The Social Order Gospel

The Gospel is big. A friend used to define the Gospel by saying it's Genesis 1 through Revelation 22. I'd add that it's also all the necessary inferences from Scripture. The Gospel is big enough to break into chunks, which is where our problem comes in. We over emphasize a certain part of the Gospel and neglect the rest.

Liberal Protestants are known for their emphasis on helping the poor and needy, certainly part of the Gospel, but not nearly all of it. Their myopic tendency has left them with only a social gospel; strong on giving, weak at saving.

I fear Reformed Protestants have fallen into a similar snare. Too often, the emphasis of our preaching, books, lectures is no longer Christ and Him crucified. The centrality of the Gospel may still be present but it is no longer the emphasis. The Gospel chunk we latch onto is social order. We focus on biblical relationships between husband and wife, children and parents, young and old, church and state. We are right for teaching these things, but wrong for dwelling here. These are not the Gospel's central message, but results of it.

Methodists have a social gospel, but what we are making is a social order gospel. It's as diluted as the liberals' version. We need to emphasize Jesus. Emphasize Him crucified for us. Emphasize the forgiveness of our sins. "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel." (2 Tim 2:8)

On Alert

From our Adoption Network person:

The URGENT situation I emailed out on Friday and had to email family Presentation Letters to .... the baby was born Yesterday morning at 6:30 Am so the attorney did not meet with mom until last night - she is looking over the Letters today and hopes to have a decision by tonight. I will phone the selected couple once I hear. All of you are on alert that you should plan to travel tomorrow if you are the selected family as baby will be released on Monday.

Hope to be calling one of you this evening!!!

And we hope to get "the call".

We're thankful that more than one family is ready (on very short notice) to open their Christian home to this child. Our trust is in the sovereign Lord, and we are joyfully expectant of what our future holds.

[Update at 5:45pm: Birthmother selected another family]

One of the Best Sounds a Parent Can Hear

Eli (7) reading his new "big person" Bible on his own.

Like Music to My Ears...

Remember Foreigner?

Kristin was getting directions to an indoor playground at a local Methodist church. She stumbled across their order of worship for last Sunday, the music included:

"Unity"
Crystal Lewis &
Kirk Franklin

"Forever"
Chris Tomlin

"In The Secret"
Andy Park

"Your Love is Better
Than Life"
Wes Tuttle

"I Want to Know
What Love Is"
Foreigner

"We're Pressing On"
Mark Condon

I probably wouldn't enjoy singing any of this in a corporate worship service, but I can't start to imagine worshipping to Foreigner's "I want to know what love is"! That is, unless you're worshipping rockstars from the '80s...

rock on......

Overalls Victorious!

Just what do we teach our children?!? It's not always what we think! While dressing Isaiah this morning he sang a piece of the hymn, Come Thou Almighty King, which we taught him last month. But instead of "over all victorious", his version has "Overalls, victorious!"

This isn't the first time we've been surprised with our children's hymnody. I think it was our oldest who until recently substituted "Blessed Tennessee" for "Blessed Trinity" in Holy, Holy, Holy.

Here he is in his "Overalls Victorious"

Call Me Ishmael

I'm nearing the end of two weeks of mid-terms with just a Satellite Communications take-home exam standing in the way. But this exam is so out of my league that I'm up much of the night and a grump to be around during the day. It's disappointing that I have let one little test cause so much havoc in my family's life.

This morning I was meditating on the time when Abraham was told to cast out Hagar and Ishmael for dishonoring the child of promise. They were soon lost in the desert, thirsty and in despair, completely oblivious to the oasis in front of their noses. Instead of calling out to God for help, instead of remembering the promises of God, instead of returning to the blessing-bearer, they wallowed in self-pity and frustration. Sounds like someone else I know.

Graciously, God has opened my eyes and I've regained my perspective. I've repented to my family and, who knows?, maybe I can even figure out how to talk to satellites.

Split-P Soup

Today I listened to John Frame's lecture "Machen's Warrior Children" from last year's Auburn Avenue Pastor's Conference. This hour-long investment should be mandatory listening for every American Presbyterian thunderpuppy, especially bloggers! He outlines 22 of the controversies within our fences, some resulting splits, and then magnanimously states that Presbyterians don't know when to stop fighting.

I have campaign patches from only a couple of the battles he mentioned, but surprisingly, I've been a captive to one-side of some of these controversies without even realizing it!

Zondervan and Family Christian Bookstores, Fie!

Although the NIV Bible was $30 cheaper, since it is copyrighted by Zondervan who publishes the grossly inaccurate TNIV, when we bought my son’s first “non-kiddie” Bible tonight we went for the ESV.

And although the local Family Christian Bookstore is nicer and conveniently located, since it has taken the Sabbath away from its employees, we bought that pricy ESV from a little mom and pop Christian bookseller in a corner shop downtown.

It's satisfying to purchase on principle rather than the pocketbook.

You Spell Like a Cow

My 7-year old son had a spelling test this morning in which he was asked to spell chicken. We were amused to learn that he spells it "chikin", just like the Chick-Fil-A cows. Mmmm, makes me hungry just thinking about it.

A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Church Universal

We look for a church that has BOTH reformational doctrine and preaches Christ to believers. We have other preferences (e.g. liturgical worship), but the two essentials are covered in that first sentence. Both parts of that statement require unpacking; here’s a start:

For us reformational doctrine is broader than any one denomination. Because we move often and doctrine is not the only factor in our decision, we may end up as part of a Presbyterian church, a Reformed Episcopal, a Lutheran church, etc.

What we mean by “preaches Christ to believers” is that the pastor should emphasize the centrality of the Gospel in the life of believers. We need to regularly hear from the pulpit about the objective work of Christ on the cross “for us and for our salvation”. The preaching of the Gospel should not be neglected nor should it be primarily for unbelievers. Regrettably, our experience has been that Christ is not preached to believers in many churches we’ve visited.

What do you do if a church affirms all the right doctrine, but fails to focus on preaching the centrality of the Gospel? If there is another body where Christ is preached to believers, we look there, even if it means giving up some doctrine. What use is doctrine if Christ be not preached?

Our approach has drawbacks (lack of commitment to one denomination, long searches for the right church, etc). I know this makes some nervous. We are open to better ideas (and bitter critiques).

Forgotten Passages

"Sodomite" is the inflammatory label of choice for describing militant homosexuals. But as often the case when pointing the finger, three stare back at you. Consider this forgotten passage from Ezekiel 16:49 (ESV),

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.

It was apathy for the poor and needy, pride, and prosperous ease that brought the vengeance of the Lord upon the Sodomites. Sound like anyone you know?

Paper or Plastic?

Our experience with churches over the years generally falls into grocery bag categories--paper or plastic.

Most reformed churches look perfect on paper--all the right doctrines trumpeted, the right books plugged, the right distinctives affirmed. The church sounds absolutely great, until you spend some time there. Then you find that they're paper-thin, coldly impenitent, and over their need for the centrality of the Gospel. It's hard to live in a paper house, and so not many do.

Most folks are part of the Plastic Church of Evangelicalism. There you have plastic smiles to match plastic "statements of faith". This is the big tent where anything goes, a fitting place for Cirque Du Soleil worship. These are often "warm" places, partly due to their friendliness, but also because they give more heat than light.

If Paper, be stationary, formal but inviting. In other words, be known more for reforming than for being reformed. And if Plastic, be molded into something of value. Plentiful is not the goal. Plastic bags are plentiful, but filled with trash and things babies do.

Learning from the Whole Church

Sinclair Ferguson lectured,

"if you are having trouble finding a good church fit, then, learn to be taught by the whole church of Jesus Christ. Learn that you belong to the church catholic. Learn that it is not only the teachers that are alive today that God has given to the church."

I add two more suggestions. Consider that Christians in most of the world have much poorer choices than you. Be patient, reformation is more likely to be enjoyed in your grandchildren's time than in yours.

I have a growing interest in Lutheranism and finally took the time to visit our neighborhood LCMS congregation. It was a good week to visit; the sermon aimed to explain the Lutheran view of communion to those outside of their circles.

In other Lutheran/Presbyterian news, I'm very excited to announce that Dr. Gene Edward Veith (of WORLD magazine, etc) will lecture at the OPC-sponsored Reformation Conference in March here in Dayton. His topic is "God at Work: The Reformation Doctrine of Vocation."

Forgotten Passages

Thanks go to Rev. Balthrop for turning Job 29:12-16 from a "forgotten passage" into a "memory verse".

When Job wanted to make his case to his friends (and His God) that his hardship wasn't due to his sin, he emphasized righteous acts. And Job wasn't referring to how he skipped a popular R-rated show, or had quiet times every day that week, or that he turned down a friend's offer to grab a beer.

When Job wanted to make his case, here's what he could say:

I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know. I broke the fangs of the unrighteous and made him drop his prey from his teeth.

Oh how I want to be like this. To be others-centered in my Spirit-empowered righteous acts, and not just run my checklist.

Adoption Update

We just overnighted our portfolio to a single birthmother here in Ohio that delivered at 27 weeks. We're not sure how many other families may also be seeking to adopt this very little (3 lbs 6 oz) girl. We should know tomorrow if we're matched and would appreciate your prayers.

Spoiling Birthmoms and Ruining Babies

One of the most disturbing things we've learned about the adoption process is the foolishness of many birthmothers. Many of the babies up for adoption now aren't open to us because the birthmothers have insisted they will only consider adoptive families with requirements like:

- Loves Backpacking
- Doesn't live in a city
- Doesn't have any other children (is infertile)
- Is an inter-racial couple
- Has that "Ken and Barbie" look

Except for the last item in the list, these are all birthmother-placed conditions on adoptions we heard about this week. The adoption agencies enforce these preferences, most likely out of concern that the birthmother may abort.

This is sad, but I become (justifiably) enraged when I hear the rest of the story. I have been appalled at how many of the birthmothers "care" for their babies during pregnancy. You would be dismayed to hear how many birthmothers, under the care of an adoption agency, are daily taking crack hits, drinking heavily, smoking marijuana, refusing prenatal care because the doctors make them "feel bad", etc, etc. They are maiming their own children all the while expecting a "Ken and Barbie" family to show up and care for their retarded, handicapped child. When I read descriptions of the suffering of these poor children, I long for God's justice!

Is it Wisdom or Just a Lack of Faith?

For years I've wrestled with the relationship of wisdom and faith.

Is it wisdom to stop having more children due to a risky medical condition, or is it just a lack of faith?

Is it wisdom to acknowledge our limitations and so not adopt a special needs child, or just a lack of faith?

I live like an atheist! How can I honestly claim to believe in God's sovereignty when I don't trust Him with anything I consider difficult? When I fight to have things my way, how can I claim to believe that God knows my needs better than I do?

I am no man of faith. But I can be a man of repentance, and cry out "help my unbelief!" This, I think, would be true wisdom.

Adoption Update

There's a good ending to this situation, not exactly what we were hoping for, but a good ending none the less.

This baby was born to a lesbian lady. The pregnancy was a bitter reminder of unfaithfulness in her partnership. She thought the father was black but this little girl is light-skinned. The lesbian's partner is very controlling and was somehow kept unaware of the pregnancy until the birth. This surprise was very unwanted; it's remarkable she survived.

As it turns out, we were back-ups to a family who had already been working with an adoption lawyer. This is who the hospital contacted with the urgent need. If they could not raise the money needed by today we would adopt the child. We are delighted to learn that although they couldn't pay the bill, their church will. So it appears that God has called out this child and for that we are very thankful.

We are also thankful for your prayer support and look forward to what our Faithful Father has in store for us.

While We Wait

Faithful Father, this prayer is for a little lady--an orphaned lady-in-waiting. Lay her in the arms of a safe, loving family. Here we are. Send us! We long to make the orphan’s heart sing for joy!

Hear us as we call on you. Even though we are undeserving, we make our case before you. We will love this child as you have loved us. This will not be us rescuing a child, but you bringing a lost sheep into the fold. We will rejoice as the waters of baptism ingraft her into Christ. My church will take her as their covenant child. My daughter will love her with sisterly affection. My sons will protect and defend her. My wife and I will humbly seek your help in raising her into a godly young lady.

Hear our heart’s petition, O Lord. Will this be the day?

Amen.

Adoption Update

[See previous post for context]. Instead of hearing by 10pm tonight, we've just been told that we won't know until tomorrow afternoon. Also, there's another family who may be interested that seems to have "right of first refusal". When they decide tomorrow, then we'll know. If you read this in time please pray for us.

Adoption Update

PRAY! PRAY! PRAY! We just received a call. A baby girl was born in Florida today and is without a mother. The hospital went to work to find a home for this baby and we said YES! YES! YES! There are still lots of things to work out, but I'm told that we'll know by 10pm tonight whether this will be our new daughter! If it works out we'll hop in the van as soon as possible and head to Florida!

[Edited version]

Doing Splits

Reformed Presbyterians are foremost authorities on the most painful way to plant a church: splitting up. No matter what part of the country we are living in, during our short stay there we always meet someone who has given up on the local reformed churches and decided to plant a little different flavor of reformed Presbyterianism. It’s now happening here (again).

I’m in no position to cheer or pooh-pooh these actions or to weigh the reasons behind the split. All I know is that too many reformed-types are dissatisfied with their church, and too many try to plant a greener pasture. At least the hope is it’ll be a greener pasture. Usually what happens is a few sheep get shuffled around and the existing reformed churches get weaker.

When I look through the publishing houses of “reformedom” there’s nothing in-print on this. What we need is a wise reformed leader to take on this topic and address questions like, “what are the valid reasons to leave a church and what is only majoring on the minors?” This issue would make a great book project or conference and, if well done, would certainly promote the peace and unity of local reformed churches across this country.

Gagging the Relief Workers

This AP journalist is upset with the evangelism efforts of Christian relief agencies. He sympathetically quotes Nihad Awad, director of the Council on American-Islamic relations, "just when our nation's [America's] image in the Islamic world was improving as a result of the outpouring of American aid in the tsunami disaster area, we hear from those who would exploit the tragedy to advance their own extremist agenda."

It seems to many that Christian "proselytizing" is of more concern than even the murder threats of the Muslim "relief" officials. Hasri Husan, director of a Muslim relief shelter warns, "we will chase down any Christian group that does anything beyond offering aid," and then makes a slashing motion across his throat.

Feeling the pressure to either be gagged or lose your head, we should pray for the Christian relief workers to boldly offer Christ along with His blessings of food, water, shelter and medicine.

Encouraged by the Heidelberg

I do not doubt God will turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this sad world. He is able to do this because he is almighty God; he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father. All things, in fact, come to me not by chance but from his fatherly hand. I can be patient when things go against me and have good confidence in my faithful God and Father. All creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.

I trust him alone, look to him for every good thing humbly and patiently, love him, fear him, and honor him with all my heart. I give up anything rather than go against his will in any way.

I do whatever I can for my neighbor's good; I work faithfully so that I may share with those in need.

I rest on this unshakable foundation: even though I do not deserve it, God will surely listen to my prayer because of Christ my Lord. That is what he promised in his Word.

Help us one and all to carry out the work we are called to, as willingly and faithfully as the angels in heaven.

Adoption Update

In my last adoption update I wrote of our hopeful expectation that we would adopt a baby this month. Sadly, it now appears that it is falling through. There were several situations that looked like near shoe-ins, but one-by-one each of those birthmothers surprised the adoption agency and us by changing their minds about adoption after the baby's birth.

We are somewhat dejected today but want to avoid the impatience of Sarai (remember that episode with Hagar?). Please pray for us.

Study Compares Home- and School-educated Children
from MARS HILL Audio Addenda

A new study published in the Journal of Early Childhood Research compares the intellectual development of children who have been home-educated with that of those who have been school-educated.

Home-educated children, it reports, "demonstrated high levels of ability and good social skills"; they tested higher in many of the tests than did school-educated children. Speculating about why this would be the case, the article describes home-education and how it differs from school-education:

"Home-education is best described as an individually tailored education (ITE) whereby the children work from a home base but often spend a large amount of their time away from the home itself, instead attending group get-togethers and activities, visiting parks, museums, friends' houses, libraries and 'after school' groups. In general this is an education gained through 'living and doing' . . . ."

The article advocates individually tailored education and the elements of which it consists—such as high levels of attention from parents and family members and a pace of learning gauged to each child—to schools that wish to reform their education programs.

There's always somebody with a worse job...

Pentagon spurned plan to initiate enemy homosexuality
Reuters

The U.S. military rejected a 1994 proposal to develop an "aphrodisiac" to spur homosexual activity among enemy troops but is hard at work on other less-than-lethal weapons, defense officials said Sunday.

The idea of fostering homosexuality among the enemy figured in a declassified six-year, $7.5 million request from a laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio for funding of non-lethal chemical weapon research.

Another reason to never volunteer for any "special prjoects" in the military!

Reading Recommendations

Each year we exchange Epiphany gifts. It used to include a gift-wrapping competition, but that was the dumb part (my thoughts only, Kristin likes it). We always give each other books which we would try to disguise as different things. Now we just hand each other the box as it comes in the mail and you get bonus points if it arrives on-time.

This year Kristin gave me the latest edition of Operation World. Note: Kristin says if you order from this site, it will take 3 weeks to arrive by FedEx! She speaks from experience (but the bonus point thing is just made up anyway). Besides being the best available prayer tool I know of concerning the spread of the Gospel throughout every nation, tribe, and tongue, it's also a refresher on geography, world history, economics and government from a Christ-is-King-of-All perspective. It's now part of our family worship liturgy.

Some of the articles I gave Kristin were duds, but some were homers. The best was Rachel Ball's thesis on adoption titled "Defenders of the Defenseless" (thanks so much Valerie for putting me in touch with her). I wish Ms. Ball's work would be published so it could be available to a wider audience. Here's an excerpt from her preface,

My family has been involved in foster care and adoption for nearly my entire life. After adopting four of my siblings and having over twenty-five foster children pass through my home, we have learned much about the system and have been able to see the family backgrounds that are so typical to these children...

A look at the history of adoption provided the affirmation I had been dreading - Christians, who had at one time been the leaders in the care of needy children, had now settled into a comfortable oblivion. The children who needed care were no longer supported by Christian families; rather, they had become children of the state. Because of this, adoption today has become a governmental and industrial ministry. However, with a look at the biblical teachings on our spiritual adoption and the direct commands for Christians to care for the orphans and fatherless, it has become clear just where the Christians ought to stand.

Thank you Ms. Ball (and your parents) for showing us what it means to love the defenseless.

Road Trip

A waterpark in Ohio in January....these Northerners know how to do winter right. We're there.

Back on Monday.


Here we come...

A Sticker or a Label?

A friend of mine at Harvard Business School (HBS) sent me this note as an example of the craftiness of those seeking, not to just legitimize an immoral lifestyle, but to ostracize any who would dare object to it.

Think back to your first days here at HBS. You were probably nervous about what impression you would make, the types of people you would meet, and if you would fit. Now imagine that you had to deal with the additional discomfort of some people being shocked by or disapproving of your life. Remember the first three questions that you had to answer almost 900 times during foundations: where are you from? where did you work? are you in a relationship? That relationship question can present a major dilemma for many gay, lesbian, and bisexual students. Responding honestly can seem very risky.

If statistics prove true, there should be at least 4 or more gay, lesbian, or bisexual people in your section. Why don't you know who they are? Chances are that those people have not felt safe or comfortable to "come out" and risk a negative reaction from their classmates. So tomorrow, members of the Open For Business Club invite all members of the HBS community to take a risk. Come out and show that you support a welcoming and inclusive community by the simple act of wearing a sticker which will be given out in your classrooms. You will risk some people thinking that you are gay, and you will risk some people disagreeing with your willingness to advocate equality for all students at HBS. However, this is a small, one-time risk that will make a big difference.

Stickers featuring a large equal sign will be distributed in each RC classroom and available from many EC students as well. The equal sign represents the equality that all people hope to enjoy in our community. This is also the symbol for the Human Rights Campaign.

The trap is set: you must choose between a sticker or a label. Wear the sticker to show support, or refuse their sticker and be labeled as a hate-filled religious bigot. Which will it be for you?

Neither! But given your choices, how do you avoid their "stereotype-trap" without advocating their cause?

"Hi Atta, What Did You Learn in School Today?"

If you think your child's curriculum is deliberate and God-centered compare it to what approximately 1.7 million children are learning across Pakistan's 10,000 madrassas today.

First Year
Biography of the Prophet (Syrat), Conjugation-Grammar (Sarf), Syntax (Nahv), Arabic Literature, Chirography, Chant illation (Tajvid)

Second Year
Conjugation-Grammar (Sarf), Syntax (Nahv), Arabic Literature, Jurisprudence (Fiqa), Logic, Chirography (Khush-navisi), Chant illation, (Tajvid)

Third Year
Koranic Exegesis, Jurisprudence: (Fiqh), Syntax (Nahv), Arabic Literature, Hadith, Logic, Islamic Brotherhood, Chant illation: (Tajvid), External study (Tareekh Millat and Khilafat-e-Rashida – these are Indian Islamic movements).

Fourth Year
Koranic Exegesis, Jurisprudence (Fiqa), Principles of Jurisprudence, Rhetorics, Hadith, Logic, History, Cant illation, Geography of the Arab Peninsula and other Islamic countries)

Fifth Year
Koranic Exegesis, Jurisprudence, Principles of Jurisprudence, Rhetoric, Beliefs (Aqa'id), Logic, Arabic Literature, Chant illation, External study (History of Indian Kings)

Sixth Year
Interpretation of the Koran, Jurisprudence, Principles of Interpretation &
Jurisprudence, Arabic Literature, Philosophy, Chant illation, Study of Prophet’s traditions

Seventh Year
Sayings of the Prophet, Jurisprudence, Belief (Aqa'ed), Responsibility (Fra'iz), Chant illation, External Study (Urdu texts)

Eighth Year
Ten books by various authors focusing on the sayings of the Prophet.

As can be seen from the above list of subjects, there is no mention of modern sciences, such as chemistry, biology or mathematics. According to congressional testimony, madrassas that tried to propose the teaching of these subjects so that their students would have some marketable skills were strictly forbidden to do so by their financial sponsors in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Students are inculcated with the feeling of nationalism and the glorification of war. In addition, history begins with the fall of Spain in the hands of Moorish prince Tarik Bin Ziad and emphasizes that the "English" were always the enemies of the Muslims.

Not very comforting is it? And that's just one Muslim country...

President vows no women in combat, but watch how "combat" is defined

According to an article today in the Washington Times, President Bush's policy on women in ground combat takes just four words to articulate: "No women in combat."

He has no intention of sending women into ground combat, a mission for which they are banned under Pentagon policy. But he added, "Having said that, let me explain, we've got to make sure we define combat properly: We've got women flying choppers and women flying fighters, which I'm perfectly content with." Ewww. We have President Clinton to blame for lifting the ban in 1994 on women in combat aircraft and ships after receiving reports of women excelling during Operation Desert Storm.

The Washington Times has reported on internal Army memos that show some officials are pushing the Pentagon to lift the ban so that mixed-sex Forward Support Companies (FSC) can collocate with armor and infantry battalions within a "unit of action."

A recent briefing portrays the Army in a bind. If it collocates FSCs with combat teams and keeps them men-only, then it "creates potential long-term challenge to Army; pool of male recruits too small to sustain force," the Army documents stated.

Let's pray that the gender-based recruiting quotas that have caused the apparent shortages in male soldiers won't lead to more loosening of what is defined as "combat" and send more women further into harm's way.

The Death of Outrage

I haven't read the book, but the title sure is fitting. I don't have to go looking for images like the one below, they are put in front of me routinely (this one is an ad off the Dayton street map). Does it outrage you? Probably not. We're all so used to seeing stuff like this, our sense of outrage is burned out. For some folks, nothing can fire them up anymore. For others, the unconstitutional actions of our government get their goat, and it should. Even though this Dayton seminary doesn't run off our tax dollars (at least to my knowledge), it does bring discredit to the name of Christ and undermines the gospel. No matter how prevalent this situation is, it seems like we should still get at least a little "imprecatory".

irksome

A Different Kind of Women's Mission Guild

From Kristin's reading: When John Calvin decided to marry, he put together a committee in Strasburg (where he had gone in exile from Geneva) to find him a wife. Their attempts failed several times.

I wonder what his reasons were for employing a committee? I can't but wonder at the "failed attempts."

Finally he noticed the widow with 3 children of a former Anabaptist he had converted and was wed to Idelette de Bure.

Something to Hang on Your Door

What comes first in Luther's 95 Theses? Does he first assert the authority of Scripture? Or justification by faith alone? Perhaps the priesthood of believers?

Each of these were crucial correctives to Roman Catholic dogma, but none were first out of Luther's quill. That preeminent spot belonged to:

1. When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent", He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.

Entire life. Of believers. To be one of. Repentance. Do others see this in my life? Have my children heard me repent? My spouse?

If you'll excuse me, I have something that needs to be hung on the front door.

Another Great Read from Canon Press

I hadn't heard any recommendations for At the Edge of the Village: Musings of a Missionary Wife by Mrs. Lisa Leidenfrost, but since Canon Press hasn't let me down yet I bought a copy for Kristin. Mrs. Leidenfrost, a homeschooling mother of four, lives in the Ivory Coast of West Africa.

Kristin has really enjoyed the book--it's downright funny, easy to read, inspiring, and truth-telling. One reason she likes it so well are the similarities between missionary and military lifestyles. Missionaries belong to a highly mobile community; so do military families. Both groups have to say "goodbye" frequently, and the pain can be numbing. Mrs. Liedenfrost clearly speaks to us by relating this bit o' wisdom,

Once I was sitting by a missionary colleague during a conference, and she commented about this difficult aspect of missionary life. She said there are only two options for survival: to love quickly and deeply, or not to love at all. In the former course your hurt badly every time you move on and a relationship is broken, but in the latter you shut yourself off from loving anyone, and while it is true that you do not hurt when someone leaves you, you also begin slowly to die within--no one can live without giving and receiving love.

Suspicions about "Ethics Training"

It's time that we enlarge the focus of our church apologetics classes. Christians should be prepared to address Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the major religions of the world. But another worldview is sneaking into the lives of, I'd venture to say, most of the business men and women of corporate America (which are also many of the folks in our churches). It comes in mainly through mandatory ethics training in the workplace.

Most of the ideas that we're taught in these ethics classes philosophers would call either Kantian Deontology or utilitarianism. Since that's too scary sounding, it's usually just described as "common sense". Ethics classes are an annual requirement for my job. In past years the training seemed harmless enough, but this year's material included powerpoint slides titled "Problems in Following the Golden Rule", and printed statements like "Theological Ethics -- a Non-Starter" and "in principle, looking to God's will is unnecessary in thinking about ethics". WHAT!?!?!

Since so many of the folks in our churches are being fed similar, yet perhaps more subtle ideas through formal training in the workplace, we need to be prepared to respond to these strawman attacks. Church leaders would do well to give some attention to what is going on here, because if folks are told a lie for long enough they're likely to start believing it.

Van Til, Machen, and my Grandfather

My 98 year old grandfather, Robert Witty, is a unique man. I remember visiting him about 5 years ago, when I walked into his apartment he was just finishing uploading his web site. How many folks in their 90s start their own web site? Here's the link.

God has sustained him and his memory marveously. His life story is a first-hand account of nearly one-third of our country's history. I love his boyhood stories about "running the muskrat traps" in the Kentucky wilderness, his two pairs of clothes (regular and Sunday), and his first gun which he bought for 50 cents (a shotgun).

In the 1920s he went to Princeton Seminary and studied under Drs. Machen, Van Til, and Hodge! Here's a story he tells about Dr. Machen:

Dr. Machen was a bald-headed portly man. Sometimes he would hang his watch chain over his ear, place a book like a tent over his head, walk around the room as he threw chalk at the blackboard and listened to our declension of a verb. If we made a mistake he might even fall to the floor. Yet he was recognized as the world’s leader in conservative theology and the world’s greatest Greek scholar.

Upon hearing one of young Robert's practice sermons, Dr. Hodge responded tenderly, "That was the greatest diarrhea of words and constipation of thought that I have ever heard."

While my grandfather has yet to accept Calvinism, one can not help but to be impressed with his continued zeal for the Lord. He still preaches Jesus around the country. He's still authoring books in his nineties. He still loves his Lord.

Islam & Liberalism

One of my graduation requirements is a thesis-like Graduate Research Project. Since this is a technical school, most of topics are atrociously boring, like these no kidding projects:

- "Registration techniques for speckle suppression in 2-D LADAR image
sequences"

- "A Probabilistic Method for Evaluating Uncertainty in Low-Altitude High Energy Laser Effectiveness"

Yawn and Yack! It took me several extra weeks but I was able to find an advisor to support my barely-"PC" research project, "Using Information Technology to Marginalize Radical Islam".

My thesis boils down to this: if America wants to prevent the next generation of terrorists what needs to happen to Wahabbi Islam is exactly what happened to Protestant Christianity in the 19th and 20th centuries. Liberalism was a terrible thing for Christianity, it sought to destroy the authority of our sacred text. But if we can use Information Technology to spread a more "liberal" view of Islam in the madrassas and other educational institutions, liberalism may mean that our children and children's children won't have to fight an increasing number of anti-Western Islamic terrorists.

Post-Modern Professors

This is the first week of a new semester here at the Air Force Institute of Technology. My classes are your typical engineering and mathematics sorts of courses, but one of the professors has decided to teach his captive audience a thing or two about ethics.

This much I've learned. When secular universities or organizations say they're going to teach "ethics", they really mean they're going to teach deconstruction.

So far our professor has attempted to take a wrecking-ball to religion and absolute morality in general. He has shown himself to be a Carl Sagan acolyte: reason is king, evolution is proven, abortion is a right, etc. In the name of "Critical Thinking" he made a strawman out of the Bible and then whacked it around some. He enlightened us on the "dilemma of God". This is really not the kind of instruction our military officers need.

I interjected a few times during class with some counterpoints and spoke with him afterwards, but he has a bully pulpit. What this has to do with engineering I don't know.

However, the damage to my classmates is limited. Even when there's no voice for the Bible, there is another two-edged sword to count on--apathy. Many of my students are apathetic about their need for a Savior and that's lamentable. But on days like this, I'm glad they're also apathetic about "ethics".

Getting More Out of Books

After I became a Christian about 11 years ago, my discipler taught me to journal. I have nearly 10 years worth of notebooks tracking my progress on the path of sanctification. At first, most of the entries chronicled simple Bible verses, which after 22 years of complete neglect were suddenly singing out loudly to be savored.

About five years ago I started to journal the best quotes from each book I read along with a summary of that book's teaching. At this time we were also experiencing our first two year-old, so several of the books were on Christian parenting and family life. The teaching in those books is valuable, but once read and journaled they tended to sit on the book shelf, and the yellowing pages of my journal were seldom visited. They were a treasure, but one that was buried and daily sinking deeper. Their nuggets of wisdom were gradually disappearing altogether from my life.

During the last year I've made a daily habit of re-reading at least one page of my journals during morning devotion, especially focusing on the book summaries. When the summary is of benefit to my wife I flag the page and insert it into her daily devotion materials. In doing this, we are not only digging up a treasure, we are adding to it.

Epiphany Gifts

A good shepherd of the home will look for opportunities to sanctify those in his care. One way I try to do this is by presenting a gift to each member of the family on the last day of the Christmas season, Epiphany. Each gift is intended to foster spiritual growth in the person who receives it. This may be a special book or recording, etc.

This year I am putting together a notebook of short articles for my wife to read. I've found some good ones at Draught Horse Press, Ladies Against Feminism, Vision Forum, and Credenda/Agenda. There are still a couple of days to finish this little project of looove, any ideas?

Great Questions Children Ask

My daughter asked as I'm giving her a pony ride, "Daddy, why do you have a hole in your head?" (I pointed out that my brain needed some room to expand)

Later my son queried, "Mommy, if I knock out Glory's (our dog) teeth, can I keep them?"

2004 in the Books


What was read:
ESV Bible using a lectionary approach
The Autobiography of John G. Paton
Fidelity, Douglas Wilson
Don't Waste Your Life, John Piper
Biblical Theology, Geerhardus Vos
The Heart of Anger, Lou Priolo
On Being Black and Reformed, Anthony Carter
Mother Kirk, Douglas Wilson
Blessed are the Hungry, Peter Leithart
The Lord's Service, Jeffrey Meyers
The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis

What was heard:
America's Wars: A Biblical Overview and Evaluation
Tacit Knowing, Truthful Knowing: The Life and Thought of Michael Polanyi
Men of Whom the World is Not Worthy, John Piper
Jonathan Edwards, A God-Entranced Vision of All Things
2004 Basement Tapes and Mars Hill Audio Journals

Mailbag

The mailman dropped off an invitation to a New Year's Eve Miracle Service just in time. Dr. Leon "Doc" Stutzman will be at Christ Cathedral in downtown Dayton this evening. The mailer asks those questions of eternal consequence: "What will 2005 be like?", "Will I have the good things I desire?", and most importantly, "What must I do to thrive in 2005?"

(This may SHOCK you, but there's no mention of "taking up your cross", "unless a seed falls to the ground and dies", etc)

Below is a personal note from the KRAZY KOOL "Doc". I think he's plagiarizing an advertisement for the psychic hotline.


Maybe next year they'll do palm readings, too.

Life Support

To open a post with "Today, my wife almost slipped into a coma", seems out of place on a blog, but it's true. Kristin has had diabetes since she was three and today her insulin pump malfunctioned. We didn't catch it until her blood sugar reading was off the scale of the meter. This bad situation was complicated by being stuck on the interstate, an hour from home and the insulin she desperately needed. As she battled to stay conscious my thoughts turned to the opening line in the Heidelberg Catechism answer #28, "we can be patient when things go against us." God saw us home safely and in a few hours, thanks to a few heavy doses of synthetic insulin, she was up and around.

It's sobering to be so dependent on something outside of you, that without it, you'd die in a matter of hours. We are all this way, our life is a vapor, and void of what is needed to support life. Thanks be to God for the manifold ways He preserves each of us. And thanks be to the Great Physician who not only delivers us from diseases, but more importantly, from sin.

A Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Tsunami at Bay

Father of mercies,
hear me for Jesus' sake.

My heart is an unspent tsunami of sin,
a torrent of corruption since childhood days,
flowing on in every part of my being.

You alone hold back my terror and dismay,
without your grace to constrain, I fall on all in my way.

Pour oil on my troubled waters,
swallow up this poisoned ocean and,
give me summer weather in my heart.

Adapted from Valley of Vision

Raise Three Cheers for Ken Myers

I wish this MARS HILL AUDIO letter could be discussed face to face with every evangelical Christian in America. It is the best, most succinct, smoking gun I've seen regarding worldliness in today's church. Below are a few pull-quotes, but I hope you will make some time to digest this letter in its entirety.

As long as the Great Commission is understood only as a matter of somehow getting our contemporaries to assent to our message, Christians will be tempted to recast the message in likeable, plausible terms. [But] Christian faith is both more radically inward than mere belief (transforming our loves and hopes) and more decisively outward (reorganizing our actions). Jesus did not die, rise, and ascend to change something in our hearts and leave it at that, but thereby to change
everything. "Evangelism-as-sales-talk" is never so ambitious.

One way that Christians have escaped the ramified demands of discipleship, especially in the shape of our cultural lives, is to assume that the sphere of Creation and the sphere of Redemption are intrinsically separate. So our salvation is understood as a "spiritual" matter, an inner transformation, while our social and cultural lives can continue to be lived in accordance with the allegedly neutral, value-free, mechanical principles established by economists, sociologists, and other scientific experts.

In consequence, the settings for our gathered worship have been transformed from sanctuaries, portals of mysteries and arresting awe, into loud, throbbing Skinner boxes of engineered stimulus and response. From my own informal research, it would seem that the prevailing attitudes among Christians toward art and beauty, toward work and the modern ideal of efficiency, toward the ordering of time and the valuing of place, are statistically no different than those of non-believers.

My nagging obsession is to try to encourage Christians to wrestle more deeply with the consequences of our faith in the world, and to be more alert to the ways the world has diluted our faithfulness.

Education Department

While Kristin ran some errands today, I taught through most of our daily curriculum with the children. A few months have passed since the last time I did this. The children’s academic progress may be imperceptible to Kristin who works with them everyday, but to me it is dramatic. Congratulations to my wife!

Next week I’ll start the most difficult semester in my degree program. After the children go off to bed I’ll be spending time with Advanced Engineering Mathematics instead of Angels in the Architecture. While my personal reading will be largely displaced by academics, I hope to make up for it in the audio department.

Thanks to a handy iPod (a very nice Christmas present) I can redeem some of the time lost snow-shoveling, commuting, and PT. MP-3 downloads are usually cheap, yet free ones are even better. So far, I’ve cued up Jeff Meyer’s series on Authentic Spirituality, the Desiring God National Conference “Sex and (surprise!) the Supremacy of Christ”, and the latest edition of St Anne’s Pub.

Aid for Asia

We're looking for good ways to donate to the relief effort in Asia. Usually we use Food for the Hungry (led by a PCA pastor); but we're interested in what others are doing. Any ideas?

The Fowls of the Air

Behold, there went out a sower to sow,
a father who had a young son to grow.

And it came to pass, as he sowed,
some seed he wished he hadn't of throwed.

Kernals of anger and pits of rage,
Slipped through fingers and into the clay.

The sower lamented, 'you reap what you sow,
no matter how small, the weeds quickly grow'.

Remorseful, the man sought pardon from the boy,
And found firmly planted not bitterness but joy.

Astonished, this sower looked back in his path,
the fowls of the air devoured the seeds of wrath.

Herding the Fools

Here is a comforting verse for those that feel ostracized for their convictions.

And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness...it shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. Is 35:8 (ESV)

There are some, even of our own family and friends, who think we are foolish because of things that we abstain from and things that we choose to support. But here God promises us that even if we are fools (and we may be!) He will not let us stray. And He will never let us go.

How gracious of God to not write off the fools. We should go and do likewise.

Wwweeeeee...

Just making sure the jump is safe for the children...

In the Darkness Shining (Barely)

Here's an invitation to the Christmas Eve Services at Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCUSA); the ad ran in the Dayton Daily News.

Confusing



See how they struck out "faithful"? How symbolic of them!

If you can't read the print in the ad, here's what it says,

Absolute faith is not a requirement in our church. An open heart is. Come join us as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. And you may just find that faith is the greatest Christmas present of all.

Absolute faith? What does that mean? It mustn't be important since it's not a requirement in their church,...even though it may be "the greatest Christmas gift of all."

Like many PCUSA churches, they have a beautiful cathedral--what a shame. Our Presbyterian church (OPC) meets in a basketball/multi-purpose court in a Seventh Day Adventist facility. But we get to worship a beautiful God. And that's way better.

O Come Emmanuel

There is a swath of neglected Scripture that, if it were read, would rebuke and transcend Christmas-—I am speaking of the prophets. Christmas has a tendency to overly focus on Christ’s humiliation and neglect His exaltation. If we want to know what it means to long for the Messiah, if we want to know what the advent of Christ is bringing us, then we must listen to the voices of Isaiah, Joel, Micah and the like.

By putting ourselves in the shoes of our Old Testament fathers, we begin to see that Biblical faith is more than just trusting God to save me. Faith is believing God will do all that He says He’ll do in the world.

A quick study of the prophets’ writings concerning the coming of the Messiah brought out the following themes:

1. Perfect justice will be served, the proud will be humiliated, and all our and His enemies will be utterly defeated

2. The gospel will triumph throughout every nation, tribe, and tongue

3. Christ is bringing shalom, that is, He will make all things as they ought to be!

While we should remember the past event of Christ’s birth, we must not fail to also imitate the prophets by looking forward with expectancy, hope, comfort, and joy to the never-failing growth and certain consummation of His kingdom.

Good Intentions

I'd like to pass on a Christmas reminder that someone gave me today. Don't be the kind of Christian that makes a big to-do about celebrating a holiday all the while failing to be faithful in weightier matters like loving our neighbors, showing mercy to our children, and being gracious to our spouse.

A 16-inch blanket of snow provided many opportunities to help neighbors here. Our unplowed street caught cars like flypaper in a pigsty. While pushing a conversion van through the snow-clogged street I heaved and sent my hand right through one of the brake light covers. Cracking the cover isn't exactly what I or they had in mind when I offered to help.

Here's holiday tip #2, when you help a neighbor try not to break any of his stuff.

A Southerner in a Winter Wonderland

This part of the country is blanketed in a dry snow today. It snowed all day and isn't supposed to stop until tomorrow afternoon.

I grew up in South Carolina, so I seldom had the opportunity to play in a Winter Wonderland, much less see a White Christmas. There's a lot of latent snowball fighting and sledding pent up in me. Today I enjoyed some of those boyhood longings. Eli, at 7 yrs, is at a great age to experience this too.

However, I did stand-out as the Southerner on my block. I was shoveling my drive-way when the neighbor across the street pulls out his snowblower. It must have been a signal because his next-door neighbor soon revved his up. And moments later the neighbor on the other side fired up the MOASB (mother of all snow blowers) which can spew snow across the street. The South may pride itself over monster trucks, but now I know that Yankees have the coolest snow toys.

6 inches and deepening by the moment

The Sword of Christmas

I can think of no other Christian doctrine that has been attacked as repeatedly and ferociously as has the incarnation of Christ. Yet each blow against orthodoxy has been met by God in a mighty way, triumphing time and again through courageous men and thus preserving a truth essential to our salvation.

Over 1,500 years ago in Nicea our fathers fought against those in powerful political positions to expel the claim that Christ was a created being, and to proclaim that He is eternally existent and of the same essence with the Father. The decision of the Council of Nicea, so ancient to us, is a sword that continues to divide and mark true Christians from false professors.

In Chalcedon, just a hundred years later, the sword was unsheathed again. The foe to be vanquished was confusing the two natures of Christ in order to place the state as the divine ruler on earth. To them the state was THE incarnation of divinity in history. Who is man's savior? It is Caesar. Once again the heretics had the political clout, but our fathers at Chalcedon held their ground and insisted on the integrity of the incarnation, very man of very man, and very God of very God, two natures in union without confusion. Boldly the sword rang out, "Anathema to him who believes otherwise!"

Throughout the ages the incarnation has become well-worn battleground. It is the Kosovo, the Palestine of all doctrinal warfare. Whether it's J. Gresham Machen fighting the Liberalism of last century, or us battling this week's edition of Newsweek, we are to be faithful and valiant remembering that He came to bring not peace, but a sword.

He has preserved the truth of the incarnation this many years, and may He continue to demolish all arguments that dare to set itself up against Him.

Holding Out for the Reinforcements

Somehow my children, who have no sense of time, know that we're within the 5-day window before Christmas. They are spastic. They are abnormally silly. They are infectiously giddy.

My parental tendency is to "get grinchy" over what I perceive as a lower standard of behavior. Some proven grinchy tactics: threaten them with bags of coal, frown more, use the evil eye AND wave the arms, whatever it takes to return to normalcy.

But no, not this year. I will not be the Grinch (repeat this 50 times). I WILL turn the blind eye to kids bouncing off walls, levitating during meals, vibrating in their beds.

This year will be different. This year reinforcements are coming. The grandparents arrive tomorrow. They are fresh. They are patient. They are bringing me presents.

Baby Names

It looks like we'll add baby #4 by Febuary! There are several birthmothers that we match well with, so we feel confident that the time is short. The crib has been reassembled. The rocking chair dusted off. The baby monitor plugged in. Gotta get some diapers still. And oh yeah, a name!

My wife and I have a hard time settling on girl names, while the boy names come easy. Neither of us is certain about the name we want, and we're sparring (good naturedly, of course!) over who will have the final say if we can't agree. I reminded my dear wife that it was Adam who did the naming, so if we can't agree then I must pick the name. She was quick to reply that while Adam did name the animals and his wife, he did not name the children. This it appears from Scripture was done by Eve. Score one for Kristin.

Our pattern has been to name daughters after virtues or attributes of God (e.g. Grace); we're open to suggestions.

How to Build an Atomic Bomb

Those inside Air Forces circles have been watching the high-level fall-out from a lack of integrity involving replacing our aging tankers (i.e. in-air refueling aircraft). The top lady in Air Force acquisitions is behind bars, her boss has resigned and so has the Secretary of the Air Force. Other General Officer promotions and assignments have been blocked. It all stems from integrity issues in how we acquire weapon systems.

I'm an acquisitions officer; my job is to buy weapons that kill people and break things. I'm half-way through a year-long school that teaches me how to design, acquire, and employ the most technological weapons the world has ever known. I've spent hours and hours learning about designing crispness into the architecture of weapons. I've been tested on how well I can design concordance between different views of weapon models. Etc, etc.

But in light of the on-going scandal involving acquisitions, our biggest problem is not how do we keep our technological advantage over our enemies. What we need is ethics. Historically, with some exceptions (i.e. General Fogleman), this topic has been treated about as seriously as the "safety brief". It appears we could all use some straight talk on integrity.

NOMOKDS...

was the license plate on a new, red corvette that passed me while I was driving the van to homeschool gym. This morning we enjoyed a special Nutcracker performance for children. And this evening we joined some other families and went caroling through the neighborhood. I'm the richest man on earth, and the NOMOKDS lifestyle sure sounds boring.

Happy 7th, Elijah!

The best studying I did during Finals Week was in preparation for Eli's birthday party. It's been cold and wet here and with 13 seven-year olds stuck in the house fueled by cake and candy, I made sure we had a full slate of indoor games to play. We played Blindfolded Tag, Pantomimes, Spider Races, Stare-Off, Swat the Blindman, and the favorite of all, the One-Legged Chicken Fight. I think Doug Phillips would have been proud. And I accomplished my goal: prove that boys can have a great time without doing sissy things, playing video games, or using batteries. The moms were happy that no one got hurt.

As Still As They Got

Way to Go, Carri!

Mrs. Carri Uram is one of the South's quiet heroines. With the support of her church, she leads a small adoption network that specializes in finding Christian homes for hard-to-place babies. I've seen them succeed when many larger, better-staffed Christian agencies don't even try.

In the edition of WORLD magazine that I received today I see that they published her comment regarding Marvin Olasky's recent article on transracial adoption. There she says,

Marvin Olasky's column on adoption was wonderful ("Giving Thanks," Nov. 20). As the director of an adoption ministry, I appreciate his encouragement to the Christian community to adopt children who don't have dozens of families clamoring for them. I find it sad, yet bitterly ironic, that thousands of people may pray silently on the roadside as a quiet witness against abortion on Sunday, but Monday morning I'm desperately seeking one family for a black baby. Many believers don't see the correlation between their pro-life stance and adopting "hard-to-place" children.

"Women Are Used", retired General says, and she likes it


New York Daily News
December 14, 2004

The Women Of War

In Iraq, death knows no front line, nor gender

By Richard Sisk, Daily News Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - America's women in uniform have been fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan in ways never foreseen under the restrictions on women in combat.

Through last week, 27 women had been killed in Iraq and five in Afghanistan and more than 230 had earned the Purple Heart for wounds inflicted by the enemy, according to Pentagon records.

Among those fatally injured in Iraq was Army 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment Sgt. Linda Jimenez, 39, of Brooklyn, who fell into a bomb crater on patrol in November last year and later died at an Army hospital.

The military's 1994 rules limit women's exposure to combat by barring them from serving in front-line infantry, armor and most artillery units, but the enemy's ambushes and terrorist tactics have altered the rules.

Women driving a truck in Iraq or walking a beat as a military policewoman in "support" units in Iraq have instantly taken up the role of the combat grunt, engaging in running firefights with hit-and-run insurgents.

"I think what changed is that Iraq is different," said Army airborne Capt. Kellie McCoy, who shot her way out of an enemy ambush in September 2003 to earn the Bronze Star with combat "V" for valor under fire.

"Our doctrine [on women in combat] was suited for wars with front lines," McCoy said. "In Iraq, the front line is everywhere. Once you leave the [base] camp, you're on the front line," she said.

The new reality of war - and the performance of women in the field - has prompted the Army to examine whether it should formally change its 1994 rules.

"The assignment of women is one of several issues under review" as the Army converts its heavy divisions into lighter and faster combat brigades, said Maj. Elizabeth Robbins, an Army spokeswoman.

"We're not at the point of reaching a decision" on whether mixed military units of men and women would be put on the battlefield alongside all-male land combat units, Robbins said, but the possibility will be discussed with Congress.

But with the concept of the front line erased, the current roster of 224,000 women who make up about 16% of the active-duty military of 1.4 million has taken up duties never envisioned by the 1.8 million women who preceded them in uniform since the American Revolution.

In Vietnam, only eight of the more than 58,000 troops killed were women, and they were all unarmed Army and Air Force nurses, according to the Women in Military Service for America (WIMSA) Foundation.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, the women carry weapons. They have been killed and wounded by roadside bombs, mortar attacks and small-arms fire.

Women such as McCoy have led men in battle, and women have flown war planes off carrier decks to bomb enemy positions.

The most recent death was that of the Army's 202nd Military Intelligence Battalion Sgt. Cari Gasiewicz, 28, of Depew, N.Y. Gasiewicz's convoy was hit by two roadside bombs near Baghdad on Dec. 4.

"With each conflict, women are used more than in the previous conflict," said retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Wilma Vaught in assessing the evolving roles of women in uniform.

"In Vietnam, we were restricted on where we could go, we didn't go out on convoys," said Vaught, a Vietnam vet and president of the WIMSA Foundation.

"More than ever before, the military is accepting that women are there to do a job," Vaught said. "If the job takes them in harm's way, well, that's the way it is."

Just as "I AM"

Finals week is upon me. WARNING: The discombobulation meter is pegging.

Today during lunch at school a woman at my table in the midst of a lengthy and rambling monologue threw in this, "God has set me free to be who I am. Because he loves me just the way I am."

Since none of our earlier 'conversation' even hinted of religion I was completely unprepared for the remark. Who knows whether a response would have been beneficial, but if I was quicker I would have replied with, "Who told you that!?! Don't say that "God loves me just as I am"--He's not satified with that. He loves you the way Jesus is. He frees you from self-centeredness so you can become like His Son."

Quiet Heroes

The church of one of my Baptist friends just voted on a new senior pastor. Before the vote he was asked to give his testimony, which went like this...

"I come from a broken home. My dad and mom split up when I was a young kid; dad left, leaving mom to raise the four of us. We had a rough childhood--alcohol, fights, etc. None of us knew the Lord. Eventually my mom re-married a Baptist deacon and through him we heard the gospel. Each of us came to faith in Christ..."

The church was duly impressed by this man's conversion experience and voted him in. Praise God for remarkable conversions, but I long for a day when our churches seek a truly impressive testimony, one like this...

"I come from 7 generations of parents, grandparents, and great grandparents who were all life-long worshipers of Christ Jesus. I never knew a day without family worship, and never knew a day when I haven't loved Christ. Yes, there were tough days growing up, but my father and mother taught me the promises which weather tough times. And by the grace of God, I've raised children who love and serve the Lord in the church. Any questions?"

Get Off the Fence

A friend of mine is contemplating whether to move towards Calvinism or Arminianism. He asked me to review an article by the Calvary Chapel folks which asserts the benefits of a neutral position.

You've probably heard the argument before...both Arminians and Calvinists have good proof texts supporting their position and both sides have godly men we respect, so we can't decide. What we'll do is be charitable to both while affirming neither.

This is just a nice way of saying that Scripture isn't clear enough on the atonement of Christ, the nature of God, and the nature of man to decide between two polar opposite positions like Calvinism and Arminianism. The issue is the clarity of Scripture.

Yes, there are proof texts for both sides. The mistake people make is not realizing that proof-texting has its limits--and almost anything can be proof-texted.

Foundational doctrines are by definition 'whole Bible' doctrines which means to understand them rightly you have to do more than find a couple of verses that support your position.

I hope this helps my friend get off the fence, it gets uncomfortable after a while.

Beauty Tips from the Bride of Christ

A newlywed young lady admired the charming beauty of Mrs. Ecclesia, the eldest lady in her fellowship. Once at a small gathering of women, the younger ventured to ask the older how it was that her beauty seemed to ever-increase.

The aged woman received the question gladly and gave the following reply.

"I remember when you were four years old how you loved to play dress up. And even now, as a new bride, I see that you still enjoy pretty clothing. So do I. What may surprise you though is how important my beauty is to my husband. My dear, a good husband is the key to beauty.

As I talk to you now, I’m reminded of the things he’s said to me. He loves stories; oh, you should hear the stories he tells! He knows so much about the women of old, how they were adorned, and how great was their reward. He’s nourished me with words about the worth of a gentle and quiet spirit. He’s washed away my silly notions of beauty. Most important of all, he’s promised that one day we shall be one flesh—that is, one day I will be as beautiful as him.

Your girlhood love of dress up pointed to something very important. It’s a picture of what a good husband does. He adorns you with splendor so that little by little no wrinkle, no blemish, nor any such thing, is left. My dear, a good husband is the key to beauty.”

Repeating a Grade

Another toll that moving takes on your church experience is membership class. Each time we move we wind up in the Inquirers' class again. It's like having to repeat 1st grade. We've repeated 6 times in 10 years. Even though we are building quite the collection of glitzy 3-ring binders, maybe next time we'll try to CLEP out.

Parish the Thought

Next week I'll meet with the assignment folks to plan my next move. We won't leave until June, but it's hard not to start thinking about it.

The most difficult part of a move has become finding a church home. As my understanding of Scripture improves, the effort to find the right church toughens exponentially. Consider this chart of our assignment history:

Year----Loc.---Churches Visited-----Time to Decide
1993----TX--------1-------------------0 mos
1997----NJ--------2-------------------1 mo
1999----IL--------2-------------------1 yr
2003----GA-------7-------------------6 mos
2004----OH-------5-------------------7 mos

Are we doomed to repeat this cycle with each move? I hope not. Sometimes we long for the parish system where you take what you get. But when the local churches are nearly dead and another one 30 minutes away is a great fit, we know where we'll be.

Parental Discrimination

I don't mean to sound like a "victim", but you tell me if this sounds right. Today I learned that a large adoption agency that caters to minority adoptions won't accept our portfolio because they have an "infertility requirement". Only infertile couples can adopt through them.

Don't they think there's some value in having parenting experience? Don't they realize the benefits of having older brothers and sisters?

It's not that I don't want infertile couples to adopt--I do. But shouldn't the birthmother have a say? If she looks at the different portfolios and decides to place her baby with an infertile couple, fine by me. But I got a hunch that some birhtmothers would value an adoptive family with a proven track record of good parenting.

It's Not Rocket Science

On a recent Mars Hill Audio Ken Myers pointed out that Rocket Science is easy--it's just chemistry and physics. Human relationships...now, those are the tough things! There's no formula or scientific theorem that can be employed with predictable results. An engineer friend of mine added that human relationships are like a complex formula with many, many undefined variables.

My 6 year old son has been experimenting with the full range of human emotions; I really don't know what to expect from one moment to the next. Lately, however, we've been troubled by the amount of anger and bitterness he's expressed.

It's disturbing to realize how much he mirrors me. When I don't get my time or space I let my children feel it, just like he does when his sister gets in his way. When I want one of my children to stop doing something, I force them to comply. Again, he does the same with his brother and sister.

So there is one incontrovertible law governing all human relationships. You reap what you sow (Gal 6:7).

Straightened Out (Again)

The Lord's Day is good medicine. My mixed-up feelings were overpowered through a good lesson on the Church and a fine sermon on the Church's Husband. Time spent this evening with the Gospel of Isaiah chased away the last patch of gray sky.

My favorite part of the sermon:

Our marriage relationship teaches our children about a relationship with God. If a husband fails to teach his wife, then he is telling his family that Christ is an unfaithful prophet. If a husband neglects to pray for his wife, then he is teaching the family that Christ is a non-interceding Priest. If a husband fails to lead his home, he is saying that Christ is an abdicating King.

My studies in Isaiah are in preparation for the Wednesday morning Bible Study. As part of Advent, I want the group to understand what it meant for an Old Testament believer to long for the coming of the Messiah. My goal is for them to understand that faith is more than just believing God will save me. Faith is believing all that God says He will do in the world. The prophets remind us that the coming of the King brings personal salvation, but also much more.

Mixed Up



Blame it on all the moves and different churches I've been part of, but I feel like Eric Carle's Mixed-Up Chameleon.

Part of me is shaped by John Piper and his passion for the Supremacy of Christ in all things, his screaming to my heart about missions, his repugnance at the thought of a cushy retirement.

Part of me is formed by R.C. Sproul Jr and his simple, separate, deliberate lifestyle, his love for children, his hatred of Leviathan, his mockery of yuppie-evangelicals.

Part of me is crafted by Mark Balthrop and his impassioned preaching to believe God's promises, his heart for the centrality of the Church, his love of covenant renewal liturgy, his insistence that God is proactively out for our good.

Like the mixed-up chameleon I turn cold and gray if I don't get fed in each of these areas. And lately I've been about as gray as a Dayton sky in November.

Giving Rebukes

While I was lifting in the gym yesterday one of my classmates came up to me, and I asked what he was doing for Thanksgiving. He's inviting an exchange student from Morocco over; I told him that was great because so few of the international students ever get to visit an American family at home. He then said that since this student is Muslim he asked him to say the prayer for them.

I wiped my sweaty face with my towel to hide a scowl.

He then went on to tell me that his family and the people from his small town were not as educated and just didn't know how much Islam and Christianity have in common--that they have the same values.

More face wiping with the towel.

It's been a couple of years since I last had a conversation of this sort. That time I became enraged and spewed out my objections: they understand neither Christianity nor Islam; they are just a pawn of the MSM, etc. I sounded exasperated. I did a lot of arm-waving. That was not a successful tactic.

This time I did better. I asked him if he had read the Koran--No. I calmly pointed out that for Christians Jesus is much more than a prophet. I told him that salvation is by grace through faith alone, which Muslims find absurd. I told him that he needs to move beyond a superficial understanding of religion. He needs to re-think his views because beliefs have consequences. I ended by explaining that while I disagree with him, I don't dislike him.

Our conversation ended peacefully. He went for a run, I continued on the leg press. I'm curious to see where our relationship goes.

A Gag Order

My pastor talked about different approaches to witnessing yesterday. He singled out those in the tradition of placing gospel tracks on urinals as conflating good motives with bad means. I wondered: is this only a habit of men? Are there tracks in the stalls of the ladies' room, too?

I've been watching with interest what is going on at the Air Force Academy. They have yet to fully recover from a rape scandal of a couple of years ago, and now the leadership is facing another fracas. This time the problem is overt expressions of Christianity. A few months ago a survey revealed that non-Christian cadets felt pressured by the Christian cadets and faculty. Examples of this oppression were the faculty's advertisement in the newspaper citing Jesus Christ as the only answer for the world's problems, and the football coach's banner in the locker-room that touted "I am a member of Team Jesus Christ."

I find the witnessing techniques of these cadets and staff only slightly better than the urinal style. But my heart goes out to them, for they have stepped in it now. The Academy leadership, under pressure from the "tolerance" brigade and in the name of "ending religious discrimination" is taking steps to muzzle public displays of religious expression. Both the long-running ad in the paper and the banner in the locker room are gone. The order of the day is more "religious tolerance" training.

My fear in all this is that the leadership of the military will go too far and make a policy that classifies evangelism as a form of religious discrimination. This grim possibility may already be surfacing at the highest levels in the military as evidenced in these remarks on the situation from the Secretary of the Air Force, "Our policy is clear. Tolerance of gender, racial, ethnic and religious diversity is required at our Air Force." I fail to see how religious diversity has been threatened by the cadets and faculty's actions.

Ironic, isn't it, that religious expression can be gagged in the name of religious tolerance?

Hospice: a Valley of Vision

After what I consider to be my conversion to Christ 11 years ago, I was discipled by Rod, a PCA pastor. When we met, his family had recently moved to San Antonio to start a church plant and were homeschooling their 4 children. He poured himself into this new Christian. And as I witnessed his enthusiasm and love for his wife, I yearned to be a husband like him some day. His wife, Jan, taught Kristin how to be a keeper at home and how a mother lives the Gospel in front of her children. After a few years the military moved us away, but our love and debt to this family remains.

Their children are now mostly in their teens and Rod is currently pastoring in Atlanta. Jan has been fighting terminal cancer for a couple of years and for several months has been close to death. Yet God has granted both Jan and Rod a mighty faith. Here's a part of a note we received from Rod today:

Here in this strange place (hospice) he’s giving Jan and me a renewed vision for the kingdom, and for kingdom work. Hospice can be a place of vision. Isn’t that a strange note. Since Jan has been in this facility every patient in it has passed away except her.

Early this morning part of Jan’s and my conversation included expressions of how blessed we are, what a sweet life we have, how deeply we sense the Lord’s peace and satisfaction, and how encouraged we are in spite of all the odds and circumstances. We spoke of the reasons for the sweetness of our lives…things like how much in love we are with each other, how our love has grown through the 28 years that we’ve been married, how blessed we are with our children, how we adore them and they us, how blessed we are with good friends who love us and care for us, and how much we sense the Lord’s love and delight in us, and his nearness.

We’re learning that God wants us to believe him. He wants us to believe him for a great many things…things way beyond what we have believed him for in the past…not just physical healing (that’s just a little part of it), but other kingdom things,… taking risks for the kingdom that we’d never have considered before. All this to say…our lives are rich. No regrets. No laments. Full of vision.

Praise the Lord! Jan’s condition has so much improved that she is going home from the hospice on Monday. She is eating well, talking, eyes open, using her left hand some (a few days ago the left hand was completely dysfunctional), getting out of bed for necessary things (with a little help from me), worshiping, singing, going for strolls in the garden in her wheelchair, and watching Andy Griffith. All of this just doesn’t add up to being in a hospice. She wants to go home and so she will. I’m equipping the house to care for her and we’ll be moving home on Monday morning.

If there’s ever a place to get kicked out of it's a hospice facility.

Eleven years later and I still want to be a believer like Pastor Rod some day. And Jan, more than ever, is showing how a mother lives the Gospel in front of her children.

Farm Chores

Kristin and Eli joined another homeschooling family in volunteering their morning at a 150-year old farm. Eli pumped water from the well, pitched hay from the hayloft, fed and watered the cows, horses, and pigs. Oh yeah, barn chores weren't done until somebody took care of the fertilizer.

Scoopin' Poop

Christianity and Humanism

It's surprising how many times I've bought stuff based on recommendations from bloggers I like. And each time I've really enjoyed what I got. One of my favorite CDs came this way, based on a plug by Rick Saenz over at DryCreek Chronicles. It's bluegrass of course: Hot Rize's live performance called "So Long of a Journey".

As they open the performance I've always been puzzled by the introduction of Pete Wernick, the famed Dr. Banjo, as also the President of the Family of Humanists. I finally got around to looking them up and was surprised to strongly agree with Humanists at one point.

From their web site, they say, "Humanism is rapidly becoming the standard in educated societies". That's true. The fundamental values of this group mirror those of mainstream culture. Here's what they say:

Morality should be judged by what is best for humanity and the world around us. People are more important than dogma or ideology.

Nature is all of reality. We do not know of credible evidence of supernatural beings. The universe is evolved and motivated by unchanging natural laws.

Reason and the Scientific Method are the most trustworthy routes to knowledge. Knowledge is a tool to be applied with compassion and empathy for humanitarian purposes.

Democracy is humanism applied to government. Civil rights must be guaranteed for all segments of society and for unpopular as well as majority opinions.

Humanism is a process of continuing inquiry. It evolves as we develop new ideas and re-examine the old ideas in light of new experience

Is that not the majority view of pop culture today? Public schools, politics, academia, media, etc? And sadly, much of the Church has to be added to that list. Christianity today has largely adopted humanism's values. This reminds me of Machen's great, little book, Christianity and Liberalism. It's as relevant to the Church today as it ever has been. Humanist-Christianity isn't Christianity at all - but something else; some other religion that has nothing to do with God, Jesus or the Bible.

Waking Up

After teaching on the promises of God to Abraham (and to us) in my little Bible Study, I received this e-mail from one of the attendees:

"Many thanks, yet again my brother! I've never heard a view taught other than disp premill. I'm excited about searching His word to compare these [views]."

It's rewarding being the guy who gets to wake others up to the richness of historic Christianity. The problem of course is that I have so little knowledge of it. I'm like the boy among a hungry multitude who brings a little bread and fish to His Lord. He takes my bit of bread, blesses it abundantly, and is somehow able to satisfy those around me with it.

Military stops sponsoring Boy Scouts of America due to organization's religious rules

It's common for military units to sponsor Boy Scout troops. Many of us were once Boy Scouts and see the military as a natural progression for a young man. An AP article reports on a case argued and recently won by the ACLU that will weaken this link simply because a Scout's pledge includes believing in God.

Once again "separation of church and state" has become separation of God and government--two completely different ideas. Government as an institution is accountable to God who made it. Our government's embarrassment to even acknowledge God increases. A government that holds Him in low regard, will itself be cursed. "Blessed are those that bless you, and cursed are those that curse You."

Adoption Update

Since writing about all the ups and downs of our efforts to adopt probably wouldn't be beneficial, I will try to only relate significant progress.

Sometimes progress is painful. We learned today that the birthmother in Alabama rejected us. In our view we were a good match. She wanted an "educated, Christian family." We'd love a bi-racial baby girl like hers. All the qualifications matched. But in her view we were too blond-headed and blue-eyed, we wouldn't "blend well".

But this is progress. For the first time a birthmother really could have chosen my family as a home for her baby. It's no small effort to get to this stage in the process.

Rejection is not a "happy feeling", but the assurance of a sovereign God is. The same God who cares for the fatherless and the least among us, in His time, will bring us together.

Peace Talks

"Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
but let them not turn back to folly."

I need to put Psalm 85 to memory...it's glorious!

Free Pink T-Shirts Get Women in the Army

The Army National Guard, which has fallen short of recruiting goals during the fighting in Iraq, is trying new marketing ideas here in Ohio. One especially upsetting idea is to use pink t-shirts to recruit more women.

The pink T-shirts bear the words "Soldier Girl" to get the attention of potential recruits. The first order of 800 went quickly.

"A lot of young ladies are under the impression they can't be feminine if they join the military," Sgt. Weston said. "I wanted to dispel that myth."

One Less Mormon

It's been awhile since I've blogged about Michael from Taiwan. He's an exchange officer here. We became friends and I was able to explain the gospel to him a couple of months ago. He was newly involved with the Mormons, but said he was disappointed that they seldom read the Bible. I invited him to a Bible Study at school and to my home.

Since then the quarter ended and we've only seen each other once. He's down to just a few weeks before he moves back home, and so I decided to e-mail him and explain why he shouldn't return to the Mormon church. Here was part of his response:

Hi, Tim:

Appreciate for your helpful recommendations in my choosing beliefs. Actually, some other beloved sisters and brothers have given me the similar opinions about Mormon, and I think you are right.Even if I am still reading Bible and discussing with other Christians, I think I won't go back to Mormon again.

I praise God that Michael and I struck up a quick but genuine friendship and that God is leading him to a safe place to grow in the knowledge and love of our Savior.