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.