November 5, 2008

Fall is upon us, and the beauty of the trees in
Tennessee is nothing less than breathtaking. Not just
the heavens, but the leaves as well “are telling of the
glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). It is just one more reason
we are thankful to be here in Cookeville.

October was Officer Nomination month, and I
am happy to report that we had nine men nominated:
Wes Christian, Phillip Kincaid, Jason Morse,
Michael Savage, Wes Stevens, Nathan Twitty, and
Brandy Winston for the office of deacon, and Bob
King and Landon Vick for the office of elder. These
men will begin a period of study and training now,
followed by examination by the Session. Our Book
of Church Order tells us that “each nominee shall be
examined in: a. his Christian experience, especially his
personal character and family management (based on
the qualifications set out in I Timothy 3:1-7), b. his
knowledge of Bible content, c. the system of doctrine,
government, and discipline in the Constitution of the PCA,
d. the duties of the office to which he has been nominated,
and e. his willingness to give assent to the questions
required for ordination. If there are candidates eligible
for the election, the Session shall report to the congregation
those eligible…The number of officers to be
elected shall be determined by the congregation after
hearing the Session’s recommendation.” So in April, the
Session will recommend men for election, and the
men receiving a majority vote of those present at
the congregational meeting will be elected. Please
pray for these men as they are instructed in the
qualifications and work of the office, as well as Presbyterian
history, doctrine, government, and discipline.
And don’t forget what I said Sunday morning:
as important as the offices are in the life of the
church (and they are vitally important!), you don’t
have to hold an office to be of service to the church.
Every Christian has been given gifts that they should
be using to minister to the body of Christ. Officers
are given to equip the saints to do the work of ministry
(Eph. 4:12), and to give pace-setting leadership
in that ministry. May God grant that our officers
spur every member to use his or her gifts in the service
of Christ’s kingdom.

This past Friday was Reformation Day, the day that
Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door
in Wittenberg and the Protestant Reformation began
in earnest. We typically think of Germany as the seedbed
of the Reformation. But are you aware of how
important the country of Switzerland was to the Reformed
movement? It was in Geneva that John Calvin
took up residence and with William Farel taught the
Bible to budding church reformers from around
Europe (John Knox, whom God used to reform Scotland
according to the Scriptures, studied under Calvin
in Geneva). Little-known Johannes Oecolampadius
pastored in Basel, and had a great ministry there. Ulrich
Zwingli began preaching the doctrines of the Reformation
in Zurich about the same time that Luther
did, and by 1525 the town was firmly grounded in Reformed
theology (Calvin was only 16 years old that
year). Zwingli’s successor, Henry Bullinger, was instrumental
in uniting the Reformed movement, and
wrote the Second Helvetic Confession, a widely used
Reformed confession that influenced our own Westminster
Confession of Faith. We have many fathers in
the faith for whom to thank God, and from whom to
learn.

Two Sundays ago, we learned from Elijah the importance
and efficacy of fervent prayer. Let me encourage
you to continue praying that God would convert
the lost through the ministry of our church, that
He would build His people up through the preaching
and teaching of His Word, and that He would provide
all the necessary money we need to proceed with our
building plans. Even if you cannot give as you would
like to do, you can pray that God would provide the
funds. Let us never forget that “the mind of man plans
his way, but the LORD directs his steps” (Proverbs
16:9), and that “the effective prayer of a righteous
man can accomplish much” (James 5:16).

Soli Deo Gloria!
Caleb