Thought For A Sunday

Here's a passage from Great Cloud of Witnesses in Hebrews Chapter 11 by E.W. Bullinger pp. 176-7. I just love this guy. He presents his position on how we should conduct ourselves that should be considered not just by those who wallow in a guilt-induced neurosis from obsession about sin and spiritual failure, but all of us.

The context follows his discussion of "Faith-obedience", "the obedience which proceeds from, and is produced by, a living faith in the Living God. In other words, it is the acting as if what we heard were true."

Written about 100 years ago, parts of it are so refreshing, so revolutionary yet some, I suspect, will find them controversial. I'll try to finish the article next Sunday.

We hear, for example, what God says about our condition by nature; that we are not only ruined sinners, on account of what we have done, but ruined creatures, on account of what we are. Do we believe it? If so, we shall act accordingly, and the belief will make us so sad and miserable, that we shall thankfully believe what He says when He declares that He has provided a substitute for the sinner so believing and so convicted; and that He has accepted that perfect One in the sinner's stead.

If we believe this we shall be at peace with God; and have no more concern or trouble about our standing, in His sight; we shall have nothing to do but to get to know more and more of Him, and to be giving Him thanks for what He hath done in making us meet for His glorious presence. We shall not be for ever putting ourselves back into our old place from which we have been delivered. We shall not be always asking for forgiveness of the sins for which He was delivered, because we shall be always rejoicing in Him "in Whom WE HAVE redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Col. i. 14), and while we are giving Him thanks for "HAVING FORGIVEN YOU ALL TRESPASSES" (Col. ii.13), we shall forget our old occupation of for ever confessing our sins and praying for forgiveness.

We shall be looking and pressing forward to the "CALLING ON HIGH" (Phil. iii. 14).

We shall be free to witness for Him, and to engage in His service, being no longer occupied with ourselves, our walk, or our life. We shall be no longer taken up with judging our brethren, knowing that the same Lord has "made them meet" also; and that they are members of "the same body," and that we shall soon be called on high together. We shall cherish our fellowship with them here (if they will let us) knowing that we shall soon be "together" with them there.

We shall hold not only the precious doctrinal truth connected with Christ the Head of the one Body, but the practical truths connected with the members of that Body.

We shall seek to learn ever more and more of God's purposes connected with "the great mystery concerning Christ and His Church," and to enter into all that concerns its glorious Head.

We shall have such an insight into His wondrous wisdom Who has ordered all these things that we shall thankfully prefer it to our own.

We shall recognize that His "will," manifested in the working out of His eternal purpose, is so perfect, that we shall prefer it to our own, and desire it to work out all else that concerns us.

To be continued...

Gonzalez Must Go

Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, currently on the griddle for his role in the perfectly legal dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys, should indeed resign, but not for the reason that the Democrats are squawking about.

He should resign for failing to uphold our laws and defend our borders as reported in this story:

Documents released in the controversy about eight fired U.S. attorneys show that federal prosecutors in Texas generally have declined to bring criminal charges against illegal immigrants caught crossing the border - until at least their sixth arrest.

A heavily redacted Department of Justice memo from late 2005 disclosed the prosecution guidelines for immigration offenses, numbers the federal government tries to keep classified. DOJ officials would not say Thursday whether it has adjusted the number since the memo was written, citing "law enforcement reasons."

The prosecution guidelines have been a source of frustration for years among the ranks of U.S. Border Patrol agents, said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council. Smugglers can figure out the criteria by trial and error, he said, and can exploit it to avoid prosecution.

"It's devastating on morale," Bonner said. "Our agents are risking their lives out there, and then they're told, 'Sorry, that doesn't meet the criteria.' "

The sad thing is that in failing to arrest illegals Gonzalez is simply doing George Bush's bidding. Bush has been great on taxes, the economy, supreme court nominees (except Harriet Meiers) and the war on terror, but his border policy has been an abject disgrace.

RLC

Doctors Don't Need Evolution

From time to time we hear Darwinists claim that among the fruits of evolutionary biology is the great success of modern medicine. The claim is usually accepted with a knowing nod and very little curiosity about how accurate it is. Neurosurgeon Michael Engor would have us know, however, that there's not much accuracy to it at all. He explains why in this brief but punchy essay.

RLC