Posts by Don Johnson
Overseeing Church Music without Musical Expertise
The music at our recent conference at First Baptist Church of Troy, Michigan (also see here), was one of the outstanding features of the meeting. It reflected the good gifts God gave to Pastor Harding and his wife which bless their church every week. Many others on their team who contribute to this part of…
Read MoreAudio from the 98th Annual Fellowship Meeting
Last week, I posted a summary of the concluding message delivered at our meeting. Today, I’d like to highlight all the available audio with some highlights from each of them. We have all the files stored here on P&D as well as at the conference site. Monday, June 11 7:00 PM — General Session 1…
Read MoreYoung Man … Are You in Blood Earnest?
the Foundations Baptist Fellowship Annual Meeting report What an outstanding meeting! We heartily commend Dr. Mike Harding and First Baptist Church of Troy for their excellence and graciousness in hosting us for the meeting. The speakers all did an outstanding job. The music was incredible. The whole meeting a blessing. One of our attendees typed…
Read MoreLessons from an English Cathedral
I am visiting in the United Kingdom for a couple of weeks, getting some quality “grandfather time” with two lovely granddaughters. In the process, we are dragging them around to all sorts of historical sites. They appear to tolerate it reasonably well, though I am sure they would rather do something else. One thing we…
Read MoreLessons from the Caffyn Controversy
Can we learn from history? Given the oft-repeated mistakes of men, the adage that answers in the negative seems all too true. In the hope that perhaps we can be an exception, I’d like to draw your attention to Matthew Caffyn and the 17th century. Matthew Caffyn was a General Baptist pastor in…
Read MoreThe Importance of Strong Biblical Leadership
In the headlines, we occasionally see stories of abuse of power and failure of leadership. Some of these stories are of failures at a church or other religious organization. Many voices rise up when these events occur, clamoring for a renovation of church polity, denigrating the status quo, calling for change to forms of church…
Read MoreEvolution and Music
Some weeks ago, I posted an article called, Evolution and Marriage. The basis for that article and this is reading various histories that assume Darwinian progression in every aspect of human existence. In that article, I pointed out that if you hold a Darwinian/Materialist point of view, the notion of gay marriage is just one…
Read MoreWorldly Pressure on False Religion (and on True)
Two unrelated reports last week illustrate the pressure the world exerts on institutions that fail to measure up to its standards. The first, “Pope Francis’ Supposed Liberalism Isn’t Making Him Less Popular,” reflects polling by the PEW Research Center, assuring us that Pope Francis, despite losing some support from conservative Catholics, remains popular among Catholics…
Read MoreReaching and Teaching – Northwest Regional Fellowship 2018
The men connected with the FBFI in the Northwest serve in churches located many miles apart. We are thankful for our annual opportunity to meet, encourage one another, find out what the Lord is doing in distant locations, and hear challenging preaching. The time of fellowship builds us up for the Lord’s service. This year…
Read MoreReview: Andrew Fuller, Model Pastor-Theologian
Brewster, Paul. Andrew Fuller: Model Pastor-Theologian. Studies in Baptist Life and Thought. Nashville: B & H Academic, 2010. Reviewed by Don Johnson The purpose of this book is to present Andrew Fuller (1754-1815) as “a model pastor-theologian.” [6] The author outlines the need for such figures in the pastorate in a few pages of introductory…
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