BaylyBlog: Out of our minds, too...

Thoughts on children, death, and eternity (I)...

(Tim) Recently, I've done some reading on the teaching of Scripture concerning children who die early in life, whether in the womb, at birth, or before the age at which they are able properly to discern the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ--to examine themselves as they come to His Table.

First, we have to admire the single-mindedness of the Roman Catholics. Although the doctrine of limbo is widely reported to be on life support at the Vatican right now (and I'm sure abortion has played a key role in bringing it into question), we can see they acted on principle in their manufacture of this dogma. (And yes, despite their efforts to deny it, this doctrine has been dogma until now.)

From conception, children are corrupted by Adam's sin; therefore children, too, need to be saved from that corruption if they are to enter Heaven; baptism washes off the corruption of original sin, saving a man; children who die in the womb are not baptized; therefore, children who die in the womb are not saved. Thus such statements as these...

Childhood memories of Longwood Gardens...

(Tim) Back growing up in Havertown just outside Philly, Dad and Mud used to take us to Pierre du Pont's Longwood Gardens every other year or so. I have no memory of anything we did bringing me greater joy. So, leaving Philly for D.C. yesterday, we stopped for a visit. It was a typical Philly day--hot and muggy--so we had the Gardens largely to ourselves.

The most beautiful flowers we saw yesterday were the orchids (in the conservatory) and the water lillies. Here are some pictures...

The Vietnam Memorial...

(Tim) We went to the Vietnam Memorial, today, and I found it unexpectedly moving. From the first, I was no fan of Maya Lin's design. But having been there, now, I think I was wrong.

To be sure, it's minimalist, but there's no question the people of these United States have come to own it. And how could they not, with the terrible weight of names and names and names--stretching down and back up out of the ground? It's an intensely intimate monument to our national loss.

Walking along the wall, we passed one man doing a brass (granite) rubbing of some man's name. An older couple peered at the name their fingertips were pressed against. Was it a neighbor boy or their son? Surrounded by tears and whispers, children were quiet.

And then the memorials laid in the three of four inch granite trough that runs the length of the wall--so far, 62,000 of them.

Here are some left today...

In Philly, one man confesses his faith...

(Tim) In Philly, yesterday, I came across this license plate. I'm guessing that, after a few years living in a state with so many Presbyterians, a guy could go crazy and use his license plate to state his independence. To ring his liberty bell.

We don't "believe in" rain or gravity...

(Tim) Something Tim Keller said to this year's commissioners to the PCA General Assembly is worth pointing out and exegeting:

"I believe in male headship. I believe in the…uhhhh…traditional gender roles."

- Tim Keller; PCA General Assembly; Orlando, June 2009

Had this been poker, everyone should have recognized that statement as a tell. No heavily nuanced Christian apologist to postmoderns wants to go on record as believing in "traditional gender roles." This is the reason this heavily nuanced Christian apologist to postmoderns in particular appears to go out of his way to blur the distinction between male and female church officers by not ordaining his male deacons.

If I've understood Tim Keller correctly through the years, from his mouth the word 'traditional' married to "gender roles" is a pejorative term. Redeemer Presbyterian Church leads the way in the PCA...

Professional wrestling drama in the PCA big top...

"In fact, right now, I’m in a denomination where only men should be deacons and therefore that’s what I believe….and I mean…. that’s what I hold to…and that’s what I support and I don’t…... I do very little in the way of trying to undermine people’s belief on that."

- Tim Keller explaining that everyone watching him and his church and presbytery's actions for years, now, have misunderstood their significance. Completely misunderstood their significance. Things are not at all what they seem. Not at all.

(Tim) The debate between Tim Keller and Lig Duncan at the PCA General Assembly last month was a professional wrestling match with the conflict carefully scripted to produce no pain or danger. The room was packed with 750 commissioners and their wives, but if anyone showed up hoping for the appearance of consciences and convictions, they were disappointed: there there was none of this, "Here I stand; I can do no other; God help me" sort of thing.

Some of the statements documented here should have been met with raspberries or guffaws.

So, why give the exchange broader distribution?

Well, I'm hopeful those who weren't there will be scandalized. And, seeing the words in black and white, some who were there will realize they should have been scandalized and it's not to their credit they weren't.

This stuff is totally awful and the fact that no one said so is simply an indication of the hankering after fame and success that sells tabloids and woman church officers, alike...

"Liars at least acknowledge that it matters what is true..."

(Tim, w/thanks to David B.) Shortly after posting on the charade-posing-as-debate-over-woman-officers-in-the-PCA, I opened an old e-mail from David Baker and read this one-paragraph review of a book that might have arrived in the nick of time. We're at a kairos in our denomination, and before we go whole hog for submergent contextualization, we ought to give Harry Frankfurt's latest work a chance. Here's a description:

One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it. So the phenomenon has not aroused much deliberate concern. We have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of it, or what functions it serves. And we lack a conscientiously developed appreciation of what it means to us.

Man bites lion...

(Tim, w/thanks to David W.) You've all heard the journalists' rule that the text "dog bites man" is a dog of a headline, while "man bites dog" is hard to beat? In a similar vein...

Chain, chain, chain,

Chain of food...

Submergent church leaders have a lot to answer for...

(Tim, w/thanks to Tim W.) Among the many wicked things Submergent church leaders have given us through their support of Barack Obama's presidency, we come to this:

...the Senate (defense) bill also expands the federal hate-crimes law to those attacked because of their sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability.

I'm wondering if Rob Bell will negotiate an exception for pastors preaching that sodomy is an abomination before God?

Execution of believers in North Korea...

(Tim, w/thanks to David W.) The people of these United States haven't learned it well yet, but whilte the state is a worthy servant, it's a cruel master. And when it murders, it hides its victims and claims its only motivation is the people's welfare. So note carefully that, while the unborn and newborn die here, it's Christians who are dying in North Korea. You can't help but think of the Roman Empire reading these words from the BBC:

Human rights groups in South Korea say North Korea has stepped up executions of Christians, some of them in public. The communist country, the world's most closed society, views religion as a major threat.

Only the founder of the country, Kim Il-sung, and his son, Kim Jong-il, may be worshipped, in mass public displays of fervour.

Let us remember our brothers and sisters in prayer.

Rasmusen visitation and funeral...

(Tim) Visitation for Elizabeth Rasmusen will be at Deremiah Frye Funeral Home today, from 4-8 PM. The funeral will be 10 AM tomorrow at Sherwood Oaks Christian Church. Immediately following the funeral, there will be a committal service at Clear Creek Cemetery with lunch for family and friends following, at Church of the Good Shepherd.

Let us keep Eric, Helen, Amelia, Ben, Faith, and Lily in our prayers as they grieve the loss of their loved ones.

It's an ill wind that blows nobody some good...

(Tim, w/thanks to Scott) Being profoundly color blind, I've known it's not always a deficit. Here's a good article on the sexes, their senses and sense utilities (ahem) documenting what I've long known; that the ill wind of colorblindness does indeed blow us some good.

The story's told that, during the Second World War, the RAF had a small group of pilots they noted were quite good at spotting camouflage. When they looked into the matter, they found the thing this group of pilots had in common was that they were all color blind and had memorized the color charts to get into the RAF.

As the article puts it, "'Dichromads do better at tasks where color acts as a distraction,' in situations where spotting camouflaged objects is important, for example."

Academe's gravitas...

(Tim) This press release from the IU Athletics Department just received in my e-mail inbox. It's a perfect match between the academy and its athletics departments, don't you think? Both sides now, it's all and only about... Gender?

No. Sex.

IU's logo joins the Victoria's Secret PINK Collegiate Collection

IU is one of five universities competing now for a fall PINK Nation Event
July 20, 2009

Bloomington, IN - The Indiana University logo has been added to the Victoria's Secret (VS) PINK Collegiate Collection as part of the "Class of 2009."

The new collection is available in 13 Victoria's Secret stores across the state as well as online. The IU PINK Collegiate Collection includes boyfriend pants, pullover hoodies and tees, ranging from $26.50 to $54.50. At this time, only two universities in the state -- IU and Purdue University -- are included in the PINK Collegiate Collection.

"We are very pleased to have Indiana licensed merchandise included in the Victoria's Secret PINK Collegiate Collection," said Valerie Gill, director of IU's Licensing and Trademarks. "IU fans will start seeing our products in many popular and recognizable locations across the state. The clothing line is very hip and fashionable...

The lost sheep and his shepherds...

(Tim) This is copied from the discussion under an earlier post, "If they desire his help...," and it may be helpful for readers to read that post and discussion, first. But the subject matter of the discussion is so important for the good of the Church and our readers' own souls and families that I'm posting this extended response here, on the main page.

* * *

For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Jesus; Luke 19:10)

The issue is simple. Shepherds are gifted, called, and ordained to shepherd a particular flock of particular souls. This means going after the one lost sheep. Jesus our Good Shepherd came after us when we were His enemies and didn't welcome His interest and pastoral care. Remember, He died?

And if you've worked with sheep (or goats or cattle), you know that one lost sheep often is perfectly opposed to being brought back to the sheepfold. Sometimes he must be manhandled to get him to safety. This is the reason David, in Psalm 23, says...

"If they desire his help..."

(Tim, w/thanks to my Mary Lee) The July 18, 2009 issue of World ran an article about South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's confession of adultery. The article is worth reading, especially if you're a frequent traveler, rich, or influential. Wealth is deceitful and pride goes before the fall.

Three statements stuck out to me.

First, why am I not surprised that YWAM's Virginia rep knew nothing about YWAM's ownership of the Fellowship's $1.8 million C Street home, and that when World asked them for clarification, the Fellowship declined to respond?

Second, the article admits it's common for politicians to have no church home or to skip church. This is increasingly true of missionaries, also, so here at Church of the Good Shepherd we've begun to implement standards with the missionaries our church supports. They must be a part of a local church, where they work, as well as hold permanent membership in an evangelical Bible-believing church that they and the church recognize as their home church.

Third, to the degree that Gov. Mark Sanford had a church, he claimed it was an evangelical congregation called Seacoast Church in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. He sometimes attended an Episcopal congregation when he was working in the capital, but Seacoast is his home church.

So, when Gov. Sanford publicly confessed to adultery, how did his Seacoast pastor respond?

Here's...

A simple sermon on abortion...

(Tim, w/thanks to James) Here's a faithful shepherd's "Simple Sermon on Abortion." We can't repeat these elementary Biblical truths too often.

When "large crowds were going along with Him," He said...

(Tim) "iChristian" is an app offered to iPod Touch and iPhone users in Apple's iTunes store. Here's its description:

Now your iPhone / iPod Touch is a missionary, preacher and the evangelist!!! The iPhone / iPod Touch application "iChristian" ("Become a Christian") contains the minimum of required information to become a Christian. Alter the prayer of salvation. you may register as a Christian. If you would like, you may request a certificate of a Christian.

If Jesus warned those wanting to become His disciples that they must count the cost of following Him, then for us to offer salvation to unbelievers through such a come-on line as "contains the minimum of required information to become a Christian" is to mislead them. It's spiritual bait-and-switch...

Christian environmentalists and the "degeneration" of maleness...

(Tim, w/thanks to several readers) The Y chromosome is what makes a man a man, genetically. But geneticists tell us the Y chromosome is in trouble. Apparently, this genetic diversity we call "manhood" has lately been suffering "deterioration," "mutations," "deletions," "anomalies," and "degeneration." And how!

Blame the feminists, is what I say. Joke.

According to the scientists, men are in danger of "disappearance" but not yet "obsolete." They go on to reassure us evolution's top priority is reproduction. Gaia decrees sperm must survive. Then this priceless quote:

...Geneticists and evolutionary biologists determined that the Y chromosome's deterioration is due to accumulated mutations, deletions and anomalies...

Visitation and funeral for Elizabeth Rasmusen (corrected)...

(Tim) Tentatively, the visitation for Elizabeth Rasmusen, daughter of Eric and Helen Rasmusen, has been set for this coming Thursday, July 23rd, from 4-8 PM at Deremiah Frye Mortuary. The funeral service is likely to be Friday morning, July 24th, but neither the time nor location has yet been set.

Just now, Eric and Helen are at the visitation for Eric's father and mother, Benjamin and Marilyn Rasmusen, at the Eighner Funeral Home in Somonauc, Illinois. Services in Illinois will be held tomorrow morning at 10 AM at St. John's Lutheran Church, also in Somonauk.

Here's the obituary for Benjamin and Marilyn Rasmusen.

As it now stands, it is likely Amelia and Ben, Eric and Helen's two children also injured in the crash, will be released from the hospital tomorrow.

In behalf of Eric, Helen, and their family, I thank all of you for your love for the Lord Jesus Christ which has poured out to the comfort of the entire Rasmusen family.

President Carter was better at scheduling tennis courts...

I have been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world. So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. - President Jimmy Carter

(Tim, w/thanks to Kamilla) Former President Jimmy Carter has been leaving the SBC for years, now. This is no news at all. He's not committed to the Word of God and belongs elsewhere, as he acknowledges here.

What is news is that the Southern Baptist Convention blames Eve for the Fall:

It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention's leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be "subservient" to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service.

It's a brave man who speaks up publicly for the right of women to enlist in the military, placing themselves as wives, daughters, and mothers in harm's way.

Then, we arrive at President Carter's statement about the SBC "claiming" Eve was created second after Adam...

American Gothic...

(Tim) Driving past the Tribune Tower, I caught a glimpse of the headmaster of ClearNote Pastors College copping a Rob Bell posture. So, I ran out in the middle of North Michigan Avenue and caught the scene for prosperity's sake.

The Eric Rasmusen family...

(Tim) Friends, the last two days have brought a blow to Church of the Good Shepherd and, despite the ephemeral nature of this forum, personally, I'd like to ask your prayers.

From Baylyblog comments, some of you will recognize the name, Eric Rasmusen. Monday evening, Eric and his wife, Helen, lost their second daugther, Elizabeth, as well as Eric's parents, in an automobile collision. Here's the statement Eric released...

Five hundred years ago, he said...

(Tim) "...nobody is fit to preach the Gospel in a hostile world, unless his mind has been prepared for suffering. Therefore if we are to prove ourselves faithful ministers of Christ, not only must we ask Him for the spirit of knowledge and of wisdom, but also for the spirit of steadfastness and of courage, so that we may never be broken by desperate suffering, for this is the lot of the godly." - John Calvin, Acts, Vol. 1 (Torrance) pp. 266--267.

My gratitude for John Calvin...

(Tim) Through the years of work in the pastorate, no one has fed and strengthened and rebuked and exhorted me more faithfully than John Calvin. I thank God for him on this his five hundredth birthday. If you read only one man, make it Geneva's leading pastor of the Reformation.

Join us tonight as we celebrate Calvin's 500th birthday...

(Tim) Today is John Calvin's 500th birthday. We didn't plan it this way, but I can't think of a better way of celebrating this day than attending the ClearNote Fellowship conference which begins this very evening. So far, we've received registrations for about 125 adults and 60 children for Standing in the Gap. It's not too late for you to come!

Even if you're not registered, you can show up this evening from 6:30-7:00 PM when we'll have open registration. The first session, "Who Will Stand?" begins at 7:00 PM, followed by a concert.

We'll continue tomorrow (Saturday) morning with breakfast at 9:00 AM and our second session, "Fight or Flight," at 9:30.

If you have any questions, please call us at (812) 825-2684. (Download a conference brochure, here.)

Hope to see you here!

Injustice Ginsburg: "Reproductive rights need to be straightened out" and the morning-after pill will help...

(Tim, w/thanks to Kamilla and James) SCOTUS Little Lady, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, held forth in a long interview that ran in yesterday's New York Times. Ranging far afield for most of the interview, as always with the Times, the inevitable homing device kicked in and the interview came to a roaring end with our national bloodlust for baby-slaughter front and center:

New York Times: When you say that reproductive rights need to be straightened out, what do you mean?

JUSTICE GINSBURG: The basic thing is that the government has no business making that choice for a woman...

Name that preacher...

(Tim) Alright, guys; we're roaming the aisles at Christian Booksellers Convention just now and we've laid our hands on some humdingers. All the publishers have their celebrities' latest glossies free for the taking and, so far, this one takes the cake. We're betting you can't name this preacher.

Speaking of Dolce & Gabbana, those in the know tell us Rob Bell gets his threads at Goodwill; Tim Keller does Brooks Brothers, signing his check with a Mont Blanc; and Joel Osteen does Walmart.

And Bell's spectacular spectacles?

Marriage, fertility, and economic decline...

(Tim) My good brother, Bob Patterson, recently did a piece for National Review Online (NRO) that I commend to our readers. In an e-mail to friends, Bob summed up the argument he makes this way:

The decline in marriage and fertility rates among the Baby Boom generation stands at the heart of what presently ails the American economy. After noting the demographic concerns of former Fortune columnist David Goldman, I suggest that national GOP leaders can no longer ignore the interplay between social and economic issues if they want the party to make a comeback in 2010 or 2012.

During the bloodshed, what did Rwanda's pastors do?

(Tim) Below is an excerpt from Philip Gourevitch's history of the Rwandan genocide, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families. This book should be read by every believer committed to opposing the slaughter of the feeble, elderly, newborn, and unborn upon which our civil compact has been built for decades, now.

A few years ago, a godly Rwandan was preaching to us here at Church of the Good Shepherd and he took the occasion to rebuke us, saying we Americans had no authority to condemn Rwanda's genocide when we were slaughtering 1.3 million children in our own nation, year after year, with no sign of the bloodshed ending.

Truth is, many, many denominations, churches, elders, and pastors have endorsed the slaughter of the unborn here in these United States. And even among those pastors who claim to be pro-life, precious few are anti-abortion. Like the Rwandan priests and pastors, many of us...

The swordsman, a parable...

(David) Many years ago in a land far away a peasant boy grew of age in a remote province of a great kingdom. The boy grew up dreaming of joining the king’s army—a force of conquering  swordsmen famous around the world both for their skill with the sword and for the excellence of their weapons.

To join the king's army prospective swordsmen were required to appear before the king on a yearly enlistment day with a sword of sufficient quality to be borne for the king. And swords of such quality--swords of the caliber that had led the kingdom’s armies to victory in battle after battle--lay far beyond the means of a lowly peasant.

Turning grace into lasciviousness...

For the grace of God has appeared ...instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age... (Titus 2:11,12)

(Tim) The prattle about grace that permeates the sermons, fellowship-hall conversations, and books within the mainstream reformed church today tastes like cotton candy and leaves your hands sticky. In our non-Christian hedonistic day when even the poor are fat, it should be clear that the need of the hour is not more talk of grace. In our pomo, effeminate day, it should be clear our need is not more talk of being graceful.

Nevertheless, within mainstream reformed churches, it's claimed that every last problem is a nail needing the hammer of grace.

Which leaves me scratching my head when I read the Bible. Are these people reading it? The Bible, I mean? Can we seriously think the need of our day is more grace talk, but still not a word about sin, holiness, repentance, and mortification?

And certainly not one word about false conversions. For some time I've been thinking that anyone who holds firmly to what is commonly called "eternal security" must, at the same time, hold firmly to the danger of...

The new iPhone GS: tethering and the cover of the "New Yorker"...

(Tim) Until this past week, I'd never owned a smartphone. David's been using them for years but I always said I didn't need one since I take my laptop everywhere. Then, my two-year-old cellphone neared death and, realizing an iPhone would only cost me about $50-100 more than any other cell phone I'd buy, and that having an iPhone would only add $10 to my monthly AT&T bill, I got an iPhone 3GS.

For four or five years, I've been tethering my laptops to my cell phone using a bluetooth connection that worked well and only cost $20 per month for unlimited data. They always told me it wasn't an official setup, but my local Cingular/AT&T store was helpful and I loved it. E-mail was fast but browsing could be slow. It was about the speed of an old 56k dial-up connection, for those of you who remember those. But it always worked.

When traveling by car, I got in the habit of buying our hotel room on Priceline as the evening progressed and we knew where we'd be when we wanted to go to sleep. One time in Pittsburgh, we bought our room at 10:55 PM and were in bed within the hour.

All this to say, I was loath (quick now, and without looking it up, what's the difference between loathe, loath, and loth?) to give up tethering in order to make the switch to an iPhone. Then Joseph told me an easy tethering solution was available for the new GS, and I bit...

A robot's playlist...

(Tim) Updated to the latest version of iTunes, when I started the application just now, I got a message window announcing iTunes DJ. They tell me "iTunes DJ automatically picks songs to make a continuous mix of your music." And if I'm the host of a party, it will "allow guests to request songs using the Remote application for iPhone and iPod Touch."

I clicked the window closed and was presented with this first iTunes DJ selected playlist. Thought you'd all get a kick out of it.

Stuff white Christians like...

(Tim, w/thanks to Chantal) This blog poking fun at white Christians is kinda cute. Here's a teaser:

White Christians like to know that there will be more white Christians in the future. That's why every white Christian couple seeks to replenish the earth and subdue it... by adding 2.3 children into the church's Sunday school program. Exactly how churches handle babies is extremely important to white Christians.

They have been known to flock to churches with good baby care and preschool programs--even if the rest of the church is in complete disarray. The pastor could be having an affair with both church secretaries, holding three hour services, and reading from the King James Version while simultaneously converting to Mormonism... but if the nursery is good, that church has it made in the shade...

I'd like to see another on yellow and still another on black Christians. And if they had a black write the white and a yellow write the black and a white write the yellow, we'd really be in business.