Always Reforming

Perhaps the greatest lie perpetuated by Liberalism is that opposition to government involvement in a cause is opposition to that cause per se. You oppose government involvement in welfare?  You want poor people to starve! You oppose government involvement in education?  You want poor kids to be illiterate! You oppose government involvement in healthcare?  You want poor people to die because they can't afford insulin or antibiotics! And so on and so forth... Unfortunately, most Americans can no longer imagine a world where anything is accomplished at all without government involvement. Let me assure you that those of us who favor small government are, in fact, in favor of poor people eating, reading, and receiving medical treatment.  Many of us are, of course, the very poor people Liberals claim to want to help.  We recognize, however, that government agencies, especially those at the Federal level, are bloated bureaucracies that are unable to accomplish any goal...

The older I get, the more I lean into orthodoxy.  As a general rule, I am wary when I hear the terms cutting-edge , novel , groundbreaking , or progressive applied to theology. Orthodoxy is objective.   Orthodoxy is bigger than me .   Orthodoxy is a standard outside of myself--my weaknesses, my blind spots, my biases--to which my theology conforms. Orthodoxy is stable. Orthodoxy is an anchor that keeps us from this tossing about with every  wave of doctrine .  Theology has an unfortunate tendency to adapt, both to the culture around us and to the storm within us.  We too often import current cultural values into Christianity because we don't want to be out of touch or old-fashioned.   We also allow our personal experiences--triumphs and failures, successes and hardships--to color the way we view God and interpret His Word.   We believe what we want to believe. We are masters of self-deception--we can convince ourselves of any...

A local Presbyterian church recently shared a Facebook post rejoicing that they had added several members to their rolls.  This is certainly a joyous occasion and I genuinely pray for the continued well-being and growth of their congregation.  I have great respect for their leadership and I count them as a faithful brethren, so I rejoice to see what God is doing in their midst. However...  Their phrasing caught my eye.  The caption stated that they had added a certain number of communing and non-communing members.  The paedocommunionist in me instantly flared up like a bad case of hives.  My wife and I, happening upon it at the same time, looked across the couch at each other with faces full of consternation.  A good friend of mine, who happens to be PC, as well, screenshot it and sent it to me, expressing the same gut-wrenching feeling.  We all had the same thought: What is a non-communing member?   Now, I know what a non-communing m...

Cancel culture is easy. Cancel culture is the easy way out. Cancel culture is for the lazy and unmotivated. Cancel culture is for the weak of mind and faint of heart. It's easy to write someone off because he said a word, shared a social media post, or quoted an author. It's easy to assume guilt by association. It's easy to destroy a person's career or excise him from your life because he misspoke or holds an opinion that bristles the hair on the back of your neck. It's easy to pick sides and beat the tribal drum. It's easy to get offended or triggered. It's easy to hate. Getting along is much harder. Nuance is much more difficult. Forgiveness is far more complex. Maintaining relationships requires way more effort and sacrifice. Covering a multitude of sins with love is painful. Having conversations takes time.

The Church is corporal.  It is not a corporation. The Church needs shepherds.  It does not need CEOs. The Church is grown by Jesus Christ through faithful Christians empowered by the Holy Spirit, not by business development techniques.  Sloganeering and strategizing have no place in the Church of Jesus Christ.  Of course, self-awareness, intentionality, and planning for the future are not unbiblical, but churches borrowing growth methods from secular sources is sure to have unintended consequences.  Improper methods are also often indicative of improper goals and an improper orientation. When clergy gatherings sound like board meetings, something is amiss. If anything is to be gleaned from the explosion of ephemeral megachurches, it is that proper discipleship requires the Gospel and the Sacraments, not concerts and consulting firms.  Organization is wise and proper, but resorting to modern business models often reveals a lack of faith in the Faith once h...

Behold, the perfect meme!  I don't know who made it, but you deserve kudos, buddy. For those who have seen the film, Braveheart , you know that this is from one of the most potent betrayals in all of cinematic history.  William Wallace, played by Mel Gibson, the greatest actor of all time, turns in battle to see that his fellow countrymen have chosen subservience to invading feudal lords over fighting for their freedom.  I cannot vouch for the historical veracity of this scene, but it certainly strikes a cord in the heart of American Libertarians. The message of 2020 is clear: people love slavery. This is the reality that we freedom-loving, conservative Americans need to face.  The majority of Americans would rather have safety and security than freedom and responsibility.  They prefer the Socialism lite of Europe to the arduous American dream.  Instead of holding forth the American flag as a standard in battle, they want to be swaddled in it by Uncle Sam a...

When are we going to stop falling for it?   When are we going to stop being so gullible? How much more can we take before we get sick of being misinformed and manipulated? When will we stop listening to the mainstream media? Ahmaud Arbery. George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. They lied to us.  They willfully and/or negligently reported events in a false and inflammatory manner.   They stoked the flames.  They perpetuated the riots.  They fomented insurrection.   When will they be held accountable for their lies?  How do you hold them accountable without devolving into tyranny? When will we as a nation learn to be patient?  When will we learn to react slowly and respond cautiously?  When will we learn to wait for the rest of the story  before picking a side and sticking to our guns? When will we have had our fill? When will we learn to recognize the bias? When will we stop listening to, watching, and reading their nonsense? When w...

Get out and vote!   Voting is your civic duty! Your voice matters! Does it?   Does every voice matter?   Does every citizen of the United States who has arrived at the age of majority really have a valid opinion on matters of state? Maybe universal suffrage is a bad idea. The media is telling you that you need to vote.  Anytime the media is saying it, you probably have reason to doubt it. LeBron James and the rest of the NBA are telling you that you need to vote.  I guess being an athlete qualifies you to say such things. Facebook and Instagram are begging you to go out and get registered to vote.  There's no way they have an agenda! I've been rethinking democracy lately.  Maybe this whole "everyone has a voice" thing is a bad idea.  Maybe there's a reason that the United States is not, properly speaking, a Democracy.  Maybe our founding fathers created a Constitutional Republic to avoid the pitfalls of naked democracy. If you ...

Vote for Trump  or our economy will collapse!   Maybe we need an economic collapse to cure us of our materialism and effeminacy.   Vote for Trump  or it will be the end of Western Civilization as we know it!   Maybe the demise of Western Civilization will make way in our hearts for the Kingdom of Christ. Vote for Trump or we'll lose our religious freedom!   Maybe the Church needs persecution to purify her and to renew her sense of purpose. Vote for Trump or we'll lose our way of life!  Maybe the American Dream is a house built on sand. Vote for Trump or everyone will suffer! Maybe pain and want will strengthen our weak minds and bodies. Maybe we need to be rid of our stuff. Our distractions. Our idols. Maybe we need our priorities realigned. Maybe what we need most is what we most dread. Our fears define us. Do we fear discomfort more than we fear damnation? Maybe our flesh needs to endure the fire so that our souls do not.

There is a generation of young Christians who believe that their political and social worldview is informed by the principles of Scripture, particularly by the direct teachings of Jesus Christ, but who have actually imbibed the tenets of Humanistic Marxism taught to them in government schools and leftist colleges. Conversely, there is an older generation, Boomers , if you will, who believe that they lay claim to the truly Biblical worldview, but who actually hold to the religious politic (or political religion) of American Nationalism . These views are, of course, not strictly differentiated by generation, but there is nevertheless a large generational divide when discussing political and social issues. The Biblical perspective aligns perfectly with neither of these ideologies, nor with any other political movement.  In fact, devotion to Biblical principles regarding political and social issues does not require adherence to any specific economic, social, or political system devise...

Let me ask you a question.  Do you believe that the McMichaels deserve a fair trial? Think about your answer for a moment. Now, allow me to rephrase it. Do the McMichaels, human beings and citizens of the United States, deserve the presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law? If you say No , you are denying the most fundamental principle of our justice system. Let me be clear.  I think it is likely that the McMichaels are guilty of a heinous crime.  I believe that they should be tried in a court of law, and, if convicted, be punished for that crime. Again, let me be clear.  Public outcry was warranted.  They should have been (and now have been ) charged and put on trial for their acts. But they do deserve that trial.  They deserve to have their day in court. Even war criminals get a trial. Even serial killers get a trial. Even terrorists get a trial. Even the McMichaels deserve a trial. And these trials are not me...

Why are we Americans so afraid of catastrophe? Why are we so allergic to crisis? Why has this pandemic left us so paralyzed? Our ancestors were used to incessant war, harsh winters, and poor crop yields.  They were used to pain and death.  Crises and suffering were realities of daily life in a fallen world. Now we panic buy toilet paper and binge watch ridiculous Netflix shows. We are, it would appear, not the hardiest of folk anymore. We simply cannot accept the inescapable fact that bad things happen.  When we encounter hardship, we run to Uncle Sam for help.  Decades of peace and prosperity, along with our ignorance of history, have rendered us helpless and dependent.  We believe that we should be immune to the chaos of our broken world. This weakness, so often bemoaned by the Boomers who epitomize it, defines our culture.  Our political and economic system is dominated by those who are convinced that the government should eliminate risk fr...

In light of recent Internet memes, let's be perfectly clear about a few things here. 1) President Trump's proposal to send checks to citizens impacted by COVID-19 is not, I repeat, is not the same thing proposed by Andrew Yang during his failed attempted to nab the Democratic nomination.  It is intellectually dishonest to conflate the two.  Trump, along with numerous other legislators, is recommending a bailout of the American people as a temporary response to a crisis.  Yang was suggesting that we should permanently provide $1000/month to an entire class of poverty-stricken Americans.  The concepts are entirely different, as would be the fiscal ramifications.  Moreover, Trump's stimulus package is an attempt to correct problems caused not only by the current pandemic, but by the restrictions put in place as a response to that pandemic.  It's an attempt to counteract the financial hardship caused by government actions--a "sorry, here's some money" sort o...

A permit?  A permit?  Really?  A permit? Doesn't that sound sort of totalitarian to anyone else? I work in an industry in which we interact often with our local and state health departments.  Several of the major services that we provide require us to get a permit from the local health department.  The local officials are occasionally genuine, but they are almost always condescending and almost never have respect for private property as such. In the United States of America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, a homeowner is required to get a permit  before doing almost anything to his property.  Some localities are worse than others, but they are all required by state and federal authorities to restrict the citizens' freedoms in meaningful ways. How did we get here?  How did we get to the point where we allow government officials to require us to let them permit us to drill a well or build a house? How did "Give me or liber...

You know what's annoying? People. People and the Internet. Mostly people on the the Internet. We are all crisis-mongers anymore.  It's like we're happy to see a mass murder or a botched abortion,  as if the horrors we purport to oppose bring us a twisted sort of glee. We're all capitalists--we're quick to capitalize on a crisis!  Like ferocious felines we crouch, ready to pounce, always eager to exploit pain and tears. School shooting--20 dead! The virtue signaling and political maneuvering pervade social media for about three days.  After that we forget and go back to watching Game of Thrones and eating bonbons (what, I ask, is a bonbon?). We decry Donald Trump because CNN showed us a smug kid wearing a MAGA hat (but, surprise, surprise...there was more to the story). We attack blacks, gays, and liberals because some black, gay, liberal actor staged a hate crime. We denounce Antivaxxers because some kids in New York got the measles (Heaven forbi...

No. Government schools shouldn't teach the Bible to the children of this nation. Then again, government schools shouldn't teach anything.  Government schools shouldn't exist.  Government schools should be abolished outright. The government should stop taking my money and using it to indoctrinate the children of my community with humanistic and socialistic ideologies. There is no such thing as moral neutrality.  Jesus made that clear enough.  If you are not pro-Jesus, you're actually anti-Jesus .  There can be no middle ground when discussing submission to the King. As a Christian parent, I am called not only to protect my children from receiving false instruction, but to apply the truth of God to every part of their training .  There is simply no way that a Christian can obey that command while allowing their children to be indoctrinated in a Godless education system. Any education system that fails to give God the glory that He deserves should au...

" Woe unto those who call evil good and good evil..." Those are some powerful, frightening words.  They are also increasingly descriptive of the moral condition of the United States of America. We live in a postmodern age (I suppose we're past postmodern by now). Our religion is self.  Our ideals are happiness and personal fulfillment.  Our creed, so unyieldingly maintained, is "Be yourself!" We glorify the present, the temporary, the vain. We have institutionalized selfishness.  We are absolutely obsessed with ourselves.  We're so obsessed with self that we're obsessed with other people being obsessed with themselves. Morality is relative, subjective, individually-defined. It has become clear that the only immoral act, the only behavior that we will not tolerate, is that which elicits guilt.  Naked dudes dancing around child drag queens?  Yeah, that's cool.  Telling dudes that they're dudes and not girls?  Nah...that's intoler...

Millennials.  We're the worst, aren't we? People are always ragging on us.  We're lazy.  We're stupid.  We're spoiled.  We're the scum of the earth and everything that ever happens is our fault. While we can laugh off many of these complaints as the bitter ravings of old people who don't know where else to aim their vitriol, it would do us well to consider their criticism and examine our hearts. One area that is a major weakness for our generation is our obsession with entertainment.  This is certainly not a universal issue, nor is it one upon which our generation has a monopoly.  We are our parents' children. Generally speaking though, we live for entertainment. We worship entertainment.  Even when we worship, we want entertainment. We have more free time than most people in the history of the world, so we exhaust it by entertaining ourselves. We have more money than most people in the history of the world, so we finance multibillion ...

There.  I said it.  Someone had to.  Martin Luther King, Jr. was a bad person. April 4th marked the 50-year anniversary of the assassination of MLK, in memorial of which many individuals and groups took the opportunity to reflect on the status of race relations in the United States.  Even Evangelical Christian organizations held conferences in his memory.  This is a natural reaction, and one that is not unnecessary.  We must not be above reflecting on our faults, both our own personal sins and those of our forefathers.  However, and here comes the rant, we need to be honest here, MLK was not a good guy.  MLK did some "good" things, and he remains an important historical figure, but he was a bad person.  He was not a morally righteous individual.  He was not an orthodox Christian, and he was certainly not a "Reverend." Before I proceed any further, let me clarify three things.  Firstly, as I have already stated, MLK did some go...

Dear human race, Listen to your voicemails!  Okay?! Seriously, people.  It's really not that difficult of a concept to comprehend.  When someone calls you and leaves a message, please listen to that message before calling them back.  97% of the time the call back will be thereby rendered superfluous.  They have left that message in order to convey information.  Please gather that information before calling them back. Technology makes us lazy, they say.  If you're looking for convincing evidence, look no further than our unwillingness to spend 30 seconds of our lives listening to the audible message intended to convey important information.  Voicemail is basically magical.  You can actually press buttons on your phone and, if that person isn't available to speak to you, you can speak to a "mail box" on the other end.  When that person has the requisite amount of time, he/she can somehow listen to the sound of your voice on their phon...