No, not me. Really! This past Sunday night a man approached me after the service and wanted to ask a question. Andrew is a Vietnam veteran and lives in a "comfort house" near where we meet. A comfort house is a place for veterans in need of temporary housing. His question: "Do you use wine in communion?" When I told him no he was relieved since he is in recovery from alcohol abuse. We observe the Lord's Supper weekly and have those participating leave their seats and come forward for the bread and cup. Since he hadn't been sure if we used wine he had not participated.  He told me that now he would observe communion with us. It was interesting because what to use in the Lord's Supper had been a subject of pre-launch discussion among the leadership team. Frankly, we leaned toward using wine as did the church for almost 1900 years until "physician and dentist Thomas Bramwell Welch and his son Charles processed the first bottles of 'unfermented wine' to use during their church's communion service."

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One major challenge in gathering support for church planting will be to find churches willing to support you without demanding that you dot all their i's or cross their t's. Frankly we haven’t found many yet in the circles I have frequented. It can be discouraging. You may be tempted to find another circle. Certainly supporting churches should expect doctrinal compatibility. Yet for many churches you won't have the right music, the right translation, the right standards, the right associations, support the right schools or mission boards, too many or not enough TULIP points, or not hold to all the eschatological details to which many established churches are committed.

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How do you determine where to plant a church? Sometimes there are circumstances which dictate where you go as the Lord leads. In 1982 when I finished seminary there was an opportunity in Philadelphia to start a church with a handful of believers who really wanted a church or at least said they did. Many from the original group didn't stay long. They wanted something but weren't sure what they wanted. At the time, as a recent know-it-all seminary graduate, I probably did my share in driving some people away who might've stayed if I had been wiser and less autocratic, if I had listened more and spoken less, if I didn't have to be right all the time.

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Dear Matt:

My support of the direction of NIU expressed in your open letter may not matter to you and in the minds of some would not be helpful to you since I am no longer considered a fundamentalist or separatist by many, neither do I care to be known as such using their parameters. I find the descriptors unwieldy and they no longer encapsulate what I want to say biblically or how I want to be known. I've known you since our basketball days at BJU (you were by far the better player) and I appreciate your faithfulness over the years, your pursuit of truth, and your willingness to follow Scripture where it leads you. You are in a difficult situation, in the public eye, and with a constituency you have more challenges than most. In my case, as a relatively obscure church planter, I have to keep fewer people happy and as long as the Lord is pleased, my wife is happy with me, and I have a few steadfast friends, by God’s grace I hope to survive the assaults. For you as the leader of an institution there is more at stake. You have been called naive and worse. It’s easy to see that in others especially by those who have never been in leadership positions where critical decisions and paradigm shifts need to be made. I’m convinced, having had conversations with friends in ministry, that many stay fixed in a previously established position because it is safe even if they have doubts about where they are and what they believe.

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The Gospel and the City in Genesis is part of a series of short articles written by my brother John on his blog, the gospel first. He has now reached chapter 21 in the series which you can find here. I think it is an outstanding series but do not claim to be objective. See for yourself. Here's a quote from the blog on Genesis 21. 

          "Believers who live in urban centers perhaps are more aware of an ‘Abraham-like’ longing for that eternal city, as they experience the antithesis to that eternal city. Often the retreat to the suburbs is motivated by the pursuit of the ‘good life,’ a taste of heaven on earth. This retreat is often an escape from sin and its consequences rather than a calling of God to be ministers of mercy in a world that needs Jesus. Many believers in the suburbs already possess the ‘city’ they’ve longed for and have settled down quite comfortably with only a faint longing or memory of the continuing city whose builder and maker is God."

Living in the city will cost you in many ways. One item I had not figured into my budget was parking tickets and red light fines from cameras placed at intersections. I lived ten years in the suburbs and can’t remember paying a parking ticket. I’m making up for it now. I am guilty of violating city ordinances and have paid several fines already. It's funny that you can know which intersections have cameras, but still run the light which rewards you with a $100 ticket. At least there are no points involved to affect your insurance unless you are pulled over and ticketed by a police officer. After my last red light ticket I put a Police Clergy frame on my rear plate (we only have rear plates in PA). Since the camera takes a photo of your plate maybe that will help the next time, if there is a next time. At a hearing this morning to contest a parking ticket I was told there is a city ordinance forbidding you to park in front of any driveway, even your own, a garage my brother and I rent for our Harleys (they are ministry tools to provide therapy). When I kindly requested a copy of the ordinance or ordinance number I was told they didn’t have it but it could be found online. I’m still looking. You can fight city hall but usually it's a losing battle. The city really needs the money.

One of the questions most asked by prospective church planters is “How do you finance a church plant?” Before I offer any thoughts in the days to come, here’s a caveat. Normally it takes a lot of things to plant a church including money and lots of it. However, don’t expect that everyone who enthusiastically promises support will actually come through with support for the church plant. This is one of the great disappointments you will face. And yes I’m speaking from personal experience. Some churches, pastors, and individuals will promise support and you will never see a dime. You will be tempted at times to say in haste with the Psalmist “All mankind are liars” (Psalm 116:11). Of course there will be changed circumstances which will prevent those who meant well from acting on their well-meaning. Don’t try to figure it out. Don’t be bitter. But don’t go to the bank with every promise made for support. Look to the Lord to provide and be ready to look for a job.  God may provide in unusual ways that weren’t part of your strategic plan. He may raise up a few faithful friends and churches to pray and give who really have a heart for church planting.

I’m at ETS in Atlanta this week and enjoying the time of theological reflection and seeing old friends. Over 2500 registered. It may be the largest ever for ETS. The theme this year is Justification by Faith. Wednesday night Tom Schreiner spoke on the subject in critiquing N. T. Wright’s views. Wright speaks on Friday morning. One of the sessions I sat in on Wednesday was “Creation: Intertextual Issues Relating to the Exegesis of Genesis 1.”  Bruce Waltke was one of the presenters. Others on the panel were Averbeck (Trinity), McCabe (Detroit) and Collins (Covenant) a cross section of views. Waltke suggests that Genesis 1:1-2 may represent a period before the “good” creation when there was darkness and water – symbols of chaos, where there was “surd” evil (as opposed to moral evil) and animal and plant death. In the question time, he affirmed his belief in an historic Adam and commitment to inerrant Scripture. Agree or disagree he provides food for thought. If you can find his essay online it would be an interesting read.

Mark Dever raised a ruckus last year over his statement that "you are in sin if you lead your congregation to have a statement of faith that requires a particular millennial view.” I would not put it in those terms although I agree on the non-necessity of having a particular millennial view in a church doctrinal statement. I’m not suggesting watering down doctrine. I have a millennial view.  But should prospective church members be required to agree with my view in order to join the church or is this an area where disagreement is acceptable? A church and its pastor(s) may believe and teach many more things than those included in a church’s doctrinal statement. Church planters should carefully think through what they want to enshrine in the church’s statement of faith. They might consider a two-tiered statement – what the church believes and teaches and what is required for church membership. Here’s what we have adopted at Grace Church.

If you are wondering what role early churches had in influencing culture and social structures, you might find helpful this quote from Tim Keller's presentation at Lausanne. And maybe we should ask ourselves: How should we offer "charity and hope" to the homeless and impoverished as the early churches did in urban centers? Or should we?  Or only hope but no charity?  How did the early church understand its mission? Is it possible that at times we are held captive to our modern era with memory of a failed social gospel and fears of repeating that mistake, then think we have gone back to the New Testament in affirming a stance on or against issues of social justice, and need to hear how early Christians understood the implications of the gospel?

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