Carolyn Anderson, my dear Grandmother's birthday (video:17:47)

Great advice, wisdom, and discussion between two of my dear family members. 

Baptists, baptizing Believers, boldly and "baptistly" (but not babies).

NOTICE: Just this week I have had two different men from two different denominations or belief systems, ask me about my thoughts/reached out to discuss God's plan and command for the Matthew 28:19-20. So I thought I would simply get the ball rolling here as I prepare to discuss the similarities and differences in our understanding of God's Holy Word. This is not to stir division but to seek truth genuinely and humbly.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon Meme (source unknown)
June 19, 1834, ~ January 31, 1892,

I believe that the Bible clearly states the fact that baptism happens after Salvation has taken place. In order for Salvation to take place one must hear the Word of God preached and as God calls evil men and women to Himself, convicts these rebels of their sins, and by His Grace alone saves sinners when He ultimately converts them to Himself. What role do we play in our Salvation? We are the sinners.  It is He that is the Savior! Jesus came telling all to Repent and Believe the Gospel, the wrath that He took on the cross was for evil slimy-souled sinners who deserved Hell the day they were born.
Once God allows us to humble ourselves and admit desperation and need for Jesus and we truly are born-again, then we are a part of the global and eternal church! Right then. At the moment of sincere confession of sins before an all righteous God, we who are unrighteous


"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,
nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 English Standard Version


Did you catch verse 1️⃣1️⃣? Because we can now become righteous due to the penal substitutionary atonement of Christ alone?? Hallelujah. Sinners can be saved. Not one sinner deserves a beautiful loving relationship with the God of all Creation.  What does mankind deserve, rather fine-tuned specifically to, what do sinners (Romans 3:23) deserve?

Hell.

Forever.

This is a horrifying reality for all of us. We have earned this, it's our wages for working day in and day out, with every bad attitude, every sinful sexual thought, deed or condoning of others doing the same. With the list above in Romans, it is clear that we are all not fine, but in grave trouble...apart from (I just love that phrase, "apart from") Jesus; the substitute for us.

 In my personal opinion, the most concise and pointed sermon on the doctrine of baptism is from the current (2018) IMB President, Dr. David Platt. An expositional preacher and my personal favorite teacher of the Word who is alive today. take some time to listen, download the sermon notes, and consider if the Word is being explained correctly.

I have dear friends and brothers in the faith who have slightly different views on whether it should be Credo-baptism (which is the Southern Baptist's believe and adhere to) as well as dear Brothers in the Faith who disagree with me and support Paedobaptism , yet in spite of this particular disagreement, I trust them with my life and we agree on the essential primary doctrines that make it orthodox Christianity.


But enough of this talking, please take a moment and watch this video sermon and pray that God would open your eyes to the truth and that we can all agree that Baptism is an act of obedience for those who follow Jesus! May we prayerfully, passionately, and proactively seek, in this order, to know, to love and to obey God with all we have.

For resources links below are copyrighted by Radial.net and I own none of it. 

:

• Video (MP4)
• Audio (MP3)
• Small Group Guide
• Message Notes
• Transcript

 Listen

Transcript

Favorite

 Downloads 1 languages

 David Platt. Copyright David Platt. Used by permission. Website: Radical.net.

Let me know in the comments what you think about this post and the sermon. But don't comment on the sermon unless you've watched it all the way through. SO we can have intelligent and informed discussions. Also, post your favorite sermons or articles below that are Baptism related. Be cordial, and let's lovingly, genuinely, and truthfully make attempts to find truth from the Holy flawless Scripture of revealed by God, the Bible itself.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Zack Anderson

My brother did something crazy today.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Here is a thanksgiving video and link to a special gift for yourself and your friends and family for only ¢99!(so it's actually better than a gift, it's a gift you can pay for!! 😉)


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My First Trip to the Beautiful Country of Haiti. With Recap Vid. (9:43)

In the year 2012, I went along with the local church I am a member of, to the country Haiti!

Our group of fourteen “short-termers” stayed for a week. The sum of our mission was to serve, encourage, and learn from the full-time missionaries and local Christian churches in the area. 

We stayed at the, then much smaller, "Alabama House"*, where short-term missionaries were very blessed to be able to stay while in Jacmel, Haiti. At this location, we had no hot water or air conditioning, we were right above some sort of disco tech that was lively from 10 pm till somewhere about 4:30 am, and directly across the street resided the city’s community dump for burning trash. However, many in Haiti didn’t have near the luxuries that this house we stayed in did. In this house, we had food to eat, shelter from storms, beds to sleep in, and clean water to drink. Millions of dear people living in this country, to this day, still do not. These living conditions we saw were quite a culture shock to most all of our team, compared to our high amenity houses we were used to.

In spite of (or possibly in part, because of) these few minor inconveniences this trip was a joyful, yet sobering, glimpse into what my Brother and Sister's in Christ daily lives are like as missionaries here. It is anything but easy for the missionaries in the spiritually dark country of Haiti. As this was my first time out of the United States it was also my first look at the work of God practically being done through local churches in a different context than I am accustomed to.

I was blessed and changed for life by briefly experiencing the nation, seeing the poverty, and meeting and ministering to the dear sweet people.

Please watch this short, hopefully inspiring, video that I documented first hand in Haiti and enthusiastically (although less than skillfully) edited together when I got home. 

Being actively involved in local and global missions is mandatory in order to Biblically follow Jesus.

I would like to challenge the Christian after having watched this video and reading this blog post to take some serious time in your own life to pray. Pray about where God would lead you if He wants you to go yourself to see and to serve. Perhaps now is not the right time. Maybe you are called to be a “sender” rather than an overseas “server” for this season in your life.

But when we are called to go, may we not go as tourists or for Instagram likes, and may we not go so we can return home to saying, “we were blessed more by them than we were to them” (that commonly said statement is a selfish reason to serve others. Even though serving others is an incredible  blessing from God, it is a sad sentiment and reflection on many of our churches that won’t lift a finger unless we get something big in return).

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, instead of these vain reasons above, let’s, joyfully armed with truth and genuine compassion, go for an opportunity to learn from people different than we are! Let’s go to support the ministries and local churches already in place (if there are any) and encourage the Christians who live there all the time! And most importantly, let’s do all of this to bring glory to God by being obedient in caring for people in urgent physical and Spiritual needs. It is an honor and privilege that God has chosen to include us in His gathering of people to Himself from every tribe, tongue, and nation. He graciously, allows us to be a part of the Great Commission because of His love for us.

 May we pray, send, and go in order to take the Gospel to the ends of the Earth!   

*[The location of this particular "Alabama House" described above is across town from the current missionary housing facilities of this same ministry. It is far less unaccommodating as I described the first home we resided in during my first visit to Jacmel. This new, beautifully constructed and strategically placed for ministry, location is for the God-centered  ministry of Children’s Hope which is based out of Montgomery, AL, hence the name "The Alabama House".]

Jesus; the better David. Preaching to a local church in Jacmel, Haiti

Above is a short sermon I had the privilege to preach twice while in Haiti in 2015. First to the children for a Vacation Bible School-style bible study and then again for the local men who had gathered outside of the building where this particular church met every Sunday. 

The story I told was the historical account of David and the large enemy known as Goliath. The story is not the first time David is mentioned but it was a turning point in the boy's life. In the video, I briefly recap all of 1st Samuel Chapter 17. 

1.      We taught stories from the old testament about God’s deliverance of his people in the account of David and Goliath. Each day we made clear that the Bible stories we were telling were actual historical events and not fantasy. We also stressed the Biblical truth that all of the Bible is about Jesus.And that is a good reminder for us here today. Who is the hero of the Old Testament? Jesus is. David knew this! He gave credit for the win to God. You see God is the hero, not David. God delivered Israel that day! Not David. Now David was obedient, but it is a dangerous fallacy to think that God needed David to accomplish this. God doesn’t need us. Right? He chooses to use us, but not because he is in need in any way whatsoever.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the point of all the Bible and if that is true then the Gospel should be what every sermon points to.

Every day after the first day I asked the following questions, first,  "do yall remember what we talked about from the Holy Bible yesterday?" and second "do yall remember who the main Character of the story was?" Jesus is the ultimate answer to the question every time we ask that and they did recall it!