How to Leave a Church

As a pastor for about 20 years now, I’ve seen many people come to a church, and many people leave a church, in many different ways.  Pastors have some insight into this.  Here’s mine.  Today is part one: How to leave a church
 

1. Pray about priorities
What are you looking for in a church that is dissatisfying you, where you are?  Is that expectation of yours feasible, or is it a pipe dream that the church can’t possibly meet, today or tomorrow?  Are you wanting a program for the teens, or a nursery, and the small church you’re considering just doesn’t offer that?  Is that a good reason to leave (Phil. 2:4)?  What exactly does your teen need, church-wise?  Are you looking for deeper teaching, and don’t feel like they offer it (1 Tim. 6:3-5)?  (This is often just a guise for, “They don’t teach my pet topics the way I believe them.”  Watch out for this.  Many people today come to a real church with an agenda pre-set from their online activity.)  Or is your church tolerating or spreading unbiblical teaching or deeds (Rev. 2:6, 20)?
 
 
2. Talk to a church leader about it, seeking wisdom
Do NOT leave without talking to someone in leadership (Heb. 13:17).  This is akin to a teenager running away from home and just never talking to her parents again.  It’s a horrific dishonor to the leaders God has placed in your life.  First talk to someone, and not just to spout off about your issues with them, but to genuinely seek their wisdom about your concerns.  Understand their perspective (1 Peter 5:1-5).  Most people will not do this, because of their natural aversion to in-person disagreement, but it remains strongly called for in the body of Christ (Rom. 12:16-18).
 
 
3. Don’t spread it around the church
Feel free to say why you’re leaving if asked by anyone, being as charitable as possible for the peace of the church (Prov. 10:12).  I’ve heard too many times of the “email everybody in church why we’re so sad to have to leave because we just can’t trust the leadership anymore.”  It’s often just slander cloaked in a faux righteousness of disappointment, sadness and pity at the sorry spiritual state of those so-called spiritual leaders.  Shake your heads.  Walk away.  Glance over your shoulder hoping others are following you.  Titus 3:9-10.
 
 
4. If a personal offense is involved, do as much as you can to resolve it before leaving
Few people admit this, but most church departures have a personal offense mixed up in them somewhere.  Disagreements and conflicts are common in the church (Phil. 4:2-3).  The pastor or a member said or did something to you that offended you deeply.  Instead of asking them about it, you let it fester until you can’t take it anymore, and you just take off.  (Online, they call it ghosting.)  Sometimes people will make up an ideological issue, or will assassinate a leader’s character to justify their departure in this way (1 Tim 5:19).  Instead, deal with what has actually offended you, directly (Matt 18:15).  We all have to keep short accounts to maintain the peace of the church, as far as it depends on us (Eph. 4:26-27).
 

Pause and reflect before leaving a church.  Not because it’s always wrong – there are times it’s needed.  But it’s easy to do badly, and for the wrong reasons.
 

Next time I’ll write about how to find and join a church.

James // Christian Liberty // Faithful Witness

James

1

Count troubles as blessings - God is growing you, not tempting you.

Ask God for wisdom - every good thing comes from Him.

Don't just hear God's Word - do it.

2

Don't be partial to the rich.  That breaks the command to love your neighbor.

Don't trust your faith to save you if it isn't producing good works in your life.

3

Our tongues can do a lot of damage, and no one is perfect in speech.

Seek wisdom from above that is peaceable, not jealous or ambitious.

4

Conflict comes from desires gone awry.

Be humble and submissive instead, not judging others.

Don't boast about what you're going to do in the future.

5

The rich who exploit the poor will be judged.

Be patient, and endure, like Job did.

So pray, like Elijah did, and seek to bring back sinners to the truth.

Westminster commentary, Holy Confessions, 20.1.

The liberty of a Christian is like a prisoner set free.  But it is also like a child seeking to please his father.  We are not free to do what we want, but to do what God made us for.

Costi Hinn (Benny's nephew!) in Tabletalk, on being a faithful witness in the culture to the Gospel, without anger, vengeance, etc.

Reflect the character of God to others, with His Word.

"There is a temptation to fight fire with fire.  But what if we saw times like these as a great opportunity to be a witness?"

"We do not lie or deceive; we do not revile our revilers, threaten back, or seek vengeance when wronged.... How can we maintain our witness in today's culture?  By reflecting the character of Him to whom we bear witness."

1 Corinthians // Merry // Demonic Immaturity

1 Corinthians 13-16

13

Without love, any other good work is vain.  Love's characteristics make it the greatest virtue.

14

Tongues are a good gift, but only edifies the speaker, and shows the unbeliever that God is somehow at work.  Prophecy is better because it builds up the whole body with understanding.

If tongues are spoken in public they should be interpreted, or not spoken.  When prophets are evaluating what has been spoken, women should be silent.

15

Christ died and rose for our sins.  This is the main thing - the Gospel.  If there is no resurrection, our faith is useless and we might as well sin up a storm.  How does resurrection happen?  God gives each one a body.  This will happen at the last day!

16

Give an offering weekly at church.  I'm coming to visit soon.  Respect Timothy who brings this letter.

George Grant, in Fight Laugh Feast (Winter 2022) tells us what "Merry" means:

The original meant "mighty, brave, bold, gallant."  So we have Robin Hood and his "merry men."  Merry means both might and mirth.

Hans Boersma in Touchstone (Jul/Aug 2023) on cultural immaturity:

There is a demonic aspect to what is going on.  It isn't just elites leading us to perdition.  Everyman seems willing to go, which fits with how Screwtape called Wormwood to tempt us: slowly, softly, gradually, keeping everything convenient and comfortable.

Head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11

I really appreciated Adam McIntosh’s article on headcoverings here.  

He isn’t dogmatic and lays out a lot of interesting options and ideas to consider.
 
Here is a bit of interaction with him.  We end up with the same conclusion, coverings are not now required, but disagree on how to get there.
 

McIntosh argues the covering is fabric, not hair, because Paul tells men in 1 Cor. 11:4 and 7 to uncover.  Do they have to be bald, he asks?  But it is a woman’s hair that is given for a covering in 1 Cor. 11:15, not the man’s also.  Verse 15 does not assert universally that human hair is a covering, but that a woman’s longer, feminine hair is her covering.  So there is not a parallel between 1 Cor. 11:4/7, and 15.  Paul is not requiring men to be bald, but to have hair that is culturally masculine, not feminine.  And to not cover their heads in worship.
 
 
“If headcovering was a creation ordinance, it would have to be recorded in God’s law.”
When nature itself teaches something, it may not be an explicit law in the Torah, but it’s still part of God’s design.  My view is that since the headcovering God requires of a woman is her longer hair, that the context of Deuteronomy 22:5 fits nicely:  women, don’t dress (your hair) like a man.  In 1 Cor. 11 Paul says, “Especially not in worship!”
 

McIntosh’s theory that women should cover because of their pastors, the angels (vs 10), is intriguing and possible.  The point would be that we do this for church order, part of which is women not acting out of place in the service.  I agree, but McIntosh goes on then to assert that covering has nothing to do with submission to her husband, when that is clearly implied in the text.  (The ESV translates the Greek “gyne” in vss. 5-6 as not “woman” but “wife.”)  Also, he inconsistently agrees with Doug Wilson’s rule of thumb, as I do, that a husband’s hair should be shorter than his wife’s, so the marital context is clearly in play.
 

McIntosh rejects that “ ‘praying and prophesying’ is code for corporate worship.”  Acts 3:1 and Luke 18:10 disagree.  Scripture speaks in shorthand often like this, of a corporate worship service as simply prayer.  1 Cor. 11:4-5 are very clear that the times Paul is thinking of are when “praying OR prophesying.”  McIntosh wants to say that this means only when she exercises a charismatic gift like speaking in tongues.  But Paul doesn’t say “speaking in tongues” which is a very different phrase from the standard word here for “praying.”  I take "praying or prophesying" to mean, "anytime she goes to church, and especially if she speaks in tongues or as a prophetess."
 

The article’s treatment of hair length is very good.  “It would be sinful if a man was trying to look like a woman, or if a woman was trying to look like a man. Otherwise, there are longer hairstyles for men that don’t look feminine and shorter hairstyles for women that don’t look masculine.”
 

In the conclusion, McIntosh dismisses cultural traditions of the Corinthians, but this is a rejection of the long-accepted, and rightly insisted upon, historico-grammatical interpretation of Scripture.  The exegete must take into account what the text meant to the original audience based on their cultural context.  To dismiss that and focus only on what other Scripture says blinds you in one eye, when there is more to see in the text.  This is probably James Jordan’s often-critiqued “biblicism” coming out.
 
 
In that vein, something I’ve never seen considered on this issue:
In the Jewish synagogue, both men and women would cover their heads with prayer shawls/veils in worship, as I understand it.  I think it likely Paul got a question from Jewish Corinthian Christians, asking if they shouldn’t continue this, and Paul responded with this passage.  The man wore it in conjunction with the prayer robe with tassels on it, commanded by Numbers 15:37-39, to show that he was under the law.  But we are no longer under the law, so the man should uncover his head – he is the redeemed glory of God.  The woman need not cover according to synagogue custom with a veil, but she should wear her hair according to cultural custom that shows her to be a woman, and a modest one.

Steven Wedgeworth also has a good article on this topic here.

1 Corinthians // Empire // Wandering Lives

1 Corinthians 9-12

9

I am an apostle, with the right to support a family by the church.  But I'm not using it, so you won't object.  I adapt however possible to reach people with the Gospel message.

10

Israel's redemption from Egypt was partially aborted.  Yours could be, too, if you're not careful.  You're communing with Christ in the Eucharist; don't think you can also keep communing with idols.

So eat what you want, grateful to God.  But if you know someone is there troubled by what you're doing, don't do it.  Seek to give no offense, and glorify God, in all you do.

11

Show proper headship principles in your dress in worship: women with longer hair as a covering, men with shorter hair, showing culturally appropriate gender distinctions in dress.

You have such divisions among you, you aren't even eating the Lord's Supper when you do!  Jesus told us how to do this - pay attention to His words and to the body of Christ around you, and eat all together.

12

The same Spirit leading us to profess Christ as Lord gives various gifts to the members of His body.  Don't look down on different gifts/members of the body.

Victor Davis Hanson in Imprimis on the evils of Imperialism

This was very good, except the part on Ukraine.  US support of Ukraine is not American empire, but containing Russian aggression.

RR Reno in First Things on "The Gyratory Life."

Wandering directionless is bad for the soul.

1 Corinthians // Tapestry Art // Sabbath law

1 Corinthians 1-4

1

You have God's grace and gifts, but you're arguing via personalities, and seeking to follow worldly wisdom.  Accept, and be proud of God's "foolishness:" Christ crucified.

2 - People without the Spirit can't understand the wisdom of God.

3

You're still not understanding God's wisdom in giving many teachers.  Don't pit them against each other, but see each one's unique contribution.

4

Don't rashly reject teachers for superficial reasons.  The world rejects we apostles, but the church should not.  We are your fathers in the faith!  Imitate me and Timothy.  I'm coming soon.

Touchstone - An intriguing art review of a Persian carpet "Paradise."

A solid, short review of Sabbath law.  Also Touchstone.

1 Corinthians // Abolition of Man // Christendom

1 Corinthians 5-8
5

Reject egregious sin in the church.  If they want to be called a Christian, and have their sin okayed, send them to Satan, stripping them of their Christian profession.  Your job is to deal with those in the church doing this, not so much those outside.

6

Why are you suing each other before unbelieving judges?  Work it out, or just suffer the wrong instead.  Jesus washed you clean of all those sins that will keep the rest out of the kingdom of God.  Sexual immorality especially violates the temple of the Holy Spirit - your body.

7

God gave marriage in part to deal with sexual temptation, so stay single if you can, or marry.  Those married should not divorce unless an unbeliever breaks it off.  Live as you were when saved: circumcised, married, slave, doesn't matter.  In times of persecution you might not want to marry.  Don't let marriage get in the way of serving God.  Widows can remarry.

8

On food offered to idols, idols aren't real and all foods are clean.  But some have associated certain food with their past idolatry and will refuse it.  Let them.  Don't even eat it where they can see, to help them.

CS Lewis expert Michael Ward, on The Abolition of Man at Hillsdale College.

This is a deep, academic dive!

Lewis asserted objective ethical and aesthetic value, on philosophical grounds, not only Christian ones.  He did this, not as an act of compromise, but as a sort of philosophical pre-evangelism.  We need to recover men with chests, a mixture of head (mind) and belly (bodily desires/needs).  Is the chest the soul?

R.R. Reno in First Things is always bracing:

"Like iron filings to a magnet, every dimension of life is tensed with potential for subordination to Christ."

He suggests Christendom may not be dead, after a prominent NYC police shooting, when "for more than two hours, the center of New York City had gone silent for a funeral Mass."

On the other hand, he isn't of the VanTil/CREC type I hang with, either: "the relation of the Church and the world is up to the world, which is sometimes hostile, sometimes indifferent, and sometimes solicitous."  A lot of "my guys" would say, no it's up to the Church's faithfulness.  I'm more with Reno.

1 Timothy // Integrity // France's Roland

1 Timothy

1

Stay in Ephesus and keep people focused on loving others in purity.  Not the endless arguments and vain discussions of those who want to be teachers.  God showed me mercy, to display His grace in me.  Fight the good fight!

2

Have the men pray in church.  Have the women be modest in dress - they are not to teach with authority.

3

That office is for men of good character.  Deacons and their wives, too, must have good character and manage their homes well.  I'm writing so you'll know how things should go in the church.

4

Because false teaching is going to come.  So diligently teach the truth.

5

Treat people with respect.  Provide for widows in need, but younger widows should remarry if possible.  The family of widows should provide for them, before the church does.  Honor elders and don't accept charges against them quickly, or ordain new elders hastily.

6

Slaves should honor their masters, not trying to take advantage if they are both Christians.  Reject those who want to argue, who like controversy, who want to be rich.  Fight the good fight, and God will vindicate you before His immortal light.  Have the rich give, and not trust in their riches.

On Integrity, in Tabletalk

The church is directed by words (God's, and pastors'.)  If people can't trust our words, the ministry of the church is compromised.

On France, in First Things

A long but interesting article on The Song of Roland.  The first half is a review of France's current immigration woes, and the nationalist political pushback.  What does it mean to be French, anyway?  The second half considers Roland with a striking conclusion: "With the Song of Roland, French identity is founded on the battle against Islam."

Philemon-James // National Debt // Assurance

Philemon

Paul writes to Philemon, asking him, not commanding as he could, that he free his returned slave Onesimus, charging Paul for whatever is owed.  This is a picture of Gospel redemption.

Jude

I wanted to send a positive message, but you need to fight for the faith against false teachers.  They cross natural boundaries in perverse sensuality, rebelling like Cain and Korah.  Rescue people from their dreadful teaching.  Jesus can present you faultless to God despite this - the God to Whom all majesty belongs.

Claremont Review of Books makes a strong case here that it is Medicare that is bankrupting us.  Interesting reforms proposed: "Americans shouldn't regard April 15 as a payday."

Thadd Kuehnl (local author), on assurance of salvation, in Holy Confessions:

True believers may have their assurance shaken, or lost for a time, by falling into sin.  But it will never be totally lost.  (Westminster Confession 17.4)

Romans // Judaism // Brazil

Romans 12-16

12

So serve God with your life in the body of Christ, loving one another and blessing your persecutors.

13

Obey your government when they are carrying out God's design, to encourage good, and punish evil.  Love one another, and put away sensual immorality.

14

Don't condemn each other based on what you eat, or what days you observe.  Try not to offend those who think more is unclean than you and I do.

15

Seek to build each other up, in like-minded harmony.  Jesus has called and received Gentiles, so you should, too.  I'm headed for Spain, and want to see you on the way.  First, it's Jerusalem, and pray I am preserved there.

16

Be kind to Phoebe, bringing you this letter.

Say hello to all the saints I know living there with you.

Avoid divisive men.

My team here says hello to you!

I've been trying to finish off one book at a time, of the 15-20 I have started right now.  I settled on James Michener's The Source, a wealth of historical information on the land of Israel and Jewish history in story form.  I'm in the chapter on the Jewish city of Safed (Safat) in the 1550s, when three leading rabbis followed different paths.  The German Ashkenazi codified the law.  The Spanish Sephardic rabbi pursued the mysticism of Kabbalah.  The Italian rabbi pursued the common man's piety and pastoral charity.  All in the same town at the same time.  Interesting it was during John Calvin's time...

On Brazil - a book review of Bolsonaro in First Things.

This article was more a survey of Brazil for the last 100 years than a biography of Bolsonaro, which was probably more helpful to the general reader - it was to me.

Romans // Rome // Stabat Mater

Romans 10-11

10

We have a righteousness based on faith, not law.  Moses spoke of both, but we must call on Jesus in faith in response to hearing the Word preached.  Israel has not believed, but many Gentiles have.

11

God has not rejected Israel - there is a remnant who believes, and many more will come.  You Gentiles are wild branches grafted into an old, dignified, cultivated tree, so don't boast against the Jews.  You Roman Gentiles (Rome!) could be cut off the tree, too, like unbelieving Jews.  God's ways are wonderfully mysterious - glory to Him!

Touchstone - "Mortal Remains" - May/June 2023
Catholics take plenty of digs at Protestants.  Sometimes they aren't wrong, given our liberalism.  Still, maybe they are another wing of the visible church, and not the Whore of Babylon.

Ken Myers introduced me to Dvorak's Stabat Mater, in the same issue of Touchstone.  Quite good!  I pasted a nice translation below.  It dances on the edge of Mariolatry in a couple of lines, but most of it is a helpful meditation at the cross.

At the Cross her station keeping,
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
close to her Son to the last.

Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
all His bitter anguish bearing,
now at length the sword has passed.

O how sad and sore distressed
was that Mother, highly blest,
of the sole-begotten One.

Christ above in torment hangs,
she beneath beholds the pangs
of her dying glorious Son.

Is there one who would not weep,
whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ's dear Mother to behold?

Can the human heart refrain
from partaking in her pain,
in that Mother's pain untold?

Bruis'd, derided, curs'd, defiled,
She beheld her tender child
All with bloody scourges rent.

For the love of His own nation,
Saw Him hang in desolation,
Till His spirit forth He sent.

O thou Mother! fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above,
make my heart with thine accord:

Make me feel as thou hast felt;
make my soul to glow and melt
with the love of Christ my Lord.

Holy Mother! pierce me through,
in my heart each wound renew
of my Savior crucified:

Let me share with thee His pain,
who for all my sins was slain,
who for me in torments died.

Let me mingle tears with thee,
mourning Him who mourned for me,
all the days that I may live:

By the Cross with thee to stay,
there with thee to weep and pray,
is all I ask of thee to give.

Virgin of all virgins blest!,
Listen to my fond request:
let me share thy grief divine;

Let me, to my latest breath,
in my body bear the death
of that dying Son of thine.

Wounded with His every wound,
steep my soul till it hath swooned,
in His very Blood away;

Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,
lest in flames I burn and die,
in His awful Judgment Day.

Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
be Thy Mother my defense,
be Thy Cross my victory;

While my body here decays,
may my soul Thy goodness praise,
Safe in Paradise with Thee.

Romans // Neutrality // Conspiracies

Romans 7-9

7

When we died in Christ, we died to the law's demands and obligations.  The law is good, but showed us our sin, which makes us do what we don't want to do anymore, in the Spirit.

8

There is no condemnation for those in Christ and in the Spirit.  Instead, God means to have the righteousness of the law fulfilled in us (vs 4)!  This can only happen in the Spirit, not in the flesh.  He makes you alive in Christ's resurrection, an adopted son of God, and heirs of glory.  This will far surpass our current sufferings, so we hope and pray in the Spirit, knowing God is working everything for our good as His people, predestined for glory.  God is firmly for us in Christ, and nothing can change that.

9

God chose Isaac and Jacob, and NOT other children of Abraham, which proves God favors you by His promise believed, NOT by ancestry.  God chooses who He wants to, and that's fair becfuase He made us all to start with.  Israel pursued righteousness hard, but not by faith, so they didn't get there.

"Know Your Enemy," Fight Laugh Feast, Fall 2022 - pg 59.

"God is an artist and He has signed every one of His works."
There are no neutral facts - God is active in every one.  
This does not make the Christian worldview an echo chamber like any other.

I HIGHLY recommend the last two podcasts at "Got a Minute," with Pastor Rich Lusk.  ("Conspiracy theories" and "Understanding George Gilder.")

He talks a lot of sense on gender issues, conspiracy theories and anti-Semitism.

Romans // Assurance // Frustration

Romans 4-6

4

Abraham believed God and was justified by that belief, before the law or circumcision took effect.

5

We are justified by faith, and need to add obedience to that faith.  We are covenantally bound to Adam and thus sinned when he did.  But we can also be covenantally bound to Jesus by faith, and thus have His righteousness before God.

6

So can we just go on sinning, since we are all set?  No!  You died and rose with Christ - you serve Him now, not sin.  Serving sin is fruitless death; serving Jesus is fruitful life.

On assurance of salvation - Thadd Kuehnl in Holy Confessions

The Westminster Confession says in 17.2 that our assurance of salvation is based on God's promises, and can be SURE.  The Spirit within tells us this.

Rev. Chris Thoma in the Cruciform Way devotionals:
Got heckled at Home Depot for wearing an "England" t-shirt.  Responded a bit sarcastically.  "Because of my frustration I missed a chance" to have a constructive conversation.

Romans // Europe on Russia // Satan's Tactics

Romans

Chapter 1

Paul wants to see them.

He isn't ashamed of the Gospel.

God's wrath is on men for rejecting God.

2

God will judge Jew and Gentile alike, regardless if they "have the law' or not.

Outward, physical things (like circumcision) don't make you righteous.

3

God is just to judge and condemn everyone.

The law shows us our sin, but God saves us by His righteousness apart from the law - we are redeemed by the good of Jesus, which satisfies God's wrath against us.  Jew and Gentile are both justified by faith apart from works, so there is no room for boasting.

National Review

China is a menace, and Europe doesn't seem to care very much.  Macron is the worst; Germany is waking up; Poland sees clearly, having borne the brunt of Russian aggression before.

"Know Your Enemy" - Tabletalk, Oct 2021

God wants us to know the tactics of our adversary, Satan.  One is for us to take pride in religious services.  Another is to despair and self-deprecate in our spirit.  Know your enemy.

Peter // Detransitioners // A Dumb Generation

2 Peter

Chapter 1

God has given us His Word to live for Him and escape the corruption of sin.  Add obedience to your faith.  I'll keep reminding you of all this, because I'm about to die.  We saw Jesus transfigured in person, but YOU have the Word even more sure, in Scripture.

2

You have false prophets among you, as Israel did.  But God knows how to deal with them - just consider the demons.  They are irrational, lustful, boasting, devouring.  They drag into corruption those just barely escaping it.

3

Scoffers will come, doubting what God has told you, but the day of the Lord WILL come.  So be holy.  Attend to the Scriptures, even Paul's which are hard to understand (!).  Grow in the grace of Jesus.

National Review, "The Plight of the Detransitioners."

"I feel like I'm left to just, like, accept the scraps of the life that I could have had.... I'm angry.  I'm sad.  I'm consistently questioning, like, why this happened to me - how did this happen to me?.... I don't want to use the word 'indoctrinated,' but I was young, and I was sad, and I was impressionable, and I thought this would fix everything."

"Perhaps the vast majority of these youths are suffering from discontent unrelated to their biological sex - or, like the young in every generation, are in a phase of experimentation - and do not require life-altering hormones and surgery to 'cure' them."

"Providers must consider whether for a certain portion of youths who seek to transition there are other mental-health factors to treat as well - or instead."

"As many as 80 percent of gender-dysphoric children ultimately experience 'desistance' - or coming to terms with their biological sex without medical intervention."

Mark Bauerlein has written a sequel to the Dumbest Generation: "the Dumbest Generation Grows Up."  Reviewed in First Things.

It has become passe to label Millennials snowflakes, yet instances are too hard to ignore.

The "combination of grandiosity, ignorance, and fragility," their "thriv[ing] on 'tools and toys, games and gossip, photos and memes, self-promotion' " is legendary.  They "lack the interior solidity needed to understand others' motivations, to keep steady amid the topsy-turvy of the market society around them - or even to rebel meaningfully against that society."

This is not just a sociological question, but a cultural one.  One reason the above is happening is because we are "freeing kids from the 'burden' of Shakespeare and Tolstoy, so they could critically examine anime and The Terminator as 'texts.' "  Even Critical Theorist Herbert Marcuse in 1969, visiting American universities, corrected the radicals: "I don't believe in black studies.... There's a certain amount of material that every intelligent person should learn."

Bauerlein rightly points out that engaging with the Western Canon forms critical thinking.  Ignoring it for gender studies creates indoctrinated, fragile snowflakes who can't see life from another's point of view.

Peter // Rest // In-Person

1 Peter summary

Chapter 1

You have a great hope waiting in heaven.  Not even the angels know about it!

So don't live like people in the world, you have the Word of God.

So come to this Stone as one you receive.  

Not as a "cornerstone rejected," but as a chosen new people!

2

This means submitting to the current rulers: employers, slave masters, emperors, etc.  Suffering unjustly, even as Jesus did, is worth a similar path of following Him.  He bore our sins in His body on the tree, to redeem and heal us from that curse.

3

This means wives submitting to husbands, and husbands loving and understanding their wives.  This means being humble and loving, not getting riled up if you get persecuted.  Jesus suffered unjustly, too, and He knows how to restrain and deal with wickedness.

4

Since Christ suffered, don't just live for pleasure.  Use your gifts fervently to help each other, since the end is near and fiery trials are upon you.  Entrust your soul to God when treated unjustly.

5

Elders should shepherd the flock faithfully.  Humble yourselves to one another and to God, casting your cares on Him, but resisting the devil.

"He Gives His Beloved Sleep."  Tabletalk, Oct 2021, pg 57.

Take your rest.  Practical atheism produces "anxious toil."  Not able to rest from your work, to rest in Christ?  This is a spiritual danger sign.

We need to use words to communicate.  There's nothing like side-by-side, in-person interaction.

"In-Person," in The Cruciform Way, by Thoma, pg. 141

Common-Good Conservatism? // Nationalism as Red Herring for Repentance // Westminster on Church and State

Randy Barnett, Georgetown law professor - on "Deep-State Constitutionalism" - at claremontreviewofbooks.com

Barnett critiques "Common-good conservatism," which asserts that conservatives have more discretion to make positive law for the common good than our "judicial restraint" instincts allow.  People, they argue, have natural rights that go beyond what is spelled out in our founding documents, and law can be made assuming them.  An interesting example is whether parents have a constitutional right to raise their own children.  SCOTUS in 2000 said 6-3 that they do, but this right is nowhere in the text of the constitution.  Still, this area of natural law is bounded by individual rights and the original meaning of our founding documents.  Jurists can't wing it based on their understanding of the common good.

Douglas Wilson - on "Sly Dog Teachers"

When faced with a straight-up call to a nation to repent, too many sly dog teachers in the church, trying to be winsome, cry foul, cry "Nationalism!"  But this is a poor defense when we are now mutilating our children, in and outside the womb.  God sent prophets to nations not "chosen" like Israel.  Isn't He doing the same today?  Who cares if that is nationalism - the point is to repent.

Kevin DeYoung - on politics and the Church - at Clearly Reformed

More thinking about politics is generally a good thing.  But many see the church as a tool in the political process, when Westminster (WLC 191) said the opposite.  We aren't seeking a revival for the sake of our nation.  Rather, Christ ruling His kingdom of power among the nations is done for the sake of the church.  This doesn't make the state of the state unimportant.  But it is LESS important than gospel repentance in the hearts of citizens.  

Reading DeYoung, and then the Wilson article above, one after the other, and comparing the two is fascinating.  I don't think they disagree fundamentally, but there is a sharp difference in emphasis and style.  Two of the men living that I respect most for their ability to articulate theology and apply it to our situation today.

Acts // Inklings // Historical Adam

Acts 19-28

19 - Ephesus disciples baptized.  Paul stays 2 years!  The riot.

20 - Paul through Macedonia, raises up Eutychus from death.  Speech to Ephesian elders.

21 - Christian prophets warn Paul trouble awaits in Jerusalem.  Leaders ask him to fund a ritual sacrifice to assuage the circumcision party.  He is seized and nearly killed, but arrested by Rome.

22 - Speaking to the Jews in Hebrew, Paul preaches Jesus.  Riot at mention of Gentiles, again.

23 - Romans make Paul stand before leaders.  He appeals to the resurrection, getting many Pharisees to side with him!  Paul's nephew hears of a plot, Paul escapes via Roman guard to Governor Felix in Caesarea.

24 - The Jews' case is weak, but Felix wants to be nice to them, so leaves Paul in jail for a while.  Paul preaches convictingly to Felix.

25/26 - New Governor Festus and Herod Agrippa both hear Paul out of curiosity.  Festus also wants to favor the Jews, so Paul has to appeal to Caesar to get justice.

27 - Paul sent to Rome by sea, but a storm almost wrecks them.

28 - They survive miraculously, get to Rome, and Paul has lots of time waiting for a hearing to preach the Gospel.  Jews are divided, most not believing.

Paul follows the pattern of Jesus at the end of Acts:

 - doing miracles of healing

 - speaking at length to prominent people (Upper Room discourse, trial with Caiaphas)

 - a death and resurrection event at Passover.

This one takes some explaining, but consider:

 - All on board are saved because of Paul; the angel of death passed over households.

 - 14 days was the special celebration of Passover; the ship was in the storm 14 days.

 - And at the end, they eat and it's the Communion sequence: "he took bread and gave thanks to God."

 - He goes down into the sea, but comes up saved from a serpentine attack, like Jesus.

 - He is preaching the gospel at the end, which Jesus sent him and us to do...

2. I'm listening to some Hillsdale lectures on the Inklings, especially Tolkien and Lewis.  Good stuff here by top Lewis scholars, if you want to nerd out on this.

3. Kevin DeYoung on why we should believe in an historical Adam - at Clearly Reformed.

Succinct and solid, DeYoung asserts this as a gospel issue.  Paul's whole theology of the first and second Adam, of the covenantal nature of sin, makes no sense if Adam wasn't really there.  An important, short read.

Wisdom on Women // Headcoverings // Acts

Acts 17-18

Paul's entourage comes to Thessalonika, and is so popular the Jews get jealous, get them arrested and let them out on bail.  Paul seems to have "handlers" now, who whisk him away to Berea, where things go more peaceably.  But the Jews from Thess. send agitators and get them exiled from there, too.  Silas and Timothy stay, but Paul goes to Athens.  (He seems to think it's going so well, it's time for the big time!)  They give him a hearing here.  He appeals to their religious sense, and that Jesus will judge them, proven by His resurrection (ch 17).

Paul lands in Corinth next where the pattern continues: Jews reject him, but Gentiles come to Christ in great numbers.  Paul stays 18 months!  The Jews try to get him in legal trouble, but the Roman judge brushes the Jews aside.  Paul returns to Antioch, through Ephesus and Caesarea (ch 18).

Rev. Bill Smith - on "Giving your strength to women" (Proverbs 31:1-3) - at Kuyperian.com

The immoral woman will suck strength from a man and his house.  The godly woman helps a man build a house.  The immoral man will give up himself, his agenda, and resources to many women.  The godly man will give himself to one woman and build a family with her.

Pastor Adam McIntosh - on the headcovering movement (1 Corinthians 11:3-10) - at Kuyperian.com

This text is not as clear as headcovering advocates claim.  Thus, it cannot be an ongoing command.  I disagree with the major premise, and the inference from it.  Yet, ironically, I will agree with his conclusion in the rest of the series, that a fabric headcovering is not commanded here.  On the major premise, I believe the text is clear enough that longer hair is a woman's covering, taught by nature that it is more feminine (vs 15).  The context is marriage roles in the worship service, where men should look like men, and women like women.  On the inference, there are many commands in Scripture that are difficult to apply with wisdom, but that does not negate our duty to apply them.

Using Your Gifts // Protestant Prayer // The Left on SCOTUS

Acts 15-16
Many early Christians assumed any Gentile convert to Christ had to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses.  Paul and Barnabas resist this and the apostles take it up in Jerusalem.  Peter and James win the day: we are not followers of Moses, but of Christ - all Christians, Jew or Gentile, are saved the same way, by faith in His grace - the Old Testament predicted the Gentiles coming into the tent of David (ch 15).  Paul and Barnabas want to revisit the churches they planted, but can't agree on whether to take Mark, so they split up.  Paul discovers Timothy and probably Luke, and heads for Macedonia.  Lydia is converted in Philippi, but when Paul exorcises a demon from a slave girl, her owners get them thrown in jail.  They convert the jailer after an earthquake.  Paul makes a point to the magistrates that they have wronged Paul and Silas, probably to give political protection to the budding church they leave behind (ch 16).

Rev. Christopher Thoma - on serving in the church - in "The Cruciform Way," pg 136.
Everyone you meet is carrying around unique gifts and skills they could be using to serve the body of Christ, the church.  Let a pastor or other church leader know, when you become aware of them in yourself or in others.

William Godfrey - on the Reformation of Prayer - in Tabletalk, Oct 2021, pg 41.
The Reformation was not just one of doctrine, but also of personal prayer.  Protestants stopped praying to Mary and other saints.  And they regained a confidence that God heard them.  In prayer we need to realize our true need before God, coming humbly but also coming boldly to a heavenly Father who promises to hear and love us.

Charles Cooke - on the bankrupt judicial Left - in National Review, "Losing their Fiat," May 29, '23, pg 28.
The Left's judicial philosophy has been exposed as no more than ideology and pragmatism.  They decide based on what they think best at the time.  Thankfully, the originalism of the Right is in firm control, instead.  Leftist nominees like Kagan and Jackson actually had to say they are originalists (when they clearly are not) to get approved by the Senate.  The Left's only response to recent conservative rulings is to call it an attack on democracy, and say SCOTUS has too much power.  This is the opposite of what they said 40-50 years ago, when the court was deciding things their way.  But they have no other argument.

Acts / The Wasteland

Acts 12-14

Herod kills James, and the Jews love it.  So he arrests Peter, too.  But God supernaturally springs him from jail, and kills Herod (chapter 12).  The Spirit leads the Antioch church to send Saul and Barnabas on a missionary journey, with John Mark.  Their first stop is Cyprus, where they convert the Roman governor Paul.  Saul changes his name to Paul, John Mark goes back home, and Paul preaches to the Jews first, but is very willing to preach to the Gentiles, too.  A pattern forms: many Gentiles believe, but the Jews oppress and exile them (ch 13).  It happens again in Iconium and Lystra.  They make disciples and move on, appointing elders in each place (ch 14).

R.V. Young in Touchstone – on the meaning of TS Eliot’s “The Wasteland.”

I heard this talk live at the 2022 conference, and it was way over my head, but I loved it. Eliot’s literary
allusions are insanely complex, but the basic message - that we are now in a spiritual wasteland - is fairly
easy to spot. Things that should bring joy and meaning, are dry and empty. This is a great sample of
“How to read a poem” intelligently.

4 out of 5 stars

Acts / Liebovitz / Nihilism

Acts 5-7
As in Joshua the budding enterprise involves land, and is threatened by deceitful greed, which God intervenes to stop (ch 5). Another threat is discrimination by Jews against Hellenists (this was probably a cultural difference between Jews raised in Judea and those raised in Greek lands). The apostles ask the church to choose deacons to sort it out – they choose all Greeks, a hint that they strongly rejected the prejudice that was happening (ch 6). One of the deacons was Stephen, who debates successfully with Jews, resulting in them (half) falsely accusing him before the Sanhedrin. He defends God’s ways of saving His people apart from a temple or the Promised Land, and says again that they killed Jesus and all His prophets. They stone him, and Saul is there approving (ch 7).

Liel Liebovitz in First Things – on why Israel’s fertility rate is so high.

Tel Aviv is like most other modern cities, except for one thing: its streets are brimming with children.  Why? There aren’t huge subsidies for having children. Israelis are highly educated, which tends to correlate with fewer children. The answer is faith and tradition. They stick to their rituals faithfully among families and neighbors, and take seriously God’s mandate to be fruitful and multiply. A modern society like Israel can both do this, and have a thriving modern economy with highly educated women.

4 out of 5 stars

Acts 8-11
The church is scattered because of Saul’s persecution. Phillip evangelizes Samaria, the apostles come to see, the Spirit comes on the new believers, and Simon the Magician tries to buy access to the Spirit.  Phillip then evangelizes the Ethiopian Eunuch from Isaiah 53 (chapter 8). 

Saul heads to Damascus to persecute the church, but Jesus confronts and converts him directly. Ananias baptizes him after 3 days.  Saul preaches Jesus as Messiah, and the Jews try to kill him. He escapes to Jerusalem, but the church there has a hard time accepting him. When they do, he debates with the same Hellenists Stephen did, which led to no good. The church sends him to his native home town of Tarsus, and there is peace, again. Peter goes to Lydda and Joppa, healing Aeneas and Dorcas (ch 9). 

God gets Cornelius to send for Peter, while giving Peter a vision telling him to not consider unclean animals (and Gentile people) unclean anymore. Peter goes to his house, preaches the Gospel, and the Spirit falls as they believe (ch 10). 

Many Jewish Christians object to this; Peter says God led him to do it, and all the witnesses with him saw what the Spirit did to Cornelius’ household. Meanwhile, most of the scattered church preaches only to Jews, wherever they go. In Antioch they preach to Greeks, too, and many believe. Jerusalem sends Barnabas to help, and he first goes to Tarsus to get Saul to help (ch 11).

Algis Valiunas in First Things – on the Nihilism of Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi (1798-1837)

Leopardi had severe scoliosis from too much poring over books early in life, and so was spurned romantically. He never forgave God for this, rejecting not only religion but also the humanist belief in progress ascendant in his time. He was a Romantic, who saw not truth or beauty in the world, but his own self-pity and despair. Nihilism is a dead end.

3 out of 5 stars

Acts / Bees / SCOTUS / Woke

Starting something new - reading notes.
A writing exercise, where I summarize pretty much everything I read during the day.

Acts 1-4
Jesus ascends to heaven and the apostles choose a substitute apostle for Judas (chapter 1). The Spirit falls on Pentecost and the apostles preach Jesus to the crowd. 3000 believe and the budding church thrives together in the Word and sacrament and fellowship (ch 2). They miraculously heal, resulting in more opportunities to preach the gospel in Jerusalem (ch 3). The leaders are upset and demand they stop, but they don’t (ch 4).

Hans Boersma in Touchstone - on reading Scripture like monks and bees

Monks in monasteries often kept bees and hives. This provided an apt metaphor for their reading of Scripture, especially since the Bible calls itself “sweeter than honey from the comb” (Psalm – As bees gather honey into their hive, we squirrel away Scripture in our minds and hearts. As they work industriously at it, with organization and leadership, so should God’s people. And we should take in the
Word of God as we take in food sweet to the taste. Chew it slowly, breaking it down into parts we can handle. Savor and discern its taste/meaning. Swallow it, accepting its nourishment for your body/soul.

5 out of 5 stars!

Dan McLaughlin in National Review – on the Left’s attack on the Supreme Court

The Left has been pressuring and attacking the Court ever since FDR in the 1930s. But things really ramped up when Reagan appointed 2 conservative justices, and then nominated Bork. For the first time, Senators (Democrats) opposed a nominee simply for his ideology, not his judicial competence.  Things have only worsened since then: wild accusations against nominees, and now protesting outside
their homes with weapons nearby. There is obviously a coordinated attack now between the media and the Senate, to discredit conservative justices for behavior that in reality is not unethical – though they make it look like it might be unethical.

4 out of 5 stars

Levi Secord in Fight Laugh Feast – on the woke’s obsession with being wronged and oppressed

The title says it all: “Always Wronged, Never Wrong.” This describes the woke mentality. Since I’m an oppressed victim I’m justified to accuse and behave toward my oppressors pretty much in any way I want. We see this with false accusations in the 1619 Project, for example. They pursue policies privileging minorities at the expense of the previously privileged. This is envy and revenge. “How does it feel now that the shoe is on the other foot?” This fosters further division and resentment between people, which woke Marxism needs to succeed. Instead, justice should be done – prejudicial policies corrected and restitution done where possible. And the victims should forgive and not pursue vengeance out of hate. What if Jesus took on the vindictive victim mentality of the woke, instead of
willingly suffering wrong for us?

4 out of 5 stars

Abiding in Christ // Dobbs Is Pro-Life // Declining Church-going

John Piper shows what it means to abide in Christ.  Clear, and spiritually bracing, as Piper always is.

Long, but excellent article here on how Dobbs is not neutral on abortion, but has lots of pro-life implications.  

"Permissive abortion laws, because they inherently treat the fetus as less than a person, lack a rational basis."


Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal: "Why Gen Xers Aren't Going Back to Church."
Highlights:
"The percentage of people ages 39 to 57 who attended a worship service during the week, either in person or online, fell to 28% in 2023, down from 41% in 2020."

"I got into the habit of not going."

"They continue making donations until their credit card expires.... They still believe in a God and live life with purpose but are done with the institutional church."

"Church was an anchor, where it's not anymore."

Classics // Modesty // Disputes in the Church

Huge resource on reading classic literature, here.  Leland Ryken is great at this - audiobooks embedded.

Kevin DeYoung has a good short article on modesty here.

This is a good article on handling disputes in the church from 1 Corinthians 6. A bit more detailed in the exegesis than it might need to be. But please read the last 2 short sections starting with "LOCAL CHURCH, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE TO DEAL WITH PRIVATE DISPUTES BETWEEN MEMBERS"