April Cobb

[Allie Beth Stuckey @conservmillen]

A good rule of thumb: don’t allow people to don’t believe in the authority of the Bible to quote the Bible to you.

We’ve got a lot of people misapplying Scripture to justify their support of illegal immigration who don’t believe anything the Bible says about creation, salvation, sin, repentance, sexuality, or gender. They’re the same people who call you a “Christofascist” when you refer to the 10 commandments or Psalm 139 to explain your view on abortion.

They don’t believe the Bible is the Word of God. They see it as a document to pick a part and use as a mallet of manipulation when it’s politically expedient.

But for those of us who DO affirm the inerrancy and authority of Scripture, we believe the Bible indeed must inform our political views, but only when it’s properly understood. That means reading Scripture in context and in light of what we know about God’s character.

When it comes to illegal immigration, libs love to point to God’s command to “love the foreigner” while ignoring the fact that all foreigners were bound to all of Israel’s laws—including circumcision. They love to quote the Sermon on the Mount or Matthew 25, but neither of this passages has anything to do with government policy. In Matthew 25, specifically, Jesus is talking about how we treat persecuted Christians. He’s not making a case for illegal immigration.

From the beginning, we see that God is a God of order. He places man in a garden, not a jungle, with the command to cultivate and keep it. From creation to redemption, we see God creating order for people for our good. He creates families, nations, governments, and laws—because humans need order and spheres of authority to function and thrive.

Lawlessness, chaos, anarchy are always depicted as enemies of God and mankind. Borderlessness is lawlessness. Deuteronomy, Exodus, Leviticus, Nehemiah, Daniel 2, Acts 17, Romans 13, and many more passages speak to the importance of walls, of borders, of laws, of governments, of nations, of order.

Every government has the right and responsibility to put its people first. That’s its only priority. Without borders, without enforceable immigration law, citizenship means nothing, which means we have no rights for the government to protect. It’s chaos, and it’s bad for everyone.

There is a human cost to illegal immigration. Remember Laken Riley and Kate Steinle. When you’re out there preaching about “loving your neighbor,” remember: they were your neighbors, too.

[Kevin Cobb @WeMoKevin]

In talking about Aaron and Moses from Exodus 32 tonight, my son said, "God chose to make His enemies His priests." Wow!
I am so proud of what the Lord is doing in Tyler's life and so proud of him and the other guys filling in tonight @WestMobileBapt while I am away.

[Andrew Hébert @drandrewhebert]

Amen.

Along these lines, here is a humble attempt to explain briefly some of the reasons why I, as a complementarian pastor, support women teaching the Bible in mixed-gender contexts such as Sunday School, church-based training institutes, seminary classes, etc.

This is, in my view, a tertiary doctrinal matter, so Bible-believing Christians can differ on this issue while maintaining love for one another. But here are a few reasons I support this practice:

1) The Great Commission, which includes the command to make disciples by teaching everything Jesus commanded, is given to every believer in Christ, regardless of gender (Matt 28:19-20).

2) The NT contains examples of women teaching men in certain contexts, such as when Priscilla and Aquila instruct Apollos in the way of the Lord (Acts 18:26 - interesting also that Priscilla is listed first, giving her prominence).

3) Paul gives regulations for the manner in which women are to prophesy (I.e., ‘proclaim’) in the church (1 Cor 11:5), indicating that this was normative behavior in the church. This is reinforced with the presence of Anna the prophetess (Luke 2:36-38) and the daughters of Philip (Acts 21:8-9). This is in keeping with the OT presence of female prophetesses such as Deborah (Judges 4:4) and Huldah (2 Kings 22:14), and Joel 2 that says in the last days young women will prophesy, fulfilled also in Acts 2.

4) I believe Paul’s prohibition of women teaching and usurping authority (2 Tim 2:12) refers to the teaching office of elder, not to all teaching contexts. To apply this as a restriction from teaching mixed-gender classes is an overextension of the meaning and application of this text, in my view.

5) God gifts believers with many gifts to build up the church (not restricted to males), one of which is the gift of teaching. The gift of Pastor-Teacher is an office (as in Eph 4), but ‘teaching’ is also listed as a general gift to the church (as in 1 Pet 4:11, Rom 12:7), not always an office. To keep women from exercising a teaching gift withholds a blessing to the body of Christ. The church needs both its spiritual fathers and its spiritual mothers.

6) In keeping with Article VI of the Baptist Faith & Message 2000, I believe the only limitation for female service in the church is serving in the office of pastor/elder/overseer. Therefore, I don’t believe females should be limited from teaching or leading men in other ways.

7) There’s a broad history of women teaching and leading in the context of Southern Baptist churches, including great female leaders such as Lottie Moon, Annie Armstrong, Bertha Smith, Sheri Klouda, Rebekah Naylor, Betty Criswell, and a whole host of others in SBC life.

8) It is inconsistent for pastors to use resources provided by females (such as hymns, biblical commentaries, other books that instruct the church) in public settings, but not to allow females to provide this kind of resourcing in person. If men use the words of females to instruct the church (such as in quoting a hymn) those words ought to be able to be spoken by the female who wrote them. If I’m comfortable singing a Fannie Crosby hymn, I should be comfortable having Fannie Crosby (were she alive) share these words (words that instruct) in person with the gathered church.

9) I’ve personally experienced the blessing of watching gifted female Bible teachers use their gifts to bless the church, always in deference to the office of the pastor, but joyfully as co-laborers in the gospel work God is doing. What a blessing they have been in my life!

[J.D. Greear @jdgreear]

“When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed…” Mark 13:7. Praying for Israel this morning. May the Prince of Peace guide our broken world to his glorious, redemptive end, healing and restoring along the way.

[kate shellnutt @kateshellnutt]

Mark Dever asks: "If you were converted as a child, 11 or younger, please stand. Now if your mother had nothing to do with that, please be seated."

With hundreds standing, he uses the crowd as evidence that women are not limited in their evangelistic gifts. @9marks #SBC23

[IMB @IMB_SBC]

“God keeps promises and joy comes in obedience.” — Dr. Rebekah Naylor

At tonight’s IMB Dinner, we recognized Dr. Rebekah Naylor for her 50 years of service and the immeasurable impact of her work. In her honor, we created the Dr. Rebekah Naylor Fund. #SBC23 #IMBDinner

[Richard Blackaby @richardblackaby]

May pastors and churches exalt God so highly today that people come away awestruck by how mighty their God is.

[April Cobb @aprilhcobb]

First session of the morning was so good. @kferg16 did a phenomenal job leading us through how to care of your soul. ““Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen”- Deut. 4:9

[Kevin Cobb @WeMoKevin]

Such a blessing to have another preaching hero of mine @WestMobileBapt tonight. What a challenging message from @tedtraylor and what an honor to have him at WeMo. #grabashovel

This has already been an amazing month and we still have @bigvox coming next Sunday morning!

[April Cobb @aprilhcobb]

“His mercies are new every morning and that means our worship should be too.” @WeMoKevin #yes #fellowshipoffering #@WestMobileBapt

[April Cobb @aprilhcobb]

“Real church growth is a product of the power of God moving among the people of God for the purposes of God to the praise of God, not a result of the resources of man guided by the reach of man for the recognition of man.”- @WeMoKevin quote from our study in Acts. #sogood #soGod

[Kevin Cobb @WeMoKevin]

This is a really good article that points to some facts that trump opinion (and fiction) about church. I don’t know how we’d have made it through all that we’ve been through over the years without our church family.

https://t.co/tUGLabwm1d

[April Cobb @aprilhcobb]

@MckeeverJulie This is my favorite verse but the version I memorized it in begins with “my heart and flesh may fail.” Such powerful truth here and it has been a solace to me more times than I could count and I’m certain many more to come. ❤️

[April Cobb @aprilhcobb]

“We live in a society where we need the church to be the adult in the room.” @WeMoKevin @WestMobileBapt

[Kevin Cobb @WeMoKevin]

“Assumption is the lowest form of knowledge.” - Dr. Jerry Grandstaff

[April Cobb @aprilhcobb]

“Jesus calls for us to abandon our personal rights when it will help advance the gospel and this isn’t because we don’t matter, but rather because the gospel matters most.” @WeMoKevin #yes @WestMobileBapt

[J.C. Ryle @JCRyle]

He knew what we were before conversion...wicked, guilty, and defiled; yet He loved us. He knows what we will be after conversion...weak, erring, and frail; yet He loves us. @JCRyle

[Dr. Michael J. Svigel @Svigel]

Theology 101 "It is quite impossible to find in creation an image that will illustrate exactly the nature of the Trinity." (John of Damascus)