The Sufficiency of Scripture and Age Segregaton

There has been a fair amount of reaction to the movie put out by the NCFIC called Divided.  You can watch the movie free online at the Divided website for around one more month.  From my experience the reaction has either been positive in that people have seen the issue dealt with in the movie in their church or in churches they have been in as well as people coming to see the lack of support in scripture for age segregation.  The other reaction has been that of anger and a rejection of the premise put forth in the movie.  As with many things the negative reactions seem to get the most notice.

The truth is I fully understand the negative reaction.  If one has been entrenched in a model such as age segregation for so long and then for someone to question the practice and put forth that it is unbiblical will often engender an adverse reaction.  In my seminary training age segregation was taken as a given and in all truthfulness was accepted because of worldly psychological theories rather than any biblical commands.  If there was a biblical conviction it was that we needed to share the gospel and so we need to do what ever was necessary to do and since psychological theory said we learn best being in our own age group that is the model that was accepted.  I truly believe that the best intentions were put forth but as has been said before; the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  

Good intentions are not what we are held accountable to but scripture is.  We need to seek out in all we do to be true to scripture 2 Tim 3:16-17 says “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”  Is it tough to give up the practices that have been so drummed into us over the many years of use, yes.  But that is exactly what we need to do.  We need to return to not only proclaim the sufficiency of scripture but to actually seek to live out that claim.  To do this one needs to truly believe that scripture is sufficient for all of life, and let me assure you that the word of God, all of it, is just that “SUFFCIENT.”

There have been some that have tried to argue that the Hebrew children were segregated for teaching or that the Puritans separated out their children for training.  Without dealing with the validity of each of these statements the issue is not what others have done, as helpful as that may or may not be, but what scripture says.  The actions of those before us can help inform us but our actions need to be directed and driven by the word of God.  When we face God for our actions we will not be able to use the actions of others as an excuse when we have the word of God so available.  Again, this is not to minimize those that have gone before us but often we not only learn from their successes but also from their failures.  Man is fallible and prone to error but God is not and neither is His word and that is why we are called to follow God and not man.  

At the end of the day the issue at hand is the sufficiency of Scripture and age segregation is just one of the results of not holding to Scripture as sufficient for all areas of life.  One needs to ask; if the professing church gives up the sufficiency of scripture in the area that the movie Divided touches on what is next.  The Gospel is grounded in an all-sufficient scripture not a somewhat sufficient scripture.  The Gospel is grounded in the word of God that was given to His people so that they could worship Him in all they do and how we disciple youth is one area we are not glorifying God as we should because by and large the professing church is telling God we know better.  So let us return to Scripture for all we do including how we disciple.

The Divided site has a number of FAQ to help deal with questions about the movie.  Also, here are some other reviews of the movie:

1. When Man's Traditions Collide with God's Law - Corban and Sunday Schools – Kevin Swanson
2. Response to Tim Challies Review of Divided Movie – Fred Wolfe
3. A Review of "Divided: the Movie" – Buddy Hanson
4. Tim Challies’ Harsh Review of Dividedthemovie.com – Scott Brown (this also includes a link to Tim Challies review of Divided)

Download the 2009 NCFIC Sufficiency of Scripture for FREE.

You can download the MP3s from the 2009 NCFIC Sufficiency of Scripture for free here. You can also download them from SermonAudio here.

Thanks to the NCFIC for making this great resource available.

Titles and Speakers:

1) Do Not Learn the Way of the Gentiles ~ Scott Brown

2) The Defining Battles in the War Against the Sufficiency of Scripture ~ Doug Phillips

3) Our Declining Church and Culture - the Genesis Connection and How to Continue a Godly Heritage ~ Ken Ham

4) The Sufficiency of Scripture for Manhood and Womanhood ~ Voddie Baucham
5) The Sufficiency of Scripture and the Heart of the NCFIC ~ Doug Phillips
6) Scripture is Sufficient for Personal Sanctification ~ Andy Davis
7) The Regulative Principle of Worship in the Old Testament ~ Joe Morecraft
8) Scripture is Sufficient for Suffering ~ R.C. Sproul, Jr.
9) English Bibles and the Sufficiency of Scripture ~ Bill Einwechter
10) Scripture is Sufficient for Woman's Ministry Part 1:Teachers of Good Things ~ Jeff Pollard
11) The Sufficiency of Scripture for the Laws of Nations ~ Doug Phillips
12) Scripture is Sufficient for Child Discipline ~ Steve Breagy
13) But How Could a Loving God Say...? ~ Dan Horn
14) The Sufficiency of Scripture for Building Faith and Transforming Character ~ Andy Davis
15) Scripture is Sufficient for Personal Evangelism ~ Paul Washer
16) Applying the Sufficiency of Scripture in the Botkin Family ~ Geoff Botkin
17) The Regulative Principle of Worship in the New Testament ~ Joe Morecraft
18) The Sufficiency of Scripture for Family Life ~ Kevin Swanson
19) God's Law or Chaos ~ Bill Einwechter
20) Scripture is Sufficient for Woman's Ministry Part 2:Keepers at Home ~ Jeff Pollard
21) Is the Sufficiency of Scripture a Biblical Doctrine ~ Joe Morecraft
22) Scripture is Sufficient for Ministry to Youth ~ Scott Brown
23) The Sufficiency of Scripture and the Gospel ~ Paul Washer
24) Scripture is Sufficient for Your Educational Decisions ~ Kevin Swanson
25) The Sufficiency of Scripture for Evangelizing the Nations ~ Paul Washer
26) The Sufficiency of Scripture for the Church Discipline ~ Joe Morecraft
27) The Sufficiency of Scripture for the Importance of the Sabbath ~ Dan Horn
28) The Sufficiency of Scripture for Habits of Obedience ~ Andy Davis
29) Youth Ministry ~ Voddie Baucham
30) The Sufficiency of Scripture and Family Integration ~ Kevin Swanson
31) The Sufficiency of Scripture for Culture as Aesthetics ~ Doug Phillips
32) Scripture is Sufficient to Define and Govern the Church ~ Dan Horn
33) Scripture is Sufficient for Times of Spiritual Decline ~ Bill Einwechter
34) The Importance of Biblical Family Life for the Spread of the Gospel ~ Paul Washer
35) The Sufficiency of Scripture in the Disciple-Making Ministry of the Church and the Home ~ Voddie Baucham

A New Documentary

New documentary from the NCFIC is being worked on called Segregation. It will be a documentary “investigating the problems with modern youth ministry and the solution of biblical youth ministry found in the Word of God.”

Read more here: A New Film in Progress

NCFIC Road Trip - Oakhurst Stop (6/21/10)

We just returned from spending the weekend in Oakhurst California. We got to Fresno Saturday and then spent the Lord’s Day worshiping with Christ Community Bible Church (CCBC). It was a great time of worship and fellowship.

Then Monday (6/21) after taking a drive around Bass Lake we met at CCBC for some great teaching and fellowship. It is my understanding there were around 240 people, adults and children, at this “NCFIC Road Trip-Oakhurst” stop which was a great turn out especially considering it was on a Monday afternoon/evening. CCBC did a great ob of hosting this event keeping things on schedule and even providing an evening meal between sessions where families could gather to meet together. This was especially appreciated as so often at conferences there is so much to pack in that fellowship can often be cut short but not here.

The sessions were broken down with the men and sons meeting together for the first 2 hours or so and the women and daughters meeting for a tea at the same time. After the initial sessions we all gathered together for a meal then all gathered for a final two talks as one large group.

As I only heard the men’s talks and the final talks I cannot comment on the women's talks but from what I understand they were very good. I will post a link to my wife and daughter’s blog when they get a post up on the women’s part of the meeting. In the first talk Scott Brown spoke on Building a Biblical Family. In his talk Scott, with his usual passion for the sufficiency of scripture, spoke on 12 areas that need to be dealt with to build a biblical family. Those areas are, and I given some, not all, of the scripture references given:

1) Examining Ones Heart to be Sure of Ones Salvation – II Cor 13:5; II Cor 5:17;Matt 7:16
2) Observe the Sabbath Day – Deut 5:12-15; Ex 20; Neh 13; Heb 4
3) Listening to the Preaching of the Word of God - Acts 2:42
4) Celebrating as a Family – Deut 12:12; Ps 127 – 128
5) Doing business with Sin – Job 1:5; Col 3:5
6) Dealing with the “One Another’s” in the church – Eph 4
7) Conducting Family Worship – Ps 78; Jn 4:23-24
8) Praying Family Prayers – Matt 6:33
9) Working Together – Prov 10:4-5
10) Saturating the Family in the Law & Love of God – Deut 6:1-9
11) Studying History Together – Deut 31:7
12) Make a God Centered Marriage – Gen 1:27-28; Gen 2:18; Prov 31

Peter Bradrick then spoke, mainly to the younger men, about the need to see we are in a battle. One of the great points he made is that we so often allow the young to use youth as a time of play while in reality it is the only time they have to prepare for adulthood. This is especially important for believers as youth is a time not for amusement but a time to prepare for the battle. A time that is lost if not used for God’s glory. He also spoke of areas that so often attach to young men. Areas such as: being absorbed in the culture of sports, simply hanging out with other young men accomplishing nothing and also the attitudes of apathy, pride and the pursuit of pleasure. This is a message that needs to be shared and instilled in all young men.

The time with the men was concluded with another message from Scott Brown on “Common Infections in the Family Integrated Church. These were areas that in some form or fashion are in many “Family Integrated Churches” but that should not be there and thus need to be corrected and dealt with in some fashion. The 12 items spoken on, and with explanations of each were:

1) Neglecting the Gospel – the exalting of Christ by “all” of His word
2) Misunderstanding Family Integration – especially in making it the centerpiece of the church
3) Misunderstanding Equipping & Evangelism in the Church
4) Lack of Biblically Qualified Leadership
5) Home Churching – especially as it relates to biblical leadership that scripture points to with regards to the church
6) Doctrinal Confusion
7) Fuzziness in Biblical Womanhood and the Influence of Feminism
8) Disrespecting Authority – often by having no authority
9) Lack of a Love for Scripture
10) Inward Focus that causes a Neglect in Ministry to the Lost
11) Absence of Humility
12) Lack of Love for the Church

After a great meal and fellowship we all gathered together to hear another talk from Scott Brown and Peter Bradrick. Scott spoke first and his topic was on Reformation in the Church. In covering the topic he did so in three sections:

Characteristics of Reformation
1) A Work of God, Not Man
2) Often follows Seasons of Idolatry & Sinfulness
3) Fueled by Desperation
4) Touched off by the Preaching of the True Gospel
5) Propelled by a Hunger for God
6) Outward Changes Followed by the Inward Conviction of Sin
7) Marked by an Unusual Love for Scripture
8) Ignites a Love for the Gathering of God’s People
9) Produces Opposition

Modern Signs of Revival
1) Clarification of the True Gospel & Preaching of it
2) Resurgence of Expository Preaching
3) Doctrinal Awareness
4) Revival of Biblical Fatherhood
5) Large Families
6) Rejection of Feminism
7) Modest Dress
8) Early Manhood
9) Dating Culture Rejected
10) Generational Retention
11) Biblical Counseling Movement
12) A Wave of Books on Family based on the Sufficiency of Scripture
13) Rejection of Evolutionary Speculation
14) New Churches Planted that Reject Age Segregation
15) Censure, Rejection & Persecution

What Kinds of Reforms are the NCFIC Seeking
As the talk went long this section was gone through rather quickly but some of the reforms sought were areas such as the use of the regulative principle and other areas that further promote the items listed above.

Peter Bradrick closed the conference speaking on the youth group culture the church is so enamored with. The NCFIC has been working on a documentary that should be out this year on the subject as well as Scott Brown is putting out a book on the subject. Both of which will in all likelihood meet with resistance because they go against the churches culturally accepted norm even if it is not a biblically supported norm. Peter touched on a number of areas but the picture that was painted was one of the need to return to how God wants youth to be nurtured and discipled which is by equipping families and primarily fathers. I am sure more will be said on the subject as the two new resources from the NCFIC come out.

What a great time this was and many thanks to Christ Community Bible Church for doing a fine job of putting on the conference. If you are ever in the Oakhurst area this is a great church to spend the Lord’s Day.

CCBC Contact info:
Christ Community Bible Church in Oakhurst, California
Oakhurst Community Center
39800 Road 425 B.
Oakhurst, CA 93644
Michael Cox (mcox@sti.net)

If you have an opportunity try and attend one of the remaining NCFIC Road Trip stops.  You can find the the cities still to be visited here.

Here are a few pictures from Monday:

 Scott Brown

 Peter Bradrick

Sufficiency of Scripture 2009 Conference

Today there are many battles that are being waged by the church. There is the battle to maintain what the gospel message is as many try and hijack its true message with their own ideas, often ones that align with the world’s goals and objectives rather than God’s. The family is under attack from not only the world but sadly even the from within the professing church. The relationship between God’s law and His people and the world in general is attacked daily but again not simply from without but also from within. I am sure you can name other battles that you see happening daily but there is an even greater battle. That battle is for the sufficiency of scripture

Many have fought for the inerrancy of scripture but to stop there is to fall woefully short. Simply having a revelation from God is inadequate if that revelation is not seen as sufficient for what it was intended, to direct and guide all of life such that our lives are lived as acceptable worship of God. Another reason the battle for the sufficiency of scripture is of supreme importance is that it affects how you fight all other battles. It affects how you live all of life. You will either live by the very word of God or you will live by your own understandings and that is not a place a believer should be. For the church to fight the decline of the world we live in, and it is a fight, we need to make sure we are doing battle by the standards set forth by God in His all sufficient word. Thus the sufficiency of Scripture is the main battle ground and we must regain the ground the church has lost so that we and future generations will be equipped to fight and claim the victory that God promises and thus offer up the worship He requires.

The National Center for Family Integrated Churches (NCFIC) will be having a conference, Sufficiency of Scripture 2009:Practically Applied for Church & Family, December 10-12 at the Northern Kentucky Convention center in Covington Kentucky (just outside of Cincinnati Ohio). They have a great line up of speakers : Scott Brown, Ken Ham, Doug Phillips, Kevin Swanson, Joe Morecraft, Voddie Baucham, Andy Davis & Paul Washer. Below are links to information on the conference :

About the Conference
Travel and Accommodations
Registration