Who are you?

Salty takes the words right out of my mouth!!!

I'm a Christian & a Southern Baptist!!! It bothers me not to be ID'd with the SBC!!!

 

I try to avoid using labels--too much like clothing or membership buttons.

However, I do notice when I am with like-minded people praising God that my faith deepens.

...Bob

 

1a) I am a Follower of Christ first and foremost.

1b) I am a sinner who was regenerated from a life of sin just over two years ago on my knees in my front yard at 43 years old.

2) I am a Husband of one wife for 27 years, the father of two sons 20 & 26.

3) I am a firm believer in the Doctrines of Grace. It is the clearest form of Biblical doctrine I have seen.

4) I am a SBC member who is probably the only D.O.G. person there, I do not let a person's view on C/A issues dictate to me who to fellowship of worship with. I am more interested in their walk with Christ, people whose fruit is clearly evident for the world to see and actively seek out those people. I need people who can disciple me, that is who I seek out.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing,
Bill J.

 

Ummmmm----means you watched too many army shows like "The Dirty Dozen"---"The Big Red One"----"A Bridge Too Far"----"The Longest Day"---and you really, really started to let it get the best of you!!!:laugh::laugh:

Personally---I'm hooked on watching "Band of Brothers":thumbsup:----Major Dick Winters, Captain Lewis Nixon, Captain Ronald Speers, Joe Toye, George Luz, Colonal Synk, Major Strayer--------and last but not least---Captain Soble---heck---I'm hooked!!!!

 

Sometimes labels help, sometimes they don't.

A relative of mine traveled a lot in his job, sometimes gone from home for weeks at a time. His wife traveled with him.

When on the road on Sunday, they saw a sign which said "Grace Bible Church." Good, they thought, the Bible is preached here. Into the service just a short time, suddenly people began to run around the church, falling on the floor, passing out. Uh-oh. They slipped out the back door.

Although he was a conservative Presbyterian, he always sought out a Baptist church when on the road. He said he at least knew what he'd get there. The label was useful to him.

 

If you ask an unchurched person to outline the differences between various denominations, they might note that some preachers wear clerical collars (like Catholics) and some don't. Labels probably wouldn't help an unchurched person much. But it won't hurt them, either, or cause much strife for them. And they're not deceived by labels because they don't have a frame of reference. Most labels to an unchurched person are meaningless.

 

I am a Christian and SBC.

Baptist does tell us something, not enough probably because we are as different as the ocean is wide, but something. Even in the SBC, I can't make many assumptions, but I can make some, just as I can when I meet someone who says they are Lutheran, Methodist, Church of Christ, etc. It is a starting place and I am always happy to have what I thought I knew corrected (as frequently happens).

As to the C/A labels, I think it is part of the way God made us that we want to categorize, we want to place, we want to better understand. This is just part of the process of attempting to gain that understanding. We label everything. How can we not extend that to people?

 

I am FORGIVEN.

As far as labels go:
Christian
Independent Baptist
wife of a pastor
mother
pianist

 

This is what I am!!

I'M A CHILD OF THE KING

Once I was clothed in the rags of my sin,
Wretched and poor, lost and lonely within.
But with wondrous compassion, the King of all kings,
In pity and love, took me under His wings.

CHORUS:
Oh, yes, oh yes, I'm a child of the King
His royal blood now flows in my veins.
And I who was wretched and poor now can sing
Praise God, praise God, I'm a child of the King.

Now I'm a child with a Heavenly home,
My Holy Father has made me His own.
And I'm cleansed by His blood, and I'm clothed in His love,
And some day I'll sing with the angels above.

CHORUS:

This is me by His Grace!! :thumbs: :thumbs:

i am I am's!!

Willis

 

If this were a thread on an off-topic forum, and we were to discuss labels; I'd bet that some of you would reject the idea of labels out of hand.

Using labels first and foremost requires that the speaker AND the listener have the same frame of reference. If they do not, there is no accurate information being passed on. There are merely assumptions.

As for the assumption that, to an unchurched person, labels hold no meaning; that is false. I'll gaurantee you that there are people who don't go to church who believe that they know what labels like "christian," "baptist," "catholic, "pentacostal," "holy roller," and "athiest" means. I'll also bet that this person doesn't really know the meanings the same way that any one of us do.

Paying attention to the statement earlier that a Southern Baptist believes in the doctrine of grace. Now, if that person had told anyone in my church that he is a Southern Baptist, they automatically know that he does NOT believe in the Doctrine of Grace (or they may not know what the Doctrin of Grace is), but they THINK they know what the person believes - because of a label.

It is because of our far-reaching tendency to use labels that we prejudice ourselves for or against someone. I personally don't think that is a good idea. If someone wants to label himself, that is a right. Don't be surprised, however, when the label you use doesn't have the same meaning to the person who hears it.

Some labels we cannot get away from - I understand that. But why add more confusion to the mix?

If one of you tells me that you are a Calvinist, I'll bet that I don't really know what your real beliefs are, but you think I do. If I tell you that I am one, too, you may find that you and I disagree on a few of the five points. I'll also bet that you believe that I am wrong.

 

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, I attend and worship at a Southern Baptist Church

 

This is the prerequisite for any kind of communication.

Effective communication also requires intelligence and education, and if the parties to a discussion are too slothful to ensure they understand what is being said when another uses a certain label, that's not the fault of the label, but a flaw in the character of the individual.

 

I am a firm believer that, had I been the only lost person on the planet, Christ shed His blood, giving His life that I might have His Life.

Because I trusted Christ as my Lord and Savior, I am saved by His wonderful grace and assured that I can never lose that position with Him.

I attend and minister at an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Church