Dereliction of Duty: A new book over at Amazon.

“Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Robert “Buzz” Patterson was a military aide to President Clinton from May 1996 to May 1998 and one of five individuals entrusted with carrying the “nuclear football”—the bag containing the codes for launching nuclear weapons. This responsibility meant that he spent a considerable amount of time next to the president, giving him a unique perspective on the Clinton administration. Though he arrived at the job “filled with professional devotion and commitment to serve,” he left believing that Clinton had “sown a whirlwind of destruction upon the integrity of our government, endangered our national security, and done enormous harm to the American military in which I served.”

Dereliction of Duty is not a personal attack on President Clinton or a commentary on his various scandals; rather, it is a “frank indictment of his obvious—to an eyewitness—failure to lead our country with responsibility and honor.” Lt. Col. Patterson offers a damning list of anecdotes and charges against the President, including how Clinton lost the nuclear codes and shrugged it off; how he stalled and lost the opportunity to launch a direct strike on Osama bin Laden at a confirmed location; how the President and the First Lady, and much of their staff, consistently treated members of the military with disrespect and disdain; and how Clinton groped a female Air Force enlisted member while aboard Air Force One, among other incidents large and small. A considerable portion of this slim book is devoted to the myriad ways in which President Clinton undermined the military, and hence the security, of the nation. He seriously questions Clinton’s decisions to send troops to Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, and Bosnia to accomplish non-military tasks without clear objectives. Having participated in each of these engagements, Lt. Col. Patterson personally “experienced the frustration of needlessly wasted lives, effort, and national prestige” as well as the alarmingly low morale that Clinton inspired.

This is certainly not the first anti-Clinton book, but it is different in that Patterson does not seem to have a political ax to grind. In fact, at times, he appears apologetic about having to write about his ex-commander in chief. Yet, in the end, this retired soldier felt his last act of service should be to share his experience with his country.

Here’s the official statement from the seminary. I think it’s a good one and I still wish people would learn to think before they act.

I got to listen to Bill O’Reilley (sp?) and Sean Hannity on the drive over here today. I’m glad Peter Arnett is gone. One question, though: what did Andy Rooney do/say recently that seems to have ticked these fellows off? I didn’t hear an explanation.

If Hillary is president and Janet Reno is in some gov’t position then I don’t want to be a good citizen. The thought of them being in power gives me shivers.

Philip: I think Jesus was speaking not just to Judas, but to His disciples as well, and, by extension, to the Church. I think this because the KJV renders the subject of the verb “have” as “ye,” which is plural.

Confer also Deuteronomy 15:11 – “There will always be some among you who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share your resources freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.” (NLT)

Phillip: With due respect to the poor brethren who bring Kim Clement to a church, I can easily account for Clement’s powers. Or those of any of the TBN gang:

“2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

A limited amount of supernatural ability is clearly credited to the imitative powers of Satan, and here, especially to God’s purpose in allowing false teachers to delude their followers as a form of judgement. Clement is no different from John Edwards or Sylvia Browne. Note the following passage:

“Acts 16:16-18 16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.”

A specifically identified demonic spirit was present in a woman who said that Paul was proclaiming the way of salvation. Plus, of course, Clements fails the Biblical standard for a prophet, which in the Old Covenant would entitle him to be killed in the parking lot by stoning. (Make up a flyer for that youth ministers!)

I’m no spiritual warfare fanatic, but your church leaders need to come to grips with the fact that Clements is doing nothing Jesus ever did, and doing a lot the Bible goes to the trouble to point out is demonic.

Yes, Phillip, it was I who said that the line for cussing should be drawn at God’s name. And I must say I am not surprised to read the 2 trivia stories you relayed.
Also, if I can’t get free/really cheap travel to NYC, I’ll sell you my ticket at the price I paid for it (unless I decide to give it to a family member or something).

Jake: I’m actually surprised that Kim hasn’t pulled those quotes I linked to off of his website. I remember another one from the same timeframe in which he stated quite clearly, more clearly than his “Merry Christmas” song, that the war in Afghanistan would be over by 2002, with Osama Bin Laden dead and Americans dancing in the streets. That one is gone, it seems, but the slightly-more-vague-but-still-obviously-completely-false ones remain.

Trivia: I once heard Benny Hinn use the Lord’s name in vain within five feet of me, when I used to work for a tv evangelist (not Benny). Not just swearing, mind you, about which I generally feel the same that someone around here recently essayed. Was it Eric? With the front page gone, I can’t remember! Anyway, not just swearing, but an actual vile Gosh-darnit, the worst of all.

Trivia 2: I quite recently watched a short documentary my brother had downloaded off the internet in which Pat Robertson is captured on camera using the very same phrase. I’m not sure which was more important, the words he used or the way he was whispering to one of his lackeys to do what he had just pledged on nationwide television he would never do. This was back when he ran for Pres.

To balance things out, I’ll say this about Kim Clement. I was at a meeting once years ago where he started calling people out of the crowd by name and telling them things about their personal lives that he shouldn’t have known. It was my church at the time (I just can’t get away from the guy!) and I knew the people to whom he was speaking, and it was dead-on, and some of it even the pastor of the church didn’t know. I have no idea how he did it, as it seemed far beyond any usual parlor tricks, and wasn’t typical psychic-prompting. That said, for my own family members he had no special knowledge or “words” or anything, so maybe he just does far more elaborate research than I could possibly have imagined. Of course, I think he’s also full of crap, whether God told him everybody’s name and life story or not.

Michael: I don’t know if my wife would sit through any movie with Cameron, Lucy and Drew for 90 minutes. She doesn’t love me that much.

Judd: Can’t you skip the inane plot and really bad action set-pieces and get one of those edited-for-hotels skinny dipping videos? 8^)

Eric: I’m trying really hard not to covet your concert tickets. Must swap out Chemical Brothers for Van Morrison for tomorrow. For now, though, I’m going home.

Michael: You said “married men with children and mortgages don’t act like this. Calm down. Buy the DVD.” Exactly—that’s why I’m looking for the cheap route. The ticket I already bought (cheap and far away, but there) is an early birthday gift, and I have arranged free lodging. All that remains is the travel, which I will get dirt cheap (or free) or just not go. So the mortgage is intact. As for the family, they know how much seeing this concert means to me. My wife has heard me say, time and time again (even long before we married) that I couldn’t wait for Van the Man to come to the U.S., and that I would go if at all possible. And it looks like it may be possible. So in the immortal words of Bill the Cat: Pppphtpptbt!!
By the way, if anyone else wants to tag along or meet up, let me know. And if anyone has any real advice on free/cheap travel, let me know.

Phillip: Judd is watching these skinny dipping shows WITH THE WIFE (Wink…wink). Obviously its a system :-)

Alex: I once heard a preacher say that Jesus wasn’t talking to “us” when he said “For the poor always ye have with you,” but to Judas! That’s right, that bad old Judas was going to be plagued by the poor for the rest of his days, even after Jesus had departed. Too bad Jesus didn’t know that Judas wasn’t even going to have that many days to be plagued.

I think there ought to be an altar call for preachers to walk down front and repent of bad doctrine. Including bad doctrine related to altar calls. Now my brain hurts.

Judson: Charlie’s Angels? Really? To each his own, I guess. It’s hard for me to throw stones after admitting to watching Anna Nicole just last night.

Michael: Your Fanaticism piece is great, as usual, and your mention of Kim Clement reminded me of how disgusted I was at that fool and at my church for letting him appear there. Right now I can’t even remember why I like my church, though I’m sure over time that feeling will fade.

Actually, I have begun to think that my church is generally well-pastored and reasonably well-taught, but that the pastoral staff are bound by the very fanaticism you describe. That is, while the staff pastors would never consider barking or any of the other ridiculous excesses I have seen or heard elsewhere, they also don’t like to naysay guest speakers and “friend of the ministry” that are truly whack (to use an underused theological term). The dichotomy is enough to drive me nuts, and I’ve learned to avoid any services for which I know ahead of time an outside guest speaker will be present. Between Kim Clement, who pops down the road to see us once a year, and “Bishop Tudor Bismarck,” I just can’t stand to admit where I attend several times a year.

Here’s a Kim Clement gem, a “prophecy” he prattled on about at my church’s youth center on October 4, 2001: “There will be at least one person in every home in the United States of America who will come to salvation in the next 12 months. That’s a promise of the Lord!” I checked around my house, even the attic, and I didn’t see it. I checked with some unsaved neighbors and coworkers and they, too, somehow missed out on God’s promise.

The next day, he continued with “This is not going to be a paganistic type of Christmas and I am not insulting you I am just telling you Jesus will be back Christ will be back in this Christmas. You are going to be shocked by what God is going to do over that period Not only in the weather but also in the spiritual climate. People that you never dreamed would be coming to the Kingdom People that are on national television talk shows Will come into the Kingdom and make proclamations about who Jesus is to them in their lives.” I can’t go on, it just makes me sick.

Jonathan Last parses evidence on Meet The Press that Saddam is either dead or out of the picture. “There is one other scenario worth considering: Al-Douri’s non-answer would make sense if he did know that Saddam was, for one reason or another, out of the picture, and that one of his sons was running the show. In that case, Al-Douri wouldn’t want to let slip that Saddam was not in control but, at the same time, wouldn’t want to appear disloyal to the new Hussein by insisting that the old tyrant was still calling the shots.”

I know she’s too hot for some to handle…but I love her: Ann Coulter. Here’s the tamest paragraph.

“CNN’s favorite general, Wesley Clark, has also been heard to opine that our troops are getting bogged down in Iraq. His competence to judge American generals is questionable since his command was limited to working for NATO. We prefer to hear from American generals. Clark’s contribution to international relations consisted of mistakenly bombing the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. In his zeal to prevent troop casualties, he ordered pilots to fly at such high altitudes that the pilots complained that they were being forced to incur unnecessary civilian casualties.”

And this: “The Times isn’t afraid we’ll do badly in Baghdad; it’s afraid we’ll do well.”

Good man Alex. My article on nationalism is about Common Grace. Great minds think alike.

Matthew: If one were to look at the Pauline (Romans 13) and Peterine (1 Peter 2:13-17) statements about government, one would notice immediately that the primary purpose of government is to punish wrongdoers. Governments have been instituted by God as a means of restraining the effects of the Fall, for without the enforcement of law by government, sin would reign freely. In a sense, government is a means of common grace (if one subscribes to that notion). This is why I am not an anarcho-capitalist like my father.

Government does not exist, however, for the purposes of charity. The Church exists for that reason, and any church that lobbies the government to go beyond its biblical mandate and start distributing charity has abdicated its own mandate. Rather than complain about how the government isn’t doing enough to help the poor, the Church should point the finger in on Herself and motivate Herself to do more. And remember the words of the Lord: “For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.”

Eric: Quit your job and apply for that soon to be created opening in Anthropology at Columbia University. (BTW- married men with children and mortgages don’t act like this. Calm down. Buy the DVD.)

MatthewJ: I’ve said plenty in this essay back in the Kingdom Now phase of the BHT’s history. I cannot accept the idea that we are citizens of the Kingdom of God and not citizens of the USA. Scripture is too explicit, and nationalism isn’t rejected per se- it’s the idolatry of nation that is rejected. Submission to a God-ordered civil society and support of the just goals of that society are completly compatible with Christian citizenship. Sadly, we all know that our liberal friends would be proclaiming the Kingdom of God on earth is President Hillary were requiring all public school kids to pledge allegience to the U.N., and they would defend Janet Reno throwing homeschooling parents into jail for not registering with the Department of Education. Liberalism has no clothes on when it comes to taking scripture seriously on the subject of the state.

The lawyers have found a new one: Suing students (11 year olds in this case) who run into their teachers in the hall.

Daniel Henninger says the war will divide the world….and it’s a good thing, too.

Want to read the worst, most pessimistic editorial on the war anyone has written? Here’s “Bay of Pigs Meets Black Hawk Down.” It tops the previous winner, “A Bad Remake of Vietnam.”

Well, I don’t watch Anna Nicole, but I will confess to something else.

Last night me and Amy watched “Charlie’s Angels” and “Blue Crush” on DVD. We thoroughly enjoyed both of them. Oh well, when you’re going to hell already, what’s a few more bad movies?

Bart/Angus: I think I’d rather have my eyelids glued shut than spend any amount of time reading any of the 26 Left Behind books I’ve seen polluting bookstores, but it looks like you’re on the wrong end of the mighty Evangelistic Marketing Machine™ there. A single gun might not be enough – the beast has some power, after all, and his minions might just keep spamming you.

On a through-the-looking-glass note: Wouldn’t the UN have to be far more effective to be a precursor to, well, anything with any power, let alone a one-world government? Right now that crew seems to be squabbling over who gets first dibs on the crumbs the coalition leaves behind. When John Negroponte’s bathroom breaks become front-page headlines, well, the UN is irrelevant.

Which I realize is closed-minded of me, but life is short, and there is no point in opening my mind so widely all of my brains leak out.

Eric: Is selling a kidney on ebay not an option?

And am I the only BHTer who watches Anna Nicole’s show on E! regularly? And enjoys it? Far, far too much?

Dress up like Anna Nicole and perform a really bad drag parody untill you have earned enough money to get to the local truck stop. then, hitch hike from truck stop to truck stop untill you are in NYC. With a story like that, you might even get back stage. You’ll have to leave the dress on the whole time.

Hello everyone!
Does anyone know how I can get to New York dirt cheap? I know I was just there, but VAN MORRISON is going to be in concert there in June. He never comes to the U.S., and seeing him in concert has been an almost-20-year dream of mine. I bought a ticket online today, and now I have to figure out how to get there without a) sitting on a Greyhound for 27 hours (been there, done that) or b) draining the family coffers (such as they are) for something so frivolous. I am willing to be creative with this…any suggestions??

Just so it has been said, Angus categorically apologizes for any way that he may offend those observing this blog. He is quite passionate and fully Scottish…a lethal combination.

Bart, I used my editing powers to make sure that my name was not defaced. Thanks for the comments. I probably won’t get to respond to anything until tonight. Pray for me, folks, as I drive to Arkansas for my interviews.

Well Matthew, it’s like this, and as soon as the dumbasses at your school get their heads out of their asses they will figure this out. We will always be subject to the authorities that God has placed over us. like it or not, they are there because G-daddy-max put them there.

The Angusonian answer to your questions:

1. Our country has one distinct role in the schema of our mission as Christians, it provides us with the only “Free” society in the world from which to direct our activities and monitor our progress.
2. Ultimately we are only citizens of the kingdom of God, however, part of maintaining that good status involves being good citizens were we are physically. Now, if active participation in our political process is the conduit for your citizenry, no problem. if the political process dictates your spirituality (and in many cases today, I think it does), you have a problem with Idolatry.
3. To those at Asbury who are not able to see the forest because of the trees – KISS MY ASS.

My wife got to work this morning and it seems that the Admissions Office (she’s the secretary) was flooded with some SPAM from made-up E-mail addresses that were just plain mean. It all comes out of this flag thing. Good grief. The thing that is the most irritating is that the dude who put the flags up probably thought it was an ok thing to do and that it wouldn’t be a big deal. The folks in administration who decided to do the thing with the candles probably thought that what they were doing wasn’t that big of a deal. Now, thanks to some people who don’t have anything better to do this is a national story. It’s not like they’re aren’t other things to be doing right now. Of course, here I am whining about it and making a big deal out of it. There’s probably little difference between me and the people who annoy me. That’s a scary realization.

Heather and I went to a church in Lexington that meets in a house downtown. They do a lot of great stuff in that area especially with the homeless. I’m really encouraged by their work but heavily discouraged at the role politics plays. Some of them went to a rally at the UN where some folks charged the US with human rights abuses against the poor. I was all over their work until then.

Part of the reason I wrote about these two things was to ask a question of the blog: What role does our country (gov’t, military, etc.) play in the Christian mission? We talk a lot here (at the seminary) about the Kingdom of God being a future hope (when Christ returns) and a present reality (fulfilling the Great Commission). At what point do we say that the church isn’t our country and our country plays no part in our mission? Where do we note that our citizenship is of God’s kingdom and not of any political entity? Or, is there a point where this happens? I’m interested to hear what y’all have to say.

Did all your kids go slightly nuts just before graduation from high school?

Jonah’s very politically incorrect and right on discussion about what is the deal with the Arab world’s perception that we want to kill Arabs. A good piece.

Excellent page of quotes, esp the “laws: for you computer guys.

BTW- I am now proclaiming myself as “noted.”

“NBC and MSNBC on Monday said they had terminated their relationship with Peter Arnett after the journalist told state-run Iraqi TV that the U.S.led coalition’s initial war plan had failed and that reports from Baghdad about civilian casualties had helped antiwar protesters undermine the Bush administration’s strategy.
MSNBC

BOW reminds us of this: “Arnett was the on-air reporter of the 1998 CNN report that accused American forces of using sarin gas on a Laotian village in 1970 to kill U.S. defectors. Two CNN employees were sacked and Arnett was reprimanded over the report, which the station later retracted. Arnett ultimately left the network.- Washington Post”

Send pizzas to our soldiers!

James S. Robbins with a very interesting article speculating what is going on with Saddam’s bodyguard. Fascinating stuff.

A glossary of Iraqi insults.

Peter Arnett is apologizing this morning, and denying that he gave the Iraqis a valuable piece of propaganda. It didn’t matter. Fox and Friends is saying NBC revoked his press credentials.

Oliver North is saying this morning that Arnett’s comparisons to Vietnam are totally and completely wrong. The general intelligence of the press has always been in question, but ideas that if we had Hanoi surrounded in less than 2 weeks it would have been a quagmire are whack. Ollie is also saying that the U.S. troops are better equipped for chem attacks than the Iraqis, and that using chems may be suicidal for the Iraqi army. Ollie says this is his 7th war with Marines, but his first time not commanding any. Heck, give the guy his stripes back.

Revival services this week—- and I will be at them all. I’ll be making a few observations. I’m not a seeker sensitive guy, but revivals sure aren’t seeker sensitive! They are “Crisis-oriented.” Tonight could be the most important night of your life. What will you do tonight? Will you be one who comes forward or will you be one who stays back? It’s the drama of the revival service, and the game is to get as many people as possible down that aisle. The invitation is EVERYTHING. Even though our evangelist did a good job of explaining the Gospel, the response is the public invitation and the public invitation only. Leaving your seat and coming forward IS coming to Christ. Well, I don’t have to say how I feel about that. So far, though, aside from what it is, its at least tolerable. Some of these starring college boys have been intolerable.

Thanks to all who asked about IM. If you want to access it, write me and I’ll tell you how.

This is a great site. Really. No joke.

A bit long- but I have never heard it put better. From Eject-Eject-Eject.com My friends, this is on target:

“I believe that after September 11th, 2001, the Bush Administration sat down and took a very cold and hard look at what was going on in the world. I believe that they came to the conclusion that the post-WWII policy of depending on a strongman, an Attaturk or even a Nasser, to lift the Middle East into the modern world was an abject failure. I believe that they saw a region so seeped in despair and failure and repression that it would continue to generate, through asymmetrical warfare and weapons of mass destruction, an intolerable threat to the United States.

I believe that they came to realize that even if we were to pay the price of living in a police state, we cannot stop terrorists with flyswatters. Despite our best efforts, sooner of later, some of them will succeed, either with jet-fueled airplanes, or smallpox aerosols, or Sarin-filled crop dusters, or a suitcase nuke in Times Square or the steps of the capitol. As long as the failure of Arab nations generates such rage and hatred, they will keep coming. There is no end to the numbers a swamp like that can generate.

I believe that the United States government has taken a very bold decision to take the first steps to drain that swamp, and that this War in Iraq is the throwing of a railway switch to divert us from a very terrible train wreck lying ahead in the dark tunnel of history yet unwritten. Surely they know full well that this action will, in the short term, cause even more hatred and anger to be directed to us. But I see this as a chance – perhaps our last chance – to eliminate one of the states capable of and committed to the development of such weapons, and in the bargain establish a foothold of freedom and democracy in a region notable for its resistance to this historic trend.

Furthermore, I see it as a means of averting such wars in the future, for it shows in the most stark terms available that we are serious about this issue, and more than anything, when we talk about the safety and security of the United States of America we mean what we say. Entire wars have been cause by miscalculations of an enemy’s resolve. As Tony Blair made clear in his ringing speech before Parliament on the eve of the war, to back down now, to show ourselves incapable of action, would have made all subsequent diplomatic efforts essentially meaningless. Showing that we will fight—and fight all the way—will make it far less likely that our enemies will miscalculate the way we allowed Saddam and Bin Laden to miscalculate.

As national policy, it is risky, and it is extremely dangerous. It is also an act of astonishing courage and leadership, because the alternative is horrible beyond contemplation. We are in the very early stages of a great and difficult campaign, one fraught with many setbacks and much loss. Although chaotic and uncertain to us today, it is a campaign that makes sense only through the long lens of history, for despite the blood and destruction, and the faces of those brave men and women held up to us nightly, it is the course most likely to steer us through these reefs into the open waters of security and a peace worth living under – a peace based on real security, on a free and democratic and successful Middle East, not the petty and false peace of inaction and denial in the face of the threatening storm. The world faced this choice in the late 1930’s, and chose an easy ‘peace’—“Peace for our Time.” History records our reward. ”

Nice time in the Wine Cellar tonight.

“Sulaimaniya, March 30, IRNA—A British reporter was killed here on Sunday in what seems to be an attempted murder. ” One is tempted to ask, if this is “attempted,” what constitutes murder outright?

California: The liberal bastion. Truly a lost cause for GOP Presidential politics.

Walter Cronkite: yet another study in liberal meanness in their later years.

An article on the Kurds from World Mag. This is the impression I have of the Kurds.

Joni Erikson Tada on stem cell research. A response to Christopher Reeve from someone with credability.

A provocative editorial over at Touchstone Magazine about the anti-Christian agenda of the Democrats.

In a piece over at WS, William Kristol roll calls the current split in liberalism.

“The Gephardt liberals are patriots. They supported the president in the run-up to this war, and strongly support the war now that it has begun. It would be misleading to call this group the Joe Lieberman liberals, because he was already too much of a hawk to be representative, but the group certainly includes Lieberman. It also includes Hillary Rodham Clinton, probably a majority of Senate Democrats, less than half of the House Democrats, Democratic foreign policy experts at places like the Brookings Institution and the Council on Foreign Relations, and a smaller number of liberal commentators and opinion leaders—most notably the Washington Post editorial page.

The other group includes the Teddy Kennedy wing of the Senate Democrats, the Nancy Pelosi faction of the House Democrats, a large majority of Democratic grass-roots activists, the bulk of liberal columnists, the New York Times editorial page, and Hollywood. These liberals—better, leftists—hate George W. Bush so much they can barely bring themselves to hope America wins the war to which, in their view, the president has illegitimately committed the nation. They hate Don Rumsfeld so much they can’t bear to see his military strategy vindicated. They hate John Ashcroft so much they relish the thought of his Justice Department flubbing the war on terrorism. They hate conservatives with a passion that seems to burn brighter than their love of America, and so, like M. de Villepin, they can barely bring themselves to call for an American victory. ”

There are warriors of different kinds. When they fall, we need to remember their courage and sacrifice. Here is a story that has nothing to with Iraq, but in many ways with a kind of war that is even more frightening.

Hell Opens New Wing to House Iraqi Leaders
(2003-03-30)—The department of physical plant in Hell announced today the addition of a new wing on the eternal damnation complex to house President Saddam Hussein, Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan and other top government officials.

“We’ve been big admirers of the Iraqi leadership all along, but now they’ve really outdone themselves,” said an unnamed spokesman, referring to the regime’s use of civilians as military shields, and suicide bombers to take advantage of the “weakness of mercy” displayed by U.S. and British troops.

“When Saddam and his boys get here,” said the spokesman, “I think they’ll find familiar surroundings. It will be a lot like Iraq under their regime, only more intense…and of course, everlasting.”

I think we need a list of Proverbs with little known DEEP SPIRITUAL MEANINGS. Meaning must be explained.

Daniel: I’m honored by your review. To say that my spirituality is insufficient to satisfy my peers is the understatement of the decade. If I wanted to, I could become the hit of the campus. All I’d have to do is start talking about what God had told me, what God is doing on our campus, what the devil is doing on campus, what God has shown me about individual Christians, leading I’ve experienced, and so on and on. The fact that I choose to talk about the Gospel and the practical life of discipleship is evidence that I really “don’t have the Holy Ghost.”

Denise should be the one writing about this. She has the stories. I think my Charismatic/Pentecostal co-workers have whole volumes on the both of us. One thing is for sure. We are prayed for. :-)

There is another piece in me along the same road, though maybe not a Part III on Fanaticism. It will be about “Folk Religion,” which I see as an unavoidable part of experiencing the dominant religion in any context. This comes out of a lot of things that I have observed and read over the years about the way Christianity has to exist in the context of “folk religion” here in the mountains of Ky, but “folk religion” exists everywhere, and has to be separated from Christianity. Where I might surprise you is I think we need an attitude that is a balance between charitable and straightforward. I am ready to let my Charismatic/Pentecostal friends practice their folk religion, as long as they understand the Gospel and keep their hands off the essence of what makes us right with God. Problem is, when folk religion combines with heresy, which is not cultural flavor but essential error. Then we have a problem. The charismatic/Pentecostal misplacement of the Bible in favor of prophecies is a good example. When I get emails newsletters from the Kansas City bunch, it is clearly no longer Christianity. I hate to say it, but they have moved the focus of revelation and the heart of the whole system away from the Bible and the cross to the drama of what God is doing in these last days with churches and people who are into their thing.

So I raise my glass to the BHT, a fine group of the most un-spiritual guys I ever met!

Michael: Just got around to reading the fanaticism part 2 piece. Good stuff, as always. The section about you having an insufficient spirituality to satisfy your peers resonated with my own experience. The difference being that I have no occupational obligation to be “spiritual.” For the brief time I led worship in a small church, sometimes folks would talk to me about some mystical mumbo jumbo. I usually told them I’m not very “spiritual.” Not what they expected from the worship leader.

In the small, informal Bible studies I attended, I would listen to all kinds of vague speculation and religio-speak about what a particular Proverb meant until forced to comment by the pastor. My response was usually that very little of what they were saying made sense to me and that most of Proverbs seemed, to me, to be stating the blindingly obvious. Lazy men will go hungry. Duh!

In my dotage, I have become impatient with “spiritual” people who want to engage in some mushy church-speak but have no interest in applying the gospel to their own lives in basic and practical ways, like loving their wife as Christ loves the church. If you really believe the gospel, it will change how you live. And I don’t think the result will look very “religious” as much as it will look like a very practical way to love your neighbor. After all, true religion, as defined by James, isn’t very “spiritual” or “religious” in the sense we think of religious, but it is very practical.

Happy Lord’s day everyone.

One of the benefits of going to a big rich UM church. This morning a visiting choir massed with ours, and a full-blown orchestra, to present Rutter’s Requiem. It was magnificent. Oh, to be able to worship communally in such a musical setting more often. I love hearing the gospel preached, but man I love that high artsy church music too. Don’t think I’ll be getting much of that in the much smaller and more modest PCA church I intend to join after moving…

I am taking the Internet Monk front page down for a week. It’s for mysterious, but highly practical, reasons of my own. If you must know, ask me in the Wine Cellar or write me. I do have a link to the BHT and my latest article up though.

I have a decent feeling about the war this morning. Not that my feelings matter, but the capture of a general, and a terrorist camp, and the beginnings of more and more civilian support have me feeling good. I think when the innards of this “hospital” are exposed, Chirac will start to look like the appeasing coward that he is.

The DeGenova address thing broke on Blogs of War Yesterday——long after it broke here.

Have a good Lord’s Day. I will try to be around in the Wine Cellar tonight 9-ish. (EST)

I just got back from a Five Iron Frenzy concert and it quite amazes me the power of music to move the soul. Count it as another blessing from God in this dark time.

Supposedly they found evidence of some executed American POW’s.

Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day. And what will I be doing? Resting? Certainly not! There is “church to do.”

And when you’re done laughing at the antics of that clown, head over to Broken Newz for some Onion-style humor. My favorite headline: Pentagon Concerned Saddam May Set Fire To His Risk Cards.

Guess I wasn’t the only one who found Michael Moore’s comments at the Oscars to be ironic, considering he was getting “Best documentary” for a work of … fiction.

This from Arab News, again courtesy of the Corner:

He said: “There are people from Baath here reporting everything that goes on. There are cameras here recording our faces. If the Americans were to withdraw and everything were to return to the way it was before, we want to make sure that we survive the massacre that would follow as Baath go house to house killing anyone who voiced opposition to Saddam. In public, we always pledge our allegiance to Saddam, but in our hearts we feel something else.”

Broken is the new normal.

A few weeks after 9/11, I noticed that there really seemed to be an underlying desire to “get things back to normal”. I won’t lie, I want things back to “normal” just as bad as everybody, but it’s ultimately naive. I think the problem our society has today is that we have such a short attention span, we have short-circuited our memories. Joe Average can’t think back to the Persian Gulf war, much less can he draw upon the lessons of WW2. We can’t fight terrorism if we subscribe to the “close your eyes and hope it goes away” mentality. We’ve gotta do what we’ve gotta do. It’s not going to make us friends, but I’d rather have to listen to Jacques Chirac piss and moan than see more skyscrapers fall.

A British journalist goes into Basra. This story really underlines the terror the Iraqi people are experiencing from a regime that won’t face the inevitable.

Josh Marshall says: “Prior to the war, the president himself never quite said this openly. But hawkish neoconservatives within his administration gave strong hints. In February, Undersecretary of State John Bolton told Israeli officials that after defeating Iraq, the United States would “deal with” Iran, Syria, and North Korea. Meanwhile, neoconservative journalists have been channeling the administration’s thinking. Late last month, The Weekly Standard’s Jeffrey Bell reported that the administration has in mind a “world war between the United States and a political wing of Islamic fundamentalism … a war of such reach and magnitude [that] the invasion of Iraq, or the capture of top al Qaeda commanders, should be seen as tactical events in a series of moves and countermoves stretching well into the future.”

So…once we make the assumption that the Bush administration is full of people who want a new Roman Empire, then we start looking for “hints” in all their statements and writings and, lo and behold, there they are? I assume Mr. Marshall would be approving of those who would have responded to recent events with some speeches at the U.N., a few missles and more money and food aid for certain Middle East countries. The “Gee, we’re sorry we are America” approach. We sure deserved that. We’ve learned our lesson.”

I cannot see that what is going on here is part of any conspiracy. I’m kindof a dumb guy, and I have it figured out just by listening to the President.

September 20, 2001. The ruins of the WTC and the Pentagon are still smoldering. The bodies of thousands of Americans and others lie desecrated in the horror. The ruins of Flight 93 are still in a field in Pennsylvania. Our President stood before the entire world and said the following:

“We will direct every resource at our command—every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapon of war—to the destruction and to the defeat of the global terror network.

Now, this war will not be like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with a decisive liberation of territory and a swift conclusion. It will not look like the air war above Kosovo two years ago, where no ground troops were used and not a single American was lost in combat.

Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes. Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have ever seen. It may include dramatic strikes visible on TV and covert operations secret even in success.

We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place until there is no refuge or no rest.

And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation in every region now has a decision to make: Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists.

From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime…”

State of the Union 2002:

“But some governments will be timid in the face of terror. And make no mistake about it: If they do not act, America will.

Our second goal is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening America or our friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction...

Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax and nerve gas and nuclear weapons for over a decade. This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens, leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world.

States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic. ..

And all nations should know: America will do what is necessary to ensure our nation’s security.

We’ll be deliberate, yet time is not on our side. I will not wait on events while dangers gather. I will not stand by as peril draws closer and closer. The United States of America will not permit the world’s most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world’s most destructive weapons.

Our war on terror is well begun, but it is only begun. This campaign may not be finished on our watch, yet it must be and it will be waged on our watch. ”

Someone over at The Corner is suggesting that the pause is so Franks can develop contingency plans to engage Syrian mechanized forces in the event that they come to the aid of the Iraqis as we get closer to Baghdad. When I heard about the pause last night, I was ready to make jokes about “Operation Desert Stall,” but believe me, people, any scenario where either Syria or Iran enter the current war is a nightmare. Syrian military engagement will likely bring Israel into the conflict, and at that point we all better hope that our exegesis is correct and LaHaye’s is wrong. Not to mention that the thought of us dropping bombs on Damascus is a bit close to home for my family. I keep thinking about that line from The Hunt for Red October, where the guy on the Aircraft carrier says, “This will continue until it gets out of hand…”

Michael, Robert probably can better speak to what the free version of LJ can do. I’m a paid user, which gives me a few more options, and it’s hard for me to tell at this point what is “standard” vs. “premium.”

Here’s an attempt at newsroom humor:

Washington, DC. – Embattled US President George W. Bush promised today that US forces will be successful in defending against the coalition of liberal forces bearing down on the now-isolated country. “We will not stop until rivers run red with the blood of these aggressors. Amen,” Bush said. Analysts believe that Bush’s speech may have been a secret call-to-arms for the numerous bands of militant Calvinists spread in pockets throughout the country. These “Feyda-Jean” fighters are allegedly aligning with members of the Republican Old Guard in a desperate last-ditch effort to repel the attack.

“Bush, as a Methodist, has not always been allied with Calvinist Fundamentalist movements such as the Feyda-Jean,” historian Edward Said said in a telephone interview. “Many aspects of Methodism are repellant to these groups, who see themselves as the warriors of the True Church. And of course, Methodists have never accepted the doctrine of Double Secret Predestination that drives militant Calvinism. But Bush is an opportunist, and as the old Swiss saying goes, ‘the enemy of my enemy’s brother’s cousin’s hairdresser is probably not part of the axis of evil, unless he’s North Korean.’ Bush will have no problem accepting the help of these groups in the short term, but he’ll likely descend on them with the full fury of Wesleyan teaching once he has secured his power base.”

The Feyda-Jean believe that their enemies are predestined for eternal damnation, and that they are agents of God’s declared will. They also believe that if any of them are killed fighting for what they call “the Geneva Jihad,” they will immediately be taken directly to heaven, and given 72 Dutch virgins who will read Institutes and selections from Abraham Kuyper to them for all eternity. Their beliefs are considered extreme and outside the mainstream of modern Calvinism by many, including Dr. Paul Hoosterveerd a theology professor at Calvin Seminary in Mecca, Michigan. “Militant Calvinism uses faulty hermeneutics to arrive at conclusions that are, frankly, absurd,” Hoosterveerd said. “I mean, really, who on earth believes that 72 Dutch virgins even exist at any point in time? There certainly aren’t any around here.”

Here’s the Herald-Leader’s article. I thought this one was better researched and written than the AP one in the Boston Globe.

Check out Blogs of War. Good source.

MatthewJ: As a guy who has done a boatload of stupid things when angry, I sympathize, but the Gulf War Vet was out of hand on that one. I would certainly think the table settings could be a simple sign of support, and the seminary does exist in the context of America so that isn’t weird. But sending the notes to the media sounds like some kind of vendetta against somebody in the higher admin. Poor guy. Well motivated, but he’s screwed up and done a dumb thing.

I think that the flags they put on the tables were OK. Let’s pray for our troops. In the student center we display the flags of the countries from where all of our students, past and present, have come. Unfortunately the guy who runs the cafeteria, who is a Gulf War vet, took the flags of the US, UK, Australia, and Israel (as if they were doing something to help in this war) and put them in a prominent place in the cafeteria. To me this is bordering on nationalism rather than patriotism. The administration told him to return the flags to their appropriate place in the student center. This guy got pissed and apparantly, although we’re not really sure who did it, forwarded some postings from our campus message board to the media. Now, I understand that this guy wanted to show support for our troops; so do I. I can even understand him getting ticked that the administration told him to put the flags back where they belong. What I don’t understand is why someone would violate the trust of the seminary community by sending postings on our private E-mail system to the media. I’m really freaking pissed about this. On the other hand, the flags on the tables were removed and I disagree with that IF they were a reminder to pray for the troops. The leadership of community life did replace the flags with candles that had yellow ribbons tied around them. The idea was to pray for the safe return of ALL troops (not just US troops).

MatthewJ: Oh my. My worthless opinion. This guy is right: ‘’God’s people do not wave flags as the sign of conquest. We bear crosses as the sign of reconciliation,’’ but there is a problem. The American flag can be displayed as a sign of support for our troops. The person who ordered the flags removed was certainly jumping to a very subjective conclusion about waving flags as a sign of conquest. Some middle manager jumped the gun on this one.

Well, Asbury has made the news. I wish it were good news, but alas, it’s not. Also made the Herald Leader this morning. Spin control will be in full effect today.

Pssssst. Conspiracy theorists and Iraq war is about enriching the Bush crew people: Read this.

Eric: If you could have attached about 300,000 pages of that same note, it would work better. The bitter irony of who it is that gave this guy his right of free speech: dead soldiers.

Here’s the email I just sent to that d**k-headed professor. Too nice, I suppose, but here it is:

Dear sir,
Level-headed dialogue between those who think the war is a good idea and those who think it is a bad idea is good and should be encouraged.
You, on the other hand, are a sick, sick man. You need psychological counseling.
Have a nice day,
Eric Rigney
English Instructor
Madisonville Community College
Madisonville, KY

Robert: I like Joshua Micah Marshall’s blog. On the latest entry on the blog…

.....General Wes Clark is the general the Pentagon and others are referring to when they talk about retired Generals second guessing from their spots as paid commentators. Clark is running for the Democratic nomination for President. I like CNN, but the combo of the bizarre Aaron Brown (“What do I think think about the news?”) and Gen. Clark (“If I were President, here’s what I would be doing.”) is a bit more than a fragile conservative like myself can take.
.....However, the basic story over there is correct, and as we can all read this moring, the generals are pausing in the advance to strengthen parameters and supply lines, and not get into needless casualty trouble with these paramilitary/terrorist groups. A smart move, and the fact that the paramilitary/terrorist attacks on the supply lines was underestimated is an error that is correctable. In Vietnam, we didn’t correct that error for 3 years. We learned.

Daniel: I suggest War and Peace. Why go second class? Also, the clergy burnout article is deadly right on the money. It made me start the early stages of hyperventilation. I didn’t have bullets in the wall, but there is a church where I wouldn’t go now even if they were giving me a $1000 check. Hateful is the only word that works. 11 years here has been a cakewalk compared to the last two of my previous pastorate. Would you believe that most of the grief was because I brought in a female song leader? One clan was down to refusing to allow me to do funerals for people I visited daily. Ugh. Where’s Dr. Phil?

My buddy, Whip, got a copy of this article on clergy burnout on the preacher’s kids yahoo group. (He says there is one with mainly adult PKs, some “recovering”, and another of mainly teenagers that does a monthly newsletter of contributions from the PKs.) I thought some of you guys might find it interesting.

From the Fight Fire with Fire Dept. Speaking of which, I took a copy of the foxnews article and emailed it to professor Nicholas De Genova. If it doesn’t bounce, I’m thinking of pasting a full novel in text form from gutenburg.org and sending it to him. Haven’t decided which novel, yet.

Seems there’s a guy blogging in Baghdad. Might be interesting to read L.T. Smash and Salam Pax (you like that moniker?) and see if they converge.

I don’t often post fan mail, but this one just makes me feel too good. So add a year or two to my stay in purgatory and read:

“I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate all the work you put into writing articles and maintaining your website. I’m glad that there are still Christians who stress that emotionalism, fanaticism and anti-intellectualism are plagues to the Church and should be openly declared as such. Often times it seems that I’m alone in my beliefs in Reformed Theology, especially among my peers (I’m only a highschool senior); it seems like everyone is searching for this feel good religion in which their pastor does all the work, and then tells them about it on Sunday. I’m critized for “thinking too much” and for “disliking” too much stuff. Its only been in the past year that I discovered ‘Calvinism’ and ‘Reformed theology’, and because of that, I’ve realized that we are to ‘rightly divide the word,’ and that we should be constantly ‘reforming’ ourselves to scripture, and that we should be on the lookout for wolves in sheep’s clothing. I know a lot of new ‘reformationists’ jump from one fanatical position straight to the opposite. You’re heart for reformation has helped me to keep from doing that, its kept me from turning discernment into cynicism and intellectualism into arrogance. Once again, I greatly appreciate your work.” SDG, Brandon T. Milan

Jim: Can Noel design a Live Journal page with header and sidebar, etc as I do on here?

Michael, re: daughter blogging, my preference for LiveJournal’s approach should be well known around here by now. If she’s interested, I can “invite” her. (One of the cool things about LJ is that you can have private or “friends-only” posts – private to only those who can post, “Friends” are people who’re registered at LJ.) Also, you can update LJ using a client program that’s not a web browser – makes it easy to just plop what you’re thinking/doing/seeing onto the web.

Think Hollywood stars are smarter than Republican politicians? Guess again. On the other hand, given my horrible post-secondary education record, maybe there’s a rising star in my future?

Excuse me....Mr. Campolo….

And…”Meanwhile, officials from the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, are also planning a large relief effort in Iraq once the war ends. The International Mission Board has already sent about $200,000 in hunger funds and $50,000 in general relief funds to its workers in Amman, Jordan.”This is not just a great opportunity to do humanitarian work but to share God’s love,” said Sam Porter, state disaster relief director for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. “We understand that the individual people of Iraq have done nothing to hurt us. We want to help them to have true freedom in Jesus Christ.”

I have Prof DeGenova’s email addy. A Million more massacres. npd18@columbia.edu.This guy needs some mail- don’t you think?

Foxnews: “An academic furor was brewing Friday over a Columbia University professor who told thousands of students and faculty that he would like to see the United States defeated in Iraq and suffer “a million Mogadishus”—referring to the 1993 ambush in Somalia that killed 18 Americans. The professor, Nicholas De Genova, told a “teach-in” on Wednesday that “the only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military.” De Genova also asserted Americans who call themselves “patriots” are white supremacists. De Genova’s hopes for the defeat of the United States were cheered by the crowd of 3,000, according to newspaper reports. But his mention of the Somali ambush—“I personally would like to see a million Mogadishus”—was largely met with silence.

L.T. Smash- Live from the Sandbox is the soldier blogging from the gulf. Very good stuff. Some funny. Some serious.

Scrappleface has us listed on the sidebar today. Thanks dude.

My daughter wants to start a blog. Got any suggestions on cool ones for her to look at for inspiration?

Lennon Joins Dead Celebrities Opposed to War (2003-03-28)—John Lennon yesterday joined the list of dead celebrities who have come out in opposition to the war in Iraq.

Communicating with ITV News through his surviving wife, Yoko Ono, the late Beatle announced that he was angry with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and would “tell him off if I weren’t indisposed at the moment.”

The decomposing composer said that if he were still alive, he would have prevented the war by inviting all of his friends to his bedroom then chanting and singing.

“That’s how I stopped the Vietnam War, and it would have worked for this one too,” Mr. Lennon added. “But given my current position, perhaps I could participate in one of those die-ins.”

Tony Blair’s spokesman said, “Mr. Lennon has a right to protest. At least he won’t be blocking traffic.”

Campolo has a point. I think it would be great if Christians would organize humanitarian aid, though I think paying some attention to the USN might probably be in order. Campolo should have had the idea sooner. Esp if he really believes the propaganda about the embargo and numbers of children. Campolo always has something right and something wrong, but its the timing that gets me. Tony is way left, but wants to hang around the right. What’s up with that?

“Hardcore Calvinism.” Can I get that on DVD?

This is the website of the guy who changed his mind about the war after being in Iraq for a few days. Ken Joseph, and the Assyrian Christian News.

Not all Mennonites are pacifists, which was news to me.

More CHRISTIAN ROCKERS!!!!! “Their music is positive,” Pierce said after pulling a new purple X-Nilo hooded sweatshirt over her head. “And the guy who plays guitar is cute.”

I had an “end of rope” experience tonight. Brought in a woman for a concert. Had about a hundred kids show up. She was good. Has written stuff for Point of Grace and is very talented. Room was about 1/3 kids into it and 2/3 not into it. I had to police the thing because the dorm houseparents wouldn’t come help out. Which is fine- they have a job to do without doing mine. But the behavior all night was so bad—- I mean so very bad that I just don’t know if I can do it anymore. Notch me in the prayer list somewhere because something has to give. My philosophy has been to have something that was serious, worshipful, focused on Christians. But that’s a small group in that big room and the behavior of the rest is too much for me to deal with. I am out of ideas on what to do. Everyone thinks I am the only guy who can do this stuff, and I know that I am really finished…...Long sigh. Let’s watch a movie.

Campolo on Iraq. That should keep you folks busy.

I posted here at 9:20am, then again at 4:15pm and just after 6pm. Each of those represents the only short breaks in a work day that started at 6:30am for me and looks like it could go as late as 10pm. Hey, if you’re on AIM and you see me, drop me a note and let me know that someone outside this building is still alive.

One of our faithful lurkers, John Hendryx over at Monergism.com, has sent this link to some good stuff on what the writer calls “New-Gnostic Calvinism.” Knox wouldn’t be able to figure it out, but I can tell you its good and does identify a problem in the Calvinistic ranks.

Michael: I’ll confess to an even worse sin than failing to catch the Piper reference – I didn’t even read the article in question until after I posted. Had I done so, well, I might not have posted. That’s what I get for going out of town for four days and then reading top to bottom to catch up. Oops!

I’ll grant you that Piper is an examplar of reason and grace, and as much as the article attempted to link the two, it prevaricated. Okay, lied. Dirty rat b-st-rd!

As far as the RPW element goes, I just interj