D'Anvers Treatise on Baptism

Royce Smith, Pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in Choctaw, Oklahoma, highly recommends A Treatise on Baptism by Henry D'Anvers (1674). Brother Smith writes, "The arguments in this book against infant baptism are the best I have ever seen."

A very nice reprint of this book is available from Sprinkle Publications in Harrisonburg, Virginia (select link above). This is a reprint of 1674 first edition, brown hardcover with red highlights, bright gilt lettering on the front cover and spine. The book is 450 pages, and the price is $46.00.

An online source to read this, if you do not want to buy the book, is The Baptist History Homepage.

Prejudiced Against the Word

A message came to me that a lady wished to talk with me on the subject of baptism. I called at her house. Before I entered the door she began to parade her objections against immersion. I said, "Madam, if you were thoroughly convinced that Jesus was immersed, would you be immersed?" Her reply was: "No, I would not." I simply said, "Good evening," and walked away without entering the house.

—from What Baptists Believe by J. G. Bow, as printed in The Baptist Waymark, Vol. V No. 2, July-Dec 1997, p. 4

10 Music quotes

Alas for those that never sing,
But die with all their music in them!
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

“Music... will help dissolve your perplexities and purify your character and sensibilities, and in time of care and sorrow, will keep a fountain of joy alive in you.” -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” -- Colossians 3:16

“Without music, life would be a mistake.” -- Friedrich Nietzsche

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” -- Aldous Huxley

“One good thing about music: when it hits you, you feel no pain.” -- Bob Marley 

“All music is folk music.  I ain't never heard a horse sing a song.” -- Louis Armstrong

“Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.” -- Martin Luther

“For me, singing sad songs often has a way of healing a situation. It gets the hurt out in the open into the light, out of the darkness.” -- Reba McEntire

There is in souls a sympathy with sounds:
And as the mind is pitch'd the ear is pleased
With melting airs, or martial, brisk or grave;
Some chord in unison with what we hear
Is touch'd within us, and the heart replies.
-- William Cowper

The next lynx

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

* Answers to arguments against Intelligent Design -- "...many critics mistakenly insist that ID, in spite of its well-defined purpose, its supporting evidence, and its mathematically precise paradigms, is not really a valid scientific theory."
* Church league participation costs Colgate's Nathan Harries year of eligibility -- "... the NCAA has picked the wrong time take a stand. Again."
* Hernando teacher suspended after requiring fourth-grader to participate in Pledge of Allegiance -- "The issue is one that has cropped up in school districts across the country for decades: Do students have a right to opt out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"
* Is Church Membership Biblical? -- "When you begin to look at these texts it becomes clear that God’s plan for his church is that we would belong to a local covenant community of faith. This is for our own protection and maturation, and for the good of others."
* Seven Seeds You Should Be Eating -- "You probably hear a lot about the healthy superfoods you should be eating, but have you heard of superseeds?"
* US health chief sees low early 'Obamacare' enrollment -- "Put simply, there is a long track record of broken promises and untruthful answers to both this committee and the American people with respect to how this law would work and the impact it would have."
* Your personality type determines your paycheck -- "Upset that your paycheck isn't quite the size you'd like it to be? Ready to blame your company, the economy, Obama? Turns out you need to look a lot closer to home: in the mirror, specifically."

Old They by John Leland

The following was written by the Baptist preacher John Leland (1754-1841):

Of all the villains that haunt the world, not one of them is more mischievous than Old They. He is generally treated as a noun of multitude, followed by a single verb, (They say,) which makes it exceedingly difficult to identify the vagrant. Whether ho is an individual, bearing as many titles as a Spanish Don, or a monster, having as many heads as a Hydra, is hard to ascertain.

If a man wishes to spread a false report, to injure his ruler, priest, or neighbor, he has nothing to do, but to add, They say, and all passes currently.

If any, however, are incredulous, and back the evil report, after passing many hands, which gave the report publicity, and drawing the ideal residence of They, he then plays the game of a talisman before them, or dissolves himself in air.

Others, who have been foiled in their pursuits after the fugitive, and yet are in the habit of believing that They has said so, instead of fastening the blame on the infamous tattler, who is retailing the slander, conjecture a substitute for They, and ever afterwards consider the substitute as an enemy, when, at the same time, the poor suspected man, knows not for what. If it will not be considered too dictatorial, I will here suggest a salutary expedient.

When a man begins to retail the libelous reports of others, or vend his own choleric manufacture, on the credit of They say so, if he will not identify his author, hold the man responsible for all be says, and let Old They shift for himself.

As printed in The Baptist Waymark, Vol. IV, No. 3, May-June 1996, p. 4

Quotes and quotes

“If a knowledge of the Bible and the smarts to apply it are all that are required in order to serve God well, then the savvy and well-educated lost person is a better guide to the church than the gullible Christian.” -- Bart Barber

"There is a difference between worship and evangelism. If you try and do one through the means of the other, you’ll lose both." -- Art Azurdia

"Theology must never precede exegesis. We must make every effort to let the text speak for itself." -- David L. Allen

“When I have money, I get rid of it quickly, lest it find a way into my heart.” -- (credited to) John Wesley

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.” -- Chinese proverb

“Always treat people as ends in themselves, never as means to an end.” -- Immanuel Kant

"We live between the ideal and the real." -- Unknown

"I expect non-Christians to feel a little uncomfortable in our worship service." -- Art Azurdia

"In all cases, the church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the church." -- John Wesley

The joke's on you, Baptist

A Roman Catholic, a Methodist, a Presbyterian, and a Baptist went fishing together on an "ecumenical" fishing trip. They got into an debate on what denomination Jesus would be. The Roman Catholic said that without doubt he would be part of the "Mother Church". The Presbyterian said, "No, no. When you consider all that John Calvin did for the Christian faith, there is no question he would be a part of the Reformed tradition." The Methodist said, "No, no, no, no. When you consider all that John and Charles Wesley did, we know he would unite with the Methodist connection." 

The old Baptist looked perplexed for a few minutes and said, "Boys, I don't think He's going to change!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A woman conducting an experiment invited a Roman Catholic priest, a Presbyterian elder, and a Baptist deacon over for dessert and served them watermelon balls infused with vodka. The Roman Catholic priest took a bite and smiled, and then slowly and methodically ate the rest. The Presbyterian elder took a bite, gobbled it up and asked for seconds. The Baptist deacon took one bite, put the spoon down...
...and started putting the seeds in his pocket.

5 Reasons for Church Discipline

Ronnie Rogers, pastor of a Southern Baptist church in Norman, Oklahoma wrote a blog post on The Five Reasons for Church Discipline. His five reasons are redemption, correction, protection, purification and justice. Pastor Rogers makes some good points which should be thoughtfully considered by all churches exercising biblical church discipline. If I were labeling these, I might call them five "goals" rather than "reasons" -- not because they aren't reasons, but because I feel most people think differently when they think of reasons. "Because they committed adultery"; "Because he taught false doctrine"; etc. would be what most people I know think of when they think of "reasons". Be that as it may, give Ronnie Rogers's piece a read and see what you think.

More linking, for your thinking

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

* 5 churchy phrases that are scaring off millennials  -- "When I returned to church, it wasn’t because of great programs, alluring events or a really cool “café” set up in the foyer. I went back not because of what the church was doing, but rather in spite of it."
* 6 Reasons Not to Abandon Expository Preaching -- "Puritan theologian William Perkins wrote that preaching "'has four great principles: to read the text distinctly, from canonical Scripture; to give it sense and understanding according to the Scripture itself; to collect a few profitable points of doctrine out of its natural sense; and to apply, if you have the gift, the doctrines to the life and manner of men in a simple and plain speech.'"
* Atheist 'mega-churches' take root across US, world -- "Sunday Assembly — whose motto is Live Better, Help Often, Wonder More — taps into that universe of people who left their faith but now miss the community church provided, said Phil Zuckerman, a professor of secular studies at Pitzer College in Claremont."
* Identity Crisis -- "Let's face it, the truth is we do not want to “lose” members and “lose” money. We will employee whatever new and cool idea we have and hope it adds to our membership."
* Killing Christians With Impunity? -- "When I was a child, I somehow picked up the notion that persecution against the Christian church basically ended with the collapse of the Roman Empire."
* Obamacare's Insurance Cancellations: A Feature, Not a Bug -- "While the White House was seemingly caught off-guard by people angry over rising rates, anyone who’d taken a close look at Obamacare saw this coming months ago."
* The Five Reasons for Church Discipline -- "The goal of chastening is not mere outward conformity to established standards, but an inner commitment of the heart and will to obey biblical mandates because it is right to obey."
* Whitley County Cross Country Runner Refuses To Run After Being Assigned "666" Number -- "[Cross country runner Codie] Thacker couldn't bring herself to run while wearing '666' because of her faith. So, she and her coach tried to get a different number. They asked three different officials. They were told no three different times."
With Warmest Regards: The 12 Most Annoying Email Habits You See Every Day -- "Email is a universal plague, though some people make it feel more of a plague than others."

7 Waymark quotes

Some quotes that appeared in The Baptist Waymark periodical in 1996 and 1997.

"In matters of religion, it is correct to act upon the principle that whatever is not taught in the Scriptures is forbidden. That other principle that teaches that we may do a thing because it is not forbidden opens up the floodgates of error." -- Lewis Holland; Texas Baptist and Herald, December 26, 1895

"Where the spectacular element in public soul-winning is eliminated, there is but little opportunity to count supposed results, and the test of conversion is taken wholly out of the sphere of profession and made to rest on the reality of a changed life afterwards." -- Lewis S. Chafer

“The Holy Scriptures alone comprise the court of highest appeal.” -- Balthasar Hubmaier

“Let all the foreign tongues alone, Till you can read and spell your own.” -- Isaac Watts

“The greatest criminals are religious criminals.” -- J. B. Moody

“The gospel preacher is not a ‘spiritual obstetrician’ appointed to supervise the new birth of sinners.” -- Iain Murray

“We may value many things in life. I value my family, my material possessions and my physical life itself. But the thing or aspect of me that has the most value is the eternal, God-given soul. Jesus asked the question ‘For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). -- Adrian Neal

Fasola resources

Here are some new or new-to-me online resources for shape note singers.

* Index of Fasola practice -- Roland Hutchinson of Montclair, NJ has put together a resource for teaching or practicing fasola. This handout "has a number of familiar tunes (many of them nursery or childrens songs), lots of rounds, and a biggish selection of exercises and drills (both old and new)." There are two PDF files: one with 4-shape notation, and another with round notes.
* Minutes of the songs sung from The Shenandoah Harmony -- A partial list of the songs that have been sung from The Shenandoah Harmony, plus minutes template helper for The Shenandoah Harmony, The Sacred Harp 1991 (Denson) Edition, and The Sacred Harp 2012 Cooper Edition.
* Online Repository for Minutes of Singings using The Sacred Harp, Revised Cooper Edition -- "How often a particular Cooper SH song has been led, as recorded in the submitted minutes, is displayed here..."
* Presenting Digitized Books on the Web -- In this article Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg links to several online tune books.
* The Sacred Harp 2012 Cooper Errata -- "As is nearly always the case with human endeavors, this 2012 edition is not error-free. A list of errors important to singers and users of the book can be found here...This is to make it easy for singers to quickly scan through the list and mark up their tunebooks so that we can all be singing these songs accurately."

* Sacred Harp and Related Shape Note Music: Resources -- Don't forget this old stand-by! Steven Sabol and Warren Steel keep it up to date.

Grace and Providence

Grace and Providence (Long Meter) by William Cowper, Hymn 81 in Olney Hymns

1. Almighty King! whose wondrous hand,
Supports the weight of sea and land;
Whose grace is such a boundless store,
No heart shall break that sighs for more.

2. Thy Providence supplies my food,
And ’tis thy blessing makes it good;
My soul is nourished by thy word,
Let soul and body praise the Lord.

3. My streams of outward comfort came
From him, who built this earthly frame;
Whate’er I want his bounty gives,
By whom my soul for ever lives.

4. Either his hand preserves from pain,
Or, if I feel it, heals again;
From Satan’s malice shields my breast,
Or overrules it for the best.

5. Forgive the song that falls so low
Beneath the gratitude I owe!
It means thy praise, however poor,
An angel’s song can do no more.

Oliver Holden used the last stanza for his tune Cowper, page 168 in The Sacred Harp.

Worship!

WORSHIP by Brian Crossley

When the Creator of heaven and earth performed the final act of creation, it was His pleasure to create man in His own image. In all of creation, it is man alone who has the capacity to see into the depths of space, to marvel at the order and design of the universe, and to delight in the beauty with which God has clothed His creation. As we contemplate the wonders of God’s handiwork, there are two contrasting impressions which are certain to invade our thoughts. On the one band, we cannot help but be humbled at the awareness of our own insignificance to the creation. On the other hand, as we witness the grandness of His creation, the spirit that is within us simply demands our praise of the God whose Word brought it all into being.

This is the essence of worship -- to fall upon our knees in humble adoration of the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth. This, brethren, is the ultimate reason for which we were created in His own image. There is no higher achievement to which man can attain than to testify of God’s glory, His sovereignty, and His holiness. He, and He alone, is worthy of worship!

Psalm 113:5 “Who is like unto the Lord our God...”

The Baptist Waymark, Vol. IV No. 6, Nov-Dec 1996, p. 4

Worship Quotes
"Anything which makes it easier for us to worship spiritually should be encouraged while anything that draws attention to itself rather than God should be eliminated from our corporate worship services..." -- Robert G. Rayburn

"Worship is an overflow of a mind renewed by the truth of God. Contemplating God is the trigger that sets off worship." -- John MacArthur


"We preach about presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, but then we want to anesthetize our nervous system and eliminate normal emotional responses." -- Warren Wiersbe

True and False Worship Contrasted

TRUE AND FALSE WORSHIP CONTRASTED by Tom McElmurry of Dardanelle AR, as printed in The Baptist Waymark, Vol. IV, No. 1, Jan-Feb 1996, p. 4

Exodus 40:33-38; Deuteronomy 42:1-5

I. (Direction of choice)
A. The nations sought to establish the places where they would worship the gods of their choice.
B. God selects the places where He will be worshiped by the people of His choice.

II. (Location)
A. Their gods were supposed to come to the place of their choice.
B. We come to the place that our God selects.

III. (Image vs. Spirit)
A. They made images of their gods to worship.
B. We worship our God in the truth of what He says—He is Spirit.

IV. (Elevation, exaltation vs. humility)
A. They went to the tops of the highest elevations to be physically closer to their gods.
B. We draw clearer to God the more we spiritually lower ourselves in humility before His presence.

V. (Manifestation)
A. Their gods never appeared to them to show their approval of the places selected by the people.
B. Our God has manifested Himself time after time to put His seal of approval on various places He has chosen for His people to worship Him in various times.

VI. (Monotheism vs. Polytheism)
A. They had many different gods for many different things.
B. We have one God for all things, because He made all things.

[Note: the words in parentheses were added for this electronic edition.]

The Bible Makes a Baptist

The Bible Makes a Baptist: the Story of Why Christmas Evans Became a Baptist

Christmas Evans, a Welsh Baptist preacher, was born on Christmas day in 1766. He preached fervently and effectually to the Welsh people from about 1787 until his death In July 1838. He gives the following account of how he became a Baptist.

“A person of the name of Amos had left the (Presbyterian) church at Llwynrhydowen, and had been baptized at Aberduar. He came to see me, and I began to assail the Anabaptist heresy, as I had been accustomed to consider it. But Amos soon silenced me. I attributed my defeat to my ignorance of the New Testament, and therefore began to read from the beginning of Matthew, to prepare myself for the next interview. Having read the New Testament through, I found not a single verse in favour of Paedobaptism, (i.e. baptizing Infants). I met frequently with passages in the Old and New Testaments referring to the circumcision and naming of children, their bringing up in the ‘nurture and admonition of the Lord,’ etc. but with none making any mention of their baptism; while about forty passages seemed to me to testify clearly of baptism on a profession of faith. These scriptures spoke to my conscience, and convinced me of the necessity of personal obedience to the baptism Which Christ had ordained. After a little struggle between the flesh and the spirit, obedience and disobedience, I applied to the Baptist church at Aberduar. I was cordially received, but not without some fear on my part that I was a rank Arminian still!” 

This took place in the summer of 1787, four years after his conversion. At age twenty, he was baptized in the river Duar by Timothy Thomas.

As printed in The Baptist Waymark, Vol. IV, No. 2, Mar-Apr 1996, p. 4

Quotes from here and there

"All I can say is 'This is the way of Christ and His apostles'. If any man answers, 'That is out of date', or 'Times have changed'...I can only repeat 'This is the way of Christ and His apostles', and leave him to face that issue." -- Roland Allen

"Christ is either Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all." -- Hudson Taylor

"It is not enough to do God's work; it must be done in His way and for His credit." -- Erwin Lutzer

“Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.” -- Herman Melville

"The fact that so many Christians gauge their personal estimate of the worth of a worship service on the basis of personal enjoyment indicates that they do not really comprehend what is involved in corporate Christian worship." -- Robert G. Rayburn

"Fear forces, but faith follows." -- copied

"To whom little is not enough, nothing is enough." -- copied

"Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening." -- Dorothy Sarnoff

Was James the pastor of the church of Jerusalem?

The Bible presents a solid front on the example of plurality of elders (pastors) in New Testament churches. Presented with such information, proponents of the single pastor or senior pastor model of church polity are on the prowl for counter-examples. One that is often provided is that James was the senior elder/pastor/bishop of the church at Jerusalem.

Brief excerpts of the position
“James, the 'brother of the Lord,' though not one of the Twelve, was a chief man now in the Jerusalem church, and is often spoken of by historians as its pastor, or bishop.” -- The People's New Testament: the Common and Revised Versions with References and Colored Maps, with Explanatory Notes, Barton Warren Johnson, St. Louis, MO: Christian Board of Publication, 1891, p. 482

In his Commentary on Acts 15:1-35, J. W. Carter writes, "The scriptural description of the church from the time that Peter was imprisoned by Herod seems to lean towards James as the pastor. This segment of scripture would do the same."

"...James eventually became the pre-eminent leader of the Jerusalem church. To borrow a contemporary term, he was its senior pastor." -- James - The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, John F MacArthur, Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 1998, p. 11

"The brother of Jesus, who became the leader of the Jerusalem church (see on Gal. 1:19; 2:9, 12, Acts 15:3; 21:18) and was later considered its first bishop." -- The People's New Testament Commentary, M. Eugene Boring, Fred B. Craddock, Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009, p. 408

This James is the James who is the half-brother of Jesus. He is mentioned by name in Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3; Acts 12:17; Acts 15:13; Acts 21:18; Galatians 1:19; Galatians 2:9, 12; James 1:1 and Jude 1:1. The scriptures cited by Boring and Craddock are those most frequently cited in defense of James as THE pastor of the church at Jerusalem, as well as Acts 12:17.

Investigation
A. Acts 12:17 Peter tells those who opened to tell James and the brethren of his release. That he specifically adjures them to tell James indicates James held a prominent position in the church, i.e. he was the pastor.

This incident does suggest that James was a significant individual in the church, but it no more proves that James is the pastor of the Jerusalem church than the angel telling the women to tell Peter and the disciples that Jesus will meet them in Galilee proves Peter is the pastor of the church at Jerusalem. It is reading too much into the text without considering all the options.

B. Acts 15:19ff. James makes the final decision at the "Jerusalem council".
It is true that James offered the final counsel in Acts 15 before the church made its decision and sent out their letter. Notice three things about this council. 1. The issue was brought to “the apostles and elders” at Jerusalem (Acts 15:3) and therefore not to James any more than the rest. 2. The resulting letter was written on behalf of “the apostles and elders and brethren” and not from James any more than the rest (Acts 15:23). 3. James' restatement of this portrays this as a decision of the church, not an act in which James had more influence that everyone else -- “As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded...” (Acts 21:25). The fact that a single individual in a church sums up a problem and gives his counsel which the church follows does not suggest that individual is the pastor. I have seen such counsel (and results) not a few times from men of wisdom who were not pastors.

In Acts 15:4 those welcoming of Paul and Barnabas are described as “the church and...the apostles and elders.” So we know that James was an apostle or an elder, or both. His office is noted by Paul in Galatians. In Galatians 1:19, James is called an apostle. He was one among many apostles, which does not make him the pastor of the Jerusalem church.

A mention of a single name does not a pastor make. Others are mentioned singularly more often than James.

C. Acts 21:18 Paul went to see James after he arrived in Jerusalem.
James certainly was a prominent leader. He may also have been the only apostle present at the time. Regardless, as in other places that mention one single individual in a group of individuals, this does not rise to the level of proving that James was the single pastor of the church at Jerusalem. "...and all the elders were present" suggests that James may not have been considered an elder. He is considered an apostle in Galatians chapter 1. Paul once went up to see Peter and dwelt with him (Gal. 1:18). By the same reasoning that makes James pastor of the church in Acts 21, we would prove Peter was pastor of the church at Jerusalem in Galatians 1.

D. Gal. 1:18 Paul went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and also saw James while he was there. James is referred as an apostle, not as pastor of the Jerusalem. He, Peter and John, are also referred to as pillars (Gal. 2:9). That statement puts James on an equal plane with Peter and John. The totality of Paul's comments in Galatians indicate that he did not view James as the singular leader of the Jerusalem church.

Conclusion
There are a few passages in which James the half-brother of Jesus is mentioned in a singular or prominent way. I have no wish to denigrate his importance in the church at Jerusalem. But to my way of thinking, folks first believe in a "head pastor", "lead pastor", "senior pastor" or something like that before these passages begin to look like one. The great example of a pre-eminent leader at any church mentioned is Diotrephes mentioned in 3 John 9-11. He desired to have the “preeminence” and was described as doing evil.


Follow-up: 3 links related to single pastor/plural pastor
Plurality of Pastors
Preacher Rule
The Wisdom of God in the Plurality of Pastors

666, the Mark of the Beast

* Whitley County Cross Country Runner Refuses To Run After Being Assigned "666" Number -- "[Cross country runner Codie] Thacker couldn't bring herself to run while wearing '666' because of her faith. So, she and her coach tried to get a different number. They asked three different officials. They were told no three different times."

From LEX18.com in Lexington, Kentucky comes news of a high school cross country runner who forfeited her regional championship spot in a race after rather than wear bib number 666.*

Codie Thacker, a Whitley County High School junior, voluntarily forfeited her spot because of her religious beliefs concerning the number 666. According to Thacker and her coach, they asked officials to switch her number, but they refused. A person speaking for the Kentucky High School Athletic Association claimed that they did not know the request was for religious reasons. They claim that if they had known they would have granted the request.

In contrast Thacker "insists she was explicit about her motivation." "I told them to mark out my name because it makes me sick just thinking that my name is associated with that number," Thacker said. Her religious beliefs were obvious to those who knew her. On drawing '666' Thacker's coach expressed her thoughts. "I saw it and I was like, 'whoa,' I don't think she will wear that number."

I can't read minds, but reading between the lines I'd guess the Athletic Association initially thought this was no big deal -- maybe a little whacked out religious zeal -- and is now trying to cover its tracks. How many people are that out of touch with the negative religious connotations of the number '666'? Most folks could have guessed the reason even if they weren't told. So, shall we say, I'm suspicious of their explanation.

My understanding of the number '666' in Revelation would not cause me to react the way Codie did. I do not view it as an evil number outside of its context. As a bib number for a cross country runner it would be no different from 100 or 600 or 665, in my opinion. Some people will dub Codie Thacker a misguided youth, a religious zealot, and such like. But I congratulate this young lady for standing up for what she believes.** She is not responsible for what others believe. She must be true to herself. It is to the shame of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association that they viewed this young athlete's convictions so lightly and did not deal with an issue that could have been so easily fixed! In a country founded on religious freedom, she should not have to choose between running and her deeply held religious beliefs.

* A bib number is a random number designed to pin on a runner's t-shirt or racing vest. It is used by race directors to identify and tell the runners apart.
** I nevertheless hope she will come to a better understanding of the meaning of '666'.

7 links to read this morning

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

* Evangelism without an Altar Call -- "The altar call has a tendency to put the congregation’s focus in the wrong place...Instead of self-examination it leads to audience-examination. People are looking around, wondering who’s going to go forward."
* Gay rights gains piling up; battles still ahead -- "In Hawaii, where the state House is debating a Senate-passed gay-marriage bill, thousands of citizens have signed up to testify — and the majority of those who've spoken thus far oppose the measure."
* Hiring of homosexual employees being considered by Ky. Baptist child care agency -- "The president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention's children's services agency has recommended that the organization amend its hiring practices to ban discrimination against homosexuals..."
* Legislative prayer gets Supreme Court review -- "The Supreme Court will settle a dispute over prayer in the halls of government, but only after following its custom of asking for God's protection."
* Sunrise Children’s Services Board of Trustees -- "...trustees, elected by Kentucky Baptists, deserve to know how Kentucky Baptists feel about the current deliberations of the board..."
* The 10 Best and Worst Foods to Eat for Sleep -- "Often called 'a pill in a peel' by experts, bananas contain high levels of magnesium, a mineral that acts as a muscle relaxant, which can help us start snoozing faster."
* Vatican issues global questionnaire on modern families -- "The Vatican on Tuesday launched an unprecedented worldwide consultation on modern families, including same-sex couples, as part of Pope Francis's drive to reform the Catholic Church."

When he refused to eat

WHEN HE REFUSED TO EAT from Apostle of Sunshine by John Durham.

One evening late, A. P. Durham arrived at a home where he planned to spend the night. Supper was over but the hostess at once began preparing a meal for him. She soon had it ready, called him to the table and began at once making apologies for such a ‘poor meal’: “Brother Durham, I just haven’t anything to set before you, that is fit to eat.” Then she added a few more apologies. He sat at the table for some time, talking about things in general, but ignoring his supper altogether. The lady, mortified at his inattention to the meal, asked “Brother Durham, aren’t you going to eat anything at all?” He replied, “No, sister, you said it was not fit to eat, and I don’t usually eat anything that isn’t fit to eat.” Then she apologized for having made such extreme apologies, and accepted his remarks as a gentle reprimand for her exaggerations.

Copied from The Baptist Waymark, Vol. III No. 5, September-October 1995, p. 4