Discalced Baptist

Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side of the lake."  So they launched out.  But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began  to be swamped and to be in danger.  They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!"  And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm.  And He said to them, "Where is your faith?"  They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, "Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?"  --Luke 8:22-25   In this passage we find Jesus doing a miraculous thing: calming the storm and stilling the waves!  Who wouldn't be in awe of this if we experience this firsthand.  But the disciples ask a question in response to this, saying, "Who is this man?" ...

For some reason I have been thinking about modern worship lately.  I have been a part of worship bands for about 15 years.  Reflecting back on my experience, and what I tend to see visiting numerous churches, I have come to realize there is a common practice that I now disagree with.  It is the prayer transition.  Anyone a part of modern service knows what I'm talking about.  The worship leader or the pastor has everyone bow in prayer, at which time the worship band takes or exits the stage.  It works wonderfully as a transition because even while the pastor is praying, the music can begin to play softly and can transition right into the final song.  Perhaps the music playing can even stir the affections of the pastor or congregation while in prayer.  (I believe there is a great link between music and spirituality, but that is for another time.)  For someone wanting the service to flow exceptionally smooth, almost like a stage production...

The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith  The recent announcement from the Supreme Court is one of mixed response across the land.  It should be noted how mixed it even was within the court as it barely passed (5-4).  Now what are Christians to do?  The 1689 (and likewise the WCF) brings us comfort when in their own day, our Puritan forefathers foresaw that the government would oppose what is right and lawful before God.  The confession states in paragraph 4 of chapter 25: Marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguinity or affinity, forbidden in the Word; nor can such incestuous marriages ever be made lawful, by any law of man or consent of parties, so as those persons may live together as man and wife. Obviously, the context of this given paragraph is dealing with the issue of incest, but the concept dwelling behind it is applicable: the government may try, and the people may try, but neither can actually change or redef...

Richard Barcellos quotes some other professor from Westminster (Poythress? Gerstner?) as saying, "If you get the Garden wrong, you get everything wrong."  Where this might be a slight hyperbole, the gist of the issue is true.  How you interpret what takes place in the garden will affect the interpretation of everything else in Scripture.  I also think it will display your personal theological bent as well (is sin a sickness or disease, or is it a judicial issue).  Personally, I have wrestled so much with this doctrine, and I hope here to tease out the issue. There is so much riding on the concept of the Covenant of Works (CoW) that it seems almost foolish to me that we would permit such a doctrine that is so easily debatable.  If the CoW is denied, then everything about Reformed Theology falls apart.  Soteriology, the doctrine of justification, the doctrine of man, understanding the purpose of Christ, etc... all are affected deeply if the CoW is lost. ...

For a brief time in my life, I accepted the Presbyterian doctrine of infant baptism.  I grew up Baptist, but as I became more Reformed in my theology, the issue was inescapable (especially since I found myself attending a Presbyterian church).  I wrestled with it for over a year before having my first son sprinkled.  Shortly thereafter I withdrew from being convinced of infant baptism and continued to wrestle with the issue for another year or two, continuing to become more and more convinced of the Baptist position. A good exegete of Scripture uses historical-grammatical method of exegesis.  It truly is one of the most responsible ways to handle a text, though it flies in the face of our postmodern, deconstructed society.  This is a pretty straight forward method in my opinion.  To determine the meaning of a passage one should look at the historical context in which it is written, and then look at the grammar of the passage in light of the historical...

Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary unto salvation. Three things listed here leave men inexcusable, and display attributes of God: Light of Nature Works of Creation Providence Light of Nature What is the light of nature referring to?  Simply put, morality.  Our sense of right and wrong is evidence of God.  In the Philosophy of Religion, there is the subject known as "The Problem of Evil."  Many great and armchair philosophers have used the existence of evil to deny the existence of some omni-benevolent deity.  The problem is, for them to claim there is evil, they must use "borrowed capital" from the Christian.  How do they create a standard by which they judge something as evil?  Apart from a Divine Lawmaker, there is no satisfacto...

The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience,... This first line of the confession is so strategic to the rest of the confession.  It places Scripture at at the forefront and excludes all else, giving the firmest expression to those who take up and read that nothing else, including this confession, ought ever take authority in one's life over Scripture.  Perhaps something like the confession can serve as a vice regent, but never as king. What I am uncertain of in this section is related to the grammar. Is "faith and obedience" an elaboration of "all saving knowledge" or are they 3 separate descriptions of the rule? The location of the commas before and after "faith and obedience" in the confession makes me think it is an elaboration of "all saving knowledge," but then again, it is older English grammar which often contained much larger sentences than used in modern ...

How often do we see our pursuit of happiness, something which we have been so graciously endowed in this nation, ought to be in fact a pursuit of holiness?  Maybe that ought to be something we consider as cases of depression continually rise, as well as what would appear to me to be a general state of dissatisfaction in life.  How many make the correlation that the rise of unhappiness, dissatisfaction, listlessness, and apathy in life take place as ungodliness rises and becomes, not merely public norm, but publicly accepted and approved? "Never cease to show your people that to be holy is to be happy.  And that to bring us to perfect holiness and likeness to God was the very end for which Christ died." -Andrew Bonar "Oh that the all world but knew that happiness and holiness are one." -Andrew Bonar "For if sin is misery, sinners can only be made happy indeed by being made holy.  The process of redemption then is one whose design throughout is hol...

This is an ironic title, because if there is one denomination of Christian nowadays that abhors the presence of philosophy, it’s Baptist.  I actually had a pastor warn me before entering college saying “Never take a philosophy class, it will ruin your faith.”  Instead, I got my BA in it. Now, in all truth, Philosophy didn’t actually keep me a Baptist, but it has enabled me to see errors within the Presbyterian scheme.  Philosophy can be used as a wonderful tool serving as the handmaiden of theology.  Specifically, I will be exploring the application of various discussions within philosophy to hermeneutics and the theology derived from it.  Some might criticize my comments below saying that I am using philosophy as a source by which I’m judging Scripture, but I would argue that my use of philosophical tools is no different than learning how to read.  Just like my ability to read does not undermine the authority of Scripture, neither does using tools to ...

The final adjective in this multifaceted gem located at the beginning of the confession is the word "infallible." In all truth, I struggle to see the difference between the terms infallible and inerrant. The scholars say there is a difference, so I will try my best here to grasp it. First, let's begin with a statement that displays a modern view and contains the two terms. "Scripture is not inerrant, but it is infallible in matters of faith and morals." Sounds kind of like the first sentence of our confession, but not quite.  In a statement like that, the terms are clearly distinguishing between moral and religious being, and general, factual knowledge. How someone can conclude that the Bible is perfect in one matter when the believe it is imperfect in every other area is beyond me. But hey, isn't that what Catholics ultimately do in regards to papal infallibility? Why shouldn't mainline Protestants follow along? In any case, the divide here rep...