Rev. Allen Vander Pol on the Doctrine of Scripture at PCovRC

Dr. K. Scott Oliphint, in this wonderful ReformedForum broadcast entitled, Nature and Scripture, remarked that the Reformation's chief contribution, arguably, is the regrounding of epistemology on Scripture.

In line with this, Rev. Allen Vander Pol of Miami International Theological Seminary will be conducting a seminar at Pasig Covenant Reformed Church on the doctine of Scripture entitled, "That Word Above All Earthly Powers."

This is a FREE seminar on a very important topic, so you wouldn't want to miss it!

Sinclair Ferguson's "A Preacher's Decalogue"

I've been teaching in my church's Saturday theology and Sunday School classes for about a month now and I still can't shake off the feeling of inadequacy. Perhaps this is actually a good thing, as it keeps me begging for fresh supplies of God's grace and enablement every time I wear the teacher's moccasins. I am greatly encouraged (and surprised!) that my pastor is very supportive and has told me that the congregation actually enjoys my Sunday School classes—surprised because I can't see why. I feel that my oral communication sorely needs improvement (I have a stutter), and to hear that the people of my church profit from my blunderings is a great consolation.

Dr. R. Scott Clark told me the following, after I asked for advice following a Sunday School class wherein I particularly felt that I did a poor job: "Teaching requires practice & trust in the Lord's mercy. Real teaching is a dying to self." Needless to say, this was just what the doctor ordered. I realized that teaching is a giving of oneself to the student, done in the spirit of service, with his edification in heart and mind. From then on, I resolved to approach teaching mindful of the fact that I am serving my Lord and tending to His sheep, and performance anxiety introspection is best countered by assuming the humble posture of a servant.

The following article by Sinclair Ferguson, from Themelios (Vol. 36, Issue 2, Aug 2011), although about the preacher and preaching, I believe has wisdom to impart even to the mere teacher:

You'll Love THIS Room

So "The Elephant Room" made you puke so hard you had to eat a second lunch? Fret not. "No Compromise: Ever" will not only fill your heart and mind with sound, theological meat, it's bound to go well with whatever you're having for that second lunch.

The Beard of Brotherly Unity

I dedicate this post to my beloved pastor, Nollie Malabuyo, and fellow elder, Albert Medina, with whom the bond of brotherly unity is both a pleasure and a privilege.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. (Psalm 133)

A body in the process of disintegration is a grotesque sight. The order with which God has stamped nature impels us to recoil at disease, especially those of the kind that leaves the physical body disfigured. So it is in matters spiritual.

The church militant, that part of the body of Christ still embroiled in the warfare and struggles of this age, is at its comeliest when those that comprise it are integrated. The disease of disunity leaves it scarred and ugly. What is the foundation of this unity? Calvin writes in his commentary on the passage cited above:

All true union among brethren [is] to take its rise from God, and to have this for its legitimate object, that all may be brought to worship God in purity, and call upon his name with one consent. Would the similitude have been borrowed from holy ointment if it had not been to denote, that religion must always hold the first place? Any concord, it is thus insinuated, which may prevail amongst men, is insipid, if not pervaded by a sweet savor of God’s worship. We maintain, therefore, that men are to be united amongst themselves in mutual affection, with this as the great end, that they may be placed together under the government of God...We must hold, that when mention is made of the Priest, it is to intimate, that concord takes its rise in the true and pure worship of God, while by the beard and skirts of the garments, we are led to understand that the peace which springs from Christ as the head, is diffused through the whole length and breadth of the Church.

Unity is first and foremost founded on true religion, i.e., the pure and undefiled religion passed down from Christ, to the apostles, to the early church, and reclaimed by the Reformation. There may be unity in the basest essential doctrines shared by other professors, but the Christian religion permeates all of life, and all of life can only come under the righteous rule of Christ if true religion is the foundation. We do not aim for a "passing grade" in the school of Christ, we aim for excellence, to the glory of His name.

It must also be observed that unity promotes the fruitfulness of the church. As the sweet moisture of dew hastens the growth of vegetation, so does unity among the elders and constituency of the church provide the fertile soil upon which maturity in Christ is attained. Once more, Calvin observes:

David suggests, that the life of man would be sapless, unprofitable, and wretched, unless sustained by brotherly harmony. It is evident, that mount Hermon must have been rich and fruitful, being famed amongst places for pasture. Mountains depend principally for fertility upon the dews of heaven, and this was shown in the case of mount Zion. David adds in the close, that God commands his blessing where peace is cultivated; by which is meant, that he testifies how much tie is pleased with concord amongst men, by showering down blessings upon them. The same sentiment is expressed by Paul in other words, (2 Corinthians 13:11; Philippians 4:9,) 'Live in peace, and the God of peace shall be with you.' Let us then, as much as lies in us, study to walk in brotherly love, that we may secure the divine blessing.

For the glory of the Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the health and growth of His body, the Church, let the elders of the local body be united in doctrinal purity and love, and as they are such, the members shall in turn be united with them, and so shall Christ be "all and in all" (Colossians 3:11).

The Triumvirate

I am seething with excitement as I am now in possession of what could arguably be considered as the three most important literary works of the Reformed tradition outside of the creeds and confessions. I am referring to John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, Francis Turretin's 3-volume Institutes of Elenctic Theology, and Herman Bavinck's 4-volume Reformed Dogmatics.

The former two I acquired myself through Amazon, and they have been my most expensive book purchases. What has raised my joy, even beyond belief, is that the latter was given to me—for free! That's right. Bavinck's RD would have been the most costly for me to acquire and yet I now have it sitting on my shelf, a testament to the mysterious ways that are often the hallmark of God's providence.

This is how it happened. It was a Saturday, and you could imagine my glee when my order of Turretin's Institutes finally arrived. It kickstarted one of the best Saturdays I've ever had. I was so inspired that my thoughts of yesterday, about street children and how they reminded me of my love for my kids and God's love for the undeserving elect, were effortlessly drawn out from me and down into blog writing.

After posting the blog entry entitled, "The Analogy of Poor Street Kids," it didn't take a long while before a Facebook friend of mine "liked" on the post. It was a Reformed Filipino doctor from the U.S. whom I've known to be an "appreciator" of my blog and posts. He commented on my FB post about the blog entry, stating how much he liked my choice of words. I would've been stuffed full by the compliment, but then I received a PM (private message). He was offering to buy me any book that I wished!

Let me tell you about Filipino coyness and courtesy in situations like this—the first instinct would be to politely demur. That is what I did, not in flat out refusal, but with a bit of wit and humor-laced ascertaining of whether my friend was sure. After determining that he was intent on being generous, founded on his desire to be a blessing to myself and to those in the Philippines whom he considers as his siblings in the Reformed faith, I replied and posted an Amazon link to Bavinck's RD.

I waited for his reply, expecting rejection, as the 4-volume magnum opus was worth no loose change. And then it came. He said that he was very pleased with my choice since it was the same book that he was currently reading. I was floored! Is this really happening? I immediately told my wife and she was embarrassed for me. LOL! My friend immediately made the order at Amazon, selecting expedited shipping. After a little over a week, Bavinck's RD was mine!

I would tell you who this guy is, but I don't think that that would be his wish (never met anyone who wanted to be on the Santa Claus side of a gift—LOL).


PS.
I wrote this post for the same reason I love theological books—gratitude.

Devotion to God is predicated on the gratitude that the knowledge of Him and His ways fosters. Doctrine defines doxology.

Given that the Holy Spirit checks my motives when, left to myself, I would fall headlong into fits of unfounded pride, my desire for knowledge is my desire for godliness.

Thank you, brother!

Thank You, my Covenant Lord!

Westminster Wednesday: What Is the Most Satanic Philosophy?

According to Cornelius Van Til, it is Karl Barth's:

"Total depravity. That means the whole glass is poisoned. It's not as poisoned as it could be, but it's all poisoned. The faculties of soul are all turned against God by nature. All are poisoned by sin. Wherever there is evidence of God, which is everywhere, man will deny it. You see, God must reach down and save dead men in their trespasses and sins. You do not heal a dead man. You resurrect him. Man is not sick, not drowning, but dead. Dead is dead. You can't throw him a rope. A dead man can't grab anything. Your mother is dead without Christ. Your culture is dead without Christ. This is the problem with Karl Barth, there's no space-and-time redemption by Christ. There's no change of the unbeliever to believer. There's no challenge to the natural man. That's why Barth is poison. Water and sulfuric acid look the same, right? If you drink sulfuric acid, it will kill you. Barth has placed sulfuric acid in our water bottles and told us it is water. Barth has created the systematically most satanic philosophy ever devised by the mind of man. Salvation is like cleaning a bad tooth. It's no good if your dentist tells you your tooth is okay when it's rotten. The dentist has to go down, drill out the decay and replace it with gold. This is what salvation is." (Van Til Made Me Reformed by Eric H. Sigward, emphasis mine)

For Van Til's essay in the Westminster Theological Journal entitled, "Has Karl Barth Become Orthodox?", click here.

For a PDF copy, email me.

Next to the Bible, What Is the Second Most Important Book?

According to Carl Trueman, it is J. Gresham Machen's Christianity and Liberalism, a book that tackled an issue that will stay an issue up until the eschaton finally breaks in.

Calvin on the Essential, the Important, and the Indifferent

There are those who are debate trigger-happy, and those who, though embracing valid debating, know the difference between the essential, the important, and the indifferent.

I now invite you to be among the latter group by reading through this short article by Stephen Doe, an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and pastor of Bethel Reformed Presbyterian Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia:

The Trinity in Everything

To be Christian is to be Trinitarian. To be anything otherwise and still claim Christianity is to be in a state of damnable error and deception. In fact, the whole of created reality bears the stamp of the-One-and-the-Many as evinced in the universal-particulars relationship inherent in every created object. God's Trinitarian "seal of approval" is emblazoned on creation as it is on redemption.

Robert Letham, a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and teacher of Systematic and Historical Theology at Wales Evangelical School of Theology, explains how our whole being must possess an utterly Trinitarian thrust in terms of the expressions of our piety—in prayer, preaching, the worship service, and the Sacraments:

The Trivium and the Quadruple D of Christianity

We need to have been told of what happened, of how God created reality, of how He covenanted with the pinnacle of His creation—man, of how man broke the covenant, of how God made a way for the breach to be repaired through the life and death of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and of how history has been culminating in the renewal of creation. All this could not have been rationally apprehended internally. This is the DRAMA.

These truths, and their corollaries, were inscripturated in the canonical Bible, and the truth systems inherent in it are called DOCTRINE.

The restored relationship of favor between man and his Covenant Lord puts him in the original position of living, moving, and having his being for the praise and glory of God, and this drama and doctrine-driven response is DOXOLOGY.

The doxological response is then "fleshed out" in daily living in what is called DISCIPLESHIP.

In the table below, Dr. Michael Horton charts the relationship of the trivium to the quadruple D of Christianity:

Westminster Wednesday: Trueman on Bog Standard Evangelicalism

The idiom, "bog standard," is of British origin, essentially meaning "ordinary." As an adjective to the term, "evangelicalism," it gains a positive connotation.

Carl Trueman writes:

"Now, I am a confessional Presbyterian, but at my core I am what, to use British idiom, we would call a bog-standard evangelical, nothing fancy, someone with a central commitment to what the seventeenth century divines would have called 'fundamental articles:' prosaic, simple stuff like the Trinity, the Chalcedonian definition, justification by faith, penal substitution, bodily resurrection, final judgement etc. Just your standard theological meat and potatoes - no doctrinal equivalents of your poncey ciabattas or effeminate moccacino espressos."

A Response to Donald Miller's Anti-Intellectualism

In this recent blog post, Donald Miller makes some proposals. I'd like to interact with them on a per paragraph basis.

DM: "The church in America is led by scholars. Essentially, the church is a robust school system created around a framework of lectures and discussions and study. We assume this is the way its supposed to be because this is all we have ever known. I think the scholars have done a good job, but they’ve also recreated the church in their own image. Churches are essentially schools. They look like schools with lecture halls, classrooms, cafeterias and each new church program is basically a teaching program."

ME: If only that were the case, but as J.P. Moreland states,

"Since the 1960s, we have experienced an evolution in what we expect a local church pastor to be. Forty years ago he was expected to be a resident authority on theology and biblical teaching. Slowly this gave way to a model of the pastor as the CEO of the church, the administrative and organizational leader. Today the ministers we want are Christianized pop therapists who are entertaining to listen to" (Love Your God With All Your Mind - The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul, ch.10, pg.188-189, emphasis mine).

So we have a bit of hasty generalization here on the part of Miller, a fallacious statement which he will go on to elaborate as a problem. I wish he had been more specific as to how the "scholars" had done a "good job" in his view.

Proud to Be a Member of Pasig Covenant Reformed Church

If you've been on a very long trip, and the destination is some place that has tugged at your heart ways before you even took the first step towards going there, then finally arriving must have felt to you the same way my having become a bona fide member of the only federation of Continental Reformed churches in the country feels to me now—I've arrived!

May 2, 2010 marks the day when I, my wife, and a host of friends, were inducted into the United Covenant Reformed Churches in the Philippines. Pasig Covenant Reformed Church, a member of the UCRCP federation, and the church where we have been attending, went to Tagaytay especially for this momentous occasion when we, former mere attenders, would now be admitted into the fellowship of the visible church as professing believers, now beneficiaries of all the blessings of being a part of the covenant community.

The significance of going up a mountain to meet with God was not lost on me in our trek to the mountainous region of Tagaytay. We were heading up there to confess and proclaim our faith in Christ, with this faith not being grounded on flimsy stuff but on the solid, granite-hard foundation of true, historic, confessional, biblical, Reformed doctrine.

To say that the food was great is an understatement, along with merely claiming that the oxygen-rich air blowing from the trees that surrounded us like sentries on duty did wonders for our minds and bodies; I may be shallow, being one not usually fond of going out (though I am a naturalist at heart), but it was a bit of paradise for me. All this was good since we who were about to undergo doctrinal interview were waging war with the butterflies in our stomachs, and we sure appreciated all the help we could get from both the culinary and "nature" fronts.

As each of the interviewees made their way, coming out victorious (not in the revivalist, triumphalist sense, of course), I was busy memorizing the Heidelberg Catechism's Q1 and 2, as my leakage told me that these two were sure staples. I prayed to the Lord that may He divest me of all pride, as if coming into the interview with an attitude of it as an avenue of showcasing my theological knowledge, realizing that I, in fact, still really know so little, and the little that I do know were all gracious gifts from Him. And so the memorizing continued.

My turn finally came and I was the last to be interviewed. I will not go into the details, but I will surely say that I and my family are tremendously blessed to be under such a knowledgeable, compassionate, and gentle a pastor as Ptr. Nollie Malabuyo.

The conclusion of the interview came with both of us agreeing that having the Lord's Supper celebrated every Lord's Day would be among the key instruments in "hastening" the sanctification of the members of the church, seeing that Holy Communion is not merely "symbolic" or "memorial", but an actual participation in the body and blood of Christ, in a union forged by the Holy Spirit through faith, and therefore immensely beneficial. Horton writes, "The impartation of grace we find in Holy Communion is not a grace that saves but a grace that restores the believer's confidence in the Word's pronouncement, 'Not guilty.' Communion is a refueling station not because we continually need to recover lost merits, but because we need to recover lost steam. We are weak; our hearts are easily cooled, and our souls need to feed on Christ just as truly as our bodies need to feed on bread. Holy Communion strengthens us not only because it symbolizes or represents something great, but because it really is something great. It is the actual nourishment of Christ himself who offers his body and blood for spiritual food. To those wearied by a tough week at the home or office or to those whose consciences never let them forget a sin they commit during the week, the sacrament of Holy Communion is there to communicate Christ and his forgiveness. There is no conscience that cannot be instructed and overcome by this powerful sacrament" (Michael Horton, Putting Amazing Back into Grace (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2002), 191, italics original).

With everyone having been interviewed (all this taking place on Saturday, May 1, 2010), the next critical step was the actual profession of faith which took place the next day, during the Lord's Day service. Needless to say, the preaching was impeccable as Ptr. Nollie preached on the nature of the worship service, bringing to the fore its covenantal nature wherein the covenant between God and His people are renewed in loving dialog. As with every covenant, the ratification came in the form of a meal, this being the Lord's Supper. I distributed the elements and proceeded to draw grace from my union with Christ through the broken bread and wine.

These past two days were pivotal for me and my family, and as we drove down from Tagaytay, I ruminated on this fact and thanked the Lord for my brothers and sisters at Pasig Covenant Reformed Church.

Soli Deo Gloria!

The Holy Spirit Makes Men

I left a "seeker-sensitive" megachurch where it seems that men are chosen to the position of elder by virtue of clout, influence, charisma, and personality. Going by the kind of preaching and teaching these men put out, it is apparent that it was never a prerequisite that they be gifted in matters of doctrine—having the ability to teach and rule—and be advanced in sanctification. If they could put on a good "show", they were given the pulpit as the stage for their theatrics.

Now, I don't doubt or question the sincerity of these men in their desire to serve the Lord. However, it is a matter of biblical fact that not all men are gifted and chosen by the Spirit for the eldership, and Scripture has laid down strict and exclusive principles in the determination of those thus chosen. Needless to say, the "showbiz" factor is not one of them.

"The Holy Spirit makes men bishops. He makes bishops of those whom he first makes men. He makes men bishops by giving them gifts for teaching and rule. He makes men ready for this service by maturing them in their gifts and by the work of sanctification in their lives. Chronological age is not the primary rule; but we do need to beware of making bishops of men whom the Lord has not yet made elders in widsom, discernment, and spiritual graces. To ordain a novice is only to minister confusion to the flock of Christ."

— Lawrence R.Eyres, 'The Elders of the Church', ch. 9, p. 51.

Church Government and the Glory of Christ

"Presbyterian doctrine and presbyterian polity go hand-in-hand. The former depends more on the latter for its proper demonstration than many realize…The study of Church government, therefore, involves the study of how to exalt the Name of Christ…For the study of Church government is nothing less than the study of the ordinary ways and means by which Jesus Christ is now at work in this world glorifying Himself."

— Jay Adams, Preface to Lawrence R. Eyres' 'The Elders of the Church'.

Doctrine, Doxology, and Deeds

"The first Reformation was about doctrine; the second one needs to be about behavior...We need a reformation not of creeds but deeds," thus said Rick Warren. At first glance, it appears noble. It seems like we are being called to a higher level of Christianity, one that the 16th and 17th century Reformation failed to facilitate. A cursory inspection, however, would reveal something not borne out of innovation, but rehash—a rehash of Enlightenment ideals and Pietism.

Needless to say, "deeds without creeds" does not work. The net effect of this diabolical view is that many end up disillusioned with the Christian life. How can they not be when the incessant inward curving that this thinking fosters turns up nothing worthy of hope? Hope is external to man and it is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now the gospel of Jesus Christ is doctrinal. It is bound up in covenant theology, in the economy of redemption, in the concepts of the atonement, justification, sanctification, and glorification, in the church and the sacraments—it is the very fabric of Scripture. These things need to be studied. They need to be studied now, tomorrow, the day after, up until the day of death or the Lord's second coming, for truth apprehended gives way to gratitude, and it is this that is the foundation of all God-pleasing "deeds."

"It is not insignificant that Paul moves from doctrine to application through doxology. As G. C. Berkouwer has said in summarizing the order of the Heidelberg Catechism, 'Grace is the essence of theology; gratitude is the essence of ethics.' There is a time to be a diligent student, to listen to the record of God's great accomplishment of our redemption and its logical inter-relationships. Yet in doxology we are caught up in it all. We put down our notepad and raise our eyes to heaven in joyful gratitude and wonder. Here is where the Spirit internalizes the message that we have heard and makes us to feel deeply that we are what the gospel announces: the ungodly who have been justified, the enemies now reconciled, the dead who have been made alive in Christ, the hopeless who now have a future. Doctrinal understanding, inflamed by wonder and praise, yields to 'our reasonable service.'...No longer being conformed to this world is not simply an act of the will. It is not the result of individual or collective effort, but the effect of sound doctrine that has been converted into thanksgiving. Apart from the renewing of the mind...we will become like the world in our thinking and therefore also in our practice."

— Dr. Michael S. Horton, 'Creeds and Deeds (How Doctrine Leads to Doxological Living)', Modern Reformation, Nov/Dec 2006.

Doctrine and The Worst Sin of All

"For Machen, however, the Bible contains truth, and as such is ineradicably doctrinal. Indeed, one overarching concern in Christianity and Liberalism is simply the vital importance of Christian doctrine to the church: doctrine, he makes clear, is the very heart of Christian testimony. Claiming to honor the Bible without synthesizing the Bible’s teaching into doctrine, into systematic theology, is not really honoring the Bible at all, for the Bible teaches truth, truth which is coherent and can be articulated; and regarding with indifference those things which the Bible clearly sees as important is, in some sense, the worst sin of all."

— Carl Trueman, The Second Most Important Book You Will Ever Read, Themelios 33.2 (2008).

Discipleship and Doctrine

"We need sound doctrine, not because we are intellectualists but because we need the surprising good news that we have been saved not by our discipleship but by Christ and his work. We need this doctrine not simply to know how to be saved from God's wrath but for the knowledge of how we have been liberated from the tyranny of sin. Anyone can rise to the occasion and help to make the world a better place, but only through faith in Christ can a sinner be united to Christ and bear the fruit of the Spirit, whose fragrance penetrates this passing age with the scent of the age to come. We need the doctrine in order to know what God is doing in this time between Christ's two comings, as he gathers us to receive his good gifts through preaching and Sacrament, as we respond to him in prayer and praise, contribute to the up-building of the saints through the gifts he has given us, and reach out to the world through witness and service."

- Michael S. Horton (What Is Discipleship Anyway?, Modern Reformation)