Advent 2007
Our Shepherd

Jesus is referred to as “shepherd” numerous times in the New Testament. He is variously called “The Good Shepherd” (John 10:11), “The Great Shepherd” (Hebrews 13:20), and “The Chief Shepherd” (1 Peter 5:4). In the 23rd Psalm, King David draws on his own experience as a shepherd boy. He knew that the sheep were dependent on the shepherd to meet their every need. David recognized the dependence of man on the Lord Jesus Christ as their shepherd. Unlike, David in a non-herding economy, few can identify with the sheep and shepherd relationship. It is a foreign concept. Furthermore, modern man sees no dependence on God. Fierce independence and self-sufficiency, doing what he wants when he wants to and how he wants to, is the hall mark of 21st century dweller in the western world. After all, isn’t our individuality our right? Life is full of choices and what determines choices is our status…our education, wealth, and power. If we improve our position in any or all of those three areas, our choices will lead to a more fulfilling life. The shepherds crook is relegated to the closet of antiquated thinking. Give us opportunity, not God! And, whatever needs we cannot fulfill, we have the state. Isn’t that the purpose of government to solve the problems we can’t. What if we can’t achieve the education, wealth or power needed to prosper? The government will pass legislation, spend tax money and/or bring actions in court to bring the less fortunate to the status others cannot attain in the society. The power of God has been exchanged for the power of politics. Christians must not exchange the Good, Great and Chief Shepherd for the politician. Take time this Advent to ponder how that Babe in the manger is your Shepherd. If you are a sheep that has gone astray by buying into the world’s view of life, repent and return to the Good, Great and Chief Shepherd Who will meet your “real” needs.

History
Strong Vincent

This past weekend in Pennsylvania, two high schools played football against each other: Thomas Jefferson and Strong Vincent. It is a wonderful concept to name public schools after historical figures. Most know of Thomas Jefferson, although you may be surprised at what adults do not know if you watch the “Are you smarter than a 5th Grader?” show on TV. And, there are plenty of Thomas Jefferson schools in the country. But, I would guess there is only one school named Strong Vincent in the entire country.

There is a reason Strong Vincent High School is located in Erie, PA. He was born in Waterford, some call the strawberry capital of PA, in 1837. He graduated from Harvard in 1859 and thereafter opened a law office in Erie. When the War Between the States broke out he enlisted for three months in a militia regiment and when the time expired, he re-enlisted as a Lt. Colonel in the 83rd Pennsylvania Regiment. That regiment suffered the 2nd greatest amount of casualties for the Union. He married on the day he enlisted.

He fought on the Peninsula and when the colonel of the 83rd was killed on June 27, 1862, he became the colonel of the regiment. He was felled by malaria which kept him out of battle until December at Fredericksburg. Because of his legal background, he was offered position of Judge Advocate for the Army. He turned it down to remain a fighting man. The Union army was reorganized after Chancellorsville and he became brigade commander. On his 26th birthday he was marching to Gettysburg.

At Gettysburg, he took command of Little Round Top by rushing the hill with his standard bearer choosing for his brigade a section of the hill that now bears his name. On the hill he commanded the 83rd as well as the 20th Maine, 44th New York and 16th Michigan. As one group began to falter he scrambled atop a boulder brandishing a riding crop that was a gift from his wife, and accomplished aquestrian, and shouted: “Don’t give an Inch!” A bullet tore through his leg fracturing his thigh bone. He was carried from the field. Reinforcements form the 140th New York helped the line on Little Round Top hold. Knowing he was dying he wanted to return home, but the severity of his wounds prohibited travel to Erie. He held on for five days and died on July 7, 1863.

General Meade recommended Vincent be promoted for his heroism to Brigadier General on 2 July and he was on 3 July, 1863. It is doubtful he ever knew. Here is the report of Brig General James Barnes, Commander of the First Division:

It was at this time that Colonel Vincent, commanding the brigade, while rallying this part of his command, fell, mortally wounded. He was a gallant officer, beloved and respected by his command and by all who knew him. His death is a serious loss to the army and the country. ....A tribute is due to the memory of Colonel Vincent, who fell, mortally wounded, early in the engagement. He lingered a few days after the engagement. His promotion as a brigadier-general was sent to him at once as an appreciation of his services by the Government, but it reached him too late for his own recognition. He expired soon after its receipt.

While a lesser known hero of Little Round Top, he was indeed a hero who took the initiative to take the position in the first place. The official order issued announcing his death speaks to the character and standing of the man:

The colonel commanding hereby announces to the brigade the death of Brig. Gen. Strong Vincent. He died near Gettysburg, Pa., July 7, 1863, from the effects of a wound received on the 2d instant, and within sight of that field which his bravery had so greatly assisted to win. A day hallowed with all the glory of success is thus sombered by the sorrow of our loss. Wreaths of victory give way to chaplets of mourning, hearts exultant to feelings of grief. A soldier, a scholar, a friend, has fallen. For his country, struggling for its life, he willingly gave his own. Grateful for his services, the State which proudly claims him as her own will give him an honored grave and a costly monument, but he ever will remain buried in our hearts, and our love for his memory will outlast the stone which shall bear the inscription of his bravery, his virtues, and his patriotism.
While we deplore his death, and remember with sorrow our loss, let us emulate the example of his fidelity and patriotism, feeling that he lives but in vain who lives not for his God and his country.
Signed: Colonel James C. Rice

Two months after his death, Vincent’s wife Elizabeth gave birth to a baby girl who only lived one year. So, this hero would have no heir to live to tell his story. The 83rd Regimental Monument at Gettysburg does bear a striking resemblance to Vincent, although likenesses of commanders were not to be upon PA monuments. And, the school that bears his name still exists in Erie, PA. In his correspondence to his young wife, Strong Vincent says: “If I fall, remember you have given your husband to the most righteous cause that has ever widowed a woman.” In this age of self-seeking and self-aggrandizement, such sentiments are refreshing. That he was willing to give his life for something he believed was right made Strong Vincent an American hero. Strong Vincent is little known outside Erie and Gettysburg, but he is part of the glorious history of the human sacrifice and cost in the War Between the States.

Advent 2007
Time Traveler

Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd made time traveling entertainment in the movie “Back to the Future”. They went back in time and experienced events that occurred decades prior with hopes of influencing the outcomes which would in turn influence their lives in the present. This is an oft used theme in fantasy literature. In 2 Peter 3:8, Peter tells us that time is meaningless to our Lord. He sees yesterday, today and tomorrow as now. However, Jesus Christ was the ultimate time traveler because He entered time from eternity. He did not move forward or backwards along the timeline of human existence. He punctured time from timelessness. And, this travel into time did affect the events of time forever. He came from eternity to time to save sinners like you and me. While we were yet sinners, He loved us enough to die for us [Rom 5:8]. He left the perfect love that was His with the Father and the Holy Spirit in eternity to take on our flesh and become sin itself. Because He lived a perfect and sinless life as the God-Man, we obtain His righteousness in exchange for our sin. Jesus Christ, God Himself, did not consider Himself above the task to be the sacrificial servant for sinners [Phil 2: 6-8]. To do that He became a time traveler. Some day each of us will be time travelers. We will pass out of time to timelessness. Eternity awaits us all. No one knows their departure time. This Advent as you contemplate the Babe in the manger, remember He came into time from eternity for a reason. Have you booked your reservation with the ultimate time traveler? The only One Who can provide for you safe passage to a heavenly home in eternity.

Joseph V. Paterno
Standing on History and Tradition

Last night Joe Paterno was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. That was to happen last year but was postponed because he sustained a broken leg last year that prohibited him from being in New York to receive the award. Now, that is not a surprising event. What is surprising, even amazing, is the history of Hall of Fame coaches at Penn State.

Since 1918, Penn State has had 5 coaches. One, Joe Bedenk was only coach for one year in 1949, after which he asked to go back to being an assistant. The university hired Charles “Rip” Engle as head coach in 1950, and he brought with him from Brown University one of his players to be an assistant, Joe Paterno. The other four coaches Hugo Bedzek, Bob Higgins, Rip Engle and Joe Paterno are all enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. Eighty nine years, five coaches, four in the Hall of Fame…that is unmatched in the history of college sports.

The coaching replacement carousal is underway again this year. Everyone wants a coach who will lead them to the promised land of a Mythical National Championship. When surveying what is going on, think about the history and tradition, or lack thereof, of the institution chasing the next winner. What is the school’s history and tradition? Not just the wins and losses, but the stability, the integrity, the commitment, the principles, the academics, the history and tradition of lives devoted to coaching young men and preparing them for life not just sixty minutes of fleeting fame. Penn State Football has an exemplary history and tradition in many areas but is unparalleled and unequalled in coaching excellence. One of the reasons Joe Paterno stands so tall today is that he is standing on the shoulders of giants who laid the foundation of the history and tradition he has enriched.

Modern Culture
The Empty Self

Last week I opined that our modern culture was being made over for the individual which is unworkable because it renders no culture at all. Each one is doing what is right in his own eyes as Judges announces is the conduct of post-Joshua Israel. But, there is also the vacant or empty self that results from only looking within self to define what is believed and performed.

JP Moreland recently proposed in a post entitled “Christianity as Knowledge Tradition” that this condition of the self without substance, hope and character is the product the secularization of culture. He says:

The pervasive denial of truth, knowledge and rationality outside the hard sciences has left people without hope that true, knowable forms of wisdom can be discovered as guides to a flourishing life.

This has further resulted, he opines, in the “empty self” which he defines as:

…narcissistic, inordinately individualistic, self-absorbed, infantile, passive, and motivated by instant gratification. The empty self experiences a loss of personal significance and worth, as well as a chronic emotional hunger and emptiness. The empty self satiates itself with consumer goods, calories, experiences, politicians, romantic partners, and empathetic therapists. The empty self does not value learning for its own sake, is unwilling to defer gratification under the demands of discipline, and prefers visual stimulation to abstract thought. Applied to education, a classroom of empty selves will reinforce a view of education in which learning exists to make the student happy, to satisfy his/her emotional hunger, and to fulfill his/her own plans for success.Moreover, with the secular relativization of truth, knowledge and reason outside the hard sciences, secularism has contributed to the absolutization of desire satisfaction. With truth and reason dethroned as guides for life, something had to take its place. And the heir to the throne is the absolute importance of satisfying one’s desire. Secularism helps to prop up this value in the culture by its denial of truth and reason in matters of worldview, along with its promulgation of a naïve and destructive notion of tolerance.

Wow! A perfect description of the men and women we encounter everyday. While I may not agree with Dr. Moreland about the exact reason we are where we are, he has the diagnosis right. Without truth and reason that is the basis of culture, there are nothing but unsolvable issues and no hope for the individual living in that culture. Satisfying individual desires as the highest good eventually leaves one empty. Just look around and we see the destructiveness of secularism and the therapeutic culture it has spawned. What a wonderful opportunity for the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ the only hope of all men living as empty selves in modern culture.

[The entire piece of Dr. Moreland is worth reading and can be found at www.scriptoriumdaily.com ]

Evangelicalism
What is its meaning today?

At a recent meeting of Reformation For Today [RFT] we discussed the article in Touchstone about the state of Evangelicalism as assessed by six self-proclaimed Evangelicals. There are many today who believe the term is archaic having died the death of 1000 modifications so that it has no coherent meaning today.

In our discussion we examined 11 questions arising from the article. They are as follows:

1.Is evangelicalism a term you use? If so, how do you define it?
2. John Franke says: It [evangelicalism] does not reflect a specific confessional commitment so much as it indicates a general outlook of the Christian faith that can be situated in a broad range of church traditions." Do you agree with his statement?
3. D. Hart says evangelicalism is a symptom of "anti-formalism" that is the prevailing notion in the Christian community. Agree or disagree?
4. Do you see evangelicalism as a "mellow" fundamentalism?
5. Has political involvement watered down evangelicalism by requiring a "bigger tent" mentality?
6. Is religious pluralism, feminism and Open Theism properly part of evangelicalism?
7. D. Hart asserts evangelicalism is least common denominator Christianity that fails to do justice to the fullness of Biblical truth. Agree or disagree?
8. M. Horton believes evangelicalism is reaching the lost but losing the reached. Agree or disagree?
9. Is evangelicalism an aid or detriment to the Church?
10. The contributors outline the "best of evangelicalism". Which positions do you see as its best? Do you see a different best?
11. Is evangelicalism a term without meaning that should be relegated to at the ash heap of history? Why or why not?

The conclusion of our discussion was that the term “evangelical” is not an issue for the basic believer in a local parish. It is not a term of identification for orthodox, Bible believing folks. The group concluded that the term had been co-opted by the media and political types to identify blocks of voters who bought into a particular agenda. It is salt that has lost its flavor, so should be disregarded and placed underfoot. Today, evangelicalism has little to do with the “evangel”, the Gospel or good news, and any set of coherent, identifiable beliefs. Its context is not associated with the church or Scripture today.

One other conclusion seems to be that no “new” term is needed. Christian, or more particularly Biblical Christian, seems to be sufficient for identification purposes. The lesson learned is that any term must be defined with affirmations and denials. The latter are so unpopular today that we can only be categorized by what we agree upon and that leads to such broad categories as to be useless. There is no distinctive in evangelicalism, ergo, there can be no distinctions in any other term today.

What do you think? The Touchstone web site is www.touchstonemag.com to access the article which is from the November, 2007, issue.

Thanksgiving 2007
It’s been two years.

It’s been two years. I finally mustered up the courage to go through Dad’s personal belongings. I knew it would be difficult, and it was. He did not have much. But, when I sorted through his clothes, I cried. I could see him in the shirts and pants. And, I remember when Mom bought him some of the clothing. It’s been two years, but I still remember. I kept some of his flannels for Lucas and me to help insulate us from the chill of the seasons. That was his outerwear of choice for the last 30 years. I am sure he would be pleased to know we will be wearing them now. I kept his last pair of shoes. They were brown ankle high boots that had a strap over. Brown, that was Dad’s color; he was an earth tone guy. I never saw him wear a black pair of shoes except rented ones for Bob’s wedding and mine. I’ll take those old shoes next spring and dig them in the ground and plant flowers in them. That would please Dad even more than wearing his flannels because he was a man of the soil.

Included in his personnel things were the last greeting cards he ever received. I looked at them all…birthday, Easter, Christmas, thinking of your, Father’s Day. People had such kind and compassionate words for Dad. In the fog of Alzheimer’s, I am sure he understood very little of what was written. But, of course, that is not the point. Expressions of love are just that, whether understood or not. During the card reading, I cried again.

It’s been two years but there are still tears. Spring and fall are the most difficult times. Spring because when the earth comes alive, Dad came out of his winter cocoon charging into cultivating and planting. In that way he participated with the Creator awakening the earth and His creatures to a new season of growth. When I spade and plant my own little garden, I remember Dad and I cry. Fall is equally nostalgic. Summer’s harvest is in with corn boils, tomatoes in all manner of preparation, apples and other fruits gathered, potatoes and carrots dug and all foods preserved for winter eating. Fall was synonymous with football, a sport Dad loved. And, then came deer season, Dad’s real passion…spotting deer, shooting in the rifle and going to camp. When the garden is gleaned, the leaves fall from the trees, when Squaw Winter appears and men start wearing blaze orange, I remember Dad and I cry.

Two years have passed since Dad went to be with his Maker and it is not becoming any easier. And, I suspect it will not. I continue to remember, which is good. I cry, which is not bad. I miss Dad, and Mom too. But, by remembering them I remember their impact on my life. Next to a godly wife a man can have no better earthly influence than godly parents. I remember that and seek to impact my biological and spiritual issue as they did me. And, I remember the day is coming when I will be with them again where there will be no past or tears. This Thanksgiving I remember Christian parents who made me memories but also introduced me to the God Who makes a permanent, joyful place for all those who put their trust in Him for their eternal home. I am thankful.

After Thanksgiving, Susan and I will make the trip to the Union Cemetery in Luthersburg. There we will place a wreath in front of the tombstone of Mom and Dad. It is the evergreen of the eternal Christ and the unbroken circle of His everlasting, eternal love for His. I’ll pray and then wipe away the tears of remembrance and thanksgiving…again.

Modern Culture
Reformulated for Disaster

It used to be a person sought to discover how to fit in to his society. In you place, time and according to your talents, how can you bring yourself to be a contributor to your society? And, part of living well in your space and time included a large dose of self-restraint and self discipline. Living life was not all about you but how your piece of the puzzle helped to formulate the common good for the community in which you lived. C.S. Lewis saw this as conforming your soul to reality. Boy, have things changed!

Today, modern man sees the task at hand in his/her life as molding reality to them. Out with restraint, finding place and discipline for the good of community. Now, the task is to change reality to meet my desires and wants. It is not about changing us for the common good, it is changing the world for us! So, we have You Tube, My Space and other such internet ventures where individuals can trumpet their beliefs, talents [or not] and physical bodies to the world. This can be done without place, time and community. You establish your community of one without restraint or discipline.

In the older pattern, as created beings we found meaning in the image of the Creator. That was all part of the order of time, space and matter. Now, in a culture where there is no Creator, we must create ourselves as special and worthwhile. When creation and our part in it was accepted, living in a community with a complex of responsibilities and obligations was paramount. History, institutions of society and orderly living was important. Today, self-seeking that is allowable because of wealth and technology dispense with the former order. In fact, history, structures, order and obligations are all seen today as stifling and oppressive.

So, we are busy creating ourselves. And, it is in a vacuum that this is done without concern for others, communities or institutions. This has lead to autonomy without responsibility. Can a society exist very long in such a situation? In the attempt to create a non-dependant culture what resulted is an epidemic of irresponsibility. The barricades have been broken and we are living in the light of Romans 1. Man has been turned over to his own depravity.

We now have a reformulated culture. It is no longer about how we fit in to the created order. It is all about how we create our own disorder. So, in the new culture, we have individual cultural monarchy. All the old convictions and standards have been jettisoned. Each of us is culturally sovereign. In this new world we can choose a Garmin or TomTom or we can choose hetero or homo-sexuality. And, no cultural institution, ideal or commonly held principle can countermand our autonomous decision. We are shaping the culture as each of us wants and desires it to be. This view of modern freedom cannot last long. It is a recipe for cultural disaster.

The New Atheism
How Evangelicals Aid and Abet

There are many who subscribe to the position that the rise of science has made atheism a plausible belief system for modern man. The arguments goes as follows: Science has eliminated much of the unknowns of the world, the suspicions that permitted religion to flourish. Man no longer requires religion to explain away the mysteries of life. Science is the domain of real knowledge. Religion is relegated to the private domain because it is about belief not facts. The atheist needs not God or any god to explain his world.

This was also the root of theological liberalism. Science has shown that the supernatural [miracles] are not possible. Religion must adapt to that, so religion is reduced to the worldly…what we can do on this earth to make it a better place of all. There is still truth but it is empirical, that which is explained by facts. Faith is in science and not in God. That has been borne out in the rapid technological advance that has made our lives easier and better on earth. Liberal religion made unbelief an alternative for right thinking folk, those who marginalized God to the private sphere of life.

But, we must not underestimate the contribution of evangelical faith to the rise of atheism. How, you may ask can that be? The evangelical was for many years one who believed in justification by faith alone and the inerrancy of Scripture. That has changed a great deal in the last 10-15 years. Many who do not believe in justification as the article upon which the church stands or falls today call themselves evangelicals. In addition, there are many more who question the Bible as inerrant or as the full Truth of God who call themselves evangelicals. Because there is no real binding definition of who and what is evangelical today, the evangelical has been reduced to a process, not a set of beliefs.

And that process is the salvation of the lost, a worthy goal, but not the end of the story. Because the evangelical process has reduced God’s role to salvation, the door is left wide open to atheism. The evangelical has abandoned God’s creation to science. There is no real interest in things of this world except as it facilitates salvation for the lost. Evangelicals left the culture room and turned out the lights; the atheist moved in and decorated the culture in the anti-God way it is portrayed today.

Evangelicals have a diminished view of the importance of creation with one exception: arguing for a literal six day creation. That in itself is a problem. The focus comes again on the process: how creation came into existence. And, much time, effort and funds are expended in this area to no avail. It is a matter of belief…did God create or not? The Bible says so. Richard Dawkins says no. Who will you believe? This side of heaven we will not know. Only God knows the scientific parameters because only the Triune God existed at the time of creation. As Ken Hamm says: “Were you there?”

Regardless of how creation came into existence, how are we impacting it? It was created good and will be redeemed. Should not evangelicals spend more time on cultural issues, along with their evangelism? If so, they would develop an expanded view of the church, the sacraments, and the nurturing of the saints at it occurs in the here and now. That would allow the world to see that matters of culture are not individually driven but that the Church has something to say about it.

When I was practicing environmental law [representing industrial clients], I was amazed at the overwhelming amount of pantheists that inhabited government regulators. Christians were almost non-existent. I pondered that for a long while. I came to realize that Christians were not seen as those who had an interest in creation. They were interested in individual souls and seeing that those souls came to know God as Savior. But, how about God as Creator? This is not an appeal for “Christian environmentalism”, whatever that is. This appeal is to put Jesus back in the public square and get him out of private.

When all that is important is to save “Fred” but not prepare him to make an impact in his created order for his Savior, we marginalize God. We privatize the faith as much as a scientist or a liberal Christian. Committed Christians need a high view of God, including Him as Creator, Redeemer and King. We need to proclaim the Gospel to the lost and allow Him to call His own to Himself. Then, with the Word, the sacraments and teaching we need to prepare these saints to make a difference for His Kingdom, for His Kingdom has come and He is King of all NOW!

The Culture of Celebrity and Entertainment
In the Church!?

The second OJ Trial is in full swing in the form of a preliminary hearing. Doe anyone doubt we will be bombarded with this "caper" for months, years to come? Who can forget the time, money and energy expended by the media and the common folk who watched the televised “Trial of the Century”. O.J. outdistanced the Scopes trial because there was no TV back “in the day”.
And, now there is a new OJ crime that is transfixing the media and therefore the public who takes their cue from the media. And, what a run it had been on celebrities and the law---Anna Nicole, Paris, Brittany, Duane “Dog” Chapman, the bounty hunter, ad nauseam!

Christianity is not immune from this celebrity fascination. Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer and Joel Osteen are prominent names in Christian circles. Some of these folk are suddenly coming under scrutiny of the federal government. Sen. Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee is launching an investigation of six “health and wealth” gospel proponents on television. The government does not seem to be the organ for sorting out the charlatans of the church, but the investigation is to determine compliance with federal tax laws. What is interesting is that the secular and spiritual celebrities are linked together by the same underlying enterprise: entertainment.

The secular celeb issue is an easy one to assess. All media is tabloid media now. Even the “hard news” is about making money not reporting events. And, media is a fast paced business…the latest and the sensational had precedence over the long, played out story. So, what Brit does today is of far greater media significance that the arduous process of re-building Iraq. So successes in Iraq that do not involve maiming, killing or mis-steps by the US, are not newsworthy anymore. The viewer wants to be entertained.

Sadly, in this frenzied world, you have to be doing something new and catchy to stay in the news. Therefore, the celeb has to have a problem that keeps them in the public eye. Most viewers care little about the celebrity, they just are interested in their lives and what outrageous thing they are now doing. Oh, we know they need help, but if they were “cured” they would be out of the news because they would be regular folk like the viewers. Neither the viewer nor the media are much interested in repentance and the soul of the celluloid personality.

In the Christian community, this phenomenon is a bit more difficult to understand. We all recognize the foolishness of the idle babbling promoted by the entertainment culture in which we live. Yet, what do we do? We mimic the culture with our own celebrities, contemporary Christian music, Christian theme parks, Christian cartoons like Veggie Tales, etc. Are we not just adding fuel to the cultural fires burning? To use a term of Ken Myers, are we not just adding to the “cultural disorder”? Do we need an alternative “entertainment culture”? Why should the Christian community have any celebrities? Should not our lives be cultivated into sharing and suffering for the Gospel? Should not our emphasis be the emulation of Jesus Christ, the production of the fruit of the spirit and living a virtuous life?

The church is, or should be, about discipling. When entertainment takes over, it is about having fun, fulfilling our desires, going from one experience to another. There is no longer an emphasis on restraining desires, mortifying the flesh, becoming less and less while Christ in us becomes more and more. One of the real problems in the contemporary church is the failure to take discipleship seriously thereby negating creation and culture. When culture is only used as a method to get folks “saved” and not taken seriously, celebrity and entertainment become part of the Christian community. And, making disciples is not longer the mission of the church, contrary to the Lord’s Commission to His Church.

The New Atheism
What and Why?


Dawkins, Harris, Dennett, and Hitchens are the names associated with the new atheism. They have all written recent books which ratchet up the rhetoric against Christianity. Christians are no longer misguided, they are dangerous and demented. Religion should be eliminated, and that would be a good thing. This is a radical and aggressive position that is vogue today.

According to John Lennox of Oxford, who had debated Dawkins, this new atheism has three theses: 1] religion poisons everything; 2] there can be morality without God and 3] science [especially genetics] is the answer to all the problems of life.

Much of the hostility toward “intelligent design” as funky science is because the new atheists see it as smuggled in creation. That is clearly not the case, but the concern about the first eleven chapters of Genesis drives much of the hostility. In The God Delusion, Dawkins aims his guns at the idea of a Creator: If there was a Creator, who created the Creator? Of course that is a huge straw man. For a Christian believes in self-existent Creator Who spoke all things into existence. He is without beginning. Atheists believe in eternal matter and energy, just not an eternal Person. So, how did the matter and energy emerge?

It seems the new atheists were deeply affected by 9/11. Radical Islam lead to the destruction of that day and the war on terror that ensued. For these new atheists all religions are the same, and it is devotion to your religion that leads to acts of violence. The new atheism is a result of the new religious pluralism that has a foothold on western culture. There is a failure to discern that not all religions are alike. Jesus was not a terrorist, and He was acquitted by Pilate of that charge. While Islam has spread by the point of a sword, that was not the case for Christianity. God’s Kingdom is not of this world. We, as Christians, must do a better job of distinguishing true religious belief and practice. Furthermore, what about the atheistic regimes, such as Stalin and Pol Pot? Millions were slaughtered. Atheism poisoned everything for people subjected to atheistic tyrants!

The new atheists ground all their positions in a simple to complex progression, whether it is biology or morality. The new atheists insist they are moral folk because they have developed into moral folk. For them morality is not top down…morality from a moral lawgiver. But, to ague for an “ought” [what you should do] from an “is” [how I behave] is exactly why there is a widely divergent view of what is moral behavior. This fits nicely into the post-modern view of the autonomous individual and that all attempts at universal standards is an exercise in oppression and control. The secular view of this is: Anything Goes; the Biblical: “The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” [Judges 3: 7, 12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; 13:1].

We are faced with new challenges. Christians must live authentic Christian lives and espouse true Christian doctrine and belief. We must make it clear that Christianity is different from all other man made religions. We must make it clear that the Gospel is the Gospel of life, not death. We must make it clear that how we live is because of how we believe and in Whom we believe. And, we must make clear that our hope lies not in any secular pursuit but in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, our Lord and Savior. Clarity by what we say and how we live. That is the apologetic for the new atheism.

Baby Boomer Heroes
Mike and Carmen

Much has been written about “The Greatest Generation”[TGG]. Tom Brokaw has made a fortune so doing. They saved the world with their heroic efforts on all fronts in WW II. Statistics tell us that a thousand of them are dying every day. The children of TGG are not held in the same high regard. In fact, much of the ills of today’s culture are laid at the feet of the Baby Boomers [BB]. And the war of the BB’s became a tension point for the entire generation. Viet Nam was a galvanizing event, socially and politically.

But, like TGG, the BB’s also had their war heroes. Two of them from my hometown passed into eternity recently: Mike Hochrein and Carmen Parziale. Mike graduated from DuBois High School a year ahead of me. He wrestled and played football. He was a “standup guy”. He graduated from West Virginia University with a forestry degree. He was an avid outdoorsman and hunter. It was his outdoor skills that came in handy in Viet Nam.

Mike was a member of the all volunteer 75th Infantry’s Company F (Rangers). He was one of the 60 odd Rangers who worked in highly trained six man teams, each with a Vietnamese scout or combat tracker. They did reconnaissance missions, looking for signs of the Viet Cong [VC], and ambush missions, interdicting the VC after detection was made. Their work in the dense jungles of Viet Nam required great skill, patience, care and strength. The six men carried as much weaponry and ammunition as a line unit. And, they had to be skilled in first-aid. Wounded men could not be medivaced out. The six man teams were dependant on each other totally.

Staff Sergeant Mike Hochrein was a team leader for the Rangers in Viet Nam. The Tropic Lightening News of 08 February 1971 reported that Hochrein’s team accounted for five enemy kills in the prior two months [Tropic Lightening News, Vol. 6 No. 3]. Rangers had responsibly only smart, resilient, tough men could perform. Captain Jay Hickey the Rangers CO described the men in his unit and their duty as follows:

The credit actually belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust, sweat and blood; who knows great enthusiasm: great devotion, the triumph of high achievement and who, at the worst, if he fails, fails while daring greatly; that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat. For those who have had to fight for it, life truly has a flavor the protected shall never know.

This was the kind of man Mike Hochrein was. The Viet Nam war became a “quagmire” because the will to win of politicians and the public melted away in the heat of protest. But, the will of men like Mike Hochrein never wavered. They did their jobs by following orders and performed valiantly and courageously in difficult circumstances. They were heroes even though unrecognized as such.

Carmen Parziale graduated the same year as Mike Hochrein, except Carmen attended DuBois Central Catholic. I knew Carman, everyone did, because of his engaging personality and wonderful sense of humor. He earned a B.S. and M.S. from Penn State in Rehabilitative Counseling. He was a caring and compassionate man, one who wanted to help others. And, that he exhibited in his service in Viet Nam.

He was not drafted, but joined the US Army! This at a time when so many were scrambling to stay out of military service. He was a medic, trying to save lives in the jungle battlefields of Viet Nam. As his dear friend of a lifetime, Richard Levine, remarked in his eulogy for Carmen:

He tended to wounded comrades, delivered babies of Vietnamese peasants, was shot at by the Viet Cong and bagged bodies.

Like the Rangers, it was not duty for the weak and fainthearted. Carmen was a courageous soldier facing danger often without a weapon.

Carmen bore the name of a forbear war hero from TGG. Carmen Parziale from Bennett’s Valley was killed in action near the Aleutian Islands in WW II when the Japenese sunk the submarine he served on, the USS Grunion. Sergeant Carmen Parziale of DuBois was also a war hero who served his county with distinction being awarded the Bronze Star, the National Defense Award and the Medic Award.

These two brave sergeants have now passed from this earth. And, while they did not serve in a war that was popular or one that could be embraced by some sort of “just war” theory, they were brave soldiers. Those of us who are Baby Boomers can recall the revulsion and disdain shown returning veterans of the Viet Nam war. They were seen in many quarters as part of the problem. But, they were not…they were but brave young men who did their duty in the jungles of Viet Nam in the face of grave and often unknown danger. A salute to the late Sgt. Mike Hochrein and Sgt. Carmen Parziale, for their courage, service and sacrifice…true Heroes of the Baby Boomer generation.

Celtic Proverbs
A Large Hen Often Lays a Small Hen

There is an alarming similarity between a religious revival meeting and a political rally and a mob ready to go on a rampage: the same chants, the same unreasoning fervor, the same messianic promises, the same nervous camaraderie. The unspoken messages may differ but the unspoken does not: hail to the chief, hooray for our cause and woe to any who get in our way. It has been argued that this is how Jesus spoke to His multitudes and that we are no different than they. But then it must be asked who among them truly listened to what He said, much less took His words to heart, and where were they when a similar multitude chose between Barabas and Christ?

R. Martin Helick, Travelers From an Ancient Land, Book XII, An Chros, (Swissvale, PA: Regent Graphics, 1993).

Celtic Proverbs
Untrustworthy is that Which Would Better be Laid Out Straight

Why did Jesus speak in parables and how could He be sure that they would be correctly interpreted? When asked about this, He answered with a parable of the sower, of how some of the seed fell by the wayside and some upon stony ground, how some were chocked by thorns and how some fell on fertile ground and brought forth fruit a hundredfold. Words have no voice until they are heard, and if he listener lacks the grace to appreciate their meaning, they had best be not heard at all. Better a truth ignored that a truth misappropriated; more holy the ambiguity of human experience that the exactitude of dialectic.

R. Martin Helick, Travelers From an Ancient Land, Book XII, An Chros, (Regent Graphics: Swissvale, PA, 1993)

Clearfield County Fair
147th Edition

We climbed into the 1958 Buick Roadmaster. Gopher, who was going to be a senior in high school, drove. His kid brother, I and my cousin climbed into the passenger seats [no seatbelts]. We were headed to the fair. We stopped for a fill up [25 cents per gallon] and Gopher picked up some Pall Malls [30 cents a pack]. He lit up and we roared off to Clearfield on three double deuce [US 322] for a Wednesday night of fun at the Clearfield County Fair…the 103rd Edition.

Folks have made the fair the centerpiece of their summers for 147 years. But, much has changed in that time, making it less of an attraction. It used to be that the fair is when you saw top drawer entertainment. Headliners like Lawrence Welk, Red Skeleton, Bob Hope, The Beach Boys, Chicago, Kenny Rogers, Willy Nelson, Randy Travis, Clint Black, Vince Gill, George Strait, Tim McGraw, were regulars on the fair stage. Now there are over the hill pop stars [Doobbie Brothers, Meat Loaf] and second tier country performers on the stage. Why? The fair board cannot afford the lead acts any longer.

I can recall when Bob Hope was the star attraction thirty years ago. He wanted paid in cash. Not a check, cash as in green backs. The woman who escorted him around was a bank employee. She delivered him his fee, $10,000 in cold, hard cash! Now, you could not get a third rate bagpipe player for that kind of money. The county fair circuit is now for retreads and has-been entertainers who want you to “remember when”. The big money and exposure is in TV, Las Vegas and other casino areas, Hollywood and larger city venues. Entertainment is readily available in other places. The fair shows are no longer a big deal.

The granges around the county were the engine behind the fair. It was a gathering of people of the land displaying their wares. Each grange had a booth in which they sold home made food straight from the farm. Well, the Department of Environmental Resources [now Protection] changed all that. No longer could the granges prepare food off site and bring it to the fair to sell. The regulators could not assure the cleanliness and safety of the food products. I don’t know about you, but I would rather have fried food fro Aunt Sallie’s kitchen than John the Greek who may not change his cooking oil for the whole week! This was a blow to the granges since it eliminated a source of revenue from sales at the fair. Our government protecting us from the grangers and subjecting us to over the road vender food!

The fair is no longer the only place to vacation for local folks. Theme parks are within distance and budget of most folks today. So, you don’t have to go the he fair to ride rides and do carnival things. It was a great road trip for a teenager in the early sixties, but there is so much more available today for entertainment. Sulky races, thrill drivers, tractor pulls, they are still part of the fair, but the appeal to a shrinking and smaller population. The livestock exhibits are still a “one of a kind” experience, but it is shocking how few people have ever been around farms and farm animals. On a recent trip with my 15 year old grandson to a dairy farm in Northern Ireland, I discovered he had never been to a farm or around farm animals in his years on this earth!

Lucas worked in the cow barns one year at the fair. It was 12 days of hot, dirty work. But, he came away with more appreciation of the farmer and the lives they lead. But, we are increasingly an urban and suburban country. Farmers are at best ignored, and at worse treated as an under-class. The common man has no idea how dependent we are on these men and women of the land for food and sustenance. The county fair was originally to celebrate their harvest and their lives with an atmosphere of carnival and entertainment thrown in. Now, it is a commercial venture where the farmer has a bit role and the fun and entertainment is no longer first rate. A great deal has changed in 44 years.

If you happen to be in this area of the Eastern Continental Divide, drop into the 147th Clearfield County Fair at the Clearfield Driving Park. It runs through Saturday, August 4. Take in the sights and sounds and smells. That has not changed much. But, remember, it “ain’t what it used to be”. Come to think about it most things aren’t. And, that is shamefully sad.

Books
The Pirates of the Caribbean

If you are looking to end your summer with a breezy historical narrative, chose Colin Woodward’s The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down. Woodward focuses on the Golden Age of Piracy (1715-1725) by telling the story of “The Flying Gang” as the conglomeration of pirates in New Providence, Bahamas, called themselves. However, he focuses in on the lives of three of most famous of that era: “Black Sam” Bellamy, Edward “Blackbeard” Teach [or Thatch as some claim his surname was] and Charles Vane.

The story really begins with the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714) and the problems that conflict caused in the Caribbean. The Spanish drove the British out of the Bahamas early in the conflict which according to Woodward opened the door for piracy by leaving a lawless area of many islands. But, possibly more importantly, the hiring of privateers by all sides to prey on each other was the whetting of appetites for personal piracy. In fact, the man who brought the Pirate Republic to an end was Woodes Rogers, a famous privateer for the UK during the war.

Privateers turned to piracy, that is, personal enrichment instead of piracy for king and country, when the war ended. There was a large complement of men available from privateer days as well as unemployed, disgruntled military sailors and black slaves. Because the Caribbean islands had many colonial possessors and all suffered damage during the war, the Caribbean was a wide open place for privateering turned piracy.

Woodward’s story is fast paced and rollicking. Rogers became the governor of the Bahamas by appointment of King George in 1718 but the threat of piracy did not really begin to abate until Charles Vane was hanged in 1720. The reconstruction of the confrontation between Balckbeard and his men on the Adventure and Robert Maynard of HMS and his men on he Jane at Okracoke Inlet, NC, on 21 October 1718, is truth stranger that fiction. It rivals any fiction you will ever read.

While Bellamy, Blackbeard and Vane meet tragic, violent ends, the story of Rogers is just as tragic. During the war, in which he was a hero, being the only privateer to capture a Spanish galleon, he suffered serious, life threatening injuries from the fighting. To return as governor of the Bahamas he had to put out 20,000 pounds of his own, which he was never repaid by the Crown. He drove the pirates from the Bahamas but could not save himself. He went into bankruptcy and landed in debtors prison, a disgraced hero.

The book is well researched and written. Some of the author’s premises you may have trouble swallowing. He posits that the pirates introduced democracy to the new world. How? By running their ships in a democratic manner…all hands decided on where they went, what vessels they attacked and even who was their captain. They shared equally the captured booty and the captain only had absolute authority in battle situations. Vane’s fate was a case in point. He was deposed as captain and put off his ship. He had a small sloop that eventually was marooned as a result of a storm on the Bay of Honduras. He was taken on by a passing ship, later recognized and arrested. He was taken to Jamaica for trail and hanging, an ignoble and whimpering end to one of the most viscious of the Caribbean pirates.

Did the democratic impulse that developed in the New World come from pirates? That may be a little too much romanticism. Yet, compared to the Disney 3quel about Caribbean pirates, this book is a refreshing look at the historical place of the Pirate Republic. The rise of pirate power is analyzed from a world stage and gives us insight into what happens yet today. Remember in Afghanistan the Mujahideen were empowered by the west to run out the Soviets. When the job was done what happened? They disintegrated, there was no order and in the chaos the Taliban arose to rule being more ruthless and oppressive than the Russians. Enjoy a dose of history of the Caribbean that has been little understood because of the heretofore romanticized pirates and also apply it to what goes on today. As the saying goes: There is no new news, just old news happening to new people!

The Way it Was
Teenagers in 1936

Several years ago in preparing for the sale of my parents’ home, I came across the first edition of The Brady Bugle. This was the student newspaper of the defunct Brady High School. This March 1936 issue was entitled the Senior Edition. Dad had an article in it, thus his retention of this heirloom. You will see a great contrast between the concerns and wit of teenagers [I am sure they were not called such in 1936!] then and teenagers now. You will enjoy this but it should also give you great concern. By reading The Brady Bugle, I think you will begin to understand what a godless, violent, family shattered, self-centered, sensate culture has done to 21st century young people over a 70 year period.

Knarr’s View on Activities
By James Knarr

A majority of the students of this high school will never continue their education in college, so why should we spend all our time in preparation for college courses? In my four years at school, I could not have gained more practical knowledge in such courses as home economics, manual training and bookkeeping, than to spend my time learning facts. I am not complaining about learning facts, because I realize that facts are the foundation of all education.
If my daily routine includes something I like as well as what is necessary for me, my interest in all my work would naturally be stimulated. Is there a student among us who will not have to perform the ordinary tasks around the home? It is true we can learn those things from experience, but experience is a dear school. I believe it would be an advantage to each student to know those these simple principles rather that to learn them for himself by trial and error method. Our daily life would be made happier by application of these courses and undesirable home conditions aided. Courses of appreciation, such as Art, are necessary if we are to enjoy the more beautiful things of life.
What we do in school does determine our future lives. It often brings out in us some talent that might otherwise never materialize. If our daily activity is increased by extra curriculum we would have a better chance in finding something that would appeal to us. There courses should be optional as it would not pay to force such studies on those who do not are for them, though these are people who may need them most. Study of manual training and home economics should be included in B.H.S.

Tall Story Reveals All
By Clarence Kriner

I suppose you folks would wonder how I came to be a large pepper manufacturer, at which I am now a rich man. A friend and I went into the north of Alaska for a camping trip in the dead of winter. Imagine camping in the winter! We did not take enough supplies along, but that was not unusual. This time we forgot the pepper, the same of which I am very fond. It was a bitterly cold morning. I arose to kindle the fire. I lit the fire and, to hurry it, I poured some kerosene on it. The kerosene hastened the fire up so much that the flame shot up the chimney. I ran out to see if there could be any harm done and to my surprise, the afire had frozen as it come out. That was just the thing! We took the frozen fire down, ground it up, and sold it for pepper. Believe it or not!

Etiquette
By Ruth Bennett

Don’t be a Goop! Know your manners. Which of your friends have the best manners? What pleases you most in their manners? Come manners to remember.
Conversation or gossip – Do not monopolize conversation, either with an older person or with people of your own age. Remember that conversation is an interchange of thought and ideas not a monologue. Courtesy demands an interest in others. If you don all the talking it is a ding that your interest centers on yourself.
Having a guest – Always rise to greet a guest, and, after seeing that he is comfortably seated, turn the conversation of interest to him. If you are a girl and your caller is a boy, who has a tendency to stay late, it is not discourteous to tell him that your parents prefer your caller should not stay after ten o’clock.
Dress – Girls, as well as boys, should be inconspicuously dressed at all times. The simple rule is not so simple as it seems, nor is it as easy to follow. Smartness is in simplicity. Consult your physique or figure, before choosing clothes. Heavy figures do not look their best in tight clothes. Complexion should determine the colors you wear and they should be harmonized and be limited. To be becomingly dressed, you should consult your mirror rather than the fashion books for many details, for dress is an individual matter.
This is the type of good manners we want – the kind that will make others more comfortable or happy.

Living in the World
Brian Wells and David Vitter

These two names are associated with two of the more interesting stories of the week in summer heat where our minds are creaking from the on-going arguments over the war in Iraq. Two separate lives, one a nondescript Pizza delivery man, the other a powerful U.S. Senator from Louisiana.

You remember Wells. He robbed a bank in Erie. He was caught and cuffed. He claimed he had a bomb strapped to him and police noticed a metal device around his neck during the arrest. The police backed off retreating behind squad cars with weapons drawn. The astounding thing was Well’s demeanor through this. He spoke in non-excited tones about the bomb that was going to go off. The bomb detonated and Wells died.

The case was inexplicable. Why would a bank robber kill himself? How did he get a bomb built and fastened to his neck? Things didn’t add up. The public got a glimpse that this was really a homicide when six months later the FBI released documents that were a series of instructions to disarm the bomb requiring a scavenger type hunt for clues! So, now foul play was clearly in view, but the case became even more bizarre.

This week Wells re-emerged in the news with the report that Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong would be arrested for the pizza man’s death. Ms. Diehl-Armstrong was already in prison for the homicide of James Roden. Three weeks after the Wells affair, her former fiancé, William Rothstein, called PA State Police and reported that Roden’s body was in his freezer. Ms. Diehl-Armstrong asked him to help her dispose of the body. It turns out that four men associated with Ms. Diehl-Armstrong have mysteriously died, including a friend of Wells who also worked at Mama Mia’s Pizza.

David Vitter shows up as one who was on the phone/client list of the DC Madam. A Roman Catholic who is a lector in his church, Vitter’s indiscretion(s) immediately hit the press. And, why not, he was an unspoken proponent of family values. While there are a myriad of definitions of “family values” it seems quite clear they do not include cavorting with prostitutes under any definition. The “H” word is prominent in the coverage of this matter. Hypocrite is a favorite definition applied to moral conservative Christians who fall into sin. This makes sense since a liberal Democrat whose “sexual mores” are matters of choice, not standards, cannot be a hypocrite. So, now Vitter is better known for being a “John” than a US Senator.

So, there you have it. Two men in the news, one a victim of a bombing through what appears to be a rarity, a female serial killer. It first appeared he blew himself up, which turned out not to be as it seems. Wells knew the explosion was coming; and everyone could see the bomb. The other has blown himself up by acting in a way not comporting to his outward appearance. When the senator did what he did in the company of the “call girl”, I am sure he did not see an explosion coming. But, both explosions were inevitable because of sin.

Muggeridge is credited with saying that the one Christian principle that can be empirically shown ever day is the total depravity of man. Here it is in spades. Brian Wells was nothing more than a human pawn in the mind of a depraved killer(s). David Vitter was a victim of his own sinful and depraved heart and desires. If Vitter is the Christian he claims, Paul outlines his plight well in Chapter 7 of Romans. Jesus Christ has broken the power of sin for His. But, any of us, Christian or not, is capable of death dealing sin at any time. Living in the world we are subject to Satan, sin and our flesh everyday. If you doubt this, watch the news tonight.

Church and State
Peace in the city

I never thought in my lifetime I would be in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a tough city. Although there has been only one bombing incident since the accords of peace were signed in 1998, the symptoms of the “troubles” are everywhere. Fences toped with barbed wire still separate Protestant and Catholic blue collar neighborhoods. Murals are painted on buildings commemorating green and orange “heroes” and evidencing the deep seeded animosity, even hatred that still exists. Neighborhoods are marked with flags of their particular cause. And, in Protestant neighborhoods wood is being gathered for the annual march and bon fire of the Order of the Orange on 12 July which is the celebration of the Williamite army of Wm. of Orange’s victory over the Jacobite army of James II at the Boyne River in Ireland.

So, while there is peace at the moment, always fomenting below the surface is the distrust and rejection of the religion of the other side. The government is run by a coalition of Protestants and Roman Catholics. But both sides express unhappiness that they have to share power with hoodlums and criminals of the opposition. When you ask the man on the street if the peace with hold they reply, “I hope so.” There exists a stability that is uncertain and uneasy. It is a peace that passes understanding.

But, more astounding for me was the opportunity to worship God in Belfast on a. Sunday in a Reformed Presbyterian Church that has been in existence at the same location for 150 years. A church where the roof was blown off by an IRA bomb blast in the 1990s! The congregation went on worshipping in their building without a roof until it could be replaced. What a rich experience to worship with Covenanters who have stood for what they believed in a hostile environment for all these years. To hear the Psalms sung without accompaniment, RPC fashion, in Gaelic tones and accents is a rare treat. And, the pastor preached on Phil 4:6: “be anxious about no thing.” This message preached in a city that displays anxiousness aplenty.

Not many years ago, there was doubt that peace, even the fragile peace of today, would come to Northern Ireland. We should take heart at what has happened there. While the political parties in No. Ireland surely remain sectarian, I seems for the present they recognize that the government must provide peaceful existence for both Roman Catholic and Protestant alike. One can more fully appreciate the concept of separation of church and state. Paul instructs Timothy that prayer must be offered on behalf of kings and those in high places “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” [1 Tim 2:2].

So, we must pray for the governing authorities in No. Ireland. May they provide the peace and quiet that permits folks to worship God…be they Protestant or Catholic. Pray for the maintenance of a peace that will allow a godly and dignified life to be lived by all. It may take generations for the flags and painted murals to disappear and the fences to come down. But, by the Grace of God this will finally occur and the battle for the hearts and minds of the people will be fought with weapons of truth and life and not weapons of death.

May/June Issue of SGM Magazine

The May/June 2007 issue of SGM Magazine is on the newstand now. It contains an article on the English Reformation under Elizabeth I which will be the first in a series of articles on the Reformation in England, Scotland and Ireland. Also, there is an article on the Post-Modern Man...Joe; why we should not be surprised at the emergence of such men today and why they too need a savior. Finally, two book reviews highlight two books for serious summer reading: Whatever Hapened to Truth? and A Secular Faith.

If you haven't picked up or received your copy of this latest issue, contact us. Happy reading!

Due to travel and work schedules, no posts will be forthcoming during the next two weeks. Lord willing, see you again around 25 June. Until then, live by faith; walk in the light.

Postmodernism
…and Truth

In his essay, “Truth, Contemporary Philosophy and the Postmodern Turn”, philosopher JP Moreland has this to say about the relationship of truth and postmodernism:

As a philosophical standpoint, postmodernism is primarily a reinterpretation of what knowledge is what counts as knowledge. More broadly, it represents a form of cultural relativism about such things as reality, truth, reason, value, linguistic meaning, the self, and other notions. On a postmodernist view, there is no such thing as objective reality, truth, value, reason, and so forth. All these are social constructions, creations of linguistic practices, and as such are relative not to individuals, but to social groups that share a narrative.

To Moreland and many others this denigration of truth is the key problem with postmodernism. This is a major problem for Christians who believe the truth can be known in Christ, for He is the way, truth and life (John 14:6). The Gospel is not a social construct but it is God’s good news. It is a story for all people for all times. It is not relative to a certain time or place.

Truth is not created by people it is discovered and truth is not dependent on belief to be true. This is why postmoderns reject the correspondence view of truth [a proposition is true when it corresponds to reality]. When truth is constructed in the postmodern sense, how can it exist independently of those who construct it? Truth is not dependent on integrating it into an individual belief system and as such, it not a creation of believers. Objective truth exists whether you, I or JP Moreland believes it.

There is more than a little disingenuousness in the postmodern position on truth. Esther Meek, Professor of Philosophy at Geneva College in her book Longing to Know, is extremely critical of the irresponsibility of failing to recognize objective truth:

It is not responsible to deny objective truth and reality in knowing; it is irresponsible. It is not responsible to make the human knower or community of knowers the arbiters of a private truth and reality; it is irresponsible.

The postmodern view of truth fosters irresponsibility and makes our individual decisions irrelevant to the overall good of humanity. Why? Because we are responsible for constructing our own truth for our own space and time and there is no reality or truth that binds us all together as humans created in God’s image. We are not responsible to and for each other. There is only self-seeking in a culture of private truths. There is an absence of loving one another and your neighbor. There is no imperative to proclaim the truth of the Gospel.

Postmodernism and truth is a challenge to Christians today. Truth is exclusive in and through Jesus Christ not a choice by or construct of individuals or communities. It requires courage and resolve to defend the truth in today’s cultural climate. But, it must be done or the Gospel is lost in a sea of relative truths. The Gospel is the only hope for all mankind. Moreland calls postmodernism “intellectual pacifism” in its treatment of truth. We must take Paul’s advice and put on the full armor of God and boldly proclaim the Truth of the Gospel [Eph. 6: 10-20].

Postmodernism
Mo and Pomo…the Christian Response

There is a sense in which this entire Mo/Pomo discussion is irrelevant to Christians. After all, these movements are of men and have no affect of the Biblical God. God is in control of history and His story is about His covenant faithfulness to Israel and the Church. This story of God is not part of the world rather the world and man in it are part of God’s story. Without God there would be no world. And, of course, there is the rub. Mo and Pomo careen thorough God’s world as if He did not exist, or is at best an irrelevance. There is no concern of God’s creation, providence and redemption in Mo and Pomo. They are, after all, social movements of man.

But, as Christians we must seek to understand where man is, or at least where he thinks he is in history. We can only be effective witnesses of God’s grace and glory if we know the audience. So here in Pomo, how does one proclaim Truth in its propositional and personal dimensions where there are many truths? To begin with, at least Christianity merits a hearing in Pomo. It matters not that it is reasonable and foundationally revelatory. With no universal position as in Mo [reason] all truth claims are open for business. Christianity is relevant once again. But, there is a caveat. The Truth of Christianity can be true but it may be true for one but not another. All truths are true because they are believed, not because they are true. Truth in Pomo is a personal preference, no more no less.

Here, Pomo is vulnerable. To allow that all preferences are true because someone believes it leads to moral irresponsibility. How does a Pomo deal with a Hitler or Stalin or Pol Pot? Together they killed millions because they thought it was right to do so. It was their personal truth. As one who has practiced law for 35 years, it is hard to conceive of justice without discerning truth. I have a revelation: Not everyone who testifies to the truth tells the truth! A life, a society, a world cannot be long sustained without standards or judgment that separate truth from error, truth from tyranny.

Pomo through its spokesmen malign truth and allow that it is merely a tool of repression. But, one must ask, how can they say that? Where is the standard used by them to make such a judgment? They smuggle their principles in the back door. Pomo fails to answer one simple question. Is Pomo true? If it is, why? If it is not, why do we believe it? Pomo affirms what it actually claims it is not…a system of truth preferable to all others.

Pomo gives the Christian a chance to do what Mo did not allow. Mo relegated Christianity to proving Truth by reason alone. Pomo on the other hand grants a hearing to the Truth of Christianity without any limits. There is a dangerous tendency, however, for an accommodation to Pomo as there was to Mo. Those styled as “reformist evangelicals” and the “emerging church movement” tend to be relativistic in Truth claims and without boundaries of belief. Is this not adapting Pomo to the church? One must ask whether the Christian is affecting the culture or the culture is infecting the Christian. The Christian must not miss the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel as Truth both in belief and living, teaching others to be hearers and doers of the Word. The culture, be it Mo or Pomo, must not be shown that the Gospel is intelligible or the best preference available, but that the world and individual lives are not intelligible without the Truth of the Gospel.

Memorial Day 2007
Preparation

As a nation, we observed Memorial Day on Monday, 28 May, because of our lust or three day weekends. The actual Memorial Day is 30 May. This post splits the difference.

I had an opportunity to visit the National Cemetery in Marietta, GA, over the weekend. It is a plot in the middle of the city that began when the land was donated by a local citizen to bury Union war casualties. It is fascinating to wander through the old portions of that burial ground and see the markers o fallen soldiers from northern states buried so far away so long ago. I observed a marker of one who carried my surname.

The Civil War was a bloody conflict that pitted brother against brother and citizen against citizen. Even in Clearfield County, far from the military conflict carried on by the two armies, there was a casualty. A Union soldier was killed trying to apprehend a deserter in Knox Township in a skirmish dubbed the Battle of Bloody Knox. But, as I wandered around the National Cemetery I was again impressed with our need to remember those who have gone before and given their life in battle for our freedom, and, specifically, the need for burial grounds.

A few years past in the SGM Magazine, I wrote an article about the importance of cemeteries, entitled “Gardens of he Saints”, a portion of which is as follows:

Every Memorial Day brings home the importance of cemeteries. They are where those who have gone before us reside. We have the opportunity to go to the last resting place of those to whom we need to pay homage for their sacrifice and provision for us. In Clearfield County, PA, there are nearly 100 cemeteries. Green carpeted gardens of saints connected to churches, in municipalities or public in nature.

You can see automobiles with license plates from all over the US in the cemeteries. For some, it is there first trip back in some time. Others make the trek every year to pay respects to departed loved ones. And, every cemetery has a Memorial Day service. Some with high school bands, prominent speakers and a VFW honor guard with carbines that are fired once a year for the 21 gun salute. Others have small affairs where families or pastors gather for prayer. But, like much of Americana, these green burial places are fading from our lives.

In Inglewood Park, California, cremation rates are approaching 50%. This is a upward trend evidenced in every state. And while some argue urns of ashes can be buried in cemeteries, the fact is that is not happening. The mausoleum is the new way. The arguments are many to support such a move. Maintenance is easy; space is used more efficiently; and weather elements are not a factor. Furthermore, these new above ground memorials with drawers for remains can be designed with gardens and modern or classical architecture. Mike Baklarz of Cold Spring Granite promotes the mausoleum, “You are in a spiritual sanctuary that is also a beautiful park and art museum featuring some of the best and most durable architecture you will ever see.”

The individual who donated the land for the burial of enemy dead in Marietta, GA, understood the importance of burial. It is a Christian practice to bury the dead. In India the bodies of the dead are burned because the body is perishable, undesirable and weak. There is no hope for the body; it is incinerated because it has no place in the next life. Not so for Christians. We believe the body will be resurrected some day and we are compelled to be buried like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The loss of Gardens of the Saints is another indication of our loss of Christian practice and heritage.

The ending of the aforesaid article is appropriate for every Memorial Day:

Is it progress to abandon the hope of bodily resurrection with drawers of ashes in a temperature controlled building? There seems to be a regression into paganism taking place. Here in the Eastern Continental Divide we will continue to visit our graveyards, remembering and memorializing with the joy of hope. In the meantime the bodies there are quietly waiting for that grand and glorious day when they will no longer be asleep but be alive forever.

Burial for the Christian is preparation…preparation for his or her own resurrection. To abandon that hope is to minimize the Gospel that saves, sanctifies and glorifies.

Postmodernism
Is Pomo an answer to Mo for Christians?

Modernism (Mo) contributed greatly to the problem of cross-cultural ministry. The idea that all persons throughout the world must be converted to a purely rational Christianity is more that problematic. That type of theory ignores the various environments, cultures and circumstances where the Gospel must be proclaimed to fulfill the Great Commission. It sounds a lot like Hegel with his universal religion of reason with no room for particulars. In everywhere but the west, the hearer must think like a westerner before he can hear the Gospel.

Jesus said He was “the way, the Truth and the life.”[Jn 14:6] Christianity has rightly emphasized the issue of Truth. But, Truth is more than a set of correct propositions. Truth is personal, embodied in Jesus Christ, the God-Man. Truth for the Christian must go beyond mere reason. It is a concept based on the promises of a God Who can be relied upon and trusted, a righteous God Who will keep the covenant He has made with His people. Truth is transformational to the believer because believing in the Truth is to be possessed by the Truth. Truth is indeed a proposition but it is also an agent of change in the life of the Christian. It is more than Mo would have it.

Today, we are told by the intelligentsia, that the culture is Post-Modern (Pomo). It seems ironic that a movement that rejected the past is now past. Os Guisness in his book Fit Bodies, Fat Minds, relates this definition of Pomo:

“There is not truth; only truths. There is no grand reason; only reasons. There is no privileged civilization (or culture, belief, norm and style); only a multiplicity or cultures, beliefs, norms and styles. There is no universal justice; only interests and the competition of interest groups. There is no grand narrative of human progress only countless stories of where people and their cultures are now. There is no simple reality or any grand objectivity or universal, detached knowledge, only a ceaseless representation of everything in terms of everything else.”
It is heard in the phrase “everything is relative” [relativism] or “there are many ways to God”[pluralism].

Pomo is fundamentally opposed to Mo and its idea of understanding and mastering the world through reason. Truth and reason are useless in a chaotic world. However, Pomo may best be thought of as the step-child of Mo and not a new species. Listen to what J. Bottum says in First Things [February 1994]:

“…post-modernity is still in the line of modernity, as rebellion against rebellion is still rebellion, as an attack on the constraints of grammar must still be written in grammatical sentences, as a skeptical argument against the structures of rationality must still be put rationally.”

To argue meaninglessness must still be put meaningfully if it is to have meaning to you and me.

Pomo may only be the logical extension of Mo that has failed to understand and control the world through reason. Charles Jencks in What is Postmodernism?, says Pomo is “both the continuation of Modernism and its transcendence.”

A.J. Conyers calls Pomo “perfectly loyal to the project of modernity while posing as its critic” and claims that Pomo luminaries such as Derrida and Foucault do not believe Pomo is a critique of Mo but
“…an attempt to save the sinking ship of modernity by throwing overboard some of the most inessential features while preserving its essence.”

It is far from clear that Pomo is an answer to the problems Mo created for the propagation of the Gospel. Is there an answer or Christian belief and evangelism in the cultural confusion of the 21st century? Have a blessed Decoration or Memorial Day [what it is called is age dependant] remembering those who have gone before us and next week we will post on how to respond to Mo and Pomo as Christians living in the 21st century. In the mean time let me know how you do so?

Postmodernism
Why Modernism is a problem for Christians

The Enlightenment elevated human reason to a position of supremacy. The Enlightenment principle was that all man needed to know about life, including God, was available through human reason. And, in understanding there was no need or room for revelation. Reason was sufficient. Enlightenment thinkers sought to establish objectivity in science, morality and law that was not dependent on history, location or culture of the individual. Louis Dumont describes the Enlightenment man as “ an independent, autonomous, and essentially non-social human being”.

G.F.W. Hegel, in his essay “Uber die Religion der Griechen und Romer”, sets forth how the Enlightenment affected religion. Religious particularity was a function of culture and political specifics. However, there are really universal truths found by the reasoning intellectual elites…an unadulterated universal ethical religion based on reason. To Hegel, Christianity was one of the manifestations of the ethical religion of reason. Alister McGrath explains Hegel’s view of proper Christianity:
“The only way in which progress could be made was to maintain a commitment of some sort to Christianity, while simultaneously undermining its claims to uniqueness or universality.”
In other words, Jesus was a wonderful teacher of ethics but He is not the only way. A refrain oft repeated since Hegal came on the scene.

This intellectual impulse spawned the cultural idea of Modernism (Mo). It was the seeping into our daily living of the enthronement of reason. Modernity sought to eliminate God from the picture of life by securing all knowledge through the structures of human rationality. Modernity also deliberately rejected the past and believed man, through pure reason, could understand and master the world. This Mo has affected everything, including Christianity.

One of the problems Mo created was in propagating the Gospel. Christians tried to make the Gospel of Jesus Christ intelligible to the world. It was here that the concept of Christianity as another “worldview” developed. Unwittingly, such an approach gave credence to all the other “worldviews” or “isms” afoot in the cosmos. It was like this…”our worldview based on the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is more sensible that any other.” While it is true that faith is reasonable, faith is not based on reason. It is a supernatural revelation from God. Mo had Christians playing on its terms, already dismissing revelation.

This was especially a problem for the Reformed folk who were powerfully influenced by the Scottish Enlightenment’s Common Sense philosophy. The Princeton Theology, evidenced by Hodge and Warfield, is based on a high degree of confidence in human reason. George Marsden has commented that Princeton was dominated by the idea:
“…that any sane and unbiased person of common sense could and must perceive the same things…basic truths are much the same for all persons in all times and places.”
The obvious danger is that Christianity could be reduced to a set of mentally accepted concepts or principles discerned by human reason. This is an accommodation to Mo. And, from those who believe in the total depravity of man!

[This is adapted from an article that first appeared in the SGM Magazine as “Mo, Pomo and the Christian”]

Education from a Christian Perspective
Colorado Funding Decision

Everyone seems to agree that education is needed. Where we stumble is what is education; is education from a Christian perspective a warranted part of what the state should foster in education; and should state funding be available for education from a Christian perspective. This post is about the last matter.

Litigation is a lousy way to make decisions, yet because of the muddled state of church/state relations in the federal judiciary, all controversies on funding education from a Christian perspective end up in litigation. Here is an example from the Chronicles of Higher Education:

Colorado Christian University filed a federal lawsuit in 2004, arguing that Colorado laws that deny state aid to students who attend the private institution violate the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit argued that the Colorado Commission on Higher Education was denying the institution's First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion and the right to equal protection under the Constitution's 14th Amendment.

The commission decided in 2004 that Colorado Christian was not eligible for the tuition-assistance program. It found that the university was pervasively sectarian because it failed to meet a series of state requirements: that faculty members and students are not exclusively of one religious persuasion, that the college does not require attendance at religious convocations or services, that it does not require students to take courses in religion or theology that tend to indoctrinate or proselytize, and that its funds do not come primarily or predominantly from sources who advocate a particular religion.

The US District Court in Denver found that state’s position did not violate the university’s “free exercise” right in the 1st Amendment. The Colorado Opportunity Fund permits students at eligible private schools who meet a needs based test to receive half the stipend a student in an undergraduate program at a public college or university receives. Two private schools, Regis University (a Roman Catholic institution) and University of Denver are eligible.

There are, of course, numerous issues arise from such a decision including the second one I set forth above. Is it judicious for states to pursue private college funding yet find ineligible institutions that maintain an authentic commitment to historic Protestant Christianity? Is it for the common good to promote what Colorado labels as “pervasive sectarian” views in undergraduate college education. And, I guess that requires an answer to the first question…what is education? This case is by no means the end of the controversy that will undoubtedly spread to other states and may eventually meander its way to the SCOTUS.

Abortion and the SCOTUS
Language

The older I become the more I see the need for defining what you mean when you use a term. Take evangelical, what does it mean to call oneself an evangelical? It used to have a pretty clear meaning: 1] One who believed in justification by faith and 2] one who believed in the inerrancy, infallibility and inspiration of Holy Scripture, wherein the Gospel is taught and thereby embraced. This, of course, is no longer the case. Evangelical, and the justification by faith and the dimensions of Scripture that heretofore defined it, are all up for grabs. So, I make it a point to ask folks who use these terms to define them so I know where they are coming from.

In Gonzales v. Carhart, the latest SCOTUS decision on abortion, there is an interesting bit of side bar by Justice Ginsburg in her dissent. She is upset with the majority deciding that partial birth abortion is not a protected right of women. She argues that this case flies in the face of the Nebraska Carhart case that struck down the procedure as unconstitutional. And, she goes through the whole litany of arguments that anti-abortion statutes are based on the pre-enlightened patriarchy that suppressed women that Roe and its progeny resolved:

As Casey comprehended, at stake in cases challenging abortion restrictions is a woman's "control over her [own] destiny." 505 U. S., at 869 (plurality opinion). See also id., at 852 (majority opinion).2 "There was a time, not so long ago," when women were "regarded as the center of home and family life, with attendant special responsibilities that precluded full and independent legal status under the Constitution." Id., at 896-897 (quoting Hoyt v. Florida, 368 U. S. 57, 62 (1961)). Those views, this Court made clear in Casey, "are no longer consistent with our understanding of the family, the individual, or the Constitution." 505 U. S., at 897.

In her comments are about the use of language she takes umbrage with how the majority uses terms in its opinion. Here is that section:

Throughout, the opinion refers to obstetrician-gynecologists and surgeons who perform abortions not by the titles of their medical specialties, but by the pejorative label "abortion doctor." Ante, at 14, 24, 25, 31, 33. A fetus is described as an "unborn child," and as a "baby," ante, at 3, 8; second-trimester, pre-viability abortions are referred to as "late-term," ante, at 26; and the reasoned medical judgments of highly trained doctors are dismissed as "preferences" motivated by "mere convenience," ante, at 3, 37. Instead of the heightened scrutiny we have previously applied, the Court determines that a "rational" ground is enough to uphold the Act, ante, at 28, 37. And, most troubling, Casey's principles, confirming the continuing vitality of "the essential holding of Roe," are merely "assume[d]" for the moment, ante, at 15, 31, rather than "retained" or "reaffirmed," Casey, 505 U. S., at 846.

Justice Ginsburg is disturbed that the court is using “pejorative” terms to buttress their position. However, the term “abortion doctor” is used by…well…abortion doctors, in editorials in the NY Times, Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups. And, the terms “unborn child” and “baby” highlights the fact that PBA does destroy life in a gruesome manner. It is no wonder that abortion rights folk want to use the term “fetus” since it is a dehumanizing term. Finally, confirming “the essential holding of Roe” instead of affirming or retaining Roe may be nothing more than a linguistic devise. But, on the other hand…………..

Back to our original point, what do we mean when we use terms? For a long time the abortion advocates controlled the language: pro-rights instead of pro-abortion; fetus instead of unborn child; OBG surgeons instead of abortionists. And, if you look in the print and electronic media, the pro-abortion language is the language of choice. So what did the majority mean in using the terms they did? Was it language appropriate to the gruesome PBA? Or, did it signal a change in view of abortion jurisprudence whereby the Ginsburg’s of the world need to be concerned that Roe is in danger? The Court watchers on both sides have their opinions. And, since we cannot ask the majority justices, we will have to wait to see if the language in Gonzales has long term ramifications.

[A more detailed look at this case and the global warming case will be forthcoming in the SGM Magazine]

Global Warming
The SCOTUS Weighs In

The case of Mass v. EPA (No. 05-1102) presented the Global Warming Gang (GWG) a great photo-op and PR moment. The Court decided that EPA could regulate CO2 as green house gases (GHG). It was largely a procedural case. That is, did the 10 plaintiffs have standing to sue EPA over their not regulating GHG? The question the Court addressed was:

…whether §202(a)(1) of the Clean Air Act authorizes EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles in the event that it forms a "judgment" that such emissions contribute to climate change.

The Court decided that EPA did have that authority. In fact, Justice Stevens for the 5-4 majority held:

In short, EPA has offered no reasoned explanation for its refusal to decide whether greenhouse gases cause or contribute to climate change. Its action was therefore "arbitrary, capricious, ... or otherwise not in accordance with law." 42 U. S. C. §7607(d)(9)(A). We need not and do not reach the question whether on remand EPA must make an endangerment finding, or whether policy concerns can inform EPA's actions in the event that it makes such a finding. Cf. Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U. S. 837, 843-844 (1984). We hold only that EPA must ground its reasons for action or inaction in the statute.

While there is no guarantee that EPA will determine that GHG must be regulated, EPA has the duty to consider doing so according to the Court.

One of the four dissenters, Justice Scalia, pointed out the folly of the Court’s position. EPA is now charged, by Court fiat, with determining whether the accumulation of GHG in the atmosphere is “air pollution” that causes climate change. The petition for rulemaking EPA failed to act on and which lead to this litigation, asked for “regulation of [greenhouse gas] emissions from motor vehicles to reduce the risk of global climate change.” 68 Fed. Register 52927.
EPA in reviewing the petition determined that “problems associated with atmospheric concentrations of CO2”bear little resemblance to what would be called “air pollution”.

As Scalia puts it:

In other words, regulating the buildup of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the upper reaches of the atmosphere, which is alleged to be causing global climate change, is not akin to regulating the concentration of some substance that is polluting the air.

EPA decided it did not have the authority to regulate GHG under the Clear Air Act, a decision that did not sit well with the GWG.

The decision of EPA was not satisfactory for the majority of the SCOTUS either. So, the Court now reverses the common sense position that regulation is based on finding an air pollutant that causes or contributes to air pollution. Regulating the build up of CO2 or GHG in the upper levels of the atmosphere is not the regulation of a substance polluting the air. This is what the EPA refused to do under the Clean Air Act Authority.

But, now times have changed. There is hysteria over global warming that is even distorting the outcome of litigation. The GWG will not stop at the requirement to look at GHG emissions…they will want action. And, they will use every PR/photo op to get their way. Some years ago, I was involved in litigation over school prayer at commencement. The ACLU was not about winning or losing. It was not about the merits of each case. It was advancing their agenda to secularize America. By litigating a case, they actually deterred dozens or maybe hundreds of others from doing the same. They won by intimidation. I am getting the same vibes from the GWG. Whatever it takes, they will advance their cause without concern about the merits of their position. Global warming is the new unchallengeable sacred cow of the left leaning secular agenda.

SGM Magazine
Mar/Apr 2007

The March/April issue of SGM Magazine has hit the newsstands. It contains the second parts of "The Overcomer: A Life of Faith and Perseverence" the story of Chinese House Pastor Allen Yuan and "Puritan Holism, Pietist Escapism and the Chrisitan at Court" by Dr. John Carpenter aa well as a review of George Barn's Revolution written by Pastor Matt Mitchell. Of course there is also the "Letter From the Publisher" and thought provoking quotes.

If you don't subscribe, contact us at sgmmagazine@atlanticbbn.net and we will fix you up with a subscription for one year: 6 issues for $6.00. A deal that is hard to pass up. Also, remember, all issues, present and past, are available at the single issue price of $1.50 each.

Living in the World
Spring in the ECD

It is finally spring at the Eastern Continental Divide. On Easter Sunday we had 4 inches of snow and just a week ago it was cold with snow and raw wind. But, over the weekend we seemed to have turned the corner from winter. The summer like temperatures of the last few days will be replaced by more temperate, spring like ones.

Back in 1985, my father wrote a book for his grandsons about his life on the farm entitled Grandpa: His Life at the Old Homestead and Beyond, (Clearfield, PA: SGM Press, 1985, 2006). After his death it was reprinted with a new forward by his grandson, Lucas. In it, dad recounts his impressions of the seasons at the old homestead. Here is a small portion about spring:

On dawn in the Spring, you realize that you have been watching the leaves coming out on the maple, oak, beech and hickory and witch hazel tree as they all come to life as God has said that they should every spring. You see the apple, pear, peach, cherry and plum trees, as they respond to the Creator’s call. It’s time to awaken and show your beautiful coats of color as the blossoms break into full bloom. Under the trees, in the grass, you will see a strange little flower growing. It is multi colored, from a deep orange to a bright red to a brownish-yellow. This is the Indian paintbrush. Lucas and Robbie, I have shown you the Indian paintbrush. As the blossoms on the trees come out and get into full bloom the bees arrive to pick up their share of sweet nectar. They return it to their hive and make it into honey. They too have a part in the plan of God’s world. The bees come into the blossom, pick the nectar out of the blossom and crawl over it flying from one blossom to another. The bees make the flowers grow together. They are mating like male and female. If it weren’t for that we would have no fruit or berries.
As Spring arrives again, Lucas, do you recall that we talked about what happened? The days are getting longer. As he days get warmer, you can see the crocus coming up in the yard. The Easter Lilies are also coming out. All the bright colors are once again to do those things the Master has put them on earth for. That is to brighten up the earth, to fulfill the promise of constant life for all plants and for all mankind and animals. We are coming into a time when activity starts to grow again in the country side. If you listen very carefully you can hear the cattle in the pasture field. It is time for the morning milking. The older cows are talking to their calves. Probably just to let them know they are there. You can smell the fresh earth turned as the plowing and spring planting begins (pp. 34-5).

These are impressions of a time that has largely passed. But, we can all take time to use our senses to enjoy the coming of the Creator’s miracle of spring wherever you live. After all, it is here for us to enjoy and savor. It points to Him and glorifies Him. Maybe we would love Him more if we took time, as grandpa did, to appreciate His creation.