Near my home in Canton a local Baptist church is hosting a Sunday night conference this next Sunday that is titled “5 Points to Calvanism” with special guest Jerry Grace. I am not sure why Calvin all of a sudden became hard to spell but this is not the first time we have seen this.

Nevertheless, I do not know Jerry Grace personally other than the blog that he writes that I found this morning. Most of his topics dealing with Calvinism (and yes he knows how to spell it) have been rather subdued and reasonable. Although, I was only able to skim the most recent they seem to be somewhat fair. At least they were not hateful. However, when I decided to go back further and see what he had previously written in years past it seems that Mr. Grace has toned it down in the recent months. I can’t be for sure, because I have not had time to read everything. Grace is more dedicated to writing than most and his entries can be rather lengthy. According to his earlier post, he has a problem with Calvinist, Founders Ministries, Al Mohler, and the leadership in the SBC, not necessarily in that order.

Regardless of how Jerry Grace feels about any of these things, the fact that churches in the central Mississippi area are actually discussing doctrine rather than musical taste is really encouraging. I mean, wasn’t that the point of the Conservative Resurgence? When the Conservative Resurgence decided to hang their hat on the inerrancy of Scripture debate, I wonder if they ever imagined that they would have to discuss what Scripture actually taught after they won the battle.

No matter what is taught this Sunday night and no matter what light that the doctrines of grace is shown in, we will at least know that God is still in control and He will glorify Himself. Please pray for Jerry as he has a hard topic to discuss in a one hour presentation. I do not envy him.

Mid-South Men’s Rally

with Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
Friday, January 25 at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson

Men, this is an opportunity for fathers and grandfathers to spend quality, spiritual, relational time with their sons and grandsons. This is also an opportunity for Christian men to invite both Christian and non-Christian friends, neighbors, colleagues and acquaintances to an uplifting gathering of men. And, in general, for all of the men to join with others from around the state and region—to share time in the Word, to enjoy rich fellowship, and booming male voices belting out praise to the Redeemer. We expect a big crowd, so plan to be here and be here early. Following supper, Dr. Al Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, will speak at 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. A frequent guest on network news programs, he has been called “an articulate voice for conservative Christianity at large.” Dr. Mohler hosts a daily radio program for the Salem Radio Network. For more, access his website, www.albertmohler.com.

 

5:15 - 6:30 p.m. Dinner in Miller Hall
Bookstore Open

6:30 - 7:30 p.m. Session I

7:30 - 8:00 p.m. Break
Refreshments in
Miller Hall
Bookstore Open

8:00 - 9:00 p.m. Session II

*No advance registration is necessary, and there is no charge for dinner. A freewill offering will be taken during the service.

**Adapted from First Presbyterian Church, Jackson’s website.

This has been the first time that I have been by a computer since the beginning of the conference. I would have tried to update everyone while at the church, but lighting struck the power lines and knocked out all but one of our computers and everyone has been using it for one reason or another. Coincidently, our phones were knocked out as well. So if you have been trying to get a hold of someone at the church, please call me on my cell phone (601) 906-7710 and I will try to forward your message. If you get my voicemail, which you will if you call me during one of our sessions, please leave a message and I will try to call you back.

All these things aside, we have had a wonderful time. Dr. Joe Nesom preached on the “Consistency of the Word” and showed how through both the Old and New Testament that Christ is shown as our Prophet, Priest, and King. Rev. David Miller preached on the “Conversion and the Word” and admonished us stop using programs or and modern tactics to try to “grow” our churches but “preach the Word.” He reminded us that it is the only way that we are going to see true conversions of sinners into disciples. It was incredible to hear such wonderful preaching. What a great way to start the conference. We also had a great time of fellowship afterwards at our dessert fellowship.

This morning Rev. Huey Moak preached on the “Power of the Word.” He showed that the word of God knows us through and through and has the power to reveal to us our own sin and the power to change us. Next, Rev. Todd Wilson preached on the “Sufficiency of the Word” and showed us that although the Southern Baptist may have fought and won the battle over inerrancy, we have a long way to go before we win the battle on sufficiency.

Tonight we return to hear Rev. Isaac Makashinyi preach on the “Perspicuity of the Word” and Rev. David Miller will be preaching on “Calling and Election of the Word.” I can’t wait.

All sessions are available at Sermon Audio for a free download.

We also nominated several men to serve on a future board of directors for the Deep South Regional Founders Conference. We will vote on the nominations tomorrow morning.

If you have not joined us yet, there is still time.

The reason I chose this image was because it reminds me that the Word of God is like a double-edged sword and that as “iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” These two thoughts quickly lead me to the upcoming Founders conference.

As January 10th draws near I am getting more excited about the upcoming Deep South Regional Founders Conference. Although I am looking forward to hearing the great preaching that is surely to edify our souls, I am also looking forward to seeing brothers and sisters in Christ that share our views and goals for the Southern Baptist Convention. In fact, just last week I was able to talk to a couple of brothers that live on opposite ends of the state. One is a young pastor that is a recent graduate of a seminary and has recently taken a position with a FBC in north Mississippi. The other is an evangelist from the coast that has spent many years making trips to Mexico and Guatemala working with local pastors to help reform their churches. Both are from different backgrounds and circumstances, but both working for the same Lord for the same purpose, “Jesus Christ and him crucified.” What a great encouragement to know that I have brothers all across this state, some known but most unknown, working together yet separately in the field that our Lord has placed us.

I hope that you will use the upcoming conference to meet your brothers and sisters that are “contend[ing] for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” It is always an encouragement to see so many of our brothers and sisters. Most are shocked to know that there are so many Reformed Baptist ministers in the state and region. The second thing that usually shocks us is that our story is not that different. We are not alone in our struggles to see the churches that our Lord has placed us in start reforming, to see our congregants lead holy lives, and the lost come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Please consider joining us during January 10-12 for fellowship and edification.

If you have not already listened to the debates given at the recent Founders/Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary conference on Calvinism then please take time to listen to them for free here.

I would love to know your opinion about the sessions. I know that I might jump ahead to listen to Dr. Yarnell’s session, because because of the following quote from the November 29, Baptist Press:

The “classical” Calvinism of the 16th century advocated doctrines unacceptable to Baptists: the baptism of infants, sacraments as means of grace and an amillennial view of the end of the world, among other doctrines, Yarnell said in the session titled “Calvinism: A Cause for Rejoicing, a Cause for Concern.” By the same token, he added, 16th-century Calvinism would reject Baptist emphases such as adult baptism and being born again, and would be uncomfortable with evangelicals talking about a “personal relationship” with Jesus Christ. (Emphasis Added)

Should be interesting to say the least.

I will be heading down to Lakeshore Baptist Church with two other families from CBC to spend the Thanksgiving holidays. I will be taking my family with me, so please pray for us. Jude, my youngest son, seems to be suffering from a cold. It ought to make the trip interesting to say the least.

Lakeshore BC is still working really hard to rebuild their community and proclaim Christ to a lost world that has been almost completely ignored by the mainstream media. Please visit Rebuild Lakeshore to find out how you can help.

Also, there has been a special call for seminary students who would like to spend their spring and summer semesters volunteering in Lakeshore can be credited through the NAMB. Please check out their information here.

Thanks to all who attended the Breakfast this morning. Bro. Mark was gracious to provide a question and answer time during the breakfast. As always, Bro. Mark was very helpful and encouraging with our many questions. I am sure that we could have spent all day asking Bro. Mark questions about church and missions. Most of us were able to attend the lecture on preaching that followed our breakfast, which was again very edifying. Bro. Mark spoke on techniques and application of preaching. This was a conclusion of three days of lectures at RTS.

For those who are able, Bro. Mark will be at First Presbyterian tomorrow and Saturday providing a seminar on healthy churches, which is part of his 9Marks Ministry. He also indicated that he will be preaching a First Presbyterian Sunday morning.

I know that I should have posted this earlier so that others could prepare, but if your church celebrated a Reformation Celebration we would be happy to hear about it.  If you have pictures, please send them our way or better yet, send us the link so that everyone can enjoy them.

Castlewoods Baptist celebrated our 2nd Annual “After Darkness…Light! Reformation Celebration.”  Our children and youth dressed up as heroes of the Reformation and people were allowed to have a tour of the Reformers.  Hopefully, I will have pictures up real soon.

As most of you know, Dr. Mark Dever will be preaching at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson during the John Reed Miller Lecture Series on November 6-8. I have just been informed by Josh Dear, the manager of the RTS Bookstore, that Dr. Dever has agreed to join us for a Mississippi Founders Breakfast on November 8 at 9:00 a.m. at the Solid Ground Cafe located just past Grace Chapel on the RTS campus.

Please come and join us for this special event. The event is free, but we will be accepting a free-will offering for those who would like to give to offset the cost of hosting the event. If you would like more information, please email Josh Dear at jmdear@samford.edu

I found this video on Don Elbourne’s website Rebuild Lakeshore. I thought that it was so good that it deserved another posting.  Be sure to check out Don’s comments about the video on his blog.