Blog/News

John Jack Jeffery:Newer or New Covenant

I draw your attention to J. Barton Payne’s (1922-1979) title for his book, The Theology of the Older Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1962).  Payne is very clear in his Preface concerning his operative theological presupposition which explains his choice of a title:  “Since there is only one saving death of Christ, it follows that there is only one testament.  Chronologically considered, however, the testament possesses both an older aspect and a newer aspect.  The difference between these two rests upon the historical question of whether the death of the Savior is still being anticipated or has become a matter of commemoration….the theology of the older testament becomes in fact the theology of the Old Testament.” (no page numbering)  In his obituary in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society this personal conviction is reinforced: “Due to his influence Covenant Seminary now displays in its chapel the blue banner of our Scottish antecedents with the motto “For Christ’s Crown and Covenant.” For Barton Payne those were not just words; they were the driving motivation of his life.” [JETS 23:1 (March 1980), pp. 95-96.]  Payne’s book was dedicated to John Murray, by the way. It constitutes: 1) the expansion and conversion in 1961 while teaching at the Wheaton College Graduate School of Theology of a syllabus, 2) which in turn had been produced by the author in 1956 of mimeographed lecture outlines, 3) which themselves grew out of ten years of teaching the subject in seminary classes (“Preface”).

 

It should come as no surprise therefore that his students, those who were trained with such textbooks, or those who share an identical theological presupposition would continue to speak in such terms.  If they were perfectly honest and consistent, then they would never speak of an “Old” Covenant, but only of a lower case comparative “older” Covenant.  Likewise, if they were perfectly honest and consistent, then they would never speak of a “New” Covenant, but only of a lower case comparative “newer” Covenant.  It seems quite obfuscatory or negligent of them to do otherwise.  The bottom line is that in reality they do not believe in a “New Covenant” at all!  Any apparent discontinuity between the “older” and “newer” aspects of their one testament are just that, apparent, and not really discontinuous in fact.  The true Biblical discontinuity between the Scriptural covenants is hopelessly confused in their stress on the unity and continuity of their extra-Biblical/theological covenant.

On another subject, Payne’s comment in his Preface on Vos is interesting:  “The most frequent reference is made to Geerhardus Vos’ excellent work, Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids: 1948).  Vos, however, is somewhat incomplete and was outdated before it first came to be published.”

Philippines Update

Two weeks from today I will be leaving for Davao City via Manilla. There was a major typhoon in Manilla this week. I arrive at about 11 P.M. and  fly out from there to Mindanao Island (Davao) at 4:30 A.M. I have an overnight in Manilla on the return trip. The area where I stay, near the bay and the American Embassy, was severely flooded (this usually doesn’t occur there because of the break wall), but is already under control. Thanks to some designated offerings, we were able to add 5 more attendees to each conference for a total of 20 each. ( one in Davao and one in Cagayan De Oro-Opol). This week both of our facilities, the Word of Life camp in Opol and Hope Mountain ( run by Conservative Baptists), cancelled our reservations for larger groups. We used both facilities last year. God provided, as of yesterday, two new meeting places in local churches.  Pastor Eran in Opol and Pastor Bobby (I met him last year and he is the one who had me preach at the Police Academy and then at the last minute asked me to do a radio broadcast that went as far as Indonesia – a funny story. I was set up) have been very helpful. In Opol, the men will commute to the church (we will pay for their transportation) and we will stay in Opol with Ernie’s aunt. I stayed there last year after the WOL conference.

Auntie’s Home-My Corner
In Davao, we will camp at Pastor Bobby’s facility. With the funds that were designated from friends this past month for extra attendees at the two camps, we have enough to meet some additional expenses with the changes.  It is only costing us $100.00 more per conference after those additions. For a last minute change of facilities and planning a food budget (which was provided at the camps), that is amazing. I’ll will update before I leave. I may not have much access to internet while abroad, but will update when/if I can. Thanks to all who have been praying and supporting this work. 

Philippines Video Newsletter

Hello Friends.

This is the link to our video newsletter concerning our current work and the meetings we will be having in Davao City and Cagyan DeOro in October 2011. It runs about 15 minutes. Thanks for watching.

For more background on our work you can look through our archives here and for more pictures and links go here Photos and here for Conferences where other links are listed.

My interview with Ernie is linked here and on our blog under the title September Trip.

If you would like further information such as a detailed budget and schedule, please email me at ncbfevans @gmail.com The final schedule details will be posted at a later date.

Thank you Mr. Camping

Thank you Harold Camping.

For proving, once again, that you are a heretic.

For not taking the responsibility of helping to deceive people worldwide.

For not shutting down your radio station when you would no longer have need of it.

For helping many news agencies reveal that they do not know how to report, with accuracy, what you were saying. And other news as well.

For causing many reasonable people, Christian and otherwise, to go to committed, hard working pastors and others, to discuss such folly in a reasonable manner to show that we all cannot be branded as herunatics.

 

Philippines Update

I am returning to Davao City and Cagayan De Oro in October. I will be there from October 13-November 1.  We will do two pastor’s conferences, one at Hope Mountain in Davao and one at Word of Life Camp in Cagyan De Oro, the locations are the same as last year. We are adding two church conferences, one each at our church plants in Davao and Cagayan De Oro/Opal. We have a third church in Pamuhatan and you can read about all of  them in previous blogs or at www.fbceny.org

Ernie , our lead elder, is  scheduled for surgery for a cyst removal from his inner nose. Funds to pay for this were made available to us ands I sent them via Western Union.

We are currently raising funds for our work in October. Airfare has already been paid in advance, by faith. I usually pay my own way, but this year the airfare was $650.00 more for the international flight and the church decided that they desire to raise at least half of my airfare. The in-country airfare has been covered.  A more detailed accounting will be included in a link once I post the video.

I am preparing a video newsletter that will be posted here and at our website. I hope to have it finished by the end of this week.

Israeli Jewish Christian Views Egypt

MaozNews Bulletin February 4, 2011

MaozNews is a monthly publication.

The Maoz Web

The Meddle East – US Policy

The extent to which the Obama administration has intervened in present events in the Middle East is disconcerting. The reckless naiveté which has informed and motivated such meddling is far more than merely disconcerting. The US role in promoting the massive demonstrations which took place in Egypt over the course off of last week has yet to be fully revealed.

US Administration officials have spoken very publicly about the smooth transition to a new government in Egypt toward which they are working,  and have taken extensive behind the scenes action to “move that process forward,” as a US national security spokesman chose to put it. Top members of the Obama administration stated on Thursday their desire for the embattled Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, to leave office and for negotiations to begin “immediately” with his political opponents.US National Security Council spokesman, Tommy Vietor, admitted that U.S. officials have also discussed with Egyptian officials “a variety of different ways” in which that new government could take shape.

On Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden talked with recently-appointed Egyptian Vice President, Omar Suleiman and pressed him to ensure that “credible, inclusive negotiations (should) begin immediately” with opposition political groups, a statement from Biden’s office said. That sentiment was reiterated by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. U.S. lawmakers have also chimed in and, on Thursday night, the U.S. Senate gave unanimous approval to a resolution calling for Mubarak to “immediately begin an orderly and peaceful transition to a democratic political system, including the transfer of power to an inclusive interim caretaker government, in coordination with leaders from Egypt’s opposition, civil society, and military, to enact the necessary reforms to hold free, fair, and internationally credible elections this year.”

Happily, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has not told Egyptian military leaders to pressure Mubarak to step down, US officials insisted when speaking to CNN. “That’s not his role,” one official explained. Mullen is, however, trying to encourage the Egyptian military to maintain security, not move against peaceful protesters, and restrain the violence so that it does not escalate. Meanwhile, the CIA has set up its own task force to monitor the crisis. “The Central Intelligence Agency always surges personnel and resources as needed to meet any crisis head-on. This situation is no different, and we’ve established a Middle East Task Force,” CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood said.

According to Nicholas Burns, a former Clinton State Department official, the Obama administration is handling the Egyptian crisis relatively well. “We’ve got to stand up, as the president is doing, for reform and democracy,” Burns told CNN. The U.S. government needs to “use our influence behind the scenes, and we’ve got a lot of influence there with President Mubarak to move him towards a fast transition.”

Strangely, the American Left has either supported such overt meddling in the internal affairs of another country, or been completely silent on the issue. One wonders how the Left would have acted in President Bush was still in the White House.

Obama and his administration have spoke up in the name of morality and of liberal principles, calling upon besieged Egyptian President Mubarak to protect the freedom of the Egyptian people to demonstrate. They have done so only because they can smell blood – Mubarak’s blood.  Their lofty liberal ideals led them to say not a word about the repressive regime in Saudia, for example (of course not, Saudia has plenty of oil). Where was the morally courageous, overt American support for the protesters in Iran following the latest round of election frauds, which resulted in the re-installment of Ahmedenijad as Iranian President?

Apparently, Roosevelt was right when he admitted that a certain Latin American President was a SOB with the simple explanation that he was “our SOB”.

Consequences

US allies in the Middle East have expressed concern regarding America’s sense of loyalty. Government’s have given anguished expressions of concern over the role the Obama administration has played visa vies President Mubarak, a close American ally of three decades. American assurances seem to be written on ice: whom will American betray next?

Treaties and alliances are, ultimately, built on trust. If one or both are the parties are not expected to live up to their undertakings, relations collapse. State Department officials had admitted that various regional allies are now concerned:  how quickly the might United States turn on them if protests begin in their countries, the officials said. As a result, Western influence is waning, America is viewed as an unreliable partner and threatened regimes are looking elsewhere for support. The West, with America at its lead, can no longer serve as a stabilizing force in the Middle East or elsewhere.

Only a fool would dare think that present unrest in Egypt, or elsewhere in the Middle East, will result in a stable democracy. None such exists anywhere in the Arab Muslim world. At least for a time, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt would prefer to play a role similar to that played by the Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Lebanese Government is wholly under the control of Hezbollah, which has but a third of the Governmental portfolios. In this way, Hezbollah can hide behind the mantle of a non-radical Government, while exercising all the powers that their position accords them.

Obama and his administration speaks much of “the will of the Egyptian people”. A recent letter from Egypt has this to say:

Please don’t believe what the international media is saying! There is a plot to topple the president,

and Egyptians do not want that.  I have been on the streets with many hundreds of thousands, probably even millions, who want stability, dialogue, and change with Mubarak until the elections in September.  There are forces taking advantage of the situation and twisting facts and figures to portray to the international community a distorted image to topple the government.

The vast majority of people in the streets in peaceful demonstrations (I speak as an eyewitness because I took to the streets myself) are carrying banners saying things like:

– yes to stability, yes to Mubarak

– give change a chance

– we are sorry Mr. president

– we accept dialogue, we trust you

– no to El-Baradei, no to the Muslim brotherhood (many like this one)

– we are the Egyptians, where is Al-Jazeera, let them come and see

– no to corruption, no to vandalism

– we got what we asked the president for, so why are people still in Tahrir?

We met with people who were in the original protest in Tahrir square … saying: “we got what we asked for, and now we accept Mubarak’s changes and proposals.”

I left the street with my wife around 4:15 pm, and the numbers in the neighborhood of Mohandessin where we were gathered had swelled to easily over a million. As we drove home we saw the same slogans on banners all over the city, on cars, on walls, on shop windows. We learned that similar demonstrations are taking place ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, IN MAY DIFFERENT CITIES. THIS IS THE CRY OF THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT THAT IS BEING TOTALLY IGNORED BY THE INTERNATIONAL NEWS MEDIA.

Is this on purpose??!!! I am perplexed!!! I am wondering: How come CNN, the BBC, and others are reporting ONLY the anti-government protests as the voice of the people? This is not JUSTICE. This is not the TRUTH. … Only a few people (hundreds?) are still there from the original protesters. They have been slowly replaced by other HIGHLY ORGANIZED GROUPS.  They all have the same model of cell phones. They all have the same blankets (eye witnesses). THESE ARE NOT THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT.  Some witnesses claim that they don’t look Egyptians, and don’t sound Egyptians (different accent, different dialect).  THIS IS A BIG ORGANIZED COUP TO TRY TO CONVINCE THE WORLD THROUGH THE MEDIA THAT EGYPT WANTS MUBARAK TO GO, AND THE MEDIA IS PART OF THE DECEPTION.

…  This is TYPICAL OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERS, AND EVERYBODY

IN THE STREETS OF CAIRO KNOWS THIS.  We heard people on the streets saying that the plot to take over the country is now clear.  THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW THIS.  The escalation of violence in Tahrir square is because of this.  Egyptians who love Egypt, the millions that took to the streets yesterday, want this to end. They fully understand that president Mubarak is between a rock and a hard place, that he cannot quench the unrest in Tahrir through the army, so the people want to go to Tahrir to disperse the crowds there by themselves.  …

This is NOT what Egyptians want!  I am an Egyptian. My wife and I were on the streets on Tuesday and Wednesday in support of the current regime, and we saw millions on the streets. If Egypt falls, then neighboring countries are going to fall one after the other. Please help us uncover the deception and spread the truth.  Please share with everybody.

President Obama has said, “To the people of Egypt, particularly the young people of Egypt, I want to be clear: We hear your voices. I have an unyielding belief that you will determine your own destiny, and seize the promise of a better future for your children and your grandchildren.” Will he hear this voice?

Baruch Maoz    Gedera, Israel

Philippines Update-New meeting place in Davao

To God be the glory! Pastor Rito in our Cagayan church called Ernie last Monday informing him that they have a good increase in attendance last Sunday. They have home bible studies and visitation in subdivision near by the village of Opal where the  church is located. The meeting house is attached to the home of Ernie’s uncle. I was there in September and preached on the Sunday after our pastor’s conference. There are two young people from Cagayan, who are active in the church and helping the work of pastor Rito.

From Ernie: The church in Davao worshiped our Awesome God in a new building. We had a fellowship during our first Sunday (Jan.9,2011) in this building. Since we transferred there are new worshipers with us every Sunday. last Sunday we have 3 visitors. our attendance were 21. there are two who decided to be baptized. Please continue to pray for this. A Christian business man has leased us the fourth floor of his building at the cost of $63.00/month. That is a big break on a rental/lease. Please pray that we can manage the needed funds monthly. (Note-Our prior location in Ernie’s home could only allow 10 people to meet, so many of our members from the original fellowship in the larger home from the last two years are able to come again on Sundays.  We expect to grow.)

Pastor Bosay  decided to stop his work in Baganihan in December. ( Note: As of April 2011, he is still with us. More in an update that is coming)He needs to move to find work to support his family. Remember our pastors are working on no salary or support from us at the present. Only Ernie, our lead pastor/church planter, is able to receive some support on a quarterly basis, We are looking for a new worker in Baganihan. Please consider in your prayers brother Rey Pacomios. Ernie talked to him last Tuesday and he is willing to work in Baganihan. Please consider also in prayer about his transportation expenses for this ministry.

Philippines Update:New Location in Davao

Ernie and family have moved to a new location in Davao City. This accomplishes three things:

1. They are living with his sister in law. This will be much more affordable

2. There is property adjacent to the house that will be developed for a meeting place

3. More of our brethren attending the church are from that side of DavaoCity, so transportation will be cheaper and a shorter distance travelled.

We will need about $1200.00 to level the land and build a basic structure.Presently the church meets in the house, although it is small, so all are not yet able to attend at one time. We are praying through alternatives for this until the structure can be built.

Two new disciples study groups are continuing and a bible study at the largest mall in Mindanao in Davao City has begun.

We have 14 baptisms planned in Pamuhatan and our work in Cagayan De Oro is growing out of the present building.

Philippines Update – September Trip

I will be adding photos, links, and a full report soon but to get you started, here is a half hour interview with Ernie, our church planting pastor in Davao City.  Ernie oversees all four of our works in Davao, Pamuhatan, Baganihan and Cagayan De Oro.