Pulpit Magazine

(Review by Jesse Johnson)

Colin Hansen, an editor for Christianity Today, makes this observation (with a little hyperbole): your average Evangelical American high school student is in a youth group that emphasizes games, down plays preaching, and as a result the student does not even know the basics of the Gospel — much less the difference between justification and sanctification. But, your average American-Evangelical 22-year-old is probably a foaming-at-the-mouth Calvinist, a John Piper “fiend,” and would love to stay up all night arguing about the difference between justification and sanctification. What in the world happens to these kids between ages 18 and 22?

Young, Restless, Reformed is Hansen’s attempt to answer that question. He journeys around the country trying to figure out where all of these Calvinists are coming from, and why. He has conversations with Mark Driscoll, John Piper, Steve Lawson, C. J. Mahaney, Ligon Duncan, Rick Holland and many others. He asks them all this question: “Where does this new generation of Calvinists come from?” and their answers are surprising. He talks with dozens of students who fit this new generation of Reformed Christian, and this book tells their stories.

Despite the anecdotal nature of the book (no hard statistics here), some conclusions do emerge. High school grads who are actually Christians and who do manage to escape their cheesy youth groups realize very quickly that they do not have adequate answers to explain the basics of their faith, much less to stand up to their secular professors. When they reach the point of realizing they don’t have the answers, they generally find someone who does, and this person (or book, or CD) is usually unashamedly Reformed. Continue Reading »

(By John MacArthur)

What’s the Biggest Problem with Contemporary Church Music?

It should be clear to anyone who examines the subject carefully that modern church music, as a rule, is vastly inferior to the classic hymns that were being written 200 years ago.

And incidentally, my own assessment is that the style in which music is written today isn’t really the biggest problem with contemporary music. Styles change. Bad church music isn’t bad just because it is “contemporary.” But the content of the lyrics is what reveals most graphically how low our standards have slipped.

This is not a problem that arose with the current generation. It dates back to an era whose musical style would seem quite old-fashioned by anyone’s standards today. Continue Reading »

What is Grace Church’s view on musical style in the church? 

The Bible does not prescribe a particular style of music as being solely acceptable to God, nor does it condemn any particular styles. But it does contain principles that we can apply to any situation and ascertain what course of action will please God. 

When it comes to choices about what style to use in the church, we should apply the principle of appropriateness. At Grace Church, our Sunday worship services contain musical styles that are appropriate for all ages ‑‑ we try to be careful not to distract anyone present by using music that could be considered controversial in any way. But in our youth meetings and events at The Master’s College, more contemporary styles are often played or sung. We require the lyrics in the latter to be doctrinally sound and clearly understandable. Continue Reading »

(By John MacArthur)

Should a pastor who has committed adultery be restored to the ministry?

Some believe that God’s forgiveness should nullify all sin’s consequences. This issue inevitably arises when a Christian leader who has fallen into immorality professes repentance and then wants to return to a position of leadership in the church. Predictably, the fallen leader will plead his case by pointing out that God has forgiven him for his sin, so past sins should not be a factor in considering him for church leadership.

Yet, the basic biblical requirement for all elders and deacons in the church is that they must be “above reproach” (1 Tim. 3:2, 10; Titus 1:6-7). The expression speaks of the leader’s public reputation. “Above reproach” means there is nothing of which he can be accused. It does not speak of sinlessness, or no one could qualify. But a man who is “above reproach” is someone whose life is not marred by any obvious sinful defect or scandal that hinders him from standing before the flock as an example of consistent godliness.

Some sins, particularly scandalous sexual sins, carry a reproach that cannot be blotted out even though the offense itself is forgiven (Prov. 6:32-33). Forgiveness restores the person to a right relationship with God, but the stigma and scandal of the sin sometimes remains. In such cases a man may be forgiven and yet disqualified from spiritual leadership, because his life has not been a model of godly virtue.

(Today’s article was adapted from The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness, 66-67.)

(By John MacArthur)

This article concludes our series on How to Kill Sin in Your Life. Points 1-4 in this series were discussed last Wednesday and Thursday. Today we will conclude by considering a fifth and final step.

5. Cultivate Obedience.

Fifth, a life that puts the flesh to death must set itself on a course of obedience. Paul said, “I haven’t attained,” I love this, “but,” he said, “I press towards the mark” (cf. Php. 3:14). He had not yet reached the goal but he was on the path. What path was he on? The path of obedience.

Likewise, Peter said that our lives should be characterized by obedience to the truth (1 Pet. 1:22). We must walk a path of obedience. If we want to engage in a real battle with sin, we must set our course, day-by-day, moment-by-moment, one step at a time, on a path of obedience.

At first it seems hard and the progress seems slow, but stay with it and eventually you will become habitually obedient. If you stay on the path that God has laid out in His Word, that path will lead you to grow in grace, to renew the inward man day-by-day, and you’ll train yourself towards godliness. Continue Reading »