Rev. Eric Phillips is the pastor of Mt. Carmel Presbyterian Church and long-time friend and colleague of Nate Devlin. Pastor Eric is finishing his Doctor of Ministry degree at Covenant Seminary in St. Loiuse, MO. His area of research is on pastoral leadership and in this Special Edition of the Parrhesian Podcast, Eric interviews Nate on the subject of conflict in the church. Join Nate and Eric and find out why it is important to engage the conflict faithfully and courageously.

https://theparrhesians.com/

Is the church essential or non-essential? Does the Bible really teach that the church should occupy a place of primacy in our lives? Is the church really fundamental to our Christian identity or is it really just supplemental?

In 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic caused society to shut down. And when society shut down, questions arose about what institutions in our culture were actually essential and which were non-essential. Many states in our country determined at the outset of the pandemic that the church was in fact non-essential and mandated closures.

One of those states was California and one of the churches mandated to close was Grace Community Church in Los Angeles. But Pastor John MacArthur knew his Bible and knew his church history and he knew that the church was essential. That is why Grace Community Church ultimately defied Gov. Newsom’s order and remained open.

Last year a documentary was released entitled The Essential Church, which detailed Grace Community Church’s journey to remain faithful to God, to his word and to the mission of the church. It is a truly inspiring story and if you have not yet watched it, then consider clicking the link above and checking it out.

In January of 2023, Nate, Peter and Kyle also sat down and talked about the essential nature of the church and why the church should have pride of place in a Christian’s life. They discussed the challenging, and perhaps dangerous proposition that the church calendar should come before the sports calendar, the school calendar or even our personal calendars.

So join, Nate, Peter and Kyle as they discuss the primacy of the church.

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The Evangelical Presbyterian Church recently released a document entitled “A Pastoral Letter of Racial Lament and Hope.” The paper is a pastoral word to the denomination regarding racism and the EPC’s response to this very real and serious problem. The paper was disseminated to churches in the EPC for review as well as response. The Stated Clerk of the EPC offered comments about the paper here.

Peter Chace, Kyle Bennett, and Nate Devlin all read the paper and found it to be significantly problematic. They believe the paper reflects much of the wisdom found in the prevailing culture, borrowing substantially from the popular modern notion of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and secular “anti-racisms” rhetoric. The paper seems to be yet another piece of evidence that the EPC continues its slide toward theological and cultural liberalism.

https://theparrhesians.com/

Your system is perfectly designed to get you the results you are currently getting.

As Christians, we are called to think Christianly, but every once in a while Christians should think a little bigger, especially about the systems that we create or the conditions in which we live. The world is full of unspoken and unseen systems that help govern the world and our lives. As Christians, what do we think about the system around us, such as education or human sexuality? What do we think about culture or tradition? Hospitality or civics?

These systems are surprisingly powerful and they often shape us in unchristian ways.

Join Peter, Kyle and Nate as they talk about the systems that are all around us and how we as Christians should think about them.

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Being a Christian in our world today is hard. It is made all the more difficult when Christians fail to think in a distinctly Christian way. Join Peter, Kyle, and Nate as they discuss Harry Blamires book The Christian Mind, what it means to think Christianly, and why Christian thinking is so important.

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Kyle, Peter and Nate finally explain what Parrhesia is and why it matters today.

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Kyle Peter and Nate discuss what it means to pass on the faith to the next generation.

https://theparrhesians.com/

Kyle, Peter and Nate have a few thoughts about the coup document below:

God’s plan for the congregation to take back Beverly Heights EPC

We the congregation of Beverly Heights EPC have become aware of a plan by our current pastor, Nate Devlin, and a small group of leadership including the elders, to move our church alliance from the Evangelical Presbyterian Church to another denomination/ group called Theopolis. While the basic teachings of this group seem solid, there are other teachings that that are in conflict with our basic beliefs and the way that we worship. Nate and this group of leadership in our church has been quietly moving our church to this denomination/group without laying out a new vision for the church and presenting it to the church for their approval as when the church as a whole made the decision to leave the PCAUSA and alliance with the EPC. As past leadership from the church has become aware of this move towards Theopolis, they have been studying this movement and trying to make other members aware of the changes. Our feeling is that when a church group believes that they have some special connection to God that no one else can experience unless they follow along it is prideful; in this case prideful intellectualism and cult like behavior. Nate and this group are attempting to squash all attempts for past leadership to educate and warn current members of the general population. While the past leadership is trying to work within the confines of the Presbytery, that has been slow. Charges against Nate have been registered with the Presbytery. Now is the time for the general congregation of Beverly Heights EPC to take back their beloved church. Beverly Heights has a rich history of serving the neighborhood and a witness to our Precious Lord Jesus Christ.

Here is a plan to set this in motion.

1. Set up a trust fund for contributions to the church.

2. Have as many members as possible contribute what they would normally give to the church to this fund. This is done, to limit funding to this group, essentially putting the church into bankruptcy. If there is no money, there is payroll, there are no programs and there is no school.

3. This fund will then be put back into the church operating fund once the group is removed. We will need funds to rebuild.

4. Have as many members as possible stop contributing their time and talents to the church. Again, making it difficult for the church to operate.

5. Stage silent protests during the worship service; where a large group sits together, does not participate in any way, but spends the time with heads bowed in prayer for the church. This is done to make those that are still in the dark aware that there is an issue.

6. Physically reclaim the church building and lock out this rouge group of believers. (This can be done is several ways which I do not want to list here in case one of this group gets ahold of this statement.)

7. Seek legal and financial advice as needed from godly men and women.

8. Offer forgiveness to those who were involved, allowing those that were involved to remain with the congregation as long as they recant their alliance to Nate, then church discipline by not allowing them to ever participate in any leadership role ever again.

Beverly Heights Church has faced similar challenges in the past with a church split and the move from the PCAUSA to the EPC. Our dear church has come out on top every time and smelling like a rose. We believe that our hearts in in the right place and the Lord will guide us and make a way for us to reclaim this wonderful, God fearing and God honoring church. In doing this, we pray that the many wonderful, godly leaders that departed the church because of this movement will return and help Beverly Heights rebuild.

Signed

The general congregation of Beverly

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