Mennonites

What is a Mennonite? Can anybody become a Mennonite? Most people who identify as "Mennonite" treat it as if it is an ethnicity, as if you are born into it. They are unaware that you cannot be a Mennonite if you are not descended from Menno Simons and/or if you do not follow his teachings.

Mennonite is not something you are born into. It is a denomination within Christianity. Anybody can become a Mennonite if they choose to. Those who call themselves Mennonite today are a hollow husk of what Mennonites of the past were. They do not understand Menno Simons' teachings.

Your last name does not determine if you are a Mennonite or not. It may determine if you are German, but it has no relation to you being a Mennonite because Mennonite is a denomination within Christianity, not an ethnicity.

Depending on the type of Mennonite, they believe you can marry your cousins, even down to second cousins. They attempt to use Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as their proof text to support this (Gen. 24:4, 38; 28:1-2), but fail to realize that this is descriptive language and not prescriptive (a rule or direction).

They often will not marry another person unless they are Mennonite, too, even if they are a Christian. Sorry to say, but this can lead to inbreeding. God did not command Abraham to do such a thing, and just because he did so does not mean we should follow his example. Abraham had sex with another woman, Hagar, outside of his marriage to Sarah. Should we take that as prescriptive, too? Seriously. Let us think before we do things or attempt to defend them.

Any Christian denomination, such as Mennonite, that believes you should only marry people from that denomination has become cult-like. They take commands given to Israel as a nation and eisegete it for themselves (as do racists when they say we should not marry someone of a different ethnicity). Marry whomever you want, preferably in the Lord.

We need to stop holding on to blind traditions that are the inventions of men. Cling to the New Covenant Scriptures and understand your new identity in Christ Jesus our King.

Communion

Before you believe something, just ask yourself: "Where did I get this information from?"

Do not be stressed out about unconfessed sin before communion. Communion is not an "inventory of your sin"—it is a celebration! Preachers tell you to examine yourself for unrepentant/unforgiven sin before you eat communion so that you do not eat "unworthily." (Completely ignoring the context of what the Corinthians were doing.) News Flash: You have no unforgiven sin! Your sin (past, present, and future—all of it) was handled at the cross—once and for all (Heb. 10:14). You have been "perfected for all time" in Jesus. God is not keeping a record of your unrepentant sin as He remembers it no more. Communion is a time for celebrating Jesus' finished work and looking toward His second coming. Instead of fixating on failures, focus on what Jesus already did! If you believe and trust in Jesus, if you profess the name of Jesus, then you should be partaking of communion. Period. No church has the authority to prevent you from partaking, even if you are merely visiting them!

Jesus was crucified on the cross long before you were born. At that time, all your sin was future. The idea that you have future sin you might commit that you need to ask forgiveness for is unbiblical. When you come to Jesus, His righteousness is imputed to you and your slate is wiped completely clean. "You have been made complete" in Jesus (Col. 2:10). "His divine power has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness" (2 Pet. 1:3). We lack nothing! The perfection, righteousness, and holiness required by God is provided to you by the New Covenant. It is an eternal and unconditional covenant because God swore it by Himself and fulfilled it through Jesus (Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8:8-12). Stop asking Him for forgiveness and start thanking Him for His forgiveness! "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1).

Embrace the truth and live free!

The Baptist's Confusion with Children

Like most Baptists, Fred Zaspel is confused concerning the New Covenant, the Gospel, and where children fit in. He writes, "We wonder in the first place on what exegetical ground our Reformed paedobaptist brothers can affirm the idea of covenants being made with believers and their children." Um... how about because Peter said so!

"For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." Acts 2:39

What was it Jesus said again? "When I am lifted up from the Earth, I will draw all men to Myself" (John 12:32). God is calling all men to Himself. That does not mean, however, that all men will accept His calling.

I do not consider myself to be Reformed in the least, especially considering the early Christians rejected the core foundation of Calvinism (or the Doctrines of Grace, or TULIP) as heretical, having been originally taught by the Gnostics. But, consider this, my Baptist brothers and sisters: Which makes more sense? That with the coming of the New Covenant, male children, who partook of the Old Covenant, no longer had that blessing and were now excluded from the New Covenant, or that female children, who had no part of the Old Covenant, are now included and share the same blessing as the males in the New Covenant?

The New Covenant is always simpler, more inclusive, and greater reaching than the previous covenant. Eight-day-old male children received the sign and seal of the Old Covenant, which acted as a witness or testimony for or against them, and became members of the Old Covenant community. What faith can an eight-day-old express, Baptists?!?!? Be consistent! Why can children today not receive the sign and seal of the New Covenant, which acts as a witness or testimony for or against them, and become members of the New Covenant community? Where the male children were included in the Old Covenant, you would have us believe that all children are now excluded from the New Covenant??? So children are worse off under the New Covenant than they were under the Old Covenant? It seems to me that the New Covenant, which is far more inclusive and of greater reach, would now include all children.

Read that last paragraph again. Do it slowly if need be to let it sink in.

You are saying, Baptist, that children today are worse off under the New Covenant than they had been under the Old Covenant. Under the Old Covenant, at least the male children were partakers. But, according to you, all children are now excluded from the New Covenant and its promises. Again, it seems to me that a "better covenant" that is greater reaching and more inclusive would now include female children with the male children just as it includes gentiles with Jewish believers.

You attempt to argue that there are no examples of the children of believers being baptized in Scripture, yet you ignore the fact that there are no examples of the children of believers growing up and being baptized (as you believe) either. You claim that it is reaching to assume that the household baptisms in Scripture had infant children, but you ignore the fact that it is just as reaching for you to assume that they did not. Especially considering people had more children in the past than most people do today. Furthermore, the Greek is on our side. Every case says the householder believed (singular) and the household (plural) was baptized.

You also have history to contend with. The earliest mention of infant baptism is from the second century. You would have us believe that the apostles never taught such a practice, and yet within 50 years it was being taught and no one objected to it?!?!? The fact is, infant baptism has been practiced for the majority of church history by the majority of denominations, and is still practiced by the majority of denominations today. Granted, many of them, like yourselves, do not fully understand baptism, but nevertheless it is what it is.

If you do not understand how the New Covenant is simpler, more inclusive, and greater reaching than the Old Covenant, then you clearly have not been paying attention and have no understanding of the differences between the covenants.

"Leave the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14