Resolutions

Hearing What GOD Says

/ Tim A. / 1 Comment

“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, ‘Yea, hath God said, ‘Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’  And the woman said unto the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ‘Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.’  And the serpent said unto the woman, ‘Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.'” Genesis 3:1-5 (KJV)

There are a lot of people making or who have already made what we call “Resolutions” for this New Year.  They usually last until they make us uncomfortable, or until we lose interest; and it just becomes another day, and another year.  As we look at the Scripture above there is one thing we Christians need to learn, and that is HEARING THE WORD OF THE LORD.

Evidently Eve did not hear it right or it was told to her with error, of course by Adam.

Let us ask at least one question here;  Who or what is the serpent?  He was a subtle creature, and the devil, Satan inhabited his body for one distinct purpose; and that was to deceive the woman Eve.  The first thing Satan does it question the word of God.  “Yea, has God said???”  The minute, even the second the devil places doubt in our minds concerning the word of God a “Red flag” of warning should go up in our minds.

It does not help if one does not know what God said.  It seems by the text that she adds to God’s original commandment.  God’s commandment was,

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” 2:16-17

Thus, Eve clearly opens a door of doubt in which for Satan to enter.

In the beginning of this year of 2013; let us who are born of God through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ pray daily for hearing the word of God correctly; and by the Spirit of God live it as we truly believe it.  Let us live it in our family, our play, our work place, our place of business, and at our place of worship.

-Tim A. Blankenship

Resolution On Regenerate Church Membership

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It has been reported for several years that the SBC has over 16,000,000 million members, and we know that just over 6,000,000 are faithful attenders.  This may be because the majority of those whose names are on church rolls have never truly been born again, or have not been properly discipled.

The following is the resolution recently passed by majority vote of those present at the annual SBC meeting in Indianapolis, IN..  There is one thing for sure.  The Church of Jesus Christ is made up of only those who know Jesus and are known by Him.  I am one who is happy that this resolution has passed.  It is not the answer to the problem, but it is an encouragement.

Here is the resolution in its entirety from the BaptistPress blog:

Complete text of amended membership resolution
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 – 4:43:00 PM

Following is the amended version of the resolution passed this morning, “On Regenerate Church Membership and Church Member Restoration.” Messengers passed two amendments to the original resolution. (See previous post in this blog.) Additions are in bold here:

 

WHEREAS, The ideal of a regenerate church membership has long been and remains a cherished Baptist principle, with Article VI of the Baptist Faith and Message describing the church as a “local congregation of baptized believers”; and

 

WHEREAS, A New Testament church is composed only of those who have been born again by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Word, becoming disciples of Jesus Christ, the local church’s only Lord, by grace through faith (John 3:5; Ephesians 2:8-9), which church practices believers’ only baptism by immersion (Matthew 28:16-20), and the Lord’s supper (Matthew 26:26-30); and

 

WHEREAS, Local associations, state conventions, and the Southern Baptist Convention compile statistics reported by the churches to make decisions for the future; and

 

WHEREAS, the 2007 Southern Baptist Convention annual Church Profiles indicate that there are 16,266,920 members in Southern Baptist churches; and

 

WHEREAS, Those same profiles indicate that only 6,148,868 of those members attend a primary worship service of their church in a typical week; and

 

WHEREAS, The Scriptures admonish us to exercise church discipline as we seek to restore any professed brother or sister in Christ who has strayed from the truth and is in sin (Matthew 18:15-35; Galatians 6:1); and now, therefore, be it

 

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 10-11, 2008, urge churches to maintain a regenerate membership by acknowledging the necessity of spiritual regeneration and Christ’s lordship for all members; and be it further

 

RESOLVED, That we humbly urge our churches to maintain accurate membership rolls for the purpose of fostering ministry and accountability among all members of the congregation; and be it further

 

RESOLVED, That we urge the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention to repent of the failure among us to live up to our professed commitment to regenerate church membership and any failure to obey Jesus Christ in the practice of lovingly correcting wayward church members (Matthew 18:15-18); and be it further

 

RESOLVED, That we humbly encourage denominational servants to support and encourage churches that seek to recover and implement our Savior’s teachings on church discipline, even if such efforts result in the reduction in the number of members that are reported in those churches, and be it finally

 

RESOLVED, That we humbly urge the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention and their pastors to implement a plan to minister to, counsel, and restore wayward church members based upon the commands and principles given in Scripture (Matthew 18:15-35; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; Galatians 6:1; James 5:19-20).

 

That which is in bold print are ammendments which were not part of the first presentation, and were passed by the body.

-Tim A. Blankenship