Celebrating American History!

New at Polemos
American History

• The Stream of Liberty from Calvin to the Founders
  by Dan Ford
• America’s First War for Independence
  by Douglas W. Phillips, Esq.
• Calvin and the Scots-Irish in America
  by Bill Potter
• John Calvin and the Puritan Founders of New England
  by Bill Potter

Churches Losing Youths Long Before College

Another good article at The Christian Post!

Survey: Churches Losing Youths Long Before College

The Bible calls the Church "the Body of Christ." Today, that body is bleeding profusely, says a Christian author and sought-out speaker.

"The next generation of believers is draining from the churches, and it causes me great personal and professional concern," said Ken Ham, founder and president of Answers in Genesis and a Young Earth creationist…..

In an even more alarming finding, attending Sunday school proved to be of no help in strengthening a young person's faith. In fact, the survey revealed that Sunday school is actually more likely to be detrimental to the spiritual and moral health of children.... More....

John Calvin vs. Charles Darwin

Hundreds Flock to Boston to Celebrate 500th Calvin Anniversary
The Christian Post

Hundreds of Christians have gathered in Boston this week for a four-day event commemorating the influence of the Reformation on Western Civilization over the last half a millennium.

Hosted by Vision Forum Ministries, “Reformation 500 Celebration” will highlight the influence of Reformers on the Church, the family, the state, and the founding of the United States…..

“Calvin’s biblical worldview in particular took strong root in the New World - one reason why scholars describe him as the true ‘founder of America,’” noted organizers. More.....

A good article from The Christian Post and a good commercial from Vision Forum:

Self

I love getting comments and emails, even the occasional angry, nasty ones (which, by the way, almost always seem to come from the intellectually “enlightened” atheists among us).

But I received the following comment on a recent post and I just wanted to clear up a couple things quick. Here is most of the comment:

“I respectively disagree with your statement that reads, “Without knowledge of God there is no knowledge of self”. You can look like you have knowledge of God if you are following someones lead and you are mimicking what they are doing. You do not know why or what they are doing, but everyone else is copying them, you feel that you are just going along with everyone so that you will belong or be part of the group.

But if you have knowledge of “self” you will understand and know who you are. You do not need the group you can stand alone and feel confident in knowing who you are, you are where you want to be no one is leading you. If you would like to learn more about “self” read the latest study on this subject, get a copy of The Power of Self Separation you will enjoy reading it….”

To begin with I just wanted to say that I did not write this, this is a quote from John Calvin written four hundred some years ago. I thought it was fairly clear and straight forward but maybe I was wrong.

What Calvin was saying in this statement is that we as human beings cannot know ourselves or understand ourselves as we really are until we have begun to see God as he really is as He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures. When we begin to perceive something of the holiness of God in all of His attributes then, and only then, will we begin to see that we are utterly unholy, unrighteous, undeserving of His goodness and patience and only deserving of His wrath for our self-centered rebellion against Him.

By nature we fallen human beings tend to love ourselves, think highly of ourselves, worry about ourselves and be centered on ourselves. Even those who commit suicide are thinking too much about themselves and not about how they can obey God, honor God and help those around them. Self is our greatest problem and we simply cannot see self properly until we begin to see God properly.

If you really want to understand the truth about self you would be much better off reading the Bible.

The Importance of Learning how to Spell

The Knowledge of God and Self

I just couldn't resist posting a little more of Calvin's Institutes here as there are many professing Christians out there who are quick to condemn John Calvin but have never read his writings for themselves. What person, indwelt with the Spirit of God, could read stuff like this and not rejoice in the truth of it?

From the Institutes of the Christian Religion Chapter 1, Section 2

"2. Without knowledge of God there is no knowledge of self

On the other hand, it is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he have previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself. For (such is our innate pride) we always seem to ourselves just, and upright, and wise, and holy, until we are convinced, by clear evidence, of our injustice, vileness, folly, and impurity. Convinced, however, we are not, if we look to ourselves only, and not to the Lord also - He being the only standard by the application of which this conviction can be produced. For, since we are all naturally prone to hypocrisy, any empty semblance of righteousness is quite enough to satisfy us instead of righteousness itself. And since nothing appears within us or around us that is not tainted with very great impurity, so long as we keep our mind within the confines of human pollution, anything which is in some small degree less defiled delights us as if it were most pure just as an eye, to which nothing but black had been previously presented, deems an object of a whitish, or even of a brownish hue, to be perfectly white. Nay, the bodily sense may furnish a still stronger illustration of the extent to which we are deluded in estimating the powers of the mind. If, at mid-day, we either look down to the ground, or on the surrounding objects which lie open to our view, we think ourselves endued with a very strong and piercing eyesight; but when we look up to the sun, and gaze at it unveiled, the sight which did excellently well for the earth is instantly so dazzled and confounded by the refulgence, as to oblige us to confess that our acuteness in discerning terrestrial objects is mere dimness when applied to the sun. Thus too, it happens in estimating our spiritual qualities. So long as we do not look beyond the earth, we are quite pleased with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue; we address ourselves in the most flattering terms, and seem only less than demigods. But should we once begin to raise our thoughts to God, and reflect what kind of Being he is, and how absolute the perfection of that righteousness, and wisdom, and virtue, to which, as a standard, we are bound to be conformed, what formerly delighted us by its false show of righteousness will become polluted with the greatest iniquity; what strangely imposed upon us under the name of wisdom will disgust by its extreme folly; and what presented the appearance of virtuous energy will be condemned as the most miserable impotence. So far are those qualities in us, which seem most perfect, from corresponding to the divine purity."

The Knowledge of God and of Ourselves

This coming July 10th will be the 500th anniversary of the Birth of John Calvin. In light of this Ive been re-reading some of his Institutes as I always find a great deal of Gods grace and instruction flowing through his words.

For those of you who have never read Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion I couldn't recommend them highly enough. Here's the opening of the first book dealing with the knowledge of God and it's relationship to mans knowledge of himself. The first chapter is nothing less than an apologetical masterpiece!

Chapter 1, Section 1. "Without knowledge of self there is no knowledge of God

Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other. For, in the first place, no man can survey himself without forthwith turning his thoughts towards the God in whom he lives and moves; because it is perfectly obvious, that the endowments which we possess cannot possibly be from ourselves; nay, that our very being is nothing else than subsistence in God alone. In the second place, those blessings which unceasingly distil to us from heaven, are like streams conducting us to the fountain. Here, again, the infinitude of good which resides in God becomes more apparent from our poverty. In particular, the miserable ruin into which the revolt of the first man has plunged us, compels us to turn our eyes upwards; not only that while hungry and famishing we may thence ask what we want, but being aroused by fear may learn humility. For as there exists in man something like a world of misery, and ever since we were stript of the divine attire our naked shame discloses an immense series of disgraceful properties every man, being stung by the consciousness of his own unhappiness, in this way necessarily obtains at least some knowledge of God. Thus, our feeling of ignorance, vanity, want, weakness, in short, depravity and corruption, reminds us, (see Calvin on John 4: 10,) that in the Lord, and none but He, dwell the true light of wisdom, solid virtue, exuberant goodness. We are accordingly urged by our own evil things to consider the good things of God; and, indeed, we cannot aspire to Him in earnest until we have begun to be displeased with ourselves. For what man is not disposed to rest in himself? Who, in fact, does not thus rest, so long as he is unknown to himself; that is, so long as he is contented with his own endowments, and unconscious or unmindful of his misery? Every person, therefore, on coming to the knowledge of himself, is not only urged to seek God, but is also led as by the hand to find him."

Institutes of the Christian Religion By John Calvin / Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. CBD says: "Theologian par excellence, Calvin is best known for his Institutes of the Christian Religion, a theological introduction to the Bible and vindication of Reformation principles. Beveridge's 1845 translation of Calvin's magnum opus is now available in a one-volume format that retains the pagination of the original two volumes. 1310 pages, softcover from Eerdmans."

A Drop on the Tongue (of the Power of God.)

It's the burning hot and horribly humid days of summer here in the Midwestern United States. When I got out of bed yesterday morning it was nearly 80 degrees with 90% humidity.

One thing I do enjoy about summers here though is the occasional violent storms we have each year, it's like a little drop on the tongue of the power of God. It reminds me of the verse in Habakkuk: "...and there was the hiding of his power." (Hab. 3:4) No matter how powerful the display, the restraint that God uses in not destroying us all completely only serves to mask the true display of infinite power.

Last Sunday I woke up in the middle of the night in a puddle of sweat. The house was all closed up, the electricity had been out for some time and needless to say our air-conditioner had been off. Apparently I slept through the most violent storm of the year (so far) and only woke up when it got too hot to sleep. When I when out to go to work in the morning the whole neighborhood was blanketed with little branches and there were probably a dozen or so large trees within a couple blocks of our house that had been twisted, bent, broken and tipped over and even ripped out of the ground. And while I don't enjoy to see peoples property destroyed, it does look like I’ll have plenty of fire wood for the next couple of winters!

Happy 175th Birthday!

(June 19, 1834 – January 31, 1892)

Happy 175th birthday to Charles Haddon Spurgeon! I’m a day late but what’s a day over 175 years?

Miraculous Spiritual Gifts?

New at Polemos
Charismatic Movement

Article Links

• What about Prophecy and Tongues Today?
  Richard B Gaffin Jr

Audio Links

• Miraculous Spiritual Gifts; Ceased or Continuing
  Sam E. Waldron
  

The Thunderclap from Heaven

Some Good Quotes
Law and Evangelism

"It is exceeding necessary for us to know this use of the Law. For he that is not an open and a public murderer, an adulterer, or a thief, holds himself to be an upright and godly man; as did the Pharisee, so blinded and possessed spiritually of the devil, that he could neither see nor feel his sins, nor his miserable case, but exalted himself touching his good works and deserts.

Such hypocrites and haughty saints can God by no better means humble and soften, than by and through the Law; for that is the right club or hammer, the thunderclap from Heaven, the axe of God's wrath, that strikes through, beats down, and batters such stock-blind, hardened hypocrites. For this cause, it is no small matter that we should rightly understand what the Law is, whereto it serves, and what is its proper work and office."

-Martin Luther

The Last Judgment!

New at Polemos
Eschatology

• The Last Judgment - It's General Character
  Sam E. Waldron
• The Last Judgment - It's Incalculable Time
  Sam E. Waldron
• The Last Judgment - Its Eternal Punishment
  Sam E. Waldron
• The Last Judgment - It's Blessed Fruition
  Sam E. Waldron

Some Advice for Five Year Olds

Tip #1

When expressing your artistic abilities in Crayola on the dining room walls, do not sign your own name to the artwork.

Pearl

Pearl Reece
December 22, 1924 -June 4, 2009

At 5:42 on the evening of June 4th my mother-in-law quietly slipped into eternity as my wife and I sat by her bedside.

After living in our house with us for the last three years because she couldn't take care of herself, her Dementia finally took a sharp turn for the worse and after about ten days or so in the hospital and Hospice she passed away due to complications with the Dementia.

While she lived nearly 85 years, I cant help wondering how her perspective on life has changed since entering eternity. I have no doubt that looking back on her life now it must seem that that time just flew by.

"...For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." James 4:14

Freedom of Religion: Going, Going....

• Couple Ordered to Stop Holding Bible Study at Home Without Permit

Pastor David Jones and his wife Mary have been told that they cannot invite friends to their San Diego, Calif. home for a Bible study — unless they are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars to San Diego County.

More... at Fox News

In the Presence of Death and the Curse

My wife and I have been married 21 years now as of yesterday. What a testimony to the grace of God in Jesus Christ in changing the hearts of a couple of foolish juvenile delinquents! I would be lying if I said that it was easy though, the sin in our hearts and the curse of God on the human race has made it particularly difficult to love each other like we ought to.

Today marks the two year anniversary of the death of my daughters little friend Marielle, and as I sit here writing this my mother-in-law lays dying in the hospital of complications of Dementia. It was very sobering to go visit her room the other evening and once again stand in the presence of death.

As I have time to reflect on these things it’s very hard, once again, not to think about the severity of the curse of God on the human race. How can people miss it?

How can people grow old, deteriorate and wither under sickness and disease, watch those around them die, look at all the bloodshed, sorrow, animosity and lack of peace in this world and fail to see the curse? How can we fail to see and consider that we are a cursed race that has been separated from our good maker by our treacherous rebellion and self-centeredness? We are truly a bunch of thoughtless fools to be willfully blind to our condition just so that we can enjoy sin for a season in our pathetically short lives.

What a horrible thought to think that for many who reject the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that this is the best it will ever be for them. They will move from a cursed life into a cursed death; a life of bitterness tainted with occasional happiness to an eternal death of pure bitterness. How truly sad!

But by contrast, what an enormous and unfathomable blessing it is to have your sin, guilt and rebellion forgiven through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! How blessed it is to know that while we must still suffer from the effects of the curse in this life, death will remove that sting from us! What a great relief it is for the believer to know that the curse of the Law which demanded our death has been dissolved in the death of Christ. And how glorious for the believer to know that in the very process of our own deaths, Christ’s resurrection power will set us free from the second death forever!

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” Psalm 32:1

The Church, Israel and Sovereign Election Pt. 3

(In the interest of being fair and honest, I tried to find this message on the Grace to You web site (gty.org) so anyone who would like to hear it could listen to it, but it apparently is not posted. I did find many other messages on the subject of Eschatology and I have no doubt that Pastor MacArthur says many of the same things in some of these other messages if you’re interested in hearing it for yourself.)

While dealing with the subject of Hermeneutics Pastor MacArthur compares the interpretation of Genesis chapter 1-3 with the interpretation of prophecy and asks; if we don’t want people tampering with the beginning of the Book, why do we tolerate tampering with the end of the book? He then adds “especially the book of Revelation.”

The clear implication is that we should interpret Genesis 1-3 in the exact same manner as we interpret the book of Revelation. This is the same thing that is so often implied when it is said that we must interpret everything literally or “read it like a newspaper.”

Does this even make sense? What about literary genre? Shouldn’t we take that into consideration? Should we really interpret an historical narrative of the days of creation in the exact same manner we interpret an apocalyptical vision? Should we interpret prose in the exact same manner that we interpret poetry or parables? Should we interpret Zechariah 5:1-11 in the exact same manner that we interpret Romans 5:1-11? Should we?

What about figures of speech? What about symbolism, metaphors, hyperbole, parables, poetry, irony, analogy, metonymy, oxymoron, paradox, personifications, anthropomorphisms, similes, synecdoche, and other such manners of speech?

Does the Bible teach us to interpret it all the same? Does it teach us to interpret each word in its most literalistic sense? Where does it do so? Does it always use words in their most literalistic sense?

Absolutely not! Jesus spoke to his disciples in figurative language until it exasperated them. They were thrilled when He finally spoke to them in plain (literalistic) language (John 16:29). Daniels visions needed to be interpreted (Daniel 7:16) indicating that they could not be taken in their most literalistic sense. And the New Testament frequently interprets the Old in ways that can hardly be called literalistic as we shall see.

To insist that we interpret everything in its most literalistic sense, or to say, as Pastor MacArthur does in this message, that all of the prophecies concerning Christ’s first coming were fulfilled literally and therefore we should interpret all those concerning His second coming in the same manner, is absolutely without any Biblical foundation at all.

The Church, Israel and Sovereign Election Pt. 2

Naturally, one of the things that Pastor MacArthur brings up on several occasions is the subject of Hermeneutics. He makes several accusations concerning those who do not hold to his own beliefs and mentions on several occasions that we must use the literal or “normal” hermeneutic.

Perhaps one of the most disturbing statements that he makes in this regard was something to this effect: if the Scriptural statement that “the dessert is going to blossom like a rose” does not literally mean that the dessert is going to blossom like a rose then he has nothing more to talk to such people about. Now I’m not going to argue about the dessert blossoming like a rose, but if he is not going to talk to those who do not share his view of hermeneutics then he has effectively shut down any debate right at the starting point.

As I have mentioned already I have listened to hundreds of Pastor MacArthur’s messages and when dealing with other subjects he has frequently taught that debate is good for the Church and that the Church will wither under false doctrine were there is no debate. So why the sudden change of attitude when it comes to Eschatology and more specifically hermeneutics? Such a statement seems very hypocritical to me.

Pastor MacArthur also declares that his opponents abandon the perspicuity of Scripture when it comes to Eschatology, that they set aside the tested and true rules of interpretation when it comes to texts dealing with Eschatology in order to protect a preconception. And he also asks who gets do decide the new rules of interpretation when we abandon the literal meaning of words and on what page of Scripture are they found.

His argument goes something like this: If we can’t take every last word of Scripture in its most literal sense, then how can we ever know exactly what any of the words of Scripture really mean? This is a very good question but we can’t shut down the debate without giving the other side the opportunity to answer the question.

So here is the first part of my answer: First of all, the so called “literal” hermeneutic is not the tested and true hermeneutic of the church. This is an erroneous and misleading statement. The “literal” hermeneutic seems to me to be a mythological hermeneutic brought forward at certain times by Dispensationalists to discredit their opponents.

When Dispensationalists talk about the literal hermeneutic they will often say that we must “read the Bible like we read the newspaper” and “take the words at face value according to the natural, normal sense of words.” Two examples that Pastor MacArthur mentions is that 1000 always means 1000 and Israel always means Israel.

I could ask Pastor MacArthur his own question here: Who decided this rule of interpretation and on what page of Scripture is it found?

The historic hermeneutic of the church is that the Scriptures interpret the Scriptures, this is often called the “Analogy of Faith.” This is the tested and true historical hermeneutic of the church and this is the hermeneutic (or something similar) that Dispensationalists themselves normally use unless it fits their purposes not to.

For instance, in Revelation 13:1 we are told of a beast with seven heads and ten horns. No Dispensationalist that I have ever listened to taught that this was a literal beast with seven literal heads and ten literal horns. Why not? Because this is found in a book full of symbolism and they let other parts of Scripture help them to interpret this passage. They use the analogy of faith at this point. They use my hermeneutic at this point and then deride me for using it in other parts of the same book.

Such examples could be multiplied all day long. Dispensationalists themselves will teach that the woman in Revelation 12:1,6 is not a literal woman but symbolic of Israel. The chain in Revelation 20 is not a literal chain with a literal lock on it and the pit with a door on it in the same verses is not a literal pit with a literal door. The woman in Revelation 17 is not a literal woman, Babylon in Chapter 18 is not literal Babylon and the weapons in Ezekiel 39:9 are not literally bows, arrows, swords and spears but are symbolic of modern weaponry. And we could go on and on and on. They frequently use their opponents hermeneutic and then blast their opponents for using it when they don’t like it.

The literal meaning of Scripture is that which God intended to convey, interpreting every word in its most literalistic sense does not necessarily help us to understand that meaning. And as we will see, the most literalistic interpretation of Eschatological passages in many cases is contrary to common sense and at odds with the hermeneutic that the Scriptures themselves force upon us.

As I think we will see, it seems impossible to avoid the conclusion that the Dispensational demand to use the “literal” hermeneutic, or rather to interpret every word in its most literalistic sense, is a sort of logical slight-of-hand trick. It might appear to make sense when phrased in a certain manner, but under some cross-examination it can be shown to be completely unbiblical, untenable and something they themselves often don't even use.

The Church, Israel and Sovereign Election

A Pastor of a local Church recently gave me a copy of a message from the 2007 Shepherds Conference put on by John MacArthur. The message was by Pastor MacArthur and it was on the subject of Israel, the Church and the Doctrine of Election. Knowing that I hold to more of an Amillennial Position, he asked me to listen to it, take some notes and explain to him why Pastor MacArthur could not be right.

So I’ve been listening to it repeatedly and taking notes and I thought it might be good to address some of the things that Pastor MacArthur says here as they are things that I commonly hear about those who reject the Dispensational/Premillennial view of Scripture.

As I have said before, I have a great deal of respect for Pastor MacArthur. I have literally listened to hundreds of his sermons, read a great many of his books and I learned a great deal from him as a new Christian. In fact I became Reformed in some measure because of his teaching and that of some of the elders at his Church. You might say he pointed the way but didn’t get on the bus with me.

I really do enjoy a great deal of Pastor MacArthur’s teaching but when it comes to Eschatology he seems to be too committed to Dispensational presuppositions to even think objectively through other points of view. If there is one thing I’ve learned about polemics it’s this: you better understand the position of those you are trying to correct and argue against or you completely discredit yourself in their eyes and you don’t even know it.

Personally I have found this message to be full of logical slight-of-hand and what seems to be a surprising lack of careful thought by a man who frequently urges his fellow Christians to pursue careful and critical thought. All I can figure is that Pastor MacArthur just hasn’t given his own views in this area a careful cross-examination.

So anyway, if you are one of those of the Dispensational persuasion who thinks that it is wrong to listen to other points of view on this subject you might want to close your eyes for the next dozen posts or so.

Capitalization and Decapitalization

Rushdoony on Capitalization and Decapitalization

"Capitalization is the accumulation of wealth, the conversion of work, savings, and forethought into tangible working assets. No progress is possible without some measure of capitalization. It is a serious error to assume that socialism and communism are opposed to capitalization or to capitalism; their opposition is simply to private capitalism, but their dedicated policy is to state capitalism. For the state to plan any program of progress, public works, or conquest, work, frugality, and forethought are necessary. The work is exacted from the people by force; the frugality or savings is again forced out of the people by means of wage controls, compulsory savings and bond-buying programs, and slave labor, the forethought is provided by the state planners.

State capitalism is seriously defective for a number of reasons. Most notably, first of all, it represents theft. The private capital of the people is expropriated, as well as their work and savings. It is thus a radically dishonest capitalization.

Second, forethought is divorced from work and frugality, that is, the planners are not the ones who provide the work and the sacrifice. As a result, the planners have no brake of immediate consequences imposed upon them. They can be prodigal in their waste of manpower and capital without bankruptcy, in that the state compels the continuance of their non-economic and wasteful planning. The consequence is that, wherever planning is separated from work and savings, instead of capitalization, the result is decapitalization. Socialism is thus by nature imperialistic, in that it must periodically seize or annex a fresh territory in order to have fresh capital to gut by expropriation. State capitalism is thus an agency of decapitalization.

…. capitalization in a society requires a background of faith and character. In every era of history, capitalization is a product of the Puritan disposition, of the willingness to forego present pleasures to accumulate some wealth for future purposes. Where there is no character, there is no capitalization but rather decapitalization, the steady depletion of wealth. Society becomes consumption centered rather than productive, and it begins to decapitalize the centuries-rich inheritance which surrounds it.

Thus, decapitalization is preceded always by a breakdown of faith and character. Where men feel that private happiness is man's purpose and goal rather than serving and glorifying God, and finding joy in Him, where men feel that life owes them something rather than seeing themselves as debtors to God, and where men feel called to fulfill them­selves apart from God rather than in Him, there society is in rapid process of decapitalization."

From

Institutes of Biblical Law
By Rousas J. Rushdoony / P & R Publishing

Could You Donate a Penny?

My five year old daughter came up to me recently, held out a shoebox with a slit in the top that read "1st National Donation Bank" and asked "Could you donate a penny to some poor orphan children to buy some jelly beans?"

After a little questioning, it came out that we're going to visit one of the grandmas soon and last time we were there this Grandma had a penny gumball machine full of Jelly Bellies and the kids were using a little creativity (and their little sister) to gather up a few pennies beforehand.

She was so cute I just had to take a picture, and of course I had to donate a few pennies.

So if you're out there Grandma, you better get some more Jelly Bellies.

Where Does the Bible End?

New at Polemos
Charismatic Movement
Catholicism

While every argument in these messages is not necessarily the best in my own opinion, overall they are very good, very entertaining and they address an extremely important subject for the Church today. You gotta love John MacArthur, he says it like he sees it in Scripture.

1. Where Does the Bible End? Part 1
   John MacArthur
2. Where Does the Bible End? Part 2
   John MacArthur

Like Hearing a Dog Meow

My wife showed me this video and I have to say it wasn't at all what I was expecting. Like one of the judges said "It was like hearing a Dog meow."

Sailing to Hell on the Love Boat Pt. 2

“….and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord…..” Genesis 3:8

“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” John 3:19,20

When our first father Adam first sinned against God he ran and hid among the trees to from the presence of the Lord lest his sin should be exposed and ever since that time his children have been doing the very same thing year after year after year. The minds of men have become a veritable factory of lies, each one designed to hide them from the face of God and from the thoughts of the Day of Judgment; that great day that we all know deep down in our hearts is looming on the horizon.

Some have created false religions to hide their minds from the judgment of God. Others have maintained that we can never know anything at all about God. And still others dogmatically declared that there is no God at all. Agnosticism, atheism and every false religion have at least one thing in common; they are all contrivances of sinful men meant to hide us from the true and holy God. False religion is not an act of men reaching out for God, it is an act of fallen men hiding from the true God.

Men love their sinful autonomy dearly and don’t want to part with it, yet thoughts of the Day of Judgment hound them constantly. They know that they are sinners and even that they deserve to die according to Romans 1:32. They have to hide from this truth or sink into deep despair. This is why we killed Jesus Christ; the light was too bright! He was the exact image of the invisible God (Colossians 1: 15). To see Him was to see the Father (John 14:9).

But perhaps one of the most sinister things that mankind have done in order to escape dealing with their own sinfulness is to take parts of the Word of the true God and create a false version of that God; a false religious system, a false god, a false jesus and a false holy spirit. We could mention Roman Catholicism, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Emerging church and even many of our Protestant denominations and Churches who have drifted into the practice of trading the True God of Scripture for a fake.

Many of our more protestant churches have simply ripped the encouraging, uplifting and positive parts of the Bible out of the rest of Holy Scripture and have conveniently overlooked the hard and difficult passages thus creating a happy-go-lucky always smiling god who loves everybody just the way they are. This fake version of the true God is always encouraging and accepting. No fear, no judgment, no anger, no conviction of sin, no condemnation, no hard and harsh words, no law; just love for everybody just as they are.

Accordingly, this false god has a false gospel message: “god loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, so just ask jesus into your heart.” (Where do you find that in the Bible?). There’s no exposing of sin in this gospel message because those who hate to have their sin exposed know that others hate it also. There is no calling for repentance because repentance has to do with sin. There’s no fear and trembling before this God because this god isn’t angry with us the way that we are. The false gospel message of this false religion calls on men to love themselves, accept themselves, have good self-esteem and never, never, never judge anyone or expose their sin for what it really is.

What a far cry this false god is from the true and holy God of Scripture who is angry every day (Psalm 7:11), who hates those who practice iniquity (Psalm 5:5), who calls on men to repent and abhor themselves for their sinfulness (Ezekiel 20:43; Acts 17:30) and who loves Himself above all else and commands us to do the same (Isaiah 48:11; Matthew 22:37, 38). The God of Scripture does not “accept us just as we are” but offers to save us from who we are. The God of Scripture calls us to denounce our self-esteem and esteem Him alone (Isaiah 2:10, 11, 17, 22).

Yes the God of Scripture is a God of Love and Mercy, but His love and mercy are not blind. They never function apart from holiness and justice. They never operate outside the parameters of His Law. God loves himself chiefly and supremely and hates everything that is contrary to Him. That is why in the Gospel the God of Scripture offers to save us from what we are and remake us into the image of His Son, then He can pour out His love upon us unsparingly because we become a reflection of Him.

Humanism; Making Restitution to the Criminal

Rushdoony on Humanism and the "Correctional" System

“…. a major movement resulted in a demand for both more humane treatment in prisons, and the punishment of imprisonment as the solution to the problem of crime. It came to be believed that imprisonment could have a saving effect on man, and that punishment in the form of a loss of liberty would lead to reformation.

Punishment next gave way, in the humanist ideology, to rehabilitation, and prisons began to be converted into rehabilitation centers. Thus, in California, one class of prisons is known as a "correctional facility." the "old doctrine . . . that the purpose of the criminal law is to exact from the criminal a retributive suffering proportionate to the heinousness if the offense" has given way to "the effort ... to combine deterrence and public protection with restoration of the offender to a more self-sustaining role in the community." This opinion reveals certain basic errors. First, criminal law is invested with a religious and messianic role, l duty to save criminals. This is asking of the law more than law can deliver. Second, it misinterprets history. Retribution is seen as exacting suffering; this was true of humanistic law, but not of Biblical law, wherein retribution or vengeance is the prerogative of God and His instruments and involves giving justice where justice is due (Luke 18:1-8). Third, this opinion is individualistic, not social, and it concentrates on the person of the criminal, not the victim. Thus, Bennett notes, "The current trend in the disposition of offenders is unmistakably toward individualized penal treatment administered within the framework of a flexible criminal code." Salvation is personal, and the law now concerns itself with saving the person of the criminal.

This personal frame of reference has led to the newer emphasis on mental health, on psychiatric treatment as the answer to criminality.

Humanism thus has come full circle. It began by replacing restitution with the prison system. It concludes now by restoring restitution, by requiring that society make restitution to the criminal for its supposed neglect. Because of its environmentalism, humanism blames a lack in the environment for a man's crimes. This means that society must atone for that lack by restitution. Both criminology and welfare-ism rest on this humanistic doctrine of restitution. Restitution must thus be made to all who are criminals, perverts, or lazy, to all who will not work, or who are failures, to all who give birth to illegitimate children, and to all who in any way are sub-standard. Restitution has once again become the social standard, but it is a humanistic restitution which works in total opposition to God's order.

Humanistic restitution is anti-law in that it is fundamentally hostile to any concept of absolute law. Absolute law is replaced with the absolute person. The result is the end of any law-order, and its replace­ment with a lawyer-order. The difference between the two is a great one."

From

Institutes of Biblical Law
By Rousas J. Rushdoony / P & R Publishing

Motherhood

"Fathers and mothers are the most natural agents for God to use in the salvation of their children. I am sure that, in my early youth, no teaching ever made such an impression upon my mind as the instruc­tion of my mother; neither can I conceive that, to any child, there can be one who will have such influence over the young heart as the mother who has so tenderly cared for her offspring. A man with a soul so dead as not to be moved by the sacred name of "mother" is creation's blot. Never could it be possible for any man to estimate what he owes to a godly mother. Certainly I have not the powers of speech with which to set forth my valuation of the choice blessing which the Lord bestowed on me in making me the son of one who prayed for me, and prayed with me. How can I ever forget her tearful eye when she warned me to escape from the wrath to come? I thought her lips right eloquent; others might not think so, but they certainly were eloquent to me. How can I ever forget when she bowed her knee, and with her arms about my neck, prayed, "Oh, that my son might live before Thee!" Nor can her frown be effaced from my memory—that solemn, loving frown, when she rebuked my budding iniquities; and her smiles have never faded from my recollections— the beaming of her countenance when she rejoiced to see some good thing in me towards the Lord God of Israel."

-Charles Spurgeon as quoted in Charles Haddon Spurgeon Autobiography: The Early Years 1834-1860 Volume 1

“But You sent "thine hand from above" (Ps. 144:7) and drew my soul out of that profound darkness because my mother, Your faithful one, wept over me to You, more than mothers weep when their children die. She, by that faith and spirit which she had from You, discerned the death in which I Lay, and You heard her, Lord. You heard her and did not despise her tears when, streaming down, they watered the ground under her eyes in every place where she prayed.”

Saint Augustine as quated in The Confessions of St. Augustine

“I cannot tell how much I owe to the solemn words of my good mother. It was thecustom on Sunday evenings, while we were yet little children, for her to stay at home with us, and then we sat round the table, and readverse by verse, and she explained the Scripture to us. After that was done, then came the time of pleading; there was a little piece of Alleine's Alarm, or of Baxter's Call to the Unconverted, and this was read with pointed observations made to each of us as we sat round the table; and the question was asked, how long it would be before we would think about our state, how long before we would seek the Lord. Then came a mother's prayer, and some of the words of that prayer we shall never forget, even when our hair is gray. I remember, on one occasion, her praying thus: "Now, Lord, if my children go on in their sins, it will not be from ignorance that they perish, and my soul must bear a swift witness against them at the Day of Judgment if they lay not hold of Christ." That thought of a mother's bearing swift witness against me, pierced my conscience, and stirred my heart.”

-Charles Spurgeon as quoted in Charles Haddon Spurgeon Autobiography: The Early Years 1834-1860 Volume 1

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 31:28

“She is a great blessing to her relations, v. 28 . (1.) Her children grow up in her place, and they call her blessed. They give her their good word, they are themselves a commendation to her, and they are ready to give great commendations of her; they pray for her, and bless God that they had such a good mother. It is a debt which they owe her, a part of that honour which the fifth commandment requires to be paid to father and mother; and it is a double honour that is due to a good father and a good mother. (2.) Her husband thinks himself so happy in her that he takes all occasions to speak well of her, as one of the best of women. It is no indecency at all, but a laudable instance of conjugal love, for husbands and wives to give one another their due praises.”

-Matthew Henry as quoted in Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

Charles Bridges on Proverbs 31:28

“The virtuous woman is obviously subserving her own interest. For what greater earthly happiness could she know, than her reverence, and her husband's blessing? We may picture to ourselves "her condition—crowned with years; her children grown up; perhaps themselves surrounded with families, and endeavoring to train them, as themselves had been trained. Their mother is constantly before their eyes. Her tender guidance, her wise counsels, her loving disci­pline, her holy example, are vividly kept in remembrance. They cease not to call her Messed, and to bless the Lord for her, as his invalu­able gift! No less warmly does her husband praise her. His attach­ment to her is grounded, not on the deceitful and vain charms of beauty, but on the fear of the Lord. She is therefore in his eyes to the end, the stay of his declining years, the soother of his cares, the counselor of his perplexities, the comforter of his sorrows, the sunshine of his earthly joys. (Ecc. xxxvi. 23, 24.) Both children and husband combine in the grateful acknowledgment”

-Charles Bridges as Quoted in Proverbs, Geneva Commentary Series

The Christian's Authority: Experience or the Word?

New at Polemos
Charismatic Movement

1. The Christian's Authority: Experience or the Word?
   Part 1
   John MacArthur
2. The Christian's Authority: Experience or the Word?
   Part 2
   John MacArthur

Sharper Than Any Two-edged Sword

While reading Romans 2:1 during the course of devotions with my children the other night I was once again reminded of the amazing power of the Word of God to expose the sinful workings of the human heart. (1 Corinthians 14: 24, 25; Hebrews 4:12, 13)

In the context Paul, speaking in the power of the Spirit of God, is showing that all men are guilty before God. Even those that have never even seen the written Word of God and know nothing about what it says are blameworthy, guilty and completely inexcusable before Him. Romans chapter 1 and 2 show that Joe Blow the bushman deep in the heart of Africa, who has never heard of the Bible or Jesus Christ, is guilty before his Maker. And if it shows us that Joe Blow the bushman is consciously guilty before his Maker, how much more does it expose the “new atheists” and liberals who constantly rail against the Word of God.

In Romans 2:1 Paul says: “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.”

In other words, any man who judges another’s actions to be wrong exhibits the fact that he knows that there is a standard outside of us and above us. And any admission to a standard that is above us all, that men should be held accountable to, is an admission that there is a God who makes standards. And when someone who has broken Gods standards condemns someone else for breaking those same standards, what is that person doing but condemning himself for breaking the very same set of standards? Isn’t Gods Word awesome!

Consider your garden variety average liberal atheist who is angry with religious people and condemns their practice of religion. What is he saying when he condemns religious people for their practice of religion? He’s saying this: “There are standards to be held to people! And I’m condemning you for breaking one of them!” Or consider the average unbeliever who says that there are no fixed standards and that we should never judge anyone for how they live or what they believe, it’s not real hard to expose their hypocrisy, just tell them their wrong and they’ll judge you for judging them. Or maybe barrow their car without asking and they will quickly accuse you of stealing. How can they accuse you of stealing? Because they know that there is a standard of right and wrong and they’re going to hold you to it when it serves their purpose.

So all you atheists out there, be honest for a moment, you know that there is a God and you know that there are standards of right and wrong; you’ve held people to them. “And do you think this , O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?” (Romans 2:3)

Slavery Under the State

"What the Reformation did was to return most clear­ly and consistently to the origins, to the final reality, God; but equally to the reality of Man—not only Man's personal needs (such as salvation), but also Man's social needs.

What we have had for four hundred years, produced from this clarity, is unique in contrast to the situation that has existed in the world in forms of government. Some of you have been taught that the Greek city states had our concepts in government. It simply is not true. All one has to do is read Plato's Republic to have this come across with tremendous force.

When the men of our State Department, especially after World War II, went all over the world trying to implant our form-freedom balance in government downward on cultures whose philosophy and religion would never have produced it, it has, in almost every case, ended in some form of totalitarianism or author­itarianism.

The humanists push for "freedom," but having no Christian consensus to contain it, that "freedom" leads to chaos or to slavery under the state (or under an elite). Humanism, with its lack of any final base for values or law, always leads to chaos. It then naturally leads to some form of authoritarianism to control the chaos. Having produced the sickness, humanism gives more of the same kind of medicine for a cure. With its mistaken concept of final reality, it has no intrinsic reason to be interested in the individual, the human being. Its natural interest is the two collectives: the state and society."

A Quote From:

A Christian Manifesto: 25th Anniversary Edition
By Francis A. Schaeffer / Crossway Books & Bibles

Clinging to Their Guns

Family Integration

New at Polemmos
Family Worship at Church
Audio Links

1. Evangelism and Missions in the Family Intergated Church
   Voddie Baucham

2. Answering Objections to Uniting Church and Family
   Voddie Baucham

This second message by Voddie Baucham is really good! In it he answers such objections as: "Family Integrated Churches wont reach teens with unbelieving parents"
"Family Integrated Churches will alienate singles"
"Family Integrated Churches are inherently un-evangelistic"
"Family Integrated Churches are ignoring the calling of thousands of youth pastors"
and "Family Integrated Churches throw out the baby with the bath water"

Principles and Practices of Family Worship

New at Polemos
Family Worship at Home
Audio Links

• Principles and Practices of Family Worship
  Dan Horn

Creation Day 4 and 5

New at Polemos
Creationism
Audio Links

• Creation Day 4: Genesis 1:14-19
  John MacArthur
• Creation Day 5: Genesis 1:20-23
  John MacArthur

While I would have to take exception to some of Mr. MacArthur's teachings I've got to say I have really enjoyed these messages on Genesis.

Francis Schaeffer on the Basis of Law and Society

"Those who hold the material-energy, chance con­cept of reality, whether they are Marxist or non-Marxist, not only do not know the truth of the final reality, God, they do not know who Man is. Their concept of Man is what Man is not, just as their concept of the final reality is what final reality is not. Since their concept of Man is mistaken, their concept of society and of law is mistaken, and they have no sufficient base for either society or law.

They have reduced Man to even less than his natural finiteness by seeing him only as a complex arrangement of molecules, made complex by blind chance. Instead of seeing him as something great who is signifi­cant even in his sinning, they see Man in his essence only as an intrinsically competitive animal, that has no other basic operating principle than natural selec­tion brought about by the strongest, the fittest, ending on top. And they see Man as acting in this way both individually and collectively as society.

Even on the basis of Man's finiteness having people swear in court in the name of humanity, as some have advocated, saying something like, "We pledge our honor before all mankind" would be insufficient enough. But reduced to the materialistic view of Man, it is even less. Although many nice words may be used, in reality law constituted on this basis can only mean brute force."

From:

A Christian Manifesto: 25th Anniversary Edition
By Francis A. Schaeffer / Crossway Books & Bibles

New Biographical

New @ Polemos
Biographical

Scottish Puritans: Select Biographies (2 volume set) By Banner Of Truth

They Were Pilgrims By Marcus L. Loane / Banner Of Truth CBD Says: "They Were Pilgrims is the story of four remarkable men who shared a common spiritual aim and ideal. They were David Brainerd, Henry Martyn, Robert Murray M'Cheyne, and Ion Keith-Falconer. Their average life-span was only thirty years, but they left a spiritual impact on their generation which was altogether out of the ordinary. Their lives covered the period of history from 1718 to 1887. A clear line of spiritual descent can be traced from David Brainerd to Henry Martyn, from Brainerd and Martyn to Robert Murray M'Cheyne, and from Martyn to Ion Keith-Falconer. They were all linked to the missionary movement which had its birth in the great spiritual awakening of the eighteenth century. They were pioneers in this missionary movement: Brainerd with the Native North Americans, M'Cheyne with the Jews of Palestine and Central Europe, Martyn and Keith-Falconer in the Muslim world of Persia and Arabia. Their contribution to missionary work would be enough in itself to invest their lives with outstanding interest. But the greatest single feature in their lives was their unqualified self-surrender to the claims of God. This book tries to pull up the blinds so that readers can see through the window and can trace the inner spiritual development of these exemplary Christians. It is the freshness and clarity of this record of personal devotion which makes the story of their pilgrimage so relevant for the whole-hearted disciple of Christ today"

Global Tipping

Antarctic ice is growing, not melting away

According to this article at news.com.au ice on the eastern side of Antarctica is growing instead of melting much to the dismay of the global warming crowd. While there has been some melting on the western side over the last 150 years, the eastern side is four times larger than the western side and it is actually cooling and expanding.

This news prompted my 15 year old son to speculate on the next cockamamie dooms day scare; global tipping. Perhaps we’ll have to take all the fat people (who, by the way, are causing global warming according to another news story) and move them west to California to kinda balance out the load.