Around The Web-April 5, 2019

Alyssa Milano Says She Loves God then Misuses the Bible to Defend Abortion

Christ Fulfilled the Law by Russell L Meek

God’s Eternal Plan of Redemption by James Williams

How Repentance Leads to Evangelism by Jordan Standridge

Truth and Growing in Grace by Steven Lawson

The Sword and the Trowel on Church Discipline, Exalting Christ & John 14:1



Pastors' Talk on On How Your Budget is a Spiritual Issue (with Jamie Dunlop)

Around The Web-February 27, 2019

WTS Books has a special going this week with Ligonier and Reformation Trust:

Reformation Study Bible

Selected Titles from Reformation Trust

Ligonier Teaching Series

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3 Principles for Christian Political Engagement by Jared C Wilson

You Don’t Need to Be ‘Woke’ to Be Biblical: A Review of Eric Mason’s ‘Woke Church’ by Alex Kocman

5 Reasons People Walk Away From Church by Jesse Johnson

Regenerate Church Membership, Baptism of Disciples Alone & Coveting from The Sword and The Trowell

4 Ways Martin Luther Encourages Pastors to Pray by Mark Rogers

Jonathan Leeman gives advice to pastors on practicing church discipline for the first time.

Around The Web-March 7, 2018

Save 40% off these classic Banner of Truth books

Loving The Church by Jonathan Leeman

Christ and the Love of Neighbor by J.R. Vassar

The Incredibles, Cars … and The Pilgrim’s Progress: Interview with a Pixar Artist from Tim Challies

When We Understand The Text speaks with Costi Hinn about his book and how the Lord recused him from a false gospel

Church Members Who Believe in Abortion, by Denomination by Gene Veith

10 Things You Should Know about Church Discipline by Sam Storms

The Beautiful Monotony of the Gospel by Jared C Wilson

John MacArthur answers why Satan's lies are convincing

Around The Web-February 28, 2018

Check out the Easter Sale happening at WTS Books

Wheaton College Wins Religious Freedom Victory, Will Not Be Forced to Provide Abortion-Inducing Drugs

Is Church Discipline Really Necessary?

Josh Buice's sermon from Reformation Bible College: The Local Church Is Not Plan B, C, or D—It’s Plan A: The Local Church Is God’s Will For Your Life

The Significance of Genesis 3:15 by Derek Thomas

Popcorn Theology discusses Black Panther

Dayton Hartman-Church History for Modern Ministry: Why Our Past Matters for Everything We Do from Equipping You In Grace

In What Way Will Christians Judge Angels? from Ask John Piper

Introducing Christian Breakup Lines and you might want to have a pillow on the floor in case you fall laughing because this is so good. I have watched this for a week and I am still laughing.

Around The Web-November 15, 2017

A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life is 50% off right now at Westminster Bookstore

The Beauty and Power of Sound Doctrine with Ligon Duncan from The Center of Public Theology

Is There a Different Process of Church Discipline for Elders? by Erik Raymond

Living With Hurt by Landon Coleman

Understanding Free Will by R.C. Sproul

Popcorn Theology on Thor: Ragnarok

Pastor's Talk on How Churches Should Find a New Pastor

The State of Evangelicalism in America and all that Blah Blah Blah by Tim Challies

David Mathis gives some basics on how to study the Bible

Around The Web-November 8, 2017

500 Years of the Reformation: Why We Need Revival and Reformation Today from Theology For Life

4 Reasons Churches Don’t Practice Church Discipline by Jeremy Kimble

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Albert Mohler on the shooting at Sutherland Springs, heartbreak and mourning reveal uniqueness of Christian worldview, and confronting the realities of death and evil in the aftermath of tragedy

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Three Reasons Why Jesus Was Hated by Josh Buice

When We Understand The Text answers the age old question, is the Protestant Reformation over?

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What Most Christians Don't Know About Church Discipline

When it comes to church discipline, most in the church have no idea what it. The concept is very foreign to many Christians. In this video, Jonathan Leeman addresses what Christians may not know about church discipline.



Jonathan Leeman has written two excellent books on church discipline that I highly recommend:

Church Discipline: How the Church Protects the Name of Jesus

The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline

Around The Web-June 12, 2015

God's Sovereignty Over Sin by Les Lanphere

Scripture is Not a Choose Your Own Adventure Book by Mike Boling

Letting the Bible Speak by Mark A Howell

Why Church Discipline Goes Awry and How To Avoid It by Jonathan Leeman

Albert Mohler talks on How to Survive a Moral Revolution.

How to Keep Church Discipline from Being Weird

Church discipline is one of the most controversial subjects in all of scripture. Many churches do not practice it because it seems unnecessary while other do because it promotes health in a local church. Why does the church need to practice church discipline? Mark Dever wrote:

Church discipline should be practiced in order to bring sinners to repentance, a warning to other church members, health to the whole congregation, a distinct corporate witness to the world, and ultimately, glory to God as his people display his character of holy love.

Some Christians are confused by church discipline and some find it really strange that it is even happening in some churches. Jared C Wilson helps us identify 5 ways to keep church discipline from being weird:

Recently, the subject of church discipline has hit the radar in many circles due to some high profile controversies and scandals. The way some churches appear to poorly exercise church discipline is as distressing as the way many Christians reacted to the concept. There has been a collective incredulity about church discipline as some kind of “strange fire” in the evangelical world.

I can’t help but think that this aversion is partly because, as God has built his church, his church leaders have not always kept up with what makes a church a church. So even to mention the idea of a church disciplining its members strikes tenderhearted and undereducated Christians as weird, mean, and legalistic. How do we work at keeping church discipline from seeming weird? Here are 5 ways:

1. Make disciples.

2. Create clarity about church membership.

3. Teach the process.

4. Follow the process.

5. Practice gospel-centeredness.

Read the entire post here.

Other Recommended Resources:

Church Discipline by John MacArthur

Church Discipline: How the Church Protects the Name of Jesus by Jonathan Leeman

The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline by Jonathan Leeman

Around The Web-May 29, 2015

The guys over at The Reformed Pubcast has created a new website called The Reformed Pub. Check it out.

When Your Heart Isn't In It by Joe Thorn

Why Are Behaviors the Bible Condemns Considered ‘Morally Acceptable’ by Christians? by Joe Carter

What Are Justification and Sanctification? by Guy Waters

Matt Chandler Apologizes for Lack of Compassion in Church Discipline Cases

A Requiem for the Boy Scouts by Albert Mohler

How many of you have seen the "Thug Life" videos? Have you seen the ones put together by Baptist Humor? I would like to share a couple of my favorites featuring Voddie Baucham, Steven Lawson, and John MacArthur.

How Do Christians Grow In A Local Church-Part 7: Church Discipline

Church Disciple. To many, this sounds like an oxymoron. To others, it is a truth in the Bible. What is the purpose of church disciple? John MacArthur wrote:

The purpose of church discipline is the spiritual restoration of fallen members and the consequent strengthening of the church and glorifying of the Lord. When a sinning believer is rebuked and he turns from his sin and is forgiven, he is won back to fellowship with the body and with its head, Jesus Christ.

The goal of church discipline, then, is not to throw people out of the church or to feed the self-righteous pride of those who administer the discipline. It is not to embarrass people or to exercise authority and power in some unbiblical manner. The purpose is to restore a sinning believer to holiness and bring him back into a pure relationship within the assembly.

In Matthew 18:15, Jesus says, “And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.” The Greek word translated “won” was originally used of accumulating wealth in the sense of monetary commodities. Here it refers to the gaining back of something of value that is lost, namely, an erring brother. When a brother or sister strays, a valuable treasure is lost, and the church should not be content until he or she is restored. The body of Christ is in the business of recovery (Gal. 6:1), and such is the purpose of church discipline.

Church Discipline is designed to confront us of unrepentant sin. How is the process of church discipline conducted? MacArthur continues:

In Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus sets forth the four step process of church discipline: (1) tell him his sin alone; (2) take some witnesses; (3) tell the church; and (4) treat him as an outsider.

Step One (Matt. 18:15). The process of church discipline begins on an individual level. Jesus said, “And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private” (v. 15a). Here, an individual believer is to go to a sinning brother privately and confront him in a spirit of humility and gentleness. This confrontation involves clearly exposing his sin so that he is aware of it and calling him to repentance. If the sinning brother repents in response to the private confrontation, that brother is forgiven and restored (v. 15b).

Step Two (Matt. 18:16). If the sinning brother refuses to listen to the one who has rebuked him privately, the next step in the discipline process is to take one or two more believers along to confront him again (v. 16a). The purpose of taking other believers is so that “by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed” (v. 16b). In other words, the witnesses are present not only to confirm that the sin was committed but, in addition, to confirm that the sinning brother was properly rebuked and that he has or has not repented.

The presence of additional witnesses is as much a protection for the one being approached as it is for the one approaching. After all, a biased person could erroneously say, “Well, I tried to confront him, but he’s impenitent.” It would be presumptuous to think that one person could make that ultimate determination, especially if he was the one who had been sinned against. The witnesses need to confirm whether there is a heart of repentance or one of indifference or rejection. Such a report provides the basis for further action because the situation has been verified beyond the report of one individual.

At this point, it should be hoped that the one or two who are brought along to confront the sinner will not have to become public witnesses against him before the rest of the church. Ideally, their added rebuke will be sufficient to induce a change of heart in the offending brother that the initial rebuke did not cause. If this change of heart does occur, that brother is forgiven and restored, and the matter is dropped.

Step Three (Matt. 18:17a). If the sinning brother refuses to listen and respond to the confrontation of the witnesses after a period of time, those witnesses are then to tell it to the church (v. 17a). This is most appropriately done by bringing the matter to the attention of the elders, who in turn oversee its communication to the assembly as a whole.

How long should the witnesses continue to call the person to repentance before telling the church? The elders at Grace Community Church avoid carrying out the third or fourth stage of church discipline until they are absolutely certain that the erring believer has truly sinned, or is continuing to sin, and that he has refused to repent when appropriately confronted. The elders will routinely send a letter by registered mail warning the individual that the third (or fourth) step of discipline will be taken if they have not received word of repentance by a specific date. When this date has passed, the person’s sin and refusal to repent are made known publicly, either before the entire assembly during a Communion service or through a fellowship group in which the person is known.

It has been the custom at Grace Community Church, upon enacting this third step, to clearly indicate to the congregation that they are to pursue the person aggressively and plead with him to repent before the fourth step becomes necessary. That crucial and potent procedure often draws the sinner to repentance and obedience. If repentance does take place, the sinning believer is forgiven and restored.

Step Four (Matt. 18:17b). The fourth and final step in the process of church discipline is ostracism. If a sinning believer refuses to listen even to the church, he is to be ostracized from the fellowship. Jesus said, “let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer” (v. 17b). The term “Gentile” was primarily used of non-Jews who held to their traditional paganism and had no part in the covenant, worship, or social life of the Jews. On the other hand, a “tax-gatherer” was an outcast from the Jews by choice, having become a traitor to his own people. Jesus’ use of these terms doesn’t mean that the church is to treat these people badly. It simply means that when a professing believer refuses to repent, the church is to treat him as if he were outside of the fellowship. They are not to let him associate and participate in the blessings and benefits of the Christian assembly.

When a man in the Corinthian church refused to forsake an incestuous relationship with his stepmother, the apostle Paul commanded that the man be removed from their midst (1 Cor. 5:13). The believers there were not even to share a meal with him (1 Cor. 5:11), for dining with someone was symbolic of a hospitable and cordial fellowship. The one who is persistently unrepentant is to be totally ostracized from the fellowship of the church and treated like an outcast, not a brother.

As far as the welfare of the church is concerned, the purpose of putting the brother out is to protect the purity of the fellowship (1 Cor. 5:6), to warn the assembly of the seriousness of sin (1 Tim. 5:20), and to give a testimony of righteousness to a watching world. But as far as the welfare of the brother himself is concerned, the purpose of the ostracism is not to punish but to awaken, and it must therefore be done in humble love and never in a spirit of self-righteous superiority (2 Thess. 3:15).

When a church has done everything it can to bring a sinning member back to purity of life but is unsuccessful, that individual is to be left to his sin and his shame. If he is truly a Christian, God will not cast him away, but He may allow him to sink still deeper before he becomes desperate enough to turn from his sin.

The command not to have fellowship or even social contact with the unrepentant brother does not exclude all contact. When there is an opportunity to admonish him and try to call him back, the opportunity should be taken. In fact, such opportunities should be sought. But the contact should be for the purpose of admonishment and restoration and no other.

Now is the question, how do Christians grow from this? Mark Dever explains in 9 Marks of a Healthy Church:

God's plan for the local church does not encourage us to leave weeds unchecked. He intends, for His own glory, that the church be composed of imperfect people; but He intends that these imperfect people should be people who love Him and in whose lives He can work-to make them more holy.

For the good on the one disciplined, for the good of other Christians as a warnings, for the health of the church as a whole, for the good of our witness to non-Christians, and for the glory of God, we will be helped to grow as we practice church discipline.

Recommend Reading:

The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline by Jonathan Leeman

Church Discipline: How the Church Protects the Name of Jesus by Jonathan Leeman