July 2018 – Page 4

Sin ensnares another high profile pastor

Posted on July 3, 2018 by elizabethprata

I’m very sorry to have to report this. Art Azurdia, elder at Trinity Church of Portland (OR) and frequent speaker at high-profile conferences such as The Shepherds’ Conference, has fallen.

He admitted to a sexually inappropriate relationship with a woman outside their church, and in fact admitted to a previous inappropriate sexual relationship also. The elders of Trinity Church, as biblically commanded, removed Art from leadership. Short statement below.

A Statement regarding Art Azurdia from the elders of Trinity Church of Portland
July 2, 2018 by Thomas Terry
Category: Trinity Church Announcement
On Sunday, June 24, the elders of Trinity Church of Portland received an accusation that Art Azurdia has been in a sexually immoral relationship with a woman from outside of Trinity Church. The elders of Trinity Church, after an initial investigation, confronted Art with the accusation. Art admitted to the immorality. He also admitted to a previous sexually immoral relationship. Based on these facts and the biblical qualifications required of an elder (1 Timothy 3, Titus 1), the elders have removed Art Azurdia as Senior Minister of Word and Worship at Trinity Church, as an elder, and from all pastoral ministry at Trinity Church. We grieve the shame this brings to the Gospel and the sorrow it brings to God’s people.

Sometimes when I get up in the morning and turn on Facebook and Twitter, I sigh because I know that it’s like putting your face into a buzz saw. Seeing posts like the one from Trinity hurts. I hurt for Art and for the woman and for their church and for all of us. The last sentence mentioning the shame to the Gospel and the grief it brings to God’s people is apt.

But as tempting as it is to turn turtle and ignore all that is going on, it’s important not to. Sin lurks. Sin crouches, waiting to have you, and me. We have to be vigilant, and unfortunate incidents like this remind us that it can and DOES happen every day to anyone.

We can’t ignore these things because it’s a call to action. Pray for YOUR pastor and elders and teachers. Often I am so fervent in praying for the right doctrine to enter my elders’ minds and come out in their teaching that I forget to pray for them morally too.

Paul warned Timothy,

Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:16).

This sentence from the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary restating Calvin sums it up:

The two requisites of a good pastor: His teaching will be of no avail unless his own life accord with it; and his own purity of life is not enough unless he be diligent in teaching [Calvin]

We need Jesus every hour. All of us.

prophecy, theology

Speaking up for prophetic scriptures

Posted on July 2, 2018 by elizabethprata

They used to say that the Puritan preachers were so heavenly minded they lived in heaven 6 days a week and came down on Sunday to preach. I don’t think it could be said that the Puritans gained biblical knowledge for knowledge’s sake and failed to apply it. In my opinion, the more you study the Bible, including prophecy, the more you want to apply it. Why study prophecy? Aside from the fact that we are commanded to? (Mark 13:37)

I study prophecy because –

–it is part of the Bible, God’s revelation of Himself through holy inspired word
–it is commanded (See above)
–it instills in me an urgency to live righteously and to witness. We don’t study just for the information and go our way. It has to affect our Christian walk, just as any scripture does.
–it’s beautiful
–It comforts me to think of these things being fulfilled:

“In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Micah 4:1-2).

If you are driving in a fogbank, you get disoriented. You slow down. You look carefully. You are on high alert. You see a fogline at the edge and you know how far to go.

When in the fog you look for distinct landmarks, but the fog may be so heavy you don’t see them unless they are large or unless they are close. Eventually you start to emerge from the fogbank and you can see more clearly, landmarks near and far. The Bible in all its glories clear the mind and allow us to see with a Christian worldview. The more we study all of it, the clearer our minds become.

It’s sad that many people avoid studying prophecy because they think it’s isn’t a worthy part of the canon…or they don’t know how (as if the prophetic scriptures are less or more challenging than the scriptures of Law or Poetry or History), or it causes arguments.

Again, why study prophecy? Observing and studying not just for knowledge but
–to learn the entire sweep and scope of God’s promises,
–to instill a wonder at His sovereign hand from beginning to end
–to create in us an urgency so as to live righteously and to share boldly
–to be encouraged

A good commentary can help. Also a good study Bible. James Montgomery Boice preached well through the prophetic books that most preachers don’t pay attention to, such as Haggai, Daniel, Amos, and the like.

What a glorious prophetic future we have to look forward to:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place[a] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. (Revelation 21:1-3).

prophecy

theology, word of the week

Word of the week: Sanctification

Posted on July 1, 2018July 8, 2018 by elizabethprata

The thread of Christianity depends on a unity from one generation to the next of mutual understanding of our important words. Hence the Word of the Week.

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Justification is the moment that God declares us not guilty and imputes His righteousness to our account. It takes but a moment. It only takes as long as it takes the Judge to bang his gavel.

Sanctification takes the rest of our life on earth. Justification is a declaration, sanctification is a process.

Short version:

Literally refers to the process of setting something apart for a sacred purpose. In Christian theology, it denotes a doctrine concerned with the gradual purification from sin in the life of the believer and a progressive spiritual growth toward Christlikeness. ~The Lexham Glossary of Theology.

Longer version:

SANCTIFICATION Refers broadly to the concept of being set apart as sacred. In Gen 2:3, God “sanctified” the seventh day, meaning He set it apart as sacred. In Leviticus, Yahweh tells the entire people of Israel to maintain being sanctified (Lev 11:44–45). This aspect of the concept of sanctification is closely related to holiness and biblical regulations for maintaining purity.

The New Testament similarly reflects the idea that followers of Christ have been sanctified or set apart as a result of Christ’s holiness (Acts 20:32; 26:18; 1 Cor 1:30; 2 Thess 2:13). This idea that Christians have been made holy before God through their faith in Christ is related to justification. In Christian theology, a distinction is sometimes made between justification and sanctification where justification refers to having saving faith and sanctification refers to the process of gradual purification from sin and progressive spiritual growth that should mark the life of the believer.

This doctrine of sanctification draws on New Testament passages that emphasize a move toward holy and righteous living that characterizes following Christ in faith (1 Thess 4:3–8; Rom 6:19–22). ~The Lexham Bible Dictionary.

Bullet version, with verses:

1. Is separation to the service of God. Ps 4:3; 2 Co 6:17.
2. Effected by
a. God. Eze 37:28; 1 Th 5:23; Jude 1:1.
b. Christ. Heb 2:11; 13:12.
c. The Holy Spirit. Ro 15:16; 1 Co 6:11.
3. In Christ. 1 Co 1:2.
4. Through the atonement of Christ. Heb 10:10; 13:12.
5. Through the word of God. Joh 17:17, 19; Eph 5:26.
6. Christ made, of God, to us. 1 Co 1:30.
7. Saints elected to salvation through. 2 Th 2:13; 1 Pe 1:2.
8. All saints are in a state of. Ac 20:32; 26:18; 1 Co 6:11.
9. The Church made glorious by. Eph 5:26, 27.
10. Should lead to
a. Mortification of sin. 1 Th 4:3, 4.
b. Holiness. Ro 6:22; Eph 5:7–9.
11. Offering up of saints acceptable through. Ro 15:16.
12. Saints fitted for the service of God by. 2 Ti 2:21.
13. God wills all saints to have. 1 Th 4:3.
14. Ministers
a. Set apart to God’s service by. Jer 1:5.
b. Should pray that their people may enjoy complete. 1 Th 5:23.
c. Should exhort their people to walk in. 1 Th 4:1, 3.
15. None can inherit the kingdom of God without. 1 Co 6:9–11.
16. Typified. Ge 2:3; Ex 13:2; 19:14; 40:9–15; Le 27:14–16.

~Torrey, R. A. (2001). The new topical text book: A scriptural text book for the use of ministers, teachers, and all Christian workers.

4. Propitiation
3. Immanence
2. Transcendence
1. Justification