Another addition to the ‘Chalmers Audio Library.’ A fascinating defense of religious establishments, arguing for them on the ground that they serve as a great, national Home Mission. In my opinion, he counters some of the standard objections well.
Archive for September, 2019
“On Religious Establishments”
Posted in Chalmers Audio Library, Establishments, The Romance of Locality, The Sacred Ministry, Thomas Chalmers, Two Kingdoms Theology, Uncategorized on September 30, 2019| Leave a Comment »
A plea for the parish
Posted in Establishments, Parish Theory & Practice, Parochial Strategy, The Romance of Locality, Thomas Chalmers, Visitation Evangelism on September 18, 2019| Leave a Comment »
“A territorial division of the country into parishes, each of which is assigned to at least one minister as the distinct and definite field of his spiritual cultivation— this we have long thought does for Christianity, what is often done in agriculture by a system of irrigation. You are aware what is meant by this. Its use is for the conveyance and the distribution of water, that indispensable aliment to all vegetation, over the surface of the land. It is thus for example, that, by the establishment of ducts of conveyance, the waters of the Nile are made to overspread the farms of Egypt—the country through which it passes. This irrigation, you will observe, does’ not supply the water. It only conveys it. It does not bring down the liquid nourishment from heaven. It only spreads it abroad upon the earth. Were there no descent of water from above causing the river to overflow its banks—there is nothing in the irrigation, with its then dry and deserted furrows, which could avail the earth that is below. On the other hand were there no irrigation, many would be the tracts of country, that should have no agriculture and could bring no produce. Let not therefore our dependence on the Spirit lead us to despise the machinery of a territorial establishment; and neither let our confidence in machinery lead us to neglect prayer for the descent of living water from on high.”
-Thomas Chalmers, “On the Analogies Which Obtain Between a Natural and a Spiritual Husbandry”
Puritan catechesis
Posted in Care for the Youth, Catechesis, Diets of Catechizing, Evangelistic Catechesis, Experimental Religion & the Cure of Souls, Ordinary Means Ministry, Puritans & Puritanism on September 13, 2019| 1 Comment »
The second installment of my recording of Doolittle’s treatise on catechizing. With each page, I am more and more convinced that this is truly a masterpiece of pastoral and pedagogical wisdom. In this most recent installment, I’m stuck once again with how truly evangelistic catechesis should be. Hardly a clinical exercise! And he pleads with ignorant adults to come under the yoke as well.
RPM: Latin firstfruits?
Posted in Parish in American Context, Parish Theory & Practice, Reformed Parish Mission (RPM) Posts, Uncategorized on September 3, 2019| Leave a Comment »
“I will come by you into Spain.” (Rom. 15:28)
Ever since I turned my sights to South Providence, there was no looking back. While conversions have been slow in coming (O come, Holy Spirit!), yet there has been a striking openness, especially among the Hispanic community there. I have been invited into the homes of many families and sweet, little old ladies, proclaiming the timeless truth of Jesus with my rather flawed, Gringo-Spanish. I have many an open door to read Scripture, expound, exhort, and pray. And of course, I’m keen to introduce the richness of the Reformed faith where there is quite a range of sub-par ‘Christianities.’
The struggle, of course, has been that our regular services have only been in English. With our slender resources, we’ve done various things to bridge the gap. We’ve had special midweek meetings with translation. And we’ve attempted on and off to have our services translated into Spanish. But because I can’t predict when someone will take up the offer to worship with us, it has really put a damper on that project.
Well, in recent weeks, things have changed. One Hispanic family – we’ll give them the surname here, “Ortega” – has started coming. Last Lord’s day was the second time in three weeks, and they seem rather interested. A brother in our church and I had met them doing door to door a couple of years back, and they were quite receptive. Finally, something clicked. They came to our uber-Presbyterian, psalm-singing, KJV-reading church … and they weren’t scared away. They seem to track with and appreciate the preaching. It is a young unmarried couple with a little boy and a grandmother. The couple is evidently unconverted, whatever their opinions of their state might be. The grandmother seems to be a devout Bible reader, judging from her very used copy.
The couple is bilingual, but the grandmother is not. So we’re working on some kind of translation of my sermons, which is not straightforward. If you are bilingual, Reformed, and willing to help from a distance, please drop us a note!
And please keep these folks in prayer. They could easily lose interest and drift away. I’m quite prepared for that, as I’ve seen in my day many promising starts fizzling out. Please pray ultimately for a regenerating baptism of the Spirit of God, clothing the Word with power.
We were also struck that a Liberian sister who joined our church from the outreach saw the young lady and realized that they were good friends from high school. Perhaps I shouldn’t read too much into that. But a coincidence? I think not.
West Port Experiment 