Pester Brat's Saint and Sinner Hypocrisy Blog

This church is in SE Florida in Coconut Creek, and where my oldest daughter attends. Emmanuel Baptist Church Covenant Having been brought by divine grace to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ, and to give ourselves wholly to Him, we the members of Emmanuel Baptist Church, do in the presence of God, angels, and this assembly, solemnly and joyfully covenant with each other to walk together in Him as one body to the glory of our one Lord. We do, therefore, in his strength agree - - That in brotherly love we will remember one another in prayer, encourage each other in our Christian walk, carefully watch over each other, and faithfully warn, exhort, and admonish one another as occasion may require: That we will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, but will uphold the public worship of God, and the ordinances of His church: That we will not omit closet and family religion at home, nor neglect the great duty of religiously training our children, and those under our care, for the servi...

A Friendly Challenge to Pastors (Part 2) Ephesians 5:23 states simply that Christ is head of the church. That statement reflects the truth that Christ is the incarnate God, the redeemer of His people, the risen Lord Who has been exalted to God's right hand and given the name that is above every name. The church was given to Him before the foundation of the world and He came in time and purchased it for Himself. The church exists because of Christ and it exists for His glory supremely. It is the happy lot of the church to be under the gracious and righteous rule of the living, glorified Christ. However, there is a problem: far too often Christ is not treated as the Head of His church. Far too often other wills have priority over His will in the affairs of the church. This can be seen in many areas, I will name a few: 1. The preaching of the Gospel: The Gospel is the declaration of Christ, His person and His work. It is the explanation that He has satisfied the claims of Divine Just...

A Friendly Challenge to Pastors (Part 1) The work of a pastor has become much less obvious than was formerly the case. Congregations and pastors alike often have very differing ideas on the matter. In many instances the bottom line is that pastors must keep the people happy while also increasing the attendance (and collections). How to accomplish these tasks can drive a person to distraction! Perhaps some would find it surprising to know that neither of these objectives is specified in the Bible as the work of the pastor. The primary work of the pastor, according to the Scriptures, is to feed and protect God's people. This is plain beyond dispute from passages such as: Jer. 3:15, 23:4; John 21:17; Acts 20:18-21, 26-28; 2Tim. 4:2; 1Peter 5:1-2. This feeding and protecting is of a spiritual, and not physical, nature. Christ appoints men, gifted by the Holy Spirit, to be over His churches in order that those men might instruct the redeemed in all His holy will and protect their souls ...

Spurgeon Describing Hypers on Reprobation "I have fancied I have seen in certain hyper-Calvinists a sort of Red Indian scalping-knife propensity; an ogre-like feeling with respect to, reprobation; a smacking of lips over the ruin and destruction of mankind; as to all of which, I can only say that it seems to me to be “earthly, sensual, devilish.” I cannot imagine a man, especially a man who has the spirit of Christ in him, thinking of the ruin of mankind with any other feeling than that which moved the soul of Christ when he wept over Jerusalem, crying, “How often would I have gathered thee as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings!” Let no one imagine that the spirit of Calvinism is a spirit of hostility to universal humanity. It is not so. It is a perversion and a caricature of the expositions of Calvin and Augustine, and of the Apostle Paul, and of what our Master preached, to represent us as thinking with complacency of the ruin of any one of the human race." MTP, V...

This article was referred to me by a brother in Christ, and is no reflection whatsoever of Grace Fellowship and our Deacons. As a matter of fact, most of it doesn't apply, and this type of thing is often the result of giving Deacons in baptist and other churches more authority in the church than the bible gives. This is for the general benefit of those who read, and for the glory of God What Pastors Wish Deacons Knew by Derek Gentle I appreciate you more than you know There is not a greater blessing in a pastor's life than a godly deacon who loves the Lord and loves the Word of God. I feel that I couldn't have a more wonderful relationship with them. I wish every pastor were so blessed. Just looking out in the service and seeing you there is an encouragement. Knowing you are praying for me motivates me. Knowing you share the vision of a growing, evangelistic church and impacting our community challenges me to my best efforts! God bless you godly deacon. You are appreciated!...

‘New Perspective’ corrupts the Gospel at its heart Jul 20, 2006 By Jeff Robinson Baptist Press OWASSO, Okla. (BP)--The “New Perspective” on the apostle Paul’s teaching about salvation has far more in common with the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church than it does with historic evangelical belief, theologian Sam Waldron said at the 24th Annual Southern Baptist Founders Conference July 11-14. Waldron said the New Perspective undermines the biblical view of justification by faith in Christ alone -- a doctrine at the center of the Gospel -- and represents a return to the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification by works. Whereas Martin Luther and his fellow reformers in the 16th century reasserted the orthodox Scriptural doctrine of justification in the Protestant Reformation, the New Perspective overturns it, he said. “The New Perspective is influencing many in evangelical circles and in my view corrupts the Gospel at its heart,” Waldron, a pastor at Heritage Baptist Church in Owensbo...

Want an idea on where Mr. King stood on some doctrinal issues? Check the following links out: www.aomin.org (summary) www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/papers/vol2/530515-A_Comparison_and_Evaluation_of_the_Theology_of_Luther.htm (original and more details)