Friday, January 16, 2004

Christian Black History Month Series

If we are to have politically correct history months, let us at least pick our own heroes!

This series is dedicated to the lost Christian forefathers and mothers of old. May it excite the Christian and bring conviction to the unbeliever.

Black History Month Series:
1. Lemuel Haynes
2. Jupiter Hammon 
3. Phillis Wheately

Monday, January 05, 2004

Second Reformation

There is much talk about reforming the church. Rick Warren of A Purpose Driven Life asserted that a Second Reformation was upon us: “It is not going to be about what does the church believe, but about what is the church doing.” Similarly, homeschooling has been lauded as a “veritable reformation of life." Calls for a reformation continue to clamor for our attention. And they all have one thing in common: they are misguided.

They stress doing instead of knowing, works instead of belief.

Yet in the context of massive and extensive Biblical ignorance, should deeds be stressed at the expense of creeds? 57% of polled “evangelicals” (homeschooled or not) believe there are other ways to heaven. Three to nine percent of Christians, according to ten years of Barna polling, have a Christian worldview!

Creeds and deeds must both exist, but every Reformation, from the OT to the 1500s and the Great Awakenings of early America all began with a return to truth. True beliefs are the foundations for true actions. Actions with false beliefs are no different than Jews offering technically-correct sacrifices to Moloch—or unbelieving Americans helping the poor in the name of their own version of the Mormon religion.

This periodic column will present a clarion call back to the principles and practices of yesteryear. Now is the time for repentance; now is the time for fasting; now is the time to pray for God’s mighty Spirit to bring us to our knees.

Here are articles promoting such a Reformation. Pray the Lord of the Harvest to gather a Second Reformation.

The Year of Calvinism
As the Church Goes So Goes the Culture
Fourth of July & Christianity
Calvinism, History & Homeschooling
When Worlds Collide
American Churches We've Been Had
2012: The Year Evangelicals Owned America

Thursday, January 01, 2004

Year of Calvinism

The upcoming series on Calvin will mostly focus on the theology of Calvinism. God used Calvin, but he also used many other godly men who helped deepen the Church’s understanding of the Law and the Gospel. From the Puritans to the Princeton men, Calvinism, or Reformed theology, greatly dominated the early modern period, especially in Western Europe. It began to eclipse in the early 1800s. By then, the fruits of the Reformed faith greatly influenced Europe and England in particular. Socially, politically and economically America was the greatest fruit of Calvinism.

The who, what, when and why of Calvin & Calvinism will be explored monthly in this series. Naturally, those, such as this writer, who are zealous adherents, believe it to be the purest expression of the Gospel. It is with such zeal of triumph, hope and faith in a gracious and sovereign Lord that this series is dedicated to another Great Awakening, a Second Reformation.

Besides various secondary articles, these are the six feature articles for this year:

1. Calvin’s Life and Work
2. Calvinism: The Worldview
3. Calvinism: The Antithesis
4. Calvinism: Consequences I
5. Calvinism: Consequences II
6. Calvinism and the Future

Also: Famous American Calvinists

The Calvin Quincentenary is being celebrated in Paris, Strasbourg, Bern and Geneva.
http://www.calvin500.org/about.html

October Revolution Chapters

“Happy Halloween”—This is the extent of the Reformation in the collective memory of America. The church is not much better. Many Lutheran and Presbyterian churches know little of the Reformation and what it did for America. What would Luther think? What did our Protestant forefathers suffer and die for?—so that we may be ignorant of our past and impotent in our future?

What happened almost 500 years ago was a revolution. A revolution that revived Western Civilization, propelling it into the 21st century. We are the offspring of Luther, Calvin and Knox—whether we agree with their theology or not.

This is the lost story of the October 31st Revolution—of how it started and what it meant for the church and society of Europe and America.

For God’s Glory Alone: Soli Deo Gloria!

1) Luther vs. Halloween
2) Religous
3) Economics
4) Science
5) Civil Government
6) Civil Government, Again
7) Personal
8) Postscript