Denomination?

Disclaimer: The views expressed are not necessarily the views of every member of the First Church of Pontius Pilate... but they are, of course, correct...

Just recently, we were asked what denomination we are. Now, one would think this to be a relatively easy question to answer! Think again!

For some background on myself...

I was raised in what most would consider the "Charismatic Movement," so I'm not as "charismaphobic" as many within the reformed ideology. About four years ago, I ended my struggle with the Doctrines of Grace after watching the series "Chosen by God" by R.C. Sproul (Very good series for anyone considering these issues. It can be viewed on the Ligonier Website).

Strange combination... I know... I still believe in the filling of the Holy Spirit as well as all of the Spiritual Gifts (yes... even the supernatural ones!). You see, we have this tendency to take doctrines that have been abused (and trust me... the doctrines of Spiritual Gifts have been abused!), and act as if they do not exist! We NEED the Holy Spirit if we are to live a life in service for the Lord... and we need His gifts! Sadly, we treat the Holy Spirit like a cancer that we wish wasn’t there, and this is truly sad indeed!

The issue with most (certainly not all) charismatics is that they seem to diminish the importance of Scripture in relation to their spiritual "experience". They are more interested in hearing a "word from God" than they are in reading His revealed Word in the Scriptures. This is very dangerous...

The issue with most (again, certainly not all) in the reformed movement is that they seem to de-spiritualize Christianity in favor of a tangible intellectual pursuit. We tend to fear that which we cannot understand, and this leads to our ignoring the very power that beings about salvation itself. We would rather debate obscure theological issues than go out and express the love of Christ, an act that requires the power of the Holy Spirit!

So there you go! A little background never hurts! So, what does this have to do with what denomination we are? Glad you asked! While we may differ on some lesser doctrines... we are in agreement concerning the following issues:

• We must realize that salvation is a miracle wrought by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.



• We must acknowledge that God is the supreme Sovereign of the universe, and that we can do nothing outside of His Holy Will.



• The reformed movement (and the entire Church for that matter) desperately needs the supernatural power that flows from the Holy Spirit in order to truly bring about positive change in the Church today.



• We must not seek after "Signs and Wonders." We must seek God through His Scripture and earnestly pray that His Glory would shine through all that we think,say, and do.



• We must be in complete submission to the Holy Scriptures. We must hold all things in subjection to them! The entire Christian experience is subject to the Word of God, and anything contradictory to His Word is to be cast out completely.



• We must (forgive the cliché) practice what we preach. We must love God with all of our heart and our neighbor as ourselves. This is the GREATEST command in scripture!



• We must study to show ourselves approved! Intellectual pursuit is not to be frowned upon, so long as it is accompanied by supernatural power of God in bringing about our understanding.

This only scratches the surface!! But, it gives you an idea as to where we are coming from.
We find it hard to place ourselves in a "denomination" for the simple reason that it is unprecedented in scripture. We are not "anti-denominational" in any way, we just do not see such divisions taught in scripture, therefore we will abstain from labeling ourselves as such. We follow "The Way (being Jesus Christ)."

If we are to be labeled, we would prefer our label point directly to Christ... instead of a man-made institution.

God's Great Mercy and Our New Birth

Another great Piper article!

Encounter With God
Alright... I am attempting to write a sermon...

I figured it would be cool to see if anyone had any ideas...

I am using Matthew 22 (love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself), and I am going to take those and tie them into the idea of the "Christian experience." I want to explain that Christianity is not merely an intellectual pursuit... Debunking the idea that we aren't expected to "feel" anything at conversion... We think that if we tell ourselves in our heads "I'm saved, I'm saved.." that we ARE! That's like saying "I'm a banana, I'm a banana.." and expecting to be a banana!

We must experience a true re-birth that flows from the real baptismal regeneration that comes from a miracle wrought in our very hearts by the supernatural working of the Holy Spirit! We run so fast from "emotionalism" that we forget that the Christian life is an every day experience of grace and power. We cannot love lest we have the power of the Holy Spirit guiding our thoughts and actions. If we feel no different... then we act no different... then we ARE no different. Book knowledge is well and good, but it is useless without daily living that knowledge.

Paul Washer gave an illustration that I thought was awesome...

(My paraphrase)

What if I was late this morning? What if you asked me, "Why?" and I said something like this:

On my way here, I had a flat tire. It was very frustrating! I got out of the car, began to take off the tire, and replace it with the spare... As I was tightening one of the lug nuts, it fell off and rolled to the middle of the highway. I ran out to pick it up, and as I looked up I saw a 10 ton Logging Truck five feet away from me... The Logging Truck ran over me... and that is why I am late this morning.

You would say that I was insane! You don't have an encounter with a 10 ton Logging Truck and come away unchanged!

...You don't have an encounter with the God of all Creation and come away unchanged!!

I don't know... That is what I have right now.... any ideas??

"Whoever is thirsty,

let him come..."

-Rev22.17

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He is a man of prayer, passion, and power.

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Psalm 139:19-22
"O that You would slay the wicked, O God; Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. 20 For they speak against You wickedly, And Your enemies take Your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? 22 I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies. "

Taken From desiringgod.org (Pastor John)

The Fighter Verse team made a judgment call that these "problem" verses of Psalm 139:19-22 did not directly serve the tactical aims of the memory program, and might require so much explanation as to be distracting from the goal of strengthening faith. But for many of us, the strength of faith calls for an explanation. So I will give some pointers for how to understand them. I hope you will pray and ponder so that these pointers become providers of God-taught riches.

1. These verses are in the category of "imprecatory psalms," which include 5:10; 10:15; 28:4; 31:17-18; 35:4-6; 40:14-15; 58:6-11; 69:22-28; 109:6-15; 139:19-22; 140:9-10. They call down divine curses and express hatred for the enemies of God.

2. Consider that, in some of these psalms, love for the enemy has been pursued for a long time. "They requite me evil for good. . . . When they were sick, I wore sackcloth" (35:12-13). "In return for my love they accuse me, even as I make prayer for them. So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love" (109:4-5). Though unexpressed, this may be the case for all the psalms. The wickedness in view has resisted love.

3. Hatred may be moral repugnance, not personal vengeance. This is not the same as saying, "Hate the sin and love the sinner" (which is good counsel, but not all there is to say). There is a kind of hate for the sinner (viewed as morally corrupt and hostile to God) that may coexist with pity and even a desire for their salvation. You may hate spinach without opposing its good use.

4. But there may come a point when wickedness is so persistent and high-handed and God-despising that the time of redemption is past and there only remain irremediable wickedness and judgment. For example, Jesus speaks of unforgivable sin (Matthew 12:32) and John says there is sin that is "unto death" and adds, "I do not say that one should pray for this" (1 John 5:16). And Paul says, "If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed" (1 Corinthians 16:22). This imprecation is like the Psalms, and assumes that there comes a point of such extended, hardened, high-handed lovelessness toward God that it may be appropriate to call down anathema on it.

5. The imprecatory Psalms were not avoided by Jesus. At least one of the most severe of them (Psalm 69) seems to have been a favorite from which Jesus, in his human nature, drew guidance and encouragement and self-understanding. (John 15:25=Psalm 69:4, "They hated me without cause." John 2:17=Psalm 69:9, "Zeal for your house has eaten me up." Matthew 27:24=Psalm 69:21, "They gave me gall for my food.") This is a Psalm which prays, "Pour out your indignation on them, and let your burning anger overtake them" (69:24).

6. The apostle Paul quoted the very imprecatory words of Psalm 69:22-23 in Romans 11:9-10 as having Old Testament authority. This means Paul regarded the very words of imprecation as inspired and not sinful, personal words of vengeance.

7. Paul read the imprecatory Psalms as the words of Christ, spoken prophetically by David, the type of Christ. We can see this from the fact that David's words in one imprecatory psalm (69:9) are quoted by Paul as the words of Christ in Romans 15:3, "The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me." The implication, then, is that David spoke in these Psalms as God's inspired anointed king, prefiguring the coming King and Messiah, who has the right to pronounce final judgment on his enemies and will do so, as the whole Bible teaches.

Conclusion: We will grant to the psalmist (usually David), who speaks, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, as the foreshadowed Messiah and Judge, the right to call down judgment on the enemies of God. This is not personal vindictiveness. It is a prophetic execution of what will happen at the last day when God casts all his enemies into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). We would do well to leave such final assessments to God, and realize our own corrupt inability to hate as we ought. While there is unforgivable sin for which we are not to pray (see #4 above), we are told to love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us, and return good for evil (as David did, see #2 above). This is our vocation by faith. Let us tremble and trust God, lest we fail, and find ourselves on the other side of the curse.