According to the new bylaw change championed by John Sullivan and adopted by the Messengers at the 146th annual meeting of the Florida Baptist State Convention; the answer is YES!
The Following is an excerpt from a Baptist Press article posted on Nov 15, 2007 by Barbara Denman & Joni B. Hannigan
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (BP)--Messengers at the 146th Florida Baptist State Convention annual meeting overwhelmingly approved a bylaw revision requiring all trustee nominees to "agree to abstain from drinking alcoholic beverages and using any other recreational drugs."
According to Florida Baptist Convention Wine which almost everyone agrees, except Fundamentalist and those who cannot read their Bibles, that Jesus and his Disciples drank apparently quite often (see Luke 7:33-34) is a “Recreational Drug”.
In their lust for total control the leadership of the Florida Baptist Convention have imposed upon the Baptist Churches of Florida an odious infringement upon the cherished Baptist Principles of Religious Freedom and Personal Responsibility before God that have stood for one hundred and forty-five years! Not even at the height of the Prohibition Movement were any such draconian measures conceived in order to “Purge” the Convention of undesirables.
There is a good reason why such measures have never before been enacted by any Body of Baptist Believers… which is if Jesus Christ and his Disciples were alive today they would be found “Unworthy” to serve with the Florida Baptist Convention… Nice!
And according to this new interpretation of the Florida Baptist Convention which classifies Wine as a “Recreational Drug” Jesus is guilty of the manufacture and distribution of “Recreational Drugs”.
1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 3 And when they wanted "Recreational Drugs", the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no "Recreational Drugs". 4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. 6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made "Recreational Drugs", and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good "Recreational Drugs"; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good "Recreational Drugs" until now. 11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. (John 2:1-11) – FBT (Florida Baptist Translation)
Far-out man! I guess those “Long haired Friends of Jesus” back in the 60 were right after all… Does anyone know where I can get my hands on a Chartreuse Mini-Bus?
This might have played well to the “Gray-haired” messengers (no disrespect intended) who attended the 146th annual meeting of the Florida Baptist State Convention, but to the next generation of young Southern Baptist who grew up under the banner of “Biblical Inerrancy”, and who trust their Bibles over the feeble attempts of the current leadership to justify these actions, it simply smells of “Sour Grapes”.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Florida Baptists Convention ‘We are Better Off Without Them’?
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (FBC/FBW) - At the 146th Florida Baptist State Convention annual meeting Nov. 12-13 in Daytona Beach, Fla., 1,258 messengers and 736 visitors rallied around the theme, “We Are Better Together.”
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So begins an article on the Florida Baptist Convention website reporting the events and actions of the 146th Florida Baptist State Convention.
For the most part I could care less what the Florida Baptist Convention does. Following the actions of John Sullivan and his Cronies in Jacksonville over the last few years which include the firing of Bill Lollar, banning anyone from serving in any position within the State Convention who does not think (as Sullivan does) that drinking a class of wine is the unforgivable sin, and the recent Statewide attack on Calvinism sponsored by (that's right) the Good Old Baptist Boys... my church no longer supports, nor consider ourselves a part of the Florida Baptist Convention.
In fact I had decided to leave off blogging about the actions of the Florida Baptist Convention several months ago when it became ever so clear that “no one was listening” however, I just could not pass up a few words about the theme for this years convention “We are Better Together”.
I find it just a little... actually I find it a lot... HYPOCRITICAL that in the same year that John Sullivan sends a state wide mailing to every Baptist church in the state attacking Calvinist, and the very year he imposes a ban on anyone from serving in the State Convention who happens to drink a glass of wine from time to time that the theme of this years convention is “We are Better Together”.
Are we suppose to believe that John Sullivan believes “We are Better Together”? Yea Right! And the Easter Bunny is real...
I think someone must have gotten the memo wrong from Sullivan's office... the theme was supposed to be “We are Better Off Without Them!”
If my numbers are correct (and they are) less than 25% of the eligible messengers from the Florida Baptist Churches bothered to attend this years convention... I guess they got the message John, .....Did You?
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So begins an article on the Florida Baptist Convention website reporting the events and actions of the 146th Florida Baptist State Convention.
For the most part I could care less what the Florida Baptist Convention does. Following the actions of John Sullivan and his Cronies in Jacksonville over the last few years which include the firing of Bill Lollar, banning anyone from serving in any position within the State Convention who does not think (as Sullivan does) that drinking a class of wine is the unforgivable sin, and the recent Statewide attack on Calvinism sponsored by (that's right) the Good Old Baptist Boys... my church no longer supports, nor consider ourselves a part of the Florida Baptist Convention.
In fact I had decided to leave off blogging about the actions of the Florida Baptist Convention several months ago when it became ever so clear that “no one was listening” however, I just could not pass up a few words about the theme for this years convention “We are Better Together”.
I find it just a little... actually I find it a lot... HYPOCRITICAL that in the same year that John Sullivan sends a state wide mailing to every Baptist church in the state attacking Calvinist, and the very year he imposes a ban on anyone from serving in the State Convention who happens to drink a glass of wine from time to time that the theme of this years convention is “We are Better Together”.
Are we suppose to believe that John Sullivan believes “We are Better Together”? Yea Right! And the Easter Bunny is real...
I think someone must have gotten the memo wrong from Sullivan's office... the theme was supposed to be “We are Better Off Without Them!”
If my numbers are correct (and they are) less than 25% of the eligible messengers from the Florida Baptist Churches bothered to attend this years convention... I guess they got the message John, .....Did You?
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The Peoples Republic of Georgia bans Blogging
It’s true; the Georgia Baptist Convention has passed a resolution against blogging.
One Blogger has titled his article about this action of the Georgia Baptist Convention “Dumber than Dirt”
If this were not so sad it would be funny… But this is not funny… this is not funny at all because what is behind this resolution, and the recent censure of Wade Burleson by the Board of Trustees of the IMB, is nothing less than a raw attempt of the current leadership of the SBC to silence all dissent and opposing voices to their ever narrowing view of the SBC.
This is not funny… this is an outrage to Baptist principles!
Hey Guys… whoever you are that actually drew up this resolution… I have a quote for you; see if you can figure out where it comes from.
"A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power."
One Blogger has titled his article about this action of the Georgia Baptist Convention “Dumber than Dirt”
If this were not so sad it would be funny… But this is not funny… this is not funny at all because what is behind this resolution, and the recent censure of Wade Burleson by the Board of Trustees of the IMB, is nothing less than a raw attempt of the current leadership of the SBC to silence all dissent and opposing voices to their ever narrowing view of the SBC.
This is not funny… this is an outrage to Baptist principles!
Hey Guys… whoever you are that actually drew up this resolution… I have a quote for you; see if you can figure out where it comes from.
"A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power."
Concerning and the Doctrine of Free Will
A faithful member of my congregation sent me an email today asking me to explain 2 Timothy 2:24-26 as it relates to the doctrine of “Free Will”. This being one of my favorite doctrines to discuss, and as my new job (yes, I am bi-vocational) has taken up so much of my former writing time that I have not written an article for my Blog in over four months I thought I would post my response.
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The doctrine of “The Will of Man” is much misunderstood by the vast majority of Christians today, and sadly this includes most pastors as well.
So you must take much of what you hear from different sources with this in mind… when it comes to this doctrine be very careful who you listen to... men can be very passionate about their beliefs, even when they are wrong. We must always make sure that our opinions concerning any doctrine are grounded in the Word of God and not our own wisdom and understanding.
You give some very interesting verses with which to approach this topic…
1st - Let’s start with a look at what (2 Timothy 2:24-26) is actually saying.
(24) The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged,
(25) with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,
(26) and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
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Observation #1 – What is the state of an unregenerate (lost) man’s will? This verse is telling us that the will of an unregenerate man is “held captive… of the devil… to do his will”.
Observation #2 – If the will of an unregenerate man is held captive of the devil then it cannot be free. This is absolutely true. But how can this be right you might ask? I have been making choices all my life. And that also is absolutely true. Notice however that the text did not say that you made no choices as a lost man, what it said is that your will, and therefore your choices, were held captive by the devil to do his will.
Observation #3 – So we must come to the conclusion that while we mistakenly believe that our choices as a lost person are all our own and not influenced by the devil, the truth is far different. The truth is that the choices of an unregenerate man are greatly influenced by the devil. So much so that when the Lord does intervene (v.25) “granting them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth” they are then said to “come to their senses”.
No, the unregenerate man may make many choices in this life, but until the Lord grants him repentance by the opening of his eyes that he may come to the knowledge of the truth, his will is firmly held captive of the devil. He is a slave to sin and unless the Lord set him free thus he will remain.
This teaching does not come naturally to the mind of man. And the church of the last century has been greatly negligent in their teaching of the “captivity” of the unregenerate will. Therefore, in the church today we have an entire generation that does not understand, nor fully appreciate, the plight and devastating condition of the lost. Furthermore, because this current generation does not understand the condition of the lost man, they also do not correctly understand salvation.
The lost are not so merely because they have chosen to be so. They are lost because they are “held captive… of the devil… to do his will”. They are prisoners, born into captivity and have never known freedom. Thus salvation is correctly understood as “Deliverance from the power and bondage of sin”… this brings new meaning to the words of John 8:36 “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
Grace Always,
---------------
The doctrine of “The Will of Man” is much misunderstood by the vast majority of Christians today, and sadly this includes most pastors as well.
So you must take much of what you hear from different sources with this in mind… when it comes to this doctrine be very careful who you listen to... men can be very passionate about their beliefs, even when they are wrong. We must always make sure that our opinions concerning any doctrine are grounded in the Word of God and not our own wisdom and understanding.
You give some very interesting verses with which to approach this topic…
1st - Let’s start with a look at what (2 Timothy 2:24-26) is actually saying.
(24) The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged,
(25) with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,
(26) and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation #1 – What is the state of an unregenerate (lost) man’s will? This verse is telling us that the will of an unregenerate man is “held captive… of the devil… to do his will”.
Observation #2 – If the will of an unregenerate man is held captive of the devil then it cannot be free. This is absolutely true. But how can this be right you might ask? I have been making choices all my life. And that also is absolutely true. Notice however that the text did not say that you made no choices as a lost man, what it said is that your will, and therefore your choices, were held captive by the devil to do his will.
Observation #3 – So we must come to the conclusion that while we mistakenly believe that our choices as a lost person are all our own and not influenced by the devil, the truth is far different. The truth is that the choices of an unregenerate man are greatly influenced by the devil. So much so that when the Lord does intervene (v.25) “granting them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth” they are then said to “come to their senses”.
No, the unregenerate man may make many choices in this life, but until the Lord grants him repentance by the opening of his eyes that he may come to the knowledge of the truth, his will is firmly held captive of the devil. He is a slave to sin and unless the Lord set him free thus he will remain.
This teaching does not come naturally to the mind of man. And the church of the last century has been greatly negligent in their teaching of the “captivity” of the unregenerate will. Therefore, in the church today we have an entire generation that does not understand, nor fully appreciate, the plight and devastating condition of the lost. Furthermore, because this current generation does not understand the condition of the lost man, they also do not correctly understand salvation.
The lost are not so merely because they have chosen to be so. They are lost because they are “held captive… of the devil… to do his will”. They are prisoners, born into captivity and have never known freedom. Thus salvation is correctly understood as “Deliverance from the power and bondage of sin”… this brings new meaning to the words of John 8:36 “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
Grace Always,
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