That’s not to say ALL abandoned homes are sad.  I’ve never driven past a trailer park filled with vacant trailers and felt anything akin to sorrow.  Nothing against trailers or those who call them home, it’s just that trailers are utilitarian things and were never meant for beauty.  The same cannot be said, however, for the abandoned and decaying homes one sometimes stumbles across in one's travels.  On the odd occasion passing through a strange neighborhood it may only take a casual  glance at some ancient place wilting and sagging in the noonday sun to inform the passerby that once upon a time this was a stately place.  Once upon a time it was beautiful.  Once upon a time, long ago before unforeseen circumstances led to its peeling paint, spongy porch and broken windows, this was a place of greatness…   In such circumstances even the causal passerby might be tempted to shed a tear or two for what once was but now is not. 

 According to Spencer evangelicalism will soon become a house deserted for the following reasons:

• its unneccesary identification with social and political conservatism and the so-called “culture wars”
• its failure to pass on to evangelical young people an orthodox form of faith that can take root and survive
• its inability to produce, through Christian education, a people who can withstand the rising tide of secularism
• its ministries increasingly coming into conflict with a secular society that sees “good works” as “bad”
• its failure to pass on to its own children an evangelical confidence in the authority of Scripture
• its excess of debt and dwindling sources of revenue 

Those are Spencer's thoughts in a nutshell...  and there is something very disturbing about them.

Someone reading this might ask me - why raise this gloomy issue at all?

Here's why...

​To begin with I am part of the Reformed tradition...  and while most American evangelicals consider the Reformed tradition to be (at best) a kind of eccentric and stogy step-cousin, to the evangelical family, I nevertheless have a great deal of heartfelt sympathy for my evangelical brethren.   It would grieve me tremendously to one day see the great house of evangelicalism lying in ruins.  Furthermore, I prayerfully hope that the problems highlighted by Spencer (assuming they are accurate) can be corrected within the evangelical community and that Christ will graciously protect it from any and all self-destructive errors.  But over and above all of this, I recognize what I hope all Christians reading this post will recognize regardless of the theological tradition from which they come – namely, that the errors which plague one part of Christ’s Body today might easily plague another part tomorrow. 
 
Let us earnestly consider how Spencer’s argument might apply to us and let us humbly ask the Lord of the Church to correct our own in-house errors so that we -  along with all of the household of God - might be strengthened in Christ for His glory and never fall into dereliction. 

3.  Concern over financial wellbeing of family. “A prominent member of the church told me they were keeping my pay low to keep me humble. I guarantee you he doesn’t practice the same humility.”

4.  Expectations to understand the business and leadership side of church life. “I have no idea about some of the financial decisions I’m supposed to lead at the church. Seminary did not prepare me for this.”

5.  Complaints to or about family members. “A church member complained to me because my wife isn’t in the choir. She’s never been in a choir and has no desire to be in a choir.”

6.  Inadequate uninterrupted sermon prep time. “Unfortunately, some of the members think my sermon preparation time is free time for them to chat.”

7.  Losing church members. “I wish I could handle losing church members, but I still take it personally.”

8.  Concerns over church budget. “Giving has been down for two years straight. We may soon have to cut staff or pay.”

9.  Declining or plateaued church. “I’ve done everything I know to lead our church to growth to no avail. It’s so frustrating.”
​
10.  Designated giving toward personal preferences. “We no longer meet our budget because we have six or seven families designating their giving for their pet projects.”
​

Also let us continue to welcome outsiders into our midst as warmly as we can even as we chuckle at ourselves.  As the book of proverbs puts it, "A Joyful heart is good medicine."   So why not take your medicine right now!  Watch the awkward welcome the visitor in the video gets when he stumbles into a strange church.
 
(BTW, you'll want to make sure you don't miss the singing of 'All Creatures of Our God and King' at the end... the recollection of this video has often made it difficult for me to remain dignified while singing this hymn in church.)

Christians cannot be tolerant of all things because God is not tolerant of all things. We can respect differing opinions and try to understand them, but we cannot give our unqualified, unconditional affirmation to every belief and behavior. Because God doesn’t. We must love what God loves. That’s where Ephesus failed. But we must also hate what God hates. That’s where Thyatira failed.

Of the seven cities in Revelation, Thyatira is the least well known, the least impressive, and the least important. And yet, the letter is the longest of the seven. There was a lot going on at this church–some bad, some good.
Let’s start with the good. Verse 19, “I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance.” Ephesus was praised for its good deeds and strong work ethic. Thyatira is even better.  Is has the deeds that Ephesus had and the love that Ephesus lacked. The church at Thyatira was not without genuine virtue. It was a tight-knit bunch who loved, served, believed, and endured.

Maybe Thyatira was the kind of church you walked into and immediately felt like you belonged: “Great to meet you. Come, let me introduce you to my friends.  Here, I’ll show you how you can get plugged in, use your gifts, do ministry. We’re so glad you’re here.” It was a caring church, a sacrificial church, a loving church.

That was the good part. And the bad part? Its love could be undiscerning and blindly affirming. The big problem at Thyatira was tolerance. The folks at Thyatira tolerated false teaching and immoral behavior, two things God is fiercely intolerant of. Jesus says, “You’re loving in many ways, but your tolerance is not love. It’s unfaithfulness.”

The specific sin in Thyatira was the tolerance of Jezebel. That wasn’t the woman’s real name. But this false prophetess was acting like a Jezebel-leading people into adultery and idolatry. We don’t know if her influence was formal–she got up in front of people and told them these deceptive things–or if it was informal–taking place in conversations and by word of mouth. However it was happening, this woman in Thyatira was a spiritual danger, like her Old Testament namesake.
Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians. She worshiped Baal and Asherah and led her husband, Ahab, in the same. Jezebel is the one who plotted to kill innocent Naboth for his vineyard. She was called “that cursed woman” (2 Kings 9:34). As a punishment for her wickedness, she was eventually pushed out a window, trampled by horses, and eaten up by dogs. She was a bad lady. And she lead many Israelites down a bad path.

Jesus says to Thyatira, “You are allowing a woman like that to have sway over your people. Why do you tolerate her? Don’t affirm her. Don’t dialogue with her. Don’t wait and see what happens. Get rid of her. . . .or I will.” Apparently, by some means, the Lord had already warned her to repent, but she refused. And so now the Lord Jesus promises to throw her onto the sick bed and make her followers suffer as well, unless they repent. “I will strike your spiritual children dead,” says the Lord. Jesus isn’t messing around here. This isn’t a secondary issue. This is a serious sin worthy of death.

It was also an entrenched sin. There were a number of trade guilds in Thyatira. Suppose you belonged to the local BAT, the Bricklayers Association of Thyatira, and one night the guild got together for a feast. You’d be sitting around the table, ready to partake of this great celebration with your friends and colleagues, and the host would say something like, “We’re glad you could make it. What a happy occasion for the BAT. We have quite a feast prepared for you. But before we partake, we want to recognize the great god Zeus who watches over the bricklayers and has made this dinner possible. Zeus, you see his statue in the corner, we eat to you, in your honor, for your worship. Let’s dig in.”

What would you do in that situation? Stay or go? What would your participation signify before your fellow Christians, before the watching world, before God? Christians in the ancient world didn’t have to go searching for idolatry. It was woven into the fabric of their whole culture. To not participate in these pagan rituals was to stick out like a Yankees fan at Fenway Park. These feasts, with their idolatry and the sexual revelry which would often follow, were a normal part of life in the Greco-Roman world. To remove yourself from them could be socially and economically disastrous.

Which is why false teachers like this Jezebel in Thyatira or the Nicolaitans in Pergamum gained such a hearing. They made being a Christian a lot easier, much less costly, must less counter-cultural. But it was a compromised Christianity, and Jesus could not tolerate it. He was going to make an example of Thyatira to show all the churches that Jesus has eyes like fire, too pure to look on evil, and feet like burnished bronze, too holy to walk among wickedness. He wanted all the churches to know that he was the searcher of hearts and minds and he would repay evil for unrepentant evil.
​
The error of Jezebel was a serious sin, an entrenched sin, and a subtle sin. The people had probably been told that the “deep secrets” wouldn’t harm them. We don’t know exactly what it meant for the church to learn Satan’s so-called deep secrets. We don’t know if that’s what the false teachers called them or if that’s what Jesus is calling them. But what was going on was probably some kind of false teaching that devalued the material world. This Jezebel may have been saying, “The physical world doesn’t matter. It’s the spiritual realm that counts. So go ahead and participate in idol feasts and do whatever you want sexually. Those are material things. God doesn’t care about that.” Or she may have been saying, “Look, if you are truly spiritual, then your relationship with God will be strong enough to withstand the deep things of Satan. So go ahead. Participate in evil practices. You can handle it and you’ll probably even learn more about the enemy in the process.” Whatever it was that she was saying, it was a lie and it was leading people into sin. The church was more tolerant than Jesus, which is never a good idea.

Shakespeare said, “The man that hath no music in himself...  is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils."  

I’ve never understood people who don’t care about music and I can see what Bill Shakespeare was driving at when he said that such people were better suited for “treasons, stratagems, and spoils.”  There just seems to be something criminal about the kind of person who can sit idly by in a restaurant, chewing a sandwich and carrying on a conversation with a friend all the while being totally unmoved by the Nickelback “song” that has just begun oozing out of the speakers above them.

How can they just sit there????  

How can they be so callous???? 

Why aren’t they on their feet demanding the speakers be unplugged and the radio ran over by a steamroller?    

The solution lies in understanding what these three things have in common:

*  Praise

*  Prayer

*  Proclamation

Figured it out yet?

Ok, fine!  I'll tell you...  In the Bible, music fulfills three roles within the context of worship – the three categories listed above.

The reason we have worship music at all is to engage in one of these three actions - praise, prayer, and/or proclamation.

As someone has helpfully defined these three categories:

            Praise is the lauding of God for His acts and attributes, acknowledging His supremacy in all things.

            Prayer is communication addressed to God (did you realize that the vast majority of the songs you sing in church are actually prayers?)

            Proclamation encompasses any activity that proclaims the Word of God – quotation, explanation, teaching, and preaching.

The author of these definitions concludes:

“I contend that when worship music is properly fulfilling these roles according to biblical principles, discord dissipates, unity increases, and the Spirit utilizes music for it’s highest purpose...”

And I fully agree!

Here is our solution – whatever genre of worship music we choose, let’s evaluate its usefulness and propriety based on the principles of the Bible.  Let’s ensure that our choice of worship music is not rooted in the world, in pop culture, in pragmatism, or in mistaken notions of success...  Instead let’s seek, by God’s grace, to conduct our worship music in such a way that every Christian under our care will be better enabled to fulfill their chief purpose – namely, to enjoy and glorify the triune God. 

It is always helpful to remember that gospel work is global work.  We are not alone in our little corner of the world but we have a multitude of partners - some of whom are in heaven while others are spread throughout the four corners of the world.

When later I came to learn that Peter was studying to become a pastor and that his future plans included marrying that young piano-player and planting a church in his native Inverness, I recognized that he had an unusual amount of wisdom and foresight.  Both the marriage and the church-plant seemed like good moves (though to me the latter seemed more attainable than the former.) 

As a matter of fact, I liked Peter so much that I actually had plans to bring him on staff at my church as a ministry partner while he finished up his theological training.  Though providentially this never came to pass the prospect did give me multiple occasions to get to know Peter better and to be inspired by his zeal for the gospel. 

Then time did its work.  Peter and that piano player got married (I sat in a small rural church in Northern Ireland and witnessed the nuptials with my own eyes.)  They started a new life together.  About that same time I was called to a church 3,500 miles away from Scotland and along with my wife and children left the UK.  We settled down into our new routine together...  and as often happens Peter and I more or less lost touch...  And then today I was sent a link to the website of Living Hope Church - a new church plant in Inverness, pastored by Peter Rennie.  This news has come as a great encouragement and it has reminded me once again that gospel work is global work. The same Lord who has guided us in the planting of All Souls Church in a little place called Green Camp, Ohio has guided Peter and Anne in the planting of Living Hope Church in a big place called Inverness, Scotland.  

What a great God we serve!

To Peter, Anne, and the flock of Living Hope Church; we thank God for you!  We will pray for the success of your work.  We will pray that under your ministry the saints will be perfected even as the lost will be saved.  We will pray that the hand you have laid to the plow will remain on the plow....  

And we will do all of this with the firm conviction that we, here in this corner of the world, are greatly blessed to be your partners in the gospel. 

In light of this mornings Supreme Court ruling declaring homosexual marriage to be a enumerated constitutional right I thought it was timely to share a small portion of a Q&A  dialogue on the subject.  I trust it will be helpful.  For another  helpful article on the subject of same-sex marriage written from a different perspective please read "Same-Sex Marriage & the Future" by Russell Moore.

In the meantime, if you are a Christian troubled by todays ruling and concerned about its implications for religious liberty and free-speech, please take comfort in the following facts:

1)  Homosexuals are not our enemies - they are people who are lost and need the transformative gospel of Jesus Christ.
2)  Regardless of the dictates of the governments of man,  Christ is still on the throne and the good news is still true.
3)  Agreeing with God's is always the right thing to do - especially when it is difficult to do so.
4)  Always remember that Jesus wins (see Psalm 2).  At the end of the game all of the pieces will put back in the box and only Christ and His people will stand victorious.  

Though at first this might seem pedantic it is nevertheless important to point out that same-sex “marriage” is not really “marriage” in any real sense of the word.

Why is this?

This is because real marriage (unlike same-sex marriage) is most assuredly NOT a manmade institution or a societal construct, it is an institution very obviously imposed upon mankind from an outside source.  Proof of this is that marriage is hemmed in with very obvious biological, anatomical, and psychological (not to mention theological) parameters. 

A pastor would argue that these marital-parameters were given by God.  An evolutionary biologist might argue that these parameters were given by nature.  Either way though we are both agreed that the parameters are there.  They exist.  They are facts.  They are beyond our control.  They are unaffected by our feelings, preferences, desires, wishes, wants, and yearnings.  They are unalterably bound-up in the concept of marriage.  Since same-sex marriage has no such parameter and is little more than a societal construct it does not qualify as “marriage” in any way shape or form.

Politicians might pass legislation that will change how our society is permitted to use the word “marriage.”  Justices might pronounce judgments changing the legal definition of the word “marriage.”  But these are merely linguistic games  that cannot change the institution of marriage any more than they can change the biological, anatomical, psychological and theological parameters that surround it. 

Above I mentioned that it seemed as if marriage had been imposed upon mankind from an outside source.  It has, of course.  God is the outside source.  He alone has “imposed” marriage upon mankind without ever canvassing our views on the subject.   Therefore marriage’s meaning, its boundaries, and its blessings all come from God and are clearly laid down in His word, the Bible. 

Here are some scripture references that might help you understand why I, along with any Christian who takes the Bible seriously, cannot affirm the practice of homosexuality let alone support the concept of same-sex “marriage”

1.)  Marriage has been given by God as a picture of the relationship between Christ and His bride the church (Ephesians 5:32).   This is yet one more proof that God has set the institution up in a very particular way and for a very particular purpose and therefore we have no real authority to redefine or recreate it.

2.)  Homosexual behavior is strictly prohibited in both the Old and New Testaments (Lev. 18:22-24, Lev. 20:13, I Cor. 6:9-20, I Tim 1:10) as being contrary to God’s design in creation.

3.)  Homosexuality along with all other forms of sexual immorality is always represented as intrinsically sinful behavior that provokes the wrath of God (Rom.1:26-28) and dehumanizes its participants. 

4.)  Scripture clearly shows that marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman.  (Gen.2:22-24, Matt. 19:5-6).         

5.)  Homosexuals (like all of the rest of us) though sinners are NOT beyond the transformative power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (I Cor 6:9-11 – please note the implications of the phrase “such were some of you” in v.11).  Christians who, in the name of love or tolerance, support same-sex marriage are simply affirming homosexuals in their sin.  Furthermore, they have embraced a very troubling philosophy – namely, that whoever the gospel is for, it certainly isn’t for the sexually immoral. 

Can I say to you very bluntly that if the gospel isn’t for the sexually immoral, be they homosexuals, adulterers, fornicators, or people who yield to lust, then the gospel isn’t for me…  and it isn’t good news at all…  But, of course, it is for me and it is good news.  Therefore, I am against same-sex marriage because I am for the gospel.