Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The PCA GA Soon Underway

by

GUEST POST from Jason Helopoulos:

This week is the Presbyterian Church in America’s (PCA) annual General Assembly. Over a thousand Presbyterian pastors and elders will be descending upon Nashville, Tennessee. Now that may sound boring to you (and if I am honest—it is at times), but it is always one of the highlights of my year (I know, I need a more exciting life). Here are a few thoughts and things to watch for at this year’s PCA GA:

Why I love attending General Assembly

1. There are few things like hearing 1500 men sing at the opening worship service. Is there anything better than a convention hall full of men’s voices (sorry ladies—I really do like men’s voices) singing the great hymns and psalms of our faith?

2. Robert’s Rules of Order—I know….I know…it is sick, but there is something beautiful about hearing it wielded like a sword cutting everything to precision.

3. Unity—Few things amaze me more at General Assembly than hearing respectful and heated debate. I remember being awed by this at my first GA. Here were men arguing vigorously for things that matter, spiritual things, and yet there was always (o.k. almost always) a tone of respect and honor.

4. Seeing Like-Minded Men—It is encouraging to see a room full of like-minded men, who are ministering in every part of the United States and the world. Often we feel like we are laboring alone and it is good to be reminded that there are many faithfully believing the same thing and laboring in the same Kingdom throughout the world.

5. Seeing the Church in Action—I love seeing the Church at work during the week. This is the Church at work, though it is not as celebrated as missions or corporate worship.

6. Being reminded of the seriousness of our call—It is hard not to think Gospel ministry is serious work when you are around 1500 Presbyterians for a week!

7. Refreshment—Each year I walk away being refreshed by hearing testimonies of churches planted, missions established, and students converted. And I always walk away stimulated by conversations with new and old friends.

What to watch for at this year’s General Assembly

1. Deaconess Issue—This has become the issue of debate in recent years within the PCA. Can women be deacons? If no, then can they fulfill the roll of deacons and just not hold the office? If they can’t be ordained as Deaconesses, can they be commissioned? If women are commissioned to help and assist deacons in their work, can these women be referred to as Deaconesses? There are different overtures before the Assembly this year to attempt to define this issue one way or the other.

2. Central Funding—The PCA has no required giving to the denomination, its agencies, or committees. In the eyes of some, this has caused major problems. Each agency has to try and persuade churches to support it. In the eyes of others this is a good thing. There has always been concern in the PCA about agencies holding too much power (there is a lot of history here in Presbyterianism), so mandatory funding has been shunned. However, there is a proposal this year to require giving by churches and presbyteries to the Administrative Committee/Stated Clerk’s office or those churches (their ruling elders and pastors) would not be unable to vote at the General Assembly. This would be a big change in the PCA.

3. Strategic Plan—There is a report before the Assembly this year (which includes the Central Funding above) which purports to help prepare the PCA for future ministry and the changing times. There has been a great deal of conversation about the proposals over the past few weeks in the blogosphere. Too much to recount here. However, it is safe to say that this plan—if adopted—will have wide-ranging effects upon the PCA, its future, and its relationship with other Reformed bodies and broader Evangelicalism. Many are focused on the Deaconess issue, but the GA’s decision on this plan (the portion which it is being asked to approve) will have far wider and deeper effects upon the future of the PCA. This is the issue to watch.

The PCA has grown rather quickly over the past 37 years. It is not the same, small, southern denomination it was at its inception. And this has created great opportunities and problems. The PCA is trying to figure out what it will look like going forward. This year’s assembly will have a great deal to say about that. And I will be on the floor with my little voting card and heart bowed in prayer praying that this branch of the Lord’s Church would honor Him and continue to uphold the banner of Christ for generations.

John Piper on Spiritual Leadership

John Piper’s marks of a spiritual leader:

The spiritual leader knows that ultimately the productivity of his labors rests in God and that God can do more while he is asleep than he could do while awake without God. He is not so addicted to work that he is unable to rest. He is a good steward of his life and health. He maximizes the totality of his labor by measuring the possible strains under which he can work without diminishing his efficiency of unduly shortening his life.

HT: Trevin Wax

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

When Tradition Turns Toxic

from Kevin DeYoung

There’s a lot that can be said for tradition. Tradition helps us know what to expect, helps us know our roles. Tradition can mark special events like weddings, funerals, and holidays. Tradition is good because it is respectful of the wisdom of those who have gone before us. It connects us with the past.

I’m a big fan of tradition. But Jesus wasn’t always. “Tradition is the living faith of the dead,” to quote Jaroslav Pelikan. “But traditionalism,” he went on to say, “is the dead faith of the living.” Tradition can be horribly abused. It is a wonderful servant and a terrible master. Some of the dumbest and most hurtful things we do in life are owing to unthinking allegiance to tradition. Tradition sometimes turns toxic.

In Mark 7:1-13, Jesus rails against tradition. He cites two problems with the traditions of the Pharisees. Tradition turns toxic when (1) we enforce man-made traditions as God-made commandments, and (2) when we use man-made traditions to nullify God-made principles. Sometimes as conservatives we forget that adding to Scripture is just as deadly as subtracting from it.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

How To Win "The Trellis and The Vine."

That is how Mark Dever described The Trellis and the Vine.

According to this book, Christians are to be disciple-making disciples and pastors are to be trainers. Superb! This book sets out a crucial shift that is needed in the mindset of many pastors. The authors have carefully listened to the Bible. And they've worked on this book. The result is a book that is well-written and well- illustrated, but even more, a book that is full of biblical wisdom and practical advice. This is the best book I've read on the nature of church ministry."

And this book can be yours for absolutely FREE. You have three chances to win. If you do the third one your name will be entered three times in the drawing.

First, go to this blogpost and then:

Leave a comment with your name
Leave a comment with your name and how you subscribe to this blog
Leave a comment with your name, how you subscribe to this blog, and a link to this article on your blog.

That’s it. You have until 11:59 PM Saturday, June 5th. Winner will be announced on Monday.

(Thanks to Mike Leake over at Borrowed Light)

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Twitter is not real

Twitter is not real:

My caution to all my friends on Twitter, be careful. Don’t believe what the updates are telling you all the time. It’s not real. There are thousands if not millions of updates that go unannounced that, were we to know them, would change the “face” of Twitter.


HT: Trevin Wax

The 50 Worst Inventions

The 50 Worst Inventions - TIME has a round-up of the 50 worst inventions. Not surprisingly, the Segway is the first thing they highlight.