Sing unto the Lord

The truths and the God of truth behind our songs are what makes them worth singing!!

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.

Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.

Isaiah 12:2-5

Profession of Faith and Regenerate Church Membership

Baptist Faith and Practice – Survey Question – Regenerate Church Membership.

If your Baptist Church requires a profession of faith to be received as a member: (1) Would your church receive the following profession? (2) Why or why not? Please give any biblical reasoning for your answer.

I don’t know when I was saved. I was raised in a Christian home and I don’t remember ever not believing in Jesus Christ. However, I believe in the work of regeneration by the Spirit. I think that the work of the Spirit on my heart was evident by when I was about 14 or 15 years old. That’s when I can remember having independent affections for God – having a desire to read my Bible and pray, for example. I didn’t have a conversion experience particularly. I professed faith and was baptized when I was eight years old, but if the new covenant birth is a change of heart, for me that happened at about 14 or 15 years old.

RULES/REQUESTS.

1. JUST GIVE YOUR ANSWER AND REASONING. DON’T DEBATE WITH OTHER COMMENTERS.

2. IF YOU’RE NOT BAPTIST, YOU MIGHT HAVE AN INTERESTING REPLY – BUT THIS IS A SURVEY OF BAPTIST PRACTICE. PROCEED ACCORDINGLY.

---

Note: Awhile back I posted the above survey on Facebook. The background source is as follows.

3:28 “I was saved – I don’t know when. I don’t remember ever disbelieving in Christ. I was raised in a Christian home and I’m very grateful for that. But I believe in the work of regeneration by the spirit. And the only (and I put a lot of work into Piper and therefore back into Edwards and ultimately Augustine and Paul and Jesus). I did my dissertation on Paul’s positive religious affections. So, I think that the work of the spirit on my heart was evident by about 14 or 15. That’s when I remember having independent affections for God, wanting to read my Bible in halting ways, wanting to pray. Uh, I don’t – I didn’t have a conversion experience really. I mean, I professed faith and was baptized at eight. But if the new covenant is a change of heart – Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36 – that happened at about 14 or 15 for me.” Mark Ward testimony on Room For Nuance podcast. This is not a comment on whether or not Mark Ward is converted. However, it recognizes that most churches with whom I have been associated would not receive that sort of profession of faith. Most who commented on Facebook also agreed.

Deacons

From a liberal magazine, re Deacons. This is not posted as an analysis or endorsement of the following material, but more as a matter of saving it for review.

“Deacons and the go-between God,” Ed Kaneen. The Baptist Ministers’ Journal, October 2012, Volume 316, journal of The Baptist Ministers’ Fellowship (of Wales?), 18-24.

“In a landmark publication in 1990,⁴ John N. Collins surveyed diakonos in ancient sources outside the Bible. He discovered people described by this term doing such varied work as ambassadors, pagan priests, Lotharios, and even contract killers! While the term could also be used to describe servants and those who ‘wait on tables’, these ideas did not form the core semantic field. Rather, Collins proposed such ideas as ‘go-between’, ‘representative’, and ‘agent’, and suggested that this was true of the New Testament also. The significance of this change should not be underestimated: as Collins puts it, ‘a redefinition of the Greek words is inevitably going to work towards a reassessment of the deacon and his office’ (Diakonia: re-interpreting the ancient sources. New York: OUP, 1990, p. 41).” (Page 19)

‘go-between’ is an appropriate gloss for the New Testament ‘deacon’, and can contribute to a theological understanding of the modern diaconate. (Page 23)

Apart from the gospels,⁶ the term diakonos only occurs in the Pauline literature, where we find nine individuals so named.⁷ Only in two passages are deacons referred to in a corporate sense (Philippians 1:1 and 1 Timothy 3:8, 12), where they probably represent distinct groups of church leaders. This has led to a tendency, found also in Fiddes’ work, to draw a distinction between the former examples, where diakonos is a description of the ministry of some New Testament figures, and the latter two examples, where diakonos is probably the title of an ecclesial office. (Page 23)

4. John N. Collins, Diakonia: re-interpreting the ancient sources. New York: OUP, 1990.

6. The gospels occasionally use the term, primarily in one saying (Mark 10:43 and pars), but we do not have space to pursue this here. [Note: “pars” or “pars.” is an abbreviation for “parallel passages” in academic and biblical contexts. rlv]

7. Rulers (Rom 13:4); Christ (Rom 15:8; Gal 2:17); Phoebe (Rom 16:1); Paul (1 Cor 3:5; 2 Cor 3:6; 6:4; 11:23; Eph 3:7; Col 1:23, 25); Apollos (1 Cor 3:5); Timothy (2 Cor 3:6, 6:4; 1 Tim 4:6); false apostles (2 Cor 11:15, 23); Tychichus (Eph 6:21; Col 4:7); Epaphras (Col 1:7). Note that twice these ‘individuals’ are groups: rulers and false apostles.

This is important for Fiddes, also, who says, ‘They [deacons] gave service in two directions—to the community and also to the episkopos [overseer = elder/minister] whom they assisted’ (A Leading Question: The Structure and Authority of Leadership in the Local Church. Didcot: Baptist Publications. 1983, p. 32). p. 25

The Baptist Ministers’ Journal, October 2012 volume 316, journal of The Baptist Ministers’ Fellowship (of Wales?)

Poor Old John

Back in September of last year, I mentioned a sad state of affairs. Leftists, liberals, and lost unbelievers asked for the keys to shape note singing, and some shape-note singing leaders gladly handed them over. In that context, I noted the “Prodigal Misgendering” of John Newton’s hymn text about “The Prodigal Son.” The prodigal son and his father are male (in the Bible both in Greek and English, Matthew 13:37-42; and in John Newton’s hymn, Olney Hymns). Nevertheless, persons who regularly complain about people misgendering others are fine with misgendering the prodigal son and his father. What is good for the goose was not good for the gander!

A fellow singer pointed out to me another song in which John Newton’s words have been attacked, altered, and adulterated. This time God is “misgendered” – changing the pronouns from “he” and “his” to “she” and “her.” The second stanza of the song is not original to Newton, but has been attached to his hymn at least as early as 1868. Curiously, while the arranger changes the gender from masculine to feminine in reference to God – he then changes when speaking of humans in the second stanza and rather chooses to use neutral terms so as not signify one gender or another. The reference to “Hell” is also removed.

The texts are presented below for comparison. In the left column is the sixth stanza of the hymn “The Wheat and Tares” by John Newton (Olney Hymns, Book I, Hymn 86), and the additional stanza (possibly by L. Hartsough).[i] The hymn as corrupted and used with the tune Wheat or Tare (Song No. 233) in the 2024 shape-note songbook The Valley Pocket Harmonist is shown in the right column (as arranged by Joshua Rush Barnett, 2020). I use strikethrough (left column) for removals from the original and yellow highlight (right column) for changes or additions.

There is an agenda to being pushed. The Valley Pocket Harmonist is helping push it.

---

[i] The first stanza is by John Newton, but the second stanza was added to Newton’s hymn – possibly first in The Revivalist by Joseph Hillman and L. Hartsough (1868). L. Hartsough was the music editor of The Revivalist and the arranger of “The Wheat and Tares” on page 67. The song in The Valley Pocket Harmonist also has a chorus: For soon the reaping time will come, And angels shout the harvest home. See also The Wheat and the Tares.

The word is described in the word

2 Timothy 4:2 “…preach the word…”

“How does a serious burdened earnest Christian proclaimer of divine truth discern whether he has preached the word, or whether he has simply preached from it or about it? Did it ever occur to you that the way the word speaks of itself is an incredible help! … Let me mention three.

“The word is described in the word as a hammer. The word is described in the word as a fire. The word is described in the word as a sword. Is it not reasonable that if I have preached the word, there will be people who are hammered; who like the hard rock are smashed to pieces. Is it not reasonable to suppose that if I have preached the word there will be those who will feel pierced by the sword of the Spirit. Is it not reasonable to suppose that there are those who have been cold and without passion who are set on fire for Jesus Christ, if I have preached the word? Is it sensible to think that I have preached the word and nobody has been smashed, nobody has been pierced, nobody has been ignited? I would think it much safe to suppose that when nothing of that sort happens, you haven’t preached the word.”

Richard Owen Roberts (1931- )

The Wonderful Day - Jesus is Coming

The Wonderful Day (No. 89) was composed by Woodie W. Smith (words) and Lulu E. English (music), and copyrighted 1921 in Gospel Light: for the Church, Sunday-School, the Revival, Young People’s Meetings, Children’s Services, Conventions and the Home, by Woodie W. Smith and Joe English.

Woodie Washington Smith was a fairly prominent Baptist pastor and evangelist in his day. He also wrote many songs, both words and/or music. Smith was born August 5, 1877 in Clay County, Alabama, the son of Uriah Dekalb Smith and Sarah Frances Royster. His testimony is that he was converted at Lineville Baptist Church when he was eight years old, but he was so small the church did not receive him because they thought he did not understand what he was doing. Later (in 1895) he joined the Baptist Church at Mart, Texas upon that profession of faith.

Smith was active in singing and church music from about that time. He studied at the Allen-Bridges Normal School in 1896, and later graduated from the Southern Development Normal (S.D.N) School of Music (which was founded in Waco, Texas by Franklin Lycurgus Eiland, and others).[i] Woodie Smith felt the call to preach in 1898, during a sermon by J. M. Frost at the Baptist General Convention of Texas held in Waco – but he did not surrender to the call until several years afterward. He enrolled in Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth in 1912. He pastored the First Baptist Church in Rosenberg, Texas for three years, then entered into evangelistic work with Joseph Willis “Joe W.” English.

Woodie W. Smith married Ada Elizabeth Bates in 1899, and they had seven children. After her death, he married Eva J. Ritter of Baxter Springs, Kansas, widow of Norton Elijah Ritter. Woodie W. Smith died July 3, 1958 in Tulsa, Ollahoma. He and Ada are buried at Laurel Land - Rose Hill Memorial Park at Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas.

1. There’s a wonderful day, for the prophets all say
That the Lord in his glory shall come;
All the saints shall arise and ascend to the skies,
Evermore to be with him at home.

2. As I think of that day, I can joyfully say,
Blessed Savior, I’m ready to go;
For I’m trusting his grace, and shall look on his face,
Oh, what rapture, my Savior to know.

3. Earthly joy shall recede with its pomp and its greed,
When the light of his glory I see;
I will fall at his feet, and the story repeat,
Jesus’ blood made atonement for me.

4. Oh, that wonderful day! oh, the rapture for aye!
Oh, the marvelous love of the King!
How I long to be there, his communion to share,
And his praises forever to sing.

Chorus:
He’s coming some day, He’s coming some day,
Oh, what will it mean to you?
Shall you welcome that day, share his glory for aye,
Fellow trav’ler, oh, what will you do?

It is uncertain who is Lulu E. English, the composer of the music. It is possible “Lulu” might have been a nickname of Joe English’s mother, Louiza Elizabeth Watts English, or his daughter Louise.

Indian Citizen, Thursday, November 8, 1917, p. 1

Indian Citizen, Thursday, November 8, 1917, p. 1

---

[i] Specifics about the Allen-Bridges School are unknown. Smith came to Mart, Texas in 1895, and studied at that school in 1896. It was likely located in the Mart area – possibly in Waco. The Southern Development Normal (S.D.N) School of Music, which Smith also attended, was organized in Waco, Texas by F. L. Eiland. It might be possible that “Allen” should be “Eiland” instead. Whether or not that could be, no “Eiland-Bridges School” has turned up either.

In other words, apopemptic to xeric

• apopemptic, adjective. Pertaining to departing; a farewell or valedictory.
• apoplectic, adjective. Of, resembling, or produced by apoplexy (a sudden loss of bodily function due to rupture of a blood vessel; a state of extreme anger); having or inclined to have apoplexy.
• diarrhea, noun. An intestinal disorder characterized by abnormal frequency and fluidity of fecal evacuations.
• grandiloquent, adjective. Language or behavior is very formal, literary, or exaggerated, as used by people when they want to seem important.
• horripilation, noun. A bristling of the hair on the skin or body (as from cold, fright, or excitement).
• incarn, verb. (Rare) To cover or invest with flesh; to cause to heal.
• incarnadine, adjective. Of a fleshy pink color; blood-red.
• incarnation, noun. The union of divinity with humanity in Jesus Christ (and other definitions).
• incondite, adjective. Badly-arranged, ill-composed, crude, rough, or unrefined.
• jejune, adjective. Not interesting; dull; devoid of significance.
• logorrhea, noun. Excessive talkativeness; (Medical) an excessive and often uncontrollable flow of words.
• luxurious, adjective. Characterized by luxury (sumptuous living, delicacy, elegance); ministering or conducive to luxury.
• multiloquent, adjective. Excessively talkative; loquacious.
• nidus, noun. A nest for insects or small animals; an originating point for a phenomenon.
• pauciloquent. adjective. Using few words in speech or conversation.
• peripeteia, noun. A sudden or unexpected reversal of circumstances or situation (especially in a literary work).
• synagogue, noun. A building used for Jewish prayer, study, assembly, and reading of the Torah.
• tachyon, noun. (Physics) A hypothetical particle that travels faster than the speed of light.
• unmissable, adjective. Something so good that it should not be missed.
• usufruct, noun. The right of enjoying the advantages derivable from the use of something that belongs to another (ūsus, use + frūctus, fruit).
• uxorious, adjective. Doting upon, foolishly fond of, or affectionately submissive toward one’s wife.
• whiffler, noun. One who frequently shifts opinion, attitude, course, or interest; an officer or other person who clears the way before a procession by blowing a horn.
• xenagogue, noun. (Archaic). A guide for strangers or foreigners.
• xeric, adjective. Characterized by dry conditions.

Settling of a Minister

Chapter 5. Of Settling a Minister. From A Treatise of Church Discipline, Samuel Jones (1735-1814). Lexington: T. Anderson, 1805.

5. In settling a minister, having appointed a time and place, and invited a council from one or two of the neighbouring churches to assist, and to witness the transaction, one of the ministers, after praying and singing should preach a suitable sermon. Then he, or another of the council, is to put such questions to the minister to be settled, and to the representative of the church appointed for that purpose, as will draw from each of them promises to fulfil their respective parts of the covenant and agreement between them, upon which he pronounces him, in the presence of God and of the whole assembly, to be the pastor and overseer of that church, and said church to be his flock and charge. Then the settled minister and representative of the church give each other the right hand of fellowship, with expressions of mutual joy and congratulation.

6. After this a charge should be delivered to the settled minister, Col. iv. 19. [sic.] and his church; and then, prayer, singing, and a benediction, will close the service.

7. The transactions of the day, and particularly the terms of agreement between the settled minister and the church, should be entered at large on the records of the church.

8. Some may say, that so much formality in the business, with witnesses, is unnecessary, and that a private agreement between the parties is sufficient. But as a public form of marriage is indispensable; so the above is expedient and useful, as might be shewn were it necessary.

Based on my personal observations, black Baptist churches in East Texas follow this practice (at least generally, if not exactly) and white Baptist churches in East Texas do not.