7 Rules for Reformers

Doug Wilson nails it again with this post here. In sum the 7 rules are:

1) Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever.

2) Remember the distinction between principles and methods

3) Prefer the concrete to the abstract

4) Cultivate a high sense of humour

5) Be combative

6) Play the long game

7) Always remember that religion shapes culture and culture trumps politics.

There are too many choice quotes, but me being a good Trinitarian, here are my favourite 3:

Secular conservatism is like trying to use your pocket handkerchief to slow you down after the main chute has failed. The person and work of Jesus is not optional.

Love your neighbour, not mankind. Build an actual school for your children, and do not love the notion of educational great concepts in some Euclidean eschaton.

You have to fight, and you have to fight clean, and you have to fight fair. When you enlist in the army, you cannot feign surprise when you find yourself in battles.

Read the whole thing here

My biggest weakness

With the vicar unexpectedly away these past few weeks, I've discovered what one of my big weaknesses is - I'm a wimp. I want everyone to love and esteem me and so I avoid taking the hard road when it comes to the tricky decisions especially when dealing with people face to face. E.g. one of our church deacons resorts to foul language when frustrated and all I can think of is when will the vicar be back so that he can rebuke them! A parishioner living in sin turns up seeking baptism for their child, and my confident chatter a moment before becomes stuttering babble. As I prepare sermons for the Lord's Day I opt to go for short (and hopefully funny) homilies so that the punters will be pleased and not moan. What has become of me? As I've been reflecting on my cowardice these past few weeks I see that C S Lewis was right: 

'[Courage] is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point... A chastity or honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful till it became risky.' 

He's right. Very often, our decisions come down to choosing between courage and cowardice and most times I've been quick to take Pilate's path. I really really would like to grow some gracious backbone, so that I'm gentle yet firm, reproving yet abounding in love, full of grace and truth - anyone have ideas how one does this?

Kills the dragon, wins the girl

Today is Michelmas day. The day when historically, the Church has recalled how Michael that super angel fought the wicked dragon - Satan - and triumphed. It is the original story from which contemporary authors have riffed-off (as for example the defeat of Smaug in The Hobbit). Michael's victory over the serpent, today reminds the Church of that Greater Hero - Jesus Christ - whose epic victory at calvary slayed the Dragon and there won His bride.

The Collect for today:

O EVERLASTING God, who hast ordained and constituted the services of Angels and men in a wonderful order: Mercifully grant, that as thy holy Angels always do thee service in heaven, so by thy appointment they may succour and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Friday Fun: How scientific research reaches your grandma

More cartoons here

Was Spurgeon a Post-Mil?

He probably wouldn't say yes, but judging from the quote below I think he was!

Let not the missionary be afraid, even if for thousands of years to come there should be little apparent success to the preaching of the Gospel. If the Lord should tarry another 6,000 years, yes, sixty thousand years—and He may—we are still to go on working, still to go on laboring, looking for His coming and expecting it, but not relaxing our efforts because He pleases to delay it, for the Lord has sworn that all flesh shall know His Glory and you may depend upon it—there is no spot of earth that shall be left to be Satan’s dominion!

C.H Spurgeon, 1834-1892 (emphasis mine)

You're not married because...

'You're a b*tch'! 

So says an article by a TV scriptwriter named Tracy McMillan, which is aimed at women who want to be married but aren't and wonder why. Pulling no punches, she tells them why. She gives six reasons:

1) You're a b*tch

2) You're shallow

3) You're a sl*t

4) You're a liar

5) You're selfish

6) You're not good enough

There is a lot here that is provocative and unnecessarily exaggerated (perhaps to generate more publicity) but there is quite a bit that is useful and true including her realistic reflections on marriage: don't expect it to be happy all the time! One of the best lines of the article is her comment that:

"Ultimately, marriage is not about getting something - it's about giving it."

Preach on sister!

Read the article here

The moment before death

How fickle we are. Helped by the recent protests in other Islamic lands, the raging war in Syria has been taken off our minds. Even the pro-Islamic Al-Jazeera has only got a small section on it's home page focussed on Syria. The focus is now on Libya, Yemen and wherever else the Islamic protesters will live out their faith and unleash their fury today. Anyway there I was with my thoughts of Aleppo, Damascus or Al-Assad tucked away deep in my innermost recesses of my being when I came across the photo below which captures the exact moment that a tank shell hits a group of rebel fighters in Syria. One moment it was like this:

Next thing it was this:

Then this:

Only the man in the foreground survives, the other three are completely obliterated. There is a collection of the photos here showing the scene before and after the attack. Sadly, one of the things the survivors say to each other to comfort one other soon after the disaster happens is "Allahu Akbhar". How tragic. One day soon they'll discover that not only did they back the wrong side of the war but the trust the wrong God. Kyrie Eleison