July 20, 2022 Show with Otis Buckley on “One Urban Pastor’s Journey Into the Doctrines of Sovereign Grace & Shepherding a Flock to Whom These Teachings Are New”
July 20, 2022
OTIS BUCKLEY, Pastor of Highpoint Bible Church NYC, who will address:
“ONE URBAN BLACK PASTOR’s JOURNEY INTO the DOCTRINES of SOVEREIGN GRACE & SHEPHERDING a FLOCK to WHOM THESE TEACHINGS ARE NEW”
Transcript
Live from the historic parsonage of the 19th century Gospel Minister George Norcross in downtown
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Proverbs 27, verse 17 tells us, Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens
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Good afternoon, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Lake City, Florida, and the rest of humanity
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This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Wednesday on this 20th
day of July, 2022.
I am thrilled to have a first -time guest on the program who I met
at a recent Banner of Truth Pastors Conference in Elizabethtown,
Pennsylvania, and after having some conversation with this brother, I knew that I wanted
to interview him, and I believe the discussion that awaits us will be quite
fascinating and edifying.
His name is Otis Buckley, and he is pastor of High Point Bible Church, NYC,
and we are addressing one urban black pastor's journey into the doctrines of sovereign grace
and shepherding a flock to whom these teachings are new.
And it's my honor and privilege to welcome you for the very first time ever to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, Otis
Buckley.
Thank you for having me to
a most edifying talk.
Amen, and tell our listeners about High Point Bible Church, NYC.
Yes, and
his step
into the senior
pastor role, and it's
been where I was.
We've got a great group of folks there,
members there,
and preaching that and understanding that I've been preaching expositionally, verse by
verse, book by book, every once in a while, maybe stepping
aside to address something that was a pressing matter, but for the most part it's been expositional,
and that's been good for our congregation.
Praise God.
And how long ago did your late father -in -law found the church?
Oh, goodness, that would
have been in Yemen,
and most recently we've
been sent
in there a while.
It's likely that's where we find
ourselves today.
But nonetheless, great community.
Now, what would be a summary description of the church as your father -in -law founded it?
Well, it
definitely
was in
Costa Rica.
Yes, definitely.
Yeah, and so my upbringing would have been more, what would be the
term, classical Pentecostal.
Yes.
And, you know, have been,
prior to my arrival,
was definitely...
Yeah, and classic Pentecostalism would involve, most of the
time, five -point Arminianism, where you can actually, according to
their teaching, lose your salvation.
Yes, definitely.
It puts that individual, that person with that mindset, with that thinking, it puts
them in a burdensome situation where it's
in their daily walk that they would
get from the finished work of Christ, and the Holy Spirit really
becomes more of a tag -along rather than the power within.
And so, yeah, there's that.
Yeah, in fact, I have told some of my Pentecostal and charismatic
brothers and sisters, when we have discussions, sometimes they will
wrongly accuse me and all
non -Pentecostal, non -charismatic Christians, and especially Calvinists, of not believing
in the Holy Spirit.
And I have told them that I rely upon the Holy Spirit far more than you do,
because I don't even believe a person's own will can bring
them to a point of a saving faith prior to the Holy
Spirit bringing them new life and regenerating them, and
prior to Christ giving us a new heart.
We who are Reformed have a stronger emphasis, I believe, on the
Holy Spirit than even Pentecostals do, because I think that the tendency can be
a very superficial reason to
bring up the Holy Spirit in worship, which just typically involves how excited you are and
how enthusiastic you are and how boldly you sing and how energetically
you dance in the worship and all that.
But before we go into the actual main thrust of our interview today, which is the
journey that God placed you on, which led to you discovering and embracing
what have become known as the doctrines of sovereign grace, also nicknamed Reformed theology
and nicknamed Calvinism and nicknamed free grace, and there are other
nicknames that have been developed over the years, over the centuries.
But we have a tradition here, when we have a first -time guest on, such as yourself,
that that first -time guest gives a summary of their salvation testimony,
including the kind of religious atmosphere you were raised in, if any, and the kind of
providential circumstances our Sovereign Lord raised up in your life that drew you to Himself
and saved you.
So let's hear your story.
Sure.
So I was told
to
attend
a
Bible
study, and I had been
on the nudge to go to the
end, and I
was hearing me
come in public declaration
that I wanted salvation, and everything about
that experience would have definitely made Charles Finney happy.
But even in that, even
in
that,
that
was
motivating.
Wow.
So you're talking about the United Pentecostal Church International, or a different group within Oneness
Pentecostalism?
Well, this was, in fact, it probably would have been the largest, or the
second -largest Oneness Pentecostalist denomination,
and then there
would have
been what's
called
the One
Movement due
to oneness, I
think.
But that's kind of how, that's
why I used it.
The next day I went back to school and told all my friends about it.
I had no idea I was setting myself up to be bullied and picked on.
I knew, without even much Bible study, I knew
that there were certain checkboxes,
things that are right
became the thing that I washed out
that hatches
every other thing.
And so a lot
of that,
but things like
that.
And so
we had our
outings, and I said that amongst my peers.
It was almost like it was, you know, well, that's kind of what we do while the grown folks are,
you know, washing, but we really sort of have our own thing of trying to, you
know, sort of live this double life.
And so I found myself navigating those waters
with God
because I
don't
want to lose my salvation.
Not because, you know, I just, you know, grieved
and participate in my sin and really going against the Word and will of God, but it was
more so, you know, I just need to get back into the arc of safety, if I can
use that phrase.
Conviction on me and so forth.
And then I get into young adulthood, get any better
time in the yards,
heavy into the yards and
so forth.
And nothing really panned out.
I had a modicum of success, but nothing really sustainable that I could live off of.
And I remember sitting in my one -bedroom apartment, and I just said, Lord, what is this?
My life wasn't necessarily improving economically.
Editing sermon videos and all these kinds of things.
And I'm doing all this stuff.
So that would be the New Apostolic Revival.
Yes.
Yes, right, right.
Friday sundown to Saturday sundown.
It wasn't anything like that.
It wasn't like, you know, things like that that I know sometimes
you can find in certain Hebrews.
But this was more so getting
into the Bible and understanding certain words in their sheep.
And I'll never forget, I had this moment.
We didn't like what was going on in our lives.
We could bind it.
And if we thought Satan was behind it, we could bind him.
And if we thought there was a
thing in our life that we didn't lose, I'll make
sure it happens up here and happens
down there.
So, again, we've looked at that as a formula.
Well, this class I was taking, I realized that wasn't about that at all.
And I started getting into the Hebrew, excuse me, the Greek text.
I
realized,
wait a
minute, within the original languages.
And I'm like, wait a minute, this isn't what that means.
But it's not what that means.
What else do I have?
And one
thing,
one of
the
things
you've
got to
understand
about,
definitely,
my
curiosity to
Steve
Lawson, his
cousin,
Bode
Boncombe.
And I'm like, wait
a minute, work at night, 1 o 'clock in
the morning.
Every time they mentioned the book, I put it in my Amazon cart.
Every time there was a reference to a podcast, I'm subscribing to the podcast.
So I'm going through a whole season of just ingesting this stuff and imbibing this stuff and looking at it,
listening.
And I'm
like,
and
so growing up in
these
environments
that go 20...
Amen. Oh, I just said amen.
And when I latched onto
that, the
sovereignty of
God
and
salvation,
not
quite
the people about.
And
I'll say
this, and
there was this,
forget
this, real
today.
I
didn't
have
those
modeled
and
they
thought
about how
I
categorize
and speak
about certain
individuals.
I'm not saying that people, that everyone in those spaces aren't necessarily a fraud.
I'm saying that what was happening was not real.
It was
not, but
I didn't have the language to really articulate that.
I didn't have the theology to really get through with precision.
But I just said, no, something's not right.
One day I was
thinking of John.
See, in other words, I don't believe the way the apostle Paul was.
When I
say the Bible teaches
it, it's
going to be my
view.
Praise God.
Regardless if my best friend holds to a different one or my aunt holds to a different one.
And I love my best friend and my aunt, but I'm going to go with the word on this.
Amen.
In fact, we're going to pick up right where you left off there, because we have to go to our first station break.
And if anybody would like to send in a question for Pastor Otis, our email address is
ChrisArnzen at gmail .com.
C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com.
Please give us your first name at least, your city and state, and your country of residence.
Only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter.
And I could readily understand that a topic like this
may evoke questions that are personal and private, because you may have people who are going
through a similar journey that Pastor Otis Buckley has gone through and is continuing to go through.
You may even have not only a member of a congregation on that journey, but a pastor just like
Pastor Otis was and is.
Well, we can understand that you'd want to remain anonymous at this point.
But if it's just a general question, please give us your first name, your city and state, and your country of
residence.
That's ChrisArnzen at gmail .com.
Don't go away.
We'll be right back with Pastor Otis Buckley right after these messages.
James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries here.
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Back, if you just tuned us in, our guest today for the entire two -hour program
is Pastor Otis Buckley of High Point Bible Church, NYC, located
in New York City, as the name would indicate.
We are discussing one urban black pastor's journey into the doctrines of sovereign grace
and shepherding a flock to whom these teachings are new.
Our email address is chrisarnsen at gmail .com.
C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com.
Give us your first name at least, city and state of residence, and your country of residence, and only remain anonymous if your question
involves a personal and private matter.
And before I take any of the listener questions that have come in, I wanted to have you clarify a couple of things.
We were talking earlier about the fact that the church that you inherited, basically,
was, in its founding, a oneness Pentecostal church, an anti -Trinitarian church,
or Unitarian church.
And those churches do not comprise a monolith.
There are differences among them.
And I can remember years ago, I arranged a live,
public, moderated debate between my friend Dr. James R. White of Alpha Omega Ministries
and Robert Sabin, who at the time was one of
two of the leading apologists for oneness Pentecostalism.
Robert Sabin began in the United Pentecostal Church International, which was a much more
strict organization, denomination, one might
even call it a cult, because they believed that Trinitarians were damned.
They believed that we were actually tritheists, or as sometimes I've heard it phrased,
that we worshipped a three -headed monster.
And then, Robert Sabin eventually left that group and was,
although remaining a oneness Pentecostal, was in a much more tolerant group that had ecumenical
relationships with Trinitarians, much like T .D. Jakes and folks on the Trinity
Broadcasting Network.
So, where were you in that spectrum, or where was the church in that spectrum?
Ah, okay.
But
the
way it
seemed
to me,
I'll say
it
that way,
was
that
we
had of
who God is.
And Trinitarians—not funny, but
interesting—as I grew up, I really didn't
know the
difference,
even
just
in
that oneness
view of my
theology.
Now, there are a couple of other elements that are involved in some of the stricter oneness
Pentecostal groups.
One is the absolute necessity of immersion in water for salvation,
and the absolute necessity of speaking in tongues as the evidence for salvation,
not just as an evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but actually an evidence that is required for
salvation.
Was your upbringing including those other elements of the more rigid?
Absolutely.
Kind of a jigsaw, the way that it's
carved out,
the way the views are, and
speaking in tongues.
The second as
important
would define
that.
You had
to
have—.
Okay, well, we do have some listener questions.
I will read at least one of them before we go to our midway break, which is rapidly approaching.
We have Mike from Monroe, New York.
I have a similar testimony to Pastor Otis, and I was delivered by our Lord out of the charismatic movement
and eventually convinced that this was not biblical.
After finding the truth as it is in Jesus, I felt compelled to offer a witness to those
within the movement that this was not what Scripture taught concerning signs,
gifts, after the apostolic era, and the finalization of divine
revelation and authority of Scripture, which is the doctrine of sola scriptura in a nutshell.
Does Pastor agree that we who know the truth of this era ought to, in love,
address those who remain a part of it so that they may depart and
embrace the truth as we did?
Great question.
And there's
going to be
those
where we want
to snatch
them like brands out of the fire.
But at the same time, we want
to—maybe grappling with those distinctives in a
very—and one
of the things that I've
found—helping
the audience or the
internet, that that's going to be enough to change how a person
is thinking.
But
here's the part
that, in helping them
view the
biblical
analogy,
that that's
why
they
think they can
do that
in
the first
place.
So we're not even starting off with the same framework of how to
even read it in
the first place.
Like I have done in my own experience, you'll never land on anything
concrete.
Let's pick up where you left off, because we have to go into the midway break right now.
Let's not forget where you left off, because I think you were right in the middle of making some extremely valid points.
Thank you, Michael, in Monroe, New York.
And keep listening to the show, and keep spreading the word about Iron Trip and Zion Radio.
We're going to the midway break, folks, so please use this time wisely.
Write down as much of the information as you possibly can, provided by our advertisers, so that you can more frequently
and successfully respond to our advertisers, even if that just means thanking them for sponsoring the
program, if indeed you are grateful that our advertisers exist.
Because, folks, we absolutely rely upon our advertisers and the financial support that those
advertisements provide to remain on the air.
So if you really love this show and you're grateful that there are people keeping it on the air, thank our advertisers with the contact
information that they provide.
And also send in your email to Pastor Otis Buckley at chrisarnson at gmail
.com, chrisarnson at gmail .com.
Give us your first name at least, city and state and country of residence.
Don't go away.
We'll be right back.
Attention all men in ministry leadership.
You're all invited to my friend Chris Arnson's Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Free Pastors Luncheon,
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When Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005, the publishers of the New American
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This is Pastor Bill Sousa, Grace Church at Franklin, here in the beautiful state of Tennessee.
Our congregation is one of a growing number of churches who love and support Iron Sharpens
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Grace Church at Franklin is an independent, autonomous body of believers, which strives
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If you live near Franklin, Tennessee, and Franklin is just south of Nashville, maybe 10 minutes,
or you are visiting this area, or you have friends and loved ones nearby, we hope you will
join us some Lord's Day in worshiping our God and Savior.
Please feel free to contact me if you have more questions about Grace Church at Franklin.
Our website is gracechurchatfranklin .org, that's gracechurchatfranklin
.org.
This is Pastor Bill Sousa wishing you all the richest blessings of our Sovereign
Lord, God, Savior, and King, Jesus Christ, today and
always.
Hi, this is John Sampson, pastor of King's Church in Peoria, Arizona.
Taking a moment of your day to talk about Chris Arnson and the Iron Sharpens Iron podcast.
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I believe this podcast needs to be heard far and wide.
This is a day of great spiritual compromise, and yet God has raised Chris up for just such a time.
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I'm pleased to do so, and would like to ask you to prayerfully consider joining me in supporting Iron
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Give yourself unto reading.
The man who never reads will never be read.
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He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves that he has no brains of his own.
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Solid Ground Christian Books is a publisher and book distributor who takes these words of the Prince of Preachers to heart.
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Before I return to Pastor Otis Buckley and our conversation about his journey into
the doctrines of sovereign grace, we have just a couple more important announcements to make.
First of all, if you really love this show, folks, and you don't want it to disappear, I'm urging you please to go to
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So, if you're in that category, or if somebody that you love is in that category of not having a solid
church home, send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com, chrisarnson at gmail .com, and put
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Also, if you'd like to advertise with us, whether it's your business, whether it's your professional practice,
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Send in an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com, and put advertising in the subject line.
That's also the email address where you can send in a question for Pastor Otis Buckley on his journey
into the doctrines of sovereign grace.
That's chrisarnson at gmail .com.
Give us your first name at least, city and state, and country of residence, and only remain anonymous if your
question is a personal and private one.
Before we return to what we were last discussing, which was you were
highlighting the fact that before you understood the doctrines of sovereign grace by the mercy of God,
you and you believe most people in that category, before
being enlightened to these things, didn't even have the tools necessary
to rightly interpret the Word of God.
Before we continue with that, I want to also clarify something.
I'm sure our listener, Mike in Monroe, New York, would agree with this.
And I'm sure that Pastor Buckley agrees with this.
But we have to make sure that we are not broad -brushing all of
Pentecostals and Charismatics.
There is a wide spectrum of individuals and beliefs within that spectrum, some
which would be damnable because it's actually denying salvation by grace alone through faith
alone in Christ alone, and it is a works righteousness theology, which
Paul condemned in the book of Galatians as being no gospel at all.
But you have others who are believing in the same gospel that my guests and I
believe in, whether they be evangelical Arminians who have
a true gospel, or even those that believe in the doctrines of sovereign grace, who remain in the Charismatic
movement, such as Wayne Grudem, for instance, and
Sam Storms, for instance.
They are both thoroughgoing Calvinists.
And I have a dear friend now in heaven, Al Stein, who was an Assemblies of God bishop.
He was an overseer for all the churches in the Assembly of God on Long Island, New York, where I'm originally from.
He eventually, by God's grace, became a thoroughgoing five -point Calvinist,
and it's really a miracle that he was able to remain in ministry in the Assemblies of God.
And my friend Jim Capo, former pastor of the Massapequa Church of God on Long Island,
New York, he is a thoroughgoing five -point Calvinist.
So we can't broad brush all those folks that come under the umbrella of Pentecostal or
Charismatic, and certainly the majority do believe in the
Trinity and reject strongly the heresies of Oneness Pentecostalism.
And would you like to comment on anything I just said there, Pastor Otis?
Yeah, well,
is that
misunderstanding and misrepresenting?
Absolutely.
I'll also say this, too.
You know, it is, but
it is that the
doctrines
of God, they,
even in their
preaching, friends the other day
who are in
another, quite a few, more than
we are, and, you know, we can
say in those,
the understanding of the
sovereignty of God,
if God doesn't say, well, totally misunderstand.
I get calls all the time, messengers and inbox all the time, who are saying, hey,
you know, last week I got some questions
from the clutches
of evangelism.
Amen.
And so going back to where we left off, you were talking about, I don't know if you have anything to add to this,
that you're talking about a problem of, basically,
a lack of proper training in congregations on biblical hermeneutics,
how to even understand, to begin with, what the scriptures are
saying, if you want to pick up where you left off there.
Yeah, the
Bible does, that there are
proper hermeneutics to biblical, who
don't
quite,
revealing itself,
and
that's
when, if
we don't have
that understanding.
So we have to be wise on the front end to understand, does this person work with the proper biblical hermeneutics?
If not, then that's our story.
And I happen to know from experience, and having friendships with Pentecostal and
charismatic brothers and sisters over the decades I have been an evangelical Christian,
that there is a gross misunderstanding about what the doctrines of
sovereign grace really mean.
Going back to my friend, Pastor Al Stein, who is now in glory with
Christ for eternity, one of the ways that he was able to remain
in a pastoral leadership, and even becoming a bishop in the assembly of God,
is that when they required an annual doctrinal
statement to be signed, the issue over eternal security
was, by an amazing term of
events, you have Pastor Stein saying that he did not believe
that those could be truly saved without
producing good works as an evidence, and he called it evidential
security.
And they accepted that, his authorities in the assemblies of God,
because the term eternal security, unfortunately,
is twisted by many within evangelicalism, which
would convey the idea that you can live a completely repentant
-less life, live like Satan himself for the entirety of your
life, never repenting, and you will still go to heaven because of some
past experience at an altar call or raising your hand at Bible camp when you were
eight years old.
And many in the Pentecostal movement, especially when you're talking about old -school
Pentecostalism, would see that rightly as heresy.
And they don't understand, in the doctrines of sovereign grace, we
adhere to something called the perseverance and preservation of the saints, that although works
of men have absolutely nothing to do with us becoming a child of God, they have
nothing to do with our predestination, election, or regeneration, they are
a necessary evidence.
And so isn't that a big hurdle for many who are,
sadly, adopting a work -righteousness understanding of the gospel because
they really have perhaps never even been exposed to the right understanding of works
being a required evidence rather than a meritorious
cause of salvation?
Yeah, all right.
And it's for some
in the Pentecostal space.
So let me say this.
On the tail end, given just by my age,
but,
and
you can hear,
if he convicts us, that will then drive,
he
being
God,
that he goes one step further.
When we would have the benediction, the
benediction,
to God our Savior,
our man,
but here's
the thing.
We'll keep you from stumbling, or from
stumbling.
This is where biblical hermeneutics,
we are a liar and his truth is not in us.
That
is by
my own
ability, but I'm working
cooperatively with the Holy Spirit.
But even my cooperation in my sanctification is still powered
by the understanding that now I've got to get back to
justification.
How am I saved?
See, it's God in justification.
It's God in sanctification, and it's God in glorification.
And if I unplug any gospel, any one of those places, it throws the whole
thing off kilter, and now I'm trying to say, or I'm trying to earn rather, and I'm
saying, hey, it's up to me.
Even though I end the service with, now unto him.
So again, this biblical hermeneutics comes into right understanding.
So I may fall this
evening,
therefore no condemnation to those that
God,
see, it's again, God again.
So I've got to see God in every single aspect of
my glorification.
Contradictions that make me rethink the doctrines of sovereign grace, or should I say embrace the doctrines of sovereign grace, because
the stuff wasn't adding up.
Amen.
And we have Marvin in Los Angeles, California, a first -time questioner,
who says, I am a leader in a Latino church in Los Angeles.
As a leader there, I myself am not as well -versed in Reformed
theology as I should be.
And even less so in the case of most members of the church.
The small group I'm leading now is going through Votie Baucom's
expository apologetics.
He has a chapter about the importance of creeds, confessions, and catechisms.
For most of the people in the group, it was the first time they've ever interacted with that topic
at all.
It's like we're discovering our roots for the first time, where with the American Baptist denomination,
and for those of our listeners who are unfamiliar with that, the American Baptist denomination, although not every
congregation is liberal in apostate, there are quite a number of them, perhaps even most of
them in the 21st century, who would be leftist to the point of denying the
gospel and embracing homosexuality as a valid activity and so on.
That's my interjection here into Marvin's email.
I'm going through a book on Baptist history as well as getting familiar for the first time
with the 1689 Baptist Confession.
What baby steps would you take to try to get your church familiar with these foundations?
Any books you used?
And I'm going to leave his second question, or perhaps that's even his third or fourth
question, until after you respond to this.
I'm not even certain whether you are officially confessional as the church where I'm a member is, but
if you could respond to Marvin.
With regards to book recommendations,
one of
the things that's
really helpful
is
if you can provide clarification
in
an
effort...
Yeah, I'm a former Catholic, and my first hearing of those terms immediately transported me to
my Roman Catholic upbringing.
Why?
I'm not
saying that this
is the way to go.
I'm not saying that this is the best way to go.
I had to rewrite it.
Number one, I'm just shooting for something biblical, all right?
It's got to be biblical.
And that was a huge hurdle for me, and it took me probably two years to bring that about.
Which, by the way, be patient.
Be very patient.
He knows what he's doing.
He's working this out in and through you.
He has you there.
So that being said, I had to rework it.
This is in the Bible.
How to do that gracefully and graciously, because I have a church that will probably...
The Bible was very, very helpful for me.
Catechism,
talking
about certain
subjects, and that's the thing.
You've got to approach this semantically, right?
So approach this with not just sort of,
here it is, right?
Eternal security, effectual calling, these
sufficiencies,
I
believe.
And sometimes
you may just
have to
really help there.
I don't know if he's a pastor, as the lead pastor, or a teaching pastor or not.
I'm not sure what...
You don't want to do something that is irreverent or undermining to the leadership.
The Lord gives opportunity, and you find a theme in, say, the 1689 that
is being used to
substantiate
that statement, hang out there and don't attribute it
to the reference to Westminster
divines, because that sounds like a person's
divine.
And we'll have you answer Marvin's last question, or
questions, plural, when we come back from our final break.
It's going to be a lot more brief than the other breaks.
If you have a question to get in line with the other people still waiting, send it in immediately, because we're rapidly
running out of time.
Chrisarnson at gmail .com.
Chrisarnson at gmail .com.
Don't go away, we'll be right back.
James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries here, excited to announce that my longtime friend, Chris Arnson of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio
and I are heading to Washington, D .C. for the G3 Ministries Regional Conference on the theme,
Just Thinking About the Bible.
The conference will be held Thursday, September 15th through Saturday, September 17th.
I'll be speaking along with Stephen Lawson, Josh Weiss, founder of G3 Ministries, and Daryl Bernard
Harrison and Virgil Walker, co -hosts of the Just Thinking podcast.
To register, visit g3min .org, that's g3min .org, and click on Events.
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Stop by the Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Exhibitor booth and say hi to Chris Arnson while you're there.
Have you noticed the gap that exists between the Sunday morning sermon and the Sunday school classroom or the small
group study?
So often we experience great preaching from the pulpit, but when it comes time to study God's Word in those
smaller settings, well, let's be honest, it leaves a lot to be desired.
It seems like it is nearly impossible to find good curriculum out there today that is true to the Word of God and is
built upon sound doctrine, much less it's hard to find curriculum that will actually teach people how to
study the Bible.
Hi there, my name is Jordan Too, and I am the Executive Director of the Baptist Publishing House.
Our ministry is dedicated to providing local churches with sound Bible study resources.
Our quarterly curriculum is titled The Baptist Expositor.
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May God bless you.
Hello, my name is Anthony Uvinio, and I'm one of the pastors at Hope Reform Baptist Church in Quorum, New York, and
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I want you to know that if you enjoy listening to the Iron Sharpens Iron radio show like I do, you can now find it on the
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Again, I'm Pastor Anthony Invinio, and thanks for listening.
When
Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005, the publishers of the New American Standard
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It gives me joy knowing that many scholars and pastors in the Iron Sharpens Iron Radio audience have been
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If you love Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, one of the best ways you can help keep the show on the air is
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One such faithful advertiser who really believes in what Chris Arnzen is doing is
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James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here.
If you've watched my Dividing Line webcast often enough you know I have a great love for getting Bibles and other
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Call Lindbrook Baptist at 516 -599 -9402 That's 516 -599
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Attention all men in ministry leadership.
You're all invited to my friend Chris Arnzen's Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Free Pastor's Luncheon
Thursday, September 22nd, 11am to 2pm at Church of the Living Christ in Loisville,
Pennsylvania featuring me, James White of Alpha Omega Ministries your keynote speaker.
Not only will you enjoy a wonderful time of fellowship with your colleagues in ministry over a delicious meal but you'll also
receive dozens of free brand new books donated by Christian publishers all over the United States
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So if you're a pastor, an elder, a deacon a parachurch leader or any other man in ministry leadership
please register for the Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Free Pastor's Luncheon today by
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This is James White of Alpha Omega Ministries hoping to see you Thursday September 22nd,
11am to 2pm at Church of the Living Christ in Loisville, Pennsylvania for Chris Arnzen's
Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Free Pastor's Luncheon.
Welcome back.
Pastor Otis Buckley.
When we left the discussion to go to the last break
we have a listener in Los Angeles, California, Marvin who was asking about confessions and
creeds and let me just put my two cents in here briefly that I
have found it useful over the years when people have a militant anti
-creed or confession attitude I remind them that all these things are
summaries when they are good creeds and confessions they're summaries of what the Bible
teaches and everyone has a creed or confession it's just either good
or bad in fact my friend John Thornberry who is
retired from the pastoral ministry, a very prolific writer, especially on Baptist
history he used to be in the American Baptist Association where our listener,
Marvin, is still a member and he was reading in the official
denominational magazine that the American Baptist Association does not
believe in creeds or confessions and Pastor Thornberry wrote into the editor and said, do you
realize that's a confessional statement?
You're using human words to express something that you believe that's outside of the
canonical scriptures so anybody really has a creed and confession
if they write something down about their beliefs it's just either biblically faithful or
it's in fact if you really want to take a strict anti -creedal and
anti -confessional position, your minister should ascend into the pulpit,
just read the Bible and then sit down.
You shouldn't preach or exegete the scriptures which of course the Bible teaches
you must do if you're a faithful minister and even when somebody prays, they're using their
own words.
They might be quoting scripture in the prayer, but they're using their own words.
So that's just my two cents about that.
I don't know if you have any comment on that.
I wholeheartedly agree.
Amen.
Okay, Marvin says, was there resistance and I'm assuming he's talking about your
introducing sovereign grace to the congregation where you are especially from those who might be
more accustomed to a more emotional approach to church and are suspicious of too much doctrine.
Let me just throw in my two cents here.
I think that we in the Reformed Church could use a little more emotion in our worship service.
But anyway, if you want to pick up where Marvin's question ends there.
Yeah, oftentimes the thought is
I would definitely agree with you on that.
At the same time is to
hate things unless
they deny the
inerrancy of scripture, then
if they can see
helping bring,
if they you know, deny the
inerrancy, the infallibility because
that can be another
inerrancy.
Usually most reasonable people in the congregation will go, oh, I see it.
It's right there.
And that helps with them receiving it and moving forward with it.
Now, does there continue to be or was there any resistance from your congregation I think is what he's
specifically asking?
I'm sorry.
Wow.
Amen.
Okay, thank you Marvin.
And since you're a first time questioner, send me your full mailing address in Los Angeles, California because you've won a free New
American Standard Bible.
Compliments of the publishers of the NASB and also compliments of Cumberland Valley Bible Book
Service, cvbbs .com.
We'll be shipping that Bible out to you if you provide us with your full mailing address.
We have time for one last question.
Alex in Winter Park, Florida.
Can you ask Pastor Buckley how he navigates showing love and grace for members of his congregation
that might still be trying to understand the doctrines of grace while not being domineering and pushing
the position on the members of the church individually?
Yeah, I really
need to go
in a cage.
But because I counsel I
pray with individuals and
deal with them and comfort
them
in
various
ways above
all.
But if I came
and
expect...
I believe that was Benjamin Franklin who said that, if I'm not mistaken.
Was it?
Yeah, I think it was Benjamin Franklin that said that about Whitefield, why he keeps going to hear him preach.
The Holy Spirit really helps both to hear and meet the preacher.
And we are out of time, brother.
And I definitely want to have you come back.
I want to make sure our listeners have your website.
HPBibleChurch .org.
HP for high point.
BibleChurch .org.
Thank you so much, Pastor Otis Buckley for being a superb guest.
Thank you everyone who took the time to write in questions and those of you who listened.
I want you all to always remember for the rest of your lives, Jesus Christ is a far greater Savior than
you are a sinner.