Ministry of Worship

This is the course I am taking at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Our main texts for this class include: With Reverance and Awe by D.G. Hart and John R. Muether, Worship Reformed According to Scripture by Hughes Oliphant Old, and The Lord's Day by Joseph A. Pipa, and Old Light on New Worship by John Price. These works are to be read for the class in the order that I have them listed here. One thing is for sure about this term, while I have less "work" to do per week the reading has doubled. This thankfully, does not present too much of a problem for me as I am a quick reader with the uncanny ability to comprehend what it is that I have read. The book I am most looking forawrd to read is the book by Joey Pipa on the Sabbath. I have always had misgivings about the laxity that most treat the Sabbath and would like to receive a more thorough understanding of Christian Sabbath. Also of interest is the work by John Price, especially since RPTS is the seminary for the RPCNA. It will be very interesting when we get to the part of the course where the professor explained in the first class he will present a defense (using the Price book and some of his own writings on the subject) of Exclusive Psalmody and non-instrumentals in worship. This should be a fascinating class.

Here, as promised, is a couple selections from a main text:

"We worship God because God created us to worship him. Worship is at the center of our existence, at the heart of our reason for being. God created us to be in his image-an image that would reflect his glory. In fact the whole creation was brought into existence to reflect the divine glory."

Hughes Oliphant Old, "Worship Reformed According to Scripture" pg. 1

"If you listen carefully to current debates, you will encounter rhetoric that is strange for Reformed Christians. Here are some comments we have heard, none of which is terribly unusual:

• "I like a church thats is casual, where I know I can go and relax during worship"
• "I don't always enjoy my church's worship, but that's okay. I know it will be different next week."
• "I'm tired of the barrenness of worship-I'm looking for something with more beauty."
• "Worship is ultimately a matter of taste, and there is no accounting for that."
• "If there is one thing you can say about our worship, it's not boring!"

These popular sentiments all remind us that there is significant confusion about the nature, purpose, and practice of worship. This confusion extends to the Reformed community, and it underscores the urgency of recovering a biblical view of worship.

D.G. Hart and John R. Muether, "With Reverence and Awe" pg.11-12

Pastoral Theology

At the beginning of this new term I wanted to take the time and introduce each one of my new classes (Christology will not be dog-eared because all the required reading is from traditional confessions) with a quick snippet out of a required reading. For Pastoral Theology this work is Pastoral Theology: Essentials of Ministry by Thomas C. Oden of Drew University. This work (the first 20 pages I have read) has been a treat to read. Though without further ado here is some text to chew on...

In recent decades, pastoral theology has suffered from neglect of sustained theoretical reflection and from isolation from companion theological disciplines. (pg. xi)

...[Pastoral Counselors] continue to appeal to the office of pastor for their professional identity and fees, yet without a well-defined conception of pastoral office; some may trade off the exceptional trust that people have in the office of pastor, yet with minimal interest in the ministry of Word and sacrament. Others, who in concentrating on developing special skills to serve human need have moved narrowly into special ministries, now may find themselves carrying out these duties with an uneasy conscience or unentered spirit. I hope this study will serve them in their developing attempts at centering and in recovery of pastoral identity.(pg. xi)

One Term Down, Two to Go

As I finish up this term at PTS I wanted to say a few things about the classes I have taken and the classes that are coming up.

This Term was pretty much a wasted three months. While my Greek Exegesis class with Dr. Dale Allison, Jr. was fascinating to the tilt, I am not sure I learned a whole lot about exegeting a text. Theodicy was on the other hand a fascinating class filled with all kinds of useful adages and readings. I highly recommend it if you get a chance to take it (not that any of the people reading this will likely be in a position to...). Though the professors defense of NPP left a lot to be desired.

Well that ends completely the classes that were worth anything this term. The next two classes which I was enrolled this Fall were a total waste. Intro to Ethics, which was neither really Christan nor really useful (that is unless your college did not require an Ethics course, then this may have been good for you to take). Dr. Hainsworth is a nice professor but I would lobby to teach other things if I were her. PS01: Education was horrendous. We never really learned anything and our sections honestly justed turned into a theological debate that rarely (if ever) engaged the texts we were supposed to be reading.

Well thankfully I have been assured by Seniors at PTS that my last term was the worst I would experience at PTS. Let's Hope.

Anyway next term will allow us to tackle some more meatier subjects like Pastoral Care, Christology, and the Gospels. Also for those of you who recall I will also be taking a course at what one of my dear professors at PTS referred to as "where the wackos are", Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary on Reformed Worship. As I said before I am hoping RPTS gives a much needed respite from Liberalism and ignorance. We'll see....

Here is to a good Winter Term!!!

Worth a Mention...

Steve Brown over at Key Life wrote an excellent letter and I thought it would be worth sharing over here.


Steve's Letter: "It's Called Guilt!"

Do you know why Christians sometimes have a hard time enjoying Thanksgiving?

It's because we have so much and know that, if we got what we deserved, we would have nothing.

The rich in general and film/rock stars in particular have that problem too. That's why they say such dumb things and support so many crazy causes. They're surprised that they have so much and they're afraid people will find out that they just "lucked out" and are not as wise and as gifted as people think they are. And then they live in constant fear that their stuff will be taken away. So they try to make up.

It's called guilt.

I understand that for unbelievers who have so much and don't deserve it. They have a problem in a lot of areas—they don't have anybody to thank, they are afraid that it will all be taken away, they feel guilty about it, and they think that self-righteousness and throwing money at problems will justify their elite position and balance the books or, even if it doesn't, it will make them feel better about their stuff.

But it is less understandable for Christians.

Our guilt robs us of the joy of a Thanksgiving party. With every bite of the turkey, there is this knowing that we didn't deserve it. Our laugher is sometimes forced and our guilt is often (though not always) mirrored in the prayer before the meal: "Lord, thank you for this day and all your blessings. As we enjoy the blessings, keep us ever mindful of those who are less fortunate than we are."

"Eat your food...There are people in the world who are starving."

"Name one!"

Okay. It's a good prayer and a true one. There really are those (and a lot of them) who are less fortunate than we are. And, of course, we should be mindful of them and actively compassionate toward them...as long as we can "name them." Not only that. Jesus said that when we are compassionate to them, we are compassionate to him (Matthew 25).

That goes without saying.

The problem is our guilt isn't that much different than the guilt of unbelievers...and that is kind of sad.

Paul wrote to the Philippians from jail: "I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need" (Philippians 4:11-12). Then, later, he writes, "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever" (Philippians 4:19-20).

Because we're so neurotic, we always read what Paul wrote as a way to deal with deprivation. After all, he was writing from prison.

But that isn't all Paul was saying. Don't miss the "abundance" and the "abounding" part. Paul said that he was contented when everything was right, when he had stuff and when he wasn't in jail. He was affirming true Thanksgiving for whatever a good God gave.

The Thanksgiving of the Christian is different than the Thanksgiving of unbelievers and it's more than just the fact that we have Someone to thank.

First, Christians are not only thankful to God, we are thankful to a good, wise and gracious God who likes us and gives us good stuff.

Benjamin Franklin said, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Without making an editorial comment on the beer part of that, the attitude is quite Biblical and suggests the real reason Christians can enjoy a Thanksgiving without guilt.

Martin Luther said, "Blessings at times come to us through our labors and at times without our labors, but never because of our labors. God always gives them because of His undeserved mercy."

But there is more than that to a Christian Thanksgiving. We are thankful because God owns it all and he delights in our using his stuff.

Right after Hurricane Andrew when we lost our house, were conned out of thousands of dollars from a dishonest contractor and had thousands of dollars in liens on what we had left, I came out of our small rented one-room apartment and noticed that someone had stolen our car.

(That surprised me. A tree had fallen on the car and it had a big gash in the side. So, there is no accounting for the taste of thieves.)

Do you know what I did? I started laughing. Yeah, laughing. I then went back into the apartment and said to Anna, "Someone just stole God's car."

What happened? I had learned (and often forget) that stuff was stuff and that God owned it all and could do with any of it as he pleased. Not only did I not feel sad about the thieves who had stolen his car (a month before, I would have gotten my gun and gone looking for them!), when I finally got another one (and a better one), I didn't feel guilty about driving that one either.

There is great freedom in realizing the sovereignty of God in every circumstance. It allows one to rest and to have peace in the bad and to really rejoice in the good. Both are from his loving hand.

When I was a young pastor at a church in the Boston area, we sponsored an annual "Bobby Burns Day" dinner honoring the 18th century Scottish poet. For that event, I memorized the Robert Burns blessing. I don't think he was a Christian (or, if he was, not a "red hot" one), but his blessing and the attitude of it was quite Biblical.

Some hae meat an' canna eat
An' some wad eat that want it.
But we hae meat an' we can eat
And sae the Lord be thankit.

(For those of you who need a translation: "Some have meat and can't eat it. Others cannot eat who want it. But we have meat and we can eat. Let the Lord be thanked.")

There is an old common saying that I'm told was often said to soldiers during a break, to wit, "Smoke 'em if you've got 'em."

Let me wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. If you've got it, enjoy it...and be thankful.

He asked me to remind you.

In His Grip,

Sad Day in the Glaser Household

As some of you may know Joe Nuxhall died last night from a long bought with Cancer at the age of 79. All my best memories as a child are from listening to Reds baseball with Joe Nuxhall and Marty Brennemann on WLW 700AM. I am going to miss the ole' Left Hander...

Nuxhall dies at 79

BY KEVIN KELLY | KKELLY@ENQUIRER.COM

Hamilton native Joe Nuxhall, who as a 15-year-old in 1944 made history by pitching for the Reds and later became a fixture in the Reds radio booth, died at 10:55 p.m. Thursday night at Mercy Hospital-Fairfield. He was 79.

One of the most beloved figures in Cincinnati’s rich baseball history, Nuxhall was admitted to Mercy Hospital-Fairfield on Monday for pneumonia, a low pulse rate and low white blood count. Thursday morning, doctors postponed surgery to insert a pacemaker because of Nuxhall’s low pulse, his son Kim Nuxhall said.
.

The Ol’ Left-hander, as he came to be known to scores of Reds fans, spent six decades with the team as a player and radio broadcaster until retiring after the 2004 season. Working under a personal services contract with the Reds, he broadcast selected games during the 2007 season.

Naturally, when some Reds fans heard the news of Nuxhall’s death, there was only one place they could go to show their grief and offer their thanks to a man who had done so much for them – Great American Ball Park, home of Nuxhall’s beloved Reds, “the ol’ ball orchard,’’ as Nuxhall used to call it.

Through the early morning hours, a steady stream of fans – young and old – pulled up to the curb in front of the ballpark and walked slowly to the statue in the center of Crosley Terrace – a statue of a 15-year-old Nuxhall, firing a pitch in his Major League debut.

Some left flowers; some left handwritten notes thanking the man for all he had meant to them. Others just stood and stared.

“It’s like losing an old friend,’’ said Roy Marksberry of Dayton, Ky., who pulled up in his pickup truck shortly before 9 a.m. to pay his respects. “I never met the man, but I feel like I know him. Like he’s family.”

Others left a Reds cap and a dozen roses. One left a baseball with the inscription: "Joe, rounded third and headed to heaven.''

Another fan deposited a single rose and placed it at the base of the statue. He attached a note that read: "Joe Nuxhall, Reds fans will forever be thankful for all the memories you left in our hearts for many years. Rest in Peace, Ol' Left-hander.''

"He’s one of the greatest human beings I’ve ever met,” former Reds first baseman Sean Casey said in 2004. “He’s humble. He always thinks of others first. I know he was a great pitcher and he’s done a lot of other things. But I think everything else is second to him being a great human being."

During a major league playing career that began in 1944 and ended after the 1966 season, Nuxhall appeared in 526 games with the Reds, Kansas City Athletics and Los Angeles Angels.

At 15 years, 10 months and 11 days old, he made his major league debut with the Reds on June 10, 1944 and pitched two-thirds of an inning in an 18-0 loss against the Cardinals. Signed to help fill out the Reds’ roster during World War II, he remains the youngest player ever to appear in a Major League Baseball game in modern history.

Nuxhall returned to the Reds’ roster in 1952, was an All-Star during the 1955 and 1956 seasons, and remained with the team until being traded to Kansas City before the 1961 season.

Nuxhall pitched in 37 games with the Athletics that year. The Orioles signed him as a free agent and released him before the 1962 season. Nuxhall quickly signed with the Angels only to be released by Los Angeles after five relief appearances in 1962.

Nuxhall rejoined the Reds shortly thereafter and pitched in 146 games for Cincinnati before retiring at age 37 in 1966. In all, he compiled a 130-109 record and a 3.80 ERA in 484 games with the Reds. In 1968 he was elected to the team’s Hall of Fame.

At the urging of former Reds general manager Bob Howsam and Wiedemann Brewing -- then a sponsor of the Reds radio broadcasts -- Nuxhall moved to the broadcast booth alongside Claude Sullivan and Jim McIntyre in 1967.

From behind the microphone in the Reds radio booth, Nuxhall witnessed and then shared some of the most pivotal moments in team history with his listeners.

He first teamed with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman for the 1974 season and the pair remained inseparable for 31 seasons on the Reds radio network.

“(Partners) Jim McIntyre, Al Michaels and Marty helped me a lot,” Nuxhall said in 2002. “I know they give me credit for helping them. But, brother, they helped me a lot. My English was pretty bad. I know it hasn’t improved a lot. But it has improved -- simply from working with those guys.”

The public grew to know, and treasure, Nuxhall over the airwaves.

In December 2003, before his final full season in the broadcast booth, and again in December 2006, Nuxhall was placed on the ballot for the Ford C. Frick Award. The National Baseball Hall of Fame gives the annual award to a broadcaster “for major contributions to the game of baseball.”

“Joe is baseball in Cincinnati,” former Reds manager Sparky Anderson once said. “For myself, personally, if he doesn’t go in the Hall of Fame, they shouldn’t have one.”

A 38-year run as one of the team’s primary radio announcers ended in October 2004, but Nuxhall had remained visible around the team and broadcast booth since then.

“I think the anticipation of semi-retirement is worse than the reality,” Phil Nuxhall, Joe’s eldest son, said in 2004. “I think he’s going to be fine.

“He’s starting to realize we can take a family trip for the first time since we were kids. We can do things. We can go to a show or something. I think when that sets in, he’s going to be fine.”

An Ohio General Assembly resolution proclaimed Aug. 18, 2006 as “Joe Nuxhall Day” across the state.

The longtime Fairfield resident was honored before the Reds’ game against the Pirates that evening at Great American Ball Park.

A change in the team’s ownership structure before the 2006 season meant a higher profile for Nuxhall. Reds chief executive officer Bob Castellini made tapping into the team’s tradition a priority, and as a result Nuxhall was extended a personal services contract and broadcast selected games last season.

He worked alongside Marty Brennaman and his son Thom on Opening Day and, later in the season, broadcast from the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis. It was the 59th ballpark he had played in or broadcast a game, including each of the existing major league stadiums except the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Safeco Field in Seattle and Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

Outside the gates of Great American Ball Park, on the Crosley Terrace, Nuxhall is one of four “Crosley Field” era players immortalized with a bronze sculpture. The statue of Nuxhall was unveiled in July 2003.

“From the first day I walked on the field at spring training in Tampa, Joe was always there to help with whatever,” Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench said in 2004. “He just oozed Reds baseball.”

Nuxhall had battled cancer and heart problems for several years. In 1992, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and suffered a heart attack in December 2001. In 2003, he underwent a 3½-hour surgery to remove a cancerous lump on the side of his face near his ear.

In May 2006, Nuxhall was admitted to Mercy Hospital-Fairfield to receive treatment for a lump on his tonsil and pneumonia in both lungs. The lump was a recurrence of the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma first detected in September 2003.

He was released from the hospital after a seven-day stay and back at the ballpark soon after.

Nuxhall is survived by his wife of 60 years Donzetta, and two sons, Phil Nuxhall and Kim Nuxhall.

Enquirer staff writers Howard Wilkinson, John Kiesewetter, John Fay and Jennifer Baker contributed.

How are Christians to be Salt and Light in Our Culture Today?

Salt by its own definition does not lose its taste, and if it does it no longer can be called salt. It also cannot serve its function as salt if it is not applied to that which it is meant to flavor. If the salt sits next to the meat it fails to serve its given role but if it is used as it is given it will serve to save the meat from rotting. What is interesting about this fact in light of the question being asked is that if the Church still wants to be defined by its very name and if it wishes to follow its call to the world it cannot change to fit a definition that it does not answer and it cannot be a force in the world if it does not submit to its given role. In other words what separates the Church from being just another social organization like the Rotary or the Lions Club is that its mandate derives not from its individual members but from its foundation in the Word of God and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We can be assured that if the Church denies or abrogates either of these it ceases to be that with which it claims to be and if the Church loses that authority it can no longer be the beacon that shines from the city on a hill giving light to the world.

The Church and its members by their very nature serve both a role in the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Man. It is neither proper for the Church in today’s society to be like the Anabaptists and completely withdrawal from its surrounding culture nor is it appropriate for the Church to be so involved in its surrounding milieu that it ends up being defined by and placating that culture. What has always troubled the Church is how to properly act in both arenas without acting outside its role to the Kingdom of Heaven. In other words what the Church has struggled with is how to be a light unto the path of a fallen world without compromising the Gospel. In today’s world we are as a Church confronted by a wide variety of cultural and systematic issues that threaten the ability of the Church to act as a united voice for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a broken world. The Church as a whole has failed to make the proper distinctions between its prophetic voice to speak with authority to the things that it has been given authority to speak and its call to be careful to not entangle itself in the web of secular political machinations. Whether it be, for example, the Christian Left and Christian Right selling themselves out to secular political parties in the interest of receiving special interest in legislation or Christian para-church organizations accepting money from questionable sources just to complete their mission we have here two examples of how the Church should not be acting if it wants to present a message with integrity, with salt, to the world. However, this of course is not to say the Church should completely divest itself from involvement in the political arena so as to not compromise the Gospel. That would call, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:9, for us to remove ourselves from the world completely. But we are to act with prudence and judgment as members of both the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Man.

In closing what we, as a Church must do in light of being both salt and light is to ascertain from Scripture that which we must do to fulfill our mandate as members of both Kingdoms. Always with the knowledge that all things should be done to Glorify God first and foremost. Amen.

Beginning a New Course of Study

While the title may be a bit misleading it is quite a good summary of what I am going to do over the next couple of terms. I have applied to the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary here in Pittsburgh to take a couple of courses for credit over the next couple of terms, as well as next school year. My purpose for doing so is to both broaden my theological horizons past the mainline seminary I now attend (Pittsburgh Theological Seminary) and to allow for a more relaxed theological environment in which to learn. I must be honest in saying that it will be refreshing to sit in a class and not have to defend basic Christological orthodoxy and watch as "Reformed" theology is misconstrued, masticated and spit out. This may also lead to me working towards a M.A at RPTS, we'll see...

Five Words

GO BROWNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





BEAT THE STEELERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Found this on another Blog and Felt Like It Needed to Be Highlighted... Please Pass this On...

Prayer countdown to the Beijing Olympics...

(Note from Tim: David and I asked our dear sister, Kamilla, if she would be willing to write a post on the prayer campaign many believers have joined that is focused on the upcoming Olympics in China. We're grateful Kamilla agreed to our request.)

I'll be boycotting all coverage of the Olympic games this coming summer. Truthfully, I'm a bit bored with the Olympics in general and the summer games in particular. But I have a special reason for not soaking in all that advertising and pretense of the citizen-athlete the games used to be about. This year, Beijing, China will be hosting the games. The opening and closing ceremonies will be orchestrated by none other than Stephen Spielberg. It's difficult to fathom the man who brought us Schindler's list participating in Beijing's propaganda efforts.

These games are being compared to the Berlin games of 1936. And if we're not old enough to remember that or know about it, a moment's thought will bring to mind why the comparison might be apt. The Chinese regime intends to use the games as a sort of global "coming out" party, just as Hitler tried to use the 1936 Berlin games...

Beijing's airport and subway system are both being DOUBLED in capacity in anticipation of some half-million visitors. In order to make this infrastructure improvement and to build the Olympic venues, approximately 10% of Beijing's 17 million residents are being displaced--an estimated 1.5 million people.

Beijng's air is a sometimes toxic mix of car exhaust, factory smoke and sand from the Gobi desert. They have planted some 2 million trees and are expected to spend some 3 billion on the efforts to clean Beijing's air for the athletes. Even so, reports are that the IOC may postpone some outdoor events if the air quality does not sufficiently improve.

But all this, aside from the troubling displacement of residents, is mere money. The real shame of these upcoming games is the whitewash Beijing will be able to put on its human rights record. Amnesty International, no longer the paragon of human rights it used to be, is still a reputable source on many matters. They have found children as young as 12 years old working 15 hour shifts in factories making stationary for the Games. Reporters are still censored. Beijing sends money and weapons to support the murderous Bashir regime in Khartoum, feeding the Darfur genocide. But even that is not all.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and the United States Government list China as a "country of particular concern", a designation it has held since 1999. The 2007 report says, "The Chinese government continues to engage in systematic and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief." China claims religious freedom, but in fact, this only exists for those participating in officially registered churches. Protestant house churches and the underground Roman Catholic Church are particular targets of government persecution. China's practice of religious oppression includes arrest and imprisonment without trial, secret trials, "re-education" labor camps and disappearances where officials deny they know the whereabouts of certain missing religious leaders. Local officials have been known to bulldoze churches, arrest the members and force them to pay a fine for their release. One particular Protestant pastor was sentenced to three years labor, along with two assistants receiving lesser sentences because, apparently, their Bible publishing enterprise proved to be too effective.

And, worse still, China's one-child policy continues to include forced abortions. The May 5 issue of World magazine reported on one particularly horrendous case in which a 7 months pregnant woman was dragged into hospital and injected with chemicals to kill her child. She then endured 19 hours of labor in order to deliver her murdered son.

Join us in prayer one minute every day until the Games. I think we should pray the Games collapse and the murderous, black regime in Beijing is exposed to the world for what it is in such a way their evil can no longer be hidden.

One Minute, One Year, One Country
Join the Prayer Countdown to the
Beijing Olympics

www.opendoorsusa.org

Property Issue Getting Ugly in Western PA

Presbytery has plan to resolve Peters property issues

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

By Ann Rogers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Washington Presbytery has put forth a plan to try to resolve property issues with a Peters church that voted Sunday to break ties with the Presbyterian Church (USA), but its leaders say they will litigate ownership in civil court if forced to.

At Tuesday night's special meeting in Eighty-Four, tremendous sympathy was expressed for the minority at Peters Creek Presbyterian Church who had opposed the break and who are now seeking to be declared "the true church" in the dispute. The meeting ended with the 80 ministers and elders gathered around a half dozen representatives of the minority, laying hands on them in prayer and singing Amazing Grace.

The Rev. David Bleivik, the general presbyter, said that if a court battle became necessary there was a possibility of financial assistance from both national headquarters and the regional synod.

"On every level we have sought to avoid legal action in accordance with [the biblical book of] Corinthians . . . . But if we are forced to defend the just side of this, we will prevail. I have no doubt," he said.

"I have a deep place in my heart for the loyal minority because of what they have been through and how they have been treated." Others at the meeting harshly criticized the conduct of Peters Creek leadership toward the minority.

Ray Peterson, an elder who is spokesman for the majority at Peters Creek, said later that whatever the presbytery said or proposed was irrelevant, since his congregation was no longer part of that denomination. He has previously expressed confidence that the majority from the church will receive a fairer, faster hearing in civil court than from the presbytery. The congregation took two votes, one 273-86 and on Sunday 207-26 to leave the PCUSA and affiliate with the more conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

"The reason we disaffiliated from the PCUSA is so we did not have to contend with specious motions and initiatives from the Washington Presbytery," Mr. Peterson said.

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More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

First published on November 7, 2007 at 11:38 am

Continuing My Walk

For the third installment of my walk of discernment I would like to take a look at the official statements made by the PC(USA) on the matter of Abortion

The Denominations current stance on the practice of Abortion is muddy and I believe purposefully vague. At various General Assemblies[1] the GA voted and passed resolutions that include the following statements about the denominations position on Abortion:

The considered decision of a woman to terminate a pregnancy can be a morally acceptable, though certainly not the only or required, decision.[2]

Humans are empowered by the spirit prayerfully to make significant moral choices, including the choice to continue or end a pregnancy. Human choices should not be made in a moral vacuum, but must be based on Scripture, faith, and Christian ethics.[3]

Some of us would focus on the biblical material that emphasizes human decision-making. Real decision-making[4] is one of the gifts of God to us as human beings. It is part of being created in the image of God. God's own dominion over all of creation does not deny this intention of the Creator: that human beings must make real decisions that have real consequences for their lives and for the world…[5]

Now these statements in and of themselves are in opposition to lots of presuppositions in Reformed theology. The fourth citation being the greatest departure from any semblance of the Doctrines that used to constitute the Reformed faith within the PC(USA). However ultimately what truly brings me to question these statements (and as one questioning his remaining a member with the PC(USA)) is that they are ultimately human-centered, that is they are always speaking as if God is 1) outside the decision-making process of the individual, and 2) that God cannot possibly understand the difficult decisions that abortion entails. The second quotation I have chosen to highlight disturbs me the most. I have spoken previously of my concern that Scripture is now last in the Presbyterian's "Wesleyan Quadlateral" (with the first place going to experience, then reason, tradition, and lastly "s"cripture). While it may seem silly to some to quibble with the separation of faith and Christian ethics from Scripture in the wording it signals a much deeper problem and that is the continued denial of an active God within the human life that has dictated through his Word the "ethic" we as followers of Jesus Christ should follow. That somehow we have gone from the Amazing Grace of the reformation where Christ is the dominant mover to a simple common Grace where humanity has been given the ultimate word, not Christ, on the moral decisions of ending human life prematurely and without cause.

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[1] As an aside it is of the utmost arrogance that the PC (USA) tries to claim that its 2006 General Assembly was its “217^th”. It is ludicrous for the denomination to claim heritage back to the 18^th century when it was actually founded by the joining of two separate denominations in 1983.

[2] Minutes of the 204th General Assembly (1992), Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), pg. 367-368, 372-374

[3] Minutes of the 217th General Assembly (2006), Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), pg. 905

[4] The major fault behind the hermeneutic used in the last quote will be critiqued in a separate post

[5] Sections "I. D. 6. Positions A & B" of the Report of the Special Committee on Problem Pregnancies and Abortion to the 1992 General Assembly Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), pg. 9-10

Required Reading

I just began to read this book recently after needing some time away from my studies. I have become in the past year or so more hardened against the German scholastic nature of my seminary and have tired of Pannenberg, Schleiermacher, and Barth so it was nice to sit down and read a cogent introduction into the hows and whys of the current Modalist (Sabellianist if you would like) movement within modern trinitarian formulations and apologetics. Even while critiquing the Kantian school Letham is not fearful of taking on the major weakness of the anti-intellectual passions of the recent Evangelical witness; that being its negligence of the most central Doctrine of Christian faith. Robert Letham's work checks in at over 500 pages but if the first 25 are any indication this should be a very exciting and informative read.

Area News

Pittsburgh bishop responds to church warning

By Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

JOHNSTOWN -- Pittsburgh Episcopal Bishop Robert W. Duncan Jr. invoked the legacy of theologian Martin Luther today in his first public response to being warned Wednesday by the denomination's leader that the diocese's continued march to separate from the national church could force him out of his position.

"Here I stand," Bishop Duncan told clergy and laity at the 142nd diocesan convention. "I can do no other. God help me. Amen."

Those were the words spoken by Martin Luther in 1521 when he was called before the Diet of Worms for his supposedly heretical works. Emperor Charles the Fifth later declared the theologian an outlaw and he went into exile.

Bishop Duncan's short response to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori came after he told convention deputies that "as a diocese we have come to a fork in the road."

The convention will vote later today on whether or not to move forward with plans to leave the Episcopal Church.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
First published on November 2, 2007 at 3:14 pm
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MAJOR UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Local Episcopalians vote to leave the U.S. church
Friday, November 02, 2007
By Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

JOHNSTOWN -- Members of the Pittsburgh Episcopal Diocese have voted overwhelmingly to break away from the denomination in the United States and align with an Anglican province in another country.

In today's vote at the 142nd diocesan convention, the laity approved the measure 118-58 with one abstention. The clergy vote was 109-24 in favor of breaking away.

For the break to occur, the diocese must pass the same measure next year and select which Anglican province to join.

In a letter Wednesday to Pittsburgh Episcopal Bishop Robert W. Duncan Jr., U.S. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori warned that such a move could result in declaring the Pittsburgh Diocese vacant and ordering Bishop Duncan's removal.

Bishop Duncan invoked the legacy of theologian Martin Luther today in his first public response to the wraning.

"Here I stand," Bishop Duncan told clergy and laity at the convention. "I can do no other. God help me. Amen."

Those were the words spoken by Martin Luther in 1521 when he was called before the Diet of Worms for his supposedly heretical works. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V declared the theologian an outlaw and he went into exile.

Bishop Duncan's short response to Bishop Schori came after he told convention deputies that "as a diocese, we have come to a fork in the road."


More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.