The house was slowly yet

steadily being undermined. More

and more of the foundation was
exposed as the
proceeded. The team of demoli-
tion experts was hitting the
exposed foundation with ham-
mers. Each blow created cracks
in the foundation. These cracks
steadily crawled up the walls.
However, the occupants of the
house lauded the progress that
was being made by their wisdom
and broadmindedness. The
mantra that they had sung for
years grew louder as more and
more elders joined them. "Diver-
sity is our strength," they
sang as they honored the
very men who were
gradually destroying the
very foundations upon
which the house rested.
They rejected any warn-
ings that the course they
were on spelled disaster
for the house and those in it.
"We need to be charitable rather
than criticize these men who are
so broad minded. We personally
don't see the issues the way they
do, yet we certainly don't want
to offend them by asking them to
adhere to our own personal
interpretation of Scripture. After
all we are one big happy family.
We don't want to be so parochial
as to 'bind anyone's conscience'
or exclude anyone who says they
love Jesus."
Such is the sad state of the
! PCA.Praise God for the
RPCUS, a reformed denomina-
tion that is seeking to live out the
original motto ofthe PCA, my
present denomination: True to the
Scriptures, the reformed faith
and the great commission.Why
do I want to join the RPCUS?
Let me summarize the reasons.
1) I want to be part of a
denomination that is True Th
The Scriptnres. We must bow
before the authority of God and
His Word, the Bible. Not only is
the inerrancy and infallibility of
the Scripture crucial, but also the
sufficiency of Scripture is vital to
Biblical Christianity. We must
have the Bible as our only rule of
faith and practice; the only rule
in every area oflife.
2) I want to be part of a
denomination that is Tme To
The Reformed Faith. The Lord
God brought a great reformation
in the 1500's and 1600's. He
brought His Church back to the
Bible. We are spiritual heirs of
this great work of God. We must
be willing to stand with those
great men and women upon the
Word of God. We must not
shrink back from the Bible and
the truth of Scripture known as
the reformed faith, the faith that
John Calvin, John Knox and
Martin Bncer preached and
lived!
3) I want to be a part of a
denomination that is True To
The Great Commission. Only
the Jesus ofthe Bible can save
people, families, churches,
institutions and whole cultures
from the ravages of sin and
death and hell. Future genera-
tions need a Biblical denomina-
tion that will stand unflinchingly
as she proclaims the Gospel from
the whole counsel of God in the
Scriptures.
First, the RPCUS is a de-
nomination that seeks to bow
before the authority ofthe
Scriptures, even when it is not
politically correct in the eyes of
our culture to do so. True To
The Scriptures. Several ex-
amples will suffice.
Creation. There is no other
teaching in Scripture that is more
foundational and central to
the remainder of Holy
Scripture and Biblical
Christianity than creation.
The RPCUS clearly has
taken its stand with the
Westminster Standards.
The Bible teaches that
God created the heavens
and the earth in the space of six
days [six twenty-four hour days]
and rested on the Sabbath day
[seventh day], thereby instituting
the Sabbath day and declaring it
very good. What difference does
it make? The seeds of neo-
orthodoxy are found in the
accommodating views that we
see today such as: the day age
theory, gap theory, and the poetic
view of creation. These views
cuddle up to an evolutionary
view of origins and make room
for interpretations of Scripture
that do violence to the Bible's
own interpretation of itself. It is
the chief tool of neo-orthodoxy to
take the Word of God and make
it say something that it really
doesn't sayar mean. By this
contorted method of hermeneu-
June/July, 1999 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon. 25
tics, which is the kingpin of neo-
orthodoxy, such issues as homo-
sexuality and abortion have been
championed and legitimized in
our culture. This 'same method of
interpreting the Scripture has
been used to deny such cardinal
doctrines as the virgin birth and
the bodily resurrection of Christ.
The very seeds of apostasy and
unbelief are being sown and
nurtured in my own denomination
today. Man after man comes up
to me and says, "Well now,
Henry, I personally believe in the
twenty-four hour day, but you
just can't force that view.
Scripture just isn't clear and just
doesn't say." I want to be part of
a denomination that is willing to
take a stand on what the Bible .
clearly teaches regardless of its
popularity:
The roles of men and
women. A growing number of
elders in the PCA advocate
women becoming deacons.
Others advocate women leading
in worship services and preach-
ing the WOrd of God as long as it
is "under the oversight of the
session". This erroneous position
is held even in the face of the
very clear teaching of I Timothy
2 (forbidding the women in the
church to teach or exercise
authority over a man in the
church), and I Timothy 3:lff(a
qualification for elders and
deacons being "the husband of
one wife"). In the PCA accom-
modation to the values of our
egalitarian, evolutionary, and
humanistic culture is becoming
more prevalent than submission
to the Bible. We alsO see
women being allowed to lead
worship services, teach men in
adult Sunday school classes and
even "preach" in PCA churches.
Where will it end? Only the Lord
knows. But if these men are
consistent with the hermeneutic
that they have adopted, then they
will find themselves or their
disciples advoc!lting the same
thing that we see in the neo-
orthodox denominations of our
day. Here the position is pur-
ported that there is no distinction
between men and women in the
church or in the home, in spite of
Scripture (Genesis I ,2,and 3,;
1 Timothy 2,3, and 5; Proverbs
31; Ephesians 5). The Lord God
has given a glorious work to men
and women to serve the Lord
together. Although they do not
labor in the same roles, they do
complement each other as they
work together as a team. The
neo_orthodox position is not
God's design, however politically
correct it may be. The RPCUS
believes that the Scripture and
not the whims of a godless
culture must be the rule. The
Rl'CUS unashamedly seeks to
live by the Word of God in the
roles of men and women. That
means no wOman may hold the
office of deacon or elder or may
lead men in teaching and public
worship. There are no elders
advocating, let alone practicing
such things in the RPCUS. This
is why I want to join the
RPCUS.
Christian Education. In
distinction to the PCA, where the
seeds of rebellion against God
are being sown, nurtured and
watered, the officers of the
RPCUS believe, preach and
practice the Covenant in the
Christian nurture of our children.
26 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - June/July, 1999
Malachi 4:6 declares, "And He
will restore the hearts Of the
fathers to their children, and the
hearts of the children to their
fathers, lest I come and smite the
land with a curse." When a
person is converted, one of the
first things that needs to take
place is the application of the
Gospel to his family. The home
must be brought under the sway
ofJelius Christ and His saving
power. If the church of the Lord
Jesus is going to prosper, if we
would see this culture turned
back from the brink of destruc-
tion and disaster, if the church is
to be made strong and vibrant
again, then it must be filled with
families that are strong, solid,
covenantal families under the
rule of the Lord Jesus Christ.
While everyone ought to give
their children a distinctly h r i s ~
tian Education, an elder must.
(See Ephesians 6:4 and Deuter-
onomy6:4
c
8, 1 Timothy3:1-7.)A
distinctly Clnistian Education is
where either: 1) the parents are
exercising their responsibility to
teach the children the fear of the
. Lord directly; or 2) are delegat-
ing that responsibility to someone
in a good Christian school who
will give their child an education
based upon the Bible, focusing
upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and
bringing every thought captive to
Him. In the PCA wehaye men
who say, "Yes, we want our
young people to be trained and
taught to have a Christian
worldview." Yet they see no
problem turning these young
people over to the public school
system of the day. This system is
based upon the premise that you
don't need Jesus Christ and the
Bible to know truth. Proverbs
1:7, Colossians 2:3-4. Romans
1:18-32 reveals God's assess-
ment of so-called neutral thinkiug
that leaves God and His Re-
deemer out ofthe equation of
truth, Through instruction and
personal example, the elders
must show their congregations
how to fulfill the great commis-
sion. A fundamental way they
do this tlrrough giving their
children a distinctivly Clrristian
Education. How can it be that
men who are elders in the PCA
could be so blind as to
not reign paramount. Every
institution in which men are not
increasingly occupied with the
Word of God must become
corrnpt." This denial ofthe
covenant by God's people,
especially the elders in the PCA,
is a tragedy, but praise God He is
raising up a denomination full of
elders who bow to the authority
of God and his Word. The
RPCUS is a denomination that is
not ashamed of the God-given
goal of every Christian, not only
for individuals but also for our
God in the PCA.)]2) The
RPCUS not only says it is
Presbyterian, but it also practices
Biblical church government. We
are Presbyterian not congrega-
tional, or hierarchical in our view
of church government. (The
PCA is increasingly becoming
more congregationalist and
hierarchical. There have been
recent rulings that higher courts
may not detennine the rulings ~
the makeup of the lower coutts.
Also, the pennanent committees
and agencies of the church are
functioning more like
think that the public
school system is good aod
acceptable in the sight of
our covenant God?
"Every institution in which men are not increas-
ingly occupied with the Word of God must
become corrupt." -- Martin Luther
boards and autonomous
self-determining bodies.)
3) The RPCUS will not
Modern public education
clearly repudiates Proverbs 1:7
("The fear of the Lord is the
beginoing of knowledge.") aod
Colossiaos 2:3 ("in Christ Him-
self are hidden all of the trea-
Sures of wisdom aod knowl-
edge. "). The commands of
Scripture are plain concerning
the teaching of children, (Deuter-
onomy 6:4-25 aod Ephesiaos
6:4). How can elders deny such
plain Scripture? Yes, we want to
reach out to people who do not
yet understand these things.
Yes, we want to work with
people where they are as they
come to the Lord Christ. How-
ever, we must begin with the
elders holding up the staodard of
God's Word. Martin Luther said,
"1 am mnch afraid that schools
will prove to be the great gates
of hell unless they diligently labor
in explaining the Holy Scriptures,
engraving them upon the hearts
of youth. I advise no one to place
his child where the scriptures do
children. (Joshua 24: 15 - "bnt as
for me and my house we will
serve the Lord;" 2 Corinthians
1 0:5 - "We are destroying
specnlations and every lofty thing
raised up against the knowledge
of Christ, and we are taking
every thought captive to
Christ"). It is the practice of
every elder in the RPCUS to
give his children a distinctly
Christian Education.
Numerous other examples of
the commitment of the RPCUS
to be true to the Scripture
include: 1) The RPCUS believes
aod proclaims the application of
the law of God in every realm of
life. [See Romans 13 and the
Westminster Standards, applica-
tion of OT law to every realm of
life, personal fatnily church civil
etc. See the exposition of the ten
commandments in the WLC
Q&A 91-154 and the 19
th
Chapter of the WCF.( There is a
growing antagonism to the law of
allow practicing Masons
to serve as elders in any
of its churches. The PCA,
however, has numerous elders
who are also Masons. 4) The
RPCUS stands against the
unbiblical practices and philoso-
phy of the "anything goes men-
tality" of the church growth
movement. (The PCA has
churches that use clowns,
"baseball Sunday", and dance
classes on Sunday afternoon to
attract people to the Gospel). 5)
The RPCUS uses the qualifica-
tions of the Bible to assess
church planters and missionaries.
(The PCA requires her church
planters and missionaries to pass
a secular humanistic psychologi-
cal test to be 'qualified' with the
blessing of the hierarchy of
Atlanta.); 6) The RPCUS is
committed to the purity and the
peace of the church and prac-
tices loving biblical discipline.
(Today we see a hesitation and
many times the outright refusal
of the modern church, including
June/July, 1999 THE COUNSEL of Chall;edon 27
the PCA, to practice loving
Biblical church discipline for the
glory of Christ, for the safe-
keeping of the rest of the flock,
and for the reclamation ofthe
offending brother.) The RPCUS
stands with Jesus and the
Apostles upon the Word of God
in this practice, see Matthew
18:15ff and 1 Corinthians 5:lff.
True To The Reformed
Faith. Martin Luther once said,
"If I profess with the loudest
voice and clearest exposition
every portion of the truth of God
except precisely that little point
which the world and the devil are
at that moment attacking, I am
not confessing Christ, however
boldly I may be professing
Christ. Where the. battle rages,
there the loyalty of the soldier is
proved and to be steady on all
the battlefield besides is mere
flight and disgrace ifhe flinches
at that one point." The reformers
were not ashamed of any part of
the Bible. They proclaimed the
whole counsel of God. They
declared Jesus Christ as the
focus of Scripture, and in His
face theypreached the whole
counsel of God. All 66 books of
the Bible teach us ofJesus and
His saving power, of His rule for
faith and life. The ReformerS
summarized the main teachings
of Scripture in the historic creeds
especially the Westminster
Standards. The RPCUS is not
ashamed to believe and preach
all these doctrines. The PCA has
a growing minority of men who
will not preach through the
Scriptures and the Standards for
fe!U" that they will not be palat-
able enough for the appetite of
the people in the pews. The
length of sermons is a good
indication of the spiritual plight of
many elders in the PCA. There
is also a lack of desire for the
bread of heaven by the people in
the pew. When a 10-15 minute
sermonette suffices, you see an
impoverished people. Hosea 4:6.
It has been said that such
'sermonettes' will only produce
'Christianettes'. As a result, we
see a country full of shallow
superficial 'Christiauettes' who
are taking our country into the
realm of darkness at breakneck
speed. Praise God for a denomi-
nation like the RPCUS which is
not ashamed to stand with
Luther, Calvin, Knox, with the
Apostles, with those who love
the Word, the Sovereign God and
. His revealed will, His very Word
the Bible!
True to the Great Commis-
sion. The RPCUS believes the
great commission'according to
Scripture (Matthew 28: 18). First,
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A collection of poems 0) Rebecca Belcher Morecraft
a ferUle Christian heritBse. Visil the home place wilh her lie down
on the biB rock and walch her Granny pick black raspberries rom vines bro1J8hl over on a ship fPneraUons 880; swin8
wilh her on Uncle Tommy's Ure swins and lhen pull up a buckel of cold waler rom the slone-moulhed well. Go home lo
lhe mountains wilh her. meel the folks and you may nol wanl lo leavel
"Becky Morecraft writes out of her own infectious exhilaration
with the bubbling stuff of life. I sense that her antennae are out
there, paying attention, combing the air for messages from
Beyond, and for insights about Here an.,d,Now, which she
turns into vivid, heartwarming veises so that we may get the
- message too. Ajoyto read, this collection is reafitytransfarmed
into artl
H
-luci Shaw, author of ""Writing the River, Hand
ter My Soul. H
lIBeauty, grace and godliness come together in Becky Morecraft's
poetry. I am sure her work will stand the test of time as more
and more Christian children learn to appreciate the grandeur
of being born into Christian homes where many generations
have loved and served KingSabaoth. Her voice will teach the .
way back as we begin to reclaim a godly covenant heritage. H
-Susan Burns, author and Managing Editor of The
don Report.
HBecky's poetry is born in the soul of one who Sees and
understands. She stirs the heart and sends .the spirit soar-
ing through an of bountiful, beautiful, delicious
words. Each thread from word to thoughtis impeccably wo-
ven. , You will read her work and quietly exc/aim, 'Thai
is exactly how I felt.. .. that is precisely what I wanted
to sayf'H -Judy Rogers, singer/songwriter/recording
artist of "Why Cari;t I See GOd?fI and IIlfYou Love Mel!
(Songs f,?m the Ten Commandments).
HBecky Morecraft's poems give new meaning to the idea of
heritage, for here is a Southern feast of words accompanied by
the full and haunting strains of the bagpipe. f cannot help but
smile at the tenderness, humor, and downright deliciousness of
, her language. The underlying vision .i5 se,rious, for the soil of all
Mrs. Morecraft's poems is Christ the Lord." -Suzanne Clark,
Author, Sketches of Home
This . chapbook' of poems (also includifl8 a mounlain ballad and raspberry cobbler recipel) is available
from the .aulhor for $10.00 plus $2.00 poslae,e and hancilifi8. checks made oul and addressed lo her lo:
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28 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - June/July, 1999
she believes that Jesus is the
reigning King upon His throne.
The One who sends us to preach
the Word is Great. The scope is
great. We are sent with the
message oflife to dead sinners,
see Ephesians 2 and Ezekiel 37 .
Only Jesus Christ can and will
save His lost sheep. The Father
draws all His elect to Christ by
his Spirit through the preaching
of the Gospel. The RPCUS
believes WLC Q&A # 191 and
the power of God to accomplish
all His good promises concerning
the spread of the Gospel to the
ends of the earth. The Lord has
sent us to disciple all the nations.
Did He send us on a fool's
errand? No. The Bible indeed
gives us great promises of the
Lord yet bringing a great harvest,
not only of individuals to come
and bow before the Lord Jesus,
but whole nations running to the
Savior and loving His law and
walking in His ways (See Psalm
2, Psalm 22 Psalm 45,47,110,
Isaiah 2,9,11,52,53,60,61,
Matthew 13, Romans 16:20-27
and Revelation 15:3-4). The
content of the Gospel is the
glorious claims of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Repent and believe is
what we declare. Justification by
grace through faith alone in
Christ is the ouly source of our
lighteousness before the Sover-
eign of the universe. He grants
repentance and faith to aU His
lost sheep. The content of the
Gospel is also, "teaching them to
observe all that I have com-
manded you." Look at the
preaching of the great herald of
Messiah, Jolm the Baptist, in
Luke 3:18-20. The Gospel of
Jesus Christ is focused on the
person and work of Christ and
also speaks the whole counsel of
God from the whole of Scripture
to the whole of life! There is not
a single area of life that is is
excepted from the sovereign
claims of Jesus Christ. Not only
a person's heart and mind, but
also his entire being is obligated
to serve Jesus. His family, his
business, his money, his time, his
culture, the institutions, and the
civil government ought to be laid
as a living sacrifice at the feet of
Jesus by people who love and
em brace Jesus as their King and
Savior. This is what the apostles
preached. This is the Gospel
according to Scripture. The
RPCUS believes and spreads
this Gospel. This is why I want
to join the RPCUS.
Psalm 11 :3-6 says "If the
foundations are destroyed, what
can the righteous do?" It then
shows us the Lamb upon His
throne. He is the One to whom
we look to rebuild the founda-
tions. It is time to start rebuild-
ing. By the grace of God the old
foundation is being laid again for
the house of God in this land. I
believe that the tinIe for me to
work for reformation in my
present denomination is drawing
to a close. We ought to do all
Witllin our power to hand down
to our children and grandchildren
a faithful bride. It is time to build
upon the Rock of Ages and His
Word, the Bible, to see the
church revived and made strong
again. May He grant reformation
to His bride in our day. He is on
the throne. He is at work building
His Kingdom. It is with confi-
dence in the One who said that
He would build His church and
the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it that I take my stand
with Martin Luther, who once
reportedly said, "Here I stand. I
can do no other. God help me".
It is because of these reasons
that I joyfully look forward to
joining with my brothers and
sisters in the RPCUS in humble
obedience to my triune God.
True To The Scriptures,
The Reformed Faith, And The
Great Commission. It still is a
great motto, this motto that was
prominently displayed in the
beginning of the PCA. It is my
prayer that our Lord will bring
revival and reformation to the
church of the Lord Jesus Christ
in these United States. May me
PCA repent and return to her
first love. It is also my prayer
that until she turns from her
wanderings in the wilderness, He
will keep the fire of His Gospel
burning in tile pulpits and in the
hearts of the RPCUS. May He
use her to fan into flames tl1e
spark of revival and reformation
that bums in His faithful bride.
May His Spirit send His fire to
sweep over this entire nation and
beyond. May He give grace to
many of my brothers who would
despise the day of small begin-
nings, "Not by might, not by
power, but by My Spirit, says tl1e
Lord."
June/July, 1999 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 29