tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36096397887020341712024-03-05T04:12:37.749-08:00Exception NotedPastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-26867075813896576332017-05-15T07:59:00.001-07:002017-05-15T07:59:13.380-07:00On A High Hill: I Blinked and He Was Grown!<a href="http://onahighhill.blogspot.com/2017/05/i-blinked-and-he-was-grown.html?m=1">On A High Hill: I Blinked and He Was Grown!</a>Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-25894496901406483662014-02-08T06:27:00.001-08:002014-02-08T11:11:40.716-08:00How Ken Ham Won the DebateI watched the debate with great interest; I watched reactions to the
debate with greater interest. I think Dr. Albert Mohler had the best
immediate <a href="http://www.albertmohler.com/2014/02/05/bill-nyes-reasonable-man-the-central-worldview-clash-of-the-ham-nye-debate/" target="_blank">summary.</a>
Compliments and criticisms have not been hard to find from either
side’s supporters or opponents. Some secularists were disappointed with
Bill Nye; some Christians (especially old earthers) criticized Ken Ham.<br />
Ken Ham won the debate. Here’s how he did it.<img alt="" class="mce-wp-more mceItemNoResize" data-mce-src="http://wordpress.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" src="http://wordpress.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" title="More..." /><br />
<ol>
<li> Because of how the debate question was framed<i>: Is Creation a Viable Model of Origins in Today’s Modern Scientific Era?</i>
When I saw the actual question I was surprised. I sensed the question
was tilted in Ken Ham’s favor and I was curious that Bill Nye allowed it
to be asked in that manner. The question only requires a modest defense
of <i>viability</i> in <i>a model of origins. </i>Not superiority, not
exclusivity – viability. Why Bill Nye allowed this particular question
became moot because he never addressed it, nor did he answer it. Ken Ham
demonstrated that scientists who hold to creation as a model of origins
function well in our scientific era, practically. Ken Ham also made
the case that the creation model encourages scientific inquiry -and
confidence in that process, philosophically.</li>
<li>Because of how
emotional and religious fervor obviously drives Bill Nye’s viewpoint.
As I watched the debate it became apparent how devoted Bill Nye is to
the religion of secular humanism. He speaks of “science” as though it
were a pet or a grandchild with all kinds of wonderful potential and
precociousness. It was really quite touching; but logically
unpersuasive.</li>
<li>Because of how Bill Nye was unable to define or
defend words. He did not want to admit the difference between
historical and observational science; he did not want to admit the
difference between speciation and macro-evolution. He did not want to
grant that creation is a viable model of origins.</li>
<li>Because of how
Ken Ham based his arguments on the Bible. Some thought he would
downplay the pre-suppositional apologetics that Bible believers
clearly hold. He did not. He presented a coherent world-view that
explains the origin of sin, death and more importantly the hope of
eternal life. Bill Nye presented his religion, too – an optimism based
on no real facts – a religion that hopes life will get gradually better
through scientific discovery.</li>
</ol>
Ken Ham won this debate.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://debatelive.org/" target="_blank">See for yourself. </a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkafe7omHemdOVzmPQlzVD52FWapQ4I_yA9FcwZK_xZSLW4FauU26qYDKAA9o5ZAo1ZJyc7lIkHl_OWHlp7Jjmy8OhLWkul65QNZ_tsJRw-k4P1C645tpleHBKYZ4tRFpJrhc_2Fd9tn4/s1600/creationdebatepromo-postcard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkafe7omHemdOVzmPQlzVD52FWapQ4I_yA9FcwZK_xZSLW4FauU26qYDKAA9o5ZAo1ZJyc7lIkHl_OWHlp7Jjmy8OhLWkul65QNZ_tsJRw-k4P1C645tpleHBKYZ4tRFpJrhc_2Fd9tn4/s1600/creationdebatepromo-postcard.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-70218656845837474302014-01-13T14:31:00.001-08:002014-01-13T14:31:50.421-08:00Book Review of: Isaiah 40 – 55, Concordia Commentary. R. Reed Lessing.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Isaiah 40 –
55, Concordia Commentary</span></i>. <span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">By R. Reed Lessing. St. Louis, Mo: Concordia
Publishing House, 2011, 737 pp., $49.99.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
The author is Professor of
Exegetical Theology and director of the graduate school at Concordia Seminary,
St. Louis, Missouri. He received degrees from St. John's College, (B.A.), and
Concordia Seminary (M. Div., S.T.M., Ph.D.). He also served pastorates for some
thirteen years. The book is part of the Concordia Commentary series which, the
publisher says, endeavors to “enable pastors and teachers of the Word to
proclaim the Gospel with greater insight, clarity, and faithfulness to the
divine intent of the biblical text.” Further the series interprets “Scripture
as a harmonious unity centered in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Every
passage bears witness to the Good News that God has reconciled the world to
Himself through our Lord's life, death, and resurrection. The commentary fully
affirms the divine inspiration, inerrancy, and authority of Scripture as it
emphasizes ‘that which promotes Christ’ in each pericope.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
This is an exceptional commentary
and is to be highly commended and recommended. Any serious student of Isaiah,
and particularly of this section (chapters 40 -55) of Isaiah, would benefit
from the accessible scholarship in this volume. Lessing demonstrates a skilled
touch with the text, offering his own translation, and is clearly comfortable
in dealing with the vocabulary, syntax and thematic diagramming that provide
the basis for his interpretations. His analogy of a ‘sonata allegro’ is well
considered and shows an extensive and intensive grasp of the text: “The main
theme of Isaiah 40-55 is stated in 40:1-2 and is then repeated and developed
throughout the 16 chapters. The way in which Yahweh comforts His people, speaks
to Jerusalem’s heart, ends her warfare, and forgives her sins comes through the
second topic of the Suffering Servant, which complements the main idea.
Yahweh’s plan of comfort through His Servant is further developed as other
themes are explored such as Cyrus, creation, idolatry, and mission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These sections come in unpredictable places
and are connected to the main composition while also distinct from it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other multiple keys enhancing the composition
are employed as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stichworter</i>, or ‘catchwords.’
They include ‘arm, peace/well-being, everlasting, covenant love, and gather’”
(page 49).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Lessing focuses on the “Servant
Songs: in 42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; and 52:13- 53:12 and effectively unveils that
is it Jesus of Nazareth who entirely fulfills the four servant songs. It is a
masterful treatment: “While this commentary considers <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">typology </i>to be the hermeneutical employed by the NT citations of
42:1-9, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rectilinear prophecy </i>defines
the manner in which the NT understands the Servant in the Second, Third, and
Fourth Songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This Servant is Jesus, and
Jesus alone” (page 83). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
There are substantial
bibliographical resources cited, some 400 entries. Lessing weaves an effective
argument for the literary, historical, canonical and poetical designs of Isaiah
in general and of this section in particular. He also offers a succinct summary
of the historical theologies as they touch on Isaiah. The Index of Subjects (28
doubled column pages) is very detailed and complete. The Index of Passages (36
triple column pages) is both useful and illustrative as to the attention the
author has given to all of the Scriptures. Lessing always seems to write with
clear, confident connections to the greater context of Isaiah and to the whole
Bible. He does so without slighting either the near or far view of Scripture’s
scope and sequence. This is not a small thing and is one of the great strengths
of this commentary.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
In the setting of such earnest
scholarship it is also refreshing to read: “Commentary writers are not doing
the primary work of the church. To import a war analogy, the front line of the
battle is taking place as pastors preach and teach the Gospel and administer
the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper… Authors of commentaries are
behind the front lines, assisting soldiers to be fully equipped with their
chief offensive weapon: ‘the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God’”
(page 11).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
In light of that, this volume
serves as an exegetical and hortatory resource for preachers and teachers. It
would serve the beginner well but also the seasoned expositor. There is a
considerable devotional thread woven throughout the volume and Lessing has managed
to avoid the pedantic pitfalls of commentaries that conceal more than they
reveal. The design – to make this commentary useful – may also explain the few
faults that might be found in this volume. Minor to be sure, but they are
noticeable.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
At times the commentary takes a
colloquial turn with a penchant for cliché (“the tables will be turned’) but on
the whole this may help expositors, especially inexperienced ones, and so that
mutes the criticism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition,
stylistically, the fifteen thematic icons are not different enough in
appearance and at times seem to clutter the margin. However,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>repeated use would make them more
identifiable and effective. The thematic name of each icon listed as it appears
throughout the volume would enhance a future edition.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
One further caveat: this volume is
distinctively Lutheran, conservative Missouri Synod Lutheran, but definitely
Lutheran. For example, considering <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Election
</i>the author says: “Jesus is the Elect One and through His election, the
baptized are elected before the creation of the world.” (page 220); and in
Isaiah 43 the author finds assurance that salvation comes “through the Word and
the saving Sacrament of Baptism” (page 319). To Lutherans that may prove an advantage;
to others surely a distraction. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Lessing concludes his treatise with
powerfully evocative praise: “Throughout Isaiah 40 – 55, creation celebrates
Yahweh’s restoring gift of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">shalom</i>.
‘Sing to Yahweh a new song. …Let the wilderness and its towns lift up [their
voice]’ (42: 10-11). The cadence is picked up in 44:23 and again 49:13.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why is the music so loud? Because Yahweh has
condemned Babylon, ‘the great prostitute who defiled the earth by her immorality.
And He has avenged the blood of His servants from her hand.’ (Rev. 19:2; see
Isaiah 47).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The world empire is deposed
and ‘the Lord God Almighty reigns’ (Rev. 19:6; see Isaiah 52:7). The opening
words of Isaiah<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>40 – 55 ring with hope:
‘comfort, comfort my people’ (40:1). In the closing words of Isaiah 40 – 55,
Yahweh promises ‘[My Word] will do that which I please and it will accomplish
[that purpose for] which I send it” (55:11). The ancient promises to Abraham
and Sarah will be repeated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The exodus
of Moses will happen again. The covenant of mercy with David will be renewed!
Eden and with it all creation will be restored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because of Christ’s shed blood and His resurrection power, we have this
prophetic Word made more certain. When He <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">returns</i>,
we will be led forth into the new Jerusalem, where everything will be marked by
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">shalom</i>” (page 671).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
This is a commentary that draws the
reader more deliberately into the Scripture it seeks to exposit. It makes the
original text more accessible and understandable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It never attempts to undermine or obfuscate
the message the Holy Spirit has given.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lessing never loses sight of the metanarrative of redemption and
emphatically keeps the glory of God at the center of the study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 5.5in;">
David Pitman</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 3.5in;">
John Leland
Baptist College, Georgetown, KY</div>
Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-51130435915730524152013-11-30T09:24:00.000-08:002013-11-30T09:24:08.335-08:00Is There Not a Cause?<br />
<a href="http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2013/11/nietzchean-evangelicalism.php" target="_blank">http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2013/11/nietzchean-evangelicalism.php</a>Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-48443810671018894672013-05-11T06:21:00.001-07:002013-05-11T06:21:37.170-07:00Founders Ministries Blog: Laying Hold of the Truth<a href="http://blog.founders.org/2013/05/laying-hold-of-truth.html?spref=bl">Founders Ministries Blog: Laying Hold of the Truth</a>: I love God’s Word and delight in its truth. Yet too often I find that after reading my Bible or hearing a sermon, the truth, so necessary to...Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-86800972274158581632013-03-23T17:55:00.000-07:002013-03-23T17:55:04.367-07:00<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3609639788702034171" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Andrew Fuller and His Forgotten
Friend: Beeby Wallis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A Friendship Portrait Drawn in Three
Sketches<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sketch One<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .4in; margin-top: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Friendships are often marked by memorable places and events
as well as by the normal routine of life. Our first sketch remembers a
gathering of some fourteen individuals on October 2, 1792. Present are:<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">William Carey,
Leicester; John Ryland, Northampton; Reynold Hogg, Thrapstone; John Sutcliff,
Olney; Andrew Fuller, Kettering; Abraham Greenwood, Oakham; Edward Sharman,
Cottisbrook; Samuel Pearce, Birmingham; Joseph Timms, Kettering; Joshua Burton,
Foxton; Thomas Blundel, Arnsby; William Heighton, Roade; John Bristol Ayres,
Braybrook; and William Staughton</span><a href="http://www.wmcarey.edu./carey/staughton/staughton.htm"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, Bristol.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">These men meet to form the Baptist Missionary
Society. The impact of their society is well-known; some of the particulars, less
so. Their offering<a href="file:///C:/Users/David/Documents/Andrew%20Fuller%20and%20His%20Forgotten%20Friend.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
collected that day was something over </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">13
</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">£</span><span style="background-color: #c0dffd; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">2s 6d. </span> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Ryland
and Hoog each gave </span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">£2-2;
Most of the rest gave </span><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;">£1-1 (perhaps a guinea);</span><span style="background: white; color: #cc0000; font-size: 9.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Mr. Staughton gave nothing – perhaps
because he was a ministerial student at the time. William Carey made no donation that day but
did offer the proceeds from the sale of his book, </span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">An Enquiry into the Obligations
of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But for the purpose of this sketch, attention is drawn to
the house in which they meet and to one noticeable absence. The house<a href="file:///C:/Users/David/Documents/Andrew%20Fuller%20and%20His%20Forgotten%20Friend.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> is that of Deacon and Mrs
Beeby Wallis. Cathcart said:</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .4in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> “The little parlor
which witnessed the birth of this society was the most honored room in the
British Islands, or in any part of Christendom; in it was formed the first
society of modern time for spreading the gospel among the heathen, the parent
of all the great Protestant missionary societies in existence.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .4in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .4in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Fuller comes to the meeting
bearing the sorrow of his wife’s terrible illness that summer; Fuller was by
his wife’s side twenty two hours a day for the three months; Mrs. Fuller died
in August. He comes to a home also
bearing grief. Absent from the gathering was Beeby Wallis, who had died in
April. Mr. and Mrs.Wallis used their home and their wealth for kingdom work in
their church and the Baptist Mission
even after their deaths.<a href="file:///C:/Users/David/Documents/Andrew%20Fuller%20and%20His%20Forgotten%20Friend.docx#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .4in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Beeby Wallis was Andrew Fuller’s friend.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .4in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .4in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sketch Two<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .4in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Fuller becomes the
Secretary of the new mission society, continuing as pastor of the Kettering
church where he had ministered since October, 1782. The Baptist Quarterly says:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .8in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The chief hinge on which the gates of opportunity turned for
Fuller was his removal to Kettering… Once at Kettering a new world opened out
before Fuller. Ryland junior, at Northhampton, and Sutcliff, at Olney, he
already knew, but they had been inaccessibly remote [in] those pre-railway,
pre-mail coach days. Now they could meet. Pierce was near enough, at Birmingham
to be visited occasionally. That seraphic soul, too good for this hard world,
and destined not long to remain in it, had a strange fascination for rough and
gruff Andrew Fuller, whose private prayers contained thereafter a line of
unusual character: “God of Samuel Pierce, be my God!” Soon young Carey came into their circle, and
the yeasty ferment in that visionary’s mind communicated itself to the group of
brave hearts who were destined to lead a reluctant church forward with the
gospel into the heathen world.<a href="file:///C:/Users/David/Documents/Andrew%20Fuller%20and%20His%20Forgotten%20Friend.docx#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .8in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .8in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Divine hand that seems so
clearly to have brought Fuller to Kettering made use of a human hand as
well. That human agency, more than any
other perhaps, was Beeby Wallis.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .8in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Fuller’s first pastorate at Soham
was a struggle financially. Married,
with a young family, Fuller had tried a business and then a school to
supplement a salary that never reached <b><span style="background: white; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%;">£</span></b>13 a year. Yet he was fully
devoted to the little church at Soham and it took a year for him to come to the
decision to move to Kettering. His diary records the tears and the trauma for
Fuller and his first church.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .8in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Beeby Wallis first sought Fuller out and over
the year through letters and visits made his case for Fuller to come to
Kettering. From that a friendship was
forged that seems to have stood the test of time. Pastor and Deacon would serve together and
find common cause and uncommon cordiality.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .8in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Beeby Wallis was appointed a
deacon by Thomas Benford on October 27, 1768. His signature can be found
appended for several years to the Letter to the Association. He also signed the
Covenant and confession of faith for the Kettering church along with John
Brown, Pastor and another Deacon, Joseph Timms – a name that appears among
those gathered to form the Missionary Society. Wallis also served as the first
treasurer of the Particular Baptist Association, from which the Missionary
Society would come.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .8in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .8in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .8in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sketch Three<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .8in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .8in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The last scene is a funeral service.
Andrew Fuller’s funeral sermon at the death of Beeby Wallis was printed and
published: “The Blessedness of the Dead.”</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .8in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Fuller speaks of “a steady,
faithful, and judicious friend.”</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: 1.1in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I have often admired
the wisdom and mercy of God in these things.
We see the threatening hand of God laid upon our dearest friends or
relatives – and at first we think we can never endure the loss – but the
affliction continues – meanwhile the weight which he sustained is gradually
removed, and falls by degrees upon his friends about him – life becomes a
burden to himself - at length the very
same principle that made it appear impossible for us to endure a separation,
renders us incapable of praying or even wishing for his continuance – and thus
the burden that we should scarcely have known how to bear becomes tolerable by
being let down, as it were, gradually upon our shoulders.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: 1.1in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: 1.1in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: 1.1in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>About five years after
[Wallis] was chosen to the office of a deacon, an office which he has filled
with honour and satisfaction for twenty-four years. It was a great blessing to the church,
especially when, for the space of five years, they were destitute of a
minister, that he was invested with this office, and was then in the prime of
life and usefulness. It will long be
remembered with what meekness of wisdom he presided in the church during that
uncomfortable interval; and how , notwithstanding all the disadvantages of such
a situation, they were not only preserved in peace, but gradually increased,
till a minister was settled among them.</i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .8in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The stability of the church, and
its ability to support a minister was a crucial factor in the call and coming
of Andrew Fuller to Kettering.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: 1.1in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>God endued him with a
sound understanding, and his observances on men and things, ripened by long
experience, were just and accurate. He
had a quick sense of right and wrong, of propriety and impropriety, which
rendered his counsel of great esteem in cases of difficulty.</i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 1.1in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Fuller speaks of an industrious,
diligent, active man but elaborates on Beeby’s most prominent features:</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: 1.1in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>One of the most
prominent features of his character was sincerity, or integrity of heart. This was a temper of mind that ran through
all his concerns. In a cause of
righteousness he possessed a severity which rendered it almost impossible for
treachery to stand before him.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: 1.1in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>… “I wish to do what is
<b>right</b>,” he would say “and leave
consequences.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: 1.1in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>…He would neither
flatter, not be flattered by others. The
true secret by which he obtained esteem, was an unaffected modesty, mingled
with kindness and goodness.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .8in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .8in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .8in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .8in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">On Beeby Wallis’ tomb, an end
panel bore an inscription said to have been written by Andrew Fuller:</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .8in; margin-top: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kind sycamore, preserve,
beneath thy shade,</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .8in; margin-top: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The precious dust of Him who
cherished thee:</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .8in; margin-top: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nor Thee alone; a plant to
him more dear,</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .8in; margin-top: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He cherished, and with
fost’ring hand upreared.</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .8in; margin-top: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .8in; margin-top: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Active and generous in
Virtue’s cause,</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .8in; margin-top: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With solid wisdom, strict
integrity,</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .8in; margin-top: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And unaffected piety, he
lived</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .8in; margin-top: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Beloved amongst us, and
beloved he died.</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .8in; margin-top: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .8in; margin-top: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Beneath an Allon-Bachuth<a href="file:///C:/Users/David/Documents/Andrew%20Fuller%20and%20His%20Forgotten%20Friend.docx#_edn5" name="_ednref5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>, Jacob wept:</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .8in; margin-top: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Beneath thy shade we mourn a
heavier loss.</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .8in; margin-top: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: .4in; margin-right: .8in; margin-top: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.8in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Beeby Wallis was Andrew Fuller’s friend.
He was used of God to bring Fuller to Kettering; to support and sustain
his pastoral ministry there, and to enable Fuller’s wider ministry to the world
with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Late in
his life, Beeby Wallis said, “I reckon it the greatest honour of my Life to
have been employed in promoting the interest of Christ.”</span></div>
<div>
<!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br clear="all" /></span>
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="edn1">
<div style="background: #C0DFFD; line-height: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/David/Documents/Andrew%20Fuller%20and%20His%20Forgotten%20Friend.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<span style="background: white; font-size: 9.0pt;">In
1790, £13 2s 6d would have the same spending worth today of</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"> </span></span><b><span style="background: white; font-size: 9.0pt;">£735.39 </span></b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">( I estimate about $1200 US dollars.)</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/David/Documents/Andrew%20Fuller%20and%20His%20Forgotten%20Friend.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> </span><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75"
coordsize="21600,21600" o:spt="75" o:preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe"
filled="f" stroked="f">
<v:stroke joinstyle="miter"/>
<v:formulas>
<v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"/>
<v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"/>
<v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"/>
<v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"/>
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"/>
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"/>
<v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"/>
<v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"/>
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"/>
<v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"/>
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"/>
<v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"/>
</v:formulas>
<v:path o:extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect"/>
<o:lock v:ext="edit" aspectratio="t"/>
</v:shapetype><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_1" o:spid="_x0000_i1025" type="#_x0000_t75"
alt="http://www.wmcarey.edu/carey/enquiry/widowwallishouse.jpg" style='width:468pt;
height:333pt;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square'>
<v:imagedata src="file:///C:\Users\David\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.jpg"
o:title="widowwallishouse"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--></div>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/David/Documents/Andrew%20Fuller%20and%20His%20Forgotten%20Friend.docx#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Mrs. Beeby Wallis, by will proved in Prerogative Court of Canterbury 6 May
1813, gave £400 to the minister and deacons of the Particular Baptist
Congregation upon trust to apply the interest yearly as to £2 10<i>s</i>. to
the minister for preaching occasionally in neighbouring villages, £2 10<i>s</i>.
in Bibles and hymn books for poor of congregation, £5 to poor of congregation,
£4 10<i>s</i>. in repair of Meeting House and residue for minister. The money
was invested in Consols, which were sold in 1897, and the proceeds, £455 1<i>s</i>.,
after being placed on mortgage were subsequently invested in £480 17<i>s</i>. 7<i>d</i>.
5 per cent. War Stock, with the Official Trustees, producing £24 0<i>s</i>. 10<i>d</i>.
yearly. In 1924 £16 10<i>s</i>. was placed to the general fund of Fuller
Chapel, £2 10<i>s</i>. to the Hymn Book and Bible Fund, and £5 was distributed
to the poor.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn4">
<div style="background: white; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/David/Documents/Andrew%20Fuller%20and%20His%20Forgotten%20Friend.docx#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""></a> </span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><b><span style="color: #4f81bd; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">[iv]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
The Baptist Quarterly </span><a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=the%20baptist%20quarterly%20andrew%20fuller%20gilbert%20laws&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biblicalstudies.org.uk%2Farticles_bq_01.php&ei=OPtYUK-XH42M0QHTpoCoCQ&usg=AFQjCNHIlG1hPU0EnaoPIxd92IBA1IR-zA"><span style="color: #1122cc; font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">BiblicalStudies.org.uk:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><i><span style="color: #1122cc; font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Baptist Quarterly</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #1122cc; font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><span style="color: #1122cc; font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Vols. 1 - 3 (1922 - 1927)</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn5">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/David/Documents/Andrew%20Fuller%20and%20His%20Forgotten%20Friend.docx#_ednref5" name="_edn5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
The KJV transliterated this as “oak of weeping.”</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.0pt;">Selected Bibliography <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12.0pt;">Brewster, Paul. <i>Andrew Fuller:
Model Pastor-Theologian.</i>Nashville: B&H Publishing Group. 2010<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fuller, Andrew. <i>The Blessedness of
the Dead.</i> Reproduction from British Library. London: ECCO . 1792<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fuller, Andrew Gunton, Editor. <i>The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller. </i>Edinburgh:
Banner of Truth. Reprint, 2007.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12.0pt;">Taylor, John, <i>Historical
Collections relating to Northamptonshire. </i>Northhampton: Taylor & Sons.
1896. Reprint.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The Baptist Quarterly </span><a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=the%20baptist%20quarterly%20andrew%20fuller%20gilbert%20laws&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biblicalstudies.org.uk%2Farticles_bq_01.php&ei=OPtYUK-XH42M0QHTpoCoCQ&usg=AFQjCNHIlG1hPU0EnaoPIxd92IBA1IR-zA"><b><span style="color: #1122cc; font-size: 12.0pt;">BiblicalStudies.org.uk:</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #1122cc; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></span><i><span style="color: #1122cc; font-size: 12.0pt;">Baptist
Quarterly</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #1122cc; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></span><b><span style="color: #1122cc; font-size: 12.0pt;">Vols. 1 - 3 (1922 - 1927)</span></b></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-68711957594210894862013-03-23T17:44:00.002-07:002013-03-27T06:30:48.646-07:00Top Ten Reasons Sports Should be Banned in America<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<span style="font-size: large;">10. The competitive spirit it engenders is contrary to the guaranteed outcomes-equality desired by our society. <br /><br />9. The perpetuation of gender inequities continues without any sign of ultimate resolution. <br /><br />8. The carbon footprint of sports in America is larger than that of the general population of Europe and South America combined. <br /><br />7. Injuries and deaths continue to accumulate among participants and spectators. <br /><br />6. The religious devotion of fans to teams, many of which utilize public-financed facilities, is a defacto violation of the separation of church and state. <br /><br />5. The announcers, color commentators and analysts are systematically destroying the proper use of language and logic. <br /><br />4. The lost revenue, due to unreported gambling proceeds, hinders the expansion of the welfare state that we all envision as best for America. <br /><br />3. The pyramid structure of sports is designed to eliminate more and more participants at each higher level with great income received by only a select few at the pinnacle of the Ponzi –like scheme. It<span style="font-size: large;"> reeks of </span>“Capitalism.” <br /><br />2. The advance of digital graphics allows for the replacement of actual sports with computer-generated models suitable for entertainment at a fraction of the cost. <br /><br />1. Arenas are sure to be needed when Christianity is outlawed for being hateful and intolerant. The only crimes left to be punished in our perfect society. The Christians could be fed to lions – always highly entertaining and not without historical precedent.
</span>Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-64903140102004938342012-09-01T09:38:00.000-07:002012-09-01T09:38:47.156-07:00Only going to ask this once...Anyone ever had this conversation with a toddler?<br />
<br />
Adult: "Do you want cereal or pancakes for breakfast?"<br />
Toddler: "I want ice cream."<br />
Adult: "Listen to the choices: pancakes or cereal."<br />
Adult: "Do you want cereal or pancakes for breakfast?"<br />
Toddler: "I want ice cream."
<br />
<br />
Adult: "Listen to the choices: pancakes or cereal."<br />
Adult: "Do you want cereal or pancakes for breakfast?"<br />
Toddler: "I want ice cream."
<br />
<br />
I now close this scene prematurely and leave to your imagination where it goes from there. Could be good; could be bad.<br />
<br />
I transpose this conversation now to politics.<br />
<br />
Adult: "Do you want Obama or Romney for President?"<br />
<br />
Answer the question. Unacceptable toddler answers include any name that is NOT Obama or Romney; toddler answers also include: " I am not going to vote." "I will now have a tantrum because I don't like my choices." And the ever popular: "You are mean!"<br />
<br />
Do you want Obama or Romney for President? I am only going to ask this once....<br />
Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-60139100632379189762012-07-19T06:32:00.000-07:002012-07-19T06:32:34.562-07:00Ashamed of God: Why Peter Enns Gets It Wrong, Again.Dr. Peter Enns recently engaged Pastor John Piper (<a href="http://t.co/nwIQMvPd" target="_blank">here</a>) on the Biblical record of God's judgment of the Canaanites. Dr. Piper's answer to the question (How Could God Kill Women and Children?) can be found on his <a href="http://t.co/nwIQMvPd" target="_blank">site.</a><br />
<br />
Dr. Peter Enns parted ways with Westminster Theological Seminary some years back over his views of inspiration and, coincidentally, the issue at the heart of his exchange with Piper. Enns left BioLogos a few months ago and was quoted as saying, "They are moving in a more conservative direction, i.e., keeping Southern Baptists and other literalists on board." <br />
<br />
In this exchange, Enns highlights Piper's opening statement, who in a typical Piperian flourish presents his view in bold, almost, shocking frankness. Nevertheless, Piper does state the Biblical view correctly.<br />
<br />
The judgment of the Canaanites, promised by God in Genesis 15:16, was to follow 400 years of mercy and warning. The destruction of Sodom was an early warning sign to that culture. Abraham, Melchisedek, Isaac and others spoke of and for God to that culture.<br />
<br />
My point in this brief essay is to simply point out why Dr Enns gets this all wrong. Sadly his error is very simple.<br />
<br />
First, his view of God is wrong. Peter Enns makes his god in the image of Peter Enns. Enns decides what is right and wrong and "God" must conduct himself accordingly. The God of the Bible embarrasses Enns. <br />
<br />
Second, his view of Scripture is wrong. Enns insists that Divine judgment is inconsistent with the message of the New Testament. He ignores Christ's warning that judgment for Tyre and Sidon will be worse than that of Sodom. <br />
<br />
Enns gets it wrong. <br />
<br />
<br />Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-24516712134433244782012-06-26T15:02:00.000-07:002012-06-26T16:03:08.352-07:00Meeting the Enemy<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://onahighhill.blogspot.com/2012/06/blind-love-and-blessings-meeting-enemy.html" target="_blank">You need to read this.</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I was 5 hours away, blessedly exempt from the chicken pox
quarantine, when my wife called to tell me the doctor thought the baby had, perhaps,
a broken bone in her hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I preached
that night and drove home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we
finally got the correct diagnosis, I was furious with the first pediatrician
and my anger added to my wife’s anxiety.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Monitoring the spider bite was surreal as we watched our
baby that night – what were we watching for I wondered?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then it passed; I did not know how much that
episode would take from us just then.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hindsight tells me I should have been more observant
about the stress levels all these things cumulatively were adding. I have never
discussed the anonymous calls we were receiving – ominous calls – vague but
more frequent when I was out of town. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I am hesitant even now to talk about the
spiritual warfare that was being waged in and around us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would later learn about some of it and some
of it I would never fathom or grasp. We turned over some rocks in that ministry
that revealed racism, prejudice and hatred that still today sadden me. God
granted some victories and some courage; but I did not know at what cost they
were coming.</span></div>Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-36985791027498150922012-06-26T05:21:00.001-07:002012-06-26T05:21:02.734-07:00Founders Ministries Blog: "The Southern Baptist Convention: Retrospect and P...<a href="http://blog.founders.org/2012/06/southern-baptist-convention-retrospect.html?spref=bl">Founders Ministries Blog: "The Southern Baptist Convention: Retrospect and P...</a>: Dr. Tom Nettles spoke at the 2012 Founders Breakfast in New Orleans before the opening session of the annual meeting of the Southern Bapti...Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-84137531357424838472012-06-15T17:29:00.001-07:002012-06-16T14:45:59.809-07:00Second ThoughtsYou need to read <a href="http://onahighhill.blogspot.com/2012/05/blind-love-and-blessings-first-things.html" target="_blank">First Things First</a> before you read this post. Read it, and then return here.<br />
<br />
I remember that <a href="http://onahighhill.blogspot.com/2012/05/blind-love-and-blessings.html" target="_blank">spring morning</a>. I remember some moments in my life so vividly that they scroll through my mind like a powerpoint. Brief glimpses from my childhood and from big events that are almost overshadowed by the photographs of them, but some moments I remember. <br />
<br />
I remember the first time I saw the woman who would become my bride. She thinks I did not notice her in the orientation where I gave a perfunctory greeting. I noticed. She was the most beautiful girl in the room. <br />
<br />
Before you judge me as shallow or superficial, I did my due diligence and discovered that she was a freshman, having graduated with honors from high school and coming highly recommended by her church and school. I learned that she did have a boyfriend; but I was undeterred by that small insignificant obstacle. <br />
<br />
I remember that moment when she, radiantly beautiful, stood by my side exchanging our wedding vows. Three years later, when she knocked on the door of my classroom in the school where we both taught, telling me we were expecting our first child, she shone like a new diamond. Four times I watched her go through natural childbirth and in each delivery I remember a moment when her grace and strength gave her a beauty I will never forget. Those moments would be helpful harbingers in days to come. <br />
<br />
My wife’s humility has never allowed her to agree with my assessment of her physical beauty and yet she knew I felt that way. That would bring greater anxiety in the severe mercy that would assault her self-image and her physical appearance. <br />
<br />
That Sunday morning when she called me, devastated, I did not know what to do, think or say. I have a habit of reflexively saying, “It will be alright.” Comforting at times but I am sure sometimes downright annoying. These blogs will help us tell about the journey of faith and fear, mountain tops and valleys that followed.Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-89051586631118803432012-05-23T19:04:00.000-07:002012-05-23T19:04:22.316-07:00Blind Love and Blessings In the next several posts I will be reflecting on a common story. told by my wife and me. To quote my wife:<br />
<br />
"<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My husband and I have agreed to
relate the story by telling it through two different perspectives, his
and mine, and by means of two different blogs, his and mine. We agree
that it is risky to leave ourselves open to either criticism and/or
voyeurism but it seems the only way to give the glory to our God. To not
talk about the things the Lord has taught us is to fail to acknowledge
God’s goodness."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I ask that you first read </span><a href="http://onahighhill.blogspot.com/2012/05/blind-love-and-blessings.html" target="_blank">Blind Love and Blessings </a><br />
And stay tuned.Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-17176078811575857152012-05-16T05:03:00.000-07:002012-05-16T05:03:42.388-07:00Top Ten Myths about Bullies<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In which an effort is made to dispel the most egregious
errors encountered by those forced to confront said villainous behavior and in
which the author recounts, with understandable ambiguity, assorted personal
trials and tribulations which, in anecdotal fashion, supply the modest
verification of the theses set forth </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It becomes necessary at
the outset to define our term lest any reader be misled and wade through
the arguments presented only to discover it is not a topic of interest to them and thereby a waste of their time. To
those remaining at the end of the article: no refund of time or energy will be
given nor will there be any legal recourse available to you in protest of
said policy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">To be clear this essay is not about fish found in or around New Zealand, known as "bully" fish such as pakoko or titarakura - small freshwater fish of the genera Gobiomorphus and Philynodon. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Neither is
the discussion at hand concerned with the adjective “bully” i.e. dashing, jolly, my bully boy nor the interjection "bully" used as "bully for you, well done! bravo!</span><span id="hotword"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And lastly, although this
one offers etymological mysteries worth exploring, this essay makes no investigation
of “bully” as used in the 1500’s: </span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">"sweetheart,"</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">
applied to either sex, from the Dutch <i style="color: black;">boel</i><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #333333;">"lover,</span><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: #333333;">brother."</span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Oh, and one more
disclaimer; this essay makes no further statement about “bully” as a
desperate, freewheeling scramble for a Soccer ball by a <span style="color: #333333;">number</span> of players, usually in the <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/goal"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">goal</span></a> area; nor about “bully”
in Field Hockey - a method of putting
the ball into play in <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/which"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">which</span></a><u> </u>two
opponents, facing each other, tap their sticks on the ground near the ball and then
make contact with each other's sticks over the ball three times, after which
each tries to gain <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/possession"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">possession</span></a> of
the ball. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Those readers who
have persisted to this point are well advised and well equipped to understand
the general purpose of this essay. I
trust both of you will leave a comment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[LEGAL HAS ASKED ME TO INSERT HERE A
DISCLAIMER TO THE EFFECT THAT NO WARRANTY, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, ATTENDS TO ANY
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HEREWITH.]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Acceptable
definitions of bully include; a blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who
habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people; and similarly - a person who hurts, persecutes, or intimidates weaker people.</span><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="cursor: default; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Through my lifetime – and I
do not intend this to be my last will and testament (unless all of the sundry
bullies I have encountered happen to read this, unite and form a coalition to ….
well let’s not dwell on that thought) – through my lifetime I have read about,
watched and heard about bullies; their number is legion (and perhaps their
name, too.) I have read about historical figures who qualify; I have known many
fictional and real bullies; the Bible has a veritable menagerie of them – for some
reason King Ahab comes to mind, although the real villain of that story is
Queen Jezebel – but I must ask the reader to stop interrupting my train of
thought because – let’s see, where was I – oh yes! Bullies I have known.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I only mention all this to
make the self-serving statement that I know about bullies. I have suffered at
their devices, at times stood up to them, and on the rare occasion seen some of
them handily defeated. I only offer in
this essay a list of the greatest and most dangerous myths about bullies.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-transform: uppercase;">Myth Number 10: “If someone makes you cry or will not let you
have your way, they are a bully.” </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Not necessarily; in most
cases it just means you are a crybaby, or selfish, or spoiled, or lazy or well,
that’s the general idea.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-transform: uppercase;">Myth Number 9: “Bullies only
know how to use their brawn, not their brains.”</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Again, not necessarily. Some bullies are very, very, smart. This is a dangerous assumption and leads
people to try and “out think” the bully when a better option might be to “out
run” the bully. Looks cowardly but sometimes discretion is the better part of
valor. As Bret Maverick once said, “He who runs away lives to run away another
day.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-transform: uppercase;">Myth Number 8: “If you stand
up to A Bully, they will back down.”</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">No. No. No! Sometimes that
only brings you into range to have the living daylights beaten out of you. I was told this myth as a child and
implemented it unsuccessfully on a number of occasions. I have also made this
mistake as an adult; some lessons are harder to learn than others.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-transform: uppercase;">Myth Number 7: “No one likes a
Bully.”</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Heard that one in the
third grade. Turns out many of the
girls liked him a lot; some of the boys
admired and followed him like ducklings imprinted on a Mama Duck and one of the
teachers thought he was “made of sterner stuff” than the rest of us and the
bully’s dad bragged that “he was a chip off the ole block.” Stand up to a bully
in some crowds and the crowd will beat the living daylights out of you. Trust me on this one. This is a true story.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-transform: uppercase;">Myth Number 6: “Bullies will
grow up and out of their bullydom.”</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Again, I have seen no
statistical or even anecdotal evidence to verify this. What I have seen is
bullies get older, bigger and meaner. Not all of them mind you; some of them
get the living daylights beaten out of them along the way. Sad, but true. As the little girl said, “I’ll cry all night”
when that happens.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-transform: uppercase;">Myth Number 5: “Bullies only
use their physical advantage to get their way.”</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Now this is a slight
variation of myth number 9 but it deserves emphasis. I have seen bullies use every tool, every
technique, and every trick imaginable. I
have seen rich bullies use money; I have seen poor bullies use poverty; I have
seen sad people use grief, sick people use illness, officials use their office;
friends use guilt, scholars use credentials, preachers use pulpits, reporters
use microphones, fools use folly and whole groups of people use history –
all in blatant efforts to bully others.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-transform: uppercase;">Myth Number 4: “Bullies get
what’s coming to them.”</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Not in this life – not on
your life. I know judgment is coming;
but I recommend that you leave vengeance to God and to eternity. Don’t waste
time and energy in the here and now watching or waiting or trying to get even
or justice or satisfaction. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-transform: uppercase;">Myth Number 3: “Bullying is
caused by _________.”</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Now, first a confession to
my readers, or reader if that other fellow left early – I rather
arbitrarily chose 10 for this list, knowing I could at any time change it to 11
or 7 or 5; writers seldom mention that but it is more common than most list
makers would like you to know; however number 3 could be expanded to make this
a list of 27 or 37 things about bullying that no one would ever read. My point
is that you can fill in that blank with anything you can think of - sports, business, religion, patriarchy, matriarchy, fallen arches – or preface those
with “the lack of: sports, business, religion, patriarchy, matriarchy, golden
arches – you get the idea. The fact
is bullying occurs anywhere and everywhere; in church, out of church, in the best
neighborhood, and in the worst. In the courtroom, in the cloakroom, in the boardroom,
in the locker-room, in the bedroom, in the classroom, in the – well,
everywhere. Bullying is just one more manifestation of sin that comes from the
human heart. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-transform: uppercase;">Myth Number 2: “We should make
bullying illegal.”</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I would draft this
legislation, vote for this legislation, enforce this legislation - if it would
work; but – and this is very controversial but still true – it will not work.
At best, it is a futile gesture; at worst, it is another form of bullying; ironic, I
know, but sadly true. You may be happy
to know that the conduct of bullies <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i></b> often illegal and already
punishable by fines, and/or incarceration; and the court of public opinion
(usually) frowns upon it. There is often
a great deal of head-shaking, hand-wringing about it (with stern letters to
follow) but that’s about it. The fact is it cannot be outlawed, proscribed or
made void where prohibited. It’s rather like the cockroaches of which bullies
often remind me. Ubiquitous, unstoppable and inescapable this side of the Great
White Throne Judgment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-transform: uppercase;">Myth Number 1:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And before I list this
last myth, permit me a brief moment of self-congratulatory self-satisfaction
about guessing right on the number of myths; I was mowing my lawn in between
times and had to wait for it all to take shape in the grist forming in the mill
of my mind… anyway</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-transform: uppercase;">Myth Number 1: “Bullies ruin everything.” </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Oddly, you might want to
argue with me about this one; but hear me out.
In my final analysis, I do not think the bully ruins anything; don’t get
me wrong – it’s not for lack of effort; there is much thrashing, and weeping
and wailing, much sound and fury – but it signifies nothing. The bully causes
my backbone to stiffen; he still causes me to step into the arena, he still
makes me want to defend and protect the weak, to speak the truth, to stand for
right – even if I stand alone. And when I lay my head on my pillow at night,
when my conscience assesses my day, when I stand before my Judge – I will not
be sorry that I did. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">P.S. Christians will understand about the Others:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Hebrews 11:32-40 </span></b><sup><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">32 </span></sup><span style="font-size: 14pt;">And what shall I more say? for the
time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and <i>of</i> Barak, and <i>of</i>
Samson, and <i>of</i> Jephthae; <i>of</i> David also, and Samuel, and <i>of</i>
the prophets: <sup><span style="color: black;">33 </span></sup>Who through faith
subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths
of lions, <sup><span style="color: black;">34 </span></sup>Quenched the violence
of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed
valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. <sup><span style="color: black;">35 </span></sup>Women received their dead raised to life
again: and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">others </span></b>were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that
they might obtain a better resurrection: <sup><span style="color: black;">36 </span></sup>And
others had trial of <i>cruel</i> mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of
bonds and imprisonment: <sup><span style="color: black;">37 </span></sup>They
were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword:
they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted,
tormented; <sup><span style="color: black;">38 </span></sup>(Of whom the world
was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and <i>in</i> mountains, and <i>in</i>
dens and caves of the earth. <sup><span style="color: black;">39 </span></sup>And
these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the
promise: <sup><span style="color: black;">40 </span></sup>God having provided
some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. </span></div>Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-39744767661025568602012-05-11T09:13:00.001-07:002012-05-14T07:15:50.537-07:00Book Review<style>
st2\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
</style>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Creation, Un-Creation, Re-Creation: A Discursive
Commentary on Genesis 1-11.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">By Joseph Blenkinsopp,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>New York
and London: T
and T Clark International, 2011, xii + 214 pp., $100.00 paper.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Joseph
Blenkinsopp</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">, with a brilliant mind and admirable ability to write,
is a Catholic scholar of considerable merit. He is </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Emeritus Professor
of Biblical Studies at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;"> His research is obviously
familiar with rabbinic, patristic and medieval literature and he quotes with
ease from the works of Homer, Hesiod, Plato, Shakespeare, Donne, Cowper,
Nietzsche, and Barth.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt;">
<tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="padding: 0.75pt;" valign="top"><div style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">The author adopts a format that assumes
creation cannot be restricted to an event, nor to two versions of an event.
He sees the biblical record as descriptive of an allegorical sequence:
creation - uncreation - recreation. He utilizes speculative discussion rather
than systematic exposition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His view
of Genesis is best summarized by his statement: “… the Biblical text is a
relatively late Hebrew-language version of a literary mythic tradition of
great antiquity” (page 132).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He relies
heavily on the Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis, also called the JEDP theory, in
which: J=Jahwist, E=Elohist, D=Deuteronomistic<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>History, and P=Priestly Code. He sees these
as the “sources” of the patchwork literary quilt of the Hebrew Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blenkinsopp never explains or defends this
theory but simply assumes that his readers know it and accept it as
foundational. </span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Blenkinsopp, then, assumes Genesis to be
composed of fragmented myths about Creation, the Flood, early man, and Hebrew
origins. He contends these legends were orally assembled, and redacted through
the centuries after being adapted from Mesopotamian mythology. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He suggests the Pentateuch may have reached
its final form as late as the Post-Exilic Period (538-432 B.C.).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The author is willing to allow for any
interpretation of Genesis chapter one except “a straightforward chronological
reading of the chapter” (page 20). He insists that the “ex nihilo” view of
creation, though accepted by Judaism and New Testament Christianity, is not the
preferred interpretation from a “linguistic and exegetical point of view” (page
30). The author finds it necessary to remind his readers that science assures
us that the earth is 4.5 billion years old and that the catastrophic extinction
of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago “led eventually to the emergence of
mammals, including humans” (page 5).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is not even the whisper of an acknowledgement that many Biblical
scholars and competent scientists dispute this evolutionary tale; there is not
in the bibliography a single entry that would indicate that </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Blenkinsopp
has read any defense of a literal six-day creation; to be fair he does mention
“creation science” (page131); nor would he be comfortable with a framework
hypothesis for Genesis one and two. Such omission must be intentional
considering the author’s acumen and ability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Given Blenkinsopp’s view of God, which could be charitably described as
open theism, it is probably inaccurate to describe his view as theistic
evolution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Speculative discussion
serves Blenkinsopp’s purpose better as he promotes Genesis
1 – 11 as mythology; his view is that the Bible has no
more credibility or reliability than any other ancient Near Eastern (ANE)
mythology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is clearly conversant and
comfortable with a plethora of mythologies and indicates they all have a
contribution to make in understanding human origins and specifically the
question of evil. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Blenkinsopp includes a
litany of speculative mythology including Adam’s “first” wife as Lilith or
perhaps a serpent-goddess. He is certain that there is no connection between
“Adam” and sin but finds perhaps an allegorical explanation of the nature of
death. His ethical concerns consist of how humanity can deal with a damaged
world “into which we, like the first parents, have been thrust” (page 19).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">He also is very much
exercised over the long-term detriment of the concept of original sin and how
that has adversely affected the advance of feminism. Blenkinsopp leaves little
doubt about his dismissal of original sin; he laments, “This unfortunate
tradition of denigration, in which male fear of the female played, and
continues to play, a significant part, was perpetuated in Early Christianity”
(page 79). The “traditional” view of original sin offends “our modern
sensitivities” (page 80).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">The author concludes, that Genesis 1 – 11, while not inerrant nor
infallible, can provide us with “often surprising resources for understanding
our place in the world, opening up new perspectives, and suggesting fresh
points of entry into a revelation and worldview that can free us to go beyond
our mundane formulations and taken-for-granted assumptions” (page190).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What that revelation might be or what value
that worldview might have, Blenkinsopp is perhaps reserving for another book.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">There may be some value in
such a book in a study of ANE mythology; its rambling format makes it less suitable
for reference. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book could be useful
for graduate students to observe the clear incompatibility the Graf-Wellhausen
Hypothesis with the doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture.<span style="color: black;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">David
Pitman</span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Temple</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;"> Baptist College</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">, Cincinnati, OH</span></div>Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-33252184379103017462012-02-11T18:34:00.000-08:002012-02-11T18:34:20.568-08:00Received a wonderful invitation to attend the 2012 Think Tank hosted by <a href="http://truthxchange.com/">TruthXChange </a><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://truthxchange.com/articles/2012/02/08/dr-jones-two-ism-and-the-doctrine-of-god/">Dr Peter Jones Two-ism and the Doctrine of God</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://truthxchange.com/articles/2012/02/10/dr-ardel-caneday-two-ism-and-the-doctrine-of-scripture/">Dr. Ardel Caneday: The Doctrine of Scripture</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://truthxchange.com/articles/blog/2012/02/10/dennis-johnson-two-ism-and-and-the-incarnation/">Dr Dennis Johnson: The Doctrine of the Incarnation</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://truthxchange.com/articles/blog/2012/02/10/steve-baarendse-two-ism-in-art-and-literature/">Dr Steve Baarendse Art and Literature</a>Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-46839711235158184332011-04-19T16:24:00.000-07:002011-04-19T16:30:11.657-07:00Book Review<img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,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" /><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .05in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">The Sacred Text: Excavating the Texts, Explaining the Interpretations, and Engaging the Theologies of the Christian Scriptures. </span></i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Edited by Michael Bird and Michael Pahl, </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Piscataway</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">, </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">New Jersey</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">: Gorgias. 2010, xv + 265 pp., $114.00.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">This book is the seventh in the Gorgias Précis Portfolios. These portfolios are collections of essays in conference or Festschrift (a collection of essays or learned papers contributed by a number of people to honor an eminent scholar) but united around a common theme. Gorgias Press</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;"> is an independent academic publisher of books and journals covering several areas related to religious studies, the world of ancient western Asia, classics, and Middle Eastern studies. These publications are peer reviewed before acceptance and utilize electronic files in the publication process to ensure that titles will not go out of print. The limited print distribution explains something about the cost of the volume.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">This particular collection of essays is the combined effort of twelve contributors. One of the twelve, Michael Pahl served as co-editor with Michael Bird. Its preface places a significant value on Christians discussing “in truly fresh ways about the nature, purposes, and function of Scripture.” (p. xii) This preference for “fresh ways” proves to be indicative of some of the more innovative discussions in the book. As a collection, perhaps by design, there is very little continuity or common agreement as to specific terms or definitions. The overall framework as described by the editors seems more artificial than accurate. There is no glossary but a modest index; each chapter includes a helpful list of recommended books for additional research. The format is extensively footnoted.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">The Introduction (by Michael Bird, Ph.D., </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Queensland</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">) states an admirable goal for the book to provide “brief introductions” to complex issues including:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Excavating the Texts</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">, or the formation of the Christian canon in the context of the ancient church:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"> 1 The Septuagint as Scripture in the Early Church - Karen H. Jobes (Ph.D., Westminster Seminary), Professor of New Testament Greek and Exegesis at Wheaton College and Graduate School.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"> <br />
2 Scripture in the Second Century - Tomas Bokedal (Th.D., </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Lund</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">), Lecturer in New Testament at King’s College, University of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Aberdeen</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">, U.K. <br />
<br />
3 Scripture and Tradition: Seeking a Middle Path - Michael W. Pahl (Ph.D., </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Birmingham</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">) Pastor at </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Lendrum</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Mennonite</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Brethren</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Church</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Edmonton</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Alberta</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Canada</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">.<br />
<br />
4 Scripture and Canon - John C. Poirier (D.H.L. Jewish Theological Seminary) Chair of Biblical Studies at Kingswell Theological Seminary in Middletown, OH.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Explaining the Interpretations </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">or the hermeneutical strategies for interpreting the Christian Scriptures:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"> 5 Scripture and Biblical Criticism - Jamie A. Grant (Ph.D., Gloucestershire) Vice- Principal and Tutor in Biblical Studies at the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Highland</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"> Theological College in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Dingwall</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">U.K.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"><br />
<br />
6 Scripture and Theological Exegesis - Thorsten Moritz (Ph.D., Kings’ College </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">London</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">) Professor of Hermeneutics and New Testament at </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Bethel</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"> Seminary in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">St. Paul</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">MN</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">.<br />
<br />
7 Scripture and Postmodern Epistemology - Robert Shillaker (Ph.D., Open University) Lecturer in Systematic Theology at the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Highland</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"> Theological College in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Dingwall</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">U.K.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"><br />
<br />
8 Scripture and New Interpretive Approaches: Feminist & Post-Colonial - Jennifer G. Bird (Ph.D., Vanderbilt) Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Greensboro</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"> College in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Greensboro</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">NC</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Engaging the Theologies or </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">the theological status and function of Scriptures in various Christian traditions:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"> 9 Catholic Doctrine on Scripture: Inspiration, Inerrancy, and Interpretation - Brant Pitre (Ph.D., Notre Dame) Professor of Sacred Scriptures at Notre Dame Seminary, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">New Orleans</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">.<br />
<br />
10 Scripture in Eastern Orthodoxy: Canon, Tradition, and Interpretation -George Kalantzis (Ph.D., Northwestern) Director of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Wheaton</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Center</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"> for Early Christian Studies.<br />
<br />
11 Still <i>Sola Scriptura</i>: An Evangelical Perspective on Scripture - James M. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Hamilton</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"> Jr. (Ph.D., Southern Seminary) Associate Professor of Biblical Theology at Southern Seminary.<br />
<br />
12 The Word as Event: Barth and Bultmann on Scripture - David Congdon (Ph.D., student in systematic theology at Princeton Theological Seminary in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Princeton</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">NJ</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">The book is characterized by careful and competent scholarship in each of the contributors; it also has the distinct advantage of a pervasive irenic tone and an apparent conciliatory attitude toward those who may disagree with a particular viewpoint. In pursuing diversity the editors not only selected a wide-range of theology but also a wide array of scholars, very much representative of the English-speaking world. They are all contemporary scholars.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">This volume certainly attains its goal of encouraging greater appreciation for the existence of “sacred texts” as held by Christians. The complexities of the issues discussed and the controversies they engender certainly prompt the reader to pursue these matters that are introduced. The collective work of these scholars, no doubt specialists in their fields, is a commendable undertaking.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">This review is prepared for the Evangelical Theological Society, (which view is that “the Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety is the Word of God written and is therefore inerrant in the autographs…”) It is illuminating to observe how this concept is approached and applied. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Dr. Michael Bird, lecturer in Systematic Theology at the Bible College of Queensland in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Brisbane</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Australia</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">, writes the Introduction. While acknowledging the “ancient idea of inerrancy” (p.14), he posits a contrast between inerrancy and infallibility; he invokes a carefully nuanced appeal to the veracity of Scripture that should be acceptable to even the Barthian viewpoint. Dr. Bird insists “that the church did create the biblical canon” (p. 9) and “God inspires authors to write Scriptures and inspires the church to make a canon” (p. 10). This will be clearly contradicted by Dr. Hamilton’s statement in chapter eleven that the church did not make the canon but “<i>recognized</i> as inspired” the Protestant canon. This is not hair-splitting. Dr. Hamilton footnotes his comment with Article I of the CSBI (Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy) which states: “We deny that the Scriptures receive their authority from the Church, tradition, or any other human source” (p. 218). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">The Introduction also has one glaring error of syntax. Dr. Bird says, “… <i>there is a closer relationship between ecclesiology and bibliology than is normally underappreciated in Protestant dogmatic.” (p. 9). </i>This should no doubt read “that is normally underappreciated” or “than is normally appreciated.” Correctly understood, Dr. Bird still fails to make a convincing case for any failure of the traditional Protestant view of the relationship between ecclesiology and bibliology. Dr. Bird argues that the Reformers call for <i>sola Scriptura </i>would be better understood as <i>suprema Scriptura </i>and that the traditional Protestant view has been reduce to <i>nuda Scriptura </i>(the bare Scriptures) (p. 11). It may be observed that while Dr. Bird would assent to many of the affirmations of the CSBI, he would not agree with most of the denials as stated by the CSBI. His essay seems to agree with the CSBI Article One affirmation: “</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">We affirm that the Holy Scriptures are to be received as the authoritative Word of God.” However he would disagree with the corresponding denial: “We deny that the Scriptures receive their authority from the Church, tradition, or any other human source.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;"> Whether he is right about “the pulpit pounding fundamentalist” (a curious derogation), he does not engage the scholarship of James Boice, Norman L. Geisler, John Gerstner, Carl F. H. Henry, Kenneth Kantzer, Harold Lindsell, John Warwick Montgomery, Roger Nicole, J. I. Packer, Robert Preus, Earl Radmacher, Francis Schaeffer, R. C. Sproul, and John Wenham, original signatories of the CSBI.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;">Article XIII of the CSBI says, “</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">We affirm the propriety of using inerrancy as a theological term with reference to the complete truthfulness of Scripture.” Several of these </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">contributors are clearly uncomfortable with the term <i>inerrant.</i> Dr. Robert Shillaker, chapter seven, quotes, if not with total agreement, certainly with admiration, of those who want us to get beyond “cheap inerrancy” (p. 157) and “the too-modern-sounding term <i>inerrancy</i>” (p.158)<i>.</i> Shillaker concludes that somehow the Bible uses “truth” and readers should in some manner “expect something similar as Scripture is read” (p. 158). Something similar to truth is to be expected. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Dr. Jennifer Bird, in chapter eight, says that reading “the words of humans that reflect cultural biases can be mistaken for the word of God” (p.173). Dr. Bird engages </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">1 Peter 2:18</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;"> – 3:16 and finds the text as written to fall seriously short of egalitarian ideals. She does not question if egalitarian ideals are possibly wrong or inadequate, but rather says the text must be liberated from its cultural biases so “the life-stealing aspects” of the Bible would be removed and “the life-giving words [may] speak unencumbered for themselves” (p. 173).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">In chapter nine, Dr. Brant Pitre, couches the Roman Catholic view of inerrancy within orthodox terms while vitiating the principle with the demand that <i>Sacred Tradition </i>“which is also the word of God,” (p. 194) be held as equal to Scripture. Dr. Pitre anticipates non-Catholic readers finding that view “problematic” but adopts an <i>incarnational </i>and <i>ecclesial </i>hermeneutic, elevating Catholic doctrine as promulgated by the <i>living</i> <i>Magesterium </i>(read current Pope and a synod of Bishops) above the Bible. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">In an interesting, but unconvincing argument, Dr. Michael Pahl, in chapter three, presents a novel “middle path” between <i>Sola Scriptura </i>and <i>Sacred Tradition </i>(p.63). He observes the debate has become Scripture versus Tradition and he would frame the discussion as <i>Apostolic-Kerygmatic Tradition</i>. His search for the heart of the gospel is commendable but he does not explain any kind of authority that such a <i>kerygma </i>would have or how it would come to possess it. His thesis would not satisfy the Catholic demand for the role of the Magesterium and would weaken the Protestant view of <i>Sola Scriptura</i>. His conclusion seems to beg his question. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Of course, these views reflect the very diversity the editors desired to present. The contributors’ credentials and current employment are included in this review to give some context to their viewpoints.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">There are some stellar contributions: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">In Chapter one, Dr. Karen Jobes provides a succinct introduction to the Septuagint. She summarizes its origin, its use in the New Testament with specific attention to Isaiah, the Psalms and the Minor Prophets. She concludes with an evaluation of the proper appreciation of the Masoretic text in relation to the Septuagint.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">In chapter five, Dr. Jamie Grant offers a superb brief history of modern Biblical Criticism and an essential introduction to the canonical approach of Brevard Childs. Grant offers a warning that “scholars throughout many generations have been guilty of a degree of intellectual arrogance” (p. 116) and encourages all to approach the Scriptures “with an attitude of appropriate humility” (p. 118). He echoes a valuable sentiment from the preface of the CSBI: “</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">We offer this Statement in a spirit, not of contention, but of humility and love, which we purpose by God's grace to maintain in any future dialogue arising out of what we have said. We gladly acknowledge that many who deny the inerrancy of Scripture do not display the consequences of this denial in the rest of their belief and behavior, and we are conscious that we who confess this doctrine often deny it in life by failing to bring our thoughts and deeds, our traditions and habits, into true subjection to the divine Word.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Dr. George Kalantzis, in chapter ten, provides a clear comparison and contrast of the bibliology of Eastern Orthodoxy with both Roman Catholic and Protestant perspectives. There are no <i>magisterium and</i> <i>communion-formative Confessions</i> <i>in</i> Eastern Orthodoxy. There are few commentaries. Kalantzis identifies a <i>synergeia </i>between <i>Orthodoxy</i> and <i>Orthopraxy.</i> Even the canon is not considered a closed issue; “it is <i>firm but not rigid” </i>(p. 202). This, in part, leads Kalantzis to conclude that “though Orthodox theology formally teaches a high view of Scripture, Orthodox praxis manifests a low use of Scripture” (p. 212). True of some Protestants as well.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">In chapter eleven, Dr. James Hamilton, writing from the evangelical perspective, states clearly and confidently that the sixty-six books of the canon are inspired and inerrant. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Hamilton</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;"> deftly presents the witness of the Old Testament to its own canonicity and the New Testament evidence of the Old Testament canon. He deals with the New Testament canon, surveying the traditional views and then making the case from Scripture’s “self-authentication” (p. 235). He acknowledges the standard objections to the evangelical view and at one point he gently chides critics with the observation that “a remarkable amount of confidence is necessary to declare the Bible to be in error” (p. 238). Dr. Hamilton argues, “the evangelical view of Scriptures is derived from the Bible alone… Rather than being a philosophical or theological construct, the evangelical doctrine of Scripture arises inductively from the text of Scripture itself.” (pp. 216-217). This view is irreconcilable with the Roman Catholic, the Greek Orthodox, the Barthian, the post-modern and Feminist/Post-colonial viewpoints espoused elsewhere in this book under review. It is also at odds with any “middle path” of compromise between Catholicism and Protestantism.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">In chapter twelve, Dr. David Congdon, in a very astute essay, identifies the commonalities of Barth and Bultman on the Scriptures as potential events that “must <i>become</i> God’s Word” (p.245). He writes with considerable skill, comparing and contrasting Barth and Bultman, and makes the case that their core views of Scripture were not dissimilar but his conclusion as to their value for moving beyond that perspective is somewhat overstated.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Overall this book does not serve well as an introduction precisely because of the disparate viewpoints espoused. It would be more useful if the alliterative title, Excavating, Explaining and Engaging, was presented from each of the various viewpoints; perhaps a counterpoint or rebuttal format would enhance the book in a utilitarian way. As is, it would be too advanced for most undergraduate students and too elementary for most graduate students, except perhaps as a collateral reading. Unfortunately, the cost would prove impractical as a collateral reading in most settings. More seriously, many chapters in this book are less than subtle attacks on the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. To any evangelicals who think this issue was resolved in the last century, this book is a clear challenge to that opinion. Dr. Albert Mohler (in the Fall, 2010 issue of <i>Southern Seminary Magazine</i>) calls it the “Fifty Years’ War”. Dr. Mohler concluded his essay saying, “The rejection of biblical inerrancy is bound up with a view of God that is, in the end, fatal for Christian orthodoxy. We are entering a new phase in the battle over the Bible’s truthfulness and authority. We should at least be thankful for the undisguised arguments coming from the opponents of biblical inerrancy, even as we ready, once again, to make clear where their arguments lead.” Article Five of the CSBI’s opening statement warned, “</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">The authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired if this total divine inerrancy is in any way limited or disregarded, or made relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible's own; and such lapses bring serious loss to both the individual and the Church.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">With the clear exceptions noted previously, much of this book, </span><i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">The Sacred Text,</span></i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;"> is a clear effort to reject <i>biblical</i> <i>inerrancy</i> or at least to limit or disregard it; this effort resurrects old views (couched as “fresh ways”) of truth “contrary to the Bible’s own.”</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;"></span></div><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">David Pitman</span></div><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Temple</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Baptist</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">College</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">Cincinnati</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;">OH</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;"></span></div><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: right;"><br />
</div>Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-5480381223553261342010-12-24T08:40:00.000-08:002010-12-24T08:44:22.721-08:00I've Learned to Wait for Christmas<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I’ve learned to wait for Christmas</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">As it comes around each year.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Still with anticipation</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">As the time draws ever near.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The child-like joys I loved the most,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Once held in my young heart</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Have passed first to my children</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And then to a “grander” part.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I once had worried Jesus</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Might resent my gifts received</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But I learned they’re all from Him</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Since in Him I believed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I wouldn’t want to miss it</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The family gathered ‘round.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The carols sung by many voices</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What a sweet angelic sound!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I’ve learned to wait for Christmas</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And miss it when it’s gone.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But I'm glad the Christ of Christmas</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Is with me all year long.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">by D. Pitman</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Christmas 2010</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-51965498371105059012010-11-19T04:23:00.000-08:002010-11-19T04:23:54.702-08:00A Memorial to a Friend<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gentle voice, gentle words, a gentleman.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Thoughtful friend and neighbor kind,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ever ready to lend a hand,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">These are the things that come to mind.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Stalwart and sure in the House of God.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Knew how to pray and stand for right,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Knew the Shepherd's staff and rod,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Knew to walk in the Savior's light.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Husband, Father, Grandfather, great.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Son and brother, so much and yet more.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Respected, admired, each godly trait</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A path you walked that reached Heaven's shore.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Farewell for now! My Helper, My Brother!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">By faith I trust we will meet again.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">So glad we still love one another,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">So glad I can say you are my friend.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-15263195741102665702010-10-16T17:17:00.000-07:002010-10-16T17:59:11.571-07:00We Can Do Better<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was inevitable I guess that the down-grade of Christianity would eventually spiral into what can be called for lack of a better term: "Christian" Pornography. Please understand that it is decidedly unChristian but since it finds its promoters and participants among those who emphatically insist that they are Christians and who also insist that they are some of the best Christians, what else can we call it?</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/GTY122_The-Case-Against-the-RRated-Church?q=pornography&sms_ss=blogger&at_xt=4cb4dac47a2d045c,0"><span style="font-size: large;">John MacArthur</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> has confronted this issue more eloquently than I could hope. But I do want to say something. MacArthur is the only national voice, the only prominent voice that I am aware of, who is speaking specifically in warning about this. Perhaps others are speaking against it as well. I would be delighted to hear about them. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">The chief proponent of this pornography has been Mark Driscoll. Most prominent evangelicals either say little or nothing because of Driscoll's rock star status; or they agree with him about it; others, I am sure, have adopted a "greater good" rationalization. Many young evangelicals have made him into a near idol and they emulate everything he says and does. </span></div><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well, I am sure that the scruffy, bad boy image that Driscoll cultivates plays well to the crowd looking for a way to slap a thin veneer on the very behavior that is emphatically condemned in the Bible. It is not Driscoll that grieves me so much. It is the near silence from men who I thought were mature enough to see this for what it is and to rebuke it as they should. Some will say that he has "toned it down." Not nearly enough. I must say that much of the admiration directed at Driscoll is characteristically the stuff of "The Emperor's New Clothes." </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB20001424052748704111704575355311122648100-lMyQjAyMTAwMDEwMjExNDIyWj.html">Brett McCracken</a> has sounded an alarm about the failure of this methodology even from a practical standpoint. Perhaps that will alert some who are unwilling or unable to oppose this garbage simply because it is wrong. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have a precious, godly wife, three daughters living for God, four grand-daughters learning about God and a son in whom I am well-pleased; I will not have them encounter this perversion of Biblical Christianity and think I do not speak and stand against it. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">The gospel deserves better than this. I do not believe that Christ died so "Christian" juvenile delinquents can wallow in this kind of filth. Grace overcomes this depravity; it does not turn it into a marketing device.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-12464228804655603362010-09-17T16:42:00.000-07:002010-09-17T16:50:59.497-07:00Bonhoeffer: A Brief Review by Dr. David Pitman <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51qMfyUeZBL._SX50_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="133" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="product-details"><div class="product-title"><a cmimpressionsent="1" href="http://www.christianbook.com/bonhoeffer-pastor-martyr-prophet-spy/eric-metaxas/9781595551382/pd/551382/1116544392?item_code=WW&netp_id=689466&event=ESRCN&view=details" name="551382"><strong><span style="color: #274f72; font-size: small;">Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy</span></strong></a> </div><div class="product-author">by <a cmimpressionsent="1" href="http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/search/1116544392?author=Eric%20Metaxas&detailed_search=1&action=Search"><span style="color: #274f72; font-size: large;">Eric Metaxas</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="product-author"></div><div class="product-author"></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: large;"> It took me some what longer to read the last two chapters of this biography. The sadness of Bonhoeffer's impending execution, set against his expectation that he might be released for further ministry and for his marriage, was written eloquently and effectively. I now think I know Dietrich Bonhoeffer.</span></span> Metaxas handles primary sources as well as any biographer I have ever read. I am persuaded that he separates the man from the myth (and misrepresentations) and yet manages to convey the heroic, yet humble man that Bonhoeffer was.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size: large;"> The larger canvas upon which Bonhoeffer's life is drawn incorporates themes from the sublime to the stupid; from the heights of human aspirations to the depths of human depravity. Theology, culture, politics. family, patriotism, sacrifice - Bonhoeffer's life and death weaves it all into one seamless fabric. </span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-size: large;"> In this book you will find orthodoxy without obstinacy, self-sacrifice without self-pity, and faith without fear. This is now one of my five favorite biographies.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I recommend this book.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-85163797207773318012010-09-02T09:11:00.000-07:002010-09-02T09:11:02.575-07:00Beck, Bifurcation and the Blustery Day<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The reactions to the Beck Rally have been fascinating and foreboding. The political left was predictably appalled by it all. The political right was unpredictably undercut by friendly fire, especially from some of the more erudite evangelicals. </span><a href="http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100901/evangelical-scholar-troubled-by-theological-ambiguity-at-beck-rally/index.html"><span style="font-size: large;">This</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> vividly illustrates how zealous some are to protect the gospel of Jesus Christ. I commend them and I count myself among them.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dr. Russell Moore, whom I greatly admire, warned, "It would be a tragedy to get the right president, the right Congress, and the wrong Christ. That's a very bad trade-off." I agree; what a horrible trade that would be. Beck's Mormonism has many alarmed that he is using politics to advance the cause of the Mormon cult and Mormon false doctrine; hence deceiving many to accept or even to become Mormons. In the most recent Presidential campaign some were concerned about Senator Obama's religion: is he a Muslim? does the Rev. Wright represent Obama's <em>Christianity? </em>Legitimate questions still lingering.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Having been a political observer now for many years, I am not surprised by the controversy. What cost Al Smith the Presidency in 1928 was still an issue in 1960. Kennedy was elected by the narrowest of margins. Part of his baggage was his Catholicism. Clinton/Gore in 1992 made much of their membership in Southern Baptist Churches (not sure where their letters are now); it must have helped them some. But honestly, Ross Perot triangulated the conservative vote and was very much a factor. I have since forgiven the SBC. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dr. Jerry Falwell was forming his <em>Moral Majority</em> in the late 1970's, and his odd couple blending of co-belligerents - Catholics, Jews, Christians (and Mormons) delighted many conservatives. Some labeled Dr, Falwell a king-maker and perhaps he was. I always thought Reagan had the great political fortune to run against the most incompetent President in the second half of the 20th century; but I could be wrong about that. Falwell's Liberty University (affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention) hosted Beck (affiliated with the Mormons) as its commencement speaker this year and very few evangelicals protested. At least I heard very little about it.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">As a young pastor in 1979, I preached some warnings about the slippery slope of ecumenism, one sermon was titled <em>Why I Cannot Join the Moral Majority.</em> I took some grief over that. I was young, very young; later on two former Falwell insiders (Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson) wrote <strong>Blinded by Might</strong> and they agreed with me (that 's the way I remember it and I am telling the story.) Good men disagree now about signing <em>The Manhattan Declaration: </em>for example,<em> </em>Albert Mohler says yes; Alistair Begg says no. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">My warning about the Beck factor is simple: Be careful with the "evangelical" anxiety over Beck, (some of which I share). Avoid the logical fallacy of bifurcation. Bifurcation is a false dilemma, when someone is asked to choose between two options when there is at least one other option available. I reluctantly say that Dr. Moore's warning, though well-intentioned, falls into this fallacy. Sharing Beck's political views does not mean I must convert to Mormonism. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Some evangelicals may suffer from a genetic disorder known as YDD. My Papa called them yeller dog Democrats i.e., they would vote for a yellow dog if it was a Democrat. I am sure there are blue tick hound Republicans, too. I will be kind and observe that some of these YDD cases are recessive genes but they can assert themselves at odd times. Be warned that some of these evangelicals do not share consistent conservative political views; that makes them more likely to criticize Beck. They have the right and the duty to do so. They have freedom of speech and freedom of religion (and come to think of it, so does Beck.)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Christians in the political arena nearly always (I want to say always, but that would be a logical fallacy) must act as co-belligerents with some whose religion is antithetical to ours. Political choices are nearly always the lesser of two evils. Christians in a representative Republic must participate; I know it is not easy.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">What about the <em>Blustery Day? </em>Well, I just like Winnie the Pooh and threw that in for free. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">No, it does have some connection because Christians are warned not to be tossed about by every wind of doctrine, When political winds are blowing you had better hold on tight to the anchor of God's inerrant, infallible Word.</span></div>Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-55004594278334019422010-09-01T10:19:00.000-07:002010-09-01T18:30:03.858-07:00Presidential Doctrines<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Monroe Doctrine</strong>: </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Guaranteed Freedom for Nations in the Western Hemisphere, or "America Helps Her Neighbors."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Truman Doctrine</strong>:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> "America helps those who resist Communist Aggression."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Eisenhower Doctrine</strong>: </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">"America helps those who resist Communist Aggression, sometimes, in some places."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Kennedy Doctrine</strong>: </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">"America will defend any friend and aggravate our foes."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Nixon Doctrine</strong>: </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">"America will help any friend, or any foe for that matter."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Carter Doctrine</strong>: </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> "America will boycott the Olympics if you hurt our feelings."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Reagan Doctrine</strong>: </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">"America will defend any friend and defeat any foe."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Bush (41) Doctrine</strong>: </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">"America will do whatever it takes... up to a point."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Clinton Doctrine</strong>: </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">"America will do ... whatever, as long as it is pointless."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Bush (43) Doctrine</strong>: </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">"America will talk tough and back it up."</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Obama Doctrine</strong> (explained last evening): </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">"America will find it tough to talk but we can always back up." </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">(with apologies to Bush 43) or:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Walk politely and carry a big purse."</span> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">(with apologies to TR)</span> </div>Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-19838342674754163042010-08-25T18:58:00.000-07:002010-08-25T18:58:33.615-07:00Old, Young Earther<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I would be classified as a "Young Earth Creationist." I understand the Biblical record to reveal a 6 day(of 24 hours each) Creation. I am persuaded that the unbiased, scientific evidence observable today corroborates this record. I do not consider theistic evolution, day age theories, gap theories and such like to have any merit.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have been a young earth Creationist now for nearly 50 years; that makes me an old young earther. As a teenager I read Morris and Whitcomb's <em>Genesis Flood</em>. I heard Morris speak back in the early 70's. His clear, Bible-based, scientifically valid presentations blew the opposition arguments out of the water (pun intended). When I attended college, I became a disciple of Dr. Gail Terrell, a PhD scientist extraordinaire. How many times I heard his lectures; how many questions I asked him! How well he taught me.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">From time to time I challenge some evangelicals who mock young earth creation. Their ignorance is matched only by their arrogance. They find it easy to ignore me. I had to smile when Dr. Al Mohler stepped into this </span><a href="http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2010/08/25/mohler-biologos-and-slander/"><span style="font-size: large;">arena.</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It did sadden me though that they attacked Dr. Mohler's integrity. Shame on those whose logic is so flawed that must try to distract us with ad hominem insults that tell us more about them than about their target. I am amused that some may think Dr. Mohler unequal to the task, intellectually inferior or academically unprepared. I suspect that they were ill-advised to get into a war of words with this man. He is as smart as they think they are.</span></div>Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609639788702034171.post-82394173648153787382010-08-22T04:21:00.000-07:002010-08-23T03:12:54.111-07:00Church and State: Mosque and Church<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">As do many others I have strong opinions about the building of a mosque near Ground Zero. I have read the various arguments for and against; not surprisingly they ran the gamut on the political and the religious spectrum of viewpoint.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have a pastor friend who served in NYC before, during and after 9/11. For some years he lived in an apartment overlooking Ground Zero. We visited there and saw the site just a few months after the attack. His view is that the mosque should not be built. I trust his judgment enough to defer on his wisdom alone.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">There are other voices, of course. One of my friends insists that it is a matter of first amendment issues - religious liberty trumps our "bias" against Islam - he thinks; and he makes a good case. It would be a stronger case if Islam had no mosques in Manhattan or they were being discriminated against, or persecuted here in America as Jews or Christians are treated in Muslim countries.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">When I learned of this </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/nyregion/03trade.html?_r=1&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/B/Bagli,%20Charles%20V"><span style="font-size: large;">news story</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">, I was suddenly reminded that political posturing is often just so much noise. How does this religious liberty issue fail to make the national news until now? </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I realize I do not know the whole story about this conflict; but apparently there is no urgency. So my remedy for the controversy about the mosque is to delay it for several years, appoint some committees to study this issue, maybe have some Congressional hearings, appoint a Presidential Commission. Surely the Greek Orthodox deserves to be built (actually re-built) first. Perhaps we could wait until the War on Terror has been won or at least until Islam publicly and profusely apologizes for its militant "wing." I am confident that Islam ("a religion of peace") will not mind demonstrating patience.</span></div>Pastor David Pitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741132805455407625noreply@blogger.com0