Free PDF/MOBI/EPUB: “A Baptist Catechism: For Personal & Family Devotion

A Baptist Catechism LINK to Download!!

Description:

Pastor JD Hall & Family

This material has been collected specifically for use among Reformation Montana churches, but it has been made available for all Baptists of life-faith.
Includes:

• Declaration of Reformation [by JD Hall]
• London Baptist Confession of Faith [(1689) Slight Revisions by Charles Spurgeon]
• Baptist Catechism [as presented by the Charleston Association, 1813]
• Baptist Church Covenant [ an abridged version taken from “A Declaration of Faith” by J. Newton Brown (1853)]
• A Modern Day Downgrade [by JD Hall] – a short treatise on why catechism is necessary for Reformation in our modern times.

Endorsements:

JD Hall & James White

“Western culture today seeks to cut itself free from burdensome things like truth, consistency, and commitment. The Baptist Catechism reminds us that there are truths worth living for, and dying for, that give life transcendent meaning and purpose.”

– Dr. James White, Director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, host of The Dividing Line and 2013 RefMT Conference Speaker

Ken Fryer

“Although this catechism is intended for Baptists of all varieties, as a Southern Baptist I find my Convention in the paradoxical position of affirming biblical inerrancy while many of its churches are doctrinally deficient. To assist the church in extricating herself from this less than God-honoring predicament, I highly recommend Pastor J.D. Hall’s book A Baptist Catechism for Personal and Family Devotion. Along with an open Bible, it will be a refreshment to your soul and serve as a vehicle to foster restoration in our churches.”

– Ken Fryer 2nd Vice President of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, serving at Heritage Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana

Where Did All These Calvinists Come From? A Visual History

March 11, 2014 Tim Challise 

I don’t think anyone could have predicted that in the twenty-first century the old doctrine of Calvinism would suddenly experience a great resurgence. Yet this is exactly what has happened. The New Calvinism, or the Young, Restless, Reformed, has been highlighted in platforms as diverse as Christianity Today and TIME as one of the ideas that is changing the world today. It has been a major emphasis in publishing and has its own celebrities, conferences and organizations.
But where did this thing come from? And how did it come to prominence? Josh Byers and I have teamed up to bring you a Visual Theology infographic we’ve titled Where Did All These Calvinists Come From?: A Visual History. We highlighted some of the dominant themes in the movement and then progressed through the people, the books, the conferences, and the organizations that have made it what it is. We hope you enjoy it.

Infograph LINK!!

Note: We don’t expect that you will agree with everything we’ve chosen to include and exclude. Also, while the timeline is roughly chronological, individual events within a particular year may not be in the exact right order (so, for example, Chosen By God may have been published after Desiring God, though both were published in 1986).

tired of the fluff in normal women's bible studies?....

I think I may have found one of the best theology book series ever written by a woman....check out this sample chapter.

Excerpt of the Promised One

Gospel-Centered Old Testament Bible Studies

"I grew up learning Bible stories. Maybe you did too. But somehow along the way I failed to grasp the big story of the Bible. It all seemed to be about what I was supposed to do for God instead of what he has done for me through Christ. So in these five ten-session Bible studies that cover the entirety of the Old Testament, we start over—looking for the grand story God has written in history, recorded in his book, about the grace he has revealed in Jesus Christ."

Way to go, Nancy. 

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Ringing Endorsements:

“The Bible is a book about Jesus. The disciples walking to Emmaus after the resurrection discovered this as Christ himself walked along with them and explained how the Old Testament pointed to the Savior. This book is the first in an important series by Nancy Guthrie and it spotlights how Jesus can be seen in the book of Genesis. I recommend this—and the entire series—to you.”
—Alistair Begg, Senior Pastor, Parkside Church, Chagrin Falls, Ohio

“It’s not hyperbole to say, ‘It’s about time.’ While there are good books out there telling pastors how to preach Christ from all the Scriptures, there have been very few Bible studies for laypeople—especially for women—along these lines. Nancy Guthrie does an amazing job of helping us to fit the pieces of the biblical puzzle together, with Christ at the center.”
—Michael S. Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California
 
“User-friendly, biblically reliable, theologically astute, enthusiastically sensible, encouragingly realistic, and deeply Christ-centered—all without losing sight of the fact that the Bible student is to be a disciplined ‘workman (or woman) who does not need to be ashamed.’ Once again we are deeply indebted to Nancy Guthrie for giving the church an outstanding Bible study resource to help us all grow in the grace, knowledge, and wisdom of God.”
—Sinclair B. Ferguson, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina

Albert Einstein quotes...

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” - AE

“Human knowledge and skills alone cannot lead humanity to a happy and dignified life. Humanity has every reason to place the proclaimers of high moral standards and values above the discoverers of objective truth.” - AE

Top 10 Reasons Why Rand Paul Should Be Elected President

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is set to officially enter the 2016 presidential race this Tuesday, April 7. Paul has spent his 4 years in the Senate solidifying himself as a principled defender of liberty and the Constitution, and he gives to libertarians their best chance in generations of significantly swaying national policy while obtaining the Oval Office. The following are the top 10 reasons Senator Paul deserves to be the next President of the United States.

1. He advocates for a stronger, yet smarter, national defense.

Nearly every libertarian and conservative recognizes that one of the only legitimate functions of the federal government is to protect Americans from threats to national security, domestic and abroad. In the age of ISIS, this has become of particular importance, and Rand Paul has consistently placed defense spending as a top priority when it comes to the budget.

However, Senator Paul also acknowledges that past increases in defense spending by Republicans without regard to financial consequences have helped to create just as much debt as those programs advocated for by Democrats. It is for this reason that Senator Paul was the only Republican who proposed a budget amendment that would require cuts to other programs before allowing an increase in defense spending.

Additionally, Paul’s position has been unique in that he has often pointed out past failures of American interventionism, and the peril of unnecessary foreign entanglements.

2. He is working to rein in an out-of-control federal government.

There seems to have never been a period in recent history where government has not been constantly growing and taking away more of our freedoms. With dozens of executive agencies and daily intrusions into our Americans’ lives, Paul envisions a simplified federal government, which would leave most responsibilities to the states and preserve checks and balances. This includes lessening the EPA’s regulatory jurisdiction, eliminating the Departments of Commerce and Education and abolishing the IRS. He has also introduced the REINS Act, which would give Congress the final say over any major rule with an annual economic impact of $100 million or more.

3. He has brought light to the unbridled power of the Federal Reserve.

 

Most followers of Senator Paul’s father Ron Paul will quickly tell you that one of the biggest reasons that the federal government can tax and spend at the rates it has with no accountability whatsoever is because of the shadowy, mysterious Federal Reserve. With “Audit the Fed” introduced and explained in the House of Representatives several times by then-Congressman Ron Paul, many Americans for the first time came to realize just how much power the central bank had obtained since its inception in 1913, and all of the destruction which it has left in its path. Senator Paul has picked up the banner of the proposed legislation, introducing it in the Senate earlier this year. There have thus far been 32 cosponsors that have joined Senator Paul in his quest to inspect the Fed’s books.

4. He has pledged to bring an end to the failed “War on Drugs.”

For decades, the US has spent billions of dollars prosecuting and incarcerating drug offenders, ruining lives and wasting valuable resources in the process. Rand Paul thinks that it’s about time for a change to the policies laid out by President Nixon and President Reagan, which seem to include simply jailing drug users without thought for the larger repercussions. In March, Senator Paul joined with Senate Democrats Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) to introduce the CARERS Act, which would legalize medical marijuana on the federal level and “reschedule” marijuana from a Schedule I drug to Schedule II, thereby allowing for more research into possible medical benefits.

5. He has remained a staunch defender of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

 Senator Paul made his name in 2013 with a thirteen-hour filibuster made in response to the possibility of Americans being executed with Due Process rights. When stating his opinions on any number of government matters, Paul always seems to link his positions back to a belief in the Constitution and a broader understanding of liberty. He does so when discussing policy distinctions, like the perils of indefinite detention, as well as when he has critiqued procedure, like the numerous executive orders by the Obama Administration, including those on immigration and war against ISIS.

6. He has fought against the surveillance state and the NSA.
 

Ending government surveillance and unreasonable searches and seizures has been another area where Senator Paul has become one of the leading voices. So principled in his position, Paul even voted against a bill which would have ended bulk collection of phone data, but also extended the USA PATRIOT Act. A common refrain of Paul’s stump speeches has been that when it comes to the NSA spying on Americans without a specific warrant, “the phone records of United States citizens are none of their damn business.”

 7. He wishes to reduce such tax burdens as much as possible.

 In addition to eliminating the IRS, Paul has spoken in favor of instituting a flat tax of 17% (or perhaps even lower). His plan would also eliminate the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax, and capital gains, dividends and interest would also be tax-free at the individual level. In the Senate, he teamed with Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to propose cutting taxes at the corporate level, therefore giving companies an incentive to bring their assets back into the country from offshore tax havens. At CPAC in February, Paul promised to propose the largest tax cut in American history.

 

8. He has been a leading voice on the topic of criminal justice reform.

 

Senator Paul has long spoken about the disparate impacts that the current criminal justice system has on poor and minority Americans. Last year, Paul partnered with Cory Booker (D-NJ) to propose the REDEEM Act, which would lessen criminal burdens on non-violent and juvenile offenders. The legislation would allow for “youthful mistakes” to serve as teaching points rather than life-ruining events. Paul has also spoken in favor of reforming mandatory minimum sentencing and bringing an end to corruption in civil asset forfeiture programs.

9. He wants to end the entitled and unaccountable attitudes of career politicians and bureaucrats.

 

When politicians are not held responsible for their actions, the threat of tyranny becomes greater. Many aspiring legislators speak in favor of term limits during their first campaigns, and conclude doing so once they have comfortably ensured a lifetime in Washington. However, Senator Paul has talked about the issue since he began his Senate campaign in 2009 and continues to do so to this day. He has also repeatedly spoken in favor of and introduced the “Read the Bills” Act, which would require some measure of deliberation from legislators. Perhaps most interestingly, Paul has also stated his desire for a Constitutional Amendment which would mandate that no law be applied to US Citizens which is not equally applied to Congress.

10. He wants to bring an end to crony capitalism and corporatism.

 No issue receives as universal disdain in all ideological circles as much as corporate welfare. Both President Bush and President Obama approved of monstrous “bail-outs,” despite their supposed ideologies (Bush, the “fiscal conservative,” and Obama, “champion of the middle-class”) being in direct conflict with such actions. When it comes to the budget, Senator Paul has stated that any cuts should begin with an end to all corporate welfare. By facing this topic in a bold manner, which no other potential candidates have, Paul shows himself to be one of the very few advocates for a true free market system.

 

John 4: 43-54 Sunday school

John 4: 43-54 Sunday school

Opening quote – “My graces languish, my corruptions rage, my faith is weak, my devotion is cold, yet all of these are reasons why His healing hand should be laid upon me.”     C. H. Spurgeon.  

Jesus Heals an Official's Son – have someone else read

⁴³ After the two days he departed for Galilee. ⁴⁴ (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) ⁴⁵ So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.

⁴⁶ So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. ⁴⁷ When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸ So Jesus said to him, “Unless you^[c] see signs and wonders you will not believe.” ⁴⁹ The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. ⁵¹ As he was going down, his servants^[d] met him and told him that his son was recovering. ⁵² So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour^[e] the fever left him.” ⁵³ The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. ⁵⁴ This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.

Have someone pray …

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            Mine - After 2 days Jesus left there & went to Galilee, as Jesus says a prophet has no honor in his own country.  The Father was a nobleman & his son was sick, knocking on death’s door.  His honors & titles were useless against this enemy & provided no security against his son’s impending death.  Our passage today shows us that even great men must humble themselves before Christ, and teaches us perseverance: that the official doesn’t stop from his request until he prevails.  His request shows 3 things: 1^st his concern for his son, 2^nd his inability to save his son himself & 3^rd his faith in the power of Christ to do what he says he can do.  This should give us some sense of comfort as well that we may call on God through he is not visibly present here & now just like Christ was not visibly present where the son was & yet distance & time, these are no hindrance to the mercy & power of our Lord to heal.  The father left trusting Christ & this part is easy to overlook but the passage does not imply he rushed home as you think he would to his dying son.  He merely “went on his way”, being satisfied, he did not hurry home that night, but returned as one easy in his own mind.  His servants met him on the road with the news of the child’s recovery, just like the Good News (the Gospel) makes it’s way to those its intended for.

            When we are diligent in comparing Christ’s words with his works, we are confirmed in our faith of him.  And this is the bigger miracle than the healing, the father was not content in his “good luck” at finding a healer or even his healed son but came to realize the fullness of who Christ was & that brought both him & his family to saving faith.  This miracle made Jesus dear to the Nobleman’s family.  Even today the knowledge of Christ spreads through families and gives health & salvation for their souls. 

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            Mine - So what we are going to look at today is the healings & miracles of Jesus, what was their point, why did they happen, how did they happen & to whom did they happen? Now I’m going to ask these questions of you guys & don’t limit yourself to just this passage think about all the stories of healings & miracles in the Bible. Theologically we often think of Jesus’ healings in 3 different forms, can you guess what they are?  The answers are: 1 - cures from physical ailments, 2 – exorcisms or freedom from demon oppression & 3 – complete resurrections.

How about why did Jesus heal people? There are several reasons: 1 – J had power & authority to do so *Miracles flowed from Jesus like heat from the sun, wetness from a waterfall or dry winds from a desert, 2 – J had compassion equal to his power, *He healed people everywhere he went because he felt their pain, 3 – as a symbol of forgiveness *He guaranteed the ultimate glory of the human body in His resurrection but forecasted it to us in healing the bodies of others,  4- symbolized his power over Satan *Satan hates God so compulsively, but his only recourse is to harm the humanity made in His image,  5 – as proof that he was the Christ of God *In Christ’s works lurked evidence that God Almighty lived in human form & loved the humanity created in His image.

Who did Jesus heal? Give me some examples of the types of people Jesus healed? Both Jew & Gentile, both those near & those far away.

How did Jesus heal? Give me some examples of ways in which he healed people? Jesus healed in various ways, both by touch & by word.

Here’s one that I heard a lot as a kid, did Jesus & the Apostles heal only those of faith? No, both ex. Lazarus didn’t “have faith” that he’d be made well yet Jesus healed him, the paralytic man lowered from the rooftop into the room Jesus was teaching in, Jesus said it was the friends that had faith not the paralytic man.

Did Jesus & the apostles heal everyone without exception? No ex. Jesus at the pool of Bethesda, he only healed 1 of the dozens sick or injured around the pool. Apostle Paul mentions a few in his letters that were sick & not miraculously healed. Paul recommends wine to young pastor Timothy for medicinal purposes, he refers to Trophemus who was too sick to go on a missions trip & Epaphroditus who was so sick he almost died & even Paul himself who God did not heal his “thorn in the flesh.” Why do you think God doesn’t heal everyone?

            Going back to our passage…. When he went to Galilee they received him, they welcomed him having heard of his deeds in Jerusalem.  Jesus left Judea for Galilee because he had encountered serious hostility from officials in Jerusalem in fact many welcomed him as long as he was merely performing miracles…call it the Obamacare of 1^st century.  But ultimately they gave him no real honor as a teacher or trusted in him as their Messiah.

           

            The nobleman sought Christ out initially for his power & gifts.  Today likewise faith healers pack out stadiums with many people with little concern for the gospel of grace or salvation but are merely hopeless with chronic & often-incurable diseases, desperate with afflictions, they pursue Him for the benefit they could derive from Him without any sense of repentance or any willingness to receive Him as their savior.

            The nobleman was a man of wealth & status, a man capable of consulting the best physicians of his day, but ultimately he had to come to Jesus.  He came with an earthly need & Jesus sent him home with a Heavenly answer of who Jesus really was.  It was a stern rebuke, “unless you see signs & wonders, you wont believe.”

            But the Nobleman did not argue theology with Jesus but instead pleaded, “Come down before my child dies!”  I wish I knew how Jesus said what he did or how the official believed Jesus without dragging Christ home to heal his son but the passage says he did believe Jesus.  Despite his desperation, he heard the promise of Christ & he believed it.  He trusted the word of Christ.  He didn’t say skeptically, “I’ll go home & see if it’s true.”  Rather he grew calm, stopped pleading & departed.

            And remember when he made it near home & his servants desperate to reassure him said, “Your son lives!”  Now you & I may have cried for joy, or leap in the air, instead the nobleman asks a question…about when it happened & he knew it was when Jesus said it would be done and with that he believed & his whole HH.  This was a glimpse of the person of Christ, the person who by His command, by His word brings life out of death, safety out of danger, healing out of disease, & salvation out of lost-ness.

            So to close the ultimate healing a Christian should expect is twofold: 1^st most importantly its from the sickness of sin (over mere physical sickness) but 2 that ultimate physical healing will not come until the resurrection of the dead, along with sinlessness & glorified bodies in the new heaves & new earth in the paradise to come.  

Whither Reformed Baptists? #3 0f 4

Whither Reformed Baptists? 

Part Three of Four

March 10, 2015

1 Timothy 4:16 Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

 When my church constituted in September of 1991 there was some discussion about what we would call ourselves. It was eventually determined that we would simply call ourselves what we were–The Reformed Baptist Church of Louisville. In taking that name we were openly embracing the doctrinal distinctives that had come to mark us and that we would commit ourselves to uphold all our days together (you don’t need to use the name to do such). It was our conviction then, and it remains our conviction, that the sine qua non of Reformed Baptist churches was their adherence in principle and in practice to the biblical truths laid out in the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. It was and has remained our conviction that the 1689 is the finest distillation of confessional truth that has ever been penned.

In this brief series of blogs, I have been posing the question of where we are going as a group of churches? Will there arise a younger generation of men committed to the truths and practices of their Baptist forefathers? Will the younger generation of Reformed Baptist who have inherited orderly churches press forward with the same vigor that marked the generation of church planters and church reformers?

My concern in this entry is whether those who have long held to the distinctive doctrines that mark historic confessional Baptist will continue to unashamedly embrace, expound, defend and propagate those truths to another generation. Will confessional Baptists thrive for future generations or will we give way to a form of doctrinal reductionism in the name of greater unity and church growth?
The question for those who have identified themselves as Confessional Baptist in the past is this–will we hold fast to the faithful Word as we have been taught? I am not talking here about the issues of Protestant orthodoxy, as much as I am historic Baptist principles. Will we be the generation that deviates from the doctrinal and practical standards of the past? Will we be ashamed of our views on the Law, the Sabbath, and the Regulative Principle of Worship, among other things? Are we tempted to bend the exclamation points of the past into question marks and if so, why?
A drifting from or rejection of open confessionalism seems me to arise for one of three reasons.
The first is that the embrace of these issues has resulted in an obnoxious doctrinal pride that grieved the Spirit and isolated us from true and useful believers who differed from us (trust me, this is not unique to Reformed Baptist). The second is that any focus on these distinctive truths will turn us inward and bring about a practical lack of evangelism and missions. It is along these lines feared that unbelievers will not want to be a part of churches who focus too much upon particular doctrines and practices that are so out of step with other churches and which is so radically different from the world in which they live. The third reason is our desire to be recognized and welcomed and fully embraced by the broader Reformed community. The top liners at the conferences, the major authors, and movers and shakers of the Reformed resurgence have not been men who hold to our Confession of Faith. Is the Confession a barrier to full acceptance, especially when our churches have been blessed with so many fine teachers and preachers? Why are these men not recognized in the broader Christian world?

The issue of doctrinal faithfulness cannot be overstated. As Reformed Baptist we have no popes or gurus that we gather around. Our connections and commitments have been forged in a fuller understanding of those truths that we believe bring glory to God, that edify the saints, and that will ultimately do the most good to the souls of the unconverted. What is a church to do who wants to be humble, useful, and participate in the good things God is doing in other places? Must we compromise or ignore those things that we once taught and embraced? The pressure that Paul warned Timothy of in the first century remains today: men will not endure sound doctrine. Our response is to preach the Word, to hold fast to the faithful word as we have been taught in faith and in love which are in Christ Jesus. It is to live empowered by the Holy Spirit who revealed and entrusted these truths to us (2 Timothy 1:13, 14; 4:1-5).

Jim Savastio, Pastor
Reformed Baptist Church of Louisville