Ecclesiastical Separation from a Fundamentalist

The URL below will take you to a great audio interview between two doctors of theology who agree on many aspects of the faith and are both very Baptistic ,yet they have a different perspective on this issue. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did.

http://resources.christianity.com/details/mrki/20080525/21e4a8b5-9f3a-44e2-86c7-884ff1a01a4b.aspx


 

Let me know what you thoughts are—send me an email.

I really respect both these men and both are making a huge difference.

Dr. Minnick is a great representative for fundamentalism.

2nd Annual Paintball

Well it happened again. Yes once again the men and (future men) of Berean Baptist Church came together for our annual Paintball Event and we had a great time.

This year the weather was perfect. We had two great teams that battled it out all day long. Because we went as a private group we had the same referee all day long and simply went from field to field competing. If you have never spent the day with a group of Christian men you are missing out. There is really something impossible for the world to understand about the joy of being with other men who have a common morality. There was no profanity, no lewd jokes, no off-color remarks—just great clean fun.

We had several new faces which is always good. I spent the travel time to and back with two fine young men and got to know each of them a lot better than I would any other time. (Last year, I spent the day getting to know Bill and his son so much better—this year two different men.) These are just some of the secondary benefits to the men of the church doing events together.

Old timers and pre-teens spent the day together. We saw another side of each other. We replaced suits, ties, and white shirts for camouflage bottoms, t-shirts and backwards ball caps and face masks.

Brian provided a great lunch—with deli cuts, chips, snack and plenty of cold drinks.

Our next big event is scheduled for October. Now is the time to start putting away a few dollars every month to be able to participate.


 


 


 

Missing the Blog

I haven't been on my blog lately because I have been on the church website. We are working everyday to give our church the best website in Fayetteville to the glory of God.

Great websites are like monsters that are always hungry and thirsty for more and new information.

Trying to figure out the most effective way of organizing the information and making it presentable is a challenge.

I have several on staff that are doing a great job. One in particular is a high school student who is a tremendous asset.

I have also been focused on redoing the curriculum for our membership class.

I am also focused on redoing our church invitation brochure.

It seems as soon as you get one project done there is another and another –is it that way for you?

We redid the carpet and walls in the hallway and all the rooms of children's wing and it looks great but now that improvement makes the ceiling tiles look like they need to be done again.

Well time and the tithe of God's people is the only thing that holds us back. I wonder what it was like when the Israelite leaders had to tell the people to stop bringing stuff to the capitol city for the tabernacle Exodus 26.

Back to work….


 


 

Sharing a Frustration

I have been very puzzled lately. And unfortunately, when my flesh takes over, my bewilderment often devolves to frustration. See, I am really struggling at understanding why a Christian would be disinclined to signing our proposed church covenant. Not that it has to be signed—but this is what I hear, "Pastor, do we have to sign it?" This covenant is, in the simplest way of defining it, a commitment to obey the commands of God. It is not a legal document in the same sense as a contract and should not be viewed as the same type of document.

One of my favorite things about being a Christian is the community and accountability we find within in our local church. It is a great encouragement to me to know that I am not alone in following Christ. Also, it is a sobering reminder to me that others depend upon my faith just as I, in turn, depend on theirs. And this is what the corporate signing of a covenant can add to the Christian's life: a public commitment to band together as a local assembly. The unity of the believers can only be increased as we vow together to give of our resources to the church, to faithfully attend the worship services, to submit to the pastoral leadership, to pray for and mentor each other, and to actively pursue personal holiness. All of the principles that are laid out in the covenant are God-mandated commitments. As spirit led individuals, we should be eager to attach our names to this document!

In Nehemiah chapters 9 and 10 there is an incredible historical narrative of a time in Israel's history where a covenant was drawn up among the people and signed by 84 men.

This is a perfect example of how God's people could use a covenant as a means of publicly affirming God's standard for living and their pledge to live by that standard.

Have you read the covenant the pastors of BBC are recommending to the church to adopt as the new church covenant?

I emailed it to one local pastor and he responded that "it screams of excellence." We have poured over it in order to get the wording just right. Many adults in the church have provided great suggestions to get it just right. Another pastor from north Georgia also used the word "excellent" to describe it.

In order to fully demonstrate that the covenant is extremely biblical, we have provided numerous footnotes. In fact, I would say with the greatest certainty that there isn't anything in the covenant that is unbiblical.

And the idea that covenants themselves are unbiblical is certainly unfounded. Why would God sovereignly preserve the historical narrative and the record of 84 names in Nehemiah 10 if He was opposed to God's people agreeing together to be obedient?

Certainly 400 years of Baptist history stands for something. Baptist churches have been using covenants as a means of communicating the requirements for its membership for hundreds of years—why would we stop following that model today?

The adoption of a new/revised covenant should be a historical event in the life of a church. Those who are willing to sign, like the men in Nehemiah, should be given the opportunity to sign the covenant. I think BBC should display the new covenant in a prominent location with all the associated adopting signatures and for years, perhaps decades, people will be able to identify a group of believers who were wholeheartedly in favor of preserving the faith in a historical, distinctively Baptistic manner.

The purpose of the church covenant is to bring God's people into a special relationship one with another before their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the church that He gave his life for—what could possibly be wrong with that?

THE LORD’S SUPPER—A TIME OF COMMUNION AND REMEMBRANCE

Berean Baptist Church normally celebrates the Lord's Supper on the fourth Sunday night of each month. We customarily do this right after the preaching service. We believe the Lord's Supper is an ordinance established by the Head of the Church—Jesus Christ. All pastors, teachers, deacons, ministry leaders and church members are fully expected to participate in the Lord's Supper unless they are providentially hindered.

We believe that the Lord's Supper is an active, outward remembrance of His death; it should be observed periodically until He comes again and should always be preceded by self-examination (1 Corinthians 11:23-28).

We believe the Bible teaches that believers are spiritually strengthened in at least four ways by their active participation in the Lord's Supper. They—by faith—gain strength in:

  1. Their knowledge of the remarkable love Jesus demonstrated toward them through His death.
  2. The realization that their sins have been pardoned by the grace of God.
  3. The awareness that they are part of a large spiritual family—the body of Christ.
  4. Anticipation of the return of their Lord Jesus and the reality of everlasting life with God.


 

A correct understanding of the meaning of the Lord's Supper and an appropriate response in faith are both necessary for the believer to be strengthened.

We believe the act of observing the Lord's Supper is a proclamation of the gospel; therefore, we make no effort to hide the time of the Lord's Supper from the general public; nor do we dismiss those who are not members of our church.

Our communion table is both open and closed:

  • It is open to born-again Christians, who:


     

    • Have been baptized by immersion after salvation;
    • Are members in good standing of BBC or another Bible believing, Christ exalting, New Testament church (or are seeking God's will concerning church membership);
    • Have renounced and confessed all known sin in their lives; and
    • Are striving to obey the commandments of the Lord.


 

  • It is closed to adults and children, who:


     

    • Have not repented and placed their faith in the Lord Jesus as their Savior.
    • Have yet to obey the Lord in believer's baptism and/or
    • Are not pursuing membership in a Bible believing, Christ-exalting, New Testament church.
    • Are living in blatant disobedience to the commandments of our Lord.
    • Have an ought with a brother or sister in Christ, are under church discipline, or living in violation of any behavior outlined in the BBC Covenant, Articles of Faith and/or Constitution.
    • By the conviction of the Holy Spirit are unworthy to partake (1 Cor. 11:27).


       

BBC uses grape juice with no alcohol content as a symbolical representation of our Saviors' blood and small squares pieces of bread as a symbolical representation of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Pastor administers the Lord's Supper and the deacons assist in serving the congregation.

While we hold in great reverence the symbolic wonder of the Lord's Supper, we adamantly reject any doctrine of transubstantiation. We do not believe that the Lord's Supper provides justifying grace. We further reject the notion that the elements change into the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. We affirm with great conviction that repentance of sins and faith in the work that Christ did on the cross are the gifts of God by which He saves us.