Vacation

Just stopped by to say that we're on vacation starting...now. So, I'll probably see you on the flip side. (DV)

Ps. - I'm happy to report that my sermon on the geneaology of Jesus in Matthew 1 went well. It seemed to be a lot of fun for people to take time to think through the list. (Sermon posting coming soon)

Worship

For Sunday morning worship:

Psalms
92C
44A
108C
45A
100A

I'll be preaching on Matthew 1:1-17, "The Son of Man"

Vision

On the back of our bulletin are the four adopted purposes of our church. Recently, the session extended these purpose statements into a church planting vision statement. By sharing it, I hope to encourage your thinking about church planting and explaing more of why we're doing what we're doing.

“We purpose as a congregation”

To live and proclaim the reformed faith and biblical worship

• By living our theology in making church planting a continual priority with bold faith in God’s sovereignty and purpose in bringing Himself glory through growing His church
• By continually planting joyfully reformed churches who stand solidly upon the doctrines of grace and the Biblical worship of God

_{Isaiah 60:1-2} Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. ² For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.

To joyfully serve and send those who God brings to us into ministries around the world

• By Great Commission work of planting churches committed to missions local and worldwide
• By planting churches that have the most opportunity for finding, training and sending new laborers to the ends of the earth

_{Matthew 9:38} pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

To be salt and light to the earth by living out the Mediatorial Kingship of Christ

• By planting churches that have the most opportunity for bringing God’s kingdom on earth by discipling individuals, families, cities, and nations with the gospel of Christ
• By planting churches committed to ministries of true religion: caring for the poor, the widows and the orphans (James 1:27)

_{Jeremiah 29:7} But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

To train and equip men and women to be effective laborers for Christ

• By planting multiplying, church-planting churches, believing God uses church planting to raise up laborers, exponentially increasing opportunities for service in the church, training in leadership, and increased responsibility in ministry
• By planting churches committed to equipping men and women according to their gifts for the work of ministry

_{2 Timothy 2:2} and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

The Justice of God in the Songs of Christ

I began reading this morning a book by John N. Day called Crying for Justice. It's a biblical-theological treatment of the imprecatory Psalms - you know, those mean ones (breaking teeth and crushing babies' heads). Hopefully, I'll post a review in the future, but I thought it would be good to quote a bit from Day in order to continue our thinking about justice and vengeance in light of Scripture. This is especially helpful for those who love to sing these songs of Christ but wonder about the propriety of such vengeance.

From the introduction:

There is hardly an area of biblical theology more troublesome to the Christian conscience than the so-called imprecatory psalms - psalms that declare a desire for God's just vengeance to fall upon enemies. They naturally evoke a reaction of revulsion in Christians schooled in the "law of Christ." [see the letter of the lady in the previous post]

...Since the character of God does not change, the essence of his ethical requirements does not change. Therefore, as the imprecatory psalms were at times appropriate on the lips of believers before the Incarnation, so they - or their like - are at times appropriate on the lips of believers today. There is a time and place to call for tangible, temporal divine judgment; there is, indeed, a "time to curse."

If [God] is to save his people from sin, oppression, and injustice, he must exact vengeance upon his enemies - the enemies of his people...Yahweh is a God who saves his people; but without God's vengeance against his enemies, there can be no salvation for his people.

Day helpfully gives four reasons why it's right for Christians to cry out for vengeance and violence:

1. "the vengeance appealed for is not personally enacted. Rather, God is called upon to be the Avenger."

2. "this appeal is based upon the covenant promises of God"

3. "both testaments record examples of God's people on earth calling down curses or crying for vengeance"

4. "Scripture further records an instance in which God's people in heaven, where there is no sin, cry out for divine vengeance and are comforted by the assurance of its impending enactment (Rev. 6:9-11)"

Instead of throwing out these songs of violence, as some have tried to do (yes, Isaac Watts, I'm looking at you), it is when we understand them Biblically and have a passion for God's glory and His church that we can sing them while worshipping in spirit and truth.

More on Capital Punishment

Not to beat a dead horse, but let's talk some more about capital punishment. Today in the local paper was a letter in response to my letter on why government must refuse the job of "messiah." Since the paper won't publish another letter from me in response, I'll respond here.

First, here's the responding letter:

Using religion to justify state killing

I never cease to be amazed at how easy it is for some people to use (and misuse) religion to justify their political biases. The author of a Dec. 16 letter, "Redemption not in the job description," came close to saying that if America doesn't execute its capital offenders, it is somehow dishonoring God.

If the writer is Christian, it would seem that he might have concentrated his Bible studies in the first five books of the Old Testament -- the so-called "Books of Law" -- and that he altogether skipped the New Testament, where biblical law was replaced by Jesus' teachings of grace and forgiveness.

But Bible teachings aside, I, like many other Americans (Christians and non-Christians alike), reject capital punishment based solely on innate human values and common sense.

Consider the following questions: How does a society teach that killing is immoral by killing its killers? Why is the United States the last industrialized country on earth to ban capital punishment ("godless Russia" included)? Why do so many people talk about "justice" when they really mean "revenge"? Why do some persons believe that executions offer more protection to society than "life without the chance of parole"?

Perhaps it's true that some people are so evil that they don't deserve to live. But I, like so many others, am against state-sanctioned killing not because I feel sympathy for the offenders, but because I want our country to stand for higher and nobler ideals.

Sigh. I suspect any religiously-tinged letter should expect to find some party calling it biased by political positions. Oh well, I can't deny that I am biased; I can only hope my biases come from Scripture and emanate toward the world around me rather than the other way around.

Apparently, I came close to saying that if the government doesn't kill capital offenders, it dishonors God. Well then, I didn't go far enough, so let me state plainly: Any government that refuses to kill capital offenders dishonors God. Genesis 9:6 Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. (There I go using those darn "books of the Law" again.) God Himself says this is the way it works: if a man murders another and the murderer's life is not taken, then an affront has been made upon the King of Heaven Himself, because justice (which God alone gets to define) has not been accomplished on behalf of the precious life made in His image.

Next up, the dangers of dispensationalism. Having no insight into the religion of the letter's writer, I can only comment that her note on Scripture is what any good dispensationalist would say, and a perfect example of how they cut the heart out of Scripture. To say that the Old Testament law has been replaced by Jesus' teaching on grace and forgiveness is so outlandish that it's hard to know where to begin. How about with Jesus' own words: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Mt. 5:17) The New Testament is full of harsh, law-type language and the Old Testament has plenty of forgiveness and grace (Micah 7:19 - He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.) Any time you hear someone say that a part of Scripture was "replaced" by another, run. Not only are they wrong, but they're so wrong that it might be contagious.

Following her disappointing Scriptural explanation, the author rejects capital punishment based on (1) innate human values and (2) common sense. God will be so glad to get that memo. Um, God? Yeah, we know Scripture says stuff about the government's sword (and isn't that in the books of the law? It's not? Oh well) but we all decided that it's best to do away with all this killing stuff. Why? Well, because it seems to all of us to be wrong and it doesn't make much sense. What's that? Yeah, I suppose such an attitude does mean we don't care what you think and that we've become our own gods. But we're pretty sure we can handle it from here on out. Thanks for the help, though.

Let's now take up the author's charge and consider her questions. How does a society teach that killing is immoral by killing its killers? Two ways: believe the truth of Scripture and teach it to our children. Not only will we understand the punishment for the crime, but we'll understand the why. The current American confusion around the topic stems from one thing: not understanding and believing what God has spoken. Second, we need to advance our semantic ability beyond first grade, and do it by how the Bible speaks. When a man kills a man in anger or rebellion or covetousness, it is murder. When a government exacts the proper punishment, it is killing, but it's not murdering. So, a murderer kills but when the government kills the murderer, it isn't murdering (because it's commanded by God and motivated by a desire for justice and His glory).

Why is the U.S. the last industrialized nation to forego capital punishment? I can only surmise that it is a remnant of the Biblical foundation of many of our nation's laws. Almost magically, the mind can go two ways here: either we still have capital punishment because we're way behind Russia, et al, in terms of social progress. Or, Russia, et al, have rejected capital punishment because of their much quicker descent into secular humanism. Hmm.

Why do so many people speak of justice when they mean revenge? I don't know about the others, but I spoke of justice rather than revenge because I meant justice rather than revenge. Scripture is clear: when I am offended (even so great an offense as a loved one's murder), it is not my right to take revenge; "vengeance is mine" God said. How does He pursue vengeance? First, through the courts and punishments of just governments. Second, through the eteral justice of God, met either at the cross or in hell. Having said that, though, part of Scriptural justice is revenge on behalf of the widowed and dispossesed. Should you murder my loved one, I have a right, not to kill you myself, but to see your life taken.

Why do some people believe that executions offer more protection than life without parole? I honestly don't know. Logically, if "life without parole" really means just that, then our protection from the murderer would be the same either way. But that's not why we do capital punishment; protection's merely one of the benefits. When our only foundation for capital punishment is mere protection, then justice is only minutes from being swept out the door.

Finally, she does admit that (maybe) some people are so evil they deserve to die. Finally, the humanistic punchline. Now we get back to my original letter; it's when we begin speaking about the evil or the righteousness in the hearts of the convicted that government has dangerously superseded her heavenly charge. Capital punishment is not a matter of the heart's redemption or persistent wickedness. It's a matter of what was done, in the real world, and how the wrong will be made right. Regardless of whether or not God's plan for justice makes sense to me or you or anyone else simply will not, cannot change the eternal standard of justice. We can jump off buildings and pretend gravity doesn't exist, but the ground might convince us otherwise. We can reject capital punishment by pretending the reasoning of men is much better than God's, but reality will, one day, convince us otherwise.

p.s. - I can't pass up an opportunity to point out that all of us are so wicked that we deserve to die. How great is the love of God who, for His glory and and love for the church, spared some from eternal capital punishment by the substitutionary death of Jesus!

Sunday night's sermon on Proverbs 20:12-28:

mp3
pdf

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Here's a letter I put into our local paper, edited down from something I posted here last week. (You've got to scroll down a ways to find it - "redemption not in the job description". The link might not last many more days.)

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For Christmas, my father-in-law generously got me a new set of Kittle's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. This is a huge and rich resource, chronicling the biblical and extra-biblical usages of the more important words found in the Greek New Testament. It's word studies on steroids. And it looks really cool on the bookshelf.

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It's hard to describe how exciting it is to see God raising up a specific group of people who are excited about being part of church planting. Many of the people I talked to last week have a real grasp of some of the sacrifices and are willing to be trained and pushed beyond their comfort levels. Different people are excited about different aspects of a new church, but there's two things that people are most excited about.

The first is the increase in the depth of fellowship. As our church has continued growing, it's become harder and harder to get to know new people and maintain deep friendships with others. And while we should not expect the new church to remain small for long, there's something electric about banding together with a group of people and attempting to do something that only works if God wants it to.

The second is that most people are very excited about seeing new believers brought into the kingdom. While no church is "where we should be" in evangelism, God has really been blessing us lately with the fruit of the gospel. It's given all of us, I think, more confidence in the power of the gospel for the salvation of souls - especially those of our neighbors, friends, and family.

more on Christmas

A guest post (!) from the most senior pastor, Dave Long, sparked by some recent comments on Christmas:

Celebrating the Tradition of Christmas

Dave Long – December 16, 2005

Are traditions wrong, evil or sinful? The answer is only if they violate Scripture, or if they claim to be equal to or above Scripture by requiring men to do something that the Bible does not require. Otherwise traditions can be a good thing. They help us celebrate things that are important – birthdays, victories, accomplishments. They build continuity from one generation to another. They bring people together. They build thanksgiving into our hearts for things that God has done.

Even traditions that are developed to counter sinful things in the world can be a good thing. On campuses across America students have a tradition of gathering together in dormitories for evenings of fun, relaxation and what is know as “partying”. Unfortunately these traditions are often drunken affairs filled with excess. A few years ago a group of Christians decided to capitalize on this worldly tradition by adapting it for Christ’s glory. So they developed their own tradition of “pizza night”. They threw dorm parties with free pizza instead of beer, with the only requirement for admission being that you came with at least one spiritual question. Ask your question and you got free pizza. Through the traditions and practices of man came a tradition for the glory of God.

Imagine what it would be like if Saturday afternoon college football games evolved into something similar to the old Roman gatherings where they slaughtered Christians. What if every Saturday afternoon, horrible ungodly things began to take place in stadiums across America. Now what if Christians decided that whenever the heathen gathered to practice their sport, Christians would gather to worship and pray for the world. Would that tradition of gathering on Saturdays be unacceptable because it is not required in Scripture? The answer is only if you were required to attend and it was declared to be mandated in the Scriptures.

In the same way, the tradition of celebrating Christmas is not an evil or sinful thing. It is a tradition of remembering and giving thanks for something that is wonderful and at the heart of our religion. Even if (and there is evidence that we have gotten it wrong and that Christmas is not a capitulation to the heathen customs of the world), but even if the tradition of celebrating Christmas did arise as a counter measure to the practices of the world, the tradition is not sinful if it doesn’t violate Scripture (and certainly remembering and giving thanks for Christ’s advent is not a violation of the Bible), and if it does not rise above the Bible and claim to have divine mandate. I have never known a church disciplining someone for having a conviction of not participating in the traditions of Christmas. We do need to be clearer in stating that Christmas is not a divine holy day, but rather a wonderful Christian tradition.

Traditions can be a great thing, even long and widely held traditions. Are there abuses? Absolutely! Our culture abounds in them. So there is great need for each individual and family and church to be careful to not violate the commands of God. But with that carefulness there is also great freedom and flexibility to enter into the tradition according to one’s desire and ability to use it for the glory of God.

other notes

I was pumped to see that World magazine named an artist as its Daniel of the Year. Makoto Fujimura is a PCA elder who's a full-time artist in NYC. Read the article, then check out his website; apparently, his work doesn't carry the same power through photography as it does in person, but it's beautiful anyway.

Our college winter retreat is coming up and I'll be doing a workshop titled "Christ is King over the Arts." All I have for the workshop so far is that title...and now this article.

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I really liked this post by Catherine Gillespie about Christmas. I've had some of the debates before, but I'll summarize my opinion as such: although we are not commanded to celebrate the Lord's birthday, we aren't told not to. There are many wonderful reasons to celebrate Christmas and it can be done in a Christ-honoring way. It should not take precedence over the Sabbath, which is our ordained holy day. If some are led to not celebrate Christmas, good and fine. If others do celebrate it, Merry Christmas!

I've heard other pastors delight in not preaching a Christmas sermon near Christmas; this is, of course, their right, as we should not be bound to liturgical, church calendar. But why would I pass up an opportunity to speak about the incarnation of God into the world of man?

short notes

For worship on Sunday:

Psalms
145A
145B
145C
103D
24A

Pastor Long will be preaching on John 8:12-30, "Who is Jesus?"

In the evening, I'll be preaching on Provers 20:12-28, "The Wrath of the King, Part 2"

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Happy Birthday to our #1 who is 2 today! We had a good time at Bob Evan's this morning; he's pretty much a hit wherever he goes.

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Boggle online! Of course, "when words are many, transgression is not lacking" (Pro. 10:19)...

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Right now I'm in the process of meeting with all the families in church who might be interested in being part of the church plant. It's been an incredibly fun time sharing my vision, answering questions, hearing what God is putting on the hearts of other families. If you're praying for us, you might pray that God would continue to lead clearly during this time, that He would give great excitement to those who He would call to the new church and that He would bring the right group together.

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New Christmas cd! Blind Boys of Alabama Go Tell it on the Mountain. Really fun. Great players (John Medeski on organ, Duke Robbillard on guitar), fun guests (George Clinton [!], Solomon Burke).

Book Review - Evangelism

Tell the Truth – The Whole Gospel for the Whole Person

Will Metzger

The back cover calls it a classic. I do find it amusing that a book first published in1991 can already be described as a “classic” – don’t we have some standard for what constitutes a classic, like the author being dead at least?

Anyhow, Will Metzger is quite alive and this is a great book which will hopefully become a classic. This is a thorough, Biblical book on one of our great missions in life, evangelism. Metzger does a fabulous job establishing evangelism Biblically, quoting Martin Lloyd-Jones: “The supreme object of the work of evangelism is to glorify God, not to save souls. The only power that can do this work is the Holy Spirit, not our strength.” Amen. Through examples of evangelistic literature and personal illustrations, Metzger shows (or reminds) us of how thin and man-centered most evangelism is. Recovery of the fullness of the God-centered gospel must be the answer. Tell the Truth stands firmly upon a reformed understanding of salvation, which is essential to God-honoring salvation.

Apparently, this updated version contains larger sections on grace and worship. In the section on worship, Metzger quotes from John Piper’s Let the Nations be Glad: “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” From this, he argues well that it is the worship of God which is the only final antidote to the fear of man which cripples so many of us in evangelism, especially yours truly. In addition to worship being the answer for us, it is also the motivation for calling others to Christ.

Metzger believes, quite rightly, that the best evangelists are not necessarily those whose zeal outshines the rest of us, but those who have the best grasp on the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is far more effective and honoring to Christ to understand the gospel thoroughly than to have one or two pre-packaged questions for people. In this way, we become able to show each unique individual how Christ is the atoning answer for their unique sins and despairs.

The author does give us a thorough gospel presentation to learn and use – one which I hope to use and teach others. But he doesn’t just give one or two proof-texts for each point; each point on the presentation is supported theologically, scripturally, and with good illustrations. His gospel presentation includes five main points: Who God is, God-centered living, self-centered living, Jesus Christ: the way back to life, your response: coming home. Included are several very practical and helpful appendices (how to ask good questions, language barriers, saying what you mean, etc.)

The one beef I have with this book is the lack of references to the church; perhaps because of his ministry as a campus minister with InterVarsity, Metzger seems to present evangelism as a Lone Ranger affair. There is much support, power, and gospel context to be had when we do evangelism as members of a church. Certainly we are calling people to repent & believe, not to affiliate denominationally; but the commission tells us to baptize those who we are to disciple. Clearly, Jesus wants the church as His body to take up this great work of evangelism.

Beefs aside, this is book is worthy of your bucks. I plan on using it next semester in training our church planting core group for outreach and evangelism.

Man as Savior

Stanley Tookie Williams is dead. The repentant founder of the Crips was put to death this morning by lethal injection at San Quentin prison. Besides the obvious and continuous interest in capital punishment, Williams' death is being framed by many media sources as a story revolving around the question of redemption.

To quote one of his supporters: "He showed me clearly what would come from becoming a gangbanger -- a life in jail, or worse. Now they're killing him, even though he turned his life around in prison and reformed. Isn't that what prison is supposed to do?'' Turns out Williams repented, not of the murders (which he never admitted to), but of his involvement with and support of gangs. In jail, he wrote children's books against violence and probably turned some away from that life by his writings. Well and good.

But the idea that capital punishment has anything to do with redemption shows how desperately we misunderstand the role of government. Two thoughts spring to mind:

1. It has never been the purpose of government to remediate people. While changing people's hearts toward crime may occur and while the watching public may learn from "striking a scoffer" (Pro. 19:25), these are not the goals. Why? Because the power to change men lies not with men. Government is set in place by the Living God in order to secure justice and peace; it is when justice and peace exist by the power of the government's sword (Rom. 13:4) that the gospel work of changing men and women can be done without roadblocks.

So the government's purpose is justice, to set wrong things right, to provide redress for the widowed and dispossessed. It was not the job of the penal system to change Stanley Williams'; their work was to provide justice to the family of the murdered and to the God in whose image the murdered were created.

2. But...man's innate tendency to look to something or someone other than Christ to be the redeemer is more evident today than yesterday. We look to the government for redemption rather than justice; we look to the government for "welfare" (a horrible misuse of a wonderful word) rather than peace.

It is unbiblical and wrong for the government to act as redeemer or messiah of the people it serves. Even the person who could have pardoned him, Gov. Schwarzenegger, believed his dilemma was one of whether or not to believe Williams' redemption - not whether justice would be served. Think about that - the governor was setting himself up as the judge of men's hearts. This is the job of Christ the King, not Arnold the governor! So Gov. Schwarzenegger made the right decision, but ultimately by misguided reasoning.

Likewise, it is just as wrong for us to look to government - or any human institution - to give us what only Christ can. Not only will we be sorely disappointed when the best, most efficient government cannot reign in the evil of men's hearts, we do great dishonor to Christ when we make helpful institutions into idols.

Psalms

_{Psalm 108}

_Theme By reflecting on God’s greatness and His great promises in Christ, those longing for the Promised Land take heart in singing to their great God.

_Notes

I. 1-4 – Our Promise of praise

II. 5-6 – God’s plan for praise

III. 7-9 – God’s Promise of victory

IV. 10-13 – Our Plea for God’s presence

This is a song of David, but it may not be his directly. Rather, this is a song that is composed of parts of two other psalms that he wrote: Psalm 57:7-11 makes up the first five verses of Psalm 108. And Psalm 60:6-12 makes up the second half of 108. We can make sense of this if we understand that, perhaps many generations after David, Israel was facing a hard time (maybe the return from exile), looked to her songs for comfort and thus came up with this new but not-new song of David. Both Psalm 57 & 60 are songs which David wrote when he was facing or had faced God-hating enemies.

Put together, the two parts to this psalm naturally form four different sections. While the song is born from a plea and longing for God’s presence, it rightly begins with a promise of praise. Singing verses 1-4 we promise to praise God steadfastly, without wavering or ceasing. While this is impossible by ourselves, if our praise is based on God’s faithfulness and steadfastness (v. 4), we can take up this great mission of lifelong praise!

Next we sing of God’s plan in v. 5-6. God has always purposed through creation and Christ to bring Himself glory from every corner of earth; wondrously, His glory is most achieved when sinners such as us are brought into His family through grace. This means singing for God’s glory also means singing for the growth of the church, and vice versa.

Then, quoting from Psalm 60, God promises that Christ’s kingdom will extend to every part of the earth, that His victory will be achieved in every nation and tribe and tongue. Despite appearances and whatever doubts we may have, Christ’s kingdom is sure and His victory is certain. It was sealed by the resurrection and will be consummated on His return to claim the world as His own. In the meantime, our duty is to go forth believing in (and singing of) His kingdom.

Finally, the song ends on more of a low note, wondering why God does not go forth with His people to victory. But the question we sing, “Who will lead me to Edom?” (that is, who will bring us to the Promised Land?) is one which has a sure answer: With God we shall do valiantly, He will tread down our foes. Despite appearances, take heart in God’s sovereignty and His certain promise of victory through Christ.

_Application James Boice suggests two applications from this Psalm. First, gain strength for your present conflicts from faith in God’s promises. Sing this song to learn those promises and work them deep into your heart. Second, trust in your Warrior King who along will bring His people to the Promised Land. Look always to Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith.

sermon

Here's Sunday night's sermon on the wrath of Christ (part 1). I know it feels a little out of kilter with the "season" and all, but this is what we get when we commit to preaching straight through Scripture. Anyway, Christ came to bring a sword and He will come again with the same sword. It's good to remember.

pdf
mp3

Fearing God

As I'm preparing for preaching Sunday night on the wrath of Jesus, I came across this passage from John Murray's Principles of Conduct, and thought it might be helpful.

Is it proper to be afraid of God? The only proper answer is that it is the essence of impiety not to be afraid of God when there is reason to be afraid. Adam's sin and his sin alone was the reason for the emotion of terror with which his soul had become stricken. But once he sinned the absence of this dread would have shown complete insensitivity to the revolution in which his sin consisted and which it also caused. For Adam to have behaved as if the rupture had not taken place would have been an unspeakable aggravation of his offense.

...It would be a violation of the infirmity inherent in our finitude not to be filled with horror and anguish at the thought of being subject to the fury of God's displeasure...Why do we resist the thought of God's wrath? Why do we try to suppress the conviction of its reality? Is it not because we do not wish to entertain the terror which the conviction involves and we do not wish to be placed under the necessity of fashioning thought and life in terms of this reality?

Worship Predictor

For this coming Sunday

Psalms
45A
33A
92C
48B
133A

Pastor Long is going to preach on Acts 2:37-47, "When God Plants a Church"

In the evening, I'll be preaching from Proverbs 19:23-20:11, "The Wrath of the King, Part 1"

News

Last Thursday the session of our church decided to officially begin church planting efforts in West Lafayette, Indiana. Which makes yours truly an official, wet-behind-the-ears church planter. How bout them apples?

Really, it was a momentous night, one which I pray will be the beginning to a road that glorifies God. I'm thinking that this blog might be a good way to keep some of you up to date on what's going on with the new church.

So, what is going on with the new church? Um, nothing yet. This Sunday we are going to lead the church through our newly adopted church planting vision statement and relate the reasons we believe God is leading us to work across the river in West Lafayette. It will likely be toward the middle of January before the core group gets off the ground.

Stay tuned. Even better, pray. I'll be getting in touch with many of you to ask you to commit specifically to praying for the new church; until then, I'll assume that many of you will join me in that work.

O praise the Lord! O thank the Lord!
For bountiful is He;
Because His lovingkindness lasts
to all eternity

Civic Prayers

Federal Judge David Hamilton has recently disallowed prayers in Jesus' name in opening prayers before Indiana's House of Representatives; it was a case filed by the Indiana Civil Liberties Union.

Here are some comments I sent to our college students:

This is a good chance to remember one of the bigger distinctives the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America has in her theology. While most think the RPCNA is set apart by psalm singing and a lack of instruments in worship, it is really our stand for the mediatorial kingship of Jesus Christ which has historically set us apart – even among other reformed denominations. Hearkening back to the faithful Covenanters of Scotland, we believe that “God has given the exercise of all authority to the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the Divine Lawgiver, Governor and Judge.” (RPCNA testimony, A-70)

Because God the Father has set God the Son on the throne over the whole world (Ps. 2; 110) and not just the church, Christ has complete divine authority – not just over individuals, but nations and their rulers as well. Thus, “Every nation ought to recognize the Divine institution of civil government, the sovereignty of God exercised by Jesus Christ, and its duty to rule the Divine affairs of men in accordance with the will of God. It should enter into covenant with Christ and serve to advance His Kingdom on earth. The negligence of civil government in any of these particulars is sinful, makes the nation liable to the wrath of God, and threatens the continued existence of the government and nation.” (A-70)

Governments are not “secular” institutions, but are put in place in order to bring peace and serve the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Thus, civic prayers in Jesus’ name – prayers of rejoicing in God through Christ, prayers acknowledging Christ’s kingship, prayers submitting to the wisdom of God’s Word – are absolutely appropriate and required for our local, state, and federal governing bodies.

Well, what’s next? We first need to continue our submission to our rulers until they command of us action that is clearly unscriptural (A-75). And “It is the duty of every Christian citizen to labor and pray for his nation’s official and explicit recognition of the authority and law of Jesus Christ, Preserver and Ruler of nations, and for the conduct of all government affairs in harmony with the written Word of God.” (A-71) However, we understand Scripture to teach that “a true recognition of the authority and law of Christ in national life can only be the fruit of the Spirit’s regenerating power in the lives of individuals.” (A-70) This means that outward acknowledgement in word only is not enough; we should not be satisfied when the government allows prayer in Christ’s name. We need to pray for the conversion of the men and women who hold office, that their acknowledgement of Christ’s kingship would be truly sincere.

I hope this helps; the RPCNA testimony (pdf) actually has a lot of good things to say in this area and it does a good job backing it up with God’s Word. I commend it to you.

May God turn the hearts of our nation, individually and corporately, to our King Jesus Christ.

Benediction

I'm working on a study of Numbers 6:22-27 for a short lecture next Tuesday. This is the Aaronic benediction (The Lord bless you and keep you...), the first benediction I ever pronounced. It was the night of my ordination and boy did I practice that benediction a few dozen times; during one practice session, I messed up and said to myself, "The Lord make her face to shine upon you." Oops.

Anyhow, this is a marvelous passage of Scripture. Rarely have I been led by the Spirit into such worship as I have in this passage. This, I think, is the theme of the passage: God radically identifies with (puts His name on) His undeserving covenant people, promising grace (shining His face), forgiveness (lifting His face), freedom from shame and true wholeness (peace), a home in heaven (bless) and protection along the way (keep).

Part of the context of this blessing is in Leviticus 9:22, "Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them." Leviticus 9 is the accounting of God directing and then receiving Aaron's burnt offering on his own behalf and the behalf of the people, for the express purpose of atonement. Think about it: Aaron turning and raising his hands and blessing the people is a powerful, visible statement: God has accepted our sacrifice! He has forgiven you! He loves you and has made the way straight for you to be His people! Do not doubt, do not dwell on your sins for God has done it: He has provided the ram for the sacrifice and His wrath has been turned away, leaving only His great mercy for you!

So at the end of worship, when the pastor pronounces the benediction, it should be a powerful reminder for us: of completed salvation in Christ, of freedom from shame, of our home in heaven and our refuge until we get there, of the fact that this is all the doing of a great and merciful God. Fact is, ever since God tied our boat to His, He has considered the good of His people to be part and parcel with His glory; so just as much as God loves His glory, that is how much He loves to bless His people.

Although the mind of the Creator is far beyond our comprehension, I even began to wonder if the benediction might be God's favorite part of worship...

Worship predictor

For this Sunday morning:

Psalms
113A
84B
40C
110N
27A

Pastor Long will preach on John 8:12-20, "The Light of the World"

Sunday evening, Graeme will preach on 2 Peter 3:9, "God's Patience - Motivation for Evangelism"

We (the Olivettis) will be traveling to Michigan to minister to the saints at Southfield RPC outside Detroit. I'm looking forward to seeing the church there again and spending time with friends and family.