Solomon's Porch Christian Community

Introduction

Rhyming with the Early and Reformed church has always been a goal of Solomon’s Porch Christian Church. A healthy respect for the whole church helps to guard against the excesses of the radical reformation. What is the radical reformation? The radical reformation follows a radically biblicist hermeneutic built on a dueling contradiction. On the one hand they want you to prove everything with a verse that says exactly what you are saying. They rarely recognize theological building blocks and are not possessed of a systematic theology to speak of. On the other hand, if the Sciptures are silent about something they want to do, then that is proof text enough to do it. Sounds a lot like Big Eva? Yes, I view the vast majority of non-denominational ministries in the United States to be of the radical reformed persuasion.

The Roots & Rhyming

As someone committed to rhyming with the Early and Reformed church and growing the American church I pastor by grafting onto their roots, the two groups of people I think who it is most important to keep in view are the Christians from first 451 years and the period between 1550 and 1648, including Calvin’s Geneva, Puritan and Covenanter Scotland, and Pilgrim–later Puritan New England. In my mind, if I have never said it outloud, everything after 1800 is suspect. The Enlightenment began to change the human mind, the way we think, and most of what developed in the Reformed church after it, especially in the twentieth century, is not in step with the Westminster Confession nor the beliefs of ancient Christians about the Divine communication of the natural world, its origins, and even the nature of God. Paul says God will send, at the end of the age, “a strong delusion” on those He is about to bring final judgment upon (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12) at Christ’s return.

Safest Course In Troubled Waters

The safest course is the narrow one. The one where the foot steps of the saints blaze as they followed the Forerunner in the first centuries. Where those who also gave their lives in real blazes all their own defined the the narrow way using the principle of Sola Scripura in the sixteen and seventeenth centuries. The early church set the boundaries, giving us the Sacred Treasury, the accurate grocery list to guide us in essential Christian truth. After a time of evil and the moving of the theological boundaries from Christ alone to Christ plus our merit, wise, competent men returned the Church to her biblical foundation reflected in those early creeds. They further declared the truth of God on many other subjects so that we could all live in a better union together. Here we don’t want to rhyme, we want to be in harmony with the Early and Reformed church–absolute harmony.

Rhyming Involves Worship

So where should we rhyme with the Early and Reformed church? In our worship practices of course. The times and the orgsanization of our societies and lives are different. The circumstances have changed drastically. Exact duplication is neither wise nor possible. But we can rhyme. What are some ways we can rhyme with them?

• Frequent public worship meetings
• A dedication to prayer
• Memory and recitation based discipleship
• Honoring the Lord’s Day
• Regular Christian Fellowship

Rhyming & Reforming

2025 has seen us add a third Wednesday evening to our schedule each month. We just completed our third year in our daily Digital Prayer Ministry too. For six days each week we hold a prayer meeting @ 7 am in the morning and 7 pm at night. This is one of the important ways we are rhyming with the Early and Reformed church. For centuries going back to at least the Jewish captivity the Hebrew people prayed on a pattern of morning, noon, and evening. They would stop and face Jerusalem or open a window in that direction and pray to God.

“When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. ¹¹ Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God (Daniel 6:10-11).”

They knew right where Daniel would be because he prayed the Hebrew hours.

Rhyming Allows Us To Contribute

Further, in the New Testament we find that Peter and John healed the man at the Temple in Acts 3 while they were on their way to the ninth hour of prayer. That’s 3 pm. Peter is on the roof top meditating before the Lord in Acts 9 at noon when he has his “Picnic Blanket Vision.” That tradition was kept alive through the monasteries until the reformation. They of course added Dawn and Compline (bedtime) to their hourly prayer patterns.

In addition, the Puritans advocated for twice daily prayer following the morning and evening sacrifice in the Old Testament. Puritan and reformed families gathered twice a day to worship for centuries. My point being, we can rhyme with the Early and Reformed church in the way they tried to rhyme with the patterns they saw in the Scriptures. In that way we honor them, keeping the fifth commandment, but also contribute to the collective work of the saints ourselves. Staying connected to the Great Cloud of Witnesses and worshiping with them until we join them.

Don’t forget to start your week off by making your Intercessory Prayer List!

Check out last week’s Make Praise Your Daily Habit

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Yes Midweek Worship

At the Gingerichs Home- See Signal Group for Details

6:15 Pizza and Fellowship

7:00 Opus Dei, Catechism Lesson, and Intercessory Prayer

For the month of March we are Memorizing Questions 11-15 from the Westminster Shorter Catechism

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Opus Dei, Prayer Book & Blogs

Opus Dei Monday – Saturday @ 7 am & 7 pm via the SPCC Zoom Prayer Room

Get a digital copy of our latest prayer book: Remembering the Crucifixion: March 8th – April 19th, 2025

Read and share our latest blog series Forsaken For Us All Part 1 & Part 2

Check out our recently completed series: Christ, His Church, & Marriage Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

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Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!

Pastor Jeremy

“Joy and thanksgiving expressed in prayer and praise according to the Word of God are the heart of the Church’s worship.” – John Calvin