Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

October 15

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:
Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. —I Timothy 1:2

Devotional:
But mark here the order which we must keep. It is this: that first of all it would please God to receive us into his grace, and then to send us those things which are profitable and necessary for us.

True it is that our nature will always draw the contrary way, even as a sick man will be more tormented with his pang than with the cause of his disease. In like sort, when we pray to God, we desire him to give us bread to eat, and that he would send us whatsoever is necessary for us; if we be sick, that he would heal us; and if we want anything, that he would send it to us.

Mourning The Lost Profession

The Black Widow Endemic in Schools

A new report from NZ Initiative is about to be published.  It will focus upon government schools.  The pre-release promo says:

What kinds of things matter for student achievement? Is it class size, school journals, the school building, or a flash new gym?  These may play a role at the margin, but they pale in significance next to what research conclusively shows is the most important in-school factor for student achievement: the teacher.

On Monday, The New Zealand Initiative releases its first education report on teacher quality, and it comes at quite a precipitous time. As the ageing teacher workforce moves into retirement, New Zealand needs to not only replenish this workforce but attract the best and brightest into the teaching profession. And then, for teachers to develop to their full potential and to retain the best teachers, teaching must be a challenging and rewarding career.

Apparently the report will focus upon the issues of teacher remuneration and career paths which now represent serious impediments to teaching being a life-long career for those who are actually gifted teachers.

Douglas Wilson's Letter From Moscow

School Growing Pains

School Rules Are Not the Answer

Posted on Thursday, October 10, 2013  
By Douglas Wilson
Blog and Mablog

One of the great challenges faced by classical and Christian schools is the challenge of growth swamping that which is the cause of the growth. If there is one three-man lifeboat in the water, and a hundred people also in the water, the thing that makes the lifeboat an object of desire is the same reason it won’t be floating for very long.

Classical Christian schools have a great pedagogical method — it works. Moreover, the people who were crazy enough to see that it was going to work are those parents who were visionary enough to establish the school in the first place. They were dedicated parents, usually with godly homes, and when the school got established in its first few years, the culture of the student body was determined as much by the spiritual and cultural condition of the founding families as anything else. That, as much as the pedagogical method, is the reason the school became a really attractive place to be.

But back in the pure days, it was hard to pay the teachers. It was hard to keep the lights on. It was hard to find someone who would do the janitorial work. So when the school started to grow, the first sensation (felt by the board) was a sense of relief. Ahhhh.

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

October 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:
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. —Psalm 91:11, 12

Devotional:
But the Scripture principally insists on what might conduce most to our consolation, and the confirmation of our faith—that the angels are dispensers and administrators of the Divine beneficence towards us; and therefore it informs us that they guard our safety, undertake our defense, direct our ways, and exercise a constant solicitude that no evil befall us.

The declarations are universal, belonging primarily to Christ the head of the Church, and then to all the faithful; "He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." Again, "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them."

Frogs in a Boiling Pot of Crime, Part V

Winning Some Battles, But Not Yet The War

The tide of crime seems to be receding in New Zealand, according to the latest statistics released by police.  The Minister of Police has claimed the following in a press release:

Police Minister Anne Tolley has praised frontline Police, with recorded offences down for the third fiscal year in a row, and a massive 17.4 per cent drop in crimes in the past three years.  There were 29,337 fewer recorded offences in the year to June 2013, a fall of 7.4 per cent, representing a 7.9 per cent drop per head of population.  In the past three years there were 76,775 fewer crimes, with a fall of 5.2 per cent last year, and 5.8 per cent the previous year.

This is good news, although it needs qualifying (see below).  There was some bad news, however, tucked away at the bottom of the release:

However, there were increases in both dwelling assaults and sexual assaults.  “Both of these areas, which we know include domestic violence incidents, are under-reported, and I would continue to encourage victims to come forward,” says Mrs Tolley.  “I am assured by Police that they are continuing to treat these issues as a high priority, as they work towards compiling definitive family violence statistics.

There is no doubt the NZ Police are much smarter in how they go about their work these days.

Letter From NZ (About Those Greenpeace "Activists")

Arctic activists knew the risks

Sean Plunket
Stuff, 
11/10/2013


I've never been held in a jail cell but it is, I imagine, not a very pleasant experience. I also imagine Russia would be one of the worst places to find yourself incarcerated, along with North Korea, Myanmar, El Salvador and China.

Certainly the 30 Greenpeace activists from 18 different nations currently held at the pleasure of Vladimir Putin's government are finding the going pretty rugged. Among their various complaints is the fact that it is cold, there are some nasty people in jail with them and the guards do not speak English. Well what did they expect – Sky [TV] and a sauna?

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

October 12

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:
Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. —John 20:16

Devotional:
"Jesus saith unto her, Mary." That Christ allowed Mary, a short time, to fall into a mistake, was useful for confirming her faith; but now, by a single word, he corrects her mistake. He had formerly addressed her, but his discourse seemed to be that of an unknown person; he now assumes the character of the Master, and addresses his disciple by name, as we have seen that the good shepherd calls to him by name every sheep of his Book (John 10:3).

That voice of the shepherd, therefore, enters into Mary's heart, opens her eyes, arouses all her senses, and affects her in such a manner that she immediately surrenders herself to Christ.

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

October 12

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:
O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! —Isaiah 40:9

Devotional:
"That bringest tidings." Yet we ought carefully to observe this commendation which God bestows on his Church, that it may not be without a clear mark of distinction; for an assembly in which the preaching of heavenly doctrine is not heard does not deserve to be reckoned a Church.

The Calibre of the Modern Politician

Behold the Wonders

The calibre of politicians leaves much to be desired.  We suppose in democracies a society tends to get the politicians it deserves, but nevertheless we tire of our representative pontificating with sonorous solemnity about things they know very little.

In New Zealand the independent Reserve Bank (made independent to prevent politicians meddling with the money supply in a self-interested attempt to garner public support) is charged with the integrity and solvency of the banking system.  To that end it has recently stipulated that mortgage lending banks require house buyers to put down equity of 20 percent of the purchase price or more, for 80 percent of their mortgage books. This effectively stops reckless lending by banks in its tracks.

Antonin Scalia

"Of Course I Believe in Heaven and Hell"

Antonin Scalia, by our lights, is one of the greater justices in US Supreme Court history.  He has been a resolute opponent of judicial activism which sees the role of a justice and the courts to make law, not test whether human actions and arrangements are lawful or not. 

He has been a champion of  "originalism" and "textualism".  The latter insists on paying attention to the actual text of the law (not the more subjective focus upon intent, or motive, or goals of legislation).  The former insists on basing opinions upon the actual text of the constitution itself.  He is not interested in a constantly evolving constitution, where the latter becomes a wax nose to be twisted and reshaped according to the passing fancies of a generation. 

Scalia was interviewed recently by Jennifer Senior.  The whole text was published in the New York Magazine.

Here are some excerpts:

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

October 11

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:
Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you. —Zechariah 8:23

Devotional:
The prophet at the same time not only commends humility, but also exhorts all God's children to cultivate unity and concord. For whosoever tears asunder the Church of God, disunites himself from Christ, who is the head, and who would have all his members to be united together.

Leopards and Their Spots

Remember the Hawkes Bay Health Board

Karl Du Fresne is a journalist who has seen many winters.  He has a long memory.  He recently wrote the following piece on new Labour leader, David Cunliffe: 

NEW Labour Leader David Cunliffe is getting good notices, even from those at the opposite end of the political spectrum, such as former ACT leader Rodney Hide. But I'm withholding judgment. I decided I disliked Mr Cunliffe when, as health minister in the Clark government, he sacked the democratically elected Hawke's Bay District Health Board, describing them as "a nasty little nest of self-perpetuating provincial elites".

He struck me then as a politician who liked to throw his weight around just because he could.  Nothing since then has changed my view of him.

Be Thou My Vision . . .

Oaths We Have Taken

Sam Robson reminds us of oaths we have taken, and declarations of loyalty we have made, to our High King.

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

October 10

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:
Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not. —John 18:17

Devotional:
"Then the maid that kept the door said to Peter...." Peter is introduced into the high priest's hall; but it cost him very dear, for as soon as he sets his foot within it, he is constrained to deny Christ.

When he stumbles so shamefully at the first step, the foolishness of his boasting is exposed. He had boasted that he would prove to be a valiant champion, and able to meet death with firmness; and now at the voice of a single maid, and that voice without threatening, he is confounded and throws down his arms. Such is a demonstration of the power of man.

Standing Firm

Charter Schools To Be Union Free

Good news for NZ Charter Schools.  The government teachers' union has voted to ostracise them.  All contact with the soon-to-be launched charter schools is VERBOTEN.  The Post Primary Teachers Association has put out a press release which is an hilarious read.  They apparently have no idea how foolish they sound.

Beneath Contempt

Legalisms To Salve Perverted Consciences

Sex selection abortions clarified as perfectly acceptable in the UK.  This has been the consistent testimony of abortion advocates and pro-abortion groups.  This breaking news from The Telegraph:

Ann Furedi, of BPAS, [the UK's largest abortion charity] said the law does not prevent women from choosing a termination on the grounds of gender and she even compared it to abortion after rape.  Mrs Furedi's comments come weeks after it was disclosed that the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] had decided not to prosecute two doctors who were exposed by a Daily Telegraph investigation arranging terminations purely because the unborn baby was a girl.

This is yet another proof of how evil and wicked the whole abortion trade is.  The depraved logic is inescapable: the "thing" inside a woman's womb is not a human being, not a person.  Therefore, the sex of the thing is completely irrelevant when deciding whether to kill it off or not.

What is equally depraved is the ratiocinations issuing forth from the UK prosecution authorities to justify this position (in which they have relied upon advice from the British Medical Association).

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

October 09

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:
Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? —Job 22:2

Devotional:
We see that he compares himself to a husbandman who has a vineyard which, when he has tended it, yields wine to him; or who has a field and reaps corn from it. God in using such figures of speech, declares that he so accounts of our works that they are like pleasant and sweet sacrifices to him.

And he says also that when we do good to the poor, it is as if we did it to him, and he accepts it as done to himself. Jesus Christ speaks thus of it, saying, "Whatsoever you shall do to one of the least of my members, I accept it as if it had been done to my own person."

Parliament's Prayer

Exposing the Curse

In New Zealand the Parliament opens its sessions with a prayer.  The text is as follows:

Almighty God, humbly acknowledging our need for Thy guidance in all things, and laying aside all private and personal interests, we beseech Thee to grant that we may conduct the affairs of this House and of our country to the glory of Thy holy name, the maintenance of true religion and justice, the honour of the Queen, and the public welfare, peace, and tranquillity of New Zealand, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Every so often politicians raise the question of dumping this prayer in favour of one that reflects more comprehensively the beliefs and commitments of the majority of the population.  A Green MP, Gareth Hughes is the latest, writing on his blog:

Speaking in my personal capacity, I think it’s time to have a discussion around it.  Like many Kiwis and MPs I am not a Christian and I don’t think the prayer reflects the rich and varied religious and spiritual life in New Zealand in 2013. To me, it’s an issue of having Parliament – the representatives of the people of New Zealand – actually reflect the people of New Zealand rather than only one religious group. We should have an inclusive ceremonial opening that all kiwis can feel comfortable with, whatever their faith.

So what would a prayer which reflected the "rich and varied religious and spiritual life of New Zealand in 2013" actually look like.

Palin and Crony Capitalism

Facing Off With Smaug and His Treasures

One of the things we have always appreciated about Sarah Palin is her commitment to fighting against corruption and crony capitalism in government and politics.  She fearlessly takes on vested and corrupted interests in her own party, let alone the Democrats. 

Recently, a group of nouveau riche Wall Streeters complained to Republican establishment doyens (otherwise known as Beltway Barnacles) that they found offensive the present Republican Congress's refusal to fund Obama's move to socialise medical care in the United States.  When the Roman Republic became the plaything of wealthy patricians and venal plutocrats, its demise was inevitable.  So will pass the United States.  "We the people" will be replaced by "We the entitled". 

Sarah Palin recently called the them out.  She has a different moral and ethical compass--as revealed in this Breitbart piece. 

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

October 08

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

Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. —Zechariah 1:3

Devotional:
"Return unto me and I will return unto you." It must be noticed that we cannot enjoy the favor of God even when he kindly offers to be reconciled to us, except we from the heart repent. However graciously, then, God may invite us to himself, and be ready to remit our sins, we yet cannot embrace his offered favor except our sins become hateful to us; for God ceases not to be our judge, except we anticipate him, and condemn ourselves, and deprecate the punishment of our sins.

Cringeworthy Remarks

Dumb

The New Zealand Prime Minister has been asked to chair the negotiations over a Pacific free-trade agreement which will be a side-bar to the upcoming APEC meeting.  President Obama has sent his apologies, due to the "government shutdown" in the United States.  APEC will have to do without him. 

This is quite a public honour for Prime Minister Key.  However, he let himself down when he was asked for his opinion on the present US political imbroglio.

Firstly, he compared Obama's presence at such international meetings to fizz.  We kid you not.  This from Audrey Young, at the NZ Herald:

Reflective Glory

In the Image of God

It is said that when Beethoven wanted to express the glory in the human race in his final, Ninth Symphony, he turned to the greatest instrument of all, the human voice.  In the video below, Sam Robson provides a startling demonstration of how powerful, complex, and beautiful that instrument really is--only in this case, it is being employed properly, to glorify the God of the heavens and the earth. 


Hat Tip: Keeping Stock

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

October 07

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:
Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. —Philippians 4:6

Devotional:
Wherefore, although we are stupid and insensible to our own miseries, he vigilantly watches and guards us, and sometimes affords us unsolicited help, yet it highly concerns us faithfully to pray to him, that our heart may be always inflamed with a serious and ardent desire of seeking, loving, and worshipping him, while we accustom ourselves in all our necessities to resort to him as our sheet anchor.

Further, that no desire or wish, which we should be ashamed for him to know, may enter our minds; when we learn to present our wishes, and so to pour out our whole heart in his presence. Next, that we may be prepared to receive his blessings with true gratitude of soul, and even with grateful acknowledgments; being reminded by our praying that they have come from his hand.

Marketing

Oh What a Lovely War

In 2012 the UK Ministry of Defence produced a paper giving advice on how to "market" war to the public.  The intention was to work out how to increase public support for the various wars the UK was engaged in at the time.  One suggestion made was to make less of repatriation and funeral ceremonies of those who had died.  Downplay the negative.  Accentuate the positive.  That sort of stuff.  Typical marketing fluff.

The document, written in November 2012 and obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act, discusses how public reaction to casualties can be influenced and recommends that the armed forces should have "a clear and constant information campaign in order to influence the major areas of press and public opinion". (The Guardian)

The folk don't like hearing and seeing that soldiers and airmen have been killed.  It is a negative.  It ought to be downplayed.  Don't regard these people as heroes who have laid down their lives for the protection of their loved ones, their neighbours, and their nation.   That ends up accentuating the negative, which will reduce "market" appetite and demand for war.

But wait a minute.  This is war we are talking about.

Letter From America (About a Dishonest Englishman)

A Response to Richard Dawkins

He and his supporters have a right to their atheism, but not to intellectual dishonesty about it.

By  Dennis Prager 

October 1, 2013 12:00 AM

National Review Online

This past Friday, CNN conducted an interview with Richard Dawkins, the British biologist most widely known for his polemics against religion and on behalf of atheism.  Asked “whether an absence of religion would leave us without a moral compass,” Dawkins responded: “The very idea that we get a moral compass from religion is horrible.”

This is the crux of the issue for Dawkins and other anti-religion activists — that not only do we not need religion or God for morality but that we would have a considerably more moral world without them.  This argument is so wrong — both rationally and empirically — that its appeal can be explained only by (a) a desire to believe it and (b) an ignorance of history.

First, the rational argument.

If there is no God, the labels “good” and “evil” are merely opinions.

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

October 05

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:
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. —Ezekiel 3:17

Devotional:
It is now added, "Thou shalt hear words from my mouth, and shalt announce them to the people from me."

Here a general rule is prescribed to all prophets and pastors of the Church, namely that they should hear the word from the mouth of God; by which God wishes to exclude whatever men fabricate or invent for themselves. For it is evident when God claimed to himself the right of speaking that he orders all men to be silent and not to offer anything of their own, and then, when he orders them to hear the word from his mouth, that he puts a bridle upon them that they should neither invent anything, nor hanker after their own devices, nor dare to conceive either more or less than the word; and, lastly, we see that whatever men offer of their own selves is here abolished, when God alone wishes to be heard, for he does not mingle himself here with others as in a crowd, as if he wished to be heard only in part.

He assumes to himself, therefore, what we ought to attribute to his supreme command over all things, namely that we should hang upon his lips. —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.

The S-Files

Reviving the Dying

And now, a good news story.

Mrs Melrose, 70, was flying ex Brisbane to Auckland on an Air New Zealand flight with her husband John when a life and death drama unfolded. 

Before the flight, Mrs Melrose spent six hours in hospital with stomach pains. Scans failed to reveal any problem and Mrs Melrose was given medicine and told she could fly home from a three-week holiday at Noosa.  But 20 minutes into the flight, she began to feel "extremely uncomfortable" and was moved into business class where she could lie flat. "I went into respiratory arrest and then cardiac arrest," Mrs Melrose, of Bucklands Beach, told the Herald.

A call was made on the aircraft for a doctor and Dr Taylor and two nurses rushed to her aid.  "When I got there, Mary was gasping for air," the Manukau GP said. "I started asking her husband about her health ... and then she just collapsed on me."

Douglas Wilson's Letter From Moscow

An American Drubbing

Posted on Monday, September 16, 2013  

By Douglas Wilson 

Blog and Mablog

I have been addressing, from time to time, the tomfool notion of American exceptionalism.

The central point I have made thus far is that the genuine exceptionalism displayed by the Founders consisted of the fact that they knew that Americans were not exceptional, which was exceptional. They built a form of government that sought to take the venality of all our current and future statesman into account, which was a marvel of prescience.

Having said as much, repeatedly, I want to come at this beast from another angle. Before doing so, allow me to state some of my bona fides. I love apple pie, I own a Winchester 30-30, and I have warm spot in my heart for red-checked tablecloths. I am a loyal son of the Republic, and wish to demonstrate my good will in this matter by giving American exceptionalism a good, old-fashioned American drubbing.

Calvin's Daily Devotional

Daily Devotional

October 04

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:
Incline thine ear, 0 Lord, and hear; open thine eyes, O Lord, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God. —Isaiah 37:17

Devotional:
"Incline thine ear, 0 Jehovah." From these words we conclude how great was the perplexity of Hezekiah; for the earnestness that pervades the prayer breathes an amazing power of anguish, so that it is easily seen that he had a struggle attended by uncommon difficulty to escape from the temptation.

Though his warmth in prayer shows the strength and eminence of his faith, yet at the same time it exhibits, as in a mirror, the stormy passions.

Testing Ideologies

Ain't No Fig Tree

The terms "ideology" and "ideological" are  used as an insult these days, more often than not.  To accuse your opponent of being ideological implies that they are out of touch with reality, closed minded, impractical, dangerous, even absolutist.  The term, "idealist" less so.  In common parlance, an idealist is someone close to sainthood--a person who puts their ideals and beliefs ahead of themselves and who is willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of a higher, nobler cause.  Usually, however, their devotion it is said that their devotion has put them out of touch with reality.  Which is to say they are slightly mad. 

Whether being ideological or an idealist is good or bad depends upon the ideology in question.  Stalin and Hitler and Mao were ideological.  They could even be said to be idealists, in the sense that they were controlled by a set of ideas bigger than themselves, to which they were committed and devoted servants.  So was Mother Theresa.  But in the case of the former, the ideology was evil; consequently the idealists devoted to it were given over to evil.  Not so with the celebrated Christian in Calcutta. 

Whether we like it or not, or are aware of it or not, every human being is controlled by ideologies of one shape or form.