The Recovering Legalist

by Anthony Baker | December 7, 2010 · 11:09 pm

Anthony’s Appetite #4

I HEAR BANJO MUSIC!!

Yours truly jammin' on the flat 5!

Where do you go to see a grown man in a suit playing a toy (but playable) banjo? The Cracker Barrel, of course.

By now you know how I feel about this place. I love the atmosphere. I love the coffee. I love playing checkers by a real, wood-burning fireplace. I also love a particular, Southern dish: beans and greens.

What are beans and greens? Well, let’s start with the bean part. If there is one bean that you just have to include in Southern cooking, it’s the pinto bean. I am not an expert in how to make them, though. What I do know is that there is an art to it. Cracker Barrel knows how to do ’em right. I have been to some restaurants than may have well just opened a can off the shelf. These have been slow-cooked with pork (not an Adventist dish) and can stand alone as a dish unto themselves.

Next, you’ve got the greens. What are the greens? We’re talking turnip greens, slow-cooked with pork ( yet another vegetable ruined by the anti-Kosher, anti-Pharisaical folks) until they are tender, meaty, and savory. For the unlearned, these are not collard greens, nor spinach.

Beans and Greens

Along with the beans and the greens come a side of chow-chow relish and a slice of onion. I put both in my beans, along with the cornbread. Of course, you get more than one piece of cornbread, so you can save one to eat with just butter.

Goooooooood stuff.

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Filed under Christian Living, Food, General Observations, legalism

by Anthony Baker | December 7, 2010 · 1:38 pm

Guilt, Email, and Cartoons

You open an email from a [friend] that is meant to “make your day,” and you find something that starts something like this:

When it’s cold outside and your world is gray

Just know that love is coming your way.

Enjoy this cute picture of puppy cuteness,

And free yourself from laughing muteness.

Oh, you love the puppies…you’ve got to love the puppies. But more than that, you have to love Jesus, right? You know, Jesus, Saviour of the world? So the email continues:

The world needs Love that’s ever true.

They need to hear you love them, too.

Puppies sweet will make your day;

But Christ, alone, can sinners save.

Now, who but the Neo-pagan, Muslim, Wiccan, or atheist could disagree with that logic? You are all for sharing the love of Jesus, right? Well, you may not be planning a mission trip to Africa next week, but you know the words to “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know.” Yeah, the world needs unconditional love, and maybe even a puppy, or two. So far, the email has made you smile, feel the love, and even caused you to re-evaluate you world-mission ethic. Great email, [friend].

Then, out of the blue, or off the white of your computer monitor, comes the rest of the email:

If you love God, Mankind, and are against the wholesale slaughter of innocent, cute puppies for the purposes of developing cosmetics for fat, uncaring capitalists, then send this email in the next five minutes to every friend you have, however distant or unheard of. If you don’t, your lack of caring will mean that the light of this email candle of love will forever be extinguished and the Armageddon-like darkness of hatred and bigotry will forever envelope the landscape of our children’s future. If you love life, and your mother, for the children’s sake, please forward this.

What is it with this kind of stuff? In need of a hug, myself, I open an email meant to encourage me and find myself feeling like the scum of the earth if I don’t hand over my contact list! Some *@!# [friend]! I feel worse, now, than when I started! What is it with all this guilt?

Well, if that wasn’t enough, someone on Facebook has recently gotten into the act. The whole world is being made to feel like promoters of pedophilia and child abuse if we don’t change our profile pictures to cartoon characters. What? I am trying to make it through life the best way I can, trusting God to carry me as I go, and doing my best to break free from the Pharisees that would judge my spirituality. Now, out of the internetal (I made that word up) universe, comes a flood of guilt meant to shame me into yielding to some unknown entity’s idea of what my profile pic should be. I don’t think so, [friend]!

The reason behind all this profile-pic-changing is to increase child abuse awareness. The idea is that if all human faces could be removed from Facebook, child-chasing perverts worthy of the lowest parts of Hell would have one less tool to lure unsuspecting kids into chatting. I can respect that. But how many children are going to look at my picture and think I am a 10 year old, huh?

I question the logic of all of this, also. As I understand it, pedophiles are using cartoon characters as profile pictures of themselves. The purpose for this is to make the innocent children think that the slime on the other end is actually another child just wanting to be share cheat codes for the newest video game. So, why not just ask everyone on the internet to post a picture of an old, sleazy-looking convict? If everyone had profile pictures that looked like Spongebob, then how would the kiddies know how to distinguish between good guys and bad guys?

I think that the best approach to stemming the tide of child abuse on the internet would be to keep your darlings off the stinking web! At the very least, parents, know what your little boys or girls are doing when they are on the internet. How much common sense does that take? If you know that there are preditors out there who want your children, why let them take their Dell-sized ticket to “pervert land” with them to their bedroom?

I am keeping my profile picture just the way it is. I have no desire to give in to the self-righteous who think I don’t care about the world’s children, or for that matter, cute puppies. So, keep your threatening emails to yourselves. The next time I get one of your “please forward now, or else” requests, I may just forward the message that you kicked your own, cute dog……..

………and that you don’t like Jesus, either.

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Filed under Christian Living, Culture Wars, General Observations, legalism

Tagged as Awareness, Character (arts), Child abuse, Children Youth and Family, Facebook, Pharisees, Profile pics

by Anthony Baker | December 3, 2010 · 1:11 pm

Clark Kent’s Glasses and Sharia Law

I got some new glasses, finally. I have been waiting for these over-priced sight-fixers for months. Long story short, it has been a struggle finding the right frames, lenses, price, and place that accepts Care Credit. You can see from the picture the difference, cosmetically, from the older, black frame…the new ones are rimless (they’re also progressive bi-focals, too, because I’m getting old and decrepit).

When looking in the mirror at my new appearance, a deep and profound thought crossed my mind: “How would rimless glasses affected the secret identity of Superman?” You know what I am talking about, right? Superman had a clever, foolproof disguise which kept his identity from being discovered – glasses. Superman (a.k.a. Clark Kent), when not out saving the day in his jumpsuit and cape, wore a business suit and dark-rimmed glasses. That fooled everybody! Even the love of his life, Lois Lane, could make out with him without his glasses, only to totally not recognize him later at the office – it was the glasses. Amazing.

Now, consider for a moment, what if the styles had been different back then? If, let’s say, Superman had strolled into the local LensCrafters to purchase a pair of specs, what would he have done if all they had were rimless frames? What if, after a few decades of being Clark Kent, the styles changed and management at the news paper wanted him to upgrade his look? What would have happened if the crew from “What Not to Wear” (on TLC) were called in to do a makeover? Wow! That would have been interesting! I could just imagine Stacy and Clinton confronting him for the first time…

Clinton: Clark, we have been watching you with our hidden cameras for a few days, and you never change clothes. As a

Stacy and Clint

matter of fact, you disappear a lot, only to come back to work in the same clothes you always wear.Stacy: That’s right, Clark, and your coworkers have gotten together to do an intervention. They want you to change with the times.

Clinton: Yeah, Clark, you have got a look straight out of the 1940’s and it’s got to change. Let’s start right now.

Stacy: Clark, we have an appointment set for you with the Optomitrist to the stars, Franko Foofoo, and we are going to update your eyewear….here, let’s just imaging what you might look like, for instance, in a pair of Sillouette rimless frames…..let me just take those old, black ones………

Clinton: OMG!!!! It’s SUPERMAN! (whispering to Stacy, “I always thought he looked super in those tights.”)

Seriously, how crazy is it that just a pair of glasses would keep a famous person from being recognized by his closest friends? I mean, really? The truth about Superman’s identity should have been easy to see, even if he had worn a wig and a rubber nose. All the fans of Superman figured it out the first episode. Well, sometimes I wonder if the same sort of blindness to the obvious is what is wrong with most people today. I could site example after example until this article turned into a book the size of “War and Peace.” Instead of that, let me just share with you one example.

If you follow this link, http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/12/afghan-women/addario-photography, you will see a picture of a poor woman in Afghanistan. Let me quote the caption beneath the picture…

The Wails of a Jailed Wife

A female inmate at a Mazar-e Sharif prison has just been released, prompting Maida-Khal, 22, to cry out because she is still trapped in her cell. When Maida-Khal was 12, she was married to a man of about 70 who was paralyzed. “I was so young, I couldn’t carry him because he was so heavy, so his brothers would beat me,” she recalls. When she asked for a divorce four years ago, she was imprisoned. “I am in jail because I don’t have a mahram [male guardian]. I can’t get a divorce, and I can’t leave prison without a man.” She says, with remarkable understatement, “I have had a difficult life.”

Is that not just horrible? What kind of law would allow a 22 year old girl to go prison because she wanted to get a divorce from an abuser, then keep her there indefinitely because she didn’t have a man? It’s called Sharia Law, and it’s coming to a courthouse near you!

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about allowing Sharia Law into our American courts. A case is being battled at this very moment (see link at bottom of page) between the people of Oklahoma and Muneer Awad, director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Oklahoma was the first state to say “no” to Sharia Law being considered, or worse, implemented in court. Muneer Awad said this was an affront to his religious rights. So, even though the people voted overwhelmingly, a judge put a hold on the results.

Alan Combs, the well-know Liberal spokesman, quoted in his blog a professor from the University of Oklahoma’s College of Law, Joseph Thai:

“There is no plausible danger of international law or Sharia law overtaking the legal system,” Thai said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. He said courts only consider international law when deciding issues involving a federal treaty, a business contract or a will that incorporates international law.

http://www.alan.com/2010/11/05/cair-seeks-injunction-on-oklahoma-vote-banning-sharia-law/

The problem with all of this is, however, akin to not recognizing Superman, in spite of his disguise. Many of us know the true intentions of those who want Sharia Law to be allowed in our courts. We can see through the horn-rimmed glasses and distinguish the face of terror and oppression. This is not a battle for equal rights and religious freedom. This is a fight for Western Culture, for Judeo-Christian ethics, for a Constitution that was based on the premise that “all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,” among them the right for women to not be treated as cattle, sex–slaves, and punching bags! For crying out loud, where’s Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem when you need them? What about Equal Rights?

Look again at that picture of the woman in Afghanistan. My heart literally breaks for her. Does the American system of law allow that kind of abuse? No, but Sharia Law does. Where in our Constitution does it state that a man can behead his wife or daughter, keep his daughter locked up, or kill a person for just embarrassing the family by converting to Christianity? Nowhere, but Sharia Law allows it. Who gives a flying prayer rug if this guy in Oklahoma is offended? I’m not! If he wants Sharia Law, then let him go to Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Somalia, etc. There, his view will be welcomed with open, manly arms (I’m just not sure the women are too thrilled about it).

The supporters of Sharia Law are walking around our country wearing Clark Kent’s glasses…

Who could it be?

They are saying, “I am not who you think I am. I am not trying to change your country or your culture. I don’t want this country to become a Muslim theocracy governed by Sharia Law, NO WAY! I like American apple pie just as much as you, friend. As a matter of fact I, too, think America is the greatest country in the world! I don’t want to change a thing.” Then, just when you think everything is going fine, the glasses come off, but it’s too late. The difference between Superman and Sharia is that Superman fought for “truth, justice, and the American way.” Sharia Law and it’s supporters follow a five-fold path that is anything but the Constitutional way.

In conclusion, you may think that I should give a “shout out” to all the “peaceful” Muslims out there who want to live in harmony with other Americans and people of all faiths, including Christians. You may think that I should admit Islam is a “peaceful and great religion” that has been “highjacked and perverted by terrorist.“ If that is what you want me to say, then let me say this, “You, too, would have believed Clark Kent was just a mild-mannered reporter.”

Look past the glasses, folks.

For further consideration, here’s an enlightening article from the Heritage Foundation, “The Real Impact of Sharia Law”: http://blog.heritage.org/?p=42257.

Story on the Oklahoma case: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/11/08/oklahomas-ban-shariah-law-blocked-critics-say-attorney-general-failed-respond/

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Filed under America, Culture Wars, General Observations, World View

Tagged as Sharia

by Anthony Baker | November 26, 2010 · 7:10 pm

The Home Depot: Supporter of Non-Traditional Homes

“A bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs. The predominant usage in modern American English refers to persons hostile to those of differing race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, various mental disorders, or religion.” – Wikipedia

“The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.” – Jesus, John 7:7

This may be controversial. You may disagree with me; but I have read the articles. I have tried to examine both sides of the story. Now, let me throw in my two cents (and maybe a third).

Do you ever have to purchase supplies for your home or business such as , let’s say, lumber, lighting, plumbing, or painting products? If so, then you have probably made the choice to go to The Home Depot, at least once. You have to admit, they draw you in with the big, orange sign, don’t they? Well, you may also be aware that there are several other places you could go to purchase the same products. Home Depot is not the only shop in town. I would advise you to consider other options. Let me tell you why.

Wait, before I go any further, let me say that privately owned businesses have every right to decide how they want to spend their money, write their employee dress code rules, and to what degree they want to support a charity or cause. Therefore, it is perfectly fair that The Home Depot is taking advantage of every right available to them. With that in mind, because they are exercising their freedoms, I believe that it should be acceptable to exercise our free right to choose where to shop…especially if there is an option to shop at another business which does not promote gay marriage and the redefinition of traditional marriage.

Whoa now, partner! Get off that sawhorse!

Am I saying that everyone should stop patronizing The Home Depot because they treat homosexuals with equality? No, of course not. What I am saying is that everyone who believes that marriage, as defined by the Bible and current social norms, not to mention natural observation (yeah, I’ll stand by that), should exercise their privilege to shop at places that don’t, as a matter of company policy, stand at odds with said beliefs, norms, and observations. The Home Depot is NOT a neutral player in the current culture war. So, if you believe that there comes a time when one must take a side, The Home Depot has provided the rainbow-colored fence.

Oh, you may say that if I am going to take the stance of not shopping at The Home Depot, then I might as well stop shopping anywhere for anything, right? What company does not involve itself with homosexuals? Few, I would imagine. Sadly, there is evidence that multiple companies with which I have to do business support LGBT events and market advertising towards gays and lesbians. Coke was one of two “Rainbow” sponsors (the other was Bud Light) at the 2010 Gay Pride parade in Atlanta. Suntrust bank was a minor sponsor, also (at least they provided t-shirts to one group in the parade). Then there was Ford who, in 2005, produced an add for gays, then pulled it, then reinstated it a week later. If I were to disassociate myself from every company that had anything to do with homosexuals I would have to dig a hole and live in it. I understand that. In this case, however, with The Home Depot, I am choosing to draw a line. Why, because more than just trying to make a buck, as typical companies, The Home Depot has more in mind.

Recovering Legalist Teaching Moment Alert!

I understand that not everyone will choose to do what I do. Each person must feel convicted in his own heart about such decisions. Some may have family members that work at The Home Depot and have families to support. It would be foolish to ask them to walk off their job, especially if they felt God put them there. Sometimes people have to purchase items from places which aren’t the perfect choice. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do – that is what grace is all about.

The legalist would say that if you now know that all these places give money to gay organizations, you should never give them your patronage. If you do, they would argue, you would be committing sin and risk banishment. Grace doesn’t work that way. At times, the only good decision is the one that is better than the other – neither may be perfect. Sometimes you may have to get your water from a bar. One day you may find yourself having to “eat the showbread” from the temple (1 Samuel 21:4-6). All God asks is a heart and mind that seeks after Him first. To Him only do His slaves answer.

Now, back to the main article.

For a while now, The Home Depot has been very involved in supporting the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) lifestyle. Recently, The Home Depot has financially and materially supported numerous Gay Pride parades and activities* (see links below); the most controversial being the youth activity tents. Hey, “go for it,” I say! Support whoever you want, Home Depot! But guess what, I support the defense of traditional marriage and the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. If you, El Depot, are going to choose to actively support and encourage a lifestyle that actively seeks to destroy the culture and belief system I defend, I am going to choose to go elsewhere. Choice works both ways (I just don’t GO both ways). I don’t want your version of plumbing.

If The Home Depot wants to provide new closets to replace the ones the gays “came out” of, then hey, that’s the way the rainbow arches. However, I can decide where I want to spend the gold at the end of my rainbow. If you want to allow some employees to decorate their aprons with slogans and emblems which offend the God of heaven, while denying others the right to wear a pin which says “One Nation Under God,“* then I don’t want to give my dollars, with the prohibited slogan printed on them, to help you. Thanks, but no thanks.

God has made me a steward of His gifts. He has given me the ability to work and earn an income. He has called me to be a witness and an example of His mercy and grace. But because He has made me a steward, it is my responsibility to use His money (it all belongs to Him) in such a way that reflects His holiness. Because of this, I don’t think He would be pleased with me using His money to support, almost directly, the destruction of the family, as HE defines it, by supporting gay and lesbian causes championed by Home Depot.

You know, we do live in a fallen, sinful world.

It would be impossible to totally remove ourselves, as Christians, from every aspect of life that rubs shoulders with things we object. We have to choose our battles, though. We may have to eat at places that sell alcohol to drunks. We have to get help at hospitals that have to perform abortions. We put fuel in our cars that probably came from Christian-killing, Muslim sheiks in Saudi Arabia. We buy clothes from the same manufacturers who’s designers are probably ALL gay. So, we can’t totally get away with boycotting everything – but we can make smarter choices. We could choose to pay more and buy local, for one thing. All I am saying is pick one battle, at least. Then, pray the prayer of Peter Marshall:

Give to us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for — because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything.

Check out the links below to find out more on this subject. Feel free to check out both sides of the story, too. But do this: If you are a Christian, or if you care about TRUE fairness and equality in the workplace, then let your voice be heard on this subject, and others like it. Don’t sit back and think that it is going to go away or get better. There is a battle going on out there for the hearts and minds of future generations. The LGBT crowd is doing all they can to become mainstream and accepted by all, regardless of religious or personal convictions. While there is still hope, take a stand, bear your cross. If you need the wood to build one, well, why not go to Lowe’s? Heck, “Ace is the place with the helpful hardware person,” and that should be enough.

“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another…” – the Apostle Paul, Letter to the Romans, Chapter 1

*Links for your further consideration:

The American Family Association’s take on the matter. http://action.afa.net/item.aspx?id=2147496231

Change.org’s (Gay Rights) opinion. http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/home_depots_pac_gives_liberally_to_anti-gay_politicos_dont_tell_the_afa

The Home Depot’s own words (see Affinity Groups). https://careers.homedepot.com/cg/content.do?p=diversity

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Filed under Christian Living, Culture Wars, Defending Traditional Marriage, Defining Marriage, General Observations, legalism, Relationships and Family, World View

Tagged as Home Depot, Pride parade, Religion and Spirituality, Shopping

by Anthony Baker | November 25, 2010 · 10:30 am

Remembering to WHOM We Give Thanks

The Thanksgiving holiday is all about thanks, but so little about the Object of our thanks.

What would be the harm in reflecting upon the words of our Founding Father, President George Washington? Do you remember him? Supposedly, he was a guy that people say was a deist. A deist? Yeah, a person who believes that God made the universe, the world, and maybe even man, but took a hands-off approach after that.

But wait! What can you thank a “hands-off” God for?

If George Washington was a deist, then he hid it really well. It seems to me that he believed America owed a great debt of gratitude to an Almighty God who bestowed “benefits,” “mercies,” and forgiveness for “transgressions [national and other].” That doesn’t sound like a card-carrying deist to me.

And to think, there are those who say our founding fathers wanted to separate faith from public life. Evidently, they were….shall I say….wrong?

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor– and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be– That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks–for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation–for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war–for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed–for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted–for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions– to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually–to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed–to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord–To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us–and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

May God continue to bless the United States of America. May we humble ourselves and give Him thanks. Without His mercies and providence, we would not be the nation we are. Without Him, I fear what we will become.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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Filed under America, Thanksgiving, Was George Washington a Deist?, World View

by Anthony Baker | November 24, 2010 · 5:57 pm

“May They be One, as We are One…”

I want thank all the people in Lookout Valley who attended our annual community-wide Thanksgiving service held at Lookout Valley Baptist Church. At least seven (7) different congregations from 4-5 different denominations were represented. It was a great evening of fellowship and friendship.

Each year our community has a Thanksgiving service in which all the Christian churches are encouraged to attend and participate in some way. I guess, others in the community would be welcome, but the overall emphasis of an evening like this was to give thanks unto God, and our Savior, Jesus Christ, for all of His blessings. As believers in Christ, we have more reasons to be thankful than anyone else. Besides being blessed beyond measure by being allowed to live in a country such as ours, we have been forgiven of our sins, made heirs of the Kingdom, and have become part of a universal family of God. A Thanksgiving service like this is more like a family reunion around the dinner table of the Father.

Pastors Bill Akers and Anthony Baker (United Methodist and Southern Baptist)

This year’s speaker was Pastor Bill Akers, from Wauhatchie United Methodist Church. During his sermon he shared his testimony, gave thanks to God for sparing his life, and even gave out some peanut M&Ms. To be honest, I have never seen a Methodist preacher with so much energy. I don’t even move around as much as he does.

Last week I tried to encourage my congregation to attend the service last night. I wanted them to do the best that they could to show a spirit of familial love, which shouldn’t be too hard, considering we were all part of the same spiritual family. Jesus Christ Himself prayed that we would do no less when He prayed to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane.

John 17:20-23 I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in Me through their message. May they all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You. May they also be one in Us, so the world may believe You sent Me. I have given them the glory You have given Me. May they be one as We are one. I am in them and You are in Me. May they be made completely one, so the world may know You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me. – HCSB

In the seventeenth chapter of John, Jesus prays for several things, but one thing that He repeats is the desire that we all be unified in the Father and the Son. Through this unity, as Jesus prayed, the world may see the love of the Father towards Jesus, and believe on Him (vs. 21 & 23). Sadly, it would seem that so many believers in Jesus want to keep this prayer from being answered. How sad is this, and how ludicrous?

It is possible for a prayer of Jesus to be denied?

If Jesus prays, then you know His prayers get answered. As a matter of observation, the only one of the requests made in chapter 17 that has not been fulfilled is the request that we be made one. Does this mean that Jesus’ prayer will never be answered? I don’t think so, but we should really think about this seriously. What is it going to take for this prayer to be answered? Will it happen after we all reach heaven? Then what would be the point of doing it so the unbelieving world could see?

I think that it is a crying shame when certain groups cannot look past minor differences in secondary doctrines, even for just one night. There were at least two other congregations in our community that did not participate in our community service. Both were Baptist. Both were independent. Now I can understand the Church of Christ not coming. Many of them believe that the rest of us are going to hell, anyway, so why meet with us. The same thinking persists with the Adventists, also, because we’re anti-sabbatarians. But for the Baptists, you would think that just because your brother or sister in Christ uses a different Bible translation, or wears pants instead of a dress to church, one night wouldn’t be so hard; but not so. The doctrine of Separation is much, much more important than honoring the prayer of our Savior.

One day, I fear, there may come a day in this country to rival those in other countries around the world. Here, we are so spoiled and pampered that we can afford to be separate. We have the option to spend all of our money on different denominational specifics. We have all the space in the world to plant a new congregation every time we disagree with each other. We have all the freedom of speech and the freedom of time to harp more on our differences than work together to fulfill the Great Commission. If we ever wind up having to worship underground, we won’t have it so easy. Denominational monikers will become a thing of the past.

Are there differences between some of our denominations that are serious? Of course. I am not denying that we have doctrinal issues worth debating with passion. I am fully aware that there are some out there that call themselves believers in Christ, but are actually sheep in wolves’ clothing. However, aside from that, we are still a family that needs to stick together whenever we can. We have the same Father. We were washed in the same blood of the Lamb.

After all, we are going to be spending eternity together.

What is it going to take for us to make an effort to put some of our petty things aside so that a lost and dying world would see Jesus? I am just so glad that there are a few churches in Lookout Valley that love Jesus more than arguing 100% of the time over unknown tongues, eternal security, election, translations, or conventions. We can do that 90% of the time. The least we can do is give God His 10% in a tithe of brotherly love and unity.

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Filed under baptist, Christian Living, Christian Unity, Independent Baptist, legalism, Relationships and Family, Southern Baptist

by Anthony Baker | November 18, 2010 · 10:27 am

Should I be Shocked?

What the...?

Do I have the look of shock written all over my face? It shouldn’t surprise me, but sometimes I can’t help being dumbfounded by the insanity that is so common in our country?

First, there was the story of the acquittal of a terrorist:

Jurors in New York City on Wednesday convicted Ahmed Ghailani of conspiracy to blow up government buildings in the al-Qaida attacks on two U.S. embassies in 1998, but they acquitted him on more than 280 other charges. – AP

Then there was this from the New York Post:

A squad of cops in bulletproof vests swooped into an upper Manhattan park and charged seven men with the “crime” of playing chess in an area off-limits to adults unaccompanied by kids — even though no youngsters were there.

And finally, from The Australian:

A WOMAN is suing over an incident where airport staff allegedly pulled down her top and joked about her breasts in public view.

The 23-year-old traveller, from Amarillo, US, is suing the US Government for the emotional distressed she says the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents caused.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/travel/news/airport-staff-exposed-womans-breasts-laughed/story-e6frg8ro-1225955345734

Innocent women can be assaulted in public by “public servants.” Quiet, brain-expanding, chess-playing thinkers can be taken down by weapon-toting SWAT teams. But when it comes to people who want to blow up America, send THEM to a New York court and they get acquitted on all but one account, the crime of which was less than what Bill Ayers, friend of Obama, admitted to actually doing.

I’m going crazy.

Bumper Stickers

"The Ride"

My wife will not let me put a bumper sticker of any kind on her car. Even if she was driving a rusty Chevy Vega which desperately needed the qualities of something with adhesive properties to keep her bumper stuck to her car…no bumper stickers. Not so with my Ride. I don’t need no stinkin’ sticky things! Just staples and zip ties, thank you. Really, what I mean to say is that “The Ride” is not too good to advertize TheRecoveringLegalist.com, even though my wife thinks her car is too special. HA!

Bumper stickers are something akin to free advertisement…

…They promote whatever you want other people to know about you and what you think, or for that matter, how well your kids think. Plastered to the back of a rolling billboard, they catch the eye of total strangers who have the random chance to find themselves behind you and I in traffic, or who catch a glimpse in a parking garage. Some people, I have come to realize, are advertizing more than they know, for some bumper stickers betray a hidden (at least to the owner of the car) stupidity.

There are so many bumper stickers that scream “MORON!”

Here is one that I saw. What a profound question. Why do we kill people that kill people? Could it be that we don’t want them to killpeople again? Could it be that they deserve to die for taking an innocent child’s life? Could it be that there are those out there on parole who would love to shoot your stupid…..(calm yourself, Anthony)…..well, they would love to steal your car and leave you beside the road in a ditch, then drive away with your false advertisement on THEIR bumper.

The one that I would have to say gets me the most, maybe because I see it the most, is COEXIST. I just love all the little symbols that are used to make up the happy little plea for love and harmony. Too bad what it tells me is that the owner of the car is a blooming idiot, at the very least, or somehow an ostrich has learned how to drive with his head in the sand. The message behind the little sticker is really, “Hey you Christians! Can you quit being so narrow-minded and hateful? Don’t you know that we all just want to get along, but you keep screwing it up?” All religions are the same, you know, or that’s the idea. We are all worshipping the same god, just by a different name. All paths lead to heaven, it’s just that some choose to take a shortcut by blowing themselves to Allah in the name of Jihad…is that so wrong?

Tell that to the "C"

I like the following verse. Psalm 107:2 says, “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy…” As Christians, we should be speaking out about the goodness and mercy of our God, not trying to seek favor with false gods by “COEXISTing” in perfect joy and mutual admiration. People in this country have the right to free speech and to freedom of religion, but if you haven’t noticed, we are in a real religious war. The “C” doesn’t like the “T” in that bumper sticker. If you’re going to put something on your bumper, make it something that points people down the narrow road, not the wide one that leads to destruction. Show your intelligence and advertize your faith…just don’t be tacky and weird about it…or then we get back into the looking-like-a-moron thing that my wife so desperately wants to avoid.

Now here's an idea for the "perfect" bumper sticker!

2 Comments

Filed under America, Apologetics, Christian Living, Christian Unity, General Observations, Uncategorized, World View

Tagged as Bumper sticker, Stickers

by Anthony Baker | November 10, 2010 · 2:56 pm

Smoking…The Legalists are Alive and Well

DISCLAIMER…DON’T THINK I AM TRYING TO PROMOTE SMOKING. I AM JUST TRYING TO ILLUSTRATE A POINT.

Sherlock Holmes contemplating the evidence.

If I were to say that I want a new pipe for Christmas, would you think less of me? Would you think of me as less spiritual or godly? Would you be disappointed in me for some reason? Why? Some of you would go so far as to suggest that I resign from ministry. If that is you, there is a really good word that describes you…

…LEGALIST

Yesterday, a middle school boy asked me, “What is a legalist?” Do you know the answer? Simply put, a legalist is a person who judges another’s spirituality or relationship with God based on a perceived list of acceptable/unacceptable actions. To give an example, a legalist could place a hero on a pedestal, only to jerk the hero down to earth later when he does something tradition labels as “wrong.” Smoking is a good example. Never mind that everything else the hero did was perfect in the legalist’s eyes, the one act of condoning and participating in a supposed “vice” would demand the following judgment….the spiritual hero is no longer right with God.

Legalism was rampant in Jesus’ day. The Gospels are full of examples showing how the Pharisees were more concerned with the letter of the law, than the spirit of the law. The Pharisees (legalists) even accused Jesus’ disciples of being ungodly all because they did not wash their hands before eating (Matthew 15:1-20; Mark 7:1-23). Regulations established by men in order to set boundaries which determine holiness were unacceptable to Jesus. They should be unacceptable today.

Does NOT smoking make one spiritual? How many heathen never touch tobacco? Are they right with God? What about the person that loves the Lord with all his heart, seeks to bring glory to the Father, hides the Word in his heart; yet, he puffs on a pinch of cherry Cavendish in a pipe every now and then? Is he less spiritual by fault of his consumption of burning leaves (the legal kind)?

You see, there are some things which we are told by the Bible not to do. Smoking is not one of them. Tobacco is amoral. In other words, there is nothing moral, or immoral about it…it just is. The point that something amoral becomes immoral is in the way it is used. Similarly, some of the things the legalist would accept as moral, but which are actually amoral, would be very sinful if done out of order or to excess, such as sex or eating food. Adultery and fornication are definitely sins mentioned in the Bible, but without sex the human race would cease to exist. Food is neccessary to live, but eating too much is called gluttony and bad stewardship.

The key is wisdom and maturity, which leads to moderation, and the proper use of God’s creation within the framework of spiritual freedom and grace.

Thank you for reading this far, for now I want to say something else. Cigarettes are nasty, stinky, trashy, chemical-laden cancer sticks. The person that usually smokes them finds themselves hooked and dependent upon them, all the while having their body ravaged and aged before its time. I hate cigarettes. But even though I hate cigarettes, that does not give me the right to question a person’s relationship with the Savior, even though I may question their judgment. Pipes and cigars are different, even though they, too, can be used to excess. I don’t advise either, necessarily, but I REALLY don’t advise cigarettes. The moral line is much easier to distinquish when the use of a product is so capable of bringing one under bondage.

The use of the amoral (that which is neither moral, nor immoral), if used to satisfy an addiction, could thereby be considered a sin.

Lastly, even though I know I have not covered this issue as well as needed, I want to include a post from the blog of Steve Brown. Dr. Brown is a seminary professor, Bible teacher, author, and well-respected Christian radio broadcaster. You may have heard him on Moody Radio in the past. Just read what he had to say on this issue.

Smoking

Steve BrownAugust 1st, 2007

I know, I know.

I probably shouldn’t have permitted the picture of me smoking my pipe in the last Key Life magazine or, for that matter, on this website.

Look. It’s the only sin I have left and, if I didn’t have that one, I wouldn’t be writing this blog. Everybody knows that perfect Christians don’t associate with imperfect Christians…me being the perfect one (sans pipe) and you being the imperfect one.

So my pipe, you could say, is my effort at true “koinonia.”

What about my health?

Good point that, to wit, when it’s my time to die, I don’t want to be like a sinking ship with nothing to throw overboard.

A friend of mine, Jim Lee, wrote to me after seeing the picture…

You have entered into the ranks of Luther on this one, Steve! Reminds me of when I smoked a cigar in front of one preacher, saying I was “killing the Pharisee within,” but that was nothing! Your picture could very well end up gracing the bulletin boards of Moody, Dallas, Bob Jones, and others. Before all of the calls start coming in to say you aren’t saved, “please cancel my subscription,” etc., I want you to know you blow me away with this and I appreciate your making the point in this way.

Frankly, I never thought I would see the day!

If things get really bad and you need a backup plan, I may be able to help. Here are some possible suggestions :

(1) You could say “It wasn’t me! Somebody at the printers is out to get me, and they morphed my picture onto that pipe! It’s easy to do with ‘photoshop’! The devil is trying to ruin my testimony!”

Or (2) “I was at the park and had a root beer lollipop. If you look closely you can see that it’s just a cloud behind my head!”

Or (3) “I was teaching in seminary and was attempting to illustrate a point about Jesus coming in the clouds.”

Jim’s words made me laugh (as he often does); but, frankly, I can’t deal with the guilt.

No, not the guilt of smoking.

The guilt of quitting and then sneaking around.

I once announced to a church congregation where I was the pastor that I had stopped smoking. There was applause. Not only that. I started getting piles of candy and chewing gum from my concerned parishioners who wanted to help me in every way they could.

It lasted about two weeks before I started sneaking smokes. I could have lived with that.

It was the preaching and teaching about honesty and authenticity that got me.

So I announced my fall from grace from the pulpit. I said, “Just so you know, I’ve started smoking again. Let us pray…”

I didn’t say it, but could have said, “And after this service, I’m going to get out my fine briar pipe and my aromatic, freshly mixed tobacco and have a smoke.”

After a dull sermon, a boring faculty meeting, a hard day, etc., etc., one needs something to look forward to. In that way, smoking is like heaven. It, of course, isn’t heaven, but it will do until then.

5 Comments

Filed under Christian Living, General Observations, legalism

Tagged as Pharisee

by Anthony Baker | November 8, 2010 · 7:29 pm

Bring On the Space Aliens…We Could Use Them

I was driving my school bus today….

….and then I began to think of all the different kinds of children that must be transported. I have had to chaufer quite a few children over the last 9 years (I first started driving in 2001), some in Kentucky, the rest in Tennessee. Most have been good kids, while others have not. Some have made me question a lot of long-held beliefs, like every child is precious……are they? Well, of course they are! All children are gifts from God above. Psalms 127:3, “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” But, please forgive me, I’m beginning to believe that some of the “fruit” spoils easier and quicker than others.

Typical little angel, just like my middle and high school kids

I never wanted to work in a daycare. I hate daycares – not the people that work there, mind you; just the screaming and crying children (I have bad memories of abandonment). So, why do I drive a school bus? For the most part, I love children, especially if I don’t have to feed them, take them to the bathroom, change their diapers, wipe their noses, suction their noses, or pay their way through college. Little kids can be sweet and innocent. Little boys, for example, ask great questions like, “Why do you drive a bus?” or, “Is a bus hard to drive?” Little girls ask questions like, “Mr. Baker, are you going to have a baby?” or, “Are you really old, or do you just shave your head so we don’t see your gray hair?” Oh, they’re loads of laughs. But on the other hand, they do keep nerve pill manufacturers in business.

Typical elementary child on a school bus...at least that's the way they seem

Have you ever had the desire to be attacked by an alien spacecraft?

I have. There are some children on my bus that have caused me to suffer from daydreams that may cause me psychological harm. Today, I actually grinned as I contemplated an alien space craft hovering over my bus. From this technologically advanced craft I could almost imagine a mechanism lowering down, ripping open the top of my bus like a sardine can (or spam, actually…I hate sardines). Then, I could envision a long, green arm with long, pointed fingers and sharp claws reaching into the bus and snatching out one or two of the “darlings” like dill pickles out of a jar. Now, before you get too upset with me, I said to myself, “Oh, that would really be horrible!” But then, in a moment of pity, I said to myself , “Their parents have probably had the same dream, poor folks.“

God gave me the privilege of bringing up three beautiful girls. I love kids, really I do; but there are some kids on this earth that can make even the most loving parent question whether or not the human race is worth continuing. Now, I won’t go so far as to say that, though. However, even though most of the kids on my bus are angels, if you do see a low-flying UFO…..well, do you know my route number? Just kidding….REALLY.