From The Study

Changes at Pensacola Christian College

2006-06-12T13:42:36Z

Verified reports are in that Jim Schettler, "pastor" of the so-called "Campus Church" at Pehsacola Christian College has resigned or was fired- whatever you want to call it. Rumors abound but my "sources" suggest that the "last straw" was the musical standards at PCC, which continue to decline.

This must be quite a liberating feeling for Schettler to finally be out from under the thumb of Beka Horton. What kind of a "pastor" would be under the control of a woman like Horton? Horton really runs the so-called "Campus Church" and woe to the preacher who replaces Schettler. But some "fair-haired" PCC "preacher" will be moved into the "pastorate" and I'm sure the line-up among the PCC grads must be a mile long now, with many of them salivating over the prospect of moving into such a cushy and high-profile position. Hopefully, Schettler can find himself a genuine New Testament church to pastor, and start doing things Biblically now.

Sword of the Lord bundles

2006-06-10T01:01:42Z

I don't subscribe to the Sword of the Lord. I never have. I never appreciated John R. Rice's ministry or stand on many issues and Curtis Hutson never really did anything for me. I can't say that Shelton Smith really impresses me either. Nothing personal- I just don't get much out of his ministry or preaching.

A few months ago, I got a form letter from the Sword telling me that they wanted to send my church a bundle of complimentary Swords, in the hope that some people in my church might subscribe. I did lay them out but fortunately, most of my people weren't too enthusatic about it. But since then, I've received three more bundles. I haven't paid one red cent for these nor do I intend to since I never ordered any of them. But my people haven't taken any of these additional free samples. The Sword ought to just give up- no one at Grace Baptist is interested and that makes me feel that my ministry is something of a success.

Prayer Thought for the Day

2006-06-09T15:32:02Z

In a season of prayer last night and this came to me- "Prayer is more an attitude than an act." I think we often relegated prayer to specific seasons and time of prayer instead of looking at it as a continual exercise, something we should be doing all day long, as we "continue instant in prayer". If you couldn't get an hour of dedicated prayer in today, you'll feel better about it if you were praying all day long to begin with.

The annual Prayer Conference is underway at my seminary, Foundations Bible College in Dunn, NC. It's been several years since I've been able to attend but I hope to be there next year. It's 40 hours of prayer and the hearing of the Word, and my favorite part of it has always been wandering about the campus at 3 AM in prayer and meditation, something I am not as liable to do here at home.

A Proposed New, Unnecessary Shortwave Radio Station

2006-06-03T12:42:37Z

A Proposed New, Unnecessary Shortwave Radio Station

The FCC has accepted a proposal for Smyrna Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida, to construct a shortwave station, although there is nothing on it at the church's website www.smyrnabaptist.org.

Wonderful. Exactly what we need- another "fundamentalist" shortwave station. Isn't Fundamental Broadcasting Network orthodox enough for these people? There is WWCR and WWRB with available airtime if this church wanted to go worldwide. We certainly do NOT need yet another fundamenmtalist shortwave station cluttering up the airwaves.

Even worse is the position of Smyrna Baptist. The pastor's picture ("Dr." Roy Julian) features him in front of an American flag, in the best neo-conservative tradition. The church promotes Jack Hyles and Phil Kidd, two men whose ministries are/were quite destructive. The church seems to promote the apostasy of Southern Gospel Music. If this church ever did get on the air, it's programming would probably further serve the apostasy that is dominating the Fundamental Baptist movement.

And what exactly is their issue with FBN? Not fundamental enough for them? FBN doesn't carry Jack Hyles or Phil Kidd and men like them? The music isn't bouncy enough? What is it?

Pensacola Christian College- Going the Way of All Flesh?

2006-06-03T12:05:09Z

I received the Summer 2006 edition of the PCC Update from Pensacola Christian College and what a shocker. PCC is wasting untold millions of dollars to expand their Sports Center by adding on an indoor water park and 60-foot climbing wall. On page 9 is included this little gem: on the rooftop of the new Sports Center Annex will be an area to allow female students to sun bathe.

A sun bathing area at a supposedly fundamentalist Christian college for the ladies? If it's good enough for the ladies, why not the men?

And how much money is being poured into this latest playground to give these "future champions for Christ" a new and improved playground where they can unwind after a grueling day of soulwinning and studying? A better question would be would this money be better spent on missions, church planting, free scholarships, sending Bibles to Africa, increasing the salary of the PCC staff...? Or is our current generation of Bible College students so weak and carnal that they wouldn't come to PCC unless the girls could sunbathe and the boys could climb rock walls in their free time?

Yet another reason why I never have recommended PCC and likely never will.

Ten Thousand Ordained Suckers Sign Off on Evolution

2006-05-12T19:08:59Z

http://www.uwosh.edu/colleges/cols/clergy_project.htm

So they found 10,000 "clergy" to publicly reveal their ignorance and foolishness by declaring that Darwinism is a fact? Why is this supposed to impress genuine Christians who know that true science in reality supports the Genesis account? We also know that Darwinian evolution has been disproven and is totally and completely illogical and cannot stand up to any scientific or rational test.

This was no doubt a feeb;e attempt to counter the work of the pro-Intelligent Design organization The Discovery Institute, that circulated a manifesto supporting ID by 500 scientists, all with Ph.D.s in their respective fields, and all former Darwinists.

We should remember that majority of these "10,000 clergy" probably do not hold to the inspiration and authority of the Bible, the doctrine of the trinity, salvation by grace alone, the deity of Christ, or any other foundational Christian doctrine. So why should we trust them when they speak of evolution if we can't trust them on anything else? They are also up to their necks in goddess worship, feminist theology, the social gospel, and promoting homosexualy.

My, what a "godly" crew this is.

And these "10,000 clergy" represent mainline Protestant denominations that are losing members by the cartload. Could one reason by that their congregations are smarter than their clergy and know a fraud in the pulpit when they see one?

Latest Rumors From Pensacola Christian College

2006-04-18T11:03:22Z

I know of a current student at Pensacola and she reports that dorm students are not allowed to listen to the College's Radio Station, WPCS, or the Rejoice Broadcasting Network. Is this true? Is so, why? Not that I would want to listen to WPCS anyway. I've tuned in occasionally (via the translator in Salisbury, Maryland when I pass through) and the station is totally unlistenable.

More Compromise at Trinity Broadcasting Network

2006-04-18T10:56:31Z

I was only half-paying attention last Sunday afternoon when the TV was tuned to TBN and I caught the end of a program that was produced by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. I can't remember the name of the host or the program, but since when did TBN start carrying programming by cults? Will they start with Mormon and Jehovah Witness programming next? And I think it's only a matter of time before they start with Roman Catholic programming.

It's Easter...

2006-04-13T10:16:05Z

...and that means it's time for the media's yearly ritual of Christianity-bashing and debunking. We are once again assulted with a myriad of reasons by small-minded unbelievers as to why our faith just couldn't be true, from the DaVinci Code myths to the re-hashed "Goapel of Judas" with it's gnostic nonsense to the usual stable of liberal "religious scholars" who carefully explain why the resurrection is impossible to the usual insanne ramblings of your local priest in the Church of Darwin who just found a fish that had legs, that somehow "proves" Darwin's fairy tale.

A pox on all of it. He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed and all the liberal theologians, evolutionists and gnostics can't keep Him in the tomb! Let the heathen rage and imagine vain things. God will have them in derision!

The Sad State of Christian Media

2006-04-05T14:14:37Z

I recently signed up with DishTV and their “family pack” service. With it, I get Weather Channel, Fox News, Headline News, Hallmark Channel, RFD-TV (! I love that channel!) and 4 religious channels- TBN, EWTN, BYU-TV (Mormon) and SkyAngel/Angel One. For me, the religious channels are the most interesting. I wish I could get a few more religious channels, like Falwell’s network (the Liberty Network), but this will do.

As a preacher, I am always interested in what is happening on these channels. TBN has always been a hoot, with rock music, immodesties, nutty preachers and other assorted theological irregularities. Sky Angel/Angel One is no better, as I saw a Christian “hip hop” program the other night that was indistinguishable from anything you might see on MTV or BET. Yet EWTN (Catholic) and BYU-TV (Mormon) are quite different. The programs and sane and sober and the music is quite respectable. The cults and the Romanists do a much better job in their programming and music than the supposedly more orthodox Charismatics and Pentecostals.

Of course, there is no Fundamental Baptist/Bible Church television network, but we can make the same comparison to radio programming. There is FBN, which is Fundamental Baptist, and many independent radio stations of the same theological position. Yet EWTN (the radio network) and Sacred Heart Radio (another Catholic network) seem to make a more respectable presentation of their version of Christianity than do the Baptist stations. The Baptists have Southern Gospel music, cornball preachers and other questionable programming. Even the heterodox Family Radio (Harold Camping’s outfit) programs much better music than 99% of Baptist stations I’ve heard, even if Camping’s doctrines drive you up the wall.

Last weekend, while driving through western Connecticut, I stumbled over a Catholic station, WJMJ. It was Catholic but the music was quite listenable. I also listed to the various Family Radio stations in Philadelphia, New York and Hartford, primarily for the music. No other Christian station through New England was even remotely listenable, in terms of their programming or music.

What a stinging rebuke for Fundamentalists. Outside of the music that might come out of WMUU in Greenville, South Carolina (the Bob Jones University station), what else is there to listen to? I daily lament that the station run by my “alma mater”, Foundations Bible College in Dunn, North Carolina, is off the air (the old WLLN). Their programming and music was an example to other Fundamental ministries of how to program a radio station for the glory of God.

Preachers With Cowboy Hats

2006-04-05T13:58:10Z

What is it with preachers (especially evangelists) and cowboy hats? I see many ads for “special meetings” or for some evangelist’s ministry with the preacher decked out in a cowboy hat. What’s up with that? Does he think having his picture taken in a cowboy hat makes him look “cool”? More spiritual? Does it make him a better preacher? Or is it the ultimate statement in anti-intellectualism? Or does it promote the “Iron John” style of religion, where “masculinity” (the worldly definition of it) is promoted?

Whatever the reason, my advice is to lose the hat. It does nothing for you. I wear the occasional baseball hat and the traditional “gentleman’s style” hat, but I’m not having my “ministerial picture” taken with me wearing it.

America is Doomed

2006-03-28T02:40:05Z

What makes a country? Three things:
1. Language
2. Borders
3. Culture

We are seeing a well-organized attack upon the United States via an invasion of illegals from and through Mexico. Witness the well-orchistrated "demonstrations" last weekend, where the flag of a foreign nation (Mexico) was paraded through the streets of America. These illegals and their supporters are desiring nothing less than the destruction of the United States as we know it (witness the radical Aztlan movement in the Southwest).

These illegals are attacking America in the three areas listed above:

1. In language, by seeking to replace English with Spanish, or at least to make Spanish an official language of the US, to turn us into a southern version of Quebec.
2. In borders. When a nation ceases to be able to control its borders, it ceases to be a nation. And we have no southern border anymore.
3. Culture. This is America, not Mexico. We have no business celebrating "Cinco del Mayo" or any other foreign holiday. These illegals drag their culture with them to the US instead of adopting the culture of the land in which they live. They have no intention of "Americanizing" or learning English. They come not to become Americans, but to get healthcare and welfare.

If this state of affairs continues to progress, how much longer do we have? We will eventually lose the Southwestern states either to Mexico or to "Aztlan". When that happens, the balkanization of the rest of the US will quickly follow.

Didja ever notice...

2006-03-15T00:36:11Z

...when gas prices go up (like they are now- about $2.20 a gallon in central Delaware), the State organizes hearing and committes to demand that the Greedy Oil Companies lower their prices, yet no one ever demands the State to lower their taxes on that gas?

Ever wonder why?

A Tax Revolt In Delaware? Not likely

2006-03-11T04:31:19Z

Refer to my Feb. 28 blog about the defeat of the school tax referendum in the Smyrna School District in Delaware and now follow that up with the defeat last weekend of a similar question in the Caesar Rodney School District in the Camden-Wyoming area of Delaware. Same reasons- out-of-control development, an unresponsive Levy Court, a demand that developers and new residents pay their fair share and an unwillingness to pay more in taxes with everything else shooting up sky high, especially electric bills. But there was an interesting response by one voter who voted No in the CR School District, who said "I don't like voting to raise my neighbor's taxes". That's it! Every vote to increase taxes is immoral since you are not only voting to raise your taxes (which you are at liberty to do) but that of your neighbor. And what gives you the right to raise your neighbor's taxes? What gives any politician that right?

Getting Ready For Genesis

2006-03-02T05:05:43Z

After my current Wednesday night series on Ecclesiastes, I will be preaching/teaching from Genesis 1-11. Such a study is vitally necessary to confirm the Biblical truths of creation of the universe and man, the Fall, the Table of Nations, the Flood, the origin of sin, and other related truths. Genesis is the foundational book that sets the table for the rest of the Bible. My approach to it will be as always- acceptance by a mixture of faith and reason that the Genesis account is historically, scientifically and theologically accurate and reliable. The young-earth presupposition of Creation Science will be maintained and evidence provided to demonstrate the scientific impossibility of Darwinian-style evolution theories. It should be fun and very enlightening, especially for me!

Delaware Voters Getting Fed-Up With Government School Taxes

2006-02-28T18:21:41Z

The Smyrna (Delaware) school district had yet another tax increase referendum on February 25 to try to have local property owners approve a $90 million tax increase to finance expansion and construction of more schools in this rapidly growing part of Delaware. Last year, local voters overwhelming approved another tax hike but this latest one failed by 120 votes- quite a shift in voter reaction in just one year. There are several observations about the situation that need to be made:

1. There has been a concerted effort by the Smyrna School District to engage in pro-government school propaganda through it’s “I Love Smyrna School District Day” which, by coincidence you understand, was held on the exact same day as the vote, both this year and last year. This is billed as a community-wide effort to promote the Smyrna School District and for them to lecture to us how wonderful government education is. The propaganda worked last year, but not this year.

2. The Smyrna School District can partially blame the Town of Smyrna for the defeat. Town electric rates have increased by over 50% this winter, and the Town is talking about doubling some other fees and increasing other taxes. People have said that they simply cannot afford a tax hike with the Town jacking up electric rates, fees and other taxes. One resident said that his monthly electric bill went from $85 to $300. How can he afford to vote himself a tax hike? How can anyone, especially those on fixed or low incomes?

3. The Smyrna School District can partially blame the Kent County Levy Court and the Town of Smyrna for approving every application for new developments. The infrastructure is not in place for all this new development in northern Kent County, but the politicians who approve these new developments could care less. More developments mean more developer special interest money in the Levy Court pockets and more property tax revenue. So what if the schools do not have the space for the new students from the families moving here from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania? The out-of-control development and the unwillingness of the town and county planners to do anything about it has put the schools in a terrible bind when it comes to overcrowding, but naturally, you don’t expect the politicians to take the blame, do you?

4. People are wondering why the current residents should shoulder the new tax burden due to all this development when it is people from out of state causing it. Why aren’t the developers, who are directly responsible for all this construction, being charged appropriate impact fees for all these new houses they are building? Let the newcomers pay their fair share before asking current and long-time residents to shell out more. But since the developers have the local politicians pretty much tamed and under control, don’t expect to see any serious attempt by Levy Court to force the developers to pay up.

5. There is a lot of dissatisfaction with the Smyrna School District, as well as other districts in Delaware. The joke is about people wondering when the students put in a full 5-day week. Long weekends and teacher in-service days are common and it seems the kids never put in a 5-day workweek. A lot of this is driven by the Delaware achievement tests, mandated by George Bush’s flawed “No Child Left Behind” nonsense. Government education today is nothing more than “teaching to the test” and teachers do nothing but prepare students to take the test. This is not education yet we are being asked to pay more and more to finance this farce.

The Caesar Rodney School District has a tax hike referendum scheduled for March 4. That district sent out a flyer warning of Armageddon if the tax payers deny them a tax hike yet again (as they usually do).

I am no supporter of tax-funded government education as I believe education should be controlled by the home and private. I had a sense of satisfaction that the Smyrna School District was shot down and hope Caesar Rodney fails as well. But if we are going to have government schools, then the State of Delaware must find a better way to finance them. When I lived in Cecil County, Maryland, the county took care of that (as all Maryland counties do). Maybe the State of Delaware of the counties should be more involved in the funding process?

The Boscov's Religious Discrimination Case, Dover, Delaware- My Observations

2006-02-14T20:11:06Z

http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=4495882&nav=MXE0

DOVER- During a heated meeting Monday night the Delaware Human Rights Commission was asked to settle a dispute between Boscov's and people who claim the Pennsylvania-based department store chain discriminated against them by canceling classes they planned to teach at the company's Dover store.

It is basically a tug of war over the right to use a meeting room. A group of new agers, self-proclaimed psychics and Wiccans is arguing against the Christian church. The Dover Boscov's department store is caught in the middle of the religious freedom battle.

The crowd in front of the human relations commission was as divided as its opinions.

"I feel if they offer it to one group they should offer it to another," said Donna Jackson, a tarot card workshop organizer.

Religious groups that are trying to keep the workshops out of the department store see it another way.

Leslie Freeman, who is against the workshop, said, "They have devil worshippers that give their life for the cause, but that's not the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ, neither is it going to help our country."

Organizers of the workshop say their meetings have nothing to do with religion.

"I'm looking for some sort of justice to be served, a public apology from Boscov's and some sort of acknowledgement that yes, they were in the wrong," said Ricky Shehorn one of the organizers.

The workshops were advertised as spiritual classes. When pastors saw the ads, they complained to Boscov's, threatening a boycott.

Baptist pastor Dr. William Jeffcoat said, "That's simply been our intention from the beginning, to express our concerns about these classes."

The commission's ruling should is expected to come down in the next 30 days. It could involve a public apology, ordering Boscov's to allow the meeting, some kind of financial compensation or it could result in a dismissal of the complaint.
-------------------------------------

The WBOC article is not very accurate but it will serve as an introduction to the story.

I attended the hearing of the Delaware Human Relations Commission in Dover on February 13 and can report the following regarding this discrimination complaint against Boscov’s by the Wiccans and Pagans.

1. The hall was about ¾ full and about 2/3 of those in attendance were Christians. Several area churches were represented.

2. Donna Jackson, the lead complainant against Boscov's, was not very articulate in her presentation as to why she thought she was discriminated against. Really, none of her co-complainants were very articulate either. They did not put on a very good demonstration of Wicca and Paganism.

3. The meeting was not very “heated”.

4. The Human Relations Board gave a lot of time to the Wiccans and Pagans to tell what they believed, despite most of that testimony was already given at the January 25 hearing. Why was it so vital for the Board to hear about their beliefs again? Yet with such an opportunity, the Wiccans and Pagans did a very poor job at articulating their beliefs. At one point, one Commissioner asked Jackson if she could articulate some of the spiritual aspects of Wicca and she admitted she was unable to! What a very poor ambassador she was for her beilefs! Later, a "Wiccan Elder" was called as an "expert witness" but even he did a very poor job at articulating Pagan beliefs.

5. Amazingly, both Jackson and her son (a co-complaintant) claimed to be "born-again Christians!" No "born-again Christian" would have anything to do with the occultic and new-age practices that the Wiccans and Pagans promote. No one in the hearing seemed to take those claims seriously. I wonder which local church the belong to?

6. All the Pagans and Wiccans kept blaming Pastor William Jeffcoat of Capitol Baptist in Dover of being the main troublemaker as to why Boscov's cancelled the classes. Yet Boscov's has said that the classes were already cancelled by the time Jeffcoat approached Boscov's, so he was not the reason for the cancellation. I think they were still upset that members of Capitol Baptist "disrupted" their Pagan Pride Day last August by showing up and passing out tracts. That incident came up several times in the hearing, despite the fact that it had nothing to do with the complaint against Boscov's. Jeffcoat nor his church were named in the discrimination complaint.

7. The Wiccans and Pagans did not understand what "discrimination" meant and had to be lectured to by a Commission member as to the definition of the term. They thought that since Boscov's had cancelled the classes that that was "discrimination". Yet it only would have been "discrimination" if other religious groups had been allowed to use the Boscov's facility and not the Wiccans and Pagans. But in reality, it would the Christians who would be discriminated against since Boscov's does not allow their facility to be used for religious purposes while the Wiccans and Pagans were allowed to (as recently as the Summer of 2005).

8. Over and over, the Commissions prodded the Wiccans and Pagans for a specific reason why they think they were discriminated against in the light of the legal definition of "discrimination" and they were never able to give any other answer besides "Boscov's cancelled our class".

9. One of the complaintants claimed that calligraphy was a religion because "you could get real spiritual in writing in calligraphy". The chuckles in the hall were obvious when she said that.

10. The Wiccans and Pagans claimed that while they are religious, their classes were not religious. I have not seen the schedule of the cancelled classes, but among them were classers on tarot cards and pagan numerology. They admitted that the average man on the street, having no knowledge of Wicca or Paganism, would have naturally assumed that the classes were spiritual in nature. But to claim that a religious group, in the name of their religion, was holding non-religious workshops was hard to believe. Besides, they damaged their own case by claiming that the classes were not religious. If they were not religious, as they claimed, how could the Wiccans and Pagans claim that they were the victims of religious discrimination by Boscov's?

11. Jackson claimed that "possibly" she suffered a financial loss of either $3000 or $30,000 because of the cancellations (I couldn't hear her clearly when she made this claim). She claimed that after she was informed of the cancellation, she was "embarassed" for a week and that she was "inconvienced" because she had to hold the classes in her home. Jackson runs the "Bell Book and Candle" store in Dover and probably was factoring in potental lost revenue from her store being unable to profit from the cancelled workshop.

12. The Wiccans and Pagans admitted that Boscov's did not charge them for use of the facilities yet they were charging $20 a head for participants to attend the workshop.

13. The Wiccans and Pagans claimed that the workshops were not spiritual and that they were not trying to convert anyone to their beliefs. What was the purpose of the worskshops then? Merely to raise money and to profit Jackon's store then?

14. I'll admit that I have the impression that Boscov's probably hasn't handled the situation too well. They should never have allowed such workshops to be held in the first place if their store policy is to exclude religious groups.

15. WBOC's coverage of the situation has been and is still extremely poor and somewhat sensationalized. The Delaware State News and Wilmington News Journal haven't been doing much better. One reason why I attended the hearing was to get first hand information that the media would not provide.

I do not know how the Commission will rule but I tend to think they will decide against the Pagans and Wiccans. The skepticism by the board regarding their claims was evident. And quite frankly, the local Pagans and Wiccans did a very poor job in presenting their case. They need to select a spokesman who is intelligent, passionate and articulate, skilled in public speaking, something the Christian community excels at. Even I have spoken in public over 3800 times over the past 20 years!

One Reason (among many) Why I Reject "Global Warming"

2006-02-12T11:50:38Z

Because the majority of the scientists who push it so hard are on the government payroll, or are addicted to government research grant money. Since many governments (including the US) are bent on "proving" global warming in order to increase their power, they insist that scientists on their payroll carry the load and spread the orthodoxy that "mankind is responsible".

Give me an independent scientist anyday who isn't carrying water for Big Brother.

You can also add that most "global warming" supporters are also ardent evolutionists further makes their claims suspect. Since evolution is the ultimate in Junk Science, why take their word as gospel when it comes to global warming, especially since they apply the same so-called "scientific method" in "proving" global waarming as they do in "proving" evolution? Incorrect scientific method and a wrong set of presuppositions will doom you every time.

A great website in debunking the global warming myth (by refering newspaper accounts of anti-global warming news) is http://www.iceagenow.com/Global_Warming_Myth.htm.

Of course, I have other reasons, but these only add to them.

Brag Sheets

2006-02-11T17:32:46Z

Again today, I received "The Baptist Voice" from West Coast Baptist College in Lancaster CA. As always, I have to ask WHY am I on this mailing list? I have never been in contact with Paul Chappel (the pastor there), nor have I ever expressed in any way, shape, manner or form the slightest interest in his church or college. After all, he is in California, I am in Delaware. Why would I recommend to my people a Bible Collge that is 3000 miles away when there are much better schools here on the East Coast? And what do I care about their latest building program or what activities their Sunday School has planned for next week?

Why would a pastor send such a church newspaper to another pastor 3000 miles away that is not really in sympathy with his ministry? I can't say that I am very impressed with Chappel or his ministry or his paper. I occasionally hear him on Fundamental Broadcasting Network and I have not gotten much from him. I still believe he has been influenced by Rick Warren and his Purpose Driven Apostasy, so I intend to stay as far away from Chappel and his ministry as possible.

But why send me his literature? Why am I on his mailing list? Who is Chappel trying to impress?

I ask the same question for David Wood, Jerry Falwell, the editors of "The Regions Beyond" newspaper out of Arkansas, the Sword of the Lord, etc etc etc. I never asked for your literature, so why do you send it to me? I have no desire to help you "build your empire" or "support your great, last-days ministry" or whatever.

The only paper I put out is "The Discipler" and that ONLY goes out to my church members, because the only people I care about "impressing" are my own church members. I have no desire to build my empire or to impress some "little preacher" on the other side of the country or to hold my church and ministry up as a "standard" for "little preachers" to try to copy.

And no, Pastor Chappel, I am not coming to your Spiritual Leadership Conferences either, so quit nagging me about it.

Why Christianity is Superior to Islam

2006-02-08T02:55:05Z

Reference all the violence in the Muslim world over those cartoons in the Danish papers depicting Mohammad as a terrorist. Muslims, of the "religion of peace" burn down embassies, kill each other and issue death threats near and far. When Christianity is attacked in a similar manner, we protest, but no property is damaged and no one is killed or harmed. This Muslim over-reaction only shows how barbaric Islam truly is.

The Example of the Plymouth Brethren

2006-01-23T17:44:40Z

Over recent days, while working on my Philippians commentary (as I am currently preaching through Philippians), I was reminded again of the scholarship and the contributions made to Bible study and commenting by the Plymouth Brethren. Now I am not a Brethren and do not endorse all their doctrines and practices, but I hope I have enough grace to recognize the contributions of these brethren. No one can deny that men like William Kelly or John Nelson Darby were Bible scholars of the first rank, regardless of how much you agree with them. Their contribution to me is that they encourage me in my own studies and commenting by seeing what they did and the volume of deep theological literature they produced. That is an encouragement for me to try to produce something similar in quality and quantity. And I do enjoy reading the letters of Darby (I have the three-volume edition). They are quite interesting. No wonder one of my favorite bookstores is the Bible Treasury in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, which carries a very large selection of Brethren material. It is easy for me to drop a hundred dollars there at a time!

The Tyranny of Peer-Review

2006-01-03T22:07:45Z

From the Mises.com blog of January 3, 2006:

Peer review not sacrosanct
Jerry Kirkpatrick

Peer review, the sacred cow of the scholarly world, is often a hurdle that those of us with less-than-conventional ideas sometimes find difficult to overcome. Thomas Stossel, American Cancer Society Professor at the Harvard Medical School, recently put the process in perspective: "Anonymous peer review by jealous competitors has its merits, but it has a tendency to select for fashionable if relatively unoriginal and inoffensive papers." (Wall Street Journal, December 30, 2005, p. A10.)

Admirers of Mises, of course, know what his peers did to him in the United States in general and at NYU in particular. And then there was Socrates, who was executed by his peer reviewers, and Galileo, who was put under house arrest by his.

Thomas Kuhn (in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions) observed that one aim of establishment science is to prevent the emergence of new ideas; peer review seems to be a good way to accomplish this. Sometimes peer review seems akin to having two or three movie critics determine whether or not a new movie should be released to the public (or have to undergo “major revisions” before it will be accepted). Some years ago I read a colleague’s paper that was in press; when I pointed out an inconsistency between two sections of his paper, he replied that that’s what he had to put in to pacify two reviewers.

The trouble with reviewers (of all types, peer or otherwise) is that they tend to evaluate new material based on how they, the reviewers, would have written the article, book, screenplay, etc., rather than by accepting the author’s premise, then judging the execution. The bottom line of peer review is that one must respect the peer who is doing the reviewing; that’s not always possible in today’s intellectual climate. Unfortunately, Stossel ended his op-ed piece by praising the FDA for its more stringent research requirements, that is, more stringent than those of academic journals. Maybe. But one can only wonder what scholarship would be like in a truly free market, absent government-financed schools and government-financed journals.
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How true in the evolution-creationism-ID debate. Evolutionists are forever throwing up the seemingly "stone wall" that Creationist and ID scholars are not "peer reviewed" and thus are not scientific. Well, first of all, they are. The evolutionists just ignore the Creationist and ID journals. Second, what the evolutionists really mean is "Creationists and IDers are not peer reviewed by evolutionists." Of course not. No evolutionist is qualified to review anything by a Creationist or an IDer, not would they even try if their life depended upon it, for fear of legitimizing their writings.

"Peer review" is nothing more than peer pressure. It has its uses but the results of peer reviewers is not infallible or inspired.

This is Why I Never Became a Military Chaplain

2005-12-21T16:54:08Z

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20051221-121224-6972r.htm

Military chaplains told to shy from Jesus

By Julia Duin
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
December 21, 2005

To pray -- or not to pray -- in Jesus' name is the question plaguing an increasing number of U.S. military chaplains, one of whom began a multiday hunger strike outside the White House yesterday.
"I am a Navy chaplain being fired because I pray in Jesus' name," said Navy Lt. Gordon Klingenschmitt, who will be holding 6 p.m. prayer vigils daily in Lafayette Park.
The hunger strike is intended to persuade President Bush to issue an executive order allowing military chaplains to pray according to their individual faith traditions. The American Center for Law and Justice has gathered 173,000 signatures on a petition seeking an executive order.
Seventy-three members of Congress have joined the request, saying in an Oct. 25 letter to the president, "In all branches of the military, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Christian chaplains to use the name of Jesus when praying."
About 80 percent of U.S. troops are Christian, the legislators wrote, adding that military "censorship" of chaplains' prayers disenfranchises "hundreds of thousands of Christian soldiers in the military who look to their chaplains for comfort, inspiration and support."
Official military policy allows any sort of prayer, but Lt. Klingenschmitt says that in reality, evangelical Protestant prayers are censored. He cites his training at the Navy Chaplains School in Newport, R.I., where "they have clipboards and evaluators who evaluate your prayers, and they praise you if you pray just to God," he said. "But if you pray in Jesus' name, they counsel you."
Muslim, Jewish and Roman Catholic chaplains are likewise told not to pray in the name of Allah, in Hebrew or in the name of the Trinity, he added.
But the Rev. Billy Baugham, executive director of the Greenville, S.C.-based International Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers, says restrictions on other religious expressions have "yet to be tested."
"No Islamic chaplain has been refused to pray in the name of Allah, as far as we know. Neither has a rabbi been rebuked for making references to Hanukkah, and no Catholic priest has been rebuked for referring to the Blessed Virgin Mary."
The Navy allows chaplains to pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Allah or any other deity during chapel services, spokeswoman Lt. Erin Bailey said.
At other public events, "Navy chaplains are encouraged to be sensitive to the needs of all those present," she said, "and may decline an invitation to pray if not able to do so for conscience reasons."
Lt. Klingenschmitt has not been formally punished, she added, and there are no plans to take him off active duty.
However, the lieutenant contends that he may lose his job next month and be evicted from military housing. He says he got in hot water during the summer of 2004 while aboard the USS Anzio for preaching an evangelistic sermon at the funeral of a Catholic sailor in a base chapel. The lieutenant said he was reprimanded by two senior chaplains and, in March, sent ashore to Norfolk.
Lt. Klingenschmitt also has fought at other times for the religious rights of non-Christians, having backed a Jewish sailor's bid to get kosher meals and sought to include a Muslim seaman in the rotation of sailors offering the ship's nightly closing prayer.
The lieutenant is not alone in fighting to pray to Jesus. The Navy is facing two lawsuits, filed in 1999 and 2000, by 50 Christian chaplains, saying the Navy discriminates against evangelical and Pentecostal clerics.
Mr. Baugham said the 350 chaplains he oversees are concerned about a new set of guidelines issued in August after complaints about Christian evangelism at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. The Air Force guidelines allow "a brief, nonsectarian prayer" during military ceremonies "to add a heightened sense of seriousness or solemnity, not to advance specific religious beliefs."
"So, to what deity do you address your prayer to?" Mr. Baugham asked. "No one knows. And who gets to write the prayers? Once the government becomes the approving authority, the poor chaplain is forced to be an agent of the state."
Mr. Baugham said he had "just got a call from an Army chaplain in Iraq who says he'd be hammered if he used Jesus' name. Chaplains are scared to death. They must clear their prayers with their commanders, they can mention Jesus' name at chapel services, but not outside that context."
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Several observations:
1. The main problem with being a military chaplain is that the Government (in this case, the Military) is your boss, not the Lord.
2. Your superior officer may be a rank unbeliever.
3. Your ministry must conform to military law, not Biblical law.
4. You have to obey your superiors rather than God.
5. This should wake up many military-worshipping "fundamentalists" who glorify military life, with all of its evils and problems. The military is no place for a Christian.

If you want a military ministry, remain a civilian and work off-base with the military personel. That way, the military cannot control your ministry, what you preach or how you pray.

A-Beka Books and the Second Great Awakening

2005-12-16T15:42:08Z

I just went over the section that dealt with the Second Great Awakening in the Grade 4 A-Beka History book for United States History with my son today. Since the A-Beka books are Christian, I expected some mention of the Second Great Awakening, although many history books (secular and Christian) do ignore the revivals from 1797-1825. For some odd reason, the First Great Awakening (of 1720-1740 or so) gets most of the press, probably because of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. The Second Great Awakening usually gets passed over, despite the fact that it lasted longer, was more powerful and was doctrinally stronger than the First Awakening. At least A-Beka devoted 2 pages to the Second Awakening, so good for them.

Yet A-Beka completely botched its treatment of the Second Awakening. I ought to know. I did my doctoral dissertation on that period, which examined the shift in the philosophy of American evangelicalism between 1820 and 1830 and the roles that Asahel Nettleton and Charles Finney played in it. The A-Beka account sounded like it could have been written by John R. Rice or some other Finneyite hyper-evangelist. Almost every fact was wrong.

First, A-Beka credited the Methodists and the Methodist circuit-riders for the revival, which is not correct. The Congregationalists and Presbyterians were largely responsible for it.

Second, A-Beka gave the impression that the revival started in Kentucky and moved east. Historically, the opposite was true. The revival really started in Connecticut and then moved west.

Thirdly, A-Beka mentioned Frances Ashbury and Peter Cartwright and leaders of the revival. Yet A-Beka totally ignored the real leaders, like Timothy Dwight, Asahel Nettleton, Edward Payson, Edward Griffin, and Gardiner Spring, among others.

Fourthly, A-Beka dealt with the Kentucky camp meetings as being the catalyst for the revivals while ignoring the excesses and the problems that the camp meetings caused.

A-Beka resorted to the old historical fallacy of simply repeating what other mainline history books wrote about the Second Great Awakening without doing any independent research. I had to tell my son that just about everything the book said was wrong. I had to then give a brief oral account of the Second Great Awakening with the text closed.

The moral of the story is that if you want real, accurate history, you usually have to close your history text and go find it yourself.

Is God Sick?

2005-12-07T04:32:52Z

With so many "doctors" running around in the church today, you'd think so. Every time there is a major conference somewhere, the speakers lineup is usually filled with "doctors" instead of "reverends" or "preachers". Our colleges give away honorary doctorates like so much candy. I knew of a 24-year old praecher who was given an honorary doctorate- by his grandfather!

No doubt the need/desire for many preachers to trot out their "doctorates" (honoarry or earned) is a major issue in the church that exposes the pride of so many preachers. Isn't the title "preacher" or "pastor" or "reverend" good enough? What about being called a "man of God" instead? Why the lust after a doctorate? Is it supposed to promote you in the "pecking order" among the "big name preachers?" Are you afraid that you'll never be invited to preach with the "big dawgs" if you don't have a synthetic sheepskin?

Remember, "doctor" is an academic degree, not a spiritual one. It has little use in the church. Feel free to toss it around in the classroom- if you've earned it. If someone gave it to you, then go ahead and hang it on your study wall, but don't think that that piece of paper makes you a better man or preacher. Like Jack Greene used to say, "A preacher with a doctorate is like a curl in a pig's tail. It makes the pig look better but it doesn't improve the taste of the ham."

In case you are wondering, I have an earned doctorate so I am not talking out of envy or frustration.