With yesterday’s posting of the June Reading Plan, we have reached a milestone. We are halfway through our posting of the Robert Murray M’Cheyne year-long Bible Reading Plan! Let us know how this resource has benefited you, and feel free to let us know what public domain resources you’d like us to publish next.
June 1
June 2
June 3
June 4
June 5
June 6
June 7
June 8
June 9
June 10
June 11
June 12
June 13
June 14
June 15
June 16
June 17
June 18
June 19
June 20
June 21
June 22
June 23
June 24
June 25
June 26
June 27
June 28
June 29
June 30
On this special Memorial Day episode, Billy and JD sit down to discuss various topics pertaining to Memorial Day and the church.
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I have two uncles and a grandfather who retired from the U.S. Air Force. I myself served for eight years as a medic in the U.S. Army Reserve, deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2003 and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2008. My great grandfather, William Frederick “Bill” Leonhart, was a medic in the U.S. Army and was deployed in service of his country in World War I. Needless to say, Memorial Day holds a special place in my heart.
In this podcast, we seek to answer some of the tough questions facing Christians regarding military service and the church. We by no means cover all the bases. However, we do try to deal with the topics in such a way as to honor both God and our troops. We hope you enjoy this discussion, as we enjoyed having it.
– Billy
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2. It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a magistrate when called there unto; in the management whereof, as they ought especially to maintain justice and peace, according to the wholesome laws of each kingdom and commonwealth, so for that end they may lawfully now, under the New Testament wage war upon just and necessary occasions.
( 2 Samuel 23:3; Psalms 82:3, 4; Luke 3:14 )
from The Baptist Confession, Chapter Twenty-Four
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Last Goodbye by Tedashii (feat. Benjah)
Armed Forces Medley: 2011 National Memorial Day Concert
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The following was taken from some lecture notes I taught at my church a couple years ago from The Baptist Catechism.
Q.1: Who is the first and chiefest being?
A. God is the first and chiefest being.1
1Isaiah 44:6; 48:12; Psalm 97:9
Note: The first question and answer from the Westminster Confession of Faith begins with man and points to God:
Q.1: What is the chief and highest end of man?
A. Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God and fully to enjoy Him forever.
The Baptist Catechism takes a decidedly more presuppositional and, I would argue, more Calvinistic approach. In Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin begins his instruction by asking whether man must first know himself in order to know God or know God in order to know himself. After much deliberation, he concludes:
“But though the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves are bound together by mutual bond, it is only right that the former is given first place, and then we can come down to the latter.”[1]
Men must first be confronted with the character and nature of God before they can begin to properly assess themselves. God is both the source and the focal point of all truth. Every confession, every catechism, every creed, every gospel presentation should endeavor to begin and end with Him, not man.
God is the first and chiefest being.
Isaiah 44:6
“Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:
‘I am the first and I am the last,
And there is no God besides Me.’”[2]
Isaiah 48:12
“Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called;
I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.”
Psalm 97:9
“For You are the LORD Most High over all the earth;
You are exalted far above all gods.”
“Should God then be chiefly loved? Yes. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, Luke 10:27. And chiefly feared? Yes. Rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell, Matthew 10:28. And are those happy who are interested in him? Yes. Happy is that people whose God is the Lord, Psalm 144:15.”[3]
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[1]John Calvin, The Institutes of Christian Religion (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1987), 24.
[2]All citation of the holy Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) except where otherwise noted.
[3]Benjamin Bedomme, A Scriptural Exposition of the Baptist Catechism (Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2006), 2.
In this episode, Billy and JD sit down and discuss “Emily’s Abortion Video” by Emily Letts. Featuring music from Pink Floyd. Also featuring an audio excerpt from a speech given by Gianna Jessen.
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Before God sovereignly intervened in my life and released me from my bondage to sin, I had come to adopt a fairly antinomiam lifestyle. I lived by the seat of my pants, sinning at will while still claiming to be a Christian. At one point I recall reacting with cold indifference when a girl told me that, were she to find that she was pregnant, she would get an abortion. I just sat there silent like, That’s your choice. She never did discover that she was pregnant, and she never went through with an abortion, but that was one of the most regretful moments of my life. Even then, I was of the conviction that abortion was wrong. I believed that guys who silently stood by as their girlfriends made such a heart-wrenching decision were complete jerks. In that moment, I learned that I was in no place to judge them.
This podcast is not meant to be taken as a judgment upon those who are facing the incredible decision our society offers them in abortion. We certainly believe that the Bible is clear that abortion is murder. However, we also believe that there are lasting results of abortion. Women and men who have stood close to the fire on this issue often come away from it with much guilt and shame. We don’t want to simply dismiss that guilt and that shame as unwarranted. It is warranted, because we will all have to stand before God on judgment day and give an account for the things we’ve done. However, there is forgiveness and healing at the cross.
When Christ died on the cross, two thousand years ago, He took upon Himself the wrath that you and I deserve for our sins. He took the punishment deserved by sinful men. Christ, the only sinless man to ever have existed, paid the penalty for sin. In doing so, He secured reconciliation for God and His sheep. We would encourage you today, in light of God’s great mercy and forgiveness, to turn from your sins toward the God of love and mercy, and put your faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross. If you do that today, your sins will be cast as far away from you as the East is from the West. When God looks at you, He will no longer see your sin and misery, but He will see the perfect righteousness of His Son Jesus Christ. Please consider these things today, and let us know how this podcast impacted you.
– Billy
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Emily’s Abortion Video
Rape case referred to toward the beginning of podcast.
“‘I did what I was supposed to do. I went to the law about this situation,’ she said. The judge’s probation sentence and the removal of the restrictions — ‘that says everything I went through was for nothing. It would have been better for me not to say anything,’ said the girl, who is not being identified because The Dallas Morning News does not typically identify victims of sex crimes.”
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Gianna Jessen Abortion Survivor in Australia (full)
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Church and State: Hostiles?
In continuing the protracted(apologies for the delay) series on the validity of being a Baptist and Reformed, we have come to the objection made by Laurence Justice concerning the doctrine of church and state. I do think we generally agree that these are two different realms with two different responsibilities before God. I must disagree with his reasoning behind why this cancels the term Reformed for Baptists. Unfortunately, some of the language used is unhelpful and, once again, historically selective. Let’s deal with each case separately, beginning with the Consantinian argument.
Constantine: Destroyer of Christianity
I don’t know much of history behind Constantine and his role behind calling for unity in the church of the time. Was it for the solidification of his own power as Emperor of Rome? Was it in order to pursue a unified church for the good of the church? It seems to be that both of these are potentially true. Unity is never a bad thing as long as it is unity of the truth of Scripture. Constantine called for an ecumenical council of the Church to lay these disputes to rest. We know this council to be the one that produced the Nicene Creed defending the nature of Christ as fully divine, and defending the Triune nature of the Godhead against Arius and his error that Christ was divine but of a different substance from the Father. This is good that Constantine used his power to call for unity of the Church for it produced the first of the Orthodox Ecumenical Creeds that most of the Christian world to this day holds to. On the other hand, in regards to infant baptism, it appears to be that Constantine used his power to impose 4th century paedobaptist doctrine upon the whole Church. There were a group of people who disagreed with this doctrine(and rightly so). They were persecuted and executed for dissenting with the church and state which were married under Constantine. Was infant baptism the only reason for persecution? Their persecution was certainly related to baptism, but it had less to do with infant baptism than re-baptism. The Donatist controversy was over bishops who had recanted the faith. If a person was baptized(even as an infant) by a bishop who had “fallen away,” then their baptism was invalid. So it placed value on the one baptizing. One’s moral excellence is what gave baptism validity in the sight of the Donatist. The “fall of the Church” is not due to the moral purity of the Church, but due to what the Church believes concerning the Gospel. This sets up the next bit of unhelpful and historically selective language.
Killing Donatists: The Spigot Opened to the River of Blood
This is the same language used by Baptist perpetuists who see church purity in accordance with correct baptism. In other words, those who practiced infant baptism corrupted the church and those who baptized adults kept the church pure. This contains within it the belief that one’s doctrine and practice must be 100% pure in order to be a pure church. The Second London Baptist Confession says that the purest churches are subject to error. What makes up the Kingdom of God is those who believe in Christ and profess His name. One’s practices evidence what one believes concerning the Gospel and a Church that practices credobaptism and not padeobaptism is a more pure church, but it doesn’t mean that God’s people are not among the paedobaptist churches. They are true churches. Their practice needs reforming. We must leave this idea that only moral excellence is what constitutes Christ’s church. We must look for the Church among those who have believed on His name and have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of the Beloved Son.
Reformers: Successors to Constantinan Persecution
Did Calvin, Luther, Zwingli, etc. continue with this persecution to the Anabaptists aka Neo-Donatists? Was it the refusal of the Anabaptists to accept the baptism of children what led to their death? Perhaps that was part of it. Many of the Anabaptists did not seek to adhere to any of the laws of the civil magistrate. They believed it was an evil thing that existed and to take part in it was to take part in the works of the evil one. So the Reformers, who saw a closer relation of Church and State, persecuted them not primarily for their rebaptizing of their children, but mainly due to their rebellion against the state in matters of civil disobedience. After all, it was the Munster Anabaptists who took over the city and began a war. They became the face of Anabaptism. I know they were not indicative of the whole of Anabaptism, but they certainly were an example of how rebellion against the state ought not be allowed insofar as it consists of common, civil affairs. The mistake the Reformers made was a similar one to Constantine: that Church and State can coordinate the affairs of humans together.
Baptists: Two Kingdom Theologians
Amen to the first half of Dr. Justice’s final paragraph! The civil magistrate’s duty is not in the sphere of religion or worship. The Church’s duty is not in the sphere of ordering the common affairs of humanity. Baptists believe that Jesus Christ is Lord of the Church and State. So did Augustine, Luther and the rest of the Reformers. Baptists have a separation of the two into a common kingdom and a heavenly kingdom. Here is where I end my applause of the paragraph. The two kingdoms aren’t antagonistic to each other. They have different roles and functions. At times, the state is a friend to the Church when it allows Her to follow Her conscience when it comes to worship. The Church is a friend to the state when it doesn’t impose religious worship on society. The State has a duty to call the church to fidelity insofar as the Church cannot murder, teach kids to be disobedient to parents, commit adultery, steal, covet, or lie. The Church has a duty to call the State to fidelity by calling it to preserve human life, promote marital fidelity, protect private property, etc. Neither can impose its rulings on the other, they can only call each other to righteousness and faithfulness. They aren’t “basically antagonistic” to one another. They can be antagonistic to one another when they infringe upon their proper roles to which God has set them up to carry out. But they are both called by God to carry out their respective roles in relation to each other. It is perfectly acceptable for the Christian to exercise the use of the sword. We are called by the Apostle Paul to obey and submit to those who are set over us, including the emperor Nero who wields the sword for peace.
That’s the last ramblings of this fellow. Now off to put my 5 month old down for a nap.
In this episode, Billy and JD sit down with Pastor Jason Delgado, Jack DiMarco, and Mike King to discuss Part Two of How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren. Featuring music from The Followers. Also featuring an audio excerpt by D. James Kennedy from “Amazing Grace: The History and Theology of Calvinism” (DVD) by the Nicene Council.
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Amazing Grace: The History and Theology of Calvinism
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The book we’re reading:
How to Read a Book
by Mortimer Adler & Charles Van Doren
We’d love your participation. Contact us with your comments and questions about the books contents:
In this episode, JD and Billy sit down with Pastor Jason Delgado and Jack DiMarco to discuss the first two chapters of Covenant Theology: From Adam to Christ by Nehemiah Coxe and John Owen. Featuring music from Least of These and Beautiful Eulogy.
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The book we’re currently reading…
Covenant Theology: From Adam to Christ by Nehemiah Coxe and John Owen
We’d love your participation. Contact us with your comments and questions about the books contents:
One of the hardest tasks a Children’s Ministry director has to accomplish is the finding of volunteers. It seems that sometimes it’s hair-pulling, teeth-grinding work to try to get people to volunteer their time and talents. This is true both inside and outside of the church. And let’s face it, I’m no Stalin. I couldn’t inspire water to flow downstream.
Having given this topic much thought, though, I discovered there are basically seven myths about volunteering for a Children’s Sunday School that must be dispelled in order to make the decision easier for many church members. This is not an indictment against any church member who has had these concerns, though. I had many very similar concerns before I started volunteering for the Children’s Ministry at my church. Nevertheless, they are erroneous and must be dispelled.
1. I have to be a genius to do that.
It is quite common to feel a sense of inadequacy when witnessing what you perceive as “true greatness” at work. Everyone has been there. When the guy who normally speaks in NLT suddenly prays for 10 minutes straight in KJV, after which no one has the gall to follow. Far too often we compare ourselves to the speakers rather than the audience. In prayer, our audience is God, so we should have a sense of inadequacy regardless of who precedes us in our prayers. However, an adult should have nothing to fear in teaching those of the next generation, regardless of the education and spiritual prowess of those who teach alongside him. We all have knowledge and wisdom to pass along to the next generation; let us not be hindered by constantly comparing ourselves to those in our own.
2. I have to have kids of my own in order to teach other people’s kids.
Granted, it certainly seems to comport with common sense that parents, the people who benefit the most from the Children’s Ministry, should always be the first to consider and pray about volunteering for it. However, some of the best people who work with kids do not have kids or, at least, not yet. In my undergraduate studies, I had many fellow students who were either youth ministers or went on to be, or went on to become teachers and substitute teachers in primary schools, most of which did not have kids and / or were not married. There is no parental prerequisite for working with children.
3. I have to be uniquely gifted to work with kids.
There is no “gift of working with kids” listed in the Bible. My wife and I struggled with this one. For years I heard the plea from the pulpit for more volunteers in the Children’s Ministry, but I would tell myself, “I’m just not sure that’s my gift.” Eventually, it occurred to me just how unbiblical that was. Children’s Ministry is not a spiritual gift.
On the flip side, however, I do think it is important for men who think they are called to ministry to be exercising their gifts in some way already before they are ordained to the ministry. Let’s face it, preaching opportunities don’t just appear out of thin air for pastoral students of the Reformed, Confessional Baptist persuasion. If a young man thinks himself called to the ministry and does not otherwise have opportunities to preach and teach, one way he can exercise his gift is to volunteer for Children’s Ministry. A man who is afforded few other opportunities and persistently refuses to take advantage of this opportunity to exercise his gift likely does not truly have the gift.
4. It would take too much time out of my already busy week.
Depending on your level of theological exposure / education, this may be true at first. Some may have to spend hours preparing every week in order to come up with a decent 30 minute lesson on even the most basic truths. Over time, however, it gets much easier to prepare for the lesson. If your church uses a catechism, as our church does, many of the Scripture references you will need for your preparation should already be provided in the Scripture citations after each answer. Other more seasoned volunteers are also a great help in this area of lesson preparation.
5. The Children’s Ministry is the least important part of our church.
Granted, many parents treat children’s ministries like Sunday daycares. However, those of us who actually catechize our children in the home find children’s Sunday school to be of great value. The kids are able to get together and get deeper teaching on the things they are hopefully learning at home, and they experience the value of the catechism answers they are memorizing with their parents in a classroom environment. Most importantly, the truths they are being taught at home are being reinforced by other adults within the church. Such reinforcement is of immense value to the catechizing parent.
6. That’s the parents’ job.
Then we have the arguments often made by many within the Family Integrated Church (FIC) movement that the teaching that takes place in children’s ministries really should be done by the parents. In large part, I agree with the FIC on this point. Parents should never leave the spiritual training and nurture of their children up to children’s ministry volunteers. Such training and nurture is primarily the responsibility of the parents.
However, the Bible does not present such a rift between the authority of the church and the authority of the parents as is presented in many FIC churches today. Paul writes directly to the children on a couple different occasions in the Bible (Eph. 6:1-3; Col. 3:20). This is not seen as a usurpation of parental authority, but a reinforcement of it. As such, he demonstrates a very important truth: parents who have covenanted with a church and have come under its authority should take no issue with subjecting themselves as well as their children to its teaching.
To argue against allowing their kids to be taught by the church, the same church that is teaching them, is to demonstrate a general lack of teachability. Hence, often times families who have been heavily influenced by the FIC will join non-FIC churches and war with them relentlessly over their children’s ministries. In doing so, they show themselves not only to be unteachable, but also divisive. Yes, the parents ought to teach their own children in their homes, but the church has a responsibility as well, and that responsibility is to be respected. For more on this subject, read my church’s Philosophy of Children’s Ministry.
7. There are many people in the church more qualified than I am.
If redemptive history proves anything, it proves that God does not always use the most qualified people to get the job done. In fact, He does not even always use the most willing (see Jonah). Often times, the most qualified people are the most unwilling to be used by God. God uses both the talented, unwilling servant, and the untalented, willing servant to accomplish His ends.
This is why we should be open-minded about where God may be leading us to serve when we pray about where we should serve in His local church. God uses fallen, ill-qualified, unwise laymen to accomplish the most amazing things in His kingdom. Might you be the next weak, ill-prepared, under-qualified, imperfect vessel He uses to help raise up the next generation of saints in His local church?
In this episode, JD and Billy sit down with Pastor Jason Delgado, Mike King, and Jack DiMarco to discuss how they came to affirm Covenant Theology. Featuring music from Michael Padgett and Indelible Grace.
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The book we’re currently reading…
Covenant Theology: From Adam to Christ by Nehemiah Coxe and John Owen
We’d love your participation. Contact us with your comments and questions about the books contents:
CredoCovenant 