Government and Christian Practice by R. C. Sproul

Alexis de Tocqueville said that there are two things that can destroy America.  First, America can be destroyed by the rich and powerful who buy their way into office and use their wealth and power to exploit the poor.  Second, America can be destroyed when people discover that they can vote for personal largesse. Either of those will destroy a nation and turn it into the tyranny of the majority.  When economics are politicized, when people are enouraged to vote their pocketbooks rather than their conscience, national destruction will follow.

I heard one candidate in a presidential race say again and again that he planned to create a tax relief program for 98 percent of Americans.  What about that other 2 percent?  Are they to be robbed for the financial gain of the 98 percent?  That is not God's way.  The Israelite tithe was established on a level playing field.  Everybody was required to pay the same percentage; there was no graduated or progressive income tax in Israel.  Nobody can play politics with the tithe.  Some paid one hundred times more than another, but all paid the same percentage.  He would not allow somebody to vote a tax on his neighbor that was not a tax on himself.  If you vote for a 98 percent tax reduction, you are simultaneously voting for a 2 percent tax increase on others, an increase that you likely do not have to pay. That is not justice.  That is not equitable.  It is legalized theft, and we do it every day.

For years in England William Wilberforce lost vote after vote year in and year out when he pled with parliament for the abolition of slavery, but slavery was so connected to the economic welfare of England that his cries of protest went unheeded.  He kept arguing and pleading and calling upon Parliament to stop the ungodly activity of man stealing.  Finally England's conscience was moved and slavery was abolished.  Slavery is the second worst ethical issue ever to divide the United States of America.  Even more serious than slavery is the governmental sanction on the wanton destruction of 1.5 million unborn human beings every year in this nation.  My book about abortion, A Rational Look at an Emotional Issue, went quickly out of print.  Ligonier has provied educational materials for churches, but pastors won't use them for fear it will divide their congregation. I say, "So what? Let it divide the congregation. We're talking about the sanctity of life here."

The Didache, one of the most important extracanonical books of the early church, didn't shrink from calling abortion what it is  -  murder  -  and said the church must never be involved in it.  Today it has become part of the acceptable fabric of America, and nobody is crying foul.  The church is not asking at this point for the state to become the church when we tell the state to stop sanctioning this holocaust.  The church is asking the state to be the state, because the primary reason for the existence of the state in the first place is to protect, maintain, and sustain the sanctity of human life. When a state ceases to do that, it has become not only pagan but barbarian.

The primary issues in the presidential elections of today are involvement with the Middle East, terrorism, and the economy.  Abortion is way down at the bottom of the list.  Personally, I could not sleep if I ever cast a ballot for a candidate who supported abortion on demand.  That trumps every other ethical issue of our time.  I plead with you as Christians that when you walk into the voting booth, don't leave your Christianity in the parking lot.  Let your mind be informed by the Word of God.  I have been studying theology all my life, and if I know anything about the character of God, I know that God hates abortion.  There are other ways to deal with unwanted pregnancies than the physical destruction of the unborn.  So I hope you vote your conscience, not your vested interest or your pocketbook.  I hope you will vote for righteousness and justice as your conscience is informed by the Word of God.  Until or unless we do that,God will give us leaders after our own hearts, which is a scary thing.

by R. C. Sproul, ACTS, a St. Andrew's expositional Commentary, Published by Crossway
     Ligonier Ministries at www.ligonier.org

Are Muslims Tolerant, As Obama Claims?

Islamofascism: President Obama seems to be under the illusion the Muslim world is more tolerant than the West.  Its immigration policies are perhaps the clearest evidence that's wildly untrue.

Referring to the Muhammad video during his U.N. speech last week, Obama lectured Americans about "intolerance" toward Islam.  "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam," he said.  "It is time to heed the words of Gandhi: 'Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.'"

He actually believes Muslims have heeded those words. "Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance," he intoned during his 2009 Cairo speech.  "Throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality."

Obama must have learned his history at that Jakarta madrassa he attended.

We won't litigate the ugly past of Islam here.  We don't have to: A 2010 congressional study found that 20 of the 23 nations that ban Christian religious workers are  -  surprise  -  Muslim nations.

Egypt,Saudi Arabia and most other Middle Eastern countries still refuse to offer religious visas and deny entry to U.S. clergy as official policy, according to the report by the Law Library of Congress, the foreign legal research arm of the U.S. Congress.

Even U.S. allies Afghanistan and Iraq, which have enshrined Islam in their constitutions, made the list.  "Of this group, the vast majority constitute Arab or Muslim states," the three-page report said.  "Since Islam prohibits proselytism by other religions, foreign religious workers will in effect be denied entry to conduct religious work."

Yet the U.S. State Department continues to grant R-1 religious visas for Islamic clerics from Muslim nations  -  including jihadist hotbeds Egypt and Saudi  -  even though we've had to arrest a number of these foreign imams for inciting anti-American violence.  Muslim countries discriminate against us based on religion, but we don't discriminate against them  -  even when it's totally justified.

Homeland Security considers visiting imams as non-threatening as Buddhist monks. Border agents don't screen them any differently.  Also, R-2 visas are routinely granted to relatives of foreign imams.  Most overstay their visas without consequence, even as they radicalize Muslims at our mosques  -  Islamic centers often built with Saudi money and run by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.

In contrast, Saudi religious police in recent years have accused dozens of foreign Christians living in the kingdom of worshipping in their homes, and ordered them deported.  Non-Muslim "infidels" have to take a separate highway into the "holy city" of Mecca.  And they are banned from Islamic shrines.

Bibles are confiscated at the airport.

In Egypt, meanwhile, more than 100,000 Christians have fled the country since Egypt's new president Mohamed Morsi and the Brotherhood took over and started torching churches and jailing Coptics.  Yet Morsi had the gall to scold Americans about "Islamophobia" as he gave his own speech in New York before the U.N.  He demanded respect for "Islamic sanctities" even as his Islamofascist thugs burn Christian sanctuaries.

Americans have been remarkably tolerant toward Muslims, considering they account for over 80% of all terrorism convictions in America.  The FBI says hate crimes against Muslims in America have dropped 50% since 2001, and have always been well below hate crimes against Jews.

Speaking of Jews, Morsi has called them "descendents of apes and pigs" and called for the destruction of their homeland. 

So who's more tolerant, Mr. President, the Muslim world or America?  It's not even a contest.  You're lecturing the wrong people.

Editorial, Invenstors Business Daily, Sept. 28, 2012

The Heidelberg Catechism

Lord's Day 1: Question 1
What is thy only comfort in life and in death?

ANSWER: That I, with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ, who with his precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins, and redeemed me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must work together for my salvation.  Wherefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also asures me of eternal life, and makes me heartily willing and ready henceforth to live unto him.

Protestants No Longer the Majority in U.S.

     

 

Protestants No Longer the Majority in U.S., Study Says

For the first time in its history, the United States does not have a Protestant majority, according to a new study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, Fox News reports. The percentage of Protestant adults in the U.S. has reached a low of 48 percent, the first time the Pew Forum has reported with certainty that the number has fallen below 50 percent. The drop has long been anticipated, and comes at a time when no Protestants are on the Supreme Court and when, for the first time, no Protestants are on the Republican presidential ticket. Pew cited among the reasons for the change the growth in nondenominational Christians who can no longer be categorized as Protestant, and the rise in the number of Americans with no religious affiliation. The study found that about 20 percent of Americans say they have no religion, an increase from 15 percent in the last five years.

       Religion Today Daily Headlines - October 10, 2012

Thoughts From Pastor Bill Cummins

“Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldst come down...”

Isaiah 64:1

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

John 1:14

            After the creation period was completed God told the man and the woman that they could, “have dominion over all creation.”(Genesis 1:28)  Man had dominion (rule) over all creation but he wasn’t able to rule himself, and since he rebelled against God’s rule, everything became unruly. ( Genesis 6:5) 

. Animals attacked one another; men quarreled and fought among themselves;the gentle breezes became storms ;weeds grew in their gardens and the devil must have rejoiced.

            Mankind has written a long history of rebellion and failure but there were some who could see a solution and they begin to pray for God to take a more direct intervention into the affairs of men. It is recorded in the above Scripture that they asked God to “rend the heavens and come down.” In God’s time that is exactly what He did. Mark is recording what he saw at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan and he said , “...he saw the heavens torn open... (Mark 1:10 Amp.N.T.)  “And there came a voice from heaven, saying, thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (v.11)

            God did “rend the heavens” and spoke His approval of the Lord Jesus who “came down” to be actively at work in the earth. Isaiah had also said that when God came down He would, “...preach good tidings unto the meek; bind up the broken hearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; and proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,...” (Isaiah 61:1)

            Jesus came doing all of those things, not to prove that He was God but because He is “God Who Came Down” and God does those kinds of things.

            He was not welcomed by some people then, (John 1:10,11) (Isaiah 53:3) and He is not welcomed by some now but His intervention is the only hope for a world addicted to violence.

            Jesus is God’s last word to a world in trouble and what he says is what he will do. What men say and what men do, do not always bear much family resemblance. We have just completed a study of the book of Daniel and  Ch. 11:27 records a meeting of two rulers, probably Egyptian and Syrian. It reads like this “As for both kings, their hearts will be intent on evil, and they will speak lies to each other at the same table.” (An ancient U.N. meeting, perhaps?)

            Our hope and confidence is not in the U.N. , E.U , N.A.T.O.  or any other  organization or assembly. Our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ and He will have the final word.  

THOUGHTS From Pastor Bill Cummins, daily email August 18, 2012



Signs and Seals of Our Faith --The Belgic Confession Articles 33-35

On one level, the sacraments are strange things.  We are used to information that we can evaluate and believe or disbelieve. The gospel itself is a message.  It tells me about a holy God, my sinful self, and my perfect savior in whom I must have faith.  We teach our children Bible stories, and urge teens and adults to read and memorize their Bibles –all communicated information.

The sacraments, however, are different.  They certainly convey information, but they have to be interpreted.  Sadly, while they are intended to be the articles that unify the body of Christ, we have been divided over their interpretation.  Sometimes, Christians have attributed too much to them, and sometimes too little.  Roman Catholics interpret Christ’s words, “This is my body” very literally.  Though they know that what presents itself on the tongue remains bread and wine, as to what it really is, it literally becomes the body and blood of Christ, and is therefore to be reverenced.  Lutheranism does not believe the elements change, but somehow the physical body of Christ, which is everywhere present now, is somehow taken along with the Lord’s Supper.  Baptists and others of the “free church” tradition believe that nothing happens at all.

There is even more division over the nature of baptism.  Anglicans, Catholics and Lutherans all baptize infants and believe that baptism makes a person a regenerate Christian.  Hence they often refer to it as “Christening” or “Christian-izing” a child.  Baptists only baptize those who can make a credible profession, and then by immersion only. 

We have our own positions on these things, and I think that they are the most Biblical and rational positions to hold.  The strength of our position is that we don’t feel the need to explain how the sacraments work –we simply affirm what the Scripture says about them.  There is a sense in which the believer does feed on Christ in the Lord ’s Supper –in his heart, by faith.  It exists to strengthen our faith, as a visible and consumed word.  There is a sense in which we are set apart by the Holy Spirit at baptism –but only faith saves, not baptism.  We do these things because we are commanded to.  God feeds us as his people with his Word and in our hearts in the Sacrament.  God washes us by the internal cleansing of regeneration which is signified in baptism.

Yet, we don’t often value the sacraments as we ought.  When I was young, we didn’t miss church on Sundays, but we definitely didn’t miss church on communion Sundays.  Reformed Christians have differed on the frequency of the sacrament from quarterly, which was Calvin’s practice but not his preference, to annually (the conservative Scottish position) to weekly (which Calvin and Luther preferred).  That does not matter so much, though certainly once per year is too infrequent.  What matters is, when we do come together for the sacrament, we realize that God is meeting with us there in a special way.  Christ sits as the master of the feast at the Wedding Supper of the Lamb in Heaven.  He offers himself to us –his blood is true drink and his flesh is true food, he himself spoke those gory words.  He hearkens us to remember his sacrifice, he feeds us now in the current moment, and he directs our hearts towards heaven and home, where we eat and drink it anew with him in the kingdom of God.

Likewise, baptism.  We are baptized once, often as an infant, and not in our remembrance.  It is done to us –it is not something we volunteer to do.  In this, it signifies the New Birth, which is not ours to grasp, but is freely bestowed by the Spirit on whomever he wills.

Ministers ought to take the opportunities afforded to us by the celebrations of the sacraments to remind our people what they mean, as well as clarify what they do not mean.  Christ gave us these two sacraments as visible signs and seals of the internal realities of regeneration and faith in his atoning work.  He uses them not to save us, but to strengthen our faith.

 Written by Rev. Kenneth Pierce, Senior Minister, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Jackson, MS

Why We Sing

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
(Isaiah 35:10)

Unlike the movies, life does not come with a soundtrack. There is no viola and cello playing in a foreboding minor key to prepare us for tragic events, nor jubilant trumpets announcing happy ones. There was a time when public singing was very common –from holiday parties to rallies and political events and men marching off to war who “won't come back till it's over, over there.” Perhaps because in our entertainment culture we watch others rather than participate ourselves, we have become embarrassed to sing. This makes the church's public worship even more counter-cultural than it was in past days.

Christians sing. It has been so from the beginning. Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn on the cusp of his going out to pray in the garden on his last night before the cross. That was not a new tradition he began, of course. The Israelites sang victoriously on the far side of the Red Sea. Moses wrote the ninetieth psalm. God's people have always praised him by song.

Certainly, in recent decades, the style and substance of Christian songs has been the subject of much debate. In the early days of the Reformed churches, the Psalms were the sole songbook of public worship. Sadly, we have abandoned singing them at all, even though God himself wrote them for us to sing. Yet, what we sing is not in my purview today, but rather why and how we sing.

Isaiah 35 is a passage that celebrates God's great salvation of his people. It follows on the heels of an extended section where God holds the whole earth in judgment, and where the results of the long rebellion of his people has at last exhausted his longsuffering, and they themselves are facing judgment at the hands of Assyria and then Babylon. In one sense, God's Old Covenant people would never again be a sovereign nation --existing under the oppression of Babylon, Persia, Greece, the Seleucids and then finally being destroyed by Rome in 70 AD. The judgment is a serious one, but it is well-deserved. God's people rebelled against him, introduced the worship of foreign gods, worshipped by means of sexual immorality and child sacrifice, and murdered the prophets that God sent to call them back to himself. And, yet, for all of this, God has not ceased to love his people. He has promised to redeem them, in spite of themselves, for nothing good in them, but only for his sake of his Great Name. God's people deserve destruction for their defection, but are given his grace simply because of his own mercy. “It is of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed.” They experienced part of this blessing when God brought them back to the land under Cyrus the Persian. Yet, God's people would not know it in full until the coming of Christ. In fact, we will not know it fully and truly until Christ comes again, and we sing in his immediate presence.

Why do we sing? We are commanded to. We are not told precisely why this is the case, but we can speculate that it is because singing unites head and heart in a way that simple speaking does not. You can probably recall far more children's songs verbatim than you could quote any children's books read to you repeatedly by your parents. Song can make us happy or solemn, joyful or sad. Song expresses the full range of human emotion and experience, both in lyric (like the Psalms) and melody.

We sing, too, because we are redeemed. This is the lesson of Isaiah 35. The land that has been devastated by the sin of the people and the judgment of God. At long last, though, the desert blooms. God's people have been restored, and they again enjoy his favor. This is a picture of the final reality of God's people –both Jew and Gentile who become his people through faith in Christ. It is the New Heavens and the New Earth. The old earth has been scorched with flame, and everything on it has perished. But, the new reality will never pass away.

How, then, ought we to sing? Loud and joyfully, with reckless abandon. God is worthy of our praise. The volume of our praise ought to be reflective of the volume of our esteem for him, not by the skill of our singing. In Christian worship, where the Word is proclaimed in truth, the glorious realities of that coming age break into our often-bleak present experience and beckon our hearts, thoughts and intentions homeward. They take us away from the cares of the mortal world for a time, and put our thoughts on Heaven and, most importantly, on Christ exalted and reigning, the very one who will come again and whom we will praise then, in full voice.

Written by Rev. Kenneth Pierce, Senior Minister, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Jackson, MS