Our own worst enemy

Abraham Lincoln gave this speech when he was a young lawyer and a representative in the Illinois State Legislature. He considered his time as the inheritor of blessings from the founders, and that those inheritances were being eroded. I included the previous paragraph before the one I bolded (to give a bit of context and introduction) . Certainly, times and military prowess have changed in the nearly two hundred since Lincoln’s speech. Nevertheless, his observations are up-to-date. We are still our own worst enemy.

Liberal infection of conservative causes

The quote below is from someone who back in the day would be sold to us as a conservative evangelical safe to follow.

There is, then, no absolute proof that our Canon is precisely the true Canon and no absolute proof that any one word of the text is precisely as God gave it. But the quest for absolute proofs, whether historical or theological, is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of history, theology, and the human mind. History is at best an approximation to truth based on an incomplete induction of facts. Theology is a fallible human attempt to co-ordinate the data of revelation.

Christ and the Bible, John William Wenham. London, Tyndale Press, 1972, p. 184.

Al Mohler on Sacred Harp

On “The Briefing” podcast, June 26, 2026, Al Mohler (president of Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky) answers a question sent in by a listener: “[Would] Love to hear your thoughts about the leftist takeover of the sacred harp singing community.”

Here is an excerpt from the answer. Go to the Part V at the link to the podcast to hear Mohler’s answer in its entirety.

“My thoughts are, here’s the way the world works. The sinful world will hijack anything and so what I think you have here is another example of something good and wonderful and beautiful and true being hijacked by a culture committed basically to subverting those very things while using the music and even taking the tunes. And what surprised me coming from some of these folks is they say they’re even taking the words because they don’t mind singing the words because they are just words. Those original sacred harp communities who sing those words never saw them as mere words.”

https://albertmohler.com/2026/06/26/briefing-6-26-26

A Greater than Satan in Here

In Satan we have a great adversary (1 Peter 5:8), but in Christ we have a greater advocate (1 John 2:1). In Satan we have a great accuser (Revelation 12:10), but in Christ we have a greater intercessor (Romans 8:34). Satan is a great fiend (Ephesians 2:2), but Christ is a greater friend (Proverbs 17:17; 18:24).

1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

All in me

“I have read the Bible and found many errors, all of which were in me.” Greg Mathis

I don’t know Greg Mathis. 

I began to read this – “the Bible…found many errors” – and I was shocked by the audacity! 

Then I read the punch line – “all of which were in me” – and I was shamed by the accuracy!

Some people want to serve, and other quotes

The posting of quotes of human authors does not constitute agreement with either the quotes or their sources. (I try to confirm the sources that I give, but may miss on occasion; please verify if possible.)

“Some people want to serve God part-time, but want to be blessed full-time.” -- James Bell, Jr.

“The locks of Scripture are only to be opened with the keys of Scripture.” -- Charles Spurgeon

“A prayer doesn’t have to be long, as long as it is strong.” -- Amos L. Horton

“Jonah disobeyed God and ended up in a whale. Peter obeyed God and ended up in a jail.” -- Amos L. Horton

“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right.” -- Thomas Paine

“If you can’t see spiritually, you can’t pray properly.” (Cf. 2 Kings 6:15-17) -- Mike Matlock

“Time makes more converts than reason.” -- Thomas Paine

“You can’t out-preach your character.” -- Amos L. Horton

“Through the blood of Christ, you can get over what the Devil puts you under.” -- Joe Arthur

“Does your church submit to the Bible, or does your church expect the Bible to submit to them?” -- Keith Foskey

“For as the sun darts its beams upon a dunghill, and yet is no way defiled by it; so God decrees the permission of sin...yet is not the author of sin.” -- Thomas Boston

“Our hope is anchored in the past, because Jesus rose; our hope is guaranteed in the present, because Jesus lives; and our hope is assured for the future, because Jesus is coming.” -- Alistair Begg

Baptism and Church Communion

“To the Christian reader. 

“When it pleased God, of his free Grace, to cause me to make a serious inquiry after Jesus Christ, and to give me some taste of his pardoning Love, the sense of which did engage my heart with desires to be obedient to his will in all things, I used all indeavers both by Converse with such as were able, and also by diligently searching the Scriptures, with earnest desires of God, that I might be directed in a right way of Worship; and after some time concluded, that the safest way was to follow the Footsteps of the Flock (namely) that Order laid down by Christ and his Apostles, and practiced by the Primitive Christians in their times; which I found to be, that after Conversion they were Baptized, added to the Church, and continued in the Apostles’ Doctrine, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread, and Prayer; according to which I thought my self bound to be Conformable. And having continued in the Profession of the same for these forty years, although through many Weaknesses, and Fears, Temptations, and Sufferings, yet not without some Witness from God of his gracious Acceptance and Strength to this very day: The sense I have of my own Weakness and Inability, would have been a Bar to me to appear in this Publick way, did I not see a necessity lying upon me for the Truth’s sake, and the sakes of many, by reason of some that have lately risen up to weaken, if not to make void, that great Ordinance of Baptism, by indeavouring to maintain, that all persons that Believe, although they never did, nor do Practice the same, may partake of the Ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, and all other Gospel instituted Duties.”

A Sober Discourse of Right to Church-Communion, William Kiffin, 1681 [“…we dare not break that Rule and Order by which we find the Primitive Saints walkt…” (pp. 130-31)]

Sarah’s nursing of Isaac

“[Henry Smith] preached a sermon on Sarah’s nursing of Isaac, and thereupon ground that general doctrine, that it was the duty of mothers to nurse their own children, allowing dispensation to such who were unsufficienced by weakness, want of milk, or any avouchable impediment. He pressed the application without respect of persons, high or low, rich or poor, one or other; taxing them with pride, or laziness, or both, who would not do the office to the fruit of their own womb.”

The Works of Henry Smith: including Sermons, Treatises, Prayers, and Poems. With life of the author, Vol. I, Thomas Fuller, editor. Edinburgh: James Nichol, 1866, p. ix.

Henry Smith, an English Puritan minister, lived circa 1560 to circa 1600, preached in London, and was considered one of the best orators of his day.

We’ve stopped worshipping Christ, and other quotes

The posting of quotes of human authors does not constitute agreement with either the quotes or their sources. (I try to confirm the sources that I give, but may miss on occasion; please verify if possible.)

“We’ve stopped worshipping Christ and started worshipping ‘Nice’.” -- Charity Nicholson

“There’s wolves in the pulpits, there’s theatrics for attention and money and influence, and leaders are manipulating God’s name for gain.” -- Lecrae Devaughn Moore

“John 6 illustrates that man wants the blessing of God but doesn’t want the being of God.” -- Keith Foskey

“Jesus saves sinners, but he doesn’t rewrite sin.” -- Chad Prather

“Wise Christians will make good use of the other people God brings into their lives.” -- Matthew Bingham

“I am not a scholar. I’m a minister of the gospel. I wouldn’t want to be demoted to being a scholar.” -- Christian Khanda

“A church’s response to God’s greatness and grace rarely rises above the example of its pastor.” -- Bob Kauflin

“He who spares the wolf sacrifices the sheep.” -- Nayib Bukele (probably from an old proverb)

“We need to focus on less empathy and more accountability.” -- Jeffery Mead

“The practice of homiletics is the meditative wrestling with the meaning of the word of God in order that it can be explained and applied to the people of God, thereby ministering grace.” -- Jay Chambers

“Only an autocratic government can afford to have historically ignorant citizens; it is a luxury we cannot afford.” -- Herbert Pickens Gambrell

“When your final authority is your ‘heart,’ you will ordinarily twist the Scripture to says whatever pleases your heart.” -- Dustin Benge

“God loves the unsaved too much to make me responsible for their eternal destiny, and He loves me too much to hang that impossible burden around my neck.” -- D. Mackey

If doctrine strengthens our minds, and other music quotes

The posting of quotes by human authors may usually, but does not necessarily, constitute agreement with either the quotes or their sources. (I try to confirm the sources that I give, but may miss on occasion; please verify if possible.)

“If doctrine strengthens our minds, psalm-singing fortifies our souls.” -- From “Psalm Roar” website

“Some Christians listening to a subset of their number sing is nowhere commanded or exampled in New Testament churches.” -- Mark Dever

“I have no use for cranks who despise music, because it is a gift of God.” -- Martin Luther

“Though the open-throated harmonies violate every rule of classical counterpoint, there’s an anarchic spirit and an invigorating sense of energy about shape-note singing.” -- Alfred Hickling

“We sing because we’re created to, commanded to, and compelled to.” -- Keith Getty

“Your voice may not be of professional standard, but it is of confessional standard.” -- Keith Getty

“What do you want to remember when you’ve forgotten virtually everything else? Sing that.” -- Chad Bird

“Leading worship is a pastoral role before it’s a musical one.” -- Bob Kauflin

“Gospel music is not a sound; gospel music is a message. Gospel music means good news. It’s good-news music.” -- Kirk Franklin

“I play the notes as they are written, but it is God who makes the music.” -- Johann S. Bach

“Cheerfulness is like music to the soul, it excites to duty, it oils the wheels of the affections.” -- Thomas Watson

“Music is spiritual. The music business is not.” -- Van Morrison

“A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.” -- Leopold Stokowski

A Catholic Sola Scriptura View?

In “Debunking Sola Scriptura,” Roman Catholic Alex Jurado apologist (aka Voice of Reason) said:

“The conscience of the Christian can only be bound to whatever was revealed by Jesus Christ to his apostles. Not even the church can bind us to anything that isn’t part of revelation.”

Which sounds very much like Sola Scriptura!

Three reasons for a gospel summary

Timothy Raymond, a pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in Muncie, Indiana, gives the following three reasons to include a concise summary of the Gospel in every sermon.

“1. By regularly including a gospel summary, you’ll evangelize non-Christians in your congregation.

“2. By regularly including a gospel summary, you’re training Christians how to explain the gospel to their non-Christian friends.

“3. By regularly including a gospel summary, you communicate, by way of emphasis, what’s of ultimate importance.”

Whitefield on spiritual progress

Some thoughts on spiritual progress derived from George Whitefield’s practices to encourage spiritual progress: 

* Engaging in regular Scripture reading

• recognize Scripture as God’s revelation of Jesus Christ
• approach with faith and humility
• apply the Scripture to your heart and life
• pray over the words and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit

* Consistent private personal prayer

* Frequent meditation on Scripture

* Observation of God’s providence (externally) and recognition of the Spirit’s guidance (internally)

* Making full use of God’s ordinances (and other practices, such as singing, fasting, etc.)

* Fellowshipping with other Christians who are walking with God, both congregationally and personally

Charity or Love?

Below you will see a point made by Will Kinney in favor of the word “charity” in the places it is used in the New Testament (it does not appear in the Old Testament). “Charity” is used 28 times in 24 verses, and in every case the translators reserve it in context of the love Christians have or ought to have, using the English word “love” more broadly. My personal position is that “love” would not wrong in these places, but that “charity” is better. Everything below was written by Will Kinney.

Well, let’s look at 1 Corinthians 13 for a moment and then compare the characteristics of “charity” to those of “love” as found in some other Scriptures. We will see that by translating the word agape as “love” instead of “charity,” the modern versions in fact create several contradictions.

In 1 Corinthians 13:5-6 we read that CHARITY “doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own.” Charity as well “thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.”

However, when the new versions tell us that “love (agape) thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth” (NKJV), then this creates several direct contradictions with the rest of Scripture.

If “love seeks not her own and thinks no evil,” and if “love rejoices not in iniquity but rejoices in the truth” then what do we do with the following Scriptures where “love” (agape) clearly seeks her own and does rejoice in evil and not in the truth?

John 3:19 “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men LOVED darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Agapao

John 12:42-43 “they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they LOVED the praise of men more than the praise of God.” Agapao

Luke 6:32 “for sinners LOVE those that LOVE them.” Agapao

2 Timothy 4:10 “For Demas hath forsaken me, having LOVED this present world...” Agapao

2 Peter 2:15 “Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam to son of Bosor, who LOVED the wages of unrighteousness.” Agapao

1 John 2:15 “If any man LOVE the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” Agapao

It should be abundantly clear that the scholar who insists the word “agape” means an unconditional, God-type love has not compared Scripture to Scripture. Words have different meanings in different contexts, and in 1 Corinthians 13 the King James Bible’s rendering of “charity” is far more accurate and consistent with the rest of Scripture. It is the modern versions that create the contradictions!

Can’t get there from here

Ausgangstext, noun. Initial text, that is, the earliest recoverable version of a text that can be considered the direct predecessor to the surviving manuscript traditions (not the original text).

“When textual criticism speaks about the original text, it typically means this Ausgangstext. It is only with this text that genuine text critical methods are dealing. Textual stages that may have been situated between the autograph and the Ausgangstext, are not accessible to text critical means.” [bold emphasis mine] (Gerd Mink; English translation by Peter Gurry, citing from “Eine umfassende Genealogie der neutestamentlichen Überlieferung, Gerd Mink, New Testament Studies, Volume 39, Issue 4, October 1993, pp. 481-499)

It is revealing, tragic, and cautionary that the text critics continue to tell us that they do not believe we either have or can have the original inspired scriptures as written by the original inspired authors. Let God be true, but every man a liar.

With an eye on the cross

 

I gave you one book, and other quotes

The posting of quotes of human authors does not constitute agreement with either the quotes or their sources. (I try to confirm the sources that I give, but may miss on occasion; please verify if possible.)

“What if you get to heaven one day, then the God of all the universe tells you, ‘I gave you one book, and you mean to tell me you never managed to read it.’” -- Reta Dyess

“The LXX continues to be treated with a mystical reverence wholly out of proportion to its origins.” -- Peter Van Kleeck, Sr.

“We are not called to manage a goat farm. We are called to shepherd God’s sheep with God’s word.” -- Keith Foskey

“Influence is not unimportant, but it should never be all-important. The glory of God, not the influence of gifted men, governs the priorities for calling and appointing pastors.” -- Scott Hurst

“Never overestimate the power of one great sermon. Never underestimate the power of many good sermons week after week.” -- Ray Pritchard

“Money is not the solution to poverty when poverty is still rooted in the mind” -- Omotade Makinwa

“The poor are those ‘passing over opportunities repeatedly.’” -- Herman Johnson

“Paul was a ‘cross-eyed’ preacher.” -- Robert Smith, Jr.

“America is not gospel hardened. It is gospel ignorant because its preachers are gospel ignorant.” -- Paul Washer

“A church that elevates sexual orientation above the Scriptures is not loving, it’s lost.” -- Chad Prather

“If the Bible is no longer their authority, then the ‘church’ is no longer a church.” -- Chad Prather

“60% of the time it works every time.” -- Brian Fantana

“I believe in prayer, but the last place you want to be is on a Southern woman’s prayer chain. All that means is, ‘I will tell everybody your business.’ Amen.” -- J. J. Barrow

“God created man in his own image and ever since then man has been trying to return the favor.” -- Andrew Remillard (perhaps quoting someone else)

Some folk want enough, and other quotes

The posting of quotes of human authors does not constitute agreement with either the quotes or their sources. (I try to confirm the sources that I give, but may miss on occasion; please verify if possible.)

“Some folk want enough Jesus to bless their plans, but not change their plans.” -- Kevin Lake

“A selfish person is all about self and not about the Saviour.” -- Johnnie Johnson

“You grow when the word of God means more to you than the words of people.” -- Unknown

“Children have a much better chance of growing up if their parents have done so first.” -- Susan Peters

Referring to Matthew 16:18, Charles Spurgeon stated, “The wine of Romanism is not to be pressed out of this cluster.”

“Until sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.” -- Thomas Watson

“Among the first steps toward happiness and success are the church steps.” -- Unknown

“We bring so little glory to Christ, because we seek so much of our own” -- Octavius Winslow

“Men do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them.” -- E. Paul Hovey

“Bitterness borrowed from yesterday always bankrupts tomorrow.” -- Ian Simkins

“Gay marriage isn’t marriage.” -- Charles E. Hamilton Jr.

“Fallen man is totally depraved, utterly corrupt, spiritually dead, and without desire or ability to even acknowledge, let alone change, what he is.” -- Don Fortner

“Preach the word whether it fills up a room or clears it out.” -- Charles E. Hamilton Jr.

“A few more nights, then everlasting day! A little more pain, then endless pleasure! Just a few more sleepless nights, then eternal rest! Just a little more trouble, then everlasting ease! Just a little more dying, then eternal life!” -- Don Fortner

“False doctrine set to music has always been one of the Devil’s favorite ways of inculcating untruths in the ears and hearts of people who sing them.” -- Chad Bird

“Affliction is often the forerunner of blessing.” -- Daniel Goodman

Old bluster and bluff

Reading Greek.

I ran across these comments that I had saved from a Facebook group. Several years ago, a preacher named Jonathan Burris – who had “disembarked” from the use of only the King James Bible and had been “dislodged” from his church – joined the Facebook group and hit the ground running. He “knew all” and “told all.” Burris usually wrote in superlatives. He claimed to meet all comers and answer all questions, but I found “a few” he would not answer. Here is one. After touting his Greek skills, he would not answer whether he could actually read Greek with comprehension. He snuggled back in a safe position of “if someone will debate me I will prove that I can.” A simple answer was not simple enough, because the answer was probably simply, “no.” Here was our conversation.

Robert Lee Vaughn: “Btw, Jonathan Burris, you may have missed my earlier question. When you were suggesting doing live videos, I asked if would you do a live video in which you read and then giving the meaning of a reading from the Greek, that you would not know what it is until handed to you live. What do you think? Thanks.”

Jonathan Burris: “Robert Lee Vaughn, if you are curious if I can truly read Biblical Greek or not, I would love to have a KJVO debate me and during cross-examination, my opponent could ask me to read and parse a random portion of text from either the Greek NT or the Septuagint. Someone should debate me if they think I am bluffing.”

Robert Lee Vaughn: “Jonathan Burris, so that is a ‘no’ to my question? I am curious whether you read Greek or ‘read’ Greek. Thanks. https://danielstreett.com/2011/09/08/what-does-it-mean-to-read-greek/”

Jonathan Burris: “Robert Lee Vaughn, would you like to do a live, in-person, moderated debate with me and find out? During cross-examination, you can ask me to read and parse a random portion of the Greek NT or the Septuagint. If you don’t think I can read and understand Koine Greek, call my bluff.

“Else, let’s put this to bed and present a coherent argument for us to discuss. Or, just move on and have a good weekend.”

Robert Lee Vaughn: “I do my ‘debating’ on paper and electronic media. I am old and a slow plodder, and never was a quick thinker anyway. Plus I don’t have the face for visual media! Additionally, I don’t really see why you can’t answer the question without having a debate. Do you read it with comprehension like you do your native language, or you ‘slosh through it’ like Bart Ehrman said in an address he made at Loyola Marymount University in 2013? ‘Today when somebody is highly skilled in Greek, like Jeff Siker and me, we’re considered highly skilled – that means we can kind of slosh our way through a Greek text if we have a good dictionary sitting next to us.’

“By the way, I have ‘called your bluff.’ I have asked for a straight answer and so far you won’t give it, for some reason.

Since I saved these remarks for some reason, I decided to go ahead and post them here and get them out of the queue. I found many interlocutors on the non-KJV side to be open, honest, and sincere. Jonathan B. was not one of them. If you run across him, keep one eye and both ears open.

Some folks come to church, and other quotes

The posting of quotes of human authors does not constitute agreement with either the quotes or their sources. (I try to confirm the sources that I give, but may miss on occasion; please verify if possible.)

“Some folks come to church once a quarter and leave a quarter.” -- Herman Johnson

“Anyone who has ever done physical nitpicking, knows it is (1) tedious, (2) unpleasant, and (3) necessary. The other kind of nitpicking can be all of those things, too.” -- Eric T. Chapman

“There is no neutrality in Christianity.  May we never stop being the antithesis to the thinking of the world both in speech and in deed.” -- Ron Braswell

“When faith seeks understanding—when belief is grounded in revelation and open to the light of reason—truth can travel. ... Christianity does not fear inquiry because the God who calls us to faith is the same God who made our minds.” -- Adam Francisco

“Since God’s Word is addressed to all humanity, orthodox Christianity embraces a scriptural inclusivism that is much broader than a politically correct inclusivism.” -- Thomas C. Oden

“The seed of the Word was being planted precisely within the fertilized soil of ever waning cultures.” -- Thomas C. Oden

“Multitudes of ‘Christians’ think that God might be a half inch bigger than them.” -- Richard Owen Roberts

“Do you think about God the way God thinks about himself? Do you know the God who reveals himself in holy scripture or do you only know the God that your church has imagined him to be? There’s an incredible distance between the God of the human imagination and the God of self-revelation in scripture.” -- Richard Owen Roberts

“Nobody wants to go to Hell – but they want to be saved on their own terms.” -- S. M. Lockridge

“The robe of righteousness is not altered to fit the man; the man is altered to fit the robe.” -- S. M. Lockridge

“If your clothing is a frame for your face, from which the glory of God is to shine, it is proper. … If your clothing draws attention to your body, to outline it, to make it noticed, it is sensual.” -- Rosario ‘Charo’ Washer

“It is good to feel left out, if you are left out because you came out and separated yourself.” -- Unknown