Doug Wilson nails it.....again.....in this article about how Christians are supposed to handle the little differences in scruples that we always seem to develop over issues that are not terribly important.
Pastor Wilson is so darn right about stuff all the time, it makes this ugly, prideful place inside of me want to punch a hole in something.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Bible Before CNN
Think back to the recent earthquake in Haiti. Do you remember the story of the 10 Baptists from Idaho who were arrested on charges of attempted kidnapping? They have all since been freed, with all charges against them dropped.
It seems that the news accounts that we were treated to in real-time as the story progressed were somewhat....ummm.....inaccurate? biased? calculated to make the Christians look like monsters? Take your pick, but they're all appropriate.
Here is the story from the Baptist Press, an interview with one of the folks who was involved.
The reason I'm posting this is because a couple days after their initial arrest, I was having lunch with a few local pastors, and one of them loudly proclaimed his disgust with the Baptist brethren involved. They obviously had no idea what they were doing. They were insensitive to local laws and customs. They were ignorant neophytes who had no business down there.
I was frankly shocked by this reaction. I said something to him like this (surely not a direct quote, but a summary,) "I think we need to wait a little bit. All we know is what the mainstream media is saying, and it's foolish to trust a single thing you hear from them. I mean, what kind of shape do you think the government is in down there in Haiti right now? I wouldn't be shocked to hear that the real reason they got arrested is because they ran out of money with which to bribe the official at the border, or something like that."
This pastor I was talking to is a prominent Southern Baptist pastor. I just couldn't believe he was so willing to swallow what the media was telling him.
Turns out, guess what? The Baptists were doing just fine, making friends with government officials on both sides of the Haiti/Dominican Republic border, and actually leading some to Christ, until a team from the United Nations showed up. Read the article. It's long but enlightening.
And you might consider finding a church to attend where folks believe the Bible before CNN.
It seems that the news accounts that we were treated to in real-time as the story progressed were somewhat....ummm.....inaccurate? biased? calculated to make the Christians look like monsters? Take your pick, but they're all appropriate.
Here is the story from the Baptist Press, an interview with one of the folks who was involved.
The reason I'm posting this is because a couple days after their initial arrest, I was having lunch with a few local pastors, and one of them loudly proclaimed his disgust with the Baptist brethren involved. They obviously had no idea what they were doing. They were insensitive to local laws and customs. They were ignorant neophytes who had no business down there.
I was frankly shocked by this reaction. I said something to him like this (surely not a direct quote, but a summary,) "I think we need to wait a little bit. All we know is what the mainstream media is saying, and it's foolish to trust a single thing you hear from them. I mean, what kind of shape do you think the government is in down there in Haiti right now? I wouldn't be shocked to hear that the real reason they got arrested is because they ran out of money with which to bribe the official at the border, or something like that."
This pastor I was talking to is a prominent Southern Baptist pastor. I just couldn't believe he was so willing to swallow what the media was telling him.
Turns out, guess what? The Baptists were doing just fine, making friends with government officials on both sides of the Haiti/Dominican Republic border, and actually leading some to Christ, until a team from the United Nations showed up. Read the article. It's long but enlightening.
And you might consider finding a church to attend where folks believe the Bible before CNN.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Mad, Sad, and Convicted
This isn't anything you and I haven't already noticed (and been disgusted by) but at least someone nationally is starting to say it. The Muslim religion has become a protected class in the eyes of the Federal gummint. Where are all the loonies from groups like People for the American Way, protesting the fact that Islam is clearly on-track to become a government-endorsed, "established" religion in the USA? Being plagued with foolish and idiotic leadership is one of the most lamentable ways that God pours out judgment on a nation. We have met the enemy and he is....every ivy-league moron that holds power in America.
Also, here's a good (and brief) article from RC Sproul Jr and Ligonier Ministries, about how to deal with the phenomenon of Christians converting to Roman Catholicism.
Then, there's this short article here, spinning off of one foreign missionary's surprising experience of great laziness on the mission field by other American missionaries. I had never heard of anything like this before. It'll get your blood boiling...until the trap springs and your own foot is caught like mine was.
Also, here's a good (and brief) article from RC Sproul Jr and Ligonier Ministries, about how to deal with the phenomenon of Christians converting to Roman Catholicism.
Then, there's this short article here, spinning off of one foreign missionary's surprising experience of great laziness on the mission field by other American missionaries. I had never heard of anything like this before. It'll get your blood boiling...until the trap springs and your own foot is caught like mine was.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
....and then You've Prob'ly Got some Work to Do
I'd like you to take a moment to read an article from Dan Phillips at the Pyromaniacs blog.
Before you do that, though, take this little quiz. How confident would you be if you had to stand up at church and give an answer to these questions?
1. Can you name at least half of the books of the Old Testament?
2. Can you name the books of the New Testament in order?
3. Can you even name the first five books of either Testament in order?
4. Can you name the Ten Commandments in order?
5. Failing that, can you name the two books in which they are given?
6. Where would you find the Sermon on the Mount?
I wonder how you think you would do? I wonder how many people at our little church would be able to avoid a failing grade on that quiz?
Now...go read the article.
Before you do that, though, take this little quiz. How confident would you be if you had to stand up at church and give an answer to these questions?
1. Can you name at least half of the books of the Old Testament?
2. Can you name the books of the New Testament in order?
3. Can you even name the first five books of either Testament in order?
4. Can you name the Ten Commandments in order?
5. Failing that, can you name the two books in which they are given?
6. Where would you find the Sermon on the Mount?
I wonder how you think you would do? I wonder how many people at our little church would be able to avoid a failing grade on that quiz?
Now...go read the article.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Sugar in the Tank
As Mother's Day fast-approaches...hear the hoofbeats of a fell army hell-bent on fell deeds...you might want to read a very interesting 20 year-old article that appeared in Newsweek a-way back when.
It's titled "The Failure of Feminism," written by Kay Ebeling. At the time of the writing, she was a young, single mom upon whom it had finally dawned that the feminism she had embraced and encouraged actually put women like herself in a much worse state than might've otherwise been.
It'll do your soul good to read it, if you've ever been beaten about the head and shoulders by much smarter people than yourself (supposedly), who berrated you for staying at home to raise your children, or, conversely, for allowing your wife to do so.
The disturbing part of the article, though, is this: Ebeling does a nice job describing how it's all gone wrong for the erswhile feminists, but it is apparent to me that she had not yet pinpointed why it went wrong. I get the impression she might willingly hop onboard if feminism revamped itself, admitted that things have not gone as planned, and then launched out on the whole deal from square one again, with minor policy adjustments here and there.
It's as if somebody played a cruel joke on her by convincing her at some point that what her car really needed, to make it run better, is a couple cups of sugar in the gas tank. Now, broken down on the side of the road, she's gained a lot of wisdom from the school of hard knocks. Nobody's going to fool her like that again! But if the cruel joker comes around to her later with the following tact, she might just go for it.: "I'm so sorry. Did I say sugar? Silly me, I meant corn syrup, of course. Try some corn syrup in your tank once you get your whole engine replaced."
What Ebeling missed twenty years ago is this: Feminism didn't work because God is the designer of both men and women. He also designed.....drum roll, please......Marriage and Motherhood! Whether you try sugar or corn syrup in the tank, it will ruin everything either way because it wasn't designed like that.
It's titled "The Failure of Feminism," written by Kay Ebeling. At the time of the writing, she was a young, single mom upon whom it had finally dawned that the feminism she had embraced and encouraged actually put women like herself in a much worse state than might've otherwise been.
It'll do your soul good to read it, if you've ever been beaten about the head and shoulders by much smarter people than yourself (supposedly), who berrated you for staying at home to raise your children, or, conversely, for allowing your wife to do so.
The disturbing part of the article, though, is this: Ebeling does a nice job describing how it's all gone wrong for the erswhile feminists, but it is apparent to me that she had not yet pinpointed why it went wrong. I get the impression she might willingly hop onboard if feminism revamped itself, admitted that things have not gone as planned, and then launched out on the whole deal from square one again, with minor policy adjustments here and there.
It's as if somebody played a cruel joke on her by convincing her at some point that what her car really needed, to make it run better, is a couple cups of sugar in the gas tank. Now, broken down on the side of the road, she's gained a lot of wisdom from the school of hard knocks. Nobody's going to fool her like that again! But if the cruel joker comes around to her later with the following tact, she might just go for it.: "I'm so sorry. Did I say sugar? Silly me, I meant corn syrup, of course. Try some corn syrup in your tank once you get your whole engine replaced."
What Ebeling missed twenty years ago is this: Feminism didn't work because God is the designer of both men and women. He also designed.....drum roll, please......Marriage and Motherhood! Whether you try sugar or corn syrup in the tank, it will ruin everything either way because it wasn't designed like that.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Speaking of things that'll get the preacher run out on a rail...
These bullet points are taken from Thomas Vincent's 1674 work, The Shorter Catechism Explained From Scripture, on the smaller of the Westminster catechisms. I've retained Vincent's wording of the points below, and included the Scriptures he referenced in proof of each point.
[Biographical note on Thomas Vincent: He was a 17th Century pastor in London. The work in view here was endorsed by some of his contemporaries including John Owen and Thomas Watson, and 38 other signatories to Westminster. He endured harsh treatment for his faith and was noted for his courageous preaching in the midst of the suffering multitudes during the Great Plague of 1665.]
What are the duties of wives to their husbands?
1. "Love of them above all other persons in the world." Titus 2:4
2. "Loyalty and faithfulness, in reference unto the bed and estate, and any secrets intrusted with them." Hebrews 13:4, 1 Tim 3:11
3. "Reverence and fear of offending them" Ephesians 5:33
4. "Subjection unto them in all things lawful under Christ" Ephesians 5:22,24
5. "Care to please them, suiting themselves to their disposition, and all things to their liking." 1 Cor 7:34
6. "Helping them to bear their burdens, and in making provision for their families" Gen 2:18, Prov 31:27
7. "Giving ear to, and complying with, the counsels of their husbands, if good, for their souls' welfare; and endeavoring, with meekness and wisdom, with kindness and loving admonition, and a chaste, sweet conversation, to win their husbands over to the ways of God, when they are wicked." 1 Peter 3:1-2
[I'm thinking that preaching 5 and 7 will get you killed...]
What are the duties of husbands to their wives?
1. "Most endeared love to them, like unto the love of Christ to his Church" Eph 5:25
2. "Dwelling with them, and, according to knowledge, honouring them, and delighting in their company." Eph 5:31, 1 Peter 3:7, Prov 5:18-19
3. "Tenderness towards them, and careful provision of food and raiment, and all things necessary for them, as for their own bodies." Eph 5:28-29
4. "Fidelity to them in keeping the marriage-covenant, so as to forebear the use of any other besides themselves." Hos 3:3
5. "Protection of them from injuries, and covering of their infirmities with the wings of love." 1 Sam 30:18, 1 Pet 4:8
6. "Care to please them in all things lawful and fit, and praise of them when they do well." 1 Cor 7:33
7. "Prayer with them and for them, counsel and admonition of them, and every way helping them, especially in reference to their souls, walking with them in the ways and ordinances of the Lord" 1 Pet 3:7, Luke 1:6
[Note the encouragement for husbands to function in a pastoral role in 7.]
[Biographical note on Thomas Vincent: He was a 17th Century pastor in London. The work in view here was endorsed by some of his contemporaries including John Owen and Thomas Watson, and 38 other signatories to Westminster. He endured harsh treatment for his faith and was noted for his courageous preaching in the midst of the suffering multitudes during the Great Plague of 1665.]
What are the duties of wives to their husbands?
1. "Love of them above all other persons in the world." Titus 2:4
2. "Loyalty and faithfulness, in reference unto the bed and estate, and any secrets intrusted with them." Hebrews 13:4, 1 Tim 3:11
3. "Reverence and fear of offending them" Ephesians 5:33
4. "Subjection unto them in all things lawful under Christ" Ephesians 5:22,24
5. "Care to please them, suiting themselves to their disposition, and all things to their liking." 1 Cor 7:34
6. "Helping them to bear their burdens, and in making provision for their families" Gen 2:18, Prov 31:27
7. "Giving ear to, and complying with, the counsels of their husbands, if good, for their souls' welfare; and endeavoring, with meekness and wisdom, with kindness and loving admonition, and a chaste, sweet conversation, to win their husbands over to the ways of God, when they are wicked." 1 Peter 3:1-2
[I'm thinking that preaching 5 and 7 will get you killed...]
What are the duties of husbands to their wives?
1. "Most endeared love to them, like unto the love of Christ to his Church" Eph 5:25
2. "Dwelling with them, and, according to knowledge, honouring them, and delighting in their company." Eph 5:31, 1 Peter 3:7, Prov 5:18-19
3. "Tenderness towards them, and careful provision of food and raiment, and all things necessary for them, as for their own bodies." Eph 5:28-29
4. "Fidelity to them in keeping the marriage-covenant, so as to forebear the use of any other besides themselves." Hos 3:3
5. "Protection of them from injuries, and covering of their infirmities with the wings of love." 1 Sam 30:18, 1 Pet 4:8
6. "Care to please them in all things lawful and fit, and praise of them when they do well." 1 Cor 7:33
7. "Prayer with them and for them, counsel and admonition of them, and every way helping them, especially in reference to their souls, walking with them in the ways and ordinances of the Lord" 1 Pet 3:7, Luke 1:6
[Note the encouragement for husbands to function in a pastoral role in 7.]
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Churchgoer: Have you or have you not been born again?
Read these Eleven Evidences of the New Birth, taken from the book of 1 John.
But do more than read them. Look into them as you would look into a mirror. Stand yourself next to them as you would stand next to a measuring stick to check your height. Examine yourself to see whether you are really in the faith.
Note, though: The comments section on that article is less-then-helpful, as a baby-baptizer has gotten on there and thrown a lot of dust in the air that has nothing to do with the topic.
But do more than read them. Look into them as you would look into a mirror. Stand yourself next to them as you would stand next to a measuring stick to check your height. Examine yourself to see whether you are really in the faith.
Note, though: The comments section on that article is less-then-helpful, as a baby-baptizer has gotten on there and thrown a lot of dust in the air that has nothing to do with the topic.
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