Saturday, March 18, 2006

Here is more from Ligonier's National Conference...

Bought With A Price: Ligonier Ministries National Conference 2006
Sessions from Thursday, March 9
Dr. John MacArthur and Dr. R.C. Sproul, speakers

Jesus, The Head of The Church
Dr. John MacArthur

Dr. MacArthur started his session with the powerful story of Bohemian (pre)Reformer, John Hus and the price paid by Christians throughout the ages for the belief that there is only one head of the church: Jesus Christ. I am so amazed at how much believers have suffered over the centuries for holding to a doctrine that in their time was revolutionary and in our time we take for granted. Dr. MacArthur used his remaining time to discuss how today there is a disdain for faithful mediators, and also how the seeker movement (including the Emergent Chruch) strips Christ of His dominion by using the culture to dictate their ministry and not the Bible, and labels such-quoting John Piper-"Evangelical slapstick". He also explained that the original Greek word for "head" (and as it is used in Scripture) never means anything other than ruling/governing.

One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church
Dr. R.C. Sproul

This was a wonderful session in which Dr. Sproul laid out for the audience the ways in which the church is (or should be) one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. He gave the etymological root of "church" which was from Late Greek "kyriakos" from which we also get the word "curious"; thus church is for the curious. He went to explain the ways in which Christ has set apart His church to be one (there is a union in Christ which is real, substantive, and cannot be destroyed; it transcends all differences), holy (second meaning of holiness is purity), catholic and apostolic. Dr. Sproul elaborated on the ways that the church today mirrors the world, how it is not what the Bible teaches as we are called to mirror Christ, and how we have done everything we can to disguise the "otherness" of the church.

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