Zipper Jihad (Not!)
By Bill Marsh | July 14, 2008
Phil Johnson has some good thoughts on the West’s inability to accurately define the War on Terror. A snippet:
As a matter of fact, the conflict that dominates world news today has everything to do with religion. The aggressors have all been fanatical adherents to one religion in particular.
Here’s a clue: It’s not the Amish.
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The One Who Arms with Armor
By Bill Marsh | July 14, 2008
In our gathered worship on the Lord’s Day, we typically read an Old Testament lesson if I’m preaching from the New Testament and vice-versa. Yesterday, since I was preaching from Ephesians 6:13-18 on the full armor of God, I chose Psalm 56 as the morning lesson. David expresses his confidence that God hears him and that God will contend for him over his (and His) enemies. Unknown to me until this morning when I read it, Psalm 56:9 is the July 13 evening selection for Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening. Oh how we need to press Psalm 56 into our fickle, shallow hearts that are so quick to believe we’ve been abandoned. Writing on verse 9, “This I know, that God is for me”:
It is impossible for any human speech to express the full meaning of this delightful phrase, “God is for me.” He was “for us” before the worlds were made; he was “for us”, or he would not have given his well beloved son; he was “for us” when he smote the Only Begotten, and laid the full weight of his wrath upon him—he was “for us”, though he was against him; he was “for us”, when we were ruined in the fall—he loved us notwithstanding all; he was “for us”, when we were rebels against him, and with a high hand were bidding him defiance; he was “for us”, or he would not have brought us humbly to seek his face. He has been “for us” in many struggles; we have been summoned to encounter hosts of dangers; we have been assailed by temptations from without and within—how could we have remained unharmed to this hour if he had not been “for us?” He is “for us”, with all the infinity of his being; with all the omnipotence of his love; with all the infallibility of his wisdom; arrayed in all his divine attributes, he is “for us”, —eternally and immutably “for us”; “for us” when yon blue skies shall be rolled up like a worn out vesture; “for us” throughout eternity. And because he is “for us”, the voice of prayer will always ensure his help. “When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies be turned back.” This is no uncertain hope, but a well grounded assurance—”this I know.” I will direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up for the answer, assured that it will come, and that mine enemies shall be defeated, “for God is for me.” O believer, how happy art thou with the King of kings on thy side! How safe with such a Protector! How sure thy cause pleaded by such an Advocate! If God be for thee, who can be against thee?
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The Senator and Me
By Bill Marsh | July 7, 2008
At Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Raleigh tomorrow morning, mourners will gather to worship God and celebrate the life of former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms. 25 years ago this week, my parents dropped me off at a boarding house in Washington, D.C. so that I could work in his office there for the rest of the summer. At some point in the service, the presiding minister will note that they have gathered to remember the life of Jesse Alexander Helms. To most North Carolinians, he will be remembered as “Jesse.” To a few thousand fortunate enough to have worked in his government or campaign offices over 30 years of public life, though, he will always be “The Senator.”
I had met Senator Helms earlier in that summer while working for his re-election campaign. He was in his early 60s at that time and was my political hero. As I got to know him, mostly through the campaign, my admiration turned into warm personal regard. He could be gracious and prickly, principled and stubborn, thoughtful and thoughtless — all rolled into one. I loved the man. When I returned to Chapel Hill that fall, the Daily Tar Heel printed a particularly nasty op-ed piece about him. I responded with an 1,000 or so word rejoinder, which they published. A few weeks earlier, I had written the Senator a note, thanking him for the summer experience in Washington. A few days after my op-ed piece appeared in the Daily Tar Heel, I received a nice thank-you note acknowledging the summer internship; across the bottom of the letter, the Senator had hand-written a couple of sentences thanking me for my DTH piece. It was, and remains, one of my prized possessions.
The next year (1984), I was back working for the campaign, driving Mrs. Helms around the state through the fall. A few years before Morgan Freeman was “Driving Miss Daisy”, I was driving Miss Dot. She was delightful and we enjoyed those months together, typically leaving Raleigh on Tuesday morning and returning late Thursday night. Through that season, I got to know Sen. and Mrs. Helms well. They were great folks and I came to enjoy them very much.
Lessons learned from Senator Helms:
1. A few convictions, strongly-held, should guide everything else. Words the Senator said in 1959 never fail to stir me: “Compromise, hell! That’s what has happened to us all down the line - and that’s the very cause of our woes. If freedom is right and tyranny is wrong, why should those who believe in freedom treat it as if it were a roll of bologna to be bartered a slice at a time?” You can argue for preferences and feel OK, he famously counseled, but compromise your principles and you’ll never get over it.
2. Getting things done requires different approaches at different times. Senator Helms brought the United States Senate to a standstill at times. I still recall the Christmas 1982 Gas Tax debate and Alan Simpson’s asinine response to Senator Helms’ courage. On the other hand, I recall standing outside a phone booth at the Raleigh Civic Center as Senator Helms talked to someone back in DC about negotiations over a farm bill. He knew when to filibuster, but also when to horse-trade.
3. Personal kindness to one’s opponents, indeed to everyone, is everything. Jimmy Broughton has told the story in recent days of the Senator’s concern over observing in a Capitol garage the near-flat tire on the car of liberal Illinois Democrat Senator Paul Simon. It rings so true. I recall standing in a hallway of the Dirsken Building outside the reception area of SD-402 as two elderly constituents of Sen. Chuck Percy’s shuffled to a public elevator. Senator Helms walked by them and asked if they were going down. When they responded affirmatively, he said to them, “Come with me.” Walking around the corner, he ushered them onto a “Senators Only” elevator. It’s just the kind of guy he was. Strong convictions require strong honor.
4. Dignity without pretense is important as you rise higher in the world. He was old-school, but he was not pretentious or pompous. He struck a wonderful balance of senatorial dignity and personal warmth. Watching him with children was particularly fun.
5. Lest I be accused of hagiography, greatness was also tinged with blindness. The great free-market conservative was also a staunch defender of agriculture price supports. The defender of Christian culture was also insensitive to racial appearances. His inconsistencies were not as studied as most peoples’. Lord, make us humble.
It is a testament to his humility that he retired to the same house on Caswell Street in Raleigh after 30 years in Washington. Most politicians stay in DC; it’s such a natural habitat. Senator Helms was different, though. After his 2003 retirement, I dropped him a note of appreciation. A few days later, he called my office and left a message. I called him back and we chatted. I mentioned that I wanted my three children to meet him one day and he encouraged me to bring them by the house the next time we were in Raleigh. A month later, we stopped by on a gorgeous fall afternoon. Another of my most-prized possessions is a photo (which sits in my office today) of Will and Ben standing on either side of the Senator’s recliner and Anna Scott seated on his lap. He was a great man. I hope my children grow up to be like him.
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Noticed in a store yesterday
By Bill Marsh | June 3, 2008
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Called to Be a Cool Kid?
By Bill Marsh | May 29, 2008
“To me, the church should not aim to be ‘real’ as an end. The church is there to proclaim truth. Trying to be hip and cool and real does a disservice to the church. We’re not called to be successful. We’re called to be obedient, even if they don’t come…. If somebody doesn’t find you objectionable, I wonder if you’re preaching the full counsel of God.” -James Gilmore, Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want (Harvard Business School Press, 2007)
HT: Out of Ur
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Traditionless oligarchies
By Bill Marsh | May 28, 2008
Piper writes today of Chesterton on the occasion of his 134th birthday. This gem from Orthodoxy caught my eye:
“Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about.”Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Never Caught His Name
By Bill Marsh | May 28, 2008
I never knew his name until he died yesterday.Earl Hagen wrote and performed the first song to which I knew every note — the theme to “The Andy Griffith Show.” He died at 88 on Tuesday.
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On Worship Music
By Bill Marsh | February 21, 2008
From a CT interview, Keith Getty on what should be the purpose, as well as the unifying nature of music in worship:
I have a great affection for both modern worship music and traditional church music. I wanted to do two things. One was to write songs that helped teach the faith, and the second was to write songs that every generation could sing. I don’t think of music as only teaching, but I do think that what we sing profoundly affects how we think. It profoundly affects how we feel. It affects, therefore, our emotional and our didactic relationship with God. But what we sing is for people of all ages.The radical thing is that in the Old Testament, everybody came together and sang. And in the New Testament, the Jew and the Gentile, the Greek and the Roman, the young and the old all came together and sang together. That’s the witness of church history. It’s not some kind of food court where everyone chooses their favorite music and goes that direction.He speaks later of the witness of all the saints (past and present) in music:
I don’t know any pastor who doesn’t read commentaries by people who came before. There is an unusual arrogance sometimes in music, where one side is disparaging of contemporary music as if the new generation has nothing to say. But then the flip side of that is the new generation has no interest in what’s been said before.There are 20 centuries of Christian music history and a glorious history of sound traditions from before that. There’s so much we can learn. Even if we detest the musical styles or we feel they’re an irrelevancy to our particular gifting, there’s a rich legacy to be learned from.HT: Denny Burk
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The Hope Pope
By Bill Marsh | February 19, 2008
That’s one of many epithets David Brooks’ uses in deconstructing the Obama-mania that is sweeping parts of the country. He takes a sober look in a whimsical way. A sample:
The afflicted had already been through the phases of Obama-mania — fainting at rallies, weeping over their touch screens while watching Obama videos, spending hours making folk crafts featuring Michelle Obama’s face. These patients had experienced intense surges of hope-amine, the brain chemical that fuels euphoric sensations of historic change and personal salvation.But they found that as the weeks went on, they needed more and purer hope-injections just to preserve the rush. They wound up craving more hope than even the Hope Pope could provide, and they began experiencing brooding moments of suboptimal hopefulness. Anxious posts began to appear on the Yes We Can! Facebook pages. A sense of ennui began to creep through the nation’s Ian McEwan-centered book clubs.Up until now The Chosen One’s speeches had seemed to them less like stretches of words and more like soul sensations that transcended time and space. But those in the grips of Obama Comedown Syndrome began to wonder if His stuff actually made sense. For example, His Hopeness tells rallies that we are the change we have been waiting for, but if we are the change we have been waiting for then why have we been waiting since we’ve been here all along?Patients in the grip of O.C.S. rarely express doubts at first, but in a classic case of transference, many experience slivers of sympathy for Hillary Clinton. They see her campaign morosely traipsing from one depressed industrial area to another — The Sitting Shiva for America Tour. They see that her entire political strategy consists of waiting for primary states as boring as she is.They feel for her. They feel guilty because the entire commentariat now treats her like Richard Nixon. Are liberal elites rationalizing their own betrayal of her? Is Hillary just another fading First Wife thrown away for the first available Trophy Messiah?Brooks’ worldview is reliably secular in his columns, but he identifies the near-religious fanatacism of some parts of the Obama-mania (I didn’t say all) for the unexamined creepiness that it is.
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ER Nails It!
By Bill Marsh | February 17, 2008
Ezekiel 22:25-28
25 The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28 And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken.HT: Trevin Wax (via Justin Taylor)
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