Blog – Grace Life Baptist Church

Racism and the Fire of “Critical Race Theory”

Written by Jeremy Vanatta on March 12, 2022. Posted in Grace Unmeasured.

from THE CHURCH UNDER FIRE sermon series . . .

We’ve studied 5 of 6 attacks on Christ’s Church in our Church Under Fire Series. With each topic, we saw that worldly thinking slips into the Church and redefines the words and beliefs the Bible teaches. For example, regeneration is turned into pragmatism and grace is turned into inequality. These are mostly about the problem of racism. But here again, the definition of racism has been redefined. Let’s begin by defining what racism actually is, and then we’ll see how it has been redefined according to the social justice movement.

Repentance and the Fire of “Victim Mentality” (Mk.1:14-15)

Written by Jeremy Vanatta on February 14, 2022. Posted in The Church, The Gospel, Theology.

from THE CHURCH UNDER FIRE sermon series . . .

You’ve got to love some of the comical billboards out there. For example, we’ve got a bail bonding company here in town called “Devil Made Me Do It Bail Bonds” with their ads around town. It’s a play on a common saying that’s been around a while. Sadly, when it comes to taking personal responsibility for their actions, the human race is very adept at blaming others for their wrongdoing. It’s a trait we’ve inherited from our common ancestors, Adam and Eve—Eve blamed sin on the devil, and Adam blamed his wife, and we blame just about everyone and everything else but ourselves when we sin.

Grace and the Fire of “Inequality” (Dt.9:1-12)

Written by Jeremy Vanatta on February 8, 2022. Posted in The Church, The Gospel, Theology.

from The Church under Fire sermon series . . .

It’s a phrase we all struggle to hear coming from the others; yet, we generally have no problem using it when we believe we have been wronged. It’s used all the time in the mainstream culture—in the media, politics, and workplaces. It’s often used in an attempt to shut down disagreement and debate about various issues. The phrase is, “It’s not fair.”

Regeneration and the Fire of “Pragmatism”

Written by Jeremy Vanatta on February 8, 2022. Posted in The Church, The Gospel, Theology.

from The Church under Fire sermon series . . .

A few weeks back, Pastor Jody Anderson of Christ Church in Guntersville, AL, preached one of the topics in our Church under Fire series. His topic was pragmatism, which is rampant throughout local churches in our country and the world. And this article is a brief summary of the topic for those seeking more information or perhaps just coming to an awareness of the problems it poses.

Objective Truth and the Fire of “Deconstructionism” (Isa.5:20-30)

Written by Jeremy Vanatta on January 31, 2022. Posted in The Church.

from The Church under Fire sermon series . . .

In the last few weeks, we’ve had quite the variety of weather conditions in Tennessee. We went from a record high of seventy-eight degrees on one day to temperatures in the twenties just a few days later. One of those wintry nights dropped to around nine degrees. That’s cold! Or is it? Isn’t how we define what is “cold” relative to our own subjective experiences and preferences? If you asked Alaskans if nine degrees is cold, inevitably some would say, “Eh, not so much.”

Church: The Bride and Body of Christ (Eph. 5:22-33)

Written by Jeremy Vanatta on January 10, 2022. Posted in Grace Unmeasured.

from The Church under Fire sermon series . . .

As we discussed in the previous article, the Church of God is always in Satan’s cross-hairs to one degree or another. And the first step in combating the fiery trials of Satan’s deceptions and lies that he launches against the Church is to understand who and what the Church actually is. Last week in 2 Thessalonians, we learned the origins of our common salvation and our holy position in Jesus Christ. The Church is the assembly of God’s elect that believes the gospel and lives according to the gospel. And this life that we live together according to the gospel is by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Church: The Assembly of God’s Elect (2 Thess.2:13-15

Written by Jeremy Vanatta on January 10, 2022. Posted in Grace Unmeasured.

from The Church under Fire sermon series . . .

The current state of the Southern Baptist Convention was not created in a vacuum. The spiritual and theological downgrade we are witnessing has evolved over many decades. To help our members at Grace Life Baptist Church of Lebanon, TN, to understand better the issues at hand, we recently began “The Church under Fire” sermon series. I thought it would be helpful to post blog versions of my sermon notes throughout the course of this series for our membership, and others out there as well.

Gone Too Far: The Pervasive Problems within the Southern Baptist Convention

Written by Jeremy Vanatta on October 12, 2021. Posted in Grace Unmeasured.

I have been a part of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) my entire life. Much good has come from this relationship; but in the last decade, I have seen an increasingly, troubling degree of compromise and biblical errors that has led me to write this article. I am writing in part for myself because I want to organize and solidify my own thinking. I am writing for the local church I have the honor of pastoring, Grace Life Baptist Church of Lebanon, TN, to help our members understand the issues at stake. And I am writing for other pastors and their congregants in case they are seeking to organize and solidify their own thinking too. The result is five pervasive problems I see with continued participation in the SBC.

Cheating to Show Yourself Approved

Written by Jeremy Vanatta on September 16, 2021. Posted in Grace Unmeasured.

I was doing my student teaching in John’s Epistles as part of my doctoral studies in the early 2000s. Toward the end of the term, the students’ research papers were due. As I began to read through them, I noticed something strange about two papers. The grammar and vocabulary kept changing dramatically as if a different writer was at the helm throughout sections of the paper. Scattered within or at the very end of these sections a footnote cited the source that influenced the students’ thoughts. I decided to take their papers to the library where I found the books they had cited. To my surprise, both students had copied from their sources verbatim.