Teacher's Task

""[T]he teacher's task is to draw attention to what is taught, not to himself" (Carl R. Trueman, The Creedal Imperative, 173).

Gospel Reality Check

"A church with a creed or confession has a built-in gospel reality check. It is unlikely to become sidetracked by the peripheral issues of the passing moment; rather it will focus instead on the great theological categories that touch on matters of eternal significance" (Carl R. Trueman, The Creedal Imperative, 168).

Reaching the Millennials: An Interview with Thom Rainer, Again

 Reaching the Millennials: An Interview with Thom Rainer from Preaching Magazine, Vol. 27 No. 4

Preaching: You mentioned church starts. It seems that a lot of the best and brightest young ministers coming along are saying, "I'm not going to inherit the problems of a previous generation of churches. We're starting fresh with new churches."

Rainer: You're absolutely right. I have one son of my three who is involved in a church plant. These millennials, these young adults, many of them are frustrated with church as usual, with local church actions, business and what they perceive as irrelevancy. So they're starting churches.

Yet I would have a challenge for some millennials as well. Keep planting churches, have that attitude; but we've got about 400,000 established churches in the United States that we cannot give up on. I would say not only start churches, but prayerfully go into these churches to try to revolutionize them even if it takes a lifetime of ministry, because we're not planting enough churches to sustain the fall off of the established churches. I hope we'll see both groups rise up, more church planters and more church people as millennial leaders going to established churches to turn them around [CCS, underline added].

Reaching the Millennials: An Interview with Thom Rainer

 Reaching the Millennials: An Interview with Thom Rainer from Preaching Magazine, Vol. 27 No. 4

Preaching: You mentioned that probably as many as 85 percent of this generation are not Christian. You've taught evangelism; you are an evangelist yourself in terms of sharing the gospel. How do churches go about seeking to evangelize the millennial generation?

Rainer: Here's the irony: This is the smallest generation of Christians, we think, in America's history. We could begin to lament that reality and say there's absolutely no hope. The irony is that this is the greatest opportunity to evangelize [CCS, underline added].

Conviction of Sin

"In all genuine conviction of sin, the great burden of pollution and guilt is felt to consist not in what we have done, but in what we are--our permanent moral condition rather than our actual transgressions [i.e. our estate of sin and misery]. The great cry is to be forgiven and delivered from "the wicked heart of unbelief," "deadness to divine things, alienated from God as a permanent habit of soul." "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Rom. vii. 24; Ps. li. 5, 6. It hence necessarily follows that original sin, as well as actual transgressions, deserves the curse of the law. Everything condemned by the law is under its curse" (A.A. Hodge, The Confession of Faith, 116-117).

Also see Question XXVIII from The Shorter Catechism:

Question: Wherein consists the sinfulness of the estate whereinto man fell? 

Answer: The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin, together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.

WCF. VI. Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof - 5-6. Q&A

Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.

Prior posts for WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - Sections 1-10.

Prior posts for WCF. II. Of God, And of the Holy Trinity - Sections 1-3.

Prior posts for WCF. III. Of God's Eternal Decree - Sections 1-8.

Prior posts for WCF. IV. Of Creation - Sections 1-2.

Prior posts for WCF. V. Of Providence - Sections 1-7.

WCF. VI. Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof.

Sections 1-2.

Sections 3-4.

Sections 5-6.

1. Is the believer both "the old man" and "the new man"?

No. A believer is not two persons. A believer is only "the new man."

2. Prove this to be correct from Scripture.

Colossians 3:9-10, Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. Also, see 2 Corinthians 5:17.

3. What does "perfectionism" teach?

"Perfectionism" teaches on the absence of all sin when a believer becomes a new creation in Christ (or at the least they teach on the absence of all known and/or conscious sin).

4. What does "antinomianism" teach?

"Antinomianism" teaches that a believer may indeed sin, but he will blame-shift and deny responsibility for sinning, claiming it is the influence of the "old man or nature within me," thus denying that Christians ought to stive to be perfect. "Antinomian" literally means anti-law; "antinomianism" demonstrates it is anti-law because it shirks personal responsibility before the Law of God, e.g. The antinomian thinks: It isn't my fault that I just committed this sin! That sin flowed from the old man or nature within me.

5. Give a Scripture reference to refute "perfectionism."

1 John 1:8, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Also, see 1 John 1:10, James 3:2, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 7:14-25, and Psalm 51.

6. Give a Scripture reference to refute "antinomianism."

"Certain expressions of the apostle Paul may be quoted in what can be made to seem to support this view. He says, for example, "it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me" (Rom. 7:17). . . . But putting this construction on these statements of Paul is false because it overlooks completely the ways in which Paul "takes the blame" for this situation. "I am carnal," he says (7:14). "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells" (7:18). Paul does not pretend that he can blame his sins on "the old man" a though they were not his. He does indeed inform us that his sins arise from the motions of his old nature as they survive in him. Yet he clearly indicates that he must fight against them and continue doing so until they are wholly destroyed. So the antinomian ends up saying the same thing the perfectionist says: "I have no sin." In this he deceives himself and shows that the truth is not in him. For both the remaining corruption, and all the motions thereof, are truly and properly sin" (78-79).

7. What is the difference between the status of the indwelling sin in the unregenerate man and the regenerate man?

The difference between the status of the indwelling sin in the unregenerate man and the regenerate man hinges upon dominion: the unregenerate man is under the dominion of sin, but the regenerate man is under the dominion of Christ, therefore he is not under the dominion of indwelling sin. "The true state of the case is this: in an unregenerate person corruption rules, but in a regenerate person the Spirit of God and the law of God have dominion (Rom. 8:7-14)" (79).

8. What pernicious error is suggested (and condemned) in Rom. 6:1-2?

The pernicious error suggested and condemned in Romans 6:1-2 is antinomianism, i.e. "the most wicked though of all . . . which suggests that sin is somehow less heinous if it is committed by a Christian." "We might rather," Williamson says, "that sin is much more heinous if it is committed by the Christian" (80). See Romans 6:1-2: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

9. Why is sin more heinous in a believer than it is in an unbeliever?

Sin is more heinous in a believe, Williamson says, because there is greater reason for the believer to overcome sin, e.g.:

• A Christian has strength that the non-Christian does not have;
• A Christian has knowledge that the unbeliever lacks;
• A Christian, most of all, has the realization of the terrible consequences of sin because he has seen what it cost the Saviour to blot them out.

10. What is "willful sin"?

"Willful sin" is the antinomian practice of sinning--living in sin--because one is not concerned with overcoming sin.

Apostate by Kevin Swanson (Parker, CO: Generations with Vision, 2013)

With a sobering subtitle--"The Men who Destroyed the Christian West"--this book accomplishes a few things. First, excluding the chapter on Aquinas, the author walks through the past 400 years of Western Civilization and identifies key Apostates, from Descartes to Locke to Rousseau to Bentham to Emerson to Marx to Darwin to Nietzsche to Dewey to Sarte, and then the author applies the Biblical principle of judging a tree by its fruit. The end result--a very bleak 200+ pages that follow the demise-trajectory of the West. Second, while providing this high overview of the West's demise-trajectory, the author observes/comments several times that this rebellious-apostate experiment is about to end; the West is most certainly running on fumes, i.e. "The heyday of humanism is long gone. This experiment with godless materialism is almost over" (154). Thus, a society that sows death will eventually reap death, and we are most certainly in the latter reaping stage, e.g. the great wars from the prior century, legalization of on-demand abortion, etc. Third, the West is going to crash and burn, however, the author encourages Christians to prepare, engage, and build the next Christendom: "If we train our children in the knowledge that is rooted in the fear of God, and in the firm hope of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, then our children will be the ones motivated and equipped to rebuild our broken-down systems. Our children will plant gardens in the ashes of what used to be called "Western Civilization" (301).

Social Theory

"A biblical social view maintains the delicate balance between the individual and his society. The state cannot provide human relationship and community. Without the covenant bodies of family and church society will err to the side of either anarchy or tyranny. In a humanist social situation, anarchy and tyranny play off each other until the system unravels. Four hundred years ago, the church took about 10% of a family's income, the state took 5%, and the family itself retained about 85%. Today, the church gets 1-2%, the state takes 60-75% [This may be a little high, but I suppose it depends on how one calculates it, e.g. some countries have in addition to set tax rates a tax on capital gains. However, he isn't off by much. And to think, the prophet Samuel warned Israel, when she demanded a king, that a king would take a "tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants" (1 Sam. 8:15).], and the family retains a paltry 30%. The relative importance of family and church in people's lives is fairly minimal, thanks to the influence of Rousseau, Marx, and Dewey. Contrary to what Dewey believed, the true prophet of God speaks only what God tells him to speak. The salvation message preached must be the gospel of Christ, and the church elders are held responsible for "preaching the Word." The family and church are the fundamental social units, and the family is responsible for the education and upbringing of children (Eph. 6:4, Deut. 6:7, 1 Tim. 5:8). Then, the state is responsible for prosecuting crimes like murder and robbery (Gen. 9:6, Exod. 21:1-5). This is the biblical social theory rejected by John Dewey" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate, 164-165).

Loneliness

"The loneliest countries in the world as measured by percentage of people living alone, are the United States (#1), Australia (#2), Sweden (#3), Canada (#4), and Japan (#5) [Reference Citation: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/peo_one_per_hou-people-one-person-households]" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate, 185).

Humanism

"There are two kinds of humanism. The first turns the individual into god, and the second turns the social unit into god" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate, 177).

Liberalism

"[W]e must remember that liberalism is not primarily a rejection of the supernatural; it is a reconfiguration of the nature of Christianity in such a way as to highlight religious psychology or experience and downplay or marginalize doctrine" (Carl R. Trueman, The Creedal Imperative, 142).

Bleak

"The school has replaced the church as the center of the community in most urban and rural areas today. . . . Over a 120 years later, we see the consequences of this vision. The average high school graduate is barely literate, but he knows how to use a condom. He is far more likely to support socialism and homosexuality than his parents and grandparents in their generations. But he can't name two men who signed the Declaration of Independence, and he probably can't tell the difference between Groucho Marx and Karl Marx" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate, 164).

Psalm 46

 "It is no small joy to be able to sing Psalm 46 in the dark and cloudy day." - John McCheyne

Praise

"Historically, one could make the argument that Christian theology as a whole is one long, extended reflection upon the meaning and significance of that most basic doxological declaration, "Jesus is Lord!" and thus an attempt to provide a framework for understanding Christian praise" (Carl R. Trueman, The Creedal Imperative, 135).

Dewey or Die!

"[John] Dewey's educational theory is really quite simple: education is all about training the individual to fit into the social entity of the state. . . . Centralized, institutionalized systems are not built for the individual child's needs, talents, and abilities. Inevitably, centralization and standardization of educational systems ruin individual academic achievement. Parents should know that the schools are not ultimately committed to academic excellence. Their chief purpose is to plug the children into the 'social consciousness'" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate, 162-163).

LOL: Leftovers

WCF. VI. Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof - 3-4. Q&A

Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.

Prior posts for WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - Sections 1-10.

Prior posts for WCF. II. Of God, And of the Holy Trinity - Sections 1-3.

Prior posts for WCF. III. Of God's Eternal Decree - Sections 1-8.

Prior posts for WCF. IV. Of Creation - Sections 1-2.

Prior posts for WCF. V. Of Providence - Sections 1-7.

WCF. VI. Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof.

Sections 1-2.

Sections 3-4.

1. State the basic facts concerning our lost condition?

 Adam rebelled in the Garden of Eden, and his sin is our sin. Thus, Adam's penalty is our penalty--Romans 5:12, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

2. Are these facts simple to understand or to explain?

No. As WCF. VII. notes, Adam was both the natural and federal head of all mankind, and this is so because God declared it to be so. 

3. How do we know that it is right for God to condemn us for Adam's sin?

We know it is right because we take God at his word--"and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." "And we know that it is just for God to do so, because he always does what is right" (74).

4. What teaching in the Bible is often overlooked in this matter?

It is often overlooked that there is a corporate aspect to mankind's existence. "The Bible does not regard the human race as so many isolated individuals, each separately created by God (as were the angels), but as an organic unit created in one man--and then, one pair--having the power to produce offspring in their own likeness and image. Adam and Eve were the 'root of all mankind.' God has made 'from one blood every nation' (Acts 17:26)" (74-75).

5. What does the "creationist" teach as to the derivation of the soul?

A "creationist" believes that a man and woman generate the organic body, but that the derivation of the soul is a new creation of God that is infused or placed into the body. 

6. What does the "traducianist" teach as to the derivation of the soul?

A "traducianist" (Latin for transmitter) believes that a man and woman generate both soul and body of their progeny, albeit this is a mysterious process that is not fully understood by man. This is consistent with the belief that Adam and Eve were the root of all mankind, as well as what the Bible says regarding human generation, e.g. Hebrews 7:10, For he [Levi] was yet in the loins of his father [Abraham], when Melchisedec met him. Genesis 46:26, All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six.

7. Which do you favor, and why?
 
I favor the "traductionist." Why? In addition to Biblical reasons given above, the teaching of the "creationist" seems deficient: if original sin is an imprint upon both soul and body, then a "creationist" implicitly teaches that God creates a new, sinful soul and places it in a body generated/begat by a man and woman. "How could the soul be created sinful by God?" (45) The answer to this rhetorical question is that it could not! for God is good!

8. In either case, what other principle helps explain our guilt in Adam's sin?

Our guilt in Adam's sin follows from the Biblical principle of representation. Adam was both the natural and the federal head of all mankind. "The act of Adam was the act of all men because he represented them" (76). Again, Romans 5:12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

9. Why was only the first sin of Adam our responsibility?

The reason only the first sin of Adam was our responsibility is because "Adam terminated his representative actions with that one sin" (75). 

10. How are all other sins related to this one?

All sins are related to this one because "by that one act he (and we) became corrupt and guilty. . . . He and we became totally depraved. And because our condition was that of being 'wholly defiled in all faculties and parts of soul and body' (WCF. VI. 2.), it followed that continual transgressions proceeded out of this condition" (75). All other sins are related to this one because will/desire/affections flow from nature, i.e. sinful will/desire/affections flow from depraved nature.
 

Essence of a Christian Worldview, i.e. God is Sovereign

"Another fundamental element of the humanist agenda [e.g. the Humanist Manifesto of 1933] is man's complete sovereign control over his own destiny. . . . One simple proverb destroys the grand proclamations of the Humanist Manifesto: "A man's heart deviseth his way, but God directeth his steps" (Proverbs 16:19). It is not brute chance in an indeterminate universe that controls man's destiny, nor is it man himself. God and only God is sovereign over reality. This is the very essence of a Christian worldview" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate, 162).

The Elbow Drop of Higher Education

"Since the advent of the secular universities from the 12th century in Europe or from the 17th century in America (Harvard College), these academic institutions have formed the juggernaut for undermining the Christian worldview in the West. This is hardly debatable, and the majority of public and private universities would admit this to be the case" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate, 156).

Words of the Bible and the Word made flesh

"The words of the Bible and the Word made flesh [John 1:14] are distinct, but they are also inseparable. Every act of redemption--from the exodus, to the return from exile, to the cross itself--is also revelation. They tell us something about the nature of sin, the way of salvation, and the character of God. Likewise, the point of revelation is always to redeem. The words of the prophets and the apostles are not meant to make us smart, but to get us saved. Redemption reveals. Revelation redeems" (Kevin DeYoung, Taking God At His Word, 50).

Running on Fumes

A gem of a comment by Kevin Swanson, buried in a footnote on page 154 of Apostate: "The heyday of humanism is long gone. This experiment with godless materialism is almost over."

Insane Nietzsche: Case Study #1 in Nietzscheanism

"When the self-consistent humanist finally comes to the realization that there is no essential meaning in what he says, he is forced to abandon rationality completely, and opt for insanity" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate, 152).

The Bleakness of Pagan Bravery

"Beowulf made answer, the son of Ecgtheow: 'Grieve not, O wise one! Better it is for every man that he should avenge his friend than he should much lament. To each one of us shall come in time the end of life in the world; let him who may earn glory ere his death. No better thing can brave knight leave behind when he lies dead. Arise, O lord of this realm! Swiftly let us go and look upon the footprint of Grendel's kin. This I vow to thee: in no refuge shall he ever hide, neither in the bosom of earth nor in mountain-forest, nor in the deeps of the sea, go where he will! For this day have patience in every woe, even as I know thou wilt" (J.R.R. Tolkien, Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, 53).

Crying Wolf (FULL MOVIE)

I don't know how long this will be up to view for free. Better strike while the iron is hot.

Will to Power

"The goal of existence, according to Nietzsche, is more than survival (as Darwin held). It is the opportunity--or the ability--to discharge one's strength; he calls this "the will to power" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate, 150).

Evil Barter

"Clamour arose in Heorot. Under the covering of dark she [Grendel's mother] took the arm she knew so well. Grief was renewed, and was come again to those dwelling places. An evil barter was that, wherein they must on either side exchange the lives of men beloved" (J.R.R. Tolkien, Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, 51).

Human

"To be human is to be one who is addressed by God" (Carl R. Trueman, The Creedal Imperative, 62).

WCF. VI. Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof - 1-2. Q&A

Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.

Prior posts for WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - Sections 1-10.

Prior posts for WCF. II. Of God, And of the Holy Trinity - Sections 1-3.

Prior posts for WCF. III. Of God's Eternal Decree - Sections 1-8.

Prior posts for WCF. IV. Of Creation - Sections 1-2.

Prior posts for WCF. V. Of Providence - Sections 1-7.

WCF. VI. Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof.

Sections 1-2.

1. Why does the fall of man need much emphasis today?

It needs much emphasis today because of the prominence and acceptance of neo-orthodoxy, whose proponents typically deny that the fall took place when "an actual historical person . . . at a particular time and at a specific location on earth ate a real piece of forbidden fruit" (70).

2. What does neo-orthodoxy (the term itself) mean?

Neo-orthodoxy means "new orthodoxy."

3. From what did it [neo-orthodoxy] arise?

It arose from and was a response to the "old rationalism" indicative of the post-enlightenment era.

4. Why did it sound promising at first?

Neo-orthodoxy sounded promising because it used the historical/traditional vocabulary of the Christian Church; the proponents of neo-orthodoxy would refer to "creation," "the fall," and "election," however, they re-tooled the thing (meaning) signified by the traditional vocabulary. It had the appearance of orthodox Christian belief, but in the final analysis it lacked the content.

5. What is its tragic defect (basic to all other defects in it)?

The tragic defect of neo-orthodoxy is its "merely exchanging the old form of reliance upon the supremacy of man's reason with a new form of the same evil" (70). The tragic defect is neo-orthodoxy's treating God's Word subservient to human reason.

6. When neo-orthodoxy says that a thing is "true" doctrine, what does it mean?

It means they believe the doctrine is "true" in a nonhistorical sense, i.e. it is merely symbolically or mythically.

7. Why does neo-orthodoxy take such a position?

Neo-orthodoxy takes this position, the position of attempting to affirm the Bible (that the Bible teaches truth) and deny (that what the Bible says is actually true) at the same time, because modernism created a milieu in which it which the traditional Christian belief that the Word of God was above human wisdom/human science was viewed as untenable (see page 70).

8. What choice were neo-orthodox theologians force to make?

"There were but two choices: (1) either accept the authority of God's Word and lose standing with this world, or (2) retain the approval of the world, and reject the authority of the Bible" (70-71).

9. How were the neo-orthodox theologians more ingenious (and therefore more dangerous) than the older rationalists and modernists?

The neo-orthodox theologians chose the latter of the two choices above (retain the approval of the world, and reject the authority of the Bible), and the "ingenuity of the neo-orthodox theologians was seen in their ability to camouflage the loss of biblical authority. They did it by removing doctrine from history. And so long as they did not say that these doctrines are really true (that is, that they actually happened in history), they were free to say that they are symbolically true (that is, that they are above and beyond our world). In this way they were free to preach abut such things as "the fall" without losing their self-respect and standing with the world" (71).

10. How does the neo-orthodox attitude resemble that of Adam?

It resembles Adam's attitude (sin) in that both attempt to have truth that is untethered and insubmissive to God's word.

11. By "total depravity" which do we mean:

• that Adam had a nature like ours with added powers,
• that nothing human remains in sinful men,
• that every faculty of man's nature is corrupt and polluted,
• that fallen man is stupid whereas Adam was brilliant,
• the faculties of human nature were annihilated by the fall?

Bullet point # 3 - "that every faculty of man's nature is corrupt and polluted," i.e. "The 'total' in 'total depravity' refers to the extent of the damage rather than the degree.

12. By "total depravity," do we mean that the extent of the damage or the degree of the damage is complete in fallen human nature?

It refers to the extent. Sin is an ethical disease that affects the whole of our human nature. 

13. Does man (being totally depraved) do anything that is not sinful? Why?

Not a single thing. Man being totally depraved can only sin. "Every man (who is not redeemed) worships and serves the creature rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:25)" (72). Why is this? Because will flows from nature: if our whole human nature is sick/poisoned with the ethical disease of sin, then our will, desires, affections, and actions are sinful: "it is the disposition of sinful men to do their own will rather than the will of God, they are incapable of submitting their own will to his. The one thing that an independent will cannot do is to willingly submit, thereby ceasing to be independent" (72-73). As Romans 3:11 says, "There is none who seeks God."

Musical Damage

"The musical Dionysian revolution [which the author contributes to pioneer composer Richard Wagner] captured the hearts and minds of several billion people in subsequent years. Without a cultural revolution in music, Nietzsche would not have nearly the same impact on the world. As the dust clears after the social and cultural atom bombs fell on Western civilization, we can assess the causes of the devastation. Perhaps it was more Wagner than Nietzsche that did the damage--music can carry ideas into the heart of a man, better than prose. Historians chronicling the decline of Western civilization would do well to study the connections between Friedrich Nietzsche, Richard Wagner, and the popular music revolution of the 1950s and 1960s [Footnote appended: E Michael Jones, Dionysos Rising: The Birth of Cultural Revolution out of the Spirit of Music (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1994)]" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate, 148-149).

The Millenial Shape of the Modern Church

Thom Rainer recently ran this article on his blog.

Ten Ways Millenials Are Shaping Local Congregations Today 

They are the largest generation in history. In the United States alone, they number more than 78 million, even larger than the seemingly ubiquitous Boomers. They are the Millennials. They are changing our nation, our world, and our churches. 

For the purpose of today’s post, I want to focus on changes they are already bringing to our local churches. I have the benefit of a large research project on the Millennials, plus the ongoing conversations I have with members of this generation. And I have spoken with countless leaders in churches about their experiences with Millennials. 

Keep in mind that the birth years of the Millennials: 1980 to 2000. So the oldest member of this generation is 34, while the youngest is only 14. But their impact is already noticeable, and it will be for years to come. Here are ten ways they are shaping local congregations today:

• More of them are attracted to smaller venues. They are thus one of the reasons for the incredible growth in the multi-venue model of churches and the growth of new churches. Leaders of smaller churches should be encouraged by this trend as well.

• They see culture as something to influence, rather than an enemy to denounce. Many Millennials truly have a missionary mindset. They are turned off by those who constantly rail against people.

• They like to cooperate with others. They do not view other churches and Christian organizations as competitors. They are attracted to congregations that are working with other congregations.

• They abhor worship wars. I have a previous post on this topic called “What Worship Style Attracts the Millennials?”

• They love churches that love their communities. One of the first questions a Millennial will ask a church leader is, “What is the church doing to influence, impact, and minister to the community?”

• They are attracted to churches that emphasize groups. The Millennials want to be a part of a congregation that has healthy small groups, Sunday school classes, home groups, or other groups.

• They want to be trained on their schedule. The Millennials truly desire training. But they are accustomed to having that training available when they are able to hear it or view it. Such is the reason that many churches are going to video training while having “live” worship services and small groups.

• They will question almost everything. This generation will want to know why a church does what it does. The most unacceptable answer is, “We have always done it this way.”

• They are slow to join, and slow to leave. Church leaders are often frustrated that a Millennial takes so long to commit to a local congregation. But they are intentional and thorough. Once they commit to a church, they are less likely to leave, especially over petty issues.

• They want to be involved. If a church does not have an intentional plan to get Millennials involved in ministry quickly, they will not reach Millennials.

I love this generation. I love their enthusiasm, their commitment, and even their questions. They are one of the reasons I remain an obnoxious optimist about the revitalization of local congregations.
I would love to hear from some of you Millennials. And I would love to hear from some of the older folks like me who are interacting with this generation. Your comments are always more valuable than my posts.

Ancient Landmarks and Human Nature

Proverbs 22:28 -- "Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.

The command to not remove ancient landmarks condenses something Moses told the Israelites as they prepared to enter the promised land. In Deuteronomy Moses tells the Nation of Israel what God expects of them once they have entered, conquered, and taken possession of the land: Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor's landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess (19:14).

The command in Deuteronomy 19 and Proverbs 22:28 deters greedy neighbors, especially in a society that lacked the convenience of modern surveying equipment and satellite imaging. They needed physical landmarks in a way that modern man doesn't. Today if a couple of farmers or ranchers have a dispute about where a property-line is they can refer to a plat map; in antiquity that luxury didn't exist. Today we can refer to a map, but in antiquity they would have taken stones, stacked them into a physical landmark/monument, and going forward folks could appeal to the ancient landmark if they were trying to figure out where the property-line was. Moving the ancient landmarks would have been a real temptation; Moses was not addressing some hypothetical scenario. God knows how our crooked hearts operate. God knows that dark hearts love to steal when they think they can get away with it.

The Nation of Israel was a type and figure of Christ's Kingdom. Christ is the Eternal-Creator King and the entire world is His. So, consider this: when Christians go around and tell folks to stop being a Mormon or stop being a Muslim, to repent and be converted, one of things that is implicit in that call to repent/be converted is that all of creation is God's! Therefore, indirectly we are telling people to stop trying to (re)move the ancient landmarks with their phony-religion. Man is a type of ancient landmark; we were created in the image of God. Human nature is an ancient landmark; our creature-hood is a property line--it communicates "all this creature-stuff is the Creator's."

When somebody tries to be an atheist, or tries to be a Mormon, or tries to be a Muslim, what they are doing is trying to move an ancient landmark: they are trying to take their sins and stack them together into a little mountain of rocks and appeal to that sin-landmark and say, "Ha! This human is not made in the image of the Triune God!" Or they try to take their bricks and build a building and say, "Ha! This little patch of dirt on the corner of such-and-such a road is not part of the Kingdom of Heaven! It is part of make-believe-Mormon land!" But they are wrong. Dead, dead wrong. They can attempt to move the landmark of man with their sin, but that doesn't alter God's ownership (Creatorship) over all of creation.

The Triune Lord created this world. Not Allah. Not Joseph Smith's God. And this world was certainly not created by the atheist's depersonalized goddess "Reason." And when the Triune Lord created this world he placed at the thematic center of this world a mountain with four rivers running down, and on top of that mountain was a garden called Eden; and then God put Adam and Eve in that garden. And you know what that mountain-garden with man and woman in it was? It was the ancientest of ancient-landmarks; basically a landmark that God put in place to communicate to Satan and all the fallen demons that not only was all of Heaven His, but so too the terrestrial ball with humans that bore the divine image.

But Satan came and tempted the woman and man. They rebelled and their rebellion was a form of moving an ancient landmark. They were attempting to steal glory from God! Greedy hands said, "Don't care what God says, gonna take that that fruit God said was off-limits. Don't care where the fence is, if I want something on the other side, well, then I'm just going to pick up the fencepost and scoot it over and take it! Try and stop me."

But God did stop us. If you refuse righteousness, you will be unrighteous. If you refuse to walk in the light, then you will abide in darkness. If you cast off life, then all that is left is death. Adam and Eve thought they could move the ancient landmark; they thought they could gain more by attempting to be like God, by attempting to usurp God's glory. They tried to move an ancient landmark, casting off creaturely obedience in exchange for rebellion, and when they did they corrupted themselves with sin. Their rebellion ruined their ethical nature. Figurative real estate increased, i.e. they gained knowledge of what fruit tasted like from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but the acquisition also turned them into sinners. What did Christ say about such acquisitions? Mark 8:36, For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

So, do not be a thief; do not move ancient landmarks. Do not steal temporal or physical things. But also do not move spiritual ancient landmarks in an attempt to steal God's Glory. Do not attempt to move the ancient landmark that man is a creature made in God's image. Therefore, put on humility. Be humble before the ancient landmarks. Be humble before the Creator by embracing your creature-hood. Be humble before your Lord Jesus; he took on the ancient landmark of human flesh in order to move the landmark back to its origin. Adam moved it with sin and because of sin we couldn't move it back, but Christ was righteous and he came and dealt with the sin and moved the landmark of human nature back to where it began, back to righteousness! And if you are in Christ then your human nature has been restored to the ancient landmark.

Words of Preaching

"Words are not simply adequate for the divine purpose in preaching; they are the divinely sanctioned means of achieving that purpose" (Carl R. Trueman, The Creedal Imperative, 59).

Billings City Council Defeats NDO!

From the Billings Gazette: "Council Defeats NDO by 6-5 Count"

You can view the proposed NDO that was defeated here.

WCF. V. Of Providence - Q&A - Sections 1-7.

Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.

Prior posts for WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - Sections 1-10.

Prior posts for WCF. II. Of God, And of the Holy Trinity - Sections 1-3.

Prior posts for WCF. III. Of God's Eternal Decree - Sections 1-8.

Prior posts for WCF. IV. Of Creation - Sections 1-2.

Prior posts for WCF. V. Questions 1-7.

V. Of Providence - 1.

V. Of Providence - 2-7.

The Best Part of Rock and Roll is Folgers in Your Cup

Folgers Jingle from ZAK Audio Productions on Vimeo.

Verbose Introductions

On my desk there is a manuscript from 1987 for use at Calvin Theological Seminary; it is an Introduction to Systematic Theology - 411 Prolegomena by Fred H. Klooster. Including the Appendices it is just over 300 pages in length.

Consider this: "Preoccupation with method is like clearing your throat: it can go on for only so long before you lose your audience." (Jeffrey Stout)

Preaching's Power

"Preaching is powerful because of the message it communicates (1 Cor. 1:21)" (Carl R. Trueman, The Creedal Imperative, 59).

Bookshelf Bravery

When I was young my mother would read out loud the Cooper Kids Adventures books by Frank Peretti. I remember pacing back and forth on the hardwood floors behind the couch in our living room while my mother read suspenseful parts of the stories; periodically she would ask me if I was okay. I loved it--"Keep reading, keep reading" I would plea. She always acquiesced.

I read Tolkien's poem "The Lay of Beowulf" (which is a summary poem of the Anglo Saxon poem Beowulf) to my kiddos this week. They loved it; the last time I saw them that excited was when I let them drink some of my Baja Blast from Taco Bell. When I got to the part where Grendel (the monster) bloodily invades the Hall of Heorot my son held his breath and his eyes expanded to the size of saucers, and I'm pretty sure he didn't blink for a minute or two. I finished Tolkien's poem and he eagerly said, "Read it again!" So, of course, I did.

Today my son and I went fishing and we saw a 5' bullsnake. My son said, "I'm not afraid. I'm brave like Beowulf!"

Against Pragmatism

Jesus Christ said "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" But we live in a time when people (both non-Christians and Christians) oftentimes give more time and thought-and-consideration, while standing in the check-out line at Wal-Mart, as to whether or not to purchase an extended-warranty on their newest electronic gadget, than the time and thought-and-consideration they give for their soul. And so in this sense, our priorities are severely upside down.

We invest the majority of our time in things of little importance, and, regarding things pertaining to the eternal, our investments are small, while our deductions are large.

But why is this? For starters: we are sinful, and not only sinful, but Totally Depraved. Sin affects everything: our mind, our thoughts, our hearts, our desires. So, we desire and care for the temporal and short-term over the eternal. Additionally, we live in a society that does not encourage long-term thought; it does not engender thinking about one's own soul. As the saying goes, it is difficult to swim against the current.

One thing we need to acknowledge is that American Pragmatism is the engine driving much of American Culture; by-and-large our society cares about the short-term and immediate over-and-against the ethical and eternal. We are, sadly, a ready-made and instantaneous-results infatuated culture. We want solutions now! for the problems we are faced with. ("I want the baby! Not the labor pains!") And whether or not they are genuine solutions are irrelevant so long as we can get over the current hump-of-a-problem. And if the new solutions create future problems, then so-be-it. The attitude is: we'll just cross that bridge when we get to it.

The danger of pragmatism is that it works . . . sorta. You can "get by" with pragmatic policies; in fact, you may even be really good at it--you may gain the whole world--but if you did so without the fear of the Lord, if you did so without righteousness, that is, without having God's law written on your heart by the Holy Ghost, if you did so with the relativistic attitude that, "My duty is to do whatever it takes to make things work, to accomplish the thing I feel is important to accomplish," then it simply means, in the final analysis, that you are not concerned with truth; you are not concerned with your soul; you are not concerned with God's glory. And sadly, this means in the end, as J.C. Ryle put it, hell will be the truth you know best.

This sort of pragmatism is antithetical to Christian-living. We don't just do "whatever works" - and we certainly aren't relativists - we don't believe that the thing you're supposed to do is different than the thing I'm supposed to do because your truth is your truth and my truth is mine. Christians, contrary to pragmatic and relativistic thought, believe that God has revealed to us what is true, and revealed to us what is ethical--what is wrong and right, what we may or may not do. These soul-sensibilities, which are derived from Scripture, they are, as one author says somewhere, the thingamajigs that provide the shape of our souls. These holy thingamajigs, aka Scriptural sensibilities, will run counter-clock-wise against the ticking-time-bomb of pragmatism. Pragmatism is disinterested in Scripture, and this is its downfall; pragmatism, in the final analysis, is not interested in listening, only doing . . . but the deeds of pragmatism are done without a moral rudder, and the results are disastrous, not only for culture, not only for a society, but even more tragically, the results are disastrous and damning for many souls.

And how often do we find ourselves operating with pragmatic sensibilities? In our relationships? Interacting with a spouse, or disciplining and raising our children? We care more about what works rather than what God says in Scripture. And sure: we balance a budget, we paid down the mortgage, we stayed married all of life, and the kids grew up to be basically normal . . . but if we didn't do it according to Scripture, if we didn't do it while waiting before the Word and listening to God, if we gained the world but in the process lost our souls, then what profit is it?

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Economics + Batman Comics = Awesome Sauce

Go here to find out.

Glorified Beginning

"Viewed as a whole, firstly, the Christian account of history is eschatological not only in the sense that it comes to a definitive and everlasting end, but in the sense that the end is a glorified beginning, not merely a return to origins" (Peter J. Leithart, Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, & Hope in Western Literature, xi).

Christianity's Deep Comedy: "All Will Be Well, And All Manner Of Things Will Be Well"

Author Peter Leithart in the "acknowledgements" to his book Deep Comedy says: "This book is dedicated to my third daughter, MargaretAnn, who at five exemplifies as well as anyone I know what it means to live out of and in deep comedy. She is a constant source of amusement, with her bizarre, frequently gruesome stories, her prankishness, her wildly expressive eyes. More imprtantly and profoundly, she exudes the childlike confidence and careless freedom that comes from knowing all will be well, and all manner of things will be well. And with her on my lap or in my arms, I am reassured that it will."

Gift of Speech

"The biblical narrative quickly makes it clear that divine speech is to be a fundamental aspect of the special relationship that exists between God and those made in his image. Genesis 1:28-30 establishes the basic status and duties of humanity in relation to the created world, with God speaking to the man and the woman and telling them what they are to do, what authority they have, what they may eat, and what they must not eat. The arrangement is articulated using words; it is linguistic in its basic form" (Carl R. Trueman, The Creedal Imperative, 53).

If Grendel's Momma Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy

Plain was it made and published abroad among men that an avenger to succeed their foe live yet long while after that woeful strife -- Grendel's mother, ogress, fierce destroyer in the form of woman. Misery was in her heart, she who must abide in the dreadful waters and the cold streams, since Cain with the sword became the slayer of his only brother, his kinsman by his father's blood. Thereafter he departed an outlaw branded with murder, shunning the mirth of men, abiding in the wilderness (J.R.R. Tolkien, Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, 49).

That Funny Little Thing Called "Truth" Gets People All Riled Up

"Modern culture has not really rendered creeds and confessions untrue; far less has it rendered them unbiblical. But it has rendered them implausible and distasteful. They are implausible because they are built on old-fashioned notions of truth and language. They make the claim that a linguistic formulation of a state of affairs can have a binding authority beyond the mere text on the page, that creeds actually refer to something, and that that something has a significance for all humanity. They thus demand that individuals submit, intellectually and morally, to something outside themselves, that they listen to the voices from the church from other times and places. They go directly against the grain of an antihistorical, antiauthoritarian age. Creeds strike hard at the cherished notion of human autonomy and the notion that I am exceptional, that the normal rules do not apply to me in the way they do to others. They are distasteful for the same reason: because they make old-fashioned truth claims; and to claim that one position is true is automatically to claim that its opposite is false. . . . Truth claims thus imply a hierarchy whereby one position is better than another and where some beliefs, and thus those who hold those beliefs, are excluded" (Carl R. Trueman, The Creedal Imperative, 48).