The General Assembly of the PCA has now taken a strong stand against paedocommunion. But the practice of communing baptized children faces greater challenges than just this kind of opposition. Churches that practice paedocommunion (as a good number in the CREC do) face their own challenge to the practice, a challenge that arises from within. …
Burrowed Into the Woodwork of Puritanism
Here is a small necklace of things that should be strung on the same thread, at least in my mind. To the casual observer, it might seem more like a pearl, a washer, a wooden bead, and a small metallic nut, but this is only because that casual observer is not looking at it with …
The Mutual Funds of Missions Funding
A few days ago I was visiting with some fellow CREC ministers, and we were talking about the problems that accompany the funding of missions. A very common model in evangelical circles is for a church to support a hundred missionaries at $25 a month. They have lots of names on the bulletin board, and …
Actually Count the Shekels
Fourth in a series on ministerial compensation . . . One of the things we have done for men who have completed their studies at Greyfriars Hall, and who have been called by a church, is have some men negotiate a salary on their behalf. This is because certain things need to be said which …
Shortchanging for Jesus
Third in a series on ministerial compensation . . . Given the fact that “many” in the ministry are guilty of milking the ministry for all it is worth, it should therefore not be surprising that many who are responsible for budgets are on guard against this kind of thing. But the warnings against avarice …
Shepherds Who Feed Only Themselves
Second in a series on ministerial compensation . . . Having said this, mercenary ministers have hardly been a rarity in the history of the Church. We get our word simony from the ill-fated attempt by Simon Magus to buy the Holy Spirit, presumably because he saw an opportunity to flip it for a profit …
Double Honor
The first in a series on ministerial compensation . . . We need to begin with the honor. When God tells us to do something, we should do it, and we should try to solve any problems that have resulted from our obedience after the fact. We must not try to anticipate any such problems …
A Brief Theology of Designated Gifts
So let us begin by defining terms. Financial support of the Lord’s work can be divided into two categories–tithes and offerings. With the tithe, the amount is specified by the Lord (10% of the increase, by definition), and then three broad categories are authorized as proper recipients of this tithe. Those three categories are the …
It’s Not the Restaurants, Champ
The apostle Paul had a terrible time maintaining relationships. And we, in our therapeutic age, would tend to think it was his problem, saying that he must have been what is called a “strong colleague.” “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica”(2 Tim. 4:10). “But Paul thought …
You Know You Are on the Wrong Side of a Church Split If . . .
Here are just a few observations I have gathered from over the years. I used the phrase church split in the title, but the principles also apply to solo departures from a church, as well as to those controlled crashes that are a combination of church split and church plant — what the professionals call …