Enemies Roaring in the Midst: Memorial Day and the American Church

https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/memorial-day-blasphemy/

https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/a-memorial-day-sunday-success-story/

The first story is par for the course. I suppose we can be thankful for the reported success in the second piece but to me it wasn't the 'success' that was of interest but the report of just how bad things have gotten.

To Protect and Serve the Corporatocracy

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/05/26/kinder-morgan-maybe-change-huge-oil-pipeline-company-something-hired-duty-cops-deter-protests-pennsylvania-pipeline/

I wonder how many people know this occurs? My guess is they don't know so many of our 'heroes' are for hire. One wonders did they use tax-payer funded/issued firearms or other equipment?

Hastert's Finale and Wheaton's Shame

I suppose the 'Dennis Hastert Center for Economics, Government and Public Policy' at Wheaton College may have to consider a name change.

It's amazing how many of these guys who went after Clinton and decried his immorality were themselves embroiled in scandal and the suppression of their own immoral behaviours and past conduct.

Falafel, Syrian Politics and Christianity

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/23/us-mideast-crisis-syria-palmyra-idUSKBN0O808H20150523

Just yesterday I was in a nearby city and stopped for a falafel at a 'Mediterranean' restaurant and engaged the Syrian owner in an interesting conversation.

Setting Up the Asian Gameboard for the New Cold War

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/05/23/scse-m23.html

While I don't know that I would go so far to suggest the US is provoking a 'Gulf of Tonkin' incident as a prelude to war, I do think it's likely the US is looking for low-grade confrontations it can exploit.

The Politicised Academy

I've told this story before but it helps to make a point. Many years ago while in seminary I wrote a review of JM Kik's "An Eschatology of Victory" and I passed it on to a friend who was attending a congregation with not a few Postmillennialists. They love this book, it's part of their theological canon and I knew my review would not be appreciated.

The Structure of Biblical Polity

New Testament Church Organization by Donald L Norbie

c.1977 Walterick Publishers

Covering a wide range of topics this volume by Donald Norbie concisely summarizes the New Testament's teaching on polity. He avoids labouring on unnecessary or obscure points but at the same time covers the salient ones.

Ukraine's Christian Militias

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/03/18/ukraine-part-3/

In some ways what is most interesting here is the admission that the militant wings of the Ukrainian Far-Right have participated in the Chechen Wars and the low-grade guerilla conflicts that persist in the Caucasus. It has long been posited the West has supported the Chechens in their fight against Moscow and its puppet regime under Kadyrov. It wouldn't be the first time the US has backed Islamists to serve a larger strategic goal.

2 Timothy 3.1-9

http://zionpath.blogspot.com/2015/05/2-timothy-31-9.html

Christianity in Singapore

http://www.echozoe.com/archives/2617

This was an interesting podcast on the state of Christianity in Singapore. Despite the rudeness of the host, the guest was well-informed and insightful and overall it was worth a listen. I am particularly struck by the influence of American Christianity on the worldwide Church. By and large it's not a good thing. American Christianity and the Empire it venerates are exceptional indeed.

 

Dispensationalism and 14 May 1948

Today is practically a holy day on the Dispensational calendar. Based on their misunderstanding of Christ's Olivet Discourse, they think part of Matthew 24 was fulfilled on this day in 1948.

Selling the Warfare State

It seems rather convenient that just as the NSA programme is being questioned by the judiciary, forcing the so-called Patriot Act to be reviewed, there is a sudden threat of ISIS cells in the United States.

The Danger of a False Antithesis

"If there is no visible difference between you and the world, depend upon it, there is no invisible difference." ~Charles H. Spurgeon

Globalisation in Indonesia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5uYCWVfuPQ

This is a great little documentary on Nike and their operations in Indonesia. It gives some good perspective on globalisation. I appreciate the guy's integrity. There aren't many people that are willing to stand up like that.

Sensate Theology, Power and Unbridled Zeal

Some are very moved by this type of video as am I but my response is a bit different. I'm not totally encouraged by what I'm seeing. There's a great deal of Emotionalism, but what's the nature of the content?

2 Timothy 2.20-26

http://zionpath.blogspot.com/2015/04/2-timothy-220-26.html

Mohler and Metaxas on Bonhoeffer

An interesting interview to be sure. They never specifically mention the Metaxas biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer but it's quite obvious they have it in mind. It's the elephant in the room.

30 April 1945: Der Untergang

or Downfall.

This very dark 2004 film depicting the final days in the Fuhrerbunker is nothing less than powerful. In my opinion it exceeds all the previous attempts at portraying these events. Bruno Ganz as Hitler is amazing.

Remembering 30 April 1975: Dick Cavett, Billy Graham and John Kerry

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365474570/

I enjoyed watching this overview of Vietnam with a special focus on Dick Cavett and his guests. None of it was really new but I am always struck by seeing the segment with John Kerry. In this case he was taking on Herb Klein who was there to represent the Nixon administration.

Politicized Media and a Lack of Christian Integrity

Listening to Glenn Beck for a few minutes as well as some Christian Radio... interesting how they're being blurred in the minds of many Christians... I notice there's a tremendous focus at present on the Clinton's and questions surrounding their funding and donors. All kinds of accusations are flying about accusing them of pandering to foreign influence etc...

The Church in the Democratic Context

Guatemala's Arbenz tried to work in genuinely democratic terms. He brought about sweeping changes, geared toward the wishes of the people and yet also attempted to maintain an open society.

The open society is subject to infiltration and manipulation and that's exactly what happened. As agents of the US Establishment, the Dulles Brothers worked to overthrow him.

Mission Inversion

Speaking prophetically to the world, our message, the application of Christian truth to the world situation may (at times) seem harsh and even destructive.

The Cult of Self: It Rules the Day in Both the Left and the Right, Within the Church and Without

Since I'm a fanatic and a ranter, it's time for another episode...

Our society which is on a road to collapse and probably a violent one at that is following the course of many that preceded it.

For years I remember reading in history books that Rome fell due to its decadence and I never really understood what that meant until just a few years ago.

Spring 2015 Appeal

Most that come here are curious, some are mildly interested. Some are looking for cannon fodder. But some people truly get it, they have grasped the import of what I'm saying and its implications for the Church and how we think about everything from theology to history. Once you get it, there's really no turning back. It's like getting a new Bible. Suddenly you start to see everything through different eyes. It's disturbing but also wonderful. The world becomes a different place.

1995-1996: A Year of Change

On the morning of 19 April 1995 I was sitting in my apartment in Alaska. I was a miserable wretch, lost and in despair. Just a few weeks earlier, to the astonishment of my friends and co-workers, I had enlisted in the US Air Force and was due to depart for basic training in mid-May.
I was watching the news as the story broke. Alaska is of course a few hours behind Oklahoma City. I was still in my Rush Limbaugh days and I immediately assumed Islamic terrorists were behind it and that we would be going to war. I was convinced it was all Clinton's fault. He had played a weak hand in Somalia and they'd probably gotten together with the Iraqis and come to get us.

Ukraine, NATO and Imperial Calculus

This was a brief but interesting exchange. Please notice how general Wald, my former base commander, rejects historical contextualization.

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/2/10/playing_with_fire_a_debate_on

Imperialism within the United States is forward looking. It is not interested in historical issues and claims and decries any attempt to bring them up. Wald acknowledges the Monroe Doctrine but is lying when he suggests the US wouldn't care if China and Mexico formed a partnership.

Kline on Theonomy and Postmillennialism

A great quote from Kline on the anniversary of his death, 14 April 2007.

As the Theonomists themselves are wont to say, their Postmillennial vision is dead apart from Dominionist theology, what Kline here calls the rejection of the 'way through the wilderness'. And I would add the corollary, that Dominionists are de facto Postmillennialists. Whether they espouse that specific eschatological scheme they are in effect operating by and under its ethical imperatives as well as its dangerously flawed understanding of the Kingdom. Their Kingdom paradigm is correctly identified by Kline as the very thing we are being warned against in the Apocalypse.

As Kline concludes his commentary on Zechariah's first vision, he says the following:

Bush Vindicated?

Many Christians seem to find some satisfaction in posting a video by FOX television personality Megyn Kelly. In it she's revisiting a video from Bush late in his presidency wherein he warns about the dangers of pulling out of Iraq too early.

Somehow they think this is a vindication? If we had just listened to George Bush then all of this wouldn't be happening?

A Rebuttal of False Claims Regarding Two Kingdom Theology and Non-violence in the Face of Tyranny

Since I am called 'ranter', I will indeed rant. Sometimes it's called for.

It is a complete and malicious falsehood that somehow the theology of non-violence, the application of the Sermon on the Mount to ethics, that the separatist form of Two Kingdom thinking means the Church just goes to sleep and allows the Hitler's of the world to rise up. I was accused of this again just the other day and I have to say I find this sort of accusation to be nothing less than astonishing. Nothing makes me feel like I'm living in some Orwellian distorted nightmare than for people to accuse me of being and allowing what they in fact are.

The Czechs Score a Very Minor Point Against the Empire

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/05/us-czech-diplomacy-usa-idUSKBN0MW0RY20150405

If it's actually supposed to be about commemorating World War II then excluding Russia is nothing less than a travesty.

Everyone gets angry when these events are politicized but that's exactly what the US is doing. Apparently the Czechs aren't behaving like proper NATO subjects and subordinates and so it was thought they needed some correction.

Snipers Praised and Condemned

I recently heard Focus on the Family's Jim Daly interviewing Taysir Abu Saada the author of 'Once an Arafat Man: The True Story of how a PLO Sniper Found a New Life'.

Daly's comments were interesting. They talked about Saada's conversion to Christianity and how God kept working on him, wore him down and finally he gave in and accepted Christ. A moved Daly reflected that no one can be 'beaten' into the Kingdom.

Dominionism and Consequentialism

BreakPoint almost always gets it wrong and even when they say something that's more or less correct, it's always framed wrong.

Today listening to Stonestreet talk about Consequentialism I was having one of those Matrix-type moments where I feel like I'm some weird science fiction movie.

Yemen Documentary

For those interested, check out the latest Frontline episode on Yemen. The director was also interviewed on Tuesday's (7 April) Democracy Now.


The situation in Yemen is a confusing mess but she does a decent job outlining what's happening. A lot more could be said, but it's PBS and they're only going to go so far in criticizing the American role in all of this.


If you're looking to get a basic understanding of the situation without having to do a bunch of reading, watching this documentary will go a long way.

Celebrating the Resurrection

I wish I could say this was a joke or that it was in any way something comedic. But alas I cannot.

The European Perspective on the Western Narrative

The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream

by Jeremy Rifkin

copyright 2004 Tarcher/Penguin

While I do not doubt that some due to the present European situation would dismiss this book outright as already outdated and obsolete, I think that would be a mistake.

Denominational Dishonesty and Circularity

When Reformed people like what you write they refer to it as 'scholarly' and when they don't like your content, it's referred to as 'unprofessional' or a 'rant'. Well, I'm not interested in tickling Denominational ears. They can't hear anyone but themselves. Only their internal politics seem to concern them. Unlike many of them I have to work for a living and I don't have time to footnote everything I write, or spend hours on line engaged in dissecting the minutiae. I've attended many of their churches over the years and to their shame most of their congregations bask in ignorance while they fritter their time away splitting systematic hairs and argue over who really is being most faithful to the tradition. I washed my hands of them long ago. First and foremost it would seem that most of them are bureaucrats and that's how they think and operate.

I'm not writing to earn their respect or anyone's for that matter. I just write and if they are inclined to read it, fine. If not, I really couldn't care less.

But when they play fast and loose with the truth, when they distort history, politic the Kingdom and twist Scripture, I will call them on it, even if they're not listening. Maybe someone will hear.

 

For Sola Scriptura, it's a Bad Moon Rising

The moon is full tonight and it's the first one after the Spring Equinox...

It must be Easter. It's all right there in Ephesians 7, right?

The Lord's Supper proclaims his death till He comes (1 Cor 11.26)

Do you want to celebrate the Resurrected Christ? God has already given us a way to do so and the New Testament Church did it every time they met.

When you partake of the bread and wine, remember the promises of God and that Christ is even now seated at the right hand of the Father, the enthroned Davidic King (Acts 2). That's what the Resurrection means. Death is defeated, we are justified, but it also points to the promise that He's coming again! The Second Coming is but the completion of His work. His delay is His longsuffering. But the Kingdom is established and we are already part of it. We don't need anything but Christ. No traditions, no innovations.

It has nothing to do with a Church year, liturgical calendar and sunrise services, let alone Anglo-Saxon syncretism.

Easter crept in early, even before the Christ mass. There's nothing wrong with celebrating the Resurrection, but there is something wrong with keeping days and times and promoting innovations in the realm of worship. Keeping days is to bring yourself into bondage (Gal 4.9-10), and innovation is will worship and self-imposed religion (Col 2.20-23).

The Scriptures are sufficient. The answers are found there, not in traditions, even if they stir emotions and pack the people in.

Memphis 1968

Early morning, April four
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

Not exactly doctrinally correct but still a worthy reflection on a historical moment, a person who shook the corridors of power, and one who is indeed a hero to many.

I'm sure he knew he was making history but I wonder if he knew to what extent? King is another person that I'm sort of in awe of when I consider how much he had done before his death at 39. When you're a teenager or even in your twenties you don't realize how young that is. And then when you're in your forties, you marvel when you see the posture of conviction of many historical figures and how much they had on their shoulders while still so young.

Greatness is a term used by the world and one that we as Christians would view in somewhat different terms. Despite that it does in some sense apply even to figures like King, flaws and all.

More Internet Clutter

Recently I've encountered (more than once) a blog post reading:

Now blogging at Patheos

To which I respond:

Now, no longer reading your blog

Lessons from the life of AW Pink

1 April is the anniversary of AW Pink's birth, so I thought I would re-post this piece from 2011. There's an updated version of the biography that I would like to pick up. Murray's bio tries to be fair but is still in many ways deficient. I used to venerate him as a historian but over the past decade I've come to really question that assessment. Nevertheless a good and worthwhile read.

Pink is a polarizing figure on several theological  fronts and I by no means agree with him on everything. I know some Reformed people are quite hostile to him. Since I wrote this piece in 2011 I picked up Banner's edition of his letters. Very interesting. Pink had a real pilgrim mindset and even though he was pretty solidly in the Reformed camp, he wasn't one to the toe the line or fully conform to the mindset of the tradition. He loved Scripture way too much to do that.

An interesting figure who lived during a unique time and led (in some ways) a very fascinating life.

http://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2011/04/arthur-pink.html

A Book on the Legacy of Pat Robertson

The Most Dangerous Man in America? : Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition

by Robert Boston

Copyright 1996 Prometheus Books

This is written as an expose' and therefore will either be applauded or heavily criticised. No matter who reads it, the response tends to be strong.

In some ways the book being almost twenty years old is outdated. Robertson himself will before long disappear from the scene along with what remains of the first generation of Christian Right leaders.

The Wasting of Colombia: Profiting from the War on Drugs While Destroying Integrity and Civilization

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js_2OkN1w8I

I was spending some time on the Drug War with my kids and made use of this video. I found it provided a good overview but it's really just the beginning. The War on Drugs has largely proved catastrophic for not just American society, but for many in Latin America as well. They've been plunged into violence, civil war and in some cases a reversion to feudalism under the sometimes celebrated drug lords and in other cases the aristocratic landowners.

Ruining a Good Thing

The Internet desktop experience is being ruined by mobile devices and stupid gizmos. I do not like Google but I have to applaud them for their general simplicity.

Infinite Scrolling

Hover Menus and Hover Zoom Effect... in fact all hover features.

Re-designed Websites geared toward Mobile devices and Social Networking

Streaming locking up because of advertising breaks

I find these things to be maddening and there are an increasing number of websites that I'm deleting because I can't stand the experience anymore. It's all bells and whistles and miserable to try and navigate, let alone search for something. You can't focus because of all the pop-up and out rubbish. Forget it.

I guess it's just another example of how in a few short years something can quickly be ruined.

Television is much the same way. Looking back on the TV experience of the 1970's and 80's we never realized how good we had it! As I mentioned before I ditched television in 1995 and recently had it hooked up again so we could watch the 2014 Sochi games. I enjoyed the Olympics but had it turned off as soon as they were done. We had it all of three weeks. Apart from the moral issues, the whole television experience has been ruined. I'll stick to the online world but even many aspects of that are getting so frustrating, I'm utilizing it less and less.

The positive is... it continues to lead me to re-think my uses of time and how and what I let affect my mind.

2 Timothy 2.14-19

2 Timothy 2.14-19

The Manufactured Reality of Ted Cruz and his Father

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZBgLSJj4Jg

 

Wow, this guy knows absolutely nothing about Scripture or the God of Scripture. The Bible is just a book of power to him, a means of gain. The Covenant and Kingdom are concepts unknown to him. To apply the Mosaic Covenant to America is de-covenantalize Moses and Christ. It is an act of sacrilege. Was the Law for Edomites or Egyptians? The Mosaic Epoch was a Theocracy not a democratic republic. It cannot be replicated.

The US-Israeli Dynamic: The Concerns of a Worldwide Empire and the Aspirations of a Regional Hegemon

Margolis doesn't mince words in his latest commentary. It is amazing how despite the chaos resulting from the destruction of Iraq, despite the anti-Al Qaeda/anti- USA sentiments of the Arab Spring, as the dust starts to settle, it's still the USA and Israel dominating the Middle East. It's grown even more messy than usual but the masters have not been dethroned.

Iranian Cinema

I know I've spoken of this in the past but it's worth revisiting. If you are interested in a truly edifying and moving cinematic experience, then look into the films of the Iranian Majid Majidi.

His films are beautiful and provocative and offer a window into a world few Westerners are familiar with.

The Shapur Effect in Pakistan

Those who attack churches are murderers and enemies of Christ, even when they attack congregations that are not Biblical. They don't know the difference do they?

And yet, the United States and its false Church bear some responsibility. The West has agitated the region for centuries and the United States has been heavily involved in the region for the better part of fifty years. It plays enemies off against each other, uses them, throws them away, and then picks them up again when convenient.

The Right Contemplates Crossing the Rubicon

Margolis offers accurate and astute commentary on the recent debacle with Netanyahu and the activities of the American Right. I thought the leader of Iran's comments were also correct in his labeling of the Right's actions as the sign of America's disintegration.


That's the only place it can go. The breakup of an Empire is always an ugly thing but it would be a glorious thing to see the heresy of Christian Americanism consigned to the flames. Heaven will rejoice.


One thing is clear, the Right cares nothing about the United States unless they can dominate it. Patriotism is idolatry and for Christians a form of theological harlotry but their version of it is even more twisted in that they literally hate and dismiss roughly half of the country. They only believe in the ideals of the country when they are in charge.


This will continue to escalate and at some point in the future will lead to violence. It may be closer than many realize. Dangerous lines are being crossed as the country edges toward Constitutional and existential crisis.


http://ericmargolis.com/2015/03/the-best-congress-money-can-buy/

Extra-Scriptural Commitments Trumping the Text

https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/who-killed-jesus-christ/

This article represents a grave error to be avoided. While I can appreciate (in the larger article) the criticism of the Christian Right calling on the state to transform society, the author (and interviewee) still make the same fundamental error... that of Transformationalism.

The Most Evil Man in Town

Imagine a nice little town tucked away in the woods and hills, a quaint slice of Americana. There are dozens of these places like this around where I live. It's not all quaint though. This is also the Rust Belt and Appalachia. It's an impoverished area, a wreck, a shell of its former glory. It's beset by a charming and quite captivating decay. It's also afflicted with drugs and alcoholism. There are a lot of good upstanding old-fashioned type folk, but their numbers are growing few and there are hosts if not hordes of disheveled, base, uneducated and quite obscene people who are becoming the pillars of these small towns.

A Musing on Evangelical Antithesis, CCM and the Christian Right

The Supreme Court decisions regarding Bible reading and prayer in public school no doubt played a part in the unification and resurgence of political Christianity in the 1970's. However, I don't believe these factors are as central and crucial as they're made out to be.

Magisterial Protestantism and America's Founding: Did Knox and Calvin Believe in Religious Liberty?

https://store.hslda.org/from-tyndale-to-madison-p43.aspx

An ad for this book turned up in my inbox.

What a strange narrative these folks have sought to create. Religious Liberty, and then to cite Calvin and Knox?

2 Timothy 2.3-13

Notes on 2 Timothy 2.3-13

Christian Media: Slander to the Glory of God

The Internet has inaugurated an age of information and in many ways it has proven a true blessing. It wasn't that many years ago that if you were looking for news or information that was particularized or outside of the mainstream you had to subscribe to a mailed newsletter. Podcasts or Streaming Audio/Video? Think again. At best you hoped for cassette tapes or a mailed VHS tape. It wasn't all bad but it was often costly and everything was slow. I remember eagerly checking my mail to see if the latest newsletter arrived or a padded envelope containing some cassette tapes.

The Church as a Free Institution of Political Resistance

The Christian Right supported and continues to lionize and venerate the activism of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland during the 1980's. It backed Solidarity and was buttressed by visits from the first Polish Pope, John Paul II. It played no small part in helping to bring about the end of the Cold War.

The Christian Right has argued this activism was a legitimate expression of the prophetic voice, challenging power and an unjust government.

Halki Seminary and US Objectives in Old Byzantium

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2015/01/23/january-23-2015-halki-seminary/25035/

While hardly a fan of Turkey's Erdogan, I find it richly ironic that the United States leads the charge in demanding that Turkey reopen Halki Seminary near Istanbul. Closed in 1971, it has been a focus of US diplomatic efforts since the 1990's. The United States and many others have pushed Ankara to allow the Greek Orthodox Church to open this famed and historic institution.

CNN and the 'Liberal' Media

Watching CNN International the other morning I was struck by the coverage concerning Rafael Correa of Ecuador and the anniversary of Winston Churchill's death.

The coverage of Ecuador and Correa could have been written by the State Department of either the Bush or Obama administrations. It was completely shallow and biased toward the American point of view.

2 Timothy 1.13-18

Continuing in the Pastoral Epistles...

http://zionpath.blogspot.com/2015/02/2-timothy-113-18.html

A February 14th Reminder

A link to a post I wrote last year. It continues to come up and I've seen not a few Christians caught up in this nonsense.

http://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-re-christianization-of-valentines.html