January 2009

(Tim) Before we get too far removed from the attack upon God's Word carried out by Micah serving as an advocate for self-affirming sodomites while claiming Scripture was the foundation of his advocacy, I'd like to direct our readers' attention to the work of Robert Gagnon as a resource against such men.

Prof. Gagnon's a mainliner and would not share the doctrinal commitments of most of us concerning Scripture, but no one has come close to doing the careful historical and exegetical work he's done exposing these men's lies. You might start with his web site, but if you're a pastor or church officer who believes in standing in the gap and sounding a clear note, sooner or later you'll want to buy and keep close at hand for reading and loan his definitive, The Bible and Homosexual Practice.

Professor Gagnon is a friend of David's and my cousin, John DeWalt. They both attend Pittsburgh's Bellefield Presbyterian Church.

Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply... (Exodus 1:8-10a)

(Tim, w/thanks to David G.) Here's a good reminder of who President Obama actually is, and what oppression and bloodshed have formed the cornerstone of his public service from its inception. And the Emergelicals? Well, this is precisely what they wanted, and still want. They're just not honest enough to admit it.

(Tim) Like it or not, to the American unbeliever today we are all "evangelicals." That is, we all believe in the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ, honor His Word, and call those lost and without hope in this world to repentance for their promotion and commitment to baby-killing, adultery, child molestation, sodomy, and greed. To them, we are not split into Reformed and Arminian. They can't distinguish between Reformed, Evangelical, and Emergent, let alone Barely-Reformed and Truly-Reformed.

So when Rick Warren prays, he prays for us. When Franklin Graham speaks, he speaks for us. When Tyndale House publishes, they publish for us.

Tragically, this means those who watch HBO's documentary, The Trials of Ted Haggard--or interviews Haggard and his family are doing for The Oprah Winfrey Show and Larry King Live--will believe they are peering through a periscope into our souls, our marriages, our families, our churches, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Filmed by Nancy Pelosi's daughter, Alexandra, this documentary is what has given rise to this latest shame of ours. Due to be aired by HBO this coming Thursday, January 29th, Haggard taking his story public and appealing for sympathy led to another tragic revelation.

(Tim; pic by Perry Reichanadter/Genesis Photos) The music critic of World magazine, Arsenio Orteza, just wrote a fine short profile of Dr. David Canfield, one of the elders here at Church of the Good Shepherd. Arsenio originally intended his piece to focus on David's life as a composer of classical music, but David endearingly hijacked the interview to talk about the real love of his life: ClearNote Pastors College where he serves as one of the instructors.

ClearNote Pastors College (CNPC) is a ministry of Church of the Good Shepherd under our umbrella organization, ClearNote Fellowship. In addition to CNPC, ClearNote Fellowship oversees our support of foreign mission work, the composition and recording of music by Good Shepherd Band, the curriculum, pamplets, and books we're hoping to produce; and the planting of churches by CNPC graduates.

Christ the Word in Toledo, Ohio--the congregation served by my brother, David--has a similar ministry called Reformed Evangelical Pastors College. As sister churches, we do the largest part of the administration and instruction at both colleges together. We have had great success using a Polycom videoconferencing system for virtual classroom instruction and our principals, Andrew Dionne at REPC and Stephen Baker here at CNPC, work closely together on curriculum and schedules.

(Tim) Entertainers are the only ones permitted to be honest, today. But sometimes, scientists are cut some slack and are allowed to speak their minds, too. In that vein, did you notice yesterday's news that women are hard wired not to lose weight as easily as men. WebMD titled their article on the study, "Hunger Control: Women the Weaker Sex?" Turns out if we pay scientists to study the difference between the sexes, one of the results we'll get is that the sex that carries and nurses our children is hard wired to...

Well, to what?

Amazingly, to carry and nurse our children. Brilliant! Which got me thinking...

Anyone who's viewed a Reubens has to be skeptical of the cult of the thin body rampant in the American church. Only the perfectly naive would see it as a battle for holiness, the repentance of those who recognize their god is their belly.

When I was in Africa several years ago, David Wegener cautioned me to watch how I spoke about weight. Over there, he explained, any reference to one's weight (if one is adipose, as I am) is seen as arrogance. In other words, Africa is normal across history in thinking a fat wife contented and prosperous. Not sinful.

Through the years, I've had a number of wives come to me and ask me to pray that they'd lose weight...