baptist history

Book Review — The Baptists – Vol 1: Beginnings in Britain

September 28, 2020 by Chuck Ivey

The Baptists – Vol 1: Beginnings in Britain is one of the must have works of Baptist history by one of the sharpest Baptist historians the church has been blessed with.

The Drunkenness and Repentance of Brother Johnnathan Osburn

August 10, 2020 by Allen Nelson IV

I have a book I received as a gift from Plum Creek Baptist Church in Taylorsville, KY. This book tells the story of the church’s inception to its 175th anniversary in 1985. I am grateful for my brief time serving there as Youth Pastor for portions of 2008 and 2009. Included in this book are […]

Garrett O’Hara

Garrett appears to have originated the term, but not the theology, "dispybapticalvinistic-expialidocious." He is a husband, a father of four children, a U.S. Navy veteran, and a semi-truck driver. He also holds a Th.M. in New Testament paid for mostly by the Post-9/11 GI Bill (don't tell Mikey Weinstein).

Chuck Ivey

By God’s grace, Chuck Ivey grew up in a Christian home and came to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at a young age. He has been married to his wife Ashley for 20 years. They have seven high energy children by adoption (yes seven), also by God’s grace. Chuck works full time in local law enforcement as an investigator and chaplain. He serves as a deacon and teacher at Beech Haven Baptist Church in Athens, GA. Chuck is a graduate of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where he earned a Masters of Theological Studies. Coffee and books are involved. You can follow hi...

Michael Coughlin

Michael Coughlin lives near Columbus, OH, and leads local outreaches to glorify our Lord and reach the lost with the gospel. Michael’s joys are spending time with his dear wife and children, programming computers, and studying and discussing God’s Word. He is a member of Covenant Bible Church.

George Alvarado

George Alvarado is an almost retired member of our Armed Forces (yes, he's older than he looks). He has a beautiful wife, a very tall son, and currently teaches at Pilgrim Bible Church in Washington. He is also an author, blogger, apologist, evangelist, and podcaster. He loves spending time with his family and friends, traveling, photography, and continuing his studies in linguistics and theology.

Allen Nelson IV

Allen S. Nelson IV is the pastor of Perryville Second Baptist Church in Perryville, Arkansas. He and his wife Stephanie have been married since 2006 and have 5 children. Besides enjoying time with his family, Allen loves teaching the Bible, reading good books, and time outdoors. He is the author of From Death to Life: How Salvation Works and Before The Throne: Reflections on God’s Holiness He is an avid Dallas Cowboys and Arkansas Razorbacks fan, which means he's always excited about 'next year.' You can follow him on twitter @cuatronelson.

Psalm 119:137-140 — Zeal + Ignorance = Worthless Religion

In Romans 10:2-4, Paul criticizes the Israelites for having a zeal for God but not according to knowledge. It is not that they didn’t know who God is or that they worshipped the wrong God. No, Paul’s admonition is that the Israelites knew God, but didn’t comprehend His righteousness. Thus, they didn’t submit to it, nor were they grasping their need for Christ’s righteousness to cover them. But the Israelites could not blame the psalmist. For centuries before the incarnation, Psalm 119 was telling the people of God’s righteousness and His faithful promise. Thus, the psalmist is consumed with his own zeal for God’s righteous testimonies. He is consumed with zeal for God’s faithful promise as a contrast to the ignorance of his enemies.

Brown Journalism

This past week we witnessed one of the ugliest instances of “journalism” I have ever seen. A young man from Iowa stumbled into raising over a million dollars for a children’s hospital in his home state. It’s the same hospital that overlooks the University of Iowa’s football stadium. The same hospital that gets waved to […]

Psalm 34:6-7 – A Truthful Optimism

Throughout this series I have been demonstrating that the first third of this Psalm is about simple truths David is clinging to in his time of trouble. We’ve also been learning that David is using the literary device of couplets to write this section, speaking first about himself and then about his audience. Last week […]

Watch Your Mouth! James’ Counsel to the Verbally Challenged – Part 2

The Command With the context built up in our previous post, let’s look at our theme verse once again. Know Your Weakness I bristle at the line of reasoning that says, “We’re all sinners…” and goes on to justify sin. I do so because it is an excuse, not a reason. It’s not too dissimilar […]

By All Means, Mourn Kobe Bryant’s Death, But…

My social media feeds have run the gamut in relation to the responses to the death of Kobe Bryant and the responses to the responses to Kobe Bryant’s death.

On one hand, I read of folks using bereavement leave at work due to mourning the loss of their dearly beloved basketball star? On the other hand, I’ve seen folks deride those who are so affected by Kobe’s death, pointing out such things as “you don’t mourn the death of 3000 babies yesterday but you mourn the death of a basketball star?” or generally criticizing people for being so affected by the death of someone they didn’t know personally.

I will show you a still more excellent way.

Book Review — God Speed by Chad Bonham

There were two primary things I didn’t know about God Speed before it arrived by parcel. First, it doesn’t center around driver Sage Karam’s struggle following an accident that killed fellow driver Justin Wilson, though the story does occupy a couple of chapters. Much of that story can be found in a recent FCA article, also […]