God's glory and my ipod

Here is an excerpt from a prayer posted by Doug Wilson yesterday:

Father, as we read these words of confession from the prophet Isaiah, we recognize that he spoke of a people who had once known You, but who had fallen away. We confess that this is true of our nation, and many other nations in the West besides. We ask You to restore us as peoples, and we ask in particular that You forgive us in such a way as to restore our ability to sing. Restore us in song, we pray.

We know, Father, that if we in the Church regard iniquity in our own midst, or in our own hearts, this prayer will be ineffectual. Father, we confess that in the Church we have consistently amused ourselves with our music instead of seeking in the first place to worship You. Restore our priorities, and restore music to the Church so that we might bring it to the world. Father, we confess that far too many of Your children listen to a steady diet of foul and corrupt music, and try to excuse it under the cloak of Christian liberty. Forgive us for this abuse of liberty, we pray.

To read the first installment of his exhortation on music, click here.

A Firm Foundation

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;

For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,

And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

John Rippon,

excerpt from 'How Firm a Foundation',

1787

The First Prayer of Congress

O Lord our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of kings, and Lord of lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the Kingdoms, Empires and Governments; look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on these our American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee. To Thee have they appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to Thee do they now look up for that countenance and support, which Thou alone canst give. Take them, therefore, Heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care; give them wisdom in Council and valor in the field; defeat the malicious designs of our cruel adversaries; convince them of the unrighteousness of their Cause and if they persist in their sanguinary purposes, of own unerring justice, sounding in their hearts, constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved hands in the day of battle!

Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation. That the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that order, harmony and peace may be effectually restored, and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish amongst the people. Preserve the health of their bodies and vigor of their minds; shower down on them and the millions they here represent, such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world and crown them with everlasting glory in the world to come. All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior.
Amen.

Reverend Jacob Duché

Rector of Christ Church of Philadelphia,

PennsylvaniaSeptember 7, 1774, 9 o’clock a.m.

Through a Telescope Darkly

“The best data we have are exactly what I would have predicted had I nothing to go on but the five books of Moses, the Psalms, and the Bible as a whole.”

-Arno Penzias, winner of the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the cosmic background radiation that corroborated the Big Bang

The Big Hands of Big Gov't

Merry Tax Day!

An OVERWHELMING Vision of God in His Majesty

So What is Calvinism, Dr Warfield?

Lutheranism, the product of a poignant sense of sin, born from the throes of a guilt-burdened soul which can not be stilled until it finds peace in God's decree of justification, is apt to rest in this peace; while Calvinism, the product of an overwhelming vision of God, born from the reflection in the heart of man of the majesty of a God who will not give His glory to another, can not pause until it places the scheme of salvation itself in relation to a complete world-view, in which it becomes subsidiary to the glory of the Lord God Almighty.

Calvinism asks with Lutheranism, indeed, that most poignant of all questions, What shall I do to be saved? and answers it as Lutheranism answers it. But the great question which presses upon it is, How shall God be glorified? It is the contemplation of God and zeal for His honor which in it draws out the emotions and absorbs endeavor; and the end of human as of all other existence, of salvation as of all other attainment, is to it the glory of the Lord of all. Full justice is done in it to the scheme of redemption and the experience of salvation, because full justice is done in it to religion itself which underlies these elements of it. It begins, it centers, it ends with the vision of God in His glory: and it sets itself before all things to render to God His rights in every sphere of life-activity.

THE WORKS OF B. B. WARFIELD, Volume V, page 358

Reformed©, Inc.

Recently Time Magazine ranked the 10 most influential ideas in the world today. Amazingly, Calvinism was #3. For my parents' generation, that would've been unthinkable. But by God's grace, reformation theology has made such a resurgence that everyone is talking.

Before we break out the Genevan champagne, a word of caution. If our numbers are significant enough to attract the notice of Time Magazine, they have most certainly already attracted the attention of industry sharks eager to make inroads with this new and growing segment of Christian consumers.

This may explain why much of contemporary evangelicalism is driven by the need for constant turn-over [change is the basis of commerce]. Books, Bible translations, songs for church and home, pastoral methods/ministry techniques – we’re told that these are constantly becoming obsolete - that’s why you need this Crossway product or that Pastor’s Conference.

It's been said that the American genius is not production, it’s sales; not meeting needs, but creating them. For the first time, Reformed Christians are specifically being targeting by marketers. As this happens, it's good to be reminded/warned that:

1. There are no secrets to living the super Christian life. The means of grace are all God has given and all we need. They are glorious - not boring - but were intended to save, not sell. There is no microwave spirituality - as the constant commands to persevere imply.

2. It's more important to fear God than be hip. He promises to be near the broken and contrite-hearted ... not the trendy, Euro-chic christianettes.

3. The old paths are ... well ... old. It's hard to put a glossy cover on the collected works of Jonathan Edwards. It's harder still to imagine Knox or Dabney coloring their beards to earn some relevance points w/ the youngsters. Old saints are wise. Young ones aren't. It is difficult for people in our culture to 'search after wisdom like a hidden treasure' when we are driven by the same impulses that have made Botox a billion dollar product.

4. We are a very superficial generation. God looks on the heart; we ... not so much. This isn't good when Christ warned that the wolves in our midst will never look like wolves when viewed superficially.

5. Change is not all its cracked up to be. Motion does not mean movement; activity does not equal progress. After all the hype and emotion, money has changed hands, but people may often be no more forgiven or holy than they were before all the hooplah.

Please don't think me too much of a curmudgeon - I think these things need saying, negative though they be. Having said them, with this news we once more have an occassion to worship our God and praise Him for His kindness. He is not abandoning us, though we deserve it [and worse]. He delights in mercy. This article is a small encouragement. Let's smile and continue on - spend and be spent for the cause of His glory, Kingdom, and people.