June 2016

As fathers, our job is not done when we provide bread for our wife and newborn son or daughter. The man of the house used to be called the "breadwinner." Men used to take pride in it, but remember that the spiritual bread we provide our family is more important than physical bread. When God brought the sons of Israel into the Promised Land, He warned them:

...man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 8:3b)

Last week I preached on Psalm 12. In this Psalm, this prayer of David, he cries out to God for help because the wicked have taken over. What is their character?

They speak falsehood to one another; With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak. (Psalms 12:2)

A couple points from the commenters:

First, they point out how common it has been through history for evil and the wicked to prevail, and this within the Church. They make the observation that David is lamenting the ascendancy of evil among God's covenant people, the Church. When David starts the Psalm, he is not crying out for God to help him against the Egyptians or Canaanites, but the sons of Israel who were God's covenant people.

Second, the commenters point out how terrible it is when deception is the method of communication between citizens, neighbors, families, and spouses. David records that lies are what they tell "to one another." One commenter emphasizes that the lies extend to themselves...

[UPDATE: Tuesday morning, June 28, Liam Goligher texted me with his Calvin source. To quote, "Calvin to Cecil, 28th January 1559, ZL, vol. II, p34-36." Liam says this proves his point. Of course, it doesn't. Calvin held the very opposite of what Liam continues to claim and it seems apparent Liam hasn't read the sources I provided in my earlier post (including another letter he wrote to Cecil). 

Liam and Carl's halfway covenant of male authority limited to home and church ordination is not the doctrine of Scripture. Thus it was never taught by the Reformers—least of all John Calvin. Rather, Calvin said the government of women "ought to be counted among the judgments with which God visits us," that it "ought to be held as a judgment on man for his dereliction," and that it "is utterly at variance with the legitimate order of nature."]

Carl Trueman teaches church history at Philly's Westminster Seminary. In his WTS profile, among his credentials, Trueman includes:

 [I am] currently co-editing with Bruce Gordon the Oxford Handbook of Calvin and Calvinism...

Trueman claims he knows Calvin, so it's quite embarrassing that Trueman's blog published a howler of a misquotation of Calvin twenty-four days ago, now...

Paul Manziel, father of released Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, responding to questions about his son asked by ESPN's Josina Anderson:

He's a druggie. It's not a secret that he's a druggie. I don't know what to say other than my son is a druggie and he needs help. He just hasn't [sought] it yet. Hopefully he doesn't die before he comes to his senses. That's about all you can say. I don't know what else to say.

Questioned about what he has done to help his son, Manziel's father responded...

One of the most distressing aspects of serving as Christ's witnesses against the judicial execution of Terri Schiavo eleven years ago was how often we heard Terri's supporters passionately making the case that Terri is not in a persistent vegetative state. Often, Terri's executioners differed from her protectors only in having come to opposite conclusions as to whether or not Terri was in a persistent vegetative state. One side thought she was and so their question was, "Why not let her die?" The other side thought she wasn't and so their response was "Because Terri is not in a persistent vegetative state."

Both statements have more in common with each other than with Scripture's teaching on this matter since the same sentiment is being expressed: namely, that it would be proper to starve Terri to death if it were clear she were in a persistent vegetative state. If denying Terri food and water is simply "letting her die," then a persistent vegetative state is really the process of dying and the denial of Terri's supporters that she is in a PVS is an indication that they think this a crucial distinction. So, as I said, we were saddened by this lack of biblical discernment evidenced by many in and surrounding the Schiavo case, and since.

Too many of our pastors have refused to study this matter and have come to their conclusions more through sentiment and their own ethical sloth than the study of our fathers in the faith through the centuries and their teaching in the Westminster Standards (or other doctrinal standards) applying God's revelation in His Word, the Bible, to such suffering.

To help in that work, I am here posting a statement on euthanasia...