February 2023 Ordained Servant

From the Editor. I wrote a book on preaching back in 2015: The Voice of the Good Shepherd: Proclaiming the Gospel in the Electronic World. A British publisher had asked me to expand the last two chapters of my 2001 book The Word Is Worth a Thousand Pictures which dealt explicitly with preaching proper. The first eight chapters of that book covered the development and criticism of the study of media and its effect on the church, society, and preaching. The publisher decided that the book was too long and therefore had too narrow an audience to warrant publication. Since then, two Reformed homiletics professors and a well known English professor have written very positive endorsements, so I have decided to publish it with Monadnock Press after serializing its sixteen chapters in Ordained Servant over the next sixteen issues. I welcome my readers’ comments.

Joseph Keller brings his years of experience to the subject of formal judicial complaints in “The Bringers and Receivers of Complaints: OPC Book of Discipline 9.1.” His clarification of ambiguities in chapter 9.1 of the Book of Discipline should prove helpful to our various judicatories. Ambiguities are not necessarily a bad thing in our standards, especially the BD, since it is not designed to be a casebook. But sometimes the intent of the original authors has been forgotten and needs elucidation.

As new generations of ministers, elders, and deacons are ordained to serve in Christ’s church, we are focusing on clarifying an understanding of our Form of Government and our Book of Discipline by publishing the commentaries of Alan Strange.

Our new series, “Letters to a Younger Ruling Elder,” written by an experienced ruling elder is a compelling series aimed at helping young elders develop godly ministries. A seasoned fellow minister communicated his pleasure with the first letter on the danger of pride. He said he was convicted by it. This reminded me of the great value of this twelve letter series for all church officers, not just younger elders. I am delighted to have the privilege of editing and publishing them. The second letter, building on the first, focuses on the importance of a lowly heart.

John Fesko’s review article, “Justification: A Lutheran Perspective,” identifies similarities and difference between the Lutheran and Reformed doctrines of justification. He points out that the author, Jack Kilcrease, tends to read Luther’s doctrine of justification through modern categories. In the end, the Reformed understanding proves superior.

Our own James Lee, formerly an English professor (and now in seminary), provides the poem this month in free verse, “Regeneration.” Remember that free verse has no formal structure, while blank verse has formal metrical structure but no rhyme pattern (cf. Milton, Paradise Lost). Although the former has dominated most modern poetry, when done well it an important way of writing poetry.

The cover photo is of an aviary quarrel in the backyard of Chestnut Cottage in Manchester, New Hampshire. The cardinal, being a prelate, has the upper hand, but the Chickadee is complaining.

Blessings in the Lamb,
Gregory Edward Reynolds

FROM THE ARCHIVES “DISCIPLINE, HUMILITY, PREACHING”

http://opc.org/OS/pdf/Subject_Index.pdf

• “Discipline is Not a Dirty Word.” (Geoffrey Smith) 2:1 (Jan. 1993): 23.
• “A Little Exercise for Young Theologians Revisited.” (Gregory Edward Reynolds) 30 (2021): 25–28.
• “The Voice of the Good Shepherd: A Sermon on Romans 10:14–21.” (Gregory Edward Reynolds) 27 (2018): 8–12.

Ordained Servant exists to help encourage, inform, and equip church officers for faithful, effective, and God-glorifying ministry in the visible church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its primary audience is ministers, elders, and deacons of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, as well as interested officers from other Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Through high-quality editorials, articles, and book reviews, we will endeavor to stimulate clear thinking and the consistent practice of historic, confessional Presbyterianism.