I grew up in the CRC, and am still here, along with my family. I'm married to Daryl, who has a construction business. I had a CPA license for 10 or so years, then I added EX to the front, and MOM to the back, so now I'm an EX CPA, MOM =). I am MOM to Duncan, Ian and Samantha. Our family also owns a raspberry farm, and in the summers we get to work out there together.
we are humbled as well... there is so much potential not only for Whatcom County (yes, we are in the NW corner of WA and includes Bellingham and Lynden) but for His Church everywhere, and it seems like we are just on the front edge as we are getting more and more "prophetic" pieces of what God wants for this area. It's when we connect with other believers from different congregations in the area that the pieces start coming together and we see a similar focus that God isn't just giving to one congregation, but to His Body in the area. Each area has it's own unique flavor, struggles, needs, and I think it's important each area seeks His leading for that particular region. He's an infinitely creative God, and so I don't think He's going to give us cookie cutter "programs" that we can "market", for how He wants to move in each area, but He is going to ask us to seek Him in prayer first. He wants everyone to come to Him in prayer instead of just copying what worked somewhere else.
Prayer is a key for being in alignment with and sensitive to Him. He's not going to let us get away, anymore, with doing it "our own way" and avoiding time with Him (we (the prayer center) have found significant prayerlessness in the North American Church =(, Pentecostals do a little better than traditional denominations, with many spiritual leaders (95% is the statistic from one survey) spending 5 minutes or less a day in prayer). His command is to love Him first with heart, soul, mind and strength, and then love our neighbor. We are in danger of flipping these 2 in priority with the emphasis on loving our neighbor through "social justice", the "social" gospel, and being "busy" with justice issues. We have to keep those commands in the right order. Dan, getting these 2 reversed is so subtle, because justice is biblical, but not if it's coming before our love relationship with Him, not if we are doing justice out of our own efforts and using our busy-ness to avoid spending time with Him.
We have found that when a ministry is "birthed" in prayer (and this includes hours of laboring as part of the time spent in His Presence, not just a few minutes here and there and not just "God bless these ideas"), the fruit is night and day difference beyond other efforts that did not come from the labor of prayer and having our relationship with God first. I hope that makes sense, as it's a complicated and subtle distinction, but one that we are finding is key. We (north american believers) intellectually know prayer (relationship with God) is important, but we do not practically live it. One of the lines from the movie "night at the museum, the Smithsonian" is General Custer says. "We're Americans, we don't plan, we do!" What I believe is the case for many north american believers is "we don't pray, we do!" and I've been there myself for about 20 years. we're good at being Miss Marthas - she's so practical and efficient, and struggle with "wasting" time in His Presence as Miss Mary chose to do.
again, there is so much potential. Just last fall, He blew us away through prompting us to ask a simple question that ends up potentially impacting thousands of believers thousands of miles away in Indonesia, with potential to bring unity between the charismatic and reformed streams. There's no way we could have coordinated that with our own efforts, and with a simple question, it opened doors and made connections that could only be Divinely orchestrated.
Praise God!!! thanks for being honest about this...let me state up front, that I love the CRC, and have been a part of it all my life...but I love the Kingdom of God more!! I pray that our vision will expand beyond the CRC walls, and we will connect on greater levels, in worship with congregations of other "streams"/denominations. I have found that God really honors when we connect with our brothers and sisters in Christ, that are from different congregations and denominations as well as our own. It broadens our perspective of His Kingdom, and grows our love for each other. I have witnessed wonderful breakthroughs as believers have prayed together in unity, again crossing denominational barriers...earlier this year, the local prayer center invited all the pastors (150-200) from the area to come together for prayer...there were over 40 pastors that came, from probably about 30 different churches, that prayed and had communion together. The testimonies from that gathering are beautiful and powerful. (some of the pastors on this network were there!)
One of my biggest struggles, is with our hesitation with, no - I will say it more bluntly, our fear of the Holy Spirit. Fear of the "manifestations" that are not what we are used to. I could write on this a long time, but I will succinctly say, that we can learn alot from our Pentecostal brethren, who have been more completely walking in step with the Spirit much longer than we have. I sense that we are cautiously treading forth, and granted we can point to some of the extreme and even bizarre manifestations as a reason for not going that direction too swiftly. But I have found, as I have worshipped, prayed, and talked with my brothers and sisters, that we have much to offer each other. On the one hand, a pentecostal pastor shared that he wished that there was more reverence in the worship at his church...well, we definitely have that, if that's what you want to call it...while I'm praying for more freedom in our worship, instead of the stiff, stoic reserve. Believe you me, I know CRC members can praise exuberantly, just go to any local sporting event. SO, what's holding us back during worship of the ALMIGHTY GOD OF THE UNIVERSE!!! OF HIS PRECIOUS SON WHO POURED OUT HIS LIFE to the point He was unrecognizable as a man. My heart breaks, with our reasons/excuses. Anyway, that (high praise -Ps. 149:6 NKJV) is an entire discussion in itself (and one of the things i believe we have mostly missed).
Again, my heart breaks for what we have missed in our tradition. I have to remind myself often, of how far we have come and the good growth that is happening. PTL!! But when I hear similar statements about being thankful for the reformed tradition, for whatever reason I am burdened, it seems like the areas we have missed are on my heart right now.
The LORD gave me a picture in the natural, it's even on DVD (would you like to see it?), of a passionate (non-CRC) pastor/intercessor sharing on the supremacy of Christ and restoring the tabernacle of David (both are an entire discussion in and of themselves). He was sharing at a CRC church, and so the messages were given in front of the pulpit, with the CRC symbol of the Trinitarian triangle and cross in the background. That gave me hope for our denomination, whatever it might look like, when we embrace/focus on the supremacy of Christ (not humanitarianism), raise up missional worshippers and connect beyond our denomination, that there will be a new life, a vibrancy to our faith.
We talk about accepting diversity...I believe we have to go beyond accepting, and celebrate it.
Let's see, did I mention honor...honoring each other is huge.
Ok, you also mentioned people attending the CRC who cannot be involved in leadership due to minor differences of doctrine...one that I'm struggling with is mentioned under the CRC positional statements of pentecostalism...that those who believe in the 2nd blessing as one of the ways we are baptized in the Spirit, cannot be in leadership roles...or something to that effect. Here's what the CRC position states:
Church members who believe the “second blessing” teaching are disqualified from holding office, but not everyone who claims to have certain charismatic experiences is by that fact alone disqualified. The Spirit-filled church must judge what gifts of the Spirit may or should be employed in the exercise of the offices. Ag
Again, this is an entire discussion...but I've found that those who have experienced the 2nd blessing or whatever we want to call it, have a vibrancy to their faith and prayer life that I have not found often in our denomination, either that or it's buried deep and maybe it's time to uncover it.
I really do want to honor the CRC, and sense that God will break open the floodgates, but we've got some purifying and purging ahead of us.
So, again, bless your heart for being bold and brave and starting this discussion...again, my heart is to honor the CRC, but we do need an honest assessment of where things are not healthy, to prune that which is not bearing fruit.
ps...we would really stink (with pride) if we think we have a corner on the truth... that's not a place I want to be... and that's probably why God made spread it out over all the "streams", so we wouldn't have this "elite" mentality.
Again, thank you for sharing your heart...I'm so glad you did...I had brought up a denominational concern last year to a local CRC leader, and the response was basically "no one really cares, and if they did, nothing's going to change at the denominational level"...talk about discouragement and frustration...these issues have been on my heart, and I don't know what God is going to do about them, but I know He wants us walking more fully in step with His Spirit, and bearing more fruit for His Kingdom...so I will keep praying into this, as your post is a very encouraging confirmation that He is putting similar thoughts on other believers hearts!
Well...maybe one of our aromas is the almond family, ie marzipan...do a study on the almond branch in scripture, it's interesting...that's what Aaron's rod was, an almond branch because when it sprouted, there were almond blossoms and almonds (Numbers 17:8)...the candlesticks were designed with almond blossoms as the cups (Ex. 25:31; Zech 4:2), and when God asked Jeremiah what do you see. and jeremiah said a branch, it was from an almond tree (Jeremiah 1:11)... anyway, an interesting possibility about our denomination...
I have read the '73 and the '09 reports on pentecostalism from synod. and I am very grateful for the forward motion these represent...Praise God, we no longer officially endorse cessationism...although i do run into it still, with a flat out "God doesn't do that anymore" response to some "supernatural" testimonies. God's working on me to honor these godly believers even though we are on different pages (or on different "wave"lengths) in regard to how the Holy Spirit is working today.
In regard to high praise...I do feel this has been an aspect we have missed, and to support that, just look up Ps.149:6 in the NIV and in almost any other version, and note the difference. Another scripture regarding praise, that I'm digging into the various translations on, is Ps. 22:3...the NIV is unique, as far as I can tell, in how it translates it... Through this focus on v3 (PTL!), I have also gained beautiful insight into Jesus suffering on the cross through this psalm during this Lenten season, since Ps. 22 is a messianic prophecy. I wouldn't have been digging into it to the level I am, other than I was working on further insight on v3.
So, yes, the LORD is working on my heart, for the areas where I am not in one accord with the denomination I am in, to respect the authority of the denomination, but yet to be honest about issues/concepts/doctrines I'm struggling with. I sense that He doesn't want us glossing over these areas anymore, but refining them - sharpening each other. There is much gold in the CRC, but there is refining that needs to be done to consume the dross. Are we willing to go through the refining, are we even willing to admit that we need refining? Do we even want to be refined, or are we pretty comfortable with how things are?
God is connecting across denominational lines, just this morning someone shared a beautiful testimony on this in their life.
That's very cool! Tim. thanks for sharing, keep us posted. Love the Is. 58 theme! One ministry (non-denominational) I'm involved with is renting the parsonage of a crc church, and using it somewhat as a communal living home, but also to host people from around the world as they come to visit people connected with the prayer ministry, or to participate in or "observe" our prayer ministry as it's unique in some ways. We call the house the "Gatekeeper House" after the gatekeepers King David financed for the temple (I Chron. 26) One amazing couple has been led to live there and oversee all the comings and goings, and it is amazing the richness of diversity we have seen in people flowing through. They got some of their "training" at the Jesus Haus in Hernnhut, Germany, home of the Moravians. http://www.czherrnhut.de/jesus-haus/en/
I have been listening to a lot of messianic music lately (look up chavah messianic radio if interested), and a lot of it is straight scripture, especially Paul Wilbur's songs... here's just a taste =)
in this song, the Shema by Paul Wilbur (Deut 6:4), you can even learn the Shema in Hebrew =) but most of the song is in English...
Bonnie, bless your heart for being bold and brave and bringing this into the light!!
I see part of the problem directly connected to pornography (objectification of women)... so am working on exposing what is hidden in darkness there and there is a huge connection between porn and violence... For me every level of porn is horrific, but especially disturbing/sickening is the fact that the porn industry fuels/feeds the human trafficking and abuse of children in the sex trade - child porn/prostitution... it has been an unbelievable battle... several things i am coming to a conclusion regarding this battle and i think it's relevant for domestic violence, and other abuses of women/children as well:
1) silence contributes to the problem... be warned though, that when you speak Truth about things the enemy does not want exposed, the enemy will use those in church to try to silence you in various ways... ie discredit you, the enemy will use others to call you unstable, emotionally unhealthy, heretical, divisive, a gossip, slanderer, they will threaten, intimidate, manipulate, abuse, ostracize, shame and shun you to mention a few behaviors typical of silencing in order to cover up the "deed"... you will quite likely lose friends... sometimes even your job...
but don't let that stop you!!! Go on in the Name of God... (*** See quote below)
2) secrecy... when things need to be kept secret, that's not a good sign... God says expose what is hidden in darkness, and warns that the enemy will do everything he can to keep it in darkness (John 3:19-21) Truth will want the light..
3) cover up... beside trying to silence those who speak (see #1), manipulation, deception/lies, fraud, tampering of evidence, are a few more ways the enemy will try to keep the "evil" from coming out into the light.
so far in the situations I'm familiar with, it seems that those in leadership are protecting those in power at the expense of the victim. Sadly, disturbingly so, I have not witnessed justice from the church leadership involved in these situations, and instead the women are treated as expendable, much like the woman caught in adultery (John 8).
*** here's an encouraging quote from a 1791 letter from John Wesley to Willliam Wilberforce:
Unless the divine power has raised you us to be as Athanasius contra mundum (Athanasius against the world), I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that execrable villainy which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? O be not weary of well doing! ***Go on, in the name of God and in the power of his might, till even American slavery (the vilest that ever saw the sun) shall vanish away before it.
it seems some of the confusion comes from what is the loving thing to do? is exposing what is going on in darkness the loving thing to do, or is the loving thing not confronting it, and letting those in power continue to cover up wrong doing, so that the leaders (and the church's) reputation can be protected? Hebrews 12 gives us the answer to that I think... He disciplines those He loves... so that after the discipline, we will walk in the peacable fruit of righteousness... that can't happen until we first repent and own up to what is our fault, where we have dropped the ball of what He has called us to do.
Every single revival was marked by open repentance... and at this point there still seems to be denial of any wrongdoing and much resistance to genuine repentance. so let's keep praying and speaking as the Spirit leads...
Wow, thanks Jim for being bold and brave bringing this up... I've been warned (and have experienced) that I won't make friends when I talk about stuff like this, so hopefully you will fare better =)
In the last 2 years, I've been very intentionally researching one specific sexual sin in the Church, and that is porn... I have attached an article that I think we might find quite disturbing with the information shared (encourage you to read comments as well)...
I have found statistics that the % of those in the church (primarily men) struggling with it, was 40% in 2002; 50% in 2008 and 60% in 2012, but the estimate of spiritual leaders, based on anecdotal evidence, is even higher with 80% and 90% being suggested by numerous leaders (Including in the article linked to below). I know synod 2012 endorsed the overture to take an active stance against porn, and, well, we'll wait and see what that might look like... because it is a huge, huge issue in the Church.
the following quote breaks my heart, and unfortunately, this verifies what I along with several other women that I know have experienced regarding ungodly conduct by leaders in the Church.... cover it up, keep it quiet, minimize it, circle the wagons, shut it down pretty much at all costs for a number of reasons... and the spiritual leaders doing the inappropriate behavior end up staying in leadership (at least in the situations I'm personally aware of). Maybe a few here and there are quietly asked to leave once their secret sin is discovered, but it's very rarely a public rebuke (generally only when it's a crime and the police are involved) even though I TIm. 5:20 states that is what is needed so other leaders can take warning (which is ironically humorous that I'm being the one warned that I won't make friends when I talk about it)...
BOQ...Many of those crimes were covered up by bishops or other denominational judicatories, sadly the very individuals or bodies responsible for safeguarding against such behaviour. EOQ
what we have found is that those in power protect each other at the expense of the weak/victims, and that abuse thrives in a culture of shame and silence. the exact opposite of what the Church is called to do. we have found that even though the Church is called to a higher standard than the world, we are not even up to the world's standard on holding spiritual leaders accountable for ungodly conduct, in the situations i'm aware of. To have any level of accountability has been a battle, and at this point it seems the victims are losing.
here's the link to what our church order has to say about reinstating office bearers in article 84 ... (page 99 or so - I hope the link works, it did for me a while back, but for some reason not today)
of course, this assumes the leader resigned, or was suspended or deposed in the first place.
BOQ.. which is to say that Classis are regularly appointed according to geography and have never been previously created on the basis of a theological barrier or divide. EOQ
where I struggle is this theological barrier/divide seems to be totally ok at the denominational level, but then not ok at a classical level... how can we apply this to one level, and totally ignore it at a higher/broader level?
isn't this how the CRC broke away from the RCA in the first place?
maybe our "denominations" should also be regional instead of based on theological, etc. differences.... maybe we need to be looking at a bigger dimension than just classis... it seems we are ok with gathering all the "like" minded denominations into alliances.... and that's not by region/geography... so which one is it? is the Church to be expressed by region or by like mindedness? Which one does Scripture support?
Posted in: We Can Answer Jesus' Prayer — and Article 3 of the Belhar
we are humbled as well... there is so much potential not only for Whatcom County (yes, we are in the NW corner of WA and includes Bellingham and Lynden) but for His Church everywhere, and it seems like we are just on the front edge as we are getting more and more "prophetic" pieces of what God wants for this area. It's when we connect with other believers from different congregations in the area that the pieces start coming together and we see a similar focus that God isn't just giving to one congregation, but to His Body in the area. Each area has it's own unique flavor, struggles, needs, and I think it's important each area seeks His leading for that particular region. He's an infinitely creative God, and so I don't think He's going to give us cookie cutter "programs" that we can "market", for how He wants to move in each area, but He is going to ask us to seek Him in prayer first. He wants everyone to come to Him in prayer instead of just copying what worked somewhere else.
Prayer is a key for being in alignment with and sensitive to Him. He's not going to let us get away, anymore, with doing it "our own way" and avoiding time with Him (we (the prayer center) have found significant prayerlessness in the North American Church =(, Pentecostals do a little better than traditional denominations, with many spiritual leaders (95% is the statistic from one survey) spending 5 minutes or less a day in prayer). His command is to love Him first with heart, soul, mind and strength, and then love our neighbor. We are in danger of flipping these 2 in priority with the emphasis on loving our neighbor through "social justice", the "social" gospel, and being "busy" with justice issues. We have to keep those commands in the right order. Dan, getting these 2 reversed is so subtle, because justice is biblical, but not if it's coming before our love relationship with Him, not if we are doing justice out of our own efforts and using our busy-ness to avoid spending time with Him.
We have found that when a ministry is "birthed" in prayer (and this includes hours of laboring as part of the time spent in His Presence, not just a few minutes here and there and not just "God bless these ideas"), the fruit is night and day difference beyond other efforts that did not come from the labor of prayer and having our relationship with God first. I hope that makes sense, as it's a complicated and subtle distinction, but one that we are finding is key. We (north american believers) intellectually know prayer (relationship with God) is important, but we do not practically live it. One of the lines from the movie "night at the museum, the Smithsonian" is General Custer says. "We're Americans, we don't plan, we do!" What I believe is the case for many north american believers is "we don't pray, we do!" and I've been there myself for about 20 years. we're good at being Miss Marthas - she's so practical and efficient, and struggle with "wasting" time in His Presence as Miss Mary chose to do.
again, there is so much potential. Just last fall, He blew us away through prompting us to ask a simple question that ends up potentially impacting thousands of believers thousands of miles away in Indonesia, with potential to bring unity between the charismatic and reformed streams. There's no way we could have coordinated that with our own efforts, and with a simple question, it opened doors and made connections that could only be Divinely orchestrated.
Posted in: We Can Answer Jesus' Prayer — and Article 3 of the Belhar
oop s.. forgot to put in this link to this prayer/song on behalf of His Church.
http://network.crcna.org/forums/discussion-networks/prayer-ministry/prayer-church
Posted in: The Reformed Distinctive, or the Reformed "Stink"?
Praise God!!! thanks for being honest about this...let me state up front, that I love the CRC, and have been a part of it all my life...but I love the Kingdom of God more!! I pray that our vision will expand beyond the CRC walls, and we will connect on greater levels, in worship with congregations of other "streams"/denominations. I have found that God really honors when we connect with our brothers and sisters in Christ, that are from different congregations and denominations as well as our own. It broadens our perspective of His Kingdom, and grows our love for each other. I have witnessed wonderful breakthroughs as believers have prayed together in unity, again crossing denominational barriers...earlier this year, the local prayer center invited all the pastors (150-200) from the area to come together for prayer...there were over 40 pastors that came, from probably about 30 different churches, that prayed and had communion together. The testimonies from that gathering are beautiful and powerful. (some of the pastors on this network were there!)
One of my biggest struggles, is with our hesitation with, no - I will say it more bluntly, our fear of the Holy Spirit. Fear of the "manifestations" that are not what we are used to. I could write on this a long time, but I will succinctly say, that we can learn alot from our Pentecostal brethren, who have been more completely walking in step with the Spirit much longer than we have. I sense that we are cautiously treading forth, and granted we can point to some of the extreme and even bizarre manifestations as a reason for not going that direction too swiftly. But I have found, as I have worshipped, prayed, and talked with my brothers and sisters, that we have much to offer each other. On the one hand, a pentecostal pastor shared that he wished that there was more reverence in the worship at his church...well, we definitely have that, if that's what you want to call it...while I'm praying for more freedom in our worship, instead of the stiff, stoic reserve. Believe you me, I know CRC members can praise exuberantly, just go to any local sporting event. SO, what's holding us back during worship of the ALMIGHTY GOD OF THE UNIVERSE!!! OF HIS PRECIOUS SON WHO POURED OUT HIS LIFE to the point He was unrecognizable as a man. My heart breaks, with our reasons/excuses. Anyway, that (high praise -Ps. 149:6 NKJV) is an entire discussion in itself (and one of the things i believe we have mostly missed).
Again, my heart breaks for what we have missed in our tradition. I have to remind myself often, of how far we have come and the good growth that is happening. PTL!! But when I hear similar statements about being thankful for the reformed tradition, for whatever reason I am burdened, it seems like the areas we have missed are on my heart right now.
The LORD gave me a picture in the natural, it's even on DVD (would you like to see it?), of a passionate (non-CRC) pastor/intercessor sharing on the supremacy of Christ and restoring the tabernacle of David (both are an entire discussion in and of themselves). He was sharing at a CRC church, and so the messages were given in front of the pulpit, with the CRC symbol of the Trinitarian triangle and cross in the background. That gave me hope for our denomination, whatever it might look like, when we embrace/focus on the supremacy of Christ (not humanitarianism), raise up missional worshippers and connect beyond our denomination, that there will be a new life, a vibrancy to our faith.
We talk about accepting diversity...I believe we have to go beyond accepting, and celebrate it.
Let's see, did I mention honor...honoring each other is huge.
Ok, you also mentioned people attending the CRC who cannot be involved in leadership due to minor differences of doctrine...one that I'm struggling with is mentioned under the CRC positional statements of pentecostalism...that those who believe in the 2nd blessing as one of the ways we are baptized in the Spirit, cannot be in leadership roles...or something to that effect. Here's what the CRC position states:
Church members who believe the “second blessing” teaching are disqualified from holding office, but not everyone who claims to have certain charismatic experiences is by that fact alone disqualified. The Spirit-filled church must judge what gifts of the Spirit may or should be employed in the exercise of the offices. Ag
Again, this is an entire discussion...but I've found that those who have experienced the 2nd blessing or whatever we want to call it, have a vibrancy to their faith and prayer life that I have not found often in our denomination, either that or it's buried deep and maybe it's time to uncover it.
I really do want to honor the CRC, and sense that God will break open the floodgates, but we've got some purifying and purging ahead of us.
So, again, bless your heart for being bold and brave and starting this discussion...again, my heart is to honor the CRC, but we do need an honest assessment of where things are not healthy, to prune that which is not bearing fruit.
ps...we would really stink (with pride) if we think we have a corner on the truth... that's not a place I want to be... and that's probably why God made spread it out over all the "streams", so we wouldn't have this "elite" mentality.
Posted in: The Reformed Distinctive, or the Reformed "Stink"?
Again, thank you for sharing your heart...I'm so glad you did...I had brought up a denominational concern last year to a local CRC leader, and the response was basically "no one really cares, and if they did, nothing's going to change at the denominational level"...talk about discouragement and frustration...these issues have been on my heart, and I don't know what God is going to do about them, but I know He wants us walking more fully in step with His Spirit, and bearing more fruit for His Kingdom...so I will keep praying into this, as your post is a very encouraging confirmation that He is putting similar thoughts on other believers hearts!
Posted in: The Reformed Distinctive, or the Reformed "Stink"?
Well...maybe one of our aromas is the almond family, ie marzipan...do a study on the almond branch in scripture, it's interesting...that's what Aaron's rod was, an almond branch because when it sprouted, there were almond blossoms and almonds (Numbers 17:8)...the candlesticks were designed with almond blossoms as the cups (Ex. 25:31; Zech 4:2), and when God asked Jeremiah what do you see. and jeremiah said a branch, it was from an almond tree (Jeremiah 1:11)... anyway, an interesting possibility about our denomination...
I have read the '73 and the '09 reports on pentecostalism from synod. and I am very grateful for the forward motion these represent...Praise God, we no longer officially endorse cessationism...although i do run into it still, with a flat out "God doesn't do that anymore" response to some "supernatural" testimonies. God's working on me to honor these godly believers even though we are on different pages (or on different "wave"lengths) in regard to how the Holy Spirit is working today.
In regard to high praise...I do feel this has been an aspect we have missed, and to support that, just look up Ps.149:6 in the NIV and in almost any other version, and note the difference. Another scripture regarding praise, that I'm digging into the various translations on, is Ps. 22:3...the NIV is unique, as far as I can tell, in how it translates it... Through this focus on v3 (PTL!), I have also gained beautiful insight into Jesus suffering on the cross through this psalm during this Lenten season, since Ps. 22 is a messianic prophecy. I wouldn't have been digging into it to the level I am, other than I was working on further insight on v3.
So, yes, the LORD is working on my heart, for the areas where I am not in one accord with the denomination I am in, to respect the authority of the denomination, but yet to be honest about issues/concepts/doctrines I'm struggling with. I sense that He doesn't want us glossing over these areas anymore, but refining them - sharpening each other. There is much gold in the CRC, but there is refining that needs to be done to consume the dross. Are we willing to go through the refining, are we even willing to admit that we need refining? Do we even want to be refined, or are we pretty comfortable with how things are?
God is connecting across denominational lines, just this morning someone shared a beautiful testimony on this in their life.
Praise God!
Posted in: Bought the House Next Door ... Now What?
That's very cool! Tim. thanks for sharing, keep us posted. Love the Is. 58 theme! One ministry (non-denominational) I'm involved with is renting the parsonage of a crc church, and using it somewhat as a communal living home, but also to host people from around the world as they come to visit people connected with the prayer ministry, or to participate in or "observe" our prayer ministry as it's unique in some ways. We call the house the "Gatekeeper House" after the gatekeepers King David financed for the temple (I Chron. 26) One amazing couple has been led to live there and oversee all the comings and goings, and it is amazing the richness of diversity we have seen in people flowing through. They got some of their "training" at the Jesus Haus in Hernnhut, Germany, home of the Moravians. http://www.czherrnhut.de/jesus-haus/en/
there is so much potential...
hope to listen to the sermon soon =)
Posted in: Abuse Victims Task Force: Discussion
BOQ Or we will be having this discussion again in about four years. EOQ
Hey Judy, you were prophetic... they did have the discussion again in 4 years (2014) and again 4 years later (2018)...
Posted in: The Memory Power of Music
I have been listening to a lot of messianic music lately (look up chavah messianic radio if interested), and a lot of it is straight scripture, especially Paul Wilbur's songs... here's just a taste =)
in this song, the Shema by Paul Wilbur (Deut 6:4), you can even learn the Shema in Hebrew =) but most of the song is in English...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXYB9F8Yxvk ;
Medley: Let God Arise (Psalm 68:1-3)/ It is Good (Psalm 92:1-5,12-13; / Roni Roni (Zeph 3:14); again performed by Paul Wilbur
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrCal6kE-r4
Posted in: Where is the Church?
Bonnie, bless your heart for being bold and brave and bringing this into the light!!
I see part of the problem directly connected to pornography (objectification of women)... so am working on exposing what is hidden in darkness there and there is a huge connection between porn and violence... For me every level of porn is horrific, but especially disturbing/sickening is the fact that the porn industry fuels/feeds the human trafficking and abuse of children in the sex trade - child porn/prostitution... it has been an unbelievable battle... several things i am coming to a conclusion regarding this battle and i think it's relevant for domestic violence, and other abuses of women/children as well:
1) silence contributes to the problem... be warned though, that when you speak Truth about things the enemy does not want exposed, the enemy will use those in church to try to silence you in various ways... ie discredit you, the enemy will use others to call you unstable, emotionally unhealthy, heretical, divisive, a gossip, slanderer, they will threaten, intimidate, manipulate, abuse, ostracize, shame and shun you to mention a few behaviors typical of silencing in order to cover up the "deed"... you will quite likely lose friends... sometimes even your job...
but don't let that stop you!!! Go on in the Name of God... (*** See quote below)
2) secrecy... when things need to be kept secret, that's not a good sign... God says expose what is hidden in darkness, and warns that the enemy will do everything he can to keep it in darkness (John 3:19-21) Truth will want the light..
3) cover up... beside trying to silence those who speak (see #1), manipulation, deception/lies, fraud, tampering of evidence, are a few more ways the enemy will try to keep the "evil" from coming out into the light.
so far in the situations I'm familiar with, it seems that those in leadership are protecting those in power at the expense of the victim. Sadly, disturbingly so, I have not witnessed justice from the church leadership involved in these situations, and instead the women are treated as expendable, much like the woman caught in adultery (John 8).
*** here's an encouraging quote from a 1791 letter from John Wesley to Willliam Wilberforce:
Unless the divine power has raised you us to be as Athanasius contra mundum (Athanasius against the world), I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that execrable villainy which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? O be not weary of well doing! ***Go on, in the name of God and in the power of his might, till even American slavery (the vilest that ever saw the sun) shall vanish away before it.
Posted in: Where is the Church?
thx Bonnie, please keep talking!!
it seems some of the confusion comes from what is the loving thing to do? is exposing what is going on in darkness the loving thing to do, or is the loving thing not confronting it, and letting those in power continue to cover up wrong doing, so that the leaders (and the church's) reputation can be protected? Hebrews 12 gives us the answer to that I think... He disciplines those He loves... so that after the discipline, we will walk in the peacable fruit of righteousness... that can't happen until we first repent and own up to what is our fault, where we have dropped the ball of what He has called us to do.
Every single revival was marked by open repentance... and at this point there still seems to be denial of any wrongdoing and much resistance to genuine repentance. so let's keep praying and speaking as the Spirit leads...
Posted in: Of Rob Ford and Pastors
Wow, thanks Jim for being bold and brave bringing this up... I've been warned (and have experienced) that I won't make friends when I talk about stuff like this, so hopefully you will fare better =)
In the last 2 years, I've been very intentionally researching one specific sexual sin in the Church, and that is porn... I have attached an article that I think we might find quite disturbing with the information shared (encourage you to read comments as well)...
http://blogs.christianpost.com/guest-views/sexual-sin-in-the-ministry-8613/
I have found statistics that the % of those in the church (primarily men) struggling with it, was 40% in 2002; 50% in 2008 and 60% in 2012, but the estimate of spiritual leaders, based on anecdotal evidence, is even higher with 80% and 90% being suggested by numerous leaders (Including in the article linked to below). I know synod 2012 endorsed the overture to take an active stance against porn, and, well, we'll wait and see what that might look like... because it is a huge, huge issue in the Church.
the following quote breaks my heart, and unfortunately, this verifies what I along with several other women that I know have experienced regarding ungodly conduct by leaders in the Church.... cover it up, keep it quiet, minimize it, circle the wagons, shut it down pretty much at all costs for a number of reasons... and the spiritual leaders doing the inappropriate behavior end up staying in leadership (at least in the situations I'm personally aware of). Maybe a few here and there are quietly asked to leave once their secret sin is discovered, but it's very rarely a public rebuke (generally only when it's a crime and the police are involved) even though I TIm. 5:20 states that is what is needed so other leaders can take warning (which is ironically humorous that I'm being the one warned that I won't make friends when I talk about it)...
BOQ...Many of those crimes were covered up by bishops or other denominational judicatories, sadly the very individuals or bodies responsible for safeguarding against such behaviour. EOQ
what we have found is that those in power protect each other at the expense of the weak/victims, and that abuse thrives in a culture of shame and silence. the exact opposite of what the Church is called to do. we have found that even though the Church is called to a higher standard than the world, we are not even up to the world's standard on holding spiritual leaders accountable for ungodly conduct, in the situations i'm aware of. To have any level of accountability has been a battle, and at this point it seems the victims are losing.
here's the link to what our church order has to say about reinstating office bearers in article 84 ... (page 99 or so - I hope the link works, it did for me a while back, but for some reason not today)
of course, this assumes the leader resigned, or was suspended or deposed in the first place.
http://www2.crcna.org/site_uploads/uploads/resources/2012_churchorder.pdf
anyway, that's the tip of the tip of that iceberg,,,
Posted in: Overtures 3 & 4: Laying Out the Debate
BOQ.. which is to say that Classis are regularly appointed according to geography and have never been previously created on the basis of a theological barrier or divide. EOQ
where I struggle is this theological barrier/divide seems to be totally ok at the denominational level, but then not ok at a classical level... how can we apply this to one level, and totally ignore it at a higher/broader level?
isn't this how the CRC broke away from the RCA in the first place?
maybe our "denominations" should also be regional instead of based on theological, etc. differences.... maybe we need to be looking at a bigger dimension than just classis... it seems we are ok with gathering all the "like" minded denominations into alliances.... and that's not by region/geography... so which one is it? is the Church to be expressed by region or by like mindedness? Which one does Scripture support?