Here A.A. Hodge diagnoses the trap that "dapper preachers" fall into by claiming that "the age has outgrown the doctrine":

Let us reverently remember the awful woe which the Holy Ghost denounces upon him who either “shall add anything unto” or “shall take away” aught from that which God has revealed in the Scriptures. Rev. xxii. 18, 19. It is certainly as impious, and perhaps more foolish, to refuse to see clearly what God has revealed clearly, as it is to attempt to understand in detail great undefined facts which God has seen fit to leave upon the verge of our horizon. We hear of some dapper preachers who claim that the age has outgrown doctrine. They have advanced around the circle to the place from which they started, and hope they are ready again to enter the kingdom of heaven like little children, as far as ignorance is concerned. Let it be remembered that systematic theology has its essence simply in clear thinking and clear speaking on the subject of that religion which is revealed in the Scriptures. A man can outgrow systematic theology, therefore, either by ceasing to be clear-headed, or by ceasing to be religious, and in no other way. I suppose some escape in their haste by both ways at once. - A. A. Hodge, The Atonement, (Memphis, TN: Footstool Pub., 1987), 22.

Click here for new NC abortion law that comes into effect today.

While working on my presentation of the doctrine of adoption for next week's Sound Doctrine Conference, I ran across this on adoption:

Extol and magnify God’s mercy, who has adopted you into his family; who, of slaves, has made you sons; of heirs of hell, heirs of the promise. Adoption is a free gift. He gave them power, or dignity, to become the sons of God. As a thread of silver runs through a whole piece of work, so free grace runs through the whole privilege of adoption. Adoption is greater mercy than Adam had in paradise; he was a son by creation, but here is a further sonship by adoption. To make us thankful, consider, in civil adoption there is some worth and excellence in the person to be adopted; but there was no worth in us, neither beauty, nor parentage, nor virtue; nothing in us to move God to bestow the prerogative of sonship upon us. We have enough in us to move God to correct us, but nothing to move him to adopt us, therefore exalt free grace; begin the work of angels here; bless him with your praises who has blessed you in making you his sons and daughters.—Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity, p. 240

"Benjamin Keach summarized the positive obligations in terms of two broad categories: relations with the pastor and with one another. To the pastor each member owes 8 things: (1) prayer, (2) ‘reverential esteem’, (3) submission, (4) vindication from the reproaches of opponents, (5) information, i.e. going to them in times of trouble, (6) adequate financial support, (7) adherence in times of trials, and (8) attendance at meetings called by the pastor. To one another, each member owes (1) submission to the church as a whole, (2) ‘peace, unity and sweet concord’, (3) willingness to follow the Scriptural process of settling offenses, and (4) impartiality in the exercise of discipline." – James M. Renihan, Edification and Beauty: the Practical Ecclesiology of the English Particular Baptists, 1675-1705, (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2008), 55.

 Click here to get to scottbrownonline.com to read a poem about a failed courtship.

Because God is sovereign in salvation, your children are in good hands. Thomas Fuller, chaplain to Oliver Cromwell captured this idea beautifully, in “A Father's Hope and Warning.”

Lord, I find the genealogy of my Savior strangely checkered with four remarkable changes in four immediate generations. (1) Rehoboam begat Abijah; that is, a bad father begat a bad son. (2) Abijah begat Asa; that is, a bad father begat a good son. (3) Asa begat Jehoshaphat; that is, a good father a good son. (4) Jehoshaphat begat Joram; that is, a good father a bad son. I see, Lord, from hence that my father's piety cannot be entailed; that is bad news for me. But I see also that actual impiety is not always hereditary; that is good news for my son.

Tonight, we will be having our final webinar session on the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689. Chapter 32 covers Divine Judgment, where the writers of the confession explain what happens and its effect on people.

In the book God's Glory in Salvation Through Judgment, James M. Hamilton Jr. says: 

The center of biblical theology is the glory of God in salvation through judgment, as can be seen in creation and covenant, salvation history and story line, exodus and exile, new exodus and return to Eden, warning and repentance, fear of God and wrath to come. He will save and judge, and there will be no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God and the Lamb will shine forever. - From James M. Hamilton, God's Glory in Salvation Through Judgment: a Biblical Theology, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 551.

It has been stated, "There are no commands against age-segregated youth ministry in the Bible." Here is an answer to this question from the book, A Weed in the Church:

If we accept the premise that we are only obligated to obey the Word of God when there is an express command, then we are forced to grapple with a number of other issues. For example, there is no command against polygamy, but Christians believe polygamy is wrong because of the patterns and commands of Scripture that define marriage, not because of a direct command against it. Gambling and the smoking of marijuana are not condemned in the Bible, yet there are principles of Scripture that make it clear that these are sinful. There is also no direct command against cannibalism (though there are principles and examples against it), yet it is sinful to engage in this practice.

This idea comes from the assumption that if the Bible does not expressly forbid something, it is therefore allowed. There are serious problems with making this the standard for determining the will of God. It denies the authority of principles, positive commands, and normative patterns established in Scripture. It also denies the principle that the Bible speaks to all areas of life and that it is sufficient to equip the man of God “for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

Explicit negative commands are therefore not necessary to show that something is contrary to the Word of God. Even though there is no express command against systematic age segregation, we argue against it because it does not properly fulfill the principles and commands of Scripture, which apply to youth discipleship, and it goes against the primary examples of gatherings involving the whole people of God.

In answering this question, RC Sproul Jr, concludes with this statement: "We’re such a mess, there is no program, no book, no preacher, no strategy that can fix us. Only the gospel will do."

Read the whole article here:

What is wrong with the church?

What is wrong with the church is what is wrong with Christians, sin. Because of our sin, however, we tend to think of sin as something we do, rather than something we are. Because of our sin, in turn, we are more interested in covering our sin than fighting it.

We cover it in at least two ways. The first is misdirection. That is, if we can define sin as that which we are less apt to struggle with, we miss the real problem. So we vow not to drink, smoke or chew and not to go out with girls that do. We behave in nice, respectable ways, and mistake this for growing in grace and wisdom. We show our brothers our sparkly white teeth as if this is how one recognizes a shiny white soul. My business is successful, my wife is happy, my daughter is on the honor roll and my son captains the football team, and because I am a successful American, I must be a faithful Christian.

The second thing we do is baptize our real sins, framing them in the best possible light. Our real problem is our pride, but we call it “protecting our reputation.” Our real problem is our malice, but we call it “zeal for righteousness.” Our real problem is envy, but we call it “encouraging others toward humility.” We devour each other, jockeying for position, hungering for accolades, all under the guise of service to the Suffering Servant.

The bizarre fruit of our sin is that though the church is made up of those who must profess to be humble we are the very picture of pride. We enter in through confessing how utterly unworthy, unable, unattractive we are. We are the body of the base, the weak, the foolish (I Corinthians 1). The very core of our message is, “I can’t possible please God. Only Jesus can do that.” And yet we pretend to do just that, please God, and in pretending gravely displease Him. We cry out to God not to look at us, but to look at Him, then turn around and try to get the body to look at us.

Perhaps worse still, what defines us is that we have precisely what we not just foolishly long for, but what we sinfully pursue. The way in is confessing our unworthiness. But what is on the inside is a banquet feast in our honor. We are the children of God, loved as deeply as He loves Jesus. He is ordering that the robe and the ring be brought forth, that the fatted calf be killed in our honor and we are down at the bunkhouse conniving and backbiting to secure the “Employee of the Month” pin and parking space.

What is wrong with the church? We don’t believe the gospel. We don’t believe that we were dead in our sins, desperately wicked. We don’t believe that He, not we, made us alive, nor that there remains much in us that needs to be put to death. We don’t believe that He suffered the wrath of the Father for us, and that therefore the Father embraces us as His sons. We’re such a mess, there is no program, no book, no preacher, no strategy that can fix us. Only the gospel will do.

RCJR

Anyone associated with the FIC movement knows the following two things. Number one: People have a lot of “what about…?” questions. Number two: Often people asking the questions want to hear subjective, anecdotal testimonies as the answer to their “what about…?” inquiries. Questions like, “what about single moms?”, “what about college singles?”, “what about a kid whose parents aren’t Christians?” are questions that many times are trying to illicit answers pointing to real life experiences and testimonies concerning actual people in real life situations. Objectivity, ecclesiological understanding, and scriptural proof texts are not necessarily being sought out.

So, for anyone wanting a real life example to a real “what about…?”, the testimony below speaks loudly. This testimony answers on the surface the “what about college singles?” question; however, in reading it, one will quickly find that this account from a single young man actually answers all “what about…?” questions by testifying about the objective truths of the unifying power of the gospel. Used with permission, here is a testimony from one college student’s real life experience with a FIC congregation:

During the summer of 2011, I moved from South Carolina to Texas to intern with a construction firm. Thanks to the 9marks network, I found a like-minded congregation in town. I ended up attending Ridgewood Church, a member of The National Council for Family-Integrated Churches. I come from a reformed tradition and knew of family-integrated churches, but I had never attended one. Many say a family-integrated church is not the place for a single college man. He needs fellowship with people his own age, the teaching will not be applicable, he will fill excluded because he does not have a family of his own… None of these objections proved true. The church welcomed me as a brother, loved me, and exemplified hospitality. Many of the families invited me into their homes for dinner and family worship. During these home visits and after Sunday and Wednesday services, I talked with many of the men about the things of God. These men offered advice concerning a multitude of subjects and pointed me to Scripture. The church is a remnant of men and women from every nation, tribe, and tongue, whom God has redeemed through the blood of his Son. The gospel, not age, is the foundation of Christian unity. It is all sufficient, and it is what binds the young and the elderly Christian together in fellowship. Attending Ridgewood and seeing how older godly men lived their lives, taught their families, and reverenced God’s Word was sanctifying. If, Lord willing, I have a family of my own, I will practice what I learned during that summer and strive to obey Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

Adam Lynch
Senior, Clemson University

Dustin Guidry is an elder at Ridgewood Church in Port Arthur, TX, where he was instrumental in leading an established, neo-traditional, age-segregated church into becoming a family-integrated congregation. His book, Turning the Ship: Exploring the Age-Integrated Church, chronicles Ridgewood’s journey of rejecting the secularization of the church while relying on the sufficiency of Scripture for all matters of faith and practice. Besides helping churches and leaders transition to a more biblical ecclesiological structure, Guidry is on the front lines in many areas he is passionately involved with such as adoption, church planting, equipping men, and home education, to name a few. Guidry and his wonderful wife, Kerri, are the blessed parents of five children. You can contact him at dustinguidry@yahoo.com.

“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife,
and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also,
he cannot be my disciple.”—Luke 14:26

JESUS Christ knew that the persons to whom He spoke would not be able to bear the tests which awaited his disciples; they did not know that He would be crucified, for just then He was popular, and they hoped that he was to be the King of Israel, but the Savior knew that there would come dark days in which the King of the Jews would be hanged upon a [cross], and His disciples, even His true ones, would forsake Him for the moment and would flee. Therefore, He in effect said to them, “You must be prepared for cross-bearing, you must be prepared to follow me amid derision and shame and reproach, and if you are not ready for this your discipleship is a mistake. In their case, it did not stand the test; these people were nowhere when the time of trial came. And remember, dear friends, and I dwell with great emphasis upon this point, we want a religion that will abide the inspection of the great Judge at the Last Day…If our religion is to be weighed in the balances, and may perchance be found wanting, it is well for us to see to it and to know that it must be sincere, genuine, and costly, if it is to pass that ordeal.

What, then, is the expense?...The answer is given by our Savior, not by me. I should not have dared to invent such tests as He has ordained. It is for me to be the echo of His voice and no more. What does He say? Why, first, that if you would be His and have His salvation, you must love Him beyond every other person in this world. Is not that the meaning of this expression, “If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother”? Dear names! Dear names! “Father and mother!” Lives there a man with soul so dead that he can pronounce either of these words without emotion, and especially the last— “mother”? Men and brethren, this is a dear and tender name to us, it touches a chord that thrills our being. Yet far more powerful is the name of Savior, the name of Jesus. Less loved must father and mother be than Jesus Christ. The Lord demands precedence also of the best beloved “wife.” Here He touches another set of heartstrings. Dear is that word wife—partner of our being, comfort of our sorrow, delight of our eyes—“wife!” Yet, Wife, thou must not take the chief place, thou must sit at Jesus’ feet, or else thou art an idol; and Jesus will not brook thy rivalry. And “children,” the dear babes that nestle in the bosom and clam-ber to the knee and pronounce the parent’s name in accents of music—they must not be our chief love, they must not come in between us and the Savior, nor for their sakes, to give them pleasure or to promote their worldly advantage, must we grieve our Lord…If they tempt us to evil, they must be treated as if we hated them! Yea, the evil in them must be hated for Christ’s sake. If ye be Christ’s disciples, your Lord must be first, then father, mother, wife, children, brethren, and sisters will follow in due rank and order.

I am afraid that many professors are not prepared for this. They would be Christians if their family would approve, but they must consult their brother, father, or wife. They would make a stand against worldly pleas-ures if others would, but they cannot bear to appear [peculiar] or to op-pose the views of relatives. They say, “My father wishes it, and I dare not tell him that it is wrong.” “My mother says that we must not be too strait-laced, and therefore, though my conscience tells me it is wrong, yet will I do it.” Or else they say, “My girls are growing up and must have amuse-ment, and my boys must be allowed their pleasures. Therefore, I must wink at sin.” Ah, my brethren, this must not be, if you are indeed Christ’s disciples. You must put them all aside; the dearest must go sooner than Jesus be forsaken. For does He not say in the Psalms, “Hearken, O daugh-ter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house; So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him” (Psa 45:10)? Mark you, you will best prove your love to your relatives by being decided for the right, since you will be the more likely to win their souls. Love them too much to indulge the wrong in them; love them so truly that you hate in them that [which] would injure you and ruin them. You must be prepared to suffer from those who are bound to you by the dearest ties…We cannot yield in the point of sin, our determination is invincible: come hate or come love, we must follow Christ.

From a sermon by Charles Spurgeon delivered on Lord’s Day morning, February 22, 1874,
at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

From The Free Grace Broadcaster on Self-Denial

The reason why men forsake truth for error is, that they have not really understood that truth, in nine cases out of ten they have not embraced it with enlightened minds.

Let me exhort you, parents as much as lieth in you, to give your children sound instruction in the great doctrines of the gospel of Christ.

I believe that what Irving once said is a great truth. He said, "In these modern times you boast and glory, and you think yourselves to be in a high and noble condition, because you have your Sabbath-schools and British-schools, and all kinds of schools for teaching youth. I tell you," he said, "that philanthropic and great as these are they are the ensigns of your disgrace; they show that your land is not a land where parents teach their children at home. They show you there is a want of parental instruction; and though they be blessed things, these Sabbath-schools, they are indications of something wrong, for if we all taught our children there would be no need of strangers to say to our children 'Know the Lord.'"

I trust you will never give up that excellent puritanical habit of catechising your children at home. Any father or mother who entirely gives up a child to the teaching of another has made a mistake.

There is no teacher who wishes to absolve a parent from what he ought to do himself! He is an assistant, but he was never intended to be a substitute. Teach your children; bring up your old catechisms again, for they are after all blessed means of instruction, and the next generation shall outstrip those that have gone before it, for the reason why many of you are weak in the faith is this, you did not receive instruction in your youth in the great things of the gospel of Christ. If you had, you would have been so grounded, and settled, and firm in the faith, that nothing could by any means have moved you. - from Spurgeon on Home-Schooling and Catechesis posted by Phil Johnson

Defining the Importance of This Issue

How does the issue of age segregation in the church rank in importance in matters of doctrine, ecclesiology, and practice (evangelism and discipleship)? Is the method we use to reach the next generation prescribed in Scripture, or is this issue simply a matter of preference? Is it merely one legitimate option among many discipleship models from which to choose? When we are doing “theological triage,” where does it fall on the list?

All crises are not created equal. Some problems in the modern church are worse than others. The most devastating problem the Church faces in any era is the perversion of the gospel and, therefore, the Church must always endeavor to preserve and to present the gospel clearly. Perversions of the gospel of Christ should always be met with the most aggressive stance and authoritative arguments after the pattern of the apostle Paul, who said: “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8). Paul met this problem among the believers in the Galatian churches, addressing it with passion, clarity, and fatherly concern: “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you,” and “I am afraid for you” (Gal. 3:1, 4:11).

False Gospels

It is a well-known fact that the modern church is plagued with false gospels. The most visible type is easy believism, where there is no repentance or life change. We must understand that the same thing that gets you a false gospel is what gets you unbiblical methodologies for communicating the gospel. While the message of the gospel is of primary importance, the methods you use to communicate the gospel are also important. One important distinction is that there is only one true gospel, but there are many different methods commanded in Scripture for the discipleship of youth.

You get a false gospel by not taking seriously everything God has said about the gospel. If you leave out one detail, you lose the gospel. If you leave out repentance, you have a false gospel. If you leave out faith and replace it with works, you have a false gospel. If you leave out anything, you have a false gospel. The same goes with adding. If you add anything, you have a false gospel. If you add certain spiritual gifts, a sinner’s prayer, or spiritual disciplines as requisite for the gospel, you result in a false gospel because sinners are redeemed by grace alone through faith alone by Christ alone (Eph. 1:7; 2:5, 8-9 2. 1 Cor. 15:1-4).

The true gospel is the first message we must communicate (1 Cor. 15:1-4) and the most important message, for it is “the power of God to salvation” (Rom. 1:16). Without the gospel, there is no true conversion, no ability to turn from sin, no true church, no true sanctification, and no entry into heavenly glory. The preaching of the true gospel and the rescue of sinners is the beginning of all transformation. It is the purpose for which the world was created.

With such a precious treasure to communicate, does it matter how you communicate the gospel to youth? In this book, we contend that the Bible clearly spells out specific ways to communicate the treasure of the gospel to youth. While there is only one true gospel, the Bible clearly spells out defined methods for communicating the gospel to the rising generation. Contrary to what most people have been trained to think, there is a biblical methodology for the evangelization and discipleship of youth. The Bible talks not only about the content of the message but also how the message is delivered. It is this simple. Because the Bible states it, we should care deeply about what that methodology looks like. When we look at our practices and discover that we are not doing those things but rather a different program, we must realize what that means for us. It is a very serious matter.

While the crisis of systematic age segregation does not rise to the same level as that of a false gospel, this book nevertheless asserts that it is a serious error. We do not believe that age segregation as a primary practice is simply another option on the buffet table along with other viable models of discipling the next generation. Furthermore, we submit that it is a symptom of the same problem that leads to a false gospel: laying aside the commandment of God for the traditions of men (Mark 7:8). When men leave the mooring of the all-sufficient Word of God, false gospels abound, and worldly, pragmatic practices arise within the church. When someone preaches a false gospel, it is because he has ignored the truth of Scripture. And when the church advocates unbiblical methods, it too has ignored the truth of Scripture. Whenever we ignore the Scriptures, we exalt man’s traditions.

This means that how the church preaches the gospel is critical. Scripture not only gives us the content of the gospel but also sheds light on how to deliver the message. It is therefore crucial to avoid compromising the message of Scripture, both in what we say and in how we say it.

Does it matter if you add to or subtract from the methods the Bible presents for the communication of the gospel? We maintain that man sins by adding to or subtracting from the ways that the Bible says that youth are to be gathered, evangelized, and instructed.

Our message is that the Word of God is sufficient for the communication of the gospel to the rising generation, for it contains “all that is necessary for life and godliness” (2 Pet. 2:3).

This is a message I gave last year, during our roadtrip across the United States. Often family-integrated churches misconstrue the reasons we worship together as families in the first place. These misunderstandings lead to what I call "infections" in family-integrated churches.

It's not just family-integrated churches that are subject to infections. In fact, you could argue that modern age segregation is an infection in the Church at large today. In Ephesians 5, we learn that Christ is sanctifying and washing His bride, the Church, by the washing of water by the Word. We will always live in imperfect churches that are being sanctified by our Lord, and we have a responsibility to purge the blemishes we see in her from the Word of God.

 

We just finished a wonderful family conference at Mt. Zion Bible Church (home of Chapel Library) in Pensacola, FL.

The NCFIC interns and five brethren from the country of Malawi joined us at this conference.

You can listen to some of the messages by following the links below:

• Too Busy - Real Priorities (Scott Brown)
• Handling Young Infants/Young Children (Deborah Brown)
• Fathers/Husbands and Church Working Together (Scott Brown)
• Planting a New Testament Church and Q&A (Scott Brown/Jason Dohm)

This audio set addresses one of the most fundamental building blocks of society - marriage, and it seeks to handle the thorny and uncomfortable issues. With speakers such as Paul Washer, Doug Phillips, Joel Beeke, Kevin Swanson, Scott Brown, and others speaking about the picture of Christ and the church, arranged marriages, romance and emotions, how to qualify suitors, and more, this CD set should be a must-have for your family and your church. Build your understanding of marriage by ordering now.

To see more pictures of today, click here

To order the CD set or MP3s from this conference, click here

In the third and final instalment of His exposition of Ephesians 5:21-33, Scott Brown spoke of the beauty of the mystery that is revealed to us by Paul in this passage .

 "Until we understand the cross, it's almost impossible to understand marriage, because at the center of marriage is the cross. That's why Paul says 'This is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ and the church". What he's saying is 'I'm speaking of the cross'. Marriage is meant to display the glory and the accomplishment of the cross. On the cross was the ultimate sacrifice. It was also the ultimate accomplishment as He won, from every tongue and tribe and nation, those who hated Him. That's why Paul said 'God forbid that I should boast in anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ'. Paul said in Romans 5:6-8, 'Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' And that, brothers and sisters, is the meaning of Ephesians 5:21-33."

This afternoon Doug Phillips took the stage to speak of the tender mercy and love a father is to have towards his daughter, and the careful, uncompromising way in which he is to evaluate and disciple men who desire a relationship with her.

“There are many things you are going to do with your life, but the single most precious gift you will ever give away is your daughter.”