Civil Commotion

Donald Trump defends size of his penis
during GOP presidential debate Thursday

John Piper exhorts cult members to police each other.

Eternal Security Is a Community Project

Today’s Sermon of the Day: https://t.co/CzRqKLTmiQ

— Desiring God (@desiringGod) March 4, 2016

How Does the Church Help Us Avoid an “Evil Heart of Unbelief?”

The answer is that we must be the church for each other. And what is the main thing that the church does for each other? We speak to each other in ways that help us not be deceived by the allurements of sin. Or to put it positively, we speak to each other in ways that cause us to have hearts of faith in the superior value of Christ over all things. We fight to maintain each other’s faith, by speaking words that point people to the truth and value of Jesus. That’s how you guard against an evil heart of unbelief. Unbelief means failing to rest in Jesus as your greatest treasure. So helping each other believe means showing people reasons why Jesus is more to be desired and trusted and loved than anything else.

Right here is one explanation why God would ordain that the Christian life be a life of individual and community vigilance, and why he would plan for eternal security to be a community project. The explanation is that this way of living the Christian life makes the glory of Christ the center of all our interaction.

It is a sign of my acute, innate wickedness, I suppose, that reading this is enough to convince me that you’ve got to be out of your mind to join any church.

Romney begins at 5:51. I thought it was excellent — calm, thorough, manly. If this Mitt Romney had been a candidate in 2012, I would have thought a lot more seriously about voting for him.

UPDATE:   Transcript here:

He creates scapegoats of Muslims and Mexican immigrants. He calls for the use of torture. He calls for killing the innocent children and family members of terrorists. He cheers assaults on protesters. He applauds the prospect of twisting the Constitution to limit First Amendment freedom of the press.

This is the very brand of anger that has led other nations into the abyss.

Here’s what I know. Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University.

I can’t offhand recall ever seeing such a direct, no-nonsense mauling of a public figure.

I pointed a few days ago toward an item at the Wartburg Watch soliciting financial help for a family grievously abused by their church. Here is the backstory.

Billy and Shauna returned to church the weekend after the rape. Shauna assured Billy that Joe could not be on the premises at the same time Bill was present. However, he saw Joe coming out of the Youth Ministry area. During church, Joe gave Billy a threatening look which caused Billy to want to leave the church. Even though Joe was not supposed to at church when Billy was there, it appears that the church and his parents overlooked this issue.

Shauna was asked to speak with Ramey privately. He told her that she was to stay quiet about what had happened to Billy. H said that if she said anything, it would be considered slander. Shauna questioned this since she was an eyewitness to what had happened to Billy. She said that slander implies a lie. Ken told her that slander didn’t mean a lie. I do not know what they teach at The Masters Seminary but I wrote a post called Slander or an Inconvenient Truth looking at the Biblical definition of the word and it most definitely means a lie told in order to cause harm to another.

The bald facts of the case are bad enough but, as you read this, there are two things more you must understand.

• As sad as this story is, it is not unusual.

• Healthy family loyalties undermine a church’s power over its members, and that is why they are so adamant that the church Our Invisible Friend must have first, exclusive, claim on your life. Recall this appalling tweet by John Piper, just yesterday:

  If we begin to prioritize our spouse or children over our King, we insult the King and harm our families.

And then consider what contempt churches must actually have for their members.

If we begin to prioritize our spouse or children over our King, we insult the King and harm our families. https://t.co/sNyUG6m2Jo

— Desiring God (@desiringGod) March 2, 2016

Seriously: I believe the people who peddle this ignorant cult-ish sewage are not morally fit to conduct weddings. And I believe the fools who take it seriously are not really married at all, even if some idiot Holy Man did wave his arms and pronounce mumbo-jumbo to the contrary.