What's in a Name?

I served a little boy and his mom yesterday at the store. When the little boy saw my name tag, his eyes lit up. His name is Trevor too. To celebrate, Trevor and his mom sang me the ‘Trevor’ song. Later in the day a man insisted I used to wear a tag with the name ‘Tom’, I explained that I have always worn a ‘Trevor’ tag.

Of course, he can call me Tom if he wants. It’s just a name, which has little significance in itself. Trevor comes from a surname which itself was derived from a place meaning 'big village' from the Welsh words tref (village) and mawr (large).

This isn’t always the case. Names in the Bible are rift with significance. For example, Abraham sounds like a Hebrew expression meaning ‘father of a multitude of nations’

Names in Bible times identified class and religion. Scholars, for example, know that the intended subjects of Paul’s letter to the church at Rome included Jews (Andronicus and Junia), slaves (Ampliatus, Urbanus, Stachys) and a former slave (Herodion).

In the midst of the post-Reformation turmoil some Reformed churches restricted parents from choosing certain names for their children. At Geneva, the Company of Pastors drew up a list of banned names in 1546. By the 1560s about two thirds of boys names were given from the New Testament and one third were from the Old Testament.[i]

Parents in the Netherlands were also encouraged only to give their children names which were found in the Bible. Previously rarely heard Old Testament names became more common among Dutch Calvinists.[ii]

A small minority of English Calvinists used naming their children as an opportunity to express an intense spiritual commitment. Old Testament names became more popular in England from the 1560s. Other parents called their children The-Lord-is-neare, Reformation, Discipline, Joy Againe and Sufficient[iii]

The Hugenot (French Protestant) community in 1562 and 1579 banned any names associated with God or angels and pagan names. Parents were limited to names from the Bible. Therefore, “children’s names became a means of easily identifying local Calvinists from their Catholic neighbours.” [iv]

This practice decreased not only because of Calvinism’s decline by the 1570s and 1580s, but also because Huguenot parents were concerned their children could be quickly identified as Calvinists in the wake of violence.[v]

This still happens today. A recent Time article noted that people in Iraq who are targets of violence are identified partly by their name.

The reporter wrote, “Almost every Sunni family I meet seems to have a horror story that starts with a policeman at a checkpoint asking for identification. It's profiling, Iraqi style. The most vulnerable are those who have obviously Sunni names, such as Omar. As a precaution, many Sunnis are buying fake ID cards with safe Shi'ite names.”[vi]

While a rose is a rose by any other name, for many people their name is an important identifier.

[i] Graeme Murdock, Beyond Calvin : The Intellectual, Political and Cultural World of Europe’s Reformed Churches. Houndmills: Palgrave MacMillan, 2004, p 103.
[ii] Ibid, pp. 103-104.
[iii] Ibid, p. 104.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Ibid, p. 103.
[vi] Aparism Ghosh, “Life in Hell: A Baghdad Diary,” Time, 14 August 2006, pp. 10-20 (18)

Notes on ‘Neezer

Many of this blog’s entries are serious. This post is less formal, less structured and a little more light-hearted.

There are no longer evening services at my church, so I go to Ebenezer Christian Reformed Church for evening worship.

Last Sunday’s service was the monthly Young Adults service. That meant contemporary worship songs led by a band and a team of singers and a message geared to young adults. It reminded me of Campus Crusade and the Christian university subculture I was immersed in at Carleton, and to a lesser degree at Queen’s.

As much as I try to remain focused on worshipping God when I’m at church, I get distracted.

Here are my observations and reflections.

I regretted I had not invited two friends or my brother to join me. But then I recalled, I drove for the first time in a long time, and so thought to myself perhaps it was safer they had not come. Still, it would have been a good service for my brother to go to.

The pastor spoke about his tight-knit youth group growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I was surprised his group only had 10 people – considering GR is the hub for the CRC in North America. He mentioned how disheartening it was to hear how many have since backslidden.

I chuckled when he said, “Maybe your parents are failures” before he added “in your eyes.”

The sermon was interesting (perhaps a bit too breezy though) and his advice was sound.

I sang extra loud during the two songs that were divided into male/female parts because all of the singers were female. And that got me thinking about traditional gender roles in the church (guys on the guitar and drums, a woman on the piano) and, as mentioned before, the exclusively female singers. Speaking of gender roles, later in the service, I was surprised to see a woman (we know each other because she’s a regular customer at the store I work in) help to gather the collection.

I was later taken aback by my surprise because I thought nothing of it, when women collected the tithes and offerings at Celebration Church. I guess I was comparing it to the church I go to in the mornings where women do not take up the collection because they are not allowed to be ushers.

Speaking of ushers, I was the usher at the morning service at the Baptist church and was asked to give the offertory prayer. I took the left side of the church, where most of the congregants were sitting. Only four people chose to sit on the right side, prompting one of the elders to joke that the church might tip over.

The collection at the Christian Reformed Church was donated to the Salvation Army. The offerings at the evening service are always donated to a charity – a practice I hugely admire.

I spent the collection pause looking discreetly at the other people (a challenging task when one is sitting near the front) and was intrigued at how deeply tanned most of the young people were. And that got me wondering how they spent the summer (which wasn’t entirely inappropriate because the pastor discussed reflecting on summer memories and looking ahead to new ones). That in turn, promoted me to wonder why I had never seen most of the young people at previous services and wondered what they did the other Sunday evenings. As I was rubber necking, I also attempted to determine if I had served any of the young adults at the store.

I thought I recognized one young woman as a former co-worker, but couldn’t decide if she was the person I was thinking of, and probably stared at her too long.

I left the service attempting to blend in with the outgoing herd, but my dark hair outs me from the mostly blonde congregation as a visitor. I shook hands with an older gentleman in the exact same hallway corner as the week before. I made a beeline to a man I’ve spoken with every time I go to the evening service.

Before I reached him, an elderly Dutch-accented saint asked me if I was a member of a church. I explained I was a member of a Baptist church and I attend the evening service because my church does not have evening services. She told me that she thinks the Baptists are good, to which I ridiculously responded that I also like Baptists.

The gentleman is a member of the evangelism team, so I told him about John Piper’s book Let the Nations Be Glad and offered to bring it next Sunday (that would be tonight) for him to borrow.

E-xperiment

I conducted an experiment this summer.

Here is the data:

July 12, 2006: Distribution Day
August 22, 2006: E-xperiment Ends

76 E-mails were sent
43 E-mail responses received
56.5 % E-mail response rate

5 Other responses
2 In Person
2 Instant Messenger
1 Telephone

63.1 % Total response rate

Guidelines

I did not mass e-mail. Each person received a personalized message. All e-mails contained at least one question, so as to invite the recipient to respond. I did not log onto msn for several days after Distribution Day. Family members were excluded. There was a reasonable expectation that each recipient might respond.

Analysis

Respondents are ranked by their religious identification. This is to provide anonymity. And it’s interesting. I make no distinction between active and nominal. Since high school, when I classified fellow students in a chart according to their religious identification, a person’s religion is how I chiefly remember people by.

Results

Respondents were quick to reply. Of those who responded via e-mail 66 % did so in the first three days. Most (41.8 %) responded the day after Distribution Day, although a surprisingly high 16.3 % sent e-mails back on Distribution Day. With the exception of Day 8, at least one respondent sent a reply on or before Day 10. Day 1 signifies Distribution Day.

First Ten E-mail Respondents

Baptist
Free Methodist
Alliance
Baptist
Latter-day Saint
Baptist
Pentecostal
Unknown
Non-denominational
Free Methodist

Classification of e-mail Respondents

Affiliation (Number of e-mail Respondents)

Secular (9)
Baptist (8)
Pentecostal (6)
Christian Reformed (3)
United (3)
Unknown (2)
Non-denominational (2)
Anglican (2)
Alliance (2)
Free Methodist (2)
Latter-day Saint (1)
Muslim (1)
Wesleyan (1)
Associated Gospel (1)

Classification of other Respondents

Affiliation (Number of other Respondents)

Baptist (2)
Anglican (1)
United (1)
Secular (1)

Classification of Non-Respondents

Affiliation (Number of non-Respondents)

Secular (7)
Baptist (5)
Roman Catholic (4)
Non-Denominational (3)
Anglican (2)
Pentecostal (2)
Lutheran (1)
Brethren (1)
Mennonite (1)
Muslim (1)

Total Response Rate

Denomination (Total Response Rate (%))

Christian Reformed (100)
Free Methodist (100)
Associated Gospel (100)
Wesleyan (100)
Latter-day Saint (100)
Alliance (100)
Unknown (100)
Pentecostal (75)
United (75)
Secular (55.5)
Baptist (53.3)
Muslim (50)
Non-denominational (40)
Anglican (40)
Lutheran (0)
Brethren (0)
Mennonite (0)
Roman Catholic (0)

Oneness Pentecostalism

Calvary Temple (Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada)

First Pentecostal Church
(United Pentecostal Church International)

We were in the Western outskirts of Belleville today at a vehicle dealership. I took a stroll into town and passed a United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI). The church is nearly next-door to the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) affiliated Calvary Temple. To add to the confusion, the UPCI congregation is called First Pentecostal Church, although it was constructed in the late 1990s, much later than Calvary Temple.

While both are 'Pentecostal' the theology taught at the churches is different.

The PAOC is a mainstream evangelical Christian denomination. The UPIC is a Oneness Pentecostal denomination, which sets them apart from most of Christendom.

The most prominent Oneness Pentecostals are the trio that compose the contemporary Christian group Phillips, Craig and Dean. All three are pastors of Oneness Pentecostal churches, although they downplay their affiliation.

I was introduced to the Oneness movement when I was in high school and volunteering with Quite Youth for Christ. A friend and I met with the director to discuss potential outreach to area churches to raise the profile of Youth for Christ. When I suggested we involve First Pentecostal Church the director became visibly agitated and told us that they were different than us. And so they were not included. I wondered what made them different but did not investigate further.

Several years later when I was in university I went to an evening revival service with a friend at a Pentecostal Church after seeing an ad in the newspaper.

The service was almost entirely singing. The songs were traditional hymns sung with a distinctly Pentecostal gusto. I was impressed most of the congregation knew the hymns by memory. The congregation was multi-ethnic (although all of the leaders on the podium were white) and all were well dressed.

I had been to charismatic services before but it was the first time I had seen people collapse onto the floor shaking. One young man spent at least ten minutes shaking and rolling about on the carpet.

That certainly doesn't happen in my church tradition, but that’s not what sets Oneness Pentecostals apart. So what does?

They don’t believe in the Trinity. More specifically Oneness Pentecostals maintain that God is not three separate and distinct Persons (Trinity), but is exclusively one God without any internal distinctions of persons.

The church’s website explains, “In distinction to the doctrine of the Trinity, the UPCI holds to a oneness view of God. It views the Trinitarian concept of God, that of God eternally existing as three distinctive persons, as inadequate and a departure from the consistent and emphatic biblical revelation of God being one.”[i]

As such, people are baptized in the name of Jesus only (as opposed to the traditional ‘in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit’)

Oneness Pentecostals also believe water baptism and receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the immediate and outward evidence of speaking in tongues is essential to their salvation. Oneness Pentecostals do not believe that the gift of tongues in itself will save people. However, they believe all who have received the Holy Spirit will be saved, and thus will also receive and exhibit the gift of tongues.

Oneness Pentecostals are also very concerned about personal holiness. Apparently liencesed UPCI ministers are not allowed to own a television set.

Second and third year students at a UPCI affilated Bible College in Fredericton, New Brunswick, must obtain permission to get engaged or married (first year students are denied the option).

According to the school’s website, “Male students are expected to wear ties and dress shirts to all classes, outreach and church activities. Suit coats or jackets are required for church services. For outside ministry, men must wear white shirts and ties. Men are also required to keep their hair trimmed off the ears and above the collars and without long sideburns. Women students are expected to wear their dresses at a modest length, sufficient to cover there (sic) knees when standing or sitting. Elbow length sleeves are requested. Women must not cut their hair and they are asked to avoid extreme hairstyles”[ii]

Most members do not watch movies and television. Many avoid mixed swimming and do not wear shorts, makeup and (for women) pants. Of course, a dress and appearance code is not unique to Oneness Pentecostals.

Although the movement is less than a century old, orthodox Christian theologians believe Oneness theology can be traced to the ancient heresy of modalism.[iii] This was the belief that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were modes or manifestations of God in various activities. The teaching was also known as Sabellianism because Sabellius taught a form of this doctrine in Rome in the third century.

The early church condemended Sabellianism and the movement eventually faded – but its doctrine has clearly remerged as a challenge to the traditional understanding of God’s nature. The UPCI, which is just one of the many Oneness Pentecostal denominations, claims a membership of over 4 million. Most live outside of North America. The largest non-Catholic church in Columbia, for example, is the United Pentecostal Church International.

Oneness Pentecostalism “occupies a kind of cloudy no man's land between orthodox Christianity and the various groups that, because of their beliefs and practices, are decidedly not orthodox.”[iv]

The Oneness Pentecostalism movement is one more reminder that God’s church must guard against deficient doctrine.

[i] United Pentecostal Church International, Accessed 22 August 2006. Available:
http://www.upci.org/about.asp
[ii] Northeast Christian College, Accessed 22 August 2006. Available:
http://www.northeastchristiancollege.com/campus.html
[iii] Stephen Lang, ‘Jesus Only Isn’t Enough,’ Christianity Today, 1 April 2002, Accessed 22 August 2006, Available:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/004/22.60.html
[iv] Ibid.

Dreary Distractions

My brother works at a summer camp and they went to a zoo one day. He said that by the time they had arrived it was noon and the kids wanted to eat. Lunch took almost an hour because the children chased chipmunks and squirrels.

Neighbourhood critters distracted them from polar bears, camels and elephants. In other words, the dreary and routine distracted them from the thrilling and unusual.

It reminds of me of Steven Curtis Chapman’s song ‘See the Glory’:

'I’m playing Gameboy standing in the middle of the Grand Canyon
I’m eating candy sittin’ at a gourmet feast
I’m wading in a puddle when I could be swimming in the ocean
Tell me what’s the deal with me
(I know the time has come for me to)
Wake up and see the glory'

CS Lewis said that we are often like children who think they are having fun stomping around in a mud puddle in the backyard, when all the while what is really being offered to us is an adventure at the seashore.

In A Hunger for God John Piper wrote, “It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world.”[i] He added that simple pleasures of earth often replace an appetite for God.

Jonathan Edwards preached in April 1739, “They choose not to be diverted from amusing themselves with toys and vanities. Thus, well might the wise man say, Ecclesiastics 9:3, ‘The heart of the sons of men is full of evil. Madness is in their heart while they live; and after that they go to the dead.’”[ii]

May God’s people be alert to the dangers of the dull and trivial!

As Edwards said, “How much wiser are those few, who make it their main business to lay a foundation for eternity, to secure their salvation!”[iii]


[i] John Piper, A Hunger for God, Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1997, p. 14
[ii] Jonathan Edwards, The Eternity of Hell’s Torments, Sermon Notes, 1739. Accessed 20 August 2006. Available:
http://www.bible-researcher.com/hell2.html
[iii] Ibid.

Slave to Superstition

As I was shuffling piles of old Sunday school material at church, I found a New World Translation of the Bible – the version of the Bible the Jehovah’s Witnesses use. My initial thought, shamefully, was that the presence of this book in the church has contributed to the ‘bad luck’ that has befallen the congregation in the last few years.

That’s foolishness, of course.

But it reminded me that while I am redeemed, all of my thoughts and actions apart from saving grace are morally ruined.

As an unregenerate I was a slave to superstitions. I ate the same cereal for breakfast every morning for years, concerned that had the routine been altered, bad luck would befall me. That I didn’t even like the cereal made no difference.

I did other strange things. I had a model Ferris wheel I would reposition. I made sure to put the plug in the bathtub the exact same way each time. Why? For good luck.

Even the copy of the New Testament, the means the Lord eventually used to save me, was part of a ritual. I would place my thumb on the circle on the front cover most days before I left for school.

The Lord drew me out of bondage to these (and other) ridiculous rituals.

John Calvin, never one to be nuanced in his writings, said this about superstition.

“It is easy to see how superstition, with its false glosses, mocks God, while it tries to please Him. Usually fastening merely on things on which He has declared He sets no value, it either contemptuously overlooks, or even undisguisedly rejects, the things which He expressly enjoins, or in which we are assured that He takes pleasure. Those, therefore, who set up a fictitious worship, merely worship and adore their own delirious fancies; indeed, they would never dare so to trifle with God, had they not previously fashioned him after their own childish conceits.”[i]

Luck saturates our culture and runs the gamut from the oft-used phrase ‘good luck’ to newspaper reporters who credit luck when a person walks away unscathed from a potentially fatal car accident.

Charles Spurgeon said,

"The heathen often attributed their prosperity, to “fortune”; some of them talked of “chance;” others discoursed of “fate.” Anything is to man’s taste rather than blessing the great Father, and adoring the one God. If they prospered, they were “lucky”; this was instead of gratitude to God.”[ii]

He continued, “But may I not be addressing some who, at this moment, do not bow before God, and bless him for their prosperity? They attribute it to their industry, and to their good luck. Oh, sirs, you come under the head of those who know God, and yet do not glorify him as God; neither are you thankful.”[iii]

1 Corinthians 10:31 reminds us, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

May the Lord help the superstitious “to confess this sin, and may His grace wash them clean of it, for indeed it is a great and heinous sin in the judgment of the Most High. Justice makes a black mark against those who do not ascribe their good things to God, from whom they flow with such sweet constancy of kindness.”[iv]

[i] John Calvin, The Institutes of Christian Religion (Chapter 4) Accessed 12 August 2006. Available:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.iv.i.v.html
[ii] Charles Spurgeon, “Knowledge, Gratitude, Worship,” Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol. 30, 1884. Accessed 18 August 2006. Available:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons30.i.html?
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Ibid.

Feed the Sheep

In the movie Luther, a Catholic leader was horrified that Martin Luther translated the Bible into German. He said that the Bible was too complicated for common people to understand.

On one recent episode of the White Horse Inn a reporter asked Protestant pastors attending an evangelical pastor convention if they taught the doctrine of imputation. Several responded by saying that they avoid such heady doctrine because it would confuse church attendees.

Both illustrate an assumption that common Christians cannot comprehend the complexity of Christianity.

But church leaders are called by God to lead and teach His people on all things pertaining to God, including the challenging parts.

John Owen wrote:
“The first and principal duty of a pastor is to feed the flock by diligent preaching of the word. It is a promise relating to the New Testament, that God would give unto his church ‘pastors according to his own heart, which should feed them with knowledge and understanding’ (Jeremiah 3:15). This is by teaching or preaching the word, and no otherwise. This feeding is of the essence of the office of a pastor, as unto the exercise of it; so that he who doth not, or can not, or will not feed the flock is no pastor, whatever outward call or work he may have in the church. Their work is "to labour in the word and doctrine (I Timothy 5:17); and thereby to ‘feed the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made them overseers’ (Acts 20:28): and it is that which is everywhere given them in charge.”[i]

[i] John Owen, The Duty of Pastors and People Distinguished, 1643, Accessed 17 August 2006. Available:
http://www.cprf.co.uk/quotes/dutypastors.htm