TOM ASCOL: "THE REFORMED ROOTS OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION"

MP3 Available Here

TOM ASCOL, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Florida , the Executive Director of Founders Ministries and Editor of the Founders Journal , will address the theme: "THE REFORMED ROOTS OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION."

Many Christians today, including Southern Baptists themselves, are totally unaware that the Southern Baptist Convention, which is both the largest Baptist association in the world and the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, has origins and a doctrinal heritage that are firmly entrenched in that Reformed theology known as the “doctrines of grace.” One reason for the widespread ignorance of this highly substantiated and irrefutable fact is that today Calvinists are a minority among the nearly 17 million members of the denomination. Another reason for this ignorance is that many who are most well known in SBC leadership today are vociferously anti-Calvinist. According to a post in The Baptist Standard, June 12, 2007:

"[Florida Baptist] Convention executive director John Sullivan recently sent recordings of sermons by Sullivan’s former pastor Jerry Vines to every church in the state, apparently at convention expense, that identify Calvinism as a threat to Baptist life...In his sermon, Vines said Calvinism 'kills' churches because it neglects evangelism by teaching that salvation is only for those whom God 'elects,' not for everyone. He said Calvinistic pastors tend to be divisive, dishonest and prone to 'intellectual pride'." (see entire article here ).

According to our guest Tom Ascol: "The mailing of Dr. Vines’ sermon on Calvinism is a clear indication that the executive director of the Florida Baptist Convention has an agenda to demonize the ministers and churches in our state who believe what the founders of the Southern Baptist Convention believed regarding the grace of God in salvation."

Founders Ministries is a ministry of teaching and encouragement promoting both doctrine and devotion expressed in the Doctrines of Grace and their experiential application to the local church, particularly in the areas of worship and witness. Founders Ministries takes as its theological framework the first recognized confession of faith that Southern Baptists produced, The Abstract of Principles. They desire to encourage the return to and promulgation of the biblical gospel that their Southern Baptist forefathers held dear.

Tom Ascol received a BS from Texas A & M University and the MDiv and PhD degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary . He is editor of the books Reclaiming the Gospel & Reforming Churches and Dear Timothy and has contributed articles and chapters to numerous publications.

(THIS IS NOT A RERUN... Dr.Tom Ascol returns to address the same topic recently discussed due to technical difficulties with the original broadcast.)