I can see that if the NZ Baptist is a true reflection of life in Baptist churches in New Zealand then man’s opinion is valued more highly than scripture.

There were plenty of opinions, but I could find only one article in this magazine that had any amount of scripture in it and no expository or topical scripture-based teaching from the Bible. The editorial and a main feature were about what a non-Christian thinks about Christians and churches and how we can make our church nicer for unbelievers.

It is evident that Baptists are concerned about being “relevant,” whatever that means. Were Jesus or John or Paul relevant? Supremely so, but not in the same way we want to be relevant. They were not after numbers, they were after those who would be faithful to God’s purposes. Their success often meant few followers and much persecution. ...

It is foolish to ask why people do not come to church when the main reason people don’t come to church is in John 3:19, “And this is the condemnation, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds were evil.”

God is holy and is only approachable to those who repent and acknowledge His sovereignty. Jesus was only user friendly to repentant sinners. Many churches will give ground to the devil to try and redeem the devil’s children and then have to compromise on all sorts of issues to keep these same people. ...

Being all things to all people does not mean we bow to the world, rather that we enter their world and bring the message that God commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).

– Hamish Denmead
Wakefield