Mark Rushdoony’s essay today, “Our True Citizenship,” reminds us that we have a higher citizenship in Christ’s Kingdom, above and beyond our earthly citizenship in the United States of America.
https://chalcedon.edu/blog/our-true-citizenship
And if we were good citizens of both, the two would not conflict!
One line stands out: “[N]o matter what men do, the cause of Christ will move forward.”
Can we have an “Amen!” to that? It is, after all, the message of the Resurrection.
The Chalcedon website (www.chalcedon.edu/) has a raft of new audiobook inserts for you to listen to. But I want to share with you a 1993 essay by R.J. Rushdoony, “This Is the Victory.”
https://chalcedon.edu/resources/articles/this-is-the-victory
Rushdoony was concerned, 30 years ago, with what he saw as the Church’s drift into irrelevance; and this, he said, was not the world’s fault but the Church’s–“the church did it to itself.”
Our faith, he said, must rest on Jesus Christ the King of kings: “To believe anything less is not to believe in Him.”
The key, for the Church–which is all of us, not just any denomination but all of us, all God’s people–is not to be waiting passively for the rapture, but to be working for Christ’s Kingdom: “Occupy until I come” (Luke 19:13). To this message he devoted his long and productive ministry.
But it’s hard to sell people on work–isn’t it?
Is this what Peter saw?
When they heard the women say Jesus’ tomb was empty, Peter and “another disciple” ran on ahead to see for themselves. For the rest of the story, see Luke, Chapter 24. Here it’s been set up for us on the Unashamed of Jesus blog:
Jesus had told them He would rise; but when they actually saw the empty tomb, did they believe? Luke describes them as “perplexed.” Well, who wouldn’t be?
They didn’t know they were living out the very first Easter morning. Nothing like it had ever happened in the world before. And they all understood that, by and by; but not right away. Not right away. Even for them it took some time.
Leaders die, followers die. Donors die, too. But the ideas must live on. We depend on the Holy Spirit for that.
https://chalcedon.edu/blog/we-must-move-the-ideas-forward
The first generation of the movement we call Christian Reconstruction–winning back the world and dedicating it to Christ–has mostly died out. We reprint their books and articles, write new books and articles ourselves; the work goes on. We look to the next generation to continue in our place.
You’d never know it, judging by North America and Western Europe, but conversions to the Christian faith are burgeoning, world-wide. At the same time, humanism is dying: there will be upheavals when it goes.
We serve Jesus Christ, the King of kings. His kingdom is eternal, encompassing both Heaven and the earth. We are part of an ongoing work of great magnificence, a temple made without hands, that will last forever.
Faith moves us; and we move the ideas forward.
Here she is!
I like to showcase other Christian blogs and bloggers here on my own, and yesterday I made a discovery:
There’s a treasure trove of Christian blogs waiting for you on thechristiantechnerd’s blog! You can find it here.
Friends of the Christian Tech Nerd
This 22-year-old (so young!) has a long list of links to Christian blogs. Just click one or more of the links, and you’re there. What could be easier? I wish I’d thought of doing it this way. I’m so glad someone’s doing this!
I don’t have any hymn requests today, but I happened upon this video and thought it would do very nicely–In the Sweet By and By, sung by Johnny Cash. People have been loving this hymn since 1968.
As long as I’m letting off steam…
You know I like to illustrate my blog posts–breaks up the grey. I do this by searching for “images of whatever,” I get a display of images, and I pick one.
But sometimes it’s mighty hard to get an image you want–and easy as pie to get exactly what you don’t want.
So today I searched for “images of indoctrinating little children.” And what did I get?
*Lots and lots of pictures of Nazis, neo-Nazis, and “white supremacists.” As if you could hardly throw a brick without hitting one. No pictures of communists, or teachers’ unions. Oh! And a sinister picture of a little boy reading… are you ready for this? you sure?–a Bible! Oh, horrors!
Yo, Google! I find this incredibly offensive. As we speak, assorted Far Left crazies and perverts are using the schools to indoctrinate children into their own bizarre and self-destructive visions of “sex.” And you think it’s white supremacy that’s going on? Twelve hillbillies in beat-up pickup trucks got the whole Left half of the country scared out of their minds? Presuming they have minds.
Someday I’ll find a source for pictures that doesn’t have any dirty paw-prints on it. Until then… keep searching.
There are many of us who believe in “the end times.” Some think it’s already begun.
But what if there were many “endings”? What if God intervenes in history, at certain points, to say “This stops now”?
Mark Rushdoony’s essay, based firmly on the Bible, might give you a new way of viewing “end times.”
https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/when-god-hits-the-delete-button-on-mans-pretensions
Think about it. In the Old Testament alone, how many times did God act to put a stop to what was happening? How many times did He apply the rod of correction to His people, Israel? How many times did He put down Israel’s enemies–even great empires, like Assyrian and Babylon?
We are not left here on our own. It’s not nice to imagine where we’d be if God did not intervene in history.
Yes, we long for Christ’s return! Yes, we wonder what’s taking it so long. But in the meantime the Lord has not forgotten us.
These Newswithviews columns come out of my hide. This week’s essay I wrote and sent in on Monday. It should have been published this morning.
Well, it ain’t there.
This is rather trying.
If anybody’s out there wondering if I just didn’t bother to write one this week–well, I did; and it has not appeared. *Sigh*
Update: I am told my column will appear tomorrow. Well, at least it didn’t get lost.
You might find very interesting this “Out of the Question” podcast by Andrea Schwartz and Charles Roberts.
https://chalcedon.edu/resources/audio/should-we-question-authority-ep-172
“Should We Question Authority?” It’s not as easy a question as it looks. No man can serve two masters; but each of us is mobbed by many masters, each demanding our obedience. Each one of them claims “authority.” Politics, ideology, science, “reason,” the need to go along to get along–we could spend all day listing them.
So first we have to decide which “authority” has real authority, and not just an opinion. If we are Christians, God’s enscriptured word is the authority, inerrant, infallible, holy, righteous, and good. As for the others, “You have to ask, Are these ordained authorities?” Andrea says. Are they conformable to God’s word?
Because if you don’t have that standard, Charles says, confusion reigns: “Tune into the latest news broadcast to find out what I believe today.”
I think we’ve all noticed that going on!