Written on Our Hard Hearts

If we were not blinded by sin, we would see 
that God's law is clearly written in our own 
hearts, embedded so deeply in our nature that 
it cannot be effaced.  The more eagerly we 
seek our lusts and desires the more we are 
judged.  

The reason that we do not understand is that 
our hearts are very hard, unless we are 
renewed by the Spirit, given a new heart 
that can understand and fear the Lord.  We 
are naturally first in our own causes, seek 
them eagerly, and men who are most 
energetic in this endeavor are praised and 
rewarded by the world and held up as 
examples for the rest of us.


Philippians 2:21 "For all seek their own, 
not the things which are Jesus Christ’s."

Jesus is the Light of the world, and the 
Light that penetrates into the darkness of 
our hearts, showing us that the more 
energy and effort we devote to our own 
interests, the more we are judged by His 
holy law.

How can this be.  These are the words of 
Christ in Matthew 7:7-12, the latter 
portion of the Sermon on the Mount: 


7  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, 
and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be 
opened unto you:
8  For every one that asketh receiveth; 
and he that seeketh findeth; and to him 
that knocketh it shall be opened.
9  Or what man is there of you, whom if 
his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
10  Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a 
serpent?
11  If ye then, being evil, know how to give 
good gifts unto your children, how much 
more shall your Father which is in heaven 
give good things to them that ask him?

This is the proper way of seeking the 
desires of our heart.  We are to come to 
our Heavenly Father and trust His wisdom, 
love, and dominion, for He will give the 
Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.
[Parallel Passage in Luke 11:13]

Instead of asking of our Father, we strive 
on our own.  We bite and devour,we 
contend and steal and murder.  We slander 
and destroy, and we have not because we 
ask not.  But our very striving, our very 
contending, the hot lusts that burn within 
us.  In fact, the hotter our desires, the 
strong we contend for them, the stronger 
our condemnation.

Because we have this wonderful promise 
from our Heavenly Father, we should read 
our desires and lusts in an entirely knew 
direction.  In the words of our Lord, for 
He follows the above promises  by saying:

12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye 
would that men should do to you, do ye 
even so to them: for this is the law and 
the prophets.

The measure of our desires is the measure 
of our duty toward our brother and sister, 
and this is the very requirement of the law 
and the prophets.  Do I strive to defend my 
life; then I should strive with the same 
measure to defend my neighbor's life.  Do 
I oppose theft and seek to secure my title 
to my possessions  then I should do so for 
my neighbor.  Do I love my wife and resent 
attentions paid to her by other men;  then I 
should not pay attention to other men's 
wives.

For love is the fulfilling of the law and the 
second great commandment is to love my 
neighbor as myself.  My love for myself 
that I have naturally is the very measure 
by which I must love my neighbor.

Jesus is not teaching us in the passage how 
to go to heaven, for salvation is not by the 
law, but by faith in Christ.  But He is 
teaching us the true meaning of the law 
and the prophets and the measure of the 
good we are to seek to do as the children 
of God.  

Jesus fully engaged the law and kept it 
perfectly, and His righteousness is the 
only sufficient righteousness that can 
open the door to heaven and admit us into 
the presence of God, but this is what He 
did in laying down His life for us.  We 
also ought to lay down our life for our 
neighbor, for this is His commandment.

1 John 3:16 "Hereby perceive we the love 
of God, because he laid down his life for us: 
and we ought to lay down our lives for the 
brethren."

If Bill Has Your Back....

Mac the Knife

This is it. I said a few days ago on Facebook that when Clinton's got your back, your back is not got.

"Governor Romney's argument is, we're not fixed, so fire him and put me in," said Clinton. "It is true we're not fixed. When President Obama looked into the eyes of that man who said in the debate, I had so much hope four years ago and I don't now, I thought he was going to cry. Because he knows that it's not fixed."

A man smart enough to know that sometimes "is" does not mean "is," will know that you cannot respect someone you pity.  This knife was very skillfully placed.   These Clintons are amazing.  This comes two days after Obama took Mrs. Clinton off the hook on the Libyan fiasco, after she gallantly tried to fall on the sword for him.

You can't but admire the political skill.  Mrs. Clinton comes off as a faithful and loyal team player and Obama is left slowly twisting in the wind.  The Clintons have long memories but waited until Obama had almost destroyed himself, then moved in for the coup de grace.  They still think of Obama as a usurper who stole the nomination from Hilary and supplanted Bill as the first black president.  The Romney camp jumped on Clinton's remarks also, for Romney is no slouch of a politician himself.

This paves the way for a Romney victory, and a Hilary run in 2016.  There will be a lot of chicks in and around the White House so that Bill can play.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

Jonah Goldberg @JonahNRO
Joe Biden Veterinarian: "Hi Timmy, your dog HA HA HA HA is dead HA HA!"

Here's some more from me.

Joe Biden Minister. "Hi Bill, HA HA HA HA, You might be going to hell."


Joe Biden Airline Pilot. "Hi, this is your captain. He, He, He, He. I think we are going to crash and all of us will die. Ha Ha Ha."


Joe Biden the Son. "Dad, I think HA HA HA HA HA that Mom just left with that guy next door with those really neat abs.HA HA HA HA HA ."


Joe Biden Philosopher: "Students, HA HA HA HA HA HA, Good and Evil are the same, so I am going to have fun giving you all F's. HA HA HA HA ."

Make up your own.

The waning of Iran?

This is an interesting article.  One of the things going for the West is that the Islamic nations hate each other more than they do Europe.

http://tinyurl.com/9zvbl2p

Salt and Light and the Rainbow Covenant

God's Providential Care for Justice

God not only has predestined His people to salvation and eternal life, but He
does providentially preserve the world until all of His people actually are born
and come to faith. Hence, as Christians we not only spread the light of the 
Gospel and render the earth palatable, but we are called to work to reprove
wickedness and speak for truth and justice.

The presence of the righteous holds back the hand of God's wrath until all the
elect are saved. [2Peter 3:3ff] Sodom would have been saved if there had been
ten righteous souls. 

Sometimes wars are God's chastening acts on all sides of the conflict, but by no
means always. The man who stands in his yard shooting people will be taken out
by officers of the law, or by other citizens who may have lesser offenses on their
record. Not even cops are pure always. But the Rainbow Covenant includes the
activities of men in God's wise and providential government of the world, and we
are to be willing actors in that work. Hence, we support the work of the police
against domestic crime and the military against foreign crime. Both occupations
are approved of God and are His ministries.

Wicked nations that may be used of God to curtail the activities of other wicked 
nations may in turn be subject to chastening by God who is the judge of all nations
as their Creator and Lord. Also, if the government becomes the enemy of its own
people, the people may change the government, destroying it if necessary. Even
wicked men may be used of God to accomplish this purging. [Read the American Declaration of Independence. Jefferson, though himself not a Christian in the
evangelical sense, yet expressed in the Declaration the thinking that grew out 
of fifteen hundred years of thought concerning the relations of the people with
unjust governments.

The Rainbow Covenant of Genesis 9 is with all the world, the sons of Noah. God
promises not to destroy the world again, but has commissioned the nations of the
world to work to escape the wrath of God by mitigating violence: "Whoso sheds
man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." War is a just and proper occupation
for the nations of the world, especially to hinder the ambitions of murderous
regimes who shed the blood of the innocent and make the world unfit for peace.
God uses one nation against another, to slow the progress of sin and preserve the
world. Peace is God's great gift to the world, but if we do not seek righteousness
along with peace, He will give us unending wars and troubles. 

Governments are established by God for the purpose of rewarding the good and
being a terror to those who do evil, both internally in the state and externally in
the family of nations. Nations must not make peace with internal outlaws nor
with external outlaw nations. We must pray and support wise leaders both locally
and nationally who will support just laws and righteous relations with foreign
powers. It isn't easy. But as St. Augustine said: "No man's sin is so unnatural as
to wipe out all traces whatsoever of human nature." [The City of God (New York: Doubleday, 1958) 545 quoted by David W. Hall, Calvin in the Public 
Square, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 
2009, p. 5]

What makes an outlaw government? Not easy to define, but one that wars directly
or indirectly against its own people, or directly and indirectly seeking to overthrow  
legitimate governments more righteous than itself. This is a huge subject and cannot
be covered on FB even in bumper sticker form. Love your neighbor as yourself applies
to nations as well as to individuals, but the bar is lower, perhaps. The extremes are
easy to define: a man with a rifle in his front yard shooting at his neighbors; nations
who do likewise. A man with a gun threatening his neighbors; nations who do
likewise. Wisdom is required, but we do not pull out the police because some cases 
are harder: a man with a meth lab; one growing pot; making moonshine; and every
variety of ways in which wicked men seek the lives and property of their neighbors.
I suggest Hall's book cited above; Augustine’s City of God [ancient and not perfect]; 
Calvin's chapter on Civil Government in his Institutes; and a whole host of reading, not much of which is found on Facebook. 

One of the beauties and curses of America is that every man has the privilege of
placing his ideas in the public forum no matter how uneducated, unstudied, and
ignorant they might be. This freedom of speech is hated by tyrants of all stripes, but
is a bulwark against them. That's why they hate it. Even the stupid ideas of the
educated, the studied, and the learned are given play. Only God can give us wisdom
to sort out the chaff from the wheat.

Honest Doubt: Not in some things--the most important!

Ac 9:5 "And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks."

How do you verify your thoughts?  What makes them true or false?  You think there is no biblical God, the Creator, perfect in power, love, justice, knowledge, wisdom, etc.  That is something pretty important not to be certain about.  But how can you be certain?  If certainty is impossible, then if He does exists He cannot be loving.  To even raise the doubt destroys the only comfort that is possible for man.  Before you can ever decide whether anything is true, you have to make a decision about whether you are capable of knowing it.  You must affirm something about yourself in order to affirm anything else. 

To tell the parents that there is no reason, no loving purpose, nothing but bitter chance or cruel nature, for the death of a beloved child; or the birth of a severely handicapped one, or any of the other harsh tragedies of the world is to deprive the experience of meaning, to take away hope, the support of life.  Anyone who does this is not loving, but bitter and angry.  "But it is true," they say.  "There is no God.  We have to face the truth."  But how can you be sure?  Isn't it important enough to be certain about?

Because the doubt raised by the skeptic represents a most bitter and unloving spirit, the doubt fills the soul with bitter knots and fears, especially in a world of tragedy. If the doubt is from God, then He is no loving God, and the skeptic represents no love and no compassion. 

Again, the doubt raised by the skeptic is not humble, but imagines that those who believe in God have been conditioned by others and do not think for themselves.  They think that only stupid people would believe stories about talking snakes, water from rocks, bread from heaven, parting of seas, etc.  Stupid people from all the world believe such stupid myths in all religions.  The skeptic hasn't seen such things and like Thomas, he demands that he be given a private viewing before he will believe.  He is a cut above everyone else intellectually, he thinks.    

Ob 1:3 "The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee...."  Pride is the greatest of all intoxicants and blinds the mind and the heart.   It demands the right to define the boundaries of truth.  As such, at the very beginning of the inquiry, it refuses to recognize Jehovah who resists the proud and calls men to forsake their own thought and live. "The light shines in darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth it not."  Understanding requires an act of the will to "take hold of," for the mind is not a wax tablet upon which experience writes, but people must have a "spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him." [Eph. 1:17]  This is the reason that Paul and all faithful ministers pray that "the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints...." [Eph. 1:18]

Why the Knowledge of God Must Be Clear

The existence of God would be clear from physical reality, and the universe would abound with a veritable downpour or hurricane of evidence, that would reveal the folly of doubt.  It would be clear from the intellectual reality, and the vanity of thought that would result from denying Him.  It would be clear from the spiritual and moral realities and the selfishness, corruption, and spiritual bankruptcies of those who doubt.  Without Him the whole world becomes a bottomless pit, intellectually, morally, spiritually, physically.

If Jehovah is possibly a myth and the very doubt is warranted, then all the evil results follow.  To start with doubt is to deny the existence of Jehovah.  To doubt His existence is to deny it, a frightful offense against God and all his creation.  Denial is in the doubt; for it is impossible for an all powerful and all loving God not to have revealed Himself clearly.  How could a loving God permit the world to believe in Jehovah?  How could a loving God permit Moses to be so deceived and the Jews to suffer so much to preserve their Scriptures and the knowledge of Jehovah?

But because the biblical God is real, then no doubt cam be warranted, for His love would make His existence transparent and written in all His works.  The man who knows God will realize that the doubt is culpable and is to be condemned, as the Bible says.  The doubt itself would be worthy of judgment and the wrath of a good God, though He bear long with it. The doubt itself would reveal the bankrupcy of man's intellect, his spirit, his very powers of observation, and use of His senses.   The doubt would reveal that the skeptic has refused knowledge; not that the knowledge is obscure.   The doubt condemns the doubter, not the evidence.

Because of this, the skeptic cannot deliver himself from his own doubt; how could the blind man see? how could the dead feel? how could the deaf hear?  If he does not believe he is condemned already, because he does not believe.  There is no excuse for his unbelief, for the unbelief itself is culpable.  His jaundiced eye makes everything yellow, and nothing he finds in his friends, the birds of the air, or the fish of the sea, or the moon and the stars, or even in the love of family can convince him of the truth of that which is self-evident.  His heart is hardened in pride.

Such men are to be prayed for and pitied.  "In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."  2Tim. 2:25,26

Revisiting Charles Schultz

Revisiting Charles Schultz

Of course Charles Schultz had a right to write what he felt.  I am just very sorry that he felt that way.  The comic strip about sound doctrine that I reposted from somebody recently does not mean what some Christians might think it means.  The message throughout Peanuts is that we live in a hard unforgiving world and the weak take solace in religious myths [like the Great Pumpkin], impossible ideals [winning baseball with dogs and girls], stubborn building of tiny islands of meaning around yourself: Beethoven, security blankets, doghouses, etc.  "Sound Doctrine" is one of those security blankets and might even affect how realists like Lucy think, who are among those who realize the Charlie Brown is a blockhead, Linus is a religious mystic and Lucy and Snoopy [the realists] are always trying to take away the security, so that the blockheads can see reality.  It is hopeless to think that such stubborn blockheads will ever see the truth of psychiatry and nature and live in the world of reality.  

There is no purpose for this stupid world, some realist will always pull the football away; the reality is in the journey, for there is no ultimate purpose. 

The very name "Peanuts" reveals that Schultz's world view was that we are a bunch of insignificant childlike idiots whose lives have no meaning, so you have to find your own meaning in your little circle and be prepared to protect yourself from the realists like Lucy.  

Your little doghouse can be filled with immense furnishings that could exist only in a world of fantasy.  The best thing you can do with such a world is to laugh at it.  Little people living meaningless lives:  Peanuts was pre-Seinfeld Seinfeld, but as funny as can be, especially when you recognize the pain at the root of it, for great humor always comes out of pain.  It is a bitter satire clothed in the comedy of children, a Swiftian satire with the bitterness masked.

The value of such satires and the humor of them is that we see ourselves and others and life becomes a bit more bearable for meaningless lives.  It is especially funny when we see our friends so displayed.  We know those who always whisk away the football.  The tragedy is that in laughter and fun we often miss "The Horror, The Horror!" and drift on into eternity where reality will hit us with a vengeance.  There IS a God and we were created to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever.  That the present sufferings are not to be compared with the glory that awaits those who believe on Christ and have found the Way the Truth and the Life.  And that is NOT a great pumpkin.

The comparison with the Old Man and the Sea is pertinent.  The world is meaningless.  The struggle is the existential meaning we impose on the world.  The meaning is in the catching of the great fish you dream of--it's the dream that counts.  Make your hands keep holding on, continue the struggle and do not give up.  You will never win a baseball game, but every year you take the mound again.  But realize, that nothing will turn out as you dream, the sharks will eat the fish, and you will be left with nothing but memories of the struggle, but people will marvel at how brave you are.

Pshaw!  No wonder Hemingway blew his brains out.  Cheer up, friend, nothing will turn out right.  The Great Pumpkin will not return again.  [Irony alert]

Good Thinking Belongs Naturally to the Image of God

Good Thinking Belongs Naturally to the Image of God

"Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established." Prov. 16:3. The best thing you can do for your mind is to give yourself up to the Lord. The Holy Spirit whom He sends to those who obey Him will not teach you to make a fool of your self, but will teach you soundness [healthiness] of mind. Sin perverts the thought process for sin separates us from Christ, the wisdom of God. Giving yourself up to God does not teach you to live without thinking, but teaches you to think God's thoughts after Him.

2Ti 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

Eph. 5:15-17 "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is."

Pr 1:7 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Isaiah 35:8-10:  "And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."

Pr 28:26 He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.

Collective Hells

Collective Hells

When I was a boy, Public schools used to frighten us with the hell of nuclear war. [We must all forget religious differences and get along.] Then it was "Silent Spring," when all the birdies and rabbits will die [We must get rid of every pollutant, real or imagined]. Then is was Global Freezing. [I forget what the atonement was for that hell.] Now it is Warming which has provided a windfall for bogus companies to find a solution by means of spending huge amounts of bogus money doled out to them to perform bogus science by venal politicians. No matter how big the failure, the people get to keep the money. Every decade or two another hell is invented so that saviors can offer their services. You must put your money in the pot so that your children will escape the current hell.

I do not believe in any collective hell with collective solutions. I believe in a very personal hell, operated by a personal God, which can be escaped only by personal faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. All pseudo saviors will go to this personal hell and commune there together, unless they repent and personally make their peace with their Creator. I am not happy about it, but it isn't a hell I made up. Jesus mourned over Jerusalem because He knew about the real hell that isn't man-made. [Matt. 23:33-39; Luke 19:42] Man made hells cannot consume the people of God [Daniel 3:26]

Teaching the Meek

Teaching the Meek

"Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way." --Psalm 25

Meek means poor, weak, bowed down, subdued.

God resists the proud and blinds their minds and hearts. True knowledge requires the submission of the will to God, and is not just a transfer of information. The information received by a stubborn will only hardens and ripens the soul for judgment. Jesus put it this way, " If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." Joh 7:17

Jesus Christ: "He that Committeth Sin is the Servant of Sin"

Jesus Christ: "He that Committeth Sin is the Servant of Sin"

You have heard and no doubt will continue to hear, and perhaps more frequently in the near future, "There is no God" or "No one can know for sure that there is a Biblical God."

Although you will be accused of arrogance or bigotry if you contend, you still feel constrained to defend the Biblical position. It is an old debating device: to accuse your opponent of what you are guilty of yourself.

The arrogance lies on the other other side of the argument. In order to affirm either one of the propositions, it would be necessary to know what everyone knows and to know everything about all reality.

If the God of the Bible exists,then He, being loving and kind but fully willing to utterly overthrow those who in hardness of heart hate Him and defy Him, would have stamped His signature on every fact of creation, including the mind and heart of man.

It would also be true that, being a most wise and holy Spirit, His first judgments upon the ungodly would be spiritual judgments: upon the very hearts, souls, and minds of His enemies. The blackness of their minds would continually increase as they continued in their defiance, for what they think they see in the darkness of their minds would only serve to increase their rebellion and defiance.  "If the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness," Jesus said.

They, in truth, by even doubting the obvious, would have strayed from even the possibility of extricating themselves or escaping the Hound of Heaven. The Scripture would be fulfilled:

10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.
11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;
13 In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. --Isaiah 59

1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. --Isaiah 59

His condition, then, is hopeless, if God Himself does not intervene, to break off his chains, open his eyes, and set him free. Pray earnestly for your unsaved loved ones and friends, and "In meekness instruct those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." 2 Tim. 2

The Shaping of Life

Meditation: 

What has shaped me more than anything in my 78 years? Not my experiences, for they would have destroyed me; not my friends, too many of them were unfaithful, and I would be bitter. Not my extended family, for we lost touch. Not my church experience, for that has been mixed. Not the many good books I read, for I read with a critical eye, but some did me good. Not even my beloved wife of fifty years, but my life would have been very barren without her faithfulness and love.

Looking back, I confess and believe that the most important "shaping" of my life was the Holy Scriptures which I have read every day for most of my life, and have meditated and been energized to love the good and hate the evil, and through which I have learned of the blessed Father, Son, and Holy Spirit whose eternal plan was for me to partake of eternal life and blessedness, through no merit of my own.

Without the Scriptures, I would have been overwhelmed by my experiences. I would have chosen evil companions, brought shame and ruin to my loved ones, read foul and ruinous books, abandoned the church, and destroyed my wife and my marriage, for they would likely have become idols for me. The Holy Writings have been a light for my path; truly a light shining in the darkness, and in a very large way my life, my thoughts, my relationship have been shaped by it and I see the world through the lens of Scripture, I confess. There is very much in me that is contrary to the Scriptures even after all these years, but some day I will be like Christ, for the Scriptures promise that His people will be like Him when we see Him as He is.

Good night on this Sabbath eve. A blessed day of worship and praise comes tomorrow.

Scripture: No Contradiction

Never a Contradiction, Nor a Real Paradox

There are no real contradictions or paradoxes in Scripture.  But because Scripture uses figures of speech there may seem to be such to us.  God is a shepherd; God is a father; God is a rock; God is moved with compassion; God is a judge; God is immutable; God is a flaming fire.  These are just some of the many, many figures of speech in Scripture, but none of them exhaust the meaning or Being of God.  It is when we make one of these figures absolute that we run into apparent contradictions.  So men ask, "How can a father send his children to hell forever?"   The great theologies examine a great many of these apparent contradictions and point to solutions.  But we do not accept the idea that contradiction exists in God's very being, for this is to put God at war with Himself and make truth unknowable.  He cannot lie nor deny Himself [2Ti 2:13 "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself."  Tit 1:2 "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie...."]


For instance, God did not create man with an absolute [totally free] will, for that would be a denial of God's own being, a denial of His providence and rule as Creator.  Man cannot will what God has not decreed.  God's will is absolute; man's is relative.


God does not exist to make man's mind complete, nor did He create the Heavens and the Earth for the purpose of satisfying every abstract idea that rebellious man can invent.  He created it for His own glory.  Man's true relationship to creation and his fellow is found in the Person of Jesus Christ, who loved the Lord with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength and his neighbor as Himself, and hated sin and denounced hypocrites of all kinds, especially those who raise "contradictions."  He lived at peace with God and was content in His human nature not to know everything [Ac 1:7 "And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power."  Mr 13:32 "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."]  It is in His light that we see light [Ps 36:9 [For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light."]


Man is wise in his own conceits and there is no end to the logical games he plays in his rebellion. Man is like a rebellious child who badgers his weak parents until they give him what he wants.  [Ro 12:16 "Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits."   Pr 26:12 "Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him."]

Most apparent paradoxes or contradictions that men have raised concerning Scripture can be understood in one basic principle:  God is the Creator and we are His creatures.  If the Creator/Creation distinction is cherished we see that God's thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways.  When we do this we will rejoice in the "unsearchable riches of Christ; 9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: 10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: 12  In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.  [Ephesians 4]


This great gulf between Creator and Creature is bridged only by the Word of God, by the Mediator, the eternal Wisdom of God, who appeared on this earth as Jesus of Nazareth.  Amen and Amen.

Some Semi-unconnected Thoughts about Organized Religion.

Some Semi-unconnected Thoughts about Organized Religion.

Question:  What is Disorganized Religion?  Selfish, individualistic religion, self-centered and isolated, thinking only of personal experience?

It is rebellion to Christ not to accept the true authority of those whom He appointed and still does appoint from heaven by His Spirit. Ephesians 4.

The church is the pillar and ground of the truth, and the church that Paul is referencing to Timothy is one with elders and deacons, with powers to receive and to excommunicate; to examine those who claim to be teachers and prophets and hold the power of the keys. The only ones who don't like it are the rebels who want to be led by their own ideas and not subject to anyone. 

Heb 13:7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. {have the rule: or, are the guides}

Heb 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. {have…: or, guide}

Heb 13:24 Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you. 

Read all verses with context.
   
It is also true that the churches have responsibility to each other; the leaders of the church met in Jerusalem in Acts 15 to discuss doctrinal matters and sent their decisions to all the churches. You can hang too much on this meeting, but you can also dismiss it too lightly. That's why I am Presbyterian in government--contraction of the apostolic office, expansion of the pastoral office.

From Acts 15:

• vs 6: The Apostles and elders came together [had a meeting] to consider this matter.
• vs. 19 Wherefore my sentence is.... 
• vs 20 We write to them.... 
• vs. 22,3 It pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send....
• vs. 23 The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto....
• vs. 25 It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send....
• vs. 28 To lay no greater burden upon you.... [four things....] 

It was more than a friendly chat that they had, and their letters was a bit more than exhortation "lay burden..."

How did they know it "pleased the whole church and the apostles and elders"? How did they know they had "one accord" after all the disputes in verse 7, etc. How did they know it was the truth revealed by the Holy Ghost? Who decided that? Some never did accept it and troubled Paul until he died. Who was in one accord? Paul and Barnabas had a dispute over personnel, not the doctrine of the church or its organization.

Acts 16:4 "They went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily." Sounds like more than suggestions, for Paul and Barnabas were commissioned by the apostles, elders, and brethren to take this letter to the churches [15:25 etc.]

‎"decree" greek is dogma. Used of the laws of the Roman Senate, also of the Law of Moses.
"keep" guard, take care of, take care not to violate.

Hence: Heb 13:17 "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you."

Eph. 5:21: "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."

God gathers His people into flocks and sets shepherds over them; their rule and authority is real.

There is peace with no divisions and strife in independent churches? Are you saying that the scripture is irrelevant and there are no real churches today; or that there were no problems in the churches of Ephesus, Colosse, Philippi, Rome, or Thyatira? The Spirit doesn't "legislate" in the Scripture? or does everyone just follow his own "leading." That idea has produced wonderful unity, hasn't it? Or maybe Christ is head only over those who let Him be head.

The choice is not between organized or disorganized. The choice is obedience to scripture or not. Unless God has abandoned His people and left us in the wilderness, there is a church near you that is biblical. He does not leave his sheep in the wilderness. We are accountable to one another and ministers are accountable to other ministers and elders.

We know that knowledge puffs up; but does that mean that ignorance is humble?

We are accountable to Christ when we are accountable to those whom He has placed over His church. Christ is in heaven and has commissioned His officers to lead His church. Eph. 4.

1 Timothy 6:3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;  4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,


The order of Aaron has ceased [Hebrews 7:11,12 with context], for Christ is our priest after the order of Melchizedek, and His sacrifice was not offered in Moses' camp, but outside the camp. Heb. 13:9ff. The new order is described in Ephesians 4 and Hebrews 10:19-25 with context. Christ's sacrifice was offered once for all, but we signify our participation in His sacrifice through the sacraments, which is the New Testament in His blood, through the bread and the wine of the Lord's Supper--which is not a physical sacrifice of Christ's blood and body, for Christ is in heaven, not on the earth. The Lord's Supper is neither simply a memorial feast, nor is it a physical sacrifice, but it is a true spiritual participation by faith in the Gospel that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again, according to the Scriptures. His words are spirit and life, the true bread from heaven.

The church is more than a group of adults sharing their "experience." It is the pillar and ground of the truth, a holy temple where spiritual sacrifices are offered to God through the blood of Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is more than consenting adults, but a people, a holy nation, organized, ordered, disciplined, called, a holy temple whose head is in heaven. The Lord Jesus administers His people and His nation through the gifts of ministry described in Ephesians 4. Without them, we remain children, tossed about with every wind of doctrine, turned aside after folly by the sleight of men who with cunning craftiness lie in wait to turn the children out of the way by deception and false doctrine.

This has already happened to the church in America, splintered into a thousand pieces of people who fancy they are led by the "spirit' who follow their own desires and emotions and shallow opinions [it is dangerous to read the Bible only once], who despise dominion and speak evil of dignities [Jude 7 and context].

How can you say you love God whom you have not seen, when you despise men whom you have seen. I John 4:20,21. In like manner, how can you say you obey Christ, whom you haven't seen, when you despise His lawful ministers whom you have seen? Hebrews 13: "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."

Words Have Meaning

Words have Meaning.

The word "rock" may be considered concretely, and its meaning would be "the hard solid substance that forms part of the Earth’s surface" or similar meaning. Used as: "He threw a rock at the rat."  This meaning of words is the foundation of all language.  The world is made up of created things that stimulate the imagination and make communication between people possible.

The imagination is a great gift from God and makes speech possible.  The word "rock" may be considered figuratively, meaning "like a rock." Used as "The man is a rock." This requires the use of the imagination which is developed more in some people than others, but does require intelligence. An animal and a man run concretely, using legs and feet.  A clock runs figuratively; hence, time also runs.  A river runs also.  The concrete acts of running can be used as a figure for almost any kind of action, as sand running out of an hour glass.

The word "rock" may be considered spiritually, as in the Scripture, meaning "like a rock," but at a deeper level of trust and commitment. Used, "God is my rock" speaks of covenant reliance upon God as a place of rest and security, and would be an expression of faith.   The ability of man's imagination enables him to make a connection between concrete things and events and figurative ones.  His ability to connect the figurative to the spiritual requires the work of the Holy Spirit; otherwise a man is deaf, blind, dead--without spiritual understanding.

When life comes from the Spirit the child of God sees even in the fall of a sparrow reason to trust in the goodness of God, for a man is of much greater value than a sparrow.   This is the reason that each of the senses in the Bible is used as a figure for faith as in the Scriptures "Open mine eyes..." "Hear my voice...."  "Taste and See that the Lord is good"  etc.

The first two uses require intelligence and involves cognitive reasoning, which may be present without faith. The third requires faith as a work of the Holy Spirit.

When you think about it, the liberal "War on Women" is really a War on America.  Right?  Click here

Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand is a powerful diagnostic for the evil of socialism, but she is NOT a cure.  Self love is not a cure for communal love for both are idolatry.  In both cases men fall upon the double-edged sword, for God damns all kinds of idolatry.  Mr 12:30 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength...."  We cannot love our neighbor as ourselves if we begin by cutting the head off the body, separating man from God.

Cain, the Whining Murderer.

Genesis 4:13  And Cain said unto the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear."

Loosely translated, "Well, you don't have to have a cow."

Cain knew he was a murderer. Cain knew that he could not escape the punishment for his wickedness.  So the only recourse left to him was to charge God with injustice.

The last resort of every ungodly person is to whine against God.  Cain began by feeling sorry for himself because Abel's sacrifice was accepted and his rejected.  He didn't have to offer a bad sacrifice, for we know from Abel's offering that God had given instructions to men on what to offer: the first of the flock with the fat thereof.  Those who believed in the promise of mercy brought that sacrifice in faith [Heb. 11:4].  Cain had no faith, and therefore thought that anything he wanted to do would be all right.  So his countenance fell and he moped around.   God, seeing his bitchy attitude, told him that he could be accepted if he would shape up.

Instead, he went out to the field with Abel, quarreled with him, and murdered him.  When God asked where Abel was [not to get information, but to call Cain to account], Cain responded with another whine: "Am I my brother's keeper," which was likely a sneer at Abel's occupation as a keeper of sheep.  God did not deign to answer to whining question, because Cain had not been assigned to "keep" Abel.  Cain was again making a whining charge against the injustice of God, as if he was assigned to the task of following Abel around to see that nothing bad would happen to him.  There was probably history behind this whine, for Cain was the older brother and sometimes older brothers resent their younger brothers, especially if the younger one is more favored of God.  No Cain, you are not your brother's keeper, but that doesn't mean you get to kill him.

So God, knowing the wickedness of Cain murderous heart, proceeded at once to the sentence: "What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground."  Cain was deprived of all the blessings of the earth and sentenced to be a vagabond and a fugitive, unable to farm the field as he had before.  God, having compassion, put a mark on Cain so no one would kill him.

But whiners, feeling sorry for themselves, never quit whining.  The man with one talent, hid it in the ground and complained about God's injustice [Matt. 25:24].  In the same way, Cain continued to complain about God, about how unfair He is:  "My punishment is greater than I can bear.  Poor me, poor, poor Cain.  God is so cruel."  Still not a shred of sympathy for the man he murdered.  Not a shred of feeling for his family, his mother, his father, and what very likely was a large family by then.  Just poor, poor me.

Don't feel sorry for Cain.  He didn't get nearly what he deserved.  None of us do--in this life.

A Much Better Way

When I was in junior high, I came across Ralph Waldo Emerson, and was briefly fascinated by him, especially, "Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string."  I tried it for awhile, and then realized that I was a fool, because I was ignorant, self-willed, and prone to evil. Trusting yourself is like a cat chasing its tail.  It may bring a great deal of fun, but it profits nothing and the cat gets tired and becomes tiresome.  But the cat does cause some amusement for a while; history is full of such diversions.    Emerson was not a wise man.

Later, I found a much better path: Proverbs 3:
5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
8  It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

There are many things that I do not know about the ways of God.  I do not presume to understand the "manifold" wisdom of God.  I do know that He is not to be trifled with, for He is not only a faithful and loving Father, but He is a burning fire of wrath against those who hate Him.  I know this is right and good for there are very evil things, including the Prince and Power of the Air, who hates God and man, and would be equal to God.  Satan has nothing of his own, for God is the creator of all things; so Satan is a Deceiver, Liar, Murderer, and most of all, Apollyon [Destroyer], for he takes the things and people that God has created and corrupts them to destroy them.

It is good for God to reveal Himself as the Father and Judge of all the earth.  It is good that we learn to fear Him and keep His commandments, and that is the rub.  Sinful men will do anything to escape the judgment of God and adjust their own moral sense to fit their own desires.  But this does not change the fundamental moral truth of the universe, Ps 119:142  "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth."


Ps 37:22  For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.
Ps 37:28  For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

Lu 16:15  And he said unto them, "Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God."

As I grew in my knowledge of the Scriptures, I realized how vain and unprofitable are the risings of the flesh and the vanity of turning away from the word of God.  I came to despise all such pretensions and I have not been wrong.  I have lived long enough to have seen the ruin of those who think like this.  "Trust thyself," is horrible advice to give to young people; we find wisdom and grace in the face of Jesus Christ, whom we see as in a glass as we read the Holy Scriptures. 2Cor. 3.

21  Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
22  Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
23  Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

Those who trust in the Lord have the certain promise of God that He will vindicate them in heaven and in earth.  Psalm 37:5  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6  And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

Amen and Amen.

Stretch Out Your Souls to God!

Stretch out Your Souls to God!

Matthew 4:4 "4  But he [Jesus] answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."  From the mouth of God proceed both His precepts and His decrees.  You will have a choice whether or not you will obey His precepts, which are found in the Scriptures.  His decrees will certainly take place, but you and I are responsible to believe that He rules all things and trust Him without fretting or seeking other gods.

Often we do not know WHAT we should do; at these times we must trust in His wise providence even more and walk uprightly, for He has promised:  Psalm 37:30-31 'The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.  The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.'

As with Esau, [Genesis 25] the most important tests to your faith come when you least expect them. The choices you make at these times reveal what is in your heart, what your value system is. No one can escape. Ecclesiastes 8:6 "Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him."  Esau could not escape the consequences.  Hebrews 12:16, 17

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When a person encounters the Scripture, because it is the Word of God it goes to the heart and changes him, either for better or for worse. It is life unto life and death unto death. This is why Jesus said, "Take heed how you hear," for it will make your soul very, very poor; or very, very rich. See Luke 818. We must stretch out our ears and hearts to eagerly hear and receive the Scriptures as God's word. Joshua 24:23 "Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel."

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Master of your own fate?  God laughs at that joke: "O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing." --Jeremiah 10:23 "A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps." -Proverbs 16:9