"National 'Baptist' Day!" Really?
Just curious. Wouldn't it be more productive and more accurate to celebrate "National CHRISTIAN Day" instead of "National BAPTIST Day"? To me this seems to be creating more division and less unity, when the Bible teaches us to be in unity with our brethren. This is much like having a "National Black Day" or a "National White Day" in America. Not good!
America
fought the Civil War - and lost over 600,000 sons, brothers, fathers,
and other loved ones - to end slavery, followed by ending segregation
and division. It took many years from the Emancipation Proclamation and
well into my lifetime to accomplish - but praise God in my lifetime I
have seen discrimination and segregation taken out of our schools, out
of our churches, and out of our public and social life.
Yet in recent years I am seeing Reverse Racial Segregation reborn,
birthed in the classrooms and on the campuses of Liberal Left "Woke"
universities and colleges all across America. Were those 600,000 lives
wasted to satisfy the greed and lust for power of the Leftists, the
Globalists, and the Democrats?
That college/university led push toward the reversal of Civil Rights,
affecting our national, moral, and spiritual lives, bothers me - but not
as much as seeing our Christian churches follow suit and celebrate
division within the church body. Division birthed by men who cannot
agree on what they believe God said in His Bible, our "Users Manual" for
the Christian Life. So they began new local churches and denominations
based upon what they want the Bible to say.
That practice has a name, Eisegesis, which is the practice of reading INTO the Bible what you want it to say. While a true Christian church or ministry will practice Exegesis, reading FROM the Bible the message God has written to help us build a healthy worldwide church body, the true body of Christ.
We must keep in mind that the church which Christ, through the Holy Spirit, birthed in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost 33 AD, was NOT Baptist, nor Roman Catholic, nor Methodist, nor Lutheran, nor any other man-made denomination. It was merely called the Way (Acts 9:1:2). The Way to eternal life for all who will believe, NOT just for all Baptists who will believe.
Acts 9:1-2, "Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem."
e. "If he found any who were of the Way": Here Christianity is referred to as the Way. This seems to be the earliest "name" for the Christian movement, and a fitting one - used five times in Acts.
i. The name "the Way" means that Christianity is more than a belief or a set of opinions or doctrines. Following Jesus is a way of living as well as believing. ("Study Guide for Acts 9" - David Guzik)
In 1987 I was saved in a Filipino-American Baptist church which was affiliated with the Baptist General Conference. But that did not make me a Baptist, it made me a Christian believer, a believer who will spend eternity in the presence of God.
When folks ask me what denomination I belong to, I tell them I am a Baptist-Flavored Christian. Why that way? Because while I relate spiritually to the Day of Pentecost church - my personal Statement of Faith aligns well with that of the Baptist General Conference - making me a "Baptist-Flavored Day of Pentecost" believer.
I hate seeing America and the world becoming more divisive based upon skin color, race, gender, ethnicity, and especially our Christian faith. That is why I suggest a National CHRISTIAN Day. That is not being divisive, only different - for we do not have a "religion" - we have a "relationship" with Christ based upon our Christian faith.
If you are looking for the definition of the real church, the real body of Christ, take a few minutes and listen to this gospel song, one of my favorite:
"It Is Not Whats Over The Door" - The Cathedrals 1992
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2N4JHp89fg
The next time someone asks you, "What are you?" Tell them you are a born-again "Church of Pentecost 33 AD" Christian believer!
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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