Tidbits - February 2018
Never a better time…
It’s so easy to get caught up in what’s going wrong with the world that we can lose sight of all the wonders God is working in the here and now. Pastor John MacArthur reflected on this, in his eulogy given at Sproul’s funeral on Dec 20, and noted how very blessed we are to live at a time such as this.
“I think you have to understand this. This is the greatest time in this history of the church for the expansion of sound doctrine. You might say this is the greatest explosion of the Truth in history. And the truth, of course, is captured in the doctrines of grace, and Reformed theology. People look at the Church today and what’s going and very often they say to me: ‘This is a very sad time, there is so much bad preaching, so much unbiblical ecclesiology, there so much poor spiritual leadership, there is so much disinterest in the doctrine of sanctification. There’s no real sense of holiness and worship.’ You know all these things. At the same time there has never been a time in the history of the world where sound doctrine is so available in a split second anywhere on the planet.”
Treat animals like people isn’t elevating animals
“The fact is that people who think that animals should be treated with all the respect and tenderness due to human beings will end up treating human beings like animals.”
– Michael Cook
What is true freedom?
In his new book True Right: Genuine Conservative Leaders of Western Canada, Michael Wagner explains the difference between what many today understand as freedom and what true freedom really entails.
Link provides a brief description of how the meaning of the word “freedom” has changed since the 1960s. Freedom means doing what we want rather than doing what we should. He explains the older conservative view this way:
A synonym for freedom is “self-government.” If we are self-governed, we can say we are free. It means that we have control over ourselves. And it also means that if we have lost control over ourselves, we have lost our freedom. We descend either to a state of slavery or to a state of anarchy; in our case, the latter.
The idea of freedom as “self-government” is important for understanding the difference between classical and modern conceptions of freedom.
Take, for example, the case of a man who is in a position to view pornography without anyone finding out. He is strongly tempted and is faced with the choice of giving in to the temptation, or turning away from it. In the modern view, true freedom means doing what he really desires, so he views the pornography. This is what he feels he wants, so he does it. He is “free” to fulfill his base desires.
In the classical view, however, true freedom means he forces himself to turn away from the pornography and ignore it. How can this be called “freedom”? Because his mind overrules his passions so that he could do what is right. He is in control of himself rather than being controlled by biological urges.
When a man gives in to his physical desires he is not free, he is controlled by his physical desires. Every animal gives in to its desires, so in following this path the man who views the pornography is actually a slave to his animal desires. He is controlled by his passions and therefore cannot be considered “free.”
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Worried about your reputation? Don’t be
“Brother, if any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him. For you are worse than he thinks you to be. If he charges you falsely on some point, yet be satisfied, for if he knew you better he might change the accusation, and you would be no gainer by the correction. If you have your moral portrait painted, and it is ugly, be satisfied; for it only needs a few blacker touches, and it would be still nearer the truth.”
– Charles Spurgeon
On euphemisms, and the power in our word choices
Christians know words have power. It was through words that Creation came to be (Ps. 33:8-9) and we know that Jesus is, Himself, the Word become flesh (John 1:14).
The Devil also knows words have power, which is why he spends so much time trying to twist their meaning. The nonsensical distinction between gender and biological sex is his work. So too is the push for gay “marriage.” This battle was never over legal status or else it would have been over with the securing of civil unions. No, the goal was to obscure the meaning of marriage so that the term could be used to grant an aura of legitimacy to sinful same-sex unions.
Euphemisms obscure the truth in all sorts of ways. Consider how the debate might be shaped if, instead of talking about “physician-assisted dying,” we used the more accurate term “physician-assisted killing.” And consider, the point that IntellectualTakeout.org’s Jon Miltimore recently made about how we glamorize pornography in the terms we used to describe it. We speak of “porn stars” but in what sense are they stars? Wouldn’t “pornographic actress” be more to the point? And instead of “adult entertainment industry” how about the less alluring term: “pornographic movie business”?
Christians then, should be careful in the word choices we make - we can't go along with attempts to use language to obscure the truth. That’s why Pastor Douglas Wilson consistently refers to gay “marriage” as gay mirage, and why I make use of quotations marks, which, as my children know, means “not really.” It is why, while we might call a boy named Sue “Sue,” we should not call him a "girl." Words matter, whether to obscure the truth, as in an Orwellian doublespeak, or as Christians must do, to clarify and reveal God’s truth.
A reason not to gamble
Fred Couples recounts when he first learned that there is no such thing as a sure bet. The lesson was learned when the late tennis player Bobby Riggs, challenged him to a golf money match. There was one condition though – Riggs wanted one “throw” per hole. Even with one throw it seemed highly unlikely Riggs could beat the professional golfer, so Couples took the bet.
“On the first hole I hit my approach shot to 15 feet. Meanwhile it took Riggs four shots to reach the green,” said Couples. “But just as I got set to putt Riggs walked over, picked up my ball and threw it out-of-bounds.”
Riggs started laughing and wouldn’t accept Couples money.
“You’ve heard the lesson before, but here it is again,” Couples said, “If something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.”
SOURCE: November 2000 Golf Digest
On truth vs. love
I've learned that truth without love is cruel; love without truth is cowardly.
– Phil Callaway, author of To Be Perfectly Honest...
