Snow White Hot Reds

How low will it go? The evidence of global
warming appears to be in full retreat this
winter (sadly not in Florida though).

I think the whole environmentalist
movement has moved from legitimate
pollution concerns (the burning Rocky
River, for example) to the total control
of men.

Since the dawn of Modernism and
the Enlightenment, men have been
seeking a way to change man apart
from Godly regeneration. The
Revolution in all its manifestations
has been the Damascene moment
of humanism. Ultimately, the
change longed for is the total
eradication of the Imago Dei.

Like all humanist works, it is
a work. There is no grace in either
the Revolution or its hangman,
the State. Humanist salvation
is always by law and by force.

Environmentalism has been
one tool in bringing men and
their activities under tighter
control by the State. At the
bottom, it is fear and hatred of
man (especially free men) that
drives environmentalists. But,
this is only one aspect.

The current recession (depression?),
the War on Terror, The War on Drugs,
etc. have all been tools that have
originated from legitimate problems,
but used to subjugate. Always, they
leverage fear, but Christians should
remember that "God hath not given
us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind." II Tim. 1:7

We have a sovereign Lord who created
and sustains everything. All history from
the smallest falling hair to the greatest
act of man is controlled by Him. His
law rules all, but it is a law that grows
out of Grace. Ex. 20:2-17 He is the
one who provides true regeneration
and transformation, not the
wild-eyed revolutionaries.

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Wilson v Hitchens

Hitchens/Wilson sneak peak from LEVEL4 on Vimeo.

This should be awesome. I'd have
loved to have been in the booth with
them knocking back a few pints and
watching them knock heads.


ofs

The Last Battle

I grew up in the Cold War in an
Army family. My folks knew the
enemy and resisted him. They
taught my sister and I to do the
same. Both of my parents were
born before the October
Revolution and outlived the
collapse of the Berlin Wall,
the Iron Curtain, and the
Soviet Union. We felt that
Communism was dead. We
were wrong. Tuesday,
4 November 2008, I'm
afraid that America will
willing surrender the
Cold War. I am glad my
parents are not here to
see it. I just hope we
made a profit on the
rope we sold and are
using to hang ourselves.

ofs

One Whole Lotta Love

God is love.

God tells us that He is many things,
but these three words are the ones
everyone knows. I think these are
the words that have defined the
Church (at least the American
Church) in this stage of her
history. I think they are also
the words that define the whole
of Western Civilization as it
has developed.

The problem is that by abstracting
these words from their context
in the Bible, they have become
redefined and alien. Love
especially has gotten twisted.
Romans 13:10 tells us that,
"love is the fulfilling of the law."
The previous verse lets us know
that that law encompasses the
Ten Commandments if nothing
else. Yet, the love that governs
the world is a love at odds with
the Ten Commandments. Where
God says, "Don't kill," the reply
is heard, "why should a woman
be punished with a child? Her
body is her own. Plus, it is
cruelty to bring an unwanted
child into this world." Abortion
becomes an act of love.

The Bible says, "Don't covet and
Don't steal." But, the world says,
"When we think you are too
wealthy, we will take from you -
not based on any wrong you've
done - and give it to another -
not based on any wrong they've
suffered." Because you have
it and they "need" it, theft becomes
an act of love.

The Bible says, "Don't commit
adultery," but the world says
that no sexual relationship is
forbidden if it is done in
love.

Those more skilled with words
could, I am sure, find more
examples of the perverting
of the Love of God, but I am
depressed enough with what
I have written so far.

ofs

Sarah Palin

Whatever else her candidacy means, I
think she has freed a lot of women to be
women. Grey old Republican men have
not been effective at articulating an alternative
to abortion frenzied liberal women. The
Bible says, "All they who hate me love death,"
but death has been portrayed as the ultimate
act of love for so long time now that folks have
either bought into it or are too afraid
to challenge it. The argument for freedom-
through-abortion has been powerful, but
ultimately empty and vain. Along comes
Sarah Palin. Her motto appears to be,
"I walk at liberty for I seek thy precepts."
She is glowing and happy - regret and
guilt free. She is what, I think, a lot
of women wish they were.

ofs

Darwin Award Candidate

Ouch

No, "poop" doesn't happen

I am here in this fallen world where things can go terribly wrong,
and as a Christian I am in a covenanted and personal relationship
with God of this fallen world. And when something in my life is
going off the rails, like the psalmist, I would talk to God about it,
and if I have learned to speak to Him as a Christian, I will speak
to Him as one who has the power to do something about that
problem, no matter how great it is -- tsunamis, hurricanes,
volcanoes, wars, genocides, or all of them together. This means
I must speak to Him in such a way as to prevail upon Him to
exercise that power and deliver me, or in such a way as to
reconcile myself to my role in this difficult part of the story He
is telling, trusting the later outcome to Him. There are no other
biblical options. My prayers will either move God to act, or will
move me to rest. They will never move Him to remove His
signature from the title page of the story He is writing. Excuse
me, but I don't want to live in that book.

Doug Wilson

Hope this is Real

Supposedly, a son of a top Hamas leader
has converted to Christianity. God
protect his life and witness.

ofs

Sole Man Back at It

Jamie Soles' has a new album:

Pure Words is a collection of songs from the early Psalms.
Several of them have been around for at least a couple years,
and most of them are being used in our church. When I
gathered my thoughts for this project, I had probably 8 or
9 of them written already, and I set out to finish the remainder
of the first 16 Psalms. I did not succeed as I wished; you
will notice the absence of Psalm 9. Perhaps one day I will
be man enough to write a song for Psalm 9, but that day is
not yet.

It seems to me that the Church should be singing the
Psalms, her ancient songbook. In a number of places in
the New Testament the psalms are spoken of or quoted
as though they had been uttered by the Messiah. If this is
the case, and I believe it is, and if the believer‚s task in life
is to grow more into the image of Jesus, then mastering the
Psalms would be a wise way to learn the mind of Christ. Do
you want to be like Jesus? Well, here is a treasure trove of
the way that Jesus thinks and expresses Himself in song.
Learn to sing them well. Jesus is pleased when His people
know how He thinks.

Most of these songs are taken word for word from the ESV
Bible. I have taken artistic license in a few places, particularly
in older songs, but I have found that the ESV makes doing so
unnecessary. There is something very musical about this
translation, something which accommodates it to contemporary
song without need of revision. This is a very good thing,
because today's churches need to be singing the Psalms, and
doing so in a fashion which makes sense to the modern ear.

To the Church of Jesus Christ the King; may these songs be
useful for you, and helpful in your pursuit of Him.

Jamie Soles

July 30/2008

Grande Prairie, AB.

Daddy's Juice

George Will has discovered that it
wasn't the Irish who saved civilization;
it was beer and other booze. Maybe that's
why Noah wasn't having any of that corpse-
tainted water after exiting the ark
(Gen. 9:20-21).

ofs

Londonistan

Britain's answer to Islam is women
bishops. Say goodbye, Britain. And,
we're seriously considering Obama. They,
and soon we, are getting what we both
deserve.

ofs

The Bible is Subversive

I read Prov. 17:2 last night and instantly
saw it as one of the more subversive
texts (among so many) in the Bible.

Those who think that family ties are
the most binding thing in the world are
mistaken. Blood is not thicker than
water.

It all comes down to faithfulness.
That should keep any of us from
presumption.

So, maybe I've been right to teach
my children that if they leave the
Faith, they've left the family.

ofs

The Prisoner

I've been watching The Prisoner. It was a show I first
watched as a child in the late 60s. I was surprised
to find out that it had been produced in color. I watched it
then at my babysitter's (Nana Fause) on her black
and white TV. It was a weird show and one I didn't
understand then. But, Rover fascinated me.

I'm sure McGoohan's work helped shape my anti-
totalitarian views. Whatever else, I will never
be a number; I will always be a free man.

ofs

Propaganda Terrorists

From what I can tell, the global warming
campaign is backdoor socialism: fear
used as a motivator to cow dissent
and to seek state sponsored salvation.

This link is an analysis of the fakery
of global warming. Sadly, it will be ignored.


ofs

Random Thoughts I

The Bible presents the order of God's activities
as Creation first and Redemption second (i.e.
Genesis before Exodus). But, in our experience,
we meet God first as our Redeemer before we
understand that He is our Creator (i.e. the
Children of Israel experienced the Exodus
before Moses wrote Genesis).

Not sure if the above really means anything, but
I had the thought and wanted to write it
down before it fell off the outer rim of my
memory.

ofs

Faith in the God of Creation

The allusion to creation ex nihilo is even
stronger in another New Testament
reference to Abraham's faith, Romans 4:17:
"He is our father in the sight of God, in
whom he believed - the God who gives life
to the dead and calls things that are not as
though they were." Paul goes on to ex-
plain how Abraham's faith, the great
model for Christian faith, the faith
"credited to him as righteousness" (v. 22),
was a faith in God's promise, despite
apparently impossible odds, a faith that
God could bring life from death. God is
the God of creation, who calls things that
are not as though they were, who by his
word brings being out of nothingness,
light out of darkness. We can trust his
word, his promise, therefore, even when
we do not see any visible evidence of its
fulfillment.

John Frame, Doctrine of God, p. 28

Conservative Government - A Contradiction?

From John Frame's Doctrine of God:

"As a subdivision of providence, government
speaks of that rule, but emphasizes that it is
teleological. That is to say, God governs all
events for a purpose. The English word 'govern'
comes from the Latin gubernare, 'to steer a
ship.' That dynamic emphasis on directing the
motion of something toward a goal remains in
the traditional theological use of the term
govern, though it is lost in the more common
use of the word today, which is usually political.
Nature and history, like ships, are moving. They
have a direction, a destination, and everything
works toward that end. "

But the "common use" of the word today is
significantly weaker that Frame's theological.
Conservatives in the political realm have no
direction, no destination, and no working
toward an end. They do not know how to
govern for they do not have the Governor
of the world guiding them.

ofs

Never Underestimate the Gullibility of Dispies

In case of Rapture, send email.

Is there any way to prove this
group actually believes this or
has actually prepared for it? If
it isn't a well-crafted spoof, then
I'll bet there are a boatload of
chuckleheads that have actually
paid money for the "service."

ofs

The Darkness Grows

I like my Cuba Libres, but I may have
to see if there is a Venezuela Libre to
try.

ofs

The Memorial Day I Hate Remembering

The Psalmist writes, "Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?" 88:12 And, "Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness." 88:18

My mother lives in that land of forgetfulness. On Memorial Day, 1993, my mom stopped remembering. She developed Alzheimer's. On that most ironic of days, she no longer knew my father. She liked him; she thought he was a nice old man; she called him Grandpa; she was impressed that an older gentleman could fall in love with her; but she did not know who he was. He died less than two months later of a heart that was broken as much as of a heart that just broke. After almost 53 years of love, he could not understand what had happened.

When Dad died, my mom went into a nursing home. A week later she fell and broke her hip. After that, she had two severe cases of cystitis and one of phlebitis all of which hospitalized her. She developed a bed sore on her back that kept her laid up in a special bed for months. At one point, she was completely out of it. She could not respond to anything. She sat slumped over - her head pillowed only by the tray on her wheelchair. I tried to feed her one day. She could not swallow much less chew what I gave her.

When things were the bleakest, she rallied back. Her health improved. Her appetite came back. The physical therapists even got her to walk some. She is still cracked up, but she has become a real crack up. The things she does, the things she says, and the things she says she does keep me laughing when I've been there and fill her caregiver and the nursing home staff with stories that they rush to tell me when I haven't.

One day when she was in her bed sore special bed, she looked up at me and said, "You're going to think this is so funny, but I was talking to someone today, and I couldn't remember your name."

I said, "It's Bill [my boyhood name], Mom."

She said, "Well, I KNOW that, but what's your last name? I went looking in that book where all the names are ...."

"The Phone Book, Mom?"

"Yes, that's it."

"Well, my name's Bill Linn."

"Well, that explains it," she said - "I was looking under Mud."

I had to go walk out in the hall for a few minutes.

Another day, I was talking to her out in the sitting area. One of the other female inmates came up to her and growled, "Nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh." Mom looked at her and said with complete ease, "I'm sorry, I don't speak French. But, I believe my son does." [I don't voulez a single word in Francaise.]

Mom fell in love and got engaged (in her head) to a 60 year old detainee named Dave. Their conversations were surreal. Like normal conversations Mom would say her part and wait while Dave said his part, and he did the same back. Only, Mom was discussing wedding plans and Dave was counting to one hundred. She broke up with him several times because "he didn't communicate very well." The staff told me of one time when she was still engaged: Mom was holding Dave's hand and she announced in a loud voice to the group, "May I have everyone's attention! I have an announcement! David and I are going to be married." A woman vistor was there. She said to Mom, "Excuse me. Who did you say you were marrying?" Mom said, "David Smith." This woman was the REAL Mrs. David Smith. She looked at Mom and said, "Oh well, the more the merrier. If you can get him down the aisle, more power to you."

Mom doesn't live in the past like the television portrayal of Alzheimer's. She lives in her own present world and has a great time. She's been to Russia, to Paris, to California, and lecturing down in the islands. The Lutherans are going to publish some of her poetry. She just went back to school and got her degree in Spanish (because she couldn't remember well enough to conjugate all the German verbs). She graduated with honors. She married a man who was 21 1/2. [If it's going to be imaginary, it might as well be fun.]

I love to quiz her on what she's been up to. The one rule I have is never to ask her, "Do you remember ....?" I don't want to stress her out, and I don't want to know if the answer is "No." For instance, I never ask her if she knows who I am. Sometimes, she introduces me as her brother Jerry, but that's all right - Jerry is a nice guy.

There is one question above all others that I have been reluctant to ask her: "Do you remember God?" I've been afraid to hear a negative answer. You see, there is *NOTHING* I can do to make her remember. If she has forgotten God, no amount of pleading or prompting can bring it back. I know. I tried it when she didn't know my dad.

Now, you can tell from my stories, that God hasn't forgotten her. And, you know what I found out the other day? She hasn't forgotten Him either. Our caregiver told my wife that Mom often goes out to the group and witnesses to them, prays with them, and tells them that they need to be saved. And, you know what else? Her former night nurse has had to quit because he is dying of AIDS. I don't know this, but maybe the only Gospel he has ever heard came from the lips of that sweet, crazy old mother of mine.

Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow.

Update from Scott:

My mother died peacefully in Sept. 1999

Over the years, I received numerous emails of encouragement and shared grief from folks. I have always been thankful to you for posting it on CRTA.

Thanks,

Scott Linn

Saul's Armor

Doug Wilson has commented on the An Evangelical
Manifesto. It looks like evangelicals are reverting
to form. The main reason is that their flirtation
with conservatism was as shallowly based as their
long-term relationship with liberalism. And, both
are based on something other than the Word of
God. Rushdoony makes this point in his By
What Standard:

Even as Roman Catholicism has historically
absorbed local deities at times as saints, and
absorbed local goddesses into the image of the
Madonna, so Protestantism has followed a
similar policy with regard to secularism. It has
tried to make the world over into the kingdom by
baptizing paganism and secularism, by sprinkling
a few drops of approval and benediction over the
heads of alien philosophies and presuppositions.
It has operated on the principle of common ground
rather than reconquered ground. It has borrowed
its doctrines of education from the world, its political
theory from the state, its concept of the law from
Phariseeism, secularism and Thomism. In the early
1930's, some New Deal economists asserted that the
road to prosperity and wealth was through unlimited
spending and debt. Similar reasoning seems to prevail
in many Christian circles: the more we allow the world
to prevail in the church, the stronger the church! The
more we throw away our Christian presuppositions, the
more strong our Christian strength and appeal, ostensibly!
The gospel apparently, is not big enough or wide enough
to meet the world in its own strength; it must borrow Saul's
armor.

But, as Van Til asserts, "It is quite impossible to challenge
the modern man with the gospel of Christ unless this gospel
of Christ be set in its widest possible setting." It is not our
function to cater to modern man but to challenge him, not
to confirm or baptize him in is ways but to convert him to
the whole counsel of God. (pp. 174-5)

ofs

Republicans! Left March

Arnold has spoken. So, has David Frum.
For these men, the Republican party must
shift left away from Ronald Reagan's
version of Conservatism to a more
contemporary view to be successful.
This is nothing new for the Republican
party or Conservatism. It has always
trailed the Democrats and their Liberal
agenda by thirty or forty years.

I've come to believe that Conservatism
just wants to back up and slow down
a little, but doesn't really have a
place or direction that it is heading.
Liberalism is still, of course, heading
to hell. But, Conservatism is at a loss.
Conservatism is half convinced of Liberalism,
but doesn't know how to advance beyond
it.

If history has shown anything, Liberalism
and Conservatism are both heirs of the
Enlightenment and its firstborn, the
French Revolution. That revolution
proved that Jacobins will always beat
Girondists as surely as Bolsheviks will
the Mencheviks (or Socialist Revolutionaries
or Kadety). Of course, eventually, after that,
everything collapses. Napoleon will
appear or the Berlin Wall will fall.

Only in Christ do we have a permanent,
unfailing answer to the world's problems.
Not just the problems of the human soul
and its place in eternity, but every
problem and every decision. Revolution
(on either the right or the left) can
be dispensed with in favor of regeneration.

ofs

Children's Church

Our children have always been in church
with us. We never exiled them off to
Children's Church. We felt that church
is the gathered people of God who are
there to hear Christ speak. All the
faithful are called to be with Christ,
not just those of a certain age or
intellectual attainment. Here's a
guy who agrees.

ofs

Expelled

I saw Ben Stein's Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
with SWMBO and boys 3 and 4. We all enjoyed the
movie. I thought it was a very good effort.
There was a tremendous amount to cover and the
brief span that a documentary has to cap-
ture the attention of viewers limits
what can be covered.

Stein reviews some cases of scientists,
professors, and authors whose careers
have been curtailed or jeopardized because
they have supported (or merely mentioned)
"Intelligent Design." One has to
trust that Stein is accurately portraying the
real situations where these folks find them-
selves. Michael Moore has shown how to
shape a documentary to make a political
point.

Stein hinted at, but never really showed
why Darwinianism is in crises. Some of
it, certainly, was his presentation that
even the most basic elements of life -
cells - are so complex that they couldn't
have started other than by intelligent
structure. He also tried to link
Darwinism to an inherent disrespect
for life - from abortion, euthanasia,
and eugenics right up to the NAZIs.
Much of the file footage he showed was
also of the communists, though he didn't
spell that out as directly.

My big perception of ID is that it
is merely asking for a seat at the
table. Rational men, presented with
the facts, can then make the right
decision. The problem is that Jesus
isn't anxiously standing by wringing his
hands and hoping that things work out.
He is King Jesus. He is the conquering
Lord. He is Jehovah. He is Immanuel.
At His name, every knee is to bow
and every tongue confess. This is His
world, created and governed by Him. The
Gospel is that the King has come and
reigns now. We don't choose Him,
elect Him, or ask Him into our hearts.

Arguing for ID is like debating
theism in general. There is no
vaguely defined intelligence or
god out there - there is only the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

I appreciate Ben Stein and his
documentary, but fear it gives
up too much by not going far
enough.

ofs

As If This Was a Surprise

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

It's Back

Ahh. The world is better
Purgatorio is back!

ofs

Fidelling around

For those that know me, I have
an absolute abhorrence for the
Revolution in all its forms.

Socialism whether of the national
or international stripe uses the
Revolution to remake man in a
new image. Its failure to ever
accomplish this goal leads to
frustrations that get taken
out on the very people it seeks
to save.

Finally, there is some good news
from Cuba. Castro is stepping
down (assuming he hasn't already
made the great descent some time
back). All I can hope is that
the whole horrid 1950's facade
collapses while he is still alive
to see it (assuming that he was
still alive when he issued his
press announcement). I'm not
hopeful enough to believe that
he'll end up Mussolinied, but
a guy can dream can't he?

¡CUBA LIBRE!

ofs

NOOMA

My kids think these videos are
kinda wierd. From the couple I've
seen, I have to agree.

ofs

Wright Time

This guy is like a daisy:

He's orthodox
He's a liberal
He's orthodox
He's a liberal

This article from Time Mag is
definitely in the "orthodox"
category.

ofs

Here's Wishing You a Miserable Lent

Time to recycle this and this.

ofs

This Guy is Good

The Anti-Federal Vision Study Bible blog
is authored by someone who is really swift
in his approach. He doesn't handle these hot
topics with kid gloves. That's for sure.

ofs

It's Not My Fault - It's Everybody Else

Chavez is still at it. He's the
Mugabe of South America. May
God deliver Venezuala.

ofs