Fascist Triangle: Obama, Wright, Cone, Ayers, Clinton

                                         

 

Well that’s not a triangle it is a pentagon. But oh, how appropriate! Our good friend and defender of real biblical Christianity, James White is doing us all a favor with this review.

For other reviews: Ron Rohdes. Gene Veith Veith also has this on fascism. And if you want a really good book on what it means to us today, here.

God is so…

                                                                                            

THERE is but one, and only one, living and true God. He is self-existent and infinite in His being and His perfections. None but He can comprehend or understand His essence. He is pure spirit, invisible, and without body, parts, or the changeable feelings of men. He alone possesses immortality, and dwells amid the light insufferably bright to mortal men. He never changes. He is great beyond all our conceptions, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty and infinite. He is most holy, wise, free and absolute. All that He does is the out-working of His changeless, righteous will, and for His own glory. He is most loving, gracious, merciful and compassionate. He abounds in goodness and truth. He forgives iniquity, transgression and sin. He rewards those who seek Him diligently. But He hates sin. He will not overlook guilt or spare the guilty, and He is perfectly just in executing judgment.
Gen. 17:1; Exod. 3:14; 34:6,7; Deut. 4:15,16; 6:4; 1 Kings 8:27; Neh.9:32,33; Ps. 5:5,6; 90:2; 115:3; Prov. 16:4; Isa. 6:3; 46:10; 48:12; Jer. 10:10; 23:23,24; Nah. 1:2,3; Mal. 3:6; John 4:24; Rom.11:36; 1 Cor. 8:4,6; 1 Tim.1:17; Heb. 11:6.

God is all-sufficient, and all life, glory, goodness and blessedness are found in Him and in Him alone. He does not stand in need of any of the creatures that He has made, nor does He derive any part of His glory from them. On the contrary, He manifests His own glory in and by them. He is the fountain-head of all being, and the origin, channel and end of all things. Over all His creatures He is sovereign. He uses them as He pleases, and does for them or to them all that He wills. His sight penetrates to the heart of all things. His knowledge is infinite and infallible. No single thing is to Him at risk or uncertain, for He is not dependent upon created things. In all His decisions, doings and demands He is most holy. Angels and men owe to Him as their creator all worship, service and obedience, and whatever else He may require at their hands.
Job 22:2,3; Ps. 119:68; 145:17; 148:13; Ezek.11:5; Dan. 4:25,34,35; John 5:26; Acts 15:18; Rom. 11:34-36; Heb. 4:13; Rev. 5:12-14.

Three divine Persons constitute the Godhead-the Father, the Son (or the Word), and the Holy Spirit. They are one in substance, in power, and in eternity. Each is fully God, and yet the Godhead is one and indivisible. The Father owes His being to none. He is Father to the Son who is eternally begotten of Him. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. These Persons, one infinite and eternal God not to be divided in being, are distinguished in Scripture by their personal nature or in relations within the Godhead, and by the variety of works which they undertake. Their tri-unity (that is, the doctrine of the Trinity) is the essential basis of all our fellowship with God, and of the comfort we derive from our dependence upon Him.
Exod. 3:14; Matt. 28:19; John 1:14,18; 14:11; 15:26; 1 Cor. 8:6; 2 Cor. 13:14; Gal. 4:6; 1 John 5:7.

If God is infinite in all his perfections then the finite is swallowed up in perfection. Moses, Moses what did you see? Only the hind parts, only a little?

As I write we are having a kind of storm that I have only known here in Wyoming. I call it snail with lightening and thunder but we also have slain storms with flashes and booms. Snail is snow and hail mixed while slain is snow, hail and rain. It is weird here, truly, and its not just the people. I’ve seen it rain across the street while basking in sun and have been rained on with a clear blue ski above. A few nights back there was not a cloud in the sky and it was snowing. Honestly. My boy and I were amazed to watch the snow flakes forming before our eyes. I have been in the Snowy Range in eighty degree weather, watched a cloud come over Long Lake and within an hour experienced every kind of precipitation imaginable, rain, hail, snow, Styrofoam snow (strange stuff; comes in all sizes), fog, sleet, with incredible lightening and wind and then watched the sun come back out to greet me with eighty degree temps again.

None of this wonder compares to the greatness of our God. Look at the description in the confession. Perfections, infinite perfections, that just bakes the noodle. We are used to thinking in terms of the finite; incapable as we are of comprehending infinity except as a vague mist of mind. Not so with God. God sees and knows infinity the way that we know finitude; a discrete package, all tidy and comprehensible. Is it any wonder that he is called light, unapproachable light. Paul writes of it like this: the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. That we can know this is unspeakable joy. It is a miracle. Why is it then that God is mindful of in man except that in him we have been created, blessed upove all blessings; to know what otherwise remains hidden.

What I want you to take away from this is that even though the essence of all Truth is transcendent, abiding only in God, what God has done in his especial creation -man- is to create a perfect image of himself. Though finite, it was perfectly represented for us in Jesus Christ the image bearer into whose likeness we are being transformed, glory to glory. Being a perfect creation though, that image which we will be, remains a creation and unlike the creator does not contain the infinitudinal nature of God; unchanging in all his being, penetrating to every reach of conception of knowledge, space and time.

There is nowhere David said, that he is not. By that he cannot be moved. To the contrary he is the divine mover. By that also, he can make what is described in the 1689 known. Christ who said that the Father always hears his prayers, prayed that they would be in us, and we in them, unmovable. We are made to be like him who cannot be diminished or increased, rock solid. So much like him we have been made to be. Too wonderful is that knowledge that we have been given to know.

At the same time, man can be moved, as all created, finite things can. And that is where we will go next. For now let it suffice to say that man in some form or fashion is in the likeness of God in all his attributes. But, what is particular to God could not be, and cannot be divested and reinvested in another; his essence and being is unique and unmixable and irreducible. Such is his power, and the ability to make man most perfectly like his creator in his infinite perfectons.

Wayne Grudem says of the image that an extensive explanation is unnecessary:

…we realize that a full understanding of man’s likeness to God would require a full understanding of who God is in his being and in his action and full understanding of who man is and what he does. The more we know about God and man the more similarities we will recognize…in the image of God. The expression refers to every way in which man is like God.

That image/likeness is as inexahaustible as the knowledge of God. As the confession states:

All that He does is the out-working of His changeless, righteous will, and for His own glory.

All those works prepared in God that we should walk in them, that is the image, and our assurance that when he appears we shall be like him.

We Love God But Not Like We Love Our Freedom

The 1689 LBC has this to say about the Fall:

Although God created man upright and perfect, and gave him a righteous law, which had been unto life had he kept it, and threatened death upon the breach thereof, yet he did not long abide in this honour; Satan using the subtlety of the serpent to subdue Eve, then by her seducing Adam, who, without any compulsion, did willfully transgress the law of their creation, and the command given unto them, in eating the forbidden fruit, which God was pleased, according to his wise and holy counsel to permit, having purposed to order it to his own glory.
( Genesis 2:16, 17; Genesis 3:12,13; 2 Corinthians 11:3 )

Along with this I will include the 1689 statement on the will.

One of the things that is often breezed by is the nature of the fall, pre and post condition of man. It will take some development to establish what I am going to say later about a notable Southern Baptist whose influence must be widely credited with the establishment of the SBC majoritarian party’s doctrinal position, today. Right now I have to establish a framework.

First, we need to discover what the estate of man was prior to the fall. The 1689 states:

After God had made all other creatures, he created man, male and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, rendering them fit unto that life to God for which they were created; being made after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness; having the law of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfil it, and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject to change…Besides the law written in their hearts, they received a command not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which whilst they kept, they were happy in their communion with God, and had dominion over the creatures.

Things that need to be noticed here are: image, fit, immortality, knowledge, righteousness, true holiness. There is much more to the likeness. Let’s take a look at these, but briefly, since what I want to establish is that man was created after the image of God. He was not created, god, but after the image of God. Like all things in creation, man shows forth God’s glory, Romans 1 and elsewhere. To sum it up man was made perfectly perfect as a expression of God’s creation.

The character and attributes of God are developed throughout Scripture, and here we see some as expressed in the make up of man. This immediately throws us upon a dilemma. We know from the commandments that we are not to make images of the likeness of God. We are told that God is not a man. Therefore we need a definition of image that is compatible. The descriptors actually give us that definition, with some qualifications. The qualifications can be summed up in the fact that man is a creature, a product of creation and by definition cannot be what created it. He can be like the maker, but not the maker.

Qualifications:

Immortality is not inherent in man. Eternal life is inherent only in God; 1 John 5:11; 1 John 5:20. In him alone is life. Man is made, and being made is mortal. The continuance of the soul of man is established, not in man, but in the power of God to sustain it. In other words if God so chose, he could destroy the soul. And, I for one believe that he does, for believers in the new birth. But I digress.

Knowledge again is not something that is inherent in man. God alone is the ground of all knowledge. What man does know is what God has given him; Job 21:22. That too can be taken or added according to God’s good pleasure.

Righteousness and true holiness are again not inherent in man, they have their beginning and terminus in God. The One who alone is good; Luke 18:19, is also the One who alone is righteous; Isaiah 45:24. But here we must pause and question the difference between righteousness and holiness. If we want we might capture the sense of difference as that which Jesus said,

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Holiness we might say is that which does, and righteousness, that which is done. Holiness and righteousness are not without each other. Again, though, what we have is man created who is not inherently these things, but he is made to be this image or likeness.

The beginning quote contains this incredible statement:

God created man upright and perfect

As I have tried to emphasize, what is inherent in God is not inherent in man. But there is an image, or likeness, that was perfect. It was perfect in the reflection of the communicable attributes of God, it was perfectly made, suited, “fit” the word used in the confession, to glorify God in his creation. As the apex, all that was made had been perfected in man, to be the summation of all that God wanted to communicate with man about Himself. We find him upright. Later though we will find him fallen. The NT term for resurrection, anastasis means to stand one again upon his feet. Though man was meant to worship his God in the humility of heart that is fitting a creature of his creator, God had created man to stand in his presence.

That is enough to get us started. We will look next at the nature of God so that we might learn more about man and what really took place and what was the tragedy and extent of the fall.

How Free Is God

It was said at Reformed Mafia

“Now as far as God overriding the will to cause “evil” decisions, I think we would both want to distance ourselves from such assertions.”

But now let us consider:

Isaiah 6:9-10

Mark 4 10-12

Matthew 13:10-17

Ezekiel 36:27

Isaiah 63:17

Each of these deals with the salvation of God’s people. What stands out is that God not only repeatedly tells us that he is the one who has caused these events to come about, they all lead to actions evil. The question that must be asked is why would God will to blind men to the truth so that they would do what is sinful? In Paul’s writing we find that it is the god of this world that has blinded men. Still, we have the previous declaration, that no matter how God did it, either by direct agency or indirect, he is still the primal causal agent. We Calvinists do not have a hard time saying that God is the author of sin if what is meant is that he is the one who has ordained it and all the means that will bring it about and not that he does it. We also understand that God has created man in the image of God, an agent responsible, with volition. We understand also that as Isaiah says, as Jesus demonstrated, and which is repeated by Paul in Romans, it is the very sign of the spirit of rebellion which speaks back to its maker accusing God of sin in making man as he sees fit as either vessels of wrath or vessels of mercy. The key word is vessels; tools by which he brings himself glory. The pride filled heart does not like it when God calls him nothing, clay to be molded, dust to be spit upon to give eyes to the blind. Yet, that is the Truth.

Jeremiah 18:12 It is the evil heart that will not have anything to do with what God forms. He calls it vain, and as Isaiah said, it is because they believe God does not know what is best for them:

“You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

1 Corinthians 2:8 And this is where it all comes together. It was God who purposed that Christ would go to Calvary. It was he who bruised the Son. It was he who killed him. It was the Father who provided the Lamb, and spilled his blood for the sacrifice. It was by the hands of evil men that he did so. And, he accomplished that by blinding their understanding. In all this God is innocent of sin, yet from before the world began, Jesus was the Lamb slain; before man was created, before he fell, it was ordained, in the eternal councils, the Word, that Judas would betray him. Those very actions that evil men carried out, each and every one, are exemplified in all the prophecies that were fulfilled in the passion. Each one demonstrating that God does indeed superintend the thoughts, actions, and outcomes of men’s lives.

It is uncomfortable for the flesh to accept this because it requires that a man die to himself, his self-determination, and bow the Lordship of the sovereign God who creates and orchestrates all minutial things for his glory. The natural man cannot receive this, because God has blinded their hearts. Indeed it is a wisdom above man’s logic so that man cannot glory in it at all. It is impossible for the natural man to submit to it. But, God in his mercy grants, that is gives repentance, and he does that just the same way that he gave to some the knowledge of the parables and kept it from others.

So, You Think You’re Southern Baptist?

Two Worlds Collide

Belive It Or Not A Worship Song

                                                

 

Here in Cheyenne we have a church that is a bit STRANGE. It is called Element Church. Though it is a plant church that issues out of an extreme Wesleyan Holiness background, this plant is steeped in the cult heritage that is now all the rave and typically named Emergent. If you go to Element’s worship page you will find a list of favorite books which include new age and Emergent author’s (Velvet Elvis- Rob Bell; Waking the Dead- John Eldredge). Then it makes sense, doesn’t it, that AC/DC would contextualize the sermon?

If you missed it there is a fine conversation on contextualization that has just ended at Pyromaniacs. There seems to be some confusion about just when we are and are not supposed to wield the sword, but Scripture seems to indicate that it is to be in and out of season. We have a job to do, and it is not always pretty. In fact it is pure hell we are beating down the gates of, taking the Kingdom as we are with violence.

“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ…

The be all and end all of extending the kingdom is that we win the argument. Honestly! Some would have us to believe that it is just a conversation we’re having here so there is no need for harsh talk and name calling (labeling in pomospeak). But, winning the argument isn’t the end, it is just the beginning.

You see, it depends on what you mean. Paul seemed to think that the winning of the argument was the purpose he was sent. Funny how this chapter begins with:

“Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ –I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent!”

What fools to think that it was mere words, a mere argument of a mortal. So they thought it all about words, words, words, when in reality, it was about the Word of Truth.

kathaireo: to pull down, demolish
the subtle reasonings (of opponents) likened to a fortress, i.e. to refute, to destroy

logismos: a reasoning such as is hostile to the Christian faith

gnosis ho theos: the perfect knowledge of God.

Tying it together: We are pulling down and demolishing the subtle reasonings of the opponents of the perfect knowledge of God and the Christian faith, destroying completely their fortresses by thoroughly refuting them with reasoning. We are to take those thoughts that are enemies of God captive and force them to be obedient to Christ, leaving no survivors.

Aye, then sound the trumpet in Zion, rouse the troops for war, for the end of the argument is our God.

While it is true there is a time for silence, there is also a time to speak. Or, have you not heard what this uncircumcised Philistine is saying about God? The sole purpose is to win the argument with a shot right between the eyes. But, there is more to it than that. It is the Name under whose banner we march that makes the difference.

The be all and end all is putting an end to all arguments that exalt themselves above the knowledge of God. If that is the end of all, the glory of God, then let there be blood…

You see what Element Church is doing is deceptive and in many ways blatantly blasphemous. Just like so many Emergent Style Church God’s word is ground underfoot for the convenience of appeal and to accomodate the culture in an effort to increase attendance without the slightest concern about what is really at stake. It is fair then to let them be anathema, is it not, as well as those who are connected to, approving of, and promoting the dragging of Christ’s name though dog’s vomit?

(pomospeak: the language type used by postmoderns; the typical language of emergers)

Packer’s First Point « 2 Worlds Collide

Packer’s First Point « 2 Worlds Collide

Phil Johnson on the Great Exchange

                                                  

Paula White is a Heretic

No doubt about it, and Huch too!

centuri0n blog spot: aka Mr. Winkie Eye Calls Rick Warren a Polygamist Magister

                                            

“centuri0n” …blog …saying that Rick Warren has 3 wives and practices Shinto in his basement at an altar to his father’s father

Can I get away with this redaction? I mean, the popular media gets away with it all the time. There are 1.4 billion people online, and it was reported that in 2005 there were 50 million blogs growing at one per second. You can say just about anything about people with little accountability.

With the advent of drums messages traveled at the speed of sound with a one note band witdh, but hey, it was an improvement over yelling or running to the next village. Still, it mattered what rhyme was in the rhythm.

One of the advantages of the internet is the full spectrum access to information. No generation has known the likes. While the advantage is obvious, the dangers loom large as well. HD has not arrived when it comes to information dependability.

 Anyone who is familiar with the tug and toe of the popular media is familiar with the claims that opposing sides make about bias. Accusations are made. Things are taken out of context and reproduced as matter of fact. The danger of internet traffic is considerably more dynamic when we add blogs to the mix. It is an economy of scale. It may be bigger and cheaper, mass produced as it is, but not necessarily better or safer and is subject to more vulnerabilities of  market place competition and fraud than a conversation behind closed doors with someone you know. Just how one navigates these waters and arrives safely on shore begins to take on proportions similar to navigating mined waters in a hurricane.

 For those of us on this side of the great echange:  we need more than just a few keyboard strokes to be able to discern the truth. And here’s the problem, once we have found the truth we have no option but to tell everyone:

And we have another problem, we have to know its the truth. This post though is not so much about that, but what we do with the truth presented to us:

 If you’ve managed to get through Mr. Turk’s reasoning then listen to Driscoll and ask yourself: “What?” His advice is better than Warren’s! We only wish he would take his own:

Driscoll needs to, and he needs to go deeper. By remaining in the pulpit though, he has done what centuri0n lists as Warren instruction:

Shout louder than your critics to define yourself and do not allow them to define you.

And he has shown over the half year or so since his humility teaching  that he has done very little to implement his own instruction. But, I will leave it to you to decide. There is good criticism and bad, bad receivers of it and good. What Driscoll outlines here is good, what Warren instructs, is bad.

The point of this post: How then shall we put the right answers with the right questions that critics ask so that we might avoid self deception:

 To be a rock and not to role by everywind of doctrine and the cunning and craftiness of men by which the lie in wait to decieve. But that is not the point here, the point is how are we to understand criticism.Which is another way of saying, how are we to be discipled and are we ever above it?

Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and with meekness receive the implanted word which is able to save your souls.