{"id":43545,"date":"2014-09-20T18:49:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-20T23:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=43545"},"modified":"2022-02-22T18:52:41","modified_gmt":"2022-02-23T00:52:41","slug":"should-i-leave-the-baptist-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-leave-the-baptist-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I leave the Baptist church?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

I’ve been up since 5 this morning wrestling through scriptures, websites, my pastor’s teaching from three Wednesday nights ago entitled “Is baptism required or necessary for salvation” and emails from a close friend (who is a Baptist) who is trying to help me study the Scripture.\u00a0 I asked several questions that night at Bible study and challenged several of their tenets.\u00a0\u00a0Since that time I feel as though our relationship has become different. I don’t believe they are interested in studying it any further with me.\u00a0 My heart is hurting because we are members there and love them dearly and had always felt loved by them.\u00a0 As the father in my family, I am at a loss about what to do.\u00a0 I skipped Bible study this past week because I have zero interest in the topic they are studying when this is weighing so heavy on my heart.<\/p>\n

It isn’t just a baptism issue.\u00a0\u00a0 It’s an issue of taking a hardcore belief and then blatantly misreading and ignoring Scripture to hold on to that belief.\u00a0\u00a0 What I hear is doublespeak and talking out of both sides of one’s mouth.\u00a0 I found a preacher on YouTube from the churches of Christ.\u00a0 I ordered a copy of his study guide and agree with it wholeheartedly.<\/p>\n

I couldn’t believe it when I typed in my search and your site came up.\u00a0 I don’t know even what help to ask for, but if I sat down to write my testimony it would sound like\u00a0what you have in yours<\/a>\u00a0right now, although I am a bald special education teacher rather than a guitar player.\u00a0 However,\u00a0 my favorite band is Disciple.\u00a0 I hope we can have a conversation.\u00a0 Thank you for creating this site and sharing your story.<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

Mike’s article was originally published in a magazine called\u00a0Biblical Insights. The article did not have his full name, only his email address. I’m sorry that it is no longer working. I edited the copy I have so that others don’t run into the same problem.<\/p>\n

While I’m not Mike, I would be happy to talk with you, or if you would like, I can put you in touch with a preacher in your area (just let me know what town you live close to).<\/p>\n

If I may, I would like to recommend a book that you will find very useful to your studies. It is called\u00a0Muscle and a Shovel<\/a>\u00a0by Michael Shank. I know, a strange title, but it is explained toward the end of the book. Brother Shank also left the Baptist church and this book explains why in a very clear, easy, and engaging way.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: I’ve been up since 5 this morning wrestling through scriptures, websites, my pastor’s teaching from three Wednesday nights ago entitled “Is baptism required or necessary for salvation” and emails from a close friend (who is a Baptist) who is trying to help me study the Scripture.\u00a0 I asked several questions that night at Bible…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1388],"class_list":["post-43545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptist-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61080,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-i-left-the-baptist-church-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":43545,"position":0},"title":"Why I Left the Baptist Church (Stevens)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Grover Stevens No Animosity For Baptists I would like to say in the beginning that I have no animosity whatsoever against Baptists. Personally, I have no reason for leaving the Baptist church, but quite to the contrary, if personal reasons counted, I would never have left the Baptist Church,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19572,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-i-left-the-baptist-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":43545,"position":1},"title":"Why I Left the Baptist Church ()","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 3, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"via\u00a0Biblical Insights, April 2005, pp 20,21 There's a proverb that says, \"A wise man learned from the mistakes of others; a fool learns only from his own.\" When asked to prepare a short treatise on my conversion, I jumped at the opportunity to do so. 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His background is Baptist and when I asked him was he baptized for the remission of sins\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2450,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-a-baptist-be-rebaptized-even-though-he-says-he-was-baptized-for-the-right-reason\/","url_meta":{"origin":43545,"position":3},"title":"Must a Baptist be rebaptized even though he says he was baptized for the right reason?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was raised in the church of Christ. I am married to someone who was raised in the Baptist church. She has no problem with going to church with me. But she doesn't think that she should be baptized again. She says that she was baptized for the same\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60134,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-help-my-girlfriend-see-the-importance-of-pure-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":43545,"position":4},"title":"How do I help my girlfriend see the importance of pure worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 31, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I grew up in the church of Christ and my girlfriend grew up with a Baptist denominational background. When we started dating, she began coming to church with me. We talked about the differences and she claimed to have been saved at a younger age even though she was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22932,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-acts-238-heresy\/","url_meta":{"origin":43545,"position":5},"title":"Is Acts 2:38 Heresy?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Tommy Thornhill \"Jesse L. Sewell was born in Overton County, TN in 1818. He grew up in a Baptist community and became a Baptist preacher of some note in his native county. 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