10.28.2022

Re-forming Halloween

We need to be re-formed in God’s presence, not removed FROM His presence. So it is with our holidays. While the reformation rightly removed many saints’ days, several of our holidays need to be reformed, and not removed.

The church began to celebrate All saints day in the 300s, celebrating the victorious saints at rest with Christ. Over time, superstition and error came in. All Hallow’s Eve turned into Halloween. Like Mardi Gras revelry before Lent’s piety, Halloween became the devil’s last stand before the celebration of the holy ones in glory.

 

So let’s get the big picture here on the Christian church year.  It begins Dec 1 with advent and Xmas, when we celebrate the coming of the light of the world at our coldest and darkest hour. We then celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection in the spring, the time of new life. We celebrate Pentecost at the beginning of summer, when God cultivates our new life in the Spirit. Summer is the time of growth. Fall is when the harvest comes in, and we have All Saints Day to remember those who have entered their rest, and thanksgiving for the harvest. Meanwhile Satan makes one last grab at the end of history. This is Halloween. All of history is dramatized in the church year, and it is all pointing to the vindication of Christ’s saints, as they appear with Christ, when He comes again. We need to reform and recover All Saints day. Let us return thanks to God for fruitful saints now at rest with Christ, and look with hope to our joining them in the immediate presence of Christ one day.


10/31/22

Woke Fire // Walsh in Person // Spiritual Abuse

Douglas Groothuis gave two great interviews recently, on his new book, Fire in the Streets.

He reviews the 2020 riots briefly, but mainly emphasizes the contrast between the Marxist and Christian worldviews.

Breakpoint here

Mortification of Spin here



I greatly enjoyed attending this conference near me recently, and commend the talks by Thoma, Sabutis, and Matt Walsh, especially.



World interviews Michael Kruger on spiritual abuse in the church.  Here's a highlight.

"Spiritual abuse is when a spiritual leader endowed with spiritual authority executes his office in such a way that he domineers, runs down, and rules in a harsh and authoritarian way those under his leadership, all the while thinking he is accomplishing God's good work....  [they] are spiritual bullies.  They manipulate, they domineer....

"What is it not?  Spiritual abuse is not just making a mistake in a conversation, a relational misstep where you say something bothersome or offensive to somebody on occasion.  Spiritual abuse is not standing up for spiritual truth.  If I tell someone that something is sin, that's not abusive."

10.27.2022

CrossPolitic // Crucifixion // Vote Pro-Life

 I haven't listened to CrossPolitic for a while, but two recent shows were excellent:

Megan Bashem does a post-mortem on the church's response to Covid.

Doug Wilson and Ben Merkle on building faithful institutions and communities, in response to Big Ed and Big Eva.

Give a listen.



Interesting history on Roman crucifixion

Was Jesus put to death this way, instead of the way we always envision it?



Michigan Christians need to go vote NO on Proposal 3.  Here's why.



10.24.2022

Come to Wisdom's Table - A Meal of Mercy

 Prov 9:1-6

    Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars;

    2      She has slaughtered her meat,

    She has mixed her wine,

    She has also furnished her table.

    3      She has sent out her maidens,

    She cries out from the highest places of the city,

    4      “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”

    As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,

    5      “Come, eat of my bread

    And drink of the wine I have mixed.

    6      Forsake foolishness and live,

    And go in the way of understanding.

 


God has saved us, not according to works we have done, but by His mercy.  Meals represent mercy.  Whatever the kids have done, however exasperating, mom makes supper for the whole family.  Whatever sins we have done as Christians during the week, God sets this table for you.  Now, we need to come repentant, and resolved to change.  But we need to come.  We have embraced foolishness, we have lacked understanding.  We admit that, and we come to wisdom’s table.  Come, and welcome, to the Lord Jesus Christ.


10/23/22

Prayer as Training to Know What We Need

Romans 8:26-28

"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.  And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."


In our confession reading, we are going back to finish up the Westminster Catechism.  The last section focuses on prayer, and on the Lord’s Prayer, which we sing here every week.

 

Prayer is offering up our desires to God for things agreeable to His will.  Notice our desires need shaping to His will.  Prayer is one way God does this.  It’s meant to change us, not Him.  Our desire may be, “I want to relax!  I want a vacation!”  But God has given you 1 day in 7 to relax, the other 6 are to work.   We want peace when God calls us to fight.  Or we want to fight, when God calls us to peace!  We want comfort, but God gives us hardship.

 

We don’t know what to pray for.  We often do not know what we want or need.  But God knows what is best for us, and He is working that out in our lives somehow.  This is hard to accept.  Sometimes we know exactly what we want and we’re convinced God must give it to us, or life will be over.  No, it won’t.  We have to die to ourselves, but that is not the end.  New life in Jesus is the glorious result.

 

This reminds us of our need to confess our sins.


10/23/22

10.21.2022

From Forgiven to Forgiving, a Review

From Forgiven to ForgivingFrom Forgiven to Forgiving by Jay E. Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was a godsend loaner from a friend at a time when I had to sort out in conflict my objective guilt from feelings of guilt, and when I had to think through how to be forgiving toward those who offended me and didn’t acknowledge it at all.

Adams’ key point at the start is that forgiveness is not a feeling, but a transaction. It is a promise not to hold the wrong against the other person.
He asserts that forgiveness is conditional – you can’t forgive without repentance on their part. You can pray for God to change them, and to not be bitter yourself.

In chapter 6, on errors in forgiving, he says that forgetting is not the point. You can’t determine to forget something! The point is to commit that you won’t indulge the grudge to yourself, or relate it to others to use against them. The remembrances will go away over time naturally if you do this.

On the error of forgiving yourself, Adams is a bit off. Low self-image is a real thing, and not accepting God’s forgiveness.

In chapter 7 Adams says that forgiveness is incomplete if restored relationship doesn’t follow. I don’t think this works with another key assertion Adams makes: you can be forgiven but still suffer consequences. One of the consequences may be a more limited relationship, or none at all. It is ideal to pursue complete restoration of the relationship. But very often people part, agreeing to disagree on various matters. This is not sinful.


In chapter 8 Adams asserts that you can't truly forgive unbelievers at all, because they can't repent. This is too strictly rejecting the common grace God can give an unbeliever. An unbeliever can sincerely renounce an offense and a Xian can forgive him for that.

In chapter 9, Adams discusses how to keep the promise to forgive.
You have to accept the consequences - this was good.
You have to keep busy thinking about other things, instead of brooding on someone's offense against you. This is a bit simplistic. You need more than just to occupy your mind with other things. It’s vital to truly let it go, and surrender justice to God for the offense.

Skipping to the end, in chapter 20 Adams says this:
“If you have wronged anyone by doing something the Bible forbids, you are guilty – whether you feel like it or not.”
Very true.

“If you have allowed an unreconciled condition to remain between you and a brother, you are guilty – whether you feel like it or not.”
Hold on. Don’t forget Romans 12:18. Sometimes people are determined to stay unreconciled with you, no matter what you do, so they can do what they want to do. Or you disagree objectively on the nature or magnitude of the offense. It can become a case of casting pearls before swine, if they have no interest in reconciling, and you continue to feel guilty because the relationship is not reconciled. This gives the hardened-hearted, unrepentant party all the power in the relationship. Adams’ statement here is filled with dangers.

“The Bible [in John 3:16]… isn’t speaking of love as feeling but rather of love as giving. Fundamentally love is giving. That is why you can obey the biblical commandments to love even when you don’t feel like it.”
This is SO true. When you give your time, your words, or your muscle to your family, you are loving them. If your heart is resenting it the whole time, that’s a problem and you’re being hypocritical. But it’s as hypocritical to say “be warm and well fed,” and not actually heat and feed your family. Love is objective giving as much as it is a heart loyalty.

“Since feelings are unnecessary to guilt, forgiveness and love, do they have any place at all? Certainly! There is one feeling that should always accompany reconciliation – joy!”
I would not make a simplistic bifurcation here, as Adams does. Feelings can prompt us rightly to confession and forgiveness, when we feel guilt. Or others can manipulate those feelings to make us confess things we should not. When we are truly reconciled, feelings of joy are natural. But feelings of resentment and grudge resurface and need managing (mortifying, really).

Overall, this is a very helpful and convicting book, practically in the Christian life.
But there are some areas I would caution against an overly rigid or simplistic application to complex situations.

4 stars!

View all my reviews

10.12.2022

Library Politics

Maria Stuart writes in a local publication, appalled that Republicans would criticize our beloved local library.

https://thelivingstonpost.com/school-board-candidate-local-republicans-take-aim-at-howell-library/

 

Stuart is the VP of the library’s board, so a biased source from the get-go.  She touts all the services and community connections the library has, garnering sympathy for the library.  I don't dispute them, but they don't make the library immune from community criticism.

 

She claims the library has been immune from partisan attacks until now, admitting she has been in a “bubble.”

 

Stuart claims to have no idea why the library would be attacked.  “More of what, Mr. Bedford?”

She either doesn’t know about this, or is playing dumb:

https://howelllibrary.org/adult-recommendations/#readwoke

 

It is not the GOP, or school board candidates, that started politicking in non-partisan libraries, but the library itself.

The woke, progressive agenda has been seeking to infiltrate our school board and library for some time.  To criticize GOP or non-partisan candidates for pointing it out is the height of arrogance and gaslighting, hiding behind a veneer of community service.

 

I have been a patron of the library for 2-3 years, and have often seen the “Read Woke” signs and endorsements inside.  All the readings are pro-woke, with no substantive critique of this radical agenda to balance or question it.  At the very least, the library should have represented views critical of woke-ness in their reading list.  Not doing so implies strongly that someone has an agenda.  The library turned one-sidedly partisan on this long before the GOP or any non-partisan candidate criticized them.  Stuart essentially claims the library should be beyond ANY criticism from the community, given its service and proper “liberal” posture.  This attitude needs to change.


I (and apparently Jason Bedford and Meghan Reckling and many others) oppose this diversity agenda.  This does not make us racist.  We all want to be inclusive and treat everyone with respect.  But reverse-discriminating against whites is not the way.  As Chief Justice Roberts has said, "The way to stop discriminating by race, is to stop discriminating by race."

 

Stuart’s article is a classic example of progressives who claim to be neutral, play the victim, and try to gaslight us that they have done nothing wrong or partisan when the evidence is obvious.

 

I’ll close taking the library’s side, though.  On the national scene, we’ve heard lots of stories about libraries with drag queen story hours and sexually explicit trans or LGBTQ material for elementary readers.  I have not seen or heard of anything like that at the Howell library, for which I am very thankful.

10.11.2022

Woke-ness Has One Thing Right

Provocative title for folks who follow me, probably.

But true.

Woke-ness has something going for it: 
A sense of morality and justice, and the need to punish wrong-doing.
This is an aspect of Christian theology that the world has rejected for decades, but has now rediscovered.

Think about it.

Woke culture is a secular version of God's judgment applied to everyone.
Have you violated the holy standard of right and wrong?
Then you deserve exile, ostracism, and removal from the camp of the community.

Yes, of course, their standard of what is right and wrong is wildly off base.
But they are getting the judgment and punishment piece absolutely correct.
So it cries out for resolution:

INSTEAD OF CANCELING OR CRUCIFYING PEOPLE, WHAT SHOULD WE DO??


The only satisfying answer is the atonement for sin God Himself offered at the cross of Jesus.  THIS satisfies in a way no riot, reparations, or legislation can ever do.

Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion was the ultimate miscarriage of justice, because of who He was/is: the eternal Word/Creator/God!  While we protest injustices in our past, we need to see this:

The woke world is ignoring the satisfaction of those injustices God offered us in Christ.

10.10.2022

Have You Eaten?

1 Corinthians 10:15-17

"I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread."


The comedian Tim Hawkins does this funny routine about mothers who are overly concerned for their children, even when they are mad at them.  Teen comes home 2 hours past curfew – “where have you been? DO you know what time it is?”  Then mom breaks off, sighs, and says, “Have you eaten?”

 

God is like that.  However displeased He may be with the straying of His children, He remains keen to provide in compassion for them.  That’s what this table is all about.  It is why we emphasize here: you don’t earn this table by avoiding the worst sins this week.  This table is for those who are repentant of ANY sin.  It’s free grace all the way down.  There’s not some floor where, well, if you’ve done THAT, then we don’t want you here.

 

So here’s something new you may not have considered before.  We prefer having elders distribute the bread and wine to you.  Why?  Because every now and then, someone is so distressed that they hold back and don’t partake.  Elders are looking around, making sure, “Have you eaten?”  We all need to partake of Christ to be healthy.  It’s good to be part of a church body where we are looking out for each other to make sure that’s happening.


“Have you eaten?”


10/9/22

Gentle Correction

2 Timothy 2:24-26

"And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will."


Social media and talking heads have trained us to perfect the art of quarrelling, when Scripture calls us to teach gently and patiently.  

Yesterday I was at a conference in Hartland that in part addressed proposal 3 on our ballot Nov.  I asked the speaker what we can do to fight it, and his answer was this:  Talk to people you know who are in the middle on this.  Extended family members who might be against abortion themselves, but want to give others “freedom of choice.”  

Really?  Freedom to kill babies?  With no restrictions, no need for parental approval, whatever the age?  You see, gentleness doesn’t mean mincing words.  

But we should not berate or insult.  In one sense, people swear because they don’t have a better vocabulary.  We insult others in our thoughts, we are just repulsed by the Left, say, because we aren’t ready with an answer for the hope that is within us.  Gentleness means loving our enemies as we seek to persuade them of the truth.  The temptation to frustration and ungodly wrath is strong, but we must not be overcome by evil.  Rather, overcome evil with good.


10/9/22

10.08.2022

Non-Hostile Questions for Matt Walsh

 Dear Matt Walsh,


It was a pleasure hearing you speak in Michigan this afternoon.  Thank you for coming.


I almost got in the question line to say this:

First, a compliment – thanks for articulating the truth, and exposing the darkness.

Second, a concern – Pastor Thoma told us about a neighbor flying an "f- Biden" flag.  We also had President Biden visit very near where we met, a few months back.  A roadside protest was organized, to which a church member of mine went.  They were disturbed by the vulgarity and vitriol.  As a regular listener to the Daily Wire, what is DW doing to steer clear of such name-calling and derision?  I'd urge you: don’t appeal to our baser instincts, stoking our loathing of the left.  Stick to positive and entertaining arguments.

Question – you rightly rebuked church leaders for not addressing this transgender onslaught more in the church.  Some have spoken of an air war and ground war in this cultural war.  You’re doing a bang-up job on the air war.  Any thoughts for us as Christians, church members, and pastors, on how to conduct the ground war better, specifically?

10.07.2022

What to Make of Conservative Roman Catholics?

 Jack,

Sorry I haven’t gotten back to you on the Catholic question yet.

I’d better do so, before hearing Matt Walsh in person this Saturday – I’ll probably be prejudiced to him after!

 

Here are a couple of thoughts.

 

Many Protestants see Rome as a cult or paganly superstitious.  Neither is true.  To be in the Roman Catholic church does not make one a nutjob, fruitcake.  It is true, though, that there are instances of 3rd world syncretism between Roman Christianity and local pagan practices.  But this isn’t the usual problem facing American Christians.

 

Rome does teach serious error.  They have officially rejected biblical doctrines, and formally adopted unbiblical ones.  The Council of Trent in the 1560s explicitly denounced salvation by faith alone, for example.  And in the 1800s, Rome asserted the infallibility of the Pope.  These are false teachings that warrant calling people out of the Roman religion.

 

On the other hand, we are justified by our faith, not by believing in justification by faith alone.  This is a key distinction, that applies to many of the Catholic faithful.  Many Catholics trust Jesus, more than their church, to save them.  Their church is asking them to trust the church too much.  Likewise, many Protestant churches wrongly, subtly, ask their people to trust their own works too much (your political advocacy, purity of life, having the right opinions, etc.).

 

When hearing Catholic teachers whom we respect on the political right, we ought to take care not to assume they are right with God, just because they agree with our political convictions.  Ben Shapiro, an orthodox Jew,  on his current course will be in Hell for rejecting Christ as his Savior.  Yet we can be grateful for his advocacy for biblical ethics in the public square!  We should be as grateful for Matt Walsh and Michael Knowles, and remain graciously agnostic about the state of their soul before God.  Leave that to Him.

 

When interacting with Catholics personally, we should respect their faith and search out where it truly lies.  My family is memorizing 1 Peter 2:13 right now: “rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  Encourage them to rest in Christ, not in their church’s authority, nor in the sacraments they receive at the church, outwardly.

 

 

10.06.2022

We Need Authority // Co-Belligerent Cautions in Cultural Conflict // Attacking Institutions

Joel Belz on authority

This is from 35 years ago (!), when the Pope visited America.
Belz reflects on how averse Americans are to authority, yet how much we need it in life.



Carl Trueman sums up the rift on the left between gay and trans advocates well.
The last two paragraphs are the important caution for us, though he is also right that we should be grateful for secular, even leftist, influencers who oppose the trans agenda.




WSJ a few days ago, on the Left questioning the Supreme Court's legitimacy.

Dead on.

The Left is attacking institutions today, more than the Right, then projecting and accusing the Right of doing so.


10.05.2022

Pastors Needed // Writing off God // Enforcing Diversity

I found this to be a hugely significant article, on what pastors need to be.
It's long, but very worth the read.


Audacious arguments
"The government reports to me and to other adult Americans, not to God."
So says columnist Michael Kinsley.  Joel Belz from World Magazine responds.


Wall Street Journal a few days ago, on AOC's letter to Yeshiva, is great.
You WILL comply with diversity!

10.04.2022

More on qualifications for Church Elder

I preached on Titus 1:1-9 last Sunday, the qualifications for elder.

Since I didn't get to some issues, I wrote this to supplement it.


1 Tim 3:4-5:

“He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?”

Titus 1:5-6:

“appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.”

 

 

What do these verses mean?  Vigorous disagreement has been around for a while on applying this qualification for eldership to specific situations.  Here are some thoughts, in addition to my recent sermon on Titus 1:1-9.

 

A key point I’m asserting here is that men do not have to have raised and launched all of their children and ensured they are all Christians into adulthood, to be qualified to be elders.

I’ll start with a grammatical point to prove this.  Paul says, “managing” (present tense) not “having managed his own household well” (past, aorist, or perfect tense).  So it isn’t “he has raised his kids and they all turned out believers.”  It may be that, but it may also be, “he IS raising his kids, and it looks like he is doing it well.”

 

The prohibition, “not accused of dissipation or insubordination” (Titus 1:6) means that a child of an elder can’t be living a deeply entrenched life of rebellion and self-indulgence.  This is a sin that tends to show up in the teen years, at the earliest.  But we can’t infer from this that a man’s children must be old enough to see if this is happening.  This would be the same logic that we reject in our covenantal understanding of the sacraments.  We don’t wait to baptize our children until we’re sure they have “turned out.”  We don’t wait to commune our children until we see they can examine themselves with a mature mental understanding.  Neither need we wait to bring a man on as elder until we’re sure his children have “turned out.”  It is fine to go by what you see in how a man carries himself with his family when they are younger.  Is he overly deferring to their desires and letting them rule the roost?  Or is he giving direction, discipline, and correction, to train them in self-denial and godliness over time (“Keeping his children submissive” - 1 Tim 3:4), without provoking them to anger with his harshness?

 

The Titus 1:6 phrase above also means a Session should not be “trigger-happy” when an elder or elder candidate’s child has an isolated incident of foolishness or even rebellion.  Even the most faithful parent will have children that are indulgent or rebellious on occasion.  The key is if they stay that way, and how the parent deals with it.  If dad lets himself and/or his wife be too coddling or negligent (1 Sam 3:13) he is probably not qualified.  Also, if they are too harsh or tyrannical (Col 3:21; Eph 6:4), he is probably not qualified.  Every parent struggles between these two ditches.  Those who handle it best, are likely best qualified for eldership.

(In my mind this confirms that there is a parallel between parenting and pastoring.  Not that adult church members should be seen as children.  But the pastoral role is much like a parent’s.)

This fits with a point I made Sunday: elders are meant to be examples to the flock (Heb 13:7; 1 Peter 5:3), not picture-perfect.  There is a huge difference.  Positively, he has a track record such that the group expects he will usually be a good example for them to emulate.  Negatively, an example gets it wrong sometimes, and there is grace extended, but we also learn from mistakes.  If it gets bad enough, the example needs to be rebuked before all, to make it clear to everyone that he is NOT exemplary in this area where he is struggling (1 Tim 5:20).  But even in this case, Paul does not require removal from office, though the man is probably wise to offer it to the Session.

 

Now, when a man has adult children out of the home, we need to remember and balance two principles even more: covenantal connection, and individual moral agency.  Numbers 30:3 gives the principle here: a father has authority to direct his children’s lives when they are “in his house in their youth.”  But when they leave, he is less accountable for their spiritual course.  So if a man’s adult children have all, or mostly, left the faith (their own decision), and his demeanor or tone or articulation of the faith continues to show some fault that could have led to that (covenantal connection, seen in Col 3:21; Eph 6:4 again), then he is probably not qualified as an elder.  But in the absence of such a fault, or if he sees and has repented of it, we ought to consider such a man for office.  There is a parallel here with the marriage qualification (“one-woman man” Titus 1:6).  A man may have been unconverted, unfaithful to his spouse, and unbiblically divorced 10-20 years ago.  But now he is converted, repentant of that, remarried, and has a great marriage in the Lord.  Such a man should not be ruled unqualified from eldership, on this factor alone.  In the same way, a man may have come to see the error of his bad parenting ways, such that he is qualified now to be an elder, though his children have not come around.

 

The criteria is not “perfect history,” but “faithful example now, and for long enough to be trustworthy.”

 

I’ll close with something even more controversial:

Elder selection is frankly, partially relative to the best options in the group.  Each church needs incarnate, officially recognized, examples and leaders on the ground.  If you have a small, young church of all 20-somethings, single or newly married, and two guys in their 30s with 2 younger children, then the latter are the best choice, going by this factor alone.  

Of course, there are limits to this.  Sometimes the most mature in the group still aren’t “elder material.”  Then you just wouldn’t have a fully functioning church.  But there are times to “lower the bar,” and remove extra qualifications for office that we are adding to the Scriptural ones, in order to provide adequately for God’s people.  (Again, to get specific, in my circles extra qualifications would mean things like, you’ve read Rushdoony, you’re post-mil, you’re paedo-communion, you’re a VanTil fan, zero public incidents of problems with the kids, etc.)

 

“The need is not the call” is an important counterpoint to this.  To take an extreme example, a group of 20-year-old stoners suddenly convert to Christ.  It's probably a bad idea to make the guy who has been off weed the longest (for 2 weeks!) an elder.  They need a different example.

 

But a far more common situation in my circles is the opposite extreme:

There are several decently adequate men, deliberately faithful, learning and growing, who are NOT being trained for eldership, because they don’t have all the right theological opinions.

 

Character and wisdom matter much more than such opinions.

10.03.2022

Honor Your Elders

You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the LORD (Lev 19:32).

 

Thus says the LORD:  “Stand in the ways and see,    And ask for the old paths, where the good way is,    And walk in it;    Then you will find rest for your souls.    But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ (Je 6:16)

 

God calls us to honor our elders.  Not just officers in the church, but those older than us.  They have seen more, and tend to have more wisdom.  This is convicting.  30 year olds tend to look down on boomers, as messing life up for them.  Those living in our country now, tend to deride our founders for basing our nation on slavery and other faults.  Teenagers tend to see only the faults in their parents, and not honor them for all they have done well.  Let us be a people that respects what Chesterton called, the democracy of the dead – the traditions of our forebears.  We are not hide-bound to that, they certainly made mistakes.  But God’s people have been thinking about how to live the most godly life possible for 1000s of years, and their thoughts and attempts should be a significant factor as we discern how to apply God’s word to our lives.


10/2/22

10.01.2022