The new morality

Nine new graphic cigarette warning labels were unveiled Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration, part of the agency's sweeping new powers to regulate tobacco and tobacco products.

The government can't "legislate morality" -- unless it wants to. Living in a world that moves further and further from traditional morality, the anti-moralists nevertheless have to get on their high-horses once in awhile to fight evil. I guess that's OK as long as they don't get on the same side of an issue with biblicists -- like no homosexual marriage and such like. Seeing it is not enough to simply warn folks of the dangers of smoking, now they will have pictures. A dead guy with his chest sewn up. A smoker exhaling through a hole in his neck. Despite all the rhetoric of the anti-tobaccoites, a few graphic pictures will not have the desired effect. I particularly like this one: "Tobacco smoke causes fatal lung disease in non-smokers." Now that will frighten the smoker to death!

The sea

The sea.

If for a time the air be calm,
Serene and smooth the sea appears;
And shows no danger to alarm
The inexperienced landsman's fears.

But if the tempest once arise,
The faithless water swells and raves;
Its billows, foaming to the skies,
Disclose a thousand threat'ning graves.

My untried heart thus seemed to me,
(So little of myself I knew)
Smooth as the calm unruffled sea,
But ah! it proved as treach'rous too!

The peace, of which I had a taste,
When Jesus first his love revealed
I fondly hoped would always last,
Because my foes were then concealed.

But when I felt the tempter's pow'r
Rouse my corruptions from their sleep;
I trembled at the stormy hour,
And saw the horrors of the deep.

Now, on presumption's billows borne,
My spirit seemed the LORD to dare;
Now, quick as thought, a sudden turn
Plunged me in gulfs of black despair.

LORD, save me, or I sink, I prayed,
He heard, and bid the tempest cease;
The angry waves his word obeyed,
And all my fears were hushed to peace.

The peace is his, and not my own,
My heart (no better than before)
Is still to dreadful changes prone,
Then let me never trust it more.

John Newton (1725-1807)
Olney Hymns, 1779

The time of judges

In a period called the time of the judges, the sad commentary on the people was that "every man did that which was right in his own eyes." In that sad time, when things got bad enough, God raised up judges -- leaders who would deliver the people.

We too live in a sad time. But the tables have turned. Now the world has raised up "judges" who do (and rule) that which is right in their own eyes. A pitiful example comes from a few days back in Corpus Christi, Texas. District Court Judge Jose Longoria (and some prosecutors share blame, and family members), accepted a plea in the case of Rosalina Gonzales for Injury to a Child for spanking her daughter. I am not acquainted with all the details of the case, so this commentary does not deal with all the details. But...the judge, so-called, charged Gonzales, "You don't spank children today." This was clearly his opinion which he tried to pass off as the force of law.

"You don't spank children today," said Longoria, "in the old days, maybe we got spanked, but there was a different quarrel. You don't spank children. You understand?"

In contrast to Longoria, the Texas Attorney General's website says, for example, "Texas law allows the use of force, but not deadly force, against a child by the child's parent, guardian, or other person who is acting in loco parentis. Most parents do, in fact, use corporal punishment..."

Ultimately for the Christian, it does not matter what the judge or the attorney general says. What does God say? We live in a rapidly degenerating time. Soon laws may prohibit spanking. If so, Christians will have to decide whether they will obey God or men.

judge Longoria: You don't spank children today.
The Word of God: He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

judge Longoria: You don't spank children today.
The Word of God: Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.

judge Longoria: You don't spank children today.
The Word of God: Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

judge Longoria: You don't spank children today.
The Word of God: Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

judge Longoria: You don't spank children today.
The Word of God: hou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

judge Longoria: You don't spank children today.
The Word of God: The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

judge Longoria: You don't spank children today.
The Word of God: And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Who are you going to believe?

Voltaire and the cottager

The path to bliss abounds with many a snare;
Learning is one, and wit, however rare.
The Frenchman, first in literary fame
(Mention him, if you please. Voltaire?—The same),
With spirit, genius, eloquence, supplied,
Lived long, wrote much, laugh’d heartily, and died;
The Scripture was his jest-book, whence he drew
Bon-mots to gall the Christian and the Jew;
An infidel in health, but what when sick?
Oh—then a text would touch him at the quick;
View him at Paris in his last career,
Surrounding throngs the demi-god revere;
Exalted on his pedestal of pride,
And fumed with frankincense on every side,
He begs their flattery with his latest breath,
And, smother’d in’t at last, is praised to death!

Yon cottager, who weaves at her own door,
Pillow and bobbins all her little store;
Content though mean, and cheerful if not gay,
Shuffling her threads about the live-long day,
Just earns a scanty pittance, and at night
Lies down secure, her heart and pocket light;
She, for her humble sphere by nature fit,
Has little understanding, and no wit,
Receives no praise; but though her lot be such
(Toilsome and indigent), she renders much;
Just knows, and knows no more, her Bible true—
A truth the brilliant Frenchman never knew;
And in that charter reads with sparkling eyes,
Her title to a treasure in the skies.
Oh, happy peasant! Oh, unhappy bard!
His the mere tinsel, hers the rich reward;
He praised perhaps for ages yet to come,
She never heard of half a mile from home:
He, lost in errors, his vain heart prefers,
She, safe in the simplicity of hers.

From the poem Truth by William Cowper

An early appointment

I received the following story via e-mail. I don't know whether or not it is true, but I thought it had a good sentiment.

It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80's arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had to be somewhere by 9:00 am. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient,
I would evaluate his wound.

On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound. While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's.

As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late.

He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.

I was surprised, and asked him, "And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?"

He smiled as he patted my hand and said, "She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is."

Truth by William Cowper

Man, on the dubious waves of error toss’d,
His ship half founder’d, and his compass lost,
Sees, far as human optics may command,
A sleeping fog, and fancies it dry land;
Spreads all his canvas, every sinew plies;
Pants for it, aims at it, enters it, and dies!
Then farewell all self-satisfying schemes,
His well-built systems, philosophic dreams;
Deceitful views of future bliss, farewell!
He reads his sentence at the flames of hell.

From the poem Truth by William Cowper

Hope in Despair

Encompassed with clouds of distress,
And tempted all hope to resign,
I pant for the light of Thy face,
That I in Thy beauty may shine.

Disheartened with waiting so long,
I sink at Thy feet with my load;
All plaintive I pour out my song,
And stretch forth my hands unto God.

Shine, Lord, and my terror shall cease;
The blood of atonement apply,
And lead me to Jesus for peace –
The Rock that is higher than I.

Speak, Savior, for sweet is Thy voice,
Thy presence is fair to behold;
I thirst for Thy Spirit, with cries
And groanings that cannot be told.

"Hope in Despair", by Augustus M. Toplady

Wrong again

I'm still here. Either I missed the rapture or Harold Camping got it wrong.

Harold Camping is a religious quack who "discovers" deep mysteries, while missing simple statements of our Lord such as "no man knoweth (or will know) the day or the hour." Some people never learn.

Much of the news media revealed they are journalistic quacks. How many times did you hear yesterday was "the end of the world". A simple click of the mouse would have revealed that wasn't exactly what Camping said. But what did they care; they just found something they could manipulate.

Christians, don't be discouraged. Let us keep looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. False prophets will get it wrong. Scoffers will increase. But He that shall come WILL come, and will not tarry.

Syrup in the buttermilk

On a number of occasions I heard my Dad tell of one of his grandfather's habits. He said at meals (mainly supper, IIRC), Grandpa Vaughn would always have two glasses of buttermilk. The first he drank "as is", but to the second glass he added syrup. This was ribbon-cane or sorghum syrup, raised on his farm and cooked at his syrup mill.

Last night I found myself with a glass of buttermilk in hand and a jar of sorghum syrup on the kitchen counter. This memory raised up and tempted me to try it -- sorghum in the buttermilk. I must say it wasn't bad. Not nearly as bad as I imagined. In fact, I could grow to like it.

This whole thing got me to wondering. Was this concoction just my great-grandfather's peculiar quirk, or was that possibly some old bygone Southern favorite?

John Jay study on child abuse

Yesterday I heard National Public Radio report on a research study conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice -- The Nature and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States. This study, commissioned by Roman Catholic bishops in the U.S., was designed "to analyze the pattern of clergy sex abuse" of minors.

There seems to be a lot of criticism of the study. One criticism I have, not of the study itself, is that the online information is difficult to navigate -- especially to figure where certain info reported in the news will be found in the study. This may be as much a defect of the news reporting as of the online set-up.

But what caught my attention was NPR saying something about this child sex abuse having nothing to do with homosexuality. I may or may not have heard correctly on the radio. All the online news reports I found say that the study concluded that the sex abuse was not caused by homosexuality. With this second statement I agree. With the first I would not.

We have reached a point in the homosexuality debate in the United States in which both sides, pro & con, tend to define people as either "heterosexual" or "homosexual". This creates a unclear thinking. A person is either male or female. We need to return to this common sense thinking based on simple facts.

Sexual behaviour itself does not define who we are, but what we do. Human sexual behavior is a choice. Whether married couples engaging in heterosexual sex, adulterous heterosexuality, homosexuality, bestiality, or whatever, all of these are chosen behaviour. One's personal identity is not the same as what sexual choices he or she chooses to engage in.

BTW, though clergy child sex abuse may not be caused by homosexuality, the majority of the acts are homosexual. The study found 4 out of 5 alleged victims were male.

Three things about the Bible

II Timothy 3:14-17 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

The Bible is inspired. All scripture, not just parts of it, is given by inspiration of God. God is the eternal source of His word. It existed with Him in eternity. "Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89). "Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever" (Psalm 119:152). God used men as the pen through which the "ink" of His word flowed (II Peter 1:21). The fact that God is the inspiration, the source, of the holy scriptures guarantees us that it is truth, faithful and believable in all points. "Every word of God is pure" (Prov. 30:5).

The Bible is preserved. Some folks who defend verbal inspiration, after espousing it, run to a place of retreat that cannot be challenged. They claim that ONLY the autographs -- the original writings of Moses, David, Peter, Paul and all others -- are inspired. Certainly I agree with them that the original writings were inspired! Not only that, I would agree that this is where the immediate inspiration took place!! But I cannot accept that only these autographs are the inspired word of God, for that theology in fact leaves us WITHOUT the inspired word of God. Paul told Timothy that from a child He had known the holy scriptures. But much of it had been written thousands of years before Timothy was born. How could he know them? Because God not only inspired the holy scriptures, He also preserved them! The holy scriptures of Timothy's day existed in copies of the originals and translations of the copies. Yet he KNEW the holy scriptures. Let us not run as frightened children from the doctrine of God preserving His word even to us in this generation! "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever" (Ps. 12:6-7). "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Matt. 24:35). "But the word of the Lord endureth for ever." (I Pet. 1:25).

The Bible is sufficient. The scriptures that Timothy knew and Paul espoused were profitable, so profitable as to throughly furnish the children of God with every nourishment needed to grow to complete maturity in Christ. We have His word; we need no other. What shall we believe? It is profitable for doctrine. What are we doing wrong? Is it profitable for reproof. What should we do instead of the wrong? Is it profitable for correction. What is the basis of morality? It is profitable for instruction in righteousness. The Bible, the holy scriptures, is a complete curriculum to school the born again child of God. Add not thou unto His words.

II Peter 3:2 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:

Moses, Aaron, and Joshua

HYMN 124, C. M.

Moses, Aaron, and Joshua.
*Joshua, the same with Jesus, and signifies a Savior.

'Tis not the law of ten commands
On holy Sinai giv'n,
Or sent to men by Moses' hands,
Can bring us safe to heav'n.

'Tis not the blood which Aaron spilt,
Nor smoke of sweetest smell,
Can buy a pardon for our guilt,
Or save our souls from hell.

Aaron the priest resigns his breath
At God's immediate will;
And in the desert yields to death,
Upon th' appointed hill.

And thus on Jordan's yonder side
The tribes of Isr'el stand,
While Moses bowed his head and died
Short of the promised land.

Isr'el, rejoice, now Joshua* leads,
He'll bring your tribes to rest;
So far the Savior's name exceeds
The ruler and the priest.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II, 1707

Meeting, this weekend

Lord willing, I will be preaching at Grace Herald Baptist Church Friday and Saturday nights (13th & 14th) at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday morning the 15th beginning at 10 a.m. Brother Johnny Wright in the pastor. We invite you to come.

Grace Herald's church house is on Hwy 323 just west of the intersection with TX Hwy 42 at Old London/New London, TX. This is roughly 15 miles northwest of Henderson traveling out Hwy 323.

Where is your refuge?

"It is a peculiar happiness to observe, that in matters of spiritual concern, the philosopher and ploughman (if truly regenerate) have the same feelings, speak the same language; they all eat of the same spiritual meat, and drink of the same spiritual rock that follows them, and that rock is Christ. Hence that similitude of experience, or to speak figuratively, that strong and striking family likeness which obtains among the converted people of God, in every period of time, and in every nation under heaven.

"They all, without exception, feel themselves totally ruined by original sin; they, all without exception, take refuge in the righteousness and cross of Christ, and unite in ascribing the whole praise of their salvation to the alone free grace and sovereign mercy of Father, Son, and Spirit."

-- Augustus M. Toplady (author of "Rock of ages, cleft for me")

Never fear...

...your federal government is looking out for your interests, targeting dangerous criminals such as an Amish farmer selling raw milk.

With the power off

"Contemporary Christian artists almost always use instruments in their recordings and concerts. Their music is instrumentally conceived, and without instruments (in traditional a cappella settings) the music doesn't work effectively. Instrumentally accompanied church music provides the singers/congregation with harmonic and rhythmic backgrounds. In such an environment, there is much less need for singers to employ and appreciate harmony. Praise teams to a great extent exist to provide, promote and perpetuate harmony for the congregation. When churches embrace the contemporary sound, they are led to make accommodations — trained singers, sound systems, instrumental accompaniment, vocal and instrumental percussion, and the like. I find it interesting that among instrumental churches of various descriptions that I have visited, I don't hear much real singing by the congregation going on. I have thought on many occasions that if the electrical power were cut off, there would be very little sound of singing by the congregation. The congregation increasingly is playing the role of observer rather than participant."

Arthur Shearin is a director of concert choir and former music department chairman at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. Quoted in article "Take notes: Church music lacks true harmony, singing experts say" by Tamie Ross in The Christian Chronicle.

Jehovah our righteousness

JEHOVAH our righteousness.
Jer 23:6

My God, how perfect are Thy ways!
But mine polluted are;
Sin twines itself about my praise,
And slides into my prayer.

When I would speak what Thou hast done
To save me from my sin,
I cannot make Thy mercies known,
But self-applause creeps in.

Divine desire, that holy flame
Thy grace creates in me;
Alas! impatience is its name,
When it returns to Thee.

This heart, a fountain of vile thoughts.
How does it overflow,
While self upon the surface floats,
Still bubbling from below.

Let others in the gaudy dress
Of fancied merit shine;
The Lord shall be my righteousness,
The Lord forever mine.

William Cowper (1731-1800)
Olney Hymns, 1779

Easter Sunday

We approach the day many Christians and the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and various & sundry events that have no connection (e.g. Easter egg hunts) or a contrived connection (e.g. sunrise services). Amidst is all, let us with true hearts glory in His triumphant resurrection, remembering also that in every baptism we preach the gospel of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus; that in the memorial Lord's Supper we imply His resurrection through "shew(ing) the Lord's death till he come"; and that EVERY first day of EVERY week should be a poignant reminder of the lesson of the empty tomb -- He is not here, He is risen!"

The voice of God regard

Sinners, the voice of God regard;
'Tis mercy speaks today;
He calls you by His sacred Word
From sin's destructive way.

Like the rough sea that cannot rest,
You live devoid of peace;
A thousand stings within your breast
Deprive your souls of ease.

Your way is dark, and leads to hell;
Why will you persevere?
Can you in endless torments dwell,
Shut up in black despair?

Why will you in the crooked ways
Of sin and folly go?
In pain you travel all your days,
To reap eternal woe.

But he that turns to God shall live
Through His abounding grace:
His mercy will the guilt forgive
Of those that seek His face.

Bow to the scepter of His Word,
Renouncing every sin,
Submit to Him, your sovereign Lord,
And learn His will divine.

His love exceeds your highest thoughts,
He pardons like a God;
He will forgive your numerous faults,
Through a Redeemer's blood.

John Fawcett (1740-1817)
Hymns Adapted to the Circumstances of Public Worship and Private Devotion, 1782

Book reviewed

My book, Materials Toward a History of Feet Washing Among the Baptists, is reviewed by Keith Harper in The Journal of Baptist Studies, Volume 4 (2010) (p. 91).