QOD

The Patriot Post
Founders' Quote Daily

"There are certain social principles in human nature, from
which we may draw the most solid conclusions with respect to the
conduct of individuals and of communities. We love our families
more than our neighbors; we love our neighbors more than our
countrymen in general. The human affections, like solar heat,
lose their intensity as they depart from the centre... On these
principles, the attachment of the individual will be first and
for ever secured by the State governments. They will be a mutual
protection and support."

-- Alexander Hamilton (speech at the New York Ratifying Convention,
June 1788)

Reference: The Works of Alexander Hamilton, Henry Cabot Lodge,
ed., II, 70.

Colorado "Christian" Rockies?

Ya'll have really got to check out this article in USA Today. The title is "Team's rebuilding effort focuses on Christianity, character", By Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY.

I'll have to admit, I have not kept up with professional baseball too much in the last few years, but I have never heard this before about the Rockies organization. Sounds like I am not the only one. Here is a teaser from the article.

Music filled with obscenities, wildly popular with youth today and in many other clubhouses, is not played. A player will curse occasionally but usually in hushed tones. Quotes from Scripture are posted in the weight room. Chapel service is packed on Sundays. Prayer and fellowship groups each Tuesday are well-attended. It's not unusual for the front office executives to pray together.

Is this it. Are the postmillenials right and the golden age has started, at Coor's Field? I guess crazier, much crazier, things could happen. Is this a good thing? Bad thing? Little of both? What do you think???

Justin Martyr and How Early Christians Worshipped

Here is a very interesting short article with and exerpt from the Early Church Father (ECF) Justin Martyr's book "First Apology" (155 A.D.). The article is titled "How the Early Christians Worshipped."


You can click here for a brief bio on Justin Martyr.

Govenor Roy Moore???

Here is a link to a very interesting article on former Alabama State Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore. Here are some snippets I thought were interesting.

"When they don't understand that it wasn't about a monument, or the Ten Commandments, or disobedience of a federal court order, but about obedience to the U.S. Constitution and the acknowledgment of God which cannot be prohibited by any authority, then when you get that message out, you can go to the platform, [and] they start to see that."

"Every function of government is related" to the acknowledgment of God, he says. "For example, an understanding of God leads to an understanding of the fallen nature of man, which leads to the separation of powers, checks and balances. . . . Then you understand why judges can't make law, and legislators can't enforce law, and the executives can't put themselves above the law."

His arguments for limited government portray this political philosophy as the only one for those who believe in God. He quotes Jefferson: " 'Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.' Now that had a meaning back in 1700 which is true today. Tyrants are those who put [themselves] above the law of God and become all-powerful. They control everything--your life, your liberty, your pursuit of happiness. In this country, those things are given by God and government is there to secure them."

Can more than one deity, I ask, be held in official esteem in America? Not if religious tolerance is to be maintained, Mr. Moore argues: "The Judeo-Christian God is the one that gives religious liberty. The Muslim God, Allah, does not give religious liberty. If you want to prove that, go to Saudi Arabia and lift up your Bible on a street corner, and you'll find out what the Muslim God--they say--dictates.
"They dictate a form of worship through the government, and that's what their God mandates--they say. Our God does not mandate that at all. . . . Our God says that that freedom is between you and me, not you and government. That's the big difference. . . . And that's exactly why Muslims and Buddhists and others are free to worship [here] the way they want, not dictated by government."

Memorial Day this Monday

This is a good article about how to instill a sense of awareness in our children of what Memorial Day is all about. Interesting fact from the article is that the tradition of Memorial Day started as a way to remember those who fought, from both sides, in the so called "Civil War".

Not Just a Day Off: Remembering Our Fallen on Memorial Day.

Pat Robertson Leg Presses 2000 lbs ???

You are not going to believe this.

Da Vinci Response Part 2

A Christian Response to "The Da Vinci Code": What's the Attraction? (Part 2) by Dr. Albert Mohler

QOD

The Patriot Post
Founders' Quote Daily

"I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this
ground that 'all powers not delegated to the United States, by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to
the states or to the people.' To take a single step beyond the
boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress,
is to take possession of a boundless field of power, not longer
susceptible of any definition."

-- Thomas Jefferson (Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National
Bank, 15 February 1791)

Reference: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Boyd, ed., vol. 19 (276)

Post Da Vinci Release

It's Not Just a Movie, It's a Revelation (About the Audience)

More Code Breakers

With all the hubbub of the Davinci Code film releasing today I thought these two articles by Dr. Mohler would help some of us be able to discuss the issues confidently with those we come into contact with. I would be interested in any thoughts of how you think Christians should respond to movies such as this and the issues that are raised.

About the book:
Deciphering 'The Da Vinci Code' by Dr. Albert Mohler.

About the movie:
A Christian Response to "The DaVinci Code": What’s the Problem? By Dr. Albert Mohler

Da Vinci via The Journal

I would like to point out a couple of articles on the Da Vinci Code over at OpinionJournal, the online editorial arm of The Wall Street Journal. I think these articles show it really doesn't take much to disarm the "facts" behind this fictional work.

Holy Sepulcre! "The Da Vinci Code" shows that conspiracy theories have no limits. BY DANIEL HENNINGER

Debunking the Debunkers. C.S. Lewis's message to "Da Vinci Code" fans. BY JOSEPH LOCONTE

Da Vinci Code vs. The Passion

Check out Cheering the Code after punching The Passion.

QOD

The Patriot Post
Founders' Quote Daily

"The foundation of national morality must be laid in private
families. . . . How is it possible that Children can have any
just Sense of the sacred Obligations of Morality or Religion if,
from their earliest Infancy, they learn their Mothers live in
habitual Infidelity to their fathers, and their fathers in as
constant Infidelity to their Mothers?"

-- John Adams (Diary, 2 June 1778)

Reference: The Works of John Adams, C.F. Adams, ed., vol. 3 (171)

143rd Anniversary of the death of Stonewall Jackson

Click here for a short blog on this anniversary.

Man in Black

My wife and I recently watched "Walk the Line", the film version of the Life, part of the life at least, of the late singer/songwriter and black wearing Johnny Cash. I remember growing up listening to country music from my parents radios, and vaguely recall the voice of Johnny Cash coming in over the speakers. I have always liked his music, but after seeing this movie and reading a bit more about "the man in black", I have developed quite an affinity for his music, and for the man. To me, it is just real. Cash, and his wife June Carter, lived lives of searching. There seemed to be something always in the way of happiness. Was was that something? Here is a commentary from Russell Moore after he saw the movie.

Walking the Line by Russell Moore

Walking the Line
Tuesday, November 15, 2005

I participated last night in a pre-release screening of Walk the Line, the film based on the autobiographies of singer/songwriter Johnny Cash. I anticipated hating the film, but found myself sitting through the credits with a silent "Amen," not only because the movie was so true to the Cash story, but because it was so true to the parable of the Prodigal Son and the Book of Proverbs.

My prejudice was based partly on my love for Cash and his music, so certain I was that the film would get it wrong. Joaquin Phoenix singing "Cry, Cry, Cry" in his own voice? Legally Blonde's Reese Witherspoon as June Carter Cash? I also though understood from other reviewers the film was yet another offering of the arc of humble beginnings, rise to fame, fall to the perils of fame, and renewal that we have seen in Ray and other films. At the same time, many Christian reviewers have noted that the faith aspect of Cash's life is muted, if not obliterated, in the film.

I was wrong.

First of all, Reese Witherspoon was completely convincing as June Carter. My dread of seeing June as a mall girl with a fake southern accent proved to be unfounded. Witherspoon portrayed June with a mystique and transparency that should earn her an Academy Award. Phoenix meanwhile seemed to start off the movie with an almost parodic rendering of Cash (think of all the bad Elvis Presley life story movies we've seen), but, as the film went on, seemed to morph into Cash.

Yes, the film is similar to Ray, complete with a loving mother and a dead brother, whose blood-guilt lay on the protagonist for the rest of his life. Yes, like Ray Charles and countless others, Cash falls to the allure of sex and addiction as his celebrity grows. And yet, this is precisely because Cash and Charles and other artists actually did live this kind of life. What makes Cash's story unique is the way his art was fired, not just by a sense of sadness, but by conviction of sin.

It is true that the film does not feature Cash's conversion to Christ. But it does feature Johnny and June walking into the First Baptist Church, a hint of something very biblical that evangelical conversion stories often miss: the prodigal doesn't just come to his senses and leave the pigpen; he returns to his family. It also demonstrates the allure and devastation of sin.

The Carter/Cash interaction is not a gushingly romantic love story. Their adulterous passion is portrayed as having devastating consequences of two families, and on their own souls. So often in our churches we pretend as though the temptation to adultery is found in the wiles of an evil, cunning harlot. And yet, Scripture tells us that the path to infidelity is much more deceptive than that (Prov 7). In the Carter/Cash love story we see less the rapacious womanizing of Ray Charles than we see the tortured affair of David and Bathsheba, an affair that ends in marriage. Like David, the singers are led to sing of the pain and guilt of the "Ring of Fire" (Psalm 51).

The film does not feature explicitly Cash's conversion, and that's a shame. One cannot understand the love into old age of Cash and Carter without understanding how they were able to transcend the "burning flame" of illicit guilt. And yet, the film does show something of redemption and mission. When Cash dons black and begins playing concerts for prisoners, he is told that his constituency on Christians and they don't want him playing music for murderers and rapists. "Then they're not Christians," the Cash character responds. The theater audience around me erupted into applause.

My sons know Johnny Cash quite well because they hear his music around them all the time. My infant son's lullaby each night is a Carter Family song. When they are older, we'll watch Walk the Line. But we'll follow it up with a reminder from Scripture that sums up Johnny and June more than celebrity can ever explain: They loved much for they were forgiven much. There was a Man in Black, not because of a marketing gimmick, but because he understood with lifelong pain what it means to descend into a "Ring of Fire" and to find a Deliverer on the other side.

I wish the movie would have delved deeper into the spiritual conversion that Johnny underwent. I wish it would have been more clear that the affects of adultery and addiction are lost lives and shattered dreams. But it did show that God's grace is always around the bend. That lives can be restored. And only God can rescue selfish sinners from the flames of fire.

Riddleblog

I have added a new blog to my bloglist on the right. Tis The Riddleblog: Devoted to Reformed Theology and Eschatology.

Lots of cool stuff, mostly from an Ammillenial position, which is of course, the Reformed Eschatological position. :)

Chrisitianity & Culture

Over at Reformed Baptist Thinker, aka John Devito, he has information on a 2 part lecture given by Gene Edward Veith on Christianity and Culture. This is a topic I am interested in and this lecture series looks pretty good. I look forward to listening to them in the near future.

John Adams: A Life

I just finished reading a great book and wanted to pass along some very brief thoughts on it. The book is John Adams: A Life by John Ferling. I was turned on to John Ferling after listening to another of his books on tape, Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800. As a newly admitted history buff, especially 17th-19th century America, I am trying to read a biography of each of the founding fathers. John Adams: A Life is a very detailed look (454 pages) at the entire life of the United States first Vice President (1792-1800) and our second President (1800-1804). This book delves into Adam's early life, his incredible drive to become a man of importance, his family life, especially his relationship with his wife Abigail, his rise to political prominence from a cautious advocate of independence from Great Britain to possibly the most outspoken advocate of independence when the fledgling movement needed leadership the most, especially among the New England States.

The book goes into much detail also on the attitudes of the citizens during the revolutionary era, and does a good job of over viewing the differences between the two main political parties which arose during the revolutionary war and after, namely, the Federalists and the Republicans. Adams was a federalist, though not a high federalist and Jefferson a republican, though Adams became more of a republican near the end of his lifetime. Between this book and Adams vs. Jefferson, you can get a pretty good picture of this man, and also of Jefferson.

There are so many quotes from the book that would be interesting, but for lack of time I am going to focus on one quote. I was interested in John Adam's religious views, as I am all the founding fathers. This topic was broached on a very surface level throughout most of the book, noting Adams would occasionlly discuss theological subjects and owned theological books in his large library. It also mentions him as a dedicated attender of the Congregational Church. Adam's led a long life and near the end many of his friends and family have died. This, naturally, has Adams contemplating death more often. Near the end of the book Ferling offers this analysis of Adam's religious beliefs:

"From this point on, Adams dwelt more than ever on the mysteries of life and death. During his early adult years, Adams had turned away from the strict Calvinism of his youth. He thereafter referred to himself as a "church-going animal" and as "a fellow disciple" to all Christians. In his final years, however, he moved toward a Unitarian position. He continued to believe in the existence of a Supreme Creator and in an afterlife, but he rejected the notion of Jesus' divinity and denounced institutional Christianity as a purveyor of fraud and superstition. The Christian church, he declared, was the cause of much pain and suffering on earth. Nevertheless, he continued to believe that Christ's teachings and his "universal Toleration" offered the best guide to human conduct. "My religion", he remarked in 1815, "is found on the love of God and my neighbor; on the hope of pardon for my offenses...I believe, too, in a future state of rewards and punishments, but not eternal." The one notion to which Adams remained committed was his belief that religion was necessary for the general populace; without some such belief system to constrain the masses, he said, "their World would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite Company, I mean Hell." P. 433-435, John Adams: A Life by John Ferling.

Very interesting quote, and Adam's beliefs here seem to be more Jeffersonian than Christian. Although, I look forward to seeing if further reading on these men confirm or confuse the sentiments expressed here. Adams never lost his belief that mankind was not inherently good, but suffered a base nature, of which government must be contoured and shaped around. According to this book, this is the view that formed Adam's thoughts on government.

I highly recommend this book if you enjoy history. It is long, but when I was done I felt I had accomplished a great deal! It was well worth it and I look forward to continuing to delve into the hearts and minds of the men who founded our country.

Interview with John Piper

There is a pretty good article over at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association web site which is an interview with John Piper. Here are a couple of quotes.

A: The fight to delight in God is a fight to see God in and through the Word, by the Spirit. Since revealing is a spiritual thing, and because the Lord is not visible, He reveals Himself to the eyes of our heart by the Word of God. This is the beauty of the Word, combined with the Spirit, so that when we read the Word a seeing happens. I'm not thinking of imagining pictures in the brain, I'm thinking of glory in and through the work of God depicted in the Bible. The glory streams forth out of God's character into our heart and we perceive it, we taste it spiritually; we apprehend it with the eyes of our heart. That's the way we fight for joy. In my own fight, I use the acronym IOUS, and I plead with the Lord:

Incline my heart to Your testimonies (Psalm 119:36), because there are days when I don't even want to pick up the Bible. If that feeling survives, I'm dead. So I plead, "Lord, don't let me not want to pick up the Bible. Incline my heart to Your Word."

Open the eyes of my heart to see wondrous things in the Word (Psalm 119:18), not just black marks on a page. Make Your truth glorious and beautiful and attractive and satisfying and delighting.

Unite my heart to fear Your Name (Psalm 86:11). My heart is fragmented and going every which way—I'm worried about the kids, I'm worried about the church, I'm worried about the car I need to fix. So I ask God to get my heart together to have a reverential demeanor toward Him.

Satisfy me with Your lovingkindness (Psalm 90:14). Make my heart so content in You that pornography is not attractive, money is not attractive, fame is not attractive. I want an attraction to You to dominate my life.

I've actually added one more "S" and that's Spread. Evangelism. The mission statement of our church is, "We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ."

Does anyone else connect with that? I do. Also this.

God is angry at sinners. It's not wrong to talk about sinners in the hands of an angry God. We just need to complete the picture by adding that He wants to get us out of His anger into His mercy. He couldn't do that as a just and Holy God by sweeping sins under the rug. They had to be carried by a substitute, and only the Son of God could bear them. So He sends Christ His Son to live a perfect life. His death is the consummation of two things. It's the consummation of His righteousness, so that I could have a righteousness imputed to me that's not my own. And it's the consummation of the sufferings that I should have borne because of my sin. I should have suffered in hell, but He suffered on the cross for me because He was the divine Son of God who came and took all my suffering. He provided all my righteousness so that Paul can say, "[God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV).

That, I believe, is the gospel ladies and gentlemen. As Justin Taylor said, the whole article is a good summary of John Piper's theology. Check it out.

(THFP: Justin Taylor)

Reporting on ARBCA

Two of my pastors are at the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches in America general assembly meeting this week at Heritage Baptist Church in Fayetteville, GA. For the schedule click here.

I am delighted that they have been able to attend this conference, and excited about the fact that Pastor Robert will be blogging from the conference. You can go ahead and click on it now and read about the first session. Keep checking in for further updates!

Russ