Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Opening of General Assembly at First Presbyterian, Orlando



Rev. Dr. David D. Swanson
Opening Session
From GA Orlando Florida

He spoke on challenging the culture in that one place we need to confront it so that Jesus Christ is proclaimed.  This thought comes from Luther. We cannot shrink from a positive engagement in any way: not wringing our hand – not giving up.
              
Christianity in this time in America he compared to Israel in the time they chose Saul as king.  They wanted a king like all the other nations:

When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”” (1 Samuel 8:1–9, ESV)

Do we want to be just like all the nations?  Do we want to fit in more than we want to confront the culture with Jesus Christ?  He suggested we need to advance the kingdom by learning from David what young people call swagger.  Take on the Goliath in our city secure as a child of the covenant!

Borrowing from a Greek Christian who approaches God like his general he suggested we need to ask: What are the obstacles? What is the plan? What is your strategy for being used by God to take back the city? So First Presbyterian, we have a job before us.  Redding is not Orlando but it is city that needs the gospel and it need the justice and mercy of Jesus Christ.

What is Wrong with Us?



Translating Luke 7:15: "There is nothing  outside a man going into him which is able to defile him, but that which comes out of a man is what defiles the man."  I realized that we have here the fundamental building block for the gospel.  Our Savior raises the dead, zomibes! This is Jesus’ thesis of the nature of the human dilemma.  It is not our environment, or economic situation, we would say, it is what comes out of our fallen human nature that defiles our whole being and pollutes the world.  No wonder the world is a mess it starts in my heart.  The line of human evil is in me.  War, racism and abusive is in me.  Only Jesus can make me clean. Wake up O sleeper rise from the dead.  Jesus speaks life to dead people!

Tuesday, June 23, 2015



Thoughts from Dr. J.I. Packer and Gary Parrett
Catechism in the Contemporary Church

               Recently I gathered with a group of local pastors and enjoyed the time of fellowship.  I asked if any of them had thought about the renewed interest in catechism.  My Presbyterian (OPC) colleague and one Baptist friend who is reading the Heidelberg Catechism, answered in the affirmative.  Why bother?  To many of us in the gospel-centered evangelical part of the church we think: catechism?  Isn’t that Roman Catholic?  But it is a bible word that I came across in Luke’s introduction to his gospel when translating the first four verses the other day.  Not only does (katecheo) catechize appear but so does the word (paradidomi) handed down, which is often translated tradition.  Evangelicals are shy of anything that sounds Roman Catholic like catechism and especially that wreaks of tradition.
               It is right to stand with Luther and Calvin in seeking to shake off the man-made crust from the faith.  But today we bring people into the church when the traditional teaching of the gospel is not sufficiently taught (catechized) into the life of the members of the church.  I am facing the challenge of encouraging people to come to the six week course I have put together that roots them in the essentials of our denomination.  People are allergic to membership because they think of it in terms of a club rather than belonging to the body of Christ.   The rousing call to return to catechizing or discipling people into the faith together in community sounded forth by Packer and Parrett in the book Grounded in the Gospel is an urgent need in the church.  The drift that occurred in the mainline church, it seems to me, is now loose in our evangelical churches unless we heed the warning to teach the faith. 
               Our confusion arises from a misunderstanding of the practice of baptism recorded in the book of Acts where new converts were immediately baptized like the Ethiopian eunuch and Cornelius.  But we must remember, writes Packer and Parrett, that these anecdotal instances of baptisms were all of people already catechized: taught the biblical narrative from the Old Testament and worshipping God as “god fearers”.  They all had a biblical world view. But the next generation of Christians took a new approach.  They took a year to be catechized people considering the Christian faith before they were baptized into the faith.  This is not very “seeker friendly” but surely it is biblical and wise.  When Jesus gave the great commission he said teach them to obey all that I taught: catechize or disciple.  I am doing this with one of new people and he is eating it up! 
               We live in a modern era where most of our neighbors have more in common with pagan Romans and Greeks than with God-fearing Gentiles.  To expect them to jump from a secular world view to a biblical doctrinally based faith is unreasonable unless we spend time teaching the doctrine of the Bible. No wonder the studies of people like Christian Smith have shown that most evangelical youth are believers in “therapeutic, moralistic, deism” not Christians by profession.  Their sexual ethic is what it is because they are not rooted in the gospel that motivates forgiveness and a pursuit of holiness based on a life of gratitude.  What we wrestle with is the reality that our shallow gospel exposure is not capturing the imagination and heart of the next generation.  Young people are leaving at a quick pace because their faith is private and “god” is nebulous rather than real faith in the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ as revealed in the historic doctrine of Evangelical Creeds.  We evangelicals are guilty of priding ourselves that we claim Christ without creed or tradition, and the result is that many in our churches lack real faith in the Jesus of the gospel.  The gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are all ancient catechisms of the tradition passed down by the apostles and held to by the people of God. 
               Are we holding onto the gospel?  Are we teaching the doctrines of the church?  This is the challenge I face as a pastor in the congregation I serve to be more active in teaching the Westminster Catechism and Confession that focus our attention upon the core of our biblical faith.  I agree with Packer and Parrett that Catechism is desperately needed to root people in the faith and world view of the Bible.
               How can we modern evangelical pastors teach the doctrine of Scripture, God, Jesus Christ, fallen humanity, justification by faith, sanctification by faith and glorification in the new heaven and earth to people who have been fed a diet of spiritual inspiration without doctrinal foundation?   As a new pastor in a new Presbyterian denomination, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, there is no more urgent need than to preach the Word of God in season and out.  To make sure people understand Trinity, Incarnation, Salvation in Christ alone by faith alone is the call of God.   Vibrant faith is rooted in heart and mind given to the evangelical truths of biblical doctrine.
               What changes do we need to make to insure the proper teaching of the faith in our Christian Education of adult, youth and children?  Should we take up Dr. Packer and Dr. Parrett’s challenge of reading three old books on pastoral care and teaching the faith; to every new book we read on how to build a healthy church (ala C. S. Lewis)?  Should we be using the Catechism more in our traditions?  I already have portions of the Catechism in the affirmation of the faith every Sunday at First Presbyterian Church, Redding when we worship.  Should we return to the old practice of Sunday evening worship with focus upon the Shorter Catechism weekly?  If not, how should we make sure that every generation is taught the faith on a level that cannot be done in one hour of worship weekly?