exceptionnoted

As we continue investigating the New Testament model of ‘church,’ the next thing which stands out is how the Lord uses all the ‘wrong people.’ Of course, I say this tongue in cheek as only the Lord can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. However, when we compare the members of the early church to the our middle and upper class fellowships, we see a stark contrast.

We leaders hate to admit it…but we target the ‘money people.’ They can fund our projects, support our needs and put our church finances at ease as they immediately come with a dividend. This stings, but time and time again I have seen fellow Pastors ‘suck up’ to those in the community who have financial success, while ignoring and even standing aloof from those who were in real need. To appease our conscience we send outreach into the poor neighborhoods…

Introduction To The Series

There are all sorts of places one can launch out from when writing about the grand scheme of things in the Bible.  Certain passages are just packed with theology!  This has been seen and utilized by many writers down through the ages.  From John Calvin to John Stott men have built solid arguments from expounding a few verses and establishing connections with the Biblical worldview.  For all his faults Karl Barth is often a master at this.  Theology as exegesis as meditation!

While I cannot hold a candle to such men I would like to follow suit.  I’m going to do a series of posts showing how the perspective I call “Biblical Covenantalism” is radically Christocentric.  This is in contrast with most Dispensationalism which, although certainly not obscuring Christ, nonetheless does not place Him at the center of their systems (I believe this is another handicap…

Some folks do things for selfish reasons. Others, like the Pharisees, do so to be noticed among men and lauded as spiritually mature.

But not everyone.

One Sunday, while my family was attending Radford Fellowship, a church plant by Paul Washer and the HeartCry Missionary Society, we were preparing to partake of the Lord’s Supper. It is an intimate moment among the brethren.

Yet the week prior, I had declared Paul Washer to be wrong in a post on prayer. On that Sunday of the Lord’s Supper, he sat two rows behind me.

It’s not always – make that never – easy to do your best to the glory of God and still please everyone.

When it came time to come forward, as was the practice there, my family stood up, we walked, and as I proceeded down the isle, Paul quietly called my name. I went to him, and…

Spurgeon is my pastor—at least he’s my dead pastor!  He was a man passionate for the Scriptures, passionate about the sovereignty of God, and passionate in evangelism!  His Lectures to My Students, The Soul Winner, and An All-Around Ministry are must-reads for all aspiring and experienced ministers of the gospel, without question.

I have been very interested in what his view was concerning the translation of Scripture.  I know he used the Authorized Version (a.k.a., the King James Version of the Bible).  With his ministry being in the 1850s through his death in 1892, I know this was the primary translation in churches, though there were others that were developed (as there were when the 1611 KJV came out). 

As there is now, there was then about which is not just preferred, but which is superior.  From my observations, five camps exist now in their view of the…