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Friday, August 21, 2009

Why a Baptist?

I thought it necessary to post this, due to the title of my series "How Satan is Using Baptist Churches to Destroy Our Youth." Some might incorrectly conclude that I am not a Baptist or that I am against the Baptist churches.
I am a Baptist by conviction and choice. Historically the Baptists have been the ones that were martyred for their faith, as one can clearly see from Foxes Book of Martyrs and Martyr's Mirror. Though over the years, they have been known by various names such as the Lollards, anabaptists, dunkards etc. they were still Baptists. Some might be confused at this and ask, "How could they be Baptists if they were not called Baptists?" What makes the distinction is the view of these groups all held to BELIEVERS BAPTISM in contrast to unscriptural baptism such as baptismal regeneration, baptism of babies etc. This is especially true during the periods of time where the false Roman catholic Church persecuted the genuine believers. A Catholic that was converted to Christ would recognize that his infant baptism was no good and completely unbiblical, therefore he would receive believers baptism as we see in the scriptures (Acts 16:33, 19:5, 1 Cor. 1:13-17). During this time, they were threatened with persecution and death if they did not renounce their believers baptism. Though there was no saving power in baptism, it was an indicator of one's scriptural faith in Christ. Today there are many that hold to believers baptism, though they do not carry the Baptist name on their church. I personally have the conviction to label myself a Baptist ( and at times an AnaBaptist due to the liberalness of many that call themself Baptists)because of this historical position as well as my belief that they hold to the scriptures more closely than any other group or denomination.
Now there are many Baptists that are liberal and are a sad example of Baptists, there are many in the Baptists churches that are LOST etc. I am an Independent Baptist and even many of those have become liberal and a shame to our God and our heritage as Baptist believers in Christ. Though many Baptist churches use the new perverted Bibles, have women preachers, allow the false doctrine of the charismatic movement and have no standards of dress or conduct, the Independent Baptist churches never used to have trouble with these issues. It is the errors such as just mentioned that I would take a stand against, regardless of the specific label label of Baptist one may use.
So please do not misunderstand. I am a Baptist by conviction and choice, but I must take a position to be a Bible-believer above being a Baptist in areas where the Baptist churches have become unscriptural. I preached a message a few years ago called, "Are You a Good Independent Baptist" that dealt with this issue. Many place being a Baptist ABOVE the scriptures and that is neither safe, nor scriptural.
James
1 Cor. 15:58

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

How Satan is Using Baptist Churches to Destroy Our Youth-Youth Groups

Much of the material that would be true concerning SS's would be true here. But in most youth groups, the problems become magnified.
1. Peers becoming a strong and sometimes, the primary influence on the young person.
How true this is and we have seen it numerous times. Little by little the parents become less influential and they are replaced by the peers of the child. And usually, and due partially to the error of the churches to "bring everybody in" the influences of those peers is not good. Most youth groups are made up of young people that are either not saved or carnal. Though there are exceptions to that, they are just that-exceptions! Kids will learn of the world, that you as a Christian parent should control their knowledge of, and you will be unable to do so if you allow them to be in a youth group. A good friend of mine, when approached by his pastor about starting a youth group, stated to the the pastor that a youth group was fine, but only if he was always present with his children-that killed the idea of the youth group. Listen, MANY young people in our churches are worldly, carnal, unsaved etc. and any parent would be a FOOL to habitually let them under those influences. We have seen results of this over and over-the heart of the young person changes, they become more worldly and less spiritual etc. And if you are thinking that your child will influence the others for Christ and NOT be influenced by them, then perhaps you think to highly of your son or daughter. Surely there are some that will not allow themselves to be influenced but that is not the norm. And this idea of bringing in the youth to get them the gospel is unscriptural and as already stated, damaging to the Christian young people whose parents attend the church (of course many in that category are unsaved, worldly etc.) The church is supposed to be God's people meeting together, not a soul-winning booth. And not understanding this has done great harm to the purity and scripturalness of churches today. Biblically we should witness to the lost in their homes etc. and IF they come to Christ, THEN they should be invited to assemble with the believers. This is evident by the word itself, which means a "called out assembly" and historically you only see this "invite the lost to church" philosophy for about the last 100 years, if that. In the scriptures you see that an unbeliever meeting with God's people was the exception, not the norm (See 1 Cor. 14:23). So what has happened in the last few years is that LOST and WORLDLY people, including young people within the youth groups, have PERMEATED our churches, INFLUENCED the saved to their own hurt, and WEAKENED the purity of the local assembly. Now some might say, "What if our youth group is made up of ONLY church kids?" Again, this changes NOTHING. Are all those children SPIRITUAL? Is there a spirit of Godliness and Holiness in the group? Are there enough GODLY leaders to know EVERYTHING that is going on? Listen, I have seen the youth that make up the youth groups in many churches. Overall they are WORLDLY! The "cool" guys, the "unchaste" girls etc. the talk is more of the world, the recent movies, the rock music etc. than spiritual matters. Again, there may be exceptions, but these things are nothing but natural results of children being left to themselves! I KNOW that perhaps your child is different and spiritual and has a right heart-but then WHY put him/her in an environment habitually that can hinder that! We quote the prayer, "...lead us not into temptation..." but then we as parents put our children in a place where they will be tempted by their peers to love the world, develop ungodly attitudes etc. WRONG! WHY NOT KEEP THEM WITH YOU DAD AND MOM AND MAKE THAT BOND STRONGER BETWEEN YOU!
2. The opposite sex
This is a big one brethren. Flirting, indecency, "giving the eyes", sensual moves, girlfriends, boyfriends, etc. YOUR CHILDREN NEED NONE OF THIS! This worlds mentality has become the norm for our churches. They WILL be approached by these things in a youth group! Your children NEVER need a girlfriend or boyfriend! Your daughter should not be in a position where she has to deal with a flirtatious punk, neither does your son need to be tempted by a teenage girl who is not chaste and pure. I have seen some in the youth groups that are closer to the strange woman of Proverbs than to that of a godly young lady! While there again may be exceptions to this, WHY TAKE A CHANCE WITH YOUR CHILDREN, who you are SUPPOSED TO BE DISCIPLING for Christ! Dad and mom should be the ones to teach their children about the opposite sex, temptation and how to deal with it etc. and during this very important time in their life it is very unwise to habitually put them in a position where they will face these issues and not have you with them! AMEN!
3. What is the Purpose of the Youth Group? I was asked years ago to be a youth pastor. When they inquired about what I would teach them, what I would do etc. I explained that, though we would have some fun, my main purpose would be to teach them Bible Christianity and this would include scriptural roles for the boys and girls. Since this included the teachings of the "woman at home" etc. they went ballistic! I would scare them away from coming! You see, the purpose of tis church was to BUILD the youth group, the bring in more NUMBERS, NOT TO TEACH THE BIBLE! Certainly it is good and healthy for young people to have fun, but that should NOT be our goal. However if our motive is to BRING IN MORE PEOPLE, then FUN becomes the focus, and that my friend is ERROR! Recently at a camp meeting we went to in upstate NY, there were many families present from different parts of the country. Though there may have been some mild variations, all believed in modest apparel, homeschooling etc. The youth did play games but did so in a modest way. For example if they playing volleyball, there was no mixing of the sexes on the same team. The goal in the meeting was for youth and adults alike to be TAUGHT the scriptures, challenged in their Christian life etc. Families sat TOGETHER, it was not children from two, three or four families sitting together apart from their parents! This meeting lasted about a week and I personally noticed NO flirtation, NO immodesty etc. that would be a temptation or a stumbling block to my children-AMEN! Brethren, If you have the right motive for a meeting, the parents will be welcome and the purpose will be to train the youth biblically. But todays youth groups are overall very carnal and FUN is the motive and supposedly a TOOL to bring in the lost, which I have covered already. Interesting thing is brethren that almost ALWAYS, when the fun is gone, the treat, the reward etc. then so are they! This is true also for churches that "bring 'em in with a race car driver, worldly speaker" etc. When the FUN leaves and serious Bible comes in-off goes the one who was only there for the candy or treat!
I realize that this post is long and again, I hope that it will be a blessing to many.
Brother James
1 Cor. 15:58

Friday, August 14, 2009

HyperDispensational Heresy Part Two Lack of Biblical Repentance

I will continue with this series by dealing with a major problem within this movement.
Lack of Biblical Repentance
This is an issue among many "Christians" today, not just the HD's.
Biblical Repentance has to do with the character of God. He is Holy, Just and Righteous-AMEN!
God hates sin and is always contrary to it. The problem is that for God to accept a sinner who has no desire to change, no desire to leave a sinful lifestyle, it would totally change His Holy character! The word "repentance" concerning genuine evangelical repentance means, "real penitance, sorrow or deep contrition for sin, as an offense or dishonor to God, a violation of His Holy Law, and the basest ingratitude towards a being of infinite benevolence and is followed and accompanied by an amendment of life." It can also mean, "grieving for what is past, a change of mind, to change the mind in consequence of the inconvenience or injury done by past conduct, " etc. The scriptures teach repentance all through the Bible (Jer. 8:6, 31:19, Matt. 3:2, Luke 11:32,13:3, Mark 1:15, Acts 20:20,21, 2 Cor. 12:21, Rev. 9:20,21, 16:11 etc.). Some foolishly will state, "God repented" and God never sinned, so to repent cannot mean to turn from sin. I would not trust a man who thinks that way to teach me the Bible, that is for sure. The word "repent" as we already looked at can mean to change the mind, to grieve over the past, etc. so when God repents, CERTAINLY He is not turning from sin, because He is sinless, but he is grieved, sorrowful or He has changed His mind. This is grade school hermeneutics. Gen 6:6, "And it repented the Lord that he had made man..." means the the Lord was grieved that he had created man, because man became so wicked.
So to biblically repent concerning salvation is for the sinner to have sorrow and grief over past sinful conduct, realizing that they have offended God and dishonored Him by those actions and then to change their mind about their sin, and this will result in and be accompanied by a change of conduct, or as the Websters puts it, an amendment of life. When the sinner comes to Christ, realizing his sinfulness, he needs God's MERCY! If the sinner received what he deserved, it would be punishment, judgment and hell, so MERCY from God is what is needed. Look at Prov. 28:13, "...whoso confesseth and FORSAKETH them (his sins) shall have mercy." THE SINNER MUST FEEL ABOUT SIN THE WAY GOD DOES-GOD IS TOO HOLY TO JUST LOOK THE OTHER WAY! The word "forsake" means, "to quit or leave entirely, to desert, to depart from, to abandon, to RENOUNCE, to reject, to WITHDRAW FROM, etc." THIS IS NOT DISPENSATIONAL, BUT HAVING TO DO WITH GOD'S HOLY CHARACTER! To wrongly divide the Word of Truth to the point of slicing biblical repentance out of this dispensation is to be totally unscriptural, because Paul preached and taught biblical repentance, and it undermines and weakens the Holiness of God! And to pervert the word repentance to ONLY mean as some do, "a change of mind about who or what you are trusting in for salvation" is to pervert the meaning of the word. As well it again corrupts God's character by making sin a non-issue and sin is always an issue with God. This generic Romans Road gospel message does the same thing and that is why many people use it. People today want conversions (another notch on their gunbelt) while some are sincere but undiscerning about genuine conversions, and hence, they use this RR method that makes sin GENERIC and unspecific.
What God is looking for is a sinner to be sorrowful to the point of being willing to change their conduct. That is godly sorrow (1 Cor. 7:8-11, 1 Thes. 1:9 etc.) Imagine a criminal standing before a judge requesting leniency and mercy, asking for a pardon. After inquiring about the criminals intentions, the criminal replies that he will take a short break but soon will again continue his life of crime. No honest judge with integrity would pardon the man and for the "soulwinner" to preach a message that God will forgive the sinner who has NO INTENTION of changing his conduct, is to make God and unrighteous Judge with no integrity! Now if a thief requested mercy and a pardon from a judge, but he was remorseful and had full intentions to cease his criminal activity, THEN a righteous judge might consider giving him mercy! That is a picture of the Holiness of God and how He deals with a sinner!
Now the HD's love to throw out biblical repentance and relate that Paul never preached a repentance from sin as a requirement for conversion. Acts 20:21 reads, "...repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Repentance TOWARDS! See that. TOWARDS means "In the direction to, with direction to, with respect to, regarding, etc." TOWARDS implies and means a direction! If I was heading north TOWARDS Chicago, I have a direction in which I am headed. The sinner upon conversion, CHANGES HIS DIRECTION! It is away from sin and self TOWARDS Christ and righteousness. In Acts 17:30 Paul preaches that all men should REPENT! In Acts 26:20 in a very important passage that tells us Paul's evangelistic ministry, it was that he was preaching to the Jews and the Gentiles that they should "...repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance." CLEAR! TURN! There is NO dispensational difference here. All through the Bible when repentance is concerning the sinner it is about TURNING FROM SIN! Look at Ezek. 3 and 33 where the concept of repentance is clear, even though the word is not used. Look at Ezek. 18 and in particular verse 30, "...repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions;..." Going back to Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, look at 1 Thes. 1:9, "...how ye TURNED TO GOD FROM IDOLS to SERVE the living and true God." This concept of the sinner just TRUSTING JESUS apart from a desire to turn from sin, and possibly NEVER changing is completely unscriptural and damning to men. That is why the old preachers like Sam Jones, Wesley, Whitefield, Richard Baxter, John Bunyan, Peter Cartwright, Johnathan Edwards, Billy Sunday, Spurgeon etc. ALL preached biblical repentance which meant a willingness to turn FROM sin and a sinful lifestyle and turn TO Christ! God is TOO Holy to accept a man who has an improper view of sin! But thank God that He will show mercy to the sinner that is CONVICTED over his sin and is willing to turn FROM his sin and turn TO Christ! 1 Cor. 6:9-11 is a passage that many attempt to pervert to mean that the context here is rewards in the 1000 year-old reign. But look at the context. "And such WERE some of you." True Christianity DELIVERS one from a lifestyle of sin! 2 Cor. 5;17, "Therefore IF any man be IN CHRIST, he is a NEW CREATURE:old things are passed away;behold all things become new." This has got to be PRACTICALLY, not just positionally as some would like to interpret it so that it fits their doctrinal position! See also Titus 2:11-13 and see what BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY is! This is the same area that the Beale Street Blast crowd messed up in because they know not the scriptures or they are too cowardly to preach them correctly! To state as some HD's have stated to me that a sinner can get saved, NEVER change and still go to heaven, is GARBAGE and an insult to the Holy God of the Bible! Look at Ezek. 13:22 and see what this heretical doctrine does. It leads to the sinner thinking he is right with God and going to heaven, even though he is lost and on his way to hell!
Brethren, there is much more I could elaborate on, but this should be enough to prove that biblical repentance is more than just changing one's mind about who they are trusting in for salvation, but includes a willingness to turn from sin, which results in a changed life, making one desirous of following the Word of God and Christ! And this includes Paul's teachings as well as i have scripturally proven.
And brethen this does not make repentance a work, which would be contrary to Romans 4:5, Eph. 2:8,9 etc. because it is dealing with the HEART! If a man was to REPENT and just reform with out turning to Christ, he would be LOST, in his sins and end up in hell! It is a work of the HEART that must be done before one can be scripturally converted TO Christ!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

How Satan is Using Baptist Churches to Destroy Our Youth-Segregated Sunday Schools

Hello Again Friends, I would like to continue with my series on the above subject, this time covering segregated Sunday Schools. Now before we begin, let me make it clear that my two main points in dealing with this issue is 1. That overall, Satan is doing a great work influencing our youth for evil and for worldliness through the normal SS movement. I will detail more of this in the present post. 2. The pastor needs to give liberty to parents to do as they see best for their family and their children. If a pastor does not allow this, parents with convictions on the matter will be forced to choose between the "church traditions and rules" and their personal convictions. This is where the normal Baptist church becomes a hindrance to those that desire to follow Christ more closely.
How the Devil Uses Segregated Sunday Schools To help Destroy our Youth
1. By separating the family. The same scriptures that I gave concerning nurseries would be applicable here. There are MANY passages that we see in the OT where families met together and this included infants and children. Historically we also have NO evidence that families split apart during services until the time of Sunday Schools, which as best I can tell began in the late 1800's in the USA. In England, SS's date all the way back to about 1780 where they began as a way to teach the Bible to the poor and to give an alternative to rowdy behaviour of youth at the time.
2. By separating the family, the parents are unable to be present to hear what is being taught to their children. This concept of just trusting anyone to train our children is hogwash. And just because it is a pastor, youth pastor, a veteran SS teacher etc. means NOTHING to me! Listen, it is a FACT, that many of the above spend more time watching the TV set than studying the scriptures and few have any discernment and even less have a godly walk. While I may sound too critical for some, I have been in hundreds of churches that desire to "take" my children during the SS hour and I see both the teacher and the other students (that I will cover in my next point). Listen, I have learned what I have learned from experience. In one SS class when my two older daughters were younger, they came out with A PICTURE OF THE GOLDEN CALF THAT THEY DECORATED AS PART OF THE SS LESSON! When the parents are with the children, they can be aware of what the children are being taught and make corrections after the message if necessary. Out of all the hundreds of churches we have visited and many that we are in regularly, there are few where I know the teachers well enough that I would trust them. I say that, not out of self-righteousness, but out of carefulness for what my children will be taught.
3. By separating the family, your children will NORMALLY be with unsaved children, worldly children and children will little or no standards, which potentially can INFLUENCE them. PEERS CAN QUICKLY BECOME THE MOST POWERFUL INFLUENCE ON YOUR CHILDREN, WHICH REPLACES WHO THE LORD DESIRES TO HAVE THAT PLACE, WHICH IS THE PARENTS! If a child is to routinely be interacting with other children, it should be under the watchful eye of one or both parents! YOUR CHILDREN, ESPECIALLY AT YOUNGER AGES, WILL GET THEIR VIEW OF CHRISTIANITY FROM OTHERS THAT PROFESS CHRIST, AS WELL AS FROM DAD AND MOM, AND THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! If the "professing" Christian at 7, 10, 12, 14 etc. loves the world, speaking of movies, worldly music, Tv etc. your child will get the impression that to do so is NORMAL Christianity! If they are vulgar, crude or cuss (which I have heard from those as young as six years old), then that behaviour can cause your little boy or girl to think that such actions are acceptable for the Christian. Look at 1 Cor. 15:33, "Be not deceived, evil communications corrupt good manners." Even if a child has good manners, EVIL COMMUNICATIONS WILL corrupt them! The scripture does not even read, "might" or "could possibly" could corrupt them, but the implication here is that, it WILL corrupt them! The Lord knows what he is speaking of brethren, this is not a little matter! Be it your child being influenced in the areas I just briefly mentioned, or things such as manners (using worldly words, picking their nose, burping, treatment and attitude concerning girls, etc.) these things ought to be prevented and proper biblical instruction given concerning these issues! Placing your children among those that can influence them, that are worldly, unsaved etc. is DANGEROUS, UNSCRIPTURAL (Jer. 10:1,2, Prov. 4:14 etc.) and FOOLISH!
4. The standards of the teacher. Are they likeminded on dress standards, view of the world etc.
Though there are other things to delve into, I believe this covers the major problems, but I would like to add an important point.
Your children will be under influences other than what we, as parents, would like. But we should attempt to minimize this as much as possible. We have allowed our children to attend SS's, but rarely. These are environments where the aforementioned issues are not problems, such as when we are at our home church, our friend's church in Enterprise, Al. and a few others. Where there is a difference in the children, where there is a teacher that is biblical and can be trusted, and that is NOT the case with the normal Baptist church. But there are exceptions and the parent should have the freedom to decide what the Lord would have for their family and children, not be coerced by the pastor and church tradition. There may be churches that I visit where these issues may not be a problem, but If I do not KNOW that, I will not have my children in the SS class and our conviction is to regularly have our children with us so that we can hear and discuss a message together.
I sincerely hope that this has been a help.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Hyper-Dispensational Heresy!

I interrupt my series on "How Satan is Using Baptist Churches to Destroy Our Youth" to deal with the heresy of hyperdispensationalism.
While I scripturally believe that Paul is the apostle to the gentiles and that he had certain revelations revealed to him because of that position (Eph 3:1-10 etc.) it is CLEAR that some have WRONGLY divided the Word of Truth.
I will divide hyperdispensationalism unto two parts:
1. General HD-still heretical and unscriptural and
2. Outer Space HD-Very heretical, Very unscriptural and WEIRD!
Both of these are clearly WRONG and I will deal with both of these over a few posts as I also will continue with my series on the family. I will not deal with each and every belief, but I will expose some of their doctrinal errors.
GENERAL HD
1. Those that hold to this viewpoint will state that Paul was the first one in the Body of Christ. But look at Romans 16:7b where Paul writes, "...who also were in Christ BEFORE ME." Interesting contradiction between the HD's and the Authority, the Word of God!
2. Water Baptism not for today. The HD's base this on Eph. 4:5, but what does "One Lord, one faith, one baptism" really mean. Is there only one faith. According to the scriptures there is a "saving" faith, when one places their faith in Christ for salvation (Gal. 3:26, Romans 4:5, 5:1 etc.). But there is also the LIFE of FAITH lived by the believer that has NOTHING to do with saving faith (Acts 6:8, 11:24, 14:9, Romans 1:8, 14:22, 1 Cor 2:5, 12:9, Gal 5:6, 1 Thes. 3:10 etc.)
In these passages we see "one" faith MUST mean one MAIN faith, one baptism MUST mean one MAIN baptism (which is the spirit baptism of (I Cor. 12:13), one Lord MUST mean one MAIN Lord as there are other Lords, but obviously only ONE true LORD, the God of the Bible. In fact if you desire to get technical, God the Father is called Lord and so is Christ (see Deut. 6:2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 12, 13,15, 16, 17, 18,19,20,21,22,24, 25, Matt. 22:37, Rev. 21:22 and compare with Luke 12:41, 23:42, 24:34, John 1:23, 1 Cor. 5:4, 5:5, 6:11, Eph 1:17, Col. 2:6 etc. There are HUNDREDS of scriptures to show this truth that BOTH God the Father and Christ are called LORD, so how could there be ONE Lord?
Paul baptized (1 Cor. 1:14-16) but if the "revelation" that he received included no baptism, then why did he baptize at all?
Interesting also is the fact that historically water baptism has, since the time of Christ, been a public identification with Christ. During the inquisitions where the Catholics MURDERED the real Christians, their concern was if the Christian would renounce his BAPTISM that he submitted to, AS A BELIEVER IN CHRIST! They were called RE-Baptizers due to their recognition that the baptism they received as an infant was unscriptural. If water baptism was not for today, as the HD's claim, then why would the Lord allow it to be such a TOOL to reveal the true believers! As the Catholics practiced baby baptism and others baptismal regeneration, water baptism for BELIEVERS was a dividing issue in that day.
Just because many pervert a Bible truth does not mean that that particular truth should be abandoned.
More to come next time...

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

How Satan is Destroying Youth-Nurseries

Are nurseries scriptural?
A pastor recently cited Nehemiah 8:1-4 to support church nurseries.
There are a few problems however with this.
1. Neh 8:1-4 is in no way referring to N.T. churches. This is concerning a specific instance recorded in this book and is not a pattern for N.T. churches.
2. If one desires to make an issue of this portion of scripture, do they follow other distinctions that we see here such as all the people lifting up their hands and worshipping the Lord, with "their faces to the ground." And does the pastor preach from morning until midday? To equate this with a N.T. church is nothing short of ludicrous and a perverted view of Bible interpretation.
3. Part of the definition of the word "understand" in. v. 3 is to LEARN, TO BE INFORMED OF,(Websters 1828). Can a child, even a youth as young as 18, 24, 36 months etc. learn? Certainly! They can learn words like "Bible, Jesus, Saved, God etc." Interesting in v. 8 of the same chapter it is stated that they GAVE THE SENSE, and CAUSED THEM TO UNDERSTAND THE READING. So in v. 3 "those that could understand" were present but in. v. 8 they "gave the sense" so the people could understand. Could it be that those who could not understand might be referring to those that are "out of the way" (Hebrews 5:2), a term used for those that are unable to comprehend, today we would refer to one in that manner as "retarded."
4. There are many passages in scripture that would refute this idea of children not being allowed in services. Though four of these are O.T. and set no precedence for N.T. services, they negate the argument that some use of Neh. 8:1-4 being support for nurseries in our churches today.
A. In 2 Chron. 20, as Judah met together, it included their "little ones" according to v. 13.
B. In 22 Kings 23 "all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem" met together.
C. In Deut. 31:12 the list of those that gathered together included the "children."
D. In Joel 2:15-18, included in the list is those that "suck the breast." CLEAR! BABIES!
E. In Matt 19:14 Jesus states, "...suffer little children, and forbid them not..."
What good is it to have children in the services?
1. They can learn Bible words and consistently hear preaching.
2. They can be trained by the parents to sit still, listen etc. If they need disciplined or nursed, the mother/father can take them out accordingly, deal with the need and then bring them back.
3. They have their place next to the parents, learning their place is with them, NOT their peers.
4. The parents are able to be aware and control the teaching their child is receiving.
5. Peers, which are many times worldly and unspiritual, are NOT a direct influence on the child, which is a good thing, especially today. This obviously is more of a factor as the children get older.
6. The child will not be overseen by others that are not like-minded on standards etc. and some that are just plain worldly. When you place your child in a church nursery, you are trusting the spirituality of those that are watching them.
7. Avoiding the nursery can prevent moral problems. We KNOW of at least one situation where children were being molested in church nurseries, sad to say. Keeping them with you takes care of that possibility.
8. It helps the pastor to be man enough to speak over a baby. I have actually heard pastors complain that they could not preach loud enough to be heard over normal baby fussing. Certainly babies can get loud, but I am speaking of normal noises and mild crying.

I know of one church years ago that would hire an unsaved woman to take care of the nursery. When I challenged the leaders on the error of this, they did not understand why it was important. Listen, does it not take the Holy Ghost of God to properly care for a child, have godly patience etc.

History of Church Nurseries
As best I can guess, and that is all anyone can do at this point, nurseries in our services came about, or at least were popularized, around the time of the Billy Sunday revivals, when the preachers were concerned about people being distracted from the message. Now this is my best guess brethren, if you know of any facts, please let me know. By the way, the Spirit of God can work despite a baby crying or noise from a disabled person.

I hope this helps brethren. In this world of family breakup and confusion, I pray that many will see the unscripturalness of a pastor demanding his people to place their children in a nursery. Does it matter, some might say. How important is a godly family and your children to you? Baptist tradition or what is best for your family-what will you do and pastor, what will you teach?
I hope this helps folks

How Satan is Using Baptist Churches to Destroy Our Youth!

How Satan is Using Baptist Churches to Destroy Our Youth
Years ago I drove nearly three hours to Haines City, Fl. to hear a particular preacher speak. We went the distance because it was understood that this Pastor was a good preacher and had much to offer. Upon entering the church with our family of four at the time, we were instantly stopped by a security guard (usher) who informed us that our children under the age of four could not sit in the services and they MUST go to the nursery. Also I was told that my wife was not allowed in the nursery. Now as much as I desired to hear this pastor, I was not going to break our conviction that the family stay together during services. As we prepared to go back to our vehicle, the guard was in awe that we were not willing to comply with their regulation so that we could hear...the preacher! I inquired to the gentleman if this was a King James Bible-believing church to which he quickly replied that it was. Then I sternly asked him to show m where in the BIBLE is it FORBIDDEN for the children to be with their parents during preaching services. HE COULD NOT SHOW ME! Listen brethren, the devil is doing a great work IN OUR CHURCHES today and destroying and corrupting our youth as he works! The CHURCH is NOT God's primary tool for training children-the parent's are! Prov. 22:6, Deut. 6 etc. is written to PARENTS, not an institution! The church should be a SUPPORT of what is scripturally taught at home, but unfortunately the church is normally a HINDRANCE to raising Godly children. As well, a child's PEERS are not to be the major influence, but the parents are. Mal 4:6 does not read, "...the heart of the children to the.." PEERS, but to their fathers.
Think about it brethren, who would desire to see the family split up? Certainly not the Lord. As families grow further apart in our country and among "Christianity" parents and children ought to be together as much as possible for various reasons including creating a stronger bond between family members and being sure of influences around the youth. Now some might STUPIDLY state, "Do you all sleep in the same bedroom" or "Do you go anywhere apart from each other?" That is sheer stupidity friend. The point is that taking children of any age constantly away from the parents is a great danger, it will HINDER a strong bond and it opens up doors for wrong influences.
The general trend in our churches today is 1. The nursery 2. Segregated Sunday School 3. Junior Church 4. Youth Groups 5. Teen Camps 6. Special Activities such as sleepovers, movies etc. Normally, these are very dangerous to the spiritual growth of our youth and over the next few weeks I will explain why and I will include many scriptures.