“The bulk of the thousands who have abandoned Mormonism have not gone into our churches, but have settled into helpless indifference if not hopeless atheism…”
“It is hard to get good men to come to Utah. After coming, most of them leave at the first disappointment. WE NEED MEN HERE WITH THE SAME SETTLED CONVICTION THAT TAKES OTHERS TO THE FOREIGN FIELD—A CONVICTION THAT GOD HAS CALLED THEM TO THIS AS A LIFE WORK.
— Baptist missionary Bruce Kinney, “The Baptist Home Mission Monthly.” Vol XXIX, No. 3. March 1907. Emphasis original.
Assuming the autonomy and independence of churches from outside interference or external governance, I see four forms of polity:
Elder-rule without consensus. Elders may build or assure consensus from congregation, but it is not principally and finally required. Pronouncements on major decisions made at the gathering may normally but not necessarily imply consensus between elders and congregation.
Elder-rule with consensus. Neither the majority of members nor the majority of elders can overrule the other on accepting/expunging members or elders. General consensus of some (at least implicit) kind is required. Voting on elders is common. Major decisions like adding new members don’t always require a congregational vote. The elders do not derive their authority from the congregation, but directly from Christ.
Elder-led congregationalism. Requires express vote for all major decisions (especially accepting/expunging members or elders). Sees the congregation as having final authority over the elders and delegating authority to the elders. Consensus between congregation and elders not principally required, but often practically secured if elders are normally the ones to bring matters to vote.
Strict congregationalism. Members can unilaterally both bring matters forward for vote and overrule elders. The church and even its elders are ruled by plurality of members and committees.
Worth a mention: Single-elder rule, deacon board rule, or a combination thereof.
This book by James M. Renihan has arrested me for the past few weeks. It was riveting to hear how my Particular Baptist brothers, with a “primitivist urge to fulfill the dictates of Scripture”, “ransacked the pages of the Bible in order to establish their deeds with a heavenly authority.” (58)
I find myself largely at home with the Particular Baptists of the late 17th century, who themselves admired their Puritan brothers. Their ecclesiological retrieval is inspiring.
The book is a running commentary and synthesis of primary sources. Renihan ended each chapter with cogent summaries without rhetorical flourish.
Dr. Todd Chipman cheerfully shepherded us students through two semesters of elementary Greek. He prayed for us often and loved his students. He encouraged us to quietly use Greek as a humble foundation beneath our preaching.Jared Wilson made us all want to finish seminary and go pastor. His books, “The Pastor’s Justification” and “Gospel-Driven Ministry”, were good for the soul.
He taught us to keep the gospel of ongoing central importance in our preaching, identity, and pursuit of personal transformation. His temperament, speech, and wisdom were imitable.
He had us read from Spurgeon’s “Lectures To My Students.” This is easily the most memorable reading I have done here so far.Dr. Thor Madsen took us above the clouds and stayed at cruising altitude through large stretches of the New Testament for two memorable semesters. Stacia and I marveled at what we learned on our walks back home.Continue reading “Wrapping up the semester at MBTS”→
How closely involved should you be with people in your church? Close enough to practice this:
“… with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:2-3)
Staying detached, uninvolved, only spectating means you don’t have to forgive anyone, and no one has to forgive you.
Get close enough with others, and this starts happening among gospel-people:
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
Older Christians with regrets need to hear the gospel again and again:
“Since therefore we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:1, 6)
“Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” (Philippians 3:9)
Over and over.
It is how our Shepherd lays us down in green pastures and restores our troubled souls.
It is how our Friend continues to wash our dirty feet.
It is how our Gardiner keep us fruitful, abiding in the Vine.
It is how our High Priest provides absolution. You are forgiven.
It is how our King gives us victory.
It is how our Groom would have us return to our first love.
Jesus would have you be fruitful today, Christian. Do not be paralyzed by memories of failure or mid/late-life regret.
Revisit the gospel which never gets old or loses its relevance.
Hear the word, confess your sins, and look yet again to our mediator:
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1)
“As the years pass, God expands the land promise to extend beyond Canaan to eventually encompass the entire world.
“The first hint is the varying descriptions of the geographic boundaries of the Promised Land throughout the Pentateuch (cf., e.g., Genesis 15:18-21; Exodus 23:31-33; Numbers 34:1-12; Deuteronomy 1:7; 11:24; 34:1-4; Joshua 1:2-4). Such variety suggests the borders of the land are intended to expand as Israel dwells there and exercises dominion over it and the surrounding nations.
“A second indication is that God promised Abram descendants more numerous than the stars in the sky or the dust of the earth (Genesis 13:16; 15:5). Even allowing for the possibility of hyperbole, the sheer number of descendants envisioned seems to demand a larger territory than the land of Canaan.
“A third indication comes from Romans 4:13, where Paul asserts that God promised Abraham and his offspring that he “would be heir of the world.” The apostle, following the lead of the prophets, sees in nascent form a promise that encompassed all of creation. The frequent descriptions of the fertility and fecundity of the land portray it as a new Edenic Paradise where God’s original purposes for creation will be realized.”
Harmon, Matthew S.. Rebels and Exiles (Essential Studies in Biblical Theology) (p. 22). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
“No one proves more emphatically that he is giving a promised gift cheerfully than someone who gives more than his promise entails.” (Anselm)
“Though Eden was a concentrated specific area of the presence of God, it was indicative of the purpose of Earth… Thus, when there’s a specific area that is covenantally granted to Abraham, it [represents] the first step in a return to an Edenic state — a concentrated area of God’s dwelling place with man that will expand as man is ‘fruitful and multiplies.'” – Bradley Campbell
Modern Mormonism is, by its own early standards, boring.
It no longer fits early Mormonism’s hyper-pentecostal restorationist criteria for genuine retrieval of the vibrant and identifiable practice of charismatic gifts.
Gone are the early LDS days of angelic visitors, Kirtland Temple visions, speaking in tongues, dramatic healings, bold prophecy, “thus saith the Lord” revelations, theocratic kingdom building, bursts of new scripture, and polygamy.
Now it’s back to the “boring” functional cessationism that it earlier claimed was a mark of apostasy.
It’s as though dramatic charismata was for the generation or two after Joseph Smith. Enough time for the foundation to be laid and for a less earth-shaking era to follow.
Loose analogy, but Mormons think of Joseph Smith like many Christians think of Jesus Christ:
Joseph Smith is their final dispensation head.
He enacted a new covenant.
He definitively unveiled the most important mysteries.
He secured a permanent kingdom that won’t be shaken — assuring no more Great Apostasy.
He boasts of gathering sheep in an effective way that the earlier covenant didn’t accomplish.
He announces, “I am going like a lamb to the slaughter.”
His blood was shed, and now his life and sacrifice are remembered.
He mingles with the heavenly beings.
He intercedes for his brothers from heaven.
He is praised in song in the gathered church worship.
It’s no wonder that they are content with Joseph Smith being God’s big mic drop, and with a sharp decline in the degree of charismata since his message has been substantially established. He was the agent of their own Hebrews 1:1 paradigm shift.
I Am Aaron Shafovaloff 