God's Self-Revelation

That God has revealed Himself in historical circumstances comes as no surprise considering the Bible is steeped in history. The Bible opens with a historical account of the origin of the universe, man, and sin. Those who attempt to accommodate faulty science and archaeology yet want to keep the Bible for its ethical teachings claim the Bible is not a history book. They are mistaken because the Bible is a history book. It is the...

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Names of God

One of the ways God chose to reveal His character to man was through the use of different names. Several names for God are recorded in Scripture, each one identifying an aspect of His nature and character. In Hebrew, God’s names generally fall into two groupings. The first is the El group. El is the Hebrew word for God that signifies His strength and faithfulness. His promises and covenantal relationship are grounded by the fact...

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Knowing God by Name

How can an infinite being make Himself known to His finite creatures? How can finite man even begin to have a relationship with a being unless he has an idea of the type of person he is? God has chosen to reveal His characteristics in His names. In American society we have a hard time relating to the importance of a name. When a new acquaintance calls me “Jim”, he still has no idea about my personality traits. In ancient...

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Small Church Life, Part 1

Several years ago, while I was still serving in the Air Force, my family and I moved to Asheville, NC. As a young couple with three young children, we intentionally set out to find a larger church with lots of activities and programs for children. For some unknown reason, the Lord led us away from the dozens of large Southern Baptist Churches...

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Small Church Life

Over the past several years, I have heard a very one-sided diatribe against small churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. In some of my seminary classes I heard professors urging students to avoid “taking” established churches, and instead seek to plant new ones. “Established churches are full of a bunch of old people who are set in...

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Deep Riches: The Offensive God

Is God offensive? Go over to Deep Riches to find o...

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The Offensive God

Concerning the Old Testament representation of God, the two significant offenses to the modern mind are the first and second commandments. “You shall have no other gods before me” has been violated by man since the Garden of Eden. This, the first commandment, is God’s commandment against worshipping false gods. Eve was the first to violate this command when she wanted to elevate herself to the place of God by partaking of the...

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GCR Report Impressions, Part 8

It has been several days since I began posting on the GCR Interim Report. I have elaborated on my opinion of five of the six components of the report. Component #6 raises many of the same questions I have already asked concerning funding and the Cooperative Program. As the report says, it is more symbolic than substantive. It cannot be fully...

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GCR Report Impressions, Part 7

While I applaud the reaffirmation of the Cooperative Program stated in the fifth component of the report, previous elements seem to undermine it. Eliminating cooperative agreements between NAMB and State Conventions will garner the unintended consequence of dramatically reducing CP dollars being sent from the states. They will be forced to...

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