Spiritual adultery in U.S. pulpits

Jeremiah 2:12-13, 23-24

Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways; a wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.

As I notice the wild unbiblical raging and rambling that is multiplied in U. S. pulpits, I think of the condemnation God brought against his people through the prophet Jeremiah. After all that God had done for them, they forsook the eternal fountain of living waters in trade for broken cisterns that would not hold water. They in their flagrant idolatry were like the wild donkey used to the wilderness. This wild donkey in heat (in her occasion) runs around seeking paramours; she sniffs the wind, and sends her scent over the winds; she is not hard to find. Oh, how descriptive of the depravity of debased so-called Christianity in our day. It will neither love the Lord nor heed the word of God, but in spiritual adultery turns away to seek that which is vile, debased, and broken.

Jeremiah 3: 2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.

Every minister of Christ should

A statement on ministers recorded at the annual Kehukee Baptist Association held in May of 1784, at Sandy-Run Meetinghouse, Bertie County, North Carolina.

Upon the whole, we suppose that it is necessary every minister of Christ should, in the first place, be truly converted, and regenerated by the grace of God, that he have a general acquaintance with the word of God, and that he should be called of God to preach the gospel: ‘No man taketh this honor to himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.’ Heb. v. 4. An evidence of his call, for his own satisfaction, is, first, if his views in preaching the gospel be not for the sake of lucre, nor for honor nor applause; but, secondly, if he aim at the glory of God and the good of souls. An evidence of his call, to the satisfaction of others, is, first, his spiritual understanding in the word of God; second, his ability in explaining the meaning of the word; third, the success of his ministry in the conviction and conversion of sinners, and comfort of the saints. It is necessary that a person thus called to the ministry, should preach on trial for some time, and when the church is satisfied with his call and usefulness, he shall then be set apart by fasting and prayer, by the hands of the Presbytery…

A Concise History of the Kehukee Baptist Association, From its original rise to the present time, Joseph Biggs. Tarborough, NC: George Howard & Tarborough N.C.  Free Press, 1834. pp. 65-66.

Good preaching

“That’s some good preaching,” he said—but what did he mean? Was it good because of how it was delivered, or good because of what was delivered? Too often folks just mean the how and not the what!

On Facebook, Monday September 28th, Pastor Herman Johnson posted this quote: “Preaching is only good when the doctrine is sound.” That caught my eye because earlier that same day I told a preacher his sermon was good—then thought to add, good because it was true. It was a very well-preached sermon, but it was the truth that was preached. Well-preached would not matter if he had not preached the truth. (Well, we could say it does matter, but in a negative way. It is a bad thing when error is “well-preached.”)

It is a good thing, a plus, that the truth be presented well. When we hear someone who is so detached from and dispassionate about his message that it seems he himself is not moved by it—we might wonder if he actually believes what he is saying. We should like the truth to be “well-preached.” Nevertheless, it is the truth, sound doctrine, that makes the sermon good rather than how well it is preached.

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Two other preaching quotes:

 “If people leave worship saying, ‘What an amazing preacher!’ we have failed. Instead, we must long for them to say, ‘What an amazing God.” Alistair Begg

“A desire to preach without a burden to study is a desire to perform.” H. B. Charles Jr.

Christianity As A Costume

“Churches that accommodate the surrounding culture’s moral assumptions tend to empty out within two or three generations...Theological substance — creation, fall, redemption, resurrection, judgment, human dignity, sexual ethics, and the exclusive claims of Jesus Christ — is precisely what makes Christianity worth believing. Strip that away in the name of openness, and you’ve kept the brand while destroying the product.”

Andrew T. Walker

Evening Hymn

Psalm 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.

“The Day is Past and Gone” – originally titled “Evening Hymn” – seems to be the most published of all the hymns of John Leland. In The Sacred Harp it appears with the tune Evening Shade, written by Stephen Jenks in 1805.

1. The day is past and gone,
The evening shades appear;
O may we all remember well
The night of death draws near.

2. We lay our garments by,
Upon our beds to rest;
So death will soon disrobe us all
Of what we’ve here possessed.

3. Lord, keep us all this night,
Secure from all our fears;
May angels guard us while we sleep,
Till morning light appears.

4. And if we early rise,
And view th’unwearied sun,
May we set out to win the prize
And after glory run.

5. And when our days are past,
And we from time remove,
O may we in thy bosom rest,–
The bosom of thy love.

The above hymn was written by John Leland. It is printed under the title “Evening Hymn” in The Writings of the Late Elder John Leland: including Some Events in His Life (Miss L. F. Greene, New York, NY: G. W. Wood, 1845, page 322). It is usually dated to 1790.

John Leland was an influential Baptist minister in America, before, during, and after the Revolution. He was born at Grafton, Massachusetts May 14 or 15, 1754, the son of James Leland. He began to preach at the age of 20 in Massachusetts. He moved to Virginia for about 15 years, ministering there, then returned to Massachusetts circa 1790. Leland supported the struggle for religious liberty, and exerted some influence on Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and others. He married Sarah Devine in 1776, and they had several children. Leland died January 14, 1841. He and his wife are buried at the Cheshire Cemetery in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. John Julian describes Leland as eccentric and states, “His influence seems to have been equalled by his peculiarities” (John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, 1907, p. 670).

Other hymns written by John Leland include:

• Brethren, I have come once more
• Come and taste, along with me
• O when shall I see Jesus
• Christians, if your hearts are warm.

The composer of Evening Shade, Stephen Jenks, was born March 17, 1772, the son of John Jenks and Lydia Bucklin of Rhode Island. Jenks became a composer and singing school teacher – and between 1799 and 1818 was author or coauthor of ten published music collections. These works included 125 pieces of sacred music of his own composition. According to Warren Steel, “Jenks was a prolific exponent of the American music idiom developed by Daniel Read and other Connecticut composers during the late eighteenth century.” Jenks first married Hannah Dauchy around 1792. After her death he married Rachel Travis in 1801. After Rachel’s death he married Abigail Ross. They moved to northern Ohio in 1829, and died there. Stephen Jenks died June 3, 1856. He and Abigail are buried at the Maple Grove Cemetery in Thompson, Geauga County, Ohio.

Steel also notes that Stephen Jenks’s “large manuscript tunebook shows that he continued to compose as late as 1850 and that he grappled with the changing styles of nineteenth-century hymnody.” He left nearly 100 unpublished tunes from his later years. In addition to Evening Shade, Jenk’s tunes Liberty, Mount Vernon, and North Salem continue to be popular with Sacred Harp singers.

In Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs (Knoxville, TN: Melody Publications, 2020), this text is paired with the tune Leland by L. M. Fosbery. The tune appeared as #31 in the 1899 Book of Worship with Hymns and Tunes, published by the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States. However, it was published at least as early as 1892 in The New Laudes Domini: a Selection of Spiritual Songs, Ancient and Modern for Use in Baptist Churches. Nothing further is known of the composer.

What to know, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• What to know about the breakaway traditionalist Catholics defying Pope Leo XIV -- “The ultratraditionalist Society of St. Pius X is defying Pope Leo XIV by consecrating four bishops without his consent at its seminary in Econe, Switzerland.”
• Waiting on the Wings -- “There are Texas sunsets—and then there’s the sunset I saw on the outskirts of San Antonio one evening: 15 million bats blotting out the sun.”
• The Palace in Paris -- “Maxey received a pardon from President Andrew Johnson after a personal vouch from Maxey’s U.S. Military Academy classmate and friend, Ulysses S. Grant.”
• Theological Triage: A Trojan Horse for Liberalism -- “Scripture gives no warrant for this. Theological triage is a man-made philosophy.”
• The Unscriptural Decline of Singing the Psalms in Churches -- “Roman Catholic inquisitors hunting the Waldenses frequently noted that they could identify them because even their uneducated peasants, weavers, and shoemakers would constantly sing the Psalms in their native tongue while working.”
• The National Museum of American History Has Become Wholly Un-American -- “Using the museum leaders’ own words, the report clearly documents how the museum has shifted its mission from history to woke activism.”
• The Impact of the First Democratic Nation in 1776 -- “There are only six countries on earth that do not claim to be democratic...Even states that have no intention of functioning as democracies feel the need to pretend that they do.”
• Should a church use a Christian web hosting company? -- “Many tech companies support causes and organizations that are in direct opposition to our beliefs and values.”
• Setting Realistic Expectations for Your Wife’s Ministry in the Church -- “...some members tend to press unnecessary expectations on pastors’ wives.”
• Regional body of United Methodist Church sues Highland Park UMC -- “A regional governing body of the United Methodist Church is accusing local church leadership in court documents of quietly trying to sever its connection with the conference and broader denomination.”
• Locked In, Cradle to Grave? -- “Facebook’s tone-deaf manner of colonizing the social space of children as the next frontier is consistent with its history of cringe-worthy decisions.”
• Gravestone Symbols of the American Revolution -- “If you’ve spent much time poking around old cemeteries in New England, you know that some of the most common gravestone symbols from the American Revolutionary era are the winged skull and the cherub or soul effigy.”
• “Draw Nigh unto My Soul”: English Baptist Piety and the Means of Grace in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries -- “Given this prominence of the Scriptures in the life of Baptists, it is not surprising that hearing the Word preached was regarded by them as a vital spiritual discipline...”
• Are you paying too much for your domain? -- “A very pervasive scam asks you to pay a ‘domain listing’ service or something similar. But they’re literally just scammers.”
• 10 Things You should Know about Tithing under the Mosaic Covenant -- “To give only 8% or to give 15% is equally permissible. Not to give at all, or to give disproportionately to your income (which is the case with most Christians today), or to give grudgingly, is indeed sin.”

The Triune God

The Human Heart

In this world we see all sorts of dissension – factionalism, hatred, enmity, strife, jealousy, resentment, envy, malice, and viciousness. We blame evil on systems, institutions, opposing groups, history, and ancestry. The Bible places the blame elsewhere. There is an underlying fundamental problem, the human heart is deceitful and desperately wicked (Genesis 6:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 15:18-20). We can try to blame everything and everyone else, but the Bible refuses to do so. The problem of the heart is present in every human being, and cannot be whisked away by special works or sincere wishes.

Weak theological systems and woke philosophical systems discard this truth about the human heart to agree among themselves that man is basically good. We just need a better environment, more money, more education, and all will be well. Try as we might, this never works. So try harder, with all your might! Still doesn’t work. The wickedness of the human heart may produce cruelty in one context and self-righteousness in another context – and both cruelty and self-righteousness in another. The impulses emerge from the same human nature, the same kind of human heart that exists in every human person. Recognition of the underlying problem calls for a different solution, which is essentially spiritual heart surgery (Romans 2:28-29; Romans 10:8-10; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22).

The good news is “that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15).

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).