The Horror of Division

Last Monday, a lasting doctrinal dispute in the Christian Union of which I am a part of has finally resulted in the formation of the Reformed CU, which is under the supervision of the Limerick Reformed Fellowship, both of which I am a member of.

This division has been, and is continuing to be, exceedingly painful. I love those in the CU which I left very much, and it breaks my heart to have this division. This pain, of course, is aggravated by my own sinful wretchedness and the mistakes of the past, and the times I have sinfully hurt others in the CU.

Even more than this is my heart broken by the lack of knowledge of the God of Scripture in the Church. So many believers are in churches where they are not fed the truths of Scripture, but are instead given "that which is trodden down" and "that which is fouled"; they are fed by lies such as "God wants you to be healthy/wealthy" and "God loves you but you can still go to hell".

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, Hos 4:6

Most sadly, the glorious Gospel of God's sovereign elective grace is no longer proclaimed, if not outrightly denied; the love of God has become a weak love that throws most of its objects into hell; the sufficiency of God's Word is denied to the plain believer, who is told that he must seek extra-biblical revelations, speak in "tongues" (gibberish) to know he is saved and must follow the "leading of the Holy Spirit" by which is meant the fickle emotions of our sinful flesh.

My heart breaks. Out of love for God and love for my fellow believers, I have joined the Limerick Reformed Fellowship to be a witness to the truths of God's Word. For the same reason, I have joined the Reformed CU.

My prayer is that the Lord would bring about the true unity of the saints, that is, unity around Truth, as opposed to unity around compromise and falsehoods.

I sang Psalm 102 this morning, as a prayer for the restoration of Zion (the Church) and the deliverance of God's children from the lies of Satan.

 1  Lord, hear my pray'r, and let my cry
      Have speedy access unto thee;
2  In day of my calamity
      O hide not thou thy face from me.

   Hear when I call to thee; that day
      An answer speedily return:
3  My days, like smoke, consume away,
      And, as an hearth, my bones do burn.

4  My heart is wounded very sore,
      And withered, like grass doth fade:
   I am forgetful grown therefore
      To take and eat my daily bread.

5  By reason of my smart within,
      And voice of my most grievous groans,
   My flesh consumed is, my skin,
      All parched, doth cleave unto my bones.

6  The pelican of wilderness,
      The owl in desert, I do match;
7  And, sparrow-like, companionless,
      Upon the house's top, I watch.

8  I all day long am made a scorn,
      Reproached by my malicious foes:
   The madmen are against me sworn,
      The men against me that arose.

9  For I have ashes eaten up,
      To me as if they had been bread;
   And with my drink I in my cup
      Of bitter tears a mixture made.

10  Because thy wrath was not appeased,
      And dreadful indignation:
   Therefore it was that thou me raised,
      And thou again didst cast me down.

11  My days are like a shade alway,
      Which doth declining swiftly pass;
   And I am withered away,
      Much like unto the fading grass.

12  But thou, O Lord, shalt still endure,
      From change and all mutation free,
   And to all generations sure
      Shall thy remembrance ever be.

13  Thou shalt arise, and mercy yet
      Thou to mount Zion shalt extend:
   Her time for favor which was set,
      Behold, is now come to an end.

14  Thy saints take pleasure in her stones,
      Her very dust to them is dear.
15  All heathen lands and kingly thrones
      On earth thy glorious name shall fear.

16  God in his glory shall appear,
      When Zion he builds and repairs.
17  He shall regard and lend his ear
      Unto the needy's humble pray'rs:

   Th' afflicted's pray'r he will not scorn.
18      All times this shall be on record:
   And generations yet unborn
      Shall praise and magnify the Lord.

19  He from his holy place looked down,
      The earth he viewed from heav'n on high;
20  To hear the pris'ner's mourning groan,
      And free them that are doomed to die;

21  That Zion, and Jerus'lem too,
      His name and praise may well record,
22  When people and the kingdoms do
      Assemble all to praise the Lord.

23  My strength he weakened in the way,
      My days of life he shortened.
24  My God, O take me not away
      In mid-time of my days, I said:

   Thy years throughout all ages last.
25      Of old thou hast established
   The earth's foundation firm and fast:
      Thy mighty hands the heav'ns have made.

26  They perish shall, as garments do,
      But thou shalt evermore endure;
   As vestures, thou shalt change them so;
      And they shall all be changed sure:

27  But from all changes thou art free;
      Thy endless years do last for aye.
28  Thy servants, and their seed who be,
      Established shall before thee stay.

A Lecture on "The Indispensable Place of Music in (the) Reformation"

Last Thursday (8th of January) a few of us went to a public lecture by the denomination whose church plant we are a part of. The lecture was entitled "Music's Indispensable Place in (the) Reformation" and was given by Prof. Barrett Gritters from the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary.

It was an excellent lecture, showing the high importance (indispensable!) of music in the church.

(Click here to read Prof. Gritter's article on Music on which the speech was based and here to listen to the recording of the lecture.)

The music that God requires from and in the local church is the congregational singing of the (only) songs that God Himself has given to His Church, the Psalms.

It is to be congregational because the members of the church are instructed to sing to one another in the churches (Eph 5:19 and Col 3:16), because in the church of the new dispensation all believers are prophets, priests and kings. This was an essential part of the Reformation, since the Romish Church had not only stopped congregational singing (and replaced it with choirs), but sung only in Latin, which the common people could not understand. It is sad to see that modern "worship" is simply a move back to Rome and its idolatrous worship - in modern "worship", the singing is done by a band, with the congregation merely accompanying, if they can be heard at all. Never mind the charismatic babblings which cannot be understood by the congregation (even though 1Co 14:9,11,27-28 forbids even the speaking of real foreign tongues/languages in the church without interpretation).

One of the main purposes of music in the church, which is often forgotten, is that the saints mutually "teach and admonish" (Col 3:16) one another. How is this done? A very superficial and random look at one verse in the Psalms will answer this clearly: "Give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, because his mercy endureth forever" (Ps 118:1). In this verse, the saints (a) exhort each other to "give thanks unto the Lord", (b) teach that the reason for praising God is "for he is good" and (c) teach that God is good to us in that "his mercy endureth forever". For this reason, it is also highly important to pay attention to the words in being sung in church - to not pay attention is the same as not paying attention when you are having a conversation with a friend but to day-dream at the same time; highly insulting!

Also, in singing the Psalms we sing the doctrines of the Bible, since the Psalms contain nearly all doctrines of Scripture. This means that in congregational singing of Psalms we (a) teach one another these doctrines, (b) proclaim the Gospel and (c) confess our faith. For example, through their singing we teach one another original sin (51:5), that God created all things (19), justification by faith alone (32), total depravity (53), God's hatred of the reprobate (5:5, 11:5), God's unfailing love for His children (138:8), and on and on and on (read any random Psalm and you will be astonished at how many doctrines it contains). Christ and the Apostles frequently quoted the Psalms to prove certain doctrines (e.g. Rom 3). The book of Psalms, along with Isaiah, is the most frequently quoted OT book in the NT.

Furthermore, congregational Psalm-singing is a form of public congregational prayer, in which the church entreats God for His mercies.

A point was made about the power of music, to which most people today can attest from experience. We are emotional creatures, and our emotions can be strongly influenced by music. This influence can be used correctly if it leads to true worship of God. Therefore, the music should (a) consist of doctrinally-correct lyrics (the Psalms), and (b) be of high quality. The interesting example of John Calvin was given, who organised for the children to be taught good singing in the schools so that they could then lead by example on Sunday morning and teach the parents to sing well and in tune. Also, (c) the tunes accompanying the church's singing should not be the tunes of the world, since singing these tunes will only bring their fleshly and lustful connotations into the heart of the worshipper.

We were warned of the abuses of music, for Satan always attempts to turn everything to his evil uses. Modern pop music uses the vehicle of music to indoctrinate especially children and teenagers with the goodness of illicit sex, drugs, lying, and all other sorts of filth. And more particularly, in the Church it is a well-documented historical fact that, once songs other than Psalms were being sung, these new songs eventually became sources of heretical teachings, most particularly, Arminianism and charismaticism/emotionalism. It is of course horrific that many "evangelistic" events consists mainly of emotional manipulation through which the unconverted are "encouraged" to "give their lives to Christ", this Christ being the false Christ of Arminianism. One might as well enter into a Mosque, listen to emotional music, and then be asked to "trust Allah", with the same result.

What a glorious privilege we have to sing the songs of God with His people! And what a glorious hope we have, that one day we shall join the heavenly choir of the ascended and triumphant Church to worship for eternity at His throne for eternity!

The work of Christ on the cross

Recently someone asked my whether the new church I attend, Limerick Reformed Fellowship, holds the cross of Christ as central. I wrote this to try explain why my conscience does not permit me to become a member in a church that teaches the Free Will of man and Universal Atonement (that Christ shed His precious blood for every person). I pray you will give me a hearing.

I've been thinking about your question regarding the centrality of the cross and I wanted to try quickly explain to you why the doctrines of grace are so important and why I love the work of Christ on the cross and why it is the center of my life. Nearly every Protestant denomination claims to be biblically faithful and cross-centred. Many known heretics claim this, such as Joyce Meyer and Benni Hinn. The question is, are they telling the truth or are they paying lip-service? I don't have time to go into all the crazy things these people teach (e.g. Jesus paid for sin not on the cross but in hell when the demons were torturing him). What I mean is just because someone says "I'm Christ-centred and all about God's glory" doesn't mean it's true.

The doctrines of grace are extremely important to the work of Christ on the cross. Let me explain by way of comparing what the doctrines of grace teach about Christ's work on the cross to what "Free-willism" teach about it (those who believe in Free Will would vehemently deny some of the below because they know those things are false, but yet they are the clear implications of Free Will):

• Free-willism: Jesus shed His blood for every single human, most of whom go to hell. As a result, Jesus' blood does not actually save anyone! (if 20 people cheat for an exam, but only 10 people pass the exam, then clearly cheating itself does not cause someone to pass, but something else, e.g. intelligence)
  Doctrines of Grace: Not a single drop of the blood of Christ is wasted. Not one person for whom Christ died will go to hell. As a result, Jesus' blood actually and fully saves those to whom it is applied. (Mat 1:21, John 10:15,27-30, John 6:39, 1Pe 1:5, etc etc)
  
• Free-willism: God the Father counts the blood of Jesus as worthless by sending millions of people to hell for whom Christ died and pouring out His wrath upon some of those for whom His Son shed His blood.
  Doctrines of Grace: God the Father values the blood of His Son so highly that not one for whom Christ shed His blood will experience even the smallest drop of His wrath. (Rom 8:1,17,28-39, 1Jo 4:18, John 17:2-3 etc etc)
  
• Free-willism: Since Christ did exactly the same for every single person, what is the difference between those who go to hell and those who are saved? It certainly is not Christ or the cross. It is their own choice. Therefore, they cannot truthfully say "I am what I am by the grace of God", 1Co 15:10, but should, to be true to their belief regarding Christ's work, say "I am what I am by the grace of God and by my own choice". Note, that most Free-willists (except Roman Catholics) would vehemently deny this and would say they are what they are by the grace of God alone, but they do so in spite of their belief regarding the (uneffective) work of Christ on the cross.
  Doctrines of Grace: The only difference between a hell-bound sinner and a heaven-bound sinner is grace: Even though I am just as wicked as all others, I am saved by the sovereign choice of the Father who sent His Son to die on the cross for me. What is the difference between those who are saved and those who are not? Christ died for those who are saved. Therefore, I can fully and with all my heart, in accordance with what I believe regarding Christ's work, say "I am what I am by the grace of God". See also 1Co 4:7.
  
• Free-willism: By the same reasoning as the previous point, Free Willists cannot truthfully say "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ", Gal 6:14. Instead, they must admit that although they should only boast in the cross, they also have grounds for boasting in their own decision/faith. Note, that Free Willists would vehemently deny this and would say they glory only in the cross, but they do so in spite of their belief regarding Free Will.
  Doctrines of Grace: In full accordance with my belief regarding the work of Christ on the cross I can, from the bottom of my heart, say "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" because the cross is the only thing that makes me, a sinner, different from those who perish justly for their sins. Jesus says "not that you chose me, but I chose you", John 15:16.
  
• Free-willism: God is unjust because He punishes some sins twice: First, by pouring out His wrath toward those who go to hell on Christ, then by pouring out His wrath again on those people themselves (by sending them to hell).
  Doctrines of Grace: God is perfectly just because He punishes all sins once: His wrath toward the sins of the elect is poured out on Christ, His wrath toward the non-elect ("reprobate") is poured out on them. (Rom 3:21-26)
  

In summary, the Christ of Free-willism only makes salvation possible; their Jesus does not actually save anyone. Christ is unable to save because it is up to the Sinner whether the Sinner allows Christ to be effective. Free Will churches teach that salvation is by grace plus the choice of man, by Christ's work plus man's work of faith (this faith being a work of the unregenerate man), to God's glory and the glory of the person who made the right choice.The Christ of the Bible fully and actually saves those for whom He died. His blood makes full atonement for those it was shed. Christ is everything. It is Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone (this faith being a gift of God, Eph 2:8), to the glory of God alone. This is the teaching of Limerick Reformed Fellowship.
From my experience, Limerick Reformed Fellowship is the only church in Limerick that teaches the Christ of the Bible. That is the main reason I wish to be a member there. I really hope this makes sense and shows clearly that the Doctrines of Grace are not a nice add-on but are, in fact, the Gospel. The Doctrines of Grace are all about the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Retractions

It's been a long, long time since I last blogged here. One reason has been that I am now quite ashamed of what I had previously written, especially the post entitled "A great Tragedy". I think I will leave it here as a reminder that once I was deceived by the social action fad that is sweeping the evangelical world.

When I get a chance I will post a small biblical explanation of why I no longer support the previous post. Suffice for now to say that I was more concerned for people's physical/worldly needs than for their spiritual need (Jesus Christ) - although I would have vehemntly denied this!

Though I guess I better place a disclaimer here since people seem to always misunderstand this: I still think what I described in that post is horrible, wicked and hated by God, and as we have opportunity we should fight against it.

"Fix your eyes on things above, not on things below."

A great Tragedy

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Worshipping God in the darkness of a student pub

Last night, Monday 26^th March, after our regular Christian Union meeting (which reached a record length of 2.5 hours), Sam asked me did I want to perform a Christian song in the Stables, the on-campus student pub, which is right beside where the CU is held. The Stables had an open mic night, so this was the perfect opportunity.

Of course, I being a man of little faith, spend two minutes trying to think of excuses not to do it – I was very tired, my voice was slightly gone, and there probably wouldn't be any slots for me to sing in any way. Praise God, I somehow realised that I was just trying to think of excuses, so I eventually said, "ok, let's go".

So we basically headed over to the Stables, where about 10 others from the CU joined us. Just to set the scene, there were over 100 students in the pub, all of them drinking and “having a laugh”. Eventually, after a half hour wait, I got on stage, my friends from CU formed a small crowd in front of the stage, I plugged in my guitar, and sang Chris Tomlin's Enough to all the students in the pub. Then we did Marvelous Light by Charlie Hall, finishing with Matt Redman's Blessed be Your Name.

In the midst of the darkness of a student pub, God's people gathered to worship and praise our mighty Father with song. I am convinced nothing like this has ever happened at University of Limerick. There is an open mic night every Monday night, so God-willing, we will continue worshiping in the Stables every Monday night. We have faith that by the power of God, our worship will draw students to the life and forgiveness of sin that can only be found in Christ Jesus our Lord.

May this inspire you to think big, to have dreams, and to truly believe that God can do the impossible. Five weeks ago, we began talking to people about Jesus in the Stables, this Monday we sang worship songs with a PA system to over 100 students socialising in a pub. God is waiting for people to step up and humbly say, "Lord, here I am. I will do whatever you ask, no matter how impossible it may seem. Send me." With those people, He will change the world and draw men unto Him.

All of You is more than enough for all of me
For every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough

You are my supply
My breath of life
And still more awesome than I know
You are my reward
worth living for
And still more awesome than I know

All of You is more than enough for all of me
For every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough

You’re my sacrifice
Of greatest price
And still more awesome than I know
You’re the coming King
You are everything
And still more awesome than I know

More than all I want
More than all I need
You are more than enough for me
More than all I know
More than all I can say
You are more than enough for me

Does He Exist?

This is a poem a good friend of mine at college wrote. Up until five months ago, she was a stout atheist. Then God began calling to her, and after three months of searching, she wrote this:

He has no alpha
He has no omega
So you say ‘No’
But
No alpha
And no omega
Mean Yes!!!
Mean absolute
Mean infinite
Mean eternal

I know my logic is flawed
Sure I’m only a child
But My Lord loves me
And I know He is there

My logic:
We only know it is dark
because the light is gone
Our bones know the chill of cold
because they miss the heat
Do you see where I’m going with this?
Let me explain, the best that I can.

We wouldn’t know despair
unless our deepest soul knew peace beyond peace
We couldn’t fear
unless our spirit knew hope beyond hope
Pain wouldn’t hurt so much
if our inner heart didn’t secretly know,
secretly hold, secretly feel love beyond love

Our deepest soul
Our spirit
Our inner heart
All know He is there

I know my logic ain’t perfect
It’s nowhere near perfect
But it is one outlook
I don’t know if it’s right
I don’t know if it’s wrong
But I know the conclusion
And I know the conclusion
Is real,
Is true,
Is beyond doubt
I know He is there
I know He loves me, imperfect me.

I know that He holds
Peace beyond peace for me, for us
I know that He keeps
Hope beyond hope for me, for us
I know that He has
Love beyond love for me, for us

He is there
He is here
He is everywhere
And He is good
He is forgiving
He is merciful
He does exist

But
You cannot blame Him
for disasters, for evil,
Anymore than your cells
can blame you for illness, for disease
because just as each of your cells
affect your health
Each act by each person
affects the world

Peace, Hope and Love
He has them for each of us
Some say ‘All He asks is that you believe’
Response: ‘Sure,
lets see you jump off an
unimaginably high cliff
with no safety net’
More of my logic:
True belief comes with time, take small steps but remember
You’ve gotta take a risk, you gotta jump at some point
Yeah, it’s scary, it’s petrifying
But you gotta remember and this is beyond important,
Believing in Him
Following Him
Is worth it.

He does exist
He is powerful
And He loves you!!!

by Tracy Slevin - 6th March '07