(Interview) Sharmaine Saraspi of Guilt, Grace, Gratitude

You know the T-shirts, hoodies and the mugs. Now let’s get to know the person behind these merchs. Sharmaine Saraspi of Guilt, Grace, Gratitude talks about her recent merch booth over Pilgrim Theological Conference, how she started GGG, and being creative for God’s glory.

Hi Sharmaine. Saw some photos of you and your booth at the Pilgrim Theological Conference. So how was the experience being there with your merchs?

It is actually refreshing and I am truly grateful to finally set up a merch booth again after 3 years of the pandemic.

There are lots of Reformed brethren there and I think they like what you put out through Guilt, Grace, Gratitude. What’s the feeling of being recognized and being able to see folks wearing your t-shirts?

I’m actually shy because I’ve been trying to sell the merch while keeping a low profile since I started back in 2018, but I eventually made friends on social media (got exposed hahaha)  and was referred to by them, so eventually I got used to it.

(Interview) March Vargas of Cherish Christ

This new year, I’ll start with March. Yes, March. March Vargas that is. This Christian content creator has videos on YouTube and Facebook that teaches biblical topics. But it’s done (sometimes) in a funny and entertaining way. If you want to know more about her, check this interview out.

Hi March. Please kindly tell us something about yourself and how you got saved?

Hi! Thanks for having me. 🙂 I was raised in a Roman Catholic family. When one of my sisters became a Christian, she shared the gospel with me and started bringing me to her local church. I was in 1st year high school back then. As I was learning more about the Bible, I was realizing more and more how I have fallen short from the standards of God. But although I was eager to start following Christ, the desires of my flesh prevailed. I loved my sins more and I couldn’t get myself to surrender my life to Him.

(Interview) Norton Hall Band on Hymns

Photo from Youtube

What did your church sang this Lord’s Day? Did it lift both your soul to worship and your voice to praise the goodness of Christ? Does it prepare your spirit for the weekly servings of God’s Word through the sermon? Does it convey words that you can’t express on how to be thankful for God’s providence? Does it bring you to tears knowing the truth of God through the lyrics of the song? I hope and pray that it’s a blessing to you as you sang either a contemporary worship song or hymns.

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) has this group called Norton Hall Band that plays a fresh take on hymns. They have a new album, Still Our Refuge which is the third album they released this year. I reach out with Evan Sams, guitarist of Norton Halls Band to talk about hymns, their band and their new album.

For those who are not familiar with hymns, can you define what a hymn is?

(Interview) Jerrel Pilarta on Rap Music and Doctrines of Grace

When you hear the word “rap”, what comes to your mind? Probably you’ll think about popular rappers like Francis M. or Gloc 9. You might also think of the message of their songs that you hear on the radio like nationalism, peace and unity.

But do you know there is a Christian artist who raps about the gospel? In fact, he raps about the Doctrines of Grace or Calvinism in his latest EP. I connected with Jerrel Pilarta, an indie gospel rap artist and we talk about Calvinism, rap music and his new release titled TULIP.

How did you came to know Christ?

I grew up in a Christian household, so ever since bata pa ako lagi ko ng naririnig ang Gospel. Pero for me, I believe last 2016 ko lang na fully grasp ang Gospel at natanggap ng buong puso. Nung na realize ko na kahit sobrang makasalan ako, papatawarin pa rin ako ni Jesus if I will repent and accept Him as my Lord and Savior. Dun nag-sink in sakin ang ibig sabihin ng grace.

Who introduced you to the doctrine of grace?

(Interview) Wolves At The Gate on Church Support for Creatives

Believers are bestowed by God with talents. Each Christians has these gifts that, out of the abundant grace of God, are to be use to further the Kingdom of God. That can be found in the preaching of the gospel for unbelievers and to us, who repented and trusted Christ, as a means to be edify.

So now the question is: how do the body of Christ nurture these Christians who are given talents that resonates and influence others? What kind of support should the church give to believers to help them know utilize it to advance the message of the gospel?

I reach out to Steve Cobucci, guitarist and vocalist of the post hardcore band, Wolves at the Gate to know how their church gives them support as creatives.

Please tell us about your band and how did you came to know the Lord.

Our band has been around since 2008 when we started it in college. We started off playing house shows in town and then eventually got the opportunities to play venues in Ohio & the surrounding states. Eventually we put out our first EP “We Are The Ones” thinking it would be the last thing we would do, but it turned out to be the thing that got us a record deal.

Interview: Andy Le Peau on Being a Longtime Editor of InterVarsity Press

Writing is not easy. It is hard work even for a book blogger like me. I don’t have to list it down here all the things a blogger do for just one article. Good thing there lots of resources out there help writer’s like. Write Better by Andrew Le Peau is a solid one for bloggers and authors. So this blog reached out to Andy to tell us about being an editor, working for IV Press and his new book, Write Better.

Hi Andy!  Please tell us what is an editor and the work he does?

In book publishing, there are typically three kinds of editors. Acquisition editors are responsible to sign contracts between authors and the publishing house. They will meet with authors and agents, review proposals, read manuscripts, and sample chapters, all with the purpose of finding the best books that fit their program best.

8 Favorite Quotes From the Book “Progress” by Adrian Reynolds

Are you carving some spiritual habits while quarantined at home? If you want to pursue to be a good reader, you need to find good materials that you can read on. I have articles about creating a digital library full of books and also setting up a rack of digital magazines. All of these resources are free.

Here’s some quotes from the book, Progress by Adrian Reynolds published by 10 of Those. If you like these quotes, please get the book by clicking here.

“Most of those going into ministry set themselves the goal of making early academic progress, predominantly measured through exams or supervision. Fewer apply the same rigor to their godliness, but even supposing some do, this desire to progress is quickly lost in the maelstrom of ministry.”

“The godliness of a gospel worker is therefore worked out in how he or she relates to others alongside relating to God himself. We must not ignore one at the expense of the other. This also means that active participation in the life of the church is implied.”

“It is not enough, then, to make some progress, although that is a really good start. Our aim is to grow more and more into the likeness of our Saviour, so – depending on his grace and strengthening – we want to keep progressing in those areas where we are weak.”

“The man or woman who hides himself away, investing everything in loving God but giving nothing to love others is, ultimately, a fraud (as is, so it happens, the pastor who claims to love others but is cold towards the Lord).”

“The stakes could not be higher. Gospel ministry is a high calling which demands much. But it is also a glorious calling with the great privilege of seeing men and women bow the knee before Christ Jesus.”

“Our identity as gospel workers is very often wrapped up in our teaching ministry. An admission that we need to keep making progress, therefore, seems remarkably close to an admission of failure.”

“supernatural appointment and human endeavour are natural companions. In fact, they are both necessary if progress is going to happen.”

“Progress also means cultivating and seeking opportunities to demonstrate love to others and doing so more and more. “

Arts and Works: Delighting Grace Interviews Quits Sabio

While searching for pastors with sermons online for my blog series, a friend recommended me to consider Quits Sabio. Although he has no audio or video sermons online, a pastor having a blog is a plus for me. As I check him out, look at his blog and his websites, I’m impress with his bi-vocation career. And I think many will consider it a cool job. Also, he and his wife is into painting. So an interview must happen :-). And here it is.   We ask Quits about being a game developer, the industry, him being bi-vocation and the biblical view of creativity and arts.

Delighting Grace: Hello pastor. Can you tell us something about yourself?

Quits Sabio: I’m Enriqueto Sabio, but you may call me Quits. A husband to Malou and a father to our only princess, Amara. I’m bi-vocational; an elder at Sovereign Mercy Evangelical Church (SMEC) for almost 5 years now, and the current Technical Director of Funguy Studio. My wife and I love music and arts. In our spare time, we paint and play some music together.

Delighting Grace: How is the game developers industry here in the Philippines? How did you get into the job? It seems to be a dream job for some.

Quits Sabio: Game development industry in the Philippines is booming. Partly because of the height of mobile market here, and we have a lot of creative minds who worked on popular international titles in the recent decade. Not only that, most of our development companies offer diverse services. Spanning from games and onto enterprise applications, and multiple platforms such as mobile (ios, android, windows), console, pc/mac, vr/ar and many more.

How did I get into the job? I just posted some of my prototypes online after graduation, then one day I received a phone call from them. That’s how it happened and It is all grace. This is my first job and I haven’t left ever since.

Delighting Grace: What are the ups and down in your secular career?

Quits Sabio: The downside in my profession as a game developer is the constant need to meet the demands of our clients. Sometimes they’ll call you even on weekends or holidays just because there’s a bug in the game that needs fixing. But the upside is high pay grade. Definitely worth the effort. That is why by God’s grace I’m able to provide a little help in lifting some of the burden from our local church financially. Having said that, I still find some time to minister to God’s flock and be with my family. The other downside though is that sometimes I missed important company meetings and outings, because weekend is non negotiable for me.

Delighting Grace: So you’re a pastor and has secular work. And you manage to blog too. How do you manage being bi-vocational?

Quits Sabio: Currently, I only work three times a week in the office, and twice I have to work from home. With that setup, by God’s grace, I can still lead a bible study every Monday, prayer meeting on a Friday, a monthly visitation for each family, and corporate worship on a Sunday. For sermon preparation, I allocate an hour or so each day to read and be familiarized with the text and then I’ll work on my manuscript for the whole day of Friday and Saturday. That’s what my week looks like regularly. Of course that’s not always the case when I was just starting out on both of my vocations. I struggled a lot because I had to work at the office five times a week. But through God’s providence, eventually I got promoted, and so now I have the luxury of time.

I think the best way to manage your time is to prioritize what’s most important, namely God, then everything will fall into its right places.

Delighting Grace: Wow that’s indeed God’s providence. Pastor, your work requires being creative as well as artistic.  So what’s the biblical view of creativity and arts?

Quits Sabio: A biblical view of creativity and arts is not that far from how we view objective reality around us. Just like how nature reveals the glory of God and His invisible attributes, a true art must reflect the  Author of the good, the true and the beautiful. In other words, there really is such a thing as beautiful artwork and an ugly artwork, good music and bad music. I don’t buy the secular mentality that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. That it’s all subjective. Yes, we may respond to it subjectively, but the criteria for good art is not subjective. There are some criteria for beauty such as form, symmetry and asymmetry, color harmony, contrast and values(light and shadows). It must represent truth even though what you’re portraying is a fiction. Meaning, behind the imagery are objective realities. And if it is to be good, it must either explicitly or implicitly reflect God’s holy character. So just as there’s a standard for morality, there’s also a standard for beauty, namely God.

Delighting Grace: What are the common misconceptions of arts & creativity held by Christians?

Quits Sabio: One common misconception that comes to my mind is the idea that for an artwork to be considered as “Christian Art”, the subject must be biblical figures and events. That is not the case though. Art can be considered a “Christian Art” as long as the Christian artist did it to glorify God. To quote R.C. Sproul; “art is its own justification.” If it attest to God’s beauty and majesty, then it is a Christian art.

Second, as I mentioned earlier, is the notion that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. God himself declared that his creation was good only after he brought order to the void of Genesis 1:2. Also when God commissioned the construction of the temple, He gave precise materials, measurements, colors and form.

Thirdly, and probably the most controversial one, is the issue of portraying the Son of God in paintings, sculptures and even in movies. To understand the issue better, I would encourage you to read the article “Graven Images” from Ligonier.

In the article Robert Letham said;

“Where We Agree. Reformed theology believes in icons too. The idea of image (eikôn) is a biblical category — man made in the image of God, Christ the image of the invisible God. However, beyond this, everything is iconic for the Reformed. God has imprinted evidence of His own beauty and glory throughout creation. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Ps. 19:1–2). What Calvinism did was to enable a this-worldly appreciation of beauty. By eliminating art and sculpture from church worship, it drove it into the world, placing the aesthetic in the context of general revelation, as the witness to God in the world rather than as the focus of the worship of God in the church.”

Basically, what he’s saying is that creating icons or images of any sort is not evil in itself, as long as it’s meant to point us to God within the realm of general revelation. Like how the natural world points us to His glory, and not to replace Him as the object of adoration within the context of church worship. Having said that, the debate rages on even within the Reformed camp to this day. So one must be careful when handling this issue. I for one, don’t paint images of Christ and don’t own one. But when I’m watching movies that does portray Jesus, or when I expressed admiration to the artistry involved in Da Vinci’s Last Supper, I know that I’m not worshipping those images. I know that it’s just an image pointing me to the real one, just like how the heavens declare the glory of God. If that image drives me to God’s word where I’ll find the accurate portrayal of Christ, then that’s fine with me.

Delighting Grace: Now let’s bring those we have talked about in one bag. How do we nurture believers in pursuing a diverse vocation say game developer?

Quits Sabio: Create an environment where they will discover their giftedness. If it is creative arts and music, expose your people to art history. The remarkable thing is, much of the good artworks and music ever composed, or created were from periods and eras where Christian worldview flourished.

For computer programming, just as in biblical exegesis, it requires much thinking. I know this could be a stretch for others, but for me, my training in exegesis and hermeneutics helped me on how to understand programming languages and vice versa. Attention to details is necessary if you really want to have a career on game development.

So we should promote high level of thinking, and at the same time appreciation for good music and arts.

Delighting Grace:  If a young believer seek counsel to you in the matters of which career path he will take, he is choosing either what he is passionate about like graphic design or practical like being a nurse or engineer, what will you advise to him? Will it change if he is a family man?

Quits Sabio: It doesn’t have to be either or. Choose what is practical and you’re passionate about. For me, being a game programmer is very practical and yet is very close to what I’m passionate about, namely creative arts. I think that answers the second question too. It doesn’t have to change if you’re a family man.

Delighting Grace: Thank you pastor for your time. Please invite us check you out and some of your works

Quits Sabio: Thank you for this opportunity, Delighting Grace! You can check out some of my articles through our church’s website at Sovereign Mercy and through Reformed Exegetes Society. For my artworks, just visit MMS Music and Arts.

8 Free Must-See Christian Films During Community Quarantine

Since we have all the time in the world at home we should spend it wisely. I got inspired with an article from Reformed Prespectives which listed down Christian films that are fantastic and free. So I listed some of my own favorite films online that never made it to their list. It’s a mix bag of 8 free films nevertheless it’s worth binge watching during the pandemic. All of them are available for free on Youtube as of this posting.

Unpopular – Hosted by Emilio Ramos and produced by Red Grace Media, this 30 minute film explores the message of Christianity that is the gospel. With interviews with the likes of James White and Paul Washer, the film unravels the the unpopular message of the gospel to the world. Unpopular is a great tool to inspire and equip Christians to proclaim the offensive but much needed gospel to this sin filled world.

How to Answer The Fool – Thanks to Jeff Durbin and Sye Ten Bruggencate, they took presuppositional apologetics to street level. This film will explain the method and apply it practically on the real people down the street. The film ends with a heated conversation. How to Answer The Fool is your first dip to presuppositional apologetics and will drive you to find more about it.

Through the Eyes of Spurgeon – A real treat for Christians is this documentary that is now available online. Directed by Stephen McCaskell, documentary filmaker with works like Luther and the upcoming Puritan and Epic, this is his debut film. This film explores the man who eventually became the Prince of Preachers. Through the Eyes of Spurgeon presents Spurgeon as you never have seen before.

Leonard Ravenhill Biography: In Light of Eternity – If I ask you who are, in your opinion, the most influential preachers in the 20th century, will Ravenhill make the cut?  This 9 year old documentary produced by I’ll Be Honest shows the life and ministry of Ravenhill . In Light of Eternity‘s running time is 15 minutes but it’s filled to the brim with interviews and sermon clips from Ravenhill that it will stir your soul.

Don’t Waste Your Life…Sentence – John Piper’s book, Don’t Waste Your Life created a big stir to a new generation of Reformed believers. That book sprang T-shirts, ballers, sermon jam videos, and a rap song from Lecrae promoting the message not to succumb to the American dream but to live for Christ. And this documentary, Dont Waste Your Life…Sentence, inspired by the book, is about inmates of Angola prison who were changed by the gospel. Get a glimpse of how they strive to live according to the gospel in this eye opening film with clips  of John Piper preaching  at that prison.

Yembi Yembi: Unto the Nations – Journey along with these ordinary missionaries as they reach out an isolated tribe called Yembi Yembi. Watch as these men of God live, survive, teach, and translate the Bible for a tribe that haven’t heard of the gospel on Papua New Guinea. The finale of Unto the Nations will tug your heart but I won’t give any spoilers.

Robber of the Cruel Streets – George Muller’s name is synonymous with the word “prayer”. He is an inspiration to countless Christians who wants to depend on the Lord’s provision. This bio film produced by Christian History Institute, presents this man of prayer as he fully surrender his life and ministry to God. Robber of the Cruel Streets captures Muller’s heart for God and the orphans of the streets of London.

George Whitefield Documentary – What better way to introduce an influential 18th century preacher than by another influential Christian from  the 20th century, Martyn Lloyd-Jones. In this vintage, 15 minute film produced by MLJ Trust, Lloyd Jones explores the life and times of George Whitefield and how he became instrumental to God by preaching the gospel to his generation.

So that’s my list. What’s your favorite film? Please comment below and let us discuss it.

 

Unveiling Baptist Brider Heresy: Delighting Grace Interviews Zigfred Diaz

This is the second part of my interview with Zigfred Diaz, author of the paper, Battling Baptist Bogus Beliefs. After discussing the Baptist successionism or Landmarkism, Zigfred Diaz focuses on the Baptist Brider teaching. In this teaching which is common to independent fundamental Baptist or Bible Baptist (as they are called here in the Philippines), the true Brider of Christ, who He will marry on the marriage supper for the Lamb in heaven is the Baptist church. Stranger as it may sound, these Baptist group teaches it on the pulpit and in Sunday School. So Zigfred get into the bottom of this and what he unveils is quite surprising.

  By the way, if you haven’t read the first paper on Baptist successionism you can download it here free. Also read the complementary interview with that paper by clicking here. If you want to read the second part, you can download it on the link provided at the end of this interview.

Delighting Grace: Good to have you again pastor. For the record please tell us what’s your motive behind writing a paper about Baptist Brider? 

Zigfred Diaz: Before I get into that, thanks for featuring one of my theological paper again in your blog. You know one of the problems of academic writing is that in most cases only in a few instances will it ever have mass penetration. So I am grateful once again for this opportunity as this will enable a lot of our Baptist bretheren to know about this issue.

Having said that, let’s jump right into the question shall we ? My motive for writing a paper on Baptist Brider is the same as my motive for writing my paper on Baptist successionism/landmarkism. First of all, having come from an independent fundamental Baptist background I am very much familiar and concerned about this false doctrine. I have somehow put it in my “To Do list” (and I have a thousand items there including papers to write hehehe) a long time ago. I am glad that this opportunity came for me to write it. I am very much concerned that a lot of my friends within independent fundamentalists circles has been blindly following that doctrine and a lot of my fellow pastor friends has also been blindly propagating it for whatever reasons they might have. Because I am out of that denomination now (I now pastor a Southern Baptist Church with a decidedly Reformed bent), I can now freely speak freely on certain matters that has been bothering me. (that is why I got out of the independent fundamentalists Baptist group in the first place) It is my hope and prayer that I might be able to shed light on this issue.

Secondly, this is in compliance with my requirements in my ecclesiology and eschatology subject at Veritas International University where I am currently doing my degree in Masters of Divinity majoring in Christian Apologetics. I always love to hit more than two birds with two stones so my writing this paper is one of those moments that I have done exactly just that. When I was going through the course work in my subject on ecclesiology and eschatology, I thought to myself what more better opportunitycan I findfind to write about these two subject areas than in the Baptist Brider issue ? So I am thankful to the Lord for giving me this opportunity.

Delighting Grace:  So from the Landmarkism/Baptist successionism now you are tackling Baptist Brider heresy. So what’s the connection of this subject to Landmarkism?

Zigfred Diaz: Baptism Successionism/Landmarkism is the foundational basis for the Baptist brider heresy. Without it there would be no Baptist Brider heresy. Baptist successionism/landmarkism is a result of poor and unscholarly historical research that forces the issue that Baptist as a denomination can trace an unbroken lineage back to the time of the New Testament church. This distortion of historical facts has resulted into some kind of Baptist elitism that looks down on other denominations resulting to this false and heretical doctrine of the Baptist Brider heresy wherein it is taught that that the local independent Baptist church is the bride of Jesus Christ and that only members of a true local independent Baptist church will be married to Jesus Christ in the Marriage Super of the Lamb as described in Revelation chapter 19. The reasoning behind this of course stems from the claim that “Baptist” is the one true church (the exclusion of all other denominations) and hence is the one true bride of Christ.

A preposterous variant of this false doctrine even teaches that non Baptist denominations will just become “waiters” or “servers” in the marriage supper of the lamb. (Honestly speaking this is so hilarious that I could fall off my chair laughing at the thought of this) The Baptist Brider Heresy has no basis whatsoever in Scriptures and is based on the errors of Baptist Successionism/Landmarkism which in turn has no historical basis whatsoever.

Delighting Grace:  Is the time and process in writing this differ from the previous one?

Zigfred Diaz: Before I answer this question let me just say that I love academic research and research in general. Research helps me learn new things and helps all of us get to the bottom of the truth. Research takes time and the process in most research is more or less the same especially in comparison with my previous paper as they are somewhat related and intertwined subjects.

Since I have already done research and has written a paper on Baptist successionism/Landmarkism which is the foundational core of the Baptist Brider doctrine, the time it took to research and write the paper on this is much lesser. With regards to the process, as mentioned it is more or less the same. This time however I did not go to the Baptist Theological Forum to gather data or information about this issue. I already personally know  that a lot of Baptist especially independent fundamentalists Baptist, hold on to the doctrine. I did engage in private conversations with some people I know in order to verify if the Baptist Brider doctrine they hold on to is the same with what was said in the materials that I will cite in my paper and if there are any variants to the said doctrine. I did already hear several messages from the pulpit advocating the Baptist Brider position when I was still in independent fundamentalist Baptist circles. But that was a long time ago.

In order to have a good and quality research I need to validate the information.Through private conversations with people I personally know, I validated that what I heard before and what I read about what of people hold about the Baptist Brider heresy were more or less the same.

Delighting Grace:  I read the paper and I just can’t believe what I’m reading. Are these Baptist Brider believers not employing sound interpretation and common sense. How did they end up with this messy doctrine?

Zigfred Diaz: That is a very good question.Considering that a lot of these Baptist Briders hold on to unsound interpretation and a lot of the doctrines they hold on to are unscriptural, lacks logic and even defies common sense, in some way I am not surprised anymore. Let me just say this bluntly, sadly common sense is not so common in a lot of doctrines I have encountered in several Baptist denominations.  

When I was still within independent fundamentalists Baptist circles it was very ironic that we were asked to always bring our Bibles in church and one of the reasons for this we were told is that so that we can check if what the pastor is preaching is truly from God’s Words and that somehow he got the interpretation of Scriptures right. However anybody who questions the interpretation will somehow be branded as some kind of a rebel or to use their term “touching” or going against “God’s anointed.”This kind of dictatorial and despotic rule is probably one factor why Baptist Briders ended up with such messy doctrine. (And not only the Baptist Brider Doctrine but other doctrines as well including issues in soteriology, KJV Onlyism, Baptist successionism etc. issues that I have written papers on, I am really serious about turning “Battling Bogus Beliefs” into a book soon).

Nobody dares to question the pastor as he is God’s anointed. It would be good if you have a pastor who really studies the issues, follows what God says and what He really means by what He says and uses sound logic and critical thinking when dealing with certain doctrines and issues. But if you have  a pastor who merely parrots the garbage that is being fed to him in conferences and by other fellow pastors then you have a big problem and the result is churches and denominations that end up with messed up doctrines such as the Baptist Brider heresy. And because nobody dares question the pastor this has produced a kind of anti-scholarship attitude. This kind of attitude has certainly fueled the proliferation of unscriptural, logically unsound and “messy” doctrines as you would call it. In the future I look forward to doing research on Baptist ecclesiology more particularly power structures in Baptist churches and its relation to theology and theopraxy. 

Delighting Grace: Another thing that struck me and I find offensive is calling other non Baptist believers to be “servants” in the marriage supper of the Lamb because they dont belong to a Baptist church. Isn’t that similar to a Mormon teaching on how they treat  white and black skinned people and also Jehovah’s Witnesses 140,000 teachings?

Zigfred Diaz: Well in some sense it is similar to those doctrines. Similar in a sense that certain groups of people are treated a certain way because of a particular doctrine but that such doctrine is based on an erroneous interpretation of Scriptures. The only difference is that in the case of the Mormons and the Jehovah’s witnesses the discriminatory treatment is an actual or experienced reality already considering that Mormons follow certain church policies in dealing with dark skinned people (which critics brand as racial discrimination and which officially the Mormons deny) and in the Jehovah’s witness case only the 144,000 are allowed to partake in the communion.

In the case of Baptist briders there is no actual “discriminatory” practice since the “discrimination” so to speak will supposedly happen in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. There is however a “discriminatory” attitude. The Baptist Brider heresy has produced an elitist attitude and there is no doubt that those who hold on to such attitude do not have much fellowship with other Protestant denominations or even other Baptist denominations. (Just ask pastors in interdenominational local ministerial groups how many Baptist are there or how many Baptist participate in interdenominational evangelistic activities and you will know what I am talking about).

This kind of attitude is doing so much damage to the body of Christ as a whole because instead of us uniting in things that we have in common, those who hold on to Baptist Successionism/Landmarkism and the Brider doctrine have produced an elitist, separatist attitude which in reality has really no Biblical and even historical basis.

Delighting Grace: Another thing I observed in the paper is the use Matt. 16: 18 just like the Roman Catholics Church as the basis of the foundation of their church. Is there any difference between how Baptist Brider proponents and RCC in handling this verse?

Zigfred Diaz: In some sense there is no difference in how Baptist Brider proponents and the Roman Catholic Church handle Mathew 16:18. Both groups are spot on wrong on how they interpret the verse. If we must point out the difference, the difference is probably how and why each of them are wrong. The common and foremost error committed by both groups is of course a wrong interpretation of Scriptures.

For Baptist briders when Jesus Christ said he will build his church they believe that what He established was to use their exact term, a “local New Testament Baptist church.”  This error is based primarily on faulty logic. It is the logical fallacy of equivocation. It is such because since Baptist Briders also hold on to some kind of Baptist Successionism/Landmarkism andin that doctrine one of the foundational things they hold on to is that they believe that since Jesus Christ was Baptized by John the Baptist hence he is a Baptist (just as when somebody is baptized a Roman Catholic, then such person is Roman Catholic) I extensively discussed in my paper the logical fallacy of this reasoning.

On the other hand as mentioned, aside from mainly a wrong interpretation of Scriptures,the Roman Catholic’s error is also some kind of historical theology and for ordinary Roman Catholic most definitely a church history error. Too much emphasis is given on the Apostle Peter. Let me quote from a paper I also wrote on this, but I will not dwell on this much considering this is not the main subject of this interview. It is entitled “Probing Peter’s Papacy:An examination of Roman Catholic and Protestant views on Mathew 16:13-20.” We could discuss more of this in another interview. Anyway here it is:

“The strength of the Roman Catholic view is also its weakness as too much emphasis and importance is being given to the Apostle Peter. As discussed in the first Protestant view, Peter himself never referred to himself as “the rock” upon which the Church is built but constantly referred to Christ being the chief cornerstone. While admittedly, the Apostle Peter is always mentioned first in Scriptures and regarded widely as the outspoken leader of the apostles, nowhere in Scriptures can we read that the other Apostles gave the highest regards for Peter just like what the Roman Catholic Church has conferred upon him. Carson in the Expositor’s commentary rightly describes Peter as “first among equals.”  But take note that it was not only Peter that is regarded as the leader among the Apostles. Aside from the fact that the Apostles seemed to “rule” over the church as a group together with other elders, James the brother of our Lord Jesus Christ who was not one of the original 12 and the Apostle John were regarded by the Apostle Paul as the “pillars” of the early church in Galatians 2:9. The Apostle Peter and James seemed to be the lead facilitators in the first church council, the council at Jerusalem and it was James who gave the closing statement and a seeming final judgment on the matter at hand. When Peter was imprisoned and released by an angel, he sent word to “James and to the brethren” about his release. (Acts 12:17) Let me add further that the early church fathers points to James as the First Bishop of the first Christian Church, the church at Jerusalem.”

Delighting Grace: Again thank you for answering some questions. So please invite our reader to download Battling Baptist Bogus Beliefs part 2 which is about the Baptist Brider heresy.

Zigfred Diaz: You are most welcome I invite you all to download my paper dealing with Baptist Bogus Beliefs. This time tackling the Baptist Brider doctrine. Please share this with everybody you know who holds on to this erroneous doctrine. It is really my heart’s desire that this doctrine by refuted and that pastors will stop teaching it in churches as it has done so much damage to the body of Christ and to all of us Baptist collectively. You can download it here.

Delighting Grace: So guys download the free paper and share it to people trap in this false teaching. As Zigfred Diaz will tackles another issue, Delighting Grace will hopefully cover it also.