Yesterday I listened to part of a panel discussion on the relationship between Israel and the Church, and how Christians should think about the modern conflict in Israel/Palestine. In it, Paige Patterson was called the Luther of the Southern Baptist Convention (hereafter SBC). As the SBC was drifting closer and closer to, en masse, denying its confessional roots of biblical inerrancy, Paige Patterson said that they needed to follow their confession, the Baptist Faith and Message, and keep biblical inerrancy. Al Mohler says that there was a time when speaking the name of Paige Patterson would send a shiver down the spines of any liberal in the SBC, like the name of Mufasa gave shivers to the hyenas in The Lion King.
As a humourous note, Dr. Patterson quickly shed the title of Luther, saying that he was pro-Israel, in contrast to Luther's anti-semitism. In fact, many have blamed Luther (even some Christians, specifically, some extreme dispensationalists), and thus, protestantism (covenantal amillennialists, in particular), for the Holocaust.
It got me thinking about how great it would be to have conservatives in some of those liberal denominations who could rock the boat and direct their people to the Bible. Then I was reminded of what JI Packer is going through right now. I couldn't help but pray for him, his church, and the Anglican Church of Canadian.
Anyway, there are tons of exciting things that we can pray for. It's great being in MPD time right now, because I get the chance to pray for them. Pray for...
- the gang lords and drug dealers in the Jane and Finch area (Toronto gang hotspot) to find Christ.
- abortion doctors to be converted. Similarly, pray that a Canadian will be raised up who will fight for the unborn as William Wilberforce fought for enslaved Africans.
- University physics professors to know the true age of the earth, biology professors to know where humans came from, philosophy professors to know that absolutes exist and religion professors to know that the Bible is from God, so that they stop leading generation after generation of students astray.
- the United Church of Canada, the Anglican Church of Canada and the other liberal protestant denominations to have a revolution within themselves where they find themselves more conservative (i.e., believing the Bible).
- a theological thinker of the weight (not literally) and stature of Augustine to be given to Canada. I mention this one recalling that Mark Dever, when he visited the tank where Ambrose baptized Augustine, prayed for God to let him take part in calling great men to the ministry of the Word.
- the tens of thousands of immigrants moving to Canada every week to come to faith; there could be such an amazing foretaste of heaven, of every nation, tongue and tribe, within these borders.
- your pastor's sermons to be published in the local newspaper every week, as Charles Spurgeon's were, reaching so many people in your community with the Gospel.
And these are just for Canada, though most of them could be prayed for any country of the world. It's fun thinking about things that seem hopeless, such as the violence and crime that happens in the Jane-Finch area, where it seems like nothing we do can stop it from happening, and then praying for God to go ahead of us and make it better.
Join me in praying for these things.
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