As many of you know, I’m a huge movie fan. Not only do I enjoy watching films, but I enjoy making them. I have a great passion for independent Christian filmmaking and in lieu of that; I’d like to point out a couple of productions I am excited about!
First of all, a documentary entitled Homeschool Dropouts has just been released on DVD. I’ll note that I haven’t had the opportunity to view it yet, but based on the fact that it was produced by the Botkin family, major pioneers in both the homeschooling and independent Christian film movements respectively, I’m inclined to think it will be powerful! Contrary to what your initial reaction might be, this documentary is not necessarily about those students who are dropping out of homeschool and going to public or private schools, but those homeschooled students who have no plans to carry on the homeschooling vision to the next generation, those who are depriving the next generation of the very benefits their parents strived to provide them.
In this documentary, homeschool grads sit down and talk about what’s at stake for the homschooling movement if the second generation of homeschoolers (my generation) does not continue the legacy their parents began. So many of those in the homeschool realm view home education simply as the better method to teach their children reading, writing, and arithmetic, but there is SO much more to home education than just the basic scholastic skills. Nor are Homeschoolers simply the ones who win the national spelling bee or have 10 kids ;) No! Home education is part of a vision, a vision which is not limited to a single generation but one that continues to all future generations as long as we remain faithful.
As one of the rising second generation homeschoolers, it is my goal to take the vision my parents have cast and carry it forward. I long to have the opportunity to home educate my children, should the Lord so bless me. I long to have the opportunity to raise men and women God can use for the furtherance of His kingdom. What is it that is so important to home education? What is it that is so essential for my generation to carry on? There’s only one way to find out; get the documentary!
Secondly, it was recently announced on CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network), that Sherwood Pictures is set to release its next major motion picture in spring 2011 (See video here)! As I’m sure most of you are aware, Sherwood Pictures is an independent Christian film company supported by Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. Who, for the past 6 years, has been dedicated to producing films for the glory of God; Flywheel in 2003, Facing the Giants in 2006, and the acclaimed Fireproof in 2008.
Yet, with each new film produced comes a new, powerful message which seeks to exalt Christ and change the world. Alex and Stephen Kendrick, the prominent filmmakers at Sherwood Pictures, are amongst the pioneers of the independent Christian film industry, and are not only making films that present sound biblical messages, but are becoming more technically proficient with each production! Even though Fireproof was the 4th top grossing film the weekend of its release in theaters, raking in an astounding 33 million dollars at the box office, it is clear that money, nor fame, constitute the reason for continued productions. In Stephen’s own words, “If the Lord shuts it down tomorrow - and He can - we can look back and see that for a season, He allowed us to do something that has been impacting lives.”
Anyhow, what excites me most about this project is the plot of the film: Encouraging fathers to be the spiritual leaders of their homes! WOW! Michael Catt, Senior Pastor at Sherwood Baptist Church, when speaking with reporters about the film said, “With action, drama, and humor, this film will embrace God's promise in the Bible to, turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers."
Praise God for this film group! Praise God that He has raised up a couple of brothers, from a town in Georgia, to impact the culture for Jesus Christ through the medium of film. Praise God that He has led these two men to make a film discussing one of the most ubiquitous problems in the Christian family today. Praise God that these men are standing up for the truth of God’s Word in a culture that hates Christ. Praise God that these men understand that the cause of so many problems in our society is fathers who have not assumed their God-given roles as the spiritual leaders of their homes.
Let me encourage you to pray for this production; it has the potential to have a huge impact for family reformation. Be assured, I am eagerly awaiting spring 2011!
May God alone be praised through both of these films, and may He use them in a mighty way to aid in bringing about the reformation of the family that we so desperately need!
In Christ,
Josh
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
12 Hour School Days?
Twelve hour school day? How about 6-7 days a week? No, that wasn't a typo. You think Obamacare is bad? You got another think commin’. Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, has a few “solutions” to the current educational problems in our society, which, amongst other things, involves transforming government schools into the “center of the community,” thereby destroying the family. Say hello to the government schools of the 21st century:
Be sure and view the videos on this page to hear the Secretary of Education in his own words.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
A Biblical Man...Is not Passive
This past Wednesday night, I was reading through Genesis chapter 3 with some boys at church. We got to verse 6 and I stopped them and asked, “Who was with Eve when she was being tempted?” There was a slight pause before one of the boys said, “Adam.” He was exactly right! I followed up his answer by trying to explain that from this verse, we see that Adam was very passive by watching as his wife, Eve, succumbed to temptation, and still more passive by partaking in sin himself. Verse 6 of Genesis chapter 3 reads, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and SHE ALSO GAVE SOME TO HER HUSBAND WHO WAS WITH HER, AND HE ATE.”
According to Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, passivity is, “Suffering; not acting, receiving or capable of receiving impressions from external agents... Unresisting; not opposing; receiving or suffering without resistance; as passive obedience; passive submission to the laws.”
Passivity is rampant among the men of our culture. Instead of accepting the role God has given us as leaders in our homes (Ephesians 5:23), all too often we “submit” that role to our wives. However, this by no means is exclusive to the home, but it certainly begins in the home. To all boys and men out there, including myself, if we want to be the kind of men God has called us to be (Titus 1), we cannot afford to be passive! If we are going to be the kind of husbands God has called us to be (Ephesians 5), we cannot afford to be passive! If we are going to raise the next generation of warriors for Jesus Christ (Ephesians 6:4), we cannot afford be passive! If we are going to be leaders in the church of our Lord (Titus 1), we cannot afford to be passive! If we are going to proclaim Christ in the various social spheres God places us in (Matthew 28:19), we cannot afford to be passive!
Let’s be a little more specific; what is passivity, practically speaking? I believe its name nearly summarizes itself. Passivity is, in its essence, walking past the problems and responsibilities of life without doing anything. You might give a quick glance as you zoom by such problems and responsibilities, but at its heart lies laziness and irresponsibility. In addition, passivity is, as Webster puts it, “Unresisting and not opposing...” Which basically means that when I’m faced with a difficult decision, whether it be myself or someone else, I don’t take the time to ponder the result of my decision; I don’t oppose one choice and go with the other. Conversely, I carelessly proceed in a destructive direction free from opposition. It is intentionally and carelessly, and sometimes unknowingly, allowing yourself, and/or someone else to plunge headlong into self indulgence.
Still other times it could be casual obedience or submission to the will of Satan instead of obedience and submission to the will of God. It also means letting others make your decisions. As was the case with Adam, he not only let his wife partake of the forbidden fruit, but he was persuaded by her to eat of it. And, I find it quite fascinating that nowhere is it implied, in the text, that this was a difficult decision for Adam to make! Meaning, it doesn’t appear as though he analyzed what might happen should he eat of the forbidden fruit. Quite the opposite; she gave, and he ate. It doesn’t say nor imply that Adam threw up a red flag and said, “This ain’t right!” Instead, it is quite apparent that Adam, in passivity, submitted to his wife’s desire and allowed her to make the decision of whether he should eat of the forbidden fruit. If the man is to be the leader God has called him to be, he must not be passive.
Let me just say that I am by NO MEANS excluded from this! All too often I become guilty of being passive. All too often I do not act when I should. All too often I sit back and let others make decisions and do things for me that, in all honesty, I should be doing. Still, it forces me to come to grips with my own inability, my own incapability of ascribing to the standard which God has set for me. And I can’t do it, apart from the grace of Christ Jesus! I’m in the same fight as all you guys out there. It’s hard to strive to rise above the norm. Nevertheless, we must do it!
Now, with that said, just because we are striving to rise above the norm and be the men God has called us to be, doesn’t give us liberty to strut around like gobblers and say, “Look how much better I am than you!” Not at all! This in no way means that we’re better, or more Christian than anyone else; it simply means we are striving to live out our salvation, striving to live up to the standard God has set for us in His Holy Word. All the while, realizing that in and of ourselves we can’t do it. Every moment of every day there is a choice to live for self, or die to self and live for Christ. We must choose to live for Christ!
As it says in Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (ESV)
Josh
According to Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, passivity is, “Suffering; not acting, receiving or capable of receiving impressions from external agents... Unresisting; not opposing; receiving or suffering without resistance; as passive obedience; passive submission to the laws.”
Passivity is rampant among the men of our culture. Instead of accepting the role God has given us as leaders in our homes (Ephesians 5:23), all too often we “submit” that role to our wives. However, this by no means is exclusive to the home, but it certainly begins in the home. To all boys and men out there, including myself, if we want to be the kind of men God has called us to be (Titus 1), we cannot afford to be passive! If we are going to be the kind of husbands God has called us to be (Ephesians 5), we cannot afford to be passive! If we are going to raise the next generation of warriors for Jesus Christ (Ephesians 6:4), we cannot afford be passive! If we are going to be leaders in the church of our Lord (Titus 1), we cannot afford to be passive! If we are going to proclaim Christ in the various social spheres God places us in (Matthew 28:19), we cannot afford to be passive!
Let’s be a little more specific; what is passivity, practically speaking? I believe its name nearly summarizes itself. Passivity is, in its essence, walking past the problems and responsibilities of life without doing anything. You might give a quick glance as you zoom by such problems and responsibilities, but at its heart lies laziness and irresponsibility. In addition, passivity is, as Webster puts it, “Unresisting and not opposing...” Which basically means that when I’m faced with a difficult decision, whether it be myself or someone else, I don’t take the time to ponder the result of my decision; I don’t oppose one choice and go with the other. Conversely, I carelessly proceed in a destructive direction free from opposition. It is intentionally and carelessly, and sometimes unknowingly, allowing yourself, and/or someone else to plunge headlong into self indulgence.
Still other times it could be casual obedience or submission to the will of Satan instead of obedience and submission to the will of God. It also means letting others make your decisions. As was the case with Adam, he not only let his wife partake of the forbidden fruit, but he was persuaded by her to eat of it. And, I find it quite fascinating that nowhere is it implied, in the text, that this was a difficult decision for Adam to make! Meaning, it doesn’t appear as though he analyzed what might happen should he eat of the forbidden fruit. Quite the opposite; she gave, and he ate. It doesn’t say nor imply that Adam threw up a red flag and said, “This ain’t right!” Instead, it is quite apparent that Adam, in passivity, submitted to his wife’s desire and allowed her to make the decision of whether he should eat of the forbidden fruit. If the man is to be the leader God has called him to be, he must not be passive.
Let me just say that I am by NO MEANS excluded from this! All too often I become guilty of being passive. All too often I do not act when I should. All too often I sit back and let others make decisions and do things for me that, in all honesty, I should be doing. Still, it forces me to come to grips with my own inability, my own incapability of ascribing to the standard which God has set for me. And I can’t do it, apart from the grace of Christ Jesus! I’m in the same fight as all you guys out there. It’s hard to strive to rise above the norm. Nevertheless, we must do it!
Now, with that said, just because we are striving to rise above the norm and be the men God has called us to be, doesn’t give us liberty to strut around like gobblers and say, “Look how much better I am than you!” Not at all! This in no way means that we’re better, or more Christian than anyone else; it simply means we are striving to live out our salvation, striving to live up to the standard God has set for us in His Holy Word. All the while, realizing that in and of ourselves we can’t do it. Every moment of every day there is a choice to live for self, or die to self and live for Christ. We must choose to live for Christ!
As it says in Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (ESV)
Josh
Monday, November 9, 2009
Check Back into Reality...
Last Monday was, for me, a check back into reality! While Dad and I were attending the Semper Reformanda Conference in Houston, I completely zoned out of everything else I was doing or had to do and focused all my attention upon what God was teaching me. It was as though my mind was in a constant state of reflection, and in many ways still is. But, it wasn’t to last :)
I woke up Monday morning, after all the excitement of getting to visit GfBC on Sunday, and realized I had a paper due Wednesday, discussion boards to write all week, a CLEP test on Thursday, and a test on Sunday. First things first, I logged onto Liberty Online and got my writing assignment for the week, fully intending to write while I was on the plane. Well, most of the trip home was spent reading books on family and church reformation and reflecting on what I had learned! I did manage to read the article I was to write my paper on, but that was it!
I woke up Tuesday morning ready to study Hamartiology (theology of sin), but my mind still very much side tracked! But, God is good, and I was able to write my paper Tuesday, make some edits on Wednesday, and submit it. However, my assignment presented such a heated debate amongst my fellow class mates that I just had to share it with you. Here is the question I was required to give my personal theological position on: “Those who have never heard: have they no hope?”
Okay, so some of you are asking what that means; let me explain =) This question is asking whether or not those in remote parts of the world who have never had an opportunity to hear the gospel are really condemned to hell. The author who wrote the article I was required to evaluate, supported his view in essence by asking the question, “How could a just and loving God condemn those who have never heard the gospel.” He defended that tribes in remote areas of the earth could come to salvation through God’s general revelation, or by believing in a god who has like attributes to our God. Thus, his end conclusion was that those who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ can indeed inherit eternal life.
As it turns out, I was the only student in my class who disagreed with the author’s point of view (Go figure). Talk about intimidating! Although, I kind of enjoy responding to negative criticism ;)
The author of this particular article used several passages of Scripture and a number of Old Testament characters to support his argument, as you will see me reference. I have added some to my original work just for the purpose of clarification, as you have not had the opportunity of reading the article. So, without further ado, here was my response:
While I understand the author’s sympathy for the lost, I cannot agree with his end conclusion for several reasons. First of all, it defeats the purpose of the great commission (Matthew 28:16-20). Second, if man can come to know God through His general revelation then what’s the use of giving a special revelation? Third, Jesus is the only way (John 14:6, Acts 4:8-12, Romans 3:21-22). Fourth, man has a sin nature inherited from the fall of Adam (Genesis 3, Romans 3:9-20). I think that in our fancy and earnest desire to hope that some of these people have not been lost; we forget that as a result of Adam’s sin (Genesis 3) every man is born into this world with a sin nature. Fifth, why would a just and loving God allow a sinner into His kingdom (Revelation 16:5-9)? Sixth, it implies that man can save himself (Romans 8:29-30, Romans 10:4). To believe that a person can come to salvation by recognizing that there is a supreme being above all creation, is to reject Christ’s work on the cross and claim that we can do it without Him! That is self-righteousness. That is man believing that he can come to God in and of His own ability. Seventh, there just isn’t any evidence in scripture to support such a view.
The author makes reference to Romans 10:11-18, stating that the “they” referred to in the passage are “heathens” or gentiles. However, a deeper evaluation of the text reveals that “they” does not refer to gentiles or heathens, but rather Jews. Furthermore, while Paul does use Psalm 19:4 in the passage mentioned above; instead of applying it to general revelation, Paul, here, applies it to special revelation.
Also, while it is true that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, the Father brings that person to repentance (Romans 8:29-30). The author states that since all members of the Trinity are equal, a person who believes in God can acquire salvation; this is a heretical statement! The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equal in nature, distinct in person, and subordinate in duties; apart from Christ there is no salvation. Therefore, belief in the Father does not equal salvation, nor does belief in the Holy Spirit equal salvation. Acts 4:12 says, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Also see Philippians 2:9-11).
What about Melchizedek or Job? How could they have had the message of the promised seed preached to them at such an early time in history? Are they not living proof that man can come to God apart from knowing of the One True God? Let’s not forget that by this point in world history, more than 2,000 years following the creation of Adam, the message of the coming Messiah would have spread to all surrounding areas. Thus, it is not hard to believe that both these men had heard the message of the coming Messiah.
Still, in light of all this, so many of us come back to, “Why would a just and loving God condemn someone who never had an opportunity to hear? That’s just not fair!” First of all, it is because God is just, so He does not allow sinners into His kingdom. It would be unjust, and contrary to the nature and character of God, to allow someone into His kingdom who never came to Christ in repentance. Second, it’s not fair. Why? Not because God is being unfair, but because we have not reached these people with the gospel of Jesus Christ! God gave the job of evangelism to us (Matthew 28: 16-20). So, in reality, when we shake our finger at God and say that’s not fair, God probably looks at us and says, “You Know, in case you were wondering, I gave the job of evangelism to you.” It is our fault for not reaching these people with the gospel! Indeed, Christ died on the cross for every person on this earth, but it is that individual’s choice whether or not he accepts that free gift.
Accepting that there is a god who possess like attributes to the one true God, is not repentance of sin, nor is it accepting the gift of salvation. Indeed, God does pursue us (Jeremiah 31:3), and He utilizes His general revelation to show man that there is a God, but knowledge of God isn’t enough for salvation. Praise God for His special revelation which screams, “Salvation is in Christ!” Without Him, we could have no hope of eternal life.
Thus, I must conclude that there’s just no Biblical evidence to support the author’s stance. In fact, quite the opposite, there is only one way. Granted, this makes our job as ambassadors more difficult; nevertheless, we must do it.
However, the discussion that followed was even more interesting! Here are some of the questions the students asked in response to reading my paper:
Question #1:
“I find your points compelling but I do not agree with your conclusion. Is the statement, Jesus is the only way as cut and dry as we think? I don't think so. What happened to a follower of God (a Jew perhaps) who was alive when Jesus was on earth but died after Jesus without hearing of Jesus. Condemned to hell? I don't know. I am not as sure as you are.”
Answer:
Let me ask you a question in return to yours. Does it get anymore “cut and dry” than this: “I am THE way THE truth and THE life, NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER BUT BY ME?” As Christians, we have one of two options when reading this verse. Either Christ was telling the truth and He is the ONLY way to salvation or He was a liar. There is no middle ground. Christ didn’t say, “I am the way, except for those poor people who haven’t gotten to hear. I’ll make an exception for them.” No!
As far as your question about the Jew or other follower of God, once Christ died and paid the sin debt, the old system of sacrificing and belief in the coming Messiah was broken. Therefore, yes, anyone who died without knowing Jesus would have been condemned. There is no exception to this!
In my mind this whole argument is over a very “me-centered” view of salvation, “I deserve to have the gospel preached to me. I deserve to have a chance to go to heaven. How dare God condemn me, an innocent man, to hell!” Nothing could be further from the truth! We are not innocent; WE DO NOT EVEN DESERVE TO HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO US. We deserve death and eternal separation from God because our sin offends God. All too often we see God simply for being a God of love, mercy, and forgiveness. Far be it from us to forget that our God is a God of wrath! Just read the account of the flood in the book of Genesis and tell me God isn’t a God of wrath. I’m sure there were plenty of people who never even heard about Noah building the ark. Nevertheless, every last one of them was destroyed, whether they had a chance to hear the way of escape or not. Why? Because our sin offends God and He could no longer abide it!
The enemy has deceived our culture into believing that we deserve to have a chance at hearing the gospel, that we deserve a chance to acquire eternal life. Let’s not let him persuade us that there are more ways to God than through the perfect, sinless, holy, glorious JESUS CHRIST! That is a fundamental of the faith that we cannot and must not give up. If we do, then we are saying that all roads lead to heaven; Allah, Buddha, you name it. We can’t give that room to the devil!
Question #2:
“Do you not believe that if a man in the uttermost parts of the earth dies without having the gospel preached to him, and stands before God, that God will not present him with the opportunity to choose to accept Christ’s sacrifice?”
Answer:
Let me give you a few passages of scripture to stew over =) “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” Hebrews 9:27. We only get one shot at salvation, and it is during this life; after death comes judgment. The reference to man in the verse above means all of mankind. It leaves no room for those who have not heard. Also, Jesus commands us to preach the gospel in the “uttermost parts of the earth.” For those of us who have accepted Christ, it is our job to get the message out to the uttermost parts of the earth so these people can have a chance to hear and respond.
However, once this life is over, our chance to accept Christ’s gift of salvation is over as well. If all mankind had a second opportunity, I can guarantee that no one would be in hell, because no one, when they actually saw God, would deny His existence! Nor would they wish to be separated from Him. Therefore, if man received a second chance following death, every person on earth would be saved! There is no second chance. Consider, for example, the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. This parable shows that man only has one chance to accept salvation for himself, and one chance to teach his family the way to salvation. Therefore, I do not think that even someone who lives in the uttermost parts of the world, who dies without hearing the gospel, will get a second chance. Just as any other unbeliever who does not accept Christ, there will be no second chance. I’ve said it before, but I think it is worth mentioning again: the reason we have a problem accepting this is because society has convinced us that man has some good in him, that we are innocent. Let’s not forget that because of Adam’s sin, every person on earth is a wretched sinner. Even those living in ignorance to Christ are still sinners in need of a savior. But just as every other person on earth, they only have one chance.
Two more students asked me questions related to this topic, but they are so closely related to the previous two that I won’t post them. Nevertheless, I found it quite startling at the number of people who believe that there is more than one road to salvation (especially considering these are students at a conservative Christian university). The whole area of Soteriology is so twisted in much of the modern church today, that so-called “Christians” have come to believe that, in the words of Gill in Finding Nemo, “All drains lead to the ocean kid!” It doesn’t matter which one you take, just hop in and enjoy the ride, and we’ll see you on the other side. How deceived we’ve been! But that is exactly why so many will one day say, “...Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you: depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
Josh
I woke up Monday morning, after all the excitement of getting to visit GfBC on Sunday, and realized I had a paper due Wednesday, discussion boards to write all week, a CLEP test on Thursday, and a test on Sunday. First things first, I logged onto Liberty Online and got my writing assignment for the week, fully intending to write while I was on the plane. Well, most of the trip home was spent reading books on family and church reformation and reflecting on what I had learned! I did manage to read the article I was to write my paper on, but that was it!
I woke up Tuesday morning ready to study Hamartiology (theology of sin), but my mind still very much side tracked! But, God is good, and I was able to write my paper Tuesday, make some edits on Wednesday, and submit it. However, my assignment presented such a heated debate amongst my fellow class mates that I just had to share it with you. Here is the question I was required to give my personal theological position on: “Those who have never heard: have they no hope?”
Okay, so some of you are asking what that means; let me explain =) This question is asking whether or not those in remote parts of the world who have never had an opportunity to hear the gospel are really condemned to hell. The author who wrote the article I was required to evaluate, supported his view in essence by asking the question, “How could a just and loving God condemn those who have never heard the gospel.” He defended that tribes in remote areas of the earth could come to salvation through God’s general revelation, or by believing in a god who has like attributes to our God. Thus, his end conclusion was that those who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ can indeed inherit eternal life.
As it turns out, I was the only student in my class who disagreed with the author’s point of view (Go figure). Talk about intimidating! Although, I kind of enjoy responding to negative criticism ;)
The author of this particular article used several passages of Scripture and a number of Old Testament characters to support his argument, as you will see me reference. I have added some to my original work just for the purpose of clarification, as you have not had the opportunity of reading the article. So, without further ado, here was my response:
While I understand the author’s sympathy for the lost, I cannot agree with his end conclusion for several reasons. First of all, it defeats the purpose of the great commission (Matthew 28:16-20). Second, if man can come to know God through His general revelation then what’s the use of giving a special revelation? Third, Jesus is the only way (John 14:6, Acts 4:8-12, Romans 3:21-22). Fourth, man has a sin nature inherited from the fall of Adam (Genesis 3, Romans 3:9-20). I think that in our fancy and earnest desire to hope that some of these people have not been lost; we forget that as a result of Adam’s sin (Genesis 3) every man is born into this world with a sin nature. Fifth, why would a just and loving God allow a sinner into His kingdom (Revelation 16:5-9)? Sixth, it implies that man can save himself (Romans 8:29-30, Romans 10:4). To believe that a person can come to salvation by recognizing that there is a supreme being above all creation, is to reject Christ’s work on the cross and claim that we can do it without Him! That is self-righteousness. That is man believing that he can come to God in and of His own ability. Seventh, there just isn’t any evidence in scripture to support such a view.
The author makes reference to Romans 10:11-18, stating that the “they” referred to in the passage are “heathens” or gentiles. However, a deeper evaluation of the text reveals that “they” does not refer to gentiles or heathens, but rather Jews. Furthermore, while Paul does use Psalm 19:4 in the passage mentioned above; instead of applying it to general revelation, Paul, here, applies it to special revelation.
Also, while it is true that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, the Father brings that person to repentance (Romans 8:29-30). The author states that since all members of the Trinity are equal, a person who believes in God can acquire salvation; this is a heretical statement! The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equal in nature, distinct in person, and subordinate in duties; apart from Christ there is no salvation. Therefore, belief in the Father does not equal salvation, nor does belief in the Holy Spirit equal salvation. Acts 4:12 says, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Also see Philippians 2:9-11).
What about Melchizedek or Job? How could they have had the message of the promised seed preached to them at such an early time in history? Are they not living proof that man can come to God apart from knowing of the One True God? Let’s not forget that by this point in world history, more than 2,000 years following the creation of Adam, the message of the coming Messiah would have spread to all surrounding areas. Thus, it is not hard to believe that both these men had heard the message of the coming Messiah.
Still, in light of all this, so many of us come back to, “Why would a just and loving God condemn someone who never had an opportunity to hear? That’s just not fair!” First of all, it is because God is just, so He does not allow sinners into His kingdom. It would be unjust, and contrary to the nature and character of God, to allow someone into His kingdom who never came to Christ in repentance. Second, it’s not fair. Why? Not because God is being unfair, but because we have not reached these people with the gospel of Jesus Christ! God gave the job of evangelism to us (Matthew 28: 16-20). So, in reality, when we shake our finger at God and say that’s not fair, God probably looks at us and says, “You Know, in case you were wondering, I gave the job of evangelism to you.” It is our fault for not reaching these people with the gospel! Indeed, Christ died on the cross for every person on this earth, but it is that individual’s choice whether or not he accepts that free gift.
Accepting that there is a god who possess like attributes to the one true God, is not repentance of sin, nor is it accepting the gift of salvation. Indeed, God does pursue us (Jeremiah 31:3), and He utilizes His general revelation to show man that there is a God, but knowledge of God isn’t enough for salvation. Praise God for His special revelation which screams, “Salvation is in Christ!” Without Him, we could have no hope of eternal life.
Thus, I must conclude that there’s just no Biblical evidence to support the author’s stance. In fact, quite the opposite, there is only one way. Granted, this makes our job as ambassadors more difficult; nevertheless, we must do it.
However, the discussion that followed was even more interesting! Here are some of the questions the students asked in response to reading my paper:
Question #1:
“I find your points compelling but I do not agree with your conclusion. Is the statement, Jesus is the only way as cut and dry as we think? I don't think so. What happened to a follower of God (a Jew perhaps) who was alive when Jesus was on earth but died after Jesus without hearing of Jesus. Condemned to hell? I don't know. I am not as sure as you are.”
Answer:
Let me ask you a question in return to yours. Does it get anymore “cut and dry” than this: “I am THE way THE truth and THE life, NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER BUT BY ME?” As Christians, we have one of two options when reading this verse. Either Christ was telling the truth and He is the ONLY way to salvation or He was a liar. There is no middle ground. Christ didn’t say, “I am the way, except for those poor people who haven’t gotten to hear. I’ll make an exception for them.” No!
As far as your question about the Jew or other follower of God, once Christ died and paid the sin debt, the old system of sacrificing and belief in the coming Messiah was broken. Therefore, yes, anyone who died without knowing Jesus would have been condemned. There is no exception to this!
In my mind this whole argument is over a very “me-centered” view of salvation, “I deserve to have the gospel preached to me. I deserve to have a chance to go to heaven. How dare God condemn me, an innocent man, to hell!” Nothing could be further from the truth! We are not innocent; WE DO NOT EVEN DESERVE TO HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO US. We deserve death and eternal separation from God because our sin offends God. All too often we see God simply for being a God of love, mercy, and forgiveness. Far be it from us to forget that our God is a God of wrath! Just read the account of the flood in the book of Genesis and tell me God isn’t a God of wrath. I’m sure there were plenty of people who never even heard about Noah building the ark. Nevertheless, every last one of them was destroyed, whether they had a chance to hear the way of escape or not. Why? Because our sin offends God and He could no longer abide it!
The enemy has deceived our culture into believing that we deserve to have a chance at hearing the gospel, that we deserve a chance to acquire eternal life. Let’s not let him persuade us that there are more ways to God than through the perfect, sinless, holy, glorious JESUS CHRIST! That is a fundamental of the faith that we cannot and must not give up. If we do, then we are saying that all roads lead to heaven; Allah, Buddha, you name it. We can’t give that room to the devil!
Question #2:
“Do you not believe that if a man in the uttermost parts of the earth dies without having the gospel preached to him, and stands before God, that God will not present him with the opportunity to choose to accept Christ’s sacrifice?”
Answer:
Let me give you a few passages of scripture to stew over =) “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” Hebrews 9:27. We only get one shot at salvation, and it is during this life; after death comes judgment. The reference to man in the verse above means all of mankind. It leaves no room for those who have not heard. Also, Jesus commands us to preach the gospel in the “uttermost parts of the earth.” For those of us who have accepted Christ, it is our job to get the message out to the uttermost parts of the earth so these people can have a chance to hear and respond.
However, once this life is over, our chance to accept Christ’s gift of salvation is over as well. If all mankind had a second opportunity, I can guarantee that no one would be in hell, because no one, when they actually saw God, would deny His existence! Nor would they wish to be separated from Him. Therefore, if man received a second chance following death, every person on earth would be saved! There is no second chance. Consider, for example, the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. This parable shows that man only has one chance to accept salvation for himself, and one chance to teach his family the way to salvation. Therefore, I do not think that even someone who lives in the uttermost parts of the world, who dies without hearing the gospel, will get a second chance. Just as any other unbeliever who does not accept Christ, there will be no second chance. I’ve said it before, but I think it is worth mentioning again: the reason we have a problem accepting this is because society has convinced us that man has some good in him, that we are innocent. Let’s not forget that because of Adam’s sin, every person on earth is a wretched sinner. Even those living in ignorance to Christ are still sinners in need of a savior. But just as every other person on earth, they only have one chance.
Two more students asked me questions related to this topic, but they are so closely related to the previous two that I won’t post them. Nevertheless, I found it quite startling at the number of people who believe that there is more than one road to salvation (especially considering these are students at a conservative Christian university). The whole area of Soteriology is so twisted in much of the modern church today, that so-called “Christians” have come to believe that, in the words of Gill in Finding Nemo, “All drains lead to the ocean kid!” It doesn’t matter which one you take, just hop in and enjoy the ride, and we’ll see you on the other side. How deceived we’ve been! But that is exactly why so many will one day say, “...Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you: depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
Josh
Friday, November 6, 2009
Lessons From the Hunt
It’s shortly after sunrise on a cold November morning. All around me were the sounds of the awakening woods, and the encroaching of sunlight into the dark, cold hollow which sat between three mountains in the middle of a 312 acre farm. I had been there since before sunup that morning and “prime time” couldn’t come soon enough. The birds and squirrels began to hustle out of their nests, but there was one animal I was waiting for. I sat in my tree stand with my rifle lying beside me, and with my arms crossed in an effort to keep warm. I was beginning to think this was going to be another useless hunt when I suddenly heard a loud crash of sticks and leaves. I looked to the left, thinking it was probably one of those squirrels that had been annoying me since they got up, but not this time.
But before I could say, “deer.” There it was. It was near 80 yards away, and had seen me jump in surprise. I began scrambling to try and get ready before he left. I shook myself to reality, grabbed my 30-30, placed it on the gun rest, cocked the hammer, removed the safety, and looked through the scope just in time to see it running off back in the direction it came from. I had missed a golden opportunity at getting a deer all because I was not prepared.
This unfortunate event happened in the latter part of November last year. And for those of you who are sitting there scratching your head, I promise you this is all going somewhere :)
Yes, if you’ve looked at my profile, or you know me personally, you know that I enjoy hunting! There are many reasons why I do, but here are a few, five to be exact: First of all, I think every man ought to know how to shoot a gun (What man doesn’t want to deep down inside?). Second, it gives a man an awesome feeling when he is able to go out with his own gun and provide for his family by putting supper on the table. Third, it makes for great bonding time between father and son, and grandfather and grandson. Fourth, it instills outdoor skills that all young men should have. And fifth, I’ve found it makes for an excellent time to talk to the Lord!
Around Thanksgiving and Christmas every year, Dad, Papaw, Jonathan (my older brother), and I love going hunting together. While I love hunting with both bow and muzzleloader, my favorite season of all is rifle. I look forward to pulling my 30-30 out of the gun case every year. And I love coming back home after a hunt a talking it over with the family. However, there is a point
I’m driving at here and I want to share it with you.
Anyone who hunts knows what goes in to having a successful hunt. It takes preparation (finding the deer’s favorite spots, getting the gear, the license etc...), and it takes patience. As I said, I hunt bow and muzzleloader. That means, for me, the hunting season opens at the beginning of October and ends toward the latter part of January. Some days we sit in tree stands for 5 or more hours without seeing anything. Other days we might see 10 deer but never get a shot. It’s just one of those things that takes time.
But here’s my question. Why do we not get this excited about the coming of our Lord Jesus? We sit in tree stands, for hours at a time, scanning the woods, watching, hoping we never miss a glimpse of it. How much more ought we to be anticipating the coming of our Lord! Just as with hunting, we must prepare for Christ’s coming. This begins by making sure we are prepared as individuals. Just as we make proper preparations before a hunt, so we should make sure that when Christ returns, we’ll be going with Him. This also means doing some scouting; finding those areas where the gospel of our Lord must be spread and taking it there. First and foremost, this applies to our families! How do we prepare our families? Deuteronomy 6 makes it quite clear. We are to talk of Christ when we sit in the house, when we walk by the way, when we lie down, and when we rise up. Scripture should be placed in prominent places in our homes so our children know what really matters to mommy and daddy, and so that all those who enter know that Christ is the center piece in this family.
However, writing scripture on the walls of our house just isn’t enough. I believe every father should instruct his family in the ways of the Lord by leading them in family devotions. Now, a lot of us shutter at the phrase “family devotions,” because we don’t, truly, know what it involves. Let me clear the air. Family devotions is not something fancy or formal, like a church service. It is a time when the family prays together, sings together, reads, and memorizes Scripture together. Now, granted, this means that the father of the household must be a man who devotes himself to careful study of the Word on a daily basis, but this isn’t meant to be a miniature church service, nor is it intended to replace church; not at all. Family devotions are designed to re-enforce what the family is learning when gathered among fellow believers in Christ. Here at our house, we’ve been doing family devotions every night for as long as I can remember. However, we don’t do it as well as we could. But God is gracious, and He has and is using a number of resources (from books to conferences), to help us figure out what we should be doing, and what we should be doing better.
We can also take part in reaching both our community, and the whole world with the gospel; either by going ourselves, if called, or supporting others to go. We can do this by partnering with others in prayer and by supporting them financially. We must make sure that we do our part in helping others prepare for the coming of Christ.
But, this also takes patience. Just as it takes patience to get a deer, it takes patience to wait for our Lord. But, just as we eagerly await that first glimpse of a deer, we should eagerly await the day when our Lord will be seen in the clouds! And if we have made proper preparations we will rejoice at the sight! However, if we have not, we will look back on that day and say, “If only....” I looked back on the day I spotted that deer in late November every day for at least a week. Until, later that season, the same ole’ deer showed up again. This time, though, I was ready, and this time I rejoiced at the sight!
Christ might not come in your lifetime, he might not come in your children’s lifetime. But we should be living each day as though Christ is coming. We should be preparing the next generation to cast this vision on to the next and to the next, leaving a multigenerational legacy of kingdom minded children!
I say all this to encourage you. I by no means live every day in full anticipation of Christ, but the hunting season has my wheels turning =) Just maybe, God will use this as a daily reminder to me to be ever preparing and waiting for the day He returns! So, the next time you go hunting, think about Christ’s return, and ask yourself, “Am I eagerly preparing and patiently awaiting the glorious return of my Redeemer?”
In Christ,
Josh
But before I could say, “deer.” There it was. It was near 80 yards away, and had seen me jump in surprise. I began scrambling to try and get ready before he left. I shook myself to reality, grabbed my 30-30, placed it on the gun rest, cocked the hammer, removed the safety, and looked through the scope just in time to see it running off back in the direction it came from. I had missed a golden opportunity at getting a deer all because I was not prepared.
This unfortunate event happened in the latter part of November last year. And for those of you who are sitting there scratching your head, I promise you this is all going somewhere :)
Yes, if you’ve looked at my profile, or you know me personally, you know that I enjoy hunting! There are many reasons why I do, but here are a few, five to be exact: First of all, I think every man ought to know how to shoot a gun (What man doesn’t want to deep down inside?). Second, it gives a man an awesome feeling when he is able to go out with his own gun and provide for his family by putting supper on the table. Third, it makes for great bonding time between father and son, and grandfather and grandson. Fourth, it instills outdoor skills that all young men should have. And fifth, I’ve found it makes for an excellent time to talk to the Lord!
Around Thanksgiving and Christmas every year, Dad, Papaw, Jonathan (my older brother), and I love going hunting together. While I love hunting with both bow and muzzleloader, my favorite season of all is rifle. I look forward to pulling my 30-30 out of the gun case every year. And I love coming back home after a hunt a talking it over with the family. However, there is a point
I’m driving at here and I want to share it with you.
Anyone who hunts knows what goes in to having a successful hunt. It takes preparation (finding the deer’s favorite spots, getting the gear, the license etc...), and it takes patience. As I said, I hunt bow and muzzleloader. That means, for me, the hunting season opens at the beginning of October and ends toward the latter part of January. Some days we sit in tree stands for 5 or more hours without seeing anything. Other days we might see 10 deer but never get a shot. It’s just one of those things that takes time.
But here’s my question. Why do we not get this excited about the coming of our Lord Jesus? We sit in tree stands, for hours at a time, scanning the woods, watching, hoping we never miss a glimpse of it. How much more ought we to be anticipating the coming of our Lord! Just as with hunting, we must prepare for Christ’s coming. This begins by making sure we are prepared as individuals. Just as we make proper preparations before a hunt, so we should make sure that when Christ returns, we’ll be going with Him. This also means doing some scouting; finding those areas where the gospel of our Lord must be spread and taking it there. First and foremost, this applies to our families! How do we prepare our families? Deuteronomy 6 makes it quite clear. We are to talk of Christ when we sit in the house, when we walk by the way, when we lie down, and when we rise up. Scripture should be placed in prominent places in our homes so our children know what really matters to mommy and daddy, and so that all those who enter know that Christ is the center piece in this family.
However, writing scripture on the walls of our house just isn’t enough. I believe every father should instruct his family in the ways of the Lord by leading them in family devotions. Now, a lot of us shutter at the phrase “family devotions,” because we don’t, truly, know what it involves. Let me clear the air. Family devotions is not something fancy or formal, like a church service. It is a time when the family prays together, sings together, reads, and memorizes Scripture together. Now, granted, this means that the father of the household must be a man who devotes himself to careful study of the Word on a daily basis, but this isn’t meant to be a miniature church service, nor is it intended to replace church; not at all. Family devotions are designed to re-enforce what the family is learning when gathered among fellow believers in Christ. Here at our house, we’ve been doing family devotions every night for as long as I can remember. However, we don’t do it as well as we could. But God is gracious, and He has and is using a number of resources (from books to conferences), to help us figure out what we should be doing, and what we should be doing better.
We can also take part in reaching both our community, and the whole world with the gospel; either by going ourselves, if called, or supporting others to go. We can do this by partnering with others in prayer and by supporting them financially. We must make sure that we do our part in helping others prepare for the coming of Christ.
But, this also takes patience. Just as it takes patience to get a deer, it takes patience to wait for our Lord. But, just as we eagerly await that first glimpse of a deer, we should eagerly await the day when our Lord will be seen in the clouds! And if we have made proper preparations we will rejoice at the sight! However, if we have not, we will look back on that day and say, “If only....” I looked back on the day I spotted that deer in late November every day for at least a week. Until, later that season, the same ole’ deer showed up again. This time, though, I was ready, and this time I rejoiced at the sight!
Christ might not come in your lifetime, he might not come in your children’s lifetime. But we should be living each day as though Christ is coming. We should be preparing the next generation to cast this vision on to the next and to the next, leaving a multigenerational legacy of kingdom minded children!
I say all this to encourage you. I by no means live every day in full anticipation of Christ, but the hunting season has my wheels turning =) Just maybe, God will use this as a daily reminder to me to be ever preparing and waiting for the day He returns! So, the next time you go hunting, think about Christ’s return, and ask yourself, “Am I eagerly preparing and patiently awaiting the glorious return of my Redeemer?”
In Christ,
Josh
Monday, November 2, 2009
Church at GfBC
After about a 20 minute chase to get to a Starbucks, Dad and I rolled into the parking lot at Grace Family Baptist Church right at 10:30. As we were walking up to the entrance, I was kicking myself over having spilled some of my coffee on my white tie and blue dress shirt, but when I walked in the door, I honestly forgot all about the stains on my shirt and tie and just immersed myself within the sea of people greeting each other with firm handshakes and hugs. Just to the left as we walked in was a table with coffee and pastries, and to the right was the entrance to the sanctuary, which is a gymnasium. Everyone was so friendly and so excited to see one another. Dad and I meandered into the gymnasium where I saw two buddies I had made during the conference; one of them was a member of GfBC and the other was another conference attendee.
I stood and chatted with these guys for several minutes, talking about the conference, what we’ve learned, and about problems with the modern church. Suddenly it was time to begin. Dad and I took our seats in the middle section, somewhat close to the front, and listened to Pastor Paul Renfro welcome everyone to the service. As I listened to him speak, I sat there in astonishment. I’d so long wanted to see a family integrated church in action, and ever since I heard of GfBC, it has literally been a dream to go, and here I was! Pastor Renfro made a few announcements before opening with prayer, in which he prayed for several select families of the church, a local, state, and national leader, and an unreached people group in Malaysia (1 Timothy 2:2).
Following the prayer, Trey Baucham (Dr. Baucham's son) led the congregation in reading three portions of the London Baptist Confession (GfBC’s confession of faith). This led directly into the first song, “Let Your Kingdom Come.” The time worshiping in song was one of the most worshipful experiences I’ve ever had. All concentration was on Christ, not on those playing instruments, though they played very skillfully. The worship leader was at the keyboard, and behind him was a man on the guitar, another man on the bass guitar, and another man on some form of percussion.
Following “Let Your Kingdom Come,” A member of the church came and had everyone follow in their Bibles as he read Esther 5 for the Old Testament reading of the morning. We then sang “I Will Sing the Wondrous Story,” and “Before the Throne.” Another member of GfBC led in the New Testament reading of the morning - 2 Corinthians chapter 7. We sang two more songs, “I Will Sing of My Redeemer” (Song of the month at GfBC), and “I Will Glory in My Redeemer.”
Upon the conclusion of these songs, Pastor Voddie began his message with a word of prayer. It is a tradition at GfBC, that the Sunday following the Semper Reformanda conference, a special message be dedicated to something pertaining to the conference. During the conference this weekend, GfBC announced that they are making their first church plant. Their goal is 10 church plants in 10 years. But as Pastor Voddie said, “this is our 3rd year and we are just now planting our first church.” He told the congregation to expect that these church plants might just begin to pick up!
The quesion Pastor Voddie’s message sought to answer was "Why is church planting a kingdom minded thing to do?" Pastor Voddie preached from Acts 1:6-8, which is just before Jesus ascends into heaven.
As their church has continued to grow every year, the elders at GfBC believe that it is time to plant a new church. Pastor Voddie explained that it is not God’s intention for everyone to gather together in one place, that’s why we see that God split up the early church in Acts chapter 2. Dr. Baucham put it this way, there is nothing sinful about a mega church, but it is not ideal for accomplishing God’s intended purpose for the church, and the FIC is designed for a smaller body of believers.
Dr. Baucham examined several options for GfBC. First, why not multiple services? His answer was that according to scripture we are to have “a gathering” not multiple gatherings. If we have multiple gatherings, then we have multiple churches. In addition, if they added multiple services, they would lose the fellowship and Acts 2 model of the church.
What about satellites? Pastor Voddie provided four reasons why he does not believe satellites are Biblical (at least as a long-term solution). First of all, once again we are to have “a gathering.” Second, it separates the preaching function of the elders from the shepherding function, because the main campus pastor does not shepherd. Third, a satellite is the epitome of the cult of personality. This basically means that with a mega church, the senior pastor becomes so indispensible that only he must be heard; he becomes a professional entertainer. Fourth, Baptists believe in congregational form of church government (everything is done with the local church body). There is no governing body as with the Anglicans or Catholics for example. But if a church decides to have satellites, the pastor of the main campus church becomes the head, much like a cardinal.
The last option would be to build bigger “barns.” But Dr. Baucham wisely pointed out that if a church did that, first of all, resources become a problem. If a church decides to build a bigger place, then it commits money that could have been spent on missions and benevolence, simply to accommodate the church’s own comfort. The second problem is, if the church wants to be about community, then fellowship becomes impossible.
So, what is the solution? Plant a new church, autonomous to and not overseen by the sister church. This is not the easiest, most comfortable choice to make. So, How does GfBC think about this church plant from a Biblical perspective? With these two things in mind, Dr. Baucham stated:
1) God has a purpose that is larger than you – Acts 1:6-11
“You are not the be all, end all in God’s plan!” said Pastor Voddie. We must recognize this lest we turn in on ourselves in selfishness and a desire for comfort, refusing to be part of God’s greater purposes.
2) God has a plan that includes you – Acts 1:8
We must pray that God will prepare hearts for revival and reformation, and that we would be willing to play the role God has for us in bringing it about.
3) God has a place that suits you – Acts 1:8
God has designed a particular spot where he wants us involved in Kingdom work. But how do we determine where that place is? Pastor Voddie gave at least three questions GfBC families should examine when trying to determine where God would have them serve:
a) Ask the question geographically
b) Think on it based on needs
c) Ask the question in terms of God’s calling
Dr. Baucham then said that the thing we are not to do is sit down with our favorite friends and families and figure out where they are going so we can all be together. That is not the goal. The goal is to bring the gospel to those who need it, and sometimes that requires us doing things which force us to step outside our comfort zone.
The message was so good, applying to GfBC members, but also to so many situations that we all find ourselves in; Dad and I bought a copy of it following the service! Upon the conclusion of the sermon, Pastor Renfro came and prepared for their weekly communion service. That’s right! They do communion every week, and in all honesty, I can’t think of any reason why a church should not. It forces us, every week, to make sure our relationships are right both horizontally and vertically. Scripture gives no indication as to how often communion is to be observed, but we do know that we are to do it to remember what Christ has done, and how undeserving we are to receive His precious gift of salvation.
However, GfBC observes the communion service a little differently. In accordance with the commands in scripture that we are not to partake of communion in an unworthy manner (1 Corinthians 11), and in recognition of the fact that the father is the head of his household (Ephesians 6), Paul Renfro had all the fathers take their families aside and pray with them as a family. During this time, families had an opportunity to confess sins with one another, and to God. For about 15 minutes, families were split up in little groups all over the gymnasium, praying with one another and confessing sins to one another. But in addition to confessing sins, this also gave the father an opportunity to determine if any of his children were not in a position to observe communion. First of all, if children had not yet expressed saving faith in Jesus Christ, or had not yet been baptized, then they were ineligible to participate in the memorial service. Second, if the father found sin in any of his children that had gone unconfused, then he could withhold communion from him, and thus prevent judgment from coming on his children for participating in an unworthy manner.
After the families had prayed together, they would then go to the back of the sanctuary and give their offering as a family. All families then returned to their seats and read 1 Corinthians chapter 11. At last, Pastor Renfro directed the deacons as they gave first the bread, then the cup, and we all ate and drank together. It was truly the most meaningful communion service I have ever been in!
When all this was complete, Pastor Renfro had a final word of prayer before we moved the chairs out of the way, brought in tables, moved the chairs back up against the tables, and shared a meal together! Dad and I both agreed that it was the largest potluck lunch we had ever seen! We shared wonderful conversation around the table; we discussed the sermon, the conference, and what we hope to do in response to what we’ve learned.
By the time Dad and I got back to the car it was 3:00pm!! Yet it was one of the most fulfilling services I have ever been to in my entire life, arguably the best! It felt like a New Testament gathering of believers, and after hearing it all week, it was so refreshing to see it all in action.
Anyhow, Dad and I are home now, but neither of us will ever forget this experience. It has been such a special conference, difficult to digest but even more difficult to apply. I pray that God will grant us the grace to determine how we can apply what we have learned in our own church body!
In Him,
Josh
I stood and chatted with these guys for several minutes, talking about the conference, what we’ve learned, and about problems with the modern church. Suddenly it was time to begin. Dad and I took our seats in the middle section, somewhat close to the front, and listened to Pastor Paul Renfro welcome everyone to the service. As I listened to him speak, I sat there in astonishment. I’d so long wanted to see a family integrated church in action, and ever since I heard of GfBC, it has literally been a dream to go, and here I was! Pastor Renfro made a few announcements before opening with prayer, in which he prayed for several select families of the church, a local, state, and national leader, and an unreached people group in Malaysia (1 Timothy 2:2).
Following the prayer, Trey Baucham (Dr. Baucham's son) led the congregation in reading three portions of the London Baptist Confession (GfBC’s confession of faith). This led directly into the first song, “Let Your Kingdom Come.” The time worshiping in song was one of the most worshipful experiences I’ve ever had. All concentration was on Christ, not on those playing instruments, though they played very skillfully. The worship leader was at the keyboard, and behind him was a man on the guitar, another man on the bass guitar, and another man on some form of percussion.
Following “Let Your Kingdom Come,” A member of the church came and had everyone follow in their Bibles as he read Esther 5 for the Old Testament reading of the morning. We then sang “I Will Sing the Wondrous Story,” and “Before the Throne.” Another member of GfBC led in the New Testament reading of the morning - 2 Corinthians chapter 7. We sang two more songs, “I Will Sing of My Redeemer” (Song of the month at GfBC), and “I Will Glory in My Redeemer.”
Upon the conclusion of these songs, Pastor Voddie began his message with a word of prayer. It is a tradition at GfBC, that the Sunday following the Semper Reformanda conference, a special message be dedicated to something pertaining to the conference. During the conference this weekend, GfBC announced that they are making their first church plant. Their goal is 10 church plants in 10 years. But as Pastor Voddie said, “this is our 3rd year and we are just now planting our first church.” He told the congregation to expect that these church plants might just begin to pick up!
The quesion Pastor Voddie’s message sought to answer was "Why is church planting a kingdom minded thing to do?" Pastor Voddie preached from Acts 1:6-8, which is just before Jesus ascends into heaven.
As their church has continued to grow every year, the elders at GfBC believe that it is time to plant a new church. Pastor Voddie explained that it is not God’s intention for everyone to gather together in one place, that’s why we see that God split up the early church in Acts chapter 2. Dr. Baucham put it this way, there is nothing sinful about a mega church, but it is not ideal for accomplishing God’s intended purpose for the church, and the FIC is designed for a smaller body of believers.
Dr. Baucham examined several options for GfBC. First, why not multiple services? His answer was that according to scripture we are to have “a gathering” not multiple gatherings. If we have multiple gatherings, then we have multiple churches. In addition, if they added multiple services, they would lose the fellowship and Acts 2 model of the church.
What about satellites? Pastor Voddie provided four reasons why he does not believe satellites are Biblical (at least as a long-term solution). First of all, once again we are to have “a gathering.” Second, it separates the preaching function of the elders from the shepherding function, because the main campus pastor does not shepherd. Third, a satellite is the epitome of the cult of personality. This basically means that with a mega church, the senior pastor becomes so indispensible that only he must be heard; he becomes a professional entertainer. Fourth, Baptists believe in congregational form of church government (everything is done with the local church body). There is no governing body as with the Anglicans or Catholics for example. But if a church decides to have satellites, the pastor of the main campus church becomes the head, much like a cardinal.
The last option would be to build bigger “barns.” But Dr. Baucham wisely pointed out that if a church did that, first of all, resources become a problem. If a church decides to build a bigger place, then it commits money that could have been spent on missions and benevolence, simply to accommodate the church’s own comfort. The second problem is, if the church wants to be about community, then fellowship becomes impossible.
So, what is the solution? Plant a new church, autonomous to and not overseen by the sister church. This is not the easiest, most comfortable choice to make. So, How does GfBC think about this church plant from a Biblical perspective? With these two things in mind, Dr. Baucham stated:
1) God has a purpose that is larger than you – Acts 1:6-11
“You are not the be all, end all in God’s plan!” said Pastor Voddie. We must recognize this lest we turn in on ourselves in selfishness and a desire for comfort, refusing to be part of God’s greater purposes.
2) God has a plan that includes you – Acts 1:8
We must pray that God will prepare hearts for revival and reformation, and that we would be willing to play the role God has for us in bringing it about.
3) God has a place that suits you – Acts 1:8
God has designed a particular spot where he wants us involved in Kingdom work. But how do we determine where that place is? Pastor Voddie gave at least three questions GfBC families should examine when trying to determine where God would have them serve:
a) Ask the question geographically
b) Think on it based on needs
c) Ask the question in terms of God’s calling
Dr. Baucham then said that the thing we are not to do is sit down with our favorite friends and families and figure out where they are going so we can all be together. That is not the goal. The goal is to bring the gospel to those who need it, and sometimes that requires us doing things which force us to step outside our comfort zone.
The message was so good, applying to GfBC members, but also to so many situations that we all find ourselves in; Dad and I bought a copy of it following the service! Upon the conclusion of the sermon, Pastor Renfro came and prepared for their weekly communion service. That’s right! They do communion every week, and in all honesty, I can’t think of any reason why a church should not. It forces us, every week, to make sure our relationships are right both horizontally and vertically. Scripture gives no indication as to how often communion is to be observed, but we do know that we are to do it to remember what Christ has done, and how undeserving we are to receive His precious gift of salvation.
However, GfBC observes the communion service a little differently. In accordance with the commands in scripture that we are not to partake of communion in an unworthy manner (1 Corinthians 11), and in recognition of the fact that the father is the head of his household (Ephesians 6), Paul Renfro had all the fathers take their families aside and pray with them as a family. During this time, families had an opportunity to confess sins with one another, and to God. For about 15 minutes, families were split up in little groups all over the gymnasium, praying with one another and confessing sins to one another. But in addition to confessing sins, this also gave the father an opportunity to determine if any of his children were not in a position to observe communion. First of all, if children had not yet expressed saving faith in Jesus Christ, or had not yet been baptized, then they were ineligible to participate in the memorial service. Second, if the father found sin in any of his children that had gone unconfused, then he could withhold communion from him, and thus prevent judgment from coming on his children for participating in an unworthy manner.
After the families had prayed together, they would then go to the back of the sanctuary and give their offering as a family. All families then returned to their seats and read 1 Corinthians chapter 11. At last, Pastor Renfro directed the deacons as they gave first the bread, then the cup, and we all ate and drank together. It was truly the most meaningful communion service I have ever been in!
When all this was complete, Pastor Renfro had a final word of prayer before we moved the chairs out of the way, brought in tables, moved the chairs back up against the tables, and shared a meal together! Dad and I both agreed that it was the largest potluck lunch we had ever seen! We shared wonderful conversation around the table; we discussed the sermon, the conference, and what we hope to do in response to what we’ve learned.
By the time Dad and I got back to the car it was 3:00pm!! Yet it was one of the most fulfilling services I have ever been to in my entire life, arguably the best! It felt like a New Testament gathering of believers, and after hearing it all week, it was so refreshing to see it all in action.
Anyhow, Dad and I are home now, but neither of us will ever forget this experience. It has been such a special conference, difficult to digest but even more difficult to apply. I pray that God will grant us the grace to determine how we can apply what we have learned in our own church body!
In Him,
Josh
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Day 2!
Yesterday’s sessions began with a bang and ended with a boom! Dr. Jones took the leadoff position and opened up the day with his key note message titled Three Perspectives on Family Ministry. And Dr. Baucham closed it out with a message that summed up the entire purpose of the conference; Preaching Christ in All of Scripture. There were 5 sessions yesterday and 1 Q&A panel during lunch, in which all of the speakers sat on stage and answered questions for about 30 minutes.
Dr. Jones began the day by explaining the three different types of family ministry; Family-Based Ministry, Family-Equipping Ministry, and Family-Integrated Ministry. But before describing these different types of ministries, Dr. Jones said that it should not be our goal to model another church’s ministry, because if we do, we are not modeling Christ, but a flawed ministry of man. According to Dr. Jones, every ministry has a story line behind it, not the history of the church, but its set of assumptions and beliefs and where those assumptions and beliefs came from. The current church today has been customized to replicate the world’s story line or the world’s model! What we have done with the church is similar to what the Israelites did when they built the golden calf; they invoked a story line from the culture around them. They turned to gods that were common of the people around them because they didn’t trust the one true God! In a similar manner, the church has taken the culture’s story line and implemented it in the church! So, what do we do? Dr. Jones presented 3 models of family ministry that are intended to help churches return to the authoritative Word of God. But before any transitioning can begin, Dr. Jones says that there are 5 questions that the church leadership must stop and ask:
1) Am I and the other leaders in the church doing what we are calling them to do? (If the church is asking fathers to accept their role as leaders in the home, then the church leaders must make sure they are doing the same).
2) Do I have a series of objectives that are drawn from scripture? (Break it down into small parts).
3) Do I have a plan in place to have parents acknowledging, training, and holding accountable?
4) Do I have a plan for spiritual Orphans and Widows? –Titus 2
5) Am I going to stay long enough for lasting change?
With those 5 questions, Dr. Jones then presented the three Christocentric models of family ministry. I will define each of these for you as he has defined them:
Family-Based Ministry:
Calls parents to engage actively in discipling their families through activities that bring generations together for service, learning, or community-building. Ministries remain segmented by age and life-stage. Activities bring generations together, often through events designates as mother/daughter, father/son, parents/children, youth/senior, and so on.
Family-Equiping Ministry
Calls parents to engage actively in discipling their families by developing a culture that, at every level, expects and equips parents to replicate or to reinforce at home what is learned at church. Ministries are reorganized and planning processes are reworked so that every aspect of each ministry resources, trains, or involves parents so that families become fundamental contexts for evangelism and discipleship.
Family-Integrated Ministry:
Calls parents to engage actively in discipling their families by eliminating systematic age-segregated activities and learning experiences. Church is completely intergenerational.
Following the morning key note, Dad and I both decided to go hear Dr. Jones’ session entitled Making the Transition. The main premise of this session was that the programmatic ministry model (age segregation) is a faulty broken model. Why? Because it is built upon false assumptions. In this session, Dr. Jones began by answering questions with regard to his keynote presentation. After at least 20 minutes of Q&A, Dr. Jones gave 6 additional things that our churches must learn to appreciate and do before a transition to family integration can take place:
1) We must re-present maturity as a desirable goal-conform to Christ.
2) We must re-envision the teenage years as preparation for maturity, not a time to step out of reality. How can we expect them to act like adults when they become adults if we are letting them act like kids while they are young adults?
3) We must develop milestones to move our children toward Christian maturity.
4) We must give child training (Children must be viewed as a blessing, not a burden, and parents must learn how to raise Godly men and women).
5) We must develop programs that help adolescents have respect and love for intergenerational relationships. [Don’t think of this as an “efficient” (see last night’s post) curriculum based program].
6) We must celebrate marriage and family as God has designed it.
For the second break out session of the day, Dad and I split up. I decided to listen to Voddie Baucham’s session Church and Family Synergism in Discipleship. Dr. Baucham defined for us the proper balance between the church and the family in discipling believers. How are young men and women to act? What role are the elderly to play in the lives of the young men and women in the church? To answer these questions and many more, Dr. Baucham had us turn to Titus chapter 2 - specifically verses 1-5. In verse 2, Dr. Baucham pointed out the verb “be.” “Older men are to BE sober minded.” His argument was that not only do men have to be old to teach our younger men, but that in addition they must have character. The verb “be” implies something that is developed. Therefore, we must have old men of character and maturity teaching our younger men. According to this passage, Dr. Baucham rightly stated that godly men and women are to be an instrument for discipleship, not discipleship that supersedes that of the parents, but discipleship that confirms that which the parents are instilling in their children.
Also, as you read through Titus 2:1-6,notice that there are requirements for older men (vs.2), older women (vs. 3), Younger women (vs. 4), but when we get to younger men (vs. 6), all we get is self controlled; there is no list. Why is there no list? In Dr. Baucham’s own words, “I’m glad you asked! He suggested Titus 1, which gives us the list of requirements for Elders, is a list to which every Christian man is to seek to aspire. Therefore, in light of chapter 1, there are three reasons why there is not list for young men in chapter 2. First, he gave us a typical logical Voddie Baucham response: “There is no list in chapter 2!” Second, Elders are to be examples to the flock – Titus 1. And third, there is nothing in Titus 1 that we would be willing to give up for our own sons! Look through the list in Titus 1 and try to identify one thing in that list that you would not want your son to have! You can’t!
Dr. Baucham takes this a step farther and says that the character of our young men is also determined by the men that the father likes to be with. But not only that. In his own words, “We are making a statement of what we believe about Biblical manhood by who we have as our pastor!” If he is afraid to preach the Word of God, afraid to speak the truth, then he is not a godly example of biblical masculinity to our young men!
Dr. Baucham said, “Children are not being taught in their home! They are being taught by non-biblically qualified elders, and godly mature men and women are not being seen or respected! Instead, young people share their ignorance with their peers.” With tears streaming down his face, Dr. Baucham kept driving his point home. He said that so many young people don’t even know when an elderly person in their church has died, much less care!
So, to summarize Dr. Voddie’s message, I would say that if you want to know what biblical synergy must be in the church and home, it is found in Tutus chapter 1 and chapter 2.
The last break out session that dad and I attended was Designing a Biblical Order of Worship. Richard Rector and Stephen Bratton, music directors at Grace Family Baptist Church (GfBC), taught this session. Their main argument was that Biblical worship is a return to Sola Scriptura, and that there are two methods of worship; the regulative method and normative method. The regulative method argues for worshiping as mandated by scripture, while the normative method argues that if scripture doesn’t speak against it, it must be okay to do it. The normative method is very common today. So many worship leaders lead their congregations in songs that are popular among the church at large instead of singing songs that they believe are theological and biblical. In Richard Rector’s own words, “Test the things that are said in other churches and determine for yourself if it is Biblical...Don’t depend on someone else’s particularity for your gospel; do it because it is Biblical!”
We must return to a scripture based form of worship. And with that in mind, Mr. Rector gave three key points to establishing a Biblical form of worship:
1) The Elements of Worhip
a) Read the Word
b) Sing the Word
c) Pray the Word
d) Preach the Word
e) See the Word in the sacraments
2) Substance of Corporate Worship – All that is said and done should be in accordance with solid, Biblical doctrine.
3) Forms of Worship – Not the same thing week after week
4) Circumstances of Worship – What time will the service start etc...These are things that are not written out in scripture but none the less, we know from scripture what we should and should not do.
After Mr. Rector presented these four points, he and Mr. Bratton walked us through a Sunday morning at GfBC; but I will be blogging about that experience tomorrow, so check back!!
By the time this last break out session ended, we had about 10 minutes before Dr. Baucham presented the last key note session of the conference. We both bought a few resources before piling into the auditorium to hear Dr. Baucham Speak on Preaching Christ in All of Scripture. And let me just say in advance, I will not get ANYWHERE near doing him justice by summarizing his message! NOWHERE near! HE ROCKED THE HOUSE, with a message that addressed the entire underpinning argument of the conference; the gospel must be preached!
Dr. Baucham began by arguing that from Genesis to Revelation, with every book, and even with every Bible character, we must preach in a Christocentric way. But before going into his main points of the evening, he thought it best to go ahead and address a couple of myths about the FIC.
Myth #1: The FIC waters down theology because of the children present in the service
Myth #2: The FIC always talks about the family. In his own words, “Who could come up with that many lessons on the family?”
This led into his first point which was:
First, We Preach the Gospel – It doesn’t matter if we preach through the Old or New Testament, through an epistle or through a book of law, through a gospel or through a book of prophecy, we must preach the gospel!
Second, We Practice Systematic Exposition – When reading or preaching scripture, the FIC does not preach or read according to topic of the day, instead it preaches through books of the Bible and its people read through books of the Bible, so that the flock is fed properly, and theologically.
Third, We do it all with a Redemptive Historical Hermeneutic – The entire Bible is ALL about Jesus; it is one long story.
Dr. Baucham does not believe that preaching morals or character traits that we can gain from Biblical characters is the biblical method of preaching. Just read through the epistles and you’ll see that even when the apostles preached about great figures of the faith, they drew all their points back to Christ, not to the faulty character of man! Why would we desire to be like any other than our perfect, sinless savior? Something that Dr. Bacuham said that resonated in my mind as it bounced off the walls and sunk into the hearts of everyone in the room is, “If we are not preaching what God has done in the person and work of Jesus Christ, we are not preaching the gospel!”
However, Dr. Baucham clarifies that this does not in the least mean that we don’t address other issues, but that when we do, we address it in reference to the gospel. “In light of 1 Peter 2 and 1 Peter 3” Dr. Baucham said, “We should be ready to preach the gospel even if it costs us our lives!” The entire purpose of the FIC is not to preach about families, but to preach the gospel. Dr. Baucham points out that family integration is about discipling; discipling is about preaching the great commission; and the great commission is about Christ. See! It all goes back to Him!
What is this gospel we are to be preaching?
First of all, the gospel does not rely on the effectiveness of man for the effectiveness to save. In our humanistic culture, the church has adopted the view that the preacher has to appeal to the people so he can move the men. If we buy this lie, then we begin to measure men by their success and not by their faithfulness. The gospel is the POWER OF GOD FOR SALVATION, NOT THE POWER OF MAN!!! Yet we seem to think that the only way we can win people to Christ is if we have a “gifted,” “professional,” “efficient” preacher! This shows our lack of faith and trust in God! The person presenting the gospel is just the agent who brings the message of salvation, not the means through which it comes!
Second, failing to preach the gospel leads to misplaced faith – 1 Corinthians 2:5. It leads to legalism or works righteousness, which, in our flesh, is what we want! When we study a character such as Abraham, and get a list of a few things that we need to do better, all we are doing is, in Dr. Baucham’s own words, “Flexing our works-righteousness muscle.” If we preach character traits of these characters, all we are doing is saying that we can make our standing better with God by working on a few little things, that we can make ourselves more righteous by doing 1 or 2 things.
The other thing that we have to be careful not to do is turn passages of scripture into moralisms. As Dr. Baucham said, “If all you want is moralisms then go get Aesop’s Fables! But don’t do that to Scripture!” We don’t read Scripture so we can learn a few morals, we read so we can see the redemptive plan of God through all of history.
Not only should we avoid self righteousness and moralisms, but we should also avoid allegories where they are not intended in Scripture. We should not look at passages in proverbs, for example, and say “This must symbolize the cross, this must symbolize the grave etc...” The Bible does use allegories, and there are plenty of places where they are used, but we should not apply allgories where they were never intended. In the end, the gospel is all we have! We have nothing else! Thus everything we preach must be Christ centered!
Upon the conclusion of his message, instead of erupting in applause and a standing ovation, the auditorium became stone silent. With the exception of a few babies crying, there was virtually no noise in the entire room! God used Dr. Baucham in such a powerful way to present a message that was so good, and so true, that it had sunk into the hearts of everyone and left us speechless!
Once again, if you possibly can, try and come next year! I think it will only get better :)
I should have something posted about the worship service at GfBC tomorrow, so check back!
In Christ’s Love,
Josh
Dr. Jones began the day by explaining the three different types of family ministry; Family-Based Ministry, Family-Equipping Ministry, and Family-Integrated Ministry. But before describing these different types of ministries, Dr. Jones said that it should not be our goal to model another church’s ministry, because if we do, we are not modeling Christ, but a flawed ministry of man. According to Dr. Jones, every ministry has a story line behind it, not the history of the church, but its set of assumptions and beliefs and where those assumptions and beliefs came from. The current church today has been customized to replicate the world’s story line or the world’s model! What we have done with the church is similar to what the Israelites did when they built the golden calf; they invoked a story line from the culture around them. They turned to gods that were common of the people around them because they didn’t trust the one true God! In a similar manner, the church has taken the culture’s story line and implemented it in the church! So, what do we do? Dr. Jones presented 3 models of family ministry that are intended to help churches return to the authoritative Word of God. But before any transitioning can begin, Dr. Jones says that there are 5 questions that the church leadership must stop and ask:
1) Am I and the other leaders in the church doing what we are calling them to do? (If the church is asking fathers to accept their role as leaders in the home, then the church leaders must make sure they are doing the same).
2) Do I have a series of objectives that are drawn from scripture? (Break it down into small parts).
3) Do I have a plan in place to have parents acknowledging, training, and holding accountable?
4) Do I have a plan for spiritual Orphans and Widows? –Titus 2
5) Am I going to stay long enough for lasting change?
With those 5 questions, Dr. Jones then presented the three Christocentric models of family ministry. I will define each of these for you as he has defined them:
Family-Based Ministry:
Calls parents to engage actively in discipling their families through activities that bring generations together for service, learning, or community-building. Ministries remain segmented by age and life-stage. Activities bring generations together, often through events designates as mother/daughter, father/son, parents/children, youth/senior, and so on.
Family-Equiping Ministry
Calls parents to engage actively in discipling their families by developing a culture that, at every level, expects and equips parents to replicate or to reinforce at home what is learned at church. Ministries are reorganized and planning processes are reworked so that every aspect of each ministry resources, trains, or involves parents so that families become fundamental contexts for evangelism and discipleship.
Family-Integrated Ministry:
Calls parents to engage actively in discipling their families by eliminating systematic age-segregated activities and learning experiences. Church is completely intergenerational.
Following the morning key note, Dad and I both decided to go hear Dr. Jones’ session entitled Making the Transition. The main premise of this session was that the programmatic ministry model (age segregation) is a faulty broken model. Why? Because it is built upon false assumptions. In this session, Dr. Jones began by answering questions with regard to his keynote presentation. After at least 20 minutes of Q&A, Dr. Jones gave 6 additional things that our churches must learn to appreciate and do before a transition to family integration can take place:
1) We must re-present maturity as a desirable goal-conform to Christ.
2) We must re-envision the teenage years as preparation for maturity, not a time to step out of reality. How can we expect them to act like adults when they become adults if we are letting them act like kids while they are young adults?
3) We must develop milestones to move our children toward Christian maturity.
4) We must give child training (Children must be viewed as a blessing, not a burden, and parents must learn how to raise Godly men and women).
5) We must develop programs that help adolescents have respect and love for intergenerational relationships. [Don’t think of this as an “efficient” (see last night’s post) curriculum based program].
6) We must celebrate marriage and family as God has designed it.
For the second break out session of the day, Dad and I split up. I decided to listen to Voddie Baucham’s session Church and Family Synergism in Discipleship. Dr. Baucham defined for us the proper balance between the church and the family in discipling believers. How are young men and women to act? What role are the elderly to play in the lives of the young men and women in the church? To answer these questions and many more, Dr. Baucham had us turn to Titus chapter 2 - specifically verses 1-5. In verse 2, Dr. Baucham pointed out the verb “be.” “Older men are to BE sober minded.” His argument was that not only do men have to be old to teach our younger men, but that in addition they must have character. The verb “be” implies something that is developed. Therefore, we must have old men of character and maturity teaching our younger men. According to this passage, Dr. Baucham rightly stated that godly men and women are to be an instrument for discipleship, not discipleship that supersedes that of the parents, but discipleship that confirms that which the parents are instilling in their children.
Also, as you read through Titus 2:1-6,notice that there are requirements for older men (vs.2), older women (vs. 3), Younger women (vs. 4), but when we get to younger men (vs. 6), all we get is self controlled; there is no list. Why is there no list? In Dr. Baucham’s own words, “I’m glad you asked! He suggested Titus 1, which gives us the list of requirements for Elders, is a list to which every Christian man is to seek to aspire. Therefore, in light of chapter 1, there are three reasons why there is not list for young men in chapter 2. First, he gave us a typical logical Voddie Baucham response: “There is no list in chapter 2!” Second, Elders are to be examples to the flock – Titus 1. And third, there is nothing in Titus 1 that we would be willing to give up for our own sons! Look through the list in Titus 1 and try to identify one thing in that list that you would not want your son to have! You can’t!
Dr. Baucham takes this a step farther and says that the character of our young men is also determined by the men that the father likes to be with. But not only that. In his own words, “We are making a statement of what we believe about Biblical manhood by who we have as our pastor!” If he is afraid to preach the Word of God, afraid to speak the truth, then he is not a godly example of biblical masculinity to our young men!
Dr. Baucham said, “Children are not being taught in their home! They are being taught by non-biblically qualified elders, and godly mature men and women are not being seen or respected! Instead, young people share their ignorance with their peers.” With tears streaming down his face, Dr. Baucham kept driving his point home. He said that so many young people don’t even know when an elderly person in their church has died, much less care!
So, to summarize Dr. Voddie’s message, I would say that if you want to know what biblical synergy must be in the church and home, it is found in Tutus chapter 1 and chapter 2.
The last break out session that dad and I attended was Designing a Biblical Order of Worship. Richard Rector and Stephen Bratton, music directors at Grace Family Baptist Church (GfBC), taught this session. Their main argument was that Biblical worship is a return to Sola Scriptura, and that there are two methods of worship; the regulative method and normative method. The regulative method argues for worshiping as mandated by scripture, while the normative method argues that if scripture doesn’t speak against it, it must be okay to do it. The normative method is very common today. So many worship leaders lead their congregations in songs that are popular among the church at large instead of singing songs that they believe are theological and biblical. In Richard Rector’s own words, “Test the things that are said in other churches and determine for yourself if it is Biblical...Don’t depend on someone else’s particularity for your gospel; do it because it is Biblical!”
We must return to a scripture based form of worship. And with that in mind, Mr. Rector gave three key points to establishing a Biblical form of worship:
1) The Elements of Worhip
a) Read the Word
b) Sing the Word
c) Pray the Word
d) Preach the Word
e) See the Word in the sacraments
2) Substance of Corporate Worship – All that is said and done should be in accordance with solid, Biblical doctrine.
3) Forms of Worship – Not the same thing week after week
4) Circumstances of Worship – What time will the service start etc...These are things that are not written out in scripture but none the less, we know from scripture what we should and should not do.
After Mr. Rector presented these four points, he and Mr. Bratton walked us through a Sunday morning at GfBC; but I will be blogging about that experience tomorrow, so check back!!
By the time this last break out session ended, we had about 10 minutes before Dr. Baucham presented the last key note session of the conference. We both bought a few resources before piling into the auditorium to hear Dr. Baucham Speak on Preaching Christ in All of Scripture. And let me just say in advance, I will not get ANYWHERE near doing him justice by summarizing his message! NOWHERE near! HE ROCKED THE HOUSE, with a message that addressed the entire underpinning argument of the conference; the gospel must be preached!
Dr. Baucham began by arguing that from Genesis to Revelation, with every book, and even with every Bible character, we must preach in a Christocentric way. But before going into his main points of the evening, he thought it best to go ahead and address a couple of myths about the FIC.
Myth #1: The FIC waters down theology because of the children present in the service
Myth #2: The FIC always talks about the family. In his own words, “Who could come up with that many lessons on the family?”
This led into his first point which was:
First, We Preach the Gospel – It doesn’t matter if we preach through the Old or New Testament, through an epistle or through a book of law, through a gospel or through a book of prophecy, we must preach the gospel!
Second, We Practice Systematic Exposition – When reading or preaching scripture, the FIC does not preach or read according to topic of the day, instead it preaches through books of the Bible and its people read through books of the Bible, so that the flock is fed properly, and theologically.
Third, We do it all with a Redemptive Historical Hermeneutic – The entire Bible is ALL about Jesus; it is one long story.
Dr. Baucham does not believe that preaching morals or character traits that we can gain from Biblical characters is the biblical method of preaching. Just read through the epistles and you’ll see that even when the apostles preached about great figures of the faith, they drew all their points back to Christ, not to the faulty character of man! Why would we desire to be like any other than our perfect, sinless savior? Something that Dr. Bacuham said that resonated in my mind as it bounced off the walls and sunk into the hearts of everyone in the room is, “If we are not preaching what God has done in the person and work of Jesus Christ, we are not preaching the gospel!”
However, Dr. Baucham clarifies that this does not in the least mean that we don’t address other issues, but that when we do, we address it in reference to the gospel. “In light of 1 Peter 2 and 1 Peter 3” Dr. Baucham said, “We should be ready to preach the gospel even if it costs us our lives!” The entire purpose of the FIC is not to preach about families, but to preach the gospel. Dr. Baucham points out that family integration is about discipling; discipling is about preaching the great commission; and the great commission is about Christ. See! It all goes back to Him!
What is this gospel we are to be preaching?
First of all, the gospel does not rely on the effectiveness of man for the effectiveness to save. In our humanistic culture, the church has adopted the view that the preacher has to appeal to the people so he can move the men. If we buy this lie, then we begin to measure men by their success and not by their faithfulness. The gospel is the POWER OF GOD FOR SALVATION, NOT THE POWER OF MAN!!! Yet we seem to think that the only way we can win people to Christ is if we have a “gifted,” “professional,” “efficient” preacher! This shows our lack of faith and trust in God! The person presenting the gospel is just the agent who brings the message of salvation, not the means through which it comes!
Second, failing to preach the gospel leads to misplaced faith – 1 Corinthians 2:5. It leads to legalism or works righteousness, which, in our flesh, is what we want! When we study a character such as Abraham, and get a list of a few things that we need to do better, all we are doing is, in Dr. Baucham’s own words, “Flexing our works-righteousness muscle.” If we preach character traits of these characters, all we are doing is saying that we can make our standing better with God by working on a few little things, that we can make ourselves more righteous by doing 1 or 2 things.
The other thing that we have to be careful not to do is turn passages of scripture into moralisms. As Dr. Baucham said, “If all you want is moralisms then go get Aesop’s Fables! But don’t do that to Scripture!” We don’t read Scripture so we can learn a few morals, we read so we can see the redemptive plan of God through all of history.
Not only should we avoid self righteousness and moralisms, but we should also avoid allegories where they are not intended in Scripture. We should not look at passages in proverbs, for example, and say “This must symbolize the cross, this must symbolize the grave etc...” The Bible does use allegories, and there are plenty of places where they are used, but we should not apply allgories where they were never intended. In the end, the gospel is all we have! We have nothing else! Thus everything we preach must be Christ centered!
Upon the conclusion of his message, instead of erupting in applause and a standing ovation, the auditorium became stone silent. With the exception of a few babies crying, there was virtually no noise in the entire room! God used Dr. Baucham in such a powerful way to present a message that was so good, and so true, that it had sunk into the hearts of everyone and left us speechless!
Once again, if you possibly can, try and come next year! I think it will only get better :)
I should have something posted about the worship service at GfBC tomorrow, so check back!
In Christ’s Love,
Josh
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