Since the previous clip I posted no longer works...here ya go.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Wow...what a sham
When you are a Democrat administration and HELEN THOMAS is calling you out...you know something is terribly, terribly wrong.
Today's Thought
As British theologian Alister McGrath warns, the Bible is not primarily a doctrinal sourcebook: “To reduce revelation to principles or concepts is to suppress the element of mystery, holiness and wonder to God’s self-disclosure. ‘First principles’ may enlighten and inform; they do not force us to our knees in reverence and awe, as with Moses at the burning bush, or the disciples in the presence of the risen Christ”
Monday, June 8, 2009
Imprecation
I had never heard this word, which apparently means curse, until today. It came from this article:
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is repudiating statements made by a former convention official regarding President Barack Obama and the recent murder of abortionist George Tiller.
On a recent webcast of his daily radio talk show, Wiley Drake, former second vice-president of the SBC, called last Sunday's murder of Tiller "an answer to prayer." Then during an interview with Alan Colmes on Fox News Radio, Drake said he was praying the same type of "imprecatory prayer" against the president of the United States.
For years, Drake has encouraged the practice of praying words of judgment found throughout the Book of Psalm, back to God, against enemies. But Dr. Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia, and president of the SBC, says Drake's comments are out of line.
"[That's a] terrible statement, [a] very unbiblical statement," Hunt responds. "I'm still encouraged that the [Book of] Proverbs teaches that God has the water in a channel -- and my prayer has always that God would turn hearts."
Hunt also referenced the Book of 1 Timothy, which encourages Christians to pray for those in authority.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I certainly don't agree in praying for anyone's death. I don't even support the death penalty because I think God can always change hearts and it should be God's decision when our lives are over since he created us. Piper wrote the following about imprecation today, probably in response to Drake's comments:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have tried to deal faithfully with curses in the Psalms, for example, in a sermon on Psalm 69.
Psalm 83, however, presents a different challenge. At the end there is a strange mixture of supplication and imprecation:
Fill their faces with shame,
that they may seek your name, O Lord.
Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;
let them perish in disgrace,
that they may know that you alone,
whose name is the Lord,
are the Most High over all the earth.
(Psalm 83:16-18)
Imprecation: The word “forever” in verse 17 is a prayer for utter and eternal defeat: “Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever.”
Supplication: But the phrase, “that they may seek your name, O Lord,” is a prayer for conversion: “Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O Lord.”
It is true, as Kidner points out, that there is “fruitless seeking”. But it would be very strange that the psalmist would be praying for “fruitless seeking.” If that’s the prayer why not just pray that they not seek the Lord?
I think David Dickson is right:
If any of the enemies of God’s people belong to God’s election, the church’s prayer against them giveth way to their conversion, and seeketh no more than that the judgment should follow them, only till they acknowledge their sin, turn, and seek God.... For the rest of the wicked, irreconcilable adversaries, when shame of disappointment and temporal judgments are come upon them, the worst of all yet followeth, even everlasting perdition. (Commentary on the Psalms, Vol. 2, 67-68)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A lot to take in there. Will have to spend some more time on all of this.
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is repudiating statements made by a former convention official regarding President Barack Obama and the recent murder of abortionist George Tiller.
On a recent webcast of his daily radio talk show, Wiley Drake, former second vice-president of the SBC, called last Sunday's murder of Tiller "an answer to prayer." Then during an interview with Alan Colmes on Fox News Radio, Drake said he was praying the same type of "imprecatory prayer" against the president of the United States.
For years, Drake has encouraged the practice of praying words of judgment found throughout the Book of Psalm, back to God, against enemies. But Dr. Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia, and president of the SBC, says Drake's comments are out of line.
"[That's a] terrible statement, [a] very unbiblical statement," Hunt responds. "I'm still encouraged that the [Book of] Proverbs teaches that God has the water in a channel -- and my prayer has always that God would turn hearts."
Hunt also referenced the Book of 1 Timothy, which encourages Christians to pray for those in authority.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I certainly don't agree in praying for anyone's death. I don't even support the death penalty because I think God can always change hearts and it should be God's decision when our lives are over since he created us. Piper wrote the following about imprecation today, probably in response to Drake's comments:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have tried to deal faithfully with curses in the Psalms, for example, in a sermon on Psalm 69.
Psalm 83, however, presents a different challenge. At the end there is a strange mixture of supplication and imprecation:
Fill their faces with shame,
that they may seek your name, O Lord.
Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;
let them perish in disgrace,
that they may know that you alone,
whose name is the Lord,
are the Most High over all the earth.
(Psalm 83:16-18)
Imprecation: The word “forever” in verse 17 is a prayer for utter and eternal defeat: “Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever.”
Supplication: But the phrase, “that they may seek your name, O Lord,” is a prayer for conversion: “Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O Lord.”
It is true, as Kidner points out, that there is “fruitless seeking”. But it would be very strange that the psalmist would be praying for “fruitless seeking.” If that’s the prayer why not just pray that they not seek the Lord?
I think David Dickson is right:
If any of the enemies of God’s people belong to God’s election, the church’s prayer against them giveth way to their conversion, and seeketh no more than that the judgment should follow them, only till they acknowledge their sin, turn, and seek God.... For the rest of the wicked, irreconcilable adversaries, when shame of disappointment and temporal judgments are come upon them, the worst of all yet followeth, even everlasting perdition. (Commentary on the Psalms, Vol. 2, 67-68)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A lot to take in there. Will have to spend some more time on all of this.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
As Good as it Gets
From John Eldredge's "The Sacred Romance":
If for all practical purposes we believe that this life is our best shot at happiness, if this is as good as it gets, we will live as desperate, demanding, and eventually despairing men and women. We will place on this world a burden it was never intended to bear. We will try to find a way to sneak back into the Garden and when that fails, as it always does, our heart fails as well. If truth be told, most of us live as though this life is our only hope.
In his wonderful book The Eclipse of Heaven, A. J. Conyers put it quite simply: “We live in a world no longer under heaven.” All the crises of the human soul flow from there. All our addictions and depressions, the rage that simmers just beneath the surface of our Christian facade, and the deadness that characterizes so much of our lives has a common root: We think this is as good as it gets. Take away the hope of arrival and our journey becomes the Battan death march. The best human life is unspeakably sad. Even if we manage to escape some of the bigger tragedies (and few of us do), life rarely matches our expectations. When we do get a taste of what we really long for, it never lasts. Every vacation eventually comes to an end. Friends move away. Our careers don’t quite pan out. Sadly, we feel guilty about our disappointment, as though we ought to be more grateful.
Of course we’re disappointed—we’re made for so much more. “He has also set eternity in the hearts” (Eccl. 3:11). Our longing for heaven whispers to us in our disappointments and screams through our agony. “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy,” C. S. Lewis wrote, “the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”
If for all practical purposes we believe that this life is our best shot at happiness, if this is as good as it gets, we will live as desperate, demanding, and eventually despairing men and women. We will place on this world a burden it was never intended to bear. We will try to find a way to sneak back into the Garden and when that fails, as it always does, our heart fails as well. If truth be told, most of us live as though this life is our only hope.
In his wonderful book The Eclipse of Heaven, A. J. Conyers put it quite simply: “We live in a world no longer under heaven.” All the crises of the human soul flow from there. All our addictions and depressions, the rage that simmers just beneath the surface of our Christian facade, and the deadness that characterizes so much of our lives has a common root: We think this is as good as it gets. Take away the hope of arrival and our journey becomes the Battan death march. The best human life is unspeakably sad. Even if we manage to escape some of the bigger tragedies (and few of us do), life rarely matches our expectations. When we do get a taste of what we really long for, it never lasts. Every vacation eventually comes to an end. Friends move away. Our careers don’t quite pan out. Sadly, we feel guilty about our disappointment, as though we ought to be more grateful.
Of course we’re disappointed—we’re made for so much more. “He has also set eternity in the hearts” (Eccl. 3:11). Our longing for heaven whispers to us in our disappointments and screams through our agony. “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy,” C. S. Lewis wrote, “the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Saturday, May 30, 2009
First Round of the Year
I told myself that I was going to play more golf this year than the 2 rounds I managed last year. I know I will exceed that amount but I certainly don't feel the need to play every weekend. Part of it is a money thing and part of it is wanting to be capable in the game but just not having a burning passion to really get a lot better. Every time I play someone says, "You know, if you played more you would be really good." That's all I really need right there. Sometimes just knowing that you CAN do something is more important than actually doing it.
So, I played at one of my favorite area courses today - Gateway National - home of last year's fantasy football weekend tournament. It was raining as we drove out there but once we got to the course it never rained again. The sun came out about halfway through the front 9 and it turned out to be a gorgeous day. The course was very soggy in most places so that was definitely an added challenge. This was also the first time this year that I had even swung a club so being able to go to the practice range before we played was very helpful in working out a couple kinks.
I started out with a great drive on the first hole which really helps take care of the jitters - especially when you are playing with a co-worker who is probably 10 strokes better than me on an average day and his ex-Marine buddy who can also play. I ended up with a double bogey on the first hole but didn't have a score higher than 6 on the front 9. Consistency like that after not playing for 8 or 9 months is a good feeling. Best shots of the day came on 16 and 17. I drove the ball into the upslope of a grass bunker and had a side/uphill lie with a very awkward stance. The green was 150 yards away with a huge lake to the left. I made much better contact with the ball than I expected and landed on the green, but of course I three-putted for a bogey. The 17th was a 165-yard par 3. I took a 6-iron and landed it within 10 feet of the cup which I promptly made for my one birdie on the day. Overall, I shot 46-47 which I will definitely take for the first round of the year. The 67-year old ex-Marine shot an 84. If I can be anywhere close to that in 31 years I will be a very happy guy.
So, I played at one of my favorite area courses today - Gateway National - home of last year's fantasy football weekend tournament. It was raining as we drove out there but once we got to the course it never rained again. The sun came out about halfway through the front 9 and it turned out to be a gorgeous day. The course was very soggy in most places so that was definitely an added challenge. This was also the first time this year that I had even swung a club so being able to go to the practice range before we played was very helpful in working out a couple kinks.
I started out with a great drive on the first hole which really helps take care of the jitters - especially when you are playing with a co-worker who is probably 10 strokes better than me on an average day and his ex-Marine buddy who can also play. I ended up with a double bogey on the first hole but didn't have a score higher than 6 on the front 9. Consistency like that after not playing for 8 or 9 months is a good feeling. Best shots of the day came on 16 and 17. I drove the ball into the upslope of a grass bunker and had a side/uphill lie with a very awkward stance. The green was 150 yards away with a huge lake to the left. I made much better contact with the ball than I expected and landed on the green, but of course I three-putted for a bogey. The 17th was a 165-yard par 3. I took a 6-iron and landed it within 10 feet of the cup which I promptly made for my one birdie on the day. Overall, I shot 46-47 which I will definitely take for the first round of the year. The 67-year old ex-Marine shot an 84. If I can be anywhere close to that in 31 years I will be a very happy guy.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
"Meet the Press" Frustration
Here is what I hate most about the Left...everything is our fault. There is an implicit...and sometimes explicit...desire to blame America for everything bad that happens to it. Why? I think when you are a bleeding heart liberal you do not believe in absolute truth. Remember the furor over Bush using the term "evildoer"? "How dare he? Who is he to call someone else evil?" Of course they say that because if you don't believe in absolute truth then you don't really believe in good and evil. What that means is that if someone commits an "evil" act, then we need to figure out why they did that. What made this poor innocent creature choose an action so obviously out of character? Their answer invariably comes back to, "Well, the US must be responsible. After all, if this person is angry with us, we must have given them a reason."
I won't use the language on this blog which that line of thinking arouses. I will say this...that line of "reasoning" will insure the end of this country and will make us more vulnerable than we have ever been. If you are more interested in playing armchair psychiatrist than actually going out and getting the bad guys then you deserve what you get. This is the real world. It's not a university classroom and it's not the campaign trail. There are people who want to kill you...not because of anything you have done to them...but just because you exist. That is called evil and it's a lot more real than thinking that closing Gitmo is going to make us safer.
How can Obama stand there and say that Gitmo has made us less safe? That it is helping in the recruitment of new terrorists? How does he know? Is there a recent CNN poll that surveyed 700 Al Qaeda members and determined that 54% of them became terrorists in the last two years because of a prison in Cuba? That is pure political garbage backed up by zero facts. But of course this administration wouldn't know a fact if it subsidized it into existence. Last I checked, the 9/11 hijackers hated this country and wanted innocent Americans dead long before the idea of Gitmo was ever conceived. I'm glad Cheney spoke up and said something. Someone has to stand up to this torrent of misleading (is that the right word, Nancy?) half-truths.
I won't use the language on this blog which that line of thinking arouses. I will say this...that line of "reasoning" will insure the end of this country and will make us more vulnerable than we have ever been. If you are more interested in playing armchair psychiatrist than actually going out and getting the bad guys then you deserve what you get. This is the real world. It's not a university classroom and it's not the campaign trail. There are people who want to kill you...not because of anything you have done to them...but just because you exist. That is called evil and it's a lot more real than thinking that closing Gitmo is going to make us safer.
How can Obama stand there and say that Gitmo has made us less safe? That it is helping in the recruitment of new terrorists? How does he know? Is there a recent CNN poll that surveyed 700 Al Qaeda members and determined that 54% of them became terrorists in the last two years because of a prison in Cuba? That is pure political garbage backed up by zero facts. But of course this administration wouldn't know a fact if it subsidized it into existence. Last I checked, the 9/11 hijackers hated this country and wanted innocent Americans dead long before the idea of Gitmo was ever conceived. I'm glad Cheney spoke up and said something. Someone has to stand up to this torrent of misleading (is that the right word, Nancy?) half-truths.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)