Author Archives: MzEllen, posted from my iPad

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Fine then. "double imputation:" check

But while we are not personally guilty of Adam's sin, we are, nevertheless, liable to punishment for it. "The guilt of Adam's public sin," says Dr. A. A. Hodge, "is by a judicial act of God immediately charged to the account of each and every one of his descendants from the moment he begins to exist, and antecedently to any act of his own. Hence all men come into existence deprived of all those influences of the Holy Spirit upon which their moral and spiritual life depends . . .. and with an antecedent prevailing tendency in their natures to sin; which tendency in them is itself of the nature of sin, and worthy of punishment. Human nature since the fall retains its constitutional faculties of reason, conscience and free agency, and hence man continues to be a responsible moral agent.

Reformed Doctrine of Predestination
by Loraine Boettner

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I have long considered "imputation of Adam's sin" one of those points of "I don't think I quite buy that piece" of Reformed theology. Frankly, I have enough sin of my own to take responsibility for; I don't need Adam's also.

But...reading the paragraph above, maybe I can buy into the way Hodge describes it.

Because Adam sinned, I stand condemned. Not because I am guilty of Adam's sin...but because Adam's sin also made me a sinner.

From the moment I was "human" I was living under the curse of Adam and Eve.

Because Adam sinned, I was born cursed.

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Tom lost his hat, so I started a new one (better color for him, and hopefully a better size)

The yarn is Plymouth Yarn: Encore. Color is 1444 (dark brown) and the dye lot is 45747

I wound a ball of hand spun alpaca; not enough to do anything with (yet) but I have a new pattern for a coffee cup sleeve that will work out nicely, I think)

Spinning and making yarn is an interesting process, starting with the shearing (I got all this fiber for helping on shearing day)

The point I'm at in the photo is after spinning and spinning (later on that) and then you have to let is set in water to "set the twist."

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yucky diet week; I really have to get on this bandwagon. I lost .3 pounds (but that was after coffee)

On the other hand, I did walk twice this week - a good thing since my pain started for real.

It's going to be a nice weekend and I may try a (very) short bike ride. Last weekend I tried to climb (think walk on a steep incline) up a rock and discovered that since my sciatic nerve has been impinged, I don't have a lot of "ground feel" in my right foot. So I didn't want to be on slippery sand stone. But that also makes me a little timid about bike riding and my little walk yesterday made me realize how much stamina I've lost over the last months of pain.

Sooo...not a great week, but not a bad one either.

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“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
— C.S. Lewis

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It's going to be in the news. Those who love liberty will be on the side of the 2nd Amendment.

Those who don't will cry out for the governmental control of weapons.

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2008: President Obama said,

When you all go home and you’re talking to your buddies and you say, ah ‘He wants to take my gun away.’ You’ve heard it here, I’m on television so everybody knows it. I believe in the Second Amendment. I believe in people’s lawful right to bear arms. I will not take your shotgun away. I will not take your rifle away. I won’t take your handgun away.

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This month:

Freshman Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) expressed concern that the Obama administration was considering such a sweeping gun-control approach.

Meanwhile, Diane Feinstein has been busy:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)–author of the federal “assault weapon” and “large” ammunition magazine ban of 1994-2004–has said for weeks that she will soon introduce an even more restrictive bill...

On Dec. 17th, Feinstein said, ”I have been working with my staff for over a year on this legislation” and “It will be carefully focused.” Indicating the depth of her research on the issue, she said on Dec. 21st that she had personally looked at pictures of guns in 1993, and again in 2012.

It seems as if she's been keeping this waiting in the wings until the appropriate crisis comes along.

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Our liberties - religious, freedom of association, right to bear arms - are being assaulted by leftists.

Take action NOW. Here are the names, numbers and addresses of our elected officials in Washington. Please take a few minutes to let them know that our liberties are vital to the strength of our nation

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Thank you to "Say NO to Socialism in America" facebook page for the links to the photos that were used in this post.

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[rating=4][relatedratings=null]This year I read through "God Is In the Manger" for Advent.

Book Description:

These forty stirring devotions will guide and inspire readers as they move thematically through the weeks of Advent and Christmas, from waiting and mystery to redemption, incarnation, and joy. Supplemented by an informative introduction, short excerpts from Bonhoeffer's letters, and passages from Bonhoeffer's Christmas sermons, these daily reflections are timeless and moving reminders of the true meaning of Christmas. Now repackaged in a beautiful hardback edition, it makes the perfect holiday gift.

For me, reading the words of Bohnhoeffer, many of them from prison, reminded me of that different time. We have felt for a while that the USA is on the verge of some version of that "different time" and the words of encouragement from prison resonated.

Each day there was a devotional, a few words from Bohnhoeffer, and a Scripture passage.

I would do this one again, and will buy a couple over the year so that I'll have some to give away.

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Here's the thing...Hobby Lobby isn't asking to be exempted from providing birth control pills for their employees.

They're asking to not be forced to provide aborticients (morning after pill, "Plan B", Ella.)

Unlike a lot of (union) companies who have asked for waiver/exemptions from the whole thing, Hobby Lobby is asking that they not be forced to pay for abortion-causing drugs.

So...let's at least shoot for a little bit of intellectual honesty.

Another thing...

Co-pays. I pay a co-pay for all (ALL) of my medications. My dad pays co-pays for his insulin, heart medication, etc. co-pays will continue for thyroid meds, heart meds, pain meds, cancer meds, diabetes meds.

And liberals have their undergarments bunched up because they don't even want a co-pay for birth control!?!?

$20.00 co-pay for a life-saving drug...
$00.00 co-pay for a life-preventing drug.

They are truly more interested in preventing a life, than saving one.

And yet another

"Preventing" access to birth control...

Seriously. Do they really think that women are so helpless and dumb that if somebody else doesn't pay for their $9-$15 a month prescription, that they (women) can't figure out how to "access" it?

If women can figure out how to buy groceries, vitamins, panty hose...I'm pretty sure they can figure out how to access birth control pills.

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I'm not going back. Here's a rundown of what I read and explored this week:
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God Did it. Man Did it! Which Is It?

If I asked you who wrote the book of Romans, would your answer be Paul or would your answer be God? Both answers are true. But it's not right to give them both equal credit. Why not? Because God is the ultimate source; they are the words that He wanted written, so we must give Him full credit. And yet, Paul and the other human authors of scripture were not merely puppets on a string; they used their own words, mind, and personality in their writing. Do you agree with everything I've just said? If so, then you also have the basic framework in place for understanding how a soul is saved.

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The Salvation of Babies Who Die (part one)

when I was making the move to the Reformed camp, Phil and I had dinner with a Calvin Seminary student and the question about babies was the first one I asked. This answer is a good answer.
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Most Perfect and Complete - a sermon and Sola Scriptura in the Belgic Confession

Virtually every cult and false religion is founded upon the following premise: “Of course, we believe the Bible. But . . . We have additional holy books that no one else has. We receive new revelations from God. We have sacred tradition in addition to the Bible. We have an inspired prophet or leader who interprets the Bible correctly unlike everyone else.” So at the end of the day, the essence of false religion is basically this: We believe in the Bible, plus, we have an additional religious authority which corrects or explains what the Bible “really” teaches, or else supplements what the Bible supposedly leaves out.

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Five Solas
- Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, by Christ alone, for the glory of God alone, taught by Scripture alone.

One Faith
- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Five Points
- Total Depravity of Man; Unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints

One Savior
- to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Zero Apologies
- For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes... For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith