Potentates, princes, priests and people

Jeremiah 1:17-18 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

God told Jeremiah to gird up his loins, or as we might say now "man up." Jeremiah earlier said that he couldn't speak because he was a child. By himself, he was right, he had no strength. God didn't plan on sending him out in his own strength.

Potentates, princes, priests and people stand against God's people, we are like a defensed city, iron pillar and brazen wall in Christ.

Jeremiah 1:19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

Yes, they will fight against you and they will not listen, but they did not send Jeremiah, did they?

God sent, God gave the message and God would be with Jeremiah in the fire. They fight against you Jeremiah, but I, Jehovah, am there to deliver you. Christ, the deliverer had promised. Christ the deliverer HAS promised. Trust Him.

The Day Lincoln Was Shot by Jim Bishop

The Day Lincoln Was Shot tells the hour by hour account of the day President Lincoln was assassinated. Each chapter covers each hour in the 24 hour period, and detailing what happened with all the major players during that time during the course of that infamous day. You follow Lincoln, Booth, Grant, Seward and many others throughout there day.

It was a heartbreaking book, but it was quite thought provoking. The author points out many instances where the plot could have been stopped, and details many small, seemingly insignificant circumstances, that made the assassination possible. What came to my mind was the workings of God's providence.

Without a doubt, the book is painstaking researched and the author did a great job putting the pieces of the puzzle together. How difficult it must have been to piece together history? Yet what is even more amazing that God ordains all things to come to pass. Our minds marvel at the events of a past event, while God has planned all things and ordains all things to come to pass, for every person, place and thing, in all the universe, for all eternity!

I recently read a sermon by D. James Kennedy giving an account of Mr. Lincoln's salvation. Lincoln was not a Christian for most of his life, but, according to his research, Lincoln had repentant faith in Christ alone for salvation.

(Job 14:5) Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass.

Douglas Newell IV

Triumphantly into harbour!

Martyn Lloyd-Jones from His book Spiritual Depression.

"For so,' he says (2 Peter 1:11) 'an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.' He is not talking about salvation here because these people are already saved; he is talking about the ultimate entrance into glory ... 'if you do these things', says Peter, 'if you discipline your life, if you order your life and furnish out your faith in this way and with these various other qualities', he says, 'you will never fall' in the present, you will have great joy and happiness resulting from your assurance, and when the end comes you will go out of this life into the next with your sails filled with the glorious breezes of Heaven. There will be no hesitation about it, it will not be an entrance with torn sails; rather an 'abundant entrance' will be ministered unto you ... For it will not be a putting out into some unknown sea, but rather an ending of the storms of life and a triumphant entry into the haven of our eternal rest and glory in the presence of God.

If we are unhappy and depressed Christians it is more than likely that it is all due to that lack of discipline. Let us therefore be up and doing, and giving all diligence, let us supplement our faith and not be afraid. Let us get our ideas clear and then put them into practice, and supplement our faith with this strength and vigour, with this knowledge, with this temperance, with this patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. Let us begin to enjoy our Christian life and to be useful and helpful to others. Let us grow in grace and knowledge and so be an attraction to all who know us to come and join with us in the like precious faith, and to experience the blessedness of these exceeding great and precious promises which never fail."

Rational, Logical Pro-Life Arguments

The following is a portion from an article written by By Scott Klusendorf of the Life Training Institute. His article How to Defend Your Pro-Life Views in 5 Minutes or Less was very good, but I particularlly liked this acronym SLED for discussing pro-life issues.

Size
Level of development
Environment
Degree of Dependency

Think of the acronym SLED as a helpful reminder of these non-essential differences:4

Size: True, embryos are smaller than newborns and adults, but why is that relevant? Do we really want to say that large people are more human than small ones? Men are generally larger than women, but that doesn’t mean that they deserve more rights. Size doesn’t equal value.

Level of development: True, embryos and fetuses are less developed than you and I. But again, why is this relevant? Four year-old girls are less developed than 14 year-old ones. Should older children have more rights than their younger siblings? Some people say that self-awareness makes one human. But if that is true, newborns do not qualify as valuable human beings. Six-week old infants lack the immediate capacity for performing human mental functions, as do the reversibly comatose, the sleeping, and those with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Environment: Where you are has no bearing on who you are. Does your value change when you cross the street or roll over in bed? If not, how can a journey of eight inches down the birth-canal suddenly change the essential nature of the unborn from non-human to human? If the unborn are not already human, merely changing their location can’t make them valuable.

Degree of Dependency: If viability makes us human, then all those who depend on insulin or kidney medication are not valuable and we may kill them. Conjoined twins who share blood type and bodily systems also have no right to life.

In short, it’s far more reasonable to argue that although humans differ immensely with respect to talents, accomplishments, and degrees of development, they are nonetheless equal because they share a common human nature.

3) Challenge your listeners to be intellectually honest. Ask the tough questions. When critics say that birth makes the unborn human, ask, “How does a mere change of location from inside the womb to outside the womb change the essential nature of the unborn?” If they say that brain development or higher consciousness makes us human, ask if they would agree with Joseph Fletcher that those with an IQ below 20 or perhaps 40 should be declared non-persons? If not, why not? True, some people will ignore the scientific and philosophic case you present for the pro-life view and argue for abortion based on self-interest. That is the lazy way out. Remind your critics that if we care about truth, we will courageously follow the facts wherever they lead, no matter what the cost to our own self-interests.

Pro-abortion advocates spend great time, carefully crafting soundbites and slogans that deter from the real issue. Case in point, "pro-choice" was adopted to take the issue from life to choice of the mother. Don't yield the language.


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Douglas Newell IV

Books, books, and more books

LIBRARY BOOK SALE! Happy day for a book lover, the Youngsville, NC book sale. The Friends of the Library and community members donate used books to the library, who in turn, sale the books at a ridiculously low price; hardback $1 and paperback $0.50. Great deals on some good books.

This is the second sale this year, and I made out pretty good, if I must say. The Christian books represent well this time around, but I did pretty good on the non-fiction books.

I got my boys several paperback classics like The Time Machine, Red Badge of Courage, Three Musketeers and Robin Hood.

I am excited about two books in particular that fall in the non-fiction category. The first is The Day Lincoln was Shot by Jim Bishop. It is an hour by hour account of that infamous day that, well, the day Lincoln was shot (I love the title, not fancy, not "clever" or deceptive. You know what your getting). The second book I look forward to is American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur by William Manchester. Sadly and to my shame, I don't know what I should about the World Wars. In all the years of public schooling, not once did any of my teachers talk about WWI or WWII. Sad. That is one reason (howbeit a small reason) my wife and I are homeschooling. How could you not teach about WWII?

One funny observation. I arrived at the sale at 8:45am. The sale started at 9:00am. The place was packed already. I stopped for a moment and looked around; it was like a swarm of ants. Every man, woman and child for themselves.

Manners? Politeness? Fairness? Come, these are books after all. I suppose when people see books for a $1 and then see you taking the book that they would have if they had gotten there first, it stirs our little sinful hearts up. Fortunately, no one was injured; well, seriously injured anyway. 8^)

Apples of Gold

"Alanis Morissette's 'Ironic,' in which situations purporting to be ironic are merely sad, random, or annoying (a traffic jam when you're late, a no-smoking sign on your cigarette break) perpetuates widespread misuse of the word and outrages irony prescriptivists. It is of course ironic that 'Ironic' is an unironic song about irony. Bonus irony: 'Ironic' is widely cited as an example of how Americans don't get irony, despite the fact that Alanis Morissette is Canadian."
Jon Winokur, The Big Book of Irony

Rationalism is never so weak as when it fancies itself strong. Hugh Martin

A sermon is an oral address to the popular mind, upon religious truth contained in the Scriptures, and elaborately treated with a view of persuasion. Phelps

Give to the poor those things which you cannot keep that you may receive those things which you cannot loose. Augustine

Douglas Newell IV

The victim happened to have banjo in hand and used it in self defense

Interesting story from Kansascity.com.


Overland Park man uses banjo in self defense

Attacked by a man wielding a frying pan and a knife, an Overland Park man swung his banjo.
Police say the banjo blow to the head stopped the assailant, who was treated for a cut and is now in jail awaiting charges.

The incident happened about 9 p.m. Monday at an apartment in the 7600 block of Shawnee Mission Parkway, police said.

The two 21-year-old men were drinking and arguing about a band when one of them grabbed the kitchen weapons and attacked, police said.

The victim happened to have banjo in hand and used it in self defense, they said.

The smell of alcohol was prevalent, police said.

The smell of alcohol was prevalent? Really? I never would have guessed. Also, do note that it was the BANJO play that used his instrument, not the mandolin or guitar player. Better to be hit by a frying pan than to break your mandolin.

Also, what band were they arguing about? And at what point in an argument to you reach for a knife AND a frying pan? Why the knife and the frying pan? Was the frying pan an offensive or defensive weapon?

I can't decide what I think about this story; funny, sad, embarrassing, a heroic tale of self-defense...at least it didn't happen in Kentucky.

9/11

Apples of Gold

Leading off, C.H. Spurgeon on false professors.

Too many professors pacify themselves the idea that they possess imputed righteousness, while they are indifferent to the sanctifying work of the Spirit. They refuse to put on the garment of obedience, they reject he white linen which is the righteousness of the saints. They thus reveal their self-will, their enmity to God, and their non-submission to His Son.”

Batting second, John Piper

"Many people are willing to be God centered, as long as they feel that God is man centered."

Batting third, from his book on Johah, Hugh Martin.

Ah! Beware of disobedience like these, stroke upon stroke. You may think you gain your end; but the Lord has you in His hand, and never more so than precisely when you think you have succeeded. You may resolve to disobey; you may rise up and flee; you may find you way to Joppa; you may find the ship ready there; you may find the mariners make no objection to your company, and are ready to receive the fare. You may crow all, and think the day is gained, when you go down into the ship. How successful has your scheme been?

Hitting cleanup, Robert Murray M'Cheyne describing the idol of the fear of man.

Fear of man, grim idol, bloody mouthed; many souls he has devoured and trampled down into hell. His eyes are full of hatred to Christ's disciples. Scoffs and jeers lurk i his eye. The laugh of the scorner growls in his throat. Cast down this idol... You that have felt God's love and Spirit, dash this idol to pieces. What art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall die? Fear not, thou worm Jacob. What have I to do any ore with idols?

Douglas Newell IV

Jeremiah 17:9

Aroldis Chapman: The Cuban Missile

Exciting time to be a Reds fan!