Archive for 2013
The Fall of Angels and Man Two Views: Calvinism and Non-Calvinism
This article contains the thoughts upon which I based my message Sunday morning October 6, 2013. It is intended to be of supplemental value for those who heard the actual message. If you have not heard the message, some of the information will be more difficult to understand. You may download the message at our…
Read MoreThink About IT: Is Homosexuality a Civil Right?
Homosexuals never tire of comparing themselves to blacks and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Is it analogous? Well no, but it is effective. If successful in convincing the public that the plight of blacks is now the plight of the homosexual, they gain all of the rhetorical power of the Civil Rights Movement.…
Read MoreCan Man Endowed with Libertarian Free Will Live Righteously Forever in Heaven?
Humans are created in the image of God with soft-libertarian (incompatible) free will. This means that humans can choose, within the range of choices, to act or refrain, and whatever they do in fact choose they could have chosen otherwise. Many have argued that it is impossible to create such a being and guarantee that…
Read MoreWhy Did Baptists Support Jefferson’s Bid for President?
Thomas Jefferson was generally supported by Baptists and anti-federalists, but disfavored by Congregationalists, federalists, and others who believed in a stronger relationship between church and state. Jefferson and the Baptists worked closely in Virginia to disestablish the Anglican church and establish religious freedom for dissenters. Baptists supported Jefferson’s bid for president because of his commitment…
Read MoreBaptists, Cheshire Cheese, and Religious Liberty—WHAT!
On January 1, 1802, newly elected President Thomas Jefferson received an unusual gift of mammoth proportions.[1] It was delivered to him by John Leland (1754-1841), a Baptist preacher. The piece of cheese was more than four feet in diameter, thirteen feet in circumference, and seventeen inches in height. Once cured, it weighed in at 1,235…
Read MoreThe Legitimacy of Religiously Based Arguments in the Public Square: The Moral Argument
Elsewhere, I develop this more fully as well as lay out historical, constitutional, and intellectual arguments for an alternative to the “separation” model for governing the relationship of church and state, which I call The Proportional Accommodation and Appreciation Model.[1] This article focus is only the moral argument. The problem is that secularists often, successfully, seek to…
Read MoreBelong to a Local Church—Only If You SO Desire!
Church membership has been variously determined at different times and places in the history of the church. At first, belonging to a local church was by free choice, but as the church and state became more integrated, church membership was often determined by one’s geographical location. The Reformation accomplished many things, but it did not…
Read MoreBelow Is a Blogger’s Response to an Article I Wrote for SBC Today
I begin by quoting the statement he used from my article and then note his assessment. My response follows. You quoted me, “the gospel, according to Calvinism, is that God ‘loves to save some sinners and equally loves to damn most sinners to eternal torment.” You said that my statement was “patently false” and that…
Read MoreAn Open Letter from the Elders of Trinity Baptist Church
The elders of TBC are grateful for the years that the Boy Scouts of America have faithfully taught young boys character development and values-based leadership training. We have been both supportive and encouraged by their historic strong stand for biblical values as the basis and guide for their training and character development of these young…
Read MoreResponse to an SBC Today Article I Wrote
Below is my response to a blogger regarding an article I wrote for SBC Today. His statements come first, followed by my brief responses. He said, “In this case, we see that it was God’s desire to allow Adam to freely disobey if that was what Adam wanted.” My response: The disquieting reality of Calvinism…
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