- Written by Rich Lusk
- Category: Church
- Hits: 604
These are thoughts shared with the TPC ruling elders some years ago, but I have decided to make them public here with the hope others in church leadership will find them helpful.
Pastors are required to be leaders of men. They must shepherd the shepherds, helping ruling elders do their work in the congregation effectively. They must lead the session so the session can lead the church. But today, we face a crisis in leadership, both inside and outside the church. Those who have been entrusted with leadership often have a failure of nerve, and thus fail to take charge and act decisively. Would-be leaders fail to cast vision and then implement that vision. In our culture, when leaders do try to take charge they all too often do so in self-serving, arrogant, and short-sighted ways, acting as tyrant-leaders rather than servant-leaders. True leaders don’t just make decisions, they take responsibility for those under their authority and the decisions that affect them. Sadly, today, many in positions of leadership like its perks, but don’t want to be held responsible for anything. They blameshift, make excuses, or invent new ways of escaping accountability.
- Written by Rich Lusk
- Category: Sacramental Theology
- Hits: 1069
One question that comes up from time to time is “Why does TPC take communion seated?” This may not seem like a big deal, but the proper posture for the Lord’s Supper has caused serious debate in the history of the church, and continues to be an issue over which different Christian traditions are divided. There is actually quite a bit at stake in the details of our Eucharistic liturgy. While the validity of the Eucharist does not depend upon such details, they are still important not only as matters of obedience to God, but also in ensuring we experience everything God wants to give us in the Supper.
- Written by Rich Lusk
- Category: Pastoral Exhortations
- Hits: 573
This post is based on the exhortation given before worship on August 16, 2020.
Our highest privilege is gathering for the divine service each Lord's day. What we do in the liturgy not only cleans up the messes we made in the previous week (as we confess our sins and hear absolution), it also lays the foundation for the week to come so we have strength to serve God in love and wisdom. This is the pattern of the Christian life. Grasping this pattern is important if we are to live faithfully in a culture that is falling apart.
- Written by Rich Lusk
- Category: Culture
- Hits: 1730
In my previous post on BLM, I claimed that the main problem facing blacks in America is the same problem facing virtually every ethnic group in our land – the breakdown of the family. It is not racism or white supremacy, but fatherlessness, that best explains the plight of blacks today. Whatever reforms need to be made in policing and criminal justice (and there certainly are some!), these kinds of reforms will not solve the problem unless the black family is rebuilt. Ironically, dismantling the nuclear family is one of the planks in BLM’s agenda, so BLM actually stands to make things worse, rather than better, for blacks.
- Written by Rich Lusk
- Category: Men & Women
- Hits: 10605
I’ve been in my share of ecclesiastical controversies over the years, so I am very reluctant to get involved in a controversy that does not – and need not – involve me. But I cannot help from making a few comments on the “Aimee Byrd vs. Genevan Commons” saga that is unfolding.