Limping In (a poker term)

The whole process of blogging is a bit foreign and even a bit intimidating to me at the moment, but I suspect that in a fairly short time, I will be up and running. If Leverton can do it, surely I can, too.

I need to talk about the name of my blog. I took it in a similar fashion as the early Christians took the name "Christians," that is, as a term which was intended as pejorative, but gently so, I suspect. Two delightful Christian brothers with whom I was talking at a bond fire and cookout in Champaign, IL, had asked me about dealing with persons in the church who profess to be believers but whose lives demonstrate a pattern of sinfulness. I merely shared with the brothers what I have said to many such professors of faith: "I'm afraid that I can't receive you as a regenerate believer, seeing as there is no convincing evidence that the Spirit is at work in your life." One brother responded, "Vic practices X-Christianity!" By that he was referring to the current craze of "X," [for "extreme"] programs on television, particularly The X-Games, which weekly chronicles a bunch of people with death wishes doing silly things to themselves that might hurt them real badly.

At first, I was a little taken aback that my approach to a sinning believer would be seen as anything extreme, but I then came to realize that such candor and plainness is rare in this day of effeminate religion. For myself, I think that if I were not to confront the sinning professor, I would betray my calling and do dishonor to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But as I thought on it a bit more, I decided to own the title, for if straighforwardness is considered X-Christianity, then I am guilty of it; and may God grant me grace to remain so.

Yet this is not my primary reason for putting up the blog. That is an entirely other matter. Here is a bit of my motivation.

Our church recently made a major change in our schedule of services. We hold regular morning services, then have a communal lunch at church and then convene an afternoon service, the afternoon service being somewhat more like an interactive discussion that a formal sermon [though sometimes I as pastor break that rule a little]. After that service, our day is finished, and a Spanish-speaking Baptist church uses our building in the evening for their services.

In that way, it frees me up to attend other churches on Sunday evening, so that I and a wonderful brother have been visiting various congregations to see what is really happening and what is being preached in and around our area. At this point we are not discriminating at all, but going to just about anything that strikes our fancy each week. We have, though, gone to a goodly number of Baptist churches, since we are Baptists ourselves and desire to have fellowship with those Baptist brothers that are of "like precious faith." It was to be a most enlightening experience, because as a preacher who loathes being away from my pulpit, I had not had opportunity to visit and hear other men preach except for an occasional conference or visit with a pastor friend, in which I was often asked to preach in the pastor's stead.

My people had told me that I was going to be surprised, for many of them had come from out of churches in the community and they reported things that I simply did not believe. So I went with a sense of discovery, really, and with the hopes that I could identify those with whom I might wish to establish closer relations. The reality was to be like a roadside IED to me. I was, figuratively speaking, blown completely away.

The state of affairs in the churches in our area are so devastatingly disastrous as to cause me to suffer a kind of spiritual depression. Suffice it to say that in one thriving "Christian" church which was highlighted in the Grand Rapids Press for its uniqueness and attraction to thousands of people every time they opened their doors, my Christian brother and I listened intently to every word spoken for nearly two hours, seeking to know the message that was being taught in what could only be termed a dramatic role-play skit. We also experienced the music, the prayers and all the related activities of the "worship" service. But here is the kicker: Never once did we see or hear the name of Jesus Christ!

I am not kidding. Not in the music lyrics projected on large screens, for it seemed that songs were chosen especially because they did *not* have the name Jesus Christ in them. Other songs were projected and sung, but they were contemporary lyrics and did not once mention the name of Jesus Christ. Even the prayers did not use the name but were finished with the phrase "In your son's name, Amen." That is forgivable, I suppose, but in the context of a "Christian" service where it was apparent that the name of Jesus Christ was being carefully avoided, that phrase slapped me across the face, as it were. I was flabbergasted, to say the least. There were several thousand people present, and my heart sank that not one of them had any concerns that the name of our dear Savior and Lord was not spoken one time by the leaders of the services.

Mind you, I am not a raving fundamentalist rabid dog who gets bent out of shape over anything that he does not believe or practice. I am theologically conservative, as I am a Calvinist of the 5-point sort. But I am not at all opposed to contemporary music that honors God and our Lord Jesus Christ with its lyrics and arrangement. But never in my Christian life did I imagine that I would attend a so-called "church" with the name Christian that would blush rather than use the name Jesus Christ. In a way, I am still, months later, reeling from this experience. And I haven't even yet spoken about my experience in some Baptist churches, in which the experience was only slightly, and I do mean slightly, better. Devastating. Maddening. Irritating. Pure soul-rotting stuff that needs to be condemned, not encouraged.

So I am determined in the days ahead to use this blog to expose, rebuke, admonish, teach, preach, and whatever else it may take to begin to oppose this awful downgrade of the Christian faith in our area. I suspect that the situation is the same, really, all over. But I must address that which I see, hear and experience, and that means that I must limit myself to local issues, primarily. I do think that our discussions here may have wider implications, however, and may be of some help to others who are of like mind with us.

I do not come with a mean spirit at this task. Indeed, I invoke the Spirit of God to grant me a stable and peaceful mind in accomplishing the task at hand. But because I am known to practice X-Christianity, I doubt that I will be mealy-mouthed about anything. It is just not my character - nor my calling.

I cannot help but connect our current state of affairs with that which C.H. Spurgeon warned of more than 110 years ago. He warned of a great "downgrade" in the Baptist ranks in England and especially London. I believe that he was spot on with that prediction, and we have just come out of an entire century of continuous downgrade among the Baptists. I am sick at heart because of it, and find myself somewhat alone in my sentiments here in Holland. Perhaps the blog can produce some spiritual support in our efforts to put an end to the downgrade by the vigorous and vital proclamation of the truth of God's grace and sovereignty. Perhaps God will grant us success if we are faithful to seek Him in all things and reverse the awful erosion of faith in our area. It is providential, it seems, that only recently our church changed its name from Grace Baptist Church to Spurgeon Heritage Church. The reason for that change is that we see ourselves as standing in the line with that great "Prince of Preachers" against the degradation of the Gospel and the Baptist denomination.

Later, I will share with the readers some personal notes from my own Fundamentalist Baptist background, for my Fundamentalist credentials are probably better than most of the Fundamentalists that I have heard and seen in this area. But that is for another time. For now, I hope only to begin the process of reformation, as we often sign our communications with the reformation era cry of "semper reformanda" - always reforming. It is high time.

Vic