The Backwoods Baptist - podcast cover

The Backwoods Baptist

Harold Smithpodcasters.spotify.com
We seek to apply a heaping helping of country fried commonsense to the issues facing Christians today. We praise the Lord for the educated men and the resources that are available to Believers today. Our concern is the absence simple yet sound teaching for the common man. Somewhere between Harvard and a bunch of hillbillies lies the backwoods. It is here that we talk church with an open Bible in the plain language of the people.
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Episodes

We Need To Talk About Israel

Somewhere between antisemitism and Israel idolatry is a healthy view of the nation of Israel. Regardless of your end time beliefs, Christians should hold a charitable view of the jews for a number of reasons. Lets talk about that.

Aug 30, 202431 min

Idolizing Preachers

Ronnie Qualls, pastor of FBC Bowlegs, OK joins me on the podcast today to talk about idolizing preachers. In the Information Age it is all to easy to fall in love with a internet preacher and become dissatisfied with your pastor. Pastors also run the risk of imitating their favorite preacher. The risk of making idols out of our favorite preachers is real and it can ruin our relationship with the local church.

Aug 14, 202442 minSeason 2Ep. 7

Opposition In The Ministry

Opposition isn't a bad thing. God often uses opposition the humble and strengthen us at the same time. Sometime the worst thing that can happen to a pastor is the removal of all his opponents. Let's look at some physical and biblical examples of opposition making the believer better.

Jul 03, 202424 minSeason 2Ep. 5

American Fascination With Ghost and the Paranormal

This podcast was recorded in our new office at the Backwoods Book Co in Van Buren, AR. This building used to be the Crawford County Ghost Hunters/Paranormal Society. In this episode we talk ghost and America's fascination with them.

Jun 22, 202424 minSeason 2Ep. 4

Lord, Send Us More Pastors.

I used to pray for the Lord to send more preachers but now I realize that more pastors is what we really need. Wether you have a pastor or you're seeking one this episode will help you to appreciate the office of pastor.

Mar 01, 202435 minSeason 2Ep. 2

Those Who Believe In Grace Should Show Some Grace.

The lack grace among those who profess to believe in grace is becoming detrimental to christians today. Social media has became a hotbed of christians espousing pet doctrines and arguing against anyone who offers a different yet orthodox view. Many times these people justify their fierce debates as simply being soldiers of truth. They are declaring truth and fighting for the faith. The problem with this logic is the victims they are slaying are fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. In the milit...

Feb 16, 202432 minSeason 2Ep. 1

A New Ministry Opportunity

After a 6 week hiatus its time to get back to the podcast. Our first episode of the new year covers a new ministry idea that I hope to implement in the days ahead. Please keep this matter in your prayers as we seek the proper place to cary it out.

Feb 02, 202433 minSeason 2Ep. 1

Read Your Bible

The new year is right around the corner and countless Christians are going to begin a yearly Bible reading plan only to ditch by mid February. I have never read the Bible through in a year, but I have a new strategy. Join us as we seek a better more Biblical way to consume the Scriptures.

Dec 15, 202338 minSeason 1Ep. 33

You Be You

The desire to fit in and be a part of the crowd is built in to the human heart. When it comes to our faith we often just go along with things we don't agree with just to fit it. This leads to legalism, cronyism, and traditionalism. We need to embrace our own individuality and be comfortable with who God made us to be.

Dec 01, 202335 minSeason 1Ep. 32

A Plea For Practical Preaching

American pulpits are increasingly falling into a ditch on either side of the Bible preaching road. On one side you have the worldly centered pulpit that in lacking in Biblical exposition. On the other side you have the overly educational, dry, dusty, rigid out line style that give the congregation information and very little application. The worldly ditch has been around for years, but this other ditch is gaining ground. In this episode I'll describe examples of both and give advice to avoid the...

Nov 10, 202342 minSeason 1Ep. 30

An Audience Of One

The phrase "Know your audience" has been around for years and is good sound advice. When it comes to the worship of God it is all the more important. Preachers should prepare for an audience with God alone. When we gather for worship God should be our focus. However in today's culture there's a trend of trying to capture everything on our phone to share on social media. If our only audience is God, why do we have this desire to show our worship to another audience? Honestly, the true worship of ...

Oct 27, 202332 minSeason 1Ep. 32

Gospel Tracts

One of the easiest ways to share the gospel is to share a tract. In this episode I cover various kinds of gospel tracts, where to get them, and share some ideas to help you give them away. Don't overlook the lowly gospel tract, it can be an effective tool in every Christian's evangelism.

Oct 21, 202338 minSeason 1Ep. 30

How To Find A Church

Finding a church that suits your faith and practice can be harder than you may think. In certain parts of the country it may be nearly impossible. In this episode I'll give some practical advise and few tips to make your search more productive. Who knows, maybe I can be of help to you? You can always reach me a backwoodsbaptistpodcast@gmail.com

Oct 04, 202336 minSeason 1Ep. 28

When To Leave A Church

There are some obvious reasons to leave a church but there are some lesser reason as well. We will try to discuss them all and how to go about it on this episode.

Sep 21, 202338 minSeason 1Ep. 27

Church Membership Matters

As church attendance across America shrinks more and more professing Christians are skipping church. Even worse is the lack of instruction on the role of the church among this generation of pastor/teachers. The problem goes back for generations, back when evangelism began to out paced education. Many churches today have no criteria for membership at all, virtually anyone can join and they will never remove you. We even have churches with no formal membership at all. Does the Bible speak of churc...

Sep 08, 202335 minSeason 1Ep. 27

Why I'm not a reformed Baptist and what's wrong with the movement.

Just because you meet a Baptist who believes in election doesn't mean they are a reformed baptist. Nor does it mean that you need to keep working on them in order to get them to fully embrace the Reformed tradition. They might simply disagree with several reformed doctrines and they probably even have biblical support for their disagreements. That leads us to address some of the problems with the reformed baptist movement and it's not doctrinal. Many of Reformed apologist on social media are oft...

Aug 16, 202339 minSeason 1Ep. 26

Real Christian Fellowship

Christians enjoy a bond that the world doesn't know anything about, we are one in Christ. We love to worship together, eat together, study together, and spend time together. True Christians share fellowship with other Christians everywhere they meet. The evidence of Christ's love for us is demonstrated in our love for fellow Believers. In this episode I discuss the joy I have had by fellowshipping with saints all over the country.

Aug 04, 202332 minSeason 1Ep. 25

America's Increasing Independence

This is a sermon that I recently preached at the 11th annual Preachers of Grace pastor's conference. In this message I seek to get beyond the fruit of America's problems (LBGT, abortion, gender confusion, corrupt politics) and lay the axe at the root. I firmly believe the root cause for the shape we are in can be traced directly to our independence from the person, presence, and plan of God. We as believers need to examine this issue and call our neighbors to a proper understanding of God....

Jul 20, 202333 minSeason 1Ep. 24

Local Church History Matters

Every church has a story. If we take the time to learn it we will be educated by the past and encouraged about the future. Give me 30 minutes of your time as I exhort you to learn your local church's history.

Jul 06, 202333 minSeason 1Ep. 71

Impromptu Speaking

Will you be ready to speak if called upon without any notice? Impromptu speeches occur without warning and don't offer any time to prepare. These opportunities to "say a few words" often come up at family events, retirement parties, holiday gatherings, or during times of grief. God providentially places His children before an assembly to give a word of encouragement, advice, or comfort but all too often we shy away from them. The fear of not knowing what to say drives us to decline these invitat...

Jun 22, 202343 minSeason 1Ep. 21

Problems With Christian Nationalism Featuring Fred Butler

Fred and I discuss our concerns and Biblical objections to a loose but growing movement under the banner of Christian Nationalism. The movement has many leaders and varying opinions but all fall under a desire to merge Christianity with the nation. We give a brief recent history of this movement and discuss many of the errors committed by Christian Nations in centuries past. With the lack of clear biblical support and a track record of oppression and persecution we want to make a case for reject...

Jun 03, 202339 minSeason 1Ep. 20

Formal Education For Ministry

Should every God called, Spirit filled, Bible preacher go to seminary? Regardless of your personal feelings on the subject of formal education, there are many in academia who push young preachers to enroll in a Bible college or seminary. Many churches have a certain level of education listed as a criteria to even be considered as a pastoral candidate. Much like the business world, some churches have a pay scale that favors higher education. In certain circles you are measured by your level of ed...

May 17, 202345 minSeason 1Ep. 19

Church Attendance "How big is your church?"

How big is your church? This question is all too often used to judge the health of a church. We live in a society that says size matters. But does the Bible say church size matters? Is bigger always better? Is attendance the best factor to measure church health? In this episode we will discuss the weaknesses of using attendance as a standard of church heath as well as identifying some better indicators of true church health.

May 10, 202335 minSeason 1Ep. 16

Gender Roles

Rejecting the proper role for each gender in the home and in the church is not our downfall, it's the fruit of it. We began this downward spiral when we rejected our Creator. We were created in His image and mankind has sought to dismiss that truth by explaining it away. This is most recently seen through the folly of evolution. The natural out flow of having chaos as your creator is confusion as to order of this creation. While the world falls headlong down this rabbit hole the church should be...

Apr 26, 202333 minSeason 1Ep. 15

Church Security (with a personal update)

Somewhere between Gandhi, the movie Full Metal Jacket, and Barney Fife is a proper understanding of church security. Too many church security teams resemble the cartoon character Dale Gribble from King of the Hill. While others take a pacifist approach to their safety. Let me apply some backwoods logic to a sticky situation. But before we get started I want to update you on the events of my personal life and why I've been away for the last few weeks.

Apr 19, 202322 minSeason 1Ep. 15

What Exactly Do You Do?

The short answer is that I am a missionary sent out of Lee Creek Baptist Church in Van Buren, AR who works with pastorless churches and churchless pastors. The long answer and biblical support for this kind on ministry are found in today's podcast.

Mar 29, 202334 minSeason 1Ep. 15

Baptist Business Meetings

If you're a member of a Baptist church you've been in a business meeting. There's a good chance you've had a bad experience in a business meeting. The bad business meeting is really the result of a bad church or bad leadership in the church. These bad experiences have led a few churches to quit these meetings all together. I don't think this is the answer. I believe you should address the church issues and conduct business to the glory of God. In this episode I'll give some practical advise on b...

Mar 22, 202327 minSeason 1Ep. 15

Christian Conference Culture

We are clearly in the age of the Christian mega conference. Many of the national conferences host thousands of attenders each year. These events have grown to the point that they teeter on celebrity culture drawing from an all-star line up of famous preachers. During these events social media fills with pictures of average Christians posing with the favorite teacher/preacher/author. Exhibit halls fill with every sort of Christian vender under the sun. Shame on you if you wait to long to buy your...

Mar 15, 202328 minSeason 1Ep. 14

Church Clothes

What should we wear to church? The answers range from a legalistic uniform to nearly nothing at all. In this episode I lay out four different common categories of church attire and recommend an approach that glorifies God without offending man.

Mar 08, 202333 minSeason 1Ep. 13
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