Is the PCA a 2.5-Office Church?
Two specific areas in which the PCA – while holding to two offices, not three – in practice, encourages what has been called, half-seriously, a 2.5-office system.
Bringing together, then, the “permanency of the gifts which qualify for the office,” and the church’s judgment “that Christ is calling this man to the exercise of the office,” Murray considers it inconsistent for the elder to be installed for a specified period (despite the PCA’s “perpetual” ordination, this does not preclude churches from specifying... Continue Reading
Polity Protects People from Pragmatism
A robust commitment to follow biblical polity is both relational and loving. The rules we have agreed to follow help us to minister faithfully together and encourage shepherding and discipleship.
In the PCA, we have rules to prevent us from taking that easy, pragmatic approach. In the PCA we have all agreed on a “due process” to deal with problem people (see BCO 29ff). This procedural, constitutional method is both relational and loving, and it is biblical (cf. Matthew 18:15ff). It preserves the rights even of... Continue Reading
The “Simple” and the Lord’s Supper
Perhaps what gets labelled “youth work” in most churches is better understood as preparing young people to come to the Lord’s Table, “making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7).
Like any practice, catechesis can develop in unhealthy directions. It could end up fostering a “worksy” understanding of the gospel, in which you’ve got to be old enough, mature enough, “good enough” to belong to Christ. This is the exact opposite of what the gospel is saying. But if we ignore this category of “the... Continue Reading
Why Many New Pastors Don’t Survive Their First Five Years—and How We Can Fix This
Newer pastors burnout generally not because regular preaching and teaching are more difficult than they expected, but because these activities too often happen under the stress of sharp conflict.
If you think you might be called to pastoral ministry or if you’re struggling in your current pastoral assignment, don’t let fear sidetrack that calling. Look to all the privileges and benefits of pastoring while also acknowledging that hard things will happen. You’re not afraid of hard things, I know, but the unexpected hard things could... Continue Reading
How the Side B Project Failed
Churches should take it upon themselves to befriend and compassionately encourage Christians with these struggles, just as they would befriend and encourage any Christian who carries a solitary sorrow.
At this point in time, one may legitimately ask just how sharp the dividing line remains between “Side A” and “Side B,” when it seems almost no expression of gay identity is out of bounds for Side B Christians. This question was openly raised in a Religion News report last year, in which Collins suggested... Continue Reading
Characteristics of a True Church
Working through a landmark Machen article, part 11.
The freedom of the church is the freedom to demand that its members and ministers adhere to its own biblical standards. The church is not the state (nor is it backed by the state’s power) and has no power of enforcement or compulsion except to declare truth and declare who is a member. 1 “It would,... Continue Reading
After the Dark Night of A Lost Ministry, Bring Light to Others
My life and ministry, which had been for the most part vibrant, blew up in a matter of three weeks.
During this time, as far as my presbytery was concerned, I was not seen as a brother in crisis; I was just a problem. I suspect in many other presbyteries ministers are going through rough times. These brothers are experiencing a crisis in their lives. Please do not look at them as a problem, but... Continue Reading
Pastor, Be What You Want to See
It is not arrogant to instruct others to follow you, so long as you are following Christ and showing them Christ and giving them Christ.
In groups where transparency is expected, a pastor goes first. In the humility of service, a pastor goes first. In the sharing of the gospel with the lost, a pastor goes first. In the discipleship of new believers, a pastor goes first. In the singing of spiritual songs with joy and exuberance, a pastor goes... Continue Reading
Reaching the Next Generation Is Easier and Harder Than You Think
If you are a growing, godly Christian, you can be effective in ministering to other people and leading other people to know Christ and follow Christ.
So it’s easier in that you don’t have to have a PhD in cultural apologetics; and it’s harder, but also better, in that what God calls us to do is to love them, to speak the truth to the next generation, to be the sort of person whose life is marked by holiness. Second Peter says... Continue Reading
The Biggest PCA News You Never Heard
Keller protege Scott Sauls went egalitarian & hardly anyone knows.
Between November and March, Sauls’ views changed in a way that made him incompatible with the PCA: He became (or revealed himself to be) an ecclesial egalitarian, meaning he believes that all of the roles and offices in the church are open to men and women. When the face of a denomination changes his views... Continue Reading
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