Muslim Plans to Convert the West and Other Interesting Links from Around the Blogosphere

Great to hear Pastor Todd Wilken and his producer Jeff Schwarz live again.  Be sure to listen to the very moving first hour of their return!  Click here: Issues, Etc. Radio Program

Believe it or not, Muslims planning to convert the decadent West to Islam, have what they think is a sure fire plan--"mut 'ah", that is multiple wives (up to four).  According to Mahdi Unite Muslims (MUM), when Westerners discover that they can have multiple wives  (legally) under Islam, they'll convert in droves.  Hmmm . . .  Not sure sure that Western women will be thrilled with this.  Divorce lawyers will love it, however!   Click here: Pajamas Media » Converting the West to Islam Through… Sex?

As evangelicalism continues its decline, adherents to paganism continue to grow.  By paganism, I mean real paganism, (Druidism, Wicca) along with all the ceremonies and pagan holidays that go with it.  Click here: Neopaganism growing quickly - The Denver Post.   Dr. Peter Jones has been a prophetic voice in this regard.   Be sure to check out his website. Click here: CWIPP: Christian Witness to a Pagan Planet

I love it when justice is served . . .   Those brave Episcopalians, who have left their ultra-liberal denomination, risked everything to do so (property, pensions, bank-accounts, etc.).  Now, blessedly, the court has ruled in their favor.  The church building belongs to the congregation, not the diocese.  Let the exodus begin!  Click here: Court: Episcopal dissidents can keep land - Faith- msnbc.com 

I've gotta get me one of these, kinda like a handicapped parking permit, only for pastors . . .  Its called a "pray and display" sticker and is issued (in the UK) so that pastors (and clerics from every religion under the sun) can double-park when paying a call upon someone in spiritual need.   As busy as  all the hospitals are around here, that might actually come in handy (pity the poor guys whose car gets blocked in the meantime!).  Click here: 'Pray and display' permits planned for religious leaders - Telegraph

"Issues, Etc.," Returns Today!

Welcome back, Todd and Jeff!  You can hear them here:   Click here: Issues, Etc. Radio Program

Who Said That?

"It should never be forgotten that the faith that is the condition of justification, is the faith that works by love. It is the faith through and by which Christ sanctifies the soul. A sanctifying faith unites the believer to Christ as his justification; but be it always remembered, that no faith receives Christ as a justification, that does not receive him as a sanctification, to reign within the heart. We have seen that repentance, as well as faith, is a condition of justification. We shall see that perseverance in obedience to the end of life is also a condition of justification."

Leave your guess in the comments section below.   Please, no google searches or cheating!  The fun is in the guessing! 

Update on Sunday, June 29, 2008 at 05:49PM by Kim Riddlebarger

This comment comes from page 326 of Charles Finney's Systematic Theology.    Once again this demonstrates that there is nothing new under the sun, and that if you reject justification sola fide, you'll end up somewhere down the road towards a final justification based upon works.

The Legacy of B. B. Warfield

Part One –The Legacy of B. B. Warfield

(Note:  This is the first in a new series on B. B. Warfield, taken from my Ph.D. dissertation, "The Lion of Princeton")

_____________

 

During his thirty-four year reign as the ranking theologian at Princeton Theological Seminary, Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield (1851-1921) exerted tremendous influence upon much of American  Presbyterianism.  With his lucid pen and his passion to defend the Westminster Standards, there was little doubt about where Warfield stood on most every subject he addressed.

Even some eighty years after his death all one need to do is but mention his name in certain circles and you are sure to get a reaction, pro or con.  A number of those who have interacted with Warfield view him as a kind of brilliant but nevertheless obscurantist fundamentalist (cf. James Barr, Beyond Fundamentalism, Westminster, 1984, 141) or a thorough-going rationalist , who supposedly invented the notion of biblical inerrancy (Alister McGrath, A Passion for Truth: The Intellectual Coherence of Evangelicalism, InterVarsity, 1996, 169).  When viewed from this perspective, Warfield's most enduring legacy is to be seen in his important but misguided efforts in the heated controversy over the nature of biblical authority that dominated American Presbyterian circles in the latter part of the nineteenth century. 

To read the rest of this article, Click here: Riddleblog - The Legacy of B. B. Warfield

The End of the World and Other Interesting Links

Since the Netherlands has a reputation for its progressive secularism, it is a surprise that so many in that nation are expecting the apocalypse to occur in 2012.  Could it be that the Dutch are reading Tim LaHaye?  Of course not.  The secular Dutch are freaked out by a prediction regarding the end of the world found in the Mayan calendar.  And secularists think Christians are foolish?  Click here: Many Dutch prepare for 2012 apocalypse - UPI.com

Is it just me, or do both of these guys need to be smacked upside the head?  Obama twists Scripture--giving us the critical, moralistic reading of the Old Testament and the Sermon on the Mount.  Granted.  But James Dobson is a flaming Arminian who hates Calvinism.  I'm not sure Dobson can make better sense of the Bible than Obama.  Once again, politicians should give up biblical interpretation, and experts in child development should stop trying to be theologians.  Ugh . . .  And to think we've got five more months of this.  Click here: My Way News - Dobson accuses Obama of 'distorting' Bible

The recent Pew poll, which shows that Americans are a religious but largely pagan people, also found that California is a tad more pluralistic than most other states.  And someone had to pay a pollster to discover that?  That would be the LA Times, of course.  On my way to church I pass a large Sikh temple, an even larger Mosque, several happy-clappy evangelical churches, a CRC and an RCA (both of which are ashamed of their Reformed heritage and are doing very poor imitations of Calvary Chapel), two mainline Protestant churches with empty parking lots, as well as the  "Full-Gospel Tabernacle."  And I'm sure I'm forgetting some.  Once again, no surprises here.  Click here: Survey shows Californians less religious than rest of nation - Los Angeles Times

Finally, the nanny state cancels a local sportday because someone might get hurt.  I thought scrapes and scars were part of growing up.  Remember the scene in Jaws when everyone compares their scars?  The two things the nanny state hates the most are boys growing up to become men (including the bumps and cuts that goes with that), and the sound of laughter and revelry (the sure indication that people really do better when they are free from needless government intrusion).  Click here: Sports day cancelled because uneven playing field is a health and safety risk - Telegraph

The Evangelical Decline and Other Interesting Links

Here's yet another sad sign of the evangelical decline.  An amazing 57% of those who attend evangelical churches now say they believe that adherents of non-Christian religions might also be saved.  The more people anchor their faith in the subjective (religious experience), the less likely they are to see evangelical Christianity as a truth claim.  Some of us are hardly surprised by this news.  Saddened, yes.  But not surprised.  Click here: Religious Americans: My faith isn't the only way (OneNewsNow.com)

The PCUSA continues to lose members--some 57,000 last year alone (that's about the same number of people in the OPC/URC combined).  The loss is blamed on the church's liberal theology and blue hair--the church's aging membership.   Many congregations have left to join the EPC.  If you don't give people a reason to stay in your church, they won't.   The PCUSA isn't alone in this.  The Methodist Church has lost 23% of its membership since 1970, and the Episcopal Church is down 33% since the mid-sixties.  Of course, what these churches need is more liberal theology and "contemporary worship."

Here's a noted theologian/writer who believes that Jesus will return within the next 20-25 years.  That's not out of the ordinary.  The catch?   Harun Yahya is a Muslim (widely read around in the Muslim world) who believes that when Jesus comes back it will be as the Islamic Mahdi and a champion of the prophet Mohammed.  This is typical Islamic doctrine, but Yahya is as successful (in terms of sales) as Tim LaHaye.  That means a series of Islamic novels about the end times is sure to come.  Click here: Muslim creationist preaches Islam and awaits Christ - Yahoo! News

How many stories like this one will we read about before the presidential election in November?  Here's a preacher who told his congregation that God wanted them to vote republican.  That's bad enough.  It gets worse.  He was doing this to provoke an IRS investigation, hoping for a court fight.  Shouldn't a guy like this be looking for a new line of work?  He's obviously failed in his calling to preach the gospel.  And if he wants to change things so badly, why not just run for political office (an honorable calling), rather than commit such atrocious behavior in the pulpit.  Click here: ABC News: Pastors Use Pulpit to Challenge Election Law

Who Said That?

"The Word of God Himself . . . assumed humanity that we might become God."

Please leave your guess in the comments section below.  Please no google searches or cheating. 

Update on Monday, June 30, 2008 at 07:40AM by Kim Riddlebarger

This statement comes from Athanasius' On the Incarnation (Sec. 54).  Athanasius' statement  has given rise to the notion of theosis.

The problem with theosis is one of definition.  As several of the respondents pointed out, the concept grows out of 2 Peter 1:4 and takes a number of diverse forms--some orthodox, some not so.  There is the Orthodox trajectory (divinization), as  well as a Catholic/Augustinian trajectory (the final purification of the soul).  The Reformed understand this notion in terms of union with Christ and final glorification.  There is also a Wesleyan notion (Christian perfection), as well as LDS (man is eventually deified), and Word-Faith versions (man is a "little" god).  

Live in the Denver Area? Looking for a Good Reformed Church?

Got a chance to worship this Lord's Day at the  Coram Deo URC in Denver.  The pastor is my old friend, Rev. Carl Heuss.  If you live in the greater Denver area, Coram Deo meets at the Denver Christian School in Centennial.  There are a number of folk here who are White Horse Inn listeners, and two of the current elders were members @ Christ Reformed in Anaheim.  If you are new to the Reformed faith and looking for a good church where you can ask questions and find a sympathetic ear, this is the place for you.  If you want more information, you can email Rev. Heuss @ cheuss@msn.com

I'm a bit surprised, however, that the Denver Christian School would allow Rev. Heuss to enter a nut restricted area! 

Purple Mountain's Majesty

We have been playing tourist in the Colorado Springs area for the past few days.  I took this shot of Pike's Peak and a brewing thunderstorm from the Garden of the Gods.  Shucks . . .  I missed the tour @ Focus on the Family.

 
Although I am terrified of heights, I actually made it out on to the bridge over Royal Gorge--one of those places I wanted to see since I was a kid.  I was fine until I looked down and saw the Arkansas River 1500 feet below through the planking.  That was it--made a hasty retreat back.  We arrived just in time to watch a large car club--about 50 Plymouth Prowlers--make their way across the bridge.  Too bad they weren't Shelby Mustangs.

BTW--I  finally took delivery on the new family SUV.  If you have to ask about gas mileage, the M3 Stuart is not for you.  But trust me, no one will ding my paint with their doors, no one is gonna "road-rage" me, and the next guy who turns left in front of me will be very sorry.   Fort Carson has a number of tanks outside the main gate, including this M3 Stuart (a very small light/scout tank).  Did anyone else read the "Haunted Tank" comic books when you were kids?   I've been interested in Stuarts ever since . . .  Finally got to see one.

The Return of Issues, Etc.

Molly's got the scoop (Click here: We’re getting closer . . . « Augsburg1530). 

"Jeff and Todd have signed a contract with KSIV-AM 1320 in St. Louis. All of their studio equipment is in and connected. So the team will be furiously testing, testing, testing until they open the mic on June 30. On weekdays, Monday-Friday, starting June 30, the program will be webcast around the world for two hours, 3:00-5:00 (Central), on the Internet at the Pirate Christian Radio website:  The second hour, 4:00-5:00, will be broadcast in the St. Louis area on AM 1320."

Update on Saturday, June 21, 2008 at 03:43PM by Kim Riddlebarger

Here's the new website (Click here: Home of the NEW Issues, Etc.).  They are even taking calls (on a taped call line) in advance of the June 30 kick-off.