June 12, 2006
Focus, Focus, Focus...
When I shared my concern with the church staff about the lack of baptisms we’ve had in the last few years, I was told, “We’re no longer focusing on baptism.” Well duh…you think! What kind of a response is that? Am I out in left field, or does anyone else see a problem here? Without having a theological discussion on baptism, I believe we can all agree that baptism is an act of obedience to Scripture. How then can leaders arbitrarily decide to not preach and teach obedience to the Word of God? I’m having difficulty accepting that baptism slows to a trickle just because it’s not emphasized. Glossing over baptism may only be the tip of the proverbial iceberg!
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2 comments:
Loni,
It’s good to hear baptism is important to your pastor and your church. Like you, I’m saddened by the changes, but I think of it as a tragedy for the children. The small number of baptisms we have generally take place during the week, in the evening…and out of sight. Our children no longer see the example of public confession of faith and baptism.
Gail;
----In all of its various forms, the term "baptize" appears 91 times in the New Testament. Obviously, the Holy Spirit thought that baptism was a rather important part of the believer's new life.
----But the mind of the contemporary leader is exposed again by this cavalier attitude towards baptism. There is a striking parallel in what the contemporary leader is doing to Christ's church and what the social-liberal has been doing doing to America.
----There seems to be a loathing of fundamental and definitive meanings by both the contemporary church movement and the social- liberal movement. In both movements, it is as if everything that the church and America has grown up to be from the practices, faith, and loyalty of generation after generation of truly good, decent, and upright men must be questioned, impuned, and trashed.
----In the courtrooms, the constitution must peer into the hairy nostrils of the social- liberal judges' upturned noses. In the contemporary elder meetings, the Word of God must unfortunately share the same view.
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