‘No Weapon Formed Against Thee Shall Prosper’ (2019)

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Esther and the King of Persia

If we walk by sight and not by faith, it’s easy to lose hope: God knows this fallen world is falling farther by the day.

God respects our free will that He gave us; but He has not surrendered His sovereign lordship over all of His creation. If He did, how long do you suppose the human race would last?

“No Weapon Formed Against Thee Shall Prosper”

Remember I Corinthians, Chapter 1: God’s foolishness is wiser than men, God’s weakness is stronger than men; and He uses foolish things of this world to confound the wise, weak things to confound the strong, things that are despise–and things which don’t exist, to bring to nothing t

Mark Rushdoony: ‘Shouldn’t We Be Seeing Progress?’

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Passing over the Jordan in flood

How come it always looks like the ungodly are advancing and God’s people aren’t?

But this is why the Lord commands us, “Walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). Here, “walk” means whatever we say and do and think.

https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/shouldnt-we-be-seeing-progress

In his essay, Mark Rushdoony reminds us, surveying the Old Testament, that God has always saved His people in unexpected ways. But He doesn’t like it when we doubt His promises!

“Every generation” Mark writes, “has some very real fearful events and our perhaps more than any in the West for some time, but our comportment should be in terms of our faith, not doubt and fear.”

The villains in the story come and go–Assyrians, Babylonians, Mongol invasions, Third Reich, Soviet Union, etc., etc.–but Christ’s Church is always growing.

They should be more demoralized than we are!

‘The Problem IS Sin’ (Mark Rushdoony)

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“Politics will never solve man’s basic problem of sin,” writes Mark Rushdoony.

https://chalcedon.edu/blog/the-problem-is-sin

He got that one right, didn’t he?

Look, I’m a political scientist, got the papers to prove it. An all-purpose definition of “politics” is “the authoritative allocation of value.” But our politics seeks an authoritative allocation of blame. “We attack other men, not sin,” Rushdoony says. And some new scapegoat always comes along–or else is chosen arbitrarily by the newest battalion of blame-givers.

We “falsely limit evil to a group” until the next group is chosen: the sin itself is always passed on to whoever’s next in line.

Yeah, I know, I do it, too. We’re always advised to separate the sin from the sinner; but in too many cases that’s like separating the head from the body.

‘Jumping Off a Cliff’ (Mark Rushdoony)

Will you jump off that cliff? -

God doesn’t have to punish every sin; a lot of them punish themselves. Hence the title of Mark Rushdoony’s essay, Jumping Off a Cliff. The consequences of a sin, or a folly, provide the punishment.

https://chalcedon.edu/blog/jumping-off-a-cliff

We have pursued “a foolhardy course for several generations,” Mark writes, and by now the degradation of our culture has grown painfully obvious. It’ll take more than just elections to fix it. Whole-hearted Christian reconstruction is our only hope to repair the damage.

Even as breaking God’s laws brings on its own punishment, so does keeping them bring on its own blessing.

And we are very much in need of blessing!

‘Our True Citizenship’

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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.

‘We Must Move the Ideas Forward’ (Mark Rushdoony)

Mark R. Rushdoony | Christian Reconstructionist

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.

‘When God Hits the “Delete” Button on Man’s Pretensions’

An Urgent Message from Mark Rushdoony

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.

‘Joy to the World Because Our King Reigns’

Joy to the World inspired this wonderful essay by Mark Rushdoony.

https://chalcedon.edu/blog/joy-to-the-world-because-our-king-reigns

Yes, as Mark points out, our world is in a heap of trouble just now. Our culture is polluted with a deep spiritual pollution. Our “leaders” push self-destructive, even suicidal, policies. Rebelling against God, they are in rebellion against reality itself. That’s what “transgender” is all about.

But the Christmas hymn presents the truth in all its power: Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords, reigning both in heaven and on the earth; and He has already lifted the curse. Evil will play itself out.

Thank you, Mark, for reminding us.

Mark Rushdoony: ‘The Winning Side’

Mark Rushdoony: 'The Divided States of America' – Lee Duigon

Sometimes covering the nooze is like struggling through dense jungle where the only path available is the one you hack out with your machete.

But we have to keep our eyes on the prize, Mark Rushdoony reminds us.

https://chalcedon.edu/blog/the-winning-side-1

The message of all of Scripture, Mark writes is “Jesus Christ victorious with all sin and evil put down.”

And who, in 70 A.D., would have given two cents for the new Christian Church’s chances of survival? Who would have bet against the might and power of Rome?

It’s not easy to do, since today in many ways we are like those early Christians trying to live out their faith surrounded by the Roman Empire; nevertheless, that’s God’s word to us and we have a duty to believe Him. Death and evil loses, Christ wins. That’s where the story’s going, no matter how many twists and turns it takes to get there.

Chalcedon Marches On

The Sanctuary Choir at First Methodist Church, Houston

You can’t always see what a ministry is doing; and sometimes what a minister of the gospel does will take years to show up on the radar.

In “Rushdoony’s Future Impact,” Mark Rushdoony predicts R.J. Rushdoony’s impact on the church and on the culture will only grow more telling–“because he addresses issues which the church has refused to address, but will be forced to at some point.”

https://chalcedon.edu/blog/r-j-rushdoonys-future-impact

Many readers of Rushdoony’s works show surprise when they learn the book was first published in the 1960s or 70s, yet seems still more applicable two decades into the 21st century (Rushdoony died in 2001). No one even had a keener insight into church and culture: you’d almost swear he had a crystal ball.

So Chalcedon’s mission includes keeping Rushdoony’s books in print–after all, some of these fields have yet to yield their fruit.

Reader Input Wanted: Can you think of any pressing issues which the church in America has ducked so far, but will some day have to be addressed?