Letter from the President-April 1, 2013

By -
                                                                                                                      
Dear FGA,

The celebration of Easter Sunday has come and gone but the importance and impact is forever.

As Faulkner put it; “And so in the end we live not in the darkened shadow of Good Friday but on ground that has been illuminated by the dawn of Easter Sunday.” This is the life giving truth that we have the privilege of proclaiming to a lost and dying world, a gift of God’s Grace. So simple and so wonderful!

One of the great proclaimers and defenders of that gracious message went home to be with the Lord this past month. Dr. Roy Zuck, Senior Professor of Biblical Exposition at Dallas Theological Seminary and editor of Bib Sac, was a faithful and gracious man who had been part of FGA from its inception. Roy was also awarded the Trophy of Grace Award this past year at the FGA National Conference in Dallas. Roy was a skilled expositor, educator, and editor and had a way of always remembering his students’ names. His kind demeanor and unassuming presence always manifested the grace of God in his life.                

We also lost another defender of the grace message two months ago, Dr. Howard (Howie) Hendricks. Many of us felt the life changing impact of “Prof” as he was affectionately known, either in the classroom or at a conference.   His commitment to the distinction between discipleship and the reception of eternal life paved the way for many who are part of the FGA.

May both Roy and “Prof” have an abundant entrance into the eternal kingdom of their Lord and Savior who they served so loyally.

The passing of both these men reminds us that we are watching a changing of the guard. There are many great leaders, both men and women, who are coming to the end of their time of service for the Lord. This is true of the evangelical church in America as a whole, but it is also particularly true of those who are part of the Free Grace movement. It is ever true: The Lord buries his workmen but His work continues. I hope this motivates you to be sure to pass the torch. I pray that the words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy are guiding your time and stay upon the earth;

“You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. (2Timothy 2:1-2)

As “Prof” once told me, as I am sure he told others; “Fred, when I come to see you the first question I will have for you is, “Where are your men?”. He did come and visit me and he did ask. And I was able to point him to one of my men. Jesus will be asking as well. So, count the days and make the days count.

Let me encourage you to take a look at the FGA website. We have new resources available. You can now download and listen to previous FGA national conference sessions. Let me also encourage you to view the FGA blog and perhaps even contribute a ministry update or a theological consideration. Finally, let me remind you to look at the information concerning the upcoming FGA Regional Conferences (Salem, Oregon on April 20th ,   Tampa, Florida, May 18th and Charlotte, North Carolina, June 22nd) These conferences are a great way to be personally encouraged and participate in gaining some pastoral and professional education and equipping.

If we can serve you and your ministry please let us know. If you have an idea of how we can serve you better, please share it with us.


Serving Him with You
Until He comes for us,

Fred Chay
President, FGA

 

 

 

 

Popular posts from this blog

A Change of Mind about Repentance: Do you Dare?

By -
By Dr. Fred Lybrand   Repentance has been a sticky issue and has been around as a major conversation piece since the Reformation. I know, because ‘my view’ (which I found out I share with Dr. Elliot Johnson of Dallas Theological Seminary) has been labeled an error by those involved in the Marrow of Divinity Controversy way back in the 1600s! Of course, no need to get excited, every view on the planet and throughout history is an error to someone or some group.   So, the issue of concern here --- is repentance necessary to get saved (as in from-hell-to-heaven)? If it is necessary, then is it a part of saving faith? These are the essential questions. There are many views, often being represented as repentance meaning the necessary turning from all known sin (and interest in future sin, usually) to ‘believe’ in Christ. In this regard, some purveyors of salvation make repentance as much of a part of faith as they do works (see http://www.backtofaith.com ).   I have a b...
Read more

Antinomianism and Free Grace Theology

By -
By Dr. Roger Fankhauser, FGA Executive Council member and the pastor of Burleson Bible Church in Burleson, Texas.  Dr. Fankhauser can be reached at rsfankhauser at bellsouth dot net.   Antinomianism.   A fancy word meaning “lawless”.   Many who don’t get the free grace message accuse us of practicing and teaching antinomianism. They think – wrongly – that the free grace message is light on sin and light on obedience. The author of a recent best-selling book describes the message that he alleges some present this way: “We have been told all that is required is a one-time decision, maybe even mere intellectual assent to Jesus, but after that we need not worry about his commands, his standards, or his glory. We have a ticket to heaven, and we can live however we want on earth. Our sin will be tolerated along the way….” Another well-known author put it this way: “What is no-Lordship theology (the author’s name for free grace theology) but the teaching that those w...
Read more

Understanding Hebrews 10:26: Is Christ’s Sacrifice Sufficient for Me?

By -
Image
(Originally posted at thegracelings.org) Bible wasn’t given to us as a bunch of unconnected verses that all make perfect sense on their own. Sometimes, without the context, verses can sound like they mean the opposite of what the authors meant by what they wrote. It’s a terrible thing, but many times people take advantage of this fact and use isolated verses in a way that hurts people and devastates their walk with Christ. (Sometimes it’s out of ignorance. Sometimes it’s malicious. It’s always tragic.) It’s especially common for people to cite Scripture out of context in order to cause believers to doubt Christ’s love for them or the security of their salvation. This article is about one verse that is often used this way. It’s Hebrews 10:26, which reads, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (NKJV, same throughout the article). Often, people throw this verse out there on social media like a grenade wi...
Read more