Pilgrim Bible Church Online Tacoma, WA 253-473-5657 |
About Pilgrim Bible Church
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A survey of the contemporary
evangelical scene reveals some startling facts: church attendance is up, way up, while
Bible knowledge is down, way down! More people now say they believe in God than ever
before according to a recent Gallup survey, while an equally high number of respondents
said they did not believe that truth is absolute. You are left to wonder just what kind of
God these people worship!? These paradoxes shouldn't surprise us; Never before in the
history of the church has doctrine been so universally disparaged and held in contempt.
And this attitude threatens the very gospel message Christ commissioned His Bride to
proclaim (Matt. 28:18-20; Luke 24:46-47). The title of a recent best-seller sums it up
well, the church has become Ashamed of the Gospel! But it is not ashamed of programs! In the power vacuum created when the "power of God", the gospel (Rom.1:16-17), is rejected, programs proliferate, along with a whole host of contradictions. For example, the church seems to target families for much of its ministry programming, but the minute the family arrives on its door step each Sunday, it ceases to be a family as parents and children are separated and sent to separate classrooms for "age-appropriate instruction". They'll be fortunate to see each other again in the same building before the benediction. This "divide and conquer" mentality is not the only anomaly ready to greet a newcomer to evangelicalism's curious blend of contradictions where the family is concerned. Evangelicals also say they oppose divorce and appear poised to fight it tooth and nail, while distressing statistics reveal just how "toothless" is their claim. Couples within the evangelical fold de-couple at alarming rates which actually rival the divorce statistics of the unbelieving world! But then you cannot blame the church for becoming a carbon copy of the world it attempts to reach when the only weapon in its arsenal of evangelism is "relevance". The church marches to the drum beat of popularity and trendiness. It gets its agenda from the world and has succumbed to worldliness. For example, tolerance is the great virtue of our age, and anyone who would dare "call a spade a spade" and refer to someone's activities or lifestyle as "sinful" is stigmatized as the real enemy of society and progress. Tolerance has also invaded the church in the form of a growing acceptance of heresy (the openness of God theology, for example) and a corresponding reluctance to confront sin within the Body as the Bible specifically instructs (Matt. 18:15-20; I Cor. 5:1-13). Then, there's the new "golden calf" of the contemporary worship movement, where one "connects" with his god not through any serious consideration of or meditation upon the Scriptures, but through a certain "style" of music featuring minimal lyrics and the mantra-like repetition of inebriating cadences. People come away from such "worship" more confused about God than ever but far more self-satisfied and self-affirmed. At Pilgrim Bible Church, we believe that true, Christ-exalting worship should involve a loss of and a death to one's self as the worshiper becomes caught up in the majesty and magnificence of God, and it should engage the whole man as he becomes "lost in wonder, love and praise!" At Pilgrim Bible Church such Christ-centered and Christ-exalting worship is our goal. We believe that necessitates a careful and systematic expounding of the Scriptures each Sunday coupled with the singing of hymns and some choruses that are both doctrinally rich and lyrically beautiful. We believe the church should both sing as well hear and ponder its theology! We also believe a family should worship together. At Pilgrim Bible Church, we believe that fathers serve as their family's worship leaders and that they should be taught by the church how to prepare their family for the Lord's Day so that worship can be, in some fashion, a meaningful experience for all. Though we are a Reformed work, we eschew the stifling legalism that seems to choke out the spirit and warmth and life of many Reformed works. Though we believe passionately in doctrinal precision, making sure we "dot our theological i's and cross our theological t's", we hope to do so under grace in a charitable and kindly fashion, believing as we do that conformity to Christ, the ultimate result of all proper worship, also means conformity to His winsomeness, gentleness and mercy. Earnestly contending for the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3) need not make the saints contentious (II Tim. 2:24-25). |