An Examination of Biblical Precepts Involved in Issues at Hand |
Resisting God's Grace
Biblical Standards
for Choosing Civil Magistrates, William Einwechter
Letters
Personal
Election Issues
to Consider [New book Blows
The Lid Off 911]
Toward a Theology
of Victory for the Lord's Churches, Thomas Williamson
The Hegemonic Patriarchy,
Andrew Sandlin. Answer #3 by Bro Need
In the Midst of a Storm - Hurricane
Ivan, Steve Covington
ARE YOU REGISTERED TO VOTE?
The well-known skeptic and author-Mark Twain once said of Christians: "It will be conceded that a Christian's first duty is to God. It then follows, as a matter of course, that it is his duty to carry his Christian code of morals to the polls and vote them. Whenever he shall do that, he will not find himself voting for an unclean man, a dishonest man. If Christians would vote their duty to God at the polls, they would carry every election, and do it with ease. Their prodigious power would be quickly realized and recognized, and afterward there would be no unclean candidates upon any ticket, and graft would cease. If the Christians of America could be persuaded to vote God and a clean ticket, it would bring about a moral revolution that would be incalculably beneficent. It would save the country." (Colliers magazine, September 2, 1904)
Note here that even the well-known skeptic Mark Twain said the issue is not whether we vote for a winner or loser, but whether or not we voted for right.
This being our last issue before the November elections, a large portion of this issue is dedicated to election issues. I realize this issue will be quite depressing, but an honest look at this election is enough to depress anyone. However, there are a few bright spots, primarily Daniel 4:
25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 34 ¶ And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
The Lord is the only one who gives the kingdom of men to whomsoever he will, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? What must Western Christianity endure before it will abandon the heretical idea that God is captive to Satan in this present age?
As a Christian, I am left in a very unpleasant place for this election. Sadly, Both Bush and Kerry make the Clinton years look good.
Though we will be mentioning other Scriptures, let me introduce this issue with these:
And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. (Isaiah 24:2.)
God gives leaders after the hearts of his people. Covetous lawless hearts WILL result in covetous lawless leaders.
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? (Jeremiah 5:31.)
The vast majority of Christians would rather hear smooth words, e.g., "We are glad that evil is prevailing, for that means the Lord will come and take us out of it soon. Let's vote for more evil", than the truth of God's word.
Let me mention one point showing that American Christians will continue to vote for bondage to the major parties. The vast majority do not want freedom:
By DANIEL GROSS
September 5, 2004
WITH oil prices hovering above $40 a barrel [now over $50, October 8, 2004], experts have calmed frayed nerves by noting that today's services-driven American economy is much less addicted to the black stuff than yesterday's industrial economy. [Notice that now even the service is being "outsourced" offshore.] From 1973 to 2003, after all, the amount of oil and gas needed to create a dollar of gross domestic product fell by half. Structural changes in the economy have let the nation absorb the recent shock of rising crude.
That's the good news. The bad news is that other recent structural changes in the economy - the federal government's shift from surpluses to huge deficits, the national predilection for consumption over saving and housing prices that climb faster than incomes - have increased the country's reliance on another kind of fuel: credit.
As a result, the American economic ship, which has weathered the recent run-up in crude oil prices, may be more vulnerable to sudden surges in the price of money. If the rate on 30-year fixed mortgages were to rise from 5.4 percent today to 7.5 percent next February, homeowners could get walloped.
"Rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt," Benjamin Franklin wrote in Poor Richard's Almanac. Well, in recent years, American consumers, businesses and governments have been hitting the sack with their stomachs bloated and their charge cards maxed out. From 1988 to 2000, the ratio of nonfinancial debt to gross domestic product held steady at about 1.8 to 1. But recently, consumer, business and government credit has bulged like the belly of a contestant at a hot-dog eating contest at Coney Island.
From the beginning of 2001 to the end of 2003, the economy added $1.317 trillion in gross domestic product and $4.2 trillion in debt.
That means that each new dollar of economic output was accompanied by $3.19 in new debt. So now, for the first time, the debt-to-G.D.P. ratio stands at more than two to one. ...
[T]he economy's apparent reliance on credit to fuel everything from home buying to the military budget is troublesome. If incomes and revenues fail to rise, stressed consumers may have a tough time keeping up with payments. "It's been much more a matter of households borrowing than businesses," said Benjamin M. Friedman, a Harvard economist. "You have to hope that people are going to be able to service the obligations they've taken on."
An economy hooked on debt also is vulnerable to the seemingly inevitable rise in interest rates. And in a period when prudence would seem to dictate locking in rates, Americans have rushed to assume greater interest-rate risk. Borrowers - especially homebuyers - haven't reacted to recent increases by borrowing less.
In the first quarter of 2004, debt rose at an annual clip of 8.6 percent, more than double the growth rate of the economy. No, we've kept the interest bill down by swapping fixed-rate for adjustable-rate financing. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that adjustable-rate mortgages constituted 35 percent of new mortgages in the second quarter this year, up from 27 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003.
Consumers, whose maxed-out credit cards generally bear floating interest rates, and the federal government, which skews its borrowing to short-term instruments, have essentially done the same thing. So if interest rates rise, we'll all have to spend more dollars on debt service, leaving fewer dollars for more productive uses - like buying 90-inch flat-screen TV's. If money becomes more expensive, we may have to downshift our spending and consumption, like drivers trading in expensive Hummers for gas-sipping imports. And that may shrink the economy.
HIGHER collective leverage, in turn, means that we're more susceptible to external shocks. "The bigger the debt, the smaller the margin for error,'' said Austan D. Goolsbee, a University of Chicago economist. Companies with no debt can weather several lean quarters; companies with piles of debt often find that a single bad quarter spells disaster.
The same holds for consumers. All kinds of wild cards that are scary even in placid times - another spike in gas prices, a rupture of the housing bubble, fresh job losses, a period of sustained inflation - become nightmares during times of greater leverage. So as we go to bed with our suppers and our home-equity lines of credit, Professor Goolsbee says: "I think we should be a little nervous."
(http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/05/business/yourmoney/05view.html?th)
The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. (Proverbs 22:7.)
Both Bush and Kerry are quite rich. A natural result of debt bondage is the rich will rule over the poor, whether through the ballot or by force.
I am distressed that so many Christians support Bush simply because he says he is a Christian. The only reason I can imagine that Christians continue to believe he is a Christian is because they want to think there is a Christian in the White House. My prayer is that we be delivered from such Christians. I would rather have an openly pagan president over me than a Bush type Christian. (Of course, the #1 choice is a practicing Christian.) If one reads God's word, he cannot help but see the truth:
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7:16.)
There are many things that prove Bush is not what he claims, yet many Christians want to believe there is a Christian over us.
On the other hand, while there is a openly professing and practicing Christian running for office, most Christians refuse to even consider him Michael Peroutka (Constitution Party). They would rather vote for evil and get it than vote for righteousness and not get it. We will be held accountable before God for how we vote.
I realize that Bettie and I are great sinners, for we watched the first "Spiderman" movie. It was a good movie with no sex nor foul language in it. (Yes, it contained at least one questionable scene.) The movie had a major point that I cannot recall in any move I have seen, and that was, WITH GREAT POWER AND ABILITIES COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY. In fact, in the last scene of the movie, the human side of Spiderman turned his back on the girl of his childhood dreams because of the responsibility he felt with his exceptional power.
The doctrine of God giving to each individual unique gifts, skills, talents and abilities for specific jobs is one of the clearest in the word of God. (1 Cor 12:6, 11, 12; 2 Cor 10:13; Rom 12:6; Eph 4:7, &c.) He gives to individuals according to His own will and good pleasure, and the individual is/will be held accountable for how he used his unique gift in God's Kingdom work. (Mat 6:33; 1 Cor 4:2, 7; 2 Cor 5:10, 11.)
Moreover, no one can say to Him, Why hast thou made me thus? (Ro 9:20; Da 4:35.)
Grace can be defined For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. (Phil 2:13.)
In other words, we can say that God may show an area, and then he gives the power to do something about what he has shown us.
Example: With a God-given ability to study, see problems, write and present solutions to social ills, comes the responsibility to use these abilities for God. The problem is, though, that we want the gifts and abilities given by the Spirit of God, BUT WE DO NOT WANT THE RESPONSIBILITIES that go with what has been revealed. Responsibilities require work, sacrifice, standing alone for things which others cannot see, making enemies in high places (Eph 6:12) and standing against public policy ("Politically Correct" is a statement out of Marxism) and sin in every area (civil, religious, social, &c.).
I must admit that those of us who see what is going on in society and who try to sound the alarm are called and dismissed as alarmists, among other things. (See Ezekiel chapters 3 & 33.) Many times I have wished I did not see what is going on, for those who try to tell the truth about people and events are, more often than not, at the very least ignored by those who do not want to face the truth.
The upcoming presidential race is a good example. Anyone who is willing to face facts rather than words must see that both men of the major parties are evil, so to vote for either is voting for evil. Even the New York Times complains that the two candidates are:
Since World War II, no two candidates have had such strikingly similar backgrounds of class and privilege. So, why do these guys dislike each other so much? (James Bennet, NYT, 10/10/04.)
Are the two so alike that they must reduce the rhetoric to personal attacks?
The problem of responsibilities goes into every area: seeing the Biblical truth about spiritual leaders, social conditions, family issues, morality, modesty, &c., and speaking out, gets one dismissed as a radical, fringe element, and ignored.
Many want abilities without responsibilities. People like to see the truth about issues of the day, and maybe even talk about them, but to really publicly stand Scripturally is a different story. It may cost them more than they are willing to pay. However, accepting the God-given abilities without accepting the accompanying responsibilities, is an insult to the grace of God. (And yes even thanking God for the abilities and responsibilities.) Why? Because it is God's grace that opens eyes, and allows one to see the truth in various matters. But God's grace also involves doing of his good pleasure. His good pleasure always involves standing and speaking against evil, even evil in high places.
A major question for me over the years had been, "Why does God open the eyes of some to the Biblical truths in particular matters, and not others?" And then if the truth is spoken, folks get offended. However, God holds us responsible to put into action what he has shown by His grace:
Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite (or insult) unto the Spirit of grace? (Heb 10:29.) Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers [did], so [do] ye. (Acts 7:51.)
In Matthew 25 (14-30), the unprofitable servant refused to accept the responsibility that went with his talent, i.e. he had an ability from God, yet refused to accept the responsibility attached to his ability.
I know many godly individuals (pastors & laymen) who, by God's grace (Ph 2:13), see society's problems and difficulties. As they talk about the difficulties and problems, they show that they have plausible (even Biblical) solutions, yet they do nothing but talk about the bad situations. The grace of God has given them an ability to see the problem (the vast majority of people see no problem). God's grace provides the "thinking" ability to formulate proper solutions, yet they do nothing.
These individuals, by doing nothing, mock of the grace of God; the Holy Ghost has opened their eyes, and they resist his work in their lives by doing nothing. They have done despite (insult) unto the Spirit of grace. The Master has NOTHING good to say about them because they resist the Spirit's enlightening work in their heart by refusing to take proper action. He calls them unprofitable servants, good for nothing but His wrath, v. 30.
Though not justifiable from Scripture, people's refusal to accept responsibility with their ability to grasp and understand issues is understandable. Responsibility involves work, sacrifice and many other things despised by the fallen nature. It even involves separation from family and loved ones. (Mat 10:34-38. I have noticed several things that will bring separation even from fellow church members, e.g., Biblical standards for dress and Biblical standards for each family member.) But the power of God's Spirit enables one to accept his responsibility before God.
Certainly, there is great fear of what men can do (Ps 118:6; Pr 29:25), but if fear of man unduly influences our decisions, then we have denied the faith (1 Tim 5:8, provides not a just society for his family. Also, Mat 10:28; Mat 6:24). Solomon, after examining absolutely every area of life, summed up man's total duty: Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man. (Ecc 12:13.)
Hebrews 13:5 & 6 give a major reason why Christians fear what man can do to them, and thus will not accept the responsibility that comes with their ability they are controlled by covetousness, i.e. afraid of the cost ([Let your] conversation (behavior) [be] without covetousness; [and be] content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord [is] my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.). Note the unprofitable servant in Matthew 25 was covetous fearful of what he would lose, v. 25.
God enabled Queen Esther to see past the wicked deceit of the evil man, Haman. Queen Esther feared man, and fearfully rejected to do what she could. Mordecai confronted her with her fear, and in doing so, forced her to make a choice between her fear of man and her fear of God (although the word "God" is not used in Esther, it is implied throughout). Esther then made the choice that every Christian is required to make: If I perish, I perish. She gave up her covetousness (fear for her life), made the proper choice, and God exalted His people. (Est 4:16.)
Thus, if one can see past the "smoke and mirrors" evil men use to hide their actions from public scrutiny, it is because of Divine grace and Providence. The purpose of God enabling one to rightly evaluate situations is not to impress others; rather, it is to respond with responsibility responsibility to take Godly action. With the ability to see comes the responsibility to do.
And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee [as] my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, [but] their heart goeth after their covetousness. (Ezekiel 33:31.)
O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, [and] the measure of thy covetousness. (Jer 51:13.) Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil! (Hab 2:9.)
For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. (Isa 57:17. Note that because everyone is given to covetousness, and refuses to stand publicly for righteousness, evil reigns: For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one [is] given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. Jer 6:13.)
Therefore will I give their wives unto others, [and] their fields to them that shall inherit [them]: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. (Jer 8:10.)
And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. (Luke 12:15.)
For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God [is] witness; (1 Thess 2:5.) And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. (2 Pet 2:3.)
But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; (Eph 5:3.) Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: (Col 3:5.)
[Let your] conversation [be] without covetousness; [and be] content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Heb 13:5.)
Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. (Ps 119:36.)
Finally, blessings of a life free of covetousness is promised:
The prince that wanteth understanding [is] also a great oppressor: [but] he that hateth covetousness shall prolong [his] days. (Pro 28:16.)
Covetousness has killed Christian American's freedom and liberty. Only oppressive persecution against Godly Christianity lies ahead unless American Christianity turns from its wicked ways covetousness which causes it to avoid its responsibility to stand for God in a Godless society.
In our system, Christian responsibility requires voting for godly men. It is a figment of our imagination to think that either of the two major candidates are godly men. They are both wicked. The only difference is that one, though his actions are purely pagan, spouts religious phrases. He is like the "Pied Piper", and covetous Christians will follow him over the cliff to their own destruction.
by William Einwechter
The conscientious Christian desires to glorify God and obey His Word in all that he thinks and does. This desire extends to his actions as a Christian citizen. Perhaps one of his more important actions as a citizen is that of voting for the men who will serve as magistrates over him. So as each election draws near he seeks to determine which candidate he should endorse with his vote. Throughout the process of deciding he receives much advice, such as: vote Republican; vote for the conservative; vote for the one who is pro-life; vote for the one who stands closest to you on the issues; vote for "x" even though he is less than desirable because if he doesn't win, then we will have "y" who is even worse; and so on.
However helpful this kind of advice may be, the Christian who believes that the Word of God is able to instruct him in righteousness and equip for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17), including the work of voting, will necessarily turn to the Scripture for guidance. The Bible contains explicit instructions concerning the qualifications for civil officers, and to these the Christian ought to look as he determines whom he will support with his time, money, and vote. There are two primary texts that set forth the standards for choosing civil magistrates: Exodus 18:21 and Deuteronomy 1:13.
In Exodus 18, Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, advises Moses to appoint men to help him in governing and judging the nation, lest he wear out both himself and the people (18:17-19). An important aspect of Jethro's counsel to Moses is in regard to the kind of men that he should appoint as rulers. The character of the men chosen must be according to the following standards:
"Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating coveteousness..." (Ex. 18:21).
Civil leaders must be men of strength. The strength that is required here is not primarily physical, but moral and spiritual. It refers to men of valor and of virtue; men of courage and of character. A man who is a coward will not fulfill his duty to uphold God's law if doing so would be unpopular with the people. A man who is of an evil character cannot govern justly. Only those who have proven that they have the ability, courage, and integrity necessary to lead should be chosen as civil rulers.
Magistrates should be men who honor and reverence God and His Word. This qualification indicates that only those who are believers, i.e., stand in covenant with God through faith, should be considered for the office of magistrate (cf. Deut. 17:15). If a people are to have wise and understanding leaders, they must choose those who fear God, for the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1:7). Men who do not fear God are, according to Scripture, "fools" who hate true wisdom.
Civil rulers need to be men who stand firmly and faithfully for the truth. Men of truth are men who do not lie, but speak the truth even to their own hurt. They love the truth and hate all that is false. It is absolutely essential that civil leaders be men who can be trusted to speak the truth. Liars and lovers of falsehood are a scourge to those they lead.
A man who is raised to the position of civil magistrate must be one who seeks no unjust gain from his position. He must "hate" (not simply dislike, but hate) the thought of using his office to enrich himself through violence, fraud, bribes, etc. A coveteous magistrate will try to use the power of his office to unjustly seize for himself the wealth of those he governs. A magistrate must also hate covetousness in others, and not allow any citizen to use the power of civil government to seize the wealth of his neighbor through unjust legislation or confiscatory taxation.
In Deuteronomy chapter one, Moses recounts the events that took place forty years earlier at Mount Sinai. One of these events was the appointment of rulers to serve with him in governing the nation in accord with the advice of Jethro (Ex. 18:13-26). In speaking of the appointment of rulers he does not mention Jethro, for Moses knew that God was using Jethro to direct him in that circumstance. The account of the appointing of rulers to assist Moses in judging the people given here provides further insight on the biblical standards for the choosing of rulers.
First, Moses indicates that although he did the appointing, it was the people who actually chose their own rulers. Moses charges the people to "take you wise men...." The word "take" means to provide or choose, while the word "you" means for yourselves. Therefore, Moses gives the people the responsibility of selecting their own leaders. Moses then appointed (installed into office) those chosen by the people.
Second, Moses provided the people with specific standards for determining which men were qualified for the office of civil judge and ruler. The citizens have the responsibility of choosing their own rulers, but they are not free to choose whomsoever they will. Rather, they are charged by Moses to choose only those who meet certain qualifications. Moses states:
"Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you." (Deut. 1:13).
These qualifications summarize those stated previously in Exodus 18:21 and provide additional commentary on the standards God has established for choosing rulers.
The Hebrew word translated "men" in this text refers to males as opposed to females. The generic term for mankind, which would include women, is not used here, but rather, the gender specific word for men. If the choice of words means anything, then it is necessary to conclude that God intended that only men be chosen for the office of civil ruler. In Exodus 18:21 the same Hebrew word is used; in fact, in every other passage dealing with the civil magistrate, his duties, and his qualifications, men are in view (cf. Deut. 17:14-20; 2 Sam. 23:3; Neh. 7:2; Prov. 16:10; 20:8, 28; 29:14; 31:4-5; Rom. 13:1-6). The order of male headship established at creation applies to each of the three "governments" established by God: the family, the church, and the state. 1
The Hebrew word for "wise" means to be skillful, prudent, intelligent, or able. It denotes both natural ability and wisdom attained through experience. But wisdom in the biblical sense is never just prudence and skill gained through experience. According to Scripture, wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord and proceeds to a knowledge of God and His precepts. True wisdom comes from God as a man searches for it in the Word of God as he would search for hidden treasure (Prov. 2:1-8). Such a man will come to "understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity, and every good path" (Prov. 2:9). Thus, a magistrate should be a man of ability and intelligence who is skilled in judgment because of his fear of the Lord and his knowledge of God's Word.
To be "understanding" is to be discerning, to have the ability to make a proper judgment. It refers primarily to moral insight and ethical discernment. A man of "understanding" is able to discern the right course of action based on the moral law of God. In terms of civil law, a man of understanding knows what is just and is able to judge righteously in disputes or criminal cases because he understands God's law.
These are men who have proven themselves to be wise and understanding. Their character, ability, and wisdom have been demonstrated by their service in other spheres. A man who would be a ruler must first prove himself in family life, business, community service, church service, etc.
The biblical standards for magistrates given in Exodus 18:21 and Deuteronomy 1:13 give citizens a sure guide for determining which men among them are truly fit to serve as their civil rulers. The qualifications given in these texts indicate three areas of concern:
The demands of being a magistrate require men who are intelligent and have the skills necessary to lead others.
Magistrates must be men of the highest personal character. They must be men of truth and virtue. Their lives should be an example of righteous living. As those charged with enforcing God's law in the civil sphere, they should keep all aspects of God's moral law. They must be men who are there to serve God and man, and are not there to enrich or promote themselves.
Magistrates, as ministers of God, should be men of spiritual attainment (a knowledge and fear of God) and biblical wisdom. It is vital that a ruler knows that he is accountable to God and has a healthy fear of the day that he will give account to God. A ruler must also be knowledgeable of God's law as it is revealed in Scripture so that he can carry out his duty of establishing justice in the gates (i.e., in the courts and legislatures of the land).
The standards for choosing magistrates as established in the law of God are carried out, amplified, and upheld throughout the rest of Scripture.
After Israel has taken possession of the land it will be their duty under God's law to select judges and officers to carry out judgment in the gates. These rulers are charged to "judge the people with just judgment." Hence, it follows that the people should choose "wise" and "understanding" men who will be able to do just that. It is right to assume that the standards Moses taught them in Deuteronomy 1:13 should be applied to the choosing of local magistrates since no new or different standards are given here.
This text addresses the circumstance of Israel seeking a king to rule over them. It further establishes the responsibility of the people to choose their rulers, in this case, their king. However, they are not at liberty to choose whomsoever they will, but only the man approved and chosen by God. Furthermore, the man they choose must be a "brother," i.e., a man who stands in covenant with God through faith; he must not be an unbeliever, but one who fears God as stated in Exodus 18:17.
In this text it is plainly stated that "He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God." Righteous men who govern according to God's law as God's ministers is always the biblical standard.
These verses contain the instructions of King Jehoshaphat for the judges that he appointed in the land, city by city:
Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you: take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.
The charge given by the king reflects the standards for choosing magistrates given in the law of Moses. Only men who "fear God," who are "able," "wise," "understanding," and "hate covetousness" could possibly fulfill the duties spoken of by Jehoshaphat.
After the walls had been rebuilt and the Levites appointed to serve in the Temple, Nehemiah continued to restore the integrity of Jerusalem by establishing Hanani and Hananiah as civil rulers in the city. Nehemiah specifically stated that he chose Hananiah because "he was a faithful man who feared God above many." Nehemiah followed the standards of the law of God in appointing the leaders of Jerusalem. As a "faithful" man, Hananiah is firm in his stand for truth; he is a man who is known for his faithfulness to truth; thus, he meets the qualification "men of truth." Hananiah is also a man who fears God "among many." He has proven himself as a man of spiritual maturity who is qualified to lead others.
The biblical standards for choosing magistrates instruct citizens to select righteous men. This verse emphasizes the great importance of selecting righteous men by stating: "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn." This proverb teaches that it is great folly to elevate wicked men to civil leadership, but great wisdom to follow God's law and elect only men who fear God and obey His Word.
The nature and purpose of the magistrate's role is defined by Paul in this classic text on civil government. Paul explains that the authority of the civil ruler comes from God, and that the ruler serves as God's minister to exercise God's vengeance against evildoers. This description of the nature and purpose of the office of civil ruler applies to all rulers in all nations at all times; no exceptions are given by Paul. Thus, the same role that was assigned to magistrates in the Old Testament is assigned to magistrates in the New Testament (cf. Deut. 1:16-17; 16:18-20; 2 Chron. 19:6-7; Prov. 16:10, 12; 31:8-9). If the role is the same, then it must be that the qualifications are the same.
The biblical standards for choosing civil magistrates needs to be applied today in the following manner:
* The only men who are truly qualified for civil office are those who meet the standards set down in the Word of God. God is sovereign over civil government, and the sole prerogative to establish what kind of men can and ought to serve as magistrates belongs to Him. Men who do not meet the biblical standards are not fully fit to serve as rulers.
* These standards instruct citizens who have the liberty of choosing their civil magistrates on how to carry out their duty in accord with the will of God. It is God's revealed will that His ministers in the civil sphere be men who fear Him. God's blessings are on the people who choose men of ability, character, and spiritual maturity.
* Christians should support with their time, money, and vote those men who meet the biblical qualifications. In all that he does the Christian is to seek to glorify God and promote the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. When the Christian gives his full support to men who meet the biblical standards for civil magistrates, he is doing these very things. If we are to have righteous civil government, then we must have righteous men as rulers. If we are to have a civil government that honors Christ, then we must have men who honor Jesus Christ as civil leaders.
* Voting for a biblically qualified candidate who appears to have no chance of winning is not the waste of a vote, it is obedience to God. Obedience to God is never a waste of time or effort, but the compromise of biblical truth always is. Compromise sacrifices victory in the long run for the sake of immediate "success" or "peace," while godly obedience sacrifices immediate gratification for the sake of ultimate victory. Christians often complain that there are no godly men to vote for, but when one does appear, they don't vote for him anyway because, they reason, "he can't win." Can we expect the Lord to give us qualified men as candidates for civil office if Christians are not committed in principle to supporting them in obedience to biblical law?
* The church must labor to raise up men who will meet the biblical standards for magistrates. Where will men come from who are qualified for civil office if not from the covenant people? If there are no men qualified for a particular office, it is because the church has failed; it is not because the biblical standards are unworkable in the present context. The goal of the church should be to have a biblically qualified man running for every civil office in the land. We are a long way from reaching this goal. But the church must begin by equipping men to serve as magistrates and challenging them to glorify God as His minister in the civil sphere. Race by race, office by office, the church needs to take dominion over politics by raising up biblically qualified men.
* The biblical standards for choosing magistrates apply even in non-covenanted nations. This would seem evident when Christians have a biblically qualified candidate to vote for, i.e., God's law commands them to vote for the man who meets the biblical standards even though they are in a nation not formally in covenant with God. But how does the biblical teaching on choosing magistrates apply in instances where there are no candidates who meet the biblical standards? This is debated among Christians. Some advocate strict compliance with the biblical standards at all times and all places. Others argue that strict compliance is only fully possible in a covenant nation (which is the goal); in the meantime, we should use our vote to support men of ability and integrity who are generally in agreement with biblical standards of law and justice.
* In a true Christian nation, the biblical standards for choosing magistrates will be part of constitutional law. A nation that is in covenant with God through Christ will express this by means of a national confession of submission to God and His law, and by a religious test for office that is based on the biblical qualifications for civil rulers.
* The biblical standards for choosing civil magistrates also provides a benchmark for men already in office and for men seeking the office. Every Christian in political office should evaluate himself in light of these standards; this is the kind of man he is to be. For those Christian men who are contemplating political office here are the standards that they should aspire to.
Endnotes
1. For a more detailed defense of this point, see my article Should Christians Support a Woman for the Office of Civil Magistrate?
William Einwechter (Th.M.) is an ordained minister and an elder at Immanuel Free Reformed Church in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. He is vice president of the National Reform Association and editor of The Christian Statesman. He is also the author of Ethics and God's Law, English Bible Translations, and A Conquering Faith, and the editor of the book, Explicitly Christian Politics. His essays and articles have appeared in Chalcedon Report, The Christian Statesman, and Patriarch. He and his wife, Linda, are the homeschooling parents of ten children.
Would like to share some thoughts with you as we go our ways. In Chapter 95, page 335 of "Death of the Church Victorious" you reproduced a letter of J. N. Darby. It is the 1869 letter from Elberfeld, Germany. The crucial statement is "..the commission to the twelve...was not from Heaven, nor consequently immediately connecting with Heaven..." Note that statement is completely blasphemous. It was made by the Risen Lord, already in a body beyond our three dimensional world. Thus for Darby to say that it was not from or connected with Heaven, well. ."
It shows the perception of his followers that no one caught the significance of the statement. It suggests that Darby was completely outside of the purpose of God and that his works and his followers should be considered outside the pale of doctrinal correctness. This point needs emphasis.
Another point. I have been working on a letter to two Christian friends one on England, one in Texas who put out Christian newsletters. Both strongly take the position that Christians should not be involved in politics. Both men have many good points but on this they are way out of line. The Lord's parable of the Empty House may be applicable here. By pulling Christians out of the political world, they leave room for evil men and ideas to come in. Of course this violates I John 5:4, the letter to Thyitara among other passages.
Recently I have seen two movies, one of corruption in a town in the South. If Christians would be in politics and carry their Christian principles there, corrupt politicians would not get in.
Another showed what is alleged the Nazis did during WWII. Darby spent time in Germany. Had the Brethren he left in the country been politically minded and had really the power of the Spirit, the Nazis would not have come to power. But "Christians should not get into politics".
I would consider Darby one of the most harmful men of the 19th Century, along with Darwin, Marx, and Freud. We have a message.
In Him, Joseph M. Canfield, Weaverville, NC
Editor's note: Darby and his followers had great success in all the Eastern Block nations that fell to Communism, including China. I believe we can lay the blame for the fall of the East and now the West into Socialism directly at the feet of Dispensationalism as developed and spread by Darby.
We should be concerned regarding what will be required by God to remove the "otherworldliness, don't get involved, antinomian" mind-set from modern Christianity.
I appreciate your periodical and your articles. I also appreciate your advice concerning problems I have consulted you about.
However, I was surprised at your comments concerning the upcoming elections. It seems you will be voting for a third party. Third party candidates can not win and this is probably the most critical election in the history of this country.
George Bush professes to be a born again Christian and if we ever needed a Christian in the White House it is now. I believe if John Kerry is elected (or steals the election), America is finished. He is the tool of God's judgment on us.
I pray daily that God will give us 4 more years of being able to take the Gospel to the World. I believe that a democrat will be president during the Tribulation (probably a womanHillary Clinton?). I don't believe a woman should be president any more than pastor of a church.
Well, may God direct you in your decisions.
Sincerely in Christ, Naomi Durik
Thank you for referring the two Spanish-language letters to me. The first letter, from Peru, was basically just asking for more literature. The writer did not really say much about himself, nor did he refer to your booklet. although it is obvious that he has received your booklet from some source. Over the years I have sent hundreds of them to Peru, and they are circulating down there. I sent him a small packet of literature, including more copies of your booklet on the Perverted Gospel.
The second letter, from Cuba, is of greater interest, so I will translate it in its entirety:
"My name is Abel Ch. Carnegie. I am a young Christian, 23 years old, member of the Baptist Church of Alamar. At this time I am studying in the Baptist Seminary of Cuba, and I am in the 3rd year of a 4 year course.
"As a seminarian I assist with the Baptist Church of Zayas. It is a young church which was organized last year, in the month of October. The membership count is 16 persons, with an average worship attendance of 25-30. I preach there, give Bible studies, evangelize and visit the members.
"At the end of last year I wrote to Thomas Williamson asking him the favor that he send me Christian literature. In the month of February I received what he sent, and among the items he sent me there is a little tract entitled "The Gospel Perverted," written by Ovid Need Jr. I read it completely and came to the conclusion that it is excellent biblical material. It has inspired me to defend sound doctrine in a world of great doctrinal confusion, where the 'Father of Lies' blinds the understanding of unbelievers.
"Pastor Ovid Need, I would like to maintain relations with you by letter. I will tell you that I will pray for you. your ministry in the local church and your family. Pastor, you believe that the possibility exists of my receiving by mail some material with fundamental doctrines to be studied and then taught in the Bible studies of the local church with such themes as: The Bible, God, Christ, Holy Spirit, Man, Sin, Salvation, The Church, Angels, and Eschatology. (Baptist doctrines to teach in the local church).
"This would be of great assistance in order to convert those of false doctrines such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, Adventists, Pentecostals, Roman Catholic Church, Church of Christ, Mormons, New Age, Occultism, etc.
"Pastor, please do not fail to write me, and it does not matter if it is in English.
"I dedicate to you 1 Corinthians 15:58.
"You can write to Abel Ch. Carnegie , Morell 102, entre Lacret y Final, Santos Suarez, CUIDAD HABANA
Cp. 10500 CUBA"
As you can see, your literature is having a good impact in Cuba. He wrote me at about the same time he wrote you, and I have sent him another small packet of helpful literature items. My suggestion to you is that since he claims to be able to read English, you may want to put him on the Biblical Examiner mailing list, and also send him any other studies you may want to send him, such as your material on the book of Revelation. This is an opportunity to obtain an unusual place of useful influence in the Baptist movement in Cuba, (a place not readily accessible to American missionaries) especially since he may share this material with other students and faculty at the seminary. I recommend that you not send him a lot of material at one time, because it may be censored by the government. I am actually somewhat surprised that the first small package I sent him actually got through. It may depend on what mood Castro is in that particular month. I recommend amounts of 2 pounds or less to mail him in any one package; the less, the better.
For your information, I still have an ample supply of your Spanish booklet at this time, and we are still circulating small quantities of it through the tract rack of our church in Chicago as well as sending a few now and then to Latin America.
Yours in Christ, Thomas Williamson
Thanks for the personal note you send each month.
I have enjoyed the Biblical Examiner again this month. The article by Matt was very good. I have been studying the history of the Constitution. The wisdom of some of the federalists and anti-federalists was quite astonishing. Most of the fears of Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry have come to fruition. The Constitution was deliberately written in such a fashion so as to be ambiguous in some of it's wording to allow men such as Alexander Hamilton to work in their personal agendas over time. The actions of the Supreme Court today continue and confirm that observation. Patrick Henry said in a speech to the Virginia ratifying assembly in 1788: "I look upon [the constitution] as the most fatal plan that could possibly be conceived to enslave a free people."
Here is a gift for your ministry. I pray for you and that God will continue to give you wisdom and understanding.
John Heierman, Edgewood NM
Thanks for the "straight to the point" articles like "Redeeming the Time." With our recent loss of my wife's mother to cancer, the Lord has been teaching us to value every minute He gives and that every breath is under his control. Thanks for the encouragement that we are not alone in our views.
Jeff Wagner, Mount Solon, VA.
Matt Chancey, Bettie's son in law, had a reception for Otto Scott, who is now 87 years old. We had the privilege of going down to their house and spending some time with Mr. Scott. Those of you who know or know of him know he is an unusually intelligent man, and he is still has a good mind. It was certainly a rare privilege to meet and speak with him.
A family from our old church in Linden came to spend their vacation in this area, and stayed with us for about 10 days. They used our home for a base as they visited several "Tourist's Traps", including DC. (Where I have only been one time since we have been here. I have no desire to drive in that horrible mess.)
Going with them to Thomas Jefferson's home at Monticello, VA, we took the guided tour there of the beautiful house and property. There were several things that stood out to me that was meant to make the "experience" "Politically Correct". The primary thing was the tour guide's talk. At least twice, she said that Thomas Jefferson was the author of democracy, and he desired to see other nations democratic. At the end of the tour, I mentioned to her that the US was a republic, not a democracy. She said yes, the Electorical College did present a problem with the idea of a democracy, but all the schools are teaching that this is a democracy, so that is how they must say it.
Notice that the revisionists in the government schools have forced revised history in other areas as the brain-washed students move out into the world. Parents, get your kids out of the government schools. Not only do the government schools turn out anitchristians, but they also turn out antiAmericans.
There is an excellent article concerning the War on Terror by Haim Harari. A theoretical physicist, he is the Chair, Davidson Institute of Science Education, and Former President, from 1988 to 2001, of the Weizmann Institute of Science. He has never been nor ever will be a Government official, so he speaks from no privileged information. His family has lived in the Muslim region for almost 200 years. His reference is the entire area between Pakistan and Morocco, which is predominantly Muslim, but includes significant non-Moslim minorities. He speaks to the situation as would a "cab driver" if he were asked what is going on. The root of the problem is not religious convictions, but it is money, including Saudi money poured into the Saudi family in exchange for oil the family claims to own. See http://www.worldthreats.com/middle_east/Haim%20Harari.htm [I have the article if you do not have web access.]
I have been rereading a book by Kuiper, The Church in History. (Eerdmans, 1955.) There are a few statements that have caught my attention, particularly as I hear of "Reformed" Protestant pastors returning to the Church of Rome; even becoming Roman priests. Though I now identify with the Reformed Baptist, i.e., London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, I was reared a dispensational Baptist.
Not being part of the Reformed Presbyterian community, I do not understand the Biblical roots of some of their practices. Reading Kuiper's book, I wonder if many followers of those practices know from where those practices came. It sure appears to me to be a slippery slope as they follow so closely Roman practices. Let me say, however, that as some have contacted me that there is not a church in their area that teaches the gospel of Christ, I have encouraged them to check out reformed Presbyterian churches.
The points from Kuiper that caught my attention are emphasized. Draw your own conclusions. (Those who have not attended particular Reformed Churches will not understand the points.)
2. The Sacrament of Penance Becomes Central in the Catholic Religion
The Church in medieval times put great emphasis on sin and its punishment in purgatory and hell. According to the Roman Catholic Church there are three-sacraments which particularly deal with the forgiving and removal of sin and the cancellation of its punishment. These are baptism, the mass, and penance. You know something about the sacrament of baptism. Mass has also been described in a previous chapter. It remains for us to explain the so-called sacrament of penance.
In reality the sacrament of penance in Luther's day was the center of Catholic religious practice. It consisted in four things : (1) contrition, (2) confession to a priest, (3) satisfaction, and (4) absolution (forgiveness of sin and release from the penalty of sin).
After hearing the expression of contrition and the confession of sins, the priest decided what satisfaction the sinner should make. Satisfaction always consisted in something the sinner should do. It took a great variety of forms, but it was always in the nature of a penalty for sin committed. Frequently the satisfaction involved pain. The story is told that once upon a time a certain priest demanded that the penitent should walk for a whole week with dried peas in his shoes. (The penitent did so, but he first boiled the peas.) Usually satisfaction was made by the saying of a prescribed number of prayers, by fasting, by the giving of alms, by going on a pilgrimage to some shrine, or by taking part in a crusade.
Only after contrition, confession, and the giving of proof of contrition by making the required satisfaction, would the priest grant absolution. It was the word of absolution spoken by the priest which declared to the penitent sinner the forgiveness of his sin and release from its punishment. (P. 208.)
The Church believed that it was enough for the ordinary Christian to observe certain outward ceremonies prescribed by the Church. He should learn the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed. He should confess his sins to the priest in a special booth provided for that purpose, called the confessional. The priest would then grant absolution, or forgiveness of sins upon condition that the sinner would do penance. Penance consisted in doing something to show sorrow for sin. Then, too, all were to observe the Lord's Supper, which was thought to impart grace in a magical manner. In order that the masses of people might the more diligently observe the outward forms and ceremonies, the Church held before them the fear of hell and purgatory. (P 140.)
Step by step many important changes were introduced. The papacy was rejected. The distinction between clergy and laity (ch. 7, sec. 2) was discarded. Said Luther: "All believers are priests. There are only two and not seven sacraments. The sacraments are not indispensable to salvation." Thus Luther rang the death knell of what is the very heart of the Roman system. He broke the yoke of Rome under which believers had groaned for centuries, and established Christian liberty. For us who have never been under the yoke of Rome it is impossible to realize what this meant for the Christians of Luther's day... ( P. 242. Yet it seems there are those who desire to be back under that yoke.)
Although Luther denied that the bread is changed into the body of Christ, he nevertheless taught that Christ's body is present in the Lord's Supper because, said he, since Christ's ascension, His Body, like the Godhead, is present everywhere. (P. 243.)
For the conduct of public worship Knox prepared a Book of Common Order. To a great extent this order of worship was based on the form for public worship used by the church of English refugees in Geneva. That in turn was based on the form designed by Calvin. This form of worship consisted in prayer, reading of Scripture, the sermon, congregational singing, and the taking up of an offering. The Book of Common Order contained prayers for special occasions. They were models and their use was not compulsory. Ample room was left for entirely free prayer.
The Church organized by Calvin in Geneva was extremely influential. It became the pattern for the Huguenot Church in France, the Reformed Church in the Netherlands, and the Presbyterian Church in Scotland. (P. 274.)
Evidently, Calvinistic, or Reformed, worship services were very simple: prayer, reading of Scripture, sermon, congregational singing, and taking of an offering. In the mean time, the Church of Rome no doubt had lengthy liturgy, even formal declarations that the people's sins were forgiven. How did the liturgy and declarations of sins forgiven get into many Reformed churches? Clearly, it did not come from the Reformers, so how can they claim to be reformed?
The more importance that is given to the things of Rome left behind by the Reformers, sacraments, liturgy, &c., the more danger of going all the way back to the Rome that the Reformers left. Many sincere Christians are treading on thin ice as they take up the old Roman Church practices because they appeal to the baser nature. They are trading their freedom in Christ that cost many Christians their lives for the yoke sacraments, liturgy, &c., of Rome.
An "Old Wives' Tail" says that however many foggy days we have in August is the number of snows we will have this winter. If that is true, there will be very few days with no snow on the ground here. I suppose there were not 10 days in August without fog, and some of the fog very bad. (Of course, being close to DC may be a reason it is so foggy here, for it certainly is foggy there all the time.)
Typhoon Aere (Japan) had high winds and rain, 40-50 inches. Hurricanes Charlie, Frances, and then Ivan. The only rain we got was from Ivan, and then only 3-4 inches. Our part of the Shenandoah valley is protected by two mountain ranges.
Some reject any idea that Deuteronomy 28, which gives blessings and curses according to obedience to God's law-word, is applicable today. Thus, passages such as Deuteronomy 28:12 & 24 are rejected by them, for it is part of the Mosaic code. The weather, accordingly, is only Mother Nature flexing her muscles.
Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. (Psalms 119:142.)
Weather, good or bad, is directed by Godthe wind blows, the rain falls, the lightening strikes and the snow falls exactly where and when God directs. (Psalms 135:6, 7, Job 37:6-18, 38:33-35.) We must say that God either directs it according to the obedience of his people to his law-word, or that Mother Nature is in control.
I had the privilege of appearing on a "Rapture" video down in Sparta NC, about 5 hours south of us. It was our mutual concerns about the damage being done by the Margaret Macdonald/Edward Irving/John Darby/C.I. Scofield doctrine of pre-trib rapture dispensationalism that brought us together. The video should be out in a couple of months. It takes at least six weeks to edit the video. The motivation behind it was and is Jack VanImpe, and the outlandish claims he continues to make, even after 40 years of the same message. I understand that it takes about $50,000 a week for him, so he must keep the excitement high to keep the funds flowing. I was sent a VanImpe video to review for the video we made, and the more I played it, the more angry I became. I am amazed that "Christians" will support such a man. (Lord willing and space permitting, I will include my review of the video in the next Examiner.)
As a former pastor, I had a problem finding a church with which we could unite. However, we did unite with Lloyd Sprinkle's church (Sprinkle Publications) some time ago. He is an older man, and a man to whom I can look up. Gifts to the Examiner can be made out to and given through The Providence Baptist Church, P O Box 1008, Harrisonburg, Va. 22803. Just note that it is for The Biblical Examiner.
The Lord has been good meeting the Examiner expenses. The last two issues were paid for before we even sent the layout to be printed. When I get checks, rather than cashing them myself, I just send the checks on to the printer. (He shorted me about 80 copies last issue, so he had to reprint, but he did it with no complaint. I order enough to mail plus overseas and extra bulk copies to pastors in the States. I was short those extra State side copies.)
Anyway, thanks again for the gifts and your faithfulness in support.
Bettie, my wife, had her 13th grandchild in September, and the 14th grandchild in October. Her son and his wife had their 4th child, an 11 lb boy, born at home. Mother and child are doing fine. Her youngest daughter, who lives in TX had be their 5th child, a girl. They plan to move up to Ohio next spring, which will place them within a couple of hours of my married daughter, and about 7 hours from us. That is far better than the 23 hours they are from us now.
Bettie had wanted to visit Prince Edward Island ever since she read Anne of Green Gables many years ago. The Lord supplied the funds, and we made the trip. Following hot on the heels of Hurricane Frances, we went up through Montreal, across the top of lake Champlain, then back into the States through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. We went back into Canada, and stayed a couple of nights with some friends in Moncton, New Brunswick. We came back through Halifax.
BTW, we found the secret of the ages: In the end time battle, Canada will invade the US. Here is the proof Magog is in Canada.
Back in the States, we spent a night in NJ with Keith & Peggy Ferris (yes, an uncle of his made the Ferris Wheel for the Chicago World's Fair). Keith is one of the best aviation artists in the world <www.keithferrisart.com>. He holds the patents for five air combat camouflage paint schemes and painted the two twenty-five by seventy-five-foot murals for the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., for which Bettie's first husband, Jeff, did the research (Jeff's name is on the B 25, as are several others). Jeff and Bettie met the Ferrises when looking for someone to do a painting for the cover his first book, Komet. It is a picture of a German rocket plane, a ME 163. A picture of the cover Keith painted can be found at http://www.ww2color.com/Galley%2012%20German/pages/00606.htm.
I never met Jeff, but I understand that he bent over backwards to help those who came his way. As a result, he had many friends in aviation. Thus, many aviation artists sent him proof prints of their art work, which we now have on hand, including a good number by Keith Ferris.
They are almost all numbered and signed Artist's Proofs or limited editions. Some are signed to Jeff Ethell. Some have remarks (extra personal drawings in the margins of prints), and some have Certificates of Authenticity. If you are interested, check the web site <www.ww2color.com> for a list of what we have. We can send a digital picture of the prints on hand.
Aviation web site. I have been working hard on a web site with the prospect of generating some income to finance what the Lord has given me to do study and write. The web site is www.ww2color.com. I have been trying to take as many days as possible to scan in slides, and post a small image of them on the web. These images are for personal use, research and publication. There are about 1600 different images now posted, with over 25,000 to go. David Ethell is designing a searchable data base that should be up shortly. If you are interested in aircraft at all, or know someone who is interested, check the site.
It is very distressing to consider the horrendous loss of life and equipment in that war that the president at the time got us into willingly. He provoked the Japanese to attack, as well as attacked Germany who had done no harm to us.
After we left the Ferrises, we attended William Einwechter's church in Ephrata PA.
Doug Phillips, Esq., held a conference at his church in San Antonio TX, this last year. (Doug Phillips - Vision Forum. Both Bro. Phillips and Bro. Einwechter hold to The London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689.) Its title was The Great Debate over Baptism and the Covenant. Bro Einwechter's topics included: The Covenant of Grace, the Biblical Covenants, and Baptism * Circumcision and its Relationship to Baptism * The Covenantal Status of Children of Believers * Baptism as a New Testament Sacrament * A Consideration of Various Paedo-baptist Arguments.
In The Great Debate, Bro. Einwechter made an exegetically derived covenantal argument that the proper objects of baptism are disciples those believers who have actually professed faith in Christ. With charity toward both dispensational Baptists and traditional Reformed paedo-baptists, Mr. Einwechter nonetheless made the rigorous case that both positions are exegetically inadequate. There are nearly 11 hrs. on 11 Compact Discs. Listening to the messages, Bettie and I found them to be the best presentation we have heard showing primarily from the Old Testament covenants the Scriptural requirement for Credo Baptism. His presentation is above argument, and can only be rejected by those determined to hold to tradition over Scripture. I urge you to order the set: http://www.visionforum.com/boysadventure/productdetail.aspx?productid=85674
Howard Dean Hidden Agenda: A National Draft in the Future?
Taken in tandem with the reports of Reuters (Jerusalem), the Jerusalem Post, and the anti-IRI Iran Press Service that the United States has just authorized selling $320 million in bunker busting incendiaries to Israel for the obvious purpose of launching a preemptive attack on Iran's nuclear reactors after the American Presidential elections, Governor Howard Dean's warning about the coming Draft is must reading for everyone today.
I failed in my attempt to paste the article into this communication. Go to my Links page, then to Strike-the-Root, which has the headline which links to the publication which ran the original story.
Pastor Mark <www.MarkDankof.com/links.htm>
Here is A Biblical Analysis of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ by By Dr. Douglas D. Stauffer. You should take the time to look it over. http://www.mccowenmills.com/Mel_gibsons_passion.htm
I realize the establishment has left Americans with NO CHOICE, and we will continue to have no choice until we start thinking and acting outside of the box that has been placed around us.
Most of the following concern Bush. Christians must recognize the truth that he is not the messiah, nor is he the Christian so many hope for.
Bush Using Drugs to Control Depression, Erratic Behavior.
By TERESA HAMPTON Editor, Capitol Hill Blue (Jul 28, 2004.)
President George W. Bush is taking powerful anti-depressant drugs to control his erratic behavior, depression and paranoia, Capitol Hill Blue has learned. The prescription drugs, administered by Col. Richard J. Tubb, the White House physician, can impair the President's mental faculties and decrease both his physical capabilities and his ability to respond to a crisis, administration aides admit privately.
"It's a double-edged sword," says one aide. "We can't have him flying off the handle at the slightest provocation but we also need a President who is alert mentally." Angry Bush walked away from reporter's questions. Tubb prescribed the anti-depressants after a clearly-upset Bush stormed off stage on July 8, refusing to answer reporters' questions about his relationship with indicted Enron executive Kenneth J. Lay. "Keep those m.....f...... away from me," he screamed at an aide backstage. "If you can't, I'll find someone who can."
Bush's mental stability has become the topic of Washington whispers in recent months. Capitol Hill Blue first reported on June 4 about increasing concern among White House aides over the President's wide mood swings and obscene outbursts. ...
University psychiatrist Dr. Justin Frank in his book Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President. Dr. Frank diagnosed the President as a "paranoid meglomaniac" and "untreated alcoholic" whose "lifelong streak
of sadism, ranging from childhood pranks (using firecrackers to explode frogs) to insulting journalists, gloating over state executions and pumping his hand gleefully before the bombing of Baghdad" showcase Bush's instabilities. ... "He fits the profile of a former drinker whose alcoholism has been arrested but not treated."
Dr. Frank's conclusions have been praised by other prominent psychiatrists, including Dr. James Grotstein, Professor at UCLA Medical Center, and Dr. Irvin Yalom, MD, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University Medical School. The doctors also worry about the wisdom of giving powerful anti-depressant drugs to a person with a history of chemical dependency. Bush is an admitted alcoholic, although he never sought treatment in a formal program, and stories about his cocaine use as a younger man haunted his campaigns for Texas governor and his first campaign for President. "President Bush is an untreated alcoholic with paranoid and megalomaniac tendencies," Dr. Frank adds. ...
... White House sources say [the anti-depressant drugs] are "powerful medications" designed to bring his erratic actions under control. While Col. Tubb regularly releases a synopsis of the President's annual physical, details of the President's health and any drugs or treatment he may receive are not public record and are guarded zealously by the secretive cadre of aides that surround the President. ...
(Note: I have the complete article for those who might want to read it.)
BUSH WANTS TO PSYCHOANALYZE YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN
"The American tradition of parents deciding what is best for their children is, yet again, under attack. The pharmaceutical industry has convinced President Bush to support mandatory mental-health screening for every child in America, including preschool children, and the industry is now working to convince Congress as well. But mandatory screening alone is not what the pharmaceutical industry wants. The real payoff for the drug companies is the forced drugging of children that will result as we learned tragically with Ritalin even when parents refuse."
MANDATORY DRUGGING MAY BE THE NEXT STEP
"Congressman Ron Paul, an OB/GYN physician for over 30 years, is desperately trying to keep the drug companies, politicians and federal bureaucrats from becoming parents to your children. Dr. Paul will introduce on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning (whenever the floor schedule allows) an amendment to the Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations Act for FY 2005 that will withhold funds for this new federal mental-health-screening program. He will urge his congressional colleagues to support his effort in a letter to be distributed tomorrow morning.
"Dr. Paul's letter says in part: As you know, psychotropic drugs are increasingly prescribed for children who show nothing more than children's typical rambunctious behavior. Many children have suffered harmful effects from these drugs. Yet some parents have even been charged with child abuse for refusing to drug their children. The federal government should not promote national mental health screening programs that will force the use of these psychotropic drugs such as Ritalin.' "
IT BEGAN WHEN DUBYA WAS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS
"If you think this action alert is about something that can't happen here,' think again. In 1995, the state of Texas launched the Texas Medication Algorithm Project. (WorldNetDaily.com, June 21, 2004)
"The state of Illinois has also approved a mental health screening program. The Illinois legislature passed the Children's Mental Health Act of 2003 which will provide screening for all children ages 0-18' and ensure appropriate and culturally relevant assessment of your children's social and emotional development with the use of standardized tools.' In addition, all pregnant women in Illinois are to be screened for depression."
STIGMATIZING DIAGNOSES WILL BE ON THEIR PERMANENT RECORDS
"Dr. Karen R. Effrem, another physician and leading opponent of mandatory screening recently stated, Universal mental health screening and the drugging of children, as recommended by the New Freedom Commission [presidential commission], needs to be stopped so that many thousands if not millions of children will be saved from receiving stigmatizing diagnoses that would follow them for the rest of their lives. America's school children should not be medicated by expensive, ineffective, and dangerous medications based on vague and dubious diagnoses.'
"Dr. Effrem warns of the following: 1. Parental rights are unclear or non-existent under these screening programs. 2. Parents are already being coerced to put their children on psychiatric medications and some children are dying because of it. 3. Mental health screening does not prevent suicide. 4. Mental health diagnoses are subjective' and social constructions' as admitted by the authors of the diagnostic manuals themselves. 5. Most psychiatric medications do not work in children. 6. The side effects of these medications in children are severe. 7. The untoward influence by the pharmaceutical industry, or at least the impropriety, is abundantly clear in two important aspects of this issue."
OPPOSITION TO SODOMY AND NEW WORLD ORDER CAN GET YOU LABELED "NUTS"
"8. Merging screening with the academic standards required by No Child Left Behind, as is happening in Illinois, will lead to diagnosis for political reasons. School mental health and violence prevention programs funded by NCLB and government counterterrorism operations are already using such criteria as homophobia' and defenders of the US Constitution against federal government and the UN' to label school children and US citizens as mentally unstable and violent. "
THANKS TO BUSH COMMISSION, PSYCHOPOLITICS COULD ENSNARE ADULT CITIZENS
"One last note if mental-health screening for every American child isn't bad enough, how about mandatory mental-health screening for every American adult? Yes, that's coming too. The final report of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health states, Both children and adults will be screened for mental illnesses during their routine physical exams.' " ( Source: Kent Snyder, The Liberty Committee, www.thelibertycommittee.org, 9/7/04)
Five members of the 9-11 Commission are CFR members
Columbia Christians for Life <CCFL@sc-online.net> Jul 2004
By Steve Lefemine
Chairman Thomas Kean (R)
Vice Chair Lee Hamilton (D)
Bob Kerrey (D)
John Lehman
Jamie Gorelick (appt'd by Democrats)
See a concise overview article about the CFR on the internet at: www.thenewamerican.com/tna/1995/vo11no10/vo11no10_tyranny.htm
Today the "bipartisan" 9-11 Commission presented its report to President Bush at the White House. Although the information is readily available*, do not expect any of the CFR-controlled, CFR-infested, dominant media to inform the American people that five of the 10 members of the "bipartisan" 9-11 Commission are members of the Council on Foreign Relations, a front organization for the Illuminati Establishment.
* [2002-2003 CFR membership list available for $5.00 by calling JBS at 920-749-3784]
The purpose of the CFR is to advance the Illuminati Establishment's plan to submerge the United States into a global, socialist, one-world government: the New World Order. [Look at the back of a one dollar bill: at the base of the unfinished pyramid are the words, Novus Ordo Seclorum, or New Secular (World) Order]
What is being presented beginning today as the 9-11 Commission report is a classic example of the application of the Illuminist strategy of the Hegelian dialectic, comprised of a three-step process: Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis.
Think of it as a puppet show charade where you are the audience. The players / puppets of Side "A" present their side (Thesis) against the players / puppets of Side "B" (Antithesis), and they come out with a prearranged compromise which has been the plan all along (Synthesis), but which looks like a genuine hashed-out "bipartisan" solution to the deceived American public.
The modus operandi of the Illuminati new world order Establishment elites is " Ordo Ab Chao" - Latin for "Order Out of Chaos." They create the chaos, they create the "bipartisan" commissions to study it, and they come up with the "Recommendations" ("Synthesis" or Solutions) to fix the problem they caused in the first place to be able to convince the deceived American politic to accept the next step in the centuries-long march to World Government (a modern Genesis 11 Tower of Babel, which God will one day destroy).
As Texe Marrs wrote in Circle of Intrigue (Living Truth Publishers): "... the Illuminati cleverly and with ruthless motion ever employ the Hegelian process of the "conflict of opposites" to foment chaos and discord. They invent chaos and artificially inflame passions, rousing peaceful men to commit abominable acts of murder and sedition. But future history will record that this shall be their undoing. Seeking to enslave other men, they themselves have been taken into bondage by Lucifer, their counterfeit lord and god." p.141
Consider this excerpt from today's report on-line in USA Today:
"The commission recommended the creation of a new intelligence center and high-level intelligence director to improve the nation's ability to disrupt future terrorist attacks. An intelligence-gathering center would bring a unified command to the more than dozen agencies that now collect and analyze intelligence overseas and at home." http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-07-22-attacks-report_x.htm
Out of the ashes of the Twin Towers, the wreckage of the Pentagon, and the fields of western Pennsylvania where the fourth plane crashed, rises yet another coup for Big Brother: yet more centralization of federal government power, setting the stage for even more loss of civil liberties here in the United States, as already suffered by Americans under the Bill-of-Rights-shredding so-called "Patriot" Act. We are trading liberty for security, and the result is the growth of tyranny. One of the founders said, "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom." If we are unable to govern ourselves according to God's standards individually, we shall in time lose the ability for self-government corporately. Tyranny will be the result.
Of course the spiritual root of this loss of freedoms is our own wickedness and rebellion against God, in turning from His commandments and His moral law, as most clearly evidenced by "legalized" child-murder (abortion) [see Psalm 106:37-42] and "legalized" sodomy and sodomite "marriages" [see Genesis chapter 19]. We are on a path of national destruction at the hands of a holy and just God. Our only hope is to repent of our sinfulness, and to turn to him in the hope that in His present, ongoing, and increasingly severe judgments of America, that He would remember mercy.
Yes, looming ahead of an America which refuses to repent of child-murder and sodomy is further divine judgment, of greater magnitude and severity than 9-11. In light of the testimony of history and of the holy scriptures (the Bible), without repentance, it is only a matter of time before America suffers further catastrophic calamity.
And as long as Americans blindly vote for candidates from the two major parties, America will also continue down this Road to Tyranny. Remember, Tom Ridge and others are already trying to prepare us to believe and accept that a terrorist attack around the time of the November elections would be justification for possibly postponing the elections, thereby threatening the suspension of the Constitution's requirement in the 20th Amendment for the end of the incumbent President's and Vice President's terms of office on January 20, 2005.
Remember this from Texe Marrs' Circle of Intrigue: Democrats (Thesis) vs. Republicans (Antithesis) = Illuminati Rule (Synthesis) (p. 139)
Vote for American Independence !!! Vote 3rd Party on November 2, 2004 !!!
www.thenewamerican.com >www.americanfreepress.net >www.infowars.com >www.bilderberg.org >www.cfr.org >www.trilateral.org
For a list of CFR members, see: http://www.namebase.org/sources/eT.html
Repent America: To vote for Kerry or Bush is to sin against God.
Columbia Christians for Life <CCFL@sc-online.net> Aug 2004
The support present in America for John F. Kerry reflects how unvirtuous, immoral, and wicked that segment of the country is - John Kerry is an open pro-abort and pro-sodomite. He is a CFR-member* and is an unrepentant member of the occultic Yale Skull and Bones secret soceity. Kerry is a "front" man, a puppet, for the Illuminati Rockefeller Establishment taking America into the new world order of one-world government. His running mate, John Edwards, attended the Illuminati's Bilderberger meeting in Italy two months ago (as also did Ralph Reed, former head of Pat Robertson's "Christian" Coalition, and now the Southeast regional chairman for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign).
"In the November 2004 elections, my plea with Christians is to vote for righteousness, ... The Bible says that righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people [Proverb 14:34]. If Christians vote for Republicans or Democrats, they are wasting their votes."
On November 2, 2004, vote for American Independence from the Illuminati Establishment's puppets they have already picked out for you to choose from: George W. Bush or John F. Kerry - as has been said over and over again, for decades, by people across the political spectrum, "There's not a dime's worth of difference between the two dominant parties, the Republicans and Democrats."
There's a good reason why that is true. It's because the Illuminati Rockefeller Establishment, most visibly represented by the CFR, Trilateral Commission, Bilderbergers, Skull and Bones secret society, and other such groups, controls BOTH national parties !! The American people are being played for fools, by an incessant "good cop / bad cop" charade in which we are made to think we really have a choice between candidates, but all or most of the "dogs in the race" are the Illuminati's !! How can they lose ? For example, in the competition for the Democratic nomination for president this year, FIVE out of ten candidates were CFR members !! (Kerry, Gephardt, Lieberman, Clark, and Graham), and now Edwards has attended Bilderberg (where Bush's Ralph Reed was present also) !
On November 2, 2004, vote to preserve American Independence from the New World Order. Vote Third Party !
Steve Lefemine, pro-life missionary dir., Columbia Christians for Life CCL lobbyist www.ChristiansforLife.net
Columbia, SC
9/11 COMMISSION'S PROPOSED NATIONAL I.D. CARD WOULD THREATEN YOUR PRIVACY AND YOUR FREEDOM FROM ASSAULT BY BUREAUCRATS
"As predicted, national I.D. system to move forward. Result: Feds will be able to deny you travel, make you unemployable. Buried deep in the bowels of the 9-11 Commission Report is an innocent-sounding suggestion that national standards' should be set for drivers' licenses issued by all 50 states. This suggestion' is a Trojan Horse.
"Politicians don't want us to know about the coming national ID system. Due to the controversial nature of a national ID card, members of Congress have been publicly circumspect about the 9-11 Commission's recommendation for all 50 states to issue high-tech, federally-standardized drivers licenses. Only Sen. John McCain has conceded: Over time, that might lead to a national ID card.'
"What a national ID card would mean to you. Mandating a one-size-fits-all federally-standardized drivers license is a necessary first step to issuing smart cards' containing computer microchips capable of storing all your personal, financial, and travel information (including fingerprint and retina characteristics). Once in place, federal bureaucrats would gain the ability to deactivate' your drivers license (instantly rendering you unable to travel, rent a car, check into a hotel, pay your dinner bill, or seek employment).
"National ID system will not stop terrorists. Since many states persist in issuing licenses to illegal aliens, a national ID card system would be useless as a barrier to deter or stop terrorists (remember, 9-11 was a border infiltration operation, mounted by hostile foreign nationals who exploited the U.S. open border policy). The CATO Institute's Adam Thierer has written an excellent analysis, titled National ID Cards: New Technologies, Same Bad Idea.' In it he makes a compelling case that a national ID will catch very few bad guys, while significantly expanding the power of government over our lives." (Source: Lee Bellinger, The American Sentinel, September 2004, p. 12.)
Posted At Kitco.com
As Mike Ruppert will delineate in his upcoming book "Crossing the Rubicon" there were at least five "Training Exercises" in progress on the morning of 9/11 2001. Each and every one, and any others we may not yet know of, was under the control of our vice president Dick Cheney.
1 ) MILITARY EXERCISE NORTHERN VIGILANCE: Transferred most of the combat ready interceptors and possibly many AWACS from the north east into northern Canada and Alaska. This explains, in part, why there were only eight ( 8 ) combat interceptors in the NE on 9/11.
2 ) NON-MILITARY BIOWARFARE EXERCISE TRIPOD II: FEMA arrived in NYC on 10 Sept 2001 to set up the command post for FEMA, NEW YORK CITY AND DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE on Manhattan's PIER 29. This shows our masters are loving, they made a strong effort to minimize the required deaths. This was probably forced on them by the CFR, nice guys who must occasionally kill innocent people.
3 ) WARGAME EXERCISE, VIGILANT GUARDIAN: This exercise simulated hi-jacked planes in the northeast sector. The 9/11 commission made only mention of this single exercise and lied about its purpose. The commission said its purpose was to intercept Russian bombers.
4 ) WARGAME EXERCISE, VIGILANT WARRIOR: This exercise simulated hi-jacked planes in the northeast sector.
5 ) WARGAME EXERCISE NORTHERN GUARDIAN: This exercise simulated hi-jacked planes in the northeast sector.
At the time of the real hi-jacking there were as many as 22 hi-jacked aircraft on NORAD's radar screen.
Some of these drills were "Live Fly" exercises, and were actual aircraft, likely flown by remote control were simulating hi-jacked aircraft. Some of the drills electronically added the hi-jacked aircraft into the system. All this as the real hi-jackings began.
NORAD could not tell the difference between the seventeen bogus blips and the five actual hi-jacked aircraft blips. Cheney could.
It is clear we know almost nothing about how 9/11 was executed. We should know it was an exceeding highly technological operation involving dozens of major projects each employing large resources.
Copyright © 2002 bw/Kitco Inc. All rights reserved. 9-6-4
http://www.kitcomm.com/comments/gold/2004q3/2004_09/1040905.003201.bweeeeeee.htm"
http://www.rense.com/general57/lid.htm
MUST SEE: video at http://www.pentagonstrike.co.uk/
World Net Daily, Saturday, August 7, 2004
Bush invites foreigners to monitor U.S. election
Administration yields to 13 congressmen who requested U.N. observers for 2004 vote
WASHINGTON ? When 13 Democratic members of the U.S. Congress asked United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to send election monitors to the U.S. this fall, the move outraged many Republicans and other proponents of national sovereignty.
When those same 13 Democratic members of Congress were turned down by Annan, they took their request to Secretary of State Colin Powell, again to the shock of many Republicans and those who warn about foreign entanglements.
Yesterday, those 13 Democratic House members got their surprising answer from the State Department the administration will indeed invite foreign election monitors to observe the U.S. elections in November.
Assistant Secretary of State Paul V. Kelly, who handles legislative affairs for the department, affirmed the invitation this week in a letter to the 13 House members. They had requested U.N. monitors for this year's elections in an effort to avoid the charges of voting irregularities that plagued the 2000 election, the closest in history.
Now, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the largest regional organization in the world with 55 participating nations, will monitor the U.S. election on Nov. 2. Members include Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the United States. ...
(http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=39861)
Will the UN be asked to be "Peace Keepers" in the US?
Please read the following and pass it on to those who love God's truth. We Christians are often easily deceived by those who use "Christian" double-speak. If Christians voted according to God's standards for leaders, we would vote for neither Bush nor Kerry.
May God give us courage to vote for godly men, according to Biblical principles!
From Jennie Chancey <ladiesagainstfeminism.com>
Hello, all!
You may already have made a firm decision about the November 2nd vote. You may not want to read anything else about a presidential candidate. But I'd encourage you to do so. Matt has started a blog at www.mattchancey.blogspot.com and is commenting on a few issues of the day to spark thoughtful discussion about the state of affairs in our country. A good friend forwarded me the article below, but it's really just the tip of the iceberg. For more information on how having Republicans in office doesn't guarantee godly (or even "conservative" government), I recommend reading the following links:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=31308 - "Instead of payback, stone-cold retribution, Republicans did nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. They increased Planned Parenthood's public funding. In 2002, Planned Parenthood received an estimated $60 million of the $265 million in Title X federal family-planning funding. Pocketing a cool $60 million sure takes the pressure off fundraising for the world's largest provider of abortions. This, apparently, is the Republican notion of teaching your political enemies a stern lesson."
http://www.conservativeusa.net/abortion.htm - This is a big page on the Conservative Caucus site all about Bush funding "family planning" through our tax dollars--and about how he has supported pro-abortion candidates like Arlen Specter. (Note that this information isn't hidden in some backwater publications -- it's all out front in the NY Times, Washington Post, and other large newspapers and magazines).
http://www.planetwire.org/details/1146 - This article talks about how Bush has continued funding "family planning" programs overseas (all the while saying he is "banning" those funds). The important point to note is that funding has not been decreased and money is still flowing into the pockets of abortion clinic workers in foreign countries.
And just as an interesting side issue, here is an article about Pres. Bush's plans to mandate psychological screening for all Americans: http://www.conservativeusa.net/action.htm#drugyou
We Christians need to prayerfully consider whether or not we are truly willing to "walk by faith and not by sight" rather than trusting our own limited senses. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall, but Christ is still on the throne. When we reach the judgment seat, He is not going to ask us whether or not we voted Republican or "conservative." He is going to test our works with fire (including our votes and our civil decisions) and see if they come at as gold or are consumed like straw:
... (I Cor. 3:9-23).
The "wisdom" of our age tells us that we just cannot hope to have any influence if we do not have a "seat at the table" and wheel and deal with all the "right" politicians. But we know better. We know that the world's wisdom is foolishness, and that God's wisdom, though it may seem foolish, is the only wisdom worth having. Christian households can vote according to His Word with confidence (Ex. 18:21), knowing that God is in control and commands us to obey Him rather than sit at the table and "eat the king's dainties" (Prov. 23:1-3).
Blessings,
Jennie
I read the following article and found it to be very thought provoking. It revealed some very shocking information that many citizens do not know about our 'Republican' president. Please carefully consider who deserves your 'Christian' vote this year.~
Mr. Bush Has Proven Himself To be a wolf in sheep's clothing.
"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." 2 Peter 2:1-3
We commonly hear praises for President Bush from Bible Believing Christians, even pastors.
Examples:
President Bush, "supports a constitutional amendment (banning gay marriage)."
He also:
-has appointed more open homosexuals to positions in government than all the presidents before him, combined.
-gives his support to pro-abort, pro-sodomite Arlen Specter of Penn. instead of the conservative, pro-life candidate, knowing full well that Specter is in line for the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Bush can then nominate all the pro-life judges he wants without fear that they will be confirmed.
-says that if the states want to institute civil unions, it is "FINE."
-has written a congratulatory letter to the Metropolitan Community Church (founded by a sodomite and sodomite dominated) telling them what a blessing they are to America.
-Bush has the glowing praise of the sodomite Log Cabin Republicans and is praised in the Washington Blade.
President Bush, "signed a law banning partial birth abortion." He also:
-says that America is not ready for the overturning of Roe v. Wade. thinks it is alright to murder 15 - 20,000 little unborn children whose fathers happen to be rapists;
-had his Justice Dept. file a "friend of the court" brief to keep pro-lifers OFF the street in Wichita, KS; has signed increases in Planned Parenthood funding every year in office (an organization that murders little unborn children, protects child molesters & pedophiles, promotes perversion of all sorts and lies through its teeth about most everything). Under G.W. the amount of federal money they receive has gone from $187 million to $254 million;
-has signed the bill that provided for the largest amount of funding for international abortion in the history of this country;
Bush throws a "bone" to fellow Republicans and conservative Christians every so often - but they are typically meaningless. The Partial Birth Abortion Ban is a good example. Bush knows that such a ban will not save the life of ONE precious child. The doctor will just use another of 3 or 4 even more gruesome methods. He also knows that the ban will be tied up in court for YEARS and will not cost him too many votes;
The Unborn Victims of Violence Act. This act does NOTHING to decrease abortion and actually further cements abortion into our legal system by specifically EXEMPTING little babies whose mothers want to kill them.
Bush has no intention to end abortion in America (he could have done so already, if he wanted to); and your support for him actually puts you in the pro-abortion camp because abortion will continue as long as we have men like him in office.
President Bush, "supports abstinence education." He also:
-favors and has signed funding for sex education and condom distribution.
President Bush, "Lowered taxes." He also:
-has expanded EVERY part of the federal bureaucracy that he said he would reduce.
-has given us the biggest budget deficits in U.S. history.
-has promised everything to everyone in a despicable effort to pander to voters.
President Bush "Is our friend." Is a friend one who:
-increases our control by and dependence on the U.N., while mouthing platitudes to the contrary?
-belongs to the same secret societies and internationalist organizations as his opponent?
-appointed William Pryor to a federal judgeship by recess appointment - as a reward for his prosecution of former Chief Justice Roy Moore (Pryor says that his faith will have no bearing on his job as judge)?
-supported Arnold Schwarzenegger in California's special election - a man who has just signed two hate crimes bills and stands against almost everything that Christians believe?
-has greatly increased funding for the unconstitutional and often blasphemous Endowment for the Arts?
-has said that Muslims worship the SAME God that we, as Christians, do; and has invited them into the White House for PRAYER? [A Muslim opened the Republican National Convention.]
-has pushed through the U.S. Patriot Act - one of the worst usurpations of Americans' basic rights in the history of this country?
-has poked the nose of the Federal Government ever deeper into the family with his "no child left behind' legislation?
-wants to require "mental health" testing for all American citizens - including school children (Gulag, anyone?)?
For a Christian to support a man like George W. Bush is to sin against God. God may well place Bush in office again, but it will NOT be for blessing - it will be for judgment!
The Scriptures say that men who place themselves in the position of being teachers come under stricter judgment. By his actions and comments, Lou Sheldon is one of three things: 1. Ignorant, 2. Willfully ignorant, or 3. wicked.
If he is ignorant, this note should be sufficient to remedy that shortfall. If he is willfully ignorant, then he should repent of his faithlessness, for he obviously fears man more than he fears God. He must have forgotten that God tells us in Daniel 2:21 that He "changeth the times and the seasons: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings...." God also asks in Isaiah 50:2, "Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness...." If he is wicked, then this note is probably in vain.
There IS a faithful, believing candidate - Michael Peroutka of the Constitution Party (along with his running mate, Pastor Chuck Baldwin). www.peroutka2004.com www.constitutionparty.com
Question: Who will you most likely be voting for this election?
30.9% George W. Bush
27.9% John Kerry
13.8% Michael Peroutka (Constitution Party)
13.5% Ralph Nader
0.5% David Cobb
5.5% Michael Badnarik
3.4% Other
4.4% I won't be voting this election
http://www.businessreform.com/SurveyResults.php
_______________________
YOUR TAXES UNDERWRITE "BOOB JOBS" FOR FEMALE U.S. SOLDIERS " Chest out, shoulders back, stomach in,' the drill sergeants used to bark. Nowadays if a female recruit's chest doesn't go out far enough, the U.S. Army will take care of the problem for her. Between the years 2000 and 2003, Army surgeons performed 496 breast enlargements. They also did 1,361 liposuction surgeries on soldiers and their dependents, along with nose jobs, face lifts, teeth straightening, and other cosmetic procedures. For personnel in all four branches of the military, and for members of their immediate families, free plastic surgery is one of the benefits of enlistment. When this fact was uncovered by The New Yorker, an Army spokeswoman put the best face she could on it, arguing that Army surgeons need to practice so they can do reconstructive surgery on wounded soldiers. Hmm. We don't begrudge our servicemen and women some reasonable job perks, but breast enlargement? Do our front-line troops really need their front lines improved at taxpayer expense?" Source: National Review, The Week, 8/9/04, p. 10
________________________
By Thomas Williamson
Over the years, we have heard a lot of pessimistic, defeatist teaching in some of our churches, about how things are meant to get worse and worse for the cause of Christ before the Second Coming. As a result, many Christians have become demoralized, and are not sure if anything more can be done for the Lord in this age.
It is really hard to motivate and energize troops to make sacrifices and boldly fight the battle, if they have been told that the war is lost and that the soldiers are about to be evacuated from the field of battle. Who wants to die, or even inconvenience himself, for a losing cause?
We may need to put aside the prophecy speculations about how "the end is near, and nothing will get any better until Christ returns." The Word of God does not teach that we should helplessly, hopelessly wait for Christ to return before we can experience revival. The Word of God teaches the victory of Christianity.
By "victory," we do not necessarily mean that the world will be completely Christianized, or that the entire world will be won to Christ, or that the churches will exercise political power on the earth.
By victory, we mean that revival is a real possibility for this age, and that there will be an expansion of the Kingdom of God and of Bible-believing Christianity. That expansion may be gradual, almost imperceptible, and there may be some reverses, but the general trend of Christianity has been, and will continue to be, increasing growth, influence, and yes, victory.
And now, if you are quite ready, let's put aside everything you have ever heard from the gloom-and-doom pessimists and prophecy gurus, and let's see what the Bible teaches about the victory of the Lord's churches in this dispensation.
DANIEL 2 - THE STONE BECOMES A MOUNTAIN AND FILLS THE WHOLE EARTH. "The stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.... And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." Daniel 2-35 44, Daniel predicted that God would set up a Kingdom during the time of the great world empire, the Roman Empire. This Kingdom was compared to a stone that became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. This speaks of growth, expansion, revival and victory.
God kept His promise - Christ set up His Kingdom at the time of His first advent, before the Roman Empire fell. See Matthew 12:28, 16:28, Luke 16:16, 17:20-21, Romans 14:17, Colossians 1:13. That Christ did set up His Kingdom in the First Century is one of the clearest teachings of the Word of God. And according to Daniel, that Kingdom was to grow and fill the whole earth.
Concerning Daniel 2:44, Adam Clarke says, "The kingdom of the stone . . . is a kingdom which the God of heaven sets up. That this means the whole dispensation of the Gospel, and the moral effects produced by it in the souls of men and in the world, needs little proof . . . the preaching and influence of Christianity shall destroy idolatry universally . . . it shall prevail over the whole world - it shall pervade every government . . . the whole earth shall be subdued by its influence; and the whole earth filled with its glory."
Matthew Henry says, "The stone cut out without hands represented the kingdom of Jesus Christ . . . it was to be set up in the days of these kings, the kings of the fourth monarch [Rome], of which particular notice is taken, Luke 2:1. .. . It is a kingdom that shall be victorious... "
Clearly Daniel's prophecy is totally contrary to the notion that we as Christians are part of a losing cause. Some preachers teach that we are not even in the Kingdom yet; we are just in a holding pattern, waiting for Christ to come back and set up a Kingdom which He somehow failed to set up the first time around. But Daniel says the Kingdom would be set up in the days of those Roman kings, and the New Testament records the fulfillment of that prophecy.
ISAIAH 9:7 - AN INCREASE (NOT DECREASE) OF CHRIST'S GOVERNMENT AND PEACE. "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."
This prophecy clearly refers to the results of Christ's First Advent, not His Second Coming, because Isaiah 9:6 tells us that a child will be born who will be the Mighty God, Everlasting Father, etc. Christ will not be born as a child at His Second Coming - He came that way at His First Coming. Clearly, then, there is to be an increase of His government and peace in His Kingdom as a natural result of His First Coming. While we look for His Second Coming, we need to realize that we are already part of a winning cause and a victorious movement as a result of His coming the first time.
Concerning Isaiah's prophecy, Matthew Henry says, Glorious things are here spoken of Christ's government, v. 7. It shall be multiplied: the lustre of it shall increase, and it shall shine more and more brightly in the world."
MATTHEW 13:31-33 - GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM. "The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed; which a man took and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof... The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened "
Concerning these parables, Matthew Poole says, "Our Saviour intended them both to let His disciples know the success that his gospel should have over all the world, that they might not be discouraged at the little success of it at present.... Christ by this foretold His disciples, what following ages quickly verified, that the heathen should entertain the gospel, and the sound of it should go to the ends of the earth, notwithstanding its present small appearance."
This is the correct interpretation of these parables - not the interpretation that says that these parables predict the growth of false doctrine in the world. It is unthinkable, almost blasphemous, to say that the expansion of the Kingdom of Heaven could possibly be a bad thing. (See also Mark 4:26-29 - the Kingdom of God is meant to grow, not to shrivel up).
GALATIANS 4:27 - A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR CHRISTIANITY. "For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest, not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. "
Matthew Poole says concerning this verse, "The - prophet, by the Spirit of prophecy, calleth upon the Gentiles, that brought forth no children to God, and to whom God was not a husband, to rejoice, and to cry out for joy, for there should be more believers, more children brought forth to God, amongst them, than were amongst the Jews; so as the church of the Gentiles are compared to Sarah, who was a long time barren, but then brought forth the child of the promise, the seed in which all the nations of the earth were to be blessed."
The point that the Apostle Paul makes, in quoting this verse from the Prophet Isaiah, is that Christianity is meant to be a fruitful, growing religion. It has been estimated that there were 7,000,000 Jews living in the world in Paul's time. Paul had an optimistic conviction that an expanding, doctrinally sound Christian movement would grow vastly beyond those numbers, as the Gentiles were converted. Paul looked forward to revival and to the coming in of the fulness of the Gentiles (Romans 11:25), not the ruin of the church and the failure of Christianity.
ISAIAH 54:2-3 - PARTY LIKE IT'S 1799. In Galatians 4:27, Paul quotes from Isaiah 54:1, applying this prophecy to the Church Age. Let's go back to Isaiah and see what else he prophesied concerning the course of the Age of Grace:
"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited "
This sounds very much like a prediction of triumphant, victorious progress of the Gospel in this dispensation, not a pessimistic dirge of despair, defeat and decline.
Matthew Poole interprets this passage saying, "Thy seed,' either, 1. Thy spiritual seed, the church of the New Testament, which is accounted Abraham's spiritual seed, or children, Galatians 3:7-9, 29, Or, 2. Thy natural seed, Christ and His apostles, and other ministers, who were Jews, by whom this work was first and most eminently done. 'Shall inherit the Gentiles,' shall subdue the Gentile world to the church, and to the obedience of the faith. `The desolate cities,' those cities and countries which in a spiritual sense were desolate and forsaken by God."
Lest anyone should miss the point, Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 54:5, "The God of the whole earth shall he be called."
It was this passage from Isaiah that inspired William Carey to go forth as the first Baptist missionary to India in 1799. Based on this and other scriptural teaching, Carey had an optimistic view of the future of Christianity, and was willing to sacrifice and dedicate himself to the work of enlarging the place of the tent (or as Jabez might have said, enlarging the coast of Christianity).
Carey was not one of those folks who said "We are just waiting for the last person to get saved before the Rapture, and then we're out of here." Carey's vision foresaw, and brought about, the conversion of multitudes of heathen, not just "the last soul to get saved before the Rapture."
THE "DWINDLE" SWINDLE. Today, many Christians have been swindled out of their motivation to work and sacrifice for the future expansion of Christianity. They have been taught that the Christian religion is meant to decay, decline, diminish and dwindle in this age.
They have been told that the Rapture is coming in just a few more years and there is nothing more we can do anyway. Then we wonder why our church members are so lethargic and do not have any vision for leaving a legacy of faith for future generations.
If we tell people that there is nothing to work for, nothing to build for, because our movement is headed for imminent wreck and ruin, then the people will not rise up to build. Nor will they make any sacrifices for the future, if they have been fed an anemic diet of baloney about being the "Terminal Generation."
Fortunately, there is a new generation of leadership in fundamentalism today, men who are calling for the people to rise up and build, and to work for revival, instead of just listlessly sitting around waiting for doomsday.
In June, 2004, John Vaughn, president of the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International, preached a message in which he noted that Christ may not return for many centuries and in the meantime, we are to occupy until Christ comes, not until we think Christ is coming. He spoke of the possibility of seeing revival of "Reformation proportions" in our future, saying that we may not live to make that journey, but we can set the compass in the right direction.
In 2003, Grady Higgs, Executive Director of the Department of Missions of the Baptist Missionary Association of America, issued a call for prayer that God be glorified among all peoples of the earth, for churches to be planted in every people group on the planet in this generation, and "for Satan to be bound and fully routed within every nation; that Christ's victory on the cross would break Satan's hold on peoples and cultures."
This is the kind of forward-looking, future-oriented leadership and message that we need today. We need leaders who will inspire us to enlarge the coasts of Christianity and to enlarge the place of our tent, who will lead us to victory, revival and expansion. Give our people something to believe in and build for, an opportunity to make a difference and change the course of history, and they will rise up and build.
Church people will not be inspired to rise up and build by the current "signs of the times" preaching that proclaims that "every tiny little inconsequential thing that happens over in the Middle East is a sign that the Rapture will happen soon and that all church work on this planet will be wiped out, and in the meantime there is nothing we can or should do except sit on our duffs and wait for that Rapture which is always just a few years away."
Like South Seas cargo cultists waiting for their ship to come in, too many Christians today are indolently waiting for the Rapture to come and bring to an end all their earthly troubles and responsibilities. Meanwhile, our Great Commission work remains undone, while we take potshots at those few who are still working to bring forth revival and victory.
What we need today is a vision that will bring about the victorious expansion of Christianity, not just a lethargic program of coasting along and barely getting by until this Age of Grace is forever ended.
Awake O Church of God
"Awake, awake; put on thy strength, 0 Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, 0 Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down 0 Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thyneck, 0 captive daughter of Zion." Isaiah 52:1-2.
In this passage of scripture we hear the Lord calling to His people to return to the days of their beauty - the day when they were worthy of praise and usefulness to the Lord.
I believe that we can apply those same words to the church and Christians today. The vast majority of Christians - and therefore the churches - are leading subnormal lives. Instead of having power that is invincible, unspeakable joy, glory beyond measure and peace that is incomprehensible, we find ourselves and our churches sadly lacking. Because we find our own needs so often unmet, we are ineffectual in meeting the needs of a sinful world.
ATTITUDE IS A KEY TO THE SOLUTION TO MANY OF OUR PROBLEMS. The problem of the 10 spies who gave negative advice was their attitude. They saw all of the good things of the land and said, "Surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it." (Numbers 13:27) But of the giants they said, "We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." (Numbers 13:33) Their attitude was, yes, God told us the truth about the land, but the obstacles before us are too great to overcome.
Let me say that the Christian and the church that views itself as a grasshopper in the world will never be an effective witness to the majesty of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. In many churches we have adopted a policy of self-pity. We often hear sermons or lessons on, "These are the Last Days," and "Unless There Be a Falling Away." I believe both statements to be true, but nowhere do I read where we are to give up and quit.
On the contrary, Paul wrote to Timothy, "Preach the word; be instant in season; out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." (2 Timothy 4:2) Be always what you should be; when things are going smooth, and even when the going is rough.
Prayer is essential to a victorious Christianity. Prayer is a church's faith expressing itself in words. What is our prayer life like? Is it the shot of a warrior or the groan of an invalid? Is it a prayer of assurance or the petitionof the hesitant? The prayer of your church will be no more effective than the prayer life of the membership. We need to pray, praising the Lord for who He is, and for what He is going to do. We need to pray for power over sin and the Devil. We need to pray for the Pastor of our church that he will have more boldness and power in the Lord. We need to call by name those that we want to see saved. It is time for us to awake anew to the power and necessity of prayer. Pray in confidence that the Lord hears and honors our requests. "Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place." (2 Chronicles 7:15)
Separation is essential to a victorious Christianity. In time of war there are laws and regulations against fraternizing with the enemy. The first reason is so that plans do not fall into the wrong hands. The second reason it that is it harder to kill someone once you have met them eye to eye, and become friendly with them. The same is true of the church and the Christian. The church never had as much power over the world as it did when it had nothing to do with the world. Too many of the Lord's soldiers are on sickbeds of sin-dominated lives. Many are sitting by the camp fires of satisfaction and idleness. Many are even holding truce talks with the enemy in the name of cooperation and progress.
Scripture, however, teaches the very opposite of this "get along" attitude with the world. Paul wrote to Timothy about this very attitude. "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." (2 Timothy 2:4)
To the Corinthian church Paul wrote, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. " (2 Corinthians 6:17) Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:9, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood , an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." I have emphasized the phrases which show the intended separation of the people of God from the world.
May our churches never stoop to the level of the world in financing our ministries, in the music we worship with, or in our methods of attracting people to the services. May the doctrines we believe never be subject to the whims of fashion and custom. May all that we do be an example of the change wrought in our lives by the saving power of Christ. We need to awake to the power of separated living.
Devotion is essential to a victorious Christianity. It is not the sensational spurts of the church that are the measure of a church's ministry. It is the steady vital ministry of the church and the Christian in their everyday ministry. Special days, revival services and promotions are all effective methods of evangelism, but it is the day to day living that will really count for the Lord. Devotion in a daily life in every aspect of that life will lead to right actions and attitudes for the Lord. We need to awake to the power of a devoted life to Christ. "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. " (Proverbs 3:6)
GOD'S CALL TO HIS SLEEPING PEOPLE. Zion was sleeping on the job. They needed to be aroused from an induced slumber. They were like Jonah asleep in the hold of the ship. Instead of being busy at the Lord's work, they slept in a ship of rebellion.
Today I fear many of God's people are in a state of sleep induced by sin as in the case of Jonah, or weakness as in the case of the disciples in Gethsemane. The sin of the church is that she is earthbound. We are so busy with the affairs of mankind that we forget the limitless potential of the work that can be accomplished for the Lord. Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, "For where your heart is, there will your treasure be also." Is our treasure, all that we cherish, centered on Jesus and Heaven? Or are we more concerned with the affairs of this earth?
Many people are waiting for some overwhelming movement from the Holy Spirit. They cry out like ancient Israel, "Awake, awake, put on strength, 0 arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. " (Isaiah 51:9)
But we must remember that it is not God that is asleep, but His people that slumber. The first step must be ours. Many of you have no doubt heard the old statement, "If God seems so far away, who moved?" It is time for us to sound the trumpet' of revival in our church today. It is time for us to shake ourselves from the dominance of sin, to brush the dust of carelessness from our lives. The wonderful fact is that God is there to help us every step of the way.
WHAT CAN BE OURS. The church's potential is the same as in apostolic times, Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever." Because our leader, founder, rock, pillar and foundation never changes, we have the assurance and stability to withstand all the winds of change. The power that was available to the Christians and the church of the First Century is the same today for us. So often we read the menu God offers us but we fail to order.
Today, right now, ask yourself these questions. Am I awake and working for the Lord? Is my prayer life all that it should be? Am I living a devoted and separated life for Christ? If you can answer all these questions with a "yes," then pray for those who cannot. If you had to answer one or all with a "no," then listen to the call of God. "Awake, awake, put on thy strength." The power is there waiting for you to draw from. The blessings are there for you to receive. The glory of God is waiting to be bestowed upon you, and the peace of doing God's will awaits for you. Reach out, for God wants you to have it all today.
(From New Mexico Baptist Messenger, author unknown. Editor Michael Maurer has added this note: "I found this sermon in some of my old Seminary files. I don't know if I did it as a term paper or if it was one written by some famous preacher. If you know then let me know. In any case it is a good sermon that is applicable to today's church. Enjoy and God bless).
By Thomas Williamson, 3131 S. Archer Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60608
Below is the third and last portion of Andrew Sandlin's article. We covered the first section two issues ago: "Old-Fashioned Conservative Tyranny". The second section was Sandlin's statement concerning "Baby Machines". This month, I would like to address Culture-reclaiming daughters. I will reproduce the first two parts of his article, which we addressed in the last two issues of the Examiner. Here is the third section. (It is distressing that Sandlin does not defend his position from Scripture yet he has "followers" who say they follow "Scripture alone".)
by P. Andrew Sandlin
Today's secular culture is at war with the family. Lax divorce laws, radical feminism, rampant pornography, legalized abortion, "children's rights," mainstream homosexuality, and inheritance taxes all these and other factors collude to assault the family, particularly the Christian family.
The (Over)Reaction
It is perhaps inevitable that the Christian reaction will at times become overreaction and that the family, a central institution in God's plan, should begin to monopolize all of life. In fact, a renewed patriarchalism in some quarters is working for hegemony over the other legitimate spheres of God's authority. But patriarchalists don't justify their (over)reaction only to the ravenous egalitarian society. They also (over)react to a reckless, egocentric Church that is oblivious to family prerogatives ("After all, I am the elder [or bishop, or deacon, or what have you], and I am the supreme authority in the Church").
But the solution to social and ecclesiastical tyranny is not patriarchal tyranny, [emp. added.] which, in fact, is no less culpable than the former. Tyranny is tyranny, and "spiritual" tyranny is perhaps the worst form of all (think: Spanish Inquisition).
Old-Fashioned Conservative Tyranny
Today's hegemonic [leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others. Apparently, Sandlin thinks patriarchal Christians believe they must dominate their wives and families in an almost brutal way like a pagan overlord. Ed.] patriarchalism seems at points to bear an eerie resemblance to the pagan patriarchy [1 a form of social organization in which the father or eldest male is the head of the family and descent is reckoned through the male line. 2 a system of society or government ruled by men. Ed.]of ancient Rome (before the rise of the Empire). Pre-Empire Rome was a patriarchial culture. The housefather was given virtually unlimited authority. His word was law not metaphorically, but literally. If his wife bore a daughter, and he preferred a son, he could simply cast the daughter into the streets to die of starvation or be beaten by a wild animal. He could beat and otherwise abuse fellow family members at will. With limited exceptions, the father was the central authority in society. Many other ancient cultures were similarly clan-based, and these extended families (not just Mom and Dad and Junior and Susie, but grandparents and third cousins and "in-laws") ruled the countryside by blade and blood. At the center of this tyranny was the patriarch, generally the oldest surviving male of the family. (Mario Puzo's rendition of The Godfather furnishes an embellished, but generally accurate, portrait of this arrangement.)
For this reason it is sometimes ironic to hear Christians declare that they are championing a "conservative view of the family." If they are conserving old-fashioned pagan patriarchy, they are deviating from Biblical Faith, which repudiates this tyranny. We are called first to be obedient Christians, not card-carrying conservatives. Today's Christian patriarchalists are far removed from the violence of the pagan patriarchalists (in most cases, at least!), but in their commitment to hegemony, they are too close for comfort.
Baby Machines
Some Christian men that I have observed treat their wives as baby machines. The wife is never under any circumstances permitted to work outside the home, despite the fact that the Bible nowhere forbids such work. True, the young mother's central Biblical responsibility is domestic her family (1 Tim. 5:14). Today's "career-minded moms" whose work is a separate track from her husband's generally conflict with the Bible's pattern of the woman as a suitable help to her husband (Gen. 2:18-25). However, the Bible does not prohibit women, including wives and mothers, from working outside the home. We must not, therefore, allow "conservative" standards to supplant Biblical standards.
Apron-Centered, Kitchen-Table Tutelage
The authority that some patriarchalists arrogate to themselves truly borders on tyranny. One has written that a father who sends his daughter off to college is guilty of irresponsibility. Apparently, all daughters must maintain residence in their father's household to be deemed "under authority." Not a shred of Biblical evidence supports this theory and, in fact, at times the father may be guilty of irresponsibility if he does not dispatch an intellectually gifted daughter to college. (The idea that children should ordinarily stay at home and take Internet college courses is fraught with peril. We will never train culture-reclaiming physicians, nuclear physicists, and engineers by such apron-centered, kitchen-table tutelage.)
Day Schools
Other patriarchalists have gone so far as to suggest that Christian day schools are sinful or erosive of the family. While this sentiment is not true of most home-schoolers, among whom are the most dedicated Christians in the nation, an increasing number of patriarchalists are dedicated to squelching top-notch, culture-reforming educational opportunities by subordinating virtually all training to the four wall [sic] of the homestead. This is a formula for cultural and familial defeat.
Obsequious Sons
Patriarchalists sometimes do even a greater disservice to sons. In ancient clan-based societies, a son (even one in his thirties and forties) would remain obsequiously apprenticed to his father and would become the new, blood-based patriarch only when his father died. This is a pagan idea, not a Biblical one, even thought [sic] some patriarchalists today demand almost unswerving obedience and servanthood from their forth-year old [sic.] married sons. Sometimes in the process they completely trample on their sons' obvious gifts, which could be used most profitably elsewhere. Any daughter-in-law that that [sic.] permits such an outrage will suffer greatly for it.
Disservice to the Church
Perhaps, however, the most hazardous element of the new hegemonic patriarchy is its easy diffidence or downright hostility toward the church. This patriarchalism emerges largely because too many churches are anything but "family-friendly"; and, of course, they abdicate their calling when they act so irresponsibly. The solution to this problem, however, is the reformation of the church, not the institution of "The Family Church," i.e., the Daddy pastor, the Mommy assistant pastor, and the kiddy members. The Church is authorized to do three things that no family in ordinary conditions is ever permitted to do: preserve orthodoxy; administer the sacraments; and excommunicate heretics and egregious, unrepentant sinners.
Hammering out and maintaining proper belief is not the responsibility of the family, but the church, or more accurately, true churches throughout the world. A careful scrutiny of beliefs (both true and false) demands greater expertise than the individual father (or mother!) enjoys. Orthodoxy is a communal matter, and the community in question is the church, not the family. Similarly, the church administers the sacraments. Jesus vested the authority to administer both communion and baptism to His apostles, not as fathers in their own families. And the same is true of discipline and by this I mean ecclesiastical discipline. No husband may excommunicate his wife (though some husbands, I hear, have tried!). No father may excommunicate a child, and so on. Excommunication is the exclusive job of the church (Mt. 18). If it [sic] for this reason that the family, even an extended family, does not constitute a church. Two or more joining together to pioneer a church, searching for legitimate oversight, may, in fact, constitute a church, but this is a different matter altogether. Simply put, the family is not the church.
Hubris
The new patriarchalists would be less offensive if they couched their hegemonic views, well, less hegemonically. Why not simply say, "We're attempting to recover a more consistent view of the family, and we know some dear Christians will not agree, and we know that most of orthodox Christianity stands against us, but we would humbly ask you consider these things."
No, it often is something like this: "Fathers, until we came along, have been irresponsible, and they are irresponsibly sending their daughters off to college, and they are sending their children to Christian day schools, and they are irresponsibly attending church that sponsor age-graded Sunday School. They need to quit sinning, and start taking responsibility."
I am exaggerating, but not by much. Christians, like all humans, are susceptible to fads, and this hegemonic patriarchalism is one of the latest fads that has emerged popularly, and will eventually die quietly. Until then, it may harm a number of wives and children and, yes, fathers whom it is creditably trying to help. We will be less likely to fall into its seductive trap if we recognize that our life must be Faith-centered, not State-centered, not Church-centered, or even family-centered.
[End]
Apparently, all daughters must maintain residence in their father's household to be deemed "under authority." [Not a shred of Biblical evidence supports this theory and, in fact, at times the father may be guilty of irresponsibility if he does not dispatch an intellectually gifted daughter to college. (The idea that children should ordinarily stay at home and take Internet college courses is fraught with peril. We will never train culture-reclaiming physicians, nuclear physicists, and engineers by such apron-centered, kitchen-table tutelage.)
Here we have a clear Biblical problem. Implied above is that gifted daughters should be sent out from under the father's watchful care and authority to be trained as "culture-reclaiming physicians, nuclear physicists, and engineers..." (See the law, Numbers 30:3-16 above.)
There seems to be some common points among those supportive of Sandlin supportive of Christian Schools that encourage women to leave the home and go into the work force. Christian Schools are also staffed with female teachers who must submit to authorities other than fathers or husbands. They reject Titus 2:5. One wonders, thus, if Sandlin is not providing justification for women entering into the competitive work place?
To whom, may we ask, was the dominion mandate given? Is the woman the one equipped and commissioned by God to reclaim a fallen culture? Was the subdue command, dominion mandate, given to the man or to the woman, Genesis 1:28? Can the mandate apply to both equally? Was man created to help the woman fulfill the culture-claiming, dominion mandate, or was the woman created to help the man fulfill the culture-claiming, dominion mandate? Is the woman's calling to be help meet and keeper of the home and train the children, or is her calling to reclaim the fallen culture by being physicians, nuclear physicists, or engineers? (Titus 2, &c.)
Genesis 1:26-28. God gave the Dominion Mandate to both Adam and Eve not just Adam. Both are to be dominion-takers, but not in the same way. Obviously, when God said, "Be fruitful and multiply," He didn't mean for Adam to have the babies. But Eve could not produce children by herself, either. While God did give the Dominion Mandate to both man and women together, He intended them to exercise dominion in their own distinctive roles. The woman's is to take dominion in her unique realm, her home.
Sandlin's argument seems to imply that a woman at home who is "only" having babies and teaching her children is not taking dominion nor reclaiming the culture. His implication is an insult to every mother. It insults God's beautiful design for humanity as male and female with unique roles, and it insults women by implying that their special role has no real purpose or long-lasting impact. Thus, both man and woman are taking dominion together when they fulfill their God-given roles.
Are women called by God the same as are men to take dominion in the various high-stress areas of life, e.g., physicians, nuclear physicists, and engineers? Is she designed and equipped by God to be able to handle such stress outside of the home, or is she the weaker vessel?
Did God give intelligence to women so they can compete with men in the work place, or did He give that intelligence so she can help her husband and instill godliness and practical training in her children? What about Proverbs 31? The woman there was obviously a very intelligent woman, but that intelligence was used for the success of the family under her husband's direction. Who was assigned to sit in the gate as an elder, the husband or the wife?
Where does culture start if not in the home? Should not the daughters be trained to be "culture-reclaiming" wives and mothers? History is replete with illustrations of how keepers at home reclaimed culture by training their children in the ways of the Lord. It is the mother at home training the children who will have the greatest, longest-lasting culture-reclaiming results. Her results will far outshine and outlast the women departed from their homes and husbands' protection to be physicians, nuclear physicists, and engineers.
Jonathan Edwards' wife, Sarah, was a stay-at-home mom, and look at the culture-reclaiming influence she had through her children:
A study by the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society revealed that the descendants of Jonathan and Sarah Pierrepont Edwards included 13 college presidents; 65 professors; 3 senators; 30 judges; 100 lawyers; 60 physicians; 75 military officers; 100 preachers and missionaries; 60 prominent authors; 1 vice president; 80 governors, foreign ministers, and other public officials; and 295 college graduates. (Jonathan Edwards, Spark of the Great Awakening, Dennis Peterson. Homeschooling Today, Jan/Feb. 2004, p. 39)
Those women who will control the future for Christ are not physicians, nuclear physicists, and engineers. They are the stay-at-home moms helping their husbands in their callings and training their children in the ways of the Lord.
Every church in which I have served (three) had a Christian school, including the one of which I became pastor in 1983. In every case, the Christian School became the center of focus rather than the family. My experience with "my" Christian School was that it was not much, if any, better than the public school, in terms of "cliques" and pairing off for dating. The school accepted unchurched young people, and those young people were not a good influence on our church children.
In the three schools, the families had to build their schedules around the school and church activities. I well remember one of the pastors under whom I served saying in a staff meeting to the youth leader, "If we don't provide something for the family every night here at the church, they will only stay home and watch TV." So the goal was to keep the families with children busy at the church every night except maybe one night a week.
Furthermore, though the three schools were arms of the churches where I served, the leaders of those schools acted as independent entities rather than as an arm of the churches.
Following the link "project 33" from razormouth.com, will take one to a teen ministry, then to Cornerstone Christian Schools, K-12. Evidently, there is a reason for Sandlin to promote this school and teen ministry <http://www.cornerstonechristian.org/cornerstonechristian.org-asp//default.asp>. I wonder if the reason might have anything to do with the support of Christian Day Schools, apparently over home education? I know of no Christian School in which the majority of the teaching staff is not women who must submit to men other than their husbands, or if single, other than their fathers, which clearly violates the law of Christ: Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
The husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is of his church (Eph. 5:25); and therefore as the members are subject to the head without reasoning, so should the wife be unto her husband. ... Therefore the wife must signify that she has a feeling for him in her heart, as the image of God's majesty, glory, and sovereignty, through her whole behaviour in a meek and quiet spirit; and if she rebels against this, she raises up against the Lord himself. (Titus, by Thomas Taylor, first published, 1619. Klock & Klock reprint, 1980. Pp. 274, 275.)
A wife working outside the home under another man's authority clearly violates God's requirement for the wife to be subject to her own husband in every thing. When the wife, or daughter, places herself in subjection to a man other than her God-ordained authority, "she raises up against the Lord himself." Moreover, those who encourage wives and daughters to remove themselves from under their Biblical authority in every thing are also in rebellion.
Did not the Old Testament saints stay around their fathers, even after establishing their own homes? I do not say such a plan is practical in today's very mobile, industrialized, Western society, but claiming that a close family relationship where the sons stick close to home "is a pagan idea, not a Biblical one" ignores the Old Testament saints, e.g., Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, &c.
Clearly, the sons are told to leave their parents and cleave to their wives, but that does not mean that they are to ignore their parents and get far away from them as fast as they can. We are close to Amish and Mennonite communities, and we have several Christian friends who live among them. One of the enviable things about the Amish-Mennonite life-style is the family orientation. The fathers prepare the sons, and try to pass along what they have gained both in material things and in practical knowledge. (Proverbs 13:22.) I realize their's is basically a farming community, with some work outside the family in factories that has to do with working with your hands, and not everyone can do that in an industrialized society.
I would have loved to have remained close to my father and apprenticed myself to him (he was one of the best in the steel fabrication trade), and then lived close by, but the Lord would not permit it.
We need young men, not women, to reclaim culture by training as physicians, nuclear physicists, and engineers, but those things must be done without sacrificing the Biblical family unit. Where must culture be reclaimedin the family or in the work place? Obviously, both; the wife and mother in the home, and the husband and father in the world. How much of society's problems can be traced to the lack of a Biblical family unit?
"The family is not the church" makes good theory. Reality, however, tells a different story. Is it not the husband's responsibility to protect his family from error? Can a godly father place his family in a church that stands against the Orthodox faith? I have heard from more than a few where the only "decent" local church has threatened to excommunicate them for not agreeing with the churches' unorthodox doctrine. How many small communities have only one or two churches, and both condone sodomy and women preachers? Then what is the godly man to do with his family?
Can a father place himself and his family under the authority of a church steeped in false doctrines, and where his family and Biblical standards are undermined? Can faithful Christians unite with churches that condone, and even practice, pagan activity and work to divide up the family? (2 Corinthians 6:7.) I have sat in staff meetings where the "youth leader" was told by the pastor to win the young people to himself, in order to keep them coming to church when their parents don't attend regularly. We receive mailings from a local church in Winchester, VA, telling of the "good time" the unsaved have at their youth meetings.
How much reformation can be done in a local church before one is considered undermining the proper authority in that church? We drive over an hour to church. I'm afraid I have more questions than answers, but I do know that the Biblical answer is not to train daughters to take the dominion mandate out into the world.
By Steve Covington
A lot of people have asked why we went to Florida when a hurricane was coming. It seems like a silly thing to do, but I didn't feel as if it was silly at the time. I don't make decisions in life based on what might happen. I would not be able to leave my home if I did. When we were ready to leave for Florida, Hurricane Ivan was still south of Cuba. My mother wanted to go on vacation with us, and she had never seen Florida nor the ocean before. We had relatives who live in Florida, so we went.
When we first got to Florida, we stayed in a hotel across from Navarre Beach. On the first day, we all went to see the ocean. It was beautiful, and my mom was in awe of its beauty. We spent the next 3 days enjoying the ocean, the surrounding areas and the great seafood. The whole time we were watching the hurricane that now had turned north, and was headed for Florida. There was still a lot of speculation as to where it would hit land.
As we went into the 4th day of vacation, the weathermen were saying that Ivan was being downgraded to a level 3 hurricane. We had talked to several people, and everyone's opinion was that we would be OK through a level 3, as long as the east corner of the hurricane's eye didn't hit us directly. So we watched. After some discussion with my family, we decided that we would stay at my cousin's house until 24 hours before the hurricane, and see where its path would go before evacuating. The local police said that this would be plenty of time.
As that time arrived, the hurricane had been downgraded to a level 3, and the eye of the storm was looking like it was going to hit Mobile, Alabama. We were only expected to get winds around 65-80 mph. My cousin had another house that was about 15 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico. It is waterfront property, but it is on a cove not the gulf. He and his family had decided to ride the storm out where we were. He had not yet moved into the waterfront house, but all the neighbors there had assured us we would be OK in that waterfront area. A few of the neighbors had been living in that area for around 40 years, and had seen several hurricanes. They told us that the water had never gotten to within 20 feet of my cousin's waterfront house. Keep in mind that though his house is waterfront, it is on a 20-25 foot incline.
My cousin's house where we were staying at the time was in an area under evacuation orders. But his waterfront house on the cove was not evacuated. Being about 15 miles inland, it was considered safe. My family decided to stay there because the storm had been downgraded, and looked like it was going west of us. The winds were only expected to get to 80 mph, and we had a nice place off of the Gulf of Mexico that had never seen water before. We believed the storm would come and pass, and within a day or two we would be back to enjoying our vacation and having more of that great seafood. We made our decision. We would stay.
The morning of the hurricane, we got up and went to my cousin's waterfront house on the cove to board the windows and doors, get the generator ready and prepare the grill. At around 9:00 PM the winds started to pick up, and we lost power. So, we started the generator. We had a small TV, so we were able to watch a local news station to keep an eye on the storm. As we watched, all reports still showed our area being OK, and the storm's eye was still headed to Mobile. Around midnight, we fired up the grill, and had some hamburgers. We left the front door open so we could watch the storm. The ocean was to the back of the house, and the doors we had open were in the front of the house, which were the only ones we did not board up. The winds had picked up to around 60 75 mph (if I had to guess) at this time. I have seen storms in Indiana that were this bad, so after all the hipe, we felt like we had seen the worst of it. Most of us went to bed at around 2am.
Thank God my wife and uncle stayed up. At 3:00 AM, my wife woke me up, and said "You need to see this". I could tell by her voice that she was scared. She showed me what she saw from the back doors where we had cut two holes in the boards we put on the windows so that we could watch. It was dark, so we had to shine the flashlight out one hole and look through the other. My wife had every reason to be scared. Large waves were coming up to about 10 feet of the house. I went to look out the front door and the water level was within 10 feet of the front door, which was already higher than anyone said it would get.
The water had completely surrounded the house from 2:00 AM to 3:00 AM. I looked at my watch, and it was 3:00 AM. Any hope of escape had just vanished because the road was flooded, and all vehicles were more than half under water. I looked back at my watch at 3:10 AM, and the water was at the bottom of the front door. It had come 10 feet in 10 minutes. My mind immediately understood that at this rate we would be under water within the hour. I then woke everyone else up.
Just then the sewage drains started to overflow into the house, and water was running across the floor. The smell was horrible. The waves were starting to hit the back of the house really hard, and about that time, we heard a window break in one of the back bedrooms. In my cousin's master bedroom, he has two sets of double doors, which were starting to bulge in from the pressure of the water and waves hitting them. We tried to move furniture in front of the doors to help them hold, which was futile. The water would splash in from the TOP of the plywood we had on the outside of the windows.
We decided we had to go to the attic right away. But the problem was the access to the attic was in the garage, and it was lower than the house, making the water too deep for us to get there. We then decided to cut a whole in the ceiling in a closet just off of the master bedroom. With the Lord's guidance, we had charged all of my cousin's batteries for his battery-operated tools because the set came with a flashlight that used those batteries also.
We were able to use his battery powered reciprocating saw to cut the hole in the ceiling. Once we had done that, we sent the women and children up into the attic, then my uncle went, then I went and then my cousin got his dog. As I took the dog from my cousin, he went back to get something else. Just as he started to step out of the closet, there was a loud sound of an explosion. It was the windows and doors on the back of the house imploding from the pressure of the water on them. I had lost sight of my cousin. So when this happened, I started yelling for him, and just about that time, I saw him and he came up the ladder. We literally were 2 minutes from all the kids being drowned in the bedroom when the windows and doors imploded. The time was 3:30 AM.
Twenty minutes, and the water had gotten that high. So much for water never rising that high in 40 years! There was just enough room in the attic for all of us 10 people and 3 dogs. We were soaked, sweaty, dirty and smelled like sewage, and, to say the least, scared. Someone had the foresight to bring a Bible up with them. So as we were all there together, we decided to read from the first place that came open. So as we read (I don't remember where), it spoke of God's righteous judgment of a wicked people, or something to that effect. We decided to turn, and read the last half of Job instead.
As I held my family close, we prayed, and we asked that God's will be done, and if it was our time to go, that he would give us the grace we needed. My family knows that God is in control of all things. After we prayed, my wife and I spoke to our children about the fact that God had chosen His elect from the foundations of the world, that He had control of the hurricane, He had already predestined the time of our death, and if this was that time, may we praise God in all things. If this was not the time, then there was nothing that could harm us in anyway whatsoever.
As the water kept rising, we could feel the waves splashing on the floor where we were sitting. I do believe that we all had determined in our minds that we would not make it. We told the kids that if or when the house broke apart that they were to find anything that floated and hang on. The water slowed and then stopped rising at 5:30 AM, at 6:30 AM, it had gone down enough that my cousin and I went down the ladder, and stuck our heads out the closet into his bedroom. That was a sight I will never forget. I was standing in water up to my waist, and looking out through what used to be his bedroom doors, straight out to the ocean. The waves were white capping as they came into his bedroom.
At 9:00 AM, the water had gone down enough that everyone else was able to get down out of the attic. The destruction was unbelievable. The house was a mess. All 5 vehicles in the drive were destroyed. Trees and power lines were down, and glass was everywhere.
Around 9:30, a couple came up to the house in a canoe. The gentleman (Larry) came up to me, and with a tear in his eye he said, "We thought you all were dead, "We have been praying for you all night." Larry and his wife stayed right down the street from us, at his in-laws' home, where there were about 10 people all together. I told him, "Thank you for praying for us. We were praying too!" Larry and his family of 4, plus his sister-in-law's family of 4, all stayed there because they thought it would be safe also. The water had come up to their doorway, but not inside. They lost 5 vehicles between them. Larry and his wife offered all of us a place to clean up, eat and sleep. We humbly accepted this offer from these complete strangers.
These families were wonderful. God truly blessed us with the opportunity to meet these people, (my wife calls them angels because of the verse Heb. 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.). These families rationed their food and water (water was very hard to come by because wells were run by electricity and my cousin's well was washed out). All 10 of these people were Christians, and believe in "saved by grace". They all believed that the Lord is in control of all things! One of the families homeschooled their children, and the oldest was going to a Christian college. It was a gift from God to get the chance to fellowship with them. They invited us to go on vacation with them next year in southern Florida, at a secluded beach to go fishing and boating. We plan to, Lord willing and no hurricane forecast!
I could write another whole article on all we have learned from this experience. God tested us, and we grew. My family's faith is stronger. My children learned to lean on their faith. My children's belief in the sovereignty of God is stronger. We lost our vehicle and some personal stuff. None of us are too concerned about that stuff. God saved us from the storm. It was not our time to die. He gave us the chance to see the worst in human nature (unsaved), and the best of His nature. Words can never express what I feel, or what I saw. All I know to say daily is "Lord thank you for everything, trials and all, for You are glorified."