Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

Hello all! This past Sunday, my wife and I presented ourselves for membership at the Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Mansfield Ohio. Two months earlier, the church had issued me a call to be their pastor. After much prayer and consideration, I accepted.

We are excited about this new relationship with the church there. The call to be a Pastor of one of the Lord's churches is the highest calling a man could ever receive. To be the President of the USA would be a step down.

We are currently meeting once per week on Sunday morning. This is only temporary, until we can get moved up to Mansfield. Once we can get to church without driving 160 miles one way, the church will have more services.

The church does not have a website right now, but I am working on one at http://www.faithdelivered.net/sovereigngracebaptist/.

Please pray that the Lord will bless us as we work for His honor and His glory!

November Quote of the Month

"We must avoid a rigid sabbatarianism as well as irresponsible antinomianism."
-Elder Milburn Cockrell, The Ten Commandments

First of all, let me say this: If you have do not know who Milburn Cockrell was, then you need to find out! Like any other preacher we could write about, I do not agree with everything he believed, nor do I agree with everything he did. Like anyone else, Brother Cockrell was a man and as a man he was not perfect. That being said, I can say without a doubt that I have benefited greatly from his writings. From the time I was called to preach over 10 years ago, I received the Berea Baptist Banner. And through the years I have collected a number of his books. He passed away in 2002, but many of his writings are still in print and can be ordered through there Berea Baptist Church. If you do not have any of his books, you need to get them. Buy as many of them as you can afford! You will not be dissapointed. On the website, you can also read back issues of the paper.

Back to the quote at hand: "We must avoid a rigid sabbatarianism as well as irresponsible antinomianism." As I re-read his book on the Ten Commandments this month, I was impressed by that sentence. As with most any teaching from the Bible, mankind has perverted the fourth commandment by taking it to extremes never taught anywhere in the Bible.

The one extreme is what the author called "rigid sabbatarianism," which as I understand it would mean the type of sabbath that the Pharisees wanted. The way they kept it was a burden to the people. For example, when our Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples were hungry on the sabbath and they plucked some corn to eat, the Pharisees said that was unlawful to do that on that day (see Matthew 12:1-8). Another time, He healed on the sabbath. Again, the Pharisees said that was wrong (see Mark 3:1-6). Christ corrected their errors by His example. He broke no law of God ever.

The other extreme is what Brother Cockrell called "irresponsible antinomianism." Antinomianism is the idea that God's people are no longer responsible to keep God's laws as they have been revealed to us in the Bible. This is a horrible error. Christ Himself made sure that nobody would think that He came to destroy the law and He even proclaimed its perpetuity until heaven and earth pass (see Matthew 5:17-18).

We need to stay away from both of these errors listed in the above quote! Instead, let us follow God's Word!

Recommended Books - Nov 2007

Here are some favorite commentaries that are available at Amazon. Obviously I do not agree with everything these men wrote, but I have benefited from these writers for many years now, and think these commentaries are "musts" for any serious Bible student.

How To Destroy Your Church

I was going through some old tracts today, and found this simple outline. Thought I'd share it here. I do not know who wrote it out, but I may develop it into a sermon sometime.

HOW TO DESTROY YOUR CHURCH

• Don't attend.
• If you do attend, arrive late and leave early.
• Visit other churches often.
• Never volunteer for anything. Let the Pastor do it.
• Gossip.
• Be critical of the Pastor.
• Don't give to the church.
• Don't talk with others or encourage them.
• Don't forgive when someone offends you.
• Avoid praying for your church.
  

Lesser of Two Evils?

Today, on my way to work, I heard James Dobson on the radio. Now, I do not always agree with Dr. Dobson and his Focus on the Family, but I have agreed with some of his ideas. So, I stopped to listen in. He was speaking about the upcoming election, and he said the following words, copied directly from the copy of the transcript found on their website:

"Some … some people are talking. You hear this a lot now. They talk about the lesser of two evils; choose the lesser. Well, the only problem with that is, when you choose a lesser of two evils, you've still chosen evil. And uh, it leads to compromise. And I tell you, I can't do that."

And neither can I. At the time of this writing, there is a BIG chance both candidates from the two major parties in the USA might very well equally support things like abortion, gay marriage, etc. How will you vote? We need to think about this very seriously because God demands holiness in everything, including the way we vote. Notice:

"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." (I Peter 1:13-16).

Mr. Dobson then ended his speech with these words: "It is never right to do what is wrong, and it is never wrong to do what is right."

Amen, and may God help us as His people to do that which is pleasing to Him.

The Will of God

Here is a little something I copied from A.H. Strong's Systematic Theology several months ago, and thought I'd share it here. This was first published in 1907 but the words still ring true:

To Find God’s Will

1.Pray
2.Think.
3.Talk to wise people, but do not regard their decision as final.
4.Beware of the bias of your own will, but do not be too much afraid of it. (God never unnecessarily thwarts a man’s nature and likings, and it is a mistake to think His will is always in the line of the disagreeable.)
5.Meantime, do the next thing (for doing God’s will in small things is the best preparation for knowing it in great things).
6.When decision and action are necessary, go ahead.
7.Never reconsider the decision when it is finally acted on.
8.You will probably not find out until afterwards, perhaps long afterwards that you have been led at all.