Truth Warrior

Sunday, October 09, 2005

The Book Mark!

The series we are currently working through here at The Earnest Contender (and with the Adult Bible Fellowship class I teach at my church) is called "The Biblical Distinctives of Baptists".

My aim is to encourage a greater understanding of what the name Baptist means:

  • Baptist, not just in name, but by conviction of the biblical truths presented
  • Baptist, not just in conviction, but also by name

My wife, Rose, designed this bookmark for those in our class. If you click on it, you may see the details. I invite your comments ... especially regarding the statement on the back of the bookmark.

Just in case you can't read the graphic (let me know if you can or can't), these are the 8 points of the acrostic that we have been covering:

  • Biblical Authority
  • Autonomy of the Local Church
  • Priesthood of All Believers
  • Two Ordinances (Baptism & Communion)
  • Individual Soul LibertySaved (regenerated) Church Membership
  • Two Offices Only (Pastor & Deacon)
  • Separation of Church & State

And here's the paragraph of text from the back, that I was looking for feedback on:

The term BAPTIST is more than a church "label". As an acrostic, it delineates a set of convictions. Some churches or groups are BAPTISTic, but not identified with the BAPTIST label. Conversly, a group may hold on to the label after abandoning the convictions.

16 Comments:

  • The bookmark looks great...she did a wonderful job with them!

    I tried to enlargen the pic of it, but it wasn't very clear for me and I couldn't read it. I tried reading it the was it shows on your blog but my eyes started hurting...

    By Blogger Shelley L. MacKenzie, at 9/10/05 7:00 PM  

  • Shelley,
    Thanks for the "heads up!" When I click directly on the book mark I can see it clearly. But I revised the post so one need not rely on the graphic. So now feel free to opine.

    Thankfully in His sevice,
    J.Wendell

    By Blogger J. Wendell, at 9/10/05 8:15 PM  

  • Interesting....we (at my evangelical free church) agree on all points, except we have elders and deacons at our church.....where the paid pastor is a teaching elder and they have other elders as well who focus primarily on the ministry of the Word.

    I know some baptist who follow this method as well with deacon elder principle.

    Some baptist churches make the deacons the focus of the ministry of the word and have another thing called the overseers to do the work of turning the tables which seems a bit backward in the wording in the scriptures.etc.

    By Blogger Shawn, at 10/10/05 5:51 PM  

  • John,

    You are doing a great job handling these subjects...

    I would like to hear your take on the role of deacons and elders as it relates to congregational life. Shawn's observatiosn desribes all three baptist churches where I pastored - deacon's have the "oversight" function that Scripture gives to Pastor/Elder/Bishop and the pastor "answer" to the deacons. Your take on the biblical and historical baptist distinctive of two offices?

    By the way... as usual, Rose did a great job with the bookmark! I am sure your class will appreciate the extra visual!

    Grace to you my friend!

    By Blogger Dave, at 10/10/05 7:14 PM  

  • Hey! Hi reformer!

    John,
    this is exactly what I was wondering about. I have been so sheltered. This acrostic (!!) came after certain Christians were called "BAPTIST" ... so who decided what the word stood for ... and do most Baptists agree with it? From these comments I can see there are several divergences with the second "T". Are there any other points that would not be universally accepted by "baptists"?

    I also have something to say about the paragraph on the back of the bm, but I will wait and see if anyone else says it first.

    By Blogger Rose~, at 10/10/05 9:14 PM  

  • Reformer,

    Nice to hear from you. You have blessed me in the past.

    By Blogger Shawn, at 10/10/05 10:29 PM  

  • Shawn,
    I'm going to be covering this when I get to that point in the acrostic, but I am glad that you are interested.

    Dave (reformer),
    I'm blessed that you are here. Thank you for asking about my take on this. As you can imagine, I have a definate conviction about the issue you brought up. (but I don't think it's worth leaving a church over or bad-mouthing the pastor). I will be covering that soon. Please come back when you can!

    Rose,
    these convictions came about as Baptists independently practiced and held to them. We'll talk about this more on the blog and in class. Yes, there are difference, slight variations. Anyone is welcome to comment on these topics further.

    Abiding in Him,
    Brother John

    By Blogger J. Wendell, at 10/10/05 10:49 PM  

  • Reformer!
    Are you back?

    By Blogger Jeremy Weaver, at 11/10/05 10:29 AM  

  • That is terriffic! Where can I get some?

    I teach a new members' class that includes Baptist distinctives.

    I'd love to have some to hand to our new members.

    By Blogger Joe, at 12/10/05 7:36 AM  

  • Jeremy,
    I'm glad to see reformer too.
    Do you have any input on this post? The blogosphere waits with heavy expectation!

    Joe,
    What a joy it must be to teach a New Members' class. I'm sure you make them all feel very welcome in your church. Thanks for your kind word about my wife's bookmark. I count myself blessed to have her.

    By Blogger J. Wendell, at 12/10/05 7:15 PM  

  • I have some opinions, I'm just waiting to see how you handle them. I think you and I will see eye to eye on at least seven of them if not all! But then again, I'll find something to disagree with, no matter how smal and insignificant it may be.

    By Blogger Jeremy Weaver, at 12/10/05 10:04 PM  

  • Jeremy~
    I like that about you!

    Thanks for being a good Christian sport.

    to win the prize,
    brother John

    By Blogger J. Wendell, at 12/10/05 10:46 PM  

  • The paragraph on the back I think begs the question, "why call your self a Baptist, then?" I wonder if anyone has a thought on that question.

    By Blogger Rose~, at 13/10/05 4:25 PM  

  • Rose,

    Thanks for stopping by again. I think if you go back to the post titled "What's in a Name?" you will find the answer to your question. I will also try to be clearer on this on the next post. I hope it helps.

    Forever yours,
    John

    By Blogger J. Wendell, at 14/10/05 6:48 AM  

  • Rose,

    What software did you use to design the bookmark?
    Good work!

    JRush

    By Blogger John R., at 14/10/05 10:21 AM  

  • Hi John,
    Thanks for complementing my wife's work. She says she used Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I know nothing about design or computer graphics. If you want one ... or the electronic file, email me and we will send it to you. Now go read her post on adoption and comment to her there. This is my blog! :)

    Warmly in the Saviour,
    brother John

    By Blogger J. Wendell, at 14/10/05 6:32 PM  

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