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On June 4, 2021 By In Church

Sunday Worship During Summer Vacation

As summer heats upon us, many of us will be vacationing all over the country. As a pastor, I have noticed that church members generally don’t think much about the role the summer season has on us as Christians. I am particularly troubled by Christians who treat vacation as not only a break from work but also a break from Church. To some, if vacation happens to involve a Sunday, then so be it. It becomes the ideal day to travel to your favorite summer destination. After all, you are not missing work; you are only missing Church.

Hebrews does not treat this subject lightly. The author forbids the non-assembling of ourselves. He treats forsaking the assembly as a kind of mini-schism. Hebrews calls us not to forsake the gathering, which is simply a re-affirmation of the motif explored all throughout the Old Testament Scriptures.

The angels and archangels engage in heavenly worship day and night, and we are invited to join in this duty of worship each time we are gathered together on the Lord’s Day. After all, God has made us one.
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Vacation is no substitute for worship. Missing the Lord’s Day gathering on vacation for any trivial reason is to mock the tearing of the veil, which gave us access to the heavenly throne of grace. It belittles the work of Christ who conquered our divisions and united us to Himself.
With that in view, here are a few things I recommend for those going on vacation this summer:

First, avoid falling into the trap that a few good Christians gathered at a camp or a resort constitute the Church on Sunday. You may enjoy Christian fellowship, be challenged by an exhortation, but this does not constitute heavenly worship. It may be simply a Bible study, but worship is not a Bible study; it is the very entrance of God’s people into the heavenly places through the work of the Spirit in an orderly service led by duly ordained men.

Second, before going on vacation, google churches near the area. If you are not able to find a church that resembles yours, look to explore a bit outside your tradition. Learn to love the universal church. Find an evangelical congregation that loves the Bible.

Third, avoid making Sunday morning plans. Let your family–especially those who are not Christians traveling with you–know that Sunday worship is non-negotiable. If they are nominal Christians or unbelievers, let them know beforehand that their Sunday morning plans will not include your family. Use such opportunities to establish a firm foundation with your loved ones, which will necessarily be easier in the years to come. And if this is the first year you have submitted to that conclusion–if asked–briefly explain why you have changed your position. There is nothing wrong with changing your perspective, but there is plenty wrong in not acting on it.
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There is no need to theologize about these issues with other family members or feel you have to offer a treatise on the matter (since it may lead to unnecessary arguing). Let them know if they insist, that this is a commitment you made as a family long ago.

Finally, when visiting other churches, teach your children (and yourself) to avoid criticizing the Church’s practices that differ from your own. Use this time to explain to the little ones the beauty of the universal church. Explain that there are legitimate differences among churches (frequency of communion, styles of music, etc.) but that the Spirit dwells among them all.

The Lord’s Day is a day of rest. It is the feast God has prepared for you. Under normal circumstances, there is no other place for you to be.

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On May 25, 2021 By In Church

A Brief Case for Weekly Communion

Evangelicals like myself rooted in the Reformation came very late to the beauty of weekly communion. I was a sophomore in college before I realized that the vast stream of the Protestant tradition celebrated communion weekly. For most of my life, I assumed the table was reserved for special occasions like Easter or Christmas. In fact, I attended a Brethren congregation that did communion once a year. But as I broadened my theological interests, I understood the Supper’s function in the liturgy and in the theology of the church and it became unbearable to contemplate the absence of it during a worship service.

Historically, our Reformed forefathers—including Luther and Calvin—desired communion to be weekly. In fact, the early centuries of the Church and the majority of Protestant Churches in the 16th century practiced weekly communion. It was only in the 19th century, and in particular, during the Prohibitionist movement, that weekly communion became mostly obsolete. Therefore, the infrequent practice of communion is rather new in the church. Now, this does not mean it’s wrong, but it should raise questions. The Didache, one of the earliest records of the church after the Bible says the following:

“On the Lord’s own day gather together and break bread and give thanks, having first confessed your sins so that your sacrifice may be pure.”

The Church believed that in celebrating the sacraments weekly we become a purer people. This is not because there is something magical in the bread and wine, but because God uses these means to communicate his presence and strength to us. Additionally, the Early Church believed that the Lord’s Supper made us a more thankful people. We don’t often associate communion with thankfulness, but the very term “Eucharist” is not some invention of men. It is the word Paul uses to refer to the Lord’s Supper. The word means “thanksgiving.” The Lord’s Supper is a Thanksgiving meal; a Eucharistic meal.

The Bible makes a clear case that every time the people of God gathered for worship, the Lord’s Supper was a regular part of that gathering. Acts 2:42 says:

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

There is a definite article before bread, making the text read “the breaking of the bread (τοῦ ἄρτου). This is not a generic reference to a household meal, but it is in reference to a particular kind of bread, the eucharistic bread used at the Lord’s Table.

Acts 20:7 says:

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers.”

Again, when the Early Church met, they always had the Lord’s Supper. In a time when persecution was rampant, the people needed to be comforted by and give thanks to God as they ate together with God’s people in worship. I had mentioned earlier that the Early Church up to the first thousand years and later the Reformation, firmly believed in weekly communion. But there came a time when the Church abandoned this practice. In fact, as Keith Mathison observes in his book “Given For You,” the infrequent communion practice became the practice of the Roman Catholic Church in the 13th century and continued until the Reformation period. In those days, members could only partake of the sacraments once a year. It was against this background that “such men as John Calvin and Martin Bucer called for a return to the Apostolic Christian practice of weekly communion.” We might say that part of the motive of the Reformation was to undo the Church’s practice of infrequent communion and return to the Early Church practice of weekly communion.

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On May 23, 2021 By In Church

Wear Red on Pentecost!

Happy Pentecost Sunday!

Many Christians know little about the Church Calendar, which means that many evangelicals will treat this Sunday like any other day. But this Sunday marks the beginning of the “Ordinary Season”(not in the mundane or common sense, but the term comes from the word “ordinal,” which means “counted time”). This season is composed of 23-28 Sundays, and it fleshes out the mission of the Church. To put it simply, Pentecost is the out-working of the mission of Jesus through his people by the power of the Spirit.

Some pastors–myself included–usually take these few months to focus on passages and topics pertaining to the specific life of the Church, and how the Church can be more faithful and active in the affairs of the world. The Pentecost Season emphasizes the unleashing of the Spirit’s work and power through the Bride of Jesus Christ, the Church.

Liturgically, many congregations wear red as a symbol of the fiery-Spirit that befell the Church (Acts 2). The Season brings with it a renewed emphasis on the Church as the central institution to the fulfillment of God’s plans in history. As such, it brings out the practical nature of Christian theology. Joan Chittister defines Pentecost as “the period of unmitigated joy, of total immersion in the implications of what it means to be a Christian, to live a Christian life” (The Liturgical Year, 171).

Pentecost as Spirit-Work

The evangelical church has offered a Spiritlessness teaching and worship. We have acted afraid of the mighty rushing wind for fear of its mystical presence. However, Pentecost exhorts us to be spiritual (Spirit-led) while emphasizing the titanic involvement of the Third Person of the Trinity in beautifying the world to reflect the glory of the Father and the Son. We must worship Spirit-led and in truth (Jn. 4:24).

The 16th-century Reformer John Calvin was known for many things, but he was mostly known as the “Theologian of the Spirit.” This is hardly manifested in many of his followers who tend to flee from the implications of a Spirit-led anything, choosing a mental overdose of theological categories. However, the Spirit is crucial to the forming and re-forming of any environment. It communicates our thoughts, emotions, and prayers to our Meditator. The Third Person of the Trinity emotionalizes and intercedes on our behalf in the midst of our ignorance (Rom. 8:26-30).

Further, the Spirit draws individuals (John 6:44) to enter into one baptized community of faith. The Spirit, in the words of James Jordan, is the “divine match-maker.” He brings isolated individuals into a Pentecostalized body, a body that has many parts, but one Head.

So, let us embrace this Season! Let us join this cosmic Pentecostal movement and embrace the mission of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

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On May 6, 2021 By In Church, Discipleship, Wisdom

Wisdom’s Work

Yahweh by wisdom founded the earth;

by understanding he established the heavens;

by his knowledge the deeps broke open,

and the clouds drop down the dew.

~Proverbs 3.19-20

You were created to work. Work is not the result of the fall. Arduous, frustrating, unfruitful work is the result of the fall, but work itself is not. The need to work is not bolted onto some “pure essence” so that it can be happily discarded one day. We are workers because we are the image of God. God is a worker, therefore, we are workers. The opening lines of Scripture reveal God as a worker: “In the beginning God created….” For six days he separates and brings back together, he forms and fills the unformed and unfilled. He works.

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On April 22, 2021 By In Art, Church, Culture

Woke Is No Joke

We live in a chronically anxious society. With the confluence of Draconian COVID lockdowns and the maturation of Critical Theories (Critical Race Theory, Queer Theory, Intersectionality, etc.), the tension in our society hangs in the air like gasoline fumes ready to explode at the slightest spark. Edwin Friedman, in his book The Failure of Nerve, describes what characterizes chronic anxiety in societies large and small, from the family to the nation. Herding: moving everyone to adapt to the least mature and/or most dysfunctional members. Blame Displacement: becoming victims instead of taking responsibility for one’s own well-being and destiny. Quick Fix Mentality: Constantly seeking symptom relief rather than a willingness to fundamentally change. Lack of Self-Differentiated Leadership: leaders who become part of the problem instead of leading from outside of the problem. Finally, Reactivity: vicious cycles of intense reactions of each member to events and one another and the loss of the capacity for playfulness.

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On March 17, 2021 By In Church

The St. Patrick Option

The older I become the more grateful I am to those voices that came before us. And, of the voices that came before us, the ones that left a lasting impact are those happy hooligans who offered a hearty right punch in the eyes of the devil. Luther did surely, but centuries before him the great St. Patrick did also. When he was 16, he was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who attacked his family’s property. During that painful season, Christ found him and turned Patrick into the fear of the pagan nations.

Intriguingly, a man like St. Patrick would be cast out of the evangelical church today as a trouble-maker. After all, he was against all sorts of things like Satan’s spells and wiles, false words of heresies, the knowledge that defiles, the heart’s idolatry, and even bad wizards. Gandalf would have been a friend, but those wizards in D.C. would have been a marked enemy. Patrick would have overturned tables and changed the present rituals of the American culture.

When Mary, Queen of Scots, said that she feared the prayers of John Knox more than the assembled armies of Europe, she was expressing an awareness that there are certain groups of people that pagans should fear. These individuals are in the arena of the holy and they have Christ all around them-behind, before, beneath, within, and all.

Patrick was the type of man who saw certain unholy things and threw imprecations at them as a way of life. He invoked God as a baptized man because he saw the Triune Name as the only name that could expel evil in every place and in all hours. Patrick was not concerned about showing the kind of sophisticated charity to evil-doers; he didn’t sit in the seat of the scornful and he didn’t seek the approval or applause of God-haters. Patrick was the manifestation of Gospel boldness. He knew whom he believed and he took that zeal everywhere he went in the Spirit of Elijah.

He was so dependent on his identity as one bound to the Triune God that his heart directed him to the embrace and benediction of his Lord. It should be mentioned that he was not naive. In all his capabilities as an ambassador of the Most-High, he did not seek the self-sustaining ministry of many evangelical apologists today, rather, Patrick poured his entire labors into God’s work, and counted in the protection of God to carry his words and actions far or nigh no matter how much of his reputation would be marred in the process.

He was a self-aware prophet of his time who can teach us much about the Christian life. He wrapped his existence in the death of Jesus for his salvation, in the bursting resurrection from the tomb, and in the hope of the glorious return of our Lord at the end of history. These historical realities guided his endeavors day and night and granted him the courage to fulfill his calling despite the opposition.

It seems our day is ripe for Patricks of all sorts. The Patricks who understand their calling, and do not fear to show their contra-mundum disposition and resume. The Patrick option seems the ideal way of celebrating this great saint who lost all for the gain of Christ.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord. 

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On March 16, 2021 By In Church, Music, Worship

Ecclesiology 101: The assembly must edify one another

In this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

The third duty that assembly-members have is to edify one another. You have the obligation to edify, uplift, and encourage your brothers and sisters.

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers (Ephesians 4:29)

Therefore comfort each other and edify one another…pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all (1 Thessalonians 5:11, 15)

These verses teach that we are to build each other up. The Greek word for edify (oikodomé) means “to build.” It’s the same word for building a house. We build up the house – the assembly – through mutual edification.

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On February 25, 2021 By In Church, Culture

Psalm 67: Joy Loves Company

Have you ever encountered the guilt mongers, those people who want to make you feel guilty for enjoying something while someone else in the world is deprived of it? If your family is able to enjoy exchanging nice gifts and a feast at Christmas, the guilt-monger pounces, “How could you do such a thing when there are children around the world who don’t have but two grains of rice to eat per day?” In recent years this has happened around Mothers’ Day quite a bit. People publicly express love for their mothers and celebrate their relationship only to be reminded that all of their celebrations are hurting those women who can’t have children. If there is one person in the world who is miserable because of some sort of deprivation, then you have no right to be joyful and celebrate. You must be miserable.

Since there is never a time in which someone will not be deprived of something that he thinks or others think he should have, the world must live in misery. This type of guilt is not just about interpersonal relationships. It is used politically to create class envy, to foment racial tensions, and to manipulate the rich into playing the proper political games. This guilt is used in geo-political relations as well. Any country that has prospered should not be allowed to enjoy prosperity but must feel guilty and send money to irresponsible governments of countries whose policies and general culture have kept the citizens or subjects poor.

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On February 18, 2021 By In Church, Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom

What Is Forgiveness?

Central to the Christian faith stands the images of the cross and an empty tomb, which is the end of our journey during this Lenten season. The breach between God and man created by the sin of the first Adam is remedied through the last Adam taking upon himself the burden of the consequences of sin so that all of creation and especially man himself might be released from sin’s penalty and power. In short, in the cross and resurrection, Jesus accomplished the forgiveness of sins. The message of the apostles was consistent that the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in Christ because he secured it through his shed blood and resurrection (cf. Ac 5.31; 13.38; 26.18; Rom 4.25; Eph 1.7; Col 1.14). Now, as we are baptized into Christ, Peter says, we are baptized for the forgiveness of our sins (Ac 2.38). Forgiveness of sins is central to the gospel of Christ.

Forgiveness is not only a privilege to enjoy, but, once received, it becomes a calling to be lived. As renewed images of God in Christ, we are to consciously take on the character of our forgiving God, learning how to practice the craft of forgiveness. Only as we live this way will we be able to live together as faithful people of God. In our present cultural climate where there is no forgiveness because of skin color, social status, or a myriad of other things, only perpetual guilt and division, it is incumbent upon Christians to learn of and practice the grace of forgiveness.

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On February 16, 2021 By In Church

What is Shrove Tuesday?

Shrove Tuesday is a day of feasting. It marks the conclusion of the Epiphany Season. On this day, the Church feasts before she enters into a more solemn and penitential season called Lent, which is referred to as a Season of Confession. In some congregations (Protestant and Catholic), pastors make themselves available to pray for individuals. The individual after receiving forgiveness in Christ enters into a time of joyful celebration.

Shrove Tuesday is celebrated with a pancake dinner, which is accompanied by eggs and syrup and various meats. Saints would traditionally use the day to eat and enjoy richer and fatty foods before the season of fasting ensues.

This day provides the Church an opportunity to celebrate once again the abundance of the Gospel in our lives and in the world. The glory of the Epiphany season is that Jesus has given us life and life more abundantly (Jn.10:10). Following the rich feasting tradition of our Hebrew forefathers, the English-speaking Church has broadly practiced Shrove Tuesday for over 800 years.

What’s the Importance of this day?

As a tradition of the Church and not an explicit teaching in the Bible, the individual or churches are not bound by such traditions. However, if churches do practice this, it is important for members to join in this festive occasion. It provides the Church with another healthy excuse to fellowship and form greater bonds through a delightful and bountiful meal.

On the day before we enter into the Lenten Story where Jesus commences his journey to the cross, Christians everywhere in the English speaking world will prepare rightly by celebrating God’s gifts to us, so that we can rightly meditate, fast, pray, confess and repent by remembering the sufferings of Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2).

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