word ‘re-baptized’ really shouldn’t be used, at least among Baptists. ‘Re-baptism’ simply doesn’t exist.”

The Chairman’s Report: Another View

The trustees of the International Mission Board are meeting this week in Richmond, Virginia. The public plenary sessions of these meetings customarily conclude with a report by the chairman. Dr. John Floyd is presiding over his first meeting as chairman, and Marty Duren has reported on his blog that “The chairman’s report included a strange statement that blogs are lowering the morale of missionaries around the world.” A similar account can be found on trustee Wade Burleson’s blog. I have received a report from another trustee, and here is that trustee’s recollection:

“As I remember the Chairman’s words, he was asserting that inaccurate accusations distributed by rumor and media were adversely affecting missionary morale. The word ‘blog’ was mentioned in the general context. The reference to missionary morale was a tiny percentage of the whole report, which was encouraging, cooperative and built trust and understanding among those who were there.”

Resolved

What follows is the text of a resolution adopted on Monday, July 17, 2006 by the Executive Board of the Capital Baptist Assocation, of which Henderson Hills Baptist Church is a member (HT: Rich Dunbar). While there potentially over 300 members of this board, there were 50-60 in attendance. This resolution was unanimously adopted:

Resolution Affirming Scriptural Baptism as a Prerequisite to the Privileges of Church Membership

Whereas, Capital Baptist Association consist of Baptist churches in the Metropolitan Oklahoma City area which subscribe to the statement of "The Baptist Faith and Message" or similar articles of faith, and

Whereas, the Baptist Faith and Message adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention, June 14, 2000 states in Article VII.- Baptism and the Lord’s Supper: Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; Being a church ordinance, it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership, and

Whereas, the Baptist Faith and Message adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention, June 14, 2000 states in Article VI - The Church: The New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, and

Whereas, Capital Baptist Association’s Constitution and By-laws states in Article III - Membership - item 3: The association reserves the right to determine its own membership and to refuse to seat messengers and/or withdraw fellowship from churches that may have become corrupt in faith or practice, and

Whereas, Henderson Hills Baptist Church will vote on the proposal of their Elder Council to eliminate baptism as a prerequisite for church membership during their services on the weekend of July 29-30, 2006, and

Whereas, the Elder Council of Henderson Hills Baptist Church has publicly announced this proposed bylaw change to eliminate baptism as a prerequisite for church membership, now therefore be it

Resolved, that the Executive Board of the Capital Baptist Association meeting on July 17, 2006 affirm the "Baptist Faith and Message" and similar articles of faith which state that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and being a church ordinance, it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership, and be it further

Resolved, that we affirm that the New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, and be it further

Resolved, that we encourage the members of Henderson Hills Baptist Church to affirm and maintain their current bylaw requirements for church membership, and be it finally

Resolved, that we encourage the churches of Capital Baptist Association to pray for the leaders and members of Henderson Hills Baptist Church as they seek God’s will in this matter.

This is somewhat wordier than the resolution I will offer at the annual meeting of our state convention, but the intent is the same: to encourage adherence to our traditional and scriptural understanding of a regenerate, scripturally baptized church membership.

The Messenger: Can You Hear Me Now?

I suggested in an earlier post that the Baptist Messenger, the state Baptist weekly here in Oklahoma, was preparing to weigh in rather heavily on the issue of baptism and church membership in light of the proposed action of Henderson Hills Baptist Church, host of last year's annual meeting of the BGCO. I may have understated a bit. The print edition of the Messenger dated July 13, 2006, has a news story about HHBC's proposed action, and an excellent editorial by their executive editor Ray Sanders titled Baptism is a Big Deal. The front page has a box that contains the following:

Baptism. How important is it?

In light of the impending action by members of Edmond, Henderson Hills to consider whether or not to remove from the church's bylaws the phrase "has been scripturally baptized" as a condition of membership, the Baptist Messenger will present a special four-page, pull-out section in a coming issue. It will include positional statements about baptism and church polity from the BGCO, Baptist Faith & Message, Oklahoma Baptist pastors and DOMs and national SBC leaders.

For a preview of this coming attraction, you can visit the Messenger's website, where there are already several articles posted which are not in the most recent print edition, and I'm guessing they will be a part of the pull-out mentioned above. Interestingly, the first item you will see at that link is a column by Rick Thompson, IMB trustee and pastor of the OKC metro's Council Road Baptist Church. The column is taken directly from his display of internet grafiti blog. This is not necessarily earth-shattering, as the aforementioned Ray Sanders is a member of Council Road. Still, examples like this can only serve to strengthen the public's perception of the reliability of blogs that make legitimate contributions to our denominational conversations, and there are many such blogs out there.