REFORMATION RESURRECTION 2013 - Voddie Baucham Coming To Denmark

The Tilbage Til Bibelen (Back to Scripture) network of Denmark is pleased to present Reformation Resurrection 2013 with keynote speaker Dr Voddie Baucham - an outstanding reformed preacher and cultural apologist (bio below). Reformation Resurrection 2013 is a four day conference in the Danish countryside devoted to the furtherance of the Gospel in Europe and around the world. There is a lot of talk today about "new reformations" with new solutions to new problems. But we face the same problem today that we did 500 years ago - the pulpits of Europe have abandoned the Gospel.



Reformation Resurrection 2013 is a rallying cry to the same solution that the reformers risked their lives to proclaim. That sinful men can be justified before a Holy God by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. And that this truth is faithfully proclaimed in God's Word alone, and to God's glory alone. The reformation isn't over - it just needs new life breathed into old truth. Men and women who are not ashamed of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ, the power of God unto salvation. Will you forsake the silence to join with us and be a voice in resurrecting the Reformation?

WHEN:
Tuesday July 23rd to Friday July 26th 2013.

WHERE:
Skroedstrup Boarding School
Skroedstrupvej 26
9550 Mariager
Denmark

Here is an online map of the conference site:


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PRICE:
To be announced.

THEMES
Dr. Voddie Baucham's main subject will be "Preaching Christ from all of Scripture". Dr. Baucham's teaching on this subject has been so powerful and compelling that we could not go past it for our 2013 theme. There will also be extensive question and answer sessions where you will be welcome to throw your toughest questions at the keynote speaker. Evening meetings will be open to the general public.

TRANSLATION
The meetings will have Danish translation. The question and answer sessions will be in English only.

CHILDREN
Because Reformation Resurrection 2013 is a family camp, there will be teaching and activities for the children.

CONTACT:
For further information and travel advice please e-mail:
Carsten Jorgensen - carstenstampe@yahoo.com

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Europe has an amazing heritage of godly men who thunderously and fearlessly preached the Gospel. Thus it is entirely appropriate that this years guest speaker is a man cut from the same die (those of you who have not had the chance to sit under the teaching of Dr. Baucham will be able to do so by viewing the sermon video we have posted below). Voddie Baucham (www.voddiebaucham.org) wears many hats. He is a husband, father, pastor, author, professor, conference speaker and church planter. He currently serves as Pastor of Preaching at Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, TX. He has served as an adjunct professor at the College of Biblical Studies in Houston, TX, and Union University in Jackson, TN. He has also lectured at Southern Seminary.

Voddie’s area of emphasis is Cultural Apologetics. Whether teaching on classical apologetic issues like the validity and historicity of the Bible, or the resurrection of Christ; or teaching on biblical manhood/ womanhood, marriage and family, he helps ordinary people understand the significance of thinking and living biblically in every area of life.

Voddie Baucham holds degrees from Houston Baptist University (BA in Christianity/BA in Sociology), Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (D.Min.), an honorary degree from Southern California Seminary (D.D.), and additional post-graduate study at the University of Oxford, England (Regent’s Park College).

Voddie and his wife, Bridget have been married since 1989. They have seven children, Jasmine, Trey (Voddie, III), Elijah, Asher, Judah, Micah and Safya. They are committed home educators.

Voddie Baucham has written numerous books including The Ever Loving Truth, Family Driven Faith, The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World, What He Must Be, and Family Shepherds.

For those of you who like to feast on great preaching here is an entire sermon preached at a pastors conference where Voddie Baucham took it upon himself to respond to the man centered and moralistic preaching by the previous speaker. This is a sermon that every church goer in Denmark needs to watch. It will also give you a great feel for the privilege we are in for at our next conference:

Another Successful Reformation Resurrection Conference

Our annual Reformation Resurrection conference concluded just last week and what a joy it always is for Scandinavian believers to come in from the Reformation wasteland and drink from a fire hydrant for a week. Many of us were disappointed at the late withdrawal of Phil Johnson as our keynote speaker due to serious health issues.

To make matters worse, I was notified of this jolting news at the Master's Seminary while waiting to enter the classroom for my final Hebrew exam. Ancient Hebrew is challenging at the best of times but it was even more difficult to focus during the two hour exam as my mind was flooded with the thoughts of how to break the news to the brothers in Denmark and how to find a replacement at such short notice.

Nonetheless Henrik Mortensen, an elder at Kristuskirken in Denmark, put out some feelers in the UK for a replacement. Now I have to admit that I generally find English preachers to be a bit too polite and conciliatory when it comes to contending for the truth. However my exposure to the teaching of Carl Trueman has softened my resolve on this front and given me a new optimism for combative Gospel warriors being raised up in the "mother land".

Henrik was able to gain the recommendation and, more importantly, the services of one Jeremy Walker from Maidenbower [Reformed] Baptist Church.

Jeremy, it turns out, is a passionate and uncompromising young preacher who's influence and respect is very much on the rise. Though these accolades are of little interest to Jeremy, they are nonetheless encouraging to see in a land that often suffers from believers who tend to err on the side of cowardice. His two books, "The Broken Hearted Evangelist" and "A Portrait of Paul" carry endorsements by people like John Macarthur, Steve Lawson, Paul Washer, and Conrad Mbewe. And he has endeared himself to me by the fact that Pastor Walker also happens to be an open air preacher following in the footsteps of his predecessors Whitefield and Wesley.

We, the conference organizers, were very pleased to see that, in spite of Phil Johnson's absence, we enjoyed a record attendance and genuine enthusiasm for the teaching on offer. Reformation Resurrection 2012 has been the most diverse in attendance thus far with strong representation from Norway, Sweden, and Germany as well as a smattering from other surrounding countries. 

Aside from Jeremy Walker as our keynote speaker, Henrik Mortensen, Rene Vester, Mikael Thomsen, and myself filled the remainder of the preaching roster. This challenge of making so many adjustments at such short notice really helped to bring out the best in all the preaching. We soon hope to have most, if not all, of this online in the coming weeks. It was especially helpful to hear Jeremy expound the Scriptures on a biblical understanding of "working out our salvation" and the correct relationship between faith and works. This issue is something that causes major confusion among many church goers and it is also something that the Catholics have been getting wrong since they invented purgatory. I hope many others will take advantage of the teaching once it becomes available on the world wide web. Also, of great interest to many of us was Jeremy's controversial teaching on "The New Calvinism". If you enjoy a spicy theological read then this will not disappoint and it can be viewed here on Jeremy's blog.   

It is also tremendously encouraging to see the growing conviction among Scandinavian believers of the need to abandon apostate churches and support biblical churches. This provides me with great hope of a growing collective voice for the Gospel and biblical authority in these "post-Christian" lands.

I am also pleased to announce that Voddie Baucham will be our our keynote speaker at Reformation Resurrection 2013 from July 23 to 26, 2013 in Denmark. Stay tuned for more information. Space will be limited so email Carsten (carstenstampe@yahoo.com) if you want to book early.

Voddie Baucham And Ethnic Gnosticism - ER Saga (Part 8)

This jaw dropping interview took place after the Elephant Room conference where James MacDonald interviews three African American pastors. And the reason for people who criticize TD Jakes is because of his heretical teaching? No!!! It would appear that Jakes' skin color gives him diplomatic immunity from theological scrutiny . . .



It is beyond me why James MacDonald would post this video. Amidst the true points made here there is a lot to be disturbed about. If James MacDonald really wants to help the African American community then a good place to start would be to stop affirming those who plunder this very community with their outrageously heretical prosperity teaching. How about sitting down and discussing the gospel they preach rather than the color of their skin. Is it just possible that the content of TD Jakes' teaching could have anything to do with those Christian leaders who are critical of him? It would seem that another elephant just entered the room.

I cannot think of a better combination than the combined apologetic superpowers of Dr. Voddie Baucham and Dr. James White to discuss this issue. This discussion is gold - please check it out!



Go On To Part 9
Go Back To Part 7
Go Back To Part 1

The Voddie In The Room - ER Saga (Part 7)

Most readers would be aware of my fondness for the teaching/apologetics ministry of Voddie Baucham. It was the reason we invited him to come and minister at our Reformation Resurrection conference in Denmark last year. Voddie is a breath of fresh air on the evangelical landscape not only because of his theological expertise and apologetic ability to defend the Christian worldview, but also because of his combativeness against false worldviews and willingness call an elephant "an elephant". Amidst the fog and mystery of the behind the scenes machinations at work in preparation for James MacDonald's "Elephant in the Room" conference, Voddie wrote this article of wonderful clarity and frankness over what really went on and his connection to the whole process. If you have not already read this please do:

The Elephant in the Room by Voddie Baucham (January 30, 2012)

This past week a firestorm erupted over the recent “Elephant Room 2.” The controversy centers around the decision to invite Bishop T.D. Jakes to participate in the event. The central questions in the debate are 1) whether or not Bishop Jakes holds to the historic, orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, 2) whether it was appropriate to invite (and feature) him without first having clarified his position on this cardinal doctrine, and 3) whether he cleared up the matter.

I was scheduled to speak at Harvest Bible Chapel on the weekend following ER2 which raised significant questions about my stance on the matter. While I do not consider it my responsibility to comment on every controversy, I do recognize my duty to clarify matters with which I am involved directly, and/or those that impact the congregation I am called to shepherd. Hence, my explanation now.

My Invitation to ER2

In October of 2011, I was invited to participate in The Elephant Room 2. The invitation followed Mark Dever’s decision to pull out. James MacDonald called me and asked me to take his place. He also informed me of the controversy at that time surrounding the invitation to Jakes and Dever’s decision to pull out, and that Crawford Loritts had agreed to fill in. I knew James MacDonald only indirectly, and I had only recently heard of the Elephant Room.

Initially, it sounded like a very good idea to “pin Jakes down” on the Trinity. My area of emphasis in my theological training is Evangelism/Apologetics. Moreover, I addressed Jakes’s modalism in my first book in 2004, so I am well aware of the issues in question, and believed I could make a contribution. Also, to my delight, James indicated that Jakes had abandoned Oneness Pentecostalism, rejected Modalism, and, he believed, Jakes would make that clear at ER2.

I called my fellow elders to make them aware of the invitation (we usually meet monthly to review and consider invitations, but this was an urgent matter, and MacDonald had asked for a decision by the next day). We agreed that I should 1) find out more about the Elephant Room (specifically, was this an apologetics forum, or a forum that would assume Jakes’s orthodoxy), and 2) find out why Dever had backed out.

After investigating the matter, I decided to decline the invitation. My decision was based on four major areas of concern (Note: I voiced these four concerns to James MacDonald during our phone conversation the next day):

1. T.D. Jakes has a history of holding to, teaching, and associating with modalism, and ER2 was a forum wherein he would be assumed to be a “brother”.

I was already on record concerning Bishop Jakes’s modalism (see: The Ever Loving Truth, LifeWay, 2004), and I have kept up with the matter. Jakes had never repudiated Oneness Pentecostalism. Nor had he come out with an unambiguous, credal/confessional statement on the doctrine of the Trinity. There was absolutely no basis for me to assume that Jakes was suddenly orthodox, and therefore, no basis for me to welcome him as a brother.

2. The “Word of Faith” gospel he preaches is heterodox and harmful.

Even if Jakes had come out with a statement on the doctrine of the Trinity, it would not have done anything to change the fact that he preaches “another gospel.” (Gal 1:8–9) Having studied the “Word of Faith” movement, and seen the devastation it leaves in its wake, I was disinclined to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the man who has been this country’s most popular purveyor of this heresy in the past two decades (Note: James MacDonald and Mark Driscoll had both preached against the Word of Faith movement and called it heresy, so I did not believe I was informing James of anything he did not know already).

3. Jakes’s influence in the Dallas Metroplex has been negative, at best.

My wife is from Dallas, and my in-laws still live there (her parents and five siblings). I have preached in Dallas on many occasions, and at numerous churches, and have many acquaintances in the city. I know firsthand what kind of influence T.D. Jakes has had on the evangelical community, and broader Christian witness there. Suffice to say that he has not brought greater gospel clarity and fidelity. He has, however, brought a charismatic, theatrical, excessive, “Word of Faith” flavor to the city that permeates many churches (especially black churches).

4. Bishop Jakes is an example of the worst the black church has to offer.

One of the goals of ER2 was to address the issue of “racial” unity. Thus, Bishop Jakes was there (at least in part) as a representative of the “black church.” In light of the aforementioned issues, I was disinclined to participate in such an event. You see, Jakes was an invited guest; an invited ‘black’ guest. If he were mistreated, he had the race card; if he was accepted, he had entree into a new audience. It was a win-win for Jakes, and a lose-lose for evangelicalism. Obviously, he was not going to spout unadulterated modalism. Nor was he going to repudiate his roots (remember, this is his “heritage,” both ethnically and theologically). He had a perfect opportunity to find a middle ground and show “humility” in an environment that would be portrayed as “hostile” even though hostility was forbidden in light of the unwritten rules surrounding his blackness. Thus, his opponents had to choose between outright defeat and pyrrhic victory.

Moreover, I rejected the invitation because I did not want to give even the appearance of tokenism. The participants in the Elephant Room (and ER2), though they disagree methodologically on how we “get there,” are all virtually identical in their general profile. They are all successful mega-church pastors who have leveraged innovative and/or controversial methodologies to grow their churches, media empires, and/or pare-church ministries. I, on the other hand, am a pastor serving at a church with less than five hundred members; I’m not on television or radio; and my books aren’t best sellers. I don’t fit the profile! Whether MacDonald meant to or not, he was painting a picture of tokenism. If he meant it, I didn’t want to be used, and if he didn’t mean it, I didn’t want to be the source of misunderstanding.
While Pastor MacDonald said he “respected” my decision, he made it clear that he did not agree with me. We agreed to disagree and he moved on. At this time, I made two important decisions. First, I decided not to get involved in the public furor over ER2. I had spoken my piece to James, and saw no advantage in getting involved any further. There were others who were making many of the same points, and I did not want to pile on (James White, Phil Johnson, Thabiti Anyabwile, Anthony Carter, and others were pressing the issue, and bringing the pertinent points to light). I do not regret this decision. My second decision, however, is another story altogether. My second decision was to move forward with the scheduled Men’s Conference. That was unwise.

The Men’s Conference

I was naive to think that there would be no fallout if I decided to go forward with the Men’s Conference. The Men’s Conference was scheduled to take place two days after ER2. Once my worst fears were realized at ER2 (i.e., Jakes equivocated on modalism, was not even challenged on WOF gospel, etc. see here for a detailed analysis), there was no way for me to 1) keep silent on this growing controversy, and 2) attend the Men’s Conference, without giving tacit approval to ER2. The decision to go public was inevitable. The only question was how.

I have a regular practice of posting notices of upcoming events in my monthly newsletter, and on my Facebook fan page. These have been invaluable tools that keep people apprised of when I’m coming to their area (or the area of friends and family whom they’d like to invite to one of our events), how they can pray for me, and what kind of doors the Lord is opening for the ministry.

As per my practice, I posted a link to the Men’s Conference and asked, “Any fan page members planning to attend...” As you can imagine, there were more than a few questions about my position on ER2, my relationship with James MacDonald and Harvest Bible Chapel, and a whole host of other things. I answered those questions as honestly as I could. I made it clear that I opposed the decision to invite Bishop Jakes; pointed out what I saw as his masterful ‘dodge’ on the trinitarian question (and subsequent affirmation of modalist language), and gave a brief explanation of my reasoning for keeping this prior commitment (see here for a recap).

This did not go over well with James MacDonald. Upon my arrival at the church the next day, he and I sat down (along with my assistant and several members of his staff) and had a candid conversation about my decision to answer questions in a public forum. Ultimately, we agreed that it was not a good idea for me to speak at the conference. We prayed, shook hands, embraced, and ended the meeting as brothers. James also insisted on paying the agreed honorarium (Added 1/31/12). MacDonald had already made arrangements for a replacement speaker. My assistant and I were escorted to a waiting car and taken back to the airport.

Looking Back

Looking back on the incident, I realize that I put myself in an untenable position. As I see it, I had three choices once ER2 went down the way it did. I could remain silent indefinitely, which would have given tacit approval of Jakes, etc.. I could have held my comments until after the Men’s Conference, which would have been deceptive to James MacDonald, HBC, and those who showed up to hear me. Or I could answer the questions honestly ahead of time leaving no doubt as to both my decision to honor my commitment to the Men’s Conference, and my disapproval of ER2. Obviously, I chose the latter.

In hindsight, I should have canceled the event when I declined the ER2 invitation. But remember, there were many ‘moving parts’ at that time. There were private, internal discussions within The Gospel Coalition. There was public pressure from all corners of the evangelical community, and there were private conversations (I’ve already alluded to my own discussion, and that of Mark Dever, but there were others). There was also a possibility that Jakes had truly repented, and these guys (specifically MacDonald, Driscoll, and Jack Graham) were privy to things the rest of us simply didn’t, or couldn’t know at the time.

Looking Ahead

As I look ahead, I think two things are very important. First, I believe T.D. Jakes is wrong on the doctrine of the Trinity, and wrong on the gospel. I am also involved directly in a matter (the ER2 controversy) that has brought discussion of those facts to light. Consequently, my mandate to “hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9) obligates me to be on record in the matter. I have done that.

Second, the racial overtones of this matter have gotten out of hand (see here, for example), and must be addressed. The ER2 controversy is now pitting black evangelicals against white evangelicals, and against each other with T.D. Jakes as the centerpiece. This is an opportunity to pull back the curtain on the awkward racial dynamic in evangelical circles. Race is a convenient ‘dodge’ for those with weak arguments, and an inconvenient truth for those who harbor prejudice. Beyond that, it is an absolutely confusing subject for myriad evangelicals who simply love Christ, love his church, and want desperately not to offend their brothers and sisters in the Lord by using “black” when they should have used “African American,” or vice versa!

The irony is that this issue is most pronounced when heterodoxy is in play. For example, when a white evangelical disagrees with a solid, Reformed, black pastor on a technical theological issue, there is rarely a charge of racism. However, let that black brother be part of a heterodox or heretical group (i.e., Oneness Pentecostalism, Word of Faith, Black Liberation Theology, etc.), and suddenly the white brother who makes the argument against him faces charges of racism! Why? Partly because of... RACISM!

You see, some of this boils down to what has sometimes been called, “the soft bigotry of lowered expectations.” Asking black people to adopt orthodox theology (when Lord knows they don’t have access to the same schools, books, opportunities, and, in the minds of some... lack sufficient intelligence) is asking them to negate their blackness. While, on the other hand, the solid, Reformed, well-educated black pastor is NOT REALLY BLACK. Therefore, he’s fair game. Irony of Ironies... that is racist! And that’s what has to be dragged out of the shadows.

I’m not angry with James MacDonald. He’s my brother, and I love him. We disagree. We both understand that. Ironically, that’s what The Elephant Room is supposedly all about. Brothers should be able to disagree with one another and still be brothers. There’s just one problem: Embracing Jakes while rejecting others because we question his history of modalism and Word of Faith teaching... that’s the real “Elephant in the Room”?

Go On To Part 8
Go Back To Part 6
Go Back To Part 1

A Room Without Elephants - ER Saga (Part 1)

The last few weeks have been a surreal ride. Matt Chandler appears at the very bad "Code Orange Revival" alongside some very bad heretical teachers and preaches an excellent Christ centered presentation of the Gospel. His sermon then gets censored out of the reruns and online viewing by Steven Furtick.

Even bigger front page news has been the drawn out buildup to the Elephant Room saga which has just culminated. A lot is being said around the blogosphere about TD Jakes appearance at the controversial Elephant Room 2 conference. Jakes has a confessional history of holding the un-Trinitarian view of modalism which goes back to the third century and is the belief that God does not exist in three persons but in three modes that God switches between. Hence God can only be one of these three modes (or manifestations) at any one time (go here for a more detailed post on this subject). This is a big issue and required careful questioning with carefully defined terms. It appears that James Macdonald and Mark Driscoll really dropped the ball during their interrogation and failed to notice the very big other elephants of Jakes' persistent heretical Word Faith teachings and outrageous handling of Scripture. TD Jakes got the "certified sound" stamp of approval from Driscoll and Macdonald so he's good to go . . . or is he?

Then there was the issue of certain Elephant Room attendees being told on arrival that they had to leave or they would be arrested - strange in a conference about people coming together to face up to each other on their differences in a civil dialogue. And then there is the Voddie Baucham story of being invited to James MacDonald's church to preach, traveling to James MacDonald's church to preach, and being sent home by James MacDonald without preaching. There are a lot of these things that I believe warrant discussion over the coming weeks because these are important events on the evangelical landscape. And a lot of sharp people have responded so I have no plans to re-invent the wheel, just to pick the best wheels. But for now, I thought it appropriate to prologue this series with the wonderful experience of attending a seminary without elephants.

One of the great joys of being a student at The Master's Seminary (TMS) is the chapel services on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Each week features a great speaker who is either a guest or faculty. On Tuesday we had Mark from China visit us who is a former graduate. Mark typifies what a good seminary should produce - men who further the Gospel in whatever sphere of life they find themselves in. TMS is not primarily about educating men to take a paid position pastoring a church (though many graduates do this and it is certainly an honorable pursuit) but has a far greater focus on preparing men to run a long and fruitful race that finishes well in the fervent service of the Most High God. Mark is a great example of this. He arrived at TMS already highly educated with a doctorate in his secular field. He was very successful in the business world but had a strong desire to be trained in the Word of God. Mark graduated and then started a publishing company in China where he and his family now live and work. But the story gets far more interesting when we find out what their publishing company does - you can probably take a good guess. They are translating a wide range of theologically excellent books and successfully getting them published in China. China, a land where the church is exploding numerically, still has DESPERATE need of theological resources for equipping the many un-resourced pastors and teachers (both above and underground). What a blessed man I am being able to start the day in a room without elephants, hearing from an obscure man who is flying under the radar yet making gigantic strides in the furtherance of the Gospel!

(Disclaimer - no elephants were harmed in the making of this blog post).

Go On To Part 2

A Danish Lutheran Who Has Not Bowed To Baal

Yesterday I received this letter from a Lutheran priest in Denmark. He is a good friend who came to our last Reformation Resurrection conference to hear Voddie Baucham. The Lutheran movement in Denmark is unspeakably heretical and blasphemous and loaded with female priests, atheist priests, homosexual priests, and various combinations of all three. But Thomas is a shiny flash of lightning in that dark Lutheran night. It has been such a joy to meet this priest, a man who loves the Lord Jesus Christ passionately and preaches the Gospel faithfully. Like Luther he understands the Law-Gospel distinctive and preaches both rightly - the law to magnify the wrath due to sinners, and the Gospel as the means by which we can avert God's wrath and be reconciled to Him. He informs us that there is a remnant of faithful Gospel preachers in the Lutheran church "who have not bowed their knee to Baal". These priests are known as "black priests" by the dominant liberal factions. Here is what he wrote:

Hi Cameron. Thank you for your encouragement. Actually I have come to a point where I don't care that much if I am being kicked out of this filthy church. I will only stay here as long as God wants me to . . . meaning until the day I will be kicked out . . .

Yesterday we had at church-board meeting in ______, where I was being secerely critizised in general and in particular for my preaching. They complained that my preaching was too clear and scaring people away from the church (central to my preaching is always the total depravity of man and the substitutionary atonement made by Christ, justification, repentance and faith), too long (I ONLY preach half an hour at sundays but "15 minutes" is what they meant) . . . and so they went on and on and on . . . and the worst thing is that the congregation has actually become fewer in my time as a pastor in _______ (though not in the other congregation I pastor). I said to them that it was not out of stubbornness that I did not want to preach anything else, but because the message I deliver simply is my life - I'm bound to that message and I cannot and will not preach anything else. As I said to them: I do not want to stand on the day of judgment and have people looking at me saying: "Why didn't you tell us - why didn't you warn us while you had the opportunity" . . . Jesus is my LIFE! Cameron, I cannot do anything but preach of Him - he has saved me from an eterity under the wrath of almighty God . . . there is nothing good in me - I am wretched, evil, and sinful, but Jesus saved me! I have to preach that, so that other people may see the wonderful Savior I have come to know - Him who took our guilt and nailed it to a tree . . . I have to admit I got very sad and I really cried in the car on my way home. It is tough being in the Danish state-church and more and more often I wish to leave this disgusting and filthy church - but I have come to see, that Christ has his bride also in the midst of this church - there are VERY few left, but they are there! Denmark is an apostate society and contry, but like Elijah I have come to see, that God still has "7000 men" who have not bowed their knee to Baal . . .

Please pray for this priest and I will forward any letters of encouragement that people send to me.

REFORMATION RESURRECTION 2011 - Friday Update

We are now into the last day of the conference and it has been a tumultuous experience for many of us. In a culture awash with feminist ideology, therapeutic psychology, and a Darwinian view of man, it is inevitable that an uncompromising biblical worldview will pose a vicious assault on those long held ideologies. And to say that Voddie Baucham's preaching is uncompromising would be to understate the obvious. Scandinavians tend to be people not prone to open outbursts of emotion and as such it can be difficult to discern the effect of the teaching at this conference on many of the attendees. But it has been definitely provocative to see these people exposed to an unyielding, uncompromised, and well developed biblical worldview on subjects like biblical manhood, biblical womanhood, male headship, and the discipline of children.

The challenge here is that this proclamation will lead to penetration and application (and no, I did not go to the Rick Warren School of Alliteration). When a Scandinavian person comes to saving faith or a proper understanding of the Gospel, there still remains the quantum leap of developing a biblical worldview and then applying it. It is for this reason that I am so pleased that I invited Dr Baucham to come and confront these idealogical strongholds.

The last two days of this conference have swept us through Ephesians chapters five and six. It is here that we are brought face to face with the realities of God's call on husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church, and on wives to submit to their husbands as unto Christ. To not only preach these truths, but to preach them forcefully and unflinchingly had a provocative impact on many people. And provocation was very necessary. Equally, if not more, bold was Voddie Baucham's unyielding call on all parents to disciple their children instead of the state, and to discipline them with biblical means (yes, including spanking) instead of psychological methods.

In all of this, the reality is that these truths all stem from the Gospel and flow back into it. Psychology, at it's core, is a denial of human depravity and thus does violence to the Gospel. Undermining male headship in marriage ultimately undermines the Gospel because it horribly mars the beautiful picture of Christ's sacrificial love for His Church, and the Church's devotion to Christ. These things all matter because they are all so vitally connected to the precious once for all delved Gospel.

And since I don't have a notebook, I will make a note here on my blog to take Voddie's advice and get the following book from the middle eighteen hundreds called "Thoughts on Family Worship" by James Alexander for the discipleship of my children. Gotta run . . .

Oh, one more thing, we recorded everything, so we hope to post some of the meetings online as soon as possible.

REFORMATION RESURRECTION 2011 - Wednesday Update

Well, the conference is well and truly underway now. This is a special conference in Europe because it is Gospel centered and theologically driven - in stark contrast to most of the other "Christian" conferences which tend to be driveby pragmatism and the latest 40 days of your best prayer of jabez trend coming out of America which is usually 2 years behind the USA which, in turn, is usually 15 years behind the secular culture.

One of the true highlights so far has been the Tabletalk question and answer sessions each night. A predominant feature of the Scandinavian church landscape is a propensity of pastors to refuse to discuss matters over Scripture, and also a severe reluctance to respond to questions that they don't like being asked. I call these "Areea 51" questions. But the Tabletalk sessions at Reformation Resurrection 2011 have been loaded with a barrage of questions, many of which would qualify as "Area 51" questions. Nothing has been off limits and Voddie Baucham is an outstanding apologist who, thus far, has been very able to draw on Scripture to answer all questions heading his way without diplomacy and political correctness. Needless to say, everyone has been on the edge of their seats the whole way through and we are very glad that we decided to record these sessions.

But the main emphasis of this year's conference has been Dr Baucham's exegetical sweep through Paul's letter to the Ephesians. This has been a profound and illuminating experience for so many of us who have had little, if any, exposure to quality expository preaching. It also makes for an invigorating change from the mire of lame moralistic sermons where the Scripture serves as a selective tool to support an agenda that many modern preachers start with.

The thread through all of this biblical exposition by Voddie Baucham has been the the centrality of Christ in all of Scripture. He is helping us all to see the transcendent story of Scripture that is the seamless story of Christ - not a massive sequence of different moral lessons for self improvement. Gotta go! I don't want to miss the next session.

And he [Jesus] said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)

REFORMATION RESURRECTION 2011 - Starts Tomorrow

The Reformation Resurrection 2011 conference starts here tomorrow in Denmark (click here for all the conference details) and it is an event of immense significance for those of us living among the ruins of the 16th century reformers. I have already discussed the perils of failing to teach history, more specifically the Sovereign Hand of God throughout history. But what even transcends this and flows out from it is the truth that Luther declared before the Pope:

Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason – I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other – my conscience is captive to the Word of God . . . . Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. (Imperial Diet at Worms, 1521)

It is not in the power of the Roman pontiff or of the Inquisition to construct new articles of faith. No believing Christian can be coerced beyond holy writ. By divine law we are forbidden to believe anything which is not established by divine Scripture or manifest revelation. (Leipzig debate with the Catholic Johann Eck, 1519)

It is difficult to think of anything more important for Denmark than a call for the many apostate ministers to abandon their pulpits or repent and be men "who rightly divide the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). When you have the collective evangelical coalition of Denmark (Frikirkenet) combining their theological insights to come up with the stunningly stupid and brazenly false assertion that Scripture says nothing against fornication, then it highlights the need to stand with Luther and align our worldview to the clear teaching of Scripture - instead of aligning Scripture to a carnal worldview.

It is this Scripture, the Holy Bible, that clearly spells out the One True Gospel that the reformers fought to recover and gave their lives to defend. How dare we, who profess Christ in this hour, go to sleep on our watch. We are called to contend for the once for all delivered faith (Jude 3) and "mark" all false teachers who teach doctrine contrary to that taught in Scripture (Romans 16:17). Paul tells Titus of the need for shepherds to:

Hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. (Titus 1:9)

We in Denmark are amidst an irreversible catastrophe with horrific eternal consequences. And the sooner this reality is faced by Danish believers the sooner they will drop their white flags of pacifism and enlist as soldiers of Jesus Christ ready to contend for this glorious once for all delivered Gospel. With that in mind, I could not think of anyone better to come and minister to us than Voddie Baucham. An apologist who is hostile and combative to the prevailing worldviews that so many cower in fear to. Someone once asked me to describe Voddie Baucham and I coined the phrase "an apologetics bulldozer". May God bless this intense time of reformation resurrection as Dr Baucham ministers.

REFORMATION RESURRECTION 2011 UPDATE - Onsite Accommodation Fully Booked

Reformation Resurrection 2011 in Denmark is now almost upon us. A lot of people have been getting blown away by watching Voddie Baucham on YouTube or downloading his sermons from Sermon Audio so there is a real buzz among the brethren over here.

Accommodation on the conference site is now fully booked so the following pricing arrangements now apply for those who still wish to attend the conference but can make other sleeping arrangements. (All other conference details can be found by clicking here.)

PRICE UPDATE 13 July 2011:
(Remember - all evening meetings and coffee are free!)

All Four Days
Adults: 400 Danish Kroner
Students: 250 Danish Kroner
Ages 0-6: Free
Ages 7-14: 150 Danish Kroner
Ages 15-20: 250 Danish Kroner

Day Visit
Adults: 200 Danish Kroner
Students: 150 Danish Kroner
Ages 0-6: Free
Ages 7-14: 50 Danish Kroner
Ages 15-20: 150 Danish Kroner
(Half Day is half price)

Any readers who wish to support/promote/attend this conference are most welcome to use this picture on their own websites/emails/facebook pages to help us get the word out. For simplicity, you can just save the picture below and then hyperlink it to this web address:
http://onceuponacross.blogspot.com/2011/01/reformation-resurrection-2011-voddie.html

This conference is a rare chance for the brethren in Europe to gather and sit under excellent reformed preaching, build relationships, get opportunities to speak one on one with the keynote speaker, and get a much needed kick up the pants to contend earnestly for the once for all delivered faith. The Lord Jesus Christ is so worthy of our undivided attention and fervent labor and Reformation Resurrection 2011 will equip us for Europe's single greatest need - that the Gospel must thunder once again from pulpits in every corner of this continent. Click here for all the details.



Voddie Baucham describes himself as a cultural apologist. He explains what that means in the following short video:

Change Of Venue For Reformation Resurrection 2011

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we have been forced to shift venue for the upcoming Reformation Resurrection conference in Denmark this year being held between July 26th and 29th. Nothing else has changed (including price) and the new venue is less than 50 kilometers from the original venue. The conference page has now been updated, so for those of you who are attending or thinking of attending please go to this page where you can check out all the details including the updated map and address.

Reformation Resurrection 2011 will be featuring keynote speaker and cultural apologist Dr Voddie Baucham. This is a special conference experience where we have the keynote speaker staying on the conference site with all the other attendees providing ample opportunity for plenty of personal interaction. For those of you who haven't heard Voddie speak before, or want an extra dose here is something to whet your appetite:

REFORMATION RESURRECTION 2011 UPDATE

Our Summer Conference in Denmark is now fast approaching and many of us are very excited to be hosting Voddie Baucham for Reformation Resurrection 2011. Above is our conference promotional poster. Any readers who wish to support/promote/attend this conference are most welcome to use this picture on their own websites/emails/facebook pages to help us get the word out. For simplicity, you can just save the picture and then hyperlink it to this web address:
http://onceuponacross.blogspot.com/2011/01/reformation-resurrection-2011-voddie.html

This conference is a rare chance for the brethren in Europe to gather and sit under excellent reformed preaching, build relationships, get opportunities to speak one on one with the keynote speaker, and get a much needed kick up the pants to contend earnestly for the once for all delivered faith. The Lord Jesus Christ is so worthy of our undivided attention and fervent labor and Reformation Resurrection 2011 will equip us for Europe's single greatest need - that the Gospel must thunder once again from pulpits in every corner of this continent. Click here for all the details.

REFORMATION RESURRECTION 2011 - Voddie Baucham Coming To Denmark

The 2011 conference is now over and was a huge success. Don't miss out on our 2012 conference with Phil Johnson! You can already check it out here.





The Tilbage Til Bibelen (Back to Scripture) network of Denmark is pleased to present Reformation Resurrection 2011 with keynote speaker Dr Voddie Baucham - an outstanding reformed preacher and cultural apologist (bio below). Reformation Resurrection 2011 is a four day conference in the Danish countryside devoted to the furtherance of the Gospel in Europe and around the world. There is a lot of talk today about "new reformations" with new solutions to new problems. But we face the same problem today that we did 500 years ago - the pulpits of Europe have abandoned the Gospel.

Reformation Resurrection 2011 is a rallying cry to the same solution that the reformers risked their lives to proclaim. That sinful men can be justified before a Holy God by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. And that this truth is faithfully proclaimed in God's Word alone, and to God's glory alone. The reformation isn't over - it just needs new life breathed into old truth. Men and women who are not ashamed of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ, the power of God unto salvation. Will you forsake the silence to join with us and be a voice in resurrecting the Reformation?

WHEN:
Tuesday July 26th to Friday July 29th 2011 (week 30).

WHERE:
Skroedstrup Boarding School
Skroedstrupvej 26
9550 Mariager
Denmark

Here is an online map of the conference site:


View Larger Map

PRICE:
Prices include all food and accomodation.
Adults: 700 Danish Kroner
Students: 400 Danish Kroner
Ages 0-6: 150 Danish Kroner
Ages 7-14: 300 Danish Kroner
Ages 15-20: 400 Danish Kroner

PRICE UPDATE 13 July 2011:
Since the conference accommodation is now fully booked the following prices apply for those who can make other sleeping arrangements. Remember - all evening meetings and coffee are free!

All Four Days
Adults: 400 Danish Kroner
Students: 250 Danish Kroner
Ages 0-6: Free
Ages 7-14: 150 Danish Kroner
Ages 15-20: 250 Danish Kroner

Day Visit
Adults: 200 Danish Kroner
Students: 150 Danish Kroner
Ages 0-6: Free
Ages 7-14: 50 Danish Kroner
Ages 15-20: 150 Danish Kroner
(Half Day is half price)

THEMES
Dr. Voddie Baucham will be expounding Paul's letter to the Ephesians covering eternal salvation, the Gospel of free grace, the Gospel driven family, and spiritual warfare. Dr. Baucham will also be making an apologetic presentation of the trustworthiness and authority of the Bible. There will also be extensive question and answer sessions where you will be welcome to throw your toughest questions at the keynote speaker. Evening meetings will be open to the general public.

TRANSLATION
The meetings will have Danish translation. The question and answer sessions will be in English only. Mikael Thomsen will be doing all the translation.

CHILDREN
Because Reformation Resurrection 2011 is a family camp, there will be teaching and activities for the children.

CONTACT:
For further information and travel advice please e-mail:
Henrik Mortensen - henrikruth@gmail.com

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Europe has an amazing heritage of godly men who thunderously and fearlessly preached the Gospel. Thus it is entirely appropriate that this years guest speaker is a man cut from the same die (those of you who have not had the chance to sit under the teaching of Dr. Baucham will be able to do so by viewing the sermon video we have posted below). Voddie Baucham (www.voddiebaucham.org) wears many hats. He is a husband, father, pastor, author, professor, conference speaker and church planter. He currently serves as Pastor of Preaching at Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, TX. He has served as an adjunct professor at the College of Biblical Studies in Houston, TX, and Union University in Jackson, TN. He has also lectured at Southern Seminary.

Voddie’s area of emphasis is Cultural Apologetics. Whether teaching on classical apologetic issues like the validity and historicity of the Bible, or the resurrection of Christ; or teaching on biblical manhood/ womanhood, marriage and family, he helps ordinary people understand the significance of thinking and living biblically in every area of life.

Voddie Baucham holds degrees from Houston Baptist University (BA in Christianity/BA in Sociology), Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (D.Min.), an honorary degree from Southern California Seminary (D.D.), and additional post-graduate study at the University of Oxford, England (Regent’s Park College).

Voddie and his wife, Bridget have been married since 1989. They have seven children, Jasmine, Trey (Voddie, III), Elijah, Asher, Judah, Micah and Safya. They are committed home educators.

Voddie Baucham has written numerous books including The Ever Loving Truth, Family Driven Faith, The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World, What He Must Be, and Family Shepherds.

For those of you who like to feast on great preaching here is an entire sermon preached at a pastors conference where Voddie Baucham took it upon himself to respond to the man centered and moralistic preaching by the previous speaker. This will give you a great feel for the privilege we are in for at this years conference:

Voddie Baucham from Rasmus Gade on Vimeo.

Voddie Baucham Coming To Denmark

I am very pleased to announce that Voddie Baucham will be coming to Denmark next July as the keynote speaker at Reformation Resurrection 2011.



WHEN:
Tuesday July 26th through to Friday July 29th 2011.

WHERE:
Hedemølle Boarding School
Hedemøllevej 31
8850 Bjerringbro
Denmark

Keep watching for further announcements on this website as well as the following websites:
www.onceuponacross.com
www.tilbagetilBibelen.dk
www.Kristuskirken.com
www.omvendelse.dk

For further information please email:
talkingdonkeys@hotmail.com (English)
henrikruth@gmail.com (Danish)

For those of you unfamiliar with Voddie Baucham's outstanding preaching and apologetics ministry, here is a bite sized sample:



Stay tuned for more announcements as Reformation Resurrection 2011 approaches . . .

Traveling To Texas This Month

Jason from Texas recently posted on my blog telling me to let him know if I ever visit his neck of the woods. Well Jason, I'll be in Texas (Houston and Dallas) from the 22nd to the 26th of this month (October that is) and I want you (and any other readers from Texas for that matter) to get in touch with me.

I will be attending the Semper Reformanda Conference in Houston with keynote speakers Voddie Baucham and Paul Washer. I also plan to visit my good friends at Sovereign Joy Community Church in Fort Worth on the evening of the 24th of October.

Please e-mail me at talkingdonkeys@hotmail.com

Thanks . . .

The Days Of Noah (Part 4)

Continued from Wednesday . . .

Jesus said in Matthew 24 that it would be like the days of Noah when He returns. Today we continue on this series with the third lesson, of five important lessons, on what we learn from the days of Noah as we approach the day of Christ's return and judgment.

LESSON 3 - DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE WICKEDNESS OF MANKIND

God described the days of Noah, prior to the flood, as a time when:

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)

Has anything changed? The Apostle Paul gives a resounding No:

As it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Romans 3:10-18)

But could Jesus say something like that? Yes He did just after John 3:16 in fact:

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:17-20)

When witnessing to atheists, I always find that all their intellectual reasons for not believing in God are a façade for the fact that they love their sin. That is why we should preach the law of God prior to preaching grace, because the problem with our lost friends is never a matter of knowledge but always one of morality. We should not be surprised that God instructed Israel to wipe out entire nations. Especially when we consider that not one single person would repent in 120 years of Noah’s preaching. What should surprise us is that God doesn’t destroy everybody right now. That is the right question to ask.

Do our lost friends hate God? Yes – but so did we!
Do our lost friends love sin? Yes – but so did we!
Do our lost friends deserve hell? Yes – but so did we!

We should preach because we remember where we came from, and what Christ has done, that He may receive the reward of His suffering. We can take no credit – it is only by God's grace and so it was with Noah . . .

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:8-9)

And it is important to know that Noah’s righteousness was the same as New Testament righteousness – only by faith:

By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. (Hebrews 11:7)

Noah, just like New Testament Christians, was saved by faith. Not of works, so no man can boast. In fact when all our works are laid before the righteousness of God, we will be exposed for the miserable wicked wretches that we are . . . unless we have the imputed righteousness of Christ as our substitute. So the next time someone asks you how a loving God can send people to hell or how does a good God allow evil - tell them that they're asking the wrong question . . . just like Voddie Baucham did!



To be continued on Monday: Lesson 4 - We Think of Noah as a Boat Builder But God Called Him a Preacher of Righteousness.

Go On To Part 5
Go Back To Part 3
Go Back To Part 1

Why Does God Allow . . . (Part 2)

Continued from thursday.

My earliest influences as a Christian were of the Word Faith, positive thinking, self esteem and success variety. Or was it the other way around?? Having been recruited/seduced to Amway at the age of 18 I was bombarded with self help, positive thinking, positive confession, prosperity materials. I was strongly encouraged to read people like Robert Schuller, Norman Vincent Peale and Zig Ziglar. My western consumer mentality was only too happy to embrace a lot of this thinking. It made sense and was presented in a way that appealed to my carnality.

This paved the way into the Word Faith movement with people like Kenneth Copeland, and Kenneth Hagin. Perhaps I portray myself as more shallow than I really was (although I don't want to give myself any credit). As I reflect back I am without doubt that God was doing some serious providential work in my life. It was at this time that I also had a frightening experience where a complete stranger spoke words to me that penetrated my veneer of social acceptance and exposed an area of sin that I knew had me already condemned (you see, I already knew the truth - at least to a certain extent - through a young man who witnessed to me as a teenager. Though I never spoke publicly about it I did hide the words that the young man spoke in my heart and I'll speak more about this in my next post). I was overwhelmingly convicted of the sin of denial.

I knew I was in trouble and could hardly sleep at night. I had never read the verse where Jesus says that if we deny Him before men, He will deny us before the Father. But I knew I was guilty and my conscience was burning!

I went on a hunt to find a professing Christian so I could beg them to take me to their church - I didn't want to go alone in fear of being humiliated when people found out they had a sinner in their midst. I found a guy who took me to a charismatic church that was nearby. I must admit that some things struck me as weird but I was drawn to the fact that these people were very serious about their walk with God and loved to sing about Him with their hands up high. I was drawn and intimadated all at the same time. Drawn to the reconciliation I needed to put my conscience at rest, but intimidated by this great cloud of sanctified people with hands raised in unison. What if they found out that I was sinful and unclean?

Though I am not an advocate of "altar calls" (at least in as far as they are used as a substitute for Holy Spirit empowered regeneration), the altar call I responded to was a big deal because it was addressing my pet sin of hiding in silence and forced me to humiliate myself in front of the entire congregation. I don't know what to think about the message preached on that day (I can't remember to be honest) but I have no doubt that God was doing a transforming work regardless. I really walked out of that place a different person and unashamed to testify of Jesus Christ. That unashamedness coupled with my immense stupidy and lack of social skills certainly helped me to be at "enmity" with the world around me. I took it all in my stride under the delusion that the persecution was because of my faith and not because I was a jerk.

Though the church I attended was not officially "Word Faith" it did dance with a lot of their teaching and theology. I was only too happy to buy into a lot of it. I never got sick, I was financially blessed, no real tragedies to speak of, and life was turning out to be a pretty good ride. If they wanted a Word Faith poster boy then I was it . . . except maybe for the private jet!

I paint this background because it is important for you to understand that my criticisms aimed at Word Faith theology don't come out of an axe to grind with some rich pastor or because prosperity and health didn't come my way. I harbor no bitterness from earlier experience (though many of my congregational friends certainly struggled with sickness, experienced harrowing tragedy, and were dead broke). I was just really blind and stupid. I actually thought that I was the guy who must be pleasing God and all these other struggling people must have lacked faith or had sin in their lives.

Oh, I am so ashamed of this self righteousness. The truth was that many of these people had greater faith, greater devotion, and greater fellowship with the sufferings of Christ. In hindsight, I'd have to say that my blessed life was probably due to my weakness, lack of faith, and inability to cope with tragedy which in turn caused God to extend one big tsunami of mercy my way. I often ask the question - Why does God allow me to live in my blessed little bubble of safety when others go through suffering, poverty, and tragedy? Honest self examination brings me to the point of bewilderment. Why has God dealt so graciously with me and my entire family when I deserve His wrath? In fact 20/20 hindsight reveals that this is the question every person on this planet should be asking!



So what tipped me over the edge and drove me away from Word Faith theology? It was when a visiting pastor started preaching about Job!

God had graciously gave me a hunger for His Word and I spent considerable time searching the pages of my Bible. When the pastor started teaching about Job I could see the twisting of Scripture straight away - loud and clear. I knew what the book of Job taught and this "preacher" was butchering it to make it fit his theology. I was furious and my eyes had been opened to the magical world of Scripture twisting. I was on the warpath . . .

To be continued on tuesday!

Go On To Part 3
Go Back To Part 1

Watch Voddie Baucham Eat 2 Feminists For Breakfast

Voddie Baucham is just not your shy retiring type of preacher. Never backwards in coming forward Voddie always speaks with biblical authority and sheer clarity. This also happened to be the case when he was invited onto CNN to give his thoughts on women's roles in the church and society. Get into a theological debate with Dr Baucham at your peril - you better know what you're talking about unlike the two women in this video . . .

Sacred Cow Saturday - Episode 3 - Gender Roles

As a Christian it is critically important to exercise a sound biblical worldview. That means we can understand the world by what Scripture has to say about it. When the Bible tells me that Jesus Christ is the only way to receive salvation from God's coming judgment I can confidently discriminate against all other religious paths as false.

But sometimes worldly ideas infiltrate our church culture actually causing professing Christians to interpret Scripture via prevalent worldly thinking. One of the biggies in this area would have to be the influence of feminism on many pulpits. I mentioned in an earlier post how a preacher at a wedding I attended read a text from Ephesians chapter five and deliberately circumnavigated the verses that told wives to submit to their husbands.

Does the modern church need to keep putting a new spin on Scripture that doesn't conform to society? The Apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the church in Rome not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. What should our mind be renewed to? Well Paul answers this in his letter to the church at Philippi;

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:3-8)

So Christ (the Bridegroom) painted a picture of His love for His Church (His bride) by humbling Himself as a servant and ultimately laying down His life for her. Scripture is clear that godly marriage should reflect this. Husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the Church, and wives should submit to their husbands as unto Christ (and yes, the context is already there in the verses). This is not about importance or value but about a human shadow of something heavenly.

If you have an axe to grind over this then maybe you need to examine yourself and see if you need to die more to self. If it is no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me then why are we spending time debating these issues of equality. Women should not be treated equally with men - they should be treated better by an adoring husband. Husbands should not be usurped and overruled by their wives - they should be submitted to by a wife who understands that her husband is her covering and the one who is answerable to God for the wellbeing of his family. And ultimately (and I have to confess that my own marriage is a work in progress) a marriage is an opportuntity for two people who have crucified their own flesh to glorify God by displaying Christ's love for His Church and the Church's devotion to Christ.

None of us hit the mark but it is a worthy goal to pursue. Just ask Voddie Baucham . . .



Go On To Episode 4
Go Back To Episode 2
Go Back To Episode 1

Why God's Law Must Thunder from the Pulpit (Part 2)

One of the reasons mentioned in Friday's post was that the law is necessary to bring the knowledge of sin. The Apostle Paul confirmed this point in his letter to the church in Rome "What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet.""(Romans 7:7).

It is popular to suggest that everybody knows that they are sinners. But do they really? Scripture teaches us that "every man is clean in his own eyes" and "proclaims his goodness". Sure most people will concede to doing a few wrong things but grace is never amazing to them because they've never contemplated the severe depth of their sin. A give away for this point is that these people often ask the question how can a loving God send people to hell and why is there evil?

I'll allow Voddie Baucham to answer this point.



Continued Tomorrow - Why God's Law Must Thunder from the Pulpit - Part 3

Go On To Part 3
Go Back To Part 1