Westminster Wednesday: Refreshment for the Weary

The Lord's Day assembly is the day, the place and time, when the Christian hears from the Lord, "You are in My favor, My child. My Son, your Lord and Savior, has satisfied My covenant requirements. Be comforted, and live in the benefits that He has purchased for you through His fulfillment of the mission that I had placed upon Him. Walk in My ways for therein is life, and life truly."

Sadly, one would be hard-pressed to find such an announcement coming from the pulpits of most churches today.

J. Gresham Machen observed:

Whatever the solution there may be, one thing is clear. There must be somewhere groups of redeemed men and women who can gather together humbly in the name of Christ, to give thanks to Him for his unspeakable gift and to worship the Father through Him. Such groups alone can satisfy the needs of the soul. At the present time, there is one longing of the human heart which is often forgotten — it is the deep, pathetic longing of the Christian for fellowship with his brethren. One hears much, it is true, about Christian union and harmony and co-operation. But the union that is meant is often a union with the world against the Lord, or at best a forced union of machinery and tyrannical committees. How different is the true unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace! Sometimes, it is true, the longing for Christian fellowship is satisfied. There are congregations, even in the present age of conflict, that are really gathered around the table of the crucified Lord; there are pastors that are pastors indeed. But such congregations, in many cities, are difficult to find. Weary with the conflicts of the world, one goes into the Church to seek refreshment for the soul. And what does one find? Alas, too often, one finds only the turmoil of the world. The preacher comes forward, not out of a secret place of meditation and power, not with the authority of God's Word permeating his message, not with human wisdom pushed far into the background by the glory of the Cross, but with human opinions about the social problems of the hour or easy solutions of the vast problem of sin. Such is the sermon. And then perhaps the service is closed by one of those hymns breathing out the angry passions of 1861, which are to be found in the back part of the hymnals. Thus the warfare of the world has entered even into the house of God. And sad indeed is the heart of the man who has come seeking peace.

Is there no refuge from strife? Is there no place of refreshing where a man can prepare for the battle of life? Is there no place where two or three can gather in Jesus' name, to forget for the moment all those things that divide nation from nation and race from race, to forget human pride, to forget the passions of war, to forget the puzzling problems of industrial strife, and to unite in overflowing gratitude at the foot of the Cross? If there be such a place, then that is the house of God and that the gate of heaven. And from under the threshold of that house will go forth a river that will revive the weary world. (Christianity and Liberalism [1923], 180-81)

The Pastor: What He Is and What He Is Not

The news of Yousef Nadarkhani, an Iranian pastor facing possible execution, has made the headlines. A good treatment of his case can be found here.

Now compare him with the brash and insolent Perry Noble:




Noble, who claims to be a pastor, doesn't want to spend time with the people of his pasture (they make him uncomfortable) and abhors the idea of doing hospital visitations while the sick person is still alive (he might agree to visit when they're dead!).

Square that with the words of the Lord Jesus Christ (the One Noble claims to serve!):

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." (Matt. 25:31-40)

Can you come to grips with the idea of Noble being willing to die for his faith? I certainly cannot by any stretch of the imagination! If mere association with Christ's sheep rubs him wrong, then to claim love for the sheep owner is a blatant lie. In fact, "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:20).

By now it must be pretty obvious what a real pastor is, and that Perry Noble does not measure up (not even an inch). If not, then the following lectures from Sinclair Ferguson should bring home the point pretty well, i.e., the pastor is called to give his life for his Master's sheep.

Mere Christianity: The Appeal to a Heterodox Past

It is often lamented that modern (or postmodern) evangelicalism does not look to the past for the foundations of its faith and practice. While this is certainly true in a strict sense, there is no escaping the universal truth expressed in Ecclesiates 1:9 and the fact that evangelicals today owe a lot to the legacies of those who've pandered a notion of mere Christianity in the past.

Claiming to get at the kernel and leaving behind the husk, these seemingly "radical" innovators are actually no more than current expressions of a rebellious individualism that has marked heretics of a bygone era. Tradition is stiff, "new measures" are where the Spirit's at, doctrine divides, and a host of other meaningless catch phrases comprise their rhetoric.

In fact, "Christian liberalism" is mere Christianity and this is what J. Gresham Machen fought against, not liberalism per se.

To C.S. Lewis fans this little snippet from Dr. Carl Trueman has much to say:

Motley Crü

Campus Crusade for Christ is changing its name to "Cru."

The change comes short of true relevance and hipness. For that you need the touch of Dr. Feelgood (yeah!) by adding a metal umlaut on the letter "U"—Crü!

Now you're ready to conquer the world (tour?)! LOL.

My "Testimony"

I'm sure we've all witnessed this peculiar aspect of broad evangelicalism wherein people go up the stage in order to narrate their own personal "testimonies." Usually, this would consist in the person having received some blessing, either positively or negatively (the former taking the form of additional assets, the latter rescue from loss).

While proclaiming the goodness of the Lord in our lives to others is warranted, it should always be remembered that our lives are not the Gospel, and that we should not fall into the seeker-sensitive mistake of assuming that our "attractive" lives are enough to snatch others from the flames apart from the doctrinal preaching of the person and work of Christ.

With that said, allow me to direct you to my own personal "testimony"—my journey from error into the historic, catholic, and confessionally Reformed faith:


Truly Reformed

The Joy of Being Confessionally Reformed

Hidden Treasure

Proud to Be a Member of Pasig Covenant Reformed Church

A Pre-Hip Mike Vs. the Televangelists

Is it just me or do our esteemed theologians tend to "grow into" coolness as they age? LOL.

At any rate, Dr. Michael Horton was already brilliant then:

Westminster Wednesday: The TV Church

What is the 'electronic church'? If you turn on your TV, you will find a variety of religious broadcasting, from Roman Catholic masses to traditional Presbyterian services to charismatic talk shows. Some of these programmes are rather amateurish local broadcasts of local worship services. Others are sophisticated and expensive programmes syndicated all over the world. Some of these programmes are produced by honest, earnest people trying to be helpful to others. Others seem to have questionable messages and methods. In one sense, all these programmes are part of the electronic church.

Westminster Wednesday: The Taming of God and the Church Growth Movement

Dr. W. Robert Godfrey, giving an excellent talk on the Church Growth Movement, discussing its dangerous nature and the aberrant theological foundation that make it so:





Source: A Portrait of God: 2004 National Conference (Message 3, A Tame Lion)

Goat Membership for More Buck

Kevin DeYoung wrote the following letter to a colleague who was thinking of establishing two sets of memberships in his church, one for believers and another for unbelievers.

While Scripture tells us that external membership to the church is validated by public profession of faith in Christ, pressure to rake up the numbers has prompted many to accept as bona fide members those who do not even show the slightest hint that they have been acted upon by the Spirit through a faith that expresses itself in confession (Rom. 10:9), thereby deconstructing beyond recognition what it means to be a part of God's covenant people.

Chameleonic

Mega-blogger Tim Challies describes Rick Warren as somewhat chameleonic: Thinking About Rick Warren & John Piper.

My pastor chimes in regarding John Piper here and about some of the inherent problems in PDL here.

A note on the chameleon: It is able to avoid detection by both predator and prey through its ability to change skin color. Hmmmmm, the appropriateness of the metaphor can hardly be missed.

The Camping-Finney Connection

May 21, 2011 came and went, the sands of time still trickle down, redemptive history is still playing out, Harold Camping has once again been proven a false prophet, and the status quo has been maintained—or has it?

If Christianity is painted with a broad brush (as it usually is by those antagonistic to it), then the latest Camping episode might prove to be another color option in the palette of the perceived untenability of Christianity.

It's bad enough that true, historic, catholic, biblical, and Reformed Christianity has Finney's fiendish formula to contend with, but with the massive media coverage that this latest Camping debacle has generated, it would not be difficult to see that more hardening and darkening are inevitable.

From Mega, to Small, to Shallow

Found this hilarious vid over at Old Life:




While Bible study groups are often the seeds that grow into organized churches, the evangelical notion of the "small group" is quite a different entity altogether.

Mostly an aftermath of the megachurch phenomenon, wherein it is impossible for the pastor to know and be available for each and every member, the small group is the accommodated solution to the problem of pastoral inaccessibility.

A small group leader is selected, more often than not, based on some vague notion of "leadership" ability and charisma. Theological knowledge is preferred but not mandatory. Life experience is highly valued, and the more crises one has gone through, the greater one's eligibility.

This small group would be a closer-to-home caterer to one's "felt needs." Of course, there would be Bible lessons, but these would not be sessions of biblical exegesis, wherein the redemptive-historical import of passages are brought to the fore for knowledge, faith and life, as much as moralistic extrapolations designed to either scare you into action or woo you into an ear-to-ear smile. Sometimes, the time would just be spent gossiping.


******

Meeting together to study God's Word outside of the Lord's Day assembly is profitable. May more Reformed Bible studies blossom into Reformed churches, where the whole counsel of God is preached, the Sacraments are administered, and discipline is enforced.

The Gospel: Message and Method

Pastor Nicholas T. Batzig makes the following remark in a sermon of his entitled, "Hard Pressed on Every Side": "Why are Gospel-preaching churches so small? Gospel-preaching churches are so small because the natural man hates the Gospel and will try to keep even his enemies from hearing the Gospel." The context of the statement is Acts 14, where we see the Gospel-antagonistic Jews shedding off their bigotry towards the Gentiles if only to prevent them from hearing and responding to the Gospel of the crucified Jesus. Such is the ignominy of the Gospel that other hatreds becomes loves if only to make it more hateful!

If such is the case, it may be asked to what message have these hordes of people who warm the seats of these ultra-mega-churches responded to, and by what means? Of course, mere numerical statistics don't mean error prima facie, but a mere cursory observation of the methods and doctrines (or lack thereof) of these churches would lend immense viability to Nick's statement.

For one thing, most of these churches subscribe to a paradigm of conversion that is best described as moralistic, therapeutic, deism. Preach on a subject that will foster discontent in the audience, though not about God's Law and sin—that's sure to cut the attendance by half the next Sunday! Let it be about relationships, how to carry on great marriages; or about the career, how to always be on top at the office. So you've been a failure as a husband or father; you've not been promoted in 3 years. Well, you need a Savior! Needless to say, the Gospel is not about eliminating the pet peeves from your life, but about what God has done, in Christ, to save you from Himself—with Christ living a perfectly righteous life (to satisfy God's demand of perfect obedience to the Law), dying on the cross (to satisfy God's demand of payment for your non-obedience to the Law), and rising up from the dead in order to secure for Himself a people imputed with His righteousness and declared justified by grace, through faith.

Secondly, they operate on a paradigm of conversion that is epochal. Given perhaps that the person and work of Christ was adequately preached from the pulpit (the Gospel), the working assumption is that this one time of having heard the message is enough to effect conversion, so then we have the proverbial "altar call" and "sinner's prayer." While the Lord is free to effect His saving work in such a case, it is more the exception than the rule. John Calvin states, "We are converted little by little to God, and by stages." Instead of the revival type of evangelism, it appears that the biblical mold is progressive indoctrination through Sunday preaching and Bible studies. The Holy Spirit uses the biblical truths of the Gospel as expounded in these venues, assimilated through the mind (noticia), to break its way through to the sin-hardened heart, making it realize (assensus) its need for a Savior (fiducia). This approach takes the radical depravity of the human heart and God's promise to bless His ordained means seriously. Dr. Darryl Hart gives a treatment of this in two blog posts: "The Unconverted Calvin: Part One and Two."

The Gospel's message and method are not the rave these days. No matter. Not a single one for whom Christ died shall be lost, even if his church is micro. ;-)

The Fallacy of Influence

"For a long time, I have felt that the cause of biblical Christianity has been undermined in our time by sincere people who engage in unbiblical activities for the sake of being an influence. The sad and ironic result of those actions has been harm to the cause of Christ and little or no good influence has actually occurred. The myth of influence seduces Christians into believing that by compromising important theological truths more people can be influenced for Christ.

Now I am not opposed to the idea of trying to be an influence. The Christian community should not isolate itself from discussion with anyone or from common action with non-Christians where the faith is not compromised. Christians should hope, pray, and work to be a godly influence wherever they can in this world. Christians need to recognize that certain kinds of compromise can be appropriate. Christians and non-Christians can unite to oppose abortion, for example. And Baptists, Reformed, and Lutherans can join the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals to promote some basic truths of the Reformation.

The danger comes, however, when Christians adopt a notion of influence derived from the world of politics or business. That world sees influence in relation to power, money, numbers, and success. Compromise, cooperation, and intentional ambiguity are all methods used to achieve influence in this world. But should Christians adopt strategies and set goals that compromise basic elements of their faith in the name of influence?"

— W. Robert Godfrey, The Myth of Influence

The Price of Feeling Good in the Church

This has been shouted out from the rooftops time and again, but seeing that the glory of Christ is at stake—not to mention that souls are still being dragged off to hell with smiles on their faces—I believe with a passion that the following questions need to be asked once more, if not again and again and again: Does the church that you belong to preach the Gospel? Does it biblically and faithfully dispense of the Sacraments? Is discipline being carried out among the membership? Are the Scriptures preached expositorily?

If you attend one of the more famous megachurches (and some of the smaller ones seeking to be megachurches), the honest answer, in all probability, is NO! And if so, you may have been taught what your "purpose" in life is, you may have been shown techniques on how to be "happy" and "prosperous" in the present life, you may have been entertained into coming back for more Sunday after Sunday, and you may have been led to mutter the "sinner's prayer" in order for you to have a "personal relationship with Jesus"—all without Christ in the Law and Christ in the Gospel. The rude awakening may come now, when you can still seek the truth in Christ, or it may come later when you hear Christ's disownment with a finality that is hot and eternally aflame.

Step out into the light while life still courses through your veins.