Xploring Our Heart Links

The Christian Schools
BAPTIST

- SPIRITUAL MESSAGE -
(click on title to link)

Parakleets
Which Line Are You In?

- HISTORICAL BACKGROUND -
(click on above to learn more about the Baptist History)

...More newcomers are coming to church.
…Strong body of believers.
…There is a "want to" for outreach in our family.
…Wonderful pastor and people.
…A good congregation of sociable and caring people.
…God is the Head of the church.
…Believers love the Lord here.
…Exalt the Lord.
…Pastor and members seem to like one another.
…Our church is living and not dead - it's growing.
…Serve on the mission field internationally.
…We help those in need.
…Good outreach.
…Glorifies and honors God through those who worship here.
…Fellowship with other believers.
...My class is well-rounded supportive group of caring people.
...Christ is the Head of the church.
...Our church always teaches according to the scriptures and that is important to me.

Parakleets

by Rick Lazor
Former Senior Pastor of Nu'uanu Baptist Church in Honolulu, Hawaii
Copyright © March 2000 Heart Links / All Rights Reserved

Enjoy the outdoors around our church property for very long and you'll most likely see a few of the high-flying residents who call this place "home"–a beautiful family of little green birds who make house in one of the trees overhanging our upper parking lot. They're either little parrots or big parakeets and they've been with us for years.

I enjoyed them again last month during one of our church fellowships. A good number of our members and friends were also out on the lawn for a super summer evening dinner. Comparing the airborne critters to the ones talking story out in the yard, it occurred to me that perhaps the only creatures on this campus more beautiful than the parakeets were the "parakleets".

If you'll forgive me for taking some liberties with language, I'm talking about the "encouragers" in our church family.

One of Jesus' Greek names for the Holy Spirit is "paraclete" which roughly means, "one who is called along side" (like a "paramedic" who is called to work along side a doctor). The word has come to be used for someone who comforts and encourages another. That's a great name for so many of you!

Last month, one of our Sunday morning teachers brought me a Mason jar filled with the comments written at the head of this article. It was all part of an exercise that included asking everyone to write down some things that are "right" about Nu'uanu Baptist Church. Needless to say, these were encouraging words.

They remind me of some new lyrics Chuck Swindoll once wrote about the church...to the tune of the old cowboy song, "Home, Home on the Range"¹ ...

Not much matters more to our Lord Jesus than for us to live in oneness and community as encouragers of one another. He said so Himself as He prayed for us the night before His crucifixion: "May they (that's us) be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me." (John 17:23)

Imagine! Jesus' prayer reminds us that our love for each other will be the evidence that He was sent here to save and to show God's love to the world. A whole lot is riding on whether or not we are willing encouragers and peace keepers bent upon being one in love and purpose.

So, how are you doing, "parakleet?" What have you done in the past few days to be an encourager to someone else? In your own opinion, would you say that you're basically the encouraging type?

Do you see the potential in folks around you and do you go out of your way to compliment them?

Are you an "encouraging" kind of guy or woman? Can you say, "Life is good," and mean it? And is your enthusiasm and zest for all God has done contagious? Some of the greatest paracletes in God's kingdom aren't necessarily the back-slapping, pep-rally types! Rather, it's their quiet and steady confidence in Jesus that inspires others.

Do you look for the good in people rather than dwell on the bad? Do you tell them so?

Well, keep up the good work! We'll let our green-feathered friends keep the grounds beautiful around here while we work on what's "inside." Buddy up "along side" of someone this week and let's keep love alive at NBC (Nu'uanu Baptist Church)...parakleets!

Brother Billy Hornsby is one terrific communicator. And he's good fun, too! Several of us at Nu'uanu Baptist Church had the privilege of sitting under his teaching last month in an outstanding conference on the cell church, offered by Louisiana's Bethany World Prayer Center and hosted here in Honolulu by Word of Life Christian Center. Bethany is probably one of the most dynamic cell churches on American soil and Billy is an associate pastor there.

Three days of encouragement and exhortation gave Billy time to barely scratch the surface of all he could share. But God nevertheless blessed us all with so many helpful insights.

Pastor Hornsby described to us the state of the church in our nation today and the need for the kind of community and genuine discipleship that cell ministry can provide.

He described believers today as standing in one of two lines at the church. Most of us start out in the Distribution Line and too many of us stay there.

What's the Distribution Line? It is where folks queue up in order to "have their needs met." Some need food, some need money. Some need a good program for the kids, others need a wife.

Some need in-depth Bible study, others need to keep it simple. Some need the stately and profound hymns of the faith, others want to sing simple songs of love, heart-to-heart to the Lord Jesus.

Some need a crowd, others need "us four, shut the door, no more." Some need nearby parking, others need serious exercise.

In the quest to be relevant, to grow, to be effective, the American church of the 90's has become a busy, exciting cafeteria wherein the most attractive institution is the one which can meet the most needs. We leave one church in search of another because "our needs are not being met."

Now need-meeting certainly isn't wrong. Jesus was a master at meeting people where they were. But He also never left them there.

Jesus recognized that the deepest, most compelling needs people have will never be met in the Distribution Line. Once our basic needs are met, our more complicated, sophisticated, deepest wants can only find fulfillment when we step out and move over into the Contribution Line.

The need for hope, for spiritual significance, for fruitfulness, for purpose—those needs can only be met as we allow God to make disciples out of us—producers rather than consumers. "Every member a disciples-maker."

So which line are you in? As you recall that Jesus came not to be served but to serve, and as you remember that we are to be like Him, where would you rather be standing?

(Editor's note to our visitors: The following are edited versions of the history of the Baptist Church by two separate authors. This was done in an attempt to provide a general and brief overview of the very early beginnings of the church and about who were the original founders. Please view the complete text at the web site cited at the end of each section for more specific information.)

A Brief History of the Baptists

by the late Norman H. Wells

The First 300 Years of Church History
Jesus Christ, during His earthly ministry, founded the first church in Jerusalem in approximately the year 30 A.D. This first church was commissioned to go forth preaching the gospel, winning the lost to Christ, baptizing and teaching the converts and establishing new churches. On the pages of the New Testament we find the record of the growth of Christianity and the founding of many New Testament churches.

Nero, the Roman Emperor, blamed the Christians for the burning of Rome in 64 A.D. and began the first of ten persecutions the Christians were to receive at the hands of the Romans. Despite all the persecution, Christianity grew. At the end of the first 300 years the religion of Jesus Christ was established all over the then known world. There were churches in every town and community.

The Progress of Error During The First 300 Years
In the first two centuries the individual churches rapidly multiplied and some of them became very large. The church at Jerusalem had possibly as many as 50,000 or more members!

In the first two centuries the false teaching of "baptismal regeneration" began to spread. This error led to infant baptism and many other errors. It has to be remembered that these changes did not come about all in a day, nor within a year. They came about slowly and never within all the churches. Some of the churches vigorously repudiated these errors.

About the middle of the third century the lines were clearly drawn. Those churches that remained loyal to the Scriptures were now clearly separate from those that had gone into error and apostasy.

Constantine ruled as Emperor of the Roman Empire from 306 to 337 A.D. and his reign was to mark one of the great turning points in church history. During a battle in 312 A.D. Emperor Constantine believed he had a vision of a flaming cross and above it the words, "By this sign thou shalt conquer." He decided to fight under the banner of Christ and Christianity came into favor in the Roman Government.

In 313 A.D. Constantine gave a call for all the churches to come together and pronounced himself as the head of the churches. Many, but not all, of the churches came. The true churches would have no part in this error. This hierarchy or body of church rulers, that Constantine formed was the definite beginning of the Roman Catholic Church. Many of the errors of Catholicism had already had their beginning but now they were organized into a definite system.

Constantine made "Christianity" the "State Religion." Up until this point the persecution of the Christians had been done either by Judaism or Paganism. Now came a change. Christians (in name) began using the law to compel all Christians to join the organization. The true churches that refused were persecuted.

The division was now complete. The true churches refused to line up with the errors of the "state church." The church of Constantine became what we know as Roman Catholicism. Baptists were never part of Roman Catholicism. They remained true to the Scriptures and rejected the error.

After the organization of the churches into a hierarchy and their acceptance as a "State Religion", the true, loyal churches that rejected this error were identified by various names. It is not to be understood that each of these groups was entirely free from error or entirely embraced the truth. Through these groups can be traced the people called Baptists.

Montanist ... Paulician ... Novationist ... Paterines ... Donatist ... Albigenses ... Anabaptists ... these were some of the names used to identify those who refused to identify with Rome.

With the spread of the Reformation through the work of Calvin and Knox, we see the next great impact of the Gospel in 17th century England. It is here that we begin to see the seed bed of the Baptist movement.

Early Baptist - General Baptists: This group came to be known as General Baptists because they believed in a general atonement. The General Baptists also had a distinct belief that Christians could face the possibility of falling from grace. The two primary founders of the General Baptist movement were John Smyth and Thomas Helwys.

The earliest General Baptist Church was thought to be founded about 1608 or 1609. Its chief founder was John Smyth (1570-1612) and it was located in Holland. Smyth’s history begins in England where he was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1594. Soon after his ordination, his zeal landed him in prison for refusal to conform to the teachings and practices of the Church of England. He was an outspoken man who was quick to challenge others about their beliefs but was just as quick to change his own positions as his own personal theology changed. Smyth continually battled the Church of England until it became obvious that he could no longer stay in fellowship with this church. Thus, he finally broke totally from them and became a Separatist.

In 1609, Smyth, along with a group in Holland, came to believe in believer's baptism (as opposed to infant baptism which was the norm at that time) and they came together to form the first Baptist church. In the beginning, Smyth was on track with the typical orthodox church position; but as time passed, as was so typical, he began changing his positions. First, Smyth insisted that true worship was from the heart and that any form of reading from a book in worship was an invention of sinful man. Prayer, singing and preaching had to be completely spontaneous. He went so far with this mentality that he would not allow the reading of the Bible during worship since he regarded English translations of Scripture as something less than the direct word of God." Second, Smyth introduced a twofold church leadership, that of Pastor and Deacon. This was in contrast to the Reformational trifold leadership of Pastor-Elder, Lay-Elders, and Deacons.

Third, with his newfound position on baptism, a whole new concern arose for these Baptists. Having been baptized as infants, they all realized that they would have to be re-baptized. Since there was no other minister to administer baptism, Smyth baptized himself and then proceeded to baptize his flock. An interesting note at this point that should be brought to bear is that the mode of baptism used was that of pouring, for immersion would not become the standard for another generation. Before his death, as seems characteristic of Smyth, he abandoned his Baptist views and began trying to bring his flock into the Mennonite church. Although he died before this happened, most of his congregation did join themselves with the Mennonite church after his death.

Now we turn our attention to Thomas Helwys. He had a somewhat rocky relationship with Smyth, but after Smyth began moving away from the General Baptist belief, Helwys carried on the Baptist beginnings. Helwys led his small group to England in 1611 and this was considered to be the first Baptist Church on English soil. This group held to believer's baptism, they rejected Calvinism for a free will position (which included falling from grace), and they allowed each church to elect its officers, both elders and deacons. By 1624, there were five known General Baptist churches and by 1650 they numbered at least 47. Even though some might see the modern-day Baptist movement in this group, we must understand that the beliefs of this group are far from the reformed heritage that shaped modern-day Baptist belief.

Although typical Baptist history is given more to the General Baptist movement, it is actually the Particular Baptists to which most modern-day Baptists owe their doctrine and practices.

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