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by Anthony Baker | September 1, 2010 · 11:55 am

“What do these stones mean?”

While driving my school bus just the other day, I happened to ask a couple of teenagers about their knowledge of the battle of Lookout

Mountain during the Civil War. They had no knowledge that there ever WAS a battle on that mountain! I was completely dumbfounded. Every day we drive across the foot of Lookout Mt., right past monuments and markers, right beneath the cannon placements above, and yet they never even knew there was a battle there! Unbelievable!As I see it, somewhere there was a breakdown in the education these children were given. How is it even possible that teenagers could graduate from schools in Chattanooga and never know that one of the key battles of the Civil War, the very war that liberated their ancestors from slavery (they were African-American), was fought in their own back yard?

Was this information not considered important enough to teach in public school?

The Battle of Lookout Mountain

When I took just a few minutes to share some facts about what happened in and around Lookout Mountain and Chattanooga, making them look out the windows up to the low-hanging clouds that covered the bluffs, they began to understand some things. When I related how desperate the Union troops were, the seemingly invincible fortress that was Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and then used the clouds right in front of them to explain the “miracle” that took place, history came alive. I asked them to imagine how scary it was to a guy that may have walked all the way down from New York, just to look straight up that mountain and know that he was going to have to go up it with just a rifle and a bayonet.

Most American young people do not care about history because they have never been led to make a connection with the past. When it becomes personal, either by making it relevant or intriguing, they take ownership. We can’t just sit around and blame our children, or other’s, for not knowing what we do not teach them. The very same thing can be said about our faith and what we believe. Consider the following Scripture:

Joshua 4:4-7 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of Jehovah your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; that this may be a sign among you, that, when your children ask in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? then ye shall say unto them, Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

What can we learn from these verses? What principles can we see that could help our youth better understand our Faith, not to mention our history? Here are just a few observations.

“When your children ask in time to come…” If our children are not asking questions, they need to be. We need to lead them to places and discussions that would cause them to ask the right questions that lead them to discover truth.
“These stones…” There needs to be stones of remembrance, monuments, memorials in each Christian’s life that cause others to ask “the reason of the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15).
“Then ye shall say unto them…” Do we know what to say when they do ask? We had better! What a loss and a missed opportunity when a child, even an adult, asks “what does this mean,” and we have nothing to say.
“Your children…” It is our responsibility to teach our children, not the state, nor a stranger. Ultimately, we will be held accountable for what they learn, and from whom.

I can’t be held responsible for all the children of America, but I will be held responsible for mine (that’s one BIG reason we homeschool). You will have to answer for yours. And when it comes to the others that ride our buses, or mow our lawns, or stand in line, or or sit in our Sunday School classes, or whatever, don’t waste an opportunity to explain the reason for the “stones,” even if it’s a big mountain.

Why I Hate Traffic Cameras

So, you’re just doing your own thing, minding your own business, when all of a sudden it seems like a cameraman with a huge flash took a picture of your car. You look around and see nobody, but someone is looking, alright. In a few days you receive a ticket in the mail. Some flash, while others do not, but these traffic cameras are always watching, always ready to snitch on the least little infraction.

I was wondering just recently why it is that I cannot stand these cameras. Supposedly, they are instrumental in saving lives by causing people to drive slower and safer. Maybe. I haven’t seen the statistics. But if they are good at saving lives, then why do I abhor those electronic tattle-tales?

The reason these cameras make me so angry is that they are insulting. Quite frankly, they are un-American (seriously). They insult every one who has earned the right to be trusted to act mature. They imply that I am no more responsible than the teenager who can’t be trusted with his parent’s car.

Every year more laws are added to the books by people who seem to feel that if they don’t write laws, then they won’t get re-elected. We don’t need more laws! We also don’t need spying, tattle-telling, big-brother eyes everywhere. Every day that passes brings us closer to a day when this society will crawl in diapers, drink from government-issued bottles, and never think or make decisions for themselves.

The basis for our laws, I believe, is the Ten Commandments. The beauty of our government, as originally intended, however, is that it was to govern a people who were moral, having the law of God written on the heart (Ps 37:32; Jer 31:33). Maturity has a lot to do with it, also. A moral, mature, self-sufficient people don’t need to be monitored at every curve. It’s a lot like grace.

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by Anthony Baker | July 29, 2010 · 9:45 pm

Happy Birthday to Haley!

Ten years ago, yesterday, our little Haley Brianna Baker was born. Born in Hopkinsville, KY, she is a true Kentucky Wildcat. Well, being from Tennessee, I know very little about what a “true” wildcat from KY should act like, but if Haley is any clue, they’re nothing to mess with.

Tomorrow is the big party. We are really going to take advantage of living next to a church gym. The party is going to be science themed, with all kind of experiments (cool ones, of course) that the kids will be able to do. One of them will actually involve making ice cream in freezer bags!

Ten years ago, my daughter was born, but I really didn’t know what to think. You should have seen her! You know how everybody always says, “All babies are beautiful?” Well, to be completely honest, I shocked the nurse beside me when I said, “I don’t think she is mine.” Who could have blamed me? Do you know who she looked like? FRED SANFORD! You know, from the tv show “Sanford and Son?” White, Baptist preachers should not be having babies that look like old, black comedians! You should have seen you look on the nurses face. “Don’t say that,” she replied in a strong whisper which my wife was not supposed to hear.

Just a couple of days later, my wife carried Haley into the sanctuary of Hillcrest Baptist Church. I can still see her carrying that little bundle in her arms. The proud look on her face was beaming, as mine must have been, also. It was more than just the pride of having a new baby to show off, however. What most people can’t understand is that it was also a sense of pride that we were able to take our little girl to her first church service in her life, the first one after the day she was born, and dedicate her to God.

Psalm 127 compares children to arrows in a quiver, and verse five says that a man is happy whose quiver is full of them. Sadly, we can’t have any more children. Haley will be the last, naturally. She was our last home-made arrow, but we are happy with what we have. I just pray that God will continue to give us the grace to rear our children in such a way that, as arrows, they will stay sharp, straight and fly true when they are released to pursue their God-ordained target.

Why were Valerie and I so proud? I don’t really know for sure. But one thing I do know is this: it was really cool to think that we were responsible for bringing into this world one more weapon that would be destined to put some hurt on the Devil. Happy birthday to our littlest “Arrowhead!’

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by Anthony Baker | September 7, 2009 · 4:51 pm

The Doctrine of Separation Examined

There are so many destructive teachings that are simply corruptions of actual truth. One of those is the doctrine of separation. Practiced within the more independent and fundamental sects of Christianity, this doctrine is mainly derived from 2 Corinthians 6:17, ” Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you…” The idea is that if one group does not agree with another in all areas, then association is considered sinful, or at least liberal.

I personally believe that this has been taken way too far within the body of Christ.

A few Sundays ago I was at a church where a missionary was speaking. I really enjoyed hearing what he had to say. What disappointed me was what was on his prayer card. Listed on the back, in his statement of beliefs, was the “doctrine of separation.” However, during the message that he preached, he spoke of how it was good to be able to talk to a Charistmatic believer in Mongolia. He spoke of how it was good, in a land that so few missionaries frequented, to find anyone to talk to that was a Christian. But when it came to working together, that was a different story.

Years ago, in 1992, I was given the opportunity to travel to Romania for a month. Long story short, in order to do some first-time evangelical work in a small village, two other young guys and myself were priviledged to hire a young interpreter to help us. Actually, he was helping a Pentecostal church group rebuilding grain silos during the day. Because he was free in the evening, he helped us. He even helped us make friends with the Pentecostal group. We didn’t have services together, but we did get to have friendly contact. Ultimately, because of this unplanned cooperation (the Church of God folk paid the interpreter for us) around 80 souls came to accept Christ as their Saviour in one week.

When I got back to the U.S., thoughts crossed my mind about how Baptist missionaries could develope ways to work together with other Christian missionaries in third-world countries, especially where the work was great. Pooling local resources and manpower for mutual benefit seemed something totally logical to me; but not to BIMI, the mission agency with which I had traveled. Unlike Southern Baptist missionaries, independent Baptist missionaries have to raise their own funds to reach the field and to stay there. To me it seemed that being able to work with other Christians to accomplish like goals was a no-brainer, but not according to the doctrine of separation which BIMI held true to, as do most independent Baptists with which I have been aquainted.

The belief that Christians cannot work together, worship together, or evangelize together to reach a common desired goal is crazy. There are areas that make Baptists (of which I am) different from other denominations, and rightfully so. These differences, however, are more often than not of little eternal significance. Baptists believe in baptism by submersion, for instance, while Presbyterians normally do not. Is that worth saying that when it comes to winning the lost for Christ that we must remain separate in all things? Even if a friend of mine is a five-point Calvinist, does that mean that I can’t walk down a street with him as we both preach salvation through Jesus alone? I like what article XIV of the 2000 edition of theBaptist Faith and Message has to say on the subject:

“Members of New Testament churches should cooperate with one another in carrying forward the missionary, educational, and benevolent ministries for the extention of Christ’s Kingdom. Christian unity in the New Testament sense is spiritual harmony and voluntary cooperation for common ends by various groups of Christ’s people. Cooperation is desirable between the various Christian denominations, when the end to be attained is itself justified, and when such cooperation involves no violation of conscience or compromise of loyalty to Christ and His Word as revealed in the New Testament.”

When it comes to the legalists and the Pharisaical crowd that promotes separation to the extent of mutual exclusion, finger pointing and self-glorification (i.e., “I am right with God and you are not, because you don’t believe the same as me.”), maybe isolation isn’t that bad. More people than not, I truly believe, think that working together for the greater good of the Kingdom is biblical. Only a small minority of so-called “fundamentalists” within the Christian faith feel otherwise. However, the problem is not so much that we believe that working together is good as long as there is no compromise, it’s getting us to actually DO it. Let the “separatists” stay separate if they wish, but let the rest of us unite where possible to form a true Nation of Christians, the body of Christ.

Say what you will about the “herd mentality,” but it is the loners that the lions and wolves look for first. There truly is strength in unity.

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Filed under baptist, Christian Living, Christian Unity, Independent Baptist, legalism, Southern Baptist, Uncategorized

Tagged as Baptist, Christian denomination, Christianity, Doctrine of Separation, God, Jesus, Legalism, Missions, New Testament, Religion and Spirituality

by Anthony Baker | September 7, 2009 · 11:54 am

Please check out the tabs

If you are new to this blog, or if you are returning, please take a look at the new tabs up top. They are there to help keep things simple, for one. Secondly, they are there to take you to the specific area of discussion which may interest you the most. If you have a comment or a question, please write it. Your comments can help lead to further discussion and deeper content.

Hello world!

I have decided to share my thoughts with the world. As a pastor of a small Southern Baptist church in Chattanooga, TN, and a former (recovering) legalist, my comments might be found useful to some, encouraging to others, and downright enraging to a few. As time goes on, and I figure out the blog life, I hope to here from a lot of other people trying to recover from the burden of legalism.