Lig and I were recently at a gathering of 40 or so pastors.  We had a great time there.  Wonderful fellowship.  Much theological agreement.  However, when the question of complementarianism--there are gender roles in home & church that are culturally expressed, but some gender roles are actually rooted in and mandated by Scripture--when this question came up, though there was large agreement on theological substance, there was dramatic disagreement on strategy for presentation.

The core of this blog entry is simply this-->it is my observation that those older than me who are complementarian generally want to downplay this issue, and those younger than me want to lead with it, or at least be very up front about it.

SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH UNLESS YOU'RE INTERESTED IN THE PURITANS [I think I see a parallel between the Elizabethan puritans--Sibbes, Gouge--and their more radical sons in the faith--Goodwin, Cotton, Owen--on this issue.  The older generation had known fruiful ministry in the established church.  The younger generation saw the direction in which things were moving.  They had few differences of theology, they had great differences in assessing the significance of various matters, and therefore of the strategies for faithfulness which they should adopt.  Probably parallels to SBC inerrantists who were politically moderate in the Southern Baptist Convention, and the more radicalized following generation, but that's another blog!]

Why is this?  Is it because the older group is theologically unfaithful, or the younger group culturally insensitive?  I don't think so.  I don't know, but my guess is that there are at least a couple of factors playing into this difference.  The two groups have different personal experiences, and the two groups have different theological assessments.

First, the two groups have different personal experiences.  Normal for the older group is evangelicals as upstanding members of the society.  They are mayors and bankers and respected persons in the community.  The tendency is natural to do what would be culturally acceptable, as much as is possible (parallel to John Rawls and his idea of publicly accessible reasons).  Normal for the younger group is being shouted at publicly, being told that they're narrow, intolerant hate-mongers because of their opposition to homosexuality or abortion or false religions.  The tendency is to advocate biblical mandates in an unvarnished, open fashion, and yet to do this with an eye to explaining and demonstrating them as winsomely as possible.  Both groups want to be faithful to Scripture and sensitive to culture, and yet their ideas of where the right balance is, differ.

Second, the two groups have different theological assessments.  The older group is among peers who see women's ordination as an extension of civil rights for people of different races.   The younger group is among peers who see women's ordination as a precursor for creating legal categories of gay rights.  But having a certain skin pigmentation is to the glory of God; having a sexual partner of the same gender is sin.  The younger group is more alarmed not simply by the egalitarian position, but by what it is assumed that will eventually entail, either in those who allow it, or in those who come after them.

There are, of course, many evangelical feminists.  Some Christians whom I most love and respect and have learned from are in this category.  Just to take one example, I think of my beloved professor at Gordon-Conwell, Roger Nicole, who is a father in the faith to me.  My respect for him is huge.  My debt to him is great.  I was his teaching assistant for two years at Gordon-Conwell.  He and his wife were and have been incredibly kind to me and my family. He prayed for me publicly at my installation at CHBC.  I got a letter from him just last week!  However, on this issue, after years of being taught feminism at Duke then at Gordon-Conwell, I had to come to disagree.

"Well then" you might say "why don't you leave this issue of complementarianism at the level of baptism or church polity?  Surely you cooperate with those who disagree with you on such matters."  Because, though I could be wrong, it is my best and most sober judgment that this position is effectively an undermining of--a breach in--the authority of Scripture.  As Lig the paedo-baptist has often said "If there were a verse in I Timothy saying 'I do not permit an infant to be baptized . . .' we wouldn't be having this conversation about baptism!  There is such a verse about women serving as teacher/elders!"

Dear reader, you may not agree with me on this.  And I don't desire to be right in my fears.  But it seems to me and others (many who are younger than myself) that this issue of egalitarianism and complementarianism is increasingly acting as the watershed distinguishing those who will accomodate Scripture to culture, and those who will attempt to shape culture by Scripture.  You may disagree, but this is our honest concern before God.  It is no lack of charity, nor honesty.  It is no desire for power or tradition for tradition's sake.  It is our sober conclusion from observing the last 50 years.

Paedobaptism is not novel (sadly).  But, on the good side, evangelicals who have taught such a doctrine have continued to be otherwise faithful to Scripture for 5 centuries now.  And many times their faithfulnesses have put those of us who may have a better doctrine of baptism to shame!  Egalitarianism is novel.  It's theological tendencies have not had such a long track record.  And the track record they have had so far, is not encouraging.

Of course there are issues more central to the gospel than gender issues.  However, there may be no way the authority of Scripture is being undermined more quickly or more thoroughly in our day than through the hermenuetics of egalitarian readings of the Bible.  And when the authority of Scripture is undermined, the gospel will not long be acknowledged.  Therefore, love for God, the gospel, and future generations, demands the careful presentation and pressing of the complementarian position.

Memorial Day is not only a time for citizens of the United States to honor veterans.  It is also a time that we as Christians can allow our society to turn our minds backwards so that we might be prepared for what lies ahead.

One of the most encouraging parts of church history is when we read of saints who have suffered for their faith, and continued to faithfully follow Jesus.  We may know those stories from the Bible, or from the Roman persecutions, from the period of the Reformation, or from the great 19th-century missions expansion.  There are other mines, too, for remembrances that will encourage our faith.

One other particularly encouraging to me is to see the faith of my African-American brothers and sisters, even as they labored under the terrible persecution of slavery, sometimes even from those who were members of the same church.  This is not simply material for a cultural "Black History" month; this is OUR history as Christians--as sinners saved by grace. 

In Betty DeRamus' book Forbidden Fruit:  Love Stories from the Underground Railroad, she recounts the faith of one James Smith.  I guess that she recounts it primarily as a human love story; and that it was.  I see in it too, a story of God's love, and of Smith's love for God.

James Smith was a slave in pre-Civil War Virginia, in the Richmond area.  More fundamentally, he was a Christian.  At night, he would go and preach the gospel to fellow slaves.  His master forbad him from doing this, and even whipped him when Smith continued.  Finally, when James Smith would not stop worshipping with and ministering to other slaves, his master took the ultimate retribution--he sold him.  James was married, and had 2 children.  Selling him was effectively cutting him off from his beloved family.

Smith was purchased by a Georgian plantation owner and sent to Georgia, hundreds of miles away from his family.  DeRamus recounts how Smith was met there with a severe lashing of 100 strokes in order to discourage him from that same kind of Gospel ministry which had gotten him sold by his previous master.

What was Smith's response?  We're told in both the Old & New Testaments to love our enemies.  Smith's response was to pray for his persecutor and tormentor.  Smith would do this regularly and out loud.  Once, when the overseer heard Smith doing this, he was pierced to the heart.  Even slave-holders were not beyond the power of the Holy Spirit.  He begged Smith to forgive him.  While he didn't feel that he could free him (for whatever reason) he did say that if Smith escaped, he would not recapture him.

With that encouragement, Smith escaped.  He made his way back up to Virigina.  There, however, he learned that his wife, too, had been sold.  It took Smith 22 years of facing trials before he finally found his wife and was reunited to her.  DeRamus recounts this story as a human love story in the most inhumane of circumstances, and that it is.  It is also a story of Christian faith, where my brother in Christ James Smith would not be put off by beatings or discouragements from looking for his wife, faithfully fulfilling his covenant to her, praying for his captors, preaching the Gospel, and continuing to follow Jesus in the most horrendous and discouraging of circumstances. 

That's something worth remembering.  Stories like James Smith's encourage us about God's faithfulness in the past.  They may also steel us for the future.

Mark and Al, I am looking forward to our time together tomorrow night. Lig, it won’t be the same without you, my friend, but I am glad you can join us by phone later in the evening. I’m sure our conversation will prove to be edifying and exhausting (from laughing and staying up late).

The reason Mark, Al and I will be together in Louisville is because we are speaking at the New Attitude conference, led by my favorite Senior Pastor, Joshua Harris. This event equips college students with the gospel. As I play the back nine of life, few things bring me more joy than to see the next generation passionate about the gospel and the local church.

And speaking of joy, I just now glanced at a Spurgeon quote displayed on my desk. It’s my daily reminder about the importance and priority of joy:

“Moreover, labor is easy to those of a cheerful spirit; success waits on cheerfulness. The ones who work while rejoicing in God and believing with all their hearts have success guaranteed.”

My challenge each day is not so much working hard, but cheerfully working hard.  If I understand Scripture accurately, I will not glorify God simply by working hard. To truly bring Him honor, I must labor with a cheerful spirit. Therefore, I must not only serve my family each day, but I must serve them with joy. I must not only prepare a sermon, I must do it cheerfully. I must not only labor faithfully in the church, I must do so happily.  Merely working hard is not sufficient. It must be done with gladness.  It is for my good and His glory that God has given this sweet command, ‘Serve the Lord with gladness” (Psalm 100:2).

So, Mark and Al, thanks for gladly serving at this conference. Lig, Mark will be teaching a session on Biblical Theology (“The Story: Understanding the Storyline of the Bible”), and Al will be addressing “Cultural Discernment from a Biblical Worldview.” I have the privilege of speaking on “The Cross: A Meditation on Jesus’ Atoning Death (Isa. 53).” Again, Lig, you will be missed, but I respect you for joyfully serving the local church you love.

Mark, it was great to be with you in Philly on Monday and Tuesday. C.J. and Al -- wish you'd been there with us. I'll miss fellowship with you guys on Friday night though, but will pray God's blessings on your time and planning. Mark, thanks for the CDs! And thanks reminding us of that great comment from John Piper on productivity at T4G.

Now, I'd better get productive and produce some more Spurgeon quotes, about the gospel. These are some bracing thoughts addressed to hearers of the gospel and preachers of the gospel.

"The hearing of the gospel involves the hearer in responsibility. It is a great privilege to hear the gospel. You may smile and think there is nothing very great in it. The damned in hell know. Oh, what would they give if they could hear the gospel now? If they could come back and entertain but the shadow of a hope that they might escape from the wrath to come? The saved in heaven estimate this privilege at a high rate, for, having obtained salvation through the preaching of this gospel, they can never cease to bless their God for calling them by his word of truth. O that you knew it! On your dying beds the listening to a gospel sermon will seem another thing than it seems now." CHS

"Do you know, my dear unsaved hearer, what God’s estimate of the gospel is? Do you not know that it has been the chief subject of his thoughts and acts from all eternity? He looks on it as the grandest of all his works. You cannot imagine that he has sent his gospel into the world to be a football for you to play with–that you may give it a kick, as Felix did when he said to Paul, "Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee" (Acts 24:25). You surely cannot believe that God sent his gospel into the world for you to make a toy of it, and to say, as Agrippa said to Paul, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian" (Acts 26:28), and then put away all thought of it out of your souls. You cannot even speak of it irreverently without committing a great sin." CHS

"Avoid a sugared gospel as you would shun sugar of lead. Seek the gospel which rips up and tears and cuts and wounds and hacks and even kills, for that is the gospel that makes alive again. And when you have found it, give good heed to it. Let it enter into your inmost being. As the rain soaks into the ground, so pray the Lord to let his gospel soak into your soul." CHS

CJ, Lig and I had the honor to have dinner with RC & Vesta Sproul and John Piper.  It was the first night of the Together for the Gospel conference.  And we were being hosted very graciously by Al & Mary Mohler. 

At one point the conversation turned to our busy schedules.  One person exhorted another about the importance of rest.  It was then that John Piper quietly commented "I find productivity restful for my soul." 

"Restful for my soul." 

"Productivity." 

Bodily rest is important.  Rest for the soul is even more important. 

Thanks, Lig, for giving us such great quotations about the Gospel!  And while I'm still reflecting on Together for the Gospel, I am reminded of one of my favorite comments Spurgeon made in his Lectures to My Students.  Those of us who were at T4G did not agree on everything.  And some of those things we disagree about, we're even particular proponents of!  But what we had and have in common is even more significant.  And that's our desire for the fruit from this conference--and, should the Lord tarry and give us life and opportunity--and for the next conference.  “More and more am I jealous lest any views upon prophecy, church government, politics, or even systematic theology, should withdraw one of us from glorying in the cross of Christ.” (C. H. Spurgeon, Lectures to my Students, I.83).  What stops us from so glorying in the cross?  This is my threatening enemy.  What will encourage us to glory in it all the more?  This is my loving friend.

Today's quotes about the Gospel, come from the prince of preachers, C.H. Spurgeon.

"Never lose heart in the power of the gospel. Do not believe that there exists any man, much less any race of men, for whom the gospel is not fitted." (CHS)

"Let this be to you the mark of true gospel preaching - where Christ is everything, and the creature is nothing; where it is salvation all of grace, through the work of the Holy Spirit applying to the soul the precious blood of Jesus." (CHS)

"If God does not save men by truth, he certainly will not save them by lies. And if the old gospel is not competent to work a revival, then we will do without the revival." (CHS)

"On Christ, and what he has done, my soul hangs for time and eternity. And if your soul also hangs there, it will be saved as surely as mine shall be. And if you are lost trusting in Christ, I will be lost with you and will go to hell with you. I must do so, for I have nothing else to rely upon but the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived, died, was buried, rose again, went to heaven, and still lives and pleads for sinners at the right hand of God." (CHS)

And one quote, not from Spurgeon, but which fits will with this last thought:

"I acknowledge myself to be a sinner in the sight of God, justly deserving his displeasure and without hope, except in his sovereign mercy." (from the Presbyterian vows of church membership)

Yesterday I started a series of great quotes about the Gospel, from some giants of Christian ministry. We continue piling on the gems in this post.

"The gospel is a glorious declaration of the mighty acts of God when he invaded this earth in the person of his eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ." (John Blanchard)

"The gospel is not 'God loves us,' but 'God loves us at the cost of his Son.'" (Derek Thomas)

"As there is only one God, so there can be only one gospel." (James Denney)

"The church is the fruit of the gospel." (Hywel R. Jones)

"We have an unchanging gospel, which is not today green grass and tomorrow dry hay; but always the abiding truth of the immutable Jehovah." (C.H. Spurgeon)

"The gospel begins and ends with what God is, not what we want or think we need." (Tom Houston)

Mark, great post on C.J. as Bunyan. So true. His message at T4G continues to pastor me daily.

Mark and I have been together at a Pastor's meeting in Chicago this week, and I've enjoyed fellowship with Mark, as well as benefitted from Mark's wisdom. It was also good to talk to you by phone tonight, C.J. Wish you were here! And happy anniversary - late.

Now, I've still not answered C.J.'s Gospel question, and I'm waiting with abated breath to hear about the non-laser-building bears in Al's woods, but I'll ramp up to my Gospel post by feasting you with a series of great quotes about the Gospel, from some giants of Christian ministry.

"If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself." (Augustine)

"The whole gospel is contained in Christ." (John Calvin)

"Whenever the gospel is preached it is as if God himself came into the midst of us." (John Calvin)

"There is nothing attractive about the gospel to the natural man; the only man who finds the gospel attractive is the man who is convicted of sin." (Oswald Chambers)

"A gospel that elevates man and dethrones God is not the gospel." (Will Metzger)

"The world has many religions; it has but one gospel." (George Owen)

"The man who does not glory in the gospel can surely know little of the plague of sin that is within him. (J.C. Ryle)

"The revelation of the gospel is to a world that is already under indictment for its universal rejection of God the Father." (R.C. Sproul)

"If the Lord's bearing our sin for us is not the gospel, I have no gospel to preach." (C.H. Spurgeon)

"The heart of the gospel is redemption, and the essence of redemption is the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ." (C.H. Spurgeon)

"When we preach Christ crucified, we have no reason to stammer, or stutter, or hesitate, or apologize; there is nothing in the gospel of which we have any cause to be ashamed." (C.H. Spurgeon)

Mark, your encouragement in your most recent post (Mahaney as Bunyan) is very kind, very meaningful and very humbling, my friend. I want to communicate how deeply grateful to God I am for the education you have pursued and the difference this has made in my life. The theological training you have received and the hard work you have invested in the study of God’s Word has been a gift to all of us who learn so much from you. And I sure hope you are enjoying all the encouragement and fruit from the T4G conference. That conference was the fruit of your leadership and your heart to serve pastors. You were the one who brought the four of us together for the gospel. And you were the one who led us in this unique and memorable conference. I trust you feel our deep gratefulness.  Be assured that I am praying for you as you serve the church in Australia and as you endure an abscessed tooth. I am sorry that you will be welcomed home with a root canal, but I look forward to our time together when you return.

Lig, that was a great post on T4G Hopes. But I am still waiting for your answer to my question “What is the gospel?” my friend. In addition to your outstanding message at the T4G conference (best I’ve heard on the topic), your rap with your brother John—and I am completely serious—was an example of your winsome humility. Thanks for your example and the enduring memory. Years from now, when we are working hard to even recall the messages from the conference, your reformed rap performance will remain a vivid memory for us all.

Al, thank you for serving Covenant Life Church (the church I love the most) and my favorite Senior Pastor, Joshua Harris, so effectively this past Sunday. According to everyone I have talked to, your message, “The Bible, The DaVinci Code and the Christian” was simply outstanding. This message is yet another example of the cultural discernment you provided in your superb sermon at T4G. What a unique gift you are to the church. And our time together on Monday at Bertram’s Inkwell and lunch was a pure blast, my friend. While I wish I could have been there for your message Sunday, I had the privilege and joy of speaking at Bethlehem Baptist Church for our friend John Piper while he is on a writing sabbatical.  And I would appreciate the support of you guys in prayer as I have that privilege and joy again this weekend.

But before I leave for Minneapolis, I wanted to express my gratefulness for friends and leaders like you men. What a gift you are to me and so many.

“How can we thank God enough for you, in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?” 1 Thessalonians 3:9

Dear CJ,

As your message from T4G continues to live on in my head & heart, and I remember your repeated requests to be allowed merely to attend the conference, rather than participate publicly, I am reminded of the great puritan John Owen, who took every opportunity to hear John Bunyan preach.  Owen had been Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University during Cromwell's time.  Bunyan had no formal education.  He was a pot-repairer.  When King Charles II once asked why all the people were crowding to hear this unlearned tinker (that's what pot-repairers were called) Owen reportedly told the king that he would glaldly give all his learning in exchange for the tinker's skill in touching the heart.  Brother, on behalf of all over-educated preachers (and especially myself), I want to thank God publicly for your Bunyan-like skill at preaching so as to touch the heart,

With love & respect,

Mark D.

PS--Al, anything on this "bears will make laser weapons in the woods before" quotation?

Let me tell you about that Baptist pastor, but first this.  Being together for the gospel--not a conference; merely a normal Christian experience!--with Baptists and Anglicans over here in Sydney, Australia, for a few days, I'm struck by one challenge both kinds of churches have--finding appropriate ways to be shaped by Scripture in our local church polity.

As a convinced congregationalist, I have no doubt that there is a significant role for the congregation in being the final court of appeal for matters of church life and doctrine.  Not that our congregations are always right, but they always HAVE the right and responsibility to settle matters.

But one help we find in Scripture is having a plural eldership in our local churches.  Some people do not see such a pattern in the New Testament, nor do they think we have liberty to pursue it.  I respect such conscientiously-held opinions.  Others, however, oppose a plurality of elders merely out of a convenient conservatism.  Such an impulse is too often opposed to the sole supreme authority of Scripture itself.

Now, to that Baptist pastor.  He did what countless other Baptist pastors have attempted--many succeeding, many failing.   This one succeeded, by God's grace.  The pastor was C. H. Spurgeon.  The church was the New Park Street Chapel, a Baptist church.  When Spurgeon arrived there as pastor, they had deacons, but no elders.  Spurgeon concluded from reading the New Testament that they should have elders, and that this was an important matter, especially for the spiritual, pastoral work of the local church.  In January of 1859 the church voted to appoint elders.  May more churches follow this simple, Biblical, useful pattern.  For the health of churches, the good of Christians and the greater glory of God, help your pastor find some men who meet the qualifications laid out in I Tim 3 & Titus 1, and put them around them, and watch the blessings that flow from such obedience.

On another note, Al, did you really say that bears will build laser weapons in the woods before the faculty of SBTS go home to Rome?!  You always did have a way with those arresting images!

Amen C.J.!

Thomas Chalmers was one of the leading lights of the Scottish evangelical awakening in the nineteenth century. From October of 1841 to September 20, 1846, on Sunday afternoons, Chalmers wrote a series of devotional-expositional-supplicational thoughts on each chapter of the New Testament, starting with Matthew 1 and going to Revelation 22. He wrote them, apparently, simply for his own edification, but they have become a source of edification to many a Gospel minister. I am happy to say that Solid Grounds Christian Books is producing a new edition of them! Get it.

Meanwhile, I'll share with you a taste of the riches contained therein. Having begun his notes (written in long hand with no erasures, strikeouts or corrections in any of the volumes!) with the arresting words "All history is subservient to the great work of Redemption," Chalmers is meditating on Matthew 1, on a Lord's Day afternoon (in October of 1841), and journaling—as was his habit over the last six or so years of his life and as described above—and he observes: "And under what an endearing and comforting title is it that he is first announced to us—Jesus the Saviour—and from what? He saves us from our sins—not the guilt of them only, but also the power of them." Then Chalmers records his personal prayer in light of this truth: "—Realize upon me, O God, the whole of this salvation. Give me a part, both in the justifying righteousness which this Jesus hath brought in, and in the sanctifying Grace which He sheds forth on all who believe in him, that I may be regenerated as well as reconciled; and that admitted to the pardon which has been sealed by His blood, I may furthermore be purified—and, meet for the Master’s use, may become one of His peculiar people, zealous of good works." May that be our prayer too.

Thomas Chalmers, Sabbath Scripture Readings (Matthew I), in The Posthumous Works of Thomas Chalmers, Vol. IV, edited by William Hanna (Sutherland and Knox: Edinburgh, 1848), 1-2.

Since my return from Together for the Gospel, I have been asked the following question countless times: “So, how was the conference?” And each time I have paused, trying to craft an appropriate description. I’ve found it to be a difficult task. Normally, I just end up repeating the words “extraordinary” and “unforgettable.” I doubt this proves particularly helpful, but I don’t know what else to say. For me the conference was, well, “extraordinary and unforgettable.” God’s grace was richly present among us at every moment.

Your encouragement has been so meaningful to Mark, Al, Lig, and myself. You men have buried us under an avalanche of e-mails and letters sincerely and specifically communicating your gratefulness for the conference. The evidences of God’s grace you describe seem to be endless, and I often find tears filling my eyes as I read your comments. We simply cannot thank you enough for your expressions of gratefulness. To know that God enabled us to effectively serve you brings some serious joy to our souls. I only wish I could look each of you in the eye and say “thanks.” With deep gratefulness in our hearts we ascribe all glory to God for what took place. As the Psalmist says, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (118:23).

On Thursday evening I had the privilege of introducing John Piper. I asked for the assistance of Jonathan Edwards in this task. Here is how Edwards encouraged his church to view “faithful ministers of the gospel:”

“Useful men are some of the greatest blessings of a people. To have many such is more for a people’s happiness than almost anything, unless it be God’s own gracious, spiritual presence amongst them: they are precious gifts of heaven…Particularly, I would beseech and exhort those aged ones that yet remain, while they do live with us, to let us have much of their prayers, that when they leave the younger generations, they may leave God with them.”

These words are not only an appropriate introduction of John Piper, these words are an accurate description of the many pastors in attendance at T4G. You men are “some of the greatest blessings of a people.” You “are precious gifts of heaven.” And you are doing the most important and difficult work. For you daily care for the saints “[Christ] obtained with his own blood (Acts 20:28).” You “leave God with them” each week as you preach, counsel and serve the church. And one day “when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (I Peter 5:4).

You men are our heroes. And it was a pure privilege and joy to be with you and serve you during those few extraordinary and unforgettable days together for the gospel.

Mark, you are so right – who knows what will come from T4G, but we all long for God to be glorified and his people helped as a result. And you are certainly right that we all want to see the Lord’s work cross-fertilized.

Two things are for sure. 1. We long to see a renewal of the old evangelical alliances, around the Gospel, and a strong coalition of Bible-saturated, truth-driven, God-entranced, prayer-soaked, aggressively evangelistic, Christ-treasuring, Christ-exalting, Spirit-filled, sovereign grace-loving, missions-advancing, hell-robbing, strong-thinking, real-need-exposing, soul-winning, mind-engaging, vagueness-rejecting, wartime-life-style-pursuing, self-denying, self-giving, risk-taking, justice-advancing, Scripture-expounding, cross-cherishing, homosexuality-opposing, abortion-denouncing, racism-resisting, heaven-desiring, imputation-of-an-alien righteousness-proclaiming, justification-by-faith-alone-apart-from-doing preaching, error-exposing, complementarian, joyful, humble, loving, courageous, happy pastors working together for the Gospel. (Thanks to John Piper for so many of these words and thoughts).

2. And we want to see them leading strong evangelical churches who, while they hold as faithfully and biblically as they know how to certain doctrinal distinctives not shared by all other biblical evangelical churches, band together for the Gospel on a basis that is robustly doctrinal, historic, orthodox, reformational, world-opposing-while-at-the-same-time-world-loving, Bible-preaching, Scriptural-theology-inculcating, real-conversion-prizing, deep biblical evangelism-practicing, New Testament church-membership-implementing, church-discipline-applying, healthy and growing Disciple-making, biblical church leadership teaching-obeying – for the display of God’s glory in the churches.

May the Lord raise up such a ministerial fraternity – not on the basis of doctrinal minimalism but rather on the basis of shared conviction of the truth and Gospel forbearance in the areas where we differ; not to the detriment of our convictions regarding our distinctives in faith and practice in the local churches and families of churches we serve, but to their enhancement. And may the Lord raise up churches that are truly a witness to grace in this passing age, a display of the glory and power of God’s saving grace, outposts of heaven, suburbs of eternity. For the church is God’s strategy, and there is no plan B.