Christian Heritage News

By Pastor Shawn Mathis With the recent public confession of sin by pastor R. C. Sproul Jr., it seems appropriate to discover more about him and his public ministry. What kind of influence does he have? What does he believe? Where did he come from? His influence is in conservative Christian circles. He is a writer and teacher at Ligonier Ministries. And he has two blogs (his own and the Ligonier one). His influence appears to mostly be in homeschooling circles through conferences . And with the help of the National Center for Family Integrated Churches (NCFIC), where he was a speaker at their first conference, his influence has grown. Much of what he writes is uncontroversial; much of what he believes is straight teaching (orthodox); much of how he writes (especially the last few years) is more moderate. But he also has some interesting views. For instance, he espouses paedocommunion . And he helped write the Tenants of Biblical Patriarchy . And he has spoken at various family ec

By Pastor Shawn Mathis Is the National Center for Family Integrated Churches (NCFIC) morphing into a quasi-denomination? Maybe something akin to a Presbyterian way of running things? As a group they unite together over children in worship (that is good) but denounce children in Sunday school (that’s bad). Late last year, Scott Brown announced the formation of “ regional facilitators. ” These men coordinate area-wide events and leadership meetings to better cement inter-church relationships. But Scott hastily assures his readers that this is not the formation of a denomination but an “organic way that brothers and sisters in churches are designed to love one another.” Since when does an organic way have such a regional structure with regional leaders? Or when does an organic way include a publicly signed confession? Or when does an organic way involve a national church roll–all of which is coordinated by a central organization with one small board and one main leader? R

By Pastor Shawn Mathis: “The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him.” Proverbs 18:17 It is not uncommon among conservatives to view the past through the prejudices of the present. David Barton’s poorly researched book on Jefferson is a reminder that the problem is real. This means conservatives should be vigilant in vetting organizations that claim history is on their side. Consider the National Center for Family Integrated Churches (NCFIC). They denounce age-segregated discipleship , like Sunday schools. It is clear that their president, Scott Brown, believes history is on his side: “What we advocate at the NCFIC is nothing new, but is rather the practice of historic Christianity…” The NCFIC will be in the Denver area in about a week, seeking feedback about their confession, hoping to entice more conservative churches into their orbit. Do they practice good research? Read more here...