Sunday, August 24, 2008

J Gresham Machen, God's Word Applied to All of Life

First a side note: On some talk I heard Rushdoony quoting from Clark's “Biblical Law” c1943 He said it was worth finding a copy if you could, as it was out of print. It came today, Beth found me a used copy, $10, formerly a public library book! It has the old style library card in the flap, where they stamp the checkout and due date. Now maybe there was an older library card that had been filled up and discarded. This card showed it was checked out once in 1955. The last time anyone thought about reading a commentary on Biblical law was a long time ago.

Last week while reading about the puritans I came across this quote From J. Gresham Machen. He lived at the turn of the last century. Previously I had heard Douglas Wilson comment that when Machen was writing and speaking like this early in the 1900's almost nobody knew what he was talking about.

…Furthermore, the field of Christianity is the world. The Christian cannot be satisfied so long as any human activity is either opposed to Christianity or out of all connection with Christianity. Christianity must pervade not merely all nations, but also all of human thought. The Christian, therefore, cannot be indifferent to any branch of earnest human endeavor. It must all be brought into some relation to the gospel. It must be studied either in order to be demonstrated as false, or else in order to be made useful in advancing the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom must be advanced not merely extensively, but also intensively. The Church must seek to conquer not merely every man for Christ, but also the whole of man… 1913 J Gresham Machen

Now I was curious about the context that this quote came from so I googled it and as I read it I thought, we have just been talking about this during comment and question time at Legacy and on some of these emails. He makes many of the same observations that we make today. What he warned about sounded bad, but boy if he could see us today! We are now neck deep past what he noted. Here are some tidbits to prime the pump, bringing Christ to the culture and men to Christ, how he thinks it should be hand in hand….

…Our whole system of school and college education is so constituted as to keep religion and culture as far apart as possible and ignore the question of the relationship between them. On five or six days in the week, we were engaged in the acquisition of knowledge. From this activity the study of religion was banished. We studied natural science without considering its bearing or lack of bearing upon natural theology or upon revelation. We studied Greek without opening the New Testament. We studied history with careful avoidance of that greatest of historical movements which was ushered in by the preaching of Jesus. In philosophy, the vital importance of the study for religion could not entirely be concealed, but it was kept as far as possible in the background…

…What wonder that after such training we came to regard religion and culture as belonging to two entirely separate compartments of the soul,…

The real difficulty amounts to this—that the thought of the day, as it makes itself most strongly felt in the universities, but from them spreads inevitably to the masses of the people, is profoundly opposed to Christianity, or at least—what is nearly as bad—it is out of all connection with Christianity.

The Church is unable either to combat it or to assimilate it, because the Church simply does not understand it…

The modern world is dominated by ideas which ignore the gospel. Modern culture is not altogether opposed to the gospel. But it is out of all connection with it. It not only prevents the acceptance of Christianity. It prevents Christianity even from getting a hearing….

God may, it is true, overcome all intellectual obstacles by an immediate exercise of His regenerative power. Sometimes He does. But He does so very seldom. Usually He exerts His power in connection with certain conditions of the human mind. Usually He does not bring into the Kingdom, entirely without preparation, those whose mind and fancy are completely dominated by ideas which make the acceptance of the gospel logically impossible… (David notes: this is also my experience)

The Church is puzzled by the world's indifference. She is trying to overcome it by adapting her message to the fashions of the day. (David notes: Of course today we have this down to a science)

There has been a bit of a gap since the puritans . But Praise God there are many now who not only understand but are pressing forward the crown rights of king Jesus all over.

The speech was called, Christianity And Culture, find it here by J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937)

House for Sale

My involuntary time off ends today. We signed the papers last night to list the house.( I mentioned Martin, our realtor, on my blog once. He quietly watch’s our inflammatory emailing) There is no way we could have done a fraction of what I got done while away from work. I am thankful for my unexpected time off. I cannot call it a restful week off. We covet prayer to sell it and for His direction afterwards.

I can now see that all along what had seemed more tangible to me, really wasn’t. It just seemed like it. What is seen is temporal, right? What is unseen is eternal. Can you taste, touch or feel God's law? Can you turn it over in your hand?

It did increase my desire to be able to work from my home or with my family in some capacity.

It also occurred to me Tuesday night that, God willing, when the house does sell and when we buy the next house I will be thinking in terms that it might be my son's house someday. I have never thought of it like that before. It took me aback slightly.

With a biblical worldview, in the future we will look for a house thinking “can we take care of grandma or grandpa from this house?” And then one of the kids families can take care of us when we are unable to, from this house, generational family relationships. We will not “retire” unto ourselves.

Rushdoony In his “Institutes of Biblical law” notes that…When Wyclif wrote of his English Bible that “This Bible is for the government of the people, by the people and for the people,”( sound familiar?) his statement attracted no attention insofar as his emphasis on the centrality of biblical law was concerned. That law should be Gods law was held by all: Wyclif’s departure from accepted opinion was that the people themselves should not only read and know that law but also should in some sense govern as well as be governed by it…

That was in the 1300’s. Everyone in Christiandom would’ve said Duhhhh! But today.....

Greg Bahnsen in his “Theonomy in Christian Ethics” book asserts “that it is unlawful to seek to be justified by the law” Which you would think, would just shut people up who say that “your trying to be justified by the law!” It is just out of the realm of possibilities that we would really use God's law as the basis for current law. You might as well be talking about winged monkeys. It just doesn’t make sense. So of course …“They must want to use God's law so they can be justified! Those fools!!!

Everyone needs to get their stuff turned in for family camp. It was the Noah event of 2007. Thank you all for praying for me after my last email. I was a mess.

I still am a mess. But it’s a good mess.

My Rough Week

Even with a full moon, still no Hudelson baby. Kids gonna have strong hands from holding on.

As Doug Phillips would say. Let's get personal for a moment, shall we? I'm throwing this out for prayer and maybe it will help someone else. I might not send this, but when I put things into words it forces me to take my thinking captive and to try and communicate with clarity. Lots of time when I'm done writing about something I then have a much better grasp it.

Some background. We live in North Phoenix, I work in Chandler, we drive 30 miles to Gilbert for church. It has taken months to emotionally, mentally commit that we should sell our house, after 14 yrs. I do think that values have more room to drop.

We would then wait a year or two and with the equity buy a house free and clear of debt, maybe more land for planting, etc, etc. We might not stay in the valley. Beth wants her seasons back, she would move out of the heat in a minute.

Part of this is trying to position our family to help the next generation as much as we can. I want to be able to work out of the house, to be around the family more, fixing cars? whatever. Trying to be open to whatever direction God wants. Now its by God's grace and a blessing that he has dislodged enough of my old Americana vision that I am desirous to orient my life in a more biblical direction.

Like most of us I have a list of things to do that just keeps growing and growing. I was resigned to just not ever get it all done.

Well last week in back to back days I managed to mess up enough stuff to almost lose my job. I have been sent home for 5 days, with the weekend, that’s seven days in a row. My family is excited. I am wrestling with angst, doubts and ??? It's not been fun.

But, I have time now and have plunged into getting the house ready to put up for sale.

On Sunday, Shawn mentioned, “believe what you believe and doubt the doubts”. That resonated well as the doubts have been pretty loud. I know that if God wants it over for me in Chandler he will do it. Part of that is a helpless feeling. But if God doesn’t want me there it should be the last place I want to be either.

I have mentioned before that this year more and more I have felt like I cannot do things right. It has me feeling powerless, and like I'm standing over nothing, no solid ground under me. I have never ever felt loads of self confidence in my job, though I have done it a long time. I have always credited God with my abilities so I don’t think this is about God deflating my confidence in me.

He definitely has humbled me. I have been trying to stir the pot and generate more work from home to gradually build a base to start from. But there has been very little fruit so far.

I have pressed in hard to understand and view God's word correctly this last couple of years and now His word is just so much more clear, tangible, practical, applicable, concrete. I now really know I have something that must be passed on. Vision. This biblical world view over everything in life. So as my faith is much more solid, it seems that what used to feel secure and tangible has turned, misty and ethereal. They traded places?

I am seeking God. The only scripture to jump was from Psalms, the first chpt. You have two kinds of people. Those whom God will bless and those who will be like chaff. City of God, city of man. The only difference given here is in verse two…NKJ

1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so,But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

My bible “helps”, went on at great length, describing meditating and aligning with Gods ways, but refused to specifically mention what God says "twice" to meditate on. Very telling.

And in Proverbs it combines vision with God's Law…KJ

18Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.[1]

So for now I will be digging into more of God's Law, for direction. I will have to wait and see if God is just gonna force a new direction on me. I will ignore the voices that keep whispering, God wants to squish you.

Heritage & Legacy

I had another pot come to a boil. But it ties in with “The great Christian Revolution.” Since Sunday I have been reading some history of the early church. Heritage, Legacy.

Heritage: 1) inheritance, an estate passes from an ancestor to an heir, or course of law. 2) saints or people of God are called His heritage.

Legacy: to send, to bequeath , a bequest, a particular thing…

Rome called the Christians atheists. ".. To deny Caesar and the state as mans Lord and savior was considered atheism. "“Away with the atheists!”

What has stood out is how much error there was. My wife would say the church is always messed up. I used to think it was the early church that had it all together. Oh well. Some added works, others saw a bad old testament God and a nice new testament God, some had big chunks of Greek thinking, the physical is bad, spiritual things are good. I heard Marc mention after church, kidding, about adopting the stance of those in the early church who did’nt bathe. Momtanism. Rushdooney wrote ..."They tended to be unpopular people."

The same group thought there was no absolution for mortal sins after baptism and only ate dry foods.

Also on Sunday Mr Coleman laid out in a such a perfect succinct fashion how crafty our enemy is. How he works for varying degrees of error through compromise.

In the name of unity, or avoiding a combative atmosphere much error has snuck into the church. Over time it becomes orthodox for the church. But it is no longer Gods orthodoxy.

Much work, battles were fought over, who God is and what areas of life did he care about or have authority over, or did Caeser, the State have authority.

At the council of Nicea in 325 , that Christ was one with God, was affirmed. It was a minority group of church leaders who dug in and wouldn’t budge. Most of the council had a moderate position. At one point the whole fight revolved over one phrase. It didn’t affirm the error…”but by avoiding a hard and fast declaration of orthodoxy. It implicitly left the field open to to any opinion.” They held fast till a statement was accepted that blocked off the error. Even when the emperor Constantine was in aggreement with the moderates! The creed of Nicea came from this meeting.

As I was reading this all, the words heritage and legacy kept popping into my head. Of the men at Nicea, Rushdoony comments…” when Constantine met with leaders of the church at the council of Nicea, it was a strange assembly which surrounded him. Many were without eyes, others without arms or without hands, others maimed in various ways…”

Because….Fourteen years prior the latest and most fierce persecution yet came upon the church, where so many were thrown to the beasts that …” weary animals finally refused to attack them”, and…” soldiers became weary of killing, and their swords grew dull or broke…” The more merciful governors…merely cut off ears or split the noses or put out the right eyes or otherwise maimed the Christians…” this was…” a gathering of men who had faced death for the faith.” Heritage , Legacy.

It makes you wonder, was some of the physical persecution to temper and prepare the early church fathers mentally so they could stand as minorities if necessary and defend the faith, no compromise. Tempers were lost, and you can imagine the intensity in these arguments, to form the foundations of the faith.

Today the pressure is on to be loving, to not be divisive, to be inclusive. I remember the Pearls getting a letter from someone saying that their pastor had banned “ Created to be his helpmeet” because it was divisive. Never in a million years would the New Testament writers think that their urgings to be united, to be of one faith, should be achieved at the cost of abandoning Gods truth.

Heritage, Legacy, we receive them, and we help to shape the ones given to those coming behind us.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Islam

When Douglas Wilson was untangling and trying to make something clear a while back he joked … “If we have trouble getting it down in one gulp, perhaps we can borrow a steak knife from Rushdoony or somebody. He was a bit of a crank, but he did know how to make steak knives.”

Rushdoony was great at cutting something down to bite size, using the light of Gods word, and exposing what mans heart was really doing…(side note: Otto Scott noted that Rushdoony had memorized the bible at an early age and that there was never a topic that Rushdoony couldn’t bring scripture to bear on.)

From “A Christian survey of World history” Rushdoony started the Islam section with some basic observastions about Islam. In a contrast to Christianity Mohammad said …“ He is a Muslim who is one outwardly” for Mohammed, righteousness is essentially externalism and Pharisaism. As long as a man goes through the motions of performing certain rites and maintaining an outward form of faith, He is a true believer…

…this externalism led as it always does, to statism. It is not mans heart that needs changing in Islam, but his society…Islam means “ to resign oneself” and Islam calls for the submission to a Moslem social order as mans salvation.

The Koran…its theology is Unitarian and fatalistic. Its goal is the submission of men to a Moslem ruler.

The externalism of Islam led to the ability to organize militarily, but not to govern well. Submission is helpful for military discipline, but in a society it leads to stagnation. Stagnation has indeed marked most of Islam’s history.


Exorcize, try and think of anything innovating ever coming out of Muslim Nations

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Otto Scott, Christian Revolution part 2

On the second mp3 part 2 of the “The Great Christian Revolution” Scott works with the thousand years from 400 to about AD 1400 the age of faith, but better known by the name the world attached to it, The Dark Ages. The world hates this time period. It constantly tries to give glory to man for any advances in civilization.

This talk points out how most of the basic understandings of freedom and civil rights sprang forth from the Christian faith. This was absolutely unknown to the world of antiquity. Again, things we just take for granted. Prior to this no ruler or state ever saw itself as limited by an outside force. This talk is a little longer and there is more to wrap your brain around.

He does show how Humanism, the Renaissance, started twisting Gods truths and turned man back towards paganism. Mans autonomy from God. Which always leads states see no limit to their authority. This started a glide path that is still unfolding, it is part of the culture we are swimming in. The exception was what sprung out of the Reformation.

Scott draws a contrast of how the Spaniards of the 1500’s , even with the catholic church as messed up as it was, when coming to the Americas and seeing what the Aztecs were doing, they knew that this was a religious, a faith problem. All this human sacrificing going on.

But that the British by the 1880’s, (not that long ago) in Africa (I thought of you Greg) had already lost so much of the Christian understanding of life that they only saw the external problems ,witchcraft, human sacrifice, etc and no longer understood, that this, is a religious faith problem. By late 1800’s they thought the black magic and human sacrifice was just poor manners. Boorish behavior.

So Abortion is not a legal problem, it is a faith, religous problem?

These two mp3 are a enjoyable, quick way, to get back some of our stolen context of early Christianity.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

These Were The Experts

This column was pointed out by Gary North. These were the best and brightest in the money community and were making millions for their leadership before losing literally billions of their shareholders $. No one knows how deep the loss is yet. They couldnt see it coming. How can we trust them now as they say, "we have it under control". I have posted the whole article in case the original happens to disapear. Anytime you have someone say "these are experts we should listen to them". Remember this story!


Regrettable Comments by Bank CEOs
by Megan Barnett
Friday, August 1, 2008
provided by


A look back at nine unforgettable statements by bank chief executives who would strike them from the record if they could.

It's not easy being a bank C.E.O. these days. Just ask John Thain. Nearly every promise he's made to investors since he took the helm at Merrill Lynch has been broken. With the uncertainty in these turbulent credit markets, banking C.E.O.'s would be thankful if they never had to say another word to investors and reporters. But fortunately for us, that's not the case. Let's take a trip down memory lane of the most outrageously regrettable comments by some of the best paid executives in the country.

1. John Thain: Repeating It Won't Make it True

"We're very confident that we have the capital base now that we need to go forward in 2008." - January 18, 2008.


"...Today I can say that we will not need additional funds. These problems are behind us. We will not return to the market." - March 8, 2008

"We have more capital than we need, so we can say to the market that we don't need more injections. We can confirm that we have tackled the problem." - March 16, 2008

John Thain learned the hard way that saying the same thing over and over won't necessarily make it come true. The truth is, Merrill was far from finished tapping the markets. Earlier this month, it raised $8 billion by selling stakes in Bloomberg and Financial Data Services. And on Monday it announced plans to sell $8.5 billion of new shares.

2. Dick Fuld: Do I Believe Myself? No.

"Do we have some stuff on the books that would be tough to get rid of? Yes. Am I worried about it? No. If you have some repricing of these things will we lose some money? Yes. Is it going to kill us? Of course not."

—Richard Fuld, Lehman Brothers C.E.O. last summer, according to the Financial Times.

In fact, the jury's still out on whether or not this credit crisis will eventually kill Fuld or Lehman, but it sure killed Fuld's top two deputies, former C.F.O. Erin Callan and former C.O.O. Joseph Gregory, who were fired earlier this year.

Fuld keeps his on-the-record comments to a minimum, but he made another one in April he may have come to regret. "The worst is behind us." In April? If only.

3. Kerry Killinger: The Mother Lode of Losses

"The mother lode of this company is performing awfully well with record growth numbers coming out of the second quarter. The home-loans business had a challenging first half of the year, but I note that the losses in the second quarter were dramatically less than the first quarter and we think we're on track to get that unit back to profitability before the end of the year even in these challenging conditions."

—Washington Mutual chief executive Kerry Killinger on August 12, 2007 in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Washington Mutual shares were valued at $35 that day. Today they hover around $4 and change. In the second quarter this year alone, it lost more than $3 billion. Killinger hit the mother lode with this one, alright.

4. Ken Thompson: Mortgages Are Great!

"The mortgage market is going to be a great market in this country for a long time. We've got population growth. We've got people who are always going to want to live in homes that they own. It's going to be a great market."

—Wachovia C.E.O. Ken Thompson on CNBC trying to convince Maria Bartiromo that its $25 billion of Golden West Financial was a smart move, May 15, 2006.

There's nothing quite like buying at the top of the market is there? The Golden West deal, of course, turned into an absolute disaster for Wachovia's balance sheet and the deal eventually led to the ouster of Thompson earlier this summer.

5. Martin Sullivan: How to Get Yourself Fired

"But because this business is carefully underwritten and structured with very high attachment points to the multiples of expected losses, we believe the probability that it will sustain an economic loss is close to zero."

—AIG chief executive Martin Sullivan, speaking to investors on December 5, 2007 about the firm's portfolio of credit default swaps.

Rule number one for finance chiefs: Never try to estimate potential losses on your investments. Rule number two: Never say the losses will be zero, or close to zero. AIG went on to report $13 billion in losses before Sullivan's probability of remaining chief executive became less than zero. He left in June.

6. John Mack: Bring It On, Risk.

"Well, number one, I think this firm has the capacity to take a lot more risk than it has in the past. So from that aspect, we're really using our talent in a more productive way than we have had in the past. I am comfortable with the risk...I think we probably have one of the best overall risk managers in Tom Daula, who oversees all firm risk, and also Zoe growing up on the sales and trading side, mainly trading side risk management, it's a very strong combination. So I'm comfortable with it. Do we take a lot of risk? Yes."

—Morgan Stanley chief John Mack at the April 2007 shareholder meeting.

Careful what you wish for there, Mack. Zoe Cruz's group ended up taking on so much risk it lost $3.6 billion on a single trading desk in 2007. Mack's confidence in Cruz also fizzled, and she lost her job as part of Mack's effort to clean house earlier this year.

7. Ken Lewis: Seeing Value Where There's None

"We believe that in the current turmoil the stock market has been underestimating the value in Countrywide's operations and assets. This investment reflects our confidence in their business and recognizes the importance of the company in providing home financing across the country. We hope this investment will be a step toward a return to more normal liquidity in the mortgage markets."

—Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis in an August 22, 2007 press release announcing a $2 billion investment in Countrywide Financial.

But sometimes Mr. Market is right, Mr. Lewis. Countrywide continued its downward spiral until Bank of America announced plans in January to rescue it by acquiring it for $4.1 billion in stock. When the deal finally closed six months later, the troubled mortgage lender was valued at just $2.5 billion.

8. Vikram Pandit: I Love My New Job

"The first priority of risk has been to make sure that our legacy portfolio of assets in the sub-prime and mortgage areas are separated and managed to be optimized, and we have done that. We have also made sure they are well-capitalized."

—Vikram Pandit on his first earnings call as the new C.E.O. of Citigroup on January 15, 2008.

We're sure investors appreciated hearing from the troubled bank's new boss, but we're sure they'd have appreciated it more if what he said was true. Three months later, Citi wrote down $12.1 billion ($6 billion from subprime) in losses. Three months after that it wrote down another $7 billion. All told since Pandit's inaugural comments, Citigroup has raised some $20 billion in new capital. How's that for well-capitalized?

9. Alan Schwartz: May As Well Have Said It in Pig Latin

"Bear Stearns' balance sheet, liquidity, and capital remain strong."

—Alan Schwartz, chief executive of Bear Stearns, on CNBC, March 12, 2008.

Yes, yes. We saved the best for last, of course. Bear's balance sheet and liquidity position was so strong it was forced into a fire sale to JP Morgan and the Federal Reserve just days later. The rest is history, and so is Schwartz.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Context for What God has Done,Otto Scott

I have read OttoScotts The Great Chrisitan Revolution and learned so much! Its been a year or so. But sometimes as you are learning about new things, that your brain has never dealt with, you will lose the big picture or catch the big pic and miss the details. On this book I notice the details and missed the big view as became apparent when I listened to Scott give two talks about this subject.

Man always moves in terms of his faith, what he believes, whether it is true or not.

On this mp3 from sermon audio Otto Scott gives talks on The great Christian revolution part one. Part one works with humanity at the time of Christ and the first few hundred years. He goes into how big a part of all human understanding, all around the globe, that human sacrifice to the gods was a basic part of life. That there was no belief that Gods cared about or loved man. The relationship was fear based. How slavery was universally accepted and practiced. Human life had no intrinsic value. Our modern humanistic historians always try to hide so much of what humanity was like before Christ. They refuse to admit that Christianity was THE catalyst that changed everything.

Now I had already pointed this out on my last email,The enemy is always trying to take what God has done and deflect away what should be praises to God and instead pass things off as just happenstance, or inevitable progress. Or maybe it has always been that way? We take it for granted. We no longer can remember what life was like, or said another way, what was it that got turned so upside down. What did humanity look like when Jesus walked among us?

Scott shows how it seemed impossible, and that it was without the new testament even written yet, that God spread his Good News. This news assaulted every culture of the day at its foundation.

When someone gives a 40minute talk about a book they must condense what they say. They will say in a sentence what they might spend pages on in a book. So it was on my second listen to this mp3 that God opened my eyes to see how absolutely radical, even staggering, was the good news during that time. Revoluntionary is right.

There is so much we take for granted about life because we have lived our whole lives, maybe not as believers , or even in Christian homes but we none the less have no clue of how dark life would be like this …. that human sacrifice to the gods was a basic part of life. That there was no belief that Gods cared about or loved man. The relationship was fear based. How slavery was universally accepted and practiced. Human life had no intrinsic value.

This mp3 will give you so much more to work with your family on what the good news was and is. It magnifies God.

The First half is on how endemic human sacrifice and slavery were. The second half of this talk is where he tries to show how sharp the contrast was between this new Faith and the existing world view of life.

David Barton, when Christianity had teeth

Audio review. I want to showcase them as tools to remind how Gods people looked at life within our nation the last 300 yrs and then make an even bigger contextual jump to the last 1700 yrs.

History explains why you are where your at. History can show where you are going and just as important, why. The Bible is God passing on to us the history of everything. The only proper context for understanding the human race is to be found in Gods word. The easiest way to change the direction of a people or their identity is to change there history. Rewrite it.

Psalms 78 shows how Gods people can flee in the day of battle when what God has done gets forgotten, when it isn’t passed on.

Remembering the wondrous deeds of God and recounting them to our children’s, children. That God will be further glorified and our future generations will be mighty in the land. The enemy is always trying to take what God has done and deflect away what should be praises to God and instead pass things off as just happenstance, or inevitable progress. Or maybe it has always been that way? We take it for granted. Therefore this is an area we must apply ourselves with some diligence or the enemy will take our cookies. Maybe by applying ourselves we can take back our cookies!?!

The re-emergence of Evolution is a good example. Darwin re-packaged for his day (new and improved!) the old pagan idea that things just happened.

There are multiple streams and different levels of doing this. Things from your life, your family, your nation/people group or even on a broader scale of what God has changed in humanity as a whole, all as a part of the work of Christ.

The Bible has been our gold standard for the history of what God had done up to Christ. There is no end to the attempts to change it, or cast dispersions on the validity of it. But it continues to stand.

But since then, God has still been working and this where his people get a D- and maybe not even that. We have not grasped, noticed, understood, or we lost track of many of God’s mighty works since Jesus started turning the world upside down through His people. We no longer can remember what life was like, or said another way, what was it that got turned so upside down. What did humanity look like when Jesus walked among us?

Last week I listened again to David Bartons, Developing a Biblical world view CD. Find it here.

He has accumulated all these old reprints of sermons from newspapers. They used to print the Sunday message in the newspaper. So we can see what used to be taught from Americas pulpits, 150-300 years .

Sermon topics on Artillery, executions, railroads, government, government officials, solar eclipse, fires. These were typical sermons, whatever was going on, it was normal for Pastors to open Gods word and speak on it. These men were put through a rigorous education to be able to do this, thats why Harvard and Princton were started.

At the time of the revolution, the English king called the revolution “an Presbeterian parsons rebellion.” Chrisitanity had teeth.

He points out Charles Finney got saved while studying to be a lawyer, there was that much bible laid out as a part of understanding law, that he found God while learning.

Our modern culture see’s money as the end all, and our history writers are certain that the revolution was about money & tax’s, thats all we are ever taught the revolution was about, tax's. And that James town was about money and the pilgrims were just money grubbers too.

Barton points out of the 25 plus items cited for the declaration of independence only one was on tax’s. We never hear about how two colony’s wanted to free their slaves but were told that as a part of English colonies they couldn’t. Others wanted to start a missionary society to reach the Indians but were told by the King that the church of England would do it, if it was necessary . You will never hear that even mentioned about our history today.

Back then, it would have seemed strange to suggest areas of life where Gods word didn’t apply.

This is just a wonderful CD.

But we lost this. Douglas Wilson points out that a big reason was the second awakening. After the revolution. So many being saved at these camp meetings and the need was thought to be so great for preachers (grab the ark) that if you were excited and seemed stable a few weeks after salvation. They might give you a bible and a horse and send you out. This is the birth place of evangelicalism.

These pastors were not going to be giving sermons on artillery, executions, railroads, government, government officials, solar eclipse, fires. They were never equipped to do it. They were never discipled themselves. Much of the teaching became shallow.

So like the tribe of Ephriam in Psalms 78, by the turn of this last century Christians had fled into pietism and abandoned the city square, we were no longer ready to give an answer for the hope that is within you. We had lost or forgotten what God had done. Today our ability to see the Biblical application of Gods, precepts, judgements, and His law are so thin that it is discomforting to hear applications being made that we are not used to. Shouldnt we just preach Christ, can become so much covering fire to excuse our inability use the sword of the word as it was intended.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Otto Scott on a modern myth

I have been enjoying Otto Scotts abservations,his historical stuff just shines. Vision Forum used one of his articles to address the modern myth of adolescence. Unfortunately his writing wasnt preserved by his family and its been hard to find most of what he wrote. Here are a few tidbits from the article at Vision Forum with a link to the whole article.

The Invention of Adolescence
by Otto Scott, October 4, 2006

...It was a time, in other words, when — in the name of science — human beings were being redefined by various individuals who claimed to possess supernormal powers of observation and insight...

...Hall’s ideas fit the fashion: it would not be fair to say that they were deliberately conceived to do so; it would be accurate to say that Hall was a man of his time, more than a man of original insight. He codified ideas about children and youths that were then floating in the air. That was the reason his argument was so easily swallowed by educators and other professionals. True originality has a much harder time...

...We have, today, an entire hierarchy of social groups based on age: from Day School to Leisure Village. There are assumptions surrounding each age group: from expected tantrums by adolescents to PMS for women of a certain age — and an end to creativity from the old...

Economic roosters coming home...

Gary North was noting this report today. Its just gonna get ugly

Is the U.S. Banking System Safe?
by Jim Quin

....Last week Amex reported a 40% decline in earnings as their wealthy super-prime customers are not paying their bills. So, even the well-off are struggling. This week, CB Richard Ellis, the largest commercial real estate broker in the country reported an 88% decline in earnings. So, commercial real estate is imploding. Bennigans’s and Mervyn’s filed for bankruptcy this week. The consumer is being forced to cut back on eating out and shopping. The marginal players will fall by the wayside. Big-box retailers, restaurants, and mall developers are about to find out that their massive expansion was built upon false assumptions, driven by debt.

The U.S. banking system is essentially insolvent. The Treasury, Federal Reserve, FASB, and Congress are colluding to keep the American public in the dark for as long as possible. They are trying to buy time and prop up these banks so they can convince enough fools to give them more capital. They will continue to write off debt for many quarters to come. We are in danger of duplicating the mistakes of Japan in the 1990’s by allowing them to pretend to be sound. We could have a zombie banking system for a decade...

whole story here

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Voting,Jesus is Lord over the whole thing

Here is an excerpt from Doug Wilsons blog on voting

Voting As Civil Sacrament and the Case Against McCain

...So let me begin by objecting to voting considered as a civil sacrament, piously enacted in the temple of democracy. To voting as a process of simply making a decision, I have no objection at all. When voting is simply decision-making, the people are in control of their government. When voting is a sacrament, the priests are in control of the worshippers. Let me say that again -- when voting is a sacrament, the priests are in control of the Temple, the Temple precincts, and the roster of acceptable names from which we have the privilege of selecting the next high priest.

Now I am not talking about the action of voting. I am addressing the pagan religious assumptions that go into it, and which many Christians need to get free of. I intend to vote this fall, but I don't want to participate in the unstated religio-political assumptions of the whole process. If I were to do that it would relinquish far more authority than I am exercising. I would not be pushing; I would be pulled. Now I do intend to vote as a statement of what I think we ought to do (decision-making). But I refuse to participate in this religious theater, I refuse to ascend up to the altar.

Now when I say that I am not going to vote for McCain, no how, no way, many culturally-engaged Christians hear this as me refusing to participate in the decision-making process. I see it rather as a refusal to worship in that temple any more...entire article

Otto Scott, awesome historical context for the Christian

This is a great 12 page history of the realtionship between Gods people, thinking His thoughts and economics. The fastest historical cram course on this subject. Was just a delight to read. At some point every homeschooler and their parents should read it. We have been fed so much Baloney over the years while being told it was steak. I think it is must reading for pastors too.

Christianity and Capitalism in Historyby Otto Scott

Saturday, August 2, 2008

25 reasons the banking system is in trouble?

Gary North pointed out this list...

MISH'S
Global Economic
Trend Analysis
You Know The Banking System Is Unsound When....

1. Paulson appears on Face The Nation and says "Our banking system is a safe and a sound one." If the banking system was safe and sound, everyone would know it (or at least think it). There would be no need to say it.

2. Paulson says the list of troubled banks "is a very manageable situation". The reality is there are 90 banks on the list of problem banks. Indymac was not one of them until a month before it collapsed. How many other banks will magically appear on the list a month before they collapse?

23more reasons here

“Well, I went to public school and I turned out fine.”

This is from RC Sproul jr "Kingdom Notes" that he emails out. They have been good and thought provoking. Here he notes how we dont realize how much we have been influenced by "just normal stuff" This is so dead on and is part of the Does a fish know hes wet theme? (the answer is no) Lots of good thinking going on at the Highlands study center. When somehting has just been accepted as normal for a long time (Generations) it can be almost impossible to see it otherwise. we need Gods grace so bad.

Pride Before a Fall
R.C. Sproul Jr.

Most of us, at least I hope, don’t act this way when it comes to immorality. We don’t think so highly of our spiritual purity that we think it safe to spend our time in brothels. Why, I wonder, are we so persuaded that we will be able to stand when it comes to ideological assaults against all that is good and right? I find this attitude most often as it touches on education, at every level from the local government school up to the highest institutions of higher learning.

When, for instance, I suggest that the challenge of raising a child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord lies somewhere between Herculean and impossible when we send our little ones off to institutions where the Lord’s name cannot be mentioned for seven hours a day, I often get this retort, “Well, I went to public school and I turned out fine.” I’m still looking for a gracious way to deliver the obvious argument- that you think you turned out fine is compelling proof that you did not turn out fine.

We make much the same argument about that institution that is built in the neighborhood of the stadium of our favorite football team, State U. We survived our four year loaf there, came out with a bevy of fraternity brothers, and still go to church and vote Republican, so how bad can it be? Bad enough that we came away thinking going to church and voting Republican was the standard for spiritual maturity. Worse still, the experience made us stupid enough to think it would be a good experience for our children.

It may, on the other hand, be most shocking that we see the same phenomenon with respect to seminaries. I have heard people actually argue that it is a good thing to go to a liberal seminary, that such would strengthen ones faith. Strange, because my faith calls me to not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor to stand in the way of sinners, nor to sit in the seat of the scoffers.

Even were I to choose a seminary committed to the complete authority, sufficiency and inerrancy of the Bible, even were I to chose one committed to the Reformed faith, odds are high that most of the faculty would have received their PhD’s from institutions that spit on such convictions. Why do we think it will not, in the end, show?

Institutional entropy, that doctrine chalk full of empirical evidence that holds that all institutions tend toward apostasy, exists in the end not because it is some sort of natural law, but because we are all, in the end, naturally anti-law. Institutions fall because of the pride of those who run them. We think we can play with ideological fire and not get burned, and our ivory towers come crashing down around us.

We are not safe in houses of ill-repute, whether they house women of loose morals, or professors of loose convictions. If we think we made it out safely, we too were infected.

Part5 But the bible doesnt say we have to do that

How can i meditate on "Prote yoo o" for days, preeminence, first in rank or influence, and not immediately match it up with the word Lord? Its only as Im writing that last email that it pops into my head "hey that's kinda like Jesus is Lord." This was most sorrowful. So Jesus is Lord has not really meant preeminence,first in rank or influence. Over everything.

When Robs spiritual father came and visited he had no place of reference or understanding for Gabe to be leaning into his manhood. His wanting to mature. He hadnt heard the Bradleys and Vision Forum teaching on how non exisitant "the teen years" used to be, how it is a new invention from the last century. So when someone, a believer, watches "the Return of the Daughters" or meets a Gabe, their only reference point is, americana, is what they experienced, or what they have known. How much is conviction, or just trying come to grips with something that just seems so foreign to them. That "it" just pops out.... "But the bible doesnt say we have to do that."

We have to change how we think and respond, so when you hear, "But the Bible doesnt say we have to do that" we then must think, or even say out loud..."Well what does the bible say about that_____(fill in the blank)?" America should not be our standard. Jesus and his word must have preeminence. In all your ways acknowledge him ( give him preeminence,first in rank or influence) and he shall direct your paths.

But the bible doesnt say we have to do that. part4

Even though my illustrations from the Sunday before brought all the art critics out. I have already warned, If you come to visit Legacy and plan to share, bring a thick hide, and let me add, bring your own dry erase marker, or the Dry Marker Pharisee’s will give you grief …”If this man was really from God, he would put the lid back on the marker.” Then there’s always Marc …”I don’t even think he’s saved”….

Still slow roasting ” but the bible doesn’t say we have to do that”

So last week the word was preeminence as in “prote yoo o” (that’s how you say it, not how you spell it) from the greek,4409, to be first (in rank or influence) You know that you have thought a lot about something when you dream about it. I dreamt about this Saturday night and Sunday night, actually woke up Sat because of a noise and after Beth( my lovely helpmeet) said “what is that?” and the first thing I thought of was how do I give God preeminence over this? I was excited and thankful. Now this week I don’t feel competent to open a bag of potato chips. We wrestle not with flesh and blood…

Prote-yoo-o to be first( in rank or influence) How about the first influence in a situation? or basic starting point? First in rank? What has preeminence in what we do, or are doing? What or Who should have that place of preeminence in our thinking, and descision making processes?

On the marker board Sunday I drew a slope and a car being pulled by gravity downhill. Point being you don’t even have to really DRIVE the car or give it gas because gravity will just pull it along.

Now the gravity was for the culture , society, what everyone around us is doing, ( maybe even what other Christians around us are doing) mans traditions. The bible puts it like this…

And you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit
…eph2:1,2 And, you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and Gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers1pet1:18 you just kind of get pulled along.

But we are commanded to be part of a new creation, we should… be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding: that you may walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him, and then you will be ,fruitful in every good work col1:9,10

…Filled with the knowledge of his will… over what kinds of things? Spiritual stuff? We are told what kinds of things in verse 16 …all things that were created that are in heaven and that are on earth… now God knowing that we are a bunch of scribes and lawyers and are always gonna be probing, looking for neutral areas, and wondering “ if this is binding on us”, so He eliminates any loopholes next … visable and invisible, whether dominions or principalities or powers ( all forms of govt) All things were created through him and for Him…
And in verse 18 that in all things he may have Preeminence. Prote- yoo- o to be first (in rank or influence)

Now we cannot take pride in this. It is only by his grace that because we are trying to give God preeminence, that we have turned the car around and are starting to drive against the grain, we have purpose, we can be deliberate. We need to carefully, graciously ask our critics to show from the word how God is made Preeminent in what they are doing.

Or else it is just.. according to the course of this world… conduct received by tradition from your fathers ?

This word preeminence is only used once in the New Testament. As I thought over this I started to wonder why God didnt stress it more in the NT? Seem’s important God. You should’ve stressed this more. Then it hit me, ( I am so Sloooow) and I looked back in the concordance at the word Lord. About 800 times in the NT alone. 2962 supremacy: supreme in authority,ie controller. Ouch . Nothing like Gods authority,supremacy and preeminence being hidden right out in the open. What happened to the word Lord. When did it shrink? In the wash? We cannot blame the pagans for this happening.

So if we start with the presupposition that he really is Lord, we then look to glorify him by bringing every area of life into his dominion, into subservience to his ways … be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding: that you may walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him, this is the opposite side of the coin that says “is this binding on us” and “the bible doesn’t say we have to do that”. If we are to be fully pleasing him it will only come about with a spirit that is convinced, that there is always a way to submit to him. That he really is Lord.