Pastor’s Blog

There can be no doubt, every one that is saved ought to be a witness.  I generally try to stay away from the phrase, “soul winner” because of the type of methodology that the term is associated with, and because it is not a biblical term.  A clear exegesis of the particular Proverb that declares the soul winner to be wise will show that he is speaking of making friends, not evangelizing.  Please do not take me wrong, anyone that is not interested in seeing sinners come to repentance and faith has probably never been there themselves.  It is vitally important, however, that we are gaining true converts and not making men “two fold children of  Hell” that have simply said a prayer, been dunked, memorized a creed, and adapted the accoutrement’s of the particular brand of religion that they happen to be a part of.

What causes men to use such fallacious methods of witnessing?  Certainly one problem is that some of these workers simply aren’t  saved.  If a man has never repented and submitted to the Lordship of Christ, it is doubtful that he will see the need that others do so.  Such individuals are often very hostile toward those that preach repentance, and go to great lengths to explain away the necessity of  repentance.  Some  have said that it simply means to change the mind.  The whole of scripture however declares a far different idea.  Christ repeatedly commanded men to take up the cross and follow him.  Christ also urged men to take His yoke upon them.  One will never take a yoke upon them without submitting first.

Another reason that such soft methods are employed is that men either misunderstand or mistrust the work of the Holy Ghost and the ability of God to draw the sinner.  Jesus declared that no one could come to Him except it were given Him of the Father.  Romans chapter five explains that there is none good nor any that seeks after God.  The sinner is completely depraved and will never seek God on his own.  Only the Spirit can convince men of sin and give them repentance and faith.   Those that misunderstand this or simply just do not believe it, will just see that the sinner gives a moral assent to certain truths and  lead the sinner in a shallow prayer.  Those that practice this dangerously shallow method usually say nothing of submitting to Christ’s Lordship, only that one must believe.  It should also be said that these same individuals go to great lengths to explain away First John so that they may justify the myriads of people that have made professions yet are unsaved.

The bottom line is that we can trust God to draw the sinner without any scheming on our part.  Jesus said that all the Father gave to Him would come to Him.  That being said, we do not have to reduce witnessing down to a sales pitch, nor do we have to manipulate people into saying a prayer.  I firmly believe that our God is well able to draw sinners unto Himself without any of our psychological ploys.  Let us declare the message faithfully and be sure that we are not facilitating the false profession of another.

In spite of what you may have heard, most everyone with the exception of a small minority, believe in the free will of man. Baptists, did not invent the notion of soul liberty. There are those who declare that certain theological camps don’t believe in free will. Those individuals usually know very little about the theological system that they are crying against. Even Calvin in his institutes admitted that man is endued with free will. If then, most everyone hold to some form of free will, what then is meant by free will. I am sure that there are others who have addressed this issue in a more clear fashion than I will, but I do hope to enlighten a few.

Though man has free will, it is very important to understand that his will is bound by his nature. The sinner’s will is bound by sin, and the saint’s by grace. The sinner, though he has free will can not will to be saved of himself. Many preachers make impassioned pleas for people to make decisions for Christ, but that sinner apart from the power of the Spirit is simply not able. Christ said in John 6:44 ” No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” Scripture also declares in Romans 3:11, “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” Jeremiah asked ” Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? It is clear from scripture that though a man is free, he can not possibly will that which is good. To use a natural example, you indeed have free will but you can not fly. Why cant you fly? Because your will is bound by your nature. If a sinner can not will himself saved or will to do that which is good, why the fuss over free will?

A person can only will to do that which is good after the Spirit of God has enlightened their soul and renewed their mind. Scripture is clear in Philippians’s 2:13, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” It is very important that we understand the bondage of man’s will. There are many people who have made a decision, signed a card, repeated a prayer, or got dunked who are strangers to spiritual life. These individuals curse as much as before their profession, their music tastes have not changed, nor have their filthy appetites. We can be assured that when a person is truly converted, He which hath begun good work shall perform it.

1. Finger nails dissolve in carpet.

2. The dishes will eventually wash themselves.

3. If we wash the dishes, our hands will fall off.

4. Dirty clothes pick themselves up.

5. Making your bed in the morning only ensures that it will get messed up again.

6. Kicking fallen ice across the kitchen floor makes it disappear.

7. A broom should have an on switch.

8. It is impossible to watch tv without holding the remote ( assuming your carnal enough to watch tv.)

9. People who die on tv are only acting.

10. You really can go to Wal-Mart and only purchase one item.

* This post obviously is not exhaustive. If you would like to add anything, please leave a comment.

P.S

Ladies, please don’t take this too seriously.

I am sure you have all heard men stand in their pulpits and decry the evils of Calvinism. I am equally sure that you have also heard those same men from those same pulpits quote such great men of God as, Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, John Gill, Matthew Henry, John Bunyan, and countless others. I could list many more, but I think the point is well made. What is even more amazing is that many of these preachers use commentaries written by some of these men who would be according to most Baptists today, “heretics”

While this post is not intended to argue for or against Calvinism, it is intended to expose the hypocrisy among many fundamental Baptists. I am personally not as concerned with how you define election as I am with how you answer the the question, “What must I do to be saved.” There are many who would condemn others for their views concerning sovereign grace, yet are consistently making men two fold children of Hell with their soft Soteriology and refusal to allow the Holy Spirit to actually draw the sinner and regenerate him. My point, however, is that it is extremely hypocritical to hail the men afore mentioned as great men of God ( which they were) and on the other hand dismiss every present day Calvinist as heretic.

The logical conclusion that one is left to come up with then is that it was alright to be a Calvinist then but certainly not today. To bolster my point let me ask one question. Would any of the men that quote Spurgeon or Edwards ( or any other Calvinist from the past) allow a present day Calvinist to speak in their Church? The answer is a resounding no, because as I said earlier there is blatant double standard. It is my prayer that these unfair attacks would cease so that we can all busy ourselves with the task at hand which is the call for sinners to repent and turn to Christ.

As I said earlier this post is not intended to argue for or against Calvinism,  my biggest concern is that we are  actively  trying to  reach sinners  for  the glory of God, and that we are not watering down the gospel.  All I am saying is that we should know who we are quoting before we blast modern Calvinists.  As long as a man is preaching the gospel and trying to reach sinners, lets not attack him because of how he interprets certain passages of Scripture.

I pray that no one takes this post the wrong way.  I would ask that before you judge me, take time to listen to my sermons so that you will know where I stand. I love the Lord, I love sinners, and I want to help God’s people.

Our Lord said in John4:24, God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Webster defines worship as chiefly and eminently the act of paying divine honors to the supreme Being; or the reverence and homage paid to Him in religious exercises consisting in adoration, confession, prayer, thanksgiving and the like.

It is obvious that God is to be the focus of our worship. There are passages such as Genesis 17 and Exodus 34 that give us examples of true worship. These passages, among others show men prostrating themselves before almighty God with a deep sense of His greatness and His holiness. While worship is more often than visible and vocal, such as the song of Moses in Exodus 15 or the dance of David in 2 Samuel 6, the goal of worship is to reveal the supreme worth of our God and to express our adoration of Him. Our Saviour is to to be the focal point of our worship.

Our great God and Savior does not appear to be the focus of modern worship. Unfortunately, the songs of today are man-centered with a design to appeal the flesh. As young people bounce to the music, they are enjoying the music rather than reflecting on the magnificence of God. The modern song writer would not pen such words as ” a mighty fortress is our our God” or ” Praise to the Lord the almighty the King of creation. These new songs are a tell tale sign of a generation that has brought the Sovereign of all down to man’s level. Gone is the sense of awe and wonder of our great God and Savior, not to mention the fear.

Let us then be sure that our songs are geared to glorify God, let us be sure that our clothing at church is a true reflection of our attitude toward the Almighty, and above all may our sermons be ground in scripture with the intent to call sinners to flee from the wrath to come and the goal of building mature Christians conformed in the image of Christ.