Thanks, Dad, for your legacy:
Lots of love,
Tom
"The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage." Psalm 16:6
Continuing from our previous post about the Church Planters' Symposium in Wake Forest, NC...
Day 2 - Going to the Conference Center in the Morning
After getting ready at the hotel, eating the famous Hampton Inn continental breakfast, checking out, and loading the car, we headed out and took a few pictures in the immediate area, including the nearby Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary grounds. After parking in downtown, we still had a bit of time, so we strolled over to the farmers market that was set up in another nearby parking lot. There were a combination of foods, crafts, and other items for sale. We sat in a gazebo at one end for a little bit, but then needed to move on because a music group started setting up their instruments there. When the hammer dulcimer was set up, Jonathan was tempted to stay and listen, but we all knew we wanted to get to that conference! So we headed over and went in.
Panel, Church Polity Decisions
Scott, Jason, and Dan were joined by Steve Breagy, another man from Hope Baptist Church who is going through an elder examination, to form a panel to discuss various topics of church polity. They used a printed package that Hope Baptist uses for new prospective members as a basis for the presentations.
Church Membership
Scott reviewed principles and practical advice from an article by Mark Dever about church membership... sounds like the term "member" was being used in a little different sense than Paul uses when he explains the metaphor of the universal body of Christ with His members. "Member" here basically meant a believer who is an identified, committed, involved part of a local assembly... there are no indisputable proof texts in the Scriptures for local church membership, but there are passages that imply formal membership in a local assembly... 1Corinthians 5:2,7,12-13 outsiders and insiders, inclusion and exclusion... 2Corinthians 2:6-7 majority refers to a group commonly recognized as church's members... membership verifies salvation and encourages the development of fruit in life, practicing one anothers... signifies a regular responsibility that involves one in others' lives... criteria: only genuine regenerated believers, love, covenant, fruit of godly character and actions... requirements of members - attend, give, pray, attend communion, attend business meetings... beware of meaningless membership... clearer witness to non-Christians, edify the church, spiritual protection, spiritual assurance, God's name... For me, I definitely see the value of a verbalized, known by all, drive-a-stake-in-the-ground commitment of a person or family to a local assembly (and for that commitment to continue through all the rough spots). But I haven't gotten yet to the point of being fired up about the administrative aspects of keeping a membership roll or that that document has any kind of big meaning in itself -- though church directories have been handy things, haven't they? And 1Timothy 5:9 talks about a list of widows...
Church Covenants
The panel then touched upon Hope's church constitution, though they didn't cover it in depth. It starts with the purpose of the church, followed by a boiled-down statement of faith with 5 basic essential doctrines that they believe all born-again believers must hold to. Following that, there is a reference to the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 being their fuller statement of faith which all officers must uphold and teach (members may take exception to any of the points in that confession, but agree not to cause dissension by speaking against them within the church)... then follows a description and commitment to many principles and practices, many things covered in the previous post, plus several other matters. This was only touched upon.
Following that, the panel spent some time on the value of churches having a written covenant. They went down Hope's Church Covenant point by point (12 points on one sheet of paper). All the points are specific commitments to how the church members will love one another and behave toward one another as a local body. Very neat. New members (after an initial review process and approval by elders) formally stand before the whole church and commit themselves via this covenant to the rest of the church. I don't recall seeing the practice of a written covenant in the NT, but I can see the value of thinking through and setting down the specifics on paper of exactly what I am committing to when I join with the church. Jason and Scott emphasized that the purpose of this whole presentation was not to get everyone to buy in to Hope's constitution and covenant, but to give an example of what one can look like and to encourage its use as a helpful tool.
Lunch - Barbecue pork on rolls, potato salad, chips, brownies. YUM. Oh yeah, by the way, they offered sweetened ice tea to drink. My observation is that Virginians' tea "standard" tends to be unsweetened, with sweetened as an option, but North Carolinians tend to be the other way around - sweetened is the standard... More chat time with other participants. Also got a chance to talk to Scott's dad, Mr. Bill Brown, who dropped by for a while.
Singing - By the way, on both days, before each session, a seminary student named Andrew, led us all in singing a hymn and prayer, then introduced the next speaker. He wore a very cheerful countenance, and his enthusiasm was contagious. He did a great job.
Steve Breagy, Church Planting Checklist
Started with the principle from Psalm 127 unless the Lord builds the house, we labor in vain... checklist can be helpful, but really need to depend on the Lord and follow the Scriptures... cannot possibly cover all the aspects of starting a church, but covered a few main things, then left the rest up to questions... Leadership - need qualified men as leaders, see previous messages; seek out the elders from among yourselves, practice hospitality so you can really get to know one another's character before making an elder... Doctrine - orthodoxy and orthopraxy, hash them out with other families at the front end; holding fast the faithful word, sound doctrine and its application are important; if we differ on anything is it really a big enough issue to be divisive? Leaders really need to be much closer in agreement, other members more leeway... Vision and mission - what is our purpose, and how to we intend to work toward it... Location - homes, rent, or buy? do we take on debt if we buy?... Money - how handle tithes and offering, accountability for handling funds; tax Id and bank account; 501c3 incorporation or not... Do we pay the elders... how practice the Lord's Table and how often... how many families minimum to make a viable church body? Enough to be able to practice one-anothers and not too big for everyone to know one another, no definite number in Scripture... How find other like-minded families? VF NCFIC web site, home school networks, reach out to those who don't yet believe or practice the biblical principles of family... examine men for elders, observe them for a while under pressure, have whole congregation together to question the elder candidate; ask neighbors and friends (good reputation?) and wife!
Break - more chat time, met and chatted with Eddie from Emporia, VA, great testimony about how he had been a full-time "traditional pastor" but became convicted by the Lord about biblical principles of family integration and eldership; after talking to deacons but not getting agreement, he felt he had to resign (which lost him his church, his job, and his home); but soon after, the Lord arranged that he would meet up with a group of families in the area who had been praying for 2 years for a qualified elder who held to these principles -- and there's Eddie! Now the guys in his new fellowship (2 of whom were at the conference with him) call him their hero. Also during the breaks, we would look over and see Dan's son faithfully typing up his dad's power point presentations for him.
Dan Horn, When and How to Leave a Church
First and foremost, we need to be very deliberate about lovingly working within my existing church before I should think about leaving... be very watchful for wrong, critical attitudes... the Lord didn't make me an elder in existing church so I don't have any authority for forcing an elder to change, appeal patiently, humbly, and in love... Apply 1Corinthians 13 as I appeal... Possible reasons to leave after all that: serious doctrinal error, protecting your family, inability to fulfill responsibilities (subjective), or I would cause dissenson by staying... if I have to leave, do so in good grace and love... for new folks visiting your fellowship, talk to their previous church to make sure they left in love.
Scott Brown, Growing a Church
Teaching through Ephesians 4... walk in a manner worthy of His calling, behavior and attitude... guard and preserve unity of Spirit with 4 virtues - lowliness, gentleness, longsuffering, bearing with one another in love; appreciate our oneness in Christ... grow the church through grace, gifts of grace and gifted men... speak the truth in love and grow up into Christ, reap the fruit of the Spirit's gifts operating... put off worldliness and patterns of Gentiles... 30 years later, in the book of Revelation, John appealed to the Ephesians to renew their first love.
Saying Bye - lots of good-byes with our new acquaintances, thanked Scott, Jason, and Dan profusely for ministering to us... chatted more with our Massachusetts friends and got their email address if we want some pointers on planting... helped stack the chairs against the wall, then headed out to the car and hit the road, taking a few more pictures in town on the way out...
Trip Back - oh, by the way, Wake Forest has one of those atrocious "traffic circles" right near the seminary, always a challenge not smashing into someone else, but we went through safely one more time as we left town... Hannah discovered how to take a short video on my camera and took some interesting (?) footage... another very nice country drive back through NC and VA... we stopped to grab something quick for supper; arrived home around 9:30 pm tired but happy to be back with Deb and Sarah (and Pepper too, of course, bark-bark I'm so excited).
We are very thankful that we had the chance to gain some perspective and wisdom from these men and to gain encouragement from like-minded families. Pray that the Lord would help us apply His wisdom as we seek what He would have us do.
~ Tom
This past weekend, Jonathan, Hannah, and I had the privilege of participating in Vision Forum’s NCFIC Church Planters' Symposium in Wake Forest, NC. It was very interesting, enjoyable, encouraging, and helpful. We have been praying, thinking, reading, etc., about what the Lord would have us do in our corner of the world regarding the planting of a church. The conference was a good source of wisdom and fellowship with some like-minded believers. Scott Brown put the event together along with 3 other men from his church and the help of several church family members.
What follows is an attempt to boil down a half-inch-thick stack of notes and many memories into a synopsis for you. It won’t do the conference justice, but you’ll get the idea.
Getting There
A nice 4.5 hour drive through VA and NC countryside on Thursday afternoon… dump stuff in the hotel and eat at a crowded Mexican restaurant… recon mission driving through downtown Wake Forest in the evening to find the conference site and potential parking places for the next morning… turns out my idea of Wake Forest being a large metro area is totally wrong – it’s a quaint, historical little town with two short main streets and a few cross streets… found Scott’s office building, next to a restored classic car sales place… back to Hampton Inn to zonk out.
Day 1 – Scott Brown, Fulfill God’s Purpose for the Church
The conference room was about 20’x40’ and held several dads, couples, and several sons and one daughter… Scott kicked off by praying, then having everyone introduce themselves and telling briefly about why they came to the conference… Scott started with describing 9 elements of the church that need to be established when planting a church: pastoral care, Jesus as Head, members identified, her victory, her value, her role in the world, her foundation, her mandate, and her centrality in history… with all her existing spots and wrinkles and problems, God really sees the church as His bride and is steadily perfecting her… we really need to see the church as gloriously and importantly as He does… great perspectives shared by Scott.
Jason Dohm, Elements of Biblical Church 
Life
Jason is a co-elder with Scott at Hope Baptist Church, and along with being a great teacher he is pretty humorous… review of regulative principle (only allow what is clearly warranted in Scripture) vs. normative principle (can do anything not expressly prohibited in Scripture)… the church has a mission, gifts and gifted men, government, and practices… from Acts 2, the practices are evangelism, baptism, the apostle’s teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread (Lord’s Table), and prayer… we don’t see a lot of programs in the New Testament church, just brothers and sisters practicing these main activities in an organic, relational manner… make sure activities do not rob us from the huge responsibility of discipling our families.
Lunch – meatball subs, chips, veggies, drinks, and cookies, graciously prepared and served by several young ladies from the church… met Scott and several others to chat about our backgrounds… talked with a family from Massachusetts who had planted a church (the dad is an elder there) and intend to plant another church in their area (they also play Celtic and bluegrass music as a family).
Dan Horn, Complementary Roles of Church and Home
Dan is one of the other men in Hope Baptist Church who is currently going through an examination process to possibly be appointed as elder, with the thought of planting a new church out of Hope Baptist… Dan is a very intelligent, articulate teacher… message based upon Deuteronomy 6… don’t just run away from youth groups, but re-establish the biblical framework of family and church; fathers need to take back up the leadership role (prophet, priest, king)… God commands fathers to teach sons and grandsons--it is not for the church to usurp this role; multigenerational… the Shema, starts with confession of God as one, then loving God with all our might; nurture and admonition…fathers provide protection to their households, teach who the Lord is… church’s roles: equip believers, encouragement, accountability, gifts, doctrine, deal with exceptions to God’s normative family pattern.
Jason Dohm, Establish Biblical Church Government
Plurality of elders; gathered saints can exist as a church but are in a “deficient” state without elders (Titus 1:5)… see no chief pastor in the Scriptures other than Jesus Christ Himself… devoted to the Word and prayer… elders watch out for and protect the flock from wolves without and within, know their souls’ condition… elder role is a good work and to be done by men who are mature and qualified… main qualifications: (1) mature spiritual character, (2) able to teach, (3) manages his household well… seminary training can be very beneficial but not on the list of qualifications… use sound doctrine to exhort and convict… always on call for prayer… be a shepherd… brethren among elders and elders among brethren, no clergy/laity distinction… serve willingly and eagerly but not lording it over anyone, be an example… develop robust heads of households, encourage fathers to go home and teach and model the Bible to their families… from Q&A – for new church plant, don’t just rush to appoint men as elders just to say you have them, take your time to get to know their character and family so know if they are qualified; just make sure that, at the start, you get straight on agreement of doctrines (orthodoxy) and practices (orthopraxy); if you don’t do it up front, you’ll regret it later; could use another established church’s leadership as an advisor and a resource to doctrinally examine an elder candidate.
Supper – Scott suggests that he and Jason are going down the street to a restaurant to eat dinner, and asks if anyone would like to join them – so 30 of us do so and tromp a few blocks to invade an Italian restaurant, causing mild panic among the restaurant staff… great food and lots of fun talking to Scott, Joseph from Australia, Michael and Brooke from Hong Kong, and Dan’s wife and daughter… stroll the streets for a few minutes to take pictures, and drive back to the hotel for some needed rest.
(to be continued)
~ Tom
From "Jonathan Edwards, A New Biography" by Iain H. Murray:
"But given the need of Yale, and given Edwards' availability, it is highly probable that efforts to place him in Connecticut's only college were under active consideration in 1723. It may well also have been the case that Timothy Edwards regarded a further period of study as a tutor at Yale as being in Jonathan's best long-term interests. He knew well that more than warm piety is needed for the right discharge of the work of the ministry. Confronted by these perplexing alternatives and not yet twenty years of age, Edwards is likely to have depended upon his father's counsel. We have already noted that Timothy Edwards' advice had played a part in his not continuing in New York, and in the summer of 1723 parents and son were closer than they had ever been. A Diary entry for May 18, 1723, reads: 'I now plainly perceive what great obligation I am under to love and honour my parents. I have great reason to believe that their counsel and education have been my making.' "
~ Tom
On this post, Team Pyro quotes Mr. Spurgeon about the need for our ministry to be general and the Lord's intention to effectively call out a particular people.
~ Tom
... God's gracious providence in our lives.
"Whose heart the Lord opened."
"In Lydia’s conversion there are many points of interest. It was brought about by providential circumstances. She was a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, but just at the right time for hearing Paul we find her at Philippi; providence, which is the handmaid of grace, led her to the right spot. Again, grace was preparing her soul for the blessing—grace preparing for grace. She did not know the Saviour, but as a Jewess, she knew many truths which were excellent stepping stones to a knowledge of Jesus. Her conversion took place in the use of the means. On the Sabbath she went when prayer was wont to be made, and there prayer was heard. Never neglect the means of grace; God may bless us when we are not in his house, but we have the greater reason to hope that he will when we are in communion with his saints. Observe the words, "Whose heart the Lord opened." She did not open her own heart. Her prayers did not do it; Paul did not do it. The Lord himself must open the heart, to receive the things which make for our peace. He alone can put the key into the hole of the door and open it, and get admittance for himself. He is the heart’s master as he is the heart’s maker. The first outward evidence of the opened heart was obedience. As soon as Lydia had believed in Jesus, she was baptized. It is a sweet sign of a humble and broken heart, when the child of God is willing to obey a command which is not essential to his salvation, which is not forced upon him by a selfish fear of condemnation, but is a simple act of obedience and of communion with his Master. The next evidence was love, manifesting itself in acts of grateful kindness to the apostles. Love to the saints has ever been a mark of the true convert. Those who do nothing for Christ or his church, give but sorry evidence of an "opened" heart. Lord, evermore give me an opened heart."
(from Morning and Evening, by Charles H. Spurgeon)
~ Tom
...our love for Jesus Christ.
"1 Peter 1:8: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
... 1. Love to Christ: "Whom having not yet seen, ye love." The world was ready to wonder, what strange principle it was, that influenced them to expose themselves to so great sufferings, to forsake the things that were seen, and renounce all that was dear and pleasant, which was the object of sense. They seemed to the men of the world about them, as though they were beside themselves, and to act as though they hated themselves; there was nothing in their view, that could induce them thus to suffer, and support them under, and carry them through such trials. But although there was nothing that was seen, nothing that the world saw, or that the Christians themselves ever saw with their bodily eyes, that thus influenced and supported them, yet they had a supernatural principle of love to something unseen; they loved Jesus Christ, for they saw him spiritually whom the world saw not, and whom they themselves had never seen with bodily eyes."
(from A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards)
~ Tom
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