NZ Politics

Such Incompetence and Weakness Rarely Seen

At the present moment the outlook for the NZ (Coalition) Government is none too bright.  Of course things can change.  But the overwhelming sense right now is that the Government is riddled with incompetence at the highest levels.  Usually what this reflects is divisions and the politics of the cabals.  

But don't take our word for it.  Here is one of the Left's cheerleaders,Michelle Duff delivering a thoroughly non-sanguine assessment.

In many ways, this Government has been both ineffective and hypocritical. The Kiwibuild scheme and demotion of Housing Minister Phil Twyford is one example of a clear and damaging policy failure.

The #MeToo scandal within the Labour Party has revealed what many of who work in the area of sexual violence already knew, but is no less crushing – misconduct is rife, and the minimising of it, protection of alleged perpetrators, and diminishing of women continues unabated, no matter the organisation and its stated ethos.

We can't, and may never, know whether Ardern knew of the true nature of the allegations. I would personally like to give her the benefit of the doubt and say I don't think she did, but the uncertainty is there. . . . 

What is pretty clear now is that Ardern is just a talking head.  She gives little to no evidence of command nor control.  She mouths pretty sentiments.  It appears she wants to be seen as the Mother of the nation.  Unfortunately, for everyone who is of voting age, the vast, vast majority of the electorate left their mothers a long, long time ago.

Daily Meditation

Exploring the Boundaries of God’s Law

Ligonier Ministries

The Westminster Catechism defines sin as “any want of conformity to or transgression of the law of God.” We notice here that sin is defined both in negative and positive terms. The negative aspect is indicated by the words “want of conformity.” It points to a lack or failure in moral performance. In popular terms it is called a sin of omission. A sin of omission occurs when we fail to do what God commands us to do.

The positive aspect of the catechetical definition of sin refers to overt, actual stepping over the boundaries of God’s law. It is a sin of commission.

Sometimes God expresses His laws in negative terms (do not …) and sometimes in positive terms (do …). The Ten Commandments contain both forms (do not steal; honor your father and mother).

Both sins of omission and sins of commission are real sins. They incur real guilt. When we do what God forbids, we are guilty of a sin of commission; when we fail to do what God commands, we are guilty of a sin of omission. In both cases the law of God is violated.

Coram Deo

Prayerfully examine your life for sins of omission or commission.

Passages for Further Study

James 4:17
Psalm 51:1–3

We Hope James Delingpole is Right

On the Brink of Brexit Victory

James Delingpole
Breitbart London

Finally, Britain stands on the brink of Brexit victory.

No, I don’t mean Boris Johnson’s new deal, which may or may not prevail.  I mean that the British people’s fury with the shenanigans of the liberal elite has reached such a pitch that nothing — neither the police nor our rule-makers nor our bent, parti-pris judiciary — is capable of stopping us prevailing in the end.

For evidence, look no further than the glorious scenes at Canning Town Station in East London this week, when a sickly-looking pair of Extinction Rebellion milquetoasts were yanked from on top of a Tube train carriage by angry commuters and told exactly where they could shove their green revolution.

We don’t yet know the names of the heroes who acted in this way when the authorities stood impotently on the sidelines. (Let’s hope that the police don’t because they’ll probably arrest them).

We do, however, know the identity of at least one of the tofu-munching gimps who thought it would be a good idea to stop thousands of commuters getting to work that morning by preventing their transport from leaving the station.

His name is Mark Ovland and he’s a Buddhist teacher.  No, wait, scrub that. He’s even more useless than that. Mark Ovland is an ex-Buddhist teacher.  Ovland used to have a non-job.

Now he has given up even his non-job to become a full time climate protestor, which isn’t so much of a non-job as an anti-job: it doesn’t merely fail to add much to the economy, like his Buddhist teaching non-job did; it actively steals from the economy by preventing people from earning a living and creating value and trying to give their kids a better future.

But what does any of this have to do with Brexit?  It has EVERYTHING to do with Brexit.

Precious Petals And Devils Incarnate

"Z" For Female Zombie Sounds About Right

The NZ Herald now unofficially opposes free speech.  It does not do so officially, of course, but to all intents and purposes it now must be slammed as an opponent of free speech--and, therefore, of basic freedoms like liberty of conscience.  

Columnist Rachel Stewart has resigned from the NZ Herald because they refused to run a column by Stewart.  The subject?  Massey University's decision to shut down a fringe feminist group from using Massey University's campus as a venue for a planned event. 

Here are the opening lines of Stewart's article which was rejected by the prejudiced NZ Herald:

It seems far-fetched that the mere hiring of a Massey University venue by a feminist organisation could cause so much indignation and rage, but these are not typical times.

A bunch of females getting together within a public space to discuss the issues currently affecting them is far from new, and very far from radical.

Yet, the idea that ‘Feminism 2020’ would dare to congregate at a venue on Massey’s Wellington campus saw a number of students stage a sit-in, which culminated in the handing over of a petition calling on the university to cancel the event.

What is so threatening about women coming together and talking? According to the protestors and petitioners, the organisers of the event – Speak Up for Women – are essentially devil incarnates.

Feminism is now being repeatedly re-defined as the "movement" splinters.

Being Faithful To Our Children and Their God

The "Why" Behind Christian Education

Trevin Wax 

The Gospel Coalition

A few years ago, I reviewed a book with contributors who make the case for their preferred choice for Christians and education. The major options—public school, Christian school, or homeschool—have strengths and weaknesses. Every school is different, and every child is different.

As I said in that book review, different conclusions on this matter shouldn’t lead to division in the church. Likewise, we shouldn’t overlook how economic realities often make one or two of these options difficult or impossible for many families.

Still, over the years, I’ve been asked why our family has chosen to go the route of the Christian school (with a brief exception of a year of homeschooling for one of our kids). Even though my wife and I have experienced both Christian and secular schools and have seen weaknesses in both—she grew up in a public school in Romania, and I went to a Christian school in the United States— it’s the overall approach to education that has led us to Christian education.

In a recent issue of Touchstone, Donald Williams lays out four theses on Christian education, which I will list and summarize below. Williams believes Christian education “has a critical role to play alongside the church and the home in transmitting the biblical worldview to the next generation.” Here’s why.

1. Secular education is an oxymoron.

Williams believes that the goal of a secular school—to provide an education that is religiously neutral—is impossible.

Daily Meditation

The Master Servant

. . . so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:7)

John Piper

To me, the Bible’s most astonishing image of Christ’s second coming is in Luke 12:35–37, which pictures the return of a master from a marriage feast:

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.”

To be sure, we are called servants — and that no doubt means we are to do exactly as we are told. But the wonder of this picture is that the “master” insists on “serving” even in the age to come when he appears in all his glory “with his mighty angels in flaming fire” (2 Thessalonians 1:7–8). Why?

Because the very heart of his glory is the fullness of grace that overflows in kindness to needy people. Therefore, he aims “in the coming ages [to] show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7).

What is the greatness of our God? What is his uniqueness in the world? Isaiah answers: “From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides thee, who works for those who wait for him” (Isaiah 64:4, RSV.  Emphasis, ours).

Sage Advice

Answer These 14 Questions before You Preach

Peter Adam offers practical advice on preaching preparation

Peter Adam
Gospel Coalition Australia 


When it comes to preaching, pastors typically struggle with the preparation more than the delivery. The earlier you start preparing, the better. In a recent workshop at The Gospel Coalition National Conference, Peter Adam shared 14 questions (below) to guide preachers to make the most of their sermon preparation.

Why I Believe in God--Part III

His Footprints in Creation

Donald McLeod

It is not on the physical universe only that the Creator left his footprints.  He has also left them on the story of the human race.  He is not, as Deism argued, merely a great mechanic who put the Machine together and then left it to run itself.  Nor is he an absentee landlord who left the human tenants of his estate to run it (and make a mess of it) without supervision, intervention or accountability.  The very nature of God as Life, Love and Logos rules out such an idea of his relationship with the world.  The very reason he made us was that he might love us, walk with us and keep in touch with us.  This is what we mean by divine providence.  Not only has God made us.  He keeps an eye on us, preserves us and governs us; and this providence applies on both the mega- scale and the micro.  It takes in the storms on the face of the sun, the fall of the sparrow and the beauty of the lily.  But above all it takes in God’s personal, active and intimate involvement in the history of the human race.  In the Garden of Eden, God was already on speaking terms with Adam and Eve, and they would have regarded the question whether he existed as an absurd one.  He talked with them and he walked with them.

 The Fall violently disrupted this relationship, but it didn’t end it.  On the contrary, God’s immediate response to their sin was to speak to them.  Of course, the tone had now changed.  It was admonitory, and even ominous.  They had brought a curse on the ground, and yet would remain for ever dependent on it; and to it one day they would return, ‘for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’ (Gen. 3:19).  But he was still talking to them, and in them to us, and his words were not all gloom and doom.  Yes, so long as history lasted there would be enmity between the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent, the infernal master-mind behind their sin, but in that struggle her seed would triumph, the human race would be finally redeemed, and for that redemption God himself would take full responsibility.

Daily Meditation

Reaping the Benefits of the Law

Ligonier Ministries

Let’s continue the experiment we began in the previous meditation. Study the excerpts from the apostle Paul that accompany this reading. Does this sound like a man who believed the law of God has no place in the Christian life? Read Paul’s writings carefully and you will find a man whose heart longed for the law of God as much as David’s. 

The law drives us to the gospel. The gospel saves us from the curse of the law, but in turn directs us back to the law to search its spirit. The law of God is still a lamp to our feet. Without it we stumble and trip and grope in darkness.  

For the Christian, the greatest benefit of the law of God is its revelatory character. The law reveals to us the Lawgiver. It teaches us what is pleasing in His sight. We need to seek the law of God—to pant after it—and to delight in it. Anything less is an offense against the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

Coram Deo

Pray this prayer: “Thank You for Your law, which is a lamp to my feet. Give me a heart that longs for and delights in Your law.”

Passages for Further Study

Romans 7:8
Romans 7:12
Romans 7:22

Charlatans and Shysters

The Year of  Delivery

OK, so in case this comes as a surprise, in New Zealand we have these folk called politicians.  The present political cabal which controls (via a majority) the NZ Parliament and NZ Government  are halfway through the current terms of political office. 

When they entered government and took control of the Parliament's "Treasury benches" they spent months and months making promises to the people about what they were going to accomplish.  Every day a new promise.  A fresh headline. 

Here is the score board thus far.




The promises made and the commitments sworn were substantially what persuaded a majority of the electorate to vote for the Labour Party.  But sadly it has turned out to be largely "funny money".  Falsehoods.  Deceptions. 

Meanwhile the charlatans tell each other what wonderful people they all are.  They are storied legends in their own small minds. 

The Velvet Coup d'Etat Taking Place in the UK

Don’t Blame Boris for the Remainer Establishment Coup

James Delingpole
Breitbart London


Apparently there’s been a breakthrough in the Brexit talks…two senior EU sources say the main stumbling block to a deal has been removed with the DUP accepting the latest proposals on consent... Optimism a deal can now be done...

I’d say that till any deal is done and dusted there’s almost no point in discussing the latest Brexit shenanigans, let alone in attempting to make any predictions of what will happen next.

Why?

Because the Remainer Establishment — that liberal elite which is determined to kill Brexit at whatever cost — is making up the rules as it goes along.

Daily Meditation

Longing for God’s Law

Ligonier Ministries

A survey by George Gallup Jr. revealed a startling trend in our culture. According to Gallup, the evidence seems to indicate that there are no clear behavioral patterns that distinguish Christians from non-Christians in our society. We all seem to be marching to the same drummer, looking to the shifting standards of contemporary culture for the basis of what is acceptable conduct. What everybody else is doing seems to be our only ethical norm.

This pattern can emerge only in a society or a church wherein the law of God is eclipsed. The very word law seems to have an unpleasant ring to it in our evangelical circles.

Let’s try an experiment. Read the passages from Psalm 119 that accompany this devotion. Try to crawl into the skin of the writer and experience empathy. Try to feel what he felt when he wrote these lines thousands of years ago.

Does this sound like a modern Christian? Do we hear people talk about longing passionately for the law of God? Do we hear our friends expressing joy and delight in God’s commandments? 

Coram Deo

Do you long passionately for God’s law? Do you express joy and delight in His commandments?

Passages for Further Study

Psalm 119:97
Psalm 119:11–12
Psalm 119:131

The Worst University in New Zealand

Dumber Than A Sackful of Hammers

"Massey University" is now an official oxymoron.  It must be the worst university in New Zealand.  Degrees earned can't be worth the paper the certificates are written upon. 

Our polite suggestion to all students enrolled at Massey and its satellite campuses would be to take a good long look at their alma mater and consider transferring to another NZ university more worthy of the name.  And what has brought this on, we hear you ask?  Once again Massey University has clamped down on free speech in its less-than-hallowed halls. 

Here is what went down:

17 Oct 2019, 15:06 (17 hours ago)
to John Tertullian

Free Speech Coalition


Dear John,

Last night, Massey University cancelled the “Feminism 2020” event, at which I was due to speak.

The event was organised by Speak Up for Women (an organisation that has featured on our podcast) and was to host a wide array of speakers on various topics related to women's issues. However, some social justice activists believe Speak Up for Women is ‘exclusionary’ of transgender women. Supposedly, Speak Up for Women's speech constitutes violence towards vulnerable identity groups.

Massey University initially resisted pressure from student activist groups to shut down the event. But Massey has now buckled, once again under the guise of “health and safety” obligations it has to its transgender students and the 'wider community'. Read Massey’s public statement here.

A Legend In His Own Estimation

Promoted To Levels Beyond One's Competence

Columnist Kate MacNamara  has written a piece severely criticising the present Governor of the Reserve Bank, Adrian Orr.  He has, apparently, been acting like a loose cannon which is exhibiting the same kind of self-regard more usually on display by pompous politicians rather than prudent, wise central bank governors. 

Governor Orr is running a campaign to ensure that big Australian banks commit more prudential capital to their businesses in New Zealand.  In other words, Orr wants to see more reserves in the tank, should there be a crisis in the banking sector in New Zealand.  Now this is not an unworthy or inappropriate issue.  It is very definitely a legitimate and appropriate concern for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and its governor, Adrian Orr. 

What is not legitimate nor appropriate is Orr's behaviour or the reported nasty manner in which he has been conducting business.  MacNamara writes:

Daily Meditation

We Can Do Nothing

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

John Piper

Suppose you are totally paralyzed and can do nothing for yourself but talk. And suppose a strong and reliable friend promised to live with you and do whatever you needed done. How could you glorify your friend if a stranger came to see you?

Would you glorify his generosity and strength by trying to get out of bed and carry him? No! You would say, “Friend, please come lift me up, and would you put a pillow behind me so I can look at my guest? And would you please put my glasses on for me?”

And so your visitor would learn from your requests that you are helpless and that your friend is strong and kind. You glorify your friend by needing him and asking him for help and counting on him.

In John 15:5, Jesus says, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” So we really are paralyzed. Without Christ, we are capable of no good. As Paul says in Romans 7:18, “Nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.”

But according to John 15:5, God intends for us to do something good — namely, bear fruit. So as our strong and reliable friend — “I have called you friends” (John 15:15) — he promises to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves.

How then do we glorify him? Jesus gives the answer in John 15:7: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” We pray! We ask God to do for us through Christ what we can’t do for ourselves — bear fruit.

Verse 8 gives the result: “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit.”

So how is God glorified by prayer? Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that he will provide the help we need.

The Prosperity Gospel

An Evil of this Present Age

The "Prosperity Gospel" is rife in the United States.  The basic idea is that if you "believe" God will grant you all sorts of material wealth.  Gallons of the stuff.  Preachers of this perverse nonsense abound. 

Joe Carter, writing in the Gospel Coalition profiles one of these false gospel sirens.

9 Things You Should Know About Prosperity Gospel Preacher Paula White

Joe Carter
Gospel Coalition


On Tuesday, several evangelical leaders drew criticism for promoting the newest book of Paula White, a prosperity gospel preacher who has repeatedly been accused of teaching heretical doctrines. Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said “you might want to check it out.” Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas, said to “give it to anyone looking for hope!” Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, declared, “It is powerful. I highly recommend it!” And Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, added, “Paula’s life is an encouragement to so many and I’m sure this book will encourage you.” (It’s unclear whether these men have actually read the book or if they support White’s teachings.)

Here are nine things you should know about Paula White, her influence, and her ministries.

One Day It Will Be Impossible

The Fanatics of Extinction Rebellion Will Try to Make All Its Opponents Extinct

Until Then, I’ll Tell The Truth About Those Irrational Zealots

Peter Hitchens
Mail on Sunday

It will soon be impossible to criticise the fanatics of Extinction Rebellion.  In fact, I will not be at all surprised if, in years to come, I and others face prosecution for having dared to doubt them.

Soon we will be sitting in an impoverished, dark country, with a trashed economy, incessant power cuts and dismal standard of living, caused by their dogma.  We are like a thirsty man refusing to drink from a tap because of a water shortage, while his local water company leaves hundreds of leaks unrepaired, allowing thousands of gallons to drain away each hour

Putting people on trial for warning against this will be one way to keep warm and occupied.  So, while I still may, I’ll say that this is one of the nastiest and stupidest outbreaks of intolerant, irrational zealotry since mankind emerged from the Dark Ages. I speak as a former intolerant zealot, who grew out of it.

I know the fierce joy which comes from despising others, only too well. And I fear it.

Daily Meditation

Perceiving the Power of Preaching

Ligonier Ministries

Every Sunday morning we observe a strange phenomenon in our cities, towns, and villages. Millions of people leave their homes, take respite from their jobs and recreation, and gather in church buildings for services of worship. People sit quietly and listen while one person stands before them and gives a speech. We call the speech a sermon, homily, or meditation. 

What’s going on here? 

The power of preaching is found in the Spirit working with the Word of God and through the Word of God. God promises that His Word will not return to Him void. Its power is located not in the eloquence or erudition of the preacher but in the power of the Spirit. Preaching is a tool in the hands of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is a supernatural being, the third person of the Trinity. His presence in preaching is what makes it a supernatural event.

Salvation is a divine achievement. No man can save himself. God sovereignly ordains not only the end (salvation) but the means to the end (preaching). We conclude then that what is going on Sunday morning when the Word of God is truly preached is a divine drama of redemption. 

Coram Deo

Thank God for the supernatural power of preaching that effected the drama of redemption in your life.

Passages for Further Study

Matthew 10:20
Luke 16:16
1 Corinthians 2:4

Totalitarianism On the March In the UK

The Madness of it All

The following article has appeared in The Spectator magazine.  It alerts Oxford citizens to a horrible, detestable crime wave which is sweeping across the town and surrounding districts.  James Kirkup, writing for The Spectator, briefs all and sundry on this new horror.

A ‘Transphobic’ Crime Wave Has Hit Oxford


James Kirkup
The Spectator

Oxford is suffering a crime wave. Police are investigating numerous serious offences over more than six months. Thames Valley Police has issued this sweeping statement about unacceptable acts in the city:

Thames Valley Police is appealing for witnesses following a number of public offences in Oxford.

Officers are investigating a large number of offensive stickers that have been placed across Oxford city centre containing transphobic comments. It is believed they started appearing in March 2019 within the High Street, Catte Street and Parks Road area.  Investigating officer PC Rebecca Nightingale based at St Aldates police station said: “Behaviour like this is not acceptable and we take incidents of this nature very seriously.

“I am appealing for anyone who may of witnesses these stickers being placed around the city or anyone who has information that may assist our investigation to call the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference 43190163238 or report online.

“Alternatively, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers 100% anonymously on 0800 555 111.” 

Sounds serious, eh?

The Turks, the Kurds, and Everyone Else

Knowing  One's Limitations

It is pretty clear that Donald Trump does not like going to war.  He wants to bring US soldiers and their support personnel and equipment.  But he has been criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike for US withdrawals from Iraq and and Syria, whilst refusing to get involved in defending the Kurds against the war-mongering President of Turkey.  

But the simplistic, black and white approach to world affairs apparently championed by the Democrats and the Republicans in House and Senate cannot withstand scrutiny.  Trump is right not to commit US "treasure" to defending the Kurds against Turkish aggression.  Why?  It's complex, man!

John Hayward explains why a simplistic, black and white approach, which the US military would always represent, would be destined to fail.

Turkey’s invasion of northeastern Syria to drive the Kurds away from the Turkish border is bringing more Western attention to the Kurds than they received during the long and bloody Syrian civil war, where they played a key role in defeating the Islamic State.

Here are some important things to know about the Kurds.

Daily Meditation

Best Passage Ever

John Piper

God put [Jesus] forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:25–26)

• Romans 3:25–26 may be the most important verses in the Bible.   
  
• God is wholly just! And He justifies the ungodly!  Not either/or! Both! He acquits the guilty, but is not guilty in doing so. This is the greatest news in the world!
  
• “[God] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
  
• “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.” (Romans 8:3)
  
• “[Christ] bore our sins in his body on the tree.” (1 Peter 2:24)
  
• “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.” (1 Peter 3:18)
  
• “If we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:5)

If the most terrifying news in the world is that we have fallen under the condemnation of our Creator and that he is bound by his own righteous character to preserve the worth of his glory by pouring out his wrath on our sin . . .

. . . Then the best news in all the world (the gospel!) is that God has decreed a way of salvation that also upholds the worth of his glory, the honor of his Son, and the eternal salvation of his elect. He has given his Son to die for sinners and to conquer their death by his own resurrection.

It Cannot Be Untied, so . . . Bring Out the Sword

The Brexit Knot

By Douglas Murray
National Review Online

[An excellent summary of Brexit and its opponents; the issues and the pettifoggery. Ed.]

Being a classicist, Boris Johnson would be familiar with the Gordian knot. But for anybody whose schoolroom memories need refreshing, the knot in question was put in place by Gordius, king of Phrygia. Reputedly only a ruler of Asia would be able to untie the knot — making it a slightly less glamorous version of King Arthur’s sword in the stone. In any case, when confronted by the knot, Alexander the Great is said to have spotted the fast way to undo the problem and simply whacked at it with his sword, so proving that he should become the king of Asia.

If ever there was a fearsome knot in modern politics it is the question of Brexit. Not that the knot was as completely tied in 2016, when the British people were given a straightforward choice. The question the public was then asked was whether it wanted to “remain” in or “leave” the European Union. The public voted by a majority (52 percent to 48 percent) to leave, though it has since appeared that for those who set the question this was the wrong answer. Or at least not the answer that the political class expected the public to select. And so the knot tightened and became ever more knotty with each resulting effort to untie it.

The civil service, it turned out, had not been instructed to prepare for the eventuality of a “leave” vote. Then–prime minister David Cameron and his colleagues may simply have expected the “remain” side to win. Or they may have feared that if word had got out that the civil servants were preparing for the possibility of a “leave” vote then that would have bolstered that side of the campaign. Whatever the reason, on June 24, 2016, Whitehall turned out to be unprepared for what was one of only two possible results.

With Cameron having resigned just hours after that vote, the stunned victors plunged into a bout of fratricide. The lead Brexiteer — Boris Johnson — was politically assassinated by his own leadership-campaign chief, the second most prominent Brexiteer — Michael Gove — who then made an unsuccessful bid for the leadership himself. Unsuccessful because, with the victors in disarray, a path through the middle of the Conservative-party membership (who vote in leadership elections) was created for Theresa May. And so the former home secretary who had given a single half-hearted speech in favor of Remain ended up becoming the Conservative-party leader, the prime minister, and the person responsible for making sure that Britain exited the European Union.

Evil On Steroids

Using Puberty Blockers on Children ‘Is a Crime Against Humanity’

Camille Paglia Speaks Out


Robert Kraychik
Breitbart News


Using puberty-blocking drugs on pre-pubescent children in order to stultify their sexual development “is a crime against humanity,” said Camille Paglia, professor of humanities and media studies at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She offered her remarks on Tuesday’s edition of Dennis Prager’s eponymous radio show while discussing her latest book, Provocations: Collected Essays on Art, Feminism, Politics, Sex, and Education.

Paglia highlighted left-wing denial of the biological origins of sex, including left-wing framing of sex as an arbitrary and subjective social construct. “These ideas aren’t based on any actual study of biology,” she said. 

Paglia noted much of the news media’s ambivalence towards the aforementioned experimentation on children: 

I think that experiments of unproven drugs — drug protocols — on children is a crime against humanity, and it should not be tolerated.

Daily Meditation

Developing a Passion for God

Ligonier Ministries

I remember a stained-glass window that adorned the library of my alma mater. It was situated above the stairwell at the second-floor landing. In leaded letters, the words in the window declared, “Knowledge is power.”

Every time I ascended or descended that staircase I cringed at those words. I did not like them. There was something arrogant about them. I could not deny that the words were true. Knowledge is power. But the lust for power is not a sound motivation to gain knowledge. The Bible is right: Knowledge puffs up; love builds up (1 Cor. 8:1).

Even the pursuit of the knowledge of God can become a snare of arrogance. Theology can become a game, a power game to see who can display the most erudition. When it is such a game it proceeds from an unholy passion.

A holy passion is a passion inflamed by a godly motive. To pursue the knowledge of God to further our understanding of Him and deepen our love for Him is to embark on a quest that delights Him. Jesus encouraged such a pursuit (John 8:31–32). Jesus linked knowledge not with power but with freedom. Knowing the truth is the most liberating power in the world. Not the power to dominate; not the power to impress: These are not the powers we seek. But the power to set free—to give true liberty—is tied to a knowledge of the truth.

We all want liberty. We want to be free of the chains that bind us. That liberty comes from knowing God. But the pursuit of that knowledge may not be casual. Jesus spoke of “abiding” in His Word. The pursuit of God is not a part-time, weekend exercise. If it is, chances are you will experience a part-time, weekend freedom. Abiding requires a kind of staying power. The pursuit is relentless. It hungers and thirsts. It pants as the deer after the mountain brook. It takes the kingdom by storm, pressing with violence to get in.

It is a pursuit of passion. Indifference will not do. To abide in the Word is to hang on tenaciously. A weak grip will soon slip away. Discipleship requires staying power. We sign up for the duration. We do not graduate until heaven.

Coram Deo

Echo this prayer of the apostle Paul: “… that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Phil. 3:10).

Passages for Further Study

Romans 6:7
Romans 3:23–24
Romans 8:32