Author Archives: Stephen Rodgers

LBC Weekly SPARK – November 3, 2010

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Greetings to all our LBC family and friends!

I hope your week has been going well! What an exciting week it will be for us as we look forward to our All-Church Retreat this weekend at Pine Valley. Some of you have been reading Jonathan Leeman’s book, The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love, and have found it to be tremendously beneficial and challenging. I really think this weekend at retreat is going to be a great time and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone there. I’m particularly excited as I look through the list of people who have registered and see some names I am not familiar with. It’ll be a great time to get to know some new people and continue to grow together as a church family!

In His grace,

Pastor Patrick

Here are the announcements for this week:

  1. All-Church Retreat. The retreat is this weekend, November 5-7, at Pine Valley Bible Conference Center. A map and directions can be found at their website (www.pvbcc.org). Carpools are encouraged! Registration will begin at 5:00 PM, but dinner will not be served on Friday evening. You’re welcome to come up early, but be sure to bring food. The evening session on Friday will begin at 8:00 PM. Try to be there early to give yourselves some time to register. Here’s what you need to pack: Bible, Journal, Pen, Sleeping Bag, Pillow (linens will be provided in the lodges), Clothes, Comfy Shoes, Jacket or Sweatshirt, Toiletries, Towel, Shampoo, Soap, Shower Slippers, Sunblock, Lip Balm, Sunglasses, Alarm Clock, Flashlight, Board Games (for free time).  If you have not yet paid your balance for retreat, please bring a checkbook to the retreat site and pay when you register. Paintball is no longer being offered, but there is still time to sign up for the High Ropes Course and Zip Line ($10/person). Please email Pastor Patrick if you have any questions.
  2. Sunday Service. If you are not going to the retreat, we will still be having service at the church building on Sunday morning at 9:00 AM. Sunday School hour will be cancelled. We may need some help with this service, so if you are planning on coming Sunday morning to service, please contact Pastor Patrick.
  3. Q&A. On Sunday after the retreat at 6:00 PM, we will be having a special Q&A time at the church with Pastor Patrick about his recent series through 1 Corinthians 12-14. All are welcome to bring a dinner and come fellowship together!
  4. Kids’ Club. Don’t forget that Kids’ Club meets every Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM at the church. All children in preschool to 5th grade are welcome to participate. Currently they are going through a series on the attributes of God! The cost is only $30/child ($20 for each additional kid).
  5. Membership Class. Our next membership class will be on Saturday, November 13, from 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, and Sunday, November 14, from 1:00-4:00 PM. Both sessions are required for membership. If you are interested in becoming a member, please contact Pastor Patrick for an application.
  6. Operation Christmas Child. We will be taking part in Operation Christmas Child this year. The pickup date for LBC will be on Sunday, November 14 before service begins. Brochures with more information will be handed out at the retreat. You can also visit their website (www.samaritanspurse.org/occ). Talk to Mrs. Grace S. Lee if you have any questions.
  7. Thanksgiving Potluck/Vision Quest. Our next Vision Quest for the year will be on November 21 at 5:30 PM for our annual Thanksgiving Potluck. This will be a great time of fellowship and food. We’ll also learn more about the Mission of LBC. Please come prepared to share what you have been thankful for! Signups for the potluck will be taken in the coming weeks.
  8. Christmas Concert. Our Christmas Concert is set for Saturday, December 11 at 6:00 PM at the church. If you would be interested in performing, please contact Eugene Park as soon as possible. Don’t forget that you can still get involved with the choir and orchestra. Talk to Eugene Park this weekend!
  9. LBCSJ. God has been gracious to help Lighthouse Bible Church San Jose grow. It really has been exciting to see the church plant get off the ground. LBCSJ will be having its official inaugural weekend on January 28-30. If you are planning to go up to support the church plant, please contact Pastor Patrick so that adequate plans can be made for that weekend. Please continue to pray for Pastor John and Angela, and the church planting team!

Living Theology #44 – Church Government (part 1)

by Garrett Glende

Up next in our discussion of the church is the issue of church government. This chapter comes on the heels of the chapter discussing the power of the church, namely through church discipline. One of the questions someone may have after learning about this function of the church may be, “Who decides which people are placed under discipline and how is it carried out?” This chapter provides an answer to this question and informs us of a framework for which the church is to operate under. Grudem makes it clear at the beginning of his discussion that he believes there is not a command in the Bible for one specific way of setting up the government within the church. Thus, he offers various views and points out the strengths and weaknesses of them all. For our purposes, we will focus heavily on the model that is most like the one practiced here at LBC, while also mentioning other ideas as well.

The New Testament describes three different roles when it speaks of those who are involved in the leadership of the church: apostle, elder, and deacon.

Apostle

While there are no longer any apostles active in the life of the church today, we see from the accounts of the New Testament that this was a vital role in the establishment of the early church. Each of these men had the ability to dictate God’s word to the people because they had been grated this authority from Christ himself. Christ specifically commissioned certain men who had witnessed his resurrected body to be his witnesses throughout the world so that His Name would be made known. Paul defends his apostleship by submitting to the people that he had indeed seen the Lord, and that He was specifically commissioned by Christ (1 Cor. 9:1, Acts 9:5-6, 26:15-18). Grudem argues that “no apostles were appointed after Paul, and certainly, since no one today can meet the qualification of having seen the risen Christ with his own eyes, there are no apostles today.”

Elder

The elder is presented as the primary leader within the church in the New Testament. They are also called bishops, overseers, and pastors, but the most common term used is elder. We see that the churches in the book of Acts often appoint elders shortly after the church begins. Elsewhere, Paul instructs Titus to “appoint elders in every town” so that the church might be in order (Titus 1:5). Peter called for the “elders among you [to]…shepherd the flock” (1 Peter 5:1-2). James also says that the one who is sick should “call for the elders of the church” to pray (James 5:14). So we see that both James and Peter fully expected that all churches would have elders in place for these duties to be carried out.

The qualifications for such a role are found in passages such as 1 Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1:6-9. The overwhelming majority of the qualifications pertain to the character of such a man. He must be:

“above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.” (1 Timothy 3:1-7)

It is the responsibility of the elder to lead the church that God has placed him in. Just as he is to “manage his own household well,” so he is to govern the church as a whole. It is clear that there is an authority given to these men, as Peter calls us to be “subject to the elders” (1 Peter 5:5). The author of Hebrews also says to “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you” (Hebrews 13:17). There is also a responsibility of teaching the word of God to the church that is included in the role of an elder. However, this may not be the primary role of all the elders in a given church, as Paul writes, “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching” (1 Tim. 5:17). Grudem argues that this verse implies that there are certain men who are specifically devoted to the preaching and teaching of God’s word and are perhaps even paid for their “labor.”

Deacon

We get the term “deacon” from the Greek word diakonos, which simply means “servant.” It is often translated to “servant” outside of passages that deal with the specific roles of people inside the church. Paul gives specific qualifications that are similar to those of elders in 1 Timothy 3:8-13, also heavily focused on character traits. There is some ambiguity as to whether or not this needs to be a distinct role in the church. That is, do we really need to call certain people “deacons”? If they are just meant to be servants, shouldn’t anyone who serves in the church be called a deacon? There is a bit of difficulty surrounding this issue it is handled differently from church to church. However, it is clear from Acts 6, where the verb form of the word is used, that deacons are simply there so that the elders of the church can be freed up in order to perform their responsibilities.

Now that we’ve discussed various roles within the leadership of the church, we are able to look at how they are structured within the body. Across the many denominations within Christianity, there are many ways in which churches choose to organize their leadership. Some have only one elder within the whole assembly, others have many elders, and some choose to have no elders at all (this method seems to contradict the New Testament teaching, but it exists nevertheless). For our purposes, we will examine the model of a plurality of elders. This view sees the elders of the church as the leaders, but each elder may have different practical responsibilities. For example, there is often a pastor-teacher who is the leader of the elder group. There may also be an elder in charge of finances or a specific ministry within the church. While the pastor does not work for the elders, he is often supported by the church for his work in the ministry. Together as a group, this team of elders is charged with shepherding the flock of God so that they might all grow up into maturity in Christ.

There is much more to say about the form and responsibility of the leadership within the church, but this article is already getting quite lengthy (I’d be surprised if anyone made it this far, in fact). So I believe it’s best to end it here and leave the application until next week. I believe there is much to be said about this and it has a profound impact on how we view everyone’s roles in the body. Until then, consider your pastors and elders this week and pray for them. They really do need our support and encouragement, so try and go out of your way to thank them for all that they’ve done in your life.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions (Part 1)

by Elder Mike Chon

In a life full of decisions, why do you choose what you choose? As we looked at the last article, many of us make decisions based on what works before we consider what God’s Word has to say about our decisions. Many times this is a clear indication that our worldview is not based on Scripture alone but has been influenced by worldly thinking. In today’s culture, we have all been exposed to postmodern thought. Postmodernism teaches there is considerable doubt as to the existence of objective universal truth.  If it doesn’t exist, then it stands to reason that no one can confidently make it known, which tends to lead to the pluralistic belief that there are actually myriad forms of personal truth. Most of us can barely get through an hour of our day without encountering this belief in some form or another.  So the question is, have you been influenced by this lie that teaches that God’s Word is not truthful and sufficient? For most of us, we will agree that God’s Word is truth but yet we will live our lives as though it does not apply.  We say that God exists and that He speaks, and then we go and live like He doesn’t.  We can get a clear picture of this in what has been going in the last two decades through the Emergent Church or Conversation.

The Emergent Conversation began as a response to what many young postmodernists saw as a need to change church and ultimately the truthfulness of God’s Word. They wanted to experience something more authentic and something with substance in their life. Their motivation for this was not entirely bad or wrong; they felt that the church was not meeting their needs or reaching their generation, and so they began in the early 1990s a network of similarly-minded individuals who embraced postmodern values and were convinced that postmodern times demanded major changes in the church. However, they had their own disparate agendas and views of what needed to change, which were primarily discussed through the internet in the form of various blogs and forums. They began calling themselves the “Emerging Church” since they were convinced that a radical new Christianity was on the horizon (“emerging”). In 2001, a group of key leaders jumped on the Emerging bandwagon and either called themselves the “Emergent” or “Emerging” Conversation. (Editor’s note: even among themselves, not all who adopted these labels agreed on common definitions of what they meant). Within a few years, the Conversation seemed hopelessly hung up on terminology and even ideology and began to dissolve. There was no structure and nothing holding them together since ultimately their postmodern philosophy prevented the exclusivism necessary to define their movement. Everyone had anything and everything to say, and eventually the leaders of the movement themselves have retreated from using the term “Emerging.” Even though this term may not be used, their influence is continuing through other avenues which you still should be aware of.

This is a wide-scale example of what postmodern thinking can do to influence large numbers of people; it can even cause people to redefine the Word of God as such, and undermine its authority. But even for the believer that can discern this type of error, we sometimes allow this type of thinking to influence our daily decisions. How many of us have an “opinion” on what type of church is a good church for “us?” To determine what is considered a “good” church by a subjective standard that the individual determines is a hallmark of postmodernism. The emphasis on an objective standard of truth is removed; in it’s place is substituted an idea that individuals must determine truth on a personal level.  However, where we need to start is with what the Word of God says. If a church is subjecting itself to the Word of God and following the principles of the Word of God, and you still have a problem with the church not fitting your needs, maybe the problem is with you. Could it be that your life is not following the Word of God and that you are living your life for yourself and not for God? Before you criticize a church for not meeting your needs, maybe you need to look at your life and determine if you are following Christ as Lord in your life first.

So why is it so easy to fall prey to this type of thinking in our decision-making? We need to start with the knowledge that we were all enslaved once to sin. Sin not only affected the way we live our life outwardly, but it also inflicted our mind and how we think (what theologians call the “noetic effect” of sin). The Bible has a lot to say about how we thought before we became believers in Christ. Scripturally speaking, an unbeliever is a fool because he has forsaken the source of true wisdom in God. Here is a quote from Always Ready by Greg Bahnsen to describe how we all used to think:

“He is unteachable (Prov. 10:8) and despises instruction (Prov. 15:5); whereas the wise man heeds counsel given to him, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes” (Prov. 12:15). The fool has utter self-confidence and imagines himself to be intellectually autonomous. “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool” (Prov. 28:26). A fool cannot think of himself as mistaken (Prov. 17:10). He judges matters according to his own pre-established standards of truth and right, and thus his own thoughts always turn out in the long run to be correct. The fool is sure that he can rely on his own rational authority and intellectual scrutiny. “The fool beareth himself insolently and is confident” (Prov. 14:16), and therefore he utters his own mind (Prov. 29:11).”

If this is how we all were (there is more but I thought this would be enough to get the point across), you can see how easily we can fall back into this type of thinking with anything that we do. So what can we do to guard against such errors and being a fool in the way we make decisions? In Romans 12:1 it tells us what must be done to make decisions that are God-glorifying, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” In the next article, we will look at how we can practically accomplish this so that we will make decisions in our life that is biblically based and God-honoring.

Beginning to Sink…

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Matthew 14:30

Sinking times are praying times with the Lord’s servants. Peter neglected prayer at starting upon his venturous journey, but when he began to sink his danger made him a suppliant, and his cry though late was not too late. In our hours of bodily pain and mental anguish, we find ourselves as naturally driven to prayer as the wreck is driven upon the shore by the waves. The fox hies to its hole for protection; the bird flies to the wood for shelter; and even so the tried believer hastens to the mercy seat for safety. Heaven’s great harbour of refuge is All-prayer; thousands of weather-beaten vessels have found a haven there, and the moment a storm comes on, it is wise for us to make for it with all sail.

Short prayers are long enough. There were but three words in the petition which Peter gasped out, but they were sufficient for his purpose. Not length but strength is desirable. A sense of need is a mighty teacher of brevity. If our prayers had less of the tail feathers of pride and more wing they would be all the better. Verbiage is to devotion as chaff to the wheat. Precious things lie in small compass, and all that is real prayer in many a long address might have been uttered in a petition as short as that of Peter.

Our extremities are the Lord’s opportunities. Immediately a keen sense of danger forces an anxious cry from us the ear of Jesus hears, and with Him ear and heart go together, and the hand does not long linger. At the last moment we appeal to our Master, but His swift hand makes up for our delays by instant and effectual action. Are we nearly engulfed by the boisterous waters of affliction? Let us then lift up our souls unto our Saviour, and we may rest assured that He will not suffer us to perish. When we can do nothing Jesus can do all things; let us enlist His powerful aid upon our side, and all will be well.

1.14p

Weekly Links (10/29/2010)

by Stephen Rodgers

It was kind of a bad week for rounding up articles, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I found ONE article that I wanted to share with you and discuss a little bit.  Over at the Practical Shepherding blog, Brian Croft explained the concept of a membership prayer guide.  I’d encourage you to go check out the article and then swing back here for the discussion.

Alright, you’re back.  Now, slow week notwithstanding, I think this is probably a more important topic than anything else I would have dug up anyhow.  You see, with the new website that Kyle and Crew have implemented, we can actually do this.  We have a members section, and a member’s roster.  Now I’ll be honest, it’s a bit of a hard habit to form, and my memory is so poor that instead of evenly dividing up the church members, I’ve found it easier to just equate letters of the alphabet with days of the month (1=A, 2=B, 3=C, etc.).  But even though that might not be the most balanced way to do it, it’s something.

Maybe you’re already a prayer warrior of the first order and you’re doing this already.  God bless you.  But if you’re like me, and you needed a little nudge and a little help to get this going…well, here’s your chance.  Now, it might be a good idea to review a few things about prayer before you rush off, but God knows that we probably don’t pray enough.  And as part of that, we probably don’t pray for each other enough.  Scripture speaks of prayer in the context of the “one another” commands, which means that it is supposed to be happening in the context of the local church.  Once upon a time this wouldn’t have mattered much to me, but these days, having fellow believers pray for me is a powerful argument for why membership is important.  (And yes, there are others as well).

Anyhow, that’s all I had to say.  I realize that this may not have been what you expected when you clicked over today, but I hope that you’ll consider the merit of it.  And regardless of your process, your procedure, and/or your system, I sincerely hope that you make time to daily pray for your brothers and sisters in the church.

ps. And if you haven’t gotten your photo taken for the membership roster yet, I hope that you do so soon, because until then quite a few of my prayers start with “Well, LORD, you know who this person is…”

Pro Rege

LBC Weekly SPARK – October 28, 2010

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Hello dear LBC family and friends,

I hope you are doing well and walking in the Lord. It’s been several weeks since I last sent an email out, so I apologize for that. As the holiday season approaches, we are entering a time of the year when many friends and family who do not typically go to church might be open to the idea. It really is a wonderful chance to invite them to come and hear God’s Word preached. Even still, this is a mindset that we should keep all year. Instead of waiting for special events and activities, we should always look for opportunities to share the gospel with others and help them come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Every week, there are multiple opportunities to at least invite friends to events at church. Not only do we have our regular Sunday service, but we also have our Friday night Bible studies, monthly flocks, etc. Take some time to consider Paul’s words from 1 Corinthians 9:23, “I do all things for the sake of the gospel….” Let’s really seek to live up to our name and serve as a bright shining beacon here in San Diego to our family, friends, coworkers, and roommates.

In His grace,

Pastor Patrick

Here are the announcements for this week:

  1. Flocks. Don’t forget that this is flocks week, so our regularly scheduled mid-week activities will be put on hold. Flocks information can be found at our church website http://lighthousebc.com/welcome/flocks/. You can also download the flocks worksheet from the website.
  2. Fall Festival. This Sunday is our annual Fall Festival! It will be at the church from 5:00-10:00pm. We will be offering a variety of food, games, and activities, so come out and invite your friends! Adults are $5 and kids are free! Be sure to bring a decorated pumpkin for our pumpkin carving competition (carve it and then bring it). We will also have a mini-pumpkin competition for the kids (draw on it and then bring it). Costumes are encouraged, but please keep them appropriate and non-scary. See you all there!
  3. All-Church Retreat. This Sunday is the last day to sign up for the All-Church Retreat!!! Be sure to see Ryan Short and Jonathan Yang in the foyer to reserve your spot. The retreat will be on November 5-7 at Pine Valley Bible Camp. Our speaker is Jonathan Leeman, who will be addressing the theme of “True Love.” The cost is $150/adult, $140/ for college and youth, and $75/child. Different financial aid options are available, so please do not let money be the reason you do not go. If you have paid the deposit to reserve your spot, please pay your remaining balance this Sunday with the registrars.
  4. Membership Class. We will be having our next two-part membership class on Saturday, November 13, from 9:00am-12:00pm, and Sunday, November 14, from 1:00-4:00pm. Both classes are necessary for attendance. If you are interested in becoming a member, please see Pastor Patrick for an application.
  5. Thanksgiving Potluck/Vision Quest. This year’s Thanksgiving Potluck will serve as a Vision Quest event for the church. The dinner will be on Sunday, November 21, at 5:30pm, at the church. We’ll have a chance to reflect on the year and to learn more about the Mission of LBC. More details to come!
  6. Christmas Concert. The Christmas Concert will be on Saturday, December 11, at 6:00pm, at the church. This is a great opportunity to invite your family and friends to come listen to good music and hear the message of the gospel. If you are interested in performing in this year’s concert, please contact Eugene Park.
  7. Engagement. Congratulations to Garrett Glende and Wury Kim on their engagement! I know they are up in San Jose now, but we’re still thinking of them and want to support them in their engagement.
  8. New Babies. Congratulations to several of our families who recently delivered a baby! Let’s be praying for our growing families:

Hansol and Angella An – Marcus Nolan (8/12)
Randy and Elaine Sarmiento – Charlotte Rose (8/27)
Min and Jane Kim – Charles Andrew (8/30)
Brian and Beverly Chan – Solomon Brian (9/16)
Eugene and Sallie Yang – Matthew Ryan (10/10)
J. R. and Kathy Cuevas – Jayden Christopher (10/14; San Jose)

Living Theology #43 – The Power of the Church

by Garrett Glende

It appears that God has decided that we need to learn more about the subject of church discipline, seeing as Patrick has begun a short series on the issue and that the current chapter of Grudem’s Systematic Theology addresses the topic as well. As Patrick stated previously – and I wholeheartedly recommend that you read his article – the idea of church discipline is not one that we like to talk about much as Christians. For most people, the thought that a church would end fellowship with a person seems unloving and archaic. But the Bible has not become irrelevant for our culture and there are very few practices of the church that are any more loving than church discipline. Because there is such strong Scriptural support for the power of the church in this matter we cannot simply ignore it, but there must be a commitment to fully understanding the issue and then practicing it faithfully.

The discussion begins under the broader topic of the power of the church. When we think of the different things that the church has the authority to do, certainly the power to preach the gospel comes to mind, for Christ has indeed commissioned His church to do so. However, what kind of authority does the church assume within its own walls (for our purposes, the following discussion is generally geared toward the local church as opposed to the universal church)? The main passages concerning this issue come from Matthew chapters 16 and 18. In chapter 16 we see that Jesus affirms Peter’s confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (verse 16). He says that this is the truth upon which His church will be built and proceeds to promise to give him “the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (verse 19). Grudem writes that the keys imply “authority to open a door and give entrance to a place or realm [and also] the authority to exercise discipline within the church.” The idea that the power of the keys carries over into church discipline can be seen in the passage in Matthew 18:15-20, where Jesus also speaks of “binding” and “loosing.” The main point of this passage is clearly about confronting sin within the church, so there is a clear link between the authority of the church, its possession of the keys, and its ability to bind and loose. Essentially, Jesus is telling them that the actions of the church will represent a spiritual reality, in that whatever is bound or loosed on earth shall have been bound or loosed in heaven. So the church is not “unsaving” a person, but rather echoing an already true and ongoing spiritual process.

As Patrick mentioned in the previous article, the goal of church discipline is not the promotion of some sort of exclusive group, but rather it is love that comes from a desire to maintain the purity of Christ’s church. If the motivation of the church is not to restore their brother to a right relationship with God, then the church has lost its proper focus. The passage regarding church discipline in Matthew 18 comes immediately after Jesus’ discussion of the love of God in seeking after the single stray sheep. He tells them, “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?” This is a clear portrait of the love that the Father has for each of His children. He truly desires that each of them maintain a right relationship with Him and He has given the local church the authority to deal with sin for this purpose. As always, the goal is to “gain your brother.”

Of course, we are not to shout a man’s sin from the rooftops the moment we hear of it. Jesus gives three different stages in this process. “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” (Matt. 18:15-17). There is clearly a gradual increase in the scope of the disclosure of sin within the church seen here, so we must be careful that we don’t reveal more than necessary when dealing with these types of situations.

Assuming Pastor Patrick will touch on the various applications of church discipline in his next article, I want to look a little more closely at the idea of church discipline as a testimony to the world. As Patrick mentioned in his article, the degree to which the church deals seriously with sin will illustrate the holiness of God to our unbelieving neighbors. The world absolutely loves to see the hypocrisy within the church when its leaders are publically shamed for their transgressions. Every time this happens, it gives them another reason to believe that God doesn’t really transform people’s lives with the gospel. So when we go out and preach the good news that there is freedom from our slavery to sin, our words lack power due to inconsistent testimonies. This also happens when we tolerate the sin around us in our daily lives outside of church. At work and at school we see sin abound almost unbridled, it seems. But as Christians, we have a choice to make: we can join in, ignore it, or speak up against it. Obviously we know that we should not join in, but I think our silence often times conveys acceptance. When we act like sin doesn’t bother us, the world will believe that we approve of it. This is not to say that we should go around condemning everyone in an unloving way, but I do think there are appropriate times where we can confront someone, whether it be at our workplaces or on our campuses. Of course this needs to be done gently and with humility. If practiced correctly, this hatred of sin will be evident to the unbelievers around us and they will be able to see the theology behind it. God will not tolerate sin in His church and I pray that we all can adopt the same attitude in our own lives.

The Reasons for Church Discipline

by Pastor Patrick Cho

I can understand why so many people would object to and cringe at the idea of church discipline. At first glance, it seems so mean, and besides, isn’t “excommunication” a Catholic thing? Churches in antiquity might have disciplined its members, but we would prefer to love people today. It is this last point that stumbles most people when they hear that we practice church discipline at Lighthouse: “How can LBC be a loving church if it disciplines its members?”

In this article and the next, I want to discuss both the reasons for church discipline and the practice of it. While it is easy to formulate a personal opinion on church discipline, as with any other issue, the believer must be careful to consider what the Bible has to say before coming to firm conclusions. It is important to consider whether or not church discipline is something the church should be practicing, and how to practice it if it is indeed biblical.

The Bible offers at least five reasons why church discipline is something a church should not only practice, but also embrace! They can be summed up with the words: 1) Obedience, 2) Worship, 3) Holiness, 4) Testimony, and 5) Love.

  1. OBEDIENCE – The most obvious reason why church discipline should be practiced is because it is commanded in Scripture. Not only did Jesus instruct His followers about how to deal with a brother that falls into sin (Matt. 18:15-17), but the Apostles also followed this instruction and removed members from fellowship (1 Cor. 5:1-2; 2 Thess. 3:6-15; Eph. 5:7). As with any other biblical mandate, we bring glory to God in our adherence to the truth.
  2. WORSHIP – The Bible tells us that the church is the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:24-33). As such, the church should not be stained with sin. Church discipline is worship because it upholds the holiness of Christ and vindicates His righteousness. Paul teaches that as members of the church we are also members of Christ, and as such, we should not join Christ with sin (1 Cor. 6:15-17). Christians are to be holy as the Lord is holy (1 Pet. 1:15-16). Treating Christ as holy by walking in holiness ourselves is worship unto the Lord.
  3. PROTECTION – Church discipline also maintains the purity of the church and protects it from sin. If the church allowed sin to continue amongst its members without consequence, it would only encourage more and more sin. Paul speaks of the “leaven” of sin in 1 Corinthians 5. Leaven in Scripture is an analogy for influence. Just as a little leaven leavens the entire lump of dough, so a little sin left alone can eventually permeate the entire church. The practice of church discipline keeps members from falling into sin because the dismissed member serves as an example to the body (1 Tim. 5:20). Besides all this, but the Bible indicates that if a church tolerates sin, Christ will stand against it just as He did with Pergamum and Thyatira (Rev. 2:12-29). Certainly a church would not want to be opposed to Christ and so should deal with sinful members to protect against His judgment.
  4. TESTIMONY – Another reason for church discipline is that the world is watching. It is sad when we hear of high profile Christian leaders falling into sexual sin and disqualifying themselves from ministry. Such sin makes the gospel seem powerless. If the people in the church act just like those in the world, how would the world view the faith? Paul rebuked the Corinthians for tolerating a sin that was not even tolerated by unbelievers (1 Cor. 5:1)! By living in holiness, and treating sin seriously, believers serve as a powerful testimony for the gospel (1 Pet. 2:12).
  5. LOVE – It is interesting that in most passages dealing with church discipline, the goal is to serve the one being disciplined. Even in one of the sterner passages, Paul says he practiced church discipline so that Hymenaeus and Alexander would “learn not to blaspheme” (1 Tim. 1:19-20). In 1 Corinthians 5, with the incestuous man at Corinth, Paul says that by removing him from fellowship it might result in the salvation of his spirit (1 Cor. 5:5). This is really the goal of Matthew 18:15-17 as well. The hope is that by confronting someone who has fallen into sin, they would listen and be restored (cf. Gal. 6:1). All this supports the truth that church discipline is really a loving practice. For the person who falls into deliberate, continual, unrepentant sin, it is the most loving thing you could do. It is completely unloving to treat someone who is in sin as though nothing is wrong. It is unloving to allow them to continue in sin and to let their lives be an offense to God. By confronting their sin and helping them come to repentance, you serve them and show them faithful love.

What growing Christian would not want to be associated with the words Obedience, Worship, Protection, Testimony, and Love? Biblically, this is what church discipline is all about. It comes down to doing ministry God’s way and trusting that He knows better than we do. Essentially, when we say we disagree with the practice of church discipline, we are saying that we think we know better than Christ. Christ is the one who is committed to building His church (Matt. 16:18). We should trust that in the instructions He gave, He left us with the best way possible to accomplish this.

Many people say that they commit to Lighthouse because they want to be held accountable in their Christian walk. I’m so happy to hear this because all believers should desire this accountability provided by the church. Stated plainly, a church that does not practice discipline falls short in its provision of accountability for its members. This is why I tell young Christians that when choosing a church, one of the things they should look for is to see if it practices church discipline. This is one of the true signs that a church loves its members and seeks the healthy growth of the body.

Book Review: Every Thought Captive

Book Review by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Book by Richard L. Pratt, Jr.

I always had a passing interest in all things apologetics, from all the evidences that could prove the existence of God to the logical arguments put forward to conclude that Christianity is the only truth. I was enamored with whatever book I could get my hands on that dealt with how to refute evolution, and prove the Mormons had it wrong. My high school days were filled with staying up reading the latest evidences that science discovered that, without a shadow of a doubt, annihilated any opposition concerning whether the universe had a beginning. My favorite book at the time was Peter Kreeft’s Handbook of Christian Apologetics, and I ate that book up.

Much has changed since then. Sure, I still love the area of apologetics, but now I’ve realized the mass of uncertainty in the methods I was uncritically accepting at the cost of biblical truth. Among many influences, Greg Bahnsen and James White introduced in my life presuppositional apologetics, what I’m convinced is the biblical method of engaging the non-Christian. Gone are the days where I have to keep an eye out for new discoveries in science and philosophical arguments to persuade those within my circle of friends who do not believe that they have no reason left to argue for their position. I wasn’t expecting some of them to reject God out of apathy, ignorance, or even hatred of God because of Christians. The issue became one of living a life consistent with the Gospel, and acknowledging sin when I fail to honor Christ, the same Christ I am supposed to point them to.

Upon joining youth staff, my heart went out for all the young adults in our group who have a young faith, and yet are very impressionable to the teaching they receive at our church. They’re learning many things throughout their days at school, and always with a perspective that tells them they are getting just the facts, and nothing else. No religious bias, no preconceived philosophies…or so they say. How I longed to be taught the truth about each of our commitments to independence apart from the God who made everything we study. I sought for books in the presuppositional apologetic category that would be helpful and clear for the youth to understand.

It was in the providence of God that once mentioned that a class on apologetics would be taught at our church, I was made aware of Richard Pratt’s work, Every Thought Captive. As its subtitle says, it is a training manual, specifically designed to help train Christians how to do apologetics. The amazing thing about it is that Pratt wrote it for high school students! 14 lessons (chapters) that cover broadly the method of trusting completely in the Bible as the source and foundation of our approach in engaging with the unbeliever. Pratt’s goal in this book is summed up in 2 Corinthians 10:5, which states, “We are (a) destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are (b) taking every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ.” What he expresses in the chapters that follow demonstrate that

Non-Christians are in need of salvation from the presence and consequences of sin and rebellion against God. This salvation comes only through whole-hearted belief in and commitment to Christ. When such commitment is made, the thinking of the one who was once an enemy of God becomes submitted to the “obedience of Christ.” (p. ix)

What I found refreshing in this book was to place the emphasis of Scripture in determining our approach to defending the Christian faith, and the importance of knowing our faith in Christ robustly. Each chapter builds on what comes before, so that there is a progressive flow of thought forces you to think deeply of the worldview that the Bible lays out. Pratt first deals with the fatal flaw in most Christians’ view of Scripture in relation to how they do apologetics: using human wisdom and reasoning to establish the Bible as the Word of God and not having the Word of God as the foundation for your reasoning and wisdom. To place reason as the foundation of your confrontations with unbelievers is to place reason at a more fundamental level than Scripture itself, which is a foreign concept that Scripture never agrees with. It’s a disregard of what Peter writes in the oft-quoted 1 Peter 3:15, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (emphasis mine). If Christ is not Lord over your thoughts, you cannot say you’re obeying this command if you regard His Word as a result of your reasoning, and not the starting point.

The structure of the book goes from establishing a biblical worldview of how man relates to God and the world, from the beginning of time to after the fall, and even after death. Pratt understands that the world never gets this, nor teaches this, so there must be groundwork laid in our renewed minds, even of our own history, that we may have the right framework with which we call sinners to faith and repentance in Christ. He goes into a systematic theology of the creation of the world, the types of revelation God has given, the fall and curse of man, the redemption of man by Christ, and the glorified man in heaven. What Pratt establishes inescapably is that God is independent, and we are all dependent on Him for knowledge, life, and morality. A Christian recognizes this, and submits to God in all matters of thought and practice:

The character of man redeemed by Christ is basic to an understanding of biblical apologetics. The work of Christ on the cross and in His resurrection has renewed to true knowledge and righteousness those who believe in Him. Though sin is still present, the one who is redeemed by Christ can depend on God for knowledge and morality. (p. 42)

What follows is a contrast between the non-Christian and Christian point of view. This isn’t a listing of where the Christian and non-Christian stands on issues like abortion, social justice, homosexuality, or economics. The issue focuses more on where one stands in relation to God primarily. The Christian claims to be dependent on God. The non-Christian claims independence from God in their denial of His existence:

Commitment to independence is so fundamental to non-Christian philosophy that no matter how much the unbeliever may claim otherwise, every reason he may give to support his commitment is actually resting on it. (p. 46, author’s emphasis)

The Christian is in a better position to lay claim to knowledge that doesn’t appeal to himself, since he is dependent on another:

As with non-Christian philosophy, there is circularity also in Christian philosophy. Yet, one important difference remains: the notion of human dependence does not depend on itself for ultimate support. It rests on the solid ground of God and His revelation. (p. 54)

What all this leads to next is a life that is consistent with what the Christian claims reaches true knowledge and make correct moral decisions. It is dependence on God for everything you think, say, and do. This will affect your attitudes and actions (chapter 8) and also your defense (as opposed to what is popular in Christian apologetics today; chapter 9). Chapter 10 is given to explaining what a biblical method looks like in practice, appealing to Proverbs 26:4-5 for a hands-on approach that will keep your discussions from straying off-topic and keeping the tension of independence and its utter futility of finding certain at the forefront. Chapters 11-13 then give helpful summaries of various issues that the Christian will most likely have to deal with under that rubric, and give a start in building a biblical apologetic that will give honor to Christ and bring all willing to listen to the Gospel of grace. The book ends with a parable that gives a fleshly example to what Pratt has been talking about all along.

The most helpful element of this book are the drawings he has that puts heady concepts into easy-to-understand categories. It’s with his method of apologetics and ease of use that makes this book a must-read for any Christian who is seeking to grow not only in defending the faith, but also in growing in faith. You are confronted with the sovereign God who demands nothing less than complete dependence on Him not only in thought, but in word and deed, all to bring Him glory and praise. May we never seek to defend Christianity without introducing them to the one who makes that word meaningful: Jesus Christ, Creator, sustainer, and redeemer. To do less is to defend a lower god.

Editor’s Note: This is also the book that was used recently in one of the adult Sunday-school classes here at LBC.  The lectures can be found in the media section of the LBC website, and the study guide is available for the asking from Stephen Rodgers.

Mighty To Save

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Isaiah 63:1

By the words ‘to save’ we understand the whole of the great work of salvation, from the first holy desire onward to complete sanctification. The words are multum in parvo: indeed, here is all mercy in one word. Christ is not only ‘mighty to save’ those who repent, but He is able to make men repent. He will carry those to heaven who believe; but He is, moreover, mighty to give men new hearts and to work faith in them. He is mighty to make the man who hates holiness love it, and to constrain the despiser of His name to bend the knee before Him.

Nay, this is not all the meaning, for the divine power is equally seen in the after-work. The life of a believer is a series of miracles wrought by ‘the Mighty God.’ The bush burns, but is not consumed. He is mighty to keep His people holy after He has made them so, and to preserve them in his fear and love until he consummates their spiritual existence in heaven. Christ’s might doth not lie in making a believer and then leaving him to shift for himself; but He who begins the good work carries it on; He who imparts the first germ of life in the dead soul, prolongs the divine existence, and strengthens it until it bursts asunder every bond of sin, and the soul leaps from earth, perfected in glory.

Believer, here is encouragement. Art thou praying for some beloved one? Oh, give not up thy prayers, for Christ is ‘mighty to save.’ You are powerless to reclaim the rebel, but your Lord is Almighty. Lay hold on that mighty arm, and rouse it to put forth its strength. Does your own case trouble you? Fear not, for His strength is sufficient for you. Whether to begin with others, or to carry on the work in you, Jesus is ‘mighty to save;’ the best proof of which lies in the fact that He has saved you. What a thousand mercies that you have not found Him mighty to destroy!

1.14a

Editor’s Note: “Multum in parvo” is Latin for “much in little.”