A Surprising Illustration of Sin

An incredible demonstration of how sin works comes from a surprising place: the movie Coraline. In Coraline a girl with a mundane life living in a mundane countryside with fairly mundane neighbors and less than desirable and often distracted parents discovers a parallel reality in which everything that is mundane in her life is far more colorful. Her garden is more colorful, the food is better, her mother - nicknamed the “Other Mother” - is cuter and more loving giving Coraline anything she wants, her father is a talented pianist and super friendly, her room is decorated with talking animals and living pictures, her neighbors are suddenly more interesting and inviting, even the creepy bully down the street is friendly and fun. It doesn’t take Coraline many visits to this parallel reality for her to realize that it is the more colorful and interesting reality, the one in which her desires are gratified instantly, that she wants.

However, after a very short while Coraline discovers that her “Other Mother” is really a wicked evil witch who has designed this parallel and distorted reality to lure her into a trap, a literal spider’s web, in which Coraline must forfeit her soul to loving her “Other Mother” forever. Suddenly instead of a cuter mother Coraline is owned by a curvy wicked spider-like woman. Her parallel reality of a brilliant father turns out to be a squat and deranged slave of the witch. All of what is best in the parallel reality not only turns out to be an illusion but largely is an illusion that is wicked and bent on one thing: claiming Coraline’s soul for its own.

Whether the writer of this movie intended for the analogy to play out this way or not I don’t know. What I do know is that sin, that Satan, is exactly like this. Sin and Satan offer a tasty, better looking, more enjoyable alternate reality. For a while, this reality really does taste better but there is a terrible price to pay: you must forfeit your soul if you intend to keep on enjoying it. You will forfeit your soul to the “Other Mother” (i.e. Satan), as numerous other souls have, if you insist on trading what is real for that which is a tasty but short lived illusion.

I caught some very inappropriate themes and stupid Eastern elements in this movie, secular film is not very redeemable, but I certainly intend on using this illustration more than once!

Fear God!

R. D. Thompson

Bernard Ramm on Ethics

Bernard Ramm makes an excellent observation in his book on Christian ethics The Right, The Good and The Happy. It is an observation that I make over and over. Christianity is a life system, a whole way of living, that involves the whole person. Just listen,

"Christian ethics is interested in virtue and character because being a Christian is a total way of life. A total way of life for the Christian means the acquisition of many virtues. It is the life of a man of character, a man of God. In biblical language these virtues are called fruits of the Spirit of God (Gal. 5:22) and constitute the functioning principles of a man of character."

There are some very interesting arguments from Ramm all over this book. One thing I have always heard when it comes to doing good and doing right, making the correct moral decision, is that "ethics can be developed from reason, or intuition, or experience, or analysis [and] there is no need for recourse to religion for the foundations, principles, or sanctions of ethics." I well remember Richard Dawkins, and many others, saying that things are intrinsically good in and of themselves and that it is possible to live morally and make "good" decisions based simply on intrinsic good. Ramm makes an incredible observation to refute this though. Listen to this,

"From the standpoint of the Christian doctrine of God, God is good. God's commands are good commands. To speak as if good were intrinsic and needed no reference to God is to deny that God is a good God. It is to create a false and contradictory problem. A good God reveals to man those ethical principles that are good. The good is good because it comes from a good God, and a good God orders and decrees only the good. From this standpoint Christian ethics grows out of the goodness in God and therefore ethics cannot be separated from theology."

I think even if you don't believe in God, if your standpoint is not that of the Christian doctrine of God, you must give some answer as to where morality stems from and, thus, from whence come your ethical mores. One final unrelated but excellent quote is as follows,

"A Christological ethic must be built from the Christ of the total witness of the New Testament. A Jesus cut down to our likings and our presuppositions and our sentimentalities is not the Jesus of the New Testament."

We need to look carefully at our foundation for ethics, because, as Ramm says, "Biblical religion without ethics is a contradiction." Christ is God. God is sovereign. God is good. That is a pretty solid basis for ethics! Praise the Lord!

R. D. Thompson

13 Weeks: Fingers, toes, arms, legs, spine, skull, heartbeat.

Today my wife and I saw the first ultrasound. There were all the necessary appendages and parts that make...well...a human. That was a human on that screen. A human. It rang throughout my head repeatedly while we watched that little bundle of "cells" roll around in there. That simply does not look like just a little bundle of cells. It isn't: it's a human being with the ability to move and interact with outside forces. When we tried to look at the face it intentionally turned away from the sensor that allows you to see the baby and wouldn't turn back around again allowing us only to see the back. I can see the Thompson obstinance surfacing already.

How can our nation allow, condone and defend the blatant and obvious killing of the unborn? What is wrong with us? How can this happen? That is all I thought about when we were looking at that screen. My wife and the midwife were cooing about how I must be excited that that was my baby. Sure. It's my baby. I'm having a baby (via my wife of course). I'm totally adjusted to that fact. Of course it's my baby. I wasn't thinking about it being my baby but was thinking rather about the fact that there was no possible way of believing that it could be anything else than an obviously human baby!

Simply seeing that ultrasound made it all the more obvious. This lends credence to the clear statistic: most women who see an ultrasound don't get abortions. No wonder the abortionists are scared of the ultrasound. It is simply too obvious that what's in that womb is not just a biological ordeal. It is clearly not just another machine among more machines. Naturalism simply doesn't hold up under the ultrasound.

This simply must stop. I am on the verge of being prepared to do whatever is necessary (shy of taking away more human lives) to defend the unborn human lives that are shamelessly destroyed every day.

If it does not stop there is only one obvious result: human life will be devalued to the point that MY life will no longer hold any value and YOUR life will no longer hold any value. This is naturalism pure and simple, the belief that life is simply just a pile of pulsating flesh and nothing more, that it is just a machine.

We must not stand by watching friends,

R. D. Thompson

Robinson Crusoe: Daniel Defoe's Shipwrecked Puritan

I have to admit. Even though Graeme told me to expect a Puritan I still wasn't sure. I Did NOT expect to read SUCH a puritan when I read Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Defoe obviously trained to be a Presbyterian pastor. His whole theme is resignation to Providence...the theme of my whole life for the last four years.

Unfortunately, Graeme used the quote I had intended to use. This must needs be the checkered pattern workings of Providence directing me to a different quote so I chose to show this gem off. Listen here,

In a word, the nature and experience of things dictated to me, upon just reflection, that all good things of this world are no further good to us than they are for our use; and that, whatever we may heap up indeed to give others, we may enjoy as much as we can use, and no more. The most covetous, griping miser in the world would have been cured of the vice of covetousness if he had been in my case; for I possessed infinitely more than I knew what to do with. I had no room for desire, except it was of things which I had not, and they were but trifles, though, indeed, of great use to me. I had, as I hinted before, a parcel of money, as well as gold as silver, about thirty-six pounds sterling. Alas! there the nasty, sorry, useless stuff lay! I had no manner of business for it; and I often thought with myself that I would have given a handful of it for a gross of tobacco pipes; or for a hand-mill to grind my corn; nay, I would have given it all for a sixpenny-worth of turnip and carrot seed out of England, or for a handful of peas and beans and a bottle of ink. As it was, I had not the least advantage by it, or benefit from it; but there it lay in a drawer, and grew moldy with the damp of the cave in the wet seasons. And if I had had the drawer full of diamonds it had been the same case; they had been of no manner of value to me, because of no use.

Excellent quote. That is basically how I feel all the time. I really don't need this money, this computer, or this car. I just need enough to eat and live: both of food and of the Word of God. That is exactly what Robinson Crusoe finds out. You ought to give this book a read for certain.

Loving the Providential Caretaker with you friends,

R. D. Thompson

Paul R. House: "Don't Mess With the Virgin's Protector"

I just recently finished Paul R. House's commentary on 1 and 2 Kings. Aside from being appropriately technical (actually citing relevant source material, a rarity in the commentary world) House is wonderfully warm and applicative.

As Sennacherib besieges Jerusalem, bent on destroying Hezekiah for his anti-Assyrian policy, Rabshekah, a messenger of Sennacherib, states to the listening mass of Jerusalem on behalf of Sennacherib,

Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, 'The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.'...Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sephavarim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand? (2 Kgs. 18:28-35)

What is the problem with this? Indeed, Samaria fell with supposed trust in YHWH so why would not Jerusalem fall to Sennacherib? Had Hezekiah not turned to YHWH it seems likely that they would have fallen, but Hezekiah did turn to YHWH and the result is both miraculous and incredible: Assyria loses 185,000 men and fails in its attempt to make Hezekiah pay for his anti-Assyrian policies. God's response is clear enough through Isaiah the prophet,

This is the word that the Lord has spoken against [Sennacherib]: "The virgin daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you. The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. Who is it that you have insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!" (2 Kgs. 19:21-22)

Sennacherib wasn't messing with non-existent gods. Sennacherib was messing with YHWH, the Holy One of Israel, the Almighty Sovereign of the universe. House well notes,

God's response begins with the promise of a reversal of fortunes. Assyria has been oppressing Judah, and certainly expects to continue doing so. Their king has mocked Judah's king and Judah's God. But everything will soon change. Jerusalem is personified as a virgin daughter who tosses her head in disdain at the proud, once-powerful Assyrians, who believe they have made themselves great. Indeed they have been great, but their repuatation will not be "enhanced" by the rape of this virgin. Why? Because in insulting the virgin they have insulted the virgin's protector, who happens to rule the universe. (House 369-370)

Lesson? Don't mess with YHWH. Worship YHWH. Turn to YHWH in times of trouble because only YHWH, the Holy One of Israel, can deliver in the face of incredible opposition.

Loving the Sovereign with you friends,

R. D. Thompson

John Rosemond on Being a Good Husband

I found the most incredible article in our newspaper today by John Rosemond. How our editor won't lose his job I don't know. Rosemond noted a thing that is very close to my heart: Dads should work at being better husbands instead of obsessing over being the perfect dad.

I have always been concerned that no one chorused with my somewhat harsh statement that I make to my wife often. It goes like this, "I'm not losing you to our children. We will give those kids to a babysitter as often as possible. We will not lose our marriage. As soon as they can be left alone with a babysitter for multiple hours, we're out." I have gotten some funny looks for that but I have to think that it's true. I have seen far too many husbands and wives who have children and suddenly never talk to each other. No more flirting, no more building up, no more talking, just get those kids taken care of. Usually this descends into incessant bickering, no major screaming matches, just bickering, and if there is one thing I hate more than all things when I look at a marriage it is a couple bent on bickering constantly.

Rosemond nails it,

"Forty-plus years ago, men (I am aware I'm speaking in general, but nonetheless accurate, terms) understood that one became a good father by devoting oneself to being the best husband one could be. Those men came home from work not to get down on the floor and play with their children, but to catch up with their wives.

Today's men (and I speak in general terms again) are trying so hard to be good dads that they've all but forgotten how to be husbands. (In all fairness, however, today's typical wife is acting as if she took a vow on her wedding day that said, 'I take you to be my husband until children do us part.')"

Yeah that's about right. Now why would this be? Don't miss this,

"My theory is that all too many men have bought in and therefore caved in to feminist propaganda to the effect that we're insensitive aggressors who only want to subjugate women and children so they will not hinder the progress of the patriarchy or some such nonsense. In the process of cooperating in this emasculating, a father ends up providing his kids with a second mother of sorts.

The only vestige of masculinity that remains in his fathering is the high-five he frequently gives his kids. But the high-five completes the transformation: He's no longer a truly masculine father, and he's no longer an adult either. He's his kids' best buddy. Ergo, he will not discipline them for fear of damaging the relationship — which further damages his relationship with his wife.

The more I think about it, the more convinced I become that the good old days — when dads came home fully prepared, at a word from their wives, to strike terror into their children — were far preferable to the current state of affairs.

Is it too late to bring back the patriarchy?"

Incredible. Listen well friends and don't abandon the most beloved person you will ever have just to "be a better parent." Being a better parent means being a better spouse.

Loving Christ with You Friends,

R. D. Thompson

A Rehahsh of 12 December 2008

Recently I posted a link to an article by William Saletan. You can view it here.

Somehow, it received the most aggressive comment anything on this blog has ever received. The comment reads,

"An Embryo Liberation Front ought to be established to unshackle those trembling, quivering persons, presently imprisoned in frosty tombs by evil-slut progenitors who won’t submit to morality. We should burst in to an Embryo Storehouse to tip trays on floors, letting us enjoy the spectacle of protoplasm bidding for freedom.

Saletan should be in a secure Centre, sat beside a man who believes he’s Napoleon, murmuring ‘I’m a pretty embryo’ as a Nurse gently strokes his hands. Those who share his beliefs would be consigned to such places if faith-driven insanity were appropriately treated as madness.

Enamoured of. Israel-loving. The Gospel of the Sovereign Grace of God."

I have no idea what Matt was implying in the last sentence other than, possibly, pointing out what he meant by "faith-driven insanity." I think that the insanity, the madness, is more likely to be found on the other end in this case. It is insanity, pure madness, to devalue human life to the point that the embryo is just a little lump of nothing! Now, I'm not one to get in blog controversies. I don't like them. But such ad hominem aggression deserves a gentle and loving response. I say this

"That may be the oddest and most aggressive comment this blog has ever encountered.

I wonder, is it insanity to protect the dignity of a human life? Is it insanity to express concern over the growing and nation-wide disdain for the human reproductive processes? Is it insanity to call out in desperation to an increasingly immoral and rudderless society that sees the embyro as little more than a lump of cells fit only for scientific testing? Is it insanity to protect human life of which yours is included? I would imagine that a person of your persuasion believes in social goodness and working for the good of society. If you continue to hold to the unfounded BELIEF that Christians and those who protect the dignity of the embryo are merely deluded and insane you will continue to see the degradation of society until the society is left in utter oppression and NO human life is considered dignified.

You have a weak position when all you can do is hurl insults from outside the walls.

The only thing worse than being blind and deluded is actually being blind and deluded while standing outside the camp accusing everyone else of being blind and deluded.

Is your life, YOUR life, worth anything? Think carefully because how you answer that question bears very much on whether your own worldview is consistent. If the embryo is nothing more than a lump of cells to be toyed with and disposed of you yourself are nothing more than a lump of cells to be toyed with and disposed of.

That you would see that truth is very close to my heart."

Anybody have anything else to say?

Loving the Whole Person (as Christ Does) with You Brethren,

R. D. Thompson

More Andrew Murray on Hebrews

Murray continues to delight me in this commentary on Hebrews. There are definitely places where his reading of the OT and NT are a little too "Reformed" for me (Replacement Theology and so on) but on the whole this commentary is a gem. This quote caught me,

"Christ seated on the throne in heaven means our being actually brought, in the supernatural power which the coming of the Holy Spirit supplies, into God's holy presence, and living there our daily life. It was because the Hebrews did not know this, because they had rested content with elementary truths about faith and conversion, and then the life in heaven after death, that they had so signally failed. Truly to know Jesus at the right hand of God would be the healing of their diseases, the restoration to the joy and strength of a life in accordance with their heavenly calling."

Great stuff.

Let Us Know, Let Us Press on to Know Christ,

R. D. Thompson

If Christ is Lord Why Are You Speeding?

This is a question that really is near and dear to my heart. If there is anything that makes me sick about Christian witness it is that Christians rarely think about seemingly insignificant things like this. I say seemingly insignificant because, really, how fast you go on the road is a dead give away to how you feel about submitting to authority and the authority of the state. What makes me further disgusted is that terms such as driving like a "grandma"are often projected onto myself and others when we obediently attempt to go the speed limit. I do say attempt because I am by no means immune to driving a bit faster than I ought; usually when I get into the car angry.

Now, I must explain why this is so dear to me. I began to come to a realization that loving Christ meant obeying all of His commands as zealously as possible (by His zeal and not my own of course) while I had a job delivering pizzas. Pizza delivery is by far one of the best jobs on the planet but there is one problem: you need to get pizzas delivered quickly. So quickly that most cops understandingly ignore everything you do between 10 and 15 MPH over the speed limit. I occasionally passed cops who were clocking me at well over 15 MPH above the posted limits without them even batting an eye. I thought at the time that it was the coolest thing ever and proceeded to blaze around town all day every day. I distinctly remember driving 75 in a 45 or pushing that 25 limit to 30 as often as possible.

I also happened to street race on a consistent basis.

I am well acquainted with the temptation to speed.

But I began to realize that defying the laws of the state was the equivalent of defying the clear statement of Paul in Romans 13:1, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." It is very straight-forward: any defiance to the laws of the state, assuming those laws don't violate human dignity or God's command to worship Him alone, amount to a defiance of Holy Scripture's teaching concerning obedience to governmental institutions.

Think about that the next time you let your lead foot weigh heavy on the pedal. The state that upholds and sets a speed limit was instituted by God. Thus the speed limit is rightly upheld by a government, however apostate, that is sanctioned and appointed by God.

Breaking the speed limit (or blatantly defying any state appointed law) amounts to breaking God's law and presents a witness to the world that we believe that God is a rebellious, lying hypocrite. If Christianity is truth for all of life this extends deep into the realm of the Christian's relation to state and demands our attention now. Even 1 MPH over the speed limit is a defiance of God sanctioned law.

Conclusion? Let us be wise on the roads and in our relation to the state!

Loving Christ with you friends,

R. D. Thompson

p.s. See my message on the sidebar entitled "Obey Authorities" for a verbal exposition of that text in Romans 13. It may be worth your time :-)

More Murray

Well...Murray is like the rest of his generation in splitting the OT and the NT just a little too sharply. However, that doesn't degrade the greatness of the next quote,

"Someone may be tempted to think that these are theological mysteries too deep for the ordinary Christian, and not needful for our Christian faith and life. And they are inclined to ask [sic], of what importance it can be to a simple believer to know all this?

My brother think not thus.

It is all important that we know the glory of Jesus.

The more the soul is filled with that glory, and worships Him in it, the more it will see with what confidence it can count upon Him to do a divine and supernatural work in us, and to lead us to an actual living fellowship with God as our Father. Oh, let us not be so selfish and mean as to be content with the hope that Jesus saves us, while we are careless of having intimate personal acquaintance with Him. If not for our sake, then for God's sake, for the sake of His infinite love and grace, let us seek to know aright this blessed Son whom the Father has given us. Let us turn away from earth, let us meditate and gaze and worship, until He, who is the outshining of the divine glory, shines into our very heart, and He, to whom the Father hath given such a place as the Creator and Upholder and Heir of all, take that place with us too, and be to us the beginning and the centre and the end of all." (Emphases mine).

That is what I have been saying to lazy Christians for three years now. We desperately need to know Jesus Christ and that knowing will not come through over-emotionalized (mind you don't misunderstand me, our emotions must be involved in our faith) sappy, contentless verbalizations about a Jesus who is someone less than God and was only interested in healing social ills. Theology is a study that all Christians must engage in and, dare I say, do engage in right now. It is not just for the scholars: it is for everyone. What is more is that everyone is a theologian but what it boils down to is whether or not you're a good theologian.

Theology linked with delight and warm faith in God through the substitutionary mediating work of Christ will lead to a deeper relationship with God. Do not skip out on growing your brain in the knowledge of God.

Let us study tirelessly friends,

R. D. Thompson