Another site update
Articles & Writings
Another site update
Categories: News, 124 wordsSend feedback • PermalinkOn 8/21/2006 I moved the site to b2evolution, which I like a lot. Mambo is good, but B2 is more suited to my needs.
As I said with the change to Mambo, you may still find things here that offend you. I understand that. But it does not change the truth or people's need for truth. I am not trying to be shocking or controversial just for the sake of getting attention. That sort of gratuitious flamboyance draws attention away from the truths we value and gets people distracted on our "extreme" measures. However, in these hyper-sensitive days, the most benign and seemingly obvious of truth has become offensive. That cannot be helped if we are to remain true to the Word of God.
Bible-correcting Fundamental Baptists
Categories: Doctrine, 167 wordsSend feedback • PermalinkThis is from the tail end of a discussion I was in about Bible correctors among fundamental Baptists.
Well, so much for Wycliffe's desire "that every man ... might read in the tongue wherein he was born the wonderful works of God." It's amazing to me that these men, just like the Catholics in Wycliffe's day, think we cannot understand the Bible without having access to the original languages, and think we cannot produce a Bible that does not require the common man to either have access to the originals or (as they would prefer) depend on the scholars to help him get the best understanding of his Bible. Who was going to guide me into all truth? The originals? The scholars? Or was it the Holy Ghost?
--BC
P.S. According to these men, there will never be a Bible faithful enough to the originals for them to get weaned off the original languages. Because the standard of faithful translation is their scholarship and their own measure.
Musings on suffering
Categories: Doctrine, Practical Living, 2361 wordsSend feedback • PermalinkSome time back while studying Hebrews 2, a thought occurred to me: Suffering made Jesus what he is today. Now, we know that Jesus knew all things from the point of view of scientific knowledge. But he did not know all things experientially ("...yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered"). That stayed with me. Below are several of my musings on the topic. Perhaps they will at some point be part of a more formal writing.
(Note: this has not been editted much; it's mostly as I originally wrote it, so it's somewhat raw)The word "suffer" seems akin to permit or endure (Matthew 3:15, "...suffer it to be so...", 1 Timothy 2:12, "...I suffer not a woman to teach..."). Carries the distinct connotation of "going through" something. The latin root meaning (transliterated) "to bear under." That latin root, ferre, may be akin to the word ferry. It cannot be separated from endure, actually.
By its definition, it implies discomfort, whether physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, or other. We do not "suffer" things that please us - we enjoy them. We do not endure comfort, we welcome it. We may endure something which is not painful, but whatever we endure is almost always uncomfortable. That is how we define these things in our mind. Comfort and discomfort do not co-exist, and by the same token, then, neither do enjoyment and enduring, or pleasure and suffering (at least, not to the carnal man).
Can a Woman Be a Man of God?
Categories: Doctrine, 2133 wordsSend feedback • PermalinkIn this day of religious toleration and widespread acceptance of "new and better" things, many long-held beliefs and practices have come under scrutiny. Claiming that so much of old-fashioned religion is too old-fashioned for this modern day, many have joined a revolution that seeks to challenge doctrines which are incompatible with current trends. Such examination is not intrinsically wrong; yea, we should abandon doctrines and practices which do not pass Biblical standards. One of the doctrines receiving such a challenge in the last 100 years has been that of the gender boundaries of a preacher. For long, most agreed that God would only use a man as a preacher. Since the late 1800's (particularly since Azusa Street in 1906-1908), many have claimed otherwise, saying our Lord equally considers a woman as a candidate for a preacher. When the debates have ended, the dust has settled, and the hair has quit flying, this question from Galatians 4:30 remains concerning whether God uses women as preachers: "Nevertheless what saith the scripture?"
Christmas
Categories: Doctrine, 1685 wordsSend feedback • Permalink...Good Tidings of Great Joy Which Shall Be to All People...
Luke 2:10A Christian Perspective on Christmas
By Pastor Billy Ball
It never ceases to amaze me how that every year we seem to have another preacher come around and go to great lengths to try to discourage God's people from committing the awful sin of celebrating the birth of our blessed Lord, a time otherwise known as Christmas. Yes, I knew it was about time for another message pronouncing woe upon those who would be so wicked as to get excited about what the Word of God said would be "good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people."What these preachers need to realize is that Christians are not necessarily celebrating Christ's birthday so much as we are celebrating His birth! And they cannot deny that His birth was celebrated, as we shall see a little later in this message.
The funny thing it that most of the time the ones who get upset are probably those same preachers who had just finished celebrating Thanksgiving, another national holiday not found in the Bible. You see, that seems to be one of their main reasons for not celebrating Christmas - "the early church didn't do it, so we shouldn't either."
I should probably remind them that there are several things which we celebrate today that are not found to be observed by N.T. Christians, things that are surely less significant than the incarnation or human birth of the Son of God. For instance, I don't read anything about early Christians celebrating their own birthdays or their children's birthdays. Have you ever done that, preacher? What about celebrating your parents' 50th wedding anniversary? What about sending a $25.00 flower arrangement to lay on a dead person's grave? Or maybe saluting a flag with your hand over your heart? What about that evil high school graduation? Oh, and I almost forgot about fireworks on the 4th of July and New Year's Day!
Can a Christian Watch TV and Still Be Right with God?
Categories: Doctrine, Practical Living, 1202 wordsSend feedback • PermalinkDo you set wicked things before your eyes?
In our age of never-ending entertainment, it seems there is always something to keep our minds occupied. By far the thing that is best at keeping our attention must be the television.
While Momma is busy cleaning house, the children can sit in front of the TV and leave her with little worry about whether they are getting into trouble. Dad can watch his favorite sports teams on Saturday afternoon. Mom can keep up with her "stories" every weekday afternoon. And, after a good supper, the entire family can catch the local and world news. Then they can all sit back and enjoy a good movie on one of the Big Three networks. Or they may even be able to see their favorite stars in their latest theater release, available on video only months after it was at the local cinema.
It all seems so harmless, doesn't it? But is it really? Or is the devil using the television to put things in our minds that we would not normally allow him to put there ? Let's examine four reasons that a Christian should exercise extreme caution with regard to television, including the rental of videos.
How to Lose Your Children
Categories: Practical Living, 2602 wordsSend feedback • PermalinkEphesians 6:1-4
Colossians 3:21It seems that there are so many children today who have no respect for their parents, which many parents blindly believe is a fulfillment of 2 Tim 3:2 (...disobedient to parents ...). And although many children are rebellious against parents who train them up right, and children are accountable for their actions, many are provoked to such behavior by parents who obviously do not obey the scriptures themselves, especially the text scriptures from Ephesians & Colossians. So, having that in mind, and knowing from experience and observation the widespread nature of this problem, I would like to show you seven ways you can lose your children by "provoking them to wrath."
Confronting the Issue of Smoking in the Life of a Christian
Categories: Practical Living, 1295 wordsSend feedback • PermalinkSurely one of the most troublesome topics for Christians today is the issue of smoking. Is it a sin, or just a matter of preference for each individual? Does it really matter whether or not someone smokes? Can someone who smokes be right with the Lord? Much has been said both for and against smoking by saved and lost people alike. But, as with any issue, we can find the truth about the matter from God's Word and can know of a certainty whether smoking is something that should be found in the life of a Christian.
If you get your feelings hurt easily, maybe you should learn to love God's Word before you read any more of this. Psalm 119:165, "Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them." Or if you have made up your mind that, whatever the Word of God says, you are going to continue smoking, then please put this tract down because you are just wasting God's time and yours. Moreover, according to Proverbs 29:1, God may be tired of dealing with you already. "He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." But if you have an open heart, and want to know what God says, then please read on. What you are about to read may change your life forever.
Do reglious people still persecute others?
Categories: Events of Our Day, 851 wordsSend feedback • PermalinkDo reglious people still persecute others?
(originally written in 1997)For several years our church had a Sunday afternoon broadcast on a local radio station. For almost 30 years, the station had been country-western station. On Sundays, they played gospel music and had preaching all day. In mid-1994 someone bought the station and decided to make it a full-time "Christian" station. Well, from the start we could tell that it was going to be more ecumenical than anything, because they played almost any music that called itself Christian, even rock-n-roll. They still took ads for events that were sponsored by beer companies. We also noticed that they wanted to allow anyone on the air who claimed to be called to preach, whether it be a woman, a Pentecostal, a Methodist, a "non-denominational," whatever. No matter whether you had one wife or forty-eight, as long as you paid the money, you could preach. They also emphasized that they were now "Love radio." Yes, tolerant, compromising, no-stance-on-anything, I-wouldn't-yell-snake-if-it-was-around-my-neck love!
Arrested for Street Preaching
Categories: Events of Our Day, 793 wordsSend feedback • PermalinkOur church has been preaching on the streets since Autumn of 1991. Our ministry has involved handing out tracts on the street, holding scripture signs, and, of course, preaching. Besides the usual heckling and obscene gestures, we had virtually no trouble from anyone - until June of 1996.
What changed?
To put it simply, two things changed: the content of our signs, and the location where we hold them.
First, we changed the content of our signs. Instead of just having signs that said, "Jesus saves" and such (which are all very good), we added some new signs. They were these:* If you died TODAY, would you be in heaven or hell?
* How can ye escape the damnation of Hell? (Matt 23:33) Repent ye, and believe the gospel! (Mark 1:15)
* Homosexuality is abomination according to God's Word.
* Three gay rights: AIDS, Hell, or salvation
* If a man lie with a man as with a woman, both have committed abomination.
* Is your sin really worth going to hell over?
* Pro-choice = dead babies
* Murder is not a choice.
How Could God Let This Happen?
Categories: Events of Our Day, 1340 wordsSend feedback • Permalink(originally written in the summer of 1995)
Just after the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, it seems there were many questions we asked of ourselves and even of God Himself. I would like to address our perplexity with some answers from God's Word.
