Category Archives: Ecclesiology

Volunteers or Draftees?

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Several times recently I have heard pastors ask for volunteers to take care of certain ministries in the church. While the impulse seems reasonable enough, it deserves some Biblical scrutiny. It is hard to find a passage in the Gospels where Jesus asked for people to come and volunteer their efforts. The accounts we have of his calling disciples come with a command and usually offer a promise, as, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” He did offer the invitation, “Come unto me, all ye that labor,” but the context offers more rest than ministry.

Shall We Go For Entertainment?

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Among pastors lately I hear a deep concern for the future of Fundamentalism and of the local church as we have known it. The old patterns do not seem to be working. The growth in numbers of churches in the General Association of Regular Baptists appears to have ended about five years ago, and we seem now to be in a period of negative growth. Of the churches, it is hard to know just what is happening among them, when a third of them do not send in annual reports, but nationwide the average local church seems to be numerically small.

What Killed the Idealism?

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And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me (Luke 9:23). There are those among us who remember the state of the churches about the end of World War II. The veterans were coming back, seeking home, jobs and education. Youth movements, notably Youth for Christ, Young Life and Hi B-A, were reaching crowds of high school people. With admitted help from the G.I.

A Prescription for Safe Counseling

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Pastoral indiscretion has reached epidemic proportions. The news media often headline today’s religious leaders who have fallen into sexual sin. However, the list is not limited to Swaggart and Bakker. The sad truth is that many, many pastors have become casualties in the war against the flesh. Dr. Paul Tassell, the national representative of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches, has reported that in the last ten years he knows over 40 GARBC pastors who have become involved in sexual indiscretion.

Faith’s Distinctive Goals

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Founders usually form their institutions to express some compelling idea. Ever since it opened, Faith Baptist Theological Seminary has published its goal to train Christian leaders who are Bible expositors. To train such leaders involves several compelling ideas. Since Faith is a seminary, not a church, it includes some activities and excludes others. Now that we are in our third year, we are in a position to assess what we have begun and to reaffirm what we are trying to do.

Marks of a Fundamentalist in the Book of Jude

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Introduction: In the mid-1970s, at Denver Baptist Bible College, I preached a chapel sermon from the Book of Jude. In preparation for that sermon, I discovered ten marks or characteristics of a true Fundamentalist. Recently I gave a series of lectures at Faith Baptist Theological Seminary on the subject of “The Biblical Basis of Separation.” I reviewed my notes from that earlier study in the Book of Jude, restudied the text itself along with the commentaries and expanded the details for each of the ten marks.

The Missionary We Would Like to Produce

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Some years ago a notable Baptist leader was fond of remarking that the only thing more important than sending out a missionary is training a missionary worth sending out. There is much to be said for this idea and Faith Baptist Theological Seminary is concerned to see its graduates worthy of serving either abroad or at home. To this end we purpose to encourage several qualities in them. 1. Walk With God “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zech.

Why Support the Local Church?

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All sorts of religious organizations vie for our support today. While they may not wish to diminish the importance of the local church, they often run the risk of becoming competitive with it as they seek our time, talents and treasures. And in contrast with their glowing reports of what the Lord is doing through them, one’s experience with a local church may be disheartening. In such a time of discouragement we often tend to become slack in our attendance, withdraw our financial support and become less involved in its ministry.

Ecclesiastical Separation

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Nearly four centuries ago the Puritan William Perkins drew a useful distinction. He suggested that there is a working difference between error and heresy. He wrote that error of itself is no ground for breaking fellowship, that any doctrinal discrepancy between two Christians means that one or both are in error. The Bible does not on that account command them to separate from each other. Heresy is another matter; heresy is error, but error that strikes at the very roots of the faith, and heresy is always grounds for breaking fellowship.

Vital Preaching

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We frankly affirm that we are concerned about preaching. As a seminary, we are here to produce expositors, men who can preach the Bible in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are concerned to do this, because we are determined that our products bring the blessing of God on churches. It appears that preaching has fallen on hard times. It is hard to compete with the superstars of religious video. Even moderately good preaching seems great. The fearless sermons of past generations are gone.