CDM Archive

Discipleship Ministries of the PCA

Editor

The Complete Book of Life’s Questions with Answers From the Bible

by

While I doubt that this is a complete book of life’s questions, I agree that many of life’s questions are responded to in this book. This makes it a helpful book for individuals, parents, and church libraries to have available. You will find answers related to the 343 questions. The answers are brief and to the point but not generally simplistic.

Following are some examples of topics and questions associated with each topic. Blame: Why do we blame others? What should I do when others blame me? What should I do when I feel like blaming someone else? What can I do to live a blameless life? Contentment: How can I find contentment, regardless of life’s circumstances? Are there any risks of being content? Heaven: Is there really a heaven? What is heaven like? How can I be sure I will go to heaven? How does my knowing about heaven affect my life now? Repentance: What is repentance? Why does God want me to repent? Why is repentance necessary? Is repentance a one-time event or do I need to repent each time I sin? I’ve done too many horrible things. Could God possible forgive me?

The authors say that the book was ten years in the making and born out of frustrations of being asked a lot of questions about God, life, and the Bible, and not having good answers and not knowing where to find them. Ronald Beers is the Bible editor for Tyndale House Publishers and Gilbert was editorial director for David C. Cook before becoming a full-time author, writing more than 150 books.

Parents will find this extremely helpful in discipling their covenant children. Teachers and counselors as well as pastors and leaders will also find this volume of topics a handy reference book.

Biblical Discipleship

by

By Susan Beck

The strategy for this purpose, and for all of Christian education, is found in the Titus 2 Mandate, given to the pastor of the church. Biblical discipleship is rooted in God’s Word, sharing life-on-life and precept-upon-precept.

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be reviled.

Susan Beck, PCA teaching elder’s wife, was taught and encouraged to live out this purpose and strategy. Susan has been given multiple opportunities to be engaged in biblical discipleship relationships to the next generation.

Spiritual Mothering, Missions and Me

After 26 years in the PCA, 23 of which were spent as a church planter’s wife, I’ve heard just a little bit about the principles of Titus 2 and spiritual mothering. I always felt this is something I should do, not realizing that God was already using me.

When I was a young pastor-church planter’s wife, a friend and I co-led a study, Spiritual Mothering, by Susan Hunt. I readily accepted the concept that we can all be spiritual mothers, regardless of our age, all of us being older than somebody, but I had my hands full at the time with four daughters – the next generation! There was little time or opportunity to invest in other women. But God was planting seeds.

When Stephen and I moved to Toronto, Canada, to plant a downtown church, my heart beat especially for the university-age crowd. Although a quiet individual, I loved opening our home to groups. Saturday evenings saw our home crowded with up to 50 young adults from the “twentysomethings” ministry; we spent many evenings afterwards talking one-on-one. An ongoing stream of exchange students from around the world invaded my private space, and I noticed that many of those young women were looking to me for the nurture, stability, and warmth of a mother. The seeds were starting to sprout.

Five years ago, we made the decision to move to Germany, for Stephen to begin teaching at the Freie Theologische Akademie north of Frankfurt, the largest evangelical seminary in Germany, and the only one that adheres to the inerrancy of Scripture. Unlike our earlier move to Toronto, I accepted this move grudgingly, feeling angry and disillusioned with life. That motivated me to start a Bible study of Galatians with a close friend. Technology made it possible for us to “meet” regularly to chat online over issues related to the transforming power of God’s grace.

Strangely, the journey of breaking my heart brought me to a place of contentment in Christ that I had never known before. The Gospel poured water on the sprouts, and they grew. God prepared me to encounter this new culture with a new boldness in my heart and character.

Now I am understanding the will of God in our call to Germany: He has placed me in a setting in which 95% of my contacts are with younger adults and in which I am an “empty-nester.” He has placed me into a culture where a Germanic sense of orderliness and Lutheran pietism makes for a form of Christianity, often a mere outward “spirituality” (not unique to Germans!). Stephen and I are blessed to live at the seminary, which means I have easy access to 40 younger women who are preparing for Christian ministry, many of whom long for interaction with an older woman who has experience in ministry. I participate in a fellowship of an additional 40 student wives, with some one-on-one counsel. Our passion is for newly planted churches to sprout up all over the land of the Reformation that is in desperate need for a second Reformation (only 2.5% evangelicals), and on Tuesday nights my husband and I mentor numerous individuals and couples God has raised up for the future task. My experience as a church planter’s wife, combined with biblical principles, enables me to develop gospel-centered prospective church planters’ wives. (And if I ever run out of women to spiritually mother, there is a university of 35,000 students across the street!) God has pushed me out of my natural comfort zone and given me freedom and boldness through the gospel; the opportunities for spiritual mothering are endless.

Spiritual Mothering: Teaching and Living God’s Truth

Fanny Gomez is a pastor’s wife from the Dominican Republic who, in God’s
sovereignty, came across the Biblical Foundations for Womanhood books. Through interaction with Susan Hunt and the Women in the Church office, Fanny was encouraged to attend 2006 Leadership Training, thus leading to a Dominican delegation of eight women and a pastor attending the 2006 Women’s International Conference. Fanny has taught The True Woman, and under the full support and encouragement of the pastors, she spearheaded the development of a women’s ministry with a heart for teaching the next generation. The following is an excerpt from a letter Fanny wrote about the challenge of having an open and teachable spirit to the truths she has been teaching others.

“We have finished studying The Legacy of Biblical Womanhood. The women gave testimonies about the benefits in their lives after studying it. This is the third book of The Biblical Foundations for Womanhood series that I have studied, and I feel that I am personally making all these truths about biblical womanhood mine. I have such a burden about sharing all of these with my sisters in Christ. Please continue to pray for our women’s ministry; we need more teachers or spiritual mothers.

In July my husband and I are moving to Santiago, an hour and a half from here. My husband has been traveling almost every Sunday for three years to preach in a church that has remained without a pastor. He loves this church; they have been praying for him to be their pastor for years. Last September our pastors talked to me to find out my thoughts about this possibility. My husband had a big desire of moving there, but not me. I had my reasons (but I also didn’t want to move) and exposed them to our pastors. I told them I was willing to submit myself to their decision. September to December were difficult months. My husband was sad because my heart was not beating with his about this, and I was sad because I was the cause of his sadness. I had to apply all I have been teaching about my helper design. I had to admit I didn’t want to leave all I have had here for years: my church, my family (mother and brothers), my friends, my children’s school, my house….What helped me is thinking of the truth from The True Woman: ‘The way of duty is the way of safety.’ Finally, I told my husband, ‘Eric, I will go with you, not only because I have to submit to you, but because I want to serve the Lord where He wants me to go, and I know that my calling depends on yours.’ The Lord has changed my attitude, and I am willing to support my husband and serve God where He wants me to be.

So my husband and I will move as missionaries of our church to Santiago. The women’s ministry will continue, and we will continue to work together, but my Bible study will be with the women in Santiago. My spiritual daughters are sad, but it’s been so good not to have a personality-driven ministry. I told them they have to continue teaching these truths to the next generation. This is not my responsibility; it is our responsibility. We can’t stop raising our voices!”

Suggested WIC Studies of 2007-08

by

Treasures in Darkness: A Grieving Mother Shares Her Heart, Sharon Betters
Betters shares her journey through the sudden death of her teenage son and the hope she finds in Isa. 45:2-3.
Same Lake, Different Boat: Coming Alongside People Touched by Disability, Stephanie O. Hubach
“…a transformational work-designed to renew our minds to think biblically about disability in order that our lives, our relationships, and our congregations might wholly reflect Christ.” This book is about listening, caring, and coming alongside those in need.

Peacemaking Women, Biblical Hope for Resolving Conflict, Tara Klena Barthel and Judy Dabler This book does as it says, “it leads you out of conflict and into a state of peace where youcan live as a representative of Christ to other women as well as to unbelievers.”
Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs: Wisdom’s Searching and Finding, Kathleen Buswell Nielson
This book, one of several in a series of Bible studies, focuses on both Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs. The book contains nine studies, seven on Ecclesiastes and two on Song of Songs.

See table of Contents
Read Lesson 1
Deuteronomy More Grace, More Love: Living in Covenant with God, George Robertson and Mary Beth McGreevy
Published by CE&P, this study of Deuteronomy is an excellent study for women’s groups, leading them carefully through “a life in covenant with God.” The book contains 24studies with questions for discussion after each study.

See the Table of Contents and Chapter 1
The Gospel of Matthew, Parts One and Two, Susan Hunt
 Hunt builds on Jack Scott’s Adult Biblical Education Series and lays out a study for women that challenges them to live for God’s glory in all of life. It is written from the biblical and theological perspective of the PCA.

The Gospel of Matthew, Part 1
Leader’s Packet

The Gospel of Matthew, Part 2
Leader’s Packet

PCA Takes a Stand: Federal Vision and New Perspectives on Paul

by

Editor’s note: Instead of our usual “In Case You’re Asked” page where we respond to some of your questions, we have decided to use this page to pass on to you an action taken by the 2007 General Assembly regarding a theological issue that the church was asked to study and respond to. The entire report will be in the Minutes of this year’s Assembly, but because of the importance of the issue, we wanted our readers to have a copy of the declaration portion of the report. The following is a list of recommendations passed by the Assembly and the declaration portion of that report.

Recommendations


That the General Assembly commend to Ruling and Teaching Elders and their congregations this report of the Ad Interim Committee on New Perspectives on Paul and Federal Vision for careful consideration and study.

That the General Assembly remind the Church, its officers and congregations of the provisions of BCO 29-1 and 39-3 which assert that the Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the Westminster Assembly, while “subordinate to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, the inerrant Word of God, “have been adopted by the PCA “as standard expositions of the teachings of Scripture in relation to both faith and practice.”

That the General Assembly recommend the declarations in this report as a faithful exposition of the Westminster Standards, and further reminds those ruling and teaching elders whose views are out of accord with our Standards of their obligation to make known to their courts any differences in their views.

That the General Assembly remind the Sessions and Presbyteries of the PCA that it is their duty “to exercise care over those subject to their authority” and “to condemn erroneous opinions which injure the purity or peace of the Church” (BCO 31-2; 13-9f).

Click here to read entire publication in PDF (Acrobat Reader required)

Declarations


In light of the controversy surrounding the NPP and FV, and after many months of careful study, the committee unanimously makes the following declarations:

Above and Beyond: Two Examples of Biblical Stewardship from PCA Congregations

by

The Presbyterian Church in America, by its very name, is committed to Reformed doctrine and its Presbyterian polity. It is a connectional church in contrast to independent or congregational structures. To be a church in the PCA, each body has to be organized by and/or received by a particular presbytery comprised of a few churches of the 1400 in the PCA, usually in the same geographic region. Presently the PCA has 75 presbyteries across North America including Canada.

Each church and presbytery is required to subscribe to the system of doctrine contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith and its Larger and Shorter Catechisms. It is further required to subscribe to the PCA Book of Church Order (BOCO). The word most used to describe the PCA is “connectional,” which means as a member of the PCA we are accountable to the appropriate body, called the General Assembly. The General Assembly is made up of all the presbyteries and member churches.

One of the issues addressed by the PCA Strategic Planning Committee and its report to the 34th General Assembly was stewardship. When the PCA formed its committees and agencies it stated in its organizing principles found in chapter 14-1 of the BOCO,(4) “It is the responsibility of every member and every member congregation to support the whole work of the denomination as they be led in their conscience held captive by the Word of God.” This means that the work of the denomination is dependent on each congregation and its members to support the work of the committees and agencies.

Click here to read entire publication in PDF (Acrobat Reader required)

Various formulas have been used to determine how to effectively request and distribute funds to the various committees and agencies. In 1979 the concept of “askings” was developed. “Askings” evolved from the “head tax,” a formula used by the Southern Presbyterian Church, and was essentially an amount needed per member to function and expected to be given. “Askings” are still based on what each member would need to contribute to the committees and agencies to support the work of the PCA in accordance with the BOCO statements above, but with less demand and more faith that the churches will voluntarily give what is needed.

The PCA Strategic Planning Committee has raised concern that only half of the member congregations are supporting the work of the committees and agencies. The committees and agencies are dependent on that support to carry out their assigned ministries.

In CEP’s educational role in the PCA, particularly as it relates to stewardship education, we are attempting to keep this topic before the PCA. In keeping with the two previous Equip to Disciple issues of 2007,we are featuring two churches, one large and one small that represent churches committed to supporting the whole work of the church. Obviously, there are other churches following their example. We highlight these two for their commitment, practice, and example in this kind of stewardship giving.

The large church category is Trinity Presbyterian Church in Montgomery, AL, with senior pastor Claude E. McRoberts, III. McRoberts assumed that role in 1999, following John Oliver, who followed Cortez Cooper, who followed Robert Ostenson. Trinity was part of the PCA’s original congregations and has shown a consistent and commendable commitment to supporting the PCA since the very beginning. Pastor Claude McRoberts states: “It has been humbling for me since my arrival at Trinity Church in 1999 to see the level of commitment this church has placed on denominational support. I am privileged to labor among a congregation with a vision that far exceeds the city limits of Montgomery, AL. And the fact that this vision has simply been ‘a given’ for decades is a joy I know I don’t deserve as a Senior Minister.” Steve Fox, former moderator of the General Assembly, a ruling elder at Trinity, and presently serving on the assembly’s Christian Education and Publications Committee says in response to Trinity’s generous support of the committees and agencies, “Since we were there in the beginning, in the formation of the PCA, it is our duty and responsibility to support the PCA. Our support is not only in service and our people involved with the assembly, but also monetary support to enable the committees and agencies to carry out their ministries with the needed funding. That is one way that Trinity participates in the spreading of the gospel of the Kingdom.”

According to the 2006 statistics, Trinity has 1,200 members, including 41 new members received in 2006.There are 18 ruling elders and 27 deacons. The church shows more than 500 are enrolled in their Sunday school program. With annual contributions of four million dollars, Trinity has a total benevolent giving disbursement of two million dollars. The 2007 Yearbook released from the Stated Clerk’s office reports a $6,325 per capita giving.

Trinity is a church that has and does give over and above the “askings” of the committees and agencies. Trinity, along with some other churches, has shown a consistent commitment to the PCA by doing more than their fair share in order to compensate for those churches that do not or cannot give accordingly.

One of Trinity’s former pastors, Cortez Cooper, two of its ruling elders, William Joseph and Steve Fox, and one assistant pastor, Paul Settle, have been moderators of the PCA General Assembly. Over the years Trinity’s faithfulness in giving has not only enabled the PCA committees and agencies to be supported by them, but also a host of individual missionaries, church planters, and other individual ministries.

Trinity Presbyterian Church was actually organized in 1891 and has been known over the years for its strong preaching and teaching of the Word and its commitment to its denomination. Along with its other accomplishments, Trinity started the Trinity Presbyterian School in 1970. The school offers preschool through twelfth grade with more than 950 students. The name Trinity was chosen to represent its commitment to the Triune God.

In the small church category of giving to the whole work of the PCA, we have selected Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Brevard, NC, pastored by H. Andrew Silman. Cornerstone was organized in 1996. Since their beginning in Brevard, Cornerstone has grown to 125 members, built a new church facility, and continues to grow. There were 13 new members added in 2006. Cornerstone’s present budget is nearly $300,000 and $56,000 of that amount was given to the PCA committees and agencies in 2006. That amount translates to $2,301 per capita.

Cornerstone, in attempting to offer a full-service ministry, believes that supporting the PCA’s ministry is not only an obligation as a member congregation, but in doing so has the privilege to expand its witness across North America and beyond. Grady Love became Cornerstone’s first pastor in 1997.He encouraged and led the congregation to practice that pattern of giving as well as to build its present facility. Since Love’s retirement, Andrew Silman, his successor, follows in that same leadership commitment. The officers of Cornerstone, numbering five ruling elders and four deacons, started the church with a strong commitment to the PCA and its ministries. The church has also been a part of assisting near by Ridge Haven PCA Conference Center as it has grown and expanded its ministries to the PCA. The church belongs to the Western Carolina Presbytery.

CEP Welcomes Danny Mitchell

by

dannyhorns.JPGDanny Mitchell will become the new Coordinator of Family and Youth Ministries for Christian Education and Publications in June 2007.He will succeed Dean Conkel, who returned to local church ministry in June 2006. Danny graduated from Covenant College in 1992 with a BS in Biblical Studies and will graduate from Covenant Theological Seminary in May with a Master of Divinity.

Danny has had good experience in youth ministry prior to and during his enrollment at Covenant Theological Seminary. He has worked at both New City Chattanooga and New City St. Louis. Danny has also served as the camp director at Camp Westminster in Conyers, Ga., youth director at Carriage Lane Pres. In Peachtree City, Ga., and as a youth intern at Lookout Mountain Presbyterian. Danny and his wife Mary Pat are already familiar with the CEP family. Danny worked as a member of the PYA, now YXL, task force and Mary Pat is a former CEP staff member.

Danny and Mary Pat met at Covenant College and have been married 15 years. They have two children, Claire and Benjamin.

Coming from a military family, Danny lived in many different places during his early year s. He moved to the Chattanooga area as a high school freshman and became a believer at age 18. He says that he was greatly impacted by both the youth director and a male volunteer in the process of the Lord drawing him to himself.

Danny’s 17 years of experience in youth ministry will serve him well in his new position with CEP. Danny says that even in college he had a specific sense of calling to work with teenagers within the local church.

When Conkel left the position last year, Charles Dunahoo, CEP Coordinator, began a search that took him through many r