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My Story
What in the world is Ross doing?
Pilgrim Platform provides a glimpse into a theology turned upside down by the love of Christ. A pastor, born again in the pulpit, encounters the world and the church in the light of the gospel — and nothing is ever the same.
Crisis of …
What? The American economy? The Stock Market? Eight years of Bush policies? How about a hundred years of liberal indoctrination!
If we can't see the right problem or see the problem rightly, we cannot find the right solution. If we don't understand the disease, we cannot prescribe a medication. Apart from a proper diagnosis, doing something may be worse than doing nothing. We are all in serious denial of our real situation, so seeing the problem, putting the problem in the correct context is everything.
What Can We Do?
The first thing to do is to see the problem in its proper context, its historical context, its cultural context. That is what this website is about, helping people see the problem. But unrepentant sinners do not want us to see what the Bible is trying to show us because the perspective of the Bible threatens them — and rightly so. For the past hundred years or so unrepentant sinners have had increasing control of American public education, media and religious institutions. We have been steeped in Godlessness for so long that we no longer even realize it. That's why this website seems so out of step with American culture and contemporary Evangelicalism.
We are today in the midst of a financial crisis, to be sure. But it is more than that! It is also a crisis of failed social and educational policies and curriculum — public and religious. It is also a crisis of moral failure. But more important than these, it is a crisis of faith — not faith in some generalized sense of personal confidence, but faith in Jesus Christ as the actual Lord of history.
The deeper, more important problem with our economy is that too many Christian churches and those who claim to be followers of Christianity today are not faithful to God's economy.¹ Is this news? Unlikely. Is it true? It's been true for decades, perhaps a century. It is a persisting condition that is now the accepted norm in too many families, churches, denominations and seminaries.
The Real Change We Can Believe In
This site serves to call Christians to repentance, revival and reformation — back to their historic roots, and to provide an alternative view on church growth and personal sanctification. Christianity today is not what it used to be.
Who might be interested in these concerns? Christians — church members and pastors who have an interest in theology, or who are concerned about the deteriorating condition of the churches. Anyone interested in Christianity today, whether contemporary or historic, will find much grist for the mill.
Knowing God
It takes one to know one. I can identify another regenerate person because I know what God's Holy Spirit has done to me. I know how He has changed me, so I can recognize similar changes in other people. But if a person has not been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, he will not know or recognize or value regeneration in others. Because the marks of regeneration are personal and subjective, and because regenerate people are intimately aware of how God has changed them, because they know that the changes in their own lives are real, they can trust that similar marks in other people are equally real. The reality of the Holy Spirit in their own lives provides a guarantee of the reality of the Holy Spirit in the lives of others who are similarly marked. The guarantee of God's reality and of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit is found in the heart of the believer. My own changed life is the proof and guarantee of God's reality. Your own changed life is the proof and guarantee of God's reality.
We are the proof of the existence of God. It is not found in an argument. It is not found in the Bible. It is not found in history. It is found in my own regeneration, and your own regeneration. And if a person is not regenerated, it is not found apart from God's judgment.
The whole world stands under the judgment of God as a result of Adam's sin and is exacerbated by our own sin. When God's judgment is manifest, all doubt about God's reality is quelled because God's judgment has a drastic effect upon this world and the world to come, in eternity. By God's grace alone God moves to rescue people from this context of damnation in this fallen world. God's plan will take many generations to unfold in its full glory, and when it is complete all evil will be destroyed and all extant people will live in the context of God's salvation. The process of salvation will be progressive in that evil will be eliminated over time as increasing numbers of people find themselves regenerated by the grace of God.
—from a recent sermon on 2 Corinthians 1:21-24
Our concern is the role of orthodox doctrine, which is the basis upon which unity and peace are founded. Our concern is how best to be the church in the midst of a crisis of faith that is bleeding the churches to death. The recent development and failure of the Church Growth Movement has added greatly to these problems. Honest self-analysis is the first step to the recovery of the distinctively Christian mission in the world. But we must be cautious because a prescription without a proper diagnosis can be harmful.
Increased Sanctification
Because the word sanctification means separated unto God or separated for the purposes and use of God, and because biblical wisdom opposes worldly wisdom (see Arsy Varsy) increased sanctification requires less entanglement with worldly ways and means. This, however, does not mean creating a Christian commune in the country or a Christian ghetto in the city. Rather, we need to stop responding like cattle to the influences of advertising and marketing, and begin responding to God's Word.
Our minds are filled with the sludge of those who are trying to affect us one way or another, who are vying for our attention. That sludge has captivated our attention by pushing our emotional buttons — and for what? Notice that the more "plugged in" to the world we are (cell phones, Internet, TV, etc.) the less attention we pay to those people who are physically and geographically nearest to us at any point in our day. We are neglecting our neighbors in order to keep up with the world.
Seeing and Speaking
The first thing to do is to see the problem. We know that people don't want to look at problems. They want to see anwers. But failing to see the problems correctly leads only to the wrong answers.
The second thing we need to do is to talk about what we see. We must begin a real and serious diaglog about the problem — not just our leaders, but we the people must give them direction. Denial leads to death. We don't have all the answers, but we do have some important questions. And we trust that God has the answers. You can help. more>
¹Oikonomia, the Greek word for economy, is composed of two Greek words: oikos, meaning house, and nomos, meaning law. Hence, an oikonomia is a "house law," a family administration. Some versions of the Bible translate oikonomia as "administration," and others as "arrangement" or "plan." God's economy is His plan, His administration, His arrangement for household life, which includes marriage, family and work (employment). Oikonomia is God's plan for our lives. return…
