It is disheartening to see “reformed” churches abandoning a principle that goes all the way back to the Reformation for the sake of appealing to the lost or satisfying the worldly and immature desires of the young. Please understand, I am all for evangelism and reaching the lost and it would be contrary to our great commission to be otherwise, but worship and evangelism are distinct activities of the Church. I also desire to see young people take an interest in being involved in worship, but just as we don’t as parents, give a steady diet of sugar to our children, so we should not change our practice solely to accommodate them. Whatever happened to Proverbs 22:6? “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” We should be educating both the lost and the young what is proper worship and why we do it the way we do, but instead, we are willing to leaven the sacred with the unholy. Calvin clearly shows, almost prophetically, the dangers of abandoning the regulative principle:

“Moreover, the rule which distinguishes between pure and vitiated worship is of universal application, in order that we may not adopt any device which seems fit to ourselves, but look to the injunctions of him who alone is entitled to prescribe. Therefore, if we would have him to approve our worship, this rule, which he everywhere enforces with the utmost strictness, must be carefully observed. For there is a twofold reason why the Lord, in condemning and prohibiting all fictitious worship, requires us to give obedience only to his own voice. First, it tends greatly to establish his authority that we do not follow our own pleasure, but depend entirely on his sovereignty; and, secondly, such is our folly, that when we are left at liberty, all we are able to do is to go astray. And then when once we have turned aside from the right path, there is no end to our wanderings, until we get buried under a multitude of superstitions. Justly, therefore, does the Lord, in order to assert his full right of dominion, strictly enjoin what he wishes us to do, and at once reject all human devices which are at variance with his command. Justly, too, does he, in express terms, define our limits, that we may not, by fabricating perverse modes of worship, provoke his anger against us.” (John Calvin, The Necessity of Reforming the Church, emphasis mine).

The Catechism says, “the chief end of man is to glorify God…,” but worship in many churches today reflects a distrust if not total abandonment of principles that guide us to worship properly. The clarion call of God’s ministers must be to return to the regulative principle of worship and to encourage elders and congregants to remain faithful to it. Unfortunately, the appearance and practices of the visible church and those of the world are becoming seriously indistinct.

David and Paula

Angel gets the queen seat in the morning while Paula is sleeping in. The first thing she does in the morning is lay her head on the seat cushion and then she looks at me as if she is asking permission. I’ll say “OK,” and then she jumps up and makes herself comfortable.

After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these? " "Yes, Lord," Peter replied, "you know I love you." "Then feed my lambs," Jesus told him. (John 21:15 NLT)

I’ve been watching online videos of various preachers being careful to observe the various aspects of their preaching. I have enjoyed watching one preacher who is a highly educated and very eloquent preacher, and one who is gifted with the ability to communicate with stories and illustrations barely using notes. The words flowed from his lips and he said many great things. I’m sure the congregation also enjoyed listening to him as I did. The problem though, is that there was very little exposition of the Word of God, if any. What distinguishes a biblical sermon from something one may get at a gathering of toastmasters? It is tragic to see people spend a great deal of time, money and effort getting education and degrees in theology and then forsake the Word of God in a sermon. Our calling as preachers is to feed the Lord’s flock. In referring to Christ as the true and only Shepherd of the sheep, Calvin remarks that

We have seen also why he takes this name to himself. If, is, because he feeds, that is, he governs his sheep, because he is the only true food of the soul. But because he employs the agency of men in preaching doctrine, he conveys to them also his own name, or, at least, shares it with them. Those men, therefore, are reckoned to be Pastors in the sight of God, who govern the Church by the ministry of the word under Christ, who is their Head. Hence we may easily infer what is the burden which Christ lays on Peter, and on what condition he appoints him to govern his flock. (commentary on John)

The Confession also deals with this matter:

How is the word made effectual to salvation? A. The spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the word an effectual means of enlightening, convincing, and humbling sinners; of driving them out of themselves, and drawing them unto Christ; of conforming them to his image, and subduing them to his will; of strengthening them against temptations and corruptions; of building them up in grace, and establishing their hearts in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation. (WLC 155)

We can choose as preachers to do that which is popular or that which draws attention to ourselves or we can point people to Christ by magnifying His Word. A parent in their right mind would not choose to feed a continual diet of candy to their children. I love Reese’s peanut butter cups, but if that is all I eat, I’ll have temporary pleasure and long-term displeasure. Job says, "I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” (Job 23:12 NAS) This is the kind of attitude we should foster in the minds of our congregation. If we believe in sola Scriptura, then that should be the heart of our preaching. For the preacher, the pulpit is a place of fear and trembling because we will be called to account for what we do when we stand behind it.

What it really boils down to is a relationship issue. I don’t have any problem with saying “people who don’t go to church don’t love Jesus.” Am I being too harsh? I don’t think so. To me this issue is a “no-brainer.” People who love each other want to spend time together. I love my wife and I enjoy spending time with her. People who love Jesus want to spend time with Him. Since Jesus loves His covenant people, people who love Jesus should love to be with His covenant people. This fits very well with the message of 1st John.

“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.” (1John 5:1 NAS)

I should stop and give these two disclaimers: This article is not speaking about people who are physically unable to go to church and secondly, I understand the real Christians can be in rebellion (as I have been in the past), but if they continue in this rebellion ultimately, they may never have been saved in the first place.

Then I hear people say, “Oh, I read my Bible and pray everyday.” My response is, “If that is true, you must not be getting much out of it. The reality is, true Bible reading and prayer brings conviction. If you were reading your Bible and praying everyday, you would want to be in church. You don’t want to be at God’s house either because you don’t really know Him or you are out of fellowship with Him. You value your sin and your freedom more than you value the worship of the living God. If you were walking by His Spirit instead of doing your own thing, the Holy Spirit would compel you to be in proper worship.”

Another aspect of this is that God’s people want to be with God’s people. John tells us that the love of the Father manifests itself by the love of His children. The classic excuse is “the church is full of hypocrites” but my question to those who say this is, “Who is doing the will of God, you or the one you call a hypocrite?”

Finally, people who don’t go to church not only are being disobedient to God’s will, but they miss out of the benefits. So you might ask, “What are the benefits of being in church?”

I’ll answer that question in my next posting…stay tuned!

David says in Psalm 51:

Be gracious to me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Thy compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned, And done what is evil in Thy sight, So that Thou art justified when Thou dost speak, And blameless when Thou dost judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, Thou dost desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part Thou wilt make me know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which Thou hast broken rejoice. Hide Thy face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Thy presence, And do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, And sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Thy ways, And sinners will be converted to Thee. (NAS)

Then I was reminded of the promise! The promise of 1 John 1:9, that God is faithful! What a contrast! God is faithful even though I usually am not. He is faithful to forgive my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Praise be to God! I began to thank Him for the promises of His word which, if I were not able to trust in, there would surely be no hope. And I am thankful for hope…

We are now in the advent season and the wonderful message is that of hope. This is the basis of my message tomorrow. Zacharias and Elizabeth (Luke 1), knew about hope. They had reason to despair. No child…barren womb…old age. Yet the Bible says they walked blamelessly in the sight of the Lord, keeping all His commandments and regulations. In communion, we have hope as well. God imparts His grace to us…His forgiveness and we can delight in the fellowship of Christ, Whose blood washes away all of our sin. Amen!

http://www.koaa.com/videoplayer/swf/flowplayer.commercial-3.2.5.swf

The video starts out with an interview of Dr. Zeller and later Larry Wilkes and his two daughters.  Ryan’s car is the BMW with two trees on it and Joanne’s house has the large tree on it. They will have to use a crane to get it off. Mark Canda’s bedroom was right under that tree and he could have been killed if their home had not been of an older post and beam construction.

Below is a picture of Ryan’s car.

Here’s is a picture of a tree that was blown over just in front of our Explorer. If it had gone the other direction, my Explorer would have looked like Ryan’s BMW.

Here is a picture of Dr. Zeller and Tim Salcedo installing our new window. Paula is doing cleanup inside.

I’ll write more on the windstorm and the great time we had while the power was out after I finish my Hebrew exegesis.

I just want everyone to know this was not my doing if you come across a advertisement that is in poor taste.

Left to Right: Elias, Andrew, and Micah Zeller with David Olson

Congratulations to Dr. Zeller for his well-fed two point buck! One nice thing about it was he didn’t have to walk far to get him. The boys were a great help bringing the buck to the truck. What a treat for a nice snowy day. Bennett Zeller bagged a doe early in the morning and had her cleaned before I could get a picture. I’m hoping for some of Beth Ann’s wonderful jerky!