Why I am a Southern Baptist

I have been a Southern Baptist all my life but the journey has not been a blind one or an easy one all the time. My parents were active in Jefferson Heights Baptist Church when I was born and the only time we moved our membership away from there was to help the mission church, Echo Valley Baptist, for a time while Dad led their music. After our time at the mission we made a few side trips to see what some other denominations offered. It was just Mom, Dad, and I left at home, and they were not at all sure if being Baptist was meeting their Spiritual needs at the time.

We would visit other churches for weeks, sometimes months at a time, to see for ourselves what they really believed and practiced. The churches we visited like this included United Pentecostal, with our neighbor, Assembly of God, Nazarene, Holiness, Church of God, and other Baptist churches. Eventually we came back to Jefferson Heights Baptist, where I was licensed to preach, but these experiences left a lasting impression on me.

In College I continued to visit around. I became friends with a born again Catholic layman, Ralph Flori, who became a mentor and friend. I also came to know and respect the Baptist Student Center Director, Dr. Thomas Messer. These two men helped me understand God’s call on my life and how that could best be realized as a Southern Baptist. (Years later Ralph and I renewed contact with each other online and he shared with me how he eventually left the Catholic Church to become a Baptist!) During those years I made the decision to be a Baptist, by choice. My senior year I fell in love with a Baptist girl and became the interim pastor at County Line Baptist Church. The rest, as they say, is history.

I made the decision to be a Baptist by choice for several reasons that are still very important to me. I want to mention just three of them.

First, I chose to be a Southern Baptist because our claim to be a people of the book, the Bible, is more than a claim, it is a way of life. We read the Bible, study the Bible, teach the Bible, and practice the Bible with an open heart and mind more than any other group I have experienced. I speak comparatively here. I remember a Sunday School mission statement that read, “Teach the Bible to win the lost and encourage the saved.”

We are unyielding on primary doctrines and for most of my life we have allowed discussion at the table on secondary doctrines. One concern that drove me away from other denominations back to the Baptists was that most other denominations have made one interpretation of secondary issues into a primary doctrine. We need to stay on our guard against that.

Second, I chose to be a Southern Baptist because we believe in the Grace of Jesus Christ and the power of God to save. We believe in being soul-winners. We may not all go about it the same way. But, the main thing is still the main thing.

Third, I chose to be a Southern Baptist because we have found a way to support missionaries and missions that far outdoes everyone else. We pool our resources in the Cooperative Program which allows every church, big and small, to share in the greater work of the Kingdom. Our missionaries can focus on bringing salvation to the lost while they are on the field and sharing testimonies to inspire us when they come home. We do missions right.

Baptists are like any other group of people. We do not agree all the time on everything. We would not be Baptists if we did. However, we do agree on the most important things. Sometimes we drift into faulty areas and need a correction. Sometimes the correction drifts too far. Correction needs to be exercised with a heavy dose of wisdom. I still believe being a Southern Baptist is the best choice, until Jesus comes back.

Dr. Robin

All and None

A smart man I once knew told me, “All generalities are false,” and then laughed. The statement is funny, of course, because it too is a generality. We make a mistake in logic when we use generalities to prove an argument. The statement itself assumes that the speaker is an expert of omniscient proportions, or else he thinks you are an idiot. It can also mean the speaker is the idiot and has no clue what he is talking about.

That is what I love about the current debate over private prayer language. The articles I have read so far are laughable if not heretical. I mean laughable in the way a crazy man laughs when he realizes the rest of the world is never going to get what is going on in his mind, and he is suddenly ok with that.

The cessationists look at all tongues alike. To them, all tongue-speakers are Pentecostal/Charismatics and embrace Pentecostal/Charismatic theology, as if they all agreed and had a common theology. (Start with GeoffBaggett.wordpress.com - Geoff does a good job explaining this point of view, his blog is worth reading even if you don't agree with him) Wow. And… all Baptists are alike and embrace Baptist Theology. Sure we are.

I remember hearing Herschel Hobbs say, “You can always tell a Baptist, you just can't tell him much.” Look at any index of denominations and you will find quite a variety, including a variety of Baptists. We seem to be winning the world for Christ with the old military strategy of Divide and Conquer, only we are doing all the dividing. Instead of the Body of Christ we have become the Amoeba of Christ. I do not think that is what Jesus meant for us to become.

I also enjoy reading some continualist bloggers who suggest that cessationists just need to keep an open mind, as if this debate is winnable. Who are you kidding? It is about as winnable as the debate between Sunnis and Shiites, which has been going on since the 600s with no end in sight. Let’s get real here for a moment. Sometimes people get so committed to a side in an issue there is no reasoning. It is part of our nature. It is why we have different political parties, and different denominations. It’s ok. Jesus will one day sort it all out. There are some things we cannot fix ourselves. Of course, that does not mean we should not try. I commend the attempts. I just have my doubts.

The problem with the PPL debate is that we are not speaking the same language, (pun intended). Both sides have defined their terminology in a way that proves their point. There is no common ground for discussion. The cessationists cannot comprehend that the Theology of Baptists who use PPL is radically different, in most cases, from that of Classical Pentecostalism, (which is also different from Charismatic Theology, etc.). WE have allowed this to happen. But the point is, we cannot discuss intelligently a topic that we are approaching from radically different sets of assumptions.

We are not all alike. Calm down. It’s ok. Jesus sees us. Seize us Jesus.
Dr. Robin

What's in Your Wallet?

What’s in Your Wallet?

That is the catch phrase for a popular credit card ad. It is also a question I have been asking myself post-Christmas. There is certainly little money in mine and the credit cards I have are keeping my wallet warm.

When the kids were small Joyce made me a t-shirt that I keep wearing even though it is starting to wear out. It shows a Papa Bear surrounded by four baby bears. The caption underneath says, “Dad has pictures where money used to be.” I like it because it is not only true but also because I would not have it any other way.

Yes, we budget our money at Christmas and try very hard to stay within it. Yes, I probably spent too much anyway. Yes, it was worth it all. It was worth it all because it was not just spent on presents. I also bought new inflatable beds, and bedding to accommodate more family, and food, lots of food.

Another popular credit card ad lists the cost of an event and then describes the reason for the event as “Priceless.” That is what Christmas is, priceless. The Gift of God’s Son is priceless. The gifts God gives in blessings are also priceless.

It is not about the money but the meaning. It is not about the presents but the presence of Christ. It is not about the food but about our family all together.

What’s in your wallet? There will be some new pictures in mine. And as for the New Year? There are also some new happy memories still echoing in the rooms of our house.

Bro. Robin