Who You Associate With Is Who You Become

You might be familiar with this passage - Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? (Matt. 7:16, 17-20)

When it comes to religious folks, Jesus said, We shall know them by their fruits.

A Biblical Church - Is hard to find

When seeking out a good church etc.. we need to consider more things than simply demographics, popularity, and location.

We need to ASK - Is it built on the right spiritual precepts?

After 70 AD and after the Apostles had passed - either by martyrdom or natural death - Christianity fell into the hands of the Catholics.

The Catholic church had a strong grip on Christian faith for centuries and even the emperors attempted to re-write the bible, hence the Reformation:

1. Methodists

2. Baptists

3. Presbyterians etc..

Now, Baptist don't like to be considered as one of the Reformers as it ties them back to the Catholic Church, hence Briders are trying to re-write history today through Landmarkism and Brider Movements.

Whether the Baptist came out of the Catholic church or whether they came after the Baptist Forerunners, the Baptist were different.

For one they had no baggage of the Catholic Church unlike Anglicans, Presbyterians and so on... they were different.

One time, Baptist talked and walked the same way.

What's Changed Now

Issue	Then	Now
Doctrine	Mostly unified around core Baptist distinctives - 1920's	Wide range: Calvinist to Arminian, conservative to progressive
Worship	Hymns, plain preaching, reverence - God fearing (Pro. 1:7)	Everything from traditional to rock bands and stage lights
Discipline	Regular, sometimes strict	Rarely preached in many modern Baptist Churches
Culture	Unified cultural values	Politically and socially diverse
Identity	Clear separation from other denominations	Many blend in with broader evangelicalism

When Baptist bore fruit, you could tell the TREE in-which they came from. A Baptist was a Baptist through and through.

They not only knew the BAPTIST DISTINCTIVE's, they LIVED it. (Hearers and Doers)

But today, the standards for which they grip their King James Bible is also divisive.

Three distinct views

1. King James onlyism

2. King James preferred

3. King James + Greek/Hebrew reference

If you are King James onlyism, you most likely fall under the category of staunch Baptist, e.g. Baptist Ruckmanites.

If you are King James preferred, you most likely have an understanding of the King James history, e.g. God Wrote Only One Bible - Jasper James Ray - best English Bible of today.

The King James Tree

1. King James Version

2. Beza Bible 1604

3. Bishop's Bible 1550

4. Geneva Bible 1560

5. Etc..

If you are King James + Greek/Hebrew, you most likely fall under the category of Academic, scholar etc.. hence you have a desire to go deeper.

Who you hang out with matters

Baptist might certainly be divided on all points but who you hang out with matters.

1. If you hang out with Calvinist what do you become? Calvinist

2. If you hang out with Briders what do you become? Brider

3. If you hang out with Catholics what do you become? Catholic

4. If you hang out with ... what do you become? ...

And so on and so on...

God is not interested in how popular you are, or whether you spend time with the most influential people on earth, or how well you present your testimony on Social Media: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter/X.com, Instagram etc..

He wants to know about you personally...

Three things God wants you to know

Wherever you are at in your Christian faith, here are three things God wants you to know.

1. You can be saved - Rom 3:23, Rom. 6:23, Rom. 10:9, 10:13

2. You can grow in knowledge - Pro. 1:7, Ecc. 12:13, Pro. 15:5

3. You can walk in God's grace - 1 John 2:3-6, Eph. 4:14-16

Romans 10:13 - For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.