Blogs to Check out in the New Year

Some Blogs to check out for the New Year, these are in no particular order:

DiscipleMaking.net
The Shepherd’s Scrapbook
Triablogue
Fide-O
Worship Matters
CampOnThis
Strange Baptist Fire
The World from Our Window
Biblical Theology
OldTruth.com
The Founders Ministries Blog
Between Two Worlds
Pyromaniacs
Challies.com
Slice of Laodicea
Grace and Truth to You
Together for the Gospel
Alpha and Omega Ministries
Calvinist Gadfly
Reformation Theology
Reformation 21

When has someone gone too far?

I would say this is an example of someone going to far:

During a search I came across a letter written at the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International (FBFI) web site with regards to Vision Forum and the Family Integrated Church, entitled: The Integrated Church Movement: Viable Church Polity or False Teaching?

Once you get through all of the rhetoric in the beginning you get to the crux of their beef when they say:

“When one examines the underlying theology of the movement, the answer must be no. The FBFI is without apology committed to a dispensational understanding of Scripture. It is clear that the postmillennial teaching of Vision Forum is in contradiction with the doctrinal statement of the FBFI and would be incompatible with the ministries represented by members of the FBFI.”

This shows that while they may disagree with the method of “doing” church they are in the end making their eschatology a high priority, even one to separate over.

It is their prerogative to separate over particular doctrines; however they also go on to say:

“These churches are classified according to their particular theological, hermeneutical, or traditional distinctive, but the one thing that unites them—that litmus test for fellowship—is their integrated church philosophy. Scripture is clear that fellowship with unbelievers and false teachers is sin. Fundamentalists cannot violate the doctrine of separation by allowing ICM to infiltrate our local churches. Fellowship with Vision Forum, IUCAH, or similar groups—or so-called Fundamentalists who adopt such an errant theology and practice—should be condemned, not condoned.”

Wow, it is good for people to hold firmly to their convictions but when one begins to label others outside their belief system as unbelievers and worse because they do not believe exactly the same or do church exactly the same they have crossed the line. It sure would seem that of utmost importance to them is eschatology and thus eschatology has been made their “litmus test” of fellowship. I always thought the litmus test of fellowship was whether one was a believer or not and not ones understanding of end times.

I would pray that this group, who by the way I had never heard of until I read this letter, would see the folly of their ways and repent. Calling others in the family of God unbelievers simply because they dislike their “hermeneutical principle” is uncalled for and in the end dishonoring to God.

Amazing Grace Movie Trailer

Below is a trailer for a new moving coming out in February called Amazing Grace about William Wilberforce.

If you want to read some more on Wilberforce you can do so in John Piper’s The Root of Endurance. As well as listen to an MP3 on him by John Piper here.

Dr. Sailhamer to Teach at GGBTS Southern Campus

Dr. John Sailhamer was elected by the trustees of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary as the new professor of Old Testament for the Southern California campus.

Here is the school's press release

I am looking forward to being able to sit in on some of his classes, especially since I am so close to the school.

Reading through the Bible in a Year.

Do you have a plan for reading through the Bible next year? Well, if you would like to see various Bible reading plans go to the ESV Blog. They actually have charts that let you visualize how the different plans look as well as links to various plans.

Some Random Thoughts on The Church

Before I delve into what I feel is the structure a church should have, and I do feel that the church or Ekklesia of God does require a structure I thought I would just share some thoughts I have had recently upon some articles I have read and some MP3’s I have listened to.

- When we see the word church and realize the Greek word used is Ekklesia we need to realize God had a purpose for choosing that word for both its use in the New Testament and the Septuagint. The reason being that it carried with it a meaning already that God desired to be carried over to its use with regards to the people of God. One of those reasons is to show that those in the church are not only called out, to be holy, but the called out ones are also to be gathered together with some manner of organization as the word would convey to the original listener/reader.

- I find it interesting how so often the church seeks to be current on the cutting edge but in reality they, in general, simply just copy the world. By this I mean as I read through stuff on the internet I find that the idea of actually having a church that did not have a youth group as it is commonly conceived of is balked at. There are usually some scripture thrown around but it seems that the common reasons for having such a group are built more around secular teaching and humanistic understandings of youth than around God’s desires for youth

- The above also applies to the whole concept of having an age integrated church. People seem to immediately question how a child or youth can get anything out of the regular service but again this is based on humanistic findings about learning and such. This creates a tension that should not exist if people could only see where their understanding truly come from.

- The hesitancy of the church to change is not just in the area of how to do ministry as it also extends even to the structure of the church. It seems to me that it is hard not to read scripture and come to the conclusion that the church is called to be structured around “biblical” Eldership (a plurality) and “biblical” Deacons. But when this subject is broached in many churches it is avoided like the plague. The probable reason is that the church for all too long has chosen its leadership for all but biblical reasons and standards and if one is to have biblical leadership things have to change drastically.

- While some may see the benefit, even the biblical call, of a family integrated church structure they struggle with what to do about those that will not see things the same way and not stay. The issue here is that it begins to be people that dictate how one does church rather than God’s word. If one truly believes God is sovereign over all things then we should not be afraid to move forward and structure church as God calls for. We simply need to trust more in God than pragmatism and salesmanship and move forward with the goal of glorifying God and making true disciples and not simply filling seats and taking in bucks.

- I was listening to a talk the other day and it struck me that in focusing simply on evangelism without a means to disciple we are not being the best stewards of God’s resources we could be. For example if we do not disciple those that we share with in foreign countries there may be many converts in this generation but because they have not been discipled on discipling future generations we will be back in that same country not too many generations later. We can see this in countries such as Germany and England where the generational discipleship was lacking and the generations slowly drifted from being God centered. The issue of not discipling the next generation and it leading to future generations “not knowing God” is not new. If you read Judges 2:10 and the context around it you see a nation that strayed form the Lord and see the disastrous effect on future generations. By the way unless things are not changed soon in America we will be in the same place as others are now.

- Ones view on end times may drive how they see the function of the church. It is my opinion that if one holds to the dispensational view of end times they will tend to focus simply on evangelism and add on discipleship if there is time and resources. However this misses the goal of Matt 28:18-20 which is not simply to make converts but to make disciples and to make disciples that not only know but obey the commands of Christ.

These are just some thoughts that I need to work through but definitely do see a need to address these issues. I have been more convinced by scripture and other reading that the church has to change and not in the way it is currently being changed. So over the next few months I will continue to work through how I think that God desires the church, the local church, is to look like.

Master of Divinity, Finally!!

We just got back from San Francisco and graduation ceremonies for the fall graduating class of Golden Gate Theological Seminary. We had a great time as a family and went all over San Francisco the day before graduation and got to see quite a bit, even in the fog that was around for most of the day.

It has been a long and unconventional road to my Master of Divinity but even the path to the degree speaks volumes of God’s grace and providence. I am not sure what He has in store for my family and me but if it is anything like the road to my degree it too will be unconventional and winding. Serving God is anything but boring and we have to simply keeping moving forward so as to be used by God to accomplish His plans, and not ours.

What Jesus Demands from the World

I have been reading through John Piper’s new book: What Jesus Demands from the World as a devotion for the last few weeks and it has been a very worthwhile time. Piper does a great job of balancing the concept of demands with the truth that not only is it God that makes demands on us He is also the one that enables us to follow those demands. This follows much in line with the great quote of Augustine who prayed: “give what you command, and command what you will.”

I think to have a correct understanding of the law and its place for the believer can only be seen as it should be when we come to the understanding that we are incapable of doing anything pleasing to God without His enablement.

So when Jesus commands something there is an essence where we do need to feel helplessness so that we rightly fully realize we can do as commanded by Christ but only under His power. Once we understand this then and only then can we do as we are commanded without it being legalistic or simply doing for the sake of doing.

As I read Demand #33 - Love Your Neighbor with the Same Commitment You Have To Your Own Well Being – Piper goes away from the usual seeker friendly interpretation of Matt 22:39 which is to use this as a reason to love oneself so that one can love others. Piper revels what is true of all human nature and that is we do not need to learn to love ourselves as we all do that no matter what. The call of this passage is to take that self love we already have and turn it on its head by instead loving others as we love ourselves. Of course as I said above all of this is predicated on us being children of God as this is where the power comes to love as Christ commands us to love.

I suggest this book to everyone and not simply to read it as a book that you read all at once, even tough you can do that, but take it bit by bit and ponder all that is revealed. If you can not afford the book or simply want it in electronic form here is a link to the book in PDF format.

Mr. Bean goes to Church

This is probably my favorite Mr. Bean. I am not sure if this says more about the church or more about Mr. Bean but it has always struck me as funny.

More on Family Integrated Church

As I continue to think over what a family integrated church looks like I think it is imperative that the “Family Integrated” part is seen as how one does ministry. I was listening to the recent Uniting Church and Family Conference and a talk by Voddie Baucham where he made a good comment with regards to a regular objection he hears. That objection deals with people saying that if one focuses on families it will alienate those not in families or what are perceived as families. Well first of all the focus of the church, as it is with any church, should be the equipping of the members through the preaching of God’s word. Thus, not every sermon or teaching will be on the family. Where families come into things is in how ministry is done. So one could walk into a service and things may seem no different that in some other services. What would be different is that families will be worshiping together and people would not be segregated by age. There will probably be more activity in the service with children there but apart from this the teaching is to revolve around God’s word as it comes up in the text.

Another thing is that while there may be Family Integrated churches that, as Voddie mentions, are cloistering themselves from the world this is not to be the norm. No, the Family Integrated church is to seek first to be steeped in God’s word and then seek to worship in a biblical manner which involves people worshiping as a family, a household of households. The single person in the congregation is adopted into an existing family so they can see how a family is to function. Those that are single mom’s are mentored by other women in the congregation and thus are seen as a family and helped in areas they need help in. Other men in the congregation can help to mentor sons of single moms just as women can help with girls of single dads. So I hope you can see that the idea of a Family Integrated church is to be seen as a biblical model of doing ministry in church and does not take away from the word which is to remain central to all that is done.

So the focus of a Family Integrated church is to seek to do what is necessary to equip the members to understand God’s word more clearly. Included in this is for families to see how they are to function as families so as to best glorify God. I suppose this model of ministry is far from the norm today but as one of my past posts showed it is not new. In the past the family was seen as God’s means of discipling and ministering but as the world has changed the church has also changed, and I say for the worse. But it is not too late to reverse course and seek to have biblical congregations that seek out the Lord as a Household of Households and thus build up not only strong families but stronger believers better equipped to glorify God,

I have found that the church today, even those that say they desire and are not afraid of change, are wary of following a model (I really do not like the word model) of church that is so different but should not a church look different than the world? If we do ministry as God calls for us to do in His word we will look different. Our goal should not be to look like the world but like what God desires. As I have said before a church that wants to move toward this model will have to do it through the preaching of God’s word and to do it slowly as change is often difficult for most people. But, through the Spirit of God change can occur and the Church of Jesus Christ can return to the the biblical moorings it is called to have.

I will be continuing to work this all out and look at some more particulars about how Family Integrated church functions.

Here are some churches that are Family Integrated that have info on their sites in reference to how their particular churches function:

Grace Family Baptist Church - Spring, Texas
Hope Baptist Church- Wake Forest, NC
Grace Community Church - Magnolia, Texas

DIY: Jonathan Edwards Blank Bible

Here are some cool instructions from The Shepherd’s Scrapbook on how to make a Jonathan Edwards Blank Bible. This is a bible that leaves you lots of room to take notes:

DIY: Blank Bible (part 1)
DIY: Blank Bible (part 2) Cut, Rip, Clamp, Saw
DIY: Blank Bible (part 3) Slicing and Stuffing

DIY: Blank Bible (part 4) Punching and Binding

Not only do you end up with a great bible for note taking but you get to use a table saw in the process.

Here is a video on the blank bible from The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University:

Family Integrated Church is not new

The idea of Family-Integrated church is not something new and Scott Brown writes on this in his article: My Top Four Favorite Family-Integrated Church Pastors: Richard Baxter, John Bunyan, Matthew Henry, Jonathan Edwards.

More on Youth Ministry

It is my fear that when one encounters those, as myself, that think that youth ministry needs to be radically redone there are vast misconceptions. One of the major misconceptions is that the goal of a family integrated model of church is doing away with youth even gathering together. The second concern is that youth that are not part of a Christian family will not be evangelized. I believe that the people with these concerns are truly concerned about youth. However their concerns are unfounded and even their concerns are not being met with youth ministry as it is presently configured.

With a family integrated youth ministry the fathers are in charge of the discipling of youth with their primary concern being the discipleship of their own youth. Youth can gather together but it would be with the supervision and leadership of the parents, primarily the fathers. Now, one argument regards what does one do with parents that do not disciple their own children? This issue is where church discipline and leadership comes in to help. Simply because parents do not do as they are called we should not assume it is our responsibility to jump in and take over. So there is an important aspect of discipleship of parents that also needs to take place to make this all work. So while there are difficulties in accomplishing the correct method of discipling youth this is true of any ministry that deals with fallible people.

As far as the argument of not evangelizing un-churched youth the family integrated youth ministry model can accomplish this as well. If the youth of the church are discipled as they should they will in turn be able to evangelize the youth they meet daily. Youth that do become believers from an unbelieving family can for the time being be ministered to by a family in the church. Should the family of that youth become believers they would then be discipled so they take over the discipleship of their children. The other aspect of this is that in our corporate model of church we have come to see the role of the church to evangelize as an organization but scripture seems to show the individuals of the church being the ones that evangelize. The church seems to have decided to take this over because of the failure of its individuals to do so but this only perpetuates a continual decline in personal evangelism and reliance on a more corporate model. So, youth leaders see the need to put on events to try and evangelize because their youth and the parents of the youth do not do as they should. As with anything there are issues that may arise but this is also true of the current model of youth ministry.

While I see this model of youth ministry as the best one I also realize that unless one starts a church with this model it will take much teaching and patience to accomplish this. We are a people of habit and changing a model of age segregated ministry that has developed and taken hold over the last 100 years or so does not change overnight. There are issues such as the role of youth ministers and how they function in the church. There is also the need to change parent’s views of seeing youth ministry as the ones in charge of discipling their children and helping them to see it as their responsibility. So how one gets to youth ministry being the job of parents and not a professional youth minister may be difficult but will be well worth it for the spiritual health of the youth and families.

More to come on family integrated ministry.

New Sovereign Grace Ministries Christmas CD - Savior

I just got Sovereign Grace Ministries new Christmas CD – Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man. It is very good in many ways and along way from the usual Christmas CD;

Here are some verses from the CD:

Christ the Lord is Born Today
Verse 3:
God has sent His greatest Treasure
Shown His love in greatest Measure
Sending Christ to bleed and suffer
Purchasing our joy forever
Let the earth rejoice
O come and lift your voice

Glory to God in the Highest
Verse 2:
See the One who spans the heavens with His hand
With fingers so small
See this babe so poor all of heaven adores
He’s the ruler of all
Let us worship our humble King
Adoration we humbly bring

The Son of God Came Down
Verse 1:
The Son of God came down and laid aside His crown
Born without great renown, the Sovereign One
All holiness and might, all glory shining bright
Have come top earth this night in Mary’s son
O come, let us adore

Not only are the songs well written from a theological sense but the music is great as well. I am thankful that those at Sovereign Grace are using their gifts to glorify God in word and song. So much of what is put out at Christmas is so shallow but here we have songs that truly proclaim the eternal Son of God who came to suffer and die for His children so that we can truly rejoice at Christmas.

Biblical Theology at 9Marks

This month’s newsletter at 9Marks is focused on Biblical Theology (PDF Version of Newsletter) . There are contributions by : Michael Lawrence, Thomas Schreiner, James M. Hamilton Jr. & Jonathan Leeman. There is also a Pastor’s Forum with contributions by: Andrew Davis , Graeme Goldsworthy , Phil Johnson and others.

What to do with Youth Ministry?

I have long had concerns about Youth Ministry but could not quite put my finger on it. I thought it may have been that we did not teach enough doctrine or maybe we did not connect with kids on their level or some combination of things. But, the bottom line was that I saw an issue in that we would take kids and get them all excited about God, or that is what we thought they were excited about, and then watch as they grew in to latter teen-hood and then adults and simply disappear from the scene.

Having been a youth leader for a few years I can say I did see a few kids truly changed and remain on course but the large majority simply strayed and were seen no longer no matter how much I tried. I could read the latest youth ministry book and see so much success, based on numbers, and not be able to reproduce those results. I could try and be as entertaining as I felt comfortable with but that was not enough. The issue with being entertaining is that we need to follow what I would call the “Madonna Principle.” I read an interview once where they asked Madonna why she kept doing what she did and continued to push the envelope, even stepping outside the envelope. Her answer was that she had to do things that were more and more out there because what she had done simply became the norm or not exciting enough. This is how Youth Ministry goes as Youth leaders continually seek ways to not only excite the youth but compete with the world.

Well, I think today we are seeing the results of the last twenty years plus of Youth Ministry and one of those results is called the Emergent church. The other thing that I think all of the focus on youth ministry has created is a segregated church. By raising children, and parents for that matter, to see that everything has to be done by age this has progressed into the church as a whole. We now have generation this and generation that churches, unlike what we see in scripture, that are less and less age integrated. While the church is intent on trying to make multicultural churches we are ignoring multigenerational churches.

Over the last year or so I have been more convinced that Youth Ministry needs to change and that change needs to revolve around households so that they care for the youth. We have taken the job of discipling children away from the parents and institutionalized it in the church and made it the job of the church. How we get back to where we need to be is difficult but it needs to be done. To simply put up our hands and say it is too late is not the answer.

If one stands up and says we need to dismantle the Youth Ministry and start again with an entirely, yet biblical, model will for sure get people up in arms. Children’s and Youth Ministry are two aspects of the local church that have become so ingrained that to think of changing them drastically is frowned upon. But we need to do something before it is too late and so we need to start now.

Voddie Baucham wrote an article, Answering Objections on the YM Issue, on his Blog that speaks to some of the common objections to stopping Youth Ministry as it is presently done. Those objections are things like:

1) We need youth ministry for parents who do not disciple their children

2) We need youth ministry for kids who don’t have Christian parents.

3) Why not let children be leaders in the youth group and disciple other Kids?

4) What about youth evangelism?

Mr. Baucham does a good job of showing that it is not a matter of continuing down the same road we have been on, because we are afraid to leave it for fear we will look different, but we need to get back to seeking God’s word for how to disciple and raise our children. If we care for our Youth we should be willing to do what is best for them and not best for our numbers. We should seek to do what is best for them from God’s perspective even if it is not popular. To simply seek to have a large youth group is not the answer as it is not the answer for the church in general but we are to seek to have spiritually healthy youth and the present method of Youth Ministry is not the way.

While the Family, or Household, Integrated Church flies in the face of how things are done today I am more convinced than ever that it is the correct path to head down. Not every church can head down it at the same speed and the same way but the goal at the end should be the same; Churches that worship together both corporately and in their everyday lives. The first step will be difficult and probably met with resistance but that should not deter one from the path.

Other articles on Youth Ministry by Voddie:

Youth Ministry Part 1
Youth Ministry Part 2
Youth Ministry Part 3

Compassion Permanence

How often do we as Christians speak to the need to care for the poor but even without realizing it we do little because our daily lives take up so much room? Over at New Attitude there is a good article entitled: Suburbia vs. Social Justice that deals with how all too often without even realizing it we simply forget the poor and the downtrodden that Jesus told us to care for. This may not be true of all and the article even articulates that this is not a call for everyone to move to urban areas but is instead a call to make sure that we do not forget those God tells us to care for.

What is wrong, as with most things, is we have come to rely on government to care for people when we are the ones that are called to do it. The problem is that when government gets involved they are in general wasteful but more importantly it separates the care from the Gospel. We are to care for the needy so as to shed the light of the Gospel to people that are in need of more than just food and necessities. This does not mean we ignore the physical needs but we need to care for both and letting government care for the physical will take away our opportunity to be a light.

I personally need to see how this relates to me but the article was a call to spend time in prayer and contemplation on a part of scripture that is often ignored or implemented wrongly. My encouragement is to read and then pray as to how God would have you cultivate compassion permanence.

Pre-Election Thoughts

As election time approaches here are some thoughts:

Do those that feel they environmentally conscious send out flyers that needlessly kill trees?

How much of the poverty in the US could we deal with if the candidates were made to give the money they spend on campaigns to help with it?

If campaign ads told the truth would we vote for anyone?

Why when one speaks out against stem cell research are they are said to be leading to the death of many, but people can promote abortion and it is seen simply as a choice?

When will people stop being so gullible when they hear politicians speak?

On the same note, are people blind to seeing that most politicians say what the people they want to vote for them want to hear?

When will the math skills of those voting improve – One can not say that there will be more things paid for and at the same time say they will not raise taxes?

When will Christians begin to vote by biblical standards, all of them, rather than what most benefits them?

When will Christians see through being used by both parties?

When will Christians see that while we can work within the system the political system will not save anyone?

So if you read this before you vote – I pray you pray before you vote and then you vote as scripture would lead you.

Remember that at the end of the day God is still sovereign and no matter who wins what and what laws are passed God is still ruler of all. Not only is He ruler of all, all that happens is in His will.

Preaching: Doctrine AND Application

I have often wondered if when people look at what the content of preaching should be if we miss the obviousness of scripture. It seems that people either preach nothing but application, or the “What to do” and How to do” sermons, or they are simply preaching nothing but doctrine. More reformed minded churches tend to fall on the doctrine side of the fence and I think that much of this is in reaction to the doctrineless preaching of much of evangelicalism. Many in Evangelical churches in a need to try and be relevant and less doctrinaire stick to simply handing down how to tips. Both sides of this spectrum are missing the point of scripture, that of lives being changed by the Word of God leading to God glorifying lives.

When one looks at the letters Paul writes, for example, he often starts with the state of affairs that he is addressing and gives a context that he is writing from. From there he goes on to give a doctrinal stance on the situation and in so doing fashions this doctrine around the cross. He then goes on to give application or how this doctrine will look in real life. We see this even in a highly doctrine laden letter such as Romans as well as in a letter such as Galatians.

From the example of Paul I think that preaching should reveal all three aspects for the listener to leave with a correct understating of scripture. If the preaching is wholly about application then the listener, Christian or not, will probably leave trying simply to follow a set of guidelines they were given. If the preaching is simply doctrinal the listener will leave with lots of head knowledge but no idea of how to use that knowledge. I am sure there are those that may argue for either side as being correct but I think that there is a better way.

That better way is to show the passage of scripture in light of the cross and the power of it for the believer. This is not some mystical power but the actual power that Christ delivers by the renewing of the mind and heart for the believer. From the cross we then move to the place the passage holds in a believer’s life from a doctrinal perspective. This can take many forms with some passages being more doctrinal and less applicational while others are the other way around. Once the foundation of doctrine has been laid the message should then move to how this will look in the life of the believer or how the doctrine is to be applied.

There may be some that would see telling people how to live as being legalistic. Now this would be true if we stray from scripture but if we stick to scripture then the claim of legalism is not valid. Paul often told people how they were to live and the eternal consequences of not living as he claimed, by the inspiration of God, they should. The issue here is not about rules and regulations but about how God’s word is displayed through the Christians lives. I agree that there is a danger of people ignoring the fact that we can do nothing apart from Christ but the fact that people may take things wrong is not a reason to avoid the subject. If we are diligent to constantly help people see the hopelessness of trying to do anything apart from the power of Christ we will in the end help them rely more on Christ and less on self and at the same time help those we lead to live God glorifying lives.

If the goal of preaching is to glorify God then it needs to do so in more than just words but in the lives of those we preach to. Application without the cross is legalism but the cross with out works is no better. Actually, can there be the cross without works, not if you read James?

Unstoppable Live @ Bethlehem Baptist

While I am not the biggest fan of Rap check this out as I do not think I have heard the "Doctrines of Grace" and Election" spoken of in too many songs before let alone a Rap song. This is at Bethlehem Baptist, the church John Piper Pastors.