For the Record

Some wise somebody has said that the formula for steering clear of criticism is to “believe nothing, do nothing, dream nothing, expect nothing, plan nothing, say nothing, support nothing, and think nothing.” If you want to make a redemptive difference, prepare yourself for criticism. Naysayers, critics, negaholics, and detractors, you will have with you always. My high school football coach used to tell us that “anyone who is in the game must be big enough to take the boos as well as the accolades.” There will always be someone nearby who will find something to vilify. And this certainty played a role in our continuing to embrace the Texas Baptists Committed brand.

I invite those who are confused about the “why” of TBC to read the thoughtful posts We Are Texas Baptists Committed and part 4 of Why It’s Good to Be a Baptist These Days. You will immediately note that there is no disparaging of anyone who holds a contrary perspective. TBC is intently about kingdom business. There are too many lost people in the Lone Star State walking about without the hope of Christ for us to get caught up in petty squabbling and infantile quibbling. Getting the word out to those who need to hear that God loves them and wants what is best for them trumps inane bickering and pointless mudslinging 100 percent of the time.

Texas Baptists Committed is going to continue to encourage leadership in the BGCT. No, we have no official slate of candidates. Yes, we do encourage leaders to share their giftedness with the larger body of traditional Baptists. This is nothing new. We all do it in subtle and not so subtle ways.

Texas Baptists Committed is going to continue to be supportive of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and its leadership. TBC has a life wish for the BGCT! Randel Everett and every last one of those outstanding people who work in the Baptist Building deserve our prayers and reassurance! Yes, the BGCT is going through a rough patch right now. But, truth be told, so are other conventions, denominations, churches, and institutions. A pastor friend told me just the other day that he has had to take a 15 percent cut in pay. Does that mean that he is a bad guy? Does that suggest that his church is doing something wrong? Of course not!

Texas Baptists Committed is NOT against pastors and churches that choose to financially support the Southern Baptist Convention. Too many of those who are valued friends of TBC are pastors and leaders of churches that give significant dollars to the SBC. It’s common knowledge that most BGCT churches route financial support to the SBC. TBC is defined by what we are for, not by what we are against.

Several days ago, Bill Jones penned a post titled “Which beliefs are Baptist ‘dealbreakers’?” It is obvious that the purpose of the post was to promote meaningful dialogue about those issues that divide or unite us. The writing was so unambiguous that even the most imaginative reader couldn’t misconstrue the intent of the entry. When did frank and candid dialogue become something to be discouraged?

A few years ago, I stood before the BGCT Executive Board and read from Acts 5, where Peter and the other “sent ones” were rounded up and brought before the Sanhedrin, the council of religious leaders in Jerusalem, to be threatened and bullied into silence. And the Record states that Gamaliel stood up in the midst of this tumult and suggested to the council that they not act in haste and risk making martyrs of this band of ragamuffins. He suggested a pragmatic yardstick: Are these men caught up in anything redemptive or is this movement barely a blip on the radar screen? If God is not in it, it will collapse under its own weight. But if God is in it, let’s not be found opposing God Himself.

Maybe Gamaliel was on to something. So I have no response for those who choose to defame, denigrate, or cast stones. They have every right to do what they do best. We at Texas Baptists Committed, however, choose to intently be about kingdom business. I invite you to join us.

Why It's Good to Be a Baptist These Days (Part 4 of 4)

The recent renewal of Texas Baptists Committed seems to have caused a bit of angst among some Texas Baptists. Some fear that TBC is back in business in order to establish an oligarchy that will control Texas Baptist life. In my opinion, this angst is unnecessary. In fact, the work of TBC ought to have the opposite effect.

The work of Texas Baptists Committed is to constantly remind Texas Baptists that we are a network of autonomous cooperating churches and not a denomination governed by a powerful few. Texas Baptists Committed helps local churches by providing information and support for Pastor Search Committees who are fearful of being deceived by an authoritarian pastor who would drag their church into Fundamentalist conformity. TBC supports the work of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, because it is through that network that we are able to participate with one another in a variety of ministries without the fear of being under a denominational thumb.

On the other hand, all institutions, including the BGCT, can devolve into a self-preserving bureaucracy that feeds on its constituents and can tend to control rather than serve. Therefore, TBC must be a watchdog, even of the BGCT, to keep us free from denominational control, constantly reminding our institutions of our networking nature as opposed to a denominational structure.

This is not an irrelevant preacher fuss carried on for our political enjoyment. It is a struggle that goes to the heart of how we are going to win our culture to Christ. It is an evangelistic necessity. If we are going to have the ability to speak to a post-denominational world, we must fiercely resist the temptation toward denominationalism. It is not a matter of irrelevant politics. It is a matter of effective evangelism in a changing world. Texas Baptists Committed is needed to continue to remind all Texas Baptists that we are a network of autonomous churches and not a denomination.

The times are indeed a changin’. While in one sense that is disconcerting, in another sense it is very encouraging. Baptists OUGHT to be primed and ready to speak to this changing culture about the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ. Well, we will be primed and ready if we can resist the temptation to devolve into a denomination.

Texas Baptists Committed has an evangelistic mission, as it reminds us of who we really are. We are Baptists. Let’s act like it and then change the world.

Why It's Good to Be a Baptist These Days (Part 3 of 4)

As I said in my last post, the networking model of Baptist cooperation should be attractive to a post-modern culture. The problem, however, is that many Baptists have either forgotten or abandoned the model of networking and are trying to mold us into a denomination at the exact moment when denominations are waning. This is the practical problem of Southern Baptist Fundamentalism. I refer to Southern Baptist Fundamentalism as distinct from the old Independent Baptist Fundamentalists, because at least the Independent Fundamentalists tenaciously held onto the autonomy of the local church, even to the extent of often resisting the notion of working with one another at all. Southern Baptist Fundamentalists, on the other hand, want churches to cooperate but only under the condition of denominational conformity. The only way they can enforce conformity is through creeds and councils that draw lines to determine who is qualified to be a member of the denomination.

Therefore, Southern Baptists now have a statement of faith that is no longer an unbinding confession but a creed for doctrinal accountability. Scripture is interpreted for the masses by approved leaders, leaving no room for the Spirit to work differently in the lives of individuals. Members of institutional trustee boards act as a college of cardinals, delving into the personal and private prayer lives of missionaries. Declarations have come from the Southern Baptist hierarchy, concerning everything from the role of women to birth control and to how many children ought to fill the proverbial family quiver. Now power is in the hands of a privileged few, with the result that fewer and fewer are able to fit inside the approved Southern Baptist box.

The point is this: Southern Baptist Fundamentalism is insisting that we are a denomination in what appears to be a post-denominational culture.

Can We Have a Conversation?

A few days ago Bill Jones tried to launch a discussion about issues that are "dealbreakers" in Baptist life.  He got three comments -- one negative, but respectful -- and a disrespectful blog lashing from a blogger more enamored with the Samurai side of his personality than with the spiritual side.

It's apparent that dialogue, conversation and discussion regarding homosexuality is still a "dealbreaker" for some of the fundamentalists among us.

In my humble opinion, if even Al Mohler can acknowledge that science has something to say about this issue and begin to wrestle with it, so can Texas Baptists.

Those with passions too strong to engage in  respectful, civil and mature dialogue about this subject are encouraged to focus their attention on issues they can discuss with a more Christ-like demeanor.

Why It's Good to Be a Baptist These Days (Part 2 of 4)

In part 1 I mentioned that we may be entering a post-denominational age. Well, that ought to be good news for Baptists! Baptists are not a denomination. We are a movement of believers who are suspicious of ecclesiastical authority and creedal fiat. We were post-moderns before anyone knew what that was! Our leader is Jesus, our creed is the Bible, and our community of faith is the local church.

The rest of the world may not understand our polity, insisting that we are indeed a denomination, but real Baptists know better. Baptists have long been suspicious of denominationalism, even to the extent that early Baptists in America were quite reluctant to cooperate even with one another, fearful of diluting the autonomy of the local church.

But many of us, though by no means all of us, eventually put aside our fears so that we could begin cooperating with one another for the sake of missions. Cooperation was based not on creed or council, but on a burning desire to do more together than we could do separately. We designed networks of local churches who would work together, but we emphatically resisted denominationalism and tenaciously held onto the autonomy of the local church.

It seems to me that the networking model of Baptist cooperation is a model that fits post-modern culture. Though we may mourn the possibility that denominationalism is gasping its last breath, Baptists should be well-positioned for our age. After all, we are not a denomination. We who cooperate with one another are a network.

Unfortunately, some Baptists are not comfortable with a network model. I will talk about this in part 3.

Why It's Good to Be a Baptist These Days (Part 1 of 4)

“The times they are a changin’.” Maybe you recognize those prophetic words from folk music legend Bob Dylan. He first sang them years ago in the midst of social upheaval, but they are no less true today than they were back in 1964. The times are indeed a changin’.
Now I don’t like that very much. I like things to be stable and secure; I need something to hold onto that will not shift around with every puff of sociological wind. But, as one anonymous wit has quipped, “Other things may come and go, but change is here to stay.”

Change is especially true in the ecclesiastical world. Every time I turn around, some blogger or church life pundit is reminding me that I can’t do church the way we used to. We can’t sing hymns anymore; we have to sing “praise and worship” songs, which is what I thought we were doing when we used to sing Holy, Holy, Holy and To God Be the Glory, Great Things He Hath Done. We can’t have Sunday School; instead, we have to have “Cell Groups.” I am old enough to remember Training Union, but that went out of style a long time ago.

I remember when I was proud to be a Southern Baptist. Now that was something you could count on! I was a regular at Glorieta and Ridgecrest, and I was absolutely convinced that Bold Mission Thrust would indeed bring in the millennium by sharing the Gospel with every person in every country by the year 2000. As far as I knew, there were no Christians other than Southern Baptists and, if the Kingdom was going to prosper, it was up to us.

But alas, as they always do, things changed. Looking back on it now, I see that perhaps there is a silver lining to all of that change. For many of us, the SBC had become something of an idol. Now that we are in exile, it occurs to me that God may have raised up new Babylonians for the purpose of saving some of us from our idolatry.

Things are changing in other communities of faith as well. They say we are now entering into a post-denominational age. It may well be, for all I know. The mainline denominations are losing people faster than they can count, while at the same time pollsters are telling us that people are more spiritual now than ever before. New kinds of Christians are emerging, who have little or no desire to be labeled as a Presbyterian or a Methodist or a Lutheran. They just want to be Christians who meet at the coffee shop or in someone’s home, but they have no interest in participating in a larger body like a denomination.

Denominations have a tendency to stifle individual expression. They are held together by creeds that impose a set of doctrines on members; they are governed by a hierarchy – whether it is a presbytery, a conference, or a synod. For some, decisions that are made by the authorities are perceived as too conservative, as we saw a couple of years ago in the Roman Catholic Church, with the uproar about a papal pronouncement concerning birth control and the spread of AIDS. For others, decisions made by ecclesiastical councils are perceived as too liberal; a case in point is the recent split of Episcopalians over the issue of homosexuality.

But such is the nature of denominations. In a denomination, someone has to have authority to tell the laity what to do and how to think. But we don’t live in that kind of world anymore. In a post-modern culture, people will not let a creed or council tell them what it means to be a Christian. So it may well be that we are entering a post-denominational age.

In my next post I will posit why living in a post-denominational age should be a good thing for Baptists.

Which beliefs are Baptist "dealbreakers"?

In announcing its decision to "discontinue" its relationship with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth explained that it wants to end the distractions caused by "questions concerning the congregation's position on homosexuality." This comes not quite 4 months after the BGCT Executive Board's vote to end the convention's relationship with Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas.

At the annual meeting of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in June, a workshop addressed how churches can be "'the presence of Christ' among persons of same-sex orientation." From the reports I've read, this workshop could well be a good starting point for a frank and constructive discussion of what is really the critical question that these issues pose to the BGCT: What are the fundamentals of our faith?

What are the convictions that we hold, as Baptists, to be critical to calling yourself a Christian and, ultimately, a Baptist? That is, those essentials over which a church cannot disagree and continue to be in "fellowship" with the larger body. Or, in today's vernacular, "dealbreakers."

For some, calling a woman as pastor is a dealbreaker. When I was growing up, "use of intoxicating beverages" was a dealbreaker, prominently featured as such in the Church Covenant at the back of the Baptist Hymnal. Now? Not so much.

But back to Broadway and Royal Lane. Even those who agree that homosexual behavior is sinful disagree over whether practicing homosexuals should be permitted to serve in leadership positions. Is our position on these issues a fundamental of our faith, a dividing line that should break our fellowship, a dealbreaker?

Broadway's decision to leave simply tables the issue until it arises in the next church, and the BGCT will again have to deal with it. Whether you agree or disagree with Broadway's position, the BGCT needs churches like Broadway and Royal Lane to challenge us to discuss the hard issues . . . instead of sweeping them and their issues under the rug, we need to sweep them into a conversation that will challenge us to grapple with scripture passages whose meaning and intent depend on historical context, the audience at which they were aimed, nuances of language, and numerous other factors.

There are a few "dealbreakers" on which I suspect there would be little, if any, disagreement among Baptists: the sinfulness of humankind; the divinity of Christ; salvation by grace through faith in Christ; and believer's baptism, to name a few. But just how long is this list? And where do the treasured Baptist principles of priesthood of the believer, soul competency, and local church autonomy take over? For that matter, as Texas Baptists, don't we consider these Baptist distinctives themselves as fundamental to the integrity of our faith . . . dealbreakers, if you will?

This conversation needs to take place beyond the few who populate the BGCT Executive Board. It needs to take place among our churches and among those of us who fill Texas Baptist pews each Sunday. So I'll put this question to you:

What are – and aren't – Baptist "dealbreakers"? (and why?)

"Looking Out" for Texas Baptists (Part 2)

In my previous post, I stressed the importance of each Texas Baptist being a "lookout standing on the watchtower" (Isaiah 21:8). But I didn't tell you how to do that.

Well, Marv Knox, editor of the Baptist Standard, has just given us an example that's helpful and instructive. A few days ago, Marv published an interview with Kenneth Starr, whom Baylor University will inaugurate as its 14th president this Friday.

As president of a university supported, in part, by the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Kenneth Starr will be accountable not only to the regents who elected him but to all Texas Baptists. Marv's first question drives this point home. After pointing out that the BGCT is still responsible for electing 25 percent of Baylor regents, Marv asks Starr for his "ideal for the relationship between Baylor and the BGCT" and about his plans for "strengthening and maintaining that relationship."

• Starr replies that Baylor plans to "work collaboratively" with the BGCT in "areas of mutual interest and concern."
• He also points out that "many of our students–69 percent–come from non-Baptist backgrounds" but then cites this as an "opportunity . . . to educate everyone . . . as to the vibrancy of Baptist life."

Throughout the interview, Marv asks questions that, no doubt, many Baptists have pondered since the Baylor regents announced Starr's election as president. Among others, these questions include the following issues:

• Impact, on "the future of Baylor and . . . its religious identity," of having – for the first time – a president who has no background as a Baptist
• Strengths, weaknesses, and "most important goals" of Baylor 2012 – the 10-year master plan implemented by Robert Sloan – and whether it is possible to integrate "faith and intellectual excellence" at Baylor
• Relationship between Baylor's administration and the Baylor Alumni Association
• Starr's political background and how Starr will encourage political, philosophical, and theological diversity
• Through campus culture
• Through administrative actions
• Through faculty appointments

For many Texas Baptists, the most encouraging part of the interview may well be Starr's apparent understanding – and even embrace – of various aspects of Baptist heritage:

• Soul competency
• Virginia Baptist pastor John Leland and his "role . . . in helping shape the views of James Madison"
• Two documents revered historically by Baptists for their contribution to religious liberty in America
• James Madison's "Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments" (1785)
• Thomas Jefferson's "Letter to the Danbury Baptist Association" (1802)

Now it is up to Texas Baptists to be lookouts . . . to see whether Starr's actions match his words.

Click here to read the full interview.

Though few have the forum that Marv Knox has at the Baptist Standard, all of us need to use whatever forum we have – whether it be that of a church member, Sunday School class member, committee member, or whatever your role(s) may be (even that of a blogger). We need to ask the key questions. We need to put pastors, university and institution presidents, convention staff, and other Baptist leaders to the test and remind them that they are representing us . . . remind them that, as Baptists, we expect their leadership to reflect our Baptist heritage and principles.

In summary, we need to hold our leaders and other fellow Baptists accountable. It's not easy. Sometimes you may feel alone. That's why Texas Baptists Committed exists – to encourage each other, to remind each other that we're not alone. We're all partners in this cause of ensuring that Texas Baptists stay free in Christ as God intended us to be. We are all lookouts standing on the watchtower.

"Looking Out" for Texas Baptists (Part 1)

Texas Baptists Committed has been called a "watchdog." That’s a great metaphor; unfortunately, our critics have often turned it upside-down and portrayed TBC negatively as an attack dog. But that's not the Texas Baptists Committed I've come to know through the years.

None of the people I've met who make up Texas Baptists Committed – both leaders and supporters – have been "attack dogs"; rather, they are Baptist Christians who have committed themselves to a common cause – the cause of keeping Baptists truly Baptist . . . keeping Baptists committed to historic Baptist principles . . . keeping Baptists free in Christ as God intended.

So I prefer another metaphor – that of the "lookout." In Isaiah 21:8 (NIV), we read, "And the lookout shouted, 'Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; every night I stay at my post.'"

Texas Baptists Committed stands in the role of this one described by Isaiah: the lookout . . . the one who stays at the assigned post, day after day, night after night . . . the one whose role isn't to attack but to report any threats and – by so doing – enable the city to protect itself against those threats.

Texas Baptists Committed is the lookout – ever reminding Texas Baptists of the foundational principles that have undergirded the Baptist movement since its beginning in the 17th century and keeping them informed of the latest threats to the preservation of those principles.

Have we slipped into attack mode at times? Perhaps . . . after all, we're only human. But attacking has been the exception, not the rule.

TBC goes where the people are – in the local church – and equips them with the information they need to keep their churches free . . . their Baptist universities free . . . and countless other Texas Baptist ministries and institutions free.

And that's why we've begun this blog – as one more way of carrying out this mission to equip and inform Texas Baptists. But we can't do it alone. If you are committed to TBC’s mission, we need you to get involved. Please share this blog with friends in your church, with your pastor and other leaders, so that they can stay informed and equipped as well. By doing this, you could be starting a valuable conversation in your church.

We've made it easy for you. Beneath every post are buttons that enable you to share it via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. Keep informed of new posts and comments by clicking the Subscribe to buttons (up and to your right) to add TBC posts and comments to your RSS feed.

The "lookout standing on the watchtower" is of no use unless the citizens are keeping vigil, too, and are diligently passing along the news to others. Truly, we need all of you to join us as "lookouts."

Is Your Church Looking for a New Pastor?

Then help is just one phone call or click away!

Your pastor search committee's first call should be to the Pastorless Church Team of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. You can reach Karl Fickling, Director, by calling him at 214-887-5491 or by clicking here to email him. This team is anxious to provide your church with the resources you need as you approach the critical choice of the person to lead your church as pastor.

Also, you will find - on the TBC Web site - links to information that is essential to helping your committee and church navigate the process of finding and calling a new pastor.

These links are provided on two pages on our Web site:

• Articles - in printable PDF format - contained in the Help for Pastor Search Committees packet that we have provided to pastorless churches for many years 

Your church and pastor search committee will find these articles to be helpful and informative. For links to these resources, click here.

• Links to resources provided on the Web site of the Baptist General Convention of Texas

These include essential resources such as questions that your committee needs to ask prospective pastors, as well as sample documents related to the search process. For links to these resources, click here.

You are free to copy any of these materials (from both TBC and the BGCT) for the use of your committee. Permission is not given, however - by either Texas Baptists Committed or the BGCT - to reproduce any portion of these materials for sale.

We also recommend that you go directly to the Texas Baptist Pastorless Churches Web page for additional information and resources regarding the following:

• Initial Assistance
• Initial consultation
• Referrals to supply preachers and trained traditional interim pastors
• Intentional Interim Ministry
• Training for Pastor Search Committees
• Finding Candidates
• Leader Connect résumé-matching service
• Job Descriptions (English/Español) for a variety of ministry staff positions

Again, if your church is without a pastor, we strongly recommend that you immediately call Karl Fickling at 214-887-5491 or click here to email him. He and his Pastorless Church Team are anxious to provide you with any help that you need. All you have to do is ask.

We Are Texas Baptists Committed

We are Texas Baptists Committed! Our purpose is to promote a Baptist vision built upon the historic Baptist principles of religious liberty, cooperative missional involvement, and biblical justice.

• We serve as a resource for local churches by assisting them in educating their congregations concerning historical and current issues pertaining to Baptists.
• We support pastorless churches as they search for a new pastor.
• We work to promote the ministries of Baptist organizations through education and the denominational process.
• We work through seminary and university networks that support the organization's stated purpose and mission.
• We maintain an online presence that offers helpful resources:
• Schedule of events
• Electronic community comprising blogs and social networks
• Articles addressing current issues
• Regular distribution of an electronic newsletter (coming soon)

Texas Baptists Committed is leading the way in all things Baptist! We have been working with the collegiate department of the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) to educate and encourage young leaders about historic Baptist principles; because of our work, new materials are being produced for collegiate ministries on campuses across Texas.

We have been supporting and helping local congregations who are without a pastor. We have produced various resources for search committees and worked with churches to help them to find pastors who will affirm and strengthen their Baptist identity.

We have updated our Web site and brought a diversity of new members onto our Board of Directors. Texas Baptists Committed is moving forward to encourage and empower all Texas Baptists.

Moved by a deep sense of biblical justice, we are helping to promote and support the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger, TexasHope 2010, and the work of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission. Texas Baptists are a missional people, and Texas Baptists Committed is working diligently to support and educate congregations concerning the mission endeavors of the BGCT.

We cannot do any of this alone. We need your prayers, your support, and your help. Together, we will ensure the continued strength of Texas Baptists for generations to come.

2010 Annual Meeting of Texas Baptists

As former presidents of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, we know well the important work that goes on each year at the Annual Meeting. This year will be no different as several key matters will come before the messengers.  The 2011 Budget as well as membership of every committee and of institutional boards will be determined by vote of messengers present in McAllen.

Because the Annual Meeting is in a place where it has never been, we decided to write to encourage traditional Baptists to be a part of “Spreading Hope” in McAllen, November 8-9.

Meeting in the Valley provides a great opportunity to meet new friends, build new bridges, and develop new partnerships for missions.

You can learn more about the Annual Meeting by going to www.bgct.org/annualmeeting.

We encourage you to register as a messenger through your church and plan to join us in McAllen.

Moreover, we ask you to ensure that your church sends its full complement of messengers. We are concerned that there may be a lower turnout this year due to the location. We are hopeful you will take up the challenge of making this a great convention year by coming and bringing others with you.

Michael Bell
Joy Fenner
Clyde Glazener
Ken Hall
Phil Lineberger
Albert Reyes

Classic Baptists on Conscience

Louis Mauldin, in his book The Classic Baptist Heritage of Personal Truth, provides a valuable summary of the understandings of conscience among the earliest Baptists:

General and Particular Baptists disagree over the impact of sin upon the natural conscience, which is comprised of reason, the will, and communication. General Baptists see conscience as marred by sin, though operative, while Particular Baptists think it virtually destroyed. They both agree, however, that redemption brings a new conscience and with it a sanctified reason. The redeemed obtain an "inlightened conscience, carrying a more bright and lively stamp of the kingly place and power of the Lord Jesus." In an enlightened conscience, all English Baptists aver, the trinity does not set aside the norms of the "reasonable soule" by superseding the faculties thereof. On the contrary, God the Spirit approves "every truth to the understanding," moving at all times "without violence, with a rational force," respecting standards of reasonableness. God the Son, clears the truth and leaves "naked the errors." And, God the Father "would have every man fully persuaded in his owne mind."

This paragraph is but one small detail in a masterful exposition of the thoroughly trinitarian and personal understanding of truth that prevailed among early Baptists.

Mauldin's book is essential reading for anyone who cares to understand the difference between the thought of early Baptists as opposed to the theology of rationalists and presuppositionalists like Carl Henry, Al Mohler, and the numerous Baptist disciples of Francis Schaeffer.

Cross posted from the Mainstream Baptist weblog.


The Classic Baptist Heritage Of Personal Truth: The Truth As It Is In Jesus