Covenant Hearts’ Blog

Now in the tradition of the military we pledge our service to God and country. With this in mind I will say the invocation. You do not have to participate in this if you do not want to…let us pray.

Dear heavenly father, creator God we thank you for this lovely evening in which we your humble servants can come together and break bread with one another. We ask that you bless this meal for our nourishment and watch over us this evening so that all may return safely to their dwellings. We also ask that you watch over our brothers in arms across the ocean as they will not be returning home this evening or maybe not at all. We trust in your providence and your guiding hand to be with us this evening. Amen.

won’t you heed His call.

He will not leave you nor forsake you…when we feel that He has done so it is usually we who have moved away from Him.

Keep this in mind…

To quit the discussion at this juncture is to quit thinking and “prove” your own point that there can be no conclusions on absolutes.

I come from a very different school of thot…while most ppl are in their beds sleeping I am a slave driver—pushing my intellect past it’s biases into the plane of absolute truths….

I readily admit when I am wrong…I have had plenty of practice…at 25 yrs old I have admitted being wrong twice as often as most ppl do by 50—thus I am four times further along in my intellectual development than most ;) obviously a math joke…with a hint of truth.

I am reformed, but I did not start that way. I am a Christian but I did not start that way. I hold to libertarian ideology but I did not start that way. I hold to free market economic theories but I did not start that way. I am in a box but I did not start that way…or I started in the same box that most ppl are still in, you can phrase it anyway you like, but I am a “truth seeker” and can easily detect untruths…I have a knack for it and have trained myself to do this for many years…

And I listen…that is my strength…ppl may not think I listen but I do…that is how I know so much. Only becuz I listen. I have listened/read as much as I can/could and sifted the truth from the lies…I have a working body of knowledge/wisdom and the gift of understanding…to understand philosophers and their dark sayings…

I have mathematical as well as visual acumen…I do not allow my own thots to cloud my judgments. I know pride…I have it, I’ve been horribly humbled. Jesus was humble, but he did not budge on truth.

I am not Jesus, but where I detect self-contradiction…I too will not budge…but I now have just come to the startling realization that to further discuss this with you would result in a loss of friendship before truth could be culled from the mess…

So goes a popular country song; an oft repeated theme whenever humans express their angst…

It would have been nice if our first parents had never sinned.  We would be ever-living in paradise, never knowing tragedy.  But alas this is not the case…It is what it is.

“To err is human…” that is to say that perfection is not achievable in this life…Enter karma, nirvana, heaven or whatever you think is or isn’t out there.  It is obvious to most people, that we cannot achieve perfection whilst embroiled in the throes of this life.

So what’s the point? Fate? Destiny? Pre-destiny? Make your own way? Well, I do believe in one absolute right path, but that’s another discussion for another day…

For my journey, life is about living for something outside of myself.  A life sacrificed for humanity. Leave this earth producing more than I’ve consumed-then will I have not been a dead weight to humanity.

It isn’t always rose-colored…Do the incongruities damn me eternally or is there “room” for errors?  How much room?  How much can I “get away with?”  Note that I do not jump head long into debauchery and seek to justify it…But there is a certain accommodation that I’ve made with my social environment…I do not ask if this is acceptable, as far as ethics goes; this is not. But as for a question of practical existence (what Jesus might call shrewdness), what is able to be glossed over?

Ezekiel 37:11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ 12 “Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 “Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. 14 “I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,” declares the LORD.’” (Emphasis mine.)

Matthew 27:52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. (Emphasis mine.)

I don’t recall anyone ever pointing this out, I’m sure it has been in some commentary somewhere…It seems to me that the graves were opened in fulfillment of this prophecy. I have wondered for a long time, the significance of the dead saints being raised and walking through Jerusalem. But it seems that the prophecy was for those in whom God would put His spirit and that He would make them to walk upon the land of Israel. This prophecy is characteristic of many Ezekiel passages which refer to the New Covenant. In this case the only “saints” that could be raised were O.T. believers/saints. But in other passages where promises are given to the living, it appears that they are to the Jewish Christians and “Gentile” Christians; given our N.T. understanding of the mystery which is Christ in us…Every Christian truly is a “Jewish” Christian…This goes against our modernistic thinking, though; but Paul said it:

Romans 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

If I could summarize; there is only one sense to the prophetic passages but there can be many applications. Thus, either the specifically Jewish orientation of the prophecy contains the real sense with the fact that all Christians are “true Jews” as an application or else the sense is really going for a promise aimed at all believers in the N.T. era with an application specifically directed at the Jews. Divorcing non-Jewish Christians from the promises in the O.T. Prophets seems to result in misapplication of the texts or maybe even missing the real sense of the passages; I withhold any conclusions either way on my part as of yet.

1 Timothy 5:16 If any woman who is a believer has dependent widows, she must assist them and the church must not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are widows indeed.

Who is the Church? And why are Christians so financially burdened? Do we not want to be in the position to assist when called upon? There is no excuse for the Church of Christ to be impotent today given our improved wealth and standard of living, as compared to the first century Church for instance.

The more we have, the more we want. Christians need to stop being so fearful when talking about money. They need to avoid beggars in clerical robes and give to the real beggars. They need to help when it is in the power of their hand to do it. Christ will come back and we will reconcile all accounts with Him. Christians also need to tithe. Don’t be fooled by my soft way of making that last statement.

What is the Law-Word of God? Is it the KJV, NASB, or NIV? Is it the manuscripts in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, et al.? Are all of them the Law-Word of God or none of them?

For one who holds to the inerrancy and infallibility of the Law-Word of God, these questions may seem disconcerting.

I am currently studying this issue to have my conscience settled and for a paper I will write on the topic (makes my work light since I want to know the information). Here I will lay out some of my thoughts on the subject.

I heard first the arguments for the priority of the Greek from which the KJV was written. I was led to believe that the Greek manuscripts which were translated from until the last century were the pure text and that the more recently discovered manuscripts had been edited, for instance, by gnostic sects which had hidden them away and had incidentally preserved them.

The first books that I picked up on the subject of text versions were both arguing against modern translations. Their method was to compare the English KJV translation to other modern English translations. They argued that other versions significantly reduced verses in support of, most notably the doctrine of Christ’s deity. They argued for a majority text tradition and invoked the theory of providential preservation.

More recently I have read a book by D.A. Carson on textual criticism. I took him to be Reformed Presbyterian initially but I don’t know how he could have some very liberal leanings as far as altering Scripture is concerned and still be “Reformed.” I thought he made many good points and nearly convinced me to be a textual critic…compelling anyways. But the more I look into it, the approach of textual criticism seems be atheistic as if somehow you can approach the issue neutrally…Oh sweet autonomy!

KJO proponents are on an extreme position. Proponents of the critical-text are on an extreme position. Proponents of the priority of the Majority/Byzantine text-type take external science into account as well as internal theological evidence. They seem to moderate the two extremes in a healthy way. It would place one much closer to KJO to side for the Majority text, but these are generally God-fearing evangelical Christians, than the textual-critics side, which is the side of intellectualizing to a fault the issue in question. Apparently, as one was wont to say, simple issues like evolution have been settled by science but are not accepted by some religious types. Well, I’m a religious type that will never accept an unproven theory as equivalent to experimental science.

Other issues I had with the Alexandrian prioritists were the use of statistical analysis, evolutionary concept of memes, mathematical analysis, etc as intellectual arguments. Sure, that is what is used in science but the Law-Word of God is not a scientific derivative and should not be treated as such.

I think the issues of theology, psychology, geography, history/tradition etc play a role as well as scientific modes of inquiry. Let us not use one to the exclusion of the other, but let us take both when they can both be of assistance and see where they lead us.

The Puritan Board.

Calvinism in History, By Loraine Boettner (excerpt on puritanboard.com is from ch3)

Witherspoon of Paisley and Princeton, By John A. Mackay (an excerpt? published in Theology Today Vol 18, No. 1 - January 1962)

Church History: America once an Episcopalian nation, Article found on Free Republic orig. from The Daily Citizen)

The Church History article conflicts with the argument provided in the previous link (Witherspoon). Both use numbers or statistics to make their point.

Point: “The Presbyterian Church, moreover, was the principal Christian denomination in the America of that time, both during the Revolutionary War and in the years that immediately followed.”

Counterpoint: “Statistically no group of Christians held a greater influence over the founding and initial direction of the United States of America than the Episcopal Church.”

Found one of the articles after taking the bunny trail of Little Geneva’s broken link. But here is the other missing article. Of course it only exists in the archives and I have saved the image so…

More info on the origins but not defense…I’m working on it. Wiki-pedia may have the answer…

Here is a good resource: Political Sermons of the American Founding Era. (2 vols.). In it can be found the political theories of colonial ministers.

Summary: While attempting some semblance of research, what I have found is a discussion of the socio-political origins of the “Presbyterian Parson’s War.” Or perhaps a psychology that provided a willingness to go to war due to the Calvinists’ recent history: Cromwell, War of the Austrian Succession, religious persecutions, antithesis with the Church of England, etc. Thus the climate was one of libertarian ideals/classic liberalism.

Wikipedia mentions the Hebrew Scriptures as a possible source for a Biblical defense. The colonialists saw themselves as Israel rebelling under Pharaoh, etc. Or maybe that they were the divinely appointed tool being used by God.

I also found that there was the fear of losing their religious freedoms due to a soon to be had Bishop of the Church of England being installed in the colonies. Obviously this would have been someone under the influence of the king and as such would result in a diminishing of religious and political freedoms.

“After the Seven Years’ (French and Indian) War ended in 1763, Whitefield arrived in America for his sixth tour. On April 2, 1764, he held a private conversation in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with Samuel Langdon and other established ministers that alarmed Americans already worried about their liberty. Whitefield was quoted as saying: ‘I can’t in conscience leave the town without acquainting you with a secret. My heart bleeds for America. O poor New England! There is a deep laid plot against your civil and religious liberties, and they will be lost. Your golden days are at an end. You have nothing but trouble before you. . . . Your liberties will be lost.’ Whitefield outlined the secret plans (as he said) of the British Ministry to end colonial self-government and to establish the Anglican Church (William Gordon, The History of the Rise, Progress and Establishment of the United States . . . [2d ed., 3 vols. New York: Samuel Campbell, 1794], 1:102). This episode galvanized the clergy in their opposition to British policy, especially when the intelligence proved true and the 1765 Stamp Act was adopted.” (Ellis Sandoz on George Whitefield’s BRITAIN’S MERCIES, AND BRITAIN’S DUTIES)

Still inconclusive as to the “Why?“. Too exhausted to continue. This will have to suffice for now.

Update (9/7/08): I think I am slowly beginning to understand…The Church of England was an imposition on the Puritans/Presbyterians in Britain and prevented them from worshiping God with clear consciences, thus their revolt and Oliver Cromwell and such. This sentiment carried over into the New World as they were seeking religious freedom on these shores. But with the threat of British consolidation of power (taxation is a form of control) they feared that they would lose their religious liberty. I suppose then that the War for American Independence was seen as a defensive war.

Would you not practice civil disobedience if your religious liberty was constrained? Civil disobedience comes in various degrees. And to the early American Presbyterians taking up arms to defend their right to live and worship how they pleased was important enough to them.

What is freedom? Is there anyone truly free? It is a question of perspective really. I am not talking about determinism and human free will; I am referring instead to ascription of sovereignty.

Sovereignty is an inescapable concept. It is not a question of “sovereignty or no sovereignty?” but of “who is sovereign?”. To the religious, God (or a god) is sovereign. To the atheist, man is sovereign. And in turn, in the modern state, the state is sovereign.

So according to this, there is no freedom. Choices may be made however. You may choose to serve God, man, the state or anything else vying for control over you. I prefer to serve a benevolent dictator. Man and the state rarely prove themselves as such therefore I find myself in service to God. Man and the state will not show benevolence. They are extreme, intolerant, and have the insatiable craving to run other men’s lives.

Check out the this article. Great Britain will destroy itself due to destroying freedoms…That is, unless heavy intervention takes place to prevent the natural course of society, tampering with men’s freedoms to serve God will remove incentive to build a lasting civilization.

Read 1984 and Brave New World. These books show two very different (though not unlike) conceptions of where the ruthlessness of man will lead him when ascribes all sovereignty to himself (or the state by extension).

Conclusion: If you want to be free to serve God you must resist evil in all its forms. Evil in personal piety, evil in public society, evil in the church (the fabric of society) and evil in office over society all must equally be dealt with.

Nix baptismal regeneration. Nix the idea that children are just simply heathen being raised inside the church. The question is, what is the state of the soul of Covenant Children. Why do children leave the faith of their parents? The trend in the Reformed denominations is that the children raised in these circles go astray. Today we have several ministries responding to this crisis. Focus on the Family, Vision Forum, and No Greater Joy ministries place great emphasis on the family and their role in bringing up children in the way they should go. Baptists in general place great emphasis on the family unit and personal piety. What are the Reformed Presbyterians doing wrong?

It is a world and life view issue that needs to be dealt with. Reformed Christian parents believe in the sovereignty of God. But how does this belief affect the way they live and think? I like the quote “Pray as if it all depends upon God, but live as if it all depends upon you”. Now I may have slightly misquoted Mr Unknown Source but the idea is there. Now this quote as I understand it is not trying to pervade autonomy of man. But in light of the truth that God is sovereign and works through man, we must take action and if consistent with the Law-Word of God our actions are guided by God. We cannot sit idly by and allow our children to casually meander down the expressway to hell. Understanding that God turns the heart, we must do all we can do to steer our children towards God and a God-ward outlook. For in doing this God may use these actions to draw them unto himself. There will be more to follow on this subject, especially since I have my first baby on the way. Most of my current knowledge of children is based upon the Bible, my parents, other parents, observation, experience in aiding my parents with younger siblings and books that I have read. Very soon I shall add to the litany of sources: personal experience with my own children.

The reason I am cringing at this moment is that I am saddened by reports I hear of young men whom I once called “friend”. One particular young man was raised in a reformed church (OPC, in fact), by parents who love the LORD, and was taught “critical thinking” through his homeschooling experience. His parents did not see the folly in sending him to a school halfway across the country with no one to be his taskmaster. This is an amended version of a conversation I had with a Christian friend about our old friend:

my Christian friend: you talk to [old friend's first name] recently?
groceryguy19: no
groceryguy19: how is he?
my Christian friend: i dont talk to him any more
groceryguy19: oh
my Christian friend: hes wasting his computer talents…thinking he has a future being in a band
my Christian friend: and hes a heavy stoner
groceryguy19: [old friend's first name] who?
my Christian friend: [old friend's full name]
groceryguy19: aw…thats a shame
my Christian friend: yeaah
groceryguy19: thats why kids shouldn’t leave their parents for college…
my Christian friend: yeah….
groceryguy19: for this reason shall a man leave father and mother
groceryguy19: to cleave unto his wife

It pains me to hear this. Even if this were not true about my old friend it serves as an anecdote about what really goes on with covenant children who go astray.

Another young man whom I considered to be a good friend for a long time even after we fell out of contact is another example of “something missing” in the life of covenant children. He is also a rock band type and is certainly living it up. He apparently drinks alcohol to oblivion and cusses with no reticence or reservation.

Is that “something missing” God? I don’t know. By all appearances the answer is yes. But God’s election is sure and if they are of the elect God will one day call them from out of their sinful wickedness back into the light of his glorious grace. They will rejoin the covenant community of God but this time as heirs and not as followers of Jesus who were part of the multitudes hungry for the bread he would feed them with.

I hope and pray that they would seek God in sincerity and humility; and that God would show his love towards them and cleanse them with the blood of his son Jesus Christ our Lord whose blood was shed for the remission of sin. Amen.