A Growing Trend; A Growing Concern

This is going to be a very lengthy topic.  I will be presenting it in several posts--over the course of the next month and as time allows.  I will begin with a few somewhat provocative statements followed by some questions to ponder.

The bible saves no one!  It is the gospel (the message of the Cross - the "good news") that saves by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I do not want people "churched".  I want them saved and then to attend worship services with me.

Questions to ponder:

1.  Is the gathering on Sundays for believers or for all people?

2.  Is the written Word (the bible) for believers or for all people?

3.  What is God's purpose and intent for Sunday gatherings?

4.  What is God's purpose and intent of the written word?

5. Were the early Christians, and all Christians for that matter for 1500 years, who did not have the written word in their own language, less effective for the cause of Christ then we are?  Was their Christianity sub-standard?

6. Throughout the history of the Christian church, who was it that "gathered on Sunday" and why?  - even when it meant the possibility of losing their life.

I don't think that these should be difficult questions to answer.  The confusion, I believe, is the result of two things: first, our lack of zeal in doing what we should be doing; that is sharing the gospel with others outside of church; and, second our zeal for defending the authority and inerrancy of scripture - which I wholeheartedly affirm.   But, I do not believe it is a book for the unregenerate.

What I see happening is that the church is becoming a place to bring people that are not saved, to get them saved; and, the Bible (the actual printed book) being given power, in and of itself, as a means of salvation.

more to come...

(If I am really off track here, please take the time to set me straight, as these matters are weighing very heavy on my heart.)

Don't We All Need to Be Reminded of this Daily?

After all, brethren, we are nobodies, and we have come of a line of nobodies. The proudest peer of the realm may trace his pedigree as far as ever he likes, but he ought to remember that if his blood is blue, it must be very unhealthy to have such blood in one’s veins. The common ruddy blood of the peasant is, after all, far healthier. Big as men may account themselves to be on account of their ancestors, we all trace our line up to a gardener, who lost his place through stealing his Master’s fruit, and that is the farthest we can possibly go. Adam covers us all with disgrace, and under that disgrace we should all sit humbly down. Look into your own heart, and if you dare to be proud, you have never seen your heart at all. It is a mass of pollution: it is a den of filthiness.

Apart from divine grace, your heart is a seething mass of putrefaction, and if God’s eternal Spirit were not to hold it in check, but to let your nature have its way, envyings, lustings, murders, and every foul thing would come flying forth in your daily life. A sinner and yet proud! It is monstrous. As for children of God, how can they be proud ? I fear we are all too much so; but what have we to be proud of ? What have we that we have not received ? How then can we boast ? Are we dressed in the robe of Christ’s righteousness ? We did not put a thread into it; it was all given us by the charity of Jesus. Are our garments white ? We have washed them in the blood of the Lamb. Are we new creatures ? We have been created anew by omnipotent power, or we should still be as we were.
From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Weaned Child."

"I want to know Christ!" Philippians 3:10

Christianity is not merely a "theological system"--but a person.


It is not only a redemption--but a Redeemer.


What a difference between casting ourselves upon a system, however beautiful--and upon a tender, loving, compassionate Savior!


What a difference between a system of divine principles--and a throbbing bosom on which we may lean, and feel . . .
every burden lightened,
every pressure relieved,
every sorrow softened!


This is what man needs. This is what he will need above everything, when the hour of sorrow, or the hour of death, draws near. Oh, what are systems then, however beautiful--in comparison with the calm consciousness that the arm of Omnipotent Love is thrown around us!


Theological systems are all but as the small dust of the balance--the foam, the dust, the shadow, the air!

"I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear--but now my eye sees You!" Job 42:5

(Frederick Whitfield, "Christ in the Word" 1869)

How Much Authority does "The Church" have?

Let's look back at some history:

The Act of Uniformity was an Act of the Parliament of England which prescribed the form of public prayers, administration of sacraments, and other rites of the Established Church of England, following all the rites and ceremonies and doctrines prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer.

Adherence to this was required in order to hold any office in government or the church, although the edition of the Book of Common Prayer prescribed by the act (1662) was so new that most people had never even seen a copy. It also required episcopal ordination for all ministers.

The Act of Uniformity prescribed that any minister who refused to conform to the Book of Common Prayer by St. Bartholomew's Day 1662 should be ejected from the Church of England. This date became known as Black Bartholomew's Day, among dissenters, a reference to the fact that it occurred on the same day as the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572. Oliver Heywood estimated the number of ministers ejected at 2,500.

This group included Richard Baxter, Edmund Calamy the Elder, Simeon Ashe, Thomas Case, William Jenkyn, Thomas Manton, William Sclater, and Thomas Watson, to name just a few. Biographical details of ejected ministers and their fates were later collected by the historian Edmund Calamy, grandson of the elder Calamy.

Although there had already been ministers outside the established church, the Great Ejection created an abiding concept of non-conformity.

Iain Murray argues that the issue was deeper than "phrases in the Book of Common Prayer and forms of church order," but regarded the "nature of true Christianity." The Bishop of Liverpool, J. C. Ryle, referred to the Ejection as an "injury to the cause of true religion in England which will probably never be repaired.".

My comments: Why did these men not submit to Church Authority? Did they not believe that God had placed the Church of England over them? Did they believe that if they would not submit to what the Church leaders felt was biblical that God would not bless their ministries?

Which side would you have been on? Can you actually know beyond a doubt? If you believe that any man or any ministry that the “church” does not recognize or sanction will not be blessed of God and will not further the kingdom, you would have very well been on the Church of England's side, as that was their argument for ejecting these men.

Of course, all of this opens the door to who or what is the “Church” and to what “authority” should we submit. I guess that all depends on your denomination and/or which local church you are a member of.

If you have not studied this part of Church History; I suggest that you do. And study it in depth. It will not only open your eyes to some important errors; but will also convict you in realizing that, what happened then is happening today, it is simply happening on a smaller scale in each and every local church.

Bottom Line:

Being recognized by, and a member of, a local church does not necessarily make you a legitimate member of the universal church anymore than being recognized and ordained by the visible church makes one a legitimate pastor in God's eyes. There are legitimate "fakes" and illegitimate "fakes" in pulpits and pews across this world. My comfort comes from knowing that God knows who are His and who he has called and that we will all stand before Him as the Perfect Righteous Judge. It is not my call to make.

Our Idol Making Hearts

"It’s easier for Christians to identify worldly idols such as money, power, ambition, greed. It’s the idols inside the church that we have a harder time identifying. For instance, it was easy for Jonah to see the idolatry of the sailors. It was easy for him to see the perverse ways of the Ninevites. What he couldn’t see was his own idolatry, his own perversion. Idolatry is not just a problem for non-Christians; it’s a problem for Christians too. For instance, we know it’s wrong to bow to the god of power—but it’s also wrong to bow to the god of preferences. We know it’s wrong to worship immorality—but it’s also wrong to worship morality. We know it’s wrong to seek freedom by breaking the rules—but it’s also wrong to seek freedom by keeping them. We know God hates unrighteousness—but he also hates self-righteousness. The book of Jonah wrecked all of us by revealing our idol-making hearts. Thankfully, while our idolatry reaches far God’s amazing grace in the story (and ours) reaches farther."

Excerpt from: Better Than Any Fish Story: Tchividjian on the Gospel in Jonah

For more resources on preaching and teaching Jonah, visit The Gospel Coalition’s site Preaching Christ in the Old Testament.