Category archive - church

Distinctive

There have been many words written recently, on this blog and others, about the meaning of baptism, and its relationship to church membership. Paul Littleton has written a very thoughtful post on this subject, and has taken issue with some of the things I have written. Pastor Dennis Newkirk of Henderson Hills Baptist Church has written extensively about the subject on his own blog, and I truly appreciate his willingness to engage in that forum. He has not only expressed himself thoroughly and creatively, but he has allowed comments and addressed the concerns raised by the commentors, and all of this while on vacation, which goes above and beyond. Above all, I appreciate the desire of these two pastors to be thouroughl biblical in their practice.

Having said that, I believe that I am not alone in my understanding that our historic Baptist practice of requiring baptism as a prerequisite to church membership is, in fact, thoroughly biblical as well. While no single passage of scripture exists that directly and explicitly requires baptism to precede church membership, it is nonetheless thoroughly scriptural, being the logical outworking of a systematic approach to an ecclesiology that requires a regenerate church membership. This distinctive of a regenerate church membership is one for which many have suffered, and many have died, and I don’t wish to see it further devalued.

Paul Littleton, in the post linked above, is frankly dismissive of what he calls “denominationalism,” on the grounds that it is a historical novelty. He correctly points out that it was a phenomenon unheard of in the first century. He admits to being puzzled by a concern for Baptist distinctives, and indicates that to point out that one should belong to a church where they are in agreement with that church’s theological positions is “an American cultural” phenomenon, and “not mature.” I respectfully disagree.

While it is true that denominational distinctness is a relatively recent development, I don’t see this as a reason to dismiss it out of hand. First century churches had the presence of the Apostles to force them to deal with issues that would divide them. Today, we have the written Word of God, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and a conscience under the lordship of Christ. When Christians, with these things in common, come to very different understandings, denominationalism is the predictable and necessary result.

I am concerned for Baptist distinctives. I am thankful for those early Baptists who stood, often with the certainty of persecution and death, for what they believed to be a biblical ecclesiology, and specifically for a membership composed of regenerate souls who have testified of that regeneration through baptism. I believe a church that is led to a different understanding should also be willing to separate itself from those of us who hold that distinctive.

Are we perfectly modeling this belief? Obviously, we are not. No one but God can know the heart, and any fair look at our attendance relative to our membership will lead to the conclusion that we have many unregenerate members. We need a revival of church discipline in order to return more closely to the standard of a regenerate church membership, but that is another discussion, and to bring it up in this discussion is to change the subject. Our inability to meet the standard is not a reason to lower that standard.

While Pastor Newkirk has expressed his sincere belief that the action he proposes will make baptisms performed in their church more meaningful, I am afraid it will instead make membership less meaningful.

Church on Sunday

Okay, I know I’ve asked this before, but that was a couple of months ago. I’ve slept often and well since then.

I’m planning to leave Franklin, Tennessee, where I’m spending the night with family, at around 5:00 AM on Sunday, June 11, on my way to Greensboro. If all goes well, I will be somewhere along the highlighted route on the map above when it’s time for church, and I’m looking for suggestions.

One of my greatest joys, as someone who is always ‘meeting expectations’ on Sunday morning (sometimes well, sometimes poorly) is those rare opportunities when I am away, to just be able to enjoy worship with no expectations. I haven’t had one of these Sundays since last summer, and I always look forward to them with great anticipation.

So please, especially if you can find your church on this map (click here for a view you can actually read), offer me a suggestion here for a church I can visit. Please give me the street address of the church; I’ll let my laptop/GPS receiver find it for me. You can respond in a comment here, or click the link in the sidebar to email me.

Thanks in advance…

Reformation

In our church culture, when you say you are having a “revival,” most will picture a series of church services, usually lasting from Sunday through Wednesday, although they used to last much longer. Images of evangelistic crusades come to mind, with fiery sermons designed to bring people under conviction and to elicit professions of faith.

A New Website

I wanted to offer a my thanks to Val Wood of mychurchwebsite in Durant, Oklahoma, for getting our church’s website up and running. If you need a website for your church, this is worth a look. It is very customizable, you can have your own slideshow running on the main page, and it is very easy to work with. From the beginning, it had a lot of denomination-specific stuff on it, like a synopsis of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message, as well as a link to the full document, when you click the “Beliefs” button. They also have pre-loaded content for other denominations, and all of it is customizeable and changeable.

Anyway, if you’re interested in a website, Val will treat you well. He had ours up and running within 24 hours, with a domain name we picked, and all for $99 a year. There was a one-time $20 setup fee. You can click the link above to contact these great folks, and you can click the link in the right column here to check out our site. I’ve probably spent about 20 minutes so far working on it, so it’s perfect if you’re too busy (or not smart enough…) to design a site from scratch.

And if you’re interested in how age has improved me from the young cowboy you see on this page, you can click here.

For I Cannot Keep Silent

One of the greatest joys in my life is being a member of the Singing Churchmen of Oklahoma. Before my current ministry, I was minister of music and youth at several Oklahoma churches and by virtue of that position I was allowed to join this wonderful group. Thankfully, unlike the Singing ChurchWomen of Oklahoma, no audition was required.

Dr. Bill Green, our director, is a wonderful man and a good friend. He has been there for my family during difficult times, and has always been a help and a support to us.

The music we sing challenges my heart as well as my singing ability. We were divided into four groups last night for concerts in Hobart, Sallisaw, Tulsa and Nicoma Park. If you were with me in Sallisaw, you heard music ranging from negro spiritual to Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus, from traditional hymns to modern praise songs. There is a wonderful range of music with which to praise Him, and it is so uplifting to be a part of a group that encourages Christians and points the lost to the love of the Savior.

Next month we will perform a one-hour concert in a public high school in southern Oklahoma. I pray that God will greatly use us in this marketplace platform He has given us to boldly proclaim the gospel.

Two Roads Diverged…

Associated Baptist Press(ABP)’s John Pierce published an article last week about Ron Phillips, pastor of Abba’s House, a “Spirit-filled Southern Baptist church” in Hixson, Tennessee. The story purports to be an anecdotal example of how those responsible for the conservative resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention are seeking to further narrow the paramaters of cooperation. The somewhat hyperbolic headline of the story is “Charismatic-leaning Southern Baptists being betrayed, excluded, says pastor.” A careful reading of the story, however, reveals a man who has left the mainstream of Southern Baptist belief and practice. I respect his right to his convictions, but I think his cry of betrayal seems rather empty.

Of course this is part of ABP’s campaign against the anti-charismatic policies adopted last year by the International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention. In A Defense of the IMB Policy on Baptism, a post by Hershael York on his blog Confessions of a Pastor, Dr. York said the following about a hypothetical church that began to teach practices that were not in line with the majority of Southern Baptist churches:

“…that church would surely be dismissed from the local association and perhaps the denomination entirely. More likely, the church would voluntarily leave the denomination because it would be so radically out of step that the church would find little on which to base fellowship with other churches.”

I would suggest that Ron Phillips’ case is far more like that of York’s hypothetical church than a case of betrayal. Surely Phillips, a lifelong Southern Baptist, knew how his charismatic practices would be viewed by fellow baptists. In the article, Phillips cites a quote from Judge Paul Pressler’s 1999 book A Hill on Which to Die in which Pressler assures a friend “that Paige, our friends, and I would not turn on charismatics after the battle over biblical authority was won. He trusted us, and he and others have now seen that this issue will not be a test of fellowship.” I would suggest that Pressler could stand behind these words in the case of Ron Phillips. No one has turned on Phillips; it is he who has changed, according to the article. And while charismatic practice is, in my opinion, a warranted test for Southern Baptist missionary service or seminary professorship, it is not and should not be, as Pressler said, a test of fellowship.

Southern Baptists are not betraying Phillips or anyone else. Any sense of marginalization felt by Phillips and those of similar experience is due primarily to their divergence from the mainstream, not to any action of Southern Baptists, who have been nothing if not consistent. This is not betrayal by any definition, and the headline writers at ABP know that. How about “Charismatic-leaning Southern Baptists’ views no longer fit in SBC, pastor admits.” That’s what this story is about.

The Church’s Business

Dr. Alan Branch has written an excellent First-Person column titled Common Mistakes in Congregational Church Government in which he raises several important issues related to how our congregations conduct their business.

One of his contentions is that “perhaps the most deadly mistake a church can make” is to invite those who are “immature, backslidden or inactive to participate in key decisions.” I agree with this assertion. Indeed, it seems unreasonable to me that a seven-year-old who was baptized last week should have the same ability to vote on matters of consequence as that of the faithful servant who has walked with God for fifty years. Yet Dr. Branch’s “most deadly mistake” has been common practice in churches in my experience, certainly with regard to maturity.

The church at which I now serve has a way for dealing with this that I had not seen before coming here. Our constitution contains these items under the heading Qualified Voters:

1. All active members of the Church shall be entitled to vote in the Church Business Meetings, each member being entitled to one (1) vote.
2. By active we mean those who attend, at least, twice a month and who support the church financially.

This goes further than any qualification I had seen before, and leads me to this question: What qualifications are proper for voting in a church business meeting? Should there be any beyond membership in good standing?

In my perfect church world, only those who are informed on the issues, who have sought the mind of Christ, and who are intent on following His will as they understand it without regard to personal preference should participate in the business life of the church. But this is often not the case, and I am afraid it may in fact be an unachievable ideal.

Autonomy and Conscience

I am convinced that, while opposition to the International Mission Board (IMB) policies regarding glossolalia and baptism may be warranted, the argument should not be made on the basis of church autonomy.

Because a church is autonomous does not mean it is correct in what it believes and teaches. A doctrinally aberrant autonomous church is free to send out all the missionaries it wants, but if it wants those missionaries to be compensated by the gifts of all cooperating Southern Baptist churches, then there must be some level of doctrinal accountability.

I know what you’re thinking: “We have the Baptist Faith & Message (BF&M), and these new policies go beyond it.” Yes, they do. But so, arguably, does the IMB’s divorce restriction, and prudently so. This is not an infringement on the church’s right to call a divorced and re-married pastor, even if they wouldn’t allow that pastor to serve on the mission field under IMB auspices.

Those disaffected by the conservative resurgence in the convention make a similar argument with regard to the requirement for missionaries and seminary professors to agree not to contradict the BF&M in their work. They call it a violation of conscience. Nonsense. If they want to receive their salaries from the gifts of Southern Baptists, it is no violation of anything to require that they not actively work against the statement of commonly held faith adopted by those Southern Baptists in convention.

Just as a church is free to cooperate or not by it’s autonomous decision, so is a missionary or professor free to seek out avenues of service that are more in keeping with the dictates of their conscience.

Isn’t freedom grand?

Evangelism Conference

I’m looking forward to a nice break from routine and a healthy dose of conviction and challenge as well as my family and I attend the Oklahoma State Evangelism Conference the next two days. I always enjoy attending this conference, and sometimes I actually enjoy the conference itself (some years are better than others). But it will be a chance to slow down a bit and catch up with friends I haven’t seen lately. And with Malcom McDow, Ken Whitten, Johnny Hunt and Jimmy Draper on the program, it should be worth the trip.

I will be keeping up with this page (not that anyone reads it) thanks to the wireless access so graciously provided by the First Baptist Church of Moore, which is hosting the conference. Why don’t all churches (and houses, for that matter) have this? Our church averages 60 in Sunday school, and we have it! Just my little contribution to my ideal world…