The clock is running, 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.)

"I have convictions for which (I hope) I would be willing to die. I have none for which I would be willing to kill."

"The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present." -- Alice Morse Earle

"God rules everything in a believer’s life through scripture – it gives the truth about the whole of reality, the interpretation of every subject matter." -- Kent Brandenburg

"We believe that the local congregation is the fundamental unit of mission." -- Daniel Weiss

"Occasionally, weep deeply over the life you hoped would be. Grieve the losses. Then wash your face. Trust God. And embrace the life you have." -- John Piper

"If you always seek the validation of others, you will often be disappointed." -- Heard

"Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The years start unrolling slowly, but as they go by, the roll grows smaller, the cycles of the seasons come faster and faster until suddenly, there isn’t enough left." -- Unknown

"A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it." -- G. K. Chesterton

"We have often mourned over the attempts made to set the works of God against the Word of God." -- Dr. M’Cosh, quoted by Spurgeon in The Treasuries of David

"The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man." -- G. K. Chesterton

"Every pastor is an interim pastor." -- David Huffstutler

"Christianity is not a code, it’s not a creed, it’s not a cause -- it is Christ in you, the hope of glory." -- Adrian Rogers

Election, predestination, free will

Election, predestination, free will are complicated, but probably more complicated because we make it so. Kind of like kneading dough, if you do not know when to stop you mess it up and the bread is not good. What we do in going over and over and over these doctrines is that we make a mess of them. In a sermon on Jacob and Esau, Charles Spurgeon said God “saves man by grace, and if men perish they perish justly by their own fault. ‘How,’ says some one, ‘do you reconcile these two doctrines?’ My dear brethren, I never reconcile two friends, never. These two doctrines are friends with one another; for they are both in God’s Word, and I shall not attempt to reconcile them.” That is a good approach.

The Bible uses “elect” and “election” more than “predestination” or “free will”. Free is never used in the King James Bible as an adjective that modifies will. Almost every time it is an adjective – “freewill” – that modifies offerings, and once (Ezra 7:13) a noun that refers to Jews making a choice to go back to Jerusalem as opposed to the king decreeing which individuals would return. In the case of offerings, the offering that is “free” or chosen by the offerer as opposed to making an offering prescribed by law.

Elect does not always refer to the same kind of thing being elect. Sometimes it refers to the Jews as a chosen people, sometimes to the saved, and sometimes to Jesus Christ (Isaiah 42:1). There may be other types of references as well. Predestinate is used in the Bible four times, but the same idea also appears in words such as determined before, foreordained, and ordained before. We can tell from the Bible that there are things ordained beforehand (predestinated) by God. The chief argument among Christians seems to be over whether God predestinated only a select few (the elect) to be saved and then passed over the rest. Those who emphasize predestination say, “Yes.” Those who emphasize free will say, “No.” Somehow, this all works out in the mind of God – whose thoughts are higher than our thoughts – and will remain a mystery to us as long as we are in the flesh trying to figure it out. This is an intriguing discussion. We can discuss it “forever” – because we never figure it out. There are some obnoxious people on both ends of the spectrum who have it all figured out (to their own satisfaction) and think all the rest of us are Lilliputians.

Concerning free will, to a large degree Americans are influenced by our social constructs around freedom and liberty, and want everything to be fair in a way we see as fair. Biblically, mankind cannot be said to have a free will. That only applies to God, who can do anything he pleases. Man operates within the confines of his nature, which is sinful. Therefore, the Bible teaches than man is sinful, does not please God, does not seek God, and so on. Man, by both his nature and his will, is a child of wrath. If God did not seek man, man would never seek God. Yet, man is not absolutely passive in salvation, as some versions of predestination hold him to be. Rather, when God seeks man, convicts him of sin, and draws him by the Holy Spirit, man can seek and find God. He can repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

Miscellaneous news

Some links to miscellaneous bits of news:

• The text of the May statement made by Special Counsel Robert Mueller can be found HERE.
• The October 16, 2000 Justice Department view of “A Sitting President’s Amenability to Indictment and Criminal Prosecution” can be found HERE.
• H.R.5 - Equality Act has passed in the House of Representatives
• 116th Congress (2019-2020) “This bill prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system.”
• Doug Collins (Rep.-Ga.) made the following statement at a hearing on H.R. 5: “Don’t ignore the costs here — because they’re steep. H.R. 5 erases civil rights protections for biological women and sets the stage for children to fall victim — in permanent, unprecedented ways — to the confusion that often characterizes adolescence. If Democrats are determined to move this legislation forward, they must acknowledge it automatically privileges the rights of biological men over the rights of biological women. This bill will cause suffering that is far-reaching and, in many cases, enduring...”

A Passage for a Pastor, 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.

• A Passage for a Pastor Called to an Established Church -- "Every pastor is an interim pastor."
• Are There Critical Text Readings in the NKJV after All? A Nerdy and Detailed Response to a Set of Fair Questions -- "Now, even if my supporting point about the NKJV goes down, my central case stands..."
• Is Prostitution Work? -- "as Christianity declines, Christian values are no longer the foundation on which society is built and so as new values and norms are being established, new language is needed to help with that process."
• My Response to Mark Ward's Response to My List of Fifteen Deviations of the NKJV from the Underlying Original Language Text of the KJV -- "In a new post, he said none of them are legitimate examples, so I looked at his (and two assistants) arguments, and here is my conclusion about what they wrote."
• One Final Post on the NKJV Textual Deviations from the Text Behind the KJV -- "Mark is admitting to six [deviations of the text behind the NKJV from the underlying text of the KJV]."
• Science and Religion Should Not Fight -- "Let not science and religion be reckoned as opposing citadels, frowning defiance upon each other, and their troops brandishing their armour in hostile attitude."
• Straight Men Must Date “Trans Women” to Combat Hate, Say Activists -- "...just because everyone else lets the gender-dysphoric live in a fantasy world doesn’t mean that we—as heterosexual people of faith—have to play along..."
• Texas gov. signs bill making it illegal to kill babies who survive abortion -- "House Bill 16 requires that for any child born alive after an attempted abortion, doctors “must exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious physician would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age...”."
• The Good and Bad of Christendom -- "Religious toleration in the empire created conditions for the freedom...but when in 391 Emperor Theodosius I made Christianity the Roman Empire’s official...the church began to be the controlling influence in the entirety of the empire."
• US discards thousands of donated kidneys each year as patients die on waitlist, study says -- "The study found that the U.S. is more likely than France to throw away kidneys when the donor had hypertension, diabetes, had a heart attack or tested positive for Hepatitis C. But that doesn’t mean those kidneys can’t be used to save lives."
• What Is Church Membership? -- "Church membership, in other words, is not about “additional requirements.” It’s about a church taking specific responsibility for a Christian, and a Christian for a church."
• Why Faith Statements Won’t Save Us -- "Machen concluded that “despite the liberal use of traditional phraseology modern liberalism not only is a different religion from Christianity but belongs in a totally different class of religions”."

Inclusivism in religion

Inclusivism in religion by definition is “the view that all religions have a partial truth” – that in the relationship between religions, while there may be a set of beliefs that is absolutely true, all religions are at least partially true. Exclusivism, on the other hand, asserts that there is only one true way of belief and all other religions are in error.[i] For example, exclusivism in Christianity states that the Bible is God’s truth and Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. Inclusivism finds good in all religions, with the result that one may be “saved” by whatever way he or she seeks for or relates to God. Inclusivism in practical terms, among those I know who are inclusivists, usually resorts toward the end of the spectrum that all beliefs are equally valid.

I find it interesting how broad and how narrow the inclusivist view can be. Inclusivism stresses that all beliefs are equally valid, but will not validate the exclusivist view. Therefore, anything and everything that seeks God can be good, except the view that there is only one God and one way to seek him! How inclusive is that?

The Bible teaches there is only one true God (e.g. Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Isaiah 37:16) and that there is only one way to know the true God, through Jesus Christ (e.g. John 14:6; Acts 4:12). For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

Selah.

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[i] Not that every single thing they say or teach is in error, but specifically the way to God.

Should a Baptist Church Recognize Alien Baptism?

From “Should a Baptist Church Recognize Alien Baptism?” by Laurence Justice

“According to an article in the Baptist Messenger a few years ago the Park Road Southern Baptist Church of Charlotte, NC has voted that rebaptism by immersion will no longer be required for membership in their church. At about the same time three other churches withdrew from the same association over this matter. I know of a Baptist church in metropolitan Oklahoma City that recently received members of a Disciples of Christ church without baptizing them. Baptists have a term for such a practice. We call it recognizing alien immersion or alien baptism. To recognize alien baptism is to accept as a member of a Baptist church any person on the basis of the baptism which he received in a church of another denomination.”

Soar to regions unknown

Sacred Harpers are bound together by the Love and Fellowship that are to be found where ever the Children of God are gathered together. Whether the number be great or small it only takes an open and receptive heart to be enjoined in this Love. One doesn’t have to have a beautiful voice or monumental knowledge. Although we love to hear beautiful voices joined together in harmony, it is the beauty of loosing themselves in the freedom of the spirit, and letting their hearts rise and soar to regions unknown by others, yet feeling that there are kindred spirits flying with them.

Clarke Lee

The Leaf

The Sacred Harp, 2012 Cooper Edition has the tune North Jersey on the bottom of page 504. In this songbook, the source of the lyrics is credited as “The Christian’s Magazine, 1760.” That publication included this hymn on page 86 as “The Fall of the Leaf; a Sacred Ode.” The author has since been identified, George Horne, a bishop of the Church of England in Norwich. The transcription below comes from The Works of the Right Reverend George Horne D.D., Late Lord Bishop of Norwich; to which are Prefixed Memoirs of His Life, Studies, and Writings, Volume 1 (William Jones, London: F. C. & J. Rivington, 1818, pp. 234-35). There, it is entitled “The Leaf,” with the scripture reference “We All Do Fade As a Leaf. Isaiah lxiv. 6.” North Jersey is arranged as an 8s.7s.D. tune (two 8-line stanzas), while the presentation in The Works of the Right Reverend George Horne is 8s.7s. (ten 4-line stanzas).

1. See the leaves around us falling,

Dry and wither’d, to the ground;

Thus to thoughtless mortals calling

In a sad and solemn sound:

2. Sons of Adam, once in Eden,

Blighted when like us he fell,

Hear the lecture we are reading;

’Tis, alas! the truth we tell:

3. Virgins, much, too much presuming

On your boasted white and red,

View us, late in beauty blooming,

Number’d now among the dead.

4. Griping misers, nightly waking,

See the end of all your care;

Fled on wings of our own making,

We have left our owners bare.

5. Sons of honour, fed on praises,

Flutt’ring high in fancied worth,

Lo! the fickle air, that raises,

Brings us down to parent earth.

6. Learned sophs, in systems jaded,

Who for new ones daily call,

Cease, at length, by us persuaded,

Ev’ry leaf must have its fall!

7. Youths, though yet no losses grieve you,

Gay in health and manly grace,

Let not cloudless skies deceive you,

Summer gives to autumn place.

8. Venerable sires, grown hoary,

Hither turn th’ unwilling eye,

Think, amidst your falling glory,

Autumn tells a winter nigh.

9. Yearly in our course returning,

Messengers of shortest stay,

Thus we preach this truth concerning,

“Heav’n and earth shall pass away.”

10. On the Tree of Life eternal,

Man, let all thy hope be staid,

Which alone, for ever vernal,

Bears a leaf that shall not fade.

How sour sweet music is, and other music 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.)

"How sour sweet music is, when time is broke and no proportion kept." -- William Shakespeare

"A choir is made up of many voices, including yours and mine. If one by one all go silent then all that will be left are the soloists." -- Vera Nazarian

"If the lyrics in our worship songs do not move us without music, then we are being moved by music and not by the beauty of Christ in the gospel." -- Marshall Segal

"Communal singing draws forth “beauty beyond ourselves that we get to see, get to participate in.”" -- Bob Shoup

"Singing is for teaching. Praise is for instruction. Adoration is for admonishing." -- Bobby Jamieson

"Cappella – as in a cappella – has two a’s, two p’s, and two l’s. Stick a “c” and an “e” in there somewhere and you’ve got it. Capella is a goat."

"It is better to leave your fellow singers wishing the song had gone on longer than to have them wishing you had stopped!" 

"The Sacred Harp tradition is both archaic and living, which inter-dependency is what makes it so compelling and unique." -- David Fetcho

" Sacred Harp is the truest and purest form of religion that I have ever experienced." -- Clarke Lee

"Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who happen to be walking around." G. K. Chesterton (not exactly a music quote, but applies well to traditional music)

"Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their musick." -- Lamentations 3:63

The abomination of desolation

Q. What about the abomination of desolation and the winter flight in Matthew 24:15-20?

A. Many people, maybe most, in churches like mine generally think this refers to some time in the future related to the Antichrist. It is true that one of the questions Jesus is answering in Matthew 24 is about the sign of his coming, and of the end of the world. However, he is also answering the question of when concerning when the destruction of the temple: “There shall not be left here one stone [of the temple] upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” The abomination of desolation may best fit with this, when the Romans destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. This also seems to fit best with what Daniel said on the subject (Daniel 9:27; 11:31, 12:11). Daniel connects the coming of the “abomination that maketh desolate” with the first coming of the Messiah in 9:24-27. The things following about being with child, winter travel, etc. would make the flight from the destruction more rigorous and troublesome. It may be that some of this includes that in the past and foreshadows something else in the future, too, as do several other prophecies.

See also Luke 21:20-21, which puts “desolation” at the time of the destruction of the temple.

Baptist puppies

A young boy was trying to sell puppies at a street corner. A man approached him and asked the small boy what kind of puppies they were, and the boy replied “church of Christ puppies.” 

A week later, the same boy was at the same corner selling the same puppies. He cried loudly, “Baptist puppies for sale, Baptist puppies for sale!” The same man was there again. He approached the lad and said to him, “I thought these were church of Christ puppies.” 

The boy replied, “They were last week, but this week they are Baptist puppies – because their eyes are open.”

Against Empathy, 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.

• Against Empathy -- "It is worth expanding on the difference between empathy and compassion, because some of empathy’s biggest fans are confused on this point and think that the only force that can motivate kindness is empathetic arousal."
• A ‘monument’ to black people massacred 100 years ago in Arkansas reeks of the hypocrisy Jesus condemned -- "A century later, white people who claim to be “progressive” intend to “dedicate” a “memorial” to the Elaine victims in the very place where the massacre was organized and the lie to cover it up was published."
• A Song Without Words -- "In 2017, photographer Johnathon Kelso began a project to test himself and his faith. This white Florida native decided to document lynching sites in six Southern states and to talk with the victims’ descendants."
• Apex man found dead at bottom of stairs, with dead cat in freezer, suffered stroke -- "...a man found dead at the bottom of a staircase in Apex died after having a stroke, getting tangled in his Christmas lights and landing on a pet kitten."
• Baptist church calls transgender pastor -- "Members of an Ohio congregation are inviting the community to a Sept. 8 worship service officially welcoming one of the few openly transgender Baptist ministers as their new pastor."
• Cultural Marxism in Modern Society… -- "I think education is in and of itself a good thing and should not be about social engineering in some kind of Brave New World dystopia."
• Does Ephesians 5:21 teach mutual submission? -- "It teaches that husbands are to love their wives self-sacrificially and that wives are to follow the leadership of their husbands."
• Does the New King James Version Deviate from the Textus Receptus, the Text Behind the King James Version? -- "I’m going to give you several examples just so that you can have that at your finger tips."
• Hellfire and Brimstone: Interpreting the New Testament’s Descriptions of Hell -- "People interpret the ghastly descriptions of darkness, fire, and suffering in at least three ways."
• How to Preach So That Disciples Persevere: An Example in Acts 14:21–22 -- "In Acts 14:22, we see the content of the preaching of Paul and Barnabas to churches that needed to persevere in the face of persecution."
• In Ministry, Joy and Sorrow Don’t Cancel Each Other Out -- "...I realized that joy and sorrow don’t cancel each other out, like values on opposite sides of a spiritual balance sheet, but rather that both can be important expressions of Christ’s love."
• Panera Bread’s Socialist ‘Pay What You Want’ Experiment Fails Miserably -- "Panera Bread has shuttered the last of its ideologically driven “pay what you want” restaurants."
• Submitting to Each Other: A Response to Denny Burk -- "The most straightforward reading of Eph 5:21‑6:10 is that God does require mutual submission, but that mutual submission is fully compatible with the exercise of authority."
• Texas gov’t officials seize 4-year-old homeschooler after parents ask doctor for second opinion -- "After almost two months, multiple court appearances, and the admission of CPS in court that they had not met all of the necessary requirements for removing Drake, the Pardos are tragically still separated from their young son over a claim of “medical negligence”."
• 3 Ways Baptism & the Lord’s Supper Ought to Shape our Monday through Saturday -- "Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are not hermetically sealed events in the life of the church—“flash in the pan” moments that interrupt our regular routine of worship."

Baptist Universalism

What is universalism?[i] By “universalism,” I mean a teaching that in some way Christ’s death guarantees salvation for every member of the human race – past, present, and future.[ii] Or, at the least, that every member of the human race will ultimately be saved, however it is accomplished.[iii] Dictionary.com defines “Universalism” as “the doctrine that emphasizes the universal fatherhood of God and the final salvation of all souls.” Universalism is the belief that, in the end, all men will be saved.

A friend suggested something of which I had never given thought, writing, “I acknowledge the Calvinist heritage of the doctrine [of universalism].” This is interesting. Universalism shares with Calvinism some sort of idea of “unconditional election” and “irresistible grace.” Universal salvation is not based on human choice but God’s choice. The “grace” may not be “irresistible” until after an individual’s death, but ultimately it is irresistible because all individuals – atheists, agnostics, other religions, unbelievers – will be saved whether they want to be or not![iv]

Two prominent Baptists in U. S. history, Elhanan Winchester (1751-1797) and Hosea Ballou (1771-1852), adopted the theory of Universalism. Winchester was originally a Calvinist, and moved from Particular Redemption to General Redemption to Universalism. Winchester remained what Nathan Finn called a “Revivalistic Universalist.” Ballou on the other hand seems to have developed his universalism from his Calvinism and moved to a more rationalistic version of universalism. Probably most Baptists who embrace universalism move on elsewhere, and do not remain Baptist in persuasion. However, I am aware of a few kinds of Baptist Universalists.

1. Primitive Baptist Universalism. Held by several Appalachian Primitive Baptist Associations who embraced universalism. Howard Dorgan wrote about them in In the Hands of a Happy God: The “No-Hellers” of Central Appalachia.

2. Interspersed Baptist Universalism. Held by individual Baptists or individual churches who are dispersed within Baptist churches and/or Baptist denominations that do not hold universalism.

3. Functional Baptist Universalism. Held by individual Baptists in practice – that is, those whose theology may say otherwise but their lifestyles and life’s actions are lived as if in the end everyone will be saved.[v]

Primitive Baptist Universalism

The following articles of faith from the Washington District [Universalist] Primitive Baptist Association demonstrate their theology and their conservatism: (1) their conservatism in that their Abstract of Principles were only slightly changed from its original wording to show how they interpreted matters in a universalist way, and (2) their theology in that they did actually make a slight change from their previous abstract.

Article 10. We believe there now is a general judgment and the punishment of the wicked is everlasting and the happiness of the righteous is eternal. [i.e., the believe the judgment and punishment are in the temporal world.]

Article 11. We believe there will be a resurrection of the dead bodies of all people when Christ shall change these vile bodies of ours like unto His most glorious body.

The churches believe the atonement is for all humankind, that the “elect” are the true church (basically, the Primitive Baptist Universalist churches),[vi] that people experience their judgment & hell here on earth, that there is no hell in the afterlife, and that all people without exception go to heaven.

The split of Primitive Baptists over this issue occurred in 1924. According to various sources, there are either four or six “No-Heller” associations in Central Appalachia Washington District Association, Three Forks of Powell’s River Regular Primitive Baptist Association, two Elkhorn Primitive Baptist Associations,[vii] Stony Creek and Union. They likely no more than 2000 members, perhaps much less.[viii]

Interspersed Baptist Universalism

In our inclusivist age and society, it is likely that there is a high number of individuals in Baptist churches who hold a universalist theology. Developing any idea of numbers or percentages is well-nigh impossible. I have identified two churches in the American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts who hold dual-affiliation with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA): The Federated Church of Sturbridge and Fiskdale, Sturbridge, MA and First Parish of Bolton, Bolton MA.[ix] Their affiliation with the UUA indicates they are no longer Baptist in much if any meaningful way, but they maintain a semblance of Baptist heritage by continuing to affiliate with the ABC of Massachusetts.[x]

Functional Baptist Universalism

For retired Baptist pastor William Thornton, it means those who “live as if somehow, someway, everyone will make their way to heaven. No one ever admits to this as a concrete belief…” I found the “Functional Baptist Universalists” described this way: “Christians who live, act, or function as though every person is bound for heaven. Their daily routines do not emphasize spiritual or eternal priorities. Though they regularly converse with friends and acquaintances on various subjects, they never discuss religion, God, or salvation.” For Christians who believe that God has already done all he can do and the salvation of lost souls depends upon them to not be evangelistic is a virtual denial of their theology. It is a practical acceptance of functional universalism.

Some links that might interest readers

• Elhanan Winchester: The Outcasts Comforted – Sermon on Universal Restoration (1782)
• Elhanan Winchester
• Hellers or No-Hellers?
• “It’s hell enough down here.” What do Primitive Baptist Universalists believe?
• Reconciling Conflicting Convictions on the Sovereignty of God and the Freedom of Human Beings: Three Centuries (16th-18th) of Baptist Universalism
• The Baptist Universalist by Robin Parry
• The Making of a Baptist Universalist: the Curious Case of Elhanan Winchester
• A Case For Christian Universalism (From A Non-Universalist)
• Universalism is the new Christian orthodoxy

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[i] I have tried to follow Finn in using the terms “universalism” and “universalist” when referring to the theological position, and “Universalism” and “Universalist” when referring to groups that embraced the universal salvation and individuals who were the members of such groups. See “The Making of a Baptist Universalist: the Curious Case of Elhanan Winchester,” footnote 3.

[ii] This is in reference to soteriology. Some people who hold General Atonement refer to it as Universal Atonement. In reference to ecclesiology, “Universalism” often is used pejoratively regarding the universal church versus local church only.

[iii] Some Universalists move this completely out of the realm of Christian theology.

[iv] This is assuming an initially Christian version of universalism, of course.

[v] This is usually confined to those who hold the theoretical possibility that all men could be saved (general atonement), but make to attempt to reach them with the gospel or call them to repentance and belief. On the other hand, “Functional Baptist Universalism” could not apply to those who believe that God regenerates the sinner and repentance & faith are mere fruits of God’s act.

[vi] Johannes Steenbuch distinguished the Primitive Baptist Universalists idea of “saved believers” as those who “enjoy the comfort of knowing their salvation here and now, while unbelievers are still unaware that they are already saved in principle.”

[vii] Due to a split in the early 1980s.

[viii] In 2011 Bill Leonard estimated around 1,000. “Baptist scholar says remember Appalachia before it disappears,” Norman Jameson, The Christian Century, March 31, 2011.

[ix] Both these churches also affiliate with the United Church of Christ.

[x] For example, for the church in Sturbridge “All questions regarding the Sacrament of Baptism shall be left to the conscience of the individual member” – which includes being exempt from any type of baptism if that is one’s conviction.

Georgia United Baptist

See History of the Baptist Denomination in Georgia

  1. Pursuant to public notice, a large number of Baptist ministers met at Forsyth, Monroe county, Georgia, on the 7th of July, 1836, for the purpose of endeavoring to heal the unhappy difficulties which have existed for some years in the denomination. The morning was spent in prayer by those brethren who arrived in season, and at half past eleven o’clock, at the request of those assembled, brother Jesse Mercer preached from Canticles ii, 15.
  2. At 2 o’clock P.M., the meeting was organized by calling brother Mercer to the chair, and appointing brother I. Langly, clerk, pro tempore. The names of the following ministers were enrolled: Jesse Mercer, Wilson Conner, Jonathan Nichols, Humphrey Posey, James Steely, John Ross, Benjamin Bussey, John Milner, Joseph R. Hand, Jonathan Davis, Isaiah Langly, C. D. Mallary, Green B. Waldrop, Davis Smith, Joseph Chipman, Richard Pace, Henry Collins, 
Francis Callaway, A. T. Holmes, William A. Callaway, J. H. Campbell, George Granberry, Benjamin Roberts, John R. Humphrey, Isaac E. Deavers, Andrew Cumbie, V. R. Thornton, Reuben Thornton, Gideon Leverett, William Henderson, James Reeves, Jacob King, Allison Culpepper, Zed. R. Gordon, James Perryman, Obadiah Echols, James Carter, William R. Wellborn, John W. Cooper, William Maund, George B. Davis, James Davis, Charnick A. Tharp, Ephraim Strickland, Adiel Sherwood, S. G. Hillyer, John Reeves, Jeremiah Reeves, William Byars, Albert G. Beckham, Allen Morris, Jesse H. Davis, Robert Burt... (p. 186)

  1. Do we, as a body, on doctrinal points, hold those sentiments which have characterized orthodox Baptist churches from time immemorial, and particularly as embodied and set forth in the Articles of Faith adopted by the Georgia, Flint River, Ocmulgee and Yellow River Associations? (p. 187)
  “12. The first article was adopted unanimously without discussion. On the first query, after reading one of the Articles named, a general expression of approbation was given by almost every member present, except some few
belonging to the United Association, who dissented. Then each name was called separately, whether the doctrines of the Confession were heartily believed, and all answered Yes. The members of the United Association handed in their answer afterwards.
  “16. The members from the United Association handed in their answer in writing, touching the Articles of Faith : ‘Nothing in the Articles of Faith alluded to, presents any difficulty, except a part of the fourth Article, and some connexion with it in the sixth,’ signed E. Strickland, John Reeves, Andrew Cumbie, William Byars.
  “From this it is seen clearly that they do not agree with us in faith. The fourth and sixth Articles alluded to, are those in our Articles touching election and effectual calling.”

See also Abstract of Principles of the Georgia Baptist Association.

Sin never more odious

“Sin never appears more odious than in the glass of forgiving love; shame, confusion of face, and silence, are never more manifest, than when a soul knows that God is pacified towards it for all that it has done; this produces a godly sorrow, a sorrow after a godly sort, for sin committed against a God of love, grace, and mercy.”

John Gill

Look for the Waymarks

I did not have time to write about a song today, so I am posting Look for the Waymarks. I happened across this title and was intrigued by its use of the biblical word “waymarks.” It is quite different from most songs you see, and I’m not exactly sure what I think about it! Both the words and music were written (or published) in 1886 by Franklin E. Belden (1858-1945). The author was an Adventist, but also wrote songs for the evangelist Billy Sunday. It is 10s. meter with a chorus, related to the scripture in Daniel 2:31-44. The main point seems to be that the next big thing on God’s agenda is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Some of you might find this interesting.

1. Look for the waymarks as you journey on,

Look for the waymarks passing one by one;

Down through the ages, past the kingdoms four;

Where are we standing? Look the waymarks o’er.

Chorus:

Look for the waymarks, the great prophetic waymarks,

Down through the ages, past the kingdoms four.

Look for the waymarks, the great prophetic waymarks;

The journey’s almost o’er.

2. First, the Assyrian kingdom ruled the world,

Then Medo-Persia’s banners were unfurled;

And after Greece held universal sway,

Rome seized the scepter; Where are we today?

3. Down in the feet of iron and of clay,

Weak and divided, soon to pass away;

What will the next great, glorious drama be?

Christ and His coming, And eternity.

Quotes I have heard

But do not know or have lost the original source.

"The scriptures we need to read the most are the ones we don’t highlight or underline."

"Dysfunctional family: any family with one or more persons in it."

"Pessimists feel bad when they feel good, thinking they will feel worse when they feel better."

"Gender Dysphoria is a thinking disorder, not a body disorder."

"Not to condemn is to condone."

"Politicians can teach new tricks to the devil."

"There will be two big surprises when we reach heaven – Them that’s there, and them that ain’t."

"Speech is silver and silence is golden."

"Silence is golden -- except when it is yellow!"

"Words hurt -- I have the scars to prove it."

Edmund Shackleford, reprise

REV. EDMUND SHACKLEFORD, OF GEORGIA.

Rev. Edmund Shackleford was born in Orange county, Va., June, 1781, but his father, soon after, removed to Elbert county, Ga. He first united with Falling Creek Church, and, probably, began to exercise his gifts in that region, and thence removed to Greene, and was some time member in County Line Church. While pastor of Ridgeland, he taught a school, as many pastors were compelled to do in that day, and even in the more enlightened age. In November, 1811, he was chosen pastor of Milledgeville, which he supplied till 1822, but did not remove his family to town till 1817. Here, also, he was compelled to teach to sustain the heavy expenses of a large family.

Mr. S. was a natural orator and good English scholar. I do not affirm that “the bees were at his mouth” in the cradle, as runneth the fable concerning an ancient orator of most persuasive speaking powers; but, so popular a preacher was he, when first settled in Milledgeville, that his congregations were always the largest in town.

About 1822, Mr. S. removed to Morgan county, settled on a small plantation, and served the churches at Antioch, Fellowship, Indian Creek, and Monticello. Here he continued till 1829, and was, a few years, moderator of the Ocmulgee Association—wrote a valuable circular in 1829, the year of the great revival.

While in Milledgeville, drinking spirits was fashionable with both ministers and lay members, and Mr. S. was carried away with the flood. He indulged in it so much as to bring the cause of religion into disrepute. His congregation, which was the largest in town, dwindled to a mere handful, and the church was well nigh extinction! He did not, to be sure, become dead drunk; but was every day excited by alcohol. What a sad picture! yet it is a faithful one, and over which piety yet weeps, and even then expostulated with the fallen yet infatuated man, but to no purpose!

While residing in Morgan the temperance cause began to make some impression on a few minds. Like most drinkers he was mad at it at first, and resolved that no such shackles as subscribing a pledge should be put upon his freedom. But, upon more sober thought, he determined to abstain privately, though the temperance society was the object of his perfect scorn. In April, 1828, when the State Temperance Society was organized, he was chosen its first Secretary. In 1830, at its anniversary, Bethesda, Greene county, he delivered an address with much feeling and great effect. He spoke on the evils of alcohol from experience, and his immense congregation were in tears. When he first began to refrain he had the agonies and horrors of a man getting sober—his health seemed to fail. But said he, “I’ll die a martyr to the cause, rather than drink again.”

While in Milledgeville he was admonished by his brethren, and cautioned against the dangerous road he was traveling—perhaps, however, not with all that kindness that wins and breaks a heart. But said he, “I was offended that a suspicion even existed that I should some day be overpowered by liquor—and I drank sometimes when I did not thirst for the poison, to show I would drink when I pleased—that I was an independent man, and would not be controlled by officious interference!” But over this unwise, head-strong course, he often wept “tears of blood.” Had he lived till the origin of the Washingtonian Society in Baltimore in 1840, he would, no doubt, have entered into their cause with a zeal and energy which would have resisted opposition. Yes, methinks his noble spirit would have more calmly yielded to the summons of the monster death, if, in prophetic vision, like old Simeon, he could have viewed the “salvation” that was to rescue so many of his species from a drunkard’s grave.

About 1829 he married his second wife, and removed to Hancock county, where he died in the summer of 1830. His constitution had been injured by ardent spirits, and for his wayward course he exercised deep repentance. He did all he could to efface the impression and neutralize the influence which his bad habits had occasioned.

Like most of his ministering brethren, he accumulated but little property. His orphan children were left, in a great measure, destitute of the means of sustenance. Some of them, however, have found a treasure since his departure, in the good hope through grace of the forgiveness of sins. That must be a disinterested philanthropist who is so forgetful of self, and all that is dear to self, as to spend his time and expend his earnings in the service of the public, and leave his children to the charity of a cold world! Such was Edmund Shackleford, and such were many who have gone up to their reward on high. Many of those now laboring, have talents and education to shine in any of the learned professions, and amass immense wealth; but as they devote themselves to the churches and the public wholly, ought not those who enjoy their services to provide for their present wants, and, in prospect, for their weeping, needy orphans? The subject of ministerial support has received a new impulse since Mr. S.’s death, and, it is hoped, will continue to bear on the public mind, till the apostolic direction shall be faithfully regarded.

From The Christian Repository and Family Visitant, Volume VII, S. H. & Mrs. S. R. Ford, editors, Louisville, KY: Bradley & Gilbert, pp. 288-290

Patience, by J. C. Philpot

“But let patience have her perfect work.” James 1:4

Patience then has its work; and what is that? Twofold, according to my explanation of the word. 1. To endure all trials, live through all temptations, bear all crosses, carry all loads, fight all battles, toil through all difficulties, and overcome all enemies. 2. To submit to the will of God, to own that he is Lord and King, to have no will or way of its own, no scheme or plan to please the flesh, avoid the cross, or escape the rod; but to submit simply to God’s righteous dealings, both in providence and grace, believing that he doeth all things well, that he is a Sovereign, “and worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will.”

Now until the soul is brought to this point, the work of patience is not perfect; it may be going on, but it is not consummated. You may be in the furnace of temptation now, passing through the fiery trial. Are you rebellious or submissive? If still rebellious, you must abide in the furnace until you are brought to submission; and not only so, but it must be thorough submission, or else patience has not its perfect work. The dross and slag of rebellion must be scummed off, and the pure metal flow down. It is all of God’s grace to feel this for a single moment.

But are there not, and have there not been, times and seasons, in your soul, when you could be still and know that he is God? When you could submit to his will, believing that he is too wise to err, too good to be unkind? When this submission is felt, patience has its perfect work. Look at Jesus, our great example: see him in the gloomy garden, with the cross in prospect before him on the coming morn. How he could say, “Not my will, but thine be done!” There was the perfect work of patience in the perfect soul of the Redeemer. Now you and I must have a work in our soul corresponding to this, or else we are not conformed to the suffering image of our crucified Lord.

Patience in us must have its perfect work; and God will take care that it shall be so. As in a beautiful piece of machinery, if the engineer see a cog loose or a wheel out of gear, he must adjust the defective part, that it may work easily and properly, and in harmony with the whole machine; so if the God of all our salvation see a particular grace not in operation or not properly performing its appointed work, he by his Spirit so influences the heart that it is again brought to work as he designed it should do. Measure your faith and patience by this standard; but do not take in conjunction, or confound with them the workings of your carnal mind.

Here we often mistake: we may be submissive as regards our spirit, meek and patient, quiet and resigned, in the inward man, yet feel many uprisings and rebellings of the flesh; and thus patience may not seem to have her perfect work. But to look for perfect submission in the flesh is to look for perfection in the flesh, which was never promised and is never given. Look to what the Spirit is working in you—not to the carnal mind, which is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, and therefore knows neither subjection nor submission. Look at that inward principality of which the Prince of peace is Lord and Ruler, and see whether in the still depths of your soul, and where he lives and reigns, there is submission to the will of God.

Joseph Charles Philpot (1802 - 1869)