Here’s something interesting from Time Magazine: 10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now. Why is it interesting? Calvinism appears in the number three spot. Here’s an excerpt . . .

Calvinism, cousin to the Reformation’s other pillar, Lutheranism, is a bit less dour than its critics claim: it offers a rock-steady deity who orchestrates absolutely everything, including illness (or home foreclosure!), by a logic we may not understand but don’t have to second-guess. Our satisfaction — and our purpose — is fulfilled simply by “glorifying” him. In the 1700s, Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards invested Calvinism with a rapturous near mysticism. Yet it was soon overtaken in the U.S. by movements like Methodism that were more impressed with human will. Calvinist-descended liberal bodies like the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) discovered other emphases, while Evangelicalism’s loss of appetite for rigid doctrine — and the triumph of that friendly, fuzzy Jesus — seemed to relegate hard-core Reformed preaching (Reformed operates as a loose synonym for Calvinist) to a few crotchety Southern churches.

No more. Neo-Calvinist ministers and authors don’t operate quite on a Rick Warren scale. But, notes Ted Olsen, a managing editor at Christianity Today, “everyone knows where the energy and the passion are in the Evangelical world” — with the pioneering new-Calvinist John Piper of Minneapolis, Seattle’s pugnacious Mark Driscoll and Albert Mohler, head of the Southern Seminary of the huge Southern Baptist Convention. The Calvinist-flavored ESV Study Bible sold out its first printing, and Reformed blogs like Between Two Worlds are among cyber-Christendom’s hottest links.

Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all (Col. 3.11).

And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all (1 Cor. 15.28).

Ralph Robinson, Christ All, and In All, pp. 4-5:

If Christ be all in all, then is nothing anything at all without Jesus Christ. All the world, the riches, pleasures, honours of the world, is but emptiness without Christ. ‘Vanity of vanities; all is vanity,’ Eccl. i. 2. That man hath just nothing that hath not Christ, who is all things; the world is but nigrum nihil [trans.: a thing of nothing]. Thy wisdom, thy parts, thy children, thy offices, thy preferments, thy lands and revenues, all thou hast, if thou want him that is all things, can amount to nothing. They are but ciphers without a figure. Oh that men would consider this!

Philip Henry, Christ All in All, pp. 363-364, 368:

I am this day, from this text, to show you, he is our all; or, as the apostle expresses it, our all in all. Twice, and but twice, is this phrase found in all the Bible; here, and in 1 Cor. xv. 28. Here, it is spoken of Christ, what he is in this world; there, of God the Father, what he will be to us in the other world, — our complete happiness alone, without any other person or thing to help. — And the one follows upon the other. If Christ be all in all with us now, the Father will be all in all to us to eternity; — else not.

Doct. That Jesus Christ is a Christian’s all, or his all in all.

There are two other Scripture phrases to the same purpose, — The root of the matter, Job xix. 28, and The one thing needful, Luke x. 42. He alone is sufficient, himself without any other, to make us happy, and without him nothing else can do it.

What is a sick man’s all in all? A physician. — A condemned man’s? A pardon. — A captive’s? A ransom. — A hungry man’s? Food. — A thirsty man’s? Drink. — A man’s in debt? A surety. — This, in all respects, is our condition, and all this he is to us.
…

“Si Christum noscis, satis est, si caetera nescis.
Si Christum nescis, nihil est si caetera noscis.”*

* If you know Christ, it is enough, if you are ignorant of other things. — If you are unacquainted with Christ, it is nothing if you know everything else.

Katherine Savage (daughter of Philip Henry and publisher of her father’s sermons on Christ All in All), Diary, in J.B. Williams, The Christian Lady of the Seventeenth Century; or the Life of Mrs. Savage, quoted in Philip Henry, Christ All in All, pp. x-xi:

1697. Sabbath. January 10. This day and the evening before I spent some time in reading my dear father’s sermons on Col. iii. 11, ‘Christ is all and in all.’ With this he concludes that subject which he was so long upon, namely, what Christ is to true believers in forty particulars. He is their Foundation, Food, Root, Raiment, Head, Hope, Refuge, Righteousness, &c. What can be added? He is our all — our all in all — both in respect of the benefits we have by him — election creation — conversion — justification — consolation — teaching — redemption — strength — at death — in judgment — to eternity. In all these Christ is all in all. Further, as to duty to be performed to him. He is all in all to be known, chosen, loved, desired, delighted in, trusted, thought of, followed, preached. He is all in all in the Scriptures, in the sacraments, in sabbaths, in praying. Blessed be God for these sweet, wholesome truths to be food for my pour soul. He ‘being dead yet speaketh.’ And what is it, he says, but that which his heart was always full of? Christ — Christ — Christ. Methinks I hear him still: Oh, make Christ your all!

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men . . .

Westminster Confession, chapter 1, article 6

One of the issues resolved by the Reformers was that of final authority, i.e., Are the Scriptures sufficient for doctrine and life? The Reformers, of course, answered in the affirmative. Louis Berkhof summarized their case as follows:

In Scripture each succeeding book connects up with the proceeding (except in contemporary narratives), and is based on it. The Psalms and the Prophets presuppose the Law and appeal to it, and to it only. The New Testament comes to us as the fulfillment of the Old and refers back to nothing else. Oral traditions current in the time of Jesus are rejected as human inventions, Matt. 5:21–28; 15:4, 9; I Cor. 4:6. Christ is presented to us as the acme of the divine revelation, the highest and the last, Matt. 11:27; John 1:18; 17:4, 6; Heb. 1:1. For the knowledge of the way of salvation we are referred to Scripture only, to the word of Christ, and the apostles, John 17:20; I John 1:3 . . .

Both Rome and the Anabaptists rejected the sufficiency of Scripture. Rome put as Scripture’s rival her church councils and traditions, with the ultimate authority residing in the pope. The Anabaptists, however, had a low view of Scripture for other reasons: they sought guidance from an “inner light” and direct revelations from God, resolving that the Spirit worked apart from the Word because the Word was dead.

Swarmers

Renting the Spirit from the Word by claiming direct revelations from God was something the Reformers could not abide. For that reason, Martin Luther derisively referred to them as “swarmers” because they were “swarming everywhere, deranged by the devil, regarding Scripture as a dead letter, extolling nothing but the Spirit and yet keeping neither the Word nor the Spirit.”

Likewise, in speaking of the link between the Spirit and the Word, John Calvin wrote . . .

Two things are connected here, the Word and the Spirit of God, in opposition to the fanatics, who aim at oracles and hidden revelations apart from the Word.

David Wilkerson and the Modern Swarmers

For ten years I have been warning about a thousand fires coming to New York City. It will engulf the whole megaplex, including areas of New Jersey and Connecticut. Major cities all across America will experience riots and blazing fires—such as we saw in Watts, Los Angeles, years ago . . .

Note: I do not know when these things will come to pass, but I know it is not far off. I have unburdened my soul to you. Do with the message as you choose.

David Wilkerson, pastor of Times Square Church in New York and president of World Challenge

In my years as a Pentecostal I saw the shipped-wrecked lives of those who listened to the modern swarmers. I’ve also experienced (and sill experience) the derision of unbelievers as they scoff at Christ and His followers because of those who claim that God is whispering in their ear. Worst of all, these false prophets blaspheme our God by taking His name in vain. This crime of speaking when God has not spoken is so heinous that, in Old Testament times, God commanded that these offenders be put to death (Deut. 13, 18:20-22, 13:12-13; Ez. 13:1-9; Zech. 13:3).

A Plea

I call on David Wilkerson and other Pentecostals to stop trying to find a back door to God (or, as Martin Luther put it, stop trying to view God in the nude). God has spoken, and still speaks, through the bible—and those same Scriptures remain sufficient for doctrine and life. Not the Spirit working apart from the Word, but the Spirit working through the Word.

The Bible is something more than a body of revealed truths, a collection of books verbally inspired of God. It is also the living voice of God. The living God speaks through its pages. Therefore, it is not to be valued as a sacred object to be placed on a shelf and neglected, but as holy ground, where people’s hearts and minds may come into vital contact with the living, gracious and disturbing God.

James Montgomery Boice

A devout disposition is happiness. It is happiness, whether outward things go well or ill. A comfortable home, fond kindred, health, a successful calling, are sweet mercies when you accept them direct from God,—thus rendering dearer to yourself, at once the giver and the gifts. But these mercies may, one by one, withdraw. Lover and friend may be put far from you, and your acquaintance may vanish into secret; your house may dilapidate; your industrious efforts may be defeated; and your prosperous state may be exchanged for penury. But “although the fig-tree shall not. blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herds in the stalls; yet you will rejoice in the Lord, and will joy in the God of your salvation.” With shattered constitution you may find yourself confined to your couch or your chamber, and in pain and depression you may miss that presence which would have been a “sunshine in this shady place.” But lonely and languid you can say, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.” Public affairs may take a sombre turn, and in the growth of pauperism, or in the wider gulf that sunders the classes, there may be prognostics of uproar and anarchy; or in one of those fits of infatuation which occasionally seize society, you may stand aghast at educated men flinging away their human rights and their reason, and surrendering to a grim superstition which puts out their eyes and binds them in the fetters of Babylon;* or under the spurring hoof of some colossal despotism, you may hear human hearts crushing, as the sea-weed crackles under the school-boy’s wanton heel, and in vain sympathy you may burst your own; or, as in volcanic reaction, pent-up indignation at last explodes, and thrones and altars are hurled through mid-heaven, whilst civilization ia overwhelmed beneath the fiery tide, like grass under lava, and as it spirts into the air, the gory geyser tells where the earth has opened her mouth, and swallowed alive a weltering multitude;—in moments like these, when the most hopeful philanthrophy is paralyzed, and “men’s hearts fail them for fear,” the believer can sing, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea:” and beyond all the crash and the turmoil, his purer ear can catch the cadence of heavenly harpers, and through all the smoke of burning mountains quenched in boiling seas, his penetrating eye can glimpse the tokens of a bright Epiphany: and from the reeling soil, he lifts up his head, knowing that redemption draweth nigh. Oh brethren! in those solemn conjunctures which prefigure final judgment; in those awful conflicts where man appears not so much the combatant as the arena; in those Armageddons where man cannot look to man, for the contending powers are Jehovah and Apollyon,—how blessed to have a friend in Omnipotence, and a citadel within the tabernacle of the Most High!

* 2 Kings xxv.1

The following actually appeared in church bulletins, or were announced in church services . . .

The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.

The sermon this morning: “Jesus Walks on the Water.” The sermon tonight: “Searching for Jesus.”

Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 PM in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.

Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don’t forget your husbands.

The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.

Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community.

Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say “Hell” to someone who doesn’t care much about you.

Don’t let worry kill you off — let the Church help.

Miss Charlene Mason sang “I will not pass this way again,” giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.

Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be “What Is HELL”? Come early and listen to our choir.

Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.

The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment, and gracious hostility.

Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM – prayer and medication to follow.

The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done.

The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.

Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.

The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM . The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.

Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.

The Associate Minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaigns slogan last Sunday: “I Upped My Pledge – Up Yours.”

The Men’s Fellowship will gather at 7pm for a baked bean supper; Music will follow.

He took a strict account of his time, of which the reader will best judge, by the scheme he drew for a diary which I shall insert copied from the original, but I am not certain when he made it; it is set down in the same simplicity in which he writ it for his own private use.

Morning.

I. To lift up the heart to God in thankfulness for renewing my Life.

II. To renew my Covenant with God in Christ. 1. By renewed acts of faith receiving Christ, and rejoicing in the height of that relation. 2. Resolution of being one of his people doing him allegiance.

III. Adoration and Prayer.

IV. Setting a watch over my own infirmities and passions, over the snares laid in our way. Perimus licitus [trans.: "We perish by permitted things."]

Day Employment.

There must be an Employment, two kinds.

I. Our ordinary calling, to serve God in it. It is a service to Christ though never so mean. Colos. 3. Here Faithfulness, Diligence, Cheerfulness. Not to overlay my self with more business than I can bear.

II. Our spiritual employments: Mingle somewhat of Gods immediate service in this day.

Refreshments.

I. Meat and Drink, Moderation seasoned with somewhat of God.

II. Recreations. 1. Not our Business. 2. Suitable. No Games, if given to Covetousness or Passion.

If alone.

I. Beware of wandering vain lustful thoughts, fly from thy self rather than entertain these.

II. Let thy solitary thoughts be profitable, view the evidences of thy salvation, the state of thy soul, the coming of Christ, thy own mortality, it will make thee humble and watchful.

Company.

Do good to them. Use God’s name reverently. Beware of leaving an ill impression or ill example. Receive good from them, if more knowing.

Evening.

Cast up the accounts of the day. If ought amiss, beg pardon. Gather resolution of more vigilance. If well, bless the mercy and grace of God that hath supported thee.

“For centuries, Afghan men have taken boys, roughly 9 to 15 years old, as lovers. Some research suggests that half the Pashtun tribal members in Kandahar and other southern towns are bacha baz, the term for an older man with a boy lover. Literally it means "boy player." The men like to boast about it.”

Brinkley’s piece, which is at times very hard to read, uncovers a dark side of Afghanistan’s already seedy culture. We know about the Taliban and the opium trade; we’ve heard the stories about the treatment of women. However, most people were oblivious to this. And we’re not talking about an isolated incident:

“In Kandahar, population about 500,000, and other towns, dance parties are a popular, often weekly, pastime. Young boys dress up as girls, wearing makeup and bells on their feet, and dance for a dozen or more leering middle-aged men who throw money at them and then take them home. A recent State Department report called "dancing boys" a "widespread, culturally sanctioned form of male rape."

Our troops, no matter how successful, will not eradicate this evil. This is not an economic, political, or social problem. This is a sin problem. In a classic example of humanistic assessment of a sin problem, the story continues:

“Sociologists and anthropologists say the problem results from perverse interpretation of Islamic law. Women are simply unapproachable. Afghan men cannot talk to an unrelated woman until after proposing marriage. Before then, they can’t even look at a woman, except perhaps her feet. Otherwise she is covered, head to ankle.”

Were this the case, one would expect pedophilia to be non-existent in the permissive, semi-pornographic west, where women routinely put their bodies on display. However, this is not the case. Homosexuality is an abomination that has existed throughout much of human history (see Gen 19; Lev. 18; Rom 1, etc.), and the Bible makes it clear that it is not the byproduct of modesty (no matter how draconian the form). These men are not deprived; they’re depraved (Rom 1:26–27). This is evidenced by the fact that they continue the practice after marriage:

“Even after marriage, many men keep their boys, suggesting a loveless life at home. A favored Afghan expression goes: "Women are for children, boys are for pleasure." Fundamentalist imams, exaggerating a biblical passage on menstruation, teach that women are "unclean" and therefore distasteful. One married man even asked Cardinalli’s team "how his wife could become pregnant," her report said. When that was explained, he "reacted with disgust" and asked, "How could one feel desire to be with a woman, who God has made unclean?"

While some will merely chalk this up to “strict religion,” I beg to differ. Compare this worldview with that of the Bible. Would this man come away with such an attitude after reading Song of Solomon, for example:

“You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice! Your lips drip nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed. Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with all choicest fruits, henna with nard, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all choice spices— a garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams from Lebanon.” (Song of Solomon 4:9–15)

I could quote more, but I think you get the point. Not all religions are created equal. The oppression and exploitation of women is a real problem in the Islamic world, and neither our bombs, bullets, nor our “Democracy” will stem the tide. These issues will not go away with the death of a few “radicals,” or the election of “moderates” who have grown up in this spiritual sewage and learned to turn a blind eye. This is a problem that requires something more powerful. Afghanistan needs the gospel of Jesus Christ!

The real battle in Afghanistan will rage long after hostilities have ceased. As the apostle Paul noted:

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.” (2 Cor 10:4–6)

The story concludes on a crucial note, “Addressing the loathsome mistreatment of Afghan women remains a primary goal for coalition governments, as it should be…But what about the boys, thousands upon thousands of little boys who are victims of serial rape over many years, destroying their lives – and Afghan society.” The long-term impact of such practices is already clear. This is a culture in bondage to sin. The next generation is being forged in the crucible of war, drugs, and sodomy. Regardless of how many “free elections” they have, Afghanistan’s future is bleak.

Biblical Christianity offers a clear alternative:

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” (Eph 5:25–33)

“Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.” (1 Pet 3:7)

It is no coincidence that predominantly, the worst treatment of women on the planet is taking place in the Islamic World. Unfortunately, the world’s answer is to make attempts to equate Islam and Christianity as though the two are equivalent morally, and to kowtow to Muslims for fear of retribution (see here, for example). As a result, the very important discussion about the way the Bible has transformed civilization for the better has been all but silenced.

Nevertheless, we must continue to proclaim the truth. We must continue to herald the gospel to those in the Muslim world. They must know that Christ offers the forgiveness, hope and transformation they seek but cannot find. The Bible also offers a clear assessment of and answer to the sin of homosexuality. Unfortunately, while America has built an imposing military arsenal, we have decided to disarm when it comes to the spiritual side of this battle. In fact, we have our own Kandahar (i.e., homosexual hotbeds like San Francisco and New York, and organizations like the North American Man/Boy Love Association, etc.).

Remember, ours is the Country where GLSEN founder, Kevin Jennings, promotes and advances this kind of sin, then gets to work in the White House (see here). We’re the Country whose President was the keynote speaker at one of, if not the largest homosexual fundraiser in the world where he apologized for not moving faster to fulfill the promises he made to them on the campaign trail (including gay marriage, repealing don’t ask/don’t tell and DOMA, enacting hate crimes legislation, ENDA, etc.). I say this, not to change the subject, but to demonstrate the great irony. If one rejects God’s word as it relates to homosexuality, on what grounds does he object to the activity in Afghanistan? Moreover, once we have started down that slippery slope, how long will it be before we become so calloused and jaded that we are no longer burdened by stories like this one?

As we continue to pray for our men and women in uniform, let us not forget to pray for those brave souls who love our Lord, and love the Afghan people by fighting the unseen battle there. Pray for the families of missionaries who lost their lives there recently, and others who remain. And “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Luke 10:2) There is hope for Afghanistan. His name is Jesus; “he will save his people from their sins.” (Matt 1:21)

VB

The best thing to do is contact the publisher who produces the Christian books you read in the particular language in question and see if 1) they know about FDF, 2) they have already secured translation rights, or 3) would like to do so. I would imagine that enough people doing that would encourage those who publish in your language to consider securing the rights and making this book available. In the meantime, if you know about other translations of FDF or WHMB currently in progress, pleas give us a heads-up so we can get the word out.

VB

A comprehensive account of the major theological themes in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century Puritanism of England and New England as seen through the concept “covenant of grace.” The covenant of grace, von Rohr argues, enabled Puritanism to affirm both a continuation of Calvinistic predestinationism and an emergent voluntaristic pietism, pastorally both the absolute and conditional promises of God. An extensive array of primary source material is used in substantiating the author’s thesis.

Dr. Von Rohr died on January 31, 2005 (providentially, my brother died on this very date), just two weeks after his wife also passed away, after they had been married for 65 years. Besides his family, this work is perhaps his greatest legacy. I am thankful that it is available once again.

Persecution of the Scottish Covenanters

When Alpine Vales threw forth a suppliant cry,
The Majesty of England interposed
And the sword stopped; the bleeding wounds were closed;
And Faith preserved her ancient purity.
How little boots that precedent of good,
Scorned or forgotten, Thou canst testify,
For England’s shame, O Sister Realm! from wood,
Mountain, and moor, and crowded street, where lie
The headless martyrs of the Covenant,
Slain by Compatriot-protestants that draw
From councils senseless as intolerant
Their warrant. Bodies fall by wild sword-law;
But who would force the Soul, tilts with a straw
Against a Champion cased in adamant.