The Coming Meetings

It is that time again. Time when churches begin to go to Classis and Presbytery, and in a few months we will see Synods and General Assemblies. This is the time of year then when the most trouble is stirred up, and debates get hot. This year appears to be no exception. A new round of critiques of the Mississippi Valley Presbytery’s Report has begun. Apparently the report has been made a communication to the PCA General Assembly, so that is sure to cause a little trouble. It appears that many are upset because the report, in a round about way, declares many ministers outside the realm of orthodoxy. This is because they published the report without notes, and people wanted the proof for such claims, so they published notes, and now people are mad that names were given. It is a no win situation when a Presbytery gives a report of this nature. I do agree that if the Presbytery does not file charges in the appropriate courts then they have done people wrong. You can’t make claims about one’s orthodoxy being faulty and then not follow through with anything.
It will be interesting to see what the PCA and the OPC do. It hardly seems likely that the situation will go away without any sort of action. Soon, action will be necessary. Yet, this will be an interesting test to see if people can nail down the beliefs of those in the Federal Vision and if they can nail down their own set of beliefs. Then, if they can do that, will they be able to line the two systems up side by side a see where they conflict. Then the task will be to decide which system is more biblical. I have to admit that I am skeptical that such a procedure will occur. Need I remind everyone of the Rev. John Wood case a few years ago in the PCA. If memory serves me correct, John Wood allowed a woman to preach in the pulpit for a Sunday service or two, and was acquitted for it because they could not really nail down a definition of preaching. Rev. Wood claimed she did not preach because preaching requires authority, which the woman did not have since she was a woman. Thus, he got off of the charges. Maybe my memory is faulty, or maybe I am overly pessimistic. No matter what, I hope an interesting discussion comes around from these meetings where we can honestly line up the doctrine of each group and see where we disagree.
Lord willing we can give this a try here on this page.