Preach, Preacher! Part 1

A little Background about Mr. Jaynes.


I am a 21 year old preacher from Alabama. I have been preaching now for 9 years. I served in youth ministry in a couple of local Baptist churches for the last several years, that was until about 2 months ago. I am married to a beautiful young woman named Karen. We are currently doing a home bible study on Thursday nights, which we jokingly call, "The Church of the Living Room." Why we are coming out of our living room instead of a "church' building is a fun story.


Up until the last couple of months, I have always proudly(yes.... pride-filled) called myself a Southern Baptist. What changed? Glad you asked. I trusted the Gospel at a very young age, which means I started my journey in God's Word at a young age. I would like to think that many, hopefully all, Believers NEVER settle for what is handed to them in regurgitated sermons from preachers as absolute truth without having searched God's Word for truth themselves. I was the annoying kid(for many reasons),  but mostly due to the fact that I would always question the reasoning for "Why we do what we do."


There is nothing more annoying to many "SEASONED" pastors than to be questioned on their motives and theology. Don't believe me, try it? Go up at the end of the next church service you attend, but instead of just casually shaking his hand... tell him you have a couple of points from his sermon you would like to review. Please, do let me know if you receive an immediate body language response of 'apt to teach.' Now, I will be the first admit... I have been and can be, if not prayerfully surrendered,be.. well, OBNOXIOUS. Ask my wife ;-)!




I spent a few semesters at a Baptist Seminary and the questions list began to quickly outweigh the answer list for this guy.


With each passing day, and with every class and discussion, my questions went unanswered by the professors, master level students and even fellow pastors(including my own). Simple questions. But, Important Questions.


Why do you stress fruit so much as "proof of salvation" if we are justified by faith?
Why do we not stress water baptism as profession?
Why do we preach grace one week, but then preach law and works the next?
Why do we work so hard to change verse meaning in order to fit our theology (Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16, James 2:24)?


You know... simple, but real, questions.


What do you do when everything you believe hinges on a set system of theological thought that you no longer feel apt to defend because you yourself disagree with it? Hopefully you seek truth no matter the consequences. My real hang up initially, for actually over 2 years, was definitely water baptism. As stated above... I struggled with the evident attempts of men,I respect even today, attempting to re-word or change the context of "trouble verses' such as Acts 2:38, where Peter clearly instructs water Baptism as NECCESITY for remission of sins. I found myself against a rock and a REALLY hard place(my denomination and reputation). It was literally to the point that I was almost desiring to be "re-"baptized in the "right" way, despite my understanding being save by grace through faith... wow!


Why the dilemma?
Simple.
God's Word is, has, and hopefully always will be my final authority. I desire, with everything within me, to follow God's Word. So... what happened? Did I follow through with correct baptism...!?! To the sigh of the local Church of Christ, NO! I did not!


Instead...


I asked the right question for the first time:


"Am I in that audience?"


Meaning, am I, and also you, a part of the group of individuals being addressed in Acts chapter 2? And Boisterously I content, NO! No we are not. Unless you fit the description of Acts 2:5, a devout Jew, you do not match the picture. (Side Note: Even if you were a full blooded Jew and could prove it by your lineage, to which I say good luck, you still cannot be saved today by the prescription of Acts 2).


"How do you figure that?" you may ask... Cannot wait to address it in the next post, Part 2.


One answer to a simple question led to more changes in our lives(my wife and me) than one could imagine.


Please Share With Your Friends


Alan