Relationship vs. Purpose: How the Church Destroys the Christian Family

by Bojidar Marinov, ChristendomRestored.com

Years ago, an American Reformed missionary in Europe complained to me that in the church he had planted, there was only one family.

“Well,” I said, “why don’t you encourage the single ones to marry.”

“It wouldn’t work,” he replied grimly, “they are mostly women. They don’t need my encouragement. But there are no men available. Men sometimes would come to the meetings but they don’t stay for long. And the few men we have are not interested in marriage.”

I can think of only one solution to a problem in the church: the pastor should preach the Biblical solution to it. “May be you should start preaching and teaching on the family. Thus you will encourage the men to marry, and have families and children, and become responsible adults.”

“I do,” he said. “I preach and teach on the family all the time. I teach on the relationships between husbands and wives, between parents and children, I preach on what a wonderful gift the family is, I preach on how God blesses families.”

“Hmmm,” I said, “the relationships stuff will attract and encourage mostly women. But what about what attracts the men? Do you preach and teach purpose, what the family is created for? Do you teach the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth, have many children and through them take over the culture? Do you teach and preach on the educational function and purpose of the family; teaching the children in the Lord? Do you teach them the purpose of the family as God’s institution for economic decisions and action? Do you teach them on the fathers as protectors and conquerors? Do you teach them on the function of the family as a welfare agency, the only institution ordained by God to take care of the poor and the needy?”

READ MORE...

The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail Against the Church of Jesus Christ

For those of my brethren who have been feeling alone and even a little hopeless in the spiritual battle, I want to put forth this sermon, which I found so encouraging and inspiring, taken from Matthew 16:18.

Doug Phillips, of Vision Forum, in his sermon from SermonAudio called "The Gates of Hell."

Listen HERE

Excerpt from R.L. Dabney's "The Duty of the Hour"

I am not from the South, but Robert Lewis Dabney's stirring words in this excerpt from his speech "The Duty of the Hour" are applicable and helpful for any Christian individual or Christian people enduring, yet striving to overcome (conquer), tyranny and institutional evil.

"Divine Providence often makes the furnace of persecution the place of cleansing for individual saints. Why may it not be so for a Christian people? Why may not a race of men come forth from their trials, like the gold seven times refined in the fire, with their pride chastened, and yet their virtues purified? This can be from the only cause which sanctifies the sufferings of the Christian, the inworkings of the grace of God. Nothing is more true than that the natural effect of mere pain is not to purify, but to harden the sinful heart of man, exasperating at once its evils and its miseries. The cleansing Word and Spirit of God alone interpret its sufferings to it and convert them into healthful medicines of its faults. So it is the power of true Christianity, and that alone, which can minister to us as a people the wholesome uses of adversity. The salvation of the life of the Southern society must be found by taking the Word of God as our constant guide. But it may be asked: To what course of action should this spirit of unyielding integrity prompt us? The answer from those infallible oracles is easy. While you refrain from the suggestion of revenge and despair, and give place as of necessity to inexorable force, resolve to abate nothing, to concede nothing of righteous conviction. Truckle to no falsehood and conceal no true principle; but ever assert the right with such means of endurance, self-sacrifice and passive fortitude as the dispensation of Providence has left you. If wholesale wrongs must be perpetrated, if wholesale rights must be trampled on, let our assailants do the whole work and incur the whole guilt. Resolve that no losses, nor threats, nor penalties, shall ever make you yield one jot or tittle of the true or just in principle, or submit to personal dishonor."
 

The Doctrine of Imputed Righteousness Without Works Proved and Asserted by John Gill

The Works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein

.—PSALM 111:2

Even as David also describeth the Blessedness of the Man unto whom God imputeth Righteousness without Works

.—ROMANS 4:6

---

This Epistle is written on purpose to state, explain, and vindicate, the doctrine of a sinner's justification before God, by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. In order to which, the Apostle takes up his two first chapters, and part of the third, in proving, that both Jews and Gentiles are under sin, that they have by sinning broke the law of God, and so are become liable to its curses and condemnation, and therefore cannot be justified in the sight of God, by their obedience to it; and then strongly and justly concludes, that a man is justified by faith, in the imputed righteousness of Christ, without the deeds of the law. This doctrine he confirms in the beginning of this chapter, by instances of two of the greatest men, for religion and godliness, that ever were in the Jewish nation. The one is Abraham, who was the friend of God, and the father of the faithful, and yet he was not justified before God by his works; for what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness, in verse 3. The other is David, a man after God's own heart, raised up by the Lord to fulfill all his will. Who yet was so far from trusting to, or depending upon his own righteousness, for justification, that he wholly places the happiness of men, and so unquestionably his own, in a righteousness imputed to him by God, without works, as in the words I have read unto you. In speaking to which, I shall,

I. Inquire what that righteousness is, which God imputes to his people for justification.

II. What is meant by an imputation of it.

III. The manner in which it is imputed to them without works.

IV. The blessedness of those persons, who have it thus imputed to them.

 

READ MORE...

 

The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men by John Witherspoon

For those of my brethren who are longing to hear a pastor give a political sermon from his pulpit, but find none to be heard--only treatises on the heart's piety (though nothing at all of the issues of life which spring from it)--I present this link to a political sermon given by John Witherspoon in 19976, entitled, The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men. John Witherspoon's Biblical text is:

Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. Psalm 76:10

There is not a greater evidence either of the reality or the power of religion, than a firm belief of God's universal presence, and a constant attention to the influence and operation of his providence. It is by this means that the Christian may be said, in the emphatical scripture language, "to walk with God, and to endure as seeing him who is invisible."

The doctrine of divine providence is very full and complete in the sacred oracles. It extends not only to things which we may think of great moment, and therefore worthy of notice, but to things the most indifferent and inconsiderable; "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing," says our Lord, "and one of them falleth not to the ground without your heavenly Father"; nay, "the very hairs of your head are all numbered.["] It extends not only to things beneficial and salutary, or to the direction and assistance of those who are the servants of the living God; but to things seemingly most hurtful and destructive, and to persons the most refractory and disobedient. He overrules all his creatures, and all their actions. Thus we are told, that "fire, hail, snow, vapour, and stormy wind, fulfil his word," in the course of nature; and even so the most impetuous and disorderly passions of men, that are under no restraint from themselves, are yet perfectly subject to the dominion of Jehovah. They carry his commission, they obey his orders, they are limited and restrained by his authority, and they conspire with every thing else in promoting his glory. There is the greater need to take notice of this, that men are not generally sufficiently aware of the distinction between the law of God and his purpose; they are apt to suppose, that as the temper of the sinner is contrary to the one, so the outrages of the sinner are able to defeat the other; than which nothing can be more false. The truth is plainly asserted, and nobly expressed by the psalmist in the text, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee; the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." READ MORE

Road to Rome: Was the Reformation Justified? by Greg Bahnsen on YouTube

Dr. Greg Bahnsen warns against evangelical compromise with Roman Catholicism. He preached this message (uploaded in 6 parts) in Jackson, Mississippi, just across the Mississippi river from Monroe, Louisiana, where the Auburn Avenue / Federal Vision march back to Rome publicly took place less than seven years after Dr. Bahnsen's death. Perhaps Dr. Bahnsen knew where some of his friends were heading and sought to warn them in this message.

As you can hear on these audios, Dr. Bahnsen passionately defended the true Biblical gospel and found the Roman perversion of that precious gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ abhorrent. I am firmly convinced that Dr. Bahnsen would have repudiated this Federal Vision heresy (departure from Biblical orthodoxy) had he been alive to witness it.

I am glad he did not witness it, as many friends and even his own son have followed this path to apostasy. May these men repent and return to the pure Biblical gospel of life.


Road to Rome: Was the Reformation Justified? Part 1
http://youtu.be/avgAgyweSOM

Road to Rome: Was the Reformation Justified? Part 2
http://youtu.be/1d2zqr794HY

Road to Rome: Was the Reformation Justified? Part 3
http://youtu.be/zyQSRMz7u6k

Road to Rome: Was the Reformation Justified? Part 4
http://youtu.be/fwo19N2Xsns

Road to Rome: Was the Reformation Justified? Part 5
http://youtu.be/KlhhXw9kNO4

Road to Rome: Was the Reformation Justified? Part 6
http://youtu.be/g8jVZrW788o

"A Warning to Professing Christians" by Albert N. Martin

Not all who profess the name of the Lord Jesus Christ have been regenerated and saved.

This nation (the USA) is professedly 76% to 80% Christian (Source). This is patently false, or else we would have a Christian society, in that 76% to 80% of the people in the United States would be repenting of our sin and serving Christ and doing His will according to His law, not ashamed of His words (Mark 8:38).

MANY alive today in the United States who profess to be Christian will hear the Lord Jesus Christ say to them, "Depart from Me. I never knew you." (Matt. 7:23)

A faith so-called that is anti-nomian and does not produce godly works (as defined by God in His Bible) is not a saving, living faith, but rather a dead devil's faith (James Chapter 2).

A moving--and convicting--sermon via SermonAudio from Albert N. Martin:

An evangelistic warning to all professing Christians from Matthew 7:21.

A profession of attachment to Jesus Christ is a necessary part of true and saving religion but the mere profession of attachment to Christ is no proof of true and saving religion.

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."
 

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=101803153426

For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. (Isa. 50:7)

"Teaching the Whole Counsel of God" by Bojidar Marinov at American Vision

Wonderful, godly article to start off the new year!!

"Throughout the centuries, the church has always faced the problem of the quality of its members – and when I say quality, I mean the sanctification, the spiritual maturity, and the practical wisdom of its members. The constant battle against sin (sanctification) and for the expanding the Kingdom of God (wisdom) has always placed high demands and expectations; and quite often the church has found itself inadequate to the task. Its members sometimes refused to deal with sin, their own and that of the people around them. At other times the church remained passive and escapist, ignoring the clear command of the Great Commission. And at times the church was both plagued by sin and completely oblivious to its task in the world. In the last one century, the same problem persists, and is becoming even more acute and visible."

READ MORE...

Conquest through Service

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. (Ps. 33:12; Gal. 3:8)

"An empire is necessarily threatened by the gospel. The gospel challenges the theology of man as divine, a theology that always undergirds every empire. But to stamp out their Christian enemies, the bureaucrats must take great risks. The bureaucrats who run the ecnomony always want to meet their production quotas and earn their bonuses. If they persecute Christians, they threaten their organizations' output. Time and again, the most productive citizens of any empire are the hated Christians. They are the ones who are not addicted to alcohol, or absenteeism, or other forms of passive resistance. The biblical idea of service serves Christianity well. The failing productivity of the empire makes the bureaucratic functionaries increasingly dependent on Christians in order to meet the assigned production quotas. Like Jacob in Laban's household, like Joseph in Potiphar's household and in the Egyptian prison, competent service to others creates dependency on the servant. Dominion is by service. 'But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant' (Matt. 23:11).

Satan believes that dominion is by power. He seeks to control others. Their resistance slows his ability to bring others under his power. There is built-in resistance to expansion in every empire. Territory and people once captured cannot be held captive indefinitely. They find ways of thwarting the bureaucratic system.

Empires do not survive for long. Their masters must work very fast and take high risks in order to extend the power of their empires. In contrast, Christians have plenty of time. Slow growth multiplies over many generations. This is God's promise: 'For I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands [of generations], of them that love me, and keep my commandments' (Ex. 20:5-6). 'Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; and repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack to him who hateth him, he will repay him to his face.' (Deut. 7:9-10).

Pagan empires are invariably cut off in the midst of history. They try to achieve world dominion, but there are always new empires rising up to challenge them (Dan. 8). God will not permit any nation to achieve total world dominion in history. The one-State world is a denial of God's universal sovereignty over man, and also a denial of Christ's progressive kingdom in history. The pagan empire cannot tolerate rivals. It cannot be content with federation. It cannot share the glory of power. It therefore cannot succeed in history.

The kingdom of Christ imposes the requirement of modesty on the nations that compose it. No Christian nation can hope to impose its will by force on the whole world. Such pride is recognized as being evil, as well as self-destructive. Dominion is by service. Thus, the decentralized earthly kingdom of Christ can grow over time to fill the earth [Dan. 2:34-35], but without becoming an empire. No one nation can hope to achieve dominance, though one or two may achieve primary influence temporarily, through adherence to the principle of service. Long-term cooperation among nations is possible only if all of them realize the inherent, God-imposed limitations on the power wielded by any one nation. The Christian nation faces the same warning that Christian individuals face: 'Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall' (Prov. 16:18).

The residents of each nation must regard their own nation as mortal, just as men regard themselves. The more closely a nation conforms to biblical ethical standards, the longer it will survive as a separate entity. This the biblical principle of inheritance. The heirs of any national group will retain their separate character only so long as God continues to grant the nation His grace. Rebellion against Him brings destruction and national obliteration. As always, dominion is by covenant.

'LORD, You will establish peace for us, for You have also done all our works in us. O LORD our God, masters besides You have had dominion over us; but by You only we make mention of Your name. They are dead, they will not live; they are deceased, they will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. You have increased the nation, O LORD, You have increased the nation; You are glorified; You have expanded all the borders of the land.' (Isa. 26:12-15, New King James Version)

Christians have good reasons to be confident about the earthly future of Christ's kingdom. Pagans do not have much of anything to be confident about. Time is against them. So is God."

--Gary North, from Millennialism and Social Theory (Institute for Christian Economics, 1990, pp.333-335)

broken pottery from an archaeological dig

Hear Ye the Rod, and Who Hath Appointed It - Japan Relief Fund

"It is a part and duty of spiritual wisdom, as also an evidence of a due reverence of God, to take notice of extraordinary occurrences in the dispensations of His providence; for they are instructive warnings, and of great importance in His government of the world. In them "the voice of the LORD crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see His name: hear ye the rod, and Who hath appointed it (Micah 6:9)." And there is a mark left on them, as profligate persons, who will not see when His hand is so lifted up."

--John Owen, from Works Vol. VIII (Banner of Truth, 1967, p. 597)

***

...As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die...Ezek. 33:11

***

Letter from Japan Presbytery RPCNA, Relief Committee, March 18, 2011 - "Again please pray for grace from God to Japan. Please pray for our sincere humiliation, hope in Christ and evangelism."


RPCNA Global Missions Board (GMB) Japan Relief Fund

A Little Bloggy Break...

I'll be traveling and visiting and conferencing with family and fellow believers for the next couple of weeks...

"Happy sailing" until we meet again in the blogosphere!

Christian Women, Fashion, and Flesh

[Note: This is a revised version of a post I wrote on a “Christian” dating web site many moons ago, in response to man’s thread regarding all the cleavage and other immodesty in women’s pictures on the site.]


Many Christians have a false and wrong division in their minds: God speaks to spiritual and eternal things, but God does not speak to earthly and temporal things. The truth is that God speaks to all aspects of life. (2 Tim. 3:16)

Therefore, many Christians do not even think to look to the Bible as a source of a standard on how to dress. So, the default standard for Christians is exactly the same as non-Christians: Hollywood, their friends, magazines, TV commercials. The Bible is the Best standard, and for Christians should be the only standard because God speaks to every area of His creation. We should be set apart (Lev. 11:44; Eph. 1:4); Christians supposedly know something the world does not know. Let's show the truth of that, so there is no "supposing" about it!

I also find it troubling that Christian ladies are often blasé about being a stumbling block for their brothers, which is sin on the woman's part (Lev. 19:14; Rom. 14:13; 1 Cor. 8:9; 1 Jn 2:9-10).

To dress "sexy" in public (church or anywhere) is to dress like a harlot (Prov. 7:10) because you are seen sexually by every man who even accidentally lays his eyes on you (Ezek. 16:14-16). We are sexy for our husbands in private (Gen. 2:25) because sex belongs in marriage only (Prov.5:15-20), according to God (Ex. 20:14, 17; Mal. 2:13-17). We are not married to every man we pass by on the street; we are not married to every man in church. We shouldn't cause a Christian brother to lust (2 Sam. 11:2-4); we need to do what we can to protect his heart, his purity (1 Tim. 5:2), and his "eye-gate." (Job 31:1) First of all, modesty is a heart-issue (1 Pet. 3:1-4).

Many Christian ladies have bought into the world's view that her sexuality is for public consumption and there is no other way to "make" a man want to marry her; nothing could be further from the truth (Prov. 31:10). God says marriage first, then sex with our own spouse after marriage (Matt. 1:18-20). When a woman's heart is modest, her outsides are modest as well (Prov. 4:23).

Christian men could help the situation by pursuing modest women to marriage, instead of pursuing immodest women to…what, exactly? Or do I not want to know?

A good book (really more of a long booklet) addressing Biblical modesty and the history of our current culture in America is Christian Modesty and the Public Undressing of America by Jeff Pollard.

A Highly Objectionable Word

"It is a word that is now regarded as highly objectionable, a word that Paul, if he had been what modern men would have desired him to be, never would have used. It is the small but weighty word 'not.' That word 'not,' we are today constantly being told ought to be put out of the Christian's vocabulary. Our preaching, we are told, ought to be positive and not negative; we ought to present truth, but ought not to attack error; we ought to avoid controversy and always seek peace...With regard to such a program, it may be said at least that if w e hold to it we might just as well close up our New Testaments; for the New Testament is a controversial book almost from beginning to end...The church of our day needs above all else men who can say 'No;' for it is only men who can say 'No,' men who are brave enough to take a stand against sin and error in the church--it is only such men who can really say 'Yea and amen' to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ."

--J. Gresham Machen, from Notes on Galatians (SGCP, 2006, pp. 6-7)

 

Have We Bartered the Gospel for a Substitute Product?

"There is no doubt that Evangelicalism today is in a state of perplexity and unsettlement. In such matters as the practice of evangelism, the teaching of holiness, the building up of local church life, the pastor's dealing with souls and the exercise of discipline, there is evidence of widespread dissatisfaction with things as they are and of equally widespread uncertainty as to the road ahead. This is a complex phenomenon, to which many factors have contributed; but, if we go to the root of the matter, we shall find that these perplexities are all ultimately due to our having lost our grip on the biblical gospel. Without realizing it, we have during the past century bartered that gospel for a substitute product which, though it looks similar enough in points of detail, is as a whole a decidedly different thing. Hence our troubles; for the substitute product does not answer the ends for which the authentic gospel has in past days proved itself so mighty.

The new gospel conspicuously fails to produce deep reverence, deep humility, a spirit of worship, a concern for the church, Why? We would suggest that the reason lies in its own character and content. It fails to make men God-centered in their thoughts and God-fearing in their hearts because this is not primarily what it is trying to do. One way of stating the difference between it and the old gospel is to say that it is too exclusively concerned to be "helpful" to man--to bring peace, comfort, happiness, satisfaction--and too little concerned to glorify God.

The old gospel was "helpful" too--more so, indeed, than is the new--but (so to speak) incidentally, for its first concern was always to give glory to God. It was always and essentially a proclamation of Divine sovereignty in mercy and judgment, a summons to bow down and worship the mighty Lord on whom man depends for all good. Its center of reference was unambiguouly God. But in the new gospel the center of reference is man. This is just to say that the old gospel was religious in a way that the new gospel is not. Whereas the chief aim of the old was to teach men to worship God, the concern of the new seems limited to making them feel better. The subject of the old gospel was God and His ways with men; the subject of the new is man and the help God gives him. There is a world of difference."

--J.I Packer, from The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (Banner of Truth, 1967, pp. 1-2)

Infertility, Androgyny, and the Righteous Judgment of God

Since the 1960's, and especially within the last 15 years, there has been an exponential increase in birth control hormones in our water supply. This is because there has been an unprecendented increase in fornication, in which children are not wanted, and, increasingly, even married couples do not want children. So women have been taking "The Pill," for longer and longer periods during their fertile years. (And then at menopause many women take estrogen-replacements.) These hormones are excreted in the urine and enter the wastewater systems of municipalities.

The wastewater is then treated for bacteria and other pathogens, but not for birth control hormones. Our municipal wastewater is also not treated for the many other chemicals and drugs people are taking in the aging, hedonistic, and drug-obsessed culture of the West (cocaine, nicotine, heroin, anti-depressants, pain-killers, caffeine, antibiotics, chemotherapy drugs, sunscreens, detergents, etc.).

Women who take birth control hormones have increased risk of breast cancer, abortion (or miscarriage), and infertility. Men who take birth control hormones become effeminate and have an increased risk of infertility (low sperm count). The humanists are oh, so, concerned about the androgyny increasingly found in male fish because of this problem---but, honey, it ain't just the fish (and frogs and river otters).

Human males are taking on feminine characteristics, too. It is a spiritual, moral problem, but it has a physical manifestation.

Oh, the poetic justice of God's judgment. Sometimes, God really doesn't have to do anything to us; just leave us alone. We'll dig our own pit.

(Although it shouldn't amaze me, it always amazes me that, to the environmentalist humanists, it's just fine for men to be inadvertently feminized and sterilized, but if fish are inadvertently feminized and sterilized, now we have a real problem. How topsy-turvy.)

The problem is NOT a lack of "consciousness" and education about the environment. The problem is a MORAL problem. For "There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man."

We do not love children as God says we should, we do not love our husbands as God says we should, we are not meek as God says we should be. We aren't helping our husbands take a stewardship dominion over the earth (including fish) as God says we should be doing. Rather, we want to play God with the womb, with our health, and with future generations.

At the root, this wish to play God is a really a wish to replace God and put ourselves on the throne, in sinful rebellion. "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."

But God is sovereign; there is no way anyone, not one person, is going to get away with that. Either one will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and have his heart changed; or he will continue in sin and rebellion and be consigned to hell for eternity. I urge you to believe in, repent of your sin and put your trust in, the Lord Jesus Christ, for "whosoever believeth in Him [shall] not perish, but have eternal life."


If this is the first time you've heard of this problem, you may be interested in reading one or more of the following articles (and you can find many more online; this is a small sampling):

"Birth control pills spark an environmental debate" (Columbia Univ, Feb. 2008)

"Thousands of chemical traces found in drinking water" (New York Times, Apr. 2007)

"Pharamceuticals in our water supplies" (Univ. of Arizona, Jul. 2000)

"Is birth control aborting our health?" (The Daily Green, Jun. 2009)

"Health impacts of estrogens on the environment, considering complex mixture effects" (Environmental Health News, 2007, a more scholarly synopsis of a study done on minnows)

"Birth control hormones threaten fish fecundity" (ScienceAGoGo, Apr. 2010) - Here's an interesting quote:

"Writing in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, researchers from Sweden say that traces of many medicines can be found in fish that have been swimming in treated waste water. One such medicine, the hormone levonorgestrel, was found in higher concentrations in fish than in women who take the contraceptive pill. Elevated levels of levonorgestrel can lead to infertility in fish. Levonorgestrel is a synthetic hormone that is used in many contraceptive pills, hormone implants and morning-after pills. It is thought that around 80-90 million women use contraceptive pills worldwide."

"Birth-control pills poison everyone?" (World Net Daily, Jul. 2007)



What can we do? I highly recommend at least filtering the tap water that you use for cooking and drinking.

To quote from "Is birth control aborting our health? " above:

"With such contaminants proving elusive to municipal filtration systems, the burden of protection often lies with the end user. But getting traces of birth control and other drugs out of your tap water isn’t so easy. Of the many different kinds of in-home water filtration systems available today, only those employing reverse osmosis have been shown to filter out some drugs. Some makers of activated carbon water filters claim their products catch pharmaceuticals, but independent research has not verified such claims.


“The best choice,” says Cathy Sherman of the natural health website Natural News, “would probably be a combination of a reverse osmosis filter augmented by pre- and post-activated carbon filters.” Installing such a system just for drinking water is sufficient, she says, given that water used for cleaning and plumbing doesn’t typically get ingested. As to prevention, the non-profit public health and safety agency, NSF International, urges individuals to not use their toilets or sinks to dispose of unused medications and to opt for the garbage instead; most modern landfills are lined to keep such contaminants inside."

And only drink rBST-free milk. Don't get me started.

The Pill

The Holy Bible

Joyful Confidence in Jesus Christ

"It is impossible to read the New Testament without being impressed by the atmosphere of joyful confidence which pervades it, and which stands out in relief against the rather jejune [insubstantial, lacking maturity, dull] religion that often passes for Christianity today. There was no defeatism about the early Christians; they spoke rather of victory. For example, 'thanks be to God! He gives us the victory...'. Again, 'in all these things  (sc. adversities and dangers ) we are more than conquerors...'. Once more, 'God...always leads us in triumphal procession...'.And each of Christ's letters to the seven churches of Asia ends with a special promise 'to him who overcomes'. Victory, conquest, triumph, overcoming--this was the vocabulary of those first followers of the risen Lord. For if they spoke of victory, they knew they owed it to the victorious Jesus."

--John Stott, The Cross of Christ, published by IVP (InterVarsityPress, 1986), p. 227

In Praise of Dr. Gary North

I thank God for Dr. Gary North, and I wish to give Dr. North some well-deserved praise in this post. He is so often the object of criticism, so often undeserved, that I wanted to take this opportunity of having a blog to publicly praise this brother. I was honored to hear him speak in person at an American Vision conference a few years ago, and I wish I had not let the chance go by to speak to him personally.

• He is a true Christian brother who is a sinner saved by grace and does not allow the fact that he's a sinner paralyze him or prevent him from making effort to take dominion for his Head, Jesus Christ.
• He loves the gospel of Christ and understands how this frees us (Christians) to love the law of God.
• He has devoted his life to the cause of Christ and advancing the kingdom of Christ.
• He is brilliant, well-read, and savvy.
• He asks insightful questions, even the tough ones, and causes people to think.
• He is a diligent hard-worker and productive of valuable books, articles, newsletters, and speeches.
• He is a husband and father.
• He has taken criticism and shown moral courage in carrying on in his work for the sake of Christ.
• He has brought the writings of Christian Reconstructionists into mass circulation when it is likely they otherwise would not have been published.
• He has been apt to teach and mentor younger men and allowed them to stand on his shoulders to carry on with kingdom-building work when he is gone (point 5 of Ray Sutton's 5-point covenant model ;-) )
• He has a great sense of humor and "tweaks the noses" of those who need their noses tweaked.
• He is a ground-breaker who is willing to confront entrenched establishment systems for the sake of Christ and Christendom.

I wish I had the time to write and post reviews of all his books I've read. There are so many more which I have yet to read (though I plan to do so, Lord willing). These are Dr. North's books I've read:

Backward, Christian Soldiers?
Christian Reconstruction: What It Is and What It Isn't (co-authored with Gary DeMar)
Conspiracy: A Biblical View
Crossed Fingers: How Liberals Captured the Presbyterian Church
Dominion and Common Grace: The Biblical Basis of Progress
Healer of the Nations (Biblical Blueprints Series, Vol. 9)
Marx's Religion of Revolution: Regeneration through Chaos
Millennialism and Social Theory
Political Polytheism
Tactics of Christian Resistance (editor and contributor, Christianity & Civilization Series, Vol. 3)
Theonomy: An Informed Response (editor and contributor)
Unconditional Surrender: God's Program for Victory
Unholy Spirits
Unknown History of the 20th Century (lectures on DVD)
Westminster's Confession: The Abandonment of Van Til's Legacy

Thank you, Dr. Gary North!

Pro-Life Signs for Pro-Life Marches and Abortion Protests

When you go to a pro-life rally or march, such as one organized by March for Life or National Right to Life (which also has state chapters), you will want to bring a sign to be able to peacefully and forcefully communicate your reason for being there.

If you internet search "march for life [the capital of your state]," you will find out details about the March for Life in your state. If you live close to the DC area, there will be details about buses going to DC for the march there.

First, about the duty of Christians to stand for God and His word PUBLICLY beyond what I've shared in this post regarding Christian opposition to abortion.

The Lord Jesus Christ said, as recorded in Luke 8:15b-17:

"They, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad."

And in John 3:21, He said:

"But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."

There is little fruit brought forth from being pro-life in your heart, but not pro-life in such a way as anyone could ever know it. The heathen suppress the truth in unrighteousness; therefore, the truth must be brought to their attention.

And that brings us to signage at pro-life marches. I plan to do up some signs that are simply made with a yardstick (cheap, strong, lightweight), and two posterboards with large stenciled lettering on them (both sides of the sign), which is stapled, taped, and hot-glued to each other/the yardstick. I'm going to try dark lettering outlined in glitter. If you have five or more people coming to the march, you might consider a canvas or vinyl (not paper) banner with a stenciled, inked message. Making these signs would be a fun family or church activity.

You want something lightweight, but which can hold up to January weather. You might decide to spray your signs with a polyurethane coating or have them laminated before assembling. (Keep in mind that hot-glue doesn't stick to lamination very well, so you will need to use staples and tape instead.) Bring clear duct tape to make quick sign repairs.

In addition, you might want an effective picture or decoration to draw the eye to your sign. My personal view is that graphic pictures of, for example, cut-up and bloody aborted babies, is not wise for these events because children will likely see them, and those pictures can deeply and adversely affect them, much more than adults may realize. So, in my opinion, it's better to have pictures of beautiful little newborns, or mommies and daddies holding their little precious ones, or a picture of a red rose, etc. Certainly more gory, graphic pictures are truthful and very appropriate in their time and place; I would just urge discretion in their use for broadcast-type messages (Ecc. 8:5).

You can also buy signs, bumper stickers, etc. ProLifeSigns.com and ProLifeBumper.com are two good sources. You might also try UnbornWordoftheDay.com or ProLife.com. I found many of the non-Scripture (but consistent with Scripture) sign messages I list below from these sites.

In my opinion, the best pro-life signs contain short Scripture messages. This makes it clear that you are Christians standing for God's word publicly. Also, Scripture is wonderful because you want the ungodly to look askance at "those people" (abortion protesting pro-lifers) and have the Word of God be seared into their brains.

Only Scripture, if the Holy Spirit blesses, can do that the most effectively. "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Heb. 4:12)

Nevertheless, I include non-Scripure messages as well in the ideas below. Before I list some messages for you to consider for your signs, I also wanted to note how we bring a message that the ungodly can see with more than just our word-signs (1 Sam. 16:7).

The ungodly can also see our physical appearance and our behavior. When we go to these marches, we must be warmly dressed in clean clothing in good repair and in eye-pleasing color combinations. We, including our children, must be well-scrubbed, clean cut, hair combed, with cheerful smiles on our faces. Our children must be well-trained and well-behaved. (If your children are not trained yet, you may want to leave them with trusted babysitters. It is difficult to hold a pro-baby sign while exhaustedly chasing and restraining Little Tantrum-Throwing Terrors.) No littering. No belligerence. No scowling or frowning with straggly hair, shivering in dumpy unisex t-shirts and torn jeans. Although we are exercising our civil liberties and protesting, we are not hippies. We are Christians, and we must show the dignity of life in our persons. We must show forth the truth of God that children are blessings from Him. It probably goes without saying, but I'm just saying anyway...

On to possible messages for our signs. They should be short, so that people can read them at a glance, and so that the lettering can be made large enough to see from a distance on a small, lightweight sign. Six or less words is a good rule of thumb, though I personally have great difficulty with this (as you can see from my long-winded posts!). Nevertheless, I have to face the fact that people can't read long Bible passages or dissertations on our march signs :-) You would probably be able to cut down some of the Scriptures below even more to fit better on a sign.

Scripture:
THOU SHALT NOT KILL (Ex. 20:13; Deut. 5:17; Matt. 19:18; Mark 10:19; Lk. 18:20; Rom. 13:9)
CHOOSE LIFE (Deut. 30:19)
BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY (Gen. 1:22, 28; Gen. 8:17, Gen. 9:1, 7; Gen. 35:11)
EVEN THEIR CHILDREN THEY HAVE SACRIFICED TO THEIR GODS (Deut. 12:31)
DID NOT ONE FASHION US IN THE WOMB? (Job. 31:15)
BE INSTRUCTED YE JUDGES. SERVE THE LORD WITH FEAR. (Ps. 2:10-11)
THEY MURDER THE FATHERLESS (Ps. 94:6)
THE THRONE OF INIQUITY FRAMES MISCHIEF BY A LAW AND CONDEMNS THE INNOCENT BLOOD (Ps. 94:20-21)
LOVE THY [UNBORN] NEIGHBOR (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 19:19; Matt. 22:39; Mark. 12:31, 33; Lk. 10:27; Rom. 13:9. 10; Gal. 5:14; Jam. 2:8)
THEY SACRIFICED THEIR CHILDREN, SHED INNOCENT BLOOD, AND THE LAND WAS POLLUTED WITH BLOOD. (Ps. 106:37-38)
CHILDREN ARE AN HERITAGE OF THE LORD (Ps. 127:3)
THE FRUIT OF THE WOMB IS HIS REWARD (Ps. 127:3)
IN MY MOTHER'S WOMB I AM FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE (Ps. 139:13-14)
BEFORE I FORMED YOU IN THE WOMB I KNEW YOU (Jer. 1:5)
IN THY SKIRTS IS FOUND THE BLOOD OF THE POOR INNOCENTS (Jer. 2:34)
DO NOT SHED INNOCENT BLOOD (Jer. 22:3)
THE BABE LEPT IN MY WOMB FOR JOY (Lk. 1:44)

Non-Scripture:
THE UNBORN HAVE NO "CHOICE"
LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL
LIFE IS PRECIOUS (see also: 2 Kings 1:14; Is. 43:4; Matt. 10:29-31; Lk. 12:6-7)
WE VOTE PRO-LIFE
U CAN'T B BOTH CHRISTIAN AND PRO-CHOICE
IT'S EASY TO BE PRO-"CHOICE" WHEN YOU'RE NOT THE ONE BEING KILLED
I HAVE NOTICED EVERYONE WHO IS FOR ABORTION HAS BEEN BORN -Ronald Reagan
IF IT'S NOT A BABY, YOU'RE NOT PREGNANT
YOUR MONEY = FREE ABORTIONS?
BOYCOTT DOCTORS WHO KILL
A PERSON'S A PERSON NO MATTER HOW SMALL -Dr. Suess
ABORTION STOPS A BEATING HEART
ADOPTION: THE LOVE OPTION
ADOPTION: THE CHOICE WE CAN LIVE WITH
SMILE! YOUR PARENTS CHOSE LIFE
CHRISTIAN VOTERS VOTE PRO-LIFE
GOD IS PRO-LIFE (see also: Gen. 2:7; Deut. 30:20 ("He is thy life..."); Ps. 133:3; Prov. 14:27; Prov. 22:4; Jn. 6:68; Rom. 6:23; 2 Cor. 4:10; James 1:12)
PRAY TO END ABORTION (see also: Ps. 42:8; Lam. 2:19 ("Lift up thy hands to Him for the life of thy young children")
THANK YOU, MOM AND DAD! (see also: Ex. 20:12; Eph. 6:2)

Happy pro-life marching! Don't forget to pray before, after, and continuously during (Lk 6:12; Acts 6:4; Rom. 12:12; Col 4:2)...

The Finns 1975 - from ProLife.com

Socialism Is Immoral

Socialism is humanism/state worship, institutionalized theft and envy, the statist usurpation of duties and responsibilities and authorities which God gave to the family and to the church, and the craven abandonment by the family and church of their rightful responsibilities and duties. In short, socialism is sin. The Church should not approve or encourage socialism because that is the same thing as approving of sin, which the Church should not do. (Rom.1:28-32)

The church (including individual Christians and Christian families) should not pray that someone in the church (or anyone) would receive a certain socialist grant or payment. The church (including individual Christians and Christian families) should not refer sick people to the State. The church (including individual Christians and Christian families) should not refer unemployed people to the State. The church (including individual Christians and Christian families) should not refer uneducated people to the State. The church (including individual Christians and Christian families) should not refer widows and orphans to the State. I’ve read that Christians in the early church would rescue abandoned babies (left to die) and adopt them into their families. I truly believe that, in a similar circumstance today, the modern church would “call the authorities” to take care of this problem for them.

There is nothing in God’s word to support any of this. It is immoral to not do what God has commanded us to do. It is immoral to do what God has commanded us not to do. It's sin. (Deut. 5:32 , Matt.  5:19)

Some examples of socialism are:

• Unemployment Benefit/Work Share (being paid for not working)
• Medicare/Medicaid
• government-financed health care
• Social Security taxes/payments
• L and I program payments
• state financed job training or re-training
• gov’t monopolized transportation (or any business)
• graduated income taxes
• inheritance taxes
• Cash for Clunkers
• a program that exchanges incandescent light bulbs for fluorescent light bulbs programs
• food stamps
• low-income Welfare (or whatever acronym they are calling it these days)
• state-financed/ regulated educational institutions
• a fascist (monopolized, privately-owned, gov’t-regulated) central bank
• the inflation/control of the money supply by such a central bank
• state control of airline security and flights
• state control of: gun ownership, home ownership, land ownership (floodplains, wetlands, national parks, eminent domain, etc.), car ownership, reproduction/body ownership
• death taxes
• capital gains taxes
• attempts to form a one-world government, North American union, European union, United Nations
• government farm/auto/bank grants/subsidies,
• etc...

Ouch, anyone? I know; me, too.

The problems that the humanist/socialists are trying to solve by their Statist socialism should be taken care of by the family, and if it is too much for the family, then it should be taken to the local church, and then to the wider Body of Christ. Socialism makes a strong appeal to the cowardice, the weakness, the immorality, the envy, the selfishness, the fearfulness, and the depravity inherent to our sin-fallen nature. We don't want to own a clunker; we don't want to take care of our elderly parents; we don't want to take care of our sick, injured or handicapped; we don't want to solve problems; we don't want to labor all our lives; we don't want to be responsible. And perhaps we even have some doubt that God could possibly take care of us as well as the State can.

The proper role of the civil magistrate is to be terrors to evil doers and to protect the law-abiding. (Rom. 13:3-4) The civil magistrate is to apply God's law as designated to civil magistrates with impartiality. (Lev. 19:15) According to the Bible, the civil authority exists to protect those who obey God’s law and punish those who disobey God’s law, insofar as, and delimitated by, God’s law commands the lawbreakers and evil doers to be punished by the state. That’s it. Nothing more and nothing less than that.
Christians are not humanists. We worship and serve Christ--not ourselves, and not human autonomy writ large in the ersatz Daddy-State…anymore. We who believe in Jesus Christ have a perfect Father in heaven, and God has ordained in His Word how His Body is to care for the poor and needy. (Deut. 15:11 , Deut. 15:17 , Prov. 22:9 , 16, Prov. 31:20 , Ezek. 18:15-17 , Mal. 3:8-10 , Matt. 6:11 , Matt. 25:38-40 ,  Acts 4:32 , 1 Cor. 13:2-4 , 2 Cor. 8:1-4 , Eph. 4:28 , James 1:27 , James 2)

Free speech, for another example, is not to be punished by the state except for where commanded by God in the Holy Scriptures. All other forms of speech, including immoral, unwise, undesirable or profane/vulgar speech, should be restrained by the family and church cultures and disciplines; and God reserves to Himself to directly punish some forms of false swearing, etc.

Any humanist, Statist "law" which decrees that God’s Law-Word may not be proclaimed freely is unlawful and illegitimate. All such is man attempting to usurp God and legislate over Him, which is immoral.

May I encourage you today to believe the Word of God, even if it’s different from what you heard a man say? Pastors and others are only human and make mistakes, even serious ones, just like the rest of us.

Believe God; He is perfect. And His word is Truth.

The Temptation of an Easy Drift into Apostasy and Warnings Against It In Scripture and a Poem

Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. (Ezek. 18:30)

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Prov. 14:12 and Prov. 16:25)

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matt. 7:12-14)

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (Matt. 7:21)

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. (Matt. 25:42-45)

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? (2 Cor. 6:14)

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. (James 4:4)

Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? (1 Pet. 4:16-18

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. (Rev. 3:15-18)

"The Church Walking with the World"
by Matilda C. Edwards

The Church and the World walked far apart
On the changing shores of time,
The World was singing a giddy song,
And the Chruch a hymn sublime.
"Come, give me your hand," said the merry World,
"And walk with me this way!"
But the good Church hid her snowy hands
And solemnly answered, "Nay,
I will not give you my hand at all,
And I will not walk with you;
Your way is the way that leads to death;
Your words are all untrue."

"Nay, walk with me but a little space,"
Said the World with a kindly air;
"The road I walk is a pleasant road,
And the sun always shines there;
Your path is thorny and rough and rude,
But mine is broad and plain;
My way is paved with flowers and dews,
And yours with tears and pain;
The sky to me is always blue,
No want, no toil I know;
The sky above you is always dark,
Your lot is a lot of woe;
There's room enough for you and me
To travel side by side."

Half shyly the Church approached the World
And gave him her hand of snow;
And the old World grasped it and walked along,
Saying, in accents low,
"Your dress is too simple to please my taste;
I will give you pearls to wear,
Rich velvets and silks for your graceful form,
And diamonds to deck your hair."
The Church looked down at her plain white robes,
And then at the dazzling World,
And blushed as she saw his handsome lip
With a smile contemptuous curled.
"I will change my dress for a costlier one,"
Said the Church, with a smile of grace;
Then her pure white garments drifted away,
And the World gave in their place,
Beautiful satins and shining silks,
Roses and gems and costly pearls;
While over her forehead her bright hair fell
Crisped in a thousand curls.

"Your house is too plain," said the proud old World,
"I'll build you one like mine;
With walls of marble and towers of gold,
And furniture ever so fine."
So he built her a costly and beautiful house;
Most splendid it was to behold;
Her sons and her beautiful daughters dwelt there
Gleaming in purple and gold;
Rich fairs and shows in the halls were held,
And the World and his children were there.
Laughter and music and feasts were heard
In the place that was meant for prayer.
There were cushioned seats for the rich and the gay,
To sit in their pomp and pride;
But the poor who were clad in shabby array,
Sat meekly down outside.

"You give too much to the poor," said the World.
"Far more than you ought to do;
If they are in need of shelter and food,
Why need it trouble you?
Go, take your money and buy rich robes,
Buy horses and carriages fine;
Buy pearls and jewels and dainty food,
Buy the rarest and costliest wine;
My children, they dote on all these things,
And if you their love would win
You must do as they do, and walk in the ways
That they are walking in."

So the poor were turned from her door in scorn,
And she heard not the orphan's cry;
But she drew her beautiful robes aside,
As the widows went weeping by.

Then the sons of the World and the Sons of the Church
Walked closely hand and heart,
And only the Master, who knoweth all,
Could tell the two apart.
Then the Church sat down at her ease, and said,
"I am rich and my goods increase;
I have need of nothing, or aught to do,
But to laugh, and dance, and feast."
The sly World heard, and he laughed in his sleeve,
And mockingly said, aside--
"The Church is fallen, the beautiful Church;
And her shame is her boast and her pride."

The angel drew near the mercy seat,
And whispered in sighs her name;
Then the loud anthems of rapture were hushed,
And heads were covered with shame;
And a voice was heard at last by the Church
From Him who sat on the throne,
"I know thy works, and how thou hast said,
'I am rich, and hast not known
That thou art naked, poor and blind,
And wretched before my face;'
Therefore from my presence cast I thee out,
And blot thy name from its place."

--from The Best Loved Poems of the American People, selected by Hazel Felleman, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1936