Administrators Popular Post Jim_Alaska Posted April 15, 2017 Administrators Popular Post Share Posted April 15, 2017 I did not want to drag Donald’s thread regarding Holy Week off topic, but I did have some observations I wanted to address in reading the thread and its comments. His thread stared out with the topic being “The Holy Week”, but quickly digressed into Easter being the correct or incorrect word for the day. This was posted in the KJV Bible forum which was correct. This is another reason for my starting another thread in a forum other than the KJV forum, because what I have to say does not deal with a KJV issue, but rather observations regarding the whole holy week issue in general. So, in that context I would like to mention just a few things that struck me as I read others comments and observations. As a child I was raised with a strong Roman Catholic influence. This was due in large part by being raised in a section of the country where Roman Catholic influence held sway with the general population. My grandmother was a staunch Roman Catholic, my father was fighting in WW2, and my mother did not attend any church, so my grandmother saw to it that I attended church with her every Sunday. She also enrolled me in Catholic school which also included prepping me for my first communion. Now that I qualified my background I’ll get on with what I really want to comment on. To be clear the subject I want to deal with is the whole “holy week” issue. ● First, the term holy week is straight out of Roman Catholic teaching. It speaks to what is known in the RC church as “Lent.” ● There are many things that pertain to the RC observation of Lent that are neither Biblical or holy. Possibly the most important thing I want to address is the whole RC idea of Lent. Lent is a RC word, not to be found in scripture. It pertains to the week before the celebration of Easter. As such, I find no justification for Baptists having anything to do with it. I do not believe that even the mention of Lent among Baptists has any place in the church of the living God. 1. During the RC season of Lent there are certain customs that must be observed by the Faithful. One is “Ash Wednesday,” which has no basis in scripture. This custom performed by a priest by dabbing a dot of ash on the forehead of the faithful is to visually signify that the recipient is faithfully observing Lent. 2. Roman Catholics are well known for the custom of not eating meat on Friday. But this is never more important than during the season of Lent. Fish is the dish, no meat. During Lent we find the RC custom of, “Good Friday. ”Not only is this not found in scripture, but scripture actually speaks against this custom. 1Cor 8:8 But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 3. During the season of Lent the faithful are expected to “give up” something for the full season. This is supposed to be something that the person likes, again, no scriptural basis for this custom. 4. Then there is “Palm Sunday”. In the RC church this is not only an observance, but also is to be celebrated. While scripture does make reference to this occasion, there is no scriptural basis for celebrating or worshiping this day. John 12:12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. I said all of this because among some modern day Baptists these things are spoken of from some pulpits by younger pastors who have been exposed to some sort of ecumenical teaching or exposure to these words and phrases. These things have no place among fundamental Baptists. I am convinced that some of these newer educated pastors never even think of the ramifications of perpetuating these things, or where it ultimately leads in the scope of any ecumenical tendencies that seem to be creeping into our churches. weary warrior, John Young, MountainChristian and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members No Nicolaitans Posted April 15, 2017 Members Share Posted April 15, 2017 Well said Bro. Jim. I'm constantly amazed at how Baptists (and other denominations) in my area are seeming to jump on this whole Lent bandwagon more and more each year...and defend it with passion. Jim_Alaska, MountainChristian and Alan 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Jim_Alaska Posted April 15, 2017 Author Administrators Share Posted April 15, 2017 Yes, I agree NN. I am continually amazed that in all my years in Alaska I was never exposed to this sort of thing among Independent Baptists. This was probably because the few Independent Baptist churches there were so remote from the rest of the Independent Baptist world. Once I got down to the lower states and especially since I have joined this message board, I began to hear more and more of how pervasive this is among supposedly sound Independent Baptists. I am convinced that we who see this tendency clearly must speak out against it forcefully and never let down our guard. To not do so only accelerates the tendency to let error creep in to our churches. Alan, No Nicolaitans and MountainChristian 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members No Nicolaitans Posted April 15, 2017 Members Share Posted April 15, 2017 From what I've seen in my area, it's all about works...and I'm not talking about receiving rewards for our works. It seems to boil down to trying to please God, draw closer to God, appease God, etc. by one's works. Here in my area last year, there was a huge push for others to observe Lent (and all of it's aspects) by a non-denominational church here (this particular church wields a lot of influence in my town)...which was a Southern Baptist church a few years ago. I haven't kept up with all those goings-on this year... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members weary warrior Posted April 15, 2017 Members Share Posted April 15, 2017 (edited) 30 minutes ago, Jim_Alaska said: Yes, I agree NN. I am continually amazed that in all my years in Alaska I was never exposed to this sort of thing among Independent Baptists. This was probably because the few Independent Baptist churches there were so remote from the rest of the Independent Baptist world. Once I got down to the lower states and especially since I have joined this message board, I began to hear more and more of how pervasive this is among supposedly sound Independent Baptists. I am convinced that we who see this tendency clearly must speak out against it forcefully and never let down our guard. To not do so only accelerates the tendency to let error creep in to our churches. I agree, Jim. Lent is still not so big up here in Alaska. I don't know that I have ever seen anyone sporting the ashes, or talking about the observance in general. As you point out, Alaska is still pretty remote from the rest of the US (although that remoteness is shrinking in some ways due to the internet). The other factor is that the RC church has very little presence up here. Russian Orthodox is much more prevalent. However, the average Alaskan still sees RO as a foreign religion, only followed by coastal Alaska Natives and a remnant of old-order Russians that still have communities. It has no real influence among the main stream population. As for IB churches in AK, they too have still not yet gotten sucked into this Catholic tradition. I do not know how long you have been out of Alaska, but you will be pleased to hear that our isolation still preserves us to this day from certain societal ills that have crept into the church in other areas of the country. Edited April 15, 2017 by weary warrior MountainChristian, Jim_Alaska and John Young 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members No Nicolaitans Posted April 15, 2017 Members Share Posted April 15, 2017 Perhaps I'm mistaken, but it seems as though all of that hub-bub last year centered around the "30" days of Lent. Is it one week, is it 30 days, or am I completely mistaken? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Jim_Alaska Posted April 16, 2017 Author Administrators Share Posted April 16, 2017 10 hours ago, No Nicolaitans said: Perhaps I'm mistaken, but it seems as though all of that hub-bub last year centered around the "30" days of Lent. Is it one week, is it 30 days, or am I completely mistaken? I was just a kid NN. I may have forgotten if it is a week or a month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members No Nicolaitans Posted April 16, 2017 Members Share Posted April 16, 2017 8 hours ago, Jim_Alaska said: I was just a kid NN. I may have forgotten if it is a week or a month. I could also be completely off base in what I think I'm remembering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators OLD fashioned preacher Posted April 16, 2017 Moderators Share Posted April 16, 2017 It's my understanding that the "Lenten season" is 40 days. I thought Lent was something found in clothes dryers and navels. I gave up Catholicism for Lent -- oh, that's right, I wasn't Catholic, my wife was. So, if you don't give it back, was it lent? Or just given? No Nicolaitans and John Young 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Jim_Alaska Posted April 16, 2017 Author Administrators Share Posted April 16, 2017 OK, I looked it up. There are many explanations online, but this one seemed to be the most detailed explanation: Lent No Nicolaitans 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alan Posted April 16, 2017 Members Share Posted April 16, 2017 (edited) The Roman Catholic Church (like the false ministers of the world, denominations, backslid ministers, and the false prophets of the Old Testament), use business practices in order to have have folks join their chruch. 2 Peter 2:3 gives us one of the motives (the first is pride or fame or recognition among the people), of the false teacher, "And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandisde of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." The Roman Catholic church, and the Rick Warrens of the religious world, are in the religious business for fame and money. All false religions (and fleshly minded ministers), will start some sort of religious ceremony (which may or may not be based on the scriptures), or religious observance, to add to the rolls of the church members and keep the money flowing. False religions (and fleshly minded ministres like Rick Warren for example), need some religious gimmick to keep the crowds coming through the doors in order to become famous and sell milliions of dollars worth of religious books and other religious items. All false religions, like any good business, will start a movement in order to keep the people coming back and be faithful to the denomination (or business). False religions (like all businesses), false teachers and prophets, need new movements, new bibles, new doctrines, special clothing, special religious obervances (like Lent, etc..), to keep the people fooled by a religious observance of some kind. Oh, by the way, according to 2 Peter 2:3, judgment is coming. Edited April 17, 2017 by Alan grammer correct the scripture reference weary warrior, Rebecca and John Young 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1611mac Posted April 19, 2017 Members Share Posted April 19, 2017 On 4/15/2017 at 0:53 PM, Jim_Alaska said: -snip- I said all of this because among some modern day Baptists these things are spoken of from some pulpits by younger pastors who have been exposed to some sort of ecumenical teaching or exposure to these words and phrases. These things have no place among fundamental Baptists. I am convinced that some of these newer educated pastors never even think of the ramifications of perpetuating these things, or where it ultimately leads in the scope of any ecumenical tendencies that seem to be creeping into our churches. Amen! How true! Jim_Alaska 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RGVBaptist Posted May 15, 2017 Members Share Posted May 15, 2017 I guess I'm fortunate to live in an area not exposed to this heresy. Well, sort of. My ministry is actually in a 99% Hispanic population which is 99% Roman Catholic. So, I'm certainly exposed to lent (it's funny to watch all the restaurant signs start announcing that they are offering fish during the week of lent). However, the few Baptists in this area are so staunchly anti-Roman Catholic that anything even remotely close to an RC position is strictly avoided. We wanted to sing "Mary Did You Know" one time in church and the folks resisted because they felt it was too close to worshiping Mary! I could see their viewpoint and we just let it go and chose a different song. That said, I do regret the direction I see other Independent Baptists moving in trying to "appease" the world. John Young and Alan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WellWithMySoul Posted May 15, 2017 Members Share Posted May 15, 2017 (edited) I am so delighted that your ministry is with so many Hispanic people! Here in far northern Calif., we have quite a population of Hispanics (we live in an agricultural area). In this dinky little town where cattle are driven down Main St. periodically, we particularly have many, and the Lord has given me a tremendous love for them! Indeed, most of them here are of the RCC. I shall pray for your ministry! Edited May 15, 2017 by WellWithMySoul Alan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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