Contents

The Case for Short-Term Missions

David P. Nakhla

Serving for the Selfie?

T. Nathan Trice

Reflections on My Service with the CDM

Lendall H. Smith

Diaconal Wisdom from Diaconal Veterans

Christopher A. Sudlow

Foreign Missions

Providing Medical Care in Nakaale

Christian Education

Reformation Liturgies and Modern Worship

Home Missions

Sharing Christ at a Coffee House

Stewardship

Where Does Your Donation Go?

Prayer Calendar

News

Announcements

New Horizons
in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church
February 2019 • Volume 40, Number 2

© 2019 by The Committee on Christian Education of The Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Editor: Danny E. Olinger

Managing Editor: Judith M. Dinsmore

Editorial Assistant: Diane L. Olinger

Proofreader: Sarah Pederson

Cover Designer: Christopher Tobias
Editorial Board: The Committee on Christian Education’s Subcommittee on Serial Publications

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Articles previously published may have been slightly edited.

New Horizons (ISSN: 0199-3518) is published monthly except for a combined issue in August-September by the Committee on Christian Education of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 607 N. Easton Road, Bldg. E, Willow Grove, PA 19090-2539; tel. 215/830-0900; fax 215/830-0350.

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In late 2018, a group from Iglesia Presbiteriana Reformada del Caribe in San Juan, Puerto Rico, distributed Bibles to neighbors as part of their Hurricane Maria disaster response ministry. In two hours, they distributed two hundred Bibles. On the far right is elder Angel Carrasquillo; elder Jaime Zapata is to his left.

The Case for Short-Term Missions

David P. Nakhla

When someone asks you to consider a short-term mission trip, you may immediately think of the reasons not to go. “I don’t have anything to offer,” you may respond. Or perhaps, “There are others much more qualified to go.” Maybe you have limited vacation time, or maybe you just don’t think you’re the adventurous type. Perhaps you’re not sure that a short-term mission trip would be the best use of your funds.

Ministry team from Living Hope Presbyterian and Ketoctin Covenant Presbyterian at the Boardwalk Chapel, summer 2018

The many reasons not to participate come readily to our minds. And they certainly may be legitimate. However, if you have never actually participated in a short-term mission trip, you may not be aware of the reasons why you should go. In an attempt to allow you to weigh both sides of such a decision, let me make the case for participating in a short-term mission trip.

While on the Trip

Short-term missions will stretch you in good and healthy ways. You are likely to make friends both on your team and on the field.

If the believers you meet on your short-term mission trip speak a different language, you might be given the rich opportunity of hearing in worship the doxology, Gloria Patri, or Apostle’s Creed resound in your ears in Czech, Japanese, or Luganda—giving you a glimpse of the day when “a great multitude ... from all tribes and people and languages” join together in worship of the Lamb (Rev. 7:9).

You might discover gifts and interests that you didn’t previously realize you had. Who knew you would love working with children so much? Who knew you were gifted with the ability to quickly pick up everyday phrases in a new language?

Nakhla (far right) on a short-term trip to Ukraine in 2014

Many short-term missions opportunities are evangelistic in nature; you may be challenged in the defense of your faith or be required to articulate it. You may also see the Lord grab hold of someone’s heart and change his or her life. I saw this first-hand in Ukraine in 2014 when I served as a part of the English Camp team. My teammates and I witnessed the Lord work in one participant’s life and were able to hear her profess a credible testimony of faith by the end of our time there.

Be careful: short-term missions can also have the effect of planting seeds for future missionaries. A number of OP pastors and foreign missionaries sensed a call to service or the pastorate while on a short-term trip. Could it be that the Lord would use this time to give you a taste for full-time ministry?

Here’s another reason to consider a short-term trip. Although I’m always cautious about putting hopes too high on this one, it might just be that the Lord would use a short-term mission trip to introduce you to the love of your life as you spend weeks with other like-minded individuals. I know that some of our mission fields have a running list of the couples who met on that field. And, I’ll share with you a little-known secret: I met my wife on a short-term mission trip to Mexico in 1992!

Sometimes short-term missionaries are criticized as being just “vacationaries.” While I don’t promote participation in short-term missions for the primary purpose of seeing new places, it can be a wonderful blessing to see a part of the world that you might not otherwise choose to visit. I doubt that Uganda or Haiti are at the top of the list of tourist destinations for most people, for example, but these countries have a wonderful beauty that is unique to their land and people, enhancing the rich memories of time spent there.

Finally, short-term missions offer an opportunity to use gifts and abilities in ways that are much more kingdom-oriented than our common daily work. A short-term mission trip offers a refreshing opportunity to focus, with your spouse, your children, or your friends, on what we profess to believe but can quickly overlook in the busy-ness of our everyday activities: the call to love neighbors as ourselves.
Similarly, skilled volunteers, who may not think twice about the “ordinary” skills and tools that they lend to rebuilding homes after a disaster, are truly a tremendous witness and blessing to traumatized homeowners and their neighbors.

Back Home

When you return, you may find your prayers and ministry enriched. Maybe the Lord will grow you in zeal and concern for the labors of those on the front lines—OP church planters laboring long and hard to gather and grow a core group, or OP foreign missionaries struggling with the challenges of life in a foreign land.

Let’s not forget that we only send short-term workers to places where they are specifically requested. So, to serve in a short-term capacity is to fill a need raised by those working on the front lines. Those who serve short-term go as reinforcements to augment the long-term efforts of our full-time laborers. Short-term missions are a unique opportunity to respond, as Isaiah did, “Here I am, send me!” (Is. 6:8).

English for Kids Bible Camp Team from the Presbytery of New York and New England

in St. Georges, Quebec, summer 2018

Short-term missionaries sprinkled throughout our denomination are also a wonderful encouragement to our missionaries when they are home on furlough visiting churches. One familiar face in the crowd can be such a sight for sore eyes.

While on the field, you might also become aware of a specific need that you could assist in filling once you are back home. For example, one short-termer to Haiti noticed that the difficult terrain on the island of La Gonâve demands a durable vehicle. Knowing of a Kawasaki Mule stateside that was not in use, the short-termer later facilitated its donation to the Hopp family. For the past ten years, the Hopps have been driving the vehicle around La Gonâve. This gift was a wonderful by-product of a short-term mission trip!

When you come across short-term mission opportunities and think of the many reasons why they might not be right for you, please also try to remember some of the many reasons to participate. While it is true that short-term missions don’t fit into every person’s life—maybe you’re reading this with a baby on your lap, or while recuperating from an injury—I do hope that those of you who have only considered them lightly will now feel challenged to consider them more seriously in the years ahead.

The author is Short-Term Missions and Disaster Response Coordinator for the OPC.

Serving for the Selfie?

T. Nathan Trice

Compassion is cool these days. During the last “Giving Tuesday,” Facebook and PayPal partnered to match personal charitable donations. According to a spokesman for Facebook, “within a matter of seconds,” the match limit had been reached: Americans had contributed $7 million.

We are comparatively generous with our time as well. The US government estimates that 25 percent of Americans volunteer time for charitable causes at an average of fifty hours per year, particularly for collecting and distributing food to the poor. Giving and serving on behalf of the needy is widely valued in our society, and as Christians we should be glad for this.

The Pitfall of Pride

But the sheer popularity of showing compassion also creates complexities for Christians seeking to minister to the poor in a Christ-honoring way. In a society like ours, the motive of self-promotion can easily enter into otherwise noble acts of service. The pride of the Pharisees, who practiced their righteousness “before other people in order to be seen by them” (Matt. 6:1), is a real temptation for every Christian who engages in something that both the church and the culture value and admire. Especially on social media, our ministry to the needy has never been more easily turned into a way of grooming our image or promoting our personal brand. Our service quickly becomes service only for the selfie.

How, then, are Christians to heed the admonition of our Lord: “When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret” (Matt. 6:3–4)? What does that mean for our efforts, individually and collectively, to minister to the poor?

The sheer prevalence of ignoble motives in ministry could give some of us a convenient justification for neglecting generosity and service. We might find ourselves so averse to the mere “do-goodism” of much of our culture that we fall into thinking that no service is better than hypocritical service. But this is an alternative that our Lord will not allow. In the very context of rebuking the Pharisees for their grandstanding forms of benevolence, he says to his disciples, “When you give to the needy,” signaling here—as everywhere—that all true disciples will indeed have a heart for helping the poor. Withholding our time and money from the needy is not an option, no matter how dubious the motives or methods of many around us.

I would offer the following simple suggestions to those who are rightly “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14), but who are conscientious about avoiding the spiritual exhibitionism of the Pharisees and their modern-day
equivalents.

Avoid Attention

When taking opportunities to serve, avoid the awareness of others as much as possible.

When Jesus says, “do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,” he’s certainly using a vivid illustration of secrecy. It would take some pretty careful and clever effort for one hand to “hide” something from its twin. Surely there is hyperbole here, but we need to appreciate our Lord’s point. He is calling his disciples to steer in the opposite direction of the Pharisees, who sought to gain as much attention and admiration as possible by their good deeds. Jesus is encouraging his disciples to fight the “photo-op” motive for doing good by a simple and sensible route: seeking intentionally to minimize others’ awareness of our good deeds. When we serve in ways that we never expect others to be aware of, we best preserve ourselves from spiritual pride.

This needs to be a lifestyle. Instead of ensuring that any service we’ve been involved in inevitably comes up in conversation with others, like someone with the habit of dropping names, we should cultivate a certain amount of reserve. Though we may post without hesitation about the funny things our kids do, a picture of “me at the soup kitchen serving breakfast at 5:00 a.m.” should be deliberately omitted. (In fact, maybe the camera should just stay in our pocket.)

Jesus certainly wants for his disciples to be willing to do their good deeds apart from others’ notice, but I can’t escape the conclusion that he actually wants them to prefer it as a way of guarding their hearts.

Share Only a Little Bit about Yourself

When you are called to share about your service, make it an extension of the ministry itself.

It seems clear, in light of broader biblical teaching, that our Lord’s call for giving to be done “in secret” allows for multiple exceptions. When the apostle Paul became invested in a benevolence project of collecting funds for the saints in Jerusalem, he was eager to spread word of his initiative far and wide (Rom. 15, 1 Cor. 16, 2 Cor. 8). Apparently there are times for making benevolence projects very public, even ones in which we ourselves are involved.

Nathan Trice speaking at the National Diaconal Summit III in June 2017

The Committee on Diaconal Ministries has recognized that not only is it edifying for the churches of the OPC to be made aware of mercy ministry initiatives underway, but that reports with pictures and even videos of such ministry are a potent way of stirring up increased involvement in ministry. Congregations whose short-term mission groups report back to them experience this blessing in a profound way.

How then can we make others aware of our ministry without becoming self-promoting in ways Jesus warns against? I would suggest that we should seek to make our reports of ministry a form of ministry itself. We have probably all heard ministry reports that were as much about the minister as the ministry, but it doesn’t have to be this way. There are many ways of deflecting attention away from ourselves and our service, and toward the great need to be met, the great blessing of taking part in the ministry, and the wonderful ways God is bringing glory to himself through his people. With prayer and preparation, our words about ministry can themselves be a ministry—“to stir up one another to love and good work” (Heb. 10:24), rather than a way to seek recognition for our efforts.

Catch God’s Eye

When serving, be wholly content—even motivated—to be seen and rewarded by God, not others.

It is fascinating to me that our Lord’s warning against doing good in order to be seen by others is not founded on the notion that a deed is only good in proportion to its altruism—that is, only good if it is done with no thought of personal gain. Rather, Jesus says we ought to be motivated by our reward, our personal gain. If his disciples do good to be seen of men, they will have no reward from their Father (Matt. 6:1). Yet, Jesus tells them, if they do their good in secret, “your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (v. 4). Such rewards are gracious and not merited, to be sure, but they are genuine expressions of the Father’s pleasure in his children’s service. And they are part of the reason these beloved children should give to the needy: God sees!

I see this as an appropriate Christian version of an “ulterior motive” in ministry. Of course, the immediate motive is love for our neighbors and a desire for their good. But in all that a Christian does, there is another motive, one that Jesus commends: being “seen by God.” This is not a crass self-love that undermines our acts of love for others. Rather, it is a love for God that complements our love for the needy. It’s the God-honoring desire to be seen as well-pleasing in the sight of the one for whom we do all that Christian obedience requires.

Christians are not supposed to want to be absolutely invisible in their sacrificial service to others. Rather, they are called to be content—indeed, motivated—by the confidence that God sees and rewards such service. In the place of pride, their motive is a faith in God’s watchful eye, a hope that he has a reward for those who do good, and a love for him in it all. We do serve to be seen—not by men, but by our Father in heaven!

In a society where giving and serving are among the most impressive things we can put on our résumé or Twitter feed, let’s be mindful of our Lord’s cautions. But let’s also be mindful of his encouragement. We can’t keep our ministry to the poor secret from God. And he loves what he sees as we follow the example of his Son, who “came not to be served but to serve” (Matt. 20:28).

The author is pastor of Matthews OPC in Matthews, North Carolina, and president of the Committee on Diaconal Ministries.

Reflections on My Service with the CDM

Lendall H. Smith

I have been invited to provide some reflections on my service with the Committee on Diaconal Ministries (CDM). Before my retirement last year, I served the CDM for twelve years, nine of those as president. It was a time of great growth and expansion in the vision of the CDM, a season both challenging and immensely rewarding.

When I was elected to the committee, its members were beginning to consider how the CDM could enhance its service to the church. They understood that the CDM, like the local diaconate, was called to a position of assistance and not prominence, in order to preserve the priority of the church’s ministry of the Word and prayer (Acts 6:3–4). But they were also eager to develop the potential within the committee and to increase its ministry in the denomination. It was an exciting time to take my place among these brothers.

Increasing the Ministry of the CDM

One initial step in those days involved the process for submitting requests for financial assistance to the CDM. The CDM has funds to spend for the relief of individuals, families, or churches in need. However, because the committee met only twice a year, applicants faced significant delays between a request for assistance and the response. Additionally, the process itself was inexact: it was not clear what information the CDM required in order to respond to the requests received.

The committee’s steps to clarify its procedures and policies eventually took the form of a new Operating Manual, a help to current and future members of the committee. The CDM also improved its decision-making capacity by creating subcommittees with specific responsibilities: Aid Requests, Diaconal Training, Ministers and Widows, Missionary Deacons, and Disaster Response.

Desiring to directly encourage local deacons in their ministry, the CDM announced a national summit for deacons in the summer of 2010 at Wheaton College. This was a first for the OPC—and a bold step by the CDM. We were not sure what the interest and attendance would be or how it would be received by the denomination. With thankfulness, we report that it was enthusiastically received and has been followed by two further summits.

Highlights for attendees include fellowship with deacons from across the denomination, inspiration in ministry from gifted and zealous speakers, and practical knowledge gained in workshops on specific diaconal topics. In their post-summit evaluations, deacons have expressed gratitude and enthusiastically offered suggestions for future summits.

The Role of PDCs

In exploring the resources available to local diaconates, the CDM also identified a lack of intentional involvement by many Presbytery Diaconal Committees (PDCs). Indeed, a number of local deacons were not even aware that their presbyteries had a diaconal committee that could be a resource to them!

Smith speaking at National Diaconal Summit III in June 2017

So, along with holding national summits for deacons, the CDM invited members of PDCs throughout the denomination to attend regional summits as well, for the purpose of strengthening their ministries in presbyteries. In these summits, we cast a vision for what the ministry of a PDC could be and explored various practical topics like local disaster relief and ministry to refugees.

In this way, the CDM has sought to reinforce the connection between local deacons and the diaconal committees of the presbyteries. Though there is still work to be done to improve those ties, it has been encouraging to witness greater awareness and collaboration between PDCs and local deacons.

The Obadiah Fund and International Diaconal Ministry

One of my great joys during my years of serving on the CDM was administering the Obadiah Fund, a wonderful financial resource from an anonymous donor for the needs of retired ministers and their widows. In addition to providing for critical needs when they have arisen, that fund has been used to give an annual love gift to retirees in gratitude for their years of sacrificial service. Grateful thank-you notes have related how those gifts have been universally welcome, and on occasion extremely timely, in covering expenses for those on retirement budgets. As I came to the end of my service on the CDM, that delightful ministry was handed off to a newly formed General Assembly Committee, the Committee on Ministerial Care (see “Caring for Ministers in the OPC,” December 2018).

As its resources grew, the CDM was also able to increase its assistance to the Committee on Foreign Missions (CFM). Because some missionary evangelists were spending an inordinate amount of time providing diaconal care, the CDM stepped up its support of OPC missionary deacons. Currently, the CDM partners with the CFM in the support of missionary deacon Mark Van Essendelft and missionary doctor Flip Baardman, both in Karamoja, Uganda.

(From left) David Nakhla, administrator of CDM, Nathan Trice, current president of CDM, and Lendall Smith, former president of CDM, on a trip to Uganda in 2013

Other forms of international diaconal ministry, particularly requests for aid from fields where we have no OPC presence, can be very challenging. Such ministry really calls for an effective
network to provide accurate information and accountability. The needs are great, particularly in areas where the refugee crisis has been most acute. It has been gratifying to see the efforts of the CDM to work with other committees of the OPC, as well as sister denominations, to address this critical situation.

Administrating the CDM

As the work of the CDM expanded, it clearly needed a full-time administrator, an individual dedicated to diaconal ministry and capable of guiding the work of the committee in all these areas. With great joy and thankfulness, we saw the Lord provide us with our present administrator, David Nakhla, a man quite evidently possessed with the spiritual gifts needed for these multiple ministries of the CDM. Without his maturity, organizational skills, and abilities to represent the CDM, I believe the CDM would not have experienced the progress that it has over the past several years.

Indeed, one of my chief delights in serving on the CDM has been the fellowship I’ve enjoyed with all the dedicated brothers elected to the Committee by the General Assembly. The challenges are more manageable when brothers with a common vision work together to solve them. Of course, the CDM needs to continue to improve and develop. But it was personally rewarding to have been given the privilege to be a part of this ministry “in the relief of the saints” (2 Corinthians 8:4), in a season of tremendous growth for the CDM.

The author is a retired minister in the OPC.

What is a Presbytery Diaconal Committee (PDC)?

Each presbytery elects a PDC to serve as a liaison between the denomination’s Committee on Diaconal Ministries (CDM) and the diaconates of local churches. The PDC may help fund needs that exceed the resources of local diaconates, or refer the request to the CDM on their behalf. The PDC may also facilitate communication between local diaconates; offer training and fellowship opportunities; assist congregations that have no local deacons; promote the work of the CDM; and encourage and coordinate participation in diaconal ministry opportunities within the presbytery or denomination, such as disaster response.

Diaconal Wisdom from Diaconal Veterans

Christopher A. Sudlow

What do deacons do? What is their ministry and service? What is required of their calling? Deacons are called to be servants, to be helpful in times of need, to make difficult judgments, to come alongside both saints and unbelievers, and to demonstrate the compassion of Christ our King.

Most of what deacons do is plain and ordinary hard work, done in quiet and behind the scenes, requiring energy and time spent away from their families.

As one deacon put it, deacons need to maintain an attitude of willingness and service, not begrudging the tediousness of the work, but going forward with the heart of Christ toward others. Diaconal work may not be glamorous, but it is glorious.

I reached out to several OPC deacons with fifteen or more years of experience to get their perspective on their work and calling. My interaction with these men was a great encouragement to me, and their wisdom, based on long years of service, was very instructive.

How were you called to be a deacon, and how has that calling influenced your work in the church?

J: Our church utilizes a board of trustees, the majority of whom are deacons, and this board serves as a sort of proving ground for men who wish to become officers. Over time I was able to come alongside others to help in their time of need.

P: I always felt it was important to help people in need before I became a deacon. But once you become a deacon, you are expected to help. You now have a responsibility to others.

What are your highest priorities as a deacon?

C: Being a good listener and prayerfully applying the resources Christ has given his church to help mitigate the circumstances of those in need.

J: To show the compassion of Christ—first to the body of believers, then to the local community, other regions, and countries beyond.

P: Prayer should come first. And, in terms of leadership, engaging members of the congregation in service is also important.

T: Being proactive usually produces better results than being reactive.

What have been your most rewarding experiences as a deacon?

C: Reading thank-you notes from diaconal recipients who give Christ’s church credit for their prayerful concern and help while suffering a season of need and distress.

J: Helping a family through their crisis and watching them become productive servants in the church. The Lord does the work.

P: Members often start to feel better about their place in the church community after they come under the care of the deacons. It’s great to see them interacting with other members, smiling, and contributing, because they now feel like they belong.

T: Spending time with and caring for elderly saints in our church. I have learned to encourage family members to do what they can for those saints, too.

What are your greatest challenges as a deacon?

C: Sorting out true needs from perceived ones, and then applying the appropriate resources that will help and not hurt the situation.

J: There is wide diversity in the people we serve. Distinguishing between helping and enabling in each case is not always easy.

P: In many cases, we have to make sure we aren’t doing things for them, but with them.

T: Trying to discern the truth and how to truly help. I’ve learned that it is okay not to know the right thing to do. The Lord knows.

What advice would you give to young deacons?

C: As you listen, pray, and direct resources from Christ’s church to those in need and distress, allow time for his Spirit to show you how he directs all things for his glory.

J: Sometimes situations feel dramatic and urgent, but you should still stop, breathe, pray, and seek counsel.

P: We tend to wait for people to approach us for assistance, but when a need is clear, being proactive may prevent a bad situation from getting worse. We aren’t trying to direct or correct someone, but to come alongside and help bear a burden or address a problem.

T: Younger men need to recognize the need to serve. I’ve observed a generational change in service. In the past, when someone saw the trash can full, they would simply take it out. Now, however, I don’t see service coming as naturally to young people.

What resources have been the most encouraging to you as a deacon?

J: Official “diaconal training” generally tends towards the theological basis for that role, but practical advice comes only by word-of-mouth from other deacons. Theological training for deacons is solid, but practical training tends to be lacking.

National Diaconal Summit III in Wheaton, IL, June 2017

P: I highly recommend the OPC Diaconal Summits. It is really encouraging to meet and talk with other deacons and learn from each other’s experiences.

T: The book When Helping Hurts, and the OPC Diaconal Summit that was based on that book in 2010, have really helped me to better serve those in need.

If you could change one thing about your local diaconate, what would it be?

C: To be more proactive in extensions of mercy and less occupied with the urgency of the moment.

J: To have sabbaticals. We have a group of very seasoned, tenured deacons. The fervor that once existed has waned, and we need to be refreshed.

P: I’d like to see all of us engaging more with our congregation. Keeping an ongoing log of accomplishments could be useful, too.

T: Encouraging the younger men to see the need to serve, and better equipping them to serve.

***

May we all learn from the wisdom of our deacons, honor and respect them for their work, and uphold them in our prayers.

The author is a deacon at Bethel OPC in Wheaton, Illinois, and member of the Committee on Diaconal Ministries.

Resources for Deacons

Diaconal Ministries Web Page: www.opc.org/committee_dm.html provides contact info, principles of diaconal ministry, financial resources, training materials, suggested reading, and more.

Deacons Facebook Page: Search for “OPC Deacons” on Facebook and request to join. The page is open only to OPC officers in order to ensure privacy and facilitate discussion.

The Mercy Minute: Quarterly newsletter highlights the work of OPC deacons and keeps them informed and encouraged in their labors. Contact David.Nakhla@opc.org to join the email list.

Presbytery Diaconal Committee (PDC): Each presbytery has a PDC that can serve as a liaison between the CDM and local diaconates, provide financial assistance, and promote training, fellowship, and ministry opportunities.

National Summit: The CDM hosts a National Diaconal Summit for all deacons every few years, and covers all expenses except travel. The next one will be in June 2021 in the Chicago area.

ReformedDeacon.com: This website, managed by an OPC deacon, offers an excellent compilation of readings on the work of the Reformed diaconate.

Training Videos: Search for “OPC Diaconal Ministries” at Vimeo.com to find a variety of OPC videos useful for diaconal training and encouragement.

Foreign Missions

Providing Medical Care in Nakaale

Flip Baardman, MD

My wife, Anneloes, and I have been in Uganda for ten months. Getting settled and then acclimating to the work took some effort, but I can now say that life here is beginning to run more smoothly.

The dry season started at the beginning of January, and this influences almost every part of life in Karamoja. A big advantage is that the roads are dry, so traveling is not as stressful as it is during the rainy season. And we don’t have to get rid of the accumulated mud on the soles of our shoes at the end of the day.

Dr. Baardman at work at the Akisyon a Yesu Clinic

However, the dust is now getting into every pore of our skin. Each morning, my mouth is so dry that it takes at least two glasses of tea for me to be able to swallow breakfast.

The dry season also greatly influences the daily struggles of our Karimojong neighbors. Especially during Christmas time, people struggle to provide food for their families.

The Work of the Clinic

We expected that the change of season would also bring a change in the number of patients at the clinic. We anticipated that our patient numbers would go down when the dry season began, but they didn’t.

There are several reasons why the number of patients is higher than expected. One is that the surrounding hospitals are lacking medicine, diagnostic tests, and some of the other things that people need for medical care. If a patient or a family has a choice of where to go for their care, they will come to us.

Another reason is that, in general, patients prefer our clinic. Patients come from far away even though there may be adequate clinics nearer to their homes. While our clinic offers them the kind of care that they want, it also gives us an opportunity to share the gospel with many people and show them the compassion of Jesus—the very quality after which our clinic is named.

Collecting patient information

A third factor for the higher-than-expected number of patients is that we hired a midwife. This great improvement in our services has encouraged more mothers to deliver in our clinic instead of in their homes. At the clinic, we can better attend to any complications they might have during delivery, and, afterward, we can encourage them to use good hygiene in the care of their new babies. We can also educate them about other areas of health care and encourage them to get basic immunizations for all of their children.

The hospitals in the surrounding area are not able to offer the same quality of care that we do. Some days, when I refer patients to a nearby hospital, the patients are given all the care that is needed. Other days, I am stunned by how badly the government hospitals are being managed. I think that in many cases, the doctors are doing what they can, but the system is working against them. Due to corruption, the money needed for hospitals, prescription drugs, and other medical supplies, falls into the wrong hands.

Following up on lab work at the clinic

In a large hospital nearby, there is only one doctor and half the time she is not even there. The other day I brought in a patient for an X-ray who had been in a car accident. When I arrived, I looked for the nurse on duty. After thirty minutes, the nurse came, but she was obviously under the influence of alcohol. She told me that the X-ray machine was down.

On the other hand, a couple of weeks ago, a young boy fell off a rock six-and-a-half-feet high, hitting his head on another rock at the bottom. He was brought into our clinic, convulsing and unconscious. He had a large skull fracture, and we were fearful that he would not survive. In God’s providence, we were able to take him to a hospital two-hour’s drive from our mission where the doctors can perform neurosurgery. They operated on him the same day, and when I picked him up a few days later, he was recovering very well.

Life in Karamoja

Trying to connect with the Karimojong can be a challenge. Sometimes Anneloes and I go home with a feeling of joy because we sense we have become closer with some of them. But on other days, the gap seems wider than ever. Despite these ups and downs, we are able to enjoy being brought closer to the patients and also to each of the twenty-eight staff members at the clinic. This is important since we not only work together at the same medical clinic, but also live close to each other and, for many of us, worship together.

To promote relationships, we have restored the football (soccer) field close to the mission. Since the boys from the nearby village previously didn’t have a ball and a field to play on, they now play almost every day until it is too dark to see. When I have time after work, I enjoy playing with them.

Flip, Anneloes, and Loïs Baardman

Since November, Anneloes has taken on new duties in managing much of the financial administration work. Over the next few months, she will be making sure everybody who works for the mission is getting paid every two weeks, and she will be informing all the missionaries about their financial situation.

While we are very thankful to have recently had Anneloes’s family visit us and to anticipate a visit from my family at the beginning of the year, we also thank the Lord for all our loving friends and family in the Lord! Thank you to everyone for all the Christmas cards we received. It is really encouraging to hear that people are praying for us and thinking of us.

Prayer Requests

In your prayers for us, please include the following:

• Praise God for the many patients who come to the clinic and the many opportunities we have to share the gospel.

• Praise God for the amazing ways in which he works.

• Praise God for our little girl, Loïs, who is five months old now and doing very well. She brings so much joy to our lives.

• Pray for difficulties among the staff. We come from different tribes and nations and these differences in cultural backgrounds sometimes give rise to conflict.

• Pray for energy to do the work and for us to always make an effort to seek the best for those we try to serve.

• Pray that the Karimojong people, in all their suffering, may acknowledge Jesus as their Savior and find their hope and comfort in him.

In your prayers for the work of the clinic, remember also this passage from Hebrews:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1–2)

Filippus R. (“Flip”) Baardman, MD, is a medical missionary doctor at Akisyon a Yesu (“Compassion of Jesus”) Presbyterian Clinic with the OP Uganda Mission in Nakaale, Uganda.

Christian Education

Reformation Liturgies and Modern Worship

Terry L. Johnson

The primary benefit of studying Reformation-era liturgies is to help us escape the limitations of our own day. What did our ecclesiastical ancestors think a proper worship service looked like? What were its elements? What was its mood or tone?

Since graduating from seminary, my constant companion has been Bard Thompson’s Liturgies of the Western Church, a veritable gold mine of information about the history of worship to which I have turned again and again. It played an irreplaceable role in the production of Leading in Worship (Johnson, ed., Tolle Lege, 2013, EP Books, 2019) and a lesser but not negligible role in the publishing of Worshipping with Calvin (Johnson, EP Books, 2014).

Reformation Worship: Liturgies from the Past for the Present, edited by Jonathan Gibson and Mark Earngey. New Growth Press, 2018. Hardcover, 736 pages, $59.99.

Now with the publishing of Reformation Worship: Liturgies from the Past for the Present, a second gold mine has been opened. The editors cover some of the same ground as did Thompson (for example, the liturgies of Luther, Farel, Zwingli, Bucer, Cranmer, Knox, Calvin, and the Puritans). Yet its 800 pages take us into liturgical territory that long has been inaccessible, including Diebold Schwarz’s German Mass (1524), Heinrich Bullinger’s Christian Order and Custom (1535), and John à Lasco’s Form and Method (1555). It provides us with heretofore untranslated and inaccessible German, French, Dutch, and Latin liturgies. It also has modernized the English of all twenty-six of the liturgies it presents, updated the punctuation, and reformatted the headings and rubrics. Finally, fresh historical analysis has been provided, and several excellent essays introduce the subject of worship and the scope of the editors’ design.

Giving Perspective on Modern Worship

Let me share a few examples from my own experience of how Reformation-era liturgies can inform present day worship.

When I was a theology student at Trinity College in Bristol, England, daily chapel and weekly communion eventually led to exposure to the communion service confession of sin from the 1662 Prayer Book. The language of that prayer was unsettling for me. “We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness.” Bewail? “Which we most grievously have committed.” Grievously? It references God’s “Divine Majesty,” and his just “wrath and indignation against us.” This was a more serious understanding of God than had ever entered my mind. And it was a more serious view of sin. “We do earnestly repent.” We don’t just repent, we earnestly do so. “And are heartily sorry for these our misdoings,” the “remembrance” of which is “grievous unto us” and the “burden” of which is “intolerable.” This prayer took me to depths into which I had never before journeyed, exposing my superficial view of God, sin, atonement, grace, and worship, and stimulating a desire to mature in faith and knowledge.

For years I have used the liturgies of Calvin, Knox, Cranmer, Westminster, and Baxter on Reformation Sundays with the hopes of similar results for others. Back when I was a barely ordained assistant minister, I used Calvin’s Form on a Sunday evening and was struck by the impact of reading the Law of God in connection with the confession of sin. It altered the whole mood of the service, giving it a weight and solemnity that our typical evening service lacked. Prior to that, we had never read the Commandments as a congregation. Eventually it became a permanent fixture in our Sunday evening services.

The subtitle of Reformation Worship, “Liturgies from the Past for the Present,” indicates that the editors share this goal of informing the present with liturgical riches from the past.

Balance Between Form and Freedom

A second benefit of studying historic Reformed liturgies is that of balance between form and freedom. Aside from the Anglican Book of Church Common Prayer (1552, 1662) and the Palatinate Church Order of 1563, both of which mandated the specific wording of the prayers and transitions between the elements (“the minister shall say”), the Reformed church has always sought this balance. Form was regarded as essential. Examples of prayers were provided in Reformed orders of service. Yet these were not rigidly imposed (“the minister prays this prayer following or such like”). Anglicans might have books both of prayer and of homilies, but the Reformed church from the beginning guarded the freedom of the minister to preach and pray according to the needs of the moment.

According to church historian Philip Schaff, Calvin’s provision for some areas of latitude in leading prayers “opened the inexhaustible fountain of free prayer in public worship, with its endless possibilities of application to varying circumstances and wants.” Charles Baird saw the balance of free prayer and prescribed forms in Calvin’s service as the “peculiar excellence of the Genevan worship.” The concern for balance reached its apex in the Westminster Directory for the Public Worship of God (1648). Examples of prayer were provided as “help and furniture.” Yet room for the development of the gift of prayer was maintained.

Once again, the genius of this balance crystallized for me in the context of actually worshiping. While attending the Buckingham Baptist church in Bristol, England, I was exposed to the prayers of the Reverend Ron Clark. They were unlike anything I had ever heard before. He prayed with urgency, fervor, and scriptural language and allusions. Whereas heretofore, public prayers were merely endured, his were moving. His were spiritually inspiring and edifying. I looked forward each week to his prayers as well as his sermon.

Only later did I learn that the Reformation was as much a revolution in prayer as a revolution in preaching, congregational singing, and the administration of the sacraments. Only later did I learn that the worship of the Reformed church, at its best, combined the strengths of a few fixed forms (for example, the Ten Commandments or the Lord’s Prayer) with free or “studied” or “conceived” prayer. Only later, through exposure to the historic liturgies, did I learn that the Reformed church was committed to what Hughes Old called a “full diet” of biblical prayer: six basic public prayers (praise, confession of sin, thanksgiving, intercession, illumination, benediction) and five-fold intercessions (sanctification of the saints, the church and its ministry, the sick, the civil authorities, and Christian mission around the world). A substantial commitment to public prayer is not a principle that the Reformed church yields to the “liturgical” churches. It is a defining activity of every faithful church. God’s house, Jesus taught, is a house of prayer.

My hope is that exposure to our liturgical past through Reformation Worship will stimulate the kind of transformative impact that I experienced so many years ago. These historic liturgies have the capacity to lift us above the liturgical trivialities of our day. May they be the catalysts for a deeper knowledge of God, of his gospel, and of the worship of which he is worthy.

The author, a minister in the PCA, is senior pastor of Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia.

Our Membership Vows

Sanctification

Glen J. Clary

When God unites us to Jesus Christ by his Holy Spirit, he changes our status from guilty to righteous. We call that change justification. But there is another kind of change that happens to us when we are joined to Christ. Our nature changes from sinful to holy. And that change is called sanctification.

Justification is something that happens outside of us. Sanctification, however, happens inside of us and renovates our nature. Justification removes the guilt and condemnation of sin. Sanctification removes the power and corruption of sin.

Unlike justification, which is an instantaneous act of God, sanctification includes a progressive aspect. It begins when we are first united to Christ, but it does not end until we are in heaven. When we are joined to Christ, God delivers us from the enslaving power of sin, so that sin no longer has dominion over us (Rom. 6:14). From that moment on, it is impossible for us to live in sin (Rom. 6:2). Sin, however, continues to live in us. But through a continuing work of sanctification, God enables us “more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness” (Shorter Catechism Q. 35).

Progressive sanctification takes place gradually. It doesn’t happen all at once. And it is never finished until we are made perfect in holiness in heaven.

Even though our nature is renewed in Christ and sin no longer enslaves us, our new nature is not completely free from the effects of sin. That’s why we still struggle with sin every day. And for the rest of our Christian lives, we must fight against sinful desires and temptations. That’s what the fourth membership vow in the OPC is about:

Do you acknowledge Jesus Christ as your sovereign Lord, and do you promise that, in reliance on the grace of God, you will serve him with all that is in you, forsake the world, resist the devil, put to death your sinful deeds and desires, and lead a godly life?

That promise brings into view the ongoing work of progressive sanctification.

Congratulations

The Children’s Catechism has been recited by:

• Hannah Boes, Redeemer OPC, Carlisle, PA

• Abigail Boes, Redeemer OPC, Carlisle, PA

The Shorter Catechism has been recited by:

• Grace E. Gunnett, Redeemer OPC, Carlisle, PA

Home Missions

Sharing Christ at a Coffee House

Charisa Dorn

While working as a coffee house barista, I gradually learned an important lesson: a barista is more than just a barista. Often, you are the individual that people look forward to seeing every day. Besides arriving for their daily dose of caffeine, customers come to the café to be recognized and acknowledged.

Doing just that became one of my favorite parts of the job. I tried to remember everyone’s names and drink orders in order to show them that they were noticed and appreciated. In doing so, I soon realized what an incredible opportunity I had at my job to witness for Christ and demonstrate his love through my work.

Charisa Dorn is a former barista and member of Faith OPC in Long Beach, California

Each person who walks through the café door has a unique story. Whether they are struggling with a physical ailment or burdened with family trouble, each person knows pain and suffering to some degree, although we usually can’t see it. And each one is made in the image of God. Being mindful of this helped me to remember to be gracious and loving toward everyone I encountered. Though some may think that dealing with others would be a burden, the one-on-one interaction of my barista job was the perfect opportunity to shine Christ’s light.

Loving When It’s Hard

A pivotal way to witness in the workplace is by reacting well when people are not doing the “right” thing—whether it’s a coworker treating us poorly or a customer becoming unfairly impatient. It can be difficult to maintain a cheerful countenance and respond with grace, and yet, as Christians, we know that others are watching us.

I experienced this firsthand with an elderly woman who was a regular at our café. Every evening, I struggled with serving her. She would come to get her double-shot half-caf no-foam latte and always seemed to be unhappy, displaying a constant scowl on her face. She barely spoke to us when she came in but only looked down, placed her order, and walked away without making eye contact. I soon realized God had placed a great opportunity right in front of me to make a difference and do what I could to put a smile on her face.

One night, the woman came in after not being around for a few days. When she came up to the register, I greeted her by name, looked her right in the eyes, and beamed, “I am so happy to see you! We’ve missed seeing you around here!”

She looked up at me, and her eyes began to glisten with tears. “You noticed I was gone?” she asked in surprise. I told her that yes, I had, and I asked how she was doing. She began sharing her recent struggles regarding her job and family, and I assured her that I would be praying for her. From that day on, she came into the store radiating more and more enthusiasm as I’d come around the register and wrap her in a giant hug.

The love for this woman spread to my coworkers. As soon as she would walk through the door, we would shout her name and run to give her a giant group hug. She became one of our favorite customers. She, in turn, spoiled us with chocolates and candy. She told me that the daily trip to the coffee shop was her favorite part of the day because of how special she felt every time she walked in.

As the holidays approached, she even began bringing us dinner at night. One evening she was later than usual and didn’t have time to get us food. Instead, she offered to take me out to dinner across the street when my shift was done. Over a meal, I got to know her better and learned about the incredible life she had lived. As we made dinner a more regular event and had more time to talk, I began to understand the numerous heartaches she had suffered.

Without our interaction, this woman would have continued to suffer silently. No one would have known the pain she was carrying. She may not have had anyone to pray for her or even just reach out and give her the hug she needed. God gave me the opportunity to share the gospel and his love to someone who desperately needed the hope found in Christ.

We keep in touch to this day, and I am so grateful to be a part of her life. What a beautiful reminder of how God changes us from the hardened and broken people that we once were, makes us new, and restores us in him!

Lessons Learned

Never would I have imagined that my simple job as a barista could be such an opportunity to share Christ’s love to those who are hurting. Through my work at the café, I have learned some valuable lessons.

First, we must be careful not to separate our Christian life from our work or school life. They should be one and the same. Even in the most unlikely places, God uses his people to shine through a darkened and depressed culture. Awkward and uncomfortable settings are often the best times to share the peace and comfort found in the gospel. It is the perfect opportunity to be strengthened through God’s grace and rely on him for our interactions with others. Because God always has a purpose for the situations he places us in, we can be confident that we will be used by him in that situation—and sometimes in ways that we would never have expected!

“Through my work at the café, I have learned some valuable lessons.”

Second, my experience as a barista opened my eyes to how many people around us need the gospel. All throughout the world, people are dying without the hope found in Christ. We often forget that our schools, workplaces, and communities are mission fields in themselves. Whether you are an
eighteen-year-old barista, a thirty-year-old mom with toddlers, or a sixty-year-old retired businessman, we each have someone we can think of in our life who desperately needs the hope of the gospel. It is our job to tell them. In Matthew 28, Jesus instructs the disciples:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:18–20)

Third, speaking about God is hard. Often, I feel like it’s not the “right time” because it might be too offensive. Or I’m too busy, too stressed, or too tired to make the effort. I tend to think that everyone at school is too busy to listen, or that I could cause conflict if I bring up the gospel at work. None of these are good enough excuses for me not to speak about Christ. If I only share the gospel in church circles, how will the gospel be spread? My self-focused insecurity creates an obstacle to sharing the good news—it gives the devil a foothold, covering my mouth and making me stay quiet.

God gives us one-on-one interactions with people every day who need to be told the good news as much as I need to hear it. Sacrificing time and energy out of our day to share the gospel may seem tedious and awkward, but that sacrifice pales in comparison to the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus paid on the cross. He paid the high price so that we are able to tell everyone the most exciting and life-giving news ever.

As Luke 8:16 says, “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.” The darkness and sadness of this world is being conquered by the light of Christ’s saving work on the cross, and we should be looking for every opportunity to share it.

The author is member of Faith Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Long Beach, California.

Home Missions Today

For up-to-date news and prayer requests,

receive our newsletter by e-mailing

HomeMissionsToday@opc.org.
New editions: February 6 and 20, 2019.

Dakota County Church Plant

Dakota County, Minnesota, is home to over 160,000 people who do not publicly identify with Christ or the Christian church. A group of Reformed Christians is seeking to plant an OP church, committed and effective in evangelism, that may be used of God to reach those lost sheep. If you are interested (or know someone who might be), please contact Nathan Strom at 507-383-1068 or c.p.resident@Immanuelchurchopc.org.

Stewardship

Where Does Your Donation Go?

In 2018, the Eighty-Fifth General Assembly, on recommendation of the Committee on Diaconal Ministries (CDM), requested that OP churches support the work of the CDM at the rate of twenty-five dollars per communicant member.

Let’s say, in 2019, your church makes this twenty-five-dollar gift on your behalf, as it were. Where would this money go?

Ministry to Those in Need Within the OPC

2018 budget: $55,000

Your money may go to individuals in need within the OPC. The CDM is privileged to be able to respond to requests for aid, after first endeavoring to make sure that the need cannot be met by the local church or the presbytery where the need arises. You can view the procedure and form for requesting aid for an individual in need on the CDM web page at www.opc.org/committee_dm.html.

Ministry to Those in Need Internationally

2018 budget: $176,220

Your twenty-five dollars may also go to the OPC’s foreign fields to help support the work of the Committee on Foreign Missions (CFM). (Sister denominations and affiliated missionaries may also present their requests to the CDM, but this is less common.) In 2017, these funds from the CDM enabled refugee aid in Asia, aid to impoverished families and HIV patients in Ethiopia, payment of school fees and medical expenses in Haiti, catastrophe relief in Uganda, and the Akisyon a Yesu Clinic in Uganda.

Ministry to Those Affected by Disasters

2018 budget: $495,000

If you designate your donation to the CDM for a specific cause, such as Hurricane Harvey relief, then it will be used for that cause. (See chart on right for designated giving to disaster relief over the last eight years.) The CDM also uses undesignated funds for disaster relief, including a partnership with the Greek Evangelical Church as it ministers to the needs of refugees from the Middle East and a partnership with the Committee on Home Missions and Church Extension to support an evangelist to refugees in Clarkston, Georgia.

Ministry to and Through Local Deacons

2018 budget: $20,000

Your money could also be used for encouraging local deacons in their labors. Despite its name, the CDM carries out little diaconal ministry directly. That ministry is predominantly carried out by local deacons. To support them, the CDM hosts a diaconal summit every few years. The CDM also encourages the work of the presbyteries’ diaconal committees.

Ministry to and Through Missionary Deacons

2018 budget: $230,000

The missionary deacon and missionary doctor currently serving in Uganda are funded jointly by the CDM and CFM. The CDM also helps to cover the cost of the Haiti Minute Men—a fleet of skilled workers who can be called upon to serve on a short-term basis to care for the OP Haiti Missions vehicles and facilities as needed.

Ministry Through the Administrator and Coordinator

2018 budget for administration and finance: $268,274

Your donation could also go toward the many administrative and coordination costs of the CDM’s ministry, including the work of the CDM administrator, David Nakhla, and communications coordinator, Janet Birkmann.

Prayer Calendar

February

The Hopp family

1. Ben & Heather Hopp, Haiti. Pray for Heather as she homeschools and translates materials for Sunday school. / Nathan (Anna) Strom, church-planting intern, Immanuel OPC, Andover, MN.

2. David & Rebekah Graves, Coeur d’Alene, ID. Pray that God would maintain the peace, purity, and unity of Coeur d’Alene Reformed. / Yearlong intern Chris Byrd, Knox OPC, Silver Spring, MD.

3. Octavius & Marie Delfils, Haiti. Pray for safety on the roads for church members traveling for Sunday worship. / Pray for Danny Olinger, Christian Education general secretary, as he interviews prospective interns.

4. Yearlong intern Ethan (Catherine) Bolyard, Covenant Community OPC, Taylors, SC. / Pray for spring MTIOPC students and teachers as online assignments begin today.

5. Charlene Tipton, database coordinator. / Heero & Anya Hacquebord, L’viv, Ukraine. Pray that the Lord would raise up church leaders and evangelists.

6. Retired missionaries Cal and Edie Cummings, Greet Rietkerk, Young & Mary Lou Son, and Brian & Dorothy Wingard. Pray for those dealing with chronic health issues. / Home Missions associate general secretary Al Tricarico.

7. Ben & Melanie Westerveld, Quebec, Canada. Pray for good gospel discussions as Ben engages with Roman Catholics. / Matt & Elin Prather, Corona, CA. Pray for evangelism opportunities for the members of Corona Presbyterian Church.

8. Gregory & Ginger O’Brien, Downingtown, PA. Pray that God would continue to bless Downingtown OPC with zeal and growth. / Gregory Reynolds, editor of Ordained Servant, a journal for church officers.

9. Pray for the labors of Mr. and Mrs. M. M., Mr. and Mrs. J. M., and tentmaking missionary T. D., Asia. / Pray for Bill (Margaret) Shishko, regional home missionary for the Presbytery of Connecticut and Southern NY.

10. Ron & Carol Beabout, Mifflintown, PA. Pray for Grace and Truth Presbyterian Church as they invite the community to an informational meeting about their church this month. / Mr. and Mrs. S. F. and Mr. and Mrs. D. K., Asia. Pray for stability and safety during the winter activities.

The Kellers

11. Calvin & Connie Keller, Winston-Salem, NC. Pray for Harvest OPC as they seek to reach students at a nearby university. / Pray for Mark Lowrey, director of publications at Great Commission Publications.

12. Pray for missionary associates E. C., P. F., E. K., and M. S., Asia, as they prepare for English Corner. / Andrew Moody, technical assistant for OPC.org.

13. Pray for the labors of Mark & Jeni Richline and Ray & Michele Call (on furlough), Montevideo, Uruguay. / Michael & Naomi Schout, Zeeland, MI. Pray for Grace Fellowship OPC as they lay a foundation for their work.

14. Pray for Mark Stumpff, administrator of OPC Loan Fund, helping churches with capital acquisition and expansion projects. / Readiness for Ministry seminar at Westminster Seminary California on the 15th and 16th.

15. Jeremy & Gwen Baker, Yuma, AZ. Pray for Yuma OPC’s faithfulness in building relationships so they may share the gospel. / Pray for members of the Trinity Psalter Hymnal joint venture board.

The Shaws

16. Home Missions general secretary John Shaw. / David Nakhla, administrator, and Janet Birkmann, communications coordinator, for the Committee on Diaconal Ministries.

17. Pray for Eric & Dianna Tuininga, Mbale, Uganda, and their children as they seek to testify to Christ in their family life. / Nicholas (Rosemarie) Lammé, Houston, TX. Pray for outreach efforts in the Spring neighborhood.

18. Yearlong intern Zach (Sandra) Siggins, Calvary OPC, Glenside, PA. / Josh & Kristen McKamy, Chambersburg, PA. Pray for renewed outreach, new visitors, and returning visitors to Covenant OPC.

19. Home Missions administrative assistant Katie Stumpff. / Pray for stated clerk Ross Graham as he works with the Committee on Arrangements to plan the 86th General Assembly, which convenes June 5, 2019, in Dallas, TX.

20. Pray for missionary associates Leah Hopp and Angela Voskuil, Nakaale, Uganda, as they train workers in public health and education.

21. Pray for Dave (Elizabeth) Holmlund, regional home missionary for the Presbytery of Philadelphia, as he leads a Bible study in Mountain Top, PA. / Pray for the Committee on Ministerial Care and its director David Haney.

22. Missionary associates Christopher & Chloe Verdick and Rebekah Moore, Nakaale, Uganda. / Pray for Steve (Joanie) Doe, regional home missionary for the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic.

23. Pray for Foreign Missions administrative assistant Ling Lee and secretary Katrina Zartman as they plan for a week of committee meetings. / Presbyterian and Reformed Commission on Chaplains and Military Personnel.

24. Pray for Foreign Missions general secretary Mark Bube and associate general secretary Douglas Clawson as they report to the Foreign Missions Committee this week. / Ryan & Rochelle Cavanaugh, Merrillville, IN. Pray that Mission Church would find their place in the community and serve it well.

The Van Essendeflt family

25. Brock (Jennifer) Pavier, church-planting intern, Covenant Presbyterian, St. Augustine, FL. / Mark & Carla Van Essen-delft, Nakaale, Uganda. Pray for Mark as he identifies necessary projects for the compound.

26. New Horizons editorial assistant Diane Olinger. / Charles & Connie Jackson, Mbale, Uganda. Pray for Connie as she works with women and children in Mbale.

27. David & Rashel Robbins, Nakaale, Uganda. Pray for safety as David travels to minister in village churches. / Kevin & Rachel Medcalf, Cumming, GA. Pray for more visitors to come and stay at Providence OPC.

28. Dr. Flip & Anneloes Baardman, Nakaale, Uganda. Pray that they will provide good guidance to the clinic staff. / Pray that missionary associates Markus & Sharon Jeromin, Steve & Carrie Hill, Elise Rudder, and Michaela Sharpshair, Montevideo, Uruguay, would serve well as teammates.

News

Mullinix Installed at Hollidaysburg

On November 9, 2018, the Presbytery of Central Pennsylvania convened to install Chad Mullinix as the pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. G. Dale Mullinix (Chad’s father) preached at the service; Mark Brown (planting pastor and pastor of Westminster for the past forty years) gave the charge to the pastor, and Larry Westerveld (from Trinity OPC in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, where Chad interned) gave the charge to the congregation.

Chad Mullinix (center) at his installation

In memoriam: Elizabeth “Betty” Heerema Andrews

Linda Posthuma

Elizabeth “Betty” Heerema Andrews, former OP missionary to Taiwan and widow of missionary Egbert W. Andrews, went to be with her Savior on November 21, 2018. She was 101 years old.

Born in Orange City, Iowa, on June 29, 1917, Betty attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and later graduated from Blodgett Hospital School of Nursing and the University of Chicago. In 1950, she began serving as a missionary nurse for the Christian Reformed Church in Shanghai, China. She then taught nursing students for four years at a Christian hospital in Lahore, Pakistan.

Betty and Egbert Andrews, 1979

During a furlough, Betty was re-introduced to Egbert W. Andrews, OP missionary to Taiwan. Egbert and Betty were married in Tokyo, Japan, on February 7, 1957. They labored in Taiwan—first in Taipei and later in Kaohsiung—for almost twenty-two years before returning to the United States for retirement in 1979. Egbert passed away in 1982.

In 1991, Betty took up permanent residence in Quarryville Presbyterian Retirement Community. She will be remembered there for her sweet and gracious personality, for her diligence in visiting those who were sick or bedridden, and for her committed prayer life.

In Memoriam: Jack Jay Peterson

Donald Duff

On November 24, 2018, the Lord called his servant Jack Jay Peterson home to glory at the age of 89. Jack was a graduate of Wheaton College (1952) and Westminster Theological Seminary (1955). He was ordained by the Presbytery of California on May 21, 1957, and served churches for forty-four years in Chula Vista, California; Stratford, New Jersey; West Palm Beach, Florida; Carson, Lark, and Leith, North Dakota; and San Antonio, Texas.

Jack Jay Peterson

Jack was first of all a pastor, a true shepherd of the flock. His preaching and prayers were profound but spoken so that they could be understood by all. He was greatly loved by the flocks he served. Many especially remember him from youth camps.

Jack was also a true churchman, always active in the courts of the church. In 1972, he was moderator of the General Assembly; over the years, Jack served on several different General Assembly committees. His most notable service, for forty-one years, was on the Committee on Ecumenicity and Interchurch Relations. Jack traveled the world representing the OPC and was acquainted with the leaders of many Reformed communions.

Update

Ministers

• The Presbytery of New York and New England dismissed ministerial member Daniel L. Korzep to the Catawba Presbytery of the PCA on November 29, upon his installation as pastor of Harvest Presbyterian Church in Lincolnton, NC.

• On December 13, Calvin D. Keller, formerly the pastor of Cornerstone Presbyterian in Chattanooga, TN, was installed as organizing pastor of mission work Harvest OPC in Winston-Salem, NC.

• At the request of Andrew J. Preston, the Presbytery of Northern California and Nevada dissolved his pastoral relationship with Mount Rose Reformed in Reno, NV, on December 31, upon his retirement.

• The Presbytery of the Southeast dissolved the pastoral relationship between Peter Stazen II and Grace OPC in Lynchburg, VA, on January 1, upon his retirement.

• On January 4, William M. Watson III was ordained as a minister and installed as associate pastor of Holy Trinity Presbyterian in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Milestones

• Loretta (Heyne) Kamrath, 103, died on December 16. She was the widow of OP pastor Roswell R. Kamrath.

• Retired OP pastor Robert W. Eckardt, 95, died on December 30.

Letters

Neutral on Christmas

Editor:

“Christmas Conversations” by Daniel P. Clifford (December) left me wondering what happened to the OPC position of neutrality concerning the celebration of days and seasons. Romans 14:5 instructs us, “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”

Each person must decide in his own mind which opinion he will follow. Others, including the church in either its preaching or teaching, should remain neutral.

Glenn Owen

Lexington, NC

The editor replies:

The position of the OPC (and thus of New Horizons) on any issue is that of our Confession and Catechisms. Our Confession states that God has left us “free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in anything, contrary to his Word; or beside it, if matters of faith, or worship” (20.2). The observance of holy days (other than the Lord’s Day) is one matter of worship that is “beside” the teaching of Scripture and thus may not be required.

Accordingly, New Horizons would not publish an article arguing that Christians must observe or celebrate Christmas as part of their worship. But in his article, Daniel Clifford does not do that. He simply observes that the Christmas season exists in our culture and that many nonbelievers participate in its activities, and he argues that this “point of contact” provides us with an opportunity to tell these people about Jesus, the “Christ” without whose birth they would not be enjoying Christmas festivities.

Not Enough Biblicism

Editor:

Given that the most prominent dictionary definition of “biblicist” is “taking the bible literally,” I was surprised and concerned to see the term used in a pejorative sense by an OPC reviewer (review of Bill Davis’s Departing in Peace, November). The reviewer suggests that with regard to questions about farming, for instance, “God did not give Scripture to answer those questions.” Yet even in the garden, as Adam worked as a farmer, he lived by every Word that proceeded from the mouth of God. And in fact, the Bible and our Confession of Faith are quite clear that God’s Word is “to be the rule of faith and life” (WCF I.2,6, emphasis added). If “all Scripture is … profitable … for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17) and if Jesus Christ is to “have first place in everything” (Col. 1:18), it would seem that the need of the hour is not to call people to limit the use of their Bible to a narrower field of application (only the church?) but rather to see to it that God’s Word is the standard for all of life. If biblicism is seeking to apply God’s Word to all of life, we need more such biblicism in the OPC, not less.

Peter Moelker

Redlands, CA

David Van Drunen replies:

People use the term “biblicism” in different ways. With that in mind, in my review I explicitly referred to a “biblicist” as one who “expects Scripture to answer everything,” and my three examples were whether a farmer should plant soybeans, should harvest them in October, or should sell them to China. Scripture does not answer those questions. I agree, of course, that Scripture is authoritative for everything it addresses and is relevant for all areas of life, and I never questioned those convictions in my review of Prof. Davis’s excellent book. I simply called for greater clarity regarding how we appeal to Scripture in areas such as end-of-life bioethics that raise many difficult questions Scripture doesn’t explicitly address.

Reviews

Help for the New Pastor: Practical Advice for Your First Year of Ministry, by Charles Malcolm Wingard. P&R, 2018. Paperback, 144 pages, $11.50. Reviewed by OP pastor Jonathan Landry Cruse.

It is impossible for any seminary to teach a prospective minister everything he will need to know—aspects of the pastorate must be lived to be learned. But when it comes to somewhat bridging that gap between full-time study and full-time service, Charles Malcolm Wingard’s book Help for the New Pastor: Practical Advice for Your First Year of Ministry proved to be an admirable aid.

I write this review weeks away from completing my first year in ministry, and I am struck by how many of the topics addressed in the book were issues that had already come up in my brief time as a pastor. The overall scope of Wingard’s work is vast: he handles major issues like preaching and the sacraments, but also gives counsel on seemingly mundane items such as when to use announcements or how to sit through a presbytery meeting! And while tackling a wide range of topics, Wingard is mercifully brief. First-year pastors who feel like they are drowning in a sea of work and stress will be able to pick this book up and glean insights a few paragraphs at a time.

Wingard’s sections on prayer and administration should be studied carefully. Oftentimes there is such an excitement to get out from seminary and “do ministry” that we forget that one of our main tasks is the persistent work of prayer (Acts 6:4). Wingard doubts that there “is any greater measure of ministerial godliness” than prayer—a sobering thought (184). See the passion and care with which he writes: “Without [prayer], there is never long and fruitful ministry. And that’s what I want for you” (185).

Like prayer, the work of administration can seem to clash with the glorified view of ministry that seminarians often have. But ministry is actually a lot of e-mails, calls, and meetings. Wingard’s chapter on administration (71–82) gives tips on handling communications, delegating, and time management, which should prove invaluable to those who struggle with organizational or administrative tasks.

Conspicuously absent from Help for the New Pastor was any discussion about how the pastor ought to relate and work with his session or diaconate. As the new pastor will likely be stepping into situations where the officers of the church are more experienced than he, Wingard’s advice on how to handle that dynamic would have been beneficial. His section on church music was also woefully inadequate—three sentences that amount to “an able music director is a real plus” (55). Few men will immediately receive calls to multi-staff churches that have music directors, and Wingard’s solution perpetuates the idea that the pastor can be ignorant in this area. We need pastors who understand the importance of music and are equipped to select appropriate congregational songs. For those who are not officially trained, Wingard should have at least suggested some resources to aid the new minister in this endeavor.

Ultimately, there is no one book that is going to make or break a pastor’s first year in ordained ministry, except the Bible. But as the new pastor stores up God’s Word in his heart, he would do well to keep this book close at hand.

Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality, by Nancy R. Pearcey. Baker, 2018. Hardcover, 336 pages, $15.63 (Amazon). Reviewed by OP pastor Charles B. Williams.

Nancy Pearcey contends that abortion, euthanasia, hookup culture, homosexuality, gender ideology, and modern notions of marriage hold one thing in common: each stems from a common worldview that denigrates the body—a worldview she labels “personhood theory.”

According to Pearcey, the Enlightenment redefined morality. Instead of upholding virtue as an objective external truth to which mankind must conform, modernity disregarded it as the subjective opinions of private individuals. By severing facts from values, modernity became a moral wasteland. After two world wars, however, our postmodern society now seeks to impose a new set of values onto all of society, by redefining morality after its own corrupted image. One consequence has been the redefinition of personhood, where the notion of “person” (value) is severed from the body (fact). Personhood theory replaces biology (who I have been created to be) with psychology (how I feel or think) as the basis for human identity. As a result, the world does not see the body as integral to personal identity, because the authentic self is no longer seen in the created self.

The grand irony is that personhood theory has led to a gross depersonalization: in exchanging loving marriages for pornography and families for social contracts, we have exchanged the truth of God for a lie. Pearcey not only demonstrates how and why our present society denigrates the body, but how Christianity offers a better alternative. Pearcey reminds us that we have lost a “teleological” understanding of creation. In other words, we were created, both body and soul, for a purpose (telos)—the glory of God. Any true morality of the body, then, must be seen in light of this biblical teleology.

This book has its flaws, however. Although she situates humanity within a threefold grid of creation-fall-redemption (45), Pearcey fails to accent the importance of the consummation as a distinct category. That is not to say she denies the future resurrection, but she does take some rather frustrating cues from N. T. Wright. At one point, for instance, she scolds a pastor who preached a sermon on heaven as being implicitly
gnostic (41).

Furthermore, although her fact/value distinction provides a (mostly) helpful grid for assessing this somatic revolution, it is no silver bullet. Pearcey’s methodology is overly simplistic. Love Thy Body presents a history of “big ideas” severed from their historical contexts in such a way that reduces these ideas to caricature. Laymen could walk away thinking that Platonism, Cartesianism, Kantianism, and postmodernism are identical philosophies.

She also grounds complementarity within the inter-Trinitarian relations of the Godhead (156, 249, 257, 260). For a work designed to uphold the biblical view of both body and marriage, this is no small problem. Marriage emphatically does not image the Father’s relationship to the Son. Marriage images the Son’s relationship to the church (Eph. 5:25–33). Pearcey also endorses Wesley Hill’s rather troubling spiritual friendship thesis (178, endnote 49).

Seventy-five years ago C. S. Lewis warned that society was primed to make men without chests. Now, it seems, we have made men without bodies. Love Thy Body provides a valuable aid to help the layman critically engage personhood theory and stand up for objective truth.

Christ and the Law: Antinomianism at the Westminster Assembly, by Whitney G. Gamble. Reformation Heritage, 2018. Hardcover 187 pages, $30.00. Reviewed by PCA pastor Steve Casselli.

This work is the latest in the series edited by John R. Bower and Chad Van Dixhoorn, Studies on the Westminster Assembly. Building from Van Dixhoorn’s landmark publication of The Minutes and Papers of the Westminster Assembly, 1643–1653 (2012), Gamble provides new insight into one vital aspect of the assembly’s concern: antinomianism.

In her introduction Gamble asserts that “English antinomianism ... was more complex and multifaceted than the simple denial of the continued use of and obligation to follow the moral law” (1). In fact, there were a host of related issues seated within a Reformed community fiercely battling a growing Arminianism in the English church.

The first chapter explains that, in the period leading up to the Westminster Assembly, three groups “vied for the hearts and minds of the English people: Arminians, the Reformed, and antinomians” (11). Chapter two traces how the Westminster Assembly responded to certain critical theological matters including: the revision of article seven in the Thirty-Nine Articles on the Law of the Old Testament, the covenant structure of biblical redemption (the relationship of Old and New Testaments in particular), the role of faith in salvation, the relationship between justification and sanctification, and the question of whether God punished sin in his children.

The third chapter asks whether antinomianism was simply misguided or heretical, raising a host of questions around the role of the civil magistrate in responding to errors in the church. Chapter four traces critical debates within the assembly itself over several dimensions of Christology. For instance, there was a lengthy and heated debate over whether both the active (keeping the moral law perfectly) and passive (receiving the full penalty for sin) obedience of Christ were imputed to the believer for justification.

Chapter five takes up a series of related questions surrounding the nature of saving faith, repentance, and the fruit of good works. What role does faith play in justification? Is faith a “work”? Does repentance follow faith or is it a preparation for faith? Does faith “automatically” produce good works?

The book’s final chapter walks through chapter 11 of the Westminster Confession of Faith, “On Justification,” carefully examining how the divines were responding to antinomianism at every step in their work.

I commend this work for three reasons. First, it is a fine piece of historical scholarship, employing vivid historical details that make for interesting and engaging reading. Second, this is a work that breaks new ground in understanding the context and influences upon the development of the Westminster Standards. Most students of the Westminster Confession are aware that the divines crafted many of their statements with Roman Catholic teaching in view. Here we see that there were forces within the Reformed community that were equally if not more formative upon their labors. Third, for pastors and teachers, Christ and the Law is a helpful resource for understanding perennial issues in the life of the church. Antinomianism and the related spiritual errors are still with us.

Here is a resource that will help to diagnose and therefore treat similar spiritual maladies today.

Streams of Mercy: Prayers of Confession and Celebration, by Barbara R. Duguid. P&R, 2018. Paperback, 240 pages, $12.00. Reviewed by OP pastor Jesse A. J. Pirschel.

Continuing in her work of crafting written prayers, Barbara Duguid has published a second volume entitled Streams of Mercy: Prayers of Confession and Celebration. Modeling her work after Arthur Bennett’s Valley of Vision, Duguid seeks to supply prayers of confession of sin as an aid to both public and private worship. The book’s pattern moves from a scriptural call to confession, to a confession of sin, to an assurance of pardon, and ends with suggested hymns that match the theme of the prayer.

The prayers themselves are expressly Trinitarian, focusing readers’ attention on their offenses against God, their hope in Jesus’s work on their behalf, and their need for the Spirit to work in them to produce what God requires. Duguid’s ability to apply the ideals of the law to actions, exposing both shortcomings as well as false virtues, is a great strength of this book. She shows the sinfulness of sin—not just its wrongness but its ugliness. Christ is presented both as a sacrifice for sin and as the beautiful Savior who supplies what is lacking in our obedience. Finally, Duguid ends her prayers with a plea for the Spirit to give the sinner what he lacks, and readers are left knowing that their hope for renewed obedience rests wholly on God.

This volume is helpful in several ways. Duguid’s skilled application of both law and gospel guides readers in their own application of the same. The encyclopedia of sins addressed, coupled with the uncovering of false righteousness, will serve as wonderful tools for those assessing their true state before a holy God. While a book of confession may seem depressing, the presentation of a God who is for us in Christ is joy-inducing.

Streams of Mercy would serve well for private and family devotions. It would also serve ministers as they seek to plan services by particular themes since many scriptural texts and hymns are provided with each thematically arranged prayer.

That said, the prayers’ usefulness in public worship would seem to be dependent on whether the minister is praying on behalf of the congregation or whether the congregation is praying them aloud. The prayers themselves are quite lengthy and the phrasing is more verbose than terse, which makes public recital more difficult. Along with this caveat, I found the assurances of pardon provided at the conclusion of the prayers too ambiguous at times to be wholly useful without further application by the minister. While always related to the theme, they often lacked the pointedness that would lend itself toward a sinner feeling assured of pardon.

These minor critiques in no way negate the strength of the work and its usefulness to the church.

Announcements

Summer Interns

Mid-America Reformed Seminary encourages churches to apply for a summer intern through the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC. Please also contact Mid-America Reformed Seminary to let us know of your interest in having one of our seminary students serve in your congregation. Summer internships are an excellent setting for godly men to prepare for gospel ministry. For more information, contact Mark Vander Hart at mvanderhart@midamerica.edu or (219) 864-2400, ext. 408.

Celebrating 25 Years of God’s Faithfulness!

Presbytery of New York

& New England

Women’s Retreat

Date: April 11–12, 2019

Theme: Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Speaker: Lynne Rienstra

Teen Speaker: Olivia Durham

Location: Lakeside Conference Center, Pittsfield, MA

For details and registration information, visit pnynewomen.wordpress.com.

Contacts: Chantry LaBelle (riverrock@m2.com or 508-648-4856) and Kathy Scarbrough

(kscarbro@earthlink.net or 585-576-8254)