Letter Approved by PCA to Petition President

Below is the content of a letter approved by the PCA’s 38^th General Assembly to be sent to President Obama the secretary of defense, the chief of staff and other federal officials regarding the possible repeal of the U.S. military’s  “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding homosexuals in the military:

Dear Mr. President:

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America met in Nashville, Tennessee last week for its annual assembly.  At that meeting the General Assembly instructed me to send to you and the leaders of the U.S. military the following communication:

1. Concern: The PCA is gravely concerned over the potential repeal of the current law governing homosexual individuals in the military. Should this repeal occur, we fear that the free exercise of the faith of our chaplains will be jeopardized.  This repeal may go so far as to force the resignation of our currently serving chaplains from the military as well as the service of military members from this denomination.

2. Consequences: This potential change increases the likelihood of the following:

• Chaplains may be open to the charge of discrimination or command reprimand when they preach or teach in accordance with the passages in the Bible which directly speak to the sin of homosexual practice.
• Bibles in military chapels and on military bases may be under the threat of excision of all passages which speak very directly to the sin of homosexual practice. Whether it will be under the guise of “hate speech” or speech contrary to the policy of the Department of Defense, the effort may be made soon after the removal of the law.
• Marriage retreats conducted by chaplains intended to strengthen marriage may have to include homosexual couples, which will violate chaplains’ faith tenets and negatively impact the voluntary participation of married heterosexual couples.
• Homosexual couples may seek union ceremonies or marriages, which are in violation of the beliefs and ordination vows of a large percentage of military chaplains, not just those from this denomination. Refusal may invite the charge of discrimination and command reprimand.
• The “free exercise” and free speech rights of chaplains and military members may be abrogated as Equal Opportunity policies, “hate speech” laws, or other legalities trump the First Amendment.

3. Appeal: For the above and many other reasons affecting chaplains and military members in the ranks, we humbly recommend that you consider the ramifications for religious freedom that legislation in this regard may have. It is of utmost importance that you take all necessary measures to insure that our chaplains are free, without censure, to preach, teach, and practice in accordance with the beliefs of this denomination. We plead for this for the good of the nation, for the good of the chaplains who serve the nation on behalf of their church, for the good of the military members from this church who serve in our armed services, and for the protection of the constitutional principle of the free exercise of religion.

Sincerely,

L. Roy Taylor
Stated Clerk of the
General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church in America

PCA General Assembly

In June our denomination (Presbyterian Church in America) held its 38th annual General Assembly (GA) meeting in Nashville, Tenn. About 3,500 people descended upon Nashville’s Convention Center for the weeklong activities. Mary and I consider ourselves very blessed to have been able to attend, and came home last Friday evening very tired, but very encouraged as well.

As a way of allaying any concerns some of you might have about the perils of denominations, I want to make it clear that we at New Life rejoice that God is at work through all kinds of denominations to advance his kingdom and to gather in his elect. We affirm and support any church or denomination that proclaims the risen Christ as God’s sole provision for the salvation of sinners.

At the same time, it is good to be part of a denomination like the PCA that is committed to be “faithful to the Scriptures, true to the Reformed faith, and obedient to the Great Commission.” The PCA is far from perfect, but I was reminded at GA what an honor it is to labor alongside so many godly and faithful people who love Jesus, who fight for truth, and who sacrificially serve the church.

Regarding the business of the denomination, here are some of the highlights of what transpired at GA:

• The Assembly approved a letter to be sent to President Obama and other federal officials regarding the possible repeal of the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy (See ”General Assembly” p. 5)regarding homosexuals in the military. You can read the content of that letter by going to page 4 of this issue of Lifeline. (I personally was able to participate on the committee of commissioners that discussed, revised and recommended the letter.)
• The issue of women serving as deaconesses has been a controversial issue in the denomination for the last several years. There is a paragraph in our Book of Church Order (9.7) that allows men and women to serve as assistants to the deacons. Because of concerns about some churches taking liberties with this language, the Assembly this year approved the addition of the following language to that paragraph of the BCO: “These assistants to the deacons are not officers of the church and, as such, are not subjects for ordination.” There was little debate on the floor about this, and the vote was strongly in support, so I take this as a positive step in the direction of unity on an issue that has threatened to create much dissension in our midst.
• The most controversial issue at GA was the proposed 2010 PCA Strategic Plan. We continued debate until midnight Thursday as we considered each point of the plan item by item. One portion of the plan was voted down, but the rest was approved. I did notice, however, that the votes on some portions of the plan were very close, which suggests some division of opinion as to where the denomination is headed.

One of the high points at each General Assembly is the large number of breakout workshops that are offered, most of which take place
before the assembly actually starts doing business.

Doug Coyle, a PCA pastor in Las Cruces, Calif., gave a stimulating lecture on the way the writings of 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche have profoundly influenced the thinking of 21st century postmodern people. Nietzsche is famous for coining the phrase, “God is dead,” and it was amazing to observe  how far ahead of his time Nietzsche was. Pastor Coyle encouraged us pastors to be aware that many sitting in our pews might be heavily influenced by Nietzsche’s thought, whether they realize it or not.

I also attended a workshop given by Randy Pope, senior pastor of Perimeter Church in North Atlanta. Elders, pay attention here: the workshop was titled, “Making Session Meetings the Best Night of the Month.” I’m not sure the seminar lived up to its title, but it was good to be reminded that elder meetings should be more like family gatherings than a session of Congress.

The most memorable workshop was given by Skip Ryan, former pastor of Park Cities PCA in Dallas, who shared what he has learned from his experience of being dismissed from his pastorate after it was discovered that he had developed an addiction to prescription drugs. He told us that he developed his addiction by wearing himself out over the course of 30 years of ministry in an attempt to prove his worth and gain the approval of other people.

The turning point for Skip was during a counseling session with a counselor who was not even a believer. The counselor asked him, “Who is your God?” Skip was bewildered by the question, thinking the answer was obvious. “The God of the Bible,” he said in response. “Oh no,” the counselor said. “Your god is drugs.”

By the grace of God, Skip came to realize that “it’s not wrong to not be exceptional.” Eventually he came to be honest with himself. He quoted St. Thomas as saying, “If you do not bring out the truth about yourself, it will kill you; if you do bring out the truth about yourself, it will heal you.”

In all of his busy ministry, Skip had “let Jesus slip away.” Jesus no longer was enough for him, and he became enslaved to finding fulfillment in other things. He went on to realize that his fundamental calling as a pastor was not to know how to preach, or to know how to lead, or to know how to counsel, but to know how much Jesus loves him.

Currently, Skip serves as chancellor and professor at Redeemer Seminary in Dallas. He is a testimony to the fact that God continues to use his broken servants to encourage and build up the church. In fact, the only servants he uses are those who are broken.

You can hear Skip’s message, as well as other workshops from General Assembly, by going to barkerproductions.net  Click on “PCA General Assembly” in the left column, and then click on the icon for 2010 General Assembly MP3s.

My love to you in Christ,
Bob

Summer Adult Sunday School Offerings

Throughout the summer we are offering two Sunday school classes.

Pastor Brian will be leading a summer Sunday school series entitled “Rendering Unto Caesar: God’s Purpose for Government and the Christian’s Relationship to the State.” The lessons will focus on what the Bible says about government and how both the church and the individual Christian relate to the state.

Dr. Jim Spiegel will teach a 6-week Sunday school class on the subject of atheism. Among the issues to be addressed are these: Why is atheism a growing movement in our society? What is the biblical explanation of atheism? What arguments do atheists use to undermine belief in God? And how should Christians respond to atheists? The text for the class will be Jim’s new book, The Making of an Atheist: How Immorality Leads to Unbelief.

Please consider these options as you seek to grow in the grace and knowledge of our God and His Word.

More Talk About Church Planting

By now you have hopefully been able to reflect a little on New Life’s projected timeline for the next five years. That timeline is printed on our “Looking to the Future” piece, which we have been talking about the last two Sundays, and which are available for you to pick up in the foyer. This campaign is our denomination’s way of encouraging all of its local congregations to be involved in planting churches in some way. Here at New Life, we want to be actively involved in the starting of new Gospel-centered congregations in central Indiana. But that’s not the end of it — not only do we hope to continue planting churches, but we want to plant churches who are also committed to planting churches themselves.

I have heard different words used to describe the timeline. Some are saying it is “quick” and “aggressive,” while others have said it is “conservative” and “too long.” This suggests there might be some questions about the details of this timeline, and about church planting more specifically. If you are wondering why our timeline seems to project the starting of our first daughter church so far out in the future (start budgeting in 2013, core group gathered in 2014), the answer is that we want to proceed carefully to make sure that our church’s first experience in this mission is a positive one. Church planting is challenging work, fraught with many potential pitfalls. Our goal is not just to start churches, but to start healthy, vibrant, grace-centered, outwardly-focused churches.

Recently I was in Chicago for a two-day seminar with PCA church planters from the Midwest. Attending were church planters from Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota and Kentucky. It was exciting to hear stories from these pastors about God’s faithfulness to them on the field, and to hear from our denominational leaders about how committed the PCA is to the important task of starting new churches. The PCA is among the top five most aggressive denominations in the nation in church planting.

And yet there is so much work to do. We were told at the seminar that while there are more pastors looking for positions than there are vacancies at established churches, there are many more communities asking for new PCA churches than there are church planters to send. Please join us in supporting and praying as we think through and plan all the details necessary for this calling.

My love to you in Christ,
Bob

Aug. 22: Three-Service Schedule Begins

In response to the continued growth of our congregation, and in order to move forward in our pursuit of planting new congregations throughout central Indiana, the leadership at New Life has decided to begin offering three Sunday morning services beginning Sunday Aug. 22.

The elders, deacons and staff of New Life have met on several occasions recently to prayerfully and carefully plan a tentative timeline for the next several years (see article on p. 4). In the process of those discussions, it was decided that an overflow room was logistically and financially counter-productive. While a three-service schedule certainly presents its own difficulties and stresses, it was unanimously agreed that this option presents the least amount of negative consequences.

This decision comes on the heels of another attendance record on April 11, when we had 352 people in the worship service. This underscores the urgent need for a third service, and in particular, for this service to be available by Aug. 22, when students will be returning after summer break.

We conducted a quick survey this month in order to find out what would be the best time schedule for three services. Very few people indicated a willingness to attend an 11:30 am service, so we have chosen the earlier schedule, which will offer services at 8, 9:30 and 11 am. Sunday School details are still in the works.

In response to these developments, I’d like to say two things. First, we are going to need help on Sunday mornings! If you have been attending New Life for a while, but have not yet found a place to serve, this is a great opportunity to get involved. (There is a survey included in this issue of Lifeline where you can indicate your specific interest). We will need help with nursery, children’s church, greeting, serving coffee, worship band, and in the sound booth. College students, we need your help too.

The second thing I want to say is a word of encouragement. We know that this plan runs the risk of overtaxing our devoted volunteers, which is something we want to avoid. So the more volunteers who are willing to step up, the less work we all have to do.

But it is also worth pointing out that it is a good thing to work hard in the service of our Lord. The psalmist says in Ps. 84:10 – “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God then dwell in the tents of the wicked.” What a privilege it is to work hard for a Savior who suffered to the point of death for our salvation.

And don’t forget the big picture – church planting! Ted Powers, church planting coordinator for the PCA, was with us last Sunday, telling us about the urgent need for new congregations in the United States. In light of this, I will be attending a Midwest church planting seminar in Chicago this coming week. So please pray for me as I learn more about this process, and please consider how you might chip in to help the effort to move to three services.

My love to you, in Christ,

Bob

The Believer’s Passion for the Resurrection

The following is an excerpt from a book called, Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter, edited by Nancy Guthrie (and available for sale on our book table). It features a collection of contributions from authors like John Piper, Jonathan Edwards, Phil Ryken, Martin Luther, J.C. Ryle and Augustine, all on the subject of Good Friday and Easter. The excerpt below is from Tim Keller:

“On the one hand, the resurrection is a fact to be believed. On the other hand, it is an experience to connect with. If you have one without the other — if you believe in the resurrection as historical fact, but never experience the resurrection personally, or if you think of the resurrection as a spiritual experience but don’t believe it was a fact — you come out with a form of religion and no power. “My question is — do you believe them both? Do you believe in the resurrection as a historical event, and have you also had that profound personal experience of spiritual resurrection? Christianity refuses to be stuck in either category. It is not all about rationality, nor is it all about mysticism. It’s both. “On one hand, Christianity is about beliefs, proposition, and ethics. But that’s not enough. You have to experience him to know him. There has to be a real connection. And on the other hand, Christianity is not only a mystical religion. It’s not like Eastern religions with no rational content. Christianity has hard edges to it. It says, ‘This is true, and this is false. This will get you saved. This will get you damned. This actually happened.’ “Christianity says that if you want to experience God, you have to believe the truth. You have to believe that he really lived, that he really died, that he was really raised. And if you see that truth and believe in it, it leads to an experience, which leads to more understanding of the truth, and the truth leads to more experience. . .” “To be a Christian is not just to believe in a set of propositions. It is that, but it’s much more. It is to say, ‘I count everything as loss or rubbish in comparison to my number one ambition, which is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his suffering.’ Paul is saying that if you understand the doctrine of the resurrection, you don’t just believe, you have a passion.” My love to you In Christ, Bob

Further Reflection on the Battle with Perfectionism

Several weeks ago, I preached a sermon on the perils of perfectionism — the effort to be flawless in one or many areas of our lives. The Apostle Paul wrote that he had not “already been made perfect” (Phil. 3:12), so we concluded from this (and other Scripture) that perfection is not promised to us in this life.

To make better sense of this, it might help to refer to what theologians call the “already/not yet.” This is a phrase that denotes that fact that while we are “already” forgiven and cleansed and righteous before God, we are “not yet” practically righteous in our thoughts, words and deeds. We already have a righteous position before God through faith in Christ, but we have not yet attained a fully righteous practice before God. The penalty for our sin has been removed in the death and resurrection of Jesus, but the power of sin still restrains us from perfection in the way we live our Christian lives.

So all Christians live in this tension whereby we are already perfect before God in one sense, and yet far from perfect in another sense. This is summed up well in one verse from the book of Hebrews: “By one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Heb. 10:14).

For me personally, the “already/not yet” has been tremendously helpful in working through my own imperfections. I need not be demoralized by my failures, because the Gospel tells me I am already “without blemish and free from accusation” (Col. 1:22) in Jesus. But since I am “not yet” fully sanctified, I realize I am a work in progress, and that there is much room for improvement in my life as a husband, pastor, friend, neighbor, and citizen. So I “press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Phil. 3:12).

There are a couple of resources that you might find helpful if you’re interested in further study in the area of perfectionism. One is a book by Richard Winter, professor of counseling at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, called, Perfecting Ourselves to Death. The book explores the connection between perfectionism and a number of other phenomena: depression, eating disorders, thought patterns, temperament, shame, parental influences and cultural pressures.

The other is a book by Donald McCullough called The Consolations of Imperfection — Learning to Appreciate Life’s Limitations. McCullough looks at various areas of our lives where we all tend to feel insecure, and shows the good things God might be doing through your inadequacies. He examines the limitations of relationships, knowledge, romance, sex, public approval, money and others.

Certainly the death of Jesus was a kind of limitation. The Son of God — dead on a Cross! But McCullough gives encouragement we all need to hear: “The raising of Jesus supplies us with hope . . . that every limitation, by the same grace of God, can be transformed into something more, something healing and redemptive and life-giving. This is the ultimate consolation of every limitation.”

My love to you in Christ,

Bob

It’s Officer Nomination Time Again!

Three new deacons were elected into office by our congregation in January, and are being officially installed into that office during worship this morning. We are grateful for our new deacons, but as our church grows, we need more than just deacons – we need new elders too.

The process of getting men into the office of elder and/or deacon starts when they are nominated by members of this congregation. In the past, our nomination period has occurred in late spring, but because the offices of deacon and elder are so vital to the health of a church, the elders have decided to move the nomination period ahead a few months so that more time can be devoted to training throughout the year.

So, here’s the plan: we will receive nominations for elder or deacon between today and March 21. The elders will review those nominations and then recommend candidates for training, which will last from April through December. While we welcome more nominations to the office of deacon, we would ask that you give special attention to those men you think are qualified to serve as elder.

The office of deacon is one of “sympathy and service.” Deacons are responsible for maintenance of the church building and grounds, as well as ministering to those in need (Acts 6:1-4; I Tim. 3:8-13). Elders are responsible for spiritual oversight of the church, including discipleship, shepherding, Sunday morning worship and church discipline (Acts 20:28-31; I Peter 5:1-4; I Tim. 3:1-7).

Here’s how to make a good nomination: read the passages listed above to understand the Biblical qualifications for office. Pray for wisdom and guidance as you discern whether the person you have in mind is a good candidate. Give consideration to persons who are faithful on Sunday mornings; who exhibit godliness, maturity, humility and love for the church; who have a firm grasp of the Gospel of grace, and a commitment to the doctrine of the Reformed tradition. Of course no one lives up to these standards perfectly, but you should consider whether the person’s life is generally characterized by these traits.

You must be a member of New Life to make a nomination. Also, seek permission from the individual before you nominate him, and make sure he also is a member of the church. If he agrees to be nominated, write his name on one of the forms available in the foyer, and drop it in the white box in the foyer by March 21.

Of course we ultimately trust in Jesus, the Head of the church, to lead and guide us into the future, but we also believe God has delegated authority to certain godly men to take part in leading local congregations. This nomination period, therefore, is an opportunity for you, the members of this congregation, to play a vital part in determining who leads us forward in pursuing the exciting and good plans the Lord has ordained for us.

My love to you in Christ,

Bob

Imagine the Possibilities If Christians Simply Tithed

Two weeks ago, I delivered a sermon on the subject of wealth, particularly with regard to the teaching in Proverbs on the way Christians should handle money. One of the questions I submitted for discussion in Life Groups during the following week was this: imagine that all people at New Life were willing to give 10 percent or more of their income to the church. What could we do with that kind of money?

My hope is that your imaginations ran wild, and that you considered the various ministries that could be started, the missionaries we could support, the seminary students whose tuition we could supplement, the number of poor people in the community and in our church we could help, the single mothers we could assist, the aid we could provide to the Muncie Mission, the churches we could start planting, the mortgage debt that could be relieved, the plans we could make to expand our crowded sanctuary — all if Christians simply tithed.

The word “tithe” actually means 10 percent. It is commanded in various places in the Scriptures. For instance, Deut. 14:22 says: “Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year.” The prophet Malachi spoke bluntly about the failure of God’s people to tithe: “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse — the whole nation of you, because you are robbing me.” (Mal. 3:8–9)

I personally have no knowledge of how much any of you gives to the church, and I plan to keep it that way. So I don’t have anyone in mind as I write this article. But I do know that tithing provides a great opportunity for you to tangibly demonstrate that you trust God, not your money, to meet your needs. Tithing is an act of faith, a counter-cultural declaration that you are willing to part with your wealth for the sake of God’s kingdom. Tithing is not just for the benefit of the church — it is for your own personal spiritual enrichment.

Donald Whitney put it simply: “The more we believe God will provide for our needs, the more we are willing to risk in giving to Him. And the less we trust God, the less we will give to Him.”

Some of you might like to give 10 percent of your income, but you feel it is currently impossible. Let me suggest that you increase your giving incrementally. If you give 2 percent of your income, try giving 5 percent. Then keep increasing your giving over time until you reach 10 percent. Better to do this incrementally than not at all.

You might feel the sting of sacrifice in this life when you give of your wealth, but when you meet Christ in glory in the next life, I assure you that you will not regret anything you have given to Jesus’ beloved church.

My love to you

In Christ

Bob

Sermon Series: the Book of Philippians

When I first arrived at New Life back in 2004, I began to preach through the book of Genesis. After reaching chapter 21, we decided to switch gears and move to a New Testament book. By God’s grace, we were then able to begin and complete a study of all 28 chapters of the book of Acts. From there, we moved to the book of John, and spent many months going through the 21 chapters of that Gospel.

Since the completion of the series on John in February of this year, we have been spending time in a number of topical sermon series, including apologetics, the fruit of the Spirit, our annual Q&A series, and the church. So, I think it’s high time we get back into a study of a book of the Bible. Since we have not given any extended attention to any of Paul’s epistles, the elders have given approval for me to begin a series on the book of Philippians. We will start in verse 1 and work our way, one passage at a time, through the entire book.

By the way, let me comment briefly on both kinds of sermons (book studies and topical studies). Book studies are good because they allow us to chew on certain passages within the context of the broader flow of an entire book; they force us to tackle passages we might not otherwise consider; and because we know that all of God’s

Word is inspired by the Spirit and therefore useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

But topical studies are valuable too, because they allow us to get a more thorough understanding of a specific Biblical or theological topic by moving our focus beyond one Bible book to consider the teaching of the whole counsel of God on the topic in question.

Thank you for your attention to the topical series on the church. If this has sparked any interest in you for further study, I would highly recommend that you visit our Book Table in the foyer and pick up a copy of Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion.

I encourage you to be reading through this book on your own so that together we can sit at the feet of Jesus and be encouraged by His Word.

My love to you
In Christ,
Bob