This was the heading of our service that was held this Lord’s Day. This was the purpose of this gathering of pastors and elders from all over NY and CT. It has been a year-long journey, but we are now officially (more official than before, since we got sworn in and everything in front of all the elders and pastors who came) a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and Pastor Sam is now (officially) an Evangelist.

It didn’t strike me as much at the time, but as I took my weekly drive back to my school, I tried to remember the sermons that Rev. Shishko and Rev. Holst gave to the congregation today. As much as today’s sermons and exhortations were to encourage Pastor Sam in his ministry, It was to me, a glimpse of what may happen to me in the (hopefully) near future. Rev. Shishko went on to say that a minister has a wonderfully difficult responsibility: to preach the Word of God. Not only does he preach it, but he must do it with the authority of the Holy Spirit, with power, and with conviction. This hit a mark with me with a sermon I heard a few weeks ago; When we truly accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, our lives will change. Some people might say that the “life-changing” aspect is subjective, but when you enter into Christ’s service, there is a kind of a tug in your heart to do what is pleasing to God, and not to yourself, and therefore you actually “live” the Gospel. How do we “live” the Gospel? We gotta listen to it first, through preaching. We have Pastor Sam, who preaches to me and the congregation with conviction and authority, not really caring about what people would say or think, but speaking only Biblical truth and praying for them, that the true Gospel will take a hold of their lives. So not only is it a change of heart, a renewed Christian life is a physical change as well, and as I was driving, I started to really see the grandness and importance that all preachers and elders of a church have. Already I feel the pressure, but I think I can comprehend it now.

Rev. Holst then gave an exhortation to us, beginning with the fact that a Christian life, and even more so a minister’s life is a constant spiritual battle. It has been going on since the first Man, and it continues still. The word ‘enmity’ was thrown around, and when we see this word, we simply pass over it without thinking of the full meaning. If ‘enmity’ was on a scale from 1 to 10, it would be an 11 in terms of serious hostility, and that’s the sort of battle we have with Satan. We gotta really be able to visualize what a war is and how it is fought. It’s not the prettiest picture, and it’s not as cool as movies would portray it to be. It’s gritty, real, and most of all, it’s constant danger. In this case, the only thing that gives us hope about this war is that we have already won. God said so. From today’s passage in Genesis we know that Jesus is the one that overcame such things, even death, and He will come to eventually literally crush Satan. I know this declaration of a battle between Man and the Evil One is a terribly long-standing one, since it has been since the beginning of time. However, we look forward to the day when Christ comes back in all glory, by that time, all of those who believe in Jesus will be saved and united under Him. Wonderful news, no?

Well, now that we belong to a presbytery, we have all this support from it. Our own elders, in addition to those who know our burdens and struggles (church planting is seriously tough!) are constantly praying for our church and strength for Pastor Sam. As we enter our third year of this church planting ministry, this is a drastically new chapter from the past two years. I really believe that God is working through this church. Only time will tell, but until then, we fight the good fight. And I fight Summer Hebrew.

Hello, this is Adam, the intern. Last week, I attended the first OPC Summer Institute Seminar held on Bailey Island in Maine. I was there with five other brothers who were involved in serving in the OPC ministry in some way. Those who attended represented five different seminaries, with two from Westminster Cali, one from RTS in Orlando, another from Mid-America BTS, yet another from Gordon Conwell, and myself, who is from Westminster East (as the two from Westminster West call it; I just call it WTS.). All six of us hailed from different regions of the United States. Quite cool. I got to meet, listen to, and engage in discussions with some of the more well-known OPC ministers who had come out to share some of their knowledge with us, and even after, in the airport, as we prepared to leave back to our homes.

Prof. John Muether and Dr. Darryl Hart are well-known writers and historians of the OPC. Dr. Greg Reynolds is the head editor of the Ordained Servant journal. I was amazed by the amount of knowledge they had of over 80 years of Orthodox Presbyterian history and shared some of the less-known facts that had occurred that shaped the church to be the way it was today, and engaging with some issues that Reformed Theology faces in today’s world with formal seminars and informal discussions. I, once again, was the youngest, with some of the brothers who had attended already married or already engaged in a ministry somewhat. While daunting, it surely encouraged me, since I, at a fairly young age, was experiencing and getting more immersed in Reformed Theology (which was what some of the older brothers regretted, being involved in Reformed Theology in later years rather than earlier). I also got to know the pastors in informal and casual talks with them. (For example, Prof. Muether thinks I’m a Mets fan)

While I won’t bore you with the things I had learned, I will share with you a video of the Atlantic Coast off an island in Maine.

Clear Maine Coast

Hello, this is Adam, the intern.

In recent light of being accepted into the OPC, I thought it would be good for our church (and whoever else who reads our church blog) to know what Presbyterianism really is about, at least on the basic level. It’s also good to see how Presbyterianism is set apart from other denominations.

Presbyterianism comes from the word, “presbyter,” which means elder. Presbyterianism has its roots in the Reformed tradition, following the footsteps of John Calvin from the Reformation era. We believe that the Bible is the authority of God, spoken by him, inspired (means through the Holy Spirit) to write by those who wrote the Bible. We also believe and uphold the Westminster Confession of Faith, signed in 1646.

In America, there are many different Presbyterian denominations that branch out  from the original. The most common denomination that you would see everywhere is the PCA (Presbyterian Church of America). We, the New Song Church, are in the process of joining the OPC (Orthodox Presbyterian Church). The OPC started to mainly defend the Biblical truths from modernism and liberalism, which are very prevalent in much of today’s churches.

Last Saturday, during the OPC presbytery meeting I got a taste of what’s in the Book of Church Order. All Presbyterian churches follow the book for guidance and laws concerning how a church operates. In a Presbyterian church, Ruling Elders are those who operate concerning all matters church-related, like missions, finances, discipline, etc. Teaching Elders (or Pastor, in our case) are those who teach the word (sermon) and practice sacraments (baptism and communion).

-This practice of sacraments, namely, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, is what sets us apart from other denominations. For example, we Presbyterians practice infant baptism (called paedo-baptism) while Baptist churches do not. We also do not encourage those who are not baptized (those who have not confessed that Jesus Christ one’s Lord and Savior publically through baptism)  to take part in the Lord’s Supper until they are baptized in a church.  That’s one example.

-Another is concerning the election of saints. We believe that the elect will go to heaven, while the rest will not. There are churches that do not believe in eternal damnation (i.e. hell) to those who do not believe and confess their faith in Christ.

-We follow the 5 Points of Calvinism (Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints), as opposed to the 5 Points of Arminianism (I don’t want to get too into this, but it has to do with we are able to receive grace on our own, as opposed to as a gift from God).

To sum it up, what sets Presbyterianism apart from other denominations is the elder-ship within the church, and the practice of the two sacraments. It gets a lot deeper than that, but that’s something a seminary student should be dealing with. This basic knowledge, I believe, is enough for the everyday Christians and non-Christians alike.

This is day two of no classes due to snow. I can’t help but feel disappointed that I cannot attend my classes. In college, I longed for snow days, but not so much anymore. Two reasons for disliking snow now: I actually want to learn more about God’s word, and traveling gets difficult. But God gave us a time for all of us students (at least, those who got snowed in) a time to rest, not to mention, time for me to catch up to all my schoolwork.

Well, back to work. Plus, I gotta dig my car out for the weekend traveling.

-Adam

For me, the new semester has begun with a slight bang. On Thursday, I had my first class, even though I had a Winter Session Final on Tuesday. Classes-wise, I feel as if I am getting more closer to the core of the things I can learn at WTS. Last semester was all introduction courses; This semester we zoom into the heart of the matter, or at least, the breach the outer shell of Theological academics.

But I stand, as a guy humbled by the toughness of the rigorous studies and countless readings. This has opened my eyes, once again, to the difficulties of becoming a shepherd of a flock. There are known cases of people becoming a pastor just because, “there is nothing else for me to do or be.” To those who think that, to be a pastor is not a walk in the park; there are only so much you can learn in a 4-year course (some people do it in 3 years, I respect that also), and you must devote the rest of your short life yearning to understand more and more about God’s plans for me, you, us, and them.

Last year was tough, but as many know, it only gets tougher from here on out. I am not talking about my studies, this relates to everyone’s life, whether it be school, work, relationships, etc. We have (for the lack of better analogies) touched only the tip of the iceberg. In faith, we trust God, not that He will solve all our problems, but that He will walk along-side us as we tackle each problems one-by-one. And He will never abandon us, as long as we put our hope in the One who gave us life. That much, I am convinced of, and I trust and believe that God will use me to further spread the Gospel and to reach out to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who may be strugglin’, scratchin’, and just plain ol’ survivin’. Whatever the case, God loves us. We must love one another because that is the command He has given us(John 13:34). New semester, new year (even though it’s already February!). Same old changing world. Same old unchanging God. To everyone, I pray that God blesses you and reveals His mighty works through you all : )

This is what New York’s weekend (and eventually, Christmas) might look like; Dress warmly, and take care of yourselves, brothers and sisters.

3 pastors and a pastoral intern were driving up to the city in a car. On the way to the city, someone asked, out of the blue, “I wonder what the kingdom of heaven looks like?”

Somebody mentioned houses. Another argued that there wouldn’t be any houses because everyone would just be worshipping God. The first argued that there will be dwellings in heaven, and that anything that we do in Heaven would be glorifying God’s greatness in some way. He brought up Jesus’ saying of “going on ahead and preparing a place.” Another said something about the kingdom of heaven being cube-shaped. That idea was considered as rubbish by some in the car.

Many details are left out, some are forgotten, but the conclusion that everyone came to was roughly this: That whatever we can imagine, we can imagine that the kingdom of heaven would be a hundredfold times better. It is out of our reach in terms of comprehensibility and imagination. Simply put, we have no answer to what the kingdom of God would be like until we get there.

And what was the pastoral intern doing in the midst of all this argument? Playing Sudoku on his blackberry.

Other than that, it was a quiet night ride.