The land of lost content

Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?

That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.

A. E. Housman

The Great Saviour

1. Jesus! what a Friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.

2. Jesus! what a Strength in weakness!
Let me hide myself in Him.
Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,
He, my Strength, my victory wins.

3. Jesus! what a Help in sorrow!
While the billows over me roll,
Even when my heart is breaking,
He, my Comfort, helps my soul.

4. Jesus! what a Guide and Keeper!
While the tempest still is high,
Storms about me, night overtakes me,
He, my Pilot, hears my cry.

5. Jesus! I do now receive Him,
More than all in Him I find.
He hath granted me forgiveness,
I am His, and He is mine.

Chorus:
Hallelujah! what a Saviour!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.

John Wilburn Chapman (better known as J. Wilbur Chapman) wrote this hymn. The first line of the hymn, “Jesus! what a friend for sinners,” seems to refer to Luke 7:34 – “The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!”

J. Wilbur Chapman was born June 17, 1859 in Richmond, Indiana, the son of Alexander H. Chapman and Lorinda McWhinney. He was a well-known Presbyterian pastor and evangelist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Gospel singer Charles Alexander usually traveled with Chapman in his evangelistic endeavours, which Chapman entered into full-time about 1907.

In May 1918, Chapman was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. He died in New York on December 25, 1918, two days after receiving emergency surgery for gallstones.

Rowland Prichard (1811-1887) wrote the music with which it most commonly appears, Hyfrydol. Prichard (1811-1887) wrote it in 1830, when he was only 19 years old. In 1844 it was published in Cyfaill y Cantorion (The Singers’ Friend). “Hyfrydol” is Welsh for “tuneful” or “pleasant.” The Psalter Hymnal Handbook (1987) relates, “A simple bar form (AAB) tune with the narrow range of a sixth, Hyfrydol builds to a stunning climax by sequential use of melodic motives.” The hymn may also be sung with the tune Holy Manna.

Strange fact check

Fact check: Popular wolf photo in meme about protective women is actually of 3 male wolves

This seems a strange USA Today fact check. Perhaps they fell prey to a sudden rush of gender acknowledgement. USA Today did not say how they actually made the determination that it was 3 male wolves. Today, with people, you have to ask them how they self-identify in order to make such a determination! However, in the end I decided that this must fall into USA Today’s “See, we told you that every fact check is not about Trump” category.

Are religious people happier, 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.

• Are religious people happier, healthier? Our new global study explores this question -- “Actively religious people are more likely than their less-religious peers to describe themselves as ‘very happy’ in about half of the countries surveyed.”
• Atlantic Editor Concedes Central Claim Of Trump Hit Piece Could Be Wrong -- “...Bolton confirmed the account from his book in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday, saying he had never heard President Trump disparage fallen soldiers.”
• Candace Owens on President Trump’s outreach to Black voters, left’s indoctrination of minorities -- “Political commentator Candace Owens discusses her new book, ‘Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation.’”
• ‘Cuties’ Sparks a Firestorm After Its Netflix Release -- “Rep. Tulsi Gabbard...said on Twitter on Friday that the film ‘will certainly whet the appetite of pedophiles & help fuel the child sex trafficking trade.’”
• Davy Crockett’s Fiddle -- “...country-western singer Red River Dave McEnery recorded When Davy Crockett Met the San Antonio Rose with a fiddle that reportedly had belonged to Crockett himself.”
• Do Pro-Lifers Who Reject Trump Have ‘Blood on their Hands’ -- “How do politics impact abortion rates in the United States? It has been almost 50 years since Roe v. Wade was decided. What have we learned?”
• ‘Don’t come back until you find him’: The harrowing story of a father’s desperate attempt to save his son in the Oregon wildfires -- “Chris Tofte blew past the blockade, his green Jeep Cherokee aimed for the bowels of the raging Beachie Creek Fire.”
• Focus on Texas: Shapes -- “Ordinary objects become extraordinary on the right canvas, where repetition, lighting and perspective change everything.”
• How Should the Preexistence of Christ Shape How We Preach the Old Testament? -- “‘Preexistence’ refers to the real, personal, pre-incarnate existence of the Second Person of the Triune God, before his taking on flesh.”
• “Jesus Died for Sinners”: Do Your People Know What This Actually Means? -- “...these three truths about the penal substitutionary atonement should not be assumed. We must teach them line-upon-line and precept-upon-precept.
• Kamala Harris Meets Extremist Anti-Semitic Father Of Accused Rapist Jacob Blake -- “Harris has yet to address these verified facts, which are supported not just by video evidence but by official police reports.”
• On Diverse Reading Lists: A Friendly Response to Denny Burk -- “The lack of diversity in reading for theological education is a real issue of debate.”
• Southern Baptist Pastors Announce “Resolution on Abolishing Abortion” -- “It also rejects an incremental approach to ending abortion and encourages all government leaders to honor Christ by ‘abolishing abortion immediately, without exception or compromise.’”
• The Dead-end of Research Justice -- “I have always chosen textbooks with the aim of finding the very best texts to achieve the purposes of the course.”
• ‘The Very Definition of Tyranny’: Court Upholds LA County’s Ban on John MacArthur’s Church Services -- “Gov. Newsom has reportedly threatened to cut off power to any church that continues to meet in-person. Yet he is facing a large movement of civil disobedience.”
• Tilley Bend Baptist Church -- “Some of the most interesting legends about the region emerged from a perennial family feud and its consequences.”
• Trump to direct federal agencies to move into ‘Opportunity Zones’ -- “President Trump on Monday will order federal agencies to prioritize moving their offices to Opportunity Zones to spur investment in some of the nation’s poorest neighborhoods.”

People want to be spoon fed, and other quotes

The posting of quotes by 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 when possible.)

“People want to be spoon fed a self-righteous way of living devoid of spiritual exercise. They want the works without the work!” -- Mikal Smith

“Cheer up, you are a lot worse than you think you are. Cheer up, God’s grace is a lot bigger than you think it is.” -- Jack Miller

“Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.” -- Old farmer

“You will run out of sin before God runs out of grace.” -- Jerry Parries

“The harvest of justice is sown in peace.” -- Copied

“Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” -- Augustine of Hippo

“There’s a fine line between genius and insanity.” -- Common saying

“All of life illustrates bible doctrine.” -- Attributed to Donald Grey Barnhouse

“Life does not prepare you for things like this—but God’s Word does.” -- Steve Schramm

“Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos.” -- Don Kardong

“When religious texts are sung well, greater devotion is inspired: souls are moved…and with warmer devotion kindled to piety than if they are not so sung.” -- Augustine of Hippo

“Fill their minds with Scripture. Let the Word dwell in them richly. Give them the Bible, the whole Bible, even while they are young.” -- J. C. Ryle

“Truth always functions as a polemic against what is false.”  -- Unknown

“If there’s less cheese, the rats have to race even harder.” -- Tiber Fischer

Southern Baptists for Abolishing Abortion

A group of Southern Baptists has started an organization called Southern Baptists for Abolishing Abortion. While pro-life is a common position among Southern Baptists, John Smith, pastor of Evergreen Baptist Church in Cashmere, Washington emphasized this difference, “All other resolutions [in the SBC, about abortion] have stopped short of calling abortion for what it is, the murder of our pre-born neighbors and the call for its immediate end.” 

Derin Stidd, pastor of Harmony Baptist Church in Frankfurt, Indiana told The Resurgent, “...instead of celebrating legislation which regulates when, where, and how a baby can be murdered, our resolution calls for Christ-honoring legislation which seeks to completely and totally criminalize abortion without exception or compromise. In this regard, our resolution is the only anti-abortion call-to-action that is actually consistent with our doctrinal statement.” 

 The resolution can be read HERE.

In other words, cuppa gibberish

• ambuscado, noun (Chiefly Military). A positioning of soldiers, etc., in a concealed place, in order to surprise and attack an enemy; the surprise attack itself. Also: the condition or position of being concealed in such a way.
• bagman, noun (British). A traveling salesman.
• beard-stroking, noun. The action of stroking one's beard, especially while deliberating or reflecting on a question. Hence: over-intellectualism, excessive deliberation, pretentiousness. Cf. chin-stroking.
• chin-stroking, noun. The action of stroking one's chin, especially while deliberating or reflecting on a question. Hence: excessive deliberation or pondering, pretentiousness. Cf. beard-stroking.
• comorbidity, noun. A concomitant but unrelated pathological or disease process.
• concomitant, adjective. Existing or occurring with something else, often in a lesser way; accompanying; concurrent.
• coopetition, noun. Collaboration between rival organizations in the hope of mutually beneficial results, sometimes on a specific project; cooperation between competitors.
• coze, verb (intransitive). To sit or recline comfortably and snugly.
• cuppa, noun (British, informal). A cup of tea.
• doss, verb (British, informal).  Sleep (in rough or inexpensive accommodations).
• fomite, noun. An inanimate object or substance, such as clothing, furniture, or soap, that is capable of transmitting infectious organisms from one individual to another.
• gibber, verb (intransitive). To speak rapidly, inarticulately, and often foolishly.
• gibberish, noun. Meaningless or unintelligible talk or writing.
• meep, verb (intransitive). To make a short, high-pitched sound.
• nick, verb (British, slang). To steal. To take into legal custody; arrest.
• oscitant, adjective. Yawning with drowsiness; also dull, lazy, or stupid.
• pseudologue, noun. A compulsive or pathological liar.
• rozzle, verb (transitive). To warm or heat (something), esp. before a fire.
• simp, noun (Informal). A fool; simpleton.
• vaguebooking, noun (slang). An intentionally vague Facebook status update, that inevitably prompts friends to ask what is going on, or is possibly a cry for help (from vague + Facebook).

Few politicians are hung today

“The men whom the people ought to choose to represent them are too busy to take the jobs. But the politician is waiting for it. He’s the pestilence of modern times. What we should try to do is make politics as local as possible. Keep the politicians near enough to kick them. The villagers who met under the village tree could also hang their politicians to the tree. It’s terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hung today.”

G. K. Chesterton (from an interview with The Cleveland Press, March 1, 1921

Joe’s Mask Mandate

• Joe Biden, August 13: “Every single American should be wearing a mask when they’re outside for the next three months, at a minimum. Let’s institute a mask mandate nationwide starting immediately, and we will save lives.”
• Joe Biden, August 20: “We’ll have a national mandate to wear a mask — not as a burden, but to protect each other. It’s a patriotic duty.”
• Joe Biden, September 6: “Here’s the deal, the federal government...there’s a constitutional issue whether the federal government could issue such a mandate, I don’t think constitutionally they could, so I wouldn’t issue a mandate.”

Joseph Butler Rees

The 20th Georgia Infantry was formed at Columbus in May 1861. Joseph Butler Rees, Private Enlisted in Company B, Georgia 20th Infantry Regiment on 23 May 1861. Mustered out on 15 Dec 1861 at Richmond, VA. (death)

Joseph B. Rees

Residence Muscogee County GA;

Enlisted on 5/23/1861 as a Private.

On 5/23/1861 he mustered into “B” Co. GA 20th Infantry

He died on 12/15/1861 at Richmond, VA

(Place of Burial; Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, VA)

http://www.civilwardata.com/active/hdsquery.dll?SoldierHistory?C&154230

Newnan Herald And Advertiser, Newnan, Georgia, September 26, 1890

Jasper County

Edmon Head m. Sarah Smith 18 Apr 1811

William Connell

Catherine Buchannon

14 Feb 1815

Husband: Thomas B. Clopton m. Wife: Harriet B. Claiborne

Date: 18 MAR 1834

Place: Eatonton, Putnam County, GA

A French man chased a fly, 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.

• A French man chased a fly around with an electric swatter and accidentally blew up his own house -- “The explosion left him with minor burns and his home is uninhabitable, according to local reports. The fate of the fly is not known.”
• Cattle Baron John Chisum’s Legacy Lives On Through Descendants -- “Chisum became involved with New Mexico’s Lincoln County War, a conflict between rival cattle barons, that involved the notorious Billy the Kid.”
• Clara Willoughby Made Significant Progress for State of Texas -- “In 1949, while Clara was chairman of the Tom Green County Child Welfare Board, she became concerned that there were no trained social workers to protect children placed in foster homes and to screen adoptive families.”
• COVID-19 and Comorbidities -- “For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned.”
• Eight charged with sexually assaulting unconscious teen after video surfaces -- “The girl’s mother was alerted to the video and was the one who shared it with detectives, Lapatin told The Post early Wednesday.”
• Joe Biden walks back his national mask mandate, admits it would probably be unconstitutional -- “You can’t mandate that.”
• Kamala Harris Is No Moderate -- “Kamala Harris, they assure us, is a ‘moderate.’ A moderate what? Moderate compared to whom?”
• Loss, Peace, and the Folly of Running Away -- “Life does not prepare you for things like this—but God’s Word does.”
• Meet Antifa’s ‘Alice Phallus.’ When She’s Not Rioting, She’s a ‘Life Coach’ for Portland’s At-Risk Youth -- “People like Alice Johnson...tear apart the very city they purport to help. They riot, loot and commit acts of arson in the name of fighting imaginary fascists and racists. And the mayor and DA just let them do it.”
• Nebraska Man Appeals to City Council to Prohibit Lie of ‘Boneless Chicken Wings’ -- “A man in Lincoln, Nebraska urged city council members to crack down calling chicken tenders ‘boneless chicken wings’.”
• New Thinking on Covid Lockdowns: They’re Overly Blunt and Costly -- “Blanket business shutdowns—which the U.S. never tried before this pandemic—led to a deep recession. Economists and health experts say there may be a better way.”
• Pastor told not to offend gay pride as mob threaten to burn down his church -- “With further calls for police to investigate Josh for a ‘hate crime’, a post in an LGBT group called for Newquay Baptist Church, which often houses families, to be burnt down.”
• Video from priest says Catholics who vote for Democrats will go to hell. One bishop approves this message. -- “As the Bishop of Tyler I endorse Fr Altman’s statement in this video. My shame is that it has taken me so long.”
• What Is the Violence in American Cities All About? -- “The brand of the anarchist is not logic but envy-driven power: to take it, to keep it, and to use it against purported enemies...”
• 1,000 people double-voted in Georgia primary, says secretary of state -- “Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Tuesday that 1,000 Georgians voted twice in the state’s June 9 primary...These voters returned absentee ballots and then also showed up to vote on election day June 9.”
• 52 Black ex-franchisees file a $1 billion racial-discrimination lawsuit against McDonald’s -- “The franchisees say they were forced to close or sell more than 200 McDonald’s locations because of ‘systematic and covert racial discrimination’.”

Jesus Never Talked About

Josh Williamson and his church, Newquay Baptist Church in Cornwall, England, prayed for a “Gay Pride” event to be cancelled. The pastor rejoiced on social media when it was cancelled. The “LGBTQ+ community” immediately went to work against Williamson and his church, reporting them to police for a “hate crime,” as well as threatening to burn down the church house. Afterward two members of the Cornwall Pride homosexual group requested Pastor Williamson to meet with them. At the meeting he gave to them a tract (see link below) to explain the beliefs of him and his church. A member of Cornwall Pride using the name Rosie Posie “spoke out about the hurt seeing the leaflet had caused on social media” – which was only on social media because they posted it! Rosie went on to say, “This is 2020 and very soon publications like this will be made illegal.” 

Don’t believe it? You had better. It is the aim and activity of many homosexuals and their allies to see that any biblical condemnation of their practices will become “hate speech” and “hate crimes.”

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

The Jesus NEVER Talked About Homosexuality tract which Williamson presented “addresses many of the common justifications for sexual sin offered by the LGBTQ+ community, while leading the reader to a clear presentation of the Gospel.”

Happy Labour Day

• Exodus 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
• Psalm 104:23 Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.
• Psalm 127:1 Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
• Psalm 128:2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
• Proverbs 10:16 The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.
• Ecclesiastes 1:3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
• Lamentations 5:5 Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.
• Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
• John 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
• Ephesians 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
• 1 Timothy 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
• Hebrews 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
• Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
• Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

Tyndale on baptism

And to know how contrary this law is unto our nature, and how it is damnation not to have this law written on our hearts, though we never commit the deeds; and how there is no other means to be saved from this damnation, than through repentance toward the law, and faith in Christ’s blood; which are the very inward baptism of our souls, and the washing and the dipping of our bodies in the water is the outward sign. The plunging of the body under the water signifieth that we repent and profess to fight against sin and lusts, and to kill them every day more and more, with the help of God, and our diligence in following the doctrine of Christ and the leading of his Spirit; and that we believe to be washed from our natural damnation in which we are born, and from all the wrath of the law…and from all actual sin which shall chance upon us, while we enforce the contrary and ever fight there against, and hope to sin no more. And thus repentance and faith begin at our baptism, and first professing the laws of God; and continue to our lives’end, and grow as we grow in the Spirit: for the perfecter [sic] we be, the greater is our repentance, and the stronger our faith…

In “Pathway Into the Holy Scriptures,” an introduction to his New Testament (circa 1525), William Tyndale teaches believers’ baptism and immersion as baptism.

Summer suns are glowing

1. God’s free mercy streameth

Over all the world,

And his banner gleameth,

By his church unfurled;

Broad and deep and glorious,

As the heaven above,

Shines in might victorious

His eternal love.

2. Summer suns are glowing

Over land and sea;

Happy light is flowing,

Bountiful and free;

Everything rejoices

In the mellow rays;

Earth’s ten thousand voices

Swell the psalm of praise.

3. Lord, upon our blindness

Thy pure radiance pour;

For thy loving-kindness

We would love thee more;

And when clouds are drifting

Dark across the sky,

Then, the veil uplifting,

Father, be thou nigh.

4. We will never doubt thee,

Tho’ thou veil thy light;

Life is dark without thee,

Death with thee is bright.

Light of light, shine o’er us

On our pilgrim way,

Go thou still before us

To the endless day.

William Walsham How (1823-1897) is author of the hymn “Summer,” published in Church Hymns in 1871. How was a Bishop in the Church of England, known for his work among the poor and destitute. The hymn is often set to the tune Ruth, written by Samuel Smith (1821-1917) in 1865. The meter is 6.5.6.5.D.

Random revelry

If I were set up and caught trying to hire a hit man, would the fact that I was set up excuse the murder in my heart?

Would the same apply to a pandemic perm?

artotyrite, noun. A member of a sect originating in Galatia in the 2nd century AD, who celebrate the Eucharist with bread and cheese.

I love cheese, but that just ain’t right!

Religion, we have a problem

In Fundamentalists have a problem with Jesus, Mark Wingfield and Mitch Randall write, “They [i.e., the Fundamentalists] have remade Jesus in their own political image. They have replaced Jesus of Nazareth with a Jesus of American nationalism...” I do not doubt this is an apt description of some fundamentalists. The stone-casters might look within to find that “We have remade Jesus in our own political image. We have replaced Jesus of Nazareth with a Jesus of the Liberal imagination.” Just ask them to tell you about their Jesus and compare that to the complete picture presented in the Bible. 

“The root problem with fundamentalist theology is a disdain for the red letters of the Bible,” says Winfield and Randall. As stated, this reflects their own liberal view that discounts the inspiration and verity of the entire Bible. Yes, some (many?) fundamentalists pick and choose what they like. So do conservatives, evangelicals, neo-evangelicals, moderates, progressives, and liberals. Perhaps the great sin of fundamentalists is that they claim to believe the entire Bible while not being too keen on the hard parts. On the other hand, the great sin of the liberals is not even claiming to believe the entire Bible, neither relying on it as our only rule of faith and practice. I trust a fundamentalist more. At least I can check out his or her claims against the Bible itself. Many liberals believe in the Jesus imagined in their own minds. It is hard to investigate their imagination. 

Let’s search the Scriptures. If what we have been taught is so, then believe and practice it. If what we have been taught is not so, chunk it while searching the Scriptures more to find out what is so. Believe and practice according to the light we have, and pray for more light. Some fundamentalists and liberals blather on as if they have arrived. Others of us figure we are on a journey. Arrival is future. The destination will not be completed in this life. Nevertheless, be on the journey.

Journalism on the blink

In another example of what passes for journalism, William Cummings of USA Today wrote that “Sen. Ted Cruz came under fire after saying Wednesday on social media that pregnancy is not ‘life-threatening’ when the U.S. has the highest maternal death rate out of the world’s developed nations.” What Cruz actually said is that “Pregnancy is not a life-threatening illness, and the abortion pill does not cure or prevent any disease. Make no mistake, Mifeprex is a dangerous pill. That’s why 20 of my Republican colleagues and I are urging @US_FDA to classify it as such.”

Senator Cruz made no claim that women do not die from complications of pregnancy. Rather he said that pregnancy  is not a life-threatening illness. Pregnancy is not an illness. Mifeprex is not a drug that cures an illness. Mifeprex is a drug that, when it works as intended, is life-threatening to unborn babies.

[Note, 7:30 am, 04 Sept 2020. Possibly Cummings was called out for his duplicity. Regardless, the article this morning includes the word illness in the first sentence (with a few other changes). “Sen. Ted Cruz came under fire from abortion-rights proponents after saying Wednesday on social media that pregnancy is not a ‘life-threatening illness’ when the U.S. has the highest maternal death rate out of the world's developed nations.”

What is Praise?

WHAT IS PRAISE? by Mark Osgatharp

“The voice of the Lord makes the hinds to calve, and discovers the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.” Psalm 29:9

Praise is speaking about the fact that God is the one who makes baby deer to be born at His command. If it is glory that God makes the “hinds to calve”, how much more when He makes a human baby to be born! Believe the ramifications of this one little verse of this one little Psalm and you will be overwhelmed by the presence and power of God Almighty! You will cry out with the seraphim, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isaiah 6:3

It has been my observation that many Christian people think that the creation is running on auto pilot. As if God formed the creation, put it in place and that it operates on perpetual motion. From a scientific perspective this is an absurd position. In the material world there is no such thing as perpetual energy. Crackpot inventors have tried for years to come up with a perpetual motion machine. They never have and never will because every form of energy will eventually deplete itself. Which is precisely why evolutionists claim the universe will eventually run out.

The consistent, clear and copious Biblical doctrine is that God is in constant and perpetual supervision and empowerment of the physical world. Even when animals, evil mean and evil angels are doing bad things, God is still so directing them as to accomplish His will.

This doctrine, though thoroughly Biblical, is repugnant to man because it forces us to deal with God as He is. It forces us to deal with the fact that God is responsible for injecting abject misery into our lives as well as the good things we enjoy.

It is easy to say “praise God” when He sends a soft rain on our thirsty garden. But it is difficult to actually praise God and verbally acknowledge He is the one who made our child sick unto death.

Think deeply on the ramifications of this truth.

[Cf. Job 1:21 and Job 2:10.]

Beza, Revelation 16:5

Notes I am saving on Revelation 16:5
And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.

Theodore Beza Novum Testamentum. 4th folio edition. Geneva, 1598
16:5 και ηκουσα του αγγελου των υδατων λεγοντος δικαιος κυριε ει ο ων και ο ην και ο εσομενος οτι ταυτα εκρινας

Stephanos, 1550:
16:5 και ηκουσα του αγγελου των υδατων λεγοντος δικαιος κυριε ει ο ων και ο ην και ο οσιος οτι ταυτα εκρινας

Greek Orthodox, 1904
16:5 Καὶ ἤκουσα τοῦ ἀγγέλου τῶν ὑδάτων λέγοντος· δίκαιος εἶ, ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν, ὁ ὅσιος, ὅτι ταῦτα ἔκρινας·

UBS, 1975
16:5 καὶ ἤκουσα τοῦ ἀγγέλου τῶν ὑδάτων λέγοντος, Δίκαιος εἶ, ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν, ὁ ὅσιος, ὅτι ταῦτα ἔκρινας,

This KJV reading is based on Theodore Beza’s 1598 edition of the Textus Receptus.  Critics, however, raise issue with the reading “and shalt be” (και ο εσομενος) because it does not appear in any existing manuscript.  Existing manuscripts read “holy one” (και οσιος), “that holy one” (ο οσιος) or “and holy one” (και οσιος). For example, Revelation 16:5 in the Nestle-Aland 26 based NASB Update reads:

“And I heard the angel of the waters saying, ‘Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things;’”

Beza and Revelation 16:5 -- “This KJV reading of Revelation 16:5 is based on Theodore Beza’s 1598 edition of the Textus Receptus.”