AND A VERY “MERRY TIPTON” TO YOU!

Some years back there was a dramatic television series that lasted just a few years, but during its time it gained a good sized following. It was called very simply, “The Millionaire” and its premise was just as simple as its title, as a multimillionaire by the name of John Beresford Tipton would call upon his trusty secretary Michael Anthony to hand deliver a cashiers cheque for one million dollars. Today that is still a fair bit of money, but in the late fifties that was huge.

The recipients were apparently just chosen at random and when the cheques were handed over there was a contract involved which had to be signed that stated that they would not tell anyone (except their spouse) that they had received the gift, nor would they attempt to discover who had made the gift. If they breached these rules, the balance would be forfeit.

It was always extremely interesting to see how people in various walks of life; at differing levels of society would respond to receiving such a gift and what they ultimately did with it. It was great entertainment.

Some time back I came across a Christmas presentation that took this basic story line and applied it rather well to what we have come to recognize as the “Christmas Story”. Perhaps you will recognize the elements of the Biblical account … and then again, perhaps not. I have come to view this as a Modern Parable of Christmas.

“Once, very long ago there lived in a faraway land a very kindly gentleman by the name of John Beresford Tipton. He was a very wealthy man with more money than anyone could imagine. And along with his wealth he had developed a rather interesting practice of giving away to certain individuals a tax free gift of one million dollars. To help him in this endeavor he had employed a refined gentleman by the name of Michael Anthony who not only presented the cheque but served to keep Mr. Beresford Tipton’s identity secret.

In the early years there were but a few recipients of the gift, but as the years passed the numbers grew into the thousands even past Mr. Beresford Tipton’s death since his estate called for the rather strange practice to continue.

Needless to say the lives of those receiving the money were drastically changed. And so as the years, even generations passed by the individuals who had been the recipients of this great gift increased in number until after many centuries it was almost impossible to tell for sure just how many there were. But those receiving these gifts came to know of the others that had also been blessed by this money, and ultimately too they learned the identity of their benefactor. So they decided to “celebrate” on an annual basis and managed to find out, not only his name, but Mr. Beresford Tipton’s birth date. After much discussion it was decided that some time in mid winter they would have a party, and call it “Tipton Day”.

Every one became very enthused about it as they stopped to consider this dear man’s generosity. Some even made up songs to make the day even more jovial. Over the years they added a great many things to the celebration in the name of their great benefactor like sending “Tipton Cards”, and decorating homes and offices with beautiful lights. Oh yes, it was wonderful and everyone had a great time.

Eventually “Tipton Day” became a custom around the world and in remembering the wonderful gift that they had received; they decided to give nice gifts to others in celebration.

But as the celebration of “Tipton Day” became so wide spread, a lot of folks who had received nothing from this man’s hand decided that they would do some party crashing. After all why should only they who had received the gift have all the fun. Yet in the midst of that great and growing throng of “Tiptonites” the party crashers were hardly noticed at all. Of course for the most part too, the “crashers” had no idea what all the celebration was about. For them it was just a matter of having a good time. All they could figure out was that someone with this strange name who was very wealthy had decided to make a whole lot of other people wealthy. Well, that seemed very nice so they picked up a glass of champagne … and joined the celebration.

In time, “Tipton Day” became a national holiday in a great many countries and of course ever mindful of new ways of making the whole thing better, many merchants decided to make, what they called, “Tifton” gifts available. That sounded like a fine idea. And most agreed that giving gifts was right in the “spirit of Tipton”.

So manufacturers and merchants got right to work, and they ran “Tipton Specials”, and everyone crowded around to buy their “Tipton Gifts”. And so it grew and expanded and everyone got involved and a great time was had by all.

One day two gentleman from Mr. Tipton’s homeland came to North America landing right here in Canada, and in fact decided to stay for a visit in the big city of Toronto. Now these men had received Mr. Tipton’s gift of one million dollars and decided that they would just like to meet someone just like themselves. The reason for this of course was the fact that Mr. Tipton had just before his death, decided that everyone receiving his gift, would be adopted into his family. So, they were just looking for other “Tipton’s”; people like themselves with the same family name. They were interested in getting together with just a few others to celebrate the memory of their joint benefactor.

So arriving in the heart of the city they walked down Yonge St. and looked into store windows, but as they did so they began to see things that really shocked them. They began to see signs like, “Only Three Shopping Days Left to Tipton”, and others that said things like, “Tipton Specials – Half Off”. Well as you can imagine these men quickly concluded that the owners of these stores must be Tipton’s, and so the next store that they saw a Tifton sign they went in. They looked around and concluded that this owner had done very well with his gift. And as they continued to look they heard someone call out, “And have a very Merry Tipton”. Then a voice from the opposite direction called back, “And you have a very Merry Tipton, too!”

Before long they heard voices all over saying “Merry Tipton”, and a happy new year as well.

This was very strange, as they looked at each other their only thought was, “What on earth is happening here?”

Mr. Tipton had been very generous here in Canada, but even this was far and beyond what they had expected to find.

Later that evening as they continued looking, they found themselves before a large home very beautifully decorated with what someone had referred to as Tipton decorations. Many people were going inside, and on one occasion when the home owner came to the door and noticed the men standing admiring his home, he invited them to come in and join the celebration. It was getting quite cold outside so they were happy to accept. To their amazement when they finally entered they saw “Tipton Cards” all around the living room. Most of these had pictures of pine trees, and snow and animals on them and the wording said things like “Seasons Greetings” and “Have a Very Merry Tipton” and so on.

But the really big item was a magnificently decorated tree right in the middle of the room that everyone admired and referred to as a “Tipton Tree”. The two men were rather thoughtful over this since these kinds of trees were not known in Mr. Tipton’s homeland. In fact he had never particularly liked trees. Oh, well.

These Canadians seemed like a strange lot, but they did seem to know how to have a good time that is if you consider that most of them were quite drunk!

At last the two visitors found a place in a quiet corner to consider what they had seen during the course of the day. One of the men mentioned the fact that on many of the streets they had walked that day, most of the folk calling our “Merry Tipton” didn’t look at all like millionaires. In fact anything but. His friend agreed, “I cannot for the life of me figure out what is going on here”.

So it was decided that they would ask someone about what they were seeing. They approached a man on the far side of the room and asked very simply: “Tell us, brother, when did you become a millionaire?”

The man just about gagged on his drink and shooting them a very cold stare, replied, “What are you talking about? A millionaire? You’ve got to be kidding!”
Thinking he hadn’t worded it just right, the man re-phrased his question: “Well, when did you actually receive your million from Mr. Tipton?”

The man fairly exploded, “What are you talking about? A million dollars? Ha! I had to borrow over three hundred dollars this year just to buy my Tipton gifts!”

The visitor was somewhat taken aback by the man’s attitude, so as timidly as he could asked, “Then why are you celebrating ‘Tipton Day’??”

The man couldn’t believe his ears. “Why am I celebrating ‘Tipton Day’? What’s wrong with you guys?? EVERYBODY celebrates ‘Tipton Day’; my mother and father celebrate it, in fact they’ve always celebrated it. And for that matter so did my grandparents. I’ve always celebrated it!”

He went on, warming to the topic – “when I was a kid I used to hang up my ‘Tipton stocking’. What’s wrong with you foreigners anyway? I thought everyone knew about ‘Tipton Day’??!!”

The visitors backed off and just about bumped into a man with a half empty glass of liquor in his hand. With more than just a little caution they asked him very softly, “Sir … have you received a million dollars from Mr. Tipton?”

Despite his inebriated condition the man looked as though he were just about to enter cardiac arrest as he blurted out, “A million dollars? Are you crazy? Of course I haven’t!!”

The visitor’s curiosity could no longer be contained as he pursued the topic, “Then why are you celebrating ‘Tipton Day’? What’s this all about, we don’t understand?!”

The man tried to be polite though he eyed them like they were from another planet. Slowly he began, “Well, I think that it all started with this man, somebody from some foreign country I think … his name, well his name was ‘Tipton’ … lot’s of people don’t know for sure. In fact there are lots of folk that aren’t really sure that he ever lived. Anyway there’s lots of legends and myths about the whole thing. One thing everyone seems to be agreed on is that this Tipton used to give these great gifts all the time. You know, things like toys, and pajamas and ties … you know that sort of thing. So we just picked up this custom here in Canada and now we give gifts on this guy’s birthday – at least we think it’s his birthday, and we call it ‘Tipton Day’. Anyway, once you get into the spirit of the whole thing, you’ll get used to it. You’ll love it! Here … have a drink!”

The quieter of the visitors replied, “Yes, we can see just how much all of this means to you. That’s a lovely orange tie you have there.”

The two visitors were really very anxious to find out if anyone there was a recipient of Mr. Tipton’s wonderful gift, and so they decided to pose the question one more time. They located yet another guest, a man who seemed very reserved in appearance and had no glass in his hand. They asked very simply, “What does ‘Tipton Day’ mean?”

The man seemed as refined and as educated as he appeared, but took on a slightly pained look at the question. Still, he attempted to respond in a way that he hoped would be helpful.

“Well,” he said, “Mr. Tipton was a man who lived many years ago, and he was very wealthy. In fact, I think that we have his biography somewhere all nicely bound in leather though not many read it very much. A lot of us have this book in our homes though I’m not quite sure where ours is. Anyway, it tells how he made his fortune and how near the end of his life he began to give it away to certain individuals and then adopt them into his family.”

The man paused before going on with what he thought would be a great finish to his story. “Oh, yes the idea behind it all was that if we follow all of the principles that he set down, then we can ourselves ‘earn’ a million dollars ourselves. That’s how we get the million. At least I think that’s what it’s all about. Don’t quote me”.

The man says no more. The party’s getting more boisterous as the evening wears on. The visitors are just about to leave when just above the laughter and tinkling of glasses there’s heard a knock at the door. No one appears to hear it. There’s a very long pause when the door opens and there in the doorway stands a direct descendent of Michael Anthony. There’s a brief case in his hand and he has taken an envelope out with a million dollar cheque inside for “someone”.

Mr. Anthony speaks up and tries to make his voice heard above the party celebrations, “Excuse me … excuse me …”. His voice fades away.

No one is listening. So he speaks up once more, “Excuse me please … !” But the noise of the laughter and singing and glass tinkling and … it’s all so loud. No one hears.

His smile fades and he turns and leaves. No one has noticed as the party celebrating “Tipton” goes on just as hilariously as it was before he came in.

Now it’s just a parable. Perhaps, not to put too fine a point on it, it is something of a satire. Having been a part of the Christmas “scene” here in North America for many years I would say that there is a rather heavy dose of truth here that we as members of Christ’s body cannot over look.

We who are Christians have received a gift of that which is of infinitely greater worth than a million dollars. We’re the “Tiptons” in this parable and in a sense that is both good and bad. It’s good because that gift which we have from Almighty God is eternal life in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. But we have to stop at this juncture and wonder whether or not we as these Tiptons are not doing an especially bad job of conveying the reality of our “riches” to a world that knows absolutely nothing but “party crashing”.

Oh, to be sure they know that someone named “Jesus” came many years ago to bring “something” to this world that should result in, at the very least, PEACE! And so they, ostensibly, celebrate that coming by having a party on His birthday. But apart from the manger … or the shepherds … or the wise men … the world knows very little if anything but “celebrating”. That’s it!!

So they go out and they celebrate. They celebrate with music, and with wine, and with parties, and with trees and decorations … and with gifts. That’s it!!

So that’s all they do – just like the non-Tiptonites – they celebrate; but they know nothing about what it is that they are celebrating.

They celebrate that which “we” have in Christ. They have none of it.

We’re the “Tiptons” … we have the fabulous gift … the greatest of riches. The question becomes, and it’s a hard one to answer because it knocks on the door of each of our homes – “Are we making this great gift known to those outside the “Tipton Family”??

You see, unlike the Tipton of our parable, we have received with the gift a mandate from the giver Himself to “…go and make disciples of all nations…” Now, do we have a better time to do that then right now as we remember the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ?

But now, “Family of Tiptons” … we can’t stop at the manger … and we can’t pause in Bethlehem. And we can’t because beyond this wondrous time there came yet another time some thirty plus years later when the babe in the manger became the Savior on the Cross.

He did not come just to give this world another holiday at a particularly drab time of year. He came to give men by way of Calvary’s tree a gift of unsurpassing value, the gift of Himself. He came to give the gift of reconciliation with a Holy and Just God; He came to give the gift of peace to men in the midst of a world rampant with war; He came to give the gift of life for time … and for eternity.
Oh, in a couple of weeks the non-Tiptonites will be “o-o-o-ing” and “ah-ah-ahing” over fancy clothing and Nintendos and expensive toys, but in the midst of it all their empty hearts are crying out for something more. They need joy … and they need life… and they need peace in lives that are absolutely peace-less!

They have the party … and they have the celebrating. And that’s all they have.

And we have the nicely bound copies of the truth that they, supposedly, are celebrating. We do have the riches, but the question becomes – what are we doing with it?

At this “gifty” time of year is there a greater gift that we could share than a knowledge of Him who made this time of year the reality that it is?

"What Must I Do to be Saved?"

In our ongoing pursuit of a pastoral ministry, I often receive questionnaires from interested churches wanting to know of my stand/conviction et al on certain matters. Some of these are very ordinary type things, but one recently asked the following two questions:

1. How do you tell someone how they may be saved? And,
2. Please tell us your understanding of grace.

Since I feel that the two are inextricably linked, I sent back an answer to the church which in fact incorporated my stand on both matters. The following is what I e-mailed to the search committee.

“You will note, and I trust that this is acceptable to you as a search committee, that I have incorporated your second and third questions into one. I do this because grace is the integral factor in discussing the doctrine of soteriology. I am sure that you will glean a good understanding of my convictions with respect to divine grace.

First off, may I direct you back to the initial documents that I e-mailed to you with my profile and to the one in particular entitled: “Doctrinal Statement”. The tenth of these doctrines state the words, “Irresistible Grace”, beside which you will find this explanation:

“I believe that God the Son has sent the Holy Spirit to work alongside and through the preached Word. The Spirit of God regenerates elect sinners and draws them irresistibly to Christ granting them by His Sovereign Grace both faith and repentance which they then exercise in Christ as both Savior and Lord”.

I am glad you asked about this doctrine and the work of grace for it is certainly the key to understanding all that Christianity, the Christian faith and what it means to be a Christian is all about.

If you will bear with me briefly, we must go back to the very beginning and understand why there is a need for grace in the life of men. At that time when the world was still very new, men and women amounted to only two individuals and God having given His first dictum, viz,

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Well, of course we are more than familiar with what transpired not long afterward when man took of this fruit against God’s explicit command. Funny thing is, he did not die physically; but from that point on he was and is spiritually dead.

The Apostle Paul, millennia later clearly affirmed this particular death of all – ALL – who are outside of Christ. To the Ephesian believers he wrote:

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. “

And again to the Colossian believers he wrote:

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, “

And all he was saying here was that in that spiritual deadness they were, before Christ, totally incapable of doing anything of a spiritual nature. There was no life there in the spirit with which to operate. That is, note the words above underlined, “no life” until “God made alive”.

Perhaps we can consider this in terms of that well known story of Lazarus in John 11. Lazarus’s sisters had sent word to the Lord when their brother took sick. The disciples were very keen to get on to see if they could be of some
help. Jesus as we know refrained from going straight away and so Lazarus died. When the Lord with the disciples finally arrived, Martha made a very telling statement, to wit, “Lord, if you had been here our brother would not have died”.

Well the intervening events are all well known, even the culmination of it all as Jesus stood outside the tomb where Lazarus had been buried, now dead for three days, and this is what happened:

“When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." “

Now I realize that for a great many in the professing evangelical church of our present day this story has become almost “old hat”; so much so that the spiritual significance has been all but lost. To be sure all will look upon it as a tremendous miracle that our Lord performed, but very few today will see what it is that this act of God through Christ does symbolize. Can you imagine what all those standing around that tomb must have been thinking – “Why this man’s mad; does he really think that a man who has been dead for three days can not come back to life?”

I feel quite certain that if you or I were there our thoughts would have been similar. Yet, what happened next: Note:

“The man who had died came out…”

Well, we say of course because Jesus called him; and Jesus is God and thus He was able to give Lazarus life – indeed new life. That’s absolutely correct. It was the grace of God giving new life to a man who had been dead. And that is precisely what happens when God through the power of His Holy Spirit at the preaching of Christ does to those whom He has chosen from before the foundation of the world, for salvation. Note again:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. “

Man died in Eden; and it is never until God reaches into that dead soul by grace, His grace, and grants new life does a man live again in Christ. And, that brethren, is how salvation takes place. In terms of “telling” one what he or she does to be saved, there are a number of passages to which we can look. For example, when the Philippian jailer came rushing in to Paul and Silas’s jail cell crying, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul replied very simply: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…”. And to the Roman church Paul wrote this:

“if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

This very simply put is how one is saved. But the question must be asked, “Where does this faith come from? How does one ‘believe’? I know as you do that there are tens of thousands out there populating churches of every conceivable stripe stating, often with great emphasis, that “Yes, I believe”. They have been told from countless pulpits that if they will just come down the aisle, and sign the card, and breathe the sinner’s prayer then they will be eternally secure. Now, don’t get me wrong that can and does happen. A great many that I have known over the years including my own wife were saved in precisely this way. I do not disparage it. But one must come to the realization that all these activities – or works – are not the way to salvation. Those who come truly before the cross of Jesus Christ and repent of sin, and place faith in Christ for salvation have already been regenerated. Otherwise they would never come. Man in his natural state hates God; he hates Christ; he has no use whatever for the Bible or God’s plan and life of salvation. He needs a new nature, and that alone can, by grace, be given by God alone through the ministry of His Holy Spirit.

Notice the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in John 6:

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him . . . “

And again just a little later He re-affirms this truth having spoken to the crowds about the necessity of eating His flesh and drinking His blood and many turned back from following Him – note:

“And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."

It is no more possible for a spiritually dead man/woman to come to Christ on their own accord then it was for Lazarus to get up, all by himself, and walk out of that tomb. It took the very special and efficacious call of Jesus Christ to perform that miracle. Do you suppose if anyone else, even the disciples, had walked into that tomb and given Lazarus a little nudge and said, “Hey, Lazarus, get up … the family’s out here waiting for you!”, that Lazarus would have stirred. No. Never. It took the grace of God, working through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, to give life through His call. Dear friends, it can happen in no other way.

One more vital matter that is absolutely essential for us all to get a hold of and that is answering the age old question of balancing the sovereignty of God with the responsibility of man. Once again in John chapter six, Jesus told His hearers one explicitly important matter with respect regarding those who would come to Him for salvation, notice the beautiful balance that our Lord utilized:

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. “

Jesus has spoken of the election of a body of people whom, as He states above: “All that the Father gives me will come to me…”; that’s God’s sovereignty, and then human responsibility appears magnificently in that second clause: “…and whoever comes to me I will never cast out”. There we have the truly “coming ones” and the eternal security of the Saints all rolled in to one. Beautiful!!

Perhaps you have heard of Dr. John MacArthur. Undoubtedly since his church, Grace Community, is just a couple of hours or so away from you in Sun Valley. If you know anything of his ministry, you know that this is the gospel he brings before his people every week. Perhaps you would like to read an excellent sermon of his on just this:
http://www.ondoctrine.com/2mac0032.htm

Dearest saints of First Baptist Church, of ________we have been seeking the mind of Christ in service for Him for some time now. One of the biggest stumbling blocks that we have encountered in finding a church/pulpit in which to serve has been this very doctrine. Perhaps, I have no way of knowing for sure, I have as they say in the vernacular of our day just “shot myself in the foot” by answering your question on salvation and grace in just this manner. I do not know – God knows, and it is at His direction and not ours or yours that we walk. We look to Him alone. And we thank you for your patience.”

United 93

A few weeks ago my wife and I watched a movie that had been made for television some time back.  Its subject matter was simply that of the fourth "911 Jet" that was hi-jacked on that infamous September 11th.  Unlike the other three that had crashed into buildings causing the deaths and injuries of thousands on the ground, this fourth jet crashed in a field in Pennsylvania killing all those on board but taking no additional lives of innocent victims on the ground.  The film was very well done given the scarcity of information that the crew had when putting the whole of it together; indeed it was extremely emotional as we saw family members calling home to their loved ones and in effect telling them that they were about to die.

As a Christian and a pastor and preacher of the Word of God I was much taken with the similarity between what happened here in this tragic incident and a brief incident in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ during the course of His ministry.  The text is as follows:

"There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?
No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

In their own inimitable style some of Jesus' detractors had come to Him on a certain occasion, undoubtedly in order to get Him to make some statement against the prevailing Roman government officials by relating a story that surely had many in the land up in arms over the injustice visited upon some fine upstanding Jewish citizens who had been mercilessly slaughtered during a time of worship.  But rather than make the kind of indignant rebuke that they had anticipated and hoped for, Jesus brought the whole matter down to a matter of life and death.  And then the Master brought an incident of His own to them, and responded with the same powerful statement:  "...unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" 

Now we have no way of knowing what was going through the minds of these men as they heard these words.  It's probably just as well as it is unlikely that it was very pleasant.  But as we think over the events of "9-11", and especially so as it relates to the occupants of these four planes that went down as they did, something of the reality that Christ was bringing out here must surely cross our minds.  Consider Jesus' words for example as he turned to the story tellers when they had completed their accounting, and to them He posed this question:  "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?"

We here in the civilized west do constantly look out upon that which is taking place in other parts of the world in these days, notably the middle east, and consider ourselves for lack of a better expression, "the good guys".  Why?  Well, we don't go around blowing ourselves and others up; we don't hi-jack planes and run them into buildings; we don't sever the heads off innocent people in the name of religion.  After all that's something that those hateful  Romans would do as they did on that awful day in the above accounting when they slew a group of innocent Galileans and the blood of those poor, religious men flowed down and mixed with the very blood of their sacrifices.  Horrible.  Yes indeed it was.

But you'll note that Jesus did not dwell on this outrageous act.  That's not why He had come.  He had come to deal with the sins of men, and it was to the sins of men that He directed the attention of all who listened to Him.

And it is to the sin of all the people on board United 93 that we must turn our attention.  For if they died on that infamous day outside of Jesus Christ then they perished not only from time but for eternity.  The Muslim terrorists had been raised with the horribly mistaken idea that if they died in an act of killing infidels then they would be immediately ushered into Paradise with all of the perks that they were entitled to.  They were of course wrong.  The Bible is quite specific on this in many places, but suffice it to see here at this text:

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

If men die in their sin, whether they are of Pilate's army, or Mohammed's or Adolph Hitler's or whoever, then they become and shall ever be the possession of the evil one ... and that for eternity.

However, if a man dies in Jesus Christ because He has been purchased by the shed blood of Him who died on Calvary, then life ... and life eternal is his or hers. He or she might be fine citizens of our wonderful democratic and free land here in the west.  But that really doesn't matter.  Outside of Christ whether Muslim or American or Canadian or British citizen, he is lost.

Now, as we view United 93, or the newly released World Trade Centre motion picture, surely we must be aware of the awfulness of that day and those events.  But our thought pattern must not end there.  Thousands died horribly on that day and we must mourn them.  Jesus did not even suggest that either the Galileans so terribly killed by the Romans or those killed by the falling tower should not be mourned.  But the physically dead He did not have before Him; He had the physically alive and spiritually dead before Him and to these he forcefully reiterated, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish"   This is the message of the Bible today and right now.  Unless men now turn from their rebellious sin and believe in Jesus Christ alone for salvation ... eternal perishing is all that remains.  That's all.

Powered by Qumana

Pastoring a Church in the New Millennium

There have been times over the past few years when not only have our friends wondered why we continue to seek a full time pastorate once again, and to be quite honest, we have wondered ourselves. Years ago when we did serve over the course of a number of years two churches with widely varying backgrounds and theological persuasions, we found that while there were a number of things that tried our sanctification, and did so on a very regular basis, yet we knew that what we were about we had been called to and frequently this knowledge alone was sufficient to see us through many a trial.

At the same time we ministered in those days in a milieu with which we were both very familiar, and in a sense that granted us a comfort in its familiarity. When we left our second church, a Fellowship Baptist church here in southwestern Ontario, to take on the reigns of Eastern Canada Regional Director for a large mission working, in those days, behind the Iron Curtain we knew that we needed to find a new church home. There was never any question what church that would be for while we stayed on in the same geographical location, our new church home was just up the road apiece in the city of Sarnia. It was even in those days a fairly large church and while entering into ministry within the church family did not take place right away given that my schedule kept me on the road a fair bit and especially so on Sundays. In later years this changed a considerable amount and whenever the opportunity for ministry came up, we both involved ourselves quite a bit. But again, the church environment in which we found ourselves was one with which we were very familiar and hence our methods of ministry were, we felt, very efficient given our experience and training.

But then one day that began to change. And this was precipitated by the pastor of this church reaching retirement age, and announcing to both the body as a whole and the board (on which I sat at the time) that he would be retiring in one year and it was time to set up a Search Committee to find God’s replacement. The search continued throughout the year with very little being accomplished. Just prior to the pastor’s final Sunday it was decided that we would find an interim pastor as the search continued. As it turned out, over the course of the next two years several interims were brought in. Each of the men so used was very gifted in a number of areas not least of which was the expositional ministry of the Word. But with the start of each man’s “interim” it was made clear that we would not be using him any longer than he himself felt he could stay on. Still, the time of each man’s interim ministry extended into several months. Each of them was very gracious and extremely helpful in the process that most of us had never been through before. Finally one day we received a recommendation from a man that was very highly respected within the “Fellowship”. A profile (résumé if you prefer) was received, copied and given to each Board member. We went over them very carefully. During my own examination I noted one or two items that gave me some concern. I brought my concerns to the Search Committee Chair; he thanked me and said that he would consider what I had shared with the committee as a whole. Unfortunately this never happened. A short while later the pastor who had been recommended was brought in from his home in Denver, Colorado. He was asked to preach on a Sunday that I was away for some surgery and hence I was not there to hear him firsthand. I later heard the tape and re-voiced my concerns. Still, nothing was done and the process moved ahead.

The long and the short of all of this was the church’s calling this man with a very hefty majority. Initially, he came here with his wife and family and until more permanent accommodations could be found, they stayed with one of our church families. The interesting part of his coming had to do with a question that he had been asked on at least three occasions prior to the vote, and that was this: What changes will we see when you come here? His response: For the first year you will note nothing of any significance, it will be “business as usual”.

Most of us felt quite comfortable with this since I don’t believe there are too many of us who like to see a lot of radical changes taking place all at once.

The problem was, this was not exactly true. In fact his first official Sunday in the pulpit the whole of the morning worship service saw more changes effected than we had seen over the course of some time. This did not sit well. However, when this was coupled with a lot of problems suddenly coming out from under their respective rocks during his first full week as senior pastor and the man went into almost, though not quite, a clinical “depression”. Then with very little warning he disappeared back to his former home in Colorado. When he finally returned he made it clear, at least to the Board, that it was his intention to bring the church into line with all that was taking place at Willow Creek Community Church outside Chicago. Meanwhile his depression continued and rarely could church members get to see him.

This went on for several weeks and I finally made it a point to have lunch with him one day to see if I could decipher what on earth was happening. He was polite, but extremely reserved. We “small talked” through most of the entrée and finally over coffee I just had to find out where he was intending to go with his approach to ministry. I then asked about the question (mentioned above) which he had answered with, in effect, “No changes will be made for at least a year”. He stiffened up and replied, “Well, there are changes where you just move the furniture, and there are changes wherein you knock out walls”. My response: “Brother, you have been knocking out walls”. I don’t think this helped his depression too much. The following Sunday he called a sudden Board meeting and when we had all settled in, he began by saying that he thought it would probably be a good idea if he left and went back to Denver to start a work that was solely patterned after Willow Creek.

The silence for the next few seconds was deafening. Personally I was pleased with his decision, and commenced by saying so. He looked at me rather oddly and replied, “Yes, I knew you would be”. I then tried to make it clear to all present that there was nothing personal in it at all, but that he ought to be about a work for which he feels best suited. For the next two hours every other Board member spent a considerable amount of time trying to get him to change his mind. I knew that they were whistling in the wind. He left a month later just nine months after assuming the rôle as senior pastor in one of the most respected Fellowship Baptist churches in Canada.

The senior pastor search started up again. However, by this time the winds of change had begun to blow and a small but growing contingent of folk in the church had seen a new way of “doing church” that they liked and were becoming daily more determined to see it implemented here. As for me, well, I too saw the changes that had been going on in other large, and not so large churches across the land. It was being called “contemporary”. Some churches were trying to walk a fine line between this and what was being derogatorily referred to as “traditional” or just plain old fashioned, and preferred the handle, “blended”. But whatever it was called, the changes had been introduced, and few were now willing to revert back to the “old ways”.

I served the search committee for better than two years, if in fact “better” is an appropriate appellation. Dutifully my wife and I and other committee members and their spouses would go out and visit churches of the Fellowship as well as a number of independent Baptist works with the view to possibly attracting other pastors to leave their present pulpits and join with us. We put together a survey form that we filled out at the conclusion of each visit. It was hoped (at least by me and one or two others) that the most important part of this information would be concerned with the man’s ability to preach the Word. But at the conclusion of every report that was given, only one thing seemed to matter: was the service contemporary, blended or traditional? Many times I felt constrained to counter with, “What difference does that make?” Eventually I gave up trying to come to grips with this and succumbed to the will of the majority.

A number of months went by and there was little if any agreement on any of the pastors whom we had visited. We did proceed a little further with one potential candidate, but when he met with three members of the Search Committee, he admitted that he had heard of some of the problems our church had been through and was not really interested in going any further. This began to be a fairly familiar response.

One evening as the Search Committee came together we were handed our customary “potential candidate” list, and going over it fairly carefully I noted that one name that had just recently been added had suddenly found its way to the top. It was explained that this was a pastor that had been highly recommended by our present interim pastor. In fact this pastor at one time had been mentored by our interim a few years back and it was believed that he would probably be interested in leaving his present pulpit. Personally I had all kinds of red flags suddenly burst before me, but decided to keep the whole thing to myself. The man was brought in for a get together barbeque and we were allowed, informally of course, to pose a few questions. Without having seen any of his background or even hearing what he had been about I felt rather ill at ease asking questions so I posed one or two rather innocuous ones.

A week or so later this man was brought before the whole Board, and Search Committee and once he had spoken about all that he had been about and was looking to do in the future we were once again allowed to put our questions to him. I tried not to monopolize all the time but at this point I was very concerned about what was about to take place. One of the things that came out was his heavy ties to Willow Creek and the whole of the mega-church growth movement. In his words, “… this was where God was at work”. By this time I knew more of this market driven program and was rather fearful that this was what was about to happen in a church that we had known and loved for many years. The following evening there was brought together more of the over all church leadership for a longer and more thorough question period, and I will always remember a statement that this man made with respect to the changes that he would, no question, be implementing should he be called. He looked around at the group and with no hesitation whatsoever stated quite emphatically, “… we may just have to say goodbye to some of you”.

The next day I sent this man an e-mail asking him if I might, confidentially, ask him some things and give him some additional information. I asked if he would be so kind as to keep our conversation between the two of us, and if he wished not to so correspond then that would be fine.

The Board was not particularly happy with all of this and we came to the conclusion that the church was moving in a direction that we could no longer support. Very regretfully we left shortly thereafter after many years of service.

This pastor was called and though many had heard his decision to make all kinds of contemporary changes, few believed that he would go as far as he did. Over the course of the next two years over three hundred left the church.

A church as I mentioned that was at one time one of the most respected in the Fellowship has become one of the most market driven churches in North America. Its finances have gone down considerably for the simple reason that those who are attracted to this kind of “program” have really no idea of what the New Testament doctrine of ecclesiology is really all about. They come for the entertainment factor. The Word holds little attraction for them.

As you look back to the top of this blog you will note its name, viz, “Maxaira”. Simply, that is a “Sword”. On one brief occasion in His ministry the Lord Jesus stated what the verse at the top of this page states, and I will just repeat it here – “’Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.’”

Now we don’t often think much of this text because somehow or other we believe that the “Prince of Peace” came to bring Peace, not a sword of division. But alas that is not what He said. And so over the past two millennia we have seen extant within the church of the Lord Jesus Christ more “swords” than we like to think about. One of the really big ones came some five hundred years ago when a young preacher named Luther decided that what the church was doing in those days was not right. So he brought out the Scriptures. And he preached Christ and oh, such a sword was yielded that the church of the day was rent in twain in a great upheaval – we know it today as the Reformation. You see the sword was and always will be the Word of God and when it is stood by in truth, then there will be such rendering among the people of God for truth must always stand alone though the bearers of it are put down, and often savagely so even by those who are “fellow professors” of it.

Today is no exception to this reality. Just as the Apostle Paul had to wade heresy-deep into the church as it existed in his day in Galatia, and wield the sword of truth against those who would have destroyed it with a gospel that was no gospel at all. And he did not mince any words with regard to those who were bringing to those young saints a first century heresy, for to them he stated quite emphatically:

“…If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”

For what they were bringing was not the gospel of the Lord Jesus, it was in Paul’s words, “…man’s gospel…”, and when men bring this as preachers to the church then they must be turned back. Well, of course in Paul’s day they had no written Scriptures of the New Covenant vintage, and so when this “new gospel” was being hailed as the truth, they had little to work with and compare and so by many it was being accepted. That is until Paul heard of these shenanigans and so he wrote them a letter and to them he wrote that through the preaching of the gospel they had been given new life in Jesus Christ thanks not in part, but wholly through the Sovereign grace of God. That works of the law had nothing whatsoever to do with it. They were as we are, “free from the law, oh happy condition”.

This gospel, this truth, this preaching was the sword and with it Paul cut away all the heresy that had come about through preaching otherwise.

Today now in the twenty first century we are going through a period of time in the church’s history in which contemporary preachers in ever growing numbers are not concerning themselves with the “sword”; the Word of Truth. They are building churches based on the sand of expediency which is providing large, flamboyant buildings, filled with people who know little in their professing Christian lives but a mis-application of John 3:16, and yet so often are barely able to locate this magnificent text in their Bibles.

We have mega-churches sprouting up all around us with little to commend them but the latest in trendy church programs and “Forty Days of … whatever”.

As a result of all this we have preachers out there by the literal score who are not quite sure what it is that they should be about. If they are over forty and have Bible College and Seminary training they probably have been fairly well endowed with theological knowledge but so often in today’s church economy they are not sure what to do with it. The church has developed a number of new buzz words of sorts that have been borrowed from secular corporations and are now intended to see the church develop and grow. I have heard most of them having received e-mails from Pastoral Search Committees that tell me, “we need a man to take us to the next level”; “we are looking now in a ‘different direction’”; “we want someone who will get with the program” and so on.

Those coming out of seminaries today where Bible and theology are no longer of prime importance in a man’s pastoral education, he must decide how he shall approach this new age of church and how it is to be conducted to “attract unchurched “Harry and Mary”.

As I have gone over church “pastoral openings” I am finding with increasing regularity that the rôle of the senior or sole pastor is that which is less in demand today than perhaps at any time in the church’s history. Pastoral titles have become so diversified that one hardly recognizes them as being pastoral rôles at all. Today churches want pastors to take on every level of society in their own specialized format: pastors for children; pastors for young people; pastors for the college and career group; pastors for young couples; pastors for men and pastors for womens ministries; and possibly one of the largest categories today right now is that which is known simply as “Worship Pastor”. Imagine having a job to do nothing all week but plan for the church’s time of worship on Sunday morning. And then there are pastors of music whose sole responsibility is to make sure that all the music used on Sunday morning is designed to make everyone – shall we say “happy” and “worshipful”.

But now in addition there is a new rôle that certain new “Generation X” churches have brought into being and its tools are the new technological gadgetry that has invaded the whole of our society. There are lots of churches out there that are becoming totally reliant on the ways and the tools that are now widely available, to build their churches (from a strictly physical sense of course). One of the most colourful that I have come across in some time I noted about a year ago as a church in the Midwest U.S. advertised for, in their words: “… An experience and Ethos Designer”. The description of this staff member was quite extraordinary, for this is what was being sought:

“Wanted: An Experience and Ethos Designer:
Ministry is art; a co-mingling of the human and divine. [Church name] is an artistic and creative church that is constantly reflecting on how to create more effective moment collections that increase people’s incidence of bumping into the presence of God. In [church location] three weekend services allow a 1000+ people to experience a combination of sculpture, painting, digital art, poetic reading, digital confessional, video and various interactives. The Experience and Ethos Designer (the real title we use) is responsible for the overall creative process and teams that pull off the weekend experience. From parking lot to auditorium this rôle oversees the entire “feel” of [church name] . We are looking for someone with at least five years of programming experience, familiarity with video and video editing, experience in leading multiple teams (primarily consisting of volunteers), excellent communicational skills, and a definite feel and eye for how the arts can be used.” … contact … & so on …

I am not totally sure but I think I sensed the “Prince of Preachers” groaning just a little.

I suppose the bottom line of all of this is the fact that to pastor a church today, one does not spend much time concerning one’s self with the Scriptures and how to preach, teach, disciple and counsel using them. That’s passé. What is apparently needed today is nothing more or less than an experience of “…bumping into the presence of God”. Sound Scriptural exposition to the Glory of our wonderful God is something out of the past, and I guess we all just have to “…get with the program.” So … that’s the pastorate of the twenty first century?

The DaVinci ... What?

When I was a kid growing up in the city of Hamilton, Ontario I used to hear it often said when some questionable material was introduced onto the market place, especially in terms of literature, "well, if they want it to sell, it should first of all be 'banned in Boston'". I never quite understood that until later it life when certain questionable books found their way into public book stores with the interesting publicity to wit, "this book has been banned ...", and then certain places were named. It seemed thereafter that everyone wanted to get hold of a copy and see what all the fuss was about.

As a teenager I worked in a movie theatre for a year and while I was not yet eighteen, the movie came out while I was there which was the first "Restricted" film ever called "Peyton Place". I was staff so I was not kept out and like so many of my age group (not to mention thousands of others) we could hardly wait to see the juicy bits. By today's standards, if that word can still be used, I have seen racier television commercials! Still, the restricted label did the trick and it became one of the all time most viewed films for the day.

Since that time of course there have been a great many films with the "R" rating. It doesn't seem to carry much weight any more as far as getting more people to watch. In point of fact there are many films out there with a much lower rating that probably should have this particular rating and don't. Now, why mention all of this when I have set down the title which relates specifically to a book titled "The DaVinci Code"?

Well without getting into all of the specifics of what this book doesn't really say, I have found it rather disappointing to see how many evangelical and even Reformed brethren have jumped on the band wagon to condemn it for all that it purports. Of course the book is nonsense. I believe all born again Christians will attest to this. So why not just leave it at that? Why spend literally thousands of man hours writing articles and books and pamphlets to counteract pure, unadulterated trash? In point of fact all this is doing is "banning it in Boston". It's feeding its popularity. In a sense it is a bit like what took place in the final year of the last century that became popularly known as "Y2K". Hundreds of authors of all stripes both knowledgeable and otherwise threw up the proverbial hue and cry with great wailing and lamenting warning people that their economic world was about to collapse. Strange. For on January 1, 2000 ... everything was as it had been. No collapse.

A few months after the film on this book has been released, and seen by the masses, it will be pushed quietly into history. And as they say in the newspaper jargon - that's "30".

“A” PASTORAL SEARCH

As indicated I have been and continue to pursue the pastoral ministry having been out of it on a full time basis for some years. I have frequently been asked why I think that it has and is taking so long to return to that field of ministry for which I was prepared. It is a good question, but not being privy to the mind of God in such matters I cannot of course know exactly why this is the case. I do know this, our Heavenly Father is absolutely Sovereign in all that He does, and when in the lives of His children He does not do that which they pray about so very fervently as we have, then … I do not think that this is at all trite or simplistic … He most assuredly has His reasons.

Still it has been a most interesting time doing this search for over the past few years I have contacted literally hundreds of churches of many different, shall we say, “stripes”. And the great many responses that I have received back not to mention the great number of churches that have given no response whatsoever, have led me to believe that the church on a nation wide and indeed, a continent wide basis has gone through many great changes. Alas, the great disappointment in it all has been that the changes for the most part have been anything but positive in terms of the Scriptures or the Scriptural admonitions that the Word gives to us for the improvement of our spiritual lives. No, the greatest number of changes that we see today are for the most part cosmetic. They are there so that, we are told, the world will see something in us that they like or they admire or that they are drawn to and will therefore come in to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ being preached and “hopefully” somewhere along the line they will get saved. To be fair, it is a wonderful premise, but the problem is – it has no Scriptural support whatsoever and therein it falls apart.

Now of course I am not the only man seeking to enter (for the first time) or re-enter (as many other men are attempting) the pastoral ministry. And of course too there are a great many churches out there in North America, and in Europe and often we find that there are other countries of the world that are seeking men to minister in their midst whose primary language is English. We find in this wonderful technological achievement we know as the “internet” a fairly large number of web pages that have devoted themselves to making their services available to not only churches, prospective pastors, but a myriad of para-church ministries seeking workers. This is a wonderful resource for all.

One need only bookmark, as I have done, web pages offering these services and then visit them on a weekly basis. And when churches post their pastoral openings, usually with an appropriate e-mail address, then they receive from those of us who are “seekers”, an initial response with a pastoral profile of ministry experience, statement of our doctrinal convictions and in my case a very helpful and informative article by Pastor Mark Dever on the marks of a healthy church. The cover letter that goes out specifies the basics of our call to ministry, and what we have been about in terms of ministry over the past several years.

Well, as I have noted, I have sent out this “pastoral package” to a great many churches over the past few years. Then too so have many hundreds of very fine, qualified and I am sure, godly men. Sometimes the churches are so overwhelmed by the large number of replies they just do not seem to be able to get back even with a “canned” response. This is really too bad. Men in ministry or should I say “hopefuls for ministry” are as any men. They need to know that they are at least being considered, or prayed over or thanked for what they have done. But alas, it is not uncommon for better than eighty per cent of churches written to that do not get back with even a line or two of acknowledgement. As far as business and industry we are never surprised by this type of “lack”, but from professing brethren, we do expect more and it is disappointing not to receive it.

Well, so much for my pity party. I shall let it go at that.

There are of course a number of churches that do respond, often with very gracious and heartfelt words. The interesting thing here is the number of church “buzz words” that have begun to crop up in these responses. For example, many, many times I hear this expression: “Our search has taken us in another direction…”. I have never been able to figure out just what this means. I thought we were all going in the same direction. Apparently not.

Another expression that seems to be prevalent today amongst search committees is one that has been more or less loosely adapted from the business world. Churches today on a very wide scale are looking for men that will “… take us to the next level”. I am not sure if you were to ask these committees what the next level is all about if they could give a reasonably clear answer as to what this is all about. What level are they presently at? How many “levels” do they feel the church has? Or should have? And how would they know if and when the next level had been attained? It leaves me in a bit of a quandary every time I see this prerequisite being put forward.

Now not all of this work on my part has been in vain. Not at all. About two years ago I was taken at church expense to a small Southern Baptist church in northern Colorado. I preached twice; met with the elders board and enjoyed a wonderful week in a most beautiful part of the U.S. The problem? I will get to that shortly.

A month later, my wife and I were taken to a lovely area in California, and there we spent two weeks with a small church about half way between San Francisco and Sacramento. We had a lovely time not only enjoying that part of the state, but having some wonderful fellowship with several members of the church a number of whom had specifically mentioned that they were looking forward to our ministry with them. The problem in this instance was their present pastor. He had apparently told them some months earlier to begin a pastoral search in light of his health which at the age of seventy eight was beginning to deteriorate. They had agreed and begun the search. They made one large error (in my opinion), he remained with them to “help” in the search. In fact he had even called me on two separate occasions to ask questions just to make sure, as they say, that we were “on the same page”. Both times it appeared that he was satisfied with my responses, but when it came time for the church vote, he chaired the meeting and made it very clear that he was not in favor of our being called. It was a “show of hands” vote, and his was the first contrary vote to be registered, and enough followed suit to seal the matter. Though the church was fairly small, it was from that point on a divided congregation.

A few months later we were flown to Vancouver, British Columbia to spend a week with the folk of a small Baptist church. Again, I preached on two Sundays, took the Wednesday prayer fellowship during which time I answered all questions that the folk brought forth. It all seemed very positive. One of the Deacons, however, seemed very reserved in all of our times together, and when during a very casual discussion I happened to mention something about an upcoming Missions Festival that was shortly to be held in greater Vancouver, this man took great exception to my comments, and without going into the matter with me in any detail, used it to bring the congregation to yet another negative vote. While this did not do any “dividing” with respect to the congregational unity, such as it was, the one deacon that I had had a great deal of discussion with, was so dumbfounded by the whole matter, that he and his family left the church shortly thereafter.

But now what about that little matter that I alluded to a couple of paragraphs above? Well, in one sense of the word it has primarily to do with certain convictions that I hold to rather strongly. Of course I realize that in this day of rampant relativism, which by the way is fairly strong within as well as without the church, one thus should not be holding on to certain convictions that tend to go against the mainstream of both public as well as “church opinion”. However, I guess that I am just naïve enough to believe that convictions are convictions and should be stuck by in spite of the opinion of the masses. It is undoubtedly one of the things that has kept our marriage together over many years despite the number of contemporary couples that daily fall by the wayside because of “burnt toast and infidelity”.

Anyway, I have two rather strong beliefs that have gotten me into some rather warmish water over the years. The first of these has to do with the sanctity of the marriage vow. I believe, and I think that I have some rather substantial Scriptural backing that a man and a woman who take the vow of marriage before “God and these witnesses” have committed themselves to a lifelong marriage relationship. And, if perchance the marriage comes to an end because of, as they say, the “exception clause”, then there is to be no further marriage relationships established by either partner.

Now, I know, I have heard all and sundry of the various arguments about the alleged “innocent party” in these situations, but what God has for us here, prefigured in the relationship between husband and wife is the relationship that Christ has with His Body the church. Paul makes a rather interesting not to mention extremely strong statement on this in his letter to the Ephesians:

“’Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”

Well, I suppose if we were to hold with the Arminians who maintain that man can lose his/her salvation and hence no longer have a Christ-relationship, then sure, if a man and his wife ‘divorce’, then they are free to re-marry. But, if we take these words of Paul at their face value (and a strong value it is!), then a man who is truly regenerated by the Spirit of God and has received the new life of Christ, then he is and ever shall be a member of that Body. Christ will not divorce him, nor shall he divorce Christ. It just will not happen. So, if the same relationship exists between a man and a woman, then “divorce” will not happen. There may be, in fact there often will be a physical separation, but in the eyes of God that “one flesh” relationship will remain.

Well, I mention all of this because I have brought these personal convictions which I believe to be Scripturally based, to a number of churches and even those of the same theological persuasion as my own, and have gotten shot down more times than I like to think about. I guess if I were to assume a more loving approach to the whole matter and just simply concede that well, it’s all right, for God doesn’t want any of His children to be unhappy. Problem is, I do not believe that is what the Word teaches. Hence, many of my rejections have been based on this belief which is opposite to many in the church of our day.

The second problem is one that is a little more difficult to get hold of for it involves something that has been with us for a much longer time, but has really only come to the fore in the last decade or so. That is the increasing problem of alcohol and the Christian believer. During my interview by the combined boards in Colorado the matter reared its ugly head in a rather surreptitious manner. I am still not exactly sure how it happened. At any rate, one of the deacons who had up to a point remained rather quiet with respect to many of the questions that I was fielding, suddenly became very animated in terms of whether or not he could take a “social drink” whenever he felt like it. My reply did not satisfy him. I tried to point out that of course Christians have such freedom if in fact they do feel “free” to so imbibe. My greatest concern was and is that those members of the Body who have taken on leadership positions would refrain from setting an example that could and probably would have a detrimental effect upon younger and much more immature Christians. We discussed the Scriptures that dealt with such problems, but slowly I came to the realization that I had met a brick wall. Had this come up with respect to some strong doctrinal issue I would certainly have been pleased to go over the matter in greater detail. But such was not the case. We were discussing the personal habit of a man who was not about to give up his Saturday afternoon beer with the boys because of someone who might stumble into a habit that he would be better off without. My potential “call” came to a halt at that point.

There is one other issue that has caused my wife and me more grief over the past ten years than divorce/remarriage and alcohol combined. In one sense it has more doctrinal issues at its root than perhaps the other two, but looking at it with a more casual glance, many would not see what they are.

About ten years ago the church that we had been members of for almost twenty years, and very much involved in ministry during most of that time, was introduced to what was more or less just getting underway here in Canada at that time. That was, under all of its various titles: the “mega church growth movement”; the “seeker sensitive church”; the “purpose driven church” et al. My initial read on it was simple – “it’s just another fad that will probably die away in a short time”. In this frame of reference, I lightly dismissed it. Unfortunately I was foolish to do so.

A short while later the pastor of that church announced his retirement and since I was on the elders board, I was automatically on the search committee as well. We proceeded to go through all the motions and procedures that were required of us and following a very intense year of search, we brought a man in from of all places , Colorado. He had all that the church was looking for, though for me personally I detected something that could develop into a problem if not addressed up front. It never was. In fact, the whole situation hit the fan the first week of the man’s ministry, and inside of nine months he was back in Colorado. During that time, however, he introduced the church to the whole “Willow Creek” experience and a number of the board members went to Chicago for the seminars. Before long we had a number of the church’s people very interested in a new way of “doing church”.

With the Colorado pastor’s exit, I rather hoped that the whole thing would be forgotten but the seed had been sown and before long the board was receiving recommendations – rather strongly worded, to look for a new man who was geared in this direction. After a few months such a man was brought to our attention and one evening the combined boards of the church met with him for over six hours. I probably brought more questions to him than anyone else and by the end of the evening I was certain that this would be this man’s direction for our church. A few evenings later, a select group of church leaders was brought together to get a presentation from this candidate on what he would do should he became the church’s next pastor. He was very specific and stated unequivocally that in his opinion “the mega church growth movement was where God was working”. Period.

He also went on to make clear that those who did not see things this way, they would have to be “said goodbye to”.

As it turned out, when I came to the realization that the preaching of the Word would be set off to the side in favor of all that the seeker sensitive movement promulgates as having more “relativity”, we felt compelled to leave.

Now, I say all of this for but one reason. This modern day movement has quite literally captured the hearts and minds of literally thousands of churches around the world. I do not agree with it for a number of reasons which hopefully in future “blogs” I will be able to give more attention to. For the present I will say only this: it is once again one of the prime reasons that I have not as yet been granted – from a strictly human point of view – a pastoral ministry. The main reason however, is simple: God in His Sovereign working in our lives has not as yet opened a wide and effectual door to us for ministry. In the meantime we continue to pray … and search … and learn … and wait upon Him, and Him alone for the direction that we know only He can give.

We do not seek a perfect church for the very simple reason that such a church on this side of glory does not exist. What we do seek is a body of people to whom we may, in His grace, minister the Word … and the Word alone. Church growth may involve numbers of people attending. Of course it may. But for us the growth of the church involves the growth of Jesus Christ in the lives of His own. Nothing is more important than that.

Monergism

Perhaps one of the most useful web pages on the internet today for Christians who are desirous of knowing not only the truth of the Word of God, but coming to a working knowledge as well of the church and where it's at today.

"What is 'Maxaira'?"

On the night that the Lord Jesus Christ was born, angels appeared to a group of shepherds to make an announcement, the likes of which this world had never heard. When this was concluded, a great heavenly host appeared and sang these words:

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

Every year over the past several hundred years, this coming "peace" is and has been celebrated by the world to which it apparently had been given. The irony is, "peace" is the one thing this world does not have. Perhaps we need to examine the text a little more closely for there we note that this elusive peace is not for all men. In fact it is for those only "...with whom he is pleased"

Some years later during His earthly ministry the Lord Jesus on one occasion made this very startling statement:

"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. "

The word that the Lord used here was the name of this blog, "Maxaira".

Over the centuries since His coming Christianity has separated more people; it has come between more members of more families; it has scattered more groups of people for the very simple reason that men who are not in accord with one another in the very vital truths of the Word of God will separate from one another just as the Master has stated they would, and they do.

"For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. "

Today around the world this reality stands out as a clear cut example of the truth that the Bible and the words of the Lord Jesus are as clear and relevant today as they have been, and always will be.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever"