The Free Will Prayer

For all my synergistic friends out there, I present to you "The Free Will Prayer" by Daniel Allen:

Thy kingdom come thy will be done excluding spirit birth,
For though thou hold the cosmos and beset the path of earth,
I am the captain of my fate and heft about my girth,
I have my own free will to chose and therein lies my worth.

So please be wary sovereign God for I may choose you not,
I may reject the sovereign blood that cleanseth every spot,
Despite the woo, the call, the plan it all may come to naught,
My will may frustrate all of these with my rejecting thought.

T How can you say I am inable of my sovereign will,
To come to God and seek His blood and then to love him still?
I have the power in myself to hate, and maim, and kill,
But I have seen it fit enough to let God pay my bill.

U How can you say that God chose me conditionless and free,
I can't believe his foreknowledge wouldn't look ahead to see,
That of my own strength I would choose to let the Lord save me.
I did it of my own accord and that's why He chose me.

L And now you say He had a count of saints that He would save,
That saved by grace were limited to whom the Father gave?
Could God's plan be so definite and fine-tuned to behave?
This horrid doctrine won't prevail- I'll see it to the grave.

I Oh yes, and now you tell me how the grace can't be turned down,
What foolishness is uttered now of course I am my own!
Although God set me up to chose desiring me to own,
I held the keys to saving me, I sealed my fate alone.

P And finally you say to me the saints will perservere,
I put my fingers in my ears- say hmm? I cannot hear.
Although I may agree to this you will not be my peer,
These "Calvinistic" doctrines are the very thing I fear.

I become especially alarmed when you consider that, according to pseudo-Arminian teaching, it was possible for no one to be saved. Of course, the pseudo-Arminian posits, "God knew they would respond before they did and accordingly chose them for salvation." I must ask, who was saved at the cross? Did Christ secure salvation for his people? Or did he make a way of salvation possible for his people. If the latter is your fancy, I believe this makes Christ's title of Savior mean "Pioneer" or "Role Model." It seems to me this takes the view that Jesus did all He could for all the people in the world but alas, most turn Him down. Hhhmm, sounds like the secular view of a failed Jesus doesn't it? Looking in the Scripture, let's see what the Savior himself says about his success rate:

Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. - John 6:35-40 (emphasis mine)

He hasn't failed. He had a mission. He fulfilled it. He did not lose one the Father gave Him.

Daniel Allen also has a very useful article entitled, "Why I Am A Calvinist."For anyone who may be confused about such things, you should read this very well layed out overview of the Doctrines of Grace.

Soli Deo Gloria

The Pope of the Church of Rome

I have been wondering since Pope John Paul II's death, how to best respond to this historical event. I've been watching, listening, and reading much about it. I know much about him and his office. I know what the Bible says about him and his office, and others of this sort.

I could right volumes about Rome and her religion. But it seems this would be redundant considering Steve Camp's website. He has written in article about the works based "gospel" that Rome specializes in. It starts by describing what it must be like for religionists to stand in judgment before God:

The most frightening words anyone could ever hear would be those of our Lord found in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' Can you imagine, you called Him Lord; you did works in His name, even works of ministry; and He declares that you were only workers of lawlessness and that He never knew you? Thinking you were on your way to heaven, you wake up instantly upon your death in Hades in the full conscience of your sin, His Lordship and the eternal punishment that awaits you? Can there be anything more loathsome to fall on an unregenerate yet religious man?

He aptly continues with what the Bible says about man's best works compared to a Holy God:

Man's best works, even those mentioned above, are nothing but "filthy rags" before a holy God (Isaiah 64:6). Paul makes it abundantly clear that our salvation is because He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:4). Even when/if we had done all things in perfect obedience to the Lord, Jesus still calls us "unprofitable [or unworthy, useless] servants" (Luke 17:10).

Sinner: you will stand in 1 of 2 places on the Day of Judgment. You will stand before God dressed in the "filthy rags" of your own righteousness, or you will stand before Him dressed in the spotless robe of Christ's righteousness.

One is eternal damnation and the other is eternal life in His presence.

Which is it going to be?

State sponsored marriage is a mantrap

Over at Vox Day's blog, he often writes about the pitfalls of marriage (for non-Christians) that come as a result of the legal power granted to women over men by the State. Below, you'll find a quote from a woman's' discussion forum that should make you throw up in your mouth a little bit:

My second husband and I were pregnant and happy. He has 3 children from a prior marriage, and all seemed peaceful. His ex wife, upon learning he was having a child with me engaged an attorney and upped the child support to the point where half of his income after taxes is being paid to her.

Now, instead of being able to stay home with my new daughter, I will have to go to work to support her. And if it ever goes bad in my marriage, I will receive very little support.... This is what I am thinking. Maybe just cash out now, sell the house at some point, and let him pay until the inheritance hits. In the meantime, I can remarry, after a little "playtime". I do feel like he promised me happiness and now it is all just sadness and I have to work."

For the non-Christian young men out there, DO NOT get married. In the spirit of Monty Python: Run Away! Run Away! Run Away! This country, and many women and legislatures in it only see you as a wage earner, a means to an end. Existing solely to fulfill the desires of the woman. You marry the wrong girl, and you will pay your entire natural life. At any given time she can cast you into debtors prison swallow the key, take your children, retirement, house, move on to the next hapless loser, while your left wondering what you did to deserve this.

Sweet Home North Carolina

It is finished!

I signed the contract today. The Kingdom of .357 will be headquartered in Charlotte, NC.

May 27, 2005 is settlement. As excited as we are, we will miss a lot of family and friends.

Stay tuned.

Homeschool or Public school?

There has been a lot said about homeschoolers. Personally, I have only witnessed the media portray homeschoolers as pariahs, stupid, or religious crackpots.

But what does the evidence say? Read this report at HSLDA on homeschooler performance and their performance as adults.

The study shows how much more superior your average homeschooler's education is on an average budget of $500.00 a year compared to their public counterpart's $5,000+ per year budget.

This report doesn't mention much outside of educational performance. For instance, a homeschooled child will never or almost never be caught having oral sex in a school bathroom, dealing drugs, shot, killed, bullied, threatened, ostracized, and lead to believe the workplace consists only of ones own age, intelligence, and social status. Chances are, the homeschooler isn't going to have "self-image" issues either. The homeschooler lives their life in the real world, where as the public school system is a glorified day care facility.

Note from the article that high school students, and not young children, benefit mostly from homeschooling. It's obvious that the children in public schools learn in spite of the circumstances they are put in.

A common objection heard is, "They won't be able to socialize properly." Or something to this effect. When this occurs, I try my hardest not to laugh directly in the faces of these people. "Social skills!" I exclaim. You mean my child won't know how to assault, torment, engage in sexual activity, commit acts of drunkenness, get involved with the drug addicts, tattoo and pierce themselves, and the like?

Well, I don't want him to have social skills then if that's how you define them! Losers.

Maybe I was too harsh on the media. In fact, I change my mind. If the contrary to this lifestyle is considered to be a pariah, then pariahs my children shall be!

Everybody wants to hear my views?

Below are the results of my quiz, "Which Christian Theologian Are You?" These quizzes can be somewhat accurate on occasion. For others, they can be dreadfully off. To everyone that knows me (especially knows of Augustine) tell me if you agree with my quiz results.

"God will not suffer man to have the knowledge of things to come; for if he had prescience of his prosperity he would be careless; and understanding of his adversity he would be senseless."

You are Augustine!

You are Augustine! You love to study tough issues and don't mind it if you lose sleep over them. Everyone loves you and wants to talk to you and hear your views, you even get things like "nice debating with you." Yep, you are super smart, even if you are still trying to figure it all out. You're also very honest, something people admire, even when you do stupid things.

What theologian are you?

A creation of Henderson

I'm not living up to such a distinction. I am a little bothered by "Everyone loves you and wants to talk to you and hear your views, you even get things like "nice debating with you." While it's arguable this was not the case with Augustine, this isn't my point. What I mean is, if I'm doing what it is I'm called to do-proclaim the gospel, then I should have a lot of people hating me, and many more not loving me, and especially not wanting to hear my views! My views are what this world hates most.

For example, Vincent Cheung shares his views in a demonstration of the "Professional Moron" in a recent post entitled, "Lobsters and Homosexuals." I unequivically, completely, and absolutely agree with him. Why? Becasue he is clearly affirming what the Bible teaches. Note, the PH.D of this laughable "Doctor" as his subject.

So, unbeliever, if after reading his 15-page booklet "Professional Morons," you come tell me you want to hear more of my views, well praise God becasue it would only be by His leading!

Birds of a feather

...hate America together.

From MOONBAT CENTRAL:

Is it "slander" to describe the main web site of Iraqi exiled pro-Saddam Ba'athists as a web site of pro-Saddam Iraqi exiled Ba'athists? Well, Uruknet, the web site of exiled pro-Saddam Iraqi Ba'athists, sure thinks so. It has its current spokesman, Kurt Nimmo, claiming that David Horowitz and Frontpage Magazine "slandered" the Ba'athists by pointing out that they support Saddam and are Ba'athists. Really.Now it does not take a high school diploma, which evidently Nimmo does not have, to figure out from one look at "Uruknet" that it is a web site of Iraqi pro-Saddam Ba'athists. While nominally based in Italy and even having a front man with an Italian name, the Uruknet site is filled with sycophantic essays about "our dear leader President Saddam Hussein". It defines itself as the "web site from inside occupied Iraq", in other words, the web site run by the same sorts of people who lop off heads of Westerners and who snipe at US soldiers in Fallujah. Don't take our word for it - have a look for yourself! Nimmo, besides being the spokesman for the Uruknet site and one of its regular writers, is also a columnist for Alexander Cockburn's Counterpunch. We have also learned that Nimmo has ties with the people who run web sites on behalf of Frederick Toeben, the convicted German born Australian convicted Nazi, and Nimmo posts his "creations" with one of these. Toeben, a notorious Holocaust Denier, has been sentenced to five years in Germany as a nazi. (Here is a typical example of the "research" his followers turn out.)

I'll be taking bets today from noon till' 3 p.m. The odds are 1,000 to 1 in favor of the liberals NOT apologizing for the company they keep.

Of course, I'm joking. Why would liberals apologize when they're birds of the same feather?