Writing My Congresswoman

 I just sent this to my congresswoman, Elissa Slotkin, in response to a letter touting her Congressional service.

Dear Congresswoman Slotkin,

Thank you for your August 30 letter to your constituents, making your case for re-election.

 

I wanted to write and let you know why I will not be supporting or voting for you in November.

 

I appreciate your service to our country, bi-partisan focus on the mission, and desire for decency in politics (which I note as a criticism of our President).

 

Here are my top concerns about your letter.

 

 

1. Health care.  You speak of the need for a solution, but there are many different proposals, and you do not specify what yours is.  Will it involve more government requirements, intrusions and regulations in the private market, or less?  Since you are a Democrat, I fear it is the former.

 

 

2. You speak of returning “$1 million owed to our residents from the federal government.”  I’d like to hear more about this.  I usually suspect this to be code language for pork projects you got for our district, but you give no details.  I disagree with your assumption that it’s a good thing to get Washington to spend more money on us locally.  Congress needs to be spending far LESS overall than it currently is.

 

 

3. What you don’t say: Equality Act.  Your party leaders are pursuing this vigorously, and it threatens religious freedom.  Do you support the aggressive LGBTQ+ agenda which seeks to force cake bakers and other artists to celebrate lifestyles they disagree with?  What if the shoe were on the other foot?  Would you want a politically “progressive” graphic artist forced to take a client who wanted to produce an anti-abortion message?

 

 

4. What you don’t say – abortion advocacy.

Abortion is not about reproductive rights for women, but about life for the child.  In no other ethical case do we say that my right to choose a course of action is justified when it deprives someone else of their life.  We need justice for babies in the womb, who are being killed by the thousands daily with our society’s endorsement.  Thinking less of a person because of the color of their skin is racist and a moral evil.  Destroying a living person in the womb is an atrocity no society should justify.  When will we recover our moral outrage at the great evil of abortion?  Please reconsider your position on this issue.

 

 

Thanks for your service as our Congresswoman,

 

Pastor Steve Hemmeke

What Did You Learn Last Sunday Morning?

One of the more common questions we hear from parents greeting their kids when they come off the bus, home from school, is, “Did you have fun today?”  More common from the Asian or Indian parent you’ll hear, “Did you learn anything today?”  Because that’s what you’re there for! 

 

Jesus says in His invitation to come to Him (Matthew 11:28-30) to LEARN FROM HIM.  Do we seek to do this, when we go to church?  Are we there with Bible along, open before us, learning?  Or are we having a good time?  This doesn’t have to be a false dichotomy, but what is your main goal in church-going?  What does Jesus call us TO, when He calls us to Himself?

 

Paraphrase of Alistair Begg, from “Be in Christ” sermon, Aug 22, 2020, Truth for Life podcast, around the 10 minute mark

The Church at a Cross Road

 The American church is at a crossroads and does not know it yet.

 

Focus on the Family produced an audio biography of Dietrich Bonhoffer years ago.  Early on, they have him in America in the 1920s asking a friend, “What if the day comes when I have to choose between my country of Germany, and my Savior?”  His friend laughs it off as highly unlikely, but we in the audience know what’s coming with Adolf Hitler.

 

Our national moment may be less dramatic, or a few years into the future.  But it is coming to most of us, and it is already upon some of us, like John MacArthur.

 

Civil disobedience is now a live option for the church, and may soon become necessary.

 

It won’t do to laugh it off as unlikely.

The PCA might be too cool and with-it in the culture to take such a stand.

The OPC might be too book-of-church-orderly to take such a jarring, out-of-the-ordinary stand.

 

It won’t do to refute Grace Community’s defiance with nuance, “what-about”-ism, and academic niggling.  Brad Littlejohn and others have tried this.

If we do not assert and exercise the church’s authority as separate from the state (Kuyper’s sphere sovereignty), our newly secular rulers will take it away.

 

We no longer have governors, judges, state representatives and Congressmen who have a gentleman’s agreement with the citizenry that they’re generally for the religious and won’t bother them.  We now have rulers in blue states actively hostile to religious activity.  (See the US House of Rep’s Equality Act, which Pelosi will be pushing for, after the election.)  Or at least they see church/mosque/synagogue as a “non-essential” side-luxury of life, not the core of meaning that it truly is for most of their citizens.

 

We now have a BLM movement adopted by all our major media and sports and corporate institutions, shouting out, “Eff your Jesus, Eff the police.”  Their anger is visceral, vulgar and aimed directly at us.  Just ask Rand Paul about it.

 

Forty years of Marxist/leftist teaching in our colleges has born its fruit in rioting rage against God and proper authority.  They only seek pretexts in George Floyd and Jacob Blake and others, to openly shoot policemen in the streets in broad daylight.  Then block the hospital in hope that they die.  This has actually happened in the last few days.

 

How is a society to say “NO” to this raging violence?

 

The ballot box is not a complete solution.  It is tainted by poor choices people make, and the lies of Joe Biden:

- Trump lied (on COVID) so people died.

- the police are out to get black people.

- Biden is for justice – equity for minorities; Trump is in it for his racist, white, rich friends on Wall Street.

 

None of this is true, but the Left will try any tactic, however false, to get Trump out.

 

I’ve said it to several people in the last few days, and I’ll say it here:

A vote for Biden in November is a sinful act, invoking the wrath of God.

Not because Trump is so great, or because we want America to be great again.  

(I’m not saying Christians must vote for Trump.  That’s another discussion, though I personally think they should.)

But because Biden is all in pushing for the law to let the unborn be hacked to pieces in the womb by the thousands every day.

Because Biden is all in to celebrate sexual perversion, as defined by God’s Word.

Because he has hitched his campaign to this cultural (French) revolution that defines racism as unequal outcomes in society, when true racism is judging someone by the color of their skin.

 

 

All that said, politics is not the answer.

 

To say NO to this raging violence, we need personal interactions with integrity by the silent majority.  The rioters on the news are a loud, vocal, and violent tiny minority, seeking a revolution.  Stop demanding absolute equality, or you’ll wind up in the guillotine yourself.  Let’s be gracious to each other and treat everyone with the dignity they should have as image bearers of God.  Do not harbor hatred in your heart for the rioters.  They are on the road to hell and need illumination by God’s Spirit or they will be lost forever.  Pray for them, and for your own heart to be at peace and joyful in God’s difficult providences.  (I realize some of them just believe lies and may be true Christian believers, too.)

 

I plan to vote for a black man to be my senator in November.  (John James, Michigan!)  NOT because of the color of his skin, but because of his positions on the important issues.  Critical race theory treats people unjustly and inequitably, in the name of justice and equity.  It is evil, driven by envy, revenge, and anger.  How about if we judge people by the content of their character, instead of by the color of their skin (MLK’s dream), and admit that such content of character is not always equal?  Society should reward certain behavior and character (producing goods and services and jobs, charity, piety, etc.), and punish others (rioting, looting, invading and threatening gated communities, shooting cops, blocking hospitals, etc.)

 

That shouldn’t be too hard to admit, when we compare 9/11/01 first responders with Target looters and cop killers, should it?

California Churches, Christian liberty, and Romans 13

John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church in California, is a crisis figure for the church today.

I believe this moment is filled with nuance – different states in the USA have varying levels of restrictions and exemptions for churches meeting or not during this COVID era.

 

But one thing Grace Community’s statement and actions make clear:

The state cannot forbid the church to meet long term for health reasons, when similar-size gatherings (protests and riots) happen without state penalty.

 

MacArthur’s statement has come under fire for indirectly rebuking churches that are NOT meeting.  I think he has been gracious in his response to this, while also holding firmly to his position.  To me this remains an issue of Christian liberty, whether one may/must go against civil orders forbidding gathering for worship.  Still, I also encourage meeting where the government forbids it in this context.

 

Why?  Because of my interpretation of the COVID data and the political context.  Since it all hinges on these two things, and not a clear reading of Scripture, I must allow other Christians to see these two factors differently than I do.  The news media that people have trusted for decades have become an advocacy arm for a particular (leftist) point of view on both of these points.  (I believe they seek to inflame fear and an aura of crisis until the election, to remove Donald Trump from the Oval Office, while others believe they are more-or-less accurately reporting the facts.  (I speak of the New York Times, CNN, Washington Post, MSNBC, USA Today, probably your local paper, take your pick.)  Because of this, many people have a wrongly informed conscience about who to vote for, and what health practices to follow regarding worship.

 

MacArthur would not be allowing his church to assemble if he thought it threatened their lives.  He talks about the data as a scientific layman and concludes it is not a threat to 99% or more of his congregation.  He is right about that.  You don’t have to be a Dr Fauci at this point to give an authoritative decree on whether or not churches may meet.

 

But this is my view.  For Christians who have been convinced they need to play it extra, extra, extra, extra safe to keep from killing others – okay.  I’ll go the extra mile with you if you insist. 

 

I just wish people would realize how extra of a mile it is.

Meditations on Acts - Gospel Facets

In Acts 2-4 Peter’s sermons give the gospel clearly, but not the reduced, simple message we expect.

 

When we think of the basic Gospel, we think Romans Road: “All have sinned.  Jesus died to pay for your sin.  Believe Him and you’ll be forgiven.”

 

But Peter, anointed by the Spirit on Pentecost, knows his unique moment, and the Gospel angle his particular audience needs to hear.  Academics call this contextualizing the Gospel.  Sometimes liberals use that to compromise and water down the message, but it remains true that the Gospel needs to be contextualized.  

Which facet of the Gospel does the person in front of you need to hear?  Which facet do YOU need to hear today?  That sin is awful, you have sinned, and need a torn up and humble heart about it?  That your rescue is only found in the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth, who God appointed for your rescue?  That you have the freedom of forgiven sin and a clear conscience because of Christ’s full payment for all your sins at the cross?  That God will give you daily grace anew by His Spirit to help you follow the Lord?

 

Peter’s audience needed to hear the second question in that list the most, and that they had killed that very Messiah:

“Jesus is the Messiah we’ve been waiting for God to send us.  But you killed Him.  But it isn’t too late to fix it, b/c God raised Him from death.  Repent and turn to God and believe in Him.”

 

For Christians today, we assume this point, that Jesus is the One.  But we still need the reminder that we won’t find satisfaction or salvation in money, sex or power.

 

One question to have in mind when you are reading the Bible is this: which facet of the Gospel is shining out here?  Whether it is the horrible offense of our sins in Jeremiah, justification by faith in Galatians, or wisdom for living (working out our salvation – sanctification) in Proverbs or James, every page of Scripture gives you some facet of the Gospel.

Strengths Reveal Flaws

From my Bible reading…

 

Abraham is known for his faith, but he didn’t always trust God.  He took matters into his own hands and slept with Hagar to produce his way a child God had promised.

 

David is known for his worshipful desire for God in the Psalms, a man after God’s own heart.  But his desires weren’t always upright.  Not when he saw and summoned Bathsheba.  Not when he covered it up with Uriah and killed him.

 

Solomon is known for his wisdom, but he wasn’t always wise.  He amassed horses, women and gold, doing the very thing God warned kings not to do.

 

The best among us, the strongest and most mature, have days when they totally blow it.

 

For a modern day example, Trump’s rhetoric at his rallies in 2016 won him the White House, but the same rhetoric on Twitter the last 4 years may cost him a second term.

 

This tends to really bother us, because we keep looking for a Savior on this earth instead of the One sitting at God’s right hand.  We want salvation and perfection here and now, instead of being content with God’s messier plan.

 

Be careful you don’t run with your strengths in ways that dishonor God.

Thoughts on 2 Chronicles 7:14 in Our National Moment

2 Chronicles 7:14 has long been a clarion call by the religious right to call our nation back to God’s ways.

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 

Four things this verse has for us in this national moment:

 

1. We need Jesus.

More than tests, masks, or social distancing – we need Jesus.

Whenever a verse is quoted out of context, study the context!  Here, Solomon has prayed for God to hear Israel’s prayers from the temple he just built.  God says, “Yes” and this is part of that yes.  “When Israel repents HERE, I’ll forgive them.”  Jesus is the new temple (John 2:18-22) in the new covenant.  Prayers offered in His name, looking to Jesus, and no other, have the same effectiveness.  The popular usage of this verse I fear is to hold a national prayer service with the rabbis and imams and shamans and everyone else, instead of calling on the true God.  The popular usage of this verse I fear is to repent of OTHER people’s sins, not humble “THEM [OUR] SELVES.”  Also, we use this verse from a desire to make America great again, not to truly turn from our wicked ways.

 

 

2. Don’t get indignant to defend America’s awesomeness and glory

Don’t equate America with “My people.”  We are a great nation, but do not think God looks with special favor on the USA, more than other earthly nations.  God is talking in this verse about Israel as His chosen people, and about the church now in the new covenant.  NOT about America.  God owes the USA nothing for our great and pious founding.  (It wasn’t steeped in systemic rascism as the 1619 project would have you believe, but neither was it completely Christian as David Barton would tell you.)

But we CAN beg the Lord for mercy on our land.

 

 

3.  National revival is possible

God DOES deal with nations as nations, and families as families.  There is legitimate application to groups, tribes, and nations.  There is such a thing as national revival, corporate repentance.  And God brings healing to a LAND when it turns to Him, not just personal forgiveness of sins.

 

 

4.  God is acting

The immediate context is striking.  “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people…”  I know all the abuses we can make of God’s providence.  Pat Robertson liked to say years ago that the last hurricane was God’s judgment for our endorsement of homosexuality, etc.  Well, I’m starting to believe it in earnest in 2020.  Pestilence, hurricanes, riots, etc.  Could God be trying to get our attention?  “If I send you COVID-19, if I send wildfires and hurricanes along with it, then if you repent…”  If this is anywhere close to true, America is clearly NOT “doing 2 Chron. 7:14” right now.  We aren’t even in the MOOD.  We are indignant and outraged (at all the wrong people), not humble and contrite.  We believe government restrictions and scientific expertise can save us – we think we don’t need God, except as a prop for our political conventions.

 

 

Where does this leave us?

America is doing according to Jeremiah 44:16-19 more than Psalm 51:1-4:

We pursue the pagan goddess Equality, and believe it is because we haven’t worshiped her enough that all these evil things have befallen us.  When really, it is because we have left the true Creator God.

Influence or Control? // Bring the Noise // Revolution Time

1. "Always remember that you have less control than you think you do and greater influence than you think you do. Spend much more time on influence than control." Andrew Sandlin

2. Bring the Noise. Pastor Bill Smith encourages us from Psalm 47 to sing and speak vigorously. Lots of good stuff on glory and God's glory, here, too. And sports.

3. From a recent Facebook interaction I had:

That many minorities live in disadvantaged and difficult environments justifies none of this rioting. Police protect and help such communities overwhelmingly more than they make it worse. Race has nothing to do with this - people's behavior toward police has changed drastically. People, especially in cities, now disregard their authority, which puts their lives in danger, given their role, sparking more Jacob Blake incidents.

I can't believe you're justifying violence over these media-exaggerated/distorted incidents. (Example: George Floyd was OD'ed and couldn't breathe BEFORE they put him on the ground.) They are not "killing black people." You are being misled to believe a false narrative, by people who actually want to overthrow our government, replacing our Bill of Rights with safe spaces and proper thinking, replacing freedom with equality.

This is the French and Maoist Revolution rolled into one ugly beast.

Using Raw Power

 "We are not experiencing a wave of social unrest generated by injustice and the abuse of police authority. We are watching an insurrection in progress, one which uses incidences of the police use of force as pretexts, but which has as its goal the destruction of the existing social, economic and political order in the United States."

Source

The Revolution still needs to cloak itself in another made-up cause, but once it gains enough momentum and strength, this will come true. The Left is truly rooting for the rioters. They need to be shut down with force, as force is the one weapon they believe effective. They believe in power, not persuasion. Intimidating Senator Rand Paul is another example.

(Vigilante justice a la Kyle in Kenosha is not the answer to this.)

Almost every police shooting they tout as proof that we are systemically racist has been proven to be legitimate and understandable. Chauvin's actions are an exception - they were reprehensible. (Interesting that this exception was the match point starting the Antifa-organized riots.) But Floyd was OD'ed. He couldn't breathe before he was on the ground.

The Revolution is using that one case to convince you that the Brianna Taylor and Michael Brown and other incidents were the same. They were not. Multiple official investigations have proven so. The police did the right thing, although they were of course tragic events.

"Say their names" is a demand for adherence to the Revolution.

"Educate yourself" is a demand to believe their line. But if you actually do the research, it's a whole different story than CNN, NYT, and MSNBC is trying to tell you. They are providing cover for a Revolution to gain steam. The 1619 Project is an "intellectual" fifth column in this.

If they can convince enough people to believe their story and riot, or do nothing while others riot, we could literally have a zombie apocalypse of huge numbers that overwhelm federal forces of law and order.

Anarchy is the goal. This is clear from the "FTP" mantra.

Lord, have mercy.

Pulpit or Table? A Meditation on the Emmaus Road

I recently read through Luke 24 in my personal devotions, and had what I believe is a typical, kind of schizophrenic, experience for a theology wonk pastor/preacher.

 

First, there is the thrill of the event itself: He is not here!  He is risen, just as He said!

The running to tell the news, to and from the tomb, the wondering.

Then He appears, and they can’t believe it “for joy.”

 

Second, there is a preaching/liturgical dispute I’ve registered over the years, largely in the Reformed world, both sides of which appeal to different parts of the Emmaus Road event.  On one side are those that emphasize the primary role of preaching, and the necessity of preaching Christ from every text.  Their watch-verse is 27: “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”  Another camp emphasizes the important (primary?) role of Communion in worship, pointing to the very next event in verse 30-31: “Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him…”

 

I’m not sure this needs to be an either/or, binary choice, choose-your-side kind of thing.  It is true that we will see Christ on every page of Scripture.  His own explaining the Scriptures Christo-centrically to the disciples on the first Lord’s Day, Resurrection Day, is a model for every preacher today.  AND God has given other means of grace.  By God’s providence, often people do not see (aren’t changed by) the Lord, in preaching but they are in the breaking of bread, in the sacrament of Communion, or in the fellowship of the church.  Preaching is not to be the sole activity of the church’s (or pastor’s) work, because of this.  But neither should we say Communion is primary over preaching because of this event, as if the Lord’s Table is somehow generally more effective than the pulpit.

 

Instead, let us cherish ALL the means of grace God has given us to receive and revel in our Lord Jesus.

Quick take on Kenosha

I haven't followed the Kenosha events very closely, but have the basic facts in hand.

1. Disregard of police (and authority generally) is assumed to be perfectly fine now.  Jacob Blake is not seen by most media as at fault at all for disregarding police instructions and resisting arrest.  Reaching into your car for something which might be a gun, when you just had a hostile encounter with police, and they are telling you to stop, and you ignore them, is a life-threatening act to an officer.

2. What is police procedure in such a case?  It seems to me that an officer could fire into the air as a warning shot, first.  Then assess Blake's response.  Why doesn't that happen?  Why shoot 7-8 times?

3. The violent riots against the courthouse are immature and revolutionary.  Any acts damaging property or harming people should be charged.  The rioters are incoherently at the same time protesting the police for harming individuals without reason, while they themselves are injuring and taking lives without reason.  Two wrongs do not make a right.  Especially when the first wrong isn't yet proven.  Don't take justice into your own hands.

Exemplary Speech // Rest and Yoke // Cancel culture or truth?

1. I recently re-subscribed to Tabletalk magazine.

This is one of the best articles I've read in it in a long while.  A thought, on 1 Timothy 4:12:  Be an example, young people, to every generation!  Think right now of the few people in your life whose speech is consistently edifying...

2. What does it mean to come to Christ and take His "yoke upon you" (Matt. 11:28-30)?

Desiring God has a great answer.

3. Cancel culture versus the Truth

Les Sillers – World podcast 8/18/20

[Commenting on a Vox article advocating marginalized voices be given the microphone instead of conservative ones, to speak "their truths."] 

“Exactly.  Their truths.  Not THE truth.  For cancel culture warriors, speech is just a tool for exerting power.  Of course they’ll try to silence other views.  We should stop being surprised by this.”

Library // Facebook behavior // Edifying Sermons

Curbside Larry
Funny 70-second video mash-up of used car salesman for using your library.


This was a convicting, short article on what pastors post on social media.


I've been listening to more Alistair Begg sermons, to escape the political vortex out there
The Power of Proper Thinking was really good - on Philippians 4:8-9
Christian Maturity on Philippians 3:12-16 - also excellent.
Christian maturity brings more honesty and humility about the shambles of your spiritual condition.
A rather provocative and personal quote from Alistair:

"If you knew everything about me, you wouldn’t listen to me preach.

"If I knew everything about you, I woudn’t waste my time on you."

Deserted by God review

 

Deserted By God? by Sinclair B. Ferguson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In a season of cultural and political upheaval, Sinclair Ferguson is a spiritual oasis in the desert.

The dark night of the soul – a phrase to describe when you feel God has abandoned you in a hard time –that’s the theme of this book. What do you do when God isn’t answering, when you don’t understand His hard providence?

“How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?” – Psalm 13:1
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…” – Psalm 23:4
“Why are you downcast, O my soul?” – Psalm 42:5

The same Psalms that ask these questions give us help toward answering them. When we are discouraged we turn to the only One who has the words of eternal life. No matter the hard words He gives, or the crazy situations He takes us into, we have nowhere else to turn, and He gives us eternal life.

Ferguson deals in a very pastorally sensitive way with the difference between what we feel is true, and what is actually true. Between what may be the consequence of our own sins (he deals with Psalm 51 straight on), and baseless feelings of despair or discouragement.

I would highly recommend anyone feeling discouraged and wondering what God is doing with their lives to pick up and read this book.

View all my reviews

Hang On! // Love Them, Pastor // Be Cheerfully Difficult about Masks

Ray Ortlund has a good word for the small church pastor not seeing much fruit just now.

"“waiting on the Lord” is not like resting in a hammock with a glass of iced tea; it’s like holding a plank position until our coach tells us we’re done. But that place of unresolved tension is spiritually creative and surprisingly refreshing. Our strength is renewed."

Pastoral wisdom here, with an analogy to parenting
"If you love your children, you want them to be healthy. But if you love your children, you love them whether they are healthy or not."

Toby Sumpter says it with more force than I would, but his basic perspective on masks is right, I think.

Read it here.

Listen here.