Believers, this one's for you.

OK, just to be clear, pellucid even: this is not a Humor Piece. I checked, and my tongue is nowhere near my cheek. Neither am I lurking at the bottom of this piece waiting to go "Booga-booga: GOTCHA!".

The whole plumb line concept is one of comparing summat to a Standard, God's Word, or in lesser instances, to a Word-influenced view of things, so here is one for you to practice upon: In your koinonia , your fellowship, your church-going, do you find that what you would refer to as your "Christian life" (if such reference should be made at all), would be a Thing To Die For? To be more clear, is what you experience in your worship, and all the other attendant things rolled together as "church" comparable to what the New Testament reveals as what men and women died for gladly?

To be clear: Is what you have worth dying for?

You who believe that the gifts and callings of God are without repentance, and that at this juncture we do not know even as we are known: when was the last healing you have seen? I mean New-Testament-level eyeball where there wasn't one, atrophied limbs made new and functional Before Your Very Eyes, lunatics restored to mental health and functionality. Like that. I'm not talking about leg-lengthening Holy Ghost chiropractic, and "It's gone, it's gone, my Headache's gone!" stuff. (Not to give short shrift to osteo- and cranial health...I'm talking about verifiable, the doctor looks at the case history, and at the current health of the patient, falls on his face and cries "The Lord, He is God!" cases.)

Not to put too fine a point on it, but when was your last dead-raising? The only time I hear about it is when gold-encrusted, Nehru-jacketed hucksters tell us second-hand about some villager in Darkest Africa. No video, no photos, no doctor's affidavits.

At this point I say to my Pentecostally-minded friends that I'm asking what MUST be asked, if one is to be true to the Blood of the Lamb, and the word of our testimony.

To them wot bristles at the idea that God deigns to poke his Providential Proboscis into our doings, other than answering the occasional plea if it be His Will, and beyond lobbing a Book at us, what precisely in your life measures up to the lives you read of in that Singular Book? Is what you live day-to-day of such a quality that you would gladly bare your neck to the imam demanding your subservience to Allah Or Else? Does the church you worship with resemble the fellowship you read about in Acts, and the epistles, beyond hewing to a list of Acts of Worship which should be accomplished on Sundays?

Please, please, PLEASE, I am being earnest here (to which some attach Importance). I am not merely stirring the pudding in a talk-radio way. In the Church at the Beginning of the 21st Century, is there Life in our life? Are we born again, or just signing up to a list of "I believes". Does the world see our discipleship in the miraculous nature of our love for one another -miraculous in the sense that I seek good for others, without an angle of my own? When we say God is love, do we believe it, that He as a Father seeks the BEST for us, even in His strictures, and that he abounds toward us, always, that we may abound to others? Is there any difference at all in my life, as compared to the world, beyond that I say grace and do not beat my spouse? (Nowadays, perhaps this is difference enough....)

Does anyone else see these questions as important? Honest, this is NOT a judgment piece, either. I am not pointing a Bony Finger, at least not without three others pointing back. I am asking myself as surely as anyone else. I am not asking for confessions or flames. If you have summat to offer, that's great. I love your comments, but I am not attempting to force self-justification. The Gospel works, or it doesn't. The Christian faith is a reflection of Jesus being The Way, the Truth, and the Life, or it is one more sad and impotent religion in a world with too many of those already.

I am almost mumble-one and have issues with depression (gee, ya think?) , but I refuse to think that this is all a function of age and wacky brain chemistry. If our society is "post-Christian" then there must be a reason. Either God is NOT faithful (any hands...anyone? ...Bueller...?) or we have not been.

In this, I can only see an either/or.

Titan- Oils well that ends well
(or) Let the rapine begin!

The Saturnian moon Titan is adrip with hydrocarbons.
Lakes of ethane and methane. More hydrocarbons than earth has at present.

And not a dinosaur in sight.

(Yes, I know that there are different environmental things going on in orbit around Saturn. It's not either/or.) It DOES make a good argument for the abiotic formation of oil here on our little ball of mud.

I love the original Star Trek.
I love the work of John Byrne.
I love Gary Seven and his secretary.

I'm gonna LOVE this comic series!

PUTIN '12

I have to respect the man:

Putin...had a gem stored up for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who said that as a former K.G.B. officer, Putin “has no soul.”

“As a minimum, a state official must at least have a head,” he said.

Shame he's not a native-born son of the Yue-ess-of-AY.

The Dread Dormomoo speaks

Regarding the Congressional hearings on Baseball and steroids, she sez, sez she:

How are a bunch of liars going to tell who's lying?

Odd bits today.

The McLeod and I were talking the other day, and I expressed my disgust at Congress wasting the Nation's time and money on Hearings About Performance-Enhancing Drug Use in Baseball. (On the other hand, it may be a good thing that they are otherwise occupied. At least it slows the erosion of our country a bit.)

We came to a consensus:let the market decide. I am ambivalent toward The Great American Pastime. I DO quite enjoy hot dogs, apple pie, and the memory of my mother.
That said, why don't we just let the FANS decide what they want to watch. Perhaps two tracks of ball games would serve: Organic Baseball, with naught but fresh air, exercise, and Gatorade, and the Enhanced Leagues, where Bot-Ball will reign. The Sultans of Sub-Orbital Swat making steroid - or cyber implant- enhanced records every week. Let the fans vote with their dollars.

Ultimately it will be the choice between Baseball and Blernsball.

Kill the fatted calf!

My Doppelganger has been found!
Not my lookalike...perish forbid, the earth could not support such a pulchritudinous weight. Two of me?!

No, my Journey to the Far Side of the Sun DVD has been reunited with its cover.
I found it in one of the many blank DVD spindles that are now full of unlabeled not-blank-anymore DVDs. It was well down the stack, well on the way to becoming diamond under the pressure.

I do so hate losing cheese.
--------------------------------------------------

My habit at work- for which I would fire me if I were my boss- is to plug in a DVD and have it keep me company as I print. I saw the worst movie I have seen in a very long time. It was a freebie that came with a set of DVDs I ordered after Christmas. I guess they knew what it was worth:

Vampire Woman , starring the doubtable Andrew Prine, is the title of THIS release of the 1973 horror creaker Hannah, Queen of the Vampires. The sheer length of the IMDB description says it all:

Two archaeologists on a scientific dig come across a vampire burial ground and discover that the creatures are about to awaken and attack a nearby village.

Unless the filmmakers intended a completely eerie mood, and I don't see why they would get that right, the film stock had shifted to the blue. I strongly suspect this was a burned copy of an internet download.

Perhaps the film stock took its lead from the acting.

It sure gave me the blues.

The Aardvark has...visions...of the future.

In ten years,we will have documented the first cases of Trans-Fat Deficiency Disease.

In fifteen years, we will be buying trans-fat gel-caps at GNC.

McCain was born on August 29, 1936, at the Coco Solo Air Base in the then-American-controlled Panama Canal Zone.

From the US State Department website at http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/86755.pdf

7 FAM 1116.1-4 Not Included in the Meaning of "In the United States"

(TL:CON-64; 11-30-95)

a. A U.S.-registered or documented ship on the high seas or in the exclusive economic zone is not considered to be part of the United States. A child born on such a vessel does not acquire U.S. citizenship by reason of the place of birth (Lam Mow v. Nagle, 24 F.2d 316 (9th Cir., 1928)).

b. A U.S.-registered aircraft outside U.S. airspace is not considered to be part of U.S. territory. A child born on such an aircraft outside U.S. airspace does not acquire U.S. citizenship by reason of the place of birth.

c. Despite widespread popular belief, U.S. military installations abroad and U.S. diplomatic or consular facilities are not part of the United States within the meaning of the 14th Amendment. A child born on the premises of such a facility is not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and does not acquire U.S. citizenship by reason of birth.

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President -- The Constitution of the United States, Article II Section 1

I mourn...I weep

What could affect me so?

THIS.

Perfect is not good enough. No. Whollyodd has to make it better .

The Day the Earth Stood Still is perhaps the finest of the Cold War SF thrillers. Michael Rennie as Klaatu plays a dispassionate messenger with Hard News for Planet Earth. Now we have Keanu as Klaatu, likely performing to win an Aspy rather than an Oscar.

Whollyodd's addiction to remaking is painful to watch, especially as the remakes are normally dim comparisons to the originals, sprinkled with the occasional breast and the odd coprology. (Perhaps heaped rather than sprinkled.) Of course CGI special effects will abound, making the movie even MORE betterer than the 1951 classic.

In the Robert Wise film, during the creepy initial opening of the saucer, the door and ramp appearing from a seamless surface was accomplished in a lo-tech manner, and well. The entire saucer was covered in a rubberized coating, which split along the opening of the doorway. Beautiful effect, done (comparatively) on the cheap. No CG will equal that. Maybe light beams will emanate along the seam as it opens. Oooooooooh....

I really LIKE SFX work, CG or otherwise, when done effectively and well. The Remastered StarTrek TOS is a case in point.Some of the updated FX are useful and well done. The CG planet seen from orbit scenes are generally an improvement. SOME of the ship updates are pretty neat...the NCC-1701 is less wooden, but seems overdone. The best ship work I've noted is the Botany Bay from the "Space Seed" episode. Very detailed, and it looks like a ship adrift in three-dimensional space. I have seen some real crummy work, too, but no concrete examples spring to mind, so overall the Trek upgrade is favorable. But did it need to be done? "Because we can" may not be the best reason to remake something that was excellent, or even just good, to begin with.

Perish forbid that anyone in Whollyodd do an original story. We're on the third remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers , now. I still can't eat capers.

Please hear what I am NOT saying.

Perhaps a different flavor has been noted here of late. I am attempting to drag this thing back to its mission. Our culture consists of more than Sunday School, and dealing with the Issues of the Day requires a bit more depth and perspicacity than what is found in a Chick tract. In short, I do not want this to become Aardvark's Bible Hour.

But, but...PLUMBLINE...you know!

Yes. God's word is the plumbline that we are to hew to. Yes. What we need is not a Bible Promise Band-aid to plaster on each situation, but we each of us who believe must be remade, re-shapen by the Word, and from that steady platform, we address the world around. Do not despair. I am not abandoning clear speaking on things scriptural. There will be homilies. Ohhhh, such homilies there will be. OTOH, I do not wish to air soiled linen before a watching world.

The plumbline bespeaks of the prophetic, the speaking-forth of God's word, being a Nathan to the Nation. This does not necessarily happen in King James English. Sometimes, the distilled experiences of a life of faith come out in everyday speech, and in workaday situations. That is my aim here. Know that unless I make it clear otherwise, I am speaking from a Christian worldview, a way of seeing through the lens of the Scriptures and my living them. While I won't be speaking ex cathedra, my views on politics, pop culture, the arts, and things spiritual will continue in a delightsome mix, and I crave your input and comments. I'll even have some guest bloggers, methinks.

I welcome your comments on this, direction-wise.

One thing: Why is it that people say "I covet your prayers" when they want to sound spiritual? Likewise the whole "The Lord laid 'X' on my heart". Might it not be indigestion, or too much caffeine, or even incipient cardiac arrest?

As to politics: meh.

I

am

bored.

Senator Tom Butler, born April 9, 1944, in Huntsville, Alabama, is serving his fourth term in the Senate after serving from 1982-1994 in the House of Representatives. He received his degrees from the University of Alabama and Auburn University. Senator Butler and his wife, Karen, are the parents of two children: Robin and Jill. He is a Pharmacist/Health Underwriter, Baptist, Democrat, and is a member of the Optimist, the Alabama Pharmaceutical Association, and the North Alabama Health Underwriters Association. Senator Butler enjoys golf, hiking, white water rafting...

...and legislating against the sale of Mechanical Contrivances for Marital Pleasure. Since he has militated against toys for consenting adults, you may understand my turn of mind upon receiving a copy of the book above.


Alabama State Senator Butler's jihad against Things Not His Business has really ground my gears. The Libertarian in me longs for a Kwisatz Haderach to lead the people to freedom against such intrusive lawmaking. Don't think you're gaining a peek in your Aardvark's bedside table...I am in much the same lather over the war on drugs, yet I don't indulge. Besides, that wouldn't Be Your Business, either.

This all just gives me a really bad vibe.

The Irrational Atheist -a review of the book by Vox Day.


You know the dream.

You are walking down a dark alley. It's been raining, and there's steam rising from grates in the pavement. The rain has been sufficient to mask the difference between puddles of rain and little cisterns of dumpster juice, so you don't want to drop your briefcase.

Then you hear the footsteps behind you, the sound quickening, becoming louder as you increase your pace. You begin to pelt down the alley - how long do they build alleys, anyway? - running blindly, dodging cats and trashcans. You begin to turn over the cans in a vain attempt to impede your pursuer. The sound behind you changes; you don't hear running feet tripping over your obstacle course. You hear ...a metallic grinding sound growing closer, the smell of hot oil fills your nostrils as you dare to glance behind you.

You awake with a shout to a dark room and a sweat-soaked pillow, the memory dimming but still there.

That's the way it is with atheists and Vox Day's The Irrational Atheist. The atheist is the runner, who turns around to see, not a mugger, but an M-1 Abrams tank.

Vox's attack on the hucksters of illogic is a devastating one, using reason to counter the arguments of the tooty triad of Dawkins, Harris and Hitchens, rather than flinging around a Castlevania-style Bible on a chain. My first reaction would have been "But, Vox, the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation...." But the real response would appear to be:

"If they don't believe IN God, then they won't hear what God putatively SAYS."

Vox is on solid ground, here. The apostle Paul met the intellectuals of Athens on their turf, reasoning with them, and even quoting from the poetry of one of their own. I am reminded of Yahweh's invitation to His people through the prophet Isaiah: "Come let us reason together.".

I especially appreciate his libertarian bent, allowing a person to believe or not, then showing how the Mighty Trio are not so benevolent. They are apparently fine with your believing whatever you want, so long as it agrees with their disbelief.

Vox's estimation of their wrong-headedness is epic:

I am saying that they are wrong, they are reliably, verifiably, and factually incorrect. Richard Dawkins is wrong. Daniel C. Dennett is wrong. Christopher Hitchens is drunk, and he’s wrong. Michel Onfray is French, and he’s wrong. Sam Harris is so superlatively wrong that it will require the development of esoteric mathematics operating simultaneously in multiple dimensions to fully comprehend the orders of magnitude of his wrongness.
You make the call.

...and he's just telling us the WHY of the book.

Vox meets the New Atheists on their own battlefield, bringing a marshalled army of facts and mathematics to bear on the G.I.Joe toys of his opponents. The miasma of burning hair fills the air as he torches the popularized wooly thinking of these worthies. The demolition of the classic "religions cause war and death" is worth the price of admission.

Despite the pretensions of the New Atheists, their books are "popular" in precisely the sense that Tim Lahaye's books are popular. They would feel at home in a Bizarro-world Zondervan bookstore. Vox's book requires thought. Rather than being an emotional lashing-out at Dawkins & Co., TIA brings the brain and logic to bear on "to God or not to God" Don't expect a cotton-candy feel-good approach. Good times are to be had as you read, but be careful. As Cos says:"Maybe you'll even learn something.".

Vox Day's The Irrational Atheists draws the reader ineluctably to the conclusion that the arguments of the self-professed "brights" are in fact quite dim. Buy it, read it, then buy another for your local library.

I've been a customer of Jon's at OTRCat for ay-while now.
I have ALWAYS been happy with his goods and service.
If you like Old Time Radio, Radio Drama, Sci Fi, Mysteries,
Comedy...check him out. He has free individual downloads,
and his pay collections are as close to free as you can get.
Pennies per episode.

So, click the banner at the top of my website, and browse. Take your time.
And if you go back, be a dear and go through my site.

I collect the stuff, too!

The button-down Vermont innkeeper


Brief but piquant: Newhart is soon to be released on DVD (first season, anyway).

*Pause for Happy Dance*

Not since the days of The Jack Benny Program on radio has there been such an off-beat yet self-consistent world. The weirdness of the denizens of Norwich, Vermont, and the desperate attempts by the transplanted New Yorkers to relate normally to them is a delight and a wonder. Bob Newhart dead-pans his way through three brothers who share a brain, feckless yuppies, clueless town councilmen, an officious constable, the man-hungry librarian, and still manages to pen do-it-yourself books.

If you need to laugh, get this set.
...and you DO need to laugh!

The epizoodic subsides

The fever...the weakness, the inability to focus...
I'm back to normal.

The Religion of Peace and Love, the Spiritual Woodstock known as Islam, has blessed the world yet again. The two women who suicide-bombed markets in Baghdad were unveiled metaphorically when the news revealed that they were mentally...challenged.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Two mentally disabled women were strapped with explosives Friday and sent into busy Baghdad markets, where they were blown up by remote control, a top Iraqi government official said.

The bombs killed at least 98 people and wounded more than 200 at two popular pet markets on the holiest day of the week for Muslims, authorities said.

In both bombings, the attackers were mentally disabled women whose explosive belts were remotely detonated, Gen. Qasim Atta, spokesman for Baghdad’s security plan, told state television.

Atta said the women were strapped with dynamite and ball bearings, citing members of the bomb squad. The explosives were detonated via cell phone, he said.

An Atta aide said that people referred to the bomber at central Baghdad’s al-Ghazl market as the “crazy woman” and that the bomber at a second market had an unspecified birth disability.

The aide said authorities believe the women were unaware of plans to detonate the explosives.

I will avoid applying the Broad Brush here. This was disturbing enough, but today I learned that the women had Downs Syndrome. Now, I have known numbers of Downs cases, and there is no group that is more angelic and loving than people with Downs. This may be a sweeping generalization, but it has been my experience. To use such docile and trusting persons as mobile bombs is beyond depraved, makes John Calvin look like an optimist, and is deserving of additional Dantean construction. (I forget how many levels of Hell we are up to.)

I really feel bad for the otherwise intelligent and educated who have bought into Mohammed's tripe-fest. The same prince of the power of the air who can spin the declarations of Jesus into hate-speech can apparently con otherwise sentient souls into buying the jihadist mentality as metaphor or hyperbole.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Whilst loading the dishwasher this morning -doing it makes me feel less guilty about being a layabout all week. (Yes. I get the guilts over having the flu.) - the dreadful business shows were on. One guy was a guest, a 'roid-ridden guest (steroid,not the other kind) with a shaven head, and a red t-shirt with vinyl lettering that said:

No Chubbies

Now, his riff was about fat kids, and his responses to questions about his anti-fat-kid agenda were on the level of

It's child abuse

If he has a big caboose.

(I think it's so cute when roid-heads use rhyming couplets.)

My concern is whether his t-shirt was a slogan for his program, or a sad telegraphing of deeper issues. It IS, after all, FOX News.

The Arsenal of Freedom


Much has been made of the weaponry of "New Media", the Blog-o-Verse tm. We've got the MSM jaspers on the ropes, fellows! Part of blogdom's potency is its mercurial shape, ever-changing, shifting in hue and reflectivity. The inconstant nature of blogging, its reactivity to change, its camouflage; the noobs, and abandoned attempts, all render it impossible to pin down.

The variable architecture of blogdom is punctuated by motes of constancy, bloggers who can be counted upon, whose aim is true; them wot's always there. Vox Day; now THERE'S a howitzer for ya. His aim is true, and I have yet to see a dud fired. Nate, the ineffable BloggerBlaster, is a Fort Sumter cannon, loose, mayhap, but definitely with Southern fried flavor. James Lileks' humor indicates a laser sight that's just a little off.
Vidad, I dunno, I always smell curry when he's around. A Khyber Rifle, maybe.
Pretty Lady is a pearl-handled derringer. There are a few who are deep pits with filth-encrusted punji sticks at the bottom.

Me, I'm an annoying little airsoft pistol, popping up from behind the crates and stinging your neck.

I call shenanigans AND Bravo Sierra
on Mythbusters

So the Greatest, Most Vitriolic debate online has been solved on MYTHBUSTERS.

Will an aeroplane placed upon a conveyor belt going the opposite direction and matched in speed to the belt be able to take off?

This is such a stupidly flawed attempt. The key is the plane remaining stationary. In NEITHER test, micro with an RC plane on a treadmill, or macro with an ultralight on a tarpaulin strip towed by Jamie's truck, was the plane's speed synced to the opposing speed of the belt. There was ALWAYS forward motion relative to the conveyor belt.

The Mythbusters test is busted.

The Aardvark is saddened. As such, he needed a picture of the Fireflash to cheer him up.

The discomfort of group sex.
(or) The Flu

I am currently involved in my own private orgy.
And I won't have to walk the aisle on Sunday!

The Evil Bug is currently using my body as its breeding grounds. Nasty viri stickin' their DNA where it doesn't belong. My own cells bursting with viral spawn.

The flu is not as fun as it appears.

Thus, I may not be as present as I have been. Here, here, and here reside descriptions of my last bout, Wherein I Throw a Tantrum, and Learn that Pretty Lady Loves the Aardvark Truly and Well, Despite His Ill-Behavior, and offers the Best of Agape. Please read in order, and include the comments.

Meanwhile I shall putter, and cough, and rail that i have things to do.And while my characterization of the current bout may not be quite biologically accurate, well...
It'll sure add interest to the Google hits!

Things To Come.


The Dread Dormomoo and I are watching the Great Wall documentary on Discovery. During breaks, they are flogging a Jurassic Park Revisited-style program about attempts to commit jiggery-pokery with DNA, and bring back, say, a T-Rex. (Why a T-Rex? Why a soul-less eating machine? Stick legs on a Great White, why don'tcha? Isn't there a cute veggiesaurus to engineer?) Of course, whatever is produced will likely be RE-produced. At this realization, we came to this thought.

Dinosaurs are to Asteroids as Trailer Parks are to Tornadoes.

Call Art Bell and George Noory!!! If the Crichton scenario occurs, THAT will be what brings The Big Rock.

Maybe this 2012 Mayan Calendar end of the world thing is not that far off after all.

This is long, but is Important,
and so Should Be Read.


CunningDove has brought up An Infinite Sadness.

To quote the divine CD:

...the nut cases that called to complain to one of my favoriate radio stations for playing Sprite commercials on a Christian Station. Ya know, cause a "sprite" was an Irish Imp.

An imp being an emissary of the Evil One, more mischievous than wicked. Hmmm...y'know I have never read of an "imp" in the Scriptures. Or a Sprite.

So why are these warders-off of spiritual danger even worrying about them? They are mythological creatures, like faeries, unicorns and Nessie. They are not in the Miserific hierarchy in the book of Ephesians. Jesus didn't cast out imps. Neither did He cast out midichlorians.

A local "study group" had a leading of the Holy Spirit to rid their households of Things. Alas, they did not go the Franciscan route of Poverty, no. These were Specific Things, like Barbies, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys, and Star Wars figures, because of Mystical Powers represented thereby.

Except for Barbie. Her...superstructure...was feared to be a source of Bad Body Image for the little girls. I've never heard anyone but feminists and charismaniacs whinge about Barbie's boobosity.

I may have held forth on this in the past, but there is a phenomenon in the Christian hinterlands I have dubbed "Holy Ghost Law". Here's how it works:

In my praying - meditation - and/or overheated imagination, I get a "leading" that I need to clear up an area of my life. Say I collect Star Wars stuff...for some reason it is fingered as incipient idolatry, so I should get rid of my stuff. If it is truly the Lord's leading, then surely I should do so. The Ephesian Christians burned their magic books, though I'm not certain that PVC action figures quite translate the same. So I get rid of the Star Wars stuff, and achieve some measure of peace or victory in that area of my life. If that is as far as it goes, fine. But come Thursday night, and I share my Leading and Victory with the prayer group, and a subtle message gets passed along:

God blessed me for doing this. He'll bless you if you do it, too.

Very subtle, caught rather than taught. Subjective. A week from Saturday, everyone has cleaned their kids' closets out, and the smoke of burning plastic carries the praises and obedience of His people God-ward. A movement has begun, a Law has gone forth.
"Holy Ghost Law", so called because a "leading by the Spirit" to an individual was communicated to the group, and they bought it. No checking Scripture, trying the spirits, just Being the Herd.

Peter was called out to walk on the water. No-one else on the boat.

This is ultimately the same mechanism that spreads wacky superstitions throughout the church. If you watch a horror movie, it's an invitation for a demon to oppress you.

Steven King novel?
Demon come-on.

60's Tiki decor?
Demon.

Heavy metal Rock and/or Roll?
Oh, such demons...

Travolta's Battlefield Earth ?
That's just bad taste.

PLEASE to give me chapter-and-verse on the instant possession business. A Christian, the Holy Spirit resident, is nowhere shown in Scripture as being in danger of being demonized. Just not in there. So where did the demon-under-every-rock doctrine come from?

I have no idea. I have suspicions, though. From the barking and writhing at Cane Ridge and other revivals of the Second Great Awakening, down the sawdust trail of 20'th century revivalism, to the stadium crusades and television huckstervangelists, emotional histrionics and psychodrama have played a huge role.in getting a response from the audience. Go here for a look at the role of bringing a hearer to crisis so as to "make a decision for Christ". What better hook than to blame some of the fireworks on the Devil and his minions. Because of their emotional appeals, revivalists create their own audiences, often the unstable, mentally ill, or lookers-for-a-quick-fix. By adroit manipulation, the "preachers" can bring massive emotional pressure to bear: to contribute, to confess, to make "a decision for Christ", pressure that reads out in unusual ways: crying, wailing, trembling, and worse.

Compare the tactics of 20th century revivalism to those of the Early Church, when a disciple was taken through a period of study of the Word of God and reflection before being baptised, so the believer could truly and informedly make confession of Jesus as the Son of God.

It required study, discussion, disciple-making. and no quick fixes. Even faith and baptism is not a quick fix (Insta-Christian...JUST ADD WATER ) beyond what the Scriptures teach

Acts 2:38, And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ASV,

1Pe 3:21 Those {Noahic} flood waters were like baptism that now saves you. But baptism is more than just washing your body. It means turning to God with a clear conscience, because Jesus Christ was raised from death. CEV

Rom 6:3 Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father; even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been joined together in the likeness of His death, we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection; CEV

As your entry into the Kingdom, and the burial of the old man of sin, you have a new start, but it is the start of growth to maturity. It's a long haul deal.

The superstitions that are rife throughout Christendom today are symptomatic of the desire for the quick fix. Got a problem with a habit, or besetting sin? Go to a deliverance service and get it cast out!

Now, if through the study of God's word, you come to a place where the tribal masks in your den make you uncomfortable, by all means, take 'em down.(Jas 4:17 Therefore to him who knows to do good, and does not do it, to him it is sin.) But don't turn it into a universal commandment. If my Thunderbirds collection is troublesome to the Almighty, well, that's what the Word and the Spirit are for.(Joh 16:8 And when that One [the Holy Spirit] comes, He will convict the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment.)

Just don't do the Spirit's job for Him. Abraham was God's Little Helper, and we read of the results of that in the Mid-East news all the time.

Jamie, the Aussie genius, connected a loose synapse in my brain with this Faux News bit:

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday the challenges facing Colombia will only get harder if a trade deal with Washington doesn't pass, as she met with union members during a visit to try to revive the pact. The union members want regulations and restrictions in the USA removed from some of their goods, specifically, cocaine.

As many stupid things as the Give-mint does with OUR money, if everyone is so exercised about drug use, why doesn't Washington just buy up all of the cocaine? Corner the market. Then they could do what they might as well do with the rest of our tax dollars: incinerate the drug. OR, they could set up "clinics" to administer the stuff to Those In Need of it.

For a nominal fee. Very nominal, so that there is no way to recoup the cost. That would be par.

The FDA could re-define "Vitamin C" to "Vitamin Cocaine", and use it as a breakfast cereal additive. It would be some improvement on all that sugar, and having more "vitamins" would make parents feel better about feeding their kids the junk, instead of "have-it-all" Mom staying home and actually cooking food for the li'l darlin's. Maybe the coke could help Johnny focus a bit more, and he wouldn't need his Ritalin.

Might be a good idea to actually follow the serving sizes, though.

Perhaps administer it to Bernanke and the Fed yes-men, you know, to stimulate actual thought.

Give Jorge Dubya a brimmin' bowl of Capn' Crunch before the State of the Union, and you'd have a Pay-Per-View event.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO
THE DREAD DORMOMOO

I have to know...

Why is virtually EVERYTHING marketed as "Christian TV" such unmitigated crap, such as is unworthy for my compost heap. (Yaaay! My "Most Hated Christian Blogger" award is in the mail!)

Seriously...I have lived in Flandersville, with a diet of "Little House" and "Where the Red Fern Grows", and I have moved. Now, both of those worthy examples are secular works, and delightsome in their way, but they serve to illustrate that the best that "Christian Programming" has to offer...is produced by the secular world.

Come on, the best thing that "Christian TV" has ever had to offer is "Davey and Goliath" (pre-70's) and "Flying House". OK, I'll spot you "Gospel Bill" for the sheer quirkiness of Kenneth Copeland as the black hat. And "Bananas", the family-friendly stand-up comedy show. But that is IT!

I received an ad for SkyAngel, a satellite TV service featuring different "Christian" "Inspirational" and "Family" TV and radio channels. Hear what the SkyAngel blurb saith:

Our Vision:
To provide a global communications platform as an instrument of unity to equip the Body of Christ to fulfill the Great Commission.

Our Mission: To build and operate a global communications system as the most effective means of assuring that the Gospel will penetrate every nation, culture and people.

Mercy. It is so sad that Jesus had the bad luck to come to earth 2000 years before global communications technology was available. All that apostolic sandal-leather gone to waste. The Vision of SkyAngel is breathtaking, and utterly vain.

"To provide a global communications platform as an instrument of unity"

Hmmmm....seems the New Testament has a thing or two to say about that:

Ephesians 4:1-6
(1) I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the calling with which you are called,
(2) with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love,
(3) endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
(4) There is one body and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling,
(5) one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
(6) one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all.

The seven unities expressed in the passage form a basis for our unity, the unity we are to strive for.

Eph 4:11 And truly He gave some to be apostles, and some to be prophets, and some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
Eph 4:12 for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
Eph 4:13 And this until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors (shepherds, bishops) and teachers to teach and equip us to be in unity and maturity. To whom did he give these gifts?

SkyAngel? EWTN? TBN? CBN?

The church.

Once again, men have a Real Good Idea (see the vision and mission above) that utterly fails to bow the knee to the Lord it purports to serve. God did not call a satellite network to preach the Gospel, or to promote unity. He called the church, commissioned the church in Christ to spread the Good News. Don't misunderstand, I am no King James Luddite, insisting on sword-and-sandal evangelism, with but a papyrus sheaf of Aramaic verse clutched earnestly in a sweaty palm. My point is that it is the church, not some business or company, that is called upon to do the work...of the church. The church may do radio, or even have a satellite uplink, I reckon, to spread the Good News. But for the job of making disciples (where this unity business happens) you must have face time, one person taking the edges off of another, learning to live the Gospel, to do the Gospel. That is how "the Gospel will penetrate every nation, culture and people.", by men and women teaching other men and women how to be Christians.

Part and parcel with the "evangelistic mission" of Christian TV is having stuff to watch when you're not watching preaching and teaching. After all, a steady diet of Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, and Jessie DuPlantis would be like eating a steady diet of Twinkies and Cap'n Crunch. You need some meat and potatoes...like Ozzie and Harriet reruns, nutritional supplement infomercials, and kids shows. Kid's shows like this. And this

To truly understand my horror, go here:"The Legend at Gaither's Pond" (by Live Bait Productions). Ugly AND twaddly. Sweet. Seriously...the character design scares me! Shucks...just go down the list.

Can I do CG animation? No, but I know what looks good. The Veggie Tales do an excellent job of writing and animation (OK, I'll spot you Veggie Tales, but NO MORE).

I remember when Focus on the Family began its run of the MOST excellent "Adventures in Odyssey" radio dramas, there were some homeschool-type mothers (yes, we have homeschooled our four kids) who would write in to Dr.Dobson to complain about the Bad Guys on his show.

Pause and savor the irony there.

Dobson, or one of his production staff, explained the need for conflict to move the story.
Silly man, he doesn't need conflict or drama. to tell the story. I mean, God didn't use conflict in the Bible to get the spiritual message across.

(pauses a beat)

There is no need for twaddly treacle to instruct children, or to entertain them, but sadly, twaddle seems the bill of fare for most Christian TV. Second-rate animation or set design does not present the Kingdom in a good light, nor the Excellence which should befit the work of the church.

Please, PLEASE. If you are a Christian, and in Media, PLEASE do it as unto the Lord, with excellence. If it is to promote the message, make that a double.

Best quote in AY-while.

Plain and simple, legalism is "any attempt to rely on self-effort to either attain or maintain our justification before God." It's the mistaken belief that being "right" will somehow make us righteous. That if we just get all our theological ducks in a row, cross all our t's and dot our i's, then God will be pleased with us and accept us as holy and good. But this is simply not the case.

From ladiesagainstfeminism.com

Thank you.

I have LOST it!

I have the BOX...but the DVD is missing. Gerry Anderson did this amazing, and amazingly bad movie, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (aka Doppelganger in Europe). The effects were up to SUPERMARIONATION standards. Derek Meddings ALWAYS rocks. The soundtrack by Barry Gray is lush, and his use of electronica in the space sequences is inspired, but overall, it is a tad turgid for the subject matter. Yeah, I have blasphemed.
I like the music, a lot, but it IS overdone.

I shall be like the woman who lost her dowry coin in Jesus' parable, who turned her house upside-down to find it. I've GOT to find it. It's OOP, and the MINIMUM I've seen it for online is $99.99.

Synopsis (Spoiler city Ahead) (thanks wikipedia)
------------------------------------------------------

The film begins with the discovery of an unknown planet orbiting exactly the opposite side of the Sun from Earth (an idea reminiscent of the Antichthon or Counter-Earth proposed by Philolaus in the fifth century B.C). The European Space Exploration Council (EUROSEC) and NASA send British astrophysicist John Kane (Ian Hendry) and American astronaut Col. Glenn Ross (Roy Thinnes) to the new planet in a rocket which resembles a Saturn 5 rocket.

During their long voyage, they are put into hibernation, and are maintained by a pair of on board Heart/Lung/Kidney machines, meaning that they will have no recollection of the journey. When they awaken, they enter orbit of the planet and do an initial survey. They find the planet's atmosphere to be breathable but they see no signs of life. They decide to go forward with a landing. They suit up, and go through an access tunnel to reach their lifting body lander which slides out the rear of the mother ship.

As they enter the atmosphere, the ship's controls begin to short out and malfunction. They lose all control of the craft, which clips a mountaintop before crashing into rocky terrain. After the crew is clear of the burning wreckage, a suited figure picks them up into a hovering unfamiliar ship.

They find they have been taken aboard an air-sea rescue craft. It appears that the crew have somehow returned to Earth instead of going to the planet. They are discreetly returned to the space center, with Kane in critical condition. He later dies of his injuries.

Ross is grilled by EUROSEC officials who accuse him of aborting the mission. Ross denies turning back, saying he and Kane actually arrived at the new planet, and could not explain why he is now on Earth.

Soon, Ross puts together the shocking fact that he is not on Earth at all - but on the planet, which is an identical Earth where everything is a mirror image of our own. At first, his own wife Sharon (Lynn Loring) and others at the space agency think he is insane for claiming signs and even the layout of his apartment on the spaceport's base are backwards, but he convinces the director of EUROSEC, Jason Webb (Patrick Wymark) that it is true by easily reading documents and written directions shown as a reflection in a mirror. Ross theorizes that everything that is done on his Earth is done on the planet at the same time, but opposite to it. If he tries to go back, he will return as if nothing happened.

Concern over whether the duplicate shuttle craft he and Kane used to come to Earth from the spaceship share the same electrical charge is raised, but Ross decides to try. He takes off in a shuttle he has named "DOPPELGANGER," meaning "double," (written in our manner of left to right) to dock with the Earth ship he came in to retrieve its flight recorder. But as he docks, the electrical systems short out -- they were wrong, the polarity of electricity is the same on both worlds. He loses contact with the ground base, and his shuttle craft undocks from the ship, hurtling towards the ground with the automatic approach system locked on. This locks out his controls resulting him having no flight control as he decends into the atmosphere. When ground control realizes his situation, they disengage the system, but too late, resulting in the shuttle crashing into a second mission rocket. He is killed instantly and the crash causes a chain reaction of explosions destroying the space center in a style typical of Gerry Anderson production.

The final scene shows an elderly Webb, long ago dismissed as head of the space agency, institutionalized and telling the staff there about what had happened (the disaster had destroyed all evidence). In his dementia, he sees his reflection in a mirror mounted in front of a window, and in an attempt to touch his mirror self, crashes through the mirror and window to fall to his death.

What you believe has consequences.
(With thanks to Gary North)

One of the most damnable lines ever uttered by a preacher was said by J. Vernon McGee."You don't polish brass on a sinking ship."

His point, as I recall, was that since JEE-sus is coming, oh, day after tomorrow, then we don't need to be concerned about improving things in the world. Social justice (granted, a phrase co-opted by Marxist theologians), benevolence, painting. No need to excel in the arts, literature, or media production. Of course, it is an outworking of McGee's Calvinism speaking. I am of a Reformed background, and one of the queer issues is, if Grace is Irresistable, then why does one need to preach or teach, period? Why "polish brass" (exert human works and effort to improve the world) if all of Christ's will come to Him, and everyone else will be kindling, anyway.

The point also arises from "their eschatology – premillennial dispensationalism – ... a doctrine of earthly cultural and political defeat prior to Christ's Second Coming" as Gary North says. This is near and dear to my heart, as I came to the Lord during the Late Great Planet Earth craze. The biggest point of the Scofieldian rapture-fest was that when Jesus referred to the "budding of the fig tree", and "this generation" in Matthew 24, He was talking about The End of Days, and not the end of rebellious Israel, culminating in the Destruction of Jerusalem. Thus, since Israel was ceded its homeland in 1948, the Planet Earth had a clock ticking down to 1988, forty years, a Biblical generation. We were a-quiver with anticipation, since Jesus would return by 1988 !

Came New Years Day, 1989, and the pre-millennial crowd had some re-tooling to do. I mean, Jesus missed it! Clearly, the fault lay in faulty exegesis, but no-one recognized how faulty.

Having come from this background, I had a terrible problem: a serious lack of motivation. As a newly-married college senior in the late 70's, I wound up dropping out of college, at least in part because since Jesus could (or would likely) return next week / month / year, why should I bother to get a degree? Why polish brass? I was a convinced environmental studies major, with ideas for Saving The Planet, but why bother? I had to work for my family now, and be ready for the Lord's return. Why polish brass?

Stupid.

I have done alright for myself. I've grown up, learned to work, and repented of pre-mil follies. Remember- Jesus WAS GOING TO RETURN BY 1988. This is a Most Major Flaw. Those who taught thus, including myself, are guilty of false prophecy. Thankfully, this is not under the Mosaic covenant. The thing that amazes me is that the doctrine persists in the whole Left Behind foolishness, and across the airwaves. Granted, the Rapture and yo-yo return of Christ, with the Antichrist playing backup makes for a sexier story than History - Trumpet - Resurrection - Last Judgment, but if you want orthodoxy, right Biblical, historical Christian doctrine, Left Behind must be left behind. Such teaching is foreign to the Christian church until the 1800's, and last I heard, God takes a dim view of adding to or taking from His Word.

WHAT you believe has great impact on what you DO. Be certain that a popular teaching is truly a Godly one, and not just a convenient hook for best-sellers.

You may find this article interesting, as well.

THE SURGE WILL WORK!

Vox Day is going to have a Surge. His new book, The Irrational Atheist, is out, and those who approve of courtesy (at least) to living authors will purchase it from Amazon on Saturday. It will help his numbers to increase, and cause his publisher to smile beneficently upon him. TIA, Saturday, Amazon. Maybe buy an extra one for your local library, and one to have on hand to give to stuffy physicists of your acquaintance.

---------------------------------------------------

Speaking of atheists, I find great comfort in anecdotal evidences of God, especially when sent as FW's in glurgey emails. The True Empirical Evidences are harder to find, but this just in:

Ron Paul is leading Rudy Giuliani by about a point in the South Carolina caucus. Hannity's Choice (that would be a GREAT name for a bathroom cleanser!) is actually trailing Ron Paul.

It may be an Ephemeral Evidence, but I'll take what I can get.

------------------------------------------

NEW! Paul is now 6% to Rudy's 3% in SC.
Heute Südcarolina. Morgen die Welt.

(Though the sentiment may be premature)

Just to keep it all honest...

I have tried twice to leave this comment on Wayward Fundamentalist's Vox Day critique. It did not show up at first because of moderation, yet here it is at the end of the day, and he has a comment of his own there, and not mine.I'm not being cranky, but neither was I being snarky or abusive.

Here was my response:

You hate sounding judgmental? Then stop the Putting Forth of the Finger (check out the OT prophets about that.)

Actually, Jesus said that our loving one another was the sign that we are disciples. Rather than lovingly confronting a brother about his sin (? please reference the List of Forbidden Words from the Scriptures) you are indulging in third-person blog carping. That's kinda like gossip.

Flippin' - a common euphemism for a Reproductive Act.
Cripes - a common euphemism for "Christ".

Logs and motes, bro. Logs and motes.

If you cannot take mild correction, get out of the Blog-o-Verse tm.

Inflammatory Question of the Day:

If the hue and cry of the Protestant Reformation was "Sola scriptura", and of the Restoration Movement "Speak where the Bible speaks; be silent where it is silent",
then why do we have such elaborate mausoleums for the writings and opinions of our leaders?

Over at Vox's today, various and sundry have brought up Churchy things including:

Aren't Christians commanded to go to church? (I can't remember the verse--I realize this seems "convenient," but I really can't remember where the verse is located.)--Anonymous

It might be just be, but I doubt that a 503(c) LICENSED "non-profit" Chrianist Club is the "church" the Bible is referring to.--Josh

Let's look at some things God's Word says about Things Churchy.

In Acts 2, we find that when people believed and responded to Peter's proclamation of Jesus as Lord and Messiah, and Son of God, the Brash Apostle said

Act 2:36-47 (MKJV)
(36) Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God made this same Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.
(37) And hearing this, they were stabbed in the heart, and said to Peter and to the other apostles, Men, brothers, what shall we do?
(38) Then Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ to remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
(39) For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all those afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call.
(40) And with many other words he earnestly testified and exhorted, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation.
(41) Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. And the same day there were added about three thousand souls.
(42) And they were continuing steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, and in fellowship and in the breaking of the loaves, and in prayers.
(43) And fear came on every soul. And many wonders and miracles took place through the apostles.
(44) And all who believed were together and had all things common.
(45) And they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need.
(46) And continuing with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they shared food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
(47) praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

The Jews asked what to do. Peter told them what to do. They did it. God added them to the church.

God added them to the church.

They did not "join". Their letter was not moved. The Membership Committee did not vote.
God added them to the church.

Then, AS the church, they met together. Now here is the sticky part. In the beginning, it is clear that they WANTED to meet together, as they got together daily at the Temple, and from house to house. This drive to fellowship was so strong, that out-of-towners didn't want to go home! It wasn't until later in Acts that the first day of the week (Sunday) meeting became apostolically normative, and even then, it was the irreducible minimum. Daily fellowship continued, at home, in the marketplace....

There is much mumphing about things like "501 (c) 3" churches that have "sold out" to Caesar for tax exempt status (and don't misunderstand, this kind of thing chaps me no end. Jesus did not say "Let not your right hand know what the other is doing...but don't forget to report it as a deduction!" The Gospel According to H&R Block includes its own - and perhaps only - reward.) Nonetheless, this kind of thing is NO reason to "forsake the assembling of yourselves together". Why? Because Jesus Himself told me! In a LETTER!

(Mrs P., put down that straitjacket! I have not joined Pat Robertson on the ramparts brandishing a broken grape juice bottle.)

Rev 2:18-29
(18) And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: The Son of God, He who has His eyes like a flame of fire and His feet like burnished metal, says these things:
(19) I know your works and love and service and faith and your patience, and your works; and the last to be more than the first.
(20) But I have a few things against you because you allow that woman Jezebel to teach, she saying herself to be a prophetess, and to cause My servants to go astray, and to commit fornication, and to eat idol-sacrifices.
(21) And I gave her time that she might repent of her fornication, and she did not repent.
(22) Behold, I am throwing her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great affliction, unless they repent of their deeds.
(23) And I will kill her children with death. And all the churches will know that I am He who searches the reins and hearts, and I will give to every one of you according to your works.
(24) But to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, and who have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak, I will put on you no other burden.
(25) But that which you have, hold fast until I come.
(26) And he who overcomes and keeps My works to the end, to him I will give power over the nations.
(27) And he will rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter they will be broken to pieces, even as I received from My Father.
(28) And I will give him the Morning Star.
(29) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Please to note, that here was a congregation who had a woman in a teaching role, a "prophetess" (preface what you say with "Thus saith the Lord", and the rubes will believe anything) who was actually teaching to eat sacrificial meat from idol-worship, and teaching that fornication was acceptable worship.

She was the founder of the first lay ministry

Jesus makes it clear that the unrepentant would be Summarily Dealt With. Repentance is the key. Those who followed her folly were to repent. Those who had not sullied themselves, were to hold fast the faith.

Even though there were Heretics Most Vile in the congregation, Jesus did not say to the faithful: "Come out! There's a nice piece of property on the hill...go Start a New Work there." Discipline was also key. Since things had gone so far, He apparently stepped in to judge Jezzie and her hardcore followers. Jesus' promise to the faithful makes it clear: faithfulness to Christ and His teaching yields Authority.

Now, those who were faithful at Thyatira remained, even with the mess that was going on. In the church, the righteous are not called upon to leave if there are misdoings afoot. Rather, they are called upon to exercise Biblical Authority and sanction the false and misbehaving:

Titus 3:9-11
(9) But avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions, and strivings about the Law, for they are unprofitable and vain.
(10) After the first and second warning, reject a man of heresy,
(11) knowing that he who is such has been perverted, and sins, being self-condemned.

The "man of heresy", or "factious man", is one whose attitude is : "My way or the highway". He creates schisms, divisions in the Body of Christ. "Heresy" does not necessarily connote "false teaching" It can even mean having a divisive attitude over a point of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15-17
(15) Study earnestly to present yourself approved to God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.
(16) But shun profane, vain babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.
(17) And their word will eat like a gangrene....

"Shun" is not a lightweight word. "Avoid like a plague carrier" is more like its meaning.

And everyone's favorite, the playa in Corinth:

1 Corinthians 5:1-13
(1) On the whole it is reported that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even named among the nations, so as one to have his father's wife.
(2) And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, so that he who has done this deed may be taken from your midst.
(3) For as being absent in body but present in spirit, I indeed have judged already as though I were present concerning him who worked out this thing;
(4) in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, with my spirit; also, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ;
(5) to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
(6) Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
(7) Therefore purge out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For also Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
(8) Therefore let us keep the feast; not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
(9) I wrote to you in the letter not to associate intimately with fornicators;
(10) yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then you must go out of the world.
(11) But now I have written to you not to associate intimately, if any man called a brother and is either a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one not to eat.
(12) For what is it to me to also judge those who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?
(13) But God judges those who are outside. Therefore put out from you the evil one.

To judge (or appraise) the actions of our brethren (contextually- in our own congregation)
is Biblical and necessary, and part of "submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of God. (Eph 5:21) " If Bro. Mike sees me heading toward trouble, it is his responsibility to warn me in love. If I persist in folly, then more drastic action is called for. Jesus called for proactivity in interpersonal relationships amongst brothers (and sisters).

Matthew 18:14-17
(14) Even so it is not the will of your Father in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
(15) But if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.
(16) But if he will not hear you, take one or two more with you, so that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
(17) And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he neglects to hear the church, let him be to you as a heathen and a tax-collector.

In order for the church (ekklesia: assembly) to be effective, it has to be assembled!
We are commanded the following:

Heb 10:25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

this written at a time when persecution was rampant. The church unassembled isn't the church. A car unassembled isn't a car, it is a pile of pieces. A person unassembled isn't a person, it is a pile of meat. The Body of Christ isn't the Body when it is unassembled, it is a bunch of Lone Rangers. We lose an important point in American Christendom: Jesus died for...the church.

Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it,
Eph 5:26 that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word,
Eph 5:27 that He might present it to Himself as the glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Eph 5:28 So men ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord loves the church.
Eph 5:30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.
Eph 5:31 "For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two of them shall be one flesh."
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Don't get hung up on the husband/wife thing in this discussion, here, beyond seeing that the passage is explicitly speaking of the church, and the church's relationship to Christ. Jesus is passionate in His love for the church, His people assembled. The Body imagery in 1st Corinthians makes it plain that I am not the church, and that you are not the church. WE are the church, assembled saints to do His will in the earth, and to serve one another to facilitate our accomplishing His commission. The faithful are to stay put, and handle the heretic, the factious, the Jezebel. God has provided the tools and instruction necessary to the task. "Quit you like men" does not mean "Quit".

Quite.

I have a terrible suspicion.

The Ron Paul nutcases, like the Truthers, and the amazingly crude New Hampshire crowd are not true supporters, but are moles from other groups sent to destroy Paul's appeal.

Yeah, sometimes the Aardvark isn't the sharpest knife....It's just my inclination is to take people, oh, at their word. Some years back a friend tried to recruit the Aardvark to run for State House. One problem: I needed to run on the Democrat ticket, because "that was the only way for someone to get in". I couldn't do it, couldn't be a stealth Republican.

Though apparently the "R" party is filled with not-so-stealth Democrats.

So I guess we true Ron Paulites must redouble our efforts.

And kick the phonies where it hurts.

I am...disturbed.


(The chorus of "AYYYYYY- mens" ceases its reverberation.)

I in my self-absorption check out "Sitemeter" to see Whom and Why.
The referring URL's are fascinating. Sometimes I get porn searches referred to my blog.
(I once used the word in an article, and there is the whole issue of "aardvarking".) Carpentry inquiries will stumble upon the "plumbline" thingie. But now I have discovered a Callow Pretender, an alley dweller with delusions of 'varkhood. Has the nerve to refer to himself as "Orycteropus Afer", an aardvark by any other name...

Aardvark Alley is the offending site, and I am forced to go and check it out. Doubtless I shall have to dodge dumpsters, alley cats, puddles of dumpster juice, and all manner of derelicts, but your Aardvark (*ahem* whose blog pre-dates this fellow's) will forge ahead with Wellies on to discover Just What's Going On!

Do you dare explore with me?

Well, the Aardvark has learned the trick...take a popular pundit, and pwn him.
I got record hits Friday for my heartfelt Hannity entry. Thank you all. (Cynics take note: this was not a ploy to drive traffic to my site. I was really ticked at the fair and balanced approach the Hannitoad (and Fox in general) uses where Ron Paul is concerned.

Shifting aim a tad, your Aardvark has strong suspicions that an important personage in the Blog-o-Verse tm has significant personality issues.(I am waiting for the laughter to subside).

His online presence is less of a blog, and more of a Role-Playing Game. His stable of commentors remains surprisingly constant. A stable stable, as 'twere. A few newcomers arrive betimes, and very few are ever banned. He has pretensions...perhaps "delusions" is more apt, of being some sort of cyber-being, an intelligence uploaded to the net (Too many video games and bad SF, I'll wager). You know, like Freakazoid, but not fun. He dispenses his "wisdom" on current events, things political, religious or arcane, then sits back and watches while his collection of bloviators do their keyboarding thing, pro, con, and wildly off-topic.Sometimes he will re-enter the fray, stir the pot, then awa'.

Thing is...his commentariat, his "ilk", as they are called, remain too true to form, almost like set pieces in a play. Their roles are too defined. One is reliably conservative, another wildly libertarian, another can be depended upon to plumb the depths of scatology. Occasional "trolls" pop in to disturb the proceedings, like errant thoughts during an exam. PRECISELY like errant thoughts. This is what tipped me off.

This blogger's entire presentation seems a bit, ngaaaah, scripted. It is my belief that "Vox" is in fact the core writer, with each of the "ilk" being, not a person from across this broad land, but a shard, a splinter of his sad and injured personality. Vox Day IS his ilk. How ridiculous the names...there's even one called "Aardvark".

Waitaminute...I"M "Aardvark". Aardvark means ME.I'm certainly a discrete personality all my own. Of course I am. Just because MY blog started after "Vox Popoli" is no reason to think otherwise.

I need to go out and clear my head. Where did I put my Italian loafers...?

Sunsweet Commercial with Ray Bradbury!

This is my favorite ad ever.
It's by my hero, Stan Freberg.

Sean Hannity is a Loathsome Toad.

Hmmm...I may be scoffing. I'll sit out on the porch later.

I had a marvelous time yesterday. Then I came home to the Myrtle Beach Republican Q & A. We had to watch, as FOX had deigned to allow Ron Paul to take part in the debate -and even then, he had to demand to participate on the air.

It was a true Dog and Pony show, with each candidate doing Amusing Tricks, and Feats of Skill. At the end of the night, they couldn't let the answers speak for themselves. They trotted out pollster Luntz to question viewers as to why Fred Thompson was Teh Hotness.
Then Sockpuppet Hannity in his post-mortem had Luntz show the graph of viewer interest dropping to its nadir as Ron Paul spoke the truth. Then... then, Hannity and Colmes assured everyone that Dr, Congressman Paul had been invited to the post-game interviews, "but he refused, because he had another event to attend."

No, Sock-boy, Having an Event to Attend is not refusal. It is merely showing more interest in one's supporters than in giving a hostile nebbish opportunity to play verbal voodoo-doll with one.

OH! The text-in vote for "who won the debate" had Ron Paul at 35 or 36 percent, a good 10 points above the next best performer. Apparently the Paulistas hijacked the cell network, or stole the cellphones of the other candidates' followers, because Sean "Irish Need Not Apply" Hannity proclaimed that he DIDN'T win, in his opinion.

Sean Hannity's opinion trumps math. Someone call Stephen Hawking!!! This may finally answer the problem of the missing fraction of the Universe.

Seems it really is Vacuum.

And Vacuum sucks.

Play time for the Aardvark


Had a wonderful time today. For anyone who knows me at all, at all, you will be amazed that I did this. Loen and I went to Nashville to meet David Goodman.

I took the whole day, to travel to another state, to see someone I've never met.

Of course, sushi was involved.

What can I say? Musician, producer, jackleg economist, writer, artist, voice actor, family man, and that's the short list. He also evidently channels Peter Sellers, 'cos he has the BEST Dr. Strangelove impersonation I've ever heard. I dunno...I'm looking for a Medici lurking about.

We spoke of the Blog-o-Verse tm , the campaigns, t-shirts, music, gold, unreasoning virulent hatred of anime (I kid, I KID!), art, radio, the Theft of Signage, movies, family, children, the Whole State of Christ's Church - perhaps I use a broad brush - and how unnecessary bad language is.

And there was sushi! Ohhhhh, such sushi there was.

We ate at Fuji in Brentwood, off exit six-niner on I-65 north. Well recommended. They have an excellent lunch menu, with a broad selection of Japanese beers, as well, tho' we dod not partake of such. The green tea was amazingly good, with a note of sesame.

Then there were cigars.

David took us to Tobacco Road, a tobacconist extraordinaire. He bought himself and me each a CAO cigar. We stood around and enjoyed those for two hours. And talked. And laughed.

I haven't been as relaxed in ages.

A good time was had by all.

I am thankful.

---------------------------------------------
On a side note, I was REALLY glad that ummmmmmm, this Vidad character didn't show up. I had seriously thought (this is so SILLY) that David was really Vidad Magoodn, but I having met David, am sure it just couldn't be. So I'm REAL glad that Vidad didn't crash the party.

'Course, It would have put those nagging suspicions to rest, had he done so. (Has anyone else noticed how much he resembles a Muppet?)

The Minister's Big "O"

One of the main things that Jesus had against churches in Asia Minor, referenced in chapters 2 & 3 of the book of Revelation, was the doctrine of the Nicolaitans (or Nicolaitanes). Now most self-serving doctrineers say that we don't know what the doctrine was, but that Jesus was ticked about it, whatever it was (much as folks can't figure out that Jesus was talking about the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem in Matthew 24). Once again, grammar is not soft and gooey in the Bible. The language itself, the name itself has the meaning:

"The doctrine of the Nicolaitanes" is just what the word Nicolaitanes itself declares.

Proof:

1. In the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ, it is both "the deeds" and "the doctrine" of those in the two "churches" specified (Revelation 2:6, 15). The Lord demands repentance on the part of those who hold and practice these things and He threatens drastic punishment if they do not obey Him:

   "Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth," (Revelation 2:16).

2. The name, Nicolaitanes, is a compound word which is composed of three Greek words, and which, because of being a proper noun, is transferred instead of being translated into English. As thus transferred, it is subject to the laws of Greek construction in regard to ellipsis, contraction and phonetics.
3. The Greek words used in its construction are first: "Nikos," of which we use the English equivalents instead of the Greek letters, as we shall also of the other two. Nikos is defined as "a conquest; victory; triumph; the conquered; and by implication, dominancy over the defeated." Another transferred name in which this term is used is "Nicopolis," i.e., Niko - conquest; polis city. Hence, the city of conquest, or city of victory. Also "Andro" -- "nikos;" a man of conquest, of victory. The second term used in the name under consideration is "laos," -- people, another use of which is Nicolas, which is transferred and is composed of Nikoslaos and means one who is "victorious over the people," the letter "s" being, in both words, the nominative case ending, which is retained only at the end of the word to denote the case, while "a" short and "o" short are contracted into "a" long.

Laodiceans

Also, a still further transferred use of "laos" is found in the name Lao(s)diceans, compounded with dike or dice as the Greek "k" is the equivalent English "c." Thus, in the name Laodiceans, we have laos -- "people" and dice la(ic)os means "laymen," of which laos is the root and stem, which selfsame word, with the "o" short contracted to "i", to which root and stem the plural definite article ton is joined to form laiton -- is a Greek phrase meaning "the laity." judgment, or vengeance, i.e., the people of my judgment, or of my vengeance. Also the Greek word

The third and last word entering into the construction of the proper name Nicolaitanes is ton, in which omega, the long "o", is contracted into long "a", thus making the word "tan" which is the genitive case plural in all the genders of the definite article the. Therefore, we have, without the legal Greek construction, the English hyphenated word Nickos-laoston, but which, with its lawful elisions and contractions, becomes the English name: Nicolaitanes, the full meaning of which, in its native tongue and in its ecclesiastical setting, is that the bishops and prelates of the Church have gained a triumphal victory or conquest over the laiton -- the laity -- until they have been compelled to submit to the arbitrary dominion of men who have become that thing which God hates: "Lords over God's heritage." -- J. H. Allen

So, the Nicolitanes are those who lord it over God's people, who set a clergy over a laity.

Now, it is self-evident that as Paul said, divisions MUST exist to determine who amongst us is "approved". No division is so evident as the divide between the "preacher", and everyone else in the congregation. Biblical church polity consists of a congregation, of whom are elders (bishops, overseers) who are men of proven character and maturity who handle the spiritual leadership and teaching), and deacons, who are also of proven character, and who handle many of the physical needs of the congregation. The elders are scripturally enjoined not to "lord it over" the flock.

Now, it is problematic where the whole "preacher" or "minister" leading a congregation came in (oops, I forgot about the whole priesthood thing), but it sure isn't biblical.

Now, our congregation was "preacherless" for almost two years, and many of the men, including your Aardvark, stepped up to the plate to handle the preaching and teaching. We had the most amazing togetherness develop.during that time. Elders, deacons, everyone was just in to serve God and one another. It was neat. There was more real growth in myself (and others) than I had experienced in years.

The big problem lies in the separation of the "preacher" from the rest of the congregation. There is...behavior...that sets the "minister" apart from everyone else. Nowhere does this otherness appear more pronounced than in the pulpit. The timbre of voice, the pronunciation. Some groups have schools that teach how a preacher should "sound" (adding a "huh" at the end of a phrase to show your passion: "I say unto you-UH, that we are going to have-HUH, a greaaaat revival-HUH,,,") Not our crowd, thankfully.

However, one practise that really rattles my cage is the use of archaisms, using language that makes it sound like Fanny Crosby was your nanny, and P.P.Bliss your headmaster. Beginning a phrase with a sonorous "O". O, how sweet to trust in Jesus. O, what trying times in which we live. Extending the "O" is good for emphasis: "OOOOOO, what a profound thought". I mean, no-one talks like that.in real life, and it only serves to increase the unreality of what passes for the Faith today.

It is axiomatic for many to "speak where God's word speaks, and be silent where it is silent". Allow me to add: "and speak normally when you do so". Preacherly airs do not endear, and serve to separate you from those to whom you wish to communicate the Word of Truth.