The Family Pew

Rev. Michael Brown, pastor of Christ United Reformed Church in Santee, California, has written a very helpful piece on children in worship. You may find it here.

Upcoming Conference

Westminster Seminary California will hold their annual conference on January 14-15, 2011. The theme will be "Christianity and Liberalism Revisited." Cost is $50/person for early registration. For more information, click here.

Reformation Day Service

This Sunday, October 31st, is Reformation Day, the day on which, in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenburg. This, of course, is seen as the beginning of the 16th Century Protestant Reformation (though there were forerunners to this, men like John Huss and John Wycliffe).

Some of the great truths that came out of the Reformation are known as the "5 Solas." These were at the very heart of the Reformation. However, we must remember that these were not new truths that were first discovered in the 16th Century. Rather, they are "old" truths that are found in the very Word of God.

"Sola Scriptura" - Scripture Alone

"Sola Gratia" - Grace Alone

"Sola Fide" - Faith Alone

"Solus Christus" - Christ Alone

"Soli Deo Gloria" - To God Alone Be the Glory

This Sunday morning (9:30 am) at Zion United Reformed Church, we will be focusing on these great truths. Below is the order of worship...

Entering God's Presence

Choir

Call to Worship

Votum

God's Greeting

Hymn of Praise: "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"

Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)

Scripture Reading: Psalm 19:7-11

Hymn of Praise: "Jehovah's Perfect Law"

Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10

Hymn of Praise: "And Can It Be"

Sola Fide (Faith Alone)

Scripture Reading: Romans 4:1-8

Hymn of Praise: "Not What My Hands Have Done"

Offering

Solus Christus (Christ Alone)

Choir

Congregational Prayer

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Sermon: "Christ Crucified"

Soli Deo Gloria

Hymn of Praise: "In Christ Alone"

Benediction

Doxology: "Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow"

The Church & Politics

I've recently been reading William Still's excellent little book "The Work of the Pastor." If you are a pastor or in seminary, I would highly recommend that you pick this up.

Anyway, as most of you in the U.S. know, you can't go more than 5 minutes today without hearing a political ad on the radio or seeing one on television. And as citizens of this country, it's our duty and our privilege to vote. It's also a legitimate calling for Christians to be involved in the political realm. However, should the church be involved in politics? Last night, I came across this quote from William Still...

"A great many of us are far busier propping up our particular brand of democracy and social service than building the church of Jesus Christ against which even the gates of hell shall not prevail, whether our democracy collapses or not. The church is not called to subsidise the state any more than she is called to work against it; she has to be as neutral to it as loyal citizens can be. She is called to gather and build the church of Jesus Christ under any system whatsoever."

New Book on Baptism

Here's a new book on baptism that you might want to check out. It's "Word, Water, and Spirit," by John Fesko. Dr. Fesko is the academic dean at Westminster Seminary California. Here's what Joel Beeke says about this book...

"J.V. Fesko's 'Word, Water, and Spirit' is a major work that both models how to do theology by moving from historical theology to biblical and systematic theology and, most importantly, presents fresh insights for a Reformed understanding of baptism. Fesko's fair-minded, page-turning history of the doctrine of baptism is itself worth the price of the book. Most enlightening, however, is his biblical-theological survey of baptism as new creation, covenant judgment, and eschatological judgment. The book's emphasis on God's judgment in baptism is particularly innovative and helpful. These insights pave the way for treating baptism systematically as a means of grace and as a sacrament in relation to its recipients and ecclesiology. Highly recommended for all who wish to grapple seriously with the doctrine of baptism and its implications."

You can order Fesko's book here.

The Cult of Personality

This morning, I came across something on Facebook that caught my attention. It was a Christian radio station in a place that I formerly lived, asking people what they appreciated most about their pastor. Here are some of the responses...

"He believes in us and our gifts! He and his wife (our worship Pastor) love getting to know everyone; we're more like family than just a congregation. They love to plan potlucks, family community outreaches, and just 'hanging out' on a casual level."

"My pastor is the funniest dude I know! So weird, and filled with energy when he's teaching a sermon, it's so easy to learn because he's so weird!"

"We have a new pastor and we learn more about him every day! One Sunday he sang a solo! Who knew?? Then, last week, he played guitar too! And his wife was on keyboard!"

"All the pastors out at _______ Church are just amazing. They know how to relate the day's sermon to our understanding and make us laugh the whole way through."

"My pastor has the most amazing sense of humor."

"I appreciate his transparency...he shares his own struggles with us and also that he is energetic and shares what the Holy Spirit tells him spontaneously."

"Two things come to mind--1st: He has upgraded our sound system and brought our sound system into the current century! 2nd: His wife Lily has done a lot for our Youth group."

"He's hilarious!"

So apparently, what people most appreciate in their pastor is a sense of humor, musical gifts, authenticity, and the ability to just "hang out." Very simply, this is the cult of personality. If we like the guy, if he's funny, hip, cool, then he's a great pastor. The problem with this, of course, is that it has no correlation whatsoever to Scripture. For example, as I read the New Testament, I don't see any of these characteristics in the apostle Paul. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 2, Paul says this...

"And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."

May God give us a greater desire to have pastors who preach Christ, rather than pastors who are funny and hip.

Preaching Christ

Here's a great quote from T. David Gordon on the importance of preaching Christ...

"Preach Christ, and you will have morality. Fill the sails of your hearers' souls with the wind of confidence in their Redeemer, and they will trust him as their Sanctifier, and long to see his fruit in their lives. Fill their minds and imaginations with a vision of the loveliness and perfection of Christ in his person, and the flock will long to be like him. Impress upon their weak and wavering hearts the utter competence of the mediation of the One who ever lives to make intercession for them, and they will long to serve and comfort others, even as Christ has served and comforted them."

Reformation Conference

For any of you near Sunnyside, Washington...you should check out the upcoming Reformation Conference on October 29th. It's on the critical subject of "worship." For more information, click here.

Contemporary Worship Music

I just picked up a copy of "Why Johnny Can't Sing Hymns" by T. David Gordon. Thumbing through it this afternoon, I came across a great quote regarding the modern-day church's use of contemporary worship music in order to not "lose the youth." In other words, we seem to think that if we only introduce some contemporary praise music to our worship services that we can keep the younger people from leaving the church. Here's what Gordon writes: "Though even here, one must ask why no other generation manifested such a fear. As I indicated before, the church of my father's youth did not compose hymns in a big-band style in order to "reach the young," and the church of my generation, while quite aware of the 1960's rebellion against tradition, did not abandon its hymns to rewrite the hymnal to sound like Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton. So why do we constantly fear losing this particular generation if we do not employ musical idioms with which they are familiar?" (page 158)

The Mission Commission

One of the things that excites me about the church I pastor is the enthusiasm and the passion that the congregation has in reaching out to the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ. A number of men here are involved in a ministry to truckers at the local truck stop. Hospitality hosts reach out to these truckers with a meal following our morning worship service. Our radio ministry seeks to bring the gospel to those in the surrounding area (and soon we will be sponsoring the White Horse Inn on the radio here). In June, the church hosted Vacation Bible School, where over 100 children attended (many who were not from the church). This coming June, we'll have our 2nd annual VBS. And each month, the church is involved at the Stockton Gospel Center Rescue Mission. Tomorrow night, I'll have the privilege of preaching at this mission, where I will be preaching on 2 Corinthians 8:9: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." Pray that the Lord would use the preaching of His Word to open the eyes and hearts of these men and bring them to faith in Jesus Christ.

New Book

A new book is out, entitled "Always Reformed: Essays in Honor of W. Robert Godfrey." I have yet to pick up my copy, but it can be ordered at the reduced price of $20 (normally $25) through this Friday. Some of the contributors are R.C. Sproul, Cornel Venema, Michael Horton, and Sinclair Ferguson.

You can order your copy here.

Ripon at 8 Weeks

It's hard to believe that we've been in Ripon for almost 8 weeks now, having arrived here on August 12th. For the first 2 weeks or so, it felt like we were on an extended vacation and would be heading back to the Pacific Northwest. But it didn't take that long before we settled in and it's definitely feeling like home now. While it wasn't easy to leave our former church, we feel very blessed that the Lord has led us to a group of people who are excited about the future ministry here and who love to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ from Lord's Day to Lord's Day. The girls have settled into school quite nicely...Corinne is on the 7th Grade Girls' Volleyball team and Kim will be in the High School play in November (Anne of Green Gables). They're also quite busy with church activities (GEMS for Corinne, high school youth group for Kim). My wife is adjusting to life with both girls in school and is busy with ladies' Bible study at church and getting a new house in order. We're also excited about all the new places to discover around here. While we've yet to get to Yosemite, we've been to San Francisco, Monterey, and Santa Cruz. I've also attended a SF Giants game with some of the men of the church. I'm very much excited to be around so many Giants fan, having been a LA Dodgers-despiser my entire life. Following are just a few pictures from our first 8 weeks here...

My messy office as I unpack 60 boxes of books

Church picnic (complete with water slide)

Ripon Christian Knights 7th Grade Girls' Volleyball game

No explanation needed