July 2004 Blog Archives
Friday,
July 30
11:34
AM Have a great
weekend! I leave you with the perfect wave:

10:45
AM Spurgeon on
reading without
understanding.
10:22
AM George Orwell is
alive and well (unfortunately):
Schmidt urges Americans to
listen carefully and critically to the often-duplicitous words that roll off
politicians' tongues. As George Orwell taught us: "The slovenliness of our
language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts."
9:40
AM Anti-Girlie-Man
Schwarzenegger
is back in the news.
Here's the latest honor from Austria:

9:30
AM Devvy Kidd on
how the military
should be spending your hard-earned money.
9:27
AM Here's a
no-brainer. We cannot solve
public problems simply by adding more
restrictions to free
speech.
Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances.
9:24
AM The CIA wasn't
the only federal agency guilty of
incompetence. As Chambers once famously said, "The deadliest Pharisaism
today is not hypocrisy but unconscious reality."
9:22
AM Good for Italy
for ending
the draft. They couldn't send draftees on foreign adventures anyway.
9:12
AM Right now we are
in terrible economic straits. We owe $7 trillion that we admit to. We really
owe more than that. It's like a crazy aunt you keep in the basement -
everyone knows she's there but nobody talks about her. Even the best
propaganda in the world can't ignore the
unbearable costs of empire. (By the way, there's still not a dime's worth of
difference between the two "major" parties and their approach to the issue.)
8:43
AM From the mailbag:
Hello Professor Black.
I appreciate your web
pages, especially your recent comments about women in combat, and about our
need to turn away from the Republicans who have failed us in so many ways
these past few years. The Constitution Party looks good to me. You may be
interested to see this page I posted on my website today:
http://www.bible-researcher.com/women/why.html
Yours in Christ,
Michael Marlowe,
bible-researcher.com
7:10
AM Rather than
watching the Democratic love fest last night, as a family we read the
biography of Samuel Lapsley, Presbyterian missionary to the Congo and part
of my wife's family tree.
Lapsley, a white minister, and
William Sheppard, a black minister, were sent by the Southern Presbyterian
Church to spread Christianity throughout the African continent. Sheppard and
Lapsley discovered that their differences had the quality of fitting
together like cogs in a machine. Lapsley eventually succumbed to "bilious
fever," leaving Sheppard alone. His great sacrifice reminds me of one of Jim
Elliot's famous sayings:

Wednesday,
July 28
4:17
PM Russ Reeves of
Trinity Christian College just sent me a great redneck link. The
check is in the mail, brother. By the way, Russ's bio at the college's
website has this
phenomenal statement:
“When people said, ‘Jesus
is Lord,’ they were making a political statement as much as a religious
statement. It’s easy to miss that significance without a good
understanding of the cultural history, and that’s what I try to impress
on my students.”
Russ is my
kind-a-history-prof.
4:14
PM Demythologizing
the Da Vinci Code.
4:01
PM Shouldn't
John Kerry
be listening to
Il Papa? Perchè non? E un cattolico.
The
pontiff said that "in the face of such erroneous yet pervasive thinking,''
visiting U.S. bishops should stress to congregations "their special
responsibility for evangelizing culture and promoting Christian values in
society and public life.''
"Rights
are at times reduced to self-centered demands: the growth of prostitution
and pornography in the name of adult choice, the acceptance of abortion in
the name of women's rights, the approval of same sex unions in the name of
homosexual rights,'' he said.
The Catholic Church forbids
abortion and considers homosexual activity a sin.
Last week, John Paul warned
another group of U.S. prelates that American society is in danger of
surrendering to a "soulless vision of life.''
3:37
PM An Amish TV show
is in trouble.
This doesn't surprise me. The Amish are a hard-working people who deserve
their privacy. Their simple, family-oriented life-style is well worth
emulating, in this redneck's opinion.

3:35
PM Are you a
true patriot?
3:27
PM The 9/11
Commission Report can now be searched.
(Try "responsibility" on for size. Quite revealing.)
3:23
PM Will the RNC also
employ
the cage? Hardly. Security will be less obvious. Either way, we the
people always get the government we deserve, having surrendered our
liberties to Constantine. As C. S. Lewis reminded us, there are only two
kinds of people: Those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom
God says, "Very well, then, thy will be done."
1:33
PM C. H. Spurgeon's
sermon on the
Laodicean Church has some mighty interesting parallels to the curse of our
modern "Churchianity":
They were not cold, but
they were not hot; they were not infidels, yet they were not earnest
believers; they did not oppose the gospel, neither did they defend it; they
were not working mischief, neither were they doing any great good; they were
not disreputable in moral character, but they were not distinguished for
holiness; they were not irreligious, but they
were
not enthusiastic in piety nor eminent for zeal: they were what the world
calls "Moderates," they were of the Broad-church school, they were neither
bigots nor Puritans, they were prudent and avoided fanaticism, respectable
and averse to excitement. Good things were maintained among them, but they
did not make too much of them; they had prayer-meetings, but there were few
present, for they liked quiet evenings at home: when more attended the
meetings they were still very dull, for they did their praying very
deliberately and were afraid of being too excited. They were content to have
all things done decently and in order, but vigour and zeal they considered
to be vulgar. Such churches have schools, Bible-classes, preaching rooms,
and all sorts of agencies; but they might as well be without them, for no
energy is displayed and no good comes of them. They have deacons and elders
who are excellent pillars of the church, if the chief quality of pillars be
to stand still, and exhibit no motion or emotion. They have ministers who
may be the angels of the churches, but if so, they have their wings closely
clipped, for they do not fly very far in preaching the everlasting gospel,
and they certainly are not flames of fire: they may be shining lights of
eloquence, but they certainly are not burning lights of grace, setting men's
hearts on fire. In such communities everything is done in a half-hearted,
listless, dead-and- alive way, as if it did not matter much whether it was
done or not.
1:28
PM A reader responds
to my review of Michael Moore's
Fahrenheit 9/11:
Mr. Black,
Some random thoughts from
someone who has just discovered the Constitution Party and your column:
It's easy to criticize the
'pragmatic' conservatism of Bush and his administration, but I fear a number
of Constitutionalists, libertarians, and federalists have fallen prey to
assuming this all a big plot, and that Bush is lying through his teeth. I
have not seen Moore's film, but will eventually get around to it. But I can
guarantee that Moore IS more biased than many other filmmakers. From what I
know of the film, this is right up there with Oliver Stone's 'JFK' in
intentionally deceptive 'history'.
You are obviously a
committed and thoughtful chronicler of the political and cultural landscape.
I have found a lot of merit in your thoughts. I hope that speaking the truth
to power will not lead you into being so anti-Bush that every flaw is
automatically seen as intentional evil.
Iraqi civilians needlessly
killed? Unfortunately that does happen in war. Maybe we should not be in
this war, but once we're in this happens. Bush saying "He tried to kill my
daddy" does not offend me. This is a Texan talking about an attempted
assassination of a former President, authorized by the Iraqi government.
Terrorism hoax? I believe we should extricate ourselves from most if not all
of our international engagement, but it is still not a hoax. There is no
reason for Bush not to make money from Saudi oil interests - that's where
most of the oil is. The U.S government let most of the bin Laden family out
of the country after interviewing them after planes had been grounded and
released. Usama has been disowned by most of his family. Any other
apparently cozy relationship with representatives of the Saudi government
are acceptable until we find out who did what to whom, knowing that some
Saudis may be funding terrorists, but the Saudi government is no fan of bin
Laden.
I do not believe Bush is
guilty of fraud. He is guilty of spin. How many of us are innocent on that
count? I believe he thought Iraq did have WMD and presented a present and
future threat. I'm not sure he was wrong on either count. I do believe we
need to stop schmoozing with anybody in other countries who meets our
immediate needs, as we end up with another tyrant who will eventually turn
against us.
Thanks for your time, and I
really do hope this country listens to people like you and Michael Peroutka,
and turns first back to Jesus Christ, and secondly back to constitutional
government.
Sincerely,
Jeff _____.
Wimpy federalist and
puzzled international observer.
Thanks for writing, Jeff, and for your
concern that we return to limited constitutional government in our nation. I
still think you would find the movie an eye-opener. Best wishes, Dave.
12:56
PM How to revive
your
Sunday School class.
12:45
PM
Pat Buchanan once called the two major political parties "two wings of the
same bird of prey." The latest case in point: Kerry's
doctrine of preemption (note the
British source for this story.) "Just war" canards are worn like anvils
around the necks of both parties, but does anyone in the American media
notice? The U.S. taxpayers will ultimately bear the burden at a time when we
are already spending far beyond our means.
12:10
PM Despite
attacks, homeschooling is
growing in
Germany.
11:23
AM Walter Williams
is an economist, not a theologian. But he has the courage to call our
current socialistic government what it is:
sin.
(Link: Rachel Layne.)
An
argument against legalized theft should not be construed as an argument
against helping one's fellow man in need. Charity is a noble instinct –
theft, legal or illegal, is despicable. Or, put another way: Reaching into
one's own pocket to assist his fellow man is noble and worthy of praise.
Reaching into another person's pocket to assist one's fellow man is
despicable and worthy of condemnation.
For the Christians among
us, socialism and the welfare state must be seen as sinful. When God gave
Moses the commandment "Thou shalt not steal," I'm sure He didn't mean thou
shalt not steal unless there's a majority vote. And I'm sure that if you
asked God if it's OK just being a recipient of stolen property, He would
deem that a sin as well.
10:45
AM Mr. Charles
Porter responds to John Leone's
review of Why I Stopped Listening to Rush:
Dr. Black
I just got through reading Mr. Leone's
review of your book and I anxiously await my copy. I ordered a copy
about two weeks ago. It's a crying shame that self-serving
politicians have sold our great country down the drain. I truly
feel it will take a spiritually awakening such as we have never seen
in this country to turn things around. We have became a Godless
nation. We have to get back to Christ. I don't see how things can
get much worse. I truly weep for the nation. I know that in the
end God will see us through this trying time in our nation's
history. Thanks again for spreading the word of God through your
wonderful website and showing the way He meant for our country to be
governed. God speed to you and your family.
10:38
AM My good friend
Mark Dankof always tells it like it
is, as this email proves:
In Justin Raimondo's article entitled, "Do
We Want A War Criminal as President," he correctly
describes the difficulties in voting for either Kerry or Bush this
fall. But Michael Peroutka of the Constitution Party, a bona-fide
anti-war, anti-Draft paleo-conservative is subsequently dismissed by
Raimondo in the following paragraph from the article:
The antiwar Right is even more
confused, given their electoral choices this year.
Anti-interventionist conservatives and libertarians face an even
bleaker prospect: without even the luxury of having a major party
opponent of the Warmonger-in-Chief, the Anybody But Bush League of
the Right has a plethora of bad options. They can choose
one of the right-wing splinter parties on the ballot this time
around, all of which are opposed to the Iraq war: unfortunately, the
Libertarian candidate, in the unlikely event that he wins, could
possibly be
arrested for tax evasion
before taking office. That leaves the
Constitution Party
candidate,
what's-his-name,
who would probably have me arrested for just a few of the activities
around my house this weekend. Which is not necessarily, in my view,
a complete non-starter, because – oh well, we won't go there.
Suffice to say that, in any case, the right-wing ABB'ers are in a
right quandary.
What, pray tell is Mr.
Raimondo referring to? And personally, I don't think the
Anybody But Bush Right Wing is in any sort of quandary at all.
The clear
choice for us is, in fact, Michael Peroutka, without equivocation or
apology. The
full page ad for Michael
Peroutka running in Pat Buchanan's August 2nd The American
Conservative tells the story. It is
Peroutka and no one else for the Real Right this November.
Mark Dankof
10:35
AM Mr. Ruben Gomez
posted this entry at his
blog:
I must confess I'm not into the habit of
checking where visitors come from on a regular basis. However, I just
did today, only to find out that David A. Black has mentioned this
little corner of cyberspace in his
blog. I liked the little teaser he posted,
which goes like this (sorry, I couldn't spot any permanent link):
Not all Bible software is created equal. You
can review the latest cybernetic Scripture helps
here.
Incidentally, I have read quite a few of his
books - some authored and some edited by him -, while still others are
on my waiting list (which, I hasten to add, is a rather long one!).
Anyway, I'm glad he referred to my site, and I'm also happy I came
across his
site.
I apologize for the oversight, Ruben. Your
site is now linked in my
Reading Room. Thank you for the service you are providing our students
through your excellent website.
10:32
AM Spent yesterday
at the farm working on some essays and hosting a home school family who,
among other things, taught us how to make homemade wheat bread. They also
helped my wife cut out flannel graph that she will use in telling children's
stories in Africa this fall. It's been too wet to dig fence posts, so
tomorrow we'll probably work on getting lumber for our new barn.
Monday,
July 26
2:33
PM As an artist I
appreciated this essay
that appeared in the latest edition of the Founders Journal.
12:48
PM O this is
good.
Neither political party
will come to grips with the employment implications
of
globalization. Neither party will acknowledge the fact that Palestinians are
a captive people and that American indifference to their fate is the cause
of Muslim terrorism. Neither party will address the domestic police state
implications of the "war on terror."
Neither candidate deserves to win the election.
Has America acquired Imperial Rome's inability to produce leadership?
12:43
PM
Join Fox News if you like sensational formulas stuffed with gossip,
nonsense, and vain talk. In-depth analysis of the DNC is impossible for the
mainstream press. I will be getting my convention news exclusively from
internet sources such as LRC and Breaking All The Rules, not from some great
sleeping sow that has been prodded into grumbling wakefulness.

10:29
AM
The Frenchman's take on Lance Armstrong's victory in the Tour de France?
It's all in the
teamwork.
L'US
Postal cultive l'esprit de corps et se cultive. L'équipe vit ainsi en
marge des us et coutumes du Tour. Elle ne se déplace pas sans son propre
part.
A l'aéroport de Limoges, par exemple, le 11 juillet, après le transfert
depuis Quimper, alors que le reste du peloton s'engouffrait sans
distinction de maillots dans les cars mis à sa disposition sur le tarmac
par les organisateurs, les US Postal ont réclamé leur propre autocar.
Face au refus, ils ont préféré traverser l'aéroport à pied plutôt que de
se mêler au reste du peloton.
9:57
AM Church sign of
the month:

9:55
AM Check out this
new Greek grammar.
9:52
AM
No
Q? No M? No L? No need for hypothecated documents? Occam's Razor applied?
Church traditions taken seriously? How about being just plain simple? That's
the view I hold about Synoptic origins. I know it's
boring, but I would hope that's not a fatal flaw!
9:50
AM Not all Bible
software is created equal. You can review the latest cybernetic Scripture
helps here.
9:35
AM
Look who's seeking a
divorce.
9:25
AM
This promises to change people's lives.
9:23
AM Elections can be
very unpredictable. Here's what happened to another popular
"war" leader on this day in 1945.

9:12
AM
If
conservatives are so tired of government gridlock in Washington, why are so
many of them on the
government dole? Have you ever heard our conservative president talk
about the $7 trillion dollar
debt? I haven't. Have you ever heard any Republican come up with even a
bad plan to work on it? Nope. All you hear is: "wonnerful, wonnerful,
wonnerful."
8:57
AM We are in the
Middle East not for national security interests but rather for powerful
commercial ones. The Iraq War was clearly unconstitutional because there was
no declaration of war. It was also immoral because it was not waged for
national defensive purposes. These are some of the major reasons why we are
losing the war on
terrorism. I agree with Charley Reese:
It's time to forsake
imperialism.
7:05
AM From the mailbag:
Dear Dave:
On a pragmatic
level, Perot gave us Clinton ! Do you want John Kerry to win in the same way
? Is the Democratic Party supporting your campaign to help him out using YOU
guys as a spoiler ? What is really needed is the "Preferential Ballot" so we
have a real choice ! I would put Peroutka #1 but it seems and sounds too
much like "Perot"!
To which I responded:
Dear _____: Thank
you so much for writing. Please don’t let a name stop you from voting
your conscience. I agree with the perspective of
this writer: a vote for Peroutka is not
wasted. My very best wishes to you, Dave
6:45
AM Our goat
population increased by three over the weekend. They are the cutest things
you've ever seen. This week our goal is to begin construction on our new
horse barn. Since the building needs to look old (1820s or so) we are
scouring the neighborhood for old barns, outbuildings, etc. for wood. We
think we've found an old house that will provide most of our studs and
siding. With just my son and I working on it, this project may take a while,
but what fun it is to work together! Today I'm reading and grading my as
students' term papers and other work for our Philippians class, something I
thoroughly enjoy doing. Sample paper titles:
-
More Than a Joyful Thank
You Note
-
Paul's Fourfold Definition
of Christian Unity
-
Humility: A Theme in
Philippians
-
Timothy and Epaphroditus:
The Power of Humility
-
The Role of Leadership
Positions in the New Testament
Saturday,
July 24
10:49
AM On youth
ministry:
If we are to understand how to deal with
our youth, we must begin by taking seriously this matter of adolescence.
If Christian parenting is to be biblical, false traditions and
misconceptions that have obscured childrearing must be challenged and
exposed in the pure light of God’s truth. Holy Scripture is the surest
foundation and blueprint upon which to build parenting reform, renewal,
and revitalization. Reformation of Christian parenting and youth
ministry can only begin when the distorted structure of human tradition
is dismantled and replaced by a return to biblical origins. Such a
reformation is not only possible, but absolutely essential.
Read
more.
10:48
AM Michael Peroutka
is a statesman,
not a politician. There's a world of difference between these terms. But in
Washington today, a statesman is the opposite of what you and I might
consider a statesman. Newspeak prevails!
10:45
AM For my students
who recently had babies:

10:35
AM Alright, here's
the deal. Bush continues to dip in the polls while Kerry hasn't received a
correlating bounce.
In the end it really doesn’t matter in the
least which of them wins. Government will continue to get bigger, more
intrusive, and less efficient.
Now is the time for a good third party candidate to make his run.
If you had asked me
in 2000 whether I thought voting for a third party candidate could make a
significant impact on the political scene, I would have said no.
Nevertheless, I haven’t given up on the
viability of third party candidacies. My sense is that millions of Americans
deeply believe it is time to forge a new coalition. Voters are fed up with
the two main parties. They are also much more independent-minded about the
quality of life they want for themselves and their families. The time is
ripe for real change. Jesse Ventura proved it when he upset two highly
financed political machines in Minnesota. Whatever the reasons—fallout from
years of abusing the Constitution, the hubris of our politicians, or the
general unease brought on by America’s foreign policy—voters are suddenly
open to new voices, new ideas, new leadership. And remember, only about one
third of all eligible voters bothered to vote in the last presidential
election. All this leaves a huge number of people looking for a reason to
vote.
From
Why I Stopped Listening to Rush.
10:25
AM Looking for a
model for reformation?
Here's one to consider.
10:22
AM Thank you, thank
you, thank you, Carmon,
for linking to this
website.
10:11
AM Your
"conservative" leaders support peddlers of death. Don't believe me? Read
this.
9:40
AM
Ron Paul continues to be about the only defender of the federal Constitution
on Capitol Hill these days. When he demanded that the president seek a
congressional declaration of war before attacking Iraq, he was told that
this provision in the U.S. Constitution was no longer applicable because it
was anachronistic. And now he is a lonely voice in Washington decrying how
Congress is taking
advantage of the fears of Americans. Friends, we don't have to give up
freedom in order to protect freedom. And we don't have to give up our Fourth
Amendment protections in order for government to take care of us.

9:36
AM Israel has every
right in the world to to do whatever it must to defend its sovereignty. I
supported its bombing the nuclear site in Iraq. But the Middle East should
be dealt with by Middle Eastern countries,
not by the United States of America - and not with American money.
9:33
AM Ho hum. The two
"major" candidates continue their national tour saying nothing new and
disagreeing only
on minor points.
Friday,
July 23
5:20
PM Got 50 bales up
this week, and will spend tomorrow fencing in more of our pastures. Hope you
all have a great Lord's Day. For
your weekend reading:
CANDIDATES:
http://www.georgewbush.com
http://www.johnkerry.com
http://www.votenader.org
http://www.badnarik.org
http://www.peroutka2004.com/
http://www.brown2004.org/
PARTIES:
http://www.rnc.org (Republican National Committee)
http://www.democrats.org
http://www.gp.org (Green Party)
http://www.reformparty.org
http://www.lp.org (Libertarian Party)
http://www.constitutionparty.com
3:55
PM
Thought
for the day (Pat
Buchanan):
For as Sun Tzu wrote: "Know
thy enemy, know thyself, in a thousand battles, a thousand victories." If we
must fight these people the rest of our lives, we should know why they hate
us - and we delude ourselves if we believe the slaughters of Sept. 11 came
about because we are "good."
3:04
PM The Pied Pipers
of Purpose:
The architects of church reform believe that
it is possible to measure the intangible things of the spirit, to set
behavioral standards upon which to judge effectiveness in spiritual matters,
and to set criteria upon which “results” can be attained. Obviously, some
people won’t measure up. They will not exhibit the proper amount of
“spiritual” maturity (spiritual capital) to succeed in their local church.
And what will happen to these poor servants, when they compare themselves
with this elite corps of “leadership”? What will happen to those fragile
sheep, newborns in the Word, who have never heard the Gospel of Grace but
have only been taught Purpose-Driven, results-based Christianity?
Read
more.
1:43
PM I will have the
privilege of preaching at my home church this weekend in southern Virginia
and cordially invite you to attend if you live in the area and do not
currently worship elsewhere: Averett Baptist Church,
2671 Averett Church Rd, Nelson, VA 24580,
just west of Clarksville off of Hwy
49. Service begins at 11:00 am.
1:15
PM My good friend
Mike Tuggle
responds to the recent nonsense published at Reason Online. When it
comes to honoring our Southern heritage, we must remember that the simple
freedom to attend reenactments is not what is at stake. The devious,
anti-constitutional spirit of our age has taken a different form than it
would have assumed in the age of the Founders of our great nation. Our
government elite would, for the time being, allow us to remember the past,
but they increasingly resist the application of constitutional principles
to our culture. We must stand against this with the same firmness with which
the New Testament apostles stood against not being allowed to teach, heal,
and congregate. By the way, Mike has written an outstanding treatise on free
market principles,
Confederates in the Boardroom.
11:45
AM From today's
mailbag:
Dr. Black,
Excellent conclusion yesterday on
"The World from Washington."
Very well articulated- profound and
eloquent. Most of all, I thought it to be a Godly response..."we can
not turn to science...nor politics...their arguments are
worthless...religion holds no hope (with baptized pagans)...go back to
Classic Christianity..."
I will hope to go back
and re-listen to the broadcast since I was only able to hear the last
ten minutes having been with a client. Good job, Dr. Black!
I
thoroughly enjoyed the interview with Steve Myers. He was a very
gracious host and asked what I thought were excellent questions.
I look forward to further
interviews with him as soon as he receives a copy of my latest book.
8:43
AM Ordering a pizza?
Big Brother
knows!
![Cartoon by Efeu [BBA Switzerland]](schnueffelratte210x243.gif)
7:55
AM Carmon Friedrich
is always insightful. Here's her take on
the
professionalizing of the home school movement:
Because she has no initials
after her name, she is ineligible to proctor testing for her children per
the standards of the group providing the placement tests. Does this fit with
the homeschool philosophy of educating-outside-the-box (as opposed to
education-in-a-box)? In my fifteen years of home teaching, I have noticed
that as homeschooling has become more "mainstream," there is a definite
trend toward professionalizing the whole movement. Read the bios of the
speakers and authors on the homeschool circuit: the credentials are given
top billing, especially if they involve advanced degrees in the area of
education. This goes for the women as much as the men. My dream bio for a
female homeschool speaker:
Mrs. John Smith has been
homeschooling her 15 children for the past 30 years. Her children and her
grandchildren rise up and call her blessed, and she is still busy training
them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, with a special emphasis on
the discipling of her daughters and daughters-in-law, teaching them to love
their husbands and children and be keepers at home. This, along with being a
help-meet to Mr. Smith, is a full-time job, and it is the reason she is only
able to accept one speaking engagement per year. We are grateful she is with
us at our conference this year. Note: it is requested that only women attend
Mrs. Smith's workshops, though tapes will be available so that husbands may
check out the teaching their wives have received. More information is
available at Mrs. Smith's weblog, which she maintains mostly late in the
evening, while her family is asleep ;-).
Someday I'd like to see a similar thing
happen in one of our chapels when we have, say, a pastor who has had a heart
attack, two strokes, is in his seventies, and for 30 years has pastored a
church with 25 on Sunday morning - and who has faithfully loved and served
his congregation all those years!
7:46
AM Speaking of
waves, here are two shots of beaches I've surfed many times. Note the hollow
swells at the Pipeline on Oahu (this was a normal-sized wave during the
winter on the North Shore):

Now contrast that with the smaller and
colder swells at Huntington Beach in Southern California (this photo was
taken on a really good day):

Anyone who has surfed can actually feel
the difference between these two pictures. I enjoyed the surf in So Cal, but
nothing can compare with a good North Shore swell.
7:45
AM Every week
two large
ships are sunk by them.

7:30
AM Lewis Goldberg
asks, Is the First Amendment
Hypocrisy for Christians? Lewis edits The Patriotist and is a fearless
critic of the myth of neutrality and the abandonment of our constitutional
rights.
6:48
AM Somehow I managed
to muddle through the 9/11 report yesterday. I kept thinking to myself,
By their metaphors ye shall know them. The report is yet another "sane,
middle of the road" pragmatist expression of our tolerant, pluralistic
faith. Of course,
neither side of
the aisle will be held accountable for gross incompetence. I'm no fan of
Badnarik, but on
this
issue he is absolutely right.
6:45
AM The Democratic
Convention will talk about some issues but mostly put together 10-second
solutions to very complex problems. The main goal?
Not to portray Kerry as
a liberal. Good luck.
6:35
AM
Question: Who will you most likely be voting
for this election?
30.9% |
George W. Bush |
27.9% |
John Kerry |
13.8% |
Michael Peroutka |
13.5% |
Ralph Nader |
0.5% |
David Cobb |
5.5% |
Michael Badnarik |
3.4% |
Other |
4.4% |
I won't be voting
this election |
Source:
http://www.businessreform.com/SurveyResults.php
Thursday,
July 22
1:10
PM Seems the only
people who hate blogs are those who don't have one. Read
Another Village Let Their Idiotarian Slip Out.
1:05
PM "We did all we
could" flies in
the face of the facts:
Here are just a few of the
warnings we've already culled from Paul Thompson's 9-11 timeline
(cooperativeresearch.org): In 1999, British intelligence reported to the
U.S. embassy that Al Qaeda had plans to use "commercial aircraft" in
"unconventional ways . . . possibly as flying bombs." In June 2001, German
intelligence warned the U.S., Britain, and Israel that Middle Eastern
terrorists were planning to hijack commercial aircraft and use them as
weapons. In late July 2001, Egyptian intelligence received a report from an
undercover agent in Afghanistan that "20 Al Qaeda members had slipped into
the U.S., and four of them had received flight training on Cessnas." In late
summer 2001, Jordanian intelligence intercepted a message stating that a
major attack was being planned inside the U.S. and that aircraft would be
used—the code name of the operation was said to be Big Wedding, which did in
fact turn out to be the code name of the 9-11 plot. Russian president
Vladimir Putin has said publicly that he ordered his intelligence agencies
to alert the U.S. in summer 2001 that suicide pilots were training for
attacks on U.S. targets. Five days before 9-11, a priest, considered a
reliable source, heard from Muslims at a wedding of a planned attack in the
U.S. using planes. This information may have come from a Milan-based Al
Qaeda cell that forged documents for the organization's operations. Wiretaps
indicated that its members were aware of a plot very much like 9-11—a year
before the attacks.
12:55
PM Just had a great
lunch with three "Daves" on the faculty - Drs. Lanier, Hogg, and Beck. Dr.
"Dave" Jones stopped by but couldn't stay for lunch. Having the name Dave is
almost a requirement to get office space in Stephens-Mackie!
12:08
PM Rachel Layne sent
me this incredible link on our so-called "airport
security." Please take a few moments and read the entire article if you
can. Mind-boggling!
12:05
PM Just finished our
lectures/sermons on the book of Philippians and had a time of great sharing
as my students related some of the truths they learned from this wonderful
letter. Tomorrow they will be giving a summary of their term papers to the
class. Today I also gave each student a teacher evaluation form to fill out.
I've been doing this ever since I began teaching 27 years ago and I always
enjoy (and benefit from) the students' responses. Below is a copy (I call it
"Striving for Excellence"):
“It is particularly
significant that Christ’s people, who have tasted immortal knowledge, serve
him with excellence.” J. Kenneth Grider.
“The early Christian church
conquered because the Christians of those days out-thought, out-lived,
and out-died the pagans.” T. R. Glover.
“There is no such thing as
Christian excellence, just as there is no Christian hamburger; but the
Christian will strive for excellence with every task he attempts. It can
mean making the very best hamburger you can.” Haddon Robinson.
“Excellence is doing all to the
glory of God, which requires my best.” Hudson Armerding.
“Holiness is excellence, so
there is no excuse for mediocrity.” Tony Campolo.
“Excellence is other-oriented
living for the glory of God, by the power of Christ, and to the best of
a person’s Spirit-given abilities.” Ted Engstrom.
“Therefore, my dear brothers,
be steadfast, unmovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord,
because you know that your work isn’t wasted in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians
15:58 (ISV).
All of us need people to tell us when we’ve hit
the mark and when we’ve forgotten to load the gun. Your instructor is
committed to high standards of performance and welcomes constructive
criticism. Thank you. David Black.
-
Semester:
-
Course Number and Title:
-
Your name (optional):
-
Grade you expect to receive for the course:
-
Please grade your commitment to excellence in this course (1-10, 10
being best):
-
Please grade your instructor’s commitment to excellence in this
course (1-10, 10 being best):
-
Comments (continue on
back of sheet if necessary):
7:43
AM Jacob Hornberger
does it again.
7:38
AM
The "deceitful promotion of the pending invasion of Iraq." Whew!
Who would utter such
defamatory words? The same person who wrote this:
But to send a nation's
youth off to war based on the "faith" of a few men in the White House and
their advisors is both unacceptable and, as we now know, extremely unwise.
7:35
AM Hmm, just a
few pesos short. Who's at
fault here? I suggest we all go home and look in the mirror.
7:33
AM As I look at our
country today I am reminded of the Roman Empire. Our nation is still fairly
strong, but we cannot afford to
mouth slogans at the problems we all know we face. If we do, we invite
the kind of social and economic calamity that could take generations to fix.
7:32
AM Confused about
Reformed Christianity? This
article
will help.
7:25
AM Are you a
Prairie
Muffin? Really, are you?
6:17
AM Received this
very nice letter from Julie Austin of Austin's
Parenting with Purpose:
I've had some hits on
our website that were directed to us from yours. Thank you. I'm
thinking it was due to a plug by Carmon a few weeks ago.
I enjoyed reading your
bio. I attended Biola in 1981 & 84.
Thank you for your
wonderful strong stands for truth! I have added you to our links
section.
Blessings, Julie Austin
Thank you, Julie. Glad to hear from a Biola
grad who believes in home education as strongly as my wife and I do.
6:15
AM Update: My
interview with Steve Myers on
The World from Washington
is today from 5:30 - 6:00 pm.
Wednesday,
July 21
2:34
PM The
Bible and the draft
(hat tip: Debbie Hopper).
2:28
PM From the mailbag:
I received your book last
evening when I arrived home from work. I immediately began reading it and
couldn't put it down until I realized it was 2 am and I had to get up early
to go to work!
1:26
PM He was the hero
of First Manassas,
"Mens sibi conscia recti" (a mind
conscious of its rectitude):

1:23
PM Ron Rhodes says
it's time to
recover from the recovery movement.
1:14
PM Here's the next
documentary I want to see:
Riding Giants. A production photo:

1:14
PM These guys
running for office must really think we're stupid. In effect they're saying,
"We'd like to buy your vote with your money this year." That's a
really bad joke.
1:10
PM
We
have dumbed down our public schools to the point where we have mathematics
for non-mathematicians and grammar for non-grammarians. Our family has
purchased the famous McGuffey's Readers that were used on farms 100 years
ago, when parents actually had the wisdom to teach their own children.
1:06
PM You know and I
know that they'll always get bodies to the surface. It's just a question of
how long it
takes.
12:57
PM Quotes of the day (Samuel Adams,
1722-1803):
It does not require a
majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set
brush fires in people's minds.
A
general dissolution of the principles and manners will more surely overthrow
the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy.... While
the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their
virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first
external or internal invader.... If virtue and knowledge are diffused among
the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security.
7:58
AM
As a review of the life of Christ
(whom Paul wanted to "know"), yesterday I gave my Philippians students a
“fun” quiz. These are the ABCs of Christianity - very basic indeed! Below
are a few of the questions. See how well you do!
In what year
was Christ probably born?
Which Gospel records the story of Jesus’ birth from Mary’s perspective?
Luke 2:52 says that Jesus increased or matured in what four areas?
What event was the signal for Jesus to begin His public ministry?
Which two OT characters appeared at Jesus’ transfiguration, and what did
each represent?
The name Jesus means _____________.
The title Christ means ____________.
Which chapter of John contains Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer”?
Which chapters of Matthew contain the “Olivet Discourse”?
Give the book, chapter, and verse for the following:
I came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it.
Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel.
Before Abraham was, I AM.
You shall be my witnesses.
7:52
AM In remembrance of
First Manassas
(July 17, 1861) allow me to resurrect an essay I published last year:
A
War Lesson from First Manassas.
7:30
AM Looks like
Iran
is next.

7:25
AM The latest from
the "I'm outraged about sodomite preachers but you're not" file:
"Despite being offensive to
those of us who believe that such a relationship is completely contrary to
Holy Scripture, it is in complete contradiction to assurances you have made
to a number of congregations in meetings since last year’s convention," they
wrote.
Read
more.
7:23
AM Update: Why isn't
Michael Moore talking about the
Halliburton-Iran connection? Why indeed?
7:20
AM I thought this
was funny: Jesse Jackson's new
low-C.A.R.B. diet. Check it out. Meanwhile, having done enough
flying for two lifetimes, here's one
movie I do NOT plan to
see.
6:30
AM Look who's
carrying an ad in the upper right hand corner of the American Conservative
home page. Love it!
6:23
AM "Tally Ho!" - in
India?
6:20
AM Why men are
refusing to marry.
6:17
AM Is there
anti-Christian bias in our public schools? Of course, but what about the
anti-education bias? Read
How I Survived
Government Schools.
6:15
AM Guess who's
returning to Iraq?
6:11
AM Every true
Christian should denounce the Brave New World being foisted upon us by our
Washington know-it-alls. Case in point:
our ridiculous color-coded "terror" alerts.
6:05
AM
The logic of Congress escapes Dave
Strittmatter, who sent me this
email a few days ago. He makes a good point about the so-called Partial
Abortion Ban:
I’ve been thinking a lot
about the abortion issue lately. It’s one of the core issues that led me to
the Constitution Party, a party that doesn’t play games with the issue. I,
along with countless others in the pro-life arena, made phone calls to
Congressmen and donated to state and national Right to Life and similar
organizations to ensure passage of the Partial Birth Abortion Act. This
barbaric procedure, like every abortion, is a whole lot more infanticide
than abortion if the two need to be separated. Since the debate in Congress
made it clear that our legislators supported abortion as a constitutional
right, all that would be done is outlaw one way to do the deed. Not one
abortion would be stopped; and all that would have to be done would be to
take a short detour and do it another way. That is where the “What have we
done?” bulb lights up.
Suppose for a moment that
you oppose the death penalty and there are basically three ways that the
federal and state governments carry out the sentence: 1. Burning at the
stake, 2. Drawing and quartering, and 3. Firing squad. Now also suppose that
a group of likeminded death penalty opponents decide that the best way to
eliminate the death penalty was to chip away at it by supporting a law that
would ban one form of execution. You choose the firing squad since you also
don’t like guns and in a flurry of activity manage to succeed in banning the
firing squad. Now imagine that you are on death row and scheduled to be
shot, only now that option is gone. Would you cheer the success of the death
penalty opponents now that the most humane and painless method of execution
was gone?
If you substitute Burning
at the Stake for Saline Abortion, Drawing and Quartering for Dilation and
Curettage, and Firing Squad for Partial Birth Abortion you get the same
result. The only way to fight abortions is by full frontal assault. The
personhood of the unborn from the moment of conception needs to be declared
and abortions along with post conception birth control need to be outlawed.
A lot of activity was wasted on the wrong issue and the win was really a
horrible loss.
5:45
AM Our seminary
Outlook has blocked all off-campus incoming email for two days now. As soon
as it is running properly again I will answer your letters.
Tuesday,
July 20
6:48
AM From the pen of
Charley Reese:
Whatever motive the Bush
administration had for attacking Iraq, the safety of the American people
was certainly not the reason. Attacking and occupying an Arab country
has done exactly what experts about the area said it would do: It has
inflamed anti-American feelings to the boiling point. Bush did exactly
what Osama bin Laden wanted him to do, and now terrorists have no
trouble at all finding new recruits.
Furthermore, Bush's
obsession with Iraq diverted resources from the hunt for bin Laden and
the rest of the Taliban. Consequently, there are two unfinished jobs,
Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bush administration's rosy claims about those
two countries are as inaccurate as its claims about weapons of mass
destruction. There have been more, not fewer, terrorist attacks since
the war in Iraq. Warlords financed by opium run Afghanistan, and there
is no security at all in Iraq.
Read
America's Not Safer.
6:45
AM This is a
powerful story of grace
amid suffering in Romania. I hope to conduct a a pastors' conference in
Romania next year.
Tson said he has
learned that Christians suffer for two primary reasons: as witnesses to the
Gospel and to perfect the church of Christ. He recalled being encouraged by
a valuable truth that a British theologian taught him:
The
cross of Christ was for the propitiation of sins, but the cross each
Christian is called to bear is for the propagation of the Gospel.
Believers must be ready to give their lives if necessary for the perfection
of the church, Tson said, because God’s grace spreads when the church
suffers in the manner of its Savior.
“It is the job of Christ to perfect His church but I [am to] come and say
‘My Lord, I give You my body to suffer through my body to complete Your
sufferings for the perfection of Your body, the church,’” Tson said.
6:43
AM Iraqis celebrate
Nusardil.
6:15
AM My how time
flies. Below: 35 years ago
today.

6:12
AM "We may have to
disrupt the democratic process because terrorists want to disrupt the
democratic process."
Say what?
6:10
AM From the mailbag:
Dear Dave:
I was catching up on your
blog and several entries brought to mind a speech you may not be familiar
with. It was delivered by Forrest McDonald, a member of that rare species of
conservative historians, at his last class at the U of Alabama (McDonald was
also recently featured on C-Span's Booknotes). I think you'll enjoy it is
much as I did. It's available as a .pdf file (the link is simply "The
Speech") here:
http://www.as.ua.edu/history/mcdonald.htm
Blessings,
Russ Reeves
Russ is the Chair of the Department of
History at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, IL. The essay he
links is well worth reading.
Monday,
July 19
11:25
AM I'm not the only
one to discuss the unbalanced reporting at
Fox News.
11:01
AM A student of mine sent me
some photos of a break in Tahiti, including this phenomenal shot:

9:43
AM Greek students
will find this
review of Warren Trenchard's
A Concise Dictionary of New Testament Greek to be good reading.
9:35
AM I will have the
privilege of being interviewed by Steve Myers on
The World from Washington
this Thursday from 5:30 - 6:00 pm.
9:31
AM Post-Nazi
films on the
rise in Germany.
9:25
AM I knew David
Brownlow would be able to do what few others could: summarize the basic
problem in Iraq in a succinct fashion, AND formulate a simple (though not
easy) solution.
God bless you, brother Dave.
8:43
AM The great
preacher Spurgeon has some
encouragement for
the depressed and
comfort for the
desponding.
8:38
AM This essay has a
great definition of
hospitality. On the
ministry of hospitality at beautiful L'Abri in Switzerland, go
here.

8:35
AM
The end of
boasting.
8:25
AM
She
used to make American presidents squirm during press conferences. Now Helen
Thomas wonders if Bush has learned any
lessons from the Iraq War.
These allies trickle out as
the White House and the Pentagon struggle with credibility problems created
by their sorry record in truth telling about the war. One wonders if the
administration can ever recover the trust it needs to rally the necessary
public support for the war against terrorism.
Read more from Helen Thomas
here
and
here.
8:23
AM Even
military
flocking to see Fahrenheit 9/11.
6:05
AM Good morning! I
trust you had a great Lord's Day. On Saturday we attended the wedding of a
former student of mine. It was held in our beautiful seminary chapel, and a
wonderful service of worship it was indeed. The reception was held at pastor
Scott Brown's magnificent farm. (Scott and I will be speaking at the
Uniting Church and Family Conference in St. Louis in August.) Sunday
morning our men's quintet sang Country Gospel at the local nursing home near
our Virginia farm, and during the afternoon my son and I visited our shut-in
neighbors. What a tremendous blessing!
This week concludes our seminary class on the
book of Philippians. Visitors are always welcome.
Friday,
July 16
1:47
PM Today's the big
day, folks. Reverends,
start your engines.

1:45
PM
Scholarly
Smackdown.
1:43
PM Citizenship
commission
bans
free Bible distribution.
1:40
PM There's a new
"biblical" theme park opening. Guess
where?
1:34
PM From the
First London Baptist
Confession of Faith (please note the plural "elders"):
Being thus joined, every [local]
church hath power given them from Christ, for their wellbeing, to choose
among themselves meet persons for elders
and deacons,
being qualified according to the word, as those which Christ hath
appointed in His testament, for the feeding, governing, serving, and
building up of His Church; and that none have any power to impose on
them either these or any other.
1:16
PM I just read about
another pastor leaving the SBC. I hope he would have considered
this first.
1:12
PM Some guys will
surf
anything.
1:10
PM From Gordon
Clark:
The early American
colleges were distinctly Christian institutions. But the public school
system, unlike the colleges, was not so inspired. On the other hand, the
public schools were not intended to be irreligious. In the readers of
our grandparents’ time, God and Jesus Christ were mentioned. Today no
such references can be found in the books of the public schools. The
reason is not hard to find. The public schools were founded with the
idea of not favoring one religion above another, and the result is that
they now favor no religion at all. They are completely secularized.
Read
more.
1:05
PM Quote of the day:
A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary. -Thomas
Caruthers
1:00
PM The new issue of
Journal of
Theological Studies is out.
7:03
AM Now I'm certain:
The ECPA will never
vote for one of my
books.
6:55
AM George Bush is a
master rhetorician, says CBS's Dick Meyer.

6:27
AM Richard Weaver,
prophet
of the cultural crisis of our time.
6:25
AM Mr. Andrew Gettis
writes from Minnesota:
Dave,
I suppose I’ve been an unofficial member of your Peroutka/Baldwin prayer
team for a couple of months now, so let’s make it official and add my name
to your list.
I really do enjoy your site and have given it a spot on my toolbar so I
don’t forget to check in every once in a while. I sure hope your message
reaches a lot of people, because your writing exudes Biblical
knowledge and fidelity; I believe that God is speaking through your website.
Thank you for having the faith to unashamedly spread the truth.
Many thanks for writing and, more
importantly, for praying. Mr. Gettis has a website:
StudentsforFamilyValues.com.
Thursday,
July 15
1:10
PM Now
this
is dedication.

1:07
PM No one lied, no
one needs to resign.
Really?
1:04
PM O,
this is
really good.
I am concerned about many I
see who have grandiose notions of the amazing academic achievements they
have planned for their progeny. There is nothing wrong with pursuing
excellence in all you do, but the goal is to raise godly men and women who
will further the kingdom of God, not little professors who will be fit only
for a career in academia.
Lady Carmon, I addressed a similar issue in
The
Arrogance of Scholarship.
1:00
PM Who is
really responsible
for the mess in Iraq.
Focusing on the existence
of WMD and the CIA's inability to get it right about Iraq misses the
point. It's too easy to lay the blame on the doorstep of the
intelligence community. Perhaps the reason the Senate Intelligence
Committee and Sen. Rockefeller are reluctant to take aim at the White
House is because they know that they too must share the blame for bad
decision-making.
It's not because of bad
information that Congress voted to support the Iraq war. It's because
Congress was unwilling to ask the right questions about how Iraq -- even
with WMD -- was an undeterrable threat to the United States. If you
don't ask the right questions, you never get the right answers,
regardless of the quality of the information.
6:15
AM As a guy who likes
Hawaiian shirts, I can appreciated what
Paul Proctor
has to say about the CGM (hat tip: Rachel Layne):
It doesn’t take a prophet
to see where the church growth movement is headed. Most of its
participants, who joined the fad, will soon fall away when something new
and more exciting comes along or their superficial faith is tested by
the harsh realities of life. They will simply look back over their
shoulder at the big empty building they once called their church and say
to themselves: “Been there – done that – got the Hawaiian shirt” and
move on to the next big thing.
Wednesday,
July 14
3:44
PM Our Supreme
Theologians.

3:37
PM Should your
computer start making a
hissing sound....
3:23
PM Republican
Congressman Ron Paul on the danger of
leader worship.
3:15
PM A Confederate
soldier is
remembered in Rappahannock. Speaking of the war, I am reading a
biography of Jefferson Davis and am very interested in his legacy. If you
know of any good links on the topic, please let me know. I had the privilege
of visiting Beauvoir last summer - very impressive, to say the least.

1:30
PM Speaking of God
as being the one who works in and through us to accomplish His good
pleasure, I just read a fantastic
sermon by the Prince
of Preachers on this theme.
12:45
PM A great lesson
from Philippians 2:12-18: When things go well, don't boast (God is
the one who is at work....); when things don't go well, don't complain (He
is still at work). "Do all things without grumbling and
complaining."
12:36
PM Here's a
good review of a
classic tome I recommended to my students today in our Philippians class as
we discussed how Christianity relates to culture.

12:36
PM
A healthy reminder to those of us supporting
the Constitution Party and our so-called "lost" cause:
The greatness of Christian
exiles is not success but service. Whether we win or lose, we witness to
the way of truth and beauty and joy. We don’t own culture, and we don’t
rule it. We serve it with brokenhearted joy and longsuffering mercy, for
the good of man and the glory of Jesus Christ.
Read John Piper's
Taking the Swagger Out of Christian Cultural Influence.
12:26
PM I didn't say it,
but I wish I had:
We must know how to teach
God's Word aright, discerningly, for there are divers sorts of hearers;
some are struck with fear in the conscience, are perplexed, and awed by
their sins, and, in apprehension of God's anger, are penitent; these
must be comforted with the consolations of the gospel. Others are
hardened, obstinate, stiff-necked, rebel-hearted; these must be
affrighted by the law, by examples of God's wrath: as the fires of
Elijah, the deluge, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the downfall
of Jerusalem. These hard heads need sound knocks. -- Martin Luther
12:24
PM Just as I
thought. Kerry uses his "religion" as a
political ploy.
How many hasty, immature, superficial, and misleading "news" articles can
the press get away with without any verification?
7:35
AM This
essay is truly beautiful.
At first when we arrived in
Virginia, I thought we had possibly made a BIG MISTAKE...but, I was
mistaken. It took some adjusting and the culture shock was shocking. But it
was shockingly good. We are now in a church filled with like-minded home
schooling families. A church that views children as blessings. A church that
feasts together, that celebrates life and cares for one another...without
being prodded to do so.
As I see our church grow
and children being added to families left and right....both through birth
and adoptions...I can't help but think of that phrase: "if you build it,
they will come." But in this case, it isn't a stadium, nor even a
building...but a body of believers who are dedicated to living their
purpose. They are kingdom builders, who love God, fear God and serve God
with their lives.
7:32
AM Don't forget to
check the Dow today.
7:31
AM The seven myths
of
single womanhood.

7:08
AM Sobran thinks the
U.S. Constitution is a dead
letter. He's right.
In his tour de force
entitled Our Secret Constitution, Columbia law professor George
Fletcher shows how the Civil War replaced the original charter with a
second American Constitution, which he calls our “secret Constitution.”
The Constitution of 1787 stood for a maximum freedom of expression of
individual liberty, at least with regard to the federal government. The
second Constitution is dedicated to organic nationhood and popular
democracy, emphasizing not freedom from government but equality under
the law. The state would now have to do more than leave us alone. It
would have to ensure equal protection—and do it through coercion if
necessary.
Professor Fletcher
notes that although the original charter of 1787 officially remains in
place, it has been so radically transformed by our secret Constitution
that for all intents and purposes the old charter is a dead letter.
Because of Lincoln’s war, the Tenth Amendment was effectively abolished,
the conquered states were made into puppet governments set up by
the Republican Party, and Lincoln succeeded in consolidating
governmental power in Washington by military dictatorship.
This means that
Americans today face a choice as to whether to defend the old
Constitution or to follow the new, secret charter—that is, whether to
defend the concept of a limited republic with maximum freedom for the
people, or to acquiesce to the new consolidated concept of power that is
prone to dictatorial and imperialistic expressions. It’s probably true
to say that most Americans are firmly in the pro-big government camp.
This includes the vast majority of Republican “conservatives.” They
don’t mind sacrificing most of their earnings to unelected,
unaccountable bureaucrats and unresponsive elected officials, nor do
they mind relying on Washington for a host of taxpayer-funded benefits.
And they are agreeable to the notion that personal responsibility and
independence should be sacrificed for the “security” offered by
politicians.
At the other end of the
spectrum are people who believe in the old Constitution verbatim
and who hold personal liberty and responsibility so dear that they dare
to expect others to hold similar views. They abhor all but the most
limited and narrowly defined forms of taxation because they believe
their money belongs to them and that the federal government only needs
enough funding to perform its few, narrowly defined, constitutional duties
(that is, as defined by the “old” Constitution). They want leaders who
can read the plain language of the Constitution and who understand that
the words “Congress shall make no law” mean Congress shall make no law.
This small but vocal
group of Americans is calling for the restoration of a republic founded
on the ideals of the old Constitution.
This from my latest book,
Why I Stopped Listening to Rush.
7:06
AM Man alive, yet
another
GOP basher! Come on, folks, let's all try to calm down a bit, OK?
6:57
AM Boy, do I love
the rural South! My drive
to and from the farm takes me along winding country roads. Every driver I see
greets me with a wave of the hand, and I them -- black or white. We don't
mind talking with each other, and we are never in a hurry. I could go
on and on, but I have already
published on this subject.
6:55
AM
You simply must visit
Doug's Blog and read his ode to Robert Dabney. This is one outstanding
work of poetry! Dabney is the author of one of the finest treatises on the
attributes of
God. Read more about this great man of God
here.
6:23
AM Anything Kelly
McGinley writes is
worth reading. Kelly is one of the few voices calling attention to the
media's mania for power and their discrimination against Christians and
traditional American values. It is time to shed the naive idea that modern
media exist only to perpetuate the free flow of information. They exist to
perpetuate themselves and their view of the world, whatever the cost.

6:20
AM Why Jesse Walker
is rooting for a
sanctimonious
statist blowhard like Kerry.
6:18
AM A high school
senior predicts
draft riots next year if Charles Rangel gets his way. Quite the
contrary: Most young people, confusing
patriotism for
nationalism, will lie down and roll over, along with their NASCAR dads
and soccer moms.
6:15
AM John Piper has
some good thoughts about
suffering for
doing what's right. The secularist absolutist media will not get
it, but those on the front
lines will.
6:05
AM Good morning. I
hope your day is off to a good start. My wife cooked a superb meal for
supper last night consisting of farm-fresh sausage with freshly baked
biscuits, wide a side of farm-fresh beans. Enjoying this sumptuous feast
were myself, my son, and a seminary student who is staying with us for a few
days for some R & R. After dinner I took my bride for a walk from Bradford
Hall down to Maple Ridge, our son's farmhouse, checking out the cows along
the way and petting the baby goats. You should have seen Becky Lynn holding
the littlest one in her arms. The evening was, well, simply beautiful.
Lobe den Herren, was in mir
ist, lobe den Namen.
Alles, was Odem hat, lobe mit Abrahams Samen.
Er ist dein Licht,
Seele, vergiß es ja nicht.
Lobende, schließe mit Amen!
Tuesday,
July 13
3:23
PM Our next
Olympic sport? I'm ready...!

3:15
PM Guess what
the world's greatest thinkers were?
3:10
PM Bishop blames
parents for moral
decadence of youth.
3:07
PM If you haven't
discovered the Jet Tour of the Bible yet, please go
here.
2:59
PM Now
this is a cool chart!
2:48
PM God has always
ordained human leadership. And what I have noticed is that, given enough
time, any organization becomes a reflection of its leaders. Paul wrote:
"Join with others in following my example" (Phil 3:17). In other words, like
pulpit, like pew; like father, like son. One of the great challenges of Paul
in the book of Philippians is to stimulate Christian leaders to exercise
Christ-like leadership in their ministries, and a great essay on how to do
this is found here.
I love interacting with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, but I tend
to be less enthusiastic about evangelism - at least in terms of personal
evangelism. Because of my desire to please God with a balanced life,
however, I realize that I need to constantly work on my priorities. Of one
thing I am sure: Christ's first and overriding command to us is that
we love one another, be committed to one another, and strengthen and
challenge one another. But I have also found that where a church is not
first vertical, first rich in God, it will be thin and poor in its
horizontal relationships. These priorities must all be active at once, and
all the time. And that's the challenge, is it not?
2:45
PM Check this out -
a pastoral
quiz for those who desire to be an overseer. It will blow you away!
2:37
PM Is Jesus
God?
2:33
PM Here's a great
but brief biography of one
of London's greatest preachers - a Baptist no less!
2:25
PM
The New York Times
once published "Guidelines for Bureaucrats," one of which was: when in
trouble, delegate; when in doubt, grumble. You may have also heard about the
medical survey that
stated that chronic complainers live longer than people who are always sweet
and kind. It claims that their mean spirit gives them a purpose for living.
Each morning they get up with a fresh challenge to see how what they can
find to grumble about, and they derive great satisfaction from making others
miserable.
Tomorrow in class we will be looking at Paul's injunction to "do all things
without grumbling and complaining" (Phil 2:14) and how it fits within the
theme of the entire letter.

2:23
PM This morning we
covered the great Christ hymn of Philippians 2:5-11 and the divine parabola
that it contains (the way up is down). We also discussed the Athanasian
Creed on the Trinity, which reminded me of John Calvin's famous statement:
For we affirm His divinity so joined and united with His humanity that each
retains its distinctive nature unimpaired, and yet those two natures
constitute one Christ.
This essay by John Piper on
The Pleasure of
God in Bruising the Son also speaks volumes about this theme and about
the Father's mercy. By the way, I enjoyed the many visitors we had in class
today, especially those wives who attended. You are always welcome to
attend!
2:23
PM Here's
the classic definition of "thinking Christianly" by Os Guinness. Note the
central relationship the Christian mind has to the Word of God:
Thinking Christianly is not
simply thinking by Christians, nor is it thinking by Christians about
Christian topics, nor is it thinking by Christians about or in order to
develop a ‘Christian line.’ Thinking Christianly is thinking by Christians
about anything at all in a profoundly Christian way. Where their minds are
so informed and influenced by the truth of God in terms of their principles,
perspectives, and presuppositions that they begin to see as God sees, though
it will be in an imperfect way.
7:55
AM For what it's
worth, here's an essay I wrote several months ago:
Bush, Caesar, and
Election 2004. In a similar vein, here's an essay on what Bush
should have said to
justify his case for war.
7:32
AM Here's a great
American writer at
his best:
Of course, today I would
not call us a Christian nation, as there are more professors than
practitioners of that religion. We no longer have the rule
of
law, either, since judges routinely legislate or amend the Constitution by
interpretation while federal legislators and presidents ignore it.
Intellectuals claim that everybody can be proud of his or her heritage –
unless it is the heritage of the British Isles and Europe.
What made America was not
multiculturalism, secularism or unrestrained tolerance amounting to license
and an absence of standards. But those things will destroy America. You can
put that in the bank.
7:31
AM For two
outstanding essays on what Bush knew and when, go
here and
here.
7:25
AM Sheldon Richmond
thinks the draft is
fascist. I surmise that it will be
the most important issue in 2005.
7:23
AM A student of mine
sent me these excellent links:
Interview with
Michael Peroutka
An article about
third party voting:
7:15
AM Covenant News
reports
that Roy Moore opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment. He correctly notes
what most New Right Republicans are ignoring: that our federal courts are
out of control and thus ARE the problem.
Chief Justice Roy
Moore does not support an amendment to ban gay marriage. He says renegade
courts would cause problems. Moore believes that if marriage is
constitutionally defined as between a man and a woman, some judge would
allow a man to marry his sister or daughter. He believes a better solution
is for Congress to pass the
Constitution Restoration Act (PDF Format).
This Act would stop courts from forbidding the acknowledgement of God as the
basis of law. He says marriage between a man and a woman is what God
intended.
Chief Justice Roy
Moore -- a respected voice among many conservative and religious groups --
doesn't think a constitutional amendment to ban homosexual marriage is the
right approach. Such an amendment would not work, he says, because the real
problem is renegade courts. If marriage was constitutionally defined as a
man and a woman, he says some judge would probably let a man marry his
sister or daughter. Moore says Congress would be wiser to pass the
Constitution Restoration Act (PDF Format),
which would stop courts from forbidding acknowledgment of God as the basis
of law. He says marriage as the union of a man and a woman is a God-ordained
institution. If that standard is destroyed, Moore says there is nothing to
keep three men and a horse from getting married -- or an entire city.
I tended to agree with the good Judge in my
earlier essay, The
Federal Marriage Amendment: Cure-All Or Band-Aid?
6:35
AM Kalimera sas! Ti
Kanete? Last night we got another two inches of much needed rain at the
farm, and I spent the evening memorizing Philippians (in Greek) while my
lovely wife played hymns on our piano. In my devotions this morning I found
these words of challenge and encouragement in the letters of Francis
Schaeffer:
Mrs. Schaeffer and I have
gone through many difficult times. But we would not give up these hard
moments, for in them we found Him completely gentle and enough. I am glad
that, by His grace, these difficult times did not come before my objecting
to this matter, but that my objecting led to them. Indeed, how gentle He is.
Our class is learning from the book of
Philippians the central importance of moment by moment dependence upon
the Lord, but at the same time with vital interaction with the world and its
ideas. Oh to learn the practical leadership of the Holy Spirit in daily
details!
Monday,
July 12
3:25
PM Olympic horses in
Athens will be examined for
heat
exhaustion, as well they should. I am particularly interested in the
dressage events.

I will also be praying for several friends
who will be in Athens
sharing the Good
News in the marketplace as Paul did in Acts 17. May the Lord bless their
efforts!
3:20
PM The more things
change....
3:14
PM Don Matzat, a
Lutheran pastor, calls the seeker-sensitive movement, appropriately,
"guiltless good news." Read
The Deformed
Theology of Seeker Sensitivity.
3:12
PM If you have your
kids in public school, you won't like what
Beverly Eakman
has to say.
3:10
PM John Whitehead
has a few words to say about the
FDA Gestapo.
2:30
PM Dear DBO readers:
Ideas are power. With the election growing ever closer, all of us need to be
as informed as possible before casting our vote. Read these parties'
platforms for yourself before deciding which of them is more biblical.
12:33
PM Calling all
Hebrew students. Our seminary librarian just sent me this link:
MP3 Recordings of the
Hebrew Bible.
10:48
AM John Piper on
"success" in ministry:
There is a
sad irony in the seeming success of many Christian churches and schools. The
irony is that the more you adjust obscure Biblical doctrines to
make
Christian reality more attractive to unbelievers, the less Christian reality
there is when they arrive... If you adjust your doctrine to fit the world in
order to attract the world, sooner or later the world realizes that they
already have what the church offers. That was the story of much of mainline
Protestantism in Europe and America in the 20th century. Adjust your
doctrine – or just minimize doctrine – to attract the world, and in the very
process of attracting them, lose the radical truth that alone can set them
free.
Read
My Anguish: My Kinsmen Are Accursed.
10:46
AM
When Mamma Wears Combat Boots. An excerpt:
If mothers go into the
front lines in the same proportion that fathers do, we will be in
serious trouble. Like it or not, the truth is that mamma isn't
replaceable. Daycare cannot do the job of the mother. We have the
studies that show us the detrimental effects of daycare upon children,
but we really do not need them. Deep down, we know that mothers are the
best providers of care for their own offspring (with only extremely rare
exceptions). No hired caretaker can love a child as much as his own
mother does. No one else has that particular child's best interests at
heart -- no matter how well intentioned that person might be. Mother
love isn't a commodity that can be bought or traded on the open market.
And it is absolutely not dispensable.
10:43
AM If you are
interested in the
gender-neutral controversy,
here
are some excellent links.
10:40
AM Harry Seabrook at
Little Geneva posted
this link
to some interesting pre-war chatter by Colin Powell and Condi Rice. Truly
might makes right!
10:25
AM
Hitler, Hitler
Everywhere.
10:15
AM Intelligence on
Iraq was faulty
from the get-go - so concluded the
9/11 Commission. Still, people seem to be blaming
anyone
but Bush, revealing the built-in prejudices of the legal and political
communities today. The fundamental emphases of the Founding Fathers have
been subverted - which always happens when the federal government is no
longer denied those powers not specifically granted to it in the
Constitution. Bush's eagerness to start a war was not stopped by a
weak-kneed and compromising Senate, and so we end up in this pickle.

8:23
AM FARM UPDATE: Got
up 188 bales this weekend. Many thanks to a student of mine, Karl Hoffmann,
for his help. Karl and his lovely wife and baby daughter joined us for lunch
and fellowship on Saturday. I thank God for this committed Christian couple
and for what He is doing in
their lives. Elsewhere on the farm, a weasel killed 15 chickens on
Friday. The trap has been set.... Meanwhile we continue fencing in our
pastures this week
in
preparation to bring the horses up to the farm and to expand our goat
population. Our new male will be
arriving shortly, and with his arrival we can begin raising meat goats for
sale. Perhaps the biggest event of the weekend was the soaking downpour we
had last night, which watered our crops and softened the ground so that my
son and I can place posts along the new fence lines. We had gone several
weeks without any heavy rain when the Lord sent us this much needed
thunderstorm. Thanks be to God!
Friday,
July 9
1:33
PM An astute report
from AlterNet: Facing the
Enemy on the Ground.
Regardless of the number of
troops the United States puts on the ground or how long they stay there,
Allawi's government is doomed to fail. The more it fails, the more it will
have to rely on the United States to prop it up. The more the U.S. props up
Allawi, the more discredited he becomes in the eyes of the Iraqi people -
all of which creates yet more opportunities for the Iraqi resistance to
exploit to their advantage.
The historical parallel
that best underscores the current disaster-in-the-making is not the Vietnam
War but rather Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Originally intended to
rid Lebanon of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Israel's subsequent
occupation led to the creation of Hizbollah as a viable force of political
and military resistance. The Hizbollah was so effective that Israel was
forced to unilaterally withdraw its forces from Lebanon in May, 2000. The
18-year occupation not only failed to defeat the PLO, but it also created an
Islamic fundamentalist movement that today poses a serious threat to the
security of Israel and the Middle East region.
1:25
PM Now
this means war!
12:58
PM
One
thousand.

12:52
PM Philippians
students, please take a few moments and listen to
this
sermon on sanctification based on Philippians 1:6 and 2:12-13 by that
humble man of God, S. Lewis Johnson (scroll down to no. 26). You will be
amply rewarded.
12:48
PM Poor Berit Kyos -
terrorist
incognito.
12:45
PM How nice to be in
a church last Sunday that did not have an "altar call."
The invitation system, as
we have seen, is riddled with one problem after another. Among the items
noted, it violates the New Testament pattern of evangelism; tends to produce
spurious converts; gives assurance to people who may not yet be regenerated;
raises a superficial conviction of sin; equates the mere act of coming
forward with salvation itself; and seeks to illicit a response through
emotional and psychological factors.
Read
more.
12:34
PM I agree totally
with
this writer:
As we enter
the election season later this year, let us hope that the debates do
include discussions about the shortfalls in military personnel and
readiness. And for once in all of our lives, let the right thing be done
for our fellow citizens in uniform.
Let’s stop
trying to do all things military on the cheap. Let’s give our GI Joes
and Janes what they need, who they need, where they need it and when
they need it. Let’s stop playing with the very lives (and livelihoods)
of those folks who protect the lives of the rest of us.
12:18
PM It's beginning to
get
ugly out there for constitutionalists like Roy Moore and Michael
Peroutka. Since most Christians are constitutionally neutered, many will
ask, What's the point? The answer is obvious to anyone raised in the basic
morality of the Scriptures rather than the pompous foolishness of today's
triumphant and arrogant secularism. Stand by your guns, gentlemen; I'll be
with you every step of the way.
12:14
PM What a wonderful
Philippians class we had today, as we have had all week in fact. Our
discussion today took us into deep waters - holding our ground against the
world, strong in what the Lord has done for us, jointly working for the
progress of the Gospel, being joyful by being of the same mind.... Next
Tuesday we pick up again with the great Christ hymn of Philippians 2:5-11,
whose Pauline authorship I defend and, more importantly, whose message of
unity through humility is a responsibility that we fail at so conspicuously.
A sister in the class will be singing her own rendition of the hymn with
guitar accompaniment, and I will pass out two different versions of the hymn
based on the ISV translation.
Again,
what a wonderful group of students you are, and I can assure you that your
Savior loves you. And, by the way, so does this professor.
7:57
AM It's perfectly
alright to get mad at Bush's
tactics, as long as you ignore his unbiblical and unconstitutional
polices. All of this under the aegis of "neutral" and "balanced" public
affairs reporting. Well, I disagree:
I believe there are times
in life when anyone with a shred of principle should be profoundly angry.
This is such a time in our nation’s history. It is a lie and a deception to
pretend that Bush’s religious convictions justify his unbiblical and
unconstitutional vision of government. I am therefore convinced that the
time has come to secede from “compassionate conservatism.” To be completely
honest, I’ve had all I can take of George W. Bush and his officious
strutting, of exaggerated intelligence reports “justifying” attacks on
sovereign nations, of the distortion of facts and reliance on rumor to
influence public opinion, and of Rumsfeld & Co. hiding behind a curtain of
PR spin while sending hundreds of Americans to their deaths in Afghanistan
and Iraq. I’m outraged by our self-serving promotion of “democracy” and our
support of petty dictators and monarchs (as long as they continue to provide
us with a steady stream of Middle Eastern oil, that is). I’m tired of
duplicity, doublespeak,
“embedded”
journalists, contradictions in our foreign policy, Washington’s control over
the media, and judicial activism run amok.
Just as troubling to me is
the fact that the church in America has accepted the myth of neutrality.
Never have evangelical Christians tried to be so “relevant.” Never have they
been so irrelevant. Many theologians and pastors have cultivated a careful
silence on the real issues facing America today. For all intents and
purposes, God has become an adjunct of man, a help in the work of the church
and in procuring victory in our man-made wars. The Power that humbled Job no
longer finds an echo in the American mentality. Acceptance of the status quo
has replaced principle. Ours has become a religion without deeds. Where, I
ask, are the Christian men and women who will stand up and fight in the
political arena without compromise? They are scarcely to be found.
That's an except from my
latest book, which attempts to expose our hypocrisy as "evangelical"
Christians - we paragons of "pluralism" and "open-mindedness" who in effect
say, "The Constitution doesn't matter, but don't worry, we have a Christian
in the White House." We Christians should be ashamed at our ignorance and
apathy. It is time for a massive assault on this humanistic and bigoted
culture of compromise.
7:55
AM If you're a
Reformed Baptist, check
this new website out.
7:27
AM Ron Paul has the
audacity to call for U.S.
independence from
the Blighted Nations. I'd be hard-pressed to come up with an organization
that epitomizes the hard-nosed duplicity of our foreign policy that benefits
from the myth of neutrality more than the UN.
7:23
AM Shades of
Saddam! Democracy
takes a hit by the new Iraqi ("sovereign") government! Our mercenaries
have
let us down! Take a
lesson from the Ruskies! Cancel your
summer travel plans! Life and liberty have gone by the board!
7:10
AM Received this
great letter from a libertarian today:
I came across your blog
today, and just wanted to say that I am glad that there are those on the
right who actually take principled stands on issues.
I'm probably as far to the
left of the democrats as you are from the current republicans, and oddly I
find myself agreeing with you (and the constitutional party) in certain
ways. Like you, I absolutely abhor consumerist society and most of popular
culture. It completely reduces human beings to spectacle watchers and
passive, lifeless "consumers". It is this dehumanization (and from my
perspective the capitalist system which causes it) which is leading to a
frightening decay of our entire society.
I have very strong values,
I believe in individual freedom as well as social responsibility *and* the
responsibility of society to make it possible, no EASY for individuals to
*be* responsible. This is certainly not the case here at this time.
Anyhow, with the current
band of intellectually dishonest thugs in power, I'm glad that you are
upfront about your beliefs and stand by your principles.
I'm a civil
libertarian and I completely disagree with the majority of your positions on
social matters, but the common ground we share (I think) is that we both
want a society in which people treat each other with respect and dignity. I
want a society in which the society itself makes that easy to do, and this
cannot be legislated, handed down by judges or proclamations from on high,
but must come from "we the people" ourselves. That is democracy, anything
else is a farce, no matter whether you call it conservatism, liberalism,
socialism, communism...it’s a sham and a lie and a betrayal of all those
ideals.
Ok, enough yakking, take
care.
6:57
AM Here's a letter
from Patrick Johnson that deserves serious consideration:
If you designed a
pro-life ad and purchased commercial time to put the ad which included
a photograph of an aborted baby or a video clip of an abortion on
prime-time television, the bloody pictures would surely be edited
out and you might not even be allowed to run the commercial at all.
However, the law allows
your pro-life commercials to be aired unedited if it is an ad
campaigning for a Federal candidate. This provides a unequaled
opportunity to show the nation the victim of an abortion - to put a
bloody face on the pro-choice debate. These photos change minds and
save lives - we've all seen it happen many times. Now let's do it on
prime-time television!
I have designed a
high-quality sixty second ad in support of Michael Peroutka with the
Constitution Party. He has a practical plan to stop abortion in the
United States his first day in office, should God bless us with such
godly leadership. It will cost you a few hundred dollars to put this
sixty second ad on your local television station, which could be
witnessed by hundreds of thousands of people. How many of you would
spend a couple of hundred dollars to embark on a pro-life missionary
trip to show photos of abortion victims to a thousand people driving
past a busy intersection or going to a Democratic fundraiser? Here's
an opportunity for you to show the photograph of an aborted baby to a
hundred thousand people right after the 7 o'clock news for about the
same amount of money.
This ad is costing me at
least $1000 to make, but I need pro-lifers and constitutionalist
willing to put out some money to put it on the air in your city. If
you want to put it on the air in Ohio, mail me checks at 759 Quarry
View Drive, Heath, Ohio, 43056. All proceeds will go to getting the
ad on the air. If you want to put it on the air in your own state,
send me $15 for a DVD of the ad and I'll get it to you as soon as it
is available to me.
I pray that the
Democrats will see this ad as a serious threat to George Bush in the
battleground states, and that many leftists will begin to support the
ad simply to help John Kerry. Think of it! Democrat pro-aborts
paying to show ads on television that depict abortion as murder!
We've got to get this ad on in the so-called "battleground states",
states now considered too close to call in the presidential election.
They are: Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Michigan,
Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia. Buy at least
one sixty second ad for your city!
6:45
AM Look at what Bill
Frist and your favorite "conservative" Republicans are
up
to now. As long as they are in power, the (Un)Patriot Act will keep on
strutting along, defiant of the U.S. Constitution. I say three cheers for
the ACLU for suing the FBI over its powers to demand information from
Internet providers about customers!

Thursday,
July 8
4:43
PM I received this
excellent email message from Michael Peroutka:
Dear Friends of the
Constitutional Republic,
There he goes again.
Several months ago, on
this page, I took
issue with the Rev. Jerry Falwell for saying, on national TV, that President
Bush "is the personification of the ideal conservative."
Now, once again, the Rev.
Falwell has said, basically, the same thing. In a recent "Falwell
Confidential" email, he begins by quoting John Adams as having said: "Always
vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the
sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." Then the Rev. Falwell
says:
For conservative people of
faith, voting for principle this year means voting for the re-election of
George W. Bush. The alternative, in my mind, is simply unthinkable. To the
pro-life, pro-family, pro-traditional marriage, pro-America voters in this
nation, we must determine that President Bush is the man with our interests
at heart. It's that simple.
Well, I respectfully
disagree. Things are not as simple as the Rev. Falwell seems to
believe. The choice in this year's Presidential election is not
solely between Mr. Bush and John Kerry. There is a truly pro-life,
pro-family, pro-traditional marriage, pro-America Presidential ticket and it
is the Constitution Party's ticket of me, Michael Peroutka, for President
and the Rev. Chuck Baldwin for Vice President.
We are totally pro-life,
with no exceptions, whereas Mr. Bush is not. We are totally pro-family and
pro-traditional marriage --- completely against homosexual "marriage" in any
shape or form ---, whereas Mr. Bush is in favor of "civil unions" between
members of the same sex. And we believe we are even more pro-American --- in
the original sense of this word --- because we believe the Constitution of
these united States should be strictly obeyed, whereas Mr. Bush, by his
actions, has shown that he does not believe this.
It is ironic that the Rev.
Falwell should call for the re-election of Mr. Bush while simultaneously
quoting John Adams on the necessity of always voting for principle, even if
you vote alone, since such a principled way of voting means your vote is
never lost. I say this is ironic because a vote for President Bush is a vote
for a man who has forsaken Christian, Constitutional and conservative
principles. Thus, a vote for Mr. Bush is a lost vote, a wasted vote.
There is a lot more
to say on this subject. And elsewhere on this page, in a detailed and
well-documented piece, Patrick Johnson says a lot more in an important
article titled
Why Christians Should Note Vote For George W. Bush.
1:50
PM George W. Bush:
No abortion litmus test for judges.
1:48
PM David Brownlow on
the age of lawlessness.
1:43
PM Karen De Koster
chimes in on Moore's war:
Fahrenheit 911 was an excellent movie, considering the yahoo who put it
out. But
Michael Moore was right.
I've seen no good libertarian reviews of this movie whatsoever. Only
Tom DiLorenzo's post
does any justice to the movie, as far as libertarians are concerned.
I'd love
to review the movie, and I'd love to say more, but time constraints just
won't allow it. Let me add to Tom's post........there's a great part in the
movie where Moore, knowing that the Patriot Act was passed overnight - with
no one congressman having ever even looked at it - takes to the streets
around the White House, in a truck with a PA system, reading the Patriot Act
aloud. Brilliant! Then there's the fabulous sound bites of a near brain-dead
John Conyers. Then there's Bush bumbling his way through every media
opportunity available to him. And how about the part where Marines are in
Flint, Michigan, recruiting young, black men as cannon fodder, and talking
frankly about it? I really get sick and tired of Moore's constant
infatuation with "racism," and the big bad white guys that "oppress the poor
blacks," but in filming this candid footage, he is absolutely correct in
what he is trying to convey. That cannot be intelligently denied.
8:30
AM The seminary's
Outlook is down again (so is our internet access), so it may be a while
before I can respond to today's emails. Thanks for your patience.
Wednesday,
July 7
3:26
PM The
LRC Blog has just published
Thomas DiLorenzo's review of Moore's new movie. Very interesting....
I saw Fahrenheit 911 yesterday. Whooooo boy,
Michael Moore really nails the neocon establishment's coonskin to the wall.
Great footage of the WMD/Iraq-bin Laden Connection lies; Bush as he is -- a
simpleton and a tongue-tied dunce; the KGB-like secret service harassing
Moore for simply standing across the street from the Saudi embassy; members
of Congress running away when Moore asks them why only ONE of their OWN
children is serving in the military in Iraq; Iraqis loading the bodies of
dead babies into the bed of a pickup truck shortly after a U.S. military
bombing; the shattering sorrow of a poor woman from Michigan who realizes
that her son died for no good reason in Iraq; Wolfowitz acting like a
disgusting pig, putting his entire comb in his mouth before combing his
greasy hair; the mutilated bodies of young American soldiers who
increasingly understand they are NOT fighting, dying, and having their limbs
torn off for any noble cause like defending their own country; Bush's
Lincolnesque Homeland Security secret police harassing and planting spies
among groups of elderly people who simply meet socially to discuss current
events; the complicity of Republicans AND Democrats in Washington in this
unnecessary
war; and Bush's phony "victory" announcement and landing on an aircraft
carrier last year.
The one thing missing
was John Kerry, who not only supported the war as a senator but wants to
send even more troops to Iraq.
The
film portrays The Party of Lincoln as it always has been: A cabal of
money-and power-hungry political hacks enriching themselves through the
auspices of the state while masking their true intentions with the rhetoric
of morality, freedom, religion, democracy, saving the world, and other
audacious lies.
My wife Stacey thinks every American ought to
see this move; they can judge for themselves what's propaganda and what's
not.
1:56
PM My current
reading potpourri:
-
Endings by Morna
Hooker.
-
Junior High Ministry
by Wayne Rice.
-
The Use of PAS in the
New Testament by William Johnston.
-
From Eye-Witnesses to
Ministers of the Word by Richard Dillon.
-
Collected Studies by
Jan Lambrecht.
-
The Textual Tradition of
the Gospels by Amy Anderson.
-
Koinonia in the New
Testament by George Panikulam.
-
Directions in New
Testament Methods by Martin Albl et al.
1:07
PM There is more
than one
way to skin an election year cat, says
Charlotte Iserbyt.

12:57
PM It has been said
that sermonettes produce Christianettes. C. H. Spurgeon would have agreed:
I fear there are some
who preach with the view of amusing men, and as long as people can be
gathered in crowds, and their ears can be tickled, and they can retire
pleased with what they have heard, the orator is content, and folds his
hands, and goes back self-satisfied. But Paul did not lay
himself out to please the public and collect the crowd. If he did not save
them he felt that it was of no avail to interest them. Unless the truth had
pierced their hearts, affected their lives, and made new men of them, Paul
would have gone home crying, "Who hath believed our report, and to whom is
the arm of the Lord revealed?"...
Now observe,
brethren, if I, or you, or any of us, or all of us, shall have spent our
lives merely in amusing men, or educating men, or moralizing men, when we
shall come to give our account at the last great day we shall be in a very
sorry condition, and we shall have but a very sorry record to render; for of
what avail will it be to a man to be educated when he comes to be damned? Of
what service will it be to him to have been amused when the trumpet sounds,
and heaven and earth are shaking, and the pit opens wide her jaws of fire
and swallows up the soul unsaved? Of what avail even to have moralized a man
if still he is on the left hand of the judge, and if still, "Depart, ye
cursed," shall be his portion?'" ["Soul Saving Our One Business," The
Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 25 (London: Passmore and Alabaster,
1879), 674-76.]
12:55
PM Philippians
students, please check out
this excellent
article by John MacArthur on biblical eldership. A key excerpt:
People often ask me what I
think is the secret to Grace Community Church's phenomenal development
over the past two decades. I always point out first of all that God
sovereignly determines the membership of a church, and numbers alone are
no gauge of spiritual success. In the midst of tremendous numerical
growth, however, the spiritual vitality of our church has been
remarkable. I'm convinced God's blessing has been on us primarily
because our people have shown a strong commitment to biblical
leadership. By affirming and emulating the godly example of our elders,
the church has opened the door to extraordinary blessings from the hand
of God.
12:45
PM Another reason I
love living in
Virginia.
8:20
AM Should the
president be held to higher standards of diction than the average Joe Doe in
America? Pieter Friedrich
thinks so.
7:45
AM Why the GOP
can't be trusted.
7:40
AM Michael Takiff
thinks moral self-congratulation is an addiction in our nation. Read "They
Behead: We Do It With Smart Bombs."
7:36
AM From today's
mailbag:
Dear Mr. Black,
I just ordered a copy of
"Why I stopped listening to Rush Limbaugh". I listened to Limbaugh during my
transition from a long-time registered Democrat to a Constitutionalist.
During the California gubernatorial campaign in 2002, I discovered the
American Independent Party (www.aipca.org) and the Constitution Party; and I
voted for Ron Gulke. During that time Limbaugh exposed his deep belief that
those who voted for someone other than a Republican were fools who were
wasting their vote. As a liberal, I thought that he was just a fascist
windbag (Please note the well-composed liberal argument); however, as a
Constitutionalist, I see him as merely a prominent supporter of the
Republican Party who puts politics over principle. If I am a fool to him,
then, "Nuts!" I will no longer be a fool to Him.
I enjoy your essays and
look forward to reading your latest book.
7:30
AM Mr. Jared Henson
sent me this
link (which would be humorous were it not so tragic).
7:20
AM Meet the real
Jesus. (Link
courtesy of Paul Proctor.)
7:05
AM In keeping with
today's home page theme, I offer the following links on abortion from the
Center for Bioethical Reform:
Tuesday,
July 6
4:40
PM
One woman writes: As
co-editor of the
BeautifulWomanhood.org
site, I receive dozens upon dozens of letters from readers each month. I’ve
yet to hear from one woman (aside from the militant feminists) stuck in a
“real” job who doesn’t long to return home. Read
more.
4:35
PM John and Noel
Piper offer some
handy advice for parents who choose to keep their children with them in
worship.
4:28
PM Spanking will
remain legal in England -
for now. Physical punishment of children is already outlawed in Norway,
Finland, Denmark, and Austria.
4:04
PM William Lind, in
a guest column at the Soldiers for the Truth
website, reports on
spillover. The money quote:
If we use our
enemies’ map, it is difficult not to conclude that we are losing the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition to increasing instability in
Saudi Arabia, we see General Musharraf tottering in Pakistan, President
Mubarak of Egypt flying to Germany for “back surgery” (is that
diplomatic-speak for terminal cancer?), Islamic militancy rising in
Europe, and who-knows-what in the way of terrorist incidents being
prepared in the United States itself.
3:45
PM On John Edwards,
Kerry does yet another
flip flop.

Now here's a
true Southerner and a VP candidate who merits your vote:

12:57
PM I can't wait to
get my uniform to do Robert E. Lee in the first person (rather than just
talking about him and his Christian character). I already have a
photo taken in the back of 707 Franklin Street - what a humbling and
awe-inspiring experience that was for me! Yes, I know I'm 6 feet 4, but the
general was himself a lot
taller
than most people realize.

12:55
PM Yet another
reason why I can't and won't support seeker-sensitivism:
Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, has said on several
occasions that he will never quote Charles Spurgeon in his public seeker
services. Why? He confidently assures fellow ministers that Spurgeon is
outdated and will not speak the language of their modern hearers. I for one
am concerned that this creates, intended or otherwise, a "reverse elitism":
We are the ones who communicate with our age, but does it not follow from
this that Isaiah, Jesus, Paul and John are also irrelevant? They did not
have Subarus, after all. The unfortunate result will be a generation that
thinks the evangelical movement came from nowhere--with no heritage or
roots.
Read more
here. A balanced and
thorough study
concludes:
Certainly the idea of
unity among all Christians is a noble concept when it involves agreement
on the essentials of Biblical Christianity. The problem with the Willow
Creek method, however, is that they have opened their doors wide open to
ALL religious thought (including secular thought), and embraced them
under the guise of Christian love and acceptance, even when it is
diametrically opposed to the fundamentals of Christianity. This
philosophy, unfortunately, is far beyond the boundaries of respectable
ecumenism. (Of course, this is assuming that ecumenism is, in itself,
respectable ---which is very questionable.)
For example, G. A.
Pritchard makes this sad assessment of Willow Creek’s practice of mixing
humanistic psychology with Christianity: "Ironically, while Hybels is
evangelizing those in the world toward Christianity, he is also
evangelizing Christians toward the world. As the unchurched Harrys in
the audience (10 percent) move closer to Christianity, the Christians in
the audience (90 percent) are often becoming more psychological and
worldly. … In the effort to become relevant Willow Creek ironically is
in danger of becoming irrelevant" (Pritchard, p. 238-239).
Pritchard believes that
this accentuation on psychology, "instead of encouraging Creekers to
know and love God, encourages them to know and accept themselves and
develop a strong self-esteem. The goals and means of one's ethics change
from a God-centered to a human-centered orientation. …" (Pritchard, p.
234).
Another Christian analyst,
Dr. Jay E. Adams agrees with Pritchard’s conclusions. He states: "In my
opinion, advocating, allowing and practicing psychiatric and
psychoanalytical dogmas within the church is every bit as pagan and
heretical (and therefore perilous) as propagating the teachings of some
of the most bizarre cults. The only vital difference is that the cults
are less dangerous because their errors are more identifiable."
Yet unfortunately Willow
Creek is dabbling in more than just psychology. As we’ve seen earlier,
Bill Hybels has been all too willing to look the other way when people
in which he associates promote false doctrine. Therefore, Willow Creek
is almost practicing a much more severe and dangerous form of ecumenism
call "syncretism," which is the merging or union of conflicting
religious beliefs which forms a new religious philosophy. By not openly
rejecting these false teachings, Willow Creek has effectively hampered
its Christian mission and damaged the ability of its leaders and members
to discern light from darkness, wheat from tares, and truth from error.
The result are Christians who have been indoctrinated to easily accept
and incorporate ideas from a potpourri of false "isms": Eastern
mysticism, Catholicism, Mormonism, Humanism, etc.
In the end, this mixture
of false beliefs with true Christianity eventually forms a new "Willow
Creek Christianity" that bears little resemblance to the true Gospel.
And with the international influence Willow Creek has built, they are
essentially leading many churches into the same kind of error.
The antidote? Simple. Bill
Hybels, Willow Creek, and all WCA member churches need to remember what
the Bible clearly teaches and follow its dictates:
-
We are to separate
from those who are not sound in the faith (2Tim. 3:5).
-
We are not to assist
the cause of the ungodly (2Chron. 19:2).
-
We are not to give
honor to one who denies the faith (Gal. 1:6-9).
-
We are to examine a
person's theological position and find it acceptable before
cooperating with him in spiritual efforts (1Jn. 4:1).
-
We are commanded not
to join forces with unbelievers in the Lord's work (2Cor. 6:14).
-
We are not to
emphasize unity at the expense of doctrinal purity (Jude 3).
-
We are not to
encourage or cooperate with persons of unsound doctrine (2Jn.
10-11).
(Our church) needs to
review these scriptures, too, and decide where they stand in their
official association with Willow Creek. Just look at these two facts
that show two basic doctrinal differences that separate (our church) and
Willow Creek:
#1: Willow Creek
believes that woman can hold the position of overseer, which (our
church) does not believe. Willow Creek, in fact, strongly promotes
this belief and considers acceptance of female elders as a criteria
for membership.
#2: Willow Creek
believes that baptism by "sprinkling" (as an alternative to immersion)
is acceptable, which (our church) does not believe.
Generally speaking, these
two issues alone might be enough reason to feel that (our church)
would be better off not officially associating with Willow Creek. I
mean, are we really sure that (our church) leaders can go to Chicago, be
trained by Willow Creek leaders, and not be influenced by some of their
opposing doctrinal viewpoints?
And worse yet, what about
the overwhelming use of humanistic psychology and worldly thinking that
is sprinkled throughout almost every Willow Creek program and used to
defend their pragmatic, ecumenical philosophy? How does (our church)
leaders avoid being influenced by Willow Creek resources and seminars
that may contain worldly, unbiblical teachings that are couched in
Christian terminology?
Frankly, I believe that
some of the Willow Creek pragmatism has already started to affect some
of the (church) leadership. I can personally attest to a certain
arrogance among some of the (our church) Creative Arts ministry leaders
after they came back from a seminar at a "Willow Creek-like" megachurch
in Texas called Fellowship Church. After returning from this Texas trip,
the Creative Arts leaders conducted a (church) meeting to tout some of
the new ideas they gained at Fellowship Church. Unfortunately, some of
the new attitude that they wanted to pass on to the Worship Team were
not edifying in the least.
One of the more disturbing
attitudes they brought back with them, unhappily, was an almost callous
acknowledgement that by implementing "Willow Creek/Fellowship"
strategies into (our church), they would probably lose some valuable
church members who didn’t like the "new" changes. They joked that these
people might leave and (our church) would then be known as the "Church
of the Blessed Subtraction." In other words, we were to consider the
loss of these people as just a necessary evil in order to bring in more
Willow Creek-type "seekers" into our services. Personally, I found the
insensitive categorization of offended brothers and sisters of our
church as "blessed subtractions" to be a disturbing attitude that has
obviously come from the Willow Creek/Saddleback mentality where "change
theory" is king.
Don’t get me wrong; I am
not saying there is a sinister Willow Creek "conspiracy" going on here.
I am well aware that Willow Creek has a very strong desire to reach the
lost for Jesus, and that is commendable. No doubt (our church) wants
only to share in that kind of passion to bring salvation to others. But
Willow Creek’s praiseworthy zeal for evangelism has been perverted by
pragmatic and ecumenical leanings that have exposed them to the
influences of the world and its false ideology. Unless and until Willow
Creek changes their philosophy of worldly evangelism and returns to
Biblical discernment and truth, I believe it would be in (our) Christian
Church’s best interests to no longer financially support them, attend
their seminars, or use their resources.
12:50
PM The "Dow" has a
new web log.
12:20
PM Kelly McGinley
writes:
I personally blame
the people sitting in the pews of these mainline churches for allowing the
sodomites to take over this country. What deviant behavior will the churches
accept next,
pedophilia? Let’s not
forget these same
churches also have
been the
culprit for the
46 million children slaughtered
in this country.
The Word of God tells
us that there will come a time when the pew dwellers will not
endure sound doctrine.
They will heap to themselves teachers who tell them what they want to hear.
The pastors will promote lies and the people will love to have it so. This
is the real cause of sodomite marriage in this country and the only cure is
for God’s people to come back to His Word.
12:18
PM The
decreasing
popularity of U.S. presidents abroad.
12:15
PM I think what I
wrote about John
Edwards a year ago is still valid today, perhaps more so.
12:12
PM Chris Bowers
thinks John Kerry should encourage
third-party debate
participation. Like, duh.
12:10
PM According to
Icky, the top two female players at
Wimbledon were homeschooled.
12:07
PM I hope you check
out Pieter Friedrich's new blog,
Pumpkinhead (no, the title
is not as self-abnegating as you might think). Great to have one of my
favorite writers back in the blogosphere.
12:05
PM Our Philippians
class, which began this morning, is off to a great start, having just
completed a quick overview of the founding of the church at Philippi (Acts
16) as well as the structure of the letter (the theme: unity in the cause of
the gospel, with unity being possible only through humility). Students are
to memorize 1:27-2:11 by the end of the class, and, in addition, must
fulfill three "servanthood projects." We've got a total of 22 enrolled, but
the more the merrier - all are welcome. For more information, please call
the seminary's registry at 919-761-2215.
7:15
AM Good morning,
friends! Despite the heat and humidity yesterday (over 100 degrees) I was
able to mow and edge our North Carolina property as well as get a good, long
ride on my Arabian named Cody. Riding is a wonderful pastime and a marvelous
exercise. What I love about this sport is that it involves the challenge of
creating harmony between two living things so utterly
different as man and horse. The interplay between them is so constant and
varying and is made up of multitudes of little actions and reactions. In
truth, the art of riding can never be taught either by a teacher or by a
book. Cody is the most intelligent horse I have ever ridden. He can do
everything I ask of him - including difficult side passes and canter
pirouettes. My thoroughbred is bigger,
faster,
and more powerful and with an entirely different kind of action, low and
long striding. I love riding them both. They are by nature very gentle;
gentleness is indeed a horse's more endearing and valuable trait. Horses
also possess a marvelous memory. They never forget anything they have
learned! It is also extraordinarily difficult to eradicate faults and bad
habits once they have been acquired. Right now I am working with Cody on
figures of eight; with my thoroughbred on the extended trot. There is always
something to teach - and learn - both on the part of my horses and myself.
What a sport!
Monday,
July 5
9:43
AM Here's a
new search engine worth considering.
9:35
AM I've often
praised David Brownlow's writing, and now
here's the latest
from his meddlesome pen.
9:23
AM La Figaro asks:
L'Amérique est-elle un monstre ou un modèle ? C'est la
question posée par le Figaro Magazine aux meilleures plumes américaines. For
the answer, clicque
ici.
9:13
AM Look who's
espousing the use of
condoms.
9:10
AM Read a
review of the
latest tome on ancient Greek syntax (PDF).
9:05
AM
Woman killed over
Bibles.
8:58
AM Now that I reside
in the Old Dominion state, I hope to do
this someday with my
fearless charger Traveler.

8:45
AM
This is sickening.
8:33
AM From the mailbag:
Dr. Black
Just got this
from Jerry Falwell. I have attempted to email him before, telling him
Bush is not a conservative and I will be casting my vote for Michael
Peroutka. Never have I received an answer to any of my emails. That Bush
is attempting to pass himself off as a Christian conservative must be
making Reagan and Goldwater roll over in their graves. God's speed to you
and your family.
Deo Vindice
Charles Porter
The "this" Mr. Porter is referring to is an
essay entitled "Time
to open wallets for Bush."
7:48
AM Please visit
www.GetTheKidsOut.org
to see reports on the SBC meeting in Indianapolis and why those involved
consider it, in spite of electoral defeat, a major victory for advancing the
GTKO cause.
7:45
AM Writes Ravi:
I thank God for pastors and
for those who stay by the people in their hurts and needs. Pastoring is a
vanishing reality in our culture. The pastor who comes near has become an
endangered species. Amid growth and high-tech ways of communicating some
pastors have become reclusive and distant. For the sake of our culture I
would long to see their return. They are the shepherds that give us the rod
and the staff—the warning and the care. They are the real heroes working
behind the scenes away from the applause of the public. God’s heroes are
developed in His own darkroom where exposure to the light would mar the real
picture.
Read
more. (Thank you, Rachel Layne, for sending the link!)
7:34
AM Yesterday I took
my son Nathan to hear his favorite college professor and my dear colleague,
Dr. Greg Harris, preach at Trinity Baptist Church here in Wake Forest. We
had a wonderful time getting reacquainted with our good friend Pastor Scott
Brown and his family-friendly congregation that meets in a local school
auditorium. How delightful to see entire families in worship together. I
imagine some may find the constant sound of infants and toddlers a
distraction, but it was music to my ears. By the way, Scott is a leading
proponent of age-integrated churches and has published numerous essays on
the topic at his church's
website as well as at Doug's Phillip's
Vision Forum. Scott will be
speaking at the
Uniting Church and Family Conference to be held in St. Louis this
August.

The highlight of the service, for me at
least, was the time of communion that took place after Greg's message.
Following communion we had a great fellowship meal in the adjacent
auditorium. I thought to myself: How much like the early church, which met
together for the Lord's SUPPER (the Greek word refers to the main meal of
the day, not to a wafer and a thimble of grape juice!). Why, then, couldn't
these be combined, making the communion elements part of the believers'
fellowship meal? And why not use ONE LOAF, as the Scripture seems to teach
(see 1 Corinthians 10:17: "For we, though many, are one bread and one body;
for we all partake of that one bread"). The one loaf could easily be passed
from believer to believer as a symbol that we all partake of the one loaf
just as we are all one part of one body. Keep in mind, also, that the Lord's
Supper was the centerpiece of early Christian worship, not an appendage to
worship. Gathered around one table, Christians met with their common Lord
and with each other in unity and love. Christ Himself had expressed this
kind of humility and unity when He instituted the Supper (see Matthew
26:26-30). Finally, according to Acts 20:7, believers met on Sunday
specifically TO BREAK BREAD (the infinitive of purpose). In other words, the
PRIMARY purpose of the gathering was the Lord's Supper, which was a WEEKLY
observance. How far we have departed from the clear pattern of the New
Testament!
If you are interested in reading more about
the weekly observance of the Lord's Supper, which anticipates the time when,
together with the Lord, we shall all partake of the Great Marriage Supper of
the Lamb, please see my web page entitled
Unleashing the Church.
Thursday,
July 1
2:56
PM My son just
called from the farm and informed me that my favorite hen, Little Feather,
has died (of what, we don't know yet). Out of several dozen chickens she was
unique - she always greeted me when I came home by flying up and landing on
my arm or shoulder, eager to be petted. Chickens are, I think, great pets
for children. Long before we got our horses or cows or goats or even dogs we
had chickens. I well remember the boys cuddling with them when they were
toddlers. I will miss Little Feather greatly....

1:25
PM FARM UPDATE: We
are currently trying to fence in all five of our large pastures at Rosewood
Farm before winter so that our goats will have some fields to saunter in and
nibble. We are using woven wire with one strand of barbed wire on top both
to keep the deer out and our animals in. Needless to say, this is a very
tiresome and tedious task but something that needs to be done.
Last week the seminary's publication
OUTLOOK ran a very nice article about the farm
and Bradford Hall featuring my son Nathan, who both designed and constructed
our new home. Many thanks to writer Kyle Smith and his photographer wife,
who were with us for the official dedication service in March.
1:22
PM Here's something
I wrote on
women in combat at the start of the Iraq War and for which I received
some flak from the Christian Right. For more on this subject, see Doug
Phillip's excellent discussion
here.

12:20
PM Izzy Lyman of
The Homeschool Revolution has
written an interesting article on blogging that appeared
here.
12:05
PM Are you a neocon
nit-wit? Find out
here.
And
here.
11:40
AM The
Pen and the Sword has had a
facelift. Nice touch, Ben.
10:55
AM Paul Conners
hates to admit
he's right.
10:35
AM
This one speaks for itself.
10:33
AM
The second issue of the Reformed
Baptist Theological Review (RBTR I:2) is now available for purchase and
should be mailed by August 1st, 2004. This edition includes the following articles: "The Remaining Sabbath
for the People of God," Robert P. Martin; "John Owen and New Covenant
Theology," Richard C. Barcellos; "The Antipaedobaptism of John Tombes,"
Michael T. Renihan; "The Means of Grace in the 2nd London Confession
of
Faith," James M. Renihan; "The Emotivity of God," Gregory G. Nichols; "The
Newness of the New Covenant," James R. White; "THE CALVIN OF ENGLAND: Some
Aspects of the Life of John Owen (1616-1683) and his Teaching on Biblical
Piety," Michael A.G. Haykin. Book reviews include one by Tom Hicks on N.T.
Wright's "What Saint Paul Really Said."
For ordering and subscription information go to
www.rbtr.org.
10:32
AM
Homeschool mom and blogger par excellence Carmon Friedrich
shares her
thoughts on the acceptance speech of Michael Peroutka at the
Constitution Party National Convention last week.
10:30
AM Just had a very
nice 30-minute interview with the Religion Editor of the Journal Star in
Peoria, Illinois. He asked a lot of questions about my website and my
recently released book, Why I Stopped Listening to
Rush.
10:00
AM
David Brownlow on the
costs of compromise.
9:10
AM
How to turn a DVD into
a Peroutka 2004 Campaign Home
Headquarters.
9:07
AM
Radio
coverage of last week's Constitution Party National Convention continues
this week on Kelly McGinley's program from Mobile, Alabama. People all over
the world can listen to the speeches via the internet on her
website.
9:05
AM
When we forget
history. (Link from
Rachel Layne.)
8:47
AM
From the mailbag:
Dave:
I was recently introduced
to your website by a friend and I have found it to be an absolute blessing.
I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to Pastor John Weaver a
dear friend of mine. Pastor Weaver is the national chaplain of the Sons Of
Confederate Veterans and Pastor of Freedom Baptist Church in Waycross GA.
The sermon I have e-mailed you is the 1st of a 14 part series entitled Where
We Are & How We Got Here. This is a wonderful series both biblically and
historically. There are over 80 sermons of his on sermonaudio.com. I hope
you enjoy. Thanks for you website. May God bless you and your family. To
listen to this sermon please click on the link below:
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?sermonID=11504134153
Many thanks
for the letter and the link. I have long been a great fan and admirer of
Pastor Weaver. His courage, knowledge of theology, and biblically accurate
interpretation of history are exemplary and could be imitated with profit
by every pastor in America.
8:04
AM
Open
Debates (www.OpenDebates.org) is a
ten-month old nonprofit organization that is engaged in a national campaign
to reform the presidential debate process. It has formed a nonpartisan
Citizens' Debate Commission to sponsor future presidential debates that
address pressing national issues, feature innovative formats, and include
the candidates that the American people want to see. Seventeen national
civic leaders from the left, center, and right of the political spectrum
serve on the Citizens Debate Commission (www.CitizensDebate.org),
and over sixty diverse civic organizations serve on the advisory board of
the Citizens’ Debate Commission. Now
President Bush and Senator Kerry must decide whether to participate in real
and transparent presidential debates that maximize voter education, or
stilted and deceptive bipartisan news conferences that maximize major party
control. The Republican and Democratic nominees will only participate in
debates proposed by the Citizens’ Debate Commission if the political benefit
outweighs the political cost, and that calculus will only be achieved if
sufficient voters demand democratic debates from them. Please visit their
website – www.OpenDebates.org –
sign their petition, and make a financial contribution.
7:53
AM
Scott Whiteman, campaign manager for the Peroutka
campaign, ably defends
interposition in this essay on abortion.
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