- Monday was Memorial Day. It was nice to not have to go to work, but to be able to sleep in a little and then spend the day with some friends at the El Paso Zoo:
(Pic link: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v606/arielmz/IMG_0747.jpg)
We spent all day there, then afterwards I went to visit my grandpa's grave site and thank him for serving our great country:
(Pic link: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v606/arielmz/IMG_0774.jpg)
- So because Monday was a day off, Tuesday felt a LOT like a Monday. It was weird. I spent the morning at the office, then went to work over at The Bagel Shop in the Northeast for the afternoon, then went to study at Starbucks for awhile when The Bagel Shop closed for the day.
- The Northeast is really starting to grow on me, and I'm really beginning to get to know the roads there pretty well.
- On Wednesday, I worked until about 1:30 at the office, then went to Sam Chatterton Sr.'s funeral and the grave site service which went from 2 to 4:30 pm. It was AMAZING to walk into that church and see it packed full of hundreds of people, so many so that there were people standing around, and the line of cars driving out to the cemetery looked to be several miles long. It must've been so comforting to the family to see so many people there who loved and respected Mr. Chatterton.
- Afterwards, I went back to the office and stayed all night since we had a launch team meeting that evening.
- Thursday was a weird day. I had meetings ALL day, from first thing in the morning lasting until about 3 pm, so I didn't even get to do any work until a little after 3 pm. I was by Bassett when my last meeting ended, so I just went to Starbucks in the Northeast and worked there for a couple of hours, then came home.
- On Friday, I slept in (of course, since it's my day off) then had lunch and ran some errands. I also spent awhile at the Cliett's home, hanging out with Tom and Kim and Kayla and talking about their future. Tom finally found a job, but it's in Dallas and it starts tomorrow, so Tom and Kayla left that afternoon for Dallas. Kim and Terra and Alissa will be moving to the Big D after school gets out in a couple of weeks.
- I'm REALLY gonna miss the Clietts. I've gone through a lot with Tom and Kim, prayed a lot for them and for those beautiful girls of theirs, and they've been good friends to me. I'm really, truly gonna miss them but it's not a "goodbye", it's more of a "see you later" because I know I'll see them from time to time whenever I make my way over to that side of the state.
- After saying goodbye to Tom and Kayla, I went home, watched a movie, then went to go hang out with the youth for a little while since they were getting ready for their yard sale on Saturday.
- I ended up sleeping in late again on Saturday, because I had just been so tired all week. After I got up, I did my stretches (my muscles get very tense and tight after sleeping) then did some work on my computer for awhile, and finally got around to showering around 3 pm. After that I ran some more errands that I didn't get to on Friday and came home and watched another movie, then went to bed.
- This morning was interesting. I enjoyed Craig's music selection for this morning and I think it was good timing for Walter's message about getting out of being stuck in dullness. I went to the 9:30 am worship celebration service, then sat in the lobby during the 11 am worship celebration service. It was an interesting day, and I could tell that the Lord was truly working in people's hearts this morning - there were people who stayed behind long after we finished up, dealing with God individually or praying with friends and family, and there were people crying before the message, during the music.
- It's amazing how music has such power in our lives.
- Sometimes I really take on the load of other people's pain, hurting with them when they hurt, and it wears me out. Today was one of those days hurting with people, praying for them, and encouraging them so I was wiped out by lunch time. I went to lunch with the Pryors and one of their interns, then came home and napped, then got up and spent the evening doing the front lawn.
- I REALLY enjoyed working on the lawn this evening. I'm looking forward to doing the back yard tomorrow evening.
Josh over at The Bridge Church posted what's below a couple of days ago on his blog, and I thought it was worth repeating:
A quick devotional thought from my reading a couple days ago…When we sin, we are both the perpetrator and the victim.We are both guilty before God and enslaved by sin.The gospel is both forgiveness and freedom.Jesus is both our sacrifice of atonement and our kinsman redeemer.Theologically liberal people tend to view sinners as victims only while fundamentalists tend to view sinners as criminals only. If we view ourselves as only victims, we’ll never confront and repent of our sin… but if we only view ourselves as criminals, God will seem a harsh judge to us and we’ll eventually wilt under the weight of constant guilt.
So I know last week I wrote about what I was thankful for, but I'm gonna do it again - because I can. =)
Five things I'm grateful for this week:
1. Old friends. Today I saw my friend Marti, someone I've known for years, someone who just graduated from college and who I hadn't seen in months. It was good to see her and to congratulate her. I'm very proud of here. Also, some good friends of mine - the Clietts - are moving to Dallas in a couple of weeks and I got to spend some good time with them this afternoon. Tom and his daughter Kayla are heading out today because Tom starts his new job on Monday, and I'm really glad he got a good job, but I sure am gonna miss them.
2. New friends. It's hard to say goodbye to old friends, but I'm also glad to make new friends. I'm thankful for the Pryors, the Mosers, the Cossels, Greg Hunt, and John Roman among others. Having new friends to do life together with makes it just a bit more bearable to say goodbye to old friends when the Lord moves them on to someplace else.
3. Having a job. I know I said it last week, but today was payday and I was so grateful to have a paycheck to deposit in the bank today.
4. Air conditioning. Seriously ...it's getting mighty warm these days and in this desertland we call El Paso, Texas, it's good to have air conditioning. There are people in our city who don't have it, or who can't afford to use it because of a job loss or income reduction, and so I'm very grateful to have this nice little perk called air conditioning.
5. Art. Several of my friends are incredible photographers. They get a hold of a camera and they don't just take a picture - they create art. I know others who design graphics and create art with a mouse and some software. Some use a paint brush and canvas; others use a guitar or piano or bass or drums. Some even use lights and light mixing boards to create incredible light shows, or they use a sound engineering board and and sound effects panel. The world is full of art in so many different places and in so many different forms, and I'm so grateful for those who, acting like their Creator, use their creative abilities to bless this world with art.
In part 1 of this blog series, we talked about Baptists and our relation to other Christian groups, then in part 2 we talked about how we Baptists believe in the authority of the Scriptures, how they're the final, all-sufficient guide for life and Godliness. In this third part, we'll talk about something called people and a doctrine called Soul Competency. The Bible clearly lays out three truths about each individual:1. Individual worth. Each and every person, no matter how young or old, born or unborn, handicapped or not, has supreme worth (meaning they're the most valuable of all creations on earth) and has dignity simply because they are created by God. Genesis talks about God creating humanity in His image - meaning we are all created with will, intellect, desires, passions, sense of humor, etc. Simply put, all humans are valuable because God is valuable and He created us with value. 2. Individual salvation. The Bible also teaches that salvation is a personal matter, not a corporate matter; in other words, God saves people on a one-on-one basis, not in groups. Yes, Jesus Christ died for all people in all times (sorry Calvinists, I don't hold to Unconditional Election) - but He never lost sight of the individual. To me, that's an amazing thought that when Jesus was dying, He was thinking of humanity as a whole but also of every person in all of history, individually. Jesus talked about the joy in Heaven over one person who repents, and James also talks about how God doesn't want anyone on earth to live on earth and in eternity after death without personally knowing Him. So each person must on their own - not because of their parents and not because of religion or culture - must consciously and intentionally choose to make Jesus Christ their personal Savior and Lord. 3. Individual responsibility. This is a theme found throughout the whole Bible. From Genesis to Revelation we see that each individual is accountable for themself and responsible for their choices made in this life, and that God will hold each person accountable on an individual basis for how they lived their life. Because of these three things, you see why we in America and we as Christians have simply had no choice but to stand against the totalitarianism of Asian, European, and South American lands in the last century and even today. That the individual has no worth except what he contributes to the state is wrong because it devalues humanity and it devalues God in Whose image humanity was created in. This is why American forces have, since the Revolutionary Way days, fought against tyranny and oppression: the intrinsic worth of all humans. Because of these 3 things mentioned above, we Baptists believe in two doctrines called Soul Competency and Soul Freedom. Soul competency is simply defined as the ability of each person to personally deal with God on their own. This is perhaps our fundamental principle as Baptists, but it's important to note that it is competency under God, not apart from God. Apart from God, we humans could not even breathe! We are competent under God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. Two facts imply this competency, as was mentioned above:1. Each soul is created by God and possesses God-given abilities.2. Each individual is held accountable to God, because God would not hold someone accountable if they were not competent to deal with God on their own. There are also two vitally important truths that emerge from this doctrine of soul competency:1. Each person can read, understand, and interpret the Bible for themself (with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, of course). Nobody has to tell you what to believe or not believe. This stands in stark contrast to what Roman catholics believe; the belief of the catholic church is that individuals are incapable of reading and interpreting the Bible on their own. As we look at history, it can be seen that many, many people died at the hands of the Roman catholic church because they believed that everyone can and should be able to read the Bible for themselves. Some Protestant denominations don't hold the same view as catholics, but they do emphasize studying the cathechism over the Bible. They study the Scriptures in light of the catechism instead of vice versa as it should be. 2. Each person can approach God on their own. You are a priest unto yourself, totally competent to deal directly with God without the intervention of anyone else (1 Timothy 2:5, Revelation 1:5-6). Nobody can take your place in approaching God and nobody can obey God for you. Sure, you can be taught and persuaded, but just like how only you can prevent forest fires, only you can deal with God for yourself. No priest or parent can intervene for you. Any and every to intervene with God on someone's behalf (like infant baptism or confession) is a direct violation of the Word of God, is a denial that each soul is competent to deal with God on their own, and is a violation of the rights of an individual. The way to God is open to everyone through Jesus Christ alone, and to intervene (no matter how good your intentions are) is simply wrong. When Jesus Christ died and the temple veil was torn in two, it signified that the way to God through Christ is now open to everyone - no human priest needed because Jesus is our priest. Interestingly, this belief in soul competency and soul freedom really puts us in major disagreement with the Roman catholic church, which holds to sacerdotalism (the belief that people need priests to go between them and God; priestism). The catholic church believes that the soul is actually INcompetent and that the work of Jesus on the cross was not enough to redeem and that only human, priestly, catholic hands are competent for salvation.This is also why sacramentalism (the idea that sacraments automatically earn salvation) is wrong. There is no power in baptism or communion or any other sacrament to wash away sin or to give any sort of spiritual blessing or benefit. This doesn't mean the ordinances of baptism through total immersion and the Lord's Supper are useless, just that they are purely symbolic. Finally, rituals and ceremonies have their place, but not if they become empty and are done out of habit instead of a heart of worship. We Baptists are opposed to any church or person assuming the authority that belongs to the Scriptures alone, or intervening between a person and God. We strongly oppose any sort of church structure that calls for someone somewhere to tell a church what to do. As each person is competent and free to deal with God for themself, on their own, so each local church must be free and competent to deal with God on their own, answering to no human authority, pledging ultimate allegiance to Jesus Christ alone. While churches and Christians should cooperate for the work of God on earth, each person and each church must remain free to deal with God on their own, in their own way, with no one getting in the way or telling them how to do it.
- Ahh Monday. It was a good day. A lot of people are down on Mondays, but I think they're just Negative Nellies because I actually LIKE Mondays. On Monday I got into the office just a little after 9 am (which is the earliest I've been into the office in a LOOOOOOOOOONG time) and got a good amount of work done before heading out to Wayside to work the lunch crowd, then caught up with a few friends who were in town from college. After that, I went to the Bagel Shop in the Northeast to work for awhile, then when they close I went to read at Starbucks for awhile. It was a good day.- I'm gonna miss volunteering at Wayside for lunch on Mondays when summer comes. Next Monday will be the last one until the new school year. - On Tuesday I got into the office around 10 am (my usual arrival time) and worked for a couple of hours, then booked it to Hanks High School because I was told it was the last Youth for Christ campus club of the year. It wasn't, but it was so great to walk in and hardly recognize anyone because of all the new faces there. After that, I went to the Bagel Shop again for lunch and to work, then came back to the Eastside to look through some leadership development stuff at LifeWay. - On Wednesday, I spent some time in the morning at the office then went alll the way over to the Westside to meet a friend for lunch and to talk about some Northeast campus business. I saw UTEP basketball coach Tony Barbee and the coaching staff having lunch at Sunland Park Mall's food court while I was there (he's the one on the right end of the table in the lighter blue collared shirt):
Link: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v606/arielmz/coachbarbee.jpg- I think food courts are pretty strange, but that's because I'm used to Cielo Vista Mall where there's no food court because each restaurant has a small seating place inside of it. - After lunch, I went back to work at the office and then had a pretty good launch team meeting. - I was at the office most of the day on Thursday, so I took a break around 2:30 and headed over to Bux in the Northeast to read for awhile and hopefully talk to some people there. That was a big aspiration because I'm so stinkin naturally introverted. I didn't get to meet anybody, but I did get some good reading done. That evening Rick, Kristin, Alicia and I went to Village Inn and were seated in a different part of the restaurant than usual, and the service there was really bad. Next time, they won't laugh when I insist we sit in our normal places. - Friday was kind of a nice day to rest a little bit. I watched Paul Blart Mall Cop, and that was truly one of those films where the best scenes were all in the previews (which doesn't say much for the film). I ended up staying at home for pretty much the rest of the evening and resting.- Saturday was a busy but very productive day; first I helped some other guys load up 4 truckfuls and a trailer full of office furniture donations for the youth yard sale next weekend, then went to lunch with them all, then cleaned out my car, then showered, then headed out to the Northeast in order to look for an American flag car flag. I didn't find one, but I ended up having dinner with the MacKays and then playing a couple of rounds of Skip-Bo with them. Fun times, fun times.- This morning was just a great time being with other believers, talking with some of my church family, meeting new people, having lunch with my parents and the Pryors, then getting a haircut. Now, it's time to go unwind a bit and get ready for bed and for the zoo tomorrow!
Today's Friday Five ...five things I'm grateful for right now:
1. Being alive. Seriously. When I went to bed last night, I had no guarantee I'd wake up this morning; when I woke up this morning, I had no guarantee of living through as much of the day as I have; right now I have no guarantee that I'll live long enough to finish typing this post (though I sure hope I do!).
I remember when I was involved in a really bad car crash almost 7 years ago; I was hit, the airbag exploded, and for a moment, I thought I was dead. Thank God, I'm alive - even though it left me with permanent neck and back damage.
Or even just a few week ago - things could've gone very differently when I fell off my roof: I could've landed on my head and died, or been paralyzed, or at the least, I could've broken some bones. God has been so gracious to me, and I'm so very grateful to be alive.
2. Having a job. There are so many people in our city and in our country without jobs, and many more without job security, so I'm very grateful to have a job that I thoroughly enjoy, that seems to be pretty secure, and with great coworkers.
3. What God Says (aka The Bible). God's Word is simply amazing! It convicts, it rebukes, it encourages, it uplifts, it gives guidance, it provides wisdom, it corrects, it's so incredibly relevant for every single thing we'll encounter in our daily lives. It's amazing ...really, really amazing. It's such an incredible book; read more about it in my post from yesterday, then grab a Bible and read it for yourself.
4. Having food. I just ate a sandwich full of meat, with a pickle and some wheat thins on the side. Earlier today I had a good lunch. Last night I had a great dinner, and I had lunch yesterday, and even breakfast in the morning. So in the last 48 hours, I've had 5 full, pretty well rounded meals. Even in America, that's a luxury for a lot of people.
Sure, there are kids over in Africa or in Latin America who are starving and haven't eaten in days ...but that also happens here in America, even here in El Paso county! So when I pray before I eat and I thank God for my food, it's not just a token expression of gratitude - I really am so grateful to have something to eat.
5. Being loved. This one is perhaps the craziest thing to me: I am loved. Seriously loved. By a LOT of people. By some who society would dub really "cool" and by some who would be deemed "not cool". I'm loved, and I don't deserve it, and I'm extremely grateful for everyone - both family and friends - who loves me.
What are you grateful for?
In part 1 of What Baptists Believe, I wrote about some important differences between Baptists and other denominations, and especially about the difference between Baptists and Roman catholics.
In this post, I'm going to write about a very important Baptist distinctive - the one distinctive that probably separates us the most from Roman catholics. Please don't think that I'm bashing Roman catholics or that I think we're better than them - that's not it at all, but there are some very important differences to note - the biggest being the authority of the Scriptures.
We Baptists believe the Bible to be the authoritative revelation of God. The Old Testament was a partial revelation and the revelation was completed with the New Testament, thus we take the New Testament as the final and all-sufficient authority in all areas of doctrine, life, and polity (how we're organized and run). We have no creed or any other document that we recognize as authority over us - just the Bible. This is something for which we've historically been criticized, misunderstood, and even fiercely persecuted for.
Three of our major beliefs about the Bible are that:
1. The Bible is divine in origin. This means that it's not something that some people one day decided to write, but was conceived in the mind of God. The Bible was written in 3 different languages, over a period of about 1,500 years, by around 40 different men, many who had never met each other and who didn't even live at the same time as each other - and yet there's one consistent storyline throughout every book of the Bible - so clearly there is no way that anyone yet God could have come up with it.
2. The Bible is absolute in its authority. When the Bible speaks, there's an end to all controversy because it is supreme in its authority. For example, when science says something that contradicts the Bible, science is assumed to be wrong - not because of a blind faith in the Bible but because throughout history, the Bible has constantly proved to be more accurate and factual than science. The Bible has never been proved wrong by science; actually, science has only more and more verified the accuracy of the Bible.
Science on the other hand has been proven wrong many times over - such as when science had "proven" that humans could not safely travel in cars at speeds higher than around 20 - 30 miles per hour. Anybody who's ever been on a highway knows that in that case, science was wrong. In the end, when there is a conflict between what the Bible says and what humans say, we take our stand and say that we will trust God over humanity.
3. The Bible is all-sufficient in its message. In all areas of faith and practice, the Bible is the answer. Everything we need to know about life and Godliness and about eternal life is revealed in the Bible. Because the New Testament is the completed revelation of God, we also believe that the gift of prophecy has ceased because there is no need for further revelation. The Bible tells us all we need to know about the past, the present, and the future.
This belief of authority of the Scriptures stands in stark contrast to what other religious groups hold to. For example, Roman catholics believe that the catholic church is the supreme authority - even higher than the Word of God, the Bible. That doesn't mean they reject that the Bible has authority; it's simply inferior to the word of the Pope and the dogma of the church. Both the Council of Trent in 1564 and the Vatican Council in 1870 sealed this belief that the catholic church is the highest authority and that the word of the Pope is infallible and is supreme even over the word of God as found in the Bible.
Other religious groups believe that the Bible is only partially authoritative - that in essentials relating to salvation, it has authority but in non-essentials such as how to live day to day, it lacks any authority.
Still other groups would claim that authority for life lies in the conscience of the believer; basically an attitude of "if it feels good and right, do it" and that the Bible is accurate and has authority in someone's life only in the areas where it agrees with one's preconceived notions and beliefs. In other words, if someone believes something is right, that's what matters; if they happen to find a Bible verse that someway might support their belief, that's fine and dandy but basically irrelevant.
The problem with both partial authority and the authority of the individual is that there's no standard and so there would be utter chaos and confusion if everyone was free to decide for themself what was right and wrong. Murder might be wrong to one person but might be perfectly fine to another. If there's no standard, nobody would have the right to say murder is wrong.
Baptists hold that the Bible alone is the authority for the believer, but one might ask why the Bible is so reliable. Well there are four great reasons why:
1. The unity of the Bible. As was mentioned before, it was written by dozens of men in vastly different areas of the Palestine, was written over an incredible length of time, and was written by men from all different walks of life - shepherds, fishermen, kings, peasants, a tax collector, a doctor, and a religious man who was a murderer of those who didn't believe the same as he did. There is simply no way they could collaborate in producing this one book; they all wrote independently but the finished product formed one complete record with one incredible storyline. Certainly a book like that would have some claim to authority.
2. The history of the Bible. No other book has a history as scandalous, violent, controversial, famous, and repressed as the Bible. No other book has been banned and burned like the Bible. No other book has been the cause of murder for the men who translated it into other languages, courageous men like William Tyndale. So many scholars like Voltaire claimed that the Bible is irrelevant and would be forgotten in their generation, yet year after year the Bible continues to be the all-time best selling book. As a matter of fact, only about 100 years after Voltaire wrote his ridiculous claim, a Bible society had its headquarters in the same town where our friend Volty wrote wrote his fallacious, ridiculous prophecy. Certainly a book with that kind of history would have a claim to authority.
3. The message of the Bible. No other book, religious or secular, has the message that's found in the Bible. It reveals the character of God, it reveals the character of humanity, it presents a standard for living, and it discusses the afterlife. No other book in all of the history of literature could claim to hold the message that the Bible holds. Certainly the uniqueness of the message of the Bible compared to all other literature would merit its claim to authority.
4. The influence of the Bible. Similar to the uniqueness of the Bible is the influence of the Bible. No other book has had a worldwide impact like the Bible has. It has transformed societies, brought comfort in despair, encouraged the downtrodden; everything that is good in society has its roots in the Bible. Monarchs and Americans Presidents alike have declared the importance of the Bible's influence in society; Andrew Jackson said that the Bible is "the rock upon which our Republic stands" and Woodrow Wilson spoke of the supremacy of the Bible in American affairs. This is why from the time that pilgrims landed on the shores of New England to the inauguration of modern day Presidents, the Bible has taken center stage. Certainly such an influential book would have a claim to authority.
So clearly we Baptists have great reason to place such authority in what God says, in the Word of God, in the Scriptures - in the Bible. But what how do we respond to such a book?
If we accept the Bible as our sole authority for life and Godliness, then we'd better know what it teaches. We should recognize how intensely interesting the Bible is and read it daily, being consumed by the incredible message and intrigue of the Scriptures. The message of the Bible is the hope of the world, so not only should we know it, we should make it known through public preaching and personal teaching.
The Bible is our sole authority for life and Godliness and it's message is the only hope of the world, so let's know it and make it known.
