Happy New Year!

I wish you and yours a very blessed, healthy, and prosperous New Year!
 

Predictions for 2008?

Does anyone want to make any predictions for 2008?

I have a couple . . .

1).  The Republicans will retain the White House.  The reason is that poor Obama will be eaten alive by the Clinton machine during the primaries.  By the time we get to the general election in November, Hillary will have become such a caustic and polarizing figure, she'll lose.  People will vote for the Republican as a lesser of evils choice, there will be very low voter turn-out (people will be sick of it all), and no one will want the spectre of William Jefferson lurking around in Hillary's White House.  The Republican nominee (Rudy or Romney) will pick a southern conservative (Thompson?-If you can wake him up long enough to get him to run), and Hillary will pick Bill Richardson to pull New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado out of the Republican camp.

The wild cards here . . .  Iran and terrorism, the economy, and third party-bids by Bloomberg or Paul.

2).  The big evangelical blogger discussion by May 1 will be "can a Christian vote for a pro-choice (or nominally pro-life) Republican?"  By election day, the debate will be over and it will be "ABC"--anybody but Clinton.

3).  The Yankees will win the World Series.  Yes, Boston has better pitching (although the Yankees have a better team on the field).  The reason?  The fiery new manager and the desire to win it all while the team plays its final year in Yankee Stadium will carry the day.  Also, it is very tough emotionally to repeat (You Red Sox fans need to look at how fat and happy the Yanks have been from all those victories in 1996-2001, and how they have lacked the fire in their bellies ever since).

4).  The Federal Vision controversy will shift from a debate about its basic tenets to the church courts and fairness of the proceedings.  The first defeat in a church court for any well-known FV advocate will send a bunch of folk running into the CREC.  By the way, my prediction for 2010 is that once all of the FV advocates are together in the same church body, they'll turn on each other--that will be interesting to watch. 

5).  I predict Mike Horton will publish two new books, both will be great!

6).  I'm also predicting that Ken Samples will say "umm . . ." in a lecture.  That will be a first.

OK, now its your turn.  Leave your predictions in the comments section below.

Who Said That?

This was the answer given in response to a question about why 20% of Americans could not find the US on a world map:

 

"I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some people out there in our nation don't have maps, and, uh, I believe that our education, like such as in South Africa and the Iraq, everywhere, like, such as.  And I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., er, should help South Africa, and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future for our children."

 

Have fun with this one!  Please, no google searches or cheating.  You must guess.  Leave your answer in the comments section below.

 

Update on Saturday, December 29, 2007 at 06:45PM by Kim Riddlebarger

Miss South Caroline Teen USA Lauren Caitlin Upton, answering a question about why 20 percent of Americans can't locate the U.S. on a world map, on the Miss Teen USA pagent

Looking Back at 2007

Now that 2007 is nearly a memory, it might be interesting to look back upon some of the events of this past year.

The horrible killings at Virginia Tech was the top news story of the year.  Click here: Top news story: Virginia Tech killings - Yahoo! News 

"Don't tase me bro" was the most memorable saying of the year.  Idaho senator Larry Craig and shock jock Don Imus also made the list.  Click here: Don't Tase Me, Bro tops '07 memorable quote list | Lifestyle | Living | Reuters

One list of top religion stories puts evangelical voters struggling to find a presidential candidate at the top, Click here: Top religion stories of 2007 (OneNewsNow.com), while Christianity Today's top ten starts with the Taliban killing Korean missionaries in Afghanistan.  Click here: Top Ten Stories of 2007 | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

The top ten sports stories for 2007 include Brett Favre and the Little League World Series.  Click here: FOX Sports on MSN - MLB - 10 best sports stories of 2007

Those who died in 2007 can be found on the Wiki, Click here: Deaths in 2007 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, or in the NY Times.  Click here: Notable Deaths of 2007 - New York Times.  The list includes Jerry Falwell, D. James Kennedy, Ruth Graham, and of course, Tammy Faye.

Disgusting . . .

Is anyone else as as disgusted as I am at all the presidential campaigns for using the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto as a way to  shamelessly tout their own supposed foreign policy credentials?

These guys (and a gal) have spent the last two days knocking each other over to get before a camera or a mic to pontificate about something they obviously know very little about.  Unless you are already in the White House and privy to hard intelligence, you probably don't know squat about what really happened and who did the dastardly deed

The most egregious examples so far are ambulance-chaser turned senator, John Edwards telling the faithful at a political rally that he just got off the phone with President Musharraf in Islamabad.  Can't you just see that conversation from Musharraf's end?  He's in a high-level meeting with his nation exploding all around him and an aide walks in and says, "Mr. President . . .  There's a John Edwards on the phone for you.  He says its important . . ."  Can't you just imagine Musharraf's reaction.  "Who?"

Then there is John McCain.  "I knew Benazir Bhutto.  I've known Musharraf for years.  I've talked with general so and so . . .  I talked with Moses and Abraham."  And then McCain has the nerve to tell American voters what Musharraf should do, as if McCain was a candidate for Pakistani generalissimo.  McCain's an America hero, but recounting the names in his address book on camera to jump-start his campaign is pretty cynical.

Huckabee didn't even know martial law in Pakistan had been suspended.  Hillary tells us she knew Bhutto well, but only because Hillary had contact with her as first-lady, not in any meaningful political/policy sense.  Now Hillary wants an "international investigation."  Like the UN is competent to investigate this . . . 

Yes, I know American voters benefit by seeing their presidential candidates react under pressure and respond to world events.  But so far I'm not impressed with any of them.

The only candidate who has made any sense to me on this is Ron Paul.  "Why should we be telling the Pakistanis what to do?  Pakistan is a sovereign nation."  And Ron Paul is not exactly what you'd call "presidential" nor is he remotely electable.

And we wonder why less than 50% of Americans vote?  The cynicism shown by the lot of them is disgusting to me.  And just why is it that we are going through this eleven months before the election?

Winter-Spring 2008 Academy Schedule Posted

Christ Reformed Church has posted the up-coming Academy schedule for the winter-spring of 2008.  You can find it here:  Click here: Christ Reformed Info - Schedule of Academy Classes and Author's Forums

Lord willing, I'll be finishing up my lecture series on the New Perspectives on Paul, and then begin a new series entitled Amillennialism 101.  That will take us to Easter break.  We are working on several Author Forums as well and will announce them when our schedule firms up.

For those of you who asked, I hope to get the audio files from Ken Samples' last Academy lecture series posted soon.  We have some technical troubles.  Thanks for being patient! 

Some Interesting Links on a Friday . . .

Are you ready for this?  Ozzy Osbourne is working on his "memoirs."  Can you imagine the poor editor trying to interview the guy and get him to compose a sentence or express a rational thought?  How on earth is Ozzie going to remember anything?  Talk about a walking advertisement for the evils of recreational drug use . . .  Sharon!  Caution--"salty" language alert--imagine that, "salty" language from Ozzy?  Click here:   ttp://news.independent.co.uk/people/pandora/article3286815.ece

If it is scandalous for athletes to use performance enhancing drugs (PED's), what do you do when your favorite cellist in your favorite symphony orchestra is using something to "heighten" mental awareness so as to improve their performance.  What about the guy who piloted the Airbus on your last commercial flight?  Even your stock-broker?  You bet!  Click here: Drugs to build up that mental muscle - Los Angeles Times

Hardly a silent night in Bethlehem when you've got the priests throwing chairs at each other.  Sounds like a WWF smack-down to me.  Click here: Priests brawl at Bethlehem birthplace of Jesus

Finally, our friends over at the Confessional Outhouse (Zrim, Ruberad and co.) remind us that daily confession is good for the soul.  But it is not that kind of confession--it is the kind of "confession" that readers of this blog will recognize and enjoy immensely.  Click here: Daily Confession 

Five of the Best Books of 2007

Since we are nearing the end of 2007 and everyone is looking back on the events of the past year, I thought it might be a good time to mention my top five recommended books (most important) published in 2007.  These are books well worth buying and reading!

1).  Michael Horton's stellar Covenant and Salvation:  Union With Christ (Westminster John Knox).  Michael's response to Wright, Dunn, and Sanders is outstanding.  Click here: Amazon.com: Covenant and Salvation: Union With Christ: Books: Michael Scott Horton

2).  G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Baker).  This is one of the most important reference books to come down the pike in years.  I'm already finding it indispensible.  Click here: Amazon.com: Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Books: G. K. Beale,D. A. Carson

3).  Ken Samples' A World of Difference:  Putting Christian Truth Claims to the Worldview Test (Baker).  Ken Samples is doing yeoman's work in making the critical philosophical and apologetic issues accessible to larger audiences.  Ken's also a great writer.  Click here: Amazon.com: A World of Difference: Putting Christian Truth-Claims to the Worldview Test: Books: Kenneth Richard Sa

4).  Dennis Johnson's Him We Proclaim:  Preaching Christ from All the Scriptures (P & R).  This book should be read by every preacher as well as everyone who sits in a pew!  How should ministers prepare to preach and what should God's people be looking for in a sermon?  Click here: Amazon.com: Him We Proclaim: Preaching Christ from All the Scriptures: Books: Dennis E. Johnson

5).  Bruce Waltke's An Old Testament Theology (Zondervan).  A great overview of redemptive-history during the Old Covenant era.  Click here: Amazon.com: An Old Testament Theology: A Canonical and Thematic Approach: Books: Bruce K. Waltke,Charles Yu

The Canons of Dort, First Head of Doctrine, Article 4

Article 4: A Twofold Response to the Gospel

God's anger remains on those who do not believe this gospel. But those who do accept it and embrace Jesus the Savior with a true and living faith are delivered through him from God's anger and from destruction, and receive the gift of eternal life.

_____________________________________

The Scriptures are very clear about human guilt before God and the Canons effectively summarize these verses.  The wrath of God abides on all of those apart from Christ.  There is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun.  

As John says in his gospel, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him (John 3:36).”  We cannot offer the false hope, however sincere, to those apart from Christ that “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” as we find it in the Four Spiritual Laws.  This promise is true, but only for a believer.  Those apart from Christ know no such hope.  They can only expect God’s wrath.  That is why such people need to hear the law, and thereby be stripped of all false hope of personal righteousness which can stand on the day of judgment.

As Paul puts it so clearly in Romans 5:1 ff:  

    Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.  6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.  

In this passage, Paul sets out the glorious promise that while we were sinners and unable to do anything to save ourselves, God sought us in Christ, taking away the guilt of our sin, which was the very ground of God’s estrangement from us.  Remove the basis for God’s anger toward sinners and peace can be restored.  This is why it is only in Christ that God saves us from his own wrath, and it is through the death of Christ that he reconciles himself to us and then us to him once the guilt of our sin is removed.  This is what it means to have peace with God.  The war between sinners and God is over.

But those who are not Christ’s know no such peace and it is not right to hold out false assurances to them.  Theirs is but the pursuit of the passing pleasures of sin.  Theirs is but the false wisdom of this present evil age.  They are without hope and without God in the world.  They are separate from Christ and foreigners to the covenant of promise (Ephesians 2:11-22).  The wrath of God abides on them (John 3:36).  There is no more horrible state imaginable then that which results from human sinfulness and not believing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

For the Christian, it is not the law (and the word of condemnation), but the gospel (the word of promise) that has the last word.  Let us never forget that those who are Christ’s through faith are heirs to all of the promises of God.  For in Christ we are given eternal life, we are justified and can know our sins are forgiven—no matter how great the guilt of them seems to us.  In Christ, we are adopted as God’s sons and daughters and in Christ we will inherit all the riches that are found in him.  In Christ, therefore, we live and die in the unspeakable comfort of the hope of heaven. 

All that we must to is receive that which God offers to us in his son with the empty hands of a living faith by simply trusting that the son of God loved us and gave himself for us to reconcile us to God.  

Some Links of Note on the Day After Christmas . . .

Hope that you all had a blessed Christmas! Here are a few things which may be of interest from around the blogosphere on this day after Christmas . . .

For all of you cat lovers out there, here is yet another news story proving the superiority of dogs.  This dog gave his life to save his owners, while the cat (which probably started the fire) "escaped unharmed."  Click here: Dog dies after saving Pullman, WA family from fire | Local News | kgw.com | News for Oregon and SW Washington

Many of you know that my family owned a Christian bookstore, in which I was raised, and which I managed for a number of years before the days of CURE and my call to the ministry.  Yes, I have repented for all the Christian trinkets we sold (we did sell a lot of good Reformed books, however).  In any case, while secular retailers may complain about this year's sales, the Christian bookstore industry is doing quite well.  The only problem is that these "bookstores" now sell mostly blasphemous action figures and other accoutrements of the evangelical sub-culture.  Click here: The Denver Post - Jesus may save, but Christians spend

Our Lutheran friend Gene Veith has a series of interesting posts on St. Nicolas (defender of the faith) and a defense of the proper date of Christmas as falling on December 25 (and not part of the pagan celebration of the winter solstice).  Not sure I'm convinced, but interesting nonetheless.  Click here: Christianity, Culture, Vocation — Cranach: The Blog of Veith

By the way, did anyone one else watch Rick Warren's Christmas Eve "service" from Saddleback on Fox?  Was that positively awful??? 

To refer to the gospel as a "do-over" (a clean slate so that we get a second chance) and equate it with a "mulligan" (a golfing term for erasing a bad score) was typical of someone who becomes totally irrelevant the cooler he tries to be.  The music, and the staging, and the repeated plugs for his 120 acre campus, his wife's new book, the Purpose-Driven everything, etc., was tacky as it gets. 

I guess as long as Murdoch owns Fox and Zondervan, we'll get this inane drivel and trivializing of the gospel every year.  As an old Christian bookstore owner who knows how Christian marketing works, Warren's Christmas Eve "service" was nothing more than an hour-long commercial for his "Purpose-Driven" empire.  Sad.