THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA AND “THE FORK IN THE ROAD” Monday, May 20 2013

THE SCOUT OATH

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

As a child my love was baseball. In addition to my mad dash to the baseball diamond after school each day, there was also the 2 shoeboxes filled with baseball cards of my heroes to further substantiate my passion for “America’s Pastime.” One of those cards was the famous perennial All-Star catcher of the even more famous New York Yankees – Yogi Berra. Yogi was not only a great baseball player he was a prized and sought out interview for sports reporters. His quotes were insightful and always contained aphorisms that consisted of sensible statement stated in a non-sensible formula which would leave everyone scratching their heads, nodding in agreement and laughing uncontrollably all at the same time. These quotes became “Berra-isms.” One of the all-time favorites was Yogi’s observation as to the nature of baseball – “Baseball is 90% mental but the other half is physical.” Perhaps his best known quote came when a reporter asked him about his decision making process in relationship to his expected retirement – His reply was “When you come to a fork in the road, you have to take it.” The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) have arrived at a “fork in the road” and they have “to take it.”

The Gay, Bisexual, Lesbian and Transgender Movement (GBLT) movement having failed to force the BSA to normalize homosexuality as an affirmed practice of sexual behavior by demanding the acceptance of homosexual troop leaders through lawsuits and the court system – all the way to the Supreme Court – has now moved to outright intimidation through already compromised corporate financial supporters who are threatening to remove their sizable donations if the BSA does not change its policy to accept troop leaders and scouts who are avowed homosexuals. To meet this new strategy the BSA Executive Council has proposed a new policy which leaves in place the prohibition of homosexual leaders, at least for the time being, while removing the prohibition of homosexuality for scouts. The result is the BSA has come to a “fork in the road” and will have to “take it” in a vote by its General Council this week. One path calls for a vote to reject the proposal and affirm the historic position of BSA that maintains sexuality is appropriate only in a heterosexual, monogamous marriage. The other path is to accept and therefore affirm candidates for scout membership who claim to be homosexual in their sexual orientation.

In all honesty if the BSA takes a principled position to remain faithful to its historic position already supported by the court system of the United States, it likely will lead to further and increasingly aggressive intimidation along with renewed litigation. But the unassailable fact is that if the BSA takes the present recommendation pursuing the path of pragmatism and compromise it will lead to the same scenario. Why? Because it is absolutely inconceivable that the GBLT is going to accept and be satisfied with the current proposal that excludes the acceptance of homosexual troop leaders while affirming homosexuality as a valid choice for scouts themselves. Such a decision will soon if not immediately, be met by re-igniting the legal strategy, the corporate support intimidation strategy or both. And in reality once the BSA has affirmed homosexuality as an accepted lifestyle for scouts there is no possible way that it will be able to legally thwart the logical conclusion that homosexuality cannot be declared as unacceptable behavior for Scout leaders. Beyond that the compromised corporate sponsors will not be allowed by the GBLT to accept the compromise either.

The truth is that in the course of life’s events the BSA Executive Council and the General Council have an opportunity to model what they have been striving to teach young men for decades – Principled Leadership. The alternative is “philanthropic prostitution.” In other words, the historic and undeniably effective philanthropic endeavor and beliefs of the Boy Scouts of America is now up for negotiation if the donor’s gift is large enough to gain its attention. Then it becomes a matter of discussion as to how much money and what size donation will determine what the BSA now believes is a “morally straight” policy. The question before the BSA is really simple. Has the principled position of all the primary religions of the world and eons of human cultural history affirming the ethical parameters of monogamous, heterosexual, marital sex been misguided at best and bigoted at worse? Or is this the time to once again say no to the age-old rebellion of humanity against the Law of God whether apodictic Law-revealed in the Ten Commandments- or natural Law revealed in Creation. The leadership of the BSA must make clear that what is “morally straight” will not be determined by so-called philanthropic donors or dictated by the pressure tactics and intimidation of the “cultural elite.” It is simply an unswerving commitment to what is right.

The question many have asked is what do we do then with the applicant for scouting who is grappling with homosexuality. That answer is simple. Scout leaders attempt to assist them toward what is a “morally straight” perspective and practice of sexuality between a man and a woman in the context of marriage, just as they would with an applicant who is grappling with heterosexual promiscuity. You don’t accept people by accepting unacceptable behavior. The BSA must say no to those who would take advantage of their right motivations to affirm people by using emotional blackmail to insist that you must affirm someone’s destructive behavior in order to affirm them. But the simple fact is if homosexuality is affirmed and therefore deemed acceptable, then then there is no logical reason to declare either homosexuality or even heterosexual promiscuity as inappropriate or wrong for scouts or scout leaders.

 But in reality the objective of the GBLT has nothing to do with opening the ranks of the BSA to homosexual scouts or even scout leaders. It has everything to do with the relentless attempt to infiltrate every arena and institution of society to make the once unthinkable, first thinkable, then do-able and finally acceptable. The full unfettered acceptance of homosexual practice as affirmed and appropriate behavior in every aspect of society is the true objective of the GBLT and the BSA is about to determine whether it will remain principled or become a pawn to further the death spiral of contemporary sexual anarchy by participating in it to appease already compromised donors.

To the GBLT movement and members and to those who are dealing with the issue of sexuality, homosexuality is not addressed by re-writing sexual ethics. It is dealt with by the power of the Gospel that both freely forgives any and all the sins of any and all who put their trust in Christ because of His atoning death and triumphant resurrection and furthermore transforms sinners into Christ-followers who imperfectly but increasingly are “growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ our Lord” in every aspect of life including sexuality. This is why the Apostle Paul in the midst of a culture at a place called Corinth so sexually aberrant that it was a slur even among the pagans to be called a “Corinthian.”  But when the Gospel of power came nothing would be the same again and neither would sinners saved by His grace…

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, not idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. I Corinthians 6:9-11

Let me conclude with two thoughts. First of all as is obvious in the above quote; to all of those who are dealing with the attractions and seductions of homosexuality. The same Gospel that forgives and transforms any and all sins and sinners will also forgive and transform you. Social approval manipulated through intimidation will never make what is wrong right nor can it remove shame and guilt. But Christ can and will and furthermore He loves and delights to receive and to save sinners, which is why He died for us. So come to Him who came “to seek and to save the lost.” You cannot break God’s Law without it breaking you. But there is One who came to save law-breakers and that is the Law-giver Himself Jesus Christ. He took our place on the cross under the righteous judgment of God the Father to bear our sins and their judgment so that we might truly live by coming to Him with faith and repentance.

Secondly, to the BSA leadership, the leadership position(s) of almost every institution in our society is filled with those who have benefitted from your creed, competency building and character-based training regimen. Please do not lose the heart, soul and content of your historic movement. While I did not have the blessing of participating personally in the Boy Scouts, I have long admired its reputation and have enjoyed the privilege of observing its positive impact in the three churches I have pastored who benefited significantly by overseeing stellar Cub Scout and Boy Scout troops and troop leaders. Obviously if you choose to take the path of compromise affirming sexual aberration instead of principled leadership you will put our church leadership in a place of facing “a fork in the road” and we will “take it.”  Your choice to accept the unacceptable will then become our Providential opportunity to remain faithful to what is true and right while remembering that to love and accept people does not mean that we are required to accept unacceptable behavior in fact selfless love requires the identification of unacceptable and therefore destructive behavior.

But at the moment it is the BSA which is at a “fork in the road” and you must “take it.” The path of “principled leadership” promises not only to maintain a  marvelous legacy but actually build on it with that glorious leadership attribute of moral courage even in the face of an assured response of future adversity. The other path of “philanthropic prostitution” promises an inevitable journey into the oblivion of compromised irrelevance and ultimate dissolution.

Leave a Response »

 

Thoughts on 40 Years of Roe v Wade and The American Culture of Death Tuesday, Feb 19 2013

…I have set before you life and death…now choose life so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life…Deut 30:20ff

Having passed the 40^th year commemoration of the unconstitutional, illegal and utterly devastating Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision producing legislation and now public funding for the unprecedented assault upon the unborn child in the womb, I think it is proper to reflect on its devastating effect as a key event in the death spiral of western culture. We have moved from being a culture that imperfectly yet intentionally affirms, appreciates and celebrates life and liberty to one that now allows, funds and applauds a fabricated right to put to death the most helpless individuals in society who reside in what ought to be the safest place in society – the womb of their mother. Christ-followers, saved by grace, are called in no uncertain terms to “choose life” in the midst of the onslaught of death in a culture of unbridled self-absorption and self-aggrandizement. In response to the mounting tide of depravity in a society aggressively and militantly opposed to the Word of God, believers must “choose life.” The moment demands the choice. Will the people of God, who are redeemed by the grace of God, surrender to the culture of death and despair? Or will we choose to promote and proclaim a culture of life and hope? The dilemma and the moment are neither new nor unique.                        

God’s covenant people have always been surrounded by cultures of death and despair in a fallen world.  In Egypt during the captivity, the governmental assault upon children was met by Hebrew midwives who “chose life.” In Rome, during the beginning of the New Testament church, Christians were surrounded by a death culture where widows were left to die, unwanted children were thrown into rivers and trash heaps, and the helpless were virtually eliminated. But believers cared for the widows; they fished children out of rivers and rescued them from trash heaps; they helped the helpless while refusing, under the penalty of death, to say “Caesar is lord” in order to confess that “Jesus is Lord.” 

Considering the horror of pagan cultures living in death and despair provokes within us an emotional tide of revulsion, yet today’s evangelical church does not need to look back to the corridors of history, we can simply survey our current neo-pagan culture.  We live in an America that is addicted to sexual promiscuity, perversion, and violence; all the while drowning in a culture of death that is propagated by media fascination, entertainment profits and by an academic community which promotes ethical chaos in the pursuit of personal ascendancy. The result? Children, who survived as targets for death in the womb, are now making other children the targets of death while blithely going on their own personal journey into an adulthood of unrestrained narcissism that was initiated by the generation that raised them.  

NEWTOWN, CONNECTICUT

Many were rightly horrified when the December 14, 2012 Newtown, Connecticut massacre began to fill the news cycle, not only in America, but throughout the world.  Twenty children and six adults were killed.  It was an onslaught of death and mayhem in of all places, the pre-supposed safe haven of an elementary school. But not announced by the news media, on the very same day in Connecticut seventy other children were assaulted and put to death in what ought to be the safest haven in all of God’s creation—the womb. Furthermore, on December 15, 2012, seventy more were put to death; on December 16, 2012, seventy more; on December 17, 18 and on, and on, and on. 

On that horrific day we observed elected leaders shed tears over those twenty students. And rightly so! But it should also be noted that many of these same leaders, just weeks before, applauded and cheered as the votes were cast and counted for a platform plank consigning an untold number of children in the womb to death by an adopted policy of unfettered abortion (soon to be publicly funded). For this astonishing phenomenon simply view the re-runs of the Democratic Party National Convention while listening to the carefully worded policies announced and approved to affirm the unrestrained promotion of abortion while promising public funding, all with the attendant applause and cheers of a pep rally. 

9/11/2001 AND ROE v WADE

Allow an attempt to try and put the horror of abortion and our death culture in perspective. On September 11, 2001, we all heard and saw how religious terrorists using airplanes took the lives of 3000 innocent Americans. On that same day another three thousand plus innocent Americans came under the terrorist assault of the abortionist’s needle or knife. Another three thousand were assaulted the next day. Then the next. Then the next, and on to this very day and every day since. Yet no one except those performing the acts of terror upon these children saw or heard the horror of their death and few tears—if any—were shed for them.   

Since the Roe v Wade decision 40 years ago, 60 plus million human lives have been aborted, and therefore destroyed. Less than 2% of those abortions occurred to save the life of the mother. We live in a culture that unhesitatingly and arrogantly celebrates its autonomy against the law of God – “Thou shalt not murder.” Then, when the culture of death we have initiated strikes a school yard, we fumble around for solutions which are politically correct but inherently thoughtless, superficial and illogical. Why? Because we refuse to see evil for what it is, lest we see ourselves in the mirror of depravity and have to own our responsibility for what it is: complicity. So instead of thoughtfully investigating the root of our society’s problems and recognizing the horror of death and despair that engulfs our culture, our leaders actually promote a surrender to the death culture with solutions that turn our schools into miniature prisons, complete with barricades, barbed wire, armed guards and locked doors. If the womb isn’t safe, why would we assume a locked-down school would be safe in the American death culture? 

A LESSON FROM NOSTALGIA

Is it possible that someone might simply raise the question in public discourse, “Oh my goodness, fifty years ago children, as a matter of course, walked to school and then came home?”  I doubt they would. Because that would lead to the next question: “Why can’t they do so today?” Fifty years ago, our children did not need armed guards to protect them at school. They walked to school, walked home and then played outside. Who today would allow their children to walk to school or play unsupervised in the neighborhood? No, today we must guard them and imprison them in order to protect them from the death culture we have produced. Guns? There were plenty of guns 50 years ago. Did guns suddenly develop a mind of their own or spontaneously become aggressive? Obviously not! 

 The true question is what kind of culture produces people who use guns, not for protection but rather for murder, mayhem and massacre in order to create a moment of personal significance. We have enlarged our culture of death from targeting children in the womb to targeting children in the classroom. The politically correct response is to legislate gun control and ban firearms. The thoughtful will immediately recognize that the evil of death by the use of guns will never be stopped by outlawing guns any more than outlawing spoons will solve the problem of morbid obesity. We desperately need leaders who do not put Band-Aids on our cultural cancer. We need leaders who will do surgery and we need a revived church to bring a Gospel stem-cell transplant to a society on its deathbed.   

TWO REASONS FOR OUR CULTURE OF DEATH

So how did we get here? Risking the criticism of being overly simplistic, I would suggest we have arrived in a culture of death via two watershed events. The first is the unchallenged predominance of an atheistic Darwinism – the evolutionary view of origins that is relentlessly taught and promoted without allowing debate in the academy, the media and the public square. Its religious faith-premise is that all of creation and humanity is somehow the result of a chance explosion of bits, pieces, molecules and atoms (of course we have no idea of their origin as freely admitted by even its proponents). All of this somehow “explosively” produced life, laws, beauty and order further developed by mutation and “the survival of the fittest” as the necessary violent mechanism propelling the evolution of life to present day humanity. 

 The unchallenged irrationality of Darwinian evolution married to the religion of atheism logically paves the way to the targeting of the vulnerable and the inconvenient in our culture of death. It is the “powerful” and “the fittest surviving” by bringing the weapons of death upon the unfit, the weak and the unwanted. To be even more precise: the most vulnerable and inconvenient targets for death will be children. First, the children in the womb where we can’t see or hear them die; then, the children in the schoolroom where, at least for the moment, we are thankfully still horrified by seeing and hearing them die. Yet even as I write this, I hear an L.A. news station report that two 5^th graders with a hit list, a gun, and a knife were caught planning to start a killing spree beginning with a 5^th grade girl who had annoyed them.                                       

Secondly, as Dr. Frances Schaeffer warned us years ago in his prescient production, Whatever Happened to the Human Race?, abortion would only be the beginning of a publicly affirmed and applauded culture of death. Roe v Wade has devolved into state approved – now state funded and politically cheered – abortion with no ethical or even emotional restraints.  Have you noticed that you no longer hear people say, “let’s keep abortion but make it safe and rare?”  Of course, the statement is obviously nonsensical. If, in fact, that which is in the womb is nothing more than an inconvenient piece of valueless tissue or a choice, then why should abortion be “safe and rare?” You don’t hear politicians or doctors advocating for “safe and rare” tonsillectomies, appendectomies or elective surgeries. The reason we used to hear, “keep it safe and rare,” is because deep down we knew it was not a tissue; it was not a choice; it is simply not an “it”. It is a child and therefore a life. That’s why the abortion debate will not silently go away even after 40 years. We all know in our hearts that what resides in a womb is a life. That’s why husbands say, “My wife is with child.” That is why mothers say, “I’m pregnant with a child.” They don’t say, “We are with fetus.” All of us know, biologically and in our hearts, that what resides in the womb is a person complete with its Divinely-designed DNA for life. It is a life. It is a child.  

Roe v Wade was just as imbecilic and self-contradictory—both logically and constitutionally—as the Supreme Court cases used to uphold slavery a century ago by declaring human beings as 3/5^th of a person. Just as the church, beginning with the pulpit, should have spoken then, we must speak now. We know, no matter what the government says, a life in the womb is a living child. As Christ-followers we cannot keep silent. Yet according to a reputable survey, 76% of the members of Protestant churches believe Roe v Wade should be untouched and 64% of Roman Catholics believe the same. At the moment, the only religious entity that has a majority who say something should be done about Roe v Wade is the Evangelical church, and that only by a tenuous majority of 54%. 

Abortion and its inevitable offspring of infanticide are soon to be followed by the requirement of the elderly to die in a rationed health care society—active euthanasia. We are drowning in a culture of death and despair. As grateful as I am that people are horrified with massacres like Newtown, Aurora, Virginia Tech, and Columbine, the reality is that we ought to be asking ourselves other questions: “Why is it that we have a dominant, dark, gothic culture of death where the biggest movie attractions are saturated with graphic and gratuitous death and destruction? Why is it that our most popular video games train children and youth to keep score by the senseless slaughter of others in order to ‘win?’” Why? Why are we so entranced by death? 

THE THIRD RAIL

I would suggest, though, that there is a third reason for the culture of death and despair. The culture is often unchallenged by professing believers because the church and the culture are consistently unchallenged by silent pulpits. To my preaching colleagues – we  cannot therefore we must not be silent. Your voice for life may initially cost attendance and applause. It may lead to persecution. But silence is not an option. What would have happened if our preacher forbearers had spoken from the pulpits in the 19^th century with Biblical clarity on the insane practice of chattel slavery (man stealing), as William Wilberforce and John Newton did in England? Perhaps 700,000 lives lost in the Civil War might have been spared and an entire race of people affirmed with freedom and dignity. Silence was wrong then and silence is wrong now. If we choose to be silent then in reality we have chosen to affirm and accelerate the culture of death and despair. Furthermore, our people will neither be awakened nor equipped to “set life” before a broken and fallen world. 

Remarkably, many of us as pastors will speak eloquently from our pulpits on the moral issues applauded by our contemporary culture. Issues such as racism and sex-trafficking will permeate our discourse, and well they should! But why do our members have to make an office appointment with us to find out where we stand on the Sanctity of Life and abortion? Could it be because our selective pulpit ministry only embraces the moral and social issues of justice approved by our culture, while we avoid those issues of which it disapproves?  Are we fearfully hiding behind the veil of ministry contextualization to avoid “speaking the truth in love”? Contextualization in ministry rightly understood means for us to speak in terms the culture understands. But today contextualization means speaking only on the terms the culture approves. Contextualization then becomes an excuse for our pulpit silence on the issues which our culture forbids us to address yet we readily speak to the issues the culture dictates and approves. 

Recently I read excerpts from journals written by confessing evangelical pastors in Germany after WWII. With broken hearts, these pastors acknowledged, “We saw the Nazis taking the Jewish people to slaughter and we closed our eyes and shut out ears to save ourselves and our ministries.” One pastor said, “The Jewish prisoners, jammed in railroad cars crying for help passed behind our church each Sunday. Our response was to turn up the organ louder so we could not hear them.” 

The only difference between our German predecessors and us today is that we cannot hear the silent screams uttered from the womb. But we know they are screaming as they are taken to slaughter. We turn up the volume in our worship services and turn down the volume in our pulpits on the issue of a child’s life in the womb. Is it possible that we could, beginning with the pulpit, “choose life” and therefore regain the ability and authority to “set life” before our culture appropriately, thoughtfully, compassionately, and courageously. If we do not, then we have, by default, chosen death. We have said “no” to life which, in turn, makes us complicit in the prevailing culture of death. Today, you and I live in a nation where 35 to 40% of all children conceived this year will be murdered by the abortionist’s knife or needle. This phenomenon is cascading into a flood of death, from abortion to infanticide; not only in the hospital nursery with signs that say, “Do not feed” but also in our homes. Of the children ages 5 and under who are murdered each year, one out of three will be killed by their parents. 

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?

As stated earlier, I believe we are in this situation because of the devastating and unscientific view of origins (atheistic Darwinian evolution) and because of the 40 year Roe v Wade journey into death and despair (with its affirmation and public funding of a politically enforced unrestrained right to kill the most defenseless life in God’s creation, a child in the womb), and because of the silence in our pulpits resulting in the deafening silence of  Christians. But there is a solution! God’s people can, in contrast to this culture, as urged in Deuteronomy 30:20 “choose life” and “set life” before a dying world. We can call our culture to “choose life” by modeling a culture of life in the church. How? 

When believers “choose life” it means first and foremost to choose God, to surrender to His saving grace in Christ and then worship Him in all of life. Imagine what would happen if we, as believers, worshiped the Triune God of glory, not only when we gather on Sundays but also with our lives. Inevitably the culture of death would be faced with a flourishing culture of life reveling in the glory of God as Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer? 

What would happen to the American culture of death if, in God’s Providence, those of us not blessed biologically with children would say to the world: “Give us your unwanted children. Don’t kill them. Give them to us. We will place them in our foster homes. We will adopt them into our own families.” God’s people must choose life and hope and then offer it to those drowning in the culture of death and despair by giving them a choice of life and hope for them and their children. When God is worshipped because God’s grace in Christ has set us free to live life with courage, conviction and compassion, then God’s people can “set life” before those who are the purveyors of death and who are the targets of death in the culture. 

PERSONALLY CHOOSE LIFE

I know some reading this, while influenced by the culture of death and despair, which married to a relentless pursuit of self-love and the idolatry of happiness as defined by the world inevitably leads to wrong decisions. Perhaps in that moment you chose death for an unborn or perhaps you encouraged, funded or pressured a woman to choose death for an unborn. I long for you to know that the Gospel of grace will bring you life and forgiveness today if you will “choose life” in Christ!  David took the life of Uriah, but by God’s grace he repented and was forgiven. Moses took the life of an Egyptian. He repented and was forgiven. Paul, previously Saul, was a religious terrorist. He repented and was forgiven. There is a Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who will forgive you if, by repentance and faith, you will turn to him. Come to Him—Jesus saves. Don’t travel the dead-end road of behavior modification. Don’t play the victim. Don’t live in denial. Simply yet profoundly say, “Lord, I have sinned, but in you I have a Risen Savior who died on the cross for my sins. Forgive me—save me. 

As for those of us who have been guilty of silence or who have disengaged from the culture: we can also repent and “choose life”. Then, together, we can and will commit to setting life before the culture death. 

Our first step is to proclaim the life-redeeming Gospel of Jesus Christ to lost men and women who have embraced the deceitfulness of the father of lies, Satan, who “was a murderer from the beginning.”  If we will persistently and passionately bring the Gospel of saving grace and life to others by announcing that Jesus Christ freely saves sinners, and if we would disciple Christ-followers so that they develop Christ-centered LifeStyles, then they will be propelled by a Christ-centered LifeLove, informed by a Christ-centered LifeView, and we, with compassion, humility, courage and conviction, will propagate life and hope to a culture of death and despair. Intentionally, we would embrace Gospel deeds of love, mercy, and justice. We would also engage in intentional Gospel-evangelism and disciple-making and others would see Christ in us and hear Christ from us. Christ, the Lord of glory—Christ, the Word of life—Christ, the Lord of life. 

Finally, we must engage the culture in multiple venues, undergirded first and foremost by intercessory prayer. The battle is the Lord’s.  So let’s pray to the Victor of the battle that He will use us and empower us. We know the culture of death is rooted in the financial industry of death and its multi-billion dollar profits and will not be defeated without an enormous struggle. When we “choose life” and assault death, we will inevitably become a target of the death culture because of its financial investments, its gods of mammon and its self-absorption are threatened. The evil empire of darkness will assuredly strike back. In that day only the Lord can give us the victory and He gives the victories through praying people.  

Engage prayerfully in Gospel evangelism and discipleship. Then thoughtfully engage the issues of the day.  The opportunities are limitless. Perhaps you will be involved at the point of legislation, restraining the death spiral of the culture. Perhaps you can engage by ministering to women in crisis situations through Save-A-Life Ministries or by opening your home to foster care or adoption. Perhaps you can encourage and support the single mom who chooses life with your love, fellowship and hospitality. Investigate every avenue and prayerfully seek how the Lord might lead you and use you. But don’t sit on the sidelines and don’t be silent. 

Contrary to atheistic Darwin evolution, life is not a cosmic accident developed by chance through mindless mutations. You are not here bearing the image of God by virtue of the “survival of the fittest.” Life is Divinely designed and created. Life is sacred from conception until death. The Lord gives life and the Lord takes away life. The assault on children in the womb, in the classroom, in the hospital nursery and in the nursing homes targeting the unproductive and the unwanted will consume us or we will challenge it. It must be challenged with the “weapons of the Spirit” and the “power of the Gospel.” 

OUR COMMITTMENT

You ask, “What can I do? I am just an ordinary everyday person. Do you really believe I can make a difference?”  How I wish I could eradicate that thought from your mind! Many, just like you, are making a monumental difference –with organizations like Save-A-Life, tutoring programs, marriage counseling and ministries of mercy. One preacher said it this way: “to make a difference you simply have to be FIT—Faithful, Intentional, and Teachable.” Here am I Lord. I will not be silent nor watch from the sidelines. I will “choose life” out of love to You who brought life to me in Christ. By the grace of God, I will set before this culture life through Gospel evangelism, discipleship, ministries of mercy and justice while engaging the public square. But do know this: God loves to take ordinary people and do extraordinary things. 

One such man was named Telemachus, a fourth century, pastor and monk. At the conclusion of his life and knowing he didn’t have long to live, Telemachus decided to make a pilgrimage to Rome. When he arrived, he was swept up with the crowd into the Coliseum. Suddenly, in front of his eyes, he saw what he had heard about but dared not believe was true.  Muscled, trained men for the entertainment of others were engaged in mortal combat – The Gladiators. With horror Telemachus saw them kill each other while spectators cheered and laughed at the gory, frenzied spectacle. But on that day in the Coliseum Telemachus “chose life” and “set life” before Rome. 

From his seat he cried out, “In the name of Christ, stop! In the name of Christ, stop!” No one was listening so he moved to the edge of wall, stood on it and said “In the name of Christ, stop! In the name of Christ, stop.” No one paid any attention except some nearby who mocked and jeered him. Still not content he jumped into the arena. Standing between the Gladiators he said “In the name of Christ, stop!” One agitated Gladiator pushed him aside but he returned. Then Telemachus pushed his way between the armed Gladiators and held his hands before them and said “In the name of Christ, stop!” The Gladiator now, clearly annoyed and irritated, took his weapon and ran it through Telemachus. He lifted him up and impaled him in the ground. 

As his life blood drained out, with his last breath Telemachus said, “Please, in the name of Christ, stop.”  The Gladiator who killed him stopped, looked, and laid down his weapon. The other Gladiators, who were thought to be accustomed to death, looked at the dying monk and ceased their combat and laid down their weapons. The crowd that had been mocking, laughing, and cheering became eerily silent. Then as if someone had given a signal to all of them, the Gladiators and the crowd, walked out of the Coliseum in utter silence. The profitable governmental entertainment pacifier of the culture of death on that day ceased to exist. That was the last day Gladiator battles were conducted in the Roman Coliseum. 

I don’t know how God will lead you but, like Telemachus, you can “choose life” and “set life” before our culture of death. Proclaim the Gospel and, in the midst of death, with your last breath say, “In the name of Christ, stop!” The point is not so much that you or I can make a difference for Christ but, like Telemachus, we will not make a difference simply with our voice or from the stands. Those whom the Lord uses to make a difference, in the Name of Christ, must go into the arena and be willing to die.

Leave a Response »

 

THOUGHTS ON THE INSANITY AND ABSURDITY OF SENDING OUR WIVES AND DAUGHTERS INTO COMBAT AND THREE EGALITARIAN MYTHS Tuesday, Feb 12 2013

“And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Gen. 1:27

My wife is Cindy. Cindy and I are different. Praise the Lord! This is an obvious statement. In fact, it is more accurately an understatement. In legal terms and God-given inalienable rights, my wife and I, like other men and women, are absolutely equal. Furthermore, we are equal as Christians. Both of us are sinners and incapable of saving ourselves or coming up with a religion that is able to save us. Most of all we are equal in that both of us have been gloriously and undeservedly saved by the grace of God from the tomb of sin to the triumph of Christ by His Cross and by His Resurrection. Yet those marvelous realities of equality do not mean that we are the same.

Egalitarian Myth #1: Equality = Sameness!
Let me give some examples. First one is academic ability. Cindy was in the Honor Society and graduated Cum Laude. I … graduated. (It was reported that when I walked across the stage and received my diploma my dad did shout “laude how come!”) At times, Cindy and I have the opportunity to work out together at the gym. We do not lift the same weights. Likewise in parenting, Cindy, as wonderful as she is, cannot give a father’s love to our children; nor can I give them that unique dynamic of a mother’s love. We are not the same. We are equal but not the same. We are different and that is a glorious blessing for us and our children. Why? Because our children need us as parents of equality but they also need us in the distinctive yet complementary roles of mother and father which are made possible in light of our gender-based differences.

All of the above, which can be multiplied by similar illustrations, do not exist because of tradition-laden cultural oppression. They exist simply, yet profoundly, because of our Divinely-designed differences. We are not the product of a series of cosmic accidents and mindless mutations. God made me and He made Cindy, just as He did each and every one of us. All of us are created equal but none of us are created the same individually nor are we afflicted with gender sameness. “Man” is created male and female and therefore unique by gender as well as individually. But even more to the point of this particular article, God made me as a man both able and responsible to protect my wife. Common sense and natural law not only support this claim, they punctuate it. This does not mean that in a moment of danger a woman’s motherly protective instincts will not rise to the occasion, but it does mean that I am the one who was designed and called to protect her, as well as our children.

The conviction of this moral imperative embedded in the culture through Christian influence is why the sinking of the Titanic recorded the sacrificial deaths of hundreds of men, many of whom were multi-billionaires while hundreds of women and children were saved some of whom were domestics and indentured servants. Women and children first to the lifeboats! Interestingly, we recently witnessed the sinking of a cruise liner in the Mediterranean Sea, providing a vivid example of the rampant narcissism and gender chaos of today’s culture as everyone stampeded for the lifeboats only to be outdistanced by the captain. Our wives and daughters can and may have to assist us in an extremity as we regularly complement each other daily but men bear the primary responsibility to protect and provide for their wives and daughters intentionally. Let me repeat, after experiencing and observing the bravery of women, I am fully aware and assured of their desire and readiness to assist in any emergency and men and women do not live in isolation of one another but interdependently with each other. But as men we do not and must not send our wives and daughters to protect us and our homes.

Egalitarian Myth #2: Equality = Interchangeability.
Men and women complement each other by their ontological equality and their existential diversity. Men and women are not interchangeable parts with only insignificant physical cosmetic differences. We are equal, yet we are different and therefore not interchangeable; biologically, psychologically, physiologically, socially, relationally, etc. Simply consider some of the delightful everyday common experiences we have with one another by observing the unique ways men and women converse, relate, observe, problem-solve, plan, perceive life, use words and on and on. The list is delightfully endless. We are equal but not the same; we are equal but not interchangeable.

Egalitarian Myth #3: Gender Distinctiveness = Gender Superiority/Inferiority
Difference is not an issue of superiority or inferiority, it is simply difference. In reality, the difference we enjoy is marvelous and ought to be celebrated instead of attacked, circumvented and denied. Why do we arrogantly and aggressively avoid our complementary gifts, skills and calling to descend into the myth of egalitarianism? At best it is the result of misguided policies; or at worst the result of an agenda propagated by self-anointed social engineers who are motivated by an atheistic Darwinian evolutionary view of origins, which, in essence, is demonstrably more philosophical and religious than scientific.

The Practical Reality
Let me pose the question begging to be asked and answered. In the full scope of a national military system, is there a place for women to participate by using their unique gifts to complement the combat role of men to properly protect our nation or, as it is called today, our Home(land)? Absolutely! One only has to read the history of how the complementary role of women contributed to the stunning 3-front victory of World War II and furthermore, how it actually supplied and enabled men to victoriously endure combat. Or the Deborah’s and Jael’s in the Bible. But is that place to replace the role of men who are created, designed and called to physically and, if necessary, violently and combatively defend and protect their home and those who reside within it? Absolutely not!

It’s late at night. I hear the glass in the door downstairs breaking and the door opening and then footsteps. I turn to my wife and say “Honey, there is someone breaking into our home downstairs and, since I know you are willing, why don’t you go downstairs and see if you can overpower him? By the way if he maims you or kills you don’t worry! I have two daughters who are brave enough to go down and risk their life to protect our home while I remain here safe.

This hypothetical scenario is patently and stunningly ridiculous. Yet, interestingly what we would be embarrassed to contemplate personally much less actually do within our own home we are assertively doing nationally with either pathetic naiveté or intentionally absurdity.

The Unbelievable Reality
The unbelievable reality is that the men of this nation are allowing the politically correct, elected officials in general and unfortunately our President in particular—along with the elite self-appointed culture-shapers pontificating while shielded in the media and the academy—to institute policies which will send our wives and daughters, not effectively into the military to use their unique skills and abilities to enhance our armed forces, but to the front lines to protect the Home(land) while they (and we) remain safely in our room. Forget for the moment the obvious arguments of how ignoring gender differences will inevitably force the adoption of inadequate training regimens and standards, inadequate testing for combat readiness, necessary redefinition of combat protocols and the inevitable sexual mayhem in the combat theater (already documented). I am fully aware of the claim that today’s combat is not the same and to some degree I agree. But boots on the ground, hand to hand combat, dragging a 200+ comrade to safety, carrying 45 lb. support equipment, etc. has not and will not change.

Finally, it is simply and utterly staggering to hear the President of the United States in the same speech question whether he would allow his son to play football because it is too dangerous while simultaneously promoting an irrational and mythical moral imperative to send the wives and daughters of our nation into harm’s way to possibly be killed and maimed on the front lines. I have heard the argument – “but it is a volunteer armed service”. It is at the moment until a draft is necessary and given the present framework used to promote women in combat, the drafting of our wives and daughters would be inevitable and inevitably pursued legally. Now consider how many fathers and husbands will be imprisoned before they allow this travesty to be visited upon their marriages and their families. This historically unthinkable initiative will not only degrade our military readiness and effectiveness, it will also ultimately demoralize an entire nation in the name and cause of an unrestrained and foolish definition of equality – the untenable notion that equality demands gender sameness and interchangeability.

The juggernaut of social and cultural irrationality has now spread from the laughable and the ridiculous to the dangerous and the frightening, as a nation sacrifices its wives and daughters by sending them into combat at the inevitable expense of national security, combat integrity, military effectiveness and efficiency. We are in desperate need of sane and courageous leadership. Unfortunately my generation, decade after decade, has proven itself incapable of providing such leaders and/or solving cultural problems. Yet we do seem to be quite adept at creating them. In our narcissistic fascination arrogantly promoting cultural absurdity and insanity which is now supported and propagated in the halls of government and a Pentagon led by politically correct and politically ambitious Generals, we have clearly lost our way. My hope and prayer is that the patience of God will lead us to repentance (that’s correct I believe this is sin) and a Gospel awakening through the next generation bringing a flood of redeeming and transforming grace which will produce an outpouring and overflow of God’s common grace. I freely admit my desire and prayer that my children and grandchildren might inherit a nation of sanity and not the national ruins of absurdity in rebellion against the Triune God of glory, who alone is Creator, Redeemer and Provider.

Leave a Response »

 

Pastoral Letter Sent to The Leadership of the Boy Scouts of America Tuesday, Feb 5 2013

February 4
I, along with many others who have appreciated the efforts and legacy of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) are deeply disheartened and dismayed by the proposed policy change from the National Leadership of the organization. As Pastor of a church in Birmingham, Alabama with a longstanding and effective Boy Scout Troop and Cub Scout Pack which also enjoys productive relationships with other like-minded Troops and Packs in Birmingham, I cannot say what our ultimate response will be if this policy change is enacted. That decision will be determined by the governing board of our church. However, I am fully aware that if the policy change does take place there will be a clear response based upon our ethical convictions and values which were once shared with the BSA and we hope will yet continue to be shared.

On a personal note, my disappointment with the National Leadership of the Boy Scouts of America can be summarized in three areas.

1. Contrary to the stated aims and historic practice of promoting principled leaders through the BSA, the proposed policy change betrays any notion of principled leadership. I am not immediately referring to the content of the proposed changes concerning the qualifications for membership and leadership but to the example of leaders at a national level who seem to have no abiding convictions as evidenced by responding to external pressures with a proposed policy which if enacted potentially exposes local leaders to both legal and social vulnerabilities by requiring them to make the decisions that the national leadership ought to make on behalf of the organization. It is staggering that an organization devoted to developing principled leaders is being lead by leaders who evidently not only refuse to lead but who willingly expose subordinate leaders to personal and organizational liabilities by requiring them to make decisions which should be made at a national level. By not providing principled leadership the local leaders and participants will be placed in potentially disastrous positions financially both personally and organizationally.

2. The content of the decision clearly embraces and affirms the sexual anarchy of this present age including the irrationality of assigning civil rights to sexual practices, preferences and choices. Therefore the longstanding legal and social benefits of a heterosexual, monogamous, marital ethic governing sexuality which is absolutely foundational to an ordered society will be undermined and ultimately abandoned in light of this decision. This response to political, economic and social pressure by those who embrace a commitment to culturally mainstream sexual chaos, promiscuity and perversion will be the demise of the organization as it presently exists and perhaps to its existence at all. Why would the national leadership embrace such a decision in light of these assured effects. The only conclusion possible is that the current national leadership has determined that its historical ethical values have a price tag. In a word ethical values are now for sale in the BSA for promised continued financial support. The end does not justify the means. The means will always ultimately determine the end.

3. The third reason is the short-sightedness manifested in not anticipating or caring for the multiple liabilities which the proposed policy change will assuredly produce. The Lesbian, Gay, Transgender Movement (LGTM) has no desire to be a part of the current Boy Scouts of America. It only desires to redesign and redefine its purposes and values at best and its actual destruction at worst. Those Troops and Packs in the organization who attempt to remain faithful to its ethical commitments and historic values will then become the new targets of a militant LGT Movement. This means they will also become targets for the media assault and significant legal and financial threats. In addition some of the Troops and Packs will determine that they cannot continue in an organization that will exchange ethical values for promised financial support and/or that they cannot trust a national leadership that has exposed them financially and legally. While leadership vulnerability in local organizations is troubling, even more troubling is the prospect of exposing the BSA participants at a highly impressionable life stage to the sexual anarchy of the present age. Finally the BSA will cease to exist as we have known and appreciated it for decades. It remains to be seen as to how many Boy Scout Troops and Cub Scout Packs will either withdraw to another organization or simply no longer exist.

I would simply request that first you consider the almost innumerable negative consequences which will inevitably accompany this policy change. Then in light of the threats being made by those who are opposed to the historic values and mission of the BSA, provide rational and courageous leadership for the long term viability of the Boy Scouts of America by recalling this policy change and reaffirming the tried and true policies and practices of this volunteer organization which have served you well for decades.

Respectfully,

Harry L. Reeder, III

Leave a Response »

 

A Life Lesson from America’s Pastime Tuesday, Dec 4 2012

One blessing of participating in sports is that it provides an amazing training ground for life. Last year “America’s Pastime” provided a near perfect example of grace in action.

Armando Galarraga, a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, was having a tough season. In fact, he was on the verge of being sent back to the Minor Leagues. Given one more starting assignment, he pitched 8 flawless innings and stood only three outs away from the rare and coveted “perfect game.” With only two outs to go, the next batter hit a groundball fielded by the first baseman who tossed it to Galarraga as he covered first base. This play, like the entire game up to that point, was worked to perfection – except the umpire called the runner safe, who was obviously out. Galarraga simply smiled. It was a smile which conveyed, as one sports writer said, “a hope that the umpire was right because it sure seemed as if he was wrong.” The instant replay showed the runner was out and the umpire, Jim Joyce, was wrong. The obligatory and expected anger of the manager, team and crowd descended upon the arbiter, the Umpire Jim Joyce, except for one person – Galarraga. After the game while the media attempted to bait him into an angry response of condemning the umpire who made the bad call, Galarraga again simply smiled and softly said, “we all make mistakes.”

When Jim Joyce saw the replay he immediately and sincerely declared, “I cost that kid a perfect game.” Joyce personally went to Galarraga and asked for forgiveness. Galarraga not only forgave Joyce but attempted to console the visibly distraught umpire. Whether the two men are believers are not, they both exhibited the grace of confession and forgiveness.
Only, this story was not yet over. Joyce, being the first base umpire in rotation, would be the home plate umpire the next day and of course expected nothing but abuse, anger and jeers from the crowd. To start a game, the manager normally brings the starting lineup card to the home plate umpire but this time, the Tiger’s Manager sent Galarraga. When the two men met at home plate, Joyce wept and Galarraga again smiled, put his arm around him and consoled him. The private reconciliation of the day before became public. The crowd erupted spontaneous cheers and applause.
What would happen if Christ-followers intentionally acted this way toward each other? Did not Christ call us to “forgive others as we have been forgiven?” Would the world then react the same way those baseball fans did if we responded to the challenges of life graciously for Christ’s sake? They might not cheer, but they might be amazed and might even ask us what enables us to patiently forgive and encourage another.
That day baseball did its job of teaching lessons of life but tantalizingly manifested what Paul calls “the abundant life.” We live in a broken world therefore constantly have to deal with disappointments. We are not allowed to respond with vengeance. We are called to overcome evil with good. Here was a young man who had in his hands “the perfect game.” It was taken from him by an error, but he rose above the circumstance, realizing that even though he was denied a “perfect game” he lived in an “imperfect world.”

I hope and pray that Galarraga knows the Redeemer. I also pray that those who are redeemed will be challenged by this event to live redemptively by grace because of God’s saving grace. Because of his response, I was curious to know what or who was in Galarraga’s life that caused him to exhibit such courage and grace. Shortly thereafter in an interview, his wife said his response was no surprise because that “is just who he is.” Her comment reminded me of a maxim that I developed earlier to challenge my faltering life – Circumstances do not dictate your character, they reveal it and provide the opportunity to refine it. Armando Galarraga’s character was revealed in a circumstance which challenges me to call upon God’s transforming grace in my life to be, in the midst of disappointments, courageous, forgiving and gracious toward for Christ.
Being from a three-generation baseball family, a number of people asked me after this event if I thought we needed “instant replay” in baseball. My immediate answer was “absolutely not!” I personally believe that it is good, if not great, when “imperfections” happen in baseball. Why? Because “errors” and “mistakes” happen in life all the time. If the first baseman had bobbled the ball or thrown it away, it would not have been a “perfect game” because of his error. But, the first baseman fielded the ball, threw it to the pitcher who caught it. But in this case, the umpire made the error. In Big League baseball there are not just 18 men on the field. There are 22. Whether it was the pitcher or the umpire, an error meant it was not a “perfect game.” But, in this “Imperfect Game” we got to see something much better – a “Perfect Response.”
We live in an “imperfect world” with “imperfect people”because we are all sinners. But, there is a Redeemer who has overcome sin, and will make you an overcomer in a world of sin and errors – both the ones you make and the ones others make around you and to you.

My guess is, you can’t name a single pitcher who has pitched the rare and coveted perfect game unless you are my age and remember Don Larsen in the Yankee’s World Series victory. I’m even more certain that we could not name the umpires in those games. However, this generation of baseball fans will remember Jim Joyce, the umpire who confessed his error, asking for forgiveness, and Armando Galarraga, a man bigger than self promotion who freely gave forgiveness. In humble reliance upon Divine grace, let’s display the Gospel response of graciousness in an “imperfect world.” The world may not cheer, but Christ will be exalted and that will be glorious. Let’s “play ball!”

Leave a Response »

 

A PASTOR’S THOUGHTS IN MEMORIAM TO JOHN SPENCER Wednesday, Nov 28 2012

A Life Well Lived

April 16, 1920 – November 22, 2012

On Thanksgiving Day, Nov 22, 2012 I received a phone call informing me of the homegoing of John Spencer, a longtime member and Elder of Briarwood Presbyterian Church. Immediately I had two thoughts. One, a statement from the Old Testament with New Testament meaning, “a Prince in Israel has fallen today.” Secondly, “a Saint of grace has ascended to glory.” John Spencer was an unusual Christian man who served Christ faithfully as a Christian businessman, citizen, community leader and churchman all undergirded by an undeniable love to his Savior and servant leadership in his family. His homegoing leaves behind a grieving church who will greatly miss him and his 50 years of faithful engagement and leadership. But even more so must be the grief of a devoted wife, Emalyn, three children, John Jr., Ginger and Janie along with 4 grandchildren who now deal with an extraordinary vacuum which only the Lord of glory can fill. When you love deeply, you grieve deeply.

My first personal encounter with John and Emalyn Spencer was in the fall of 1983. Having been sent by Briarwood and Mission to North America to plant Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina earlier that year, I had been invited to speak for the Sunday night service of the National Missions Conference at Briarwood later that year. After having spent time in prayer with Dr. Frank Barker, I slipped into the morning service and sat beside an attractive, mature couple. They introduced themselves and I realized I was sitting next to John and Emalyn Spencer. I felt like I was in the presence of celebrity – John Spencer, well known for his leadership in the PCA as well as at Briarwood and beside him his lovely wife Emalyn, the author of Christian books and Bible Studies (one of which Cindy and  I had raised our daughters with – A Woman that Feareth the Lord – a study of the Proverbs 31 woman). They were so gracious and encouraging and it began a personal relationship with John and Emalyn which only deepened after the Lord called me to serve as Briarwood’s Senior Pastor alongside of John’s leadership. But at the time I had no idea how much I would benefit from that relationship then and in the future.

On Nov. 22, 1963 there were two deaths. One most of you will remember. The tragic assassination of JFK and the other overshadowed but perhaps an even a greater loss was the homegoing of C.S. Lewis. Now on the same date, 49 years later the church of our Savior blessed gloriously by the gift of God’s grace through John Spencer has lost the presence and intimacy of a great man of God which only the Lord can remedy. John Spencer, a faithful member of Briarwood for almost 50 years beginning in 1964 as he arrived simultaneously with Briarwood’s move from the Storefront to its first church building. It was not long thereafter that the church recognizing John’s quiet yet influential leadership made him a ruling elder which initiated a growing ministry of shepherding, evangelism and disciple-making that continued until the day Christ, the Head of the Church called him home. His strength and courage woven into the fabric of compassion and humility became a contagious hallmark of Christian leadership benefitting not only Briarwood, the PCA but also numerous organizations and ministries.

In 2006 John became an Elder Emeritus yet continued to serve the church as a commissioner to the General Assembly, the Evangel Presbytery, all the while serving on the Jethro Council consisting of senior elders who provide counsel and insight to the Sr. Pastor, the Pastoral Staff, the Session and the Diaconate upon request. Throughout 40 plus years John and his lovely wife Emalyn provided servant leadership in the church on the Global Missions Team, the Pastoral Shepherding Care Team, the Nehemiah Intercessory Prayer Partner Team, Children’s Church, Sunday School, various special initiative ministry teams and perhaps most notably every Wednesday night faithfully serving the meals for the MidWeek Dinner and Small Group Bible Study Ministry at Briarwood.

Each Saturday morning found John at either Dr. Frank Barker’s or Dr. Lamar Thomas’ prayer breakfast. John’s love for the lost and evangelism was continuingly exhibited in living and sharing the Gospel as a way of life and providing leadership as well as being a Trainer in the Briarwood Evangelism Ministry. He was a teacher/trainer of the Campus Crusade “Four Laws” and then when the church moved to “Evangelism Explosion” he again provided leadership which continued in the current “Bridge to Life” Evangelism initiative.

It is impossible to identify all of the venues which were enhanced by John Spencer’s leadership, teaching, shepherding and disciple-making always unmarked by pettiness or self promotion. Perhaps one of the most meaningful was the “Men of the Covenant” small group discipleship meetings each Friday at 6:30AM.

For all of these reasons and many more, John Spencer deserves to be remembered as a man of God, a Godly husband and father, a faithful witness to Christ in the community and a dependable servant leader in our Lord’s Church. But perhaps he should be remembered for two other reasons which have blessed the church at large in general and the PCA in particular. Many of us in the PCA are a generation removed from the era when the Founding Fathers of the Presbyterian Church in America out of necessity took a clear and thoughtful stand against the encroaching and debilitating liberalism infecting the church with a vengeance in the 1940’s to the 70’s. John, along with fellow ruling elders, supported their Pastors with courage and fortitude, standing firmly yet graciously, boldly yet with humility for the inerrancy of the Word of God, the vitality of the Reformed faith and a relentless commitment to fulfill the Great Commission. He, along with a number of these ruling elders and teaching elders were the first to sign, “A Letter to All the Churches” adopted by the first General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of America which identified a denomination unalterably committed to the Great Commission, the Reformed Faith and the Word of God as truth.

The second reason is John’s devotion, specifically to the task of Christian Education in the church. John loved all of the ministries of the church – worship, evangelism, shepherding, the Sacraments but he was specifically drawn to the initiative of disciple-making through Christian education. Even though John was well known for his excellence as a longtime employee of Bellsouth, being fully engaged in his family and the community and immersed in various leadership responsibilities he found the time to complete a Masters Degree in Christian Education at Birmingham Theological Seminary. In his teaching ministry at different times he taught Children’s Sunday School, Children’s Church, Adult Sunday School and Small Groups. John provided leadership for Christian Education Committees, not only at Briarwood but also, in the Evangel Presbytery and the General Assembly.  Perhaps John’s greatest delight in Christian Education was the insightful, influential and prolific writing ministry of his beloved wife Emalyn who was the author of numerous books and Bible studies for women (published through Great Commission Publications) and used widely throughout the PCA and beyond.

Finally, as the Chairman of the World Missions Committee, early in the life of Briarwood he was instrumental in introducing Briarwood’s Faith Promise Offering commitment while supporting the Sessional policy requiring 50% of all giving at Briarwood to be directed to missionary causes outside of Briarwood in local, national, global mission and mercy initiatives. His favorite teaching ministry may well have been the Reformation and Confession of Faith course which he taught for all new members at Briarwood. John’s love for Christian Education also extended to a tenure of over 20 years serving on the Board of Covenant Theological Seminary and its various committees including the Search Committee which selected Bryan Chapell as President and promoting the Briarwood Endowment for Missions . His devotion to the Seminary continued throughout his adult life.

In the words of one of his close friends and an elder colleague, “John Spencer was a churchman in the truest sense of the word out of love to Christ, his Lord and Savior.” The loss of a man like John Spencer will be and should be felt deeply in his family, the community, his church and denomination. Men of God like John Spencer are needed in even greater numbers for the church-at-large and the PCA in particular. John Spencer, by the grace of God, was a man of God, moved out of his love to God, who ran with endurance the race set before him with his “eyes fixed on Jesus” persevering to the end with the joy of his salvation.

While he will be missed by a grateful church and denomination, a wife of 64 years, two daughters, a son,  and four grandchildren, he has been welcomed into Glory where the Savior, whom He loved and served by faith, he now beholds by sight. On Thanksgiving morning, November 22, 2012, John Spencer, preparing for the day, sat on the edge of his bed, laid down for a moment, closed his eyes, “fell asleep in Jesus” and awoke in the presence of his Savior – life forevermore. John did not leave the land of the living for the land of the dead. He left the land of the dying for the land of the living! Join him through Christ – “For to me to live is Christ, to die is gain.”

Leave a Response »

 

Thoughts from a Reformation Trip Journal Thursday, Nov 1 2012

On Site Insights

I love the study of history, and in particular, I love the study of church history. In my own study, I have found the best method of understanding an event of history is to voraciously read the best authors on the subject, and if at all possible, go to the site of the event with books and notes in hand. I call it – ”getting insight while being on site.” This method has never failed to produce profitable and memorable observations and experiences.

Having just returned from leading a Reformation Tour, I am still benefitting from the unrivaled clarity the experience provided. The Reformation–which changed the cultural landscape of the world by reclaiming the authority of Scripture, the clear proclamation of the Gospel and the renewal and revival of the church–was propelled by four key Reformers from four important cities. They built upon each other and enhanced one another’s efforts by creating an irresistible, interdependent, Christ-centered, Gospel-saturated, Spirit-filled movement, which reverberates to this day. Our trip focused on the key cities where these servants of Christ diligently labored. First was Wittenberg, Germany, where on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed the 95 Thesis to the door of Castle Rock Church, initiating the Reformation.  A few years later came the ministry of Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich, Switzerland, at Grossmunster Church. In addition the attractive and influential ministry of Martin Bucer in Strasbourg, Germany, relentlessly grew in size and impact. Finally in 1534, the epicenter of Reformation influence broke out in Geneva, Switzerland, eventually led by John Calvin. We eagerly visited these sites to follow the footsteps of these Reformers. The result was a number of “insights” which seized my mind and heart while being “on site.”

Two by Two – Leadership Plurality

The Reformation was an unstoppable Kingdom movement as Christ not only assembled a constellation of glorious lights of Pastors/Preachers/Theologians, but He also providentially brought alongside of them complementary and ministry enhancing colleagues. The ministry of Luther was strengthened by the scholarly and stabilizing influence of Philip Melanchthon. Zwingli was joined by the powerfully capable ministry of Heindrich Bullinger. Martin Bucer was initially assisted by John Calvin and then later Johann Sturum. Then John Calvin enjoyed, not only the presence of numerous Reformers that he mentored in Geneva, but he was notably assisted and encouraged through the ministry of Theodore Beza. These men raised up by the Lord each uniquely  united with a Reformer mitigated their weaknesses while providing enhancements to their ministries, which also positioned them to effectively propel the ministry forward as the Reformers passed on to glory.

The Importance of Christian Education

As the church was being revived and renewed, the Reformers lost no time in establishing Academies for public education and pastoral training. The Bible was now in the language of the people, so they eagerly and thoughtfully promoted public education for all regardless of gender, social status or economic ability. Because leadership was and is crucial, they also facilitated training for the next generation of leaders, pastors and theologians. This commitment to Christian education would become so foundational that the children of the Reformation, when coming to the New World, would first plant a church and then inevitably establish a school sometimes before even a stable food supply was secured.

The Primacy of Preaching

For the first time in hundreds of years, God’s people not only had God’s Word in their own language to study, they could hear it preached in their own language. But in terms of ministry philosophy, the Reformers believed in the primacy of preaching, knowing that Christians who know God’s Word could interpret the experiences of life with sound doctrine. Sermons were preached 3 times on Sunday, theological lectures Monday – Friday mornings, and preaching on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights. Attendance was overwhelming and enthusiastic.

The Reformers understood there would be no change in culture without a commitment to Gospel-transformation through Great Commission disciple-making. But they also knew discipled believers were called to promote public policy as a witness for Christ – to manifest the heart of God as instruments of common grace while equipping the church to be “salt and light.” This resulted in multiple Kingdom initiatives producing significant social, economic and relational benefits in the cities where they served.

Primacy of Worship – “In Spirit and In Truth”

The leaders of the Reformation realized that multiple crucial theological issues needed to be addressed thoughtfully and courageously thus the great Reformation mottos surfaced – Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Sola Christus, Soli Deo Gloria. Initially they viewed the church as a “kettle” filled with all kinds of things, some of which needed to be removed or refined, particularly the Divine service of gathered public worship. Benefitting from his fellow Reformers, Calvin’s perspective ultimately prevailed. He believed the “kettle” needed first to be emptied and then refilled. Thus, Divine worship, the primary privilege and duty of the Gospel-saved believer, was to be simple consisting only of those elements positively commanded in Scripture and fully engaged from the heart. The result being acceptable worship “in spirit and truth” to the Triune God for the sending grace of God the Father, the saving grace of God the Son and the securing grace of God the Holy Spirit.

 

These are just a few insights produced by being on site, yet even as I write them, I sense urgent prayer rising in my heart…O Lord do it again! Why? The churches in the cities where the life changing and world-shaping Reformation movement flourished are now museums. May the barren landscape of despair once again be flooded with the River of Life flowing from the Risen Savior through the Glorious Body and Bride of Christ with power – the Church on mission and on message for Her Lord and Redeemer.

Leave a Response »

 

LAST WORDS & SAVING FAITH Monday, Oct 1 2012

Over the years I have developed a curiosity which is hopefully not morbid but it does deal with death. That curiosity is a fascination with the recorded “last words” of men and women as they approach the last moments of life. Of course I am particularly interested in the last words of believers and have recorded many “last words” in my journal specifying who said them and if they were believers. I mentioned this in a Sunday evening sermon recently and the result was another addition to my journal. It came from one of our dear, Godly ladies who had been and was fighting cancer which had been deemed incurable and inoperable. Knowing that unless the Lord intervened that she only had a few weeks left she came up after the sermon with her emaciated body yet twinkling eyes and a sly look. She reminded me of her soon demise and very likely I would not be there when she died so could she give me her last words ahead of time. I smiled and said yes, if I can pray with you. Her reply was, of course and then she gave me her “last words.” She said, at my funeral my last words were “Y’all come!” Knowing her heart for personal evangelism and her love for lost to come to Christ, on the one had it was not surprising but on the other hand it was inspiring.

The Apostle Paul give his last words in his last epistle facing death in a roman prison while writing to his son in the faith, Timothy. They are found in II Tim 1:12 and are highly informative and gloriously encouraging. “I suffer these things and I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and he is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that Day.” In this true pastoral epistle Paul is placing the mantle of ministry upon Timothy. Of course the epistle is rich in light of how Timothy is called to be a “man of God,” a Gospel preacher and a faithful pastor. Think how profound these “last words” are. They gloriously expound the hope of the Gospel embraced in the life of Paul now not only in life but also in death and not just any death but a “suffering” death. So as he gets to the end of his earthly life and ministry his words are simple…  “I have no regrets.” Why would Apostle Paul who is about to die a martyrs death say no regrets, no second thoughts, I suffer willingly and even joyfully. There are five reasons this Gospel hope is being declared gloriously even from an inglorious prison cell.

SAVING FAITH IS PERSONAL – I

In II Tim 1:12 declares Paul has no regrets as he now dies for Christ and goes to meet Christ the one whom he has served by faith he will soon see by sight. Again, the words to the Philippian church from his first imprisonment ring forth…for me to live is Christ and to dies is gain. The reason? His saving relationship with Christ was by faith and his faith was personal. The word repeated the most – 6 times – is the shortest word in the verse “I” He says, I suffer, I am not ashamed, I know, I believe, I am convinced, I entrust,. Paul’s relationship with Christ was person to person. God’s grace had brought him to faith so he believed personally in the person and saving work of Christ.. No one can believe for you. To be saved you must know Christ by faith personally. Your pastor, your parents, your siblings nor your friends can believe for you. You alone must believe in Christ alone as your Savior.

SAVING FAITH IS RATIONAL – “KNOWLEDGE”

To be saved there are certain things that you must personally know. You must know that you are a sinner and need a Savior. You must know that you cannot save yourself. You must know that God in his unmerited love has graciously sent his son who gave himself on the cross to save you from both the penalty and power the practice and ultimately the presence of sin and its consequences. Paul declared I “know.” The reason Paul knew was because God by his sovereign grace had laid hold of him to transform a religious terrorists not only into a vital Christian but an effective evangelist and unparallel church planter and author of 13 letters designed to be incorporated into the Bible. The one who killed Christians now came the one the Lord used to win sinners to Christ. The one who desired to destroy the church had become a church planting factory spreading the gospel throughout churches all the way to Europe. He had no secondhand faith. It was personal. It was not a faith of wish fulfillment nor sentimentality but one that was knowledgeable. While you can never know Christ exhaustively you can know him accurately. While the majesty of Christ is supra rational it is never irrational. He knows you and you can know him.

SAVING FAITH IS EMOTIONAL – CONVICTION       

When one comes to Christ as the apostle Paul he not only know accurately he knows the truth of Christ passionately with conviction. Notice Paul’s last words state clearly that he was “convinced.” The truth that had come to his mind had been firmly implanted in his heart. Knowledge had landed with full contact and was fully embraced by the passions of the Apostle Paul’s heart and life. Not only must we know Christ personally and knowledgeably we must embrace him with full conviction. He is not only the Lord of glory with raw yet gracious sovereignty he is also our Savior fully and emotionally.

SAVING FAITH IS VOLITIONAL – TRUST

Paul now leads us to the 4^th element of saving faith. Saving faith is not only personal, rational (I know) , emotional- conviction but it is also an act of the will whereby we “entrust” ourselves completely to Christ fully as Lord and Savior. Christ is received personally with knowledge, conviction and then the declaration of authenticity is a true believer will entrust himself fully to Christ as Lord and Savior. I can see a chair and “know” that it is a chair and philosophical terms it has chair-ness all around it. I can be emotionally transparent by declaring it a chair with full conviction but the one moment that I know and truly believe with conviction that it is a chair is when I entrust myself to it as a chair by sitting upon it. I may know that I am a sinner and cannot save myself and furthermore that Christ it’s the son of God and Savior, I can be emotionally drawn to such a message with a certain passion and conviction but I do not know for sure the I know who Christ is and am truly convinced until I rest upon Him as Lord and Savior. I am his he is mine, hallelujah what a Savior.

SAVING FAITH IS DIRECTIONAL – CHRIST ALONE

Paul has made it clear that his relationship with Christ was personal, knowledgeable with full conviction expressed by a willful act of trust but notice Paul doesn’t put his faith in faith. He doesn’t say I know “that” I have believed. Nor does he put his faith in his conversion. I know “when” I believed. Furthermore, he doesn’t put his faith in his knowledge. I know “what” I have believed. Paul’s relationship with Christ, person to person and he declares I know whom I have believed. He is able to deliver me from my sins to himself because I have entrusted myself to him. Christianity will always lead to a sacred way of life i.e. a religion. It is not the religion that leads us to Christ. It is the relationship with Christ that leads us to live before the face of God. Coram Deo.

Last words? Basically men and women die the way they live. There is only one exception – the thief on the cross. As Bishop Ryle says, “…only one death bed conversion – only one so that we will not be presumptuous yet there is one so that we will not lose hope. So if you die the way you live and last words reveal it then come to Christ today. Your last words will be assured by these words…Jesus, I come to Thee alone. Nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to the cross I cling.

2 Responses »

 

The Three R’s of the Gospel Wednesday, Sep 5 2012

Our Gospel focus this month is illustrated by a weekly experience in my childhood. As a young boy, every Friday night I went to the grocery store with my mother. Specifically the A & P. My mother went nowhere else. One reason she was loyal to the A & P would later give me an illustration to understand the three R’s of the Gospel.

The Gospel News of Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone is Biblically summed up with three words – Ransomed, Redeemed and Reconciled.  Those whom Christ has ransomed by His atoning work on the cross He has redeemed and therefore reconciled them to Himself intimately and eternally.

What is a ransom and how is Christ our ransom? The definition is simple. “A payment to free a captive…” Interestingly, the payment to free us from our sins was made by Christ and the payment was Christ. “…the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matt 20:28) Christ is the payment to satisfy the justice of God by enduring the righteous wrath of God for sinners. The Scriptures inform us that God will “by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” So, how are guilty sinners declared innocent? It is through the obedience of Christ who with His life purchases Heaven through His perfect obedience on behalf of His people and with His atoning death satisfied the justice of God for our disobedience by drinking the unspeakable cup of Divine wrath to the bottom to give us an unfathomable cup of life.  The ransom that Jesus paid was not to Satan but to His Father. The ransom paid by the Son of God was to God the Father through the power of God the Holy Spirit. Jesus, our Ransom paid a debt that He did not owe for debtors who had a debt they could not pay.

Now what about Redeemed? The Scriptures announce the majesty of Christ our Redeemer. To redeem is to “buy back” or “pay-off.” So, Jesus redeemed us when He bought us back from the power and penalty of sin with the ransom He paid which satisfied God’s justice. Christ, with His perfect life and atoning death bought us from God’s judgment. We have been redeemed from sin and its eternal consequences of hell through the ransom of “…our great God and Savior Jesus Christ who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:14)

Finally, what about that marvelous Gospel promise of Reconciliation? Reconciliation simply means to intimately “reconnect those who have been separated.” Our sin had separated us from God. God, out of His unmerited love sent His Son to pay the ransom for our sin and redeem us in order to reconcile us to Himself through Christ. “…God who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…”( II Cor 5:18) We who were all wrong with God have now been made right with God and reconciled to Him. Therefore,  Jesus promises to all sinners saved by the grace of the Gospel that He “will be with us to the end.” And, when the end comes we will “be with Him forever.” “…and if I go to prepare a place for you then I will come again and take you to myself so that where I am there you may be also.”  (John 14:3)

Now back to the grocery store…

My mother took me to the store with her for two reasons. The first was so that I could carry the bags to the car from the store and from the car into the house. This saved my mother the 25 cent tip to the bag boy. My second task began when my mother arrived at the checkout counter. The clerk would “ring up” the items on the cash register. (For our younger readers, cash registers are now in museums!) After ringing up the order the clerk would key the total into a smaller “green” cash register. Magically endless roles of green stamps would freely flow out of the machine and along with the groceries were given to my mother. S & H Green Stamps… the reason my mother would only go to the A&P!  

Here was the deal. You bought groceries and by buying them you had purchased (ransomed) the Green Stamps. You pasted the stamps into S & H Green Stamp books. You took the books  to the S & H Green Stamp Redemption Center. Seven thousand books might redeem a can opener! What a deal! But, my mother with our frugal, Celtic background would not let this deal pass unsecured. Thus, my second task. While my mother put the groceries away I licked all the green stamps and put them into the Green Stamp Book…thousands of them! I have no idea how many diseases from the glue are in my body having licked all of those stamps as a child. We would take the Green Stamp books to 418 Pecan Ave in Charlotte, N.C. We would place hundreds of books on the counter. The clerk would go to the shelf and bring us the can opener redeemed by green stamps. The can opener now ransomed and redeemed would go home reconciled to us!

Two thousand years ago Christ went to the cross and placed Himself upon the counter of God’s justice. There He ransomed us by paying the price for our sins, crying out “it is finished.” The ransom had been paid for all sins of all of His people. He redeemed us from the shelf of sin and reconciled us to Himself for all eternity.

“Redeemed how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His Child and forever I am…”

Are you? If so, praise the Lord. If not, come to the Redeemer who ransoms sinners and reconciles them to Himself…forever.

Leave a Response »

 

Preach the Gospel! Use Words, They are Necessary Monday, Aug 6 2012

I wish I could claim originality for the title of my article, but it was actually given to me by a friend. I can claim appreciation of how it corrects the well intentioned (but misleading) quote from St. Francis Assisi – “Preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words.”  The quote is designed to affirm the inevitable and beneficial impact of God’s grace displayed through His people and their redemptive relationships with others. But no one becomes a Christian by simply admiring and appreciating the lifestyle of a committed Christian. Our life-behavior can be an instrument of pre-evangelism and affirm the life-changing power of the Gospel to the skeptic, but men and women are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And faith comes not by simply watching Gospel deeds but by hearing Gospel words.  “… faith comes by HEARING and hearing the Word of Christ” (Rom 10:17).

Since sharing Christ verbally is essential for all to become Christians, how can we learn to do it effectively? Let me pastorally suggest three avenues every believer can use to engage in personal evangelism.

1. One of the most powerful ways to share the Truth is personal testimony. Remember, a personal testimony is not necessarily evangelism but it can be an instrument of evangelism. How many times in the Gospels do we witness Jesus encounter an unbeliever, draw them to salvation and immediately the converted believer starts to share the Gospel? From the woman at the well to the Leper to the blind man and Zacheus at Jericho etc.; they and others all heard the truth, surrendered to Christ then began sharing their testimony. Additionally there is the Apostle Paul who used his testimony on multiple occasions, 5 times recorded in Scripture. Sometimes he gives the full version of his testimony and sometimes an edited version. Personally, I have tried to model this by having my “elevator” testimony and my “lunch” testimony. If I only have three floors with someone, I have prepared a version of my testimony to share before the door opens. Sometimes, I’ll have the opportunity to give my testimony and confess Christ in a thoughtful, inviting and conversational manner over lunch. However you think through yours, be ready when the Lord opens up these moments.
2. Another way of engaging in personal evangelism is to ask good questions. Most are familiar with EE (Evangelism Explosion) which teaches believers to treat others with dignity by requesting permission to talk with them about the Gospel and then asking two questions to further a Gospel conversation. I call them a “transitional” question (If you were to die tonight do you know where you will spend eternity?) and the “qualifying” question (If you were to stand before God and He asks why He should let you in Heaven, what would your answer be?). I know it is fashionable to critique this method, but I can only say that I have found them effective for 40 years, and I will probably continue to use them as they open up the opportunity for me to share the Good News from  I John 5:13 – “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” I like the questions because they are comparable to what Jesus did in on the road to Caesarea Philippi. He used questions to get to the truth of the Gospel by first asking the disciples a transitional question. (Who do people say that the Son of Man is?) and then a qualifying question (Who do you say that I am?). 

Also, I enjoy asking people, “do you think there is a Heaven?” Everyone always answers “yes!” – even those who profess to be atheist. I believe they all answer the same because of what Scripture says in Ecclesiastes 3:11 “…He has put eternity into man’s heart…”  Everyone you meet has an opinion and they believe you deserve to hear it so ask the question and then listen, looking for the opportunity to share Christ after hearing their heart.

1. I love to use Romans 6:23 in evangelism. I simply ask, “Do you realize that the thrust of God’s message in the Bible can be found in one verse?” It is not exhaustive of everything in the Bible, but it does bring the message of the Gospel into sharp focus. One verse with the one word that is my favorite word in the Bible. “The wages of sin is death BUT the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We earn death (spiritual, physical and eternal death), but the sentence continues and next comes that wonderful word BUT.  God has purchased for us with a costly gift that He freely gives to those who surrender and trust Christ as Lord and Savior.  

So preach the Gospel and as my friend said, “Use words. They are necessary!” Treat people with dignity through conversations that convey respect and ask pointed questions, remembering that evangelism is not an event but a process. Sometimes you sow, water, and cultivate; but other times you get the privilege of reaping the fruit Christ has secured in the harvest.

My favorite question of all is, “Is there any reason why you should not surrender to Christ as Lord and Savior?” I have enjoyed a lifetime of experiencing the blessing of that question being answered “no” by those the Lord has called to life! But, the question is also a blessing because I can continue the conversation if they say “yes, there is a reason.” Then we can explore their reasons or objections together.

Know the Gospel. Believe the Gospel. And preach the Gospel “using words.” They are necessary and has promised to speak through you. “…and the sheep follow Him because they know His voice.” John 10:4

Leave a Response »