Walking Through Westminster, WCF 1.1

Friends,

In recent weeks, I have taken up the devotional practice of working through the Westminster Confession of Faith, and attempting to briefly summarize its contents in my own words, section by section. As some of you have expressed an interest in this, I figured I would post them, putting up no more than one section per day. They will usually be brief summaries, with some application if I felt it necessary. If you've ever wanted to go through the Confession, but have been intimidated by the length and language, I hope this is helpful for you. I plan to post the original wording of the particular WCF section in italics, followed by my attempt at a summary. Feel free to interact with it if you feel I am mistaken on anything.

Without further ado, I give you "Walking Through Westminster"...

Westminster Confession of Faith 1.1
 

"Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of His will, which is necessary unto salvation; therefore it pleased the Lord, at many times, and in diverse manners, to reveal Himself, and to declare His will unto the church; and afterwards for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same (His word) wholly unto writing; which maketh the holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now ceased."

 Summary

Nature bears witness to men's hearts that there must be a Creator. Creation and providence manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God to such an extent that all men are inexcusable for their sins. No one will stand before God on Judgment Day with an adequate defense of "Not enough evidence". But the witness of nature in creation and providence is only enough witness to leave us without excuse. It is only enough to leave us rightly condemned. If we are to escape condemnation, we need more witness than that of nature; we need the Word of God. This is one of many reasons why no one can be excused from presence in church on the Lord's Day on the basis of "going to nature". No one hears the voice of God more clearly in nature than they do in the preaching of the word of God, and to claim otherwise is sin. This is why the Lord inspired prophets and apostles to speak the infallible word of God. God supernaturally revealed Himself through His servants so that men might know the way of salvation. But since all men, even prophets and apostles die, the Lord in His wisdom and grace providentially worked to get His word in writing. He did this for two reasons: first, to better preserve and propagate His eternal gospel, since mere verbal transmission depends too much on the unreliable memory of men. Second, He did it to establish and give comfort to His church-bride against the flesh, the world, and Satan, just as Christ responded to the temptations of Satan by directly quoting the Scripture, "It is written..." (Matt 4:1-11) All of this "maketh the holy Scripture to be most necessary". We cannot have a right relationship with God outside of the Bible. We cannot know God's will for our lives outside of the Bible. We cannot demand anything more of God than what He gives us in the Bible, since He gives us everything we need therein. The method of direct, supernatural revelation to apostles and prophets is therefore no longer necessary and in fact done away with, since God has wholly committed (i.e. everything we need to know) His word and will to writing.Therefore, any who would claim a new word of revelation from God are wrong to do so, whether it contradicts the already-written word or not.

+ Blessings in Christ+

 

To Tampa!

Friends,

Just a quick update for any who are curious. Olivia and I are planning to travel this weekend to Tampa, FL for a visit with Holy Trinity PCA. They are considering me for their pastoral intern position, which would be a two-year, salaried position encompassing mostly youth ministry and outreach. We have also been green-lighted for the Liv Apartments apartment ministry in Charlotte. We are torn between these two options. Our hearts are in Charlotte and we would be very happy staying put for a time and growing as a couple. However, the experience in Tampa would be significantly better preparation for pastoral ministry, as such. We are hoping that this weekend trip will help clarify God's will for us, and that we will come away with a better idea of where to go in the future. Regardless of which option we go with, we will be moving at the end of June and need to begin planning for that, as well!

If you would please pray for us, we are torn about the choice and need clarity. Please pray that God would not only make His will clear to us, but that He would strengthen our hearts to obey His will and to do so joyfully, not begrudgingly. Pray that our joy and hope would be in Christ and not our circumstances and that we would be confident in God's mercy and providential care. 

+ Blessings in Christ +

When God says, "Not Yet"

Beloved,

There's good news and neither-good-nor-bad news: the neither-good-nor-bad news is that I have recently been personally convicted, and have shared with Olivia, that we may not be ready to enter full-time ministry yet. I had a morning several weeks ago in which I got home from FedEx about 7:30am, tried to get some more sleep as per the normal routine, but was unable to sleep at all, in spite of my exhaustion. I couldn't stop thinking about a list of goals we were given months ago at the church planter readiness seminar. The goals were designed for us to grow to a point of readiness. While they were given in the context of church planting, the goals were applicable to any ministry, and we have not made much progress on them. 

We have not made any decisions regarding this, but we have spoken, prayed, and together agreed that Charlotte may need to be our home for a while longer. We have a great local church in which to grow and develop in the areas that were recommended to us. We are both currently employed in jobs that are meeting our needs. There is also a potential opportunity for free housing very near where we live now in return for doing apartment missionary work; something that would be a huge financial relief, and allow us to pursue several of our ministry-readiness goals at the same time. 

In spite of this, we have not given up on the Badger State, nor on Tampa, FL. I am still in communication with both churches and we are still open to either one, if God opens the door and provides the means for us to work on these goals before going. But we do not want to jump into the deep end of full-time ministry before we learn to swim. Most of our ministry goals are marriage-focused and it occurred to us that, if we are struggling to work on these now, why would we think we could do it when in full-time ministry? We want to make sure we have a good foundation built for our future ministry, especially as we think about leaving a place that has become our home to go somewhere we would have to start over again.

All of this was very discouraging to me, personally. Since July 2012, the sole focus has been on finishing seminary and going into ministry ASAP. The idea of having to wait even longer to do that left me feeling confused and distraught about my future. But here's where the good news comes in. As many of you know, I was asked to preach my uncle Clint's funeral service this past week. It was a hard time, to be sure, as we had to say goodbye for now to a man we loved. But the response I received to my leading of the funeral service and preaching the sermon was very reassuring. I had a number of people comment on how it had blessed them, what a good job I had done, etc. I usually get uncomfortable hearing that kind of stuff, because I know how prone I am to getting a big head. But this time, I was comforted by it. It was as if God was reminding me that, yes, this is what I am called to do; just maybe not yet.

We love y'all and we'll keep you posted!

+ Blessings in Christ +

An Update to Start 2017

Beloved,

Several of you have expressed an interest recently regarding our plans for the near and far future as it stands. Many of you lovingly supported our trip to the WI presbytery meeting a few months back and, while we have spoken with many of you personally, we have not been able to keep everyone updated on our plans. So, here goes:

The trip to the WI presbytery meeting in September went well. We were able to network, meet many helpful contacts, and get a good feel for the overall atmosphere of the PCA in Wisconsin. However, it became apparent that, while there was plenty of work to do, there was not plenty of financial support with which to do it. The gist we got from many pastors was that they would love to have us come serve, but the churches simply didn't have the money to support us financially. As many of you know, our budget has been pretty tight for a while, so the prospect of spending several more years without an income on my part was not feasible. 

In spite of this, there is still one church in WI which I am still in communication with. They are planning to plant a new church out of their existing congregation with the current associate pastor being the church planter. This church is hoping that I can come and fill this man's role once he has left to start the new work, likely around November or December. The church is a well-established church with about 250-300 members currently, and they are still growing. Finances are still an issue, but I have been in communication with the church, and we are still working through possibilities. 

There are several other potential ministry opportunities, but they are all still well up in the air, and I wouldn't feel right sharing details on those just yet. All that to say, we have certainly not given up on ministry, nor do we ever plan to! 

As it stands now, I have just finished my final classes at Reformed Theological Seminary and am scheduled to graduate in May. I have recently accepted a position with FedEx as a package handler, to generate extra income while we wait and see what the Lord has for us. Our prayer is that this church in WI will follow through with their church plant, and that we will be able to work out a deal that will be sufficient for us to move up there and start ministering. As I said, that would not happen until at least the end of 2017, so the plan right now is to stay in Charlotte, rebuild our financial situation, and continue in preparation through preaching and serving in our local church. 

If you would consider praying for us, we would specifically ask: prayers of thanksgiving for my new job; prayers for patience as we wait on the Lord's plan for us; and prayers for diligence, that our hands would not grow slack as we invest in the kingdom now and prepare for our future work.

+ Blessings in Christ +

Is God a Cheesehead?

 We've returned from the wild North of the Badger State!

We arrived in the early evening of Friday and proceeded to drive the 3 hours from Chicago O'Hare airport to Appleton, WI. Along the way, we stopped off at Culver's for dinner with Olivia's folks (and some long-awaited cheese curds!) We pulled in to Appleton around 10 pm, and were put up for the night with our gracious host family, the Breeds. Dan and Erin welcomed us into their home like family, and we enjoyed some sweet time getting to know their four girls!

We spent the whole day Saturday in presbytery, hosted by Dan's church (Emmaus Road). We were able to watch a candidate for licensure from RTS-Jackson pass his exams on the floor and preach the sermon for the morning worship. Olivia and I were able to mingle and meet several people in the presbytery, including a number of pastors. Networking is not something that I am particularly good at, but I was pleased with how many new contacts we had made by the end of the day. The big event of the presbytery meeting was the On Wisconsin proposal for church planting, which Dan headed up.

The Wisconsin Presbytery of the PCA

The On Wisconsin proposal is for the Wisconsin presbytery to commit to giving $100,000 annually toward future church plants and the training of future church planters, with the overall goal of establishing 16 new churches by 2025. The approach is split into 3 phases: phase 1 consists of bringing in ready-to-go church planters to start churches in strategic areas of Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Madison, Eau Claire, etc.); phase 2 consists of bringing in seminary-trained men to apprentice in already established churches for a time, then plant daughter churches near the mother church in which they apprentice; phase 3 consists of raising up indigenous church planters out of Wisconsin PCA churches, supporting them in seminary training through LAMP (the WI distance-learning seminary course), and then sending them into harder-to-reach areas of Wisconsin (rural, bedroom communities, etc.) In thinking about the future potential of ministering in WI, I would fit into the phase 2 category, and would find a pastoral apprenticeship for a time, before planting a church.

Rev. Dan Breed presenting the On Wisconsin! proposal

After some extended discussion on the proposal it was presented to the presbytery for a vote, and passed overwhelmingly. There was trepidation and anxiety, but the fear of failure was outweighed by the excitement over what God might do through this program, and faithful trust in His plan to reach Wisconsin with the gospel, directly through church planting. This was such an encouragement for us to see, and we hope to be a part of what God wants to do in Wisconsin!

I want to thank everyone who supported us for this trip with prayers and gifts. We could not have made this first step without you. We are excited to be back in Charlotte with our church family, and are looking forward to the last months of seminary!

Summer Update: What a Long, Strange Trip it's Been!

Brothers and Sisters,

Summer has brought a lot of changes to the Ginn household! Olivia recently left her job as a Speech Pathologist in the public school system. She will be pursuing private care in the home health field. Lord willing, she will be pursuing a job with one of the local companies that provides speech services to younger children in their homes. 

I am going through my last six months of seminary. This summer, I plan to finish two of my catechism tests and the English Bible exam, followed by my five remaining classes in the Fall semester. What a ride this seminary time has been! As I get down to final buzzer I am thankful to God for His grace and care for us. So many times we have been totally lost as to what to do next, or how we would live, or where we would find work, but God has always provided for us faithfully. We look forward to having even more testimonies about His faithfulness and love!

As we prepare to finish seminary, we look to the future. God has put on our hearts to go back to the Midwest and pursue pastoral ministry there in the Presbyterian Church in America. The Father has put it as a burden on us to see the continuing reformation of the Church in the Midwest, specifically in Chicago metro area and southern Wisconsin. There are many potentially open doors before us. 

Would you please consider praying for us specifically in your prayers? Our most urgent prayer requests are for employment for Olivia and a strong finish in seminary for me. Looking towards the future, would you please pray that God open a door for me to pursue His call on my life to preach the gospel? We are also looking for clarity in the potential choice between pursuing church planting (the starting of new churches in unreached areas) or pursuing pastoral ministry in an already-established congregation. 

If you are able to pray for us, please let us know! We so appreciate being prayed for by our many beloved friends and family members. Going into the future knowingly covered in the prayers of God's people would be such a wonderful encouragement to us. And let us know how we can be praying for you! Much love to you all!

+ Blessings in Christ +

The Levitical Pastor #3: The Altar of Gospel Ministry

"Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel." (1 Corinthians 9:13-14)

Preaching is violent. Preaching is when God takes the razor-sharp, two-edged sword of His Word and cuts people apart. I've often felt uncomfortable when sitting under sincere, upfront preaching. It hurts sometime. And that's not a bug, but a feature. 

Old Covenant sacrifices were violent. There was fire and blood, animal guts and severed heads, smoke and the continual stench of burnt flesh. If you read about the temple and picture the still silence of a medieval cathedral, you're not reading properly. The place was loud, smelly, and gory. 

In spite of what your eyes might tell you, your local church is filled with just as much violence on a given Lord's Day, perhaps even more. Paul makes a direct correlation in the above-referenced passage between the Old Covenant priestly service at the altar and the New Covenant pastoral ministry of the gospel. Levitical pastors are charged with a ministry of sacrifice. We often hear about the priesthood of all believers and think that this means the removal of uniqueness from the pastoral office. This is a mistake. Old Covenant Israel was a kingdom of priests (C.f. Exodus 19:6) and yet there was a special setting aside of the Levites to serve in the tabernacle/temple and the sons of Aaron to serve at the altar. Your pastor's job is to preach the gospel to you, to cut you up with the sword of God's Word and prepare you for sacrifice, even as he is offered up a living sacrifice. 

(As an aside, this is one of the main reasons that women are not permitted to be pastors. Just as it was not their job to take up the Levitical priesthood, so it is not their job to take up pastoral ministry. The ministry of the gospel is not like being a CEO, which a woman is able and allowed to do, but like being a Levitical priest, which she is not.)

The Levitical pastor is one whose job is that of preparation. His job is not to run a business, nor manage a company, nor even to keep a church operating. His job is to serve at the altar; to remain at his post and to offer the sacrifices of God in and through Christ. His calling is to preach the gospel, and by so doing prepare the living sacrifices of God's people. His job is to cut you up and put you on the altar of the gospel of Jesus, that you might be consumed by the ever-burning fire of the Holy Spirit, and ascend up into fellowship with the eternal God. The Levitical pastor takes as his greatest blessing in life the call of God, "to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:16) 

+ Blessings in Christ +