Culture Archives - Page 61 of 69 - Kuyperian Commentary

On December 19, 2013 By Kuyperian In Culture Like

GLAAD Is Not Happy, Happy, Happy

Unless you live under a rock, have been out duck hunting, or are not connected to social media, you have probably heard that the A&E Network has indefinitely suspended Phil Robertson for comments that he made in an interview for an upcoming edition of GQ Magazine. The comments drawing the greatest amount of ire from certain circles are these: “It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”

Mr. Robertson is right, it is not logical, nor is it natural. Paul, to the Church in Rome, writes, Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. ²⁶For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; ²⁷and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error (Romans 1:24-27). These words come under Paul’s description of what is involved when God’s wrath is revealed (Rom. 1:18).

Later, Phil goes on to say, “Everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong. Sin becomes fine.” When asked, “What, in your mind, is sinful?”, he replies, “Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men.” Then citing part of 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, he says: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.” Wilson Cruz, spokesman for GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), stated, ”Phil and his family claim to be Christian, but Phil’s lies about an entire community fly in the face of what true Christians believe.” My question to Mr. Cruz is simply, “What did Phil lie about? What untruth did he tell?” Ask any Christian saved out of the homosexual lifestyle, and they agree with the Apostle Paul that they needed to be redeemed from that life. What does Paul go on to say in 1 Corinthians 6:11? And that’s what some of you were, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the by the Spirit of our God (emphasis added). Note Paul’s use of the past tense. Some of his readers were that, but they are not that now.

So why is GLAAD so upset? Why the outrage from them, and other like-minded organizations and groups? Because they have been exposed. Because the truth has exposed their futile thinking, and foolish, darkened hearts (Rom. 1:21-22). Despite all of the attempts of the media, TV sit-coms, and movies to promote homosexuality as normal or just another natural expression of love, it is not. Phil Robertson has unmasked what is ugly and wicked. It is the spirit of the age. It is this same spirit that cloaks itself in the language of pro-choice and a woman’s freedom, when, in reality, abortion is the murder and dismemberment of living babies. Likewise, homosexuality may claim to be more than homosexual intercourse, but it is no less than that, and is, therefore, abhorrent and condemnable (see Romans 2).

Phil Robertson is a man who has been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. He knows and professes that homosexuals need the same. In making these statements he stands with the Apostle Paul. He stands with Jesus his King. He stands where all true Christians are called to stand: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm (Ephesians 6:10-13).

Joe Thacker is the Pastor of St. Mark Reformed Church Brentwood, TN <>адвордс яндекс

On December 17, 2013 By Peter Jones In Culture, Theology Like

Darkness and Hell at Christmastime

By Peter Jones

For some reason Christmas has become too angelic, all lights, Santa, glitter, and shining cherubs on gaudy Christmas cards. There is a sliver of truth to this, of course. When Christ came as a child the true light shineth. When Christ came he did bring gifts. But Christmas is also (maybe even mostly) about demons and Hell and darkness. It is about the darkness of eternal fire. It is about the worm that does not die. It is about the terrors of death. It is about the dragons that live in our own hearts. There is nothing wrong with rejoicing in the light, but if we forget the darkness the light loses its potency. It is easy at Christmas time to take the light for granted, to forget what Christ actually came to do. Christmas songs can be a great remedy for this memory lapse.

It may come as a surprise that many of the Advent and Christmas songs we sing mention this darkness and hell. I thought I would quote a few lines from these songs to give some perspective on what exactly Christ came to do.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel is one of the best carols to show who we were before Christ came. It views God’s people as in exile and bondage to Satan and in need of rescue. Verses 3 and 4 clearly bring this out.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Anytime you are tempted to believe that Christmas has nothing to do with evil, Hell, death, and Satan sing this song.

The fourth verse of the song Savior of the Nations, Come has these lines in it:

From the Father forth he came and returneth to the same
Captive leading death and hell, High the song of triumph swell.

The final verse of Good Christian Men Rejoice, says, “now ye need not fear the grave.”

Of course, Joy to the World, talks about Christ coming to make his blessings flow “far as the curse is found.”

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, says that Christ descends ‘from the realms of endless day, that the powers of hell may vanish.”

Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming, states that Christ “dispels with glorious splendor/the darkness everywhere.”

Of the Father’s Love Begotten says in verse 3:

He is found in human fashion death and sorrow here to know
That the race of Adam’s children doomed by law to endless woe
May not henceforth die and perish In the
dreadful gulf below evermore and evermore.

I am sure there are some I have missed. In addition to these references to Hell and darkness, numerous Christmas songs speak specifically of Christ’s victory over sin, which means his victory over death and Hell.

And of course, the Scriptures speak to this as well. In Matthew Jesus’ birth is not follow by peace on earth, but by Herod killing the children and Joseph fleeing with his family to Egypt. The battle begins at the Incarnation. Herod knew this. Unfortunately, we often do not.

In Luke the power of Christ’s birth is sung about. Mary states that when God sent Christ he:

Showed strength with his arm
Scattered the proud
Put down the mighty
Filled the hungry
But sent the rich away empty

Christ’s entrance into the world was not warm and fuzzy. He came to crush the serpent and all those who align themselves with him.

Zacharias says that Christ came so:

We should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us..
That we will be delivered from the hand of our enemies.

Christmas is about a King who came to banish all the powers of darkness and Hell, not just a baby born in a manger. When the angel came to Mary and the angels sung to the shepherds the end of our enemies was already at hand. Christ came to destroy all our enemies. Don’t let Old Saint Nick and fat baby faced angels and “Santa Baby” cause you to forget about darkness, Hell, Satan, Herod, death, and sin during this Christmas. To forget these things is to forget why Christ came.

Cross posted at Singing and Slaying<>продвижение турфирмы

On December 12, 2013 By Kuyperian In Culture Like

Bloom Where You’re Planted, or Don’t

It must have been at least 1,000 times that well-meaning role models told me, “Bloom where you’re planted.” As soon as I started going to youth summer camps and youth retreats and youth groups, everybody and their brother had the same advice. “Bloom where you’re planted.”

Some phrases become cliché over time. This one was born that way, which doesn’t necessarily make it bad advice. It is biblical to compare people with plants. “He is like a tree planted by the streams of water.” (Ps. 1:3) “A good tree bears good fruit.” (Mt 7:17) ” Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:2,3) And the list goes on and on. So, “bloom where you’re planted,” is not metaphorically defunct. The analogy is fine.

The content is fine, as well as the form. A flowering plant fulfills its role before its Creator by producing a flower. As children of God, we too ought to fulfill our purposes. As a matter of general principle, that about covers it, but there’s also a personal application that is beneficial for the Christian to remember: A rose doesn’t produce a tulip. God has given us our own personalities and gifts that are distinctive to each of us individually. As surely as a good tree doesn’t bear bad fruit, neither does a grape-vine produce jelly beans (although, that would be cool to see.) Those well-intended youth directors that exhorted us, over and over, to “bloom where we’re planted” are right; we should use our gifts and resources for God whether they be few or many. He’s happier with a devout widow and her mite, than he is with millions of dollars from someone who’s holding something back.

There’s another aspect where the adage makes a good point. We should not wait until a different situation arises to decide to get to work in Christ’s Kingdom. The “where you’re planted” part exhorts us to fulfill our callings presently, and not at some other time in some other place. If you’re always waiting for a better time to do something for God, then you’ll grow old and die without ever having done anything.

So, there are some pluses to this platitude; however, it cannot be considered a summary statement of the Christian life. First, flowers have roots, so that they are not able to move. They have to bloom where they’re planted; and secondly, they die every year. So, flowers have inherent restraints on their place, and they are born, mature, and perish within a single season. In other words, the analogy breaks down, as all analogies do at some point.

People are not restricted, by nature or decree, to one garden (Unless the universe is the “garden”, then you got me). It is true that if you are perpetually waiting for a better place before you “bloom,” then you’ll never bloom, but it is no less true that you can decide to go to a different garden, or if you’re ambitious, plant a new one. Human history began in a single garden, but God told Adam to “fill the earth and subdue it.” He was to gardenize the world. Don’t wait for God to pick you up and take you somewhere else to “bloom.” God may want you to pick up your own things, pack up the moving van, and go plant a garden for him somewhere other than where you are now. In other words, “Bloom where you’re planted,” may very well be short-sighted geographically.

Also, nature restricts flowers to a single growing season, but not people. A flower has to bloom and then start over from scratch with a new bud. It doesn’t “learn” how to grow a better flower the next time around. You, beloved, are not that way at all. Your heavenly father loves you waaaaay more than he loves the flowers of the field. (Mt. 6:25-33) You may have a meager bloom this season, but he is working in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. (Phillipians 2:13) Since His Spirit abides in you, you will soon be bearing better fruit. In some ways, we’re more like trees than flowers. Whether a tender sapling or an old Ent, he wants us to mature. If you’ve got a shabby bloom this season, then learn from your mistakes, pray for wisdom, and bloom a better one next season.

By way of analogy, we are like flowers, but we are not flowers. We ought to bloom where we’re planted, and we ought to realize that simply blooming where we’re planted could be short-sighted, if we consider who we really are. We are temporal image-bearers of the eternal God. We are members of Christ’s body on earth. He does not want us to bury our talent in the ground and then wait for his return. He wants us to invest it. Take the risk, for any risks are temporal. He gives returns one hundred-fold. You have been made in God’s image and called by his name. So “bloom where you’re planted,” or don’t.<>реклама гугл цена

On December 5, 2013 By Peter Jones In Culture, Worship Like

The Disembodied Preacher: Why Streamed in Preaching is Bad

Many churches are moving to a multi-campus system where the main pastor’s sermon is streamed in to various campuses every week. Even those churches which cannot do this often wish they could. But I believe it is a serious and devastating pastoral error to assume that a man on a screen can shepherd a church. Streamed in preaching is detrimental to the church of God because it substitutes electronic images for a flesh and blood man thus severing that crucial geographical and physical connection a minister is to have with his people. We are called shepherds for a reason. I am not criticizing learning via video, though there are drawbacks to this as well. I am particularly criticizing preaching via video. Here are some of the problems with streaming the main pastor’s sermons instead of having an on-the-ground man doing the preaching every week in person.

First, the man who is streamed in has become a preacher, not a pastor. I understand that this can happen at any church. In fact, it probably happens at a lot of churches. The failure of men to shepherd their flocks is epidemic in the American church. We preach. But we do not shepherd. Our hands are not dirty. Our flock sees us once a week. But the “remotely connected” model makes a virtue out of it. Pastoring is impossible if you are one place and your congregation is in another. Of course, preaching is part of shepherding, (and in some Protestant circles takes center stage during the course of the Lord’s Service) but it is not the whole.

Second, streaming in a man’s sermon is a celebrity act. We do it, not because it is biblical, nor because it is logical. We do it because the pastor is famous. While being famous is not necessarily a bad thing in itself, why use the main pastor instead of one the elders who shepherd the church Monday through Saturday? The answer is that people want to hear the main pastor. He is the celebrity preacher they come to see. By streaming him in we buy into a celebrity oriented cultural mindset that is detrimental to the life of the church.

Third, it makes preaching a disembodied act where the congregation’s response plays no part in the preaching of the word. When a man stands in the pulpit he should scan his people to see how they are responding. Preaching is a dialogue between the pastor and his sheep. The main pastor can do this at his church. But he cannot at the other campus churches. R.L. Dabney talked about understanding the temperature of your congregation when you get into the pulpit. Are they flat? Then you need to gradually bring them up to the right heat. Are they too excited and inattentive? Then you need to keep up the heat, but focus it. Charles Spurgeon said that if he felt the congregation’s interest waning he would throw in an illustration to get their attention back. A streamed in pastor cannot interact with the congregation, which is an essential part of preaching. This makes me wonder if streaming in a man is preaching in the classic sense of the term.

Fourth, this model assumes that what happened from Monday-Saturday in a church is irrelevant to Sunday morning preaching. The streamed in pastor cannot know what has happened in all the campus churches. Again, this is probably the case in a lot of churches. The pastor does not know what happened to the Hayes family this week or to Mr. Johnson. But that does not make it right. Shepherding means understanding what has happened in the life of the church during the week. He does not need to know every detail, but he should know generally what has gone on. What if one church had a tragic car wreck and another church had wedding on Saturday? What if an elder just resigned for sexual infidelity? What if the community just experienced a great tragedy or triumph? Are these things irrelevant in the preaching of the Gospel on Sunday morning? I am not saying that the sermon must be dictated by the events of the previous week. But those events give context to the preached Word. When preaching is streamed, the Word becomes decontextualized.

Fifth, it keeps good men out of the pulpit. Many churches that stream in their pastors devote a lot of time to training leaders. They do this through books, conferences, video, hands on training, etc. If this is so, why not put these men in the pulpits of these campus churches? Why does the main pastor have to be the one preaching? Is it beneficial in the long run for these campus churches to orbit around one man? I think this goes back to the second point. Streamed in preaching is a celebrity act.

Sixth, it makes watching the main pastor impossible. A congregation is supposed to observe their pastors. Paul appeals to his behavior among the members of the church. They watched him. (See Acts 20:18, I Thessalonians 1:5-6, II Thessalonians 3:7-9). There is also the general admonition that the people are to watch their leaders (See I Timothy 4:12, Hebrews 13:7, I Peter 5:3). A church body should be able to observe on a regular basis the attitude and actions of her leaders. Leaders should not just interact with staff and elders, but with the congregation. Some might object by saying these churches get to watch their other leaders, just not the main pastor. To which I reply, then the other leaders should be preaching to them, not the main pastor.

Seventh, it assumes that every church has the exact same preaching needs. Now in one sense every church does. We are all sinners saved by grace who need to be taught the whole counsel of God so that we might grow in holiness. But churches are not clones. Each congregation has a different personality, which comes from their history, the collection of people Christ has brought to the church, their leadership, and the community they live in. Is the congregation mainly 20-40 year olds? Is it ethnically diverse? Is it in the city, the country, or suburb? Is it an old church that has been around for many years or a church planted two years ago? Is it mainly new converts or transfer growth? Are most of the members factory workers or business men? Is it in a college town? The way these questions are answered will affect the way a book of the Bible is preached. Two pastors can both be preaching through Ephesians and yet apply the text differently because of their congregation’s needs. Of course, some points will be the same no matter what. But the application can and should vary depending upon the needs and personality of the congregation. This also applies to what a pastor should preach. One church might be struggling with legalism. Galatians should be put on the menu. One church might be struggling with members leaving the faith. Put Hebrews on the list. But in a “remotely connected” model the assumption is that all churches are struggling with the same things at the same time.

Here are few questions to consider:

What is the rationale behind multi-campus churches where a single man preaches to numerous congregations in different geographical locations? Why do we think this is necessary and good? Does the Bible give us a paradigm for doing ministry this way? How is this model not a capitulation to our celebrity culture?

Why do we not stream in the worship music? (I think I got this question from Carl Trueman.)

Is it possible to faithfully shepherd a local body over many years without knowing that body? Can a minister preach sermons that apply to the people in front of him if he does not know the people who are in front of him? Can a minister faithfully preach the word on Sunday if the only people he ever meets with Monday through Saturday are church staff and other elders?

What is the long term effect on churches when a pastor is streamed in? How does this practice affect the planting of other churches and the raising up of leadership? How does it affect the congregation’s view of the average preacher? Does this model feed certain sinful hungers in American culture that we would do better to avoid? How does the disconnect between the week to week shepherding and the Sunday morning preaching influence the congregation?

Can a minister be incarnational, in the best sense of the word, if he isn’t even in the same town as the church?<>klimentovo

On December 3, 2013 By Kuyperian In Culture, Politics, Scribblings, Wisdom Like

The Tip That Keeps on Giving

Information does tend to flow in trends through the social media conduits. For sheer lack of time, I find myself being fed ideas on what to think about in a given day, or what book to put on the reading list for the new year. And that’s okay, we tend to see what’s in front of us by design. Such is our need for community.

Of late, a bit of chatter that seemed to be recurrent in my November social feed troughs are several stories about the behavior of members of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ at the table. Not the communion table, mind you, but the local eatery. Said stories regard the practice of tipping of food servers. One article even asked, “what would Jesus tip?”

My wife and I have a long history of a debate that I lovingly refer to as “The Tip”. The Tip Debate began back before our eleven-year marriage. It even threatened said-marriage from ever materializing at one point in time. It caused me to seriously question my life decisions and God’s will in my life (Lord, forgive me but it’s the truth). In an effort to preserve the union, the Tip Debate has caused me to black list certain establishments wherein my wife has formerly been employed due to the unbearable dining experience of trying to enjoy a meal and maintain rare adult conversation while she leaves mid-sentence to go find the maitre d’ in order to report an observed insufficiency in staff performance. Yeah. It was a dark time.

An old friend, with what some would refer to as a sense of the humorous, had a propensity for the charming habit of placing a stack of brand new one dollar bills on the table, in plain view of the desperately stressed, over-worked and under-appreciated server. As the attendee would approach the table, my friend’s keen gaze would intensify and his hand would hover over the meager mound of moolah ^a. One wrong move, and he would swipe away one of the dollars with a relished drama. No tip for you!

I’m happy to report that today I am in a position to regard myself as somewhat of a good tipper, which is closer to where my wife wants me to be. All was well on that front.

But then these shysters in sheep’s clothing have to come along and stir up the coals of a long quelled discussion on proper tipping etiquette. The first to come to my attention was the story of Christian diners who left a “tip tract”. You’ve heard of these ingenious devices that turn the two-edged sword of the Word into a knife in the ribs? They consist of what appears to be a respectable tip – a tenner, a Jackson, a Benjamin, WHAT?!? – but once removed from the bill holder by the server, it is revealed to be a slight-of-hand Gospel witness all up in what was your momentarily excited face.

: Stupid Human Tricks

Another such instance of the golden tip was a tale circulating about Christian patrons who left no tip whatsoever. At least, not in monetary form. Rather, an explanatory note was left that read: Sorry, but I can’t tip as I do not agree with your lifestyle, Love you (emoticon winky, bemused, apologetic smileyface, tear). Treasures in heaven, y’all, which you will never enjoy because you won’t ever get there lest ye REPENT!!! And I’ll give you your pen back if you give me an extra mint (they’re wafer thin). Bill Maher couldn’t believe it ^b

The Internet Justice Brigade (IJB) wasted no time in exposing this story as false and discrediting the former Marine as a troubled soul with an instagram account and a history of conduct issues – reportedly. Wounded warrior indeed. Your chosen means can weaken your cause.

The story was then book-ended by a tale of the most bodacious tip ever left in the name of Christ. Customary gratuity is bush league to @TipsForJesus ^c. That’s one way to do that, steward. I hope you’re still giving thanks to YahWeh when the APR kicks in on that American Express. May we all aspire to such generosity at sports bars.

You know the kind of tipping story I’d like to read? One that mentions the vocational courses in Europe that can last as long as two years or more before restaurateurs will allow be-gloved servers to hit the floor and represent their brand. And how no one is entitled to an income just for showing up, especially if they cannot fulfill their job role in a satisfactory way that is equal to or greater than their agreed upon compensation. And I say that as a person who has worked in kitchens and on wait staffs, and stunk at it. Your relationship with Jesus may get you a job, but it’s still up to you to see it done.

I personally like the stories of innovators in the food industry who have raised their pay scales, done away with Darwinian tipping system, and won lifelong loyalty in customers (and employees) in doing so^d. Showing up again ought to be all the gratitude any of us require. A little extra expression of gratitude – a manifestation of appreciation in tangible means? Well, that’s straight gravy. Serve your neighbor as you would be served. Judge your neighbors service as your would have your service judged.

A little Capon is appropriate, I believe:

‘O Lord, refresh our sensibilities. Give us this day our daily taste. Restore to us soups that spoons will not sink in and sauces which are never the same twice. Raise up among us stews with more gravy than we have bread to blot it with, and casseroles that put starch and substance in our limp modernity. Take away our fear of fat, and make us glad of the oil which ran upon Aaron’s beard. Give us pasta with a hundred fillings, and rice in a thousand variations. Above all, give us grace to live as true folk – to fast till we come to a refreshed sense of what we have and then to dine gratefully on all that comes to hand. Drive far from us, O Most Bountiful, all creatures of air and darkness; cast out the demons that possess us; deliver us from the fear of calories and the bondage of nutrition; and set us free once more in our own land, where we shall serve thee as though hast blessed us – with the dew of heaven, the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine’. – Robert Farrar Capon, 1925-2013 ^e

<>поддержка а битрикс

from the Irish moll oir – pile of gold, Daniel Cassidy, How the Irish Invented Slang, 2007 (back)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/10/1254527/-MUST-SEE-Bill-Maher-BLASTS-selfish-Christian-hypocrites-who-don-t-tip-waiters# (back)
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/12/02/248245882/tipsforjesus-is-leaving-thousands-of-dollars-for-servers (back)
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2013/08/tipless_restaurants_the_linkery_s_owner_explains_why_abolishing_tipping.html (back)
The Supper of the Lamb: A Culinary Reflection (Garden City: Doubleday, 1969), 278 (back)

On December 3, 2013 By Kuyperian In Culture, Family and Children Like

Raising Life-long Learners and Leaders

In his book Beauty for Truth’s Sake, Stratford Caldecott states that it is,

“no wonder students come to a college education expecting nothing more than a set of paper qualifications that will enable them to earn a decent salary. The idea that they might be there to grow as human beings, to be inducted into an ancient culture, to become somehow more than they are already, is alien to them. They expect instant answers, but they have no deep questions. The great questions have not yet been woken in them. The process of education requires us to become open, receptive, curious, and humble in the face of what we do not know. The world is a fabric woven of mysteries, and a mystery is a provocation to our humanity that cannot be dissolved by googling a few more bits of information.”

Mr. Caldecott has aptly described a generation who has been taught that they are nothing more than highly-developed mammals, and how highly-developed is still up for grabs. We have 90% less fur and 99% less purpose than our monkey’s uncle. As long as a young man makes enough to pay for his Playstation and Netflix, he’s good to go. This postmodern generation is enslaved to their evolutionary apathy. This apathy reminded Francis Schaeffer of Ancient Rome. In his book How Should We Then Live he said,

“As the Roman economy slumped lower and lower, burdened with aggravated inflation and a costly government, authoritarianism increased to counter the apathy… …because of the general apathy and its results, and because of oppressive control, few thought the civilization worth saving. Rome did not fall because of external forces such as the invasion of the barbarians. Rome had no sufficient inward base; the barbarians only completed the breakdown—and Rome gradually became a ruin.”

America is reaping what Jean Jacques Rousseau, John Dewey and Horace Mann have sown. America is reaping what America has sown. We cannot turn back the clock; so we must decide how we are going to respond, and where we can go from here. The opposite of apathy is passion. The opposite of slavery is freedom, and the opposite of modern, socialist education is classical, Christian education.

With the classical tools of learning, constructed upon the solid foundation of God’s Word, students will not only excel at whatever their hand finds to do, but they will be able to become leaders in their particular field of interest. So, we are not just raising life-long learners, but we are also raising life-long leaders. Are we training our children to be the next generation of leaders in Christendom, or are we assuming that someone else will take care of that? If Christians aren’t doing it, then who is? Is the apathy in our culture limited to the twenty-somethings in their Star Wars pajamas, living with their moms, playing Wii all day, or does it extend further than that?

Are we passionate for the Kingdom? Are we avoiding government schools because we have a vision for our children’s future in Christ’s Kingdom or merely to avoid drug use, school violence, and free condoms? Our vision for child-rearing must extend beyond the things we’re trying to avoid and manifest itself in all the things that we are working to accomplish, namely the coming of Christ’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. The classical model is not the only way to raise up your little olive shoots in the fear and admonition of the Lord, but it is a premiere tool to accomplish the rearing of passionate, Christian, life-long learners and leaders.

(This was short, I know. Here are some resources to flesh out the bald assertions I’ve just made.)

Click here or on the book cover to link to this title on Amazon.

Click here to link to an outstanding lecture by George Grant on Classical Christian Education. It’s available free of charge at wordmp3.com

<>mobi games pr программа пример

On November 26, 2013 By Kuyperian In Culture, Family and Children Like

When Are You Ever Going To Grow Up?

by Marc Hays

“When I became a man, I put away childish things…”

For decades, American culture has been pushing the threshold between childhood and adulthood further and further from birth. This is being done in the name of science, which supposedly is just analyzing the data and then reporting the facts. A myriad of professions, from psychiatrists to psychologists to neurologists to anthropologists, are making the claim that the period of “adolescence” continues to lengthen. As many of these professions are built on evolutionary assumptions, the data is often treated as though this is simply the way things are. Perhaps it is simply the next stage of human evolution; the next stage of progress being a state in which the human being no longer wants to progress.

In September of this year, the BBC reported, “New guidance for psychologists will acknowledge that adolescence now effectively runs up until the age of 25 for the purposes of treating young people.” This shift in the direction for the psychiatric care of young people is being pushed by neurologists that are claiming that the prefrontal cortex of the brain is still developing until around age 25. Therefore, information is being processed differently than in the brains of adults, which leads to all of the stereotypical woes of the teenage years.

This distinction between “children” and “adults” is a real one, and not just some arbitrary legal age. This distinction goes far beyond the ability to reproduce their species; far beyond their overall physical shape and/or muscle tone; far beyond the final state of their prefrontal cortex. Those characteristics are certainly an objective reality, but the Apostle Paul doesn’t say, “When I became a man, I got stronger, taller, and had to shave my whiskers.” He said that he “put away childish things”, or in the ESV, “I gave up childish ways.” He’s implying that a child behaves like a child, and an adult behaves like an adult. The problem in our culture is not that people are staying small and beardless. It is that they grow up physically but refuse to take the responsibility that is supposed to accompany that growth.

The term “adolescence” comes from the Latin word “adolescere” which means “to grow up.” In most cultures that recognize this stage of human development, it begins with the onset of puberty and the physical changes that reshape little people into bigger people. When adolescence ends is somewhat arbitrary, and this “commencement” is often attended by culturally relative rites and rituals. America’s famous age has long stood at 18-years-old. This makes sense as this age is attended by high school graduation and the legal right to enter into a contract, signifying the end of the legal guardianship of parents. Seems simple enough, right? Child…17. Adult…18.

If so, then why are leading psychiatric associations publishing that adolescence should be extended to age 25? Why? Perhaps it’s because they know that a sustained “identity crisis,” which supposedly comes with adolescence, is good for their industry. After all, they’re all about fixing crises, right? Why extend the age of adolescence? Maybe it’s because longer childhood provides more of something else besides sin on which to blame America’s interminable immaturity.

As Christians, when we finish critiquing the psychiatric community’s self-fulfilling prophecies, are we prepared to do anything about it? What about our kids? Are we raising them to grow up? Do we have a plan to help them put away childish things and move from godly children to godly adults? Paul’s list includes speaking like a child, thinking like a child, and reasoning like a child. We must teach them and, more importantly, show them what it means to speak, think, and reason as an adult.

A wise man once instructed me that our goal as parents should not be to raise godly children, but to raise godly adults. (I won’t tell you his name, but his initials are RCJR.) This epigram casts our eyes toward the horizon, lest we become too easily satisfied in present successes or too easily discouraged by the failures. The litmus test for adulthood cannot be a magical age when the prefrontal cortex stops growing, and we should not be surprised when, a few years from now, new scientific data attempts to explain why adolescence is being extended to 40-years-old. The standard for judging godliness, in both children and adults, has been, and always will be, the Word of God—fully revealed in the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.<>online game

On November 22, 2013 By Kuyperian In Culture 1

C. S. Lewis & Winnie the Pooh

transcribed by Marc Hays

The following quote is taken from the lecture, “Shelf Life: Reading, Thinking and Resisting the Tyranny of the Urgent,” by Dr. George Grant, who granted permission for such a lengthy quote:

This afternoon, my talk is going to be, essentially, an exposition of a passage. I’ll read the passage first, and then, we’ll launch into the exposition therein.

“Well, I’ve got an idea,” said Rabbit, “and here it is. Look, we take Tigger for a long explore. Somewhere he’s never been. And then, we lose him there. And the next morning, we find him again. And mark my words, he’ll be a different Tigger altogether.”

“Why?” said Pooh.

“Because, he’ll be a humble Tigger; because he’ll be a sad Tigger; a melancholy Tigger; a small and sorry Tigger; and an ‘oh, Rabbit, I’m so glad to see you’ Tigger. That’s why.”

It’s a wonderful scene, isn’t it? Pooh and Rabbit talking about Tigger, who is always so… …pompous. Always so full of ideas.

You know, Pooh doesn’t have a brain, as he constantly reminds himself and everyone else. And Rabbit, well, he’s a bright one, but he’s small and he knows he’s small and he can’t dominate the world. Tigger, he’s even more pompous than Rabbit, because he knows so much. He’s so clever. He’s like an academic. So, Rabbit and Pooh come together to imagine a way to make Tigger more bearable. And they hatch this scheme that will somehow bring Tigger to a place of repentance.

J.R.R. Tolkien once said, “The essence of education is repentance. It is recognizing that we don’t know what we ought to know. We don’t do what we aspire to do. We make up a thousand excuses as to why it is that we’re not all that we were called to be.”

…And we could become overwhelmed with all that we’ve got to know and all that we’ve got to do, or we could be like that wonderful community just around the corner where Pooh lives where we provoke one another on toward repentance.

We all kind of need a Pooh and a Rabbit in our lives to take us on a long explore. Where we can then get lost, and then found again. So that we wake up the next day a much more humble Tigger; a much more receptive Tigger; a much more ‘oh, I’m so glad to see you Rabbit,’ Tigger.

That’s what reading does for us. We look at all of the tasks that we’ve got and we realize immediately that we are going to need to rearrange our lives. Because we have been robbed culturally; because we have been robbed spiritually; because we have been deficient ourselves, and we have contributed to own intellectual and spiritual indolence; we know that the great call of God on us is not just to stack the books up and to have all sorts of good intentions. It really is to repent. And there is nothing greater in all the world to provoke us to repent than to read books. Books that stretch us; books that change us; books that open to us new horizons; books that change the way we look at the world; books that change the way we talk; books that change the way we set the table; books that change the way we have relationships.

Emily Dickinson, the great American folk poet said,

“There is no Frigate like a Book To take us Lands away,
Nor any Coursers like a Page Of prancing Poetry –
This Traverse may the poorest take Without oppress of Toll –
How frugal is the Chariot That bears a Human soul.”

Mark Twain, reinforcing that notion, said, “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”

I’m convinced that to a large degree, what many of you are wrestling with as you think through your already crowded day-timers; as you think through all of your past, bashed, best intentions, is that God is beckoning you to join with me in repenting.

In this session, what I’d like to do is to suggest a practical way for us to undertake this humble task of repenting: changing our lives, realizing that we need to be hungry to learn. That we need to find teachers to speak into our lives, who may not live in our neighborhoods, but who can be brought to our school, into our communities, into our homes by way of that marvel called a book.

Long before the bane of television invaded our every waking moment, C. S. Lewis commented that while most people in modern industrial cultures are at least marginally able to read, they just don’t. In his wise and wonderful book, An Experiment in Criticism, he wrote,

“The majority, though they are sometimes frequent readers, do not set much store by reading. They turn to it as a last resource. They abandon it with alacrity as soon as any alternative pastime turns up. It is kept for railway journeys, illnesses, odd moments of enforced solitude, or for the process called ‘reading oneself to sleep.’ They sometimes combine it with desultory conversation; often, while listening to the radio. But literary people are always looking for leisure and silence in which to read and do so with their whole attention. When they are denied such attentive and undisturbed reading for a few days they feel impoverished.”

He goes further, admitting that there is a profound puzzlement on the part of the mass of the citizenry over the taste and habits of the literate. He says, “It is pretty clear that the majority, if they spoke without passion, and were fully articulate, would not accuse us of liking the wrong books, but about making such a fuss about any books at all.

We treat, as a main ingredient in our well-being, something which to them is marginal. Hence to say, simply, that they like one thing and we another is to leave out nearly the whole of the facts. He goes on to argue that all of this is not to imply any hint of moral turpitude on the part of modern Bohemianism; rather, it is to recognize the simple reality of the gaping chasm that exists between those who read and those who don’t; between the popular “many” and the peculiar “few.” It is to recognize that education requires the latter while maintaining steadfast incompatibility with the former.

He concludes the whole affair by saying, “true readers may never carry their knowledge with “hubris.” You know what ‘hubris'” is. It’s like pride, on sterroids. The truly well-read will never carry their education with hubris, because every time you turn a page, you discover something that you did not know. Thus, he says, it brings you back to that theme of education as repentance.

The preceding quote is taken from the lecture, “Shelf Life: Reading, Thinking and Resisting the Tyranny of the Urgent,” by Dr. George Grant. You can buy an mp3 download of the lecture here.

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On November 21, 2013 By Peter Jones In Culture Like

Homosexuality: What Conservative Christians Aren’t Saying, Are Asking, and Should Be Doing

By Peter Jones

Homosexuality has been a hot topic in the church for some time. The intensity of the debate has picked up as the homosexual movement has continued to push its agenda. What is most disconcerting is that the church continues to compromise. This blog post is divided into three sections. First, things Christians are accused of saying about homosexuality, but usually aren’t. Second, important questions that must be answered in the sodomy debate. Third, how should the Church approach sodomy.

Are We Saying That?

Conservative Christians are often accused of saying certain things when they are not. We have not been unclear on these points. Wackos get all the press. But most conservative Christian leaders have faithfully and graciously spoken to the issue of sodomy. New books are being constantly written about how Christians should graciously interact with homosexuals. When someone accuses Christians of the things listed below it is usually a slander.

We are not saying that sodomy is the unforgivable sin. The Bible does not teach that sodomy is an unforgivable sin. All sins can be forgiven if someone repents and turns from them to Christ. I Corinthians 6:9-11 lists homosexuals among those who have been washed. There may be Christians out there who think sodomy cannot be covered by the blood of Christ. But they are not in the center of the evangelical faith and they are wrong.

We are not encouraging people to hate homosexuals. The Bible does not teach that we hate homosexuals any more than it teaches that we hate murderers or adulterers or pedophiles. We tell them to repent and turn from their sins. Again, there are some Christians out there who hate sodomites, but these are on the fringe. I do not know of any evangelical leader who would encourage hatred of homosexuals. Of course, often the accusation of homophobia is against those who are calling homosexuals to repent. If the world sees calling homosexuals to repent as hatred, then we should all declare ourselves guilty.

We are not encouraging people to be afraid of or make fun of homosexuals. Here some work needs to be done in the Christian circles. There is still this idea that homosexuals are “disgusting.” Some of this comes from their practices. Some of this comes from a junior high mentality that likes to poke fun at certain groups of people. As Christians, this is generally not acceptable. There are places to mock a homosexual agenda, but this should not be normal, especially as we talk with homosexuals one on one. They are bound for Hell. Their practices are disgusting. But so are the practices of the adulterer or the man addicted to porn or the proud self-righteous church goer. All sin disgusts God. We should stop being disgusted by them and start calling them to trust in Christ. This is a more prevalent problem than the previous two, but it is still not what most leaders in the church call their flock to do.

Three Key Questions

Here are three key questions that conservative Christians are asking when we talk about homosexuality. My answers to the questions are in each paragraph, as well as a more comprehensive answer in the final section.

First, is a homosexual lifestyle, including lust and desire for homosexual relationships, consistent with faith in Christ? Can someone be a practicing homosexual and still trust in Christ? Is homosexuality a sin? Can we call homosexuals to repentance or are they just fine the way they are? If someone will not stand up straight, look you in the eye, and say that homosexuality is a sin then he has seriously compromised in some area of his life. Anytime you get in a conversation with a Christian about sodomy ask them if they think it is a sin. If they waver or say something like, “Yes, but so is lying and we all do that,” you can be assured they have compromised.

The second question, if homosexuality is a sin, how should we approach those who practice it? How should we adomonish homosexuals in private and how should we combat the public assault by homosexuals on the Christian faith? Can we call them to repentance and expect them to change? Here is where our view of sanctification becomes the most important issue. Do we believe that Christ came just to forgive? Or do we believe that he came to help us conquer our sins? Do we believe that Christians are actually being made more holy in this life by the power of the Spirit and the Word? Or do we believe that we are all just sinners waiting to get to Heaven?

Third, how should we treat Christian leaders who have compromised on this particular issue? They are false prophets leading people to Hell. As Mark Driscoll says, “Shoot the wolves.” They are wolves. They need to be actively opposed by Christian leaders. To sit by and oppose them in our minds is compromise.

What Should the Church Do About It?

If sodomy is a sin then what follows? What must a church do when she is confronted by a culture that wants us to embrace or at least allow for a sinful lifestyle? Let’s begin by stating exactly what sin does. Here is a partial list.

Sin which is not repented of and turned from:

Is displeasing to God. (I Thess. 4:1-12)
Separates us from God. (Isaiah 59:1-3)
Enslaves us. (John 8:34)
Is unnatural. (Romans 1:26-27)
Destroys relationships. (James 4:1-6)
Destroys families. (David’s Adultery, II Samuel 11-19, Titus 1:10-11)
Destroys cultures and cities. (II Kings 17:7-23,Rev. 16:19)
Brings death and unfruitfulness. (Romans 6:23)
Blinds us to the truth. (Matthew 23:16, 17, 19 24, 26)
Brings down the wrath of God. (Col. 3:6)
Sends us to Hell. (I Corinthians 6:9-10, Eph. 5:5-6, Gal. 5:19-21)

No Christian who loves Christ, has understood forgiveness, and loves his neighbor would want someone to remain in that state. So what must the Church do?

She must faithfully and courageously preach the whole Bible. She must preach most clearly on those doctrines which the world finds most offensive. Here is one of the key areas where the church has failed.
She must faithfully preach Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. This means two things: First, as Savior, he has defeated sin and his blood covers all the sins of all those who trust in him. Second, as our Lord, he commands us to put off sinful desires and actions.
She must faithfully preach that Christ has given his Spirit so that we might overcome our sins. Those in Christ are freed from their sins. Sodomy is not excluded. This does not just mean forgiveness, but it also means victory over sin in our lives.
She must faithfully show love to Christ, His Church, and to homosexuals by calling them to repent and turn from their sins. This is to be done graciously, but without compromise.
She must faithfully excommunicate Christians who refuse to turn from egregious sins. This includes sodomites, adulterers, thieves, liars, pedophiles, pornography addicts, Pharisees, abusive husbands, etc. This must be done carefully and usually after many hours of pastoral care encouraging the member to put off the old man. But it must done. The failure of God’s shepherds to faithfully protect God’s flock has led to increasing compromise in many denominations and local churches.
She must faithfully work to drive wolves out of the Church. Any teacher who proclaims that sodomy is an acceptable lifestyle for a Christian is a wolf who is allowing Satan to tear the lambs into pieces. They must be fought against.
She must expect the world to hate her and persecute her. To combat this hatred she must fight with faith in Christ, steadfastness in prayer, clinging to God’s Word, holy living, the communion of saints, faithful worship, and Biblical love for neighbor.

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On November 14, 2013 By Joffre Swait In Culture Like

A Thanksgiving Poem For You

by Joffre Swait

A few years ago I was asked to give a talk/homily/grace thing at ThanksFest, a local ecumenical Thanksgiving feast put on by some great guys. This is a Thanksgiving feast that includes a Man Stone Throw. It’s a great party.

I decided to recite a poem (originally posted here, at my blog), which I wrote especially for the occasion, and delivered as a toast. This is that poem. Truth be told, it’s really three poems. Made one. Have fun with it, and I hope you enjoy it. If you make it a part of your festivities, I will be deeply honored.

Thanksgiving Poem

Thanks For Ever

But as for me, I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God: I trust in the lovingkindness of God for ever and ever. I will give thee thanks for ever, because thou hast done it; And I will hope in thy name, for it is good, in the presence of thy saints. Psalm 52:8, 9

Taking Time

Why do we mark out special times,
and why do we mark them with food, and with rhymes?
The Lordship of Christ’s in all history,
He enacts it through means, both obvious and mystery.
This poem’s about good Jesus, our King,
And how he has made us able to sing
Thanksgiving to him throughout the whole year
For taking away our dooms and our fears.

But this poem can get pretty complicated,
So first I’ll explain how it’s all related.

Adam was put in a garden sweet,
Where the fruit of the ground was sufficient meat.
All of the earth was his domain,
Even time was beneath his reign.
For God had made him not to die,
With eternal life beneath the sky.

But when we sinned we began to fear,
As seasons turn, well, death draws near.
Where once time meant more life with God,
Now time stalked, and ripped, and clawed.
The pagan man felt the trap of age,
That time and death were a bitter cage.
So Norseman, Greek, and the Chinese,
Said time was a circle, with no surcease.
The seasons and time would go ever round,
And beneath it all of man’s cities would drown.

Then Jesus came to make world anew,
The circle was broken, time was made true.
While earth and the seasons may cycle and spin,
Time marches toward a goal in the end.
Creation anew, which came and which comes,
Brought new sense of time to his Chosen Ones.
He’s called us to climb up to his holy hill,
Sing thanks that he’s saved us, and is saving us still!

We now mark the year as Christians may,
By festival, feast, and high holy day.
A humble spirit and grateful heart
For the spiritual food he does impart.
This poem next will tell who hears,
Thanksgiving ends, or begins the year
With gratitude for his provender
As it opens and ends the Christian calendar.

The Holiday

Thanksgiving comes in autumn time,
which is the time of fading.
The glory of the trees is gone
and winter soon comes raiding.

And death has stalked us all for long;
death will still come creeping.
In winter man has need for bread,
and hunger finds him weeping.

In spring man watches skies for rain
and knows his life is set
On whether earth will grant reward
for labor and for sweat.

In summer all begins to grow,
the beasts and the diseases.
If death can close its awful jaw,
it never will release us.

And so the world will spin its course;
Adam counts the seasons.
The sons of Adam never make
escape, by force or reason.

But Jesus made the world new
when Jesus broke the ages.
Time had trapped us in a ring;
we now ascend, in stages.

We once were caught by time and death,
the seasons were our prison.
Now we climb the Holy Mount,
and sing that he is risen.

These songs are what will mark our time
as we climb to be near.
Thanksgiving Day can summon us
to sing a festal year.

Thanksgiving comes in autumn time,
which is the time of reaping.
The glory of the fruit lives on
for the food that we are keeping
To feast and drink when Advent brings
Heavenly Bread to table.
Winter comes, but we are warmed
by Creation in a stable.

All the beasts and all the nations!
They all may enter the store.
The winter brings Epiphany,
and nations stream up to the door.

Within that door the seed is kept,
At Easter it will flourish.
We who were buried all rise up,
By mana we are nourished.

The fruit of summer rises up
in the time we call Ordinary.
Where once was jungle, now we find
a farm, a garden, a dairy.

From there our summer leads to fall,
we’ve been fed from day to day.
A year has cycled fully ’round,
We sang ascending the heavenly way.

On Advent Sunday another year
will be marked out in song.
Where every Sunday’s a holy day
and festal weeks are long.

This new creation and new time
is only for the grateful.
We thank our God, who did provide
down to every plateful.

So this is where our verse can change,
and cheer our celebration.
America may thank our God,
the Church is his true nation.

Our fathers found, in hostile land,
an unexpected mercy.
And so do we, and just like they,
we feast upon a turkey!

So let us thank the one true God
for good gifts and for plenty.
Begin a new year, and raise a cheer
in thanks to One for many.

Thanksgiving For The Turkey

We thank our God, for the turkey who died,
For farmers from Georgia, and peanut oil.
It’s pretty good baked, but it’s better deep-fried
In a pot full of fat that’s come to a boil.

These orange potatoes, which some have called sweet,
Were never named thus by we honest fellows.
To live up to their name, to be proper and meet,
We’ve added brown sugar, and also marshmallows.

We thank God for beer, this Highlands strong ale,
With which we toast health, and strength come from Him.
Yes, sugar and yeast make beer hearty and hale,
As the wine of the Spirit gives vigor and vim.

So here is a health to the people of God
Who love him in every season and day.
For He loved us first which seems a bit odd,
But now we’re his children, so hip-hip…hooray!

We children will toast our God, who is Father.
Mighty hen, we’re his chicks, in his bosom we lay.
Creator of all things, our Guide and our Rudder,
Sustains us each day, so hip-hip…hooray!

Again, let us cheer our God, who is Son.
Came down from Heaven, so that He may
Conquer our death, a fight that he won.
He’s first-fruits of life, so hip-hip…hooray!

Once more we’ll cheer our God, who is Spirit.
He’s given to us, and with us He’ll stay.
A comfort, a joy, whenever we’re wearied,
He’ll never forsake us, so hip-hip…hooray!

So now raise your glasses, and encourage your neighbor,
With Thanksgiving cheer the God who gives favor!

To Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, let’s drink thanks!<>