This is Part 2 of the two part series on the difficulties and blessings of systematic exposition. You can read Part 1 here. “. . .So is it worth it? Should we abandon systematic, passage by passage, exposition of entire books of the Bible? Should we go to a topical approach of preaching? Or perhaps one popular method today is…
Category: <span>Fundamentalism</span>
The phrase “derived authority” is a good way to explain pastoral authority, in that the authority pastors have, is derived first from the Scripture and second from the congregation who asks them to lead them. “Delegated authority” is a good way to explain deacon authority. In 1 Timothy 3, Paul instructs Timothy on the quality of men who should occupy…
Congregational authority is derived from the Word of God and is limited to those areas where the Bible gives his people instructions. According to Baptist polity, the regenerated church, assembled in particular localities and autonomously governed, under the principles and commands of Scripture, has authority to admit into membership born again and baptized believers; to expel and remove from fellowship…
“Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” (Colossians 4:5-6) As noted previously, the direct application is to our gospel witness with our lives that we engage in on a daily basis, yet I contend that…
Some Christian believers might suggest that human reason is always foolish. Unconverted philosophers teach that Divine revelation is useless even non-existent. But truly as created humans, we are given the responsibility by our Creator to exercise human reason undergirded with Divine Revelation. That is to say, we must use our God-given logical processes supported and defined by Sola Scriptura. True…
We are studying 1 Timothy 3 in our morning worship. This is a very convicting portion of Scripture. In thinking through these virtues necessary for the minster of God’s church, I was encouraged to adapt them into a more prose style as a personal letter being written to a pastor or aspiring pastor. Go to our website www.graceutah.com to listen…
Essential Truth about God—Justice We humans desire justice. Even those with obvious marks of depravity understand the need for justice. Our entire legal system is predicated upon the notion that justice is not only desired it is attainable. Civilizations that place a high priority on justice will often be wealthier and happier. Two words related to justice used often today…
Essential Truth about God—Freedom-Cont. In our last installment of the grace newsletter, we noted the freedom that God possesses as creator, sustainer and sovereign of the universe is revealed through the tiny first person being verb, “I am.” In choosing a name to reveal himself to the chosen covenant people, God chose to use a word that would simply explain…
Personal freedom is a right that we cherish as American citizens. We believe that we are given certain rights (originally stated in the founding days of our nation as the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of property), which no man can properly take from us. We also believe at American citizens that these rights come from God directly and…
The pursuit of our lives as saints must be for the exaltation and ardent glory of our Triune God. God in his absolute and powerful Divine will has chosen to exist in three persons, Although the mystery of those three separate persons existing as one God is a stretch for our minuscule brains to fathom, we find God in the Old and…