Restoring the Center

I am noticing some repeating patterns…..

The family made it up to the mountains, read some good stuff, and am listening to Voddies talks from the convention again. Whoa! Voddie B just obliterates so many of the typical Christian responses that are used to justify living the Christian life, in a man centered fashion. That he uses the very same verses we hide behind is the corker.

What happens when the center doesn’t hold? Everything else will give up ground eventually. There will also be nothing to build upon, that’s the worst!

I have noticed that every speaker that stands with Gods law is able to use the rest of scripture in tangible fashions, applications, directions. They actually have teaching that can be called discipling. As compared to sharing, or reacting against something. This is discipling in a manner that is applicable to the nations. It becomes culture transforming, just like the impact the reformers had. The purpose of all, becomes to glorify God. So far I have seen this true for every teacher who accepts Gods Law. The teaching has an outward, instead of an inward bent.

For if you cannot see how the very Law of God applies to us, then how can you find much of anything else that is solid and applying to us. It gets really hard.

When Voddie says that pastors tell him not to talk about homeschooling, etc , because they follow a kind of pragmatic, live and let live, just love one another attitude in their churchs and teach that all “schooling choices” are viable. This is a screaming example of how the center is just plain gone. ( my wife recently related how a well known man, a famous author to those of us who have no use for dating, and is a pastor, was stressing this very policy to his church!) So they know they need, and now want world view teaching, but want Voddie to be silent about THE WAY that God wanted the world view to be imparted. We cannot see that our stinky, anemic, lack of biblical understanding is exactly because of how, we were educated.

Much of the modern church can see that something is wrong. Focus on the Family made a great effort with their Worldview Series, but it fell short as it stayed inside the context of modern evangelicalism, which means apart from Gods Law. We have been taught to expect it our way, as individuals. That becomes a corporate expectation, as a body of believers. You cannot give, free range chickens, purpose. They will never build, a city on a hill.

Wilson describes how you can have “someone with man centered doctrines, but still be an individual who tries to live a God centered life. “ I think these people are going to have hearts breaking for God, turning ever sharper inward, always examining their own hearts , but frustrated, because they cannot see how a lot of this energy was meant to translate out through our lives to everything around us, in how we think and act.

I for one just love it, and find it so fulfilling, to just have stopped walking in those circles, and now going in a direction! To see how there is no topic that Gods grace cannot be seen in and explored! Every thought captive!

Those who miss the Law can have a partial God centered theology but it will still end up with humanistic fruit. Because the default starting point for most of, everyday, you know , ”normal” life, will be a humanistic position. Errr I mean a neutral starting point, where there are common areas , that all men can rationally see, and accept. Ha! As opposed to “what sayeth the scriptures?” 8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. 9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV)

Gary Norths book, Westminster Confession shows how if you dismiss Gods law, the Christian faith turns into exhibit A of “when the center does not hold”. He doesn’t call it that, but it fits. He lays out just way , way , more levels of how much of the surety of the Word itself , just turns to mist.

The understanding that this center used to be known is forgotten, and the idea that it can be found and stood upon seems threatening and legalistic. It is Gary’s probing questions that he asks the university to answer that shows how deep the rot is. It was an eye opener to me, I had no clue at how much is really at stake and given up, with the “no Gods law” crowd. This whole argument was ignored by the Christian press in the 70’s and 80’s. It had to be ignored as it cut right against the grain of modern accepted Christian thinking. You cannot call it an argument though, because only one side was talking, the other side just tried to pretend they were not there.

So when Voddie, Phillips, Swanson, Wilson, Sproul etc speak….. it is like a hot knife through butter, just a bracing experience for many Christians…” this man speaks with authority.” Too many Christians have been enjoying this butter that the culture serves, and some are not too keen to see the butter get handled like this.

We have no boasting except for what He has done. God opened the King of England’s eyes, surely we can confidently pray that he will have mercy and open more eyes of his people! That Voddie kept calling people to the authority of Gods Word and his Law, and that his talks stayed full is a sign that God is at work restoring the center.

That His will, will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven! Amen!