Enlarging our borders, are we?

Check out the speaker line-up (and disregard the obvious typos).



I have only one question. Why?



What We Believe



Okay, I have one more question. Do we agree on these Four Core Beliefs?



The "Four Core Beliefs" of the Assemblies of God:



1. Salvation

2. Baptism in the Holy Spirit

3. Divine Healing

4. the Second Coming of Christ.



Since most of us are Baptists here I assume we are pretty much in agreement with #1, and I don't think anyone would argue with #4. However, I think I can say with certainty that most of us, as Baptists, do not agree with #2 or for that matter #3 as it's taught and practiced in the AoG church.



Recently we've heard a lot about primary, secondary, and tertiary beliefs among Christians and more specifically Southern Baptists, and all but the most rabid of the Baptist Identity crowd have agreed to disagree on all the tertiary stuff and most of the secondary stuff. We have not agreed to disagree on the primary stuff. Some have tried to make secondary and tertiary issues primary issues, but that's a different subject.



By definition, "core beliefs" are primary beliefs, the very foundation of our faith. This is not to say that we cannot cooperate with AoG churches in some situations, but this is like the Tennessee Baptist Convention inviting the pastor of the largest Assembly of God church in Memphis to speak at their annual meeting. He's probably a really great guy, but he's not Baptist.



Therefore, what possible reason could the Tennessee District of the Assemblies of God have for inviting Steve Gaines to be their keynote speaker, and what reason could Steve Gaines possibly have for accepting their invitation?



I'm all ears eyes.