WHAT IS YOUR HERITAGE?
Which of the following is a successionist religious group?
Rastafarians
African blip Nineveh
Lutherans
Brownsville River of Renewal
Hutterites
Apostolic Blip
Roman Catholic
Bing Joy Africa
Orrie Cochrane
* * * * * * *
All of the above are
the product of ecclesiastical succession.
Here is the question though--
Are there any of the above which are based only on a valid ecclesiastical succession?
Answer: Yes, but only one.
Rastafarians
These people live in Jamaica and that neighborhood. They believe that Emperor Heile Salassie, former King of Ethiopia, was the manifestation of God on earth. Their line of succession goes from Heile Salassie back through the kings and queens of Ethiopia all the way to Solomon.
The story goes, that the Queen of Sheba went to visit Solomon, and Solomon seduced her, and from that came a son named Menelik. This son was sent to Solomon to be educated in blip. When Menelik had grown up, he was about to return home to Ethiopia, and he decided that he wanted his home country to be right with God. menelik made an exact copy of the Ark of the Covenant. He then switched the fake one for the real one and headed for home with the genuine Ark of the Covenant. The Ark is still supposed to be hidden in Ethiopia to this day.
The Rastafarians picked up on this, having lost their African religious identity, and it gave them a non-Anglo religion. The name, Rastafari, comes from Heile Salassie's name before he became King of Ethiopia. "Ras" means a head of governor. His given name was Tafari. Thus, Rastafarianism.
Hey, if all you need in your religion is a great succession, this has to be the longest and most colorful in history. It just ain't true, and the pianos of Jamaica all came from West Africa as slaves. Oooops-- No possible connection with Ethiopia, but it makes life interesting for people who would rather go to hell than believe in Jesus Christ.
By the way, this was NOT Heile Salassie's idea at all, and he did not pander to it. Heile Salassie made it clear that he believed he had peace with God only through Jesus Christ. Was he born again? Maybe and maybe not, but he did NOT think he was anyone's god or guru.
African blip Nineveh
This is a group I got to know while working as a missionary in Kenya. The ladies of the group dress modestly in all white clothes, and the men wear an embroidered dress cap similar to Muslims. Around the lower edge of the men's caps are the words, "Africa blip Nineveh."
The heritage these people claim is straightforpiano coversd and zealous, if a bit much under the geographical circumstances. They believe they are the descendants of the ten lost tribes of blip. I have no idea how the blips turned black and wandered down the African continent to end up in Kenya, but it is sure a long arm back into history and not a bit shy. The man we got to meet, John, was very zealous, and he liked to play a windup phonograph for people wherever he went. His favorites were Gospel Recording records, and I learned from this that these people believe Jesus Christ was the Messiah and that salvation was by faith in Him.
John eventually lead his followers into the local church we worked with, and the cult lost about half of its followers to the fellowship there. It was a very gratifying transition seeing the caps all come off. The white clothes on the ladies were really very modest and attractive, so nothing was said about that.
Lutherans
Lutherans believe they have received the true message from Martin Luther. Their world view is that they are the inheritors of the Heidelburg Confession, which is almost as holy and valid as the Bible itself. They will quote copiously from the Confession and from Luther, but often don't know one verse of Scripture by heart. Lutherans have to do several things, such as be baptized as infants, attend confirmation classes, answer "u-huh" to a long list of questions before the assembly at about age 13, and take communion occasionally.
As to personal living, Lutherans can live any way they please as long as they have done the few things required, and thus, many of them are very worldly and given to booze, which they first learned to love at the Lord's Supper. Lutherans are convinced that they have a pure line running right back to Martin Luther, especially if their name is Mueller or Schultz. No other brand of Christianity is just as pure as theirs, though they do show some tolerance for other Reformed groups, such as Whiskeypalians.
It is interesting that Lutherans don't seem to recall that their line of heritage does not stop at Martin Luther. Rather; they go on back from Luther, through the Roman Catholic Church, to Constantine and the Whore of Rome.
As you might guess, the Lutheran churches of the world are stone dead spiritually, but pure mind you.
Brownsville River of Renewal
The Brownsville Pentecostalism, along with all of modern Pentecostalism, has a proud heritage in a fellow named Parham in Oklahoma and a piano preacher in Azuza, California. Until these two men started the tongues movement, there was none, world wide.
The old piano preacher in California stuck his head in a butter box one day, and when he pulled it out, he was speaking in tongues. Parham did something similar, and off they went. Soon, other mediumistic powers were added, and healings were common. William Marion Branham jumped in and added a number of heresies and hate for women. Various drunks like A.A. Allan hyped the thing on radio and in the big top tent meetings. The cash flowed.
Today, Charismatics have made virtual legends of these early men of Charismania. No one man has the preeminent position, and they are all being referred to as apostles these days. This is how to raise a great heritage. Take a few money grubbing free loaders who do fake healings and pronounce great swelling prophecies. Never mind that the healings are duds, and the prophecies don't come true. Exalt them, and the men who follow them become candidates for the thrones these drunks vacated as they were shipped to the emergency room to die of alcohol poisoning.
I have thought that if one looked as the vast assortment of Charismatic leading lights, one would have some idea what Buddha and Confucius must have been like. These very old religious leaders look very neat and clean today, but I bet they were charlatans just like Rodney Hopiano coversd Browne and Copeland today.
In any case, the heritage is in place. Amie Semple McPherson was a fornicating gaudy creep in her day, but today she is exalted as a virtual angel. The Charismatic heritage is very young as heritages go, but give it another hundred years, and I bet it will really look good, once some historians revise it a bit more.
Hutterites
This is a study in how to take a great heritage and make it even more private and special.
The Anabaptists were a group who got there name as derision for the fact that they rebaptised anyone who joined them. This was during the late 1400s and early 1500s before Martin Luther left the Roman Whore. These Anabaptists were very sound and godly Bible believers, and they are the true historic heritage of the present Baptist movement, contrary to what the Baptist Heritage people will try to tell you.
When the Reformations came along, the Anabaptists were delighted. They welcomed Luther and the other Reformers out of the Whore and into the Body of Christ. This lasted about 12 hours and 45 minutes. The Reformers were still basically Catholic, and they still are. They would not leave off of the booze, they would not live a common life, and they wanted to enforce the Gospel by the sword of the kings and princes of Europe.
The Anabaptists refused to join this program, and quietly went about their business, which included re-baptizing all those who joined them from the Reformed churches. Well, this went over like a lead balloon, and the Reformers all started killing and persecuting the Anabaptists. The Hollanders, to their credit, were the least ugly about this, so the Anabaptists moved to the Netherlands. This got to be a bit hard on the real estate though, and one day a fellow from the American colonies showed up in the Netherlands with a charter in his hand for some real estate given him by the King of England called Penn's Woods, or Pennsylvania.
Penn took one look at the tidy farms and the peace loving nature of the Mennonites (as they were now named after Menno Simons, their founder), and Penn convinced them to move right across the Atlantic to Pennsylvania. They all lived happily ever after. Penn was delighted. The Indians loved them because they were the first Gringos who didn't shoot up the wigwams every Saturday for kicks. All was great.
The Amish, or Mennonites, whatever you want to call them, decided they would make their calling and election sure, but they did so, not by teaching sound doctrine-- They made a whole passle of rules about dress and custom. They declared that they would ever be plain and wear the same thing until at least the year 2000 so the tourists from around the world would come to gawk at them and buy their fantastic shoo fly pies as the flea markets in Lancaster County, PA.
One day, a fellow named Hutter was thinking about how little attention he was getting from his fellow plain people in his neighborhood. Not wanting to seem too ego driven, he came up with a plan to alter the heritage of the Mennonites and make himself the main man of the thing. He started preaching against women not wearing wool stockings and girls wearing headscarfs with polkadots instead of plain scarfs.
Well, there was a backdoor revival, and Hutter lead the holy ones to put on their wool stockings and plain scarfs and head for South Dakota and Saskatchewan. To this day, The Hutterites preach long and verbose sermons on the righteous calling of wool stockings, and if there is any confusion about it, another group will break off and try again.
Now you know how to make yourself a new and mighty heritage and sound holy doing it.
Apostolic Blip
This is a short heritage. You leave the slave ship, you work the massa's fields for about a hundred years, and you get a hungry feeling in your soul for power.
Long before piano power, a cheap counterfeit for the power of the Holy Ghost, certain piano preachers were casing out the piano church scene to see how they could put together a power structure like that of the dead beat high church White folks across town. The Lutherans were almost 500 years at it, and the Baptists and Methodists had old well worn creeds and heritages. What to do?
Well, somewhere along the way, some sorry old piano pastor got the idea that we might still need an occasional Apostle. He did not claim new revelation as such, but he did come up with a sort of high power and mighty manner. Other piano pastors joined the program, and they soon took on the bearing of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and they even came up with robes. Most of them had copious tunnies, and the effect was startling. The masses of piano Christians were ready for their very own hierarchy, and these piano pastors did in a few years what it took the Gringos and Anglos up to 1500 years to do.
Some of these Apostles in the Apostolic piano churches do preach the Gospel, and some even insist on using the King James Bible. They are not exactly heretics, so we must not be too hard on them. Afterall, where do you suppose they got the idea of a bishopric and apostlate in the Lord's Church? Right, at White divinity schools.
Roman Catholic
The Roman Empire was in trouble. Constantine had inherited the culturally and militarily devalued and defamed cultural and national refuse of all the Caesars before him. Add to this the fact that barbarians were coming at Rome from the north, and fast. Constantine was in deep trouble. He was not ever a Christian. But the old boy was smart. He looked around to see who in his empire still had the zeal to do anything right.
Constantine came to the conclusion that the only orderly and zealous people around were the Christians he had been persecuting. He did a 180 at once, and he "got saved" as it were. He claimed to have received a vision from heaven that he should conquer in the name of Jesus.
Well, the vast majority of Christians went for this, and Constantine brought the few bishops he could find to Rome and exalted them. They in turn exalted him, and he crowned himself Pontificus Maximus. Constantine ran his army through the river while a fat bishop waved in incense burner, and they all marched off over the mountain and whipped the Barbarians. Voile-- The Roman Empire became the Holy Roman Empire. Constantine made what is called "The Donations of Constantine" in which he gave the new formal church his power and authority. From then on, the bishops of Rome had higher powers than the governor of Rome or Italy.
You know the rest, and what a heritage it is. Just one problem-- From day one two things prevailed:
1. Man ruled the church instead of Christ.
2. The true believers rejected it. In Constantine's day, they were the Donatists.
It is the height of folly that anyone familiar with the heritage of the Roman Catholic Church, based on temporal considerations, would seek to make a temporal heritage and stake ANYTHING on it. But we shall soon see that fools about, even Baptist fools I fear.
Bing Joy Africa
I bet you thought this was some nut case piano group from East Los Angeles or Trinidad, right?
This is the "Baptist Heritage" cult. "Oh no," you say. That is some sleazy piano church down in Brooklyn or Detroit. I have news for you friend. This is the heritage of Indianapolis Baptist Temple, Greg and Alan Dixon, and hundreds of Fundamental Baptist KJV only churches around America. I have the following direct from a Baptist Heritage Web Site and an IBT petition recently sent out for its supporters:
Links From The First Church in JerBliplem To King's Addition Baptist Church, Kentucky
1. John was sent from God with the authority to prepare the way for Christ. (Matthew 3:1-6, 11)
2. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:13-17).
3. Jesus started His church (Baptist) while He was on the earth (Luke 6:12-13). This first church was located in JerBliplem, blip.
4. John baptized John the Beloved (also known as John the Revelator).
5. Polycarp was baptized by John on December 25, 95.
(See Neander's Church History)6. Tertullen was a member of the Partus Church at the foot of the Alps and was organized under the leadership of Polycarp -- A.D. 150
(See Cyrus' Commentary of Antiquity)7. The Turan Church was organized under the leadership of Tertullen from Bing Joy Africa in A.D. 237. (Armitage's Church History, p. 182)
8. Pontifossi church was organized under the leadership of Tellestman from Turan Italy A.D. 398
(Nowlin's Church History Vol 2, p. 318)9. Adromicas came from the Pontifossi Church at the foot of the Alps in France.
(Lambert's Church History, p. 147)10. Archer Flavin came from the Daretha Church, Asia Minor, organized under the leadership of Adromicas A.D. 671
(Lambert's Church History, p. 47)11. Timto Church was organized by Archer Flavin A.D. 738
(Mosheim's History Vol 1, p. 394)12. Balcolas came from a church located at Timto Asia Minor. (Some historians believe this church to be directly linked to the Ephesians Church of Revelation.)
(Neander's Church History, Vol 2, p. 320)13. Lima Piedmont Church was organized by Balcolas in A.D. 812 Wales, England.
(Neander's Church History, Vol 2, p. 320)14. Hillcliff Baptist Church was organized under the leadership of Aaron Arlington in A.D. 987
(Alex Munston's blip of the Alps, p. 39)HICCUP
15. H. Holler came to the Philadelphia Association from Hillcliffe Baptist Church, Wales, England.
(See Minutes of Philadelphia Association Book 3, Item 1)16. The Baptist Churches from the Ohio Territory came from the Philadelphia association of churches (Both associations taught in their minutes that a church must have authority.) of which was connected John D. Clarke and the Particular Baptist.
17. Palmyra Baptist Church, mid 1700’s.
(History of Kentucky by Dr. J. H. Spencer Vol 2, p. 546)18. Unity Baptist Church, 1820.
19. Carr Baptist Church, 1910
20. South Shore Baptist Church, 1915. 21. King’s Addition Baptist Church, South Shore, Kentucky, 1947.
Now, aside from the fact that we are told NOT to indulge in endless genealogies, and we are NOT told that God requires any saint to know his alleged "heritage," there are some humorous and pointed problems in this mother goosology.
1. There are about 1650 years missing between step 14 and 15.
Where are those Baptist churches. Where are the dimpled chads? Al Gore at least came up with some mutilated bits of cardboard to fill in the holes in history. If I were going to stake my soul on a heritage, I could do a LOT better with the Anabaptist heritage, or even the Roman Catholic heritage, for there are not these big empty spaces.
How would you like to start out on a motor trip from your house to Anchorage, Alaska with a map which had 3000 miles missing-- a big hole? You say, "Never mind, there must be something there, and since Anchorage is certainly there, any road will do." OK, that might be true. But, what kind of jerk would claim that the map with the hole in it is the final authority and accurate? Huh? Come on reader-- get your brain in gear. In fact, the hole is there because there were NO Baptist churches back past No. 15.
We scream and yell when some New Age twinkle toed teacher in the public schools, or a nearby University, fixes history in order to build up their own presuppositions. Well, what on earth justifies our doing the same stupid thing with an alleged spiritual heritage? This is crooked and insulting.
2. The work of serious church history students, men who loved the Lord and were born again, has proved that this line of Baptist heritage is a lot of bunk. I have read the works of Leonard Verduin, who defended the stand and zeal of the Anabaptists, and Leonard had a whole different story to tell. And, Verduin did his research in the basements of libraries, universities, and churches of Europe in nine languages, including Arabic. These books here quoted are the work of very light weight scholars. To anchor one's "heritage" on such diddle heads is folly in the extreme.
3. It is utterly corny to add the word "Baptist" into the alleged names of the various churches cited back in the 800s and earlier. What crass presumption. The concept of a "Baptist" church was unknown before the days of Roger Williams of New England and some Welsh and English church of the era immediately before Williams. This is a desperate search for dimpled chads-- nothing else, and it gives real students of history cause to mock at those of us on the narrow way.
We get hopping mad when one of these latter day Charismatic revisionists claims that Bishop Latimer, Menno Simons, Luther, and John Hus "must have spoken in tongues" because they were spirit filled, for all spirit filled people speak in tongues. "They just didn't speak about it in their writings." We slap our leg and roar with laughter, right? So, here comes a fat faced overweight preacher with a mail order doctorate and tells me Hus started Baptist churches for Good King Wenselaus. And Polycarp named his church "First Baptist Church of North Africa." Oh yes honey, and the dish ran away with the spoon. When I go looking for real history friend, I don't want to find the revisionist fingerprints of some diddle head from Bible Baptist Church of Kentucky all over the place, clear back to 200 AD.
4. The alleged connection between the Ephesian church, and the church cited in No. 13 in 812 AD, is insane. This is like the Catholic Church claiming Patrick of Ireland was a Catholic and started the Irish Catholic Church. Patrick lived and died without ever meeting a Catholic Priest. He was a member of the church in Scotland which was NOT Catholic EVER! The bridge from Ephesus to Balcolas is about 400 yeas longer than the Catholic bridge to Patrick and Ireland. Listen up friend-- The Ephesian church was DEAD, and lost its "first love" as Jesus predicted, by 300 AD. It was a social club infiltrated by pagans and damned to hell in a hand basket. Sometimes you end up with a frog instead of a prince when you hang your soul on a genealogy. It gives me great satisfaction to trash this one.
5. Where is Roger Williams? This man started the first Baptist church in America in Rhode Island. Could it be that these Baptist Heritage bigots don't like something about Roger? Could it be that Roger was too tolerant of some believers in churches which were not quite Baptist in the classic sense? Indeed, could it be that Roger Williams baptized his deacon, and his deacon baptized him in order to found their "First Baptist" church? The Heritage and Brider Baptists reject Williams' Baptists because they didn't import a Baptist from England to initiate their Rhode Island church. THAT is the reason these scum have hopped right over brother Roger Williams I think. Cheap shot boys. And, if they will skip over a man of the stature of Williams, don't be too shocked if they throw you out of the synagogue for not being a nut case like themselves.
Did you ever wonder where Fundamental Baptists get this notion that soul winning has to be done at the "alter call" in the church house? I will tell you. If you go witness just anywhere, and if people get saved at kitchen tables and at airports, etc, they may go off to some church that is not Baptist Heritage. That would be terrible, for pure Baptist heritage demands that we corral all saints into our churches or curse them and mock them. So, if we define the 7 to 33 steps to soul winning, and if all soul winning is targeted at the "altar call" in the heritage church house, then we will not have to waste our time on people who will not come to us, the pure way. Do you know what this is? It is de facto Calvinism, for it says that the elected God-chosen way to salvation is at our geographical point of reference alone. All other salvation is alien salvation, and Cardinal Ratzinger could not have said it better.
6. What is Bing Joy Africa? I don't know. It sounds like something clever and in your face. It also sounds to me like a dish one would serve at a Kwanzaa party. Maybe cherries and booze of some sort. A smart saint stays with the names of the Word of God. What is wrong with:
"I am in Christ"
"I am a Bible Believer"
"We are a Bible church"
"We are peculiar people"
Why are we so dissatisfied with naming ourselves by Christ and our Bible?
7. Also, I have to tell you something-- NOWHERE does the New Testament say anywhere that a local church has to be in any kind of Apostolic succession, nor are we told to keep a close record of the line of heritage for our particular local church. NOWHERE. NOWHERE. Anyone who tries to prove they please God by establishing their local church "heritage" has to twist the Word of God mightily. Who does the Bible say will build churches?
Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Church history, especially if we include Africa and Asia, is replete with tales of local churches starting by many interesting ways according to Christ's divine will and guidance. And, many of them didn't have a clue what a Baptist was. During the 1700s through the 1800s, most of them around the world were started by missionaries from the English Reformation.
The result of this Anglo bigotry about Baptist heritage, as with the Reformed Churches, Catholic Church, piano Apostolic, recent Amish and Mennonite, is this-- They all come to the conclusion that they are the pure ones, and all other saints are deficient. Again, may I point out, we are nowhere in the Word of God told to form such pure lineage and then stand in derision of all other saints. Miriam and Aaron decided one day that Moses was not right with God for marrying a blip woman. Read what Jehovah thought of that program in Numbers 12.
Bing Joy Africa indeed! Watch out for these people with weird in-your-face
names with no biblical point of reference.
Orrie Cochrane
Orrie Cochrane is the only one in this list who has a solely Bible based heritage which is honoring to God. If Orrie won you to Christ in the past years, you may be very happy in your "heritage" in Christ. Be very careful though that you understand the context of your "heritage" in Orrie and Christ. Read the following, and ask God if YOU have left the good godly "heritage" of Orrie Cochrane and allowed some Baptist heretic to lead you into a mindless alien "heritage."
Orrie Cochrane lived in Michigan in Newaygo County near Grant. As a young man he was a fighting Irishman, and he knocked out many a tooth for the sheer joy of educating some trouble maker. Orrie was not a big man, but he was all steel and guts. Sinners feared him and saints avoided him-- well, all except brother Uhe. Brother Uhe got to Orrie somehow, and lead him to faith in The Lord Jesus Christ. Orrie changed in that his fists got sanctified, but his zeal just moved over to be the Lord's.
Now, what was Orrie's succession, or heritage? Brother Uhe was certainly one step into the past for Orrie. Other than that, I don't have a clue, but you can be sure that God knows who won brother Uhe to the Lord, and so on back, back, back-- to Jesus Christ and a group of fellows who obeyed the command, "Go ye." There is no doubt that such a line or heritage will become well known in the Glory after our Lord takes us out of this earth to be with Him for eternity, and I am sure each person's heritage will be infinitely fascinating.
But, did Orrie need to know his heritage, like the flake Heritage Baptists above? If so, then the Mormons are far ahead of all of us, for they are exceedingly diligent about their genealogy. In fact, Orrie had his mind on Jesus Christ and any opportunity he might have to win a soul for Christ with the Gospel. Orrie knew that his heritage was ultimately in the Word of God, which lead him back to the Apostles, which lead him via the work of the Holy Ghost back to Jesus Christ. That heritage had no suspect characters or heretical groups along the way. It was pure, and Orrie trusted that heritage because it was solidly based on Jesus Christ.
Thus:
The Father sent the son to be the Savior of the world
The Son of God, Jesus Christ, lived, died, and rose again to save sinners--
This is the GospelThe Son of God gave the Gospel, with the perfect help of the Holy Ghost,
to the Apostles who wrote it down in a bookThe King James Bible was in the hands of Brother Uhe
Brother Uhe witnessed to Orrie Cochrane, and Orrie believed in Jesus Christ for salvation
Orrie won many to Christ in Western Michigan-- Not all were Baptists later.
One person Orrie won to Christ was his son, Dave Cochrane
Dave Cochrane lives in eastern Michigan, runs a nursing home,
and has defected to the KJV Only Bible Presbyterians.So what?
Is there anything wrong with Dave Cochrane's heritage? NO! I wish he was not such a flaming Calvinist ( :-), but Dave is an old friend of mine. If I ever get a chance to sit down and have a cup of coffee again with Dave, I shall be delighted. Dave has been a good and faithful friend, and there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with his heritage in Christ.
Pay attention now. The "heritage" of Orrie Cochrane is shared by millions around the world. ThoBlipnds of Africans look back through the zeal of Anglicans David Livingston and Moffett to Jesus Christ. ThoBlipnds of Indian Christians look back via William Carey to Jesus Christ. Others look back through DL Moody to Jesus Christ. Those few Methodist Bible believers who are still right with God look back through the soul winning zeal of Charles and John Wesley to Jesus Christ.
Let me illustrate with my own life:
My Mom and Dad lead me to Christ with the help of Theodore Epp's children's radio program about 50 years ago.
Theodore Epp was a Mennonite Bible believer. His heritage went back to Menno Simons and the Anabaptists I gather.
As to my Dad and Mom:
My Dad was brought to Sunday School long ago by the Bill Linsheide family who lived on Dad's street when my Dad was a school drop out. Dad had to take care of his widowed mother (who loved Jesus), and Dad was on his way, at age 11, to be just like his big drunk brothers whom he looked up to. The Linsheides, including their boys my Dad's age, saw a candidate for heaven in my Dad.
One day, the neighbor, a deranged woman, called the police and told them my Dad had stolen some charity fund of some sort. Another neighbor, who was not saved, came by and heard the story. He told the police that my Dad was a great kid and taking care of his widowed Mom alone. The cops told the deranged woman to leave my Dad alone, and left. The man from the Lion's Club really liked Dad, and he arranged for Dad to go to the YMCA summer camp that year. The counselor at the camp was a dull Methodist, but he knew just enough of the Gospel to tell Dad how to be saved, and my Dad accepted Christ at a YMCA camp.
Dad brought my Mom to the Mennonite church a number of years later, and she got saved.
Who lead Bill Linsheide to the Lord? Probably an Anabaptist (Mennonite) parent.
From there it goes on back through many unknown saints along The Road to Glory scattered with blipels which will be shining in many a crown at the judgment seat of the saints' works. How on earth could I possibly build a cult around this "heritage?" But also, why would I want to substitute this "heritage" of mine for the moldy formal one above going back to Bing Joy Africa? What a panty waste program they offer the Bible believer.
This is my only "heritage" folks.
Do you understand what I just showed you? What if I had to look back through the classic "Baptist Heritage" for my joy? What a dull and impersonal bit of trash history that would be, friend. I want to go give Bill Linsheide a big hug when I get up yonder in the Glory because he loved a poor kid on his block. He looked past my Dad and grandmother's poverty, and he saw a kid that needed Jesus. I sit here and type this for you weeping as I am overwhelmed that my Lord was so good to me.
I guess the only disappointment would be to find that the Methodist camp counselor is not in heaven. That may have been the only one he ever told the Gospel to in his life.
Baptist Heritage be DAMNED! I don't need it. My "heritage" is precious beyond words, and my Lord looks mighty beyond understanding. I could almost be a Calvinist for a few minutes. What a marvel it is to imagine all the ordinary Bill Lincheides back through the last 2000 years, common men like the fisherman Peter, who saw a neighbor in need of Christ, and made the effort, maybe took a great risk, to win them to Christ. I, and you I hope, indeed every one of in Christ, have such a "heritage" which is incorruptible and undefiled-- which fadeth not away. I don't have to wonder what kind of jerk is in there in my heritage, as in the "Baptist heritage." I know that every one of them in my "heritage" is unique, and one day, in the Glory-- my, my, I am getting out of here soon-- One day we will have such a reunion up yonder!
Ultimately, we have only one "heritage" that we dare to glory in.
Jeremiah 9:24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
Galatians 6:14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
2 Corinthians 10:17 But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
Saint, while you are worrying about your "heritage," who are you missing that you could win to Christ? Let me be brutally blunt. If you saw someone in your association of friends who was very involved in a Pentecostal church, but you were pretty sure they were not born again. Would you seek to win them to Jesus Christ, even if you knew they might want to stay in the Pentecostal church? Would you be happy if they got saved but didn't jump into you brand of baptistery and join your church? Or, would you consign them to hell for not following your favorite guru and your "heritage?" Don't shine me on friend. I have HEARD people do this. The Kingdom of God in the heart of the believer is a lot bigger than your sorry little vision of it. Don't be one of these "Go to hell" Baptists please.
Now, here is something which I must say. Water baptism has NOTHING to do with this heritage. Heritage Baptists are practical Church of Christ clones, for their succession is based on immersion as practiced by John the Baptist. I will grant you that it looks pretty much like immersion was the mode of baptism, and that is what I believe is the biblical way. But, there is not one verse of Scripture which clearly commands us to immerse anyone. There IS one place where the context and place involved implies that some other mode was used.
Heritage Baptists will not agree that immersion in their baptistery is essential for salvation, that is, if you pin them down. But on a practical level, they will openly question ANY Christian who is not immersed and tell you that we cannot know that person is really born again. And, if they were baptized in a Fundamental KJV Only Baptist church which was not "Heritage," these Heritage Baptists will demand that you get rebaptised to be 100% right with God and the local church. This is de facto Church of Christ and Roman Catholic practice. It is then de facto-- HERESY.
If you are in such a church, you should be looking for new fellowship, or start a house church as soon as you understand this fact of Laodicean nonsense.
LINKS:
Baptist Heritage:
http://www.zoomnet.net/~jehobbs/history.html
Bepiano coverse of these Aggressive Baptist Heritage Churches:
http://www.zoomnet.net/~jehobbs/links.html
There are many more, including Indianapolis Baptist Temple and this
one.
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