Now it's time to get to the meat of what I want to say about the presence of God. As I said in my earlier post, a cursory reading of the Psalms reveals that the writers longed for God's presence. Some other Psalms to consider include Psalm 42:1,2: "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My sould thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?" I like the way the New International Version renders Psalm 14:5, "...God is present in the company of the righteous." Probably the best Psalm in this regard is one that the Apostle Peter quoted on the Day of Pentecost referring to Christ's resurrection. Psalm 16:11 says in the New King James Version: ...In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." That may be the most powerful Scripture on the presence of God there is.
Another interesting place where God manifests His presence is in the exercise of Biblical Church discipline, which is outlined in Matthew 18:15-20. Specifically verse 20 says: "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them."
Now in the context, I believe that Jesus is saying that when the leadership of the Church makes the difficult decision to disfellowship or excommunicate someone because of willful, continual, unrepentant sin, He is saying that He Himself will stand beside them in agreement with that decision putting the stamp of Heaven on it. This is a place where Christ's presence I believe acts as a reassurance to the leadership particularly that they have done the right thing, but also as a warning to us who might consider resisting the discipline process if we are found in sin.
However, I think there is another Scripture that tells us of God's presence in a place where we're not accustomed to seeing it. In 1 Corinthians 10, the Apostle Paul is exhorting the Corinthian Christians to flee from idolatry and in doing so gives us a profound insight into the Lord's Supper. He writes: "Therefore my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? ...the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons." (1 Corinthians 10:14-16;20 NKJV).
Paul tells us that when we partake of the cup, we are communing with Christ's blood! Similarly, taking the bread means to commune with the body of Christ! It is plain that in order to commune with someone, they have to be manifestly present. Also, it is clear in verses 20 and 21 that Paul is contrasting the Lord's Supper, which is an act of worship to God, with idol worship which results in fellowship with demons, which implies that demons are manifestly present during idol worship. But if demons are present in idol worship, then clearly God (or rather in this case, Christ who is God the Son) is present with us during the Lord's Supper.
So then, let us enter God's presence joyfully, during times of corporate and individual singing, during our meeting times with other believers, but particularly when we come to the Lord's table to commune with Him in His presence.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Christian
Friday, May 30, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
How I Became the Vineyard Calvinist, Part 5
Well it's time to wrap this up! In late July of last year I returned to VCF Tampa to try to find a real church home where I could be raised up as a leader and find a place where all the gifts of the Spirit are practiced. Knowing that the pastor was reformed in his soteriology and the close proximity of the church to our home made it an easy decision.
I have since enrolled at the Vineyard Bible Institute to take online classes while at the same time being mentored by our pastor. Katie enjoys it a lot having met some good believing women to get close to and we have both joined the praise band with her singing backup and me alternating between the bass and electric guitar (I play a Fender Stratocaster).
I went last October to the annual conference of the ACRC and have networked with a lot of great reformed/continuationist pastors and others.
I truly thank God for taking me everywhere He has and I know that all of it was done, is being done, and will be done for His glory forever and forever.
Soli Deo Gloria!
-Christian
I have since enrolled at the Vineyard Bible Institute to take online classes while at the same time being mentored by our pastor. Katie enjoys it a lot having met some good believing women to get close to and we have both joined the praise band with her singing backup and me alternating between the bass and electric guitar (I play a Fender Stratocaster).
I went last October to the annual conference of the ACRC and have networked with a lot of great reformed/continuationist pastors and others.
I truly thank God for taking me everywhere He has and I know that all of it was done, is being done, and will be done for His glory forever and forever.
Soli Deo Gloria!
-Christian
Friday, May 23, 2008
How I Became the Vineyard Calvinist, Part 4
I previously told how I first came to Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Tampa about 3 years ago and although I did like it and I even had my first experience with the gift of prophecy, I nonetheless wanted to be around Katie so I started going to her church. Her church at the time was more of a traditional reformed church. It was non-denominational but I always liked to refer to it as being diet presbyterian. They had a lot of the look and feel of a presbyterian church but they weren't actually a presby church.
Over the next two years I did learn a lot. In fact, for a time I really thought I could make my permanent church home there. They really emphasized church history, reformed church polity, the mixing of contemporary worship with hymns, the ancient liturgical calender, but also curiously a lot of almost emerging church forms. The man who led congregational singing was a disciple you might say of the late Robert Webber and many of the things one might expect in one of Webber's books you could find from him. I didn't know much about Robert Webber but found some of it interesting although over time I became a little uncomfortable with some of it.
The main pastor was (and is) just a wonderful, godly, compassionate guy who just really loved the flock and would happily give himself to anybody who needed him. A few times he and I even got together for lunch or coffee. I could easily say he was one of the biggest influences in my walk with the Lord. He even married me and Katie. Most of the people were great and we made some friends.
However, over time some things made me a little uncomfortable. I don't want to get into all the details because I don't want to speak evil of them. Much like Calvary Chapel, I did learn a lot and they are wonderful Christian believers but one of the main things was that I have a particular ecclesiological belief system that was just incompatible with what they believed and practiced. I am of the belief that the local church and not the theological seminary should take primary responsibility to raise up and train pastors and missionaries. They just don't do that and they even told me so. That coupled with my increasingly charismatic/Third Wave theology(I joined the Association of Charismatic Reformed Churches during this time) led me to look elsewhere for a church fellowship (much to the initial chagrin of my wife, but now she loves Vineyard). We tried out a Sovereign Grace Ministries church but it was too far away from where we live and I wasn't sure I'd be comfortable their either. I had had previous experience with the Vineyard church in Tampa, and I knew the pastor was reformed so we eventually settled there and we are very happy to have done so.
Next time I'll wrap this up with some of the more recent happenings.
-Christian
Over the next two years I did learn a lot. In fact, for a time I really thought I could make my permanent church home there. They really emphasized church history, reformed church polity, the mixing of contemporary worship with hymns, the ancient liturgical calender, but also curiously a lot of almost emerging church forms. The man who led congregational singing was a disciple you might say of the late Robert Webber and many of the things one might expect in one of Webber's books you could find from him. I didn't know much about Robert Webber but found some of it interesting although over time I became a little uncomfortable with some of it.
The main pastor was (and is) just a wonderful, godly, compassionate guy who just really loved the flock and would happily give himself to anybody who needed him. A few times he and I even got together for lunch or coffee. I could easily say he was one of the biggest influences in my walk with the Lord. He even married me and Katie. Most of the people were great and we made some friends.
However, over time some things made me a little uncomfortable. I don't want to get into all the details because I don't want to speak evil of them. Much like Calvary Chapel, I did learn a lot and they are wonderful Christian believers but one of the main things was that I have a particular ecclesiological belief system that was just incompatible with what they believed and practiced. I am of the belief that the local church and not the theological seminary should take primary responsibility to raise up and train pastors and missionaries. They just don't do that and they even told me so. That coupled with my increasingly charismatic/Third Wave theology(I joined the Association of Charismatic Reformed Churches during this time) led me to look elsewhere for a church fellowship (much to the initial chagrin of my wife, but now she loves Vineyard). We tried out a Sovereign Grace Ministries church but it was too far away from where we live and I wasn't sure I'd be comfortable their either. I had had previous experience with the Vineyard church in Tampa, and I knew the pastor was reformed so we eventually settled there and we are very happy to have done so.
Next time I'll wrap this up with some of the more recent happenings.
-Christian
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The Presence of God, Part 1
I have decided to take a break for at least one post on detailing on how I became to be where I am today to discuss some thoughts and discoveries on entering the presence of God. Now the idea of entering the presence of God in worship is one that is usually understood thusly: as we sing worship songs to God during our time together, if all goes right, we will experience an emotional high where we "feel" the presence of God amongst us. This is accompanied by a spontaneity where we let the Spirit work in our lives.
Now is this biblical? In other words, can one find this idea emphasized in Scripture? I recently decided to take up this idea to see what the Scripture tells us regarding this issue.
With regard to singing songs to God, clearly the Scripures exhort us to do so, and to do so a lot.
"It is good to give thanks to the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night, on an instrument of ten strings, on the lute, on the harp, with harmonious sound." (Psalm 92:1-3 NKJV)
"Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful. Praise the LORD with the harp; make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy." (Psalm 33:1-3 NKJV)
"...And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ..." (Ephesians 5:18-20 NKJV)
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Colossians 3:16 NKJV)
Clearly, music and singing is an integral part of Christian worship and virtually all Christians everywhere are agreed on that point.
But what about that part about the entering the presence of God and the emotional high I referred to earlier. Is there anything in Scripture on those points. I believe there is.
Firstly, entering God's presence is impossible unless sin is atoned for and forgiven. This is obvious! Secondly, prior to Christ's sacrifice on the cross, fellowshipping with God required bloody animal sacrifices which pointed to Christ's work on Calvary. Thirdly, under the Old Covenant, God would dwell among His people Israel via the Tabernacle and later the Temple. But even still, one had to go where that was and offer the appropriate sacrifices.
Not so under the New Covenant. Jesus, while on earth, spoke of a time when geography would not matter but the real important thing would worshipping in spirit and in truth (John 4:23, 24). Under the New Covenant, God has opened the way to complete fellowship with Him and has poured out His Spirit on a new Israel, the Church (Galatians 6:16; Acts 2:16-21)! Christ's death paved our way to enter the very Holy of Holies itself, which is where God manifests His presence (Hebrews 10:19-22). The Church is even described by Ezekiel as being a place where God's very presence would characterize it when he prophesied of the new temple and called it YHWH Shammah (Ezekiel 48:35)
But even under previous covenants, entering the presence of God was a key part of one's relationship with God.
Entering God's presence and remaining there was certainly important to Moses. Scripture records that God had regular fellowship with him and that Moses' face even shone from being in God's presence (Exodus 34:29-35). Moses even pleaded with God that His presence go with them: "Then he said to Him, 'If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.'" (Exodus 33:15 NKJV)
It seems to me that entering God's presence (that is, His manifest presence. Certainly God is present everywhere, but in some cases He manifests His presence in ways that the human spirit, and even on occasion the senses, can detect.) is having fellowship with Him and enjoying it to the fullest. The Psalms sometimes describe this in different ways. They describe it as going to the house of the Lord, which was the Tabernacle (Psalm 27:4), seeking God's face (Psalm 27:8,9) and dwelling in the secret place of the Most High (Psalm 91:1). This was something Old Testament saints earnestly desired - Moses (Exodus 33:15-18), David (Psalm 27:7,8); the Sons of Korah (Psalm 84:1,2,10).
More on this at a later time.
-Christian
Now is this biblical? In other words, can one find this idea emphasized in Scripture? I recently decided to take up this idea to see what the Scripture tells us regarding this issue.
With regard to singing songs to God, clearly the Scripures exhort us to do so, and to do so a lot.
"It is good to give thanks to the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night, on an instrument of ten strings, on the lute, on the harp, with harmonious sound." (Psalm 92:1-3 NKJV)
"Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful. Praise the LORD with the harp; make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy." (Psalm 33:1-3 NKJV)
"...And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ..." (Ephesians 5:18-20 NKJV)
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Colossians 3:16 NKJV)
Clearly, music and singing is an integral part of Christian worship and virtually all Christians everywhere are agreed on that point.
But what about that part about the entering the presence of God and the emotional high I referred to earlier. Is there anything in Scripture on those points. I believe there is.
Firstly, entering God's presence is impossible unless sin is atoned for and forgiven. This is obvious! Secondly, prior to Christ's sacrifice on the cross, fellowshipping with God required bloody animal sacrifices which pointed to Christ's work on Calvary. Thirdly, under the Old Covenant, God would dwell among His people Israel via the Tabernacle and later the Temple. But even still, one had to go where that was and offer the appropriate sacrifices.
Not so under the New Covenant. Jesus, while on earth, spoke of a time when geography would not matter but the real important thing would worshipping in spirit and in truth (John 4:23, 24). Under the New Covenant, God has opened the way to complete fellowship with Him and has poured out His Spirit on a new Israel, the Church (Galatians 6:16; Acts 2:16-21)! Christ's death paved our way to enter the very Holy of Holies itself, which is where God manifests His presence (Hebrews 10:19-22). The Church is even described by Ezekiel as being a place where God's very presence would characterize it when he prophesied of the new temple and called it YHWH Shammah (Ezekiel 48:35)
But even under previous covenants, entering the presence of God was a key part of one's relationship with God.
Entering God's presence and remaining there was certainly important to Moses. Scripture records that God had regular fellowship with him and that Moses' face even shone from being in God's presence (Exodus 34:29-35). Moses even pleaded with God that His presence go with them: "Then he said to Him, 'If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.'" (Exodus 33:15 NKJV)
It seems to me that entering God's presence (that is, His manifest presence. Certainly God is present everywhere, but in some cases He manifests His presence in ways that the human spirit, and even on occasion the senses, can detect.) is having fellowship with Him and enjoying it to the fullest. The Psalms sometimes describe this in different ways. They describe it as going to the house of the Lord, which was the Tabernacle (Psalm 27:4), seeking God's face (Psalm 27:8,9) and dwelling in the secret place of the Most High (Psalm 91:1). This was something Old Testament saints earnestly desired - Moses (Exodus 33:15-18), David (Psalm 27:7,8); the Sons of Korah (Psalm 84:1,2,10).
More on this at a later time.
-Christian
Thursday, May 8, 2008
How I Became the Vineyard Calvinist, Part 3
At this point in my life, I had decided to pursue entering the Christian ministry as a pastor. At first I considered Calvary Chapel Bible College but eventually concluded that an accreditted institution was the more wise course (interestingly, if I believed then what I believe now, I would most likely have gone to CCBC, but also would probably not be reformed, so glory to God! He knows what He is doing!).
In 2003 I enrolled at Trinity College of Florida to try to attain a degree in pastoral ministry. The three semesters I spent there were up and down to say the least! I did a tremendous amount of growth there (not to mention meeting a great woman to whom I am now married), but unfortunately, a lot of immaturity was exposed as well. I wish I could say I wasn't a typical 19-20 year old guy but I was every bit of it and then some.
During my first semester there I roomed with a couple of guys in an apartment complex that the college rented out for some of their students. One of the guys in the complex was the very first reformed charismatic that I ever met! His name was Jerry and he was about a year ahead of me and hung out with the reformed crowd. Over several conversations and me reading some books (some good and not so good) I finally came to embrace the doctrines of grace in all their fullness!
During this time there wasn't really a Calvary Chapel in the area so I went to Jerry's church which was non-denominational and co-pastored by the college's dean of students (also a reformed, continuationist, historic premill guy). I kind of fell out of Calvary and enjoyed fellowshipping with these folks.
During the summer between my second and third semesters, I did some research about the end-times. At this point I was starting to question the pre-trib rapture view I had been taught all my life. Eventually I became convinced of the post-trib view. Later I abandoned the entire dispensational system altogether. Interestingly, all of this occured while attending a college loosely affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance that definetely had a dispensational bent. Not exactly a breeding ground for calvinistic, post-tribulational, continuationists.
During that same summer, I went back to Calvary but my new found convictions regarding God's sovereignty, and the end-times would have made it impossible for me to enter the ministry with them led to my leaving there.
Given my beliefs about the miraculous gifts, I decided to find a Vineyard church in Tampa. I did find one and went a few times. I liked it. The pastor was also a reformed guy and the music was good, but my eventual wife was going to a more traditional reformed church and I wanted to be with her where she was going so I left and started going to her church.
Well this is getting long so I'll continue again in my next post detailing how I returned to the Vineyard.
-Christian
In 2003 I enrolled at Trinity College of Florida to try to attain a degree in pastoral ministry. The three semesters I spent there were up and down to say the least! I did a tremendous amount of growth there (not to mention meeting a great woman to whom I am now married), but unfortunately, a lot of immaturity was exposed as well. I wish I could say I wasn't a typical 19-20 year old guy but I was every bit of it and then some.
During my first semester there I roomed with a couple of guys in an apartment complex that the college rented out for some of their students. One of the guys in the complex was the very first reformed charismatic that I ever met! His name was Jerry and he was about a year ahead of me and hung out with the reformed crowd. Over several conversations and me reading some books (some good and not so good) I finally came to embrace the doctrines of grace in all their fullness!
During this time there wasn't really a Calvary Chapel in the area so I went to Jerry's church which was non-denominational and co-pastored by the college's dean of students (also a reformed, continuationist, historic premill guy). I kind of fell out of Calvary and enjoyed fellowshipping with these folks.
During the summer between my second and third semesters, I did some research about the end-times. At this point I was starting to question the pre-trib rapture view I had been taught all my life. Eventually I became convinced of the post-trib view. Later I abandoned the entire dispensational system altogether. Interestingly, all of this occured while attending a college loosely affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance that definetely had a dispensational bent. Not exactly a breeding ground for calvinistic, post-tribulational, continuationists.
During that same summer, I went back to Calvary but my new found convictions regarding God's sovereignty, and the end-times would have made it impossible for me to enter the ministry with them led to my leaving there.
Given my beliefs about the miraculous gifts, I decided to find a Vineyard church in Tampa. I did find one and went a few times. I liked it. The pastor was also a reformed guy and the music was good, but my eventual wife was going to a more traditional reformed church and I wanted to be with her where she was going so I left and started going to her church.
Well this is getting long so I'll continue again in my next post detailing how I returned to the Vineyard.
-Christian
Sunday, May 4, 2008
How I Became the Vineyard Calvinist, Part 2
In my last post, I detailed a little bit of how I became a Christian and the beginnings of my life in the Church. By this point, I had decided to leave my previous church and join a church affiliated with Calvary Chapel. I did this largely because I really got a lot out of the expository preaching that they employed.
During this time, I got heavily involved with the youth group, but also went to the main service. The youth pastor was also the associate pastor of the church. I did a tremendous amount of growth there especially in getting grounded in the essential truths of the Christian faith (the Trinity, Deity of Christ, faith alone being the instrument of salvation, etc.) as well as learning the Word of God. I remember the time that they preached chapter-by-chapter through the Psalms and Proverbs as well as through the Gospel of Luke (Sunday mornings they went through the New Testament, and Wednesday evenings were through the New Testament. They also later added a Sunday evening service where they went through another portion of the New Testament). The early days there were very fruitful and I was initially discipled very well.
It was during this time that I came to the conclusion that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit had not been withdrawn from the Church. I had decided that I wanted to become a pastor one day and although I was interested in Calvary Chapel Bible College, I really desired to stay local (CCBC is located in Murrietta, CA) and they weren't accredited.
I went and toured a Baptist college that was about 45 minutes from home but discovered that they really took a hardline stance against the miraculous gifts and the gift of tongues in particular. I really didn't even know what the gift of tongues was at the time! I had a conversation with a Christian gentleman who was also a Baptist (and apparently a fan of John MacArthur) who basically told me that the key to determining the issue was to determine when does "that which is perfect" come (1 Cor. 13:10). I learned that many (apparently including this gentleman) believed that the completion of the canon of the New Testament was that time.
I determined to study this issue myself from the Bible and come to a conclusion. Interestingly, although Calvary Chapel is technically a charismatic church, I didn't get a whole lot of help from them. I kid you not, the whole time I was there (about a year and a half), I never once saw anything that resembled the charismatic gifts. The only thing they really contributed when I asked about the issue was that they believed they were for today.
Long story short, I came to the conclusion that the coming of the perfect was the time after the return of Christ and thus the gifts were for today. That obviously made it impossible to go to that particular school. I eventually ended up at Trinity College of Florida where I went for three semesters and met my wife.
More on that at a later time.
-Christian
During this time, I got heavily involved with the youth group, but also went to the main service. The youth pastor was also the associate pastor of the church. I did a tremendous amount of growth there especially in getting grounded in the essential truths of the Christian faith (the Trinity, Deity of Christ, faith alone being the instrument of salvation, etc.) as well as learning the Word of God. I remember the time that they preached chapter-by-chapter through the Psalms and Proverbs as well as through the Gospel of Luke (Sunday mornings they went through the New Testament, and Wednesday evenings were through the New Testament. They also later added a Sunday evening service where they went through another portion of the New Testament). The early days there were very fruitful and I was initially discipled very well.
It was during this time that I came to the conclusion that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit had not been withdrawn from the Church. I had decided that I wanted to become a pastor one day and although I was interested in Calvary Chapel Bible College, I really desired to stay local (CCBC is located in Murrietta, CA) and they weren't accredited.
I went and toured a Baptist college that was about 45 minutes from home but discovered that they really took a hardline stance against the miraculous gifts and the gift of tongues in particular. I really didn't even know what the gift of tongues was at the time! I had a conversation with a Christian gentleman who was also a Baptist (and apparently a fan of John MacArthur) who basically told me that the key to determining the issue was to determine when does "that which is perfect" come (1 Cor. 13:10). I learned that many (apparently including this gentleman) believed that the completion of the canon of the New Testament was that time.
I determined to study this issue myself from the Bible and come to a conclusion. Interestingly, although Calvary Chapel is technically a charismatic church, I didn't get a whole lot of help from them. I kid you not, the whole time I was there (about a year and a half), I never once saw anything that resembled the charismatic gifts. The only thing they really contributed when I asked about the issue was that they believed they were for today.
Long story short, I came to the conclusion that the coming of the perfect was the time after the return of Christ and thus the gifts were for today. That obviously made it impossible to go to that particular school. I eventually ended up at Trinity College of Florida where I went for three semesters and met my wife.
More on that at a later time.
-Christian
Thursday, May 1, 2008
How I Became the Vineyard Calvinist, Part 1
I think it might be a good time to describe a little bit of my own theological journey. How did I come to be both a 5-point Calvinist and a member of a Vineyard affiliated church? Considering what you are about to learn about my church background, it is surprising indeed!
My mom and dad came out of the Charismatic movement (they met while both attending Oral Roberts University). Not a whole lot of Reformed Theology in the Charismatic Movement during the late 70s and early 80s to say the least. To this day, both my parents remain (regretably) un-reformed.
The funny thing is, when they and myself (at the time barely 1 year old) moved to Florida durning the mid-80s, we didn't continue going to charismatic churches. My family (two brothers came after moving to Florida) began going to non-denominational, seeker-friendly churches. That is the church environment I came up from.
Long story short, I was involved in a fellowship of that type by the time I was seventeen and attending this youth group that took a trip to Tennessee for Summer Camp. The Lord opened my eyes to the truth of the Gospel there and I was never the same.
I continued going to this church in the nearby Tampa suburb of Brandon for a little while longer. After a while though, it became apparent that I needed more than I was getting from the youth group that I also was not finding in the main service. My mother started trying out this other church called Calvary Chapel (talk about non-reformed, but at the time I wasn't reformed yet). I tried it out with her a couple of times and noticed they preached verse-by-verse through books of the Bible. This was my first experience with expository preaching and it changed everything. This is not to knock my previous youth group. I think topical preaching is fine and can be useful, but I remain convinced to this day that expository preaching is the best method for preaching the truths of God's Word.
I thank and praise God for what I got at my first Church (most notably the gift of salvation!), but by this time I decided that Calvary Chapel was the place where I could do the most growing in my walk with the Lord. More on that and everything that follows in my next post. Stay tuned.
-Christian
My mom and dad came out of the Charismatic movement (they met while both attending Oral Roberts University). Not a whole lot of Reformed Theology in the Charismatic Movement during the late 70s and early 80s to say the least. To this day, both my parents remain (regretably) un-reformed.
The funny thing is, when they and myself (at the time barely 1 year old) moved to Florida durning the mid-80s, we didn't continue going to charismatic churches. My family (two brothers came after moving to Florida) began going to non-denominational, seeker-friendly churches. That is the church environment I came up from.
Long story short, I was involved in a fellowship of that type by the time I was seventeen and attending this youth group that took a trip to Tennessee for Summer Camp. The Lord opened my eyes to the truth of the Gospel there and I was never the same.
I continued going to this church in the nearby Tampa suburb of Brandon for a little while longer. After a while though, it became apparent that I needed more than I was getting from the youth group that I also was not finding in the main service. My mother started trying out this other church called Calvary Chapel (talk about non-reformed, but at the time I wasn't reformed yet). I tried it out with her a couple of times and noticed they preached verse-by-verse through books of the Bible. This was my first experience with expository preaching and it changed everything. This is not to knock my previous youth group. I think topical preaching is fine and can be useful, but I remain convinced to this day that expository preaching is the best method for preaching the truths of God's Word.
I thank and praise God for what I got at my first Church (most notably the gift of salvation!), but by this time I decided that Calvary Chapel was the place where I could do the most growing in my walk with the Lord. More on that and everything that follows in my next post. Stay tuned.
-Christian
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