Going Out Like Elijah

 In 2 Kings 2, when Elijah is about to ascend to Heaven, he illustrates through his path the way Israel took in entering the land under Joshua. After Israel crossed the Jordan, Jericho, Bethel, and Gilgal all featured prominently in their conquering the land. Elijah is following their movement in reverse. He is leaving the land.

But beyond this, Elijah’s movement is that of the high priest leaving the Most Holy Place, passing out of the Tabernacle/Temple, going by or through the area of the Laver (the Jordan), and ascending to Heaven in the fire of the Bronze Altar. It symbolized his life of sacrifice to God ending, and that of a priest leaving the Tabernacle or Temple, having completed his work.

The Armor of the Unbeliever

 Frequent profanity is a veneer of bravado intended to hide deep insecurity. The goal is to get the approval of others in order to achieve a sense of security about oneself. But since the fear of man in the place of the fear of God never goes beneath the surface to the heart, the person has to keep up the facade, continuing under the self-deception that it will one day be enough.

Untangling Tulsi

 Tulsi Gabbard is still Hindu, and was sworn into office on the Bhagavad Gita instead of the Bible. She will speak of God, as if she believed in the Christian God generally worshiped in the West, or as if we all worship the same God. But she knows she’s being deceptive. She has also been wishy-washy on abortion and LGBT issues. The fact of the matter is that she to some degree supports leftist causes with regard to both. In short, while I like some of her positions, she isn’t really somebody that can be trusted. Her invitation to other Democrats to join her in leaving the Democratic Party seems nothing more than a political game to gain her attention.

Ruth, Bread, Gentiles, and Covenant

 The Book of Ruth

1. The childlessness of Naomi and her two daughters-in-law is reflective of the barrenness of Israel itself in its famine. First Israel was fruitless, and then the women themselves, left without their husbands, were themselves fruitless. In trying to escape the famine, Naomi and her family simply found the famine had followed them. Naomi reflects on her own fruitless state in 1:11-14.
2. The first turning point in the story comes when the women hear that Yahweh has turned His favor back toward Israel by giving them bread. Yahweh has remembered his covenant with his people. Ruth, who declares her covenant with Yahweh and Israel in 1:16-17, will then be given the covenantal blessing of the bread of Israel repeatedly throughout the rest of the book, until she is joined in marriage to the people of Israel. The Gentile, the foreigner who was once not a part of Israel, has now been brought near and made to be one with them (Eph. 2:11-18, Rom. 11). This is not merely symbolic of what would eventually happen in Christ, but rather one Old Testament example of the salvation of the world that God had promised to Abraham, and which would be fulfilled completely through the work of Christ. It is not mere typology.
3. Ruth is an example of the repeated testimony of Scripture, that God rewards those who diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6). Antinomianism has no place in the covenant of God. The lazy and presumptuous cannot find Him. Rather, those who pursue Him are rewarded in their pursuit. Persistence in faith will always meet with blessing. Faith and works are not in opposition, but rather partners in the whole package of the Christian life.
4. Matthew 15:21-28 should be read with the Book of Ruth as its complement. The fact that the Canaanite woman was appealing to Jesus because of her daughter should not be missed (Mt. 15:22). Ruth was, at first, in her gleaning allowed to have the crumbs that fell from the master’s table (Ruth 2). But before long, due to her faith (Matt. 15:28), she was brought into a complete wedding banquet once only given to Israel. Though once fruitless like Israel in its famine of judgment, Yahweh blessed her with a child, giving her what she desired (Mt. 15:28). The blessings of Israel spilled out upon the Gentiles.

Giorgia Meloni, Fascist?

Is Giorgia Meloni a new Mussolini? The majority Leftist Western media would certainly have you to think so. But the media, along with the rest of the unbelieving post-Enlightenment West, is interminably unable to break out of their European Left-Right paradigm to understand a Christian Conservative social order. Without faith, Christendom is beyond them.

The Leftists, that is, the Communists and Socialists that make up the unbelieving faction of the Western world, occupy a position that holds no substantial difference from Fascism. But Fascism is not Conservatism. The philosophical basis of Fascism, Socialism, and Communism is the same, that of a denial of the knowability and ultimately the existence of God. With all three, one is in the end left with a shattered epistemology and nothing but the will to power. Not only can nothing be truly known or believed, nothing can be truly loved. Meloni, in contrast, is clearly a Conservative and a Christian. And while I would differ with her on nationalism, that is less important than the other, more central issues she is defending.

Her election is an answer to prayer, the mercy and grace of God. It is something to be celebrated. May God be glorified, and may more like her be raised up.

The Struggle of Faith

 The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it emotionally. A higher paradox confounds emotion as well as reason and there are long periods in the lives of all of us, and of the saints, when the truth as revealed by faith is hideous, emotionally disturbing, downright repulsive. Witness the dark night of the soul in individual saints...

There is a question whether faith can or is supposed to be emotionally satisfying. I must say that the thought of everyone lolling about in an emotionally satisfying faith is repugnant to me. I believe that we are ultimately directed Godward but that this journey is often impeded by emotion. -- Flannery O'Connor

Faith Works

 Unbelief and habitual sin exist in a codependent relationship with each other - the one feeds the other continuously, until a person takes steps to starve the both of them to death, for the sake of that person’s eternal life. But this is merely progressive sanctification, without which there is no eternal life.

“114. Q. But can those converted to God keep these commandments perfectly?

A. No. In this life even the holiest have only a small beginning of this obedience. Nevertheless, with earnest purpose they do begin to live not only according to some but to all the commandments of God.

115. Q. If in this life no one can keep the ten commandments perfectly, why does God have them preached so strictly?

A. First, that throughout our life we may more and more become aware of our sinful nature, and therefore seek more eagerly the forgiveness of sins and righteousness in Christ. Second, that we may be zealous for good deeds and constantly pray to God for the grace of the Holy Spirit, that He may more and more renew us after God's image, until after this life we reach the goal of perfection.”

-Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 114-115

Lost in the Multiverse

Marvel: “You know what will draw in more families? We’ll have She-Hulk dance like a whore. The kids will love that.”

She-Hulk

 The She-Hulk show has a hard time picking a vibe. Are we going for Ally McBeal, or a more dramatic legal show? Music changes a setting. And the background music here kills any Ally McBeal feel and makes it, well, a Marvel show with standard Marvel music. And that’s fine, though show is a little boring. In short, aesthetics matter. If you try throwing too many colors on the canvas without thinking carefully about how to arrange them, you’re probably going to end up with a mess that hardly qualifies as art. Pick an aesthetic and go with it. You can’t be everything.

Hypocritical Socialists

How many of those complaining about “student loan forgiveness” over the past couple of days actually refused the government bailouts during the shutdowns of the past two years? How many receive Social Security, pretending it’s just their money they’re receiving back, when in fact their money was long ago spent by the government? How many sent their kids to government grade schools or even government-sponsored universities, without loans? Not only does that Carolina Tarheel ball game exist because the school receives tax dollars from your neighbors, but they teach your kids Socialism when you send them there.

We’re all partakers of the Socialist system we’re in. There’s no reason to pretend otherwise.

The Power of the Word

 Liturgical churches (Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican/Episcopal, Lutheran, Reformed) far exceed Evangelical churches (Non-denominational, Baptist, Pentecostal, etc.) in the amount of actual Scripture read, sung, and otherwise spoken in their worship services. In terms of quantity, it’s a simple fact. Not only are the liturgies mostly made up of quotes directly taken from the Bible. The hymns often have more actual Scripture than the contemporary worship songs, or even the revivalistic hymns, for those churches that still sing them. And liturgical churches have actual Scripture readings with long passages from Scripture, whereas non-liturgical churches often won’t have Scripture readings at all, and may only reference a few verses.

“But the theology and teaching are better in Evangelical churches,” some may say. Sometimes that’s true. There’s no denying that there are serious doctrinal errors in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. And in the old mainline churches, like the Episcopal and United Methodist Churches, there’s no escaping the amount of heresy one can hear from their “pulpits”. But the preaching and teaching in Evangelical churches often have their own share of wrong doctrine. Evangelical churches will also force testimonials on their congregations from people who don’t know enough right doctrine to keep from expressing heresy when they give their testimonies. Evangelical “Bible studies” and small groups have often been occasions for people ill-equipped to be teaching anyone to spread whatever unbiblical idea they got from whatever source to unsuspecting listeners. And then you have Evangelical preachers ranting in their sermons, berating congregations, and filling their sermons with silly, unedifying stories. When you have people thinking that their biggest sins are smoking and listening to rock music, rather than the things that Scripture actually focuses on, one has to ask: is your church really a Christian church? When your church is more intent on putting on a show in worship, and promoting the personality of your pastor, you have to ask: is your church really a Christian church? Rome is bad. But is it any worse than that?

Now I’m not naïve enough to expect every Southern Baptist pastor reading this to leave his pulpit for the last time this morning and start attending his local Presbyterian or Anglican Church. But I would ask this one question of Evangelical ministers of all stripes: why aren’t you reading more Scripture along with your sermons on Sunday morning? The above facts should be convicting. 

Some, in the back of their minds, will have a fear of “dead formalism”. But how is that worse than dead informalism? And what makes you think formalism has to be spiritually dead? Any “death” you experience lies in a lack of faith, not per se in any written liturgy, and definitely not in Scripture. Do you believe God’s own testimony that His Word is alive and powerful, or not?

How did we become deceived into believing emotions and excitement equal life? Some of the most emotion-filled places on earth are full of death. Nothing is more active than a damned heart scrambling to find the peace that eludes it.

Are you a Bible-preaching minister or not? Is your church an Evangelical church or not? If so, why is there so little Scripture in your worship services? This has to be the starting point for all men who call themselves ministers of Jesus Christ. Is there a lack of power in your preaching? Are you having a hard time figuring out why all the moral failures among your congregation continue to happen? It could be that the answer is far simpler than you realize, at least the beginning of the answer. Without Scripture, there is no conviction of sin or repentance. And your people need to have Scripture read to them, by you, every Sunday morning.

If we trust God as we profess, we must have full confidence in His Word, and its power to turn lives, and the world, upside down. Anything less is rank unbelief.

Know the Real Enemy

Western globalist elites want you to give up private ownership of everything, want you to only have access to public (socialist) transportation, want you to give up meat and eat bugs, want to normalize sexual perversion, and want to make Christianity as irrelevant as any false religion.

They also want to stop Russia.

What if Russia is the answer to our prayers for deliverance from our wicked rulers?

Random Thoughts

 In an age of Marxist iconoclasm, the blessings of historic Christian imagery should be apparent. Love, gratitude, and wisdom reflect and remember, trusting in the God Who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Psalm 42:6-7).

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“Son shine will prevent sin burn!” Seen on a church marquee. And a PCUSA church at that. The mainline liberals bequeathed to Evangelicals their weak view of God, we bequeathed to them our hokey sayings, and we’re all in this together, just one big soup of silliness.

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Christianity “works” because it is true, because the Triune God of Scripture, who created the universe and saves people from their sins, is real. Until Jordan Peterson gets to the point where he is convinced of that, his answers ultimately will lead back to despair. God will never be content being treated as merely another foundational myth, or even as the best foundational myth, whatever that may mean.

The Heart of Revival

 True biblical revival, whenever and wherever it happens, is not primarily about emotions. Emotions are incidental to revival and inconsistent. Instead, genuine Biblical revival is about repentance for one’s sins, a heartfelt confession of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and a renewed adherence to the Law of God. Wherever revival has taken place, whether in an individual or collectively in society, these things will always be present and primary.

Law and Love Agree

Jesus‘ consistent point about the scribes and the Pharisees wasn’t that they adhered to the Law too strenuously, as something contrary to love. Rather, it was that they weren’t actually adhering to the Law at all. The Law of God, as Psalm 119 emphasizes, is an expression of God’s love for mankind. And to keep the Law rightly is to love your neighbor as yourself.

India, Fable Vs. Truth

 Thinking of this while watching the Ms. Marvel show. You have the history in India and what is now Pakistan of mothers leaving their babies out exposed as sacrifices to the gods, which still gets practiced some today. You have the Hindu practice of Sati, that of widows being burned to death after their husbands died. These things began to change after Christianity came to India in the form of missionary activity and trade with the British.

Throughout the history of the world, Christianity has been the great civilizer. And what is peddled as Islam and Hinduism today in the West is Islam and Hinduism that has been trained in what it is to be civilized by Christianity. 

And the fact that this is true is evident in where we are today in America. As people have abandoned Christianity, they have turned to killing their own children and celebrating it. For many of us, we are too far gone to know what it is to be civilized anymore.

Today’s Decision

What has happened today needs to be understood first and foremost not as a political or legal issue, but as a spiritual issue, as an act of God’s mercy. To merely regard this as a Constitutional or States’ Rights issue, or as one of political power, is to miss the fundamental reality at work. I have said often in the past that the murder of the unborn has been one of America’s greatest sins, and that we have brought the judgments of the past few years on ourselves largely due to that. Today was an act of grace, a turning of God’s favor toward us, a sign of His willingness to forgive us and heal us. It is entirely undeserved.

But it is also a test, as to what we will do with this favor. If we continue down the path of wickedness that we otherwise seem to be traveling, His judgment will come back on us worse than before. This is true of the country in its entirety as well as in its parts, whether in individual states, counties, cities, communities, families, or persons. He does not take ingratitude and the despising of His kindness lightly.

If, however, we repent and look to Him in humility and gratitude, in worship, in prayer, and in service to Him and our neighbors, His favor will continue and increase. 

Holiness manifest in obedience to God’s Law is key in this. Our abortion epidemic is an extension of the epidemic of sexual immorality in this country - the main reason we abort our children is because we do not want to accept responsibility for our sexual sins. Some of the needs in that area may be with regard to politics and laws, but they aren’t primarily so. Worship and obedience toward God are the only way. Anything else will simply lead us back to where we were before.

The Predictable “Lightyear”

The new Pixar movie “Lightyear” is coming out this weekend, and the general plot seems fairly obvious. The white male Buzz Lightyear will be an idiot, time will have passed him by as a relic of a former era, and the really competent leader, the real hero, will be the black female. Because pagans do meta social commentary and propaganda constantly. Most people, even Christians, are oblivious to it. So many college lit classes passed, so little ability to apply what we were supposed to have learned.

And then somebody I know will see it, and come back to me and say, “no, it wasn’t quite like that.” And then I’ll go see it and realize they just didn’t get it. Because this happens every time.

The recent Chip and Dale movie? Same plot. Heavy metaphor in that one. The Obi Wan show? Same thing. Reva is the real hero. The marginalized, opppressed, innocent hero. And incredibly, inexplicably, omnicompetent.

I’ve lost count of how many people have told me they loved “Thor Ragnarok” and couldn’t pick up on the fact that it was a deconstruction of Asgard as portrayed in the MCU up to that point, and more broadly a deconstruction of/a critical historical myth making about American/Western imperialism and colonialism. The white heterosexual male is always the villain. Why do you think they made Thor and Bruce Banner into such idiots, and killed off Odin? Why do you think they destroyed Asgard, and said “Asgard is a people, not a place”? All globalist Leftist propaganda. Asgard was a metaphor for how they believe America should be conceived, all ideology and no physical borders. Why do you think they shaved Thor’s head? He was put in the place of a slave. He was put into the arena, made to dance in the minstrel show to entertain his owner. It was his penance, his purgatory, as the representative of the world’s collective oppressor. They might as well have shipped him to Sakaar on the Amistad. That would teach him, for sure. Why do you think they picked a black homosexual woman to play Valkyrie, who has mostly been white in the comics? And why did she behave crassly like a man? All agenda. Then there was the character’s implied relationship with another woman. And now she’s “King Valkyrie”.

And we the crowds eat it up, cluelessly, because we’re suckered by humor.

And then on the other side, reacting to all this, is a rising white nationalism, those blaming Jewish people for the world’s ills and thinking they’re going to recover 1955 demographics.

Clowns to the Left of me, jokers to the Right, and here I am in the middle. Feel free to join me.

Living with the Reality of Sin

Most people deal with the things that haunt them - such as hurts caused by others, failures in life, addictions, a lack of peace, and a deep sense of dissatisfaction - through ways that ultimately are of no real help. Not knowing what else to do, and yet still having to cope with reality as it faces us every day, we try ignoring these things, or we add on more addictions, or we use self-deception about the facts that linger in our hearts and minds. We tell ourselves we’re good enough, but we really know that isn’t true. Or we tell ourselves that nobody’s perfect, as if that makes it okay, but we can’t get away from the sense that it doesn’t. In dealing with others, we either plaster on a shallow smile to imitate real joy, we adopt a Stoic position of coldness, or we isolate ourselves from others altogether. Deep in our hearts we all know that we are not and cannot in ourselves be enough , and we can’t get away from it. Not only do we fail to satisfy others, we fail to satisfy ourselves. And though we can’t always put our finger on it, we know that there is an ultimate standard out there to which we are accountable, something we should be striving for, and we don’t have the ability in ourselves to meet it. Instead, we try to create a false standard, a lower standard, and try to deceive ourselves into believing it’s good enough. And yet we continue to suffer the pain caused by others  in our lives, and then turn around and do the same to them as well, almost as if we can’t help it.

The Omniscient Judge

Nothing escapes the eyes of God. The temptation, especially for unbelievers, is to move through life as if God doesn’t notice sin, and as if judgment will never come. 

But it eventually will. The fact that a person thinks he can get away with evil is itself God’s judgment.

We can fool one another. But God can never be deceived.