
| The Truth of Salvation | What Baptists Believe | E-mail Alerts | Newsletter | Blog |
|
|
baptistvision@baptistvisiononline.org
Baptist Vision of Georgia Staff While our homes, churches, state, and nation fall off the cliff into the abyss, Christians are shocked and amazed how such a collapse can occur. As always, the Bible has the answers: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” -Hosea 4:6 “For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.” -Jeremiah 4:22 How did this happen? How did we turn away from the Word
of God as our final authority for faith and practice?
“The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.” -Jeremiah 2:8 “Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.” -Ezekiel 22:26
Treason? Most Christians cannot even fathom the idea. It is all too conspiratorial. Yet, treason to Christ by His so-called followers is exactly what is destroying America.
Therefore, as you can see, Baptist Vision of Georgia has a difficult task. We are not in the business of pointing fingers at the wicked, blaming them for our demise. No, it is our fault, which is the reason the Church, and more specifically the "religious" leadership, does not want to hear our message, yet, it is our only hope. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” -II Chronicles 7:14 Instead, we have made God’s Word void in all our institutions in order to keep our man-made traditional commands. As a result, fathers have forsaken the home, men have forsaken the church, Christians have forsaken the civil government, the Church has forsaken the Great Commission, and yet, we wonder what is wrong? We have allowed our leaders to point us in a way God has not spoken, use God’s money for causes not according to His Word, and prophesy defeat for the Church causing God’s people to barricade themselves in the four-walls of their buildings. Schools of higher learning, calling themselves Christian,
take money from the saints of God to train our children to turn from the
faith once delivered to the saints.
We talk a lot about Christian students in secular schools and the 86% rejection of the faith after one year of college. Yet, no one is talking about schools like Berry College here in Georgia, who had Dr. James Cone, the father of Black Liberation Theology, speak back in March of 2003. Cone is a Marxist and theological father to the likes of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Father Michael Pfleger, and Barack Hussein Obama. Is it any wonder Obama won the Presidential election? Could it be that the reason why we have become Marxist is because our children are being conditioned right under our noses? Granted, most institutions are not engaged in this sort
of leftist propaganda, still yet, their consent to shallow religion is no
better. It takes the minds of our youth, the resources of our people, and
produces bad fruit. The absence of the Jesus said in Matthew 7:18, “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” If modern Christianity is not bad fruit then why the rotten homes, churches, and civil government resulting from our Christian harvest? The truth is that American Christians have become completely corrupt. Many years ago, we allowed a little leaven to creep in and now the whole lump has become leavened. The solution is simple, we must go back to the very basic beginnings and lay the foundations once again. “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?…Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump…” -I Corinthians 5:6-7 This is what Baptist Vision of Georgia is doing. We realize that the whole is leavened. Therefore, we are purging out the whole lump and starting at the very beginning. The walls of Jerusalem must be rebuilt just like in Nehemiah’s day. See list of failures summary at bottom of alert: Sold Out! A chronological list of failures by our conservative and Christian leaders Remember, we are not blaming the enemy who will always oppose us, but we will expose the places where there are cracks creeping through the foundation. Therefore, we are starting back at the very basics acknowledging that, until we reach our local counties and all of Georgia, we cannot talk of mission work in third world countries. This does not mean we are against foreign missions. We do support missions, however, we are really just playing games until we get serious about missions at home. The launch pad needs repair if we want to discharge sound mission operations. Sending a few dollars to missions does not make one missional. Missions is doing what Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19-20, which
includes preaching the Gospel, baptizing converts, and discipling
believers. The commission doesn't end there. Missions is also about planting churches, Baptist churches. We have not been commanded to make nominal believers, but to teach them to observe "all things, whatsoever" we have been commanded. America and world missions will be in trouble if we don't take the Great Commission seriously here at home and start living missions, not just giving to missions. We will never truly evangelize the world for Jesus Christ until we rebuild the walls and take back the home, the church, and civil government here in our Jerusalem. Modern day missions has turned into the biggest joke and money making scheme among non-profit organizations. Until we become determined to make Jesus Christ Lord over our society, I seriously doubt that we will ever be serious about making Him Lord over all the earth.
Baptist Vision of Georgia is going back to the basics to start a new movement to reclaim Georgia for Jesus Christ. The question that remains to be answered is, "will you help us spread the vision?" The need is great and though the vision seems beyond our reach, we must start in a localized way. However, this is how it all begins. Government begins at home. BVG will always be involved in local government concerning the family, the Church, and civil government, no matter how much influence we ever attain. Self-government means just that. If we cannot win the individual and local battles, we can never win the battles elsewhere as they would be insignificant. The most important battles begin in the heart and home, in the local church, and the local government. Therefore, as we grow in 2009, we will seek to increase our impact upon individual homes, local churches, local governments, and then spread our influence as far as God provides and ordains.
The Christian Worldview must be re-established and it is not going to just magically happen. It is going to take a lot of dedication from the local church to educate and disciple families in these things. There must be a complete commitment to discipleship and a Christ centered life. In order to accomplish these things, Baptist Vision of Georgia, working with local churches, individuals, and other ministries/organizations will seek to establish the following to reform the home:
BVG will continue to help educate our brethren concerning our Baptist roots in the South, the SBC, and our Reformation heritage. Another area of emphasis in education is that of the Doctrines of Grace. This is a contentious subject and one of much controversy, but must be addressed. Our passion for this issue is motived by the desire to reclaim our lost heritage: European heritage; Reformation heritage; SBC heritage; Southern heritage; and, American heritage. Most importantly, it is rooted in effective evangelism and the salvation of the lost. While we are seeking to work with both General (non-Calvinistic) and Regular (Calvinistic) Baptists, we will not misinform. The truth of the matter is once this subject is brought up, most Christians do not have the foggiest idea about these issues to which they speak. We can affirm our desire to unite and work with both mainstream branches of historical, conservative Baptists, yet, the ignorance on the subject is paralyzing. Therefore, it is useless to engage in terms most people either know nothing about, or misunderstand without educating them.
Concerning Mercer, the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives states, “He played the leading role in the organization of the Georgia Baptist Convention for collective counsel and co-operation, in the founding of Mercer University for the training of ministerial and lay leadership, and in the purchase and gift to Georgia Baptists of the Christian Index for publicity and promotion, which he published for seven years.” When it comes to Georgia Baptists, no figure stands higher than Rev. Jesse Mercer. Yet, it was Mercer, a Calvinist, who established the Georgia Association of Baptist Churches, which became the Georgia Baptist Convention. The very heritage upon which Georgia Baptists take their “pride” was established in Calvinism. All the Baptist leaders in the Georgia Association and the founding of the Georgia Baptist Convention were Calvinists. In 1828, in a circular letter entitled “Scriptures that Support our Constitution", Mercer upheld the following doctrinal statements that the Georgia Association and Convention were established upon:
Upon discovering that Mercer was an ardent Calvinist, most Christians would think Mercer must have been one of those "anti-missions" Baptists, even though the purpose of the Georgia Association and Convention was cooperative missions. Still yet, here is what the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives state on their web site about Mercer: “He was an ardent supporter of missions…” Mercer was just as ardent a supporter of missions as he was a Calvinist. It would surprise most to know that Calvinists are committed to evangelism and missions. Making Calvinists out to be anti-missions is just one of the lies being used to maliciously destroy the message by destroying the messenger. It is the oldest trick in the book. Still, I am sure there may be some doubting Thomas's, so let's review another great in Georgia Baptist history. John L. Dagg was the President of Mercer University from
1844–1854, a Georgia Baptist, and Southern Baptist minister. Dagg wrote:
“The doctrine of election encounters strong opposition in the hearts of men, and it is therefore necessary to examine thoroughly its claim to our belief. As it relates to an act of the divine mind, no proof of its truth can be equal to the testimony of the Scriptures. Let us receive their teachings on the subject without hesitation or distrust; and let us require every preconceived opinion of ours, and all our carnal reasonings, to bow before the authority of God's holy word." “The Scriptures clearly teach, that God has an elect or chosen people. ‘Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect (Rom. 8:33).’ ‘Elect according to the foreknowledge of God (1 Pet. 1:2).’ ‘Shall not God avenge his own elect (Luke 18:7).’ “Ye are a chosen generation (1 Pet. 2:9).’ ‘God hath chosen you to salvation ( 2 Thess. 2:13).’ ‘According as he hath chosen us in Christ (Eph. 1:4).’ Whatever may have been our prejudices against the doctrine of election as held and taught by some ministers of religion, it is undeniable, that, in some sense, the doctrine is found in the Bible; and we cannot reject it, without rejecting that inspired book. We are bound by the authority of God, to receive the doctrine; and nothing remains, but that we should make an honest effort to understand it, just as it is taught in the sacred volume.” This is what Dagg wrote in his Manual of Theology as he began his essay on Election. His conclusion was that “All who will finally be saved, were chosen to salvation by God the Father, before the foundation of the world, and given to Jesus Christ in the Covenant of Grace.” In the next two chapters he goes on to give a Biblical defense of Particular Redemption and Effectual Calling respectively. These were the great leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention and especially among Georgia Baptists. Sadly, no one knows anything about them or what they believed, except maybe their names. This is because we have been dumbed-down. A dumbed-down population is easier to control and manipulate if one would try to keep us from the truth. Yet, after discovering these suppressed facts, it then begs the question, is someone trying to keep us from the truth? We know Satan is sure at work to keep us away from the truth of God’s Word. However, don’t be surprised to find out that there are also servants of Satan, as well as, servants of self. “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” -2 Corinthians 11:14-15 “For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.” -Titus 1:10-11 Such is the reason our congregations are so Biblically illiterate and uninformed about their SBC heritage. The powers that be have something to hide. Yet, we have nothing to hide and nothing to lose. We agree with Rev. John L. Dagg and Isaiah 8:20, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
Therefore, BVG will proclaim the truth in all matters concerning the home, the Church, and civil government. It is our only hope for liberty. Our purpose is not to divide with Baptists and/or non-Baptists over the Calvinism debate. However, we will not hide in the closet as if we don’t belong with the rest of historical Christianity. As a matter of fact, we are historical Christianity. BVG is unashamed to be Reformed, Calvanistic, historic, orthodox, Baptist, conservative, right-wing, fundamentalists or whatever anyone wants to label us on any particular occasion or issue. BVG will work to unite all facets of conservative historical Baptists, and work with some non-Baptists, for the reformation and revival of the home, the Church, and the state of Georgia. However, there is real importance in this subject where our opposition seeks to slander us as anti-evangelistic. It is not that we are anti-evangelistic, but against non-Biblical methods being adopted for the purposes of church growth and so-called conversions. Jesus warned the Pharisees, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves (Matthew 23:15)." Baptist Vision of Georgia will not compromise the Gospel or the Word of God in order to add numbers to our tally. We will not manipulate people into false professions. Nor, will we persuade people to observe rituals or do works promising them eternal life in return for saving themselves or helping God out. We will preach the depravity of man and eternal damnation as the result of the curse of sin. We will preach that Jesus came to save sinners through His atoning sacrifice as He shed His blood for many on the Cross. We will preach that salvation is of the Lord, freely bestowed by His grace upon those who are born of the Spirit. We will preach that if God is calling a sinner to salvation He will give them a new heart. This new creation will result in faith to believe upon Jesus Christ as their Savior and repentance of sins, confessing and submitting to Jesus Christ as their Lord to follow Him in newness of life. This change is not an act of the will to gain salvation but a result of regeneration of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, this new creation in Christ will follow the Word of God in obedience of the faith in baptism and submission to a local Bible-believing, practicing church. This Gospel that we preach is the good news of deliverance through regeneration of the Holy Spirit of God by the Word of God, which abideth forever. In order to accomplish these things, Baptist Vision of Georgia, working with local churches, individuals, and other ministries/organizations will seek to establish the following to reform the church:
Third, in the area of civil government, BVG will seek
to establish godly government. In writing about the origin of our nation,
Dr. Dorchester said, "The key principle was that government, civil and
ecclesiastical, is constituted and administered upon the Bible as the source
of knowledge and authority." Therefore, BVG seeks to re-establish Biblical government. BVG's mission statement says: "To stand for righteousness, liberty, and justice in family, church, state, and nation; to assist churches in rediscovering our Baptist heritage, reviving historical Baptist doctrine, rekindling the Baptist fire, renewing the Baptist commitment, and, reforming our Baptist people; to evangelize the lost and secure converts in a sound local church; to mobilize churches in major campaigns necessary for the preservation and establishment of our Biblical world-view in society; and to encourage leaders to persevere for the faith once delivered to the saints." We must educate, train, and assist Christians, local churches, and other groups to be the "pillar and ground of the truth," "salt," and "light" in the area of civil government. In the area of civil society, education of the populace is greatly needed. Reformation of civil government is impossible with an ignorant people. We must begin to educate by taking these issues to the front lines. This can be done by holding seminars on public grounds, i.e., a creation seminar at an educational institution. Many other informative seminars, conferences, and rallies on a vast array of subjects must be instituted in our society. We must educate and gain commitment from a knowledgeable
populace to vote for select candidates in future elections. For this to happen, we must also have real political choice. Many of the Democratic and Republican candidates have become birds of a feather. As George Wallace said back in the late 1960’s, “There’s not a dime’s worth of difference” between them. It is true that nearly every single Democratic candidate is a socialist. This is due to the party's socialist worldview. Of course, Republicans are not much better. Though there had been a conservative surge within the party, the last eight years have shown the elite powers still belong to the socialist wing. What we need is real choice in local government when we go to the polls to vote. Therefore, BVG will be working with different organizations to initiate change to the political process. In order to accomplish these things, Baptist Vision of Georgia, working with local churches, individuals, and other ministries/organizations will seek to establish the following to reform the civil government:
BVG is stepping out of the developmental stage of 2008 and into the operational stage in 2009. We will be organizing and going active. Much work is still to be done, but we are counting on the grace of our Lord and Savior to make it all possible. Jesus said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God" (Luke 18:27). Therefore, we are including some ways in which interested individuals can help BVG:
The vision can only be reached as we work together in the spirit of unity to reform our homes, churches, and civil governments. Now is the time to take action in and rise up in response to the cry for Christian liberty. Team up with Baptist Vision of Georgia today! Baptist Vision of Georgia is being organized and directed by Pastor James Brown Jr. and Devin Maddox. They serve as executive and assistant directors respectively. They are currently constructing additional support and organizational structures in addition to the above vision initiative for 2009 and beyond. For more current news and articles about the political and religious sellout and the culture war visit: http://www.baptistvisiononline.org/news.htm To subscribe to Baptist Vision of Georgia's e-mail alerts send a blank e-mail to subscribe_alerts@baptistvisiononline.org For more information how you can become a part of the vision, you can e-mail Baptist Vision for more information at baptistvision@baptistvisiononline.org "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." -James 5:16
Here are some things we have been able to accomplish by God's blessing with limited resources and support in 2008:
Baptist Vision of Georgia (BVG) is available to speak to churches, organizations or groups of any size. Topics include current events, America’s Christian Heritage, America’s Baptist Heritage, Doctrinal Issues, and many other topics of interest. BVG is also available for conferences, seminars, rallies and prayer vigils. For more information please contact BVG at baptistvision@baptistvisiononline.org or 912-978-0279. ------------------------------------------------------------ Sold Out in 08': A Chronological List of Failures by our Conservative and Christian Leaders Most Christians across our country depend on conservative leaders to get the best angle on the culture war, current events, and politics. Many of these sources are great at exposing the anti-Christ, liberal, left leaning assault on our foundational values, however, there are times when the greed of power or the image of a leader takes precedent over the best action. For instance, the great radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has done many good things for conservatism over the years. He has said things that the main stream press refused to cover, and thus, won our support and attention. We still advocate listening to Rush in moderation, but remember, he supported a consistently pro-abortion Romney in the primaries. BVG believes that many conservatives are really just economic conservatives and not social ones. Remember, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" (Psalm 33:12) and "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34). These are scriptural truths and cannot be compromised by "we the people". On the other hand, some candidates have the right views about abortion, but they are progressive socialists with many other issues. One example is Mike Huckabee, who has been pro-life and a supporter of the second amendment, but follows current Republican big government ideas when it comes to immigration, health care, and education. The more we compromise, the less the enemy compromises. They move left and stay there until we move their direction. If we keep re-electing these "left leaner's" then we'll eventually end up LEFT! STOP! We need victory, not defeat! We got the popular, middle road, Republican in the primaries and look who still won the election. Rush Limbaugh accurately stated that: "When true conservatism is on the ballot, it wins!" When McCain ran, true conservatism was not on the ballot. So, let's get some true conservatism! Below is a chronological list of failures that came from our "conservative" leaders during 2008. We acknowledge and believe that many of them are good and decent folks, but if we do not expose the failures and error then we cannot expect improvement. Gov. Perdue endorses McCain for president John McCain: Georgia Senators Endorse John McCain Tom Tancredo drops out presidential race and endorses Mitt Romney Fundamentalist Christian College Chancellor Bob Jones III Endorses Mitt Romney National Review Endorses Mitt Romney, Says He Is 'Natural Ally of Social Conservatives' American Conservative Union Chairman David Keene Endorses Mitt Romney Georgia Senate President Pro Tempore Eric Johnson Endorses Mitt Romney for President South Carolina Republican Sen. DeMint Endorses Romney for 2008 President Moral Majority Co-Founder Paul Weyrich Backs Romney On a right wing and a prayer, Robertson sells out to Rudy Stop the sellout. Take a stand by helping Baptist Vision of Georgia reclaim our homes, our churches, and our civil government.
|
Send mail to
webmaster
with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2008 Baptist Vision of Georgia
Last modified:
03/17/09