Silly and Sad

This evening I heard something out of the mouth of a well-known African American Baptist pastor (actually, he's a bishop!). He said that Eve did not eat a fruit, but a thought! Immediately, I laughed in ridicule. It was (and is) a ridiculous statement. As I thought about the statement, I saw all of the people sitting under this ministry. This is the sad part. The stuff this man preaches is supposed to be profound, cutting edge knowlegde, but it misinterprets and misapplies the Holy Word of God. What are these folk learning? How are they living?

Let us pray that God will raise up more and more men in the ministry to teach the truth rightly divided.

The Simplicity of Gospel Worship

In recent Lord's Day afternoons, I've spent some of my time listening and watching live worship services on the Internet. I watch one particular church, which is a progressive-like African American Baptist church in a large metropolitan area. I am struck by the lack of simplicity in the worship services. There is a plethora of things that take place in the two hour worship services. There are long announcements and recognitions of people, singing by a choir, singing by a Praise Team, Invitation to Discipleship besides prayer and preaching. Sometimes there is a handbell choir, and Praise dancers. Such a church has left the simple order of New Testament worship to something different.

Now, I've written blogs about the elements of worship so I will refrain from re-stating what I've already stated. This area is an area where African American Baptists primarily have neglected the simplicity of Spirit-revealed and apostolic sanctioned worship.

Why do African American Baptists do what they do in worship? I don't know. Why don't they turn to the Holy Scriptures to regulate their corporate worship? Blindness, ignorance, and neglect. In general, the average Evangelical has no thought that the Scriptures should regulate our worship. If African American Baptists used the Scriptures to regulate worship, things would be simple and terribly different. Yet it would be to God's glory! What are the elements of simple NT worship: prayers, praise (psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs rendered by the congregation), reading of the Word of God, preaching, and the sacraments. Simple, yet transcendant.

Getting back to the Moorings

This is convention season for National Baptists. The three major National Baptist conventions will meet this month. When I think of these conventions, I think of the major reason why the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. came into existence. According to history, foreign missions, specifically African missions was the primary reason for the formation of the convention in 1895. The NBC USA, the NBC-A, and the NMBC all claim 1880 as their founding year. This is because in 1880 the Baptist Foreign Mission Convention organized. This convention was an attempt by African American Baptist primarily in the Southeast to consolidate their effort in sending missionaries to Africa.

Now the conventions are involved in all sorts of things, but foreign missions is relatively weak. Let us pray for God to raise more men and women to enter the mission field, especially in Africa. Though Christianity is experiencing tremendous growth in Africa, the type of Christianity is more Charismatic and even heterodox. Africa needs a true Evangelical witness. May African American Baptists help to provide this through the conventions.