CAMPONTHIS: THE MANHATTAN DECLARATION and EVANGELICAL CO-BELLIGERENCE...the ineffectual intersection of politics and faith

CAMPONTHIS: THE MANHATTAN DECLARATION and EVANGELICAL CO-BELLIGERENCE...the ineffectual intersection of politics and faith

See also my Post at A Rose

So You Want To Be An Elder?

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

The Greek word epithymeo connotes more than a passing notion, or a fleeting infatuation. It is the idea of an all consumming passion, one that denies all other suitors. It denies its self-pursuits. It says there is no greater love than this.

I recently heard in an installment service the depth to which this calling reaches into the heart of a man. The selected verses were out of Colossians 1: 24-29. Their importance should not be neglected, nor should the fact that this charge given to Paul by Christ, empowered and worked in him by the Spirit, is the same charge that Paul entrusts to Timothy to pass on to other faithful men who in turn are to do the same. Paul urges Timothy as one called to be a fellow elder, to labor and suffer for Christ in this manner:

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

The abandonment of civilian pursuits coupled with the enduring of suffering has in mind only one object: the sake of the elect.

When we couple that together with: "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable," we find that there is no turning back, no laying down of the cross, no removing the hand from the plow once the call of God on a man to become an elder burns with epithymeo. Lest any consider this verse as only referring to general gifts, Paul goes on to describe particular calling to ministry:

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

As it has often been said, a man who is content to do anything other than be an elder, has not been called to be one. This does not mean that a man might not work at an occupation, but what it calls for is that even those things, eventually, be laid aside for a life with single minded purpose:

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III writes:

Now the other thing that you need to know when Paul is speaking here, is that Paul doesn’t describe elders in terms of office or status, but in terms of work. Notice that Paul says that “if any man desires this work....” Paul is concerned for the work, for the function of the elder; not so much the status or the title, or the prestige of the office. Paul’s concern in speaking of the qualification of desire is not that a man would desire a status of authority and reputation, but that he would desire a work.

Now let’s get back to the desire. That is the first qualification: he desires this work. What is Paul saying? Paul is saying that the first qualification of the eldership is that a man would desire to do the spiritual work of a shepherd in the church. Not that he would desire to be esteemed in the local congregation as one who is holding the highest rank that the church has to offer. And it is a glorious thing, my friends, to be an elder...

...But the thing that Paul wants is not a man to aspire to that honor, but to aspire to the work. He wants men who are burning with the desire to shepherd the people of God. He wants men who want to be pastors. All elders are pastors, not just preachers! Not just professional, full-time ministers, but all elders are pastors.

So what are you looking for, when you’re looking for an elder in the church? You’re looking for a man in this congregation who wants to shepherd the souls of people. Yes, they have to make hard decisions about budgets and buildings. But you know what? They do that because they love you. That’s the part of the job that they have to do. What they really love to do is shepherd the souls of men and women, and boys and girls. That’s their great desire. The other stuff they have to do: that’s their great desire. The other stuff they have to do. We’d almost have to pay them to do that other stuff, because it’s hard! But the thing that they really desire is the pastoral, shepherding ministry.

That’s the first qualification for an elder. He has to desire to shepherd the people of God. You can see that in a man. You can see that in the way a man studies his Bible; you can see that in the way a man studies to teach the word; you can see that in the way a man commits himself to the life of a local congregation, in the way he attends church (Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday night)—you can see those desires expressed outwardly in a man who desires to shepherd the people of God. He’s involved in evangelism and discipleship, he is involved in preparing to shepherd the people of God. So there’s the first qualification. He has a desire for the work of ministry that is entailed in being an elder.

And I might add that he attends to that purpose as Paul might refer, to spend and be spent for the sake of the flock as an undershepherd of the Chief Shepherd as one who laid down his life for them as the sole consumming passion of his heart. To Jerusalem, to the cross, as the Chief Shepherd, the elder forbids anything to interfere with attaining the one goal, the highest calling, set aside as one whose life and purpose is consumed by a single desire.

Peter wrote:

Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. (1 Peter 5:1-4)

John MacArthur said:

...by virtue of their calling and their gifts and their affirmation by the church, they have a responsibility that is different than the rest of the sheep. Responsibility is the key word, or accountability. The Chief Shepherd will hold them responsible—he will call them to give an account someday for exercising oversight. The rest of the sheep will not be called to give an account for oversight. Only the elders, the shepherds.

The calling is not to be slighted by spending effort to fill life with civilian pursuits. The presenting of a bride without spot or blemish to Christ is too precious a charge to have interests divided. The crown is too prescious to be seen as an addendum to the things that other men desire.

John MacArthur continued:

...The Lord has always sought for leaders. In some ways, apart from the very work of God Himself in an individual's life, spiritual leadership is the most essential element of church structure. So it is an important calling.

There is really no more important calling than this. The Lord has always sought for leaders. You can go all the way back into the Old Testament, 1 Samuel 13:14, and you read there, "The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart." You find again the words of Ezekiel 22:30, "I searched for a man who should stand in the gap before Me for the land." God has always looked for leaders. There is a great need in the church for spiritual leadership.

I read you somebody's description of how a pastor ought to act, and some of you might be saying, "That's a too demanding kind of exhortation for me to deal with." Others might be saying, "Let me have at that. In the power of the Spirit of God, that would be what I would like to be," and the difference is the compelling of the heart.

I never compel anyone to go into the ministry or the pastorate. If that is not an all-consuming desire of the heart, then either the call of God is not there or sin is there, which means the call of God is muffled. Either way they aren't fit for ministry. If the call isn't there or if the sin is there muffling the call, then who am I to call them to ministry?

...this is a demanding calling. He says it is a noble, fine, honorable work. It is a work. It is not just an honored position. It is a lifelong task.

...Paul said to Timothy, "Do the work of an evangelist." To the Thessalonians Paul wrote and said, "Honor those over you for their position," no, "for their work's sake." Paul in Ephesians 4:12 talks about the work of the ministry. It is a demanding calling. It is diligent, hard work.

...And then finally, it is a holy calling. Verse 2, an overseer then - then -takes us back, because it is an essential calling, because it is a limited calling, because it is such a compelling calling, because it is such a responsible calling, because it is such a noble calling, because it is such a worthy calling or a - not only a worthy calling, but a hard calling, a demanding calling. An overseer then must be above reproach. He must understand it's a holy calling, because only a holy man could approach such a formidable task."

At Jerusalem there arose debate about tasks less important, yet tasks necessary to be done. The Elders' reply was succinct:

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

It is too important, and as John MacArthur says, it is a work which requires diligence because it is a formidable task. Now consider, if the secondary ministries of serving in other capacities in the church was not deemed important enough to distract, then how much less civilian pursuits from which they had already been called. Jesus in calling Peter and Andrew said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” This is a defining moment, they were to leave home, family, occupation for the high calling of becoming shepherds of God's flock. They were to be made holy men, set aside, made overseers, not self-willed to be. The task is too precious, too demanding, requiring the absolute attention of the laborer called into the harvest, and cannot be subjugated to the things that occupy the lives of other men. It is a monumental thing, a good and hororable thing, a consuming, arduous work, to aspire to be an elder. But it must be a desire above all else, or it is not God calling.

Thoughts of Francis Turretin: Thanksgiving Verses - Part 1

Thoughts of Francis Turretin: Thanksgiving Verses - Part 1

See the posts on Idols at A Rose

The Heresy That Most Southern Baptists Love

Today on the Dividing Line: A Review and Refutation of Middle Knowledge

In one form or another, as a related kind, this heresy of progressive knowledge in God is the main course of most Southern Baptists' soteriology. But they should not feel alone, it is the most common kind of error found and held to by most in evangelical Christianity.

Middle Knowledge is credited to be the brain-child of a Roman Catholic named Luis de Molina. You can read more about it here. Interesting and very disturbing is that this denial of the God of Scripture is held by a cadre of leaders of Southern Baptist seminaries and tolerated as part of the faux unity of good 'ol boys who tend to care more about annuity than eternity.

Obama, Our First Homosexual President: "Same Sex? What's The Difference?" (Reposted, revised)

Preference: selection of somebody or something: the view that one person, object, or course of action is more desirable than another, or a choice based on such a view.

Why? What makes the homosexual preference a preference? Why would it be more desirable? Or, to ask this is in the reverse, why is homosexuality less desirable?

Our first homosexual president has some explaining to do to Michelle about why he prefers her over Michael. If there is no difference, why does he prefer her over him? If we were to ask his children, what would be their answer? Do you think that O is instructing his girls to be open to embrace diversity in their preference? How about his wife? Do you think he is encouraging her to be open to the possibilities? And just who is on the short list?

The fact is that the reason that a person is oriented toward one and not the other is because they find the alternative less desirable, distasteful, if not disgusting. They view it as wrong, at least for them. Or else, they're neutral toward it. In that case, most likely, they simply cannot understand why or why not, because they haven't given it any thought. Or for peace of mind, they ignore their disturbed psyche about the conflicted idea of tolerance versus their own intolerance. If it is wrong for them, why? If it is not wrong, then why not engage in it? Mere preference doesn't answer the morass of questions. If there were no available alternatives, would the lesser desire then be acceptable? This is the cognitive dissonance with which a homosexual like Obama must deal. He must ask himself, "Why not?" He must determine what is appealing about one behavior, and what is appalling about the other. Then again, we don't expect liberal apologists to honestly answer questions, anyway, do we? Nor, do they want to.

I call him a homosexual because he agrees that the preference is legitimate, a proper moral view, one which anyone can choose. And as he defines himself, so is he. He, in other words, has no reason to not embrace it other than preference (whatever that is). So, shouldn't he be able to explain why he chooses one over the other? Why would he not bed down Barney Frank? Why is one more desirable and the other less so? Can he look Michelle in the eyes and tell her that sex with a man is no different than sex with a woman? Can he explain to her that male features and accouterments are just as appealing, or does he discriminate? Perhaps he is bi-sexual and that explains his equal appreciation of both. Wonder is, if he is, has he explained to Michelle that he wouldn't mind if she were a man?

Denny Burk has posted on hitting the bottom of the slippery slope. We haven't hit it yet, but time is slipping away. One wonders where the liberals will draw the line. And when they do, upon what measure of moral absolutism? Arbitrary utilitarianism?

Albert Mohler has tackled the new pronouncement of The Great Moral Determiner, though I would disagree with Mohler that the change has been initiated by the proclamation of Obama rather than the first tolerance of any such unions in any legal civil arrangement of any kind including the tolerance of co-habitational benefit rights. There should be none. The conservative, historical, moral perspective was lost when the church first made moves to acknowledgement and tolerance of such relationships.

Albert Mohler cannot in good conscience sit by when the SBC tolerates men like Rick Warren when Warren embraces civil unions or other social arrangements that would accommodate the homosexual movement. For that only lends credence to the claim to marriage rights for all. Only when organizations like the SBC stand as a single voice will they be taken seriously. Irrespective of the fact that they have in their constitution a clause forbidding the embracing of homosexuality, the tolerance is still evident in that they will not discipline the power brokers like Warren.

My next post ideas: Homosexual Polygamists For Civil Rights sue Vermont for equality in marriage and Barney Frank defends his right to have minions. Then later, what ACORN might do now that the door has been opened by Obama to import thirteen year old male prostitute sex slaves.

Taxpayer Protest Dwarfs The Million Man March

A million or more rock Washington

Pyromaniacs: "But" - "Not" - and "So That"

Pyromaniacs: "But" - "Not" - and "So That"

I am currently doing a series on justification at A Rose. Click on it!

Regeneration By The Spirit Preceeds The Preaching Of The Word To The Will

John Owen helps us to understand that the Holy Spirit goes before the Word to regenerate:

This work of regeneration is not preached to the will and so it not resisted by the will, but it works effectively on the will, wonderfully renewing it.

The Holy Spirit is the sole efficacious agent in regeneration so that it can never be said that the man according to his own will chooses to be saved, nor can it be said that man by his own will has rejected that which he could have had if he had chosen. Monergistic regeneration (salvation) is not without the Word as Owen also makes clear, voiding the heretical teaching of the likes of Billy Graham. But, it preceeds it and accomplishes what the Word declares, prior to the hearing of the Word.

Russell Moore tried to state what the Gospel is as a leader of a major Seminary. Unfortunately the SBC in launching the Great Commission Resurgence has not first established the true Gospel that goes along with it even among its leaders, as this video makes clear. How sad.

Though recorded in 2007, nothing has changed in the SBC in the past two years. Indeed, not much has changed in the SBC for over a century. Finneyesque revivalism is still preached in most SBC churches. This Methodistic approach, is not the Gospel. Listen as Russell Moore struggles to explain but fails miserably to establish what the Gospel is for his audience:



How different the Gospel is from what Moore represents:



Jesus tells us that it is the Father who draws men to the Word. That regeneration must come before the Word is without doubt as we witness in the ministry of John the Baptist. Even in the incarnation we see that the Spirit generates the new life of the Word and then the thing conceived is birthed. Jesus is arguing with the teachers of the Law who believed that the Word must precede the regeneration of man. But Jesus' complaint against them was that they thought the in the Scripture salvation was found. The answer was that unless the Spirit makes alive and brings forth from the tomb alive he who was once dead he cannot see the Word. This is the lesson of John with Nicodemus, this is the lesson of John with Lazarus and this is the lesson of Jesus who said that no man can come to the Word except that the Father draws him. Paul tells us in Titus that it is the Word that makes manifest what has happened. It does not cause if. Unless regeneration preceeds the Word, no one comes to know the One who the Father says, "This is my Son, listen to him." Regeneration is the drawing which is spoken of in John. Without it, there is no life for the Son to call forth from the grave.

Should Congress Impeach Obama Now?

The Democrat Socialist Party screamed loud for the impeachment of Bush over far less.

This may well rise to the level of interference and violate the whistle-blower law.

Planned Parenthood's First Church Of The Blessed St. Margaret of Genocide Holds Vigil For George Tiller

Wow, the Church of Planned Parenthood, who would have thunk it. Catch what the womanish alien looking creature says about determining for another when their life should end? Is she really as blind as a marinated mushroom or does she just look and talk like one?

Of course there was the lighting of candles. Now that can't be good for the environment. Just think of the carbon dioxide released. I guess you have sacrifice something to the gods in one area if you're going to be blessed by them in another. Just think, if they lighted candles for the babies Tiller killed, they would have had to get a fire permit.

Liberals really do have their own minds, I am told. Real liberals are not just zombioids like the weirdos in this video. I've known a few, personally. They're real creatures, honest, not cardboard cutouts like these mental manikins.

This is the church where the vigil took place:



A very dangerous place for candles.

Because abortions are not commonly performed publicly, and the clinic will close for a week, Planned Parenthood ensured the numbed crowd that the invigorating sacrament of abortion could still be performed by using a substitute:



Though many weren't fooled, after a lot of drugs and alcohol many others were convinced that substitutionary abortion does indeed transubstantially grant the perpetrator longer life just like spilling real blood.