Thoughts of a Pastor-Historian

Farmdale Baptist Church has been home for me and my family for the past five years as I have pursued doctoral studies. This church family has been loving and supportive every step of the way. They have not begrudged the time that I have spent in seminars or writing this dissertation. They have loved me and my family and have shown it by their prayers and financial support. There is no doubt that God placed us at Farmdale and we are thankful for the opportunity to serve Christ’s people here.

Of course, most supportive of my academic endeavors has been my family. My parents, Garry and Jan Weaver, have always encouraged and supported me in every pursuit. As long as I can remember they have been a model of sacrificial service to Christ. I am thankful for their example and investment in my life. They have recently reenlisted as missionaries at an age when many would be considering retirement. Their desire to finish strong and to see the nations reached with the gospel is a challenge and inspiration to me. They are my heroes. My brother and sister, Jeremy Weaver and Elizabeth Ramseyer, have been more than siblings, they have been lifelong friends who always bring laughter into my life. My grandparents, Frank and Hazel Weaver, have also been supportive throughout this long educational process. Their prayers and financial gifts have been used by God to meet needs at just the right time. My wife, Gretta, and our children have been patient with my long hours of writing and a constant source of encouragement. The children’s questions of “Are you done yet?” have provided motivation to finish the job as soon as possible. Gretta has always supported me, and her care for me and the children during what must have seemed like an eternity to her, is the key reason why I have been able to complete this project. Therefore, this dissertation is dedicated to her and our children, all of whom I adore.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

In this post I want to continue my expression of thankfulness to God for his blessings in my life. Chief among these have been the faculty of Southern Seminary.

I completed my Master of Divinity while serving as a pastor in East Tennessee. While as a student at the extension center in Maryville, TN, I was encouraged especially by professors Chad Owen Brand and M. David Sills. These men enabled me to believe that PhD work was a possibility for me in the future. I remain grateful for their encouragement then, and their friendship now. Although my love for history dates back to my reading of baseball history books as a child, I first remember a desire to do historical research while taking a course on the history of Baptists with Gregory A. Wills in the summer of 2003. His combination of meticulous historical research and impeccable Christian piety is one which I hope to emulate. As a PhD student at Southern, I have been challenged and encouraged by what seems like the entire faculty, but especially professors Gregg R. Allison, Michael A. G. Haykin, Thomas J. Nettles, David L. Puckett, Gregory A. Wills, and Shawn D. Wright.

While at Southern, I have been afforded the opportunity to work closely with two of the premier Baptist historians alive today. I will forever be grateful for the privilege of having Thomas J. Nettles as my doctoral supervisor. His trust of my instincts and confidence in my ability has been both inspiring and intimidating. To know Dr. Nettles is to know a Christian gentleman whose very demeanor makes you want to be a more devoted follower of Christ. Words will never repay the debt that I owe to Michael A. G. Haykin. Without him I likely would never have had the opportunity to pursue PhD studies. God, in his providence, used this man to open the door for me to study at Southern. Dr. Haykin has been my teacher, boss, mentor, and friend. In every relationship, he has been a model of Christian piety. His investment in me is such that every academic opportunity that I have heretofore, or ever shall be given, can be credited in some way to his influence and support. I must also express gratitude to Russell D. Moore who has always encouraged me and whose hiring of Michael A. G. Haykin in 2007 paved the way for me to serve as his research assistant for the past five years.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Having completed the writing of my dissertation (I haven’t graduated yet, that is, in large part, out of my hands now.), I was filled with a number of emotions. Mostly, I was struck with a sense of stunned disbelief that I had actually finished the project. But the most overwhelming sense I have since finishing is gratitude to God for others who have invested in my life. As I worked on writing acknowledgements for the Preface, there was an overwhelming sense that I had not done anything on my own. In the back of my mind, there was a continual replaying of 1 Corinthians 4:7, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (ESV). Over the next few days I will post some of my thoughts of gratefulness to God for his grace in my life and his use of others to accomplish his purposes. First, I give thanks to God for Southern Seminary.

I still remember the first time I stepped onto the campus of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I had arrived late on a Sunday night in January of 2002 for my first “J-Term” class, which was scheduled to begin the next day. Accompanied my friend and fellow East Tennessee Extension Center student Mark Martin, I walked into an empty and silent Norton Hall. I was in awe of the beauty of the buildings, but more so of the seminary’s legacy of confessional fidelity that had been recovered under the leadership of President R. Albert Mohler, Jr. As I walked by the office of Dr. Mohler (then on the first floor of Norton Hall), I was reminded of the reason I had become a Southern Baptist in the first place. It had been the theological commitment to biblical inerrancy in the Convention’s entities brought about the Conservative Resurgence that had brought this former Independent Baptist into the fold. The campus at 2825 Lexington Rd. was a tangible reminder that I was part of something bigger than myself and my small local church. Our participation in the Cooperative Program allowed us to have an investment around the globe in the work of God. One very important part of that work for Southern Baptists for over one hundred and fifty years has been Southern Seminary. Over a decade later, I still never walk onto the campus of Southern Seminary without a tremendous sense of gratefulness to God for the privilege of attending such a historic and strategic institution.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Your children and grandchildren have probably been taught that tomorrow (the fourth Thursday of November) is “Turkey Day” (at worst), or the day we celebrate the Pilgrim’s expression of thankfulness to the Indians for their help (at best). God has been conveniently removed from the equation. The same people who don’t want any recognition of Christ on Christmas, have also decided God should not be mentioned, even on a day set aside to offer to Him our humble thanksgiving. The historical data has never been in doubt. A modicum understanding of United States history shows the utter absurdity of our nation’s secularists attempts to remove God from the national holiday known as Thanksgiving. Included below are some key historical facts which may have been overlooked in our children’s and grandchildren’s classrooms. It is our responsibility as parents and grandparents, not only to instruct our young people in all things related to Christ and His gospel, but also to teach them the significance of the vestiges of our godly heritage which remain in our country. Please use these facts to teach your children/grandchildren about our nation’s history, but more importantly about the God to Whom we each owe everything, especially thanks!

The First Thanksgiving

The first thanksgiving was celebrated 383 years ago this Thanksgiving in 1623. The people who celebrated this first thanksgiving were called Pilgrims. These brave men and women had traveled across a dangerous Atlantic ocean in search of religious freedom and the opportunity for a fresh start in a ‘new world.’ The 103 Pilgrim’s who survived their hazardous journey arrived near Cape Cod, Massachusetts on November 12, 1620. They had been aiming for Virginia, but strong winds had blown their ship, the Mayflower, off course by 500 miles. We now know ‘Plymouth Rock’ as the place where these settlers landed. Before disembarking from their ship, each Pilgrim signed the “Mayflower Compact” (a covenant made with God describing how they would conduct themselves in this new land). It said in part:

Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia, do by these present solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together in a civil Body Politick….
The Mayflower Compact can be read in its entirety by clicking here.

The Pilgrims were now ready to step upon land for the first time in over two months. Governor William Bradford records their reaction as follows:

Being thus arrived . . . they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils . . . again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth.

Shortly after arriving upon shore, the Pilgrims began constructing houses for the approaching winter. The winter proved to be a costly one in terms of human life. 51 of the 103 pilgrims died that first winter. Unfortunately, spring and summer a couple of years later did not prove much better for the struggling Pilgrims. Governor Bradford, who also became the Pilgrim’s historian in his classic Of Plymouth Plantation (still in print), described a three month drought during which the corn withered and ground cracked open. According to Bradford, the Pilgrims then set aside “a solemn day of humiliation, to seek ye Lord by humble and fervent prayer, in this great distress.” When they begun praying, it was a hot, clear day with no cloud in sight. As evening approached, however, it became overcast and began to rain. Bradford writes that the rains:

which did so apparently revive and quicken ye decayed corn and other fruits, as was wonderful to see, and made ye Indians astonished to behold; and afterwards the Lord sent them such seasonable showers, with interchange of fair warm weather, as through his blessing caused a fruitful and liberal harvest, to their no small comfort and rejoicing.

As a result of God’s gracious intervention, a bountiful harvest was brought in and Gov. Bradford proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving and prayer for God’s provision. The official proclamation for the first Thanksgiving was issued in 1623 and said:

Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forest to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience; now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all Pilgrims, with your wives and little ones, do gather at the meeting house, on the hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November the 29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three, and the third year since Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to the pastor and render thanksgiving to Almighty God for all His blessings.

It is interesting to note that the famous Thanksgiving feast only comes after the Pilgrims had gathered for three hours of prayer and listening to the pastor preach at their church house. We’ve kept the turkey-eating, but neglect the thanks-giving.

Thanksgiving in United States History

Of course the first celebration of Thanksgiving by citizens of the United States could not happen for another 166 years. This is because the United States did not exist until then. However, our first president, George Washington, issued the first proclamation for a National Day of Thanksgiving. He wrote:

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God, to obey His will . . . I do recommend . . . Thursday, the twenty-sixth day of November . . . to be devoted by the People of these United States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficient Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. . . . that we may . . . humbly offer our prayers . . . to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national . . . transgressions.
Complete text of Washington’s proclamation can be accessed by clicking here.

In 1817, New York became the first state to adopt Thanksgiving Day as a holiday. In 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday. Each year since, presidents have issued proclamations for the fourth Thursday in November. Lincoln’s first Thanksgiving proclamation said in part:

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the most high God…I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens…[It is] announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord…It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people.
Complete text for Lincoln’s Proclamation is available online by clicking here.

This year, and each year that follows, please take the opportunity to think about God’s blessings upon you and your family. Consider the fact that you owe everything to the Giver of “every good gift and every perfect gift” (James 1:17). Think of how you can help teach the ones who are entrusted to you the “true meaning” of Thanksgiving. Our nation’s secularists will continue to attempt to erase all evidence of a belief in God from our history. Given the amount of evidence outlined above, they are going to need a big eraser!

Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Not only was Hercules Collins a faithful pastor in his life and doctrine, he also faithfully fulfilled his pastoral role of the oversight of souls. Of the discharge of this duty Piggott called the Wapping congregation to bear testimony: “And how well he discharged the other Branches of his Pastoral Function, this Church is a Witness, whom he has watched over and visited above five and twenty Years.”^[1] One part of his pastoral faithfulness was his evangelistic fervor. Piggott described the evangelistic zeal of Hercules Collins by saying that “no Man could preach with a more affectionate Regard to the Salvation of Souls.”^[2] He later called upon the regular attenders of the Wapping Church who remained unsaved as witnesses to the gospel fervor of Hercules Collins: “You are Witnesses with what Zeal and Fervour, with what Constancy and Seriousness he us’d to warn and persuade you.”^[3] At this point Piggott began to plead with those present who were present by crying out, “Tho you have been deaf to his former Preaching, yet listen to the Voice of this Providence, lest you continue in your Slumber till you sleep the Sleep of Death.”  He then closed his sermon with a strong evangelistic appeal which must have been intensified by the presence of Collins’ lifeless body which lay before them.

You cannot but see, unless you will close your Eyes, that this World and the Fashion of it is passing away. O what a Change will a few Months or Years make in this numerous Assembly! Yea, what a sad Change has little more than a Fortnight made in this Congregation! He that was so lately preaching in this Pulpit, is now wrapt in his Shroud, and confin’d to his Coffin; and the Lips that so often dispers’d Knowledg amongst you, are seal’d up till the Resurrection. 
        Here’s the Body of your late Minister; but his Soul is enter’d into the Joy of his Lord. O that those of you that would not be persuaded by him living, might be wrought upon by his Death! for tho he is dead, he yet speaketh; and what doth he say both to Ministers and People, but Be ye also ready, for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man cometh?^[4]

In a sense, these final words by Piggott allowed Collins to preach one final time to the unconverted who had sat under his ministry. After the funeral sermon at the Wapping meeting house on October 9, 1702, Collins’ body was taken the approximately two miles to Bunhill Fields where he was interred in this burial ground of dissenters.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Do you want a fool-proof, guilt-free way to get rid of your enemies? Well God has given a way in Scripture for you to be able to get rid of your enemies. Paul in Romans 12:20 quotes Proverbs 25:22 which says, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” (ESV) Although numerous interpretations of this passage have been taken over the years, I believe that this passage is simply stating that acts of kindness done to your enemy shame him and bring him to a place of repentance. As Bible commentator James Denney wrote, “The meaning of ‘heaping burning coals on his head’ is hardly open to doubt. It must refer to the burning pain of shame and remorse which the man feels whose hostility is repaid by love. This is the only kind of vengeance the Christian is at liberty to contemplate.” Greek scholar A. T. Robertson likewise wrote that the burning coals were a “metaphor for keen anguish.” The fifth century Bishop of Hippo, St. Augustine, similarly said, “We should incite those who have hurt us to repentance by doing them good.” This view corresponds to an ancient Egyptian custom. When a person wanted to demonstrate public contrition, he would carry on his head a pan of burning coals to represent the burning pain of his shame and guilt.

This passage provides a dramatic picture of how God deals with man in goodness to lead him to repentance. As Romans 2:4 states, “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.” (ESV) Likewise, in the verse we have been examining, we are commanded to do good to our enemies to produce a state of repentance in them. Martin Luther comments, “God converts those whom He does convert by showing them goodness. It is only in this way that we can convert a person, namely, by showing him kindness and love.” Wasn’t this the very way that God responded to His enemies at Calvary? As Bible commentator John Phillips has written,

The cross represents the greatest manifestation of the hatred in the heart of man toward God and at the same time the greatest manifestation of the love in the heart of God toward man. That very spear which pierced the Saviour’s side drew forth the blood that saves.

So do you have enemies? Do you want to get rid of them? Try showing kindness to them! Then not only will you have gotten rid of an enemy, you may just also have gained a friend!

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

In his New York Times best-selling book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream (Multnomah, 2010) author David Platt challenges the water-downed gospel featured in many American churches in our day. He correctly diagnoses many of us when he says that we are “settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves” (page 7).

What does it mean to follow Jesus? In Matthew 19:21, Jesus told a rich young man who came to Him asking what good thing he could do to inherit eternal life to “go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Following Jesus will effect your pocketbook!

But not only is it costly materially to follow Jesus, it can also cost you your life. This is what our brothers and sisters in the persecuted church around the world already know. It is costing them something to follow Jesus. They are shedding their blood for the privilege of following Jesus.

According to the teaching of Jesus, this is to be expected. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 16:24, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

What did it mean to take up one’s cross? It doesn’t mean to wear a golden cross on a necklace or as a lapel pin. It meant to take up an instrument of death and carry it with you to the place of execution. As the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer commented, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die” (The Cost of Discipleship, Touchstone, 1995, page 89). Bonhoeffer was executed for his attempts to resist the Nazism of his day. Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart!

Are you a follower of Jesus? Are you willing to follow Jesus now that you know what it means? There are many professing Christians who have been sold a false bill of goods. Come to Jesus, some say, and everything will be just fine. You’ll get everything back that you get when you play country music backwards: your wife back, your truck back, and your dog back. That’s not what Jesus is offering. Jesus is calling for absolute submission to His kingly authority, and nothing less.

We have trouble understanding this in America. But our brothers and sisters around the world who are being persecuted for their faith have no problem at all understanding the words of Jesus. To learn more about them and how you can help their cause, visit www.persecution.com. 

Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

The apostle James tells us in James 1:2 that we should “count it all joy” when we go through a trial. But, how can we do that?

The key word is count. This was a financial term used by book keepers and means “to evaluate.”Christians are told to “count” our trials as occasions for joy. We can only do this when we know what God is doing in our trials.

The nineteenth-century pastor, F. B. Meyer explained the valuable product of our trials in a way that, although dated, gets the point across. “A bar of iron worth $2.50, when wrought into horseshoes is worth $5. If made into needles it is worth $175. If into penknife blades it is worth $1,625. If made into springs for watches it is worth $125,000. But, what a ‘trial by fire’ that bar must undergo to be worth this! But … the more it is hammered and passed through the heat, beaten, pounded, and polished, the greater its value.”

In the same way, God uses trials in our lives to bring about good. Romans 8:28 reminds us that God works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. This is an unlimited promise made to a specific people. Only those who truly love God and have put their faith in His Son Jesus can claim this promise. But those who believe that Christ died for their sins can be assured that God is working all things for their good.

Instead of attempting to escape our trials, we should trust that God is working through them. I once came across the story of a boy who found a cocoon attached to a small branch of a tree. He took the branch home and kept it securely in his room. When spring came, the butterfly began to struggle to escape from its prison. Wanting to help, the boy found a pair of small scissors and made a slight incision in the cocoon. Soon the butterfly emerged in all its radiant beauty. But it never flew! Having escaped all the struggle to emerge from the cocoon, the muscles of its wings never developed. The boy’s good intentions robbed the butterfly of its power to soar.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

God’s greatest problem is not whether He can make a rock so big that He can’t move it. Nor is it “Where did Cain get his wife?” God’s greatest problem is how He can forgive humans of their sins while remaining holy, righteous and pure.

Fortunately, like all math problems, this one has a solution. The problem is stated in 1 John 1:5 and the solution is spelled out in 1 John 2:2. The problem is essentially, “How can sinful humans and holy God come together?” Verse 5 uses the metaphors of light and darkness to declare that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

“Light” refers to moral purity or holiness. John says that in God there is not even one hint of darkness. The kind of light that John uses to describe God is a kind which none of us have ever seen. None of us have ever seen 100% light. You may be in a well lit room now, with light provided both by the sunlight through the windows and light bulbs overhead. Yet if you look closely you will notice shadows even where you are reading this column. Even the sun, the greatest bearer of light in our entire solar system is not 100% light. On its surface are sunspots, dark areas which are cold spots. These “cold spots” are only 4,000 degrees Celsius compared with 6,000 degree Celsius surrounding region!

But God is pure light. “In Him is no darkness at all.” Again, this metaphor is given to describe the moral purity or holiness of God. God is holy! This truth causes the greatest of all problems for God. How shall God forgive and pardon the sinner and remain holy? This is our greatest problem. He is holy; we are unholy. It is our unholiness that separates us from a holy God. Because He is holy, He cannot even look upon our sin, much less provide a home for us to live forever with Him.

Thankfully, there is a solution to this problem. In 1 John 2:2, Jesus is called the “propritiation for our sins.” The word “propitiation” is a difficult word for many. It means “to satisfy wrath.”  For those who deny the reality of man’s sinfulness this word is meaningless, as it is for those who deny that God is holy and therefore must judge humans with holy wrath. But, if humans are indeed sinful and God is indeed holy, the only solution to that problem is that there be a propitiation, i.e., “a satisfaction of the wrath of God.” God’s wrath must be satisfied.

All religions of this world teach a doctrine of propitiation. The difference between biblical Christianity and every other religion in this respect is that while all other religions teach that man must somehow satisfy the wrath of his god or gods through sacrifices, rituals, ceremonies, good deeds, etc.; only biblical Christianity teaches that the God whose holiness requires that His wrath be satisfied has taken the initiative Himself to satisfy His own wrath! This is exactly what He has done for all those who will confess their sin and trust in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

This is the gospel: holy God and sinful humans brought together by the sacrifice of Christ. His death was the payment that satisfied God’s wrath for all who believe and confess their sins. God has solved His own greatest problem.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

In a recent book on prayer by J. I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom titled simply Praying, they give a few extracts from J. C. Ryle who published a booklet 150 years ago titled Do You Pray? (PDF). Below are a few excerpts which I shared at the conclusion of my sermon this past Sunday morning.

I ask again whether you pray, because a habit of prayer is one of the surest marks of a true Christian.

All the children of God on earth are alike in this respect. From the moment there is any life and reality about their religion, they pray. Just as the first sign of life in an infant when born into the world, is the act of breathing, so the first act of men and women when they are born again, is praying.

This is one of the common marks of all the elect of God, “They cry unto Him day and night” (Luke xviii. 7). The Holy Spirit, who makes them new creatures, works in them the feeling of adoption, and makes them cry, “Abba, Father” (Rom. viii. 15). The Lord Jesus, when He quickens them, gives them a voice and a tongue, and says to them, “Be dumb no more.” God has no dumb children. It is as much a part of their new nature to pray, as it is of a child to cry. They see their need of mercy and grace. They feel their emptiness and weakness. They cannot do otherwise than they do. They must pray. . . .

Many, even of those who use good forms, mutter their prayers over after they have got into bed, or scramble over them while they wash or dress in the morning. Men may think what they please, but they may depend that in the sight of God this is not praying. Words said without heart are as utterly useless to our souls as the drumbeating of the poor heathen before their idols. Where there is no heart, there may be lip-work and tongue-work, but there is nothing that God listens to,—there is no prayer. . . .

Praying and sinning will never live together in the same heart. Prayer will consume sin, or sin will choke prayer. I cannot forget this. I look at men’s lives. I believe that few pray. . . .

What is the reason that some believers are so much brighter and holier than others? I believe the difference in nineteen cases out of twenty arises from different habits about private prayer. I believe that those who are not eminently holy pray little, and those who are eminently holy pray much.

So I ask you, my reader, do you pray?

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »