Another Outrage

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My last post was about the "alleged" terrorist on Flight 253 over Detroit. In that post I confessed my desire to end life of that creature.

Now I hear the news that on Christmas day, the day we celebrate the birth of the Savior of sinful man, another was loose in Maryland. This animal kidnapped, raped and killed an 11 year old girl. He, too, deserves a bullet in the brain without trial.

Both of these incidents were committed by known terrorists. One reported by his father, the other a product of our liberal ACLU court system. Neither should have been allowed to mingle with civilized human beings. Both should be executed immediately. In my mind there is no difference between a man who tries to blow up airplanes and a known sex-offender. Both terrorize other humans and both should not be allowed to live.

Civilized humans should never be subjected to those who refuse to conform to the laws of civil cohabitation. Because we are makes it necessary for those of us who do not wish to become victims to arm ourselves.

Tomorrow the wife and I will turn in our papers and pay the exorbitant tax to obtain our concealed pistol permits. We should have them in about 4 weeks.

Let this post serve as notice to anyone who thinks my wife and I are old, easy, targets. Attack us and we will defend ourselves. We refuse to become victims of the American Civil Liberty Unions' spawn of criminal-predators. We will defend ourselves.

Our gun safety instructor, a policeman, reminded us that when seconds count the police will respond in minutes. Let that thought comfort those of you who think I am a nut case.

Christmas and Self-defense

 

We had a great Christmas. God is good. Nate, he's three going on twelve, squealed with delight and clapped his hands when he saw his guitar. Bridget, age four going on 30, will not put away her "lap top." It's a child's computer into which can be plugged chips for different activities, i.e., art, numbers, letters, etc. The other grand kids, Jennifer, Tyler and Brad were delighted with their cards-of-cash (a tradition) and their gas cards. Toys for the little ones, money and gasoline for the big ones.

The wife got a Food Saver and she is ecstatic. I suppose making "things" easier in the kitchen is something that only a woman understands.

My present comes next week when I turn in my money and application for my concealed pistol license. Other than actually receiving the license the only thing which could be better would be to be allowed to use my pistol on the man who tried to bomb the Delta flight coming into Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Now, as a Christian I know I'm supposed to turn the other cheek, love everybody, etc. However, I'm still a fallen human being and there are times when I would prefer to dispense justice, not just pray for it.

I live 15 minutes from Detroit Metro Airport. Our kids, who have the young grand kids, live 30 minutes from the airport directly under the landing glide-path for the main runway. So, please understand, when I say I would like to kill the guy who tried to destroy that Delta plane: I'm talking about self-defense. He tried to destroy a major part of my family and my life. Had he been successful who's to say the debris from the plane would not have destroyed our kids and grand kids and us, we were at their house yesterday.

We all know that when the courts have had their say, this psychotic, sociopath, will languish in prison, become even more anti-American and try his best to figure other ways to kill my loved-ones, or yours. So, do I want to kill him? Yes! It would actually be justifiable homicide, self-defense, and a deterrent to his friends we know will follow.

Why do we allow ourselves to be brain-washed into the idea that known killers have rights? They should have no more right to humane treatment than would an attacking rabid dog. When the evidence is overwhelming, as it is in this case, that  terrorists intend to kill as many people as possible given the opportunity - kill them before they can. It is self-defense.

You didn't hear this from "The Media."

We have a friend who has worked for a major pharmaceutical company for 28 years. Today he received notice that his services are no longer needed at this company. Fortunately he is able to retire; and he already has an offer from another drug company. Nothing newsworthy in all this you say: how about the fact that this company passed out 15000 (that's right thousand) of these notices?

Ask your news reporter why this kind of job loss from one company is not news worthy?

Euthanasia

Earlier this year I had a near death experience. No, not the kind where people see visions and demons or whatever, mine was the mundane kind in which I almost died because of internal bleeding.


I fought for all I was worth to remain alive and my family protected me from some very incompetent Doctors. I had to have the will to live and I also had to have protection from strangers who were busy and didn't really care one way or the other: At least that was the impression they gave.


Now I read that Britain is trying to implement the slow journey into Doctor assisted suicide - euthanasia. As I approach my seventh decade on this planet and in light of the experience I mentioned above, I have to say there is something radically wrong in the thought processes of Western Civilization when the most vulnerable are being thought of as a nuisance or worse, a burden on the rest of us.


What happened to the idea that Christ gave to us that we are to think more highly of others than we do of ourselves? Shouldn't Doctors be about figuring out ways to make the end of life as benign as possible?


Some in Britain are doing just that. You can read about them and their battle here:

We fear that publishing any such guidelines runs the real risk of leading over the years to what would effectively be legal sanctioning of the practice of assisted suicide. Case law would inevitably be built up, and statute law permitting assisted suicide would eventually follow.

Legalisation of euthanasia would inevitably follow or accompany that. Parliament will effectively have been by-passed by administrative process, and this should never happen in any democratic society.’

The group argues that in the Netherlands, the drift toward euthanasia began with the refusal to prosecute doctors who helped kill their patients. It was followed by guidelines and finally statute law in 2002. There are now nearly 3,000 cases of euthanasia each year.

 If our elites continue to look to European philosophy for their guidance it will only be a short time until this battle will be fought in the U.S. I'm not interested in becoming one of their statistics.

Reformation Theology

Why is the following so hard for so many to understand? Salvation is "easy" but it isn't up to us. If God doesn't save us - we are not saved. One can walk all the aisles, pray all the sinner's prayers, get baptized thousands of times, but if God has not united us to Christ we are not saved.


Reformation Theology: "If someone borrowed $100 million to fund a company and then immediately went and spent it all in a week of wild living in Las Vegas, his inability to repay the debt does not alleviate him of the responsibility to do so. So there is no contradiction between his responsibility and his inability. He created his own inability so he is responsible. Likewise Adam, our federal head, who represents the entire human race, fell and plunged all of us into a condition of debt which we cannot repay. Take note: this does not alleviate us of the responsibility to do so. We owe a debt we cannot repay. We are spiritually bankrupt and our heart needs to be renewed in the Holy Spirit who unites us the Christ. Only then do we have the mind and heart of Christ. ( See 1 Cor 2 ) Without the Spirit we are dead (even hostile) to spiritual things. But when the Spirit comes with the grace of regeneration, renewing our heart after the image of God, we both can and will come to Christ."

Oh Come Emmanuel

I'm not especially fond of guitars in Church. However, having said that, I could listen to this kind of music all day - in Church or out.

The Dividing Line

Pastor Wilson is one of my favorites. He is linked in my "links" at Blog and Mablog. This excerot from one of his recent sermons explains the dividing line between a true Christian and those who pretend. It is worth the 5 minutes it takes to watch.

It's Time

The wife and I have decided it's time to get our permits to carry concealed weapons. Here are pictures of the weapons we will be armed with in case anyone has any ideas about mugging a couple of "old people."






His

                                       And     Hers





Hers is a Taurus ultra-lite 38spl 6 shot. It is palm size and fits nicely in "Gammies'" purse. Naturally the grand-chilren (sic) no longer get to snoop in her purse. His is a Charter Arms 38spl, 6 shot easily concealed in an ankle holster or on the belt.

Two recent incidents have prompted our move to arm ourselves away from our home. (If you try to break in to our house, chances are you will not live to tell about it). #1 is the incident recently at the White House in which the Secret Service could not keep the President secure from unwanted guests. If the cops have no more interest in protecting the President than what they've shown, I'm certain they are not going to expend energy protecting a couple of old people. #2 is the Lakewood, Washington killings. If four armed cops can't protect themselves I'm certainly not going to rely on them to protect me.

So anyone with wild ideas about two old people at the mall or the coffee shop being easy targets I suggest you look at the pictures above - one more time. Either gun will make you wish you were dead if the bullet doesn't kill you.

Just remember! We don't call 9-1-1, we are 9-1-1.

Worshiping in Song

Pastor Doug Wilson's Church is Moscow, Idaho. Most people may know him from his televised debates with the atheist Christopher Hitchens. Pastor Wilson's church obviously loves to sing. Watch this video to see a church truly worshiping God through song. You can read about the setup by clicking here.

O Sing a New Song to the Lord from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.

Materialism Out; Spirit In

Long ago I read several books by Ayn Rand in which she proposed "emotions are not the means of cognition." Rand was a "pop" philosopher disdained by the intellectual elites so the only contact most people have had with her is through their high school assignment to read and discuss her book "The Fountain Head."

Objectivism, her philosophy underpinning  her books, and atheism were Rand's springboard to notoriety.  She believed that all a human needed to live the good life was available to him through the evidence of his senses coupled with a strong obedience to the necessary materialistic application of that evidence.

What Rand never dealt with, as I recall, was the animating activity on men by the cascade of chemicals in the brain. By that, I mean, I don't recall reading anything about her dealing with consciousness, or to put it in my simple language: how is it possible for anything or anyone to be self-aware?

Now comes the hint of a new strain of thought prying at the door of the materialistic-evolutionary lock-box. Some are beginning to question the cant of the likes of Rand and Richard Dawkins which is; we think because that's the way we evolved - accept it as fact and move on.

In Section 5, devoted to neuroscience, Staune conscientiously explains that contemporary research is far from being unanimous on a number of key issues, most notably the exact correspondence between neuronal phenomena and mental events, and particularly conscience. He patiently argues that in humans the animating force cannot find expression without neuronal activity, but is not a mere result of such an activity. Boldly he puts forward the possibility that much current rationalist and scientific research offers again acceptable space for a dualistic hypothesis (body and spirit).

My-oh-my! What will science do once it is cornered by popular demand to explain why we are able to think merely because a bunch of chemicals in our brains fire synapses in a particular order? What/Who decides the order of firing from which abstract thought is derived?  In other words can evolution explain why it is I'm able to ask that particular question? I don't think so.

Materialism appears to be increasingly ruined and “passé.” A spiritual and religious alternative, for the moment mostly akin to Platonism (presented in some detail), seems to him the most plausible replacement; in any case divine presence and intervention in one form or another have again become, he maintains, fully plausible. I will not enumerate here the powerful voices adduced by Staune to support his conclusions.

The article the quotes came from here. It is an interesting read.

Hat tip to Remonstrans for pointing me to the article. Read their post - Humor In Unbelief.

Everyone Needs To Watch This

Matt Chandler of Village Church, Dallas, Texas speaks the Truth in Love to every Christian.


more about "Everyon Needs To Watch This", posted with vodpod

Groothuis Articles

Doug Groothuis at Denver Seminary has a link with some of his articles. This is a great resource for those interested.

THINKING FOR CHRIST!

New/Old Idea #2

Day Number #2

Spurgeon's Catechism

Question 2 What rule has God given to direct us how we may glorify him?

Answer 2 The Word of God which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments (Ephesians 2:20; 2Timothy 3:16) is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify God and enjoy him. (1John 1:3)

New/Old Idea #1

Second Timothy 2:15 commands us to "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

With that thought in mind, I thought for the next several months I would post a daily quote from Charles Spurgeon which will help me (and maybe you) better understand what it is I believe. Spurgeon listed and numbered a series of teachings to help his church. I hesitate to call this list what he called it because today the name he used is generally recognized as belonging only to a particular denomination. Oh well, I can't avoid the name forever so here is a quote from Spurgeon himself about his list:

I am persuaded that the use of a good Catechism [emphasis added] in all our families will be a great safeguard against the increasing errors of the times, and therefore I have compiled this little manual from the Westminster Assembly's and Baptist Catechisms, for the use of my own church and congregation. Those who use it in their families or classes must labour to explain the sense; but the words should be carefully learned by heart, for they will be understood better as years pass. May the Lord bless my dear friends and their families evermore, is the prayer of their loving Pastor.

          C. H. Spurgeon

So, with Spurgeon's words in mind, here is day one:

Question 1 What is the chief end of man?
Answer 1 Man's chief end is to glorify God, (1Cor. 10:31) and to enjoy him for ever. (Psalms 73:25,26)

1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. 26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever

Saved Again?

Yesterday I had a short conversation with a friend at my church. He asked me what I thought of a particular preacher we recently heard in a conference. I explained I did not care for his presentation, as I found it offensive that his entire "schtick" was to make himself somehow appealing to the audience and by that means get some to respond to his altar call.

Let me say up front I do not agree with the manipulative aspects of the altar call. Charles Finney, who popularized this atrocity made it clear in his memoirs that he believed salvation was absolutely the product of manipulating the unsaved into making a "decision for Christ," which flies in the face of Biblical anthropology.

During my conversation with my friend he said that people often get saved but many don't show any evidence of salvation so they have to get saved again. I asked how that could be if the doctrine of eternal security our church espouses is true. If a man "gets saved" a god who cannot keep him secure is logically no god at all. He is just an idol and might as well be made of the same gold as that used by the Israelites to make their Golden Calf.

My friend is just an average guy and does not make a habit of thinking deeply, so I did not press the issue with him. He is a product of the Finney legacy-disaster that is rampant now in American Christianity. I won't go into the proof texts for this assertion here, you can read them for yourself by Googling, Charles Finney and Ashahel Nettleton. (Nettleton was a reformed preacher relying on God alone to do the saving).

The point of my post today is that the idea of "salvation" and how to attain it is so corrupted in much of the church today, the average person is absolutely confused about the whole matter. I was confused about it as well for years until one day I gave up and in the next instance I knew I was different. No bolt of lightning, nothing unusual other than I just told God, "I quit." I said, "If you don't change me then I'm in deep trouble."

Essentially that is the difference in what I had been taught, "say the prayer, walk the aisle, get baptized," the Finney idea, and the Biblical, or Nettleton concept, "I can't do this, God you have to change me."

God had changed me after my plea and His Holy Spirit witnessed to me I had been changed. At the time I could not have told you how I had been changed, other than a sense of absolute well-being, even though at the time I was in serious trouble. Later, however, the change became more overt. I no longer desired the life-style activities which had gotten me into the trouble. And still latter, I noticed a change in my desire for reading material.: Before I read the bible because I was told Christian's should read the bible. Now I read it because I desire to read it. I read about God and his activities in the world now where before I read about Man and his opinions..

The Wittenberg Door has a two part series on this which I recommend to anyone. Here is a portion from Part one:
[...]
"So you’re saying that God drags people into heaven against their will, while those sincerely desiring to get in can’t because they’re not the elect?”
[...]
We’ll start with the second objection: Is it the case that there are sinners who want to reconcile with God but God won’t let them because they're not of the elect?

Here’s the problem with this objection: it doesn’t take into consideration the state of man. Scripture teaches that Adam’s sin brought spiritual death to us all (Gen. 2:16–17, 3:1–7; Rom. 5:12; Eph. 2:1–3; Col. 2:13).

As a result, men are spiritually deaf, blind, and completely corrupted (Ecc. 9:3; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 8:7–8; 1 Cor. 2:14); also, men are slaves of sin (John. 8:34; Rom. 6:20; Tit. 3:3) and children of the devil (Eph. 2:1–2; 2 Tim. 2:25–26; 1 John 3:10).

So how does natural man respond to the revelations God has given him? He suppresses the truth in unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18). Consequently, man in his unregenerate state hates God and is therefore not seeking Him.

10) as it is written,
"THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;

11) THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;

12) ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;
THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."

Romans 3:10-12

Added Link

Over the years I've listened to many sermons from Preachers through the Internet. The ability to do that is one of the blessings of Al Gore's technology. (That's supposed to be funny: Lighten up!) Anyway, I find it a blessing because I hear men I would never have the opportunity to hear except for this indescribable thing called the "Internet."

One of the men I heard is a young Preacher who is outstanding. His name is Voddie Baucham from Houston, Texas. His ability to treat complex theological concepts is, in my opinion, unparalleled.

I've posted a link to his "page" on Sermon Audio in the Resource Links section on the right. If you have a few minutes, pick any one of his sermons to listen to and see if you don't agree. You will hear a man called and blessed to the vocation of Preaching.

I know it's a man thing. But new cars are just something we have to explore. This is Nate taking a look at the interior of Papa's new car. I told me he wanted to drive it but I explained he would have to wait until he was little older.

Can you explain Christ this well?

Not known for his Christianity this person none the less, has it nailed. Any guesses who said:

"At the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics—in physical laws—every action is met by an equal or an opposite one," explains [...]. "And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that. . . . Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff."

This person went on to say:

"Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: He was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says, No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: 'I'm the Messiah.' I'm saying: 'I am God incarnate.' . . . So what you're left with is either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. . . . The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me that's farfetched."

You can find out more about this person by reading the full article here. A good question to ask yourself is "could I have witnessed for Christ as well, and if not why not?

This guy can play a guitar

On the lighter side; enjoy a one man orchestra. I had no idea anyone could make an acoustic guitar sound like this. Amazing.

Arminianism is inconsistent universalism

I spend more than I should on books. I think it was Erasmus who said something like this: "I buy books and if I have money left over I buy food." That's me! Now I want a book that costs $80+ at Amazon, on sale, and it's not a text book. (If you feel sorry for me all donations will be cheerfully accepted).

The reason I buy so many books is because of a simple mandate found in scripture: "be transformed by the renewing of your mind." (Rom 12:2) The only way I've found to accomplish this is by reading, studying, and thinking. The problem with "renewing the mind" is that most of the time you will be taken into areas of thought you had no intention of going, which may result in taking actions you have no real desire to pursue. But, if you believe as I do, that God is in providential control of "all things," there is a reason this will happen.

For instance, I have challenged my Church's use of the 1833 New Hampshire Statement of Faith. A careful reading of this document led me to the conclusion that many parts of it were written from a frame of mind which had more to do with American democracy than with God's authority or activity. One of the points I challenge in the statement is in regard to the Fall of Man. In that section the writer, Dr. John Newton Brown, a Baptist preacher, states men sin, "not by constraint, but of choice."

For all intents and purposes the "not by constraint" concept eliminates God's sovereignty over Mankind. Not by constraint means men do not have a nature corrupted by original sin, therefore we are free to choose of our own free-will to follow Christ - or not. If that is so, then Christians who believe that, must understand, logically, God who is unchangeable, knows all things, and created all things, cannot intervene in the choices we make. God does not change His mind, so if He gave us an autonomous free will, He has no intention of interfering with our choices. We are on our own. If God changes His mind about anything we are on a fools errand trying to be Christians: He might change the rules at anytime, and if that's possible then there are no rules.

More importantly, however, is if we are not constrained what do we do with scripture such as Colssians 1:17 which states, in part: "By him all things consist?" Do they? If men can be convinced to make a "decision for Christ" based on their "free will," providential oversight of our activities has just been eliminated. By what criteria would we then be able to believe our choice is effective. If we are free, in will and agency to do as we please, the question must be asked; why do we pray for God to intervene in any way in our lives? Some even go so far as to say, in defense of their autonomy, "God didn't make a bunch of robots." (Meaning he is incapable of changing us for his purposes. If He interferes in our choice we are no more than robots).

Logically, then, why do we spend so much time praying for God to override the "decisions" of men who choose not to follow Christ? By not choosing to follow Him those men have made their unconstrained  choice. When we ask God to intervene we are asking Him to change His mind regarding His omniscient decision to supposedly grant "free will." Theologically I haven't quite figured out how that would work. Philosophically it means those who believe in free-will have arrogated to themselves power which is not theirs to take. They have changed the True God into a god that is an idol of their own making. It is the Golden Calf of "make a decision for Christ." This Idol has populated the American Church with so-called Christians who have no idea they are on their way to an eternity in hell.

That $80 book I want is The New Measures: A Theological History of Democratic Practice. In it the author says:

Like a new measures preacher, I have picked the practices that I think will best accomplish my purposes. I hope to write a theological commentary on a small but important set of practices of democratic culture in America. With that end in mind, I attend to six particular measures: organizing worship so that it achieves measurable results in this world (chapter one); using novelty to compete in an economy of attention (two); demanding that people make free decisions (three); proclaiming the formal equality of all people (four); representing private selves in public spaces, and so speaking with the authority of celebrity (five); and telling stories to illustrate points (six). These six chapters each work from a close reading of some revival practice to a critical, theological engagement with some preoccupation of contemporary social criticism: instrumental reason, novelty, freedom, equality, sincerity, and secularization. In connecting the practices with these top(ics), I do not mean to hide my activity of selection and arrangement. I have chosen to focus on the new measures that open into the most fruitful conversations.

  The new measures displayed elective affinities with many important elements of modern cultures, and those affinities helped them to thrive in the intensified competition between churches for adherents. The new measures became so powerful over time that they ceased to be an issue in most white Protestant churches that were not part of Pentecostal movements. Even northern Presbyterians, who split bitterly over new measures practices and theology in 1837, came together around a new measures agenda in 1869 so obvious to all parties that they could agree to call it “pure and simple.” Practices now so familiar as to escape notice were once so jarring as to be unrecognizable. When Finney started preaching in the 1820s, his style seemed so different that some people did not even recognize it as preaching. By the time of his death in 1875, the new measures style had become the invisible instinct of most white Protestant preachers.

Now, here we are (American democratic Christians) 200 years later, wondering why we have churches full of people with "itching ears," wanting even more novelty to satisfy their felt needs. We do more and more with technology to entertain them and placate their whims. Still they will leave if we happen to play and sing music they don't like, or we happen to say something that doesn't quite agree with what they have interpreted as being "true for themselves." Scriptural Truth has little effect on these folks, they worship their own ideas, desires and beliefs. Augustine dealt with their predecessor Pelagius in 350 AD. And the Council of Dort dealt with his philosophical offspring, Arminius, during the Reformation.  

Along these lines is an important article at the Banner of Truth. The author says:

Arminian redemption disavows the saving ministry of the Holy Spirit, since it claims that Christ's blood has a wider application than does the Spirit's saving work. Any presentation of salvation that makes the Father's or the Spirit's work in salvation lag behind Christ's work contradicts the inherent unity of the Trinity. The Father and the Son are one. The Spirit and the Son are one. Christ cannot possibly have died for those whom the Father did not decree to save and in whom the Spirit does not savingly work. God cannot be at odds with himself. Arminianism is inconsistent universalism. [emphasis added]

I Enjoy Conferences

My church, First Baptist Church, Canton, Michigan, is hosting the fall meeting of the World Baptist Fellowship. I haven't been able to attend all the sessions, but what I've heard from the speakers, so far, is outstanding.

Last night Dr. David Bryant, past President of Arlington Baptist College, preached. Dr. Bryant has been gifted with an outstanding memory and a gift for public speaking. I could listen to him all day, I think, and not get fidgety or tired. He is that good.

Anyway, he spoke for a half-hour, or so, about the Sovereignty of God and as I recall mentioned the word sovereignty only once. I wish I had that kind of skill.

Let's face it though, Dr. Bryant was obviously born with certain God-given gifts, but to achieve the level of skill he has has taken a life-time of study, prayer, practice, and education. Shouldn't everyone of us do our best to emulate those we admire and do what they do? I think so!

So, after this conference ends tonight, I will have to study more and longer. I'll never be a David Bryant, but I can sure try to be the best Mason I can be.

Christ and Justice

Quote from Wittenberg Reformed Theological Seminary

It is an injustice to Calvary that the true pain of the Cross is often overlooked by a more romantic, but less powerful theme. It is often thought and even preached that the Father looked down from heaven and witnessed the suffering that was heaped upon His Son by the hands of men, and that He counted such affliction as payment for our sins. This is heresy of the worst kind. Christ satisfied divine justice not merely by enduring the affliction of men, but by enduring and dying under the wrath of God. It takes more than crosses, nails, crowns of thorns, and lances, to pay for sin. The believer is saved, not merely because of what men did to Christ on the Cross, but because of what God did to Him - He crushed Him under the full force of His wrath against us. Rarely is this truth made clear enough in the abundance of all our Gospel

preaching! - Paul D. Washer

A good source

I found another source for very good articles on Reformed Theology. The quote below is from one of Rev. Samson's posts:

Romans 12:2 teaches us that our mandate as Christians is not to allow the world to squeeze us into its mould, but to be different - transformed, even metamorphosized, by renewing our minds to the will of God. To avoid the world's mould, we must first recognize what it is, and see the pitfalls ahead of us. If we do not, we might find ourselves caught up in the thinking of the culture around us without even realizing it. We must understand what the world thinks, how it thinks and how it wants us to think. Then we need to take deliberate steps to walk not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers; but delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night.

 I often run into Christians who believe there is no need to really understand how the world around us thinks. I suppose if we all believed that there wouldn't be any reason to claim to be Christian.

The shallowness of the thinking of so many Christians is astonishing. Rev. Samson is exactly right in saying we need to take deliberate steps to avoid thinking as the secular-world around us thinks. We have to spend time "renewing our minds" as God through the Apostle Paul instructed us. If we don't we won't know when our thinking is the world's and not "the mind of Christ's"

10 Reasons

Doug Wilson is delighted Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. He has posted 10 reasons for his elation.

Here is reason number 8:

Because there is no apparent reason for the prize, this must mean that the committee is inviting all of us to assign our own meanings to it -- and so I would submit that Obama got it for continuing the Bush policies of rendition, roving wiretaps, indefinite detention of accused terrorists, urging continuation of the Patriot Act, and so forth.

You can read the other 9 reasons here.

Spurgeon said:

Freedom cannot belong to will any more than ponderability can be­long to electricity. They are altogether different things. Free agency we may believe in, but free-will is simply ridiculous. The will is well known by all to be directed by the understanding, to be moved by motives, to be guided by other parts of the soul, and to be a secondary thing. Philosophy and religion both discard at once the very thought of free-will; and I will go as far as Martin Luther, in that strong assertion of his, where he says, “If any man doth ascribe aught of salvation, even the very least, to the free-will of man, he knoweth nothing of grace, and he hath not learnt Jesus Christ aright.” 

Couldn't have said it better myself. 

The Christian in the world

Jaques Ellul wrote:

"The Bible tells us that the Christian is in the world, and that there he must remain. The Christian has not been created in order to separate himself from, or live aloof from the world. ...if the Christian is necessarily in the world, he is not of it. This means that his thought, his life, and his heart are not controlled by the world, and do not depend upon the world, for they belong to another Master. Thus, since he belongs to another Master, the Christian has been sent into this world by this Master, and his communion with his Master remains unbroken, in spite of the 'world' in which he has to live.
"...the Christian finds that he is not confronted by the material forces of the world but by its spiritual reality. Because he is in communion with Jesus Christ he has to fight not against flesh and blood but against 'the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness.' At the same time this communion assures him that he does not belong to the world, that he is free from the fatality of the world which is moving towards death, and, as a result of this liberation by grace, he can fight against the spiritual realities of the world."

More can be found here.

The Regulative Principal for Worship

The Regulative Principle in Worship: A brief article.

by Dr. C. Matthew McMahon

[Quoted from Puritans Mind]

The Regulative Principle was given its classical and definitive statement in the reformed Confessions formulated in the 17th century. It is stated in Chapter 21 paragraph 1 in the Westminster Confession:

The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is good, and doth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might.[1] But the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture.1] Rom. 1:20; Psa. 19:1-4a; 50:6; 86:8-10; 89:5-7; 95:1-6; 97:6; 104:1-35; 145:9-12; Acts 14:17; Deut. 6:4-5  [2] Deut. 4:15-20; 12:32; Matt. 4:9-10; 15:9; Acts 17:23-25; Exod. 20:4-6, John 4:23-24; Col. 2:18-23

Therefore, I must ask. Is this appropriate worship music? It was played on Easter Sunday 2009 at New Spring Church (Whatever that is).

One Year Ago

One year ago tomorrow, September 20, 2008, I wrote about our trip to Australia. Now, one year later, I asked myself if what I wrote still held true. Absolutely. I would leave for another trip tomorrow if I could. Anyway, here's what I said then:

9222 miles is a long way. That is the distance from Detroit, Michigan to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The hours it takes to traverse that kind of distance are daunting. Thirty-six hours is my conservative estimate, counting wait times in airports, not counting drive times to and from same. Those hours, by the way, are consecutive. No time-outs’ for hotels or real sleep: Just the dozing – called sleep – on airplanes and in waiting room seats. It is exhausting.

Was it worth it? Of course! How often in one life-time does a person get the opportunity to make that kind of journey?

So what were some high lights of the trip:

1) Deep sea fishing – four of us caught 31 fish (all legal): Then we ate them.

2) A drive to the “12 Apostles National Park,” along the Great Ocean Road.

3) Dinner and dancing with part of the largest Greek population outside Athens.

4) Being surrounded with Cockatoos and Parrots in the mountains outside Melbourne.

5) Seeing a Koala, Kangaroos, Wallabies, etc., in the wild.

6) Eating Kangaroo meat.

7) Getting to watch Australian Rules Football playoffs from a Sky-box, with a sit-down Filet Mignon meal served in the box.

Getting used to sitting where the driver is supposed to sit in a car, but doesn’t. That’s not true! I’ll probably never get used to right-hand drive and left-side traffic.

There is more, but even after three days I’m still dragging and lagging. Jet lag is a bummer.

Would I go again? Silly question! When do we leave? This is the back of our friends house. Wouldn't you go again?

Science changes again

Evolutionary science is really an oxymoron. Not only can it not provide connections between species, which it claims exist, it uses Darwinian assumptions to make predictions often proven by "science" itself to be erroneous.

The latest example is the change in opinion about the appendix. Darwin said the appendix was a "vesitgal organ," something unneeded but thus far still not eliminated in the evolutionary process. For 150 years just about every non-Christian believed that as a fact. Christian Doctrine however, has always insisted God does not make mistakes, therefore the appendix is necessary, we just had not figured out for what.

Now comes word, again from "science" that the appendix is a necessary organ which the body uses for a cleansing process after a serious attack of diahrrea.

As usual obfuscation is the norm when the Media report on these kinds of things. The story (linked by science above) headline reads. "Appendix May Be Useful Organ After All." That's not what scientists are saying. Here is what they are really saying, quoted from the article:

Maybe it's time to correct the textbooks," said researcher William Parker, an immunologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. "Many biology texts today still refer to the appendix as a 'vestigial organ.

I wonder when ABC, NBC, and the rest of the propaganda machinery is going to report on this?

Obscure, but True History

Remonstrans just had to get me started. But, of course, that's why I read their blog. They post interesting , factual, current, stuff. (I like the word stuff. It covers just about everything). Anyway the writer of Remonstrans posted an article that begins with this:

"I hold Texans accountable for a lot of wicked things (like J. Frank Norris, Clyde Barrow, Lyndon Johnson, and Dan Rather),...

Whoa thar pardner! J. Frank Norris; wicked...? I thought I was the only one who looked for and actually reads obscure history about people I hear mentioned from time to time.

Some Things We Can Choose

I chose to steal this picture from Pyromaniacs

You're One Of Those

One day I was chatting with a friend from Church about spiritual matters when he remarked, "Oh! You're of those!" I said, "what are you talking about?" He replied, "you're one of those Calvinists." By that he meant I was not really a Christian - in the sense that I wasn't interested in seeing folks added to the church daily as happened in the book of Acts.

I had just recently stumbled onto Calvinism by reading and listening to John Piper. Oh, I had heard about T.U.L.I.P., but had never investigated fully what that was all about. My friend's remark was said in jest, but my curiosity was aroused to the point that I began seriously investigating what it is I really believe. What a tremendous journey God has me on. Little did I know that what I had heard most of my life was a shallow, mostly man-centered, gloss of what God has truly revealed of Himself in his Word.

Billions Wasted on A Picture

"What I see is the grandeur of creation, however it got there...." That quote is from Hubble senior scientist Dave Leckrone. [Assoc Press article here.]



What is it in scientists that will not allow them to say "creation" without some qualifying language that refuses to acknowledge God? Is it that their peers are so intolerant they cannot say God for fear of being ostracized?

This picture is from the refurbished Hubble space telescope. It is a picture of the remnants of a dying star. The "butterfly wings" are superheated gases(36000 degress) being expelled at over 600,000 miles per hour. That speed would give you a round-trip to the moon in 24 minutes.  The Butterfly is located 3800 light years from earth.

The temperatures, the distances, the speeds of events happening in the Universe are mind-boggling. But, to witness these and claim they are accidental - evolutionary processes - is beyond my understanding. The minds which can do the math, the engineering, the calculations, with will and determination as exhibited by our scientists, must believe in their science as religion as I do my Christianity - with faith.

Alistair Begg Talks about Preaching

Begg asks: "Why is there such a disinterest in preaching."

Later he says: "Much of the trouble with our contemporary preaching is it is built on the fallacious assumption that anybody can and will respond to the gospel if only it's presented to them in the proper fashion."

See my post on "Free Will?" below!



A large portion is transcribed here.

Free Will?

There's a pretty good discussion in the comments section of the Pyromaniacs today (9-9-09) about free will. I particularly liked Mike Riccardi's comment: [Note: Mike has a post this subject here.]

We've got to be careful. The opposite of free will is not "no will"; it's an enslaved will (John 8:34; Rom 6:6, 6:16-20, 8:7-8). Everyone makes choices. But they can only make choices in accordance with their nature. In humanity's case, that nature is in bondage; it is not free. It is a sin, death, and child-of-wrath nature (Eph 2:1-3).

The unregenerate sinner has a will (i.e., a moral inclination to this or that). But his will is enslaved to sin until freed (or changed) by the sovereign grace of God (Eph 2:4-5; John 1:13; Jas 1:18).

"The opposite of free will is not no will..." Mike's statement points out a fact I have been wrestling with and it is this. Many folks I know, seem to have gotten caught up in the concept of "choosing" when discussing salvation. As in, "you must choose Christ as savior." However, Jesus himself commanded us to "repent," He didn't offer a choice.  Here is what He said, Matt 4:17, "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Books 'n' Stuff

I love books. I haven't read this one, but the title sure is intriguing. From what I gather this book is a compilation of stories about life from people like me. It's about old people and their experiences. One of my favorite experiences is to be in a Borders Book store, with a Cappuccino, at a table perusing books I want and just might buy. I always buy one; Borders isn't a library.

Labor Day Conversation

I had one of the best Vocation Labor day's I've had in -- I can't remember when. A young man from my church invited me to breakfast at a local restaurant, and we talked about God and His Word for three hours. What a great time that was.

This young man is so well versed in scripture, he has my head spinning. He pointed out some scriptural things most Baptists just assume to be "true" because of constant repetition. Many of these ideas are, in fact, borderline heresy. (That's my word, not his). I have much praying and studying to do.

Obama to speak to children

Tuesday Pres. Obama is going to address the school children of America.

Wednesday he will expect them to look and act like those in the picture.

Oh wait! Those aren't children (maybe). They are part of the other "Great Leader's" navy.

It's so hard to keep the ideologies of the Great Leaders separated, they think so much alike. I just wish our Great Leader would do something really special: You know resign! Preferably before he speaks to the kids.

They don't like me

Sometimes I run across things that just seem to hit the 'ol funny-bone. The Wittenberg Door (Link in my link list) posted some quotes from various church bulletins. All of them are funny, but this one just got to me:

Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.

I hate when they me go around back. And, this, just when I'm starting to think I might not be all bad. Oh well! Maybe they'll let me use the front door next week, that is if they let me attend again. They probably really don't like me.

Music and relevance

Dr. Gene Veith has made some very important comments about the state of music in the United States. Sorry to say, I fear his forray into this subject is too late. Even the conservative Baptist Church I attend, has allowed the camel, so to speak, to get his nose under the tent flap. We have gone to what is called "blended" worship. We sing the standard Baptist hymns with the exception of one song, each Sunday morning. That song/chorus is accompanied by a video and sound track, and is a modern style "chorus." Our music director does his best to keep these scripturally based, but as with anything commercial, there are some that might be a little off track. The purpose for our doing this is to give the "young people" something that is supposed to seem more relevant to them.

What Dr. Veith has suggested is something I have known but did not have the will to talk about. It is the fact that whether we realize it or not, we are contributing to the dumbing-down of our membership by getting involved in these culturally initiated attempts at relevance. God did not call us to be relevant. He called us to take the good news of the gospel to a world that would hate us for it. We can't take the world the gospel if we are so lazy we do not want to retain structural church content that has served "the Church" for centuries. Proverbs 1:21 says, "How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?"

Fools hate knowledge and it is no more evident than through the simplistic jingoes we now sing for choruses. Dr. Veith says:

But that artists have to scale back their talent in order to achieve commercial success is a sobering thought. It makes sense: Complex artistic performances–in whatever genre, including popular ones such as rock and country–will move us into the realm of “high culture.” It requires knowledge, experience, and taste for an audience to appreciate. “Pop culture” has to be simpler and more homogenized to appeal to a mass commercial audience.

"High culture...requires knowledge, experience and taste...." We do not help our young people by feeding them more of what they feed on 24/7 in the way of music. We feed our young and ourselves by singing, playing, and repeating psalms, hymns, and worship music written about God, not about what we are doing for God. Most of the choruses we sing are ditties telling God how we "feel," what "we" are doing in the way of worship, etc. Our focus in worship should be about what God has done, not what we have done or will do for Him.

Veith goes on to say, "...this strikes me as a dysfunction and as a violation of vocation." Dr. Veith is absolutely correct. It is a violation of vocation to capitulate to the desires of sinful men. Vocation (a word we use instead of calling) is God ordained, in that if we pursue our gifts in the way He desires, God will usually place us in a work situation that compliments us, and from which we will be better able to witness about Him. If we do not pursue our vocation using our gifts to the best of our abilities, we begin to lose the effectiveness God intended for us to have. Musicians, nor anyone else, should ever be required to give less than their best just for "comercial" success, or to "be relevant." This is especially true for people serving in church.

A good example of what happens when we try to be relevant, is people begin to shop for churches like they do shirts at the mall. Our church recently lost a couple because they "didn't like" the music. That we preach the gospel apparently doesn't matter to them. Their unspoken complaint is that we were not feeding their ego's and the "entertainment" we provided just didn't make them "feel" good.

Every Christian should make it a point, all day every day, to do whatever is necessary to gain just a little more knowledge, and perform his tasks just a little bit better. I can only imagine what kind of nation we would have today if Christians had been following that simple formula for the past 200+ years.

Whether music, preaching, teaching, or participating in Worship we should always and in everway give our best. After all, these endeavors are supposed to about God, and not about us.

Christianity 21

It's called Christianity 21. Apparently it is a gathering of people searching for something. I don't quite know what to make of it. The Web Site says, in part:

Christianity21 is more than just a set of presentations. The entire experience is designed to create value for the participants.

I did note that all of the participants are female, even Seth, (not that there's anything wrong with that) which I find strange, since it is not billed as a "female only" gathering. Many of the participants appear to have "gender identity" issues as is exemplified by this presenter:

Her name is Nadia. She's an ordained "Pastor" in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Her church is House for All Saints and Sinners, Denver, Colorado. I only know of her by what I read on the web. I haven't been to her church, nor heard her speak. The fact that I do know, however, is this, which I obtained from her church's web site:

House for All Sinners and Saints' is a group of folks figuring out how to be a liturgical, Christo-centric, social justice oriented, queer inclusive, incarnational, contemplative, irreverent, ancient - future church with a progressive but deeply rooted theological imagination.

I've posted - a lot - recently about language and some of the reasons to be clear when communicating. This "church" makes it very clear why this is so important. The only place I found, in any of the church's or the Conference's material where an attempt was made to include God in their program is the phrase, "Christo-centric." But, that is not a religious, biblical, scriptural, or in any way god related phrase. It is about being human centered. It is sociological, progressive, (read liberal) feel good, jargon.

Moreover, the entire Christianity 21 set-up, appears to be no more than a redefined pagan celebration of all that is currently popular in American "pop" religion. The language they use, i.e., contemplative, social- justice, queer inclusive, irreverent, etc., says they are about designing a pragmatic "what works" religion.

"Theological imagination," I think, is the key to what so many, in our culture, like these people, find confusing. The Bible is objectively real, not imaginary. Theology is supposed to be about how men/women put into proper perspective the facts about God that He has given us in His Word. It is not supposed to be about imagining what we think about what He said.

God warned us about this kind of thing in His Word. He said:

(2 Peter 3:3) Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

I think God pretty well summed up who and what these people are about via that verse. They don't like the Christ of the Bible, so they are intent on inventing an imaginary savior.

In olden times this religion was called Pagamism. The Israelites built a Golden Calf to honor their pagan god, Christinity 21 appears to be using other means to honor theirs.

Form of Words

I believe I'm turning into a thief. Wait! I am a thief. I've been stealing all kinds of really good stuff from other web sites. But, then, I don't think the others mind, I always try to attribute what I use, to them, and am grateful they have not threatened to soak my typing fingers in hot-grease or something. Besides, the 'Gummint' says we can use reasonable amounts of copyrighted material if we attribute the usage to the authors. Ok! So much for rationalizing, justifying, weasling-out, and generally making excuses for my un-originality.

I've also been hung-up recently on the use of language in and around church in particular, and in life, in general. Seems the folks at Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics thought about this as well. This I stole from them:

2 Timothy 1:13 - Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

13. Hold the form of sound words. Some explain it thus: “Let thy doctrine be, as it were, a pattern which others may imitate.” I do not approve of that view. Equally removed from Paul’s meaning is Chrysostom’s exposition, that Timothy should have at hand the image of virtues engraven on his heart by Paul’s doctrine. I rather think that Paul commands Timothy to hold fast the doctrine which he had learned, not only as to substance, but as to the very form of expression; for — the word which Paul employs on this occasion — denotes a lively picture of objects, as if they were actually placed before the eyes. Paul knew how ready men are to depart or fall off from pure doctrine. For this reason he earnestly cautions Timothy not to turn aside from that form of teaching which he had received, and to regulate his manner of teaching by the rule which had been laid down; not that we ought to be very scrupulous about words, but because to misrepresent doctrine, even in the smallest degree, is exceedingly injurious.

–– John Calvin, from his commentary on 2 Timothy

Could it be that our modern paraphrases and simplified versions of the Bible and Confessions will, in the end, have the exact opposite effect from what we hoped for? What form will we use for the next generation?

Now, before everyone becomes apoplectic over "Calvin," I recommend actually reading some of his material to find out what he says - not what people say he says.

A really good quote

I was wandering around cyberspace a few moments ago and came across this:

We must always take what our opponent says seriously and treat him respectfully. That means we don’t scoff when he says something really stupid. (From the Wittenberg Door)

That  makes sense. It's always difficult to hold a conversation with someone stupid after you've told him he is stupid. Talk between you then tends to turn into a shouting match, and nothing is gained. A lot more can be accomplished by allowing him to come to the realization he is stupid all by himself.

Stupid is defined as a lack of intelligence. For the most part, I think stupid folks are that way because of their laziness in trying to better themselves. Not many of us would identify someone who lacks inate intelligence as stupid. No, stupid people are stupid because they choose to be.

Still, we gain a lot more by treating them respectefully as human-beings made in the image of God and not as the dolts they truly are. Besides, God commands we treat our neighbors as ourselves, even if they are jerks. But, I still like what Jesus called some stupid, jerks, while He was here - "whitewashed tombs." That pretty much says it.

This will start your brain churning

It's Friday, so it isn't time to turn off the brain for the weekend just yet! With that in mind, how about this from the Pyromaniacs, "All Religions Do Lead To God":

Other religions will bring you to God. Shintoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam — they'll all eventually bring you to God. Mormonism, Christian Science, paganism, animism, and Roman Catholicism will bring you to God. Every practitioner of every religion created by man and/or demon will, by that religion, be brought to God.

If that doesn't start the old Christian brain cranking I don't know what will. This is a good article. The writer goes on to say:

But none of those religions will bring us to God as "Father"!

Fooled you didn't I? All religions lead to God, but only the true religion leads to Him as Father, every other leads to Him as Judge.

I sure am thankful I am covered by the grace and blood of Jesus Christ. I would not want to meet God as the Judge of my life without protection.

If you can't say that read this.

The Gospel In Four Sentences

Man was created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever

"Worthy are you, our Lord and our God to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things." (Rev 4:11) "Do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31)

Man has failed to glorify God and; is under His just condemnation

"For all have sinned..." (Rom 3:23) The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23) "These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction" (2 Thes 1:9)

Jesus fully bore the wrath and suffered the punishment sinners deserve

Not wishing that sinners perish forever, God determined to save a people for Himself in the Eternal Son who became a man and lived the life we should have lived and died the death we justly deserve. God loves sinners and sent His Son to be the wrath absorbing sacrifice for their sin (1 John 4:10; John 6:37) he "...gave His life as a ransom for many" (Mk 10:45) & "rose again" from the dead (2 Cor 5:15) on their behalf.

All who, by the grace of God, turn to Jesus in repentantant submissive faith are forgiven
and; begin a life-changing, eternally satisfying relationship with God!

"Repent and believe the gospel (Mk 1:5) "In Your presence is fullness of Joy (Ps 16:11)

Reformationtheology.com

Another Day another Book

The Guinness family is famous for beer. In Great Britain, I’m told, that’s the only kind to drink.


However, that family also produced one of the greatest Christians alive today, at least that’s my opinion. Dr. Os Guinness is a member of that family. As a Christian speaker, author, apologist, debater, and spokesman for Christianity, I don’t think there are too many men better than he in that capacity.

I bought his book “The Call,” a while back, and am just now starting to read it. The blurb on the back says, “Os Guinness invites you to explore the ultimate answer to identity, meaning, and purpose. ‘The Call’ speaks to the longing in every human heart and answers – You were created with a purpose.’”
On page 30 he says, “(Calling) is almost a synonym for salvation. In this context, calling is overwhelmingly God’s calling people to himself as followers of Christ.”

If that’s any indication, this should be a great book.

Did you ever hear the name Pelagius

Pelagius was a monk who argued with Augustine that men are not really "dead" spiritually, they retained he asserted, the capcity to choose God or not.

That argument ensued about 400 AD and it continues to this day. The end result for us modern Americans is that we that we still have to pick which side we are on: Agustine's or Pelagius'.

Dr. Michael Horton has an article which makes the choice quite clear. Choose Pelagius - you lose.

Augustine taught that human beings, because they are born in original sin, are incapable of saving themselves. Apart from God's grace, it is impossible for a person to obey or even to seek God. Representing the entire race, Adam sinned against God. This resulted in the total corruption of every human being since, so that our very wills are in bondage to our sinful condition. Only God's grace, which he bestows freely as he pleases upon his elect, is credited with the salvation of human beings.

On the other hand, Horton says this about Pelagius:

According to Pelagius, Adam was merely a bad example, not the father of our sinful condition-we are sinners because we sin-rather than vice versa. Consequently, of course, the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, was a good example. Salvation is a matter chiefly of following Christ instead of Adam, rather than being transferred from the condemnation and corruption of Adam's race and placed "in Christ," clothed in his righteousness and made alive by his gracious gift. What men and women need is moral direction, not a new birth; therefore, Pelagius saw salvation in purely naturalistic terms-the progress of human nature from sinful behavior to holy behavior, by following the example of Christ.

So, if we go along with Pelagius's belief that we are not really "dead" in our "trespasses and sins," as scripture states, then of course we can "choose" to believe - or not. Horton adds this about Pelagius:

In his Commentary on Romans, Pelagius thought of grace as God's revelation in the Old and New Testaments, which enlightens us and serves to promote our holiness by providing explicit instruction in godliness and many worthy examples to imitate. So human nature is not conceived in sin. After all, the will is not bound by the sinful condition and its affections; choices determine whether one will obey God, and thus be saved.

This is what Oprah believes. I think I believe what Augustine, Luther, etc., believed. If God doesn't change us we don't get changed.

A quote I like

I read this this morning and fogot to get the link. But, anyway, I liked it so much I will repeat it without attribution:

"the culmination of hatred is indifference."

That's something to think about.

If you happen to know where it came from let me know, please!

If the Post Office is any indication...

...we are headed for deep trouble when the Government takes over health care. Let me explain!

The other day the wife got a call from a customer asking if we had received her package. We had not. This morning the customer called to advise us, the Postal Service had tried to deliver the package in July. She said they had left three notifications that the package was available for pickup at the Post Office, but we had not responded. Note: The Post Office always blames the customers for errors.

We did not receive any notification of a package for pickup but I went to the P.O., as our customer requested. Well sure enough the package was in the Post Office. Now, the thing of it is, the package should not have been there, it should have been returned to sender. Postal regulations state that packages are to be returned to the sender after 12 days. So much for rules and regulations of the Federal Government.

So, if I take into consideration the efficiency (actually inefficiancy) of the Post Office which has been in operation for over one hundred years, I can only imagine what the health care system will be like in 5 years.

It will be our fault for getting sick in the first place; we got the wrong medicine because we didn't ask the right question; the Doctor can't see us until next year because his union won't let him; and the Hospital closes sharply at 5:00 PM so come back tomorrow, except for the weekends, then they will tell us to come back Monday.

God help us!

We invent a God in whom we wish to believe.

Dr. Mohler is President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. To my mind he is also one of the greatest teachers alive today. His ability to bring clarity to tough subjects is unequaled. His sermon, "How can a God of love send anyone to hell?", I believe, is one of the best, if not the best, I have ever heard on this question.

In it he explains who and why people go to hell. Furthermore, he comments on our American penchant for idolatry, which most of us are unaware is taking place. He says it is:

 "The idolatry wherein we invent a God in whom we wish to believe."

The messsage is 43 minutes long, but Mohler makes is seem as though it is way too short. It is well worth the investment in time to watch. I highly recommend it.

Section 4.1. 21-29 The Institutes

This post is for a friend. He/she knows what its about, but all my other friends, who read this blog, will not harm themselves by reading it as well.

Not only does the Lord through forgiveness of sins receive and adopt us once for all into the church, but through the same means he preserves and protects us there. For what would be the point of providing a pardon for us that was destined to be of no use? Every godly man is his own witness that the Lord's mercy, if it were granted only once, would be void and illusory, since each is quite aware throughout his life of the many infirmities that need God's mercy. And clearly not in vain does God promise this grace especially to those of his own household; not in vain does he order the same message of reconciliation daily to be brought to them. So, carrying, as we do, the traces of sin around with us throughout life, unless we are sustained by the Lord's constant grace in forgiving our sins, we shall scarcely abide one moment in the church. But the Lord has called his children to eternal salvation. Therefore, they ought to ponder that there is pardon ever ready for their sins. Consequently, we must firmly believe that by God's generosity, mediated by Christ's merit, through the sanctification of the Spirit, sins have been and are daily pardoned to us who have been received and engrafted into the body of the church

We good ol' boy Amuricun religious kinda-folk sure have a hard time with the first sentence in this quote. Why us Baptists jus' know we's goona go to heaven without havin' to think about all that adopted into the church kinda stuff. We be "borned agin," and that's all thar is to it. Period.

Except, "...the Lord through forgiveness of sins receive and adopt us once for all into the church." Dadgum it all. How's a feller s'posed to have any peace 'bout being saved and all, ifn he ain't in charge of his'n own salvation? What's this adopted into the church stuff? Does this feller mean I have to ask forgiveness every day of my life? That there's crazy talk. Ain't it?  I thought I was "once saved always saved" no matter what.

Well for a Baptist this does sound kind of like the Catholics, or the Epicopalians, or maybe even the Anglicans. But, then again...

"...by God's generosity, mediated by Christ's merit, through the sanctification of the Spirit, sins have been and are daily pardoned to us who have been received and engrafted into the body of the church."

...it sure does sound a lot like what the Bible teaches.

[Hat tip to Doug Wilson at Blog and Mablog for this one.]

On Free Will

Do we have free will in the sense that we can do whatever we want when we want?

Here's a good article on this subject.  The writer quotes J.I. Packer:

"The God who ordains the ends also ordains the means, and evangelism and prayer are God-ordained means to God-ordained ends. J. I. Packer argues that you already "acknowledge that God is sovereign in salvation" because "you pray for the conversion of others"  

King David Prays

I Chron 29:10-15

...David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: "Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. (11) Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the Kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. (12) "Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. (13) An now we thank, our God, and praise your glorious name. (14) But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. (15) "For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding."
 
Since I say I believe the Bible is the word of God I have to believe what it says. Here it says everything is God's. Riches and honor come from Him so I have to assume He also "rule(s) over all," just like He says. I don't think "all" in this case means a lot, or most, or much: I think it actually means all.
 
I'm glad He's in charge of everything. The times I've taken charge things got a little messed up. As my wife would say, who is practicing her Brit for an upcoming trip, "you (that's me) get your knickers in a twist."
 
I suppose I do, even though I don't have the slightest notion of what that means. Maybe it's something like "all bent out of shape."

Spurgeon read a lot

The Witenberg Door posted these facts about Charles Spurgeon. I am fascinated by them. I like to read and have a few books in my library. But 12,000? I know Preachers who don't read books and think they are capable of taking care of a congregation.

Spurgeon’s personal library contained 12,000 volumes—1,000 printed before 1700. (The library, 5,103 volumes at the time of its auction, is now housed at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri.)

It's one thing to have this many books, what about reading them. The Wittenberg Door post goes on to say, Spurgeon read 6 books a week, and remembered what he read and where, years later.

But, if that weren't enough, Spurgeon also wrote books, lots of books:

The New Park Street Pulpit and The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit­—the collected sermons of Spurgeon during his ministry with that congregation—fill 63 volumes. The sermons’ 20-25 million words are equivalent to the 27 volumes of the ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. The series stands as the largest set of books by a single author in the history of Christianity.

And I think I'm really doing something if I read 20 or 30 books a year. I wonder what American Christianity would be like if we had a Spurgeon around today.

Different day different look.

Posting is fun, but sometimes it can be a real drag.

Finding a template (that's the thingy that controls what I write looks like) is not easy. Some things you can do on one, you can't do on another. Some elements you like on one, aren't available on another. I hate the thought of having to learn CSS (that the code templates are written in) for the amount of time I will be using one.

I like blogger, now, I didn't used to, for a couple of reasons. Google own it, so the speed with which it updates is incredible. Moreover, they offer a FREE as in FREE  .com site. And that brings me to why I was looking at and playing with "templates."

By the early part of next year, when my wife has a little time, we are going to start a web site for her Museum Quality Restoration Service. There are hundres of free templates available, but without pretty good CSS knowledge it gets antsy tweaking them to do what I want. Simple things I can do; complex things - not.

Maybe I will find exactly what I want if I keep looking, anyway that's why this page looks different today.

Christians, Hindus, Whatever

Dr. Al Mohler posted on his site concerning the American propensity to believe in just about anything. He linked to a Newsweek article from which the following comes:

"...Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me."

Americans are no longer buying it. According to a 2008 Pew Forum survey, 65 percent of us believe that "many religions can lead to eternal life"—including 37 percent of white evangelicals, the group most likely to believe that salvation is theirs alone. Also, the number of people who seek spiritual truth outside church is growing. Thirty percent of Americans call themselves "spiritual, not religious," according to a 2009 NEWSWEEK Poll, up from 24 percent in 2005. Stephen Prothero, religion professor at Boston University, has long framed the American propensity for "the divine-deli-cafeteria religion" as "very much in the spirit of Hinduism. You're not picking and choosing from different religions, because they're all the same," he says. "It isn't about orthodoxy. It's about whatever works. [emphasis added] If going to yoga works, great—and if going to Catholic mass works, great. And if going to Catholic mass plus the yoga plus the Buddhist retreat works, that's great, too."

My post yesterday didn't mention the small side-discussion I had with a member of our Church about McLaren's leanings toward Islam wherein this person thought there was nothing wrong with showing solidarity by participating in Ramadan with Muslims. After all this person said, "Paul told us to be all things to all people."

I commented that by doing so, McLaren was not being scriptural about his witness. In fact we are commanded to avoid those who will not listen to the Gospel message. Muslims are forbidden to listen, therefore it is very difficult to "be all" to them. Participating in their religion is not what Paul meant. That is why he told the Athenians he would tell them about their unknown God, not celebrate their ignorance with them.

Christianity is a verbally based religion. God set it up so that His "Word" is primary not what our feelings tell us. McLaren obviously "feels" he is doing good. But, words are how humans identify the evidence of sensory inputs. It is through lamguage we form concepts, which means we have to think about what we are doing. McLaren apparently doesn't care one way or the other since his notoriety sells books and that appears "to work" for him. The pragmatic/Hindu concept "works for me," is based entirely on feelings and has nothing to do with reality and the human role to identify it in a God ordained manner. Why else would God have made Adam name the animals - he had to correctly identify the evidence of his senses and demonstrate to God that he could.

But, the idea "works for me" is so pervasive today, even some Christians get caught up in it. For example, many seem to be unable to articulate the role of faith as God explains it in the Bible. Too many of the Christians I know believe that "faith" is a matter of personal choice and that God really doesn't have a role in our beliefs other than He has to accept our statement that we have "accepted Jesus as our personal Savior." This they believe grants them a ticket into heaven because most believe "it works for them." We seldom talk about the part of Scripture that commands us to acknowledge Jesus as our LORD (read slave- master). This idea just does not sit well with our American democratic ideals.

The Newsweek article goes on to say that 24% of Americans now believe in reincarnation. That pretty much ends any idea of Resurrection for those folks. If you die and come back as something else, a monkey, or a cockroach, for example, what need is there for belief in the God of the Bible, let alone accepting Him as slave-master (Lord and Savior).

The article ends with this:

"I do think the more spiritual role of religion tends to deemphasize some of the more starkly literal interpretations of the Resurrection," agrees Diana Eck, professor of comparative religion at Harvard. So let us all say "om."

Meditation, in the Yoga sense of chanting "om," is not something I need. Not since I had to take a "Transcendental Meditation" class in college. So I will say Praise God, and thank you very much, but I will not be fasting in solidarity with my Muslim neighbors. I will, however, tell them that God through His son Jesus can fill the void they are trying to fill through rituals, if they will listen and not kill me for being an infidel.

Last night at church

Last night the adult Bible study class got into a pretty good discussion on how we can identify ourselves as Christians living in our culture. Then our leader mentioned the "ermerging/emergent" church and some of it's problems. I don't recall how he got into that or why.

Anyway, I mentioned that Brian McLaren, a prominent person in this movement, was going to participate in Ramadan as a show of solidarity for one of his neighbors. Here's some of what he wrote:

Among the core values of Ramadan are self control, expressing kindness, and resolving conflicts. For this reason, if we are criticized or misunderstood by Christians, Muslims, or others for this endeavor, we will avoid defending ourselves or engaging in arguments. Instead, we will seek to explain ourselves humbly, simply, and briefly when necessary, connecting with empathy to the needs and feelings of others as we express our own.

Our main purpose for participating will be our own spiritual growth, health, learning, and maturity, but we also hope that our experience will inspire others to pray and work for peace and the common good, together with people of other faith traditions.

I pointed out that on many levels this was not a good idea. Not only is Islam the epitome of Evil, adherents are fobidden to have anything to do with those who will not submit to the teachings of the Koran. Christians should not be giving the illusion of submission by participation in their pagan practices.

Of course we are told to witness to everyone but "becoming all things, to all people," does not include participating in pagan practices. Would McLaren, if he lived next door to a man who believes in Santaria participate in the ritual killing of animals? I don't know, but the way it sounds he might.

Anyway there is so much wrong with this on so many levels I can't believe anyone listens to this guy. You can go here if you want to read what he said. If you want to find out who he is playing with go here.

A word of warning: The last link above will take you to "The Religion of Peace" Web Site. The site is a compilation of the atrocities committed in the name of Allah since 9/11. There have been 13914 deadly attacks by adherents to this religion since that date. These are not nice people, they are not neighborly, they are evil and they want you dead.