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Listen to this Worship Music
Here is a wonderful resource for music and the philosophy of worship - Churchworksmedia.com
I listened to two wonderful songs, "I Love the Church," and "His Robes for Mine."
They say that God-glorifying worship music should be:
- Intentionally Scriptural
- Intentionally God-glorifying
- Intentionally Christ-centered
- Intentionally Congregational
- Intentionally Fervent
- Intentionally Distinct
Read their explanations of these headings and be blessed.
Burden of Proof for Age Segregation
It is easy to prove the pattern of age integrated discipleship from Scripture. The entire fabric of scripture is woven with age integrated gatherings of God’s people. But it is almost impossible to prove the principle of age segregation. I have yet to hear a biblical case for age segregation. Why? Because it does not exist in Scripture. Therefore, the burden of proof for age segregation rests upon those who support it.
Elder Installation at Geneva Lakes Christian Church
Yesterday I had the privilege of traveling to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, to participate in an elder installation service for the appointment of three elders, Gerald Hartlaub, David Layhew and Gary Powers. I preached from Acts 20 with a focus on verse 8, "Keep watch over yourselves and the flock, shepherd the church of God, which He purchased by His own blood”, Paul’s words to the elders of the church in Ephesus on the beach at Miletus, I encouraged the elders to follow Paul’s pattern in Acts 20, and exhorted the congregation to be a humble and dutiful church that listens intently to the Word of the Lord from these men, and gathers when the elders call for it. I made clear to the congregation that these new elders cannot shepherd them if they don’t come to the gatherings, and recommended that they build their life schedules around the church calendar, instead of just trying to fit them in when it was convenient. Pray for these new elders that they would be a fulfillment of Jeremiah 3:15, “And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding."
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Jeff Pollard on the SOS-- Exalting Jesus Christ and His Word
Listed below are titles and descriptions of Jeff Pollard's conference messages:
The Sufficiency of Scripture and Women’s Ministries Part 1: Teachers of Good Things
Women’s ministries are popular, yet controversial in our day, partly because the term itself is vague, ambiguous, and does not appear in Scripture. If one asks, “Why are women teaching in the church, Sunday School, seminaries, and numerous other venues?” the answer is often, “Titus 2 says that women should teach women.” But what does Titus 2 teach? God’s infallible and sufficient Word says that older women must be “teachers of good things.” What does God want them to teach?
The Sufficiency of Scripture and Women’s Ministries Part 2: Keepers at Home
The inspired, infallible, and sufficient Word of God says that older women should be “teachers of good things.” Among the seven good things that the Apostle Paul says that older women should teach young women is to be “keepers at home.” What did the Apostle mean by this? How should we apply it today? The answers are crucial for building healthy churches.
Young Men Study The Reformed Pastor
The NCFIC interns and some of the young men from Hope Baptist, accompanied me to a pastor's conference this weekend, titled “The Reformed Pastor.” Held at Springs of Life Bible Church, the conference featured speakers, Andy Davis, Sam Waldron, and Nathan Finn at Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Durham. It was hosted by pastor Stan Geyer and produced by the people of the church, who furnished facilities and wonderful meals for us. The conference included biographies of Richard Baxter, Jonathan Edwards, Andrew Fuller, and Charles Spurgeon. It provided a wonderful view of pastoral leadership from the seventeenth century to the nineteenth century. The thematic thread in my mind was the defense of the gospel through the diversity of pastoral gifts and roles. Baxter was the quintessential pastor. Edwards: Scholar and evangelist. Fuller: Defending biblical evangelism and arguing against hyper-Calvinism and decisional regeneration. Spurgeon: pastor evangelist. I wanted to bring these young men with me to this pastor's conference because I wanted them to soak for a while in the biographies of men who were faithful to Christ early in life, and who redeemed the time in the days of their youth. I wanted them to see and understand a vision for godly pastoral leadership in the church.
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"Jesus is not only light but also food"
When speaking of the beauty of the name of Jesus, Calvin quotes a statement from Bernard, "The name of Jesus is not only light but also food; it is also oil, without which all food of the soul is dry; it is salt, without whose seasoning whatever I set before us is insipid; finally, it is honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, rejoicing in the heart, and at the same time medicine. Every discourse in which his name is not spoken is without savor." --Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 2, Chapter 16, Section 1.
Invitation from Doug Phillips
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American Sign Language Interpreting at the SOS Conference
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At the Sufficiency of Scripture 2009, we will provide American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting. Chuck Snyder, pictured left, will be interpreting. |
A Historical Perspective on Age-Segregation -- Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards’ Ministry to Youth in Northampton
I would like to suggest that the method of youth ministry practiced in the church of Jonathan Edwards was more closely aligned with the Biblical commands and patterns than is our current age segregated model. The church in Northampton was age integrated and completely free of the programmatic, age-segregated model which is widely used today. Yet, Edwards had very specific counsel for the young people in the church and he worked to be a blessing to them in a many ways.
Disturbed about youth meeting together
Jonathan Edwards was disturbed by the prospect of too much age-specific interaction of the youth in his church. From time to time, he did gather groups together for special occasions although most of the time it was for some sort of special instruction. For example, after the death of one of young men in the congregation, he gathered five different groups together. One of them was a group of the young people in the church, and on this occasion he described to them how important the years of youth are, saying,
“Our youth is on several accounts the best part of our lives. Then nature is in its bloom, farthest from any decay; then the body is most lively, active, and beautiful, and the powers of the mind are in some respects more sprightly. And it is very pleasing to God when persons offer Him such a sacrifice as themselves in their youth, as it was most acceptable to Him when Abel brought the firstlings of his flock (Genesis 4:4 ).1
He acknowledged the vigorous attacks of the devil on youth,
“The devil seems especially, as it were, to delight and glory to have that age of youth for his own, and hence he is commonly so very busy with young people.” 2
However, one of the most interesting aspects of Edwards ministry to youth was his exhortations against gathering youth together. In addressing the youth in his church he said,
“Be advised against going often into company. I leave it to everyone to consider whether this does not have a tendency to divert persons from their great concerns. I appeal to the experience of everyone who has tried it, whether or not it has not been the case. Has it not been the case that you have been somewhat moved and affected by something that you have heard in the preaching; and as soon as it is over you go into company, which diverts your minds and takes away the impressions that were left there? And if it has the tendency to take off impressions when made, for the same reason it will tend to prevent their being made at all, and will harden the heart against impressions.” 3
As a shepherd of his local congregation Edwards did meet from time to time with the young people in the church. However it stands in sharp contrast to the modern invention of youth ministry because it was not systematic or age segregated nor was it a regular, programmatic feature of church life. He brought various groups of youth together from time to time to communicate important matters to them and God blessed these gatherings. But, they were not anything like the modern youth ministry that is most popular today.
He exhorted the young people in his congregation not to meet together after the meetings of the church. He said,
“I would on this occasion renewedly exhort and press you not to make it your practice to go immediately from the public worship and hearing of the Word into company, nor to make Sabbath days and lecture days your times of company-keeping and merriment.
"Let me entreat you to continue in that reformation which I hope many of you have begun in this particular. I hope you are generally convinced of the reasonableness of it, and that experience has or will convince you that there is no great difficulty in it and that there is no danger of your sustaining any loss by it, or that your youth will be the less pleasant for it.” 4
He instructed the young people to only meet in a particular way. He said,
“Seek out company where profitable and religious discourses are used. Let those few who are willing associate together; if others mock and say that it is only pride and hypocrisy, don’t regard them. God will observe it. God will hearken and hear, and a book of remembrance will be written.
"See if you can find companions who will fall in with this advice, and then be much with them. And then Christ will be with you.
"Let those whom you choose for your special, intimate friends be those who are lively in religion and who delight in religious conversation. Make those your special friends who may converse freely, without fear or suspicion of one another, without suspecting one another of pride and hypocrisy. And it is more natural for intimate friends to unburden themselves one to another.” 5
Edwards was careful to direct the youth in the way they should conduct their conversations,
“When you meet together, contrive your conversation to often turn upon something that is in some respect profitable, tending to some instruction. Let it not be all vain, light, filthy, and empty, tending to nothing in the world but to amuse you, to waste away precious time, to establish more and more of a habit of levity and vanity, and to set you further and further in your disposition from anything that is serious, that tends to indispose you for all serious thoughts and concerns, and that will make you unfit for any religious and serious business. This will consequently make you unfit for death.
"Such an empty, vain way of spending time is not becoming such poor, frail, dying creatures as men are.” 6
Edwards also warned the youth in his congregation of what he called, “The Danger of Sinful Mirth”. In this sermon he clearly directs the youth to steer away from what modern youth pastors emphasize – fun and games. What a contrast this is from the church that purchases buildings for sports and video games and creates youth rooms filled with places to play games and watch movies and guffaw at one funny video clip after another. Edwards says,
“Mirth becomes sinful when too much time is spent in it. Mirth and diversion are only designed to fit us for the duties of our general and particular callings, and therefore should not crowd them out or interfere with them. When much time is spent in it, it becomes vain, carnal mirth; it shows that we set our hearts too much upon it, especially when it crowds out duties of religion such as meditation, reading, secret prayers, when it hinders us from attending family prayer, or when it takes the mind off from these duties. When mirth has the superiority over religion, then it becomes carnal mirth.
“I proceed now to show how this sort of pleasure is a worthless, vanishing, and pernicious pleasure.
“This kind of mirth is worthless, offensive, base, brutish, and unworthy of reasonable creatures. It cannot afford any satisfaction; it doesn’t answer the cravings of the soul; it doesn’t suit men’s spiritual, rational nature. Man was made for higher and more excellent delights. This kind of mirth won’t give contentment; rather it makes for more. It puts the soul into a tumultuous, uneasy frame.” 7
So while Edwards most certainly practiced ministry to youth, it was totally different than the segregated, programmatic youth ministry we observe in our mainstream American churches. However, in the end, our methodology cannot be based on historical precedent—what Jonathan Edwards practiced is not the ultimate end. Scripture speaks clearly to youth ministry and the patterns we see there are our basis. Jonathan Edwards aligned himself with those standards and therefore we point to him as a good example of what Biblical youth ministry should look like.
1 Edwards, Jonathan, God's Call to Young People: A Call to the Rising Generation to Know and Serve God While They Are Still Young, edited by Don Kistler [Soli Deo Gloria, 2001], p.23
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid., 24.
4 Ibid., 52.
5 Ibid., 88.
6 Ibid., 102.
7 Ibid., 150-151.
Geoff Botkin – The NCFIC – A Resource for Pioneer Churches
This is Geoffrey Botkin with Western Conservatory of the Arts and Sciences. All over America, new churches are being started by families who know that churches need strong biblical families and families need strong biblical churches. This remarkable development is not just happening in a few communities but all over the United States. Guiding these pioneer families and pioneer churches is the NCFIC. The National Center for Family-Integrated Churches is the best resource in America for information on how to form and sustain new churches. America needs these new churches and there are dynamic leaders across America who all agree that radically reforming the church is a crucial priority for our nation.
I am bringing my whole family to the NCFIC Sufficiency of Scripture Conference in Cincinnati December 10-12. At this conference, you can meet these leaders and hear firsthand accounts of fruitful churches who are applying forgotten principles of Scripture to the church today. I hope to see you there.
Joe Morecraft on the SOS and the 21st century battle for sufficiency of Scripture
Following is a list of Dr. Morecraft's Conference Messages:
Is the Sufficiency of Scripture a Bible Doctrine?
The Regulative Principle of Worship in the Old Testament
The Regulative Principle in Worship in the New Testament
The Church is a "Family of Families" -- Part 5
What have we learned from this controversy over “Family of Families”?
The missionary George Whitefield said that “critics are the unpaid guardians of the soul,” and so we are grateful for both dialog and diatribe. It has shown us that we see through “a glass darkly.” It has demonstrated that in our attempt to explain heavenly things, we often struggle to find human language that meets both the heavenly and the earthly standard. Sometimes we are genuinely misunderstood. Other times men do their best to twist our words, make us worse than we are and find themselves unable to correct their erroneous mischaracterizations. At the end of the day, we understand that we are imperfect men trying to be faithful to the faithful testimony of scripture.
We have no intention to abandon the use of the phrase or the concept behind it. It is a very important principle that undergirds a biblical understanding of church and family life. We think Swindoll said it very beautifully and Baucham explained it with the kind of precision that should answer every question for all to see that it fits within the range of biblical thinking. We think that Kostenberger explained one of the stunning aspects of this as he describes the importance of a marriage under the headship of Christ in God's redemptive plan.
Because of the tendency of critics to take these three words out of their context, misinterpret them and claim that we are advocating a new ecclesiology we kept trying to explain it better. We kept modifying the statement to make it clearer and more reflective of scripture. Today, the term “family of families” appears nowhere in current NCFIC literature. In 2008, we explained the same concept without using the words “family of families.” Even so, we believe the term has significant value in explaining one aspect of church and family life. In this spirit, we have tried to explain the idea rather than use the term.
Here is the old statement – one of twelve articles,
Article VI — Church is a Family of Families
We affirm that our Heavenly Father designed His church to be a spiritual household — a “family of families and singles” where members know one another intimately, the shepherds understand the sheep effectively, and the various body parts function interactively (1 Tim. 3:15).
We deny/reject the current trend to value numbers and size more than intimacy and vitality by building impersonal mega-churches rather than the multiplication of family-like congregations.2
Our intent was not to redefine the church, but to acknowledge that when a family comes to church, a separate jurisdiction is there that needs to be strengthened to be faithful to their biblical callings and commands that govern family life.
In December 2008, the NCFIC updated the confession and removed these three words and replaced them with this statement, one of sixteen articles,
ARTICLE VI — The Church is a Family of Believers that Includes Families
We affirm that local churches are spiritual households that include individual family units which are separate and distinct jurisdictions that should be cared for and strengthened to fulfill their God ordained roles, not only as individuals but also as families (1 Tim. 3:15, Ephesians 5:22-33, Ephesians 6:1-4).
We deny/reject the current trend in churches that ignores the family unit, is blind to strengthening it, systematically fragments it and does not actively work to equip her members to be faithful family members.3
3 The text for the original “A Biblical Confession for Uniting Church and Family” can be found at www.visionforumministries.org/home/about/a_biblical_confession_for_unit_1.aspx (Accessed 11/5/2009)
Andy Davis on the NCFIC – To Harmonize the God-Ordained Roles
My name is Andy Davis, pastor of First Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina. I am grateful to the Lord for Scott Brown’s leadership of the National Center for Family-Integrated Churches.
The movement to harmonize the God-ordained roles of both the family and the church has its roots in the scriptural mandate for each. The same God that settles children in families to be trained and nurtured in Christ also sets individuals and families together in churches for mutual accountability and encouragement in the faith.
It is my prayer that God will use the NCFIC to accomplish His purposes for both the family and for the church of Jesus Christ.
Join us for a Special Premier Screening of The Mysterious Islands in Durham NC
Come join us for a night to remember as the new and controversial film, The Mysterious Islands comes to Durham, NC for a special premiere screening! Meet the film’s executive producer and cast in person and get a behind the scenes experience you will never forget.
The Screening will take place November 17, 7:00 p.m. at the Carolina Theatre in Durham, NC. For tickets call 919-560-3030 (Adults $7, Ages 6-12 $3, 5 and under are free).
Space is limited, reserve your seats today!
The Church is a "Family of Families" -- Part 4
Does individual church membership dissolve family relationships?
In many modern churches, the family is barely acknowledged. The result is neglect. This creates a brand of church life where the family is not encouraged or nourished to be what it is meant to be. The resulting damage to the church is breathtaking. This direct relationship between church and family is the reason why it can be appropriate to use the term “family of families” in the same way that Swindoll, Baucham, Kostenberger, and the NCFIC have.
In Christ, we have more than one family; a biological family, and a spiritual family. Both are our “real” families but they are different. For example, one is eternal while the other is temporal. Both are important and have distinct, yet complementary purposes.
The Church Family
The merciful work of the Lord Jesus Christ has made us part of a spiritual family (a big one). Our salvation has added to us many new spiritual fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters. Our love for our biological family becomes secondary to our love for Christ for “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:37)
The Biological Family
The merciful work of God has also put us in biological families who are under divine commands to function in a certain way. Children are born to be cared for by a father and a mother. A man is blessed with a lifelong partner who is given a particular role with important and beautiful duties. A woman is provided with a husband to nourish and cherish her and give his life for her as her a lifelong protector and head.
I have had a number of conversations with people who seem to claim that since the true church is made up only of regenerate individuals, family relationships are eclipsed or recede in importance. In a sense this is partly true, but some take it to such an extreme that the family almost disappears. This is the point we want to attack with the “family of families” statement because it identifies a widespread theological misunderstanding. It shows that a Biblical perspective on church and family life has been set aside in favor of a culturally relevant or pragmatic view. Because the modern church has so capitulated to ungodly worldly philosophy, it has quit thinking Biblically about church and family life. As a result, the biological family has done a disappearing act.
Even in churches where they claim to be “family friendly” they still treat the family like “chopped liver.” It is as if the family does not exist. So much so that they constantly separate their families and send them in different directions on Sunday morning and every other night of the week. Many pastors functionally do nothing if fathers neglect their duty as spiritual shepherds in their families. It is as if fathers in families don’t exist. I think many Puritan pastors (who had a more biblical understanding of church and family life than we do) would blow a gasket if they saw the modern church where the only things that functionally exist are church programs. If Richard Baxter were alive today, he would say we should put fathers under church discipline if they do not shepherd their families.
Are family relationships nullified when you walk into the church? Is this what the Bible teaches?
A friend who has been following this controversy sent me some questions that help us think this through. They show that the church and family are different, play different roles, and yet neither of them disappear. He says these questions were designed to challenge the thought that somehow our familial relationships within the body of Christ weaken or destroy the institution of the family.
Questions that show that family life does not disappear in church life
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Do you believe that membership in a local church dissolves the unique and God given privileges and responsibilities between husband and wife?
Why not? Would you be pleased if another man handed your wife a rose and a special note every Sunday? Why not? Do you have certain privileges and responsibilities toward your wife that are unique, or do you think that we should share them because the church turns us into mere individuals?
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Do you believe that membership in a local church dissolves the unique and God given privileges and responsibilities between parents and children?
Would you be pleased if I removed your noisy toddler from the service each week to spank him? Why not? Would it be appropriate for me to treat your son in exactly the same way as if he were my son?
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Do you believe that family relationships take a vacation when among the family of God?
Should such relationships as exist within the Biblically ordered family take a hiatus when we gather as a church? How about your headship over your wife? Does it disappear? How about the obedience of your children? Are they obligated to obey the people in the church and disregard obedience to you as a parent? And if such relationships are redefined only in this particular context of gathering as a church, is there no perpetuity in my status as a brother to other believers throughout the remainder of the week? Does my daughter instantly become everyone else’s daughter?
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Do you believe that Christ intended for the beautiful truths concerning the family of God to eradicate any of the unique and particular responsibilities towards earthly families?
Aren't these truths concerning the family of God intended to demonstrate our love, care, and intimacy with fellow believers who share in one Spirit, one mind, one faith, one baptism, one Lord and Savior, rather than to excuse us from domestic responsibilities? And don't such truths reach far beyond the realm of the local church? And though our love for Christ should certainly transcend all other relationships, doesn't the list of those whom we should hate (by comparison to such love) include our very selves? Shouldn't we be careful to apply such truths in the manner in which God intended them? (Read Mark 7:6-13, 1 Tim 5:1-16, Eph 5:22-6:4)
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What does your church directory look like?
This same friend who sent me these questions wrote to me about a point his wife made over the dinner table. She said, “I wonder what their church directory looks like? That’s actually quite telling, isn’t it? Indeed, have you ever seen a church directory where the names and/or pictures were not grouped by families? Why do you suppose that is?
So Scripture makes it clear that the church is indeed a kind of “family of families”. We are one body in Christ, composed of family units, all working together for the edification and encouragement of each other for the glorification of Jesus Christ in all things. Your own church directory bears witness to the fact that your church is also a “family of families.”
Kevin Swanson on the SOS – Addressing a Crying Need in the 21st Century Church
Following is a list of Kevin Swanson's conference messages:
Scripture is Sufficient for your Educational Decisions
Does God have anything to say about the education of a child, both in terms of the method and content of that schooling? Pastor Kevin Swanson says, “Absolutely!” In fact, the foothold that humanism has secured in the western world is almost entirely due to the method of education used to create the renaissance, the enlightenment, and the social revolution since. Kevin makes the point that education is the very belly of the beast that has destroyed the Christian faith in the west, and any true reformation of faith will begin right here.
Scripture is Sufficient for Family Life
The Nuclear family is fast disappearing in America, and almost every social index points to an ongoing disintegration of the family. Even the pro-family ministries have done very little if anything to salvage the continuing demise. So where did we go wrong? What fundamental mistakes are we making in the homeschooling movements and other initiatives intended to reform the faith? As one who reports daily on these cultural trends on his radio broadcast, Kevin Swanson will draw chalk lines around the antithesis, and present a biblical agenda for reforming the family in the 21st century.
The Sufficiency of Scripture and Family Integration
With the Christian church dying in America, generation by painful generation, reforming movements everywhere are seeking to salvage it. Will subscription to a few basic principles from the first reformation suffice, or is there a present antithesis that is destroying the family and corrupted church relationships and disabled the church from speaking relevantly on current issues? Or will simply chucking Sunday Schools and Youth Groups, and instituting family worship solve the problem?
In this presentation, Kevin Swanson will discuss how the family-integrated movement is addressing fundamental problems with our social systems that has worked to destroy the church in the west over a thousand years.
Director of the NCFIC talks about Sufficiency of Scripture and Church Reformation
Geoffrey Botkin Invites you to The SOS Conference
Following is a description of Geoff Botkin's conference message:
Applying the Sufficiency of Scripture in the Botkin Family
What is the difference between dads who “get it” and those who don’t? Dads who get it have discovered the ways scripture can lead them out of captivity into freedom. American families have been beguiled by philosophy, empty deception, elementary principles of the world and the traditions of men. Geoffrey Botkin examines the ways scripture is the sufficient rule and guide for fathers to take loving command of their families. All family members can find comfort in applying scriptural obedience to life in an orderly home as they work together to build an orderly civilization.
Joe Morecraft on the Strengths of the NCFIC
Hello, this is Joe Morecraft. I think that one of the strengths of the National Center for Family-Integrated Churches is its desire to apply the comprehensive sufficient authority of the Bible to home and family and church life and I pray God’s blessings upon them toward that end.
A Dear Pastor has Died in Washington State
Pastor Bryan Pollock, of Pilgrim Bible Church, breathed his last yesterday. He was a faithful, bible saturated, gospel preaching, and happiness promoting pastor, who held up the light of God's word in his community. One Sunday morning last year, I had the joyful privilege of sitting under his preaching where my soul was fed, comforted, and confronted. Johnathan Langford, one of the NCFIC interns, who came from Pilgrim Bible, had this to say: "I loved Pastor Pollock. He was faithful in preaching and honoring God. I have always seen him as a strong man, though he was not tall or broad shouldered, yet he was a mighty man of God that I looked up to. He wielded the Sword. He was a true pastor to his flock and truly loved the church. I went to him frequently. It was pastor Pollock who sowed seeds that later bore fruit in my conversion."
Here is a snapshot of life at Pilgrim Bible from their web site,
"At Pilgrim Bible Church, we believe that true, Christ-exalting worship should involve a loss of and a death to one's self as the worshiper becomes caught up in the majesty and magnificence of God, and it should engage the whole man as he becomes "lost in wonder, love and praise!" At Pilgrim Bible Church such Christ-centered and Christ-exalting worship is our goal. We believe that necessitates a careful and systematic expounding of the Scriptures each Sunday coupled with the singing of hymns and some choruses that are both doctrinally rich and lyrically beautiful. We believe the church should both sing as well hear and ponder its theology! We also believe a family should worship together. At Pilgrim Bible Church, we believe that fathers serve as their family's worship leaders and that they should be taught by the church how to prepare their family for the Lord's Day so that worship can be, in some fashion, a meaningful experience for all."
Please pray for Bryan’s wife Susan and their nine children.
"Family of Families" in the News
Three words, "family of families" are often lifted bleeding and screaming from their context from our original Biblical Confession for Uniting Church and Family1. They have received lots of airtime in various discussion venues. A Reformed Baptist Blog2 has focused several lengthy posts on this subject. A couple of associations of churches have made similar claims, and personal blogs3 have also made commentary on the statement. But what did we mean? Our four part series on the phrase "family of families" is designed to put the statement in context and to answer some of the questions that have been raised by it. Part 1 gives a brief history of the statement. Part 2 clarifies what we meant by the statement. Part 3 answers one of the accusations that has been made. Part 4 gives some insight on what we have learned from this experience.
1 The original confession can be accessed at www.visionforumministries.org/home/about/a_biblical_confession_for_unit_1.apx However, several years ago, the NCFIC updated its confession to remove the phrase "family of families" and replace it with different words which more clearly convey our meaning
2 The Reformed Baptist Fellowship Blog has posted a five part series of articles entitled "The Family Integrated Church. They can be accessed at www.reformedbaptistfellowship.wordpress.com/2009/10/
3 Shepherd's Pie Blog, "What should we think of the family integrated church movement?" www.grbc.net/blog/2009/09/16/what-should-we-think-of-the-family-integrated-church-movement/
Reformed Baptist Blog, "Reformed Baptists Address the Family-Integrated Church Movement" www.reformedbaptist.blogspot.com/2009/10/reformed-baptists-address-family.html
Paul Washer on the NCFIC and the Church
Hello, this is Paul Washer and I would like to just say a word about the National Center for Family-Integrated Churches.
Yes, they place a great emphasis upon the family and trying to bring the family back to the biblical standard, but it is not without the church. I have looked over this organization, I have talked with them and I am convinced that they are greatly concerned about the church and the way the church functions and Jesus Christ getting glory throughout the church. They do recognize that it is absolutely impossible to have a biblical church unless it is made up of biblical families.
There are several columns or pillars in the Christian faith. One of them is definitely the church. Another of them is the family. Both of these must work together if we are to live biblical lifestyles before Christ and before our society. So I want to recommend this organization. I want you to listen to some of the things which they are teaching and learn. Because if we are going to change this country, if we are going to change this world, it is not only going to be through the church, but it is also going to be through the family.
God bless you.
Did the Puritans have a "Family of Families" Ecclesiology
It has been claimed that I wrote that the Puritans had a "family of families ecclesiology." This author1cited my article, "My Top Four Favorite Family-Integrated Church Pastors," and used it to back up this assertion. However, if you read the article, you will notice that I never said the Puritans like Bunyan and Edwards had a “family of families” ecclesiology as the author maintains. His statement is unfounded and he wrongfully put those words in my mouth. My point was simply that the Puritans preached to age integrated church gatherings just like we do in family integrated churches today.
1The Reformed Baptist Fellowship Blog, "The Historical Critique from Puritan Ecclesiology," Part 4 of a series entitled "The Family Integrated Church". Can be accessed at www.reformedbaptistfellowship.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/the-family-integrated-church-movement-%E2%80%93-part-4
The New "Hipness" of Age Integration
It is possible that we are entering into a period where it is "hip" to be age integrated. Even Christianity Today has reported this phenomena--see their recent article, “Is the Era of Age Segregation Over? A researcher argues that the future of youth ministry will require bringing the generations together.”1 There is a significant groundswell of church leaders who are implementing initiatives and programs that hearken to the principle of age integrated discipleship. Now, perhaps, age-integration is going to be the new "latest thing." This is both good news and bad news. On the one hand we clap. On the other hand we are nonplussed. We clap, because age integration is biblical. We are nonplussed because the motivation is often for pragmatic reasons. The church needs to stop thinking, “how can we be hip,” or “how can we discover the next new thing, ” or “how do we find the best way to reach the world.” This is the kind of thinking that has gotten the church in so much trouble today. Instead we ought to be asking, “how can we be more Biblical – regardless of the culture and the consequences.” The family integrated church movement is not a reaction to a cultural problem, it is an action based on Scripture. It is not the next new thing. It is the best old thing. It is both best and old because it came from God not man.
1www.christianitytoday.com/le/communitylife/discipleship/istheeraofagesegmentationover.html
The Church is a "Family of Families" -- Part 3
By saying, ‘the church is a family of families,” are we confusing the church and the family?
When Andreas Kostenberger used the phrase "family of families” to describe the church in his excellent book God, Marriage and Family,1 I doubt anyone accused him of trying to redefine the church. And rightly so, because he was simply pointing out the significance of a particularly important family relationship (marriage) that exists in the church for God’s strategic purposes for spiritual warfare and the proclamation of the gospel. In this sense, the family exists as an entity under the headship of Christ and so the church exists in the same way. The family and the church are separate, yet connected in carrying out Christ’s overall plan.
We have plainly stated that the family is not the church and the church is not the family; they are separate yet complimentary jurisdictions.
Some have connected the statement, “family of families” with concepts of covenantal family and church membership. Some have suggested that we confuse the regenerate and the unregenerate in the church and make them the same because they are part of a family. We have never done this. We do not believe that every family member is a member of the true church. On the contrary, we maintain that the true church is composed only of individual redeemed sinners.
We acknowledge that many family members, though they are under the care of their parents and come to the meetings of the church, remain unconverted. They are part of the church only in that they come to meetings of the church, listen to the preaching of the church, relate to the redeemed members of the church and participate in the discipleship experiences of the church. Children may attend church but not be part of the church as converted members of Christ. Yet, they are still in the church in the sense that they have been sovereignly placed among the people of God. They are blessed by its members, message and ministry. This is all we mean when we say the church is a “family of families.” We don’t mean that all family members are converted and part of the redeemed. Voddie Baucham stated it this way, “We Are Not Commenting On Membership in the Church.”2 Like Baucham, we did not mean that every family member is a part of the universal church in the sense that they are all converted members.
1 “Just as Christ must rule over all heavenly powers (Eph. 1:21-22) and over the church (4:15), he must also rule over the marital relationship (5:21-33), the family (6:1-4), and the workplace (6:5-9). A married couple is part of the church (understood as a family of families, cf. I Tim. 3:15), and it, too, is part of that spiritual warfare that resolutely resists evil (Eph. 6:10-14) and seeks to promote God’s purpose in this world (foremost the preaching of the gospel, 6:15. 19-20). Thus the marriage relationship should also be viewed in the context of Christian witness in an unbelieving environment, both directly by the husband’s and the wife’s living out God’s purposes for the Christian couple, and indirectly by being part of a Biblical church that actively propagates the gospel message.” (Kostenberger, Andreas, God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation, [Crossway Books: Wheaton, IL, ©2004], p. 72).
2 Baucham, Voddie, “Is the Church a Family of Families?”, Part 1, can be accessed at http://www.voddiebaucham.org/vbm/Blog/Entries/2009/3/26_Is_the_church_A_Family_of_Families.html (Accessed 11/9/2009)
Andy Davis--The SOS Conference and the Shifting Battle Lines
Following is a list of Dr. Davis' conference messages:
Scripture is Sufficient for Personal Sanctification
Andy will present a biblical overview of the doctrine of sanctification. God has set before the church two infinite journeys for His glory: the internal journey of sanctification, and the external journey of worldwide gospel advance. Every Christian is called on to make daily progress in both journeys for His glory. In these three talks, we will gain an overview of sanctification, and then seek to show how Scripture is sufficient for the internal journey toward Christlikeness.
Scripture is Sufficient to Build Faith and Transform Character
Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17), but faith is also developed and nurtured by a daily diet of the Word as well. And with a growing faith comes a transformed heart, patterned after Christ's. In this talk we will show how Scripture is sufficient for Christian growth in faith and character.
Scripture is Sufficient for Habits of Obedience
As Scripture builds faith and transforms character, the result is a Christian life of habitual obedience to God's commands. These commands are clearly laid out in Scripture and define a fruitful life for the glory of God. In this talk, we will show how Scripture is sufficient for developing habits of obedience built on the foundation of a heart transformed by faith.
The Church is a "Family of Families" -- Part 2
What we mean by "the church is a family of families"
It is a falsehood to say that the National Center for Family Integrated Churches advocates a “family of families” ecclesiology. In fact, our understanding of the nature of the church is consistent with the historic doctrinal statements of the faith including the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Heidelberg Catechism, and many other orthodox statements on the church. It is the same understanding I received as a young man when I was in seminary. We do not advocate a “family of families” ecclesiology. Rather, our ecclesiology is as rich and clear as the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 and the Westminster confession.
When we were writing the NCFIC Confession for Uniting Church and Family our intent was to explain the complementary roles of church and family. We wanted to reflect a biblical understanding of the way that church and family operate in a symbiotic manner. We also hoped it would help church leaders think more biblically about church and family life. In short, the “confession” tries to state the biblical case for the ways the church can be a blessing to the family and the family to the church. It also identifies various departures from biblical church and family life and calls for biblical clarity on these matters.
An excellent phrase when understood properly
What we mean when we say that “the church is a family of families” is that the family needs to be acknowledged in church life. We meant it the same way that Swindoll and Baucham did. We believe that it rightly raises the warning that in the modern church, family life often disappears and is swallowed up in institutional church life. We wanted to say that it was wrong to treat the family in this manner. At the same time we wanted to affirm that both are important and they need to be preserved. Therefore, it is improper to understand this statement as a redefinition of the nature of the church. Voddie Baucham explains, “When we use the term ‘family of families’ we are not addressing the nature of the church. Let me say that again V-E-R-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y... THE TERM FAMILY OF FAMILIES IS NOT A COMMENT ON THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH!”1
Baucham makes the point that his statement only comments on matters of church structure. He says,
“The difference between the FIC and the neo-traditional church is not a matter of the nature, but the structure of the church. In fact, we argue that our model is much more in keeping with the proper theological understanding of the nature of the church, which would explain why age integration was the model for the New Testament church for nearly 2,000 years before the neo-traditional, age segregated transformation turned the church into isolated segments as opposed to a single, unified body.Thus, those who divide the church into artificial, culturally-defined cliques (children, students, college/career, young marrieds, old marrieds, senior adults, etc.) are the ones who have a difficult time fitting their model into the understanding both Lawrence and I share.”2
The phrase, ‘family of families” was never meant to be a comprehensive ecclesiological statement; it only served to demonstrate that the church is not exclusively composed of individuals, by acknowledging that there is a second biblical authority and jurisdiction in the church when a family comes to church. We wanted to clarify an important matter that church leaders are charged, not only to equip individuals, but also family members. They come to church as fathers and mothers and children and they need help to function biblically in their relationships in their homes.
1Baucham, Voddie, “Is The Church a Family of Families?”, Part 1, can be accessed at www.voddiebaucham.org/vbm/Blog/Entries/2009/3/26_Is_the_church_A_Family_of_Families.html (Accessed 11/05/2009)
2Ibid. (Accessed 11/05/2009)
How Can a Church Build Strong Families?
Here is the bottom line: You cannot minister to the weak families unless you have strong families. Strong families are dependent upon obedient men and holy women. If we never have healthy families, then we will never have healthy churches.
The following six things are biblically mandated elements of church and family life. Each one can help to foster healthy family life, and ultimately strong churches.
1. Provide biblically qualified elders
When a church establishes biblically qualified elders who manage their households well (1 Timothy 3), they are providing for long term social change. As these men lead by example, the whole church begins to understand how a biblically ordered family functions.
2. Encourage biblical headship in the home
How do you define a broken family? It starts with the role of the head of the house. Families are broken by men and women who do not fulfill their God ordained roles. If the church ever hopes to minister to broken families, it must start by going back to scripture to find how men should be spiritual leaders in their homes. We need to be about the business of equipping men for biblical manhood.
Who will minister to the lost youth of this generation? Families and churches must reach out to preach the gospel and teach all that Christ commanded.
3. Stop creating weak families through your programs
We believe that the modern church has missed the mark by doing things that keep families weak. The church has not maintained biblical priorities for family life. When we do this, we end up withholding adequate role models or worse, we have no good role models for our weak families. If you want to build strong families you have to stop creating weak families by maintaining unbiblical, family weakening practices. Until this changes in a church, families will remain weak and broken.
4. Make the church a true family
You must give broken families a biblical church family that exemplifies Christ’s love for the church. It is in a healthy church family that people with broken families learn something they did not know before – how to be a family (Mark 10:30).
5. Provide for the lifestyle of Titus 2 women in the church
Titus 2 gives a picture of women in strong families ministering to young families. When you promote Titus 2 women who will instruct the younger women you have provided a key component to church and family life that generates strong women and strong families. If you do not encourage women to be holy keepers at home you will never be able to have strong families. This is a culture defying act but it must be done because it is a key component to biblical Christianity.
6. Provide intergenerational worship and education
Families are strengthened by participation in biblical discipleship methodology that is intergenerational. This is the only pattern that we find in Scripture. There is no such thing as age specific ministry in the Bible. It needs to be admitted that putting thirteen year olds with thirteen year olds is a very foolish and unscriptural practice. Until churches change this and similar practices, the vicious cycle of decline will continue.
Two critical issues need to be addressed. First, refusing to give priority to making strong families in our churches ensures that we will always be calling people to weakness.
Second, neglecting the biblical directives for family life rejects the major biblical methods for ministry to youth.
Our failure to obey the word of God in ministry to youth is of enormous significance for the prosperity of the church. At this time, as we continue many unbiblical practices, we are systematically sending our young people on the path of destruction. It is fracturing our families. It is corrupting our churches. It is destroying the next generation.
If we ever expect to see change, it is important to stop doing the things that make for weak families and start practicing the things that strengthen them.
Leader’s Luncheon at the Sufficiency of Scripture Conference
Please accept our invitation to a time of fellowship and encouragement just before the SOS conference begins. Paul Washer, Doug Phillips, Scott Brown and other church elders will share helpful insights on the life of a church leader. All manner of church leaders and aspiring church leaders are welcome.
The work of a church leader is often an intense form of spiritual warfare. It can include a life of rejection, betrayal, attack, loneliness, ostracism, misunderstanding and pressure on the family.
On the other hand, it does include investment in the precious Bride of Christ. Church ministry can also include blessed friendships and expressions of kindness and mercy that anyone is allowed to experience.
We will have three hours together, beginning with a very nicely appointed lunch at the hotel.
Click here to visit our SOS Leader's Luncheon page where you can find our more information or register for this event.
The Church is a "Family of Families" -- A History, Part 1
In 2001, when Charles Swindoll wrote the foreword to Dennis Rainey’s book, Ministering to Twenty-First Century Families he said the church is “a family of families.” He was merely stating in his characteristic, winsome way that families are important in church life. He said,
“Most of the people in a local church are united in a smaller group called a family. In other words, the church is a ‘family of families.’ And of course, the local church is only as strong as its strongest families. Show me a healthy, vibrant local church, and I’ll show you an assembly filled with healthy, vibrant, fully functioning families.”1
No one thought he was redefining the nature of the church.
In 2002 when the National Center for Family Integrated Churches used the phrase “family of families” in its first version of A Biblical Confession for Uniting Church and Family,2 critics claimed we had fundamentally redefined the nature of the church and made it family based. They took these three little words out of their immediate context in a twelve point confession and ignored the wider context of our overall message. Thus in many cases, the phrase was intentionally or unintentionally misrepresented.
In 2007 Voddie Baucham used the phrase in his book, Family Driven Faith. He said,
“Our Church has no youth ministers, children’s ministers, or nursery. We do not divide families into component parts. We do not separate the mature women from the young teenage girls who need their guidance. We do not separate the toddler from his parents during worship. In fact, we don’t even do it in Bible study. We see the church as a family of families.”3
Those same three words became the center of criticism against his entire book. Although he thoroughly answered his critics in two articles posted on his blog,4 many speakers and writers still continue to ignore his explanation.
Quite a stir
These words caused quite a stir. They became the favorite whipping boy of our critics for years on end. Three words became the oft repeated point in attempt to refute the message of the NCFIC and discredit anyone else connected to the family integrated church movement. Typically, critics would use the term, elaborate on a meaning we did not endorse, and make conclusions we have never made. This was done from conference speaking platforms, seminary classrooms, and radio show microphones. It was done in pulpits to warn church members in church meetings. It appeared in books and blogs. It was referenced in articles and masters theses. In fact we are aware of one particular Master’s thesis for a theological seminary which bases its whole argument against us on these three words pulled out of context.
All of this over three words which appear in one single place in the context of the NCFIC Confession for Uniting Church and Family,5 and in Voddie Baucham's Family Driven Faith.
Individual words and phrases matter. But as any faithful student of scripture should know, words and phrases have to be understood in context, and attention given to the author’s intent. This is the basis of journalistic integrity. Taken out of context words can be used to say almost anything including the exact opposite of what they were originally intended for. Most of the criticism that has been directed to us over these three words has been aimed at straw man interpretations of the phrase that we would heartily join in condemning.
Stay Tuned for Part 2 of the “Family of Families” saga.
1Swindoll, Charles, Foreword to: [Rainey, Dennis Ministering to Twenty-first Century Families: Eight Big Ideas for Church Leaders, Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville, ©2001], p. XI
2The text for the original “A Biblical Confession for Uniting Church and Family” can be found at www.visionforumministries.org/home/about/a_biblical_confession_for_unit_1.aspx (Accessed 11/5/2009)
3Baucham, Voddie, Family Driven Faith: Doing What it Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters who Walk with God, Crossway Books: Wheaton, Illinois, ©2007, p.191
4“Is the Church a Family of Families?” Parts 1, 2, can be accessed at www.voddiebaucham.org/vbm/Blog/Entries/2009/3/26_Is_the_church_A_Family_of_Families.html and www.voddiebaucham.org/vbm/Blog/Entries/2009/3/27_Is_the_church_A_Family_of_Families_2.html successively. (Accessed 11/5/2009)
Paul Washer Invites You to the Sufficiency of Scripture Conference, 2009
A Happy Engagement Announcement
It is with great pleasure that Deborah and I along with Barry and Nadine Daming announce the engagement of our son David Brown to their daughter, Monica Daming. David and Monica have spent the last four years getting to know one another at Hope Baptist Church. David spent several months in private conversation with Monica's father, and then the next five months in a courtship. On October 23, they were engaged to be married. They have entered into this with the blessing of their parents and the whole congregation.
Proverbs 5:18
“Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth.”
Some Answers for Critics
Over the years, many people have written both positively and negatively about the NCFIC. Here are the seven most common mischaracterizations.
The NCFIC redefines the nature of the church as a “Family of Families.”
False. Our understanding of the nature of the church is consistent with the historic doctrinal statements of the faith including the second London Baptist Confession of 1689, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Heidelberg Catechism and The Baptist Faith and Message 2000. Many years ago, we said, “the church is a spiritual family of families.” Some said we were presenting a new definition for the church when in fact we were not speaking of the nature of the church at all. All we meant is that a separate jurisdiction – a family - comes to church and it needs to be acknowledged as such and equipped to be a biblical family. We were not redefining the nature of the church.
The NCFIC believes that the church is an extension of the family.
False. We do not believe the church is an extension of the family, rather they are separate yet complimentary institutions.
The NCFIC wrongfully places the family over the church in priority.
False. We have plainly stated that we believe the church is supreme among the institutions for it is eternal while the family is temporal.
The NCFIC believes that the church should be family based.
False. We do not believe that the church should be family based. We believe that the foundation and center of attention of the church ought to be the Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel. Further, we believe that families form critical building blocks of the church in the sense that families send their members to church and if you have weak and unbiblical family life, you will have a weak church.
The NCFIC believes that that the church can only relate to family members through the father.
False. We do not believe that the church must always work through or communicate through a father. We believe that the church has authority to discipline and instruct every individual believer in the family not just the head of the family, or through the head of the family.
The NCFIC believes that the whole family must always be together for all gatherings
False. We have never said that the whole family must be together for all gatherings nor have we said that “the church has no right to teach its members and the children of its members in situations where the entire family is not present.”
The NCFIC believes that the biblical pattern for church life is age integrated
True, we believe that the indisputable discipleship pattern presented in the bible is age integrated and not age segregated. Further, we maintain that the comprehensive age segregation that rules the church today is a violation of the patterns of scripture and that the biblical burden of proof lies with those who practice it.
The National Center for Family Integrated Churches has written a "confession" that explains its understanding of the necessity of harmony between the separate jurisdictions of church and family.
We have a number of free audio messages on these subjects where we plainly state our positions on the audio resources section of our web site. Check out messages entitled, "What is a Family Integrated Church" and "The Biblical Case for Family Integrated Discipleship." Also, let me recommend that you listen to “What About Home Churching?” where we make a case for what is a true church and why many churches meeting in homes may be unbiblical.
Is Age Segregation Biblical?
In this podcast features various leaders connected with Hope Baptist Church - Scott Brown, Dan Horn, Jason Dohm and Steve Breagy. We are tackling the controversial subject, age segregation, which has become the predominant method of discipleship in the modern church. Right now we exist in an environment where the concept of age segregation has been broadly embraced and it really has almost become "gospel" for modern church discipleship methodology. If you contradict the practice of age segregation in the Church it is recieved almost like you are attacking the gospel itself.