Tried With Fire

Your claims are indefensible. He attacked every weak point in my argument. His criticisms were right on target . I demolished his argument. I've never won an argument with him. You disagree? Okay, shoot ! If you use that strategy , he will wipe you out . He shot down all my arguments. 1 "The identification of argument with war is so complete that if you try to suggest some alternative way of thinking about what argument is - It's an attempt to achieve mutual understanding; It's a means of clarifying our views - you're almost certainly going to be denounced as a wishy-washy, namby-pamby sissy-britches." 2 "So yes: argument can indeed be war, or at least a contest in which it is possible to lose. But there's another side to this story: what is lost not in an argument but through passive complicity with that militaristic metaphor. Because there are many situations in which we lose something of our humanity by militarizing disc...

I was just thinking about this very thing when this pic providentially showed up on a friend's FB wall. (Thank you, Brandi!) If I had my druthers, I would be part of a group of Christians who regularly discussed difficult topics. Not for the sake of pressuring consensus or to vent but to ask hard questions and not assume there are easy answers. I've been able to find this to a certain degree online. It is harder face-to-face, which is really where my heart is. It seems that discussing our place in the public square is not exactly a favorite topic among Christians. We don't want to start arguments. We don't want to disagree, but how can we challenge one another to make doctrine in the pew a matter of practical Christian ethics if we don't talk about these things? I also wonder if we mistakenly put consensus and conformity in the place of unity in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then it is easier to norm and assume we all vote the same, have the same educational ...

Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom.  Matthew 27:50-51. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh.  Hebrews 10:19-20. For believers the veil is not rolled up, but rent. The veil was not unhooked, and carefully folded up, and put away, so that it might be put in its place at some future time. Oh, no! But the divine hand took it and rent it from top to bottom. It can never be hung up again; that is impossible. Between those who are in Christ Jesus and the great God, there will never be another separation. “Who shall separate us from the love of God?” Only one veil was made, and as that is rent, the one and only separator is destroyed. I delight to think of this. The devil himself can never divide me from God no...

Happy Thanksgiving! This isn't a traditional "Thanksgiving" hymn, but I affirm every word of it. 1. Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song, The joy of my heart. and the boast of my tongue; Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last, Hath won my affections, and bound my soul fast. 2. Without Thy sweet mercy I could not live here; Sin would reduce me to utter despair; But, through Thy free goodness, my spirits revive, And He that first made me still keeps me alive. 3. Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart, Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart; Dissolved by Thy goodness, I fall to the ground, And weep to the praise of the mercy I’ve found. 4. Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I own, And the covenant love of Thy crucified Son; All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine Seals mercy, and pardon, and righteousness mine. All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine Seals mercy, and pardon, and righteousness mine. Words - John Stocker (1776),...

It's easy to assume that emotions have little place, if any, in thinking well. After all, an argument based on "I just feel this is the way it is" isn't much of an argument at all. So should we check our emotions at the door? To continue in  How to Think , Alan Jacobs uses the example of the philosopher John Stuart Mill. He was raised by his father to be a thinker, no emotions necessary with a true Brit stiff upper lip. But as brilliant as Mill was, he reached a point of mental collapse. What rescued him from the brink was a volume of Wordsworth's poetry in which he experienced a delight that had been missing for so long. Mill's writes "the habit of analysis has a tendency to wear away the feelings... when no other mental habit is cultivated, and the analysing spirit remains without its natural complements and correctives." Jacobs interprets this as "The analytical mind constantly separates, divides, distinguishes until its whole mental wo...

Megan Phelps-Roper grew up in Westboro Baptist Church, and Fred Phelps was her grandfather. This was the only mindset she knew, and she believed it. She picketed and protested and used her social media account to denigrate anyone who would try to challenge her brand of hate. However, she interacted with one young man, a Jew in fact, who did not trade fire for fire but engaged her in respectful conversation, as best as Twitter could provide. Through these dialogues, Megan began to question what she believed. She eventually rejected what she had known all her life and now "is a social media activist, lobbying to overcome divisions and hatred between religious and political divides." ( Wikipedia ) Quite a transformation. If you are like me, my first reaction was "I am so glad she started to think for herself ." But did she? In How to Think , Alan Jacobs argues that it wasn't so much thinking by herself as beginning to think with different people.   He als...

“Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.” We have tried to show from the words of the text that Christ is sufficient to purify us by supplying us with holy motives, and to pardon us by His having Himself atoned for sin. The doctrine, then, is, that THERE IS NO MORE SACRIFICE FOR SIN, BECAUSE CHRIST SUPPLIES ALL THAT IS NEEDED... “Ah!” you will say, “this is meant for Catholics.” Well, then, a little for yourselves. There are some of you who are quite as bad; you receive the same doctrine only in another shape... Some others of you think that you must get your hearts softened before you can trust in Christ . When we preach the gospel to you, you say, “I do not feel such tenderness as I should like to feel.” No, dear friend, and you never will while you talk so, for true tenderness of heart is not obtained by shutting your eyes to the cross. If you will not trust Christ, your heart will grow harder instead of softer, and if you set up the ...

ht: Fake Science

I am thankful for: ~ Fall is finally here! I have un-raked leaves in the yard and the days are noticeably getting shorter, but there is something about the crispness in the air and the quality of the sunlight that is so nice after the heat and humidity of summer. ~ My daughter's school and God's providence in placing her there. She has great teachers, but I am thankful for more than their academic knowledge, which is impressive. They genuinely care for their students and go the extra mile, even helping to mend a broken shoe. ~ The testimony of other Christians who have had their eyes opened to the good news of the gospel. I was listening to a podcast where two pastors were sharing their testimonies and having trouble not getting teary-eyed because I could relate so well. Christians need the gospel too! ~ The sola fide debate has given me a reason to go back to the scriptures to see what they have to say about salvation. I am thankful that at the end of the day an...

After so many decades of not thinking carefully about what I believe and why I believe it, I want to think well. How to Think arrived yesterday which went straight to the top of my reading stack. In the introduction, author Alan Jacobs cites an essay by Marilynne Robinson where she observed that if you associate "rigidity, narrowness of mind, judgmentalism" with the label "puritan", this is exactly what is demonstrated by some people when they criticize the Puritans. She writes "it is a great example of our collective eagerness to disparage without knowledge or information about the thing disparaged, when the reward is the pleasure of sharing an attitude one knows is socially approved." So the actual historical meaning of a word like "Puritan" doesn't matter anymore. The point is to toss around the same pejoratives "like a password to get into the clubhouse." Jacobs writes - "Robinson further comments that this kind of u...

I tend to be careful about airing my political opinions because it can be so divisive. However, I need to get these thoughts out of my head or I will have trouble sleeping again tonight. These are my opinions. Feel free to form your own. The cognitive dissonance must be off the chart when professing Christians, who make a big show of being pro-family and pro-life: 1. Are instrumental in electing a sexual predator to the highest office in the land. 2. Feel torn between losing a senate seat and electing an alleged pedophile. This has flabbergasted me even prior to last year's election, and I continue to be astounded as self-appointed Court Evangelicals 1 make a trumpery (yes, I used that word intentionally) of Christianity. But I am also troubled that average professing Christians are more  willing to turn a blind eye to what would be condemned in someone of the opposing political party. At this point, being a "Christian" or an "Evangelical" is rapidly ...

There is so much wrong with the world that it is easy to get discouraged and forget that God is bigger, greater, more powerful, and more loving than I can even imagine. But even with my forgetfulness, God is faithful to remind me what is true. So here are few things that encouraged me from being with the saints yesterday. My pastor has been leading a theological fellowship with 5 students from Christopher Newport University. These 5 young men shared with the adult Sunday school class what they have been learning. Each took turns briefly speaking about the doctrine of God including the Trinity and Simplicity, the doctrine of Creation, and the need for an historical Adam. It was encouraging to see them make the connection between good doctrine, the gospel, and discipleship, a connection which many of us don't get until we are much older. In the morning sermon from the 1 Cor. 2, Pastor Ryan spoke on how much we owe the Holy Spirit in our salvation. We were bumbling around in the d...

And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  Luke 15:20 And if this morning my Father, and your Father, should come out to meet mourning penitents, in a moment He will show you that you are His children! You shall say, “Abba, Father,” on your road to your own house; you shall feel that your sins are all forgiven, that every particle of it has been cast behind Jehovah’s back; you shall feel today that you are accepted—as your faith looks to Christ you shall see that God accepts you, because Christ your substitute is worthy of God’s love and God’s delight. I trust you shall, this very morning, delight yourself in God, because God delights Himself in you. And you shall hear Him whisper in your ear, “You shall be called Hephzibah . . . for the Lord delights in you.” I wish I could picture such a text as this as it ought to be; it needs some tender, sympathetic hea...

Irenaeus of Lyon by Simonetta Carr, illustrations by Max Abraxas, Reformation Heritage Books, 2017,  64 pages. Simonetta Carr has written another biography in the Christian Biographies for Young Readers series. Her latest subject is Irenaeus of Lyons, the early church father and author of Against Heresies . Irenaeus lived around 130-200 A.D. He was a disciple of Polycarp who was discipled by the apostle John. The Roman Empire was still the dominant force in the world, and their polytheism and emperor worship were stark contrasts to Christianity. Thus the Christians' refusal to take part in pagan religion led to widespread persecution. Irenaeus' mentor, Polycarp, was one of the many martyrs for the faith. This time was also marked by the rise of false teachers who were distorting the gospel and leading people astray. With a desire to strengthen the church in biblical truth, Irenaeus began his work Against Heresies , which is still read today. He set about refuting the ...

In light of the sola fide debate, I'm posting at Out of the Ordinary on the doctrine of imputation. This is a rewrite of an old post. However, when we stumble and fall and assurance waivers, it never hurts to be reminded again that our righteousness is outside of ourselves. Jesus Christ is our righteousness. For decades as a Christian, I was taught and believed that Jesus got me in the door, but the rest was up to me. This was terrifying. I remember crying as a child wondering if I would have the courage to be a martyr for Christ, and wondering if I would lose my salvation if I failed. I remember hearing about the movie, A Thief in the Night, and wondering what would happen if I wasn't ready. I lived with so much uncertainty that current events would strike fear in my heart because I doubted I would be good enough when Christ returned. Finally one day, I was raking leaves and listening to R.C. Sproul's lectures on What is Reformed Theology? . When he discussed the...

The majority of my Christian life, 40 years to be precise, was steeped in a form of deeper life/early Keswick/two-tiered salvation. I have friends and family who are still part of this movement whom I love, but I would respectfully but still strongly disagree with their theology. The preachers who taught this view made it abundantly clear that Christ got us in the door, but the rest was up to us. Failure to make the grade, in our particular circle, resulted in not being raptured and enduring outer darkness during the kingdom age. According to author D.M. Panton (1870-1955), the rapture was God's judgment of both believers and nonbelievers. Thus Christians will be left behind if they aren't spiritual enough. Here's a quote from Panton's book as evidence: For it is the bride, and not the bridegroom, that contributes the trousseau of marriage readiness, and as she provides it out of the resources of her father, so "His wife hath made herself  READY: and it was gi...

I included a picture as proof that no one is making this up. But in the foreword to Faith Alone: The Doctrine of Justification by Faith by Thomas Schriener, John Piper writes these unsettling words: The stunning Christian answer is: sola fide - faith alone . But be sure you hear this carefully and precisely: He says right with God by faith alone, not attain heaven by faith alone. There are other conditions for attaining heaven, but no others for entering a right relationship to God. In fact, one must already be in a right relationship with God by faith alone in order to meet the other conditions... Such faith always "works by love" and produces the "obedience of faith." And that obedience - imperfect as it is till the day we die is not the "basis of justification by ... a necessary evidence and fruit of justification." In this sense, love and obedience - inherent righteousness is "required of believers, but not for justification" - that ...

Not for your sakes do I this, said the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. Ezekiel 36:32 God’s people, after they are called by grace, are preserved in Christ Jesus—they are “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.” They are not allowed to sin away their eternal inheritance, but as temptations arise, they have strength given with which to encounter them—and as sin blackens them they are washed afresh and again cleansed. But mark, the reason why God keeps His people is the same as that which made them His people—His own free sovereign grace! If, my brothers and sisters, you have been delivered in the hour of temptation, pause and remember that you were not delivered for your own sake—there was nothing in you that deserved the deliverance! If you have been fed and supplied in your hour of need, it is not because you have been a faithful servant of God, nor because you have been a prayerful Christian. It is sim...

I am thankful for - ~ A beautiful sunrise to brighten the BJ's parking lot as I was filling the gas tank early this morning. ~ God's care in the little things. I picked up this lovely bolt or whatever it is in my right rear tire last week. I am thankful the tire didn't blow or develop a leak. I was able to get it to the mechanic (honest, reliable, and very nice which is another thing to be thankful for) where they were able to see me right away and patch the tire. ~ That Christians are discussing difficult issues. Mental illness, depression, and anxiety were not on my radar 20-30 years ago. Consequently people didn't talk about postpartum depression or being overwhelmed by anxious thoughts. We toughed it out as best as we could but with very little understanding of ourselves or from others. The interaction between body and soul is a marvel of creation, but those aspects of our lives have been marked by the fall. I'm thankful for Christian counselors, books ...