The Bible commentator, Lenski, explains in his own words how Timothy learned the sacred writings:

Little Timothy learned his ABC’s from the Bible, learned to read from the Bible, and thus from earliest childhood spelled out “sacred letters.” As he spelled out this and that word, mother and grandmother told the story. Soon he could read a little, ask questions, hear more. A lovely picture indeed! I like it better than our method of today which supplies secular matter for the primers and holds back the sacred letters until later years.

(R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians, to the Thessalonians, to Timothy, to Titus and to Philemon, 839 [Columbus, O.: Lutheran Book Concern, 1937]) accessed from Pyromaniacs Blog on May 15, 2010.

"As the saving doctrine of Christ is the soul of the church, so discipline forms ligaments which connect the members together, and keep each in its proper place. Whoever, therefore, either desire the abolition of all discipline, or obstruct its restoration, whether they act from design or inadvertency, they certainly promote the entire dissolution of the Church." 

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 vols., ed. John T. McNeill (Philidelphia: The Westminister Press, 1960), p. 1,238 (Book IV, Chapter XII, Section 10).

1. There is work to be done

Matthew 9:37-38 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

2. Jesus has commanded you to do it

Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

3. Success is guaranteed

John 10:16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

4. Jesus is the only salvation

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

5. You were given the Holy Spirit for this purpose

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

6. People won’t be saved without hearing

Romans 10:11-15 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

7. Evangelism is necessary for your own growth in Christ

Philemon 6 And I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.

This Pew Forum research project shows some remarkable religious differences between states and regions. (Click on the state to see the religious configuration that exists there. You can view this by clicking here.) Notice the spread between Arkansas which 53% evangelical, while California is 18%. Utah's numbers are staggeringly different from the rest of the country with 58% Mormon while the rest of the states are at around one half of one percent. The most secularized regions of course are the West coast and the Northeast with disproportionately high numbers of people who call themselves religiously "unaffiliated."

There are those who claim that the FIC argument is dependent upon embracing the regulative principle of worship. This is not completely accurate. We do believe that God and God alone has authority to define worship, and that children are involved in worship among the gathered saints. We also know from Scripture that these gatherings are always age integrated.

We state very clearly that the central proposition of the NCFIC is the sufficiency of Scripture – that you do not need the regulative principle to prove the point regarding the discipleship of youth. We are saying Scripture is sufficient for the discipleship of youth – both inside and outside the worship service. We conducted a major conference on the subject of the sufficiency of Scripture.

The section of the London Baptist Confession of 1689 where the FIC is grounded is Chapter 1, Of the Holy Scriptures, not in Chapter 22, Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day. While there are important principles in Chapter 22 for the discussion, it is not the heart of the discussion.

The point is this: Scripture is sufficient to teach us how children and youth are to be discipled. How we bring up the next generation is not a matter “common to human actions and societies” (SLBC 1.6) but rather is clearly defined in Scripture. On the contrary, we would say that bringing up children this way ("common to human actions and societies") is not only dangerous, but also most likely to be completely contrary to Scripture. We don’t get our advice from the gentiles on childraising. I know we both agree about that.

For many years, we have been advocating a pro-child philosophy in church life which functionally means that we integrate children – and all ages – in normal church activities. I remember a very eerie feeling a few years ago when I was in a church service, and it was all old people. It felt very sterile and unnatural. The rejection of children in our world has come to such great proportions that some are calling it, "The no-kids-allowed movement." One author says it is spreading. She cites Malaysia airlines and others banning babies from first class cabins. She documents the banning of children in restaurants and the creation of "child free" travel destinations. Even the health food chain, Whole Foods has jumped on the band wagon. Unfortunately, the church has been on this bandwagon for a very long time.  We think it is no small issue since it is contrary to sound doctrine and have actually made a film about it – Dividedthemovie.com 

This past Sunday, I preached on Matthew 16:1-12, where Jesus warns His disciples to beware of the doctrine of the Pharisees. Matthew 16:12 says, "Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."

Reasons men keep their mouths shut on the issue of women in authority

John Knox proposes three reasons why men shrink back and say nothing about women ruling over men, even when such an obvious biblical principle is being violated. The first reason men keep their mouths shut is for fear that “It may seem to tend to sedition.” Second it is “dangerous to the writer and the publisher.” And third, it won’t fix the problem because it may never come to the ears of those who need to hear it. (First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, John Knox, Presbyterian Heritage Publications, 1993, p12)

Phil Johnson recently wrote a post entitled: How Can We Tell If Our Repentance Is Deep Enough. He writes:

It's impossible to judge the depth of someone's conviction or the genuineness of a believer's penitence based on the potency of an emotional reaction alone. If the question is whether your repentance is genuine or not, I personally think what you "feel" emotionally has very little significance. Judas wept bitterly; Esau shed many tears. Neither of them truly repented. By contrast, the thief on the cross seemed almost stoically resigned to his fate. But there was enough genuine repentance in his dying plea that Jesus assured him of salvation on the spot.

You can read more by clicking the link above.

1. Men protect women.
2. Men are leaders.
3. Men are responsible as heads of their families.
4. Men are to teach their children 24/7.
5. Men are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and be willing to die for them.
6. Men are to be fruitful and multiply.
7. Men do not own their bodies. Their wives do.
8. Men must bring up their children in the training and admonition of the Lord.
9. Men must ensure that their whole families and everyone else around them should celebrate the Sabbath.
10. Men's hearts should be turned toward their children.

So it is with souls, when first translated into the marvelous light of Christ, to behold the beauties of the new creation. They see a new glory in him, that hath quite sullied the desirableness of all earthly diversions. And they see a new guilt and filth in sin, that gives them an utter abhorrence of its old delight and pleasures; and so of other things. Now, whilst these and the like springs are kept open, in the souls of converted sinners, they constrain them to vigorous active holiness. They can never do enough for God.

– John Owen, Nature, Power, Deceit and Prevalency of Indwelling Sin in Believers, 263

My friend Carlton McLeod at Calvary Revival Church Chesapeake blogged about a story of a young girl at the church. Regeneration can sound like such a technical theological word, but the sweetness it brings to the human soul is the most wonderful thing as this story shows.

This post is part of a series on church membership. If you missed the introduction, you can find it here.

It could go without saying that, by and large, professing Christians have become very casual about the local church. A common view is that membership in the worldwide body of Christ is the thing that really matters, and the local church is simply the gathering of nearby Christians who happen to share a doctrinal persuasion. Because that view only represents a sliver of the New Testament’s teaching on the subject, people come or go, attend or stay home, invest or fritter, with no awareness of how one or the other relates to faithfulness.

I want to argue that the inspired authors of the New Testament actually put forward that the local church is a real, distinct entity, one which serves critical functions, and that this has monumental implications for our life together.

Big-C, Little-c

Most Christians understand and affirm the existence of the Big-C-Church. This is the universal church, the people of God, past, present, and future. Ephesians 4:4 says, “There is one body”. This is the Church. Simple enough. The author of Hebrews speaks of “so great a cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1), which includes the great men and women of faith from the preceding chapter – Noah, Sarah, Abraham, Moses, and Rahab - to name a few. One day all those of faith will sit down with them at the great wedding feast. What a Church! What a glorious prospect!

The little-c-church may be a bit foggier in our minds. What exactly are these local assemblies of professed believers - these local churches where we have most of our eyeball-to-eyeball interaction with brothers and sisters in Christ? The New Testament sets forth a clear testimony of the local church as a distinct entity.

View of the Inspired New Testament Authors

- 1 Corinthians 1:2: Paul writes “To the church of God which is at Corinth.” Can we agree that this is not the Big-C-Church? However the parameters are defined, it is clear enough that this is a church with borders. This isn’t an open letter to Noah, Sarah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, et al. It is a rather personal letter to a distinct group of people. Later in the same chapter, verse 11, Paul bemoans the contentions that have been declared to him. In verse 13, he asks, “Is Christ divided?” He means, “Is the Big-C-Church divided?” This is a rhetorical question and the obvious answer is “No!” At first glance, it may seem like this argues against the local church as a distinct entity, but actually the opposite is true. It gives us a picture of the local church that mirrors the character of God. Is God one? Yes. Deuteronomy 6:4, “The LORD our God, the LORD is one!” Is God many? He is Three. Genesis 1:26 says, "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image.'" Matthew 3:16-17 says, "And behold, the heavens were opened to Him [Jesus], and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'” Here in 1 Corinthians 1, we see the Church and the church, side-by-side, the one and the many. This is not division. This is the design of God, founded on the nature of God. Are we surprised to discover ways in which the people of God reflect the nature of God?

- Acts 20:17: Paul sends to Ephesus “for the elders of the church.” Again, this is clearly the church, not the Church. Paul is not sending for men who have an accountability for the souls of every Christian, as elders have for the souls in a specific local church. He is summoning real men with real responsibilities as the God-appointed leaders of a local church.

- Revelation 1-3: John writes letters to the churches. In Revelation 1:12-16, our resurrected Lord, in the most glorious form, is walking among seven lampstands. Then in verse 20, Jesus says to John, “The seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.” As the succeeding chapters unfold, we see with great clarity that these churches are indeed distinct entities, each with a personality, things to be praised, things requiring rebuke, commands to be obeyed. A nebulous concept of the local church is a thousand miles away from the letters to the churches.

Hand-in-Glove

I hope that these texts satisfy us on a critical point: the universal church and the local church, the Church and the church, are both thoroughly biblical categories. The inspired writers of the New Testament speak of both, fluidly and without a hint of contradiction. So far from being a single category or two categories which stand in opposition, the universal church and the local church actually represent a compelling vision of how God intends to relate to His people, care for them, and equip them for the work of the ministry. Like all things of His design, they fit hand-in-glove.

If we miss this, we undervalue an entity given to us by God according to the kind intention of His will, miss the blessing, and dishonor Jesus Christ.

In a few days, I will engage Argument 2 in the series: The Local Church Is a Flock.

Stay tuned.

Jason Dohm has been married to Janet for twenty years, with a wonderful result being six children ages five to sixteen. Following a lengthy career in electronics manufacturing, Jason now serves full-time as an elder of Sovereign Redeemer Community Church in Youngsville, NC. He graduated from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1992 with a B.A. in education.

Check up on the D6 Reformation at Calvary Revival Church Chesapeake.

From their website:

Our goals are simple. We passionately want to see our children discipled and trained to love Jesus, and the biblical family restored. We believe reforming the home is essential to turning the tide of generational losses and recapturing God’s plan for multigenerational faithfulness.

The D6 Reformation is our attempt to spread the message of the critical need for consistent, fervent, passionate, and biblical family discipleship. It is our attempt to inspire every Christian and every church we can to return to a biblical model of parents (particularly fathers) taking full responsibility for the discipleship of their children.

By doing our part here, we believe we are connecting to a real move of God sweeping across the churches in our Nation right now. Every type of church and every race of Christian is catching hold of both the call to reform our families and the devastating consequences if we don't.

What you are about to read is a blast from the past. Robert Murray McCheyne, a pastor in Scotland, wrote this wonderful letter to the Rev. William Burns, one who was a missionary to China during a portion of his life. This letter would make an excellent reading and discussion around your dinner table.

My Dear Brother–I have had a severe illness, or would have answered your kind note long before this. I fear you may have left Breadalbane before this can reach it; still I write in hope. You may be sure I ever follow you with my prayers and earnest longings of heart that God may humble, purify, and make use of you to carry glad tidings of great joy to the inmost hearts of poor, guilty, perishing sinners, wherever you go. I have been much interested by all that I have heard of the good that has attended you in the north. I long to hear still more. The very name of Moulin stirs up the inmost depths of the heart, when I remember what great things the Lord Jesus did there of old. Do write to me when you have a moment, and stir me up. You know a word to a minister is worth a word to three or four thousand souls sometimes. Nothing stirs me up so much to be instant and faithful as hearing of the triumphs of the Lord Jesus in other places. I am glad and thankful to say that we are not left quite desolate. There have been evident tokens of the presence of the Spirit of the God among my dear people many nights–more I think upon the Thursday nights than on the Sabbaths. Some I have met with seemingly awakened without any very direct means. A good number of young mill-girls are still weeping after the Lord Jesus. I have been out of my pulpit only one Sabbath, and I hope to be back to it next Sabbath, if the Lord will.

What Mr. T. mentioned to you was true, of some having followed after an enthusiastic kind of man, who in my absence came among them. Doubtless Satan wanted to carry off some of the sheep, and succeeded so far. Still, I trust, it will end in good. Some have have been a good deal humbled in the dust on account of it, and I have been roused up to cry for more knowledge how to guide them in the right way. I think, if strength were restored to me, I will try, in name of the Lord Jesus, to catechize through my parish. I ask your advice and prayers on this. If it could be conducted humbly, and with patience, and aptness to teach, I am persuaded it would tend to ground them more deeply in Divine things. Hypocrites also might be denounced and warned, and the unconverted pointedly dealt with. I feel the immense difficulty of it in a town, and such a neglected, ignorant one as this. Still, if God were with me, who can be against me?

Everything I meet with, and everyday I study my Bible, makes me pray more that God would begin and carry on a deep, pure, wide-spread, and permanent work of God in Scotland. If it be not deep and pure, it will only end in confusion, and grieving away the Holy Spirit of God by irregularities and inconsistencies. Christ will not get glory, and the country generally will be hardened and have their mouths filled with reproaches. If it be not wide-spread, our God will not get a large crown out of this generation. If it be not permanent, that will prove its impurity, and will turn all our hopes into shame. I am much more afraid of Satan than I used to be. I learned a good deal by being with Cumming in Strathbogie.

I am also deepened in my conviction, that if we are to be instruments in such a work, we must be purified from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Oh, cry for personal holiness, constant nearness to God, by the blood of the Lamb. Bask in his beams–lie back in the arms of love–be filled with His spirit–or all success in the ministry will only be to your own everlasting confusion.

You know how I have always insisted on this with you. It is because I feel the need thereof myself. Take heed, dear friend; do not think any sin trivial; remember it will have everlasting consequences. O, to have Brainerd’s heart for perfect holiness–to be holy as God is holy–pure as Christ is pure–perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. Oh! what a cursed body of sin we bear, that we should be obliged by it to break these sweet gospel rules! How much more useful might we be, if we were only more free from pride, self-conceit, personal vanity, or some secret sin that our heart knows. Oh! hateful sins, that destroy our peace, and ruin souls!

But I must be done. I have not attained the full use of the pen. Go on, dear brother; but an inch of time remains, and then eternal ages roll on forever–but an inch on which we can stand and preach the way of salvation to a perishing world. May he count us faithful, keeping us in the ministry. Ever yours, &c.

— from The Life and Remains, Letters, Lectures, and Poems of the Rev. Robert Murray McCheyne, 216-217 (with minor modifications)

This year, we hope to reach the Spanish-speaking world by translating Divided, A Weed in the Church, the Divided website, and the NCFIC website.

When we launched the NCFIC website many years ago, we had no idea how quickly and broadly the message would spread. Families were transformed. Churches were planted. People were connected.

In order to create the Spanish resources from the NCFIC, there are several projects to accomplish. Please join us in breaking this language barrier to bring the message of church and family reformation to the Spanish-speaking world.

Here is some additional progress – We are (by God's grace) nearing the launch point of the translated Divided the movie website (not live yet).

Here is a breakdown of the various projects and their costs for each one:

I. Translate Divided Resources – $8,000

1. TRAILER: Translate, cast, record, edit, etc.
2. DVD: Translate, provide text to create a new DVD master
3. WEBSITE: Translate completely, including the extra features

II. Translate A Weed in the Church – $5,900

1. BOOK: Translate and edit book (300 pages, 60,000 words)

III. Translate NCFIC website (100 web pages + 20 audio recordings) – $7,500

1. HOME: Translate navigation, links, graphics, etc.; make Spanish versions of existing graphics, etc.
2. BLOG: Translate 36 select blog entries
3. EVENTS: Translate information for all 9 events listed
4. RESOURCES: Translate 35 select article resources. Translate and record 20 select audio resources. Identify and compile 5 gospel article resources (from Chapel Library and others), and 5 gospel sermons in Spanish (from SermonAudio)
5. NETWORKS: Translate menu and navigation text, excluding info for each church/family
6. STORE: Translate individual pages for Spanish-language resources only (Divided, A Weed in the Church, Feminine by Design, Gospel-Centered Marriages)
7. ABOUT US: Translate 9 drop-down pages, including 17 FAQ answers
8. DONATE: Translate
9. CONTACT US: Translate

IV. Select audio messages from past NCFIC conferences – $3,125

Transcribe, translate, and record 25 messages. Examples: Sufficiency of Scripture; Love the Church; Family Reformation; Child Training; The Master's Plan for Fatherhood; What is a Family-Integrated Church?

V. Represent NCFIC at “Expolit” a premier Spanish-language ministry conference in Miami – $5,100

Total project cost: $29,625

We believe that God is able to bring about a biblical church and family reformation in the Spanish-speaking world. Please join us as we endeavor, by God's grace, to reach them.

Today's church is a house of inventions, where church leaders feel free to reinvent Christianity in their generation. Not only do they feel free to do this, but they also believe it is their obligation to the people in order to be relevant. In this age of inventions, Charles Spurgeon speaks clearly about the inappropriateness of man's inventions in the church.

First of all, Christ needs no new inventions to glorify Him. "We have invented a new line of things," says one. Have you? "We have discovered something very wonderful." I daresay you have, but Christ, "the same yesterday, today and forever" (Heb. 13:8 NKJV), needs none of your inventions, discoveries, or additions to His truth. A plain Christ is forever the loveliest Christ. Dress Him up, and you have defamed Him. Bring Him out just as He is, the Christ of God, nothing else but Christ, unless you bring in His Cross, for "we preach Christ crucified" (1 Cor. 1:23); indeed, you cannot have Christ without the Cross; but preach Christ crucified, and you have given him all the glory that He desires. The Holy Spirit does not reveal in these last times any fresh laws or any novel doctrines or any new evolutions. He simply brings to mind the things that Christ Himself spoke. He brings Christ's own things to us, and in that way glorifies Him.

– C. H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon on the Holy Spirit, p. 60-61

The NCFIC will soon be releasing Family Foundations in Sound Doctrine — an essential tool for your family. Containing a copy of the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 (SLBC), 32+ hours of practical, video instruction on the SLBC, and a companion study guide, Family Foundations in Sound Doctrine is a resource for the whole family, to help establish a sound knowledge of God and of His Holy Word.

Following Jonathan Edwards' Resolution # 8 would drastically reduce dissension in the church, broken relationships and perhaps wipe out internet gossip and character assassination.

“Resolved, to act in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God.”

This is what Jesus promoted when he said, “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matt. 7:3). It illustrates the heart attitude the apostle Paul demonstrated when he said that he was the “chief” of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).

Registration is now live for next year's "Our Marriages and the Marriages of Our Sons and Daughters"!