The New Testament: a "bad tempered book"

A new quarter of Sunday School started last Lord's Day at JPBC. I am taking the study of Galatians taught by Brian Davis. Brian gave a sound overview of the book before we get into the exposition of the text starting next Sunday. In discussing the polemical tone of Galatians, Brian shared this quote from Timothy George's New American Commentary on Galatians (Broadman & Holman, 1994):

The New Testament has been called a "bad-tempered book" given the amount of space it devotes to explicit attacks and polemical arguments against various opponents who were subverters of the gospel [footnote 44: This expression is attributed to Professor Christopher Evans by J.M.G. Barclay, "Mirror-Reading a Polemical Letter: Galatians as a Test Case," JSNT 31 (1987): 73]. To sense the force of this statement one only has to think of Peter's likening of certain apostates to dogs who turned back to their own vomit (2 Pet 2:22) or of Jude's designation of false pastors as clouds without rain, trees without fruit, and "wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame" (Jude 12-13). Nor are such remarks confined to the latter books of the New Testament when the Christian church was engaged in a fight for its very life. No, they are equally present in the Gospels themselves. Witness John the Baptist's blast against the "brood of vipers" or even Jesus' pronouncements of woe against the Pharisees in Matt 23. Still perhaps no one in the New Testament was more belligerent in his denunciation of opponents than the apostle Paul. And nowhere was he more "bad tempered" than in Galatians. We will have to take up this theme again in the commentary proper, but it is well to note from the outset that from the standpoint of Pauline theology, polemics cannot be divorced from dogmatics. What was at stake was not merely the outbursts of an ill-tempered preacher but rather the truth of the gospel itself.

Indeed, in the NT we see the battle for orthodoxy, which includes, of necessity, contending for the truth of the gospel.

JTR

Summer 2007 Evangelical Forum Newsletter Now Online

Brian Davis has posted the latest issue of the Evangelical Forum Newsletter (Volume 4, Number 3). It is listed as the Summer 2007 issue (well, it is still August!). Bonnie will be getting the print copy in the mail soon.

Of interest inside this issue: Articles by Rob Stovall on worship and Ben Parziale on para-church ministries. Book reviews by yours truly on Sam Waldron's To Be Continued and Michael Haykin's Defence of the Faith.

You can also get info on our upcoming annual meeting at JPBC, October 5-6.

JTR

Guests from Texas

Last Lord's Day we were glad to have old JPBC friends, the Martin family, visiting in worship. Jeff and Jamie left C-ville in 1999 for Fort Worth, Texas where they still live. Julia was born just before they moved from here, and God has been gracious to add Jenna and Jaden to their household in the meantime. We had them over for supper on Tuesday and got a chance to catch up with them (the picture is of them on our front porch). They are active in their church in Texas, teaching 2nd grade Sunday School together and serving in music ministry, among other things (JPBCers will remember Jamie's incredible voice). Jamie is also teaching music part time at the Covenant Classical School where the older children are in school. It was great to enjoy Christian fellowship with them. It was also a reminder of how people can come into your life for only a short time and yet remain a blessing and encouragement.

JTR

Colquhoun: Holiness and happiness

OK. Just one more Colquhoun quote for meditation today:

This one jumped out at me:

"Holiness is the happiness of the rational creature. To conceive of happiness without it would be a contradiction, seeing it is the main ingredient in all true happiness" (p. 139).

You cannot be happy without holiness. It is the apex of genuine felicity. It is the apex of rationality. The most rational and reasonable man will pursue holiness with greatest zeal. Holiness is bliss. Holiness is sanity.

JTR

Colquhoun on "legal" and "evangelical" repentance

Are you really grieved by your sin?

A football star indicted for a crime stands before the cameras and expresses regret for his actions in hopes of saving future playing contracts and endorsement deals. A high profile politician is caught in a morally questionable situation and appears before the cameras to explain his behavior in hopes of saving his political career. A celebrity crashes her car while intoxicated and enters rehab.

Might these be examples of how we, as believers, deal with our sin? Do we express sorrow for our actions and desire to work on resisting our sin only after we get caught red-handed in it? Do we behave well on the outside, but sinful desires eat us up on the inside? Do we follow the rules merely because we want to avoid the scandal and pain of getting caught? Can you be sober for all the wrong reasons?

Colquhoun contrasts the falsehood of "legal" repentance with the genuine article of "evangelical" repentance:

In the exercise of legal repentance, the sinner mourns for sin only as it has wounded his own soul; which shows that his remorse flows merely from a natural spring, and rises only to a natural height. But in the exercise of evangelical repentance, the believer mourns for sin as it has wounded his dear Redeemer, as it has pierced that heart which loves him, and spilled blood which redeems him (p. 90).

A man may abhor sin more for the shame which attends it than for the malignity and odiousness which are in it; and he may hate one sin because it is contrary to another which he loves dearly. The sincere penitent, on the contrary, hates all sin as sin, and abhors it chiefly for the evil that is in it. A man may even forsake most of his transgressions without exercising true repentance. If he forsake open, and yet retain secret sins, or if he leave sin and yet continue to love it, or if he let one sin go in order to hold another faster, or if he forsake sin, but not as sin, he is not a true penitent. He who forsakes any sin as sin, or because it is sin, relinquishes all sin. The sincere penitent forsakes all iniquity from right principles, by right motives, in a right manner, and to a right end. Let every man take heed, then, that he do not impose upon himself by mistaking a false for a true repentance. And if he begin to suspect that his repentance is legal and counterfeit, let him without delay trust cordially in Jesus Christ for grace to exercise evangelical repentance (pp. 91-92).

JTR

Colquhoun on Repentance

Just finished a book on repentance from John Colquhoun (1748-1827), one of the Scottish "marrow men." The copy I have is one I picked up last November at the Evangelical Forum from Sherman Isbell's book table and is titled "True Repentance" (Old Paths Gospel Press, n. d.). The original title is "A View of Evangelical Repentance from the Sacred Records," and is best known as "Evangelical Repentance."

One of the book's main points is that true repentance only comes after justifying faith in Christ. The seeds of repentance are implanted in regeneration and are actualized after justification:

From these arguments it is evident that, in order of nature, justification in the sight of God, or forgiveness of sin in justification, precedes the first exercise of true repentance. But seeing the principle of evangelical repentance is implanted in the soul before justification, none is justified in the sight of God, but he who, in this sense, is already a true penitent. It is only the habit and the exercise of true repentance that follow the act of justification (p. 132).

The point: Saving faith does not depend on the exercise of repentance, but even our repentance, if genuine and not (as Colqhoun calls it) "legal," is given us by God. A right doctrine of repentance is built on the foundation of a right understanding of justification by faith.

Colqhoun goes on to stress that true repentance is an ongoing component of the Christian life: "Every man who is justified is entitled to sanctification, of which the habit and exercise of true repentance are essential parts" (p. 133).

He pleads:

"O renew, and frequently renew, not only the acting of humble confidence in your adorable Redeemer for all his salvation, but also for the exercise of evangelical repentance. Godly sorrow is sweet, is delicious sorrow. It is often attended by a delightful sense of redeeming love and of justifying grace. Whilst, with tears of sorrow and gratitude, you praise a forgiving God and a bleeding Saviour, you realize this paradox: 'sorrowful yet always rejoicing.' Your melting seasons of penitential sorrow will usually pave the way for your strongest and sweetest consolations (p. 137)."

JTR

Not exactly "Mother of the Year"

Mike States sent me this link to an article reviewing a recent book by Corinne Maier that has made waves in France. The book's title, "No Kid: 40 Reasons Not to Have Children."

A quote from the book:

“Children are there to stop you enjoying yourself. It’s a child’s hidden face. Believe me, he will be very inventive in this area. He will be ill when you (finally) arrange a night out, he will bug you when you celebrate your birthday with your friends, he will hate it if you bring someone he’s never met back for the night, and beyond that you won’t dare tread for fear of traumatising him for life.” She goes on to list the things you will almost certainly have to give up after having children. They include: a full night’s sleep, a lie-in, deciding to go to the cinema on the spur of the moment, staying out later than midnight (babysitters have to be relieved), visiting a museum or exhibition (children start mucking about after five mintues), taking your holiday anywhere other than destinations where there is a beach and a kids’ club, taking a holiday during term-time and smoking in front of your children, now deemed a “crime against humanity”.

It is truly amazing how one may present selfishness as virtue. The Bible says that children, despite the inconveniences, are a blessing: "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward" (Psalm 127:3). God gives us the dominion mandate (Gen 1:28), and men revile it. This is the way sin works. God forbid we practice self-denial for the sake of someone else and for the sake of God.

A glad father, JTR

Sermon of the Week: "Family Worship"

Joel Beeke is a "favorite speaker" on my personal preference list at sermonaudio.com. He is modern day Puritan with a prodigious work ethic and an encyclopedic knowledge of Reformed Theology and church history. In addition to all that, he is a passionate preacher and dedicated Pastor.

Sometimes young men will ask me how to begin and practice family worship in their homes. Beeke's message "Family Worship" gives the theological justification for family worship (Edwards said each family is a little church), practical guidance for doing family worship, and inspiration to realize its benefits. Men will especially benefit from listening to this sermon. My children have enjoyed his collection of devotional stories. I would also commend reading his little booklet on family worship.

JTR

Do we need another Gospel Coalition?

Last week I listened to a few of the messages from the one day conference held by "The Gospel Coaltion" on May 23, 2007 at Trinity Divinity School in Chicago. The group was initiated by scholar D. A. Carson and Pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. It includes a forty plus member council including a wide number of well known evangelical pastors.

The Coalition has issued a statement titled "The Gospel for All of Life" in which the Preamble reads:

We are a fellowship of evangelical churches deeply committed to renewing our faith in the gospel of Christ and to reforming our ministry practices to conform fully to the Scriptures. We have become deeply concerned about some movements within traditional evangelicalism that seem to be diminishing the church’s life and leading us away from our historic beliefs and practices. On the one hand, we are troubled by the idolatry of personal consumerism and the politicization of faith; on the other hand, we are distressed by the unchallenged acceptance of theological and moral relativism. These movements have led to the easy abandonment of both biblical truth and the transformed living mandated by our historic faith. We not only hear of these influences, we see their effects. We have committed ourselves to invigorating churches with new hope and compelling joy based on the promises received by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

D. A. Carson provided an explanation of the group’s beginnings and a rationale for its existence at the group’s conference (listen here). He noted that the group is tentatively planning to host a national conference in April of 2009.

The group's website also has an interesting collection of online articles to which it plans to add.

Analysis: It is interesting to note the growing emphasis on the recovery of the gospel as the center of the evangelical Christian witness. One wonders, however, at the wisdom of the multiplication and overlap of such organizations. The Gospel Coalition sounds much like the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals and Together for the Gospel and includes many of the same leaders. One also wonders about such supra-denominational groups. In the zeal to promote proper soteriology, do we run the risk of minimizing other doctrines (such as ecclesiology, pneumatology, baptism, etc.)?

JTR

Congratulations to the Parziales!

The big event of last weekend at JPBC was the wedding of Ben and Vanessa Parziale on Saturday (August 18th). Vanessa completed her third summer with us as a children's ministry intern (at the Rainbow House) the week before her wedding. Ben also served us a Pastoral intern this summer. They met at JPBC four years ago when they were incoming first year students. These two have been a great blessing to us at JPBC, and we wish them well in the establishment of a Christian household.

JTR

My Favorite Linebacker

There is a nice article in today's Daily Progress about Jon Copper. Jon and Holly have become faithful attendees at JPBC and Jon has an incredible gift for inviting people to church. The article is a nice tribute to his character and work ethic.

JTR

Sermon of the Week: "The So-Called English Standard Version"

I am going to try a new feature here on the blog: A sermon of the week. Hopefully I'll post a link near the start of the week (I was going to say every Monday--but it's Tuesday) to a good sermon/teaching I've heard. They'll be archived under the label: "Sermon of the Week." Feel free to listen and/or post feedback.

Our inaugural sermon is actually a lecture from Theodore Letis, titled, "The So-Called English Standard Version." It is noteworthy not only for its critique of the ESV but for the general description of how the Majority text came to be replaced by the current minority text underlying most modern translations. Sadly, Dr. Letis apparently died in a car accident in 2005.

JTR

What makes youth happy?

The Associated Press had an interesting article yesterday on a recent poll of young people between the ages of 13 and 24. When asked what made them happy, the top answer was not sex, drugs, and rock and roll, but spending time with family.

Among other interesting tidbits:

Almost no one said "money" when asked what made them happy.

Being sexually active led to less happiness among teens.

Close to half say religion and spirituality are very important and over half believe in a "higher power" [of course, this is a mixed blessing but still an encouragement in evangelizing young folk].

Overwhelmingly, young people think marriage will make them happy and want to be married some day. Most also want to have children.

A high school student is quoted as saying, "I don't want to be one of those career businesswomen who just doesn't ever settle down."

JTR

Rainbows, the Trinity, and an Incomprehensible God

Last evening in Bible Study at JPBC, my mind got fixed on Ezekiel 1:28, the end of Ezekiel’s fantastic vision of God:

"Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord."

I recalled, Michael Haykin’s quotation (in Defence of the Truth, pp. 86-87) of Gregory of Nyssa who used the analogy of a rainbow to describe both the mystery of the Trinity and the nature of God (see Letter 38.5):

Yet receive what I say as at best a token and reflexion of the truth; not as the actual truth itself. For it is not possible that there should be complete correspondence between what is seen in the tokens and the objects in reference to which the use of tokens is adopted. Why then do I say that an analogy of the separate and the conjoined is found in objects perceptible to the senses? You have before now, in springtime, beheld the brightness of the bow in the cloud….

Now this brilliance is both continuous and divided. It is of many colours; it is of many forms; it is insensibly steeped in the variegated bright tints of its dye; imperceptibly abstracting from our vision the combination of many coloured things, with the result that no space, mixing or paring within itself the difference of colour, can be discerned either between blue and flame-coloured, or between flame-coloured and red, or between red and amber. For all the rays, seen at the same time, are far shining, and while they give no signs of their mutual combination, are incapable of being tested, so that it is impossible to discover the limits of the flame-coloured or of the emerald portion of the light, and at what point each originates before it appears as it does in glory. As then in the token we clearly distinguish the difference of the colours, and yet it is impossible for us to apprehend by our senses any interval between them; so in like manner conclude, I pray you, that you may reason concerning the divine dogmas; that the peculiar properties of the hypostases, like colours seen in the Iris, flash their brightness on each of the Persons Whom we believe to exist in the Holy Trinity; but that of the proper nature no difference can be conceived as existing between one and the other, the peculiar characteristics shining, in community of essence, upon each….

My argument thus teaches us, even by the aid of the visible creation, not to feel distressed at points of doctrine whenever we meet with questions difficult of solution, and when at the thought of accepting what is proposed to us, our brains begin to reel….

JTR

Strong Families=Strong Churches

We had our final theological discussion of this summer last evening at the home of the Ventons. Great hospitality and a good discussion. Among topics discussed: spiritual growth; divorce and remarriage; and the believer and evolution.

Most time and passion went into the discussion on marriage and divorce. This morning, Al Mohler has an interesting blog post on "The Fate of the Family and the Future of the Church," citing the sociological research of UVA's W. Bradford Wilcox.

Wilcox notes the strong link, for men in particular, between marriage and church attendance. Men who are husbands and fathers go to church.

Mohler notes, "Marginalize marriage, depreciate childbearing and fatherhood, and say goodbye to young adult men in church."

The link between intact families and congregational vitality is a "sociological law."

This is why marriage must be defended, responsible fatherhood promoted, and divorce frowned upon.

JTR

Piper and Grudem wrangle over baptism and church membership

John Piper had an interesting post on his Desiring God site yesterday (August 9) responding to Wayne Grudem on the issue of baptism and church membership [Thanks for the tip Howard!].

Grudem has apparently rewritten part of his Systematic Theology in its latest edition to frown on churches not taking a clear stand on baptismal standards for church membership. Piper pleads, "But, Wayne, Wayne, Wayne, why did you rewrite page 983?" Piper makes the same claim he has made earlier that to exclude a person from Baptist church membership who has only experienced infant baptism is "virtually the same as excommunication."

He also goes on to say that (if his church would allow it) he would welcome paedobaptists like Ligon Duncan, Sinclair Ferguson, R. C. Sproul, or Philip Ryken into membership.

The site also posted Grudem's response. Grudem reminds Piper that denial of church membership is not excommunication. He also makes clear that baptism is required for church membership and states clearly that he would not support a church which practices an either-or policy with regard to infant baptism or believer's baptism. I wish he had asked how the paedobaptist luminaries Piper listed would feel about being included in membership but excluded from eldership in Piper's plan.

I was a bit brothered, however, by Grudem's description of his own church's practice that allows non-members to lead home fellowship groups and his dismissal of churches that exclude those who have not experienced believer's baptism from the Lord's table as a practice of "very few of the most strict Baptist churches."

For my much longer and detailed response to Piper's maverick ecclesiological views, listen to this audio file.

JTR

Should Christians Watch Movies?

I noticed in the newsletters of a large, local evangelical church that they have been screening R-rated, secular movies. They have done this in the name of understanding the culture. Of course, many "cutting edge" churches are using video clips in worship services and sermons. A local evangelical campus ministry at UVA often screens secular movies followed by theological discussion. Is this wise?

What about the individual Christian who goes to the movie theater or rents videos? Some Christians watch hundreds of movies a year. For a sober challenge to this practice, listen to Scottish preacher David Murray's prophetic message "Should Christians Watch Movies?" I was personally convicted by this sermon.

JTR

The Tyranny of Modern Covenience

Last Sunday’s Daily Progress (8/5/07) had an interesting article by David Maurer about the Ward family who left their lives in New York City to live on a farm near Swoope, Virginia (Augusta County) trying to recreate life c. 1900 with no electricity, running water, indoor plumbing, etc.

The husband, Logan Ward, has written about the experience in a book, See You in a Hundred Years: Four Seasons in Forgotten America.

In the article, the Wards describe what drove them to seek this experience:

"For a long time we loved New York, and we were thrilled to be there," said Ward, who has written for magazines such as National Geographic Adventure, Men's Journal and Popular Mechanics. "Having a child suddenly forced us to think about our choices as they would affect him.

"Also, our jobs kept us pretty stressed out. This was around 2000, and e-mail had really caught on. My inbox kept filling up and, when I tried not to answer it, that backfired.
"Heather and I both felt that the technology that was supposed to make our lives easier was making us feel enslaved."

Heather Ward was trying to make the world a better place by working at a justice-reform think tank. But travel kept her away from home a lot. Within a two-year period, she visited every continent, except Australia and Antarctica.

Pangs of guilt

Having to turn her firstborn over to the care of near strangers during the workday caused pangs of guilt and anxiety as well. She felt chained to her computer and cell phone and was troubled by her absolute reliance on technology.

"Not many people seem to question all this technology," Heather Ward said. "We all assume this is right, because it's what everyone does. And it's the only way to do your job.

"It's the only way to keep up, keep earning your income so you can keep your apartment and all the stuff that you like to have. So when you think about letting go of even one aspect of that modern life, the rest of the house of cards can fall.

"I think that's why we looked for such a radical change. We couldn't keep doing what we were doing and not have e-mail, the car, the commute or the television. The whole thing had to shift."

I read this part of the article as an introduction to my sermon Sunday evening on Leviticus 25, noting that even secular people (the spiritual convictions of the Wards is not mentioned in the article; I assume they are not believers) know deep down their need for Sabbath and for rest (expressed by the Wards in their personal revolt against technology).

In the Old Testament, there is the provision of a weekly Sabbath (one day in seven, see Lev 23:1-3); a Sabbath year (every seventh year, see Lev 25:1-7); and a year of Jubilee when debts are cleared, prisoners are freed, and a fresh start is given to all (every 50th year, see Lev 25:8-55).

In the New Testament, Christ declares the acceptable year of the Lord to be fulfilled in his person (Luke 4:16-21). He is our year of Jubilee, and the spirit of the Old Testament Sabbath continues in our marking his resurrection on the Lord’s Day.

What is the answer to the tyranny of modern convenience (unending email, cell phones, television programs, web-surfing, and text messages)? Running off to live a year without electricity and no email? Going Amish? How about starting with a day of rest in the Lord? A day of rest in Jesus, our Jubilee.

JTR

Vacation Reading

Back from vacation. In addition to swimming and twisting my ankle playing freeze tag in the surf with my kids, there was plenty of time for reading last week.

Theological works:

• Edward F. Hills, The King James Version Defended (Christian Research Press [original 1956] 2000).

Hills offers a classic defense of the Textus Receptus (the Greek basis for the KJV translation) as the authoritative ecclesiastical text providentially preserved by God.

• Maurice A. Robinson and William G. Pierpont, compilers, The New Testament in the Original Greek, Byzantine Textform 2005 (Chilton, 2005).

I read the Greek text last Spring and finally got around to reading the Appendix, Robinson’s article, "A Case for Byzantine Priority" (pp. 533-86). Robinson argues for the Byzantine text, over against the modern eclectic reconstruction of the Greek text.

• John MacArthur, Because the Time is Near (Moody, 2007).

The subtitle is "John MacArthur Explains the Book of Revelation." This work is intended for a popular audience. It presents MacArthur’s pre-tribulational, pre-millennial, dispensational reading of Revelation. For me it solidified how the dispensational approach super-imposes an end times scheme on the text that does not emerge on its own. I plan to write a longer review later.

Children’s historical works:

• Bruce Blivens, Jr., The American Revolution (Random House, 1958).

Wonderful overview of the American Revolution in the classic Landmark series.

• Hazel Wilson, The Story of Lafayette (Grosset & Dunlap, 1952).

Solid overview of the life of the French patriot in the Signature series.

• Edith Gray Pierce, Horace Mann: Our Nation’s First Educator (Lerner, 1972).

Interesting 1970s propaganda on the virtues of the Unitarian Mann and how he escaped the evangelical preaching of his youth to champion public schools free from religious entanglements. I did not realize that Mann had been the founding president of ultra-liberal Antioch College, which folded this year.

JTR

Spot and Drum

On vacation this week at Topsail Island, NC: (1) On the corner of Spot and Drum; (2) Sam and Lydia and cousin Emma; (3) Emma Anderson Chapel at Topsail.

JTR

Exposition of Jude: Part 6 of 25

Note: This is an occasional, verse-by-verse commentary on the book of Jude. Previous commentaries may be viewed by clicking on the "Jude Exposition" label below.

Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;

In Jude 1:5 we heard the sobering word that after the Exodus God destroyed those coming out of Egypt who did not believe. The theme of judgement continues in v. 6. God has authority to judge not only men but also the angels.

Jude assumes an underlying narrative that we must admit we know little about. At some point in history, in an incident not clearly described in Scripture, some of the angels apparently rebelled against God’s good design by not keeping "their proper domain." Some speculate that passages like Isaiah 14:12-14 (beginning, "How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!") refer to this cosmic, angelic rebellion. This may be, but we must be careful not to tread beyond the sure boundaries of Scripture into unfruitful speculation. The Bible does not tell us everything we possibly could know. It tells us everything we need to know to make us "wise for salvation" (2 Tim 3:15).

Whatever the circumstances of their rebellion, it is clear that God soon subdued these rebel angels, and that he holds them for a final day of judgement. They are "reserved in everlasting chains under darkness" awaiting "the judgement of the great day." In 2 Peter 2:4 we likewise read that "God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell [Tartarus] and delivered them into the chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgement."

The warning Jude impresses upon his hearers is that the false teachers, "certain men who have crept in unnoticed" (v. 4), face a similar fate as the rebellious angels. If God did not spare angels, he will not spare men. These false teachers have also left their "proper domain." They distort the truth of God. Their end will be judgement at the "great day" (likely a reference to the second coming of Christ, described as "the day of Jesus Christ" in Phil 1:6 and "the day of the Lord" in 1 Thess 5:2 and 2 Peter 3:10).

In addition to this dire warning, the believer may also breathe a sigh of relief. Thanks to the righteous life and atoning death of Christ, "God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thess 5:9).

Practical application:

• If God did not spare these angels, why would he save sinful men?
  
• Have you ever considered that at the time of Jesus’ second coming, not only men but also angels will be judged by Christ? Are you ready to stand before the judgement seat of Christ (see Rom 14:10; 2 Cor 5:10)?

JTR

(Evangel article 8/2/07)

Sudden Reminders of Mortality

Though I am not in general an avid supporter of my undergraduate alma mater (to know why, read this book), I do like to follow its sports teams. It was a real shock to read the news this week of the sudden death of Wake basketball coach, Skip Prosser, at age 56 (the quad was rolled in his honor). It serves as another reminder, if we needed it, that "the grass withers and the flower fades" (Isa 40:8) and that no man knows his time (Ecc 9:12). Somehow people are not supposed to die in places where you spent your youth. Tomorrow afternoon I will get another reminder of our frailty as I lead a funeral service for a 91 year old woman.

JTR

Check out the newest Geico ad

Thanks again to Steve Hills for sending me this link for the newest Geico ad. I also like the post on the same site, "TULIP VBS brings shocking response from parents."

Smiles, JTR

Pausing to give thanks for the Reformers

Another Hungary trip reflection.

At the end of the week, we took a Saturday (7/7) trip into Budapest. While there we visited the Szent Matyas Templom in the Buda Castle district. This ancient church was the site of the coronation of Istvan (Stephen) the first Christian king of Hungary a thousand years ago. It was converted into a mosque when the Turks controlled Hungary. Legend has it that the battle to retake the building was turned by an apparition of Mary to its Muslim defenders.

While inside we visited an upstairs church museum which contained numerous relics, including a shriveled foot of some saint and a tooth from St. Francis of Assisi.

Before we left the dark, cavernous sanctuary, I had to pause to give thanks for men like Luther and Calvin and the other Reformers who recovered the gospel and proclaimed it throughout Europe and into places like Hungary. What courage it must have taken to boldly preach Scripture and proclaim its focus on Jesus as the one Mediator between God and men rather than on Mary and the saints! What incredible superstitions they must have encountered with the truth of God’s Word!

JTR

"Tank" Parents

The Daily Progress had an interesting article yesterday about UVA’s orientation for parents. UVA administrators are concerned about college student parents who are too involved in the lives of their children. Whereas they used to speak about "helicopter" parents who hover over their children, they now speak of "tank" parents who want to be on the ground with their children.

Reflections: What’s wrong with parents hovering over their children or being on the grond with them, especially when they are a mere 18, 19, or 20 years old? Do university administrators expect parents to pay thousands of dollars in tuition, room, and board for the education of their children and then not hold any expectations for the quality of their child’s experience? If parents are not to hover, and the university abdicates any in loco parentis role, who is responsible for these young adults? The implied answer, of course, is that they are to act like autonomous, independent adults. These are the same administrators who will later lament the problems of sexual harrassment, bigotry, and under-age drinking by young adults on campus.

The same day of the article, I had my Monday staff meeting with our interns. We are reading J. R. Miller’s book Home-Making (originally published in 1882; reprinted by Vision Forum, 2004-06), discussing a chapter each week. Our chapter for Monday was "The Children’s Part," and it could not have expressed a more diametrically opposite view than that of the UVA administrators.

Miller encourages children (even into young adulthood) to seek the counsel of their parents:

The advice of godly and loving parents never wrecks souls. Thousands are wrecked because they will not be guided by it, but none by following it. The children that speak every thought, every hope, every ambition, every plan, every pleasure in the ear of their parents and consult them on every matter, will live safely. At the same time they will confer great happiness upon their parents by confiding so fully in them, for it is a great grief to parents when a child does not confide in them and turns away to others with the sacred confidence of his heart (pp. 133-34).

Long live "tank" parents.

JTR

A Hunger to Hear God's Word

Adapted from Call to Worship on Sunday, July 22, 2007.

Last week I drove by a local bookstore and noticed a long line of people flowing down the sidewalk. They were waiting for a ticket to be able to purchase the much-hyped new release in a popular series of juvenile fiction.

Seeing that line led me to ponder our hunger for reading the Word of God. Do we have as strong a desire to read the Holy Scriptures as these have to read a work of fiction?

It also reminded me of the scene recorded in Nehemiah 8 when the people of Israel returned from exile in Babylon:

Nehemiah 8:1 Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. 3 Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

Can you imagine being so hungry to hear the Word of God that you would gather with a throng of people "as one man" to hear "the Book of the Law of Moses" read "from morning till midday"? Some of those in that square had gone years in exile without hearing and understanding the Word of God. They were starving to hear a word from the Lord.

Each Lord’s Day when we gather for worship we are declaring to the world that we hunger to hear and receive God’s truth. May God make us attentive to the hearing of his Word.

JTR

Evangel article 7/24/07.

A Family Trip Over the Mountain

A couple of years ago, we started a tradition of family day trips on summer Fridays--my official day off from work. I found that if I stayed home I ended up working, studying, emailing, etc.

Last Friday, our family took a trip Westward over the mountain. We hiked Humpback Rocks on the Skyline Drive and walked though the Appalachian farm display. Llewellyn bought "Living with Chickens" in the park bookshop to know better how to care for our brood.

We then drove over to the Cheese Shop in Stuarts Draft. You have to love this little Mennonite owned store with all its unique goods and natural foods. I also like the Scripture sign outside the business. You see these signs all over the little town. Quite a different culture over in this area.

We then stopped in at the P. Buckley Moss Museum, which I did not realize was free to visit. It was a good family day.

JTR

Pastor Lajos

It is hard to describe the energy of Pastor Racz Lajos (The first name is "Lajos"; Hungarians place last name first and first name last). I said the other day that if he had not been a Pastor I think he would likely have been a very successful business-man. Lajos has an entepreneurial spirit which aids him immensely as a church planter. Lajos has drawn a cadre of other young families to his ministry. He typically trains them for a season and then sends them out to plant churches.

I first met Lajos 17 years ago when he was in his early 20s and a student at the Hungarian Baptist Seminary (then located on the Rozsadomb in Buda-it has since moved to its pre-WW2 location in Pest, reclaiming the building which the communist government took away without compensation and gave over to the North Koreans to use as their embassy). Lajos was constantly on the phone while we were there.

He is married to Mariann and God has blessed them with four children (a son Manase; twin girls, Ana-Abia and Priscilla; and a newborn son Jakim). Both Lajos and Mariann have a Jewish ethnic heritage. One thing I noticed while in Bicske was that it seemed the families (especially of believers) were larger than I had remembered when I lived in Budapest. It may just have been that we were in the country and not in the city, but I do not think this was the only factor for the believers. Hungary, like the rest of Europe, is facing rapid population decline. I was talking to one young couple in the church (Ilona and Miki) who have two infant children and telling them that some Christian families in the US are also getting larger and some have embraced this as a strategy for long-term culural influence ("if you can't beat 'em, outbreed 'em) not to mention obedience to the Gen 1:28 mandate.

JTR

The Miracle of a New Baptist Meeting House in Bicske, Hungary

We were all impressed with the new church building at Bicske. When we were there four years ago the church's only building was a small structure about the size of a double wide trailer that had previously been used as a pub and a horse stable. They were in the process of building a new building with their own labor when a German company came along who wanted to buy their property--located near the main highway between Budapest and Vienna and on the main road into Bicske. They negotiated selling a parcel of their land and having the German company construct a brand new building. Pastor Lajos could only describe it as a great 'csoda' (miracle). Bicske, a town of 10,000, now has a Catholic church building, a Reformed (Presbyterian) church building, and an impressive Baptist meeting house. The building holds a sanctuary, offices, and apartments to be used for housing faculty for the Bible College. It also stands out visibly from the highway.

JTR

Back from Hungary

Photos:

My daughter Hannah and I in front of the Fisherman's Bastion in Budapest.

JPBC-ers and Bicske-ers overlooking the town of Tatabanya, Hungary.

OK, Howard I'm finally getting around to a new posting. We're back from Hungary. Today is the first day that I've felt like I had a real handle on my jet lag. This was my third trip back to Hungary after living there from 1990-92. I made previous trips in 2000 (to Bekes) and in 2004 (to Bicske). Every time I go back it seems the country has changed more and more from those early post-communist days of 1990-92.

Here is part of this week's Evangel article:

We are back from our trip to Hungary. Here are a few snapshot highlights:

• Having fellowship with the members of Bicske Baptist Church;
• Seeing the church’s beautiful new building;
• Meeting Laci, a young man who is studying in the Slavic Gospel Association sponsored Bible School that meets in the church building;
• Watching our JPBC team lead the outreach English camp and listening as team members shared their personal testimonies of faith in Jesus Christ with our students each day;
• Watching Dalton States, Jesse Scruggs, and Hannah Riddle blend with Hungarian children in the universal languages of friendship and play;
• Standing on a scenic overlook of the nearby town of Tatabanya and listening as Pastor Lajos tells us this town of 70,000 people has only about 200 believers in a handful of small churches;
• Talking with a teen in our camp who emphatically told me he did not believe in God;
• Sitting at an evening campfire cookout and listening as Pastor Lajos tells how some Hungarian Baptist Pastors were imprisoned and separated from their families under communism and how he was berated by his school teachers for going to church;
• Praying with Americans and Hungarians in the town of Tata, Hungary and in Komarom, Slovakia and praying for God to raise up a people to praise his name in these towns where there is very little evangelical presence;
• Seeing several of our camp students attend worship on Sunday morning at Bicske for the first time;
• Listening as Chip Case and Amy Scruggs presented powerful personal testimonies in Sunday morning worship at Bicske.

More Hungary reflections later.

JTR

Off to Hungary!

I leave tomorrow (July 1) for Bicske, Hungary and won't be back in town till July 9th. I probably won't post anymore here till the week I get home.

Peace, Jeff Riddle

Exposition of Jude: Part 5 of 25

Note: This is an occasional, verse-by-verse commentary on the book of Jude.

Jude 1:5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

Having urged the believers to contend earnestly for right doctrine (v. 3) and having condemned false teachers (v. 4), Jude lays down a solemn warning. He issues this warning by calling to mind God’s past activities recorded in the holy history of the Old Testament. Namely, he asks his readers to consider God’s actions toward Israel during the time of the Exodus from bondage in Egypt.

What did God do to Israel during the Exodus? First, he saved the whole nation, a spiritual mixed multitude. He did so in spectacular fashion. He provided a savior, Moses. He sent terrible plagues to show his power that culminated with the angel of death striking down the first born. He parted the waters of the Red Sea.

Despite all this, some did not believe in God’s power to protect his people. They murmured and complained against the leadership of Moses (Exodus 16:7-8). They despised the manna God provided and stated their preference for the spicy foods of Egypt (Numbers 11:5). The culmination of their discontent came in an outright rebellion against Moses led by Korah (recorded in Numbers 16). The Lord caused the ground to open up, and it swallowed whole the households of Korah and his rebels, and "they perished from among the assembly" (Numbers 16:33).

I once heard a recording of an old minister who preached a message called, "The God of the Bible kills people." That same title might be given to Jude 1:5. The God of the Bible saves, but He also destroys. We will not appreciate His mercy till we reckon with His wrath. We will not know His grace, till we learn of his justice.

This verse gives us a gracious warning. Do not think that just because you are in a good church that you are safe from God’s wrath. You will not be saved by the obedience of others. He destroys those who do not believe. This should make us shudder, fear, and, in the end, believe.

Practical application:

• How does God use warning passages like this to provoke our obedience? Why will meditating on this verse make you want to obey and love God more?


• What does Jude’s application of the history of Israel in the Exodus to the church say about the ongoing relevance of the Old Testament for Christians? About the church’s spiritual identification with Israel?
  

Blue Jays Win Cove Creek Championship!

My son Sam's Rookie League (coach-pitch) team won the tournament championship this afternoon at the Cove Creek Park. The Blue Jays (mostly kids from the Red Hill/North Garden community) ended the season with a record of 15 wins, o losses, and 1 tie (the tie came in the very first game of the season). They defeated the Marlins 9-7 in the tournament championship and received their trophies in the closing ceremonies from Cove Creek Commissioner John Grisham (a novelist in the off-season). Tom Carter did a great job as head Coach. Sam played all six innings at pitcher in the championship game and hit lead off in the line-up (Can you tell I'm a proud Dad?).

JTR

2007 VBS at JPBC: Galilee by the Sea

Our JPBC 2007 Vacation Bible School is over! It was an amazing week. Stephanie Glass and Melia Hatfield did a great job as the Directors/Organizers. We used the Group material "Galilee by the Sea" which focused on the ministry of Jesus (calling disciples, healing the sick, calming the storm, feeding 5,000). Our workers (some of whom are pictured above) were dressed in Biblical costumes as we recreated a Jewish village in Galilee. In addition to children learning, one of the great side benefits of VBS is the shared ministry experiences of the workers and teachers.

JTR

SBC Meeting and Upcoming Conference on Calvinism at Ridgecrest

The 2007 Southern Baptist Convention meeting is wrapping up today in San Antonio. I attended the last two years (in Nashville and Greensboro), but I'm skipping out this year.

I watched a little of the broadcast online yesterday. Among interesting issues: Calls for unity by SBC leader Morris Chapman; Frank Page's re-election as President of SBC and his convention sermon from Psalm 51 on the need for repentance and humility by SBs; ongoing tensions over doctrinal guidelines with regard to charismatic gifts; definition of the "Cooperative Program" (What's behind this?); Tom Ascol's resolution on integrity in membership not making it out of the resolution committee for the second straight year.

Vodie Baucham preached at the Founders' Breakfast yesterday (6/12) and Founders' Director Tom Ascol announced a major upcoming conference at Ridgecrest (SBC retreat center in Western NC) co-sponsored with Southeastern Seminary that will be held November 26-28 with the theme, "Building Bridges: Southern Baptists and Calvinism."

JTR

Baxter on Family Ministry

I am reading the Puritan spiritual classic The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter (1615-91) with Ben Parziale this summer. Baxter encourages the Pastor to be diligent in taking heed to the flock. His comments on family ministry are fitting for reflection as we approach Father’s Day:

We must have a special eye upon families, to see that they are well ordered, and the duties of each relation performed. The life of religion, and the welfare and glory of both the Church and the State, depend much on family government and duty. If we suffer the neglect of this, we shall undo all. What are we like to do ourselves to the reforming of the congregation, if all the work be cast on us alone; and masters of families neglect that necessary duty of their own, by which they are bound to help us? If any good be begun by the ministry in any soul, a careless, worldly, family is likely to stifle it, or very much hinder it; whereas, if you could but get the rulers of families to do their duty, to take up the good work where you left it, and help it on, what abundance of good might be done! I beseech you, therefore, if you desire the reformation and welfare of your people, do all you can to promote family religion….

Baxter then tells the Pastor to do five things:

1. "Get information how each family is ordered…."
2. "Go occasionally among them … and ask the master of the family whether he prays with them, and reads the Scripture, and what he doth? Labor to convince them of the neglect of this…."
3. "If you find any unable to pray … persuade them to study their own wants, and to get their hearts affected with them, and, in the meanwhile, advise them to use a form of prayer, rather than not pray at all."
4. "See that in every family there are some useful and moving books, besides the Bible…. And engage them to read them at night, when they have leisure, and especially on the Lord’s Day."
5. "Direct them how to spend the Lord’s Day; how to despatch their worldly business, as to prevent encumbrances and distractions; and when they have been at church, how to spend time with their families…."

He concludes:

Neglect not, I beseech you, this important part of your work. Get masters of families to do their duty, and they will not only spare you a great deal of labor, but will much further the success of your labours…. You are not likely to see any general reformation, till you procure family reformation. Some little religion there may be, here and there; but while it is confined to single persons, and is not promoted in families, it will not prosper, nor promise much further increase.

Are you the master of a household? Are you doing your duty in leading your family in spiritual things?

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

2007 HEAV Reflections

Been meaning to blog this. Llewellyn and I went to the annual HEAV meeting last Thursday-Saturday in Richmond. This year Hannah (13) also went with us, while Ben and Vanessa kept our other kids, Lottie the dog, the two hound puppies we were keeping for a friend, and the chickens at home.

The keynote speakers this year were Doug Philips of Vision Forum and Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis.

In the Friday morning keynote, Philips spoke on "Providence and Perseverance: A Homeschooler’s Vision for America’s 400th Birthday Party." Philip’s is leading a Christian celebration of the founding of Jamestown this weekend. Philips argued that Jamestown gave the US:

1. America’s Great Commission Birth Certificate;
2. The Bible;
3. Christian Worship;
4. Gospel conversions;
5. Origins of republican, representative government;
6. Bible based common-law.

He noted, "Those who control the history, define the culture."

I also attended Friday sessions with Bill Potter (Vision Forum’s resident historian) on "The Great Awakening in Virginia." We went to lunch with Melia Hatfield from JPBC. Hannah and I also went together to Doug Philips’ afternoon session on "The True Legacy of Pocahontas and John Rolfe." Philips noted the current attempts to demythologize the Pocahontas story.

There was also time Friday for perusing the exhibition area and the used curriculum and book sale.

Saturday morning’s keynote was Ken Ham on "Genesis of a Godly Legacy: Raising Godly Children." Ham spoke of how his evangelical father influenced him to pursue apologetics. We went to lunch with our friend Renee Shockley from our previous church, Beulah, in Warsaw. Hannah and I went later to his session on "Why Won’t They Listen? How to Reach Today’s Culture." Ham noted that most folk in America today (including in evangelical churches) are "Greeks" (pagan in thought) rather than "Jews" (steeped in Bible tradition). He criticized the evangelical church for over-emphasis on music praise and worship and not giving enough time to extensive Biblical teaching. Ham is a gifted populizer and speaker.

It is always encouraging to get around thousands of homeschooling families. It is a diverse lot. We bought books for the next year of schooling. It took much restraint not to buy more. I did pick up two books: Gary Demar’s Last Days Madness (been meaning to bone up on preterist eschatology) and a copy of the 1599 Geneva Bible.

JTR

Mary now appearing in Nelson County, Virginia

Last Sunday’s (June 10) Daily Progress featured a front page article titled "Divine Vision: Sanctuary draws faithful to apparition of Mary: Monk shares his vision of Blessed Mother."

The article begins:

According to Charles Cannon, spiritual director of the Synchronicity Foundation in Nelson County, an apparition has been making itself known to visitors on a daily basis since last August. He refers to the apparition as the Blessed Mother and says she is more than the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus.

"She refers to herself as the Divine Feminine, the Divine Mother, the Blessed Mother, not just Mother Mary," Cannon said recently before going to the nearby site where the visitations are said to be occurring.

"She is the divine consciousness - the essence of all those forms. What is amazing here is that so many people are seeing her, hearing her, smelling the fragrance [roses and gardenias].

"Her basic message, which she says every time she appears is, 'I appear that you might know the truth of who you are and what life is.' Then she goes on to say, 'Life is divine, you are alive, you are divine, all and everything is divine.'

"So the message is one of awakening to that holistic truth that God is not something that is separate from you, but is rather part and parcel of you and lives within the shrine of your own heart, and that's the greatest temple. It's a beautiful message, and it's amazing how many people resonate with that message."

Cannon is a self-proclaimed mystic and founder of Synchronicity Foundation. Oddly enough, he is not Roman Catholic (though his 89 year old mother, one of the 40 member "congregation" that took part in the new age seance, is), nor is his Mary that of traditional Catholic Marian piety (misguided as that is). His is a New Age Mary whose shocking message is essentially the same old pantheistic message of "all is one," "you are god(dess)," etc. Nothing particularly original in this.

Cannon claims that this "Mary" began appearing to him when he was three years old (he’s now 62). He studied Zen Buddhism and later spent 12 years studying with an Indian guru. Mary apparently told him that she would begin making "public manifestations" once Canon turned sixty.

The Synchronicity site has a link to its "The Blessed Mother Apparition." site. "Master" Canon offers this text of the first "message" he received on August 21, 2006:

"I am the Divine Feminine, God as Mother, Universal Creatrix,of all that is and is not.
I come again that you might know the truth of who you are and what life is.
God is life, you are God. All is God.
I am the One in the Many, I have manifested as the Divine Feminine forms of all cultures and religions. Yet, I remain unto myself in eternal divinity.
I come with a simple message: It's time to awaken. It's time to rise to the level of the God that you are. the God that is all and everything."

Reflections:

Wow! How do you begin to respond to this sort of thing? It is another reminder of where men go with "spirituality" apart from the revealed truth of Scripture. As Paul said of our sin-spoiled "spirituality" in Romans 3:11: "There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God." Apart from God’s saving grace, we would be sitting around in a garden trying to convince ourselves that we were having some faux mystical experience of a goddess of our own creation. The quote attributed to G. K. Chesterton again comes to mind: "When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing—they believe in anything."

JTR

Are most evangelicals in "same-sex" marriages?

Are most evangelicals in what are essentially same-sex marriages? This is the question Russell Moore of SBTS asked in a recent 9 Marks Ministry roundtable discussion (with Randy Stinson [of CBMW], C. J. Mahaney, and Mark Dever) on evangelical feminism.

Though many conservative evangelicals would affirm a "complementarian" view of the roles of men and women, is there any real difference in the roles and functions of the husband and wife, even in most Christian marriages? It's a great question.

JTR

Exposition of Jude: Part 4 of 25

Note: This is an occasional verse-by-verse commentary on the book of Jude. Past commentaries are archived below under the tag "Jude Exposition."

Jude 1:4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

In v. 3 we noted that the purpose of this letter is to defend the faith by exhorting the believers "to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints."

In v. 4, Jude warns against particular false teachers. These "certain men have crept in unnoticed." This implies that their entry into the church was by deception. Jesus warned against "false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves" (Matthew 7:15). Not every person who claims the name "Christian" or every group that claims the name "church" is one in reality. We must be discerning.

We should note that Jude says these ungodly men "long ago were marked out [from the Greek verb prographo, literally: "written down ahead of time"] for this condemnation." Some have seen in this verse evidence for the doctrine of reprobation. At the least, this verse tells us that God has exhaustive knowledge of the schemes of those who oppose the Gospel and that, in the end, their resistance will fail, and they will stand condemned.

What do these men teach falsely? Jude accuses them of two heresies:

First, they "turn the grace of God into lewdness." This implies that these men were antinomian (lawless) and libertines. They stressed the grace of God but omitted the discipline of God.

Second, they denied "the only Lord God [the Greek word is from despotes; literally: "Sovereign Master," the root of the English word "despot"] and our Lord Jesus Christ." What were they denying? It appears that they were denying the sovereignty of God and the status of Jesus as Lord (God) and Christ (Messiah). Jude is defending the orthodox doctrine of the Incarnation, the Word made flesh in Jesus (cf. I John 4:1-3).

In the spirit of Jude, let us resist false teachers who would justify ungodly living in the name of an unbiblical construal of grace. Let us also hold fast to the confession of Jesus as Lord and Christ.

Practical application:

1. Given the certainty of the ultimate condemnation of false teachers, what confidence should believers have as they contend for true doctrine?

2. Are you ever tempted to "turn the grace of God into lewdness"? Do you assume you can continue in sin without consequence, because God will forgive you anyway? How does Jude 1:4 challenge that notion?

Conrad Mbewe: The Spurgeon of Africa

Conrad Mbewe preached at the recent True Church Conference in Alabama. I have been listening to some of his sermons online from a church leadership conference in Singapore (look here). This former engineer was called to become the Pastor of Kabwata Baptist Church in Zambia. A 2003 profile article in World (later reprinted in Banner of Truth), describes his rough start in pastoral ministry with which most Reformed minded Pastors can relate:

The growth proved to be the pastor's hardest test. Twenty members left over changes he instituted. When he arrived at Kabwata, he found a team of deacons and one elder heading the church. Within two years he created an eldership and divided the duties, which left the deacons out of some decision making. He also introduced Reformed theology.

Church members accused him of singling them out in sermons and said he was unfit to be a pastor. Dapson Mwendafilumba, a member who disagreed with Mr. Mbewe, argued in the pastor's book-lined study that Mr. Mbewe wasn't practising what he preached. "He was not being more of a caring pastor in terms of visiting when he left the pulpit," he said. "I called him an actor. I said, 'Look here, you don't seem to marry the two."' Mr. Mbewe described the period as the "worst in his ministerial life."

He used to joke, "If I coughed, people would say 'He's coughing too much,' or if I didn't cough they'd say, 'Why isn't he coughing? Isn't he human?"'

So five years into his pastorate; the congregation had to vote on whether it wanted him to stay or go. In the end, 92 percent of the congregation voted for Mr. Mbewe to stay. Mr. Mwendafilumba, who joined another church, said they are on good terms now. He maintains that Mr. Mbewe could have gone slower on the reforms. Mr. Mbewe agrees. "He is very headstrong and likes to lead, likes to push," said Mr. Bota. "He's rarely in a position where there's another guy that's better than him. He tends to get what he wants done, done."

Reflections:

1. Church reform is arduous spiritual work no matter what the cultural context.

2. God is at work in the world today raising up faithful churches to reclaim Biblical theology.

JTR

Brister's Chronological Survey of Calvinism in SBC

Travis Hilton tipped me off to a May 28 post by Timmy Brister on his "Provocations and Pantings" blog in which he presents a "Chronological Survey of the Calvinism/Arminianism Controversy in the SBC." Lots of good links and background for modern state of Calvinism among Baptists. Brister also lists my review of Frank Page's Trouble with TULIP in the chronology (June 5, 2006).

JTR