Restoration Movement

    The Church of Christ at Logansport (where I’m a preacher) is part of a group of churches called the “Restoration Movement.” But what is this “restoration” movement trying to “restore?” Simply put, we believe that God established His church - just the way He wanted it – nearly 2000 years ago beginning in Jerusalem. The Church God established is described in the New Testament and we seek to be as much like that early church as possible.     Over the years however, many groups of religious people have felt they could improve on that early 1 st century church. As a “restoration movement”, we reject such “improvements” as being presumptuous and foolish, and have sought to “restore” in our congregations a reflection of what that early New Testament church was like.     I once spoke with a denominational preacher who disagreed with me on that. He said: “ The church has matured over the years and we have learned to improve on the church you find in th...

  The “Restoration Movement” began with a conflict over who could be allowed to take of the Lord’s Supper. Many churches in the 18th and 19th century tried controlling their denominations with something called “closed communion.” Only members of a specific denomination, who agreed with that denomination's specific creeds and teachings, were allowed to partake of the “Lord’s Supper” with that group. Communion was “closed” to anyone outside the denomination.    The man who started all the fuss was named Thomas Campbell - a preacher for the “Old light, Anti-burgher, Seceder” Presbyterian church. Each of those titles (that prefaced Presbyterian) represented divisions within the Presbyterian church. For example, “Seceder” Presbyterians selected their own ministers, while “Anti-Seceder” Presbyterians had their ministers selected by a High-Church counsel.   Each division within the Presbyterian denomination maintained their purity of doctrine through “closed communion”,...

  The Lord’s Supper (or Communion) is the meal that the early Christians ate at their worship services. It was a simple meal – just unleavened bread (crackers) and a cup of juice (called the “fruit of the vine”) – and they took of it every Sunday.   But today, many churches offer communion only once a month or quarter or year. Some churches don’t even serve it on Sunday mornings – they’ll wait until Sunday night to make sure that only their members take part. I’ve even heard that some modern churches don’t want to have communion on Sundays because “it interrupts the flow of worship.”    By contrast, Restoration churches (like ours) offer communion at every service on Sunday, and it is the main focus of our worship. Why?  Well first, because that is what the early church did. In the Book of Acts 2:42, the early church met regularly to worship, and part of that worship was to “break bread” – a phrase they used for taking of the Lord’s supper together.   La...

  Years ago, I supply preached for a small country church that had about 35 in attendance. They weren’t part of our brotherhood, but they liked me and asked me to consider becoming their preacher. Since they weren’t part our brotherhood I asked to look at their by-laws to make sure there wasn’t anything I had to consider before saying "yes" to them.   They handed me a document roughly 10 pages in length and I took it home to read it over. Their by-laws seemed fairly normal (essentially what ours might look like) until I got to the back pages. And I swear to you, the last 2/3rds of their constitution consisted of their church’s “Creed.” Most of it was fairly common Bible doctrine, but there were parts of it that I felt were questionable and hard to justify. So when I met with their leadership the next week I told I’d want to change their constitution’s doctrinal statements if I became their preacher.   “Oh no” one of the sighed, “the last 3 preachers have wanted to change ...

  In response to my recent article on the danger of Creeds, one man replied that - when the Restoration movement declared “speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent” - this motto was “a mini creed itself.”   That’s a legitimate challenge because “Creed” simply means “I believe.”   Thus, anything a Church or Christian says they “believe” could justifiably be called a Creed… that is, if that was the only definition you used. Unfortunately, that’s not what denominations mean by their “Creeds.”      Strictly speaking, Creeds are the measuring sticks denominations use to determine whether or not you are a “Christian” (by their definition) and are acceptable within their religious group. That’s why back in the early 1800s, when Thomas Campbell offered communion to worshipers who weren’t part of the religious group he preached for, he was branded a heretic.   A few observations of why we reject creeds: 1.    ...

  My daddy used to say that “ the most efficient form of government is a benevolent dictatorship ” … and he was willing to sign up to be the dictator. There’s lots of folks who literally love to be the “dictator” or the person “in charge.” They’re convinced that if they were in control, then things would be done the right way - their way.     Down through history, the question of how the church should be structured - and who should be in charge - has been an ongoing struggle. Our brotherhood has come to believe that the Bible describes the 1st Century church as populated by independent congregations whose Elders were the pastors of each specific flock. We’ve come to believe that these congregations observed the authority of the Apostles but were otherwise “independently owned and operated” (as I like to say).     Over time, that began to change.    When emperor Constantine became the patron of the church of his day, he began to reward Christians wi...

  Who is “in charge” at church?   In America the people in charge are often those who make up the majority of the members in a congregation. Majority rule, or democracy, is often the guiding principle in many churches throughout the nation. In churches like that, the majority of the members determine what should happen in the congregation.   One man visited our worship service some time back and joked with me: “It must be tough having 150 bosses” (our average worship attendance was 150).   I smiled back and said “Oh, I don’t have 150 bosses. I only have ONE boss. But I do have 150 people whom I serve.”   Majority rule (or Democracy) is a sacred tenet of our American society , and it’s easy to understand why it has such a broad appeal to church members. Depending upon the church, “majority rule” is either the church polity (as with Congregationalist congregations) or is an underlying tool used by those who want to have “their way” in their congregation (by as...

   In response to a recent article in this series one individual responded that I had been judgmental and harsh in my approach. Was I? Not sure. I suppose that’s always possible – I’m just like anyone else in failing to see my own faults. However, being judgmental and harsh was never my objective. My purpose in writing these articles about the Restoration Plea has been 3-fold: 1. To remind.   There are folks in our brotherhood who have tended to forget what made the Restoration Movement valuable. The Restoration Plea was not supposed to be about “us vs. them.” It had intended to challenge the religious people of their day to go back to the basics (restore what Christ set in motion in the first century) and build unity based on basic principles such as “ No Creed But Christ, No Book But The Bible And No Law But Love.”   But over the years, because of struggles inside and outside the brotherhood, many of our churches either built walls to keep outsiders out (to a...

  I have a good friend from Kentucky who was telling me that his home church (denominational) had just hired a “great Pastor.” How did he know this new pastor was going to be great? Because (he told me) “the first thing he did was change all the locks on the church building.”   Now, what was my friend saying? He was saying that the mark of a good “pastor” is his ability to establish “authority” in the local church. This new “pastor” was making it plain – in no uncertain terms – that he was going to run this church. If someone wanted into that church’s building, they had to get the keys from him.     A lot of denominational churches call their preachers “pastors.” In fact, in Catholic church, their priests are called “pastors.” And these “pastors” are generally seen as having the final word on what happens in that body of believers.   WHAT IS A BIBLICAL “PASTOR?   Surprisingly, preachers are never called “Pastors” in Scripture. Peter tells us that the ...

    If you were to ask some people if they were “Christians” they might reply “I’m a Methodist,” or “I’m a Baptist,” or “I’m a whatever.” Odd. You asked if they were Christians and they told what “flavor” they thought they were.   That’s one of the dangers of denominational names – the loyalty to a denominational brand that often outweighs a person’s loyalty to Christ. NO ONE should do this. And that’s why the Restoration Movement has pushed so hard on the concept that “ We’re not the only Christians, but we’re Christians only.” If we insist on being only Christians, it becomes harder to use a man-made name that divides us off from others. (See footnote)     Recently a friend said to me “you’re an Arminian.” In other words, he was stating that I believed in the teachings of a man named Jacobus Arminius (who maintained that men and women have a free will).   Now, while that’s probably true, I responded “No, I’m not an Arminian. I’m a Christian. Arminius...

   Long before “the prayer of salvation” and “asking Jesus into your heart” were introduced to the religious world in the 1800s, the big issue was:    Should a person be baptized by sprinkling or by immersion?   It was such a divisive issue that several denominations in Europe would drown those who preferred adult immersion over sprinkling of children. “You like water… we’ll give lots of water.”   But the question for honest students of Scripture isn’t whether religious leaders believe in immersion or sprinkling. The question is… what does the word “baptism” really mean?   WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?   In John 3:23 we read, " And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, BECAUSE THERE WAS MUCH WATER THERE: and they came, and were baptized ."   In Mark 1:9-10 , we read, "Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway COMING UP OUT OF THE WATER, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like...

  Under the Old Testament Law, the Israelites were commanded “ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” ( Exodus 20:8 ) . The Sabbath was the 7 th day of the week, or Saturday.    So, the question arises… why don’t we worship on Saturday?     The first answer to that is that we’re not Jews, we’re Christians.   A famous preacher named J. Vernon McGee told about a man who wanted to argue with him about the Sabbath. The man said, "I'll give you $100 if you will show me where the Sabbath day has been changed."   McGee answered, "I don't think it has been changed. Saturday is Saturday, it is the seventh say of the week, and it is the Sabbath day... The seventh day is still Saturday, and it is still the Sabbath day."   The other man sensed He got a gleam in his eye and said, "Then why don't you keep the Sabbath day if it hasn't been changed?"   McGee answered, "the DAY hasn't changed, but I have been changed. I've been given a ...

  One of the foundational beliefs of the Restoration Movement is – if you want to know about what pleases God, you need to know what the Bible says. For example, if you were to do a study in the New Testament and looked up everywhere the Bible speaks of what “saves” us… you would find a multitude of verses saying things like this: ·        The Gospel (I Corinthians 15:1-2) ·        Through Hearing (Romans 10:17) ·        Believing in Jesus (John 3:16; I Corinthians 1:21) ·        Baptism (I Peter 3:21; Mark 16:16) ·        Repentance and baptism (Acts 2:38) ·        Confession that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9) ·        Calling on His name (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13) ·        Through the Word (James 1:21) ·     ...

  Unless you believe in Jesus – unless you have faith that He is who He said He was - you’ll never make it into heaven.   Jesus said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 )  And John 3:36 declares “ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” Faith in Jesus is the core of our response to God to accept His gift of forgiveness.     However, faith in Jesus is more than just a statement of: “I believe.” It has to be more than that. For example, if a man says “I believe I HAVE a wife” that would be a “faith statement” … but there wouldn’t be much power behind it. That man might live with his wife, but the way he said what he said implies that he probably doesn’t love her or have a commitment to her.   But if, instead, that man was to say “I believe IN my wife” that would be a declaration that she means some...

   Back in 1935 there was a western called “Goin’ To Town.” A cowboy was in the saloon talking with a Dance Hall girl and said “For a long time, I was ashamed of the way I lived.”    You mean to say you reformed?” the girl asked.   “No,” replied the cowboy, “I got over being ashamed.”     You might say that cowboy was UNrepentant. He liked his life just the way it was, and he had no intention of changing. It was a “laugh line.” And you can do that in a movie and get a laugh… but you can’t do that with God. God doesn’t laugh when it comes to an unrepentant heart.     When Peter preached to a crowd of Jews and told them “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.” ( Acts 3:20-21 ) In other words, unless they repented, their sins would NOT be blotted out, and they could not become Christians. ...

    They say “confession is good for the soul” - and they’re right. Confession is a very important for Christians. But what exactly is it we’re supposed to confess? The answer may surprise you.     First – the Bible NEVER says we must confess our sins to become a Christian. I know it’s a very popular thing in evangelical circles, to have folks recite a prayer where they “confess” their sins to be saved - but that’s not in the Bible.   The only verse that tells us what to confess to become a Christian is found in Romans 10:9 which says “ … if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ” (Notice, this verse says nothing about confessing your sins - we’ll talk about that later in this article). This verse focuses only on confessing Jesus as “Lord.” But what does that mean?     In the days of Jesus, if you called someone your “Lord” it meant that they were the m...

     Luke 23:39-43 tells us “One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us! ’    But the other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.’    Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’    Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’”  When someone brings up the importance of baptism in our salvation (as I will in a future post), many people will object that “the thief wasn’t baptized, and he went to heaven!” After all, Jesus told this criminal “today you will be with me in paradise.”     In my files I have some really intriguing thoughts about this powerful story of the thief.   One is by W. Pink who wrote “ Adam, by eating of the first tree, was t...