An 18th Century Great Commission Resurgence

Posted on December 21, 2009 by Steve Weaver

Dr. Michael Haykin is currently writing a series of articles for the state paper of Oklahoma Baptists on the 18th Century Great Commission Resurgence which launched the modern Baptist missionary movement.  The Baptist Messenger is edited by the very capable Douglas E. Baker.  The first two in the series are now online and others will be posted in the weeks ahead.

The first article looks at the conditions among 18th-century Baptists which made a Great Commission Resurgence necessary.  The second article focuses on the the Prayer Call of 1784 which preceded the move of God which we know as the dawn of the modern missionary movement.  It is hoped that these articles and the ones which follow might provide a historical perspective on a contemporary phenomenon, the Great Commission Resurgence of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Filed under: Andrew Fuller, Church History, SBC Life | 1 Comment »

Do You Lie to Your Children?

Posted on December 16, 2009 by Steve Weaver
Well, do you? One of the areas of mass deception in our society today is in regard to the existence and identity of Santa Claus. This is one area in which it is not only culturally acceptable but also commonly expected that you lie to your children. In fact the deception is so complete that it made news a few years ago when a 1st grade music teacher told his students that there is no Santa Claus. If you don’t believe me, read the following:

Texas Teacher Tells First-Graders There Is No Santa

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

RICHARDSON, Texas — Guess what, kids? There’s no such thing as Santa Claus!

That’s what a suburban Dallas music teacher told first-graders on Monday — and the school’s been hearing from parents ever since.

The angry phone calls prompted the Richardson school district to issue a pro-Santa statement.

The district announced that the offending teacher had heard from Santa Claus himself — who assurred the teacher that “the spirit of the holidays is alive and well.” And Santa asked the teacher to pass that message along to students.

A district spokesman says the teacher won’t face any disciplinary action.
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,178708,00.html

News flash (Spoiler Warning): Santa Claus is not real! I’m at least glad that the teacher wasn’t disciplined for telling the truth!

The Santa Claus legend has roots in history. Dr. James Parker (Professor of Christian Philosophy at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) has done a good job of uncovering some of those historical roots in an article playfully titled: “Remythologizing St. Nick: The Search for the Historical Santa“. In this article he shows that jolly ole St. Nicholas was in fact a Bishop of Myra in Lycia (Turkey) who lived from A.D. 280 to A.D. 350. This year, how about giving your children the truth for Christmas? Then maybe they’ll believe you when you insist that Jesus Christ is really the Son of God!

Other resources:

Noel Piper’s explanation of why she and John didn’t emphasize Santa Claus to their children.

John MacArthur contrasts the message of Santa (“Be Good!”) with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

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