What is Reformed? (10 “C”s)

In light of the 504 anniversary of the Christian Reformation Day, what does it mean to be Reformed? It is to hold to Sola Scriptura: to maximize all we can learn from all of Scripture from all of God to all of life. From God’s Word we are Re-formed and being reformed. We become that for which were made and for which Christ redeemed. To this end, to summarize, here are 10 C’s of being Re-formed in light of their counter-parts:
 
We are Calvinistic (vs Arminian-ism and/or semi-pelagianism)
We are Confessional (vs mere gospel centered-ism)
We are Covenantal (vs dispensational)
We are Creational (vs gnostis-ism)
We are Consummational (vs. Pietistic defeatism and radical two kingdoms reduction-ism)
We are a Church (vs autonomous individualism)
We are catholic (small letter “c) (vs. both doctrinal perfectionist-ic separatist-ism and what is the RCC)
We are Christ Alone (vs roman-ism and/or guru-ism)
We are Consistent Public Theologians (vs. Privatization of faith)
We are Confident Christians who have real purposes in this life (vs. “fearful saints” who are “hanging on” for Christ’s return)
 
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On the loss of Christian Battle Songs through the jettisoning of the physical hymnal (Song/hymn book)

On the loss of Christian Battle Songs through the jettisoning of the physical hymnal (Song/hymn book)
 
I Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
 
We were discussing with our worship team last Sunday the imperative need to sing “Battle songs” as a congregation and teach our kids these great songs of the faith. It struck me that one of the tragic consequences of the jettisoning of the physical Hymnbook in the place of the efficient “screen” is that entire genres and themes of the Christian life are lost. The most obvious is the loss of Eschatologically driven Victory and Battle songs, which the old hymn books contain and of which a good hymnbook includes many songs.
 
Why is this? Because the era during which hymn books were replaced (the 1990s-2000s) is also one in which the “spirit of the age” is the Therapeutic self. Therefore, songs of this age have a propensity towards the feelings, towards the here-and-now, towards the inward, and the churchs’ music, now only in the hands of the worship coordinator and the CCM playlist, is tragically out of balance (at best) having discarded manly, Christian warfare lyrics, for the new songs which reflect the moralistic, therapeutic deism dominant today.
 
Adding to this loss, I have come to realize that I have to look to another era for CCM music and even children’s Christian battle songs, which are rarely being produced today:
*I may never march in the infantry
*Onward Christian Soldiers
*The Battle Belongs to the Lord (Petra)
*Get on your knees and fight like a man (Petra)
*The Champion (Carman)
*Alien Youth (Skillet)
*anything by Stryper
 
Christianity is not an inward religion and Christ Jesus did not come to be our therapist. Christianity is Victory. Our life is a battle. Our march is toward the restoration of his Kingdom. The enemies are real. Our election and hope are secure. He is coming back.
To this end, and with the help of “Hymns of Grace”, we have made an effort over the past couple of years to re-introduce the great battle and victory songs weekly into corporate worship, songs which appeal to Creation mandate and our calling, as well as our sure hope. Our children love these manly, battle songs. Here are a few of the many offerings from our hymnal.
*A Mighty Fortress
*When Trials Come
*A Mighty Fortress
*When Trials Come
*For all the Saints
*Am I a Soldier of the Cross
*Rise Up, O Men of God
*Crown Him with Many Crowns
*All Glory, Laud, and Honor
*Come thou, Almighty King
*Lead On, O King Eternal
*Jesus Shall Reign
*O Church Arise
*Onward March, All Conquering Jesus
*Soldiers of Christ, Arise
*Rejoice! Rejoice, Believers!
*Thine is the Glory
*Ye Servants of God
 
Here is my application challenge: Would it not be worth investing a few dollars to reintroduce a physical hymn book back into your congregation, with a short and long-term view to the discipleship of the church?

The moral problem of questioning reality

I read a headline yesterday, from a medical online “educational” resource: “Can Men get pregnant? Is it possible?”
If you hear anything questioning basic realities such as “Can a man produce babies”…you are not in an education system, concerned with scientific proof, you are in a conversion experiment.
 
Look at 2021, have we not gone from “question everything,” to “doubt everything” to believe “only what we tell you?”
Real education presupposed that some things just “are.” Education then teaches/helps you explore those realities and utilize them to build knowledge, skill, insight, and wisdom for the furthering of the Creation mandate (Genesis 1-2)
 
The deep problem, we see in the headline, is not a science problem, rather it is a moral one. Who is acting like the educator, the expert, with these questions? Notice the marrying of these woke ideas to the moral ambiguity or even degeneration of those pro-porting them. They want their sexual licentiousness, they covet power, they love money, and this new conversion justifies all those pursuits.
 
For who stands in the way of their pursuits: Holy God and the Creational norm and laws he has ordained: Reality, with God-given limitations, laws, and consequences. Change reality and you can live however you want. Keep doubting everything, and it is an appeasement of your guilty conscience.
 
If you believe this or are playing with these ideas, If you doubt God, it is not a “God problem”, it is a deep, pride problem in you. A desire Problem. You see God’s rules as restrictive. But where does knocking down every fence get you? Free or in more despair? The ability to think on your own and stand on principles, or enslaved to Dr. Fauchi, Hollywood, higher govt and the rest?
Isaiah 66:1-2 Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
 
Seek God when you look, when you seek, you will find your problem are worse and more eternal than you imagined, you will find you are responsible for your own guilt, but if you continue and don’t quit, humbly believing and seeking, you may just find an answer, a Savior, whom calls us to repent and offers forgiveness and restoration. You may just find the freedom to live in reality and happiness, purpose in God’s Kingdom, with reality, proof, and science.

Some thoughts on how Christians should view Sunday

 
There is an increasing conflict surrounding the Lord’s Day/Sunday/Sabbath. We hold to Confessional Standards at Lifespring Church, using the 1689 Confession (Westminister), so when we teach through the confession yearly, this topic brings the most discussion. Yet in all of this, I have found almost all of the vehement arguments operate from an individualistic framework: What is forbidden for me on Sunday? What can I do?
.
What Is The Problem? “I.” “Me.” “Me and God”. Let me say that that is the entirely wrong operating system from which to operate, regardless if you are a Sabbatarian, new covenant person, dispensationalist, etc.
 
Christ saved you out of darkness and placed you in the family of God, the church. You are not autonomous. Biblically, there is no such existence carved out for a true Christian to be “church-less” and not join the church in all her physical gatherings. Christianity is a people.
Therefore, our church’s answer to both the Sabbatarians and Libertarians regarding what you do and don’t do on Sundays, what is permissible, and what is forbidden, it is to re-frame the conversion, not about Sabbath, but covenant community? We should always think about our faith in Christ Jesus “covenantally?”
 
Does not Scripture command Love the Lord your God, and…Love your neighbor as yourself? One cannot separate these commandments into silos or separate paths—if we commit to the latter in light of the former, the Sabbath/Sunday questions will be answered.
 
Therefore, join the church and commit to participating with, worshiping alongside, and serving your brothers and sisters with whom you have covenanted in the local church. Show up early and stay late on Sunday. Let neither work nor a sports league gets even play into the equation. These will always take time and focus away from your commitment to your church family. Will work or a sports league take you away from the church? The answer is obvious. Christianity is the pre-emptive and permanent team sport. It is the one to be prioritized.
 
When the formal and informal gathering of worship, prayer, edification, and teaching of your church ends, enjoy the day of rest and refreshment.

What Makes America Great? Free Boxes, thrift stores, and garage sales gleaning principles at work as rights of citizens to improve their position in life through hard work and resourcefulness

My observations and convictions on “prosperity.” 
 
Ecclesiastes 8:15 “I commend the enjoyment of life because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad.”
 
Jeremiah 17:7-8 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out  roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
 
As I reflect upon the realities of where we find ourselves today as a family, I am acutely grateful and would testify to the prosperity of God in our lives, not only Spiritually, but the whole, physically. I am no Joel Osteen, with a “name it and claim” it over-spiritualization, but through God’s Creational mandate and Gospel of grace which affects our entire outlook upon this life (not merely escaping this world), we believe God’s normative way it to prosper his people, through family, children, church, and financial. This negates neither Providentially-orchestrated trials and suffering, nor in any way to deny the necessary hard work, for  I would testify, not merely to the fact “that” God has prospered us, but the how.
 
I am now in my 20th year as a Pastor, and thus, this is where I have always received nearly the entirety of my income. I am thankful for the consistent generosity of our church. I am as “middle class” as they come and I possess the acute knowledge that I will never get paid much more than I do today. Our church is small, yet steady and committed, and therefore, I also don’t have much fear that I will have to take a pay-cut anytime soon. The Lord has provided. He has even blessed and prospered us. I have 9 children and yet we have a large, beautiful, and orderly home, with constant (constant) redecorating and improvements upon it. Some of this has happened as a result of the providence of 3.14% interest when we purchased our home 9 years ago, as well as slowly building up equity and being in this same pastoral position in Crosby MN, for 12 years. Consistency does matter, it does lead to slow prosperity in many areas.
 
Yet, probably what has provided the bulk of this, the means, of how God has allowed us to prosper is the collective love of both Miriam and myself of Garage sales, thrifting, Facebook marketplace, craigslist, and free boxes. Almost everything in our home has a story of its origin. We built a sauna in the garage (for less than $300 with repurposed wood). We built a cabin with 2 lofts on our property for less than $100 (free wood which we repurposed). We have a boat (a gift) and a camper (a “steal of a deal” from the Facebook marketplace). We have some very nice used furniture. All of my clothes have come from garage sales. We have paid “pennies” on the dollar for almost all of our possessions. And we have made some extra vacation money through repurposing and then reselling.
 
It is the “how” of how God has provided and even prospered us, that makes me so appreciative of our God’s wisdom and that we are citizens of a nation which have recognized that.
 
In the OT, God instituted a principle and laws of gleaning, which meant that a wealthy landowner was required to not plow under and to leave the last row of crops for the poor and destitute (non-land-owners) to harvest. This was their social service, their social justice. They, the poor, had access to food and sustenance to barter, trade, and even improve their lot. They might not get rich, but they were self-sufficient. They had to come and get their produce themselves. They were productive and dignified. The wealthy didn’t have to give handouts and maintained private ownership of land. This is the backdrop of the story of Ruth and Boaz.
 
Leviticus 19:9-10 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.
 
Proverbs 14:23 In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.
 
What makes America Great? Is not one of the realities both a strong middle class and the ability of a person to have “upward mobility” through hard work, ingenuity, saving, investing, etc. Both Private ownership of property as well as the ability to save and be resourceful.
 
Gleaning in our nation is possible because as someone who is wealthier can afford to purchase new, there are always others who are willing to purchase that same item after a few years of use. One acute evidence of the greatness of America is a glorious and free system of buying, selling, bartering, and re-purposing, and not just formally in stores through credit cards, but through personal transactions and trades, leaving free items in the side of the road, where one “man’s junk” is indeed another “man’s treasure” It has led to many homes being improved, many lives being changed, and for people to be able to use and reuse. It has brought out the best in hard work, ingenuity, and resourcefulness.
 
Is there not a distinction between blatant “consumerism” and the freedom to enjoy through deliberately purchasing and improving, therein fulfilling the creation mandate and making things beautiful and orderly? I am thankful to live in a nation which has promoted this work ethic and freedom to do so. I am thankful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, through which He alone, by forgiving me and imparting his righteousness, giving me eternal hope and peace with God, I have acute hope, optimism, and purpose for this earlthly life, not merely the life to come.

A personal letter to a pastor going “woke”

Note: This is a letter I wrote and personally sent 3 1/2 years ago to Pastor Jason Meyer, then the pastor of Bethlehem Baptist who replaced John Piper upon his retirement.  I was grieved and angered at what I was hearing from the pulpit and in print, as a fellow Pastor and Christian, but additionally because both of the reach and influence of Bethlehem Baptist, and that I had several former students sitting under his teaching.  I did not receive a response. Last Week (July 2021) Jason Meyer announced his resignation from Bethlehem, following the resignation of several of fellow “woke” pastors, the agenda he had been converted to and propagating having accomplished exactly what was nefariously intended by the Father of lies, that is, sowing seeds of division within his own church.  

February 2018 

Dear Pastor Jason:

These are my observations and thoughts. I would gladly stand corrected where I am in error or lack context

 

You don’t know me, but I have known you from afar the past few years, through the Bethlehem Conferences and connections I enjoy with the College and seminary. Born, raised, and still living in Minnesota, I serve as Pastor of Lifespring Church, a little Reformed Baptist church plant in Crosby MN

 

I graduated from Bethel College (2001). Coming out of Biblical studies dept wrought with a feminist current, liberation theology and Greg Boyd, I can say, by God’s mercy, my faith is non-only intact, but now I have come to embrace Reformed theology and ecclesiology.

 

The conduit of my personal reform and endurance came through the teaching of Bethlehem Baptist Church and the DG conferences. There, for a young pastor like myself, in the midst of an Arminian, Seeker movement brand of generic evangelicalism, The Gospel and God’s Sovereignty invaded my world and re-orientated my Worldview.

 

I tell you this because I am not alone, Bethlehem was and has been a city on a hill for many of us. A beacon of accountability to The Gospel and the Holiness of God

 

I have appreciated your commitment to continuing this. I am sure it is very challenging, a large mega-church complex type of thingy that Bethlehem has become. I know your commitment to preaching the Word and keeping the Gospel front and center, as has been evident in the conferences.

 

To this end, I address you and admonish you as a friend and fellow young pastor(I am 39):

 

Please re-consider the embracing of the Social Justice/Identity Politics agenda which is permeating the Pastor’s conference and Bethlehem Baptist Church.

 

There have been many critiques and pauses written (www.justthinking.me; www.alliancenet.org/mos/1517/a-little-ol-fashioned-diversity;www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=20-07-026-f)…so I won’t go there in this.

 

But I believe the direction and insertion of what I can only perceive as a race agenda and identity politics will only serve to divide the church God has entrusted you to shepherd, which is united through the great work of the Spirit and kept unified through the normal means of Grace…Good preaching and sound theology.

 

I know you are doing with sincerity what you believe is right, yet I listened to your sermon (January 14), It seemed forced, as you borrowed terms and definitions and examples from the world; trying to please the straw men of Culture….the more insecure and guilt-ridden you sounded.

 

Truthfully Jason, the sermon served, not a call to real faith and repentance based upon God’s moral law and careful application, but a liberation-theology sermon of works-righteousness. Frankly, it sounded like whatever liberal is saying, like something I heard over and over from Bethel College: sowing confusion, not clarity.

 

If this was the only example, I would have pause before writing you. It is not. The past couple of conferences has this theme present.

 

I am sure your people now feel guilty, but I fear, not by truly Godly guilt…but from a lesser call; not to examine attitudes of deep pride and favoritism which manifest themselves in a thousand ways, but from having white skin color and culture.

 

I believe this approach will only divide your church–once you have gone further down your path…your church will fundamentally change…This will be your most important issue until you have achieved some measure of affirmation from the larger culture that you are successful. Then you will be satisfied,….until the next hot-topic comes up demanding a response…This is how liberalism works.

 

Just because the culture demands a response through its lenses…we should pause and discern, before giving ours. I know you are under tremendous pressure to grow and lead the church…you have a bigger animal to guide than I do…you have a national presence, I do not.

 

Brother, Preach the Word, God will build his body. If there is something overtly wrong which you can witness and reprove, do so. But attitudes take time to change. I have seen this: Over 16 years in vocational ministry, I have shrunk a youth group from 70 to 40 and now our church gets to 40 attendees on a good day through my preaching of The Word.

 

I will end with a personal Anecdote:

 

I was at a Church-planting-boot-camp 9 years ago at Trinity Ev. Divinity School, when I was in the EFCA. It was, frankly, 40 hours of worthless crap. Robert Schuller, Rick Warren, vision casting, big events…growing with excitement…Nothing about warfare, temptations, discouragement, the Gospel, or even Preaching. (by the way, it was led by Raymond Chang, whom you referenced in your sermon),

 

My wife and I were fish out of water…but so was one other couple: An inner-city black couple. They were stuck out at TEDS as much as we felt, with our Reformed worldview and from northern Minnesota; and they, from a different culture (Inner City), with different color, dress, and talk.

 

In the middle of the week, the husband stood up in the middle of a mindless session about “crafting impact Mission Statements” and declared: Why can’t we just say something like, ‘we preach the supremacy of Christ to present everyone complete in Him’ straight from Scripture–I don’t know about all this other crap! But I do know Scripture and it is simple for every church: Preach Christ!

 

It was an awesome rebuke! But seemingly only for him, his wife and myself, and my wife. Through subsequent dinner conversations and other interactions, we came to know them and knew what united us was far more than the affinity of seeker-sensitive churchiness. We had both been remade through the true Gospel and were being reformed in all our thinking.

 

I haven’t seen them since. I don’t know their names. I am not on social media. It doesn’t matter. Truth untied us. Truth bridged the gap–the Gospel and all the discernment it creates gave us a new culture through renewing our minds. We didn’t need a lecture on racism, on cultural differences; and I am convinced we would have gladly worshiped at the same church, in spite of differences. I don’t remember if we even talked about race, culture, and other differences (the YRR crowd hadn’t made that their hobby-horse yet)…but we didn’t need to…we gloried in our unity.

 

Jason, the Gospel and all of its fullness is enough! I would exhort you to follow the old paths, utilize the historical creeds and confessions to help keep balance and tension in these issues. God will bring the nations together by the means he has set forth.

 

Your fellow Shepherd in Christ,

Eric Anderson

Pastor, Lifespring Church, Crosby, MN

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Some Benefits of using a Hymnal

Some Benefits of using a Hymnal. A few years ago, our young church plant made a conscientious and principled decision to move away from the screen and purchase hymn books. One of our members attended a Ligonier conference and returned with “Hymns of Grace” and “The Trinity Hymnal” we choose “Hymn of Grace” for practical reasons (large print, simpler selections). It was one of the best decisions we made and from which many fruits, both obvious and not so observable, can be cataloged. 

This is not a post that has a villain (the screen), nor do would I say that using a screen for worship is wrong. But as I have been thinking through the ways our church has been blessed over the past few years after which we made a deliberate decision to move from Screen to hymn book, I would show, what I believe are some of the great benefits, which I suspect have been unknowingly lost when we, in the past generation, jettisoned the physical hymn book for the convenience and practicality of the screen.  

  1. Faithfulness: With a Hymnbook, you get hundreds of songs for worship that are theologically sound. They have stood the test of time. The Gospel is faithfully declared in song.  

  2. Sing-ability: Why do hymns last generations? Good lyrics? Yes, but also (and equally as important) they are easily learned and singable by all of God’s people. With a hymn book, you get a canon of vetted music that both men and women can sing congregationally. One of the most avoidable tragedies churches have participated in has been presenting un-singable music. I think many think (rightfully) that music must be doctrinally accurate. This is necessary, but it is also to be participatory. High-pitched songs with tone and tempo changes may minister to you, via radio, but will have no place if men cannot sing them in church and stand with their hands in their pockets. Singable music is necessary for congregation worship.

  1. Historicity: A Hymnbook provides a cannon of music which spans generations, era, and continents—There is something about singing old Irish song (Be thou My Vision), Appalachian (What Wondrous Love is This), a song penned by Martin Luther (A Mighty Fortress) or a former slave trader (Amazing Grace) which is both humbling and confidence building.

  2. Variety: You get a canon of music that has a variety of Christian experiences and seasons. I love the Christmas section in “Hymns of Grace” and we have added each year to our repertoire of songs.  Hymnals allow for congregation favorites and seasonal requests. Though I pick the songs each week, and we follow a regular liturgy with at least 5 songs, and I regularly invite people to make requests of their favorites. 

  3. Memorability: Children grow up knowing songs—can they know songs from a screen? Sure…but not if they are constantly changing. I cannot stress how much singing music helps to catechize a congregation. How good it was for me during a particularly difficult season of ministry to have the lyrics of “How Firm a Foundation” in my head, ministering to my soul.

  4. Accessibility: People can read all the verses and memorize them as they see them, for hymns both tell a story and crescendo in meaning (EX: “For the Beauty of the Earth”, “Fairest Lord Jesus”). 

  5. Teachability: People learn, even basically, how to follow the music as it is written. 

  1. Transferability: Hymn Books allow for delegation of singing at times to younger musicians while giving them guardrails which pre-emptively strike down those cringe and apology moments which comes from lack of awareness while leading music (ask any pastor for stories of this).

  2.  Accompaniment:Accompaniment: Hymnals funnel the music towards the piano and voice, with the guitar being an accompanying instrument, yet not the main one, mostly. This actually increases the amount and variety of musicians who can join in.

  3. Preachability: Hymnbooks allow for pastoral illustrations of song lyrics. I can actually say, as a non-poet, that I have poetry memorized and ready to recite.

  4. Practicality: Hymnals allow for Accapella worship when desired, or if the musicians are unavailable (this is especially beneficial for a small church). We know this from experience. Hymnals also cut down on practice time needed for musicians. 

  1. Peaceability: Hymnals cut down upon many, many unnecessary conflicts surrounding worship and worship teams. “Hey man, blame the publisher, not me”. 

  1. Psalm-singing: Hymnals allow for Psalm to be sung without a Psalter. I have a cataloged list of hymns directly translated from Psalms which we sing and mention (EX: “The King of Love my Shepherd is” is from Psalm 23)

  1.  Unity:  Purchasing hymnals has helped with a reverent, consecrated time of singing as pages are turned and eyes follow the music as written. Hymn Books promote loud, manly, confident, joyous singing, as the musical flow has unity with the lyrics. There is hardly anything so glorious or life-giving as hearing voices singing of the confident Victory of King Jesus.