Monthly Archives: May 2008

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The Dugger family is expecting their 18th child - due New Years Day.

This family was the object of (I'll say) "rage" when #17 came along. Ironically, the (I'll also say) "scorn" came from the "pro-choice" camp. That was when I stopped calling that political movement "pro-choice" and started calling it "pro-abortion".

It seems that they approve of "choice" right up until the point you make a reproductive choice they do not approve of.

"choice" means that a family has a choice. If they choose to have 17 18 children - that is their choice.

Eighteen is housefull of kids...and this is a family full of love.

I have two children. I would happily, gladly, thrillfully, willingly, you name the positive feeling...get more.

If it were physically possible (for a variety of reasons it is unlikely) I would have another. Eighteen? Most likely not. But for the Duggers, any "pro-choice" person who criticizes...is not pro-choice. They are pro-abortion, since that is the choice of having 18 children is not one that is "approved".

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We all have one - a heart that is steeped in rebellion. Reformed theology calls is "the total depravity of man".

We see in in children; for many of them "mine" and "no" are among the first words they use.

We see it in teenagers when they learn that they have wings and start to use them - many times in rebellion instead of freedom.

We see it in adults when we observe the "nine you're fine, ten you're mine" rule of speed limits.

I see it in myself. I sleep with a CPAP and I hate it. Most mornings I wake up with the mask laying next to my pillow and a vague recollection of ripping it off my face in the middle of the night. Why? Because I DON'T LIKE IT!

We see it rebellion against parents, against government, against laws, against doctors, against physical limitations.

And it all stems from a rebellion against God.

John Piper writes: When we speak of man's depravity we mean man's natural condition apart from any grace exerted by God to restrain or transform man.

Total depravity does not mean that all people are as bad as they could be - it means that every part of every person is steeped in original sin. Our minds, our will, our emotions, our body - everything. It is all affected by sin.

Scripture tells us of the nature of man.

The heart is deceitful

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

People are slaves to sin

Romans 6:20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

There is nobody who is righteous.

Romans 3: 10-12 "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."

We do not accept spiritual things

1 Cor. 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

We are dead in sin

Eph. 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ

and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (v.3)

Why are we all thus?

herefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— (Romans 5:12)

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I am (constantly it seems) reorganizing categories, or posts into categories.

Anyway, I ran into a couple of posts on polygamy (and there might be more, but I'm starting early and working this way).

At first, it was in the "religion - not Christianity" category, but I'm not all that sure that it's strictly a religious issue, since there are cultures that practice polygamy that have nothing to do with religious reasons.

So I put it in the "politics" category - I have a feeling that we'll be seeing more of the issue and it's not going to be a religious issue (although religious groups will be driving the question). No, it will be a political hot-potato.

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From Marc Ambinder:

1. Florida and Michigan. Clinton, not Obama, is identified with the cause of seating those delegations. Since FL and MI won't decide the nomination now, Clinton has every reason to push for a negotiated settlement. It way well be that Clinton refuses to officially drop out until she is satisfied that the voices of Florida and Michigan are heard.

Here's the thing: Michigan and Florida spoke loud and clear, it's just that Clinton doesn't want to listen.

Here is what the voices said:

  • We know the rules
  • we don't care.
  • we've been told the consequences of breaking the rules
  • we don't care.
  • we know that our delegates won't count if we move up the primary
  • we don't care.

Let us not whine at the consequences when we discover the parties were serious about the rules.

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A wife is compared to the bride of Christ - the church. A wife is instructed in Ephesians 5 to submit to her husband as the church submits to Christ. In that same parallel, the husband is to model the love for his wife after the love that Christ has for His bride, the church. We have a wonderful privilege and responsibility to reflect that to the world.

Our Christian marriages should point people straight to Christ! If people don't look at our marriages and see them reflect Christ and the church, we are failing.

If the world looks at our marriages and sees anything less than a sacrificial love, we are failing. If the world looks at our marriages and sees a husband putting himself before the needs of his wife, we are failing. If the world looks at our marriages and sees the wife with anything less than the willing and loving submission that the church has for Christ, we are failing.

And...we are failing.

That is why the gender debate matters. The statistics say that Christian marriages are as likely to fail as secular marriages (I have my doubts about the questions asked and think that more should have been asked that would "unskew" the numbers)...but the numbers are not good.

Why is the divorce rate so high? Just like in Jesus' time...hardness of hearts. On the part of both parties.

If the love/submission is modeled on Christ and the church...if the love is modeled after Christ and the submission is modeled after the church - it is the model of Scripture. Each puts the other first, in a way that reflects Christ and the church.

We are the shadow; the mirror. How do we reflect Christ to the world?

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(Or...let's play "which of these items doesn't belong?")

I was cruising around Amazon.com...checking out the radioactive uranium samples.(Thank you Tom McMahon)
What is weird (other than Amazon carrying radioactive uranium ore) is the part that says,

"Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed..."

First off: we have a land cruiser for only $19,999.95

...continue reading →

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From GetReligion:

"God does not answer our prayers. Jesus is not the saviour who saved the world by dying for our sins. Simply put, Christianity is “love one another.” Gretta Vosper, founder of the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity and a minister in Toronto, believes that the church, as we have built it and known it, has outlived its viability." (Amazon.ca)

Mollie (GetReligion) notes:

Lewis provides many details of what Christianity without Christ looks like. Vosper does not believe in the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, the miracles and the sacrament of baptism. Nor does she believe in the creeds, the presence of Christ in communion or that Jesus was the Son of God. There’s more:

In With or Without God, her book that was formally launched this week, she writes that Jesus was a “Middle Eastern peasant with a few charismatic gifts and a great posthumous marketing team.”

The Bible is used in her services, but it gets rewritten to be more contemporary and speak to more people. Even the Lord’s Prayer — also known as the Our Father — does not make the cut because it creates an image of a God who intervenes in human existence. And then there is the “Father” part that is not inclusive language and carries with it the notion of an overbearing tyrant who condemns people to hell.

Again, I am reminded of the words of Reinhold Niebuhr when he described the creed of liberals : "A God without wrath brought man without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross."

And yet...this is the goal

“The feminist movement in Western culture is engaged in the slow execution of Christ and Yahweh. Yet very few of the women and men now working for sexual equality within Christianity and Judaism realize the extent of their heresy. It is likely that as we watch Christ and Yahweh tumble to the ground, we will completely outgrow the need for an external God. We, women are going to bring an end to God. We will change the world so much that He won’t fit in anymore.”- Naomi Goldenberg (feminist) - emphasis mine.

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"Organization" of the week:

The Elisha Foundation.

The Elisha Foundation was founded to provide refreshment and encouragement to families caring for people with special needs. Through programs such as family retreats, we seek to provide access to resource professionals, educational specialists and other valuable resources while spending refreshing quality time as a family.

We recognize the need to encourage families who are caring for these special people. Our family retreats provide a balanced schedule of workshops and activities for the family, as well as for each individual, while providing a refreshing and fun environment for the entire family.

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J.I. Packer leaves the Anglican Church.

Some say that the homosexual issue is the breaking point, but the problem is liberalism

Packer urged Anglicans who are adamantly opposed to liberal developments in the Anglican church in Canada and the U.S. to remain "tough" as they re-align themselves under Archbishop Venables into a new non-geographically-based form of Anglicanism.

HT: Denny Burk

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John Piper on TULIP (mp3's)

Nine sessions and notes.

HT: Between Two Worlds

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Morbid, yet...interesting...

chocolate skulls. Made from a cast of a real human skull.

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And another photo from one of my favorite photo sites: Dark Roasted Blend.

okay...just one more.

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From Toward An Egalitarian Ecclesia at Theology for the Masses (writing of 1 Timothy 2:12):

Interestingly enough, the history of translations of this passage is that the dominant translation of this word before WWII had to do with the violent treatment of men in the congregation – ‘usurping authority’ in the KJV is among the least obvious of these and even it has remnants of the idea.

The notion that "authority" was not seen in the the passage until WWII is wrong - especially reading the study notes and commentaries.

There weren't all that many translations:

...continue reading →