A Prayer of Thanksgiving for 250 Years of Liberty

Father in heaven, your word says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” (James 1:17)

We confess that all gifts come from you, including the gift of liberty.

There is much repentance to pray for, and sin to grieve over in our country. But we pause to thank you.

Thank you for liberty from sin, purchased for us by our King and Savior.

Thank you for the liberty of conscience. We confess that Christ alone is Lord of the conscience.

Thank you for the liberty of local and representative government, and freedom from foreign rule or tyranny.

Thank you for the freedom to vote for our representatives; help us to be thankful for that, and to use that freedom.

Thank you for the freedom we have to express our concerns or grievances against government when necessary; help us to do so in a godly, dignified way that honors you.

Thank you for the American experiment. Thank you for our pilgrim, Puritan, and Presbyterian brothers who founded this country and its Christian colonies.

Thank you for the federation of states which became fertile soil for broad religious freedoms for Baptist and non-denominational Christians

Thank you for the freedom to voluntarily gather as Christians into new churches, whether here in Riverton, or in planting a new church in Saratoga Springs.

Thank you that we can proclaim Jesus without fear of persecution.

Thank you for police officers that protect us locally.

Thank you for those that serve in the military, who protect our freedoms broadly.

Thank you for a government that, overall, still rewards good and punishes evil.

Thank you for the civil goodness and common grace that you’ve given us in the government of Riverton, and Salt Lake County, and Utah, and the United States.

We confess that you, Jesus, are Lord over our country, and over every country. You are the King of kings and Lord of lords. Someday “all the nations you have made shall come and worship before you.” (Psalm 86:9)

Father, we love our country. And we love our story.

We hold these loosely in our hand, while we wait for a better country.

You words says in Hebrews 11:16, “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

Even as we desire a better country, we thank you for our country. Thank you for the liberty we have. And now we use the liberty in the best possible way: to voluntarily gather as a local church, approaching the throne of our King, to worship you.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Why It’s OK To Be Imperfectly Loved

  • Even imperfect love is a gift. As with imperfect food, “Nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4).
  • What others are obligated to give, we are not entitled to demand. “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7).
  • Love seeks to release others (including those who love us) from guilt and judgment. “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).
  • We ourselves imperfectly love others. “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1).
  • Though imperfectly loved, we are still loved. “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children…” (Matthew 7:11).
  • Not grumbling is a life-hack. “Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door” (James 5:9).
  • We are not the final judge. “There is only one lawgiver and judge” (James 4:12).
  • Better to be distracted by thanksgiving. “Forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:2).
  • We are perfectly loved in Christ. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

On Hayden Carroll’s Misuse of a Douglas Wilson Quote

On Hayden Carroll’s Misuse of a Douglas Wilson Quote

LDS apologist Hayden Carroll uses a Douglas Wilson quote to debunk Protestants who believe in Sola Scriptura:

“The problem with contemporary Protestants is that they have no doctrine of the Table of Contents. With the approach that is popular in conservative evangelical circles, one simply comes to the Bible by means of an epistemological lurch. The Bible ‘just is,’ and any questions about how it got here are dismissed as a nuisance.”

But those who know the writing of Doug Wilson know that he’s a jolly provocateur. One learns to read on. His point isn’t to deconstruct the infallible, self-attesting canon, to place the Church above Scripture, or to rid us altogether of external infallible authority.

In the sentences preceding the quote, Wilson himself writes,

“The Westminster Confession teaches that the Holy Spirit gives ‘full persuasion and assurance’ concerning Scripture to converted persons. These converted persons are in turn enabled to see the other abundant evidences, which include the testimony of the Church (WCF I, iv.).”

For Wilson, the doctrine of self-attesting, infallible Scripture is coupled with the internal witness of the Holy Spirit. By this, one can appreciate the other abundance of evidences for Scripture, including the testimony of the Church.

Continue reading “On Hayden Carroll’s Misuse of a Douglas Wilson Quote” →

Revelation Reinforces Mystery

Revelation Reinforces Mystery

Revelation should frustrate the inner rationalist within us.

It always comes packaged with mystery. It is constantly teaching us what we can know (because God revealed it) and what we can’t know (because God hasn’t revealed it).

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29)

It raises questions that only God can answer.

It broadens our knowledge, and exposes our ignorance.

It bumps us up against our inability to search out what God hasn’t revealed.

“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.”
– Psalm 145:3

And it’s all grace. God gives, and we receive. He reveals, we believe.

He accommodates and condescends and “lisps” to us.

Humility is the only right way to receive this. It doesn’t say, “This makes total sense; there isn’t mystery in this.”

It instead says,

“If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.” (1 Corinthians 3:18)

And,

“If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.” (1 Corinthians 8:2)

And,

“For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” (Galatians 6:3)

And,

“Then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun… even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out.” (Ecclesiastes 8:17)

And,

“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” (Psalm 139:6)

And,

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33)

And,

“O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.”
– Psalm 131:1-2

My friend Bradley once described the incomprehensibility of God like a warm campfire. We can’t touch it, but it provides warmth. So we sleep next to it.

It’s also like the sun. It heats up the earth and illuminates everything in its way. It’s bright and beautiful and clarifying and life-giving.

And yet we can’t stare into it, or see inside it, or pretend that it won’t blind us in our very attempt to. But it burns through the fog and clears a way.

Hence, this should also encourage the inner skeptic within us.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 109:105)

On the Ineffability of God

  • We can’t capture all of who God is in our creaturely language.
  • We are dependent on language that God reveals about himself.
  • Such language is meaningful without being comprehensive. It is true without being exhaustive.
  • Our language for God participates in, points to, and enjoys something bigger than we can wrap our minds around. “How inscrutable [are] his ways!” (Romans 11:33)
  • Our language for God in worship is an exuberant exasperation, a glad struggle. Our words are never enough. There is always more of God to enjoy!
  • When we speak of God, we should do so with humility, reverence, and awe.
  • There is a sacred silence for what God has not revealed.

“I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.”
– Psalm 145:1-3

Semantic Range

Semantic Range

Among the most important concepts you’ll ever learn:

Semantic range.

Or: Words are like suitcases.

For example, “light” can mean something that shines, something not heavy, or even a gentle feeling.

Words can carry more than one meaning. The nerds also call this “range of meaning.” It’s the different things a word can mean depending on how it’s used.

Wisdom requires us to slow down and ask how a word is being used. Provocative language often plays with this range, pulling in a curious reader, tickling or even shocking your semantic expectations.

Patience or pride make all the difference. Reflecting on “semantic range” takes humility. Pride chooses to be triggered; humility pauses to troubleshoot a riddle.

“Let a wise person listen and increase learning,
and let a discerning person obtain guidance—
for understanding a proverb or a parable,
the words of the wise, and their riddles.”
– Proverbs 1:5-6

“If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.”
– Proverbs 18:13

“Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”
– Proverbs 19:11

So, reflect, don’t react.

That’s one reason to read books. Not just for what they say, but for how they train your mind to wait, to wade, and to weigh words.

My Journey to Elder-Led Congregationalism

When I went to Kansas City for seminary in 2020, I held to “elder-rule” polity. This can mean, among other things, that pastors have the authority to act unilaterally in adding or removing members from a church.

Fortunately, I think for many Christians the experience between elder-rule and elder-led churches feels inconsequential. As Andy Naselli writes,

“A healthy and humble elder-rule church may look similar to a healthy and humble elder-led church because those elders are involving the congregation as they should.”

In other words, in healthy elder-ruled churches, elders seek to act in unity as a whole church in major decisions. So it can look a lot like an “elder-led” church, even though it isn’t on paper.

A pivotal moment for me came in 2021. A brother asked, “Who holds the binding and loosing keys of the kingdom—the congregation or the elders?”

That question arrested me and set me down a path of study. I argued for elder-rule polity with some humble seminary friends. They gently pushed back.

Some key questions emerged:

  • When Jesus says, “Tell it to the church” (Matthew 18:17), does that only mean telling it to the elders? Or does this eventually require telling it to the gathered congregation?
  • What does “refuses to listen even to the church” mean in that same passage?
  • What spiritual significance does the assembly in 1 Corinthians 5:4–5 have for binding and loosing? What about the “majority” in 2 Corinthians 2:6–10?

Another question that fascinated me: How do I make sense of local churches that, for some providential, temporary reason, lack any officers? Do they not possess the keys of the kingdom? Do they not still have the responsibility of binding and loosing? Do they not exercise a kind of authority when adding their first pastor?

Eventually, I came to share Jonathan Leeman’s view of elder-led congregationalism:

“The congregationalist’s basic contention is that the authority which belongs to the congregation is of one kind, and the authority which belongs to the elders is of another kind. The congregation’s authority pertains to the foundation or very existence of the church as an eschatological embassy of Christ’s kingdom. The elders’ authority pertains to the function of the church—they lead life together within the community, including in the church’s use of the keys.” (“Putting in a Good Word for Congregationalism”)

In 2020, I would have argued (in essence) that the elders distinctly possess the keys, either directly from Christ or delegated from the congregation.

In 2025, I now believe that the congregation has the binding and loosing keys of the kingdom to add or remove members from a local church, expressing the mind of Christ as a unified body.

Elders shepherd the flock in exercising this responsibility but do not act in its stead.

I love my non-Baptist “Bible church”, Anglican, Lutheran, and Presbyterian friends in Christ. Many pastors of non-Baptist polity gently shepherd their churches in expressing the mind of Christ as a unified body. But I think the best way to represent that reality at the level of ecclesiology (in church government) is by finally deferring to the local church. It is the gathered local church which finally expresses a majority decision in admitting or removing members or officers.

Polity notwithstanding, I join my non-baptist brothers in celebrating the significance of the weekly gathering of saints. Something remarkable is happening in the cosmic theater of heavenly powers. Angels watch in amazement.

We approach the throne of Christ together. Christ – who alone is head of the church – is gathering and governing his people by his word.

Further reading:

  • Don’t Fire Your Church Members: The Case for Congregationalism, by Jonathan Leeman – a biblical-theological case for elder-led congregationalism
  • Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership, by Alexander Strauch – a wonderful book that gives a case for elder-rule polity