That post was a pleasant change.
It was well thought out and rational.
Maybe we should be more aware as church members.
It only takes one vote to break ties.
We are planning now as a church how to handle the baptist churches in the area that accept sprinkling then transfer to our church representing themselves from a church of like faith and order.
It is called protecting the ordinances.
This is what the local church should be protecting against for the most part.
I will grant you that your point about creeping corruption is valid.
It should be stopped now.
As far as the BGA, I have never heard of corruption in the organization, and have listened to him for years.
The RCC has been corrupt from the start.
That is expected.
Maybe I misunderstood the tone of your other threads.
My point is, the problem needs to be solved along with proclaiming it.
To PIJ, since you belong to a FBC, what you think about the SBC or my feelings about it make absoulety no difference to me.
I attend a church that does not accept membership from any other church nor any statements from other churches. It has helped to prevent a transfer of membership and those who are not Christians coming from other churches. When I became a member, one of the ladies after she had listen to all of the testimonies in our group realized that she was not a Christian. It was then that she received Christ. She was a member at another church before she decided to attend the same church I attend and become a member.
To become a member the people must go through a class which is three hours long, be baptized and give their testimony.
I guess my only question about that would be, if a person is a Christian from another church, how would they become a member of yours?
If they had already been baptised, how would that work?
To me there is a difference between another church, and churchs where a true relationship with Christ is unlikely, such as the RCC, Mormon etc.
Other Baptist churches of some stripes and some reformed churches there is a good chance they are Christian.
If they have been baptized in a Christian church of like faith and practice then great, but they still must give their testimony and go through the class. That sort of thing prevents people becoming from becoming a member at age 5, being baptized because his friends did and then become a member at several other churches without ever giving his testimony or ever showing evidence of his faith or any trust in Jesus. He could be a person who is a deacon like I saw in a large fundamentalist church near Memphis when I was a student. Too many churches assume because the person is a member somewhere else that the person is born again.
I actually had a man get mad at me in church after I baptized his daughter because he told me that she was baptized years earlier and was a member. Those who worked with the youth did not see the fruit in her life that demonstrated she was born again. I ntoiced it too. Earlier when it came to spiritual things she was out to lunch. When she was born again there was an immediate difference.
The best example was the takeover of the convention by the fundamentalists and their severe mistreatment of the moderates.
Once you start these kind of wars it's hard to know when to stop.
The focus of the SBC was no longer evangelism but power.
None. Today I look at an individual church and not a denomination.
I pastored a SBC church that for over 25 years had a practice of inviting the Mormon bishop to come and preach. They did not like it when I put a stop to it.
I am not a Calvinist but I received the dvd's sent out. If you had to pay for them, they would be worth 24.95. (Don't tell my friend Tom Ascol that:laugh:)
They are outstanding. The historical perspective was very good.
Even though I don't agree with them, I learned alot. I also learned alot from the material sent out by the FBC. Southern Baptists have nothing to fear from a clear doctrinal debate. We are people of the Book.
If a preacher tosses the dvd's without listening to them he is very insecure in his beliefs. They did not chage my mind but I thought they honored God and clearly and ably presented Calvinism.