While I too have a concern for creation stewardship, I also have a greater concern for the focus of our denomination. Herman Dooyeweerd had it right when he stressed the importance of "sphere sovereignty." The church should focus on "church stuff" and education on "education stuff" and science---well, you get the point. The "stuff" of the church is first of all the proclamation and promotion of the Gospel of Christ. It seems that the focus of the CRC has been moving more and more in directions, though good in themselves, that are other than their sphere. That concerns me since this is exactly how the mainstream denominations slipped into irrelevance and lost their ecclesiastical "way."
Some time back I attended an R.C. Sproul conference at which a speaker, whose name I forget, said, "What the church needs today is Expository Preaching and congregations who know the difference." I find that to be a very accurate description of the church today. While I appreciate what Jeff Brower is doing with his elders (and I would encourage that for any preacher), there is one weakness in that approach, i.e. often the elders don't actually have the ability to recognize a good sermon from a bad one. Our people need to be trained to recognize the basic elements of a good expository sermon. They should be able to "sniff out" a sermon comprised of fluff in a moment.
Of course this implies that preachers need to be trained in expository preaching. I have made it my hobby to listen in to various CRC pastors who publish their sermons on the web. Some of them are really great expositors. Far too many are not. Their messages are simply fluff and sound bytes linked together on some topic the source of which is their own thoughts. In their attempt to be relevant with their "4 How To's" and "5 Ways to This or That' they have completely ignored or at least misused the Word of God. It saddens me and makes me wonder how such preaching passes the Boards and Classes that have examined these preachers and enabled them to be ordained.
In the United Kingdom the Anglican Church was known to produce poor preaching. As a result an organization named Proclamation Trust was formed to give seminary graduates a year of training in preaching. Anglican Seminary graduates who had been well-versed in Anglican Theology spent a year learning how to preach a good sermon. The results were amazing! Those trained at Proclamation Trust were able to preach solid, biblical expository sermons. Maybe the CRC needs such an organization today.
Posted in: REAL Creation Care? Or Just More Words and Trees Gone?
While I too have a concern for creation stewardship, I also have a greater concern for the focus of our denomination. Herman Dooyeweerd had it right when he stressed the importance of "sphere sovereignty." The church should focus on "church stuff" and education on "education stuff" and science---well, you get the point. The "stuff" of the church is first of all the proclamation and promotion of the Gospel of Christ. It seems that the focus of the CRC has been moving more and more in directions, though good in themselves, that are other than their sphere. That concerns me since this is exactly how the mainstream denominations slipped into irrelevance and lost their ecclesiastical "way."
Ken Van De Griend
Posted in: So How Good are the Sermons in the CRC?
Some time back I attended an R.C. Sproul conference at which a speaker, whose name I forget, said, "What the church needs today is Expository Preaching and congregations who know the difference." I find that to be a very accurate description of the church today. While I appreciate what Jeff Brower is doing with his elders (and I would encourage that for any preacher), there is one weakness in that approach, i.e. often the elders don't actually have the ability to recognize a good sermon from a bad one. Our people need to be trained to recognize the basic elements of a good expository sermon. They should be able to "sniff out" a sermon comprised of fluff in a moment.
Of course this implies that preachers need to be trained in expository preaching. I have made it my hobby to listen in to various CRC pastors who publish their sermons on the web. Some of them are really great expositors. Far too many are not. Their messages are simply fluff and sound bytes linked together on some topic the source of which is their own thoughts. In their attempt to be relevant with their "4 How To's" and "5 Ways to This or That' they have completely ignored or at least misused the Word of God. It saddens me and makes me wonder how such preaching passes the Boards and Classes that have examined these preachers and enabled them to be ordained.
In the United Kingdom the Anglican Church was known to produce poor preaching. As a result an organization named Proclamation Trust was formed to give seminary graduates a year of training in preaching. Anglican Seminary graduates who had been well-versed in Anglican Theology spent a year learning how to preach a good sermon. The results were amazing! Those trained at Proclamation Trust were able to preach solid, biblical expository sermons. Maybe the CRC needs such an organization today.
Ken Van De Griend