The Slippage Needs to Stop: We’re Starting to Look Like the 1920s PCUSA.
The progressives have not been solid with biblical truth. This is clearly exemplified by their weak handling of the whole Revoice affair. The first Revoice Conference was held in a PCA church in Missouri Presbytery, pastored by a self-avowed same-sex attracted pastor, and pretty well celebrated all around by progressives. Where were the elders (overseers) of the session of Memorial Presbyterian Church; and where was the denomination when this was going on? Why was it ever permitted?
I’m alarmed at the trends taking place in the PCA, marked in some places by the decline and departure from the truth that are very similar to what happened in the PCUSA in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
I spent some years in the ‘80s as a ruling elder at Hope Presbyterian Church, an evangelical PCUSA church in Minneapolis, before leaving to join a startup PCA church (Parkwood Pres.) under Douglas Lee as pastor. While at Hope, I was liaison to the Twin Cities presbytery and suffered through many presbytery meetings, where the conservative to liberal ratio was about 25/75. I spoke out when I could, but the votes were hopelessly in favor of the liberal unbelievers. Now look at the state of the PCUSA, as its demise is marked by its death rattle.
We moved to St. Louis in 2002 and remained there for 13 years. During those years we were members at Covenant Presbyterian Church under the pastorates of George Robertson and Ryan Laughlin. In 2015 we moved to Flowery Branch, GA, and are currently members of very solid Chestnut Mountain Presbyterian Church, where John Batusic is pastor.
Having carefully read David B. Calhoun’s 2-volume work, Princeton Seminary, which masterfully documents the tragic fall of the seminary and denomination as a whole, I am struck with the similarities between PCUSA/Princeton Sem. and PCA/Covenant Sem. The former is of course far down the road to oblivion and the latter is only in the early stages, but the PCA will end up where the PCUSA is now, if its slippage is not halted in its tracks and it is not delivered from the deadly effects of the progressivism in our midst.
It needs to be noted here that it was the fault of progressive elders in the PCUSA and PCUS that those denominations stumbled and fell. The elders are charged with protecting the sheep but many of the “shepherds” proved to be false prophets dressed in sheep’s clothing, who inwardly were ravenous wolves. Instead of protecting and nurturing the sheep according to God’s Word, as Machen and many others were urging, they led the sheep astray and scattered them. Here is Paul’s instruction to elders:
“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:28-30).
Unfortunately, I see Paul’s prophecy coming to pass now among progressive elders in the PCA. They don’t seem like fierce wolves, of course, because they’re dressed in shepherd’s clothing.
But progressivism is never a good thing, either in politics or in religion. Religious progressives have a tendency to change the Gospel to make it culturally relevant and less offensive. They wobble and vacillate on homosexuality, creation, the social justice gospel, the Federal Vision, and other issues. When elders are not solidly biblical on these, they are trifling with the truth and not communicating the Christian Gospel as written. They are telling God that they know better than he does, what his Word should say and how it should be interpreted.
Now, I acknowledge that progressives in the PCA are not (yet) as bad as the progressives in the PCUSA. But, then, neither were the PCUSA progressives in 1915 as bad as they are now. There is a tendency for a denomination to spiral downward once progressivism takes hold in that denomination. I am concerned that this downward spiral, already commenced in the PCA, will accelerate if the PCA allows its own organization of progressive Christians (known as the National Partnership) to have significant influence.
The progressives have not been solid with biblical truth. This is clearly exemplified by their weak handling of the whole Revoice affair. The first Revoice Conference was held in a PCA church in Missouri Presbytery, pastored by a self-avowed same-sex attracted pastor, and pretty well celebrated all around by progressives. Where were the elders (overseers) of the session of Memorial Presbyterian Church; and where was the denomination when this was going on? Why was it ever permitted?
The short answer is that, as appalling as it sounds, the progressive elders, teaching and ruling, wanted it to happen, participated in its happening, and celebrated its happening. That shows where they’re coming from and where the PCA is headed if progressives are allowed to have their way.
The 2021 General Assembly dealt forthrightly with this serious breach of biblical sexual ethics. Against the desire of the National Partnership (NP), the issue of homosexuality was addressed in two overtures, with many progressives speaking against them. Overtures 23 and 37, after much debate, were both passed in the Overtures Committee with strong majorities and were passed on the floor of the Assembly with similarly overwhelming majorities. These overtures are now before the PCA presbyteries for their consideration. Each must receive approval from 2/3 of the presbyteries, and then another vote by the 2022 GA in Birmingham.
I have read many analyses of the overtures and reasons why they should be approved as well as why they should not be approved. I heartily approve of both overtures and find the arguments for approving them biblical and strong.
On the other hand, I am amazed to see progressives vigorously opposing approval of these amendments, offering what I consider to be weak rationale to justify their disapproval. For example: (1) the overtures are unnecessary (no, they are necessary because they provide needed guidance on what it means for officers to be above reproach in their walk and Christlike in their character); (2) the overtures are unclear (they are clear enough for the average person to understand); (3) they will not bring peace to the PCA (of course they won’t, their purpose is to expect biblical traits and behavior). And on it goes, with no convincing biblical rationale against the overtures.
Finally, I find it disturbing that, of those who recorded their No votes on the overtures at GA, the votes were overwhelmingly those of teaching elders. As I reviewed the No votes I was surprised with some of the names on the list.
It seems to me that, in signing their names to a list like that, they wanted to draw attention to how they voted. That they voted No, undoubtedly pleased those associated with the NP. Apparently, they don’t want to do anything to stem the growth of the cancer infecting the PCA from within, or perhaps they prefer to deny that there is a cancer at all.
In the case of “cancer,” we know that sometimes the best remedy is the surgical removal of the cancer. Is this what we are faced with in the PCA now? My hope and pray is that we are there yet. The concern now is to see the overtures passed successfully in the presbyteries and ratified at the next GA.
David Ostien is a member of Chestnut Mountain Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) in Chestnut Mountain, Ga.
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Listen to Your Life
God has purposefully interwoven silence and salvation in his tapestry of redemption. Is it a surprise that the Enemy would use the flood of modern technology to all but eliminate silence in our lives? Wouldn’t that be an effective way to drown out God’s voice? Endless social media scrolling, music, Netflix, podcasts, and cable keep us from knowing our Savior and ourselves. How do we regain the margin of silence in our lives?
My wife, Angel, is very comfortable with quiet. I admire her ability to sit peacefully and listen to God. She intentionally shut down social media over a year and a half ago. Me? Not so much. I work out with audiobooks or podcasts as my audio backdrop. I write with music on.
There are benefits to this audio soundscape in which I live. It means that I input quite a lot of information. I benefit from the teaching of many wise voices and am grateful for the gift of music, which inspires, soothes, and convicts me through the Holy Spirit.
The problem with a life of input is that it can choke out self-reflection and even the voice of God.
In Psalm 62, David is desperate for God’s rescue. He declares, “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation” (Ps. 62:1). And then, perhaps as his heart becomes restless, he commands himself, “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him” (Ps. 62:5).
Similarly, in Lamentations 3, Jeremiah offers this thread of a promise amid tragedy, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lam. 3:25-28).
For both David and Jeremiah, silence creates space for God’s salvific work to take hold. Silence and salvation are interwoven in God’s tapestry of redemption.
How am I missing out on God’s salvation in my wall of noise?
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A Rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem?
Ezekiel’s vision is one not of an earthly temple (although the prophet uses earthly language his readers could readily understand), but of an eschatological temple, depicted in its consummated form and unspeakable glory by John in Revelation 21-22.
In light of periodic calls to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple (Time to Rebuild the Temple?), the matter of whether or not this will come to pass is part and parcel of the on-going debate about events associated with the end times and the return of Jesus Christ. The very possibility of rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple raises a number of serious theological questions which ought to be addressed, especially in light of the dispensational expectation of a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem at the dawn of the supposed seven-year tribulation period, which then functions as a center of worship during the millennial age.
As for the possibility of the temple actually being rebuilt, I am one who says “never say never” about future world events. I have no idea what will happen over the long run in Jerusalem and Israel. That said, I do not think such a thing is even remotely likely, given the current tensions in Jerusalem over control and access to the Temple Mount, much less the long-term political circumstances of doing so. Should Israel develop the religious and political will to occupy the Temple Mount (something unforeseeable at this point in time) and eventually take the steps necessary to demolish the Al-Aqsa Mosque (which is the third holiest site in Islam), the Jewish state would face the wrath of the entire Islamic world as well as that of much of the secular West. Since dispensationalists often connect the rebuilding of the temple to the geo-political tensions necessary to foster the appearance of the Antichrist, who, they claim, will make a peace treaty with Israel before betraying the nation leading to a final end-times catastrophe, such upheaval is not beyond the realm of possibility. Dispensationalists expect the Jerusalem Temple to be rebuilt and fervently hope for it.
As far the possibility of a rebuilt temple is concerned, the most important question is not geo-political, but theological. “What does a rebuilt temple mean to the larger drama of redemptive history?” “Why is it such a serious theological mistake to believe such a thing?”
Essential to a proper understanding of any future temple in Jerusalem is the prophecy found in Ezekiel 40-48, wherein we find the prophet’s vision of a new and still future temple. G. K. Beale’s important and stellar book on this topic should be read by anyone who has questions about Ezekiel’s vision (Beale — The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God).
As Beale points out, there are four main interpretations of Ezekiel’s prophecy and how it is fulfilled in the New Testament. Dispensationalists believe that this vision is a prophecy of an earthly temple to be built within Israel during the millennial age [1]. They base this interpretation upon their literal hermeneutic, which they say demands that a prophecy such as this one be interpreted literally, unless there is good reason to believe the prophecy should be interpreted figuratively. They reach this conclusion only by skipping over the profound echoes from Ezekiel’s prophecy found in Revelation 21. According to dispensationalists, what the New Testament seems to say about this temple cannot be applied in this case because such would mean that the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy would not be “literal.” Furthermore, this expectation for the temple also seems to require a return to memorial animal sacrifices, an act occuring after Jesus’ completion of the work of redemption which approaches blasphemy.
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The Massive Value of Unpaid Work
Written by J.K. Wall |
Friday, April 15, 2022
The most valuable things we do are unpaid. We live in the faith that by devoting ourselves to relationships—with God and with each other—God is using our labor to produce things of inestimable value. When we take a sabbath rest to worship, when we pray, when we take time for devotions and fellowship, that is the most valuable time we spend each day and each week. When parents make regular time for their kids, and grandparents for their grandkids, that is the most productive work they can do.Dan Doriani begins his 2019 book Work with a critical insight: the market economies we live in devalue work that doesn’t pay.
This is why, he says, it’s so hard for stay-at-home mothers, retirees and others to feel their work has significance.
My wife can relate. When I come home she’s eager to hear about my work—even the headaches—because I’m often the first adult she’s talked to all day. She’s worn out by her work—washing clothes, fixing meals, picking up after our kids—and by seeing it undone almost as soon as it’s done.
Stay-at-home moms can find hope in the long-term impact their work has on the hearts and minds of their children, but their surrounding culture—far more interested in material gains and visible progress—won’t do much to nurture that hope.
Our culture regards the material as more significant—in fact, more real—than the non-material. This isn’t a new development. Richard Weaver, in his book Ideas Have Consequences, traced the problem to a philosophical shift in the late Middle Ages, which declared that words and ideas actually did not correspond to universal, transcendent truths.
Over the following centuries, this shift produced a series of other changes that gradually replaced a cultural belief in universals—like God and goodness, beauty and truth, soul and spirit—with a cultural belief only in material things that can be perceived by our senses and sensory tools, like MRI machines. Weaver wrote, “Man created in the divine image, the protagonist of a great drama in which his soul was at stake, was replaced by man the wealth-seeking and -consuming animal.” This second story is still the one our culture tells us every day.
However, there is encouraging progress coming lately from an unlikely source: economists.
Among economists, there is a growing body of work that has shown that individuals who do not usually directly participate in formal labor markets, contribute informal labor by performing household services, volunteering, babysitting, counseling, mentoring and other activities.
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