From Bill Whittle: “The Vote Pump”

Here is another video from commentator Bill Whittle, titled “The Vote Pump”.  It is quite an indictment on how our tax dollars are used, to say the least.

Prof. Victor Davis Hanson on “The Acts, the Players, the Hype”

As one might expect, Professor Victor Davis Hanson has penned a forthright assessment of the current situation in the U.S. Presidential campaign, The 2012 Presidential Election Circus: The Acts, the Players, the Hype.  ”Circus” is an apt description, and I fear I must agree with the current prognosis:

There is a wish to cut and paste the flawed Republican candidates’ strengths into a composite nominee: Romney’s sobriety, Santorum’s conviction, Paul’s sense of outrage over debt, and Gingrich’s glib lectures about civilization—while pruning away their unique defects: Santorum’s self-righteousness, Paul’s otherworldliness, Romney’s Tom Dewey/George H.W. Bush patrician woodenness, and Newt’s tom-foolery.

Santorum and Paul cannot beat Obama. Romney is still the most likely to make it a close race; Gingrich possibly to win by a wider margin — or, more likely, to lose by an even wider one.

We are in for a rough ride, indeed.

Theology in a chart – from Tim Challies

From Canadian pastor and blogger Tim Challies comes this well-designed chart on the attributes of God.  This would be an excellent guide to contemplating and meditating on the glory of God.

If you click on the graphic you will be able to see it full-size.

You can also download this infographic in a high-quality PDF (8 MB).

Something Different: Joan Baez sings “Barbara Allen”

While I can’t say I always agree with her politics, there is no denying the talent of Joan Baez.  Here is a performance, by way of PBS, of the old ballad “Barbara Allen” by Ms. Baez when she was only seventeen years old – and you will find her voice to be close to its peak even then.  If I understand correctly this video would have been made around 1959.

The Rev. Clive Hawkins: “The Race Set Before Us” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

From the Rev. Clive Hawkins, preaching at St. Mary’s Church, Basingstoke in the United Kingdom, we have the audio sermon The Race Set Before Us, based on Hebrews 12:1-2.   This was preached for New Year’s Day, and is actually a very apt message for a new year – the counsel of the author of Hebrews to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” is something we should strive to do this year and always.

A reading from John Chrysostom for the Third Sunday after Epiphany

Here is another reading from the book “Faith and Life: Readings Compiled from Ancient Writers” by William Bright.  This is one of his selections for the Third Sunday after Epiphany and is from none other than John Chrysostom!

I. THE LEPER.

“LORD, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.” Great is the intelligence and faith of the applicant. For he did not break in upon the discourse, nor interrupt the audience, but awaited the fitting time, and approached Jesus when He had come down. And he supplicates Him, not carelessly, but even with great fervour, and kneeling before Him, as another Evangelist says, and with genuine faith and a right opinion about Jesus. For he said not, ” If Thou wilt ask it of God,” or, “If Thou wilt pray,” but, “If Thou wilt.” Nor did he say, ” Lord, cleanse me;” but commits to Him the whole matter, and makes Him the disposer of his cure, and bears witness to the plenitude of His authority. If the opinion of the leper had been erroneous, Jesus ought to have confuted it, and reproved him, and set him right. Did He then do so? Not at all; quite the contrary. He even confirms and ratifies what was said: therefore He said not, ” Be thou cleansed,” but, “I will, be thou cleansed.” Not so the Apostles; when the whole people were amazed, they said, “Why do ye fix your attention on us, as though by our own power or authority we had made him to walk ?” But the Master, although He often spoke, with great modesty, what fell short of His own glory, in order to confirm His dogmas, here, when men were astonished at His authority, says, “I will, be thou cleansed.” Further, He extended His hand and touched him; to indicate, as I think, that He was above the law, and not beneath it, and that, thenceforward, to the pure nothing was impure. For His hand was not made unclean by the leprosy, but the leprous body became pure from the touch of His holy hand. St. Chrysostom, Hom. xxv. on St. Matthew.

What do the Canadians think about that Keystone XL decision?

Here is an interesting take from Ezra Levant on the Obama administration’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline.   Personally I think Congress should grant permission on its own authority for the pipeline to be built.

The Rev. William Klock: “The New Birth” (John 3:1-8)

The Rev. William Klock of Living Word REC in British Columbia has been preaching a series of messages based on the Gospel of John, and for the Second Sunday after Epiphany, Fr. Bill had a thoughtful sermon on The New Birth, based on John 3:1-8.  In this message he has some very good insights on being “born again”, including this:

Do you ever wonder why some people have zero interest in God, zero interest in Jesus, zero interest in the Gospel or in what the Bible has to say?  It’s because until we’re born again, we’re of the world, not of God’s kingdom.  If the only birth you’ve experienced is the birth of the flesh, then you’re of the flesh.  You’re not only not part of God’s kingdom, but you’re actually an enemy of his kingdom by birth.  Ephesians reminds us that before we were born again, we were spiritually dead.  Life only comes as Jesus calls us to himself like he called into the tomb to Lazarus.  The only way we can be “of the Spirit”, the only way we’ll ever understand or identify with the things of the kingdom is to experience spiritual new birth through the power of Jesus’ own Spirit.

Think of Nicodemus.  This was a man who had spent his life studying, learning, and even memorising the Scriptures.  He lived his whole life according to them and in devotion to what he thought they taught him about God, and yet when he was face to face with the Messiah, when Jesus told him that he must be born again, he couldn’t wrap his mind around any of it.  I’ve known lots of people like that.  I’ve known Bible scholars and bishops who know the Bible, but they don’t really knowit, because they don’t know Jesus and because he hasn’t’ given them a new heart and a new mind to see and to understand.  In 1 Corinthians 2:14 St. Paul tells us: “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”  This is why there’s no other way into the kingdom than the new birth.

But, brothers and sisters, as much as we need to understand the necessity of new birth, we also need to understand something else Jesus stresses here: the new birth is the supernatural work of God.  How many people here were born the first time of their own will and on their own power?  No.  None of us is here on our own power.  We’re here because of our mothers and fathers.  In much the same way, we can only be born again on our Heavenly Father’s initiative.  We can’t do it on our own.  No one enters the kingdom based on his own effort or his own initiative.  We enter only on the merits of Jesus and we can only come when Jesus himself calls us and when his Spirit has done the work of changing our hearts.

To a large extent this is why examining oneself for spiritual fruit is so important – because if one has zero interest in the things of God, it is quite likely he or she is not of God.   And Scripture commands us to make our calling and election sure. (2 Peter 1:10)  Fr. Bill goes on to provide some helpful applications in the rest of the sermon, and if you’d like to hear it, you can find the audio here.

A brief thought on Article XIX

This will be brief as I am having some internet problems…probably the router has failed.  But do we ever really think about the first mark of the Church, according to this Article, being that in it “the pure Word of God is preached”?

Bishop Colin Buchanan wrote in his “Is the Church of England Biblical” that:

The overt sixteenth century Anglican presuppositions here are threefold:
1 Scripture has a discoverable and trustworthy meaning;
2 the individual minister at least has to let that meaning impose itself on him;
3 that meaning has to be taught to the lay people.

These are not bad presuppositions for us now in our day.

Dr. John Woodhouse on Colossians 2:6-7

Here is the seventh in the series of video lectures on Colossians by Dr. John Woodhouse of Moore Theological College in Australia.  In this one, Dr. Woodhouse talks about Colossians 2:6-7.