Oddities in Church Doctrine

Church members of a particular Evangelical Free church must believe:
“5.10(b) that every local church has the right under Christ to decide and govern its own affairs;
and,
5.11 In the premillennial, personal, and imminent coming of our Lord Jesus Christ . . .”

The following exception is granted:
“They must believe all articles in the Statement of Faith, with the possible exceptions of 5.10b (though they must believe Lakeland has the right under Christ to decide and govern its own affairs) and 5.11.”

1) Does anyone find this odd? If one does not believe that “every local church has the right . . .[to] govern its own affairs”, why should “Lakeland” be given a special exemption?? Should there be some special right given to this church to govern itself? I think I have a bigger problem with this exception than with the doctrine itself. It just doesn’t make any sense. If you don’t think other churches can govern themselves, why would you think this one can? Unless of course this is the only true church. In that case, they have a serious problem. What does this mean? What are they trying to say? Any insights would be welcome.

From the Westminster Confession of Faith XXXI-III: “It belonged to synods and councils, ministerially to determine controversies of faith, and cases of conscience; to set down rules and directions for the better ordering of the public worship of God, and government of His Church. . . not only or their agreement with the Word, but also for the power whereby they are made, as being an ordinance of God appointed thereunto in His word.”

The Westminster has stood the test of time. I’m not sure what will come of the other church constitution in question.

2) Secondly, when did premillennialism become a fundamental doctrine of the church? . . .

The Joys of Family Life

I was at home visiting the family last weekend. My brother and sister-in-law and their five kids are temporarily residing with my parents, so with me that makes 10! Sunday was a beautiful snowy day and the desire to go sledding was irresistible for brother and munchkins. At about 4 o’clock in the afternoon, I was lounging on the couch discussing a rather long, boring, technical book with my father. “Alright kids,” says my brother, “let’s go sledding.” “Ooooh, ooooh, yeah,” replies the chorus, “let’s go!” “Everyone get snowpants, coats, boots, hats, gloves. . . .” At that point, I had dozed off. I woke up at 4:30 o’clock to find the whole family still mulling around. A half-hour later, the commotion began. Hats, gloves, etc., started flying out of the closet -- a pair for this kid, a pair for that; boots for him; coat for her. All the while bro and sis-in-law get each item on one kid or another. Oh the patience it takes to get five children and two adults ready for sledding. I admire anyone who can do it. An hour later they waved farewell and were off to the great slopes.

Big Bad Bears

Life is slow in the big city. Apparently, a bunch of fat guys running round with a pig skin knocking other fat guys down is the talk of the town. That’s right, the only news to report is a silly game. Who cares we’re in the middle of a war gone amuck, or that every liberal that’s anyone has decided to run for president. The talk of the whole town is a silly game! It's ludicrous that a bunch of grown men get paid insane amounts of money to do such things. Why don’t they get real jobs and do something productive for society? As for the rest of us, we could be doing valuable things too. There are too many things that need to get done to waste time watching fat men. While I do enjoy watching a rousing amateur game on rare occasion, I can’t understand professional sports. As a Christian and an American, I would have seen great humor in a match between the “Saints” and the Patriots.

How'd they know?

Upon receiving my first issue of Banner of Truth magazine, I was excited to find they had customized the issue just for me. My favorite article, "'Sort of' Reformed" (or Pseudo-Reformed) did quiet well dealing with the trends of the modern "Reformed" worship movement. Quoting Merle d'Aubigne: "a profane spirit had invaded religion. . . the seasons which seemed most to summon the faithful to devout reflection and love were dishonoroured by buffoonery and profanations altogether heathenish. . . Preachers went out of their way to put into their sermons whatever might excite the laughter of the people. . . The very temples were converted into a stage and the [ministers] were montebanks." A sad time for many "Reformed" churches. In God's providence He has preserved some.

Kick the Cook!

It’s not easy cooking for one person. One must decide all by himself what to eat, then how much to make. Will I want to eat leftovers of this for the next week-and-a-half? No. It’s easier just to go out. Fortunately I don’t offer myself that luxury. Instead I made chili. . . without one key ingredient, the chili powder. Ooops. I thought I had two bottles full of it. And the onions? I dropped them on the ground on the way back from the grocery store and had to cut out half of them. But the wonderful thing is no one but I has to taste it. Chili is a wonderful food to make. It requires no measuring utensils. After 15 min, it’s done! Hmmm. . . It needs cheese.

Yeeha

Count me in with all you other folk who have nothing better to do! I plan to waste my first entry writing nothing of interest. Done. Easy 'nough. I do plan to stop writing on this site as soon as I realize it's no fun. But it looks fun from the outside. It always does. It's just like everthing else that looks fun. College? Looked fun. Did it. No fun. Grad School. Looked fun. Did it. No fun. I guess it's not all supposed to be fun.