Where does the time go?

Every once in a while, when I take the time to contemplate my life, my children and others that have come and gone, I am struck by the speed at which life has passed. I had another one of those moments last night as I visited my two youngest boys sleeping peacefully. My baby boy Owen is 6 already, and looking more grown up every day. My oldest boy is turning 15 this summer. I look back at pictures we have of him and I dancing to Santana's "Maria, Maria" and it seems like it was just yesterday (he was 3 at the time). Many of my life's memories are now 25 years old!The bible tells us in numerous places that our lives are but a breath that quickly disappears (Ps 39:5; 144:4). When we take the time to ponder these scriptures, we are struck by the quickness of our lives. One day we're 20 and can conquer the world, the next morning we're retiring, grey-haired and wondering what happened.

There are many that like to wait. As I've written previously, one of the suggestions we've had for the church plant is that we should wait until we have more people on board. People wait to have children, people wait to move on most things in life, waiting for...the perfect moment? I'm not one to wait, and while this has landed me in hot water on more than one occasion, it's more of a lack of planning than a quickness in action.

Our lives go quickly, and when this reality hits us, we have an opportunity to take into account what matters in our lives and act upon those before it's too late.

(Here is my soon-to-be 15 year old, James)

Unfortunately all too often, by the time we realize that time is flying by, the moment has passed. Our children are grown up and moved out, our desires to step out in faith to do the wondrous works of God have been replaced by regret and self-pity.

Remember that you only live once. Get right with God, prioritize your life to the will of God, love your wife/husband, love your children, love your church, and always, always, serve your King.

Questions or comments? Post here or email us at hillcountryreformed@gmail.com, or call us at 403-932-0519.

You need some advice?

When people find out that you're endeavoring to do something as large as planting a church, they all want to help...with advice. Not that I'm complaining, I won't pretend to know everything there is to know about the subject, and am more than willing to listen to those that have a piece of advice. The first piece of advice I got was the most useful so far (thanks SD!) His advice was to be prepared to compromise, but DO NOT compromise on your vision of the church. This was a mistake he made and has regretted it since. There are hills to die on, and those that you need to be more open about. Gotcha! Great advice! I've had others offer that we should hold off on the church launch until we get more people directly involved. Maybe some sound advice...maybe not. What makes a church? Biblically a church is a group of people (doesn't say how many) that come together to worship, to praise, and to be a family that loves one another in the sacraments and discipline. How many do we need to do that? Will we meet in a public place where people that want to come feel more at ease than in a home where it is 'less' comfortable? One of the issues about having more on board is that we can 'offer' more that way. What are we trying to offer? We (HCRBC) offer exactly what a church is supposed to be. We will offer what the Lord leads people to offer, and not until He sends them. For instance, we don't have a worship leader. We have a couple of volunteers that are willing to step up for the first worship date, but outside that, we don't have anyone in that role. Does that mean we should wait until we find someone? I don't think so. There are many ways to worship, we don't have to have the 10 piece band. We are not endeavoring to be something we're not, we will be what we are. At this point we're a group of people that love the Lord, and want to serve Him by starting a church plant and inviting others to join us. We will be what the Lord makes us, not what we think everyone will want to see. Will it be awkward if we meet in a larger public room and there's only 7 of us? Maybe, but the Lord will send who He sends, and if people are really put off by the openness of space then they are possibly coming to church to hide, and as we've already stated, HCRBC is not going to be a place of anonymity. We will be warm and welcoming regardless of size and space.

Another piece of advice I received recently was regarding our future "youth" pastor. I've written previously on that topic here and here, but I will maybe make our position a little more clear. We will not be having a traditional (previous 50 years) youth minister. It has been proven time and again that this model of student discipleship has failed miserably, and it's not biblical. A youth minister is usually someone that is hardly any older or more mature than the very people they are supposed to be discipling! HCRBC believes that we grow and disciple in community, more to the point, as a family! It is the job of the parents to disciple their children, NOT a 'youth' pastor! The job of the church is to come alongside families to assist them in discipling their children, NOT to replace them! All too often a youth pastor usurps the authority of the parents and is a larger influence over them than there parents. This is what churches are paying their youth pastors to do, and don't even realize it, usually creating more problems than solving them. We will love our youth and children in community, as a family unit, not ripping them from the hands of parents to 'professionally' train them up. Our elders must qualify according to scripture, not according to how well they can relate to young and mostly lost kids.

We are preparing for our next round of studies beginning Tuesday. If you wish to join us or would like to find out more of what we're about, please email us or call us.

hillcountryreformed@gmail.com or phone 403-932-0519.

Boys and girls and doing hard things

My wife and I are approaching our 11th wedding anniversary. I've learned plenty over the years, and have realized that I still have so much more to learn. One of the things I've learned is that just because something does not come naturally to me, doesn't mean that I'm off the hook for trying. Here's an example; I'm not romantic. When I think of 'romance', I think of flowers, but then my logical side kicks in and says "Why buy flowers that are going to die?" It's not that I'm cheap, I just don't see the point. I was so bad that for the 2 1/2 years I was courting my wife, I never bought her flowers...not once! Yet I now know that it would bring my wife great pleasure for her husband (me) to bring her pretty things like flowers to show her that I love her and think about her. I may have to even read books or blogs about romance in order to get ideas. I hate this idea, because I would like to think I'm intelligent enough to figure out some romantic ideas all on my own. I realize this is silly. Romance does not come naturally to me, so one of the ways I can improve on my knowledge and understanding of romance is to listen to others that love romance. There is nothing wrong with this. One of the reasons why I hate reading and asking hard questions about this stuff is because for me, it IS hard. The bigger question is "Is my wife worth it?"

If I study my wife, if I pursue my wife, and if I care about my wife, I could figure out some of the things she would enjoy doing, eating, having, etc. Then, with the assistance of some romantic brainiacs, I could use some of those ideas to let my wife know that she is loved and cared about. Our walk with God is similar.

If I study God, if I pursue God, if I care about God, I could figure out some the things He asks of me. With the assistance of godly men and women, books, studies, prayer, the bible and whatnot, I can get even a greater understanding and acquire more confidence in my relationship with Him. This is hard work, but is absolutely worth it in the end. No one is strong at everything, and our moments of the greatest growth we have in our relationships is when we try to do things that we know others would appreciate that we are not good at. In fact, those that know you're not strong at something, but work hard to learn it, appreciate it more than someone that is already proficient at whatever the skill set is. Does this make sense?

I encourage all of us to think outside the box, extend ourselves in all our relationships, including our walk with Christ. You will never get skilled at anything if you don't put in an honest effort, and you will be the one rewarded in the end. To use the excuse "That's not MY thing." is nothing short of excuse making and self-centredness. I've learned that I've been self-centred far too much, for far too long.

Happy Anniversary Amy, I love you.

Our small group study begins this upcoming Tuesday evening. Due to the postal lock out, we do not have our John Piper study yet, but will be discussing some theological issues that are on the mind of those that come. Email us if you'd like more info.

You can reach us at hillcountryreformed@gmail.com, or call us at 403-932-0519.

What to do about men...

I met another family yesterday. The wife goes to church, the husband does not. This is not new. Look around your church and see how many 'single' women are in the church...wearing a wedding ring. As I posted a couple of days ago, the number of women in the church vastly outnumber the men. The last pole I read for the U.S. was a 60-40 split. I would argue that in Canada, that split is even greater. I asked a good pastor friend of mine (SABB) what his take on the situation was, and he responded with the following "The thing with men is that if they are not in control they typically won't come period. I think a great way is to have a men's ministry, or something designed to encourage men to meet other Christian men in your church, that way they are familiar with who's in your church. If the man's wife is not on board, and she is against him coming, he will never come".

Interesting. If they're not in control, they won't come. I think my friend is talking about leadership. If the man is not in a leadership role in the home or in the church, he tends to avoid church. I think he's on to something. Men's ministry? I've seen a number of those, and while in some ways they are useful, in many other ways they are most unhelpful. Men need to be talked to like men. When it comes to sports, or outdoor pursuits, or any other "manly" topic, men will treat each other like men. But bring up God, and watch the discomfort set in. Watch how quickly things become very quiet. Bring up something that needs to be addressed in either a marriage or a church setting, and the opinions are worded carefully and politically correct, if offered at all. Some try very hard to change the subject, others sit quietly hoping it doesn't get too personal or opinionated. Our topics of God have had the life sucked out of them for fear of looking or being offensive. Call your friend an idiot for liking the wrong hockey team? No problem! Make fun of his new pants or haircut? Sure, that's funny! Confront a man on his theology? Don't do that, you'll hurt his feelings. It has been opined that men in the church tend to be soft and...whipped. Is this accurate? Maybe in some ways. When was the last time you saw a Martin Luther in a church? Martin Luther wouldn't last 5 minutes in a church today because he would be considered too harsh and confrontational. I think we need more Martin Luthers.

Is familiarity important? For men, I don't think so. I think men want to be around other men, and unfortunately the men in the church today are too close to being...women. (Have I offended enough people yet?). Ask a man why he doesn't go to church, and the answer is that it doesn't appeal to him in the slightest. Why? Because it's too feminized. The Christian Broadcasting Network wrote a story (you can see it here) that essentially has said the same thing. Our worship songs are 'love songs' that are more appealing to women than men. The Jesus preached from the pulpit is nothing but love, love, and more love. Why don't we hear more about the Jesus that made a whip and cleared out the temple not once, but twice! Why don't we hear more about the confrontational Jesus who constantly put the Pharisees in their place? That's not the Jesus the church wants to acknowledge.

Finally, SABB brings up a point I had not considered at all, that being; the woman doesn't want her husband there. Why would she not want her husband there? If things are so bad at home that she wants a safe place to get away from him, wouldn't a church be the first place she would want him? It is only by hearing the gospel that a heart can be changed, therefore keeping a less-than-satisfactory husband at home would be the exact opposite of helpful, wouldn't it?

"Win the men, win the village" is the quote that I hear most often when it comes to evangelism, yet we continue to concentrate on children and women. Our services are still catered to women. Is it any real wonder why men don't come to church?

If our services and messages were more balanced, both men and women would be more apt to go to church. If we preach the fullness of the gospel, we would see both the love of God, and the holiness of God, which would appeal to both sexes. If we had more men leading worship there would be a greater balance of the types of worship songs sung to our Lord that would appeal to both men and women. We are not in favour of drawing in worldly men with worldly attractions, but to attract men with the fullness of God and His message.

We are still taking names for our upcoming study starting next week. If this is something you would be interested in, please let us know via email or phone call. The study is "Don't waste your life" by John Piper.

Questions or comments? Feel free to leave a post here, or email us at hillcountryreformed@gmail.com, or call us at 403-932-0519.

Small groups (living in community)

If we are to be loving one another as Christ calls us to, this requires us to do more than say "Hi" to one another as we pass each other in the foyer (pronounced 'foy - a, not 'foy-er') of our church. When we live in community, we get to know one another in ways that will allow us to help one another during difficult times and to celebrate our moments of triumph over those very difficulties, giving God His due together.

Our small group times enable us to give grace abundantly. All too often we tend to get annoyed or impatient with those around us that we don't know well. If we take the time to know someone, get to know their heart, we can understand better their actions and dialogue, thereby allowing us to come along side in either a loving corrective way, or a loving supportive way. Either way, grace is the word of the day.

Small groups allow us to study God's word together, working through some of the more difficult scriptures, misunderstandings and incorrect teachings that fill our airwaves and bookshelves, but again, done in a safe environment where we can be honest and direct, caring for the person rather than being harsh with them.

HCRBC is starting a new study starting next week (will be either a Tuesday or Thursday). We will be studying from John Piper's "Don't waste your life" series. John Piper is one of the most prominent teachers and preachers in the evangelical church today, and is one of my favourite preachers to listen to and study from. If you are interested in joining us for this upcoming study and being a part of our small group, please email or call us. The information is below.

As usual, we welcome your comments and emails. You can email us at hillcountryreformed@gmail.com, or call us at 403-932-0519.

Father's Day

550,000 - The estimated number of single-parent families headed by women in Canada in 2004. Every Sunday in America, more than 60 percent of the adults in our worship services are female. I've written on this issue a little here, but seeing how it's Father's Day, I thought it would be a good time to bring it back up. Our society is filled with adult men physically, but emotionally and spiritually, they are children. Our society has given men expectations of "get a job, keep a job, and watch a lot of sports". Have you watched how men are portrayed in commercials? sit-coms? dramas? We're a bunch of blathering idiots that everyone likes to laugh at. Are we portrayed this way because that is what we are? or is that what we've become due to lower expectations? I would argue the latter. There were examples of bumbling idiots on TV when I was growing up, but they were made fun of, not made to be the norm. The men were generally looked upon as responsible men, or good-guys in the least. Now? Put on your favourite jersey and grab a beer, ignore your wife and children, and watch a game or five. What, biblically, are we as men supposed to be? Great question, let's have a look.

1) Leader in the home and the church (Ephesians 5:25-33, 2 Tim. 3)

2) Provider of the home (1 Tim. 5:8)

3) Loving Father and Husband (Ephesians 5:25-33)

4) Teacher and discipler (Deut. 6:4-9)

5) Disciplinarian (Prov. 13:24; 29:17)

What roles are we currently abandoning as quickly as possible? With the move of liberalism in the church, women are now becoming ordained ministers, pushing men out from this biblical role. Leader in the home? Men haven't been leaders in the home since the 1980's. Provider? Most women today are working women that either contribute to the family income, or in some cases, have become the sole bread-winners while men are staying at home. Loving Father and Husband? With the divorce rate at well over 50%, plus single-parent homes (in most cases women are raising the children, although this number is getting smaller) men are woeful at both. Teacher/discipler? Isn't it the job of the schools and the church to teach and disciple the children? Disciplinarian? Go have a time-out for disturbing my video-game playing!

Our situation in the homes and the churches are not good. Men need desperately to return to our traditional roles of leading our homes and churches in a caring, loving and godly way. There are men out there that are doing what we have been called to do. God Bless you. There are men that simply don't know what they are to do, and need godly men to come along side them to help them figure it out (and an open bible to confirm this calling). We need women to want men to take the lead, and to offload the additional burdens that have been taken over or given to them back to the men that need to fulfill these vital roles. We need men to make their family a priority, their wives a priority, and God THE priority. We have a long road to travel, but with God's grace and a little education, our men can once again take a prominent role in building God's Kingdom once again through the church and family units that have been put in place by God.

Have a happy Father's Day.

Questions or comments? Feel free to leave one here, or privately at hillcountryreformed@gmail.com. Or you can call us at 403-932-0519.

Sufficient?

If you were to take away all of the books of the world, would the Bible be sufficient? Where do we put our focus and reliance? Is it on God and His Word? or is it in programs, commentaries and books?

Questions or comments, leave a post here, or email us privately at hillcountryreformed@gmail.com. You can also call us at 403-932-0519.

Love and Marriage

I first felt called to be a chaplain of the Calgary Fire Department after coming to Christ and having a heart for marriages. See, marriages in the CFD among other like-service careers are generally murder on marriages. We have a much higher divorce rate than your average person. The reasons? Fire, police and EMS generally attract "A" type personalities who are strong willed, have strong personalities, and tend to dominate or lead. In our fallen condition, we are all selfish at our cores, but with the "A" types we tend to be even worse, and when we don't get our own way, if we don't feel satisfied, we tend to look for that satisfaction elsewhere which leads all to often to divorce. One of the major reasons for divorce is the idea that the couple has "fallen out of love." This is a gross misunderstanding of what love is.

Love is mistaken for lust, happiness, and other positive feelings. Feelings are fleeting, they change from one day to the next, from one season to the next. Love is an ACTION. We act by service, commitment and sacrifice to those that we are called to love (which is everyone). When it comes to our wives or husbands, we are going to have times when we don't feel particularly happy or close to them (anyone married longer than 2 years knows this all too well). Love has NOTHING to do with feeling, but everything to do with compassion for another. Feelings come and go, but with steadfast dedication to sacrificial serving, our feelings of closeness will return. The measure and test of love to God is whole-hearted obedience (John 14:15, 21, 23), the test of loving our neighbors is laying down our lives for them (1 John 3:16). If we cannot lay down our lives for our spouses, how can we lay down our lives for anyone else?

Community in our churches is so vital. If we are simply people that show up on Sunday to attend a service and leave, how will we ever come along side those that are hurting, struggling in marriages or other relationships? To do this does not show the love of God that we are supposed to be identified by. At HCRBC we ask that all potential members join a community group to love and support one another, which will go a long way to minimize the sufferings of those that are alone in life, trying to show a good front (otherwise known as "shiny-plastic"). By being in community we can love one another, support one another, help one another. We are not alone, and we all have issues.

Questions or comments? Please feel free to leave a message here, or email us privately at hillcountryreformed@gmail.com, or call us at 403-932-0519.

The Historical Jesus

I had the opportunity to be a part of a very short conversation today about how do we know that we (Christians) are right, and that everyone else is wrong? What about Buddha? What about Islam? What about Hindi? There are 20 000 religions out there, how can we be sure we are right? How very post-modern. How can we be sure indeed. There are a number of different propositions we need to iron out before we can answer this question. We'll begin with history. There are a number of people that adhere to the notion that history cannot be known, only interpreted, and that interpretation is done solely by the 'winners'. The premise behind this argument is that nothing in history can really be known, and that all history is false to some degree, so we cannot trust it. There is a tendency to put history up against the surety of science. I would argue that while history cannot be done with the accuracy of practical science (provable, testable, repeatable experiments), we can be very sure about history if we are diligent in the research and evidence presented to us. If you ask a real historian whether or not they can be sure of the history that they proclaim as being true, they would give you the full monty of qualifications and testing that history must adhere to in order for the history to be considered accurate. It is not as simple as "because so-and-so said so!"

Jesus was undoubtedly a living, breathing person who lived approximately 2000 years ago in Palestine. There is the lunatic fringe that doubt this, but historical records overwhelmingly declare this reality. So the next question is "Who was He?" If we take the scriptures as historical accounts of Jesus, we have 4 biblical books describing the times and life of Christ. In fact, recently the book of Luke has been considered one of the best historical books written in antiquity by historians (even non-Christians) for its accuracy in historical details. Luke was very detailed in his descriptions and events, people and places in Palestine during the life of Jesus. We have writings from non-believers like Josephus, Tacitus and others that have mentioned Jesus as a real and living person. The mere fact that we have writings and history from the time of Jesus up to the present day proclaiming the truth claims of Jesus' life is more than ample evidence that He was a real person. In the scriptures, it is written that Jesus proclaimed Himself to be God, and did miracle after miracle to prove this. Finally, He was nailed to a cross, died, was buried in a tomb, and today that tomb sits empty. He was risen from the grave, and was seen by over 500 witnesses, many of whom died proclaiming this truth. If it were not true, why would they die over something they KNEW to be wrong? They would not.

There have been many books (some thick ones) that deal with the historicity of Christ, and cover vastly more than I could possibly do here. F.F. Bruce has written one I would recommend that you can find here.

Ladies and gentlemen, there is a HUGE difference between Jesus and every other "holy" man that has come into creation. There is only One mediator between God and man, and that is the man Christ Jesus.

Questions or comments? Please leave a message here or send a private email to hillcountryreformed@gmail.com, or call us at 403-932-0519.

Meaningful Membership (Why we're different part 6)

If you haven't been convinced yet that HCRBC is going to look and feel different than most churches, this should be the clincher. Can you tell me what it takes to be a 'member' in the church you're currently attending? I'll tell you what it took for me and my wife at the last two churches we've been members at. Church #1 required us to attend. Really, that was it. At no point were we baptized, approached about membership, courses...nothing. After a while we noticed that we were included in the church directory and every once in a while (when I could stomach the idea) I would go to the odd church congregational meeting. I even voted. I never asked anyone, no one ever approached me about what membership meant, we just...showed up! The second church had a few more steps in order to become a member in their church. You had to partake in believer's baptism (if you haven't done so already at a different church), and then stand in front of the congregation and be welcomed into the fold. Every church lands in a different place when it comes to membership, some are even born into the fold.

At Hill Country Reformed Baptist Church we believe that membership in a local church is both necessary and vital to the Christian in order to live a life of holiness that we are all called to. Although one does not need to be a member to come to HCRBC to hear the Gospel proclaimed, God does call us to be part of a local church body and therefore be a part of His body, of which He is the head. In order to become a member of HCRBC there are a few steps that must be done before you are recognized as a member. They are listed below.

1) Take a membership course that outlines the basic statement of faith (CNBC Statement of Faith) and sign a membership document stating you agree with the doctrines outlined.

2) Believers Baptism (or equivalent letter from like-believing church).

3) Join a community group of HCRBC members for weekly community fellowship and study.

4) Use the God-given spiritual gift(s) to grow and build the body of Christ (service in the church body).

5) To be a light in the community in a real and positive way (service in the community).

HCRBC strongly believes that our walk with Christ is made manifest in three vital areas of life, namely our head, heart and hands. We must study God’s Word to better understand our Lord and Saviour, we must be loving and kind to all people, and we must serve our church body and the community that we are in. By doing these things, we are fulfilling the commandments to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves. I believe that people need and want to know the expectations that the church has for them, and if they are not provided, the people feel lost and disconnected. These 5 steps are a simple way for professing Christians that want to become members of the HCRBC family to fully understand what it means to be a Christian.

Questions or comments? Please leave a message here or send a private email to hillcountryreformed@gmail.com, or call us at 403-932-0519.

The Service (Why we're different part 5)

I don't know to what extent this trend is in the evangelical church today, but it would seem to me that the vast majority of churches today have a set pattern for the service. It usually begins with an opening song or two, followed by a very informal "greet those around you" 10 second break, followed by another 2-3 songs. Then come the announcements, then another 2-3 songs. Then children are dismissed to children's church, then the message begins. Once the message is over, then there is another 1-2 songs, followed by a dismissal of the congregation. At HCRBC we plan on being a bit different.

Our services will start with one song (an introduction to worship), followed by quick announcements, then, right into the scripture reading and message. Once the message is over, there will be singing. During the singing, the congregation will have the freedom to do a number of things, including singing, praying, praying for others, and taking the Lord's Supper. There will be freedom to respond to the message however the Spirit is leading the congregation. We do this because we believe the message will prepare the listener to worship and respond however they need to. We do not restrict when and how they will respond, as that is an individual relationship that needs to take place between the listeners and God, and in some cases one-another. The Lord's Supper will be open to all believers (not just those that are church members) to partake of the meal, and this will be a weekly occurrence, not every 3-4 months. We believe that the supper is a reminder of what Jesus did for us on the cross, and a great opportunity to take our burdens before Him, and to give thanks to Him by remembering what He has done for us.

Questions or comments? Please leave a message here, or email us privately at hillcountryreformed@gmail.com, or call us at 403-932-0519.

Elder led (Why we're different part 4)

In the Bible we have different positions in church leadership as spelled out in 1 Timothy and Titus. There are clearly two offices, one of Elder, and one of Deacon. The elders are the overseers of the church. They are the ones that set direction, feed and care for the flock. They are the ones that provide the sermons, the caring and discipline and discipleship of the flock. They are held accountable by each other, and there are some pretty stringent qualifications to be called overseer. Deacons are a position which are there specifically to serve the body so that the Elders can concentrate on the overall health and wellness of the body. This would include hospital visits, home visits, various ministries which deal with the physical and emotional needs of the flock. Deacon qualifications are likewise stringent as they represent the church in many types of ministries. Why Elder led? There are two main types of church 'governance' which are used today. You have Elder led, and congregational led churches. Elder led churches seem to be what is portrayed in the bible in both the Old Testament and New Testament by our understanding. There are both positives and negatives to both types, but we feel that the governance of the church according to scripture is by the Elders.

Congregation-run churches tend to drag out the process of direction and vision of the church, and constantly challenges scripture due to the wide variety of theology and belief, including that of the tares and goats. Our churches are not made up of sheep alone, and in congregation-run churches, there can be a tendency for church bodies to be led astray by the goats and wolves amongst the flock. In an Elder-led church, if the process is done correctly (being diligent in following the qualifications of the position as laid out in scripture), there is a much less likely chance of that occurring.

HCRBC is also led by a team of preaching pastors. In the beginning stages of our church plant, I (Chris) will be the lead teaching/preaching pastor, while we have two temporary elders (Dr. Frankie Rainey and Oz Lorentzen) who will be in the preaching rotation until such time that our church body can fill those temporary positions with members of HCRBC. The purpose of this is because in the qualifications of Eldership, elders must be able to preach and teach. There is no reason to have only one pastor doing all or the vast majority of the preaching. This also side-steps another problem which is a lack of leadership when the lead pastor leaves. Anyone who has spent anytime in a church has seen the devastation which inevitably comes when a lead pastor leaves. This is because many in the church came because they liked the pastor, not because they like the church body. With a team of preaching pastors, no one man becomes the face of the church (the position rightly held by Christ alone), and so when one pastor leaves, there is still a continuity of leadership provided by 2-3 others that the church is already comfortable with, thereby avoiding much of the consternation a church group must go through when a strong pastor leaves.

Questions or comments? Please leave a comment here, or send a private email to hillcountryreformed@gmail.com, or call us at 403-932-0519.

Expositional Preaching (Why we're different, part 3)

Jesus said many interesting and wonderful things while He was here on earth. In St. John's Gospel in chapter 6, verse 35, He says "I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." In chapter 21:15-17 Jesus tells Peter not once, but three times "Feed my sheep." Lastly, in Matthews Gospel (28:20), Jesus instructs His disciples to "teach them all that I have commanded you." It is unfortunate that in most churches today, our pastors think that the congregation would like to hear more about news stories, personal philosophies and other such nonsense instead of doing as Christ commanded, which is to "feed His sheep." In order for the sheep not to starve to death, this requires the full reading and exposition of the scriptures. We feed on the Word of God, not on anything else. All too often not only does the preaching lack any real scriptural reading or application, it is a time for evangelism. Evangelism is what is supposed to happen during the week, by the congregation to a lost world, not by the pastor on a Sunday sermon.

Expositional preaching involves going systematically through the Word of God, one verse at a time. This enables the entirety of the Gospel to be proclaimed, for the hard sayings of Christ to be read and understood in the context of the Gospel message. By doing this, pastors are forced to address all issues that the Bible speaks about, not being allowed to pick and choose topically those subjects which are much more politically correct or easier to preach due to less emails and hurtful comments. This allows the work of the Holy Spirit to convict the flock of their sin, for the flock to repent and return to Him. The Holy Spirit can help the sheep in worship and encourage the flock to keep following their Lord. If the sermons are centred around stories or philosophies rather than the Word of God, the sheep will starve, or never grow in their understanding of the Gospel. At best they will forever remain babes in Christ. This does not mean that there is no room for illustrations to help in our understanding of the message, but they need to remain illustrations, and not become the focus of the message. At Hill Country, expositional preaching will be the norm, every Sunday, every message.

Questions? Email us at hillcountryreformed@gmail.com or call us, 403-932-0519.

Why We're Different (part 2)

HCRBC is a Christ-centred, Family-integrated church. What this means is that everything we do from start to finish is centred around Christ and Him crucified. Our worship, our preaching, our fellowship will all be centred on Christ. By family-integrated we mean that we have a focus on keeping the family together as a unit. We do not split up our families when they walk in the door. Youth and children need to be present in the service for their own spiritual development and to see the parents in worship. We believe that Deuteronomy 6:4-9 makes it plain that it is the responsibility of the parents to teach and raise their children. By sending our children en masse to another area of the church to be 'taught' by volunteers not only takes away the feeding of the volunteers from hearing the Word preached, but it also puts the children into a situation where they will be more focussed on one another instead of focusing on Christ. The long-range plans of HCRBC is to be able to provide a place similar to a nursery that can house parents and children where they can still be a part of the congregation visibly, yet still hear the Word preached. It is the job of the church leadership to come alongside parents to assist them in the discipling of the children, it is not the job of the church to be the main discipler. Our churches today by-and-large have usurped the authority and teaching of the children away from the parents and therefore have created an extra burden on volunteers and ministry leaders that are to provide these services. At HCRBC we wish to give the responsibility back to the parents, and to come alongside them to help them in their walk as parents and leaders of the home.

Questions? Email us at hillcountryreformed@gmail.com, or call us at 403-932-0519.

What we're not (HCRBC)

Before we continue our series on what we are, Amy felt it imperative that we first describe what we're not. I agree, as we've already had setbacks and opposition from those that have seen or felt the wrath of reformers.

1) We're not legalists or Pharisees. This is the most popular opinion of those that are called 'reformed'. Pharisees were known to be elitists, they knew the Law of God by the letter, inside and out. What they were missing was compassion and love for their fellow human beings. If you did not follow the Law to the tee, as interpreted by them, they would persecute you. They added numerous laws to God's Law, just to make sure that there was no chance of breaking God's Law. Jesus was not a fan of Pharisees, and of all the people He was hardest on, it was the Pharisees. Does this mean that HCRBC are antinomian (lawlessness)? Absolutely not. Jesus said to both follow the law AND have compassion and love for people. We believe that out of our love for Jesus, we follow the moral law that is written on our hearts (loving God), and we are compassionate and loving to our neighbors (everyone).

2) Uncooperative. Reformers, out of our zeal for the truth, have alienated other Christians by our insistence of being correct in our doctrine. We have a tendency to look down our noses at those that disagree with us. At HCRBC we believe that there are open-handed issues, and close-handed issues. The doctrines of grace (reformed theology) are by-and-large secondary issues. We will proclaim the doctrines of grace from the pulpit without apology, but we desperately want to show compassion and brotherly love to those that feel differently. We will engage our community and the churches in Cochrane to serve others.

3) Arrogant. This one confuses me to tell you the truth. There are those that call themselves 'reformed' that come across as arrogant. I would argue that anyone who understands the doctrines of grace would have absolutely NO reason to be arrogant, as salvation is 100% of the Lord, 0% ourselves. Those that follow the theology of synergism (God and man take part in the salvation story) indeed WOULD have reason to boast as they wisely chose God. I have been called arrogant because I believe in unconditional election. I don't follow the logic. God chose me for His purpose and will, I had nothing to do with my salvation, therefore ALL glory goes to Him, no glory goes to me. If no glory goes to me, then I have no reason to be arrogant. It also changes how I look at others, for if salvation is of the Lord, and the Lord has commanded me to find His sheep, then I can proclaim the gospel to lost people and not get frustrated at them for not seeing the light, for that is the work of the Holy Spirit.

Questions? Email us at hillcountryreformed@gmail.com, or call us at 403-932-0519.