Most Americans know the opening words of the Declaration of Independence:

‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’

Far fewer know that Thomas Jefferson’s original draft contained a long paragraph condemning the enslavement of Africans and the transatlantic slave trade. It is sometimes described as the twenty-eighth grievance against King George III, and it accuses the King of England of waging a…

“cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him.”

Jefferson condemned the capture and transportation of Africans to the colonies by England, calling the slave trade an ‘execrable commerce,’ and denounced the continued existence of a market in which human beings were ‘bought and sold.” ¹

Congress deleted the entire paragraph. The final draft of the Declaration of Independence only contained 27 reasons for separation from England, not 28.

Who Wanted the 28th Reason Removed?

Years later, Jefferson explained what happened:

‘The clause too, reprobating the enslaving the inhabitants of Africa, was struck out in complaisance to South Carolina & Georgia, who had never attempted to restrain the importation of slaves, and who on the contrary still wished to continue it.”

Jefferson then added an important admission. Some Northern delegates were also uncomfortable with the paragraph because, although their colonies contained fewer enslaved people, Northern merchants had been ‘pretty considerable carriers of them to others.’ ²

• The South wanted the labor.

• The North often wanted the commerce.

Economic interest overruled moral clarity.

The South Carolina delegation that adopted and signed the Declaration consisted of Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward Jr., Thomas Lynch Jr., and Arthur Middleton.

Georgia was represented by Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton.³

Jefferson’s explanation of the delegations’ motive could hardly be clearer:

The Problem Was Not Ignorance

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‘Let everything that has breath praise the LORD (YHWH)’ - Psalm 150:6

When you read the Bible in English, you’ll often come across the words GOD or LORD in all capital letters.

Most people, even Christians who love to study the Bible, do not realize that GOD or LORD in all caps translates the personal name of the Creator in the original Hebrew language of the Old Testament - יהוה.

Hebrew is read from right to left, not left to right as we do in English.

So, the personal name of GOD is four letters in Hebrew, called the tetragrammaton.

From right to left:

• Yod (י)

• He (ה)

• Waw (ו)

• He (ה)

The Bible reveals that YHWH is the personal name of the immortal, omniscient, sovereign, and eternal GOD who created all things, not a title for GOD, but His Name.

However, when we see LORD or GOD in the English biblical text, we typically don’t think of a name; we think of a title. That’s the way we’ve been conditioned in English.

For example, I hold many titles: husband, dad, pastor, writer, historian, etc. But my name is WADE.

In English, when we hear or read the title LORD or GOD (like in the Bible), we think of a commander, like the LORD of the Rings, or the LORD of the KNIGHTS of the Roundtable, where LORD is the CHIEF commander.

Sadly, our English Bibles, with their translation of the Hebrew name יהוה as GOD or LORD (all caps), unintentionally convey our Creator as a distant Commander, not a personal Creator in intimate relationship with each of us whom He has created.

If I could, I would convince you, as you read the Bible, when you come to the all-caps English words LORD or GOD, to go ahead and read and say YHWH, the actual Hebrew name of your Creator.

Speak His Name

But how do you pronounce יהוה (YHWH)?

I’ll show you.

Do it again. Breathe in. Breathe out.

That’s the pronunciation of יהוה (YHWH). It’s the sound of breathing.

‘Let everything that has breath praise the LORD (YHWH)’ - Psalm 150:6

God’s Name YHWH is the first name you ever spoke in this life, and His Name, YHWH, is the last name you’ll ever speak in death.

It’s not ‘da da.’ It’s not ‘mommie.’

It’s YHWH, the sound of your breathing.

I prefer the simple YHWH, pronounced phonetically, YAH WHAY, in a breathy tone.

The Symbiotic Relationship Between Trees and People

It’s worth writing (and for you reading) once again:

The sound of breathing is the presence of LIFE on earth.

Have you ever noticed that the Bible uses trees to represent people?

Many passages in the Bible speak of people as trees. One of the most famous is Psalm 1. ‘Blessed is THE MAN who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path with sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. He shall be like A TREE planted by streams of water. His leaf shall not wither, and he prospers.’

It’s been pointed out by man that a man’s lungs look like the branches of a tree.

More carbon is GOOD for the Earth.

YHWH made the Earth where more (CO2) is GOOD for His Creation (watch video).

Your life, my life, plant life, animal life, all life owes LIFE to the Giver of Life, YHWH.

‘Let everything that has breath praise the LORD (YHWH)’ - Psalm 150:6

But you might be confused.

Do trees really breathe? Do they have life through ‘breath ’?

The answer is YES! Absolutely. Their branches resembled outstretched arms, their roots symbolized ancestry, and ancients saw their ‘breath’ as in the wind's movement through their leaves.

Remember the story of the blind man that Jesus healed in Mark 8?

This is one of the most unusual miracles of Jesus. After meeting a blind man outside the village of Bethsaida, Jesus placed saliva on his eyes and laid His hands upon him. When asked what he could see, the man replied, “I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around” (Mark 8:24, NASB 1995).

Jesus then laid His hands on the man’s eyes a second time, and his sight was completely restored so that he saw everything clearly (Mark 8:25).

The gradual healing beautifully illustrates the spiritual condition of Jesus’ disciples throughout Mark 8. Though they had witnessed countless miracles, they still failed to perceive who Jesus truly was - YHWH in the flesh.

Like the blind man, their vision was partial - they could see, but not clearly.

Immediately after this miracle, Peter confessed that Jesus is the CHRIST (Mark 8:29), yet even he misunderstood the nature of Christ’s mission, rebuking Jesus for speaking of His coming suffering.

Mark intentionally places the healing of the blind man at this point in his Gospel to show that spiritual understanding often comes progressively.

• Christ alone opens blind eyes.

• The Messiah may have already healed you by bringing you to faith in His salvation through faith in His work on behalf of sinners.

• But there may need to be a second stage of healing, for you to see more clearly.

• This second stage comes from seeing that every breath you take, every moment of life, is an expression of gratitude for, and dependence on, your Creator.

• Be aware that you are praying without ceasing if you understand that in every breath you take, you speak the name of YHWH, your Creator.

The last verse in the Book of Psalms declares it beautifully:

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‘The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever…’ - Deuteronomy 29:29 (NASB 1995)

‘The Book of Enoch is, in many respects, humanity's attempt to answer questions that God intentionally left unanswered. Wisdom learns to distinguish between God's mysteries and God's revelation.’ - Wade Burleson

What the Book of Enoch Teaches and Where It Moves Beyond Scripture

Having explored the remarkable history of the Book of Enoch, we now come to the question that matters most.

The answer surprises many readers.

Contrary to popular opinion, the Book of Enoch is not primarily a book about giants. Nor is it chiefly about the Nephilim. It is not really a book about hidden mysteries or forbidden knowledge.

At its heart, the Book of Enoch is a book about the justice of God.

Everything else serves that larger theme. Its visions, angels, heavenly journeys, cosmic battles, and descriptions of the coming judgment all point toward one central conviction: evil will not reign forever because the Judge of all the earth will one day set everything right.

That is a profoundly biblical theme. It is also the reason the Book of Enoch became so beloved among many Jews living in the centuries before Christ.

Here are the 5 Great Themes of the Book of Enoch.

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Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying: ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’ - Jude 1:14-15

‘Behold! He comes with tens of thousands of His holy ones to pass judgment upon all, to annihilate all the wicked, to convict every soul of all the godless deeds they’ve committed, and of all the harsh words that godless sinners have spoken against Him.’ - Enoch 1:9

Every few months, someone asks me the same question.

‘Yes,’ I say, ‘You should read the Book of Enoch. Just don’t confuse it with the the sacred texts.’

There is a world of difference between reading a book that helps explain the world of Scripture and reading a book that is Scripture.

Some Christians refuse to touch Enoch as though opening its pages invites deception. Others speak of it as though it were the Bible’s forgotten companion, unfairly excluded by fearful church leaders determined to keep Christians from discovering hidden truths. Both positions miss the mark.

The Book of Enoch is neither a forbidden book nor a forgotten Bible.

It is one of the most fascinating pieces of Jewish literature ever written. It opens a remarkable window into the beliefs, hopes, fears, and expectations of many Jews living during the centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ. If you wish to understand the world into which our Lord came, the Book of Enoch is a valuable companion.

• But the king's court is not the king.

• Windows are not the foundation.

• Helpful books are not the Holy Bible.

That distinction may be the single most important thing to remember when reading Enoch.

• The Bible is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). The Book of Enoch is man-written.

• The Bible carries divine authority. Enoch carries historical interest.

• The Bible binds the conscience. Enoch informs the imagination.

• One reveals God’s voice. The other reveals how many ancient Jews understood God’s world.

Confuse those categories, and the Book of Enoch will be misunderstood and misused.

Why Has Enoch Suddenly Become So Popular?

The answer says as much about us as it does about Enoch. We live in an age captivated by hidden knowledge.

People are drawn to conspiracy theories, secret societies, mysterious civilizations, ancient aliens, suppressed documents, and forgotten histories. Entire industries have been built around the promise that someone, somewhere, knows something the rest of us have never been told.

The Book of Enoch seems to fit that narrative perfectly.

It speaks of heavenly journeys, fallen angels, giants, and mysterious ‘Watchers.’ There are visions of heaven, judgment on rebellious spirits, and prophecies of the coming of the Son of Man.

It feels mysterious, ancient, and powerful.

Some describe the Book of Enoch as ‘the Bible behind the Bible.’

But that description is mistaken.

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Jesus came to His disciples and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 'and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’ - Matthew 28:18-19

The Southern Baptist Convention doesn’t recognize gifted female servants as leaders.

It’s not that the SBC doesn’t believe women are saved, Spirit-filled servants of Jesus Christ and His Church. The Convention does.

The problem is that some in the SBC seek to recognize men who are ‘ordained’ and set apart with ‘spiritual authority’ over believers in Jesus Christ.

I call this Fraudulent Authority. It sure isn’t biblical authority.

• The New Testament shows no appointment and recognition of ‘a male priestly class’ of separated clergy with duties of teaching, baptizing, and discipling.

• The New Testament does not speak of a ‘church ceremony’ where male Christians are ‘ordained,’ that is, commanded by the church, to fulfill church ordinances.

• The New Testament clearly teaches that teaching, baptizing, and discipling are Christ’s ordinances (commands) to all His Bride, both male and female.

The Roman Catholic doctrine made ordination sacramental. The Council of Trent declared Holy Orders a true sacrament, teaching that priests receive the power to consecrate, offer Christ’s body and blood, forgive sins, and bear an indelible character; it anathematized those who said that ordination is only a rite for choosing ministers of the Word and the sacraments.1

Ordination is the heart of the problem in the Southern Baptist Convention.

It has become the pipeline of priestcraft.

The earliest evidence is not that Christian churches had no leaders. They did.

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To download a free PDF of this 5,000-word article on Lottie Moon, click HERE.

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The phrase “The pen is mightier than the sword” is commonly attributed to English novelist and statesman Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who placed those memorable words in the mouth of Cardinal Richelieu in his 1839 play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy.[1]

Yet the truth expressed in the phrase is far older than the nineteenth century. It is a lesson learned repeatedly throughout history, from the city-states of ancient Greece to the founding of America and beyond.

• The sword can compel a man. The pen can persuade a nation.

• The sword may conquer a city. The pen may shape a civilization.

• The sword often changes the present. The pen frequently determines the future.

History demonstrates this truth over and over again.

Ancient Greece offers one of the earliest illustrations. The warriors who fought at Troy have long since vanished into the dust of history, and the kingdoms for which they fought disappeared centuries ago. Yet the words attributed to Homer in The Iliad and The Odyssey continue to influence literature, politics, education, and culture nearly three thousand years later.[2]

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‘In that day, I (the Messiah) will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.’ - Amos 9:11

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.’ - Acts 2:17

And James said to the Jerusalem Council, ‘Brethren, listen to me! All this we see happening is the fulfillment of the words of the prophets: ‘He shall restore the tabernacle of David’ - Acts 15:13-16

If you’re like me, you quickly scan the length of an article to determine if you’ll read it.

This post is long. But please, don’t make the mistake of ignoring it and not reading it, especially if:

• You’re a conservative, evangelical pastor who wrongly thinks only liberals who deny the infallible Word of God believe that women can serve Christ’s church.

• You’re a gifted Christian woman, called by God to serve others in His Church.

• You’re a messenger to the June 7-10, 2026 Southern Baptist Convention.

To my Substack regulars, please grant me the privilege of writing for others, not you.

I’m a Convinced Biblicist, NOT a Cultural Feminist

When it comes to women who shepherd (pastor) God’s people, some of my conservative evangelical friends - that is, people like me who believe that the Bible is God’s inspired and infallible Word - often find themselves struggling with the thought that a woman can have any servant leadership among God’s people.

Some feel that accepting a woman shepherding God’s people is akin to believing the devil is the fourth person of the sacred Trinity Tetrarchy.

To my conservative evangelical friends who bristle at the mere mention of women shepherding Christian people, I offer 5 biblical reasons why women can pastor (shepherd) other Christian people in Christ’s Kingdom.

1. Your definition of pastor is not biblical.

The moment you believe that the New Testament word ‘pastor’ is a ‘noun of status’ which speaks of a person ‘in an office of authority’ over God’s people, where ‘the pastor’ or ruling male elders exert spiritual authority over or control of other people, then you have defined ‘pastor’ contrary to Jesus and the sacred Scriptures.

I’ve written an entire book on this issue. It’s called Fraudulent Authority: Pastors Who Seek To Rule Over Others.

The basic problem with churches that establish ‘male elders’ who ‘rule over’ their church membership is that they’ve established a structure contrary to the teachings of Jesus. Many in Christ’s Church have come under the misguided belief that men only are to ‘exercise spiritual authority’ over believers in Jesus. In their system, nobody - especially females - can disagree with, contradict, or speak out against the male elders because they’d be arguing with ‘God’s anointed authorities.’

Read again what Jesus said to His followers. ‘It shall not be this way among you.’ The word ‘pastor’ should be viewed as a ‘verb of service’ and not a ‘noun of status.’ It’s a practice, not a position; a service, not a status; a gifting, not a gender.

Every Christian, male or female, is called to shepherd others to Jesus. Some happen to get paid. If your church’s definition of pastor is ‘one with spiritual authority or divine power over others,’ then Christian women cannot be pastors. However, neither could Christian men, for no Christian is to rule over anyone else spiritually.

Jesus is the only Authority over His people.

Some who have grown up on the King James Version of the Bible might object:

‘Remember them which have rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith you follow, considering the end of their conversation.’ Heb. 13:7

Listen to my message on Hebrews 13:17.

The English translation of the Greek for the King James Version of Hebrews 13:7 and 17 is very poor. The words ‘rule’ and ‘over’ are not even present in the New Testament Greek of Hebrews 13 (look it up).

The best English translation of these two verses in the sacred Scripture would be:

So, an evangelical, biblical church is to be led by older, spiritually gifted men and women of humble character who guide and shepherd others through gentle persuasion and encouragement.

For more information, read a free PDF White Paper that my late father, Paul Burleson, and I wrote on ‘Authority in the Church.’

2. Your continuance of Old Covenant worship practices isn’t New Covenant.

The discontinuity between the Old Covenant (Testament) and the New Covenant (Testament) is critical to understanding how Christ’s church should function.

Anglicans, Presbyterians, historic Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, and a host of other religious denominations tend to style church structure after Old Testament-style Yahweh worship, and they are often adamant that females can’t be in spiritual leadership.

To those who hold to male spiritual authority, the church of Jesus Christ has simply replaced the people of Israel. They strongly believe the manner in which God’s people worship our LORD Jesus Christ should be the same today as it was in the Old Testament days of the Jewish worship of Yahweh.

On the other hand, Baptists, Methodists, Assemblies of God, and other Christian evangelical organizations see a discontinuity between the Old Testament Temple worship of the Jews and the New Testament worship of Jesus Christ.

These evangelical Christians have historically had no problem with women shepherding God’s people in His Church.

Even within the Old Testament, we have several beautiful foreshadowings of the New Covenant between God and sinners. The prophets spoke of the day coming (the New Covenant) when sinners would be made righteous by God’s grace and the work of the Messiah, Yahweh in the Flesh.

One such foreshadowing of the New Covenant is ‘The Tabernacle of David’ during the days of King David, 1011 to 971 BC (see I Chronicles 15 and I Chronicles 16).

Few people who love the Bible spend much time studying the Tabernacle of David. We know more about the Tabernacle of Moses. That is to our detriment.

Peter, James, and the early disciples often spoke of the New Covenant being the fulfillment of David’s Tent. In fact, James spoke to the Jerusalem Council and specifically stated that the New Covenant is the fulfillment of David’s Tabernacle (tent).

James told the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15): ‘Jesus has restored David’s Tabernacle.’

At the Tabernacle of David, women, Gentiles, and slaves worshiped and prophesied alongside Jewish men at David’s Tabernacle. There were no sacrifices, no rituals, no cleansing ceremonies at David’s Tabernacle. Those things occurred at Gibeon, where the Tabernacle of Moses had been constructed, five miles from the City of David, Mount Zion, and the Tent of David.

Only the Ark of the Covenant was under the Tent of David on Mount Zion, and that Ark is Jesus Christ.

David’s Tabernacle is the clearest picture of the New Testament Church in the sacred Hebrew Scriptures.

In the Tabernacle of Moses, worship of YHWH was led only by male priests.

In the Tabernacle of David, women - including the daughters of Heman - led worship, prophesied, and ministered to YHWH’s people - (see I Chronicles 25:1-8).

The Tabernacle (Tent) of Moses became permanent when King Solomon dedicated the Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah. Women were excluded from ministering at the Temple and could go no further than the Courtyard of Women.

God instructed David to erect the Tabernacle of David on Mount Zion. It became a joyful symbol of the Good News. According to the New Testament writers, when the Messiah came, He reconstructed the Tabernacle of David, which the Jews had torn down.

Sure enough, when the Messiah came at Bethlehem, He came to replace the Old Agreement between Yahweh and the nation of Israel Jews with a New Agreement between the True Israel (Jesus the Messiah) and the world.

‘By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.” (Hebrews 8:13)

As the Old Covenant began to disappear following the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Good News of Jesus Christ began to spread. The Old Covenant ‘officially ended’ in AD 70 at the destruction of the Jewish Temple.

A new way of worship of YHWH had dawned!

‘But you (both male and female believers) are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.’ (I Peter 2:9).

‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’ (Galatians 3:28)

I once sent a paper explaining New Covenant worship to a group of ‘elders’ (men who took authority over their church). They sought to restrict church leadership to males only. My paper was disconcerting to them, even troubling.

It’s hard for traditionalists to answer a biblicist.

The Covenants Have Changed.

The New Covenant Church is ‘the heavenly Zion,’ the ‘rebuilt Tabernacle of David,’ where the Body of Christ, both males and females, manifests the Messiah on Earth.

The Old Covenant agreement between God and Israel was a ‘come and see’ religion. Come and see the Temple. Come and see the rituals. Come and see the festivals.

The New Covenant is a 'go and tell’religion. Go tell sinners of the Savior who has guaranteed the Creator’s goodness to those who trust Him. Christianity is radically spiritual, internal, personal, and transcultural (for all peoples).

Some of the best worship you can have is with family or a small group of believers around a campfire at a lake, or at home around the dinner table, or at a backyard barbecue.

Believers are the church. God dwells in us. Where we are, there He is. We don’t behave one way at church and another way everywhere else. We ARE the church.

Further, since the life of God is in the individual who trusts Christ, there is no hierarchical authority in the church.

Every believer is a pastor (priest) who shepherds others to Jesus.

3. To limit the Spirit’s gifts to one gender sex (male) harms His Body.

This one will be short. Christ bestows the gifts of teaching, prophesying, exhortation, shepherding, and other spiritual gifts on His people regardless of gender.

‘So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for works of ministry, to build up the body of Christ’ (Ephesians 4:11).

The Spirit gifts Christ’s people with various gifts regardless of gender.

Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each one, just as He determines.

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so, the body is not made up of one part but of many. - I Cor. 12:1-14

When an institutional church overrules the Spirit of God, it will find itself absent the Spirit unless corrected.

• * Teaching is never called a male gift.

• * Exhortation is never called a male gift.

• * Wisdom is never called a male gift.

• * Administration is never called a male gift.

• * Prophecy is never called a male gift.

• * Mercy is never called a female gift.

The Spirit distributes gifts to each one individually just as He wills.

Not according to gender. According to God’s grace.

The overwhelming testimony of the New Testament is that gifted, humble men and women of character, preferably older in years (e.g., “elder”), will shepherd, guide, and pastor God’s people.

Christian men who exclude Christian women from fulfilling the call of God according to the Spirit’s gifts are infatuated with their own alleged “authority” and are in danger of losing the unction and anointing of the Holy Spirit in their own ministries.

4. You may have a narrow and unbiblical view of Christian ministry, almost Roman Catholic in nature.

Ordination. Define - ‘The action of ordaining or conferring holy orders on someone.’

Ugh. We didn’t ordain anybody when I served at Emmanuel Enid for 30 years.

The state of Oklahoma requires a ‘ministerial license’ to officiate marriage ceremonies, to recognize vocational ministers working at a state-recognized 501 (c) (3) non-profit, and to grant ministerial tax credits for those working in non-profit vocational ministry.

We would license men and women as vocational employees of Christian non-profits because the state requires it, but we didn’t ordain anybody.

Every state government in the United States of America considers ‘licensing’ pastors and ‘ordaining’ pastors as the same thing. Most churches don’t consider them the same thing. Emmanuel Enid did differently. We licensed people because the state required it for marriage ceremonies.

Every gifted, humble person in Christ's Church at Emmanuel Enid shepherded others.

Denominations that ordain ministers typically make a non-biblical separation between ‘clergy’ and ‘laymen.’

Only the “ordained,” according to these churches, can fulfill the “ordinances of the church” (baptism and the Lord’s Supper). It’s amazing how traditions in institutional churches carry on through “ordination” ceremonies. It’s almost like a cult.

Before I was “ordained” as a Southern Baptist pastor in 1982, I was told that I would be examined by other “ordained” men. During my prep for this ordination, some men who thought they were being helpful told me that one of the questions that would be asked was:

‘What are two ordinances of the church?’

Ironically, all the ordained men instructed me how to answer: ‘Say baptism and the Lord’s Supper.’ Dutifully, I answered such and was promptly 'ordained’ by the Southern Baptist Convention.

It was only years later that I learned from my own study of Scripture and reading both John Gill and Charles Spurgeon, that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ‘ordinances of Christ,’ not the church.

The word ‘ordinance’ means ‘law, or commandment.’

Jesus gave us both commandments. not the local church:

Jesus came to them and said, ‘Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ - Matthew 28:19

“The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and He said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ - I Corinthians 11:23-29

Every believer in Jesus Christ, whether male or female, is called a minister in the New Testament. We are a royal priesthood.

Therefore, gifted women can ‘go and make disciples,’ ‘baptize,’ and ‘serve the bread and the wine,’ leading others to remember Jesus.

Jesus told all of His followers, not just males, to ‘go and make disciples.’

Any church that emphasizes ‘ordination’ will tell people to ‘come.’ And when they come, they will only see ‘males’ ordained by the church (in patriarchal churches) to ‘rule over’ - or females in feminist churches - to ‘rule over’ and serve the ordinances.

This is never the way it should be.

When I served as an International Mission Board trustee (2005-2008), I got into a heated dispute with trustee leadership over excluding females from Christian ministry and using only ‘males with authority over the Church.’

The IMB had some wonderful Christian women missionaries in the Far East who were leading men and women to faith in Jesus Christ. These Christian converts were ready to be baptized. However, the missionary and new converts lived in what the IMB called ‘A Security Three Zone.’ Basically, a communist country that outlawed Christianity.

The late Dr. John Floyd, chairman of the subcommittee on which I served, informed his fellow trustees at my first meeting that a qualified person was not available to baptize the recent Christian converts in the ‘country’ (i.e., in the Security 3 Zone). He said the IMB would pay for air transportation (up to $3,000) and all expenses for an ordained Southern Baptist pastor from the USA to fly to the Far East to baptize the converts of this female IMB missionary.

Not knowing any better, I raised my hand and asked a question of my fellow trustees:

‘Why doesn’t the Christian female missionary who taught these people about Jesus and led them to faith in the Savior baptize them and thereby fulfill the command of Jesus in the Great Commission and save the IMB thousands of dollars?’

Crickets.

My courteous but firm opposition to the IMB’s unbiblical patriarchal policies led to a protracted battle between the world’s largest missionary sending organization and its trustee from Oklahoma.

I still marvel, even two decades later, that IMB trustee leadership had the ludicrous notion to fly an ‘ordained male minister’ to the Far East to baptize Christian converts who came to faith in Jesus Christ under the discipleship of Christian women. Males and females BOTH are to minister in the name of Jesus, fulfilling His command to make disciples.

It took ten years after I opposed the absurd, nonsensical, and unbiblical IMB policies for them to be reversed.

Tens of millions of people are coming to faith in Jesus around the world, led to Jesus by gifted, humble men and women of character who are fulfilling the ordinance of Jesus Christ, whether recognized by the institutional church or not.

Christian ministry is about following the commands of Christ. Our view of ministry needs to be more biblical than institutional.

As an aside, the moment institutional churches advocate that women, homosexuals, or any other ordained clerics rule over people through an office of authority received by ordination via an institutional denomination, you’ll hear the same objections from me that I’m now giving about men ‘ruling over’ people in SBC churches.

5. Your understanding of historic Baptist confessions may be partial.

The 2000 Baptist Faith and Message states:

‘While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.’ (Article VI The Church)

Confessions are not inspired. They are often rife with errors. Some of the local association Southern Baptist confessions of the 1850’s advocated slavery as biblical.

The problem of the 2000 BFM is not the exclusion of women from ‘the office of pastor.’

The office of the pastor is unbiblical. The word office, as in ‘the office of the President’ or ‘the office of the pastor,’ is nowhere used in the New Testament.

Reading this paper, titled ‘The Bible and Authority in the Church,’ might help you understand how church tradition has supplanted New Testament teaching.

Baptists from days of old understood these concepts.

The earliest recorded comment on the role of Baptist women was by John Smyth, founder of the first identifiable Baptist church of modern history. In his 1609 work Parallels, Censures, Observations, Smyth wrote:

“...the Church hath powre to Elect, approve & ordeyne her owne Elders, also: to elect, approve, & ordeine her owne Deacons both men & woemen.”

Baptist women did preach in England in the early days of the 17th century. Most English churchmen found the practice as distasteful as believers’ baptism.

Nevertheless, Baptists have historically had women preach.

The Anabaptist Waterland Confession of 1580 is the first ‘Baptist’ Confession to refer to the setting aside of gifted believers for Christian ministry.

In times of need the congregation shall prepare itself before God with fasting and prayer, calling upon Him for help--for He alone can send the right servants into His harvest--that our heavenly Father may prepare the right servants among the congregations to the glory of His name; servants who will proclaim His holy Word truthfully, and in true Christian love, according to His pleasure, to hungry souls, [as well as] administering the sacraments and the ban.

This Baptist confession does not take gender into consideration when assigning roles.

For their views on the ministry, the English Baptists went directly to the Bible for their authority.

Those women who preached and those men who allowed it thought they found adequate scriptural teaching and precedent.

More recently, I challenged Al Mohler at the 2018 Southern Baptist Convention to answer a question I had about Joanne P. Moore, the first female missionary of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Home Mission Board. The Baptists sent Joanna in the 1860s to teach and minister to African-American male pastors who were being held on an island in the Mississippi River. She convinced these pastors through her discipleship by teaching them, from the sacred Scriptures, that drunkenness was a sin.

These African-American Baptist pastors began abstaining from the sin of drunkenness due to the influence of Joanna P. Moore. I asked Dr. Mohler:

The next time I hear a person state they don’t believe in ‘women pastors’ and cite the 2000 BFM, I might feel compelled to ask, ‘Do you even understand what a confession is?’

A confession doesn’t contain infallible truths. Confessions change all the time.

Baptists have approved these 19 Confessions since the 1500s:

Baptist Confessions (1500s–1840s)

1596 — True Confession (English Separatist precursor)

1610 — Smyth’s Short Confession of Faith

1611 — Helwys Declaration of Faith

1644 — First London Baptist Confession

1646 — First London Baptist Confession (Revised Edition)

1651 — Faith and Practice of Thirty Congregations

1660 — Standard Confession

1677 — Second London Baptist Confession (First Publication)

1678 — Orthodox Creed

1689 — Second London Baptist Confession (Formal Adoption)

1742 — Philadelphia Confession of Faith

1833 — New Hampshire Confession of Faith

1840 — Abstract of Principles (Southern Baptist theological roots)

Southern Baptist Confessions (1845–2026)

1845 — New Hampshire Confession of Faith (widely used among Southern Baptists)

1858 — Abstract of Principles (adopted by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)

1925 — Baptist Faith and Message

1963 — Baptist Faith and Message (Revision)

2000 — Baptist Faith and Message (Revision)

2026 — Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (current confession of the Southern Baptist Convention)

Historical Note: From the founding of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1845 until the adoption of the Baptist Faith and Message in 1925, Southern Baptists operated for eighty years without a convention-wide confession of faith. During that period, the New Hampshire Confession of Faith and the Abstract of Principles were the doctrinal standards most commonly used among Southern Baptists.

CONCLUSION

A denial of women pastoring God’s people based on a Baptist Confession is akin to advocating racial slavery because a Baptist confession once said slavery was biblical.

What people ought to be doing is searching the Scriptures.

Long ago, I called out the problem of ‘sexual abuse’ in the Southern Baptist Convention. Nobody listened then (2007), but people are sure listening now.

I continue to call out my conservative evangelical friends for their exclusion of women from Christian leadership, for their energetic attempts to stifle gifted Christian women from fulfilling the commandments of Christ to ‘go and make disciples,’ and for their unbiblical approach to Christian ministry.

Conservative Southern Baptists must stop the Christ dishonoring practice of:

• Debilitating Christian females with God-given gifts.

• Denigrating Christian females in their Spirit-led ministries.

• Downplaying Christian females as New Covenant priests.

You may not agree with what I’ve written, but I’ll do all I can to prevent the removal from the SBC Christian people who see Christian ministry differently than you do.

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Unalienable - ‘un - a - lien - able’ - you can’t give them away, sell them, or have them stolen.

When politicians like Senator Tim Kaine (VA) argue that rights come from the government, they reverse the very foundation of liberty.

Governments do not create individual rights; they either recognize them or violate them.

America was built on the opposite conviction that our rights come from Nature’s God.

Inalienable rights are ‘endowed by our Creator,’ and not handed out by politicians, bureaucrats, or courts.

A government powerful enough to give you freedoms is powerful enough to take them away.

The Testimony of the Sun

A man recorded the Sun’s movement across the sky as seen from Earth.

He recorded:

• Every day.

• At the same hour.

• For three years.

What he saw in the sky (play the video above to see it) was an elliptical symbol representing infinity.

The looping shape is called an analemma, created by Earth's axial tilt and its elliptical orbit around the sun.

When photographed over a full cycle, the Sun appears to trace a heavenly figure-eight in the skies above the Earth.

The ancients often saw eternity in circles and infinity in repeating patterns. Modern mathematics uses the ∞ symbol to represent infinity, but long before equations, the heavens were already preaching permanence, order, and design.

Here’s the deeper thought that stops me in my tracks:

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What does the phrase ‘because of Me’ mean?

Most would say, ‘When my life aligns with Christ, when my words are His words, and when others see me living for Christ in a dark and lost world, insults, persecution, and false accusations and all kinds of evil will come my way because of Christ.’

Maybe. That’s the traditional interpretation.

Truthfully, however, I’ve yet to meet a Christian who lives, walks, and talks like Christ.

We all fall short. And, to be candid, those who seem to live like Christ are revered and honored in this world, not condemned, threatened, and insulted.

I’m just keeping it real.

Darkness admires Light because darkness is merely Light’s absence.

When Light shows up, darkness can’t help but be no longer darkness.

So, I don’t hold to that traditional interpretation of ‘because of Me.’

So What Does ‘Be…

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For thousands of years, mankind has looked into the heavens with wonder, fear, and speculation. Ancient pagans called them gods. Medieval mystics called them spirits. Modern culture calls them aliens.

But the phenomenon itself has not changed. Only the vocabulary has changed.

The modern obsession with UFOs and ‘extraterrestrial intelligence’ is not new. It is ancient. The Apostle Paul warned that 'even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light’ (2 Corinthians 11:14). ¹

Today’s unidentified aerial phenomena, especially those associated with fear, deception, paralysis, occult fascination, altered consciousness, and anti-Christian messaging, bear a striking resemblance to what the Bible and ancient history have long identified as demonic manifestations.²

The issue before Christians is not whether strange phenomena exist. They do. The issue is the source of those manifestations.

The modern world assumes, often without evidence, that unexplained aerial phenomena must originate from distant galaxies. Scripture offers a far older and more coherent explanation: invisible intelligences in rebellion against God have always sought to deceive humanity. ³

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‘The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.’

Proverbs 27:12

Its smell is now a warning.

Natural gas, in its pure form, is invisible and odorless.

I’m reminded of this every time I catch a sharp, sulfur scent of natural gas.

What I am actually smelling is not the gas itself, but a chemical added to it called thiols, often referred to as mercaptans.

These compounds are deliberately injected into natural gas so that danger can be detected before it destroys.

But it was not always this way.

The Explosion Nobody Expected

On March 18, 1937, in New London, Texas, an entire community learned what it means when danger has no scent.

The New London School explosion stands as the deadliest school tragedy in American history.

Nearly 300 students and teachers died, including my great uncle Basil Salyer, though the total number of deaths carries uncertainty because of the chaos of the day.

I have read the accounts carefully over the years.

The school district, trying to save money during the Great Depression, tapped into a residual natural gas line from nearby oil fields.

No one smelled it. No one knew it.

Until a spark ignited the air itself.

Witnesses said the explosion lifted the building and then dropped it back down in pieces.

Parents rushed to the site, digging through rubble with their bare hands. Some called out names. Some stood silent, already knowing.

A young reporter named Walter Cronkite was sent to cover the story.

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‘Then the LORD sent a great wind’ - Job 1:4.

On the evening of April 23, 2026, the wind came for Enid, Oklahoma. Not a breeze, not a passing storm, but a violent, tearing, roaring force.

An EF-4 tornado that carved its path with a fury few of us have ever witnessed. Roofs were lifted, walls were scattered, and neighborhoods were changed in minutes.

Those who stood in its path will never forget the sound. It was not just wind. It was power.

And yet, no one died.

Let that sink in.

Meteorologist Mike Morgan on KFOR-TV reported something almost beyond comprehension on his Facebook page Friday.

‘The most violent winds on planet earth causing ZERO fatalites.’

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“For this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye.’ Zechariah 2:8

This past weekend (Saturday, April 18, 2026), Rachelle and I went to an estate sale in Nichols Hills, Oklahoma City.

Rachelle and I arrived at the estate about 2 hours before the final closing hour.

I found this piece and told Rachelle, ‘We should buy this.’

Because it was near the end of the sale and all estate items were 50% off, I offered $50 for this piece of glass art.

My offer was accepted.

Background & Style

The art piece, a highly decorative (and heavy) handblown glass with latticino design, a form of art that requires years of training, was made by Gary Beecham.

He etched his signature at the bottom (so small that it requires a magnifying glass).

Beecham studied under Harvey Littleton, widely considered the father of the American studio glass movement.

That lineage matters—it places Beecham in a tradition that values craftsmanship, experimentation, and one-of-a-kind artistry over mass production.

His work typically features:

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‘In Christ, I have a righteousness that is not my own’ - Philippians 3:9.

‘For those in Christ are heirs, heirs of GOD and co-heirs with Jesus Christ’ - Romans 8:17.

One of the weapons used by legalists to keep people in line is the threat of standing before ‘the judgment seat of Christ.’

For these reasons, the legalist declares you must, ‘Keep your walk with God holy, seek to obey God completely, and ensure every day of one’s life is lived righteously.’

The problem with this premise is that it contradicts the written word of God.

Those in Christ will never fall in judgment before Christ, but rather ‘stand with Him’ as a co-heir at the judgment of sinners outside of Christ.

The legalist is right about God’s judgment for those outside of Christ.

God's righteous wrath against sinners on judgment day will vary in severity according to the individual sins of the one being judged.

Jesus told us that Judgment Day will be ‘more tolerable for some than it will be for others’ (see Matthew 10:15).

The experience of God’s righteous punishment will vary in duration and intensity according to the depth and number of unrighteous actions of those who die without Christ.

SINNERS REAP EXACTLY WHAT THEY’VE SOWN

God will not be mocked.

Whatever a sinner sows in his or her life on earth, the consequences will be reaped at the Judgment Seat of Christ (see Galatians 6:7).

‘For the wages of sin is death’ (Romans 6:23). The wages (plural) of sin find one payment (singular), called in the Bible, ‘the second death’ (Revelation 20:14-15).

That means Adolph Hitler will experience the wrath of God in a greater measure and duration than a young boy or girl resurrected by God to give an account for his or her life. Before the second death occurs, the isolation and imprisonment of the resurrected sinner will be exactly in proportion to the seeds sown in the sinner’s life.

The sinner always reaps from his or her Creator exactly what has been sown in life.

The Righteous Judge never errs in the meting out of His judgments for sin.

Part of the wiping away of every tear in heaven very well may be the people of God saying, ‘Yes, Father, you are righteous in your judgments towards those of my family who have rejected Christ.’

God’s justice meted out is always measured, meaningful, and majestic.

There will be no complaints when all is revealed before the Judgment Throne of God.

THE BEAUTY OF FAITH IN JESUS THE MESSIAH

But those sinners who trust Jesus the Messiah will never appear at this Judgment Seat.

Here’s what the Bible teaches…

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‘Wisdom is principal; therefore, get wisdom. And with all you're getting, get understanding.’ Proverbs 4:7

Americans today are living through a time of unusually intense public anger and deep political polarization.

Online shouting matches have become routine. Confrontational behavior among Americans is widespread. Surveys consistently show higher levels of personal and collective rage than in previous generations.

The war with Iran reveals this split in America.

I believe ignorance, not politics, is the culprit.

‘Perfect ignorance is quiet, perfect knowledge is quiet; not so the transition from the former to the latter.’ Thomas Carlyle

American brothers turn against their brothers, sons and daughters against their fathers and mothers, and friends against friends when it comes to the War in Iran because their rhetoric is built on ignorance of the issues.

Very few loudly arguing for or against the war in Iran understand that Sunni Muslims are encouraging President Trump and Benjamin Net…

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This is the rule: ‘The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat’. - 2 Thessalonians 3:10.

One produces. The other redistributes.

Thomas Jefferson (b. April 2, 1743 - d. July 4, 1826) warned us, more than two centuries ago, that the path of farming and production leads to liberty, but the congregation of dependents in urban centers leads to the collapse of the rule of law.

The Farmer and the Republic

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‘The mass killings by Iranian security forces are a stark reminder that rulers who massacre their own people will keep committing atrocities until they are held to account.’ - Human Rights Watch, ‘Countrywide Massacres in Iran,’ January 16, 2026,

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'History is written by the victors.’ - U.S. Sen. George Graham Vest, August 20, 1891.

The story I tell below is true. It’s personal, but for you, it’s pragmatic and practical. I write for those who think No Kings Day represents all Americans.

It doesn’t, but I understand why some think it should. I’m asking Americans to think.

Here’s the True Story.

Episcopal Bishop Leonidis Polk (1806-1864) founded Winchester Female Institute in 1860 to combat ‘the liberal influence’ of Mary Sharp College in the South.

When the Civil War broke out (April 12, 1861), Bishop Polk laid aside his clerical robe and became a General in the Confederate Army.

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Then the LORD said unto me, ‘This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD (YHWH), the God of Israel, has entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.’ - Ezekiel 44:2

The Bible and the Nation of Israel

You will find no greater defender of the modern nation of Israel than I. I’ve traveled to the nation many times, led tours, and have some great Jewish friends in Israel.

I love the modern nation of Israel. I love her people. I love her government.

My view is the historic, standard evangelical interpretation of the New Covenant: God’s agreement with all nations, including Israel, is to bless those who trust His Son.

Some people wrongly call my view ‘Replacement Theology.’ I don’t believe the people of Israel are replaced; rather, the Gentiles are included in this New …

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