My heart's desire is to see Christ's Church advancing rather than retreating in the society in which we live. That is my constant prayer to God because God deserves His Name applied to that which does good to society in a substantial way and people, Christians and non-Christians, benefit when a society is brought under strong impressions of Jesus Christ.
Sadly, that is not the case in Sydney despite well meaning intentions of those within the Church.
As if only day to day observation hasn't been enough to reveal just that, take a look at the brutal statistics produced for the Western Sydney Regional Organization of Councils (WSROC).
Bear in mind that the statistics, derived from Australian Bureau of Statistic Census data, are only those of people who declare they are of particular religions and denominations so, for Christianity, they are not a record of church goers nor are they a statistic of actual Christians. Those latter statistics would be lower still.
Being statistics collected for the years 2006 and 2011, the WSROC statistics are very helpful for Sydney Episcopalians (Anglicans) to weigh the fruit of the "Connect 09" and broader "10% of Sydney population in Bible believing churches" campaigns initiated within the Diocese. Year 2006 is helpful because it is about the mid point of the decade of evangelism desiged to get the 10% of the population of Sydney into Bible believing churches and it is also three years before Connect 09. Year 2011 statistics provide the fruit of each campaign's labours.
Since conclusion of the campaigns the Archbishop of the Diocese of Sydney has, more than once, said he has seen increased numbers of attendance within the Diocese. However, the WSROC statistics suggest the Archbishop's reading of parish returns are, at best, wistful. Maybe the parish returns need overhaul in one or both of the data sought or data being returned.
The WSROC statistics are a disaster for the two evangelistic campaigns initiated by the Diocese and of grievous foreboding for the Diocese. Here are sorry statistics I have extracted for this text:
West & South West Sydney
Year 2006 Ang. 15%
Year 2011 Ang. 13.2%
Greater Sydney
Year 2006 Ang. 17.9%
Year 2011 Ang. 16.1%
The statistics show there has been an approximate decline of 2% in the number of people declaring themselves Anglican in both West/South-West Sydney and in Greater Sydney. If the two associated evangelistic campaigns of the Diocese had been a success it surely would have been reflected in the Census of 2011. It was not and it is not "Peace, Peace" it is "Disaster, Disaster".
Islam and Hinduism are on the rise and the Diocese is going backward - on its way to the cellar where dwells the Uniting Church at 2.8%! Sure, there is a big difference between 16.1% and 2.8% but twenty years ago the Anglican Church statistic was around 26%. In those twenty years Roman Catholic statistics have held up but Anglicans have gone seriously backward.
Hard questions need to be asked within the Diocese.
I don't want to hear "The Church is always a minority in society!" It does not have to be so demonstrably a minority and has not always been. Take on board the words of John Weir in his account of "The Ulster Awakening" of 1859. After giving many individual testimonies of the work of the Holy Spirit in Ulster, Northern Ireland, he laments, on page 256, that such a work was needed in England. He then speaks of church statistics in Great Britain in 1859 as follows:
"According to evidence (recently published) before the Lords' Select Committee on Church-rates, which sat towards the close of last session, and from calculations based upon accurate data, it appears that there are 7,546,948 actual church-going men of the Church of England, or 42 per cent of the gross population; and 4,466,266 nominal churchmen, but practically of no church, or 25 per cent of the gross population."
Wow! 42% actual church-going and 25% nominal men only and that is not enough for what John Weir thinks has been or can be achieved in better times.
The Sydney Diocese is in far worse circumstance and it is getting worse all the time.
One pertinent question for the Diocese is: "What is the Diocese doing which equates to the Uniting Church and is sending it the way of the Uniting Church?"
One thing it is doing is following the Uniting Church in dissembling the authority of the Word of God. It does this, like the Uniting Church, in the reading and interpretation of the Word of God in Genesis 1 and threads are being observed of dissembling the reading and interpretation of the Word of God on homosexuality.
If the Anglican (Episcopalian) Diocese of Sydney does not trust God why should God entrust the Diocese with bringing large numbers into the church? The statistics produced by WSROC show God has not entrusted the Diocese with such a work and the Diocesan evangelistic campaigns of the past decade, in terms of extending the Kingdom of God, have been a failure.
I wish it were all otherwise.
Sam Drucker
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
When War Can't Be Avoided
Interesting to see Secularists, Humanists and Atheists in England are so rabid in punishing independent schools that will not teach evolution or that will not teach it as fact.
There must be something in that Christianity which simply and humbly takes God at his Word if the lead representatives of fallen man are so agressive against it.
I wonder whether those within Christianity who compromise with the Word of God on this issue ever wonder why it is that the enemies of God are so active on this front.
Sam Drucker
There must be something in that Christianity which simply and humbly takes God at his Word if the lead representatives of fallen man are so agressive against it.
I wonder whether those within Christianity who compromise with the Word of God on this issue ever wonder why it is that the enemies of God are so active on this front.
Sam Drucker
Sunday, December 16, 2012
God and His Testimony
It is so disappointing that Theistic Evolutionists put so much faith in a paradigm and less faith in God who reveals Himself in His Word Written and Incarnate. Do they really test that in which they have put their errant faith?
Correspondent John has previously drawn attention to "Haldane's Dilemma" at this blogspot and I mention it here in a slightly broader context. Just to give readers a background to Haldane's Dilemma I provide an acceptable explanation by Walter Re Mine in his monumental work "The Biotic Message - Evolution v Versus Message Theory" (1993):
"Evolution requires the substitution of old prevalent traits with new rare traits. There are limits to the rate these substitutions can occur, limits that depend primarily on the reproductive capacity of the species. Haldane's Dilemma examines these limits.
Imagine a breeding population of 100,000 individuals. Imagine 99,998 have the old trait O, and two (a male and female) have the new trait N. Imagine trait N has just arisen from O by beneficial mutation. The evolutionary goal is to substitute trait N for trait O in the population. To accomplish this goal, differential survival must eliminate the 99,998 type O individuals and all their heirs.
This can be accomplished in a single generation if there is perfect selection. (That is, if the survival values of O and N are 0 and 1 respectively.) Yet, there is an enormous cost involved. For every surviving type N individual there are 49,999 individuals (type O) that must perish without heirs. The population size must be regenerated from the two survivors.
Now allot the maximum speed to evolution. Let us assume evolution can happen like this continuously, generation after generation, for millions of years. Take a species like man with a nominal 20 year generation time. Extrapolate backward from this known species to a time 10 million years ago. This is three times earlier than the said occurrence of the four foot high australopithecine "Lucy." This is twice as old as the alleged split between gorilla, chimpanzee, and man. In that much time, how many traits could be substituted at this crashing pace? One per generation, maximum — approximately 500,000.
These substituted traits are simple changes having arisen by mutation. These can be of many types. The new trait might be a DNA inversion, gene duplication. or deletion, for example. Also, organisms are not merely the possession of the right genes. The position and sequence of genes on a chromosome are important to their action, expression, and propagation. So, a substituted trait can be some thing as simple as a new location of a gene on a chromosome. The substituted traits can be many different things. Yet, every time you wish to move a gene to a new position, or delete a gene, or duplicate a gene, or substitute any trait, no matter how trivial, then there is a cost to be paid.
According to the neo-Darwinian synthesis, these substituted traits are typically a new version of a gene — an allele. The new substituted gene typically differs from the old gene by one newly mutated nucleotide. So, the substituted trait is nominally a nucleotide. The following discussion deals with substituted traits as though they are all nucleotides. This focuses the problem and makes it more comprehensible, while remaining true to the essence of modern evolutionary thought.
With these clarifications, let us return to the example. Take an ape-like creature from 10 million years ago, substitute a maximum of 500,000 selectively significant nucleotides and you would have a poet philosopher? What does that sound like to you? How much information can be packed into 500,000 nucleotides? It is roughly one-hundredth of one percent of the nucleotide sites in each human ovum.
Is this enough to account for the significantly improved skulls, jaws, teeth feet, speech, upright posture, abstract thought, and appreciation of music, to name just a few? If you find it doubtful, then you are beginning to understand why this is important. It sets a limit on the number of traits that can be substituted by differential survival in the available time."
"Haldane's Dilemma" has, for many decades, posed a serious time problem for advocates of Evolution. The time is just not there for life to have evolved to the state it is today. Yet Theistic Evolutionists remain inclined to distrust the straight-forward reading of the Word of God on Origins.
Adding to the absurdity of their course, Theistic Evolutionists ignore the findings of Collagen in fossils and bones of creatures alleged to have lived and died multiple millions of years ago. Scientists acknowledge that, even in the best preservation conditions, Collagen will not last more than hundreds of thousands of years. So, to find Collagen in a supposed 40 million year old lizard leg, a supposed 50 million year old fossil fish and allegedly even older fossils and bones of dinosaurs really throws serious doubt over dating of fossils, to the point where the dating is unsustainable. Yet Theistic Evolutionists blindly accept evolutionary dating.
Why it is that the Church has many within prepared to insult our Lord by casting doubt on His Word is all but beyond me. I guess I have to remind myself how it was that Israel of old so many times cast doubt on God though they had seen His works.
Sam Drucker
Correspondent John has previously drawn attention to "Haldane's Dilemma" at this blogspot and I mention it here in a slightly broader context. Just to give readers a background to Haldane's Dilemma I provide an acceptable explanation by Walter Re Mine in his monumental work "The Biotic Message - Evolution v Versus Message Theory" (1993):
"Evolution requires the substitution of old prevalent traits with new rare traits. There are limits to the rate these substitutions can occur, limits that depend primarily on the reproductive capacity of the species. Haldane's Dilemma examines these limits.
Imagine a breeding population of 100,000 individuals. Imagine 99,998 have the old trait O, and two (a male and female) have the new trait N. Imagine trait N has just arisen from O by beneficial mutation. The evolutionary goal is to substitute trait N for trait O in the population. To accomplish this goal, differential survival must eliminate the 99,998 type O individuals and all their heirs.
This can be accomplished in a single generation if there is perfect selection. (That is, if the survival values of O and N are 0 and 1 respectively.) Yet, there is an enormous cost involved. For every surviving type N individual there are 49,999 individuals (type O) that must perish without heirs. The population size must be regenerated from the two survivors.
Now allot the maximum speed to evolution. Let us assume evolution can happen like this continuously, generation after generation, for millions of years. Take a species like man with a nominal 20 year generation time. Extrapolate backward from this known species to a time 10 million years ago. This is three times earlier than the said occurrence of the four foot high australopithecine "Lucy." This is twice as old as the alleged split between gorilla, chimpanzee, and man. In that much time, how many traits could be substituted at this crashing pace? One per generation, maximum — approximately 500,000.
These substituted traits are simple changes having arisen by mutation. These can be of many types. The new trait might be a DNA inversion, gene duplication. or deletion, for example. Also, organisms are not merely the possession of the right genes. The position and sequence of genes on a chromosome are important to their action, expression, and propagation. So, a substituted trait can be some thing as simple as a new location of a gene on a chromosome. The substituted traits can be many different things. Yet, every time you wish to move a gene to a new position, or delete a gene, or duplicate a gene, or substitute any trait, no matter how trivial, then there is a cost to be paid.
According to the neo-Darwinian synthesis, these substituted traits are typically a new version of a gene — an allele. The new substituted gene typically differs from the old gene by one newly mutated nucleotide. So, the substituted trait is nominally a nucleotide. The following discussion deals with substituted traits as though they are all nucleotides. This focuses the problem and makes it more comprehensible, while remaining true to the essence of modern evolutionary thought.
With these clarifications, let us return to the example. Take an ape-like creature from 10 million years ago, substitute a maximum of 500,000 selectively significant nucleotides and you would have a poet philosopher? What does that sound like to you? How much information can be packed into 500,000 nucleotides? It is roughly one-hundredth of one percent of the nucleotide sites in each human ovum.
Is this enough to account for the significantly improved skulls, jaws, teeth feet, speech, upright posture, abstract thought, and appreciation of music, to name just a few? If you find it doubtful, then you are beginning to understand why this is important. It sets a limit on the number of traits that can be substituted by differential survival in the available time."
"Haldane's Dilemma" has, for many decades, posed a serious time problem for advocates of Evolution. The time is just not there for life to have evolved to the state it is today. Yet Theistic Evolutionists remain inclined to distrust the straight-forward reading of the Word of God on Origins.
Adding to the absurdity of their course, Theistic Evolutionists ignore the findings of Collagen in fossils and bones of creatures alleged to have lived and died multiple millions of years ago. Scientists acknowledge that, even in the best preservation conditions, Collagen will not last more than hundreds of thousands of years. So, to find Collagen in a supposed 40 million year old lizard leg, a supposed 50 million year old fossil fish and allegedly even older fossils and bones of dinosaurs really throws serious doubt over dating of fossils, to the point where the dating is unsustainable. Yet Theistic Evolutionists blindly accept evolutionary dating.
Why it is that the Church has many within prepared to insult our Lord by casting doubt on His Word is all but beyond me. I guess I have to remind myself how it was that Israel of old so many times cast doubt on God though they had seen His works.
Sam Drucker
Friday, December 14, 2012
History Speaks But Who is Listening?
"On the 24th August in the Year of the City 1164, and in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ 410, the Goths under Alaric entered and sacked Rome. 'My voice sticks in my throat', says Jerome, 'and sobs choke me as I dictate. The city which took the whole world captive is itself taken.' Jerome uttered the sensations of all, both Christian and heathen. There has been no such shock to Europe since."
That was an extract from Charles Williams' work "The Descent of the Dove", 1939.
The experience of Jerome was a blow for believers and unbelievers alike. It came approximately one hundred years after Christianity became the religion of the State under Emperor Constantine. The blessings of Christianity upon an empire had passed and moral decay left the empire prime for being overrun.
Fast forward a little more than a millennium and a great blessing from the Lord brought Reformation of the Church in Europe. The Reformation brought moral change to society at large.
However, about one hundred years later, Puritan writer Thomas Watson had this to say about the society of England:
"Mourn for the errors and blasphemies of the nation. There is now a free trade of error. Toleration gives men a patent to sin. What cursed opinion that has been long ago buried in the Church but is now digged out of the grave and by some worshipped? England is like that man in the Gospel who had a spirit of an unclean devil. Mourn for the removing of landmarks. Mourn for the contempt offered to the magistracy: the spitting in the face of authority. Mourn that there are so few mourners. Surely if we mourn not for the sins of others it is to be feared we are not sensible of our own sins. God looks down upon us as guilty of those sins in others which we do not lament. Our tears may help us to quench God's wrath."
Blessing upon the Church and society came through the ministry of the Puritans but proceed a little less than one hundred years later and you find a state of the nation, described later in "Great Christian Leaders of the 18th Century" by Bishop John Charles Ryle, as follows:
"What were the morals of a hundred years ago? It may suffice to say that duelling, adultery, fornication, gambling, swearing, Sabbath-breaking and drunkenness were hardly regarded as they were the fashionable practices of people in the highest ranks of society, and no one was thought the worse of for indulging in them. The best evidence of this point is to be found in Hogarth's pictures."
and
"The prince of this world made good use of his opportunity. His agents were active and zealous in promulgating every kind of strange and blasphemous opinion. Collins and Tindal denounced Christianity as priestcraft Whiston pronounced the miracles of the Bible to be grand impositions. Woolston declared them to be allegories. Arianism and Socinianism were openly taught by Clark and Priestly, and became fashionable among the intellectual part of the community. Of the utter incapacity of the pulpit to stem the progress of all this flood of evil, one single fact will give us some idea. The celebrated lawyer, Blackstone, had the curiosity, early in the reign of George III., to go from church to church and hear every clergyman of note in London. He says that he did not hear a single discourse which had more Christianity in it than the writings of Cicero, and that it would have been impossible for him to discover, from what he heard, whether the preacher were a follower of Confucius, of Mahomet, or of Christ!"
Then, of course, came a great outpouring of God's Holy Spirit on the Church which had one effect of wide ranging morality in society in Great Britain and in America and advancement of Western Society.
However, about one hundred years later, in the Nineteenth Century, the influence of Christianity had waned again and society was again breaking down. Then came another outpouring of God's Holy Spirit in America around the middle of the century. A similar outpouring occurred in Northern Ireland with some effect in England through Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
At that time too, a tool for rebellion against God came through the release of Charles Darwin's works on the "Origin of the Species ..." and since that time there has been pretty much nothing but decline in Western Society and the influence of the Church on society. Secularism dominates the education system and the ordering of society. Political Correctness serves to weaken society's link to its stronger moral past and the Church languishes on the sideline like a player lacking capacity to contribute to the 'only game in town'.
An impotent Church leads to an unsuspecting society being prime to be overrun yet the attack will come slowly and not so much with the scale of conflict Jerome in Rome observed. No, the assault comes with the flooding of society with Islam. Already, in the name of Secularism and Political Correctness, politicians in Western Society make compromises to accommodate the march of Islam. In Melbourne, Australia, in year 2013 a conference is planned in the name of Islam and 20,000 people are expected by organizers. Speakers at the event have elsewhere declared their hatred of Israel and Western Society.
Who'd a thunk it?
What does the future hold for Western Society? Will God intervene with a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church and society as He has done in the past? Or are we on the threshold of a great persecution which will end only with the return of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ?
Who's to say? But Christians getting down on their knees in prayer, repentance and petition to God presents as the only hope for good.
Sam Drucker
"On the 24th August in the Year of the City 1164, and in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ 410, the Goths under Alaric entered and sacked Rome. 'My voice sticks in my throat', says Jerome, 'and sobs choke me as I dictate. The city which took the whole world captive is itself taken.' Jerome uttered the sensations of all, both Christian and heathen. There has been no such shock to Europe since."
That was an extract from Charles Williams' work "The Descent of the Dove", 1939.
The experience of Jerome was a blow for believers and unbelievers alike. It came approximately one hundred years after Christianity became the religion of the State under Emperor Constantine. The blessings of Christianity upon an empire had passed and moral decay left the empire prime for being overrun.
Fast forward a little more than a millennium and a great blessing from the Lord brought Reformation of the Church in Europe. The Reformation brought moral change to society at large.
However, about one hundred years later, Puritan writer Thomas Watson had this to say about the society of England:
"Mourn for the errors and blasphemies of the nation. There is now a free trade of error. Toleration gives men a patent to sin. What cursed opinion that has been long ago buried in the Church but is now digged out of the grave and by some worshipped? England is like that man in the Gospel who had a spirit of an unclean devil. Mourn for the removing of landmarks. Mourn for the contempt offered to the magistracy: the spitting in the face of authority. Mourn that there are so few mourners. Surely if we mourn not for the sins of others it is to be feared we are not sensible of our own sins. God looks down upon us as guilty of those sins in others which we do not lament. Our tears may help us to quench God's wrath."
Blessing upon the Church and society came through the ministry of the Puritans but proceed a little less than one hundred years later and you find a state of the nation, described later in "Great Christian Leaders of the 18th Century" by Bishop John Charles Ryle, as follows:
"What were the morals of a hundred years ago? It may suffice to say that duelling, adultery, fornication, gambling, swearing, Sabbath-breaking and drunkenness were hardly regarded as they were the fashionable practices of people in the highest ranks of society, and no one was thought the worse of for indulging in them. The best evidence of this point is to be found in Hogarth's pictures."
and
"The prince of this world made good use of his opportunity. His agents were active and zealous in promulgating every kind of strange and blasphemous opinion. Collins and Tindal denounced Christianity as priestcraft Whiston pronounced the miracles of the Bible to be grand impositions. Woolston declared them to be allegories. Arianism and Socinianism were openly taught by Clark and Priestly, and became fashionable among the intellectual part of the community. Of the utter incapacity of the pulpit to stem the progress of all this flood of evil, one single fact will give us some idea. The celebrated lawyer, Blackstone, had the curiosity, early in the reign of George III., to go from church to church and hear every clergyman of note in London. He says that he did not hear a single discourse which had more Christianity in it than the writings of Cicero, and that it would have been impossible for him to discover, from what he heard, whether the preacher were a follower of Confucius, of Mahomet, or of Christ!"
Then, of course, came a great outpouring of God's Holy Spirit on the Church which had one effect of wide ranging morality in society in Great Britain and in America and advancement of Western Society.
However, about one hundred years later, in the Nineteenth Century, the influence of Christianity had waned again and society was again breaking down. Then came another outpouring of God's Holy Spirit in America around the middle of the century. A similar outpouring occurred in Northern Ireland with some effect in England through Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
At that time too, a tool for rebellion against God came through the release of Charles Darwin's works on the "Origin of the Species ..." and since that time there has been pretty much nothing but decline in Western Society and the influence of the Church on society. Secularism dominates the education system and the ordering of society. Political Correctness serves to weaken society's link to its stronger moral past and the Church languishes on the sideline like a player lacking capacity to contribute to the 'only game in town'.
An impotent Church leads to an unsuspecting society being prime to be overrun yet the attack will come slowly and not so much with the scale of conflict Jerome in Rome observed. No, the assault comes with the flooding of society with Islam. Already, in the name of Secularism and Political Correctness, politicians in Western Society make compromises to accommodate the march of Islam. In Melbourne, Australia, in year 2013 a conference is planned in the name of Islam and 20,000 people are expected by organizers. Speakers at the event have elsewhere declared their hatred of Israel and Western Society.
Who'd a thunk it?
What does the future hold for Western Society? Will God intervene with a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church and society as He has done in the past? Or are we on the threshold of a great persecution which will end only with the return of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ?
Who's to say? But Christians getting down on their knees in prayer, repentance and petition to God presents as the only hope for good.
Sam Drucker
Sunday, December 9, 2012
The Inner Witness and Our Confidence in Scripture.
We have raised here before the seeming 'schizophrenic' approach taken by many within the Episcopalian (Anglican) Diocese toward the Inerrancy of Scripture. This is demonstrated in their high regard for the authority of the New Testament but a different rule (or devices) applied to parts of the Old Testament. Some, however, are not so inconsistent and are ready to jettison altogether the Reformed principle of Inerrancy of Scripture. Both failings have their root in the capitulation of the Diocesan theological seminary - Moore Theological College - to the world's view on Origins.
Undoubtedly, the Evil One has a hand in this by working on sin resident in man. That sin, once activated, rises up to contest the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit in regenerate man. The Holy Spirit, remember, is the promise of our Lord Jesus of much blessing and worth, including that of leading into all truth (John 16:13). Though that was the promise of our Lord to his disciples it follows that the Holy Spirit, dwelling in us today, will desire to teach us truth and not than error.
I was reminded of this when reading an article entitled "The Inner Witness and the Sufficiency of Scripture" by Richard C. Ross, former Minister of of Ackhill Baptist Church, Presteigne, Powys, Wales, published in Banner of Truth journal of November, 1981, parts of which I restate here:
"Submission to the Holy Scriptures as the inerrant word of God and the recognition of Scripture as the only rule for faith and conduct is the nucleus of personal Christian obedience (John 17.17). In order to recognize and confess the true character of Scripture we depend upon two distinct but related witnesses; the witness Scripture gives to itself and the inner witness of the Holy Spirit.
The inner witness or inner testimony of the Holy Spirit operates in two particular areas: 'It is an aid to faith, by producing conviction regarding the nature, worth and authority of Scripture; it is an aid to understanding by providing the illumination which enables one to seize the meaning of the text'. [He here quotes from R. Pache in "The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture", 1969]
By the grace of God, the Spirit's inner witness, both as conviction and illumination, is the inheritance of every believer. But it is vulnerable to resistance and suppression. The believer has a considerable capacity for inconsistency. Every individual sin is an expression of the believer's inconsistency with the new nature he has received, an inconsistency which plagues him throughout his life. That this inconsistency may find expression in relation to a confession of the inerrancy and authority of Scripture, while deplorable, is not incredible. The divinity, reliability and sufficiency of Scripture have been targets for singularly intense attacks and, as every believer is liable to a greater or lesser degree to be put off balance by prevailing opinions, it is conceivable that the Spirit's gentle witness may be ignored or even smothered. For this reason it is wise to be wary of precipitately concluding that all who fail to respond with consistency to the claims of Scripture are, for that reason, unregenerate. A failure to bear witness to the absolute authority of Scripture does not, in itself, prove apostasy. It is however our duty to warn men that this sinful inconsistency and insensitivity has the strongest tendency to lead towards a total apostasy. The possibility of resisting the Spirit's inner witness ought therefore to make us more vigilant that we ourselves may avoid this particular sin."
We ought take on board Ross' counsel as we wrestle with past and present faculty and students of Moore Theological College on their, at times, disregard for for the inerrancy of Scripture. As we all, at times, succumb to sin in some way or another we should be mindful to be firm but not destructive in our dealings with sin in others on the matter of regard for the Word of God.
Sam Drucker
Undoubtedly, the Evil One has a hand in this by working on sin resident in man. That sin, once activated, rises up to contest the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit in regenerate man. The Holy Spirit, remember, is the promise of our Lord Jesus of much blessing and worth, including that of leading into all truth (John 16:13). Though that was the promise of our Lord to his disciples it follows that the Holy Spirit, dwelling in us today, will desire to teach us truth and not than error.
I was reminded of this when reading an article entitled "The Inner Witness and the Sufficiency of Scripture" by Richard C. Ross, former Minister of of Ackhill Baptist Church, Presteigne, Powys, Wales, published in Banner of Truth journal of November, 1981, parts of which I restate here:
"Submission to the Holy Scriptures as the inerrant word of God and the recognition of Scripture as the only rule for faith and conduct is the nucleus of personal Christian obedience (John 17.17). In order to recognize and confess the true character of Scripture we depend upon two distinct but related witnesses; the witness Scripture gives to itself and the inner witness of the Holy Spirit.
The inner witness or inner testimony of the Holy Spirit operates in two particular areas: 'It is an aid to faith, by producing conviction regarding the nature, worth and authority of Scripture; it is an aid to understanding by providing the illumination which enables one to seize the meaning of the text'. [He here quotes from R. Pache in "The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture", 1969]
By the grace of God, the Spirit's inner witness, both as conviction and illumination, is the inheritance of every believer. But it is vulnerable to resistance and suppression. The believer has a considerable capacity for inconsistency. Every individual sin is an expression of the believer's inconsistency with the new nature he has received, an inconsistency which plagues him throughout his life. That this inconsistency may find expression in relation to a confession of the inerrancy and authority of Scripture, while deplorable, is not incredible. The divinity, reliability and sufficiency of Scripture have been targets for singularly intense attacks and, as every believer is liable to a greater or lesser degree to be put off balance by prevailing opinions, it is conceivable that the Spirit's gentle witness may be ignored or even smothered. For this reason it is wise to be wary of precipitately concluding that all who fail to respond with consistency to the claims of Scripture are, for that reason, unregenerate. A failure to bear witness to the absolute authority of Scripture does not, in itself, prove apostasy. It is however our duty to warn men that this sinful inconsistency and insensitivity has the strongest tendency to lead towards a total apostasy. The possibility of resisting the Spirit's inner witness ought therefore to make us more vigilant that we ourselves may avoid this particular sin."
We ought take on board Ross' counsel as we wrestle with past and present faculty and students of Moore Theological College on their, at times, disregard for for the inerrancy of Scripture. As we all, at times, succumb to sin in some way or another we should be mindful to be firm but not destructive in our dealings with sin in others on the matter of regard for the Word of God.
Sam Drucker
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The Hazards of Blind Dating.
Many Christians have succumbed to the world, believing the idea of the earth being under ten thousand years is absurd because of the 'demonstrated' science of long ages.
Obviously, whether by fear of man or downright laziness, they are not prepared to apply a rigorous test to the assertions of the world concerning the derived age of the earth and its components. Whatever long age dates thrown up to them in the media or other source the dates are swallowed withour test.
Biblical Creationists have long questioned dates assigned to rocks by radiometric dating and have produced a number of spurious radiometric dates when the actual age of the sample had been known eg basalt from an observed volcanic event.
It is not as if Biblical Creationists are alone in questioning radiometric dating. The problems are known by secular scientists, as attested in the report in nature.com 25 July 2012.
Reporting on the efforts of a scientist to develop a portable chronometre to aid the dating of rocks in space exploration, the writer at nature.com says "Anderson will have to show not only that his chronometer is fast and light, but also that his dates make sense. Radiometric dates are some of the trickiest, most delicate and most disputed measurements on Earth. [emphasis mine] Anderson wants to transform what has been a laborious process of chemical extraction and analysis into a laser-based system, automate it and shrink it into a robot small and reliable enough to send to another planet."
If only Christians, in much greater number, would take the trouble to learn just how questionable assigned dates from radiometric dating are and then be more ready to trust the Word of God on Origins.
Sam Drucker
Obviously, whether by fear of man or downright laziness, they are not prepared to apply a rigorous test to the assertions of the world concerning the derived age of the earth and its components. Whatever long age dates thrown up to them in the media or other source the dates are swallowed withour test.
Biblical Creationists have long questioned dates assigned to rocks by radiometric dating and have produced a number of spurious radiometric dates when the actual age of the sample had been known eg basalt from an observed volcanic event.
It is not as if Biblical Creationists are alone in questioning radiometric dating. The problems are known by secular scientists, as attested in the report in nature.com 25 July 2012.
Reporting on the efforts of a scientist to develop a portable chronometre to aid the dating of rocks in space exploration, the writer at nature.com says "Anderson will have to show not only that his chronometer is fast and light, but also that his dates make sense. Radiometric dates are some of the trickiest, most delicate and most disputed measurements on Earth. [emphasis mine] Anderson wants to transform what has been a laborious process of chemical extraction and analysis into a laser-based system, automate it and shrink it into a robot small and reliable enough to send to another planet."
If only Christians, in much greater number, would take the trouble to learn just how questionable assigned dates from radiometric dating are and then be more ready to trust the Word of God on Origins.
Sam Drucker
Sunday, December 2, 2012
A Tale of Two 'Christians'.
Consider the following two stories.
'Christian A' - had believed he had been saved in Jesus Christ but his walk with the Lord had been dry and lacking conviction. It was as if he was just going through the motions of Christian life - church going, prayer, Bible reading, church activities and trying to live as a Christian would. One day, after many years, and now a senior citizen 'Christian A' came 'alive' and was fully appreciative and energized in his Christian life.
'Christian B' - had believed he had been saved in Jesus Christ and was active in all Christian interests and church life. One day he gave Christianity away, citing difficulty in accepting two chapters of the Bible as his reason.
There is a common thread between 'Christian A' and 'Christian B'.
For 'Christian A' his life had become routine and dry until he looked in his DVD library, pulled out a DVD (of which he had no idea how it got there) and watched it. The DVD was called "A Question of Origins" which presented a Biblical Creationist perspective on the origin of life. The content of the DVD was convincing and gave him a lively appreciation of his Lord's office as Creator. Suddenly, any doubts he might have had about the reliability of the Bible evaporated and he was refreshed with new life in Jesus Christ. This has been demonstrably noticeable among his family and friends.
For 'Christian B' his life upon 'accepting' Jesus Christ as Saviour seemed to him and all around him that of a Christian. However, there was an area where Jesus Christ was not Lord of his life. It was the question of Origins and the world's view on this subject which ruled this man's life. He could not accept the Genesis 1 and 2 account of Origins. Eventually, he came to realize he could not accept the Bible and it drove him away from Jesus Christ.
'Christian A' was a Christian all along. 'Christian B' is now either very badly backslidden or never was a Christian i.e. he only came close to Jesus Christ and then moved away.
There are many so-called Evangelicals today who persist in presenting only a crucified Saviour and the fruit of their labour are 'Christians' engaging in mental gymnastics trying to hold onto Jesus Christ and the world's view of Origins. They have not accepted Jesus Christ in all His offices because there has been no genuine requirement from many within the Church to do this. Some will go on but some will be choked out.
The late Ernest Reisinger, Pastor Emeritus, Grace Baptist Church, Cape Coral, Florida, knew something of the failure to preach the reception of all of Jesus Christ. In an article for Banner of Truth in July 1992 under the title "Lordship, Experience and Interpretation" he said:
"Many say, 'When I was young I accepted Christ as my personal Saviour and that experience had some influence on my life for a time, but I did not really live an active Christian life for years. Later I was taught that Christ must be my Lord and that the problem with my defeated life was because I had not submitted to Christ as my Lord when I trusted him as my Saviour. So I did just that - submitted to Christ as my Lord. Since that experience I have been living the Christian life on a different plane.'"
Later, Reisinger said:
"We all know Christians who give every evidence of being born again, yet they know nothing about the theological term 'regeneration'. Their experience is better than their understanding. John says in his little epistle, 'He that has the Son has life.' When we have Christ we have him in all of his offices - all of his person and all of his saving work - though one may not ever fully understand it."
Reisinger acknowledges that we need to be careful that there will be those who have bowed to the Lordship of Christ but don't actually understand they have. However, he also asserts there are those who have no cause to believe they are Christian at all. He goes on to say:
"I am sorry that the phrase, 'trust Christ as your personal Saviour', has crept into the Christian church in the last hundred years and has become common in present-day evangelism. It did not come from the New Testament, the apostles, the respected Church Fathers or the Reformers. It is not found in the Westminster standards or in the old Baptist Confessions. You will not find it among the great preachers of the past - men such as Bunyan, Spurgeon, Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, etc."
Sadly, the Episcopalian (Anglican) Diocese of Sydney is rife with a deficient presentation of Jesus Christ. Both 'Christian A' and 'Christian B' were communicants of the Diocese and the Diocese has not handled either communicant well. The new vitality of 'Christian A' is being stifled because of a fear of Biblical Creationists while 'Christian B' is just a memory of confusion and disappointment without solution.
So-called Evangelicals within the Diocese should remember that those who receive Jesus Christ are to receive Him in all His glory as Lord, Creator, Prophet, Priest and Saviour.
Sam Drucker
'Christian A' - had believed he had been saved in Jesus Christ but his walk with the Lord had been dry and lacking conviction. It was as if he was just going through the motions of Christian life - church going, prayer, Bible reading, church activities and trying to live as a Christian would. One day, after many years, and now a senior citizen 'Christian A' came 'alive' and was fully appreciative and energized in his Christian life.
'Christian B' - had believed he had been saved in Jesus Christ and was active in all Christian interests and church life. One day he gave Christianity away, citing difficulty in accepting two chapters of the Bible as his reason.
There is a common thread between 'Christian A' and 'Christian B'.
For 'Christian A' his life had become routine and dry until he looked in his DVD library, pulled out a DVD (of which he had no idea how it got there) and watched it. The DVD was called "A Question of Origins" which presented a Biblical Creationist perspective on the origin of life. The content of the DVD was convincing and gave him a lively appreciation of his Lord's office as Creator. Suddenly, any doubts he might have had about the reliability of the Bible evaporated and he was refreshed with new life in Jesus Christ. This has been demonstrably noticeable among his family and friends.
For 'Christian B' his life upon 'accepting' Jesus Christ as Saviour seemed to him and all around him that of a Christian. However, there was an area where Jesus Christ was not Lord of his life. It was the question of Origins and the world's view on this subject which ruled this man's life. He could not accept the Genesis 1 and 2 account of Origins. Eventually, he came to realize he could not accept the Bible and it drove him away from Jesus Christ.
'Christian A' was a Christian all along. 'Christian B' is now either very badly backslidden or never was a Christian i.e. he only came close to Jesus Christ and then moved away.
There are many so-called Evangelicals today who persist in presenting only a crucified Saviour and the fruit of their labour are 'Christians' engaging in mental gymnastics trying to hold onto Jesus Christ and the world's view of Origins. They have not accepted Jesus Christ in all His offices because there has been no genuine requirement from many within the Church to do this. Some will go on but some will be choked out.
The late Ernest Reisinger, Pastor Emeritus, Grace Baptist Church, Cape Coral, Florida, knew something of the failure to preach the reception of all of Jesus Christ. In an article for Banner of Truth in July 1992 under the title "Lordship, Experience and Interpretation" he said:
"Many say, 'When I was young I accepted Christ as my personal Saviour and that experience had some influence on my life for a time, but I did not really live an active Christian life for years. Later I was taught that Christ must be my Lord and that the problem with my defeated life was because I had not submitted to Christ as my Lord when I trusted him as my Saviour. So I did just that - submitted to Christ as my Lord. Since that experience I have been living the Christian life on a different plane.'"
Later, Reisinger said:
"We all know Christians who give every evidence of being born again, yet they know nothing about the theological term 'regeneration'. Their experience is better than their understanding. John says in his little epistle, 'He that has the Son has life.' When we have Christ we have him in all of his offices - all of his person and all of his saving work - though one may not ever fully understand it."
Reisinger acknowledges that we need to be careful that there will be those who have bowed to the Lordship of Christ but don't actually understand they have. However, he also asserts there are those who have no cause to believe they are Christian at all. He goes on to say:
"I am sorry that the phrase, 'trust Christ as your personal Saviour', has crept into the Christian church in the last hundred years and has become common in present-day evangelism. It did not come from the New Testament, the apostles, the respected Church Fathers or the Reformers. It is not found in the Westminster standards or in the old Baptist Confessions. You will not find it among the great preachers of the past - men such as Bunyan, Spurgeon, Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, etc."
Sadly, the Episcopalian (Anglican) Diocese of Sydney is rife with a deficient presentation of Jesus Christ. Both 'Christian A' and 'Christian B' were communicants of the Diocese and the Diocese has not handled either communicant well. The new vitality of 'Christian A' is being stifled because of a fear of Biblical Creationists while 'Christian B' is just a memory of confusion and disappointment without solution.
So-called Evangelicals within the Diocese should remember that those who receive Jesus Christ are to receive Him in all His glory as Lord, Creator, Prophet, Priest and Saviour.
Sam Drucker
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