The original marching orders given to Adam and Eve still apply to us, even though the Fall has twisted things greatly. The church has been losing big time not only because it has failed to take the Great Commission seriously, but also the Cultural Commission. 

All Christians know about the Great Commission and most know who Charles Colson was. As to the former, it of course involves the command given by Jesus for his followers to go into all the world to preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:16-20).
As to the late, great Chuck Colson (1931-2012), he was a leading American evangelical who left the world of power politics to champion Christian worldview thinking and the need to engage in the culture wars that rage all around us. See more on this influential leader here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2012/04/22/notable-christians-charles-colson/
Colson fully affirmed the Great Commission but also fervently promoted another important biblical commission: the Cultural Commission. He spoke to this often, including in his vital 1999 work, How Now Shall We Live? As he and Nancy Pearcey said in the introduction to that book:
Evangelism and cultural renewal are both divinely ordained duties. God exercises his sovereignty in two ways: through saving grace and common grace. We are all familiar with saving grace; it is the means by which God’s power calls people who are dead in their trespasses and sins to new life in Christ. But few of us understand common grace, which is the means by which God’s power sustains creation, holding back the sin and evil that result from the fall and that otherwise would overwhelm His creation like a great flood. As agents of God’s common grace, we are called to help sustain and renew his creation, to uphold the created institutions of family and society, to pursue science and scholarship, to create works of art and beauty, and to heal and help those suffering from the results of the Fall. xii
Or as they wrote a bit later:
Understanding Christianity as a worldview is important not only for fulfilling the great commission but also for fulfilling the cultural commission – the call to create a culture under the lordship of Christ. God cares not only about redeeming souls but also about restoring his creation. He calls us to be agents not only of his saving grace but also of his common grace. Our job is not only to build up the church but also to build a society to the glory of God. 33
He ran with these themes throughout his Christian life. The last book he penned just before he died also speaks to these matters. I refer to The Sky Is Not Falling: Living Fearlessly in These Turbulent Times (Worthy Publishing, 2011). Here I want to focus on just one chapter from the book, “Turning the Church Around” (Ch. 11).
His opening paragraph says this: “Have evangelicals come full circle in just fifty years – from fundamentalist isolation to mainstream acceptance? Have we embraced a national creed that values personal growth over doctrinal orthodoxy?” 161
He believes they have. Most are now indistinguishable from those in the mainstream culture, and few offer any sort of countercultural resistance. He offers signs of this, including contemporary Christian music, church and worship styles, and Christian broadcasting.
In these and other areas we see how much believers have simply blended in with the surrounding culture.
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When we commit to walking in His truth, we stand out like a sore thumb. We do not take advantage of anyone or any situation. Instead, we walk by faith not by sight. Those in the world who are out for self and self alone will see us as weak and stupid. In fact, they will persecute or take advantage of us.

Aleph1 How blessed are those whose way is blameless,Who walk in the law of Yahweh.2 How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,They seek Him with all their heart.3 They also do not work unrighteousness;They walk in His ways.4 You have commanded us,To keep Your precepts diligently.5 Oh may my ways be establishedTo keep Your statutes!6 Then I shall not be ashamedWhen I look upon all Your commandments.7 I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart,When I learn Your righteous judgments.8 I shall keep Your statutes;Do not forsake me utterly! Psalms 119:1-8 (LSB)
Several years ago, before I retired and before I started working from home, I had a discussion at work with a co-worker about the upcoming publication of my book Walking the Walk by Faith and the contract I just received from my publisher for my 2nd book Possessing the Treasure. This co-worker had always been supportive of my writing because she was an avid reader. However, she was also a non-believer even though she did not see things that way. She believed salvation is universal because God loves everyone too much to send anyone to hell. She believed my stance on my Puritan doctrines was silly. When  I tried to explain the attributes of God to her and our part in walking this walk and she laughed as she left my cubicle and went back to her’s. Those of us who are Spirit-led know better…don’t we?
The Spirit-led know there is only one-way to walk this walk. What is it? We must walk in God’s truth. Walking in God’s truth means we must know what it is and we must live by it in all areas of our lives. Where do we find God’s truth? The Word of God is His wonderful gift to us. It reveals God to Man. It shows us plainly who He is and who we are. It shows us we must live our lives in worship of Him. We must live for His glory.
I placed the first stanza of Psalms 119, entitled “Aleph,” at the beginning of this post. Let us go through it one line at a time. We are pursuing Christ-likeness. How do we attain it? God must draw us into the processes that will reshape our hearts into this level of spiritual maturity. When we obey Him in total surrender to His cleansing fires, we grow. Our faith is built up. We grow in Christ. This growth is a work of God not a result of our will power or intelligence. God will use our prayer, obedience, and His Word as the main tools to mature us unto Christ-likeness, therefore, let’s dig.
The first line is, “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of Yahweh.” The Hebrew word translated “blessed” is an exclamation of how happy someone is. It describes someone who was most happy. For example, “Look how happy they are!” Who is that happy? Those who are blameless, that’s who. The word “blameless” can also mean “undefiled,” “complete,” or “perfect.” The picture the psalmist is giving us is, “Look how blessed the undefiled are!” The Spirit-led understand this very well. Why? A clear conscience is a wonderful part of this walk! No blame, no shame! It is a joyful experience to realize God dynamically loves and blesses us as we seek Him with all we have. When we are defiled, we cannot experience that at that level. The last part of this sentence shows us who are blameless. Who? Those who walk in the law of the LORD are blameless and, therefore, blessed. I like the exclusivity of that statement. I believe we could also turn this statement around and say, “How sad are those who are defiled, who don’t walk in the law of the LORD!” That gives us a different view of it doesn’t it? The psalmist is telling us God blesses to the max those who give up self-focus while surrendering to the Lord in all things, living for His glory and walking according to the Word of God. Why?
1 How blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh,Who walks in His ways.2 When you shall eat of the fruit of the labor of your hands,How blessed will you be and how well will it be for you. Psalms 128:1-2 (LSB) 
We must start by fearing God. It brings us into the proper perspective of our relationship with Him. The self-focused do not understand this concept. Their fear of God is a fear powered by guilt. How could that bless anyone? However, the Spirit-led know the proper fear of God, that which is born of knowledge of God, brings blessedness beyond compare. The proper fear of God generates obedience. When we walk this way, what does God do for us? He blesses our walk. What more could we want? When we walk this way, we are walking for His glory not ours. It is God’s will for us to do this. The Mature Christian walks this way. The maturing Christian is learning to walk this way.
The second line in this stanza is, “How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, They seek Him with all their heart.” The one who can walk blameless is the one who seeks the Lord with their whole heart. This is speaking of our daily walk praying continually and worshipping Him in spirit and in truth. That means we do not give God lip service by singing hymns in Church once a week, instead we make our entire life an act of worship of our Lord. When we do this, we are obedient. This walk keeps our hearts blameless and undefiled. This is a life on the altar.
1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—living, holy, and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Romans 12:1 (LSB) 
To become a blessing, God must become the focus of our entire being. All of our worship must be God-focused, never Man-focused. Do you want to show the Lord how much you love Him? If you are Spirit-led, you want this more than life itself. To show the Lord how much you love Him then live for His glory and to bless Him should be our heart’s desire.
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Raising the threshold for assumption of original jurisdiction from 2 (2) Presbyteries to 10% of Presbyteries has the potential both to prevent and to pervert justice in church courts. By raising the threshold to 10%, nine (9) Presbyteries would have to request assumption of original jurisdiction. This represents a five-fold increase, and it makes BCO 34-1 all but unusable. It is nearly impossible for an issue to be so widely known that nine Presbyteries would ask the General Assembly to take action. Thus, justice would be potentially prevented by the sheer difficulty of reaching this threshold.

As fall arrives, PCA Presbyteries will begin debating and voting on amendments to the Book of Church Order that received initial approval at this summer’s General Assembly.
While most of the discussion of these amendments will likely focus on Overture 15 (concerning issues of sexuality among church officers), this article focuses on the apparently less-contentious Overture 8. I believe this Overture could do unintentional damage to the peace and unity of the church.
Overture 8 proposes amending BCO 33-1 and 34-1. Both of these paragraphs concern the jurisdiction of church courts in matters of church discipline. Members of local churches are tried by Sessions (BCO 33), while pastors are tried by Presbyteries (BCO 34); these are their respective courts of “original jurisdiction.” Both paragraphs also contain a further provision: if courts “refuse to act” in “doctrinal cases or cases of public scandal,” two other coordinate courts may petition the next highest court to assume “original jurisdiction” and try the case. When such petition is made, the next highest court must take the case.
In other words, if a Session refuses to discipline a church member, and two other Sessions ask the Presbytery to assume original jurisdiction, the Presbytery must do so. Similarly, if a Presbytery refuses to discipline a pastor, and two other Presbyteries ask the General Assembly to assume original jurisdiction, the General Assembly must do so.
Problems with BCO 33-1 and 34-1 as Currently Written
[N.B. For the remainder of this article, I will refer to “Presbytery” and 34-1 exclusively. These comments apply with equal force to “Session” and 33-1.]
As currently written, these paragraphs have two issues. First, they fail to define “refuses to act.” This has led to confusion in recent years, as several BCO 34-1 requests have asked the General Assembly to assume original jurisdiction in discipline cases. Does “refuses to act” mean the Presbytery has ignored the issue entirely? If the Presbytery investigates allegations against a pastor, and that investigation does not raise a “strong presumption of guilt” (BCO 31-2), has the Presbytery “refuse[d] to act”? Furthermore, if a Presbytery institutes process against a pastor but that process yields a finding of innocence, can one say the Presbytery has refused to act? What if they return a guilty verdict but impose too light a censure for a serious offense?
For many of these hypothetical situations, one could plausibly argue that Presbytery has acted but refused to act fully and appropriately. The imprecision of “refuses to act” thus leaves room for confusion and disagreement.
Second, the paragraphs require only two (2) coordinate courts to petition in order to require the assumption of original jurisdiction. As the denomination has grown, some have expressed concern that two (2) Presbyteries represents too low a threshold—especially given the PCA’s eighty-eight (88) Presbyteries.
Overture 8 attempts to address both of these shortcomings.
Overture 8
Overture 8 seeks to address these apparent deficiencies in BCO 33-1 and 34-1.
First, addressing the vagueness of “refuses to act,” Overture 8 instead proposes instead, “does not indict.” In other words, it narrows the range of possible scenarios above to a single scenario—the court “does not indict.”
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