Leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) !!!

Get out of the PCUSA. If you believe God's Word and are in that denomination, you are behind enemy lines. It's as simple as that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

It's been well over a year since God mercifully led me out of the Presbyterian Church USA; the synagogue of Satan that was once a great spiritual bulwark!

5. The purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error;(1) and some have so degenerated as to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan.(2) Nevertheless, there shall be always a church on earth to worship God according to his will.(3)

 

(1) I Cor. 13:12; Rev. chaps. 2 and 3; Matt. 13:24-30, 47; (2) Matt. 23:37-39; Rom. 11:18-22; (3) Matt. 16:18; Ps. 45:16-17; Ps. 72:17; Matt. 28:19-20; I Cor. 15:51-52; I Thess. 4:17

Westminster Confession of Faith 25:5

When you have a majority of polled clergy in any denomination that hold Jesus Christ is not the only way to salvation, the denomination has fully satisfied the Biblical and catechetical requisites for the term "Synagogue of Satan"....No "ifs" no "ands" no "buts" no "maybes"!

I continue to pray for those churches that have been led to this pass and are struggling with litigation in these various presbyteries. As for individual Presbyterians, I'll say to you what my cousin Rick Murphy, a retired Pennsylvania state trooper said to me.

As long as you remain in the PCUSA, it will be looked upon as a tacit endorsement of what they stand for. More importantly, your spiritual needs will not be met...period! Presbyterians hold to the following:

• The Absolute sovereignty of God in all things
• The Lordship of Jesus Christ
• Christ being the only way to salvation
• The inerrancy of the Bible
• The importance of the confessions-Westminster, Three Forms of Unity
• The complimentarian view of marriage
• Moral absolutism
• Divine election and reprobation

Sound like anything supported out of Louisville?? I thought not. The only way for you to preserve your Presbyterian heritage- not to mention your own Spiritual health and sanity- is to vote with your feet.

Thank you, Rick!!! And it goes without saying that you can indeed count on my support when/ if you decide to run for Sheriff of Allegheny County!!!

Rick was right and he was the mortal vessel sent by God to break it down to me at the point I most agonized over the goings on in the mainstream.




So, here's my formal resignation letter, submitted to the Session of the Westminster Presbyterian Church of Boardman, Ohio


Dear Session Members,                                                                                                                    Feb 24, 2012

In the near 15 years I've been a member of Westminster, I've seen a number of changes and many people come and go. Through God's grace alone, I've been taught many valuable spiritual and life lessons and I've seen much which reinforced what I'd learned prior to joining the WPC family.  I cannot tell you how much I've learned about human nature, through the milieu of how I've been warmly perceived and dealt with in many instances and, at times, deliberately mischaracterized.

At times, we are placed into situations where the outcome bears precious little resemblance to fairness. The elect are reminded in Calvin's Institutes, Vol 3 that “the procedure of divine justice is too high to be scanned by human measure". To this end, I thank God for allowing my faith to be subjected to such litmus tests, for they permanently arrested much of the convoluted and doctrinally wayward idealism I had hitherto entertained. My faith has been strengthened in ways that my powers of speech are unable to forensically depict and for this, again, I praise and thank God in Christ.

Upon several junctures, I was solicited by members of the session and diaconate to reach out to those who withdrew from congregational life. I heard charges of cliquishness, economics with the truth and hypocrisy against certain people and tendencies, over and over again. Many young people especially have levied allegations of the flagrant applications of double standards and deceptively selective morality. These were not blanket charges, I observed. On the contrary, these applied to certain cabals of influence, busy bodies and aspersion casters that have deliberately-at times capriciously-mocked the sanctity, integrity and unanimity of the church and its governance. Often I would respond by very correctly pointing out that these malefactions in no way accurately portray the culture at Westminster, in totality.

For years I thought Westminster to be a rudder. Indeed, a beacon which could easily weather the maelstrom that has enveloped the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Eventually, it would become painfully clear that said charges were neither disjointed nor completely devoid of merit. In Protestant Rome, the reformer John Calvin said that "Church is composed not only of the elect, but of the polluted dregs of society". The sageness of Calvin's observation would become all too frightfully self-revelatory in my interactions with those who cleverly portrayed themselves as champions of traditional orthodoxy-not to mention friends of mine. The vignettes I've observed which validate the assertions of those who've left include, but are not limited to:

·          An unwavering intolerance for tobacco being exhibited by many of the same people who exhaustively and disingenuously endeavor to mainstream or rationalize everything from heresy to philandering to harlotry to even illicit drug use.

·          An inordinate emphasis on forgiveness and tolerance  being extended to any and all, save those who wish to cling to the classical, traditional articles of the Reformed faith.

·          Dismissal of the acrostic T.U.L.I.P.; which outlines the essential tenets of our faith as anachronistic, if not potentially derisive. While at the same time, the use of hemp is portrayed as some kind of benign maturation rite. Was it ever considered that such a casual portrayal could be viewed as a tacit endorsement to engage in the use of drugs by the youth at Westminster?

·          Scriptural and catechetical references being subjected to all manner of vulgar conjectural appropriation; in the hope that the true meaning will be taken out of context for the benefit of sheer humor and mockery. The "leaders" of WPC who endeavored this shrewish and impious game know well who they are. In an attempt to advance themselves socially, they thus engaged-only to make themselves look immature, cuckolded, hermaphroditical and sacrilegious in the end. I concede culpability freely in this matter; as I failed to heed the admonition of the Savior to "not cast my pearls before swine".

·          "Gentlemen" bragging about carnal conquests they've made in the church are held up as paragons of virtuous churchmanship and rectitude. While those with legitimate aims are often scoffed at or tromped! I've seen it all too often...I've felt the effects first hand! To this end, I could go as far as to name a beautiful young child who was maliciously mislabeled the "cause" of her family's discord in an attempt to veil the malefactions of the former. I believe there to be a special seating section, along the banks of the river Styx, for "adults" who engage in charades such as these!

·          Conveying the courageous struggle of a Catholic priest's terminal illness, while regarding the death of Rev Dr. D James Kennedy not even worthy of an exegetical footnote. The reason I was given is that the Presbyterian Church in America excludes women from sessional, diaconal and ministerial duties and paying any tribute to Dr Kennedy would be offensive to those with feminist views at WPC. Last time I checked, the Roman Catholic Church held to the same strictures. Why the double standard, I asked. I never received a coherent answer.

·         The implementation of a la carte Scriptural emphasis and the regularity of making one's sins into the shape OF the Cross; as opposed to laying them AT the Cross. Christ's call for the elect to repent has been just short of criminalized, completely.

To my view, these are not isolated incidents or tendencies. Rather, they are inextricably interwoven; as they are variables in the foul calculus of Scriptural and moral declension pandemic in mainline Protestantism in this quarter of the Earth. They underscore the enshrinement of latent Guevarist schematics that have led to the balkanization of this once hale and hearty denomination. As long as proclivities such as the above remain standardized at Westminster and as long as WPC remains with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), it will mirror the denomination in a precipitous cascade into irrelevance. 

Accordingly, after much prayer and plaintive deliberation, I have determined that continuing the endeavor of proclaiming and defending the true Reformed faith, while within the walls of the P.C.U.S.A., is neither a spiritually healthy nor politically viable option. As earlier intimated, this issue goes well beyond Amendment 10-A and nFOG. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) died quite some time ago and the aforementioned enactments from Louisville are merely part of the natural process of putrefaction. My sojourn in this denomination has indeed run its course and any further attempt on my part to seek redress for the various and sundry ails and incongruities in the faith will prove but an exercise in futility.

 I therefore repudiate the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as a horrific cauldron of apostasy and declare my 1993 installation to the diaconate to be null and void. I renounce the jurisdiction thereof and hereby remand the Session of Westminster Presbyterian Church to immediately remove my name from its roster and mailing list. I declare my ties to the denomination to be now, henceforth and forever severed. I will neither seek nor accept discourse in the liturgical vein nor attend any liturgical engagement under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), apart from the occurrence of a wedding or funeral, at any time in the future.

In closing, may God's benison be with the remnant that remains unimbrued by the godless tendencies of liberalism, reckless secularism and moral relativism. I pray that God will provide the respite and moral clarity needed to maintain their vital focus on Christ, His Father's Word and the historic confessions of our faith. There are doubtlessly those who will view this letter as a victory of sorts. As disheartening and as sick as that is, may Almighty God grant them discernment and mercy as well.

Farewell, Eric Wells


It bears repeating-Get out of the PCUSA. If you believe God's Word and are in that denomination, you are behind enemy lines. It's as simple as that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guarantee you'll not only be glad you did, but you'll wonder why you stayed as long as you did. You're in my prayers, of course.

                                                                     Soli Deo Gloria

Calvinism- A definition compliments of the cat!!!

A rancher in Wyoming was awakened to the sound of his seven year-old daughter crying uncontrollably. A yearling Hereford named Bessie that he bought for her for her 4-H project, that was penned up by herself, somehow escaped its confines and went off into the surrounding forest. Unnerved, the rancher quickly ran through the shower, put on his thermal tops and bottoms. He threw on his carpenter pants, a thick flannel shirt and slapped some mousse through his hair. Retrieving his Mossberg 590 which he kept over the open hearth, he then put on his Carhartt jacket and his NRA hat and off he went looking for the lost on horseback.

It snowed about 4 inches the night before and the temp was just over freezing. There was a trace of precipitation in the air. He had a hunch the yearling likely took a deer trail that winded through a deep ravine and went on for several miles after that. Yet, more snow was forecasted after that and the barometer on his Casio Pathfinder further confirmed that time was indeed of the essence- if she was to be found alive.

The search went on for what seemed half the day. Finally, about 30 yards from a growth of trees was Bessie, laying dead in the snow. Dismayed, he dismounted to make sure the remains were indeed those of the calf. The tag on the ear of the lifeless calf removed all doubt that he now had the unenviable duty of relaying to his daughter that Bessie won't be back.

.......But how did it happen?? The killer left several tell tale clues:


Death came almost instantly for the animal; by way of a precise bite to the neck and the carcass was covered over with snow and brush to prevent the meat from freezing and reduce the likelihood of scavenging by other predators. The yearling had been eviscerated- its rib cage was visible and the vital organs had been eaten away. The killer sprang from amidst the tree growth as the tracks indicate. It's not possible to tell how long Bessie was being stalked,but the tracks looked like these

Two indentations amid three lobes at the rear of the heel pad and four olive shaped toes with no claw marks; which indicate the claws are retractable.

It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot to cut through this one! No presumption whatsoever is necessary......

Bessie was tracked and killed by a catamount. It had probably been sizing her up for days and waited patiently for her to be loose and within his range 

Understandably, several questions flooded the mind of the rancher. Is this the same cat that hit my buddy's steers on his spread? Why didn't I make sure that lock was completely secured. How am I going to break this to my daughter; who as yet not come to understand the finality of death? What worked in this rancher's favor was that he was a devout Calvinist. As yet, the OPC has but one congregation in The Equality State...but I digress. Once questioning the "L" in the acrostic T.U.L.I.P., his epiphany took place by God's grace via what Luther called "resistless logic". The great gift of mitigation our faith provides takes the following forms:

*In the matters of life and death, as with creation and redemption, the absolute sovereignty of God is-just that-absolute. Consequently, we are at times faced with things in life that have no apparent connection to fairness. Yet Augustine pointed out nearly 1500 years ago that those who measure Divine justice by the standard of human justice act perversely. What the elect are charged to do is cling fervently to the belief that God's Sovereign Will is always best and, one way or another, inequities will be meted out in the Father's due time and course. As utterly bizarre as it may sound to the post-modern Arminian, we are to take comfort in our strive and grief for the spoliation of it tends to strengthen and deepen our faith!  While we're at it, the great feline predator in the story here has been both reviled and revered by men for centuries. At the end of the day, we all know precisely where the cat came by the strength, skill, lethality and inclination to stalk and hunt the way he does.


That's the moral. If anything in italics makes sense to any of my newer readers, praise God!! Praise Him for He has imputed the kind of clarity by which one can best grasp His Word and the true meaning of the Covenant with the elect!!! Most of us will never get to see a mountain lion in the wild. For you readers that ever do, believe me- he saw you first and had you sized up long before you saw him! Aside from that, we all know what it's like to experience loss or to feel "preyed" upon by something or other. Whether it's an addiction of some sort, financial problems, marital difficulties...whatever. Yet, often amid the tumult the meanings and value of our faith become a lot clearer. That's one of the sweeter fruits of election-the Father's discernment through Christ.

Baptism: A Reformed perspective

 

Many thanks to my dear Brother in Christ, the Rev Jim Tuckett of the Westminster Fellowship for this piece. My pastor in Pennsylvania preached on this very topic yesterday!!!

 

 

 

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Col. 2: 11-12

Two and two continues to make four, in spite of the whine of the amateur for three, or the cry of the critic for five.

James Whistler

Should we baptize our children? Since the days of the Reformation, Reformed theologians have differed on this question. Reformed Baptists hold that baptism should be reserved for those who have come to repentance and made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Reformed Paedobaptists believe that the children of believers should also be baptized. It is a fact that groups that subscribe to Reformed theology differ on the answer to this question.

The Reformed Baptist Position

Reformed Baptists base their position on two principles. First, all commands and virtually all examples of baptism in the New Testament are preceded by repentance and faith.

Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2: 38

Jesus connected teaching and baptism.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Matt. 28: 19-20

Second, Reformed Baptists argue that as Biblical history moved from the Old Testament to the New Covenant in Christ, a purification of the covenant community took place. Unlike the Old Testament community which included believers, unbelieving neighbors, children and servants, the New Covenant community is restricted to believers only.

No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Jer. 31: 34

While admitting that the Church is not pure, Reformed Baptists feel that one way to encourage this ideal is make sure baptized members have made a credible profession of faith in Christ.

The Reformed Paedobaptists Position

Paedobaptists admit that the majority of examples of baptism in the New Testament are believer/adult baptisms. But that is to be expected; Christianity was just being introduced. These were first generation saints.

Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.

Acts 16: 32-33

It is a fair assumption to think that household baptisms included children.

1. Baptism is a sacrament of the new testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible church; but also, to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, of his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in newness of life. Which sacrament is, by Christ's own appointment, to be continued in his church until the end of the world.

2. The outward element to be used in this sacrament is water, wherewith the party is to be baptized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by a minister of the gospel, lawfully called thereunto.

3. Dipping of the person into the water is not necessary; but baptism is rightly administered by pouring, or sprinkling water upon the person.

4. Not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of one, or both, believing parents, are to be baptized.

Westminster Confession

Paedobaptists argue that children should be baptized for two other reasons. First, they do not believe that the Church can really be pure until Christ returns.

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

Matt. 13: 24-30

It is indisputable that under the covenants of the Old Testament, children were included; and while it is true, we are now under the New Covenant in Christ, the full promise of that covenant has yet to be realized. The parable of the wheat and tares reveals the danger of humanly attempting to purify the Church. Until the Lord returns, many of the patterns of the Old Testament covenant community continue to be valid.

For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Acts 2: 39

Peter made it clear on Pentecost that, like the promises of previous covenants, the New Covenant promise was for the children of saints, too. The order and priority is the same: first to believers; second, to their children; and third, to those who are far off.

Secondly, Paedobaptists argue from the Biblical parallels between circumcision and baptism.

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Col. 2: 11-12

If circumcision has been replaced with baptism, then the children of believers should be baptized.

Conclusion

So, who is right? Can Baptists be truly Reformed while withholding baptism from children? Are Paedobaptists guilty of reading something into Scripture that isn't there?

Whether the Church baptizes children, or withholds baptism until a person makes a profession of faith in Christ, one thing is indisputable: The Church has a responsibility to bring up children in the care and nurture of the Lord. Here is a congregational affirmation for all Christian churches:

We acknowledge the high call of God on our lives to teach our children to love the Lord with all their hearts, with all their souls and with all their strength.

We affirm that it is our duty to encourage our children to cherish the Word of God.

We will read and study the Bible regularly within our families and also within the Church.

We confess that we are too weak to nurture our children in our own strength.

We look to You, O Father, the true builder of families, to empower us with the grace to fulfill this sacred stewardship to children.

Amen

Reformed theology clearly teaches that baptism does not save anyone; rather it signifies the introduction of a person into a special covenant relationship with God. This is different from other Protestant denominations. Recently, I attended a Lutheran service where a young lady was baptized and then assured by the pastor that she was now saved. This is perfectly consistent with Lutheran doctrine. The sacraments are not signs of God's grace; they impart God's grace.

[The Sacraments. Most Presbyterian churches (to a greater or lesser degree) view the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper merely as "signs" or "symbols" of God's grace. Lutherans believe that Baptism and the Lord's Supper (which is the true body and blood of Christ in, with, and under bread and wine) are actual means of God's grace through which the Holy Spirit works to convey and/or strengthen faith. (Lutheran Church - MO Synod web site http://www.lcms.org/Document.fdoc?src=lcm&id=581]

The Bible clearly teaches that it is God alone, not the sacrament, who confirms this special relationship with His effective call.

Those who hold to baptizing children and those who believe baptism must wait until the person makes his confession of faith both believe that the Church has a responsibility to nurture children in the Christian faith.

*Baptists dedicate their children;

*Paedobaptistsbaptize their children.

The goal of both groups is to assist children in every way to reach a point in their lives where they recognize Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, professing the faith claimed by their parents for them in dedication or baptism.

Almighty and everlasting God,

Thy blessed Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, hath ordained this sacrament.

Mercifully look upon us, Thy Church,

And ratify in Heaven that which we do, by His appointment, on earth.

In Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen

Calvinists won't be the ones in Heaven. . .
Just the only ones who understand why we are there!

The Old Gray Dog

Jim Tuckett

The Westminster Fellowship
Clearly and Unequivocally Proclaiming What It Means To Be Reformed Christians http://www.westminsterfellowship.org