Boortz in the Pitt

Recently, libertarian talk show host, Neal Boortz published an article on his website (here). The article is a reprint of a column from a high school newspaper written by a senior, which apparently "sent the principal into a panic ... running around and confiscating uncirculated copies of the column." Boortz interviewed the student on his show and asked him if he would like to write every now and then for Nealz Nuze. Not only was Boortz impressed with the senior's writing skills, I'm sure Boortz, as a libertarian, disagreed with the principal's zeal in suppressing the student's "right" to free speech or freedom of the press.

Well, I'm afraid I can't go along with Boortz on this one. Rather, "Another 'modest proposal'" was more akin to yelling "fire!" in a crowded theater, for which "free speech" doesn't apply. It was totally irresponsible. While it may have been offered as tongue-in-cheek, it certainly wasn't funny. That America's youth think this way, even in jest, is more than a little scary. This kid's thinking should be our "worst nightmare".

In his defense, however, we taught him to think that way, both by our behavior as a culture and through a government education dedicated to evolutionary indoctrination. This ultimately and logically leads to eugenic consequences. Since our generation has garnered governmental decree to decide who lives and who dies in the mother's womb, so our children, backed by that same government, will decide who lives and who dies in the nation's nursing homes. Today we kill our children in the womb because they are inconvenient and expensive to their mother. That general hatred for children specifically and for human life in general means that in our old age we may be euthanized by our "children" because we will be inconvenient and expensive to our society.

Eugenics is "the study of hereditary improvement of the human race by controlled selective breeding," and its founder was Francis Galton, cousin to Charles Darwin. The ideas expressed by Galton were supported by the likes of Margaret Sanger, founder of the modern abortion movement, and by Adolf Hitler and his minions (need I say more). It's sad that Neal Boortz gave this kid his "fifteen minutes of fame".

While I agree with some of Boortz's pragmatic political proposals, he is, nevertheless self-avowedly non-Christian. Therefore, he is part of the problem, not the solution. Ideas have consequences, and ideas apart from Christ ultimately lack eternal profit. Jesus said, "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad." -Matthew 12:30

Adams Family Legacy

Thanks to George Grant of King's Meadow for the idea and several of the quotes:

When you read quotes or passages or documents from America's founding era, certain words mean different things to us Moderns (or post Moderns) than they did to our Founding Fathers. One example is "religion". When they used the word "religion", most of the time, if not all, they meant Christianity. When they spoke of freedom of religion, they meant that one Christian denomination or sect was not to have national status or prominence over another, as Anglicanism was in England. In fact, the states were allowed and did indeed have official state religions: Virginia-Anglican, Maryland-Catholic, Pennsylvania-Quaker, etc. Other sects or denominations often had to get permission from the state government to set up shop.

Below are quotes from John Adams, his wife Abigail, his son John Quincy and his cousin Samuel, which, if you agree with the principles espoused, speak to the current and escalating degradation of America today. They also accentuate the utter frustration facing Iraq and other countries around the world trying to make a go of a Constitutional Republic apart from biblical law as contained in God's Word and from biblical principles to be lived out in obedience to Jesus Christ.

"Statesmen may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand." John Adams

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passion unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams

"The only sure and permanent foundation of virtue is religion. Let this important truth be engraven upon your heart." Abigail Adams"The highest glory of the American Revolution was this; it connected in one indissoluble bond, the principles of the civil government with the principles of Christianity. From the day of the Declaration the American people were bound by the laws of God, which they all, and by the laws of the Gospel, which they nearly all, acknowledged as the rules of their conduct." John Quincy Adams

"Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt....The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy this gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people." Samuel Adams

"I conceive we cannot better express ourselves than by humbly supplicating the Supreme Ruler of the world....that the confusions that are and have been among the nations may be overruled by promoting and speedily bringing in the holy and happy period when the kingdoms of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and the people willingly bow to the sceptre of Him who is the Prince of Peace." Samuel Adams

What's in a Name...

The Bible is full of names--lots of them. To read through the numerous geneologies is, for most of us, a tedious and seemingly pointless exercise. Yet, God in His perfect wisdom has emphasized names for His glory and our benefit. So why are names so important to Him, and of consequence then to us?

God deemed each aspect of His creation in Genesis 1 as 'good'. At the end of the sixth day, He deemed the whole creation as 'very good'. He created every creature specially, and its name identified its character, God's unique impression. Thus, biblical names are rich in meaning...Abraham (father of nations), Isaac (he laughs), Jacob (deceiver), Ichabod (departed glory). God named Adam, who in turn named all the animals and his wife, Eve (mother of all living). At the burning bush, Moses wanted a name to go with the One who would deliver the children of Israel, because the multitude of Egyptian gods all had names. So, God gave Moses His name--YHWH (I AM). Jesus himself has many names scattered throughout the Old and New Testaments, all of which indicate some aspect of His character. And even in Glory, the overcomers will be given new names (Rev 2:17).

In practical terms then, what does this mean for the saints? Why should we care? In our faithfulness to God and to each other, we need to imitate God and be as jealous for names as He is. How many of us have experienced a greeting that goes something like the following: I say, "Good morning, Bob!" Bob responds, "Hey...!" Now, I have known Bob for years. We've worshipped together in church and studied together at various Bible studies and Sunday school classes. He knows my name, yet he almost never uses it . I don't know about you, but when someone I know continually addresses me as 'Hey', or 'Sir' or 'Bub', it shows a lack of respect and a lack of godliness. It indicates that he doesn't know or care that it makes me feel less like a brother and more like a stranger.

If you don't know someone's name or have forgotten it, humble yourself and ask...he'll appreciate it. "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others." (Phil 2:3-4)

If you do know your brother's name, then use it. It is just as much a show of respect as saying 'please' and 'thank you', courtesies in which we conscientiously instruct our children. Why then do we not teach and model use of names? Businessmen in sales and marketing understand this concept better than we do. We often fail miserably in this area, that which God highly esteems and demonstrates in His Word. So, greet one another with humility, love and respect. Look your brother in the eye, firmly shake his hand, and speak his name.

The Problem with America

This is a continuation of the prior post. Sounds kind of like a broad subject area, wouldn't you say? Well, not really. You see, most of the 'problems' in our country are really symptoms and consequences, not causes. There is but one primary cause, with several sub-causes...one of which I will consider.

The root of America's problems is, simply, covenantal unfaithfulness in the church by the ministers and, consequently, the laity: "...if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." (II Chron 7:14) We have abandoned God in the public sector, for sure, but worse, we have abandoned our first love in the church.

Pastors, even many of the evangelical ones, don't preach (and some don't believe) that the Scriptures both Old and New are the absolute truth and therefore relevant. Many don't even believe in 'absolute' truth at all. And certainly, most do not preach God's sovereignty over His entire creation (every cubic centimeter), the totality of Jesus' lordship, and our need to repent of sin and eat of the Lord's Supper on a frequent (I would argue for weekly) basis. Pastors (and elders) have allowed our worship to become flippant, syrupy and altogether unbiblical. And not surprising, unfaithful preaching has led to unfaithful shepherding and unfaithful following, as well. That leads to point number two.

Fathers have abandoned their various responsibilities as faithful heads of their households. As an example in Ephesians 6, Paul gives fathers both a negative and a positive command: 'do not provoke' and 'bring them up'. Many children are provoked to wrath because they do not see their fathers living out what they say. A thankful, humble, and repentant lifestyle is not in evidence. Further, children are taught one thing at home (and the same in church presumably) and the total opposite in government schools (ie. creation vs evolution). That is why so many church-going, young people either temporarily park or totally abandon their faith on the side of the road when they go through college. Some recover it, by God's grace...most do not. I have heard many a testimony of a high school or college student start with the phrase, "I grew up in a Christian home, BUT..."

When the ministers in the church do their job according to the Scriptures, and the ministers in the homes (fathers) do likewise, we will see a remarkable reformation in the church and consequential transformation in the culture that our faithful forefathers fought and died for.

The Problem with English

Unfortunately, the English language has many inadequacies, especially when translating from the original languages of the Bible. For example, one of the most commonly known shortcomings is with the word 'love'. The Greeks had four words for 'love', all of which had a particular meaning that would give a clearer indication of the speaker's or writer's intent. In English, we have to judge from the context, and if that is not possible, we are left in the dark as to the nuances of the intended meaning. Take, for instance, Jesus' words on the shore of Galilee when He restoratively asked Peter, "Do you love me?" In the Greek, Jesus used 'agape' in His first two queries but then changed to 'philos' in His third. This change illumines our understanding of Peter's heart and his reticence to characterize his 'love' as sacrificial and all-encompassing. If we had to rely on English, we would never fully grasp the subtle, yet monumental, difference. And we would not see our own reticence to commit our lives fully to Christ, as reflected in the apostle.

The same type of problem arises in Ephesians 6:4, "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord." The English word 'training' (NKJ), is wholly inadequate to communicate the import and force of Paul's second command in this passage. (I'll get to the first command in a later post) In other English translations, this word is also translated as 'nurture', 'discipline', 'chastening', and 'instruction'. All of these renderings fall far short of the Greek 'paideia'.

Paul's audience would have understood 'paideia' to be far broader in scope than Sunday worship, youth group meetings, family devotions and educational curriculum. It connoted a complete cultural immersion that certainly included those things, as well as what Deuteronomy 6:7-9 describes as diligent discussion when sitting, walking, lying down, rising up, and which is to be posted on your hand, your forehead, the doorway and the fence gate. In other words, no mixed messages...a singular teaching at every hour of the day regardless of posture or location.

"Further, the point of paideia was to bring that culture about. To find a word of comparable importance to them, we would have to hunt around for a word like 'philosophy.' To find a word of comparable importance in our culture, we would have to point to something like 'democracy.' The word paideia was as central to the thinking of the Greeks as the idea of the proletariat is to a Marxist, or cash to a televangelist. It was not a take-it-or-leave-it word like whatever the original Greek word for shoelaces was" (Douglas Wilson, The Paideia of God, p. 11).

Barbed Wire, Inside or Out?

Well, they're at it again. The FoggyPitt, tax-funded school board has redrawn the district lines. Surprise, surprise! Except this time, one prominent Christian ghetto has been 'adversely' affected. Rather than their dear little ones attending the ' safe', suburban elementary school in the shadow of Dowdy-Ficklen, the residents have been assigned to the barbed-wire-enclosed school on the other-side-of-town.

From local newspaper coverage, I understand that a number of families have registered or will register their kids at one or more of the local Christian schools. If this is true, this will certainly be a windfall to those schools. But, from a biblical worldview, it begs the question, "Why now?"

The only real difference in the two schools is the location. One is a whitewashed tomb and the other a slightly grimy one...still tombs, nevertheless. The statist worship, the Godless curriculum, the revisionist history, the Darwinist sciences, and the psycho-babbley socialization are the same in both places. What are Christian children doing there in the first place?!?!

In the government schools, children are welcome to write about the devil, witches and goblins at Halloween, but not about Jesus at Christmas. (Wait...there is no Christmas anymore, only Winter. Hmmm...kinda like Narnia) They are chastised for acting like animals...but convinced that they are descended from apes! They are punished if they lie, cheat or steal...but the Ten Commandments are considered the establishment of religion! Between-class-sex is discouraged in the bathroom...condom-safe-sex is taught in the classroom! Biblical creation is taught on Sunday morning in church...secular evolution is taught Monday through Friday in class.

"And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord." You should have been out of the government schools a long time ago. Which is worse, the barbed-wire inside or the barbed-wire outside?

Tough Week

This past week was a difficult one in FoggyPitt. We all experienced a deep and profound loss. Yet, because the Lord is omnipresent in the midst of the grief-producing storms of life, we may ever hope and have our faith strengthened.

A young man went to be with the Lord last Tuesday evening. He was, all at once, husband, father, son, brother, teacher, coach and friend. He will be missed and others will need to step up to the plate and continue the work that he had so ably and lovingly begun.

As I reflect on what I saw and heard at the funeral on Saturday, I must take issue with one statement expressed by the pastor in his eulogy, "...thirty-two year olds are not supposed to have funerals." While this 'view-from-groundlevel' touches our sentimentalist feelings right where they live, it is not biblical. This statement, when held up to Scripture, is really not helpful or comforting, for it impugns God's character. It implies that somehow this happened outside of God's control, or worse, that God could have done something to stop it but didn't...the age-old heresy that "evil happens because God is either wanting in power or in goodness."

Although this young man has died to us, he yet lives to and with his Lord. That's good news. He is in the bosom of Abraham and will dwell in his Father's house forever. While on earth, he and others were well aware of his foibles as a Son of Adam, but as a Son of Christ, he was a forgiven, faithful son in His Father's vineyard. Yet, it was that very same Father, whom he loved and served, that called him Home. "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment..." (Hebrews 9:27) Though tragic the circumstances and bereft the survivors, this was an appointment that this young man did not want to miss. Each of us has such an appointment, praise God. It is a one-to-one correlation that we, as Christians, should embrace, not avoid. "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21b) Funerals happen when God wants them to happen. Do we want what God wants...or not?

In saying all this, some will accuse me of being either overtly insensitive or overly inconsequential. To the first I would ask the question, "Is it insensitive to speak the truth in love?" Here in FoggyPitt, "love" equals "nice". If one is not nice, then one doesn't love. Neither Jesus nor Paul were always "nice". So...who among you would say that they weren't loving, or in Jesus' case, not Love itself?

To the second I would ask, "Is God's character suspect?" This is not inconsequential! But you might say, "...but it was just a small statement in a larger context, does it really matter?" Yes, God is profoundly interested in the details. Just read the description of the building of His temple. And, since He is building a habitation for each of His children in His Own House, would we want Him to scrimp on the details?

As American Christians we are neck-deep in modernity, statism, sentimentalism, feminism, pluralism and a host of other anthro-centric "isms". By and large, we don't think, act or eulogize biblically. To do so, we must begin by worshipping rightly. Pastors must preach the whole counsel of God, faithfully and forcefully. We, the congregants, must sing the Psalms, recite the creeds and weekly partake of the Lord's Supper in order to hide the Word of God in our hearts, know what we believe, unite our hearts and minds with one another, and be nourished and strengthened. We, the fathers, must faithfully lead our wives and children in sacrificial living and washing them with the water of the Word.