Participate in spiritual growth, renewal, and healthy practices with Trinity Wellsprings Church in 2025.

Download the “5 in 2025 Challenge” today!

Challenge #1: BIBLE

EMBARK ON A YEARLONG BIBLE READING PLAN.

Order a “One Year ESV Bible”, ($15 on Amazon) which has daily readings on each day of the year. You’ll read Old Testament, New Testament, and a very short snippet from the Psalms and Proverbs each day.

Challenge #2: PRAYER

FIND REST BY BEING WITH GOD.

Do a few of the following:

1) Spend 10 Minutes praying each morning.

2) Stay for prayer after Sunday service.

3) Join Wednesday noon prayer gatherings in the Oasis Building on campus.

4) Read a book on prayer in 2025.

Recommended Books on Prayer:

1) I often use a prayer book to jump-start my prayers in the morning. I highly recommend “The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions” ($15).

2) A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World ($11) by Paul E. Miller is fabulous. Our church did a church-wide study on this book a few years ago.

3) The PAPA Prayer: The Prayer You’ve Never Prayed ($11) by Larry Crabb is a highly conversation approach to prayer that I find valuable.

Challenge #3: DEVOTIONAL

CONNECT THE SCRIPTURE TO YOUR LIFE.

A wonderful component of the ONE YEAR ESV BIBLE, is the BOLDED VERSES that are provided with each daily reading. Therefore, I recommend:

• (1) Pick out 2-3 verses from your Bible daily reading (the bolded verses work nicely). (2) Ponder these verses with the Lord during the day. (3) Start a conversation over dinner about those verses.

Four Recommended DEVOTIONALS:

1) Top Recommendation - Tim Keller’s daily devotionals in Proverbs + Proverbs:

• God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Book of Proverbs ($13)

• The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms ($13)

2) New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional by Paul David Tripp ($12)

3) Daily Doctrine: A One-Year Guide to Systematic Theology by Kevin DeYoung ($19) | Learn important systematic theology topics each day (260 topics | Monday - Friday).

Challenge #4: FAST

PARTICIPATE IN A FAST DURING THE MONTH OF JANUARY CULMINATING IN A NIGHT OF WORSHIP

OPTION #1 - 21 DAY DIGITAL DETOX (January 5 - 21, 2025)

1. Choose four nights/week (at least) where you will refrain from watching ANY DIGITAL SCREENS (TV/MOVIES/NETFLIX) at NIGHT during the digital detox.

2. Commit to “Jesus before screens” - turning to prayer, bible, and devotional readings before you look at a single digital screen in the morning.

3. Delete all social media apps on your phone (facebook, instagram, twitter).

4. Delete the YOUTUBE app + any GAMES + any other timewaster from your phone.

5. Commit to using your phone for mainly (only?) phone calls and text messages for 21 days.

OPTION #2: Do a 1-Day or 2-Day or 3-Day Fast

FAST: Drink only water or juice for a specific period of time to seek God and pray specifically for the body of Christ at Trinity Wellsprings Church:

• One Day Fast: Begin the fast on Sunday morning Jan. 26.

• Two Day Fast: Begin the fast on Saturday morning Jan 25.

• Three Day Fast: Begin the fast on Friday morning Jan. 24.

• Break the fast with a meal (5:00 pm) and worship @ 6:00 pm at Trinity on Sunday Jan. 26.

Worship Night - January 26th: Everyone in the church family is invited to the dinner (5:00 pm) and Worship Night (6:00 pm) on January 26th — whether you did a “Digital Detox” or a “Regular Fast” or simply PRAYED for Trinity during the month of January!

Challenge #5: RELATIONSHIP

INTENTIONALLY INVEST IN YOUR SEASON OF LIFE TO INCREASE YOUR LEVEL OF CONTENTMENT

Invest in your stage of life - OR -

• Single? Read Sam Alberry’s Seven Myths about Singleness ($9)

• Aging? Read Alice Fryling’s Aging Faithfully: The Holy Invitation of Growing Older ($10)

Strengthen your marriage by a once-a-month date night and/or by reading a book on marriage together - OR -

• Put the first five months of dates (Jan-May) on your calendar for a “date night” in 2025 – AND/OR –

• Read a book on marriage together + make a plan to discuss the book 2-3 times together

  • Sacred Marriage: What if God Designed Marriage to Make us Holy more than to Make us Happy? by Gary Thomas ($12)

  • Marriage: 6 Gospel Commitments Every Couple Needs to Make by Paul Tripp ($12)

  • Marriage Builder: Creating True Oneness to Transform your Marriage by Larry Crabb ($14)

Practice family devotions around the dinner table

• Ages 3-8: The Biggest Story: How the Snake Crusher Brings Us Back to the Garden ($11)

• Ages 6-12: The Biggest Story Bible Storybook by Kevin DeYoung (104 short chapters) ($14)

• Teens:  New Morning Mercies for Teens: A Daily Gospel Devotional by Paul Tripp ($9) 

 ***IN SUMMARY***

NON-READING CHALLENGES FOR 2025:

Trinity has given you some life-transforming practices for 2025 that do not require picking up a book (other than the Bible): The 21-Day Digital Detox + Put First Five Dates (Jan - May) on your calendar for Married Couples + Connect Scriptures to Your Life by Pondering a Few Verses during the Day and Talking about them at the Dinner Table + Regular Fast. These are all practices which have the capacity to transform your life in amazing ways!

The 2025 READING CHALLENGE is to finish four different types of books:

1) THE ONE YEAR ESV BIBLE.

2) Read a Book on Prayer in 2025.

3) Read a Devotional Book in 2025.

4) Read a Stage of Life Book (Single | Aging | Marriage | Children’s Devotional)

Download the blog in a PDF file here.

“Many people seek fellowship because they are afraid to be alone. Because they cannot stand loneliness, they are driven to seek the company of other people. There are Christians, too, who cannot endure being alone, who have had some bad experiences with themselves, who hope they will gain some help in association with others. They are generally disappointed. Then they blame the fellowship for what is really their own fault.

The Christian community is not a spiritual sanatorium. The person who comes into a fellowship because he is running away from himself is misusing it for the sake of diversion, no matter how spiritual this diversion may appear. He is really not seeking community at all, but only distraction which will allow him to forget his loneliness for a brief time…” ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

 A surprising yet intimate connection exists between community and solitude.

Initially, you might think that “being in relationship” and “being alone” are as far apart as the east is from the west. Not so. They are intimately related.

The rich relational life of a Christian community depends on the solitary “time alone” that the believers spend with God. From solitude and silence, the believer emerges “ready” for Christian community: not demanding of the community but serving it; not asking the community to meet all his needs and complaining when it doesn’t happen. Instead, from the solitude of time alone with God, the believer comes to the community not with a demanding neediness (which can only destroy community) but with an awareness, born out of solitude, that her needs are first and foremost met in Jesus Christ.

Bonhoeffer issues a stark warning: “Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only do harm to himself and to the community. Alone you stood before God when he called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray; and alone you will die and give an account to God. You cannot escape from yourself; for God has singled you out. If you refuse to be alone you are rejecting Christ’s call to you, and you can have no part in the community of those who are called” (pp. 77).

As a pastor, I often wonder how many problems “of the community” truly masquerade as personal problems of believers who fail to heed the example of Jesus who rose “very early in the morning, while it was still dark…went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed” (Mark 1:35). Have we learned how to go to the “desolate place” where we are alone with our thoughts, alone with our prayers, alone with our sins, alone with our problems before the face of God? Instead, we jump into the life of the community hastily with unresolved thoughts, burdensome sins, and inescapable problems.

Do we seek community because we are afraid of spending time in solitude and silence before God? Do we speak more than we are silent? Do I crave community because I dare not spend an hour in solitude with God? Am I asking of the community what I should really be asking of God in solitude alone? The temptation to seek in community what must be sought in God in solitude and silence is real.

Often, when community is sought but solitude with God is ignored, we come into the fellowship either as desperately needy and clingy (the recipe for co-dependency) or seeking to control others (the symptoms of power and control issues) rather than fostering a genuine connection in Jesus Christ.

Yet, Bonhoeffer notes that the opposite is also true: “Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. Into the community you were called, the call was not meant for you alone; in the community of the called you bear your cross, you struggle, you pray. You are not alone, even in death, and on the Last Day you will be only one member of the great congregation of Jesus Christ. If you scorn the fellowship of the brethren, you reject the call of Jesus Christ, and thus your solitude can only be hurtful to you” (pp. 77).

The surprising intersection of community and solitude exists in a rich interconnected relationship: “Only in the fellowship do we learn to be rightly alone and only in aloneness do we learn to live rightly in the fellowship….One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into a world void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation, and despair” (pp. 77-8).

The peril of community without solitude is the temptation of meaningless words, activities, and church programs without meaningful transformation of your inner being. The peril of solitude without community is the temptation to succumb to the disease of introspection or a hyper self-focus without the opportunity to hear an external voice to either encourage or admonish your inner musings and self-occupied thoughts.

As Bonhoeffers warns, “Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone” (pp. 78).

I saw these truths born out in my own life, even during my college years. Every Sunday night for a season, I walked the campus of Baylor University with a friend late at night. We encouraged one another, admonished one another, held one another accountable, and generally sharpened one another in Christ. Yet, I also noticed a reality: the weeks where I had enjoyed a robust devotional life in solitude with God – our conversations were richer, our shared spiritual life was more enjoyable, and our growth together in Christ was evident. The opposite was also true. The weeks where I had been lax with my solitude alone with God, our conversations were flatter and the spiritual dynamic between us not as warm.

The richness of my time alone with God was directly tied to the richness of the fellowship in community that we experienced together. It was true almost every time.

Some weeks, I brought a rich spiritual life in God to bear upon our relationship as brothers in Christ. It was during those times that wisdom increased in my life, spiritual passion was unleashed in healthy ways, and sin decreased because God was increasing in my life (much like John the Baptist’s relationship with Jesus). Our fellowship sharpened me in ways that far surpassed what I could have done alone. Participating in a Christ-centered friendship, my growth in Christ was evident in ways that would have been impossible alone.

What does this mean for the church? Three thoughts:

(1)   Our fellowship in community can be enriched by your commitment to the practice of solitude and silence with God. Your devotional life is not for yourself alone. Your spiritual seeking after God has the potential to enrich our life together and make healthy our community of faith.

(2)   The failure to engage in an enriching life of solitude brings an avalanche of problems into the community of faith. In reality, some problems “of the community” are only masquerading as the personal problems of believers which might have been better dealt with in solitude: personal repentance of sin and the myriad of insecurities, doubts, and frustrations which often come out (or are dumped out) upon the community in unhealthy ways.

(3)   Double down on the practice of spending solitude with God while doubling down on the practice of being in community. You need both in the spiritual life to follow Jesus. Bonhoeffer encourages you in these practices: “After a time of quiet we meet others in a different and a fresh way,” namely, in a way that refreshes your heart and soul in Jesus Christ (pp. 80).

Bonhoeffer’s Life Together is classic treatment on Christian community. We would be wise to heed his words: “Only in the fellowship do we learn to be rightly alone and only in aloneness do we learn to live rightly in the fellowship” (pp. 77-8).

               The next Space Coast Fellows Book Club is Sunday afternoon October 20, 2024 (2:00 - 4:00 Oasis Room) – The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Shawshank Redemption: Andy Dufresne emerges as a victorious Christ figure from the sludge and muck of the sewage pipe.

The Good News of Jesus is (often) the story behind all other great stories: 

• When tragedy turns to triumph.

• When sacrifice releases unimaginable joy.

• When absolute weakness becomes immeasurable strength.

• When darkness and defeat become the new dawn of victory.

When you think all hope is lost; when disciples are huddled together in fear; when victory emerges out of nowhere and from the most unlikely source, namely, the scourge of the cross – that’s when you know you are hearing about or living in the great rescue story of Jesus!

• You see the story of Jesus in The Beauty and the Beast, especially in the beauty who gives up all of her happiness to throw herself in the arms of the beast. She was a princess after all – having a heavenly time! Yet, because of her unimaginable sacrifice, she shows us what true love looks like and sets free the man bound in his nature as a beast.

• You see it in Frodo in The Lord of the Rings – the small, humble hobbit who journeys into the heart of Evil Morder, destroys the ring, and frees middle earth from darkness and death. That’s the story of Jesus told, by J.R.R. Tolkien, in a thousand different ways!

• You see it in my favorite movie, The Shawshank Redemption. When author Stephen King – this author of horror – finally decides to write a beautiful story, he has to look to the story of Jesus! When Andy Dufresne emerges from the sludge, muck, and refuse of the sewage pipe into freedom, he emerges victorious as a Christ figure in the story!

Screen writers know it. Novelists know it. Fairytales know it. The good news of Jesus is (often) the story behind all other great stories.

Yet, what if the great story of Jesus also has a great story underneath his life and ministry?  What if Michael Morales’ declaration, “The central theme and story of the Bible – and of history itself – is the exodus” is true even for the life and ministry of Jesus?

Put differently, Northrop Frye (literary critic) once wryly remarked that the exodus “is the only thing that ever happens” in the Bible. What if that sentiment is true for Jesus? What if Jesus lived an exodus-shaped life?

Alistair Roberts argues precisely for understanding the metanarrative of the exodus as underlying the entire framework of Jesus’ life and ministry. In other words, without understanding the exodus, one cannot fully appreciate the meaning of the life, ministry, and death of Jesus. As Roberts argues, “The life of Jesus is an exodus, hidden in plain sight”.

The gospel writer Luke makes this plain for all readers who have eyes to see and ears to hear. Listen to how Luke describes the Transfiguration:

And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure [exodos in the Greek] which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ~ Luke 9:30-31

Jesus is about to accomplish an exodos in Jerusalem! Redemption from slavery. Freedom from tyranny. The people of God will know the name of God (Abba Father!), experience the glory of God (in Jesus the Messiah!), and encounter the presence of God (this time through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit not only through the external pillar of cloud and fire). This second exodus will be a powerful divine miracle of grace which will be poured out through the life of Jesus for all the nations which echoes the original exodus event.

Or, take a microscope and look at one singular aspect of Jesus’ life and ministry: the wilderness temptation. You quickly begin to recognize that Jesus lived an exodus-shaped life.

First, Jesus goes through the waters of baptism (Mt. 3:13-17) which echoes Israel’s own passing through the waters of the Red Sea in Exodus 14:21-22. (In the OT, Israel is also referred to as God’s son, Ex. 4:22; Hosea 11:1.)

Second, Jesus has a lengthy period of wandering and testing in the desert (40 days this time, Mt. 4:1-2) where he is called to resist evil while standing on the Word of God and his promises.

Third, the specific temptations that Jesus faces in the desert echo the same temptations that completely unraveled Israel in its temptation in the wilderness.

• A. Remember there was grumbling about the lack of food in the wilderness? Israel was saying, “Would that we had died…in the land of Egypt...when we ate bread to the full,” (Ex 16:3). Yet, Jesus replied in his temptation, “Man shall not live on bread alone” (Mt. 4:4)

• B. Remember, there was a testing of God by the people when they demanded a miracle? Israel wanted water in the desert; therefore, Moses rebuked the people: “Why do you test the Lord”? (Ex. 17:2). Yet, Jesus replies in his wilderness temptation: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Mt. 4:7)

• C. Remember, there was a bowing down to false gods? Israel prostrated itself before the Golden Calf in Exodus 32 with the people saying, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt?” Yet Jesus would not bow the knee to Satan. Satan shows him all the kingdoms of the world to tempt Jesus: “All you have to do is fall down and worship me”.  Yet, Jesus says: “Be gone, Satan!...You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve” (Mt. 4:10).

Where Israel fails, Jesus succeeds.

Jesus is obedient. He is the faithful and true Israelite who is able to accomplish the exodos in Jerusalem by his sacrificial death on a cross: “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” (Jn. 1:29).

Jesus lived an exodus-shaped life, enjoyed an exodus-shaped ministry, and accomplished an exodus-shaped death on the cross for our salvation.

“The life of Jesus is an exodus, hidden in plain sight” (Roberts).

If Jesus is the story behind all other great stories…the Exodus is the story behind the great story of Jesus.

Marriage and Our Culture: The best 1 hour, 43 minutes available online on the meaning of marriage, I dare say, come from Tim and Kathy Keller here.  So many transformative thoughts and practical counsel for transforming your marriage this summer. Enjoy!

What about Forgiveness when the Offender doesn’t Repent? Some helpful thoughts (on a difficult topic) about what to do when you’ve been wronged, hurt, and sinned against yet the person has not (or will not) repent of the sin. 

Why I never recommend Jesus Calling by Sarah Young This is (probably) controversial for some people who make Jesus Calling a regular part of their devotional lives. Yet, I have issues with Jesus Calling, as it undercuts, I believe, the sufficiency of Scripture. Is scripture really “enough” for our lives or do we need “extra words” from Jesus coming through the pen of Sarah Young? If you read Jesus Calling, I encourage you to read the reviews of the book by Tim Challies here and here which express these concerns winsomely yet clearly.

For instance, the January 8th “words from Jesus” sounds like, to me, a very far cry from the biblical Jesus:

Softly I announce my Presence. Shimmering hues of radiance tap gently at your consciousness, seeking entrance. Though I have all Power in heaven and on earth, I am infinitely tender with you. The weaker you are, the more gently I approach you. Let your weakness by a door to My Presence. Whenever you feel inadequate, remember that I am your ever-present Help.

Simply put, that’s not the biblical Jesus that I know. It doesn’t seem like the way Jesus spoke. Tim Challies writes that many of the devotions that supposedly come from Jesus sound more like a middle age woman offering you therapy than the real Jesus. Reader: Beware. Beware of a “21st century therapeutic Jesus” masquerading as the biblical Jesus. Simply put, why not read the Psalms instead of Jesus Calling? The Bible truly is enough for our lives of faith, for our sufferings and difficulties, and for our daily encouragement as we go through life.

What devotional books do I recommend? Four good devotional books:

1.  Tim Keller’s two excellent daily devotionals:

• God's Wisdom for Navigating Life: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Book of Proverbs

• The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

2.  New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp

3. Daily Doctrine by Kevin DeYoung (coming out Oct. 1, 2024)

What the Sabbath is NOT:

Sabbath is not simply “a day off”.

As Eugene Peterson once remarked, “A ‘day off’ is a bastardization of Sabbath-keeping.“

Sabbath is not solitude and silence.

Those are distinct spiritual disciplines. The Sabbath might include those elements but cannot be reduced to them.

The Sabbath is not a private affair.

Family, friends, and the family of God can and should be involved.

The Sabbath is not a solemn affair.

Traditionally, there was no fasting on the Sabbath day. The Sabbath is worth celebrating - break out a bountiful table, eat succulent food, laugh & play with friends and family.

The Sabbath: What is it?

Sabbath is ceasing, celebrating, and communing with God in community.

• Ceasing…from work

Your pattern of work and rest is embedded in creation. This is who you were created to be.

• Celebrating…your redemption

You are not a slave to work nor the inner compulsions that drive you towards non-stop production; the Sabbath is a day to celebrate your freedom. You were liberated! You were redeemed! By Christ! You celebrate those realities in your life! You celebrate freedom, life, creation, your humanity, and the goodness of God on the Sabbath.

• Communion…with God

“Come to me,” says the gentle and lowly Christ. This is a gentle invitation is to find rest for your souls as you commune with God.

• In Community

Sabbath is not an individualistic pursuit but rather a communal endeavor. Celebrate the Sabbath with the family of God as well as your own family and friends.

“Because we do not rest, we lose our way.” (Wayne Muller) Try this self-evaluative diagnostic: “10 Symptoms of Hurry Sickness”.

Are you being drawn to a new rhythm of life? An ancient practice that is being re-discovered in the modern era?

“Remember the Sabbath” (Ex. 20:8).

I’ve developed two resources entitled: “Sabbath as Resistance”.

Sabbath as Resistance: A Six-Lesson Study Guide for Individuals or Groups

The Study Guide consists of six lessons to promote conversation (in groups) or contemplation (for individuals).  Each lesson covers a portion of scripture, covers a “bid idea” for the lesson, and provides engaging instructional questions.

Sabbath as Resistance: A Reading Guide

A Reading Guide represents a collated “best of the best” chapters from authors such as Ruth Haley Barton, John Mark Comer, Walter Bruggemann, A.J. Swoboda. In each lesson, participants can read a very manageable 15 pages per lesson.

Recently, one of our church’s Life Groups sent me a barrage of theological questions. These were the (slightly edited) questions and answers touching on a host of various topics. Enjoy!

1. What is Reformed Theology?  

Reformed Theology simply means the theology stemming from the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century and beyond.  In Presbyterian circles, Reformed theology is often associated with the name of John Calvin.

The best succinct expression of Reformed theology in its historical context is to acknowledge the “five solas” of the Reformation [solas = Latin for “alone”]. Salvation is by grace alone (sola gratia) through faith alone (sola fide) based on the finished work of Christ alone (solus Cristus) as revealed by Scripture alone (sola Scriptura) to the glory of God alone (soli Deo gloria).

2.  The five points of Reformed view of salvation (The 5 Points of Calvinism) have historically been summarized by TULIP: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. What’s the difference between a 3-point, 4-point, or 5-point Calvinist?

Historically, many good Presbyterians would say: “There’s no such thing as a 3-point Calvinist!” That’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it gets at the point that the whole interconnected theology of salvation expressed in election/sin/cross/grace/glorification are intimately and organically connected to one another. In addition, we are living in super-duper Arminian times such that people are automatically programmed to believe by our culture that “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul”. That sounds well and good…but does it make for good biblical doctrine?

Reformed theology politely pushes back: “That’s a great classic line of poetry, but it makes for terrible theology.” The Bible is our baseline.  

In my experience, most Presbyterians do not have any real issues with Total Depravity. The Bible calls us all “slaves of sin” (Rom 6:20) based on the truth that “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Rom 3:10-12). Our Savior indicates that the entirety of our flesh is enslaved to sin (John 8:34). The effects of sin is total – affecting every faculty of the human – the heart, the soul, the mind, the emotions, and the will.

Most Presbyterians celebrate the truth of Irresistible Grace. Jesus says:  “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will” (John 5:21). That’s grace. Jesus says: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). That’s grace. Jesus says: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44). That’s grace. The apostle Paul writes: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Eph. 2:8-9). The Father draws to the Son by the Spirit of God anyone who is given the gift of God’s irresistible grace. The Holy Spirit regenerates anyone whom the Father choose to save, enabling them to believe in Christ for salvation.

Perseverance of the Saints is a comforting doctrine that communicates God will bring you to your eternal home. Paul communicated the truth like this: “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:6). The so-called “Golden Chain of Salvation” in Rom. 8:29-30 assures us that there is an intimate link between the beginning and the end of our salvation because God is the author of salvation from first to last: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Rom. 8:29-30).

Yet, in the modern era, two points of TULIP have become contested in the uber-Arminian age that that live in: Unconditional Election and Limited Atonement.

For Unconditional Election, see my blog post on election and the sermon entitled “The Father’s Purposed” based on Ephesians 1:4-6.

Instead of “Limited Atonement”, most Reformed theologians prefer the moniker Particular Atonement. This brief 500-word essay on Particular Atonement by Kevin DeYoung provides a helpful overview of the doctrine from the classic Reformed understanding.

Another helpful resource which provides helpful definitions (of both Reformed and Arminian positions) and a plethora of scriptures is entitled “T.U.L.I.P., The Canons of Dort”.

3. Can you join Trinity Wellsprings Church as a Covenant Partner and be less than a 5-point Calvinist?

Of course! Becoming a Covenant Partner at Trinity is solely tied to confessing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We are a Christ-centered church, Gospel-saturated church that likes to keep “the main thing, the main thing” – Jesus lived the life I could never live and he died the death that I deserved.

4. What is the role of free will in the salvation of a person?

First, read the sermon on election exegeting Ephesians 1:4-6 entitled “The Father’s Purpose.”

Second, in summary: You are free to sin but you are not free to “choose God” salvifically out of your own free will.  Why? Because you were dead in your sins and trespasses (Eph. 2:1: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”). How can a dead man choose life?

God, not your free will, made you alive: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with him and seated us with him the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4-6).

You no can no more choose God in the deadness of your sin than you can resurrect your own body at the end of your life after death.

All of our human faculties were affected by original sin and the Fall in Genesis 3. Humans are fallen in body, mind, spirit, heart, emotions, affections, desires, and yes, even “the will” – that from which you choose – was also affected by the Fall. In his little book entitled The Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther convincingly argued that even the will is “bound” by the Fall and unable to choose God. I highly recommend it!

5. Why do we baptize babies, who are too young to understand Jesus?

Short answer: because Presbyterians believe in Covenantal theology.

Short answer: it’s a beautiful portrait of the gospel of grace.

For the best long answer essay, see Dr. Gregg Strawbridge’s article entitled Infant Baptism: Does the Bible Teach It?

6. The practice of baptizing infants…does it lead to a sense of false belief that someone is “saved” when they have not actually professed Christ or accepted God’s free gift of grace?

No.  Because in healthy churches that teach the doctrine with clarity, neither the church nor the parents let the children assume that they are “saved” because of their baptism but faithfully raise them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord so that one day they will confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior thereby confirming their baptism.

7.  Can I lose my salvation?

No. Paul Washer once said that if anyone could lose their salvation, everyone would lose their salvation. God will always bring you home in glory.

The saints – chosen by God and sustained by God – are always brought home by God. The Golden Chain of salvation (Rom. 8:29-30) is unbreakable. God holds tightly on to you unto eternity, bringing you to your final glorification.

8. Is there a good teaching on egalitarian ministry from a biblical perspective, the doctrine that holds that both men and women can serve in ministry as elders/pastors?

In 2017, Rev. Dr. Jim Singleton taught on egalitarian ministry at the ECO National Gathering here.

9. What is happening to the mainline Presbyterian denomination that Trinity Wellsprings Church left in 2012?

The Presbyterian Church (USA) has been experiencing a precipitous decline in church membership: between 2000 and 2015, it lost over 40% of its congregational membership and 15.4% of its churches.  

Theologically, you be the judge with this recent prayer to “The God of the Pronouns” from a PCUSA pulpit in Iowa. Yes, Iowa!

10. Does Trinity believe the scriptures are the authoritative, inspired, and infallible Word of God?

Yes, that’s exactly what Trinity Wellsprings Church believes as well as our denomination ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians.

See my blog post entitled The Word of God – S.C.A.N. where I briefly describe and summarize the Sufficiency, Clarity, Authority, and Necessity of the Word of God.  

With respect to the Word of God, ECO’s Essential Tenets of Faith declares:

We glorify God by recognizing and receiving His authoritative self- revelation, both in the infallible Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and also in the incarnation of God the Son. We affirm that the same Holy Spirit who overshadowed the virgin Mary also inspired the writing and preservation of the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit testifies to the authority of God’s Word and illumines our hearts and minds so that we might receive both the Scriptures and Christ Himself aright. 

We confess that God alone is Lord of the conscience, but this freedom is for the purpose of allowing us to be subject always and primarily to God’s Word. The Spirit will never prompt our conscience to conclusions that are at odds with the Scriptures that He has inspired. The revelation of the incarnate Word does not minimize, qualify, or set aside the authority of the written Word. We are happy to confess ourselves captive to the Word of God, not just individually, but also as members of a community of faith, extending through time and around the globe.

Happy reading! That should keep you busy as a theological bee can be!