Howdy

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

An introductory post seems standard, so I will join.
I'm gladly looking forward to being a participant here, where I hope my daily questions can be helped and I can better my own discussion and argumentation skills. My discipler, buddies and girlfriend tend to get overwhelmed with how often I want to discuss theology.

I am a junior cadet at Texas A&M from Klein, Texas. After graduation I intend to go to Southwestern for a master's degree, where Lord willing I will have an obedient ministry career, perhaps in military chaplaincy.

A short testimony and theological outline:
God assured my salvation early at my Southern Baptist church at about seven years old (21 now) from whence I've had various hills on my Christian life in obedience to God. I'm very thankful for the student program at our family's megachurch which was very helpful in engaging me in maintaining my walk and involvement in others' lives. In university I've served as company Chaplain and made a goal of witnessing to my peers. My church here has been a non-denominational "Bible church" but I have also been recently going to worship at a small Baptist congregation. I have also become very involved with Campus Crusade for Christ for their cadet ministry.

• Salvation is by grace through faith, and you are justified by works.
  
• I believe in salvation being offered to all with the responsibility for receiving placed on the individual (partial depravity).
• I am very skeptical of charismaticism.
  
• I believe contemporary worship is less reverent and often emotionally manipulative.
• I do not believe the King James Version is exclusively able to impart God's word, or has more authority necessarily than an alternative scholarly translation.
  
• I believe God's word is inerrant, and so there is one correct interpretation of each issue but many potential applications of the scripture.
• I believe miraculous scriptural events transpired in the way they are conveyed: a six day creation, a real flood over all the earth, Christ's birth of a virgin and conquering of death.
• I oppose Calvinism
• The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 is a great doctrinal statement that also allows for high autonomy of the local congregation

Philippians 1 is clear that we should rejoice wherever the gospel message is being preached, but orthodox believers bear responsibility for speaking against false doctrine found in Catholicism, and even more specifically in Pentecostalism or even Methodism. As Timothy mandates, this is to be with necessary kindness and gentleness.

I pray that like-minded members will help me develop understanding of God's word, and those who oppose something I may hold to would send me to check the accuracy of both perspectives against the scripture like the Berean Jews.

May God bless you,
and God bless Texas

Gig em

 

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. I know the calvinism debate isn't a short one, I hope to get to know the full argument in support of it while here.

Mr Cassidy, thanks especially for your remarks and I would like to clarify that I agree Methodists often have the correct gospel message.

 

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. I know the calvinism debate isn't a short one, I hope to get to know the full argument in support of it while here.

Mr Cassidy, thanks especially for your remarks and I would like to clarify that I agree Methodists often have the correct gospel message.

 

Thank you everyone. I have this book coming in the mail now, Calvinism: A Southern Baptist Dialogue and I hope it will help me understand the sides more fully.