SOS Synopsis; Day 2!

As I walked through the doors the next morning, one of the first things I heard from Dr. Voddie Baucham was, “It is Biblically indefensible to send your kids to government schools.” Both public education and the church have so indoctrinated us into feminism. How so? It’s not necessarily because we have weak men who won’t stand up and accept their god-given roles as leaders, as much as it is women usurping the man’s role; feminism was born while men were being men. This happened because women were sick and tired of the male functioning in his god-given role as the leader, so they overtook education, knowing that if they could indoctrinate the minds of young people across this land into a feminist mind set, accomplishing their agenda of role equality would be that much easier. Now, this isn’t the only reason we shouldn’t send our kids to government schools, but as Dr. Baucham pointed out this has feminized our men and trained our women to be men who just so happen to be biologically capable of having babies.

Unfortunately, the church has and is doing the same thing. Much of the modern church today is allowing women to assume leadership roles in the church, which biblically they are not qualified to assume, thus feminizing the church, its ministries, and its men.

The premise of Dr. Baucham’s keynote session was that the Scripture is sufficient to define manhood and womanhood. Feminism has taken a deadly toll on both our men and women in a number of ways:

· Masculanized Girls
· Feminized Boys
· Delayed/Confused Marriages
· Plummeting Birth Rates
· Abortion
a. Feminism’s goal is egalitarianism. Thus, its goal is to eliminate ALL differences between men and women (i.e. women should not be having babies if they want egalitarianism).
· Gender Confusion
· An Epidemic of Unprotected Women
· Normalization of Single Parent Homes
· The Acceptance of Homosexuality

Sadly, each one of the above epidemics is being accepted by people like you and I because of our indoctrination into feminism. So, what is the result?

1. Marriage Patterns that do not portray the relationship between Christ and His church
a. Jesus valued marriage so much that He compared it to His own relationship to the church. Thus, if we begin to redefine the roles men and women are to play in the church and family, we are perverting and redefining the gospel!
2. Parenting practices that do not train boys to be masculine and girls to be feminine.
3. Homosexual tendencies and increasing attempts to justify homosexual alliances.
4. Patterns of unbiblical female leadership in the church that reflect and promote the confusion over the true meaning of manhood and womanhood.
a. Dr. Baucham paused at this point and said something I don’t think I’ll ever forget. He explained how we make exegetical mistakes by saying that women should be able to assume leadership positions in the church if they feel called or if they have particular gifts for a certain leadership position. He said, “People say, ‘if a woman has passion and gifts, she should exercise those gifts and override Scripture!’” To which Dr. Baucham’s response was, “What if I have a passion and a gift for polygamy?! Does that, somehow, make it Biblical?”

Then what do we do? Do we just sit around and suck our thumb and reflect on the bliss of the good ole days when men were men and women were women? Dr. Baucham provides an answer to that question by evaluating the life of Adam prior to the fall.

1. Adam had a commitment to God-Honoring work (Genesis 2:15)
a. Yes, in the most perfect pristine environment God said that man must work. The fall simply made the work laborious, and though Eve was Adam’s suitable helper, we are given no indication in scripture that she labored with him.
2. Adam had a commitment to the law of God
3. Adam had a commitment to the family
a. A young man ought to grow up committed to his family of origin. Only when he “leaves and cleaves,” does he set his own vision.

Dr. Baucham closed his message with this statement as he walked off the stage, “Remember, I don’t write the mail, I just deliver it; if you’ve got a problem, take it up with the author.”


I went to several breakout sessions that day, but the one that stuck out to me the most was Geoffrey Botkins’, Applying the Sufficiency of Scripture in the Botkin Family. Mr. Botkin began by asking a simple question, “What happened to the American family?” His answer was one I fully expected; fathers ceased applying and entrusting the Scripture to their families. As a result, the family lost its cultural authority. That’s the American family, but why do most Christian families fail to apply Scripture in and to the family?

1. Most humanistic traditions of men separate Scripture from the family.

And so, the application becomes unnecessary.

Unfortunately, I was not able to finish writing down his second point before it was gone, but he essentially stressed the great need for us to obey the Scriptures. Mr. Botkin said that he tells his sons often, “You open the Bible and find something to obey.” Continuing, “There can be no life without revelation and obedience...The only rule for faith and practice is Scripture, nor can there be Christian civilization without it.”

So, how should Scripture be applied to the family?

1. As the primary imperative
2. As a stewardship of vast custodial powers
3. As the discharge of sacred duty of the dominion mission, guarding the most mature responsibility of marriage – Proverbs 13:13, Micah 6:7-8, Genesis 18:19, Luke 1:16-17
Mr. Botkin then pointed to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and said that Scripture is sufficient for doctrine. As Christians, we are to be legally minded in how we live out our lives, because Scripture is to be applied in every area of life:

· Orthodoxy
· Sovereignty and dominion
· Theonomy/law/freedom
· Jurisdictional Analysis
· Providence and belief
· Antithesis and the battles of our day
· Presupposition apologetics
· Patriarchy
a. A patriarch has influential children; a dynasty that lasts a long time through obedience (or delight) in his commandments – Psalm 112:1-3.

Mr. Joe Morecraft was our first keynote speaker on Friday evening. Mr. Morecraft’s session was entitled, Is the Sufficiency of Scripture a Biblical Doctrine? “It is unbiblical,” Mr. Morecraft said “to say that Scripture is all we have and all we need.” Now, I’ll be perfectly honest with you, I squirmed in my seat at this statement because this was my honest view of the sufficiency of Scripture. However, what followed put my uneasiness to rest. If our view is that Scripture is all we have and all we need, then we forget the good Christian books and pastors. In other words, if we believe Scripture is all we have and all we need, we discard all other outside sources, including pastors and books and in autonomy proclaim, “All I need is me, my Bible and the Spirit! That’s it!”

Now, before you get too excited, Mr. Morecraft defined true sufficiency of Scripture as everything we need to live for God and worship Him. However, some things around worship (i.e. What time will we meet for church? Will we sit in a chair or will we stand?), are left to Christian prudence. Expounding, Mr. Morecraft made several other points about the Sufficiency of Scripture:

· The Bible is the divinely authoritative Word of God.
· It speaks to EVERYTHING.
a. It might not speak directly to a particular situation but its truth still speaks to that situation.
· EVERYTHING must subject itself to the Holy Spirit speaking in and through the Word of God.
· It is our only rule of faith and obedience.
· There is no room for additions or subtractions to its contents.
· It’s applicable to every situation in life.
· It provides us with a perfect gospel.
· It provides us with true and workable solutions.
· It provides us a complete system of law.
· It deals with ALL the practical issues of life.

Thus, Mr. Morecraft’s conclusion is this, “All a person needs is the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and God-ordained aids to understand Scripture.”

Last, our family had the pleasure of listening to Mr. Scott Brown address The Sufficiency of Scripture for Ministry to Youth. In one of his opening statements, Mr. Brown made a clarification about the NCFIC, “We are not rejecting ministry to youth, but we must do it in compliance with the Scriptures.” From here, Mr. Brown put up an excellent defense of the church’s role in ministry to youth:

1. Youth ministry is a well-developed theme in Scripture.
2. Scripture shows the consequences of neglect of youth ministry.
3. Ministry to youth must conform to Scriptural patterns and precepts.
a. i.e. AGE-INTEGRATION not age-segregation.
4. The family has the primary responsibility for ministry to youth
a. Under this point, Mr. Brown stated, with regard to biblical youth ministry, “Vibrant youth ministry is a vibrant marriage.” He supported this claim with Malicah 2:15.
b. In addition, Malicah 4:6 encourages fathers to turn their hearts to their children, and children to turn their hearts to their fathers. This should constitute a major part of youth ministry.
c. Family worship is a key element to ministry to youth.
5. The church has specific duties for ministry to youth.
6. The content of the instructions in ministry to youth is specified in Scripture.
7. Generational faithfulness is emphasized in biblical ministry to youth.

That doesn’t do Mr. Brown justice, but it is a summary of his biblical defense for ministry to youth. However, from this point, Mr. Brown moved into phase two: Characteristics of Modern Youth Ministry.

1. This invention has significant financial resources dedicated to it.
2. Significant personnel are allocated to sustain it.
3. Major cottage industries have grown up around it.
4. Church leaders set aside the comments of God for church and family life in order to grow it.

What are the effects of this movement?

1. Fathers are eliminated from it.
2. Worldly practices were used to popularize it.
3. Cultural fragmentation is used to unify it.
4. Evangelistic impotence is the result.

Hence, here are some necessary questions we must ask:

1. Is it Biblical? – No
2. Did the philosophy originate from godly or worldly philosophy
a. It came from educational revolutionaries (Mann, Dewy, Rousseau, Hall etc...)
3. Does it produce good fruit?
a. Youth ministry is a weed that has gained root in the church so that when you pull on it you pull on everything else in the church.

As you can see, the first point above says that it is not biblical. Why? Let me let Mr. Brown help you. Unfortunately, I missed several of his points because my pen was moving so quickly ;-) but I was able to get the majority of them:

1. No evidence that this practice ever did exist.
2. Not commanded by God.
3. It is a methodological contradiction to clearly defined biblical principles.
4. It is contrary to the ministry and patterns of Christ.
5. It is Contrary to discipleship principles found in Proverbs 13:20.
6. It involves the creation of church officers not ordained by God.
7. Turns children’s hearts away from fathers and to the peers and youth ministers.
8. Divisive to the church by creating generational division and multiple churches instead of a unified body.
9. It inhibits the discipleship process.

This was the best exhortation on the church’s role in ministry to youth I believe I have ever heard! Mr. Brown wrapped this bad boy up with a statement that stuck with me, “The philosophy of modern youth ministry is indisputably unbiblical in its pattern, unchristian in its authority, and destructive in its impact.”

As always, getting to hear these guys live is so much better! No amount of note taking can ever fully demonstrate just how truly awesome these men are! At the very least, I hope it is giving you just a taste of how powerful this conference was. If you have the time, take the journey over to Mr. Phillips blog and check out some pictures of the conference.

Be back soon with Day 3!

Sola Scriptura!
Josh