by Dr. Bruce Prescott
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June 2004
Spirits of the Times (6/30/04)
There seems to be a lot of self-conscious searching for the spiritual these days. Most of these efforts leave me puzzled.
The spiritual realm is the world in which we live and move and have our being. Spirit is not something that is looked upon from the standpoint of a spectator. Without spirit we are like fish without water.
Instead of emulating fish leaping out of water for an instant at a time, it seems to me that our conscious efforts might best be directed to searching for ways to address the spirits that are polluting the environment where we have to live.
A Fresh Spirit
(6/29/04)Since the days of William Carey, moderate, Mainstream Baptists have tried to engage in dialogue and fellowship with other Christians. In the past, those leading such efforts always had to run a gauntlet of opposition from the exclusivist, Fundamentalist wing within the denomination.
One unexpected consequence of the schism within the Southern Baptist Convention, which has now spilled over into the Baptist World Alliance, is that moderate, Mainstream efforts to link Baptists with other Christians can now proceed without hinderance.
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's participation in "Christian Churches Together," an ecumenical organization, may well be a portent that a Spirit of renewal is moving within the entire Christian community in America.
Baptist World Artistry
(6/28/04)
Twenty-five years of ceaseless practice has made Paige Patterson a master at painting adversaries with colorful brush strokes that clash with the truth. Nothing demonstrated his artistry more than the picture of the Baptist World Alliance that he painted at the Southern Baptist Convention.
Thankfully, for Baptists who appreciate realistic portraiture more than ideological caricature, Bob Setzer offered the public a different picture of the Baptist World Alliance at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's General Assembly.
Today opinions among Baptists about the value of these two works of art may be a matter of taste. A day is coming when the Master Creator will be judging the value of each man and each woman's work. Every Baptist knows that the Master left no doubt about the true standards for the way we bear witness of one another (Exodus 20:16).
Twenty-five Years of Fundamentalist Rule
Over the past 25 years the plague of Fundamentalism has undermined every antibody that previous generations of Baptists used to inoculate their churches from spiritual disease.
Liberty of conscience has given way to creedalism, local church autonomy has succumbed to hierarchy, soul competency has morphed into church competency, the Bible has been elevated above Jesus, and our proud legacy as champions of religious liberty for all is rapidly being replaced by the cancerous lunacy of dominion theology.
All Baptists should heed warnings to boost their immune systems by injecting strong doses of historic Baptist principles and keeping their congregations isolated from contact with the Southern Baptist Convention.