SBCWitness

SBC Witness is pleased to learn of the release of First Freedom: The Baptist Perspective on Religious Liberty from B&H Academic. The volume is edited by Thomas White, Jason Duesing, and Malcolm Yarnell, all historically savvy theologians associated with Southwestern Seminary. The essays in the book had their genesis at Southwestern's first annual Baptist Distinctives Conference, hosted by the seminary's Smith Center for Leadership Development and Center for Theological Research. Evan Lenow, one of our newest contributors at SBC Witness, was recently appointed director of the Smith Center. Read more in this Baptist Press release from Wednesday.

This book is further confirmation that one of the most exciting things happening in Southern Baptist life right now is the new material being produced by LifeWay, particularly in the B&H Academic division. The first two releases in the NAC Studies in Biblical Theology series have been well received: Jim Hamilton's God's Indwelling Presence: The Holy Spirit and the Old and New Testaments and Tom Schreiner and Shawn Wright's tour de force Believer's Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ. Also of note is the soon-to-be released systematic theology A Theology for the Church, edited by Danny Akin and including contributions from the brightest minds in SBC life. This will be the first systematic theology written by and for Southern Baptists since James Leo Garrett's two-volume Systematic Theology was published between 1990 and 1995. But more on that later.

First Freedom includes ten chapters, each of which is authored by a Southern Baptist scholar or other leader, many with considerable expertise or experience in issues related to religious liberty. Co-editor Duesing wrote the introduction. A list of the contributors and their essays is included below:

Ch. 1: Barrett Duke, "The Christian Doctrine of Religious Liberty"

Ch. 2: Paige Patterson, "Mutually Exclusive or Biblically Harmonius? Religious Liberty and the Exclusivity of Salvation in Jesus Christ"

Ch. 3: Thomas White, "The Defense of Religious Liberty by the Anabaptists and the English Baptists"

Ch. 4: Malcolm Yarnell, "Political Theology at the Foundation of the Southern Baptist Convention"

Ch. 5: Richard Land, "The Role of Religious Liberty in the Founding and Development of America"

Ch. 6: Craig Mitchell, "Natural Law and Religious Liberty"

Ch. 7: Daniel Heimbach, "Understanding the Difference Between Religious Liberty and Religious Autonomy"

Ch. 8: Russell Moore, "Conservative Christians in an Era of Christian Conservatives: Reclaiming the Struggle for Religious Liberty from Cultural Captivity"

Ch. 9: Emir Caner, "Fantasy or Possibility: Can Religious Liberty be Created in Islamic Countries?"

Ch. 10: Paul Pressler, "Contemporary Religious Liberty and the Judiciary in America: A Southern Baptist Jurist's Personal Perspective"

This looks to be a great book. Kudos to our friends at SWBTS for putting on the conference, and kudos to B&H Academic for publishing the proceedings from the conference.

P.S. If you are interested in this year's Baptist Distinctives Conference at SWBTS, click here for more information. The topic is The Family: Reclaiming a Biblical View of Family, Womanhood, and Manhood. Stay tuned to SBC Witness for more information about this upcoming conference. 

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In the coming weeks there will be some changes to SBC Witness. The biggest changes you will notice is that there will be more contributors and the frequency of posts will increase. We are excited about the days ahead. Stay tuned.

Tags: Southern Baptist Convention by Nathan Finn
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This morning I was praying for a friend of mine who has recently been called as the pastor of a local church in downtown Durham. The church was a once-thriving congregation that is now nearly dead–about 40 active members, all senior citizens. Interestingly, FBC Durham planted this sister congregation about 100 years ago, and now we are sending them a new pastor, as well as 3 or 4 other young families. I believe it is going to be exciting for both churches to see what God is doing in this whole situation.

As I was praying, I thanked God that he sent my friend to a congregation that already has a nice church, by which I meant a nice building. I immediately realized my mistake and was a little embarrassed to be a Baptist historian confusing the "church" with the "building," but there I was and the deed was done. I am reminded of the old song that goes "here's the church, and here's the steeple, open up, and there's the people." It's a cute little song, but it paints a very inaccurate picture. 

Any good Baptist (and most Protestants) know that the church is the people, and not the facilities, but I suspect I am not the only one who sometimes refers to the property as the "church" rather than the people who make up the church. We often say things like, "I am going to church," when what we mean is, "I am meeting to worship with the rest of the church." Or, "boy, the church sure looks pretty," when what we mean is, "boy, the building where the church meets sure looks pretty." It is an all too common habit.

Interestingly, it was not always this way. Many of the earliest English dissenters, including Baptists, did not refer to their buildings (if they had one) as "churches" but rather called them "meeting houses." This nomenclature was carried over into colonial America. As recently as the mid-1800's Baptists associations would note in their minutes that they had met at the meeting house of the Burnt Hickory Church. The obvious implications of this language is that the building is not the church, but rather it is the facility where the church gathers for corporate worship and where the local association gathered for their meeting. I think it is a more biblical way to refer to our buildings.

So I am recommitting myself to being deliberate in the language I use to describe my local church. We happen to own a lovely building, which is located at 414 Cleveland Street in downtown Durham. And every Lord's Day, the First Baptist Church of Durham gathers together at our building and worships together.

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Abraham Booth (1734-1806) was a longtime London pastor and leader among the British Particular Baptists in the 18th century. In 1784, Booth preached an ordination sermon for a young pastor named Thomas Hopkins. The title was "Pastoral Cautions" and the text was 1 Timothy 4:16–"Take heed to thyself." The sermon was soon printed and circulated among Baptists all over England. Among the pastors who were positively influenced by the printed sermon were Andrew Fuller, William Carey, John Sutcliff, and John Ryland, Jr.

In the sermon, Booth layed out ten pastoral cautions that are just as applicable to our contemporary context as they were 200 years ago.

1. "Take heed to yourself, then, with regard to the reality of true godliness, and the state of religion in your own soul"
2. "Take heed to yourself, lest you mistake an increase of gifts for a growth in grace"
3. "Take heed that your pastoral office prove not a snare to your soul, lifting you up with pride and self-importance"
4. "Take heed to yourself, respecting your temper and conduct in general"
5. "I will now adopt the words of our Lord, and say, Take heed and beware of covetousness"
6. "Take heed, I will venture to ass, take heed to your Second-Self in the person of your wife"
7. "Take heed to yourself, with regard to the diligent improvement of your talents and opportunities, in the whole course of your ministry"
8. "Take heed to yourself, respecting the motives by which you are influenced in all your endeavours to obtain useful knowledge"
9. "Take heed of yourself, with regard to that success, and those discouragements, which may attend your ministry"
10. "Once more: Take heed that you pay an habitual regard to divine influence; as that without which you cannot either enjoy a holy liberty in your work, or have any reason to expect success"

Brothers, they simply do not preach ordination sermons like that anymore! I would heartily recommend that every pastor, seminarian, and missionary read the full text of this sermon. It is most recently printed in Michael & Alison Haykin, eds., The Works of Abraham Booth, Volume 1: Confession of Faith & Sermons (Particular Baptist Press, 2006), pp. 57-84.

As a final note, I would be remiss if I did not mention that the only book-length scholarly study of Abraham Booth was a dissertation written by R. A. Coppenger, the grandfather of our own budding pastor-theologian and soon to be "off-the-market" blogmeister, Jedidiah Coppenger.  

Tags: Preaching by Nathan Finn
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One of the things we want to do at SBC Witness is highlight local churches that, in our opinion, are representative of the very best of who we are as Southern Baptists. While it would be easy for us to highlight our own local churches–all five of which are great churches–I wanted to highlight a congregation that I have never been a member of, but have some familiarity with; my wife's uncle is a lay leader in the church.

The First Baptist Church of Naples, Florida is one of the largest churches in their state. At the moment, the church is probably most well known because her senior pastor, Hayes Wicker, is the president of the SBC Pastor's Conference. There are many things I like about FBC Naples.

First, the church is evangelistic. FBC is a church that is growing, and to the glory of God most of that growth is conversion growth. In terms of its membership and attendance, FBC has 5000 members and about 4000 active members, which is a far better percentage than most SBC churches enjoy (and is a remarkably percentage for a megachurch). In the last fifteen years the church has baptized over 2500 new converts.

Second, the church takes the teaching of Scripture seriously. Dr. Wicker, whose sermons are available online, is a genuine expositor in a denomination too-often filled with expositional posers. He is committed to preaching through books of the Bible while making the old, old story understandable to contemporary Americans. The church's large youth ministry also emphasizes serious Bible teaching and discipleship, as opposed to the trite morality studies that is so often characterisic of American youth groups.

Third, the church does baptism the "right" way. Let me explain what I mean. Since the late 1800's, most Baptist church buildings have come equipped with a built-in baptistry, which is of course quite convenient. But I think baptistries–as good as they are–have stolen away some of the significance of baptism. Baptisms used to be a public affair; after all, it is a public profession of one's faith. Part of taking a baptismal candidate down to the creekside was so that non-Christians could witness the ordinance and hear the gospel preached. Indoor baptistries, while allowing for baptisms during the cold months when the creek is froze over, has "insulated" baptism from the outside world, taking away some of the ordinance's ability to play a crucial role in evangelism (though admittedly non-Christians may witness a baptism in a church building). FBC Naples conducts some of their baptisms on the beach, in the Gulf of Mexico. I think that is very, very cool, and I have no doubt that a number of passerbys have come to faith in Christ by being able to witness outdoor, public baptisms.

Fourth, the church takes membership seriously. It is so very rare to find a large church that is both evangelistic and makes membership meaningful. FBC does so by making use of a church covenant (which most churches have, but ignore) and by practicing corrective church discipline. Just in case you missed that, I will say it again: FBC is a megachurch that practices church discipline. It is not easy, especially in a church of several thousand members. But FBC is committed to not only being a growing congregation, but being a healthy congregation. And that means caring enough about people to confront them when they are in open rebellion against the commands of Christ.

I praise God for FBC Naples; I personally believe they are one of the finest churches among us. And in the coming months, we hope to highlight many others churches–of all shapes and sizes–that represent some of the very best of Southern Baptists. 

Tags: Southern Baptist Convention by Nathan Finn
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Among Dr. Mohler's many contributions to SBC life is his concept of "theological triage," which is a proposal for differentiating between first, second, and third tier theological commitments. This approach has been very helpful to many Baptists, myself included. But this approach is sometimes abused in the blogosphere, particularly when it is manipulated in such a way that almost anything short of a denial of the Trinity becomes a third tier issue (an issue not worth dividing over). In fact, in recent days I have wondered many times what Dr. Mohler thinks when he reads some of these misappropriations of his wise approach (if he reads them).

One blogger has weighed in on this issue with much wisdom and charity. Dr. Bart Barber, whose blog PraiseGod Barebones is the most cleverly named site in the Baptist blogosphere, has a new post called "Splinting Theological Triage." It is one of the very best things I have ever read on a Southern Baptist blog. I would encourage everyone to check out this fine post by one of the brightest young pastor-scholars in the SBC.

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Baptists are a people of the Book.

It is a slogan we have all heard before, and when we are at our very best, no doubt these words ring true. As a denomination Southern Baptists have now spoken out loud and clear for the inerrancy of Scripture for almost three decades. For this, we should be grateful. But any denomination that is committed to the truthfulness of Scripture will wrestle with what the Bible teaches, so it is only natural that we find ourselves in the midst of several family debates about faith and practice.

For the last few years Southern Baptists have been debating aspects of our Baptist identity. Sometimes we debate Baptist principles themselves. For instance, there is an ongoing question as to whether or not a plural elder leadership model is consistent with the traditional Baptist belief in congregational church government. The ordinances are also being debated. Churches, seminarians, bloggers, and even trustees are discussing the nature and validity of some baptisms. Others have considered the possibility of allowing non-immersed Christians to be members of their churches. When it comes to the Lord’s Table, an ongoing question is whether communion should be “open” to all professing Christians or “closed” to only those believers who have been properly immersed. Even the character of regenerate church membership is being debated as Baptists consider issues like the proper age for baptismal candidates and the nature and function of corrective church discipline.

Then there are those debates that are not related to Baptist principles per se, but rather focus on appropriate boundaries for Southern Baptist belief. Is it kosher for Southern Baptists to affirm some spiritual gifts traditionally associated with the Charismatic and Pentecostal traditions? Are there particular worship practices that are inappropriate in a Southern Baptist context? Is it proper for women to serve in any authority positions, or can only men serve in teaching or leading positions in a local church? How many of the “points” of Calvinism can someone hold to and still be considered a “good” Southern Baptist?

Of course, all of these debates occur in a denomination that is committed to local church autonomy and liberty of conscience, so a variety of opinions exist on each of these issues. And these are just the things that conservative Southern Baptists debate; our moderate friends bring a whole list of other issues to the table.

As Southern Baptists continue to discuss these and other important issues, we would do well to remember that, as the Baptist Faith & Message says, our inerrant Scripture “reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.” In other words, the Bible alone is our ultimate authority for faith and practice, including Baptist identity.

It is tempting to appeal to what is popular when we discuss controversial issues. But what is popular may not be what is biblical. It is tempting to appeal to Baptist history—either recent or ancient—when we argue for specific positions. But Baptists are not infallible, and just because something may have been true of some Baptists in the past does not mean it is biblical. It is tempting to appeal to the practices of other Christian traditions when we try to defend our convictions. But other Christian traditions often miss the mark when it comes to biblical fidelity. It is even tempting to appeal to our current or historic confessions of faith when we make a case for certain beliefs, but we must always remember that minor (and sometimes not so minor) differences exist between the various Baptist confessions. More importantly, because most Baptists believe that confessions are non-inspired summaries of what most Baptists believe at a particular point in time, no confession is ultimately authoritative except insofar as it accurately conveys biblical teaching. And even then a confession’s authority is a derived authority, being grounded in Scripture and not in the confession itself.

I am thankful we are debating important theological and methodological issues; again, this should be expected in a denomination that takes the authority and sufficiency of Scripture seriously. But we must be willing to make the case for our positions from that Scripture rather than our own opinions, popular sentiment, history, the teachings of theologians, or even confessions of faith. We must be a people of the book as we debate our Baptist identity.

My prayer is that God will grant us great wisdom and abundant charity as we continue to wrestle with who we are and who we ought to be as Southern Baptists. I hope you join me in that prayer.
 

 

  

Tags: Southern Baptist Convention by Nathan Finn
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There are many things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving season. I am thankful for all that God has done on my behalf through Jesus Christ. I am thankful that God has blessed me with such a wonderful wife, and that he has blessed us with such a precious little girl. I am thankful for a couple of great jobs, more godly friends than I deserve, and innumerable little things the Lord uses daily to remind me of his goodness and his grace.

One thing I am particularly thankful for this year is my local church, the First Baptist Church of Durham, NC. Leah and I began attending FBC in July of 2005, joining the church October a year ago. The church is exactly what we needed. We came to FBC from a church that was filled with many problems, so much so that the church nearly split over integrity issues among the ministerial and lay leadership. Frankly, we were right at the center of the controversy, having made public some of the issues that had been going on behind the scenes for almost two decades. It was an unfortunate experience, and one from which we were eager to recover.

FBC was like a breath of fresh air. Our pastor, Andy Davis, is one of the very best preachers I have ever heard, and is the most gifted teaching pastor I have ever sat under. He is also a man of integrity; what you see is what you get, and what you see is a humble, godly man and great role model. Our other ministerial staff are all talented, godly, humble men as well. And I have never seen a finer crop of deacons in a Southern Baptist church.

FBC is one of the two healthiest churches I have ever been a part of. Oh, we are not perfect by any means, but the congregation is growing spiritually and numerically. We are united in our common purpose and, more importantly, our common gospel. We are mission-minded, with numerous foreign and domestic mission trips planned for this year. We are blessed with the strongest Sunday School ministry I have ever seen. We are soon launching a counseling ministry, in the hopes of providing biblical counsel to hurting souls in our church and in the community.

I just cannot tell you how excited I am about our church. FBC is just what the Great Physician ordered for the Finn family, and this Thanksgiving season, we are truly thankful that He led us to such a wonderful local church.

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Many a pastor, denominational leader, and seminarian has noted how difficult it can be to maintain personal piety while being a "professional" student and/or practitioner of Christianity. Indeed, it is scary–and a testimony to the power of sin–how easy it is for the sermons we listen to and the books we read to become nothing more than a mere exercise in outward devotion, while all the while our soul slowly atrophies due to spiritual neglect. The following is from a sermon preached by Andrew Fuller, longtime pastor of the Baptist church in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England. Fuller, who was arguably the most influential British Baptist of his era, was also a tireless advocate for foreign mission, a defender of Baptist principles, and an imminent theologian. The title of this sermon is "Preaching Christ," and these words are just as applicable in the modern SBC as they were to turn of the 19th century British Baptists.

A REMARK which I once heard from the lips of that great and good man, the late Mr. Abraham Booth, has often recurred to my recollection. "I fear," said he, "there will be found a larger proportion of wicked ministers than of any other order of professing Christians!" It did not appear to me at the time, nor has it ever appeared since, that this remark proceeded from a want of charity, but rather from a deep knowledge of the nature of Christianity, and an impartial observation of men and things. It behoves us, not only as professing Christians, but as ministers, to "examine ourselves, whether we be in the faith." It certainly is possible, after we have preached to others, that we ourselves should be cast away! I believe it is very common for the personal religion of a minister to be taken for granted; and this may prove a temptation to him to take it for granted too. Ministers, being wholly devoted to the service of God, are supposed to have considerable advantages for spiritual improvement. These they certainly have; and if their minds be spiritual, they may be expected to make greater proficiency in the Divine life than their brethren. But it should be remembered, that if they are not spiritual, those things which would otherwise be a help would prove a hinderance. If we study Divine subjects merely as ministers, they will produce no salutary effect. We may converse with the most impressive truths, as soldiers and surgeons do with blood, till they cease to make any impression upon us. We must meditate on these things as Christians, first feeding our own souls upon them, and then imparting that which we have believed and felt to others; or, whatever good we may do to them, we shall receive none ourselves. Unless we mix faith with what we preach, as well as with what we hear, the word will not profit us. It may be on these accounts that ministers, while employed in watching over others, are so solemnly warned against neglecting themselves: "Take heed unto yourselves and to all the flock," &c. "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee."

I find this passage very convicting; perhaps many of you do as well. This is just one more example of how Baptist history has wisdom to bear on our contemporary context. 

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Heavenly Father,

We come to You in the name of Jesus Christ, our great Lord and Champion, the One who reigns on high above all earthly powers. We thank You for all that He has accomplished on our behalf, according to Your perfect plan and for the glory of Your Name. We thank You for the way You sovereignly rule our world, bringing all of human history to its ultimate consummation in Christ. And we thank You that Your gracious purposes infinitely exceeds the greatest desires of our hearts.

Lord, on this Election Day, we thank You for the nation in which we live. We know, Father, that untold billions of people live in other nations. We know that countless millions are our brothers and sisters in Christ, many of whom will never enjoy the freedom of worship that we enjoy until they pass into the next life. We thank you for a nation where we can freely worship You, where we can publicly preach the gospel, where we can freely share the good news of Jesus Christ with our family and friends. We thank you for a nation that is prosperous and powerful, though we recognize these as Your good gifts, subject to your divine providence and never to be taken for granted. And we thank You for many godly leaders, from local to state to national government, men and women who not only seek goodness and justice–which even a pagan can do because of your common grace–but seek these things for Your glory. Thank You for the way You have blessed America. We earnestly pray Your blessings will continue, not because we deserve them, but because You are a merciful and gracious God.

Father, on this Election Day 2006, we bring many concerns before You. First and foremost, we pray that Your will be done in whom is elected to public office. We pray that, in Your kind providence, those individuals who are elected will be honorable men and women of integrity, who seek to pass and govern laws that uphold justice and protect those who cannot protect themselves. We pray that, in as many cases as is possible, those individuals who are elected will be brothers and sisters in Christ, Your blood-bought children who are devoted to You and who are committed to a Christ-centered, biblically informed world and life view. We pray that referenda will be passed in many states that honor Your moral law and Your revealed will for humanity. We pray that You will be pleased with the choices that are made today.

Lord, we also pray that You will protect us from the temptations of the evil one on this election day. Lord, protect us from the temptation to place our trust in human government, for even though it is ordained by You, it remains tainted by the power of sin and corrupted by the wicked desires of men. May our trust ever be in Christ alone and in Your promises. Lord, protect us from an ungodly desire for power, manifested among so many Christians who allow politics to replace their passion of the gospel. And may we never confuse the two! Lord, protect us from the temptation as Christians to believe that the future of American politics belongs to us, and that we have the ability to do anything more than sway a particular election at a particular point in time, and even that only by your providence. Father, keep us humble, regardless of whatever political influence we may assert today or on any given day. Lord, protect us from the temptation to become disillusioned with morally just politics because of the sins of any leader. Lord, may your truth ever be seen to be greater than the strengths or failures of any one man, no matter how large his pulpit or how vast his influence. Lord, protect us from civil religion, from equating our faith with the platform of a political party or your plans with the election of a particular politician. Rather, may we always recognize the proper spheres of church and state, and may the line between the two never be blurred, that both may be preserved according to your kind pleasure.

Father, grant us wisdom as we vote today. Help us to vote in ways that honor You. Give us the strength to vote in ways that reflect Your character and not our own worldly desires. And Father, in all these things, may You be glorified and may Your purposes be realized. And we pray all these things in the matchless name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

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