Jump to content
GreaseSpot Cafe

Duke Baxter

Members
  • Posts

    12
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Duke Baxter

  1. After reading the passage outlined in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (drawing an analogy between parts of the body to roles of importance in a church organization), if Mother Teresa had graduated from the Corps program, for example, do you think that either VPW, or Craig, would "Ordain" her as a Reverend or a Pastor in the Ministry? Or, do you think these guys would refuse to Ordain her because she couldn't successfully lead and manage a Fellowship? Personally, I would Ordain Mother T 'in a New York minute' because I know for a fact how important it is to have a fair amount of Servants (especially people who enjoy it and are good at it), as well as good quality Leaders serving as Pastor or Board of Trustees/Elders/Deacons to help manage and push the church in the right direction. I know of a Baptist church near me, which completely dissolved recently because its Pastor, who had the ability to deliver a Prayer or a Sermon like William F. Buckley Jr., couldn't really delegate responsibility or do anything else. As with VPW and Craig, this guy loved to "hit on" the lady-folk in the congregation, but since this church was literally floundering with about a dozen members for its nearly two decade existence, there never was a whole heck of a lot of "hot chicks" to pick from. Come to think of it, maybe it's a blessing in disguise that this church I'm referring to went, "belly up". But as was mentioned earlier on this thread, Humility might be the greatest characteristic of all when you're talking about someone you really want Leading a Church -- even over Knowledge of the Bible or the savvy to delegate others on a given task. Humility made a Church Leader like the late Billy Graham truly one of a kind. I'm sure if, for example, there was ever any hint of infidelity in Graham's marriage, the mainstream media would've exposed that a heck of a lot quicker than it did with either Jim Bakker or Jimmy Swaggart. Graham had too much respect and reverence not only to God, but for the woman he was married to, to allow himself to engage in something like that. Humility is also a characteristic you can't really teach or study at a Ministry college, or even Corps training -- you either got it or you don't. Getting back to Mother Teresa, can you imagine either: VPW, or Craig, or Chris G33R, or even JAL comforting, embracing or giving some semblance of hope to someone suffering from Leprosy or AIDS? In all fairness to our great Ministry leaders of the past, I too would probably have reservations -- unless it was a close relative of mine -- to physically embrace and comfort someone with a terminal illness like that. The more I think about, it seems like our salvation for Eternal Life is more contingent on what's in our Hearts, as opposed to what's in our Heads. I don't know. Bottom Line: If an individual lacks Humility, they really ought to consider another endeavor in life other than trying to lead a Church. That's my rant of the day, at least till tomorrow.
  2. Funny story, when I was attending a local college many, many years ago, I was enrolled in an elective course, 'The Bible as Literature'. I remember having the opportunity to ask one of my classmates what he thought about the Bible, which he replied that it was just a book full of myths, Fairy Tales, and contradictions. When I asked him to give me just one example of a contradiction in the Bible, off the top of his head, he immediately responded and cited Jesus's statement about, 'the Meek shall inherit the Earth' being obviously bullBLEEP since there was never any evidence of that happening, even anytime soon. Now I realize that Moses was never an eloquent man but God promised to give him the words if he agreed to lead God's people. I'm also aware of a passage of scripture which states that God uses the simple to confound the wise. So with that all said, I can't see how one can become a successful TV evangelist today without being intelligent, eloquent, and having a good working knowledge of God's Word. Keep in mind, with somebody like Joel Osteen or Benny Hinn, their church services are literally broadcast all over world through the Internet or Satellite TV. One of the many things I passionately disagreed with about the Ministry was that EVERYBODY IS QUALIFIED TO BE A GREAT LEADER. Was Mother Teresa ever considered, A GREAT LEADER? I don't think so. Mother T was a great servant, she gave a lot of hope to sick and homeless people, maybe even led some of them to eternity with Jesus through her humble and meek lifestyle. But Mother Teresa definitely wasn't the type of person to go up to a pulpit, quote a number of Bible verses, smile a lot, and then have a ton of people come up to the altar and give their lives to Christ. It just wasn't in her personality. But despite that I never personally viewed Mother Teresa as, A GREAT LEADER, I would DEFINITELY view the lady as a GREAT WOMAN OF GOD, and I would further wager dollars to donuts, she'll be spending all of eternity with God in Heaven. Simply put, Mother Teresa's ministry was that of a Servant, not a Leader. I have witnessed a Pastor who had a severe Speech Impediment and Stuttering problem as a youngster, and sometimes when you hear this man talk, you can notice remnants of that speaking problem even now as an adult. But when this guy is talking about the word of God or preaching, he sounds every bit as eloquent as John Lynn or Joel Osteen. Call it the Holy Spirit or whatever, but it's like God really wants people to fully comprehend this guy whenever he's talking about the Bible. Bottom Line: There's probably a very good reason as to why Leaders wind up becoming Leaders. Maybe, for the most part, the confidence and demeanor seem to be in their DNA or personality. Then every once in a while, God will surprise everybody and give us a Leader that we just didn't see coming. I suppose it all boils down to, who the heck really knows?
  3. When you had mentioned John's association with Personal Prophecy & Momentus earlier in this Thread, I went ahead & did a Google search on all the relevant Keywords. There was a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo involving John's 2nd ministry that was just plain bizarre, & if John was taking the advice of some type of "female prophetess" in that organization over his then-wife then, yeah, that was pretty poor judgement on JAL's part. The reason I'm not quite ready to throw JAL under the proverbial bus just yet is because everything I read about that whole situation had some involvement with JAL's ex-wife. As the old cliche goes, there are 3 sides to every story: there's HIS side, there's HER side, and then you've got THE TRUTH. And I would just add to that cliche, it's especially true when you're talking about a couple going through a Divorce -- "THE TRUTH", all of a sudden, starts to become very vague and ambiguous. As far as JAL's current ministry (The Living Truth Fellowship) goes, that might lead a handful of people to Jesus and get them "born-again" but as for myself, I need a church where I can look the minister in the eye and talk to him face-to-face. Churches (or Ministries) based from the Internet or Cable TV (or Satellite TV) may be the new trend for the 21st century, but it just ain't my cup of tea.
  4. I guess I admire and respect JAL for still being out there 50+ years later, presenting his knowledge of the Bible to the best of his ability. Is the guy 100 percent accurate on every single jot and tittle he says and writes about the Bible? Probably not, but who is? I think Billy Graham's ministry lasted a little longer than what John's got now, and he probably encountered a few mistakes and inaccuracies along the road. But I tend to think that both Graham and JAL were/are a little more right than they were wrong when it came to the Bible, and then willing to humble themselves and repent to get back on the right track. I don't mean to sound too religious here but I think we're all approaching a day which a lot of folks had wished that they had done more to share God's Word and maybe help others obtain salvation -- or something -- versus just sitting on the sidelines doing nothing. In the famous last words of one of my favorite Rock stars, David Cassidy, former lead singer of the Partridge Family, "There's just too much wasted time." Well, that's my preaching rant for today, I'll shut-up at least till tomorrow.
  5. Hey, I'll tell ya something, if life was fair, JAL would probably be the biggest televangelist in the country right now. Compare him, if you will to Joel Osteen, who's old enough to be JAL's son. JAL is by far more intelligent, more eloquent, and more knowledgeable of the Bible than Osteen could ever dream of. Osteen basically inherited the position he's got now. I'm just keeping it real. And, oh yeah, it proves that life isn't always fair.
  6. Excellent point, I never quite looked at it from that perspective. I'm now changing my vote from JAL to VPW as the undisputed King of Offshoot Ministries -- although I still say, JAL is a heck of a lot more eloquent than VPW ever was. Thanks, waysider
  7. Wow, I guess I must've had a fairly sheltered life back when I was in the Ministry. I never heard anything about John being associated with a "personal prophecy" debacle, or even shilling "Momentus" under-the-table -- what were those two issues all about? And how exactly did he "double-down" on those controversies? Wasn't John fired from the Ministry back when Craig gave all the leadership and Corp members an ultimatum that they either had to follow him or Jesus Christ? Maybe I was wrong about that one too. In this particular video interview, John seems to be marching lock-step with Dr. Weirwille on the 800-lb gorilla issues of the trinity, speaking in tongues, and eternal salvation. Maybe even sounds a little more eloquent than the Doctor ever did, but John obviously seems to be still totting the old company line at least on these three major topics. Say what you will about John, he's certainly determined, committed, resilient, and faithful to his personal beliefs on God and His Word.
  8. I ran across this and saw it posted on one of the blogs. At 70-something, shouldn't John be retired already, maybe spending some nice quality time with his grand kids? And the guy's already on his third ministry? Give him credit, he obviously has something going for him. https://onebaddecisionawayfromhomelessness.wordpress.com/2019/08/09/john-lynn-brings-half-century-of-bible-teaching-experience-to-internet-via-the-living-truth-fellowship/
  9. I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins and then rose from the grave so that I would have eternal life in Heaven.

    1. modcat5

      modcat5

      Hi Duke. Welcome to GSC. How can we help you?

       

    2. Duke Baxter

      Duke Baxter

      I'm good, just trying to figure out how to register, I think I've got it now. Thanks for asking.

×
×
  • Create New...