A Stolen Quote

Commonly attributed to Chuck Smith:

Original by Charles Studd (1860-1931):

CC and the Marks of a Church

One thing I heard repeatedly at seminary is that there is no normative model for church government in the Bible. Maybe there’s some merit to that claim since clearly the NT isn’t a cookbook for how to govern a church. But I think the argument is overstated and there are some clear markers in the NT about what makes up a church.

These have been called the “Marks of the True Church” and there are various lists of those marks. Wikipedia has some of those lists for those who are interested.

One of the common marks is church discipline rightly administered. If you are in a church which doesn’t have church discipline, rightly administered (note I didn’t say perfectly administered) then you are not in a church.

Make your own application, CCites.

Ungodliness

The man who was in charge of the Korean fellowship at our church is a medical doctor. He did not get any salary for his ministry to the Koreans. He makes his living as a pediatrician and an allergist. The Korean fellowship was growing quite large, so they said “We really need to get a board established for the Korean fellowship.” So, the man appointed board members and asked me to come to the service that I might lay hands on these men that he had chosen for his board, and I did.

The very same week that we laid hands on these men and prayed for them and appointed them as board members, they had a meeting and asked the pastor to resign. They said, “Either give up your medical practice or resign as the pastor. We feel that we need a full-time pastor and your medical practice is taking you from your ministry here.”

The man was devastated; he didn’t know what to do. So he asked me what I thought. I said, “Fire the board. God has called you to pastor that fellowship; the board didn’t call you to pastor it. Let them go.”
So we ordained them in one week and defrocked them the next.”

- From The Philosophy of Ministry of Calvary Chapel by Chuck Smith…

Verse by Verse Teaching

Someone wrote:

“I still dig the V by V teaching format, and think it can be highly effective. Got that from CC.”

I think that historical churches which operate from the Common Lectionary actually do a better job of going through the BIble thoroughly than the Calvary Chapel v by v model. They go through the entire Bible in three years. They cover all the chapters and they don;t allow for concentrations on pet peeves nearly as easily as the Calvary Chapel v by v model.

I personally heard Chuck Smith find anti-homosexual things in chapter after chapter in the Bible in spite of the fact that there were zero passages on that particular proclivity in any of the v by verses for the week.

On Purgatory

Someone wrote:

“Purgatory is just an extension of a system of works. It is sad to see people have things that aren’t even remotely found in scripture like this ruin their lives.”

Matt. ch 5 v 26 and ch 18 v 34 – Jesus teaches us, “Come to terms with your opponent or you will be handed over to the judge and thrown into prison. You will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”

Sola Scriptura in the Traditions

Someone wrote:

“Protestants believe the Bible to be the sole authority for doctrine and practice, while in Catholicism it is the church, which interprets scripture and tradition to create dogma.”

I am sure formally that is the case, but practically I am not so sure.

I suspect just as many Protestants see their church’s teaching as the authority (particarly their pastor’s teaching) as Catholics. And I suspect that there are many Catholics who try to understand their church’s doctrines in the light of Scripture.
The Teaching Magisterium in the Catholic Church is both a blessing an a curse, as the Teaching Magisterium in the Protestant Church is.
 

Your church may be a Calvary Chapel

With the recent changes at Calvary Chapel there's an acceleration in the number of Calvary Chapels with different names. There's a distinct need to identify if your church is a Calvary Chapel:

• If your pastor think’s he’s Moses, your church may be a Calvary Chapel… 
• If your church won’t let you see the books, your church may be a Calvary Chapel… 
• If your church has a handpicked board of “yes men”, your church may be a Calvary Chapel… 
• If your church pretends to love the Bible, but mocks doctrine, your church may be a Calvary Chapel… 
• If your church doesn’t believe in religious symbols, except a 1970′s wooden dove in the front, your church may be a Calvary Chapel… 
•  If the "What we teach (or believe)" on your church bulletin says "We believe the worship of God should be spiritual" but your church doesn't have people exercising the gifts of the spirit, your church may be a Calvary Chapel...
• If your church participates in Harvest Crusades, but doesn't do anything else locally with other churches, your church may be a Calvary Chapel...
• If your pastor doesn't teach the resurrection of the body, your church may be a Calvary Chapel...
• If your church bookstore has 20 tapes on the Anti-Christ and none on the Trinity, your church may be a Calvary Chapel... 
• If your pastor claims to "teach simply through the Bible" but always seems to end up back on his pet peeves which aren't in the passages for the week, your church may be a Calvary Chapel...

 Feel free to contribute and I will add to this list.