Tag: www.chalcedon.edu

‘The Kingdom of God Will Both Endure and Grow’

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Mark Rushdoony on Charity & Welfare - YouTube

We have a brief message this morning from Chalcedon’s president, Mark Rushdoony.

https://chalcedon.edu/blog/the-kingdom-of-god-will-both-endure-and-grow

Mark continues to prepare his father’s manuscripts for publication (hard to keep up with R.J. Rushdoony as he wrote them!), including a possible trilogy on “the irrationality and suicidal course of man in his rebellion against God.”

Rushdoony’s observations and insights, which he wrote down 50 years ago, are startlingly applicable to today’s religious and cultural scene.

All Rushdoony’s books are available via the Chalcedon Store at http://www.chalcedon.edu/ .

A Great Big Gulp of Theology (‘Consummation,’ by Martin Selbrede)

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We look for the resurrection of the dead – FORWARD IN CHRIST

Is history moving inexorably to the full establishment of Christ’s Kingdom over a new heaven and a new earth? And if so, why can’t we see it?

Consummation, by Martin Selbrede, is a long essay that attempts to answer this question.

https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/consummation

I have to admit that for all my reading, all my study, this text is hard for me to understand. That’s because you and I are here, on the old earth, saturated with sin, and we can’t see as God sees. The smoke of battle blinds us.

But if we keep reading, we come to a final paragraph in which the fog begins to lift:

“[B]ecause providence is well orchestrated to subserve the ultimate ends of consummation. History moves towards, not away from, its appointed goal, and God Himself will push it over the finish line to release the final grip of the curse from Christ’s world (Romans 8: 19-23).”

Let me quote the cited Scripture, in case you don’t have a Bible handy:

“For the earnest expectation of the creature [all created things] waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

Yes, there’s a whole lot of groaning going on in this fallen world today; but Jesus Christ has paid the fare, and God the Father will get us there.

Victory in Jesus, Not In Us

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The bad news is, we don’t wield the means of victory. It’s just not in us–look at all the mistakes.

But the good news is that the victory’s in Jesus Christ Our Lord. “So Christ is moving His church forward,” Mark Rushdoony writes, “but we’re also learning the hard way that sin doesn’t work…”

https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/investing-in-the-kingdom-as-humanism-collapses

Here’s more: “So there is no man, no nation, no movement in history that can be given real credit for the continuity of the Kingdom of God. It’s the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit.”

God knows, the constant drumbeat of really bad news, the degeneration of our culture for everyone to see–one might easily feel overwhelmed.

But we don’t have to. Read on, read on.

(Andrea Schwartz conducted the interview from which this text is taken.)

 

R.J. Rushdoony: ‘Is America a Christian Nation?’ (1998)

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Turkey / Armenia: Armenian women and children fleeing Turkish forces during the Armenian Genocide, c, Stock Photo, Picture And Rights Managed Image. Pic. GBP-CPA0026388 | agefotostock

Christian Armenians in Turkey, circa 1915: flee or die

It seems strange to think of 1998, the date of Rushdoony’s essay, as 25 years ago. In some ways that’s a lot of time; in other ways, the blink of an eye.

Rushdoony’s family came to America to escape the post-World War I Armenian genocide, perpetrated by Turkey. To these refugees, America seemed like heaven.

https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/is-america-a-christian-nation

When he asks, “Is America a Christian Nation?” Rushdoony answers from his own experience: Yes. Yes, it is. Scholars be damned, America is still a Christian nation. We need not ask the pseudo-wise if they agree. We are a Christian nation. He based that not on theory, not on other people’s writings, but on his own personal experience.

May the LORD our God equip us to keep it that way! He knows it won’t be easy.

‘Our First Duty: To Build’ (Mark Rushdoony)

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When Nehemiah came to Jerusalem, he found it pretty much the mess the Babylonians had left it seventy years before.

Before anything else could be done, the first need was to build. The walls, the gates, the homes built into the thick walls. Build it.

https://chalcedon.edu/blog/our-first-duty-to-build

This short message by Mark Rushdoony is a reminder that our first duty, too, is to “arise and build.” Look at all that’s been trashed! The Church–and that means all of us–needs to build families, neighborhoods, schools, businesses, and voluntary associations: all have been weakened in my own lifetime. Government by people who don’t much like us has sought to replace all these institutions.

We need to clean up the mess and rebuild.

Rushdoony on ‘Spare-Tire Religion’ (1994)

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A spare tire is a good thing to have in your trunk; but once it’s there, who gives it a second thought until it’s needed?

This “spare-tire religion,” R.J. Rushdoony wrote in 1994, is descriptive of all too many people’s Christianity.

https://chalcedon.edu/resources/articles/spare-tire-religion

It’s profession of Christianity over practice. Rushdoony marveled over how many Christians fight over doctrines to which they’ve given but little thought: “It seems that some cannot say what they really believe, but they know what they do not believe.”

But some ten years ago he found hope in the growing number of Christians who had stopped taking their faith for granted and were eager to explore its deeper meaning. “Spare-tire religion is doomed,” he wrote. “It will be replaced by Christianity.”

Sometimes it’s hard for us to see that. And sometimes that’s exactly how God works it.

Yesterday’s Paradise

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Light Educational Ministries

You won’t believe how on-target this book is.

I’m passing up transgender nooze today because I think we’ve all had enough of that for the time being.

Instead, we have a meaty and insightful review, by Martin Selbrede, of R.J. Rushdoony’s 1977 classic, Revolt Against Maturity. It’s a fairly long read, but well worth your time.

https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/rushdoonys-revolt-against-maturity

Let me share with you the crowning quote from Rushdoony’s book. Look sharp, don’t miss it–

“Yesterday’s paradise is today’s hell.”

Whooooo! He just covered the whole history of the Soviet Union in just five words!

Think, think, think about what Rushdoony says. Anything going on today that’s sold to us as the express route to Paradise… and will very likely by a one-way ride to hell? Do you think that maybe psychiatry might have the answers? Maybe we can get them from The Party… or from Science.

Amazing, how clearly this man saw the future.

‘Could the Book of Revelation Be Our Guide to Victory?’

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What could be a more appropriate message? God has promised us “victory in Jesus”!

Christians have been arguing about the Book of Revelation for centuries, without ever coming to a universally-held interpretation. Want to start a fight? Start a conversation about eschatology–and duck.

But! We have some guidance from Martin Selbrede, who warns us against adopting carved-in-stone positions and defending them against the rest of the Church.

https://chalcedon.edu/resources/audio/could-the-book-of-revelation-be-our-guide-to-victory-ep-230-guest-martin-selbrede

Martin’s interview (with Andrea Schwartz) on “Out of the Question” is a feast of insight into Revelation and Christian eschatology. I’ve been listening to it all afternoon. It’s 78 minutes long–which for some of us constitutes a serious investment of time–but in the end, well worth it.

A startling message: “There is victory throughout the Book of Revelation… if we have eyes to see it.” Victory for King Jesus, victory for the Church.

An unexpected insight: the books of Genesis and Revelation may be seen as a pair of bookends, between which we find all the rest of the Bible. Remove the bookends, and what do you get?

Anyway, I can’t possibly sum up everything Martin has to say. I’ve provided the link so you can hear it for yourself.

Oh, and one more thing: regardless of your take on eschatology, the important thing is to keep God’s commandments and work for His Kingdom. No Christian can do very wrong, if he does that.

Behold ‘Behold!’ Is Here!

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I got my box of author’s copies yesterday, so I guess it’s official–Bell Mountain No. 14, Behold!, is now on sale.

Can our heroes use an ancient weapon to defend themselves, or will it wipe them out along with the enemy? Is there power left over from that vanished world?

Behold! is on sale at the Chalcedon Store (www.chalcedon.edu) and will soon be on sale at amazon.com and elsewhere. A paper shortage held up publication somewhat, but now it’s in print… and the rest is up to you, the readers.

I hope you’ll read this and let me know what you think of it. Let’s switch the lights on in the stadium, shall we?

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

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Joshua and the Promised Land | Children's Bible Lessons

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!