Family Integrated Conference 2007 – Session 2

Minstering to Families - Matt Bullen

This is my second installment of a review and comments on the Family Integrated Church Conference held in Houston October 26-27 and put on by Grace Family Baptist Church. The first session was entitled Calling Men to Lead by Paul Renfro and you can read it here. The second session was entitled Ministering to Families and was delivered by Matt Bullen. Of all of the Pastors at GfBC Matt is the one I know the best as I have spent hours at his home and many e-mails conversing over issues related to church and the start of the church I am part of, Sovereign Grace Christian Fellowship.

Matt’s focus at Grace is pastoral care and assimilation and it is easy to see that this is his passion. But he not only serves in this capacity but also preaches on a regular basis as the three elders share the preaching responsibilities. Matt is also a construction superintendent as well as speaking at various conferences but over all this in my time with Matt it is easy to see that his great focus on God and his family.

Mat spoke of the Why and the How of Ministering to families. This in reality covers two areas; that is the ministering to other families and the ministering to our own families with the goal being to lead other families to do the same. The Why seems so simple but is often neglected and that is the simple fact that within our families we can have a generational impact that can be hard to measure. Yes we need to reach outside our immediate family but often we reach outside at the expence of our families and the results are evident in how many youth leave the church within a year of leaving home. By ministering to our families, and teaching others to do the same, we have an impact that extends not only to the next generation but multiple generations after that. So Matt’s call and in reality scriptures call is to minister to families so as to disciple them to minister to their own families and then others. This is not a call to become a small cloister and avoid those in the world but instead to start where God has put us, in families, and then move out from there as a family.

The next subject was that of the How to Minister to Families and Matt used 1 Peter 5:1-3 to reveal three aspects of this: Ministering, Mentoring and Modeling. The Ministering we see in 1 Peter 5:2a by shepherding the flock God has placed in and leading others to do the same. This shows a need to be ministering to families so as to lead them to do the same which takes involvement and just as the Shepherd needs to know his flock so do we the families that we are discipling. This aspect of ministry takes time and effort because the world we live in today does not easily allow for community to be built up within a church. The fine line in this endeavor is that of creating community but not at the expence of the time families need to spend together on their own. Too often churches that claim to be family friendly actually splinter families by both segregation and time depletion. The goal of ministering to families is to do enough to create community while still fostering families that are healthy by God’s standards.

The second aspect is that of mentoring or as 1 Peter 5:2b says “oversight.” This is the area where a family or families mentor others in what God has revealed to them about God’s plan for the family. This is done through being together and hospitality of which small groups and simply eating together are some of the ways to do this. Again there needs to be care taken so as not to use up so much time the mentoree has no time to practice what they are being mentored in. Mentoring can also include various other resources such as books and such. This also shows the need to see that Ministering to Families takes work and it needs to be intentional so as not to simple take up time. Things such as that seen in Titus 2:1-8 are examples of this mentoring going on.

The last aspect is that of modeling or as 1 Peter 5;3 says being an “example.” Our families need to be examples to those we minister to so that they can see God’s work in us to show them what God does desire and what He can do. It is not enough simply to teach and tell but people need to see God’s word in action as god intends His word to be lived out in our daily lives and not just on Sunday. As the old adage goes often much more is caught than taught and modeling builds on the teaching or mentoring that has been done.

So with the church there needs to be a conscious effort to Minister, Mentor and Model God’s design for the family. In doing this we help succeeding generations pass on the same plan of God for the family. This should not really be that difficult of a task, although it often is, as we should simply be seeking to live out in the presence of others what God has called us to be as families.

Around the Web and Blogosphere (11/13/07)

Check out this video on Fide-O: John Hagee Has Lost His Mind. I had seen this before but if this is what he really believes then there is a big problem. Personally this is his faulty eschatology driving his view of Christ and trying to find a way out for Israel’s, like so many others, rejection of Christ.

Mark Dever speaks on the church and relevancy: Dever cautions about 'relevant' mindset

Tom Ascol writes on: Restoring health to an unhealthy church: What is the goal?

Over at the Reformed Baptist Fellowship: How to be Content with Your Stuff

Clcik below to enter this months Challies.com giveaway:

Around the Web and Blogosphere (11/6/07)

Over at Fide-O blog there is a post called that has a video (Here) from a Christians United for Israel Conference. It is always interesting to see who shows up in these videos and what they say.

John Piper’s new book: The Future of Justification has been released. If you want the paper version you can get it here but it is also available to be accessed in PDF format from here. Also on the Desiring God site is a book that was taken from the 2006 National Conference: The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World ($5 until this Friday). This can also access an online PDF version from here.

Scott Brown in his blog: Youth Ministry Gone Insane links to an article from EthicDaily.com called Reaching Young People at all Costs?, and what a cost.

Over at These are the Generations of…. Scott gives a review of a new DVD entitled “Monstrous Regiment.” This is a powerful DVD that deals with feminism and lets many from the opposing side speak for themselves in their words and attitudes. The DVD Monstrous Regiment is put out by the Gunn Brothers .

Novembers Giveaway

Here is this month’s giveaway at Challies.com:

First prize: The first prize winner will take home One copy of The ESV Listener’s Bible on CD (as read by Max McLean) and one copy of Classics of the Christian Faith CD collection. The retail value of this prize is over $180.

Second prize: One copy of Classics of the Christian Faith CD collection.

Third Prize: One copy of Classics of the Christian Faith CD collection.

Click on the banner below or here: November Giveaway

This Months FREE audio download

There is another great FREE download at ChristianAudio.com. You can download Jonathan Edward’s The Religious Affections (unabridged) for the month of November for free. If you do not have an account it is relatively painless and well worth setting up as most months the free offering is very good. Enjoy!

GfBC Family Integrated Conference 2007 – Session 1

Calling Men to Lead – Paul Renfro

I meant to get this done some earlier but things just got in the way. So here is an overview from my notes of the first session of the FIC Conference in Houston (10/26-27). This is not a word for word look but a combination of what Paul said and how I heard it. When one listens at a conference it is not enough to simply be able to regurgitate what was said but we must be able to make it our own so that it can be used as God leads each of us.

The first session on Friday (10/26) was lead by Paul Renfro who is one Grace Family Baptist Church’s elders. The call was that the men need to lead as God has called them to lead and not simply talk about it. This in not simply a call for men to claim leadership or take positions, which is only part of it, but to actually lead in all areas of church life and home life. Paul mentioned that all too often the call for men to lead is proclaimed but men are not biblically trained to do so. A specific short coming of this lack of training men to lead is in the area of the home where men have abdicated leadership to the state and their wives.

Ever since the garden where Adam stood by and watched Eve talk to the serpent man has fallen short in leadership. This lack of leadership starts in the home where fathers in general do not lead, in a biblical manner. Men may try and have dominion over the home but true leadership is about relationship and that is severely lacking in so many homes, even Christian ones, where men are often excessively absent. Paul talked about the idea that we as men need to see that true teaching takes relationships and that we have assumed the Greek model of teaching which is more about information. While instead we should seek out scriptures methods which will inevitably lead us to a more Hebrew method of teaching which involves living with those we teach such as home. So it becomes easy to see how if we seek to have biblical homes we then naturally have the perfect set up for a Hebrew model of discipling our families. If we seek to live out Deuteronomy 6 we will be led to truly lead our families as God intended and as a church we need to train towards this end.

As a side note this issue of family leadership is also a big problem with those in ministry. The truth is that if men were held to the leadership standards of scripture many would be disqualified as they would not be managing their households as God desires them to be led. I hear and see, all too often, men claiming they are doing ministry while they loose their own families. I know for me this is a struggle being bi-vocational in that I take care not to neglect my family in the name of serving God. While I often fail I have to be vigilant to seek God’s power to persevere in this area. We as servants of God can not claim to be doing God’s work if we loose the families God has given us to lead. That is why God in His call for elders calls men to lead their families well and not well by man’s standards but by God’s

Paul spoke of how often the church tries everything but what God’s word tells us to do when we seek to train those we minister to. This is where he used a saying (not sure if it is original from him or not but I will use it myself) that so speaks to the church today and that is simply that we need to “stop thinking outside the box and think inside the book.” As the church shrinks and we loose so many of our youth we try and do everything but what God’s word says and that is train up men to lead as the scriptures call them to lead. We as a church need to, for scriptural reasons, seek to bring men back to the potion of the leaders in first their families and then the church as God has called them to be.

Paul ended by giving a practical list of things men can do in their homes with regard to their families. He put these in a three areas Prophet, Priest and King (or Provider and Protector):

1) Teach the word of God
2) Provide discipline
3) Disciple in all areas of life
4) Lead Family worship
5) Intercede for family needs
6) Proclaim Christ
7) Protect; Spiritually, physically, etc.
8) Protect from unqualified life partners
9) Protection from false doctrines
10) Protect them from loving the world
11) Provide Vision for the Family
12) Provide for spiritual and physical needs
13) Provide training in many areas
14) Provide a paradigm for our children’s vision for their homes
15) Provide guidance for finding a life partner, be involved in the process

Paul related in a great way God’s call for men to lead. This was not GfBC or Paul Renfro’s call but God’s call and we as believing men need to take heed of His call.

Nooma should be MEma

I just struggled through watching Rob Bell’s new Nooma DVD (#18:Name) and I am thinking that the series needs to be renamed MEma as the focus is not on God but on ME. Yes there is truth in the DVD; that we do all too often focus on wanting to be like others and not wanting to be who we are. However, the message is simply psychobabble that we are to learn to be comfortable and accepting of who we are. Yes there is a level where this may be true but at the end of the day we are to seek to be who God calls us to be and that is the message of scripture.

Rob Bell is not alone in proclaiming messages that turn scripture into stories about us rather than about God. He uses the story of Jacob wrestling with God to say at the end of the day Jacob had to simply accept who he was. But Bell stops short, actually as he mentions the sun rising (Gen 32:31) he skips over, because in the passage God changes Jacob’s name to Israel (Gen 32:28). So the whole premise of accepting who you are, your name, is out the window because God changes who He was just as He did with Abram to Abraham and Saul to Paul. We are to seek to be who God wants us to be and we see in scripture that people do not stay as they were but are changed by God to be who He wants them to be and to be used as He wants to use us.

While watching the video my impression was, as the names on the back of the t-shirts flash by, that no matter who you are that is who you are and you need to simply accept it, in Bells words (best I can remember) “good, bad and everything in-between”. But since when we become a believer we are a new creation and the old is changed are we not new creations in Christ (2 Cor 5:17)? Yes we have a past that we have to deal with but God changes us so that we are not to stay who we are but are to be who God calls us to be and that design is revealed in scripture.

In all of this production there was no call to deny oneself and take up a cross (Matt 16:24) it was all about feeling good about yourself. That is the essence of psychology but then again the video starts out with a story about someone that is in therapy so I guess at least he is consistent. The sad par t in all of this is that many churches get sucked into this sort of man centered theology as the message seems right but as scripture says we all too often seek after what tickles our ears (2 Tim 4:3) or as Judges ends in Jdg 21:25 “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” For too many King Jesus is not their King so they do what seems right to them.

If you want to preview this it is free here.

GfBC Family Integrated Church Conference 2007

Over the next few days, or so, I will be commenting on the Family Integrated Conference my family and I attended October 26th and 27th in Houston that was put on by Grace Family Baptist Church. It was a very good conference with over 300 people from 17 states. While it did seem that a majority of the people came from Texas there were people from as far west as Washington State, California (My Family) and as far east as Campton, New Hampshire (New Hope Fellowship). The main speakers were the Elders from GfBC; Paul Renfro, Matt Bullen and Voddie Baucham. Each spoke at one main session and then on Saturday they as well as others at GfBC spoke at a number of breakout sessions.

They did not proclaim to have all of the answers but as they have been in the thick of starting an FIC and as they had received many calls for information they decided that a conference would be the best way to get information out to those seeking it. While there were those of us there already in FICs there were others that were simply seeking to get information on the movement.

One announcement at the end of the conference was that they were going to start a Family Integrated Church Alliance, I am not sure if that is the final name, so as to help resource and give guidance to others wanting to start Family Integrated Churches. This builds on Vision Forums National Center for Family-Integrated Churches which basically is a listing to help people connect whereas GfBC is seeking to help go further to help in church planting. I am not sure of all the specifics as probably not all of them have been worked out, but this will be a great ministry.

Before I go for the day I want to leave you with a great saying that Paul Renfro shared on the opening session Friday night, I am not sure if his original saying or not but it is great. In speaking on where we seek our guidance for church and how so often the call from many in the church is to be creative he said: “Stop thinking outside the box and start thinking inside the book.” Stop and think about that as all too often the Bible is the last place we look for guidance in ministry.

More to come.

Reformation Study Bible - One Day Sale

Over at Ligonier Ministries they are offering a one day only deal for the Reformation Study Bible (ESV). On October 31st the bibles are $15.17. This is a great price for a great study bible.

Update: 10/31/07 (7:45 AM): The bibles are sold out.

Kevin Swanson at the UC&F Phoenix Regional Conference

You can go to Scott Browns Blog to hear Kevin Swanson’s talk at the Uniting Church and Family Conference in Glendale, AZ this past weekend: Lightning Rod in Phoenix .

Here are Scott’s comments on Kevin’s talk/sermon:

"Kevin Swanson gave a lightning rod address on “Pragmatism”, and proclaimed that evangelicalism is dying, and that the church has not had any appreciable impact on the culture because she has set aside Holy Scripture for all of life and godliness. The solution: the fear of God and obedience to His Word. Since so many biblical forms have been ignored in church and home, we need a reformation of practices that has its basis in trust in scripture. Hold on to your hat as you listen to this message. One of the conferees called this message seismic... I agree!"

I very much appreciate Kevin’s straight forward no holds barred approach. The church has issues and the only way to deal with them is to recognize them. To simply say we need to reach this culture is missing the point and often clouds the message. The more we look like the culture the less the message of the Gospel will be visible. At the end of the day the Gospel becomes subsumed by the trappings of the culture and then simply disappears from the message all together.

Listen to Kevin and be both convicted and exhorted. Let us make sure we do not let culture dictate the message of the Gospel but instead let the Gospel impact and change culture.

The Use of Illustrations

I confess I have been guilty of using an urban myth to get across a point. The story of the boiling frog is often used, and I have used it, to get across the idea that slow change often engulfs us without us knowing it. Now while the point being made may be true it appears that the Frog Story may be a myth. This story has been used by many and, as I guess most Urban Legends are, has been accepted as truth. So, what is then interesting is that the truth that is trying to be conveyed is truer than the illustration used.

At Snopes.com they place the story as an urban legend and at Wikipedia on the subject of the veracity of this story there is some question as well. Wikipedia relates that the story originated back in the 1870’s and 1880’s and even links to a page of an article that would seem to say the original test may have been true but there is a definite level of uncertainty.

Bottom line is this illustration is gone from my list of illustrations, which is short as it is. I have recently been thinking about how I use illustrations and while they may make sermons more interesting are they as valuable as we think they are. I was talking to my sons about an illustration I used on a sermon some time ago and what I found was they could vividly remember the illustration but did not remember the point of the illustration. Yes Jesus used parables but keep in mind the idea of parables was to hide things from those not ready to hear (Matt 13:10-17; Luke 8:10), not necessarily to reveal them so His use of parables may not be the best reason to use illustrations.

The question I have to ask myself is whether I have been so influenced by the world’s view of conveying a message that I seek to do so by adding illustrations. This is not to say that illustrations are inherently bad but we do need to be careful how we use them and also to make sure they are true illustrations. In today’s age of a focus on narrative preaching I am concerned that we, me included, are more concerned about conveying a good story than conveying truth and relying on God to make sure the meaning gets through to the listener. This is not a free pass to lazy sermon preparation but is to say lets us be diligent to make sure the message of the passage is conveyed and not simply leave people with good anecdotes and illustrations that at the end of the day may do more to hide the message of scripture than accentuate it.

Let’s leave the frogs, and other such dubious illustration to the world and endeavor to let scripture speak as if we really did believe it was the actual word of God, I know that is my goal.

Around the Web and Blogosphere (10/09/07)

The Monergism Bookstore has upgraded its website, check it out. They even have a flat rate shipping charge of only $3.99 for unlimited items


There is a good article over at Old Truth.com called: 'Creative Worship Experiences' or Strange Fire? The area of worship, mostly in regards to music, is one that all too often is devoid of scriptural basis but is instead left to the subjective idea of doing what the “Spirit” leads one to do. The question we have to ask is whether God tells us how He desires to be worshipped or if we can do anything that is not expressly forbidden by scripture (the regulative principle vs. the normative principle).


Dr. Al Mohler writes: Falling Birthrates, Empty Cribs, and Collapsing Worldviews. What is interesting is that the mindset of Germany doesn’t seem that far removed from many evangelicals today. While I do not have specific numbers with regards to birthrates among evangelicals in the US a simple observation of the surrounding American evangelical culture would let us see that there are less and less children being born and they are coming later in the life of professing believers. From my perspective this comes from the buying into the secular worldview rather than the church changing the world with a biblical worldview.


You can read Courtney Tarter’s article Confessions of a Recovering Feminist on the CDMW blog.


Sorry this months give away is done I will update as others become available.
Tim Challies is having another great give away courtesy of Ligonier Ministries. You can enter here , and please enter this referral code of 20072, or click on the banner below and it will take you there and automatically enter the referral code.

Free Audio Book – The Life of David Brainerd

This month’s FREE audio download at ChristianAudio.com is:

The Life of David Brainerd (Unabridged) by Jonathan Edwards

You may have to sign up for an account, if you have not before, but this is a free download. There are a total of 9 files to download of about 32MB each. I have not been able to listen to them yet, but the ones I have listened to in the past have all been very good. There is a different free download each month so make sure to check back with them at the beginning of very month.

Evangelism and the Local Church

I have listened to a number of people who defend their method of doing church by referring to Paul on Mars Hill (Acts 17:16-34) and Paul’s statements in 1 Cor 9:19-23 as ways to attract unbelievers or those labeled as likely never setting foot in a church.

First, I want to say that the desire to see people hear the Gospel is to be commended. We should all have a desire for people to hear the message of the gospel, the Good News. Here is where I think the problem lies. The church is not primarily for evangelism, it is for those that are already believers. If a “believer” would claim that church is not for them or they do not like church without any number of extraneous activities that person may need to either reevaluate what the church is called to be or may need to even re-evaluate their faith.

I find it interesting that the verses that are often used to say the church needs to more reflect the world/culture around them are verses that have nothing to do with the church as a gathering. At Mars Hill, Paul is on the turf of the philosophers they are not coming to the church and in 1 Cor 9:19-23 he does speak about how to relates to unbelievers but again not in the context of the gathered church and not as far as some people try and take the verses. The call is to go out and evangelize not send out notices about how cool ones church is so people (unbelievers) come in.

We should desire unbelievers to enter our churches but the draw needs to be God not some slick campaign or packaging. Mark Dever in his new book (The Gospel & Personal Evangelism) talks about “Using the Church” in evangelism but in this he is speaking about inviting those we have a relationship with to come and see how a community of faith worships the God we proclaim to follow. It is their being among a people that are called to be distinctly different from the world that God can use to draw them to Himself. Unbelievers should be uncomfortable and they need to hear the entire message of the Gospel and not a partial and emasculated Gospel. It is when we live as a truly loving community of believers (John 13:34-35) that others will know that we are truly disciples of Christ. It is not culturally driven music, or drama, or any other creation we can think up it is first and foremost the word of God preached (Rom 10:14-15) that God uses to change hearts as well as our love for one another.

We do need to make sure our messages and speech is such that it is understandable but that is often a far cry from what is deemed as “contextualization.” I am also not calling for a reverting back to any particular age, but I would say we can learn much from the past. I would even say singing hymns, that so many have a disdain for, may be the very tool God can use to reveal Himself to people. Hymns may seem archaic to some but the truth that is packed into so many of them is often missing from many of the new songs that are written. What I am calling for is a return to church being built around and focused on believers so that when unbelievers enter in they experience something completely foreign from anything else they have experienced. If we simply follow scripture for the church’s role we will be the salt we are called to be rather than some sort imitation of the world around us.

I understand that this may sound like some sort of fundamentalist desiring the good old days. Well let me tell I do believe in the fundamentals of the faith and some things of the past would be nice but that does not make me yearn for the old days. Actually, I have only been a believer for a little over 18 years (I’m 48) so I really do not have old days to yearn for. My call again is to seek out what God desires of the church and not what we think is best. Yes, do use the gathered church for evangelism but be careful that it does not become it’s sole focus. We are to make sure we evangelize in our daily lives and make sure to know your neighbor and those that work around you but remember God calls the church, His bride, to be His and not the worlds.

Religious Symbology

From Pyromaniacs: By Frank Turk

If you read much from the Emergent Church many of these, if not all, will ring true.

Upcoming FIC Conferences

Here are some upcoming FIC conferences:

In Glendale, Arizona: Regional NCFIC Conference, October 12-13, 2007
Speakers: Scott Brown, Don Hart, Kevin Swanson and Jason Young


In Houston, TX: First Annual FIC Conference, October 26-27, 2007
Speakers: Voddie Baucham, Matt Bullen, Paul Renfro

In Wake Forest, North Carolina: Regional NCFIC Conference, November 30 – December 1, 2007
Speakers: Voddie Baucham, Scott Brown, Dan Horn, Steve Breagy

McLaren's New Book

Well Brian McLaren has another new book coming out, Everything Must Change, and here is what is being said about it in an email I somehow got, my comments interspersed:

In Everything Must Change, you will accompany Brian around the world on a search for answers (is not the Bible enough, why do we need to go to the world for answers about God). Along the way you'll experience intrigue, alarm, challenge, insight, and hope. You'll get a fresh and provocative vision of Jesus and his teachings (we do not need a fresh view of Jesus we need a Biblical view). And you'll see how his core message can infuse us with purpose and passion to address the economic, environmental, military, political, and social dysfunctions (I would suppose these dysfuntions are those defined by McLaren as dysfunctional) that have overtaken our world (I thought the Gospel was about God bringing a people to Himself, here is where the social Gospel of old shines through).

Jesus' message is more than a ticket to heaven or a formula for personal prosperity ( I agree whole heartedly, as we all should). It is an invitation to personal and global transformation (there we go again as the message of Christ is hijacked for another agenda). It is a radical challenge to the underlying stories that drive our social systems--social, economic, and political. It invites us to imagine what would happen

- if people of faith moved beyond political polarization and a few hot-button issues to the deeper questions nobody is asking ( I agree that Christians often choose some issues and conveniently ignore others but this does not mean we should not take stands where God takes stands).
- if the worlds' leading nations spent less on weapons and more on peace-making, poverty-alleviation, and creation-care.
- if a renewed understanding of Jesus and his message sparked a profound spiritual awakening in a global movement of faith, hope, and love ( I do believe that we need to renew an understanding of Christ and the cross but McLaren’s message does not do that).
- if we believed that God's will really could be done on earth and not just in heaven (What does he mean by this and does he really mean that Brian’s will would be done).

If you're are hungry for a fresh vision of what it means to be a person of faith, Everything Must Change applies the good news of Jesus to a world in need, igniting a revolution of hope that can change everything. Beginning with you. Beginning now (again missing is that the good news, the Gospel that McLaren proclaims, does not seem to match the Gospel of scripture. Yes we are called to do many things and to follow the commands of Christ but that is not the Good New, the Gospel is that through Christ our Great High Priest we can come to God, everything else flows from that)

Now, I do believe that the church needs to change but it is not the change that McLaren envisions. I also believe that people have missed the message of the cross, but again not as McLaren seems to see things. We should agree that Jesus’ message is not simply a ticket to heaven. But, McLaren’s real message is just as legalistic as the “fundamentalists” he often seems to be pointing to. He feels that the key to a vibrant faith is doing something and in his case it is simply the social gospel of old.

Don’t get me wrong we are to help the poor, feed the hungry and love our neighbor but the problem is that one has to have the right heart and that right heart does not come from the doing of “good” things but from Christ and the cross.

The message that needs to be proclaimed by churches is that the cross changes people. It is Christ’s sacrifice in His life, death and resurrection and His being our great High Priest that transforms. If one were to read the book of Hebrews you would see that the cross is the vital to our faith as that is what opens the veil (Heb 6:19-20) to allow us to be brought to God. As far as doing good, reading Hebrews 6:9-12 shows that it is the love for God, for His name, that results in the work of caring for the saints and not the other way around. Yes we are to care for others but that care has to be grounded in a correct understanding of the cross as Hebrews deals with.

So what I find interesting as I read McLaren is that he speaks little of the cross, in a Biblical manner, and much about social work but we cannot accomplish the social changes he desires with the heart God desires unless we are brought to God by the life, death and resurrection of Christ. By the way none of this is a secret as it stands bold and clear in all of scripture and is made abundantly clear in Hebrews.

I would suggest that instead of reading McLaren you read God’s Word. Scripture is there bolding proclaiming who Christ is, what He has done and the results that He empowers His people to do. There is no Secret Message and while we as a Church do need to change it does not start where McLaren starts it but it starts with Christ and a correct understanding of the Gospel.

Before someone says “how can I say this all without reading the book” let me say this e-mail came from those advertising a book tour of sorts. Also, I have listened to McLaren and read some of his writings and he says little that is new in what I have seen.

Hebrews and the Gospel

I have been preaching through Hebrews and have to admit I have never looked at Hebrews as close as I am now. We are only to chapter 6 and there is so much already. I think ones understanding of the Gospel would be greatly enhanced by taking a prolonged journey through the book of Hebrews.

So often the Gospel is put forth in a way that only speaks of benefits to us, man, so that in the end it simply becomes a self help Gospel. But Hebrews speaks to no end about the importance of the cross and that it is though the cross that Jesus, our High Priest, has allowed a way to bring us to God. It is through the substitutionary sacrifice of the Son that we have any ability whatsoever to come before God. What we need to share when we share the Gospel is that it is the work of the Son that allows God to bring us to worship Him. This sharing of the Gospel by the way is not to be limited to evangelism but needs to be shared constantly with believers. The book of Hebrews was written to Hebrew believers struggling with a decision that would say volumes about how they viewed the cross. The writer of Hebrews, ultimately God, knew that they needed to be so firmly grounded in the Gospel and the cross that they would never contemplate denying the substitutionary work of Christ by deciding to go back to the sacrificial system.

Today we have turned the cross into mainly and example we are to follow. I would argue that if one does not truly understand the sacrifice of the Son to its fullest, as Hebrews reveals, they cannot deny themselves and take up the cross they are commanded to in Matt 16:24. We need to understand the cross and what it was to accomplish to see how we are to deny ourselves. When the Gospel becomes merely and evangelistic tool with its focus on man then asking people to deny themselves will be greatly hindered if accomplished at all.

There may be benefits that accompany salvation but as Hebrews stresses over and over it is the access to God that is the only benefit that is promised. Hebrews 4:14-16 speaks of how we can come with confidence to the throne of grace because of the work of Christ. Trials and persecutions are promised in scripture but all the other benefits that are so often tacked on to the Gospel are not. Should we not be overjoyed to be in the presence of God for eternity no matter our temporal situations?

Norm Wakefield, in a talk I heard this weekend, spoke of how the veil had been opened for us and that opening, because of Christ, allows us to enter in. Without the sacrifice of the Son there is no entry. Anyone that either minimizes the work on the cross by limiting its effectiveness or by denying its substitutionary nature has missed the force of Hebrews. To come to God is all the work of God, even the tearing down of the veil to allow us in.

I would encourage you to journey through Hebrews and take in all the glory of the cross that is revealed and leave the book with a renewed understanding of your salvation. A salvation that was wrought by God so that He could bring you through the veil to worship Him and experience the unfathomable joy that worshiping God brings.

If you would like to hear any of the sermons we have recorded (Starting in Chapter 3) you can go here: Sovereign Grace Christian Fellowship – Sermons

The Church - A Multigenerational Gathering

Being in the process of a church start makes one think often of what a local church is to be. Not just the where, the who, or even the how but first and foremost is to answer the question as to the “what.” Some time ago, as I was in the process of thinking through a church start I began to put down my thoughts and understandings of what God calls the church to be, both the Local and the Universal, and then to see how God was leading me to start a church.

It was only after thinking through what God calls the local church to be that I began to look at the “how”. In the process I found that what is often called the Family Integrated Church, as I see the Family Integrated Church, seemed to be the most biblical form of church. I understand that that can be unsettling as it then may be reasoned that I am saying other forms are not as biblical. Well I do not really apologize for my view of the way church should be and I would sincerely hope that others that do church differently are doing church as they see God desiring church to be. If we as servants of God are simply doing things because they seem best without seeking what God sees as best we are ignoring, intentionally or not, the sufficiency of scripture to tell us not only what the church is to look like but the how we are to “do” church. Ones conviction for Family Integrated Worship must flow out of a conviction from scripture because if it does not then when the tide changes so will the conviction.

I am not speaking here of the how in relationship to every detail such as when to have an offering or how or what type of music but I am speaking of the how in more general terms. That said I do believe God in His word is more specific about How He desires to be worshipped than many give scripture credit for but that is a topic for another day.

As I have written a number of articles I thought that maybe I would put links to most of the articles in one place. These were written over a period of a little more than a year and in some ways is still a work in progress. The first two sections are a series I did first on the church and then on how I see Family Integrated Church. The last grouping are just some things I wrote as they came to mind.


The Church:
The Local Church Pt1
The Church Pt 2 - Ekklesia
The Church Pt 3: Church Local or Universal
The Church, Where? Part 4
The Church - Part 5
The Gathered Church - Pt 1
The Gathered Church – Pt 2
The Gathered Church - Pt 3
Some Random Thoughts on the Church

A Series on how I see the Family Integrated Church:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

Some General Thoughts on the Family Integrated Church:
Family Friendly?
Family Friendly II
Family Integrated Church is not new
More on Family Integrated Church
Some Random Thoughts on the Church
More Thoughts on the Family Integrated Church
Some More thoughts on the Family Integrated Church
There is Nothing New About Family Integrated Worship

“Wait to Learn with Tears and Trust”

I am encouraged by much of what John Piper writes but no more than when he writes about personal tragedy. This is not because I enjoy others personal tragedy but because John Piper so reveals that he truly believes what he professes. It is easy for us to proclaim the sovereignty of God in all things when things go well but when tragedy strikes we often struggle with joining our beliefs with action.

On September 22nd Piper’s daughter in-law’s, Molly, child was stillborn. It is a testimony to the grace of God that Piper and family can show sadness at the loss of the child, Felicity, and still hold to God’s sovereignty in all things and not just all things that appear good to us. One does not need to turn to things such as Open Theism in times of tragedy but can turn to the God that is sovereign over all things. In reflecting on the physical cause of the death Piper comments: “But neither man nor God prevented this. Man, because he did not know it was happening. God, because he has his wise and loving reasons that we wait to learn with tears and trust.”

You can read the whole post by Piper here: Felicity Margaret Piper

I pray that we would not minimize God’s sovereignty because of difficult issues but would instead see things as Piper does in the midst of the issues he and his family are facing; that God “has His wise and loving reasons that we wait to learn with tears and trust.”

Please no Babies

Have you seen a sign like this as you enter the sanctuary, sorry worship center, of a church?


I am sure this sign is put there with good intentions but what does this sign truly say. Well I think it first of all says that adults are more important than children. It also says that the personal worship experience is of the utmost importance even if it intrudes on the worship of children. How sad it is to me that we have so elevated the idea of having a worship experience that we would deprive children of worshiping with their parents and other adults as they should and have most of the history of the church.

We have become an experience-oriented society that allows the experience to drive all that is done in today’s church. It drives the music we sing, the messages we hear and the environment we worship in. Is not worship to be God centered and the experience we gain in worship to be that which God provides and not one we strive to generate.

Let us have the children come to God (Matt 19:14), not in their own “Children’s Church” but in the midst of the community of faith they are part of. Let us take down the signs that say children not welcome.

There is Nothing New About Family Integrated Worship

I was contemplating the other day how often I have to define what a Family Integrated Church (FIC) is. This usually stems from either a misconception that the church is only for families or that that is all that is taught about. I assume that there are probably FICs out there that do teach primarily on the family, possibly at the expence of other areas, and that may make those that do not have the ideal family unwelcome but I do not know any of those personally.

What came to mind was that the whole idea of the FIC is not a new concept but an old one. Up until not many years ago most churches would not contemplate segregating families. But, as with many things, we as a culture have so assumed the world’s view of generations needing to be separated that what was once normal for centuries in the life of the church is now seen as some new idea. What truly should be happening is that people should have to explain, from a Biblical perspective, why church is to be segregated rather than those that worship multigenerationally explaining their stand to no end.

When I speak to people about worship services that include children and that I do not favor youth groups the persons eyes widen as this is usually seen as going too far. How can one worship with little children squirming in their seats, do they really squirm more than most adults, and with the possibility of interruptions is what crosses their minds. When the topic of Youth group arises the same incredulous look arises as Youth Groups have become so much the norm that I think people must think Jesus went to youth group and that Paul started as a youth leader.

I say all of this simply to say that the whole idea of Family Integrated worship is not new, is Biblical, and I feel most emulates how we will worship in heaven. When Jesus returns and calls us home we will not be ushered into heaven simply to be divided up by age group, life situation or some other category but we will all worship God together. Should we not strive to do so now? Should we not strive to experience the Kingdom of God as we are able now in anticipation of the culmination of the Kingdom of God when Christ returns? Let us not let the world and the culture it creates dictate how we worship our God and creator but let God dictate how we worship Him.

Around the Web and Blogosphere (9/13/07)

Over at HomeDiscipling Dad, Charley has a good post on Home Schooling. In, I Don’t Home School Because… , he deals with some of the usual objections given for not home schooling.

I have not mentioned them in quite some time but if you are looking for quality worship music you should check out Indelible Grace Music. They use Biblically sound lyrics and the music that accompanies the lyrics is well done. They also have available most of their music available for download here: RUF Hymnbook.

At the 9Marks Blog, Church Matters, there is a good article on preaching of God’s word: 'Preach the Word': Tools for Interpreting & Applying God's Word. I would add that these tools are not just for preachers but for all that seek to understand God’s word.

Over on the Spurgeon Blog is a post entitled: An Idol Called Free Will. When I look around internet and especially those that have a disdain for the Doctrines of Grace it sure does appear that the whole concept of “Free Will” is an idol. Before the fall man was in constant and intimate communion with God yet when given the apparent chance to be “free” and know as God knows Adam and Eve jumped at the chance. So today it is no different because the natural, sinful, state of man wants to think they are free and be able to do as they please and constantly seeks to be free from God, even if they do not say so.

Don't Waste Your Life Video

If you haven’t read Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper it is well worth reading. It incorporates much of what is said in other of his writings but as is usual with Piper, one of the things I appreciate about him, he does not mince words. The point of the book is as believers we are not to waste our life in things that are not kingdom focused, not God focused. In our daily grind of living in the world we are all too often, me included, sucked into the world’s focus and are pulled away from having a Godward focus. At the Don’t Waste Your Life website there are a number of short videos dealing with topics in the book.

The video below is a good one dealing with money. The topic of money is a difficult one in the western world. First, because from a world wide perspective we have much of it and secondly from a western world or American mindset we are in general used to things belonging to us so when one speaks of money and giving that tears at our mindset. Piper speaks of having a wartime mindset and relates back to such times as during world wars where people put aside their usual comforts for the effort at hand and that we need to have this mindset in the spiritual realm as well. We should not let the world’s perspective of THINGS dictate our perspective, as believers but we need to seek after God’s perspective on all that we have since it is His anyway.

Around the Web and Blogosphere (9/7/07)

On Doug Phillips blog there is a good article entitled: The Education of Daughters and 'Cooking Sacred Cows with Dr. Voddie Baucham'. This article looks at the issue of raising our daughters and shipping them off to college. I am sure that what is said may irk some and the mention of the book So Much More by Anna and Elizabeth Botkin may make others uncomfortable but the questions raised, whether you agree or not, need to be dealt with from a Biblical perspective. My encouragement is to read the article and then prayerfully ask if the decisions that we make are driven by God or by man as I find that all too often my choices are driven by the world around me than the scriptures I am too hold to. I would even add that the whole idea of college is not just an issue with women but also men. We have so been ingrained with the idea that education must include college or university, but does it for everyone? Again read the article and then pray about what is driving the raising of our children.

At the Founders Ministry blog is a piece that relates to some comments by Dr. Roger Olson: Olson, Piper, tragedy and theodicy. This is a topic that is very important as it shows how once we try and remove God from the “bad” things that happen in the world the move to Open Theism is very short.

There is a good review of the ESV Literary Study Bile at The Shepherd’s Scrapbook. I have mentioned this before but one of the things often missing from the study of God’s Word is the realization that God has communicated to us in His Word through literature and thus understand the various kinds of literature God has used will better help in our understanding of what God is communicating. This is not to reduce the Bible to simply literature but to show that God has used various forms of literature to reveal Himself in His word.

At the Worship Matters website there is a link to a new song you can download long with the words: New Song - How Great Your Name. The words speak unabashedly about the substitutionary atonement of our savior.

The Great September Giveaway

Tim Challies is having The Great September Giveaway and all you have to do is enter. There are three prizes: 1st is all 6 of the Reformed Expository Commentary series, 2nd is any 3 of the Reformed Expository Commentary series, and 3rd is any 1 of the Reformed Expository Commentary series.

When you enter if you could enter my Referral ID ( 10828 ) I get one extra entry and you can get a referral ID and do the same once you are entered.


or you can click here and the ID goes in automatically




Here are the Commentaries:

Put the Baby in the Beemer

Thanks to Charley at HomeDiscipling Dad as he mentions one of the 14 videos I linked to from Voddie Baucham’s FamilyDrivenFaith Videos, on You Tube, entitled “Put the Baby in the Beemer.” I had not had a chance to view this one but I just did and it speaks to how much our culture has invaded our priorities so I have put the video below as it well worth watching. I have heard Voddie often say (I think this is how he puts it), “If you can’t say Amen you ought to say ouch” well here it probably simply needs to be "ouch."

Put the Baby in the Beemer

In Christ Alone

I am not sure if you have heard the song “In Christ Alone” but it is a very good one. There are number of versions you will find online but the one below simply has video of God's creation as a background to the music and does take some musical liberty with the words, enjoy



Here are the original lyrics, I personally would change the line “For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—“ to “For our sin on Him was laid-“ to make it more theologically correct.

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

"In Christ Alone"Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

Voddie Baucham Videos

Thanks to Glenn at BCBC for this link to some Videos of Voddie Baucham. Theses are short videos that touch on many of the subjects Voddie talks about. Here are a couple of them on the purpose and the importance of Family Worship.

The Purpose of Family Worship



The Importance of Family Worhsip

More thoughts on the Family Integrated Church

Back in March I finished a series I was writing on “What does a Family Integrated Church look like” ( Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 ) and in July of this year we started Sovereign Grace Christian Fellowship and are approaching our 8th Lord’s Day service this week. The start has been a growth experience and has stretched me in ways I was not expecting but as with all things God moves us to do I am confident this is the direction God is leading .

I would have to say my views on the church have not changed since starting SGCF and I would credit this to having tried from the beginning to see what God would have His church to look like. One of the areas that I think we fail, and I have failed here before, is all too often we think about church from what we would like rather than what God desires. This usually stems, or it did for me, from wanting to be comfortable but if we read scripture closely Christianity is far from comfortable. If we come together each Lord’s Day to worship God and to exalt His name should not how we worship be more focused on Him than us? If this is so then it would seem that we should to the best of our ability seek guidance from scripture as to how we are to worship rather than what people prefer. This may be uncomfortable for people and probably in our culture with its focus on comfort and individualism will not be popular.

I say all of this because while a fair number of people are seeking out churches that teach from a more reformed perspective the road block SGCF would seem to offer is that we see God desiring all people to worship together and not to segregate. While I firmly hold that first and foremost in the gathering of the local church is the teaching of the word I also believe we are called to do so in a manner that does not fragment families, in whatever form they may be. So I do not see it as enough to simply have good doctrine taught, as important as that is, but it needs to be taught in a community that most exhibits God’s call for the gathering of the local church.

Up until not too long ago, probably around 100 years or maybe less, the concept of children and families being separated to worship God would have been foreign to the church. We have been so ingrained with this philosophy that I admit it will be hard to break out of the mold but I believe for the church to grow we will have to do this. The issues we now face with such a large percentage of youth leaving the church or going in wayward directions is in large part due to a segregating mentality. The motive for initially segregating children and youth and any other group was to supposedly better disciple them but the model in the scriptures of Older teaching the Younger and families being the primary discipling centers of the church is lost in this mentality.

So I pray that people will be drawn back to the way God designed us to worship and that people will struggle through the change and initial discomfort that comes with any change. I pray that in the future one would not have to have monikers like “Family Integrated Church” because it will be the norm rather than the anomaly. I pray that people would be so instilled with a desire to worship with their children that they would do whatever was necessary to do so and that youth and singles would see the call from God to worship with others outside their own comfortable group setting to enter into multigenerational worship at all cost.

I pray that SGCF will remain steadfast in this God given vision

Around the Web and Blogosphere (8/24/07)

Geoff Botkin is the guest blogger on Doug Phillip’s blog and he writes an article entitled: The 'C' Word and the Coming Persecution of the Church in America. The church today is in a state where those that would be considered following historical-orthodox Christianity are soon, if not already, to be labeled cultic. While those that follow “Cultural Christianity”, which in general is not Christian at all, are seen as the norm. He uses the example of China and it is there that the government uses the term “cult” as a tool to rid the country of anything it does not like and deems detrimental to the states goals.


Sovereign Grace Ministries audio messages are being offered for free here: Messages

If you have been following the conversation between Wayne Grudem, John Piper, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan and Sam Storms ( I am sure there are others) you can get a recap with links to the various articles on Justin Martin’s Blog Between Two Worlds: Baptizoblogodebate Roundup (with Breaking News). This is a good debate to contemplate as it does say much about what we believe and how it interplays with how we relate to each other. Personally, I think there is a disconnect in many of the comments I read, between church membership and fellowship. I don’t know why I cannot fellowship with a brother and sister in Christ that is not a member of the church I attend.

Over at the Reformed Baptist Fellowship the article, It’s worse (and better) than you think, speaks to the obstacles usually presented with regards to reaching this generation. But the issue is not the presentation but the spiritual condition of the one that the message is being presented to. I am sure that many would claim to rely on the Word of God but it seems that all of the antics and gyrations performed to “reach this generation” would say otherwise. Does today’s church take Hebrews 4:12-13 as still true?

Heb 4:12-13 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Franklin Springs Media

Free Online Book Resources

At These are the generations of... Scott links to free books from The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.

This made me think that it might be a good idea to give out some other places to go for free online books. So, here are some links to other free online book resources:

Desiring God Ministries - Books
Monergism.com - Books
Monergism.com - Commentaries
Christian Classics Ethereal Library
Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics

If you know of others please let me know and enjoy the resources above.

Around the Web and Blogosphere (8/16/07)

At A Steward of the Secret Things in the article The Benefits of Expository Preaching there is a list of those benefits. This site also has reviews on books that concern preaching as well as the author (John Brand) is “compiling a manuscript on preaching” which he also has on this blog.

Over at Gospel Driven Life there is a series on the question: Is Biblical Fellowship Optional? This is not speaking about simply meeting for a potluck or other social gathering but is asking for us to really think about what fellowship is and what the biblical call for fellowship is. All too often we simply try and cover the “fellowship” aspect as a perfunctory duty but it seems pretty clear to me that fellowship is not optional and it is to be much deeper than simply surface level relationships.

Voddie Baucham wrote a good article on the Harry Potter books entitled: Harry Potter anyone? He lists at least three reasons his family is not reading the books, the article mainly deals with the thirds reason. The three reasons he lists are:

“First, this literature introduces children to a glorified view of the Occult (arguing that children should never read about occult practices would eliminate portions of Holy Scripture 1 Samuel 28). Second, there is better, more wholesome literature available. Finally, I disagree with those who argue that children need exposure to such material in order to be effective witnesses.”

At Banner of Truth there is an article titled: What to Expect of Preaching. The author of the article gives the following as his definition of preaching:

Preaching is the proclamation of the timeless written Word into the present day life-setting of the people, delivered through a called man’s personality, so that a person hears the Word with something of the clarity, urgency, and vitality experienced by the original hearers.

He is not saying that preaching does not include imparting information and helping to discover application but it is that and so much more. The goal of all preaching should be to convey God’s Word to His people as God intended it and not as we would like it to be. This entails making sure that we convey the original message so that today’s listener can understand it as the message was originally intended. I find that preaching through books of the bible systematically helps in this area as I am less likely to avoid tough subjects and thorny passages and instead I have to go headlong into what God has said and is still saying.

The New Pilgrim’s Progress Movie

Mike over at Possessing the Treasure has given the heads up that there is a movie of Pilgrim’s Progress being made. I don't know much about it but it will be interesting to see how close to the book it will be and how accurately it portrays Christian’s journey to the Celestial City. You can see a short clip and keep up on the progress of the movie at their site: Pilgrim’s Progress: Journey to Heaven .

One of the many difficulties with making movies from such literature as Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is being true to the story line and getting it all in with a time limit of 2 – 3hrs. This also leads to the inevitable question about what should be cut out to meet the time constraints. If you have read Pilgrim’s Progress you will know that there is not much if any material that can really be cut out without altering Bunyan’s vision.

We will just have to see how it goes. I am so leery about any film of this nature and pray that if it does anything it leads people to actually read Pilgrim’s Progress. Christians need to be more discerning about what they watch and make sure they are not simply used by the media as a source of income. We need to not be afraid to discern what we watch and support so that the message is sent that our faith is not to be taken lightly or tampered with.

So, at the moment this is not really an endorsement, if my endorsement means much anyway, as I know little about the producers and content but is to let you know this endeavor is out there.

Around the Web and Blogosphere (8/8/07)

Over at The World From Our Window there have been some good discussions on church polity: Is the Church a Democracy? Elders in Baptist Life & The Question No One Will Answer. Is Church a Democracy? & So Why Don’t We Change? (Church Government)

At Reformation Theology that have an article entitled: The Five Points of Hyper Calvinsim

Doug Philips has a good article entitled: How to Honorably Leave a Church. I am convinced that this does not happen because today people take church membership so lightly that leaving one church for another is not different than choosing another restaurant or grocery store. It is when we truly understand the idea of the local church that when we are called by God to leave that we will do so honorably.

Charley at The Home Discipling Dad writes on: the Unexamined Life and links to another sermon by Paul Washer. I have listened to this one and it is very good.

Lastly, as a shameless plug I have been able to get the sermons from our new church start up and they can be downloaded from the church website, Sovereign Grace Christian Fellowship, or if you use ITunes the Podcast address.

Steve Camp on the Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis

Steve Camp gives a response to the bridge collapse in Minneapolis: What is the Message of the Bridge Collapse in Minnesota?...a biblical response

John Piper Writes on Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis

John Piper writes on the Bridge collapse in Minneapolis. This is really close to home for Piper as the bridge is “within sight of Bethlehem Baptist Church” and many of the BBC staff drive over the bridge daily. I would encourage you to read his post. All too often we ask why in questions like this, and that is a valid question, but why do we rarely if ever ask “Why not?” You can read his comments here: Putting My Daughter to Bed Two Hours After the Bridge Collapsed

Around the Web and the Blogosphere (8/1)

Here area a couple good sites for sermon MP3s. The first one has a number of sermons by Paul Washer, and others, which are very good. You can find these at: Uncommonly Powerful Preaching. The other site I have linked to before but is worth repeating is: Reforming My Mind-MP3s

I have been visiting this site recently largely due to the series it has on Church Planting: Reformed Baptist Fellowship

I was led by Scott over at These are the generations of…. to read Mike Ratliff’s blog – Possessing the Treasure. The call to the church to repent is a message that needs to be heard more and more today as it seeks to find its way by every other means than God’s word.

At Reformation21 Rick Phillips shares about his visit to the annual Christian Booksellers' Association (CBA) convention in Atlanta this year. Here are a couple observations he makes and you can read the rest at: Christian Booksellers Association Convention

“It was also striking to observe the Christlessness of the Christian Booksellers' Association. The vast majority of it is about you.”

“Okay, I really was shocked by one thing. That was the way that worldly sensuality is starting to permeate everything evangelical. (After all, it sells!) It was utterly shocking to see that the award given for best children/youth book went to one titled Sexy Girls.”

Links to Chapter Reviews of Family Driven Faith

I realized that I had not linked back to previous chapters that I had reviewed, for those that are interested, so I added them to the last chapter I reviewed. So as to have them all in one place here again are links the chapters I reviewed in Voddie Baucham’s new book Family Driven Faith.

Chapter 1- The Lay of the Land
Chapter 2- A God with No Rivals
Chapter 3- Learn to Love
Chapter 4- Give Him Your Heart
Chapter 5- Teach the Word at Home
Chapter 6- Live the Word at Home
Chapter 7- Mark the Home as God’s Territory
Chapter 8- Enjoy the Gifts Without Forgetting the Giver
Chapter 9- The Coming Revival: Is the Church Ready for Family Driven Faith?
Chapter 10- A Radical Departure From the Norm

As I have said before, I highly recommend this book and pray that it challenges you as it has me.

Dog Fighting is a Choice

I have written a little on this once before but every time I hear the outrage concerning Michael Vick and the allegations of being involved in Dog fighting I cannot help but think about abortion. I hear how people think it is atrocious and even the NFL commission called it incomprehensible. But how can people think that this is so bad and look the other way on abortion? I am not saying that dog fighting is OK, it is not, and my title was just for effect but dog fighting and all it includes comes no where near what abortion is and does.

I am going to try a new question to people and see what their answer will be and if for nothing else than to maybe get them to think. How about asking what they think about Dog Fighting and all of the coverage of it in the press lately. I am pretty sure that many will find the dog fighting, and rightly so, unconscionable. But then ask them what they think of abortion. If as we are told by many that we should not intrude on abortion because it is a personal choice then so also ask “is not dog fighting”.

Also, if one were to simply try and play the unborn child is only a fetus or tissue blob card then your next comment should be that regardless of how you view the sanctity of life and if the unborn child is actually to be considered a life scientific proof has shown that at a very early stage in development the unborn child experiences pain and other sensations. The disgust from dog fighting comes from the pain and death inflicted on helpless animals, well I would say an unborn child is much more helpless and worthy of our concern. Again all of this is first and foremost to try and put abortion in a clear perspective of which those that are supposedly Pro Choice, even they do not like to use the word abortion, have successfully for the most part clouded. We as believers need to care for all life and so we should care for animals but we are to have greater care for human life which was created after the likeness of God.

Pray that even this situation can be used as a spring board for conversations that help people to see inconsistencies in their worldview. Pray also that God would use situations such as this as a means for Him to open peoples hearts to Himself.

Family Driven Faith – Chapter 10 - A Radical Departure From the Norm

Voddie ends Family Driven Faith by revealing what he feels is in the future with regards to the gathered church and the practice of Family Driven Faith. He reveals how he came to struggle with the church and the paradigm that it was and is still in. A paradigm that was not equipping parents to parent as God decrees but in reality was in many ways unhealthy for families. I would add that the paradigm of the church today has a proclivity to advertise itself as “Family Friendly” but at the end of the day is truly anything but. He also deals with what is termed “family-based” ministries and how while they are a step in the right direction there is still a gulf between what they propose and what a family-integrated ministry would propose as methods and practices of ministry.

He sets out to describe some distinctives of the Family-Integrated Church. From personal experience I have found the title. Family-integrated, is often misunderstood or misapplied so I think Voddie’s desire to set out some distinctives is a good way to end this book. The first of those distinctives is that in Family-Integrated Churches (FIC) “Families Worship Together” and this is through all age groups. While the church today sees “corporate worship being a largely adult affair” the FIC sees worship as being most glorifying to God when it is multigenerational and when families are brought together to worship rather than separated.

The second distinctive is that in the FIC there is “No Systematic Segregation.” A hallmark of the modern church is the belief that people are best ministered to by being segregated into some form of age or life situation group. The FIC seeks to keep people together simply because it is first biblical and secondly since it is biblical God uses the multigenerational aspect to help all believers grow. It is here that Voddie makes sure that he reader understands the difference between the FIC and the family-based Youth ministry and he does so not just by conjecture and observation but also by quotes from those that propose this type of youth ministry.

Thirdly, a distinctive is in seeing “Evangelism and Discipleship in and Through Homes.” This probably irks many in the modern church that has so programatized evangelism as this will sound too easy for it to be effective. But, Voddie points out that if we do not evangelize our own children we have missed our primary calling. The church needs to equip men to lead families to disciple and this would in and of itself radically change the church.

Another distinctive is the FICs “Emphasis on Education as a Key Component of Discipleship.” Voddie speaks on the fact that while the FIC is not designed for Home School families it is often a natural fit as many of the reasons people homeschool are many of the same reasons for the FIC. In this chapter he also touches on the schooling of our children and this will probably not sit well with some but I would challenge anyone that disagrees with Voddie to not only listen to what he has to say but to really listen what scripture has to say about the education of our children.

Next, Voddie gives some “Guiding Principles of the Family-Integrated Church”. First is that the FIC is to “Promote a Biblical View of Marriage and Family.” We need to head the church away from its secularization of the family and marriage and see it through God’s word and not the world’s view of things. We need to teach from scripture so that instead of families deciding how many children to have by pragmatic principles that instead the church would see children and families through God’s word.

The next principle is that the FIC needs to “Promote Family Worship/Discipleship.” For me this is the one that I, as Voddie confesses to, have been negligent of for far too long. We need to get back to seeing the training of our children to be more than simply sending them off to Sunday School but that we would take the time and effort to accept our God given responsibilities.

Thirdly is that the FIC needs to “Promote Christian Education.” As with one of the distinctives above the area of training our children in a secular world is one we take far too lightly. In some ways this can go for homeschoolers as well as often many simply school at home and not homeschool so that the motives and drives of the world are still evident even in some Christian homeschooling.

Another principle is that the FIC should “Promote Biblically Qualified Leadership.” This speaks of not just finding men that are trained and skilled in preaching and teaching but ones that also meet the requirements of eldership by having their household in order. As Voddie shares, all too often the household of the pastor is the last place that is looked at when seeking to find a leader for a church.

Voddie finishes the book by sharing what is a very important piece of information, which is that the ideas he is proposing are not new and unique. They are simply practices that have been lost over time and replaced with more pragmatic and seemingly successful models. He quotes Richard Baxter from the 1600” who says:

You are not likely to see any general reformation, till you procure family reformation. Some little religion there may be here and there; but while it is confined to single persons, and is not promoted in families, it will not prosper, nor promise future increase.

I would highly recommend this book and while at times Voddie may push a button or two I think they are buttons that need to be pushed. This is not simply a model of church to follow but a paradigm to return to. If I would have one thing to add and that would be one should not simply “do” Family-Integration” because it is novel. One should strive to be a FIC because it is biblical and what, to me, best exemplifies what God has called the church to always be.

Read and Enjoy: Family Driven Faith

Previous chapter reviews:
Chapter 1- The Lay of the Land
Chapter 2- A God with No Rivals
Chapter 3- Learn to Love
Chapter 4- Give Him Your Heart
Chapter 5- Teach the Word at Home
Chapter 6- Live the Word at Home
Chapter 7- Mark the Home as God’s Territory
Chapter 8- Enjoy the Gifts Without Forgetting the Giver
Chapter 9- The Coming Revival: Is the Church Ready for Family Driven Faith?