Some critics of the OPC and 2k wonder why Old Life has been silent about Kevin Swanson, the Generations with Vision Director who pastors and OPC congregation in Elizabeth, CO.
A simple reason is that Pastor Swanson has no following (to my knowledge) in the OPC say the way Lig Duncan, or Harry Reeder, or Tim Keller do in the PCA.
It’s also the case that Swanson almost never refers to the OPC in his self-identifications. At Generations with Vision:
Homeschooled himself in the 1960’s and 70’s, Kevin Swanson and his wife, Brenda, are now homeschooling their five children. Since graduating from his homeschool and then serving as student body president of a large west coast university, he has gone on to other leadership positions in corporate management, church, and other non-profits. Kevin has 43 years of experience in the homeschooling movement and serves as the Director of Generations – a ministry he founded to strengthen homeschool families around the country. As a father who wants to leave a godly heritage for his own five children, Kevin’s passion is to strengthen and encourage the homeschooling movement all over the world, and to cast a vision for generations to come. For the last 10 years Kevin has hosted a daily radio program – Generations Radio – the world’s largest homeschooling and Biblical worldview program that reaches families across the US and in over 100 countries.
Kevin has also served as the Executive Director of Christian Home Educators of Colorado for the last nine years. He has also authored several popular books for homeschoolers, including Freedom, Apostate, Upgrade-10 Secrets to the Best Education for Your Child, the Family Bible Study Guide Series, and others.
Kevin Swanson also serves as a teaching elder at Reformation Church of Elizabeth (reformationchurch.com).
The Speaker Lineup for Freedom 2015 listed Swanson as director of — yet again — Generations with Vision and the author of more than 10 books.
I’ve never talked to an OPC officer who has read a book by Swanson.
At Amazon:
Homeschooled himself in the 1960s and 70s, Kevin Swanson and his wife, Brenda, are now homeschooling their five children. Kevin has 43 years of experience in the homeschooling movement and serves as the director of Generations With Vision—a ministry he founded to strengthen homeschool families. Kevin’s passion is to strengthen and encourage the homeschooling movement all over the world, and to cast a vision for generations to come. For the last 4 years Kevin has hosted a daily radio program, Generations Radio, the world’s largest homeschooling and biblical worldview program that reaches families across the US and in over 100 countries. Kevin has also served as the executive director of Christian Home Educators of Colorado for the last nine years. He has authored several popular books for homeschoolers, including Apostate, Upgrade: 10 Secrets to the Best Education for Your Child, The Second Mayflower, the Family Bible Study Guide Series, and others.
So far Pastor Swanson does not seem eager to put his stamp on the OPC the way TKNY has on the PCA.
So for now, paying attention to Pope Francis seems a little more reasonable than to Pastor Swanson.
Old Life 
“… Homeschooled himself in the 1960s and 70s …”
How does one “homeschool” ones self? Is this some new technique?
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Just goes to show, there’s some useful homeschooling and then there’s the rest of em.
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I thought we all agreed not to mention him. Can we go back to talking about Trump?
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Even so, there’s a legal doctrine called “silence as acceptance.” Swanson is the most visible minister in the OPC. If his views represent a radical departure from those in the OPC and his statements tarnish the OPC’s brand image, then it would seem incumbent on the OPC to sever ties with him. My hunch is that, while many in the OPC may disagree with Swanson’s tactics, they don’t disagree much with the substance of his views on how to deal with LGBTQ people.
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I’ve been a minister in the OPC for +10 yrs. Never heard of Swanson till someone sent me a link to the MSNBC segment. I have to admit I’m sympathetic to Erik’s viewpoint.
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Bobby, you keep making it up.
Trueman is far better known that Swanson.
Watch out for those rake handles.
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I don’t know about that, but I did like him on Parks and Rec.
Except that the OPC is an ecclesiastical institution not say….a college. Being embarrassing is not sufficient grounds in most NAPARC churches for getting yanked…though I’m no officer – just my observation.
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My circles are much more familiar with the sources from an internet search for “kevin swanson”, like HuffPo and the NYTimes, then they are the Alliance, WTS, or First Things re: “carl trueman.” I don’t know if anyone’s cared enough to dig into the OPC, but even in Kevin’s bio they’re a click away. HuffPo’s last mention of the OPC was Bowe Bergdahl, so whatever public impression exists of the denomination probably has little to do with, say, its range of opinion on the Great Awakenings.
Kevin Swanson may not be Tim Keller but I can’t believe there would be no public statement by their respective denominations if either had discussed federal capital punishment for adultery or even tarot card reading as a matter of reasonable consideration.
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Mike K: “Kevin Swanson may not be Tim Keller but I can’t believe there would be no public statement by their respective denominations if either had discussed federal capital punishment for adultery or even tarot card reading as a matter of reasonable consideration.”
GW: It is my understanding that Rev. Swanson is theonomic/reconstructionist in his leanings. From the theonomic point of view, in a Christianized nation capital punishment ought to be enforced against sins such as adultery, homosexuality, idolatry, etc. The OPC has a history of tolerating minority opinions on certain issues (for example, although the OPC is not an exclusive psalmodist denomination, exclusive psalmodists like John Murray and G.I. Williamson have served among her ranks of ministers). Theonomy has been a tolerated position thus far in the history of the OPC, even though many OP church officers today would view it as unbiblical and unconfessional (myself included).
Case in point: It is my understanding that the late Dr. Greg Bahnsen, author of the classic defense of theonomy, “Theonomy in Christian Ethics,” was a minister in good standing in the OPC even until his death. If Rev. Swanson’s Presbytery were to censure him for his views on capital punishment for adulterers, his defense could easily point to Dr. Bahnsen as an example of the historic precedent in the OPC for tolerance of such a minority view, since Dr. Bahnsen held a similar view for many years yet was never censured for it; indeed, I believe he retained his good standing in the church until the end.
Regarding your suggestion that the OPC ought to make a “public statement” against such a position: Even if the GA of the OPC were to adopt some kind of resolution or public statement condemning theonomy in general or the views promoted by Rev. Swanson in particular, at best such a statement would only have the force of “pious advice,” not binding law requiring OP ministers to reject such views. Only successful ecclesiastical censure against Rev. Swanson for his views or an amendment to the OPC’s Constitution clarifying the OPC’s rejection of such theonomic thinking would have the effect of excluding such views from the OPC; and both of those avenues for addressing the matter in an official way would likely not be successful, given the OPC’s tolerance for minority views deemed to be within the Reformed Faith and the difficulty in changing the church’s Constitution.
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George, I think it reads (an advocate of homeschooling and) Homeschooled himself in the 1960’s and 70’s…
Oh look, Literate Comments is back up. Yawn.
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Zrim – literate comments or not, there is not substitute for poor grammar. The introductory sentence should have read something like, “having been” homeschooled himself…
BTW (since my tongue in cheek remark apparently fell flat) DGH – why do old, archived threads appear with randomly embedded symbols where punctuation existed in the previous post? Is this a problem with the way information is compacted for storage?
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Tim Keller—“Since our main problem is a disbelief in the love and goodness of God, to say, “All you need for sanctification is to believe in your justification,” is too simplistic. You need more than just an abstract belief in your legal exemption from punishment. You need a renovation of your view of God.”
mcmark—-Perhaps we need more than an abstract belief in faith is the condition of union” and then “renovation” follows. But if we need legal exemption not only from punishment but also from guilt, then we would need to talk about election and about only the sins of the elect having already been imputed to Christ. And Tim Keller’s “mere christianity” does not get into that Westminster Confession extra stuff…
http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/4-lessons-for-the-bedeviling-sanctification-debate
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Waddington—“Dr. Fesko offers a fascinating discussion of hypothetical universalism ….However, beyond doing us the favor of reminding us that at the time of the assembly hypothetical universalism was a live option, one gets the sense that there is also at work here a theological agenda…. Should we try to turn back the clock and broaden our confessional views on this? Maybe so. Maybe not. We recognize that there is development in theology and that we need to be historically sensitive to this.
Waddington–”Would it be right to judge earlier formulations by later standards? Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that if a later development actually is an improvement and refinement and correction to earlier views, we would not want to revert to the earlier formulations. No, in the sense that we will recognize earlier formulations as defective but not necessarily erroneous or heretical.”
http://www.opc.org/os.html?article_id=529&cur_iss=Y
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Bashir: So where does that leave the millions of Muslims, Sikhs, and Jews? Are they sadly and completely deluded?
Tim Keller: People who never heard about Jesus, or never really got a hearing about Jesus . . .
Bashir: I’m not talking about them, because some of those people have heard (about Jesus). I’m talking about the millions of Muslims, Sikhs, and Jews who have heard about Jesus. Where does your thesis leave them?
Keller: Where they are right now, it means that if there’s never any change, they don’t get Jesus. If he is who he says he is, then, long term, they don’t have God. If on the other hand…all I can always say about this is God gives me, even as a minister with the Scripture, a lot of information on a need-to-know basis.
And a need-to-know basis means, “Here’s all I can tell you: unless you get Jesus Christ who created you to start with, unless you are reunited with him sometime, there is no eternal future of thriving.” It just makes sense. Again, I’m trying to go back to this idea that, that, if he is who he says he is, you’ve got to have him. If right now a person doesn’t have him, he or she needs to get him. If they die and they’ve never, if they die and they don’t have Jesus Christ, I don’t know. In other words, I have a need-to-know basis, the only thing I know is you need Jesus.
I certainly know that God is wiser than me, more merciful than me, and I do know that when I finally find out how God is dealing with every individual soul, I won’t have any questions about it. . . People in other religions, unless they find Christ, I don’t know any other way; but I also get information on a need-to-know basis so if there’s some , if there’s some trapdoor or something like that, I haven’t been told about it.
http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/keller-on-salvation-outside-of-christ/
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Bobby: My hunch is that, while many in the OPC may disagree with Swanson’s tactics, they don’t disagree much with the substance of his views on how to deal with LGBTQ people.
The OPC of which I’m a member is a rather large church for the OPC and it’s planted right in the middle of the southern conservative Bible Belt. We have great conversations about a variety of topics, both theological and civil, at church and during fellowship through the week with one another. No one I’ve talked to would agree with the substance of Pastor Swanson’s views regarding the death penalty for homosexuals.
You write with uninformed opinions and draw incorrect conclusions about what is in the heart of good people. It’s hard to take your comments seriously as a result.
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never heard of Swanson before this blog
i’ve eaten a lot of his frozen TV dinners though
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Doesn’t this implicitly show that 2k is more popular in the OPC (and inherent in church life) than people like to acknowledge?
Officers, correct me if I’m wrong, but the OPC is an ecclesiastical institution, not an all-of-life institution, right? It’s not the OPC’s problem if DG promotes the Coen Brothers, secularized higher education, and classical liberalism. Likewise, it’s not the OPC’s problem if Swanson promotes the Christian alternative to Disney, homeschooling, and theonomy.
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Who is this Carl Trueman fellow?
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As of a couple minutes ago SERMONAUDIO has 23,070 speakers, 1,060,365 sermons, 2.2 million downloads and 78 million page views a month.
Swanson has for years perpetually had at least 1 and usually 2 or even 3 of his shows on the “Top Sermons” page for most viewed and downloaded files.
He may not be wearing the OPC on his sleeve, but he is VERY well known by some considerably sizable group of people .
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Walton: “Officers, correct me if I’m wrong, but the OPC is an ecclesiastical institution, not an all-of-life institution, right? It’s not the OPC’s problem if DG promotes the Coen Brothers, secularized higher education, and classical liberalism. Likewise, it’s not the OPC’s problem if Swanson promotes the Christian alternative to Disney, homeschooling, and theonomy.”
GW: Correct…sort of. Rev. Swanson is certainly at liberty as a private individual to engage in his brand of culture-warrior activism and to promote his parachurch ministry, so long as he does so as an avocation on the side. But as ordained OPC minister of the gospel called to serve as the pastor of his local OP congregation, his vocation/calling is one that is fundamentally pastoral and ecclesiastical, not social-activist or cultural-warriorist. If his avocation as a culture warrior begins to eclipse his vocation and duties as a pastor; or if he misappropriates his ministerial credentials to validate and lend credence to his activism; or if in his culture warrior activity he teaches things contrary to Scripture or Confession, or in violation of his ordination vows; then the OPC and his own Presbytery would (or at least should) have a problem with his activism.
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Greg the Terrible: “He may not be wearing the OPC on his sleeve, but he is VERY well known by some considerably sizable group of people .”
GW: This is perhaps the biggest issue that some old-side & old-life Presbyterians have with Rev. Swanson’s approach. The fact that he is more well known as a radio host and cultural warrior (his avocation) than as an ordained pastor of an OP church (his vocation) ought to be of concern, in my opinion.
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Thanks, GW.
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The main audience for Swanson’s sermons is the homeschool crowd. As part of that crowd I have seen many people from a variety of denominations turn to Swanson for instruction in his sermons and books, which is why his Sermon Audio profile has so many hits. He is also a popular speaker on the homeschool conference circuit. Interestingly, I have watched a number of broadly evangelical homeschool families begin attending OPC churches because of him. I have also seen a non-denominational minister become an OPC theonomist under Swanson’s tutelage. He is now an ordained minister with the OPC with all the Swanson-Rushdoony baggage he can carry.
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So, hanging out with the “family is our church” folks is not a good thing, but getting involved with Roman Catholic para church institutions like First Things is a good thing? Who told Carl Truman that the Alliance of Confessing EVANGELICALS is not “para-chuich” like Ligonier is? Note, the idea of “close down discussion” does not refer to closing comments, because the Alliance of Confessing rejects that kind of democractic anarchism….
https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2015/12/is-there-a-crisis-in-conservative-protestantism
Carl Truman—A good example of this was provided this year by events surrounding the attempted exchange about Evangelicals and Catholics Together which was commissioned by Reformation21, the e-zine of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. Three of us were involved: Timothy George, Thomas Guarino, and myself. … Within hours of the first article (that of Tim) being published, a tweet and a hostile blog post by a senior representative of another Reformed parachurch group based in Florida, followed by rumored behind-the-scenes shenanigans, were enough to get the series pulled (and then thankfully picked up by First Things—kudos to Rusty Reno). Sad to say, one parachurch group had effectively closed down perfectly legitimate discussion in an unconnected forum by sheer bully-boy tactics.
Carl Truman— “This is symptomatic of the way things are in much of the conservative Protestant world. As long as the most influential parachurches are run like businesses, money and marketing will be the overriding concerns, even as concern for ‘the gospel’ is always the gloss. Reinforced by a carrot-and-stick system of feudal patronage connected to lucrative conference gigs, publishing deals, and access to publicity, such tactics as those described will continue to be deployed. ”
mcmark—Not every business franchise is run like Wall Mart. As long as First Things and Reformation have their patrons, they get to stay in the race, much like a presidential candidate with enough billionaire sugar daddies. And the philosopher kings, with all their “moral theology” defense of “justified war”, won’t be able to stop the sectarians…
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Humorously, CNN thinks Tim Keller and John Piper are kinda, sorta 2K.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/22/politics/seven-types-of-evangelicals-and-the-primaries
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DavidG, but when do Piper and TKNY ever talk about the duties that Americans have as Americans?
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Piper is good to get you to the onramp for 2K
Keller is good for a few additional things after one becomes 2K
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“DavidG, but when do Piper and TKNY ever talk about the duties that Americans have as Americans?”
An important point missed by the critics of 2k. Paul doesn’t say do your duties because those duties are holy. Rather, he says do your duty because God says do your duty. Obedience to God: pleasing sacrifice to him. Plumbing: ehhh…
TGC would say do your duty because it’s loving your neighbor or it’s “the gospel in action.” But not all duties are like that.
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Walton, what about cooking and dead guy dooties? Maybe TGC are not meant for deez dooties? Maybe eez time for dem to get a different dooty?
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A dooty joke, Zrim. Nice. Also this math homework due in one hour. Seriously, no gospel here. In other news, have you ever watched True Detective?
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Did you do your delight dooty today?
http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/international/project/nepali-translation-project-dangerous-duty-of-delight-by-john-piper
Piper is no John the Baptist.
Matthew 3:13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be water baptized by John 14 But John tried to stop Him, saying, “I need to be water baptized by You, and yet You come to me?” 15 Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John allowed Jesus to be water baptized. 16 After Jesus was water baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for Him, and Jesus saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him. 17 And there came a voice from heaven:
This is My beloved Son.
I take delight in Him!
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But also it’s a dooty to have a good motive for doing your dooties.
Tim Keller–“The root of our sinful behavior is an inability to hate sin for itself, and this stems from a tendency to see obedience as simply a way to avoid danger and have a good life—not as a way to love and know Jesus for who he is.
So is Keller agreeing with Kant that we need to get the self-interest out of ir, or is he agreeing with Piper (and C S Lewis) that being motivated by the benefits is not a problem, but then also (like Piper) always questioning our ,motives–do we love God enough?
Tim Keller—“To grow in grace comes not simply from believing more in our justification. Growing flows from using the gospel of grace on the root of our sin—the mistrust of God’s goodness and the inordinate love of other things When we behold the glory of Christ in the gospel, it reorders the loves of our hearts, so we delight in him supremely, and the other things that have ruled our lives lose their enslaving power over us. This is not merely telling yourself that you are accepted and forgiven.”
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/protestprotest/2015/06/the-importance-of-being-earnest/
Sure, being thankful for grace and forgiveness is a “duty”, but r u serious—some folks want more than faith alone or even grace alone….
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Walton, no, but Mrs. Z and I are looking for a new series and I’ve heard mixed things. What sayest thou?
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I dunno. My roommates are watching season 2 and apparently each season has new characters and plot and stuff. So basically they already paid for it, I’m just trying to decide if it’s worth my time.
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True Detective s1 is superior to s2, but both are solid – cinematography, direction, acting all top notch (s1 is worth watching just for Matthew McConaughey’s stellar performance alone).
Fargo is also along the same vein (different characters/plot each season, but connecting themes and tone) and excellent – Fargo is not as bleak as TD.
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Zrim,
Ditto Cletus on TD season 1. One of few television shows where the dialogue is actually more tense and dramatic than the action. And do not assume, as many do, that McConaughey’s Cohle is simply a naturalist or nihilist. His character is much more complicated than that, though I advise reading up on the philosophic viewpoints after viewing so as to enjoy it as it unfolds. (Season 2 was disappointing IMO)
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McConaughey as in Matthew? I can hear Mrs. Z searching for it now. But CvD had me at the Fargo reference.
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TD1 is worth It. TD2 is no bueno. When Colin Farrel is the guy with chops, you’re in trouble.
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Fargo 2 even better than Fargo 1
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OK, I will grant that you make a solid point in how he is different from say a Tim Keller type in the PCA. Swanson may not proudly wear an OPC ribbon on his chest, but he is still in the OPC, is very vocal and it is pretty pathetic that his church is the flagship (by default) OPC church in southern Colorado. Another example of the variety hodgepodge of very different doctrinal and theological focuses falling under the heading of “Reformed.” I certainly don’t think that it would be outlandish or inconsistent for you to speak up more about him considering that he is right in your own backyard. Then again maybe that’s why it is hard.
Just saying.
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E. Burns, I’d need to listen to Swanson’s show or buy on of his books. So far, people I know in the OPC don’d mention him.
That’s more downstate than backyard.
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“Backyard” …. Meaning he is in your own denomination in this case. I think if you check him out you would find him more disturbing than Tim Keller. I could be wrong about that, but I find him more disturbing. A kind of John Birch society version of the OPC/reformed Amish if you will, coupled with a soft peddling of the federal vision theology along with a kind of cult hero type following for icing on the cake, cherry on top is a bona fide homeschool only Neonomiam club to boot. If you get a chance to watch a video of him I especially like the charismatic histrionics in speaking style. I’ve seen him give a speech once.
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EB, flagship? Don’t you know that in the OP a ’79 pontoon boat with a rusty barbecue grill and a half dozen plastic chairs on deck can pass for a flagship?
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🙂 ha ha, those OPC pontoon boats are sometimes bloated too, that’s the point.
I’m just “suggesting that perhaps” (not saying mind you) that Swanson might want to shut his trap when it comes to his bombastic culture warrior ego being in the driver seat and he might want to just preach the gospel a little bit more. By the way this is how he preaches for about an hour straight in his church as well. That is to say he doesn’t really preach at all
(i’ve seen him preach too) as much as he gives theocracy/theonomy culture warrior speeches in place of true biblical preaching. see video
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By the way, Swanson’s church in Colorado is busting at the seams, has about 400 people (not that it is all about numbers) in attendance every Sunday. Not really a rusted out pontoon boat. By NAPARC standards that’s a mega church. In my Saturday night live Skit writing mind, I Picture instead of a coffee bar Swanson having a shooting range and gaydar training for the flocks youth via a couple of side doors off the narthex.
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EB, straight lines from wildfires to homosexuality? Maybe he’s the Pat Robertson of the OPC? Every denom has at least one.
Or is that gay lines?
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E. Burns: “I’m just “suggesting that perhaps” (not saying mind you) that Swanson might want to shut his trap when it comes to his bombastic culture warrior ego being in the driver seat and he might want to just preach the gospel a little bit more.”
GW: I watched this clip (as much of it as I could bear without cringing), as well as the MSNBC clip of Rev. Swanson. What concerns me about this brother, besides the fact that he comes across as a shrill, unhinged, hyperventilating showman, is that the “Right Wing Watch” video clips focus on Swanson’s criticisms of things like: Girl Scout Cookies, Harry Potter, Etc. What I didn’t notice was Rev. Swanson being criticized for his proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ or of the biblical truths which undergird that gospel.
I’m not saying Rev. Swanson doesn’t preach the gospel. (I can’t say with certainty; I haven’t listened to any of his sermons from his church website yet.) Since he is a minister in good standing I will assume, in the judgment of charity, that he does. But I will say that someone from his Presbytery needs to sit down with this brother and have a candid conversation with him about how his preaching style, delivery, and culture-warrior emphasis have the potential to give Christ, and the OPC, a nice, big black eye.
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E. Burns: “By the way, Swanson’s church in Colorado is busting at the seams, has about 400 people (not that it is all about numbers) in attendance every Sunday. Not really a rusted out pontoon boat. By NAPARC standards that’s a mega church.”
GW: I’m not saying that having an attendance of 400 is a bad thing in itself. But I have to wonder: Are these large numbers of attendees being drawn due to a balanced diet of Word and sacrament, law and gospel, and the riches of the Reformed Faith, being offered Lord’s Day after Lord’s Day? Or are they being drawn because the pastor is a rising celebrity on the conservative conference speaker circuit whose theatrical sermons offer a good dose of pulpit-pounding, right-wing social activist, culture warrior preachments? I hope it’s the former, but fear it may be the latter.
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Geoff, but something tells me a sit down wouldn’t do much except make the sitter-downer feel a bit better. These types have an agenda and by nature don’t heed serious attempts at adjustment.
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Zrim: “Geoff, but something tells me a sit down wouldn’t do much except make the sitter-downer feel a bit better. These types have an agenda and by nature don’t heed serious attempts at adjustment.”
GW: Perhaps. But whether or not such a sit-down makes any practical difference, and whether or not Rev. Swanson turns out to be one of “these types” (as you put it), it is nonetheless the pastoral and loving thing to do, not only out of concern for Rev. Swanson himself, but also out of concern for the spiritual well-being of his congregants.
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