Ars Theologica

The Rev. F. Scott Petersen Scholarship Fund

2010-03-08T22:22:00.024-05:00

Scott was the first son of the Reformed Church of Prince Bay in 100 years to enter into ordained ministry. Today, however, there are 4 men from Scott's home church attending seminary.

Our family is honored that the consistory has established the Rev. F. Scott Petersen Fund to provide scholarships for seminarians from this church and that this will be an ongoing fund.

If you would like to contribute, please make your check payable to The Reformed Church of Prince Bay, write Rev. F. Scott Petersen Fund in the memo line, and mail to:

The Reformed Church of Prince Bay

239 Seguine Avenue

Staten Island, NY 10309

Scott's Sermons

2008-03-03T23:08:00.004-05:00

If you would like to listen to Scott's sermons, you will find them in the archives where they were originally posted: January-September 2006, and January-March 2007.

Memorial Service

2007-08-15T09:02:00.001-04:00

This is the audio from the Memorial Service for Reverend F. Scott Petersen held at the Fairfield Reformed Church on Tuesday - August 7, 2007.

The main speaker is Scott's friend, Pastor Scott Nichols, with additional remembrances from the Rev. Peter Butler and Fairfield Reformed Church Elder Gus Matarazzo.

1963 - 2007 - Eternity

2007-08-05T13:44:00.000-04:00

The author of this blog has gone to meet the Author of Life.

On Saturday morning, the Rev. Franklin Scott Petersen passed from this world into eternity following unsuccessful surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain. Prayers are requested for his beloved wife, Deb and his two daughters, Emily and Sarah.

This quote from famed evangelist D.L Moody is an appropriate one.

"Someday you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of Northfield is dead. Don't you believe a word of it. At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall have gone higher, that is all--out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal, a body that sin cannot touch, that sin cannot taint, a body fashioned like His glorious body. I was born in the flesh in 1837; I was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which is born of the flesh may die; that which is born of the Spirit will live forever."

This blog will remain open for a time as a testament to Scott's faith and faithfulness so that "by faith he being dead may yet speak..."

Just News

2007-07-23T15:31:00.000-04:00

I don't have much new to write about because the steroids I am on (which end Thursday!) make it hard to read new material (including Harry Potter!). I was able to attend church yesterday for the first time in a quite a while. I hope return to preaching the last Sunday in August. It all depends on my strength and clarity of mind. By September, things should be better. So far so good. What delayed my return to ministry was a reaction to the chemotherapy which produced high fevers. I am being tapered off the steroids, and so far no fevers. I still tire easily, but my appetite is increasing and I can walk with ease for short distances. That's it for now.

2007-07-10T14:17:00.000-04:00

I thought when I went home in June, I would begin the healing process. Little did I know that I would be hospitalized two more times for fever. After numerous tests, it was determined that I either had an unknown virus or more likely, an inflammatory response to the high dose chemo. Last week they put me on steroids which got rid of the fevers and allowed me to come home. Hopefully I will now have the opportunity to finally heal. I will be on the steriods for nearly a month.

The struggle now is with tiredness, boredom, and the inability to read (steroids make your eyes blurry). I greatly appreciate the prayers and cards. God bless you all.

Home

2007-06-14T17:41:00.000-04:00

My transplant doctor sent me home on Tuesday. Home is a wonderful thing. I am done with all my treatments, and now the doctors will keep a decreasing eye on me over the next two years. I am very weak (anemic), and cold most of the time. It should take about a month to get back to some semblance of normalcy. In the meantime, I watch tv and nap. Reading even magazines is too much for me. I can't wait to feel normal again. Thanks again for all the prayers and good will. It means a lot.

I Have My Cells Back

2007-06-02T16:24:00.000-04:00

My harvested stem cells have been returned to me as of yesterday. Now I must endure two weeks of sitting in a clinic at Hackensack University Medical Center for about 8 hours a day, as I am being "watched" by nurses. They take vital signs and feed us. The goal is of course to come home, which cannot come soon enough. In the meatime, I appreciate all the prayers, the blood and platelet donations, and good thoughts. The great enemy for me is a wearisome tedium. Sitting in a chair for 8 hours is maddening. Activity swirls around you, and just when sleep arrives, so does the nurse. So I will try and read, pray, do what I can, and dream of home. My evening accommodations are at least comfortable - the Hilton. At least it's not winter...

Medical Update

2007-05-21T12:47:00.001-04:00

On Wednesday I will be entering Hackensack University Medical Center for the final phase of my treatment for leukemia. I will be receiving high dose chemotherapy for eight days, then my harvested stem-cells will be returned to me, and then I will be under observation for about two weeks, until my counts are high enough for me to be sent home. My immune system will need several months to recuperate, but I hope to be back in the pulpit again in July or August.

I don't yet know if my hospital room has an internet connection, so don't be alarmed if I don't post here for a while. I continue to be blessed with the prayers and encouragement of many people and churches, and covet them now more than ever. God bless.

What Jerry Falwell Did

2007-05-17T08:58:00.000-04:00

Certain newspaper columnists (e.g., Christopher Hitchens and Jonathan Alter) have decried the many faults of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. He was lambasted as a bigot, a homophobe, and the embodiment of evangelical self-righteous hypocrisy. Yet as I reflect on his life, I see a man who did a great deal of good for the Lord and God's people. As a Calvinist I disagreed with parts of his theology, but he remained an orthodox, Bible-believing servant, who brought to our nation's attention the precipitous moral decline which began in the licentious 1960's.

Here are some facts not often noted in the news:
1. He started a church with 35 people, and which now numbers 22,000.
2. He started a small Bible college, and which is now an impressive university.
3. He put the issue of the murder of millions of children by abortion front and center in our nation's political discourse.
4. He provided homes for young women who decided to keep their babies instead of aborting them. In other words, he wasn't just pro-life verbally, but was pro-life in action.
5. He spoke biblical truth to power, namely, that "righteousness exalts a nation" and America was (and is) in great peril from God's wrath against sin and the normalization of perversity.

I did not always agree with his methods or message, but I do know that Jerry Falwell was a powerful voice for God's truth, and did more for the Lord than most of us who are quick to criticize or lampoon. I trust he is now in the bosom of his Savior, Jesus Christ, and enjoying the blessed communion of the saints in light. Well done, good and faithful servant.

Exorbitant Claims

2007-05-14T13:53:00.000-04:00

The Bible makes some astonishing claims concerning the privileges of believers. These claims can be divided into two types: those affecting us in this life, and those which pertain to the life to come. For example, God promises to wipe away every tear (Rev 21:4), and to glorfiy our mortal bodies (1 Cor 15:51f.). We live in the hope of a future communion with the Triune God, where we will know about "life, the universe, and everything," just as we are presently known (1Cor 13:12). All are marvelous claims, capable of sustaining us in the most difficult of situations, but I find that the more exorbitant claims concern our lives here on earth - they are truly amazing.

Take two promises from the Psalms. The first is from Psalm 34. "I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears" (v.4). Deliverance from all fear is no small matter, and yet it is ours for the asking. "Why are you afraid," Jesus would ask his disciples. The presence of Christ should banish fear, and yet we remain fearful, because of our little faith and because we do not ask (James 4:2-4). We ask for things, but instead we should ask for Christ, for more faith, and for more love. "Perfect love casteth out fear" (1John 4:18).

In Psalm 37, we read, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart" (v.4). If we commit our way to Him, trusting and waiting patiently for him (v.5, 7), then our desires will grow into conformity with God's desires, and we shall experience blessings and wonders - in this life. I think we doubt the Lord when He said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to my Father. And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it" (John 14:12-14).

Christianity is an exorbitant religion, meaning that it goes beyond the mundane to promise the truly spectacular, the unexpected, the unimaginable. We, however, remain beggars at God's feast. We are content with so little, and God offers us so much - in the life to come, surely, but also much here in this time and this place. Let us rejoice in God's superabundant offerings, and receive our heart's deepest desires. This is no sorcery, no magic or ritual trick, only we must remain in Christ, and receive His Spirit.

{illustration: branch of ivy - see John 15:4}

On Affliction

2007-05-09T14:26:00.000-04:00

I have now completed the second round of medical treatments for my relapsed leukemia. After finishing four courses of arsenic trioxide, I transitioned to the stem-cell harvest phase. This required six shots a day for four days of the drug Neupagen, which raises your stem-cell levels in your blood stream. The shots weren't particularly painful (my wife and nursing student daughter did the dirty work), but they resulted in bone pain. This past Monday I went to Hackensack University Medical Center to have my cells harvested. To harvest them, a catheter had to be placed in my upper chest. Imagine an IV the size of pencil. I had to sit hooked up to a machine which separates your blood into components, and saves the stem-cells. It took five hours to complete the process. I had to do the same thing again yesterday. So I've been undergoing a fair bit of affliction, pain, anxiety, etc. The good news is that they got the required amount of stem-cells in just two days, and today I had the big catheter removed.

Feeling afflicted these past few days made me turn to Graham Miller's wonderful anthology of quotes from John Calvin. Here are a few which put our afflictions into their proper context.

"The disciples of Christ must walk among thorns, and march to the cross amidst uninterrupted afflictions" (Harmony of the Gospel, I:388).

"For God does not consider, in chastening the faithful, what they deserve; but what will be useful to them in the future; and fulfills the office of a physician rather than of a judge" (Gen. I:178).

"Many crosses spring forth to us from the root of God's favour" (Gen II:266).

"When visited with affliction, it is of great importance that we should consider it as coming from God, as expressly intended for our good" (Ps. II:472).

"The best fruit of afflictions is, when we are brought to purge our minds from all arrogance, and to bend them to meekness and modesty" (Ps. III:201).

"Our afflictions prepare us for receiving the grace of God" (Is. II:333).

"The afflictions of the Church are always momentary, when we raise our eyes to its eternal happiness" (Is. IV:141).

"Afflictions are not evils, because they have glory annexed to them...We are not afflicted by chance, but through the infallible providence of God" (Gen. Epp. 43).

Slandering Thomas Tallis

2007-05-05T11:43:00.000-04:00

The absurd, historically inaccurate series on Showtime, "The Tudors," has slandered the reputation of one of England's greatest composers, Thomas Tallis (1505-85). As it is now de rigeur to include gay and lesbian scenes in television mini-series, someone thought it would be nice to have young Tallis engage in homosex with Lord Compton. The problem is Tallis was not present at the court of Henry VIII until 1543, well past the time period depicted on the program. We also know that Tallis married a woman named Joan, and there is not even a whiff of scandal attached to his name. Indeed he managed to negotiate the religious turmoil of the sucessive reigns of Henry, and his children Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth.

I was looking forward to "The Tudors," but it has turned out to be an over the top soap opera, which has now slandered a great musical genius. They should be ashamed of themselves, but gay themes are now all the rage, so we can only expect more of them. Those of us who love Thomas Tallis are deeply offended.

Pain

2007-05-03T09:50:00.000-04:00

C.S. Lewis wrote that pain is God's megaphone - it gets our attention. While being a great admirer of Lewis, I never liked that depiction of pain. God can certainly use pain to get our attention, but it is not the only way He directs our hearts and minds away from this sinful world toward Himself. It might not even be a particularly common use of pain. Pain arises out of the fallenness of the world, and is everywhere in creation. "The whole creation groans and labors with birth pains until now" (Romans 8:22). Pain can often put a great distance between the soul and God, and hence can be a serious obstacle to spiritual growth.

What is interesting about pain is that you can't remember it. You can't recreate pain as a memory in your body (thank the Lord!). Pain is also necessary to keep us healthy. Without it, we would very quickly destroy our bodies, being unaware of burns, broken bones, and other misfortunes. Pain does remind us of our inherent frailty, and hence our dependence on God, but we cannot make too much of it as a spiritual discipline (no hair shirts or self-flagellation please). As Paul writes, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18). As I face the final treatments for a second go-round with leukemia, I can dwell on the painful procedures, the side-effects of chemotherapy, and other indignities, but it is far better for me to remember that pain passes, and by God's mercy will one day be erased from all human experience.

"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:4).

Mormonism and Christianity

2007-04-30T08:41:00.000-04:00

The Mormons are getting some highbrow publicity today and tomorrow in a PBS documentary. Mormons use the name Jesus Christ in their official name "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," but their doctrines are light years away from orthodox Christianity. I got a hint of their beliefs about Jesus when a friend was given tickets to the newest temple located across from Lincoln Center in New York. Before the temple was consecrated tours were offered, and I was invited to go. They showed a video about Mormonism before you went on the tour and I was fascinated to hear them refer to Jesus not as the Son of God, nor the second person of the Holy Trinity, but as "our Exemplar." In other words, Jesus is not a Savior because of his atoning death, rather he is a model for our behavior. Mormonism is a religion of works, not of grace, and has no relation to the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ.

Mormonism has a lot of strange doctrines and practices, but it has found a place in America and overseas, and is one of the fastest growing religions in the world. Mitt Romney, a Republican presidential candidate is a Mormon, as is Democrat Harry Reid. Mormonism is attempting to go mainstream. One must respect Mormonism's stance on a variety of issues such as abortion and the sanctity of marriage, but despite its best efforts, it remains a serious distortion of the Christian faith. It is based on dubious foundations, and seduces people away from biblical Christianity.

I believe Mormonism is flourishing because orthodox Protestantism has abandoned its doctrinal and moral foundations. People are looking for certainty and many have found it in the beautifully strange beliefs of Joseph Smith. Another reason for its success is its evangelistic emphasis. When was the last time you saw Reformed Christians going door to door to spread the gospel? We have lost our missionary fervor, and the Mormons are filling that vacuum. We need to recapture what the Mormons now possess - certainty about our beliefs, and a desire to share them with others.

Does Religion Poison Everything?

2007-04-26T08:42:00.000-04:00

Christopher Hitchens, a most bilious British writer and commentator, has written a new book called God is Not Great, where he posits that religion poisons everything. He trots out some very old criticisms of religion: e.g., it induces violence, represses sexuality, and retards human happiness and scientific advancement. You can read an excerpt from this book here.

Hitchens makes several key errors in his attack on religion. The most egregious being that he paints with too broad a brush. Equating Christianity with Aztec human sacrifice is one example. Not all religions are equal. Some faiths promote violence, while others (e.g., Buddhism and Jainism) promote gentleness and non-violence, even toward animals.

Hitchens also ignores the fundamental role faith has had in establishing law, inspiring art and music (one immediately thinks of Bach), and restraining the evil angels of our nature. He also fails to mention the great minds of history such as Pascal and Newton who found faith to be compatible with science. Does faith really poison everything? Many billions would say otherwise, and assert that faith enriches everything, providing meaning and insight into life, the universe, and the mysteries of the human mind.

Finally, Hitchens, like most atheists, conveniently ignores the fact that the worst human atrocities occurred under atheist regimes. Hitler, Mao, and Stalin's crimes dwarf the misdeeds of a few unhinged religious radicals. When human life is divorced from the divine, and divorced from God's law, it loses its sacred value. Abortion, euthanasia, and genocide are the children of atheism. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" says the Good Book, and one's love of the Lord is the beginning of peace, joy unspeakable, and love for our neighbor. I have seen Hitchens on television, and he is not a happy man. He deserves our pity and our prayers.

Is Worship Tiresome?

2007-04-23T08:52:00.000-04:00

A parishioner gave me a page from a calendar called "Forgotten English." The word of the day was "doattee." Its definition: "To nod the head when sleep comes on whilst one is sitting up. This action is to be noticed in church." An anecdote followed:

"At Dunchurch, a person bearing a stout wand shaped like a hay fork at the end, stepped stealthily up and down the nave and aisle, and when he saw an individual asleep he touched him so effectually that the spell was broken - this being done by fitting the fork to the nape of the neck. We read of the beadle in another church, going around the edifice during service carrying a long staff, at one end of which was a fox's brush, and at the other a knob. With the former he gently tickled the faces of the female sleepers, while on the heads of their male compeers he bestowed with the knob a sensible rap" (W. & R. Chambers, Book of Days, 1864).

In my first parish I had a woman who every Sunday fell asleep the minute I began to preach. I knew she was asleep because her mouth would fall open. How I would have loved to have had a long staff to awaken that "doattee"! But lately, being forced by illness to become a pew-sitter instead of a preacher, I have frequently been uncomfortable, fidgety, and even tired during worship. I look at my watch and critique the preachers we have scheduled. In short, I have become, if not quite a doattee, perhaps a parishioner.

What is it about church services which induces slumber? Poor preaching, dull liturgy, dirge-like music? I have experienced all three over the past six months. And yet, if pressed, I would not change our worship. The really "sucessful" churches in our area resemble rock concerts (no slumbering there - it's too loud). But on a warm Sunday morning, with the birds singing in cemetery, it can be hard to maintain one's focus.

The problem lies not in worship, but in our hearts. We lack that burning desire David had to be in the house of the Lord. We have domesticated our spirits, taming them to the point of slumber. My daughter attends a Reformed Baptist church while she is away at college. She's always liked Baptist churches because they have better music, more fun, and lively spirits. We Reformed are often labelled the "frozen chosen," and our empty churches betray our lack of joy in worshipping the Lord. It is joy which enlivens the heart, and it is the lack of joy which induces slumber. If we were truly set on praising God each Sabbath day, no worship service would ever contain a "doattee."

Our Culture of Violence

2007-04-19T09:04:00.000-04:00

I have been unable to watch the news this week, mainly because of the wall-to-wall coverage of the tragedy at Virginia Tech. CNN alone sent 100 people to the campus, and NBC/CNBC etal keep running the video and still pictures the killer sent in between his rampages. The media has given this individual everything he felt deprived of in life: notoriety and celebrity. More than that, the media, as it did in Columbine, has provided other troubled individuals a blueprint and an anniversary to get their own 15 minutes of fame.

America has to face the fact that we tolerate and even celebrate violence. From the war in Iraq to Hollywood, violence is the solution to every problem. One "expert" being interviewed in Virginia believed, along with the NRA, that everyone should be armed. But here are some grim statistics. Every year more than 3,000 children are killed by gun violence in the United States. That's one child every three hours, and 50 children a week. Compare that to other countries. No children were killed by guns in Japan, 19 were killed in Great Britain, and 57 in Germany. Clearly we have a serious problem.

We have to become intolerant of violence, and make it very difficult to obtain handguns in our nation. We have to hold the media, especially Hollywood and the television networks accountable, just as we did Don Imus. Europeans are bewildered by our culture, which glorifies violence, but is offended by nudity and sexuality. If we don't allow graphic sexuality on our airwaves (and rightly so!), we shouldn't allow graphic violence. It's that simple. And let's stop airing the Virginia Tech shooters pictures and video. Let's deny him the fame or infamy he so murderously desired.

New Books!

2007-04-17T19:10:00.000-04:00

Today I was excited to order books by two of my favorite authors: J.R.R. Tolkien's The Children of Hurin, and the poet Geoffrey Hill's Without Title. The Tolkien book is the culmination of many years labor of meticulous editing by the late author's son Christopher, and is the first complete book to come along since The Silmarillion. It will be the last book by Tolkien, so it is worth savoring. I loved the Elvish tales of The Silmarillion, and this book is set during that First Age of Middle Earth. What made The Lord of the Rings Trilogy so deep and fascinating was the presence of a long history preceding it. This new book adds to that sad, but noble history.

The latest collection of poems by Geoffrey Hill promises to be another brilliant achievement by the finest poet writing in the English language. Hill is a deep, allusive poet, who rewards careful reading and rereading. I prefer his earlier work, to be honest, but anything that flows from his pen stands far above his peers. No other poet has articulated so well the struggle between faith and doubt, the ills of modernity, and the high cost of love. I have been reading his poems and essays since I found a collection of his early work, Somewhere Is Such a Kingdom, while I was in college. I strongly recommend him to you.

April Showers

2007-04-16T09:18:00.000-04:00

T.S. Eliot began The Waste Land with the immortal words:
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Memory and desire, stirring
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Dull roots with spring rain.

Ah, the spring rains. In the metropolitan New York area, we have received 7" of rain since early Sunday morning, and it keeps on raining. This April has been the coldest I've ever seen, with temperatures struggling to reach 50 degrees, and no sign of spring. The memory and desire of warmth, sun, and flowers blooming creates the cruelty felt in the mind and heart. We so want the cold and rain to end.

The rain gives me an excuse to speak of Eliot, whose poetry, especially his Four Quartets, has such lasting power to move the soul. Little Gidding, the last of the Quartets is in my mind one of the greatest poems in all of English literature. That it speaks of faith, makes it attractive, but it sums up magnificently the heart's great longing for communion, healing, and hope. It is, for me, a poem about heaven.

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know that place for the first time.

The poem ends incorporating St. Julian of Norwich's great affirmation:

And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.

So the rain falls, and we patiently wait for spring, and for new life, and for Christ to come and erase all fears, all tears. We wait for heaven on earth.

Envy, Jealousy, and Covetousness

2007-04-12T09:13:00.000-04:00

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines envy as "a feeling of resentful or discontented longing aroused by another person's better fortune, situation, etc." It's how I sometimes feel lately when I see healthy people going about their business without a care in the world. It is a sinful, dangerous feeling, and one which is addressed in the 10th commandment: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's" (Exodus 20:17). The word "covet" merely means to long for what belongs to another. We covet out of envy or jealousy. We covet because we feel we deserve better or more. We resent those who have what we feel we should have, and therefore, envy stands in opposition to agape - sacrificial and unconditional love for our neighbor.

God commands us to be content with his provisions for us, and turn away from envy. The Westminster Larger Catechism puts it this way: "The duties required in the tenth commandment are, such a full contentment with our own condition, and such a charitable frame of the whole soul toward our neighbor, as that all our inward motions and affections touching him, tend unto, and further all that good which is his" (Q. 147). Envy poisons our relationships with others, and poisons our hearts. It must be resisted with every ounce of our energy. This may seem impossible, but we can take comfort in the words of The Heidelberg Catechism, "In this life even the holiest have only a small beginning of this obedience" (Q. 114).

I write about this because it seems that envy is everywhere in our culture, prompting people to accumulate enormous debt to keep up with their neighbors. Envy hinders joy, and joy is a most precious thing. All around us are unhappy people, worn out from discontent. God would have us be joyful, thankful, and contented people, and the only way to reach such states of blessing is to place our trust in God, despite our circumstances. Shakespeare, in his play Othello, famously writes, "O beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-ey'd monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on." Envy, jealousy, and covetousness all lead to tragedy. Let us flee from them.

Spiritual Hoarding

2007-04-09T09:08:00.000-04:00

In the apostle John's account of the resurrection, Jesus says to Mary, "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God" (20:17). It is surely a mysterious passage, and as I heard it read again yesterday, I wondered why Jesus felt the need to tell Mary not to cling to him. It occurred to me that perhaps the Holy Spirit inspired John to record this for our benefit, that we may learn a valuable lesson about being in communion with Christ.

The lesson is about spiritual hoarding, or keeping Jesus to ourselves. Mary, overwhelmed with joy, "held him by the feet" (Matthew 28:9). Jesus instructs her to go and tell others that he is risen and will be ascending to the Father. Do we not behave likewise in our own lives? We want Jesus for ourselves, and fail to spread the gospel to others. The venerable commentator Matthew Henry writes, "Public service ought to be preferred before private satisfaction." So much of today's Christianity is about meeting our personal felt needs. There is an unhealthy emphasis on what Jesus can do for us, at the expense of what Jesus expects us to do for him.

You can see such an emphasis in the much loved hymn, In the Garden. "I come to the garden alone...And he walks with me and he talks with me...etc." Mary expected Jesus to stay on earth, and her great desire was to never let him go, but Jesus was to be enthroned, and Mary had good news to bring to others. As Calvin writes, "They fixed their attention on his bodily presence, and did not understand any other way of enjoying his society than by conversing with him on earth. We ought, therefore, to conclude, that they were not forbidden to touch him, until Christ saw that, by their foolish and unreasonable desire, they wished to keep him in the world" (Commentary, John 20:17). Jesus had a kingdom to rule, and his kingdom was not of this world (John 8:23; 18:36). We cannot keep Jesus to ourselves, but rather we must share the great message of his resurrection and Lordship. We must look continually to things above.

{picture: Noli Me Tangere, by Titian}

Sensus Divinitatis

2007-04-05T11:09:00.000-04:00

In the April 2 issue of The New Yorker, John Updike reviewed Walter Isaacson's new biography, Einstein: His Life and Universe. Einstein often referred to God in his writings and statements, but he was not conventionally religious. As a child, he drew the conclusion that "something deeply hidden had to be behind things." This perception prompted him to search all of his life for a unified field theory, or the "theory of everything." He did not succeed, bewildered by the incredible strangeness of quantum theory and mechanics.

What Einstein intuitively grasped as a child, that there is something hidden behind all things, he called der Alte, "the Old One." What is truly sad is that his thoughts about God never led him to believe in God as a personal being, with whom he could have a personal relationship. Einstein sensed God, but never loved him. Theologians call this universal apprehension of the existence of God sensus divinitatis (the sense of the divine). John Calvin wrote, "That there exists in the human mind and indeed by natural instinct, some sense of Deity we hold to be beyond dispute, since God himself, to prevent any man from pretending ignorance, has endued all men with some idea of his Godhead, the memory of which he constantly enlarges, that all to a man being aware that there is a God, and that he is their Maker, may be condemned by their own conscience when they neither worship him nor consecrate their lives to his service" (Institutes 1:3).

The proof of this sense of the divine is that some form of worship is found in every culture throughout all of history. Therefore, man is without excuse when he denies the existence of God. The knowledge of God is also found in nature, as the apostle Paul writes in Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

Like Einstein, however, this sense of God's existence is insufficient for salvation. On its own, the sensus divinitatus conveys only knowledge of God's existence, which Scripture tells us even demons possess (James 2:19). What Einstein lacked was communion with God in Christ, which is a wholehearted trust that Jesus died for me, loves me, and presently interecedes for me before the throne of heaven. This faith comes to us only by revelation in Holy Scripture, illuminated in the mind and heart by the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 2:14-15). A man may say he is an atheist, but his heart convicts him otherwise. On judgment day we cannot plead ignorance of God. On judgment day, we can only plead the merits of our cruficied Lord.

What Is At the Center?

2007-04-02T08:17:00.000-04:00

I read this morning about a Methodist church in northern England which is about to be converted into a mosque. It is a startling example of the decline of mainline Christianity in Europe and America, coupled with the rise of Islam in Western nations (whether by immigration or conversion). Why are mainline churches mostly empty, while mosques are full? The answer has to do with what is at the center of a person's life.

Islam, which means "submission," is at the center of a moslem's existence. It is like the hub of a wheel. All other aspects of one's life radiate from that hub, like spokes. Everything in one's life is affected by Islam, governed by its dogmas and rituals, and hence it offers the moslem a coherent worldview.

In contrast, mainline or liberal Christianity is merely a spoke on the wheel of life. In other words, religion becomes just one aspect of life, and not the center. What is enthroned at the center of liberal Christianity is not Christ or his commands, but rather the individual. The self stands in judgment over Scripture, over doctrine, over morality. Making matters worse, this self at the center of life has made countless accommodations to secular values and morality. It is hard sometimes to discern the difference between the church and the world.

What are we offering our people? Are we offering a coherent and consistent worldview? Are we saying to our people, "You are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3), or "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:2o)? The apostle Paul put Christ at the center of his existence, and expected every other Christian to do the same. That we have not, has led to declining membership and churches now turned into mosques.

{picture: Hagia Sophia in Istanbul - once a church, now a mosque}

Pope: Half Right

2007-03-28T08:29:00.000-04:00

If I were a Roman Catholic, Pope Benedict would be my kind of pope. He's a straight shooter who has no time for theological liberalism or cafeteria Christianity. Lately he's been talking about the reality of hell. It's not some bogeyman to keep the faithful in line, he says. It's "the ultimate consequence of sin itself. Rather than a place, hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitely separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy." So far so good. However, the Pope runs aground when he states as the determining factor of ending up in heaven or hell man's free will. As a Calvinist, I know that man's will is in bondage, and we are incapable of choosing God or heaven. The fall of man affected us to such a degree that we are, apart from God's sovereign grace, enemies of godliness, and at war with spiritual things, at war with God himself. How do I know this? Sing along with me: "The Bible tells me so."

"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1).

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)" (Ephesians 2:5).

Dead men can't choose to come alive again, and sinners can't choose Christ apart from the sovereign mercy of the Father. The issue of free will is knotty because it offends against man's pride and makes God seem capricious in choosing who is saved. Charles Spurgeon probably put it best. He once said that on the front of heaven's gate is written, "Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). But when you enter heaven and turn around you will see written on the back of heaven's gate, "No man can come to me, except the Father which sent me draw him" (John 6:44).

So the Pope has it half right. Heaven and hell are eternal realities, but it is God who decides who goes there. As God said to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy" (Exodus 33:19). If you desire to escape the alienation of hell, run to Christ, but remember it was God who put that desire in your heart in the first place. Such is the mystery of our faith, but true faith always exalts God and humbles man.

Medical Update

2007-03-27T09:29:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I began my final round of arsenic trioxide, which is delivered to me on an outpatient basis at Hackensack University Medical Center (a great hospital, by the way). It has few side-effects, but renders me exhausted at the end of the day. After this four-week treatment, I will be "handed over" to the transplant team, where I will have my own stem cells harvested and frozen, given high dose chemo (the really awful kind), and then I will receive my stem cells back. This means I will be unable to preach or teach for some time. The treatment should last until late May, with at least a month of recovery time.

Not being able to preach is very difficult. There is nothing I find more fulfilling in my vocation than preaching Christ crucified. In the meantime I try to read (if I can stay awake!), and offer my thoughts here on this blog. Given all the medications I am on, my offerings here may not be all that profound...

I covet your prayers, and am deeply thankful for the support of my church, those who drop me off at the hospital each day, and my family and friends who work very hard to make sure that I don't have to worry about anything but getting well. I want to repeat something I read on Dr. Mohler's blog: when my wife is present, I feel okay, but when she is absent, I struggle to cope. Such is the blessing of a godly, compassionate wife.

Facing the Right Direction

2007-03-25T19:15:00.001-04:00

A sermon from Philippians 3:4b-14 on the proper focus of our Christian pilgrimage.

Psalm 107

2007-03-20T15:08:00.000-04:00

Writing about Psalm 80 the other day, with its refrain, "Turn us again, O God...", made me think of Psalm 107, which has a refrain appearing four times:

"Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men" (v.8, 15, 21, 31).

While Psalm 80 reflects a plea from fallen men, beseeching the Lord to save them, Psalm 107 reflects the desire of God's heart for men to turn to him and worship him. We know from the apostle Paul that God "desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4). These two psalms, then, represent the nature of man's relationship to God. We desire God to "rend the heavens and come down," for we are broken and in need of God's healing presence. God desires us to seek his face and give thanks for the many blessings we experience each day. We need communion with the Triune God, and God stands at the door of our hearts knocking, desiring to come in.

Before each refrain in Psalm 107 is a reminder of what God has done for his people. For example, in v.6-7, God's people cry out in distress, and he leads them in the right way. In v.14, God is said to have brought his people out of darkness and the shadow of death. In v.20, God heals his people. In v.30, the storms of our lives are stilled and we are led to our desired haven.

So according to Psalm 107, we have a long litany of reasons to worship God, but the most precious reason is that it pleases God, and is the desire of his own heart. In addition, we can make this refrain a part of our prayer life. God's desire must become our own, and so we must plead with others using the words the Holy Spirit inspired the psalmist to write:

"Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!"

Being Reconciled to God

2007-03-18T12:46:00.003-04:00

A sermon on reconciliation from 2 Corinthians 5:16-21.

What Does It Mean to Be Reformed?

2007-03-15T10:33:00.000-04:00

Theological langauge has gotten slippery over the last century, and it's hard to know what certain words actually mean anymore. For example, the word "evangelical" has been so stretched of its content that it is essentially a term referring to anyone who is not a Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or flaming liberal. Another word in danger is "Reformed." John MacArthur (a fine Christian, mind you) is trying to make Reformed theology fit with dispensationalism and premillennialism. John MacArthur may be a fine Christian, but he is not Reformed. For an excellent definition of what it means to be Reformed, and why MacArthur is not a Reformed Christian, Kim Riddlebarger provides a copy of an article written by Dr. Richard Muller (see picture), who is perhaps the most prominent scholar on Reformed theology and Calvinism today. I strongly recommend it. Here is the link.

It's Greek To You

2007-03-14T22:17:00.000-04:00

I've updated my "Sites of Interest" and noticed that two are Canadians. I like both Canada and Canadians (I sure love hockey!). Check out Old Paths and Jim Vellenga's blog, as both are excellent. I've also added to my sidebar a daily passage from the Greek New Testament. To read the full passage just click on the date above the text. I put this on primarily for my own benefit. It forces me to keep my Greek skills honed, but others may enjoy it too.

Facing the Wrong Way

2007-03-12T16:50:00.000-04:00

For some reason I love psalms which have refrains. For example, in Psalm 80, which was written by Asaph (who wrote the second most number of psalms, after David), the following is found three times:

"Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved" (v.3).

Most modern translations begin the verse with the word "restore," but I prefer the KJV "turn" because it carries with it the idea of repentance, which in the original languages of the Bible means to change direction, to change one's mind. This implies we are facing the wrong direction. We are looking at the world, desiring its gold and its power, and ignoring God and His spiritual riches. Our eyes face down, when we should be looking to Christ enthroned in majesty. As Paul writes in Colossians 3:1-2, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."

Psalm 80's refrain also reminds us that it is God who saves, not man. It is God who turns us to face the things which matter. It is God who turns us to face our sinfulness. It is God who turns us to Christ. "No man can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:44). Asaph repeats his plea to emphasize our inability and God's sovereign will in our salvation. This Bible truth can never be repeated enough, given our pride, our worldliness, and our desire to save ourselves. So we must plead with Asaph, "Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved (v.7, 19).

Happy Birthday Norman

2007-03-10T21:23:00.000-05:00

Today is the birthday of Norman Blake, one of this nation's musical treasures. He is an accomplished guitarist, songwriter, and preservationist of traditional American music. If you haven't heard of him, well, I'm sorry. I strongly suggest you invest in some of Norman's music. A great place to start is the double cd Fields of November. My favorite song of his is "Last Train From Poor Valley." You can purchase his music from iTunes or at Amazon.com.

Baudrillard's Thesis

2007-03-08T08:56:00.001-05:00

Jean Baudrillard died Tuesday. He was a French philosopher and social critic whose main thesis was the theory of "hyperreality." In a nutshell, he believed that reality was being replaced by a simulated world created by the media. If you are a fan of the movie The Matrix, you will understand this thesis. Baudrillard's book, Simulacra and Simulation, even makes an appearance in the film. But in a delicious twist, the book is not real, but rather a hollowed out simlulation of a book which serves as a storage container for illegal computer disks.

Before you dismiss Baudrillard's thesis, consider the following. Do you know the names of your neighbors? Do you socialize with your neighbors? Do you belong to a service organization (e.g., the Lions, Elks, or Rotary)? Do you attend church? Home builders no longer put front porches on new houses. Instead, huge media rooms are created for us to live out our "simluated" lives of watching television and movies, playing video games (one of the most popular is called "The Sims"), or chatting online as alternate selves with names like "2Cool4U."

Baudrillard's thesis also helps us understand the decline of worship attendance in small churches, and the rise of mega-churches. A parishioner once said to me that when they retired and moved elsewhere, they would seek out a big church, so they could worship anonymously. In other words, where true social contact would be minimized. In a world of alternative "realities," we choose the controlled environment. For example, note the popularity of Las Vegas, with its New York City, Egypt, and Venice hotel recreations. Why travel to Europe when you can experience the simulation? Walt Disney World is the ultimate example of simulated reality.

Baudrillard, however, was at heart a pessimist. He counseled people to avoid searching for reality. Where do we find the real in a sea of illusion? For Christians, the real is found in an ever deepening relationship with God and fellow believers. It is found not in simulation, but in restoration ~ the restoration of our brokenness in communion with Jesus Christ. Reality is the world God created. Baudrillard's "hyperreality" is the creation of man. One leads to peace and healing, the other to isolation and despair. In the language of The Matrix, do you take the red pill or the blue pill? I say, "Sleepers awake!"

Centenaries

2007-03-04T11:09:00.000-05:00

My paternal grandfather and the poet W.H. Auden were born in the same year - 1907. My grandfather was a New York City policeman, with a violent temper that mellowed with age. He was married to a difficult, likely mentally ill woman, but I remember him with fondness. I am also fond of Auden, who was also a man of contrasts. Auden is experiencing a revival, mostly because of the resonance of his poem "September 1, 1939" with the events of September 11.

He began as a modernist, along with Pound and Eliot, but his poems were more accessible (and yet he is considered a poet's poet, and not as beloved), and then embraced a more formal style as he grew older. He was a homosexual who became a Christian, struggling to reconcile the two. In 1941 he published a volume entitled, The Double Man, which is an apt description of his life and work. He coined the phrase "The Age of Anxiety," which served as the title of a volume of poems for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948.

Auden deserves more attention and appreciation. Here is one example, "Underneath An Abject Willow"

Underneath an abject willow
Lover, sulk no more:
Act from thought should quickly follow.
What is thinking for?
Your unique and moping station
Proves you cold;
Stand up and fold
Your map of desolation.

Bells that toll across the meadows
From the somber spire
Toll for these unloving shadows
Love does not require.
All that lives may love; why longer
Bow to loss
With arms across?
Strike and you shall conquer.

An Excellent Overview

2007-03-02T15:36:00.000-05:00

For an excellent overview/summary on the issue of homosexuality in the church click here.

The Issue of Clarity

2007-03-02T09:28:00.000-05:00

The Associated Press reported yesterday some remarks by the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, The Most Reverend Katherine Jefferts Schori (I suppose being elected the head of a denomination makes one more reverend than all others). A supporter of gay weddings and gay clergy, Mrs. Jefferts Schori is trying to get the liberal majority of her church "to roll back their support for gays - at least for now." If she fails in this effort, the worldwide Anglican communion will essentially disassociate itself from the American church.

The comments which really bothered me, however, were about idolatry. Here is what she said:

"We are being pushed toward a decision by impatient forces within and outside this church who hunger for clarity. That hunger for clarity at all costs is an anxious response to discomfort in the face of change which characterizes all of life. The impatience we're now experiencing is an idol - a false hope that is unwilling to wait on God for clarity" (emphasis mine).

What Jefferts Schori is really saying is that God has not been clear in the past. She is saying that God's Word lacks clarity, and that the desire for clarity requires patience, a waiting for God to speak more clearly. In other words, until now, she believes God is guilty of mumbling. I can only assume that Jefferts Schori ignores 2 Timothy 3:17, which states that Scripture thoroughly equips every man of God. Therefore, our desire for clarity is not an idol, nor a false hope, but is rather the expectation of God's promise to teach us all things through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26).

The Bible is clear on such subjects as homosexuality, liberals merely object to its teaching and are waiting for God to change His mind. Conservatives know better. God's Word is unchanging and will outlast heaven and earth. God has spoken, and only those who born again and possess the Spirit of God can discern and accept His words (1 Cor 2:14). As our Lord said in John 8:43, "Why do you not understand my speech? Because you are not able to listen to my word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do." And in v.47, "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."

The issue isn't one of clarity. God is absolutely clear on matters of faith and morals. The issue is that of faithful obedience to God's Word. Such a desire to obey God is no idol, but the mark of true faith. Those like Mrs. Schori merely want to undo what God has done, and unsay what God has said. This is a clever ruse, but in the end a futile endeavor. For God's people will always stand up and defend the "faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).

"God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?" (Numbers 23:19).

God's Time

2007-02-28T09:00:00.000-05:00

Walter Chantry writes in this month's Banner of Truth about the degradation of our society, citing "violent abortions, violent euthanasia, battering of wives and children, shootings in schools by fellow students and sexual predators, bombings, riots, and road rage" as crimes "increasing in formerly Christian nations of the West." We could easily add more evidence of our culture's deterioration, paraded as it is in the daily news media. So we pray for the only answer to these problems: revival, a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit which would sweep across our land, bringing millions to repentance and restoring the moral foundations our nation desperately needs.

And yet it seems like God is silent and inactive. Depravity and violence are increasing. Perversity and ungodliness run rampant and are even celebrated. And yet it seems God is silent, and no revival is in sight. How are we to live in such times? Why does God remain silent? "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3).

It is easy to forget that God's providential wisdom is beyond our capacity to understand. Hundreds of years may go by before He acts. Thousands of years may pass before judgment falls. Remember the ancient psalmists and prophets crying out, "How long, O Lord?" While we live in depraved and violent times, it is proper to cry out to God, but is also imperative to trust in God. Our churches may be half empty, and our children falling victim to drugs, pornography, and gang warfare, but God will act. God will either bring down swift and awful justice upon our nation, or He may once again "rend the heavens and come down," carrying with him tender mercy and blessings.

Many godly men and women suffered horribly when Israel was carried away into Babylonian captivity. It may be our lot to live our entire lives oppressed and astonished at the evil around us. The antidote to despair, however, is the knowledge that God knows and rescues His own. We cannot manufacture revival, nor can we program growth. In God's time His Spirit will go forth. In God's time His Son will return. In God's time evil will be vanquished forever. We live in this blessed hope, and so we remain prayerful, devoted servants to the Triune God. The news may be bad, but the good news of the Gospel shall triumph over all evil in the end.

J.C. Ryle on the Church's Power

2007-02-26T15:01:00.000-05:00

In his collection of diverse essays published under the title The Upper Room (Banner of Truth), J.C. Ryle, bishop of Liverpool from 1880-1900, writes that in the upper room, where the disciples gathered after the Ascension of our Lord, lies the church's true power.

"This little upper room was the starting point of a movement which shook the Roman Empire, emptied the heathen temples, stopped gladiatorial combats, raised women to their true position, checked infanticide, created a new standard of morality, confounded the old Greek and Roman philosophers, and turned the world upside down. And what was the secret of this power? The unity, the soundness in the faith, the holiness, and the prayers and intercessions of the first professing Christians. Where these things are wanting, the grandest architecture and the most ornate ceremonial will do nothing to mend the world. It is the presence of Christ and the Holy Ghost which alone gives power" (p.22).

"I challenge those who sneer at dogma to show us a more excellent way, to show us anything that does more good in the world than the old, old story of Christ dying for our sins, and rising again for our justification" (p.23).

Prolonging the Problem

2007-02-25T13:08:00.000-05:00

Ran across this quote today:

"Consultants: If you aren't part of the solution...there is good money to be made prolonging the problem."

I think this is applicable to my denomination. A select few of unelected leaders are spending ungodly amounts of money trying to solve our declining numbers problem by following the advice of secular consultants who are like chiropractors - they give the appearance of help, but in fact prolong the problem by not addressing the real problems of our abandonment of scriptural authority and our failure to focus on biblical evangelism and mission (i.e., saving souls). So we spend our time dealing with issues such as homosexuality and church structure, while countless people never hear the gospel, not even in their churches.

The only ones laughing are the devil and the Carver Governance consultants (to whom we pay thousands of dollars to train our leaders).

God's Glory in Creation

2007-02-23T15:35:00.000-05:00

Psalm 19 famously affirms, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork." Job 9:8-9 says, "He alone spreads out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea; He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the constellations of the south." And finally, Paul writes in Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so they are without excuse."

The thread that binds these verses together is the doctrine of God's glory in His creating this magnificent universe. Simple observation of the night sky should be enough to convince anyone that there is a God, and that God is in control of this universe. God is the invisible engine which sustains and continues to create and hold together the very fabric of existence. The apostle Paul goes further, saying that we can clearly learn about God's nature from observing the nature God created.

What can we learn? To start, He is eternally powerful. The sheer enormity and beauty of the universe testify to God's omnipotence. Who but God could "spread out the heavens" and fashion galaxies and constellations? The Bible teaches what is called by philosophers and theologians the "Teleological argument." God's existence is proved by creation. If one finds a watch on the ground, there must have been a watchmaker. Voltaire, no Christian he, wrote, "If a watch proves the existence of watchmaker but the universe does not prove the existence of a Great Architect, then I consent to be called a fool." In other words, only an idiot or a willful unbeliever can deny the greatness and glory of God when one looks upon the universe.

The word "teleological" comes from the Greek word telos, which means "end" or "purpose." Since God clearly created the universe, He did so for a reason ~ namely, for His own glory. Our hearts and minds are lifted up from the earth and sky to worship the majesty behind all that we see. Calvin wrote, "The world is the theater of God's glory." To recognize this leads one deeper into the mysteries of the Christian faith, and to a life devoted to worship and godliness. "The heavens declare the glory of God," but most men's heads are down, to their incalculable loss.

{photo: galaxy ic342 - a prosaic name for such wondrous beauty}

The End of the RCA?

2007-02-20T18:56:00.000-05:00

I have in front of me a draft document being circulated that outlines recommendations to be made at the upcoming General Synod. These come from the Missional Structures Task Force, and have as their sole aim the destruction of the Reformed Church in America as we now know it. The proposals have a two-fold emphasis. The first is the effective abolition of the classis in favor of 15 "Middle Assemblies," and the second is the further concentration of unelected power in the hands of a few. Our Reformed/Presbyterian form of representative government will be replaced by hand-picked "professional" leaders who will govern these 15 assemblies, much as a bishop would in the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The duties of the classes will now be in the hands of larger regional synods and the General Synod. For example, and most ominously, ministers of Word and Sacrament will have to go before these unelected, hand-picked bodies to be ordained, re-certified, and undergo enforced continuing education (i.e., learn how to be a Carver governanced, best practiced, NCD'd, liberal).

It is imperative for us to unite against the proposals of the Missional Task Force, and defend our representative church government, the role of classis, and the sacred office of minister of Word and sacrament. I for one was never "certified." Hands were laid on me when I was ordained, as has been done since the beginning of the church. I will not stand before an unbiblical body and plead to remain a clergyman.

This document is the culmination of a decade-long effort to concentrate power in the hands of an unelected few. Instead of destroying the classical system we currently have, I propose we rid ourselves of the office of General Secretary, and reinstitute the elected office of Clerk of General Synod. If these proposals are accepted, even in modified forms, it will mean the end of the RCA, and the beginning of a new church structured along the lines of the Evangelical Lutheran and United Methodist churches (churches which are losing members). How long will it be before these "Middle Assemblies" are called "dioceses," and their executives "bishops"? Not long, I wager. These new changes represent the most significant threat in our denomination's history, and must be resisted by every minister and elder. We shall not go quietly into oblivion. We shall not sit idle as our cherished institutions are dismantled.

Here are the proposed recommendations, with the most odious highlighted in bold print:

R.____

To endorse the proposed direction of the Missional Structures Task Force to reorganize the assemblies of the Reformed Church in America in a manner that supports the missional engagement of congregations and all of the institutions and agencies of the RCA.

R.____

To instruct the General Synod Council, by 2010, in support of the proposed direction of the Missional Structures Task Force and in ongoing dialogue with classes and regional synods, to pursue development of a specific plan by which our present 45 classes and 8 regional synods will be replaced with not fewer than 15 "middle assemblies" whose structure and ministry is focused on missional planning:

In consultation with the Commission on Church Order, to develop proposed changes in the church order that will support and enable the formation of not fewer than fifteen middle assemblies;

In consultation with the regional synods and classes, to develop means for equitable staffing and funding of church-wide and middle assembly mission, ministry, and support services for consideration by General Synod not later than 2010;

In consultation with the seminaries and TEA, to develop the means by which examination and ordination of ministers of Word and sacrament would be assumed and carried by the General Synod;

In consultation with regional synods, classes, and the Commission on Church Order, to assure that any proposed plan or process of realignment of classes and regions does not violate current responsibilities of the assemblies as defined in the Book of Church Order, or violate assembly bylaws, corporate charters, or state/provincial or federal laws;

To communicate to regional synods, classes, and congregations, clear guidelines for the transition period including instructions that a)voting delegates to higher assemblies will continue to be selected by rules and church membership statistics currently in place until such time as the reorganization is completed and the BCO has been changed; b)assessments and the formulas for calculating assessments will continue to be based on current assembly statistics until such time as the General Synod approves a final plan of reorganization, the BCO has been changed, and a new equitable funding formula has been devised and approved;

R.____

To instruct the Commission on Church Order to prepare BCO changes that will bring deacons into full voting participation in the higher assemblies of the church, in parity with elders and ministers of Word and sacrament.

R.____

To instruct the General Synod Council, by 2010, to devise a plan for General Synod consideration that will place the General Synod meeting on a biennial meeting cycle in a setting that includes a church-wide missionally focused gathering;

R.____

To instruct the Commission on Theology, in conversation with the General Synod Professors of Theology, to engage in a study of the historic “marks” of the church as articulated in the RCA Standards in light of missional understandings of the Gospel, and to consider the recommendation of the addition of a fourth “mark” of the church, for report to the General Synod by 2009.

R.____

To instruct the General Synod Council, in cooperation with appropriate commissions, RCA institutions and agencies, and ecumenical partners, to identify and/or develop resources and learning opportunities that will assist the RCA’s congregations and members to better understand and claim as their own a commitment to missional engagement as core to our life and faithfulness.

Reformation Reversed

2007-02-19T09:12:00.000-05:00

According to the London Times, the Roman Catholic church will soon have more members in Britain than the Church of England. Anglican priests who left for Rome when women were allowed to be ordained, immigration from Catholic countries, and the current controversy over gay priests and bishops, have combined to make Catholicism the dominant Christian religion in England for the first time since bloody Mary ruled from 1553-1558.

The phenomenon of "crossing the Tiber" is not new. John Henry Newman in the 19th century led scores of men into the Church of Rome. It is, however, disturbing to those who cherish the doctrines of grace, and who disagree with Rome over the issues of justification by faith, the worship of Mary, and transubstantiation. Rome becomes an attractive haven for those who are tired to battling liberals in mainline denominations. The cost of such a haven is the surrender of Protestant doctrine, which thousands of martyrs died to defend.

There is a lesson to be learned in all of this. The Roman church has refused to compromise with modernism or liberalism, and offers certainty and continuity to its members. Mainline denominations offer only social justice and watered-down theology, a thin gruel for spiritually hungry people. If we wish to retain our members, and grow in numbers and spiritual maturity, we must, like Rome, stand strong against the forces of accommodation and liberalism. Otherwise our sheep will be stolen by Rome, by cults, and by unbelief, and the Reformation will have been in vain.

A Bluegrass Valentine

2007-02-15T11:29:00.000-05:00

I love bluegrass music, and have been playing it ever since I heard Doc Watson's fingers fly up and down the neck of his guitar when I was a teenager. One of the first songs I ever learned was Doc's rendition of "Railroad Bill." I realize bluegrass music is an acquired taste, but so is opera, and many other fine things in this life.

My wife gave me a Valentine's Day gift which I want to recommend to you. It is a cd entitled Quartet, and offers the talents of Tony Rice and Peter Rowan on guitar, along with two very talented ladies: bassist Bryn Davies and Sharon Gilchrist on mandolin. It's a wonderful album and a good introduction to bluegrass music. Tony Rice is one of my favorite musicians, and has surrounded himself over the years with great talent. He pushes the envelope of bluegrass, adding jazz inflections and incomparable flatpicking leads. Just listening to this master musician is worth the price, but Peter Rowan's mournful vocals in harmony with the two ladies makes this a very special experience.

Medical Update

2007-02-12T16:27:00.000-05:00

When I was diagnosed with a relapse of acute promyelocytic leukemia on September 29th, 2006, I was told that the goal was to get me into remission, and then I would have a stem cell transplant to insure that I remain healthy. There are two types of transplants. One, which is called an autologous transplant, comes from your own cells which are harvested by a machine similar to that used in dialysis. This is the preferred transplant, because it really isn't a true transplant, and there is no risk of rejection. The other type of transplant comes from stem cells harvested from other peoples' blood. This type has an unnerving 30% mortality rate due to rejection issues.

Today I learned that I would be having an autologous stem cell transplant in May. A test was done two weeks ago that searched for leukemia cells at a level of 1 in 10,000. They could not find any! I feel an immense amount of relief, and thanksgiving. I wish to convey my heartfelt thanks to all those who have been praying for me and for this type of transplant in particular. I also thank God for His mercy. I still covet your prayers, and still lean on the everlasting arms of Christ my Savior. There are still dangers, and pain, chemotherapy, and a host of indignities to endure, but I have been given the precious gift of hope, and as Miss Dickenson wrote, "Hope is the thing with feathers."

Deadly Idolatry Redux

2007-02-09T08:55:00.000-05:00

The wall to wall cable news coverage yesterday of the death of Anna Nicole Smith reminded me of a previous post of mine last September about the dangers of idolatry. Smith idolized Marilyn Monroe, and met a similar fate. Instead of worshipping Christ and living a wholesome life of godliness and peace, Miss Smith (like Marilyn Monroe, she took a nom de plume - her real name was Vicky Hogan) chose to be a stripper and then found fame (again like Marilyn) as a Playboy centerfold. The remainder of her time on earth was marked by drug abuse, public intoxication, and a sad deterioration of her personal life.

Two verses come to mind. "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23) and "the way of transgressors is hard" (Proverbs 13:15). Whom or what we choose to idolize can have deadly consequences. Fame and fortune were no friends to this young woman, and yet I doubt it will stem the tide of countless others who will literally die to follow in the footsteps of Marilyn Monroe and Anna Nicole Smith. Drugs, pornography, serial marriages, and early deaths await those who idolize these women. What they need is Christ. What Anna Nicole needed was Christ. What she wanted was something else, and it killed her. Once again let us heed the Bible's warning: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21).

Gomorrah on a Hill

2007-02-07T08:40:00.000-05:00

Dinesh D'Souza has written a new book, entitled The Enemy At Home, on how left-wing politics and values bear a measure of responsibility for 9/11 and Islamic anti-Americanism. The book was savaged by Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times (can she do anything but savage books?), but I think D'Souza makes an important point. The precipitous decline in American social values is deeply offensive to the Islamic (and may I add orthodox Christian communities here and especially in the southern hemisphere). Normalizing depravity has its consequences. It erodes the quality of life in our nation, and makes us hated by those who object to the global exportation of Hollywood filth.

Devout Christians in America who voice similar concerns are lampooned and labelled as fundamentalist extremists. 9/11 and its aftermath should serve as a moral wake-up call lest we become what D'Souza calls "a shining beacon of global depravity, a kind of Gomorrah on a Hill." It is the Church's duty to speak prophetically to the culture, and be prepared for the stoning of its prophets.

What Blessing Means

2007-02-04T12:46:00.001-05:00

A sermon from Psalm 67 on the nature of blessing.

Lessons Learned

2007-02-02T10:14:00.000-05:00

As I begin my fifth month of dealing with relapsed acute leukemia, I have garnered some lessons which I'd like to share.
1. One by one the things which I used to depend on have been taken away. Because of the RCA's change in insurance, I had to change doctors, medications, and hospital. My house is quiet and empty since my daughters went back to college, and my wife now works full time. Loneliness is a real challange. I believe that God is weaning me away from anything that is not Him.
2. The medical/insurance changes which were so upsetting ended up being to my advantage. I am now being treated at a hospital only 20 minutes away, and is one of the foremost facilities in the country. The transplant team does over 200 stem-cell transplants a year. Lesson learned: not all change is bad.
3. Hospital time is not normal time. Each day I drive to the hospital, making sure I get there on time (or early!), and I am greeted by procedures (go here, do this, pay this person), delays, etc. While the arsenic trioxide is entering my IV, time slows to a crawl.
4. No prayer is too small. I routinely ask God for parking places, painless IV insertions, light traffic on the highway.
5. Daily Bible reading in the morning calms my nerves, illuminates my mind, and fosters prayerful communion with the Lord. I am grateful to the St. James Devotional Guide I have been using. It provides order to my reading, and in the midst of all these changes and stresses order is good. It is also inexpensive ($14 a year).
6. Not leading worship is very hard.
7. God's mercy is new every morning. It arrives in varied and unexpected ways, but it arrives.

The Idol of Relevancy

2007-01-31T11:26:00.000-05:00

In a review of D.G. Hart's, John Williamson Nevin: High Church Calvinist (P & R Publishing), which I read in the Westminster Theological Journal (Vol. 67, No.2), there is the following quote: "Christianity's primary influence needs to be evaluated not by the church's ability to influence society, but by its performance of sacred rites and recitation of holy words through which the body of Christ grows." Nevin, one of the Mercersburg theologians, believed the church to be principally a divine institution whereby grace is mediated. In our age, the idol of relevancy has diminished the idea of the church as an agent of grace through word and sacrament. The church today resembles a marketing agency, seeking to sell the gospel at any cost. The result is a dilution of the gospel until it becomes no gospel at all, but is rather a reflection of the society it seeks to transform. The church has never been "relevant." It has, when it has been true to itself, offensive to society, a scandal, and a nuisance.

The Eternal Deity of Christ

2007-01-28T11:46:00.001-05:00

A sermon defending the biblical teaching of the divinity of Christ.

The Church's Task

2007-01-27T10:44:00.000-05:00

Having been asked by a colleague to expand on my previous post about how the church lives out its being, it occurred to me that this would require a book-length post! There are, however, several points I would like to make on this subject.

1. An emphasis on expository preaching is a good place to start. So many sermons today are little more than narrative drivel - brief strings of pithy stories and illustrations which have no connection to the text read. The great need of every age is the opening up of God's Word and applying it to the lives of God's people.

2. An emphasis in the church's teaching ministry on the absolute authority of Holy Scripture. The Bible must be held up as the only infallible guide for the life and faith of the church.

3. An emphasis on experiential Christianity is surely needed. Liberals decry the phrase "personal Lord and Savior," as unbiblical, but Christ and the apostles clearly taught the need for an individual to make his or her peace with God. Whole chapters of Scripture are devoted to this very theme (e.g., John 3; Psalm 51; Romans 6, 8, etc.). Salvation is an inherently individualistic thing. Each of us must stand before God's judgment seat alone, unless we are in personal union with Christ.

4. An emphasis on evangelism and holy living would naturally follow these points. The Holy Spirit's empowering of us to share the Gospel is a mark of the true church. The Heidelberg Catechism beautifully articulates this in the answer to Q.86., "Because just as Christ has redeemed us with his blood he also renews us through his Holy Spirit according to his own image, so that with our whole life we may show ourselves grateful to God for his goodness and that he may be glorified through us; and further, so that we ourselves may be assured of our faith by its fruits and by our reverent behavior may win our neighbors to Christ."

Other marks of the church, for example discipline and the proper administration of the sacraments, should be noted. But to summarize, we should be looking toward the ancient church, which set a high bar for membership in the body of Christ, and expected its members to live lives of sacrificial holiness. Countless believers were condemned to death because they followed Christ and his Word, and would not compromise their faith by mixing it with the leaven of worldliness. The Reformed Christian looks not to the world for solutions, but to the Word and like the primitive church, continues "steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42).

Directions

2007-01-26T12:44:00.000-05:00

At a denominational meeting this week, we were told that the church can no longer do business as usual or do the usual business. We were told that the Spirit is doing something new, and that we must allow the society around us to dictate how we should worship, and what we should believe. This seems to me to be a case of the tail wagging the dog. What I found interesting was that no concrete changes were offered. And how do these self-appointed church experts know the Spirit is doing something new? Why is "new" better? Remember "New Coke"? That didn't work out so well, did it? The Holy Spirit is always invoked by such folks, which is a clever device. Going against the Spirit is a bad thing, so get on board with us and our new thing or you will grieve the Spirit.

What is the business of the church? At the very least the church exists to:
1. Glorify God by the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That faith in Jesus is the only way of salvation (Acts 4:12).
2. Serve as a place of worship of the Triune God. Such worship is to be governed by Scriptural principles, and not by fashionable trends advocated by people who have no interest in Christ or the Bible.
3. Serve as a hospital for sinners. A place where the believer is edified, strengthened, challenged, and comforted by the Word and the communion of the saints.

The direction of the church cannot come from the sinful, fallen, anti-Christian world. The direction of the church can only come from God's revelation in Scripture. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). God's Word and biblically governed worship are surely sufficient for these things. Did not the Apostle Paul say so in 2 Timothy 3:16? I say we cast aside this idolatry of the "new," and return to "the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it'" (Jeremiah 6:16). No, they will not walk in the biblical, orthodox, Calvinist way. They want the new, the entertaining, the tolerant, the open, and to heal the wound of the people lightly, so as not to offend.

Bach's Goldberg Variations

2007-01-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

Amazon.com sent me a voucher of $25, for having spent so much money at their site over the years. So I bought a book by P.D. James (love a good mystery), and two cds, one by Telemann and the other Bach's Goldberg Variations. Of course it was the Glenn Gould recording (1981 version). It was a serious gap in my collection. What a revelation this recording is! It went right into the iPod. Did you know that Bach and Telemann were friends? Telemann was C.P.E. Bach's godfather, and J.S. Bach directed the Leipzig University Collegium Musicum (a form of musical society) which Telemann founded. It was a small world back then too, it seems.

Well that's it. Just trust me and go out and get the Goldberg Variations. Put it next to "Brendel Plays Bach" on your shelf. The "Italian Concerto in F" will lower your blood pressure and assure you that there is a God. Bach! the fifth Evangelist.

Solus Christus

2007-01-22T13:23:00.001-05:00

A sermon on one of the five "Solas" of the Reformation from Isaiah 61:1-11.

The Plight of Lot

2007-01-19T10:29:00.000-05:00

This morning I read the story of Lot, Abraham's nephew, in Genesis 19. He comes across as a thoroughly disreputable character. He chooses to live in a city, Sodom, which is rife with abominable sin and depravity. Indeed, when the angels of the Lord come to rescue him, he is so reluctant to go that he must be forcibly removed from the city limits by the angels' hands. He offers his daughters to the mob to prevent the angels from being raped. His children reflect his character. The married daughters remain in Sodom, while his unmarried daughters ply him with wine and then sleep with him. Then of course there is his infamous wife, who is turned into a pillar of salt as she turns back to look upon all she had loved and lost.

Lot is a direputable character, and so he is a type (i.e., a representative) of every sinner. He is not saved by his virtue, but is plucked out danger by the grace of God because of the virtue of another - his uncle Abraham. We read in v.29, "And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt." Notice the cause of God's action: his remembrance of Abraham. Abraham is a type (a foreshadowing representative) of Christ. Paul, in Romans 4, describes Abraham in just this way. The story of Abraham "was not written for his sake alone...but also for us. It shall be imputed [accounted] to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised for our justification" (v.23-25).

Like Lot, we delight in the depravities of civilization. Like Lot, we must be "rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son He loves" (Colossians 1:13). Like Lot, we are saved by the faith and righteousness of another - Jesus Christ. Even after our salvation, we continue to sin, to pine for the darkness, and to grieve the Holy Spirit with our ungodliness. Lot is a great lesson for us about the wages of sin, about grace, and about the grounds of our salvation. May we have the ears to hear it and hearts to heed it.

The Cost of a Cure

2007-01-15T10:59:00.000-05:00

The other day we received the bill from the hospital I stayed in for 30+ days last fall. It was over $370,000. After some haggling, my portion comes to $1,400. That's still a lot of money. Of course the total has yet to arrive, since the $370,000 does not include lab fees, doctors visits, etc., etc. I am facing a stem cell transplant (not from babies), which will likely cost nearly $100,000, along with another three weeks in the hospital. The numbers start adding up. We are still in debt from the first time I had leukemia in 2001. Don't worry, I'm not asking for money. I am one of the fortunate ones who has medical insurance. 46.6 million Americans do not have health insurance.

We are the richest, most powerful nation on earth, and yet we are the only "civilized" nation without universal health care. I am quite sure that the lobbyists and President Bush's friends all have coverage, but even those of us who have health insurance face enormous costs. You may have to wait a while for certain procedures in Canada, but at least you get the procedure, and you aren't bankrupted in the process. It's time for America to join the other "first world" nations and stop spending billions of dollars on tax cuts for the wealthly and unprovoked wars, and start providing health care for every person who needs it. If that sounds like socialism, call me a socialist. I'd rather be called a Christian, caring for the least among us.

What Consititutes Fruitfulness?

2007-01-11T16:05:00.000-05:00

A couple of years ago, a speaker at a regional church gathering berated us for valuing the concepts of "faithfulness" and "family." What mattered, he said, was fruitfulness, which he defined as numerical growth. If you were not growing numerically, it didn't matter if your church was orthodox theologically or a warm, nurturing family.

Of course I disagree with this assessment, pastoring a church which has had almost no numerical growth over the past few years. At lunch today with two ministerial friends, we talked about this issue. If numerical growth is all-important, and a mark of God's blessing, then how do you explain Ted Haggard, who built a mega-church of 40,000, while privately engaging in homosexuality. Some fruit is poisoned, and many of the "successful" congregations offer little but entertainment, psycho-babble, and pablum. Clearly the word "fruitful" needs a better definition than mere numbers.

Christ blessed the church of Philadelphia in Revelation 3:8 when he said, "I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept my word, and have not denied my name." In other words, though outwardly small and weak, they were inwardly strong and triumphant. The door is Christ's presence, his power, and the line of communion between Christ and the church, which cannot be closed. Through the open door flows grace. As Matthew Henry wrote long ago, "True grace, though weak, will do more than the greatest gifts or highest degrees of common grace, for it will enable the Christian to keep the word of Christ, and not deny his name. Obedience, fidelity, and a free confession of the name of Christ, are the fruits of true grace, and are pleasing to Christ as such."

How does the New Testament further define fruit. Romans 6:22, "But having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life." Paul famously lists the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 as "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness." He makes no mention of numerical growth. In fact Scripture attributes growth as God's activity. "So then neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow" (1 Corinthians 3:7). Numerical growth in a congregation is a wonderful thing, but if we do not grow in holiness, humility, and proclaiming the name of Christ, it is a vain thing.

The Beauty of Holiness

2007-01-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

A couple of times recently, during my morning Bible reading, I have encountered the phrase, "the beauty of holiness." For example:

Psalm 29:2, "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness."

Psalm 96:9, "O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth."

And then there is the familiar passage from Psalm 27:4, "One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple."

The Hebrew word for beauty is hadarah, and refers to the fine clothes worn at festive occasions ~ worship festivals. David is referring here to the glory of the tabernacle (later the temple). Where God is, there is ineffable beauty. In Psalm 27 and Psalm 90 (v.17, "And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us"), another Hebrew word is used, no'am, which refers to the brightness or glory of Jehovah. Thus, God is beautiful because holiness is beautiful, and God is perfect in holiness, so much so that He shines to the point of being dangerous for humans to look upon. (e.g., Exodus 33:20). But the danger aside, how keen is our desire to look upon God. Moses said, "Please, show me your glory" (Exodus 33:18). In Christ, however, such danger is past.

But why is holiness beautiful? The most obvious reason is its contrast with evil. Sin is ugly, deforming the image of God. The way of the wicked is hard (Proverbs 13:15). Lines of despair are engraved on their faces. Not so the communion of the saints. Our worship is beautiful, full of beautiful people. Not cosmetically beautiful, but spiritually lovely. For the Christian is marked by joy, and joy beams from God's people like light from the sun, and our spiritual worship is an earthly reflection of the beauty of God's holiness. Are we mindful of this when we come to worship? Are we aware of the beauty of God, the beauty of holiness, and the beauty of worship? If not, we should be, as it would transform our experience of the Sabbath and the communion of the saints.

"Godincidents"

2007-01-04T09:36:00.000-05:00

God told Elijah on Mt. Horeb (Sinai) not to look for evidence of the divine presence in spectacular events (e.g., great wind, earthquake, or fire ~ cf. 1 Kings 19:11-12), but in God's "still small voice." If we look back over our lives, we can detect God's intervention most often in small, subtle events which only later amaze us. A former parishioner of mine, a most holy woman, would often say, "There are no coincidences, only Godincidents." Our faith is strengthened when we observe how God answers our prayers, especially the small cries of distress we utter as we rush to and fro about our day. As the psalmist says:

"In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto to my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears" (18:6).

"I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place" (118:5).

"In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me" (120:1).

I am sure that in heaven we will thank God for all the times he said "No!" to us in our prayers, but I am equally sure that we will sing praises for the many small blessings, incidents, providences, and other God-directed events we will call to our remembrance. Such a "Godincident" happened to me today; did one happen to you?

New Year's Resolution

2007-01-01T10:17:00.000-05:00

From The Valley of Vision.

Let me be what I profess,
do as I teach,
live as well as hear religion.

Joni on Suffering and Hope

2006-12-29T10:30:00.000-05:00

I woke up feeling sorry for myself, feeling anxious about my leukemia, projecting myself into a number of terrible futures. So it was with great joy that I read Dan Phillips' post over at the blog Pyromaniacs. He pointed me to a speech given by Joni Eareckson Tada on suffering and the sovereignty of God. It was given at John Piper's 2005 Desiring God conference. She offers a glimpse into her ability to glory and rejoice despite being a quadriplegic. She pointed me to 1 Corinthians 1:5, "For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ." Her ministry, her singing, her artwork, her joy in living is a powerful testimony to the hope that is in Christ. I encourage you to listen to this speech. I want to listen to it again, maybe several more times. It puts things in perspective. God uses our suffering, Joni says, to wean us from dependence on anything but Him. She quotes a line from the movie "The Shawshank Redemption" (from a story by Stephen King!), "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. So get busy living or get busy dying." Try and listen to this speech without tears. As Paul wrote in Romans 5:5, "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Thanks Dan, for pointing me to this godly woman on this fretful day. Oh, how God anticipates our needs!

{For more information about Joni's ministry, here is a link}

The Robe of Christ's Righteousness

2006-12-28T09:00:00.000-05:00

The great error pastors confront in the church is the notion, held by even the most devout of souls, that heaven is gained by our good deeds weighed in the balance of God's judgment. In other words, most believe salvation is by works, and based upon the individual's personal holiness. This is view is not taught in Scripture, quite the opposite.

One is right to point to the great judgment to come, when God will judge each person according to his or her works. "God will give to each person according to what he has done" (Romans 2:6). For the unbeliever this means judgment and punishment, but for the believer it means an evaluation which will determine his or her experience of heavenly glory. For the believer is judged on his sanctification, not his justification. The Christian stands before God at the great judgment clothed not in his own filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), but in the robe of Christ's perfect righteousness. As we read in Isaiah 61:10, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness." The robe of Christ's righteousness is placed around us, and we are deemed holy in God's sight. Our faith is in Christ, not in our faith, nor in our holiness ~ hence our joy.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T09:28:00.000-05:00

Learning Patience

2006-12-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

The word "patience" is derived from the Latin patientia, meaning to suffer without complaint. It is the opposite of whining. The word "patient," then, is one who endurs suffering or sickness. As a patient I have trouble with patience, namely, I lack it. Ambrose Bierce defined patience as "a minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue."

The Bible has some interesting thoughts on patience. Paul writes in Romans 15:4, "that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." So we learn patience from reading the Bible. In 2 Thessalonians 3:5 we read, "Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ. The Greek word for patience is hypomone, which is also translated endurance or steadfastness. Patience, then, finds another source in being in Christ. It is also produced by tribulation, suffering, and the testing of our faith (cf. James 1:3).

As a cancer patient, I have to remember I am in Christ, and to endure the traffic, the needles, the chemotherapy, the waiting, all with Christian patience. I must also remember that patience produces its own fruit. As Paul writes in Romans 5:3, "we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces patience (hypomone); and patience, character; and character, hope." Thus patience produces character in a Christian, an inner strength to endure with grace, wit, and even rejoicing what God in his providence places before us.

I am not Paul, and I lack patience, but I am working on it through Scripture reading, prayer, and adoration. The goal is to be still and know that God is God (Psalm 46:10). As Augustine famously wrote at the outset of his Confessions, "our heart is restless until it rests in Thee." Amen.

Being Raised by the Gospel

2006-12-20T10:16:00.000-05:00

While doing some research for my sermon (yes, I am, Lord willing, preaching at the Christmas eve service) about the shepherds, I ran into this quote from Calvin's commentary on Luke 2:20, "Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them."

Calvin writes, "If the cradle of Christ had such an effect upon them, as to make them rise from the stable and the manger to heaven, how much more powerful ought the death and resurrection of Christ be in raising us to God? For Christ did not only ascend from the earth, that he might draw all things after him; but he sits at the right hand of the Father, that, during our pilgrimage in the world, we may meditate with our whole heart on the heavenly life" (emphasis added).

The Latin words for lifting us up to heaven are sursum corda. Calvin uses this concept in his Institutes to describe what occurs when we partake of sacrament of the Lord's Supper. We are lifted up and fed by the Lord, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to be comforted and strengthened in our pilgrimage. The result is evangelism ~ the public worship of God and the proclamation of the Gospel. But what an interesting image! These realities of incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension are not merely intellectual truths, but rather they are vehicles of divine power, lifting us up to live in Christ. Is there a better Christmas present?

{Painting: The Adoration of the Shepherds, by Caravaggio}

The Importance of Daily Bible Reading

2006-12-17T18:00:00.000-05:00

I awoke anxious, concerned for my health, and so I prayed to the Lord to comfort and strengthen me. The psalter reading for the morning was Psalm 31, famous for its fulfillment by Jesus on the cross, when he said, "Into thine hand I commit my spirit" (v.5). On an anxious morning, God uplifted me with the last verse of this psalm: "Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord" (v.24). Comfort indeed.

So I am putting in a plug for daily Bible reading. In the past I have used Robert M. M'Cheyne's calendar, but recently I have been using the Society of St. James' lectionary. It continually amazes me how often each day's readings will coincide with my own particular needs and concerns. Daily Bible reading also provides more than comfort, it highlights that golden thread of gospel consistency which runs from Genesis to Revelation. The more I read, the more I detect how unified God's Word truly is. Some like to point to "contradictions" in the Bible, but those who spend time in the Word each day find just the opposite. Reading the Bible through once or twice a year is a joy, and a spiritual exercise guaranteed to deepen one's faith and trust in God. As the psalmist said, "Make me go in the path of thy commandments, for therein do I delight" (Psalm 119:35).

I Am a TR Man

2006-12-14T10:35:00.000-05:00

No not Teddy Roosevelt, but the Textus Receptus. It is the Greek New Testament which the translators used to produce the King James Bible (also called, more accurately, the "Authorized Version"). Now I am not one of those "King James Only Folks," who reject all other translations. I just prefer to read from the KJV and preach and teach from the New King James Version. Why? For some technical reasons, you can read this page of helpful information, but suffice to say I am more comfortable using a Bible that is based on 90% of the 5,000 Greek New Testament manuscripts, than one which is based on only several texts from Alexandria in Egypt, which may be of dubious origin and theologically heterodox. But there are other reasons I use the King James and New King James versions over others. These are more subjective reasons:

1. I love the phrasing, the beauty of the prose, and the exalted poetry found there. It's the same reason I love Shakespeare. Compare the KJV to The Message (a recent paraphrase "Bible"). The Message offers Psalm 23:1 as "God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing." That sounds more like rap music than Scripture.

2. It is the Bible of our culture. It has found a permanent home in our literature, our English-speaking consciousness. It would be a tragedy for our children not to know the source of so many of our phrases and ideas.

3. Newer translations adopt a looser format called "dynamic equivalence" when they translate from the Hebrew and Greek. Instead of word for word, they try to guess the meaning of a passage and translate accordingly. That's not translation - that's interpretation. The KJV alerts you to added words by placing them in italics. In the end, the KJV is a more accurate and honest text.

4. Dr. Joel Beeke has pointed out that it is really the only ecumenical translation, due to its prominence (it still sells better than any other Bible except for the NIV), and widespread use.

5. Newer translations seem to me to be mere marketing gimics. In the most recent New Yorker, there is an article which shines a spotlight on how publishers continually strive for increased sales by turning the Bible into magazines, and offering specialty versions for every possible niche. I prefer my black leather Oxford edition thank you.

6. The KJV makes you work to understand God's Word. That's right, work for it. Newer translations dumb down the Bible to a 6th grade reading level. The KJV makes you stop, which is always a good thing, and use a dictionary from time to time. Reading the Bible too fast is never a good thing.

7. Finally, when I read the Bible, I want God exalted in its prose. I want to refer to Him as "Thou" or "Thee." Newer translations turn God into a buddy.

This morning in my devotions I read Isaiah 49:16. The KJV translates this verse of supreme comfort this way: "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." The Message gives us, "Look, I've written your names on the backs of my hands." You decide.

Threats to Spiritual Health

2006-12-13T09:33:00.000-05:00

Monotony, loneliness, fear, and doubt. Four horsemen with considerable power to damage one's spiritual health. They damage joy, corrode trust, and render faith a weak and pitiable thing. They are the children of sloth and having too much time one one's hands. I know them all intimately, especially since September. Work, prayer, Scripture reading, worship, and fellowship are needed to repel these foul invaders. Work is never appreciated until you are forced to retire or are set aside by illness or unemployment. How I long to preach! How I long to do those things I used to grumble over just a few months ago. I would lead a consistory meeting with joy today. When Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the desert, those forty days must have seemed like a lifetime. At least I do not have to contend with hunger and thirst. Jesus coped, and emerged triumphant and ready for his ministry. May that be so of us, and may we contend with the spiritual forces of wickedness with the spiritual weapons fashioned for our weak and feeble hands. "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).

"Redeem the time," is Paul's injunction (Eph 5:16). Remain busy, prayerful, biblical, and trust not in one's own faith, but in Christ alone. I read this morning about the thief on the cross (Luke 23:42-43). He called Jesus "Lord" (in the King James version), recognizing Jesus' divinity and power to save. If I trust in my own faith, my own strength, I am doomed. The four horsemen will trample over me. But if I look to Christ as Lord, then the promise is given to me as well: "you will be with me in paradise." After all, God is glorified in our weakness, and so Paul can say, "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Renewing Our Love For Christ

2006-12-09T13:00:00.000-05:00

I read a portion of Octavius Winslow's Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul (Banner of Truth Trust) the other day and was profoundly impressed by it. I say this because I had previously read the book and was unmoved. Sometimes a passage appears more forceful when it is lifted from the deep portions of a book. Anyway, here is one quote:

"Ah! dear Christian reader, it is because we have so little to do with Jesus - we admit Him so seldom and so reluctantly to our hearts, we have so few dealings with Him, travel so seldom to His blood and righteousness, and live so little upon His fullness - that we are compelled so often to exclaim, "My leanness, my leanness!" (Isaiah 24:16). But, if we be "risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" (Col 3:1), let us seek to know Christ more, to have more spiritual and enlarged comprehensions of His glory, to drink deeper into His love, to imbibe more of His Spirit, and conform more closely to His example."

How shallow contemporary teaching about Jesus appears in comparison to past writings. Much preaching today is centered on the felt needs of the congregation, and not about the glories of Christ. We have a church of consumers, but what we need is a church of people living in intimate communion with the Savior. Such communion will always be marked by love. How aware are we of the love Christ has for us? How aware are we of our defliciency in returning that love? The only answer for our church problems and failures is to seek Christ, and renew our love for Him through the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us drink deeper. "When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek" (Ps 27:8).

A Source of Strength

2006-12-04T21:00:00.000-05:00

I have resumed visiting the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society bulletin board on the net, and upon doing so found this post. It summarizes beautifully not only the nature of potentially fatal diseases, but how we should look at life in general. I don't know who this person is, but I owe them much thanksgiving. Here is the post:

It will be ten years in January since I was diagnosed with APL--I was one of the few--and really it is few--who relapse HOWEVER, that was seven years ago and I had a BMT, am doing great, and ran a marathon last year. I know the "R" (relapse) can have as much power as the "c" word but really, the thing about APL relapse--should it happen and most likely, it won't--is that you have options. Knowing you have options is great. You pretty much can leave it at that and then focus to living today as joyfully and gratefully as possible. I also found that for my husband and I, the 'after" part of treatment was almost as hard as the physical part--emotional roller-coaster for us--but eventually--on your own timetable--you will integrate the experience into your life. I was 39 when i was diagnosed and it just seemed way too early in life to be dealing with the whole death and dying topic. It is a powerful, blindsiding experience and integrating it can take time--be easy on yourself, acknowledge the anxiety and then try to lay it down. Fear doesn't help one bit and just holds a person back from living fully--but just because you know something intellectually doesn't mean that you are at the same spot emotionally. hang in there, it's a process and we get through it in our unique way (s). This experience will be part of you forever--like eye color-- but it won't dictate your future and believe it or not, will likely have some positive effects that you can't imagine at this moment.

"APL" is the same type of Acute Leukemia I am suffering from, and "BMT" means "Bone marrow transplant."

Two Cool Things

2006-12-02T21:00:00.000-05:00

1. A post I read on The Conventicle, which led me here.

2. A photo the son of a parishioner sent me. It comes from a burned-down Lutheran church. It is from the Book of Concordia.

More Medical News

2006-12-01T16:51:00.000-05:00

Because my denomination is changing health care insurance come January 1st, I have had to change doctors and hospitals in mid-course of my leukemia treatments. There is a blessing to all this, however, in that the hospital which accepts United Health Care (henceforth named Uck), is Hackensack University Medical Center, which is one of the best hospitals in the country, and a premier leukemia treatment center.

I met my new doctor, Dr. Goldberg, today, and was quite impressed with him and the unit which will be treating me. It turns out that my treatment will be faster (2 hours a day instead of 5), and when it comes time (God willing) for a stem cell transplant, one is first put in an isolation ward which is very clean and secure. Then, they monitor your progress by putting you in a hospital-owned apartment a block away, and shuttle you each day back and forth. This makes life much better, trust me, since staying in a tiny room for long periods of time hinders your recovery.

It's a long, scary trip I am on, but I am thankful to God for providing me with the services and staff I need to get better. Some folks drive hours just to get the care that's twenty minutes from my door. Now, as they say in AA, it's one day at a time, easy does, it, and let go and let God take over. Easier said than done, but in my case there is no alternative. One of the worst fears, that of the unknown, is now gone, so that's a relief. New Jersey may be a crowded mess, but if you're sick, it's "banging," as my daughter says. I assume "banging" means very good.

Please consider signing up to be a bone marrow donor. You will be giving the gift of life to someone, and that, to quote Martha, is a good thing.

Loves

2006-11-27T20:00:00.000-05:00

I named my first child after Emily Dickinson, whose poetry is so sublime, multileveled, and dare I say quaint, that it serves as a life-long treasure, a "love." While in the hospital in October, I received a copy of her Complete Poems (i.e., all 1775 poems, not those abridged versions which claim to be "complete"), from two very dear parishioners (another love ~ agape), which I have been dipping in frequently to my delight. Today I found a poem that refers to yet another love of mine, guitars. But does it really refer to a wooden instrument? You decide.

1389

Touch lightly Nature's sweet Guitar
Unless thou know'st the Tune
Or every Bird will point at thee
Because a Bard too soon -

Loves are like this poem ~ complicated, uncertain, confusing, but also didactic, sustaining, and what make life worth living. Does this poem restrain the amateur (another form of love ~ from the Latin amo)? Is the sweet guitar a guise for loving another, but not loving enough, or without bold declaration? Interesting words from a recluse, who loved her solitude.

Pewsitting

2006-11-26T13:17:00.000-05:00

I attended worship this morning for the first time since September. I found it both joyful and upsetting all at once. Someone else was in "my" pulpit, and I wasn't playing my Martin 12 string in the praise group. It is incredibly odd to be in church and not be leading worship. The man they have filling in for me did a fine job, and I am grateful for his orthodoxy and biblical views. But I'm supposed to be up there, right!? Good Calvinist that I am, I know the answer is, for now, "No." Interestingly, the pulpit supply person (not yet ordained) was laid off recently, so this pulpit supply is a financial blessing to him, and perhaps God's way of pushing him into ministry.

Now about pewsitting - I don't do it well. As doctors make the worst patients, pastors make the worst parishioners. My mind wandered a lot. I looked at my watch often. I fidgeted. I was relieved when it was over. I did like the casual, blended worship, with a simplified liturgy. I did, however, wish we sounded more like Michael W. Smith. I even found myself saying to the music director that I might try and play with the group again at Wednesday night practice. Am I insane? I, who won't eat a bagel from the store is going to get up close to potentially sick people? Not!

The bottom line is confronting the fact that things can go forward without you. One of the greatest of all ministers, Robert M. M'Cheyne, went on a short missionary journey, only to find out that a revival had broken out in his church during his absence. This happened to a man who could make men weep merely by ascending the pulpit. So who am I to complain? What matters is that I felt at home in the house of God, and missed my vocation. Here endeth the lesson.

Chromosomes Behaving Nicely

2006-11-23T17:07:00.000-05:00

The doctor called yesterday to let us know my chromosomes are behaving themselves. This means that there is no evidence of leukemia at a level where they can observe one out of a hundred cells. The road ahead is now meant to smash any remaining bad things. It's long and frightening, and I've been there before. The cause of my leukemia is that chromosome 15 changed places with number 17 - why, no one knows. I would be quite grateful if they would remain where they are.

I am grateful today for my wife and daughters, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. I am grateful to God for this respite, and for the the skill and science which flow from His merciful hands, and offers me hope.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the other day another woman musician whom I admire ~ my cousin Jill.

Musical Women and Such

2006-11-20T18:00:00.000-05:00

I realized yesterday that this time of year marks the anniversary of Kate Bush's latest album, Aerial. I was also reminded that I like women singers far more than men. Women such as Jane Siberry, Claire Lynch, Emmylou Harris, Beth Orton, Karen Peris (of the Innocence Mission), Suzanne Vega, Bjork, Julie Miller, Patty Lovelace, Iris Dement, Patty Griffin, Rhonda Vincent, Sarah McLachlan, Sia, Lisa Stansfield, Tori Amos, the Dixie Chicks, and countless others currently escaping my brain. This carries over into classical music as well. I dearly love sopranos, but have little time to spend on tenors or baritones.

I am home now, for a 2-3 week break from arsenic treatments. My last biopsy revealed me to be in remission (!), but I am still waiting for the results of the cytogenetic test (what my chromosomes are up to). I am grateful for the prayers and cards and encouragement.

{photo: Canadian singer Jane Siberry}

A Site Worth Far More than Gold

2006-11-06T20:00:00.000-05:00

One of the most influential people in my Christian life is Rev. Maurice J. Roberts. He is a minister in the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), and his humility, evident godliness, and insight into the Christian faith have provided rich food for my soul. Below is a link to the website of this particularly fine denomination, with a video interview with Rev. Roberts.

http://www.freechurchcontinuing.co.uk/

There is one congregation in the U.S. which belongs to this small fellowship, but which shines its gospel light with an intense brightness. I thank God for them.

Also: I am continuing as an outpatient, receiving arsenic chemotherapy. Today I also begin to take another drug, Vesanoid, which I took five years ago. So far I feel tired, but thankful for the less devastating therapies I am receiving. I will give another update next week, after my next biopsy. God bless.

Going Home

2006-11-01T12:46:00.000-05:00

After 36 days in the hospital, where I received excellent care by excellent people, I am going home. I am not out of the woods, by far. I have to return to CINJ on Friday to meet with Dr. Roger Strair, my oncologist. He will lay out the plan for the next two or three months. I was warned that I will be facing almost weekly bone marrow biopsy ~ think of root canal on your hip bone.

Thanks for all the many cards and prayers. Thanks also for not visiting and giving me the plague. More later....

Update

2006-10-23T08:08:00.000-04:00

Today is my 27th day in the hospital. By the day's end I will have had my 25th dosage of Arsenic Trioxide, which my doctors assure me is going well. I remain mystified by their lingo, and my stats remain stubbornly fixed in a neutral position. The doctors remind me each day that average remission is 30 days, and for some up to 60 days.

I am tired, have laryngitis, and get violent chills in the evening, despite having no fever (it is an effect of the arsenic).

So to all gentle readers: I hope you appreciate this day, your health, etc. I don't intend to write until there is something new to report.

A Nice Prayer

2006-10-11T14:32:00.000-04:00

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that we who seek the grace of Thy protection, being delivered from all evils, may serve Thee in quietness of mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

~ Saint Andrew's Missal

Update

2006-10-11T13:55:00.000-04:00

I've begun my third week at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital today. I am feeling fine, mostly because I caught this relapse early, and also the chemotherapy used is Arsenic Trioxide, which has almost no side effects.

It is boring waiting for your leukemic cells to die off and be replaced by normal ones. The average wait is between 23-30 days. So I have some time yet. My room is a solo, as are all cancer rooms in this hospital, and the staff are great. Even the food, which you order by menu, isn't too bad. None of this would be bearable without the constant presence and support of my wife Deb, and the love my family and friends continually show me. The NHL season has started, so I am bummed by having to watch baseball. I miss my Rangers.

I don't know why this happened to me again. 80% of patients with my form of leukemia never replapse ~ so I guess I am special. I won't say that there are no theological implications here ~ there are plenty, but I am resisting getting angry with God. I console myself with dreams of moving to Florida to be near my parents and soon both of my daughters (who have been great through all of this ~ I love you Emmy and Sarah!). I would like to get through this and then feel the sun on my face. Prayer seems oddly futile at the moment. One just abandons oneself to divine providence, or what have you. I do thank God for my iPod, laptop, and PSP.

I can't have many visitors, as my white blood cells are still low, but I appreciate the cards, email, and phone calls. I get tired easily, so I will go back to reading. I am reading Douglas Adams' The Ultimate Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy. It is hysterical and just what I needed. Tomorrow my parents are coming for a visit, which should be nice. My advice to all who come across this is to Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying.

- Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

Daily Bread Better than Hospital Food

2006-10-04T10:17:00.000-04:00

From today's Psalter reading (according to the St. James Daily Devotional Guide):

"Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, yet Your commandments are my delights (Psalm 119:144).

Well now....

2006-10-03T19:12:00.000-04:00

Or rather decidedly not well now! as my once "cured" APL (Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia ~ 5+ years in remission) decided to reactivate itself, resulting in the creation of immature white blood cells that meander about, bumping into each other and hindering wellness. I diagnosed myself getting out of the shower, when I noticed a glaring bruise on my foot that was not there the evening before. So in a panic I scheduled a blood test, and tried to think happy thoughts. The results were devastating. I was neutropenic, which means my white blood cell level was just under 1. My platelets were also down two-thirds (hence the bruising). So I trecked on down to the Cancer Institute of NJ in New Brunswick, where I was admitted and put into isolation. Tonight my wife brought up the laptop, which allows me to inform you of some of the the things going on. I'm kind of pooped at the moment, so I will let you know more tomorrow. Dr. Strair, my hero, is confident that I will soon be on the mend, or at least at home mending. "The first time was your innoculation," he says, "this time it's a booster shot." Yeah, okay.

Improving Our Baptism

2006-09-24T17:55:00.000-04:00

Making good use of the privileges and obligations of being a baptized member of the body of Christ. A sermon from Romans 6:1-6.

Denominations: Necessary, Biblical?

2006-09-22T14:42:00.000-04:00

My mother was from a Methodist family which was once a mix of Presbyterian and Roman Catholic. My father's family was supposed to be Lutheran, but ended up Roman Catholic. We moved two doors down from a Reformed Church in America congregation, and so I grew up in that denomination, even attending an RCA college and seminary. Only in America can one find such a common story of Heinz 57 religious pedigree. I looked in vain for any Jewish or Byzantine relatives, but did find to my horror a Dutch great-grandmother.

Being a member of a denomination since I was four, I have appreciated the common life, heritage, and networks which comprise the RCA as a part of the body of Christ. I like the name "Reformed," which evokes Calvinism, reformation from Rome, and the doctrines of grace. On the other hand, I have had a front-row seat to all which is wrong in my denomination, wrongs shared by most other mainline Christian churches. I have observed a speedy decline in doctrinal orthodoxy, coinciding with a rise in ecumenism, feminism, and a widespread rejection of biblical authority. Our two seminaries are rife with heretical professors, non-biblical/theological curiculla, and each year pump out more and more young pastors hostile to the historic Reformed faith as summarized in our creeds and confessions. The shadows are indeed lengthening, and our spiritual decline is matched only by our numerical decline, as God's people desire and seek out the pure milk and meat of the Word.

All of this has taken a toll on the spiritual health of individuals and congregations. Conformity, uniformity, and centralization of power in the RCA has left many wounded by the side of the road. When I was ordained, I thought I was leaving the corporate world for the sacred precincts of divine service, only to find the church lapping up every secular business trend it could find. I should have known something was amiss, when my final seminary class was taught by Max Dupree, a businessman and author. He told us to be efficient office managers. Now in my present classis, people are fussing about "Best Practices," and higher judicatories are implementing "Carver Governance Policy." I don't know a great deal about either, but I know enough to say they smell like smoke.

I have not yet mentioned the persecution of evangelicals in the seminaries, the difficulties of remaining composed at classis meetings, nor the misery of reading The Church Herald, which is a mouthpiece for the small, unelected cabal of liberals who control the denomination.

As my rhetoric grows more heated, one can sense that I am building to a position that denominations are not necessary. They are in fact mostly hindrances to ministry, false substitutes for the true church, engines of oppression and power, and without warrant in the Bible.

My admiration for John Owen is enormous, and his writings on the nature of the church have provided me both a great solace and a direct challenge to denominationalism. I hope to share some of what I have gleaned from Owen in my next post. I will leave you with Owen's definition of the church, which is taken from his Brief Instruction (1667):

"A society of persons called out of the world, or their natural worldly state, by the administration of the word and Spirit, unto the obedience of the faith, or the knowledge and worship of God in Christ, joined together in a holy band, or by a special agreement, for the exercise of the communion of saints, in due observation of all the ordinances of the gospel."

"Liberal Evangelicalism"

2006-09-19T08:47:00.000-04:00

I read this morning at The Christian Post, that liberal evangelicals are about to begin a campaign to move the church beyond debates about abortion and homosexuality. The following quote, however, belies the truth of this organization ~ it is fraudulently misnamed, and has no right to the name "evangelical." This new group, called Red Letter Christians...

"announced plans to establish a grass-roots network of 7,000 moderate and progressive clergy members."

Two things stand out here. The first is the group's official name ~ Red Letter Christians. One must assume it refers to the Words in Red found in so many editions of the Bible, words which come from the mouth of Jesus Christ. This is a tired and predictable practice among liberal Christians. They are always putting the New Testament at odds with itself ~ setting Christ against Paul, and creating a "canon within a canon." For example, at a recent ordination exam, a student who was questioned about homosexuality said, "I stand with Jesus, who said nothing about the subject." Apart from the answer being egregiously wrong (Jesus uses the word porneia), it illustrates the hostility liberals have toward the whole counsel of God.

A second item of interest is that the true taxonomy of the organization is revealed in the use of the words "moderate" and "progressive." These are not hallmarks of evangelicalism, but is rather the smokey nomenclature of evangelicalism's enemies. For an evangelical is not moderate nor progressive. An evangelical is devoted to the "old paths" (Jeremiah 6:16), to "bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5), and to trembling before God's Word (Isaiah 66:2).

"Liberal evangelicalism" is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. To be an evangelical is to reject the philosophies of the secular world, and to rely solely upon the Bible, the "evangel" or good news found in God's infallible Word. The church must move the world, to echo G.K. Chesterton, not vice versa. When I begin to hear liberals speak of saving souls and rescuing the damned from the fires of hell, I will then cautiously embrace them as brethren. Until then, they remain, in my mind, a fifth column, traitors to the cause of Christ.

The Want of Love

2006-09-17T12:48:00.000-04:00

Conservatives must take back the emphasis on love, which has been co-opted and corrupted by liberalism, if we are to be faithful to the commands of Christ and the apostles. A sermon from 1 John 4:7-16.

Deadly Idolatry

2006-09-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

No you haven't stumbled onto a naughty blog. The picture to the left is of a model, and it is also a picture of an idol ~ a very dangerous idol. In our day, Baal is forgotten, Zeus is a mere myth, and meat is offered nowhere to any strange deities (except, possibly, for feeding Michael Jackson). Our idols are, however, just has potent and just as powerful as those facing God's people in the Bible. These idols kill, make people miserable, and distract them away from spiritual truth and a living relationship with Jesus Christ. Let's look at two such idols, which I will name "Emaciatia" and "Fenway."

"Emaciata" is the goddess of fashion and body image. She insists all women look like the women in the photo, which is to say emaciated. Is the woman in the photo beautiful? To some perhaps, but to me she looks like she just spent time in either a concentration camp or an East African food cooperative. She looks like a sexless broom. The problem is that literally hundreds of millions of girls and women hold this up as an ideal, an idol to emulate and worship as the symbol of beauty. Do you know what the symbol for female beauty was in the ancient world ~ chubby. Fat meant health. It meant you had something to eat. Every day women young and old are dying of eating disorders, or feel miserable about themselves because they don't look like "Emaciata." This affects women spiritually as well. Obsessing over weight, dieting, and starving themselves takes time away from worship and prayer. It is narcissism in the extreme. Jesus said, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear" (Matthew 6:25). The idol of vanity is poison to a life in the Spirit, and the opposite of loving and caring for others (agape).

Now I haven't forgotten the men. The idol I call "Fenway," is the obsession with sports. Soccer for the kids, followed by twenty hours on the couch watching college football, baseball, and the most powerful of the present false gods - the NFL. The reason I call this idol "Fenway" is because up until recently, the fans of the Boston Red Sox baseball team were known to suffer enormously over their team's feckless pursuit of a World Series championship. People even suffered emotional and psychological damage over the issue. Say the name "Buckner" to one such fan (short for fanatic), and it would induce a wave of despair. Such sport obsession has its physical and spiritual consequences. Men become obese, snacking for hours in front of the television. They ignore Sunday worship, and while they can repeat endless statistics to you, they couldn't find Deuteronomy with a map. In the immortal words of the dean of Faber College, "Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life." It is a replacement for God, and risks the spiritual peril of ignoring one's salvation.

The Apostle John ends his first epistle with this warning: "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols."

Five Years Later

2006-09-11T08:46:00.000-04:00

Five years ago today I was sitting on my couch waiting to be driven to the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, in New Brunswick. Six weeks earlier I had been released from the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, having completed the intensive chemotherapy treatments (four in all) which drove my Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia into remission. That previous July I nearly died of fungal pneumonia in both lungs, and I was to have my weekly checkup with Dr. Roger Strair, my chief oncologist (and the best doctor in the universe). I was beginning to breathe easier, and no longer needed supplemental oxygen. I weighed about 120lbs, had almost no hair, and needed help to walk to the car.

We never got to the car. Watching the Imus in the Morning show, waiting for my wife Deb to come downstairs, the program was interrupted to report a small plane had crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. My wife sat next to me as we saw the flames lick the side of the building which I had been to many times. We were not alarmed until the south tower exploded in flames. Deb saw what I and the people at MSNBC had missed ~ a plane travelling at high speed had crashed into the building. We never left the house that day, as Robert Wood Johnson hospital was put on alert. We live 15 miles due west of the Empire State Building, and we heard jets scrambling overhead. I was too sick, too weak to be afraid. I sat numbly watching the days events unfold. I will always be thankful for the calm voice and pitch-perfect words of Rudy Guiliani. I thought of people who I knew might have been working there. I remembered standing in the window space of the 92nd floor and looking down at the "ants" below me when I was a teenager. I saw the Brooks Brothers store where I bought so many shirts and ties used as a soot-covered morgue. I thought of my father, a retired NYC fireman, and whether or not he knew men "on the job" who had perished. It was all so surreal.

Five years later, the skyline still looks strange to me. I was about seven years old when the WTC went up. I never new the city without the ungainly towers. I wish they were still there. I wish something to be there. I read yesterday that in 2005, the United States allowed 96,000 moslems to legally emigrate to our country. All I could think of was how stupid we are. I am sure 99.99% of those immigrants are fine people, but what about the others? Some of the 911 hijackers had lived near me. Who lives near me now? What are they planning? How can we be so naive? I am a native New Yorker, and the towers are gone, and the firemen are buried, and I drove by a mosque recently, its minarets soaring into the blue sky. I was numb that day five years ago, but I now I am afraid ~ for my city, for my nation, for my civilization. Or is that fear too politically incorrect to name?

The Race Set Before Us

2006-09-10T22:27:00.000-04:00

A sermon from 1 Corinthians 9:23-27, which outlines the pilgrim race - why we run and how we run.

Thank You, Al Mohler

2006-09-08T11:45:00.000-04:00

One of the consistently best places to visit on the internet is Dr. Albert Mohler's blog. He is informative, keenly aware of world events, and also funny. Today's offerings are both chilling and hilarious. An evangelical Christian was arrested in Britain for handing out pamphlets at a pro-gay rally. The contents of the pamphlets were simply quotations from the King James Version of the Bible, which condemn homosexuality as a sin. Christianity is in danger of becoming illegal in Britain (Islamist fundamentalists, however, are free to say whatever they please). After informing us of this sad and ominous event, as you scroll down his page you see the smiling face of Joel Osteen (the lost child of Robert Schuller). The heading above him: "Meanwhile, In No Apparent Danger of Arrest." I laughed out loud. Mr. Osteen has never made a statement he hasn't qualified. He doesn't like to mention homosexuality, as it divides people. Perhaps like a two-edged sword? Oh I forgot, that's the Bible, a book Mr. Osteen might want to investigate.

Another great post today is at Pyromaniacs. Dan Phillips has an excellent article on the wages of abandoning biblical inerrancy. He documents the decline and dilution of the word "evangelical" via the thought of several theologians who decades ago rejected inerrancy, and now are advocating gay rights, open theism, and other distractions. It makes for informative reading.

Some Choice Cuts to Chew On

2006-09-07T16:00:00.000-04:00

"So let us hold to this rule, that all human inventions which are set up to corrupt the simple purity of the word of God, and to undo the worship which he demands and approves, are true sacrileges, in which the Christian man cannot participate without blaspheming God, and trampling his honour underfoot."
- John Calvin, Sermon on Psalm 16

"The Sovereignty of God is the stumbling block on which thousands fall and perish; and if we go contending with God about His sovereignty it will be our eternal ruin. It is absolutely necessary that we submit to God as an absolute sovereign, and the sovereign of our souls; as one who may have mercy on whom He will have mercy and harden whom He will."
- Jonathan Edwards

"It is no novelty, then, that I am preaching; no new doctrine. I love to proclaim these strong old doctrines, that are called by the nickname Calvinism, but which are surely and verily the revealed truth of God as it is in Christ Jesus. By this truth I make a pilgrimage into the past, and as I go, I see father after father, confessor after confessor, martyr after martyr, standing up to shake hands with me. Were I a Pelagian, or a believer in the doctrine of free-will, I should have to walk centuries all alone. Here and there a heretic, of no honorable character, might rise up to call me brother. But taking these things to be the standard of my faith, I see the land of the ancients peopled with my brethren; I behold multitudes who confess the same as I do, and acknowledge that this is the religion of God's own Church."
- Charles H. Spurgeon

"Man is not possessed of free will for good works, unless he be assisted by grace, and that special grace which is bestowed on the elect alone, in regeneration. God declares his election when he regenerates his elect by his Holy Spirit, and thus inscribes them with a certain mark, while they prove the reality of this sonship by the whole course of their lives, and confirm their own adoption."
- John Calvin

"Calvinism is Christianity on its knees."
- B.B. Warfield

On Being Spiritually Minded

2006-09-04T11:49:00.000-04:00

A sermon from Romans 8:5-11, contrasting the carnally minded from the spiritually minded.

Moral Incongruities

2006-09-04T11:08:00.000-04:00

While shaving this morning I was listening to Laura Ingraham on the radio. I like Laura very much, and this morning, being a holiday, it was a "best of" show. She was running audio clips of Noam Chomsky and Andy Rooney, to decide who was loonier. Chomsky won by a country mile. Chomsky is an MIT professor, who hates the United States with a great passion, and a Jew who hates Israel. One of his positions is that Hamas, a terrorist organization which, until the wall went up in Israel, was responsible for the deaths of many innocents, was an organization whose methods are more conducive to peace than America's. Chomsky is a prime representative of an modern "intellectual." I just finished Paul Johnson's excellent book Intellectuals, which illustrates over and over again in the lives of these people, how ideas matters more to them than people, and ideology triumphs over experience and common sense. He writes, "Other intellectuals, confronted with the fact of violence practised by those they wish to defend, simply transfer the moral responsibility, by ingenious argument, to others whom they wish to attack. An outstanding practitioner of this technique is the linguistic philosopher Noam Chomsky" (p.337).

Chomsky blames America for 911, and for everything else that goes wrong in the universe (this is the standard academic line). He is morally outraged by the actions of the U.S., but will defend to the death (the death of others, of course), the moral supremacy of Hamas, the Khmer Rouge, etal. What interests me is how the same outraged people conveniently ignore the current holocaust of abortion. I was stunned this morning to hear on Laura Ingraham's show that every year, worldwide, an estimated 46 million children are murdered by abortion. I thought, "That can't be right!" Every year?

So I went in search of statistices. I have always been staunchly pro-life, but was shocked by my own ignorance of the extent of the horror. For a more complete picture, The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform has all the grim details. 126,000 children a day are killed, 78% in developed countries. Where is the outrage? Where is the moral indignity? The same writers and speakers who lambast the U.S. and Israel for not tolerating terrorism, are silent about abortion, or unapologetically support it. I call that moral incongruity. One can also call it hypocrisy and intellectual evil.

A Climate of Fear

2006-08-30T10:10:00.000-04:00

Scientists worry a lot. Perhaps it is because most scientists subscribe to a naturalist worldview that has no room for God, spiritual truth, and in the end, any real meaning to life. If this life were all we had to hope for, and death was merely oblivion, and conscious life a fortuitous accident, perhaps I would worry too.

The latest worry is that there is a one in a gazillion chance that a wandering black hole might eat up our solar system. Yeah, that'll keep me up nights. Of course the media jumps all over these kind of stories, adding one more worry to our ever-increasing list of things to fear. We live in a climate of fear. Global warming, disease, crime, terrorism - the list goes on and on, fed each night by the beast which is network and cable news. "Be afraid, be very afraid," is our culture's mantra, despite the reality that life in the 21st century is better than at any time in the past. Life expectancy is at an all-time high. We may be slightly fatter, but we smoke less and eat better. Pharmaceutical advances continue to make life both possible and of a higher quality. I should know. Five years ago I was cured of a deadly form of acute leukemia by a combination of chemotherapy and a drug discovered in China, which turned a disease with a 19% survival rate into one with an 80% survival rate.

In contrast to the secular parade of bad news, is the gospel (literally, "good news"). The New Testament is filled with comfort, and exhortations to cast off your anxiety and trust in God. "Cast all your anxiety on Him, for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). My first sermon upon returning from my leukemia battle was Matthew 6:25ff., "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life." I have not always lived up to that passage, but I return to it often and meditate upon it. Faith is whole-hearted trust, and when I trust God, my fears recede. When I remember God's providence, my peace returns. In an "age of anxiety," faith is the only real cure, and the only way out of a life overwhelmed by catastrophic possibilities. Let the scientists worry, it won't do them any good. The only good is Jesus.

Working Out Our Salvation

2006-08-27T13:04:00.001-04:00

A sermon from Philippians 2:12-16 on how we live out the implications of being saved by God's grace.

An Addendum

2006-08-24T15:39:00.000-04:00

An addendum to yesterday's post - a quote from E. M. Bounds.

"Men are looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. Men are God's methods."

Where Am I?

2006-08-23T15:31:00.000-04:00

Like Dorothy talking to her dog after landing in Oz, I keep mumbling to myself about what is going on in the evangelical church, and in particular, the RCA. For one thing, there seems to be a lot anxiety about the future of the church. But didn't Jesus promise to be with us always, even unto the end of the age? Because some churches aren't growing, they are coming under criticism. I heard a speaker at a Regional Synod meeting berate our entire assembly for not grasping the truth that it was no longer necessary to be faithful or to be family, but we must be fruitful! If you're not fruitful, you are not faithful. Fruitful here, is always defined as numerical growth. I read another speech given at an RCA synod event, which floated the idea that pastor's salary guidelines be based not on years of experience, but on how many church starts and conversions they had made. Beware, I say, the advent of the efficiency experts and bean-counters!

Clergy are being summarily fired, as if they were mere employees, and business models for ministry are everywhere being talked of as the new salvation. I saw one very large church's staff titles and laughed out loud. One clergyman is called "Pastor of Creative Options." Another is the "Pastor of Sacred Revolution," who clearly must resent the "Pastor of Foundations." Finally, there is someone called "Pastor of the Quest." I have no idea of what any of this means. I don't understand coached revitalization networks. I see little point in adopting secular weapons to wage spiritual warfare. Between all this and Christian rap and emergent church navel-gazing, the whole place looks like Oz.

Now I am not a traditionalist. I pastor a very conservative church, with a simplified liturgy and contemporary music (with some hymns thrown in). I have never enjoyed church so much since we've changed our format. But all of these programs and blame-games going on in the denomination make me uneasy. I thought the whole idea was to worship God, share the good news, and edify the congregation. I think Ray Comfort is correct, we need to tell people they are in dire peril, and unless they repent they are going to hell. I think we need to get back to teaching that Scripture is sufficient, and utterly authoritative. This morning I read in my devotions from Psalm 119:160, "The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your judgments endures forever." Let's be biblical and faithful and preach the whole counsel of God, and trust in His providence for the future. A pox on the bean-counters, the measurers, and all the other experts who ply their wares like snake oil salesmen to the gullible, frightened masses. We should have no fear. "Perfect love, casteth out fear," I once read. Now I am going to try and find out what a Pastor of the Quest means. It sounds like a comic book, but you never know, we're not in Kansas any more.

No Christian Left Behind

2006-08-20T20:00:00.000-04:00

A sermon on the biblical teaching concerning the Rapture, from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18