Dear Cornerstone Family,
We lost a theological giant this week. Dr. J.I. Packer died on July 17, 2020 just a few days shy of his 94th birthday. Though born in England and nurtured in the low church Anglican tradition, Packer likely made his biggest impact in North American evangelicalism. His best-selling 1973 book, Knowing God, is still considered one of the best introductions of Reformed theology. If you haven’t read it, rectify that soon. I commend it highly.
Someone asked me this week what made Packer so influential. I found the question difficult to answer. To be honest, there is nothing particularly flashy about Packer as a person. Though a superior mind with a keen ability to communicate, especially in written word, his ministry was pretty ordinary for the most part. If you considered his life as a whole, I suspect you’d find he spent most every day teaching the Bible and writing good books. Which is probably why (at least from a human perspective) he was so influential. Packer was a man who ran the race and stayed the course. Day in and day out, he gave himself to the things that mattered most.
Two leading values I see in Packer’s ministry: purity and peace. Specifically, purity of the truth and peace in the church. If you were to survey the leading emphases in Packer’s lecturing and writing, take inventory of the historical figures and movements that captured his attention, and mark the kinds of controversies that typically ensnared him, you would see a man trying to unify the church in the truth. Even when I find myself at odds with Packer, I can’t help but respect him, for what I know he’s trying to do: speak the truth with love for the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace in the body of Christ (Eph. 4:1-3, 15).
Today, in heaven, Packer knows that for which labored: purity and peace. For that, we can rejoice! Well done, Dr. Packer. You did not run in vain, sir. “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” (Rev.14:13)
Before I close, let me give you a brief update on the church ministry as we look toward the fall. Your staff and elders are in regular discussion about the state of the ministry during COVID-19. We continue to be very encouraged by the stories of God’s work in our body through in-person and livestream worship and the variety of other ministry initiatives happening over the summer with children, youth, men, and women. So many things to share, but I’ll save the heartening stories for a later time.
As you’d expect, we’re seeking God’s face for wisdom as we prepare for the fall. It is our earnest prayer and plan to increase in-person ministries as we move toward the fall while continuing to offer opportunities online and through livestream. As we begin to make plans, we ask you to pray for us. Pray for wisdom. Pray for the health and safety of our congregation. Pray for the ongoing effectiveness of the ministry. Pray that we would honor Jesus Christ by fulfilling our mission: “To Glorify God in the Gospel as Disciples who Make Disciples.”
More on all this soon. For now, let’s worship together!
Your servant,
Nate