It wasn’t the first time a wife upstaged her husband, and the results were nearly as disastrous. In Eden Eve took the lead, conversed with the devil, bit the fruit, and then served it to her husband. By the time the Reformation came around the bride of Christ, the church, had taken it upon herself to become the mediator between God and man. An institution created to be a help suitable to the second Adam, like a second Eve, the Roman church, desiring to be like God, affirmed that she was the means by which a man might have peace with God. She held the purse strings to merit, to the means of grace, and to grace itself. Rome fell when she affirmed that she saved the lost.
Ever since the serpent has been slithering through a different tack. Rome made herself to be everything, and the serpent has since made the church to be nothing. Oh, we might be willing to confess that on occasion good things can come through the evangelical church. It’s a blessing to hear good preaching. Who doesn’t enjoy time with friends? And then there’s the church softball league. The church as the church, however, what’s that about? Who needs that? I mean, I can download preaching from around the world, I can play rec league instead of church league softball, and I can hang out with the guys from Promise Keepers, instead of the guys from church. What am I missing?
What we’re missing is our mother, the church. She doesn’t nurture us from afar. She doesn’t feed us through the internet. She can’t discipline us when we won’t even acknowledge her. Now my heart breaks for those who have made orphans of themselves. I fear for homes led by men who are so intent on leading their families that they refuse to be led by elders and so lead their own children into rebellion. But what is most frustrating, is when those who won’t acknowledge our common mother yet insist that they are my brother.
If I had a nickel for every story I’ve heard that begins with “Well, my son, uncle, father, friend, roommate, doesn’t belong to a church, but is a Christian” my nickel collection would be the envy of my neighbors. If I had a dime for every “brother” who believes he is owed all the relational goodies of being in the family but who insists that no one will rule over him, well, my nickels would each have someone to play with. This friend can’t understand why her “professing” daughter is shacking up with her girlfriend. That other friend wants to leave his church, without transferring to another church, and yet still wants to be free to come to the Lord’s Table. How can you commune if you have made yourself immune to excommunication?
Friends, I know churches can stink up the joint. Rome did, and it didn’t stop there. But just how repentant are we when we, by refusing to join a church, profess, “Well, I’m a sinner, but not a sinner that might need the grace of discipline. I’m a sinner, but not as bad as all the elders in my town. I’m a sinner, but I’m too good to join that church over there because of their sins.” This kind of repentance looks an awful lot like pride.
It’s true that the work of Christ becomes ours when we by the power of His Spirit trust in that work. It’s true that the thief on the cross never took any membership vows. It’s true if you trust in Him, and end up shipwrecked alone your soul will be safe. But it is also true that on the glorious truth that Jesus is the Son of God the Son of God has built and is building His church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. It is also true that the church is our Mother, and our calling is to honor her. Our post-modern, western, evangelical low to non-existent ecclesiology isn’t a mere mistake. It isn’t merely bad systematic theology. It is instead deeply and profoundly dangerous. Love your mother. She bore you.
Thesis 34- We must teach our children that the Bible is their family story.
A gracious friend recently gifted me with what may have become something of an anachronism. We in these United States are awash in Bibles. We have study Bibles for just about every station in life, and just about every theological conviction. We have more translations than we can use, and more paraphrases than you can shake a stick at. What we seem to have fewer and fewer of is what were once known as “family Bibles.” These Bibles, of course, contained the Word of God. But that also served a different purpose. The family Bible was where a family recorded the most significant events in that family. The family tree was kept there, and anyone, wanting the see a shorthand version of their own corporate history could find such there at their fingertips.
What may be lost in our plethora of Bibles is this fundamental truth, that every Bible is the family Bible, because the Bible tells the story of our family. If push comes to shove, and we are willing to look at it from something of a scientific perspective, we might be willing to accept this. Adam and Eve, after all, are the very root of our family tree. We all trace a common ancestry back to Noah. Genetically speaking, we have a connection. But there is far more to it.
Our children are constantly being seduced into other faux families. The culture sees our children in demographic terms, as members of particular markets. The culture wants my 14 year old son to see himself as a 14 year old boy, with all that means in terms of clothing, music, even language. But his identity is in Christ. He is an heir of the king, and a child of Abraham.
Which means that when we come to our Bibles we are not coming to study the history of a distant people, and how they related to God. We are not coming to a list of truths. Instead we are reading the story of our own people, and how God related to them. My paternal grandfather served in the African theater in World War II. My grandfather, however many greats back, led our people out of bondage, out of Egypt. My father has served for decades as a teacher of the Bible. My fathers, so many generations back, were prophets called by God to call my other ancestors to repent for their unbelief. Our children sing along with us that father Abraham had many sons, many sons had father Abraham. I am one of them, and so are you. And I am the child of the children who sat upon the knee of Jesus.
The Bible isn’t simply something we believe. It is instead our own story, and the story of our children. It, like a family Bible, defines what and who we are. It marks our boundaries and sets our paths. It sets our place in space and time. Jesus said to His disciples that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea, in Samaria and the outermost parts of the world. God, by His grace, brought His grace to a cold and misty northern edge of an island in the North Sea, to Scotland. And there He brought my people in, and better still, made us His people. Our children need to understand that the promise to Abraham that he would be a blessing to the nations is fulfilled in them, and that because of that promise, we who were once not a people are now not only the children of Abraham, but by faith are the children of God.
It is a deep pain to me that for the rest of my life, any time I cross paths with anyone who knew me, the first thing that will come to their mind is Ashley Madison or DUI. They may say, “Love your podcast” or more likely, “Love your dad” but my scandals, I know, come immediately to mind. It doesn’t make me angry. I get it. I’m sure if I ran across James MacDonald or Mark Driscoll my own mind wouldn’t immediately turn to ways they have been used in the kingdom. My hope, however, is that if such a meeting should ever take place, following hot on the trail of their public failures would be this thought- “Jesus saves sinners like us.”
In the three and a half years since my arrest I have sought to live in light of that promise. I have been blessed to have some work in line with some of my skills. I have been blessed to be involved as a congregant of a local church body, Pine Hills Church, where Jesus is faithfully preached. I have written a few books, published a daily blog piece and this week marks the one year anniversary of the reboot of the Jesus Changes Everything podcast. I’ve taught home Bible studies, recorded a series for some friends in India and spoken a time or two.
There are those who take the position that my scandals disqualify me from ministry. I get that. There are others who leave that door open as long as the return is not rushed. Among that group some may believe that three and half years is long enough, and others who believe it is not. I get that. I don’t pretend to know the math to figure that out. Those who are in authority over me are given that task. The same is true, of course, with respect to the whole of my spiritual walk. Having been in the public eye, albeit in a rather small pond, it has been difficult to read my critics’ declaration that I am unrepentant, and worse, seeing others believe it. Many seem to take the view that unless I can walk through those first days again, right in front of them, that my repentance can’t be real.
The truth is that my heavenly Father has removed from me all my sins, as far as the east is from the west. I walk in the joy of my salvation. And, not because I’ve been recently rescued by it, but because it has always been my heart, I want to be about the business of telling people the glorious truth that Jesus changes everything.
One thing He has changed, working through my own sins, is my reach and my support. Trying to birth and grow Dunamis Fellowship on the heels of scandal, in the midst of a pandemic is not easy. Many of you are feeling the economic impact. As are we. How can you help? Here are five ways.
1. Prayer. Would you commit to pray that God would use us in the service of His saints? That He would direct, protect and provide for us?
2. A word of encouragement. Knowing that our work is making a difference puts wind in our sails. Even feedback with criticism at least lets us know we’re reaching an audience, and may help us to improve.
3. Spreading the word. Audience grows by audience. If Dunamis has been a help to you, chances are good it could be a help to your friends. Would you let them know all that we are doing? Would you let them know how we’ve helped you?
4. Financial gifts. If you’ve meant to support our work, now would be a great time. We have, apart from putting food on our table, ongoing expenses. Nothing, however, helps us carry on and plan for the future like ongoing, monthly support. Giving is simple. Just click on the donate button and follow the directions.
5. Last but not least, recognizing the reality of my own sins and my need for grace, let me ask this of you- never judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his scandals.
A few weeks ago Dunamis Fellowship began a new project. In addition to the daily podcast, Jesus Changes Everything, we are producing a series of questions and answers simply called Ask RC. These are posted weekly on our youtube channel here
Our goal is three-fold. First, many of the questions considered are just the kinds of questions unbelievers might google answers for. I’ve covered, “Who is Jesus?” “What is heaven?” “Why is the church full of hypocrites?” among many others. My desire is to provide truthful, biblical answers that at the same time proclaim the gospel. Second, my hope is that even Christians who know the answers to these kinds of questions will use them to help others and to equip themselves. Third, other questions deal with issues especially germane to those who are already believers. I’ve considered “What is predestination?” “How can we be better witnesses?” “How should Christians view the Old Testament?” among others.
These short, direct recordings fit well into our strengths, and our prayer is that God will use them mightily. Would you be willing to give a listen? Would you like, share and subscribe? And, would you please send suggestions for questions? You can send them via email to hellorcjr@gmail.com. I would love to tackle any questions you may be wrestling with. Would you also join us in praying that these questions and answers would find those who will be best served by them?
Once there was God, and nothing else. This stretches the mind. It is doubly difficult because we first try to imagine vast expanses of nothing, a sort of infinite sea of black. But there is no expanse, and there is no black. Then we try, treading on dangerous ground, to envision the triune God, who is invisible. Nevertheless, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were, and nothing else was. There was no time when They were not, though there was a They when time was not. If we really understood this, there would be no doubters as to the sovereignty of God in His works of providence, or of election. Because there was God and nothing else, there are no conditions of which He is not the ultimate cause. Because the Bible begins with “In the beginning God,” the Bible teaches unconditional election.
When we deny this truth we do so by denying one of the most fundamental of truths, the law of causality. This law recognizes that every effect must have a sufficient cause. If something happens, it happens because something caused it to happen. That’s a fancy way of saying that you get nothing from nothing. There never was nothing. We know this for two reasons. First, the Bible doesn’t begin with “In the beginning nothing,” but “In the beginning God…” Second, if there ever was nothing, there would have to be nothing now. You can’t get something for nothing. Even in metaphysics, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Let’s suppose, for the sake of argument, that the elect are in fact made such conditionally. The most common view is that God elected those whom He saw, by peering down the corridor of time would choose Him. But we can, in this argument choose anything as God’s condition for election. Suppose He elected all those who have an odd number for their shoe size. Both of these look like conditions. They serve as a measurable way of separating the elect and the reprobate. The trouble is that in both instances, and indeed in any like condition, a part of the equation is hidden. If we push the causes for the conditions back far enough, eventually we will get back to “In the beginning God.” What, for instance, would God foresee if He peered down the corridor of time? Only those things of which He is the ultimate cause. If He foresaw that I would choose Him, we are left asking why I would choose Him. Our Arminian friends will try to squirm away from giving any kind of meritorious answer for that why, knowing that we’re not supposed to have reason to boast.
It doesn’t help. Whether I chose Him in this make believe unplanned future because I was smarter or dumber, more or less pious, begs the same question again; How did I get that way? I can’t make myself smarter or more pious, unless I am already smarter or more pious than the reprobate. Not even Cinderella’s step sisters could choose, or change, their shoe size. The trail will lead back to God. If He foresaw that I would choose Him, because of my piety, He foresaw the fruit of the piety that He gave me in the first place.
If the difference is not meritorious, it doesn’t help any. Suppose God looked down the corridor of time and saw that I would choose Him. The reason, what separates me from the lost, is the godliness of my parents, that they worked faithfully to raise me in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I certainly didn’t choose my parents, and so cannot take any credit. But who did choose my parents? God did. And who gave them the godliness to raise me in such a way? God did. The final answer is always, “God did.”
In short, if there are conditions for election, then God determined who would meet those conditions. How He made the choice as to who would be given the conditions simply moves the question back one step. He then must have elected unconditionally who would be elect. Naturally causes are rarely if ever so individual. Usually effects come about because of the convergence of several causal factors. We can rarely if ever pinpoint those causes. But God can. If there were some sort of secret recipe of causes that either brings the faith that saves, or brings the hypothetical faith that God foresees in election, if it takes the combination of godly parents and personal piety, and hearing the ad for the Billy Graham crusade on the radio, God still makes the soup. He wrote the recipe, and mixes the ingredients.
Unconditional election is simply another way of saying that God is the sovereign one, that He alone is the ultimate cause of whatsoever comes to pass. To be sure He uses secondary causes, the faithful proclamation of the Word, the heartfelt prayers of the saints, the work of apologists and preachers, an ad on the radio, even the conscience of the yet unregenerate elect. But it is He who is using these things, to bring about what He purposed from before all time, when there was God and nothing else.
