IT'S HALLOWEEN!
What's the Big Deal?
Here's an article I read worthy of consideration:
By Russ Young Posted: 10/30/2007
Tract or Treat: A Christian Response to Halloween
With Halloween just around the corner, I thought it would take the opportunity to talk about a presentation I give entitled “Tract or Treat: A Christian Response to Halloween.” In the presentation I begin with an allegory about Johnny Christian, which goes something like this: Johnny C’s mom wanted her son to stay clean before they left for a wedding. Johnny, however, being impatient, impertinent and a whiner, complained the wait was too long without being able to play. Reluctantly his mother lets him go out to play with the stern warning to stay out of the mud. Donning boots and gloves to keep himself clean he goes out to play. Not surprisingly he returns home late, and with his clothes smeared in dirt. In closing the question is posed, playing off the wedding feast parable in Matthew 22:1-14, “What will you be wearing when it is time for the wedding?”
The question, of course, is meant to provoke thought about what are we doing to prepare ourselves for the pending return of our Lord. The follow-up question asks everyone to examine what we think about Halloween, and why so many Christian families think they can participate in Halloween activities without any concern for getting dirty.
What is it about Halloween that makes it so difficult for Christian parents to say no to their children? Hopefully we have no difficulty telling them “No” about other activities they “really” want to do, but we know are not good for them. More often, however, parents recall their own more “innocent” Halloween days and do not discern any problems with Halloween today. After all, they say “All I want to do is let my children have fun, besides they love to get dressed up. What could be wrong with going out in a costume and collecting candy?” Or, they say things like, “When my child goes trick or treating she doesn’t have a clue about its history, and we are not trying to accomplish anything the pagans may do. What could be the harm in that?”
Please allow me to answer these kinds of objections by first summing up a Biblical response to be followed with scriptural support.
First and foremost, it should be evident that virtually everything about Halloween is antithetical to the message of Christ. The message of Halloween can plainly be seen in its focus on witches, ghouls, ghosts, graveyards, the demonic, the macabre, and all the ugly aspects that go along with such things. In short, it is fear based and death-centered.
Such things are an offense to the Lord, and grieve the Holy Spirit.
Scripture tells us to think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise, defined by “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable” (Phil. 4:8). We should be asking, “What godly purpose could there be in trying to frighten anyone through the grotesque?” By participating in Halloween we are de facto stating “what God says is not important.”
Just as bad, we open the door to the very enemy of our souls who only wants to steal and destroy. In so doing, we become subject to believing the lies surrounding Halloween which can easily distort a correct understanding concerning the Biblical doctrines of Hell and Satan.
Ultimately, Halloween celebrates pagan worship, the demonic, and death itself. Therefore, it is inherently opposed to Christ, the one who is the way the truth and the life.
What does the Bible say?
There are at least three main truths that outline how Christians should respond to Halloween. The first of these is 1 Cor. 5:6 where Paul asks, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?” The leaven to which Paul refers is a boastful claim by the Corinthian church that they are so spiritual that other people’s sins do not affect them. Paul rebukes them by telling them not only does one member’s sin affect all of them, but their foolish attitude towards sinful activity will lead to even greater sin.
As Christians we cannot hope to participate in something done, primarily, as a celebration of that which is opposed to God, and not expect bad consequences.
The second controlling passage is Eph. 4:25-32. Not only are we instructed here to not grieve the Holy Spirit, we are also told to “not give the devil even a foothold… (rather, we are to) be imitators of God.” This begs the question how we can think that a day which is explicitly recognized as one of the two most important “unholy holidays,” by witches and Satanists, could become a wholesome activity for Christians. [i]
Furthermore Scripture passages such as Dt. 7:26, “And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.”; Lev. 19:31, “Give no regards to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.”; Prv. 4:14, “Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil.,” clearly demonstrate that the things of Halloween should be hands off for Christians.
Eph 5:11-12 states “And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.” If it is disgraceful to even speak of such things, how do we suppose God feels when we openly participate in them?
For those who want to pooh pooh the supernatural reality of Halloween, we have been given 1 Timothy 4:7 which states “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness.” Therefore, whether we think we can play in the mud and not get dirty, or if we believe the mud is fantasy, we are still called to avoid Halloween.
A third controlling principle is given in Leviticus 18:30. “So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.”
It will be instructive here to briefly examine the roots of traditional Halloween activities to understand how such things as seemingly innocuous as bobbing for apples, were actually “practiced before” us in manners abhorrent to God.
Halloween Traditions – Ancient, folkloric, Roman Catholic, other
As it is practiced today, Halloween is an amalgamation of ancient pagan religious rites, combined with several centuries of folklore from multiple cultures, plus Christian and other influences. While there is some debate concerning the particulars, the following are attested to by several sources.
The most ancient root stems from the pagan religious celebrations of the Celtic (kĕl'tĭk) priests known as Druids. One of their most important festivals Samhain, pronounced “sowen,” was celebrated November 1, according to modern calendars. [ii]
Ghost Stories - On Samhain it was believed ghosts, and other spirits, could cross the barrier between the natural and supernatural realms, allowing the dead to make contact with the living.
Tricking and Vandalism - It was also believed that the gods played many tricks on humans at this time. Human sacrifices and cannibalism would lead us to believe that the Celtic religion was very oppressive. [iii]
Scary Costumes descend from the practice of the Celts who would don masks or other gruesome disguises because they thought the ghosts would mistake them for fellow ghosts and leave them alone. [iv]
Bonfires, which is a shortened form of “Bonefires,” were lit to scare spirits away. These fires get their name from their sacrificial nature where the remains of slaughtered animals were burned as offerings. Each family, in a form of Celtic communion, would return home with a burning brand to relight hearth fires which had been extinguished. [v]
Bobbing for apples was originally a form of divination, or trying to know the future against the will of God. [vi]
“Jack-o’-lanterns” One tradition traces the practice back to a folktale in which a scoundrel peasant, named Jack, tricks Satan from taking his soul to hell. Not able to go to heaven, he is sentenced to an eternity of wondering the earth, looking for a place to rest. In his search he carries a lantern lit from the fires of hell. [vii]Others make a connection with ancient practices of trying to scare off evil spirits. [viii]
The modern name for Halloween stems from the Roman Catholic observance of “All Saints Day,” and “All Hallows Eve,” parts of which were known for many centuries and formally instituted in the 7th century. [ix]
“All Souls Day” was another RC observance to be celebrated on Nov. 2. “The theological basis for the feast is the doctrine that the souls which, on departing from the body, are not perfectly cleansed from venial sins, or have not fully atoned for past transgressions.” The idea was for the living to pray for these souls further sanctification, but also included “a time-honoured ceremony of praying to the dead.”[x]
After Columbus, New World traditions quickly appeared along side Catholic observances, in Spanish controlled areas, especially from the pre-Columbian celebration of “The Day of the Dead,” which fell on November 1.
The Mayans also believed Oct. 31 to be a significant calendar date having control over darkness. The date was marked by cutting open a young boy’s chest and removing his heart while still beating. [xi]
In America, communities began recognizing the destructive side of Halloween soon after it was re-established. Articles concerning vandalism became commonplace around the turn of the 20th century. Civic efforts by towns, and organizations like the Boy Scouts to curb such excesses were begun. [xii]
Trick or Treating for candy was first suggested by civic groups as a way to make Halloween friendlier and less destructive. While American in origin it “resembles the All Soul's Day practice called ‘going a-souling’ in which poor people would beg door-to-door. In exchange for a gift of soulcakes, the soulers would promise to say a prayer for the dead.” [xiii]
Bats and cats probably were not part of the Celtic tradition, but it is easy to see how such nocturnal creatures were easily added along with hags, witches, skeletons, and other garish symbols of death. The Celts did believe that owls could communicate with the dead.
Halloween Today
What is of great significance today is that Halloween is a major holiday for those who practice witchcraft, Satan worship, earth worship (paganism) and other occult religions. It is one of the two most important “unholy days” for witches and Satanists. While so called “White Witches,” or Wiccans, deny any satanic connection between their beliefs and Satan worship, Satanic Witches maintain that they are only fooling themselves, and rightly contend that any real Wiccan power is Satanic in origin, even if not acknowledged. [xiv]
As such, it is important for parents to recognize this reality. Responsible parents do not allow children to walk into dangerous situations simply because of a child’s ignorance. While our intentions may be innocent, others participating in the same event may not be so. The Bible calls us to count all the costs. Can we do that when so much about Halloween is not in our control?
Lastly, 1 Cor. 10:20-22 exhorts us, “I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?”
In light of these Biblical teachings it would seem a very far stretch to conclude that Christians should participate in any part of Halloween. Christ’s call on our lives is truly radical. Can we say that giving up a pagan holiday is too much to ask? God says he cannot be mocked; we will reap what we sow.
Tract or Treat:
Therefore, let us sow the gospel. Take the opportunity to use Halloween for evangelism; nothing could be easier. When else do we have total strangers coming to our homes looking for a handout? While I do recommend that candy be given as an appetizer, use the time to give any visitors a tract along with the candy. Also, take the opportunity to pray for the children as they come, you may even get a chance to share, or pray, in person.
We have most often used tracts from Living Waters and AIG, but any good gospel tract will do. A good strategy we have employed is to put kid friendly and adult oriented tracts in the same plastic zip-type bag with a few pieces of candy. We have also determined to spend at least as much on the tracts as the candy, as good tracts may not necessarily be the cheapest ones.
[i] While so called witches, i.e Wiccans, disclaim their involvement in Satanic worship, it is still instructive that they both claim Oct. 31 as one of the most important days for the practice of what they do worship (the other is May 1).
[ii] Encyclopedia Britannica On-Line. There are Roman references to Samhain from the 1st century AD. We can safely assume, however, that much of the practice is as old as the Celtic Religion itself, thus dating back at least another 1000 years preceding the birth of Christ. It is thought that the priests ruled due to their knowledge of astronomy and their ability to predict the seasons. But another major component was the use of fear which was fostered by their religious practices.
[iii] The Religion of the Ancient Celts By J. A. MacCulloch, 1911. At Samhain, it was believed that the gods played many tricks on humans. Some of the darker sides of Celtic practices include the famous 'Burning Man' human sacrifices, cannibalism, and incest.
Human sacrifices were made through the burning of “wickermen,” large wicker cages with bound human sacrifices imprisoned within, during the other most important festival, Beltane. Whether or not human sacrifices were part of Samhain is not clear in the resources I examined. Since, however, we know that they delighted in burning their fellow Celts at other times, it may be the case during Samhain as well.
[iv] Encyclopedia Britannica On-Line.
[v] Samhain: Season of Death and Renewal by Alexei Kondratiev. The end of the harvest was a time when cattle and other animals that were not going to be kept through the winter were slaughtered. This does not mean that there were not special rites or qualifications for which animals to sacrifice.
[vi] Many popular sources of information, like Wikipedia and Answers.com minimize this aspect, by focusing on how bobbing later became a party game to for youth to determine who or if anyone would marry them. More scholarly works, like the aforementioned paper from Alexei Kondratiev, however, note that bobbing for apples had “specific links with the mythology of death and the afterlife.”
As an aside, it seems that the popular sources have a clear bias to “demythologize” all supernatural aspects of Halloween. This is no doubt due to their materialistic bias and misunderstanding of the real nature of the supernatural.
[vii] There are several variants to how this tradition began. Turnips were originally used in Europe; pumpkins were substituted when traditions crossed to America. Encyclopedia of Britannica. Answers.com, and Wikipedia all reference the folktale.
[viii] Wendell Amstutz, a recognized occult authority, claims jack o’-lanterns were used by Celts to scare off the demonic, but cites no source material.
[ix] Encyclopedia Britannica In the 7th century AD, Pope Boniface IV established All Saints' Day, originally on May 13, and in the following century, perhaps in an effort to supplant the pagan holiday with a Christian observance, it was moved to November 1. The evening before All Saints' Day became a holy, or hallowed, eve and thus Halloween.
[x] The Catholic Encyclopedia (on-line) All Souls Day “The Office of the Dead must be recited by the clergy and all the Masses are to be of Requiem, except one of the current feast, where this is of obligation… The theological basis for the feast is the doctrine that the souls which, on departing from the body, are not perfectly cleansed from venial sins, or have not fully atoned for past transgressions, are debarred from the Beatific Vision, and that the faithful on earth can help them by prayers, almsdeeds and especially by the sacrifice of the Mass… In Germany there existed a time-honoured ceremony (emphasis mine) of praying to the dead.”It should be noted that Protestants rejected the observance of All Hallows Eve and All Souls Day at the start of the Reformation. In Christian Europe pagan and folkloric practices became intermingled with the Church observances right from the beginning, causing a blending of traditions. The first American colonists did not practice Halloween, but it was reintroduced in America with the arrival of Irish immigrants in the mid to late 19th century.
Also of import is to note: the Roman Catholic teaching on saints and praying to, or for, the dead are unbiblical. Therefore, while it is entirely legitimate for Christians to attempt the reclamation of cultural expressions for the Church, it is also to be anticipated that trying to replace one sinful expression with another is a doomed prospect.
[xi] Encyclopedia Britannica
Given the interesting fact of two such holidays falling on the same date, practiced by cultures that had been separated from one another’s influence, there is reason to believe in some cosmic reality that the forces of darkness have some special ability on this day, or have at least co-opted it for their own purposes.. And whatever power they do have is certainly increased by those who participate in any Halloween celebration. One of the basic principles of the occult is that power is gained through controlling others. We would do well not to volunteer our services, even if in a naïve fashion.
Make no mistake about it. Halloween is a deadly serious practice for many in the occult. It is a virtual guarantee that there will be ritualistic murders committed on Halloween night by practicing Satanists. We need to be aware of the supernatural reality of these unholy forces; not to be afraid of them, but to be aware in order to stand firm against them.
[xii] Ibd.
[xiii] Answers.com
[xiv] The Satanic Witch, Anton LaVey, also author of the Satanic Bible.
Distributed by www.ChristianWorldviewNetwork.com
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
"Is Hell Unfair?"
Here is an excellent little article from the late Walter Martin--just click on the link below:
Christian Worldview Network
Here is an excellent little article from the late Walter Martin--just click on the link below:
Christian Worldview Network
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
THE BAPTIST FAITH AND MESSAGE, Article Eighteen
This is Part 18 of a continuing series of articles examining the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. This statement of faith was adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting on June 14, 2000 “to set forth certain teachings which we believe.”
The Christian and the Social Order
All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.*
Christians are called to be salt and light. Salt is intended to arrest the spread of corruption and light is meant to dispel the darkness. Society left alone will increasingly become morally rotten and spiritually dark. Salt confined to the shaker and light hidden under a basket will have no ability to affect the culture—there must be contact in order to have impact. Yet, many churches ignore their God-ordained responsibility to season and shine—huddling behind the four walls of the sanctuary while the world outside descends into a cesspool of sin!
Kingdom living is not just for the church house, but the courthouse, the state house, and the White House! We are called of God to bring a prophetic voice to a world that will only hear the propaganda of hell, unless the people of God stand up and speak up. “Nature abhors a vacuum,” it has been stated; and that values vacuum between people’s ears has been filled with movies, magazines, music—all sorts of media proclaimed by hell’s missionaries. To rail against Hollywood and the liberal press is all well and good, but what are Christians doing to counter such demonic doctrine?
The most important message we can share is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Political parties cannot bring in the Kingdom of God. It isn’t by legislation or Presidential election that lives are changed—and unless hearts and minds are regenerated, moral freefall is inevitable. True transformation in a nation happens one heart at a time.
Yet, there is a vital role for believers to call upon the government to perform its God-given mandate to promote justice and punish evil. Scripture tells us that government is the minister of God to carry out that very function. But human government will fall prey to the same vices of society unless it is confronted with a prophetic word from the church. Yet, someone has well said that the church today is a “Non-prophet organization!”
Let us repent, and with a word of truth spoken in love become the potent force for goodness that God has appointed us to be! Enough with the hand-wringing that leads us to whine in despair instead of actively working for righteousness! Away with the attitude of monasticism that leads us to withdraw from a world we are called to engage with truth! Let us repent by viewing all our activities—in the home, the community, the marketplace, and the culture—through the lens of Scripture, and model Kingdom principles in our daily acts and proclaim Kingdom principles loud and clear, without being obnoxious prigs.
* Exodus 20:3-17; Leviticus 6:2-5; Deuteronomy 10:12; 27:17; Psalm 101:5; Micah 6:8;
Zechariah 8:16; Matthew 5:13-16,43-48; 22:36-40; 25:35; Mark 1:29-34; 2:3ff.; 10:21;Luke 4:18-21; 10:27-37; 20:25; John 15:12; 17:15; Romans 12–14; 1Corinthians 5:9-10; 6:1-7; 7:20-24; 10:23-11:1; Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:12-17; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; Philemon; James 1:27; 2:8. (Baptist Faith and Message, 2000)
This is Part 18 of a continuing series of articles examining the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. This statement of faith was adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting on June 14, 2000 “to set forth certain teachings which we believe.”
The Christian and the Social Order
All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.*
Christians are called to be salt and light. Salt is intended to arrest the spread of corruption and light is meant to dispel the darkness. Society left alone will increasingly become morally rotten and spiritually dark. Salt confined to the shaker and light hidden under a basket will have no ability to affect the culture—there must be contact in order to have impact. Yet, many churches ignore their God-ordained responsibility to season and shine—huddling behind the four walls of the sanctuary while the world outside descends into a cesspool of sin!
Kingdom living is not just for the church house, but the courthouse, the state house, and the White House! We are called of God to bring a prophetic voice to a world that will only hear the propaganda of hell, unless the people of God stand up and speak up. “Nature abhors a vacuum,” it has been stated; and that values vacuum between people’s ears has been filled with movies, magazines, music—all sorts of media proclaimed by hell’s missionaries. To rail against Hollywood and the liberal press is all well and good, but what are Christians doing to counter such demonic doctrine?
The most important message we can share is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Political parties cannot bring in the Kingdom of God. It isn’t by legislation or Presidential election that lives are changed—and unless hearts and minds are regenerated, moral freefall is inevitable. True transformation in a nation happens one heart at a time.
Yet, there is a vital role for believers to call upon the government to perform its God-given mandate to promote justice and punish evil. Scripture tells us that government is the minister of God to carry out that very function. But human government will fall prey to the same vices of society unless it is confronted with a prophetic word from the church. Yet, someone has well said that the church today is a “Non-prophet organization!”
Let us repent, and with a word of truth spoken in love become the potent force for goodness that God has appointed us to be! Enough with the hand-wringing that leads us to whine in despair instead of actively working for righteousness! Away with the attitude of monasticism that leads us to withdraw from a world we are called to engage with truth! Let us repent by viewing all our activities—in the home, the community, the marketplace, and the culture—through the lens of Scripture, and model Kingdom principles in our daily acts and proclaim Kingdom principles loud and clear, without being obnoxious prigs.
* Exodus 20:3-17; Leviticus 6:2-5; Deuteronomy 10:12; 27:17; Psalm 101:5; Micah 6:8;
Zechariah 8:16; Matthew 5:13-16,43-48; 22:36-40; 25:35; Mark 1:29-34; 2:3ff.; 10:21;Luke 4:18-21; 10:27-37; 20:25; John 15:12; 17:15; Romans 12–14; 1Corinthians 5:9-10; 6:1-7; 7:20-24; 10:23-11:1; Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:12-17; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; Philemon; James 1:27; 2:8. (Baptist Faith and Message, 2000)
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
THE BAPTIST FAITH AND MESSAGE, Article Seventeen
This is Part 17 of a continuing series of articles examining the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. This statement of faith was adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting on June 14, 2000 “to set forth certain teachings which we believe.”
Cooperation
Christ's people should, as occasion requires, organize such associations and conventions as may best secure cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom of God. Such organizations have no authority over one another or over the churches. They are voluntary and advisory bodies designed to elicit, combine, and direct the energies of our people in the most effective manner. Members of New Testament churches should cooperate with one another in carrying forward the missionary, educational, and benevolent ministries for the extension of Christ's Kingdom. Christian unity in the New Testament sense is spiritual harmony and voluntary cooperation for common ends by various groups of Christ's people. Cooperation is desirable between the various Christian denominations, when the end to be attained is itself justified, and when such cooperation involves no violation of conscience or compromise of loyalty to Christ and His Word as revealed in the New Testament.*
I will have the opportunity to address the 125th Anniversary Celebration of the Buncombe Baptist Association on Monday, October 8. It is a special time of remembering our missionary heritage with a challenge to future expanded efforts to reach lost souls. We will gather with other Buncombe Baptists at our sister church in Candler—New Morgan Hill—in their new sanctuary beginning at 6:30 that night under the theme, “That the World May Know Him.” Although we can only have ten voting messengers for the business of the association, we can have many guests and so I want to invite all of you to come and worship with us!
Our participation in the Buncombe Baptist Association, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and the Southern Baptist Convention is of our own choosing. This church is autonomous—as are all Baptist churches. I found it humorous recently when someone sent in a report of their mission work to me and stated they had planted several independent Baptist churches. My response to them was, “Is there any other kind?”
No Pope, bishop, presbytery or other ecclesiastical body can dictate what we believe and how we behave. This church has one ruler—Jesus Christ, the Lord! It has one creed—the Bible! Our decisions are made prayerfully—under the direction of the Holy Spirit (hopefully) within the local congregation.
Yet, we must be mindful of the prayer of that same Lord Jesus in John 17, where He pleads with the Father to make His followers one. Unity and cooperation in love is a mark of the true follower of Christ. As we look around at those attending the Associational meeting we will be reminded of the rich tapestry God has woven together in our churches. Diverse people—the multi-colored threads—of Baptist witness. We are not all identical, yet there is a spiritual unity in a common faith in an uncommon Savior and a fervent purpose to fulfill the Great Commission that binds us together.
That does not mean we need dilute our faith, watering it down to the lowest common denominator. Rather it means that where we find those Bible-believing Christians that we embrace them as brothers and sisters and work arm in arm to advance the Kingdom message. Indeed, we go beyond just cooperation with Baptists, but those of other denominational affiliation to impact our world.
There are parameters beyond which we may not go. Some “Christian” churches and denominations are not “Christian” at all—but apostate. They have left the faith. We pray for them to repent, but we cannot experience true spiritual fellowship in the Gospel, for they preach another gospel. Paul pronounced anathema on all such and we must. But, when a people subscribes to the fundamentals of the faith, we may disagree with them on some secondary matters, and still work together as the people of God.
Here’s the bottom line: we can do more together than we can ever do alone. Even the greatest mega-church has its limitations. But through cooperation in the cause of Christ, we are impacting millions around this world and generations to come! Isn’t that exciting!
* Exodus 17:12; 18:17ff.; Judges 7:21; Ezra 1:3-4; 2:68-69; 5:14-15; Nehemiah 4; 8:1-5; Matthew 10:5-15; 20:1-16; 22:1-10; 28:19-20; Mark 2:3; Luke 10:1ff.; Acts 1:13-14; 2:1ff.; 4:31-37; 13:2-3; 15:1-35; 1 Corinthians 1:10-17; 3:5-15; 12; 2 Corinthians 8-9; Galatians 1:6-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Philippians 1:15-18. (Baptist Faith and Message, 2000)
This is Part 17 of a continuing series of articles examining the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. This statement of faith was adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting on June 14, 2000 “to set forth certain teachings which we believe.”
Cooperation
Christ's people should, as occasion requires, organize such associations and conventions as may best secure cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom of God. Such organizations have no authority over one another or over the churches. They are voluntary and advisory bodies designed to elicit, combine, and direct the energies of our people in the most effective manner. Members of New Testament churches should cooperate with one another in carrying forward the missionary, educational, and benevolent ministries for the extension of Christ's Kingdom. Christian unity in the New Testament sense is spiritual harmony and voluntary cooperation for common ends by various groups of Christ's people. Cooperation is desirable between the various Christian denominations, when the end to be attained is itself justified, and when such cooperation involves no violation of conscience or compromise of loyalty to Christ and His Word as revealed in the New Testament.*
I will have the opportunity to address the 125th Anniversary Celebration of the Buncombe Baptist Association on Monday, October 8. It is a special time of remembering our missionary heritage with a challenge to future expanded efforts to reach lost souls. We will gather with other Buncombe Baptists at our sister church in Candler—New Morgan Hill—in their new sanctuary beginning at 6:30 that night under the theme, “That the World May Know Him.” Although we can only have ten voting messengers for the business of the association, we can have many guests and so I want to invite all of you to come and worship with us!
Our participation in the Buncombe Baptist Association, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and the Southern Baptist Convention is of our own choosing. This church is autonomous—as are all Baptist churches. I found it humorous recently when someone sent in a report of their mission work to me and stated they had planted several independent Baptist churches. My response to them was, “Is there any other kind?”
No Pope, bishop, presbytery or other ecclesiastical body can dictate what we believe and how we behave. This church has one ruler—Jesus Christ, the Lord! It has one creed—the Bible! Our decisions are made prayerfully—under the direction of the Holy Spirit (hopefully) within the local congregation.
Yet, we must be mindful of the prayer of that same Lord Jesus in John 17, where He pleads with the Father to make His followers one. Unity and cooperation in love is a mark of the true follower of Christ. As we look around at those attending the Associational meeting we will be reminded of the rich tapestry God has woven together in our churches. Diverse people—the multi-colored threads—of Baptist witness. We are not all identical, yet there is a spiritual unity in a common faith in an uncommon Savior and a fervent purpose to fulfill the Great Commission that binds us together.
That does not mean we need dilute our faith, watering it down to the lowest common denominator. Rather it means that where we find those Bible-believing Christians that we embrace them as brothers and sisters and work arm in arm to advance the Kingdom message. Indeed, we go beyond just cooperation with Baptists, but those of other denominational affiliation to impact our world.
There are parameters beyond which we may not go. Some “Christian” churches and denominations are not “Christian” at all—but apostate. They have left the faith. We pray for them to repent, but we cannot experience true spiritual fellowship in the Gospel, for they preach another gospel. Paul pronounced anathema on all such and we must. But, when a people subscribes to the fundamentals of the faith, we may disagree with them on some secondary matters, and still work together as the people of God.
Here’s the bottom line: we can do more together than we can ever do alone. Even the greatest mega-church has its limitations. But through cooperation in the cause of Christ, we are impacting millions around this world and generations to come! Isn’t that exciting!
* Exodus 17:12; 18:17ff.; Judges 7:21; Ezra 1:3-4; 2:68-69; 5:14-15; Nehemiah 4; 8:1-5; Matthew 10:5-15; 20:1-16; 22:1-10; 28:19-20; Mark 2:3; Luke 10:1ff.; Acts 1:13-14; 2:1ff.; 4:31-37; 13:2-3; 15:1-35; 1 Corinthians 1:10-17; 3:5-15; 12; 2 Corinthians 8-9; Galatians 1:6-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Philippians 1:15-18. (Baptist Faith and Message, 2000)
Thursday, September 13, 2007
THE BAPTIST FAITH AND MESSAGE, Article Sixteen
This is Part 16 of a continuing series of articles examining the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. This statement of faith was adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting on June 14, 2000 “to set forth certain teachings which we believe.”
Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer's cause on earth.*
Everything we have—absolutely everything—belongs to God. He has made it, thus He owns it. The Sovereign God of the universe has the right to direct the use of all He has entrusted into our hands to be used for His glory in fulfilling His infinitely wise and loving designs. This recognition that we have no “rights” when it comes to the use of time, talent and treasure is crucial to Biblical understanding. These blessings have come from the gracious hand of the Almighty, and we will one day give an account of how we have invested God’s wealth—pursuing that of eternal value or squandering His wealth in earthly and trivial pursuits. This acknowledgement of God’s ownership is the foundation of stewardship.
Each breath we take, every beat of our heart, the strength to put one foot in front of another, our moments and our days, the gifts, skills and capacities we possess, along with our material blessings—all are ours because of the goodness of God. Wise use of these blessings is the essence of stewardship.
We have all heard, “You can’t take it with you!” That’s true, but you can send it on ahead! We have the privilege of exchanging the capital of earth for the currency of eternity—to invest in the Kingdom of God with our material dollars in order to receive spiritual dividends. Imagine—we have a limited allotment of days on this planet, but if we use our brief stay here for our Lord, we will have His commendation hereafter. The talents God gifts us with, when employed for His purposes today, will be acknowledged in that eternal Day. This is the reward of stewardship.
A stewardship principle to remember in giving is this: God demands the tithe and He deserves the offering. Ten percent is His, right off the top—the first fruits of our labors—that’s the tithe. Then, since God is so generous with us, as we are able, we can give generously beyond that in special offerings. God has promised to meet all our needs. He does—and then some! Can we content ourselves with just meeting the minimum requirements when giving back a portion to such a beneficent Being who lavishes us with such bounty?
Now, for a personal challenge: The last Sunday of this month, we will receive a special offering to retire the debt on the Gayle Brown Ministry Center of Buncombe Baptist Association. This is a vital building for staging missions outreach throughout our county and the world! Our Director of Missions, Dr. Craig Bailey (also a member of Pole Creek along with his wife and mother-in-law) has called on Buncombe Baptists to eliminate the debt and help us free up dollars paid to the bank in interest to be utilized for mission work. Pray about what God would have you to do. Let’s all do what we can!
I will be preaching at the fall meeting of Buncombe Baptist Association, only a few days after we receive that offering. It would be a thrill to be able to say that Pole Creek has helped push us over the top in eradicating that indebtedness.
* Genesis 14:20; Leviticus 27:30-32; Deuteronomy 8:18; Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 6:1-4,19-21; 19:21; 23:23; 25:14-29; Luke 12:16-21,42; 16:1-13; Acts 2:44-47; 5:1-11; 17:24-25; 20:35; Romans 6:6-22; 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2; 6:19-20; 12; 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8-9; 12:15; Philippians 4:10-19; 1 Peter 1:18-19. (Baptist Faith and Message, 2000)
This is Part 16 of a continuing series of articles examining the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. This statement of faith was adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting on June 14, 2000 “to set forth certain teachings which we believe.”
Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer's cause on earth.*
Everything we have—absolutely everything—belongs to God. He has made it, thus He owns it. The Sovereign God of the universe has the right to direct the use of all He has entrusted into our hands to be used for His glory in fulfilling His infinitely wise and loving designs. This recognition that we have no “rights” when it comes to the use of time, talent and treasure is crucial to Biblical understanding. These blessings have come from the gracious hand of the Almighty, and we will one day give an account of how we have invested God’s wealth—pursuing that of eternal value or squandering His wealth in earthly and trivial pursuits. This acknowledgement of God’s ownership is the foundation of stewardship.
Each breath we take, every beat of our heart, the strength to put one foot in front of another, our moments and our days, the gifts, skills and capacities we possess, along with our material blessings—all are ours because of the goodness of God. Wise use of these blessings is the essence of stewardship.
We have all heard, “You can’t take it with you!” That’s true, but you can send it on ahead! We have the privilege of exchanging the capital of earth for the currency of eternity—to invest in the Kingdom of God with our material dollars in order to receive spiritual dividends. Imagine—we have a limited allotment of days on this planet, but if we use our brief stay here for our Lord, we will have His commendation hereafter. The talents God gifts us with, when employed for His purposes today, will be acknowledged in that eternal Day. This is the reward of stewardship.
A stewardship principle to remember in giving is this: God demands the tithe and He deserves the offering. Ten percent is His, right off the top—the first fruits of our labors—that’s the tithe. Then, since God is so generous with us, as we are able, we can give generously beyond that in special offerings. God has promised to meet all our needs. He does—and then some! Can we content ourselves with just meeting the minimum requirements when giving back a portion to such a beneficent Being who lavishes us with such bounty?
Now, for a personal challenge: The last Sunday of this month, we will receive a special offering to retire the debt on the Gayle Brown Ministry Center of Buncombe Baptist Association. This is a vital building for staging missions outreach throughout our county and the world! Our Director of Missions, Dr. Craig Bailey (also a member of Pole Creek along with his wife and mother-in-law) has called on Buncombe Baptists to eliminate the debt and help us free up dollars paid to the bank in interest to be utilized for mission work. Pray about what God would have you to do. Let’s all do what we can!
I will be preaching at the fall meeting of Buncombe Baptist Association, only a few days after we receive that offering. It would be a thrill to be able to say that Pole Creek has helped push us over the top in eradicating that indebtedness.
* Genesis 14:20; Leviticus 27:30-32; Deuteronomy 8:18; Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 6:1-4,19-21; 19:21; 23:23; 25:14-29; Luke 12:16-21,42; 16:1-13; Acts 2:44-47; 5:1-11; 17:24-25; 20:35; Romans 6:6-22; 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2; 6:19-20; 12; 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8-9; 12:15; Philippians 4:10-19; 1 Peter 1:18-19. (Baptist Faith and Message, 2000)
GIRLS GONE MILD!
Some have called the downward slide of morality in the US, the "pornification" of culture. In view of what we are seeing all about us (and we are seeing too much) this seems a fitting (too tight-fitting) description. Even in the church house we will sometimes see far too much flesh. It's awfully hard for a teenage boy to think about God when there are yards of tanned skin spread out like a buffet in front of him! Someone might say to me--you're a dirty old man! The truth is--I don't want to become one! Yet, there are those resisting the carnal tide. Consider the following article:
Overexposed is a word that comes to mind when considering young celebrities like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and Nicole Richie. We see too much coverage of them in the news and not enough coverage on their bodies. But it’s not just Hollywood. Young women in general are looking a bit trashy these days.
Take a look at your high school yearbook or photo album. If you’re under 30, look at your mom’s. You’ll notice something: less skin. Certainly there were the exceptions. Remember hot pants? Parental reminders regarding necklines, skirt length, and “sending the wrong signals” have always been a necessary part of raising a girl.
But, in recent years, even good girls dress like they’re bad. And young women who would rather cover up more have trouble finding stylish clothes that work for them.
A few churches are attempting to address the problem. So are some public schools. In Arlington, Texas, the school board voted last year to prohibit “the display of cleavage.”
Some Arlington parents complained that the cleavage ban would be tough to enforce. We can only hope that most are grateful for the back-up in the modesty battle. Some students said the rule would make back-to-school shopping more difficult, and a trip to any mall proves their point. It’s almost impossible to find clothes teen girls like that don’t reveal too much, sometimes way too much. The fashion industry seems to be conspiring with the popular culture to tear down the natural modesty that God has provided as protection for little girls. Some parents, especially mothers, even Christian moms, are going along with it.
Little girls’ natural modesty gets its first challenge during the grade school years, when they are inundated with the Britney Spears-Bratz dolls culture. This world is less than wholesome, to put it mildly, and provides inspiration for clothing manufacturers. Parents do not have to buy the dolls and the provocative clothes for their little girls. But they do, by the millions. Mothers hold the purse strings and have the final say regarding their teen daughters’ clothes. But faced with the most popular stores offering revealing clothing and little else, moms of teenage girls are tempted to compromise to avoid friction with their daughters. In doing so, they sacrifice something very important, their daughters’ modesty. Parents who should be protecting this treasure are allowing, even encouraging, it to dissolve. Girls are victims of this corrosion. So is a society that once benefited from the virtue of its women. We no longer encourage that virtue. The sexual revolution of the 1960s that claimed to empower women fueled a full-blown sexualized culture.
But there are some encouraging signs that this is changing.
Move over Paris and Britney. Make room for the “Mild Girls.” The “Wild Girls” get a lot of media attention for their jail sentences and stints in rehab. And sadly, they are role models for even very young girls. But a recent Newsweek (7/23/07) story describes a growing modesty movement in which young women are learning they don’t have to be what Newsweek calls “bad, or semi-clad.”
It’s a welcome backlash. Author Wendy Shalit calls it “a youth led rebellion” in her new book, Girls Gone Mild: Young Women Reclaim Self Respect and Find It’s Not Bad to Be Good. The book is filled with stories of girls who, often motivated by their faith, or just the innate desire not to be defined as sex objects, hunger to escape the sexualized culture. Shalit’s 1999 book A Return To Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue, offered a common sense rationale for chastity and virginity. It hit a nerve and sparked a “modesty movement” that has given her the opportunity to continue talking to girls who are tired of the pressure to portray themselves as sex sirens. Her Web site (http://www.modestyzone.net) has spawned at least a dozen others.
Additional leaders in the modesty movement include model and actress Summer Bellessa, publisher of the magazine Eliza, launched in June. Her goal is to help women be stylish and “still keep high standards in dress, entertainment and lifestyle.” And then there’s Brenda Sharman, National Director of Pure Fashion, a modeling and etiquette program for teen girls. The Web site (http://www.purefashion.com) features a schedule of the group’s fashion shows across the country. A new fashion niche is developing, and clothing manufacturers are beginning to respond.
The modesty movement is about much more than clothing, but dress is a sort of bellwether. Paul, in 1 Timothy 2:9 instructs women to dress in “modest clothing, with decency and good sense.” It’s unrealistic to minimize the impact and importance of fashion. The truth is most females love clothes. The “mild” girls are not rejecting the trampy look in favor of the drab denim jumper. Modesty and glamour are not mutually exclusive! Allyson Waterman, from the shopping magazine Lucky and a regular guest on Good Morning America, says we’ve hit a limit in style and behavior. She says the modesty backlash is not about being dumpy or “hiding under a lot of fabric” but “about embracing a woman’s body with elegance and decorum,” a la the style icons of the past like Jackie O, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn. No, they’re not the role models for Christian girls, but we never saw their navels or their bra straps.
Some feminists call this modesty revival a new kind of oppression. The mild girls will tell you it’s liberating.
Penna Dexter is a board member of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, a conservative activist and an announcer on the syndicated radio program Life on the Line. She currently serves as a consultant for KMA Direct Communications in Plano, Texas, and as a co-host of Jerry Johnson Live, a production of Criswell Communications.
Some have called the downward slide of morality in the US, the "pornification" of culture. In view of what we are seeing all about us (and we are seeing too much) this seems a fitting (too tight-fitting) description. Even in the church house we will sometimes see far too much flesh. It's awfully hard for a teenage boy to think about God when there are yards of tanned skin spread out like a buffet in front of him! Someone might say to me--you're a dirty old man! The truth is--I don't want to become one! Yet, there are those resisting the carnal tide. Consider the following article:
Overexposed is a word that comes to mind when considering young celebrities like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and Nicole Richie. We see too much coverage of them in the news and not enough coverage on their bodies. But it’s not just Hollywood. Young women in general are looking a bit trashy these days.
Take a look at your high school yearbook or photo album. If you’re under 30, look at your mom’s. You’ll notice something: less skin. Certainly there were the exceptions. Remember hot pants? Parental reminders regarding necklines, skirt length, and “sending the wrong signals” have always been a necessary part of raising a girl.
But, in recent years, even good girls dress like they’re bad. And young women who would rather cover up more have trouble finding stylish clothes that work for them.
Sometimes even their mothers, unwilling to look matronly, find themselves with scant middle ground between frumpy and Desperate Housewives. So they compromise, just a little, then a little more until we have a new norm where fashion trumps modesty. Thus, over time, style and elegance are defined down. Christian women and girls unwittingly undermine their testimonies by the way they dress.
A few churches are attempting to address the problem. So are some public schools. In Arlington, Texas, the school board voted last year to prohibit “the display of cleavage.”
Some Arlington parents complained that the cleavage ban would be tough to enforce. We can only hope that most are grateful for the back-up in the modesty battle. Some students said the rule would make back-to-school shopping more difficult, and a trip to any mall proves their point. It’s almost impossible to find clothes teen girls like that don’t reveal too much, sometimes way too much. The fashion industry seems to be conspiring with the popular culture to tear down the natural modesty that God has provided as protection for little girls. Some parents, especially mothers, even Christian moms, are going along with it.
Little girls’ natural modesty gets its first challenge during the grade school years, when they are inundated with the Britney Spears-Bratz dolls culture. This world is less than wholesome, to put it mildly, and provides inspiration for clothing manufacturers. Parents do not have to buy the dolls and the provocative clothes for their little girls. But they do, by the millions. Mothers hold the purse strings and have the final say regarding their teen daughters’ clothes. But faced with the most popular stores offering revealing clothing and little else, moms of teenage girls are tempted to compromise to avoid friction with their daughters. In doing so, they sacrifice something very important, their daughters’ modesty. Parents who should be protecting this treasure are allowing, even encouraging, it to dissolve. Girls are victims of this corrosion. So is a society that once benefited from the virtue of its women. We no longer encourage that virtue. The sexual revolution of the 1960s that claimed to empower women fueled a full-blown sexualized culture.
But there are some encouraging signs that this is changing.
Move over Paris and Britney. Make room for the “Mild Girls.” The “Wild Girls” get a lot of media attention for their jail sentences and stints in rehab. And sadly, they are role models for even very young girls. But a recent Newsweek (7/23/07) story describes a growing modesty movement in which young women are learning they don’t have to be what Newsweek calls “bad, or semi-clad.”
It’s a welcome backlash. Author Wendy Shalit calls it “a youth led rebellion” in her new book, Girls Gone Mild: Young Women Reclaim Self Respect and Find It’s Not Bad to Be Good. The book is filled with stories of girls who, often motivated by their faith, or just the innate desire not to be defined as sex objects, hunger to escape the sexualized culture. Shalit’s 1999 book A Return To Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue, offered a common sense rationale for chastity and virginity. It hit a nerve and sparked a “modesty movement” that has given her the opportunity to continue talking to girls who are tired of the pressure to portray themselves as sex sirens. Her Web site (http://www.modestyzone.net) has spawned at least a dozen others.
Additional leaders in the modesty movement include model and actress Summer Bellessa, publisher of the magazine Eliza, launched in June. Her goal is to help women be stylish and “still keep high standards in dress, entertainment and lifestyle.” And then there’s Brenda Sharman, National Director of Pure Fashion, a modeling and etiquette program for teen girls. The Web site (http://www.purefashion.com) features a schedule of the group’s fashion shows across the country. A new fashion niche is developing, and clothing manufacturers are beginning to respond.
The modesty movement is about much more than clothing, but dress is a sort of bellwether. Paul, in 1 Timothy 2:9 instructs women to dress in “modest clothing, with decency and good sense.” It’s unrealistic to minimize the impact and importance of fashion. The truth is most females love clothes. The “mild” girls are not rejecting the trampy look in favor of the drab denim jumper. Modesty and glamour are not mutually exclusive! Allyson Waterman, from the shopping magazine Lucky and a regular guest on Good Morning America, says we’ve hit a limit in style and behavior. She says the modesty backlash is not about being dumpy or “hiding under a lot of fabric” but “about embracing a woman’s body with elegance and decorum,” a la the style icons of the past like Jackie O, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn. No, they’re not the role models for Christian girls, but we never saw their navels or their bra straps.
Some feminists call this modesty revival a new kind of oppression. The mild girls will tell you it’s liberating.
Penna Dexter is a board member of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, a conservative activist and an announcer on the syndicated radio program Life on the Line. She currently serves as a consultant for KMA Direct Communications in Plano, Texas, and as a co-host of Jerry Johnson Live, a production of Criswell Communications.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
IS ANYONE WATCHING?
A sentry's job is to stand guard--alert at his post--scanning the horizon and peering into the shadows for the approach of the enemy. Yet, we have not been vigilant and find ourselves desperately struggling for the soul of our nation. At times we surely wonder if the tide of battle can be reversed. What are we to do?
Periodically, I read something that grips my heart and cries out to be shared. Such is the following article from Dr. Richard Land. Consider it carefully and prayerfully.
Watchmen on the Wall
By Richard Land - Aug 21, 2007 - comment
“This is what the LORD says: Stand by the roadways and look. Ask about the ancient paths: Which is the way to what is good? Then take it and find rest for yourselves” (Jer. 6:16 HCSB).
If America dies, she will perish from self-inflicted wounds. It has always been the case and always will be that nations, great nations, die from within, not from without.
That is surely what God’s Holy Word is telling us in Jeremiah 1. God sent His prophet Jeremiah, and there can never have been a more direct command to go than the one Jeremiah received from God. Beginning in verse 5, God said, “I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (HCSB). And then Jeremiah said that God put forth His hand and touched his mouth (v. 9). After God put His own words in Jeremiah’s mouth, He sent him out to speak them to His people, who were in rebellion and in the grip of pagan idolatry.
In Jeremiah 6:13-17 we hear these words: “For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is gaining profit unjustly. From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have treated My people’s brokenness superficially, claiming: Peace, peace, when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently? They weren’t at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD. This is what the LORD says: Stand by the roadways and look. Ask about the ancient paths: Which is the way to what is good? Then take it and find rest for yourselves. But they protested: We won’t! I appointed watchmen over you and said: Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn. But they protested: We won’t listen!”
In Jeremiah’s day the only real earthly protection that could be afforded to a city was to fortify itself with a wall and place watchmen on it. They would watch through the night and through the day, scanning the horizon. The watchmen were issued trumpets, and at the first sign of trouble, they were to pick up those trumpets and blow a warning blast. The people knew that was their signal to awaken from their slumber or stop their daily activities and defend their homes and families.
In effect, Jeremiah was saying that God’s prophets were his watchmen. They had scanned the horizon looking for any threat, but they had turned and seen that the real threat was inside the walls. The watchmen had taken up their trumpets and blown the warning blasts, telling the people to take notice of what was around them, to ask about the old path and look for the good way, then to find rest by walking in it.
Several years ago a reporter asked me, “We’ve heard a lot from you about what’s wrong with America. What would America look like if it was the way you wanted it to be?” And I replied, “Well, a good place to start would be America in 1955, without the racism and the sexual discrimination against women.”
America in 1955 was a place where the following things did not happen, as they do now:
• Less than half of our children currently grow up in intact families. The divorce rate in America is 45-50 percent for first marriages, 60-67 percent for second marriages, and 70-73 percent for third marriages 1.
• Every year in the last ten years there has been a 400 percent increase in child abuse significant enough to require a doctor’s attention 2.
• Every hour our children watch 20 violent acts on television 3.
• Every day in America nearly 2,800 teenage girls get pregnant 4.
• Every day in America 1,106 of those girls snuff out the lives of their unborn children through abortion 5.
• About 8 out of every 100,000 teenagers committed suicide in 2000. For every teen suicide death, experts estimate there are 10 other attempts 6.
• By the time they graduate from high school, 54 percent of our teenagers acknowledge that they have used one or more illegal drugs 7.
And we are being inundated with a tidal wave of moral relativism that centers on human sexuality.
• At 13.3 billion dollars a year, the 2006 revenues of the sex and porn industry in the U.S. are more than the revenues of professional football, basketball, and baseball combined. Worldwide sex industry sales for 2006 are reported to be 97 billion dollars. To put this in perspective, Microsoft, which sells the operating system used on most of the computers in the world (in addition to other software) reported sales of 44.8 billion dollars in 2006 8.
• One out of every 4 girls and 1 out of every 6 boys in the United States will be sexually molested by the time they reach their 16th birthday 9.
• Somewhere in America, a woman is raped every 46 seconds. Every day 4 women are killed by their domestic partner 10.
• Prior to 1960 there were only two significant sexually-transmitted diseases: syphilis and gonorrhea. Both were easily treatable with antibiotics. In the next two decades this began to change. Today there are approximately 25 STDs, and a few can be fatal. Approximately 1 in 5 Americans between the ages of 15 and 55 are currently infected with one or more STDs, and 12 million Americans are newly infected each year. That’s nearly 5 percent of the entire American population. Of these new infections, 63 percent are in people under the age of 25 11.
Yes, things have changed since 1955. That time certainly had its own problems, but this moral filth was not being poured out into our culture.
When I was a Royal Ambassador growing up in a church in Houston, one of the first passages of Scripture I learned was Ephesians 2:8-10 (KJV), “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
What Ephesians 2:10 tells us is that God has a plan and God has a purpose for every single human life that is conceived. But we are like the prodigal son. We as Americans have aborted nearly 50 million babies since 1973 12. Have we aborted the next great evangelist? Have we aborted the one that God sent to find a cure for cancer? Have we aborted the next great military mind, the next great president, the next international peacemaker? Each of those American babies was a child—a child with a future and a purpose, sacrificed to the pagan gods of social convention, career advancement, and material well-being.
I can still remember as a young man in Sunday School having a Bible lesson about how the children of God had become so paganized that they went down into the valley of Gehenna and sacrificed their little children to the pagan god Molech. How could I have ever imagined as a young boy that I would live to see the United States of America offering up its unborn children as pagan sacrifices because they are too expensive, to embarrassing, too ill, or too inconvenient! God help us!
We are the prodigal son. We have taken the inheritance of our unborn children and gone to a far city where we have wasted that inheritance in riotous living. And now we are reduced to feeding among the swine for the husks of life. There is only one hope for America, and that is for us to come to our senses as did the prodigal and shake the filth from ourselves and determine to go home to the Father who is scanning the horizon, waiting for His people to come home.
America is not the America of the fifties. The reporter asked me, “Was it really that good in 1955, or do we just know more now?” And I realized that I might as well have been talking about the time of Louis XIV. The reporter was born some 10 years after 1955, while I was nine years old in 1955. Today’s young people have never experienced America when it was far more right than it is today. And unless we take the initiative to lead them back to the old ways, to the old paths, then surely we will proceed at an ever-accelerating pace toward destruction. If the present trends continue unabated, think about what America will be like 30 or 40 years from now! I become uncomfortable when I read the Corinthian letters because more and more we find ourselves in the same situation in which the Corinthian Christians found themselves—awash in a tide of moral relativity, a tide of sexual paganism, a sexual abyss.
In 1947, C. S. Lewis described the proper composition of a human being in a little book called The Abolition of Man. He said that the head ruled the belly, which was the sensual appetite, through the chest. Lewis defined the chest as consisting of the higher emotions organized by trained habit into stable sentiments—in other words, being taught the Ten Commandments, not the ten suggestions. Lewis went on to say that the higher emotions of the chest were the absolutely essential liaison between the cerebral and the sensual, and without the chest, human beings became worshipers of their own minds, their own appetites. Lewis also said that moral relativism tears out the chest and removes moral character.
“In a sort of ghastly simplicity, our culture removes the organ and demands the function,” Lewis wrote. “We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked when we find traitors in our midst. We castrate and then bid the geldings to be fruitful.” I can think of no better diagnosis for what has happened to a generation and a half of Americans whose fathers and mothers and aunts and uncles and grandfathers and leaders lost their moral compass and lost their moral way and are adrift on a turbulent ocean of relativism.
Yet when we believers try to stand up and speak the truth, we are told, “Oh, you can’t do that! That’s a violation of separation of church and state!” Nonsense! Foolish and dangerous nonsense!
John F. Kennedy once said the greatest enemy of truth is often not the lie—deliberate, contrived, and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic 13. And it is a persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic myth to say that you can’t legislate morality. All law is the legislation of someone’s morality.
Romans 13 says that we are to have civil government to punish those who do evil and reward those who do right. You have to legislate morality in order to do that. When we pass laws making murder and theft and rape and racism illegal, we are not so much trying to impose our morality on murderers and thieves and rapists and racists as we are trying to keep them from imposing their immorality on their victims. That is not only our right; it is also our obligation.
When Abraham Lincoln was running for the presidency of the United States in another time of great moral crisis, he got a lot of criticism for making slavery an issue. Here’s what he said in 1860, in the midst of the presidential campaign: “You will not let us do a single thing as if it was wrong: there is no place where you will allow it to be even called wrong. We must not call it wrong in the free States, because it is not there, and we must not call it wrong in the slave States, because it is there; we must not call it wrong in politics, because that is bringing morality into politics, and we must not call it wrong in the pulpit, because that is bringing politics into religion . . . ” Lincoln concluded by saying, “There is no single place, according to you, where this wrong can properly be called wrong 14.” I’m glad Abraham Lincoln didn’t listen to his critics.
We have allowed ourselves to believe this lie that somehow Christians don’t have a right and an obligation to be involved in public policy, and we have withdrawn and left the field to those who do not care to hear our faith-based convictions. And we are reaping the consequences. There was a study done several years ago to determine which were the most religious countries in the world. They came to the conclusion that India was the most religious country in the world and Sweden was the least religious country in the world. When Peter Berger, the famous sociologist, was told of this, he commented that if India is the most religious country in the world, and Sweden the least religious, then America is a nation of Indians ruled by Swedes 15. There’s a great deal of tragic truth in that. Do you know whose fault that is? It’s our fault! It’s our fault for not being willing to get involved and to be part of the process.
Jesus told us we are the salt and the light of the world. Salt is a purifying agent and a preservative, but it must come into contact with that which it would purify and preserve. And it not only purifies and preserves, it also stings and irritates. That’s why when Jesus said we were to be salt and light, He preceded it by saying, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake” (Matt. 5:11).
I grew up in Southern Baptist churches where it was often said, “Now, we’re Southern Baptists. That means we don’t get involved in anything controversial. We just preach the Gospel.” Folks, that’s an oxymoron. And as a graduate of Oxford, I want you to know that an oxymoron is not a moron who went to Oxford. An oxymoron is when you take two seemingly contradictory descriptions and use them to describe the same thing. Take “humble Texan,” for example. It is just as much of an oxymoron to say “noncontroversial Christian.” If we’re being salt and light then we are going to be controversial. Jesus intended for us to be controversial! In the first century Christians were known as the people who turned the world upside down, which means they were turning the world upside right.
There has been a conscious, concerted, and clever attempt by some in our country to marginalize Christians and drive them from involvement in the public policy of this nation. We must not allow them to keep us from our rightful place in the public square.
We must convince Christians to run for elected offices at every level, then encourage them to act on their faith-based convictions while they are in office. We must walk, talk, and vote our values. We must elect those who will appoint judges who understand that the Constitution is what governs us, not judges’ opinions about the Constitution.
We must have revival. America is too far gone for anything else to save us. We must have a heaven-sent, Spirit-filled, Christ-centered, Cross-focused, life-changing revival, or we are doomed.
I hope you are familiar with the song “Statue of Liberty.” It has special meaning to me. I had been back in America for three days after three years in England. I had moved to Dallas to take a position at Criswell College, and I was taken to Family Night at the Music Hall at Fair Park. They were having their God-and-Country celebration, and it culminated with a rousing rendition of that great song, which says “A rugged cross is my Statue of Liberty 16.” As the screen showed the Statue of Liberty, the song talked about the blessings of being an American. I just broke down and wept.
We live, by the grace of God, in the most blessed country on earth. God has blessed us wonderfully. But He has often blessed us in spite of ourselves. Our salvation will never be in America but in the Cross of Jesus Christ. We must have a revival, and it must be a revival, a revival that blossoms into an awakening and becomes a reformation. It’s too late for just a revival. The revival has got to come first, but the revival and the awakening have got to be applied to our government and to our culture. It has to be from the inside out! It has to be a regeneration of our nation through a regeneration of its people that culminates in a reformation that shakes America as Luther and Calvin shook Europe and Whitfield and Wesley shook England and Edwards shook Colonial America for Jesus Christ.
Government can’t save us. Government is usually part of the problem, not part of the solution. King Josiah is the perfect example that the government cannot bring revival. King Josiah heard the Word of God, and it broke his heart. He called for reforms. He instituted right and holy worship in the temple. He got rid of pagan excesses. He instituted true religion. And what happened? All of Josiah’s reforms died with him because only the king’s heart was changed. The people’s habits were changed, but their hearts were not. When the king died, the reforms died.
We have a right, we have a responsibility, and we have an obligation to be involved in the civic process. Jesus commanded us to be salt and light. But we must always remember that while the salt of the law can change actions, only the light of the Gospel can change attitudes. The salt of the law can change behaviors, but it is only the light of the Gospel that can change beliefs. The salt of the law can change habits, but it is only the light of the Gospel that can change hearts.
My dear brothers and sisters, when we are in crisis there is always a danger that we will turn to the government and try to make the government our ally. And it is a danger to say, “If we can just get the government to sponsor our religion, we can bring about revival.” That always has been and always will be a fatal bargain. When the government sponsors religion, the government thinks it owns religion. When the government puts its arm around you and embraces you, it’s like being squeezed by a python. You lose all life and vitality and eventually drop dead.
Government-sponsored religion is government-dictated, government-deluded religion. We don’t want the government to sponsor religion! We want the government to quit suppressing our right to be involved. We want the government to guarantee a level playing field and then to get off the field! Does that mean that false religions have the same rights to express their opinions and their beliefs as we do? Sure. Let them come. I never saw Elijah backing away from a confrontation with the prophets of Baal. He just showed them the power of the One True God!
Let us never forget our Baptist heritage. America will never get the proper role of religion in society right without Baptists and our heritage. It’s in our genetic code to mistrust government when they come to us and say, “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help you.” With government sponsorship, with government favoritism, comes government control. The Baptist Faith and Message says the church should never resort to the state to do its work. It’s our job. It’s our privilege. It’s our work to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But when we preach that Gospel, and God has blessed it and people’s hearts and minds have been changed, then they have the right as citizens to come forth in the public arena and say, “This is wrong, and we want it stopped.”
For example, abortion is the murder of babies, and we want laws to change it. When we convince a majority of Americans that we are right, that’s not called a theocracy, that’s called the democratic process.
God knows that I love my country, but Christians, our hope is not in America. America’s hope is in Christ. Ask not what your country can do for God. Ask what God can do for your country. And the answer, of course, is everything.
Southern Baptists, let’s heed the call to stand in the gap and repair the hedge and claim the promise of God when He said, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14, NIV). May there be a new birth of freedom, may there be a new birth of morality, may we stand in the ways and see the old paths and heed the watchmen on the wall.
The Bible says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Prov. 29:18). The vision is the Chazon, the entirety of the Word of God, and it is our job to proclaim and preach the Gospel. It is no one else’s responsibility. It’s the job of those who name the name of Christ. The Cross is our liberty and our salvation.
God bless you, God bless your family, and God bless the United States of America.
Richard Land is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. This is adapted from his 1997 Southern Baptist Convention sermon, with updated statistics.
1 Divorce Statistics [online] 2004 [cited 22 April 2007].
2 National Incidence Study [online] 2006 [cited 22 April 2007].
3 Children and Television Violence [online] 15 April 2007 [cited 22 April 2007].
4 Statistics on Teens [online] 20207 [cited 22 April 2007].
5 Teen Statistics [online] n.d. [cited 22 April 2007].
6 Teen Suicide Statistics [online] 2005 [cited 22 April 2007].
7 Preventing Teen Drug Abuse [online] 2007 [cited 22 April 2007].
8 Statistics and Information on Pornography in the US [online] 2005 [cited 22 April 2007].
9 Keep Your Children Safe [online] n.d. [cited 22 April 2007].
10 Stop Violence [online] 2006 [cited 22 April 2007].
11 The Epidemic of Sexually Transmitted Diseases [online] July 2002 [cited 22 April 2007].
12 Abortion in the United States: Statistics and Trends, National Right to Life [online], n.d. [cited 2 April 2007].
13 John F. Kennedy [online] 21 April 2007 [cited 22 April 2007].
14 Slavery the Snake of the Union Bed Speech at New Haven, Conn. March 6, 1860 [online] 2007 [cited 22 April 2007].
15 Philip E. Johnson. Books in Review: The Culture of Disbelief [online] December 1993 [cited 22 April 2007].
16 Neil Enloe. Statue of Liberty [online] n.d. [cited 22 April 2007].
A sentry's job is to stand guard--alert at his post--scanning the horizon and peering into the shadows for the approach of the enemy. Yet, we have not been vigilant and find ourselves desperately struggling for the soul of our nation. At times we surely wonder if the tide of battle can be reversed. What are we to do?
Periodically, I read something that grips my heart and cries out to be shared. Such is the following article from Dr. Richard Land. Consider it carefully and prayerfully.
Watchmen on the Wall
By Richard Land - Aug 21, 2007 - comment
“This is what the LORD says: Stand by the roadways and look. Ask about the ancient paths: Which is the way to what is good? Then take it and find rest for yourselves” (Jer. 6:16 HCSB).
If America dies, she will perish from self-inflicted wounds. It has always been the case and always will be that nations, great nations, die from within, not from without.
That is surely what God’s Holy Word is telling us in Jeremiah 1. God sent His prophet Jeremiah, and there can never have been a more direct command to go than the one Jeremiah received from God. Beginning in verse 5, God said, “I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (HCSB). And then Jeremiah said that God put forth His hand and touched his mouth (v. 9). After God put His own words in Jeremiah’s mouth, He sent him out to speak them to His people, who were in rebellion and in the grip of pagan idolatry.
In Jeremiah 6:13-17 we hear these words: “For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is gaining profit unjustly. From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have treated My people’s brokenness superficially, claiming: Peace, peace, when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently? They weren’t at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD. This is what the LORD says: Stand by the roadways and look. Ask about the ancient paths: Which is the way to what is good? Then take it and find rest for yourselves. But they protested: We won’t! I appointed watchmen over you and said: Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn. But they protested: We won’t listen!”
In Jeremiah’s day the only real earthly protection that could be afforded to a city was to fortify itself with a wall and place watchmen on it. They would watch through the night and through the day, scanning the horizon. The watchmen were issued trumpets, and at the first sign of trouble, they were to pick up those trumpets and blow a warning blast. The people knew that was their signal to awaken from their slumber or stop their daily activities and defend their homes and families.
In effect, Jeremiah was saying that God’s prophets were his watchmen. They had scanned the horizon looking for any threat, but they had turned and seen that the real threat was inside the walls. The watchmen had taken up their trumpets and blown the warning blasts, telling the people to take notice of what was around them, to ask about the old path and look for the good way, then to find rest by walking in it.
Several years ago a reporter asked me, “We’ve heard a lot from you about what’s wrong with America. What would America look like if it was the way you wanted it to be?” And I replied, “Well, a good place to start would be America in 1955, without the racism and the sexual discrimination against women.”
America in 1955 was a place where the following things did not happen, as they do now:
• Less than half of our children currently grow up in intact families. The divorce rate in America is 45-50 percent for first marriages, 60-67 percent for second marriages, and 70-73 percent for third marriages 1.
• Every year in the last ten years there has been a 400 percent increase in child abuse significant enough to require a doctor’s attention 2.
• Every hour our children watch 20 violent acts on television 3.
• Every day in America nearly 2,800 teenage girls get pregnant 4.
• Every day in America 1,106 of those girls snuff out the lives of their unborn children through abortion 5.
• About 8 out of every 100,000 teenagers committed suicide in 2000. For every teen suicide death, experts estimate there are 10 other attempts 6.
• By the time they graduate from high school, 54 percent of our teenagers acknowledge that they have used one or more illegal drugs 7.
And we are being inundated with a tidal wave of moral relativism that centers on human sexuality.
• At 13.3 billion dollars a year, the 2006 revenues of the sex and porn industry in the U.S. are more than the revenues of professional football, basketball, and baseball combined. Worldwide sex industry sales for 2006 are reported to be 97 billion dollars. To put this in perspective, Microsoft, which sells the operating system used on most of the computers in the world (in addition to other software) reported sales of 44.8 billion dollars in 2006 8.
• One out of every 4 girls and 1 out of every 6 boys in the United States will be sexually molested by the time they reach their 16th birthday 9.
• Somewhere in America, a woman is raped every 46 seconds. Every day 4 women are killed by their domestic partner 10.
• Prior to 1960 there were only two significant sexually-transmitted diseases: syphilis and gonorrhea. Both were easily treatable with antibiotics. In the next two decades this began to change. Today there are approximately 25 STDs, and a few can be fatal. Approximately 1 in 5 Americans between the ages of 15 and 55 are currently infected with one or more STDs, and 12 million Americans are newly infected each year. That’s nearly 5 percent of the entire American population. Of these new infections, 63 percent are in people under the age of 25 11.
Yes, things have changed since 1955. That time certainly had its own problems, but this moral filth was not being poured out into our culture.
When I was a Royal Ambassador growing up in a church in Houston, one of the first passages of Scripture I learned was Ephesians 2:8-10 (KJV), “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
What Ephesians 2:10 tells us is that God has a plan and God has a purpose for every single human life that is conceived. But we are like the prodigal son. We as Americans have aborted nearly 50 million babies since 1973 12. Have we aborted the next great evangelist? Have we aborted the one that God sent to find a cure for cancer? Have we aborted the next great military mind, the next great president, the next international peacemaker? Each of those American babies was a child—a child with a future and a purpose, sacrificed to the pagan gods of social convention, career advancement, and material well-being.
I can still remember as a young man in Sunday School having a Bible lesson about how the children of God had become so paganized that they went down into the valley of Gehenna and sacrificed their little children to the pagan god Molech. How could I have ever imagined as a young boy that I would live to see the United States of America offering up its unborn children as pagan sacrifices because they are too expensive, to embarrassing, too ill, or too inconvenient! God help us!
We are the prodigal son. We have taken the inheritance of our unborn children and gone to a far city where we have wasted that inheritance in riotous living. And now we are reduced to feeding among the swine for the husks of life. There is only one hope for America, and that is for us to come to our senses as did the prodigal and shake the filth from ourselves and determine to go home to the Father who is scanning the horizon, waiting for His people to come home.
America is not the America of the fifties. The reporter asked me, “Was it really that good in 1955, or do we just know more now?” And I realized that I might as well have been talking about the time of Louis XIV. The reporter was born some 10 years after 1955, while I was nine years old in 1955. Today’s young people have never experienced America when it was far more right than it is today. And unless we take the initiative to lead them back to the old ways, to the old paths, then surely we will proceed at an ever-accelerating pace toward destruction. If the present trends continue unabated, think about what America will be like 30 or 40 years from now! I become uncomfortable when I read the Corinthian letters because more and more we find ourselves in the same situation in which the Corinthian Christians found themselves—awash in a tide of moral relativity, a tide of sexual paganism, a sexual abyss.
In 1947, C. S. Lewis described the proper composition of a human being in a little book called The Abolition of Man. He said that the head ruled the belly, which was the sensual appetite, through the chest. Lewis defined the chest as consisting of the higher emotions organized by trained habit into stable sentiments—in other words, being taught the Ten Commandments, not the ten suggestions. Lewis went on to say that the higher emotions of the chest were the absolutely essential liaison between the cerebral and the sensual, and without the chest, human beings became worshipers of their own minds, their own appetites. Lewis also said that moral relativism tears out the chest and removes moral character.
“In a sort of ghastly simplicity, our culture removes the organ and demands the function,” Lewis wrote. “We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked when we find traitors in our midst. We castrate and then bid the geldings to be fruitful.” I can think of no better diagnosis for what has happened to a generation and a half of Americans whose fathers and mothers and aunts and uncles and grandfathers and leaders lost their moral compass and lost their moral way and are adrift on a turbulent ocean of relativism.
Yet when we believers try to stand up and speak the truth, we are told, “Oh, you can’t do that! That’s a violation of separation of church and state!” Nonsense! Foolish and dangerous nonsense!
John F. Kennedy once said the greatest enemy of truth is often not the lie—deliberate, contrived, and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic 13. And it is a persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic myth to say that you can’t legislate morality. All law is the legislation of someone’s morality.
Romans 13 says that we are to have civil government to punish those who do evil and reward those who do right. You have to legislate morality in order to do that. When we pass laws making murder and theft and rape and racism illegal, we are not so much trying to impose our morality on murderers and thieves and rapists and racists as we are trying to keep them from imposing their immorality on their victims. That is not only our right; it is also our obligation.
When Abraham Lincoln was running for the presidency of the United States in another time of great moral crisis, he got a lot of criticism for making slavery an issue. Here’s what he said in 1860, in the midst of the presidential campaign: “You will not let us do a single thing as if it was wrong: there is no place where you will allow it to be even called wrong. We must not call it wrong in the free States, because it is not there, and we must not call it wrong in the slave States, because it is there; we must not call it wrong in politics, because that is bringing morality into politics, and we must not call it wrong in the pulpit, because that is bringing politics into religion . . . ” Lincoln concluded by saying, “There is no single place, according to you, where this wrong can properly be called wrong 14.” I’m glad Abraham Lincoln didn’t listen to his critics.
We have allowed ourselves to believe this lie that somehow Christians don’t have a right and an obligation to be involved in public policy, and we have withdrawn and left the field to those who do not care to hear our faith-based convictions. And we are reaping the consequences. There was a study done several years ago to determine which were the most religious countries in the world. They came to the conclusion that India was the most religious country in the world and Sweden was the least religious country in the world. When Peter Berger, the famous sociologist, was told of this, he commented that if India is the most religious country in the world, and Sweden the least religious, then America is a nation of Indians ruled by Swedes 15. There’s a great deal of tragic truth in that. Do you know whose fault that is? It’s our fault! It’s our fault for not being willing to get involved and to be part of the process.
Jesus told us we are the salt and the light of the world. Salt is a purifying agent and a preservative, but it must come into contact with that which it would purify and preserve. And it not only purifies and preserves, it also stings and irritates. That’s why when Jesus said we were to be salt and light, He preceded it by saying, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake” (Matt. 5:11).
I grew up in Southern Baptist churches where it was often said, “Now, we’re Southern Baptists. That means we don’t get involved in anything controversial. We just preach the Gospel.” Folks, that’s an oxymoron. And as a graduate of Oxford, I want you to know that an oxymoron is not a moron who went to Oxford. An oxymoron is when you take two seemingly contradictory descriptions and use them to describe the same thing. Take “humble Texan,” for example. It is just as much of an oxymoron to say “noncontroversial Christian.” If we’re being salt and light then we are going to be controversial. Jesus intended for us to be controversial! In the first century Christians were known as the people who turned the world upside down, which means they were turning the world upside right.
There has been a conscious, concerted, and clever attempt by some in our country to marginalize Christians and drive them from involvement in the public policy of this nation. We must not allow them to keep us from our rightful place in the public square.
We must convince Christians to run for elected offices at every level, then encourage them to act on their faith-based convictions while they are in office. We must walk, talk, and vote our values. We must elect those who will appoint judges who understand that the Constitution is what governs us, not judges’ opinions about the Constitution.
We must have revival. America is too far gone for anything else to save us. We must have a heaven-sent, Spirit-filled, Christ-centered, Cross-focused, life-changing revival, or we are doomed.
I hope you are familiar with the song “Statue of Liberty.” It has special meaning to me. I had been back in America for three days after three years in England. I had moved to Dallas to take a position at Criswell College, and I was taken to Family Night at the Music Hall at Fair Park. They were having their God-and-Country celebration, and it culminated with a rousing rendition of that great song, which says “A rugged cross is my Statue of Liberty 16.” As the screen showed the Statue of Liberty, the song talked about the blessings of being an American. I just broke down and wept.
We live, by the grace of God, in the most blessed country on earth. God has blessed us wonderfully. But He has often blessed us in spite of ourselves. Our salvation will never be in America but in the Cross of Jesus Christ. We must have a revival, and it must be a revival, a revival that blossoms into an awakening and becomes a reformation. It’s too late for just a revival. The revival has got to come first, but the revival and the awakening have got to be applied to our government and to our culture. It has to be from the inside out! It has to be a regeneration of our nation through a regeneration of its people that culminates in a reformation that shakes America as Luther and Calvin shook Europe and Whitfield and Wesley shook England and Edwards shook Colonial America for Jesus Christ.
Government can’t save us. Government is usually part of the problem, not part of the solution. King Josiah is the perfect example that the government cannot bring revival. King Josiah heard the Word of God, and it broke his heart. He called for reforms. He instituted right and holy worship in the temple. He got rid of pagan excesses. He instituted true religion. And what happened? All of Josiah’s reforms died with him because only the king’s heart was changed. The people’s habits were changed, but their hearts were not. When the king died, the reforms died.
We have a right, we have a responsibility, and we have an obligation to be involved in the civic process. Jesus commanded us to be salt and light. But we must always remember that while the salt of the law can change actions, only the light of the Gospel can change attitudes. The salt of the law can change behaviors, but it is only the light of the Gospel that can change beliefs. The salt of the law can change habits, but it is only the light of the Gospel that can change hearts.
My dear brothers and sisters, when we are in crisis there is always a danger that we will turn to the government and try to make the government our ally. And it is a danger to say, “If we can just get the government to sponsor our religion, we can bring about revival.” That always has been and always will be a fatal bargain. When the government sponsors religion, the government thinks it owns religion. When the government puts its arm around you and embraces you, it’s like being squeezed by a python. You lose all life and vitality and eventually drop dead.
Government-sponsored religion is government-dictated, government-deluded religion. We don’t want the government to sponsor religion! We want the government to quit suppressing our right to be involved. We want the government to guarantee a level playing field and then to get off the field! Does that mean that false religions have the same rights to express their opinions and their beliefs as we do? Sure. Let them come. I never saw Elijah backing away from a confrontation with the prophets of Baal. He just showed them the power of the One True God!
Let us never forget our Baptist heritage. America will never get the proper role of religion in society right without Baptists and our heritage. It’s in our genetic code to mistrust government when they come to us and say, “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help you.” With government sponsorship, with government favoritism, comes government control. The Baptist Faith and Message says the church should never resort to the state to do its work. It’s our job. It’s our privilege. It’s our work to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But when we preach that Gospel, and God has blessed it and people’s hearts and minds have been changed, then they have the right as citizens to come forth in the public arena and say, “This is wrong, and we want it stopped.”
For example, abortion is the murder of babies, and we want laws to change it. When we convince a majority of Americans that we are right, that’s not called a theocracy, that’s called the democratic process.
God knows that I love my country, but Christians, our hope is not in America. America’s hope is in Christ. Ask not what your country can do for God. Ask what God can do for your country. And the answer, of course, is everything.
Southern Baptists, let’s heed the call to stand in the gap and repair the hedge and claim the promise of God when He said, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14, NIV). May there be a new birth of freedom, may there be a new birth of morality, may we stand in the ways and see the old paths and heed the watchmen on the wall.
The Bible says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Prov. 29:18). The vision is the Chazon, the entirety of the Word of God, and it is our job to proclaim and preach the Gospel. It is no one else’s responsibility. It’s the job of those who name the name of Christ. The Cross is our liberty and our salvation.
God bless you, God bless your family, and God bless the United States of America.
Richard Land is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. This is adapted from his 1997 Southern Baptist Convention sermon, with updated statistics.
1 Divorce Statistics [online] 2004 [cited 22 April 2007].
2 National Incidence Study [online] 2006 [cited 22 April 2007].
3 Children and Television Violence [online] 15 April 2007 [cited 22 April 2007].
4 Statistics on Teens [online] 20207 [cited 22 April 2007].
5 Teen Statistics [online] n.d. [cited 22 April 2007].
6 Teen Suicide Statistics [online] 2005 [cited 22 April 2007].
7 Preventing Teen Drug Abuse [online] 2007 [cited 22 April 2007].
8 Statistics and Information on Pornography in the US [online] 2005 [cited 22 April 2007].
9 Keep Your Children Safe [online] n.d. [cited 22 April 2007].
10 Stop Violence [online] 2006 [cited 22 April 2007].
11 The Epidemic of Sexually Transmitted Diseases [online] July 2002 [cited 22 April 2007].
12 Abortion in the United States: Statistics and Trends, National Right to Life [online], n.d. [cited 2 April 2007].
13 John F. Kennedy [online] 21 April 2007 [cited 22 April 2007].
14 Slavery the Snake of the Union Bed Speech at New Haven, Conn. March 6, 1860 [online] 2007 [cited 22 April 2007].
15 Philip E. Johnson. Books in Review: The Culture of Disbelief [online] December 1993 [cited 22 April 2007].
16 Neil Enloe. Statue of Liberty [online] n.d. [cited 22 April 2007].
Monday, August 13, 2007
WHAT ABOUT…?
Questions, questions—people always have questions and one that I have gotten several times is, “What about Freemasonry?” Some of you will react, “Well, what about it?” as in, “What is it and why does it even matter?” Others will have some vague idea, but only a mild curiosity—they won’t lose sleep over it. A few members may be irritated that it is even mentioned as they are involved in it and will say, “It’s a fraternal organization, not a religion, and I don’t think it needs to be discussed in church.” At the opposite end of the spectrum, another small segment of members say it’s a cult, must be exposed, and even to blame for the spiritual ills of the church.
So, with most members oblivious or at least ambivalent, and with the potential for two vocal groups to be antagonized over the issue, why bring it up? Surely we are not obligated to discuss everything that someone wants to make a major issue. I mean if you think only Republicans are going to heaven, or are sure that if you’re not a Democrat you’re going to hell, must we get into a big debate over the burning question of drilling for more oil in Alaska? You may have an opinion, and I do, but how does it really fit in with the mission of Pole Creek? Is it worth the time and energy to discuss?
The fact is that I am not getting near the amount of questions and concerns about drilling for oil in Alaska as I am about Freemasonry. It does have a spiritual dimension. As the Senior Pastor of this church, I have a responsibility to address such questions when they are presented. So, here goes!
Have you ever eaten “Grape Nuts”? Well, that cereal is neither grapes, nor nuts! Freemasonry is not simply a fraternal organization nor is it a cult—neither. It has religious overtones that bother me. Just about everything they do has some religious connotation—and it isn’t clearly Christian, either. You can be a Moslem and have a Koran in your lodge. You can be a Jew and have the Torah. You can be a Christian and have a Bible. You must believe in a Supreme Being—that’s it. That is troublesome to me because I am convinced that without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you are lost. Such theological discussions are prohibited in the Lodge, I understand. If I am silent about my faith when it comes to discussing it with a fellow member of the Craft, do I really care about their soul? This isn’t an accusation—just a question. Listening to the religious message of Freemasonry’s rituals, one could conclude that salvation is by works. My first exposure to this was as a young preacher observing their burial ceremony at a graveside. As I listened what I heard was that the fellow in the casket was going to the Celestial Lodge because he wore the apron of a mason and did a lot of good deeds. Yet, Scripture clearly teaches that salvation is in Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone. These teachings of the Lodge and the church are at odds.
Having said that, two of the finest Christians I have known have been Freemasons. Their faith was evident, their commitment to Christ and his church clear cut, and to suggest that these men were so spiritually blind as to be part of a cult, satanic group, etc. is insulting to intelligence. Were they fooled? Maybe—but I could only wish for more members like them, for they excelled in devotion to the Lord, His church, and yes, to their pastor.
Several years ago, at the Southern Baptist Convention, a statement concerning Freemasonry was adopted. Here it is:
ANNUAL OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION
Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Three
One Hundred Thirty-Sixth Session,
One Hundred Forty-Eighth Year
Houston, Texas, June 15-17, 1993
Prepared by
David W. Atchison, Recording Secretary of the Convention
Distributed by
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION
Morris H. Chapman, President & Chief Executive Officer
901 Commerce Street
Nashville, Tennessee 37203
Freemasonry Report
Motion Concerning Freemasonry
In annual session of the Baptist Convention, June 9-11, 1992 the following motion was approved:
The Southern Baptist Convention in annual session June 9-11, 1992, at Indianapolis, Indiana, directs the Interfaith Witness Department of the Home Mission Board to study the compatibility with Christianity and Southern Baptist doctrine of the organization known variously as the Masonic Lodge, Masonry, Freemasonry, and or Ancient and Accepted Right [sic] of Freemasonry. The study is to encompass any and all branches and or lodges thereof. Furthermore, the convention charges the Home Mission Board with the responsibility of bringing a report with recommendation to the Convention which is to meet in Houston, Texas, June 1993.
We report
That the Interfaith Witness Department of the Home Mission Board (HMB) has completed a study of Freemasonry and its various branches, as directed by the Convention, with special attention given to the compatibility of Freemasonry with Christianity and Southern Baptist doctrine. The study has been reviewed by the HMB Executive Council (president and vice presidents), by the Board of Directors' Administrative Committee (officers and committee chairmen), and by the Board of Directors of the HMB. The study has now been published as a 75-page document and is available for purchase on a cost-recovery basis from the Home Mission Board.1
We further report
That the Administrative Committee of the Board of Directors has prepared this printed report to the Convention and that it has been reviewed and approved by action of the Board of Directors, meeting March 17, 1993, in Atlanta, Georgia.
We commend
The Masonic Order for its many charitable endeavors such as the operation of 22 Shriners hospitals, 19 orthopedic hospitals, and 3 burns institutes with noteworthy success in treatment, research, and education, often providing free treatment to children under 18 years of age. Also, we commend support of the Foundation for the Prevention of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Among Children and the Eastern Star sponsorship of Masonic Homes for the Aged. These, with many other charitable and benevolent endeavors, are commendable.
We acknowledge
That many outstanding Christians and Southern Baptists now are, and in the past have been, Masons, including such notable past Southern Baptist leaders as B.H. Carroll, George W. Truett, L.R. Scarborough, W.T. Connor, Louie D. Newton, and J.B. Lawrence.
We recognize
That many of the tenets and teachings of some Grand Lodges could be considered compatible with, and even supportive of, Christian faith and practice, such as the strong emphasis on honesty, integrity, industry, and character and the insistence that every member believe in God. Some Grand Lodges have written into their monitors, guidelines, and rituals explicit references to Christian faith, including exact quotes from the Bible, such as in the ritual constituting a new lodge in the Monitor of the Lodge of the Grand Lodge of Texas:
I now solemnly consecrate this lodge to the honor and glory of Jehovah, the Grand Architect of the Universe.2
Or the explicit reference to Jesus in the Masonic Code of the Grand Lodge of Alabama:
It is therefore proper and in accordance with Masonic law and tenets for a Mason who believes in the Christ Jesus to offer prayers in the Lodge in His Name.3
Or the ceremony for laying a cornerstone found in The Murrow Masonic Monitor of the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma:
According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.4
Or the ceremony of the extinguishing of the lights, a Scottish Rite ceremony held on Maundy Thursday:
My Brethren, this is the anniversary of that Last Supper of which Jesus of Nazareth partook with His humble disciples, after which He was betrayed and crucified.
Who, of any creed, can picture to himself, unmoved, that noble and sweet countenance, which never looked on anything in anger, pale with agony, and streaming with tears? His back was torn by the lash, His brow pierced by the thorns. He suffered, willingly, until it seemed, even to Him, that His God and Father had forsaken Him.
And yet, even then, bruised, hanged upon a cross, betrayed by one He loved, suffering and, for a moment, questioning, He still calls down not curses by blessings and a prayer for forgiveness upon those who had so treated Him.5
Or that found in the Scottish Rite 18th degree:
Wherein they [older forms of religion] were deficient [Masonry] found in the New Law of Love, preached by Jesus of Nazareth, and which He sealed with His blood.6
Or the strong affirmation of the Bible found in the North Carolina Lodge Manual:
The Holy Bible is given us as the rule and guide of faith . . . the Bible is the light which enlightens the path of our duty to God.7
Or that found in the Louisiana Masonic Monitor:
However they may differ in creed or theology, all good men are agreed that within the covers of the Holy Bible are found those principles of morality which lay the foundation upon which to build a righteous life. . . . It is the one volume which has lived in the hearts of the people, molding and shaping their destinies; and it leads the way to Him who is the Light of the world.8
Or the words of the chaplain in the funeral service found in the Masonic Manual of the Grand Lodge of Georgia:
I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.9
To be sure, not all Grand Lodges affirm Christian doctrine, and many do not declare Jesus as the unique Son of God; but many do, and for this we commend them. There is not complete uniformity in tenets or practice among lodges.
We conclude
That many tenets and teachings of Freemasonry are not compatible with Christianity or Southern Baptist doctrine, including:
1. The prevalent use of offensive concepts, titles, and terms such as Worshipful Master for the leader of a lodge; references to their buildings as mosques, shrines, or temples; and the use of words such as Abaddon and Jah-Bul-On, the so-called secret name of God. To many, these terms are not only offensive but sacrilegious.
2. The use of archaic, offensive rituals and so-called bloody oaths or obligations, among these being that promised by the Entered Apprentice:
All this I most solemnly and sincerely promise and swear, . . . binding myself under no less penalty than that of having my throat cut from ear to ear, my tongue torn out by its roots, and buried in the sands of the sea, at low water mark, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-five hours, should I, in the least, knowingly or wittingly violate or transgress this my Entered Apprentice obligation.10
Or that of the Fellow Craft degree:
All this I most solemnly and sincerely promise and swear, . . . binding myself under no less penalty than that of having my left breast torn open, my heart plucked from thence, and given to the beast of the field and the birds of the air as prey, should I, in the least, knowingly or wittingly, violate or transgress this my Fellow Craft obligations.11
Or that of the Master Mason:
All this I most solemnly and sincerely promise and swear, . . . binding myself under no less penalty than that of having my body severed in two, . . . my bowels torn from thence and burned to ashes, and these scattered before the four winds of heaven, that no more remembrance might be had among men or Masons of so vile a wretch as I should be, should I, in the least, knowingly or wittingly violate or transgress this my Master Mason obligation. So help me God and keep me steadfast.12
Or that of other advanced degrees with required rituals considered by many to be pagan and incompatible with Christian faith and practice.
Even though these oaths, obligations, and rituals may or may not be taken seriously by the initiate, it is inappropriate for a Christian to sincerely promise and swear, with a hand on the Holy Bible, any such promises or oaths, or to participate in any such pagan rituals.
3. The recommended readings, in pursuance of advanced degrees, of religions and philosophies, which are undeniably pagan and/or occultic, such as much of the writings of Albert Pike, Albert Mackey, Manly Hall, Rex Hutchins, W.L. Wilmshurst, and other such authors; along with their works, such as Morals and Dogma, A Bridge to Light, An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, and The Meaning of Masonry.
4. The reference to the Bible placed on the altar of the lodge as the furniture of the lodge, comparing it to the square and compass rather than giving it the supreme place in the lodge.13
5. The prevalent use of the term Alight, which some may understand as a reference to salvation rather than knowledge or truth.
6. The implication that salvation may be attained by one's good works, implicit in the statement found in some Masonic writings that Masonry is continually reminded of that purity of life and conduct which is necessary to obtain admittance into the Celestial Lodge above where the Supreme Architect of the Universe presides.14 Even though many Masons understand that the purity of life and conduct can only be achieved through faith in Jesus Christ, others may be led to believe they can earn salvation by living a pure life with good conduct.
7. The heresy of universalism (the belief all people will eventually be saved), which permeates the writings of many Masonic authors, which is a doctrine inconsistent with New Testament teaching.15
8. The refusal of most lodges (although not all) to admit for membership African-Americans.
IN SUMMARY
In light of the fact that many tenets and teachings of Freemasonry are not compatible with Christianity and Southern Baptist doctrine, while others are compatible with Christianity and Southern Baptist doctrine, we therefore recommend that consistent with our denomination's deep convictions regarding the priesthood of the believer and the autonomy of the local church, membership in a Masonic Order be a matter of personal conscience. Therefore, we exhort Southern Baptists to prayerfully and carefully evaluate Freemasonry in light of the Lordship of Christ, the teachings of the Scripture, and the findings of this report, as led by the Holy Spirit of God.
Endnotes
1. Proceedings, Annual of the Southern Baptist Contention 1992,
(Nashville: Executive Committee, 1992), p. 86.
2. Monitor of the Lodge (Waco: Grand Lodge of Texas, 1982), p. 148.
3. Masonic Code (Grand Lodge of Alabama, 1963), p. 141.
4. The Murrow Masonic Monitor (Guthrie: Grand Lodge of Oklahoma, revised 1988), p. 190.
5. Ritual of the 15E to the 18E of the Scottish Rite (no publisher information, 1957), p. 251.
6. Ibid., p. 145.
7. Charles F. Bahnson, North Carolina Lodge Manual (Raleigh: Edwards & Boughton Co., 1929), p. 14.
8. Louisiana Masonic Monitor (Walker, La.: Lavergne's River Parish Press, 1988), pp. 24-26.
9. Masonic Manual of the Grand Lodge of Georgia (Macon: Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Georgia, 1973), pp. 145-146. (Macon: Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Georgia, 1973), pp. 145-146.
10. Ralph P. Lester, ed. Look to the East: A Ritual of the First Three Degrees of Masonry (Chicago: Ezra A. Cook Publishing, Inc., 1975), p. 96.
11. Ibid., p. 31.
12. Ibid., pp. 154-155.
13. Monitor of the Lodge (Waco: Grand Lodge of Texas, 1982), pp. 30-31.
Also see Louisiana Masonic Monitor, pp. 24-26.
14. Louisiana Masonic Monitor, p. 79.
15. Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (Washington, D.C.: Prepared for the Supreme Council of the Thirty-third Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction, A.A.S.R., U.S.A., 1964), p. 847.
Based on these findings and other matters that I have studied, I could not in good conscience be a member of the Masonic Lodge. It would also be my desire that those who are part of this organization strongly pray and consider about withdrawing from it. If someone in our church has been approached about joining, I would counsel against it. The danger here is, in part, the increasing culture of tolerance in our world that sees all faiths as valid. There is today, a watering down of truth and rejection of doctrine—an “I’m OK; you’re OK” theology. It is going to be increasingly easy to slide that direction rather than resist the tide. Would being a Freemason make it easier or more difficult in the days to come to buy into this universalism—the one world religious system that many are clamoring for and the Bible predicts will come in the last day? What do you think?
Having said that, we must also recognize that there are matters about which Christians may disagree on, and that after showing charity and giving careful consideration may just have to agree to disagree. A harsh, judgmental spirit is never called for and never helpful. Paul said,
23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.
24 And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.
25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,
26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:23-26 NIV)
With this in mind, I am not planning on unleashing a broadside against the Lodge from the pulpit. I don’t see anything constructive happening from that. I am willing to discuss this issue with anyone, pro or con. There is not a member of this church that I don’t love and care about. The danger is that you can read type on a page and miss the heart of the one writing.
Bottom line: If you are a member of the Lodge or have a loved one who is, please don’t see this as a personal attack. Prayerfully consider your involvement in Freemasonry—that’s all I would ask. If you are strongly opposed to Freemasonry, be kind and gentle in your attitudes and words. Our desire is not to drive people away, but build them up. Above all, let’s neither compromise the truth, nor create a brawl. I don’t think we must choose. Both sharing truth and showing love are vital for Christians!
I doubt this makes everyone happy. But, that can’t be my intent. There is but One I must please—the dear Lord Jesus. Paul put it this way,
1 So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.
2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.
4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.
5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. (1 Corinthians 4:1-5 NIV)
Questions, questions—people always have questions and one that I have gotten several times is, “What about Freemasonry?” Some of you will react, “Well, what about it?” as in, “What is it and why does it even matter?” Others will have some vague idea, but only a mild curiosity—they won’t lose sleep over it. A few members may be irritated that it is even mentioned as they are involved in it and will say, “It’s a fraternal organization, not a religion, and I don’t think it needs to be discussed in church.” At the opposite end of the spectrum, another small segment of members say it’s a cult, must be exposed, and even to blame for the spiritual ills of the church.
So, with most members oblivious or at least ambivalent, and with the potential for two vocal groups to be antagonized over the issue, why bring it up? Surely we are not obligated to discuss everything that someone wants to make a major issue. I mean if you think only Republicans are going to heaven, or are sure that if you’re not a Democrat you’re going to hell, must we get into a big debate over the burning question of drilling for more oil in Alaska? You may have an opinion, and I do, but how does it really fit in with the mission of Pole Creek? Is it worth the time and energy to discuss?
The fact is that I am not getting near the amount of questions and concerns about drilling for oil in Alaska as I am about Freemasonry. It does have a spiritual dimension. As the Senior Pastor of this church, I have a responsibility to address such questions when they are presented. So, here goes!
Have you ever eaten “Grape Nuts”? Well, that cereal is neither grapes, nor nuts! Freemasonry is not simply a fraternal organization nor is it a cult—neither. It has religious overtones that bother me. Just about everything they do has some religious connotation—and it isn’t clearly Christian, either. You can be a Moslem and have a Koran in your lodge. You can be a Jew and have the Torah. You can be a Christian and have a Bible. You must believe in a Supreme Being—that’s it. That is troublesome to me because I am convinced that without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you are lost. Such theological discussions are prohibited in the Lodge, I understand. If I am silent about my faith when it comes to discussing it with a fellow member of the Craft, do I really care about their soul? This isn’t an accusation—just a question. Listening to the religious message of Freemasonry’s rituals, one could conclude that salvation is by works. My first exposure to this was as a young preacher observing their burial ceremony at a graveside. As I listened what I heard was that the fellow in the casket was going to the Celestial Lodge because he wore the apron of a mason and did a lot of good deeds. Yet, Scripture clearly teaches that salvation is in Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone. These teachings of the Lodge and the church are at odds.
Having said that, two of the finest Christians I have known have been Freemasons. Their faith was evident, their commitment to Christ and his church clear cut, and to suggest that these men were so spiritually blind as to be part of a cult, satanic group, etc. is insulting to intelligence. Were they fooled? Maybe—but I could only wish for more members like them, for they excelled in devotion to the Lord, His church, and yes, to their pastor.
Several years ago, at the Southern Baptist Convention, a statement concerning Freemasonry was adopted. Here it is:
ANNUAL OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION
Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Three
One Hundred Thirty-Sixth Session,
One Hundred Forty-Eighth Year
Houston, Texas, June 15-17, 1993
Prepared by
David W. Atchison, Recording Secretary of the Convention
Distributed by
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION
Morris H. Chapman, President & Chief Executive Officer
901 Commerce Street
Nashville, Tennessee 37203
Freemasonry Report
Motion Concerning Freemasonry
In annual session of the Baptist Convention, June 9-11, 1992 the following motion was approved:
The Southern Baptist Convention in annual session June 9-11, 1992, at Indianapolis, Indiana, directs the Interfaith Witness Department of the Home Mission Board to study the compatibility with Christianity and Southern Baptist doctrine of the organization known variously as the Masonic Lodge, Masonry, Freemasonry, and or Ancient and Accepted Right [sic] of Freemasonry. The study is to encompass any and all branches and or lodges thereof. Furthermore, the convention charges the Home Mission Board with the responsibility of bringing a report with recommendation to the Convention which is to meet in Houston, Texas, June 1993.
We report
That the Interfaith Witness Department of the Home Mission Board (HMB) has completed a study of Freemasonry and its various branches, as directed by the Convention, with special attention given to the compatibility of Freemasonry with Christianity and Southern Baptist doctrine. The study has been reviewed by the HMB Executive Council (president and vice presidents), by the Board of Directors' Administrative Committee (officers and committee chairmen), and by the Board of Directors of the HMB. The study has now been published as a 75-page document and is available for purchase on a cost-recovery basis from the Home Mission Board.1
We further report
That the Administrative Committee of the Board of Directors has prepared this printed report to the Convention and that it has been reviewed and approved by action of the Board of Directors, meeting March 17, 1993, in Atlanta, Georgia.
We commend
The Masonic Order for its many charitable endeavors such as the operation of 22 Shriners hospitals, 19 orthopedic hospitals, and 3 burns institutes with noteworthy success in treatment, research, and education, often providing free treatment to children under 18 years of age. Also, we commend support of the Foundation for the Prevention of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Among Children and the Eastern Star sponsorship of Masonic Homes for the Aged. These, with many other charitable and benevolent endeavors, are commendable.
We acknowledge
That many outstanding Christians and Southern Baptists now are, and in the past have been, Masons, including such notable past Southern Baptist leaders as B.H. Carroll, George W. Truett, L.R. Scarborough, W.T. Connor, Louie D. Newton, and J.B. Lawrence.
We recognize
That many of the tenets and teachings of some Grand Lodges could be considered compatible with, and even supportive of, Christian faith and practice, such as the strong emphasis on honesty, integrity, industry, and character and the insistence that every member believe in God. Some Grand Lodges have written into their monitors, guidelines, and rituals explicit references to Christian faith, including exact quotes from the Bible, such as in the ritual constituting a new lodge in the Monitor of the Lodge of the Grand Lodge of Texas:
I now solemnly consecrate this lodge to the honor and glory of Jehovah, the Grand Architect of the Universe.2
Or the explicit reference to Jesus in the Masonic Code of the Grand Lodge of Alabama:
It is therefore proper and in accordance with Masonic law and tenets for a Mason who believes in the Christ Jesus to offer prayers in the Lodge in His Name.3
Or the ceremony for laying a cornerstone found in The Murrow Masonic Monitor of the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma:
According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.4
Or the ceremony of the extinguishing of the lights, a Scottish Rite ceremony held on Maundy Thursday:
My Brethren, this is the anniversary of that Last Supper of which Jesus of Nazareth partook with His humble disciples, after which He was betrayed and crucified.
Who, of any creed, can picture to himself, unmoved, that noble and sweet countenance, which never looked on anything in anger, pale with agony, and streaming with tears? His back was torn by the lash, His brow pierced by the thorns. He suffered, willingly, until it seemed, even to Him, that His God and Father had forsaken Him.
And yet, even then, bruised, hanged upon a cross, betrayed by one He loved, suffering and, for a moment, questioning, He still calls down not curses by blessings and a prayer for forgiveness upon those who had so treated Him.5
Or that found in the Scottish Rite 18th degree:
Wherein they [older forms of religion] were deficient [Masonry] found in the New Law of Love, preached by Jesus of Nazareth, and which He sealed with His blood.6
Or the strong affirmation of the Bible found in the North Carolina Lodge Manual:
The Holy Bible is given us as the rule and guide of faith . . . the Bible is the light which enlightens the path of our duty to God.7
Or that found in the Louisiana Masonic Monitor:
However they may differ in creed or theology, all good men are agreed that within the covers of the Holy Bible are found those principles of morality which lay the foundation upon which to build a righteous life. . . . It is the one volume which has lived in the hearts of the people, molding and shaping their destinies; and it leads the way to Him who is the Light of the world.8
Or the words of the chaplain in the funeral service found in the Masonic Manual of the Grand Lodge of Georgia:
I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.9
To be sure, not all Grand Lodges affirm Christian doctrine, and many do not declare Jesus as the unique Son of God; but many do, and for this we commend them. There is not complete uniformity in tenets or practice among lodges.
We conclude
That many tenets and teachings of Freemasonry are not compatible with Christianity or Southern Baptist doctrine, including:
1. The prevalent use of offensive concepts, titles, and terms such as Worshipful Master for the leader of a lodge; references to their buildings as mosques, shrines, or temples; and the use of words such as Abaddon and Jah-Bul-On, the so-called secret name of God. To many, these terms are not only offensive but sacrilegious.
2. The use of archaic, offensive rituals and so-called bloody oaths or obligations, among these being that promised by the Entered Apprentice:
All this I most solemnly and sincerely promise and swear, . . . binding myself under no less penalty than that of having my throat cut from ear to ear, my tongue torn out by its roots, and buried in the sands of the sea, at low water mark, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-five hours, should I, in the least, knowingly or wittingly violate or transgress this my Entered Apprentice obligation.10
Or that of the Fellow Craft degree:
All this I most solemnly and sincerely promise and swear, . . . binding myself under no less penalty than that of having my left breast torn open, my heart plucked from thence, and given to the beast of the field and the birds of the air as prey, should I, in the least, knowingly or wittingly, violate or transgress this my Fellow Craft obligations.11
Or that of the Master Mason:
All this I most solemnly and sincerely promise and swear, . . . binding myself under no less penalty than that of having my body severed in two, . . . my bowels torn from thence and burned to ashes, and these scattered before the four winds of heaven, that no more remembrance might be had among men or Masons of so vile a wretch as I should be, should I, in the least, knowingly or wittingly violate or transgress this my Master Mason obligation. So help me God and keep me steadfast.12
Or that of other advanced degrees with required rituals considered by many to be pagan and incompatible with Christian faith and practice.
Even though these oaths, obligations, and rituals may or may not be taken seriously by the initiate, it is inappropriate for a Christian to sincerely promise and swear, with a hand on the Holy Bible, any such promises or oaths, or to participate in any such pagan rituals.
3. The recommended readings, in pursuance of advanced degrees, of religions and philosophies, which are undeniably pagan and/or occultic, such as much of the writings of Albert Pike, Albert Mackey, Manly Hall, Rex Hutchins, W.L. Wilmshurst, and other such authors; along with their works, such as Morals and Dogma, A Bridge to Light, An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, and The Meaning of Masonry.
4. The reference to the Bible placed on the altar of the lodge as the furniture of the lodge, comparing it to the square and compass rather than giving it the supreme place in the lodge.13
5. The prevalent use of the term Alight, which some may understand as a reference to salvation rather than knowledge or truth.
6. The implication that salvation may be attained by one's good works, implicit in the statement found in some Masonic writings that Masonry is continually reminded of that purity of life and conduct which is necessary to obtain admittance into the Celestial Lodge above where the Supreme Architect of the Universe presides.14 Even though many Masons understand that the purity of life and conduct can only be achieved through faith in Jesus Christ, others may be led to believe they can earn salvation by living a pure life with good conduct.
7. The heresy of universalism (the belief all people will eventually be saved), which permeates the writings of many Masonic authors, which is a doctrine inconsistent with New Testament teaching.15
8. The refusal of most lodges (although not all) to admit for membership African-Americans.
IN SUMMARY
In light of the fact that many tenets and teachings of Freemasonry are not compatible with Christianity and Southern Baptist doctrine, while others are compatible with Christianity and Southern Baptist doctrine, we therefore recommend that consistent with our denomination's deep convictions regarding the priesthood of the believer and the autonomy of the local church, membership in a Masonic Order be a matter of personal conscience. Therefore, we exhort Southern Baptists to prayerfully and carefully evaluate Freemasonry in light of the Lordship of Christ, the teachings of the Scripture, and the findings of this report, as led by the Holy Spirit of God.
Endnotes
1. Proceedings, Annual of the Southern Baptist Contention 1992,
(Nashville: Executive Committee, 1992), p. 86.
2. Monitor of the Lodge (Waco: Grand Lodge of Texas, 1982), p. 148.
3. Masonic Code (Grand Lodge of Alabama, 1963), p. 141.
4. The Murrow Masonic Monitor (Guthrie: Grand Lodge of Oklahoma, revised 1988), p. 190.
5. Ritual of the 15E to the 18E of the Scottish Rite (no publisher information, 1957), p. 251.
6. Ibid., p. 145.
7. Charles F. Bahnson, North Carolina Lodge Manual (Raleigh: Edwards & Boughton Co., 1929), p. 14.
8. Louisiana Masonic Monitor (Walker, La.: Lavergne's River Parish Press, 1988), pp. 24-26.
9. Masonic Manual of the Grand Lodge of Georgia (Macon: Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Georgia, 1973), pp. 145-146. (Macon: Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Georgia, 1973), pp. 145-146.
10. Ralph P. Lester, ed. Look to the East: A Ritual of the First Three Degrees of Masonry (Chicago: Ezra A. Cook Publishing, Inc., 1975), p. 96.
11. Ibid., p. 31.
12. Ibid., pp. 154-155.
13. Monitor of the Lodge (Waco: Grand Lodge of Texas, 1982), pp. 30-31.
Also see Louisiana Masonic Monitor, pp. 24-26.
14. Louisiana Masonic Monitor, p. 79.
15. Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (Washington, D.C.: Prepared for the Supreme Council of the Thirty-third Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction, A.A.S.R., U.S.A., 1964), p. 847.
Based on these findings and other matters that I have studied, I could not in good conscience be a member of the Masonic Lodge. It would also be my desire that those who are part of this organization strongly pray and consider about withdrawing from it. If someone in our church has been approached about joining, I would counsel against it. The danger here is, in part, the increasing culture of tolerance in our world that sees all faiths as valid. There is today, a watering down of truth and rejection of doctrine—an “I’m OK; you’re OK” theology. It is going to be increasingly easy to slide that direction rather than resist the tide. Would being a Freemason make it easier or more difficult in the days to come to buy into this universalism—the one world religious system that many are clamoring for and the Bible predicts will come in the last day? What do you think?
Having said that, we must also recognize that there are matters about which Christians may disagree on, and that after showing charity and giving careful consideration may just have to agree to disagree. A harsh, judgmental spirit is never called for and never helpful. Paul said,
23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.
24 And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.
25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,
26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:23-26 NIV)
With this in mind, I am not planning on unleashing a broadside against the Lodge from the pulpit. I don’t see anything constructive happening from that. I am willing to discuss this issue with anyone, pro or con. There is not a member of this church that I don’t love and care about. The danger is that you can read type on a page and miss the heart of the one writing.
Bottom line: If you are a member of the Lodge or have a loved one who is, please don’t see this as a personal attack. Prayerfully consider your involvement in Freemasonry—that’s all I would ask. If you are strongly opposed to Freemasonry, be kind and gentle in your attitudes and words. Our desire is not to drive people away, but build them up. Above all, let’s neither compromise the truth, nor create a brawl. I don’t think we must choose. Both sharing truth and showing love are vital for Christians!
I doubt this makes everyone happy. But, that can’t be my intent. There is but One I must please—the dear Lord Jesus. Paul put it this way,
1 So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.
2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.
4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.
5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. (1 Corinthians 4:1-5 NIV)
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
THE LOWDOWN ON HIGHER EDUCATION
In my last post, I spoke of some of the perils our kids face when we ship them off to the university. Here is an article I read that reinforces that concern:
More Dangerous On College Campuses Than You Thought
By Marsha West
Soon thousands of teens and twentysomethings will be going off to “institutions of higher learning.” Young people who’ve been raised with moral values will go behind the fortified walls of Babylon, pretty much unarmed. And the barbarians are prepared to chew them up and spit them out.
Barbarians, you say? OK, liberals. Liberals on college campuses want your son and daughter to have the freedom to have sex (hetro or homo), to binge drink, and to do drugs. Most liberals have little or no respect for faith-based parents and their annoying moral values. In a Townhall.com article “Why Liberals Lie About Sex,” Kevin McCullough points out that liberals “are willing to substitute false thinking for solid fact on the consequences of what will happen. And they do so while simultaneously insulting you and your child's ability to comprehend, discern, and choose behaviors that make the most sense.” In other words, liberals know better than you do what’s best for your child.
Most parents do everything possible to shelter their kids from the evils of this world during their growing up years. Then something rather curious happens on the heels of high school graduation. Moms and dads suddenly misplace their common sense. Poof! Right out the window. Without the slightest hesitation, once protective parents are allowing liberals to shape their teenagers minds with an anti-God worldview. Otherwise intelligent parents fork over a credit card, say “Bye-bye” and drive away, leaving a loved one to wrestle with the world, the flesh and the devil! What’s up with that?
Before you pack your child’s personal possessions into your SUV and whisk him or her off to a secular humanist indoctrination center, read on.
College Drinking Prevention (CDP) is an online resource that offers comprehensive research-based information on issues related to alcohol abuse and binge drinking among college students. According to CDP 1,700 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die annually from alcohol-related injuries. [1] Betcha haven’t heard that statistic from the artful dodgers in the mainstream media. Instead what’s reported day in and day out is the number of casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Since alcohol and drug use can seriously impair a person’s personal and academic performance, no parent wants his or her child involved in that kind of behavior. Forewarned is forearmed, so here’s some eye-opening data from “A Snapshot of Annual High-Risk College Drinking Consequences” to mull over:
Injury: 599,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are unintentionally injured under the influence of alcohol (Hingson et al., 2005).
Assault: More than 696,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking (Hingson et al., 2005).
Sexual Abuse: More than 97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape (Hingson et al., 2005).
Unsafe Sex: 400,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 had unprotected sex and more than 100,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 report having been too intoxicated to know if they consented to having sex (Hingson et al., 2002).
Academic Problems: About 25 percent of college students report academic consequences of their drinking including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall (Engs et al., 1996; Presley et al., 1996a, 1996b; Wechsler et al., 2002).
Health Problems/Suicide Attempts: More than 150,000 students develop an alcohol-related health problem (Hingson et al., 2002) and between 1.2 and 1.5 percent of students indicate that they tried to commit suicide within the past year due to drinking or drug use (Presley et al., 1998).
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Read more here. [2]
In light of the high-risk behavior on college campuses, many states are offering “higher education” in alcohol and substance abuse prevention. For example, the state of Maine is dealing with the culture of college drinking by making the Higher Education Alcohol Prevention Partnership available for parents and students. [3]
A sad fact is that Christian young people are no angels during their tenure in educational institutions. Whether the institution is Christian or secular, the culture of college drinking includes professed Christians. In his book, University if Destruction, David Wheaton points out that while away at college young people who are brought up in Christian homes face “three Pillars of Peril: Sex, Drugs/Alcohol, and Humanism.” Wheaton says 50 percent lose their faith after four years in college -- and never come back. “For far too many the transition from home-life to campus-life is traumatic -- what begins as a University of Instruction ends up being their University of Destruction…with long-lasting negative effects and no guarantee of return.” [4]
According to the Barna Report, Christian young people “pull away from participation and engagement in Christian churches, particularly during the ‘college years.’ The research shows that, compared to older adults, twentysomethings have significantly lower levels of church attendance, time spent alone studying and reading the Bible, volunteering to help churches, donations to churches, Sunday school and small group involvement, and use of Christian media (including television, radio and magazines).” [5]
The Bible tells us that God’s people are to follow the law of the land. Hate to disappoint but there’s no exception for teens and twentysomethings who wish to sow their wild oats in college. Those who drink alcoholic beverages when they’re not of legal age are lawbreakers. In God’s eyes they’re doing wrong. Romans 13: 1-2 says, "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves."
Christian colleges do not necessarily provide a safe way to go either. Even some Christian colleges and universities are not unscathed by liberalism. In fact, there are a number of so-called Christian professors who are full-blown liberals!
Of course today’s liberals prefer to call themselves “progressives” hence “progressive Christian.” Don’t be fooled, though. Progressive is simply a euphemism for a person who has a socialist leaning.
So what is the progressive Christian’s modus operandi? To impart utopian ideas that advances an unbiblical socialist ideology to impressionable students. Sadly, a lot of parents are oblivious as to what’s being taught to their sons and daughters, and by whom. Sincere Christians ought to be on top of it!
Granted, choosing a Christian university can be a daunting task, even exhausting. The ideal, of course, is a biblical worldview curriculum for Christian young people so they’ll have the knowledge and skill to engage the culture and have the confidence to stand for truth and righteousness.
But that’s not always the case. As I said, liberals have managed to ingratiate themselves into Christian colleges and universities so parents must exercise humble skepticism. In fact, it’s not a bad idea to explore the stated theological viewpoint and doctrinal statement of colleges and universities that interest you. And don’t be surprised if your investigation shows that certain historic doctrinal statements are no longer held.
Kid’s binge drinking is bad, but it’s also important to call attention to the distorted reality of today’s young people. And a lot of Christian youths also have a very fuzzy view of reality! Ask them what they believe and why they believe it and you’ll hear a very distorted view of Christianity! Why? Because young people are no longer taught the whole Word of God…they’re not learning Church doctrine…they know diddly-do about historic Christianity…they’re influenced by liberalism…they hold to an unbiblical worldview -- the list goes on and on. Is it any wonder that so many Christian youths think and act like pagans? You say, “But what can I do about it?” I’m so glad you asked.
In Josh McDowell’s latest book, The Last Christian Generation, he warns that we’re failing our kids “by not adequately preparing them to face the non-Christian worldviews they will be taught during their educational training.”
Now, the question Christian parents must ask themselves is this: Have I adequately taught my kids a biblical worldview? If your answer is no (or who knows?), consider purchasing the Worldview Weekend Christian Family Survival Kit . [6] It’s imperative that youngsters learn very early on that everything a Christian thinks, says, and does must “filter” through the God’s Word, the Bible. The Secular progressive philosophy and New Age thinking could never pass through a "Christ-filter."
Attending Brannon Howse’s Worldview Weekend helps Christian families to think biblically. Great speakers and fun for all! For details go to http://worldviewweekend.com.
Probe Ministries offers the Mind Games Conference. For details go to http://probe.org and click on Mind Games. Attendees of the Mind Games conference will inoculate kids from unbiblical ideas while strengthening their faith.
So here’s the thing. It’s entirely up to moms and dads to decide if a child is spiritually ready to go off to college, it’s not up to your teenager to decide if he’s ready! Christian youths who are unable to “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints,” will enter the swamp of “higher education” and find themselves up to their eyeballs in alligators. Spiritually immature teens and twentysomethings may not survive the swamp.
I’ll wrap this up with this suggestion. Christian parents who are unsure of their child’s spiritual maturity ought to consider keeping him at home for a year or two after high school graduation. Working for a while won’t kill him – and it could save his life.
Footnotes:
[1] A Snapshot of Annual High-Risk College Drinking By College Drinking Prevention Consequences http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/StatsSummaries/snapshot.aspx
[2] Ibid.
[3] Maine’s Higher Education Alcohol Prevention Partnership http://www.maineheapp.org/links.html
[4] David Wheaton’s website, davidwheaton.com
http://davidwheaton.com/book.htm
[5] Most Twentysomethings Put Christianity on the Shelf Following Spiritually Active Teen Years - The Barna Report http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=245
[6] Worldview Weekend Christian Family Survival Kit . http://www.worldviewweekend.com/secure/store/product.php?ProductID=481
Additional Reading
How Not to Lose Your Faith in College By Thabiti Anyabwile
http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001439.cfm
Kingdom Campus: Re-envisioning the Christian College as a Kingdom Resource By Dane Fowlkes
http://www.cccu.org/resourcecenter/resID.2126,parentCatID.192/rc_detail.asp -
Christian Teens and Drinking By Kelli Mahoney
http://christianteens.about.com/od/christianliving/a/Drinking.htm
Copyright by Marsha West, 2007. All rights reserved.Distributed by www.ChristianWorldviewNetwork.com
In my last post, I spoke of some of the perils our kids face when we ship them off to the university. Here is an article I read that reinforces that concern:
More Dangerous On College Campuses Than You Thought
By Marsha West
Soon thousands of teens and twentysomethings will be going off to “institutions of higher learning.” Young people who’ve been raised with moral values will go behind the fortified walls of Babylon, pretty much unarmed. And the barbarians are prepared to chew them up and spit them out.
Barbarians, you say? OK, liberals. Liberals on college campuses want your son and daughter to have the freedom to have sex (hetro or homo), to binge drink, and to do drugs. Most liberals have little or no respect for faith-based parents and their annoying moral values. In a Townhall.com article “Why Liberals Lie About Sex,” Kevin McCullough points out that liberals “are willing to substitute false thinking for solid fact on the consequences of what will happen. And they do so while simultaneously insulting you and your child's ability to comprehend, discern, and choose behaviors that make the most sense.” In other words, liberals know better than you do what’s best for your child.
Most parents do everything possible to shelter their kids from the evils of this world during their growing up years. Then something rather curious happens on the heels of high school graduation. Moms and dads suddenly misplace their common sense. Poof! Right out the window. Without the slightest hesitation, once protective parents are allowing liberals to shape their teenagers minds with an anti-God worldview. Otherwise intelligent parents fork over a credit card, say “Bye-bye” and drive away, leaving a loved one to wrestle with the world, the flesh and the devil! What’s up with that?
Before you pack your child’s personal possessions into your SUV and whisk him or her off to a secular humanist indoctrination center, read on.
College Drinking Prevention (CDP) is an online resource that offers comprehensive research-based information on issues related to alcohol abuse and binge drinking among college students. According to CDP 1,700 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die annually from alcohol-related injuries. [1] Betcha haven’t heard that statistic from the artful dodgers in the mainstream media. Instead what’s reported day in and day out is the number of casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Since alcohol and drug use can seriously impair a person’s personal and academic performance, no parent wants his or her child involved in that kind of behavior. Forewarned is forearmed, so here’s some eye-opening data from “A Snapshot of Annual High-Risk College Drinking Consequences” to mull over:
Injury: 599,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are unintentionally injured under the influence of alcohol (Hingson et al., 2005).
Assault: More than 696,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking (Hingson et al., 2005).
Sexual Abuse: More than 97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape (Hingson et al., 2005).
Unsafe Sex: 400,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 had unprotected sex and more than 100,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 report having been too intoxicated to know if they consented to having sex (Hingson et al., 2002).
Academic Problems: About 25 percent of college students report academic consequences of their drinking including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall (Engs et al., 1996; Presley et al., 1996a, 1996b; Wechsler et al., 2002).
Health Problems/Suicide Attempts: More than 150,000 students develop an alcohol-related health problem (Hingson et al., 2002) and between 1.2 and 1.5 percent of students indicate that they tried to commit suicide within the past year due to drinking or drug use (Presley et al., 1998).
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Read more here. [2]
In light of the high-risk behavior on college campuses, many states are offering “higher education” in alcohol and substance abuse prevention. For example, the state of Maine is dealing with the culture of college drinking by making the Higher Education Alcohol Prevention Partnership available for parents and students. [3]
A sad fact is that Christian young people are no angels during their tenure in educational institutions. Whether the institution is Christian or secular, the culture of college drinking includes professed Christians. In his book, University if Destruction, David Wheaton points out that while away at college young people who are brought up in Christian homes face “three Pillars of Peril: Sex, Drugs/Alcohol, and Humanism.” Wheaton says 50 percent lose their faith after four years in college -- and never come back. “For far too many the transition from home-life to campus-life is traumatic -- what begins as a University of Instruction ends up being their University of Destruction…with long-lasting negative effects and no guarantee of return.” [4]
According to the Barna Report, Christian young people “pull away from participation and engagement in Christian churches, particularly during the ‘college years.’ The research shows that, compared to older adults, twentysomethings have significantly lower levels of church attendance, time spent alone studying and reading the Bible, volunteering to help churches, donations to churches, Sunday school and small group involvement, and use of Christian media (including television, radio and magazines).” [5]
The Bible tells us that God’s people are to follow the law of the land. Hate to disappoint but there’s no exception for teens and twentysomethings who wish to sow their wild oats in college. Those who drink alcoholic beverages when they’re not of legal age are lawbreakers. In God’s eyes they’re doing wrong. Romans 13: 1-2 says, "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves."
Christian colleges do not necessarily provide a safe way to go either. Even some Christian colleges and universities are not unscathed by liberalism. In fact, there are a number of so-called Christian professors who are full-blown liberals!
Of course today’s liberals prefer to call themselves “progressives” hence “progressive Christian.” Don’t be fooled, though. Progressive is simply a euphemism for a person who has a socialist leaning.
So what is the progressive Christian’s modus operandi? To impart utopian ideas that advances an unbiblical socialist ideology to impressionable students. Sadly, a lot of parents are oblivious as to what’s being taught to their sons and daughters, and by whom. Sincere Christians ought to be on top of it!
Granted, choosing a Christian university can be a daunting task, even exhausting. The ideal, of course, is a biblical worldview curriculum for Christian young people so they’ll have the knowledge and skill to engage the culture and have the confidence to stand for truth and righteousness.
But that’s not always the case. As I said, liberals have managed to ingratiate themselves into Christian colleges and universities so parents must exercise humble skepticism. In fact, it’s not a bad idea to explore the stated theological viewpoint and doctrinal statement of colleges and universities that interest you. And don’t be surprised if your investigation shows that certain historic doctrinal statements are no longer held.
Kid’s binge drinking is bad, but it’s also important to call attention to the distorted reality of today’s young people. And a lot of Christian youths also have a very fuzzy view of reality! Ask them what they believe and why they believe it and you’ll hear a very distorted view of Christianity! Why? Because young people are no longer taught the whole Word of God…they’re not learning Church doctrine…they know diddly-do about historic Christianity…they’re influenced by liberalism…they hold to an unbiblical worldview -- the list goes on and on. Is it any wonder that so many Christian youths think and act like pagans? You say, “But what can I do about it?” I’m so glad you asked.
In Josh McDowell’s latest book, The Last Christian Generation, he warns that we’re failing our kids “by not adequately preparing them to face the non-Christian worldviews they will be taught during their educational training.”
Now, the question Christian parents must ask themselves is this: Have I adequately taught my kids a biblical worldview? If your answer is no (or who knows?), consider purchasing the Worldview Weekend Christian Family Survival Kit . [6] It’s imperative that youngsters learn very early on that everything a Christian thinks, says, and does must “filter” through the God’s Word, the Bible. The Secular progressive philosophy and New Age thinking could never pass through a "Christ-filter."
Attending Brannon Howse’s Worldview Weekend helps Christian families to think biblically. Great speakers and fun for all! For details go to http://worldviewweekend.com.
Probe Ministries offers the Mind Games Conference. For details go to http://probe.org and click on Mind Games. Attendees of the Mind Games conference will inoculate kids from unbiblical ideas while strengthening their faith.
So here’s the thing. It’s entirely up to moms and dads to decide if a child is spiritually ready to go off to college, it’s not up to your teenager to decide if he’s ready! Christian youths who are unable to “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints,” will enter the swamp of “higher education” and find themselves up to their eyeballs in alligators. Spiritually immature teens and twentysomethings may not survive the swamp.
I’ll wrap this up with this suggestion. Christian parents who are unsure of their child’s spiritual maturity ought to consider keeping him at home for a year or two after high school graduation. Working for a while won’t kill him – and it could save his life.
Footnotes:
[1] A Snapshot of Annual High-Risk College Drinking By College Drinking Prevention Consequences http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/StatsSummaries/snapshot.aspx
[2] Ibid.
[3] Maine’s Higher Education Alcohol Prevention Partnership http://www.maineheapp.org/links.html
[4] David Wheaton’s website, davidwheaton.com
http://davidwheaton.com/book.htm
[5] Most Twentysomethings Put Christianity on the Shelf Following Spiritually Active Teen Years - The Barna Report http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=245
[6] Worldview Weekend Christian Family Survival Kit . http://www.worldviewweekend.com/secure/store/product.php?ProductID=481
Additional Reading
How Not to Lose Your Faith in College By Thabiti Anyabwile
http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001439.cfm
Kingdom Campus: Re-envisioning the Christian College as a Kingdom Resource By Dane Fowlkes
http://www.cccu.org/resourcecenter/resID.2126,parentCatID.192/rc_detail.asp -
Christian Teens and Drinking By Kelli Mahoney
http://christianteens.about.com/od/christianliving/a/Drinking.htm
Copyright by Marsha West, 2007. All rights reserved.Distributed by www.ChristianWorldviewNetwork.com
THE BAPTIST FAITH AND MESSAGE, Article Fifteen
This is Part 15 of a continuing series of articles examining the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. This statement of faith was adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting on June 14, 2000 “to set forth certain teachings which we believe.”
Education
Christianity is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence. In Jesus Christ abide all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All sound learning is, therefore, a part of our Christian heritage. The new birth opens all human faculties and creates a thirst for knowledge. Moreover, the cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is co-ordinate with the causes of missions and general benevolence, and should receive along with these the liberal support of the churches. An adequate system of Christian education is necessary to a complete spiritual program for Christ's people. In Christian education there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility. Freedom in any orderly relationship of human life is always limited and never absolute. The freedom of a teacher in a Christian school, college, or seminary is limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, by the authoritative nature of the Scriptures, and by the distinct purpose for which the school exists.*
The Gospel is not anti-intellectual. To be a follower of Christ does not require that you check your brains at the church door. Far from it—the Father is the source of truth, Jesus is the embodiment of truth and the Holy Spirit is the revealer of truth.
Sin is the reason for darkness. This world’s philosophy is distorted. Satan is the author of lies and deception. Our natural way of thinking and perspective on life is warped by our carnal nature.
Wherever the Gospel of Christ has been preached, true light has flooded that culture. Recently, a virulent form of atheism has been spewing venom toward Christianity, trying to blame the church for virtually every evil in society. Quite the opposite is the reality—the Biblical message lifts any culture to a higher plane, it elevates the standard of living and level of education. People become literate and learn to read the Bible. The principles of wisdom contained in the Sacred Volume inspire institutions of learning.
Did you know that the great universities of America had their roots in Christianity? They were established to help spread the Gospel. They provided training for ministers of the Word. This was their purpose. Sadly, many of them have drifted far from their course and crashed on the rocks of rationalism.
Southern Baptists have resisted that tide, though it has flowed strongly against us at times. After a struggle for the soul of the denomination, the ship has righted itself and now is on course providing quality scholarship along with sound doctrine. Alas, that cannot be said of all the state institutions—most Baptist schools in this state having been hijacked by liberalism where no refuge can be found for conservative thought. But on a national level, the seminaries are steadfast in the faith.
What’s a parent to do about college? There are grave dangers in sending a student to a secular school. Their faith will be attacked. It will be attacked repeatedly and forcefully. Secular schools are populated with professors (with few exceptions) who are pawns for humanism. Will a Baptist kid thrown into such a lion’s den be a Daniel who can survive with their faith intact? Most do not. Only slightly better are the Baptist schools of North Carolina. Their approach is more subtle, but therefore, maybe more dangerous. A student sent there will find pockets of evangelical faith, but mostly a lot of the same as in a state school. It will not be long until the Baptist State Convention breaks ties with these schools—it has already virtually taken place.
If you can—and it isn’t always possible—the best choice would be Liberty University—a Baptist school in Virginia that under girds rather than undermines faith and yet offers high academic quality. But, like most private schools, it is expensive. A community college where a young person can make the transition into adulthood, face serious issues, learn to flesh out his own faith and yet still remain in contact with his parents and church can be an economical option with the opportunity to transfer to a school like Liberty.
We are blessed at Pole Creek in having a number of young people who have responded to God’s call to vocational ministry. Your mission dollars help to support them in their studies. What a great investment in kingdom work!
* Deuteronomy 4:1,5,9,14; 6:1-10; 31:12-13; Nehemiah 8:1-8; Job 28:28; Psalms 19:7ff.; 119:11; Proverbs 3:13ff.; 4:1-10; 8:1-7,11; 15:14; Ecclesiastes 7:19; Matthew 5:2; 7:24ff.; 28:19-20; Luke 2:40; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Ephesians 4:11-16; Philippians 4:8; Colossians 2:3,8-9; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:14-17; Hebrews 5:12-6:3; James 1:5; 3:17. (Baptist Faith and Message, 2000)
This is Part 15 of a continuing series of articles examining the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. This statement of faith was adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting on June 14, 2000 “to set forth certain teachings which we believe.”
Education
Christianity is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence. In Jesus Christ abide all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All sound learning is, therefore, a part of our Christian heritage. The new birth opens all human faculties and creates a thirst for knowledge. Moreover, the cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is co-ordinate with the causes of missions and general benevolence, and should receive along with these the liberal support of the churches. An adequate system of Christian education is necessary to a complete spiritual program for Christ's people. In Christian education there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility. Freedom in any orderly relationship of human life is always limited and never absolute. The freedom of a teacher in a Christian school, college, or seminary is limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, by the authoritative nature of the Scriptures, and by the distinct purpose for which the school exists.*
The Gospel is not anti-intellectual. To be a follower of Christ does not require that you check your brains at the church door. Far from it—the Father is the source of truth, Jesus is the embodiment of truth and the Holy Spirit is the revealer of truth.
Sin is the reason for darkness. This world’s philosophy is distorted. Satan is the author of lies and deception. Our natural way of thinking and perspective on life is warped by our carnal nature.
Wherever the Gospel of Christ has been preached, true light has flooded that culture. Recently, a virulent form of atheism has been spewing venom toward Christianity, trying to blame the church for virtually every evil in society. Quite the opposite is the reality—the Biblical message lifts any culture to a higher plane, it elevates the standard of living and level of education. People become literate and learn to read the Bible. The principles of wisdom contained in the Sacred Volume inspire institutions of learning.
Did you know that the great universities of America had their roots in Christianity? They were established to help spread the Gospel. They provided training for ministers of the Word. This was their purpose. Sadly, many of them have drifted far from their course and crashed on the rocks of rationalism.
Southern Baptists have resisted that tide, though it has flowed strongly against us at times. After a struggle for the soul of the denomination, the ship has righted itself and now is on course providing quality scholarship along with sound doctrine. Alas, that cannot be said of all the state institutions—most Baptist schools in this state having been hijacked by liberalism where no refuge can be found for conservative thought. But on a national level, the seminaries are steadfast in the faith.
What’s a parent to do about college? There are grave dangers in sending a student to a secular school. Their faith will be attacked. It will be attacked repeatedly and forcefully. Secular schools are populated with professors (with few exceptions) who are pawns for humanism. Will a Baptist kid thrown into such a lion’s den be a Daniel who can survive with their faith intact? Most do not. Only slightly better are the Baptist schools of North Carolina. Their approach is more subtle, but therefore, maybe more dangerous. A student sent there will find pockets of evangelical faith, but mostly a lot of the same as in a state school. It will not be long until the Baptist State Convention breaks ties with these schools—it has already virtually taken place.
If you can—and it isn’t always possible—the best choice would be Liberty University—a Baptist school in Virginia that under girds rather than undermines faith and yet offers high academic quality. But, like most private schools, it is expensive. A community college where a young person can make the transition into adulthood, face serious issues, learn to flesh out his own faith and yet still remain in contact with his parents and church can be an economical option with the opportunity to transfer to a school like Liberty.
We are blessed at Pole Creek in having a number of young people who have responded to God’s call to vocational ministry. Your mission dollars help to support them in their studies. What a great investment in kingdom work!
* Deuteronomy 4:1,5,9,14; 6:1-10; 31:12-13; Nehemiah 8:1-8; Job 28:28; Psalms 19:7ff.; 119:11; Proverbs 3:13ff.; 4:1-10; 8:1-7,11; 15:14; Ecclesiastes 7:19; Matthew 5:2; 7:24ff.; 28:19-20; Luke 2:40; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Ephesians 4:11-16; Philippians 4:8; Colossians 2:3,8-9; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:14-17; Hebrews 5:12-6:3; James 1:5; 3:17. (Baptist Faith and Message, 2000)
Thursday, June 21, 2007
THE BAPTIST FAITH AND MESSAGE, Article Fourteen
This is Part 14 of a continuing series of articles examining the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. This statement of faith was adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting on June 14, 2000 “to set forth certain teachings which we believe.”
Evangelism and Missions
It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man's spirit by God's Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.*
For many Christians, the Great Commission has become the great omission! It is one of the most prevalent sins in Baptist life today—the failure to share our faith, even though it is clearly commanded by Christ. How can we explain such disobedience?
The excuses are many. I’m shy. I don’t know the Bible well enough. The preacher can do a better job. I’m so busy. I wouldn’t know where to start. The list could go on—but there is no legitimate reason for our silence. Sometimes silence is golden, but at other times it’s plain yellow!
If we are ashamed of Christ, He will be ashamed of us when we stand before Him at the judgment. If we deny Him, He said that He would deny us. That doesn’t sound like a good position to be in. We may protest that we professed our faith in Christ when we joined the church. That’s a good start, but that’s all it is. The initial profession is to become a lifetime practice.
Do we truly believe that there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun? Are we convinced that Christ is the only way of salvation and without Him people spend an eternity in the torment of hell? If so, then why aren’t we doing something about it?
Our responsibility begins in our community, but extends to the entire planet. Every person of every culture ought to have the opportunity to hear the Gospel once in their lifetime. If they die in their sins, don’t blame God—look in a mirror and see that we didn’t advance the message of the cross to all humanity. It’s our fault.
Were you and I to discover a cure for cancer, yet keep that knowledge to ourselves while multitudes die of that horrible disease, it would be such a cruel thing to do. How much more wicked is it, to have the cure for the cancer of sin, and fail to share it with people facing the second death?
Let us not say by our lack of evangelistic zeal and missionary support, “You can go to hell and we don’t care!”
* Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-6; Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthew 9:37-38; 10:5-15; 13:18-30, 37-43; 16:19; 22:9-10; 24:14; 28:18-20; Luke 10:1-18; 24:46-53; John 14:11-12; 15:7-8,16; 17:15; 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2; 8:26-40; 10:42-48; 13:2-3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 3:1-11; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Timothy 4:5; Hebrews 2:1-3; 11:39-12:2; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Revelation 22:17. (Baptist Faith and Message, 2000)
This is Part 14 of a continuing series of articles examining the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. This statement of faith was adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting on June 14, 2000 “to set forth certain teachings which we believe.”
Evangelism and Missions
It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man's spirit by God's Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.*
For many Christians, the Great Commission has become the great omission! It is one of the most prevalent sins in Baptist life today—the failure to share our faith, even though it is clearly commanded by Christ. How can we explain such disobedience?
The excuses are many. I’m shy. I don’t know the Bible well enough. The preacher can do a better job. I’m so busy. I wouldn’t know where to start. The list could go on—but there is no legitimate reason for our silence. Sometimes silence is golden, but at other times it’s plain yellow!
If we are ashamed of Christ, He will be ashamed of us when we stand before Him at the judgment. If we deny Him, He said that He would deny us. That doesn’t sound like a good position to be in. We may protest that we professed our faith in Christ when we joined the church. That’s a good start, but that’s all it is. The initial profession is to become a lifetime practice.
Do we truly believe that there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun? Are we convinced that Christ is the only way of salvation and without Him people spend an eternity in the torment of hell? If so, then why aren’t we doing something about it?
Our responsibility begins in our community, but extends to the entire planet. Every person of every culture ought to have the opportunity to hear the Gospel once in their lifetime. If they die in their sins, don’t blame God—look in a mirror and see that we didn’t advance the message of the cross to all humanity. It’s our fault.
Were you and I to discover a cure for cancer, yet keep that knowledge to ourselves while multitudes die of that horrible disease, it would be such a cruel thing to do. How much more wicked is it, to have the cure for the cancer of sin, and fail to share it with people facing the second death?
Let us not say by our lack of evangelistic zeal and missionary support, “You can go to hell and we don’t care!”
* Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-6; Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthew 9:37-38; 10:5-15; 13:18-30, 37-43; 16:19; 22:9-10; 24:14; 28:18-20; Luke 10:1-18; 24:46-53; John 14:11-12; 15:7-8,16; 17:15; 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2; 8:26-40; 10:42-48; 13:2-3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 3:1-11; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Timothy 4:5; Hebrews 2:1-3; 11:39-12:2; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Revelation 22:17. (Baptist Faith and Message, 2000)
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
THE BAPTIST FAITH AND MESSAGE, Article Thirteen
This is Part 13 of a continuing series of articles examining the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. This statement of faith was adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting on June 14, 2000 “to set forth certain teachings which we believe.”
Last Things
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end.
According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.*
We may think of life as cyclical—one season goes and another begins; one generation dies and another takes it place. A popular secular notion is that matter is eternal—it always has been and always will be. Often we have heard the statement that history repeats itself. The truth is that life is linear—it has a beginning and an ending. Human history had a commencement and will have a consummation. The universe is like a piece of fabric wearing increasingly thin and fraying. The very elements are going to disintegrate. That’s what the Bible says.
3 First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will be scoffers who will laugh at the truth and do every evil thing they desire. 4 This will be their argument: “Jesus promised to come back, did he? Then where is he? Why, as far back as anyone can remember, everything has remained exactly the same since the world was first created.” 5 They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth up from the water and surrounded it with water. 6 Then he used the water to destroy the world with a mighty flood. 7 And God has also commanded that the heavens and the earth will be consumed by fire on the day of judgment, when ungodly people will perish. 8 But you must not forget, dear friends, that a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be exposed to judgment. 11 Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living! 12 You should look forward to that day and hurry it along—the day when God will set the heavens on fire and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world where everyone is right with God. 14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to live a pure and blameless life. And be at peace with God.
(2 Peter 3:3-14 NLT)
The same Jesus who ascended into heaven will one day soon descend to earth. This time He is not coming to save, but to sentence. He will not wear a crown of thorns, but a crown of glory. Before He came to experience suffering, but in that day He will come to exercise sovereignty.
One important dimension of His return is to raise the dead, both saints and sinners, and judge them according to their works. The works of the saints will be judged to determine the degree of their reward in heaven. The works of the sinners will be judged to determine the degree of their retribution in hell.
Time is winding down. All around we see the stage being set for the end of time. We are in the last of the last days. Heed the exhortation of Peter,
11 Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living! 12 You should look forward to that day and hurry it along—the day when God will set the heavens on fire and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world where everyone is right with God. 14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to live a pure and blameless life. And be at peace with God.
* Isaiah 2:4; 11:9; Matthew 16:27; 18:8-9; 19:28; 24:27,30,36,44; 25:31-46; 26:64; Mark 8:38; 9:43-48; Luke 12:40,48; 16:19-26; 17:22-37; 21:27-28; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 17:31; Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 15:24-28,35-58; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 1:5; 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 5:1ff.; 2 Thessalonians 1:7ff.; 2; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 4:1,8; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:27-28; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:7ff.; 1 John 2:28; 3:2; Jude 14; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1-22:13. (Baptist Faith and Message, 2000)
This is Part 13 of a continuing series of articles examining the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. This statement of faith was adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting on June 14, 2000 “to set forth certain teachings which we believe.”
Last Things
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end.
According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.*
We may think of life as cyclical—one season goes and another begins; one generation dies and another takes it place. A popular secular notion is that matter is eternal—it always has been and always will be. Often we have heard the statement that history repeats itself. The truth is that life is linear—it has a beginning and an ending. Human history had a commencement and will have a consummation. The universe is like a piece of fabric wearing increasingly thin and fraying. The very elements are going to disintegrate. That’s what the Bible says.
3 First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will be scoffers who will laugh at the truth and do every evil thing they desire. 4 This will be their argument: “Jesus promised to come back, did he? Then where is he? Why, as far back as anyone can remember, everything has remained exactly the same since the world was first created.” 5 They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth up from the water and surrounded it with water. 6 Then he used the water to destroy the world with a mighty flood. 7 And God has also commanded that the heavens and the earth will be consumed by fire on the day of judgment, when ungodly people will perish. 8 But you must not forget, dear friends, that a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be exposed to judgment. 11 Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living! 12 You should look forward to that day and hurry it along—the day when God will set the heavens on fire and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world where everyone is right with God. 14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to live a pure and blameless life. And be at peace with God.
(2 Peter 3:3-14 NLT)
The same Jesus who ascended into heaven will one day soon descend to earth. This time He is not coming to save, but to sentence. He will not wear a crown of thorns, but a crown of glory. Before He came to experience suffering, but in that day He will come to exercise sovereignty.
One important dimension of His return is to raise the dead, both saints and sinners, and judge them according to their works. The works of the saints will be judged to determine the degree of their reward in heaven. The works of the sinners will be judged to determine the degree of their retribution in hell.
Time is winding down. All around we see the stage being set for the end of time. We are in the last of the last days. Heed the exhortation of Peter,
11 Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living! 12 You should look forward to that day and hurry it along—the day when God will set the heavens on fire and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world where everyone is right with God. 14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to live a pure and blameless life. And be at peace with God.
* Isaiah 2:4; 11:9; Matthew 16:27; 18:8-9; 19:28; 24:27,30,36,44; 25:31-46; 26:64; Mark 8:38; 9:43-48; Luke 12:40,48; 16:19-26; 17:22-37; 21:27-28; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 17:31; Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 15:24-28,35-58; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 1:5; 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 5:1ff.; 2 Thessalonians 1:7ff.; 2; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 4:1,8; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:27-28; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:7ff.; 1 John 2:28; 3:2; Jude 14; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1-22:13. (Baptist Faith and Message, 2000)
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