The following portions are quoted from http://www.allaboutbaptists.com/distinctives.html:

A. INDIVIDUAL SOUL LIBERTY

“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
~ 2 Corinthians 3:17
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”   ~  Galations 5:1
“But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”   ~ James 1:25

Baptists have had a long-term determination to adhere to the Biblical doctrine that they call “Individual Soul Liberty.”
Church history verifies that Christians have died for this principle.  The teaching that individuals are sovereign in matters of faith is one that Baptists will not compromise.
The individual soul is answerable to Almighty God and to Him alone.  This precludes giving up that independency to a pope, a priest, a system, an organization, a convention, a fellowship, an association, or any other human being.  None of these are given the authority to interpose anything whatsoever between the individual believer and God concerning any matter of faith.

To demand, whether directly or indirectly, that believers submit to any kind of authoritarian rule is both unscriptural and, in fact, questionable.  This generation has seen its Jim Jones’s and David Karesh’s.  Whenever believers give up their individual soul liberty in favor of following the demands of another person or affiliation, they do indeed compromise this essential doctrine of the faith.

B. PRIESTHOOD OF THE BELIEVER

According to the Scriptures, every born-again believer has access to God.  This was secured by Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. We are to have “boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10:19).”  Furthermore, the Holy Spirit enables our access as we “have access by one Spirit to the Father (Ephesians 2:18).”

C. BIBLICAL AUTHORITY

A. Children Dedicated to God’s Service

(I Samuel 1:11, 27-28) And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head… For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.

B. Jesus’ View of Discipleship

(Matthew 10:35-37) For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

(Luke 12:51-53) Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

(Luke 14:25-27) And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

*We can at least conclude from Jesus’ view of discipleship that God’s plan and parents’ perspectives are not always synonymous.

C. The Apostles’ View of Discipleship

(Acts 4:19) But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.

(Acts 5:29) Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

From Scripture, we find that God has ordained three specific human institutions. These institutions are government, church, and family. The issue at hand is the timing of when a child attains adulthood and becomes personally responsible to God instead of the parents being held responsible for that child. Scripture does not state in black and white when this time begins. What do the God-ordained institutions say?

The United States government views an individual as an independent adult at the age of 18. Criminals are tried as adults at age 18. The parents do not suffer the punishment if their 18 year old son goes and steals a car, the 18 year old delinquent does. An individual is personally responsible for paying taxes at age 18 and so forth. The God ordained institution of government that we are presently under considers an individual an adult at the age of 18. Christians are to obey the ordinances of government unless they contradict scripture. Take a portion of I Peter 2 for instance:

(1 Peter 2:13-17)  Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

Also consider a portion of Romans 13. We are to submit to the government for the sake of our own conscience:

(Romans 13:1-5) Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.

The United States constitution, nor its amendments, nor any Supreme Court decision has ever extended parental authority over an adult offspring. The United States government views a person as an adult at age 18, holding the responsibilities and consequences of such fact. Even though our present government has historically contradicted Scripture many times, there is no proof that the United States government is currently doing so in the manner of adulthood. Therefore, we are subject to this ordinance. The present institution of government considers an individual accountable as an adult at age 18.

The second institution to be considered is the local church. Local churches differ on the issue. The local church should be fueled and driven by the Scriptures. However, different local churches differ on the matter. As a Baptist, the Scriptures hold the final authority and not government or local church. But principles from these can offer insight. Matthew 18 shows that when we join a local church we are making ourselves accountable to that local church. I would be weary to join a local church where the Pastor teaches for parents to make major decisions for their adult children. It denies individual soul liberty and hints of cultism. Romans 14 states that there are some grey issues within our churches that are not perfectly clear. The conclusion is to use individual soul liberty “for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ (Rom. 14:10-11).” When Scripture does not speak plainly on an issue, Christians must make decisions keeping in mind that we all will stand individually before Christ and give account for our lives. If we cannot make a decision out of faith, then it is sin (14:23).

Last (but definitely not least) is the institution of the family. A family must take a systematic approach of Scripture and compare everything on the topic and not just select portions of Scripture. Like local churches, many families differ on their conclusions from Scripture. In such a matter, solid objective council is a must. Proverbs 11:14 states if someone seeks a multitude of dependable objective council, the decision will generally be the right one.

Ephesians 5:22-6:4 gives an outline of a Spirit-filled and unified family. This is God’s design for the family. This should be every household’s goal. The husband is ordained to leadership and accountable for his household. He should take the initiative for the direction and unity of his wife and children. This does not give a husband license to be a dictator. It is the responsibility of a man to raise his son to lead like this. Therefore, Christian men that aspire to marriage should always be honing leadership qualities and character.

Since the theme of Ephesians is unity, it is a no-brainer that Paul teaches the Ephesian churches in this epistle about practical unity between children and their parents. The child still at home is to obey his/her parents. This passage makes an obvious reference to Exodus 20. In Old Testament times in Israel, there were no government programs to enforce obedience to parents. There were no reform schools. If a child wandered from the faith or lived a rebellious lifestyle against his mother and father, he was stoned by the assembly. No “if’s” or “but’s” about it. The provision in the Mosaic Law that held children in check from rebelliously leaving the faith and staunchly dishonoring their parents was the fear of capital punishment. Capital punishment was not so much a provision for parents to demand blind obedience from their children, but was to reinforce faithfulness to Jehovah through the Mosaic covenant.

Today, a child still retains the God-given responsibility to obey and honor the parents. The terms “obedience” and “honour” are both used in Eph. 6. They are both commands. However, the terms are not synonymous. “Obey” means to heed or conform to authority. Children within the household are to obey their parents because ultimately they are obeying God. Little children do not always have the experience, foresight, wisdom, or discernment to make solid and wise life decisions. Therefore, children need to obey their parents because their mother and father often do possess these qualities. “Honour” retains a different definition than “obey.” “Honour” means to fix a valuation upon or to revere (Strong’s Concordance). Obedience means to follow in suit while honor means to give a good name. Obedience is a temporary responsibility until adulthood. Honor is a permanent responsibility (http://drtimwhite.com/category/ephesians-class/). A child must obey until he leaves home, but he must honor for the rest of his life.

Blind obedience is not what it takes to honor a parent. Living a life surrendered to God and His plan is what it takes to honor a parent. Everywhere we go, we must always be giving our parents a good name. Our lifestyle and level of commitment to God best determines what kind of reputation we are giving our parents. If we live lifestyles that honor our parents and are pleasing to God, we will not contract diseases from sinful habits (lung cancer, liver problems, STD’s). We will most likely live a long life span. This is a general principle. Surely we cannot say every young person or teenager who has died, did so because they disobeyed and dishonored their parents. That is simply not the case and Scripture does not give us the freedom to place God in that strict of a box. As an example, there were several kings in Israel and Judah that lived lives dishonoring to their parents, but they still lived long lives (they were the exceptions, rather than the rule). And vice-versa, Absolom was a son who’s life was cut short because of his dishonoring choices. If we rebel against parents and God and pursue a sinful lifestyle, God will let us feel the consequences of being a lifetime smoker or alcoholic-that’s a promise.

The last verse in this portion of Scripture is an exhortation to the parents. The authority parents have while their children are immature and still within the household is not permanent dictatorial rights to micromanage. The phrase “bring them up” literally means “raise them to maturity.” Again, we are hinted that parental authority is temporary and not permanent.  The goal is to raise kids who are Spiritually mature in the Lord (e.g. “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”) who can make their own decisions based on Scripture and leadership of the Holy Spirit.

     The general premise of The Essential Church is to seek how churches can become essential in the lives of college age Christians. The statistics of those leaving the church are the same for the kids that go to college and the kids that do not. The body of Christ can no longer use college as an excuse.

     One of the most pertinent actions that can be implemented to keep the demographic is to teach them good ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) while growing up. All the kids that do not leave the church, sight one of the major reasons is that they grasp the importance of church in their walk with God. A large percentage of inactives return to church because they see the church as vital to their walk with God. Does hypocrisy play a part in the mass exodus? Yes. While some of those who leave the church sight hypocrisy as an issue, they do not consider it a major reason for leaving. Most inactive students leave the church because they never learn or experience connection with the people who compose the local assembly. The bare bones of the matter is the ones who do not exit the church, stay because they have been taught decent ecclesiology-whether they realize it or not. They have learned their ecclesiology from the Bible or by experiencing the power of connecting with the local church themselves.

Divorce, broken relationships, trauma, and the loss of loved ones are just a few events that cause life changing pain. When the dust clears and life settles into a new twisted sense of ‘normalcy,’ a dreadful question lags behind. How could a good God allow bad things to happen?

Pain is universal to the human experience. Some people experience a heavier and more intense dose than others. Most people become hardened and calloused because of the pain they have experienced. After all, few people find the narrow way that leads to life. Without the revelation of Scripture, pain would be an intolerable problem. The only answer to the problem of pain would be that it is an offense by God. But Biblical revelation discloses that a good God and pain do co-exist in the universe with the afore mentioned retaining all of His divine attributes. C.S. Lewis offers one suggestion for a solution in his classic The Problem of Pain, “The problem of reconciling human suffering with the existence of a God who loves, is only insoluble so long as we attach a trivial meaning to the word ‘love,’ and look on things as if man were the centre of them. Man is not the centre. God does not exist for the sake of man. Man does not exist for his own sake.” One paragraph from Lewis does not satisfy the investigation by any means. However, a Biblical study of the divine attributes of God and how those attributes can reconcile with the existence of pain is a worthwhile study. A Christian should not shy away or be intimidated by it. The study of the problem of pain may bolster a Christian’s faith and worldview and be a tool the Holy Spirit uses to convert non-believers. The Bible will satisfy any honest search for truth, even the highest of human intellectual prowess.

More to come on the problem of pain…

Let’s face facts. Keeping up with Christian culture can be exhausting and unnecessary. In fact, ministry without love for Christ was debilitating for the church at Ephesus (see Revelation 2). There is something grossly wrong when a church speaks more about method and direction than it does about the Savior. And there is something undeniably wrong when the Christian talks more about God than he talks to God.

Two sisters had a unique friendship with Jesus. Martha and Mary were sisters, but they were opposites. Martha was always busy. She was constantly doing something.  Her attitude was that she had to be accomplishing something in the now. No time could be wasted. Let’s call her achievement driven. Mary on the other hand, took things more in stride. We see her several times in Scripture interacting with people, particularly Jesus. Let’s call her relational driven. I think we all have both kinds of people in our lives. We need both kinds to balance ourselves out. An extreme relational person like Mary sometimes misses deadlines and due dates and may not be completely dependable. But the achiever attitude can do far more damage. Martha syndrome is debilitating to the child of God. In contrast, the Mary attitude leads to the branches source of nutrients (John 15). The achievement driven individual may not necessarily have a bad motive- they want to impact for Christ. But they often unknowingly choose the spoiled portion over the good portion. Case in point: Martha.

In Luke 10:39, the sisters are entertaining Jesus. Martha and Mary were entertaining the Son of God, Israel’s Messiah. We see Mary. She is sitting at the feet of the Master and letting Him speak to her. No surprise. After all, this is big. The Christ is sitting in her sister’s living room! But where is Martha? The text is very interesting here. Verse 40 doesn’t really say where exactly in the room Martha is. It says she is “cumbered about much serving,” but it does not say where exactly she is in the room in contrast to Mary being at feet of Jesus. There is a great principle here: IF THE BELIEVER IS NOT AT THE FEET OF JESUS, IT DOESN’T MATTER WHERE HE/SHE IS. Martha is not at the feet of Jesus because she is distracted by a lot of service. The word for “cumbered” means “to draw away from or distract.” It is only used here in the New Testament. Martha is being distracted from cherished time with her Lord. Another interesting nuance to note about the word for “cumbered” here is that it is passive tense. This is something that is happening to Martha. Service can distract the believer from the good portion. A workaholic attitude in relation to ministry swindles the believer from the good portion of fellowship with Christ.

When it comes to our walk with God, the Mary attitude is what we want. Stay connected to the vine, appreciate fellow Christian’s who urgently do likewise, encourage fellow Christians who need to, and introduce the lost to Christ who never wastes our time.

“Is Jehovah a Trinity-three persons in one God? No! Jehovah, the Father, is ‘the only true God.’ Jesus is His firstborn Son, and he is subject to God. The Father is greater than the Son.”        -Jehovah’s Witnesses Official Web Site (watchtower.org)

Jehovah’s Witnesses deny the Deity of Christ, a vital doctrine in Scripture. But who is Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ is God (John 1:1; Col. 2:9; I Tim. 3:16; Heb. 1:1-3), the second person of the Trinity. Jesus Christ was born of virgin (Is. 7:14; Matt. 1:23). He became God in the flesh at his incarnation (John 1:14). He added flesh, making Him fully God and fully man. I believe Jesus claimed full Deity (John 8:56-58; John 10:30). I believe Jesus Christ is the Messiah promised to Israel in the Old Testament (Luke 2:11; Luke 10:24; John 10:24-25; John 1:45; John 4:25-26). Jesus Christ is every church age believer’s Advocate and High Priest (Heb. 4:14; I John 2:1). Jesus will reign over the whole earth as King during the 1,000 year Millennial Kingdom. Judgment of believers and unbelievers has been delegated to Jesus Christ (John 5:22). A. Impeccability Jesus Christ never sinned nor was ever capable of sinning. His omniscience, omnipotence, and immutability keep Him from susceptibility to sin (Heb. 13:8). B. His Suffering Death Jesus Christ died on the cross as a substitution for sinners (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45; II Cor. 5:21). His death appeased the wrath of God for those who believe (Rom. 3:25; I John 2:2; I John 4:10). The death of Christ also makes it possible for individuals to be reconciled to God (Rom. 5:10; II Cor. 5:18-21). C. His Resurrection on the Third Day Jesus Christ bodily and physically rose from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures (I Cor. 15:4-8).