"Who's your daddy?"

When it all comes right down to it: what, and who makes up your true "covenant community"? If many professing Christians were honest with themselves, they would have to admit, to their utter shame (if they understood the gravity of the situation), that something other than the church was their principal source of encouragement, passion, and concern.

The reason this arrangement is reprehensible, is because it flies in the face of God, and of His generous and gracious provision, of His Son, and of His church. It raises a puny fist of idolatry up, against God.

I have known people who were much more solicitous of others who shared their approach to their children's educational context, than they were of the people of God, with whom they were allegedly "bound," by covenant (in the church). They would be more inclined to allow their children access to like-minded educators, than they would the people in the church (who did not share their methodology).

For these people church is more of a convenience, than a necessity. And, instead of serving her (the church), they view it as a prosyletizing field, out of which they hope to make converts to their truest and dearest interests.

No wonder Jude spoke of these people as those who "Crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for . . . condemnation," (Jude 4).

The Kingdom vs. the Family

Family is a great blessing of God. This blog site is not designed to in any way denigrate the family; but rather to understand it, in its proper context. Anyone who knows me, knows how I love my wife, my daughter, my parents, my sisters, and other family members.

But family, like any other good and God-given gift, can be, and often is idolatarized, (or made into a false god).

It is very interesting that you will not find a harsher critic of those who worship the family than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And there is good reason for this: He knew (and knows) full well that sinners are very apt to worship their families, and to put them ahead of God and the kingdom of grace (as it is expressed in His church).

Think with me of some of the statements Jesus Christ, the God-Man, made; and consider whether or not He pandered to the idolatry of the home. . . .

Lk. 9:60-62: "Jesus said to him, 'Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.' And another also said, 'Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.' But Jesus said to him, 'No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.'"

Lk. 14:26: "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple."

So, you can see that Jesus Christ makes no bones about it. He and His church must come first. Family makes a great community; but it makes a lousy deity.

[New post] Lone Ranger "Christians"

Have you ever met any of those poor, wretched souls that have no need of church? After all, since they have the Holy Spirit to guide them, they detest and despise the thought of a "human teacher," (to employ their expression).

One of the things that I find interesting about these people, who typically believe that since they have "Jesus, their Bible, and their faith," (and need nothing else)--is that they are never able to keep themselves "self-contained." Eventually, and inevitably, like beetles coming out from under a log exposed to the sun, they seek to impinge their views on others, (and they actually seek "help" from others).

Proud religionists are more contorted in their souls, than users of crack cocaine. They are to be pitied; and they are definitely to be the objects of evangelism.

Let us recognize just how vile it is, to assume we can make it to heaven without Christ's provision of His church, His ordinances (in the church), and His grace--all of which is the same as "making it" without Christ Himself.

If you are a faithful churchman, and not a hypocrite, bless God for this wonder; and give Him all the glory.

Discipleship and Ecclesiocentricity

There are so many books and materials dealing with discipleship. But, what is discipleship, at base? It is the same thing today, as it was when the Lord Jesus walked the earth: being with Christ, and learning from Him, (so as to be effective in ministry and life).

How is this done today? Nowhere but in the CHURCH of the Lord Jesus Christ. A "discipler"--be he a pastor, elder, deacon, or a member of the church (man or woman)--starts the discipling process by seeing to it that the "disciple" is in the church's Lord's Day worship service. Typically, this would be the AM service, as the initial contact point.

The next step in Christian discipleship is to encourage the disciple to be in the PM worship service on Sunday, (if your church is happy enough to have one).

From there, all the rest of discipleship flows.

But, do you see where there can be, and is no true discipleship when the person you are seeking to work with is not sitting at Jesus' feet, in His house, on His day?

Things are not so complex. It's all really pretty simple.

Church and Home United?

Some folks, undoubtedly well-meaning, imagine that the ideal world would find the church and home "united." I suppose to some extent it depends on what one means by "united."

If it means that the church becomes the lackey of the home, then this is an undesirable goal. If it means that the home learns from, submits to, and honors the church, then this would be a noble achievement.

The old European model of the church and state being united ought to be sufficient warning for us to be wary of the church and home being so joined. When the church and state were "one," the church sacrificed away its prophetic role of calling the state back to God. The same would be true in a world where the church and home were "united."

The home needs, for its own good, the church's prophetic voice, hearkening it (the home) unto Christ, the church itself, and holiness.

So, if the church and home are to be "united," let it be accomplished by the home's coming under the blessing, protection, and graces of the church. In this way, the power of the God's gospel would flow from Christ, through His church, to the home.

Now, in this scenario, the church and home would be positively "bound together" by the home's submission to the church's Head, sacraments, offices, and means of grace.

Who's to integrate whom?

One of the hot issues today, is: who is to integrate whom?, when it comes to the relationships between the church, the state, and the family.

One significant organization today promotes the idea of "family-integrated churches." My thesis on this web site is exactly reversed; and that is should read: church-integrated families.

In truth, wherever we can be influenced for good, let it happen. But let us keep in mind that God works from the top, down; and not the other way around. Jesus came from heaven to earth, in the incarnation. He is the Head of His church, which is His colony of heaven on the earth.

The church, then, is the principal agency of God on the earth--and it is her mission to bless the rest of the world.

The Need for a Strong Clergy

The clergy is the heart and soul of any society. You can tell how potent or impotent any culture is, by observing the nature, mettle, and courage of the pastors of the churches.

So, it should not surprise anyone that a strong pastoral ministry is essential to the welfare of the church; and this blog, "The Forum for Ecclesiocentricy," is all about promoting that goal.

Pray that God raise up a crop of Puritan pastors, who will lead the church again into its rightful glorious place, as it proclaims the wonder and praise of Jesus.