Point one: Have you ever been watching television and heard a word that shocked you? Of course you have! I have heard words through the media that have not only shocked but also embarrassed me a bit. A few nights ago we were with our grandson watching the western channel on cable the 1950s version of the “Lone Ranger.” All of a sudden Tonto, the Lone Ranger’s “Indian sidekick” referred to something as being providential. I was shocked! Providential? You would not hear that word in a new TV series. It isn’t one of those politically correct terms that you hear in the media. It was like President Bush saying the 9/11attack was an evil act performed by evil men. Evil? What is that?

Point two: We have recently gone through an agonizing time with the deadly shootings from the “beltway snipers.” Innocent people were killed in Maryland, D.C., Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, and possibly, many other places. I have been asked where I see God in those tragic deaths and evil acts. A pastor and wife approach me, forlorn and confused over being asked to leave their church, not knowing why. Then, one of the members our church was soon to give birth only to find the umbilical chord had choked the life out of the infant. Several people asked, “Why did God allow that to happen?” Finally, just last week my two-year-old granddaughter jumped up on our sofa and snuggled up to me shivering and shaking because of a thunderstorm. I tried to explain to her that God was in control and she could trust God to take care of her but at two, I am not sure how comforting that was to her.

We face similar situations everyday and either think to ourselves (or muster up the nerve to ask someone) where is God in all of these things? That’s a legitimate question, and we should not be afraid to ask. That is one way we can grow, and if we are successful in “thinking God’s thoughts after him,” we will grow in those circumstances.

How does this relate to Tonto’s reference to providence? To answer that question we have to define our terms and the first place to begin is not with that word, but with God. We have to begin with God if we want to come to the right conclusion because He is the author of the grand narrative that brings together all the pieces of the puzzles of life. In Him, said the Apostle Paul, all things cohere or hang together (Col. 1:17). If we believe the Bible to be God’s word of truth then we have a framework whereby we can struggle with some of life’s deep, perplexing, and frustrating happenings.

In order to understand providence, we have to relate it to God-specifically God as the creator of all things. If God is not the creator, truth is up for grabs and one explanation is as good as another. That’s why we have heard repeatedly that the first eleven chapters of Genesis are the key to the entire metanarrative of the Gospel. What God teaches us there establishes the framework to know Him and something about how he relates to his creation.

You cannot stop with the first chapter of Genesis, as important as it is. There have been people through the centuries who have done that and ended with a distorted view of God. You’ve heard of the Deists. They believe that God created the world then retreated to let things run their course, like people used to do with clocks and watches. They would wind them up and let them run on their own momentum, until they finally ran down. Deists believe that there is a creator God but He has no ongoing relationship with His creation. Events are not connected with God because they are all up to man and his free will. Of course, there are those who deny the existence of God hence God as creator, but that’s another part of the story for another time.

If you read the opening article by Marvin Padgett, you’ll discover another group of people who believe God is the creator and has an ongoing relationship with His creation. They believe that the way creation plays out really depends on man’s libertarian free will. In other words, God has no predetermined control over what happens, hence the only way to deal with tragic events is not to relate their happening to God but rather to trust him to come to the rescue and pick up the pieces. R. C. Sproul’s book, When Worlds Collide, reviewed in this issue, deals very effectively with the biblical teaching that nothing happens by chance or happenstance. God makes, sustains, and governs all things by the power of His word. This means everything that happens somehow relates to God’s grand story. There is no “blind chance” or “lady luck” or “Mother Nature.” Those terms are not in line with the Bible.

God the creator is also the God of providence. This means that He sovereignly controls all things that come to pass, not that He is simply aware them, but he is the final and ultimate cause of all things that happen. What about evil, wickedness, senseless events such as 9/11, the beltway snipers or the death of that little infant? We must know and not apologize that the Bible teaches that God is in control of and is the cause of all things that happen, except evil. Do we understand that? Can we explain it with any rational satisfaction? Probably not! We cannot understand those things but if we think God’s thoughts after Him, we have to know that both good and evil, light and darkness are part of His will. John Calvin wrote in his Institutes of the Christian Religion that a person is pathetic if he believes that he is at the mercy of unpredictable events.

When we understand that all things that happen do so according to God’s will, we will be positioned to see God’s involvement in His creation. God’s will has different aspects, a secret will and a revealed will. We have to breathe a sigh of relief that the Bible teaches that. That means that some things that God wills we can understand because He reveals them to us by His graciousness. It also means there are some things, like my explanation to my little granddaughter, we cannot understand and may never understand. Whether or not we understand the things that happen listed above doesn’t really matter. What matters is that God understands them fully and tells us that they are not random, chance, irrational events. Paul says that “we see through a glass darkly”, at this present time, but one day “we will understand fully even as we have been understood” (I Corinthians 13).

God is not in the dark regarding the future, and things do not have to happen before he knows them. They happen because He ordained them and one day He may allow us to understand what is presently a mystery to us. Some open theists actually believe that God does not always get what He wants hence; there are no guarantees for us in the things that happen. Thank God that His Word teaches differently. Sproul rightly says that 9/11 happened within the will of God, but can we explain how? Probably not, but that does not negate the truth.

God is not absent in the everyday events of life. His hand is implementing His will in all things that occur. I can be comforted and offer that same comfort to anyone willing to operate his or her life based on God’s framework of understanding and experiencing life. He is not far off or standing in the shadows, watching. I can be comforted as long as I think about God as He reveals Himself by His Word and Spirit. As I do that, I will never be without hope in this life.

In case you are asked, as I have been, is anyone in charge? I can say with full certainty that God is controlling all things that take place: therefore, I can trust Him to do what is right. That truth is not the least bit dependent on any rational explanation. Am I a fideist saying that I merely have simple faith with no rhyme or reason to work with? No, I am a Christian theist who believes the testimony of God’s revelation in the Bible. I believe that all the events of reality fit into God’s grand story. I know along with the Apostle Paul several wonderful truths, “If God be for you, who can be against you?” “God will work all things together for good to them who love Him…” “He that has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion.”

By Marvin Padgett. This article addresses an issue that will hopefully sound familiar to the readers of Equip for Ministry. Equip has presented other articles and book reviews on the topic of “open theism.” There is definitely confusion caused by this issue, which though it has old roots, has surfaced in new ways. I was originally asked to speak last summer on this topic at a weekend L’Abri conference in Rochester, MN. The article refers to a teaching about God that strikes at the heart of who God is and what He does or does not do. It is a teaching that causes much confusion in many of our “evangelical” churches in America. While the average church member may not be familiar with the technical designation of open theism, they have no doubt been exposed to its teaching.

The Openness of God, written by Clark Pinnock, et al, is one of the clearest presentations of open theism. Pinnock and others have caused significant controversy and brought attention to the doctrine of God and the accompanying doctrine of providence. (See the book review section, particularly When Worlds Collide.) Christians need to be careful to understand these writings and the errors involved.

Pinnock asserts that much (if not all) of the future is open, i.e., it is not set, definite, or pre-determined. It is open because the future is not objectively determined. The future, according to the open theists, is shaped greatly by the as yet unmade choices of free moral agents- human beings created in the image of God.

These writers are concerned with the meaning of “choice.” Do human beings make real choices unfettered by God or man; or are those choices predetermined by the ancient decrees of God? This idea, often called “libertarian freedom,” is the bedrock issue at stake here. It appears to drive all the other issues. How can human beings be held accountable for their choices if another being, in this case, God, predetermines all those choices? It follows, then, that if the future is real and human beings make unfettered, real choices, as free moral agents, the future has not yet been determined. So, while this gets much press, it is all tied back to the issue of libertarian freedom.

Open theism also appears to be driven by an attempt to get at the age-old nemesis of theology, the problem of evil. Both John Sanders and Greg Boyd, advocates of open theism, bring this up early in their basic works, The God Who Risks and The God of the Possible. John Sanders tragically lost a brother, which seems to have contributed to his thinking. Greg Boyd tells the tragic story of betrayal and divorce in the life of a young woman he calls Suzanne. Obviously, our circumstance colors our thinking far more than we realize.

The real lightning rod issue is divine foreknowledge. This gets all of the press, heat, anger, and disputation. To paraphrase Senator Howard Baker in the Watergate Hearings of the 1970s, how much does God know and when does He learn it? Open theists assert that while God is omniscient(all-knowing), His knowledge is necessarily limited by the degree or extent of knowledge that is intrinsically “knowable”-hence the title of Greg Boyd’s book, The God of the Possible. God does have exhaustive knowledge of the past, the present and the future, but only to the extent that knowledge of the future is obtainable. Whether God cannot know the future or whether He has chosen to limit himself is an “open question.” Some of these ideas come from the normal limitations seen upon other attributes of God. To be omnipotent does not mean that God can do absolutely everything. God cannot make a round square, etc.

Open theism is sometimes referred to as presentism, relational theism, the risk model, and the fellowship model. You may either hear those terms or come across them in your reading on the subject. Presentism emphasizes God’s exhaustive knowledge of the present. Relational and fellowship models emphasize His desire to have genuine, give-and-take relations with human beings. The latter goals are raised to a high level in open theism.

This give-and-take issue is quite important. Open theists share this concern with another group called “process theists.” While they have some things in common, the differences between them are real. Both camps emphasize the vital importance of real give-and-take relations between God and humanity. Process theologians generally see God only working in and through the workings of the universe. For them, God exercises no coercive control over the universe, but works through it exclusively by means of persuasion. Open theists, on the other hand, assert belief that God created the heavens and the earth and will, in some way, shape outcomes, especially the eschaton or the end of times, though its day and hour remain indefinite, even to God. Process theists believe, by and large, that open theists are really like the “classical theists.” An open theist thinks that God can, and does, enter decisively into the affairs of the world. Both camps, process and open, reject almost all forms of classical theology or theism. But what is classical theology, you may ask?

Classical theism is rooted, according to the open theists, both in the Greeks and the church of the Middle Ages. They stressed several things about God: God is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), immutable (unchanging), omnipresent (all present) and God is simple (unity). These may be taken as the primary theistic set, or the primary theistic attributes of God according to classical theism.

Open theists routinely charge their more traditional opponents with being classical theists, in the sense of the above. In this classical system God knows all, controls all, can neither feel no emotions, nor suffer. He has no parts, and He is one essence. Actually, we learn that this description better fits the god of Islam and of philosophical theology but it does not accurately represent the God of the Bible.

There are many passages in the Bible where God holds human beings accountable for their actions. Open theists ask, “If we are responsible, how can God have determined the future?” How can God even know the future, because if God knows the future, the future must be the way God knows it to be, hence man is not responsible. But, even open theists claim that God holds no false beliefs about the future. What they dispute is whether the future is “knowable,” not that God holds false beliefs.

How is it, then, that God can retain the immense power that open theists admit that he holds? How is it that while God does not know the future, He does have exhaustive knowledge of all the possibilities? While you and I can only make good guesses about multiple outcomes, like a good baseball manager does in preparing his team for the possible eventualities for a single pitch, God, like a super-competent universe manager is always ready with the right play, no matter what happens. To illustrate something of the open theists position, God is a bit like Andy Taylor on the television series The Andy Griffith Show. We are a bit like Barney, his sidekick, always messing things up. God, like Andy, is always lurking around with superior plans, ready to take care of us. He, no more than Andy, controls what is about to happen but is always waiting in the wings or behind the scenes to come the rescue and fix things when Barney acts. It always ends in the right way because Andy sees that it does. So it is with God, according to the open theists.

To further build their case, open theists readily and quickly point to many passages in Scripture where God is grieved, regrets, and “repents” over his people’s actions when things do not seem to go God’s way. Actually, there appears to be confusion caused by some Bible translations which use the term “repent” in the place of “relent,” which some believe is a more accurate translation and interpretation. As a result people are confused over those different Hebrew words. The underlying Hebrew word for repent, according to some outstanding scholars, is never used of God. Human beings are said to repent, but never God.

For example:1 Samuel 15:35

“And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.”

There are other passages where God appears to regret what has come to pass, and where He seems to express surprise as the Jeremiah passage brings forth.

It is extremely difficult to recognize the God of the Bible in any of these models mentioned, open, classical or process. The God we find in the Bible is at once more interesting and mysterious than the open theists appear are willing to admit. Michael Horton, a Reformed Theologian and professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, California, said recently in the Journal of Evangelical Theological Society: “Among the ironic similarities between the methodological approach of open theism and hyper-Calvinists is the fact that both are apparently impatient with the face of mystery.”

Basically, the open theists attempt to present us with a God that we can understand. Oh yes, He’s bigger and far more intelligent, but at heart He is sort of like us, therefore, we can understand him. The reason Calvinists hold to what we would call a “baby talk” view of revelation is because they see revelation as dealing with a being that is beyond us. Though He is a personal God, He is also sovereign and mysterious. While we, being made in God’s image, are personal, He is an infinite person who deals in realms in which we can only grope. We are not infinite; hence we have only limited understanding of Him and His ways.

Is God in total control over His creation? Can He know the future? Does He have a pre-determined plan of all things that come to pass or is He as the open theists suggests, waiting to see what happens and then come to the rescue. The Bible gives a clear response. For example: Isaiah 40-48 asserts that the reason Israel may safely believe in God is because He not only knows the future exhaustively, but controls the future exhaustively. (Also see Ephesians. 1:11 and Proverbs 16: 23.)

Isaiah 41:21-24

“Set forth your case, says the Lord; bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob. ²²Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come. ²³Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; do good, or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified. ²⁴Behold, you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing; an abomination is he who chooses you.”

Jesus taught his disciples that the heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask (Matt. 6:8.) If that is true then there seems to be a contradiction between what Jesus says about God and what the open theists teach. According to Jesus, God does both know and control the future. He is not taken by surprise when something happens because Jesus is not referring to a limited uncertain knowledge but a knowing of all things completely and exhaustively, past, present, and future.

None of the above touches on another part of God’s knowledge that is a wonderful thing for Christians, that God even knows whose names are written in the book of life from the before the foundation of the world. Our God is a great and wonderful God. There is nothing outside His control. Although we do not understand or need to understand all there is to know about God, we must not add to nor subtract from what God tells us about himself in the Bible.Our Westminster Confession of Faith summarizes what the Bible teaches on this subject like this:

“God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet, so as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. Although God knows whatsoever may or may not come to pass upon all supposed conditions, yet hath he not decreed any thing because he foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such condition,” WCF 3:1,2.

One of the disturbing things we are hearing is that Christians do not understand what they believe and why. The Bible tells us (1 Pet 3:15) that we are to be able to give a reason for our hope but several major surveys have concluded that Christians do not know enough about their beliefs to do that. For example: George Gallup Jr. and D. Michael Lindsay conclude in their Surveying the American Landscape that “there is a glaring lack of knowledge about the Bible, basic doctrines, and the traditions of one’s church. That there is great superficiality of faith, with many people not knowing what they believe, or why.” George Barna echoes the same message that “less than 10% of the professing Christians have a biblical world and life view.” “People are desperate for spiritual truth-but they can’t find the answers they need in Christian churches.” He goes on to sayin The Second Coming of the Church, “In short, the spirituality in America is Christian in name only. We desire more experience than knowledge. We prefer choices to absolutes. We embrace preferences rather than truths.”

I am concerned that while we are seeing greater interest in religion and spirituality, especially in the two younger generations, it is not directed toward Christianity. Gallup’s polls indicate that more and more evangelical Christians are embracing some of the doctrines of the New Age Movement, such as communicating with the dead, visitation of extraterrestrials, witches, ghosts, etc.

One way the disciple making process is breaking down is our failure to ground believers, young and old, in solid, sound doctrine. Faith often becomes very shallow and superficial. It does not really alter our lifestyle and it doesn’t give us opportunities to respond to questions asked regarding our faith in Christ. When I think of Peter’s words quoted above, I am reminded of two things: 1. Although we are called to give a reason for what we believe and the hope we have in Christ, trends indicate that most cannot do that. 2. That may not pose the problem that it should because if people do not see that hope operating in our lives, they will not ask us about our faith.

‘In case you’re asked’, can you give a reason or explanation for the hope within you? We need to study our faith. All the other things we study, says the Apostle Paul, are to be in accord with sound doctrine. Another concern is that trends indicate that pastors experience a “halo effect” and believe their people are more equipped and trained to do 1 Pet 3:15 than is actually the case.

A word to parents and to the church community in this regard: we must see the challenge that our children and youth face today. We are not living in a friendly world, where Christianity is concerned. We are not taught or encouraged to teach the Bible in a life-changing way. Truths are uncertain or up for grabs. In response, we give our children and youth a moralistic version of Christianity, which accomplishes nothing strategically and is terribly misleading. Even when we do try through our Sunday schools, Bible studies, youth activities, and the preaching and teaching ministry, they do not see the connection between what they are hearing and their own lives.

Every Christian family and church should have a plan of discipleship aimed at equipping the people of all ages to know what they believe and why, and how to articulate those beliefs. We must also aim for life transformation as a result of those truths. Truths, doctrines, theology, philosophy, and all the basic foundational areas, must be taught, learned, and applied in a way that will transform people’s lives. It must impact what they believe, how they think and live, the choices they make, and relationships they develop. Disciple making is not a fluff and stuff kind of activity with no real substance; neither is it an academic exercise. It is life oriented.

In this issue we reviewed a book by Roger Nicole that deals with the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. Those doctrines are to be a part of the warp and woof of our lives. They ought to be as much a part of us as the air we breathe. While there is nothing wrong with admitting that I do not know something, God told us to be able to explain why we do believe something to be true.

I am often asked how we can know whether our attempts at discipling are working? My response: 1. Is there a life change taking place and an awareness of Christ’s Lordship in all of life? 2. Are people seeing a difference in us because of our faith in Christ? One way we know is by the opportunities we are given to talk about our faith with them. George Gallup, Jr. wrote, “Sensation and subjective experience is so prized that what a person actually believes recedes in importance (The Next American Spirituality).” He further writes, “Many Americans do not know what they believe, or why. Many do not know what it means to belong to the faith or denomination to which they subscribe. They would be hard pressed to defend the faith, if called on,”(ibid). May that not be the case with us. In case you’re asked, be able to tell those who ask with passion and understanding what you believe and why.

Welcome to the November/December of Equip for Ministry. As we have looked back over the year, EfM has been a vital link in our ministry at Christian Education and Publications. Our objective has been to think about you, the reader, and your local church ministry. At a recent Equip seminar in Pennsylvania someone said to me, “I really look forward to Equip for Ministry. It is a good, quick, but substantive read. I don’t have the time to read like I would like and EfM is a help.” A pastor from the west coast called to thank us for the book reviews, saying they helped him plan his reading list. We strive to provide articles dealing with issues, resources, ideas, and nuts-and-bolts tips for ministry to increase your effectiveness in service to our Lord Jesus Christ. We trust this last issue for 2002 will do the same.

We also bring other books and ideas to stimulate and challenge your thinking and spiritual growth. As we have stated before, we see dozens of books pass by our desk almost monthly. Because of limited time and space, we attempt to carefully select what we believe to be the most strategic ones at this moment in time. Occasionally, a classic reprint falls into that category or even a book that is not necessarily written from a Christian perspective. We do not choose those books lightly. Even in this issue, we had to overlook a host of good books in order to bring our short list to you. The book relating to the history of hymns, one might say, is not really a strategic book, but we believe it could play an important role in the worship and growth of God’s people.

We have frequently written about postmodernism and will continue to because it is the overarching philosophy of the world and impacts our entire lives. While we have only skimmed the surface, we will continually keep this topic before you. In this issue for example, we have reviewed an excellent book by Millard Erickson on postmodernism. God willing, we will continue to challenge you to read and think about crucial subject.

We encourage and challenge our readers to develop their Christian minds, not in order to create an intellectually elitist people, but to “bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” CE&P offers a variety of ministries for your churches’ various specialized groups such as youth, children, women, officers, leaders, teachers, and men. Our resource topics deal with doctrine and theology in a life-oriented way. Themes such as stewardship, prayer, and evangelization of today’s postmoderns are constantly addressed.

Since 9-11-01, we are living in a different kind of world, one that has indeed changed forever. We would like to think the change is for the better, but that is not certain. We do know that God has called us to be salt and light, and as part of His church, to represent His truth and kingdom in all of life. We also know from Scripture, as well as from practical experience that as individuals and as churches, we can be more effective together than alone. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own ministries that we tend to forget others who are also involved.

In this issue, we feature the topic of small group ministries written by our coordinator of training, Robert Edmiston. Bob is an expert in the area of small groups. He has not only helped local churches develop small group ministries throughout the PCA, he is presently overseeing such a ministry in his home church. George Gallup Jr. states that small group ministry is one of the most effective ways for churches to minister to people. Robert Wuthnow, sociologist from Princeton, writes that 40% of American people are involved in small groups. Since groups can enhance a local church’s ministry if done well or hinder it if not done well, our seminars and resources are designed to help churches lead small groups well.

Because this is specifically a CE&P publication, the staff, regional staff, committee members, or someone who has served CE&P in some way usually writes the content. For example: in the last issue, we had a lead article by Ken Sande on abuse. He has participated in some of our conferences. Many PCA churches and agencies have used his materials on conflict management to help them deal with sticky situations. Even the advertisements are chosen not primarily for the revenues used to print the magazine, but because we believe local church leaders need to be aware of those for their ministries.

With this issue we also welcome Michelle Estile as the new managing editor replacing Amy Downing Veerman. Amy and Erik welcomed the birth of their little girl, Marguerite Lynn, as we were preparing this issue. Michelle’s husband Daniel works for MTW in the Internship department.

Our prayer is that each issue will encourage and assist you in living for and ministering on behalf of our Lord. Our entire staff is your resource for Christian education, disciple making, teacher training, and other leadership areas. We pray that God will use you in 2003 in a special way and allow us to play some small part in helping you to be more effective in your Christian life and witness.