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ISSUE FOUR | 2009

for this is Kingdom thinking

There is no area of life over whichChrist has not said...

“ ”



T THE WHOLE ASSEMBLY WORSHIPED,

AND THE SINGERS SANG

AND THE TRUMPETERS SOUNDED.

2 Chronicles 29:28

Reflecting a rich heritage

of hymnody, Trinity

Hymnal faithfully teaches

the doctrines of grace and

enriches the biblical worship

of God among his people.

8

The publishing ministry of the Committee on Christian Education of the Orthodox Presbyterian Churchand the Committee for Christian E ducation & Publications of the Presbyterian Church in America.

© 2009 Great Commission Publications, Suwanee, GA 30024-3897

FREE 30-DAY REVIEW

WWW.GCP.ORG · 800-695-3387

8



Christian Education and Publications | Discipling God’s Covenant People

e u p to disciple | ISSUE FOUR 2009

What to

o m t h e E d i t o r

Welcome to this edition of Equip to Disciple. This has been a challenging year

(2009) across the board, especially for

Christian Education and Publications. The

downturn in the economy, contributions,

and support have confronted us with many

challenges including a decrease in several key staff persons,

including our project manager Ashley Walters, who served us

well as managing editor of Equip to Disciple. She has enrolled

in graduate school. We trust that in her absence and until a

replacement is available we will be able to serve you.

Due to the change mentioned and the climate in our

country and church today, we have a somewhat different

issue of Equip to Disciple. We have been concerned for a long

time that Christian education as a topic has not reflected the

biblically based kingdom world and life view perspective,

which we believe it should. This hasnarrowed or limited what we believe,

based on our understanding of

Scripture, is the most important

thing—a local church can do. Not

only do we commit ourselves to

education from a child’s covenant

baptism but we want to obey Christ’s

command to teach and observe all

that he has commanded to all his

people. We believe a failure at this point has caused churches,

in general, to be far less effective than they otherwise could be.

Our school education paradigm is short changed and what

that has done to our country and world needs correcting.

Education is all about thinking with a transformed mind and

a redeemd heart. It is about building our knowledge and

understanding on God’s revelation in all areas. It is about

applying our Christian faith in all walks of life.

The lead article is intended to highlight some thoughts

where failure to see the total perspective of Christian

education has caused us to isolate ourselves in areas where

Christian thinking, living, and leadership should be more

apparent. Having worked with this concept for many years,

it is exciting to find those who are beginning to see theimplications and applications. It has been a privilege to teach

harles Dunahoo, Coordinator o CEP

Becoming Kingdom thinkerse ngage:

• Understanding the

hurch’s Role................

e nrich: qup p ....................1

Youth Ministry .............1

• Catechism...................15

e ndorse:

Book Review ...............1

e xpect

ontinued on page 4

Resource for Christian Educators, Disciple-makers and Church LeadersVisit our new web-based collection of current, upcoming and back issues of Equip to Disciple.Several hundred articles, reviews, resources and downloads are now available — new content isbeing added every day. The content is Biblically Reformed, Kingdom focused and targeted tothose who are actually carrying out the ministries in your local church.

From teachers to women’s leaders, ofcers to youth workers, staff to volunteers; we put forwardtimely and relevant topics and offer resources and ideas to equip you as you make disciples.

Visit http://equip.pcacep.org, search by category, search by keyword, nd articles or

discussion at meetings, orward articles to others in your local ministry and sprea t e wor .

C E P

U P D A T E

equip to disciple (ISSN 1082-7714) is published by: The Committee for Christian Education andPublications of the Presbyterian Church in America,1700 North Brown Rd., Suite 102, Lawrenceville, Geor-gia 30043. Telephone: (678) 825-1100 • Fax: (678) 825-1101 • E-Mail: [email protected]

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: equip to disciple is provided to individual participants and supporters ofCEP’s Ministry. Bulk copies are available to churches for $6 per copy for one year. To begin receiving Equip,call 1-800-283-1357.

© Copyright 2009 by the Christian Education Committee, PCA. All rights reserved. Material in Equip toDisciple may be reproduced with permission. Equip to Disciple requests a copy of the publication in whichthe reproduced article appears.

Unless noted, all Scripture quotations in this publication are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version,copyright 2003 and 2001, Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. All articles are written by

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PUBLISHER: Committee for Christian Education and Publications of the Presbyterian Church in America

COORDINATOR/EDITOR:Charles H. Dunahoo

ADVERTISING: Tim Schirm

equip to disciple | ISSUE FOUR 2009

Education is all about thinking with a

transformed mind and a redeemed heart;

building knowledge and understanding

on God’s revelation; and applying our

Christian faith in all areas of our lives.



Christian Education and Publications | Discipling God’s Covenant People4


from the editor: continued from page 3

this concept and attempt to shape the PCA’s approach to

Christian education from this framework. We are trying to be

more and more intentional in teaching from this paradigm in

our training, preaching, teaching, resources, and consulting.

Along with the lead article there are several booksreviewed that connect with and illustrate some of what we are

saying. The End Of Secularism,Why We Love the Church and

Imminent Domain add pieces to the total picture. What it all

boils down to is that God would have us think from a biblically

reformed Christian position in all areas of life and to do that

requires careful discipleship. We believe that it must begin from

the earliest with our covenant children and on into adulthood.

In general, major studies done on the youth culture conclude

somehow they are not connecting the dots; hence, turning

away from the faith is not a difficult thing to do, as we are seeing

among older teenagers.

You will also find announcements regarding some key

upcoming training events for youth and adult leaders

sponsored by CEP. Most of all our prayer is as you read

this issue, you will find things to challenge you, encourage

you to think God’s thoughts, and enable you to step

forward with a desire to make a difference and offer some

salt and light influence in our troubled, chaotic, fragmentedworld. Christ through his church, making kingdom

disciples, is the only hope. Chuck Colson, speaking at our

Fall Kingdom Discipleship Conference in Atlanta shortly

after the 2008 election said, there are more answers to our

problems in this room than in Washington, D. C. Of course

we know what he was saying! Christ ians are the key and

to be effective requires changing the way we think in

order to know God’s will, as the Apostle Paul said.

If CEP can be of help to you or your church contact us

by phone (678-825- 1100, or 1-800-283-1357) or e-mail (cep@

pcanet.org). Also, we encourage you to regularly check

our website for updates on training, resources, and other

information. e



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6 Christian Education and Publications | Discipling God’s Covenant People

nderstanding the Kingdom of God and its rela-

tionship to the church are vitally and strategi-

cally important, especially at this time. Many

problems, struggles, and divisions have stemmed from

either an incorrect view or a misunderstanding or misap-plication of the topic. Not only are mainline Protestant

churches losing ground, so are the more evangelical

churches. This is at a time when a religion like Islam is

rowing, not only globally but in North America as well.

According to George Barna, George Gallup Jr., and

Michael Lindsay, there are more than 200 religions and

denominations in America at the present time, definitely

religiously pluralistic context. This pluralism has

dded to a lack of knowledge and understanding of the

church and kingdom of God. As a result, Christianity’s

influence is being marginalized and neutralized.

In our pluralistic culture Christianity is fast becoming

simply one religion among many. While chartered (reli-

gious) pluralism was built into the

founding principles of the United

States, Christianity was the pre-dominate influence in those early

days. However, in the past 150

years we have seen steady decline

in Christianity’s influence. Today,

there are those groups and indi-

viduals who challenge using the

name of God in the public square

and insist that religion is a private

matter. A most recent case has arisen against a group of

dults for giving thanks at a school dinner.

The entire church and state separation issue is

premised on the basis that we must embrace a secular

view of politics that leaves God out of the picture,otherwise, there is division rather than unity. We have

seen those attempting to rewrite American history in an

ttempt to challenge the role of God, the Bible, and

Christianity, claiming that America did not begin with a

distinctively Christ ian influence, but if, so what? Several

years ago the late Arthur Schlesinger of Yale University, a

philosophically liberal historian, wrote The Disuniting of

America. I was appreciative for his honesty regarding

those attempting to deconstruct and re-write history,

intentionally, leaving out some of the basic foundational

ideologies. Some of this has happened because of a

dualistic misunderstanding or equating what we called

church and state separation with religion and state

separation. Much of this has grown from a failure to

understand the kingdom of God and the church, their

unity and diversity.Consider a different paradigm relating to Christian

education. As you do, I would encourage you to evaluate

its merit from a philosophical/theological perspective

nd not simply a school model at all different levels of

the learning process.

While some of us have concluded that a failure to

understand the Kingdom of God world and life view per-

spective has short-changed Christianity by focusing on

pieces or parts rather than the

whole, many have also failed

to see the connection of edu-

cation with the Kingdom of

God. In a similar fashion, as lib-

eral secularism has done with

religion and politics, i.e. sepa-

rating the two and ultimately

keeping the religious aspect

uiet or merely assigning it to

one’s private life which only

trivializes religion, so have we

done the same with education


Understanding the

n biblical education

in secular understanding



and the kingdom. This tends to leave God out of the edu-

cation paradigm or at least place him on the periphery of

the process.

We have to realize that education in general has a

broad definition which would include the entire learningprocess : content and context. It also has a specialized

definition which deals with the many different subjects,

as well as teaching and learning techniques involved.

Also, in the somewhat limited scope from a Christian per-

spective, it refers to the process of learning, teaching, and

understanding biblical data, which of course is a legiti-

mately necessary part of the process. However, in the

broader or more general sense Christian education also

has to incorporate the whole of God’s truth, including

that which is not specifically revealed in the Bible. It also

has reference to the more formal teaching and learning

process while incorporating the less formal or less struc-

tured that comes from day-to-day life and relationships in

general. Education in its content and implementation

includes both aspects.

When we refer to kingdom education, we are includ-

ing all of the above. As we do, we are attempting to avoid

a dualistic approach that makes a distinction between

religious education and that which is not religious. The

kingdom of God includes light

and darkness. It includes the

kingdom general areas of life and

the kingdom special areas. For

example: mathematics would be

a kingdom general discipline and Bible study would be a

kingdom special activity.

While our attempt is to talk about kingdom education

as our paradigm, we will have to learn all of God’s truth,

from both general and special revelation. That paradigm

includes how that is done plus the relationships necessary

to make it effective in its mission.

We should be careful in discussing Christian educa-

tion lest we fail to distinguish at which level or from which

perspective we are speaking. While every aspect of Chris-

tian education should be biblical, i.e. consistent with the

Word of God, there is a broader aspect of Christian educa-

tion than biblical data which is why we prefer Kingdom

education as our nomenclature.

Within the kingdom of God model, which representsboth the broad (general) and the special definition or we

could say, the formal and informal approach to Christian

education, God is the ruler and the sovereign over all.

Within His all encompassing kingdom there are vari-

ous spheres or areas over which He rules as Lord. As

Abraham Kuyper and later Carl Henry were famous for

saying, there is not any area of life over which Christ has

not said “mine.”

A second aspect of kingdom education is that it is all



Church’s Rolein Kingdom education

We have to realize that education

in general has a broad definitionwhich would include the entire

learning process: content and context.

It also has a specialized definition

which deals with the many different

subjects, as well as teaching and

learning techniques involved .

in government policies

in business ethic



inclusive in its subject matter, The church has a primary

role of teaching God’s special revelation in a way that

will enhance, encourage, and implement the learning

process from a whole life perspective. While the church

focuses its teaching primarily on the Word of God,

because of the church’s centrality within the kingdom, it

must teach the Bible in manner that demonstrates Christ’s

sovereignty and Kingship over his kingdom and the

source of all truth. Actually the church, along with the

family and the school, are to see the wholeness of God’s

truth. For example: The Bible is not intended to be a text-

book on mathematics or science but what is taught, stud-

ied, and learned in those areas must correlate to or not

contradict what God’s word teaches, thereby giving us in

God’s Word a foundational

base for all learning.

By “the kingdom” Imean the rule and reign of

the Sovereign God over all

things. Presently, it is a spir-

itual vs. a geographical rule

nd reign. This present con-

cept of the kingdom fore-

shadows the final stage of

the kingdom initiated with

the return of Jesus Christ

the King at which time the

kingdom will not only

encompass the spiritual

domain but will also be

realized as a place, called the new heavens and new

earth, Rev. 21.

Also, we understand from God’s revelation in the

Scriptures, while the kingdom of God encompasses all

things, the church has a special but restricted spiritual

mission to make kingdom disciples by teaching people

to observe and live obediently in all things and in all

reas of life that Christ has commanded. It is restr icted

in the sense of mission and assignment. Unlike the

church’s role, the kingdom of God includes the publicsquare and every other area of life. This means that

Christianity is the religion of the kingdom including the

church, but as a religion, Christianity is broader than the

institutional church. The church is the body of Christ, an

organized organism, according to the Apostle Paul in 1

Corinthians 12. The term institutional church refers to

the organization of that body. In early America when ref-

erence was made and correctly understood, church and

state separation referred to the organized or institutional

church. The Westminster Divines, who authored the

famous Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms,

indicated only two areas in which the organized church

should enter the broader kingdom realm, as far as rule

nd politics are concerned. One allowance is proactive

while the other is reactive. This is spelled out in chapter

31 of the WCF: “Synods and councils are to handle, or

conclude nothing, but that which is ecclesiastical: and

re not to intermeddle with civil affairs which concern

the commonwealth, unless by way humble petition in

cases extraordinary; or by way of advice, for satisfaction

of conscience, if they be thereunto required by the civil

magistrate.”

Originally, the phraseology “church and state separa-

tion” did not mean a sepa-

ration of state and religion.

R ther it meant the orga-nized or institutional church

and the state.

The contention is that if

there had been a biblical

understanding of the king

dom of God, the church

and the state tensions,

schisms, and confusions

could have been avoided

or at least more clearly

understood. By the way,

that is not directed simply

to those who are not part of

Christianity or the church. What has happened due to

lack of kingdom world and life view perspective is

that Christians have embraced a dualistic philosophy

that characterizes—western culture which separates

the natural from the supernatural, faith from fact, the

secular from the sacred, the spiritual and the natural,

the secular from the religious. How that tends to play

out in the above scenario suggests that religion belongs

to the supernatural realm. Things like politics and sci-

ence belong to the natural realm. Values and beliefsbelong to the upper spiritual realm while science, fact,

nd history belong to the lower natural realm and never

should the two meet. How this has played out, espe-

cially in American history, has created much confu-

sion. Does the institutional church become involved in

the political realm or does the church remain silent

bout political and social issues?

Take an example from our American early history as

it relates to social justice. A case in point is slavery.

8 Christian Education and Publications | Discipling God’s Covenant People

e uip to disciple | ISSUE FOUR 2009

Western culture whichseparates the natural from

the supernatural, faith from

fact, the secular from the

sacred, the spiritual and the

natural, the secular from

the religious.





Some of the criticism, and not always without some

justification, has been aimed at Christians for supporting

the “institution” of slavery. Some well known Christians

such as Jonathan Edwards actually owned slaves. How

could that be? Did they not think that slaves were human

beings made in God’s image? If so, why did they not react

against it? If you travel throughout the south and visit

some of the old churches built back in early American

times or read some of the older history books dealing with

American history, you find that slaves were included in

the church and given assigned places to sit and worship,

along with the rest. Slavery was not seen as an issue that

was connected with the spiritual and religious part of life.

Slavery was primarily viewed as social or political issue

and because the church failed to understand the king-

dom concept and the church’s role in the kingdom, a

tragic war was fought in the 1860’s from which our coun-try has never repented or recovered morally and spiritu-

ally. As a matter of fact in many incidences, it was Chris-

tian against Christian in that terrible war.

If a proper biblical understanding of the church and

the kingdom had been in place things might have played

out quite differently. I agree with Dr. Harry (Skip) Stout of

Yale University both in a conversation with me and later

reflected in the book Religion and the American Civil War,

that religion was the energy behind that Civ il War, and we

failed to repent.

The following timeline shows some of the major

in uences that have contributed to the downward spiral.

The real issue is: should the institutional church inject itself

in the broader kingdom realm, particularly politically and

socially? Or should it withdraw and focus internally and

exclusively on the organized church? And is that the only

alternative? It would not be too difficult to demonstrate that

the failure to understand and apply the church and kingdom

concept drove many to a more liberal view of Christianity

by focusing on the broader kingdom thus taking the church,

as an institution, into the broader realm, creating a great rift

within the organized church, especially among those

advocates of church and state separation.

The church’s role is to disciple its people with a king-

dom focused world and life perspective who in turn realize

you cannot separate religion from any part of life, because

that is who we are, made in God’s image. Christians are not

to be discipled to withdraw from the world, though they are

called to be different and to have a different agenda in thisworld. Christians, trained, discipled, and equipped, are to

move into every area of life, as the salt and light, as ambas-

sadors of Christ seeking to make a difference in those areas.

If people like John Calvin, Abraham Kuyper, and Carl Henry

are correct that there are no areas of life disconnected from

Christ, then we must reflect that in our lives. We must be

trained in the Word of God, which is the basic step toward

developing a Christian mind that knows how to think, rea-

son, and apply God’s Word in all of life. The church must

prepare us for that responsibility. There is no legitimate

dualistic philosophy of life where Christ is concerned. God

is the Creator and Redeemer who permeates all of his cre-

ation and generally he does that through Christians.



10

e uip to disciple | ISSUE FOUR 2009


William Wilberforce is a good example. He did not

do what he did in the name of the institutional church

but in the name of Christ the King. He set out to abolish

slavery in the British Kingdom and stuck with it until that

happened. It was the Christ ian religion, applied to that

rea of life, that set him on his course with the determi-

nation and commitment to end that sinful institution. He

did not do that in the name of the church but rather in

the name of Christ the King and Lord.

I think of another illustration that grew out of a dis-

cussion in a recent Sunday school class. In discussing

the topic of human rights and justice, the teacher raised

the question, “What was the word that caused so many

problems for President George W. Bush?” The answer

was “crusades.” That word

was offensive to Muslims

because of their under-standing of the historic cru-

sades in the middle ages.

As the discussion pro-

ressed, I thought, Dr. Billy

Graham has conducted

numerous evangelistic cru-

sades around the world.

Criticism about “those cru-

sades” were not heard, at

least in the same way. If

that is true, I ask why? The

difference was the individu-ls involved. President Bush

is a political figure with a political agenda, according to

his audience. Billy Graham is a religious figure who used

the word crusade with a spiritual vs. a political connota-

tion. For a Muslim and from their world and life view,

they saw the whole picture and were threatened by Pres -

dient Bush, but not necessarily from Graham. He repre-

sented no militant, political agenda with his crusades.

In most other countries of astern orientation, people’s

worldview incorporates religion and politics in a symbi-

otic relationship. uropean countries and especially

America, embrace more of a dualistic separation of the

two, following an Aristotelian and Acquinas model of

dualism. This really became clearly evident in the late

nd early parts of the 1700’s and 1800’s.

If you have a biblically based kingdom perspective,

you cannot leave God out of any area of life, education,

science, economics, politics, law and any other area. “In

ll things,” said Paul, “Christ preeminent” or present. We

re to seek first his kingdom in all things.

In application we need to understand the relation and

roles of the church and the kingdom. We must understand

the relation of Christianity to all of life. We must under-

stand how the church and individual Christians or groups

of Christians are to relate to the public square. And, we

must further free ourselves and our western culture from

the dualistic philosophy that continues to keep us from

the wholistic total kingdom world and life view of Christi

anity. The prophet Micah has written, “He has told you O

man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk hum-

bly with your God?” We understand that Micah did not for

that to apply only to the organized church, but all of life,

the kingdom, as well.

Another example developed at the recent (2009)

General Assembly of the

Presbyterian Church in

merica. The Assemblywas presented with an

overture requesting it to

ddress the President of

the United tates regarding

homosexuality relating to

the military. The Assembly

declined to respond in the

ffirmative to the overture

concluding that it was not

n extraordinary issue.

ccording to the church’s

constitution, namely WCF31:4, it could have legiti-

mately responded by doing just what the overture asked.

Some believed that homosexuality with its many signifi-

cant implications on the doctr ine of God, the doctrine of

man as God’s image, as well as the institution of mar-

riage, was indeed extra-ordinary and were disappointed

over the Assembly’s action. I mention this not to re-vi sit

the arguments raised but to demonstrate the two op-

tions before the assembly. Christianity is about the Gos-

pel, but the Gospel is the good news of the kingdom and

not simply man’s salvation and his relation to God. Chris -

tianity is a world and life view with a kingdom focus, and

the church has the assignment of making kingdom dis-

ciples to help its people develop a Christian mind capa-

ble of dealing with all types of moral and ethical situa-

tions plus how to think biblically about them.

We must wake up to the fact that the church’s role is

to disciple its people, the body of Christ, to live in the

kingdom realm “24/7” and remember that there is no

area of life over which Christ has not said “mine.” Our

responsibility is to proclaim the Gospel of the kingdom

If you have a biblicallybased kingdom perspective,

you cannot leave God out

of any area of life,

education, science,

economics, politics, law

or any other area.




e u p to disciple | ISSUE FOUR 2009

5554 North Federal HighwayFort Lauderdale, Florida 33308

800-344-5669Contact: [email protected]

www.KnoxSeminary.edu

Theological SeminaryKNOX

Time and Eternity

in its fullness. Another way of stating this- - the organized

church has the Lord’s assignment to disciple the body of

Christ, his people, in order that they may live for him in all

of life throughout all the world. We have and will con-

tinue to pay a great price, if we fail to understand and

apply this to all of life.

If we are on target with our understanding of a king-

dom disciple, namely one that is transformed by changing

the way he thinks (Rom.12:2) by intentionally thinking

God’s thoughts, (2 Cor. 10:5) then to exclude God from

any area of life as does the dualistic model of secular and

sacred, church and state separation is dangerous. We will

never fully serve our Sovereign King and Lord because we

will not have the Christian mind that knows how to think

and act in a transforming way. And, unless God is our

predicate of knowledge and basic reference point, we will

have a faulty view of life and reality because as the Psalm-ist says, “ In his light, we see light. ”

I have been challenged reading Hunter Baker’s book

he End Of Seculari sm (see book reviews) in which he has

clearly opened the notion that secularism’s approach

leaves God out of the picture. While showing this historic

phenomena such as the struggles between the church and

state, the pope and the king, etc., he has applied it to the

U. . today and “the naked public square” as the late John

Neuhaus described it. Following the dualistic thinking

route, politics and science are neutral topics and should

not be impacted by religion or God. Hence Americans

have bought into the notion that God and the state do not

intermingle. But as Baker concluded in the last paragraph

of the book, “Removing God from our public deliberations

doesn’t help us focus on the things we have in common.

The truth is that the great majority of us have God in com-

mon. God matters. He matters in how we think about

human rights and civil rights. He matters in how we think

about bioethics and in helping us to know how far we dare

go. He matters in how we treat criminals. He matters in

the decisions we make about the economy and in how we

go to war. In order to preserve our freedom to talk about

him in all that we do, even in politics, we need only respectothers by seeking to persuade rather than to coerce. Surely

that is preferable to replacing the organic heart of our civi-

lization with a mechanical one.” Pluralism yes; dualism

and secularism no! Need more be said? e

Copyright © Charles H Dunahoo.



12 equip to disciple | issue four 2009 Christian Education and Publications | Discipling God’s Covenant People

MEN | WOMEN | YOUTH | CHILDREN | equip to discipleequip tip

F a m i l y M i n i s t r i e s

Nighttime will many times nd my wife and me

lying in bed reading. Cindy will alternate between

novels, WIC books, and studies, plus other

interesting works. I, on the other hand, enjoy curling up

with a good systematic theology or a dictionary of some

kind (no snide comment please!). There was one night

recently when there was a real struggle. It was a thousand

page hardback book that sat heavy on my chest. Harder

still was the difculty of holding it steady while trying to

underline some sentences and highlighting others. I lay

there wishing there was a better way.

Thoughts kept running through my mind of how niceit would be to have the ability to make a thousand page

book much thinner and lighter and more user friendly.

The next day I found the same problem simply resting the

book on my lap while sitting in my favorite chair. What is a

reading man to do? What might the future bring to help

with this problem?

In the distant future I see a “book” that willallow me to underline with straight lines thatlater doesn’t hinder my reading because theline blotted out the words. There will also be the

ability to highlight entire paragraphs and be able to use

as many different colors as desired, using each color to

represent whatever I want it to emphasize. This new book

will allow me to add my own notes, not only in the margins,

but between lines that I can separate. It will also allow meto erase all my mistakes without putting holes in the page.

Perhaps the best thing about this book of the future is that

it will come with its own lighting, so I am not dependent on

the kind of lighting in the room, nor the time of day. It will

not even be affected by the sun if I choose to read while at

the beach.

Oh, how I long for that future!Needless to say, the future is here, but most of us are

ust too stubborn to take the future out for a test drive.

One of these future “books” is put out by Amazon – it is

called the Kindle. It is small and very light. It holds hundreds

of books without extra weight. It comes with what is called

electronic paper and ink, making it readable in any light

without the light glaring back at you (like a computer does)

making you too tired to read. You can change the size of the

font, and mark it up in more ways than I have yet to discover.

However, I don’t recommend the Kindle only for the reason

once you buy it you are a slave to buying everything from

Amazon, and the price for me is still not justiable.

There are other devises already out there, but again the

price is not appealing – yet! I have pleaded with a number of

Christian publishers to ban together to approach a company

like Dell to get them to come up with a devise that will doall I want it to – and more. If they have done this, they have

kept it a secret from me.

Having said all that, I still await the day when I can curl up

with a thousand page book that will not crush my chest while

lying in bed. I am almost 60 and willing to change to a new

devise. Let’s face it, all of us will have to give up some of our

future books. Why not grasp the future and learn to enjoy it?

Until then I will enjoy my thousand page book at night – but

it will be on my Kindle! e — Denis Bennett (CEP Staff)

BOOKS OF THE FUTURE

The PCA’s Campus Ministry

at a Glance:

RUF is locatedin 54 Presbyteries in 33 states.22 RUF Ministries nationwide.

We have grown from 1 ministryin 1972 to 123 in 2009.

This month’s Equip Tip will breakfrom the series on Learning Styles so it

fits better with the book theme.



800-323-3890 www.crossway.org

Words carry immeasurable signifi-

cance, and since the tongue is sucha powerful force we are wise to

ask: What would homes, churches,

schools, even the public square be

like if we used words with Christian

intentionality and eloquence?

The Power of Words and the Wonder

of God seeks to answer this difficult

question. In these chapters, John

Piper, Sinclair Ferguson, and Mark

Driscoll team with worship pastor Bob

Kauflin, ministry leader Paul David

Tripp, and literature professor Daniel

Taylor to help readers harness their

tongues and appropriately command

their silences for the glory of God and

the ministry of the gospel.

The

Life-Altering

Power of

Our Words

The Power of Words and the Wonder of God

John Piper, Justin Taylor, general editors



14 equip to disciple | issue four 2009 Christian Education and Publications | Discipling God’s Covenant People

MEN | WOMEN | YOUTH | CHILDREN | equip to discipleenrich

Y o u t h M i n i s t r

into the promised land. Asaph in Psalm 78 recalls for the

current generation of Israelites the praiseworthy deeds of

the Lord so that they then will grow the next generation

into one that seeks the Lord.

It seems that these types of memories are in actuality

anchor points for one’s faith and the call to remember them

serves as a way to either help gird oneself for difculty or

to motivate to action. In my mind, this begs the question

for those of us involved in youth ministry as to what types

of memories we are forging for our students that one day

when they are faced with difculty or the need for action

that they can cling to and see the Lord’s faithfulness.

As someone who loves funny skits, a good practical joke

and trips to amusement parks this next statement is hard for

me to make. But I can’t help wondering how many of my

e

YXL 2009 UPDATE:

Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Danny Clark (RUF campus

pastor at College of Charleston) and John Craft (RUF

campus pastor at University of Tennessee-Chattanooga)

provided in depth teaching on the theme and Eric Ashley

(Young Adult Pastor, First Presbyterian Macon) led us in

worship. Highlights included a ministry project with Hope

for the Inner City, whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River

and hiking on beautiful Lookout Mountain. Perhaps the

most meaningful event for all involved was the concert of

prayer on Thursday night of the conference. It was one of

those rare moments in life that youth leaders long for…

students complaining because our one hour of prayer was

not long enough. Next year’s dates are alreadyset for July 5-10. You can nd out more information

at www.pcacep.org/yxl. e

LIVE FREELIVE FREE

“For freedom Christ has set us free;stand rm therefore,

and do not submit again to a yokeofslavery.”

gal 5.1

YXL’s sister conference YXL Glorieta (h tp://www.yxlglorieta.org/) in Glorieta, New Mexico had an awesome week as

well. Students and adults from all over the Southwest, West Coast and Northwest came together and found out what it means to be “Called

to Action”. Stu Kerns (Pastor of Zion Church PCA in Lincoln, NE), Patrick Tebbano (Assistant Pastor of University Presbyterian in Las Cruces,

NM), John Ranheim (Director of Development at Covenant Seminary) and Barry Noll (Associate Pastor at Christ Presbyterian in Tulsa, OK) all

did a wonderful job unpacking what being called to action really means. For the second year in a row, YXL Glorieta director David Poteet

(Ruling Elder at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Blacksburg, VA) put together an exciting program that included leadership activities,

a hike up an 11,000 foot mountain, whitewater rafting and a high ropes course. Ryan Anderson (Assistant Pastor at Riverside Church in Saint

Louis, MO) once again led the group in meaningful times of worship and prayer. YXL Glorieta is scheduled for July 10-17, 2010.



15hristian Education and Publications | Discipling God’s Covenant People equip to disciple | issue four 2009

equip to disciple | MEN | WOMEN | YOUTH | CHILDREN enrich

Catechism forYoung Children:

argaret attonDozier Smith TSara Hollis Smith TCayton WalkerIone Weyant

Trinity Presbyterianhurch • Opelika AL

Anna Asworth

Hickory WithePresbyterian ChurchEads TN

aroline LeatherburySellers

Done Larue Thrash, IIIMichael Stephen WalesPhelps Wade Williams

Trinity PresbyterianChurch • Montgomery AL

Katharine BatLeah CraddocBrianna DeBoZack FincherBrannac Jacks

hrist Presbyhurch • Tul

Miles JohnsonGrace Miller

Highlands Prhurch • Rid

CateChism:

Gospel Driven DiscipleshipLeadership Training that... Renews Minds,

Transforms Hearts and Engages Culture

2010 Women in the ChurchLeadership Training Conference

February 25 — 27Marriott Atlanta Airport Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia

mnaMission to North America

2010 MERCY MINISTRIES CONFERENCE

ENRICHING THE

KINGDOM

March 11-13, 2010 Sponsored by Christian Education & Publications andMission to North America of the Presbyterian Church in America.

Also, take advantage of your trip to Chattanooga and plan to attend theDisaster Response Training (10th-11th) right before the Mercy Con-ference! Go to www.pcacep.org/mercy for additional information.

The Gospel in a Broken World

“Jesus came to preach good news to the

poor, to announce freedom for the prison-ers, and recovery of sight to the blind, andto release the oppressed” CF — L UKE 4:18 .

January 12-14Simpsonwood Conference CenterAtlanta, Georgia

Workshop tracks will include:

Early Childhood, Elementary,Family, Leadership, and Foundations for Ministry

Discipling God’s Covenant People

HIGH

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students...

YXLDates

Announced

July 5-10,2010.



Equipping you to serve Him in your ministry.

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17Christian Education and Publications | Discipling God’s Covenant People equip to disciple | issue four 2009

800.283.1357 or visit www.cepbookstore.com

equip to disciple | BOOK REVIEWS endorse

The End of Secularism,

Hunter Baker, Crossway Books, 2009,224pages, $14.39. (#9589)

As the lead article in this issue indicates

there has been great confusion regarding the

broad issue of God and politics, especially as

it relates to the frequently heard church and

state separation issue and the United tates

Constitutional position. On the one hand you

have the secularists who want to exclude God

from all public discourse, especially politics, and

on the other hand you have some Christians who

claim that America was founded on Christian

principles; therefore, the church cannot be left

out of the state or politics. Hunter Baker suggests

both tend to over state their case.

Baker is clear that you cannot leave God out

the political realm, which basically agrees with

Calvin’s position that while the church and state

have their separate realms--“Render unto Caesar

the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the

things that are God’s.” -- both are subject to God.

Baker points out that Abraham Kuyper, the prime

minister Calvinistic statesman, theologian, and

politician, made an interesting point in debunkingthe idea of a secular and sacred dichotomy, that

Roman Catholicism was mainly responsible for

promoting the idea of secularism. Baker does a

good thing in showing that throughout history

the question does the church control the state or

king or does the state or king control the church

has been debated. He points to Thomas Aquinas

as the key figure in setting up the premise of a

secular state.

ecularism, as used by the author, is simply

an attempt to leave God out—the “ordering of a

community without reference to God.” We have

mentioned from time to time in Equip to Disciple

how many of the founders and originators of the

Constitutional Standards were impacted by a

Calvinistic theology and philosophy. In this case, as

Baker points out, “To Calvin, the king held his power

through the hand of God and it would be ridiculous

for God not to care whether his chosen servant

protected right worship and doctrine.” Growing out

of that, the concept of church and state separation

can actually be traced to John Calvin. A furtherconcept set forth in this book is that it was the

Christian influence among the founders that led to

the adoption of the principle of religious pluralism

in America. The state would not by coercion or any

other means promote a single religion but would

rather make a place where one could practice his

religion with freedom. (Maybe that is why America

has more religions and religious organization than

any other country).

This is an important book. In fact having

read other books by Mark Noll, Nathan Hatch,

George Marsden, Harry Stout and others on

American history, this book may be one of the

most strategic. However, as Baker points out, the

solution to deal with this chaos and conflict is first

to understand the difference between church and

state separation (see the lead article in this issue)

and God and state separation or the separation

of religion and politics. Also because God is

who he says he is, the sovereign God and king

of his kingdom, we need to understand that you

cannot leave God and religion out of politics or

any area of life. This was never intended by theU. . Constitution. Keeping God out of the public

square, including politics, was never the intention

of the founders, as our history bears out. They

knew too much theology than to believe that you

could do that.

The bottom line is that America is not a secular

nation in that God can be left out. Impossible!

America is a religious nation that allows for

religious freedom to its citizens which means the

right to talk about religion not only in the privacy

of our lives, but in the public realm as well.

Baker has given us a book that should be

read by every parent, teacher, church and state

leader. His perspective is fair and balanced.

As it is read, studied, and understood, it will

serve a positive purpose in further informing

and clarifying the understanding of Kingdom

thinking, not a two kingdom concept as set forth

by Luther, but a one kingdom concept with God

Baker does a

good thing in

showing that

throughout

history the

question doesthe church

control the

state or king or

does the state

or king control

the church has

been debated.



equip to disciple | issue four 200918

MEN | WOMEN | YOUTH | CHILDREN | equip to disciple


MEN WOMEN YOUTH CHILDREN qu p to discipleequip to disciple | BOOK REVIEWS


endorse

over all things as Calvin, Kuyper, and others

have maintained.

Don’t bypass this book! There is somuch good content, far beyond what this brief

review allows. e

Why We Love theurc : in Praise of

Institutions and Organized Religion, ev n e oung an

ed Gluck, Moody Publishers, 2009,

234 pages, $11.99 (#9555)

I agree with J. I. Packer. When I read Why We

Love the Church, I wanted to stand up and cheer.

I have been reading so many books and blogs

from people who do not speak a love language

regarding the church or organized religion.

Granted, there are blemishes and spots and things

that need correcting regarding the church but as

the bride of Christ, whom he loves, we too must

love the church, and you cannot separate the

organism aspect of the church from the organized

as many are trying to do. You may have already

read an earlier book by these two authors, one ateaching elder and the other a ruling elder. That

book, Why We‘re Not Emergent, was a good book

but this one tops it. Both are great reads but if you

have to chose, this one is the winner.

They unwrap the idea that the North American

church is suffering from a crisis in ecclesiology.

They conclude the lack of love for the church is

one of the reasons why there is a glaring lack of

any ecclesiology, even among those who profess

to be Christians, who talk much about community,

and who throw stones at what they think the

church is without understanding what they are

doing. Beating up on the church is no way to

treat the bride of Christ. As the authors point out,

many who do talk about the church do so in a

minimalist way that reflects no understanding

of what they are talking about. Again that

doesn’t mean that the church is perfect or above

evaluation and criticism but we need to know

what we are doing, and proceed carefully, when

we do speak critically of the church: after all

it is the heart of God’s kingdom. The churchshould always look differently from the world

because it is through the church that the world

is supposed to see the kingdom of God. And, it

isn’t about numbers.

One very revealing comment by the authors

underscore the message, “Many of these pas-

sionate, well-intentioned youngish church leav-

ers have a vision for the world that is so unlike

anything promised this side of heaven that they

can’t help but feel disappointed and angry with

the church for not getting the world where they

think it can go.”

They caution about the danger of polling and

trend watching which tends to cause us to forever

be doomed to chase relevance, manage people’s

perceptions of the church, and catch up on the

cutting edge. By the way, they say this is generally

done at the expense of not dealing with sin which

causes the problems in the first place. With a good

reminder they caution about reading people

like George Barna when they either beat up on

the church or bemoan its falling apart. which as

they refer to Barna, always requires doing churchdifferently or not doing church at all.

I read trends and think we can learn some

things from them. I agree with DeYoung and

Gluck that doing so too seriously can lead the

church away from its mission under the guise of

making it more effective. It uses the wrong stan-

dards to measure its effectiveness in ministry and

mission. The days of the church are not over. We

must not read the eulogy over that which will not

perish. They say, “It is easy to blast the church for

all its failures…but we could do better with using

a little less complaining and a little more grati-

tude.” DeYoung and Gluck are in their “thirty-

somethings” and are neither out of touch with

their generation nor the others as well. They say

that their generation is prone to radicalism with-

out follow-through, not proving themselves to be

faithful in much of anything including jobs, par

enting, and real change. Do we in fact need more

They caution

about the dange

of polling and

trend watching

which tends to

cause us to forever be doomed to

chase relevance

manage people

perceptions of

the church, and

catch up on the

cutting edge.



19

equip to disciple | BOOK REVIEWS endorse

Christian Education and Publications | Discipling God’s Covenant People equip to disciple | issue four 2009

spirituality and less religion? More social justice

or political correctness?

The authors remind us there is a place andneed for change, at times more than others, how-

ever the problem is that we do not always know

how to change things for the better and we end

up complicating the problem and making things

worse and then turning the blame from our-

selves. “Is it possible our boredom and restless-

ness have less to do with the church and its doc-

trines and more to do with a growing coldness

toward the love of God displayed in the sacrifice

of his son for our sins?”

So what do we do? We realize as they empha

size that the gospel is not about what we need

from God, but about what God has done for us. It

is not dressed up moralism, gospel activism, and

rest for the weary, nor as I would add to that a

legalistic “work your way to heaven” message.

Their plea is not to give up on the church

because the Bible knows nothing about a

churchless Christianity. “Find a good local church,

get involved, become a member, stay there for the

long haul…Worship God in spirit and truth, bepatent with your leaders, and rejoice when the

gospel is faithfully proclaimed, bear with those

who hurt you, and give people the benefit of the

doubt.” They further remind us that the church is

not an incidental part of God’s plan. I was thrilled

to read this statement, “I still believe the church

is the hope of the world—not because she gets

it all right, but because she is a body with Christ

for her Head.” I hope my brief comments on this

book make you aware that I believe it is one of

the most important books for church leaders and

members to read today regarding the church.

If the church doesn’t function and carry out its

mission of making kingdom disciples, she will not

serve God’s purpose to this generation and we

cannot do that by turning our backs on that most

central and essential institution and organization

for making kingdom disciples. e

...if the church

is going to

see greatdays, these

truths must be

widely known,

preached, and

embraced.

ecommended b

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equip to disciple | issue four 200920





endorse

The Christian Life

Profile AssessmentTool: Discovering the Qualityof Your Relationships with Godand Others in 30 Key Areas, Randy

Frazee Zondervan, $55.99 (#9576)

If you read the report issued by Willow Creek

Church a couple of years ago you know how a lot

of people feel about their lack of spiritual growth.

In fact, let me ask you a question: Over this last

year how much have you grown spiritually? This

is not a minor question. I have been looking

for a long time for a tool to use to help me, and

the church overall, to be able to start measuring

spiritual growth.

Too many times we think we are measuring

spiritual growth, but we are only measuring one

component – academic knowledge of the Bible.

There is another area that is just as important

– your personal life and growth, as well as your

relational life and growth, such as with your mate

and others in the church and the world.

Frazee has done a great job with this tool to

help us do the measuring and planning for futuregrowth. In the first part of the tool we assess

ourselves in 10 competencies in three categories:

beliefs, practices, and virtues. These answers

assess how fully you have developed a Christlike

profile. But you don’t stop there.

The Christian Life Profile is most effective when

used in the context of biblical community, such as

a small group where the members of the group

provide support, encouragement, accountability,

and prayer for each other, as you, individually and

corporately, seek to grow in Christ’s likeness. The

assessment tool even strongly suggests you allowthree other people who know you well and care

about you to answer a set of questions about you to

help you to develop a fuller assessment. I see this as

one of the most beneficial aspects of this tool.

The last step is identifying two or maybe

three areas where you want to concentrate your

growth over this next year, and making a plan that

is workable and attainable. To do this you need

not only a mentor or small group, but most of

ll prayer that the Holy Spirit will be the One toctually bring about the change. e

— Denis Bennett (CEP Sta )

Imminent Domain,the Story of the Kingdomof God and Its Celebration,Ben Witherington III, erdmans 2009,

5 pages, $9.60 (#9590)

The title drew me to this book written by Ben

Witherington, Professor of New Testament,

Asbury Seminary, and faculty in the doctoral

program at St. Andrews University in Scotland.

Being less than 100 pages, I thought this would

be an easy read. I found that while it was easy

to read, it required some thinking, checking

cripture references, and playing around with

some of the end questions. Consequently, I

underlined a lot.

I was humbled in the very preface of the

book. Witherington mentioned “kingdomtide.”

I had never heard of that. He explained that it is

part of the Christian church calendar manychurches, including his Methodist church, use

to mark a period from August 31 through the

next 12 to 13 weeks culminating with the feast of

Christ the King. I was comforted a bit by my

lack of knowledge when I read that because we

do not always observe those things in our

church. As I read, I felt that maybe it would not

be a bad idea, though from January 1 to

December 31, because it is evident that people

do not understand the kingdom of God.

The little book of six studies has two parts:

first dealing with the presence of the kingdomnd then the future of the kingdom, an exposition

from the Lord’s Prayer, “Your Kingdom come,

your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” He

is correct that people do not understand the

Kingdom of God, what it is, how it differs from the

church, or Israel, and whether it is now or not yet.

Because the word kingdom today suggests a

Frazee has

done a great

job with this

tool to help us

do the measur-

ing and plan-ning for future

growth.

The little bookof six studies ha

two parts: first

dealing with the

presence of the

kingdom and

then the future

of the kingdom

an exposition

from the Lord’s

Prayer...



22


e | issue four 2009 Christian Education and Publications | Discipling God’s Covenant People



endorse

geographical location, and because the now

part of the kingdom does not, Witherington

suggests for clarity that we should call it the“dominion of God,” depicting activity rather

than location, at least now. The kingdom refers

to the rule and reign in the hearts and lives of

God’s people wherever they are now. In the not

yet final appearing of the kingdom it will have a

location, namely the new heavens and new

earth. It will be a activity and place combined.

Witherington makes an interesting point, “It is

never adequate theology to say, “this world is not

my home, I’m just passing through” as if heaven

were all that really mattered. To the contrary, the

New Testament suggests just the opposite. Heaven

is simply a place through which believers pass

between the time they die and when they are

raised from the dead.” At that point they will be in

the new heavens and new earth.

Witherington makes clear that while the

church is not synonymous with the kingdom, it is

through the church that the world presently sees

the kingdom. As Christ rules and reigns in

peoples’ hearts, the church gives evidence to the

kingdom through the worship, in their daily lives

as they demonstrate the beatitudes and fruit ofthe spirit, as they obey God’s word in all things,

and demonstrate works of charity, righteousness,

and a love in opposition to the powers of

darkness. As Christ redeems his people and sets

up his rule and reign in their hearts and minds

such transformation will lead to redemptive

actions and will change others as well as the

fabric and structure of society. When that

happens then God’s will is being done he says.

He asks “What would the church look like if

it really took seriously the Great Commission? “

His answer, “It would look like a lot more like the

dominion of God coming to earth.” There would

be no place for racism, sexism, rivalry, greed but

more of a place of love, justice, and mercy and

servant leadership.

Each chapter ends with penetrating questions.

While it does not say everything about the

kingdom such as a world and life view, though

the implications are there, you will benefit from

reading, studying, and teaching this little book.

Don’t pass it by. e

TrueU: Does God Exist?A 10 Part Video Series Drs. Dale ackett

and ephen Meyer Produced by Focus

on the Family and distributed by yndale,

$39.00

If you have already shown the Truth Project

to the people in your church you know what a

great service Dale Tackett (PCA elder from Village

Seven) has done for us with this worldview series.

Dale, who works for Focus on the Family,

now has a follow-up series that is aimed at high

school and college age specifically. If you go to

the website (www.trueu.org) there are helpful

promos of the series.

There is a second series coming next spring.

This series is on helping prepare young folk for

the onslaughts of college by helping them defend

themselves in the area of the existence of God.

The second series will be Is the Bible Reliable?

This first series is brilliantly taught by Dr.

Stephen Meyer, who is a senior fellow at theDiscovery Institute near Seattle. He has spent 20

years researching cosmology, biology and

metaphysics in order to be able to explain the

existence of a creator God. He is a Ph.D. from

Cambridge and an expert on the subject of

Intelligent Design.

The website has a downloadable 40 minute

presentation which serves as an introduction

showing why you need to use this series with

your teenagers. It is also well worth showing to

the entire church. The series will be available in

November. e Denis Bennett (CEP Staff)

Additional book reviewscan be found at:

equip.pcacep.orgClick “Book Reviews” in left-hand sidebar.

If you have

already shown

the Truth Proje

to the people

in your church

you know what

a great service

Dale Tackett

(PCA elder from

Village Seven)

has done for uswith this world

view series.



PRESORT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT #275

MONTGOMERY, AL

Presbyterian Church in America

Christian Education & Publications

1700 North Brown Road, Suite 102

Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043

Equip4thQTR09

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