Pearcey Report

Pearcey Report

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Spiritual Reproduction.

Many years ago, Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators, spoke of Spiritual Reproduction in a message to the folk at the Back to the Bible organization of Theodore Epp, entitled “Born To Reproduce”.

I first heard that message in 1965 and never got over its impact. It made sense then, as it does today.

It prompted me to leave my career in USMC and join with the staff of The Navigators for the next 18 years, as I saw it demonstrated in the lives of men such as Ron York, Skip Gray, Harv Oslund, and LeRoy Eims.

The message of 2 Tim. 2:2 resonates in the church of the 21st century as it did in the 1st century, and carries as much weight, as it pertains to the life/health of the local church.

In the 1930s, Daws saw the reality of the immaturity in the local assembly, as manifest in the lives of young believers he encountered in the US Navy.

They were certainly representative of the local church at large and God, in His good providence raised up The Navs, Back to the Bible, and the Old Time Gospel Hour to reach and equip men and women just prior to WW II.

During those years, Daws spoke of “The Need of the Hour”, i.e. equipped men and women for the ministry of Intentional Discipleship.

Well, little has changed since then. In the opinion of this humble servant, the folk within the walls of the local church are still ill-equipped for the work of the ministry.

Worse, they have been systematically dumbed-down, both by public education and self-centered religious experience such that they are not truly “…grieved for the afflictions of Joseph…” (Amos 6:6)

We have been enamored with the idea that government will resolve these problems, forgetting that government is a necessary evil needing to be chained to a printed document, i.e. Constitution/Bill of Rights.

Instead, as the years have unfolded, we have provided the government link upon extra link in that chain, til we find, at the present moment; the chain binds us, and not the government!

IMHO, I would lay the responsibility at the feet of the saints. We have the info of 1 Sam. 8, as it pertains to Government’s impact; yet we refuse to recognize this problem and labor, in the New Covenant, to off-set the impact.

Instead, we sit in the pews or gather at religious conferences and sing “Kumbya my Lord”.

Well, He ain’t gonna “kumbya”

It’s our mess and we need to rectify the problem,

How?

Why do you think He left us a book?

2 comments:

Katie said...

challenging post. What does it mean to be "grieved for the afflictions of Joseph"?

Bob Lewis said...

This was Amos' indictment upon Israel's self-centeredness Amos 6:6