Stewartstown Baptist Church

ANSWER:

Thanks for asking your question.  Some people say the hardest people to share Jesus with is your family.  Actually it is easy, because they should see a change in your life because of your relationship with Jesus. Here are some pointers that I will offer.

1. Pray God will open their eyes to the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:6)
2. Continue to affirm that you love them but do not approve of what they are doing.
3. Begin to dialogue with them about what they believe about Christ and the gospel. If they say they believe they are a Christian and their actions do not reflect this consistently then help them to understand that their actions and not matching their beliefs. See the book of 1 John for more help (Especially chapters 2 and 3)
4. Never give up! Why would you give up? God is powerful and at anytime can change the person’s heart. Pray for their repentance and continue to share the gospel with them. However please do not give up or think you need to stay quiet.

I will pray for your boldness today to share and pray for your child that they will see their sin and repent and trust Christ as their Savior.

ANSWER:

The Hebrew word for jealousy translates very simply as “jealousy”. However, the actions behind the word are completely different when comparing humans and God. Humans are jealous when they are coveting something that doesn’t belong to them. God’s jealousy is in protecting something that does belong to Him: honor and reverence. This statement about jealousy is in the commandment about idolatry. When an idol is given honor, not only is God not receiving what is due Him, but it allows others to misplace their honor and devotion into a created thing instead of the Creator. Paul even uses the term in 2 Corinthians 11:2 that he is jealous over the believers in Corinth with a “godly jealousy”. Paul wants them to stay true to Paul as an apostle and not give themselves to another (false teacher), so that Paul can present them before Christ as discipled and mature believers. God’s jealousy translates into love and desire for His people, manifested most by providing the sacrifice of His son for an undeserving humanity.

ANSWER:

As Baptists, baptism is a big deal to us. Not because baptism holds any sway on our salvation, but it’s a matter of obedience. The greek word that we get our word “baptism” from literally means “to immerse or submerge under the water”. As a result, we hold that baptism by immersion is the only scriptural form. Therefore we do not accept previous baptisms by sprinkling or from another domination that attaches salvation to the act.

I assume that you mean that you were born again in a separate moment from your infant baptism. The reason we don’t baptize infants is simple: they can’t make a conscious decision to follow Jesus. As a result, baptism before belief is no baptism at all. The order of things is that a person is saved and then baptized. Baptism is the first and easiest step of obedience. It’s like Jesus starts us off with an “easy A” to get us started on a road of obedience and submission to him. Please see Pastor Lee or Pastor Heath if we can help you any further on this matter.

ANSWER:

The only place a saved person can go after death is Heaven. We can keep it simple with John 3:16 that “whosoever” believes in Jesus shall have everlasting life. That doesn’t go away with any of the dumb, sinful mistakes we make. Suicide is murder, and it is wrong so there should be no mistake about that. Unfortunately movies and television have dramatized suicide as a deal-breaker in God’s mind and that those who commit such an act will find themselves in Hell without recourse. This simply isn’t a biblical view, especially with the question you asked in which salvation is not in question.

ANSWER:

Thanks for asking these questions, they are great questions to ask. In regards to Galatians 4:15 we can see that Paul had some type of vision trouble in his life (see Gal.6:11). There are many speculations to what the “thorn in the flesh” could be (2 Cor.12:7-10). Some have speculated that Paul had vision trouble because of the blinding on the road to Damascus, or he had trouble because he suffered an injury while being stoned or that he picked up a disease while traveling. We see in verse 15 that Paul is saying to this church, you have shown me care and I know you are here to help me.

In reference to 4:27, you need to try to put in context everything that has been said in the previous section (Gal.4:21-31).  Paul is illustrating the two covenants using Hagar and Ishmael (represent covenant of law and works) and Sarah and Isaac (representing the covenant of grace and faith). What Paul is getting at is that when Israel is restored from judgment and exile then the later born will outnumber the earlier offspring.

ANSWER:

A relationship is only a relationship if both parties choose it. God made humans with the ability to make our own choices. In Genesis 2:16-17 we see God tell Adam that he can eat from any tree in the garden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God explains that if he eats of it, he will die. Despite this warning, Adam and Eve each made the choice to sin.

The Christian life is all about choice. Jesus’ death on the cross was planned before the fall of man. As a result, we all have to make a choice. We’re all sinners (Romans 3:23), unable to save ourselves. I am thankful that God created me to make my own choices. Just as an arranged marriage often lacks the love, God isn’t forcing us to do anything. We GET to serve Him, we GET to love Him. We struggle against our sinful nature to grow closer to God.

ANSWER:

Thanks for asking your question. I wish I knew more specifically what you are asking about God since you could write volumes of books on “What is God?” Here are some things to think about when it comes to God and some passages you can look up in your Bible:

1. God is eternal: God always existed and will always exist (Genesis 1:1, Psalm 90:2)
2. God is omnipresent: God is present everywhere, He is not limited to space or time (Jeremiah 23:23-24)
3. God is omniscience: God fully knows Himself and all things.  He is all knowing. (Psalm 139)
4. God is holy: God is without sin. (Isaiah 6)
5. God is love: God’s love is perfect. (1 John 4:8)

Certainly this is much more we can say about who God is, but this hopefully gets you started.

ANSWER:

Absolutely. 2 Corinthians 11:14 says that “...Satan masquerades as an angel of light.” He was created as an angel, and his nature as a spirit still exists today. Since he was created as angels were, of course angels would also be a spirit.

Both Satan and angels are spirits and do not have a physical nature, but have the ability to manifest themselves in a physical way. That’s why Hebrews 13:2 says “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.”

We hope this helps!

ANSWER:

Genesis 3 records the Fall in which sin entered the world. Genesis 3:16-19 is where God tells Adam and Eve that pain, sickness, and death have now entered the world. Just as physical illness came as a result of the fall, so did mental illness.

Does the Bible say anything specifically about mental illness? Not really, but you could apply passages on God’s healing for sickness to be either physical or mental. We know that demon possession is real because Jesus cast many out. There may have been others in Jesus’ day who were considered to be demon possessed, but we now could correctly diagnose them as mentally ill. The Southern Baptist denomination has the Baptist Faith and Message that gives doctrines that Southern Baptists agree on, however individual churches can make up their own minds about what they ultimately would teach. The Southern Baptist Convention has made no official declarations regarding mental illness. The most common question asked is whether people should take medicines for mental illness or see a psychologist? Just as someone would take medication for blood pressure, there is no difference if someone takes medication to help with a chemical imbalance in the brain. There are many Christian psychologists and psychiatrists that can help a believer handle mental issues from a biblical perspective. When believers stray to secular psychology, there is a great concern over confusion and even dismissal of their faith by a the non-believer who is supposed to be helping them.

ANSWER:

What are my thoughts concerning a nine year old being baptized? Well first let us look at the requirements of baptism for any person no matter their age.

1. The person must trust Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
2. The person must understand that baptism is the public profession of their faith.

When you look at the New Testament you see a very clear pattern. Only believers are baptized. Acts 2:37-38 says, “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Peter said to them, repent and be baptized.” Acts 2:41 says, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” There are many other passages you can check out like: Acts 8:12-13, 8:26, 38-39

When it comes to baptizing a younger person we need to proceed with caution but at the same time we cannot discount what God is doing in his or her life. If a young person comes and wants to be baptized I will follow this outline:

1. Meet with the young person and their parents.
2. Have the young person tell me his or her testimony.
3. Talk with them about baptism and see what their understanding is.
4. Ask the parents who started this talk, the young person or the parents?
5. See if the parents are comfortable with the decision as well.

There is no easy answer because I have had some nine year olds who were not ready and it was clear the parents were pushing the baptism. Then I have had a ten year old clearly communicate his understanding of salvation and baptism.

On the second part of your question, I am a little confused by your question but I will try my best. I would hope no church would rush people in the baptismal pool just to have high member totals. That is wrong motivation and is not good for anyone involved.