I Second That!

The following is from the blog of Tim Rogers. He is a preacher friend of mine from NC. You will find a link to his blog listed below. Enjoy!

Baptist By Conviction! 20 05 2008

I am trying to teach my daughter the conviction that I have in being a Baptist. We read in our family devotions this morning from Voice of the Martyrs. It told of a saint from long ago being burned at the stake. Rebekah asked about that and wondered why. I explained to her that many were burned at the stake and even drowned because of their belief in Baptism. It is in this light that present to you a personal conviction that I have been able to place in the following format.
Remember to pray for the Persecuted Church. We have brothers and sisters in Christ that are being persecuted in other lands for the simple reason that they name Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

I AM A SOUTHERN BAPTIST

1. Bible: I hold to the Blood Stained Banner of our Lord Jesus Christ whose death is sufficient to save the entire world as recorded in the inerrant text of Holy Writ. I am not ashamed that I believe in an inerrant text and will not compromise on any doctrine this text clearly defines.

2. Every person that acknowledges a need for and receives the atoning forgiveness of Jesus Christ is my Brother or Sister in Christ, irrespective of his/her nationality, race, or denominational affiliation, or lack thereof. I will demonstrate this by an unwavering and straight forward solidarity which always binds together members of the same family.

3. Baptism by Immersion: I hold to the faithful call to baptize regenerated persons into the body of Christ actualized in the visible local church. I am respectful of the 1930 years of doctrines verbalized by our forefathers, beginning first in the Jerusalem council, and then through out church history. I will honor the command given to the church by our Lord to go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Baptism is a command of Christ and I will not be disobedient. I will work, first, within the local church body to establish strategies on how best to accomplish this task and then cooperatively with others.

4. In the local church, I am proud to take my stand beside my family in Christ and will display loyalty in my service and always be impeccable in my standards of conduct. I will honor and submit to the authority of God He has given in the local body as she directs her affairs autonomously, through congregational rule, but cooperates within the convention we know as Southern Baptist.


5. Cooperation. I will seek to cooperate with other churches as we advance the Kingdom of God. I will do this mainly within the convention of churches known as the Southern Baptist Convention. The Bible contains for me the bedrock principles of the faith and the Baptist Faith and Message will be my minimum cooperative guide. If one within the Southern Baptist Convention of churches openly disagrees with these articles, then I will seek a way to lovingly call that church to task for her open display of divisiveness and if need be advance the call to remove her from fellowship.


6. My cooperation within the Southern Baptist Convention is centered on doctrine that leads to Great Commission Missions. While everything Southern Baptist is not perfect, I will refuse to speak despairingly about our convention in any way. I will work to bring about change where change is needed and I will not stand still and listen to others speak vitriolic language about her leaders. My cooperation around my ‘Jerusalem’ will mainly be with the local Southern Baptist Association of churches. My cooperation around my ‘Judea’ will mainly be within my state Baptist convention of Southern Baptist Churches. My cooperation around my ‘Uttermost parts of the World’ will mainly be within the Southern Baptist Convention and through her entities. I will encourage students in my local church to attend Southern Baptist Colleges and Universities, and if called into ministry to further that education in a Southern Baptist Seminary. I will direct those called into missionary service toward the North American Mission Board or the International Mission Board.

7. Word of God: I will preach, teach, and touch. I will preach the truth of God’s Word. I will not accept apathetic preparation time in my life. When I enter the pulpit I will know in my heart that I have a Word from God for His people. I will teach the people, God has placed around me, His truth and not my personal agenda. Before I preach or teach, I will touch God by spending time in the quiet chambers with Him listening for that still small voice. This is needed in my life in order for me to be assured that I not only have a Word from God but I have the authority to say it is from God.


8. I refuse to allow the culture to define the doctrine of the church. If I ever do this I will turn the church into a fake, and an imitation of the world, without any of the holiness of God to be found. I am called to be salt and light. I will be salt to a culture and work to make that culture thirsty to know the ways of God and thirst after Him. I know that once I loose the holiness of God, I have lost His power to proclaim and His appeal to the lost. I will be light to the darkness. I will allow the Holy Spirit through me to expose the falseness of the culture that is constantly trying to open the Ark of the Covenant as the men of Beth-shemesh in order to use God and His Glory as their entertainment for the week.

This mission given becomes sacred to me; I will accomplish it to the end and at all costs.

Thanks Tim for the great assessment of why we are Southern Baptist.
Serving Him,
Pastor Mike

Didn't you know...?

As I think of all that is going in my life, in the SBC and in the world today; there is so much loss and tragedy, God brought to mind a verse of Scripture. I haven't looked up the reference, but I'm sure you will recognize it: "Didn't you know that I must be about my Father's business?"

The story is centered on Mary and Joseph "losing sight of Jesus." When they realize He isn't with them, first, they have to return to where they lost Him. Then they spend several days looking for Him, they are so disconnected, at that point, that they don't even have a good handle on where to look for Him. They finally go back to "His Father's house" and that is where they find Him. They are scared, frazzled, and absolutely beside themselves. They question Him, and He responds with those blessed words. "Didn't you know...?"

I believe that many in our "family," that is, the family of God, have lost Jesus. They find themselves in the same place and condition as Mary and Joseph, all the while, Jesus is in His Father's house, about His Father's business. IF we would find Jesus, I believe we must get back to our Father's business.

Have you seen the news, has the word truly reached you, has it reached me? People are dying! They are leaving this world and entering into eternity. God's Word states very clearly that people leave this world in one of two positions: "in Adam" or "in Christ." Eternity is based on which position that individual person is "in" when they depart from this life with a final breath and are gone. I was there on the night my MaMa experienced that moment in her life. It was one of the most difficult moments I have lived through to this point. But the separation is only temporary. The reason it is temporary is because she was "in Christ" when she left this life and entered the next, and 30 years ago I was placed "in Christ" by the hands of my heavenly Father.

We as individual, churches and a convention need to leave these trivial distractions behind and get back to being "about our Father's business."

Serving Him,
Pastor Mike

2 things

The first thing is "Happy Mother's Day." Thank you Mom for your influence in my life. I appreciate the effort you exerted in my life, it made and is making a difference. I love you. (I did talk to my mom yesterday on Mother's Day.)

"Happy Mother's Day" to my beautiful wife Melissa. I love you. Morgan says "I love you too, Mommy!"

And thanks to all you mom's out there. You are special.

The second thing is we (the mission team from HGBC to Honduras) need your help. We are doing two fund raisers: 1) a BBQ chicken dinner on Friday, May 30th, from 11-2, and 2) we are raffling off an offshore fishing trip on June 18th. The tickets for the BBQ are $7 per plate and the tickets for the fishing trip are $10 per ticket. Please help us if you can by supporting these events, and help spread the word with your family, friends and co-workers. You can call the church office for more information.

Serving Him,
Pastor Mike

What's New for a Christian?

I have been studying for a week now this question. It was the subject discussed during the discipleship times I am offering on Tuesday nights and Wednesday mornings. God blessed my heart during each of the two hour sessions. I am amazed at the different topics and discussions which, all being valid, stirred my heart warmly towards Christ.

Just to let you know "What's New for a Christian:"
1) We have a "new" position. We are no longer "in Adam" but are now securely "in Christ."
2) We have a "new" possession. We are told in John 15:1-11 that Christ is now "in us." We possess Christ as much as He possesses us.
3) We have a "new" product. We are to "bear much fruit."
4) We have a "new purpose. We are to "abide" in Christ for "...apart from Me, you can do nothing."

Serving Him,
Pastor Mike

The End Has Come

Last night at about 10:30 we began playing the last game of our co-ed softball season. We have had a good season. We were tied for first place until last week: we lost our second game of the season. We played hard (but looked like the bad news bears). Last night we played and we won. We finished the season 8-2. I guess we will be in second place, third at the worst (we were tied with 2 teams for first place last week). If you came out to support us we thank you, I hope you enjoyed watching as much as we enjoyed playing. We are taking the summer off, but will be back at it this Fall. Most of all I pray that as we played those we played against and those who watched us saw Jesus Christ in us as we played. May He be honored and glorified even when we play a game of softball.

Serving Him,
Pastor Mike