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If you have spent some time attending a Reformed church, like Oak Hills, or have taken time to read theology from a Reformed background, like R.C. Sproul, you have most likely heard people speak about covenant theology. In some conversations, covenant theology may even sound like some special key for unlocking the meaning of Scripture. J.I. Packer has argued that covenant theology is a way of reading the whole Bible. Is this emphasis on covenant theology created by man to promote a certain theological reading of the Bible or does it spring from the Scriptures themselves? I believe the evaluation must begin with what the Bible teaches about God’s relationship with humans. In Isaiah 55:8-9 God says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” This speaks about an incredible gulf between the Creator and the creature. How can a creature ever, on his own accord, bridge that gulf in understanding his Creator? Paul uses this point as an avenue for worship when he extols, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” (Rom. 11:33-34). The gulf between Creator and creature does not even begin to take into consideration the chasm created by sin. David states in Psalm 5:4, “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.” John uses the metaphors of light and darkness to make the same point, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 Jn. 1:5). God is “holy, holy, holy” and “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” Who are we to ever presume to have a blessed relationship with our holy Creator? There are ontological and moral barriers between us and God. And we, as sinful creatures, can do nothing about it. ... Keep Reading

For the last couple of weeks, I have been sharing about my sense of God’s calling on my life. The first is to shepherd the flock of Oak Hills to faithfully follow Christ and live for his kingdom. The second is to proclaim the riches of God’s grace, especially to those unfamiliar with the concept of grace. For the kingdom. Get the Word out. These reflections are one of the results from my sabbatical. While I was in seminary there was a discussion about longevity in pastoral ministry. One of the professors used an analogy that has stuck with me ever since. He described pastoral ministry as trying to guide people across a swampy, miry lake. On the other side of the lake is eternal life in the presence of Christ. While navigating the lake, there are many obstacles and hinderances that can swallow up people in unbelief. The calling of the pastor is to build gospel platforms in the midst of the lake for people of faith to find refuge from the mire and muck. The struggle for the pastor, however, is that while he labors in the muck and mire, even he can lose sight of the big picture, the goal. The professor pressed the analogy one step further. He said the pastor needs to get out of the lake at regular intervals and rest on the dock. This “dock time” is for reflection and refocus on the callings and aims of pastoral ministry and provides the pastor clarity and strength to persevere in his calling. This sabbatical this summer was “dock time” for me and offered me time to reflect on God’s callings on my life. ... Keep Reading

For the last couple of weeks, I have been sharing about my sense of God’s calling on my life. The first is to shepherd the flock of Oak Hills to faithfully follow Christ and live for his kingdom. The second is to proclaim the riches of God’s grace, especially to those unfamiliar with the concept of grace. For the kingdom. Get the Word out. Before I share about the third and final calling, I want to use this space to talk specifically about church planting. A couple weeks ago the elders invited Ted Powers to visit Oak Hills for the weekend. For over four decades, Ted has been involved with church planting. He has served as the coordinator for church planting with Mission to North America and presently serves as the Director of the Midwest Alliance, a group focused on supporting church planting. Ted met with the elders on Friday evening and Saturday morning to lead us through a Primer on Church Planting seminar. Church planting is one avenue to live “for the kingdom” and “get the Word out.” Ever since I arrived thirteen years ago, I have desired to see Oak Hills involved in church planting. The elders have shared that desire with the congregation over the years as a long-term goal. To be honest, however, we have done nothing over the years to move that goal from the “long-term” category to an actuality. Furthermore, we have not had any clear idea of what it would look like for Oak Hills to be involved with church planting. Therefore, we decided to invite Ted, who has extensive experience in church planting, to meet with us and walk us through the process of church planting. ... Keep Reading

Last week I started to share about my sense of God’s calling on my life. This is the one of the fruits of my sabbatical, as I took time to reflect on what God has equipped and gifted me to focus on. I was ordained for gospel ministry fifteen years ago. My sense of calling has not changed much over these years. This time of reflection, however, has provided me the opportunity to refine my focus on God’s call on me. I shared last week that my first calling is to shepherd the flock of Oak Hills to faithfully follow Christ and live for his kingdom. I summarize this calling with the shorthand, “for the kingdom.” I want to live for the kingdom. I want you to live for the kingdom. I want Oak Hills to expend all its ministry efforts and energies for the kingdom of Christ. The second calling I sense on my life is to proclaim the riches of God’s grace, especially to those unfamiliar with the concept of grace. Here is another way I have articulated this: provide excellent and clear teaching of the Reformed faith especially for those not from a Reformed background. ... Keep Reading

As part of my sabbatical this summer, I took time to reflect on God’s calling on my life. I wrote fifteen years ago, “God has given me a passion to communicate the fullness of the glory of the gospel of Christ so that people would be passionate in living for Christ in their local community and throughout the world, drawing others to the beauty of the gospel. I desire to be used by God to build up and equip his saints for the work of ministry and to mentor and train future leaders of his church.” I am thankful to be able to say that my sense of calling has not really changed over these years. The challenge, however, is maintaining a focus on and commitment to one’s calling. As the old adage says, “Keep the main thing, the main thing.” There are many things in our day to day lives that can distract us from the chief priorities to which God calls us. Therefore, we all need times to reflect and reevaluate our callings and our use of time. Coming back from my sabbatical, I have refined my sense of call into three areas. I want to share these with my church family over the next few weeks, because they, Lord willing, will shape what we do at Oak Hills. First, I am called to shepherd the flock of Oak Hills to faithfully follow Christ and be used for the kingdom. The primary means to accomplish this aim is to proclaim the fullness of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. ... Keep Reading

As we study our way through the book of Genesis on Sunday mornings at Oak Hills, I am addressing some common questions here in the Touchpoint. Last week I addressed the question about the historicity of Genesis and the Old Testament. In a nutshell, we considered what Jesus said and believed about the Old Testament. Jesus accepted that the Old Testament was historically true, inspired by God, and authoritative. Today, let’s address the question of the profitability of studying the Old Testament. There are Christians, even prominent Christian leaders, who have said followers of Christ do not need the Old Testament today. Underneath this claim is bad theology. Those who ignore the Old Testament believe that the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament or that God dealt with people in a very different manner in the OT versus the NT. They would believe that Jesus initiated a new era of God’s work and everything prior to Jesus has become irrelevant. Let me start with the apostle Paul’s statement about the Old Testament. He says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Keep in mind that when Paul wrote this letter in the mid 60s, the New Testament was not complete, nor had it been collected together into a single document. Paul’s letters were brought together and circulated by the end of the 1st century, but in his lifetime there was no such thing as a “New Testament.” So, when Paul says, “All Scripture…” he is speaking about the known Scriptures of the time, which we call the Old Testament. Paul says the OT is profitable and needed to equip each of us for every good work. In the prior verse, Paul says the OT is able to make one “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (v. 15). We would be foolish to dismiss Paul’s affirmation of the Old Testament. ... Keep Reading

As we study our way through the book of Genesis on Sunday mornings at Oak Hills, there are several questions that swirl in the background. Is this true history or is it just myth or legend? Should we receive Genesis as the inerrant word of God? Is the study of Genesis profitable for New Testament followers of Christ? Many in this age of skepticism question the historicity and trustworthiness of Genesis and, even, the whole Bible. Even some Christians have made public statements that followers of Christ do not need the Old Testament. How should we respond? Let made address the trustworthiness and historicity of Genesis today. Some of the most common questions about Genesis relate to whether or not Adam and Eve were real people, the dating of the events, and the historicity of a global flood. Many of these questions have been spurred on by the scientific revolution over the last few centuries. The premise has been that the Bible cannot be reconciled with science. Now, I will not use this space to explain how the Bible and science can be reconciled. There are many scholars who have addressed this issue much more ably than me. I believe another underlining issue for the doubts about Genesis comes back to authority. What authority will we submit to and believe when wrestling with questions about the Bible? On what, or whom, will our faith, or beliefs, about the Bible rest? I want us to rest in none other than Jesus Christ. What Jesus believes about the Old Testament, and Genesis specifically, should carry the most weight in our assessment of the Bible. So, what did Jesus believe about the Old Testament? ... Keep Reading

One of the books I read during sabbatical was Select Letters of John Newton. Newton is the author of the well-loved hymn, Amazing Grace, and ministered as a pastor in England during the late 18th century. These brief letters are packed with deep, practical, pastoral, and biblical wisdom. Three of his letters address the topic of the “progressive work of grace.” Newton explains how grace works in the life of an individual, from the first introduction of grace to the continual growth in grace as a mature follower of Christ. The last two weeks we looked at the first two letters, where Newton considered the initial work of grace in a new believer’s life and how grace works in a growing Christian’s life. Let’s consider the third letter where Newton addresses the ongoing work of grace in a mature Christian’s life. Newton has said that a new Christian is marked by desire and a growing Christian is marked by conflict. Grace works through these circumstances to deepen one’s distrust of self and one’s faith in Christ. According to Newton, the third state of grace, in the life of a mature Christian, is marked by contemplation. “His great business is to behold the glory of God in Christ; and by beholding, he is changed into the same image, and brings forth in an eminent and uniform manner the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. His contemplations are not barren speculations, but have a real influence, and enable him to exemplify the Christian character to more advantage, and with more consistence, than can in the present state of things be expected either from the new Christian or growing Christian” (p. 15-16). This work of grace in contemplating the glory of God in Christ, according to Newton, produces three notable character qualities. ... Keep Reading

One of the books I read during sabbatical was Select Letters of John Newton. Newton is the author of the well-loved hymn, Amazing Grace, and ministered as a pastor in England during the late 18th century. These brief letters are packed with deep, practical, pastoral, and biblical wisdom. Three of his letters address the topic of the “progressive work of grace.” Newton explains how grace works in the life of an individual, from the first introduction of grace to the continual growth in grace as a mature follower of Christ. Last week we looked at the first letter, where Newton considered the initial work of grace in a new believer’s life. This week let’s consider the second letter where Newton addresses the work of grace in a growing Christian’s life. According to Newton, a growing Christian is marked by two characteristics: assurance and conflict. Assurance is when the believer is “brought to rest in Jesus, by a spiritual apprehension of his complete suitableness and sufficiency, as the wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption of all who trust in him” (p. 8). Before we question the authenticity of our faith due to the lack of assurance, Newton explains, “There are various degrees of this persuasion; it is of a growing nature, and is capable of increase so long as we remain in this world” (p. 8). So, assurance grows by God’s grace in the life of a believer as he grows in his apprehension of the sufficiency of Christ. ... Keep Reading

One of the books I read during sabbatical was Select Letters of John Newton. Newton is the author of the well-loved hymn, Amazing Grace, and ministered as a pastor in England during the late 18th century. These brief letters are packed with deep, practical, pastoral, and biblical wisdom. Three of his letters address the topic of the “progressive work of grace.” Newton explains how grace works in the life of an individual, from the first introduction of grace to the continual growth in grace as a mature follower of Christ. I found these letters incredibly insightful and helpful for those of us who are seeking to grow in grace. I want to share some of these insights over the next three weeks. In his first letter, Newton considers the first work of grace in the life of an individual. He begins by reflecting on Jesus’ words in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” The first work of God’s grace in our lives is to draw us to Christ. This drawing is the work of the Holy Spirit, awakening in our hearts and minds an apprehension of the goodness of Christ. In the state of sin, we are blinded from seeing Christ as good (see 2 Cor. 4:4-6). We need this initial work of grace to draw us to Christ. ... Keep Reading