The Need of Personal Revival

Richard Baxter

Know not what others think, but for my own part I am ashamed of my stupidity, and wonder at myself that I deal not with my own and others souls as one that looks for the great day of the Lord; and that I can have room for almost any other thoughts and words; and that such astonishing matters do not wholly absorb my mind. I marvel how I can preach of them slightly and coldly; and how I can let men alone in their sins; and that I do not go to them, and beseech them, for the Lord's sake, to repent, however they may take it, and whatever pain and trouble it should cost me.

I seldom come out of the pulpit but my conscience smiteth me that I have been no more serious and fervent. It accuseth me not so much for want of ornaments and elegancy, nor for letting fall an unhandsome word; but it asketh me, 'How couldst thou speak of life and death with such a heart? How couldst thou preach of heaven and hell in such a careless, sleepy manner? Dost thou believe what thou sayest? Art thou in earnest, or in jest? How canst thou tell people that sin is such a thing, and that so much misery is upon them and before them, and be no more affected with it? Shouldst thou not weep over such a people, and should not thy tears interrupt thy words? Shouldst thou not cry aloud, and show them their transgressions; and entreat and beseech them as for life and death?'

And for myself, as I am ashamed of my dull and careless heart, and of my slow and unprofitable course of life, so, the Lord knows, I am ashamed of every sermon I preach; when I think what I have been speaking of, and who sent me, and that men's salvation or damnation is so much concerned in it, I am ready to tremble lest God should judge me as a slighter of His truths and the souls of men, and lest in the best sermon I should be guilty of their blood. Methinks we should not speak a word to men in matters of such consequence without tears, or the greatest earnestness that possibly we can; were not we too much guilty of the sin which we reprove, it would be so.

Truly this is the peal that conscience doth ring in my ears, and yet my drowsy soul will not be awakened. Oh, what a thing is an insensible, hardened heart! O Lord, save us from the plague of infidelity and hard-heartedness ourselves, or else how shall we be fit instruments of saving others from it? Oh, do that on our souls which thou wouldst use us to do on the souls of others.

The Catholic Funny Papers -- Dave Armstrong

Let's see, James White writes a review of an apologetic book written by Dave Armstrong. White's review certainly does have meat and content; he rasies some problematic issues with Armstrong's work, and Armstrong replies how?

In typical Armstrong fashion. And just what manner is that? Does Armstrong come blasting out challenging the issues that White raised? Of course not. He comes out with a whine that has nothing to do with the problems brought up by James White.

However, there is no real tragedy here for Dave Armstrong. Rather, it is business as usual. That is, if you can't meet the issue head on, just make a joke about it (and a whinny one at that), and then personally self demonstrate why no one should really take yourself (Armstrong) serious in the first place.

Dear reader, I am sure you just read that with (mock) horror. Just how in the world does Dave Armstrong self demonstrate his lack of .... Well, you will have to fill in the blank there, dear reader, as it is often quite impossible for merely one person to articulate the complexities of Armstrong.

For example, consider this entry where Armstrong launches into passionate (?) prayer about Protestant "brothers and sisters in Christ who do not regard us [Catholics] as brothers and sisters in Christ."

But there is an upswing to his piety. Armstrong writes:

Bless these precious brethren abundantly, O Lord.

My intrusion -- these are the same brethren as noted above, which would include, I suppose James White, James Swan, and so on. Next words, same paragraph:

Reward them for their zeal and desire to serve You and defend Christian truths. We thank You for the work these brothers in Christ do, that is very helpful and edifying, such as refuting the errors of theological liberalism, Mormonism, the radical homosexual movement, fighting for the right to life of preborn children, against Islam and other errors, and so forth.

Now barring abortion, note, if you will, the errors of "theological liberalism" for instance. One might rightfully ask what he means there. Does he mean that the Roman religion is beyond "theological liberalism"? Does he, for example, mean that Rome has offically excommunicated the members of the Jesus seminar who were Catholic? Does he include those Catholics who take no stand against the "radical homosexual movement"? What does Dave think of homosexual priests that enter the priesthood? Does Dave himself think that homosexuality is alright (which by the way, seems to be the view of many Catholics -- novelist Ann Rice, for instance) just so long as they do not practice their homosexual behavior?

Another to note would be Islam. Now, why in the world should Dave Armstrong even want to mention Islam? I mean, my goodness, even the Catholic Catechism in paragraph 841 reads:

The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."

Armstrong says Islam and other errors. "And" is a connective between "Islam" and "errors." This would suggest that Dave Armstrong would see Islam as in error. But error in what? The above text plainly states that the plan of salvation includes, in first place, Muslims. The "us" in the next to last clause obviously means Catholicism, with Islam and Catholicism both adoring the same God. Well, just how can that be? Did the authors of the Catholic Catechism somehow forget that Islam holds to a different Jesus, a Jesus who is less in being than God? Well, you can bet on one thing, Mary, the true seeker of peace, can fix that! And when Mary gets involved, the sovereign God-head of the universe listens, or so we find written in Liguori's The Glories Of Mary.

Well, in the end, we shouldn't come down too hard on Dave. He did, if you recall, ask blessings be upon us seperated brethern. Thanks Dave.

The King Of Glory

Telling it like it is--Mike Huckabee

Before I post on the fallacious ideological and theologically deficient conceptions of Liberation Theology, I would like to use this video of the GOP debate as a filler. It would appear that brother Huckabee (a candidate for the 2oo8 presidency) has more of an intestinal fortitude to proclaim the Lord than Warren, Olsteen, or Hybels...COMBINED! I am merely following the Gojira tradition, and yes, the amen corner went bonkers over this one as well. Enjoy!

Did Someone say "Mariolatry?"

"Remember: We do NOT worship Mary; that would be heretical and improper."

Purveyor Of The Egyption sun god Ra.... OOPPPSSS...

....my bad....it was just the pope......

A Blessed Reminder...

Question 1. What is thy only comfort in life and death?

Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.

The Heidelberg Catechism question 1

Out And About

Well, here we go....

I liked it so nice I am linking it twice!!!! And don't forget to go over part two. By the way, please be in prayer for my buddy, as he has youth camp for the next three weeks.

My buddy and partner Scribe gives two wowzers. that is what happens, though, when one courts to the Roman church. Good posts, brother. Concerning the back and forth, themz is some fancy wordz!

By the way Scribe, you got mentioned! I sure do wish The Hon. James David Manning wasn't totally off in freak land. I still crack up! Just remember, Obama got a white momma. That is so stupid on a few levels!

alrighty then, moving on...

Ken Silva -- Thank you! And you are so right on! By the way, what is up with him?

Another good conversation in Calvinism.

Ok Craver, who wrote it? I want to tell you something right here, though, and it is why bad books are such a huge shame -- that paper could have been used to make some Charmin. Oh, and one more thing, I bet you are cool to have a snowball fight with. Did I just end that in a preposition? BAD GOJIRA! BAD!

Whoa, but that is a huge mouth. And no, it isn't my mouth superimposed on that photo. Rich moments Steve my brother!

That hard working cat, Jazzy, continues on with the series. Click here for the previous post.

Strange Baptist Fire has an open letter.

Leslie I absolutely LOVE THIS ONE!!!!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!! Our sister in Christ also tells us how she became a blogger, as well as gives us a review of sunbutter.

Ann talks about an athiest. If you recall, Ann also recently took a trip to Poland. Here she gives a few observations from a traveler's perspective.

Kim likes these goals, She also gives a four year MEME

Bluecollar teammate, Susan, has a blog

Remember to take every thought captive, and have a complete thought!

Well, there certainly are losts of interesting things happening out and about. And whenever you do take yourself out and about, always remember, wherever you go, well, there you are.

Tellin' It Like It Is -- J.D. And The Missing Ingredient

Yes, indeedy the amen corner shouted over it!

Dr. Jeremiah Wright on Fox News

In this brief YouTube clip, Sean Hannity and Allen Colmes (Hannity and Colmes show, Fox News) engage Senator Barack Obama's pastor, Jeremiah Wright on charges of racial separatism leveled against his church. Interestingly, Wright's vehement disposition rears its ugly head quite early into the debate. Watch carefully as Wright dodges the pertinent charges of racism and deviates on a tangent to his apparent hobby-horse of Black Liberation Theology. Wright, without warrant, divvies the people of God into racial distinctions thus fostering a Samaritan/Jew/Gentile-like caste system. This philosophical ideology operates in diametric-opposition of Christ's High Priestly prayer that we(all believers) would all be one as the father and He are One (John 17:21). I must boldly assert that there is NO black, white, Hispanic, Asian church The Body of Christ is a composition of every kindred and people. (Rev. 7:9). I doubt that one who holds to such a theological paradigm is of the Lord's fold, but is an emissary of Satan. God help us!

Hello Scribe

Well, The Stomping Ground has a team member. Scribe! I consider it an honor that he has joined the Stomping Ground. Scribe is a great brother in Christ, and yet another proof that not all in blogdom is to be considered bad.

Scribe, do you have a favorite monster that you would also like to be known by?

Anyway, I know only three welcome aboard songs type songs.

So here we go....

Scribe....

From Elvis..."Welcome to my world....won't you come on in.....'Silla baby, go on an uh, go on an uh fix 'im ah pnut buttah an nanna samich baby, or ah big 'ol jelly doughnut, baby....."

From Mr. Rogers..."Oh won't ya be, could ya be, oh would you be ........... my neighbor?"

From Sesame Street..."LA LA LA LA Elmo's world....LA LA LA LA...LA LA LA LA it's Elmo's world...."

Welcome to the Stomping Ground, Scribe. You are a blessing! Feel free to post whatever, whenever.

Scribe Asks A Question And A Question For Scribe

Scribe asks,

do I have to undergo a 30 page questionaire as to how acclimated am I with Godzilla classics?

No, that will not be necessary. I am also fairly positive that you even know what Kaiju means. There will not even be an essay on why the Ewoks actually did have a thematic purpose to The Return of The Jedi.

I just have one question, and I wish someone would answer it for me, because I am sure it has great social implications. ;-p How was Anakin Skywalker to bring balance to the "Force?" And if, according to what I have heard concerning the book, The Rise of Vader, is accurate, (i.e. ONLY a Sith can destroy a Sith and that's how the force was balanced) what exactly does that say about Obi Wan, who killed Darth Maul? Or is destroy and kill being used to express different ideas?

Can somebody help me on that one? You see, that is what I get for watching something on HBO.

You Are All Wet

This is mainly for my benefit.

J.D., earlier this week, had a short series on Baptism.

http://voiceofvision.blogspot.com/2007/06/sins-not-skins.html

http://voiceofvision.blogspot.com/2007/06/buried-dead.html

http://voiceofvision.blogspot.com/2007/06/born-again-baptism.html

For any Catholics out there, if you think Protestants have a low view of Baptism or of partaking of the bread and the cup, might I suggest that you actually learn the position espoused. If you are a Protestant who thinks that Baptism is only a matter of getting wet and that HOLY Communion is nothing more than breaking out the crackers and grape juice, might I suggest that you take a moment to reflect on the God given and beautiful symbolism of these ordinences, and repent.

Freaky Friday -- Creflo Dollar -- YOU IS A PIMP!

(Note: The best links come at the end of this post from The Hon. James David Manning)

The temptation was strong this Friday. I actually took a peek at Scribe's link to Paula White. And then I quickly looked away before I had a chance to gawk. I did take a moment where she asked for prayer. Apparently Paula is advertising her goodness in the prayer request as she is telling all the things that she is doing for a 17 year old who "... is gravely ill from a very rare disease called “mitochondria.”" Now there are a ton of things I want to say about that one, and why I think Paula is full of stuff that isn't white, but I am not going to as that heavily made up smile of hers just will not allow me to do that at this time. Suffice to say, Paula, everyone has "mitochondria."

So I quickly returned to a sane man's site (Scribe's) and thought I would leave Jack Van Impe be for a time. I wound up clicking on Bishop Eddie Long. As soon as I saw his hair style, I couldn't help but think of Creflo Dollar. Two things: If you have a nice hair-do, and if your name ends in Dollar, and both of those things are found in one person, well, that says something right there.

So off we went....

And I found out that Creflo Dollar isn't just about money. Well, big surprise there, huh? To top that, he also explains John the Baptist and gets a little ghetto wid it. I mean, who would have ever thought "offend" meant that?!

Alas, there was also the voice of dissenction. Yes, there is one who does not appreciate Creflo Dollar.The Hon. James David Manning. He calls Dollar a PIMP! In what followed, I am sure there was no vailed reference to Taffi Dollar. I am just sure of it. Now the speaker, The Hon. James David Manning, also has a few things to say about Joyce Meyers. Now although The Hon. James David Manning at his home site certainly has his own share of freakyness, you can't help but go alrighty then when he say that "Obama got a white momma," and that Louis Farrakhan is stupid.

Yeah, you gots some freakiness James David Manning, but I thinks you is ahhh-ight!