Resolved to Dissolve?

 

Today I am broken-hearted at some things that I have read on two SBC blogs that I have come to respect and value for their contribution to the discussion of what it is to be Southern Baptist. The first thing that came to my attention was this article by Dave Miller at SBC Voices. I was stunned and thought it to be a bad joke until I read the article that he linked to on the SBC Impact blog.

It is unfortunate about what happened with the resolution regarding the 2011 NIV at this years annual convention, I was not there so I can only depend on reports from those who were. It is my understanding that this resolution was brought before the convention from the floor with two messengers speaking out against this translation and no one speaking out in support of it. I am also under the impression that it was approved by what appeared to be 90% of those voting. So I went to Denny Burk’s blog and watched the process to confirm what I had been told and found the information to be accurate. I am in no way defending this translation, but making a point about how it was handled at this years convention.

It is disheartening to read the wording of the proposed resolution that is found at the SBC Impact blog. I find it outrageous that because someone does not want to learn the English language, they wish to state that the KJV “alters the meaning of hundreds of verses, most significantly by using archaic language.” Excuse me, but did you not learn how to use a dictionary? The alterations that are referred to appear as a result of someone’s lack of self-education. Then you have the gall to state,  “Resolved: That the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, June 19-20, 2012 express profound disappointment with King James I for this inaccurate translation of God’s inspired Scripture.” On what planet did you drop in from? Because you are to busy to study English, that makes the KJV inaccurate?

I spent fifteen years and hundreds of dollars studying this very debate. If my library couldn’t get a book, I searched it out through rare book dealers. I even have an 1881 edition of the critical text as well as an 1881 English translation of that text. My concern is not with the idolized original autographs, but with the preservation of the words of God. Because that is what this debate is truly about. Did God preserve His words or not. If so, where are they and who has been hiding them from us. I have the latest and greatest UBS and NA critical text. I have the Majority text of Peirpont/Robinson. I have the Ecclesiastical/ Byzantine/Textus Receptus. I have the Beza Text. I have every major, and the majority of the minor, translations of the New Testament starting with Wycliff through to The Voice. I have read them. I have studied, wept, and poured out my heart over this issue.

My conclusion is not yours, and yours is not mine. I preach and teach from the KJV. I do not expect others to use it just because I do. I do expect people to be intellectually honest with themselves about the translation they use and ask themselves why they use it. If a man believes that the ESV is the best translation, I expect him to preach and teach from it. If he doesn’t because his church has always used the NIV, then he needs to educate his people about the translation he uses and why he uses it. If he doesn’t he is being dishonest with his people and himself.

This kind of uneducated, narrow-minded thinking is what makes KJV-only people salivate. You see, I recognize scholarship when I see it. I appreciate the work done on the Apologetic Study Bible, the ESV Study Bible, and the NKJV Study Bible. I read the notes. I digest what is there and I increase in my knowledge where I once was naïve. I appreciate Bill Mounce and especially Daniel Wallace and all the efforts that these men have put forth. Biblical scholarship and textual criticism have come a long way, but the issue is still the same, has God preserved His words or not? Dan Wallace will even tell you that current scholars are agreed on 90% of what the original reading was. Well, what about the 10%? Either God preserved His words or He didn’t. It is that plain of an issue.

If the purposed resolution does go to the floor of the convention, I will leave the SBC. I would even call on the twenty-three percent of pastors in the convention, who use the KJV, to do the same.

But why stop with the KJV? Why not go all the way and remove Calvin’s writings and Luther’s works. Oh and lets not forget the Puritans and their Geneva Bible. They are all over four hundred years old and still include archaic words in newer translations and editions of their works. The best solution to the resolution is to just say out loud what translation you do want instead of the one’s you don’t.

Resolved: That all of the churches associated with the Southern Baptist Convention will only use the Holman Christian Standard Bible and that Lifeway will not advertise, use, purchase, nor sell any other translation. Bible burning to be held in the parking lot after the meeting.

Technorati Tags: SBC Voices,SBC Impact,Dave Miller,KJV,NIV,Bill Mounce,Dan Wallace,original autographs

Christian Focus Book Giveaway

 

Here is another great book that is being offered as this month’s giveaway.

http://blog.christianfocus.com/index.php/2011/08/29/august-book-giveaway-the-trials-of-theology/

Please enter and keep up with Christian Focus, as they provide some really great books for our personal and spiritual growth.

Technorati Tags: Giveaway,Theology,Christian Focus

Blessings,

 

Bro. Martin

Dare To Enter

Christian Focus Booknotes, the blog for Christian Focus Publishing, is sponsoring a give-away this month. You can enter HERE.

One of the ways to enter is by answering the question: How can the challenges of the protestant reformation equip us to deal with the challenges we face in the church today?

My answer follows.

We have come to rest upon our laurels in the last 40 years or so. Although our course is clearly laid out before us in Scripture, we have found our success a potent drug that keeps our eyes on grandeur instead of our focus on Christ. We need to forget our celebrity and give people what they need, the Gospel; instead of the entertainment they want. A renewed hunger for the WORD IN THE STUDY; will always lead to a renewed PASSION FROM THE PULPIT. Where are the fires that burned so brightly five hundred years ago? They have become embers on our dusty bookshelves. And right next to them sits the neglected truth of the Reformation, swaddled with care, lest we disturb the sacredness of the printed page.

Oh we have been warned to "quench not the Spirit." (1 Thes. 5:19) Instead, we drown Him out with bright lights and amps. The Americanization of not only the world, but in particular, the church has lead us down the path of falsely called revivals and sexually defrocked ministers. Emotions and feelings have replaced, Holy Spirit moves  on the condemned and convicted. Many are praying for revival, but what is dearly needed is resurrection of a dead church that just can't stop being socially acceptable. Stop scratching your  ears (see 2 Tim 4:3-4) and admit that you are so shallow, a gnat couldn't drown in your knowledge of Biblical doctrine. People are buying fire insurance from Satan, instead of investing in the full assurance of the Gospel.

Some here will say that I am being harsh, unkind, unloving.... Yet I say, NO. I am being honest about how we ALL are. Instead of asking, "what would the reformers do?" We should be DOING WHAT THE REFORMERS DID! Taking up the cross of Christ and beating the dead horse with it until resurrection happened, at all cost. Life.. limb.. and liberty are nothing compared to total surrender to the Sovereign Who gave His all for us.

Gave me the Christ!!! Give them the Christ!!!

Technorati Tags: Reformers,Giveaway

Why Baptist?

Have you ever been asked, “Why Baptist?” and the person have a quizzical expression? I find that question to be most entertaining, especially the facial expression. But should that question be asked? I will have to be biographical in order to answer that question. In fact, I learn best by doing it for myself whether through reading, praying, or action.

I live in a very small, rural community that is just like every other one. You can drive straight through town, because we don’t have any stop signs or traffic lights on the main drag. Everyone and everything moves a little slower here. It is much quieter during the day and pitch black at night. Yet this small town (pop. 1100 according to the sign, less according to the mayor) is a bit different. We have many churches here.

The typical town of our size usually has one or two churches. In fat, you can drive through them one after the other and find a Methodist church in one town then the next will have a Christian church and then the next a Methodist church and so on from there with an occasional Catholic church thrown in for good measure. Here, we have a Methodist church we also have a Catholic Church. In fact the Catholic church is the largest in our area. We also have a Lutheran church, a Charismatic group, a Presbyterian church, a Baptist church (SBC), an Independent Baptist house church, a non-Sectarian congregation, and three different congregations that meet who use the Mormon scriptures (Community of Christ (formerly RLDS), the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints (LDS) and Restoration Latter Day Saints. As you can see, we do have a lot to offer when it comes to the spiritual life of the individual.

With all of these different religious bodies present in such a confined area you can expect tension, and boy do we have it here. Most of it is directed at the LDS church and the hundreds of missionaries that they have here. There is also so hard feelings toward the SBC church in town because of the lack of community involvement and because people think they are a cult of some kind. I personally find this to be amusing because I pastored the local SBC church for two years and we made a personal commitment to this community by buying a home and staying here after we resigned from the church. My wife Wendy, and I have continued to work with the people here because we love them all. What breaks our hearts is the inability of people to work together because of all the religious tension. But where does one start? Let me just say that we fumbled the ball many times before we found something that opened the door to dialogue.

The one thing that has consistently worked is the Baptist Faith and Message. Now I know how some feel about using it as an evangelistic tool, but here it works. Why? Because every church in town teaches their people to educate themselves about the different faith groups that are here. This tract has been gladly received and studied by someone from each group. The one thing that they come away with is how much we agree doctrinally with each other. This has really been helpful with the LDS folks, because we meet with some of the leadership on a monthly basis.

In fact, one of these groups asked the very question that I stated out with in the first paragraph, “Why Baptist?” And this got me started down memory lane. I have my fortieth spiritual birthday coming up and I have been a Baptist the whole time. I was twelve, and the last thing I was considering was, “which church should I go to?” For me the choice was simple. I went to the church that sent the bus, which at that time was First Baptist Church (SBC). I learned a lot from my Sunday School teachers and from the preaching. I thought church rocked and could wait until next Sunday. I just assumed that all churches were the same and didn’t really concern myself with the question of “Why Baptist?”

All that changed when I moved from Ohio to Mississippi. This was the first time I had ever seen so many Baptist churches in my life. I was amazed at how we would come to intersections and you would see three Baptist churches across from each other. Not only that, but there were SBC, Hard Shell, Primitive, Northern, Independent, Fundamental and on the list went. I didn’t know such creatures existed. But I also noticed that there were people who started asking me the question, “Why Baptist?” I didn’t know myself, so how was I to answer them?

So I began to ask my pastor about the differences and he said, “Son, instead of telling you how about you read this book and see if you can’t find out for yourself.” I Looked at the cover and read the following title The Shadow of the Broad Brim: A Life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. I thought, “what has a biography got to do with why I am a Baptist?” I went to hand the book back but he encouraged me to read it and that I would find my answer.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a name with which I was very familiar. I had heard it thousands of times in church from the lectern and the pulpit, yet I know little about the man, so I read the book. How utterly fixating. This book captured my imagination and as I read I laughed, cried, and prayed. Finally, I read page 145. On it I had found my answer in clear terms.

His (Spurgeon’s) views made him a staunch Baptist, constantly emphasizing the six Baptist distinctives: the Lordship of Jesus; the Supremacy of the New Testament; Regeneration the basis of church-membership; the Right of private judgment; Separation of civil and religious entities; and Baptism by immersion.

The Shadow of the Broad Brim: A Life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Day, Richard Ellsworth, 1965, pg. 145

What joy! I had my answer but I also had my homework to do. You see, I learned that having the answer was only a part of the equation. I also needed to learn what each of these six distinctives meant; find the Biblical resource for each one; study out the passages involved; and determine whether or not to be a Baptist. Thus my journey began and continues…and so shall ours as we look at each one together over the coming weeks.

 

Blessings,

 

Bro. Martin

Technorati Tags: Baptist,doctrine,Spurgeon,SBC

Past Giants–Present Help

Today I got my copy of Preaching magazine and as usual, I was prepared to dive right into it. This month was I little different because I had received another magazine the day before and I wanted to finish it up. At it happened, I put down Preaching on the table face down and was greeted by bold black letters saying: LUTHER, SPURGEON, MOODY. Naturally, I let my eyes fix upon this page and read the whole thing.

It was an ad the Sermon Central had placed on the back cover. Toward the bottom of the page they asked: “Who Inspires Your Preaching?” What a tremendous, pointed question. We all have men who we have heard preach. We may even imitate some of their style, but this ad wasn’t about hearing messages. It was about reading great messages and the writings of great messengers of the past.I would agree that this is something we all should do. Many of my friends read the Puritan Paperbacks. In fact, A couple of years ago Timmy Brister, a brother in the faith and a blogging buddy, put out a challenge to read one of the volumes every month for a year. I gained a new knowledge and appreciation for the Puritan writings and they are now a part of my steady diet of reading. My blogging buddy and friend, Tim Chailles, has a “Reading through the Classics” post on Thursday where he invites people to read a Christian classic at a chapter per week and then interact with the reading with him at his blog. (We are currently reading Gresham Machen’s classic work Christianity & Liberalism.)

But who is it that I read that gets the juices flowing? Many people look at my library and think that it is the Puritans and/or Spurgeon. Although I have a lot of books from those individuals they don’t foot the bill. In fact, I only started reading Spurgeon because I was told at a young age that all good Baptist read Spurgeon. I enjoy his writings and sermons greatly, but there is someone else that I read just as Luther read Augustine. Like Spurgeon reading Luther, And when as Moody read Spurgeon.

Every time I see a book with this man’s name on it, I get goose flesh with anticipation of the treasures and joys that I will find as I pour over every letter of the text, no matter how many times I have read the book, the expectation of blessing is there. Only the Bible brings out more child-like joy.

I have heard recordings of this man preaching and some of the radio messages he presented. But I have never met him. The man? Oliver B. Greene. I have spent two decades in search of any and every thing he has ever had in print. I know that there are still many pamphlets out there to find, but I believe that I now have every hardback book printed by his ministry. He inspires me. His words make me take a deeper harder look at who I am in Christ and how I flesh out the grace that God has given to me.

So who inspires you to greatness in your practice of the faith?

Blessings,

Bro. Martin

Technorati Tags: Spurgeon,Moody,Luther,Preaching,Greene

Every once in a while, a publisher will release a book that is deceptive. Now this can be a challenge for many people, because deception can take many forms. It can be false information. It can be
pure folly in its final analysis. Or it can be something altogether different than one would expect. Zondervan has placed into my hands a book that fits the latter category. What am I writing about? Well, it all started with the title and a certain expectation that I had about the book without having seen a copy of it. Any one who has spent any time looking at resources about New Testament Greek knows that each book comes with a warning about back injuries related to totting such a tome around. We have seen the effects on our Seminary campuses; you know, the students hunched over under the weight of the book bag, or the ones pulling two suitcases on wheels behind them just for Greek courses. So, needless to say, I was a bit taken aback by this particular book.

What is this wonder of publishing magic? It is Keep Your Greek: Strategies for Busy People by Constantine R. Campbell. Now it has been twenty plus years since I have used the Greek that I have learned and the insights that the author gives are timeless. Some of them are some simple that we forget them. The chapter titles are:

1. Read Every Day
2. Burn Your Interlinear (I really needed this one.)
3. Use Software Tools Wisely (This too.)
4. Make Vocabulary Your Friend (I hate vocabulary.)
5. Practice Your Parsing (Slave-driver.)
6. Read Fast
7. Read Slow (Make up your mind dude.)
8. Use Your Senses
9. Get Your Greek Back
10. Putting It All Together

What got me going was how this all started out on a blog; so the author included some of the comments he received on the different parts. It is a fun read and has got me headed toward getting my Greek back.

On a personal note. I would be remiss in not telling you that not only have I lost my Greek, somewhere, I lost my English grammar as well. I found a resource that has helped with that issue and guess what? Zondervan publishes the book. It is English Grammar to ACE New Testament Greek by Samuel Lamerson. I have decided to go through the first year Greek class taught by Bill Mounce online. There are also many fine resources available on the internet. I would encourage you to check out the links in the book, I have and now I am enjoying Greek once more.

A Barna Survey You Need To Take Notice Of

Today I had the opportunity to do some browsing on the internet. I don’t do that as often as I would like, so I took full advantage of doing so and came across several very interesting items. One caught my attention, a Barna Survey, and demonstrates some of the things that I have been preaching and teaching about at Garden Baptist Mission.

One of my greatest concerns has been the enormous amount of Bible illiteracy that I find within the church. It has long been my fear that the church is turning out Christians who are shallow and very superficial. I true believe that this is a result of the church giving up on discipleship as a part of its ministry.

Today we have a group of people who claim to know God, yet know nothing of His word or the life-changing power that is inherent within its pages. Theology is a buzz word for boring. Doctrine is close-mindedness. And Biblical authority is intolerance. Those who do preach a strong, deep, Biblical message are hate-mongers. Everyone wants to be accepted and acceptable to the world because we do not want to bruise egos or hurt any feelings.

Unfortunately, it is this very type of Christian who ends up drowning in a mud puddle whenever they are challenged about their faith. They have no where to turn and no authority that they can site for their belief. Many end up leaving the church because they are disillusioned about the function of the church within the larger picture of life.

One thing that we have done here, is to start Bible study groups, we currently have two. When we begin these groups, we always start with a series on How to Study the Bible. Each group has appreciated this series and learned how they can actively participate in their own personal study of God’s word. Many are now reading the Bible for the first time and they are learning more with each day. We make sure that the studies are opening to anyone and as a result we have some interesting participants.

What has your church done to increase the knowledge of Scripture?

 

Blessings,

Bro. Martin

Technorati Tags: Bible,Barna Group,Illiteracy,Discipleship

NAMB and the Future

Today I read a couple of blogs (here and here) discussing an article published February 9th by Baptist Press about the changes being made in the North American Mission Board (NAMB). So I went back over the article, found here. I was thrilled by what is transpiring under the leadership of president Kevin Ezell and the board members.

I do not know many of the new vice-presidents that have been appointed. I am thankful to Dr. Alvin Reid for giving us a glimpse of these men and his personal knowledge of them.

I have noticed that the NAMB has downsized and reallocated some of its budget and as a result $9 million is heading to the mission field instead of paying salaries, travel, conference and various other expenses. Finally, I see that people are getting a vision of what the SBC started out to be; a people on mission. But I do find it very disturbing that only four percent of our churches are involved in missions.

If this trend continues; we have lost the battle before we started the march. Church leaders need to realize that standing in line does not make you a part of the army. The goal of NAMB is to have ten percent involved in church planting initially. That is a lofty goal given the current numbers.

I am concerned about the focus on metropolitan areas, because we are in a very rural county. I understand that the majority of our population live in these cities, but we should never forget that 66% of SBC churches run less than one hundred on Sunday morning and the vast majority of them are rural in nature. We have forgotten our spiritual roots of being mission oriented, the figures do not lie, but to forget rural ministry could bring down all that has been accomplished.

One thing that I appreciate about this article is the following:

Both sending churches and new church plants will be expected to contribute to Southern Baptists' Cooperative Program and to minister in a manner consistent with the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.

I could not agree more with that particular statement, as my wife and I are planting a church in a very difficult area. We are small, but we have many visitors. Each one receives a copy of the Baptist Faith and Message that first day and they are encouraged to read it, ask questions about it, and are welcome to join us only if they can agree with it. I take some heat for this, but in the area in which we live and minister, we can not have any room for debate about what the church stands for. We are sponsored by and SBC church. I love being a pastor in the SBC and look forward to many years of sharing the gospel as such.

Technorati Tags: Kevin Ezell,NAMB,SBC,Missions

Old Dog; New Gadget

Recently, I had been having some very disturbing problems with my cell phone. So Wendy and I went to the provider and when everything was said and done, we had new Androids. The price was right and we no longer have to worry about a contract. I love it when things work out and we get something that is far better than what we had previously. One of the first things that I did was to get the Kindle app. I must admit that I was happy to be able to take my books with me and I just finished reading my first book on the phone. So now I have a new toy and boy am I enjoying it.

With all that said, let me update you on the mission. First off, last weeks message was not recorded because I forget to pack the recorder when we left for church. We had a returning visitor with us and what a great time we had looking into Isaiah 60:1: Arise! Shine! What a great time of year for the church to do just that. We have also decided that we want to participate in the January Bible Study, as well as the Lottie Moon Offering. We are very excited about what God has in store for us in the coming weeks. Next month is come to church then have some lunch at the café that is located in the same building we are in.

We had a great time with Moira, as she came home for the Thanksgiving break. We had dinner with Wendy’s family on Wednesday then we spent Thursday with the family of one of Moira’s friend here in Nauvoo. It was delightful to spend this time with family and friends . We look forward to having Moira again during Christmas.

As many of you know, Wendy has been having a lot of medical issues, so I want to update everyone on how things are going. Both her CT scan and ultrasound came back normal. She is feeling better, but still has trouble when she eats meat. Her voice is returning and we finally were able to get her knees injected with the Synvisc (joint lubricant). Know we have to wait and see if this will help. On the positive side, Wendy is not having anywhere near as much pain in her knees when she walks down steps. That is a very positive step in the right direction.

Please continue to pray for us as God is moving in ways we never dreamed of.

 

Bro. Martin

Yesterday

What a blessed day we had in worship at Garden Baptist Mission. Our attendance was down a little due to illness. Apparently there is a bug going around that is not so pleasant so be in prayer for my wife and Dr. Allen, both are ill. We did have one of our visitors make a return visit. How wonderful it is to see the Word of God touching the lives of people.

Last Wednesday, I lost a dear “father”, friend, and brother when Rev. Bill Riddick went home to be with the Lord. His funeral is this morning. Please be in prayer for the family.

If you have a Kindle or the software to read the books, you may be interested in a book entitled Jesus the Evangelist which is being offered for free at this time.

 

Until then,

Bro. Martin