New West Community Church

Several weeks ago, an enormous Christian conference was held in Ogden, Utah, put on by Brian Sauve, Eric Conn, and New Christendom Press. After the conference, word got out that one of the accepted and actively involved vendors was Antelope Hill Publishing, a publisher who, under the guise of “historical preservation,” not only prints Nazi treatises by Hitler and Goebels, but vile, white ethno-centrist literature that teaches white dominion over blacks and blasts racial inter-marriage. It actually gets worse. The man at the Antelope Hill table was a genuine, self-professing, “white power” Nazi who joked about peddling Third Reich literature at a Christian conference. But it gets worse yet. When confronted online, (including by James White, Douglas Wilson*, and a friend, Joe Boot), Sauve and Conn doubled down, including calling those being critical “accusers of the brethren” and both of them, (Sauve in video and Conn in a post) suggesting that those criticizing are in danger of hell. So what is going on? Let me suggest that this matters even if you don’t know any of the five names above. Let me start with some cultural observations. Many older folks, including in the church, are not aware of the amount...Continue reading→

For several reasons, ranging from our hostile contemporary context to my biblical-theological readings of Scripture, family discipleship and faithfulness is one of the key foci of my ministry. I mentioned Sunday, as our passage contained in it that notable statement from Joshua, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh 24:15), a triad for building faithfulness in your family. However, I only expounded upon one of them, and only very briefly, and so I want to bring it back to your attention and exhort you to do these things. The triad is: 1) Family worship, directed God-ward, 2) Family identity, directed inward, and 3) Family work, directed outward. A few words on each. Family worship is noted in our membership covenant as one of the main means for the propagating of the faith to our children and ought to contain, at the very least, daily bible reading in the family and prayer. Some families prefer the morning and others the evening, but most successful families will connect family worship to a meal, and regular meals together have been shown to be a stabilizing and uniting element within families in sociological studies. Other elements, too, are helpful:...Continue reading→

““All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.” (1 Co 6:12) ““All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” (1 Co 10:23–24) As noted in last week’s Touchpoints article, the apostle Paul teaches in Romans 14:5-6 and Colossians 2:16-17 that Sabbath-keeping is a matter of Christian liberty, the reality of the Sabbath being fulfilled in Christ. I argued that in placing the Sabbath within the category of other holy days, Paul is reading several passages in the Old Testament well (Exo 23:10-17, 34:18-24, Lev 23:3). Does this mean, therefore, that Christians are free to disregard everything related to the Sabbath and the fourth commandment? As Paul himself says, “all things are lawful, but not all things are helpful.” And Jesus clearly taught that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” We would expect therefore that though there is no absolute Sabbath rule, there are helpful principles related to the Sabbath for man’s blessing....Continue reading→