March
2004 Blog Archives
Wednesday,
March 31
11:45 AM The chapel
messages this week have been powerful, inspiring, and text-driven. If you
would like to listen to them please go to the seminary website at
www.sebts.edu. You will be blessed if you
do.
9:35 AM Recent additions to
the seminary library that I'm currently slogging through include
Locating Paul by Matthew Skinner;
The Gospel of Paul by Joong Suk Suh;
Let's Study Hebrews by Hywel Jones;
The Corinthian Body by Dale Martin;
Paul Outside the Walls by Dean Bechard;
360-Degree Preaching by Michael Quicke;
Whose Promised Land? by Colin Chapman (who, by
the way, teaches Islamic Studies in Beirut); and A
Detailed Analysis of the Constitution by Edward Cooke.
8:00 AM Ron Holland has
just posted comments from my review of his latest book
Protecting Our Legacy at his website. It reads:
Essential economic truths are uncomfortable
but critically important while there still may be time to save the United
States from becoming its own worst enemy through antidemocratic ruling
cliques that are part of its military industrial-complex. This book is
certainly not pabulum, nor is it propaganda for right-wing think tanks.
Ron Holland has produced a tough-minded and well-documented treatise that
most Americans will sadly ignore.
Having lived in Switzerland myself, I found
Holland’s book extremely difficult to swallow. It’s not that I don’t
believe what he has to say about the economic future of America; it’s that
I don’t want to believe it. If everything Holland says is true, then we
are in for a wake-up call far more serious than that of 9/11. The only
question that matters now is: what can we do about it?
Needless to say, the author has a myriad of
helpful and sensible suggestions. My wife and I will take all of them
seriously and, in fact, have already been pursuing several of the options
Holland advises. I hope you will do the same. This book is one of the
best, most comprehensive studies of human economics ever written. Most
importantly, it is grounded in constitutional axioms and even encompasses
a biblical worldview. What more could one ask for in these troubled times?

7:30 AM John Piper has
written an excellent discussion of divorce and remarriage:
Eleven Reasons
Why I Believe All Remarriage After Divorce Is Prohibited While Both Spouses
Are Alive.
Tuesday,
March 30
1:30 PM Who is a
drummer,
wrestling champ,
solo guitarist, artist,
photographer,
bee
keeper,
football secretary,
rock climber,
and city
attorney?
12:30 PM I love this essay
on participatory church meetings:
The traditional Protestant
worship service today strongly resembles a show business performance. In
both we find ushers, programs, music, costumes, lighting, a chorus, a
stage, a script, an audience, and a master of ceremonies. (Christian
Smith, Going To The Root, Herald Press, p.88.) The congregation sits
passively as the audience while the pastor performs. When the congregation
is permitted to participate in the meeting, they are restricted to singing
in unison, antiphonal readings, dropping money into the offering plate,
and taking notes during the sermon. The ordained clergy are expected to
perform all significant ministry. Meanwhile, ninety-nine percent of God's
people attend worship services Sunday after Sunday for years on end,
without ever contributing any true spiritual ministry to the body of
gathered believers.
Read
more.
12:15 PM Special invitation
to DBO readers in the Dallas/Fort Worth area: I hope you can join me this
Friday at the Greater New Zion Baptist Church, where I will be preaching at
7:00 pm. There's a rumor that several Southwestern Seminary students will be
there, and I look forward to seeing my friend and former student Rev. Joe
Patterson again. The address is 2210 Pine Street in South Dallas.

9:00 AM Another great essay
from Heritage Community Church:
A Biblical Confession for Uniting Church and Home. Here's an excerpt:
Rather than helping in this battle, unfaithful church leadership bears the
primary responsibility for the vulnerability of the family in the face of
its enemies. Unfaithfulness to God's Word in our pulpits has produced the
decline of biblical Christianity and the dissolution of the family in our
pews. The abdication of God's authority leads to unbiblical practices in
the churches and to the erosion of biblical manhood and leadership. This
in turn leads to the perversion of the role of women, the destruction of
our children, and the collapse of our society. Traditions, which have
originated in the minds of devils and fallen men, counterfeit God's
authority. False doctrines derived from Darwinism, Marxism, Feminism,
Secular Humanism, Psychology, and countless other unbiblical sources, have
emerged from a society that has discarded Divine Revelation and have
contaminated or replaced God's standards in many professing churches of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The bitter fruit of this is the fragmentation,
not the unity of the family.
To this
I would add the unbiblical tradition of age-segregated ministries based on
the myth of adolescence. The following essays also deserve a careful
reading:
8:30 AM David Wells on
the
disappearance of theology.
6:30 AM I've been keeping
my son's Sheltie for the past few days. Shiloh
is the most active animal I have ever seen. As soon as I get home he goes
"Cato" on me (from the Pink Panther movies) - he eggs me on until I just
have to
chase
him around the house until we both drop, exhausted, on the living room sofa. After supper we go for our nightly walk through the
fields, during which he uniformly marks all the spots that say "This is my
turf." He is fearless - too much so for his own good, as when he tries
to chase me while I'm riding one of my horses. But above all, Shiloh is
absolutely loyal, and no matter what room I am sitting in
he is right there, at my feet.
It is my personal belief that not having a dog for one's children is a form
of child abuse. As
someone
has put it:
“The dog was created
specifically for children,” according to Henry Ward Beecher, and certainly
there is something particularly beautiful and sweet about the relationship
between kids and dogs. Growing up with a canine companion can teach
children that responsible care-giving is well worth the effort for the
love and loyalty they receive in return. A faithful pet can instill in a
child a sense of trust and security that will carry over into human
relationship. Dogs make great playmates, protectors and pillows—and
they’re always available to listen and sympathize when parents, teachers,
friends and siblings just don’t understand.
The long and
short of it: I can't wait to get home this evening and chase Shiloh again.

6:10 AM Scott Brown, a
friend of mine who is a teaching elder at Trinity Baptist Church in Wake
Forest, suggests
Ten Ways to Expose the Truth about Abortion. Read what he says
about "pedothesia."
6:00 AM Who
can ever forget
this day in 1981? My wife and I were living in Switzerland at the time
and watched in horror as the film of the assassination attempt was shown
over
and
over again on TV. Initially thought to be seriously wounded, the president
made a speedy recovery, much to our relief.
5:50 AM David Brownlow is
absolutely correct:
Traditional marriage was
doomed the moment we agreed to give up our God given right to “become one
flesh,” in exchange for the government licensed bribery that comes in the
form of marriage tax breaks, health care benefits, retirement benefits and
inheritance rights. Why should we be surprised if the government decides
to change the terms of the contracts we have freely entered into?
Read
The Separation of
Marriage and State.
5:45 AM LRC this morning
has an excellent
post by a former infantry officer on the so-called Just War Theory, a
theory which, as I noted in my essay
The Theory
That Backfired, is frequently misunderstood - and misapplied.
5:45 AM Eric Margolis
argues that Bush's "war president" strategy is bound to backfire. I tend
to agree.
This administration is
running for re-election on its "war record" against Iraq, and its
so-called war on terrorism. Bush is playing Franklin Roosevelt or Harry
Truman.
But his claim to be a war
president is like the man who murders his family, then begs for mercy
because he is an orphan. The Iraq war was not one of self-defence, like
World War II, but an unprovoked, illegal aggression engineered by the Bush
administration and justified by a torrent of shameful lies. Bush's "war on
terrorism" is a police action that was unnecessarily and foolishly
militarized.
5:30 AM Alistair
Cooke's Letters to America always fascinated
and entertained. Cooke was also an astute social commentator, the likes of
which are rarely seen this side of the Pond. To hear a sampling of his
wonderful prose, not to mention his almost X-ray
perception
of the American psyche,
this link has several of his talks. The best one, I think, is
Two Nations Separated By One Language which, to
hear, you must scroll down on the page. If, by the way, you tire (as I do)
of pot-holed American English, the sort of which is found on NPR (with very
few exceptions), you might have a listen to the BBC between the hours of 3-5
am. Absolutely delightful.
Monday,
March 29
11:30 AM For those who want
to forget theology and just "evangelize":
Let us not heed these siren
calls to devise culturally relevant models of ministry. Let us refuse to
fulfil the pseudo-Great Commission. Rather, let us stand firm in this evil
day, clad in the whole armour of God, seeking to grow in our understanding
and proclamation of the whole counsel of God. Then, we shall truly be, and
make of others, disciples, not of cultural fads, but of the Christ, the
Son of the Living God.
10:30 AM This from Boston?
No
longer just for the religious fundamentalists, home schooling has gone
main stream, especially in Massachusetts. It's estimated that as many as
20,000 children here have abandoned test-crazy public schools and
high-priced private schools for the comfort of the living room couch. But
most surprising of all is that Harvard, BU, Brown, and other colleges are
welcoming home-schoolers like all other students.
Read
Schoolhouse Rocked (link courtesy LRC.)
8:30 AM Mmmm:
LaHaye believes a sea
change is occurring in the United States because of the success of the
"Left Behind" series and Mel Gibson's movie.
"I have a feeling we've
entered a new phase in America because of Mel Gibson," LaHaye says. "(His
movie) was deeply felt, and it came from the soul. It shows there is a
place in our culture for faith-based movies."
8:15 AM If you have a
son or daughter in Iraq you ought to be outraged at Bush's callous joking
about WMD. And I want to know this: why aren't our sons and daughters
getting the best armored equipment for their protection and why are they having to make
do instead with
sand bags in their Humvees? Inexcusable, just inexcusable.
(Below: AP photo from a video
showing President Bush searching the Oval Office for WMD in a spoof shown to
White House radio and television correspondents in DC on March 24, 2004.)

8:00 AM Just ran
across the results of the latest blog
awards.
In the category "Best Designed Weblog"
this site was the winner. Which made me think: Is there anything YOU
don't like about MY blog? Or perhaps a feature you like? If you would take a
moment and let me know, I promise to put your replies to work for the
improvement of my little corner of cyberspace. Thanks!
6:45 AM Speaking of
accomplishments, I want to brag on Traveller. Yesterday I taught him, in one
fell swoop, to canter in place - all in preparation to teach him the even
more difficult canter pirouette,
an advanced dressage technique. When you recall that Mr.
Trav.
was born and bred a racehorse, I think that's saying a lot. I am amazed at
how intelligent the hot-blooded breeds are (Thoroughbreds and Arabs), though
it takes a great deal of tact to ride one at this level. If your aids are
too light they'll be ignored; too heavy, and your horse is likely to go
atomic on you. Traveller didn't even come close to that. Dressage now opens
up a whole new panorama for us - a better understanding of my horse, of why he
acts as he does, and why I must act as I do.
6:40 AM Carmon
has done
dooded it! Congratulations!
6:35 AM What a
trend
we have in Jesus.
6:30 AM Some good websites
you might not know about:
6:25 AM Please continue to
pray for Carrie McDonnall.
6:20 AM Another
must-read (cough, cough) self-help book for moms.
6:15 AM "Faith-based
organizations received more grant money from key government agencies in 2003
than in the previous year, according to numbers recently released by the
White House."
What a
deal. Act religious and get government money.
6:00 AM A U.S. Senator
changes his mind:
We had this feeling we could be welcomed as
liberators. Americans don't know history, geography, ethnicity. The
administration had no idea of what they were getting into in Iraq. We are
not internationalists. We border on being isolationists. We don't know
anything about the Middle East.
Friday,
March 26
9:50 AM Ten minutes till
the BLOGATHON. Much
success, Carmon!
9:35 AM Then again, there's
the story of when Andrew Jackson received an honorary doctorate from Harvard
back in 1833. His schooling was meager, and the entire ceremony was in
Latin. To express his thanks he thundered out all the Latin he knew and sat
down:
"E pluribus unum, my dear
friends! Sina qua non! Quid pro quo!
Hmmm. Would
that pastors were that honest with their audiences.
9:30 AM Ok, so maybe
something good can come out of Gibson's Hollywood - like the
revival of interest in Latin, a really great language. Students, listen
up:
Non scholae sed vitae discimus!
8:30 AM Thanks to
Charles Porter for sending in these good ol' fashion down-to-earth country
sayings. I can personally attest to the truthfulness of most of them!
-
Don't
name a pig you plan to eat.
-
Country
fences need to be horse high, pig tight, and bull strong.
-
Keep
skunks and lawyers at a distance.
-
Life is
simpler when you plow around the stumps.
-
A bumble
bee is faster than a John Deere tractor.
-
Trouble
with a milk cow is she won't stay milked.
-
Words
that soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled.
-
Meanness
don't happen overnight.
-
To know
how country folks are doing, look in their barns, not their houses.
-
Never
lay an angry hand on a kid or an animal, it just ain't helpful.
-
Teachers, Moms, and hoot owls sleep with one eye open.
-
Forgive
your enemies. It messes with their heads.
-
Don't
sell your mule to buy a plow.
-
Two can
live as cheap as one if one don't eat.
-
Don't
corner something meaner than you.
-
Man is
the only critter who feels the need to label things as flowers or weeds.
-
It
doesn't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
-
Don't go
huntin' with a fellow named Chug-A-Lug.
-
You
can't unsay a cruel thing.
-
Every
path has some puddles.
-
Don't
wrestle with pigs: You'll get all muddy and the pigs will love it.
-
The best
sermons are lived, not preached.
-
Most of
the stuff people worry about never happens.
7:00 AM
This:

Or this:

The choice is yours.

6:55 AM Mike Tuggle
does it again.
Mike, don't click here.
6:25 AM
"Woman surfer loses in men's event," is the
headline
in this morning's BBC News. For what it's worth, when I was surfing in
Hawaii there were plenty of lady surfers. At my high school
(at
Kailua HS we were known as the "Surfriders") I had lots of competition from
two or three juniors and seniors who could do everything the guys could do.
Sure, they didn't do the big wave thing as much, but on anything 10-feet and
under they were awesome.
6:15 AM Churches are
such lovely
hospitals.
6:05 AM We're currently
adding some final touches to our four-country
Reformation Tour that is scheduled for May 29-June 9, 2005. We've
added a stop at Bethlehem Chapel in Prague; Herrnhut, Germany, meeting with
local believers there; the Lutherhalle Museum in Wittenberg; a brief stop at
Halle to learn about Halle pietism; an organ concert in Erfurt; the church
castle in Marburg; the Basel Cathedral with its spectacular view of the
Rhein; the church in Zurich where Zwingli preached (I will read excerpts
from his old sermons from the very pulpit he used); a trip by cable car to
famous Mount Pilatus; and the Bodmer Museum near Geneva containing an
original of Luther's 95 Theses. As soon as we finalize the cost I will
publish the entire itinerary. I'm limiting the tour to 40, so I do hope that
many DBO readers will plan now to join us. (Below: Picturesque Basel, where
my wife and I lived.)

6:00 AM Topics for my New
Testament class in Norfolk: The authorship of Hebrews; the discourse
structure of Hebrews 1:1-4 and 12:1-2; literary artistry in Hebrews; do
elders rule?; the requirements for elders according to the Pastoral
Epistles; the role of women in church, family, and society. Needless to say,
I'd appreciate your prayers.
Thursday,
March 25
8:05 AM
Pastor Joe Wright of
Wichita’s Central Christian Church once gave this invocation to the Kansas
State Legislature. Do I hear an "Amen"?
Heavenly Father, we come before you today
to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.
We know your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good"; but that is
exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and
inverted our values. We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth
of your Word in the name of "moral pluralism".
We have worshipped other gods and called it "multiculturalism". We have
endorsed perversion and called it "an alternative lifestyle". We have
exploited the poor and called it "a lottery". We have neglected the needy
and called it "self-preservation". We have rewarded laziness and called it
"welfare".
In the name of "choice" we have killed our unborn. In the name of "right
to life" we have killed abortionists.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it "building
esteem". We have abused power and called it "political savvy". We've
coveted our neighbors' possessions and called it "taxes". We've polluted
the air with profanity and pornography and called it "freedom of
expression". We've ridiculed the time-honored values of our fore-fathers
and called it "enlightenment".
Search us, oh God, and know our hearts today.
Try us, and show us any wicked in us.
Cleanse us from every sin, and set us free.
Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people
of Kansas and have been ordained by you to govern this great state. Grant
them your wisdom to rule, and may their decisions direct us to the center
of your will.
I ask it in the name of your Son, the Living Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
8:00 AM Just what we need:
another
Windex Cathedral.

6:15 AM Now that
The Passion has arrived in Korea, I pray that Korean pastors will
exercise great discernment about the movie. I have taught there five
different times in four different Korean seminaries and am hopeful that
Korean Christians will recognize such distorted movie images for what they
really are: spiritual
adultery.
The truth is that God in His sovereignty has
provided all that we need to be spiritually quickened by the magnitude of
Christ’s truth. It is through God’s Word (His ordinances and His doctrines
contained therein), the power of His Spirit, and the Body of Christ, that
God may grant to believers the opportunity to be “strengthened with power
through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your
hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have
strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length
and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses
knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians
3:16-19).
Therefore, it is a risky endeavor for any Christian
to believe he has the ability to go beyond what God has perfectly ordained
for his sanctification. If a Christian feels compelled to use a
movie or any other manmade device as a tool to manipulate his emotional or
spiritual attachment to Christ, he must ask himself if he is really open
to the leading of the Holy Spirit and the dictates of Scripture or whether
he is trying to make his desires sovereign over God‘s will.
What Christians need to understand is that the
ultimate spiritual adultery is committed not so much because we try to
replace Christ in our heart with manmade images, but because we try to
replace the sovereignty of God with our own sovereign desires to worship
God as we please.
6:05 AM We waste our time
on silly
anti-abortion license plates when the
real
issues elude us.

6:00 AM Guess who?
[He] possessed historical
imagination in the sense that he could make the characters live before the
reader. He learned how to do this work in his lectures to theological
students in Strassburg and Geneva. He seized the heart of Scripture and
made it popular, though thoroughly scholarly. He came at times to have an
audience of one thousand eager listeners. What he cared for most, as he
himself states, was to get the spirit of the writer with clearness and
brevity. He insisted on clearness and brevity as absolutely essential for
a true interpreter.
Read
Calvin as an
Interpreter of Scripture by Baptist scholar A. T. Robertson.
5:45 AM In my morning
devotional I reflected on these great thoughts by Francis Schaeffer:
God willing, I will push
and politick no more.... The mountains are too high, history is too long,
and eternity is longer. God is too great, man is too small, there are many
of God's dear children, and all around there are men going to Hell. And if
one man and a small group of men do not approve of where I am and what I
do, does it prove I've missed success? No; only one thing will determine
that--whether this day I'm where the Lord of hosts and King of
kings wants me to be.
O Lord, MY
Lord, may it be so!
Wednesday,
March 24
5:30 PM Here are some aerial photos
of Rosewood Farm, VA. In the
foreground below is "Maple
Ridge," our son's house, the oldest part of which dates back to the
early 1800s, along with the horse barn, chicken coop, corn crib, and storage
sheds. The vegetable garden to the left of his house will be put to good use shortly. In the
very bottom left of the photo is the farm's cemetery, in which is buried a
great American patriot, Corporal Anderson Boyd of the 59th Virginia, CSA.


And here's "Bradford
Hall" (ca. "1820," though completed in 2004!), along with the
heart-shaped pond we dug. As you can see from the road in the foreground, we
are in the process of fencing in all of the pastures for our goats and
horses. It takes a while when you cut down and install your own cedars!



Finally,
several aerial views of the two houses as seen from different angles in beautiful Mecklenburg County, VA.



A major tip of
the kepi to my friends and
colleagues Drs. Shawn Madden and
Ivan Spencer (who operate
www.angeleyeinthesky.com) for braving the cold temps early last Friday
morning to get these pics. Bravo!
9:50 AM
This little
church went to market....
7:55 AM Guess what else is
being outsourced to
India?
7:25 AM Jerry Falwell made
this statement in chapel yesterday; he is surely right:
"All our failures are prayer failures."
7:20 AM
"I had a bitter life
when I lived with the Khmer Rouge. I caused hardships, committed very
vicious and cruel acts," said Ung Khorn, now a missionary who
recently helped baptize several dozen former comrades.
"But when I started believing in Jesus, I became a gentler person."
Now
this
is good news.
7:15 AM Before you listen
to Dick Clarke's testimony today, read
this:
But on to the substance. Clarke's main argument—made
in his new book,
Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror,
in lengthy interviews on CBS's
60 Minutes and
PBS's Charlie Rose Show, and presumably in his
testimony
scheduled for tomorrow before the 9/11 Commission—is that Bush has done
(as Clarke put it on CBS) "a terrible job" at fighting terrorism.
Specifically: In the summer of 2001, Bush did almost nothing to deal with
mounting evidence of an impending al-Qaida attack. Then, after 9/11, his
main response was to attack Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11. This
move not only distracted us from the real war on terrorism, it fed into
Osama Bin Laden's propaganda—that the United States would invade and
occupy an oil-rich Arab country—and thus served as the rallying cry for
new terrorist recruits.
7:05 AM
Churches in flames.
Guess where?

7:00 AM
With the U.S. Supreme Court hearing oral
arguments today in a case involving the constitutionality of the phrase "under
God," I couldn't help but recall the timely comments of
Brad Edmonds on
the pledge
posted at LRC:
Most significantly, "I
pledge allegiance…to the republic for which it stands" is a logical
impossibility in light of our republic’s own founding documents. From the
Declaration of Independence: "That to secure [our unalienable] rights,
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed." Put another way, the government exists for the
benefit, and at the will, of the people – not the other way around. The
government should die immediately for the benefit of the governed if such
a course is indicated by circumstances – not the other way around. Since
the government is an institution of men, even in the ideal case (never seen
since Washington’s administrations) that government men obey the laws that
restrict their official activity, it is ridiculous on its face for you or
me to pledge allegiance to men in Washington
we haven’t met if doing so conflicts with what’s good for us and our
families (assuming we pursue what’s good for our families without
aggressing against innocent others).
Tuesday,
March 23
12:40 PM As always, Chuck
Baldwin is right
on target.
It is time that pro-family,
pro-life, and pro-constitution people understand that neither the Democrat
nor Republican Parties represent them in Washington, D.C. They also need
to understand that they do have a choice: the Constitution Party. Its
Party's nominees will be on the ballot in some 40 states, and they will be
faithful to truly represent America's founding principles.

12:35 PM Writes R.C.:
So what does this tell us
about how to grow the church? It demonstrates that we're listening to the
wrong experts. Even the pagans know it is wise to counter-program. When
everyone is going one way, go the other way. You will stand out. You will
be noticed. You will be effective. If there were such a thing as a "seeker",
someone who is looking for something, they would certainly not be looking
for more of the same, or a bad imitation of what he is fleeing. When the
world gives us mindless drivel, then is the
time
to say of the church, "Come in here. You'll get none of the nonsense
you're so tired of." When the world is happy and light, we need to be
somber, serious. When the gods of this world are distant, spineless,
voiceless, reflections of our baser selves, our duty is to present the on
true God, transcendent and immanent, omnipotent and tender, the God who
speaks with all authority and wisdom. And we need to reflect not the
perverse generation from which we have been saved, but Him in whom we have
been regenerated, Him whose image we are to be.
Talk about
Swimming Upstream.
9:30 AM Here is an
interesting chart
comparing the church growth movement's philosophy with that of the
Scriptures.
Monday,
March 22
11:30 AM He was born not
too far from our North Carolina home, in Warren County. His home in
Warrenton can still be visited today. Happy Birthday,
General!

11:00 AM
Cartoon of the week:

10:15 AM
As usual,
Eric Margolis is
impeccably logical as he warns against creating another Ayatollah Khomeini
in Southern Asia:
What should the U.S. do? The
most sensible course: hand Iraq to the UN and pull out. This would produce
intense neocon wailing about loss of credibility and giving in to
terrorism. But in fact, the longer the U.S. stays in Iraq, the more
credibility it loses, and the more it stokes terrorism.
If
a total pullout is not in the cards, then the best option is to co-operate
with Iraq’s Shia majority and show that the U.S. can work fruitfully with
an Islamic regime. Co-operation with Islamists in Baghdad opens the way to
good relations with Tehran and a major lessening of anti-American feelings
across the Muslim World. But of course, the neocons will do their best to
thwart such détente.
The United States has not
enough men, treasure, nor intellectual energy to struggle through the
morass of Mesopotamian politics and ethnic strife. Governments can usually
only think of two or three things at a time, and the mess in Iraq should
not be one of them. Otherwise, it will come to bedevil us and sap our
energies, just as Iran did in the late 1970s and ’80s. Unless we learn
from our errors and work to co-operate with the latest problematic mullah,
Ayatollah Sistani, he could well be come the nemesis his predecessor, Imam
Khomeini, did just two decades ago.
(The BBC has an excellent profile of Sistani
here.)
10:00 AM
This just in:
Seaman Frank Collins, a sailor on the ill-fated Confederate submarine
CSS Hunley, will return to his
state of birth for full honors in the Virginia State Capitol on Friday,
March 26. Collin’s remains will be delivered to the South Portico of the
Virginia State Capitol at 9 am by a six-horse team and caisson. Trailing the
caisson will be
a
rider-less horse. At the South Portico, Seaman Collins' casket will be
removed from the carriage and placed in the Old Hall of the House of
Delegates for the remainder of the day. The Virginia Division of the Sons of
Confederate Veterans will conduct a special memorial ceremony honoring
Seaman Collins and providing a historical lecture on the importance of the
Hunley to naval warfare. Proclamations by the Virginia General Assembly and
statements by Governor Mark Warner will be read.
On
Saturday, March 27, the casket of Seaman Collins will be on view in the
Museum of the Confederacy before returning to South Carolina. On April 17,
the remains of all the Hunley crew will be buried in Magnolia Cemetery in
Charleston, South Carolina. Yours truly will be marching in the funeral
procession. It has been estimated that crowds could reach as many as 100,000
for perhaps the last burial of Confederate sailors or soldiers.
9:10 AM
Les
nouveaux objectifs d'Al-Qaeda:
La tragédie de Madrid a montré que
l'organisation terroriste Al-Qaeda pouvait frapper, plus de deux ans après
la chute des Twin Towers, au cœur même de l'Europe. Et, surtout, que les
réseaux islamistes tissés par Oussama ben Laden gardent leur capacité de
nuisance en dépit de l'offensive généralisée pour les démanteler et des
actions menées contre les bastions situés dans les zones tribales de la
frontière pakistano-afghane. Comment Al-Qaeda continue-t-elle à
communiquer avec les poseurs de bombes disséminés à travers le monde?
Quels objectifs visent les chefs de la nébuleuse terroriste? Des questions
auxquelles l'enquête sur les attentats de Madrid permettra peut-être de
répondre. Al-Qaeda semble en tout cas avoir adopté
une nouvelle stratégie: choisir sa cible en fonction de la situation
politique des pays qu'elle entend châtier.
9:00 AM Berit Kjos
continues her excellent series on the church growth movement with
this essay.
8:45 AM On this day in 1758
the great educator and churchman Jonathan Edwards died as a result of a
smallpox inoculation. He is known for his fire-and-brimstone preaching, but
his lesser known sermons include one of my favorites:
God Glorified
in Man's Dependence.

7:00 AM U.S. to
retain power in "sovereign" Iraq.
Friday,
March 19
9:40 AM
Corey Keating has an excellent
survey of Greek grammars
for those of you who want to expand your library of Greek tools.
8:40 AM
"When
Jesus finally dies, people in the audience with me have been reduced to loud
weeping on several occasions. Some of them have even stopped eating their
popcorn and drinking their cokes."
Read Bruce Chilton's
review
of The Passion.
8:15 AM
Three cheers for the
Lone Star
State!
7:50 AM
Just in time for Easter! Official merchandise
from The Passion now includes "crucifix nail"
pendants.

7:40 AM
As you know, we named our new home Bradford
Hall partly after William Bradford, whose birthday we celebrate today. The
following comes from the American Minute:
William
Bradford was born this day, March 19, 1590. He sailed with the Pilgrims on
the Mayflower and was chosen as their governor in 1621, being reelected 30
times until his death. In his History of the Plymouth Plantation, William
Bradford wrote of the Pilgrims' plight: "What could now sustaine them but
ye spirite of God and His grace? May not and ought not the children of
these fathers rightly say: Our fathers...came over this great ocean, and
were ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto ye Lord, and
He heard their voyce... All great and honourable actions are accompanied
with great difficulties...Last and not least, they cherished a great hope
and inward zeal of laying good foundations, or at least making some ways
toward it, for the propagation and advance of the gospel of the kingdom of
Christ in the remote parts of the world, even though they should be but
stepping stones to others in the performance of so great a work."
7:30 AM
This morning a colleague of mine will be
taking aerial photos of Bradford Hall and the farm in Virginia, including
the original house (seen below). The weather today couldn't be better for
this outing. I'll try to post some photos early next week.

Thursday,
March 18
2:00 PM
Another great Spurgeon quote:
I used to think, sometimes,
that if they had degrees who deserved them, diplomas would often be
transferred, and given to those who hold the plough-handle or work at the
carpenters bench; for there is often more divinity in the little finger of
the ploughman than there is in the whole body of modern divines.
9:00 AM
Today at 1:00 I will be holding a prayer
vigil in my office remembering the families of the missionaries who were
slain in Iraq and praying for Carrie McDonnall's recovery. All are welcome
to join me.
8:45 AM
From a
column I wrote a year ago:
As our brave military men and women are
placed in harm’s way, it is shameful for pundits to trifle with them. War
must never be glorified, never trivialized, and never free of
consequences. While there are some excellent educational programs on TV,
they are far outnumbered by stupid or blatantly violent programming. It is
a sad day when people laugh at things that should make them cry. Fools may
mock sin. But God is not mocked.
Read
War
Must Never Be Trivialized.
8:30 AM Robert Higgs,
author of Against Leviathan, takes stock of our
Iraqi policy one
year later:
What we see in Iraq one year
after the invasion might have been foreseen, and in fact was foreseen, by
anybody who cared to take the trouble to look into the matter without
ideological or religious blinders and
with
a modicum of historical background on the conduct of U.S. foreign policy
during the past century. This war, like all the others, has been not so
much a case of who knew what when, of well-intentioned mistakes and tragic
miscalculations. It has been more a case of who told what lies to whom, to
serve what personal, political, and ideological ends; of who paid the
price in blood and treasure and who came out smelling like a rose; of
mendacity and irresponsibility in high places and of colossal public
gullibility in the face of relentless political opportunism. As the saying
goes, the more things change . . . .
7:30 AM What famous Baptist
preacher said this?
Long ago I ceased to count
heads. Truth is usually in the minority in this evil world. I have faith
in the Lord Jesus for myself, a faith burned into me as with a hot iron. I
thank God, what I believe I shall believe, even if I believe it alone.
Charles
Haddon Spurgeon, "Prince of Preachers."
Wednesday,
March 17
2:45 PM
About
10 percent of
Southern Baptist churches have pastoral vacancies at any given time.
2:20 PM
Flickerings offers a representative
survey
of Jesus movies, from 1902 to 2004. An interesting read.
9:20 AM The words of George
H. W. Bush (A World Transformed, p. 489):
Extending the ground war into an occupation of Iraq ... would have incurred
incalculable human and political costs ... We would have been forced to
occupy Baghdad ... [and] rule Iraq ... Under those circumstances there would
have been no viable exit strategy ... the U.S. could conceivably still be an
occupying power in a bitterly hostile land.
This
mother would
certainly agree.
7:45 AM In the face of
declining support in Spain for the occupation of Iraq and despite increasing
U.S.
pressure on the UN, other nations might well follow Spain's example, as these
charts
indicate:


7:10 AM Michael Peroutka on
the jobs crisis
in America:
"On his recent trip to
Cleveland, President Bush said he understands and shares the concerns of
Ohio workers who are unemployed because of so-called 'outsourcing,' because
their jobs went overseas. But, Mr. Bush does not seem to understand the pain
and heartache caused by such job losses. If he did understand, he never
would have signed his "Economic Report of the President" which says
regarding outsourcing that 'when a good or service is produced more cheaply
abroad, it makes more sense to import it than make or provide it
domestically.'
"Really? Makes more sense to whom? Certainly not to the millions of
Americans who are expected to loose their jobs because foreigners can do
their
work more cheaply. So much for the President's 'compassionate conservatism.'
"And this raises an important moral question. Is just buying things cheaper
all that America is about anymore? Is that it? God forbid. And I mean this
literally - may God forbid that we ever become such a 'bread-alone' nation.
"In his Cleveland address, Mr. Bush attacked those of us who want to
preserve American jobs for Americans saying that we want to return to the
old policy of economic isolationism and this is a recipe for disaster. Well,
(1) The 'old policy' of trying to protect American workers was, for decades,
the official policy of the Republican Party as spelled out in its Platform.
(2) It's the phoney religion of 'free trade' that has been disastrous for
American workers."
For the official platform of the
Constitution Party on trade issues, go
here.
7:00 AM A year ago today I
wrote:
Today, March 17, is Saint Patrick’s Day.
Patrick was a Christian missionary who lived from the late 4th century A.D.
to the mid 5th century A.D. and who is credited with converting Ireland from
paganism. For many celebrants, Paddy’s Day has come to epitomize all that
foreigners seem to
think
being Irish involves—wearing green, getting drunk, eating plenty of food,
saying “sure and begorrah,” or dancing like a crazed idiot.
There are, of course, many good reasons to
celebrate Irish heritage today, not the least of which is to commemorate the
life of a true Irish-American hero, Patrick Ronaynes Cleburne, born this day
in 1828 at Annbrook House, Glenmore, in County Cork. Enlisting in the 41st
Regiment of Foot, Cleburne’s unit was charged with maintaining order in a
country racked by potato famine. In 1849 Cleburne moved to America and
practiced law in Arkansas. In 1862 he received a commission as brigadier
general in the Confederate Army. He was only one of two foreign born
officers to attain the rank of major general in the Confederate armed
forces.
Read
more about
the Stonewall of the West here.
Tuesday, March 16
12:45 PM Mr. Charles Porter
just sent me this salutary reminder:
He was called the
"Chief Architect of the Constitution," and wrote many of
the
Federalist Papers, which where instrumental in convincing the States to ratify the
Constitution. He introduced the Bill of Rights in the first session of
Congress. As President, he and his wife Dolly had to flee the White House
when the British set it on fire during the War of 1812.
Who was he? James
Madison, born this day, March 16, 1751. James Madison, in his Memorial and
Remonstrance, wrote: "Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil
Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the
Universe."
Thanks, Charles. I visited Madison's
Montpelier in Orange County, VA, last year and was impressed with the
historic renovation it is undergoing. It is tragic that Madison would not
recognize his own country were he to come back today.
9:45 AM Rodney Decker has
just published a thorough review of the English
Standard Version. Read it
here.
(To my students: Please note how Decker ably treats the ESV's sometimes
erratic approach to Greek syntax.)
9:00 AM From the vault:
Remembering the People of the Towel.
 
8:00 AM Who would march in
a
four mile funeral processional to honor men who died over 137 years ago?
I would, and will.
7:00 AM The Spanish have
the flu as "Coalition
of the Willing"
breaks up. What's next
for Spain, U.S.?
Monday,
March 15
3:00 PM My self-imposed
reading assignment for the week includes: Das
Johannes-Evangelium by Eugen Drewermann, The
Gospel to the Romans: The Setting and Rhetoric of Mark's Gospel by
Brian Incigneri, The Gospel of Mark by Francis
Moloney, The Gospel of John (Volume 1) by Graig
Keener, First and Second Thessalonians by
Richard Mayhue, The Law and the Gospel by
Ernest Reisinger, and The Study of the New Testament
by Antonio Pinero and Jesus Pelaez. Most of these authors are my friends and
acquaintances, and it is good to see how their work has developed through
the years. I am especially excited to see the last-mentioned work in print,
as I fondly recall lecturing for Professors Pinero and Pelaez during a visit
to Spain's Costa del Sol several years ago. I even had the audacity
(stupidity?) to give my lecture in Spanish, though afterwards I recall that
they asked to translate it into Castilian for publication. (If any
of you would like to read my lecture - on John and Gnosticism - I will be
happy to send you a copy. Just send me your name and mailing address.)
12:30 PM The wisdom
of Jonathan Edwards (Men
Naturally are God’s Enemies, pp. 132, 138-139):
The apostasy of man
summarily consists in departing from the true God, to idols; forsaking his
Creator and setting up other things in his room...The gods which a natural
man worships, instead of the God that made him, are himself and the
world...They are not willing to accept Christ; for in doing so, they must
of necessity part with all their sins; they must sell the world, and part
with their own righteousness...He is a Savior appointed of God; he
anointed him, and sent him into the world. And in performing the work of
redemption, he wrought the works of God; always did those things that
pleased him; and all that he does as a Savior, is to his glory. And one
great thing he aimed at in redemption, was to deliver them from their
idols, and bring them to God.
11:30 AM I came, I saw,
I made Mel rich.
11:15 AM As Spain returns
to a more traditional non-interventionist role after the conservatives'
defeat, it seems likely that the Spanish military will quickly be recalled
from Iraq. It's ironic that so few Americans would understand the saying on
this placard (and I'm not referring to the fact that it's in Spanish):

10:30 AM For anyone
interested in church history, I am currently in the final stages of planning
a 12-day Grand Tour of the Reformation, which I
will host. It will include stops at such historic sites as Prague,
Wittenberg, Eisleben, Erfurt, Marburg, Mainz, Worms, Heidelberg, Strasbourg,
Basel (where my wife and I used to live), Zurich, Lucerne, Lausanne, and
Geneva. Highlights include overnighting in the Wittenberg Castle and a
special tour of Anabaptist sites in Zurich. Tentative dates are May
29-June 9, 2005, and I am trying to keep the price under $2,500 (which will
cover round trip airfare from North Carolina, meals, and four star hotels).
I plan to give daily Bible studies on the great solas of the
Reformation. As soon as the details have been set I will post them here.
(Below: The Castle Church in Wittenberg where Luther posted his 95 Theses.)

9:30 AM From the Council of
Trent:
Whoever shall affirm that
men are justified solely by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ,
or the remission of sin to the exclusion of grace and charity, which is shed
abroad in their hearts, and inheres in them; or that the grace by which we
are justified is only the favour of God; let him be accursed.
It is amazing to me how this all-important
issue is being overlooked in the debate over Gibson's movie/mass. Please
take the time to read Ian Paisley's excellent essay on
Justification.
9:20 AM This Thursday in
Greek class we will be discussing a very important textual variant in 1
Timothy 3:16 and whether or not Jesus is explicitly being called "God" in
this passage. This is one of the very few places in the Greek New Testament
where the text types are equally divided (the Byzantine text reads "God,"
the Western text has "which," and the Alexandrian text reads "who"), so that
the internal evidence takes on greater importance than usual. I, for one,
believe the the reading "God" has sufficient textual support and will try to
make that case in print in the near future.
The practice of abbreviating "God" in the
uncial manuscripts of the New Testament made the distinction between "God"
and "who" dependent merely upon two small strokes of the pen, one written
within the first letter and the other written above the two
letters. An accidental (or deliberate omission) of these strokes could
easily account for the reading "who." Copyists facing the odd reading "Great
is the mystery who was manifested" would have been tempted to alter
"who" to "which." Soweit meine Gedanken!
9:00 AM
Apparently
the latest
reality TV show is in trouble. I have a lot of respect for the Amish (as
I tried to explain in my essay
In Praise of Southern Agrarianism), but if people want to get their kicks poking fun at
someone's rural lifestyle so be it. I still think one of the greatest
compliments I was ever paid was when a colleague called me a red neck.
7:30
AM
Liberty and localism
scientifically proven.
7:15
AM
Don't you love spring time?

7:00
AM Weekend highlights:
(a) Fellowship and prayer at our church in Virginia; (b) Good, long
hand-gallop on my thoroughbred Traveler; (c) Daffodils blossoming at
Bradford Hall; (d) Finished painting the exterior of our North Carolina
home; (e) Chickens sitting and laying again; (f) Reread Hound of the
Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle; (f) Mowed for the first time since
fall.
This week's goals:
(a) Walk my students through the Greek participle; (b) Write another chapter
in my Hebrews book; (c) Finish prospectus for a new book, The Text-Driven
Sermon; (d) Prepare 5 new sermons on church reform for my
upcoming revival in Virginia.
Saturday,
March 13
7:15
AM Hard to believe, but it
was just a week ago that we had our dedication service at Bradford Hall, and
we have begun moving a few essentials into the house, including a new coffee
maker. I couldn't believe it when a neighbor gave us some Kona Coffee for
our open house. In Hawaii I enjoyed this delicious blend but hadn't had any
in years. It was but another reminder of how gently and graciously the Lord
Jesus has led my wife and me in all this. We are often thanking Him for His
goodness, because each step of the way He has given us something better
before He took away the lesser. The way has been sweet, and the stones He
has given us from the midst of the Jordan have been overwhelmingly
wonderful. To those who attended the open house last weekend I again want to
say how honored we were that you took the time to share in our joy. It is
our prayer for you and your families that you may at every turn know His
protecting and leading arm. It is also our prayer that the whole Body
of Christ will be moved - men and women committed to the leading of the
Spirit and therefore more ready for tomorrow's wider battles. God bless each
and every one of you, and have a wonderful weekend.

7:00
AM
Why would a "Christian" film director cast
hardcore pornography stars in a movie about Jesus Christ? And why haven't
any of the alleged “Christian” reviewers of Gibson's movie mentioned these
facts? Read An International
Hoax.
Thursday,
March 11
7:20
PM From the vault:
Stonewall was
right.
6:20 PM Paul Proctor offers
part 2 of his
Big Screen
Jesus on Gibson's Passion. Read it and weep.
But, the lies, errors and
distortions in the film are only secondary sins. The primary problem is
not believing God. Had we simply taken Him at His Word, rejected the false
image offered and stayed at home with our bibles instead of running out to
a movie theater to see what Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were keeping from
us, there would be no controversy, contradiction or confusion. But, by
disobeying God, ignoring His Word and pursuing a charming pretender, we
forfeit our faith, lose our discernment and begin believing all of the
bittersweet lies that follow. Worse yet, we end up defending them. Why?
Because, like the caller said, they’re "powerful, realistic and apropos."
2:20 PM
Roger Nicole writes:
We are called upon by the
Lord to contend earnestly for the faith. (Jude 3) That does not
necessarily involve being contentious; but it involves avoiding
compromise, standing forth for what we believe, standing forth for the
truth of God-without welching at any particular moment. Thus, we are bound
to meet, at various points and various levels, people with whom we
disagree. We disagree in some areas of Christian doctrine. We disagree as
to some details of church administration. We disagree as to the way in
which certain tasks of the church should be pursued. And, in fact, if we
are careful to observe the principles that I would like to expound for
you, I would suggest that they may be valuable also in disagreements that
are not in the religious filed. They also would apply to disagreements in
politics or difficulties with people in your job or friction within the
family or contentions between husband and wife or between parents and
children. Who does not encounter from time to time people who are not in
complete agreement; therefore it is good to seek to discover certain basic
principles whereby we may relate to those who differ from us.
Read
How to Deal with
Those Who Differ from Us.
2:15 PM
A must read:
The Baptist
Confession of Faith of 1689 Rewritten in Modern English.
2:10 PM The book of Hebrews
always circulated
as a Pauline letter in the early church. This is yet another
reason why I espouse Pauline authorship.
2:00 PM The 100 most
mispelled (er,
misspelled)
words in English (and how to avoid them).
7:50 AM You must see what
this lady
has to say.
7:45 AM At the
breaking point.
7:30 AM
Several readers were encouraged by our essay
on Paul's thorn in the flesh. Writes one:
Dear Dr. Black,
God bless you for
putting "Paul's Thorn in the Flesh--and Ours" on daveblackonline. I needed
very much to read it today. I had never considered the possibility that
the thorn was, perhaps, another person or circumstances external to Paul.
I especially liked the part where you say that ". . . it was *in* his
suffering that he was to fulfill his missionary calling."
Thanks again for
your wisdom and passionate scholarship.
Another appreciated our emphasis on pastoral
involvement in politics:
Bro. Dave,
Your web site is wonderful!
I just reviewed your
article, "Pastors, Join the Black Regiment." I've been preaching and
lecturing for years on the Black Regiment, so it's a blessing to see
someone else actually mention them.
Tragically, several hundred thousand churches have already made the
decision to serve the State, specifically through incorporation and the
501c3. Some have done so deliberately, because they are Erastians. But
many more have done so unwittingly and out of ignorance. For them there is
hope, but only if we can get them the right information to help them
correct their problem.
Thanks to all for taking the time to write.
7:00 AM
This essay notes how powerful the conservative
Christian voting bloc can be in an election year. It also raises an
important question: Is the leaven leavening anymore?
The numerical picture is
startling, and it reveals a political indiscipline among conservative
Christians that stands in stark contrast to the efficient political machines
of the left. Approximately 103,210,000 votes were cast in the 2000
presidential election. 136 Million people comprise the self-identifying
adult population of the top 8 Christian denominations. If half of those vote
(68m), and 40% of them are socially conservative (27.2m), then social
conservative possess a nearly unrivaled voting bloc, if such self-discipline
could be coordinated among social conservatives. But it cannot, so long as
conservative Christian leaders remain in the tainted thrall of the GOP. If
this bloc were to be organized, it would hold the key to national elections
for the next generation, and could reshape the political landscape entirely
by forcing its legislative agenda on office seekers and incumbents. This is
precisely what will not happen. The blandishment and baksheesh of statists
has proven far too intoxicating for Christian "leaders" who want a place at
the table of power. What other explanation can there be for moral "lions"
who meekly line up before the lion tamer every fourth year. If only our
unity with compromise will win the day, it has only won the day for
compromise.
Our fate is clear: until
prominent Christian leaders begin to expend political capital on the
formation of an electoral challenge to the anti-Christ corporate-owned and
operated single-party socialist-fascist statism that is the reality of
American government, not a particle of change will occur. We will continue
to stand amazed before the phantasmagoria of mass psychological manipulation
and electoral engineering performed like a childs magic show for the
citizens of this country.
Read
Gary Demar Calling the Faithful Home to The GOP.
Wednesday,
March 10
2:00 PM
Are there apostles today? Read
Apostles and Prophets and the Foundation of the Church.
1:20
PM
A man once criticized the late nineteenth
century preacher Dwight Moody for
his
involvement in political affairs. “Are you not a citizen of heaven?”
the detractor asked. “Yes, someday I shall be,” Moody responded,
“but right now I’m registered to vote in Cook County, Illinois.”
12:50 PM The sin sniffer's
catch-all verse.
12:45 PM Steve Haymond has
some important things to say about the power of peer pressure to
(negatively) influence young people and some practical advice for pastors on
how to implement an age-integrated philosophy of ministry. A
snippet:
As parents we intellectually
acknowledge this total depravity in our children. But it seems to stop
with our minds. If we really believe our children are foolish by nature
and vulnerable and susceptible (like the "young man lacking sense" in
Proverbs 5), why do we group them together so much apart from our direct
guidance as parents? Children (esp. younger ones), when given enough time
and opportunity, will follow their nature and will soon do in the absence
of their parents what they would never do in their presence (assuming good
discipline in the home, of course). Why is this? Well, it certainly is not
the child's fault. I think we can only blame ourselves as parents. Many of
us parents seem unaware of the danger of peer dependence because we
ourselves are peer dependent and, like the proverbial frog in boiling
water, have slowly adopted the values of the world almost unawares. Our
children are merely following us.
See also Scott
Brown's
Three Questions Regarding Youth Groups.
7:45 AM
Photos of Bradford Hall, taken at our open house and dedication
service last Saturday, just before our guests arrived.

The day started out cloudy and rainy, but the weather cleared up just
before people began arriving, and eventually blue skies returned to
Southside Virginia.
We named our farm "Rosewood"
after the wild rose bushes on the land (including the many we planted).

The Hall is situated in a
secluded area surrounded by 123 acres of fields and stands of pines and
hardwoods. First we cleared the land and then dug this acre and a half pond.
(For you fishermen out there, we recently stocked it with 400 bass.) Then
came the house, which took us 23 months to complete. If you're used to the
city or the suburbs, you'll find the silence here almost deafening. I call
the upstairs porch my "deer stand."

The "wood" siding is actually
a product called Hardy Plank, which reputedly needs fresh paint only every
50 years or so (we'll see about that!). We bought our front door at an
antique store in South Boston. It dates from the 1850s (note the wavy glass)
and took four of us to lift into place. Originally it had double doors, but
we built a new new single door from wood we scavenged.

Our next project is to fence
in the fields you see in the distance and build a new horse barn.

The Hall has five wood-burning
fire places. We named this guest room the "Renn Room" since the doors and
the wood used for the wainscoting, mantle, etc. came from the historic Renn
House in Granville County, North Carolina (built ca. 1780). The painting
over the mantle is of the original plantation home - a beauty in her day.

7:30 AM What to do with
the
household deity.
7:25 AM My friend Scott
Brown of Trinity Baptist Church explains
the value of children worshipping with their parents.
7:10 AM
This is a must-read essay on
The
Contemporary Church.
7:00 AM
The immortal words of John A. Broadus (1827-1895), formerly professor at
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, begin my day:
Brethren, we must preach the
doctrines; we must emphasize the doctrines; we must go back to the
doctrines. I fear that the new generation does not know the doctrines as
our fathers knew them.
Tuesday,
March 9
5:40 PM A word to my
Intermediate Greek students: As we study 1 Timothy 3 and biblical eldership
in the church this week, please note what The Abstract of Principles of the
Southern Baptist Convention states: "The regular offices of a Church are
Bishops or Elders, and Deacons." Observe, also, that the Baptist Faith and
Message 2000 states: "Its [the church's] scriptural officers are pastors and
deacons." Please read and exegete Ephesians 4:11-12 before coming to class,
as well as the assigned texts from 1 Timothy.
5:30 PM Doug Bandow has
written one of the best assessments of our Iraqi policy that I have seen in
a long time. For his two-part series, go
here.
5:15 PM Check out Lew
Rockwell's new
homeschooling archives.
1:15 PM Just ran across
this interesting essay by Jacob Hornberger, who wants to know if we're
electing a president or a
military leader:
Amidst all the hubbub
among the Democratic Party candidates for president over who supported
President Bush’s invasion of Iraq and who didn’t, have you noticed that
not one of them has brought up the Constitution and, specifically, the
constitutional requirement that the president secure a congressional
declaration of war as a prerequisite to waging war?
No; while some of
Democrats are supporting the president’s judgment in attacking a sovereign
and independent nation that had not attacked or threatened to attack the
United States, and while others are questioning his judgment, none of them
is questioning his claim of omnipotent power to send the entire nation
into war solely on the basis of his own initiative. After all, don’t
forget that even though the Congress enacted a resolution in which it
delegated its power to declare war to the president (unconstitutionally, I
might add), the president made it very clear that he didn’t need such
authorization. While he welcomed congressional support, he consistently
said, the decision to declare war was his and his alone.
But isn’t the omnipotent
power to send a nation into war traditionally characteristic of societies
suffering under dictatorial regimes?
Hornberger
concludes (to which I say "Amen!"):
Despite all the customary
political fanfare that comes every four years, the critical choice facing
the American people is not whom to elect as their next commander in chief.
It’s whether to replace the current paradigm of perpetual war, empire,
militarism, and omnipotent government that holds our nation in its grip
with a different paradigm based on liberty, peace, republic, and
constitutionally limited government. Once the new paradigm replaces the
old, we’ll be once again be voting for president rather than commander in
chief.
1:10 PM
"Artificially
restraining young people in institutions for the purpose of controlling
their experiences and behavior delays the reality of learning to make
responsible choices. The current system hurts young people while stifling
the maturation process, and it leaves a vacuum of those who are willing to
train for leadership, cheating our nation as a whole." Read
more.
1:00 PM
Jim Rudd, editor of
Covenant News, used to be a Republican's
Republican. That was then.
The man out on the street
sees a Republican administration committed to keeping the nation's
abortion clinics open. They see a Republican President honoring sodomites
in the White House and appointing them to positions of influence and
authority. And all so-called "pro-choice" and "gay-rights" activists know
full well that President Bush has requested and approved federal taxpayer
funding supporting their criminal and vile activities.
Have Christians no knowledge
of what this Republican Party association is doing to our witness? How can
Christians call murderers and sexual criminals to repentance through Jesus
Christ when Christians are identified with the Republican Party which is
gladly funding those criminals' activities?
Go
here for more.
11:00 AM
Which state has
785,000 government employees and counting?
9:40 AM
Do
not call
your Congressman.
9:35 AM
Insanity
defined.
9:30 AM
A portrait of my son Nathan (he's
the
spittin' image!):

9:20 AM
The Review of Biblical Literature
just published two reviews of Peter Stuhlmacher's
Revisiting
Paul's Doctrine of Justification.
9:15 AM
The word "elder"
means "older man" (it is the comparative form of the adjective "old"). Thus
the Greek word presbuteros implies age. For example, in 1 Peter 5
Peter addresses the elders/older men and tells them to pastor and overseer
the flock of God. Immediately afterwards he tells the younger men: "likewise
ye younger submit yourselves unto the elder." Clearly, the contrast involves
one of age. If we want to know which age is meant, I believe a case can be
made for 30, based on Jesus' life and ministry (see my book
The Myth of Adolescence,
"Jesus and the Age Thirty Transition"). Younger men lack the maturity and
life experience to lead and feed the flock of God. Do we, then, "lay hands
too quickly" on some men?
9:10 AM Listen up,
"pastors."
All New
Testament churches had elders. If yours doesn't, may I ask, why not?
8:50 AM One reason I oppose
"public" education is the government's position on school vouchers. What's
even worse is the way conservative Americans are swallowing the lie about
government-sponsored "solutions" to education.
Clearly, freedom from government regulation
is a thing of the past. The opportunity to compete in a free and open
society is fast disappearing, and the “progressives” are doing all they can
to hasten the complete demise of republicanism in America. Their idea of
“liberty” is special status based on race, social disabilities, and personal
and sexual preferences. And they have enormous muscle due to the support
they receive from those in positions of power in society, Democrats and
Republicans alike. The alternative? Vote for biblical principles of
education.

8:40 AM Our men and women
overseas deserve the very best. It is inexcusable for them to go into battle
unprepared, ill-equipped, and poorly led. Col. David Hackworth notes:
We’re engaged in a
terrorist conflict that will no doubt prove to be the longest and nastiest
war in our country’s history. Which means we can’t
tolerate
slack such as: Three National Guard combat brigades being deployed to Iraq
that aren’t good-to-go; our deploying warriors still being sent to the
killing fields without sufficient armored vests and vehicles; and the
outrageously high number of active-duty and reserve-component troops who
aren’t deployable but are being paid to soldier anyway.
All of the above –
all fixable – can be blamed on bad leadership. There are just too many
Perfumed Princes sporting stars who are politicians, lobbyists and
salesmen rather than soldiers. Abe Lincoln went through a squad of such
spoilers before he found a U.S. Grant. Today, he’d probably have to sort
through at least a battalion of the top brass to find one Ulysses.
Read
In Search of a Ulysses.
8:00 AM Our open house and
dedication service at Bradford Hall on Saturday was greatly blessed of the
Lord. I will post pictures shortly. Heartfelt thanks to all of you who
attended. You truly honored us with your presence.
7:15 AM Mr.
Rich Holland offers this rejoinder to
an essay by R. C. Sproul:
Not long ago, readers
of DBO were encouraged to read
The Pelagian Captivity of the Church, a
compelling corrective of today’s easy-believism in so-called “evangelical”
churches, written by R.C. Sproul. While I have the deepest respect for
R.C. Sproul as a theologian, and while I found myself saying “Amen!” at
several points made in the article in question, I must humbly ask readers
of DBO to consider carefully some dubious suggestions included in the
article. I believe Dr. Sproul is on the verge of denying a clear teaching
of scripture: that human beings are (at least in some sense) free. Even if
you don’t agree with me on that point, let me encourage you to consider
the following:
1. Sproul seems to have
done some of what Paige Patterson has called “Waffle House Theology.” This
is the practice of coming to the Biblical text with a preconceived notion
of what it means (our waffle iron mould), and then trimming off those
passages of scripture that don’t fit our preconceived ideas (like bits of
waffle batter that run out of the mould). When we fail to take into
account certain passages of scripture in our theology, and then we go back
and read those passages that we have not taken into account, we are forced
to interpret these passages in light of the “more important ones.” So now,
when Scripture tells us that God “desires all men to be saved and to come
to the knowledge of the truth,” (1 Timothy 2:4, NKJV) we have a small
problem. After all, even if man is not free, certainly God is free to do
whatever He desires, right? Well, then, since God is free and humans are
not, then either this passage teaches that all will be saved, or that
“all” doesn’t mean “all.” Ah, yes! God simply desires all of the elect
to be saved. Or take the book of Jonah, for example. Did the people of
Nineveh have the real ability to repent? Oh, sure they did, because that
is what they did. But did they have the real ability to not repent?
If we say they had no such ability, then it seems we have to turn the book
on its head, and believe that the plain and obvious meaning of the text is
not the real meaning of the text. Perhaps it is a bit of cosmic
theater put on for Jonah’s benefit, and the people of Nineveh were just
puppets on strings used by God to teach Jonah a lesson about repentance
(although I’m not sure why this lesson would have been necessary if humans
are not in some sense free).
My only point here is that we should take all of
Scripture into account before we come down on any issue of
Theology; otherwise it seems that we have to ignore some passages in favor
of other passages. (And remember, Sproul
elsewhere defends paedobaptism . . . from
Scripture!)
2. Much of Sproul’s
argument is based on the false assumption that Divine Sovereignty and
human free will (rightly understood) are not compatible. Now clearly the
Bible does not affirm that human beings have unlimited freedom. But
equally clearly, it teaches that human beings have some freedom.
Perhaps the trouble here is in our terminology. It seems to me that God is
the only one who is free. Human beings simply have a limited power of
moral choice. But where does Sproul get the idea that these two ideas are
not compatible? It seems as if he is suggesting that where the Bible
affirms God’s sovereignty, we should take it at face value; but where the
Bible affirms the human power of moral choice, we should “read between the
lines” and understand that no such power actually exists. Why can’t we
take both sorts of passages at face value? Why must we assume that God’s
sovereignty and the human power of moral choice are incompatible? For
further reading, see William Lane Craig, The Only Wise God (Wipf
and Stock, 2000)
3. Sproul has set up for
his readers a false dilemma; namely, we are asked to choose between
Sproul’s position, in its entirety, and the
“already-condemned-by-the-church” Pelagianism. At this point, the
un-informed reader may say to himself, “Well, I don’t want to be accused
of Pelagianism, because that was condemned by the church as heresy. If
that is my only alternative, then I must agree with Sproul. He must
be right!” Now, this move on Sproul’s part is pretty common among those
who wish to strong-arm their opponents into recanting their obvious
theological error and finally siding with wisdom. But no matter how
common, it is nonetheless very weak argumentation. After all, similar
arguments sometimes say, you must be either Calvinist or Arminian! There
is no other alternative! This line of reasoning seems to be blatant
trickery on the part of one who knows the statement to be false. (It can’t
be theological ignorance, can it?) To say that all of what Scripture
teaches about salvation is bound up so neatly by Calvin that our only
alternative is to either agree completely with Calvin or choose Jacob
Arminius does a great disservice to both Calvin and Scripture.
4. Finally, Sproul seems to
be talking out of both sides of his mouth a bit. It is obvious in his
essay that Sproul relies quite heavily on the leaders of the Reformation
in stating his understanding of both soteriology and anthropology. Sproul
is asking his readers (implicitly) to stand with the fathers of the
Reformation in their commitment to “Sola Scriptura.” But let me ask
a serious question here: Can one claim “Sola Scriptura” with
intellectual honesty, and at the same time quote Calvin or
Luther on matters of anthropology and soteriology? Why not stand firm
with the leaders of the Reformation and rely on Scripture alone
as the source of truth on such matters? In spite of the great respect that
we all ought have for such giants as Calvin, Zwingly, and Luther; I would
argue that while it is possible to form his position from Biblical
argumentation, Sproul’s approach in the essay in question is tenuous at
best, and at worst . . . well, this is a friendly rejoinder. I’m
sure you get the idea.
7:00 AM
Just read this heart-warming letter from a
reader in Southern California (where we lived for 27 years).
Dear Mr. Black,
Thanks for the
positive press on the Constitution Party. I never would have thought that
holding the Bible as the rule and guide of my faith, and the Constitution
as the limit of government would make me a "right-wing nut"; the former
tells us the Truth about our enslavement to sin, and the latter attempts
to keep us from being enslaved by our own creation. Honestly and
forthrightly accepting our inescapable flaws is anathema to the
politically-expedient version of tolerance and diversity. Funny, isn't it?
In the eighth grade
(Casimir Middle School, Torrance CA), we studied the Constitution in my
social studies class. As English electives in high school (North Torrance
High), we read the Bible as a literature.
Even at the time, I
knew that understanding the Bible and Constitution was essential to
understanding my culture and society.
Thanks for the
interesting and informative articles on Gen. Lee's faith, thoughts and
motives. Too few people know that the Confederacy was motivated more by
the preservation of State sovereignty than the preservation of slavery.
Friday,
March 5
2:20 PM
I love getting mail about my negative
appraisal of seeker-sensitivity. The larger issue is that of our standards
for "success" in the evangelical church, and on this topic Nathan Busenitz
has ably defended a biblical perspective:
If numbers were the only
standard of success, The Purpose-Driven Church by Rick Warren would
stand as one of the greatest books of our time. Having sold over one
million copies in 20 different languages, it was selected as one of the
“100 Christian Books that Changed the 20th Century.” Its supporters
include men like W. A. Criswell, Bill Bright, Jerry Falwell, Robert
Schuller, Adrian Rogers, and Jack Hayford. And the church that serves as
its paradigm, Saddleback Church of Southern California, has grown from the
house where it started (in 1980) to a weekly attendance of 16,000.
Yet, numbers are not the
only measure of success—in fact, they’re not the standard at all. Rather,
God teaches that His standard is faithfulness to His Word. After all, 1
Timothy 3:15 says that the purpose of the church is to be “the pillar and
support of the truth.” And 2 Timothy 2:15 says that the purpose of the
pastor is to accurately handle “the word of truth.” It is “the knowledge
of the truth” that leads to godliness (Titus 1:1), and it is “obedience to
the truth” that purifies the soul (1 Pet. 1:22). Thus, “as fellow workers
of the truth” (1 John 3:18), pastors should seek to minister “for the sake
of the truth” (2 John 2), in order that the people in their congregations
might be those “who walk in truth” (2 John 4). The biblical standard of
success is never numbers, but rather the accurate proclamation of God’s
truth (2 Tim. 2:15; James 3:1). With this in mind, Warren’s
seeker-sensitive model reveals several weaknesses.
For more, go
here. It's true when I
say it: I would rather go into the catacombs and my congregation be reduced
to the size of Jason's household than to adopt an unbiblical model of
"growing" the church.
2:15 PM
I always enjoy reading R. C. Sproul. Here
he is at his best, clarifying for us certain popular "analogies" that are
used to justify our rampant easy-believism:
I heard an evangelist use two analogies to describe what happens in our
redemption. He said sin has such a stronghold on us, a stranglehold, that
it's like a person who can't swim, who falls overboard in a raging sea,
and he's going under for the third time and only the tops of his fingers
are still above the water; and unless someone intervenes to rescue him, he
has no hope of survival, his death is certain. And unless God throws him a
life preserver, he can't possibly be rescued. And not only must God throw
him a life preserver in the general vicinity of where he is, but that life
preserver has to hit him right where his fingers are still extended out of
the water, and hit him so that he can grasp hold of it. It has to be
perfectly pitched. But still that man will drown unless he takes his
fingers and curls them around the life preserver and God will rescue him.
But unless that tiny little human action is done, he will surely perish.
The other analogy is this: A man is desperately ill, sick unto death,
lying in his hospital bed with a disease that is fatal. There is no way he
can be cured unless somebody from outside comes up with a cure, a medicine
that will take care of this fatal disease. And God has the cure and walks
into the room with the medicine. But the man is so weak he can't even help
himself to the medicine; God has to pour it on the spoon. The man is so
sick he's almost comatose. He can't even open his mouth, and God has to
lean over and open up his mouth for him. God has to bring the spoon to the
man¹s lips, but the man still has to swallow it.
Now, if we're going to use analogies, let's be accurate. The man isn't
going under for the third time; he is stone cold dead at the bottom of the
ocean. That's where you once were when you were dead in sin and trespasses
and walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air. And while you were dead hath God quickened
you together with Christ. God dove to the bottom of the sea and took that
drowned corpse and breathed into it the breath of his life and raised you
from the dead. And it's not that you were dying in a hospital bed of a
certain illness, but rather, when you were born you were born D.O.A.
That's what the Bible says: that we are morally stillborn.
Read
The Pelagian Captivity of the Church.
10:55 AM
From Washington's
Farewell Address
(1796):
There is an opinion that
parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the
government and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within
certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast,
patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of
party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely
elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural
tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for
every salutary purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the
effort ought to be by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it.
A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its
bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.
10:50 AM
Even with 650 million Euros spent and
50,000 policemen on standby, Greece may still not be ready for the
Summer Games.
10:30 AM
Pat Buchanan may be cuter, says
Linda Muller of the Buchanan Brigade, but she still plans to vote for
Michael Peroutka.

10:20 AM
It's almost here: The
New Europe, with 10 new
members.
Am
1. Mai 2004 bekommt die Europäische Union zehn neue Mitglieder: Estland,
Lettland, Litauen, Malta, Polen, die Slowakei, Slowenien, Tschechien, Ungarn
und Zypern. Wir haben hierfür ZEIT-Beiträge zu unterschiedlichen Aspekten
aus Politik, Kultur und Wirtschaft der Länder gesammelt. Berücksichtigt
wurden auch die Länder Rumänien, Bulgarien und die Türkei. Unsere
interaktive Karte führt Sie zu den gesuchten Ländern.
Europe remains the "Spiritual
Dark Continent." So
where are the missionaries?
10:15 AM
Reformation and confession
cannot be separated.
9:15 AM
All this talk about a federal marriage
amendment misses
the real issue: What right does government have to license marriage in
the first place?
Incorporated churches make
themselves liable for complying with a myriad of laws which, had they not
incorporated, they would not be subject to. Such is the case of the
marriage license statutes which most states today have. Those statutes are
fairly uniform, courtesy of the Uniform Marriage License Act.
Marriage licenses are a relatively recent phenomena (not unlike church
incorporation). The Uniform Marriage License Act started being promoted to
the several states shortly after the turn of the twentieth century. It was
adopted by most of the states by 1927. It was also around that time that
the states started issuing marriage licenses to just about anyone who
wanted one.
At first, about the only people who really wanted a marriage license were
non-Christians who wanted their ceremony performed by a judge, justice of
the peace, etc., rather than by a clergyman in a church. Some of them did
so out of convenience, or not wanting to go through the bother of planning
an elaborate church ceremony. But there were also some who rejected
marriage as ordained by God, and viewed it as a State institution and,
therefore, a "civil contract."
Marriage back then was much more clearly understood by most people (even
most non-Christians) as being an institution ordained by God, not the
State. Therefore, one usually went to a clergyman for their marriage
counsel and preparation, and the solemnization of the marriage ceremony
took place in a church. To this very day even many non-Christians want to
associate their marriage with a "religious ceremony."
Over a period of time, and for reasons that I find difficult to
comprehend, many Christians started asking for marriage licenses, as well.
Our reasons today seem much different than those folks who took them
decades ago. Most of us just do so out of complete ignorance. The law
doesn't require it; but some people just think they can't do anything
without their government's permission, so they get married by license.
Now just about everyone gets married by license. Those that don't are
often accused of "living in sin." My 93-year old grandmother was not
married by license. Most people back then didn't get a marriage license.
You may insult me personally any way you want, but if you say anything
about my grandmother "living in sin" with her husband for not taking a
State license, there may be an altercation. You'd also better not say
anything about my momma and aunt being "illegitimate" just because grandma
didn't have a license to make babies.
Back then the institution of marriage was not thought of as a "civil
contract" but a God-ordained covenantal institution. The State was not a
party to that institution, as it usually is today by license.
Marriage is a covenant. It is entered into by a vow taken before
witnessess -- usually one's own friends -- those who will (or at least
should) hold us accountable should we breach our vows. To this very day
most people still practice the old biblically-based customs in their
marriage ceremonies, even though they, at the very same time, effectively
repudiate the sufficiency of that covenant and of their vows by taking a
State license.
The State licensing of marriage has had enormous consequences on our
civilization, none of which have been positive. State-licensed churches
will continue to aid and abet the State in the nation's downward spiral.
Free-churches, on the other hand, have an incredible opportunity to start
turning our nation around by building families founded upon biblical
covenantalism, rather than civil contract.
God willing I'll be writing a book on the origin of the marriage license,
how we got to where we are today, and what we can now do about it. In the
meantime, we'll try and address your issues and concerns here about the
State marriage license.
8:30 AM
This weekend, my wife and I have the
privilege of dedicating Bradford Hall, our new home at Rosewood Farm in
Virginia, to the Lord. The Hall is named in honor of three of her ancestors:
Governor William Bradford, Dr. William Bradford Brooks, and Mr. Bradford
Noyes Lapsley.
William Bradford,
author of the Mayflower Compact, was governor of the Plymouth Colony for 30
years and helped shape and stabilize the political institutions of the first
permanent
settlement in New England. Bradford is remembered mainly for his
contribution in nurturing the fledgling colony’s democratic institutions,
such as the town meeting, thus establishing traditions of self-government
that would set the pattern for national political development in years to
come. Cotton Mather described Bradford as “a person …well skilled in
History, in Antiquity, and in Philosophy….But the crown of all was his holy,
prayerful, watchful, and fruitful walk with God, wherein he was very
exemplary.”
William Bradford
Brooks, my wife’s paternal great-grandfather, grew up in East Texas at Brooks Saline, the largest
supplier of salt to the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy.
During
the War for Southern Independence he served in the First Texas Heavy
Artillery guarding the Texas
Coast. Later he became a medical doctor in Fort Worth. A pioneer in the
field of medicine, he founded the Texas Medical Examiner, the first
medical journal in Texas, and was also the first doctor to specialize in the
treatment of chemical dependency. He is also said to have had the first
telephone in Texas; it ran from his home outside to his office.
Bradford Noyes
Lapsley, my wife’s father, served with the Sudan Interior Mission as
a
pioneer missionary to Southern Ethiopia in the 1950s. Today he continues to
translate and publish works for
Ethiopian pastors in the Amharic language. He has left a lasting legacy in
the lives of thousands of Ethiopians whom he has touched with the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.
Our son Nathan served as chief
architect and master builder of Bradford Hall. He designed it to replicate
an early 1800s Georgian/Federal style plantation home. The wings and porches
reflect additions that would have been added in the 1880s, while the
bathrooms and back porch would have been added in the 1950s.
The room styles reflect several
architectural periods: Greek Revival (the dining room, master bedroom, and
upstairs hall), Georgian (the entire second story), and Victorian (the
office and porches). Features of the Greek Revival Period include large
columns, carvings, arched windows and transoms, and corner blocks. Georgian
features include beaded surrounds and heavily raised panels. The expansive
porches and delicate fretwork reflect tastes prevalent during the Victorian
era.
In constructing the Hall, Nathan
utilized wood from actual structures from these periods, including the Renn
House (ca. 1780), the Dr. Mudd House (ca. 1820), the Dodd House (ca. 1890),
the Hobgood Family House (ca. 1880), the Warrenton Train Station, as well as
doors made by the famous furniture maker, Thomas Daye (d. 1858).
It is our prayer that God will use our home
as a place where visitors can sense His presence and love and be challenged
and encouraged to serve Him wholeheartedly. We humbly and gratefully
dedicate it to His service.
The theme we have chosen for Bradford Hall is Joshua 24:14-15:
Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in
sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on
the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it
seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will
serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other
side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but
as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Wednesday,
March 3
9:35 AM
George Washington's
prayer was on my heart and lips this morning:
Most Gracious Lord God, from whom proceedeth every
good and perfect gift, I offer to Thy Divine Majesty my unfeigned praise and
thanksgiving for all Thy mercies towards me. Thou mad'st me at first and
hast ever since sustained the work of Thy own hand; Thou gav'st Thy Son to
die for me; and hast given me assurance of salvation, upon my repentance and
sincerely endeavoring to conform my life to His holy precepts and example.
Thou art pleased to lengthen out to me the time of repentance and to move me
to it by Thy Spirit and by Thy Word, by Thy mercies, and my own
unworthiness, I do appear before Thee at this time; I have sinned and done
very wickedly, be merciful to me, O God, and pardon me for Jesus Christ
sake; instruct me in the particulars of my duty, and suffer me not to be
tempted above what Thou givest me strength to bear. Take care, I pray Thee
of my affairs and more and more direct me in Thy truth, defend me from my
enemies, especially my spiritual ones.
Suffer
me not to be drawn from Thee, by the blandishments of the world, carnal
desires, the cunning of the devil, or deceitfulness of sin. Work in me Thy
good will and pleasure, and discharge my mind from all things that are
displeasing to Thee, of all ill will and discontent, wrath and bitterness,
pride & vain conceit of myself, and render me charitable, pure, holy,
patient and heavenly minded. Be with me at the hour of death; dispose me for
it, and deliver me from the slavish fear of it, and make me willing and fit
to die whenever Thou shalt call me hence.
Bless our rulers in church and state. Bless O Lord the whole race of
mankind, and let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy Son
Jesus Christ. Pity the sick, the poor, the weak, the needy, the widows and
fatherless, and all that morn or are broken in heart, and be merciful to
them according to their several necessities. Bless my friends and grant me
grace to forgive my enemies as heartily as I desire forgiveness of Thee my
heavenly Father. I beseech Thee to defend me this night from all evil, and
do more for me than I can think or ask, for Jesus Christ sake, in whose most
holy Name & Words, I continue to pray, Our Father, Who art in Heaven....
9:30 AM
David Kay is now telling the Bush
administration to
come
clean about WMD. Indeed, according to the UN,
Iraq had no WMD after 1994. Didn't the White House know this? I would
add: How about fessing up on what you knew about the threat from Osama? Keep
in mind that the relatives of
9/11 victims have sued the airlines for lax security measures, though it may
be more likely that they will find the U.S. government to blame for the lack
of security preparedness on September 11. At least that’s the conclusion of
an 800-page report prepared by a joint congressional inquiry detailing the
intelligence and law-enforcement failures that preceded the attacks. The
report includes provocative, and apparently unheeded, warnings given
President Bush and his top advisers during the summer of 2001.
Sources who
have read the congressional report say one portion deals with the flood of
U.S. intelligence-agency reports in the summer of 2001 suggesting that Al
Qaeda was planning an attack against the United States, thus raising serious
questions about how Bush and his top aides responded. One such CIA briefing,
in July 2001, was particularly chilling. It predicted that Osama bin Laden
was about to launch a terrorist strike “in the coming weeks.” The
intelligence briefing went on to say:
The attack will be
spectacular and designed to inflict mass casualties against U.S. facilities
or interests. Attack preparations have been made. Attack will occur with
little or no warning.
The report gives specific names and dates,
and provides new information about the handling of many other crucial
intelligence briefings, including one in early August 2001 given to
national-security adviser Rice that discussed Al Qaeda operations within the
United States and the possibility that the group’s members might seek to
hijack airplanes.
Such revelations, if true, would have far-reaching
consequences. What took place on September 11 was an atrocity. But what
has followed qualifies as tragedy. President Bush has received full
authority to wage war against all who abetted the slaughter. But as the
president directs the moral outrage of his wounded nation, he will need to
remember that sacrificing truth is just as unacceptable as sacrificing
innocent lives. It’s time for the White House to come clean on just what
it knew about a possible terrorist attack on the United States—and when it
knew it. The victims of 9/11 deserve it, and so do their survivors.
8:30 AM
Andrew Wilson has emailed me links to his
excellent essays on the New Testament text. His topic is
Demythologizing New Testament
Textual Criticism.
7:30 AM
Jacque Ellul on
images and their tendency to replace intellectual discernment:
Make
no mistake here: this is how modern people usually think. We are arriving at
a purely emotional stage of thinking. In order to begin reacting
intellectually, we need the stimulus of an image. Bare information or an
article or book no longer have any effect on us. We do not begin reflecting
on such a basis, but only with an illustration. We need violent visual
impact if thought is to be set in motion. When we jump from image to image,
we are really going from emotion to emotion: our thought moves from anger to
indignation, from fear to resentment, from passion to curiosity. In this
manner our thought is enriched by diversity and multiple meaning but is
singularly paralyzed with respect to its specific efficacy as thought.
Read more from
The Humiliation of the Word.
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