May 2014 Ordained Servant

From the Editor. Do evangelism and politics have anything to do with each other? Yes, more than you might think. John Shaw’s article “Evangelism and the Local Church” taps deeply into OPC history by referring extensively to an important Committee on Christian Education publication titled Biblical Evangelism Today, edited by John Murray and Calvin K. Cummings in 1954, as well as R. B. Kuiper’s God Centered Evangelism (1961). Large or small congregations, sessions, and ministers of the Word must never forget this vital aspect of the church’s identity—what John Nevius identified as one of three indispensable characteristics of a particular congregation: “self-propagating.”

The way we view culture, and in particular, politics, has a lot to do with our witness to the lost world in which we live. Cale Horne’s “How Scripture Speaks to Politics,” ends with his essential apprehension, “I am deeply concerned that many sincere, Bible-believing Christians today are harming themselves and the witness of the church as a whole with unbiblical attitudes toward the state.” His excellent article explains why.

David Booth reviews a collection of addresses from the 2009 conference “Renewing the Evangelical Mission,” held at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in honor of David Wells. Booth’s take on the present state of evangelicalism is very stimulating.

For ministers who want to brush up on their biblical Greek, Allen Tomlinson’s review of William Mounce’s Greek for the Rest of Us may suggest a good way to do that. Interestingly he does not recommend this book for beginners.

Finally, Rossetti’s “A Harvest” reminds us of the importance of the present harvest in preparation for the final harvest.

Blessings in the Lamb,
Gregory Edward Reynolds

FROM THE ARCHIVES “EVANGELISM”

Subject Index

• “Ambassadors of the Heavenly King.” (Gregory Edward Reynolds) 18 (2009): 17–19.
• “Evangelism and the Church.” (Charles G. Dennison) 18 (2009): 42–51.
• “Evangelism in the Local Church.” (Ralph A. Pontier) 8:3 (Jul. 1999): 56–58.
• “Evangelistic Responsibility.” (T. David Gordon) 18 (2009): 34–42.
• “Reply to R. Fowler White’s ‘Critique and Alternative.’” (T. David Gordon) 19 (2010): 96–100.
• “T. David Gordon’s Essay ‘Evangelistic Responsibility’ in Ordained Servant Online: A Critique and an Alternative.” (R. Fowler White) 19 (2010): 92–95.
• “Van Til the Evangelist.” (K. Scott Oliphint) 17 (2008): 54–59.

Ordained Servant exists to help encourage, inform, and equip church officers for faithful, effective, and God-glorifying ministry in the visible church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its primary audience is ministers, elders, and deacons of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, as well as interested officers from other Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Through high-quality editorials, articles, and book reviews we endeavor to stimulate clear thinking and the consistent practice of historic, confessional Presbyterianism.