It’s been a couple of months now since I stepped down as pastor from Waco Reformed Church, and loaded up in my 2000 Saturn LW1 for eastern Tennessee.
When I stepped down, I wasn’t retiring from the ministry. But Heidi and I both felt we needed to move to Tennessee so we could be with our daughter, and her four children. That was the easy part of the decision.
The hard part: stepping down and knowing that Waco Reformed would cease to exist. There were only two elders, myself and one other man, and he did not feel led to continue on with Waco Reformed. So the church closed.
What makes this hard is knowing that God’s call upon my life as a pastor, has not ceased. I still long to preach the full counsel of God (Acts 20:27), proclaiming His truth to the saints for their edification.
The problem is: I really don’t fit in any of the denominations in the area. I am Reformed. I am a Calvinist. I am postmillennial. I am covenantal. But I also have distinctives that set me apart from the PCA and the OPC.
In fact, I probably don’t fit in the CREC either. While at Waco Reformed, we attempted to join the CREC, and they ended up rejecting us. They never had the decency to give us a reason as to why.
So here I am, in an area saturated with PCA churches. It would be OK if could just take exceptions to the Confession where I differ, but the GA of the PCA ruled they would not allow exceptions on paedocommunion any longer. Not only did they say it, they said “good riddance” as well. (See my posts on paedocommunion below).
But that is not the point of this post. The simple point is for prayer. My request is that Christ would open a door for a church where I do fit theologically and in all the ways that matter.
God may answer our prayers by leading me to plant another church, and if so, then I need like minded people to join with me to start this wonderful endeavor. Therefore, if you are reading this, please pray that our King would open the door to another church where I can serve and glorify Him. Thank you.
If you would like to hear a sampling of one of my sermons, go HERE.
