Pastor's Newsletter (2.28.23)
Coffee with Pastor is a weekly newsletter from Pastor Painter for the Lincoln Baptist Church
Good Morning,
The Bible speaks highly of faithfulness,"Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land that they may dwell with me..." (Psalm 101:6) It should be our desire to be faithful in our life. We should be faithful to our God, our family, and our church. May this thought challenge our hearts and minds this week.
"RELIGION IS NOT A MATTER OF FITS, STARTS AND STOPS, BUT AN EVERYDAY AFFAIR." - DAVID LIVINGSTONE
We have had another great week here at the Lincoln Baptist Church. I am hopeful that this snow last week is the last blast of winter as we turn the corner to spring. We saw a lot of updates around the church this week as we wrap things up for our Grand Opening Sunday this week.
On Saturday we had a singles activity with our young people where we went putt-putt golfing. Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time.
On Sunday morning we had right around 140 in attendance with four adult visitors. There was also one saved in the junior church as well. Praise the Lord!
I am praying for y'all this week. The Devil is fighting as usual, but we have to keep our eyes on Jesus as we continue on.
-Pastor Jonathan Painter
Which person in the Bible had no parents?
(Joshua the son of Nun) 😂😂😂
This is a bonus thought from the Bible Study last Wednesday night. If you missed the Bible Study you can watch it here.
Wednesday night in the Bible study I taught on the membership of the church. I mentioned that the requirements to become a member and described what a church of "like faith and practice" is. In this article I will explain how even many "BAPTIST" churches these days are not churches of "like faith and practice".
ARE ALL BAPTISTS THE SAME?
We are firmly an independent, fundamental, premillennial Baptist church. We make no apologies for this, nor are we ashamed of it. We believe that we are identified by the doctrine we believe and that as long as our doctrine is true and our ministerial labors are right that our authority is one of the Lord's New Testament churches.
Yet sadly, not all Baptist churches have held to the proper doctrine of God. Having "departed from the faith" we then believe that such churches are not of "like faith and practice" and therefore lack the authority needed from God to be considered one of His churches. Here are a few examples.
SOME BAPTIST CHURCHES ARE NOT KING JAMES ONLY.
Not all Baptist churches hold our view on the authority of the King James Bible. In 2009 the GARB (General Association of Regular Baptist) council of Eighteen added the ESV to the list of translations approved for their authors to use in their printed publications. This list of "acceptable translations" includes the KJV, ASV, Berkley Version, and Williams Translation. If a church does not hold to the authority of the King James Bible they are not considered to be a church of like faith and practice.
SOME BAPTIST CHURCHES TEACH CALVANIST DOCTRINE.
Many Reformed Baptist churches teach the doctrine of Calvinism which states that man is predestined to Heaven or Hell. This is a belief that is contrary to the Scriptures. We believe that everyone has an opportunity to choose to be saved. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13)
SOME BAPTIST CHURCHES REJECT THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
Primitive Baptists believe in the Authority of the King James Bible and at least claim not to believe in the Calvinist doctrine. Yet, they believe that even the act of accepting God's gift of grace, that is to trust Christ as our Saviour, is a good work and unnecessary for salvation. They teach that anyone who has a belief in God regardless of religion is saved. We believe that the Scriptures are clear that the mere belief in God is insufficient for salvation.
"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." (James 2:17)
SOME BAPTIST CHURCHES APPOINT WOMAN PASTORS
Women in the pastorate are not as common among Baptists as among some other denominations. Even so, the popularity of woman's leadership in the church has been increasing even among Baptists. We believe that the ordination of women as pastors goes against what is laid out in Scripture. We believe women play an incredibly important role, but they are unable to meet the Scriptural requirements to hold the office of pastor. Therefore a church that was led by a woman pastor would not be a church of like faith and practice.
I believe these four points of doctrine serve to illustrate how just because a church uses the name Baptist does not make them of like faith and practice. We must beware, Satan is a deceiver and he has indeed confused many.
