It is true that Jesus does warn all of us about the dangers of loving money more than God (Matthew 6.24). And, yes, Jesus does condemn the rich who hoard for themselves and are not “rich towards God” (Luke 12.16-21). I am hard-pressed, however, in all of my years of Bible study, to find justification and authorization for state-forced wealth redistribution. God’s commands to care for the poor are predominantly, if not always, directed towards individuals, to freely and charitably give of their own free will.

While Scriptural support for wealth redistribution is lacking, there is actually a very clear text in Luke’s gospel that refutes any claim that Jesus would be in favor of the unjust practice:

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”  Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12.13-15, NIV)

It is rightly assumed the man who asks Jesus to command His brother to divide the inheritance with him is the younger of the two. In Jewish custom, the older son received a double-portion of his father’s possessions, while any younger sons would receive single portions. If this were the older brother, he would be foolish to make such a request! In essence then, we have someone with less asking Jesus to command someone with more to “share the wealth.”

What would compel the man to make such a request of Jesus? Could it be the same faulty assumptions that today’s liberals (both theological and political) make? That Jesus, being a moral teacher, recognizes the unfairness of such a custom and, claiming the moral high-ground, would naturally make things “right” by taking from the one with more and giving to the one with less? That, somehow, this man is the victim of injustice because he was born into his situation (if only he were born first!), and is not there by any fault of his own?

If Jesus truly felt this way, now would be the time to make that clear to us, and those in his historical presence, by affirming the man’s request. But He doesn’t. Instead, he moves the argument from the moral sphere to the legal sphere. In other words, He doesn’t accept the man’s assumed premise: that it is morally wrong for his older brother to inherit more than him. Today’s liberals assume that premise: that it is morally wrong for the wealthy of this nation to have more money than the rest of us, no matter how they attained it. Jesus – and the entire Bible, for that matter –never makes that claim.

Rejecting the man’s premise, Jesus (by asking “who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”) is saying, “What legal grounds do you have for making a claim on your brother’s inheritance?” The man’s silent response to Jesus’ question speaks volumes to him, the crowd, and to us: “none.” If American citizens attain wealth in a legal manner, how is the government legally justified to forcefully take it from us to give it to someone else? They are not. That is why they resort to moral justification, and convince religious folks that this is “what Jesus would do.” But this incident makes it clear Jesus would NOT do this, nor would he condone it.

Jesus does not stop there. He proceeds to warn the crowds around Him to be on guard for this man’s type of greed. You see, when we think of greed, we’ve been conditioned by the media to think only of “corporate greed” or the greed of the rich. But Jesus warns of “all kinds of greed.” In this case, it is the greed of the poor. Those who are envious of what others have and want a heavy-handed authority figure to take from others and give to them. In our Biblical example, the younger brother sees Jesus in that role. In today’s America, the poor see government as the heavy-handed authority that will legally steal for them and, in their eyes, level the playing field.

Jesus ends with wisdom that applies to the rich and poor alike: “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” No person will be truly content if worldly wealth is their goal. The rich will not find peace in their wealth. The poor will not find peace in taking someone else’s wealth. True peace, true contentedness comes when, no matter what your station in life, Jesus Christ is your treasure. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6.33)

Jeff Noblit had three major points in his message:

1. Qualifications for Salvation
2. Characteristics of Salvation
3. The Transformation of Salvation

In his first point Pastor Jeff Noblit pointed out three qualifications for salvation found in the text of Isaiah 55.  First, a person must be thirsty.

“You must be thirsty or you cannot be saved.” ~Jeff Noblit

“Be done with casual conversion.” ~Jeff Noblit

He not only pointed out that a person has to be thirsty to be saved but a saved person needs to stay thirsty.  We need to have a continual thirsting for God, his word, and for Christ.  He pointed out that this means we need to be in a church where the water is being poured out from the pulpit.  He then pointed out that if we’re truly thirsty our issues with the preacher shouldn’t matter too much.

“If I’m dying of thirst I can put up with a lot from the person who has a cup of water to give to me.” ~Jeff Noblit

Next, he pointed out that a person has to be weary.  They have to be weary of the world, and weary of themselves.  If they are not weary of the world then they’ll not turn to Christ for satisfaction.  If they are not weary of themselves they’ll never turn to the works of Christ for salvation and will continually rest on themselves and their doing.

Third, he pointed out that a person needs to be broke.  Until we realize that we are completely broke we don’t need the riches that Christ has to offer.

In his second point, Pastor Jeff Noblit pointed out two characteristics of salvation.  the first was that there must be a timely response.

“You must seek the lord when he’s moving.” ~Jeff Noblit

If we seek the Lord when we want to seek Him then we’ll never seek him rightly.  Further, there is a time for salvation.  A time when God is working and a time when He is moving.  It is then, and only then, that we can come to Christ for salvation.

The second characteristic of salvation was true repentance.  He pointed out that a true conversion requires true repentance.  A person must recognize his sin and turn away from it.  Further, He pointed out that true repentance always bears fruit:

“The fruit is not the repentance but the repentance always has fruit.” ~Jeff Noblit

Also, he pointed out that God is working for the salvation of his people.  In what I consider to be one of the most powerful quotes from the entire True Church Conference Jeff Noblit said this:

“The entire omnipotence of the triune God is working for my salvation.” ~Jeff Noblit

In his third point Pastor Jeff Noblit pointed out the transformation of salvation.  He explained, first, that the transformation of salvation is a future transformation.  Second, that transformation is a fabulous transformation:

“We will have the glory and righteousness of Jesus Christ!” ~Jeff Noblit

Finally, the transformation is a final transformation.

It was truly a blessing to sit through a Sunday morning worship service and to feast on the word of God and worship with the saints at the Grace Life Church of the Shoals.  My wife and I were truly blessed on Sunday morning for two reasons.  First, the worship and preaching were down right incredible.  Second, we were able to hand our kids over to the care of the church and worship together for the first time in years.  It may seem like a small thing but we were truly blessed.

Special thanks to all who were involved with making this year’s True Church Conference happen.  Specifically, thanks to Anchored in Truth Ministries and Grace Life Church of the Shoals for giving of their time, talents, and resources to bless so many others in Christ.

~Jeremy J. Lundmark

Barry King began the message by making it clear that he believes in the doctrines of grace.  One by one he affirmed total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints.  He went on to explain:

“I don’t look for the doctrines of grace under every rock of Scripture…. [mainly] because he finds them on the top of most of the rocks.” ~Barry King

From there Barry King went on to explain his deep concern among Calvinist believers:

“Many believe the doctrines of grace, but do not behave in accordance to the graces of the doctrines.” ~Barry King

He then proceeded to describe what the graces of the doctrines are.  The first, from Ephesians 4:32, is kindness.  He explained that

“Meanness is not a spiritual gift.” ~Barry King

Barry King then called on those who believe in the doctrines of grace to make every effort to practice kindness towards those who may not believe like we do on these matters.  One major reason, if not simply because we have been partakers of the knowledge of grace, is that many of these men fought side by side so that to lay the foundation for these theological debates:

“Remember that you are only able to debate reformed theology today, because good Arminian theologians fought against the rise of liberal theology.” ~Barry King

“We ought to be kind in our treatment towards men who laid the foundation for us… We are not enemies, we are brothers.” ~Barry King

Finally, as it pertains to kindness, he pointed out that we who believe in the doctrines of grace ought to lead the way in practicing the graces of the doctrines toward difficult brothers and sisters.

The second grace of the doctrines was tenderheartedness.  Having spent a majority of his time on kindness, Barry King quickly explained that

“The doctrines are not to puff us up with pride but to humble us.” ~Barry King

We of all people should recognize our weakness and the necessity of the power of God in our lives.  We should not be prideful in our knowledge but lowly.  We should be most humble, knowing our total depravity and knowing that we have received, not earned, all that we have.

The third, and final, grace of the doctrines was forgiveness.  On this point he simply made clear, in a few simple words:

“Forgive as Christ forgave.” ~Barry King

This is a very timely message.  With “reformed theology” becoming more and more popular there seems to be less and less grace being extended from reformed communities towards those who disagree.  There certainly is a place for disagreement within the company of saints, but that disagreement should not hinder the kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness that all brothers in Christ are called to show one another.

• David Miller
• Roy Hargrave
• Brett Beasley
• Barry King
• Jeff Noblit

These are just a few highlights from the Q/A session.

Question: If you were coming into ministry today, where would you start in reforming a church?

“Give energy to the pulpit and small group ministries” ~Jeff Noblit

“Be patient and wait on the Word of God.” ~Roy Hargrave

“Deal with the membership roles first, and then move on to working on developing leadership.” ~Brett Beasley

Question: How do you know the difference between a wolf in sheep’s clothing and “tough sheep.”

“How do they react to the word of God?” ~Brett Beasley

“One person can ruin a church.” ~Roy Hargrave

Question: How do you encourage people who have family who left the church?

“Practice the grace of the doctrines of grace. Be as gracious as possible. Make it easy for people to return by showing grace through out the process of discipline.” ~Barry King

“You’ve got to love the people.” ~Roy Hargrave

Question: How do you do this work without quitting? How do we endure?

“Tribulations are not unique to you. Deal with it. They are God’s school to teach us divine truth.” ~David Miller

“When you are in the midst of trial, bless God because He is God.” ~David Miller

“Be reminded that your best life isn’t here and do like Christ who for the joy set before Him went to the Cross.” ~David Miller

Question: What is the next step of reformation

“The post-reformation generation needs to understand the reasons behind reformation or they will revert back.” ~Barry King

“Young Calvinists who want to add things to the reformation.” ~Roy Hargrave

“There has to be Gospel humility and a focus on Biblical conflict resolution.” ~Jeff Noblit

David Miller closed the Q&A by thanking Jeff Noblit and Anchored in truth ministries for putting on this conference and encouraged everyone to invite more next year.

Roy began the testimony by describing the process of his coming to the doctrines of grace.  He pointed out that he first hated the doctrine and thought the people who were associated with it were crazy.  He pointed out that people kept telling him to read A.W. Pink’s book The Sovereignty of God.  In an effort to refute Pink he found himself drawn to the truths of the doctrines of Grace:

“When you come to the doctrines of grace it’s like being saved again.” ~Roy Hargrave

He went on to explain how he first came to his church, and how he found himself in a battle with the people.  The situation deteriorated to the point where there was a faction of people who were not just upset but were gathering together against him.

Roy pointed out that he doesn’t stray from clear, precise, terminology when he preaches the doctrines of grace.  He encouraged pastors to use and define words like “Calvinism” rather than letting others define these doctrines for them and the people they have been given to care for.

At the point when he was ready to leave the church, after about four or five years of difficulty, he suffered a brain aneurism that incapacitated him for a few months.  Still not realizing that his church was praying for him and missing him deeply he went back to preach for the first time and was welcomed with open arms.

The people fell in love with their pastor and, more importantly, God has had his way in their hearts over the years.  His encouragement and challenge for pastors:

“Keep preaching, God knows what He’s doing.” ~Roy Hargrave

~Jeremy J. Lundmark

He first explained that “the church” that Jesus was going to build was not a universal invisible church.

“Whoever heard of a universal invisible church?” ~David Miller

While explaining this point he showed that the church is a local visible congregation.  Waxing humorous he explained that when someone comes to him talking about a universal invisible church he likes to ask them “where does your church meet?  Who is it’s pastor?”

After hammering this point down he went on to recognize that sometimes the word “church” is used in the abstract to make reference to the collection of churches.

“The only way the abstract institution has any affect is in local visible bodies.” ~David Miller

His point was that a proper ecclesiology is real, visible, and local and that Jesus Christ did not set out to build an invisible, but rather a visible church.

Second, he gave a statement about Christology.  Namely, a statement about the founder of the church.  This was one of the most clear and concise explanations of who Christ is and how he relates to HIS church that I’ve ever heard.  To put it in a succinct way: The founder of the church is omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, and he is the anointed prophet, priest, and king.

After laying out who Christ is he went on to explain the theology of the founder of the church.  He explained that the founder of the church believed in the  trinity, he believed in the literal interpretation of Genesis 1-11, he believed Moses was the author of the Pentateuch, he believed in a literal interpretation of Jonah, he believed in the definite atonement, and he believed in the total inability of man.

“All other priests these days are imposters. Christ Alone is Priest” ~David Miller

“He alone is potentate and you aren’t even a little potentate.” ~David Miller

The most powerful point in the message for me came when David Miller said this:

“You may have gotten the approval of the elders, the conference, the association, and the congregation but you have no right to proceed until you seek the counsel and approval of the king and founder of your church.” ~David Miller

The reality is that Christ is the head of the church; not the pastor, the elders, the congregation, the denomination, or the association.  We need to seek the approval of the one who shed His blood for the particular purchase of His church.

In session five, Roy Hargrave preached on The Ministry of Reconciliation from second Corinthians 5:16ff

This message was overflowing with truth, doctrine, and encouragement and any attempt to lay out the whole message would certainly fall way short.  I will focus on the major points that stood out to me from the message.

First, Hargrave made an excellent point when he stated

“Sincerity of heart is more important than preaching and exegeting.” ~Roy Hargrave

The greatest preaching in the world won’t matter if the preacher hasn’t been affected by the truths he’s preaching.  Further, if the people can’t trust the person in the pulpit to be living out what he’s preaching the preaching will lose much of it’s strength.

“Rather be a poor preacher and a godly man than vice a versa.” ~Roy Hargrave

Second, Roy emphasized the importance of the law in the process of reconciliation:

“To talk about reconciliation without mentioning the malady that preceded is foolish.” ~Roy Hargrave

Third, he pointed out that the process of reconciliation is not initiated by the offender but by the offended.  It is Christ who initiates reconciliation with us, and not the other way around:

“The one who was offended sought restoration… All the reconciliation is from God.” ~Roy Hargrave

Fourth, he described the incapability of man to initiate his own reconciliation:

“Man initiated his own sin he just can’t initiate his own rescue.” ~Roy Hargrave

“When man sees no malady in himself he is FAR from the remedy.” ~Roy Hargave

Fifth, and finally, he pointed out the reality of God as a just God and the importance of preaching about him in this manner:

“The Justice of God is completely inflexible”

“You can’t be too just.  God is just right just.”

This message was so full of truth that it was difficult to keep up with notes.  These are just the things that stood out to me.  There was so much more that I can’t articulate in a blog post.  The depth of theology mixed with practicality was incredible.  The Lord blessed, challenged, and encouraged through brother Hargrave last night.  This is one where it’s safe to say… you just had to be there.

~Jeremy J. Lundmark

• A Word about the Primacy of Wisdom
• A Word about the Priority of the Word
• A Word about the Problem of Weariness

As he discussed wisdom, he pointed out that the text assumes a lot of wisdom.  Unfortunately, we can’t always assume the reader has the wisdom that the text assumes he has.  The wisdom literature of Solomon contains very specific truths about how to live, how to handle money, how to court a spouse, how to deal with people in the world, and so on.

That wisdom is important and needs to be heeded in ministry.  Barry King pointed out that

“Many of the storms we face are not a result of reformation but storms that reveal a need for reformation.” ~Barry King

Some of the storms we faced, King explained, will be a result of personal sin.  Others will be the result of being lazy or handling our resources poorly.  Some will be a result of being rude, or arrogant.  All of those are real storms.  However, they are not storms of reformation.  They are storms that reveal a need for reformation in our own lives.

He continued with a word about the priority of Scripture.  Barry King described three kinds of words that get the primacy as we preach the Scriptures.  First, there is the priority of the words that guard our people.

“The way you guard the people is by giving them the words of truth.” ~Barry King

If we are going to guard our people from false teaching and false practice we must ground our people in His holy Word.

“The best thing you can do for your people is establish them in the word of truth.” ~Barry King

As with Brett Beasley’s message, Barry King emphasized the importance of guarding the flock with the truth of God.

Second, there is a priority of words of guidance.  We need to preach the words that reprove, and correct false living and guide our people on the road to right living.  Oftentimes the church is loaded with people who are full of theology, but are empty in regard to how to leave the church and relate to the world around them.  That’s why, according to King, we need words of guidance.

“Sometimes they’ll have words of wisdom to guard them but they need words of of wisdom to guide them.” ~Barry King

Along with this point Barry King warned against using words of guidance as a beating stick:

“Sometimes the good is used as a weapon… Calvinists like to preach the doctrines of grace but they don’t like to live out the grace of the doctrines.” ~Barry King

Third, there is a priority of the words of delight.  Our people need to not only be guarded with theological truth, and guided by words of truth, but they need to be encouraged with words of delight.

“You don’t have to be miserable your whole life… Depression is not a spiritual gift… The ship of Zion is not the Titanic” ~Barry King

Barry King went on to point out that we as pastors need to be intentional about finding words of delight.  It’s easy to find words of guidance and words that guard, but we have a tendency to miss the words of delight.

“You must search diligently for words of delight.” ~Barry King

Finally, Barry King focused in on the problem of weariness.  In Ecclesiastes we see that there is enough informational knowledge to wear out even the greatest minds.  There are more theories than one can ever study and so many books that no man could read them all in a single lifetime.

“Opt to be a Biblical Christian.  Choosing anything but the Book will weary your flesh.” ~Barry King

In closing, Barry King gave a brief word of encouragement not to grow weary in the work.  Turning briefly to Galatians 6:6-9 he pointed out that if you have grown weary, if you do not give up in doing good, you will reap in due season.

Barry King always impresses me at these conferences.  When he preaches I feel like I’m in the presence of the Prince of Preachers himself C.H. Spurgeon.  With that in mind I want to remind you that he will be preaching at tonight’s portion of the conference at 8pm EST.  Anyone can watch it live at http://www.anchoredintruth.org/watchlive

~Jeremy J. Lundmark

As with my first experience with the True Church Conference, I was pleasantly surprised by Rev. Beasley. His subject was “What I’ve Learned so Far in Reforming the Church to Biblical health.” I would contend that this message, along with Barry King’s message that followed, are essentials for anyone going into pastoral ministry, or anyone who is already in ministry.

He began the message with a brief exposition of Acts 20:25-31 where he pointed out first “the call of the man” and second “the care of the church.”

One of the most encouraging points for me was when he reminded us that the call of the Pastor is a divine call. The spirit is the one who calls. That trumps all other qualifications. As a young pastor I sometimes need to be reminded that God’s calling trumps conventional wisdom. Further, calling comes with responsibility. The minister is called to be the spiritual shepherd of a portion of God’s elect. We are to watch over them. That means taking great pains to ensure they don’t wander off. Mr. Beasley made a great point when he said:

“If God hasn’t called you, you won’t make it.” ~Brett Beasley

I think we forget sometimes that it isn’t a degree, or an ordination council, that makes a man ready for the ministry but God alone. If that is true, and it is, then two things go along with that. First, you can’t accomplish what God intends if you’re somewhere he hasn’t intended you to be. Second, if you are where God intends you to be, you can do nothing else but accomplish what God intends.

In his second point Rev. Beasley focused on the care of the church of God. He made this excellent point:

“You can’t divorce the call from the task.” ~Brett Beasley

The tasks that we are called to as ministers of God are watching out for and shepherding God’s “Precious Purchase.” God sent his Son to shed his blood for his flock. As ministers we are called to care for that purchase. What a high calling that is! Brett Beasley pointed out that if you’re called

“There is never a moment when the weight of the call is not upon you.” ~Brett Beasley

Ministers take the ministry wherever they go. I can relate to that! Here I am 1,000 miles away from my congregation and I find myself wondering how Sunday will go, how I can minister better, what things need to change and so on.

Brett honed in on the “guarding” aspect of the minister’s role when he made this point:

“A church left to itself will waver” ~Brett Beasley

In other words, if the shepherd doesn’t care for the sheep, every moment, they will wander off. It is not their tendency to stay where they ought to stay. Rather, it is their tendency to wander off. A major part of guarding the flock, Beasley rightly says, is the preaching of the Word.

After this brief exegesis he went on to share seven things he’s learned so far in reforming a church to Biblical health. Here they are:

• Reforming a church is a constant battle with the flesh.
• Preaching sound doctrine unifies… and divides.
• There is a high personal cost to the work.
• Ministers must learn to give grace and be patient in the Lord.
• There is a joy that comes from seeing CHRIST build His church.
• Pastoring means loving the sheep.
• A minister must treasure Christ and make much of Him.

Two things hit home with me personally. First, I can relate to the struggles that Mr. Beasley identified and I can relate to the joy he has seen in watching Christ build His church. Second, I was struck when he said that not only is there a high personal cost for the minister, but a high personal cost for the wife of the minister. Pastor’s, don’t forget that your wife carries a burden little different from your own.

I was blessed to hear brother Brett Beasley and I’m thankful for his willingness to share his struggles, and successes with the audience of the True Church Conference. If you want to catch the Saturday morning sessions you can watch online at http://www.anchoredintruth.org/watchlive

~Jeremy J. Lundmark

David Miller preached on John 1:14ff on the topic of the Glory of Jesus. He began the message with a simple definition of the Glory of Jesus:

“The Glory of Jesus is the sum total of all His attributes and Deity which separates and distinguishes Him from all other beings.” ~David Miller

From there he proceeded, in clear and concise, fashion to lay out the classic affirmations of church history regarding the trinity and the person and a work of Christ. At one point in the message I realized that he had just laid out an explanation of the intricacies of the Nicene Creed as it pertains to Christ and the Godhead.

As we were dwelling on the magnificence of who Christ is, and what he had done, Brother Miller made this simple point… “That’s heavy. That’s weighty.”

That Christ is the express image of Almighty God, that He is one with the Father, that He is God perfectly united with flesh, and that he was in the beginning. Those realities are heavy. They ARE glorious.

A few points touched me personally. First, David Miller pointed out that while God became flesh, man cannot become God. That may seem basic enough, but he pointed out that a number of major religions have man ascending to be gods themselves but only Christ and Christianity presumes to have God become man!

Second, after laying out the union of the Trinity, and the union of Christ with the flesh, he proceeded to point out the union we have with Christ. Again, a simple point but a profound one. We, little us, are united with HIM!

Third, he was sharing a personal point of how the Grace of God had worked in his life. He went on to explain how he had started out at a little church in “Snowball Arkansas.” He rightly credited the Grace of God for allowing him the privilege of declaring the Word of God there, let alone in any other venue.

It was at this point that I was touched personally. He addressed the pastors attending the conference and said something to the affect of:

“If you’re called to preach in the cross roads… Get your chin up! Get your shoulders back and preach the Word of God to the Glory of God.”

In other words, be diligent. Stay the course. To have been given the gift, and opportunity, to declare the mighty truths of God, Christ, and His Grace is a magnificent gift. Declare it with all your might, and don’t lose heart.

It seems to be a specialty of David Miller’s to take the simple, and make it profound. He did that for me last night on a number of occasions.

There’s one final note I want to make. Our family drove twenty hours to get to this conference. My wife and I, after last night’s session, both agreed that one song sung in the presence of the saints was worth the trip. The worship team of Grace Church was excellent and it lifted our weary hearts to heaven and joined us with the strength of Christ.

I’m headed to sessions 2 and 3. If you’d like to join the Truth Church Conference online go to http://www.anchoredintruth.org/watchlive

You can find the conference scheduled at http://www.anchoredintruth.org

~Jeremy J. Lundmark