Words, definitions

• a battuta, adverb. Music. Return to normal tempo after a deviation (used as a direction in music).
• anthropoglot, noun. An animal with a tongue resembling that of a human, or able to imitate human speech; spec. a parrot.
• anthrozoology, noun. The multidisciplinary study of the interaction between humans and other animals.
• cinéma vérité, noun and adjective. A style of filmmaking characterized by realistic, typically documentary, films which avoid artificiality and artistic effect and are generally made with simple equipment; films made in this style. Cf. ciné verité.
• cintre, noun. A temporary framework used to support an arch, dome, etc., esp. while it is under construction; (in plural) the pieces comprising this.
• con forza, adverb. Music. With force (used as a direction in music).
• demonym, noun. A general descriptive name used by a writer as a pen name, e.g. ‘An Amateur’, ‘An English Gentleman’, etc. Obsolete. rare.
• fallaciloquence, noun. Deceitful speech.
• fancy-pants, adjective and noun. Fancy, fine, ornamental. Now usually: overly fancy; posh; snobbish, pretentious.
• grace note, noun. Music. An additional note introduced as an embellishment and not essential to the harmony or the melody of a piece.
• solfège, noun. Music. A vocal exercise in which the sol-fa syllables are used. Cf. solfeggio.
• tableau vivant, noun. A silent and motionless person or group of people posed and attired to represent a well-known character, event, or work of art. In extended use: a person or group of people forming a striking or picturesque scene.
• tricolate, verb, transitive. To adorn or decorate; to tidy or fix. Also with up.
• truffery, noun. A thing of no importance; a trifle, a triviality.

Walk uprightly

“No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11

What is it to “walk uprightly?” Oh! here is the grand difficulty in religion. We may talk; we may preach; we may hear; we may seem to believe; but it is when we come to act, to walk, and carry out into daily and hourly practice what we profess, that the main difficulty is felt and found. “The soul of religion,” says Bunyan, “is the practic part;” and it is when we come to this “practic part” that the daily, hourly cross commences. The walk, the conversation, the daily, hourly conduct is, after all, the main difficulty, as it is the all-important fruit of a Christian profession. To walk day after day, under all circumstances, and amidst all the varied temptations that beset us, uprightly, tenderly, and sincerely in the fear of God; to feel continually that heart, lip, and life are all open before his all-penetrating eye; to do the things which he approves, and to flee from the things which he abhors—oh! this in religion is the steep hill which it is such a struggle to climb! We can talk fast enough; but oh! to walk in the straight and narrow path; to be a Christian outwardly as well as inwardly, before God and man, before the Church and the world; and in all points to speak and act with undeviating consistency with our profession—this is what nature never has done, and what nature never can do. In thus acting, as much as in believing, do we need God’s power and grace to work in, and be made manifest in us.

J. C. Philpot (1802-1869)

Appendix D: Marriages officiated by J. L. Bryant

Marriages officiated by James L. Bryant, Early Nacogdoches, Texas Marriages - Book A

Groom                                     Bride                                                   Date                           

Levi N. Sparks                        Luvisa R. Tipps                                  June 5, 1838

James H. Sparks                      Elizabeth E. McNitte [McKnight]      December 20, 1838

Z. Bottoms                              Elizabeth Taylor                                 December 24, 1838      

Solomon T. Hendon               Mrs. Catherine McKinzy                    March 10, 1839

John Roark                              Mrs. Mary Brewer                              April 13, 1839

William W. Taylor                  Elizabeth Anderson                            July 16, 1840

William A. Ravy                     Mary Potts                                          July 23, 1840

Thomas Hugh Stovall             Mrs. Roedy Dykes                              January 11, 1841

Appendix C: First entries in Union Church book

First entries in Union Church book after organization
Sabbath - Church met for business - chose bro. Green moderator - named the church Union - a door opened for the reception of members - received by letter; Elizabeth Whitaker and Seleta Whitaker by experience; Benjamin F. Whitaker, Elijah Anderson, Leander Tipps, Mary Sparks, Sibel Bryant, Elizabeth Ann Whitaker, Tera A. Whitaker and Jackson a black boy, the property of Elizabeth Whitaker, May 1838.

Saturday before the first sabbath in June- Church met.for business - . chose bro. Cook, Moderator - opened a door the reception of members, received by experience, - James H. Sparks Levi Sparks, Henry M. Smith, -Henry Cook, Henry Rogers, Sarah McNulty, Elizabeth Sparks, Polly Cook, Ethily Sparks, Milly a black woman of B. F. Whitakers and Mary a black woman of Elizabeth Whitakers; by letter William Sparks.
Dismissed by letter bro. John Eaton and Wife.
C. H. Whitaker, Clk.

Saturday before the first sabbath in September. 
[1838] The Union church met in conference - opened door for the reception of members: received by experience; Judak, a black woman, of J. H. Sparks. 
The church resolves to have four days communion meetings during the year, the first of November and quarterly thereafter.- agreed to have travel of mind until Oct. meeting to chose a
deacon. 
J. L. Bryant

Appendix B: Recollections of S. F. Sparks

Previous to this [his father’s death in April 1838], a Baptist preacher, whose name was J. T. Bryant, had come to Texas, and was teaching a little school where the old Union Church now stands. Occasionally he preached at private house.

This Union Church was the first Baptist church constituted in the State. By this time we had courts organized as an independent nation. Court was in session at the time, and my wife's oldest brother was on the jury. He came home one Tuesday night very much depressed, and had nothing to say. His wife said to him, “Mr. Whitaker, what is the matter with you?” He said, “Nothing.” Then she said to him, “Has anybody been killed today?” He answered that there had been no fuss in town.

By this time supper was ready, and we all sat down to eat. Whitaker was still so silent that his wife again asked him if anything was the matter, and he assured her that there was not. We finished the meal and all left the table except him. The negro woman came and cleared the things away, and still he remained with his head resting on the table. His wife and children retired for the night, and soon he called her and said, “Saletha, get up and light a candle, and sing a hymn, and let me pray in my family before I die.” He had never made a profession of faith in Christ. His wife got up and sang the hymn, and he knelt in prayer.

The next morning he went back to court, and his wife came to my house and told his mother what had happened. I was in the field ploughing, and they sent for me to take my horse out of the plough and come to the house. I thought, “Well, have the Indians made another raid on us?” I went home, and they told me to go to the schoolhouse and tell Mr. Bryant to dismiss school early, and to send word to the people to come to her house to preaching. She wanted them to come without fail to preach at her house that night. So I went, and called Mr. Bryant out, and delivered the message. He asked if anything special had happened that they had sent for him. I told him that I did not know of anything, for they had told me nothing of what had happened, and I did not care to be questioned so closely by the preacher, although I was really glad of it, for I was under conviction for sin myself, but I did not want anybody to know it.

My mother-in-law was a member of the church, but my wife and I were not, nor had we ever said anything about religion to each other. I made up my mind that I would get close to where the preacher was that night, and see if there was any hope for me. Well, the preacher came, and all that got word were there, and when Whitaker got in sight of his house, and saw so many people there, he was afraid the Indians had killed his family. The preacher had not got more than half through his sermon, when my wife walked up and asked for prayers. I knelt by her. He said he had preached long enough, and if there were any others in the house that desired prayer to come forward. There were some six or eight who came.

Preaching was announced for the next Sabbath, and all who could come were there. A glorious revival was carried on for two or three months, resulting in the immersion of twenty people. We all went into the water at the same time, and Brother Bryant baptized us in twenty-two minutes. There were men there thirty years old who had never seen any one baptized. Some came twenty-five miles to witness it.

Recollections of S. F. Sparks, July 1, 1908, The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, pages 76-78 
Sparks Family Association pages

Appendix A: Pilgrim Church to Hopewell Church

The Pilgrim Church of the Predistinarian Regular Baptist Faith and order
To her sister Church at Hopewell meeting House, Nacogdoches County Republic of Texas, of the same faith and order
Send the Christian Salutation
Beloved Brethren

We lern that, there be some who troble you, and are like to bring you into disorder, corrupting you both in faith and Practice, We alude to Elder Bryant together with the members composing what is called a church, in Sparkes.s Settlement north of Nacogdoches. We much regreet, That Elder Bryant and the members with whoom he stands connected ware not sound in faith and in order as a Church. That they mite be Profitable to you and us, in the gospell of Christ. But from what we lern they are of the Seperate Baptist faith, with whom we have no connection, and as to their Church Capasaty, we consider them in disorder (first) Becous they were constituted by an unoutherised Presbytary, 2d The Reception of Elder Bryant, we think ware not done in good order. 3d. The Church called on Elder Bryant to administer the gospel ordinances for her, without restoring him to the ministeral function in a gospel or legal way, Which leave all the members Baptised by him in disorder— Dear Brethren should these facts exist, as we lern they do, We warn you aganst thim as a disordely unsound People, with whoom we should have nothing to do, in a religious or Church capasaty. When they become sound in the faith and corrects their Disorders, Then and not tel then can we hold Christian union and fellowship with them, without partaking of their Disorder and Biding them god.s speed in their unsound Disordely corse. — Beloved Brethren, from us you received your existence and Power as a Church, Therefore we clame Christian union and relationship with you, and a right to call on you to adhere to the faith upon which you were constituted, and united without deviation, and to correct any disorder that may be amoungst you and we will not exchange truth and gospel order for the flattery, errows, and friendship, of any man or People on Earth, and when ever you change or alter even one Itom of the articals of faith upon which you were constituted, you no longer exist as a church, by the authority which constituted you,— To bare this, and to transeact any business on our Part with you, We have sent our Beloved Brethern Daniel Parker, and Garrison Greenwood, Both or Either of them to act— Whom we hope you will receive as an expretion of our Christian love to you. May the grace, and Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your Spirits and guide you into all truth, Is the Prayr of of your Sister in Christ, done at our meeting of business, May 11th 1839 and signed by order of the Church—
John Grigsby Cl. Daniel Parker, Mo.

See the “The Records of an Early Texas Baptist Church, 1833-1847” in The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 11, No. 2, October 1907, pp. 118-119.

Outgrowing Atheism

Below is a taste of Outgrowing Atheism: it’s time for Richard Dawkins to grow up by David Robertson.

Serious Scholar?

Here you need to grasp how Dawkins uses language. “Serious scholar” means ‘someone who agrees with me’. If they don’t they obviously can be neither serious nor a scholar. Which is why he can dismiss, if he even knows about, Professor Richard Bauckham of the University of St Andrews, whose serious scholarly work Jesus and the Eyewitness is an authoritative piece of academic research.

Likewise when Dawkins confidently asserts that no “educated theologian” believes that Adam and Eve, or Noah is history. But I’m educated (two degrees) and I’m a theologian, and I believe they are history. I may be wrong. But Dawkins’ simplistic Emperor’s clothes attitude – ‘any intelligent person will see that the Emperor is wearing the finest clothes’ – is easily exposed.

It is especially encouraging to read Robertson state, “...I have met more people who were converted to Christ through Dawkins, than have been converted to atheism.”

Affirming God’s Image, and other reviews

The posting of book reviews does not constitute endorsement of the books or book reviews that are linked.

• Affirming God’s Image: Addressing the Transgender Question with Science and Scripture By: J. Alan Branch -- "The first step to responding well to any situation is understanding it. Affirming God’s Image equips you with the biblical, scientific, and practical knowledge you need for a wise response."
• Book Review: Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, by Mark Vroegop -- "When tragedy strikes, we often don’t know what to do next."
• Book Review: Evangelism as Exiles -- "Elliot Clark’s book is a gift to Christians tempted to feel discouraged by their increased sense of alienation in America."
• Book Review: Magnificent Obsession -- "Tackling one of the most common objections, ‘I would believe if I had the evidence,’ Robertson admits that it isn’t an unreasonable request."
• Book Review: Orthodox Radicals, by Matthew Bingham -- "Bingham’s recent book Orthodox Radicals: Baptist Identity in the English Reformation seeks to overturn the conventional way that Baptists, ever since the 18th century, have thought about and labeled their 17th-century English roots."
• Book Review: Remaining Faithful in Ministry, by John MacArthur -- "MacArthur sets forth the clarity and authority of the Word clearly. The nine convictions that kept Paul faithful emerge right from the text."
• Book Review: Restoring Sexual Identity by Anne Paulk -- "I highly recommend this book to any woman struggling with unwanted Same-Sex Attraction or for any parent with a daughter who struggles."
• Book Review: Suffering - Gospel Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense -- "He teaches scriptural truth in the context of when it was written and then how it can be rightfully applied to our lives today..."
• Book Review: The Unsaved Christian -- "My only quibble is I wish Inserra had spent more time distinguishing between cultural Christians and immature ones."
• Book Review: 7 Myths About Singleness, by Sam Allberry -- "Ultimately, our marital status is infinitely less important that the status of our souls. The trials of singleness run deep, as do the opportunities that are afforded by it."
• Review: Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion -- "My most significant critique of McLaughlin is a presuppositionalist one: I would have liked to see more Bible, even and especially in a book that she hopes non-Christians might read."
• Rebecca Friedrichs on “Standing Up to Goliath” -- "Former CIR plaintiff and California teacher Rebecca Friedrichs has told the inside story of her decades long struggle against teachers unions in her new book, Standing Up to Goliath: Battling State and National Teachers’ Unions for the Heart and Soul of Our Kids and Country."

Why was the Pilgrim Church constituted in Illinois?

Q. Why did Daniel Parker start the Pilgrim Church in Lamotte, Illinois, and then emigrate to Texas?

A. In the past I have accepted the traditional explanation, that it was a legal matter, and referred to that as recently as the 13th of this month. I think Dan Wimberly’s explanation in Frontier Religion: Elder Daniel Parker - His Religious and Political Life moves the discussion and explanation in the right direction.

“Although organized in Illinois, the Pilgrim Church became the first formally organized Baptist Church in Texas. Family legend reports that Parker organized the church in Illinois because the Mexican government had denied him permission to form a Baptist Church in Texas. To circumvent this prohibition, his family believed that Parker sought permission from Stephen F. Austin to import a Baptist congregation. Accordingly, Austin granted approval to Daniel.

“There may be a germ of truth in the tradition, but its total veracity is dubious. A more plausible reason for forming the church in Illinois related to Baptist ecclesial practice. In 1832 Parker realized that Baptist churches did not exist in Texas, and very few Baptist ministers lived there. Parker firmly believed that members of the organizational presbyteries had to be doctrinally sound. If not, then the credentials of the congregation and the baptisms of those immersed under its authority stood in doubt. With this in mind, Parker likely reasoned that it would be difficult to assemble an organizational presbytery of like faith and order in Texas. Furthermore, there are no documents which indicate that Parker directly sought or received permission from Austin.”[i]

For the family tradition, Wimberly cites an article written by Ben J. Parker in 1935, “Early Times in Texas and History of the Parker Family.” This tradition is widespread, and obviously earlier than 1935. The Handbook of Texas Online puts it this way: “[Parker] realized that a Baptist church could not be organized in Texas without breaking Mexican law.”[ii] J. M. Carroll references the idea when he writes, “During Daniel Parker’s visit to Texas in 1832, he construed the Mexican Colonization laws as forbidding the organizing of any other than a Catholic Church in Texas, but not as prohibiting the immigration of one into the state, so he returned to Illinois, selected his followers, organized them into a church, and then proceeded by wagons, holding services as they journeyed to Texas.”[iii] A footnote in “The Records of an Early Texas Baptist Church. I. 1833-1847” claims, “In 1832 Mr. Parker visited Texas. According to his construction of the Mexican law, it forbade the organization of a Protestant church in Texas, but not the immigration of such a church already organized. He, therefore, organized the ‘Pilgrim’ church in Illinois, and then the membership moved to Texas, retaining their organization.”[iv]

Perhaps Parker was trying to skirt the colonization law of Mexico. However, it is questionable whether starting a Baptist church in Texas would have been any more illegal than just having one in Texas, where Roman Catholicism was the official religion. Wimberly’s suggestion has a great deal of merit. Whatever else one might think of Daniel Parker, he was a stickler for church authority. This is obvious in the early minutes of Pilgrim Church during Daniel’s lifetime. He likely would have found few if any Baptist preachers in Texas that he considered his faith and order, and would not have been able to organize a church suitably without them. In contrast, in Illinois a presbytery consisting of eight men from four different churches organized the Pilgrim Church.[v]

---

[i] Frontier Religion: Elder Daniel Parker, Dan B. Wimberly, 2015, p. 130)

[ii] Handbook’s source apparently is Robert A. Baker’s The Blossoming Desert: A Concise History of Texas Baptists.

[iii] A History of Texas Baptists: Comprising a Detailed Account of Their Activities, Their Progress and Their Achievements, 1923, p. 46.

[iv] The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume XI, No. 2, October 1907, pages 87-88; I have not found an earlier reference. Z. N. Morrell does not mention it in Flowers and Fruits From the Wilderness, or if he did, I missed it.

[v] The preamble to the constitution of Pilgrim Church includes “that god has his church or kingdom now set up in the world Who being all taught of the Lord speak the same thing—and also believing that every attempt to unite in union the advocates of any, or all the various contradictory spirits or principles, are but stratigems of the enemey and markes of hypocrisy.” This indicates Parker would not have welcomed any presbytery of varying faith and order. Also, the record include “...at the request and in the Presence of the regular Baptist Church at Lamalt Crawford County State of Illinois...Constitute the foregoing named brethren and sisters, in a church Capacaty...” All this indicates a very orderly progression in organizing the Pilgrim Church.

Jesus Is Not Your Cheerleader, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• Baptist Historical Markers -- Texas historical markers related to the Baptist denomination of churches
• Exclusive: How John Roberts killed the census citizenship question -- "Chief Justice John Roberts cast the deciding vote against President Donald Trump's attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, but only after changing his position behind the scenes..."
• FIRST-PERSON (Mike & Stephanie Goeke): A Changed Man -- "While no one accepted what I was doing as right, no one rejected me. Stephanie had known nothing of my struggle and had no exposure to homosexuality, but she refused to pursue a divorce."
• Five Signs Your Church Might Be Heading Toward Progressive Christianity -- "Another word that tends to get a progressive makeover is love. When plucked out of its Biblical context, it becomes a catch-all term for everything pleasant, affirming and non-confrontative."
• Meet the Unruly Clan That Once Ruled the Hill Country -- "Living hard and free, cedar choppers clashed with respectable townsfolk in the mid-20th century."
• No, Redheaded People Don’t Have “Genetic Superpowers” -- "While they are the rarest of all hair colors, redheads still compose a major portion of the world’s population."
• Orderly Worship -- "...the principles in this passage apply to all aspects of a Christian worship service."
• Sisters, Jesus Is Not Your Cheerleader -- "It’s the friends willing to call me out in my sin and say hard things whom I trust the most."
• The Bible and the Idolatry of Science -- "Besides the various contradictions among twentieth century physics theories, some concepts, such as energy, underwent significant definitional changes while maintaining the same names."
• The Edge – Get a Grip: Who can you trust in a fake news world? -- "Does it matter? Yes of course it does. Without truth we live in hell."
• WALSH: Greta Thunberg Is A Child Abuse Victim -- "If any grown up in Thunberg's life really cared about her psychological and emotional well-being, they would sit her down and explain that climate change is not going to destroy human civilization."
• Worship By the Book: Or, Why Sincerity Is Insufficient for True Worship -- "...true worship always responds to the Word of God."

East Texas Association and Church

According to the Digital Archives of the East Texas Research Center, “Holloway Lee Power was born April 14, 1802 in Floyd County, Kentucky…In 1821 he married Elizabeth Meals of Madison County, Alabama where he served as a Justice of the Peace from 1824 to 1826. In February 1825 he was baptized into Bethany Baptist Church and licensed to preach on October 22, 1842. In 1850 he moved his family from Hickory Flat, Alabama to Nacogdoches County, Texas where his son William already resided…First associated with North Church, Power became unhappy with the salaried preacher there, B. E. Lucas, and left to help organize Bethany Baptist Church of Nacogdoches County in 1853. Power preached in this church which was a member of the Little Hope Association of Primitive Baptists.”

The following brief transcription from the Holloway Lee Power Diary, Part I gives his impressions and disappointment when he attended the Central Association (formerly Eastern Texas Association of United Baptists) at the North meeting house, October 8-10, 1853. Shortly thereafter, the Bethany Baptist Church was constituted. I do not know when the Union Church officially changed its name to Old North Church, but it is evidenced here that even in 1853 the building was called the “North Meeting House.”

8. Clear. Asso at north meeting house: heard the introductory by [W., or Mr.] Skates, he had the good samaritan for his text. He made the Samaritan [rep.][i] Christ; the wounded man the Sinner, the beast the Gospel, the inn the church, the host the preacher, the two pence, one the com^d [i.e. command] to go into all the world & the other the promise Lo I am with you [&c] and whatsoever thou spendest more when I come I will repay thee (end of page 147) the spending was the labor toil and suffering of the preaching in obeying the com^d and the pay the reward to be given him for his services. This as a whole was as worthless a discourse as is commonly heard and far from the gospel though the man affected great zeal and said the missionary spirit was was [winning] in all his bones & [perhaps] through every drop of blood in him. Next day Elder Hickman to me that to his knowledge Mr. Skates was a drunkard and publicly known as such and that he was a runaway from his native state and was there an excluded member. how can a man thus dissemble & act the hypocrite.

9 Sunday. heard Elder Lucas[ii] preach a [firey] missionary discourse from Is. he had great liberty of speech and made as affecting an effort in behalf of missionism as I have ever heard a collection followed = then a sermon from Elder Hickman of considerable interest. He maintained that in Christs death & resurrection a complete satisfaction to the Adamic [law] was affected and all men brought to a resurrection and made the subjects of the promised seed which was thence born in every soul of man a life principle or germ of [of] life which would grow up unto eternal life if not resisted by the sinner and that resisting this principle untill the spirit ceased to strive with them was the unpardonable sin of sin against the holy Ghost which is the only sin which will condemn men in the day of Judgment. He argued that the natural position of the literal eye was to be open & so of the spiritual eye and the only reason why all were not converted was that they closed their eyes & hardened their hearts & stopped their (end of p. 148) ears and that so soon as they ceased to close their eyes &c God would through this promise [rec^d] or life principle convert the soul.

10. Sat in the house and heard the deliberations of the Asso. they were quite awkward in doing business They passed resolutions & appointed com^t [i.e. committee] to beg aid of the S. Baptist miss. society & of the State conv. of Texas also to memorialize Congress in behalf of toleration for our foreign citizens and also to memorialize the state legislature and request the passage of the Maine liquor law. I sat amazed to hear an asso. of Baptist  thus spending their strength in money and politicks O how unlike the baptist thirty years ago “I returned home [striped] of all missionary propensities.” (p. 149) …

30. Sunday Attended meeting at the N. meeting house br. Brittain[iii] Preached a very interesting discourse from mat. [1] br. Davis followed and as br. Brittain could not stay on tomorrow it was agreed to go into the constitution whereupon H. L. Power & wife, J. Burns & wife, & E. Young presented letters. Some others who had (end of p. 149) not their letters could not go in. an abstract compiled by myself was offered and unanimously adopted & the Presbytery being satisfied declared us a church of Christ.

31. The church met at the school house and after br Davis Preached conference was held and br. I. Fowler received by experience and baptism in the [evening] adopted the name Bethany and [agreed] to hold our Monthly meetings on the [1st] sunday & day before.[iv] O Lord grant thy kind Providential care and in blessing bless us and glorify thy name by us for Jesus Sake. (p. 150)

---

[i] Words in brackets [] are those which are hard to read, uncertain, or unreadable.

[ii] Basil Eli Lucas. According to Morrell in Flowers and Fruits (p. 309), “Brother Lucas was ordained by Bishop Andrews as a preacher in the Methodist church, in 1843, in the State of Tennessee. He came to Texas in 1846, and settled in Sabine County. In 1850, being greatly dissatisfied with the ordinances and government of the Methodist church, he made application and was received as a proper candidate for baptism by the Hamilton Baptist church, Sabine County, and was immersed by Elder William Britton, in May, 1850. The same year he was ordained by Elders William Britton and Robert Turner.” I have been unable to identify Elders Hickman and Davis, and have not found what became of W. Skates.

[iii] Apparently this is Thomas Brittain. William Brittain died in 1850. Thomas is known to be in the Little Hope Association later, and possibly was in 1853.

[iv] This is hard to read but evidently is the first Sunday, since they met next on the 5th and 6th of November, which is first Sunday and Saturday before.

Other teachers, and other quotes

The posting of quotes by human authors does not constitute agreement with either the quotes or their sources. (I try to confirm the sources that I give, but may miss on occasion; please verify when possible.)

"Other teachers may point to life; Jesus says, “I am the life.”" -- Adrian Rogers

"Only young people worry about growing older. Old people worry about not growing older!" -- Heard

"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups." -- attributed to George Carlin

"You may never know that Jesus is all you need, until Jesus is all you have." -- Corrie ten Boom

"People can kill without guns. Guns cannot kill without people." I think we have a people problem.

"The entire Bible reveals the unfaithfulness of God’s people and the faithfulness of God." -- Heard

"He who would not fall down ought not walk in slippery places." -- old Motto, origin unknown (often quoted by Adrian Rogers)

"Toleration is not the opposite of Intolerance, but is the counterfeit of it. Both are despotisms. The one assumes to itself the right of withholding Liberty of Conscience, and the other of granting it." -- Thomas Paine (The Rights of Man, 1791)

"Many people grow up in church, but don’t grow in Christ. They often know many hymns, but don’t know Him." -- Copied

Music is an art unsearchable

Music is an Art Unsearchable, Divine, and Excellent, by which a true Concordance of Sounds, or Harmony, is produced, that rejoyceth and cheareth the hearts of men...The first and chief Use of Music is for the Service and Praise of God, whose Gift it is. The second Use is for the Solace of Men; which as it is agreeable unto Nature, so is it allowed by God as a Temporal Blessing, to recreate and chear men after long Study and weary Labour in their Vocations. Eccl. xl. 20. Wine and Music rejoice the heart. Ælianus, in his Hist. Animal, I. 10. C. 29 writeth, that, of all the Beasts, there is none that is not delighted with Harmony, but only the Ass.

From “An Historical Account of Music,” in The Spiritual Man’s Companion, or, The Pious Christian’s Recreation, Fifth Edition, by Israel Holdroyd, 1753

The Missionary’s Farewell

The full text of the hymn by Samuel Francis Smith used for two songs in The Sacred Harp – Can I Leave You and My Native Land. Smith, a Baptist preacher, also wrote “My country, tis of thee.”

The Missionary’s Farewell.

1. Yes, my native land, I love thee;
All thy scenes I love them well:
Friends, connections, happy country,
Can I bid you all farewell?
Can I leave you,
Far in heathen lands to dwell?

2. Home, thy joys are passing lovely—
Joys no stranger-heart can tell.
Happy home, indeed I love thee:
Can I, can I say, “Farewell”?
Can I leave thee,
Far in heathen lands to dwell?

3. Scenes of sacred peace and pleasure,
Holy days and Sabbath bell,
Richest, brightest, sweetest treasure,
Can I say a last farewell?
Can I leave you
Far in heathen lands to dwell?

4. Yes, I hasten from you gladly—
From the scenes I loved so well:
Far away, ye billows, bear me:
Lovely, native land, farewell:
Pleased I leave thee,
Far in heathen lands to dwell?

5. In the deserts let me labor;
On the mountains let me tell
How he died—the blesséd Savior—
To redeem a world from hell:
Let me hasten,
Far in heathen lands to dwell?

6. Bear me on, thou restless ocean;
Let the winds my canvas swell:
Heaves my heart with warm emotion,
While I go far hence do dwell:
Glad I leave thee,
Native land, farewell, farewell.

A Sacred Harp primer, and other music links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• A Sacred Harp primer with Matt Hinton -- "The experience of singing is an end in itself."
• Accent & Emphasis in Sacred Harp singing -- "The rudiments from the 1860 edition of The Sacred Harp say that “accent is a stress of voice or emphasis on one part of a sentence, strain, or measure, more than another”, while the 2012 Cooper edition simply says, “accent is a stress of voice or emphasis”."
• “Classical Music is Racist,” Says Critical Race Theorist -- "Western classical music participates in the act of destroying culture and replaces it with its own white supremacist narrative..."
• Don’t just tinker -- "Tinkering to render language inclusive or modern is now commonplace. Many who tinker, however, are oblivious to rhythms in the language and make their alterations in ways that are jarring, often distracting from the point they wish to make."
• Germany: Girl loses gender bias case against boys choir -- "The choir's right to artistic freedom is decisive, a Berlin court has ruled after the parents of a 9-year-old girl sued when she was rejected by the prestigious State and Cathedral Choir."
• I’d been too scared to sing since childhood – could I find my voice? -- "Nearly forty years after being told she was making a racket, Paula Cocozza decided it was time to confront the sound of silence..."
• Mountain Tradition: Shape Note Singing -- "The greatest defining characteristic of going to church in the mountains of Appalachia, however, is “sing’n”..."

Rev. William W. Maund

I prepared the following information for Find-A-Grave, decided to edit it a bit and post it here for Baptist historical information. Though I don’t use the term “Reverend” personally, Maund did and so I have felt free to use it in regard to him.

William W. Maund[i] was born circa 1800, in Georgia (some sources give Feb. 2, 1801). His parents are unknown. Following the censuses and newspapers, William lived in Albany, Dougherty County, Georgia in the 1840s, Wakulla County, Florida in 1850, Sabine County, Texas in 1860 & 1870, and Lampasas County, Texas from 1874 until his death in 1883. He apparently first came to Jasper County, Texas – he was appointed postmaster in Jasper, Texas in 1854. William married first [Name Uncertain], and second Caroline [Last Name Uncertain].[ii]

William W. Maund was in Texas by 1854, based on his appointment as a postmaster in July of that year.[iii] He pastored churches in the Bethlehem Baptist Association, and served as moderator of the association 1855-1859. Maund served on the presbytery to organize the First Baptist Church of Jasper, December 23, 1855, and was the church’s first pastor.[iv] He, his wife, three daughters and sons-in-law moved to Lampasas in the fall of 1874.[v] In 1877 he was preaching at the Baptist Church at Lampasas on the first Sunday of each month at 11 a.m. A Primitive Baptist preacher, John S. Smith, had the 2nd Sunday, and another Baptist preacher, H. P. Burroughs, had the 3rd Sunday.[vi]

The following references that are probably the same Rev. W. W. Maund, with little likelihood of being incorrect:

• W. W. Maund was clerk of the Hephzibah Baptist Association in Georgia from 1832-1836 (The Hephzibah Baptist Association Centennial, 1794-1894, by Washington L. Kilpatrick, p. 181)
• W. W. Maund preached at Albany Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia (The Place of New Beginnings: A History of the First Baptist Church of Albany, Georgia, by James E. Pelham, pp. 37-38, 45; History and Reminiscences of Dougherty County, Georgia, p. 240)
• W. W. Maund was elected to the Albany city council, January 1846 (The Albany Patriot, January 7, 1846, p. 2)

Maund died December 21, 1883, probably at the home of his daughter.[vii] He was (apparently) buried at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Lampasas. However, his tombstone presently has not been located, and may be lost or destroyed. His wife Caroline is probably buried there also.

---

[i] Middle name possibly “Wallace.”

[ii] I believe Caroline’s maiden name may have been Young, and her first husband was a Kirksey. Her daughter, Victoria Kirksey, was living with William and Caroline in 1850.

[iii] http://sites.rootsweb.com/~txpost/jasper.html

[iv] Information from the First Baptist Church historical marker

[v] The Lampasas Leader, Friday, March 10, 1899, p. 4

[vi] J. B. Abney of the Christian Church had the use of the building on the 2nd Sunday night; The Lampasas Dispatch, Thursday, May 31, 1877, p. 1;  I have found nothing further on Smith or Burroughs.

[vii] History, Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Association, Pasadena, TX: White’s Printing, 1992, p. 8

What Sanders said about abortion, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• An Open Letter To Beto O’Rourke -- "There’s not a single gun owner in this country who is looking to Meghan McCain for permission to oppose the tyranny of a mandatory buyback."
• Barr: Judges must stop nationwide injunctions -- "Now he’s taken on a new fight: that of lone judges sitting on district court benches who want to control the national policy set by the president and his administration."
• California’s Divisive Ethnic Studies Curriculum Proposal Fails -- "In 2016, California lawmakers passed a bill requiring that ethnic studies be added to the state’s secondary school curriculum. A curriculum was subsequently drafted and made available for review."
• Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie: What Sanders said about abortion should shock us all -- "...even if children are seen as mere debits in climate calculations, the great scandal of Sanders’ response is the way he automatically singled out poor populations of people of color for reduction."
• If you challenge Darwinism, you challenge everything about Progressivism -- "...when you challenge Darwinism, you are actually challenging literally everything that progressivism has to offer. Its cosmology. Its epistemology. Its ethics. Everything."
• Leadership Lessons from Chick-fil-A -- "Surround yourself with people you trust. Then give them freedom."
• Meghan McCain Is Right about AR-15 Confiscation, and You Know It -- "Americans defied and resisted the prohibition of alcohol, often violently, even after it was passed into law by a supermajority in Congress and in the states. And, eventually, they won."
• Don’t Be Like Candace with Your Spiritual Gifts -- "Like Candace, we often think we know what we’re good at, and that’s how we want to serve the church."
• Myanmar Military Sues Kachin Religious Leader for White House Comments -- "A Myanmar military officer has filed a lawsuit against an ethnic Kachin religious leader for discussing “the promotion of democracy and federalism in Myanmar”..."
• Myanmar Military Drops Case Against Kachin Leader over Conversation with Trump -- "On Monday, Myitkyina Township Court judge U Than Tun said the plaintiff, Lieutenant-Colonel Than Htike, had withdrawn his legal complaint against the Rev. Dr. Hkalam Samson, who is president of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC)."
• On Earth as It Is in Heaven: Seeking a Biblical Pattern for Worship -- "...the church is wise to learn from Scripture what God’s order for worship is and to worship God on earth as it is in heaven."
• ‘Ripped it in half’: Shaq shares his top personal finance lesson -- "But the principle stands: O’Neal’s suggestion is to attempt to save as much as of one’s income as possible to prepare for the future."
• StemExpress CEO admits selling beating baby hearts, intact baby heads in Daleiden hearing -- "If you have a fetus with an intact head and an intact body, and intact extremities, that is something that would indicate that child was born alive, and then had their organs cut out of them, or that that child was the victim of an illegal partial-birth abortion."
• Ted Cruz reminds PolitiFact of prior 'False' ruling on 'Beto wants to take our guns' claim -- "“Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” [Robert Francis O’Rourke] said when asked about his endgame regarding gun control laws."
• The Theo-logic of Heavenly Worship -- "From creation to consummation, the corporate worship of God’s people is a memorial—a reenactment—of the “theo-logic” of true worship."
• WILLIAMS: Criminologists Mislead Us -- "Liberal criminologists outnumber their conservative counterparts by a ratio of 30-to-1. Ideology almost perfectly predicts the position of criminologists on issues from gun control to capital punishment to harsh sentencing."

Theological Trouble in Texas

What follows is the circular letter of Union Association of Regular Baptist Faith and Order from the October 1844 associational meeting at the Fort Houston Church in Houston County, Texas. At the time, Daniel Parker was moderator (and possibly wrote the circular letter). The letter spells out (though not exactly) fellowship troubles related to the Bethel Church, Union Church, Elders J. L. Bryant & Asa Wright, as well as Elder Allen Samuel.

CIRCULAR LETTER.

            The messengers of the churches composing the Union Association of Regular Baptist Faith and Order—

To the Churches and Brethren of whom the said Association is composed, and those who have obtained

like precious faith with us:—

            Beloved Brethren—By our minutes you will see the progress and state of our Union, and although we are few in number, and remain a poor and afflicted people, while the world is rejoicing, yet we should not be discouraged nor dismayed, for the Lord saith to Zion “As a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou was refused, saith thy God; for a small moment have forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord they redeemer.” Now is the dark, afflicted, mourning time of poor Zion, while her enemies and the world are rejoicing in apparent prosperity and glory, and perhaps will remain so until the image of the beast with its power and number, &c., is accomplished, and the Lord take to himself his great name, and reigneth as the God of Zion, while the vials of wrath is pouring out, &c, then the state of things will be turned right about, the righteous will be delivered out of trouble, and the wicked will come in their stead. Until these things are brought about, the church of God will witness the truth of her Saviour’s words: “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world; therefore the world hateth you. In the world you shall have tribulation,” &c..; also, “Take heed that no man deceive you,” &c; “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the slight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” Dear brethren, while this state of things exists, and “ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” We should be close on our watch, and not be surprised at the enemies of truth who are untiring in their exertions using every stratagem in their power to make innovations upon the faith and order of the church of God, and thereby disturb our peace, and bring us into contempt; and should we for the sake of peace, or through timidity, give way to the sacrifice of one point of gospel truth, or church order, pertaining to the house of God, we may pursue that course until all is gone—this is what the enemy is after: for the more we surrender the weaker we shall grow, or be. Old Israel was always strongest when she was most unlike the surrounding nations; and as we are members one of another, being united in an associated compact, it becomes our duty to watch over each other for good, and thus guard against every appearance of evil. This led to the particular object of this short epistle, which is to warn the churches in our union against the disorder of the Bethel church in Sabine county. This church was by legal authority constituted upon the articles of faith, upon which our association stands united, and agreed to unite with us, or surrender their constituted authority to the churches composing this association, from whom she received it; but in place of doing either, she has united in forming an association, calling herself the “Sabine Baptist Association.” In this, the said Bethel church has not only forfeited the right of her constitution, and proved herself unsound in the faith of the Regular Baptist, but has also become, as we view, in a state of disorder, by uniting with and thereby partaking of the disorder of the Union Baptist church of Nacogdoches county, which church hold a number of members who were baptised by a Mr. Bryant, a man who had no ordained or legal authority to administer the ordinances of the gospel. This sacrifice of the right of the gospel church, and abuse of her ordinances is a crime of too high magnitude to be borne with, or overlooked by us; for if we surrender one point, we may thus progress, until all is gone; and thus the members of the said Bethel church, with their preacher, Mr. Asa Wright, who formerly claimed some relationship with us, should not be admitted as visiting brethren to church privileges with us; nor can our members sit in union with the said Bethel church, without producing distress and cause of grief in their own union; and it is evidently disorder, and inconsistent to invite preachers to preach with us to whom we will not extend the right hand of fellowship; nor can it be done with peace and safety to our own union. And we will further inform our union, and the public, that Elder Allen Samuel, who was formerly one with us, is now excluded from us; and we, brethren, might do well to guard against all such designing men and their associates , or kindred spirits—that he has gone out from us, because they were not of us, &c.; and thereby preserve peace and union amongst ourselves, and knowing that it is God’s good pleasure to give the kingdom to his little flock, we should bear our afflictions with patience, until the God of Zion makes an end of sin, and crown Zion with the glory of her salvation. We comment you to God, and the word of his grace, who is able to make you wish unto salvation, and preserve you blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As printed in The Baptist (Nashville, Tennessee), Saturday, April 12, 1845, pages 3-4 (531-532); R. B. C. Howell and W. Carey Crane were editors at the time.