Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

August 23

Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin

by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)
Republished from the OPC Website

Bible Text:
Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. —John 4:16

Devotional:
"Call thy husband." Such too is the obstinacy of many, that they will never listen to Christ until they have been subdued by violence. Whenever then we perceive that the oil of Christ has no flavor, it ought to be mixed with wine, that its taste may begin to be felt.

Nay more, this is necessary for all of us; for we are not seriously affected by Christ speaking unless we have been aroused to repentance.

So then, in order that anyone may profit in the school of Christ, his hardness must be subdued by the demonstration of his misery, as the earth, in order that it may become fruitful, is prepared and softened by the plowshare. For this knowledge alone shakes off all our flatteries, so that we no longer dare to mock God.

Revolutionaries, Radical Ideologues and Mindless Sheep

Old and New Spies

The revised spying bill became law in New Zealand on the 21st of August.  Labour and the Greens have promised to repeal the legislation if they capture the Treasury benches in 2014.  A local blogger has helpfully completed a comparison/contrast chart between the legislation it replaced and new amendments.

The old legislation was drafted in haste by the Labour government (with concurrence from other parties) whilst the threat of planes flying into buildings was a decided risk.  It was during that mad time when not enough was known about Islamic terrorist groups and their methodologies, tools, and techniques.  Therefore, the risks were larger in the popular imagination than in reality.  Legislation drafted in fear and passed in haste is usually rued by those suffering the indignity of having to submit to it.  So it was in this case.  It turned out lawyers could not understand parts of it; the text of the law was equivocal in others, contradictory in yet other places.  As a consequence, the Government Communications and Security Bureau (our version of the National Security Agency ["NSA"] in the United States) subsequently broke the law, apparently because it mis-interpreted it.

The new legislation tidies a lot of that up, removing confusion.  In addition, and most importantly, the replacement legislation contains far more checks and balances than Labour's panicked legislation back in 2003.  It is thus a far better piece of law.  Citizens in the US must be green with envy when they compare and contrast our legal protections with those which don't exist in the United States.

Quote of the Day

Fighting the Good Fight

"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies our problem of getting to these people..."

Lewis B. Puller

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

August 22

Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin

by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)
Republished from the OPC Website

Bible Text:
Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. —Psalm 50:14, 15

Devotional:
There is in all men by nature a strong and ineffaceable conviction that they ought to worship God. Indisposed to worship him in a pure and spiritual manner, it becomes necessary that they should invent some specious appearance as a substitute; and however clearly they may be persuaded of the vanity of such conduct, they persist in it to the last, because they shrink from a total renunciation of the service of God.

Men have always, accordingly, been found addicted to ceremonies until they have been brought to the knowledge of that which constitutes true and acceptable religion.

Praise and prayer are here to be considered as representing the whole of the worship of God, according to a figure of speech.

Egypt Back to the Future

Moving the Deck Chairs

The Muslim Brotherhood proved to all who were paying attention that it saw democracy as a tool to achieve totalitarian control of Egypt.  It had no compunction about overriding minority groups once it gained majority control.  The Muslim Brotherhood demonstrated that it is ideologically committed to just one, open election. 

Once it was handed the reins of government, the rights of opposition and minority parties were to be forever curtailed and reduced, leaving the Muslim Brotherhood in a position of command and control. The Muslim Brotherhood has the same kind of commitment as Hitler and the Nazi's to democracy in Germany in 1933--a useful way to gain power, as a stepping to dictatorial control.

Islam as a religion requires some variant of "command and control" government.

Douglas Wilson's Letter (From Moscow)

Believing One Half of the Wrong End of It

Posted on Tuesday, August 13, 2013  

By Douglas Wilson

Blog and Mablog

An easy mistake concerning Calvinism is that it somehow must necessarily reduce to a stiff-upper lip Stoicism, particularly in its teaching on contentment. “It is one heart-quieting consideration in all the afflictions that befall us that God has a special hand in them.” This is from the great Thomas Watson, and some might find it easy to think that he and the other Puritans were stuck on this one speed.

The apostle Paul says similar things, but the reason he doesn’t get tagged as a Stoic is that we have read everything else by him, and know that he knew how to weep with those who weep. He was a passionate man, and to charge him with Stoicism is laughable — even though he tells us that all things work together for good.

But we are forced into fair play with Paul because a bunch of people have read the whole Pauline corpus. That is not true of history’s whipping boys, among whom we may place the Puritans in the front row. The Puritans can be easily slandered as those who decontextualized the command to be content, turning it into a charge to “be tough for Jesus.” But the real problem is that we have decontextualized the need to not misrepresent our brothers.

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

August 21

Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin

by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)
Republished from the OPC Website

Bible Text:
And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. —Psalm 143:2

Devotional:
To this point our eyes ought to have been raised, that we might learn rather to tremble through fear than to indulge in vain exultation. It is easy indeed, while the comparison is made only between men, for every man to imagine himself to be possessed of something which others ought not to despise; but when we ascend to the contemplation of God, that confidence is immediately lost.

And the case of our soul with respect to God is similar to that of our body with respect to the visible heavens; for the eye, as long as it is employed in beholding adjacent objects, receives proofs of its own perspicacity; but if it be directed towards the sun, dazzled and confounded with his overpowering brightness, it feels no less debility in beholding him, than strength in the view of inferior objects.

A Day of National Celebration

As Plastic as a Politician's Promise

Homosexuals are now "allowed" to "marry" in New Zealand whatever that may mean.  In an orgy of self-congratulation, the media have told us we must celebrate the moment.  They have done their best to lead by example.  But the cheering is a tad hollow.

What we need in New Zealand is some consistent, principled radicals.  Not the kind that swan around in Gucci sunglasses and sip lattes whilst pontificating on the state of education in a post-constructivist world.  We need radicals who are serious about human rights, not mere lip-servers.  And until we get them, there is not much reason to celebrate, for the "moment" is as ephemeral as pot smoke.

The hypocrisy in our society has a nauseous stench when it comes to marriage.

Spiralling Downwards

Naivety in Spades

The following article has appeared in the NZ Herald:

Arab Spring Spiralling into Gloom  

By Catherine Field  
NZ Herald

Europe is battling a mix of alarm and gloom as it eyes the post-revolutionary crisis in North Africa, concluding that its early plans to steer the region on to the path of prosperity and democracy are dead.

Policymakers are bracing for years of turmoil in Egypt and Libya, although the outlook for Tunisia is more optimistic, and sense that Europe will have to play a longer and more strategic game, say analysts. "We are witnessing a revolutionary process, and this will take at least a decade," says Karim-Emile Bitar of the Institute for Strategic and International Relations (IRIS) in Paris. "When you talk about a revolutionary process, you are talking about revolution, counter-revolution, attempts to hijack the revolution - and this is exactly what is happening right now." . . .

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

August 20

Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin

by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)
Republished from the OPC Website

Bible Text:
Quench not the Spirit. —I Thessalonians 5:19

Devotional:
But to come to the point, make a right use of the knowledge which he has for a long time past vouchsafed to you; and do not allow the zeal which he has at one time imprinted by the Holy Spirit upon your heart to die away; and do not knowingly quench the holy desire which has burned within you in bygone times.

Behold how God allows those to slip away who grow careless little by little, and how easily he permits them to be so utterly depraved that they go to perdition; and it is just that the Lord should thus avenge himself upon those who have preferred the vanities of the world to the treasure of his gospel.

Another Jigsaw Piece

Doctors to Help Reduce Welfare Beneficiary Numbers

Social expectation is powerful.  What people expect of us, along with society in general, is powerful--for good or ill. 

New Zealand is embarking upon a programme of changing social expectations of welfare beneficiaries.  The fruit of old nostrums lies rotten on the ground.  It's time for something different.  The government is trying to set a social expectation that its not acceptable to remain on a perpetual benefit unless circumstances are particularly pressing.  Lifestyle beneficiaries are to feel the heat of social expectations upon them. 

Sickness beneficiaries, whose numbers have exploded over the past twenty years, are required to go to doctors periodically to get medical approbation for remaining on a sickness benefit.  Now doctors are required to diagnose what is required medically and physically to get the beneficiary back to work--which will be a very different conversation to those of previous years.

Potemkin Villages

Why Bother?

Blog Turtle Bay and Beyond has been calling our attention to the Samantha Powers, new US ambassador to the UN, who has asked people to let her know what views and priorities she should promote on behalf of the US at the UN.

Samantha Power, the new U.S. ambassador to the UN, wants to know: how can she best promote American values and human dignity? What should the U.S. stand for in the world? . . .  Pres. Obama and former Sec. Hillary Clinton made abortion and sex (particularly homosexuality) top foreign policy priorities. A few years ago I was asked to give a speech at the UN on how marriage and family benefit women. A U.S. delegate came with a prepared statement criticizing me for not promoting sexual and reproductive rights.

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

August 19

Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin

by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)
Reproduced from the OPC Website

Bible Text:
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. —Isaiah 53:12

Devotional:
So then, to be submissive to our Lord Jesus Christ, let us confess him as our King and do it sincerely. There is no doubt we obtain from him liberty in the first place; and after that, the blessings we need and which we lack unless we receive them at his hand.

See how wretched we should be if Satan had not been plundered; for he possesses us, he enjoys us at his ease, just as our Lord Jesus declares. In a word, we are like his own possession and property.

So we have need that the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ brings forth its fruit in us, and that our enemies may be not only overcome but also put to flight; that Jesus Christ may, as it were, keep his foot on their throats, so that they may be powerless, though they scheme to do us harm. —Sermons

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John Calvin was the premier theologian of the Reformation, but also a pious and godly Christian pastor who endeavored throughout his life to point men and women to Christ. We are grateful to Reformation Heritage Books for permission to use John Calvin's Thine Is My Heart as our daily devotional for 2013 on the OPC Web site. You can currently obtain a printed copy of that book from Reformation Heritage Books.

The Wisdom of Ages

Bono, Africa, and Aid

Age and experience is reputed to bring wisdom.  Sometimes sadly this is not the case.  Growing years can cement the foolishness prejudices and simplicities of youth, which makes aged folly all the more ridiculous.  But often as people grow in experience, they become more subtle, discerning, and wise.  They learn that things are not always what they seem.  They realise that truth often lies beneath, not on the surface.  

David J. Theroux, writing in The Beacon, gives us an example of the latter.

Bono (nee Paul David Hewson) is the lead singer in the rock group U2, one of the most successful rock groups in history. Bono also became a major proponent of greatly expanded U.S. foreign aid and other government programs (including debt cancellation) to alleviate the dire plight in the world of HIV/AIDS, malaria, abject poverty, and other issues.

Bono's name and fame is synonymous, not just with U2, but with charitable activities in Africa.  He has publicly and passionately taken up the cause of that needy continent for most of his public life.  Bono is a professing Christian.

Douglas Wilson's Letter from Moscow, Idaho

Honoring His Stuff

Posted on Monday, August 12, 2013  

By Douglas Wilson 

Blog and Mablog

A friend pointed me to an important truth about property and giving that is found in Deuteronomy 26.

“And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God: And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you” (Dt. 26:10-11).

Note that the worshiper is told that he must include the Levite and the stranger in his worship of God — he must share as he worships with his tithe — but that the foundation of this sharing is the fact of property ownership. He is called to share “every good thing” which the Lord his God “hath given” unto him. God gave every good thing to him, and to his house.

This is the answer to those who think that any assertion of robust property rights is to absolutize them. The only absolute property ownership is God — the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof — but it is precisely for this reason that we may have robust private property rights. The absolute owner gives.

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

August 17

Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin

by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)
Reproduced from the OPC Website

Bible Text:
I will praise thee, 0 Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvelous works. —Psalm 9:1

Devotional:
Even irreligious men, I admit, when they have obtained some memorable victory, are ashamed to defraud God of the praise which is due to him; but we see that as soon as they have uttered a single expression in acknowledgment of the assistance God has afforded them, they immediately begin to boast loudly, and to sing triumphs in honor of their own valor, as if they were under no obligations whatsoever to God.

The S-Files

To An Unknown Police Officer

The NZ Herald is reporting on a heroic rescue of a drowning man by a police officer.  The details, as recounted, are:

• At 6pm on the 12 August  a van plunged off Tauranga's Maungatapu Bridge.
• A 23 year old passenger escaped the sinking van, but was unable to stay afloat due to injuries
• A 53 year old police officer arrived at the crash scene, apprehended the person in difficulty in the water.
• He stripped off and dived in, reached the drowning man, calmed him and turned him on his back.
• He drew him to the shallows while being carried along by the tidal current.

Unfortunately the driver of the van did not survive.  The saved man would have certainly drowned, had not the police officer intervened.

Western Bay of Plenty Police Inspector Clifford Paxton praised the efforts of his officer, who was resting at home yesterday.  "What he did was pretty outstanding. He evaluated the situation, believed he could make a difference, and clearly he did make a difference."

ContraCelsum is pleased to bestow an S-Award on this unnamed officer--for actions in the course of duty that were Selfless, Saving, and Sacrificial.  You are a credit to your profession.

Douglas Wilson's Letter From Moscow Idaho

Becoming More Like the Squirmers

Posted on Saturday, August 10, 2013  

By Douglas Wilson 

From Blog and Magblog

Whenever God’s people take up the adventure that He sends them, there are always troubles that arise in the midst of the adventure that make you want to second guess your initial decision. In the midst of the turmoil that you have gotten yourself into, it is easy to wonder if you read the fine print carefully enough.

One example would be the path that many of you have chosen to follow—bringing many children into the world, caring for them, providing them with a Christian education, bringing them to worship every week, and doing so in a church where all the littles spend the entire worship service with us, worshipping together with us.

This is no fad—fads are not this much work. But it might be easy to think “this must have been a fad when we chose to do it.” I want to speak a particular word of exhortation and encouragement to you moms who are doing this.

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

August 16

Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin

by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)
Republished from the OPC website.

Bible Text:
And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! —John 1:36

Devotional:
"Behold the Lamb of God." The principal office of Christ is briefly but clearly stated; that he "takes away the sins of the world" by the sacrifice of his death, and reconciles men to God. There are other favors, indeed, which Christ bestows upon us, but this is the chief favor, and the rest depend on it; that, by appeasing the wrath of God, he makes us to be reckoned holy and righteous. For from this source flow all the streams of blessings, that, by not imputing our sins, he receives us into favor.

Accordingly, John, in order to conduct us to Christ, commences with the gratuitous forgiveness of sins which we obtain through him. —Commentaries

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John Calvin was the premier theologian of the Reformation, but also a pious and godly Christian pastor who endeavored throughout his life to point men and women to Christ. We are grateful to Reformation Heritage Books for permission to use John Calvin's Thine Is My Heart as our daily devotional for 2013 on the OPC Web site. You can currently obtain a printed copy of that book from Reformation Heritage Books.

To Explain is to Lose

Empty Slogans

We have commented previously upon the galactically stupid "marketing" line: "100% Pure New Zealand". It's deceptive and misleading.  It is a rod for our own back.  But help is at hand.  The Prime Minister, John Key who is also Tourism Minister has gravely informed us that this slogan is marketing spin.  It's not to be taken seriously.  Thanks for clearing that up, Mr Key. 

On Saturday, Prime Minister John Key, who is also tourism minister, told a National Party conference the slogan was not meant to be taken literally.(Stuff)

In the interests of clarity, and for the avoidance of doubt, we believe that this slogan is irresponsible and inadequate.  It needs further clarification.

This is a Slogan--Not to be Taken Literally

With this necessary clarification, we are more than happy to see "100% Pure New Zealand" retained.  But then it loses everything, does it not?  Which is the very point we are making.  The slogan only has traction and power if it is believed to be largely (if not entirely) true.  Which is to say that the slogan is deceptive and misleading. 

Tick, Tick, Tick . . .

Exploding Global Warming Myth Becoming Mainstream
 
Major Danish Daily Warns: “Globe May Be On Path To Little Ice Age…Much Colder Winters…Dramatic Consequences”!

By P Gosselin on 9. August 2013

 

Another major European media outlet is asking: Where’s the global warming?

Image right: The August 7 edition of Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten, featured a major 2-page article on the globe’s 15-years of missing warming and the potential solar causes and implications.

Moreover, they are featuring prominent skeptic scientists who are warning of a potential little ice age and dismissing CO2 as a major climate driver. And all of this just before the release of the IPCC’s 5AR, no less!

Hat-tip: NTZ reader Arne Garbøl

The August 7 print edition of the Danish Jyllands-Posten, the famous daily that published the “Muhammad caricatures“, features a full 2-page article bearing the headline: ”The behavior of the sun may trigger a new little ice age” followed by the sub-headline: “Defying all predictions, the globe may be on the road towards a new little ice age with much colder winters.”

So now even the once very green Danish media is now spreading the seeds of doubt. So quickly can “settled science” become controversial and hotly disputed. The climate debate is far from over. And when it does end, it looks increasingly as if it’ll end in favor of the skeptics.

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

August 15

Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin

by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)
Republished from the OPC Website

Bible Text:
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. —Psalm 127:2

Devotional:
It is not surprising to find those growing rich in a short time who spare no exertion, but consume night and day in plying their occupations and allow themselves only scanty fare from the product of their labor. Solomon, however, affirms that neither living at small expense, nor diligence in business will by themselves profit anything at all.

Not that he forbids us to practise temperance in our diet and to rise early to engage in our worldly business; but to stir us up to prayer, and to calling upon God, and also to recommend gratitude for the divine blessings, he brings to nought whatever would obscure the grace of God.

The New Jacobins

Banish One Demon, Inherit Ten More Malevolent

Why should New Zealanders treat the law, the courts, and the justice system with any respect from this time onwards?  It appears they are about to become a sick joke.  The government has announced it will change the fundamental concepts of justice so radically that if a person is suspected of a crime the courts can restrict their lives so as to place them in a virtual prison.  Even if the person went to court, was exonerated and freed, they will be able to be punished by the courts, nonetheless. This from the NZ Herald:

Wide-ranging restraining orders will soon be in use to keep suspected child abusers away from children for up to 10 years.  Some will be prevented from going to parks or public swimming pools. . . . High Court and District Court judges will be able to impose the new civil orders on people who are tried for serious offences against children such as incest, sexual grooming or sexual violation - even if they are not convicted of the offence.
Ms Bennett said the scope of such orders would depend on the circumstances, and could prevent the person from living or working with children, up to blocking any association with children whatsoever, such as sitting next to a child on the bus.

What happened to "innocent until proven guilty"?  Oh, that's so outdated, dearie.  We are going to get really serious about crime.  Now the judges can place restraining orders on individuals based on suspicion.

Ultimate Time and Chance

Both Feet Firmly Planted in Midair

Justin Taylor
August 09, 2013

Francis Schaeffer once described moral relativists as those “who have both feet firmly planted in mid-air.” (See Koukl and Beckwith’s helpful book built on that title.)

An even more vivid illustration is that of Cornelius Van Til who sought to describe the impossibility of unbelieving reasoning if their worldview is employed consistently:

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

August 14

Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin

by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)
Reproduced from the OPC Website

Bible Text:
Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? —Job 31:4

Devotional:
Let us note the style that Job uses; which is that God marks his ways and steps and keeps a reckoning of them. This serves to indicate that God does not see them from a distance, nor does he see these things alone which are evident on the surface; but he looks closely at all our works and carefully notes every one of them.
His sight is not dim, nor does he look at random, but he counts and numbers all things, so that nothing escapes him or is forgotten by him. Now then, I ask you, have we not good cause to consider our own ways and count our own steps when we see that all of them come forth before God?

Why is it that men scarcely know the hundredth part of their sins? Some even commit the same sin a hundred times a day, and yet hardly think about it once. Why is this? It is because we do not think that God watches us, nor that we are so observed by him that nothing escapes his vision and nothing is forgotten by him.

National Insanity

A Few More Million Amongst Friends

Socio-economic determinism is an exploded urban legend.  But it is firmly lodged in the minds of the Commentariat as an infallible maxim.  Simply put, socio-economic determinism proclaims that if you want positive societal outcomes (for whatever) rain other people's money upon a particular target group, and hey presto, character, habits, attitudes, morals, self-discipline, conscience, and behaviour will improve exponentially.  Anyone who actually believes that is living in a another universe--and a non-parallel one at that.  Not even close to reality. 

Over the past fifteen years the New Zealand government has increased spending upon its government schools exponentially.  Millions upon millions more dollars have been spent, and most of it upon lower decile schools (that is, schools operating in lower socio-economic areas).  The fallacy of socio-economic determinism at full throated roar.

Letter From America (About Detroit)

Suicide by Government

Detroit is responsible for its own demise.

By  Rich Lowry 

 

NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE           

www.nationalreview.com          

July 23, 2013 4:00 AM

 

The case of the city of Detroit isn’t much of a murder mystery. Various suspects have been fingered in its demise: The global economy. The fall of the auto industry. The decline of manufacturing generally. But it’s simpler than that. Detroit died of its own hand.

The city undertook a controlled experiment in what happens if you are governed by a toxic combination of Great Society big spenders, race hustlers, crooks, public-sector unions, and ineffectual reformers. It spent and misgoverned itself into the ground. It tried to defy the axiom of the late economist Herb Stein that “if something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” Detroit’s bout of self-destruction lasted for a few decades, and now may finally stop only when there is little left to destroy.

The city was at the pioneering edge of urban liberalism and discovered that all the social spending in the world doesn’t deliver order, family stability, education, economic dynamism, or effective governance. In the hands of Detroit’s rotten political class, it proved inimical to all of those things.

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

August 13

Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin

by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)
Reproduced from the OPC Website

Bible Text:
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and ... whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. —Matthew 5:21, 22


Devotional:
The end of this precept is that since God has connected mankind together in a kind of unity, every man ought to consider himself as charged with the safety of all. In short, then, all violence and injustice, and every kind of mischief, which may injure the body of our neighbor, are forbidden to us.

And therefore we are enjoined, if it be in our power, to assist in protecting the lives of our neighbors; to exert ourselves with fidelity for this purpose; to procure those things which conduce to their tranquillity; to be vigilant in shielding them from injuries; and in cases of danger to afford them our assistance.

The Future of China

 Long, Slow, Lingering Decline

China's one-child policy is going to devastate that country more than any other ill-conceived utopian folly.  The grim harvest has just commenced.  The Middle Kingdom has condemned itself to a long, slow lingering decline, as its social fabric rots away.  

Some of the poisonous fruits include:

• A growing hatred of the government for its stupidity and folly and the damage, pain, and suffering it has inflicted upon its people.
• A sense of being betrayed by the government.
• Gender imbalance, leaving men without any prospect of marriage and children.
• Labour shortages looming.
• Depression amongst the aged.
• Financial hardship.
• Ever more intrusive state bureaucracy.

The piece below was originally published in the Washington Post, and republished in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Standing Ground

Ten Tenets of Covenantal Apologetics

Justin Taylor

From Scott Oliphint’s Covenantal Apologetics: Principles and Practice in Defense of Our Faith (pp. 47-56):

1. The faith that we are defending must begin with, and necessarily include, the triune God-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who, as God, condescends to create and to redeem.
   
2. God’s covenantal revelation is authoritative by virtue of what is, and any covenantal, Christian apologetic will necessarily stand on and utilize that authority in order to defend Christianity.
   
3. It is the truth of God’s revelation, together with the work of the Holy Spirit, that brings about a covenantal change from one who is in Adam to one who is in Christ.
   
4. Man (male and female) as image of God is in covenant with the triune God for eternity.
   
5. All people know the true God, and that knowledge entails covenantal obligations.
   
6. Those who are and remain in Adam suppress the truth that they know. Those who are in Christ see truth for what it is.
   
7. There is an absolute, covenantal antithesis between Christian theism and any other, opposing position. Thus, Christianity is true and anything opposing it is false.
   
8. Suppression of the truth, like the depravity of sin, is total but not absolute. Thus every unbelieving position will necessarily have within it ideas, concepts, notions, and the like that it has taken and wrenched from their true, Christian context.
   
9. The true, covenantal knowledge of God in man, together with God’s universal mercy, allows for persuasion in apologetics.
   
10. Every fact and experience is what it is by virtue of the covenantal, all-controlling plan and purpose of God.