Daily Meditation

Comprehending God’s Goodness

Ligonier Ministries

As a child, the first prayer I ever learned was a simple table grace. It went like this: “God is great, God is good. And we thank Him for this food.” At the time, I did not realize that a single biblical word captured the twin ideas of God’s greatness and His goodness. The single word is holy.

The earliest traceable form of the Semitic root of the word holy, reaching to a Canaanite source, carried the meaning “to divide.” Anything that was holy was divided or separated from all other things. This meaning pointed to the difference between the ordinary and the extraordinary, the common and uncommon, the average and the great.

In religious terms, the word holy divides God from all other things to put Him in a category that is sui generis (in a class by Himself). The Holy One is the One who possesses the supreme perfection of being. He transcends or is divided from all things creaturely. He is the most majestic, most exalted, most awe-provoking being. Since He is both marvelous and wonderful in His very essence, the creature—when contemplating the Holy God—responds in marvel and wonder because of His greatness. 

Coram Deo

Take time in prayer today to thank God specifically for His goodness to you.

Passages for Further Study

Psalm 31:19
Psalm 86:10
Psalm 92:5

Histrionics On A Grand Scale

So, They Want to Impeach the Dog

Douglas Wilson
Blog&Mablog

Introduction

[Let's hope the Democrats vote to impeach President Donald Trump.  In the words of Captain Jack Ross, they "will have no evidence at all, but it's going to be entertaining". Ed.]

So I posted a meme the other day, promising to follow it up with an article explaining myself, and so here I am, in fulfillment of my word. In what I write about this, please try to cast me, in your mind’s eye, as a disinterested commentator on public affairs, as an objective analyst, and not as an engaged or bitter partisan. That said, however, I am the kind of objective analyst who might, from time to time, lace his fingers across his tummy, and shake with quiet, bemused laughter.

I am going to do my level best to stay out of the weeds, and just concentrate on the politics of the thing. And it is important to remember that this thing is all politics, all the way through and all the way down.

A Brief Civics Lesson

When a president is impeached, this means that he has been indicted. It does not mean that he has been tried, and it does not mean that he has been found guilty. It means that he has been indicted, and that there is going to be a trial. In the history of the United States, there have been two presidents who have been impeached. They were Andrew Johnson in the aftermath of the Civil War, in 1868, and Bill Clinton, in 1999. Both presidents survived their trials, and remained in office. Richard Nixon, under threat of impeachment, resigned his office in 1974. He probably would not have survived a trial in the Senate.

When a sitting president is indicted in this way, it is the House of Representatives that must vote to take this action.

China's Devastating Past and Black Future

Communist China Turns 70

Its Dark Past Haunts Its Future

As communist China turns 70, an inevitable question is how long it will last. All we know for sure is that 'those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.'

Helen Raleigh
The Federalist


On Oct. 1, communist China celebrates the 70-year anniversary of its founding. The world will witness a highly choreographed and tightly controlled celebration full of fanfare in Tiananmen Square, the same location where authorities brutally cracked down on pro-democracy protesters in 1989. The blood stains have long been carefully washed way. Many among the celebratory crowd have either already forgotten or have never known what happened there. Even if they know, I wonder how many care.

Chinese authorities have successfully brainwashed the majority of the population to accept that the 1989 crackdown was necessary and guaranteed China’s peace and prosperity for the last 30 years. So today, when cheering for a grand military parade, which will reportedly involve “15,000 soldiers and sailors, 160 fighter jets, bombers and other aircraft, and 580 tanks and other weapons,” few will ever wonder if that military power they cheer for may turn against them one day if they dare to question the authorities.

A quick survey of the 70-year history of communist China shows an authoritarian regime that demands absolute loyalty and never hesitates to use force against its own people.

The Deadly History of Communist China

The first 30 years of the People’s Republic, from 1949-1979, were written in the tears and blood of millions of Chinese people. From land reform to the Great Leap Forward, Mao’s socialist experiment destroyed property rights, brought the country’s economy to ruin, and failed to achieve the economic equality he promised. The only thing Chinese people equally shared was misery.

Daily Meditation

Respecting God’s Judgment

Ligonier Ministries

One of the most poignant episodes of the judgment of God occurred in the Old Testament case of Eli. Eli was a judge and priest over Israel. He was, for the most part, a godly man. But his sons were wicked and profaned the house of God. Eli rebuked them but did not fully restrain them. God revealed to Samuel that He would judge the house of Eli:

“Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them.” (1 Sam. 3:11–13)

When Eli persisted in asking Samuel what God had said, Samuel finally told him. When Eli heard the words, he said: “It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to Him” (v. 18).

What seemed good to God was to punish the house of Eli. Eli recognized the Word of God when he heard it because he understood the character of Him whose word it was. A God before whom we need to have no fear is not God but an idol made by our own hands.

Coram Deo

Eli said: “It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to Him.” Can you make this affirmation from the depths of your heart in difficult times as well as good times?

Passages for Further Study

1 Samuel 3:10
1 Samuel 3:18
Psalm 115:4

A "Hateful Conduct" Policy At Work

What a Mess at Massey

We have been chuckling over the twirling dervishes being performed at Massey University at the moment.  A group defending the free speech rights of lesbians will soon be speaking on the Massey Campus, Wellington shortly--or so we are led to believe.  

Meghan Murphy, a Canadian feminist blogger who believes transgender rights endanger women, has been invited to speak at the campus' theatrette in November.  A radical feminist banned from Twitter for violating its hateful conduct policy will panel a ticketed event hosted by Massey University in Wellington.  [Stuff]

But this "event" has been vigorously opposed by a bunch of gender dysphoric folk.

Tallulah Farrar, College of Creative Arts Representative, said "concerning information" about the event had pushed her to lay a complaint. She "worried about the wellbeing and safety of students" if the event went ahead.

"This event is marketed as controversial, and will bring more radical, exclusionary, hateful voices onto our campus who we should not be welcoming. Being complicit in these kinds of conversations is akin to breeding hate towards members of our Massey community who are already marginalised."

Of course we support free-speech rights and thus believe that lesbian Meghan Murphy has every right along with her mates to speak about the conflicts between lesbians and the gender dysphoric.  We would argue that Massey's  commitment to free speech, however, would be more convincing if and when that institution opens its doors to groups and speakers promoting the free speech rights of males. 

Massey University you recall recently closed down a public meeting at which Dr Don Brash was invited to speak.

The Herd, The Borg and Crowd Madness

The New Religion of The West

Akos Balogh
The Gospel Coalition Australia

‘There are 2 gunman at the university – tell your friends on campus’.  The text arrives from a friend, who knows I’m often on campus. But I can’t believe it: surely this is spam?  So I ring my friend to confirm. Yes, the text is legit: A collegue of his has a contact at the university.There really are gunmen at Southern Cross University in Lismore.

I well up with anxiety. My head starts racing. Is this really happening? A gunman, on the campus where I’ve spent the last decade of my life? This only happens overseas (or at least, in major cities) – but never in laid-back Lismore. It feels surreal.

Thankfully, I decided to work from home. But I text some student friends who study at the uni. They’re also off campus, and are OK.  I look online, and see that Southern Cross university really is in lock-down. Police have cordoned it off. And they’re bringing in the heavy firepower from the Tactical Response Group (SWAT) to help out. This is serious. And I could have been caught up in it all.

My kid’s primary school tells me I have to go pickup my son – he can’t ride home (his school is close to the uni). I meet him at school, with other anxious parents. I hug my son, thanking God it wasn’t his primary school that was targeted.

He tells me there are bad guys at the university. Yes, I say: but the police are taking care of the situation. And we’ll be safe. (Interestingly, my son isn’t scared. If anything, he’s a little excited by it all. I’ve probably got former Navy SEAL turned children’s author Jocko Willinck to thank for that).

But we’re all in the dark. Nobody knows what’s going on. The most we know is that there are gunmen walking around on campus.

It’s scary stuff.

Thankfully, by the end of the day it turns out there were no gunmen walking around. The whole situation was sparked by a threatening phone call to a local police station. (It must have been very threatening to launch such a massive police operation).

But there was no active shooter walking around at the university. It was all a rumour.

Daily Meditation

Accepting Correction from the Father

Some people have a hard time even thinking of God as “Father” because of the horrible abuse they suffered from their earthly fathers’ hands. But God is a Father who never abuses His children, although He does punish them. He chastens those whom He loves. It is wise for the child of God to fear the corrective wrath of the Father.

I loved my earthly father deeply. In fact, I idolized him. I was secure in his love, as he was constant in showing affection for me. I feared him in the sense that I didn’t want to disappoint him or let him down. I had the “fear” of respect for him. But I also feared his wrath and discipline. Even though, in general, I didn’t want to disappoint him or grieve him, nevertheless I often disobeyed him. That meant facing his discipline.

When my father disciplined me he always announced it to me by saying, “Son, we have to have a session.” That meant I had to follow him into his office, close the door behind me, and sit in a chair in front of him. He wouldn’t raise his voice. He would calmly tell me what I did wrong and why it was wrong. He instructed me in such a way that I was devastated. He always ended the session with a warm embrace. But talk about the conviction of sin … whew!

Coram Deo

Are you able to accept correction from your heavenly Father? Do you respond to it properly? Pray about this.

Passages for Further Study

Hebrews 12:6–7
Hebrews 12:10

US Government Holds The Line Against Global Abortion

U.S. Coalition Tells UN: “There is no International Right to Abortion”

By Stefano Gennarini, J.D. | September 26, 2019

NEW YORK, September 27 (C-Fam) The United States led a coalition of twenty-one countries to promote pro-life and pro-family international policies and oppose abortion at the United Nations on Monday.

The countries criticized the use of “ambiguous terms, such as sexual and reproductive health and rights, in U.N. documents, because they can undermine the critical role of the family and promote practices, like abortion, in circumstances that do not enjoy international consensus and which can be misinterpreted by U.N. agencies.”

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar III, delivered the statement of the coalition during a specially held press conference ahead of a high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on universal health coverage.

Their statement emphasized, “There is no international right to an abortion and these terms should not be used to promote pro-abortion policies and measures.”

The countries who joined the U.S. also criticized ongoing international efforts to promote explicit and inappropriate sex education materials, such as the World Health Organization’s guidelines for Europe, which promote telling children under the age of four about “early childhood masturbation.”

“We only support sex education that appreciates the protective role of the family in this education and does not condone harmful sexual risks for young people,” the countries underlined.

They concluded asking the international community to concentrate “on topics that unite rather than divide on the critical issues surrounding access to health care.”

Areas of consensus that were highlighted in the statement included “equal access to health care, which includes, but is not limited to reproductive concerns, maternal health, voluntary and informed family planning, HIV, elimination of violence against women and girls, and empowerment to reach the highest standard of health.”

The Trump administration went on offense to promote the pro-life cause this summer, asking countries to join U.S. pro-life efforts at the UN ahead of the meeting, as the Friday Fax reported.

The Trump administration was unable to remove references to ambiguous terms from the final declaration on universal health coverage adopted on Monday. The statement of the 19 countries insisted that the declaration must be read in light of past UN agreements that exclude an international right to abortion.

During the official adoption of the agreement on universal health-care, later in the day, Azar lamented how some delegations were unwilling to more explicitly reaffirm those past UN agreements in the declaration. The Friday Fax reported that it was the European Union who blocked those references in August.

Surprisingly, both Poland and Hungary, who are members of the European Union, joined the U.S. press statement. It remains to be seen if in coming months they will prevent the European Union from blocking U.S. pro-life efforts in UN negotiations.

In addition to the U.S., Hungary and Poland, Bahrain, Belarus, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Guatemala, Haiti, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, also joined the statement.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin leading the Holy See delegation at the universal health coverage summit underscored similar pro-life concerns with the wording of the declaration in his official statement. He said the right to health belonged to “all persons during all stages of development of their life, from conception until natural death.”

In contrast, 54 countries, mostly from Europe and Latin America delivered a joint statement which said investing in “sexual and reproductive health and rights” is integral to universal health coverage and a “cost-effective and cost-saving” measure to “decrease the burden on health systems.”

Body Parts By Demand

China is Murdering Religious Minorities

Harvesting Their Organs “To Order”

Adam Ford
DISRN
September 26, 2019

China was accused before the UN Human Rights Council Tuesday of murdering “a very substantial number” of people from persecuted religious groups in the country in order to harvest their organs for medical purposes.

The China Tribunal, a group that’s investigating China over organ harvesting, claims that the Chinese government is taking hearts, kidneys, lungs, and skin from members of persecuted groups including Uighur Muslims and the Falun Gong religious group.

China denies the charge of mass organ harvesting. The China Tribunal says it has proof that “forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience has been practiced for a substantial period of time involving a very substantial number of victims.”

The watchdog contends that “thousands of innocents have been killed to order having the physical integrity of their beings – their bodies – cut open while still alive for their kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs, cornea and skin to be removed and turned into commodities for sale.”

A lawyer for the group told the UN Human Rights Council that the harvesting has involved “hundreds of thousands of victims,” and continues to this day.

Daily Meditation

Fostering Fear of God

Ligonier Ministries

I recently heard a young Christian remark, “I have no fear of dying.” When I heard this comment I thought to myself, “I wish I could say that.” I am not afraid of death. I believe that death for the Christian is a glorious transition to heaven. I am not afraid of going to heaven. It’s the process that frightens me. I don’t know by what means I will die. It may be via a process of suffering, and that frightens me. I know that even this shouldn’t frighten me. There are lots of things that frighten me that I shouldn’t let frighten me. The Scripture declares that perfect love casts out fear. But love is still imperfect, and fear hangs around.

There is one fear, however, that many of us do not have that we should have. It is the fear of God. Not only are we allowed to fear God, we are commanded to fear Him. A mark of reprobation is to have no fear of God before our eyes.

Martin Luther made an important distinction concerning the fear of God. He distinguished between servile fear and filial fear. He described servile fear as that kind of fear a prisoner has for his torturer. Filial fear is the fear of a son who loves his father and does not want to offend him or let him down. It is a fear born of respect. When the Bible calls us to fear God, it is issuing a call to a fear born of reverence, awe, and adoration. It is a respect of the highest magnitude.

Coram Deo

Ask God to give you filial fear for Him, an attitude of reverence, awe, and adoration.

Passages for Further Study

Proverbs 1:7
Proverbs 10:27
Proverbs 16:6

The Global Church

The Gospel and the Global Church 

. . . And World Reformed Fellowship

John McClean 

The lists of greetings at the end of Paul’s letters, ever learnt one? When was the last time you heard a sermon about one? (If you haven’t heard the famous Fred Craddock sermon on Romans 16, listen to it. It’s preaching from another era, but so worth hearing ).

The lists show something wonderfully important about the gospel—that it not only unites us with the Lord and our local church, it also connects us to a global church. Paul knows people in cities across the Eastern Mediterranean. He exchanges greetings with them; obviously knows, loves and works with them.

These lists are concrete expressions of the creedal statement—“I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic church”. Local congregations are obviously important. Yet, the Creed confesses not “churches” but “one church”—holy in Christ, worldwide in extent and based on the word and witness of the apostles. When we are in Christ, we are part of his worldwide church.

In the millennia since Paul, being ‘catholic’ has become complicated by a history of growth … and theological, cultural, political, linguistic and geographic division. Some is the result of the gospel going to all the nations; some the sad outcome of church decline and revival; some is entwined in scandalous rivalry and factionalism.

Deadly Lupron

Drugs Used as Puberty Blockers for Gender Dysphoric Kids

Linked to Thousands of Deaths in Adults


by Jordyn Pair
September 26, 2019
DISRN

Drugs commonly used to as a treatment for gender dysphoria in gender-confused youth has been linked to thousands of death in adults, according to government data.  The Food and Drug Administration says there have been thousands of death linked to Lupron, a puberty-blocking drug normally used to treat prostate cancer and endometriosis. Complications can include breast disorders, malignant neoplasmsa, and psychiatric and nervous disorders.

The FDA documented more than 40,500 adverse reactions to the drugs Lupron and triptorelin (which includes Lupron and similar drugs used by clinics) between 2012 and June 30 of this year. Over 25,500 reactions were labeled as “serious,” which included 6,370 deaths.

The drug can induce hypogonadotropic hypogonadism when injected into a normally-functioning body.  “It’s a serious condition that endocrinologists would normally diagnose and treat because it interferes with development, but in [gender dysphoria] cases they’re inducing this disease state,” Michael Laidlaw, a Rocklin, California-based endocrinologist said in an interview with the National Catholic Register.

Daily Meditation

Regarding the Present in Light of the Future

Ligonier Ministries

An analysis of socioeconomic classes in America focused on the observable differences evident in value systems, behavioral patterns, and customs that exist between the classes. One of the most interesting dimensions of the findings was with respect to the question of how people regard the present in light of the future.

People in the upper levels of the class register tend to be much more future-oriented than those in the lower range. The trend in the lower classes is in the direction of immediacy. Consumption of goods, spending money, and other decisions are made with a view to short-range gratification. Planning for the future, sacrificing present impulses for future reserve, capital investment for long-range benefits, and the setting of goals are endeavors not often found in this segment of society.

The societal phenomenon illustrates an important lesson for the Christian: one’s future orientation often has a significant impact on one’s present patterns of behavior and an enormous impact on our growth as Christians.

Everybody has some kind of eschatological viewpoint or expectation. The viewpoint may not be consciously developed or carefully worked out, but some assumption about the future is made by everyone. It is unavoidable. As creatures of time and space, we are tethered not only to the past, but also to the future. Hence we say, “Right now counts forever.”

Coram Deo

What decisions are you making today that will affect your future? Remember, right now counts forever.

Passages for Further Study

Matthew 24:14
Matthew 24:30–31

A Secret Revolution

US Intelligence Corruption Exposed

It now appears that the US Intelligence services are riddled with partisan corruption.  In a nutshell, here is what has gone down. 

US Intelligence personnel decided that it was time to get rid of Donald Trump--thereby defiling their constitutional and lawful obligations. 

They secretly changed a fundamental requirement of "whistleblower" evidence.  Previously, if a whistleblower were making a complaint about his/her employer (that is, the US Government and/or the political establishment, or the President of the US) they had to have first hand knowledge of the breach or illicit practice being alleged.  But way back in August, this requirement was secretly removed.  It then became acceptable for any government apparatchik to complain to Congress about any alleged breach of law or regulation--without any personal knowledge of the alleged breaches whatsoever.

This "move" has all the signs of corruption and attendant cover-up. 

Intel Community Secretly Gutted Requirement Of First-Hand Whistleblower Knowledge

Federal records show that the intelligence community secretly revised the formal whistleblower complaint form in August 2019 to eliminate the requirement of direct, first-hand knowledge of wrongdoing.

Sean Davis
The Federalist

Between May 2018 and August 2019, the intelligence community secretly eliminated a requirement that whistleblowers provide direct, first-hand knowledge of alleged wrongdoings.

"A Very Dark Day"

Abortion Legalized in New South Wales

Archbishop Laments ‘Dark Day’ 

Thomas D. Williams
Breitbart News

“Today is a very dark day for New South Wales,” said Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher on Thursday in reference to the passage of a new law legalizing abortion in the Australian state, whose capital is Sydney.

Calling the new law “a defeat for humanity,” Archbishop Fisher said in a statement that Abortion Law Reform Act 2019 “may be the worst law passed in New South Wales in modern times, because it represents such a dramatic abdication of responsibility to protect the most vulnerable members of our community.”

Fisher said the abortion law is the first case of legalized killing in the state since “the abolition of capital punishment in New South Wales in 1955.”

The new law, passed Wednesday by a vote of 26-14 in the state’s upper house, permits abortion for any reason up to 22 weeks of pregnancy and after 22 weeks, if two obstetricians agree.  Prior to Wednesday’s vote, abortion had been legal in NSW only if a doctor deemed that a woman’s physical or mental health was in danger.

Archbishop Fisher noted that the Act had undergone several amendments prior to its passage, but they “do not make women or their unborn babies any safer, nor protect the conscience rights of medical professionals, nor provide distressed pregnant women with any support or alternatives to abortion.”

Fisher also thanked lawmakers who fought against the law as well as the “tens of thousands of people who attended rallies, maintained a vigil outside Parliament House even in heavy rain, contacted their local members, made submissions to the committee inquiry, or prayed that this law might not pass.”

“Even though abortion on demand right up to birth has now been formally legalised in this state, our commitment to life continues,” the archbishop said.

Church agencies and pro-life organizations will still offer care for pregnant women, new mothers, and their babies, he said, and churches along with women and men of goodwill “will continue to work together to turn our culture around, so that every vulnerable woman and baby is supported and abortion becomes unthinkable.”

“We can still put an end to the scourge of abortion in this state by making it unnecessary, no matter what the law says,” Fisher declared.