Book Review: Famine in the Land

In my on-going quest for good solid reading material as it relates to Christian ministry, I go to a number of the BLOGS that I have bookmarked just to see what is being recommended to pastors. A few months ago I came across a title that really intrigued me given the paucity of solid expositional preaching in the pulpit today. The book is entitled, “Famine in the Land” by Dr. Steven Lawson. I went to Amazon and read the three reviews that had been given and was much impressed; so much so in fact that I ordered the book. It arrived and I read it within a couple of days. At first I thought that I had ordered the wrong book, but no it was the correct one. I was somewhat disappointed in what I found, and when asked by Amazon to do a review, I rather agonized over it for a couple of days since I knew what I had to say would not be in keeping with the other reviewers. Still, I proceeded and what you will find below is my first ever review of a book of any kind. If someone else comes across this small volume, reads it and finds my review too harsh, please let me know.

Some time ago I preached a message based on the prophet Micaiah’s experience with King Jehoshaphat in I Kings 22 wherein this monarch, in attempting to bring the King of Israel into a military alliance against a common enemy, held a great banquet wherein the false prophets (all 400 of them) were summoned to give their “advice” in going to war. In one accord they all agreed that such a venture could not help but know success. The king of Israel however, insisted on having the prophecy of one more prophet, and so Micaiah was summoned though Jehoshaphat was against it knowing that this man would prophecy only the truth.

On a number of occasions over the past few years I have been placed in Micaiah’s position though never to bring forth truth against error, but simply as one that takes a different point of view. I do that not for controversy’s sake, but because I sense that something in the very able opinion of others is perhaps lacking.

As a pastor seeking our Sovereign Lord’s direction back into full time pastoral ministry, I am ever on the outlook for books that will bring me encouragement in the essential matter of expository preaching. This is a discipline that is sorely lacking in the pulpit of our present day. Hence when I came across our brother Lawson’s book and read the reviews here on Amazon, I very much looked forward to having it as a valuable contribution to my modest library. I received the book within a few days of ordering it.

My first thought, given that it was a hard back, was that it was quite short. In fact it was even shorter than I had first imagined. It’s listed at 128 pages but when the blank pages are eliminated, and the mountainous footnotes are taken away, there are but 89 pages of script left. Further, the font size is unusually large for a book that measures barely six by eight inches.

Brother Challies (a fellow Canuck whom I respect very much) mentioned in his review that there are a great many quotes in the book. Indeed true, in fact, there are so many quotes that the author’s actual contribution is greatly minimized. Hardly a page goes by that there are one and sometimes more quotes of a great many authors. Of course what all these are saying is very true, but one is left from time to time wondering what the author of this book actually has to say for his original material is actually at a bare minimum.

The one area that did rather bother me, however, was his use of Jonah as an example of a compelling preacher of the Word. Like many preachers, I have preached through the book of Jonah on more than one occasion, and I hardly find him a heightened sample of, in our author’s words, a “courageous, compelling, confrontational, compassionate” preacher. In the first place he did everything in his power to avoid following the divine directive that he was given. That cost him. Then when he did make it to Ninevah, the message he delivered was as brief as he could make it, and somehow I’ve always gotten the feeling from the text that he delivered it as quickly as possible to get the whole thing behind him. I see very little courage in the man; his compelling message was that of Almighty God; his confrontation was as brief as possible; and as for compassionate, well I’m certain that chapter four, verse one tells it better than anything else, for when at the message the city repented of its evil and God turned from destroying them, we read: “…it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry”. This is compassion??

What Jonah best teaches is the absolutely sovereignty of God, not the effective preaching of a reluctant servant.

Now, please do not think that I am attempting to put our brother down for his attempt to bring forth a much needed book on a subject that we as preachers need to hear more about. I would say rather that I am just disappointed in having very little to read of what this dear brother is saying, for he, on a personal level really has very little to say.

PHILOSOPHY OF MINISTRY

Over many months of contacting churches quite literally around the world and receiving replies from a great many of them, I have at last succumbed to the need of putting together what for me is a “philosophy of ministry”, though it may not be regarded as such by those to whom I send it. Still it does set down a mode of approaching the whole matter of pastoral ministry as I believe that it is set out in the Word of God. Today’s church has such a wide variety of methodologies in “doing ministry”, most of which I not only disagree with, but many I find quite reprehensible in their approach to building up the body of Christ and seeking to extend the Kingdom of God. The following then is my latest “document” to churches that are looking to provide preachers for the “sacred desk”.


“Dear brethren, given the present day climate that is rather pervasive in the church of our present day I do find it behooves me as a pastor of the gospel of Jesus Christ to provide a church in which I would dearly love to candidate, a summary of what I believe with very strong conviction to be the course of ministry which needs to be followed. Now of course I realize that most men entering the ministry, and even many who have been pastors over many years would concur with what I am about to say; yet the problem has become that a great percentage of them will not, alas, follow through in their every day ministries preferring rather to move along the more contemporary lines that many churches are pursuing right now.

“When I was ordained by the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada [FEBC] I received a rather handsome certificate on that very special day which in addition to the factual data with respect to place of ordination, messengers in attendance and who did what, there were but three very important words across the top which is the plain admonition to young pastor Timothy from his mentor Paul, and is simply, “preach the word …”.

“That’s a great job description, and of course if you need further elucidation to this, Paul does another very nice job in his letter to the Ephesian church as he describes the outworking of certain vital spiritual gifts that our Sovereign God gives to the church. With respect to these gifts Paul explains:

‘to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.’ (emphasis added)

“Now I do not know whether you folk have noted it or not, but as you look out across North America, indeed, around the world in general, this vital rôle is not being carried out by the majority of men occupying evangelical pulpits. I have been a Christian for a good number of years; I have been a part of the church for my whole life, and over the course of at least the last ten to twelve years having preached in quite a number of churches in both Canada and the U.S., and been extremely involved in several, I can tell you without equivocation, this is not happening. What has taken over, and I say this with a great deal of sadness in my own heart for I have seen it firsthand, is the corporate mindset that has said, “If it works, we’ll do it!”. That’s pragmatism at its worst. If it’s fine out there in the corporate world wherein dollar signs are the bottom line, so be it. It is not, nor has it ever been God’s way of ministry for it in no way accords with His Word.

“The truth seems to have gotten by many of our brethren who are of the opinion that the church today needs our finite input in order to make it what we think it should be. What is being forgotten, perhaps because it is so infrequently preached, is the fact that the church is the body of Christ. It is His … and His alone! Remember what Jesus said to Peter on that day when asked, “…but who do you say that I am?” The answer came from Peter, “… you are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Jesus was very pleased with this response and replied (I’m sure there was a smile on the Master’s face):

‘…Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ (emphasis added)

“These words of Christ are overlooked in man’s quest to “get the job done”; and what is forgotten is that the body is His … not ours. You see the “rock” is this truth that Peter has just sounded out, and this is the rock upon which we are to build and nothing else.

“So then, what is my approach to ministry? Simple – preach the Word; teach the Word; disciple the Word; counsel the Word, and live the Word by His grace. That’s a pastor’s job description. He must know the Word, and then he must feed it in love to those sheep of his flock that have been entrusted to his care.

“In this regard this is one other matter that was first brought to my attention by some fellow FEBC pastors many years ago at a pastors conference at Mary Lake here in Muskoka, Ontario. And that has to do with a ministry of the body of Christ that is being little practiced in the church of just about any stripe. Once again, it is something that the Lord Jesus left for His disciples to see to, and of course by extension believers in the church through all succeeding generations. These are our Lord’s words, indeed His admonition:

‘…Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…’

“God’s people are to be discipled. Why? Because Jesus said so. I have had the very distinct privilege on a number of occasions to disciple young people, but the last time that I was afforded this wondrous opportunity was some years back in a large FEB church here in Sarnia. I began working with a young couple, married not too long, and while she had been a professing believer for some years, he was a new convert. When asked if they would like to “be discipled” they accepted with an alacrity that surprised me. So, over the next two and a half years I met with them both weekly for two to three hour sessions. It was a magnificent experience. It was like watching a blotter soak up a liquid as they both came to see the truths of the Word of God; and see it for what it was and is – the Living Word. About a year after we started they both sensed God’s direction in ways that none of us ever anticipated – to the mission field. Today, they serve the Lord with a joy that is hard to describe as they work together with their growing family with New Tribes Mission in Venezuela.

“As I have looked out on the church today; as I have studied all of the various aberrations that have and are taking place (e.g. church growth movement; seeker sensitive services; emerging church et al), it’s hard to see what is being accomplished. To be sure in many areas the churches are growing at tremendous rates (physically!); but spiritually, and I know this to be fact, spiritually most of the folk involved are still extremely immature and again sadly, many, many are not saved at all. We must come to the hard, cold realization that God has promised to bless but one thing: the true, unvarnished ministry of His Word. Nothing else. Programs can be useful; music has its place as long as it is bringing glory to our Heavenly Father, but they are not there to see men saved. They are simply adjuncts, and nothing more and if people are coming into the fold simply because their “felt needs” are being addressed; or they like the sound of your worship team, then they are coming for all the wrong reasons. If sound doctrine is not being preached; if the “s” word [i.e. sin] is no where to be found, then it is not a church, it is place of worldly goings on, and nothing more. We as evangelicals must get back to the kind of ministry that Paul laid out for the churches in his care – twice to the Corinthians, he made these statements:

‘For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified..’

‘..but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,..’

“There’s the job of the church, we must preach Christ, and Him crucified. Men will not be saved in any other way, and if we spend our time getting involved with anything else then we are living in disobedience to that which our Lord … our Master… our prophet … our Priest…, indeed, our King has set for us to be about. It’s just as simple as that.

“I feel certain that you dear folk have a very fine “job description” for the man that you are looking to call, and I know equally well that you will hear from many men who are well gifted to fill the rôle that you [D.V.] are trying to fill. To be sure I have held a large number of leadership rôles in my life time and have been fairly successful in what I have, by God’s grace, put my hand to. But this one thing I do know and that is that God has “gifted” Nancy and I with a myriad of life experiences within the context of our lives in Christ and has taught us some things that it takes a whole life time to learn. This is a very large part of why we are seeking to pastor once again, that we might be useful instruments in our Savior’s hand to help and enrich the lives of others of His family.

“You undoubtedly are desirous of seeing your next pastor “grow your church”, and that is good. But grow it, how? I suppose we just need to go back to the Acts text above, and of course the Lord’s words to Peter. The fact of the matter is, and I sincerely trust that I have been able to lay this out for you from a strictly Scriptural point of view, if … and only if the Word, by your pastor and other faithful men, is well preached; if it is given the expositional preaching/teaching that is demanded of it, then God will in Christ and through the love of His people, build the church as He sees fit so to do. When we are faithful to the Word that He has given, His blessings are greater than ever we can imagine. We might well put up all manner of beautiful edifices, but if the Word is neglected or takes second place to “all that we’re doing”, then we had better be aware – they will be edifices built on sand. And we know what happened to those when the rains came.

“Finally, brethren, as I have noted in the cover letter that you will have already read, my wife and I are very much looking forward to ministering once again (though we are yet given many opportunities apart from the pastorate), in the place of His appointment.”

We do look forward to hearing from you.

In Christ, by His Grace Alone,
J.D.

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.

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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".