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Fall 2009 Worldly Christianity |
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| From The Editor Remembering The First Time by Art Azurdia |
“I would rather go to hell than obey God on this!” Red-faced and white-knuckled, she stood to her feet and proclaimed these words with a frightening vehemence – words that have forever been etched upon my memory. For eighteen months her family had consistently attended our congregation: her husband occasionally contributing to the worship team, her daughters participating in the children’s ministry, and she herself serving in the nursery. Increasingly, however, the family would arrive at church without her – obviously uncomfortable with her absence, yet avoiding the mention of anything suspicious . . . |
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| Feature One Recovering The Third Mark Of The Church by Art Azurdia |
It is safe to assume that the majority of people who read this journal are in sympathy with its aspirations: to promote the work of reformation and revival in the church of Jesus Christ. But how will this work be accomplished? Many of these readers would readily affirm that a return to the faithful exposition of the Scriptures is essential to the accomplishment of this task. Repentance and prayer, both on an individual and corporate level, would also be recognized as a prerequisite to a fresh visitation of the Spirit of God . . . |
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| Feature Two The Purpose Of Discipline by J. Carl Laney |
Many people fail to make a clear distinction between punishment and discipline, and there is a very significant difference between these two concepts. Punishment is designed to execute retribution for a wrong done. Discipline, on the other hand, is designed to encourage the restoration of one involved in wrongdoing. Punishment is designed primarily to avenge a wrong and assert justice. Discipline is designed primarily as a corrective for the one who has failed to live according to the standards of the church and/or society . . . |
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| Historical Reflection Chastisement by Charles Haddon Spurgeon |
“And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him” (Hebrews 12:5). God’s people can never by any possibility be punished for their sins. God has punished them already in the person of Christ. He, their substitute, has endured the full penalty for all their guilt, and neither the justice nor the love of God can ever exact again that which Christ has paid. Punishment can never happen to a child of God in the judicial sense, he can never be brought before God as his Judge, as charged with guilt, because that guilt was long ago transferred to the shoulders of Christ, and the punishment was exacted at the hands of his surety. . . |
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