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I DARE YOU TO USE BIBLICAL INSTRUMENTS!

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A Challenge to use Biblical Instruments

Biblical Instruments

ByKenBlue

We live in a day when pastors pick a verse from anywhere, and make it say anything they like. This is seen when one conveniently overlooks certain things in the verse and chooses only those that support his agenda.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the area of musical instruments. Why is that? You know the answer. I dare you to.

Let us consider some Biblical instruments we are called upon to use to praise God:

  1. Trumpets- 2 Chron. 7:6. Are you searching for trumpet players? Why not?
  2. Harp- I Kings 10:12. Got any harp players? Why not?
  3. Psalteries- I Kings 10:12. A stringed instrument.  Why not?
  4. Cornet-I Chron. 15:28. A wind instrument in the trumpet family. Got any, why not?
  5. Cymbals- I Chron. 15:28. A percussion instrument. Can’t find any? When did you look?
  6. Timbrel- 2 Samuel 6:5. “An ancient percussion instrument similar to a tambourine.  [Diminutive of Middle English timbre, drum, from Old French.”  American Heritage Dictionary.]
  7. Tabrets- 2 Samuel 18:6. In the percussion family.

These are a few Biblical instruments found in Scripture. Yet you will not find them in Baptist churches. Perhaps if we added them, those churches that sound like funeral homes could be revived. Why aren’t they used? The answer is because the pastors are cowards. They fear their members and the wrath of fellow pastors. Come on Pastor, don’t be a chicken. Many Baptist churches dare not use anything other than the piano or organ, and then wonder why the music sounds like a Catholic Monastery. Biblical instruments fall into three categories; wind, stringed and percussion. I dare you!

 

 

 

 

MORE BAPTIST BRIDE BOLOGNA FROM THE DEEP FREEZE

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AUDACITY OF THE BAPTIST BRIDE

By Ken Blue

Several years ago I wrote a book called, Baptist Brider Bologna. I had no idea just how thick the bologna was until a fellow pastor called my attention to a Baptist Bride webpage. It contained the article below. We could title it “The Switch and Bait Game.”

 Briders believe they have the only correct doctrine, and therefore, only those who embrace it are Christians. You may be saved and in the family of God, but if you are not of their cut, you are not in the bride. You will notice that they make the word Christian synonymous with a Baptist Brider. Then they say if you don’t accept their Baptist teaching, you are not a Christian.

What all that means is, if you aren’t baptized by someone, who was baptized by someone, who was baptized by John the Baptist, you are not a Christian. If you are not a member of a Baptist Bride Church, you are not a Christian. If you do not have closed communion, you are not a Christian. If you fellowship with anyone who is not a Brider, you are not a Christian. If you use any Bible except the King James Bible, you are not a Christian. If you don’t believe in eternal security, you are not a Christian. If you are baptized by anyone except a Brider Pastor, you are not a Christian. If you are not faithful to all the Baptist Church services, you are not a Christian. If you don’t tithe, you are not a Christian. If you don’t go soul winning, you are not a Christian. If you disagree with the pastor, you are not a Christian. And, if the sign on your church doesn’t say Baptist, you probably aren’t a Christian. We say “nuts” to all this!

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Baptist Briders believe they have the only correct doctrine[/pullquote]

What these birds have done is set up a series of personal standards and doctrines, they think early believers believed and practiced. Then they teach that these original believers constituted the Baptist Bride Church, whose members lived by those standards. Adherence to their Baptist teachings identified them as Christians. Therefore, if you do not accept their Baptist Bride doctrines and behavior, you are not a Christian. It’s that simple, boys and girls.

Non-Baptist Christians?

Posted by JTR on 7/01/2010

“While some Baptists understand the absurdity of making a distinction between church history and Baptist history many would still refer to non-Baptist believers as Christians. I don’t believe that you can be a Christian without being a Baptist. I did not say you can’t be saved without being a Baptist and that would be absurd because you cannot become a Baptist until being baptized after salvation. The question must be asked, “What is a Christian?” A Christian is not just one that trusts Christ as their Savior. A Christian is one who is a follower of Christ – including AFTER salvation. May I say that one who gets saved and then backslides or never grows in the Lord is not a Christian. They may have trusted in Christ but they are not following Christ in their life. To be a Christian is to follow the ways and teachings of Christ. How could a believer be a Christian without being a member of the institution of the local church which He started? How could a saved Methodist be a Christian with their infant baptism? How could a Pentecostal believer be a Christian with their speaking in tongues? How could a Church of Christ member be called a Christian when they are trusting in baptism for salvation? How could a Presbyterian believer be a Christian when they don’t believe in eternal security and practice sprinkling? Being a Christian is more than believing in Christ and going to a church that historically believes in Christ instead of other gods. As Spurgeon said, ‘We believe that the Baptists are the original Christians.’ As Baptists we don’t treat the polity of new testament churches as optional suggestions and we don’t add to our practices the contradictory writings and creeds of men. If Jesus were physically on earth today he would be a member of a Baptist church because a (true) Baptist church is a practical copy and an actual descendant of the church that Christ started during His earthly ministry. Don’t be ashamed my brethren, only Baptists are Christians.”

(Emphasis is mine. I am not ashamed to be a Baptist; I am ashamed of some Baptist!) 

HOW TO KILL A CHURCH; A MILE DEEP AND AN INCH WIDE

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Kill a church

 

By Ken Blue

All of us have heard of the tragic results when doctors make a mistake and give the patient the wrong injection or pills. Many times the results are fatal. That is one reason others should be brought in to assist and assure that mistakes are not made.

I’m sure no pastor or church member would purposely inject a church with ministry concepts that would kill it. In most cases the intended goal is to make the church better. However, many of those decisions are based on preferences rather than on proven methods.

A few years ago, at a preacher’s conference, I heard a pastor criticize churches larger than his own by accusing them of being an “inch deep and a mile wide.” I discovered that his church was neither an inch deep nor an inch wide. I was more like ¼ inch in both directions.

One sure way to kill a church is to put more emphasis on maturity than reaching the lost. When a church becomes more concerned about teaching than reaching, it is only a matter of time till rigor mortis sets in. The leadership then continues to inject embalming fluid, in an attempt to make the corpse appear to be alive. The shift to teaching will kill church growth.

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]One sure way to kill a church is to put more emphasis on teaching than reaching.[/pullquote]

Another sure way to kill a church is to have a dead, dull music service. Dr. Jack Hyles built one of the largest churches in America. I personally heard him say that the KEY to an exciting church is atmosphere. Music and decor set the atmosphere. So liven up and mix up your music. You cannot have an Episcopal song service, a Lutheran sermon, and a Pentecostal invitation.

Finally, you kill a church by making sure that your preaching’s only purpose is to fill up the 11:00 hour. The average pastor has no purpose or theme in his messages to reach the purpose statement of the church; if it has one. Can you connect your sermons, lessons, activities, and advertisement to your church purpose statement? If not, your statement means nothing, or your sermons serve no purpose.

If I had to choose, which I did not, between a church that was “an inch deep and a mile wide or a church that was a mile deep and an inch wide,” the choice would be easy. I would take the wider church every time. I have no interest in a handful of “deeper life Christians” that sit around and criticize those of us who have not reached their spiritual depth. Also, there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who gets saved than there is over your deeper life sermon. So, aim at reaching the lost and infuse new life in your church.

HOW TO HANDLE THE BIBLE DECEITFULLY #1

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MAKING THE BIBLE TEACH WHAT YOU WANT

 

BibleBy Ken Blue

The purpose of this article is to show how the Bible is used deceitfully by many pastors and evangelist. In order to provide a simple foundation for this subject, I will use a three letter word to illustrate my point. That little word is the word “YOU.” I will give the text and then show how these false teachers want you to believe it refers to you, personally.

  1. “…he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:” Matthew 3:11. Those addressed were Jews and there is no promise here to the Gentile church.
  2. “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Matthew 17:20. The Lord is speaking to His disciples.
  3. “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 18:18. This is another Kingdom promise to the Twelve. It is not spoken to you or the Catholic church.
  4. “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 18:19. This is not a prayer promise, as many teach.
  5. “And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.” Matthew 19:9. This is not a command to the church or Gentiles. There is much more on this subject.
  6. “And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Matthew 19:28. This promise is to the Twelve. There is no promise to the Christian in this text.
  7. “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” Matthew 21:43. Jesus is speaking to the wicked leaders of Israel. He is not taking the kingdom from them and giving it to the church. The church is not the nation.
  8. “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.” Matthew 24:9. The text is about His disciples and is witnessed in the book of Acts.
  9. “But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.” Matthew 25:9. This is a parable, warning the Jews to be ready for His Second Advent at the end of the Tribulation.
  10. “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11:24. This promise was to the Twelve. Believers today do not receive everything they want simply because they desire and believe.

These ten should suffice. You can make the Bible say anything you want if you ignore who is speaking, to whom it is spoken, why it was spoken and the dispensation to which it belongs. The “you” in the above text is not about YOU!

THE EVANGELIST

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THE EVANGELIST

evangelist

  By Dr. Ken Blue “And he gave some… evangelists…” Ephesians 4:11 Although all believers are to do the work of evangelism, the Evangelist was not called to do the work of the Apostle, Prophet or the Pastor. His was a specific ministry of taking the gospel message to the lost. The missionary who goes to the lost and preaches the gospel is doing what was intended for the evangelist. In fact, since there is no designated ministry of a missionary, they, the missionaries, are in reality the evangelist. James M. Gray says, “literally, God Himself is an evangelist, for He preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham” (Gal 3:8); Jesus Christ was an evangelist, for He also “preached the gospel” (Luke 20:1); Paul was an evangelist as well as an apostle (Rom 1:15); Philip the deacon was an evangelist (Act 21:8); and Timothy, the pastor (2 Tim 4:5); and indeed all the early disciples who, on being driven out of Jerusalem, “went everywhere preaching the word” (Act 8:4). But Eph 4:11 teaches that one particular order of the ministry, distinguished from every other, is singled out by the Head of the church for this work in a distinctive sense. All may possess the gift of an evangelist in a measure, and be obligated to exercise its privilege and duty, but some are specially endued with it. “He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers. [perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The Evangelist has a specific ministry of taking the gospel message to the lost.[/perfectpullquote] It will be seen that as an order in the ministry, the evangelist precedes that of the pastor and teacher, a fact which harmonizes with the character of the work each is still recognized as doing. He has no fixed place of residence, but moves about in different localities, preaching the gospel to those ignorant of it before. As these are converted and united to Jesus Christ by faith, the work of the pastor and teacher begins, to instruct them further in the things of Christ and build them up in the faith.” (Italic, mine). Albert Barns says, “What was the precise office of the evangelist in the primitive church it is now impossible to determine. The evangelist may have been one whose main business was preaching, and who was not particularly engaged in the government of the church. The word properly means, ‘a messenger of good tidings;’ and Robinson (Lex.) supposes that it denotes a minister of the gospel who was not located in any place, but who travelled as a missionary to preach the gospel, and to found churches. The word is so used now by many Christians, but it cannot be proved that it is so used in the New Testament. The office was distinct from that of the pastor, the teacher, and the prophet; and was manifestly an office in which preaching was the main thing.” (Italic, mine). R. A. Torry says, “The work of the evangelist is the proclamation of the glad tidings to those who have not known them, rather than the instruction and pastoral care of those who have believed and been baptized. It follows also that the name denotes a work rather than an order. Its use is nearly like our word missionary.” (Italic, mine).