Roman vs. Re-formed Catholicism

Roman Catholicism is a deficient and degraded form of the apostolic faith. In many struggles with secularism and Marxism, conservative Protestants and conservative Catholics will often be found to have common cause as co-belligerents, but we should be aware that there is no fellowship between the light and truth of the evangelical, apostolic witness affirmed by the churches of the Reformation and the idolatry and errors of the Papacy and those congregations who render obedience to its Bishop who claims to stand in the place of Christ on earth.

Sometimes visitors to RPC remark on certain aspects of our liturgy that seem “Catholic.” It’s true that we desire to be catholic in the very best way, with a small “c,” describing the historical and universal faith of the Christian Church established by Christ on the teachings left to us by the apostles. We have little in common with big box mega-churches that structure their worship as part rock concert, part Ted talk, and part Time Share presentation. We do not believe the Church is a business or ought to be run as a consumer-oriented enterprise. The Church is the household of God, the Bride of Christ, the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and everything about it ought to be otherworldly, because it is. C. S. Lewis wrote in his Preface to Paradise Lost:

“The modern habit of doing ceremonial things unceremoniously is no proof of humility; rather it proves the offender’s inability to forget himself in the rite, and his readiness to spoil for every one else the proper pleasure of ritual.”

There certainly are things that seem strange about our worship in comparison to modern evangelicalism. The pastor wears robes in the pulpit and a collar among the people. The congregation stands at stated times and participates vocally and loudly throughout the worship service. There is a large amount of Scripture read throughout the service as well as the singing of psalms and the use of common prayers from the Church’s history. If Sundays at RPC feel differently than everything else in our lives, that’s because they are different. In corporate worship, God is meeting with us to renew his covenant and bless us. We are ascending into the heavenly realm to worship alongside the true catholic (universal) Church composed of believers in Jesus from among all tribes and nations and generations.

We do not do anything in worship simply because it seems more “Catholic.” We are re-formed catholics, Christians who desire to be part of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church that is formed and continually reformed by the Spirit in obedience to the teaching of Scripture. We owe no allegiance, and will show no deference, to the Roman Pope, who as a eunuch is no one’s father, certainly not ours. We adore our sister Mary, the mother of our Lord, but refuse to pray to her or to any other saint who has passed into heaven. We affirm and celebrate the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but there is no crucifix in our sanctuary because we do not regard the Lord’s Supper to be a re-presentation of his once for all offering but the New Covenant fulfillment of the Peace Offering in which we celebrate our reconciliation to God. Nor do we imagine the bread and wine to be transformed by any priestly ritual, instead being content with the teaching of Scripture as summarized by the Belgic Confession:

“But to maintain the spiritual and heavenly life that belongs to believers he has sent a living bread that came down from heaven: namely Jesus Christ, who nourishes and maintains the spiritual life of believers when eaten— that is, when appropriated and received spiritually by faith. To represent to us this spiritual and heavenly bread Christ has instituted an earthly and visible bread as the sacrament of his body and wine as the sacrament of his blood. He did this to testify to us that just as truly as we take and hold the sacraments in our hands and eat and drink it in our mouths, by which our life is then sustained, so truly we receive into our souls, for our spiritual life, the true body and true blood of Christ, our only Savior. We receive these by faith, which is the hand and mouth of our souls.” –Belgic Confession 35

Rome’s doctrines of justification by good works, obedience to the Papacy, veneration of Mary, prayers to other saints, and insistence of later dogmas nowhere taught in the pages of Scripture are incompatible with the faith once for all delivered to the saints. We do not seek to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We do not reject anything because it might “seem Catholic” anymore than we embrace whatever may seem current, relevant, and culturally acceptable. We seek to go back to the Bible and the faith of our fathers. To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to these words, it is because there is no light in them! (Isa. 8:20) --JME

Meditation for the Lord's Day: God's Disciplined Army

Being a Christian is hard, but not complicated. It can be very difficult to maintain focus and exercise the disciplines of self-denial, self-control, a God-toward focus, a life of prayer, and the pursuit of holiness. Our flesh struggles against it. We are lazy, selfish, proud, and fearful, and our inner corruption fights against the work the Spirit is both empowering and calling us to do each day. We also face opposition from foes all around us. The world is constantly seeking to distract and waylay us. The sirens call us to turn our ship and land on strange shores. It is hard to be holy in a world that is so unholy.

But being a faithful Christian is not complicated. You do not need a degree in theology. In fact, sometimes a degree in theology seems to complicate and corrupt what is simple and straightforward. Love God and your neighbor. Trust Christ, and obey him. Resist the Devil. Do your duty each day with reverence, gratitude, and joy. Say your prayers each day, and gather with the Church to worship on the Lord’s Day. It is not complicated. It’s just hard to do.

Part of the secret to doing hard things is to make discipline a habit. An elite soldier does not get up in the morning and decide whether he will work out his body and train his skillset. He just does it. Most days he is tired and a little banged up. A normal person would tell him to take it easy, take a rest day, you don’t want to overdo it and burn out. If he takes the time to decide whether he will go to work, he may not. Work is not a choice; it is a lifestyle.

We have been enlisted and ordained for spiritual war. Our weapons are prayer, Scripture, personal holiness, and worship. We must train our bodies and minds for conflict and combat. If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small (Prov. 24:10). The Devil and our own weak flesh will offer endless excuses for why we can safely neglect these disciplines. All of those excuses sound reasonable, but they are lies. The Christian must cultivate the mindset of a warrior, because that is what he is, engaged in holy combat with the Devil, the world, and our own flesh.

God is summoning his people to Mt. Zion. He is gathering his army, both in heaven and on earth, and the saints assemble to sing praises to and receive blessing from their King. The Lord of hosts is a mighty warrior, and we are mighty because we are united to him. Sin no longer has dominion over us. Laziness and worldliness and lust have no power to control us, except insofar as we surrender it to them. The Church gathers on the Lord’s Day to sing the praise and prayers that shake and collapse the strongholds of the City of Man. Gather your gear, gird up your loins, and prepare your hearts and minds to do battle with joy. --JME

An End of One Era and Beginning of a New

I am writing this as I sit at the Orange County airport in southern California. I have been traveling here for Presbytery and committee meetings since 2015. For the last several years, I have made eight or nine of these trips each year. But this was my last one, at least in that context. I will still do some traveling to California for Presbytery meetings and other church events, but this was my last one as a member of the OPC.

Yesterday the Presbytery of Southern California agreed to release me to the care of our Session given the congregation’s recent votes to withdraw from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and petition to join the CREC. The vote was peaceful and without any drama. I had many conversations with brothers whom I love, and many expressed their love, appreciation, and regret at our departure. I look forward to welcoming some of these brothers again to our congregation and doing everything we can to promote fraternal relations and cooperation in gospel ministry. The CREC may not have formal ecumenical relations with the OPC, but I hope that RPC will continue to be loved and respected as faithful brothers and fellow-workers with them in the larger Body of Christ.

I was delighted to see the progress of the kingdom and gospel ministry in this corner of God’s kingdom. The mission work in Laveen, AZ that began as a Friday morning Bible study a few years ago was organized as a mission work of the Presbytery with funding from both the denomination and presbytery and a full-time church planter. The mission work in Hawaii that has been without a full-time church planter for some time will now have one as a capable young man passed his ordination exam with the unanimous consent of the body. A new pastor was called to Westminster OPC, a second pastor was called part-time to Covenant OPC in Tucson, and one local church that has operated for many years as two congregations—one English-speaking, one Korean—was peacefully divided into two. There were many wonderful things accomplished in yesterday’s meeting, and it was a joy to witness God’s blessing on these brethren to whom we remain connected in Christ.

My heart has been full of many different emotions. This trip and event was bittersweet. If you told me one year ago that within twelve months we would no longer be in the OPC, I would not have believed you. Even though we thought such a transition was possible, maybe even likely, at some point in the future, none of us on the Session thought it would happen this quickly or soon. No doubt, over time, we will reflect on things we could have, or should have, done differently, but in God’s providence, here we are. There is some sadness in this moment, but the future is bright. RPC is healthy, united, and strong. We remain faithful to Scripture and the Reformed confessions. We have welcomed many individuals and families who love the Lord and whose lives and households are being transformed by the Word and Spirit of Christ. The Lord has given us much work to do, and there are many opportunities on the horizon. May the Lord continue to help us, keep us faithful, and make our labors together fruitful.

There continue to be reports of division in our congregation and rumors about radical, theological changes that led us to this moment, but all of you know better. We were faithful during our time in the OPC, and we remain committed to the same biblical and Reformed worship, faith, and piety that has characterized this church since God first reformed it many years ago. I thank God for every one of you. I thank God for the extraordinary privilege of being your pastor, your brother in Christ, and your friend. I am thankful for the many relationships we have with brothers and sisters throughout North America that we would not have had if we had never joined the OPC, and I am thankful for the new friendships and relationships God has given us in the CREC over the last few years. God is good. His Church is not defined or delimited by denominations. We are one Body, one family, one community of grace. --JME

On the Eve of a Congregational Vote

Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day. It is a momentous day for our congregation. This will only be the first vote taken to decide whether to withdraw from the OPC. If the first vote is sustained, then a second vote will be announced and another congregational meeting called for tomorrow to be held on December 15th. But the fact that we are here is significant enough, no matter the outcome of the vote.

This congregation used to be known as Community Christian Church. It was a barely evangelical church, planted in the 1980s by Central Christian Church, and independent (non-denominational) from her founding until we voted to join the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in 2016. Kirstie and I first visited the church, at their invitation, to candidate, in the summer of 2012. We stayed at the Best Western on Apache Trail (it was not a Best Western at the time). I remember going for a run early on Saturday morning. As I ran down the Trail, I was struck by how hot it already was so early in the day. I tried to imagine living here, and I wondered what it would be like if God called us to move.

We flew home on Monday and decided to decline the church’s call. Eight or nine months later, in early 2013, I got an email from one of the elders at that time asking if I would be willing to come out and candidate again. We thought and prayed about it, and I returned alone, this time for a longer stay during the week. I met separately with the elders, deacons, and staff, and then did a Q&A with the entire church on Wednesday evening. I flew back to Atlanta and had not reached my house when my cell phone rang. It was one of the elders with an offer to relocate. We thought and prayed, sought counsel from a couple of other ministers in our area, and declined a second time. The morning after, my phone rang again. “We really want you to come here,” the elder said.

We finally agreed to move to Arizona, even though doing so cost us a lot, and not just financially. I was already becoming persona non grata in the Churches of Christ, and we sensed that our ability to use my place there to advance the gospel was coming to an end. The Lord seemed to be calling us to Arizona, and we wondered what lay in store for us there. I have recounted in other places (HERE and HERE) some of what transpired in the next several years. CCC was the largest church in Apache Junction when I arrived. During the Q&A in 2013, someone asked me whether I was able to lead a church of 900+ people. I told them I didn’t know—I had never done it. One might conclude from the exodus that occurred during our reformation that the answer to that question is no.

When we came to Arizona, we had no plans to join a Presbyterian denomination. I was firmly committed to the five solas of the Reformation and the doctrines of grace. I began teaching on covenant theology within a year of my arrival, but I did not know that in a couple of years I would begin baptizing babies! The Lord was merciful and gracious, but at times his grace and mercy felt a bit more like a bath with a Brillo pad. It was the kind of tough love that one must show when a child scrapes his skin and embeds it with dirt and gravel. Cleaning out the wound is painful, but it is an act of love nonetheless.

We have been, for almost ten years now, a confessionally Reformed church, and no matter what happens tomorrow, that theological identity will not change. Earlier this year I used the analogy of buying a house. A denomination is not a marriage; it is the place where married people go to live. When Kirstie and I got married, we lived in a very tiny apartment, and it served the needs of our family for a few years. As our family grew, we moved into a three bedroom parsonage, then bought that house from the church and lived there comfortably as more children were born. We have lived in several different houses in the last 25 years. None of them were perfect, but we have pleasant memories (and a few unpleasant ones) from each of them.

The question before us tomorrow is what denomination best fits the needs of our family. The OPC is a good church, a faithful church, and it has been a blessing to be part of her for a little over 8 years. If we choose to remain, then I trust the Lord will bless us there. If we depart, then I trust our church family will continue to grow, mature, and enjoy life together in Christ. Every time Kirstie and I have moved to a new house, there have been things that we liked and things that we didn’t. We want to live in a house that is well-suited to our family, but the house is not the family. It is the people in our household that make the house a home.

We have important things to do tomorrow, but voting in a congregational meeting is not the most important thing on our agenda. Before we gather to vote, the Lord will call us to worship, and we will enter the heavenly court and lift our hearts, hands, and voices in praising the Triune God with our brethren both in heaven and around the world. We will confess our sins and be assured of God’s forgiveness. We will be sanctified by Word and Spirit, commune at the Lord’s Table, and be strengthened in the promises of God and the power of our risen Savior and King.

Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day, and I pray our focus will be first and foremost on the significance of that holy celebration. The Church assembles in festal gathering, to celebrate the God of covenant and of grace. We are brothers and sisters in the Father’s family, and in the eternal state, there will be no thought of the OPC, PCA, URC, or CREC. Our identity is, first, foremost, and fundamentally in Christ, and that identity abides no matter the denominational affiliation we may have for a time in this world. Who we are is determined by Christ’s work, God’s covenant, and the Spirit’s presence in our lives. We are called to life and faith in Jesus, and I pray this will always be the determining and driving factor in each of our lives. May the Lord so work to unite our hearts in love and truth, humility and courage, obedience and perseverance.

I never imagined what lay in store when I came to Arizona, but I thank God he brought all of us here and joined us in covenant, life, and love as members of Christ’s Body and of this congregation. Soli Deo Gloria --JME

Emails, Leverage, and the Error of Being "Moscow-friendly"

Readers of this blog may be familiar with the drama created by an email that was sent out to selected members of my Presbytery in January identifying me as “An FV Problem in the OPC.” You can read more about that 1-HERE, 2-HERE, and 3-HERE. This week, the original sender of that email contacted me to apologize, sort of. I have replied to him directly and personally, but since the narrative about this controversy has been manipulated by critics in unfortunate ways, I thought it best to publish an edited version of my reply. Names and information that would allow my correspondent to be identified have been removed. –JME

[Brother]:

Thanks for your note. I am happy to forgive you for handling things in the way you did. I do wish you had simply picked up the phone and called me first or even responded to the email I sent you when our Session was finally forwarded the packet a couple of weeks after you sent it out. The other brother who contributed to that analysis of my teaching replied when we sent it to him, but we never heard from you.

It is interesting to me that you sent your apology to the church’s email account. Maybe you forgot that you have my personal one from corresponding before, or you might have used my alias account that other OPC ministers use when they want to contact me. Or you might have called me since we know each other, or you might have mentioned these concerns to me directly when we chatted at GA six months before. I did think we had the kind of relationship that would allow you to share concerns with me. You might remember us chatting several years ago when I needed advice about a difficult pastoral issue, or going together to meet with a widow after [her husband’s] suicide. I understood that we had different views on some things, but it was disappointing that you would send a warning about me to men in my Presbytery without even bringing those concerns to my attention.

You said:

“When we first met, I had no idea that you were at all ‘Moscow-friendly’ as averred, though I’ve come to be concerned from things you’ve written (and also said at GA) that you have tendencies in this direction. This does concern me, as you would know from things I’ve published.”

I’m not exactly sure what “Moscow-friendly” means. I try to be friendly with brothers and sisters wherever I find them. For what it’s worth, almost no one in Moscow knows who I am. I’ve never been there, and while I appreciate the culture and a lot of the content that comes from there, I generally like my beer a bit darker than what is on tap at Christ Kirk. When your email was finally forwarded to me, it was interesting to read that, in the analysis of my preaching, nothing was identified as outside the standards or in contradiction to my ministerial vows. Yet I am a “Federal Vision problem in the OPC.” It seems the primary concern is that I am not willing to call Doug Wilson, Rich Lusk, Peter Leithart, et. al. heretics. If I am teaching something contrary to our Confession of Faith, I expect someone would have filed charges rather than simply circulating emails that amount to slander and gossip.

While I do not have many friends in Moscow, I used to have a lot of friends in NAPARC, and I can tell you that has changed since your email at the beginning of this year. You may have meant it for good, but others have used it as leverage for evil. Men that once were personal friends no longer answer my emails. I have been contacted by men in the OPC (from Florida to northern California), PCA, URC, RPCNA, and the Canadian Reformed Churches that have been warned I am a Federal Visionist. Members of my church have been told I am a false teacher and teach heresy. People have been pressured to leave or not to come to ROPC. We even had a ruling elder in our Presbytery visit a Reformed Baptist Church where he was warned about Joel Ellis. I never desired to be widely known, much less infamous, but the email you sent has been used to propagate a narrative that has damaged our congregation and its reputation far and wide.

Despite that, God has continued to pour out blessings on our church. Our congregation continues to grow and is remarkably unified. Recently a presbyter prayed publicly about the divisions at ROPC and the doctrinal problems that exist. That was news to me and to the ruling elder that attended Presbytery with me. We are not aware of any division or disunity. If anything, this year’s drama has brought our congregation closer and made us more united. The Lord works all things together for good.

An OPC minister in another Presbytery contacted me several months ago to defend the email you sent out. He encouraged me to leave the OPC. “We don’t believe the things you do, and you would be happier in the CREC,” he said. In two weeks, our congregation will have the first of two votes deciding whether to leave the OPC. Such a decision might have eventually happened anyway—our elders talked about the possibility before we were labeled “a Federal Vision problem”—but it would not have happened this year without the email you sent out. We would not have lost an intern and a ruling elder over the summer if the pressure campaign arising from your email had not brought the conversation to a head in our congregation. I love the OPC, and I would be happy and content to remain and continue serving as an OPC minister until I die. That is unlikely to happen now. We have spent a lot of time talking to members and trying to convince them that the pressure we have received to leave does not represent the OPC as a whole. No one man, or group of men, can speak for the denomination. But they can make it difficult for one man, or one congregation, to remain in the denomination, and I don’t have to tell you that this is not the first time something like this has happened in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

Brother, I have no malice toward you. I love you. I respect the concerns you have for me grounded in what you perceive are important theological differences. But I would be glad to know what they are. If there are real theological differences, I would have been glad to have been asked about them, confronted about them, even brought up on charges so I could identify them. Being “Moscow-friendly” is not a chargeable offense, so far as I know, but evidently it is sufficiently egregious to warrant sending a warning to a brother’s Presbytery. You apologized for not handling things in a better way. “It would have been better to send it to the clerk if I just wanted the presbytery to look at it or, even better, to have contacted you and talked with you about it.” For what it’s worth, I would encourage you to reflect on whether your concerns are valid at all. We’ve known each other for quite a few years, but so far as I know, you’ve never visited ROPC. At the very least, when someone contacts you with concerns in the future, maybe you should seek the other side first before getting involved. 

Proverbs 18:13: He who answers a matter before he hears it, It is folly and shame to him.

Proverbs 18:17: The first one to plead his cause seems right, Until his neighbor comes and examines him.

Your fellow-servant,

Joel Ellis

The Real Conflict

I was struck this week by the contrast between our perception of conflict and the reality of spiritual warfare. It is not that we make mountains out of molehills… actually, we regularly do. It is easy to become wrapped around the Presbyterian axle on questions so nuanced the apostle Paul would not even recognize them. (I can’t wait to ask Moses where he stands on the republication of the Covenant of Works in the Sinaitic economy and whether he takes a more or less Klinean view of covenant history.) Given the lack of real persecution in our present American context, we can easily become like toddlers in the backseat of the car complaining that “he’s looking at me!”

This year has been one of controversy for our congregation, and to the extent that I have pointed it out and responded to it in various ways, I may have been like one of those children, whining that a little brother keeps looking at me and tapping his car seat. It is usually better simply to ignore bullies, disdaining their silly opinions and refraining from even giving them the credibility of a response. But it seemed necessary to say something, at least for the sake of those who were unsettled by uncharitable rumors. At the Synod of Dort in the early 17th century, one theologian challenged another to settle their disagreement with a duel. Paul says a bishop must not be a striker, but I don’t see any prohibition on chokeholds, armbars, and foot locks. A grappling match seems more godly than a gossip campaign.

It is easy to imagine these controversies and questions are the real conflict we face as the people of God, but that is a silly opinion, worthy of our contempt. Counseling young men who are in complete bondage to porn and cannot imagine why they can’t get girls to talk to them; watching young people become trapped in the madness of gender fluidity, sexual ambiguity, and recreational drugs; meeting with families who are being torn apart by pride, selfishness, and uncharitableness because each one knows they are right; trying, and failing, to meet with the rebellious and disobedient who seem hellbent on destroying their faith, relationships, and future: this is a typical week for me as a pastor. Who has time to gossip about a brother or respond to silly allegations? If we’re not careful, the Lord may send us some real persecution to settle us down and to help us focus on what is really important.

I generally believe the assessment of my ministry on the last day will reveal it to be one of wood, hay, and straw. There won’t be much lasting fruit from my labors, and no one beyond my own generation will know my name. That is as it should be. We should not aspire to great things but be glad to associate with the lowly. Tend the sheep in your own pasture, and don’t waste time wishing for a larger flock. Shepherding the sheep God has given us is already more than a full-time job. Marriages, children, and souls hang in the balance. We don’t have time to waste on pointless controversy. I do not worry what others may say or think about me, but I care very much what my own children will say when I am dead and gone. I have seen too many men neglect their own families while being eager to fix everyone else’s problems, too many pastors who knew all the answers but whose children do not walk with Christ, too many “experts” who are glad to tell you how to fix your life but whose wife and children can’t stand them. Which battles are we really interested in fighting? The souls and love of your family and the brethren God placed in your life is far more important than anyone who has anything to say from afar.

The Lord’s Day is a time to reset, remember what is important, and renew our covenant with God. We become distracted far too easily, and insofar as the Devil preoccupies us with what is unimportant, our lives and family and work will suffer the consequences. Much of what demands our attention from day to day is not real, only deception, a facade of importance erected to obscure what really matters. The Lord’s Day is a time to pull back the curtain, strip away the mask, and confront reality clearly, face to face. We are made for God, made for eternity, not made to waste our time on triviality and the foolishness of this world. We have been baptized as warrior priests and kings, remade to exercise lordship and extend the dominion of Christ’s kingdom and God’s grace to the uttermost parts of the world. Who cares what someone said on Facegram or TwitTok? (This is not to say online engagement is pointless, only that it is often done in a way that is intended to distract and neutralize godly labor rather than advance it.)

Your family needs to be in church tomorrow—they need to come before the Lord to be cleansed and further consecrated by his Spirit—and they need you to lead them there and then lead by example in humble, grateful, joyful worship. There is nothing more important for you to do this week than to come before the Lord and worship him, to encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ, and if you have a family, to lead them in that exercise, praying that God will mercifully bless each one and cause your children to excel you in his service. The Maker of heaven and earth is calling. O come, let us adore him. --JME

The Evolution That Wasn’t

This has been an interesting year for ROPC, in general, and for me, in particular. While I have been blessed by expressions of love, support, and encouragement from men in the OPC throughout the country, the local picture has been somewhat different. I have been encouraged to leave the OPC because “we do not believe what you believe,” men who once acknowledged me as a friend and co-laborer no longer reply to emails or respond to invitations, and members of my church have been repeatedly informed that “charges” are being drafted against their pastor and that I teach “heresy.” Of course, all of this is rather silly. There are many men in the OPC who believe exactly what I believe. I still faithfully abide by my ordination vows, happily and heartily “receive and adopt the Confession of Faith and Catechisms… as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures,” and our congregation carefully adheres to the “the government, discipline, and worship of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church” as outlined in the Book of Church Order. So what has changed?

It has been suggested that I have gone through a “theological evolution,” though thus far no one has explained where or how my views have evolved. Such a transformation sounds exciting except that I have read Jurassic Park and so understand that the theory of evolution posits the gradual mollification of organisms. In other words, if my theology has evolved, it hasn’t turned into a T-Rex or Velociraptor (which would make the isolation of the last year worth it), but has more likely become ordinary and less frightening. If my convictions were once a dinosaur and have now evolved into a bird, why is everyone clutching their pearls and running away screaming? Maybe instead of theological evolution they think my views have actually transformed into something like a zombie.

The problem is that I am not aware of any such evolution—do zombies know they are zombies? This is not to say I have not changed my mind on some things. The man who says he has never changed his mind either understood everything perfectly from the beginning or he has never learned anything at all. I’ll let you decide which of those two possibilities is the more likely. Anyone who studies the Bible regularly will find it necessary to adjust his views on certain subjects from time to time. But the changes in my own thinking over the last ten years have actually been quite modest. The most significant theological transition was my embrace of paedobaptism and a more explicitly covenantal theology. Can I help it that many modern American Presbyterians think more like baptists than their Reformed forebears?

During the years that I have served in the OPC, I have shared the things I was studying and thinking about with my elders as well as with other ministers in the OPC, men in my own Presbytery, and members of the Ministerial Oversight Committee. They did not recognize a major shift in my theology, nor have any of them sounded the alarm, expressed concerns to me about my doctrine, or suggested that I was no longer a good fit in the OPC. If some believe I should not remain in the OPC because of what I believe, there are many other men that should also step aside. None of the men who have suggested I ought to leave are qualified or authorized to speak on behalf of the denomination, nor are their own views determinative of the standards of the OPC. As I pointed out to one of them, I regularly vote in favor of candidates who share his particular theological distinctives, even if they are not my own. One wonders why my own views, which are within the bounds of the Westminster Confession and Reformed tradition, ought not receive the same judgment of charity and toleration.

The truth is, the people who have promoted the idea that I am a “Federal Vision problem in the OPC” did not do so because of any changes in my theology. The original email that was sent to members of my Presbytery in January 2024 indicated that the author had heard concerns about me for some time. Those who were “sharing concerns” did so long before they thought I was “Federal Vision,” and they did so for reasons that were not theological. After our Session responded to that email, a narrative has been circulated in order to weaken the fellowship I enjoyed with other NAPARC churches in the area and to attempt to destabilize and divide the unity in our congregation. For the most part, this latter effort has failed. To the extent that there are now some members of ROPC that have questions or doubts about my teaching, it should be noted that they did not have these reservations and concerns until someone outside the church suggested it. Their fears were not created by my teaching or the fruit of my ministry, both of which were considered reliable and praiseworthy until a few minutes ago.

The ones promoting a narrative in order to drive me out of the OPC and divide ROPC know who they are and what they are doing. They should know that I know them as well and why they are doing this. They can pretend this is driven by concerns about my “theological evolution,” but I know better, and so do they. The Lord knows too, and I am content to be judged by him.

If there are concerns about my teaching, then address me about those issues directly. Ask questions about what I believe and teach. Several have said they are not obligated to communicate directly with me because my teaching is public, and if that is so and their criticisms whispered in secret and behind closed doors is warranted, then let them file charges. I would be happy to address any questions and concerns in an open forum. Unfortunately, that would not help my critics but would instead leave them with egg on their faces. Tactical decisions are based on strategic priorities. You know what these men are aiming at based upon the techniques they have chosen. Speaking to me directly or adjudicating concerns in an open and ecclesiastical way would not serve their purposes. That is why they speak behind my back. Envy is real. They are trusting either that I do not know what is going on or hoping that I will not name them. They should be thankful that I do not think their behavior is worth my time.

The Lord has done a great work at ROPC over the last eleven years, and he continues to work powerfully in us, among us, and through us. I pray he always will. It was not easy to turn a barely evangelical community church into a confessionally Reformed congregation. Those who participated in that work paid a heavy price, enduring a lot of criticism and many personal attacks. We did not expect the same thing to come from members of our own tribe, but as students of Scripture, we should have anticipated it. Our transition from independent community church to Reformation OPC really was a “theological evolution,” one that led to the establishment of a healthy, active, and growing community of men, women, and children who love the Lord, the Scriptures, and the doctrines of the Reformed tradition. To the extent that some men who had the label “Federal Vision” encouraged, prayed for, and instructed us before and since we joined the OPC, I thank God. It is in the fires of controversy that we learn who our real friends are and that we learn to rely upon the Lord who will never fail us, even if the best of men sometimes do. –JME