Posts

Posted on

Brotherhood, Community, and Doxology

brown wooden church bench near white painted wall

Communities are composed of people trying awkwardly to understand the extent of our responsibility for those around us. It does not flow as neatly as we often expect. Communities are filled with sinful people whose aim is often between glorifying God and themselves. Pride and doxology are conflicting visions within, but the true community works through these conflicting visions, seeking the Triune God’s glory above all.

Community life is the life lived out throughout the week; the response of God’s people to one another. It’s not our response to self, but to one another pursuing one another in the ordinary life of the Church.

This theme was abundantly illustrated in the temple in the Old Testament, which was considered a place of feasting. In I Kings 9, when Solomon’s temple was completed, the people rejoiced. They dedicated the temple to God by feasting for several days.

After Sabbath worship, the people went out and gave thanks to God together as a body. They celebrated with one another with feasts, hospitality, and charity. Then, they went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things Yahweh had done for Israel (I Kings 8:66).

The life of community was summarized by feasting. They worked together and then they rejoiced together. It was all covered under the virtue of love expressed in Leviticus 19 and we may even argue that the dominion mandate was a mandate of love as well. The laws of love in the community are not a New Testament invention; they were established long ago.

The language Paul uses to describe community in I Corinthians refers to the Church as a community of brothers and sisters. He uses “adelphos” which appears 28 times; a term used for blood relatives in the first century. Paul puts us in one house together.

He goes on to command us to “edify” one another. To edify is an architectural term. It comes from “edifice.” Everything goes back to God’s building work on earth. God is building his temple/house, so you build/edify one another.

Communities are formed in the working and loving, and living together. It is often fractured amid the work, but faithfulness pursues the glory of God above earthly disputes and differences. It sees brotherhood as more central in the building of the edifice than the differences in the building strategies of the edifice.

Posted on

The Church to the World

Closeup Vintage Light bulb Idea

One well-known author wrote recently that the Christian influence could shape society’s conception of a just social order, but we shouldn’t expect policies or laws to be Christian. How is that possible? How can the Church go to the world but not expect the world to come to the Church? If members of the Church go into the political sphere to influence laws and policies, then why not expect those laws and policies to reflect the Church and the Word of God? If the Church’s goal is to go to the world, how can it not shape it? As Abraham Kuyper noted: “All power in the church of Christ must forever be traced back to Christ.” How can the Church go to the world without tracing her message back to the Lord of the Church?

Posted on

A Theology of Water

While we sometimes get lost in debates about the mode of baptism and who are the recipients of baptism—whether infants and adults or only those able to articulate the faith—it seems we overlook the backdrop of baptism.

All our debates would be useless if there were no water. But the way the prophets spoke of Jesus’ coming was to use the imagery of water. The redemption of Jacob was like an outpouring of water and Spirit on dry land (Isa.44). The water will provide life to the parched forest and garden (Isa.41). Israel needs to be sprinkled with water when they enter the land after exile and the sprinkling of clean water is directly connected to the work of the Spirit (Ezk. 36). And Isaiah 52 says that the Messiah will sprinkle the nations and shut the mouths of kings.

This is why when John the Baptizer comes, he comes from a dry place—the wilderness—because he symbolizes that Israel needs to be washed clean by Jesus himself, who is the water of life. So, John is the water prophet, the cleansing prophet who comes to teach Israel that unless they turn to the fountain of living waters, they will perish like many of their forefathers.

This morning, Brian comes to the font of baptism because it is through water that cleanses the land and through waters that he cleanses and calls people to himself. Brian confessed the faith of his mother and stepfather, and he eagerly sought me to share his desire to be baptized in the Name of the Father, Son, and Spirit. It is an honor to see his mother and his little brother baptized at Providence and now to add Brian to the Christian faith.

Posted on

Infant Baptism and the Future of the CREC

In the latest Perspectivalist episode, I discuss the role of circumcision in the argument for infant baptism. Our guest Adam McIntosh, published an intriguing article at Theopolis Institute arguing for a more consistent pattern for infant baptism throughout the whole Bible: https://podcasters.spotify.com/…/Season-4–Episode-6…

And over at Kuyperian Commentary, Rick Davis interviews the Presiding Minister of Council for the CREC, Virgil Hurt, on celebrating our communion’s 25th anniversary this September in Moscow, ID. and what he expects for the next 25 years:

Posted on

Overview of Lectures at CALLED Conference 2023

Lecture One: A Biography of the Devil’s Strategies

In this first talk, I will explain the devil’s wicked schemes and how he seeks to devour us.

Lecture Two: The Priestly Armor: A Theology of Perseverance

In this second talk, I will provide the basis of our perseverance. The Christian is not left naked among the many schemes of the Devil, but rather he is assured that the great High Priest, Jesus, will cover him with his own righteous armor, vindicated at the Resurrection.

Lecture Three: The Foundation of Truth and Righteousness

In this third talk, I will offer the opening features of this armor. They are given to establish a proper foundation for the Christian. His priesthood is fastened to the very fabric of his being. This is a work wrought by the Spirit of God. Unlike the old Adam, the armored Christian receives the Spirit of the Risen Messiah.

Lecture Four: Activating Gospel Confidence

In this fourth talk, I will argue that faith activates the armor so that it can produce good fruits. Without faith, it is impossible to walk rightly and defend yourself against the many devilish strategies.

Lecture Five: The Aaronic Benediction: Sending Forth Armored Warriors

Finally, I will explain why prayer is a priestly benediction. We pray so God may send us out as good stewards of this armor. Our identity is found in the armored One who fought for us and our salvation and now sends us out armored by our baptismal clothing to go forth as sons and daughters of God into war.

Posted on

Tattoos and Stories

Doug Wilson says that the Church needs more tattooed men in our midst. And what he means is that we need to have men who come into the Church from rough and turmoiled places. What fascinates me is how few, if any, of these men would actively encourage their own children to get tattoos. They may not express the anthropology of the thing or even the worldview behind the act. Still, instinctively they know that tattoos are acts of bodily deformation to some extent or another.

It reveals uncertainty about the future by forming a present iconography to still the present. Further, it creates a world in which baptism is not enough. If the font reforms, bodily paintings deform. So, blessed are the tattooed who come into the Church, but may their children leave the paint brushes behind.

With few exceptions, among them imposed, there is no rationale for getting a tattoo that cannot be lived out without one. In many cases, they are revelations of a self-formed liturgy which is why they are so common among military and gang members. But in recent years, they seem to also branch out to other bonds among gamers and other identifying markers among the very young. These go beyond arm tattoos to what some consider to be the dominating trend of 2023– finger tatatoos. It is unmistakable that these are offered as bonding ceremonies.

I sought some advice from a tattooed friend I know, who offered the following observation, which confirmed my suspicion:

“Young men and women who are struggling to find identity see tattoos as a way to individualize themselves or set themselves apart while still wanting to belong to something greater or more important than themselves.”

I argue that those desired bonds can also be built around other more lasting liturgies sealed by a covenantal marking not made with human hands.

The reason virtually every Christian parent I meet with tattoos discourages their children from getting one is that they see a better way to find identity and communicate than a permanent bodily image. The trend among the youth reveals a desire to tell a story. And while there may be plausible reasons for tattoos under unique circumstances, we should affirm that the body is a gift from God and tattoos are attempts at telling stories. For the Christian, baptism is God’s story over our body. Therefore, tattoos are not ordinarily necessary. The story of redemption is told more beautifully and eternally in the body-markings of Another.

Posted on

RIP, Alan Stout Sr.

Nietzsche famously said, “In heaven, all the interesting people are missing.” Nietzche never met Alan Stout Sr. Alan had a soul reshaped by the God who makes all things new. God had put interest in things, ideas, themes, and rhythms in the life of this dear saint. He was a walking encyclopedia of interesting things because he had lived an extraordinarily interesting life.

Our Church gathered on two occasions to sing to this precious saint, and in our last Psalm-Roar, we sang 11 pieces of music to send this beloved to the Beloved One. We closed with the Song of Simeon because now it was time for Alan to depart in peace according to God’s word. He did depart less than 24 hours later. His life was a song filled with interests. He was interesting because he saturated his existence in the eternal good and the eternal God.

Death is not the soul’s escape to non-interest but the saturation of the soul in the truly interesting world. This dear saint has now joined the choral majesty of Augustine, Luther, and all those who died in Christ. When his soul entered into sabbath rest, he delivered all his interests as a gift to the Interesting God; the God who holds our attention in this world.

Alan’s soul is now absorbed into the interests of the world to come. The dead in Christ will find comfort and eternal repose in the interests of the Ascended Messiah who rules and reigns to make all worlds interesting in his sight.

Nietzsche was wrong. Heaven is where all interesting people go. To be in heaven is to enter into the poetry of existence. It’s where all earthly interests find sabbath rest, surrounded by interesting martyrs, angels, and archangels. Alan is now in their company!

Rest in Peace, Alan Stout Sr.

Posted on

A Pentecostal Meal

This Supper is a Trinitarian event. Here at this table, the Father who is kind to His children offers us the living Bread of His Son, which He does through the baptism of His Spirit. Jesus has ascended into heaven and is no longer with us in the flesh. But He is with us, both here at this table, and elsewhere, through the power of the Spirit, as the Lord who is Spirit.[1] The Lord’s Table is a Pentecostal meal.

In Acts 2, the outworking of this Spirit-presence is the breaking of the bread among brothers and sisters. Food brings people together and it is purposefully given to us to bind our hearts and minds in the bond of peace. This feast is a unifying feast; an invitation to taste of the mercies of Christ by the power of the Spirit. Today, all of you baptized in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are called to this table. The Spirit of God says, “Come.”

[1] Leithart

Posted on

Resurrection Joy

Francis Shaeffer observed that “what we are in our thought world determines how we act.”[1] The Apostle Paul articulates this point well in his resurrection theology. Underneath all the dismaying problems in Corinth, there was one massive theological fallacy: they denied the resurrection of the dead. By doing so, they denied the “importance of the world that God created.”[2] And when you deny creation’s importance, when you deny the future of a renewed creation, morality is also denied a central place in our lives. We are not moralists, but we are moral. We are called to be moral and ethical because we properly understand our bodies and their future in creation.

We do not preach the resurrection of Jesus so that you may find your human potential or enlightened self-understanding. We preach the resurrection of Jesus so you may live resurrected lives now, avoiding the deeds of the flesh and submitting to Christ as Lord of everything.

On the other hand, we do not preach the resurrection, so you may daydream about going to heaven and drinking the pietists’ champagne. The resurrection is not declared so you can spend more time meditating and introspecting. The resurrection is declared so you may strive for righteousness and find joy and delight in serving our Lord.

[1] Francis Schaeffer, How Shal We Then Live? Pg. 19

[2] Hays, 277.