tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68303263683014900052024-03-13T21:37:55.002-04:00Reforming West VirginiaReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.comBlogger163125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-43957390046553714712021-04-10T10:14:00.000-04:002021-04-10T10:14:26.193-04:00Reforming Appalachia: Proposed Instructions for Creating an Individualized Under-Care Plan<p style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>A Proposed Draft for Consideration</b></span></span><br /></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-6fb52c54-7fff-6538-9794-9d056ff48d14"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Congratulations for coming under the care of the New River Presbytery. What lies ahead of you can be daunting, but the New River Presbytery will guide your progress and growth toward licensure and ordination. By now you have been informed of the Presbytery’s expectations for candidates under care and are ready to create your Individualized Under-Care Plan (IUCP). You will create this plan with the help and approval of your mentor, your session, and the Candidates and Credentials Committee. Please present to your mentor a first draft in the form of a grammatically and mechanically correct paper. Write informally and in the first person. Keep the headings, use complete sentences, and provide answers in a narrative format without repeating the questions. Consult your mentor for guidance as you write your plan. The IUCP you create will lay out a path that welcomes input from the Presbytery while maintaining your liberty and agency. It will help you think through all that lies ahead of you and help the presbytery know how to support your ministry aspirations. Your mentor will submit your IUCP to the C&C Committee. You are the future of the New River Presbytery. We need you. We want to help you in whatever way we can. </span></p><br /><br /><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guidance</span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What church are you a member of? How long? </span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Identify and describe your relationship to your mentor. </span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How will you meet with your mentor and how often?</span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What are your expectations for your mentor? </span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Education</span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What college and graduate education have you received so far?</span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What courses of theological studies have you completed so far?</span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where course of theological studies do you want to pursue? What degree do you want to earn? Institution? Traditional or non-traditional? Be as specific as possible. Describe any plan Bs. What is your timeframe for completion? </span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Without revealing financial information that you wish to keep private, please describe how you will pay for your education. What financial difficulties do you think you will face? What will be the greatest obstacles to completing your educational goals?</span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ministry Engagement/Internship</span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Describe your ministry experience so far. List churches, programs, activities, preaching/teaching, etc. </span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What kinds of ministry do you have little or no experience with?</span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What are your ministerial strengths and weaknesses? Fears? </span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What ministry opportunities are currently available to you? </span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> With what frequency would you be available to fill pulpits as assigned throughout presbtyery?</span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> How interested would you be in starting a bible study or small group or other “congregation gathering” activity from scratch in an unreached area or community near you? Can you identify such a community? How would you go about it if assigned to do so? </span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recognizing the dearth of existing calls within the presbytery, what ideas do you have for cultivating calls to which you might be ordained?</span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Licensure</span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What are your opinions of getting licensed early in your Under-Care Program?</span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What are your opinions of accepting the direction of the presbytery during your licentiate ministry?</span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you already have specific ministry roles or positions to which you would like to be commissioned by the presbytery as a licenitate? Please describe.</span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please describe your degree of readiness/unreadiness to complete each of the following: </span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="3" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Statement of Christian experience and inward call to preach the Gospel in written form and/or orally before the Presbytery</span></p></li><li aria-level="3" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Written and/or oral examinations for basic knowledge of Biblical doctrine (WCF&C), Bible content, Book of Church Order. </span></p></li><li aria-level="3" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Provide written sermon on an assigned passage of Scripture embodying both explanation and application, and present sermon or exhortation before Presbytery or before a committee of Presbytery.</span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By when do you think you would like to be ready to complete the licensure process?</span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What fears/concerns do you have about being licensed?</span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ordination</span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please review with your mentor the Uniform Curriculum Guidelines of the PCA. What minimum portion of your academic program must be completed to cover the Uniform Curriculum Guidelines. Please list the courses in your pogram that you think might cover this, short of completing the degree. </span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Keeping in mind the requirement that you must complete an internship and a course of theological studies (not a degree) that covers these guidelines, estimate by when you might be ready to complete the ordination process.</span></p></li></ol></ol><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you for completing the first draft of your IUCP. Your mentor and the presbytery will work will to finalize your plan to ensure it will be practical and adequate. It will be approved by the Candidates & Credentials committee, and reviewed and modified as needed to encourage and guide your progress. </span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span>ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-46685454295479056312021-04-03T12:54:00.001-04:002021-04-03T12:56:24.325-04:00Reforming Appalachia: A Robust Under Care Program<span id="docs-internal-guid-9f29420d-7fff-905d-d60e-aab8a8823106"><span> </span>To replant Presbyterianism in West Virginia, the New River Presbytery must employ a robust, active, engaging, and encouraging Under Care Program that guides the advancement of our candidates toward ordination. The goal of such a program is to overcome obstacles that have historically handicapped Presbyterianism in Appalachia by enlisting qualified licentiates and unleashing ordained ministers earlier in the process than has been customary. Such a program should include the following seven categories:</span><div><span><br /><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Administration by the Presbytery</span></span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Identification and registration of candidates</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tracking, assessment, and reporting of progress</span></span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guidance by the Candidate and Credentials Committee</span></span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">An Individualized Under Care Plan is an agreement between the presbytery and candidate </span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Developed by the candidate and approved by the mentor, session, and Candidates and Credentials Committee</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Customized to include the candidate’s plan for education, mentoring, ministry engagement/Internship, licensure, and ordination</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With tentative dates for tracking progress </span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Monitored by an assigned mentor who reports annually to the Candidates and Credentials Committee. </span></span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Educational opportunities</span></span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Three Options</span></span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="3" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In-bounds, in-person non-traditional educational programs such as the New River Presbytery’s LAMP program (in-development).</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="3" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Online seminary coursework at established out-of-bounds seminary programs such as RTS, Westminster, Covenant, and Greenville.</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="3" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Out-of-bounds, in-person seminary programs are not preferable because statistics show seminarians who leave the bounds of the presbytery are less likely to return. </span></span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Licensure Educational Program</span></span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="3" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Presbytery provides an in-house “course of theological studies” that prepares students for licensure exams. </span></span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ordination Educational Program</span></span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="3" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">PCA ordination ordinarily presupposes at least a bachelor or masters in any field, although this has been debated and can be exempted under the extraordinary clause. </span></span></p></li><li aria-level="3" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Beyond that, ordination requires only “a regular course of theological studies” that fulfills the Uniform Curriculum of the PCA and satisfies the Presbytery. This means an additional degree or certificate is not necessary for ordination. Such a candidate can be ordained without appeal to the extraordinary clause. </span></span></p></li><li aria-level="3" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Presbytery should make available a regular course of theological studies that adds subjects in prep for ordination exams and fulfills the Uniform Curriculum Guidelines of the PCA. </span></span></p></li><li aria-level="3" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Presbytery should encourage completion of professional ministerial degrees or other continuing education needs/desires after ordination. </span></span></p></li></ol></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Active, In-bounds Ministry Engagement and Internships</span></span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pre and post licensure opportunities for ministry</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to the individualized written program</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Managed by a church session</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mentored by the church pastor </span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Partnered with the presbytery to provide/require a variety of presbytery-wide experiences</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Toward the advancement of Presbyterianism in West Virginia.</span></span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Licensure and Licenciate ministry</span></span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Terminal or interstitial Licensure</span></span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="3" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Terminal primarily for pulpit supply and interim ministry</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="3" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Interstitial as a stage of progress toward ordination</span></span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Candidates are licensed as early in the Under Care Program as possible, as soon as wisdom, preparation, and opportunity permit </span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So as to arm a presbyterial infantry for the advancement of Presbyterianism in West Virginia</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Commissioned and managed by the presbytery toward specific goals developed in partnership with the licentiate.</span></span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="3" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Filling pulpits</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="3" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gathering congregations</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="3" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Cultivating calls</span></span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Reporting annually to the Presbytery.</span></span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Assessment throughout</span></span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of progress</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of continuing interest</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of skills</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of qualification</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Toward recommendation for examination for licensure or ordination</span></span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ordination</span></span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Upon successful completion of education program, internship, licensure, assessment, cultivation of call, and recommendation </span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With the understanding that education will continue toward a terminal professional ministerial degree or other educational needs/desires. </span></span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: lower-alpha; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Requiring the presbytery to administrate and provide for continuing education after ordination.</span></span></p></li></ol></ol></span></div>ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-87452986287610400902021-03-26T13:58:00.007-04:002021-03-26T14:10:04.106-04:00Reforming Appalachia: Defining Native and Adopted Sons<span> </span>As we consider how to replant Presbyterianism in Appalachia, raising up and recruiting ministers is crucial. Different paths toward ordination and the types of calls that may be available make it helpful to categorize potential ministers into two classes. These do not of themselves estimate or compare their value, as if to say that one would always be better than the other. But rather, it is to acknowledge that different calls may be best suited to different classes or kinds (for reasons described later) and that different classes may require different paths to ordination. <br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span>Native Sons</span></h3><div><span> </span><div><span> </span>The first class we will define is that of Native Sons. Transparently, Native Sons have been raised in Appalachia generally, or, even better for our considerations, in West Virginia specifically. Their lives are situated here. They have been enculturated and have innumerable family and community connections. They are possibly here because they love being here, deigning to surrender the sense of place with which they have been blessed. They may joyfully expect to work here, raise their families here, retire here, and die here. On the other hand, their circumstances might have kept them from ever leaving, due to geographic and economic immobility. But hopefully, they are contently resigned to being here and no longer contemplate other options. Regardless, if they desire the office of a presbyter, the domain in which they desire to minister is--whether by circumstance or affection--the territory they have always called home. A subclass of Native Sons might be called “Prodigal Sons,” who once left to “seek their fortunes” but have since heard “her voice, in the morning hours she calls me,” as so many do, and returned “to the place where I belong.”</div><div><br /></div><div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Adopted Sons </h3><br /><span> </span>The second kind is that of Adopted Sons. Adopted Sons include those who were born and raised elsewhere but who have through providence or call made their way to West Virginia. They come here because they want to be here and intend to stay here as long as providence allows and sense determines. In this category are those who are more likely to have received a traditional seminary education. Prior to coming, they may have identified Appalachia as the place in which they desire to advance the kingdom, similar to how a missionary might identify a country or people to which they will someday go. Given our dearth of presbyterian pulpits, these might be church planters working at the behest of the presbytery. Or, more likely, they got wind of a new or vacant call--a rare opportunity to which they applied and were installed by the presbytery. In the first case, their sense of call informed their circumstance. In the second, their circumstances informed their sense of call. We have proved that Adopted Sons of either sort are welcome among us; they have greatly enriched our ranks for many generations, and we would be even more desparate without them. <br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Difficulties Inherent to the Kind</h3><br /><span> </span>Both classes come with difficulties. Regarding Adopted Sons, the West Virginia frontier does not naturally draw the attention of eager seminary-trained ordinands. Even then, calls are few, and vacancies even more rare. Rural presbyteries have few resources with which to subsidize new calls, and the larger world of Presbyterianism has overlooked rural frontiers for generations. Only now undercurrents of rural outreach are beginning to circulate among the evangelical church’s ecclesiological influencers. If a wave ever does hit, current models of church planting will not be practical outside “metropolitan” areas, which is problematic for our state, which is the only one in Appalachia with no major metropolitan centers. Rural presbyteries will need to guide their efforts by pioneering new ways of rural outreach. Hopefully these essays, if I can ever get them finished, will get us thinking along those lines. <br /><br /><span> </span>Adopted Sons are also more likely than Native Sons to move on from us. Some new or young ministers are just happy to get a job--any job. There’s not as much competition for calls here, and a desperate Presbytery might not make it as difficult for a new or young minister to get ordained. Despite convincing themselves and us of their zeal to come here during examination, it is not unreasonable for a new or young minister to quietly reserve the right to move on if something better arises. And the bar for better lowers quickly when what is unique to West Virginia disabuses new ministers of initial excitement, especially if they have no roots here.<br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Going Forward</h3><span> </span></div><div><span> </span>Adopted Sons will receive treatment in these essays. They are crucial for our success going forward. As much as we would like to do things on our own, we have proved we cannot, and it would be arrogant and exclusivistic to think that we could (I preach to myself). We will always need them to plant churches and fill pulpits. They will be more likely than our Native Sons to have had a traditional seminary education, and traditional seminary exists for real and valid reasons. We should therefore be intentional and active about recruiting Adopted Sons. We need them, and several among us are them and have been for many, many years. One idea to improve recruiting is already in the early stages of discussion and development by the Admin Committee--”The Reformed Appalachian Study Program Internship.”<br /><br /><span> </span>Native Sons will receive more space than Adopted Sons in these essays, not because Adopted Sons are less valuable or desirable, but because Native Sons are more likely to be suited for the unique work that must be pioneered in certain parts of rural Appalachia. But Native Sons are incredibly difficult to raise up. We’ve got to identify them, adapt the path of ordination for them, and normalize a uniquely rural way of doing ministry--all of which is going to be very hard. Thankfully, the presbytery recently approved a seminary training program to be used within our own boundaries. But this is only one consideration for raising up Native Sons. At least three others must accompany it in the short term, with more in the long term: 1) We must as a presbytery create and administrate a robust “Under Care” program, 2) We must normalize licensure much earlier in the candidacy process, and 3) We must saturate our bounds with active, rich, engaging, and value-laden ministry opportunities for candidates under care. Each of these will be fleshed out in more detail later--God willing and the creek don’t rise.</div><div><br /></div><div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Real Sons No Matter What</h3><br /><span> </span>The distinction between Native and Adopted Sons is only useful for discussion in the context of recruiting and raising up ministers--to identify and distinguish what is unique to raising up Native Sons and what is unique to recruiting Adopted Sons. But no son adopted into a family wants to be known perpetually as the adopted one, as if he weren’t a real son. Likewise, I don’t intend to suggest that our Adopted Sons are not real sons. Other than to marvel at God’s good grace to bring you here, I doubt most of us ever think of you as anything other than a Son of West Virginia. We need you, we are glad you are here, and we hope you stay. <br /><br /><br /><br /></div></div>ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-24897598670650071612020-04-09T14:45:00.000-04:002020-04-09T14:45:00.616-04:00Why Churches Should Not Serve Communion Online<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HdwRiDWkAoA" width="560"></iframe>ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-3289546271161242742019-09-09T16:22:00.000-04:002019-09-09T16:28:54.761-04:00The Comfort of our Destiny -- An Application of Romans 8:26-30 <blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">[26] Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. [27] And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. [28] And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. [29] For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. [30] And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. ( </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Romans 8:26–30 </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">ESV)</span></blockquote>
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In this section, Paul’s statement that the “Spirit helps us” flows from the previous discussion about the condition of the fallen world and our “bodies” in that world. Here we must grant that “body” means more than merely the outward vessel, as though it were merely a container for a regenerated soul. The soul is regenerate, but the body is all those aspects of body and spirit that remain impacted by the fall and need to be transformed. “Body” as Paul uses it may therefore have as much to do with the mind and will as it does the actual material flesh, although the material flesh is definitely in view by virtue of the discussion concerning the final state of glory (which necessarily involves the resurrection of the material body).<br />
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“Our weakness” which receives the Spirit’s help, refers to the state of the not-yet-fully-and-finally-redeemed body (including material vessel and non-material mind and will) as we responds to the inevitability of suffering in a Fallen world. The weakened body groans under the weight of the effects of the Fall (in ways that might include our remaining propensities toward sin) despite our definitive regenerate condition. <br />
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The Spirit’s help is apparently in accord with God’s hidden will for us. By “hidden will,” I do not mean his will concerning our final state, for that has been declared outright--we will be glorified. But rather I reference the unrevealed means God will use to get us to that state. He who knows minds knows the mind of the Spirit and therefore “they” work in single accord. In this way, the Spirit’s intercession on our behalf advances the will of God toward our final conformity to Christ’s image (aka, “glorification” in this passage). “That Christ may be the firstborn among many brethren,” if it were marked for rhetorical emphasis would underscore the word “many” rather than “firstborn”--it is God’s will that the Firstborn (from the dead/in glory) should be joined by many additional brethren in the same state. So the Spirit intercedes in a way that accords with God’s will in order to guarantee that this will happen. <br />
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Again, I have said “hidden will” because the content of this intercession concerning our circumstances on our way toward this final state is unknown to us. We know this is unknowable because, first, we ourselves in our weakness cannot know how to pray according to God’s will (“we do not know what to pray for as we ought,” i.e., we do not know what will best progress us toward our destiny). Second, this intercession is described as containing “groanings which cannot be uttered,” which we should not take to mean that it is a contentless, emotional outcry. But rather “groanings” refers to the Spirit’s sympathetic understanding of our weakness, and “that cannot be uttered” refers to the inscrutable nature of their content. In other words, we are not privy to the content of this divine intercommunication, yet it is in perfect accord with God’s will, is specific to our suffering and weakness, and inexorably results in progress and advancement toward our destiny.<br />
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The point of Paul’s noting the inscrutability of the spirit’s help is to lay the foundation for what follows: No matter what happens in our lives as a result of the suffering that stems from the condition of our yet-to-be-glorified body in a fallen world, no matter how inscrutable it may be to our rationality, all that happens is guaranteed to be the result of the Spirit’s work to advance us toward our ultimate destiny of conformity to Christ’s likeness (“All things work together for good”). We may not be able to explain how or understand why something has occurred; the circumstances may leave us floundering in our weakness, struggling to deal, unable to see any good. Yet, we can be assured that “all things work together for good” for all those who are destined for glory. This is because God has decreed our destiny, according to his own eternal blueprint (his foreknowledge). The Spirit, knowing this destiny and what best serves this end, prays in a way that effects that destiny by means of all the parts of life in between, even when it involves suffering that prevents us from seeing how God will get us there.<br />
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Our comfort in this passage derives from knowing that our destiny is secure. Paul clearly lays out the ground of this assurance: First is the assertion that our destiny is determined, and nothing can prevent it. God knew beforehand exactly what he wanted to accomplish for every believer. His mind has drawn up the divine, eternal blueprint for our destinies (“foreknew,” foreknowledge). Second, God has sovereignly decreed to bring to pass all that is contained within that blueprint (“predestined,” predestination). He does all that pleases him. Third, he brings that decree to pass in time and space through effectual calling. Nothing can stand in the way of the Spirit’s work to regenerate predestined souls (“called”). Third, God has done all that is necessary within time and space to overcome the Fall--he justifies every predestined believer through the work of Christ, and in doing so, secures their destiny (Through the mechanism of the work of Christ, he declares them to be as righteous as Christ himself-- “justification”). Fourthly, the Father and Spirit work in perfect union to preserve and progress us in time and space (due to the Spirit’s intercession, “all things work together for good”) toward our eternal destiny (“glorified,” glorification; conformity to Christ’s image).<br />
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Yet another related element of comfort derives from knowing that the action of the Spirit on our behalf is sympathetic, personal, and concerned with every unique circumstance we face. The Spirit “groans” with us, showing he is fully aware of our weaknesses in the face of our suffering. The Spirit then intercedes according to the “will of God,” which means that he knows not only our destiny, but every perfect step in time and space that preserves and progresses us toward our destiny. The assurance that comes from knowing of and believing in this immediate and personal divine engagement is part and parcel of the comforting ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit to every believer. <br />
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Yet another element of comfort derives from our knowledge and faith that inscrutable suffering is not in any way an obstacle to God’s purposes for us. In fact, God superintends the circumstances of our suffering as a result of the Spirit’s intercession to accomplish his purposes for us. They are the tools of God’s will whether or not we understand how and why. We are personally unequipped to navigate this suffering to get us there on our own, due to our weakness in a fallen world. How God uses this suffering to bring about our destiny may remain inscrutable to us (“cannot be uttered”). Yet the circumstances of suffering are, as they are worked out in accord with God’s will, exactly that which advance us toward glory through God’s protection, preservation, and proactive administration of “all things.” We are not only preserved and protected through the circumstances, but the circumstances are the very things through which God works for the good that is our destiny. We may never be privy to the answers we seek concerning our own suffering in this world, but through knowledge of and faith in these revealed truths, we can have patience, hope, and eagerness for what certainly awaits. </div>
ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-33959498218039592102019-09-06T11:17:00.004-04:002019-09-06T11:17:50.444-04:00A Couple of Reviews of Presbyterianism in West Virginia: A History <a href="https://www.presbyteriansofthepast.com/2019/08/12/west-virginia-presbyterians-review-two-titles/" target="_blank">Here, Barry Waugh reviews my <i>Presbyterianism in West Virginia: A History</i>, as well as <i>The Captives of Abbs Valley: Revised and Annotated.</i> </a><br />
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<a href="https://apmtbooks.com/blogs/reviews/august-2019-reviews" target="_blank">And here, Appalachian Mountain Books provides brief descriptions </a>as George Brosi announces the latest publications related to Appalachia.ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-13377781960362239372019-08-21T10:27:00.001-04:002019-08-21T10:28:30.889-04:00The Bicentennial of Kanawha Salines Presbyterian Church!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDUuaRHycDDxaqze8kZHZD2h2KSG1-TZ8C1H8JEC4C_clrScFmET2Qg2qsHpBRCtNLhyphenhyphenbnDvxcg49HBqVYni_0KRYAXJgvE-Hq1Xy27nV9R0aqbHHKrWkGkU1f6yzzky6PfeBYVcLjaoM/s1600/Bicentennial-Schedule2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1025" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDUuaRHycDDxaqze8kZHZD2h2KSG1-TZ8C1H8JEC4C_clrScFmET2Qg2qsHpBRCtNLhyphenhyphenbnDvxcg49HBqVYni_0KRYAXJgvE-Hq1Xy27nV9R0aqbHHKrWkGkU1f6yzzky6PfeBYVcLjaoM/s640/Bicentennial-Schedule2.png" width="410" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.kanawhasalinespresbyterian.org/bicentennial/?fbclid=IwAR2c2auupS0EY1wzIUE2U68ervUA7te0-K6DZk4Y2XAZbvAekd1cx2FH2qE" target="_blank">Click Here for the Church's Bicentennial Announcement Page</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.jqdsalt.com/salt-fest/" target="_blank">Click Here for the JQD Saltworks Announcement Page about their Annual Malden Salt Fest.</a> </div>
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Dr. Dennis Bills and others will be presenting about the Kanawha Valley's history of salt and Presbyterianism. Signed books available for purchase. </div>
<br />ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-57859086319697675642019-05-29T17:30:00.000-04:002019-05-29T17:30:00.872-04:00Now Available in Print!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3UB2SPOMMP-7Rw40zaD70v4bXfg5_q__Bibm2WbKhHWtJ8Ow9rXdtR9CaWI13QE7n5W4nwFCBN16CVLS_rwc7ylgG4Gb2U3ujxmsW4aW2XFdJ0rn5KUJc4uJlTece_AeT9FQM96Ge2oU/s1600/60753291_2731556363526210_8131709010840649728_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="624" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3UB2SPOMMP-7Rw40zaD70v4bXfg5_q__Bibm2WbKhHWtJ8Ow9rXdtR9CaWI13QE7n5W4nwFCBN16CVLS_rwc7ylgG4Gb2U3ujxmsW4aW2XFdJ0rn5KUJc4uJlTece_AeT9FQM96Ge2oU/s400/60753291_2731556363526210_8131709010840649728_n.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1733728015" target="_blank">This past week saw the release of <i>Presbyterianism in the West Virginia: A History</i>, which promptly landed as the "#1 New Release in Presbyterian Christianity" on Amazon.com. </a><br />
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The cover of the print version spotlights the front doors of the Old Stone Church of Lewisburg. Above the doors is an engraved stone, weather-worn from 200 years of exposure, that begs the viewer to give God the glory for what the early Presbyterians built so long ago. <br />
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The cover of the Kindle version showcases the Ruffner Family Burial Ground in Malden, where the Kanawha Valley's most successful entrepreneurs and Presbyterians lie buried.<br />
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Here's the Amazon.com description:<br />
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Because of the first settlers' Scots-Irish heritage, Presbyterians could very well have predominated religion in West Virginia. They were the first to settle the territory, the first to evangelize, and the first to set up churches. But something happened over the decades. In spite of an auspicious start, Presbyterianism eventually took a back seat to other denominations. <i>Presbyterianism in West Virginia: A History</i> reviews Presbyterianism's origins, successes, and struggles, and then explains what today's Presbyterians should know if they hope to restore their pride of place in the Great State of West Virginia.</blockquote>
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Check out what's inside:</div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1733728015" target="_blank">Get Your Copy Now!!</a></div>
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ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-5254274949813185542019-04-06T09:00:00.000-04:002019-04-06T09:00:17.198-04:00Toward a Christian View of Environmental StewardshipMany environmentalists push green for green’s sake. One local non-profit group has created a commercial that presents the following text interspersed with alternating pictures of pristine and damaged mountains: “One million acres ravaged . . . 2000 miles of stream buried . . . 500 mountains destroyed . . . for cheap coal . . . one mountain can still be saved . . . with clean wind energy . . . help build a wind farm and save a mountain.” Perhaps their reasons are more complex than this, but the fact is that many appear to value green simply for green’s sake. Save an acre, stream, or mountain because they deserve to be saved for their own sake. Is this a valid reason for Christians to be green? I cannot speak for all, of course, but I can present my own formative thoughts concerning Christianity and environmentalism.<br /><br />Green for green’s sake appears to be a belief of the Cult of the Created Thing. The Apostle Paul explains that because humankind rejected the worship of the One True Creator, they instead began to worship created things (Romans 1:18-25). For some people this has led to the worship of idols and images. For others it apparently means worship of the environment. Service to the creation becomes an end in itself, to the point of elevating it above the needs of humankind. This Cult of the Created Thing fails to understand the purpose of creation and mankind’s purpose within it.<br /><br />God created the universe for his own glory. Nature glorifies God in many different ways apart from the activity of humankind within it. For instance, both its beauty and its balance speak praise to God even when humans do not. <br /><br />Humankind was placed upon this earth as the chief God-glorifier. The creation account in Genesis tells us that God gave humans a mandate to rule over every living thing in the air, sea and on the ground. This mission was predicated upon humanity’s unique status as the sole image-bearer of God within the created order (Genesis 1:26-28). Men and women were charged with the task of reflecting God’s rule and authority within creation. Therefore, in obedience to the creation mandate, we have a mission to glorify God by using the resources of this planet in service to ourselves and others as we serve God. <br /><br />When humankind fell from their original created state, the God-reflecting image was shattered. Now they reflect God in imperfect ways that are constantly stained by the effects of our depravity. We no longer possess the ability to do the job correctly. We often use the creation as an end for ourselves alone, or as an end in itself. Depravity has ruined our God-established relationship to creation. <br /><br />The redemptive task of Christ in this world is to restore the created order—humankind to their original, unshattered, unstained image-bearing state and the creation to its original state of beauty and balance. How is the Christian to be involved in this redemptive task? <div>
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Humans Were Created to Glorify God</h4>
<br />First, we must recognize that the purpose of humanity trumps all other earthly purposes. We must glorify God, and we must obey the creation mandate in order to do that. That requires that we resume our post as rulers on this earth. All its resources are available to us as we seek to glorify God. Green for green’s sake is an indubitable violation of this principle. If environmentalists wish to set up the false dichotomy of either us or it, we must choose us every time, if we are to obey the creation mandate. </div>
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Humans Are Stewards of God's Creation</h4>
<br />However, this dichotomy is indeed a false one, hence the second point. As image-bearers, we are also stewards of the creation. We cannot abuse what God has set us over. Consider the analogy of earthly kings who once ruled their domains so harshly that people starved and died as they sought to provide for their rulers’ selfish desires and ambitions. North Korea's rulers come immediately to mind, but history books provide too many examples to number. The implication is that we must use the earth’s resources wisely. This requires restraint and respect for others and their need to use the environment, and for the needs of future generations as well. </div>
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Depravity Runs through Everything Humanity Does</h4>
<br />Thirdly and closely related to the last point, we cannot glorify God if we are motivated to serve our own interests alone. Due to the Fall, humanity often uses creation’s resources for illegitimate and abusive purposes. Is it possible that some mountaintop removal mining is done for the sole purpose of feeding greed and power? Those who drive the industry are quick to say that they provide jobs for hundreds of thousands of people. But let us all remember that throughout the history of mining the industry has often abused people for the sake of enriching and empowering a few. There is no shortage of brutal examples of this in West Virginia’s history. Has humanity changed so much over the last 100 years that we are no longer permitted to question the motives and practices of company owners? </div>
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The Creation Itself Glorifies God</h4>
<br />Fourthly, we must always be mindful of the original beauty and balance with which God imbued the creation. Even though the creation serves us, every last human being knows on some level that the creation also declares the glory of God quite apart from us. We have seen it with our own eyes and can only imagine the pleasure that God receives from the same vision. It does this through a myriad of means, not the least of which are clear-flowing streams and beautiful, windswept trees on steep mountainsides. In autumn our hills erupt into a colorful symphony of breathless praise orchestrated by God himself for his own glory and for our pleasure. When God created the earth, he stepped back and said with no equivocation, “it is good.” Thus, we should use the resources of this world, in ways that preserve the balance and beauty of what God has created as much as possible. The earth’s beauty and balance glorifies God and gives us knowledge of the Creator. </div>
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Christ Leads the Chorus of All Creation</h4>
<br />Lastly, a redemptive use of the environment can only be fully accomplished by applying the redemptive work of Christ to human hearts. Depravity more often than not causes the eventual abuse of the created order in one way or another. Some will rape the earth, others will deify it. Both manifest the need for the saving work of Jesus Christ. Only through the transforming power of Christ can humanity be restored to its original mission. Christ can overcome wrong motivations such as greed and pride. Christ can put mercy within the hearts of company men for their miners and mining communities. Christ can restore the rightful worship of the One True Creator among those who now worship the created thing. Christ can keep us mindful of the need to be stewards for the sake of future generations. Christ can help us join the chorus of creation as it sings praise to God. <br /><br />By these principles I do not mean to imply that natural resource extraction like mountaintop removal is wrong "on the face of it." I firmly believe it is wrong to put the so-called “needs” of the environment above the needs of human beings. If mountaintop removal is the best way to glorify God as we seek to reflect his image and rule the earth, then by all means, let’s do it. On the other hand, due to depravity, humanity cannot be trusted to glorify God in the pursuit of its own interests without serious accountability. Let us never pretend that we are free from sin’s influence, regardless of our commitment to either the environment or to industry. Let us seek to glorify God both by fulfilling the creation mandate and preserving the song it sings in praise of the Creator. </div>
ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-13041635642156465322019-04-05T12:53:00.001-04:002019-04-05T12:58:34.128-04:00What Evolutionists Fear MostThroughout Western history, Biblical creationism was accepted by most people—until Darwin and the like propagated their theories. The rapid advance of evolutionary theory has now relegated creationism to the realms of faith and superstition. It must remain there, because if creationism were true, evolutionists would be forced to face their greatest fear.<br /><br />Evolution is an intimidating theory. It dominates the world’s scientists who marshal swarms of weighty facts and powerful assertions in its support. It has filtered down into common knowledge by means of classroom instruction, books, documentaries, TV shows, and casual conversations. It is ubiquitous and unchallenged by all but those who believe in creation. <br /><br /><div>
However, the massive heft of evolutionary theory depends upon one simple presupposition: the God-option must be excluded from the discussion at all costs. For evolution to be true, the God-option must be shoved off the table. <br /><br />The God-option is excluded by a simple tactic—limit the discussion to the exclusive realm of science. Science has defined itself as distinct from religion. The God-option is inherently religious, so its proponents do not have a seat at the science table. Intelligent God-option arguments are irrelevant and will never change the course of the discussion, because the God-option does not belong in the discussion. As experts huddle themselves around the table to decide the origin of all things, they come to a consensus by tightening the huddle. No matter how loudly we object, we will be ignored. The God-option is not, under any circumstances, a legitimate option. <br /><br />If the God-option is excluded, what can the evolutionists conclude? They must propose that life originated through natural processes. They have no choice. They have limited themselves by means of their own self-definition. They must therefore marshal their arguments as powerfully as their limitations allow. The full weight of their expertise, education, experience, and intellect is thrust behind the only conclusion they can possibly derive. </div>
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As long as creationists fail to recognize this simple ploy, evolution will continue to intimidate and claim the faith of many who give in to its weight. Evolutionists will continue to assert their exclusive distinction between religion and science and by that means will appear to dominate the discussion. The illusion of domination will sustain them in spite of one nagging possibility: The Bible’s explanation of how everything began might indeed be true. If God created everything, science and religion cannot be separated. If God created everything, no fact of science is outside the scope of His domain. If He created everything, no fact of science truly proves evolution. Christian philosopher Cornelius Van Til said, “There are not because there cannot be other facts than God-interpreted facts.” God’s creation cannot undermine itself. He has not unwittingly proved Himself wrong by means of science. Instead, scientists have pushed God out of the picture and limited themselves to their wild imaginations. As a result, they have no choice but to desperately cling to their conclusions. If they do not, they must face what they fear most—the God who created all things.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: center;">A previous version of this was posted in 2009.</span></div>
ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-17045550663932410252019-03-20T10:51:00.000-04:002019-03-20T10:54:30.515-04:00A Virtual Tour of Lewisburg!Join me on a virtual tour of the history of Presbyterianism in Lewisburg, West Virginia! I'm no professional videographer, and I was trying to recall things from memory in the midst of my excitement about seeing these things for the first time. So no doubt I got some details wrong. I haven't gone back to watch them, so I don't know for sure. I do know that I have a tendency to confuse Monroe and Mingo Counties, so if you hear me say Mingo, think Monroe.<br />
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Here I introduce the Old Stone Church, one of three "Cornerstone Churches" of Greenbrier Presbytery and the oldest church structure still in continuous use west of the Alleghenies.<br />
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Below we visit the Confederate Cemetery, where 95 soldiers were buried in a mass grave in 1865. The first video was from outside the cemetery. The second was after I discovered that I could get into the cemetery.<br />
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In the first video below I show where the location of Lewisburg Presbyterian Church first met in a log meeting house on what is now the Tuckwiller Farm. The current owners allowed the church to place an azimuth stone to mark the spot in the distance. If you like cows you'll like this video. The second video shows the Rehoboth Methodist Church building which was built in the 1780's. Though not in use anymore, it shows what log meeting houses would have looked like back in the day.<br />
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Below is the Grigsby House, built prior to 1796 by the second pastor of the Old Stone Church. BTW, there is an "easter egg" of sorts in the video, based on something that Colin Reger said about one of the earlier videos. Can you find it?<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Below is Frankford Cemetery, burial site of James Moore Brown and three of his children. Tragic story. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Captives-Abbs-Valley-Revised-Annotated/dp/1733728007/" target="_blank">Buy the Book.</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Below is the Union Church in Monroe County. One of the three Cornerstone Churches of West Virginia Presbyterianism.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Below is the Spring Creek Church in Greenbrier County. One of the three Cornerstone Churches of West Virginia Presbyterianism.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, below is a brief tour of the Old Stone Church Cemetery. It's almost like walking through a Boston cemetery. One gets a very similar sense of time and place. </span></div>
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Thanks for joining me! Keep your eyes open for my forthcoming book, <i>Presbyterianism in West Virginia: A History.</i> It will hopefully be out in May!<br />
<br />ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-83862450188162063822019-03-18T13:20:00.000-04:002019-03-18T13:20:02.916-04:00New Book: The Captives of Abb's Valley: Revised and Annotated<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMf2Ew99WaBtjFFuv_z6yT0KXR4h24GbvY9ibMMxs9bL7A5F1TUlrXb9aqIIpjdYbEWdgWK0U12bgD_CoJwmJLVtEg0FgTmx1PcXDBT46DEuqOhZkGB1yOTehjN0SqQRSE5K56bO2bT9-p/s1600/Captives.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMf2Ew99WaBtjFFuv_z6yT0KXR4h24GbvY9ibMMxs9bL7A5F1TUlrXb9aqIIpjdYbEWdgWK0U12bgD_CoJwmJLVtEg0FgTmx1PcXDBT46DEuqOhZkGB1yOTehjN0SqQRSE5K56bO2bT9-p/s400/Captives.JPG" width="300" /></a><i>The Captive's of Abb's Valley: Revised and Annotated </i>is now available through Amazon. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Captives-Abbs-Valley-Revised-Annotated/dp/1733728007/" target="_blank">Click here to order.</a> For a limited time, the Kindle Edition is available for just 99 cents!<br /><br /><b>From the back cover: </b><br /><br />Originally published in 1854 by a Presbyterian minister from West Virginia, <i>The Captives of Abb's Valley </i>relates the harrowing and tragic tale of James Moore Brown's mother, Mary Moore--the murders of her parents and siblings, her kidnapping and exile, and her heroic rescue.<br /><br />The purpose for this edition is to re-introduce this artifact of West Virginia's history to the modern reader as one of the few books written by a nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister from West Virginia, and to “resurrect” the history, context, and culture of the early Presbyterian pioneers, thus making the history of Presbyterianism "come alive" in the mind of the modern reader.<br /><br />This edition was revised and annotated as a companion to the book <i>Presbyterianism in West Virginia: A History. </i>(Coming out in May if all goes according to plan!) It includes a biographical sketch of the author as well as historical, geographical, and cultural notes throughout the text. The grammar and mechanics have been significantly improved while retaining the author's original nineteenth-century style.ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-20435760327930968382019-01-25T10:38:00.001-05:002019-02-19T10:07:46.619-05:00Spotlight on Pastor Mark Kozak: The First Five Years of Ministry<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A few weeks ago, Pastor Mark Kozak of <a href="http://prpca.org/home" target="_blank">Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church in Barboursville WV </a>had a heart attack, and God graciously preserved his life. Recently, I invited him to write a few words of encouragement to our fellow West Virginia Christians. </blockquote>
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Sometimes you “wake up” in a place you would never have imagined yourself to be: for myself, that includes in West Virginia, as the 51 year old solo pastor of a small-ish PCA church (Providence) , re-learning the basics of Christianity. My wife and I came into the PCA though unplanned circumstance: I was a CPA with the perfect job as financial controller of a very profitable, high paying, low stress, Christian- run engineering firm. It was the dream job… except that it didn’t satisfy. There had to be … well… ”more.” Purpose. Kingdom purpose. More something.<br />
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Doors were closing at the excellent Bible church we then attended. The relocation of its founding pastor initiated a pastoral search. As an elder, I was on the search committee… something I was likely unqualified for… at least looking back now. I did not share the desired direction of the rest of the elder board … so for the sake of peace (theirs and ours) we left and began the search for another church. “Presbyterian” wasn’t even on my radar screen…except the large “blip” of what I knew of the mainline (PCUS) church – and that kept me from ever considering being a “Presbyterian.” <br />
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But through God’s sovereign, gracious providence, there stood a PCA church about one mile from our Roebuck, South Carolina house. That house was the realization of my earthly dreams: 7 acres of tree-scaped solitude…with 2 self-built shooting ranges, my hobby of choice. Attending that church lead me to not only reformed Presbyterianism, but seminary and close relationship with the man I consider my mentor pastor. By God’s grace, I was headed in a “more” direction.<br />
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Nearing graduation - squeezing four years into seven – and the completion of my pastoral internship, I began the church search. That particular presbytery (Calvary) was idyllic – the buckle of the PCA belt, with firmly established roots and excellent reputation. I was essentially offered to take the church of a retiring PCA minister about five miles from my mentor pastor’s church. My initial reaction and ultimate conclusion was that I didn’t want to compete with my mentor pastor. Looking back, I think I got that one right. In God’s all-wise, eternal design, I ended up here, in West Virginia<br />
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The first five years of pastoral ministry have been… eventful. In addition to all the usual challenges of Gospel ministry, we added: a totaled automobile in the first month, buried three parents, my wife’s back surgery and pacemaker implant, my quad tendon separation through a fall at the pistol range, with re-attachment surgery, and most recently my heart attack. The doctors (including members of Providence Church) affectionately called it “the widow maker.” Specifically, it involved a 100% blockage in the LAD artery – the main feed out of the heart, supplying the entire body. Leaving the gym on my usual M-W-F routine of cardio, nautical equipment, free weights, etc, I felt the need to sit and rest. After driving home, I asked my wife to drive me to the ER. By God’s grace, we got there in that critical “first hour.”<br />
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During my two-day stay, a pastor friend came to read me Psalm 121. “I lift my eyes up, to where my help (actually) comes from… the Creator of heaven and earth.” The primary focus of my pastoral internship in South Carolina was hospital, sick and shut in visitation – those whose eyes are downward cast at all the problems, dangers and cares coming at them, high speed – things which are difficult to look away from, as if our seeing will change the circumstance. In some 9 years of internship and pastorate, I cannot begin to list all the times I’ve read / alluded to that text, pointing others to hope in Christ. Having it read to me in the prone position was a very different experience – the abstract becoming real. The teacher becoming the student.<br />
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I recently watched a video of people who saw color for the first time, by means of chromatic eye glasses. The reactions were powerful. To finally see the world as it’s always been just stops you in your tracks. Those who’ve always seen color can understand, but only in a clinical sense. One teen said, “Oh my God….this is the real world? This is actually what it really looks like?” Others were left speechless. Some in tears: words fail. Others kept pulling the glasses back off, and putting them on, again and again, saying, “Its so clear, I can’t believe it.” One 12 -year old summed it up: “Thank you.” For a great gift. For “opening” my eyes. That is the physical corollary to spiritually seeing God’s truth for the first time, personally. Dependently. This was my new view of Psalm 121.<br />
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In the PCA we have the habit of calling ourselves (and our theology) “reformed,” partly in honor of the Reformation lead by Jan Huss, Luther, Calvin, et al, primarily in recognition of the reforming work of God’s Holy Spirit through Christ the Living Word by means of the written Word of God, our “only rule of faith and practice.” Its almost a mantra. Likely it comes off as “having arrived,” perhaps a tad arrogant, better than others. The truth is but for God’s grace, we’d be atheists. Reprobates. Those who “enjoy doing evil themselves and celebrate perversity “ generally (Pro 2:14 ) <br />
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What we (hopefully) intend to communicate is that we are “always reforming’ … never actually arriving this side of eternity, but by God’s grace we hope to be closing the distance, daily. By some account, the phrase originates in the 1670’s from <a href="https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/semper-reformanda/" target="_blank">Jodocus van Lodenstein, and a movement known as the Dutch Second Reformation.</a> As Michael Horton writes, quoting Lodicus: “The church is reformed and always [in need of] being reformed according to the Word of God.” Horton continues himself: “The verb is passive. The church is not “always reforming,” but is “always being reformed” by the Spirit of God through the Word. Although the Reformers themselves did not use this slogan, it certainly reflects what they were up to.” <br />
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This is not about innovation, but as Anna Case-Winters noted intends “ the sense of returning to the ‘root.’ “ It is about returning to Scriptural truth, given our universal propensity to wander from it. John Calvin communicated the same in his treatise “The Necessity of Reforming the Church,” an appeal for the Church to return to New Testament (as an explication and revelation of Old Testament) truth.<br />
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The “reformation” here required for churches actually happens in the lives of individuals – you and me, by means of God’s gracious, sometimes hard, providences. “For whom the LORD loves He reproves, Even as a father, the child in whom he delights.” (Proverbs 3:12) The truly scary thing would be to never experience the chastening, reforming hand of a loving God, who turns widow makers into worship multipliers, as those not under His reforming providence are also not under His relentless preservation.<br />
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Two types of “reforming” exist – salvation, and sanctification… both provided by the Giver of only good gifts to His children. May we all “wake up” to that reality.ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-86253796779011857322018-10-20T17:42:00.003-04:002018-10-20T17:49:21.561-04:00Source Review: A History of the Presbytery of Winchester<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container tr_bq" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/UAaCTgzu-tMeeSLoww4T6TfmsbqCCmV6O0FtZiDQLEp7j9CTHGOzUkZINUVkGe775KpCfF_kkbI=s400" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/UAaCTgzu-tMeeSLoww4T6TfmsbqCCmV6O0FtZiDQLEp7j9CTHGOzUkZINUVkGe775KpCfF_kkbI=s400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iggy (short for Ignatius) is photobombing this</td></tr>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This is the third in a short series reviewing some of the books I have been using as sources for my upcoming study of the History of Presbyterianism in West Virginia.</blockquote>
<b>Woodworth, Robert Bell. A History of the Presbytery of Winchester (Synod of Virginia). Staunton, VA: McClure Printing Co. 1947. 521 pp.</b><br />
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It’s a bold and presumptuous history book whose first sentence contains the word “autochthonous,” as in “American Presbyterianism is autochthonous.” I had to look it up. It means that that American Presbyterianism was not a seed transplanted from some other part of the world. It grew, all on its own, out of American soil as a uniquely American institution. That is not to say that the idea itself originated in America, but that its organizational fibers were from the start disconnected from any other organizational fibers. The thesis is that, although some European presbyterians may have helped build the foundations, no European Presbyterian organizations started American Presbyterianism. <br />
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The rest of the book continues in the spirit of Woodworth’s bold and presumptuous word choice. If you really want to follow along you have to look stuff up, not in dictionaries but on maps of counties, cities, towns, and properties. And you may want to have a notepad to write down names and dates so that you can check timelines to keep your place. Woodsworth doesn’t really tell the big picture story and then situate people, places, and events in the big picture. He jumps in with a list of the first pre-existing twenty-seven churches in the Northern Neck of Virginia and details the origins of each, obviously reflecting tons of research: names, places, dates, roads, rivers. The detail is both mind blowing and numbing. He has done primary source research in such minute detail that he is able to correct other historians of Presbyterianism in the Northern Neck (eg. Foote and Graham) who were confused about churches and locations and people in the 1700s: For instance, the other two assumed that the Potomoke congregation of 1719 was at Shepherdstown, while Woodworth believes they confused two congregations of the same name that were related by division, but were located many miles apart. The problem is that my eyeballs glazed trying to keep track of it all. I seldom knew whether I was in West Virginia or Virginia. Without constant reference to a map, maybe even an old map, I seriously doubt I could follow along even if I had read every word. Eventually I found myself skimming just to collate the big picture. <br />
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Now that sounds very critical, but honestly, I am glad someone has done the work. I could not do what he has done. I lack the patience, time, and skill, but somebody had to do it. Now it is on the record for when that level of detail is needed. My purposes really needed a bigger story with more selective details in support of that story. If nothing makes sense without a map of (e.g.) the Northern Neck and Shenandoah Valley, then I am not going to get much out of it. But my respect for Woodworth’s research skills is immense. I know I could never do what he has done. <br />
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So I appreciate that he did the work for posterity’s sake, but I also appreciate something else. He frequently interrupts his microscopic details to provide insight into the church culture of the preachers, churches, and presbyteries of the 18th and 19th centuries--how they went about organizing churches, how they maintained churches when ministers were in short supply, how they expanded churches once they were started and divided out more churches, and how and why Presbyterianism started declining. Really valuable stuff. Ruminating on this stuff for a couple months has helped me organize a whole chapter in my own history. Fills in some important blanks for me. <br />
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I am thrilled that I added this book to my collection. Someday, when I know a lot more, I would like to read it with a map.</div>
ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-80921115044111235432018-10-10T15:57:00.000-04:002018-10-10T19:57:17.992-04:00Spotlight on Eric Dugan and ERG Ministry Resources<br />
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<img height="320" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/uAKzSBGFDkqgJQZou6xrx4trTCQxKUHjRTShf_c4yT6dBS4hEIJlepms28Qd3Olsqop5NaC7Y3RhDS869gYlsfiE7i3sMqnQVw0ThoNY5crmmcokoKOeY36eP87yMF6TSHldUU45" width="238" /> </div>
In 2017, Teays Valley pastor Eric Dugan founded ERG Ministry Resources, which provides group Bible study materials that are Evangelical (E), in the Reformed tradition (R), and Grace-Based (G). ERG Bible study materials are unlike most resources out there for teenagers and youth groups. In fact, he started ERG Ministries to fill a gap: “Most study materials for teenagers are so topical, or broad or generic that it’s hard to distinguish between good and bad study materials. They are all kind of the same,” Eric says. “I saw a need for a curriculum that sets itself apart by being biblical, evangelical, reformed, and grace-based.”<br />
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To fill that gap, Eric began converting decades of lesson plans into study guides on books of Bible for use in youth groups and teen Bible studies. He says they are especially designed as a teacher’s guide, but they can be used by anyone as a Bible study tool. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Eric-Dugan/e/B06W2N42KQ/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1" target="_blank">Dugan's entire catalog is available in digital or print forms through Amazon. </a><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41SiOwYGIhL.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Ephesians is one of Eric's most popular books." width="212" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1976213282/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i4" target="_blank">Ephesians is one of Eric's best sellers.</a></td></tr>
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As of now, Pastor Eric has published study guides on <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075WCSN6M/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i9">Judges</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1978473621/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0">Esther, Nehemiah, and Ezra</a></i>, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1975940547/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i12"><i>Isaiah </i></a>in the Old Testament; and in the New Testament: <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1976449189/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3">Acts</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1976213282/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i4">Ephesians</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Philippians-Colossians-Letters-Eric-Dugan/dp/1978005490/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=">Philippians and Colossians</a>,</i> as well as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1718954433/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i13"><i>Colossians and Philemon</i></a>. Each book contains anywhere from twelve to thirty-six lessons that explain the text and help teachers make application to young lives. More books are in the pipeline--he’s got five more planned for this year.<br />
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But Bible study guides are not all Pastor Eric has published. Notable on his list of publications is his <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1721136193/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2">book of <i>Dad Jokes and Fractured Fables</i></a>, which was recently spotlighted in the <a href="http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/putnam_news/hurricane-pastor-pens-punny-dad-jokes-tome/article_1bd6c95e-5ef2-5881-b3ba-1bfd2cfbfaa9.html">Huntington Herald-Dispatch</a>. He has also published <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1543153127/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1"><i>The Game Guide</i></a>, which sounds like something every youth pastor needs. Its “hundreds of easy-to-run activities for all ages” are compiled from over three decades of youth ministry experience.<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1543153127/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img height="320" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/JtQG8jbb0QB98oIsXzoH_OpEeK034RDvVBHAs-wC-pf7-7zWYsEawClVyQK--K7CdGKnrvXnkad7MOqnMWfRk0r8ljlyogdZqfKZ70H9nEFzX8pIPhY--Z3KMNbxP_sQ_KbZ2kgC" width="200" /></a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1721136193/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61q5p7Rvb0L.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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Eric Dugan has been an assistant pastor at<br />
<a href="https://rpcwv.org/">Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Teays Valley WV</a> since 2012, where his pastoral focus has been Student Ministries. He is also very active in the New River Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America, in which he is an ordained minister and head of the Credentialing Committee. Eric grew up in Youngstown OH, but he has worked as youth pastor, camp director, teacher, special education teacher and counselor in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Mississippi, and West Virginia, among other places. He says he is really comfortable here in West Virginia, because he has spent so much of his life in various parts of Appalachia. “There are a lot similarities between the Youngstown and Charleston areas,” he says.<br />
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Some other interesting deets about Eric, besides the fact that he is an author: He has been a foster parent for several years. He got his bachelor’s degree from Geneva College and his seminary degree from Reformed Theological Seminary. His <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Eric-Dugan/e/B06W2N42KQ/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1">Amazon Author </a>webpage says that “he can't dance, but he can sing. There is video to prove it. Sad, embarrassing video.” His church's website says that he likes movies and the Walking Dead, which must be important information to know about your youth pastor. <br />
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While this writer cannot testify to Eric’s singing ability, he can say that Eric can write solid Bible study materials and somewhat less-solid jokes, which is what qualifies them to be Dad Jokes in the first place. And speaking of Dads: this writer is pleased to offer Brother Eric his congratulations, both to him and to his new son, whom Eric has been fostering for the last few months and whom he is on track to adopt sometime really soon, by God’s grace and for his glory.<br />
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You can connect with Eric <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/ERGministryresources/about/?ref=page_internal" target="_blank">@ERGMinistryResources </a>on Facebook or by email at ericaterg@gmail.com.<br />
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<br />ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-89389218696516294142018-10-02T11:10:00.000-04:002018-10-20T16:34:18.446-04:00Source Review: The Story of Presbyterianism in West Virginia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This is the second in a short series reviewing some of the books I have been using as sources for my upcoming study of the History of Presbyterianism in West Virginia.</blockquote>
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<b>Wilson, Gill I. <i>The Story of Presbyterianism in West Virginia. </i>n.p., 1958. 172 pp. </b><br />
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Bless its heart--this poor little book was very helpful in spite of itself. <a href="https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55562818/gill-i-wilson">The Rev. Dr. Gill Wilson</a> (1868-1962) published this book in 1958. The only way I know that is because the first few pages of the text refer to the "present year" as 1858. There is no copyright page and no listed publisher, which makes me think that it was probably self-published or otherwise independently published, maybe by the church or presbytery. And given the state of the manuscript, I would surmise that it did not have an editor.<br />
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Gill Wilson was the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Parkersburg, perhaps from 1919 to 1949, <a href="http://www.familyoldphotos.com/photo/west-virginia/16539/rev-gill-i-wilson">if </a><a href="http://www.familyoldphotos.com/photo/west-virginia/16539/rev-gill-i-wilson">miscellaneous</a><a href="http://www.familyoldphotos.com/photo/west-virginia/16539/rev-gill-i-wilson"> notes in the internet are to be trusted.</a> Wilson, by the way, was the father of the Rev. Gill Robb Wilson, who followed in his ministerial footsteps and also founded the Civil Air Patrol, and it looks like <a href="http://www.wvculture.org/history/wvmemory/vetdetail.aspx?Id=2972">he might have lost another son in France in the Great War</a> who was also studying for the ministry.<br />
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As I said, the book is poorly published. There are not any real chapters, only sections, and these are not set up according to any consistent outline or organizational pattern. The author states that he will organize the book one way on one page (15), and then another way on another page (25), and then he does neither. The table of contents lists sections that often do not match any headings on the designated pages, although the referenced subject matter might show up in the text on or about the those pages. The text contains dozens of incomplete sentences that amount to nonsense, and sometimes it contradicts itself. The book is full of facts, but nothing is ever really sourced. Apparently John McCue was sent to Lewisburg "in the early years of 1789" (17); and something is missing in the sentence, "In the Presbytery of Parkersburg the two streams, one from the Greenbrier, Kanawha Valley and the other originating in the Redstone Presbytery, and following the Monongahela River to its source, and the other moving west to the Ohio River, and moving down that river" (25). It seems likely that the text of the book was roughly put together and then published by someone without any real editing. Since it was published during Dr. Gill's ninetieth year, four years before his death, perhaps it was an unfinished work that someone else compiled from notes he had made and then published in his name. I have contacted the church for more information, but have not heard back. <br />
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The value of the book is in its efforts to record the history of the Northern Church after the split during the Civil War. It presents itself as a history of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. As far as I know, no other source tries to give the history of the Presbyterian church in West Virginia from an exclusively Northern perspective. This is consistent with the greater presence that the Southern church always maintained in West Virginia. While it does make rare references, perhaps out of a sense of shared history, to the Southern denomination and some of its churches, it focuses mainly on the Northern church almost as if it were the true and only Presbyterian church in the State. In the common presbytery-history-style, it gives a larger historical context and then focuses in on the micro-histories of individual churches grouped by contemporaneous presbytery boundaries. </div>
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It is to be commended that this source alone dedicates a section to "The colored churches," even though it is not thorough or complete. It also includes some interesting information, somewhat randomly, on various church associated ministries--like Davis and Elkins College, which began with joint PCUSA, PCUS support; and mountain missions or social outreach programs. <br />
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The micro-stories of individual churches vary in quality from church to church, depending upon the quality of what the churches submitted. Some of them are nothing more than lists of names and minutes; some of them go into greater narrative detail, as if someone had tried to put a story together before submitting it. Whatever narrative editing ties all the micro-stories together does little to make them seem like they belong in the same book. Other more loosely-related stories are occasionlly intermixed into the stories of the churches, almost like they were taken from the church newsletters, where "Sally So-and-So did such and such last week and reports back that she had a great time." </div>
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ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-5675271004796968322018-10-01T14:41:00.000-04:002018-10-02T15:46:45.242-04:00Source Review: The Lexington Presbytery Heritage<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This is the first in a short series reviewing some of the books I have been using as sources for my upcoming study of the History of Presbyterianism in West Virginia.</blockquote>
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<b>Wilson, Howard McKnight. <i>The Lexington Presbytery Heritage. </i>Verona VA: McClure Printing Company, 1971. </b><br />
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This book was gifted to me some ten years ago, before my interest in presbyterian history blossomed, by someone in the presbytery whom I cannot remember. At the time I was exploring the development of West Virginia culture, and he must have thought it would be of interest. It was a smiling providence, because this book became the starting place for my readings in West Virginia Presbyterian History.</div>
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Lexington Presbytery divided out of Hanover in 1786 with twelve ordained ministers who were responsible for the vast Virginia territory between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Ohio River. The presbytery was significant for West Virginia history because it mothered all missions west of the Alleghenies (in VA) prior to the establishment of West Virginia’s own Greenbrier Presbytery in 1838. After Greenbrier, the presbytery limits were mostly in and around the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. <br />
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The author, Dr. Howard McKnight Wilson (1900-1988) was a minister in Lexington Presbytery from 1926 until 1964, and served as moderator of both the presbytery and the synod of Virginia in 1961. He was educated at Union Seminary in Richmond and wrote several other historical works about the Shenandoah Valley. He served for a time as the pastor (and historian) of the historic Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church, whose most famous reverend was Robert Lewis Dabney. His writing appears authoritative, balanced in detail and flow, easy to read, and well-researched. <br />
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This book has three parts. In 72 pages, part one describes colonial, pioneer, revolutionary, and ecclesiastical contexts prior to and during the founding of the presbytery in 1786. The Presbytery itself does not enter the story until page 66. Part two (104 pages) covers the development of the presbytery up through 1970, with greatest focus on expansion during the Awakening, the divisions of the Schism and the War, and the reconstruction period. The final and largest portion (as I have discovered is customary with presbytery histories) gives micro-stories of dozens of individual churches by county, most of which were organized after my period of interest (i.e., the Premodernist theological era). <br />
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Even though the larger portion of Lexington Presbytery was originally in West Virginia, that was never really the book’s focus. Wilson spends most of the reader’s time on developments in the Shenandoah Valley and church relations east and north. By the time the book gets around to individual churches in the third part, the presbytery boundaries have been redrawn multiple times and the territory west of the Alleghenies is no longer under consideration. The flyleaves contain maps that show eight different fluctuating iterations of the how the presbytery borders have been redrawn at various times over nearly 200 years.<br />
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Still, the book gave helpful historical and cultural context and insight into details of particular interest to me, like early colonial and pioneer education, licensure, and ordination. And since no work (yet) exists that pulls together the whole presbyterial and denominational picture of West Virginia, this book lays out a necessary piece. <br />
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ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-74480264366580614772018-09-29T23:35:00.000-04:002018-09-29T23:35:17.258-04:00A Unified Theory of Politics: Lord Government Almighty<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The following is a repost from my old blog back in March of 2010. Reading this over eight years later, I think it holds up, except for maybe some ideas in the final two paragraphs where I think I was too generous to conservative politics. </blockquote>
Quantum physics has led scientists to search for a unified theory of everything, i.e. a scientific theory that adequately explains all the properties of physical phenomena and predicts their experimental interactions. To date, they have been unsuccessful in spite of scientific advancements.<br /><br />For nearly two decades I have wondered whether there might also be a unified theory that explains the apparent predictability of politics. For example, if someone is known to be a liberal regarding one social issue (e.g. abortion), there is a high likelihood he or she will also be liberal on many others (e.g. homosexual rights or environmentalism). Conservatives can be just as monolithic on the other end of the spectrum. Of course exceptions exist, but they do not entirely mitigate the predictable tendencies within political allegiances. To explain the predictability of politics, particularly of the liberal persuasion, I would like to posit that a Unified Theory includes a Unifying Moral Principle, a Unifying Worldview, and a Unifying Messianic Entity.<br /><br /><b>A Unifying Moral Principle: The Fairness Doctrine</b><br /><br />Within the heart of every human being is an impulse that directs the moral values of the human race. The touchstone of this moral impulse is the Imago Dei. Having been created in God’s image, we have an inherent sense of right and wrong that more or less resembles the dictates of the Law of God (Romans 2:14-15). At the Fall of Adam, this reflection of God’s image was shattered and distorted. Though broken and imperfect, the image nonetheless remains and still reflects a vague impression of the heart of its Maker.<br /><br />This broken moral impulse most frequently manifests itself in human societies through the concept of justice or fairness. Justice or fairness is the remaining radical moral impulse of fallen humanity. Justice requires a standard of some sort. The standard for fallen humanity is every person’s sense of self, or ego. By means of this standard, we determine what is fair or just, because we have a powerful notion of what we want for ourselves. We assume that if we would want it for ourselves, we should want it for others just as well. For instance, we do not want our lives or property taken from us, so we do not want lives or property taken from others. By this standard, we determine that things like murder and thievery are wrong.<br /><br />We can assume that this ego-instrument was in some way an aspect of the Imago Dei, built into us by God’s perfect design. In a perfect, unfallen world, this sense of self would have served unerringly to direct people to do what was right. Knowing how real our own needs were, we would have lived with a constant awareness of others’ needs and, loving them perfectly, would have possessed an unerring standard by which to serve others.<br /><br />We know that this is the case because when Christ redeemed those who believe in him, he brought them back to this radical moral principle. He clearly stated, “Love your neighbor like you love yourself.” Instead of encouraging selfishness, a redeemed self-awareness should keenly alert us to the reality of the countless egos surrounding us. Christ viewed this redeemed self-awareness as so reliable that he even restated the timeless Law of Love for practical application—“Do to others what you would have them to do to you.”<br /><br />So the idea of justice and fairness is simply humanity’s way of applying the fallen ego-instrument. To those of us who understand the biblical concept of depravity, the ego-instrument almost seems counterintuitive. We know ourselves too well and have observed countless times our own selfishness running roughshod over everyone else on the way to assuaging our own desires. However, there is a sense in which the ego-instrument still works and should be celebrated, distorted though it may be, as a manifestation of God’s image in the entire human race. When we see people fighting from the depths of their hearts for justice and fairness, we can acknowledge that they would not fight so hard or at all were it not for the simple fact that they are God’s creation.<br /><br />Humanity is fallen and depraved, however. So we can expect that its applications of justice and fairness would be skewed away from God. Humanity takes what was initially implanted by God, and because it was distorted by the Fall, misdirects it away from the perfect guidelines provided in the Law of God and implanted within humanity’s conscience. We should expect the result to be a severely warped notion of justice. Lacking the redemption provided through the Son of God, efforts to apply the ego-instrument would frequently result in misdirection, imperfection, injustice, imbalance, and evil.<br /><br />We can see evidence of this radical moral impulse gone awry in human society, providing examples of good things somehow gone bad. It might have some semblance of nobility in its most basic form, but its misdirection by depravity provides for wrong applications and methods. Homosexuals march on Washington for equal rights, believing it unfair that they cannot marry like heterosexuals. Women fight desperately for the right to abort fetuses because it is unjust that someone else should have the power to tell them what they can and cannot do with their own bodies. Politicians redistribute wealth, power, and healthcare because it is unjust for the wealthy to have more money and resources than the poor. Environmentalists and animal rights activists anthropomorphize the created order and claim that animals and mother earth are treated unjustly. Nearly every act of government on behalf of its people, for better or worse, is rooted in this radical moral impulse that is built into the heart of every person. The issues or causes of nearly every charity, political action committee, or community organization have the concept of justice figuratively emblazoned upon a high-flying banner. This impulse for fairness exists even in the hearts of the most godless of people, though detached from its moral foundation.<br /><br />Although this unifying moral principle beats within the heart of all humanity, it lacks a divine anchor. Nevertheless, it drives people to seek justice with near religious fervor. Somehow, even those whose morality is detached from its foundation realize that morality requires some sort of religious connection. Ecclesiastes teaches that humans were created with an eternal aspect to their being so that they constantly seek for answers to life’s ultimate questions. Some have called this the “God-sized hole” in the heart of every person. Ecclesiastes makes clear that apart from God humankind will not be able to tell the end from the beginning and the search for answers will be futile. Therefore the search continues incessantly, only in all the wrong places. This search provides the unifying moral principle with a frame of reference and a domain of application. I posit that this frame of reference and domain of application flows from a Unifying Worldview.<br /><br /><b>A Unifying Worldview: The Cult of the Created Thing</b><br /><br />A worldview, in simple terms, is a way of viewing reality. For instance, some people view reality as if God did not exist, and this belief influences how they interpret the world and everything in it. On the other hand, Christians are fond of referring to what they call a Biblical worldview—one that presupposes the existence of God and the truth of Scripture. It purports to accept what the Bible says about reality and tries to integrate that into every area of life including work, entertainment, social experiences, family relationships, politics, etc. A worldview provides an ultimate frame of reference or a paradigm that makes sense of the world in which we live. Worldviews can be expressed or unexpressed, formal or informal, known or unknown, Christian or non-Christian. Regardless, commitment to our various worldviews manifests itself predictably in their domains of application. Worldviews are unifying.<br /><br />According to the Apostle Paul, those who do not look to God for answers to life’s ultimate questions will seek for them within the only other realm they know—the created order. They seek to fill the religious void within them by means of things that have been created. “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25). This explains why some cultures have been inexorably driven to worship idols made of wood and stone. Other cultures may not claim a specific deity but are still driven to give their most fanatical affections to elements within the created order. Apart from the true worship of the Creator, all religious commitments will inevitably aim at something less than the One True God. I have called these religious commitments the “Cult of the Created Thing.”<br /><br />When the unifying moral impulse lacks a divine anchor, and when it combines with a lesser religious anchor such as the Cult of the Created Thing, it finds its realm of application restricted to the created order. Similarly, the means (enforcer) of application for the moral impulse cannot be divine, so it must also be restricted to the created order. This inevitably leads humans to seek for a unifying messianic entity that will enforce the unifying moral impulse within the limited domain of the unifying worldview.<br /><br /><b>A Unifying Messianic Entity: Lord Government Almighty</b><br /><br />Apart from the redeeming power of God, mankind’s only effective means for forcing the unifying moral impulse upon other moral agents is entirely earthbound. Throughout history, the supreme moral enforcer in all cultures has been their collective authority organized as government. Apart from God and the Church, human government of some sort has always been the only available and effective enforcer of the radical moral impulse. In a very real sense, government is the religious deity of the Cult of the Created Thing. It is the messiah, the savior to which all must turn to enforce the fairness doctrine.<br /><br />Once again, Christians should quickly see a good thing gone bad. Scripture teaches that government was ordained by God to be his servant, ordering society by his principles. Still, to a limited extent, government does indeed serve this purpose, preserved by his sovereign power and influenced by the vestigial shattered image that brokenly reflects God’s character. But a government that fails to anchor itself in the divine and limits itself to a Godless reality will display the effects of depravity at every turn. Its applications of the ego-instrument will swerve bizarrely away from the divine standard of God’s Law. It will view itself as messianic, as the only adequate enforcer of a fairness doctrine that is uninformed by God’s love. It will become, in effect, Lord Government Almighty, the only champion of the people.<br /><br /><b>The Unified Theory of Politics Applied</b><br /><br />How then does this paradigm explain the predictability of liberal politics? I will now posit what readers might expect from a conservative Christian—some have progressed farther down a path of depravity than others. Their applications of the fairness doctrine are a grotesque mutation of the Imago Dei. They worship the created thing in forms like unbridled secular humanism and environmentalism. They place their faith and trust in a Godless messiah to enforce justice. With a little thought, it is not difficult to see how each thread of the Unified Theory factors into fanatical obsession with environmentalism, climate change, cap-and-trade, animal rights, homosexual agendas, extreme feminism, abortion rights, welfare, universal health care, government bailouts, and Wall Street salary caps, just to name a few. The notion of degrees of progress down a depraved path might also explain why some lie at each end of the political spectrum and why some fall somewhere in between. Those farther down a path of depravity may have more fully embraced the shattered moral impulse of the ego-instrument, the Godless Cult of the Created Thing, and a messianic view of government.<br /><br />Are conservatives then unscathed by the depravity’s power? I think not. They may not have traveled the same path of depravity and might have been preserved by God’s common grace to a greater degree, but this a far cry from saying that conservatives represent what is right in the eyes of God. The greed of unrestrained capitalism, the supposed freedom of deregulation, the arrogant and evangelistic rectitude of democracy, the entitlement of inalienable rights, and the legalism of moral legislation are only a few of the conservative ideals that have been polluted by depravity. Conservatives, like liberals, still see government as a sort of champion, particularly with regards to moral issues. We suffer from the delusion that government would be fixed if only we would return to the supposed Christian principles of our Founding Fathers.<br /><br />Depravity has impacted the entire political spectrum. This means that any government regime, regardless of its political persuasion, cannot be trusted to accurately represent God’s perspectives. At the same time, some people will take the country more quickly into moral decline than others. The solution to all this however, is not a simple democratic victory by the moral majority. They will not be able to legislate God’s Laws in a way that fixes the human condition, and they will not be immune from the deforming effects of depravity upon their own rule. The only power and authority to countermand the effects of depravity rests in the Lord Jesus Christ. There will come a time when government shall be restored to its original created intention. That time will not come until Christ rules within the hearts of all people everywhere.ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-66936166534469698172018-09-26T09:06:00.000-04:002018-09-26T09:29:33.905-04:00Messing Up The Wills of GodTheologians (especially in the Reformed tradition) have found it helpful to distinguish between the <i>Decretive Will</i> of God and the <i>Preceptive Will</i> of God.<a href="#1" name="top1"><sup>1</sup></a> The decretive will refers to God’s having decreed, for his own glory by his sovereign power and according to his infinite wisdom, all that comes to pass. The preceptive will refers to God’s revealed commands to his human creation. The first describes what God has done, is doing, and will do; the second, what God wants us to do. The first is generally secret, which is why we also call it his <i>Secret Will</i>. The second is revealed; hence we also call it his <i>Revealed Will</i>. Sometimes we also distinguish between these as the Will of Decree and Will of Command. The first is absolute and inexorable--it cannot <i>not</i> happen. The second is disregarded every time one of his creatures chooses to disobey him.<br />
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Although we sometimes say that the decretive will of God is hidden or secret (Isaiah 55:8-9; Deuteronomy 29:29; Romans 11:33-36), this does not mean that God has left us completely blind concerning his eternal purposes. God has not revealed everything, but he has revealed as much as he wants us to know in his Word. We know the big picture and many of the smaller details. Certain mysteries have been made crystal clear by glorious glimpses into his Secret Will through Scripture. For instance, we know the purpose of the incarnation and the crucifixion. We know that God planned all along to bring Gentiles into his chosen family through adoption. These were concepts hidden in the shadows of the Old Testament--they are definitely there, but were not as easy to see without the light of the New Testament. The New Testament has brought those mysteries out of the shadows and made them crystal clear. God has also given us bright glimpses in Scripture of what everything will look like in the end according to his sovereign decree: He will destroy evil, punish sinners, and bring his family into eternal fellowship with him in the new heavens and earth. He has told us about the doctrine of election, even though he has not told us who among all the lost are elect. The Secret Will is more or less revealed as God has seen fit to give us gracious glimpses into his purposes. Regardless, we can know all that he has revealed to the extent he has revealed it.<br />
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<b>That Mysterious Third Will</b><br />
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What does not exist in Scripture is a third, unnamed will, which I will call the “Third Will.” The “Third Will” supposedly exists somewhere between the Revealed and Secret, barely perceivable only by those who are spiritually tuned in, like a whispering undertone within the consciousness--a still, small voice. It requires a high degree of mystical harmonization and threatens great penalties upon those who fail to accurately perceive or obey it: Those who do not find God’s will are at risk of missing God’s will for their lives.<br />
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This spiritually destructive view of God's will runs rampant due to unchecked Arminian influences upon many evangelical churches. It presupposes some violable plan not otherwise revealed in Scripture that exists as some mix of the Secret and the Revealed. It is often described as “God’s best for you.” The process of learning it is sometimes called “discerning God’s will.” Young people in these traditions are taught from an early age that one of the most important things they can do in life is discern God’s will (as if teenagers don’t have a hard enough time with everything that is clearly revealed).<br />
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Belief in this "Third Will" leads many to unbiblical assertions and unnecessary anxieties. We have all seen it in action. You have seen it when someone has said something like, “I just knew God was telling me to do such-and-such” or “God told me everything was going to be alright” or "I have finally found what God wants me to do with my life!" You may even have fallen for it yourself!<br />
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In my younger years, my experience with this mystical "Third Will" led me to spend countless hours trying to “read the clouds” for God’s will--listening for that still, small voice and searching my heart for a sense of peace. I even measured my spirituality (and others’) by how attuned I was to God’s “leading” through the Holy Spirit. One of my greatest fears was doing something wrong and shutting off my mystical pipeline, leaving me blind in the dark. I imagined that God had a will about nearly anything and everything (which shirt to wear, road to take, college to attend, job to take, person to marry, etc.). Failure to discern and act upon this will would lead me down the wrong path and mess things up. At one point, my future wife and I even fearfully broke off our engagement because of some nebulous “lack of peace” that I presumed was integral to the process of “discerning God’s will.” Thankfully God rescued me from myself and we eventually got married, Praise be to God!<br />
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Scripture simply does not support this idea of a “Third Will” that all Christians must discern and obey. Yes, it records that God directed people through miraculous, extra-biblical means; however it nowhere presents these means as normative. Those who believe that God does have a mystic “Third Will” need to demonstrate 1) that it is clearly taught in Scripture 2) to whom it applies, 3) by what verifiable means it is discerned, and 4) to what decisions it applies and does not apply. That is a tall order which I believe cannot be accomplished through any clear teaching of Scripture.</div>
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<a name="1"><b>1 </b></a>Some have suggested that this distinction under the category of <i>will</i> is not helpful, and that these distinct topics should be treated separately. However, I believe the discussion and distinction is pedagogically necessary because the error is in the end user's equivocation of the abiding English word for <i>will</i>. <a href="#top1"><sup>↩</sup></a><br />
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ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-13767922119472559922018-09-15T11:36:00.003-04:002018-09-26T09:04:22.385-04:00How Love is Superior to the LawOnly grace can transform the righteousness of Law on the outside into the righteousness of Love on the inside. However, both Law and Grace remain perfectly consistent. They will never contradict each other. Law remains holy, righteous, and good and its purposes continue unabated. Therefore, law and grace cannot ultimately be set against one another, in spite of appearances. <br />
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However, Love is superior to Law on several counts: <br />
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<li>It is God's righteousness within us--God's character becoming our own; transformation from the inside out rather than merely external compliance. </li>
<li>It is the end of the Law in the sense that Christ's redemptive purpose is to complete our transformation and to move God's righteousness from the outside to the inside of the human being. </li>
<li>It is both the fullest measure of and the fittest motivation for obedience, altogether in one thing. The Law is subject to other motivations and is an incomplete measure. </li>
<li>It fills in the gaps in a way no external Law could. No encodification of God's character can be complete. The infinite cannot be completely communicated to the finite in mere words. An external Law can never completely describe the perfection of the divine being in imitable ways. So rather than compliance to incomplete encodifications, God conforms character. By the way, efforts to fill in the gaps and produce compliance through man-made, external expansions of God's law is another kind of legalism. </li>
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Love is what the Law is when it is no longer outside of us. It is the Law boiled down into a thick, delicious syrup, a concentrate of divine transformation. It is that summary of the Law spelled out by Moses and Christ--Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and being, and love your neighbor as yourself.ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-83784730396665005092018-09-15T11:20:00.001-04:002018-09-26T09:03:57.341-04:00The Relationship of Wisdom to the LawWisdom contains the Law. Wisdom is informed by the Law. The Law provides structure for wisdom. Wisdom extrapolates from the Law. But wisdom is more than the Law.<br />
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The Law is primarily concerned with what is right and wrong concerning the topics it addresses. However, it does not address all topics. There are gaps in the Law, places where law-followers are left to wonder exactly what is right and what is wrong. Wisdom fills in those gaps, but it does not always do so through judgments of right and wrong. As often as not, wisdom is more concerned with what is better or worse.<br />
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By analogy, formal logic addresses argumentation that can be evaluated in terms of truthfulness and validity. It evaluates arguments according to very specific rules. Thus formal logic can say that an argument is valid or invalid, sound or unsound, and right or wrong. Informal logic, on the other hand, is concerned with the relative strength or weakness of an argument. It does not apply strict rules that determine whether a conclusion is right or wrong but seeks to determine whether a given conclusion is better than another. Like formal logic, the Law is concerned with what is right and wrong. Like informal logic, wisdom is concerned with what is strong and weak.<br />
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This distinction between law and wisdom is crucial in the Christian life. If Christianity were a religion of laws alone, then one of two things would be true: 1) Christian living would require a handbook of laws that addressed any and every given moral issue, or 2) Christians would be left without any ability to know what is right and wrong in any and every circumstance where no rule was provided. The former would require a constantly growing handbook of unrealistically massive proportions. The latter would result in confusion and division. Both could produce a severe legalism that stands opposed to all that we know is true for us through the Gospel.ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-43737861851459557042018-09-03T13:42:00.004-04:002018-09-03T14:22:37.020-04:00Why is God So Silent? Why Does He Not Just Show Himself?<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. I Samuel 3:1</blockquote>
While reading Scripture this morning I was struck by several Psalms that referred to God's direct and immediate involvement with humankind--statements about his provision, protection, justice, etc.<br />
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Scripture speaks often of God's promises to provide, protect, and bless. The question that comes to mind is, "If God were real, and really did those things, wouldn't we see him active and obvious in everything around us?" But we don't see that. We see hungry people who sing songs about God's provision, and continue to starve. We see oppressed people who praise God for his protection even as they are slaughtered. We do not see angelic figures stepping in to pass out bread or wield swords.<br />
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In response, we comfort ourselves with what many believe to be weak platitudes: God is protecting and providing even when you cannot see him doing it. Or God is protecting and providing in some spiritual sense. Or God is promising protection and and provision for the future, in eternity, if not now.<br />
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If God is there, though, and if he really does all he says he does (or will do all he says he will do) why don't we see him doing it? Why does his active involvement in our reality stay hidden behind the normal and natural mechanisms of cause and effect in ways that allow unbelievers to credit those activities to anything but God? Why not step out and do what he says he does in ways that are obvious and self-crediting?<br />
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Well, he has. Many times. And it made little difference as far as these particular questions are concerned.<br />
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God did at the creation, but the creation hated him. God did with the nation of Israel, but Israel hated him. God did with Jesus for the world, but the world hated Jesus. Still does. But God is patient and he is eternal. A thousand years is like a day to him. He has a plan. It is well underway in Christ. In this plan, he does not stoop to and stammer before the whims of a humanity who wants a show of evidence, who wants a feeding of the 5,000. God will show himself and restore all things in his time, and without respect to the demands of a people who will hate him anyway.<br />
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In the meantime, he is, of course, not far off at all, though he generally cloaks himself in normal providence. Like the parables that hid truth in plain sight, providence is full of mechanisms that could have other explanations. This is why God is so silent; why he does not just show himself: because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand, and sometimes God wants it that way (Matthew 13:10-17). He owes the unbelieving world nothing but judgment.<br />
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But he has not left himself without a witness in the world. Those with eyes to see and ears to hear can see him anywhere. Scripture testifies to his active and obvious involvement with men, though it has made little difference in the minds of any except those sovereignly enabled to see and hear. His divinity and power are declared in what he has created. But the Cult of the Created Thing has always hated him even when he has stood before it and announced himself with wonders and miracles. He speaks righteousness into the human conscience, which then excuses itself by calling evil good. Why should a patient God stoop and stammer for a people who would ignore him and hate him even if he were to do their "tricks?"<br />
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He shows himself when and how he wants in his time. In line with the quote at the top, there have been huge portions of history throughout which God has been relatively silent as far as new special revelation goes. We have no right to expect anything more. He showed himself before, and we hated him for it. Why should we expect anything to be any different were he to show himself at any other time?<br />
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Of course, in these latter times, God has spoken to us in his Son. He owes the world nothing but judgment for unrighteousness. But he has graciously given Christ to the world, and testified to him in his Word. Christ is God made near, made immediate, made most immanent. Christ is God with us. He is the miracle, the communication, and the show. He is the evidence that God is not far off. We are to trust him--that he is real, that he is Lord, that he died for our sins, that he rose from the dead, that he will return as he said.<br />
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Until then, we can clearly see God and his work, we can hear his voice, through the eyes and ears of faith.ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-20278001389579815292018-06-09T17:55:00.000-04:002018-06-09T20:59:16.259-04:00How Can a God of Love be a God of Wrath?Much of the world hates the idea that God has wrath, and so they hate God.<br />
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But God's wrath exists because he is love. His holiness, justice, goodness, and truth require wrath against all that is contrary to his nature. </div>
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We can understand this because we are made in the image of God. We have all encountered evil powerful enough to make us hate it, to wish it to be destroyed. </div>
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A month or two ago, an archaeological dig near a beach in Peru found remains of over 200 pre-adolescent children who had been ritually sacrificed altogether, by an ancient Peruvian Indian civilization. As I looked at the pictures of the small bones riddled with blade marks, I was filled with fury. I knew at once and without a doubt that a civilization that could do such a thing deserved to be destroyed. </div>
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Perhaps you would not have been so angry, or perhaps you would judge me for my anger. But is there nothing that angers you to the degree that you would wish for judgment? I see angry people in the news all the time, pushing for judgment upon things they do not like. They rejoice when bakers are shut down for not baking a cake or when churches are sued for not renting their property according to their standard of righteousness. </div>
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We may not all agree on the issues that raised these occasions of wrath. But surely there are evils that we can all agree upon--evils that raise our ire and cause us together to desire judgment, and maybe even destruction. You have seen physical abuse of children and women, cold-hearted murder, rape, molestation. Perhaps you are one of the few who have not seen one or more of these face to face, but you have seen it in the news. Do you feel nothing? Are you okay with it? </div>
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Is their anything out there happening in the world that makes you want to take up a placard and march? What are you marching for? Perhaps you would not yourself march, but you have taken a side. You have agreed in your heart with the actions of others who are fighting for what you believe to be a just cause. Why have you taken a side? What wrongs are you wanting to see righted? What convictions are you willing to fight for? Is there no evil anywhere that you would not want to see eradicated? Of course there is. </div>
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Now let me ask, who among us would really want a God that does not at least hate the things we hate? Who would choose to do nothing about evil? Who would let molesters and rapists and murderers, or whatever else we believe to be evil suffer no consequences? </div>
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Our capacity to hate evil, even the evils that we make up, are a broken reflection of the image of God. Humans have a real capacity to desire justice in this world for themselves and others. We would like to believe that the reason we hate what we believe to be evil is because we ourselves are good. It is our crippled capacity to understand, to know what we believe to be goodness that provides a standard by which we would dare stand up against anything we believe to be wrong. If we would not, then we are either cowards or we are ourselves the evil.</div>
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Why would we begrudge God the right to be angry at what he believes to be evil? Why would we hate him for doing what we do all the time? Are we better than God? </div>
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And so we see that our problem is not really that we do not think there should be a God who has wrath. Our problem is that we do not agree with God for what he is angry about. But in this we have reached the limits of our reflection of God. Our hatred of God's wrath evidences how horribly broken is our image-bearing capacity. And those who hate God for his wrath would rather have a God made in their image than be reflectors of God's image. In hating God for his wrath, and reserving for ourselves only the privilege of wrath against evil, we put ourselves in the place of God, and pour out <i>our </i>wrath upon God himself as a violator of what we have decided is right. </div>
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How dare we make ourselves the standard! This world is so messed up with things that we are angry at, how can we dare to trust that we ourselves should be the standard. And everyone of us knows that we have each messed up and violated what we believe to be right. It is fundamental to depravity to believe something to be right and to violate it anyway. We know this because every last one of us has experienced it. How can we make ourselves the standard? </div>
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God's wrath is right because he is love. There is no shadow of turning with him. He is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, goodness and truth. Even with our pitiful inconsistencies by comparison, we ourselves know that love demands wrath against evil. We know that something must be done about evil. And we know that we ourselves are an inadequate standard.</div>
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God's wrath is absolutely consistent with his love. </div>
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ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-46881240902108575982018-05-07T11:37:00.000-04:002018-06-09T16:48:32.282-04:00What About Free Will?<span id="docs-internal-guid-79ecd741-3b07-1689-69b5-9f99eefd5f50"></span><br />
Paul addresses the doctrine of election in Romans 9. He anticipates a common objection--the "What about free will?" objection. After all, if God "has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills [18]," and if salvation "depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy [16]," then why is it man’s fault that he has not chosen God?<br />
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We find Paul's response in verses 19-29. The video linked below goes into greater detail. For now though, you should know that this question has divided the church for centuries: [19] You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” <br />
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On the one side of this question are those who deny that God chooses unconditionally. On the other are those who affirm that God chooses unconditionally. The first would prefer to affirm that man's free will controls his own eternal destiny. The other affirms that God holds all sovereignty, even over salvation. </div>
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Wayne Grudem in his <i>Introduction to Systematic Theology</i> summarizes some of the objections of those who hold the Free Will position: </div>
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<li>If God does the choosing, then man cannot have free will.</li>
<li>If man does not have free will, then we do not have a choice.</li>
<li>Or even if we have a choice, our choices are not real.</li>
<li>And we are merely puppets or robots.</li>
<li>And unbelievers never have a fair chance</li>
<li>Which means that election is fundamentally unfair.</li>
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These are intimidating objections. We cannot pretend they are not. They are the chief reason many humans naturally recoil from the idea of election and desperately try to make it disappear from Romans 9. I once sat in the office of a pastor who asserted that he refused to believe in a God that would choose some people to go to heaven and others to go to hell. His language, not mine. But I found it ironic that on the wall behind him he had freely placed a picture of famous Calvinist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Spurgeon" target="_blank">Charles Haddon Spurgeon</a>. </div>
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And so their fix is often to assert that God is indeed sovereign, but he sovereignly chooses to give us the freedom to determine our own eternal destiny. After all, "free will is what makes us human." There are many problems with this, but I will just show one here. Wayne Grudem summarizes this nicely in his chapter on <i>Election and Reprobation: </i>Those who make this argument have not really solved the problem; they have just moved it around to a different location. What Free Willers mean by sovereignty is that God has the power to save everyone, he just "has too much respect for human free will to force people to be saved." </div>
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<li>What this means is that Free Willers grant that not all people are saved; </li>
<li>Which means that for some reason God does not save all people--even though he could;</li>
<li>Which means that God <i>chooses </i>not to save all people; </li>
<li>Which means that he values <i>something </i>above the salvation of all people;</li>
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What could God possibly value more than the salvation of all people?<br />
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For the Arminian, the answer is that God values <i>the preservation of man’s free will </i>more than the salvation of all people. For the Calvinist, the answer is that God values <i>his own glory </i>more than the salvation of all people. <br />
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Of course, these two cannot both be true at the same time. The determining question is this: Which one does God reveal to be true in his Word? Which one is Scriptural and which one is made up?</div>
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The sermon linked below shows how Romans 9:19-29 answers this question. I explain how God values his own glory more than the salvation of all people. More than this I explain how his <i>not </i>saving everyone furthers his glory more than his saving everyone.</div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/philip.anderson.1004/videos/2445557365469997/" target="_blank">Click here to access the video explanation.</a> </div>
ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830326368301490005.post-17619496011381563552018-04-02T09:11:00.001-04:002018-04-02T09:11:59.920-04:00How to Pick a ChurchWithin your communities, you can choose to attend a church from one of many different denominations. West Virginia, like many parts of the nation, has most types of churches represented throughout the state. To say the least, the church you attend should be thoroughly <b>Christian</b>, that is, it should preach and teach the only true Gospel of Jesus Christ--that he is God-made-flesh, that he died, was buried, and rose from the grave so that those who believe in him might be saved from their sins and resurrected unto eternal life. Not all churches preach this message, and therefore not all churches are Christian.<br />
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How can you know if your church is Christian? Seek the answers to the following three questions as a starting place: 1) Does your church preach this gospel clearly and regularly? 2) Does it regularly and faithfully preach the rest of the Scriptures within which this Gospel is set? 3) Or, does it preach any other gospel besides this one (i.e., that salvation can be had by any other means than faith alone in this particular Gospel)?<br />
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The answers to these three questions should be 1) yes, 2) yes, and 3) no. If your answers are different then you should find a different church.<br />
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But that is not all that you should consider.<br />
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More than this, according to Scripture, your church should also have <b>elders</b> (or pastors), should practice <b>church discipline</b>, and should administer the <b>sacraments</b> of baptism and the Lord's Supper. If it does not, then what you are participating in is not a church, and you should find one that is.<br />
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Besides this, your church should provide a community for <b>fellowship and service</b>. Christians are gifted by Christ to serve one another. Your church is the main, divinely-ordained arena in which this is supposed to occur. It should be your primary place of service, and your brothers and sisters in Christ should be the primary recipients of your service. You should attend a church that recognizes and encourages this.<br />
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Your church should also be a place of <b>worship</b>. One of the main reasons it exists is to bring Christians together into one body to worship God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This worship does not exist to entertain you or to fit your preferences (the kind of music that you like). What you like or don't like (or enjoy or don't enjoy) about a worship service is never the deciding factor in which church you attend. Worship exists for God and it was ordained by God to be done in community with other people. If entertaining the audience is more important than the Object of your church's worship, then you should consider finding a different church.<br />
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Lastly, your church should be <b>evangelistic</b>, both in your surrounding community and as far out as it can reach through missions. The people within the church should be in the business of sharing the Gospel, accompanied by sincere prayers that the Spirit would change people's hearts and give them faith. This is how the Kingdom grows, and it is the primary mission Christ gave his followers before he returned to heaven. This is the main way that the Church changes the world. <br />
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Don't just attend any church. Pick one that matches up with what God says the church should be. If you would like to know more of what the Bible says about what a church should be and do, check out my book <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Church-You-Can-See-Membership/dp/1976455820/" target="_blank">A Church You Can See</a>.</i><br />
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<i>Thanks for Reading!</i><br />
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<i>Pastor Dennis Bills</i><br />
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<br />ReformingWVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06028949100124438471noreply@blogger.com0