In the church where I grew up, every Sunday morning we all--youngest to oldest--stood and stated out loud together "The Apostle’s Creed": "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen." While I admit that I did not at that time have a good "grounding" in what *all* of this meant, I found it helpful--since I was surrounded by distractions--in keeping focussed on what I believed. And when someone asked me about my beliefs, it was a good place to start with a statement of belief in order to express what I believed in a helpful way. It took the chaos of my unformed thoughts and held them together in these words. I won’t go into my sense of betrayal and resulting disappointment when I began to realize that they were, to many folks, too often merely part of a Sunday morning church ritual, and that many of those who spoke the words didn’t live lives that confirmed a belief in these words. But in thinking about this creed, I am wondering if it wouldn’t be true also as to what we as Primitive Baptists believe . . . not *everything* we believe, obviously, but a place to start in a discussion of beliefs and faith. What I'm asking is, are these words true? Even if they fail to state our belief in Election, man’s depravity, the infallibility of Holy Scripture, the ordinances of Baptism (by immersion) and the Lord’s Supper, and many other important things, they do cover our belief in a Creator God, in the divine sonship of Jesus Christ, the Immaculate Conception and the virgin birth of Jesus, as well as His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and present position at the right hand of God. Since I believe strongly that it’s more important to try to find what unites (as a starting place for any discussion that would be to His praise, honor and glory) all believers and followers of Jesus Christ, rather than what divides them (which would require an unscriptural, and unhelpful, superiority/inferiority approach), I offer these thoughts for consideration.

On our way last week to New Orleans, Travis and I listened to John Grisham’s latest novel, The Last Juror on CD. Grisham's main character in this novel is a young man named Willie Trainer who becomes the owner of a county newspaper in Mississippi. An element of the novel that I found particularly interesting was when, as part of his plan to increase circulation, Willie decides to visit every church in the county, and then do a follow-up article for his newspaper. I'm not sure how "Willie" wrote up the article, but Grisham tells about when this character visits the "Maranatha Primitive Baptist Church"--- which is somewhere around the 70th church he visits, if I remember correctly. In the narrative in the book, "Willie" favorably compares this body of believers in the P.B.C. to all the other congregations he has visited by pointing out how the other preachers have focussed on descriptions of specific sins and the need to turn from them, and then how the pastor of "Maranatha PBC", rather, has "found peace", and preaches the love of God. Grisham got some things wrong in his description of "this" PB church (e.g. an "altar call" while singing "Just As I Am"), but I'm thinking that maybe some of the many readers of Grisham's books may get to wondering about Primitive Baptists after reading this novel. They may know someone who's Primitive Baptist, and start asking questions. They may visit a Primitive Baptist church. "Peace" and "Love" being "central" at this time might be compelling to many. Since there seems to be some dissension among Primitive Baptists now, what will seekers and inquirers learn about PBs if they start looking around and asking questions at this time? (In another context in the Grisham book, one of the characters made the statement that "Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause.") What will they encounter if they attend a PB church? Will it be Grisham's pastor's "peace" and "love". Will they find a church at worship? Will they find a church tense with conflict?

In trying to define, in my own mind, what "Worship" is, I have an ongoing "working" list that includes love, awe, adoration, a sense of wonder... from which issues forth thanksgiving, praise, prayer, hope...and these in turn provide significance, security -- When ths list is related to our sovereign God, His Son and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit (and I believe that's the only thing they all can be related to), an "Identity" --things that comprise "who" a person is--is the result. This identity can be subtly *tested* in discussions with others, especially concerning potentially divisive "theological" areas. When a friend asked me a while back for my thoughts on some "way-down-the-list" pseudo-issue (similar in nature to "who did Adam's children marry?"), I responded with a smile and the laughing comment that "As soon as I figure out God's love and grace to me, and live out the ten commandments fully, I'll try to address this question if there's time." I wasn't dodging the question -- there are just some questions that need to be avoided or delayed until "first things" are established. I believe in always giving "an honest answer to an honest question", but because of the nature of the question presented, and the manner and context of its presentation, it was simple to deduce that this "inquirer" wasn't interested in "things that make for peace", or things that redound to the honor, glory, and praise of our Savior, or even in an honest answer, but was more into "politics" than theology. For answers to questions, the order must be "First things first" -- always! As I heard a preacher say a while back, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."

While I realize that the thoughts stated above are a bit "scattered", I hope that they will serve as a bid for some serious and reflective thought on these subjects. I am still in a seeking/learning state about some of the items related to these things, so any instructive comments are welcomed. Perhaps discussing together will result in some cohesive approach concerning this subject. Above all, as Christians--"Jesus Christ pre-eminent in all things" must rule in our hearts and minds.

In Him,
Elaine