tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59319263767956946702024-03-12T19:51:31.782-06:00Minor Mutterings<i>Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium</i>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.comBlogger382125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-40976883068005940302010-07-28T09:44:00.002-06:002010-07-28T09:47:18.879-06:00Another High Profile Preacher Failure<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704249004575385170843908594.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop">Ted Haggard Over-Repents</a>.<br /><br />He has that right. Instead of stopping at 180 degrees he continued until he had completed a full 360.Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-3094039970147607012010-07-03T08:44:00.002-06:002010-07-03T08:52:13.182-06:00Some Call it Sedition<h3 style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence">The Unanimous Declaration<br />of the Thirteen United States of America </a></h3><div style="text-align: center;">Adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776<br /></div><p> When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. </p> <p> We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. </p> <p> He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. </p> <p> He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. </p> <p> He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. </p> <p> He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. </p> <p> He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. </p> <p> He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. </p> <p> He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. </p> <p> He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. </p> <p> He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. </p> <p> He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance. </p> <p> He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature. </p> <p> He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power. </p> <p> He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation: </p> <p> For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: </p> <p> For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states: </p> <p> For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world: </p> <p> For imposing taxes on us without our consent: </p> <p> For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury: </p> <p> For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses: </p> <p> For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies: </p> <p> For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments: </p> <p> For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. </p> <p> He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us. </p> <p> He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. </p> <p> He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. </p> <p> He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. </p> <p> He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. </p> <p> In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. </p> <p> Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends. </p> <p> We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. </p><br /><p> New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton </p> <p> Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry </p> <p> Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery </p> <p> Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott </p> <p> New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris </p> <p> New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark </p> <p> Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross </p> <p> Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean </p> <p> Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton </p> <p> Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton </p> <p> North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn </p> <p> South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton </p> <p> Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton </p>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-55221336726193761372010-06-08T16:14:00.002-06:002010-06-08T16:25:04.248-06:00More Encouragement for Those Who Struggle<a href="http://www.worshipmatters.com/2010/06/08/song-from-next2010-for-those-battling-the-effects-of-sexual-sin/">This Song From NEXT2010 for Those Battling the Effects of Sin</a><br /><br />Lyrics:<br /><p style="font-style: italic;">Not a single spot<br />Not a single stain<br />Not a single blemish<br />Now remains<br />You have been washed clean<br />With the blood of Jesus Christ<br />And if your trust is in Him<br />You are righteous in my eyes</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">And though there is a battle<br />Though you fight the war<br />There are temporary pleasures<br />That’s not what you were made for<br />There are everlasting pleasures<br />That are waiting at my hand<br />And I only give joy<br />That will never ever end.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">And if you fall again<br />My forgiveness will remain<br />For your debt is paid in full<br />And my love will never change<br />So trust in me each moment<br />For what you cannot do<br />For I’ll give you strength to conquer<br />For your life has been made new<br />I’ll give you strength to conquer<br />For your life has been made new.</p><br /><br />And even more encouragement <a href="http://www.joshharris.com/2010/06/feeding_the_flesh_cartoons.php">here.</a>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-88341775395075140772010-06-08T15:42:00.004-06:002010-06-08T19:16:41.833-06:00An Encouragement to All Who StruggleJohn Newton, writing to his good friend, the Rev. William Bull, gives this description of his struggle with an unwelcome "lodger":<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I have many pleasant and kind connections; but I have a troublesome inmate, a lodger, who assumes as if the house were his own, and is a perpetual incumbrance, and spoils all. He has long been noted for his evil ways; but though generally known, is not easily avoided. He lodged with one Saul of Tarsus long before I was born, and made him groan and cry out lustily. Time was when I thought I would shut the door, to keep him out of my house, but my precaution came too late; he was already within ; and to turn him out by head and shoulders is beyond my power; nay, I cannot interdict him from any one single apartment. If I think of retiring into the closest corner, he is there before me. We often meet and jostle and snarl at each other; but sometimes (would you believe it ?) I lose all my suspicion, and am disposed to treat him as an intimate friend. This inconsistency of mine I believe greatly encourages him, for I verily believe he would be ashamed and afraid to be seen by me, if I always kept him at a proper distance. However, we both lay such a strong claim to the same dwelling, that I believe the only way of settling the dispute will be (which the Landlord himself has spoken of) to pull down the house over our heads. There seems something disagreeable in this mode of proceeding ; but from what I have read in an old book, I form a hope that when things come to this crisis, I shall escape, and my enemy will be crushed in the ruins.</span><br /><br />June 7, 1783<br /><br />If the author of "Amazing Grace" experienced the constant struggle against the sin nature (as described in <a href="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Romans+7">Romans 7</a>), why would we think that we would be exempt? Oh for that day when the building is pulled down and we are lifted up!Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-49712832061091484182010-06-05T12:45:00.003-06:002010-06-05T12:55:33.885-06:00I am not a prophet, or the son of a prophet, but...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.treehugger.com/burning-oil-rig-explosion-fire-photo11.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 468px; height: 351px;" src="http://www.treehugger.com/burning-oil-rig-explosion-fire-photo11.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span class="verse-num" id="v66008008-1"></span>The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. <span class="verse-num" id="v66008009-1"> </span>A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. - Revelation 8:8,9, ESV<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/05/28/alg_oil-spill.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 485px; height: 322px;" src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/05/28/alg_oil-spill.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://naturescrusaders.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/oilsoakedbird.jpeg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 480px; height: 320px;" src="http://naturescrusaders.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/oilsoakedbird.jpeg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-52227006503977772142010-04-25T14:57:00.002-06:002010-04-25T15:00:51.811-06:00Self-Knowledge<span style="font-variant: small-caps;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Searcher of hearts</span>,</span> <p>It is a good day to me when thou givest me<br />a glimpse of myself; </p><p>Sin is my greatest evil,<br /> but thou art my greatest good;<br />I have cause to loathe myself,<br /> and not to seek self-honour,<br /> for no one desires to commend his own dung-hill.<br />My country, family, church<br /> fare worse because of my sins,<br /> for sinners bring judgment in thinking<br /> sins are small,<br /> or that God is not angry with them. </p><p><br />Let me not take other good man as my example,<br /> and think I am good because I am like them,<br />For all good men are not so good as thou desirest,<br /> and not always consistent,<br /> do not always follow holiness,<br /> do not feel eternal good in sore affliction.<br />Show me how to know when a thing is evil<br /> which I think is right and good,<br /> how to know when what is lawful<br /> comes from an evil principle,<br /> such as desire for reputation or wealth by usury. </p><p><br />Give me grace to recall my needs,<br /> my lack of knowing thy will in scripture,<br /> of wisdom to guide others,<br /> of daily repentance, want of which keeps thee<br /> at bay,<br /> of the spirit of prayer, having words<br /> without love,<br /> of zeal for thy glory, seeking my own ends,<br /> of joy of thee and thy will,<br /> of love to others. </p><p><br />And let me not lay my pipe<br /> too short of the fountain,<br /> never touching the eternal spring,<br /> never drawing down water from above. </p><p>—<a target="_blank" title="" href="http://www.banneroftruth.org/pages/item_detail.php?4894">The Valley of Vision</a>, Arthur Bennett, editor (Banner of Truth Trust, 2002). </p>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-19946262453607762852010-04-04T20:04:00.003-06:002010-06-06T13:06:09.967-06:00More Than Two Months?Since I posted anything here?<br /><br />Yeah, I have been lazy.<br /><br />I cleaned up some of the sidebar, and will find some new content to post. For now, though:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Now I would remind you, brothers,</span><span style="font-style: italic;" class="footnote"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;"> of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, </span><span style="font-style: italic;" class="verse-num" id="v46015002-1"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;">and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.</span> <p style="font-style: italic;" id="p46015003.01-1"><span class="verse-num" id="v46015003-1"> </span>For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, <span class="verse-num" id="v46015004-1"> </span>that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, <span class="verse-num" id="v46015005-1"> </span>and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. <span class="verse-num" id="v46015006-1"> </span>Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. <span class="verse-num" id="v46015007-1"> </span>Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. <span class="verse-num" id="v46015008-1"> </span>Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. <span class="verse-num" id="v46015009-1"> </span></p>(1 Corinthians 15:1-8, ESV)Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-70360216919872774852010-01-18T19:10:00.003-07:002010-01-18T19:14:03.420-07:00Who Takes the Blame for Haiti?<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><strong><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:18pt;" ><span style="font-size:85%;">Who Takes the Blame for Haiti?<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">by Todd Friel</span><br /></span></strong></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1263866743_6">Rick Warren</span> is wrong when he tweets that God does not judge the world through catastrophes (Romans 1:18).</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1263866743_7">Pat Robertson</span> is wrong when he claims to know why the Haitian earthquake happened (Deut.29:29).</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Perhaps these principles will help us figure out why tragedies happen and who is responsible.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><strong>God</strong></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">God controls everything directly or indirectly by restraining His grace or allowing the devil a little more leash. Either way, God is sovereign over everything and happily accepts responsibility for both good and bad (but not sin).</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><strong>The devil</strong></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">The devil does not control the weather or rule the nations.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><strong>Humans</strong></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">There are only two groups of people on the earth: pagans and Christians. </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><strong>Why?</strong></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">When God sends/allows disaster to the pagans, He does so for two reasons: as judgment or as a call to repentance. A disaster is not enough wrath for the pagans as it is merely a taste of God’s eternal punishment if they do not repent and trust the Savior.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">When God sends/allows disaster to Christians, He does so for two reasons: to prune us or kill us and take us home. A disaster is never too much or too little for the <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1263866743_8">Christian</span>, the Pruner causes/allows just the right amount for our good and His glory.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">While God may be sending judgment to an entire nation, each individual (pagan and Christian) should seek to determine why God caused/allowed himself to be hurt.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Christians are not victims of collateral damage. While there may be a primary reason God sends/allows a catastrophe, God orchestrates every detail in every situation.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Catastrophes happen to heathens as an <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1263866743_9">act of God</span>’s judgment, but they happen to Christians as an act of severe mercy.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">God sends/causes a disaster for the onlookers to respond with apathy or kindness.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><strong>Biblical Support</strong></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Jesus gave us the definitive statement on catastrophes in Luke 13:1-5. Please take a moment to read that text and you will never make the mistake of Rick Warren or Pat Robertson.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><strong>Trick Question</strong></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">God is not to blame for the earthquake as it was the exact right thing to do. While God gets the credit for the earthquake, He is never to blame for anything. <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1263866743_10">Charles Wesley</span> wrote a number of hymns thanking God for two earthquakes that rocked England in 1751; we should do the same.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><strong>The Bottom Line</strong></div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">While each individual should endeavor to learn the lesson that God has in the storm, there is an ultimate purpose (forty days or otherwise): God is endeavoring to glorify His Son. God sends a taste of His wrath to the heathens that they might look to the cross and be saved. God prunes Christians that we will live in greater gratitude for what Jesus has done to rescue us from eternal destruction.</div> <p><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:11pt;" >Catastrophes, like everything, are about the cross.</span></span></p>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-72250674454670924992010-01-17T14:22:00.004-07:002010-01-18T07:34:20.352-07:00How Soon We ForgetI was saddened to see that the Haiti earthquake dropped to page A8 of the Sunday Albuquerque Journal. What was so much more important that it needed to be on the front page? State budget problems and the New Mexico film industry.<br /><br />The people of Haiti are going to need our assistance long after the world has lost interest and considers its troubles to be yesterday's news.<br /><br />Pray<br /><br />Give<br /><br />Pray<br /><br />Update, January 18th: Today's Albuquerque Journal? Page C4, a quarter page, just above the obituaries. Keep on praying, keep on giving, keep on praying.Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-25331390979610656062010-01-13T21:36:00.002-07:002010-01-13T21:41:30.130-07:00Haiti Earthquake Response1) Pray<br /><br />2) Give<br /><a href="https://www.kintera.org/site/c.9qKILUOzEpH/b.238330/k.942/Disaster_Relief_Fund/apps/ka/sd/donor.asp?c=9qKILUOzEpH&b=238330&en=9hILJUMwG7LHIWMGIdLHKVMzHjJ1J6PFKhJRKXODJhJSI4NKKvH"><br />SBC Disaster Relief</a><br /><a href="https://www.samaritanspurse.org/"><br />Samaritan's Purse</a><br /><br />3) PrayJerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-37102019617287713422010-01-05T18:23:00.001-07:002010-01-05T18:26:21.683-07:00Win Books<a href="http://nwbingham.com/win-1-of-3-michael-horton-book-packs">Good books from Micheal Horton (via Nathan Bingham)</a>.<br /><br />Simply subscribe to <a href="http://nwbingham.com">Nathan W. Bingham's Microblog</a> and fill out his easy form.Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-33866772973100109012009-12-31T08:16:00.004-07:002009-12-31T08:22:37.851-07:00It is NOT the end of the Decade......or the beginning of a new one until January 1, <span style="font-weight: bold;">2011</span>.<br /><br />Let's all count together:<br /><br />1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10<br /><br />NOT:<br /><br />0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9<br /><br />So, you have another whole year before you do your "Wrap-up of the Decade", "Best and Worst of the Decade", and "First Ten Years of the New Millennium" TV specials.<br /><br />(As you can probably tell, this is one of my personal pet peeves.)<br /><br />Happy New Year, the beginning of the 10th year of this decade!Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-87943684745436768222009-12-30T18:58:00.005-07:002009-12-30T19:14:03.851-07:00Happy Birthday Rudyard Kipling!<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudyard_Kipling">Rudyard Kipling</a>, December 30, 1865 - 18 January 1936<br /><br />Born in Bombay (Mumbai), India, he bridged the time between the mid-Victorian era and latter Edwardian times, and served as a chronicler of British Imperialism. Many of his works have fallen out of favor today, due to the fact that they present a very un-PC view of the world.<br /><br />Here is my favorite of his poems:<br /><br /><h3 style="font-style: italic;" align="center"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Tommy</span></h3> <p style="font-style: italic;"> I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o'beer,<br />The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."<br />The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,<br />I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:<br /></p><p style="font-style: italic;">O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";<br />But it's ``Thank you, Mister Atkins,'' when the band begins to play,<br />The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,<br />O it's ``Thank you, Mr. Atkins,'' when the band begins to play.</p> <blockquote style="font-style: italic;"> </blockquote> <p style="font-style: italic;"> I went into a theatre as sober as could be,<br />They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;<br />They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,<br />But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!<br /></p><p style="font-style: italic;">For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";<br />But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,<br />The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,<br />O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.</p> <blockquote style="font-style: italic;"> </blockquote> <p style="font-style: italic;"> Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep<br />Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;<br />An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit<br />Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.<br /></p><p style="font-style: italic;">Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy how's yer soul?"<br />But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,<br />The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,<br />O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.</p> <blockquote style="font-style: italic;"> </blockquote> <p style="font-style: italic;"> We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,<br />But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;<br />An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints:<br />Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;<br /></p><p style="font-style: italic;">While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind,"<br />But it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind,<br />There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,<br />O it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind.</p> <blockquote style="font-style: italic;"> </blockquote> <p style="font-style: italic;"> You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires an' all:<br />We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.<br />Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face<br />The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.<br /></p><p style="font-style: italic;">For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"<br />But it's "Saviour of 'is country," when the guns begin to shoot;<br />An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;<br />But Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!</p> <blockquote style="font-style: italic;"> </blockquote>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-49882807439179641412009-12-30T17:06:00.002-07:002009-12-30T17:10:43.725-07:00New Year Prayer<p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">O Lord</span>,</p><p style="font-style: italic;">Length of days does not profit me except the days are passed in thy presence, in thy service, to thy glory.</p><p style="font-style: italic;">Give me a grace that precedes, follows, guides, sustains, sanctifies, aids every hour,<br /> that I may not be one moment apart from thee,<br /> but may rely on thy Spirit,<br /> to supply every thought,<br /> speak in every word,<br /> direct every step,<br /> prosper every work,<br /> build up every mote of faith,<br /> and give me a desire<br /> to show forth thy praise,<br /> testify thy love,<br /> advance thy kingdom.</p><p style="font-style: italic;">I launch my bark on the unknown waters of this year,<br /> with thee, O Father, as my harbour,<br /> thee, O Son, at my helm,<br /> thee O Holy Spirit, filling my sails.</p><p style="font-style: italic;">Guide me to heaven with my loins girt,<br /> my lamp burning,<br /> my ear open to thy calls,<br /> my heart full of love,<br /> my soul free.</p><p style="font-style: italic;">Give me grace to sanctify me,<br /> thy comforts to cheer,<br /> thy wisdom to watch,<br /> thy right hand to guide,<br /> thy counsel to instruct,<br /> thy law to judge,<br /> thy presence to stabilize.</p><p style="font-style: italic;">May thy fear be my awe,<br /> thy triumphs my joy.</p><p>from: <a href="http://www.banneroftruth.org/pages/dailydevotion_detail.php?898">Valley of Vision</a></p>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-84352777393700543602009-12-18T08:06:00.005-07:002009-12-18T08:16:26.428-07:00302 Years Ago Today<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley">Charles Wesley was born</a>.<br /><br />Younger brother of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, Charles is best known as the author of over 6,000 hymns, many of which continue to be favorites today.<br /><br />My personal favorite:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >And Can It Be That I Should Gain?</span><p>And can it be that I should gain<br />An interest in the Savior's blood!<br />Died he for me, who caused his pain!<br />For me? who him to death pursued?<br />Amazing love! How can it be<br />That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?<br />Amazing love! How can it be<br />That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?</p> <p>'Tis mystery all: th' Immortal dies!<br />Who can explore his strange design?<br />In vain the firstborn seraph tries<br />To sound the depths of love divine.<br />'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;<br />Let angel minds inquire no more.<br />'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;<br />Let angel minds inquire no more.</p> <p>He left his Father's throne above<br />So free, so infinite his grace!<br />Emptied himself of all but love,<br />And bled for Adam's helpless race.<br />'Tis mercy all, immense and free,<br />For O my God, it found out me!<br />'Tis mercy all, immense and free,<br />For O my God, it found out me!</p> <p>Long my imprisoned sprit lay,<br />Fast bound in sin and nature's night;<br />Thine eye diffused a quickening ray;<br />I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;<br />My chains fell off, my heart was free,<br />I rose, went forth, and followed thee.<br />My chains fell off, my heart was free,<br />I rose, went forth, and followed thee.</p> <p>Still the small inward voice I hear,<br />That whispers all my sins forgiven;<br />Still the atoning blood is near,<br />That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.<br />I feel the life His wounds impart;<br />I feel the Savior in my heart.<br />I feel the life His wounds impart;<br />I feel the Savior in my heart.</p> <p>No condemnation now I dread;<br />Jesus, and all in him, is mine;<br />Alive in him, my living Head,<br />And clothed in righteousness divine,<br />Bold I approach th' eternal throne,<br />And claim the crown, through Christ my own.<br />Bold I approach th' eternal throne,<br />And claim the crown, through Christ my own.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Another one, appropriate to the season:</p><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Hark! the Herald Angels Sing</span><br /><br />Hark! the herald angels sing,<br />"Glory to the new born King,<br />peace on earth, and mercy mild,<br />God and sinners reconciled!"<br />Joyful, all ye nations rise,<br />join the triumph of the skies;<br />with th' angelic host proclaim,<br />"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"<br />Hark! the herald angels sing,<br />"Glory to the new born King!"<br /><br />Christ, by highest heaven adored;<br />Christ, the everlasting Lord;<br />late in time behold him come,<br />offspring of a virgin's womb.<br />Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;<br />hail th' incarnate Deity,<br />pleased as man with man to dwell,<br />Jesus, our Emmanuel.<br />Hark! the herald angels sing,<br />"Glory to the new born King!"<br /><br />Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!<br />Hail the Sun of Righteousness!<br />Light and life to all he brings,<br />risen with healing in his wings.<br />Mild he lays his glory by,<br />born that man no more may die,<br />born to raise the sons of earth,<br />born to give us second birth.<br />Hark! the herald angels sing,<br />"Glory to the new born King!"<br /><br />Come, Desire of nations, come,<br />fix in us thy humble home;<br />rise, the woman's conquering Seed,<br />bruise in us the serpent's head.<br />Adam's likeness, Lord, efface;<br />stamp thine image in its place.<br />Second Adam from above,<br />Reinstate us in thy love.<br />Hark! the herald angels sing,<br />"Glory to the new born King!"<br /><br />Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,<br />Stamp Thine image in its place:<br />Second Adam from above,<br />Reinstate us in Thy love.<br />Let us Thee, though lost, regain,<br />Thee, the Life, the inner man:<br />O, to all Thyself impart,<br />Formed in each believing heart.<br />Hark! the herald angels sing,<br />“Glory to the newborn King!”<br /><br /></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-51365290588026644452009-12-17T15:52:00.004-07:002009-12-17T15:58:13.743-07:00Sixty-Five Years Ago<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malmedy_massacre">The Malmedy Massacre</a> occurred on this date, December 17, in 1944. This atrocity took place during the German encircling operations as part of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge">Battle of the Bulge</a> which began the day before.<br /><br />The Battle of the Bulge was the last offensive action undertaken by the Germans on the Western front. Their defeat, and the subsequent destruction of German reserves, led to the total capitulation of the 3rd Reich within six months.Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-18647118440933350452009-12-16T20:47:00.003-07:002009-12-16T20:54:38.246-07:00The Birth of Jesus Christ<a href="http://bible.org/article/birth-jesus-christ">This paper by Daniel Wallace is from 1996</a>, but it is still an important reminder of the details surrounding the birth of Christ.<br /><br />Here is Wallace' conclusion:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">We've been looking at several aspects of the birth of Jesus Christ in this short study. Now, we want to put it all together.</span><p></p> <p style="font-style: italic;">In the winter of 5 or 4 B.C., God invaded history by taking on the form of a man. He was born in a small town just south of Jerusalem. Bethlehem, which means 'the house of bread,' indeed became worthy of its name one lonely winter night. For there, in that town, was born the Bread of Life . . . </p> <p style="font-style: italic;">His mother placed the infant king in a manger--or feeding trough--because the guest room where they were to stay was occupied. The birth of this king was celebrated that night only by his mother, her husband, and a handful of shepherds. The shepherds had been in the fields around Bethlehem, guarding the lambs which would die at the next Passover. An angel appeared to them and gave them the birth announcement: "today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (). In their simple faith, they rushed to see their newborn king.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">Shortly after the birth of the Messiah, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem and inquired of king Herod where the real king of the Jews was to be born. The theologians of Herod's court knew the Scriptures well--in 'Bethlehem' they recited. Ironically, though they knew the Scriptures, they did not believe them! They did not even bother to travel the five or six miles to Bethlehem to see their Messiah.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">But Herod believed the Scriptures! That is why he sent a corps of butchers to Bethlehem to slaughter innocent children, in hopes of destroying this rival to his throne. But he was too late. The magi had come and gone and Jesus was by now safe in Egypt.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">And the magi believed the Scriptures. They had traveled several hundred miles to worship this Babe. They were guided to Bethlehem by a supernatural celestial phenomenon--and by the Scriptures. Apparently, their ancestors had been instructed by Daniel the prophet about the coming Messiah. . . When they saw the child, they fell down and worshiped him. This was God in the flesh. They could do no other.</p>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-69539560370876638252009-12-15T16:01:00.003-07:002009-12-16T11:49:26.370-07:00Yet Another False Prophet......<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/us/16roberts.html">goes to his reward</a>.<br /><br />I guess that he has finally discovered that Jesus is much greater than the <a href="http://www.ondoctrine.com/10robero.htm">900 foot tall version that he described seeing</a>.<br /><br />Update:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.apostasyalert.org/Oral%20Roberts.htm">More background on his heresy</a>.Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-26205264763999017732009-12-10T08:07:00.001-07:002009-12-10T08:08:51.499-07:00This looks like a good book......to prepare you for Christmas:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.crossway.org/blog/2009/12/trackback-thursday-celebrates-advent/" target="_blank"><em>Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas</em></a><br /><br />Plus, you have a chnace to win a copy.Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-35470636392622567542009-11-23T13:04:00.004-07:002009-11-23T13:11:20.323-07:00Zero Tolerance = Zero Common Sense<a href="http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_13831318">Once again, the dictum of "zero tolerance" is wielded like a clumsy club</a>.<br /><br />Note that the student was parked off campus.<br /><br />Note that the school used an "ammunition sniffing" dog to uncover the shotgun. (and to think that they tell us that California has a budget crisis.)<br /><br />Note that he did nothing wrong.<br /><br />I want my country back. In High School, not only did we keep our rifles and shotguns in our cars and trucks in the school parking lot (some displayed in open gun racks) so as to hunt before and after school, we were also permitted to check out .22 rifles at the ROTC armory so as to shoot on the 50' indoor range without adult supervision. And to think that none of us ever thought once about shooting up our school.Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-65065600364423054372009-11-23T12:05:00.003-07:002009-11-23T12:26:18.734-07:00What are you prepared to do?<a href="http://www.entertonement.com/clips/mtdddsyqkk--What-are-you-prepared-to-do-nowThe-Untouchables-Sean-Connery-Kevin-Costner-Eliot-Ness-">What are you prepared to do</a> when they:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Force you to pay for elective abortion with your tax dollars?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Tell your church that it must perform same sex weddings or lose its 501(c)(3) tax status?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Threaten to jail you if you proclaim Biblical truth?</span><br /><br />None of these are outside of the realm of possibility in today's cultural and political environment.<br /><br />Something to think about: When these things happen, will you acquiesce, or will you<a href="http://www.crosstalkblog.com/2009/11/religious-leaders-call-for-civil-disobedience-if-laws-dont-respect-faith/"> engage in civil disobedience</a>, knowing that you will suffer the consequences? I am afraid that too many will decide to take the safe route and "<a href="http://www.biblebb.com/files/mac/sg2205.htm">burn the pinch of incense</a>" so as to stay on good terms with the Emperor.<br /><br />May I recommend that you begin to allow your voice to be heard by signing<a href="http://www.manhattandeclaration.org/"> The Manhattan Declaration</a>. (Not the one on "<a href="http://www.climatescienceinternational.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37&Itemid=1">climate chang</a>e".)Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-63244368520828493972009-11-13T10:49:00.002-07:002009-11-13T10:53:26.896-07:00False Prophet UpdateAnother false prophet/preacher gets partial justice. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,575011,00.html">Tony Alamo sentenced to 175 years in prison </a>for molesting children.<br /><br />The judge in the case told him that he would one day face "a greater judge". Let us remember that we too will stand before the Judge of the universe one day and give account for our stewardship.Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-42393124431770378122009-11-06T18:12:00.007-07:002009-11-06T19:25:32.839-07:00Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds CommentaryZondervan has just released the five volume <a href="http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Product/ProductDetail.htm?ProdID=com.zondervan.9780310255727&QueryStringSite=Zondervan">Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary of the Old Testament (ZIBBCOT)</a>, and I was able to get my hands on an advance copy of Volume 1, Genesis-Deuteronomy. When I received this book I immediately experienced a case of deja vu, remembering the day in 1991 when I first held a copy of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Holman-Bible-Dictionary-Trent-Butler/dp/1558190538">Holman Bible Dictionary</a> in my hands.<br /><br />Recognize that I am not equating the Holman Bible Dictionary with the new Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, since the differences are greater than the similarities, but both of these produced in me the same response when I first opened them: Wow! Both of these publications provide a view of the historical background of the Bible that would be helpful for all serious students.<br /><br />Here is a brief comparison of the Holman Bible Dictionary (HBD) with the ZIBBCOT:<br /><br />Content - The HBD is a Dictionary of Biblical words, people, events, and places presented alphabetically. The ZIBBCOT follows the biblical text, giving commentary on the people, events, and places along with a presentation of extra-biblical background material.<br /><br />Format - The HBD is a single volume for the entire Bible, and always felt like it wasn't going to hold up to regular use due to a poor binding and questionable paper. The ZIBBCOT is a multi-volume work (there are also NT volumes, see my comment below), and feels like a quality binding with decent paper. It feels and handles like an expensive college textbook. Additionally, while both publications contain numerous photographs, those in the ZIBBCOT are of better quality, possibly as a result of advances in digital photography since 1991.<br /><br />Philosophy - The HBD is published by Broadman & Holman, the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. It is unapologetically conservative, and takes pains to avoid controversy. Zondervan caters to a "bigger tent" customer base, and is less afraid to present material that might be questionable to some readers, as seen by the first words of the introduction to Genesis:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Inferences drawn from the whole of the biblical text suggest that Moses was considered responsible for the shape and content of Genesis from early times. The Israelites in the wilderness, in roughly the third quarter of the second millennium B.C., are then the initial audience of the book. Many scholars unconvinced of the connection to Moses are more inclined to view the book against a mid-first millennium B.C. backdrop. The discussion is not without significance, but its impact on background issues will not often be felt.</span> (ZIBBCOT, Volume 1, page 3)<br /><br />Now, on to some of my Conclusionss concerning the ZIBBCOT:<br /><br />I intend to get the remaining volumes of this set for my library. While it may not serve as a primary textual commentary in my studies it is going to be very useful for providing both background and context. Other background materials in my possession, such as the HBD and Lifeway's <a href="http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/mainpage/0,1701,M%253D201033,00.html">Biblical Illustrator</a>, while sometimes useful, are not tied directly to the biblical text, causing one to spend additional time looking for relevant entries, or just choosing to ignore them altogether. I anticipate that the ZIBBCOT is going to provide a wealth of background information to support my preaching and preparation of Bible Studies. After discovering this work I learned that Zondervan also publishes similar volumes on the New Testament. Since I have just begun preaching through Matthew,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0310278317/ref=oss_T15_product"> I obtained the volume for that Gospel</a>, and it has already proved helpful.<br /><br />Here are two videos produced by Zondervan on the ZIBBCOT;<br /><br />Comical:<br /><br /><object width="400" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/w8acpOtELQk&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/w8acpOtELQk&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br />More serious:<br /><br /><object width="400" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LW6jIRaXPaM&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LW6jIRaXPaM&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="295"></embed></object>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-37923595518335160042009-10-30T20:26:00.003-06:002009-10-30T20:41:36.938-06:00Reformation DayLost in the celebration of Halloween is the fact that October 31st is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation_Day">Reformation Day</a>, commemorating <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_luther">Martin Luther's</a> nailing of his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church at Wittenberg in 1517, thus marking the official start of the Protestant Reformation. As can be seen in the content of Luther's Theses (presented below), he desired that debate and discussion commence concerning problems in the Roman Catholic church. He had no earthly inkling that God would use this event to bring such radical changes, to both the church and the world.<br /><br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"> <p>Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.</p> <p>In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.</p> <ul><p><a name="95-01">1.</a> Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.</p><p><a name="95-02">2.</a> This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests.</p><p><a name="95-03">3.</a> Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh. </p><p><a name="95-04">4.</a> The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.</p><p><a name="95-05">5.</a> The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his own authority or by that of the Canons.</p><p><a name="95-06">6.</a> The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's remission; though, to be sure, he may grant remission in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven.</p><p><a name="95-07">7.</a> God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His vicar, the priest.</p><p><a name="95-08">8.</a> The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying.</p><p><a name="95-09">9.</a> Therefore the Holy Spirit in the pope is kind to us, because in his decrees he always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.</p><p><a name="95-10">10.</a> Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory.</p><p><a name="95-11">11.</a> This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops slept.</p><p><a name="95-12">12.</a> In former times the canonical penalties were imposed not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.</p><p><a name="95-13">13.</a> The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be released from them.</p><p><a name="95-14">14.</a> The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear.</p><p><a name="95-15">15.</a> This fear and horror is sufficient of itself alone (to say nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair.</p><p><a name="95-16">16.</a> Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ as do despair, almost-despair, and the assurance of safety.</p><p><a name="95-17">17.</a> With souls in purgatory it seems necessary that horror should grow less and love increase.</p><p><a name="95-18">18.</a> It seems unproved, either by reason or Scripture, that they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of increasing love.</p><p><a name="95-19">19.</a> Again, it seems unproved that they, or at least that all of them, are certain or assured of their own blessedness, though we may be quite certain of it.</p><p><a name="95-20">20.</a> Therefore by "full remission of all penalties" the pope means not actually "of all," but only of those imposed by himself.</p><p><a name="95-21">21.</a> Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved;</p><p><a name="95-22">22.</a> Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this life.</p><p><a name="95-23">23.</a> If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very fewest.</p><p><a name="95-24">24.</a> It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding promise of release from penalty.</p><p><a name="95-25">25.</a> The power which the pope has, in a general way, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish.</p><p><a name="95-26">26.</a> The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession.</p><p><a name="95-27">27.</a> They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].</p><p><a name="95-28">28.</a> It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone.</p><p><a name="95-29">29.</a> Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and Paschal.</p><p><a name="95-30">30.</a> No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much less that he has attained full remission.</p><p><a name="95-31">31.</a> Rare as is the man that is truly penitent, so rare is also the man who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such men are most rare.</p><p><a name="95-32">32.</a> They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon.</p><p><a name="95-33">33.</a> Men must be on their guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to Him;</p><p><a name="95-34">34.</a> For these "graces of pardon" concern only the penalties of sacramental satisfaction, and these are appointed by man.</p><p><a name="95-35">35.</a> They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessionalia.</p><p><a name="95-36">36.</a> Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon.</p><p><a name="95-37">37.</a> Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon.</p><p><a name="95-38">38.</a> Nevertheless, the remission and participation [in the blessings of the Church] which are granted by the pope are in no way to be despised, for they are, as I have said, the declaration of divine remission.</p><p><a name="95-39">39.</a> It is most difficult, even for the very keenest theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the abundance of pardons and [the need of] true contrition.</p><p><a name="95-40">40.</a> True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but liberal pardons only relax penalties and cause them to be hated, or at least, furnish an occasion [for hating them].</p><p><a name="95-41">41.</a> Apostolic pardons are to be preached with caution, lest the people may falsely think them preferable to other good works of love.</p><p><a name="95-42">42.</a> Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend the buying of pardons to be compared in any way to works of mercy.</p><p><a name="95-43">43.</a> Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons;</p><p><a name="95-44">44.</a> Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes better; but by pardons man does not grow better, only more free from penalty.</p><p><a name="95-45">45.</a> 45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God.</p><p><a name="95-46">46.</a> Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons.</p><p><a name="95-47">47.</a> Christians are to be taught that the buying of pardons is a matter of free will, and not of commandment.</p><p><a name="95-48">48.</a> Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting pardons, needs, and therefore desires, their devout prayer for him more than the money they bring.</p><p><a name="95-49">49.</a> Christians are to be taught that the pope's pardons are useful, if they do not put their trust in them; but altogether harmful, if through them they lose their fear of God.</p><p><a name="95-50">50.</a> Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the pardon-preachers, he would rather that St. Peter's church should go to ashes, than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep.</p><p><a name="95-51">51.</a> Christians are to be taught that it would be the pope's wish, as it is his duty, to give of his own money to very many of those from whom certain hawkers of pardons cajole money, even though the church of St. Peter might have to be sold.</p><p><a name="95-52">52.</a> The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it.</p><p><a name="95-53">53.</a> They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the Word of God be altogether silent in some Churches, in order that pardons may be preached in others.</p><p><a name="95-54">54.</a> Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on this Word.</p><p><a name="95-55">55.</a> It must be the intention of the pope that if pardons, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.</p><p><a name="95-56">56.</a> The "treasures of the Church," out of which the pope. grants indulgences, are not sufficiently named or known among the people of Christ.</p><p><a name="95-57">57.</a> That they are not temporal treasures is certainly evident, for many of the vendors do not pour out such treasures so easily, but only gather them.</p><p><a name="95-58">58.</a> Nor are they the merits of Christ and the Saints, for even without the pope, these always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outward man.</p><p><a name="95-59">59.</a> St. Lawrence said that the treasures of the Church were the Church's poor, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time.</p><p><a name="95-60">60.</a> Without rashness we say that the keys of the Church, given by Christ's merit, are that treasure;</p><p><a name="95-61">61.</a> For it is clear that for the remission of penalties and of reserved cases, the power of the pope is of itself sufficient.</p><p><a name="95-62">62.</a> The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.</p><p><a name="95-63">63.</a> But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last.</p><p><a name="95-64">64.</a> On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.</p><p><a name="95-65">65.</a> Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which they formerly were wont to fish for men of riches.</p><p><a name="95-66">66.</a> The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men.</p><p><a name="95-67">67.</a> The indulgences which the preachers cry as the "greatest graces" are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote gain.</p><p><a name="95-68">68.</a> Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross.</p><p><a name="95-69">69.</a> Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of apostolic pardons, with all reverence.</p><p><a name="95-70">70.</a> But still more are they bound to strain all their eyes and attend with all their ears, lest these men preach their own dreams instead of the commission of the pope.</p><p><a name="95-71">71.</a> He who speaks against the truth of apostolic pardons, let him be anathema and accursed!</p><p><a name="95-72">72.</a> But he who guards against the lust and license of the pardon-preachers, let him be blessed!</p><p><a name="95-73">73.</a> The pope justly thunders against those who, by any art, contrive the injury of the traffic in pardons.</p><p><a name="95-74">74.</a> But much more does he intend to thunder against those who use the pretext of pardons to contrive the injury of holy love and truth.</p><p><a name="95-75">75.</a> To think the papal pardons so great that they could absolve a man even if he had committed an impossible sin and violated the Mother of God -- this is madness.</p><p><a name="95-76">76.</a> We say, on the contrary, that the papal pardons are not able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its guilt is concerned.</p><p><a name="95-77">77.</a> It is said that even St. Peter, if he were now Pope, could not bestow greater graces; this is blasphemy against St. Peter and against the pope.</p><p><a name="95-78">78.</a> We say, on the contrary, that even the present pope, and any pope at all, has greater graces at his disposal; to wit, the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in I. Corinthians xii.</p><p><a name="95-79">79.</a> To say that the cross, emblazoned with the papal arms, which is set up [by the preachers of indulgences], is of equal worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy.</p><p><a name="95-80">80.</a> The bishops, curates and theologians who allow such talk to be spread among the people, will have an account to render.</p><p><a name="95-81">81.</a> This unbridled preaching of pardons makes it no easy matter, even for learned men, to rescue the reverence due to the pope from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of the laity.</p><p><a name="95-82">82.</a> To wit: -- "Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial."</p><p><a name="95-83">83.</a> Again: -- "Why are mortuary and anniversary masses for the dead continued, and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded on their behalf, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?"</p><p><a name="95-84">84.</a> Again: -- "What is this new piety of God and the pope, that for money they allow a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul's own need, free it for pure love's sake?"</p><p><a name="95-85">85.</a> Again: -- "Why are the penitential canons long since in actual fact and through disuse abrogated and dead, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences, as though they were still alive and in force?"</p><p><a name="95-86">86.</a> Again: -- "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?"</p><p><a name="95-87">87.</a> Again: -- "What is it that the pope remits, and what participation does he grant to those who, by perfect contrition, have a right to full remission and participation?"</p><p><a name="95-88">88.</a> Again: -- "What greater blessing could come to the Church than if the pope were to do a hundred times a day what he now does once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and participations?"</p><p><a name="95-89">89.</a> "Since the pope, by his pardons, seeks the salvation of souls rather than money, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons granted heretofore, since these have equal efficacy?"</p><p><a name="95-90">90.</a> To repress these arguments and scruples of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the Church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christians unhappy.</p><p><a name="95-91">91.</a> If, therefore, pardons were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist.</p><p><a name="95-92">92.</a> Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace!</p><p><a name="95-93">93.</a> Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross!</p><p><a name="95-94">94.</a> Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell;</p><p><a name="95-95">95.</a> And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace.</p></ul></blockquote>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931926376795694670.post-44120164182403222282009-10-27T17:40:00.003-06:002009-10-27T18:00:29.461-06:00Operating System Upgrade UpdatesThis past weekend was devoted to upgrading computers. My Dell Mini 9 netbook received an upgrade from Ubuntu 9.04 ("Jaunty Jackalope") to the release candidate of 9.10 ("Karmic Koala"), which has to be the best Linux version ever produced. All went well, as expected. The official roll-out of "Karmic Koala" will be this Thursday. I have been playing with Linux in various flavors (Suse, Puppy, Freespire, Ubuntu) for several years now, and this is the first distribution that I think is ready for a mass audience. Canonical has done a very good job of making a nice, useful operating system.<br /><br /> The big surprise, however, was Windows 7. I have a Compaq laptop that shipped with Vista, and I absolutely hated it. Sam's Club had a Win7 upgrade package of three Home Premium licenses for about $123, which I purchased Saturday morning. Some of the Compaq proprietary hardware was problematic with Linux, especially wireless networking, so I needed to keep it in the Windows world, and it only made sense to purchase the 3-pack for $123 when the individual licenses were $109.<br /><br />I performed the upgrade of the Vista laptop, and all went smoothly. The machine is much faster, the OS uses far less RAM, and this laptop is finally a pleasure to use. Windows 7 has a fresh, clean feel to it, and all of my software works without any problems.<br /><br />As a result, I also decided to try out Win7 on my wife's Acer Aspire One XP netbook, and it works great. I was not able to upgrade directly from XP, but needed to perform a fresh install. That was no problem since I back up files nightly on a networked external 1 TB drive and also have all of the installation software for her configuration loaded on a USB jump drive. In fact, doing a fresh install, re-loading her software, and restoring her files was quicker than the upgrade from Vista on the Compaq.<br /><br />I am sure glad that Microsoft got it right this time. I still have the one extra Windows 7 license, but the other machines don't really meet the requirements, and are happy running either Ubuntu or XP, depending upon their roles. We don't seem to ever get rid of computers, I just find a way to deploy them in other capacities, such as one old XP laptop which is used exclusively for our Magic jack VOIP and another somewhat newer XP machine that serves as an amateur radio RMS gateway into the Winlink2000 network.<br /><br />I am so glad when things work well!Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10596065269535476259noreply@blogger.com0