Thu, 17 May 2012 06:43:54 -0600WeeblySun, 29 Apr 2012 19:41:20 -0600http://www.solidrockbaptist.net/2/post/2012/04/bible-institute.html"Satellite School" of Gulf Coast Bible Institute at Solid Rock Baptist Church

I want to let you know about the latest thing we are doing here at Solid Rock Baptist Church. 

As you know who know me, or who have read my bio on the website, I graduated from Pensacola Bible Institute (PBI)  in 1984 with a Bachelor of Divinity degree, and then YEARS later received my Master of Biblical Studies degree from Gulf Coast Baptist Bible Institute and Seminary (GCBI) out of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, in 2008. 

I have been good friends with the head of GCBI, Dr. Harold Tabb, since 1979. My wife was his secretary and our marriage was the first wedding he performed in his ministry. Dr. Tabb also preached my ordination at Bible Baptist Church in Pensacola back in 1986. 

As a pastor of a local church, you want to feed the flock of God the best you can. A church family of ours who is enrolled in GCBI suggested that, to help them, and also benefit the church, I should teach the GCBI material at church. For years I have thought about doing this as a satellite of GCBI, but did not because I thought we needed to do it on another night rather than a regular church service. Why, I don't know, but when they made their suggestion, I thought: why didn't we do that before? Dummy me, I suppose. 

Following up on "the suggestion," I called Dr. Tabb on the phone and told him what we would like to do. This is really one of the options that he allows for, as he wants the Bible Institute to be a ministry of the local church. So the bottom line is that we are now teaching through the GCBI curriculum in our Sunday afternoon services, and advertising ourselves as a "SATELLITE SCHOOL" of the Gulf Coast Baptist Bible Institute & Seminary.  

We hope that our church family that is officially enrolled will continue on to earn their degree, and then get see them graduate with their Graduate of Theology degree in Fort Walton Beach in the next couple of years. And of course, we also hope that others will see the benefit and challenge of earning a Bible degree, and decide to enroll as well. As a satellite school, ALL WE DO IS TEACH THE MATERIAL and serve as ministers of the word of God to teach, and to be available to answer questions and clarify the Scriptures. We have nothing to do with the finances or grading or granting of degrees, or any administrative functions. That is strictly handled by GCBI if a person decides they want to enroll in the Bible Institute.  

For those who don't feel the need to "earn a degree," no problem. You will still benefit from the Bible material that is taught and so will our church. It will make you a more knowledgeable Christian and a better, more mature church member. And that is what all our churches need. We would like to have some "home-grown" servants of the Lord here at Solid Rock Baptist, that we can be a better church to bring honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ in our community and throughout the world.

Please PRAY FOR US as we endeavor to educate God's People in God's Word.

Sincerely for Christ and His Cause,

Pastor David Martin

]]>Mon, 04 Jul 2011 10:14:05 -0600http://www.solidrockbaptist.net/2/post/2011/07/whats-your-excuse.htmlWhat's Your Excuse, 21st Century Modern American Christian????
According to one of Chuck Colson's most recent Breakpoint articles -
 
"The [Chinese] Communist government views Christianity as a threat to its authority. They tolerate churches that submit to government control, but churches independent of the state face serious persecution.

"This year, pressure from the government deprived the unregistered Shouwang Church and its 1,000 members access to the building it had rented for worship. Similar tactics have been used to shut down unregistered churches in other cities. But the Shouwang church refused to cave. Instead of going home as the government hoped, members began holding open air services in nearby plazas.

"On Easter Sunday (2011) the [Chinese] government took action. Police prevented 500 church members from leaving their homes, detained dozens, and placed several leaders under house arrest."

Would the Chinese Communist Police have to come to the modern 21st century American Christian's house to stop them from going to church? If they did, they would have to knock real loud, then probably batter the door down, and go in and wake them up to let them know they were not allowed to go to church that day. So much for the modern 21st century American Christian.
 
If you are one of the lame, lazy American 'Christians' who don't go to church anyway, there is probably a Chinese Christian who would love to trade places with you: you could still stay home (in China) and he/she could go to church here in America (without being really persecuted).
 
But since that is impossible, and you wouldn't do it anyway, the least you could do is to do what many a Chinese Christian would love to do but cannot - go to church in his place, out of respect for a brother "in bonds" (Heb. 13:2) who cannot do what you take for granted and treat so lightly.
 
"Those who practice casual Christianity become Christian casualties." - Bro. Martin ]]>Sun, 19 Jun 2011 16:21:32 -0600http://www.solidrockbaptist.net/2/post/2011/06/its-hard-being-a-christian-in-21st-century-america.htmlFaithful Christians!

That is what America and its churches  need --- men and women  who consistently read their Bibles,  pray,  witness, and attend church every week, and support the work of God with their giving. But in 21st century America you know its hard to be a faithful Christian. There are alot of  people who "say" they are "Christians" in America, but you wouldn't know it by their habits of life. But a real, genuine, consistent Christian in America? A faithful Christian in 21st century America? Well, you know, it's really HARD to be one of those kinds of Christians.  I mean, to get out of bed on Sunday morning and go to church? That means a person would have to go to bed early on Satuday night, and that would interfere with TV viewing, video games, or internet surfing. That would be such a HARDSHIP on the 21st century American "Christian."  To read the Bible everyday? How can a person find the time to do that in these modern days in which we live? Or to actually set aside time to pray? (What would Bill Maher think?) Or to pass out a Gospel tract to someone and ask them if they are saved and invite them to church? They might think a body was some kind of religious nut.  I mean, those are things that a person has to MAKE themselves do. That would require self-discipline, and you know, that is not what 21st century American "Christians" are all about.  "Saved," well, yes, of course, why should anyone doubt that? But, "committed?"  --- no way.  It is just way too HARD to be a faithful Christian in 21st century America. 

It is so much HARDER in America to live the consistent Christian life; I mean look at what the average "Christian" has to contend with here in America. It is not a bit like living the Christian life in some other country, say NIGERIA for instance. Just read about how EASY the Christian folks have it there in the following true story from this year. (If only it was this easy here in America, 21st century American "Christians" could be faithful, too.)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

KURUM, Nigeria (Compass Direct News, 5/12/2011) — As she lay on the ground after being shot and then slashed with a machete, Dune James Rike looked into her husband’s tear-filled eyes and asked, “Is this the end between us, so we shall not be together again?”

 Pastor James Musa Rike told Compass he held the hands of his dying, 35-year-old wife and told her, “Hold on to your faith in Jesus, and we shall meet and never part again.”

Muslim extremists who attacked Kurum village, in the Bogoro local government area of Nigeria’s Bauchi state, had already killed two of the couple’s children in a rampage that began Wednesday (May 4) at midnight. Rike, pastor of a Christian congregation in Kurum, next heard the cries of his 13-year-old daughter, Sum James Rike, a few yards away.

“I rushed to my daughter, only to discover that she too was cut with a machete on her stomach, and her intestines were all around her,” he said. “I held her hand and began to pray, knowing she too was about to die. She told me that the Muslim militants told her they would kill her and “see how your Jesus will save you.”

The girl told her father that she responded by telling them that Jesus had already saved her, and that by killing her they would only be making it possible for her to be with Him. Pastor Rike prayed for her as she died.

Shooting and setting homes on fire, the Muslim extremists killed 12 other Christians in the attack. Bauchi police reported 16 people dead – one man, three women and 12 children.

Pastor Rike said that when the attackers reached his house, they tried to force their way into their bedrooms.

“I opened a backdoor, and we ran out into the dark night while the militants pursued us,” he said. “They shot my wife and two of our kids as they tried to escape.”

Pastor Rike said that after killing the two children (one of them 1 year old) the assailants cut his wife’s abdomen with a machete.

"I was shocked at what I saw,” he said. “I knew my wife would not last long, and the only thing I did was to encourage her to hold on to her faith in Jesus.”

The Muslim extremists set more than 20 houses ablaze before leaving the village, he said.

Pastor Rike and his son survived the attack, and he said his adopted daughter was injured and receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Bogoro. He said five others others were also receiving hospital treatment.

The Muslim jihadists also stole money and the other valuables from the Christian village as they withdrew, church sources said.

The area has a history of sectarian violence, and the attack follows the death of hundreds of people in Bauchi and other northern states last month after Muslims rioted over the April 16 election of a Christian, Goodluck Jonathan, as president. He defeated a Muslim candidate, Muhammadu Buhari. More than 200 church buildings were burned.

Northern Nigeria climbed to 23rd place in 2010 from 27th in 2009 on Christian support organization Open Doors’ World Watch List of nations with the worst persecution.

The church where Pastor Rike ministers has about 30 members and has been in existence for more than 50 years. Those killed were members of the three churches in the village – the COCIN church, St. John’s Catholic Church and an Evangelical Church of West Africa congregation.

Pastor Rike said the incident has strengthened his faith in Jesus.

“Whatever is the situation, I will never forsake Christ,” he said.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Yep, 21st century American "Christians" have it got it rough; I mean, it really is HARD being a faithful Christian in the good old USA these days.  While some of our 21st century American "Christians" were laying out of church for some lame excuse this year,  real Christians were literally being chopped to pieces by Satan's soldiers.  But I know - these  American "Christians" are having a tough time, too, what with the gas prices being what they are and their cable TV reception having intermittent problems and all.

But just maybe we'll see some of those 21st century "Christians"  at church next time they can drag their lazy carcasses out of bed on a Sunday morning. Oh - and if they can't, there is always Sunday night or Wednesday night service to attend. Oh, but, I forgot ----  that would be HARD for them, too, wouldn't it?

Peace and Love, brothers and sisters. ]]>Thu, 24 Mar 2011 13:30:02 -0600http://www.solidrockbaptist.net/2/post/2011/03/saturday-night-soul-patrol.html Hi there Folks ---

Over the recent weekend, our church went to downtown Memphis on the famous Beale Street, on a “Soul Patrol” mission. That is what I call our street evangelism ministry. Jesus said He came to “seek and save that which was lost” and so that is what we were doing downtown – patrolling the area for lost souls in need of the Good News of Salvation. We arrived about 6:45 PM while it was still daylight. After parking our car and grabbing our Scripture signs (lightweight plastic signs with appropriate verses front and back) and loading up on Gospel tracts, we headed for Beale Street where the people were gathering for their “night on the town.” We began passing out tracts to those who would take them, and holding our signs up for all to see. It was a good night on patrol. Most people took our tracts; there were the usual no-takers, and a few hoots and hollers to try and rattle us. We were fools (for Jesus) in the midst of fools.

We had prayed that God would lead us to those He was dealing with about their soul’s salvation, and we met a few who were close the kingdom of God.

One young man came up to me, looking at my scripture sign. I asked if he liked it and he said yes, and I offered him a tract, and started to talk to him. About that time his cousin, a girl of about 13, came up and stood by him. Come to find out they both went to a Baptist church with their parents back in Oklahoma. I got the impression that he was not saved, and so I asked him about it. He told me he had heard the Gospel, but was not saved. His cousin chimed in and volunteered that she was saved, with a big smile on her face. So I looked at him and asked him: “If you know how to be saved, and go to a Baptist church, why aren’t you saved yet?” He said it was because he didn’t want to get saved and then mess up. I gave him a few verses: “Behold, TODAY is the day of salvation,” and “God commands all men every where NOW to repent.” He looked at me and said, as serious as could be: “Are you saying that I should get saved now?” I said, “Yes.” And he seemed very close to calling on the Lord right then and there. I told him that if he believed that God was dealing with him about his soul that he should open the door of his heart to Christ (Rev. 3:20) and be saved. Right at that time his Mom hollered at him from the corner to come on, they were leaving. So he had to go. I quickly told him to consider what we talked about, and to get alone later and call on the name of the Lord Jesus to save and forgive him. He thanked me, said he would, and then had to go. Pray for this young man.

During the course of the night, I was able to minister comfort to a woman whose daughter was killed in a car wreck last year at the age of 21 while riding with her drunken boyfriend. I was able to witness to her, and encourage her to get into a Baptist church back home in Arkansas.

Another fellow I spoke with had “all the answers.” He was a bit intoxicated, and I asked if he was sober enough to talk to, and he assured me he was.  He invited me to sit down and talk, then accused me of harassing him when I began to quote the Bible to him in our “conversation,” and asked me to leave.  He had become a bit more intoxicated in the 10 minutes we talked. At least he took a Gospel tract and stuck in his pocket. I hope he was wondering where he was "last night" when he woke  up the next morning.

One young man engaged me in discussion about Jesus Christ when he saw my scripture sign, which had John 14:6 on it – “Jesus saith, I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He disagreed with the verse and told me that Jesus was of “no significance to him.” Turns out he was a Jew who spoke Hebrew. We discussed what the Bible said about the Jewish Messiah. He said he believed the Messiah was yet to come, but did not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah. We had a decent conversation for about 25 minutes, and when we finished he took a tract that explained the 10 commandments and the Gospel.

There was an older black man from Alabama who went to a Baptist church but didn’t agree with all they said. He saw one of our men’s signs, pointed to it, and asked me about it. It was Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” He wanted to know how believing alone can save since James said the devils believe, too. We talked a bit, and he told me to open my Bible to James 2:19, and tell him what I thought it meant. His wife called for him three times in 5 minutes, but he wasn’t leaving without my answer. I pointed out that the devils in that verse believed in one GOD, but that Acts 16:31 says that salvation is by believing, not just that God exists, but putting faith in God’s SON for salvation. You could see the light come on! His face lit up, and he said with a big smile: “That’s it!” I think he got it.

Got to witness to a truck driver from Kansas City and a lady from New York City.

All in all, it was a good night. Several Christians gave us all encouraging words and told us to “keep up the good work.” All of us had requests to take our pictures holding the Scripture signs. A tourist told one of our men she wanted to show her friends back home that people "still do this stuff."  It was a tremendous blessing to be literal “ambassadors for Christ” that night (2 Cor. 5:20).

Please pray for us and those we ministered to that night.

God

]]>Thu, 10 Mar 2011 22:55:19 -0600http://www.solidrockbaptist.net/2/post/2011/03/are-you-a-forgetful-hearer.html You know, the Bible says that true Christian faith comes from us “hearing” the word of God (Rom. 10:17). How is your faith today? It all depends upon you “hearing” the word of God. Have you heard the word of God lately? Have you heard it this week? Have you heard it this month? Have you even “read” your Bible, much less “heard” it preached lately? Your Christian faith, your spiritual life, depends on taking in the word of God, and feeding your soul on the words of God. As a matter of fact, Jesus said that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4) So the Bible is vital to our spiritual lives and Christian faith. Unfortunately, there are too many professing Christians who are not regular hearers of the word of God.

Whether you are a faithful church attender or not (and you should be), I have a question for you: Are you a “forgetful hearer?” If you heard the sermon last Sunday, what have you done with it? If you can’t remember the last time you heard a good Bible sermon at church, then you certainly haven’t done much with what you heard then. Are you are “forgetful hearer”? That term comes from the New Testament book of JAMES, where he says in chapter 1, verses 21-25:

“21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and RECEIVE WITH MEEKNESS THE ENGRAFTED WORD, which is able to save your souls. 22 But BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT HEARERS ONLY, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a FORGETFUL HEARER, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”

Some of you may have heard the word in the past, but you have forgotten that word. Some of us content ourselves that because we do go to church every week, that we are okay, but that word we hear hasn’t really changed us much. It is easy to be a “forgetful hearer” with all the distractions around us, but we will suffer the consequences of neglecting the word of God. We risk missing the BLESSING OF GOD on our lives when we ignore what God has to say to us.

The problem with many is what James says – they hear the word, recognize what God is saying to them, and that they need to make some changes, but they walk away from the preaching of the word, like walking away from a mirror, and “forget what manner” of person they are and what God wants them to be, and choose to be a “forgetful hearer.” That is a terrible mistake.

If you neglect the word of God and ignore what it says, the Bible says that you deceive yourself. In the future all Christians will stand before God and render an account for our Christian service, and in that day, all that we may have forgotten will be brought to our attention by the Lord himself. I admonish you: don’t deceive yourself, don’t walk away from the truth of God, and don’t miss out on God’s blessing for your life. 

It would behoove all of us to be  “doers” of the Word.

Bro. Martin ]]>Sat, 05 Mar 2011 17:39:35 -0600http://www.solidrockbaptist.net/2/post/2011/03/backslidden-stay-in-church-anyhow.htmlI was talking with one of our church members recently, and he said that the best place to be if you are backslidden is in church. I couldn't agree more! You know, we all get backslidden now and then. At any given time we could be "backslidden," which simply means that we are not doing right like we ought.  Technically, to be backslidden is to be "out of fellowship" with the Lord. When you go to church in a backslidden condition, it is like going to visit your daddy when you know you all aren't getting along. You do it because you love him, and he wants to see you. It can be uncomfortable, but it reminds you that you are still related, and that you should be getting along iwth each other. In the case of God, we know He is right, and we are the ones who are in the wrong. But it still does you good to come to His house every week. If you don't then you get "out of touch" with Him, and it's harder to come around His house. The family begins to talk, and so do the neighbors. They wonder why "so and so's" boy or girl don't come around to the house much these days. In God's family, the same holds true. The answer is, of course, that the Christian who doesn't come around the Father's house is out of fellowship with God, and this leads to him or her being out of fellowship with fellow believers. The backslidden Christian sometimes says that he can worship God at home just as well as at church, but that would be like saying that you can pay your respects to your Dad by not ever going around to see him at his house. Strange isn't it, how being backslidden can warp your thinking, especially when you are trying to make excuses. The thing to do is quit making excuses, and own up to your backslidden condition, and then get back to regular visits to your heavenly Father's house. which is the local church you belong to. Just like you need to visit the family you belong to on earth, you need to make frequent stops into God's house on earth. So, if you are backslidden, whatever you do, DON'T quit church. The worst thing you can do is to stay away from your spiritual family. Think about this: every day or week you miss church, you are that much more farther from God. Regular attendance keeps you closer to God, reminds you of your responsibilities, and feeds your spiritual man. So I recommend that you do what I do whenever I am backslidden ---- just keep reading your Bible, keep praying, and stay in fellowship with your Christian family by staying faithful to church. Better to be backslidden and in church, than backslidden and out of church, I say.

Bro. Martin ]]>Wed, 09 Feb 2011 07:15:30 -0600http://www.solidrockbaptist.net/2/post/2011/02/first-post.htmlWell, it's about time!  The old 'new' site was starting to look a little dated, so we've decided to freshen things up a little.  If you run across any broken links, jot us a note through the Contact link. ]]>