Did Jesus and his Disciples use Recreational Drugs?

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”.

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.”
--------------------------------------


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?

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."

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.

---------------

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,

Narrowing the Parameters of Cooperation

“The slippery slope of Coerced Conformity”

An open letter to the Pastors and Churches of the Holmes Baptist Association.

(For the full story of what necessitated this letter click here)


May 31, 2007

Dear Brothers,

I am writing to you concerning what I believe to be a grave danger to the future of our association: The attempt by some powerful individuals in our state convention to narrow the long established and historic Southern Baptist parameters of cooperation.

For over eighty years the Baptist Faith and Message (1925, 1963, 2000) has been the one document that has defined, not only for ourselves but for the world as well, what it means to be a Southern Baptist. The Preamble to the BFM2000 says:

Baptists are a people of deep beliefs and cherished doctrines. Throughout our history we have been a confessional people, adopting statements of faith as a witness to our beliefs and a pledge of our faithfulness to the doctrines revealed in Holy Scripture.

Baptist churches, associations, and general bodies have adopted confessions of faith as a witness to the world, and as instruments of doctrinal accountability. We are not embarrassed to state before the world that these are doctrines we hold precious and as essential to the Baptist tradition of faith and practice.

The Baptist Faith and Message is the exclusive “Doctrinal Contract” adopted by the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1925, 1963, and 2000 to be used as an instrument of doctrinal accountability. Yet increasingly we have powerful individuals in our state convention who desire to “discipline” or “exclude from service or membership” individuals or churches who do not agree with them on doctrines and issues not addressed in the Baptist Faith and Message.

This attitude of intolerance toward their fellow Southern Baptist who do not believe precisely as they believe on every doctrine is a deadly and infectious disease that if left unchecked will cripple cooperation between our Churches. As Southern Baptist we must be clear in our understanding that Coerced Conformity is not Cooperation.

The narrowing of the parameters of cooperation to discipline or exclude fellow Southern Baptist based upon the personal opinions of a few powerful individuals in the state convention is slap in the face to the Baptist doctrines expressed in our statement of faith; the Baptist Faith and Message:

XIV. Cooperation

Christ's people should, as occasion requires, organize such associations and conventions as may best secure cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom of God. Such organizations have no authority over one another or over the churches. They are voluntary and advisory bodies designed to elicit, combine, and direct the energies of our people in the most effective manner. Members of New Testament churches should cooperate with one another in carrying forward the missionary, educational, and benevolent ministries for the extension of Christ's Kingdom. Christian unity in the New Testament sense is spiritual harmony and voluntary cooperation for common ends by various groups of Christ's people. Cooperation is desirable between the various Christian denominations, when the end to be attained is itself justified, and when such cooperation involves no violation of conscience or compromise of loyalty to Christ and His Word as revealed in the New Testament.

XVII. Religious Liberty

God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it…

When the Southern Baptist Convention meet to consider the adoption of the 1925 Baptist Faith and Message it was not a sure thing that it would pass. Some considered it to broad and moderate a statement to be used as a document of doctrinal accountability. Southern Baptist statesman, theologian and President of the SBC, E.Y. Mullins address the convention with these words that still ring with great wisdom for all Southern Baptist some eighty years latter:

Members of the Convention:--

There is one thing that I believe a man can always do with safety, and without disappointment, and that is to appeal to the sense of fair play of a Baptist body. Now there are individual Baptists to whom you can not make that appeal, but there are now present a great body of Baptist people, and down in the bottom of their hearts there is honesty and there is common sense, and there is a spirit of fairness; and I come to you this afternoon simply and solely with a plea for Christ and his truth, for the work of his Kingdom, and for fair play with all the brethren.

I hope to make good the basis of that plea for fair play in a few moments, and I believe that this great body of splendid Baptists will respond to that appeal, and that is all I ask…

Now, brethren, I might say this, although I don’t suppose it is necessary to dwell on it, if we were to undertake to put our personal preferences in the doctrinal statement and insist upon our personal group preferences being put in the confession of faith, for Baptists covering eighteen states like this, where would we ‘fetch up at’ I can just think of things I know some men would put in. Some people would want to insist on a twenty-four hour day in Genesis, and some a period day. Some people would insist on post-millennialism, and some people on premillenialism. Some people would insist on church succession and some on anti-church succession. Some would insist on a universal church and some would oppose the universal church.

Why, there is no end to where we would go… Brethren, I appeal to you for fair play. I don’t believe it is fair play for a group of brethren who are particularly committed to this standpoint, to come here and inist that everybody in the conference confrom to that standpoint.

…I believe that one thing about the Baptist conscience is fair play. One thing about the Baptist conscience is straight-forwardness. One thing about the Baptist conscience is its willingness to recognize the opinions of other people and rights of other people, within gospel limits.

(The above quotes were barrowed from Wade Burleson blog: here)

Any call to “discipline” or “exclude from service or membership” any individual or church is a grave and serious matter among Southern Baptist and should not be entered into lightly.

Cooperation is at the heart of who we are as Southern Baptist and in the end if we only cooperate with those who agree with us 100% of the time on every doctrine and every issue we would soon be pretty lonely.

I close with these previous words; “Coerced Conformity is not Cooperation.”

Respectfully,

Greg Alford
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Church
2877 Highway 81 N.
Ponce de Leon, Florida 32455

Is the Convention System Outdated?

The SBC claims to be the world’s largest protestant denomination with some 16 million members and 45,000 churches. Yet it was reported that only 9,000 messengers representing 2,000 SBC churches were present at last year’s 2006 Southern Baptist Convention.

Here are some statistics worth considering:

(2,000 / 45,000 = 4.44%) That means that less than 4½ percent of all Southern Baptist Churches were represented at last year’s convention… Ouch!

When you reverse that statement it becomes even clearer: Over 95.5 % of all Southern Baptist churches were not represented at last year’s convention… Again OUCH!

Regardless of how you run the numbers… it is a sad indictment on our claims of being a Democratic Convention, and for anything coming out of any convention as being a representation of the will of all Southern Baptist or what all Southern Baptist believe.

Do you believe the Convention System is representing you?

Question on Salvation

I had the wonderful privilege this week of witnessing to an eighty three year old man in the hospital with massive heart failure and seeing him respond to the gospel in brokenness and repentance. To see someone who had walked in darkness for eighty three years come to saving faith in Christ Jesus was to say the least an awesome moment!

Therefore the doctrine of salvation has been on my mind a lot this week and I would like to pose a question concerning the salvation of sinners.

When a person is saved:
· Is it the case that God is at that particular moment intervening in their life?
· Or is it just that they have wised up and made the correct choice?

What do you say?

Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

Wade Burleson writes on his blog: Has the Gospel's Power Been Lost in the SBC?

...Though we say with our lips salvation is by grace through the work of Christ, we sometimes broadcast with our lives that salvation is really only found in our church, our message, and our baptism.

…Recently the new (IMB) policy on baptism was shown to Ray Hugget, High Priest of the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints and a direct descendent of Joseph Smith, and asked him what he thought of it. Ray read it carefully and then proclaimed that the policy is just like his church's view on baptism. I asked him to clarify and he said, "A legitimate baptism is one performed only in our church, because we are the true church of Jesus Christ on earth, and we would not accept any other baptism."

I have documented my strong opposition to these new and unauthorized (extra-BFM2000) doctrines/guidlines that have been adopted by the IMB here: The IMB “Canonizes” its policy on Baptism and Tongues

The Board of Trustees of the IMB have had over a year to correct these new policies and have decided instead to simply restate them as “guidelines”, which in effect leaves them in place unchanged. This means that according to these new (narrow) parameters of cooperation certain members of FBC Ponce de Leon, which were before these new guidelines were adopted qualified for service with the IMB, are now considered unqualified to serve as a missionary with the IMB.

Therefore, I have drawn up the following new guideline for FBC Ponce de Leon when considering cooperation with any International Missions Agency:

Guideline on International Missions Agencies

If an International Missions Agency “narrows the parameters of cooperation” beyond the doctrines expressed in our Statement of Faith (BFM2000), without satisfactory scriptural support, to such a degree that the members of this Southern Baptist church are no longer qualified to serve, the International Missions Agency has eliminated itself from being a representative of this church.

It is with great regret and the deep emotions associated with loosing an old friend that the Executive Committee of FBC Ponce de Leon, meeting at our regular monthly time, reached the decision that the IMB has “eliminated itself from being a representative of this church” and will no longer receive financial support from this congregation.

Grace to all,

Cautious Cooperating Southern Baptist

I have noticed that many bloggers have started identified themselves as “Cautious Cessationist” when stating their position on miraculous works of the Holy Spirit in our day. On this same subject others have identified themselves as “Cautious Continuationist”.

I have no problem with these definitions and I fully understand the need to be cautious… for I have learned that in this current political climate of “ever narrowing parameters of cooperation”, and increasing “Landmark influence” throughout much of the convention, that one needs to be “Cautious” in order to survive in the SBC today.

So I guess you could call me a “Cautious Cooperating Southern Baptist”. And if I were a Missionary with the IMB I would be very cautious! It is a sad day when Missionaries have to be protected from the very ones who sent them… from hostility in the field and at home.

“Cautious” is indeed the word that best describes life the SBC today…

Grace to all,

Before I formed you in the womb

My wife and I were discussing (Jeremiah 1:5) last night.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

(I love having a wife that I can discuss theology with…) During this discussion the thought occurred to us that throughout our lives we are in the constant process of learning who we really are, and who others really are. But not God... He already knows who we really are… to such an extent that “God never learns anything new about us”.

He is never surprised by our sin or our actions. His love is not conditioned upon His foreknowledge of our right behavior. Quite the opposite, His foreknowledge revealed our sinfulness while we were yet “in the womb”... and still He says “before you were born I set you apart”…

Our lives are novels upon the shelves of His personal library. Each day is a page in the novel of our life, and the pages that lay ahead are utterly unknown unto us. But not God... He has read every word of the novel that is our life, even before we turned the first page. And having read this novel, that at times filled his heart with joy and at other times caused him to weep with sadness, God placed us in His basket to take home… to treasure us forever…

This is a wonderful thought; it is too high for me…

Overcome by Grace,
Greg