The Second Unpardonable Sin.

If you were to ask most Baptists how many unpardonable sins there were, they would say one. The Blasphemy of The Holy Spirit. But in reality for most Baptists there are two. The second being divorced. If someone feels called to be a pastor or any paid position in the Baptist hierarchy and they've been divorced, regardless of the circumstances they are eliminated from consideration because of their interpretation of such verses as I Timothy 3:2 which states that a bishop should be the 'husband of one wife'. Never mind that the Greek means 'one woman man.' Example, Bill Clinton has only been married once but even the most devout Democrat wouldn't call him a one woman man. Yet, he'd have a better chance of being called as the pastor of a Baptist church then a man who was faithful to his wife but for non biblical reasons, decided to divorce him.

I went through a situation like this. I surrendered to preach the gospel in 2003 at a conference in Hammond, Indiana. The following year I enrolled at Hyles-Anderson College, the bible college run by the church that put on this conference. I left because I felt I wasn't learning any bible. I ended up marrying a graduate of said college in 2006. Less then a year later she filed for divorce. I tried everything I could think of to reconcile with her but nothing worked. Since then I have been greatly frustrated. I still feel called to preach but the Baptist churches I go to prohibit divorced men from pastoring. It had depressed me so much that I've attended Presbyterian and Full Gospel churches where I felt more accepted but whose theology I had trouble with. It seems like I can either stay in a Baptist church where I feel at home, but where I feel like I'll have a scarlet 'D' on my chest for the rest of my life, or I can try another church where I'm accepted but where I don't feel comfortable, either with their worship or their theology.

I am sure there are others out there who have been through simlar circumstances. If you have feel free to post them in the comments.

Bible Post #3 The Ryrie Study Bible KJV

I bought my first Ryrie Study Bible in August of 1997. I had liked how it answered a theological question I had been dealing with. It soon became my favorite study bible; I would take it everywhere and used it so much that by the time I replaced it, the bonded leather was peeling off. I especially liked the nice large typeface on it. Even when I didn't need to reference the notes I liked reading it for that reason alone.  It also has a nice set of cross references, a topical index, and much more.

In 2005 I replaced My burgundy bonded leather Ryrie with a black genuine leather one. I used that one regularly until I moved back to Pennsylvania from Louisiana and the moved again and it got lost in the moving. I still believe I have it somewhere so instead of spending the big bucks for another genuine leather edition, I bought another bonded leather one.  I figured by the time the leather started pealing off, I would of found my genuine leather one.  Well, I've had the bonded leather one for close to a year and still haven't found the real leather one.

I almost forgot to mention that the bible includes a DVD with the Ryrie study notes and several other works by the good doctor including Basic Theology. It also includes the NIV and NASB (1977 and 1995 editions) on a trial basis along with several of John MacArthur's commentaries. The software is Bible Explorer which is scaled down version of Wordsearch. There are also several free (mostly public domain) titles that you can download from their web site, in addition to the ones included on the disc. I wouldn't make the disc a major factor in buying this bible but it's a nice bonus.

As you can probably guess I do recommend The Ryrie. My main complaint is that while they publish it in the KJV, NASB, and NIV; they no longer publish an edition in the NKJV which has become My bible translation of choice. That being said, if you like one of the translations mentioned above and lean towards a dispensationalist point of view; then I would wholeheartedly recommend The Ryrie Study Bible.

PS The first page shows what happens when you have a nose bleed and are reading your bible!

My Bibles 1 The Classic Note Bible

I have over the past 15 years, become somewhat of a collector of bibles. I only have 3 or 4 (depending on how you count) in my collection right now but that's because I've sold, given away, or lost a good many of them.  I know I usually talk about political things on this blog but decided for a change of pace to talk about this hobby of mine. For the next few posts, I'm going to review some bibles I own.  I'm going to start with the oldest one that I regularly use. The Classic Note Bible.

I bought this bible in 2004 while I was attending Hyles-Anderson College.  It was the same type of bible that Jack Hyles used to preach from, though it had been redesigned to be smaller and easier to carry around then the one he used.  It is a plain black text KJV with one big difference;  It has a blank page beside every bible page with the exception of Genesis 1.  It is only made in Genuine Leather. The leather is kind of stiff which I am not a big fan of but it had held up well in the 5 years since I bought it.  It has two bookmarks which comes in handy if you are reading from the Old and New Testament at the same time.  Although Dr. Hyles was the co publisher of The Bible, except for his name on the front, and an introduction that talks about how this bible came about, it doesn't have any notes or commentary from him.  There is a bit of separation going on in Genesis 20 and Revelation 13.  Of course, the main reason that someone would buy this is for the blank pages, so they can write notes and sermon outlines.  I won't argue that it is good for notes, but I have found in my personal experience, that trying to preach a sermon from a two sided page isn't as good as just taking your sermon notes up to the pulpit with you.  I know Dr. Hyles wrote his outlines in his bible but maybe it was easier when the bible was bigger and thus, you had more room on the page to write on. (Though those editions are so thick, it would probably pull your back out to carry one very far.)

Do I recommend this bible? If you are someone that finds that his or her wide margin bible is still not enough to record their notes on, or you want to be able to write notes from sermons you hear then yes;  If you want to use it to preach from, then I would say no, unless you can find one of the thicker first editions on eBay.

Will Caroline run for Uncle Teddy's seat?

I just read that Caroline Kennedy is going to be one of the speakers at the AFL-CIO convention in Pittsburgh. Is this the first step in a run for her Uncle Teddy (and before him, her father's) Senate seat? You may say "Yeah, but Caroline lives in New York!" Well, Hillary Clinton was a resident of Arkansas when she began her 'listening tour' to become New York's junior senator and Caroline at least has family ties to Massachusetts. If Vicki or Joe Kennedy decide not to run, look at Caroline to.

My thoughts on Sarah Palin's resignation.

I was shocked when I heard that Governor Palin was resigning as Alaska Governor. I figured that she might not run for reelection, but didn't imagine she would do this. In the short term she is going to take a hit for this, but it is still fairly early in the game if she has her sights set on 2012. By resigning she won't have to worry about further frivolous ethics complaints that have so far, cost her half a million dollars. She'll also have the freedom to campaign across the country for Republican candidates without the 'anklebitters' whining and complaining. We haven't seen the last of Sarah Louise Heath Palin; No, not by a long shot!

Are you prepared to meet Your maker?

Last week two well known men died unexpectedly. Michael Jackson, the 'King of Pop' died just hours after dancing and singing at a dress rehearsal for his London come back. Billy Mays, the 'King of Infomercials' died in his sleep after coming back from a trip. Neither of these men had an idea that this last week would be their last week on Earth. Death doesn't always come when we are in our 70's or 80's, It doesn't always come as the result of a long illness where you have plenty of time to prepare yourself. James 4:14 says "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." (KJV) Are you prepared to meet God if you should die today? Do you know Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord? If you want to be prepared, pray a prayer like this and mean it with all your heart.


Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.”

If you prayed that prayer, please drop me a line. My e-mail address is ces16511@gmail.com.

Liberty University Shuts Down Campus Democratic Party Club

When I read this today, A few things floated through my mind.

#1 If I were a Democrat, Why would I being going to Liberty University?

#2 There are enough Democrats at Liberty to fill a broom closet?

I think that the university made the right choice here; The National Democratic Party is anathema to the values that Liberty was founded on. I wouldn't expect Liberty to endorse meetings of SoulForce, the Gay rights organization founded by former Falwell aide Mel White. Liberty is a private institution and the students knew what they were getting into when they enrolled. If they don't like it, they can either have their meetings off campus, without using the university's name, or they can transfer to a school that shares their values.