My family is heading to Phoenix this week for three days of preaching services and a family day at the Grand Canyon. It will be not only a time to get away with family—something that every family should do regularly—but a spiritual recharge, too. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we will hear two to three sermons in the morning and one at night, so we are packing in a lot of Word in a short time!
Many of the preachers are my close friends—men I go to the Sharpening Week with, and men I call for advice. Men who pray for me and with me. Men that are trying to do what we are doing here—fulfilling the Great Commission! These are men who are philosophically on the same page as us, too. I love these men, because, together, we can do so much more than we can individually.
The Southern Baptist Convention has been going through some upheaval these past few years. We are not associated with them because many Southern Baptists are trying to move the group to a place I don’t want to be. Not only has there been debates among them about how much or little to embrace a “Woke Theology,” social gospel, or BLM, for example, but there are doctrinal debates, too. Bible versions and worship styles are not even issues worth talking about to them, and the Convention is split down the middle on Calvinism. They came down against women pastors and homosexual volunteers in churches, but not after some more debate. See what I mean, though? Some things are so clear in the Scriptures, I’m surprised there even IS a debate!
That’s why I like being an independent Baptist. We remain disconnected or unaffiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention because of distinct doctrinal and philosophical differences.
But that doesn’t mean we are SO independent that we never fellowship with anyone. I have appreciated our California Baptist churches banding together for things like summer camp, youth rallies, and other combined retreats. I love that we can support fellow California church plants. I want to do ALL we can to encourage anyone to reach souls for Christ in California!
Although we are independent, we are also interconnected, and that is a good thing! We can fellowship around the Gospel, and that’s what these meetings are about. Pray for safety as we travel, but also pray that God will stir our spirits with His Word. —Pastor Ryan