Tuesday, July 20, 2010

A Refreshing Blog by Some Ladies: Sola Sisters

An excerpt showing the the spirit of the blog, the which, if it remains the same, and its qualities, the which things, if they are kept up, should show a site worth reading, particularly for ladies though, (you know, 1 Timothy 2:12),
It's bad enough that this modern Christian era has brought us the girlified "beggar Jesus," standing at the door of our hearts, hat in hand, just tap-tap-tapping and hoping against hope that we'll let him in to be Lord of our lives.  Now we have Mark Galli, Senior Managing Editor at Christianity Today, presenting us with an even more slanderous, idolatrous view of God:  God as a Divine Drama Queen.  Writes Galli:
"I like a tranquil, even-keeled, self-controlled God. A God who doesn't fly off the handle at the least provocation.....When I read my Bible, though, I keep running into a different God, and I'm not pleased. This God says he "hates" sin. Well, he usually yells it. Read the prophets. It's just one harangue after another, all in loud decibels. And when the shouting is over, then comes the pouting.....This God is like the volatile Italian woman who, upon discovering her husband's unfaithfulness, yells and throws dishes, refuses to sleep in the same bed, and doesn't speak to him for 40 days and 40 nights."
What seems to help Mr. Galli find this "Divine Drama Queen" acceptable as "God," however, is the fact that this "God" only acts this way because he's just so crazy-in-love with this fickle, foolish, unfaithful man that he has created that He just can't help himself. His worshipful love of this man-creature, you see, makes him a little nutty.

No longer standing patiently at the door like the girlified beggar Jesus; according to Mr. Galli, God is now jumping up and down in front of your car like a crazy girlfriend you can't break up with. He/She just won't let go. Our supremely narcissistic, self-absorbed, navel-gazing postmodern era has produced a new version of God that perfectly reveals the nature of the culture from which it has sprung: Crazy Stalker Girlfriend God.

So no more polite God, standing outside of your door knocking.  But hey, at least that "God" didn't require a restraining order. ... --from the Friday, July 16, 2010 post titled ""God" As A Crazy Stalker Girlfriend?"

Sola Sisters by Cathy Mathews & Christine Pack.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Resources & Food For Sheep

Food for Sheep ()




"Therefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;" (1 Peter 1:13 R-ASV)

(As with much on this blog, the plan is to update and re-organize and expand, etc. etc.: it's shared as a pointer to worthwhile things for fellow sheep, but is certainly is subject to revisions.)

THE GOSPEL ITSELF

The Power of God Unto Salvation by B.B. Warfield.
How surprisingly unwelcome the is gospel among those professing to be Christian in our day; it becomes merely a thing to be heard once, after which to be moved beyond to higher and greater things, rather than the most blessed and greatest of messages, most needful to be reminded and instructed constantly, most eagerly heard of all potential messages or teachings; how sorrowfully lacking are the many gospels presented in our day, either of power or of truth, and especially of Christ, whom to they may allude, or reference, or note in passing, or indeed guise such paucity by offering upon another Christ altogether, a counterfeit posed as the real thing. This book is none of these evils, and it is richly Christological.

Christology (About Christ)

See "The Power of God unto Salvation" above.

Theology (About God)

Discourses on the Existence and Attributes of God - If you don't mind reading old, more-wordy, books, this is a good one, but it is perhaps for those who are accustomed to reading, and maybe looking some things up. Having Latinate terms used, for example, might make people uncomfortable; though so important to our language, both the vernacular and that of the church, it is so far receded from most that it can seem intimidating. Perhaps it's a book for a time more accustomed to a certain way of speaking, not so far as to be another language, but with form of thoughts quite different; appropriate actually to Scripture, whose great theme, God, is its own, and whose thoughts it is to exhibit; but I don't pretend that many are accustomed to reading [GREAT!] books like these.

Sanctification (being made holy), and Mortification (Putting Sin to Death)

Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers (recommendation and excerpt here, "The lust he thought was dead..." (Baylyblog)


VARIOUS RESOURCES/MINISTRIES


* The GraceLife Pulpit (Bible Preaching)
* thefaithfulword.org (Doctrinal Research, discerning.)
* CIC & * SVC : are discerning, however, dispensationalist (though that's lead DeWaay to a very interesting investigation of the word "generation" in the NT!); SVC also perhaps poor on doctrine of Reprobation.
* Founders Ministries
* Eschatology

Blogs

blogs can be great for dealing with specific issues as they arise or become generally discussed, questions asked or that need to be asked by someone, and for seeing and assessing the spirit or spirits of the times, the general trends of thought, and the intereaction thereof with those of the past; they are versatile and typically more informal, accessible, personal (when very good); and the right ones have either authorities worth hearing or else people worth or pleasant for discoursing with.

* Against Heresies by Martin Downes

* Bayly Brothers (Bayly Blog)

* Conrad Mbewe (A Letter from Kabwata)

* Frank Turk (...And His Ministers A Flame of Fire)

* Guy Davies (Exile Preacher)

* Pyromaniacs (discerning, edifying, not afraid to be frank or of the consequences)

* "Reformation Theology" (blog)

* The Sacred Sandwiche (set to a fav') (brilliant, shining satire)

* Shane Trammel's Blog (worthwhile)

* Stand To Reason (thought provoking)

* Victor Edwards (X-Christianity) (thought provoking, unusual stuff I don't see elsewhere)

* WebTruth.org (throught provoking)



Duncan Forbes

Matthew Blair (the foolish galatian)

Tim Challies (Challies.com)




Specifically for Ladies

Sola Sisters (blog)

The Brave Lass (blog)


CONFESSION(S)

1. London Baptist* Confession of Faith"*note; LBCF1689modernized and diagrammed
2. A Brief and Untechnical Statement of the Reformed Faith  by Benjiman B. Warfield

CATECHISM

1. A Puritan Catechism by C.H. Spurgeon.
2. [Linking to the Heidelberg Catechism, hopefully soon]


Genuinely Christian--or Spiritual--Music

(click heading)
Last Rev. 2010/07/20
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;--Ephesians 5:18-19

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.--Colossians 3:16
You know, Christian in substance, not in name only; Music truly praising God, not in mere repetitious exclamations of our love for Him, or vague and empty general declarations about Him, but descriptive stuff from which one can actually learn; also numbers on of the Christian experience, yet not centered around man as so much is: it's not about the experience or its feelings, but what He does.


Other

The Bible, βιβλος (online), E-SWORD (free program with many modules)

Theology (much more work needed shortly), HistoricalTheology,Vol. 1, HistoricalTheology,Vol. 2

About Translations, (History, Philosophies, Reviews), Bible Researcher

On the King James Version

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

English Infinitive vs. Imperative Interrogative, or Interrogative Verb

Actually, this is for EFLers (speakers of English as a foreign language) rather than directly for this Youtube video. SuperJMN writes,
"Please, somebody to write down the lyrics! They're not published yet".
The use of "to" before a verb in the situation that SuperMJN does use it makes the verb "infinitive" rather than "imperative" (a command); his actual intent, however, or what he wanted to communicate, was
"please, somebody write down the lyrics. They're not published yet"
That is [to say], a request in the form of a command (which is possible in English and indicated by his use of "please"); alternatively he could have written
"please, would someone write down the lyrics, they're not published yet"
Which as a request is purely in the form of a request; while the use of the auxiliary verb "would" is usually subjunctive, here it indicates a petition, approximately signifying "would you be willing to write down the lyrics, please"[1] ("please" is added in that example only because SuperMJN's original Youtube comment contains it). I hope this is helpful to EFLers rather than offensive.
----



[1] Which does include a "subjunctive" component. For spanish speakers, "subjunctivo".

in reference to:
"Please, somebody to write down the lyrics! They're not published yet :("
- YouTube - DC 2000 - Dreamin ´ (Don´t worry 2 much) (view on Google Sidewiki)

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Monday, June 7, 2010

Romanism

[Created to be ready to hopefully, incrementally, do justice to the subject.]

Rough Explanatory Essays,
The Fuzzy Label "Catholicism", how to define...

Christian Ministries to Catholics,
Berean Beacon
Reaching Catholics...

A Declaration Contra the Other spirits Purporting to Be of Christ

Against the tide, the worldly spirit of the age that would be overwhelming were it not that God is ever greater, I forthrightly declare that the Christian life is not one that consists of social action, but rather faithfulness evincing the faith to Christ, that is, of uprightness in deed before God and men and in secret, because that deed is the adornment of Christ's doctrine, ergo the doctrine is just as important, indeed has priority above,precedes the life, because without it there is no action at all that is of the faith: mere acting upon "faith" is not acceptable or sufficient, but the faith is necessary. When the Rick Warrenses, Hybelses, Schullers, or any number of their many minions, disciples, predecessors, or kindred spirits, traverse the world telling unbelievers they need only do well what it is that they are doing in [a vague] "faith", they show themselves and their words to be the empty wells that they are ashamed of the gospel, and makers of proselytes twice the children of hell. To say otherwise in any of these particulars is frankly a revolt against Christ Himself, who came to divide, and warned of false brethren and teachers who, He warned, come in sheep's clothing, and transform themselves into angels (messengers) of light: it is not that they all know it, but as the apostles warned, the many are themselves deluded, and lead their hearers into destruction.

I say therefore that it should come of no surprise that the fruit of these errant men and women the world over is to trample the sheep, mock the discerning, denigrate those who "criticize", and slander them as "divisive" and "sinful" to "question" their idol leaders and the ideas, beliefs, and causes they pursue and propagate: it is no surprise they openly and boldly lie in professing a faith and practice wrought solely from the Scriptures yet so obviously teach, believe, and act contrariwise; it is no surprise their self-appointed authorities harp, with pretense of humility and gentleness generally, but harshly when their game is spied by those who openly exposed them, on obeying and submission to authority, yet refuse themselves to be subjected to the sole authority for the faith and practice of the Church, the Scriptures, which they should preach faithfully, yet merely twist and use to adorn their own ideas, which self-serving and brainstorming they both encourage and celebrate: using the masses to their own ends, and not waiting upon the Lord patiently and in faith that whatever He wills, "thy will be done", presuming even to tell all what His will is, and reducing Him to mere images of men and idols which they would prefer, therefore rejecting genuine and proved theology because it is an inconvenience and contradiction to the image of god they wish to elevate before the eyes of men in order to draw followers after themselves to accomplish their own visions and dreams. It should come as no surprise that their lives and words blaspheme Christ, or cause others to do it; it should come as no surprise that they attempt to obscure the reality by attributing to God their own works and deeds and results, even though the fruits cannot stand in the test of His word, which is like fire to prove or destroy what is set before it; it should come as no surprise that theirs is another and impotent god and christ, effeminized and powerless to save the able sinner upon whose decision He is, they say, waiting; it should come as no surprise that they hate and scorn to be examined and critiqued thoroughly or accurately, and dismiss all in the name of a tolerance, encouragement, and acceptation of all who will just walk with them, whether or not professing Christ, though all the worse for those that do whom they should, like amongst themselves as professors, discipline for any and all aberrations or departures from the word.

It should come as no surprise that challenges to them like this, exposures, etc., they will roll their eyes at, laugh off, dismiss, and hold in contempt, though if it is true it means they are doomed yet, despite styling themselves as Christ's own, and reassuring themselves vainly and mortally in that very delusions. One could, on the one hand, be tempted to feel sorry for the many converts, as if they were victims, but that would be the same as feeling sorry for those marching into the hands of an angry God who will throw them into the abyss of fire, as if they were victims of their sin and not its perpetrators: the many converted to the counterfeit christianities are so by their willingness to believe what is false over that which is true, excusing about better marketing or presentation, or feeling them "more relevant" notwithstanding. Nevertheless, I do hope direly for many of these persuasions, as many of us have been sanctified out of the delusions, and in sin were shown mercy, so why should hope any less for them?