Between 1776 and the mid-1800s, the number of Baptists in the United States grew at a staggering rate, rising from fifty thousand at the outbreak of revolution to more than a million as the nation edged toward civil war. As the Second Great Awakening swept through the Old Southwest, it generated religious enthusiasm among Methodist and Baptist converts who were intent upon replacing old forms of Protestantism with an evangelical vibrancy that reflected and often contributed to the unsettled social relations of the new republic. No place was better suited to embrace this enthusiasm than Kentucky. In Born of Water and Spirit, Richard C. Traylor explores the successes and failures of Baptists in this area, using it as a window into the elements of Baptist life that transcended locale. Traylor argues that the achievements of Baptists in Kentucky reflect, in many ways, their success and coming of age in the early national period of America. The factionalism that characterized frontier Baptists, he asserts, is an essential key to understanding who the colonial Baptists had been, who they were becoming in the late eighteenth through the mid-nineteenth centuries, and who they would become after the Civil War. In this highly nuanced study, Traylor looks at the denomination in light of what he calls its "Baptist impulse"-the movement's fluid structure and democratic spirit. These characteristics have proven to be its greatest strength as well as the source of its most terrible struggles. Yet, confronting theological clashes, along with the challenges that come with growth, forged the Baptist identity and shaped its future. The first three chapters examine the primary elements of the impulse: rituals of conversion, baptism, and communion; the Baptist preacher; and the significance of the local church to the sect. Following these chapters are explorations of the reformations and forces of change in the early to mid-1800s, the role of women and African Americans in developing the group, and the refinement and reorientation of priorities from 1840 to 1860. This important denominational history will be of great value to scholars of American religious history and the history of the early American republic.

The Perversion and Subversion of John 3:16 reveals a rancid putrid cancer in the Christian realm today. The Bible is being rewritten and reinterpreted in the new versions. Ancient heresies cloaked in a new garb have found a new venue. A battle for true Biblical Christianity rages out of sight and mind of the average Christian. This book documents, without a doubt, the most important Christian issue in our time. It is time for Bible believing Christians to return to our true Biblical heritage and take a firm stand with our traditional conservative Biblical faith.

A Theological Interpretation of John's First Letter

Title: LIVING IN THE PRESENCE AND PRINCIPLES OF CHRIST As believers, we have a responsibility to set the example for Kingdom living here on earth. God created us in His image so that we could live in harmony with His plan for our life's journey. As you probably know, His first creation failed the obedience test. Are we going to make the same mistake? The world would not have an "identity crisis" if we returned to Christ, our redeemer. It is not enough to just exist in His presence; we have to live by his principles also if we desire to enjoy an abundant life. The essential premise of this book is to enlighten and encourage believers and non-believers to have confidence in the truth that we are deeply loved, highly valued, and totally significant to God. When we recognize whose we are, then we will accept who we are as children of God. 1 John 4:17 says," Love has been perfected among us in this: as He is so are we in this world." My desire is to empower and compel the body of Christ to advance to the next realm of their Kingdom assignment. First, we have to receive the revelation that we are loved and highly favored before we can live effectively in the manifestation of His promises and principles. My hope is to saturate you with the love of the Lord so that the enemy will have no place. Our spirit was transformed when we were born again, but our soul (mind, will, and emotions) constantly need renewing to keep us from returning to the "old man" again. These inspirational pages will increase your desire to have a Spirit-filled encounter with Jesus. You will have an unquenchable thirst to be made whole in every area of your life-spirit, soul, and body. Hopefully, you will live the highest level of life possible as you learn to truly appreciate living in His presence while being guided by His principles. Dr. Bell has written this profound book of empowerment to enlighten and encourage you to recapture the place of prominence that God intended for you. The idea is for you to regain the greatness that has been overlooked due to the world's view of who you are. After reading this inspiring and personal tribute about living each day in God's loving presence, you will have greater appreciation and a desire to live by His principles also. In this book you will discover: Why God Designed you in His Image Your Predestined Life of Victory Reborn to Reign Blessed by Abundance

A delightful description of a dedicated God-fearing family as missionaries on full-time deputation, through the eyes of a child It's not all fun...and this little girl portrays her experiences with a humble, matter-of-fact manner. Adorable Enjoy

IN these sermons on the times, the reader will discover that I am not entering into the intricacies of interpreting prophecy. Rather, these awful days through which we are passing are viewed in the light of those Scriptures which reveal the broad, general trend of God's purposes as revealed in His Word. The main burden of the book is God's call to revival among His people.

James Wm. McClendon, Jr. was the most important "baptist" theologian of the twentieth century. McClendon crafted a systematic theology that refused to succumb to the pressures of individualism, grew out of the immediacy of preaching the text, and lamented the stunted public witness of a fractured Protestant ecclesiology.

This two-volume set mixes previously unpublished and published lectures and essays with rare and little known works to form a representative collection of the essential themes of McClendon's work. The first volume focuses on the philosophical and theological shifts leading to McClendon's articulation of the baptist vision. The second volume specifically elucidates the more philosophical themes that informed McClendon's work, including ways in which these themes had immediate theological import. Taken together, the set provides the most comprehensive presentation of McClendon's work now available, revealing the sustained and systematic character of his vision over the course of his life. These two volumes will provide scholars, preachers, and students with McClendon's radical, narrative, and connective theology.

When we enter the life of the early Church, we find them eating their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God. We follow Paul from prison to prison, but his shout is, "Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say, Rejoice" Evidently emotion had not been outlawed among the saints in those days. Today the same church member who yells like a Comanche Indian at a football game sits like a wooden Indian in the house of God on Sunday. When David danced before the returning ark his wife despised him and was smitten with barrenness. Today happy Christians are frowned upon by those dismal souls who thus proclaim their spiritual barrenness. In the temple Pharisees complained because the children cried their "hosannas" around the Saviour (Matthew 21: 12-16). Hilarious, child-hearted Christians have always brought down the scorn of those who measure piety by the length of the face.

EVER since I wrote By the Still Waters, while a country pastor, I have longed to write more in the same vein. Friends who say they were blessed by those rustic sketches have encouraged me to write a companion volume, but a city pastorate of five years and many preaching journeys over the land have not provided a suitable setting for rural reflections. One cannot write of these things in a hotel room. It has become possible through circumstances, evidently the Lord's leading, to spend a few autumn weeks in the old home in the hills. No sooner had this opportunity opened before me than I felt impressed to return to my first love and resume the trail of reflections I left in the Carolina lowlands. Then it was the low country, and now it is the hills, but both are Carolina and both are "countrified" and I trust the theme in both cases is common to hearts everywhere. A few of these sketches were published with some changes in the Charlotte (N. C.) Observer, and grateful acknowledgement is hereby made for permission to reprint them. But all of them are FOREWORD A skin, and in these simple matters that abide time makes little difference. They are sent forth to the glory of our Lord Who spoke the colorful language of the outdoors and Who bade His disciples of old, "Come ye yourselves apart and rest awhile." V. H. Greensboro, N. C.

God's Word says, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (II Timothy 2:15). Rightly dividing or being able to understand God's Word will require study. This book is designed to assist you in studying God's Word. Fifty-two major doctrines of the Bible are outlined in four separate books. Each chapter examines a different Bible doctrine. The chapters are written in such a way to help you thoroughly understand the doctrines--without needing a seminary degree. If you want to be an approved workman unto God, this book will help you accomplish that goal The thirteen chapters of Book Three covers: Hell, Trinity, God the Father, God the Son (2), God the Holy Spirit (2), The Gift of Tongues, Bible Memorization, Sanctification, Angels (2), and The Second Coming of Christ.

"Timeless or trendy? Malls are trendy. Church should be timeless." The opening words of the popular campaign "Still Church" serve as the launch point for the e-book A CASE FOR BEING TIMELESS. Change sweeps across every aspect of life. Church should be a place where people can come and not feel tossed around by every new current in culture. Church should be anchored. It should stand firm. Some churches fail because they never change, but they never explain to the next generation why. Some churches fail because they DO change. We choose to not change. On purpose. With reason. We like the old paths, and we have no reason to leave them. In fact, we have every reason to remain true to them. A CASE FOR BEING TIMELESS is a 3-part book that makes a case for churches remaining on the old, fundamental paths on which they began rather than constantly changing in order to keep up with fads. The three parts (What, Why, and How) to the book make a compelling case for why our generation of youth should choose to be passionate about the old paths.