Exquisitely expressed

"I speak for many when I say that I have not always embraced the doctrines of grace or what is commonly called Calvinism. Its actually unfortunate that a man's name is associated with the doctrines that came out of the Protestant Reformation. Calvin was not the first to articulate these truths, but merely was the chief systematizer of such doctrines. There was actually nothing in Calvin that was not first seen in Luther, and much of Luther was first found in Augustine. Luther was an Augustinian monk, of course. We would also naturally affirm that there was nothing in any of these men that was not first found in Paul and Peter and John in the New Testament.
Even now, I have no desire to be a Calvinist in the Corinthian sense of the word - a follower of John Calvin, per say. Though I believe Calvin was a tremendous expositor of the Scriptures and had many great insights, I am not someone who believes he was in any way infallible. I am with Spurgeon who declared, "There is no soul living who holds more firmly to the doctrines of grace than I do, and if any man asks me whether I am ashamed to be called a Calvinist, I answer - I wish to be called nothing but a Christian; but if you ask me, do I hold the doctrinal views which were held by John Calvin, I reply, I do in the main hold them, and rejoice to avow it." (C. H. Spurgeon, a Defense of Calvinism)

In coming to understand these doctrines that are now so precious to me, I now realize that there were fortresses built in my mind to defend against the idea of God being Sovereign in the matter of salvation. Such was my total depravity! These fortresses were not made of stone and brick but of man made ideas – concepts that I believed Scripture taught with clarity. These fortresses did not come down easily. In fact, I believe it is a work of Divine grace in the heart not only to regenerate His people, but also to open hearts and minds, even of His own people, to the truth of His Sovereignty in election." -Rev. John Samson

Christian living or Living Christian

It’s dangerous to boil down your view of life to a simple statement for usually the analogy breaks down. However in this case what my brother Jim has been preaching hit me like a stone between the eyes. What he said on Sunday is everything I have been hearing for the last 8 years at CCC. One is law and the other gospel. One is work and the other rest. One is spiritual-based religion and the other good news.

Martin and Merton speak the truth

Reading my brother Jim's blog entry "what is plodding?" harken's me back to 2007 when he and I faced the very issue he's concerned with now. Actually, it has been an ongoing concern, idea, and burden, for us as we walk together with the families in our community. I don't know if re-visiting these quotes from Mark DeVries book "Family-based Youth Ministries" is like using old manna, nor do I want anyone to think I am anti-whatever-kind of modality. I am not! Nor am I naive to think there is some "magic-bullet" in integrated styles of ministry. However, I do think the family and the church are institutions that have significant impact in the spirituality of our children and would love to see them work more harmoniously. Just listen to Martin Luther almost 500 years ago....."Most certainly father and mother are apostle, bishop and priests to their children, for it is they who make them acquainted with the gospel. In short, there is no greater or nobler authority on earth than that of parents over their children, for this authority is both spiritual and temporal."

And just 6 years ago Merton Strommen came to the same conclusion with Luther when he wrote the book "Youth Ministries that Transform"......

"And when it comes to faith formation, the impact of parents is dramatic. Research now shows that parents who simply talk about faith in the home and who involve their children in serving alongside them can actually double and sometimes triple their children's chances of living out their faith as adults."

This is not a blog about anti-youth ministry, however, in the middle of walking through the issuses of our current youth ministry we encourage each other in our "noble authority" to involve our children in service with us and that looks like a lot like plodding to me!!

What is Plodding anyway?

I guess when I think of "plodding" I think first and foremost of walking with some burden that is slowing me down. Please understand...that is the farthest from what I mean by "plodding."

Jesus made it clear that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. So, if walking under a burden is not what I mean, what else could it mean?

Another technical definition is "to work with constant and monotonous perseverance." I guess that is where I am right now. For years now, I have been in a struggle with the direction our church has taken for ministering to its youth. So, my response has been to "plod" along content to be an alternative in ministering to our youth in the context of families for the past decade or so realizing that from time to time there will be a butting of heads with those on staff for bucking the system.

Now, the friction seems to be growing as our church leadership is now heading in a direction that falls in line with what the youth has been doing. So what does it look like to "plod" or "persevere" when you feel as if the next comment you make defending your decade-long philosophy of ministry may very well produce a response that will feel like sandpaper being rubbed across your forehead? (And I have a LARGE forehead!)

At what point does your "plodding" lead you to take a different road? I'd love to hear some responses to this.

Thank-You Mr. DeYoung

For those of you who live in the publishing world, maybe I am putting the cart before the horse, however, I'd like to thank Mr. DeYoung for the title of this blog and writing the article that expresses several ideas that,my brother-in-Christ, Jim Davis, and I have been walking through the last 8 years.

http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/glory-plodding/

It started for me and my family 8 years ago when we walked into "The Hero's of the Faith" family class. An intergrated, multi-generational Sunday School class at Christ Communinty Church in Franklin, TN. Now just named the "Family Class", we continue to walk the long obedience in the same direction with those whose lives have been intertwoven into our lives.

This blog is my attempt to locate a place for my expression of that journey without clogging our current communication vehicles (i.e. our google groups account).