Church/Piety

Is WRPC a Church for Introverts or Extroverts?

Posted on by Carl Robbins

Introvert & ExtrovertWhat is an introvert ? According to social theorists, introverts…

  • Enjoy time alone
  • Consider only deep relationships as friends
  • Feel drained after activities outside their home, even if they were fun
  • Are great listeners, can be in a group & never contribute to the conversation and be satisfied
  • Appear calm and self-contained
  • Think then speak or act

What is an extrovert ? The same social theorists assert that extroverts…

  • Like to be in the thick of things
  • Relish a variety of interactions
  • Know lots of people, considers lots of people friends
  • Enjoy chit-chatting, even to strangers
  • Feel stoked after activity
  • Speak or act then think OR think while speaking

Who is the church for? Redeemed sinners – both extrovert sinners and introvert sinners.

The commands of God are not divided by personality type.

  • The Lord does NOT say “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves (Hebrews 10:25)…..unless you are an introvert, then you can stay home alone.”
  • God does NOT say “Tame your tongue ( ala James 3)…unless you are an extrovert, then just rattle on uncontrollably.”

In a context (1 Corinthians 12) where Paul is speaking of the diversity of spiritual gifts, the great apostle goes to great lengths to demonstrate how deeply those with widely varying gifts NEED each other. That is surely the same with widely varying personality types.

Believers can grow frustrated with each other because THEIR relational needs aren’t being met. Think about some of your own relational frustrations with others in the Body of Christ? Are others “shallow/surfacey”, when you want to have deep, long, soul-baring conversations ? Maybe it’s because they’re extroverts and you’re an introvert.

There’s NO sin involved. Just different relational styles. And maturing, wise believers KNOW how to be longsuffering with one another and how to bear with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2, Colossians 3:13).

Church/History/Missions

The Halbert’s and WRPC: Through the Generations

Posted on by Carl Robbins

In April of 1987 WRPC called the Rev. Paul Halbert – a retiring minister – to serve as the Asst. Pastor to Dr. Tom Cross. Rev. Halbert had previously served as a WWII combat Marine, a missionary in Venezuela, and a pastor in churches from California to Michigan. When Rev. Halbert came on staff at WRPC he and his beloved wife Dorothy lived in the manse; the same manse that now serves as the church offices. Pastor Halbert was taken home to be with Christ in May of 2009.

Now, WRPC supports and partners with Aaron and Rachel Halbert, church planting in Honduras. Aaron is the grandson of Paul Halbert!

Above are Aaron & Rachel and their children Ford and Catherine with Pastor Carl and Sandy after the Sunday evening service. They’re back in the States until Rachel delivers TRIPLETS…all girls!

Family/Piety

Go to the Ant

Posted on by Scotty Anderson

“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.” – Proverbs 6:6.
(This is a variation of a devotional I wrote recently for a high school athletic team. Thought it worth sharing)

I’m not sure we use the word sluggard enough. I know it’s not a nice thing to say about someone but it is a biblical category and sometimes it just fits. Whoever we are we need to be astute enough to diagnose it in ourselves, be uncomfortable when we see it, and repent when we’re guilty of it. And there’s plenty of motivation in the Proverbs for repenting of it. Just consider these verses:

  • “Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.”  Pr 22:29
  •  “Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.” Pr 24:27
  • “Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.” Pr 12:11
  •  “…The work of a man’s hand comes back to him.” Pr 12:14b
  • “Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.” Pr 28:19
  • “In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.” Pr 14:23

Do you get the picture? You’re probably smart enough to figure out that in those verses you can trade out “kings,” “houses,” and “bread” for things more relevant to you. What wisdom says is this: “Work hard and work early.” Excellence now; honor later. Effort now; rest later. Self-denial now; abundance later. And those who take the easy way, well…they get what they deserve and it’s not good.

Embracing this doesn’t mean you have to be naive. Proverbs is after all wisdom. For the most part they’re not outright commands and covenantal promises like we find in other places in Scripture. But the Proverbs are meant to be embraced and implemented. The general expectation for believers is to view work as ordinary, expected, and frequently unpleasant. But the unpleasantness of work is never an excuse to avoid it.

And this doesn’t end with a paying vocation. These are all of life skills. Most jobs are painful when you begin. Successful marriage requires the ability to persevere. Saving money demands persistent self-denial. Advanced education means toiling for many years in the books before anyone recognizes your expertise. Life in Christ’s church (especially on the local level) calls for engagement with difficult people and circumstances. And all of these more than payoff the longer you work in them. Work hard and work early is simply the way of God’s world and those who resist the God-given pattern of work then rest (Ex 20:8-11) will sooner or later feel the intense pain of their foolishness. Don’t be the one saying, “Why didn’t I work harder? Life would be so much better now.”

And one more thing…don’t trust yourself too much. The Proverbial sluggard is a professional excuse maker: “I really need some more sleep” (Pr 6:9-10), “It’s too risky to try that today” (22:13, 26:13), “I’m just gonna do it my own way” (Pr 26:16). It’s really east to find a reason to avoid pain and effort. So keep asking yourself, “Am I doing enough? Am I doing what I should be doing right now?” In other words, “Go to the ant…”

Church

Connectionalism Is a Beautiful Thing

Posted on by Carl Robbins
ArdenPCA
Clay Dangerfield, Craig Sheppard, Carl Robbins

I had the inestimable privilege (last weekend) to be the speaker for the Missions Conference at Arden PCA in the suburbs of Asheville, NC. APC is a healthy & vibrant, missions-minded congregation that is seeking to be more and more intentional in their role as a sending church.

But, the best part of heading up the mountain was catching up with old friends of WRPC.

Here are two of them: On the far left is Clay Dangerfield. Clay was a stalwart deacon at WRPC when I first arrived. I had the honor to baptize Clay and Carol’s oldest daughter, Grace, who is now almost 15, and big sister to brothers Moultrie and Palmer (named after Benjamin Morgan Palmer!). Clay now serves on the Session at APC.

In the center (wearing his Mission’s Conference tie) is Dr. Craig Sheppard. Years ago Craig was the leader of the PCA’s mission work in Sofia, Bulgaria and WRPC was one of his supporting churches. We sent short term teams to work with them, and I had the joy of going (on multiple occasions) and teaching with Craig. He has served as our Missions Conference speaker and is now the Senior Minister at APC.

But the connections don’t stop there. Dr. Sheppard’s son Jared, and my daughter Sarah were friends and mutually plugged in to Clemson RUF (directed by our own supported campus minister Rev. Stephen Speaks) and Clemson PCA (pastored by Dr. David Sinclair, the son of our dearly beloved members Louis and Joy Garlington).

That’s what we mean by connectionalism!

Family

Four Eagle Scouts in One Family!

Posted on by Carl Robbins

IMG_0594-001Last Saturday night I had the great honor to attend the Eagle Scout Court of Honor for WRPC member Thomas Wade.

If you haven’t met him, Thomas is a high school junior and a cross country runner at Eastside, a delightful and accomplished young believer.

The next time you are at WRPC you can go and inspect his Eagle Scout project- Thomas oversaw the construction of decks and ramps for the Greenville Classical Academy complex.

Thomas’s clear Christian commitment was on display at the ceremony – from the immense volume of Scripture read, to the homily from his father Mike and the prayers and the testimonies of others.

But the most amazing aspect of the whole evening was that Thomas followed all his older brothers (Ben, James, and Daniel) in this accomplishment! The scoutmaster awarding the status said he’d never seen one family produce four Eagle Scouts.

Congratulations to Thomas and to his parents Mike and Linda.

Uncategorized

Family Worship and the Day I Made My Daughter Cry

Posted on by Scotty Anderson

Derek Scott pointed me to great article over at Crossway on Family Worship by Donald Whitney (of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life fame). I referenced him a while back in Praying the Scriptures.

Click on the link below to read the article, especially if you’re a dad. Great encouragement as to the cumulative effect of what your doing when you faithfully lead your family in this area. You’ll also sign up for a short series of emails like his program for praying the Scriptures. It’s well worth your time.

Family Worship and the Day I Made My Daughter Cry

History/Piety

Personal Piety and Robert Murray McCheyne

Posted on by Carl Robbins

mccheyneBorn in May, 1813 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Robert Murray McCheyne was the son of a prosperous lawyer and the youngest of five children. While a university student he turned to a life of debauchery. At his 18th birthday was brought to conviction by the death of his older brother.

And in his own diary wrote these words: “March 11, 1834 – read The Sum of Saving Knowledge, and believe there has been a saving change in me.”

After completing his theological studies, McCheyne was called at the age of 25 to St. Peter’s Free Church (Presbyterian) in Dundee, Scotland. A city given to idolatry and hardness of heart. There was one pub for every 80 people! When McCheyne went there he wrote in his diary: “The Lord has set me in the midst of a people who are not pleased with the Gospel. But, if the Gospel pleased carnal men it would not be the Gospel.”

The Westminster Confession of Faith – was his constant text book. “Oh for the grace of the Westminster divines,” he writes, “to be poured out upon this generation of lesser men.” Ruin by the fall, righteousness by Christ, and regeneration by the Spirit was the substance of his preaching. His preaching was simple, fearless, and boldly Calvinistic. Of all his sermons that remain, the most common occurring theme is that of God’s electing work!

McCheyne was well-known for his convicting preaching. After his death a fellow minister wrote, “Laziness and unfaithfulness are besetting sins of mine, and his living presence was a rebuke to me; for I never knew one so faithful, in season and out of season, one so impressed with eternal and invisible realities and so faithful in reproving sin and witnessing for Christ.”

When McCheyne was bedridden due to absolute exhaustion from work, and had heart-problems as well, and could not preach, he penned a series of pastoral letters to his congregation that are models of pressing home the obligations of the Christian Life (contained in Memoirs and Remains). Listen to this snippet:

If you lack holiness, you will never see the Lord. A real desire after complete holiness is the truest mark of being born again. Jesus is a holy Saviour. He first covers the soul with His white raiment, then makes the soul glorious within – restores the lost image of God, and fills the soul with pure, heavenly holiness. Unregenerate men among you cannot bear this.”

M’Cheyne warned his fellow ministers:

Brethren, our people will not thank us in eternity for speaking smooth things, and crying “Peace, peace, when there is no peace.” No, they may praise us now, but they will curse our flattery in eternity.

But it was McCheyne’s personal piety that is worth our study and imitation. He also wrote this to a fellow minister:

Above all things, cultivate your own spirit. Your own soul is your first and greatest care. Seek advance of personal holiness. It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God. A word spoken by you when your conscience is clear, and your heart full of God’s Spirit, is worth ten thousand words spoken in unbelief and sin.

From his diary we gather his own private observations:

“I ought to spend the best hours of the day in communion with God. It is my noblest and most fruitful employment…The morning hours, from six to eight, are the most uninterrupted… After tea is my best hour, and that should be solemnly dedicated to God, if possible.”

On Sundays, he spent SIX HOURS in prayer and devotional reading! On Mondays he met the ministers of the presbytery for a 90 minute prayer meeting. One day a month he reserved for a day of prayer and fasting. McCheyne’s prayer life was, to put it mildly, INTENSE.

McCheyne was incredibly disciplined in his prayer life, just as he was in his Bible reading (see McCheyne’s Bible reading plan). He was constantly rethinking and sharpening and he rigorously followed a pattern of specific confession of sin, thanksgiving, adoration, and specific intercessory prayer. He prayed daily for missions with a map on his lap. Below is an excerpt from his intercessory prayer diary:

1.People

  • Relatives
  • Friends
  • Elders
  • Church Members
  • The sick and dying
  • For God to raise up Elders, SS teachers and prayer meeting leaders
  • For the power of the preached Word on the Sabbath
  • For fellow ministers
  • Against Popery
  • The persecuted Church

2.Subjects

  • For the power of the Holy Spirit
  • For the unity and purity of the Church of Jesus
  • For the Queen and all civil rulers
  • For the Lord to raise up-in great numbers-ministers to serve the church
  • For the Word of God to be more reverenced in our land
  • For the success of missionary efforts in heathen lands
  • For the Jews to come to Christ
  • For a blessing upon the General Assembly

It was McCheyne’s aim to avoid any hurry which prevents “the calm working of the Spirit on the heart. The dew comes down when all nature is at rest – when every leaf is still. A calm hour with God is worth a whole lifetime with man …”

During his illness he wrote: “To me that grace is not now given to preach to you…still the Lord allows me to give myself unto prayer…my soul does not rest in silence. I am permitted to go in secret to God and I can make mention of you all in my prayers and give thanks for the little flock.”

The cook in the manse said of McCheyne’s prayer life, “Oh to hear Mr McCheyne at prayers in the morning. It was as if he would never stop, he had so much to ask.”

Even on his deathbed, McCheyne continued to intercede for His people. His last words, spoken while under a raging fever, he lifted his hands and cried out, “Lord, save this church and these people!”

McCheyne died at the age of 29 in an epidemic of Typhus.

History/Piety

The Martyrdom of Patrick Hamilton

Posted on by Carl Robbins

patrick-hamilton-1504-1528-hervormer-in-schotland-gestudeerd-in-wittenberg-levend-verbrandBoth our sons were named for martyrs for the Reformed Faith. Our oldest son is “John Patrick” after the great Patrick Hamilton, the first martyr of the Scottish Reformation.

Today, February 29, is the 488th anniversary of his slaughter at the hands of the Roman Catholic church in 1528.

Born in 1504, Hamilton was from one of the leading Roman Catholic aristocratic families of Scotland. Being related to King James of Scotland, he faced the prospect of a comfortable life (think Downton Abbey).

Hamilton studied at the University of Paris, where he was granted a Master’s degree at the age 16! While studying in Paris Hamilton was first exposed to the exploding Protestant doctrines being taught by Martin Luther. At the age of 20 (!) Hamilton became a faculty member of St. Andrews University back in his native Scotland. There he also served as a priest.

Young Patrick began preaching Reformation doctrines. This preaching caught the attention of his superiors and he was ordered to be tried for heresy. Before he could stand trial, Hamilton fled to Germany where he came in contact with William Tyndale, who was translating the Bible into English and was also a wanted man and being pursued by the pope’s agents.

Even with a price on his head Hamilton could not stay away from his beloved Scotland. He returned, and once again began to preach the doctrines of free grace and further breaking from Rome by getting married along the way.

Hamilton was so passionately desirous of spreading Reformation doctrine in his native land that he published a treatise entitled Patrick’s Places, which proclaimed many of Martin Luther’s doctrines, especially “Justification by Faith Alone” and “Sola Gratia”.

In early 1528 Hamilton was arrested and hauled before the archbishop and examined upon his doctrines. He was specifically charged with teaching the following:

  • There is no such thing as purgatory
  • That predestination is a biblical doctrine
  • Many other anti-Romish doctrines

He bravely confessed, was condemned and was sentenced to be burnt at the stake…as “A Protestant heretic”. The next day, February 29, 1528, Hamilton was marched to the front entrance of St. Salvator’s Chapel in St. Andrews where he was set on fire. His last intelligible words were “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”. He burned from noon until 6 PM.

His courage and writings attracted attention all over Scotland and the cause of Protestantism raced through the nation.

Church/Piety/Worship

Christ Is to the Heart Like a River Is to a Tree

Posted on by Carl Robbins

Jonathan_Edwards_engravingOne of my dearest friends (we’ve spent hundreds of hours together!) is Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), indisputably the greatest intellect produced on American soil. Edwards is known for one sermon; his famous “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, which was mightily used for the conversion of many during the Great Awakening. But Edwards should be known for so much more. He was a true renaissance man, conversant in the sciences, theology, literature, music, and much more.

Because of his fearless Reformed preaching and insistence upon a clear profession of faith before people could take communion, 90% of his congregational church in Northampton, Massachusetts voted to fire him. Even though he had an international reputation and had been greatly used in the conversion of many and had been the pastor for 22 years, the church dismissed him. His “Farewell Sermon” (from 2 Corinthians 1:14) is one of the most remarkable sermons I’ve ever read. It’s noteworthy for its tenderness and complete lack of bitterness.

After considering several options in Scotland and the Colonies, Edwards shocked the world by taking a call to be a missionary to the Mohican and Mohawk Indians in the area of Stockbridge on the western frontier of Massachusetts. This actually should not have been a great surprise for Edwards had trained and mentored several missionaries himself, including the almost legendary David Brainerd. He had also penned “An Humble Attempt to promote explicit agreement and visible union of God’s people in extraordinary prayer, for the revival of religion and the advancement of Christ’s kingdom on earth”, an early treatise on the necessity of concerted prayer for the success of missions.

When Edwards moved his family to Stockbridge and took up his ministry among the Indians there were many critics who did not think that Edwards could “come down” to their level. But, for the next 7 years, Edwards happily and faithfully preached, pastored and evangelized in their midst. He took a special joy in crossing cultural and linguistic boundaries to bring the Gospel to them, sure in the knowledge that Christ had promised to save people from every nation, tribe, people and tongue (Revelation 7:9).

In addition to serving as their pastor, Edwards also became an advocate for the Indians on financial and legal matters, much to the chagrin of many white settlers. Edwards also served as headmaster of a boarding school for Indian children and lodged some of them in his own home. Under his tutelage this was the first school for Indians that taught girls as well as boys!

Reading Edwards sermons from this period is fascinating. His preaching gets simpler, he stays largely in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. He uses parables heavily. And he develops great powers of imagery and metaphor, striving for familiar figures of speech. His sermons are shorter and quicker to the point. Calvinistic theology is clearly present in almost every sermon.

On Sunday, August 1, in preparation for communion, Edwards preached a short (for him!) sermon on Psalm 1:3 (“He shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water”) entitled “Christ is to the heart like a river to a tree planted by it”. By way of analogy Edwards shows how just as a tree cannot live without water from the river, so we cannot live without Christ. But upon being placed IN CHRIST – by repentance and faith – we thrive and bear fruit.

As we prepare to celebrate the sacrament of communion this Sunday morning, listen to some of Edwards closing exhortations:

As the waters of a river refresh the tree, so Christ refreshes the heart of the believer continually and makes it rejoice.                                                                                                                                               As the waters of a river give life and keep the tree alive, so Christ enlivens the heart and makes it grow, beautiful and fruitful;

If you are a saint, then Christ IS sweet and refreshing, even life-giving to you.

History/Theology/Uncategorized

The Proto Socialist

Posted on by Dan Dodds
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot (Judas Iscariot) by James Tissot

The other day I read the following verses to my kids from the book of John 12:1-8 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.  2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.  3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.  4 Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said,  5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”  6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.  7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  8 “For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

As I read this (and remember that we are rapidly moving into the political primaries with all the accompanying rhetoric) it struck me that the words of these verses provide a wonderful picture of early socialism. Judas (yes, THAT disciple) complains because he does not believe that Mary is using her money properly, i.e. that she is wasting it on Jesus. Judas believes he has a better idea of how the money should be used and complains to Jesus – presumably with the desire that Jesus use His authority to halt the practice. But Judas not only wants Mary to stop, he also provides an alternative use for the funds.

Judas believes that the money would have been better spent on the poor. Yes, that’s the ticket, we should take it from one person who is wasting it on (what we believe to be) frivolous practices and give it to the poor who will make better use of it. On the surface his argument sounds very pious and selfless. But there is more. John gives us (through the inspiration of the Spirit) insight into Judas’ motives. The apostle says that Judas really doesn’t really care about the poor but rather uses them to reroute others’ money through his hands so that he could get some of it.

When I read those words it reminded me of much of what I hear from those who promulgate socialism. They highlight the needs of the poor and their desire to help, but they do so through legalized theft and redistribution while skimming off some (or a lot) for themselves.

In the end it is telling that Jesus rebukes Judas – not for caring for the poor, but for using them for his own gain.