The Dangers of Evangelicalism

At the site of yet another "evangelical" pastor resigning after succombing to Homosexual desires (see: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_4817067) I feel the need to write about the danger that evangelicalism (as is exemplified by the mega-church movement) poses to the Church Catholic. Here are Four Bullet Points that I will expound on with following Posts. If you have any insight or questions you would like answered please feel free to post messages.

1) Lack of Pastoral Oversight


2) Lack of Historical Perspective


3) Lack of Eucharistic Awareness


4) Lack of Creedal Association/Foundation

O Little Town of Bethlehem

O Little Town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie! Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by, yet in thy dark streets shines the everlasting Light; the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight. O holy Child of Bethlehem!
Descend to us, we pray; Cast out our sin and enter in, Be born in us to-day. We hear the Christmas angels. The great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel!

Phillips Brooks wrote that wonderful hymn while riding back to his Boston home after a particularly moving Christmas Eve service in the year 1865. He had visited the actual town of Bethlehem the previous summer and had been struck by the serenity of that small and meager town. Bethlehem in the time of Christ is estimated to have had a population around 500 people. Even small towns can be used by God to further his glory. This is a motif which comes up again and again in the Old and New Testaments. We are reminded of the verse from the Sermon on the Mount that Blessed shall be the meek for they shall inherit the earth. This little backwoods town of Bethlehem was to be the site of the birth of Our Savior, Our Redeemer, Our King. Of course Bethlehem was no ordinary town. Bethlehem was the site where we read in Genesis 35:19 that Rachel the wife of Jacob was buried. Bethlehem was the place where we read in Ruth 4:11 that Ruth and Boaz were married. And who were Ruth and Boaz? Ruth and Boaz were the proud parents as we read in the end of chapter 4 in Ruth of a little boy by the name of Obed. Who is Obed? Obed was the father of Jesse. And who is this Jesse? Seems to me that this Jesse is an important fellow? But does anyone remember who Jesse is? That is correct. Jesse is the father of the David. And for the purposes of the City of Bethlehem what is important about the fact that King David was born in this small backwater town just south of the big City? Is it because Bethlehem is a neat city to be from or that Bethlehem has a great Hospital? No it is because as God had promised to Abraham centuries before that a great King would arise from his line and would lead his descendants and would make the name of the Lord thy God 1^st among all the nations. It is because Jesus who was promised to the people of Israel that a savior shall be born among them in the city of David, the City of Bethlehem. That is what is so pivotal about Jesus Christ being born in the City of David. The City of Bethlehem.

Giving Thanksgiving to God

As spiritual descendents of the Puritans the Thanksgiving holiday should mean just a little bit more to Presbyterians and members of the Reformed faith. The Pilgrims who sailed to this country aboard the Mayflower were originally members of the English Separatist Church (a Reformed sect that had removed itself from the state Anglican Church of England). They had earlier fled their homes in the south of England-ironically from the town of Boston-and sailed to Holland to escape religious persecution by the English government. After experiencing similar persecution in Holland they made a daring and fateful decision that they should set sail to the west into uncharted waters. Waters only years before that English, Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese explorers had navigated. What an amazing faith it must have took to get on a leaky, ill-suited ship and to cross the Atlantic in a time before GPS. What is so amazing about this story is that the Puritans had no interest or wish to go to Plymouth Rock. They had intended to sail to the British colony at Jamestown which itself had only been founded 13 years earlier. But the Almighty God had different plans for that bunch of English Separatists that had fled England and Holland and were now escaping to the New World. And so that we may not think this journey was an easy one we must remember that by the beginning of the following fall, they had lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on the Mayflower. 50% of the original Puritans perished yet what did they do first when they landed on Cape Cod? They broke bread with each other and gave thanks to the Lord our God for the glory that he had given them. What faith is that! A faith that gives thanks to God even though none of their prayers had been answered! They were hundreds-of-miles off course, tired, wet, and hungry yet their first response is to give thanks to the Almighty. This we should always remember as we sit down at our Thanksgiving table do not forget to thank God for the prayers he did not answer and for that we should be eternally grateful.

Theological Question For The Day

Here is a statement:

You see without the actual transmission of the Savior’s blood onto the heart of the sinner there is no remission of sin.

What do you think?

Baby's 1st Halloween

Here are some pics from my daughter's First Halloween at the Seminary DayCare.



Daddy has LOTS of Candy!!!

How Serious About Our Doctrine Should We Be?

How serious about our doctrine should we be? Should we concede points to try to win souls to Christ so that the gospel can now be more palatable for them to consume? I think not for the reason because I do not-as others have stated-that God does not in any way bless falsehood even if that falsehood could lead a person to him. Charles Spurgeon says

”To try to win a soul to Christ by keeping that soul in ignorance of any truth,
is contrary to the mind of the Spirit; and to endeavor to save men by mere
claptrap, or excitement, or oratorical display, is as foolish as to hope to hold
an angel with bird-line, or lure a star with music. The best attraction is the
gospel in its purity.”

I believe fully what Spurgeon is saying is that to keeping a mind in a lack of knowledge of the gospel for the sake of conversion will always make a false conversion because what you in effect have done is convert the person to a false religion that will damn their soul. By providing a false witness and convincing a person by that false witness you have also damned yourself. So remember not to preach a watered down gospel to impress non-believers because you will not just lead them to a false representation of God but will also lead them blindly away from the full revelation that is Christ Jesus. We must be carful not to hold back precious truth when trying to introduce non-believers to the Word of God and therefore lead them into darkness and despair.

Clinical Depression in the Presbyterian Church USA

I come from yet another Supply Pastoring at a small Presbyterian USA church in the hinterlands. What do I find again? Another Church clinically depressed over its relationship with its Presbytery. This is starting to be a trend I do not like in the least. Redstone, West Virginia, and Upper Ohio Valley Presbyteries seem to not care about their less than profitable churches. The Clerk of Session at the Church I was fortunate enough to preach at today told me that she believes her Presbytery is purposefully trying to shutter her Church so they would no longer be burdenned by them. It really saddens me and infuriates my soul that Presbyteries would hope that Churches would "go away". What can we do fellow Presbyterians? All talk of theological unity is lost-and pointless-if we cannot infuse the Presbyteries and local churches with competent leadership.

Resurrection of the Dead

I attended a Funeral Practicum last night at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. It was by far the class where I have learned the most practical pastoral care lessons in my 18 months at Seminary. But it drove me to do some major studying on the concept we speak every Sunday during the Apostles Creed when we say"I Believe in the Resurrection of the Body".

But do we truly understand what that means?

The Scriptures teach-I believe-that we will not only recognize each other in heaven but we will have the same body. Jesus's own body was raised from the dead not just his spirit according to Scripture. It is important to remember after Jesus's Resurrection and before the Assumption he still had the same marks on his body that he did prior to his death. Read Jesus’ words in John 5:28-29, 6:39-40, 11:25-26, and Luke 14:14. Also see Paul in 1 Cor 15:12. Paul says, "Now if Christ be preached, that he arose again from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?" So according to Scripture, yes it will be the same-but glorified-body if you believe-as I do-in a literal translation of Resurrection of the Body as is said in the Apostles Creed and spoken by Jesus and Paul. Also of note I agree with N.T. Wright (and one of my professors) that there is no seperation between the body and the soul; that they are one entity and cannot be seperated. That an idea of a two-nature body is a remnant of neo-Platanism and is incongruent with the witness of Scripture.

Here is a factoid I discovered:

Most Conservative and Orthodox Jews do not even embalm the body for many reasons including the blood being the location of life ergo you must keep it with the body.

A Little Love For the (Truly) Small Churches

I have just returned from another day of preaching at a small church that is in dire need of direction, understanding, spiritual leadership, and most of all stability in the pulpit. The particular church I preached at today has not had a Full-Time pastor since 1997. They have tried to call freshly-ordained Seminary students but cannot quite "get anybody to come". They tried the CLP route (which my Mother is one) but could not find one that would stick with them in times of trouble. They have been abandoned for "greener pastures" by more pastors than the poor Clerk of Session could count. They believe themselves to have been forgotten by their presbytery but more dangerously forgotten by God. They see the Methodists and Baptists-worse yet the word of faith gospel churches-growing but they continue to shrink as each member dies off. And they cannot understand why the word of faith churches grow but they do not. For example, while I was there today during the Joys and Concerns before the Pastoral Prayer they asked me to pray "that children would start coming to their church". In my young and naive experience with presbyteries that have large numbers of these types of churches they have tendency to see the rural, low-member churches as nuisances rather than as a mission-area to be culled. They would rather these churches-that can barely scrap together 1/10 of the per-capita of the larger, more urban and ethnically diverse churches-disappear so that they can refocus themselves in other areas instead of spending time, resources, and money trying to support these rural churches. We focus our efforts globally and forget that our rural churches need support as well. I may be a bit biased as I come from a background of attending small, rural (less than 15 members in one case) Presbyterian Churches. I grew up defending Presbyterianism-more importantly Sola Gracia and true Salvation by Faith Alone-from attacks from the independent Baptists that I grew up with. Presbyterianism is dying in rural America. It died once from a lack of pastors, let us hope that the clergy will not allow this to happen again.

Breaking News from Pittsburgh Presbytery

Minister charged in same-sex marriage

By Mike Wereschagin
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 14, 2006

The Presbyterian Church has charged a Squirrel Hill minister with breaking church law by performing a marriage ceremony for two women last year.

The Presbyterian Church constitution allows same-sex unions, but not marriages. If the Rev. Janet Edwards, 56, is found guilty of violating the church constitution, she faces punishment ranging from a rebuke to removal from the clergy and loss of her ministry.

"I will plead not guilty," Edwards, a minister who is a parish associate at the Community of Reconciliation Church in Oakland, said Wednesday. "I do not believe I violated the constitution of the Presbyterian Church."

Edwards is charged with performing a marriage ceremony "for two individuals of the same sex," for omitting Scripture readings from the ceremony and for failing "to have the participants declare their intention to enter into a Christian marriage," according to a copy of the charges.

A spokesman for the Pittsburgh Presbytery declined to comment yesterday.

The Pittsburgh Presbytery began investigating Edwards shortly after she conducted the ceremony for Brenda Cole and Nancy McConn, of Triadelphia, W.Va., in Cathedral Hall in McKees Rocks on June 25, 2005. The couple married legally in Vancouver, B.C., several days later.

"Marriage reflects the image of God's covenant with creation," Edwards said yesterday. "That love and commitment can be in a relationship between a man and a woman, sure. It can also be between two men and between two women, and it very obviously is in the relationship between Nancy and Brenda."

Nancy McConn, 66, a retired computer software developer from Dallas, W.Va., said, "Having a spiritual marriage was so important to both of us. We're both spiritual people."

Her partner, Brenda Cole, 52, a clinical psychologist and Buddhist, said she was confident that if they "continue to speak the truth" -- that love and commitment, not gender, matters -- "the church will come to see that reality."

The Pittsburgh Presbytery has 153 congregations, according to its Web site. The Pittsburgh Presbytery is one of the largest in the country, Edwards said, and members possess a broad range of opinions.

"I've received a lot of support from my colleagues here," she said. "There are also a lot of pastors who disagree with my position."

A pretrial hearing must be scheduled within 30 days, Edwards said. No trial date has been set.

"I'm glad I've been given the opportunity to participate in this discussion" about rights for gay couples, Edwards said. "The discussion has to conclude with their full inclusion in society."

Mike Wereschagin can be reached at mwereschagin@tribweb.com or (412) 391-0927.

Learning Hebrew

This post is going to be short and to the point. Whoever told me that Hebrew would be easier than Greek is in need of serious medical help. It has only been two weeks and man-o-man is this hard.

The Pelagian Captivity of the Church

How fitting that R.C. Sproul's lovely article on the Pelagian Captivity of the Church appears this month on the White Horse Inn website. This message that Sproul presents is a mandatory read for all who wonder about the status of our Reformed faith in today's world. Sproul spells out exactly what has infected this era-the same thing that has always infected the church-the devaluation of the Grace of God and the promotion of the personal ability of man. Even during the dark days of Reformation the Romanists and the Reformers could agree on at least one doctrine-that of Original Sin. We find our church today infiltrated by the disciples of Pelagius who seek to elevate the person to a status that we neither deserve to attain nor are we able to receive without the purposeful sacrifice of the lamb on Calvary and deny the worthiness of Christ's sacrifice by tossing the need for the sacrifice out the window. If we could be saved by perfect obedience to the law there is no need for the sacrifice. If we can work off our own death what is the need for the atonement?

http://www.modernreformation.org/rc01pelagian.htm

Open Rebellion

This is a letter to the editor in the Johnson City Press (My Great-Grandmother's hometown) from a PC(USA) minister. I noticed it first when I read the newspaper in the August 20th edition. I did not pay it much mind until I found it on the Pastor's own blog. Now paint me as a reactionary but is this not openly flouting the Book of Order and directives of the PJC and General Assembly?


Voting Against
"I have been honored to officiate at holy unions for gay and lesbian couples that I believe are as holy and blessed as any of the marriages I have performed for straight couples. I serve a congregation that welcomes and loves gay and lesbian people, their partners and families, and regards them as full and equal members.

I will be voting against this amendment in November. Regardless of what happens with this legislation, it is even more important that sexual minorities in this area know that you do not have to choose between your faith and who you are. There are congregations here that are open and affirming. I am proud to serve one of them."

John Shuck
Minister
First Presbyterian Church
Elizabethton

The Battle Has Begun

I received this e-mail tonight-not sure why-about the situation at Kirk of The Hills.

I do not know if you have been following the events at Kirk of the Hills in Tulsa. A few weeks ago they chose to leave the PCUSA. Tom Gray is their pastor and he has maintained a blog detailing the process.

Tom Gray just posted on his blog an alert to his members. It is pasted below. Now is the time to show your support for Kirk of the Hills by going to the website and write your comments of support as they undergo coercive actions by the denomination.

Here is the url for Tom Gray's blog. It is easy to leave a comment. Just click on comment at the end. Click other to type in your name. http://tomgrayofthekirk.blogspot.com/

*ALERT* to all Kirk Members

Our clerk of our board of elders just played a message on her answering machine from Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery. They have informed her that the presbytery is sending a supply pastor to preach tomorrow, and a someone else to moderate the congregational meeting on Wednesday.

This has happened before, a part of the "game plan" of the PCUSA. The link that follows has pictures and a video of what happened in a Torrance, California, church a little over a year ago. The denomination came in and pushed their way into the pulpit, creating chaos for a brief moment in worship. We will not allow that to happen.

Moderator Ufford-Chase, minority group disrupts worship service -
7/56/05

The PCUSA believes only what they wish to. They recognize that Wayne and I resigned from the denomination, but they refuse to recognize that the Kirk has also withdrawn and, in the process, re-hired us as co-pastors. They are coming to "rescue" a church that doesn't want it.

Wayne and I will be in the pulput tomorrow. This step on the part of the presbytery, since we are no longer a PCUSA church, is intrusive, arrogant, and illegal.
A LAST-MINUTE ADDITION,

I just read the following letter from a PCUSA pastor (retired) writing Presbyweb. Ed is a good guy, and I appreciate the heads-up.

Letters
August 26, 2006

Dear Editor:

I have just gotten off the phone with someone who had been in conversation with Synod personnel regarding the withdrawal of Kirk of the Hills. He was telling me how the Synod and Presbytery planned to use denominational lawyers to fight The Kirk "tooth and toe nail" for the church property.

Then I read Vernon Broyles piece "The bottom line for peace." It reminded me of what my old dad used to tell me: "Son, do what I say. Don't do what I do."

I watch and wonder... can we, will we, treat our fellow sisters and brothers in Christ who disagree with us with the same command of Jesus to turn the other cheek? To love? To forgive? Or is what we profess we want for the warring parties of the Middle East unavailable for Christian friends who feel led to go in another direction? Will the PCUSA demonstrate grace and forgiveness by turning the other cheek?

I doubt I'll live that long!

Rev. Dr. Edwin [Ed] Bernard, HR
Hugo, Oklahoma


Keep praying--keep the faith,
Tom

Prayer Request #3

This Prayer Request #3 is for discerment. As most of you know I am a seminarian and am an inquirer in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). As all of you who are aquainted with this denomination understand these are tumultuous times that require vigilance, study, and most importantly fervent prayer. While the seminary I attend is not overly theologically liberal it does have on its staff two men out in the forefront of the fight we find ourselves in: The Rev. Dr. Andrew Purves and Dr. Robert A.J. Gagnon. I find myself standing in the wilderness tearing my cloak as I stand full of anxiety, passion, and uncertainty. II ask for prayers of discerment as I begin to near Ordination as to the path in which God has chosen for me. In God there is hope. In God there is foundation. To God Be the Glory. Amen.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

I was reading the Book of Jonah for an Adult Bible Study that I lead on Wednesday nights. We all know what happens in the first two chapters but what struck me the most was what happens in Chapter 4 and its relation to our current situation. Jonah when called a second-time goes forth to Ninevah so that they who are wicked and evil may REPENT and submit to the mercy and power of the Lord of Israel. If they do not then God will destroy them. Jonah being a good Israelite looks forward to their destruction at the hands of his Lord. What happens? A befuddled Jonah sits on a hill looking on as the Ninevites REPENT even their king commands them to bow down at the foot of the Israelite God. God then relents and grants mercy to the Ninevites and allows them to live. Jonah is beside himself with anger. He cries to the Lord that he knew the Lord was a lord of mercy and it angers him that God chose to show mercy to the gentile Ninevites. Look at what God says:

4The LORD said, "Do you have good reason to be angry?"5Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. 6 So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. 7 But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered.8 When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, "Death is better to me than life."9Then God said to Jonah, "Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "I have good reason to be angry, even to death." 10 Then the LORD said, "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight.11"Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?"

What really strikes me is that are anyone of us willing to go to Louisville and preach the word of God or will we like Jonah and run off to Tarshish? I believe that we are being called by the Lord our God to stand up and say to Louisville the same words that Jonah preached to the Ninevites so that they may REPENT of their evilness and wickedness. Who among us will go and be a prophet to the Ninevites, who will be the Jonah of our time? Who shall lead the wicked to Christ? Who shall go and preach the Word of Mercy upon those that REPENT? For we all know the fate of the cities that denied the cries of the man of God Lot. We know of other cities that have had the same fate befall them. Ultimately it is up to the Lord our God to decide on whom he will show mercy. But for their sake let us hope and pray Louisville takes the path of the Ninevites and learns from the death of the twin cities Sodom and Gomorrah so that the Lord may show mercy upon them. Amen.

ACLU: Enemy of Christianity in America

ACLU wants parish to forget cross
Katrina memorial bears Jesus' face
Sunday, August 06, 2006
By Karen Turni Bazile

Alarmed by newspaper reports that a hurricane memorial in St. Bernard Parish will feature a cross bearing a likeness of the face of Jesus, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana is reminding parish officials of the Constitution's separation of church and state.

Never one to back down, Parish President Henry "Junior" Rodriguez has a simple reply: "They can kiss my ***."

In a July 28 letter to Rodriguez and other officials, Louisiana ACLU Executive Director Joe Cook said that the government promotion of a patently religious symbol on a public waterway is a violation of the Constitution's First Amendment, which prohibits government from advancing a religion.

Rodriguez did not say whether he has responded to Cook's letter, but in an interview, he said he sees nothing improper about the memorial, which will be mounted near the shoreline of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet at Shell Beach. The cross and accompanying monument listing the names of the 129 parish residents who died in Hurricane Katrina are earmarked for what the parish says is private land and are being financed with donations, Rodriguez said.

Nonetheless, Cook asked the parish to erect a religiously neutral symbol and also voiced concern that the Parish Council was sanctioning a religious monument.

Returning Rodriguez's volley, Cook added, "It would be better if he would kiss the Constitution and honor it and honor the First Amendment."

The St. Bernard Parish Council voted several months ago to erect a monument, but at the time did not offer specific plans. The parish recently announced plans to dedicate the memorial on Aug. 29, the one-year anniversary of the devastating hurricane.

The cross is being designed and fabricated by Vincent LaBruzzo, a welder and fabricator from Arabi. The stainless-steel cross will be 13 feet tall and 7 feet wide and will be lighted, according to a note on the parish's Web site, www.sbpg.net

LaBruzzo worked for the parish before recently taking a job with Unified Recovery Group, the company clearing the parish's storm debris. Rodriguez said he helped LaBruzzo get the job with URG. LaBruzzo did not return phone messages seeking comment.

Rodriguez and others like the idea of putting the monument along the banks of the MRGO, because that waterway, dug by the federal government as a shipping shortcut in the 1960s, is widely blamed in the parish for accelerating the deadly flooding that accompanied Katrina. Over the years erosion has widened the outlet, so the bank on which the cross will be erected is on privately owned land, Rodriguez said. He added that the parish is researching who owns the land on which the stone monument bearing the names of the victims will sit, but he thinks that it is also privately owned.

Parish Councilman Tony "Ricky" Melerine and Charlie Reppel, Rodriguez's chief of staff, said they are co-chairing the memorial committee on their private time.

"The memorial is being coordinated by a group of volunteers on their own time, and no public money is going to the project that will be on private land," Reppel said. "The committee members are all volunteers, including me. We are putting in a lot of unpaid overtime."

Other committee members include St. Bernard Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Anthony Fernandez Jr.; St. Bernard Tourism Director Elizabeth "Gidget" McDougall; former Parish President Charles Ponstein, who is working with a state agency on local business retention; Lorrie Allen, Reppel's assistant; and LaBruzzo.

As for the parish's statements that the memorial is being done outside government's auspices, Cook seems unconvinced.

While the ACLU thinks a memorial to the storm and its victims is "clearly appropriate," Cook said, St. Bernard's is "still all very questionable. I think there is official government involvement with the endorsement and advancement of this clearly religious symbol."

New Orleans Times-Picayune

A Week Getting Worse

ESPN.com is reporting that Cleveland Browns Center LeCharles Bentley was carted of the field at training camp today with an apparent knee injury. Here is to hoping it is either not very serious or it is one kind of sick preseason joke.

I cannot handle 7 out of 8 bad seasons for my Browns since they came back let alone the fact that my 3 other favorite sport teams had sub-par to horrendous seasons in the last calender year.

1) Marshall Thundering Herd Football goes from media darlings to a 4-7 season in year.

2) Pittsburgh Penguins win the draw of the century and pick phenom Sydney Crosby, sign some top-level free agents and then proceed to finish next-to-last in the 05-06 season.

3) 14 Seasons of futility. 'nuff said. It is tough being a Pittsburgh Pirate fan.

Prayer Request # 2

To All:

I was laid off from my job today and therefore I more than likely will not be able to attend seminary on a full-time basis. My wife who recently had a baby is not working either so please pray that we both find employment soon.

God Who In All Things Triumphs, To Him Be The Glory. Do not feel sorry but be glad that Christ is Victorious over sin and death. The Earth can only kill you. God can only save you.

New Wineskins Conference

If the first report is any indication I am very disturbed by the focus of the New Wineskins Conference. It seems to me that the leaders of this group have no real belief in Presbyterianism or the Reformed faith. Their words are very focused on emotion-driven Christianity without any real desire to seek anything substantive or foundational. Evangelical Big-Box at heart this quote from the story on Layman Online is especially disturbing:

Dean Weaver, pastor of Community Park Presbyterian Church and co-moderator of the New Wineskins Initiative, as part of an "action plan" that also calls for the evangelical group to become formally organized as the New Wineskins Association of Churches. Although first organized as a parallel evangelical movement within the Presbyterian Church (USA), the New Wineskins Initiative has made almost no reference to being denominational or Presbyterian. Weaver emphasized that distinction during his presentation of the action plan, although it did include a reference to a connectionalism "as understood by the historic Reformed tradition."

So here we have a “Presbyterian renewal group” that is neither Presbyterian in any fashion nor is it in the least bit interested in reforming the church. It seems that this conference is an insult to anyone who really desires to reform the church. I was never really impressed by the NWI nor the Constitutional Presbyterians and the beginnings of this conference has definitely not changed my understandings of this Renewal Group. Hopefully the Layman is printing an incorrect translation of what is really going on in Tulsa.

http://www.layman.org/

Discussion on "Wealth and Christianity"

I am having a very interesting conversation with a fellow seminarian on wealth and what the church's position should be. We also have had some ancillary discussions on poverty and racial tension. You can find the conversation here:

http://poesistheou.blogspot.com/

What Kind of Judge is the Father?

My most recent issue of Modern Reformation magazine-if you do not subscribe to this thought-provoking magazine you should-had an essay written by Korey Maas (who is an assistant professor of theology and church history at Concordia University in Irvine, Calif.) that dealt with an issue that is at the forefront of a discussion going on at Classical Presbyterian’s blog-which you can access from this website-dealing with who gets to be married at a Christian Church. One side of the argument says that there must be standards and those standards should be enforced. The other challenges with the viewpoint that if we tell the sinful couple no that they will driven away from the church and that we should accept them into the church and hope that they see the error of their ways by being in the body. As is with most arguments it stems from two basic premises:

1) What is Holy Scripture and how authoritative is it?
2) What kind of judge is the Father?

The First question-I believe-can be answered by the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy and can be found here:
http://www.reformed.org/documents/icbi.html

The Second question is answered by Korey Maas and can be found here:
http://www.modernreformation.org/km06judge.htm

Infant Baptism

Infant Baptism

The soon to be baptism of my daughter has brought me to a further deep study of Infant Baptism, specifically focusing on the regenerational effect of baptism on the child. As is my usual study habit I first looked at Scripture then the WCF and its scriptural backing then to Calvin then to Edwards. What I found was an agreeing view on the basics: (from the WCF)

Of Baptism

I. Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible Church, but also to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, or his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in newness of life: which sacrament is, by Christ's own appointment, to be continued in his Churchy until the end of the world.
IV. Not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of one or both believing parents are to be baptized.
V. Although it be a great sin to contemn or neglect this ordinance, yet grace and salvation are not so inseparably annexed unto it as that no person can be regenerated or saved without it, or that all that are baptized are undoubtedly regenerated.

But what I found was a very divergent opinion on the regeneration of the infants who died in infancy. While Edwards was clear on his opinion of the questioned validity of the Baptism if the parents were not believers, neither Calvin nor the WCF are very clear on this point. Calvin when he does speak of Baptism refers almost exclusively to Adult Baptism and the sincerity of the Adults and very briefly mentions the regeneration of infants. Edwards believed that by no means that all children bap­tized in infancy-even those of godly parents-or even those who died, were regenerate. This is interesting because it mirrors many beliefs of Adult baptism, in other words, why should Adult baptism be seen in a different light than Infant baptism? Because of age or ability or is it because of human sensibilities? There is no biblical evidence for a so-called “age of consent”. What we find in the biblical accounts of baptism is of salvation that derives from an inward calling by the holy-spirit not from the actual baptism itself. As the WCF says, “Although it be a great sin to contemn or neglect this ordinance, yet grace and salvation are not so inseparably annexed unto it as that no person can be regenerated or saved without it, or that all that are baptized are undoubtedly regenerated.” Calvin says that "God's truth everywhere opposes all these arguments"(Inst.4, 16, 17). Calvin shows that if infants are regarded as the children of sin, "they are left in death, since in Adam we can but die (Rom.5:12), (Inst.4, 16, 17). This baptism is an outward sign of an inward movement. Infant baptism-as the WCF says without actually stating-is an outward sign of an inward movement on behalf of the congregation and the parents that they will bring up the child in the Christian Faith not that the actually baptism guarantees nor even leads the child to salvation. While it may seem unfair to require children under age x to believe for their sake I am still unable to find any biblical witness as to their being a certain age where God says, “You are now accountable”. Anyone who believes in Original Sin must recognize that from the moment of conception the child is reprobate in the eyes of God and therefore is responsible from conception for their own salvation. Edwards makes a good point when he says:

A person who comes to faith in Jesus Christ becomes, on credible profession of that faith, a communicant member of the church. Then, and then only, is he entitled to have his children baptized. They are not only baptized on the basis of the parents' Christian profession and life, but the efficacy of their baptism seems to be very intimately related to the thoroughness of the Christian parents' living on the child's behalf. The children in turn are regarded as Christ's own, dedicated to Him, virtually confessing faith in Him, and called upon as they come to years of discretion, if they do not turn away and renounce that faith, explicitly to profess it, and to live according to it.

Again we must look at what is the point of baptism? Are we baptized so that we might be saved or are we baptized so that we may show our regeneration as true? While we can all agree that baptism is absolutely necessary for those that claim to be reborn in Christ those who are not baptized cannot be said to have not been regenerated. We need only look at the robber whom Christ promised would be with him in heaven. When was he baptized? Obviously he wasn’t so we must conclude that the actual physical baptism is a requirement but not necessarily a pre-requisite for salvation.
So what does this have to do with Infant baptism? The point to be made is that the child-though still an infant-is still responsible for their own salvation. I am interested to hear others opinions on this. Please feel free to disagree.

Required Reading

A very interesting discussion among two very prominent Baptist theologians-Rev. Albert Mohler and Rev. Paige Patterson-about Calvinism and its place in Baptist Theology. Rev. Mohler-President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (in Louisville, KY ironically) is a believer in Calvinism. A definite must read for all of us.


http://www.sbcannualmeeting.net/sbc06/newsroom/newspage.asp?ID=21

A NEW ARRIVAL

I know I promised a little series on Presbyterianism but I had a welcome interruption to my schedule. On Sunday June 11th my wife gave birth to our first child, a bouncing baby girl weighing 7 lbs 2 ounces 19 inches in length named LILY CATHERINE. Wife and Baby are doing well and I look forward to the joys of being a Dad.

Why I am a Presbyterian!

In the next couple of weeks those of us who call ourselves Presbyterians in the United States face a struggle which is a reaccuring one throught our history. Also in the next couple of days I will publish posts that should explain why it is important to be Presbyterian and also what I believe Presbyterianism is and what it should be. Some would say I should just post the Westminster Confession of Faith and be done with it. This would probably serve my purpose but I believe a different (mostly agreeing) look is required.

The Humiliation of our Father

Since everyone else is offering their opinion on the recent controversy I might as well follow suit. I must first start by saying the lack of a united affront to the depiction of Christ as a sort of Casanova should not surprise anyone who reads this letter. The denigration of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is not something that we should see as new or frankly should it be some sort of revelation to the saved or the lost for that matter. Christ is mocked every day by our own sinful nature; so the applying of sexual promiscuity on the person of Christ by those who do not recognize him as Lord should not astonish you. However whether or not it is shocking is the problem. If Ron Howard made a movie alluding to the pedophiliac nature of Mohammed-which according to the Quran occurred-your local theater would soon be a large parking lot. If Tom Hanks starred as a gun-toting Ghandi spraying down the Thin Red Line it would never leave the studio. Why is this? The reason of course is that the studio execs know the boundaries of the envelope and which sides they can push. Other than the organized Roman Catholic Church and its licensed organizations (i.e. Opus Dei) they know the majority Christian organizations-denominational or not-will not be openly opposed to a movie that questions the divinity of Christ and the purity of his humanity. Why? Unfortunately with the infiltration of High Criticism and other modern conventions into the contemporary church we have spent our collective theological breath trying to assimilate science and theology into a hermeneutical union. This marriage of the wisdom of man and the wisdom of God has lessoned the need for the place of miracles and the nature of faith itself in the communal Christian reality. Why do we need to trust the miracles of the work of God if we can have a scientific explanation for it? The problem of reliance of man found wisdom to ratify your faith is that if you have your faith bound upon the word of man than what need do you have on the faith of Christ? As Calvin says, “Paul makes faith the inseparable attendant of doctrine.” We cannot have belief without faith. Faith is belief in the things unseen. As Paul says in Ephesians 4:20-21, “You have not so much learned Christ; if it be that you have heard him speak, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus and the truth is Jesus.” And in 2 Corinthians 5:7 he says it simply in this manner, “Walk by Faith not by Sight”.

Now what does this entire monologue have to do with this movie? It is simple. The church will not stand up for Christ. We have developed a type of Christianity in the West that has had a complete spinaldectomy. Whatever happened to the strength of Christianity? Our Christology is weak. Our Biblical learnedness is weak. Our Prayer life is weak. Our families are weak. I could go on but you get the point.

In my weeknight Bibly Study we have recently began studying the Book of Hosea. We have read over and over and over again what happened to the Israelites when they gave up on the Almighty Father and decided to drive their own path; anyone who professes a God who is not wrathful and at the same time benevolent has not and needs to read Hosea. I often am asked, “Why if the Israelites knew the consequences of disobedience did they continue to do it?” I then counter with, “Why do we?” We who arrogantly look back at the Israelites and mock their stupidity need to remove the proverbial plank from our eye. Our conceited modern mind has decided that we don’t need Christ. We can do it on our own. We often explain that with our modern understandings we can better comprehend the meanings of scripture. This is rubbish. A gospel of man can never replace the Gospel of Christ. It really is that simple. As long as we make ourselves idols and leave God for times when we need him we will continue to falter and stumble. We need a strong Christ who wields his sword and protects us with his cloak. We do not need a Christ who is “reasonable and wise” alone but a warrior king who does protect us not only from the bowels of Hell but more importantly protects us from our own foolishness.

The Arrogant Western Church

This is what it is all about for orthodox believers. This quote by the Archbishop of Uganda (Anglican) sums up in a paragraph the frustration of many “evangelical” members of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. about those in leadership positions not only in our denomination but liberal mainliners in general:

They regard with dismay the progressive turn of the Western church, its willingness

to rethink the fundamentals of the faith, and its apparent doubt about the plain meaning

of Scripture. “The Bible doesn’t make as much sense to them as it used to, to their

ancestors,” Henry Luke Orombi, the Archbishop of Uganda, says. “The interpretation of

the Bible is no longer what it was before. And that’s why the church life in America is

so anemic and feeble.” (New Yorker April 10, 2006)

We live in a church that is like chaff in the wind, swaying to the popular perspective of the perceived majority instead of standing like the house on the rock and keeping itself rooted in the word of God. We have been told that a house divided cannot stand but we must look at whether we should rebuild the side of the house that is broken or let it go to ruin because this side of the house that is rooted in scripture and therefore will not fall.

Here is another quote from the same story:

[Bishop Robert] Duncan and his fellow-evangelicals see their Christianity as a religion

of transformation, and liberal Christianity as a faith of affirmation. “One has sin and needs

a Saviour, the other one simply tells you that you’re O.K. as you are,”

(New Yorker April 10, 2006)

http://www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/060417fa_fact5

Thanks for the Prayers

I thank those who have offered prayers and encouragement. It is appreciated beyond measure. I especially thank Gannett Girl for her encouragement. Most who disagree offer only sarcasm and venom but you have shown humility, graciousness, and gentleness. Thank You.

Funny How God Speaks To You

I had an atheist-Unitarian to be exact-friend who had pressed me on the meaning and definition of the Trinity. My lacking of a definitive answer that would satisfy her forced me to read the Westminster Confession of Faith (not just read it but study it) and its thoughts on the Trinity. As I read the confession and the accompanying verses I felt my heart strangely warmed (thanks John Wesley for your wonderful description) and I felt at peace. A strange peace; a peace that you only feel when your body is completely settled and at rest. I called my friend and read from the confession. While I could hear the hesitation in her voice though she still stated she did not buy it. Being a defense mechanism I can only hope that I assisted the Holy Spirit in placing a burning ember in her heart because I know it reignited the fire within mine for the words of the gospel. The pure gospel as laid out in the wonderful words of the Westminster Standards. As I laid in bed last night I slept the best I had done in weeks. Thanks be to God whom in all things are possible. Amen

Prayer Request

I am currently a seminarian at a Presbyterian school and yet I do not feel (I may be entirely wrong) that the gospel and/or the words of Christ are taken very seriously but are more just things for topical discussion and philosophical arguments. I have recently been questioning the validity of many of my long held-at least in thought-beliefs about Presbyterianism. I have found in speaking to Lutheran friends and reading Lutheran tracks and studying Luther's own writings that I may be finding a spiritual pull towards Lutheranism. I would like a prayer of guidance that the Holy Spirit may lead me and that through words of our saviour Jesus Christ I may be led to where it is Christ wants me to be in him.

AN APPEAL TO PRESBYTERIANS

An Appeal to Presbyterians and Congregations
within the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

We are loyal Presbyterians who affirm the unique Lordship of Jesus Christ, the authority of Holy Scripture (our only infallible rule of faith and practice), and biblical standards for holy living. Therefore we seek to be a church that is faithful to the Word of God.

The marks of the true Church are the Word of God truly preached and the sacraments rightly administered. The passage of the recommendations of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church will confirm the growing obscurity of these marks. Our drift away from constitutional integrity is equally tragic. This is increasingly apparent in judicial decisions that have affirmed the celebration of so-called marriages between persons of the same sex and the ordination of individuals in violation of our current standards.

Denying the truth of Scripture by endorsing and supporting ordination of those who are sexually active outside of marriage, to say nothing of bypassing constitutional process to do so, is not the Presbyterian way. These and other actions of the church are not only offensive, but they also violate our conscience, which is bound to the Word of God. In effect, the Presbyterian Church of which we are a part is departing from her own standards. In response, we believe that the denomination is being called back to faithfulness.

Accordingly, many Presbyterian officers and members have been watching with dismay the slide in our denomination away from biblical faithfulness and from sacramental integrity. We are preparing to offer a response to the present crisis, an alternative for both congregations and individual Presbyterians. We pray that the true and faithful witness of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) thus may be renewed under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

We appeal to Presbyterians and Sessions, who, like us, are troubled by all of this, to remain strong in their faith and to remain active in their congregations. We will invite them to join us in further action following the June 2006 meeting of the General Assembly.

Drafted and signed in Montreat, N.C., March 31, 2006.

A New Reality

My Wife's recent laying off and my recent force to seek full-time employment has caused me to question many beliefs I have had in the past. First being the development and certification of election. I am currently ( and seek many and full prayer) in a dire need of grace.

The Evangelical Reality

The Silent Intruder

We have come to a point in our journey where we have lost the meaning of the Reformation. How many of us count Evangelicals as "partners" in the fight against liberalism yet conveniently forget that they are not spiritual partners of any measure. Our focus on morality as the cause de jour of the age has left us at the point where we can pass over the doctrines which make us Reformed in favor of reconciling a law-based salvation with moral values. Do not misunderstand I do not intend to defend liberalism in any fashion nor would I consider it a possibility. However we tend to forget that what Luther was fighting against was a Catholic Church that measured salvation through the works of the flesh not the work of Christ on the cross. Luther was also fighting against the work of men like John Tetzel, who sold salvation through three easy payments of $19.99 (plus s+h). What we have today in the Evangelical movement is this same type of Roman Catholicism minus the Pope and as Dr. Michael Horton says, "without the sacraments". In a-I think-wonderful song by Hank Williams, Jr. he says, "they want you to send money to the Lord but they give you their address." It pretty much sums it up does it not? The Arminian heresy that is modern Evangelicalism receives a pass for most of us. Our combined passion and motivation lie in the fight against the normalization of homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and the evil of abortion. While these are the moral problems of the age and we must not discount their importance, the Reformed among us tend to focus more on these perverse sexual sins than on Salvation by Faith Alone. If you look at Martin Luther's Freedom of the Will you see that he writes nearly 200 pages without speaking directly about the salvationary value of morality but focus' directly on SALVATION BY FAITH ALONE. I was sitting in Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh waiting for my wife to finish her glucose test when while reading Jonathan Edwards' Justification by Faith Alone when a young lady leaned over and asked what I was reading. I told her what it was-not expecting much-and she asked "what kind of God stuff is that?". While I may be a poor explainer of the Doctrine of Salvation by Faith Alone she was completely blown away by the concept that the works of her flesh will not gain her entrance into heaven. This concept was one she was completely unaware. She began telling me stories of the life she had led-which incidentally had brought her to be at Magee Women's that morning-and the depravity of which she was describing (I have always found it interesting how people will tell complete strangers things they wouldn't tell their own family) blew me away. I asked if she had ever attended church and she told me no that she never felt that she was "good enough" to be a Christian. And while I was listening to that sentence I felt as if the building was crumbling around me and no one else was noticing. I thought to myself, "This is the problem. We have so allowed the error of Arminianism to permeate the idea of Christian faith that the problem does not lie in rooting out the sin of the law but in preaching the Gospel of Salvation of Faith Alone." Then after telling her in a pastoral way-at least my feeble attempt-that the behavior she was engaging in was harmful not only to her but to the baby she was carrying I began to explain to her the glory that awaited her if she would repent and seek Christ. However what was important is that instead of feeding her the typical works-based salvation that she was used to hearing and used to dismissing I explained to her more what Salvation by Faith Alone means and then unfortunately before I could get to the basics (me and my long-winded mouth) she had to go to her appointment. I sat there thinking about the conversation that I had just said and the reality of it blew me away. While I was replaying the event in my head it struck me. It hit me that the problem with the Reformed church today is that we have forgotten why we are Reformed. We believe-unlike the vast majority of the church-going public-that Salvation is not through the works of the flesh but by the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We cannot have salvation without the intercession of the Son. I know some of you are saying, "why does he keep saying this stuff?" I realize that I have already stated Salvation by Faith Alone a good 10 times already and in the fear of being redundent I'll say it again. We as Reformed Christians have lost the fight against Arminianism. Worse than that we have lost the case for Salvation for millions of our brethren. In favor of moral battles we have given up the battle for salvation.

Christian Worship

I have been doing a lot of studying this week on music and its place in worship. I found this article online and though I may not agree 100% with the author's conclusions I found it to be quite helpful.

http://www.apuritansmind.com/PuritanWorship/
McMahonGodFaddishNostalgic.htm

Here are a couple quotes that I personally believe to be spot on.

"First, it is to be orderly. 1 Corinthians 14:40 says, “Let all things be done decently and in order.” In the immense madness that characterized the Corinthian church and its chaotic worship, the Apostle took great lengths to order their worship. God is a God of order, not frenzy. Screaming up and down the church isles, rolling in the aisle, dancing around the sanctuary is not orderly. Nothing the church does in a worship service should distract other worshippers from worshipping God..."

"God alone determines how sinners approach Him. As a matter of fact, God determines how human beings or angelic beings approach Him as well. As Christians, we must continue to use God’s judgments, commandments and statutes as a rule and line to be drawn against anything which does not have a plain and divine appointment for worship."

Non-Religious Rant

I HATE NBC's Racing coverage. I am a MASSIVE NASCAR fan and NBC ruins every race they cover. Wally Dallenbach is a moron. Benny Parsons needs to retire (He's NASCAR's version of John Madden) and there has to be someone who is a better play-by-play guy than Bill Weber. NBC didn't talk about ANYONE who was outside of the top 10 let alone any other car but Hendrick. They did not show ANY video of ANYONE in the back of the pack. I hate NBC with a passion and can't wait for next year when ABC replaces NBC. Hopefully we will get Paul Paige or Gary Thorne. Also Rusty is an analyst for ESPN and hopefully will transfer to the ABC booth. When NBC comes back this summer I'll go back to my old ritual of turning on MRN and putting the T.V. on mute.

Food for Thought

This post is one I made on Jesus Creed. I would like to know what people think about this topic.

I really feel like when we are try to categorize people-whether it be race or gender-that we limit their potential. This may move into the realm of social justice but the human need to classify each other is extremely destructive. The “church” defining itself by its racial make-up does not assist to provide a loving and developing relationship with fellow Christians. If we continue to define ourselves by our outward appearence we will never live in harmony by our Christian faith. We should not be worried about the racial make-up but by the strength of the spiritual development of our congregation.

Pittsburgh Presbytery Does the Right Thing

Presbytery affirms its stance on gay ban

By 68-62 vote, petition opposes ordination

Friday, February 03, 2006

By Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh Presbytery will send a petition to the national governing body of the Presbyterian Church (USA), effectively asking it to retain the nationwide ban on ordaining those who are sexually active outside of heterosexual marriage.

The 68-62 vote yesterday came after more than half the original 269 commissioners had left the overtime meeting at Shadyside Presbyterian Church.

The presbytery has a long history of supporting a ban on the ordination of sexually active gay people.

The petition dealt with the denomination's process for making church law, and came in response to another proposal that would appear to allow a local option on ordination standards.

Such a local option "will have ramifications well beyond the sexuality issue," said Robert Gagnon, professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, who presented the petition. He is a leading proponent of the belief that gay sex is sinful.

If the local option proposal succeeded, "you will have no binding ordination standards at all," he said.

The 2.4 million-member Presbyterian Church (USA) has long been torn over issues pertaining to sexual ethics.

In 2001 the denomination's General Assembly appointed a broad-based Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church to try to address and resolve the disputes. Its recommendations to this June's General Assembly in Birmingham, Ala., include allowing local presbyteries to discern whether a candidate for ordination has "departed from the essentials of the Reformed faith and polity."

The Pittsburgh petition says that any ordination standard that the Book of Order singles out from other standards, calls a requirement or makes mandatory by the word "shall," must be deemed "an essential of Reformed faith and polity."

At stake is a 1996 standard setting forth "the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage of one man and one woman, or chastity in singleness." The General Assembly has repeatedly voted to repeal that standard, but the repeal never got the required ratification from a majority of the nation's 173 presbyteries.

The petition from Pittsburgh Presbytery says that the task force proposal would effectively remove the right of presbyteries to vote on establishing binding national standards.

The Rev. Bebb Stone, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Mount Washington, opposed the petition.

"For the last several years we have been using our polity and we have been torn asunder into a red state-blue state situation. It seems to me that the task force tried to find another way, to be more purple, perhaps," she said.

The Rev. Paul Robert, pastor of Eastminster Presbyterian Church in East Liberty, said that his lay governing board had endorsed the petition because the current system of checks and balances keeps the church united.

"Sometimes we don't agree with the person across the aisle, but we respect the vote," he said. "The presbytery has the right to enforce the Book of Order. It does not have the right to interpret the Book of Order."

---

(Ann Rodgers can be reached at arodgers@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1416.)

Disgracing our Troops

As has been seen all over the news the past couple of days a Washington Post "Cartoonist" made a "cartoon" that depicted an Iraq War Veteran amputee in an effort to demean and discredit Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. As a Marine Corps Veteran who has lost many friends in Iraq and Afghanistan I personally find what this "Cartooonist" did morally reprehensible. I do not overly care about one's position on the war as we are all free to say and do as we please, but using a wounded vet to make a political point is savage and tasteless. Unfortunately-as Tucker Carlson once said-you cannot legislate taste. I often wonder at the motives of many anti-war protestors. We have seen recently the alliance of anti-war groups with Hugo Chavez who is himself the very epitome of the type of Dictator and attacker of the rights anti-war protesters seem to want to protect. However their hatred for George W. Bush-which I believe is truly rooted in another place-has driven them to hold positions that contradict the beliefs that they themselves claim to hold dear. For example myself as a veteran who attended a liberal college (The University of Pittsburgh) I was often the subject of denigration and humiliation at the hands of so-called liberals who called me such wonderful names as "babykiller" and "terrorist". Now if these open-minded liberals really believed in taking in all sides do you believe they would act in this manner? The answer of course is no. I have always wondered why these groups such as Code Pink and others think the government is spying on them. I have noticed that they have very little of value to say anyway.

More News on the Emergent Conversation

Since I am exceedingly bored and curious I have been doing a more in depth investigation of the Emergent Conversation. I have found things I like andI agree with the editorial board at Modern Reformation,

Most of us here at Modern Reformation like the Emergent Church folks. Frankly, it’s a bit of a relief to have someone within Evangelicalism making the same points we’ve been trying to make for the past fourteen years. We also like their interest in liturgy, in church history (prior to 1972), and in engaging with Scripture in ways that take it beyond the “handbook for living” genre that so many of our own churches have adopted. And, truth be told, we were always the nerdy kids in the youth group, so now that the cool kids with their cool hair, tats, and body piercings are saying much the same thing we do we can’t help but look around with some appreciation.
But the appreciation is a nervous one. As much as we are warmed by their insightful criticism of Evangelicalism, we just can’t shake the sense that these children of the megachurch are taking their postmodern angst and marketing it to the urban jungles just like their chino-wearing, cool hair dads did in middle America. That, of course, leads us to wonder if Emergent will really offer anything substantially different than what they are critiquing.

I also am energized by their passion and foresight; though I am not one for a coffee-shop mentality and a passive-type Christianity. I really get the feeling that the Emergent Conversation is an attempt to marriage the worship-style and context of "Wal-Mart Church" and the theological impulses of the Reformed movement. Here is another article for your perusal from a special edition of Modern Reformation magazine. http://www.modernreformation.org/dac05emerging.htm
I have noticed from my research that the blogs frequented by "Emergers" are not to fond of D.A. Carson's take on their Conversation. Look for yourself-I did-and you might just agree with his article.

The Emergent Conversation

I have been reading a lot of Blogs the last couple of days on and about the Emergent Conversation. However, I still do not completely understand exactly what this movement is or what it specifically stands for or against. I am looking forward to attending a session the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is holding on February 9th with Dr. John Franke. Dr. Franke- who is Associate Professor of Theology and Chair of the Faculty at Biblical Seminary-will along with other emergent leaders from the Pittsburgh area will be presenting a workshop on the Emergent movement.
Just to give you a little of my interpretation I do have a feeling of "superiority" being given off by this movement- a "super christian" type vibe-that may or may not be accurate, which is why I am looking forward to this event. I have often been personally offended by persons within the evangelical movement and those who espouse non-traditional worship styles. I understand that the Emergent Conversation is an offshoot group that does wish to remove itself from the evangelical movement. I hope to be proven completely and utterly wrong.

New Book of Confessions

I have recently read on Newpcus.org that
they are putting together some ideas for a
Book of Confession. Here are the list of
entrants:

The Nicene Creed
The Apostles’ Creed
The Scots Confession
The Heidelberg Catechism
The Second Helvetic Confession
The Westminster Confession of Faith (the PCUS version)
The Shorter Catechism
The Larger Catechism
The Theological Declaration of Barmen

These all seem to be good selections (even though
I am not to keen on the Second Helvetic) and it
seems that this organization is on the right track.

Even Worse

Even Worse, now we are recognizing terrorists as legitamite combatants.

For Those in the Military

Righteous God, you rule the nations.
Guard brave men and women
who risk themselves in battle for their country.
Give them compassion for enemies
who also fight for patriotic causes.
Keep our sons and daughters from hate that hardens,
or from score keeping with human lives.
Though they must be at war,
let them live for peace,
as eager for agreement as for victory.
Encourage them as they encourage one another,
and never let hard duty separate them
from loyalty to your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
[p. 818, #733]

Officially Apostate Now: The Muslim Prayer

Well I guess we are now officially apostate. I guess those who wish to appease other Gods missed the whole first couple commandments...

For Muslims

Eternal God,
you are the one God to be worshiped by all,
the one called Allah by your Muslim children,
descendants of Abraham as we are.
Give us grace to hear your truth
in the teachings of Mohammed, the prophet,
and to show your love as disciples of Jesus Christ,
that Christians and Muslims together
may serve you in faith and friendship. Amen.
[p. 815, p. 726]