The Bible...Authoritative or Just Good Advice?

My curiosity got the better of me recently. I was listening to the 12 minute audio in the previous post and I wondered where the adult SS teacher’s son is now. We know he studied at Gordon-Conwell and we know he wasn’t in the PCUSA, and we know he grew up in the PC(USA) and his parents now attend Colonial. Enter...”Google”. After a few select search words..”voila”...he is now pastor of an evangelical church. I sent an e-mail and here is his wonderful and instructive response:

Dave,

Thank you for your message. I just listened to the audio. It is good to hear my dad’s voice standing up for the authority and truth of scripture and God’s grace offered to the world through Jesus Christ. He has shared with me a good deal about Colonial’s decision to leave the PC(USA). From what I hear, you have made a difficult and wise decision, and I pray that God will protect Colonial and its leaders during this transition. In my view, the struggle you are engaged in with the Heartland Presbytery is a microcosm of our society and the state of the Christian church in America today. The issue all traces back to the question of authority. Our society has long since abandoned scripture as authoritative for personal and social morality, and now the mainline church is joining that “progressive” movement away from the authority of scripture in favor of individualism and subjective truth.

There comes a point when a church is no longer a church, when a gathering of religiously-minded people who no longer hold to the basic teachings of the New Testament and of Jesus our Lord ceases to be a Christian church. That point of departure is not defined by you or me, but by Jesus Himself, who warned the ancient Ephesian church that if they did not repent and return to their “first love”: “I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (Rev. 2:4-6). The lampstand here represents the church (Rev. 1:20) which burns with the light of Christ and is fueled by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rev. 11:4; Zech. 4:1-6). Many mainline churches seem to be walking this line, and Colonial is wise to move decisively in a new direction that honors our Lord.

Thanks again for sharing your blog with me and thank you for publically proclaiming the truth of Christ.

Mike
Pastor Mike Mirakian