CRC Synods have Backed into Almost Everything Else. Now Punts Globalization to Classis

@crcna Saturday Evening - June 15 - Synod 2024 kzbin.info-DOzkM5c0Ew?si=aMh9i1cnEGSImBNE
Monday Morning - June 17 - Synod 2024 kzbin.infoLabPJscbzO8?si=RjftcfRIjU1g6peW
Vanderklips channel kzbin.info/door/X0jIcadtoxELSwehCh5QTg
Bridges of Meaning Discord discord.gg/JpHtVgXW
www.meetup.com/sacramento-estuary/
My Substack paulvanderklay.substack.com/
Estuary Hub Link www.estuaryhub.com/
If you want to schedule a one-on-one conversation check here. calendly.com/paulvanderklay/one2one
For the audio podcast mirror on Podbean paulvanderklay.podbean.com/
To listen to this on ITunes itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/paul-vanderklays-podcast/id1394314333
If you need the RSS feed for your podcast player paulvanderklay.podbean.com/feed/
All Amazon links here are part of the Amazon Affiliate Program. Amazon pays a small commission at no additional cost to you if you buy through one of the product links here.
paypal.me/paulvanderklay
Also on Odysee: odysee.com/@paulvanderklay
www.patreon.com/paulvanderklay
Paul's Church Content at Living Stones Channel kzbin.info/door/h7bdktIALZ9Nq41oVCvW-A
To support Paul's work by supporting his church give here. tithe.ly/give?c=2160640
Join this channel to get access to perks:
kzbin.info/door/GsDIP_K6J6VSTqlq-9IPlgjoin
-Randos Level for Members Only Videos
-No Wait No Ads Level for Early access to upcoming videos
-Supporter Level for special Supporter Access to PVK

[@comeintotheforest]

SYNOD REPORT!! I’m so here for this.

[@resilientrecoveryministries]

"I wasn't a big spendy boyfriend," is the answer to "Tell me you're Dutch, without saying, 'I'm Dutch.'"

[@jimluebke3869]

Where do I find these tall, blonde Dutch girls that can appreciate a good household budget?

[@tylerhelfers7693]

Another instance of the need for greater awareness of the realities at the local and classical levels and how all these things fit together (the issues to be taken up later are not wholly separate from these: global mission and grandma's pension, confessionality and a "family church"). It begs the question: What sort of denomination, what sort of structure and direction, the next generation is going to create? What will be the institutional, missional, and pastoral marks of a confessional, "globalizing" CRC in the years ahead, what are the financial needs for implementing it (and will be actually have them at the denominational level), and who will be the wise and creative leaders to guide, direct, and spur on this work?

[@grailcountry]

Looking forward to the Chris Green conversation!

[@Neal_Daedalus]

What i’m taking note of is how much the institutional deconstruction is occurring regardless of the type of institution. We will reach a point of peak institutional deconstruction- but we’re no where near that peak, in my opinion. Just ramping up.

[@skylinefever]

Sarhon Of Akhad said liberalism is the universal acid. It will deconstruct everything. Then it deconstructs itself.

[@jimluebke3869]

"Global mission" At what point are we going to accept that America is now the Mission Field, and our outreach to places such as Africa is best in the form of, "Could you spare some orthodox pastors to help us re-convert Americans?"

[@resilientrecoveryministries]

And please come give us parenting classes. Our kids hate us and are disobedient. Tell us what to do.

[@jimluebke3869]

@@resilientrecoveryministries Homeschool. Public schools teach your kids to hate you and your values. Also, no cellphones or social media.

[@resilientrecoveryministries]

​@@jimluebke3869I agree, but I want a wise Christian woman with an African accent to tell me that.

[@jimluebke3869]

@@resilientrecoveryministries They'll probably come along with the pastors too.

[@Pseudo_Boethius]

Here's the more significant question: at what point do what accept that Christianity in the West is dying a fast death? Christianity is in full blown retreat, and the evidence of this can be found everywhere. PVK keeps saying that it is _modernity is receding,_ despite the obvious fact that modernity has never been more triumphant than it is right now. On the other hand, Christianity is in worse shape now than it ever has been. Yes, there are some significant exceptions in Africa, Asia and South America, but in the West, the cradle of Christianity, it is dying a fast death. PVK likes to hold up the cartoon character atheists to either praise or ridicule, like Dawkins or Alex O'Connor, but what about the *huge* number of atheists out there who once were faithful Christians, and know the bible far better than we do? For instance: *Bible Scholar Dr. Joshua Bowen Leaves Christianity* on the MythVision podcast on YT Now, Bowen comes from a very conservative, anti-intellectual, dogmatic, fundamentalist background, and that worldview is rarely going to survive contact with hardcore modern culture. But there are many thousands more of these type of "deconstruction" stories out there, and they usually end up with a person becoming a full-bore atheist, or a lukewarm diest at best. Modernism is doing a far, far, far, better job converting Christians to it's cause than Christians are converting modernist/progressives. It's not even close. So is liberal, progressive "Christianity" the answer? Obviously that's even worse, as the liberal congregations are losing members at an even faster rate than anyone else. I mean, why go to church if your church is just aping everything that the urban monoculture takes as dogma? What's the point? Most progressive people are coming to the quite correct conclusion that there isn't a good reason to continue going to church, and I don't blame them. In regards to Africa: One of the greatest ironies in all of Christianity is how the Catholics, *soon after the Reformation,* became the most powerful and successful missionary organization in the history of the church. One of those people was one of the most controversial Catholics of the 20th century: *Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre,* who was a missionary to Gabon, Africa. Lefebvre had tremendous success converting Africans to Christ using pretty much the same ideas and strategies that worked since the 1500's, and he was well loved for the work he did there. But when it came time for Archbishop Lefebvre to attend Vatican II, he quickly realized that the church was making a grave mistake in copying the "success" of modernist obsessed Anglo-Protestant mainline churches, and he knew that such a strategy would only lead to the church becoming a paper tiger. So he took a very hardline stance against most of the reforms that Vatican II brought to the table. But he was in the vast minority, and his opposition had no impact. But even well after Vatican II, he refused to personally adopt any of the reforms, and was branded a pseudo heretic. The irony is that five minutes before Vatican II, he was the darling of Catholicism, but five minutes after, he was the worse sort of reactionary, even though his own personal beliefs and attitudes never changed one iota! I was always told that Lefebvre was a mean, reactionary traditionalist who couldn't be trusted. But all the best Catholics I knew really loved the guy! So when I did my own research on Lefebvre, it became quite evident that he very accurately saw Vatican II as a failed project before it even got out of the gate, and was warning everyone he could that it was a bad strategy. Now 60 years later, it's evident to all but the most dogmatic liberals that Lefebvre was correct on all counts. I consider him a brother in arms, as we both hate modernism with a purple passion, and renounce it as a work of Satan. Now, I sit here with my popcorn and a large Coke, watching the progressive liberal Protestant "Christians" of America make total fools of themselves, as they constantly diss their African counterparts, because they are far more conservative and traditional than their American leadership! Yes, the very same liberals who can't shut up for ten seconds about "their" great victory in regards to Civil Rights for African Americans, can't abide the Christianity of actual Africans. They hypocrisy here is of epic proportions, and I'm enjoying every second of it. The revenge of Lefebvre is most evident in the increasing numbers of *African* Catholic priests who come to America to make up for the extreme lack of American priests. So how low will we go before we completely destroy everything our forefathers sacrificed for our welfare for our own PRIDE and hedonistic appetites? We are getting awfully close to the point of no return, and once that happens, God will be fully justified in doing to us what he's done to every other rebellious nation in the history of the earth. There is nothing the least bit merciful or compassionate about allowing unrepentant sin to run rampant in a nation to bolster your own crooked sense of righteousness.

[@Phlebas9202]

You just came up at Synod PVK. Don't worry, all good 👍

[@teestrypzSOG]

You got a clip?

[@Phlebas9202]

@@teestrypzSOG more of an easter egg. Insignificant lol.

[@matthewkilbride1669]

You should 100% do a History of Living Stones video.

[@Landbeorht]

surprised this hasn't happened yet

[@williamlutz6691]

With the general secretary/executive director, it seems like this is what happens when you bring a type of bureaucratic/professional management into the church. The bureaucrats, as well-intentioned as they may be, aren't there to be swayed by the whims of synod, they are there to provide stability and data-driven management to the affairs of the church. This was a fascinating and necessary video.

[@michaelmyers9080]

Wish I could tell you about a youth ministry initiative coming to the floor at an event very much like your synod. Great excitement, no plan, no job description. No deliberation, nothing on paper, no power point. It made me a fan of ineffective bureaucracies.

[@WmLocke]

I often struggle to know how to help my next-door neighbours, so helping people thousands of miles away seems like something that would require a lot of consideration. Is it unfair to wonder if ‘global missions’ may stray into telescopic philanthropy? This type of do-gooding seems to captivate managerial types in organisations.

[@skylinefever]

Have you ever read about "Luxury beliefs" I once argued that luxury beliefs aren't limited to social justice woke leftsists. I argued that purity culture actually working is a luxury belief.

[@Hellyers]

I can't get past the fact that Zach King (the top KZbin magician & special effects guru) is at Synod! 😂

[@MarkDParker]

(52:38) I felt that sigh to the marrow.

[@anselman3156]

I came across an interesting video today by a Calvin College alumnus (perhaps a rare one, being an Arminian!): "Biography of Arminius- Stanglin" on Francis Asbury Society channel.

[@Phlebas9202]

That was horribly confusing and I'm familiar with a lot of it. 😂

[@Phlebas9202]

Still enjoyed it. Hope you find more time.

[@faturechi]

You're absolutely right. You need bishops.

[@christianbaxter_yt]

Love this

[@cedricparsels8350]

Nein!

[@Phlebas9202]

It's really too bad you don't have more time. There is so much confusion (even on the floor) because decisions are intertwined. As you've said before, each Synod is it's own thing. The fact the last Synod didn't finish it's work is having a huge effect especially with the order the Committees report.

[@pigetstuck]

Is using the gravamen process too indirect a method to address the concerns about affirmation in the CRC? It seems like it will have unintended consequences.

[@pik377]

I keep hearing SyBoard as SyBorg

[@PaulVanderKlay]

Yep. ;)

[@teestrypzSOG]

didn't even get a "leave a comment"

[@ChristianDiaspora]

I actually really enjoyed this video 😆

[@ameriprayer1462]

Lew Vandermeer was my teacher at GRCH at the same time he was pastoring at Sunshine. Is he still with us ?

[@PaulVanderKlay]

I don't know.

[@ameriprayer1462]

@@PaulVanderKlay google search says he's still teaching at GRCH and communications at calvin but I don' think so.

[@erics4802]

What'd your grandma have against old men!?!😆

[@jimluebke3869]

It breaks her heart to see her grandson as an old man I guess.

[@brianbob7514]

Fall back to the trenches troops, orthodoxy is ready to accept the remnants

[@resilientrecoveryministries]

Sorry bud. Mine sidters are tall (almost 6ft) but taken. I suggest you go to West Michigan and stand on a corner with a copy of the Banner in one hand, and a fist full of coupons in the other.

[@knittylane3016]

😎

[@ameriprayer1462]

What years did Paul go to Calvin Seminary ?

[@PaulVanderKlay]

86 to 90

[@ameriprayer1462]

@@PaulVanderKlay you were at the seminary when I was at the college

[@JamesRHenry523]

Pet rocks?

[@berglen100]

Mary marriage does confuse flesh and blood meanings of sex male female two minds only one same body unseen Mary parable of skull God kingdom marriage happens timelessness no jew or gentiles ect....................................nore flesh male female just chase time followers tick tick tick________________rebirth flesh lives time again till final fades away with flesh rebirth Young and old life's get mortal actors rewoke about eternal nothing matters.

[@MrMarccj]

mmm, 3rd.

[@ProfesserLuigi]

Bronze is the tastiest medal.

[@hiervi]

diaconical you say.

[@lkae4]

80% to 90% of Venezuela is Christian but the next big thing for CRC is missions to Venezuela? What is wrong with your people, Paul? Lol.

[@skylinefever]

Maybe they will go there, not to convert others, but to find a way to go back to the USA and prevent deconversion. Maybe they will go worldwide and see what actually has a retention rate. They will see what Focus On The Family Karens missed.

[@lkae4]

@@skylinefever My old church tried the same with Scotland. Didn't work. Old church imploded from personality tests and wokism. America is not Scotland. America is not Venezuela.

[@skylinefever]

@@lkae4 Indeed, nations do not have magic dirt. I often say that the magic dirt fallacy doesn't justb explain why letting in people doesn't always work. It also explains why taking a policy from another country to your own is not guaranteed to work either.

[@lkae4]

@@skylinefever May be why PVK's channel and this little corner are so very important to the future of Western Christianity.

[@skylinefever]

@@lkae4 I think I found PVK because of Based Camp. I am interested in IDW and dissident right thinking bevause mainstream left and right were both frauds to me.