Fast Facts is a weekly email program where we provide our readers with relevant and practical resources to contend for the faith (Jude 3) and to be ready with an answer (1 Peter 3:15). We trust that these quick and helpful tools will give you greater confidence in sharing the truth of Jesus Christ.

Fast Facts on…

The Religious Beliefs of the Pilgrims

  • According to the Mayflower Compact of 1620 the Pilgrims came to the New World to plant the first colony for the glory of God and for the advancement of the Christian faith.
  • The Pilgrims were separatists who rejected the extra-biblical sacraments and church hierarchy found within the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches of Europe and England.
  • Pilgrims emphasized the believer’s freedom and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It was for this reason they were persecuted and fled England for Holland, and ultimately the New World.
  • The Pilgrims were Protestants who traced their theological heritage back to John Calvin and Calvinism. They believed in predestination, the election by God, before creation, of the saved and the lost. Pilgrims used John Calvin’s Geneva translation of the Bible.
  • Pilgrims practiced only two sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. They rejected any religious practice or tradition that did not have the support of Scripture.
  • The Pilgrims practiced infant baptism. They believed that infant baptism removed the guilt of original sin and was a new covenant between God and believers, just as circumcision was in the Old Testament. For the Pilgrims, at least one parent must have been a believer for an infant to be baptized.
  • The Pilgrims did not celebrate religious holidays like Christmas or Easter, as they viewed these as extra-biblical inventions of man. However, they strictly observed the weekly Sabbath day of rest on Sundays.
  • While not all believers will agree with every theological distinctive of the Pilgrims, American Christians can be thankful that our original colonists were a people who valued the word of God and the great principles of the Reformation.

For more information on America’s spiritual heritage, please check out Jason Carlson’s lecture series, The Church in a Post-Christian Culture, available in our online store.

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This Week’s Fast Facts

Fast Facts on Worldviews – Part X

  • Over the past 10 weeks our Fast Facts series has explored the various worldviews that have influenced Western culture over the past two centuries.
  • The primary lesson to be learned in humanity’s spiritual journey these past two hundred years is that apart from an embrace of God’s revealed truth in Scripture, societies are destined for disaster. This is the lesson we learn from history, but it’s also what God’s word has revealed to us for over 2,000 years (Romans 1:18-32).
  • Culture is simply worldview externalized. What an individual, a nation, or society thinks and believes about God will directly impact all areas of life. Thus, for true societal transformation to take place, it must begin with heart transformation.
  • For us as believers who are concerned with the direction our culture is heading today, what this means is that our primary motivation must be for declaring the Gospel and calling people to repentance and making Christ the Lord of their lives. Apart from genuine heart transformation, all of our other social ministry endeavors will simply be temporary band-aids masking humanity’s true need.
  • The most important message we can share with the world today is that single most important truth expressed by Jesus Christ, himself, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

For more information on sharing the Gospel with those caught up in false worldviews, please check out the book Apologetics For A New Generation, available in our online store.

Follow CMI on Twitter at @jasoncarlsoncmi.

This Week’s Fast Facts

Fast Facts on Overcoming Boredom in Church

  • Many people wrestle with boredom in church. Often the pursued solution to this boredom is to find a “bigger” and “better” church experience. But what if this approach doesn’t satisfy?
  • Maybe you need to consider the possibility that your faith has become more “me” centered than “He” centered? Maybe a new church isn’t the answer, but a new posture in worship? Here are 3 words that have the power to forever change your experience of church.
  • “Rejoice”... As you prepare to go to worship, begin by embracing an attitude of gratitude. Reflect on the Lord’s goodness and his many blessings in your life, and thank him for them.
  • “Revere”... Focus your heart on who God is and the amazing reality that he loves you! The more you meditate on the reality that the sovereign Creator of the universe loves you, and has lavished his amazing grace upon you, the more your heart will be bent towards praise.
  • “Refocus”... Follow Paul’s admonition in Romans 12:1-2 and ask God to refocus your heart’s priorities. As you enter worship, say to the Lord, “God, my one desire today is to honor you. Please use this service to transform me, and further conform me to your holy will.”
  • By practicing these 3 “R’s” you can adopt a new posture in worship and experience the fullness of joy and blessing that’s available in gathering for worship at church.

For more information on God’s purposes for worship and the Church, please check out the Apologetics Study Bible for Students, available in our online store.

Follow CMI on Twitter at @jasoncarlsoncmi.

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