Actions of the PCA General Assembly
The 50th PCA General Assembly concluded business in Memphis, TN and adjourned until next year in Richmond, VA.
The Assembly reconvened at 8:00 a.m. During the Covenant College report, Derek Halvorson offered the following highlights:
Admissions – In the fall of 2021, we welcomed 292 new students from 33 states and 8 countries; this was 22 students over our Fall 2021 enrollment goal.
Campus & Facilities – During the 2021-2022 year, Facilities Management completed the replacement of field turf at Scotland Yard, installation of air conditioning in Barnes Gym, and ADA interior signage improvements.
Development & Finances – Donors gave over $7.2 million to Covenant during the 2021-2022 fiscal year, including gifts to the IMPACT Endowment Campaign, student scholarships, and support for the college’s operations. In March of 2022, the college concluded the IMPACT Campaign with $32,165,000 in gifts and pledges to the college’s endowment, exceeding the campaign goal of $30,000,000.
Student Life – The Covenant College Athletic Department experienced significant success across all programs. We prioritize strong discipleship models, stand-out academic success, intentional recruiting, and a holistic pursuit of excellence. Athletically, 9 programs finished in the top 4 of the USA South standings (Men’s and Women’s Soccer, Volleyball, Men’s and Women’s Cross Country, Men’s Basketball, Women’s Track, Men’s and Women’s Tennis), while Men’s and Women’s Soccer both won the conference championship.
The General Assembly adopted the following recommendation from the Covenant College Committee of Commissioners:
That the General Assembly thank and praise God for the 11 years of fruitful service of President, Dr. J. Derek Halvorson. Echoing the expression of thanks from the Board of Trustees, the Committee of Commissioners wishes to highlight the following:
Under Dr. Halvorson’s faithful leadership, Covenant College completed its largest endowment campaign, raising over $32 million in gifts and pledges, saw the extensive renovation of Carter Hall, and enjoyed a dramatic improvement in four-year and six-year graduation rates. Dr. Halvorson helped to introduce new majors and certificate programs, oversaw the transition of the College from NAIA to NCAA Division III and led the College through a global health pandemic with a sure and steady hand. Dr. Halvorson has fulfilled the duties of his office with exemplary wisdom and grace and has been a great blessing to the institution and to the denomination. His warmth and winsome demeanor has been a credit to the College and the General Assembly gives praise to God for his leadership as president and herein expresses their thanks to Dr. Halvorson for his service.
Irwyn Ince, coordinator for Mission to North America (MNA), offered his report to the Assembly. Here are some highlights:
In the next 10 years MNA will strive to facilitate the multiplication of PCA churches from 1,994 to 3,000 congregations. In order to accomplish this vision, the following must be true:
- Ongoing Focus and Commitment to Church Vitality: As our churches grow in health and the rhythm of renewal through the means of grace, our heart for the lost and commitment to neighbor love in Jesus’ name will also grow.
- Multiplying Church Planting: The multiplication of churches that will be faithful to the Scriptures, true to the Reformed faith, and obedient to the great commission will take the prayer-saturated, collaborative effort of our whole denomination.
We must provide structures to revitalize PCA churches. Church planting and church vitality must simultaneously feed each other. We invite every church, presbytery, committee, and agency to join us in the challenge to pray that our Lord grant the unity, collaboration, love, sacrifice, and perseverance that is required to pursue this vision. In the 4th quarter of 2023 MNA will provide a detailed document on The Path Forward for Church Planting Vitality for consideration by our presbyteries, sessions, and network leaders.
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How God Shows Himself to the World in General and Special Revelation
Creation, however, does not tell us all that we need to know. It doesn’t explain why things aren’t right in the world. It doesn’t tell us about our sin, our need of forgiveness. It doesn’t tell us about the mercy of God, and the gift of his Son to die for us. It can’t show us how to repent and believe in the Savior to find eternal life. So, it is good news that God has given us his word in writing.
If God is there, why doesn’t he show himself?” I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard this.
King David answers this question brilliantly in Psalm 19. “He does!” says David. God does show himself to the world in two very different but complementary ways:
First, God shows himself to us in his creation. This is called general revelation.The heavens declare the glory of God,and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.Day to day pours out speech,and night to night reveals knowledge.There is no speech, nor are there words,whose voice is not heard. (Ps. 19:1-3)
The fact that anything exists is evidence of a self-existent Creator.[1] For it is true that “Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could.” Moreover, all that does exist bears remarkable structure, form, and design.
From the configuration of the atoms to the astonishingly intricate complexity of proteins and other basic building blocks of living cells to the movement of the stars and galaxies all of these “declare the glory of God” and “proclaim his handiwork.”
The great scientist Jane Goodall described a moment in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris late on a sunny day in the 1974.
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The Sun Is Blotted from the Sky
“Give me Adam’s complaining and Jacob’s obstinacy and Samson’s lust.” The angels of heaven seem to shout, “Stop! Surely he has reached his limit!” But again he speaks to say, “Burden me more! Add to me the weight of all the sins of the next two thousand years, add to me all the sins of all the ages that will follow. Load on the guilt of the blasphemer, the perjurer, the murderer, the adulterer, then the shame of the thief, the gossip, the hater, the idler.”
When of great physical strength have sometimes carried outrageously heavy burdens—six hundred pounds, seven hundred pounds, eight hundred. And even then they have said, “I still have not been fully tested. Put on some more weight! Load me up!” With confidence they have gripped the bar and with great straining and groaning they have lifted it clear of the ground. Yet in every case, they have eventually reached a point where they have had to cry out, “Stop! I have hit my limit. I cannot carry any more weight.”
I wonder if you have ever considered that the burden Christ carried for us was without limit. Have you considered the tremendous weight he bore on Calvary?
There was his own burden of hunger and thirst and bereavement, and the burden of the thousand insults and outrages that had been heaped upon him. On top of that was the burden of seeing the sorrows of his mother and friends as they watched him suffer and struggle for breath. On top of even that was the burden of witnessing the crimes of the soldiers who were putting him to death and the mocking of the criminals who hung beside him.
Even as we consider this our hearts begin to cry, “Stop! Surely he cannot bear anymore.”
Yet Christ says, “Add more. Add to me the sins of the people of Israel as they turned and rebelled and chased after false gods.”
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When Your Heart Goes Dark
Desponding, struggling, exhausted saint, call the Lord Jesus to mind. Bring his sweet remembrance — and living presence — into the inner chambers. Think much of him, and the stone under your head shall become a pillow, the gall in your soul become sweetened. Do you feel weighed down by this life? Do sins cling to your mind? Do you begin to faint on the journey, tire from all the running, wonder how you will make it through the week? Look to Jesus. Call him to mind, and therefore have hope.
“As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7 KJV). What a man thinks in his heart — not what he says with his mouth — is where to find the man naked in his natural habitat. He may say warmly enough to be convincing, “Sit, eat, and drink,” but sweet words can coat a bitter heart. He may brood against you while he bids you to his table. What he thinks inwardly, his soliloquy uttered in secret chambers — that is the man as he is.
But we may go further: “As a man thinketh in his heart, so he will become.” That man in the inner chamber may change — for better or worse — depending on where he sets his innermost thoughts. Beautiful or beastly, peaceful or disturbed, heavenly or hellish — as a man thinketh in his heart, so he will become.
Knowing this, Scripture knocks loudly upon the inmost door.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1–3)
Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:5–6)
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. (Romans 12:2)
The Holy Spirit would open the windows and flood our soul’s inner rooms with fresh beauty and light:
Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:8)
Have such texts prevailed with you? The secret thoughts of your inner man — upon what do they dwell? Are you being transformed by the renewal of your mind?
Thoughts in the Darkness
This principle makes all the difference for us in life generally, but especially in our suffering. As a man thinketh in his heart while under the knife of affliction, so he will become — hardened and drifting away or “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10).
We see this truth illustrated after one of the darkest events in holy Scripture: the destruction of Jerusalem. The book of Lamentations is aptly named, its pages stained with tears and blood. In it, the poet brings us into the ruins of his heart and the conquered city he loves. From within that cave, Jeremiah teaches us how to find warmth amidst the bitterest winter: he calls truth to mind.
As others sink irretrievably, Jeremiah goes down to the threshold of his heart, unlocks the door, and forcibly turns the thoughts of his soul away from his “affliction and . . . wanderings, the wormwood and the gall” (Lamentations 3:19), to his half-remembered God.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:21–24)
In the midnight of despair, he brings the lantern of memory into the secret place of his spirit and there reads of God’s goodness and faithfulness from the sacred ledger. Behold the heavenly alchemy. He has seen recent nights haunted by unspeakable terrors and sins, yet he pens lyrics of God’s every-morning mercies and tireless love. His world has been stripped from him, but “the Lord is my portion,” he catechizes the inner man. “Therefore I will hope in him.”
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