We all remember that not very long ago, Kim Davis was in the news. She refused to issue marriage licenses to homosexual people. Well, she is in the news again. Can you guess what for? Apparently she is being sued for not issuing a marriage license to a woman who wants to marry an animal. She is also being sued by a man who wants to marry his computer. Can anyone say, “slippery slope?” When you have rejected the word of God, and replaced His laws with your own sinful desires, you are obligated to approve, and affirm everyone else’s. Listen folks, I don’t know what her theology is. I’m not putting this out there to endorse her. I’m writing this to illustrate how the country lost its mind. It is as if the entire country has read Romans 1 and said, “Yup, we’re cool with that.” For those of you who are not familiar with the Bible, I’ll include Romans 1:18-32 so you can see what I’m talking about. We are under God’s judgment as a nation people. We need to repent of our sins. Romans 1:18-32 NASB For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, (19) because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. (20) For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (21) For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (22) Professing to be wise, they became fools, (23) and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. (24) Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. (25) For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (26) For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, (27) and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. (28) And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, (29) being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, (30) slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, (31) without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; (32) and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
Month: July 2016
Tired of getting fake friends requests, that are obviously spam?
Tired of getting fake friends requests, that are obviously spam? I mean, seriously… Why would anyone take a half naked picture of themselves, use it as a facebook profile picture, and then ask people with no obvious connections to be their friend? Have I got a solution for you! Just copy the following gospel presentation, open your favorite word processing app, paste it, and save it. The next time you get a spammy request, just copy and paste the text into a message to that person. If genuine request, they will get the gospel. If it is a spammy request, they will get the gospel. It is a win all the way around. ***begin copying here***
You have sent me a friends request. I don’t know you. Why should I accept your request? Did you know that all people are sinners. We have all sinned against God, by breaking His laws. By nature we are His enemies. The Bible says that none are good, and we are all storing up wrath against us for the day of judgment. Do you know how to be forgiven? Do you want to be right with God so that He will know you and you will know Him? You must repent of your sins, and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the eternal Son of God. God made for Himself a body in the womb of the virgin. He came into His creation as fully God and fully Man. Jesus lived a perfectly righteous life. He went to the cross without guilt. He bore our sins on the cross. He took our punishment there. For all who would be saved, He paid their penalty, and justified them to God. He did this for the glory of God, and because He loved us. He atoned for our sins. We must repent, or turn from our sins, and trust in the righteous work of Jesus on the cross to atone for us. We must not trust in our own works. The Bible tells us that God sees our best works of righteousness as, “filthy rags.” Instead we trust in the perfect work of Jesus on the cross. When we do that, the Holy Spirit will come into us and bring us to new life spiritually. We will be born again, and He will start conforming us to the word and likeness of Jesus. Have you repented and trusted the Savior? www.needgod.com
If you don’t respond to this message I will report this as a spam account.
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A Review of, “Evangelical Influences” by Dr. J. I. Packer.
In honor of Dr. J.I. Packer’s 90th birthday this July 22, I offer this review.
I’d like to start out by saying that there are some good books written, and published in Christendom still today, and this is one of them. I would contrast it with my most recent review of, “Audacious” by Beth Moore. One is a piece of fluff, with virtually no value at all to the reader. The other is a wonderfully educational book that enriches the reader. Of course, Dr. Packer’s book is the latter. It should also be noted, that I don’t affirm Dr. Packer’s ecumenism, views on evolution, or the age of creation. In light of these differences, I still recommend this work for your Christian education, as our differences are not of primary import, but rather of secondary or tertiary consideration. I think this book should be on the reading list for men going into seminary. I admire his passion for knowing God, strength of conviction, and his intelligence. Here is a link to a short bio if you are not familiar with J. I. Packer. I am also including this link, so you can read about his character.
In Dr. Packer’s book, “Evangelical Influences” he introduces us to three sets of men via short biographies and citations of their works. These three sets of men come from three distinct times during Church history. The first is comprised of Martin Luther, and John Calvin. They represent evangelicalism during the Reformation. The second group is Richard Baxter, and George Whitefield. They represent evangelicalism as Puritans. The third and last set is Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones, and Francis Schaeffer who could be considered Dr. Packer’s contemporaries representing modern evangelicalism. One thing that impressed me most about the biographies is the kind affection that Packer expressed for, “The Doctor” Martyn Lloyd Jones. Even though they didn’t see eye to eye on every issue, the fond recollections Packer expresses are very touching. Sometimes we let our differences cause undue animosity towards one another. It is encouraging to read these fond memories.
The rest of the book is spent relaying historical information about the works of these men, and the effects those works had, and continue to have on evangelicalism. They have done much of the heavy lifting for us fleshing out the doctrines so that we could have concise expressions of them, which are precise and nuanced.
I especially like the section where Packer explains how we have benefited from Calvin’s work on the inerrancy of scripture. Through cited passages from Calvin’s work, we can read what he thought about scripture and how it should be thought of. Much of our conservative modern understanding comes from the work these predecessors did. In the 1970’s Rogers and McKim criticized Calvin’s explanations of inerrancy. Dr. Packer’s answers to their criticism are well worth reading. I think this conclusion on pages 166 and 167 expresses perfectly how Packer understands Calvin’s convictions “…For Calvin, Scripture was able to fulfil its God-given function precisely by virtue of its God-given form, and the Holy Spirit, through whose agency that function is fulfilled, was directly responsible for producing the words in that particular form. The Spirit teaches from a textbook that in effect he wrote himself. For Calvin, therefore, anyone who set the form and the function of Scripture, its givenness and its usefulness, in antithesis to each other, treating them as alternative rather than complementary theological concerns, would be talking a kind of nonsense, just as one would if one set food in antithesis to eating…” As you can see, Packer understood Calvin’s work differently than Kim Rogers and McKim. I tend to agree with Packer.
In the section about predestination Packer lists 10 things predestination does not mean. I found this helpful for explaining the topic to my 15 year old daughter. I hope she found it helpful. Many people have questions or presuppositions about predestination that make them biased against it, even though it is blatantly taught throughout scripture. We dare not disregard it. Number 6 said, “Predestination does not mean that the door of mercy is barred to anyone who actually wants to enter. To no such person does God say, ‘No, you can’t come in; there is no redemption, no mercy for you. You were predestined to stay outside, and outside you must remain.’ The reason why this never happens is because no one ever wants to come in except God’s chosen, whom he draws to Christ and brings to faith according to his predestining purpose. We are dealing, remember, with God’s action towards our fallen race, in which nobody naturally seeks God. Nobody naturally wants to come to Christ. One who wants to come to Christ is already the subject of a work of grace, and will find the Saviour whom he or she is seeking.” Instead of being a cause for distress or anxiety about predestination, this should give the Christian great peace.
Dr. Packer cites large sections from the works of these fellows. He does so to examine the work they did, and to provide the historical context, so we can see the effect they had on us. It is always noteworthy to me, to understand how our situation today isn’t much different from our predecessors. The issues that Luther and Calvin dealt with are still being dealt with today. By studying their works we can see how they recognized, understood, and dealt with them. Dr. Packer’s proficiency at engaging the reader, while simultaneously educating them is appreciated. Even though this material can seem a bit difficult to get through for some, I adjure you to read all of it. For the rest of us, who are accustomed to reading works laden with theology and history, I think you’ll find this to be a good read.
Pick up your copy here or here.
- ISBN-13: 978-1619701564
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Trump Won’t Make America Great Again! We Need Repentance and God.
Trump won’t make our country great again. Tocqueville had it right when he said, “In the United States, the sovereign authority is religious…there is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America, and there can be no greater proof of its utility and of its conformity to human nature than that its influence is powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.
In the United States, the influence of religion is not confined to the manners, but it extends to the intelligence of the people…
Christianity, therefore, reigns without obstacle, by universal consent…
I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors…; in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution.
Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.
America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.
The safeguard of morality is religion, and morality is the best security of law as well as the surest pledge of freedom.
The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other
Christianity is the companion of liberty in all its conflicts — the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims.”
It is pretty clear what made us great was God. Now we are a wicked nation in rebellion to God. Then, we were a Christian nation devoted to God. Preachers stopped preaching, the salt lost its saltiness, and the light faded away. The cancer grew unimpeded and hidden from sight. Now we are terminal. It will take a miracle from God, not a politician or more government.
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Flat Earth Nutters Are At It Again.
Here is a link to the blog post in question.
Okay these guys are at it again claiming the Earth is flat. Let me just say, asserting something and giving no proof, and then asserting it stronger, does not make it so. That is not proof. Nevermind that any amateur astronomer with a $300 telescope can see the moon and venus. Nevermind that they are obviously spheroid. Nevermind that radio waves bounce around the planet at a set rate and rely on the curvature of the planet as well as the atmosphere to get where they are going. Nevermind that high altitude vehicles not owned by NASA have observed the curvature of the planet. The list goes on and on.
They cite 2 Sam 2:8 as evidence from the Bible. I say… wow… just, wow… They need to learn how to read the Bible. It is called hermeneutics people, buy a book about it and read it. Let’s take a quick look at 2 Sam 2:8, “1 Samuel 2:8 NASB “He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, And He set the world on them.” Obviously in context we see that this is figuratively representative of God’s power and providence. Here’s what Matthew Henry’s Commentary had to say about it, “for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he hath set the world upon them; the earth has its foundations on which it is laid, and its pillars by which it is supported; but these are no other than the power and providence of God; otherwise the earth is hung upon nothing, in the open circumambient air: and that God can and does do this may well be thought, and to do all the above things in providence and grace, related in the preceding verses; in the support, and for the proof of which, this is observed. Figuratively, the pillars of the earth may design the princes of the world, the supreme rulers of it, and civil magistrates, who are sometimes called cornerstones, and the shields of the earth, Zec_10:4, and so pillars, because they are the means of cementing, supporting, and protecting the people of the earth, and of preserving their peace and property. Likewise good men may be meant in a figurative sense, who, as they are the salt of the earth, are the pillars of it, for whose sake it was made, and is supported, and continued in being; the church is the pillar and ground of truth; and every good man is a pillar in the house of God, and especially ministers of the Gospel; see Rev_3:12.”
Just throwing up proof texts out of context to support your ridiculous notions doesn’t make something true. That is eisegesis. We need to be exegetical in our approach to scripture. Here is another one of their abused proof texts, “1 Chronicles 16:30 NASB (30) Tremble before Him, all the earth; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.” I don’t even see how that one is related to their argument at all. It seems laughable to try to apply it as support for a flat Earth.
Then there is the next one from their page, “Psalms 93:1 NASB The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The LORD has clothed and girded Himself with strength; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.” again, same problem. It is in no way about a flat Earth. It is about God’s power and Sovereignty.
Oh, and look they did it to this verse to, “Psalms 96:9 NASB Worship the LORD in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all the earth.” Seriously? They must be hoping nobody looks up the Bible verses they threw up on the blog. Perhaps they figured, “Nobody will look up the verses that go with these addresses and it will make me look really smart and credible…”
Then they claim that there is no South pole, and that there is a giant ice wall surrounding all the continents. I wonder what our friends at McMurdo Station would say to them?
Their next big claim is that there is a sky dome over the disc, and here is the verse they use to support that claim, “Job 37:18 NASB “Can you, with Him, spread out the skies, Strong as a molten mirror?” So, yeah… It doesn’t really make a case for that. Then when you read it in context and see that it is more poetic language, you are forced to interpret it accordingly. Here is the context for you, “Job 37:1-24 NASB “At this also my heart trembles, And leaps from its place. (2) “Listen closely to the thunder of His voice, And the rumbling that goes out from His mouth. (3) “Under the whole heaven He lets it loose, And His lightning to the ends of the earth. (4) “After it, a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice, And He does not restrain the lightnings when His voice is heard. (5) “God thunders with His voice wondrously, Doing great things which we cannot comprehend. (6) “For to the snow He says, ‘Fall on the earth,’ And to the downpour and the rain, ‘Be strong.’ (7) “He seals the hand of every man, That all men may know His work. (8) “Then the beast goes into its lair And remains in its den. (9) “Out of the south comes the storm, And out of the north the cold. (10) “From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen. (11) “Also with moisture He loads the thick cloud; He disperses the cloud of His lightning. (12) “It changes direction, turning around by His guidance, That it may do whatever He commands it On the face of the inhabited earth. (13) “Whether for correction, or for His world, Or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen. (14) “Listen to this, O Job, Stand and consider the wonders of God. (15) “Do you know how God establishes them, And makes the lightning of His cloud to shine? (16) “Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds, The wonders of one perfect in knowledge, (17) You whose garments are hot, When the land is still because of the south wind? (18) “Can you, with Him, spread out the skies, Strong as a molten mirror? (19) “Teach us what we shall say to Him; We cannot arrange our case because of darkness. (20) “Shall it be told Him that I would speak? Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up? (21) “Now men do not see the light which is bright in the skies; But the wind has passed and cleared them. (22) “Out of the north comes golden splendor; Around God is awesome majesty. (23) “The Almighty–we cannot find Him; He is exalted in power And He will not do violence to justice and abundant righteousness. (24) “Therefore men fear Him; He does not regard any who are wise of heart.””
Even if we just took that one verse out of context like they did, it doesn’t negate the idea of a sphere of Earth, surrounded by an atmosphere, that is the skies. There next section of scripture suffers the very same malady, “Genesis 1:14-19 NASB Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; (15) and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. (16) God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. (17) God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, (18) and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. (19) There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.”
Then they attempt to apply some, “science” to make their claims credible. What they demonstrate is a lack of understanding of the source materials as well as the Bible, which shouldn’t be a surprise to us since they completely erred when reading and applying scripture. The video used as support makes more of the same hermeneutical errors in regard to the genre of literature that is being cited. It would be laughable if people weren’t buying this nonsense. Then to take it to the next level they compare the earth to the human eye and include a diagram, cuz… you know, diagrams… The Simpson’s is even employed as an argument. Let’s take a look at the deluge from a spheroid enveloped by an atmosphere that contained much more water vapor than ours does today. Their arguments don’t disprove that model. I’m not talking about the Canopy theory.
And of course they insist that space flights, satellites, and the moon landing are all made up propaganda, and that the space shuttle explosion in the 80’s was because we can’t leave our little snow globe enclosure. And the piece de resistance is a flashlight shining through a jar proves, glass ceiling yo. Is this the best they have? I mean seriously, who is going to buy this?
So, I’m not done dealing with this, but I have to go to bed. I have work tomorrow. They have so much bad material up there, that to address all of it, I will have to write numerous articles. I will continue my critique of their article in the near future, but for now… goodbye.
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How Husbands Can Get Their Wives to Resent Them | The Cripplegate
I remember my first year of marriage. “Honey, you’re excited to go skiing with me and the guys for the 30th time, right?” Sure. Just like that one guy’s wife was thrilled when he went over-b…
Source: How Husbands Can Get Their Wives to Resent Them | The Cripplegate
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How Wives Can Get Their Husbands to Resent Them | The Cripplegate
Today’s post was written, in part, by my wife, Leslie Davis. Due to the nature of the post, a wife’s take on the subject was necessary. In last week’s parallel post, we looked at 50 ways that husba…
Source: How Wives Can Get Their Husbands to Resent Them | The Cripplegate
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So You Still Don’t Believe That God Chooses Who Will Be Saved?
I’ve seen people try to explain away Romans 9, by claiming it was about Israel only, and not individual believers. I don’t agree with them. I’ve seen them try to wriggle out of several other passages in the Bible that to me look like rock solid support for God’s sovereign election. I would be curious though how they get around Acts 9. Let’s take a look at Acts 9.
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Acts 9:1-22 NASB “Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, (2) and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. (3) As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; (4) and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (5) And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, (6) but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” (7) The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. (8) Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. (9) And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. (10) Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” (11) And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, (12) and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” (13) But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; (14) and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” (15) But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; (16) for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (17) So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (18) And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; (19) and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, (20) and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” (21) All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” (22) But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.”
Now, I think you can see that it is just silly to try to say that Jesus was waiting for Saul to ask Him into his heart. I think it is equally silly to say that Saul wanted to be saved, before the encounter. It also appears obvious that Saul did not have a choice in the situation. We know that he was hunting believers and persecuting the Church. Verse 1 starts out with, “Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,” Safe to say, he wasn’t a nice man. He certainly didn’t like Christians. After his encounter with Jesus we read in verse 15 God has a conversation with Ananias, where He explains that Saul is chosen by God. “But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; (16) for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”” Interesting to see God choose someone who was violently against Him. Then changes his mind and thinking, and turns him into someone usable for His purposes. God used Paul to give us much of the New Testament. So much of our theology is from Paul’s Epistles. So, my freewill friends, how do you explain this one away? I better not hear any of you saying Saul could have refused and God would have just went on to try another man.
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Supralapsarianism, Infralapsarianism, or Something Else?
I know that this subject comes up from time to time. When theology starts getting discussed, you want to see where the other person stands. We learn a concept or doctrine. We learn the label for the specific doctrine, and we use it in our dialogue to be more efficient with words. Some people don’t know the doctrine behind the label, and just use the label to sound smart. Those folks get exposed soon enough. Let’s not be like that. If you’ve never heard these terms before, don’t feel bad. They are used by theology nerds. It doesn’t make you less of a Christian if you haven’t heard of them. Simply put, they describe the logical order of God’s decrees involving the fall and salvation. Understand that the logical order is not necessarily the perceived order.
Supralapsarianism is the view that God elected the people who would be saved, and those who would be eternally condemned. He then decreed to create both groups of people. Then, He decreed to permit the fall. Finally, He decreed to save the elect with the penal substitutionary atonement of Christ. So to sum up, God’s decrees of election and eternal condemnation logically preceded the decree of the fall.
Infralapsarianism is that God decreed the creation of all people. Next, He decreed to allow the fall. Then, He decreed who the elect would be and to save them by the substitutionary atonement of Christ. To sum up, God decreed who the elect would be, after He decreed the fall.
Again, these are supposed to be logical orders not necessarily experiential orders in a linear time. For instance, when we talk about the ordo salutis, we reason through the process, assuming that regeneration precedes justification, and glorification, but we realize that the moment between regeneration and justification may be imperceptibly small, like the short amount of time between when the light switch is toggled and the light actually occurs. It seems instantaneous, but we logically conclude that one had to happen before the other, even if we don’t have the perceptive abilities to experience it.
Let’s say an artist creates an eternal image and uses it as a stamp. He places it on a roller and then begins to press it on a piece of parchment. The shadow copy begins to appear, from left to right in spacetime as the artist rolls the stamp, the image is revealed and the little creatures experience their lives in spacetime. The eternal image was already there. It was created entirely at once. We did not know it. How could we? We didn’t exist, but the artist knows it all, all at once, and perfectly. He doesn’t have to reason it through from one point to another. He doesn’t have to deduce or induce any conclusions. The eternal image He created, He created at once, with perfect knowledge of everything in that image. He doesn’t have to look from left to right as He stamps the image on the parchment to see what comes next.
The idea I’m attempting to flesh out here is that God’s knowledge of all things is perfect and has never not been perfect. He has always known what He was going to do and how He was going to do it. It was never not a reality to Him. To say it was inevitable is to denigrate this concept. To say that it was going to happen is like saying that it hasn’t happened yet. Well to us, it hadn’t, but to Him, it had, has, is, is going to be. We feel the need to make sense of things. We want to know how they happen and in what order. What if in eternity, everything never was, will be, and always was? It is paradoxical for us in this existence. It seems only natural to attempt to make sense of God in accord to how we perceive things here and now. Even when we enter into eternity, our experience and perception will be different than God’s. We after all, are still creatures with limited abilities to know and perceive. So the concept goes something like this, God decreed everything simultaneously in one humanly imperceptible instance according to His omniscience and sovereignty, not violating any of His other attributes, but rather in concert with them as a whole in accord with His purpose. cum creare casus esset decretum: “With the creation (or creating) the fall was decreed (or ordained). Thanks to Dr. Dennis for the Latin. Then again, maybe I’m wrong. It is one of those things we can ponder.
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A Review of the Holman HCSB Military Families Bible in Navy and Crimson Leathertouch, Red Letter Edition.
I want to get the failings of this Bible addressed right off the bat. In my opinion it fails at what it aims to accomplish. Here is a quote from the B&H product page, “Family, friends, and loved ones of military service members want comfort and guidance in how to pray for those in harm’s way and in how to cope with those tensions in their own lives so that they will have peace of mind. The Military Families Bible provides 60 pages of devotionals and prayers that minister to family members and loved ones of military personnel as well as equip the reader to minister to and intercede for those in the military.” All of these articles are in this Bible, but (come on, you knew there was going to be a but…) They are all in the back of the Bible. They don’t have page numbers, and they are not indexed in any way shape or form. You might be asking, “What’s so bad about that?” Well, say for instance you are having a specific problem, that one of these articles addresses, wouldn’t it be great to be able to look it up? The next problem is that these articles should be interspersed throughout the Bible and be attached to relevant scripture passages. As it is, they are just lazily thrown into the back of this Bible. Sure, it puts them in one convenient place to read, but they literally could be a separate devotional book instead. My final problem with the devotionals is that some cited scripture passages have been torn out of context and misapplied by the writer. This doesn’t happen a lot, but it shouldn’t happen at all.
I would offer a solution instead of just seemingly complaining. First, get the feel good authors out of the exposition business. Second, get some vets, their families, and some theologians together, to talk about their experiences, and to help them connect with the Biblical doctrines that comforted them. Third, intersperse the articles throughout the Bible, and connect them to sections of scripture in context, and properly apply the scripture to the situations the military families and soldiers are going through. Fourth, index the articles so that people can find them and the scriptures that can offer them soul care pertinent to their situation. See, was that so hard? Seems legit to me…
Now let’s get into the physical attributes of this Bible. It is a handsome little Bible in the HCSB translation. It came in a two piece, sturdy, retail box. The cover is a synthetic Navy blue, and crimson color leather like material. It is perimeter stitched and case bound, with a paper liner. The page edges are silver, the spine and corners are rounded. This Bible’s spine is smyth sewn, regardless of what the retail sites say.
There is some page crinkling at the beginning of the Bible, but it isn’t very bad. There is a patriotic themed presentation page. The single ribbon marker is red/crimson, to match the stripe on the cover. The publisher’s information page indicates this Bible is manufactured in China… patriotic Bible… made in China… just sayin’
I found this Bible to be just the right size. It measures approximately, 8 ½” by 5 ¾” by 1 ½” It is really more of a text Bible with devotions in the back. The paper is opaque enough, and the print is a 10 pt. font, printed uniformly throughout the Bible. This is a double column, paragraph format, red letter edition. The red print is pretty average, not too bright, not too dull. It is an easy to read Bible, mostly because of the size of the font.
It would be even better if line matching was employed. While the paper is decent, and the font is a good size, there is still some ghosting. Limited footnotes at the bottom of the page reduce clutter. The sewn spine makes this Bible nice and flexible, right out of the box. It lays flat on the table, and that is a big deal for an inexpensive Bible.
It truly is a great value with just the legibility and sewn spine. The 60 pages of devotional material are useful. Don’t get me wrong. I just wished a better implementation had occurred. Of the 60 pages, 30 are devotions and 30 are prayers. I believe that theology makes a difference, and that a firm foundation in God’s word will help you through the storms of life better than anything else. The sovereignty of God, God’s omniscience, and omnipresence, as well as all that those attributes entail gives me peace and comfort in difficult times. Besides these features there are HCSB bullet notes, “Where to turn to” scripture index, and 8 full color maps.
Make sure to check out the rest of the pics at my Flickr page. You can pick up your copy at Christianbook, or Amazon.
ISBN-13: 9781433619670
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