Missions at Home

The following video moved me and reminded me of my wife. Not every detail in our stories are the same, but nothing comes closer to relating to who my wife is and what she goes through since my accident with CO two & a half years ago and the subsequent effect that my disability has had on our life and marriage. Some differences are that the function of my brain is up & down and only is occasionally as far gone as the gentlemen’s in this video. The other major difference is that God has added three precious little kiddos in our story.

The bottom-line is that I praise the Lord for godly godly wives; but most of all for the GOD who gives them the sufficient grace that they depend on day in and day out. Thank you Melissa for being such a wonderful wife and mother. Thank you for taking care of me. Thank you for your unconditional love. I love you honey!

Note: I have not read the book that is being promoted, so I cannot give a recommendation. God bless!

My heart is heavy with the whole Together for the Gospel movement. Doing a brief survey of the speakers, it appears that there are many from both reformed and Southern Baptist backgrounds.

It seems that the basic premise is: We can differ on ecclesiology and even on some eschatology but we preach the same gospel. We need to get back to the gospel.

Well, I disagree that such a conference and stance clarifies the true gospel, instead it confuses it and dilutes it.

Before I go on….I think those who know me would understand that I write this out of a spirit of love for our Lord and for the truth of God’s Word. This is not written because of a separatist bone-to-pick. I just believe that separating the gospel from the entirety of the Word of God would be as difficult and impossible as trying to separate the Trinity itself! Please know also that if you are at T4G then I do not condemn you. Neither do I judge the speakers and organizers nor their motives. I pray God’s blessing upon you and them as much as God can bless.

Now, here are some reasons why I think the whole T4G movement actually confuses the gospel:

- If one sprinkles infants this communicates a different gospel.

As a pastor and church planter God gave me the opportunity to minister to dozens from a reformed background. Many were confused as to how they knew they were really saved. Some were really depending on their child confirmation and baptism instead of a faith alone in Jesus Christ.

- If most of your missions is helping the needy instead of planting churches this is the social gospel and it is a different gospel.

While visiting churches looking for a church home here in Texas, I have observed several churches take missions trips to do such things as build houses, feed the poor, pass out water etc. While these are good things, I noticed that most of these “missions trips” had the articulation of the gospel absent. I would say that this is flirting very close with the false social gospel.

David Platt is a speaker at t4g2012. His teachings first seem inspiring as to global missions. While there is something to be gained, we need to be very careful. Brother Platt is one who is very non-committle on end time events. According to his church’s statement of faith, he seems to lean towards teaching that we are in the beginning of the Kingdom, as opposed to distinguishing the Kingdom as the future literal thousand year reign of Christ. In this statement of faith, Brother Platt goes to great lengths in describing why a type of social gospel is part of his dogma. Also, missions seems to be focused on articulating the gospel while doing good works with little to mention of church planting which is the model of Paul and the apostles.

- If your methodology, music, and philosophy is one of “attract a huge crowd while trying to be relevant to the world” then this confuses the gospel and creates a different gospel.

Those who are T4G might condemn me saying that I am placing my particular “brand” of theology in front of practical evangelism and discipleship. Well, all I have to say is that I live in a state that has swallowed the whole SBC for many years. I have visited dozens of churches. Most everyone attends some sort of Baptist Church (or church formerly known as Baptist). Most have ruined lives with a rampant divorce rate. Most know enough of the Bible to be dangerous but are not discipled at all. Here in Texas I have visited many churches who’s seats weekly are filled with many unregenerate people thinking they are Christians! Weekly they hear a something of the gospel, but the message is outshouted by many things. The gospel and the process of sanctification that comes with it is sadly hidden and almost absent.

Of course I am speaking in generalities about the SBC movement. I have not visited the particular ministries of the speakers of T4G 2012. From what I know of their writings and sermons, many are much more solid than what I have observed in other churches. In fact, many are reacting against the “American Idol” church scene that their denominations have produced. Yet, I cannot help but to think that the whole “nothing-else-matters-as-much” attitude is why the fluffy churches have become what they are.

- If one confuses the distinctions between Israel and the church then this leads to a different gospel.

Covenant theology is rapidly gaining in popularity. As a result, even some who claim to be traditional dispensationalist are suspicious of traditional dipensationalism. The Presbyterian influence is why you will see so many of these t4g men lean toward elder rule and what they articulate which we have labeled as Lordship Salvation. For example in MacArthur’s “The Gospel according to Jesus”, Dr. MacArthur uses many NT passages which dispensationalist traditionally attribute as teaching for the future Kingdom and uses them as though they were directed toward the church. In the same way, David Platt uses many Old Testament passages which are in reference to Israel and uses them as though they were meant for the church-age. One can easily see how confusion between the distinctions of Israel and a church leads to confusion on what is the very gospel message.

- If one may not practice yet condones the modern “manifestation” of the sign gifts then this confuses the true gospel and unites with those who teach that the baptism of the Spirit is something other than the true gospel.

While involved in Hispanic ministries, we have had hundreds of opportunities to interact with our charismatic friends and those who have made a profession of faith in that movement. I know dozens of people who have placed their faith in an experience rather than in Christ alone. Indeed, charismatic theology confuses the gospel.

There is more I can say about this. A popular speaker at t4g2012 ministers here in the Dallas area (Matt Chandler). His church practices all sign-gifts. This would include tongues & their interpretations, prophecies, and healing. The doctrine of pneumatology does effect the doctrine of soteriology. It really does! While I promise not to throw the baby out with the bath water of the positive contributions of these men (see the PS), I can tell you first-hand that many are taking the bath water with the baby of these men’s teachings. This breaks my heart. Already, I see many men swallowing the notion that the fact that the gospel is central means that other of the ten major doctrines do not matter as much! Sadly, the cohesiveness of the inherency and veracity of the Scriptures (which T4G embraces) is the very doctrine that is being inadvertently desecrated by saying that ecclesiology, eschatology, and pneumatology are not as vital in our obedience and carrying out of the great commission as long as we are together on the gospel.

We need a major revival back to teaching the truth with love. The Word (all of it!) when preached with compassion changes lives!!! The Bible, when practiced in its entirety, produces great and supernatural results. It is not trendy, but it works! More than that – it is right. There is GREAT unity when there is agreement on the truth of the whole counsel of God. You may not be seeing these results in the little church you grew up in, but trust me – the fault does not lie with the theology!

Many of these speakers may be “close enough” in their theology but I believe that the end result of this movement is not going to be a greater commitment to the true gospel; but a going away from it instead. Remember that when a ship’s rudder is only a little off, it gets further off-course through time.

Thank you for allowing me to share my perspective.

May God richly bless you as you search the Word and seek to be most pleasing unto our precious Savior.

David Whitcher

PS – (added on 4/12/11) May I speak to my generation of ministers? That is, the younger-ish grads from fundamental Bible colleges:

In the Seventies churches focused on evangelism (think tent revivals and busing in kids). While the churches in our circles grew and were strengthened so did the battle lines between Baptist movements. Some in our circles did indeed become arguably imbalanced in a focus on apologetics (think debates over PowerPoint and suits & ties) over further evangelism and discipleship. Thus new converts were not made. Discussions reached a boiling point a little over a decade ago when a popular church growth book came out which encouraged pastors to do everything with the driven-purpose of seeing the church reach and disciple the lost. It was one of the major books with SBC ties which rang true to those in our circles and to all Christiandom. It was refreshing and challenged many of us to self-evaluate, “Is our church really effectively doing what Christ commanded us to do?” Common sense hit many in the forehead as they realized that their church was done the way it was always done even though there was no longer a real purpose with tangible results. It was time for a change. Unfortunately, the book also encouraged pastors to instill corporate models of marketing into the church. We were told to do things such as survey the community to see what they wanted in a church. We were told that the most popular radio station should dictate the style of music in the church. We were told not to preach true expositional textual messages but instead to topically relate to the felt-needs of the seekers, i.e. the unsaved. Thousands emulated this book and others like it and the modern seeker-friendly craze was born. I am positive it was not Rick’s intention, but many began to look for methods that “worked” instead of stopping to think about what Christ wanted (this is also, if we search our hearts, why we were first attracted to these “ultra-cool” ministries – they looked like they were working. So much so, that there are those in our generation who became open to being lead away from what we once thought was Christ honoring – polity especially). Thankfully, men such as a couple of those who would eventually form T4G had mostly experienced the fallacy in the seeker-based model and re-emphasized the Gospel as central. Again, this was and is refreshing! For many pastors it is a breath of fresh air to listen to passionate speakers who are only talking about Christ, the Word, and souls. How refreshing to hear men who are setting up their churches to function around the Christ rather than the unsaved! Thankfully they have discovered that by doing so people ARE actually accepting Christ and being integrated into the church. They realize that the gospel means more than just tents and buses, but that it includes discipleship without gimmicks. The Holy Spirit within us affirms that this message trumps other messages we hear. Most in our circles were busy bashing the purpose-driven movement, the SBC, and the institutions who condoned them. Others were slowly embracing them. While the fight was raging we heard a third voice from these T4G men. They simply talked about Christ, salvation, and personal devotion to the fundamentals of the faith and the cross – all for the glory of God. (MacArthur’s “Ashamed of the Gospel” and later John Piper’s “Desiring God” come to mind). It was refreshing!

So, pastors attended these conferences and discovered that they came back more refreshed and challenged in their personal walk with Christ than they did by attending conferences in their own circles. Furthermore, the churches of T4G are apparently thriving much more than the churches we grew up in.

I certainly understand all of this. The problem is that the premise of the T4G movement is imbalanced because it is embraced as a reaction to other movements which were imbalanced. Just as with popular authors of the past, there is a sort of boyish crush on these men and many are seeking to emulate their passion & philosophy. Yet, in order to do so it means stepping on a path of minimizing the Scriptural truths that we were once convinced of as clear Scriptural truths. If you are one of these, then this probably does not set well with your former pastor, professors, and maybe even parents. The fact that many of you are in Kentucky today no doubt disturbs some of the older deacons in the very church you pastor. On the other hand, what is coming across as cynicism and militancy disturbs you. So, we have half of our constituency seeking to be more like the churches of T4G almost incognito and the other half concerned about it but cannot say much because so many of you are attending and receiving a genuine blessing from it.

So, in order to be at peace with it all, there has been a move to say that what we once thought were clear teachings of Scripture regarding specific points of ecclesiology, eschatology, and even pneumatology are not important or vital to pleasing the Lord as it turns out. Lately a friend told me, “I teach the pre-millennial and pre-tribulational return of Christ because that is what our church constitution states; but I am not so convinced of it myself.” The assumption is that this doctrine and others do not affect the gospel nor the fundamentals of the faith. They do, they really do. The other assumption is that minimizing these doctrines for the sake of having a unified voice with others articulating Christ-alone will create stronger disciples. This is the fallacy of the movement. The T4G men teach and preach their views in their own churches (reformed theology, full-use of the sign gifts, the non-commitle on the order of end-time events) as a means to (in thier view) strengthen the converts. Yet, we are supposed to minimize our beliefs so that we are comfortable sitting under these men’s teaching?

There are vibrant churches out there led by humble men who still believe and defend all the clear teachings of Scripture that you were once convinced of. Why not emulate them? We can invite them to speak. Allow their personal, joyful, real daily devotion to the Savior to strengthen our walk. Allow their passion for souls and love for the gospel to influence our churches. There are men who’s ministries are strong and have stood the test of time. They avoided knee-jerk reactions to all the evangelical trends that have come and gone over many years. Wht not make them our heroes? Why not follow them as they follow Christ? They are not published on our Kindles. They are not talked about in Christianity Today. They do not have a podcast. Yet they have been defending the gospel and pleasing our Lord Jesus with balanced vibrant ministries that have remained relevant to the ever changing culture (we can help them get a podcast). Don’t worry, we will not hear them articulate platitudes of “you should always wear a tie.” Neither will we feel negative bitter vibes about how everyone else is wrong. Still they believe how they do not because of being trapped in tradition or because of a fear of change but because they cannot get away from their convictions which are a result of a literal normal interpretation of Scripture. To me some of these humble heroes are my father, Dan Whitcher and my father-in-law, Tom Farlow. Also, great men like Dr. Robert Domokos and Dr. David Little. Let’s emulate them and those like them. Follow them as they follow Christ. In doing so, we will not have to pretend that pointing out the fallacies of practices such as “new” revelations & prophecies via tongues or the practice of sprinkling infants are not indeed necessary to a God-pleasing, soul-winning & sheep-strenghtening gospel ministry.

The 19th Psalm is so rich! No greater description of the Bible exists than in this list where it tells us that God’s Word is perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, and true. Then in verses 10 it culminates into these truths, “More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”

Some doctors appointments lately have been very helpful in quantifying what is going on with my body. They have been able to pinpoint the area of the brain that has been damaged explaining various physical ailments. Basically, any part of the body’s function that is involuntary is messed up because of a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. Physically this manifests itself in faulty heart wiring, the digestive system and of-course the involuntary muscle movements. More than physical, doctors have also been able to quantify how the CO damage has effected my brain and its mental capacity. There is nothing they can do about any of this at this point but it is good to have it quantified.

As a result, I have been diagnosed with a type of dementia where my brain cannot handle multiple stimuli. Multi-tasking or even being in a room where there is more than 2 or 3 people with various activities or noises is very very difficult for me. This dementia manifest itself also in the difficulty of learning new things. During a test a doctor showed me a few different pictures and then asked me to describe what I saw a few moments later. Other than the first photo, I could not remember anything about the pictures nor even what they were. Praise the Lord that God has allowed me to retain all previous knowledge, but learning something new is a chore.

It was good to quantify this dementia because it is what I have been experiencing everyday for many months. It makes simple tasks pretty interesting. Even daily devotions. Just this morning I listened to a few books of the Bible from my iPad but I cannot tell you anything of what I heard. At one moment I really concentrated and actually heard a couple of verses. Now, I have no idea what those verses were at this point. Too much stimuli.

On the worst days I will use much effort to focus on just one verse that I am attempting to read. After reading it several times, there is some truth of it that is impacting to me that I write down in a journal. The funny thing is I have no idea what that verse or truth was latter in the day. So, a few times a day I will go back to the journal and read the verse and how it impacted me again. Each reference back to the verse is though I am discovering it for the first time!

I share this with you because I can tell you from experience that God’s Word is so precious and refreshing that it is sweeter than honey. What a privilege God has given me to be able to taste the same verse as though it was the first time several times a day!

This Christmas, may we not allow the joys of sweets, Christmas movies, nor even family to lessen our appetite for the wonderful Word of God. For not only are God’s written testimonies costly and tastily but by them also, “…your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward” (Psalm 19:11 NKJV).

May God give you a wonderful Christmas.

Faith and it’s relationship to prayer has been a topic of much personal thought as of late. Especially during the past year-and-a-half as God has chosen to give me debilitating health. What is the prayer of faith?

The prayer of faith is most easily understood by first examining what it is not. It is not some level of spiritual giftedness where one can earnestly trust, with no exception, that his or her exact request will be answered. Some truly believe that they can expect most anything of God when they pray because they are somehow “specially gifted with unusual faith.” Can we truly know how God is going to work in the future? Can we claim to know what God’s will is concerning any matter other than what He has already promised in His Word? There are definitely times when the Holy Spirit gives us a type of peace and assurance that God will work in a specific way, but these moments are the exception rather than the rule. Besides, the claim it methodology of prayer is not how Jesus prayed.

We are given a great example of the true prayer of faith in the garden. Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane praying knowing that He was about to be arrested and eventually crucified. We can be certain (because of who He is) that Jesus demonstrated complete and perfect faith with every word of His request during that famous prayer. Also note that there has arguably never been a more passionate prayer than when our Savior produced sweat drops of blood as he bowed before His Father that night. So what did Jesus pray? According to Mark 14:36 He prayed, “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.” (Mark 14:36 KJV).

This is the real prayer of faith! Jesus prayer that night in the garden teaches us some important nuances of how to pray.

Notice, first of all, that if we are to pray as Jesus prayed then we should not be demanding a specific result. Certainly we should tell God our request, but with the petition we should also give the disclaimer – “Not my will but thine be done.” You see, the true prayer of faith is prayed when we honestly believe that God’s ultimate plans will be better than our request. In my own life, I have found that this is not an easy state of heart to come to. It often requires a prolonged battle with my own flesh. It requires a time of struggle between my carnal mind and the truths of Scripture. This type of battle is only won by the Christian who’s whole heart (the center of our being including the mind, will, AND emotions) is in a quiet state of surrender. Only then can we truly say, “God, whatever you want is what I want.” Even if God’s answer and ultimate will comes at great personal costs to us.

Now comes the exciting part…

Once we have emptied ourselves of our own desires and expectations then we can begin to expect some things of God. What can we ask of God which we can believe, by faith, to absolutely come true? Answer: what God has already promised in His Word. So, what has God promised? Well, we can pray believing that God will answer in a way and in a time that is BEST for us (Romans 8:28). Also, we can and should pray believing that God will do over and above what our original expectations are or ever could be (Ephesians 3:20). I like what it says in Psalm 65:5, “By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation, You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of the far-off seas.” (Psalm 65:5 NKJV). I like that. When we pray, we can be confident that God will answer through His awesome deeds in righteousness!

One might say, “I know these theological truths intellectually but my emotions betray my doubt.” Dear friend, do not doubt. Remember what Jesus said before his statement of surrender. He affirmed, “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee.” God is indeed powerful enough to answer your requests and then some!

So, having pondered this prayer of Jesus we can conclude that the true prayer of faith might look something like this:

“Lord, if you want to grant this request you can, but if You do not then it is best. May You please intervene in such a way that will BEST glorify yourself.”

When we pray with this attitude of faith God will not disappoint. Just look at how the answer to Jesus’ request turned out. Certainly God was glorified in the end! By the way, God’s answer was also the best thing for us was it not? We are the redeemed that were cleansed by the suffering of “the cup” that was to be Christ’s beginning that night in the garden.

What trials has God allowed into your life lately? What are the burdens and requests that you so fervently desire for God to do on your behalf? What is the plight that tends to give you constant worry?

Personally, my family and I have been so humbled to know of many people’s prayers for us. This battle with the neurological and heart damage inside my body has drastically changed every aspect of our lives. We are certainly humbled and so very grateful to all who have prayed and are praying. We sense the prayers as God has sustained us and blessed us day-by-day. We are so humbled yet grateful for the love others have shown to us. God does not seem to be choosing to heal my body – at least not yet. Nevertheless, if God never chooses to heal me then it actually makes me kind of excited for what better and more eternally valuable things God has in store. God has stretched us, taught us, and shown Himself to be so good already. Indeed, there is no improvement on the will of God.

In conclusion, I’m reminded of Hebrews 11:6 which says that God, ”...is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Do you believe that? Oh may our expectations be of Him! Whatever He chooses to do (or not to do) will be AWESOME!

Last night we ventured out to make some visits to some contacts in South Lorain. Before we left, we prayed that there would be divine appointments when we knock on doors and interact with the lost souls in our bi-lingual Puerto Rican community. We prayed as a team that God would open doors that no man can close. Praise God that He answered our prayer.

First, Ralph and I stopped to visit a lady named Mary (we’ve changed her name since this is on the web). She had come to one of the very first Bible studies a few months ago. She had not returned but was open to our visiting her in the past. Well, yesterday she suffered a car accident during a rain storm where she was thrown out of her vehicle. Though injured, she is amazingly O.K. She had just gotten home from the hospital when we knocked on her door last night. Ralph and I had the opportunity to sit down for about a half an hour and discussed spiritual things with Mary. Her best friend was sitting right beside her and also listened intently as we shared the gospel. Pray for these ladies, they both need Christ. They showed great interest in coming to our church (for their children’s sakes especially). They were a little uncomfortable with the thought of coming to our Thursday night study in our home. The friend thought that she might wait until we have a church building. Lord, please provide us a place to meet soon.

While Ralph and I were visiting Mary, our wives stopped in at another young ladies house. We’ll call her Karen. Karen is just 17 years old and is now pregnant with her second child. Her Puerto Rican mother is very religious and is strongly encouraging Karen to study the Bible with us. Praise the Lord that Karen agreed for us to have a Bible study with her each Friday in her house. Pray for Melissa as she leads it and for Karen as she desperately needs the Lord.

Our friend from First Baptist, Paul Collins, has been helping us with the church planting effort in Lorain also. Last night, he had a couple of good contacts with some young men who attended our park outreach on Labor Day. These are still showing interest in a Bible study. Lord willing Paul and the team will be able to continue to build relationships with them.

My heart is full and joyful this morning as we ponder the doors that God opened to us. Our little Bible study now has the potential to be as large as 30 people. The number is not what we are after though. Our goal is simply to be obedient to Christ and to make disciples. May Christ save, change, and grow lives as we do our part and trust Him to build His church in the needy area of South Lorain.