The Journey of a New Monastic Community

In the 1930s, German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer anticipated the restoration of the church after the coming second world war through a new kind of monasticism, a way of life of uncompromising adherence to the Sermon on the Mount in imitation of Christ. Since then, the renewal of Christian monasticism has become a great spiritual movement. Imbued with a love for God and neighbor, and with a healthy self-love, people are going to monasteries to deepen their relationship with God, to pray, and to find peace. While some monastic institutions are suffering a decline in traditional vocations, many Christians are exploring monastic lifestyles. This book introduces The Community of the Transfiguration in Australia, the story of a new monastic community and an inspiring source of hope for the world at another time of spiritual, social, and ecological crisis. Third in the series that includes School(s) for Conversion and Inhabiting the Church. Paperback, 186 pages

March 25, 2008

The New Conspirators

March 25, 2008

by Tom Sine, Mustard Seed Associates

In the UK, more churches were planted in the last seven years than Starbucks were opened—over 1,000 churches as compared to only 750 Starbucks coffee shops. Interestingly, most of these church plants were ethnic and multi-cultural.

God is doing something new through a new generation, as I report in The New Conspirators: Creating the Future One Mustard Seed at a Time, which will be published by IVP in 2008. I believe God is working through at least four streams: the emerging church, missional churches, mosaic church plants and the monastic movement. We have received very positive responses to the two most recent Seed Samplers the emerging and missional streams. This issue will attempt to describe what God is doing through those in the mosaic stream, which I define as multi-cultural church plants. While the emerging and missional leadership is overwhelmingly male and white, in this stream, God is doing something new through leaders from a number of different cultures.

In this issue, we have included some voices that are calling us to deal with issues that could enable the church to be more inclusive in terms of race and gender. David Park, of Next Gener.Asian Church, brings a very clear word about his concern with racial division in the church. Julie Clawson who administers the Emerging Women blog raises important questions about gender inclusion in the church, particularly within the new streams.

As I confessed in my book, as an aging author, I may not fully grasp all that God is doing through the young and the risk-taking. As a white author who has always been a part of a culture of privilege, I am certainly not the best one to write about the mosaic or multicultural stream. Eliacín Rosario-Cruz, who is a member of our MSA team and originally from Puerto Rico, holds our feet to the fire on issues of race, power and privilege.

It is past time for those of us who are white to wake up to the reality that we are living in a new majority world. By 2060, the United States will become the first non-European Western nation—a nation of Latinos, African-Americans and Asians. Those of us from European roots will just be another group. All of our churches need to help prepare to not only live in this future but receive and celebrate the gifts from other cultures as well.

In other words, the days of people with European roots running the world and the church are rapidly slipping away. While the churches in Western countries are overwhelmingly in decline, many churches in Africa, Asia and Latin America are growing at an explosive rate. Many of these churches are involved in reverse missions—planting churches in the United States, Canada and Britain. The leadership of the church will also increasingly shift to the majority world.

Clarkston Bible Church in Clarkston, Georgia, has already awakened to the new reality. Older white southern women in their Sunday finery find themselves worshiping with immigrants from the Philippines, Togo, refugees form war-torn Liberia, Ethiopia, Sudan and Afghanistan. Slowly, more and more churches are becoming much more like our richly multi-cultural world. But not only traditional churches are beginning to wake to this new reality. Young innovators are as well. Increasingly, multi-cultural leaders are beginning to come to the fore.

Efrem Smith and Phil Jackson’s book The Hip Hop Church and Tommy Kyllonen’s Un.orthodox offer compelling evidence that God is doing something new through young people from a spectrum of diverse cultures. Acknowledging some of the difficult issues associated with hip-hop culture, for example, sex, violence and materialism, both books recognize hip-hop as not just an expression of urban African-American culture, but the language of a new generation all over the planet, connecting young people in Britain, Germany and Japan.

Though most in the mosaic stream have never heard the word “postmodernity,” the urban youth of hip hop culture share a suspicion of modernity, authority and pat answers with the young leaders of the emerging church. Efrem Smith tells me that urban hip-hop culture isn’t just postmodern, but also post-institutional, post-soul and post-civil rights too.

Urban African-American young people are hungry for a spirituality to which they can relate. There are reportedly some 20 hip hop churches in United States and more are coming. Hip-hop churches are only one expression of what God is doing through a growing number of multicultural churches.

Kyllonen reminds us that the times are changing: “The emerging church is also the young black male in the hood. It is the second-generation Mexican in LA and the child of the Chinese immigrant in Houston. The emerging church is the Puerto Rican female on Wall Street.”

A number of second-generation Asian churches in Canada and the United States have chosen to become multicultural congregations. Some multicultural churches in California came together around inter-racial families that didn’t feel completely at home in mono-cultural churches.

There are even a few mono-cultural churches that are beginning to question whether that model is fully biblical. Kingston United Reformed Church in Britain, comprised of Korean, Russian, Nigerian, Chinese and English members, has worked very intentionally to become a multicultural congregation. Pastor Leslie Charlton believes diversity is essential to being church. “You cannot call yourself a church if you are all the same.” She added, “It may be a nice group, but a church, like the kingdom of God, must have room for everybody.”

In Doug Lee’s church plant, called Catalyst in Culver City, California, the multiethnic congregation enjoys the rich gifts of several different cultures. People from the South Pacific Islands bring a spirit of warmth, welcome and generosity. African American members teach others about being fully present to God and highly invested in worship. Latino members remind the congregation of the importance of family and hospitality. And Asian members bring service without the need for recognition. Doug Lee says his church family is richer because of diverse gifts people bring.

I experience something of the rich gifts of the tapestry of God’s new community at the annual conference of the Christian Community Development Association, started by John Perkins. They always have an urban choir in whatever city they are meeting that lifts our souls to the rafters. I also experience rich gifts at the Urbana Missions Conference because those who lead worship represent the many of the wonderful cultures of our world.

Mustard Seed Associates hosted an evening with community activist Rudy Carrasco called “The Color of Love in the City” to start a conversation about what love looks like between communities. After Rudy shared his stories, Eliacín Rosario-Cruz led a discussion on race and culture. To my surprise, people from a range of different racial backgrounds shared very openly about both their pain and their attempts to live faithfully in a multicultural society.

One of the most innovative congregations in the US in the area of ethnic diversity is a church in Southern California actually called Mosaic. It is located in Los Angeles, California, where people from all over the world settle. The church responds to the challenge of a multi-cultural, postmodern, pluralistic and global community. Like the emerging church, they give a major piece of their life and mission to the arts; their group Urban Poets includes artists, dramatists and social innovators.

Most of the pastors of these churches are not content to just create interesting programs to meet the needs of people within the building. Like missional leaders, these church planters are intent on involving their members in word and deed ministries that impact the lives of people in their communities. Eugene Cho created a multicultural church plant in Seattle called Quest. Quest has been devoted to local and global mission from its inception. Their coffee shop, the Q Café, serves as a place to engage their community and a performance space for local artists. They work with the homeless and offer computer education classes for kids struggling in school as well as being involved in global initiatives.

As you can see from this brief overview, multicultural churches—along with the increasing number of immigrant churches—are going to be part of the growing edge of the Church in Western countries. This new mosaic stream is quite diverse, but what they all seem to share in common, like emerging churches, is their desire to a reach out to new generation. Like the missional churches they also see their mission much more focused on the needs of those beyond their congregation. We all need to pay more attention to what God is doing through the mosaic stream and explore new forms of collaboration that enable the church to lead in celebrating the gifts that will be a part of our richly multicultural future.

It is amazing when I surf the internet and type the word heretic and find the following results for those individuals that are deemed - Heretics:

N.T. Wright
Billy Graham
John Piper
Dallas Willard
John MacArthur
Joel Osteen
John Calvin
Charles Spurgeon
Jerry Falwell
M.R. DeHaan
T.D. Jakes
D.A. Carson
J. Rodman Williams
G. Vos
J. Dwight Pentecost
C.S. Lewis
Josh McDowell
Karl Barth
Dwight D. Moody
John Wesley
Pope Benedictus XVI - Joseph Ratzinger
...and on and on and on and on.
Everyone is a Heretic in someone's eyes! I am one and you are one. We are all Heretics...also we are all saints in someone's eyes. So if you are ever called a heretic, you are in good company and if you are ever called a saint, you are in good company. But how does this witness to the world? Are we split on primary issues or secondary issues? Are they fundamental or relativistic? Are we better educated or more ignorant? Do we have more freedom or less authority? Is ignorance bliss or knowledge a nightmare? Has the church split like the language at the Tower of Babel? Our language confounded and the people scattered? Only Jesus can unify us - but who's Jesus?

Question:

I am wondering a little bit about the beliefs of Orthodox Presbyterians. I myself am a protestant Christian and go to a non-denominational Church so I am trying to find to what denomination I can call myself. Can you send me some info on your denomination's beliefs or of anything that you think might help me? I'd truly appreciate it.

Answer:

The answer to your first question, "... what denomination can I call myself?" if you "go to a non-denominational Church" would ordinarily be that you would be classified as "Independent." Of course that doesn't say too much as to where you stand among all the denominations and non-denominational (or independent) churches in the Christian world.

Many non-denominational churches include in their name the phrase "... Bible Church," indicating that they hold the Bible to be the inspired, infallible Word of God. That narrows the field somewhat. However, there are many varieties of Bible churches which are so distinct that it would be hard for them to live together due to their theological differences.

So, first of all, let me set forth several groups of churches and indicate their outstanding distinctives. And, for the most part, independent churches might find themselves at home in any one of these.

I'll start first with PRESBYTERIANS. "Presbyterian" means "governed by elders." (A minister is also considered to be an elder.) But their doctrine is "reformed," that is, they hold to Calvinism as a system of doctrine which they believe most correctly embraces all the Bible in a cohesive doctrinal system. English, American, Scottish, and some other Calvinists adopt the Westminster Confession of Faith and The Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the "Westminster Assembly of Divines," which met in London's Westminster Cathedral from 1642 to 1647. Doubtless, you have gathered some of this from visiting the OPC website.

Two characteristics of this system of doctrine are that God has chosen His elect from out of our fallen human race from all eternity and that those He chose he calls to Himself through the hearing of the gospel message. It is He who chose us, drew to Himself through the hearing (or reading) of the message of the cross.

This happens as a result of the Covenant of Redemption, in which God the Father covenanted with His Son that the Son would come into our fallen world as true God and man in one Person with two natures to accomplish the redemption of all who call on Him through faith, which faith God gives by His Spirit, apart from whom no one is able to believe, being dead in trespasses and sins. (See John 3:16; Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 2:1-10 and John 6:44.)

God's Covenant of Grace hass been in force throughout history, first, beginning with Genesis 3:15 throughout all ages till the death and resurrection of Christ, on the promise of a Savior to come, and second, from that time till the coming of Christ to judge the living and the dead at the end of this age, on the basis of a finished redemption.

We call this the Reformed Faith because of its rediscovery and proclamation beginning with the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century.

Returning to the rule of Christ over the church through elders (where "Presbyterian" comes in), we reject independency in church government. Our reason for that is that, since the death of the Apostles, there are no infallible prophets (since God's Word was completed during the apostolic era). Therefore, the Bible requires a plurality of elders to execute the rule of Christ through His Word and Spirit. And the New Testament Church instituted this rule of elders (also called bishops or overseers) for all the distinct congregations in the New Testament era. The Epistles of Paul are evidence of that.

And Acts 15:1-35 give us the Presbyterian model for settling disputes in the churches. That is why, historically, Presbyterians reject independency, although there are some independent, Calvinistic churches who hold to the Calvinistic doctrines, yet admit no organic connection to other congregations of like faith and practice. They may govern by elders, but only on the local level.

I've said much about Presbyterianism in particular, because I speak as a minister of the "Orthodox Presbyterian Church." "Orthodox" is derived from the Greek, meaning "Straight teaching." That is an emphasis of our denomination.

There are many Presbyterian denominations throughout the world, and especially in the USA. We are distinct from many others - especially the older "main-line" Presbyterian denominations -- because we believe they have gone beyond Scripture in what they teach and allow. Other denominations have lesser differences from the OPC, and with them we maintain "sister"-denominational relations. So much for the discussion of Presbyterians.

There is also the LUTHERAN tradition, coming from Martin Luther and those who influenced Lutheranism after his death. Their basic differences are differences in government (they were originally state-established churches (in Germany and the Scandinavian countries). To a considerable extent they hold to regeneration (the new birth) by baptism, which Reformed churches reject. They also hold that Christ is physically present in the Lord's Supper. And they tend to be Arminian in their doctrines of salvation (although that was not true of Martin Luther himself). That is, unlike Calvin, Arminians hold that all of fallen humanity since Adam are born with the ability to repent and believe the gospel. In such churches, saving the lost is a matter of human persuasion rather that divine calling.

There are several denominations of Lutherans in America. Some are more biblical than others. But they all share in the doctrinal distinctives mentioned.

Baptists, generally speaking (along with Congregationalists), are independent. That is, while they associate for fellowship and for missionary endeavors, they are not subject to one another, as are Presbyterians. And all decisions are made by congregational vote. Baptistic distinctives include their belief in baptism by immersion and "confessing" baptism. That is, baptism is their "confession of faith in Christ."

Some Baptists have adopted Calvinistic doctrine as to salvation. Many of these consider themselves to be "Reformed Baptists" (even though they do not follow the Protestant Reformers in their view on baptism). But by far the larger number of Baptist churches adopt Arminianism in their view of salvation and evangelism.

Just a word about EPISOPALIANISM: Episcopalians derive from the Church of England. The church is governed by bishops (an office which in their view is distinct from elders). They are Hierarchical - that is, authority passes from Christ to Archbishops to the people, similar to Roman Catholicism.

As to doctrine, Episcopalian churches were basically Calvinistic in creed. They vary from "High Church" to "Low Church" as to the sacraments (high-church Episcopalians or Anglicans are called "Anglo-Catholics").

I could speak about "DISPENSATIONALISM," which was enshrined in the original "Schofield Bible." This theology found a home in Presbyterian, Baptist, and Independent denominations during the early and middle of the 20th Century. They are still with us today.

Dispensationalists hold to blood-atonement and are generally Arminian, though some are 4- or 5-point Calvinists. Their primary distinctive is the belief that God administered His work of salvation on different principles in different ages (or "dispensations").

Their main antithesis (at least in the older dispensationalism found in the old Scofield Bible) is between Law and Grace. The Mosaic period was (in some sense) under Law, while, since Pentecost, the church is under Grace.

In eschatology (doctrine of last things), Dispensationalists are "pre-tribulational premillennialists" (which is different form historic premillennialism). According to this view (popularized in the "Left Behind" books), when Christ comes at the "Rapture," the saved will be secretly taken to heaven before the unveiling of the Antichrist. Then follows the "Great Tribulation," followed in turn by the Millennium, and after that the "falling away" (Rev. 20:1-3). Then will occur the "Great White Throne Judgment" and the beginning of the eternal state. The OPC does not hold to this view of future events.

I have run too long already. If you have questions on this latter subject, please feel free to return with more questions.

I close with an explanation of the confusion of the churches since the Protestant Reformation. This is a sinful world. and Christians still have the remnants of sin in them after conversion to Christ. That's the meaning of 1 Corinthians 13:12-13. And Satan, though cast out of heaven, is very busy confusing the Lord's people. We in the OPC don't say that only "Reformed" believers are saved. In all of the denominational groups mentioned above God has His true people. It is not for us to separate the sheep from the goats. Christ Jesus will do that on Judgment Day.

So we recognize our oneness with all the redeemed host, knowing that, when Jesus comes, we shall "know as we are known." The problem is not with unclarity in the Word of God, but is US! But must we give up and sail to heaven as kindergarten students of God's Word? Divine enlightenment comes, in God's measure, to those who study and absorb the blessed Book. By God's grace alone, the OPC has sought to stick to the Bible in all our controversies. We welcome ALL who are hungry for growth in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The answers come from individual ministers in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church expressing their own convictions and do not necessarily represent an "official" position of the Church, especially in areas where the Standards of the Church (the Scriptures and the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms) are silent.
Copyright © 2008, The Orthodox Presbyterian Church. All Rights Reserved.

The Pain of Betrayal
By Kevin Miller
January 21, 2002

If there were a binding contract to sign before entering ministry, the fine print would include: "The undersigned acknowledges that the pastoral ministry may be hazardous and subject the undersigned to expressions of animosity, including but not limited to calumny, slander, misrepresentation, and betrayal."

Being betrayed is so profoundly painful few pastors can talk about it—yet if they do open up, they can't stop talking about what happened to them.

Let's admit what most seminary classes and church-leadership seminars skip over: being betrayed is fairly common for godly leaders. I just made a mental list of 12 pastors and Christian leaders I know who have experienced serious and significant betrayal.

David had his Absalom. Paul had his Demas, who deserted him, and Alexander the coppersmith, who "has done me much harm." Jesus had Iscariot.

We now know all about Judas, so the story may hold little drama for us. We forget that Jesus chose Judas after praying all night. They spent every day together for three years, talking, eating together, laughing. Jesus sent him out in ministry. Judas shared in the miracle of feeding 5,000 people; his hands took the small, round barley loaves from Jesus and tore off chunks of bread for hungry people.

What makes each case of betrayal so painful is that someone who knows your heart—who knows your longings and character—turns from that and chooses to believe you are really dangerous.

The mind freezes as it tries to grasp how a friend, someone who knew you deeply, intimately, could turn on you and attack you. Michael Card brilliantly captures the agony in one song: "Only a friend can betray a friend, a stranger has nothing to gain / and only a friend comes close enough to ever cause so much pain."

The brevity of this column keeps me from telling of the man who went into a co-pastorate with his dearest friend—and then was pushed out by him. Or the gentle and caring associate pastor who dared to question the congregation's direction—and was publicly defamed. I have heard too many tales of secret meetings, "concerned" letters, and cover-ups for unwitting congregations.

Betrayal, I've noticed, calls good evil. It twists a person's true gift into something malign, a spiritual deficiency or psychological malady.

Betrayal causes leaders to not want to trust, to not want to be in church, to not be vulnerable, to not open their spirits in worship to God.

I too have tasted betrayal's bitterness, though less than many friends have. While recovering, I've found it doesn't help to ask, "How could Christians do this?" Nor does it help to contemplate betrayal's fallout: the ministry lost, the bad name for Christians in the community.

What has helped is to acknowledge honestly, "I've been betrayed." It's easy to spiritualize the situation ("God was calling me on") or to analyze it detachedly ("This person is troubled"), but healing begins with bearing the plain truth in God's presence.

Regaining spiritual vitality following betrayal, I've observed, may take longer than 18 months. But don't give up.

You may be tempted to flee from the church, to turn your back on your call. Don't give up. You are walking where great people have walked before. They are remembered as great because they did not allow the betrayal to stop them. Instead they learned how to turn their pain into greater usefulness for the Lord.

Judas's money-making treachery, when combined with Jesus' obedient submission to God, transformed the world.

—Kevin A. Miller is executive editor of BuildingChurchLeaders.com and a featured speaker at the National Pastors Convention next month. Check out NationalPastorsConvention.com for all the details and to request a free brochure. To reply, write Newsletter@LeadershipJournal.net.

THIS IS NOT GOOD...

* March 20, 2007: At a men's summit in Oregon before 2,000 men, Shelley Lubben of Shelley Lubben ministries challenged those who were struggling with porn addiction to stand. 30% rose to their feet. She immediately challenged them a second time, with the result that some 70% were standing.

* March, 2007: At a small Christian conference in Austria, 75% of the 25 men in attendance admitted to being involved with porn; 50% within the past 6 months.

* April 6, 2007: 70% of Christians admitted to struggling with porn in their daily lives. From a non-scientific poll taken by XXXChurch, as reported by CNN.

* August 7,2006: 50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women are addicted to pornography. 60% of the women who answered the survey admitted to having significant struggles with lust; 40% admitted to being involved in sexual sin in the past year; and 20% of the church-going female participants struggle with looking at pornography on an ongoing basis.
From the results of a ChristiaNet poll reported by Marketwire.com

* In December of 2000, the National Coalition to Protect Children and Families surveyed 5 Christian Campuses to see how the next generation of believers was doing with sexual purity:
48% of males admitted to current porn use
68% of males said they intentionally viewed a sexually explicit site at the school

 * Roger Charman of Focus on the Family's Pastoral Ministries reports that approximately 20 percent of the calls received on their Pastoral Care Line are for help with issues such as pornography and compulsive sexual behavior.

* A 1996 Promise Keepers survey at one of their stadium events revealed that over 50% of the men in attendance were involved with pornography within one week of attending the event. 

* In 2000 Christianity Today survey, 33% of clergy admitted to having visited a sexually explicit Web site. Of those who had visited a porn site, 53% had visited such sites “a few times” in the past year, and 18% visit sexually explicit sites between a couple of times a month and more than once a week.

 * Out of 81 pastors surveyed (74 males 7 female), 98% had been exposed to porn; 43% intentionally accessed a sexually explicit website
National Coalition survey of pastors.  Seattle.  April 2000.

* In his book, "Men's Secret Wars", Patrick Means reveals a confidential survey of evangelical pastors and church lay leaders. Sixty-four percent of these Christian leaders confirm that they are struggling with sexual addiction or sexual compulsion including, but not limited to use of pornography, compulsive masturbation, or other secret sexual activity.

* In his book "The Sexual Man", Dr. Archibald Hart revealed the results of a survey of some 600 Christian men, on the topic of masturbation:
61% of married Christian men masturbate
82% of these have self sex on an average of once a week; 10% have sex with self 5-10 times per month, 6% more than 15 times per month, and 1% more than 20 times a
month.
13% of Christian married men said they felt it was normal.

 * 34 percent of female readers of Today's Christian Woman's online newsletter admitted to intentionally accessing Internet porn in a recent poll.

 * In March of 2002 Rick Warren’s (author of the Purpose Driven life) Pastors.com website conducted a survey on porn use of 1351 pastors: 54% of the pastors had viewed Internet pornography within the last year, and 30% of these had visited within the last 30 days.

 * 47% percent of families said pornography is a problem in their home.
Focus on the Family Poll, October 1, 2003.

* In a survey of over 500 Christian men at a men's retreat, over 90% admitted that they were feeling disconnected from God because lust, porn, or fantasy had gained a foothold in their lives.
As reported in an article on Pastors.com by Kenny Luck.

In March 2005 Christianity Today published the results of a study called “Christians and Sex” in their Leadership Journal. 680 pastors and 1,972 laypersons were surveyed, with the following results:
* 44% of churchgoers want to hear more scriptural teaching from their pastors on the subject of sex.
* 22% of pastors feel they should spend more time on the topic.
* 85% of pastors say they speak about sexual issues once a year, while 63% of churchgoers say their pastors do so. Among those churchgoers who say they want their pastors to preach more about sexual issues, 47% say their pastor speaks about it once a year, an even bigger difference of opinion. A CTI analyst was quoted saying "Perhaps this desire for more biblical exposition on sexual issues exists because pastors are not speaking forcefully or clearly enough, while exposure to sexual images and messages in today's media is ever more heightened."
* 57% of pastors say that addiction to pornography is the most sexually damaging issue to their congregation.
* Almost 9 in 10 pastors reported counseling a layperson on sexual issues once a year or more.

       I had a hard time believing that half the men in the church would really be accessing porn, so early 2004 I asked the church where we attended at the time if they would be willing to take a survey. They agreed, and in the survey we asked the men "when was the last time you looked at pornography?" The church was made up mostly of young families, and the idea that many of the husbands and fathers I sat next to every Sunday were dabbling in porn... I couldn't comprehend it. Surely, I thought, the numbers would be lower. It can't be half, not in my church.
Of those who responded, here's what came back:
25% had viewed porn within the past month
44% within the past 6 months
61% within the past year

Pornography is corrupting the church and destroying our nation; without action the problem will only get worse.

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