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Notes from the Road
- 12/31/07
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We spent our new year’s eve on the road. We got up at three o’clock this morning and scraped the frost off the windshield (frost in Chattanooga?) before hitting the road very shortly after four. Nobody should ever be awake at that hour. It’s just a bad idea. The children were simply hauled out of bed and shoved into their booster seats. Thankfully they went back to sleep (even if they did awake a few hours later complaining of neck aches). We got almost to Cincinnati before stopping for breakfast, but experienced a slower journey after that. Still, we were just over fourteen hours door-to-door which is a pretty good deal, we think. We’re finally home safe and sound. The house is still standing and my fish are still alive. A neighbor had kindly agreed to gather the stacks of books and paraphernalia that inevitably showed up while we were away. And so we’re home. It was a good trip and a good time away. But home is always best.
We knew that we were coming home to empty fridge and empty pantry so wanted to stop by the grocery store. We pulled into the parking lot precisely one minute after they locked the doors (they are a 24 hour shop but closed early today since it’s new year’s eve). We drove fourteen hours and missed by one minute. D’oh! We did an inventory of the food we’ve got left and it’s basically nothing. We’ll be scrounging until the stores open again on Monday. Noodles with nothing on them, anyone? Happy New Year! Maybe we’ll make it a new family tradition. (Just kidding, of course. We are pleased to have traveled home safely and will be grateful for what we’ve got).
I had lots and lots of time to think while driving today, and here are a few of the things that were rattling around in my mind.
Paul Washer
The Reality Check Conference gave me the opportunity to experience the teaching ministry of Paul Washer. I really enjoyed it, on the whole, and learned a lot from him. He’s given me lots of things to think about in the days to come. He’s passionate (by which I mean he yells a lot) and very motivated to help Christians, and young Christians in particular, to avoid the trappings of empty evangelicalism. I hope and pray my children are able to sit under teaching like that when they are teens. My only reservation is that he often seems to overstate things. For example, he said that if anyone were to speak to his six year old boy about having a crush on girls, he would grab that person by the neck and throw him up against the wall. A bit extreme perhaps? Another time he essentially mocked boys who play video games, seemingly suggesting that such games are never a worthy activity. This kind of blanket statement and extreme statement seemed to take away rather than add to his points. I love his passion and would not want him to temper that aspect of his ministry. But I’d also love to see him perhaps stop just a bit short of some of the more extreme statements. Young and impressionable people are listening! Beyond that small concern, I very much appreciated his ministry and look forward to hearing him again in the future. If I were a pastor or youth leader I would not hesitate to ask him to speak to my congregation nor would I hesitate to recommend him to others.
Ohio
I still dislike Ohio. If I were to give the state a new motto it would be “The Out to Get You State.” For Kentucky I’d suggest “We Burn Stuff” (since there are always fires burning in Kentucky, it seems) and for Tennessee “Closed At Five.”
Fireworks
All up and down the I-75 are stores that seemingly sell nothing but fireworks (and DVDs of firework displays. Whee!). I’ve never seen any cars at these stores and, despite having spent at least a month out of the past year in the United States, have never once seen or heard any evidence of a person using fireworks. And so I wonder, what are these stores a front for? If they aren’t selling fireworks, and the evidence seems to point to no fireworks being sold, how do these people make money and what do they do all day? What are they really selling and who shops there? Inquiring minds would like to know…
Timing
When we arrived home Aileen called her mother to let her know we had made it through. We found out that we arrived just hours ahead of a snowstorm that is set to drop ten to fifteen centimeters of snow over the area we were driving. I’m glad we made it ahead of that. Thank the Lord for small providences.
Enjoy your New Year’s Eve and be sure to watch out for that “other guy” on the road tonight…
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I write books and blogs for fun while doing web design and consulting for a living. I worship and serve at 
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Comments (33)
Thank God you guys are home safely! Sorry about the noodles :( (I have heard Washer's sermons, excellent, passionate, and I agree that he is just a little extreme on certain points) Thank you for the hard work on keeping us all updated! Your gorgeous wife is such a Queen for sharing you with all of us...Happy New Year to you all! Love from San Antonio, Texas..The Darr's
Do knock on a neighbors door and ask for some butter for those noodles. Seriously. I would feel terrible if I found out a neighbor was without on this night of plenty!!
And I've been there, knocking on the neighbor's door with two empty sippy cups when the twins were babies, asking for milk. I'd put the boys to bed before going to the store, forgetting I was out. The big bonus of actually ASKING for help? We get people knocking on our door now. So if you can, ask. Ask a neighbor for bread and cheese and butter for a grilled cheese sandwich. You just never know what might happen next!
Paul Washer spoke at my college when I was a freshman (about 7 years ago). The Lord used him to show me genuine, reality-driven Christianity for the first time.
I definitely think that Washer speaks in extremes. However, this is what makes Paul... Paul. The Lord has given him a unique ministry. He is something of a prophet (he is called to speak out against the failings of our Christian culture). The prophets spoke in extremes. They said many things that would be considered "over the top." Personally, I would not want Paul to change his tone. Does he tend to over emphasize at times? Yes, but I think it is necessary.
He speaks in extremes to get a point across. Different people have different ways of getting their points across. The Lord has gifted Paul in such a way that he gets his point across by communicating in the most vivid language possible.
The amazing thing about Washer is that he communicates the love and mercy of God with just as much expression and gusto as he does the wrath and holiness of God.
The only problem with Washer's preaching is when young men try to be him. His zeal is contagious--it is hard listen to him and not want to tell it like he does. As a young college student, it became my goal to be like Washer. I quickly learned that I am not Washer. I had to learn to be the man God created me to be. This, of course, is not Washer's fault, but it tends to happen quite a bit.
On the fireworks thing...you just need to be back here in the South on the fourth of July or New Year's eve. Then you would know and understand why all those fireworks trailers exist!
Speaking of which, I just heard the first bottle rockets of the evening sounding off... :)
Oh, there are people who buy fireworks. There are people who cross the border of Minnesota to get Wisconsin fireworks (since apparently we have lots 'o state laws about that). I've had people set off fireworks around me, I usually found someplace safe to hide.
I can't believe you guys don't have a 24 hour store that wants to force people to work on a holiday (what is consumerism coming to??)?? I'm pretty sure Wal-Mart will be open and I think the grocery store down the street is open too.
Surely there's a restaurant open???
Despite being in a state that borders Canada, I find I know very little about what goes on there.
Glad to hear you are back safe and sound, Tim.
Regarding Paul Washer, you said:I love his passion and would not want him to temper that aspect of his ministry. But I’d also love to see him perhaps stop just a bit short of some of the more extreme statements.
I know what you mean. Just the other day I was watching a video of his that was on another Christian blog, and Washer made the comment regarding a man in Australia (I think) that he was spending time with (who only had a couple of weeks to live) and he was going through Scripture with him. Washer said that, after a number of times going through passages (including John 3:16), this man finally broke down, realized and proclaimed that he was saved. Washer's point was that others would have left the man after their initial evangelism attempt, and he would have then died and gone to hell without being saved.
This is what I would consider an extreme statement not founded in truth, for had the man truly been one of Jesus' sheep, he would not have died until he had come to saving faith.
Passion is good, but extremes not founded upon the truth can easily mislead those young ears you referenced who are listening to Washer.
There have been fireworks going off for the past 4 hours around my house. I think people buy them here in the south and store them till the 4th of July or New Years Eve.
Happy New Years!
Glad you guys made it home safe.I was hoping to hear something about your speaking engagement. How did that go?I've nearly finished your book and plan to write a review tomorrow.Happy New Year!
I have to take exception to your comments about Ohio! You just caught us in a bad month! There are a lot of wonderful things to see and do, but mostly when the weather is nice (although the Christmas tree farm on our street is lovely in the snow!!) At least take pity on us for the poor Browns - thanks Tony Dungy for having NO respect for the game!!
Fireworks - instead of returning to Ohio on the way home from the conference, we headed to Dallas to visit my husband's grandfather. TN has nothing on Dallas! The outskirts of the city were lined with fireworks stands crowded with people stocking up for their New Years celebrations. Ohio has some odd laws. You can buy your fireworks there but can't shoot them off - or is the other way around?
About Paul Washer - My 16-year old said, "He doesn't hide the pill in the peanut butter." Exactly! He speaks clearly (not to be confused with some of the improper mind dumps you hear these days).
However, I think some of what you mention needs to be taken for the hyperbole that it is. I doubt seriously that he's going to take out someone who teases his son about dating! And while my kids play video games, neither were offended by the comments, except to the extent that their consciences may have been pricked by the Holy Spirit! They're old enough to discern that he was saying we need to evaluate how much time we spend on "fluff" and entertainment. To what end? We all need to do that I think.
I think that there were probably kids there who heard that and they rolled their eyes and it went right over their heads. There were others there who heard that and felt the conviction of the Spirit and they determined right then and there to spend more time with Christ and less time on foolish pleasures. I know it had that effect on me! I blogged about my final thoughts about the conference here:http://truthjohn1717.blogspot.com/
I did come away from the conference with a sense of hopefulness about the American church. When you start putting the pieces together of groups that are calling for solid biblical reform in the church such as Anchored in Truth (with their True Church conference), IX Marks, T4G, NA, etc. you can't help but have a great sense of anticipation to see what God will do through these men.
Mr. and Mrs. Darr, I go to Grace Community Church (www.gccsatx.com) in San Antonio, TX... where do yall go to church?
Brian,I think your statement sounds like hyper-Calvinism (I am a 5-point Calvinist), but I am not saying you are a hyper-Calvinist. The truth is, what Paul said about that man that got saved from John 3:16 going to hell, if the typical American evangelism tactics would have been used, is true. God doesn't save His people apart from means. The fact that those tactics weren't used was because he was a sheep.
If we let thoughts like that invade our thinking, soon we can lose our sense of responsibility to evangelize (or lose our burden for evangelism).
Washer's statement was an echo of what Scripture says over and over again (although Calvinist often dismiss these texts because of their theology). Warning passages are given to Christians all the time... lost peoples' blood can actually be on our hands... those who endure to the end will be saved... etc... Let's not let our Calvinism erase those passages in Scripture. We need to unify texts, not nullify them. Sometimes we can embrace a system, and in the process neglect certain texts or truths in Scripture.
Like Piper says (to loosely paraphrase), "If a true Christian does not endure to the end, he will be condemned... however all true Christians will endure to the end... and part of the reason why they endure is because of these very warning passages, they are part of the means that God uses to cause His sheep to endure."
Interesting discussion. Paul Washer and evangelism. A few years ago I wrote a paper on this subject. How to Counsel the Awakened Sinner. Actually the title was an examination of the charge of preparationism.
www.thereformedpastor.com/preparat.html
Here is a challenge and an eye opening experiment. I have mentioned before that there is a huge free library available on the internet at books.google.com
This library is searchable. Do a search on the terms, "awakened sinner" and "anxious inquirer" and read a number of the comments that were written 150 or more years ago in books, the counsels given, the cautions warned against. Or just grab a book like, "Lectures on Revival" by William Sprague and read the chapter "Treatment Due to the Awakened Sinner," or read the book, A Narrative of Surprising Conversions, by Jonathan Edwards.
Compare what they say to what Paul Washer says in his illustrations of sharing the gospel to the lost. I think you will find that there are a lot of similarities. They really believed in innate inability.
Paul Washer is preaching with the passion of Albert N Martin from the early 1970's. The only thing that may add to his preaching is to mix in some new sermon illustrations.But I love the man dearly as I trust I know something of his heart.
Very thanks!Thanks for blogging, for encourage, for the charing about holy things. A heartly greeting from the Old Europe / Germany. I wish You a blessed 2008 and stand firm to the bible! We are united in Him, even if they are different continents under our feets...
Brian, I think your statement sounds like hyper-Calvinism...but I am not saying you are a hyper-Calvinist.
Gee, thanks. I don't think you understand what hyper-Calvinism really is if you think what I said sounds like hyper-Calvinism. Either that, or you didn't read what I wrote.
The truth is, what Paul said about that man that got saved from John 3:16 going to hell, if the typical American evangelism tactics would have been used, is true. God doesn’t save His people apart from means.
I never said God doesn't save His people apart from means. But, if we fail at telling the good news to the world, God says the very stones would cry out. That does not negate our responsibility to declare to the world that God demands repentance and faith, but it does show that a man's eternal salvation is not dependent upon whether or not I get the message perfectly right when I am talking to an unbeliever, and it doesn't require me having to go through the same message a dozen times until the person responds that they are now saved. God will save His people, ALL of His people ("This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of ALL He has given Me, I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day").
What is so freeing with respect to witnessing to the world is that I do not have to worry about being perfect in my message, or using the right combination of tactics, in order for someone to get saved. My duty is to faithfully proclaim the message, and then let God do with it what He will.
If Washer had faithfully proclaimed the gospel to this man, then he could have left Australia knowing the man had heard the gospel, and that it was now up to God to save him if He so willed. It was not dependent upon Washer staying there, going through Scripture over and over, until the man declared that he was saved.
Matt,Are you telling me that Washer was this man's only hope for salvation, and if he had done it "wrong", or had left before the man made a confession, then the man would now be in hell (as Washer himself said)? What kind of God is that who would fail to save even one of those He had decreed to be found? Washer's statement was one of emotion and shock. It was not one of truth.
That's an extreme statement by Washer, and one that cannot be supported with Scripture. I like him just as much as many others do, but I agree with Tim that he sometimes says things that, though they may be intended to make a point or be abrasive, they don't always contain the truth of God's word.
Sorry for hijacking the thread, Tim.
Oops...
I should have written, "I never said God DOES save His people apart from means."
I also would like to point out that Tim never said Washer's extreme statements sometimes don't contain truth...that is my own belief.
Ohio has some odd laws. You can buy your fireworks there but can’t shoot them off - or is the other way around?
The way I always understood it, was that you could buy them but not shoot them off (though not everyone follows that), though I could be getting that wrong. Tim, Tim. Once again you diss the great state that brought you Thomas Edison? You clearly have never truly had the Ohio experience. (The fact that I no longer live there is completely irrelevant.)
Tim, I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to talk with you at the conference. I thank God for you and for all He is doing in and through you. You faced much not only in your travels to and from Chattanooga but also while you were there. I praise God for your faithfulness.
No doubt, many agree with your opinion when you stated, “Another time he essentially mocked boys who play video games, seemingly suggesting that such games are never a worthy activity. This kind of blanket statement and extreme statement seemed to take away rather than add to his points.” I would like share how God worked in unseen ways through what to most may have seemed out of place.
As Paul Washer began to speak about the 17 yr old boys who are obsessed with video games, tears of gratitude started streaming down my face. You see, I was sitting with my 17 yr old son who desires nothing more than to play video games. He thinks that graduation simply means more game time. Even though he “prayed a prayer, walked an aisle and was baptized” when he was eight, before I was converted, there are no apparent signs of regeneration. Apart from the preaching of the Gospel, Paul’s words were of the greatest value to me...an answer to many prayers.
If you think back, Paul then went on to seemingly mock teenage girls in like manner. Interestingly, I was also sitting with my 14-year-old daughter who shops at the mall with a group of giggling girls as they look at earrings (which to Paul look like fishing lures)...another answer to my prayers.
God is so very faithful. I brought my kids to the conference with hope that somebody would say something that would have a direct impact on them. I left telling them with a smile that I honestly did not pay Paul Washer to say those things. May God save their souls for His glory.
I had never heard of Paul Washer before Tim mentioned him being a speaker at the Reality Check conference. I listened to the message on You Tube where he challenged the young people to examine themselves to see whether they were in the faith. I am encouraged that there are young preachers willing to preach the truth even if it hurts. I appreciate his heart for God and his burden for the lost. I trust that God will continue to use Him for His Glory.
Thanks, Tim, for sharing your conference insights.
Glad you made it home safely. We in Michigan are receiving the storm as we speak.
Brian,
Your comments are well taken. From what I understand though, this situation was unique for Paul, and would not constitute his normal way of doing things. Here he was in the middle of nowhere (It was actually Alaska, I believe...), and he would likely never be back there again. And a man comes to a meeting who has very little time to live, and doesn't normally have much contact with other people (he was a bushman), and he is in turmoil about his soul. My hunch is that Paul would have felt like a false prophet to the man had he not done what he did in trying to help this man find peace with God. You may have done it differently, but for Paul, it seemed right in this case for him to minister to this man the way he did.
gh
Garrett,
I have not disagreed at all with what Washer did in staying with the man (and you are right, I think, about it being Alaska). What I disagreed with was his remark that if he had not done what he did (in staying with the man and going over passages again and again and again), then this man would have died and gone to hell. That flies in the face of God's sovereignty to save His people from their sins. If the man was truly one of God's sheep, and the man did not get saved while Washer was still there (keep in mind this man had now heard the gospel), he would have gotten saved in God's perfect timing for, as Jesus says, "All the Father gives Me WILL come to me".
Again, I have no problem with Washer staying there with the man. I DO have a problem with Washer saying the man would have died and gone to hell had he not stayed there with him.
Hi Matt Haney!! We are going to check out Grace Community Church!!! :) This is our situation...We are Reformed Charismatics (Don't worry, its not contagious hee hee) We met at International Bible College at Benrus Blvd. in 94. We did everything crazy Charismatic before we were Reformed. We did the Vineyard, the MorningStar, the Kim Clement, Word of Faith, Pensacola, TBN, IHOP silliness. We are looking for a good Reformed Church, but we are a little limited on when we can go, (our only son Jonah is on lifesupport due to a muscle disease...he is happy and healthy and gorgeous!) Jonah was the whale that took us away from the heresy of all that we were into...we were even starting to be emergent (yikes) It wasn't until we were taken out of the "church" that we were able to see true doctrine and theology. Matt, thanks for your response!! I am so excited, I'm going to look up gccsatx right now! :)God Bless,Jason, Jennifer and Jonah Darr
Hey Brian,
You are making some goods points that I would agree with. Calvinism does free us to be evangelistic and leave the results with God, not trusting in our own ability to communicate the Gospel perfectly.
If you listen to Washer much, you know that often he leaves people to God, sending them home saying, "you need to go home and cry out to God." Washer was clearly not waiting around trying to force this man to make a confession. The man was simply hungry for salvation and he was willing to stay and explain the Gospel further. His point was that most people would have declared him saved before he actually was saved, and thus the man would have had a false confidence and went to hell (in theory).
If Paul Washer would have seen this man's burden over his soul and said, "If you want to get saved, pray this prayer" then the man would have ended up in hell because that is not an imperfect presentation of the Gospel, it is not the Gospel. God does not save apart from the Gospel.
Paul said in Acts 18:6, "And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them,'Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.'" This language rings of Ezekiel 33:4-9. He said in Acts 20:26-27, "Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." I don't think he means I preached the truth to you once, but rather over and over again I taught you and you would not receive it. The fact is, Calvinist can have blood on their hands and the sovereignty of God does not nullify that.
If God was leading Paul through the Holy Spirit to stay with this man, Paul could not have justified disobedience by appealing to God's sovereignty and then just leaving anyways. I remember in college a Pastor's daughter showed up late to a Bible Study and she explained that the reason she was late was because she got to talking to this guy and the Gospel came up and this guy was really being effected by everything she said and part way through the conversation she realized that she was late to the Bible Study. So she just told the guy, I have to go, left him with an incomplete Gospel (that she knew was not enough to bring him to saving knowledge) and no contact info and said flippantly, "Well if he is one of the elect, God will save him anyways." That careless attitude is not the kind of example Jesus or the Apostle Paul left us. God's sovereignty was never revealed so we could be careless or lazy with souls.
I preached a sermon once that was called, "God Needs & Receives Nothing, He is Only a Giver!" on Acts 17:24-27 and Mark 10:45. I showed that Christians who think, "God really needs me", don't understand what type of God they serve. I think you would see in that sermon that much of what you say I would hardily agree with. Here is the link:http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=10290622456
In Christ,matt haney
I have heard numerous sermons where Washer uses the story of the salvation of the man from Alaska. Brian... I think you are missing the point. Washer's point was the typical evangelical would have quickly led the man in a "sinner's prayer" and then pronounced him "saved." The man would not have been saved. Instead, Washer used the Scriptures and waited upon God to do the work of salvation.
How does this fit with God's sovereignty in salvation? That's the $64,000 question to which none of us can give a complete answer. If he was one of God's "sheep"...he would be saved prior to passing from this world. If not, no one's efforts would have made any difference. Does this mean we can evangelize using any methodology we desire? Does it mean we don't have to evangelize at all (hyper-calvinism)? I believe the answer to both is, "no."
Thank the Lord Paul Washer is passionately preaching in our world of weak pabulum that constitutes most of evangelicalism today.
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Matt,I agree with everything you just said.
Charley,I think perhaps you have missed MY point. I love Washer's passion and (for the most part), his straight-forward style.
My whole point for even commenting was to show that I, like Tim, have noticed some extreme statements by Washer.
Again, please know that I am thankful for guys like Paul Washer who clearly have a heart for true discipleship and evangelism. My beef was not with Washer's methods, but with his remarks concerning the eternal results (specifically relating to the man in Alaska) of those methods (this comment may get me in hotter water on this thread than I was in before!).
I think we are close to going in circles, as well as talking past one another. I just hope people understand what I was trying to say.
Happy New Year!
Matt,We live in a day when the true gospel is very hard to find. Keep those sermons coming on the Uncommonly Powerful Preaching site, and on sermon audio. I believe your faithfulness to do so has been of great value to the Body of Christ.
Blessings,Del Sutter
Tim, Detroiter's make regular pilgrimage's to Ohio for fireworks and other such objects of mayhem. Ohio is a very boring place, and if you noticed, there is plenty of time between exits via I-75. Oh, they may not have much business in lieu of cars visibly parking in the lots, but I bet that someone is waiting for that next Michigander to meander through the door. They have a plethora of online sales as well. By the way, did you get to see the Mega-Idol of Jesus praying in the pond at one of the many mega-church's along the freeway? Interesting no? Fireworks and Mega-church's. Just a slight bit insidious? Maybe....could be an indicator of the populations general consensus on entertainment?
Thomas,
I am greatly looking forward to reading your paper on preparationism (though I don't have time tonight). It looks like you've read from Gerstner's Rational Theology volumes. Have you heard of or read books from a group called International Outreach? They have published a few volumes of Jonathan Edwards' previously unpublished sermons. One is called "Knowing the Heart: Jonathan Edwards on True and False Conversion" and another is "Seeking God: Jonathan Edwards Evangelism Contrasted with Modern Methodologies." From what I have heard of Paul Washer, he does seem to fall much closer to how many Puritans of the past practiced evangelism than the modern methods. If total depravity / total inability is true, then sinners must come to the point of being helpless and as Martin Luther put it "despairing of self" in order to look to Christ. But so often today they are just given something that they can easily do in their own strength. Is a person under conviction? Give them a prayer to say! You probably came across this, but I thought the following quote from one of Gerstner's volumes is just shocking: "Puritan tests for seekers were so high that modern "Christians" would not qualify." (vol. 3, pg 76). So in other words he is saying that many today who consider themselves born again Christians would not even qualify as being unbelieving seekers in the Puritan days!
Where is the biblical support for preparationism?
The only thing a sinner need be prepared with for salvation is a cold, dead heart. The Holy Spirit needs not to wait for someone to have reached some level of preparedness in order for them to be regenerated. There is no such thing as gradual conversion, either, for gradual conversion would necessitate gradual regeneration.
Our duty as Christians is not to attempt to discern some order of steps within/prior to salvation, but to faithfully and clearly proclaim the truth of the gospel, and let the Holy Spirit do as He wills with the message put forth.
Hi Brian,
It might be that preparationism is a word like Calvinism where different people can be use it and have different ideas of what it means based on past experiences and things. Here is my brief attempt to explain what I mean and I think what the Puritans generally meant (in my very limited understanding) by this term, though it may better be called "seeking" evangelism.
1. Preparationism does not teach that the Holy Spirit "waits". The Spirit does not wait as it is the Spirit who is doing the work. The point in the sort of "preparation" that many Puritans followed is that often the people (the ones preaching, shepherding, evangelizing) need to wait for the Spirit to work rather then stepping in and attempting to do the work of the Spirit. Is there no spiritual difference between an unbeliever who has been awakened to his/her sinful state and is under conviction and an unbeliever who has no concern at all for sin?
2. Preparationism does not necessarily teach gradual conversion (perhaps some form of it did and that is your experience with it?). It still holds to instantaneous regeneration of the soul when a new heart is given. But it does teach that work is done in the soul prior to this work of conversion. For example, a person who has not been awakened in any degree to his or her own sin is not ready to "receive Christ". Sure, they can simply believe the facts of what He did, but that is not conversion.
3. Preparationism does not teach that we must discern the exact steps every person must go through to be saved. Different believers may have different experiences prior to conversion. It does teach, however, that we ought to encourage people to seek the Lord rather than giving them a thing that can be done in their own strength. They must seek God even though their seeking of Him is from sinful/selfish motives since they have no moral ability to do anything out of true love for Christ. Only God can save but He is not obligated to save BECAUSE of something man has done or is doing. Grace is moved by God alone.
4. I do believe there is much biblical support for this understanding of preparationism. For example, was the rich ruler "ready" to receive Christ? If so, why didn't Jesus just say to "believe in me". He didn't even tell the man the gospel but aimed directly to convict him of sin. Was He preaching the gospel to the Pharisees when He called them a brood of vipers? (granted Jesus knew who his sheep are and we do not, but what would a self-righteous legalist need to see in order to be converted? Do they just need to believe in Jesus, or do they need to be broken of their own self-righteousness before they can have faith in Christ alone?)
I think the main point of the teaching is that individuals need to be dealt with where they are at spiritually as individuals. So much of evangelism today is just a canned message given the same way to all people. I'm not arguing totally against that, say in a group setting, but not when speaking with individuals. Some may have no concept of sin and need to be shown from scripture the depravity of their own heart. In some cases (assuming the Spirit is working), this may sink in to the soul very quickly or perhaps even immediately. Or, it may take some time (years even in some cases!). Or, if the Spirit is not moving, there may just be an intellectual agreement with the truth of total depravity but no deep and real recognition of it in the soul. If we are to keep from deceiving people, we must at least attempt to be discerning in this area. Yes, God will save His elect, but if we love God and other people we will want to avoid being instruments of their temporary deception. Some may already be under great conviction and need to be pointed to Christ as their only hope (the case of the man Paul Washer spoke of in his sermon, I think).
Sorry for rambling on and I guess this is a topic that could take much time to discuss, but I really think it is vitally important to look into. Basically, it stands in stark contradiction to the "new methods" introduced by Finney. It is not making the work of salvation dependent on us in any way but I think is rather attempting to distinguish between true and merely intellectual conversions.
Hi Aaron: Yes, I have heard of International Outreach. I am also friends with a pastor who has written forwards to some of their published works. He lives just down the road, Bernie Timmerman. Since I live in Grand Rapids, MI., I have to steer a thin line in this discussion between easy believism on the one hand, and some Reformed churches who believe that if you did not have a 12 step law work conversion such as Boston mentions in Human Nature In Its Fourfold State or something like that, your conversion is suspect. As a result, many of those people never have assurance because they assume their conversion didn't follow the text book conversion they thought the Puritans spoke of. If you get a chance, read the introduction to "A Guide to Christ" by Solomon Stoddard. It is quite balanced. It was written by Increase Mather in 1714.If this subject interests you, you can always write me privately. I would love to know more of what you have learned. thomas_sullivan@att.net
I also narrate books. At this time I am narrating the book of John Owen, "The Forgiveness of Sin." This is really solid material on the application of the work of Christ.
Mr. and Mrs. Darr,
Many of the members of G.C.C. believe the gifts still exist today (not like the TBN charismatics do, that also focus on tongues way too much, but) much like John Piper, Wayne Grudem and D.A. Carson do... so don't worry about that when coming to G.C.C.
Del Sutter,
Thanks for the encouraging words... I have taken a break from posting stuff on the Holidays to spend more time with my family, but I will hopefully find time to start posting some more stuff soon.
I discovered Paul Washer's preaching a couple of months ago and have been both encouraged and taken aback by him. I work around youth a lot and it is refreshing to see someone who preaches truth to them rather than caters to them.
While not necessarily jazzed about, & honestly a little bit mystifed by, the "We Burn Stuff" (this isn't California) state motto, I am thrilled to see Kentucky ranked higher than the "Out to Get You" state.
My take on Paul Washer was much the same as yours. I like him, because he says what many of us think or feel and he is obviously committed to truth.
I've thought a lot about shock value in preaching over the years. In my seminary classes on Preaching we were taught Haddon Robinson’s model of carrying one dominant theme or thought throughout the sermon. But did the Sermon on the Mount do that? It was a plethora of truth that seemed at times unconnected, but it has become one of the most read and quoted sermons of all time, primarily for its shock value. I think that is one thing that Paul Washer has mastered.
Voddie Baucham preached the conference last year and he has adept at using shock value as well. Especially, in his sermons on the family and family planning.
We could all learn a lesson from these guys about the use of shock at its value in preaching, but as you have warned we must be careful not to take it too far less we become the ministerial version of the shock jock.