The Tenacity of a Stonewall

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The Tenacity of a Stonewall

 David Alan Black 

In my office hangs the portrait of a man of God. This unassuming Virginian had not mere knowledge of the times but understanding as well. He knew what he ought to do. Today there is plenty of knowledge of the times but little understanding and even less a sense of duty.

General Jackson was not unlike many of us. He was born in humble circumstances. Yet he was more honorable than his brothers. He stood higher in character and integrity than many of his contemporaries. He called on the God of Israel. His prayer was, “Oh, that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!” (1 Chron. 4:9-10).

In a way, Jackson reminds me of a seeing-eye dog. This guide of the blind completes a rigorous course in which he learns one thing above all else: he lives for another, and everything is to be subordinated to being eyes for his sightless master. When he sees a cat, instead of chasing it as his nature would require, he looks straight ahead without the flicker of an eyelid. Jackson knew such devotion for his Lord. With his spiritual blinders helping him to look straight ahead he forgot the things behind and reached forward in single-minded service to God.

Feared he the battle? I dare say No! He realized that the victorious Christian life is not attainted in some peaceful retreat away from the noise and the din. It is not found through religious tranquilizers or in self-serving seeker sensitive services. Jackson was under constant pressure throughout his career yet peace was his in the midst of the conflict. I am not talking about a perfect man. There are no perfect Christians, but there can be undivided loyalty. Like Nehemiah, when confronted with distractions and temptations, he uttered, “I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down!”

It will take the rugged tenacity and inspired stubbornness of Jackson to see it through these difficult days. The temptation abounds to get by with shoddy work and build cheaper edifices, but we are to give our very best in view of the Day when our work will be made manifest. Jackson knew that the flesh profiteth nothing. He relied completely upon God. Likewise, all of our time, talents, and efforts spent in religious work will go for absolutely nothing if it is merely produced by the natural man.

Our Father would be pleased to give us much more if we had faith to ask for it. The fact is that there are few today who emulate the faith of a Lee or a Jackson. How we take the gospel for granted and forget the lordship of Christ! May the goodness of the Lord lead us to repentance!

September 14, 2005

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com. If you would like to know more about becoming a follower of King Jesus, please feel free to write Dave.

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Ten Timely Tips for Teachable Te

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Ten Timely Tips for Teachable Teachers

 David Alan Black  

First off, I want to apologize for breaking a cardinal rule of writing: Always avoid the apt art ofalliteration. That said, allow me to offer a few suggestions about the teaching trade. The semester is about to start, and we can all improve, right? Here we go:

1. Leave your office door open.

Always. There are two (and only two) exceptions: when you are having a private phone conversation, and when you already have a student in your office. Otherwise, you need to have an open door policy. It communicates tons to your students. It tells them you are never too busy to see them. It tells them they are important. It tells them they are not an “interruption.” You say, “It’s noisy in my office area!” Then leave the door open a crack. But DO NOT close it all that way – unless you want to tell your students to buzz off.

2. Answer your emails.

And I mean within 24 hours at the most. It’s called “courtesy.” I sometimes wait a week or longer to receive a response from an urgent email I’ve sent. I don’t like that, and neither do you. You’ll never know how much people treasure prompt replies to their emails until you try it. And forget that dumb “out of office reply.” Don’t you have a computer at home? Then use it!

3. Don’t answer your phone when meeting with a student.

I don’t care who is calling you. If the phone rings, let it ring. The student is likely to say, “Do you need to get that call?” You’ll say, “No, the machine will get it.” Then go right on talking to your visitor. Jim Elliott once put it this way: “Wherever you are, be all there, and live to the hilt whatever you are convinced is the will of God for your life.” Good advice, I’d say.

4. Put a welcome sign on your office door.

Mine says, “Welcome. Please come right in.” The point is obvious.

5. Be available.

This should be obvious but it ain’t. I have heard of faculty members whom it is impossible to contact. You can’t call them. You can’t email them. Everyone – and I mean everyone – has to go through a secretary. And the students have to wait and wait until they can get a precious appointment. Unless you’re an administrator (as in president of the institution), that is just plain wrong, folks. Accessibility is the right of a student. By being available you’re saying, “I’m here to serve you, not the other way around.” If you think students are there to serve you, then maybe you should look for another line of work.

6. Talk with students when you run into them on campus.

The least you can do is to say “hey” (that’s a North Carolina thing). There’s nothing wrong with chit-chatting. Students love it, and you will too.

7. Be punctual.

Here I’m not taking so much about the beginning of class (thought that’s important too) but the end. Students have the right to be dismissed on time. Don’t keep them over! If you must, at least let them know they are free to leave if they have to, even if you’re still talking. In short: keep your eye on the clock!

8. Never talk about your colleagues to your students.

“So you’re not teaching the class. Who would you recommend I take?” When I’m asked this question, I say “They’re all great.” And I never discuss personalities or giftedness. If the students really want to know anything about that professor, they will ask their peers – and will likely get an earful.

9. Be exciting in the classroom.

I once heard someone say, “There are no boring teachers. If they’re boring, they’re not teachers.” There’s a lot of truth to that observation. There’s nothing worse than a dull teacher. Don’t be one!

10. Make attendance optional.

I do. Always have. I never take roll. You see, if you don’t take attendance, and if you don’t make the student’s grade dependent on his or her attendance, that puts a premium on good teaching – where the emphasis should be anyway. Work hard to make your classes interesting and beneficial, and your students won’t want to miss them!

August 5, 2008

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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Ten Rules for Christian Bloggers

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Ten Rules for Christian Bloggers

 David Alan Black 

It’s been a real privilege to serve God through Dave Black Online these past two and a half years, and I thank the Lord for all the friends I’ve made via the Internet. It is to these good folk in particular that I offer a few “rules” for bloggers – well, suggestions, at least – that I hope will be an encouragement.  

1. “In the beginning, God…” (Gen. 1:1). If the Bible begins with God, so must we. We will never be able to do what He wants us to do unless we are prepared in advanced, not only sanctified against tomorrow but fortified for today. How foolish to think we can do anything for Him without Him!

2. “Therefore I have set my face like a flint…” (Isa. 50:7). Elsewhere Paul says, “This one thing I do…” (Phil. 3:13). Let us make up our minds on this one thing: to magnify the Lord Jesus in everything we write. We must make it clear that we do all Soli Deo Gloria – to the glory of God alone. Let Christ be preeminent and all-inclusive in our writing, in word and in spirit.

3. “And they, continuing daily…” (Acts 2:46). It takes a lot of grace to do something every day, but it is in the monotonous trudge that we ply our trade. First, we must take up our cross daily and follow the Lord. Then we are to exhort one another daily, verbalizing what the Lord lays on our heart. Christianity talks. We repent with words, believe with words, praise with words, testify with words. Let not doubt make us dumb as it did Zacharias.

4. “Do not fear …” (Rev. 2:9). Fear not what man might think or say. Our supreme business is not survival or success or self-satisfaction. What matters is stewardship. Be not fearful of pseudo-Christianity, false orthodoxy, or simulated piety. Be faithful and not fearful.

5. “Although the fig tree may not blossom…” (Hab. 3:17). We have no Pollyanna God. Oftentimes we will face grim, hard times, and if we cannot transform them we can transcend them and praise God anyhow. When things don’t make sense and demons dance with glee, say “Hallelujah” anyway!

6. “Will ye also go away?” (John 6:67). Today people want a political kingdom of prosperity but have no appetite for Jesus’ real message and mission. Jesus gladly thinned His crowd, and when they departed He did not change His message to bring them back. Be prepared for a thinning crowd but also for a Faithful Remnant of devoted readers.

7. “The day will reveal it” (1 Cor. 3:13). Except the Lord build the blog we labor in vain who build it. But He who has begun a good work among us will complete it. Give it your best in view of that Day when every man’s work will be manifested.

8. “But when he was strong…” (2 Chron. 26:16). As long as Uzziah sought God he prospered. But when he was strong his heart was lifted up to destruction. We collapse not in a time of failure but at the peak of success, so “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Beware popularity!

9. “Well done…” (Matt 25:23). Notice that Jesus said “Well done.” A good and faithful servant’s work is not merely done, but done well. Every time we write there will be wood, hay, and stubble, but our desire must always be to build with gold, silver, and precious stones. My builder son takes pride in his work like the old craftsmen and artisans who turned out flawless masterpieces. Something of the same spirit must enter our spiritual labors. There is much shoddy Christianity today, but low-grade effort is not acceptable to those who are doing their human best in the power of the Holy Spirit. Ask yourself at the end of the day: Was my work merely “done” or done “well”?

10. “And the Lord shut him in” (Gen. 7:16). God both opens and closes doors. He opens and shuts the doors of Christian service as well as the door of salvation. Someday He may shut the door to our blogs. The important thing will be to be on the right side of the door like Noah when that happens.

March 3, 2005

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com. If you would like to know more about becoming a follower of King Jesus, please feel free to write Dave.

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The Ten Commandments and the Tenth Amendment

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

                

The Ten Commandments and the Tenth Amendment

Mike Scruggs 

The function of the U. S. Constitution is to define and limit the powers of the federal government. It was ratified by the people of the States. From this ratification and consent by the people of the respective States, the U. S. Constitution derives its validity. The Tenth Amendment was meant as a final reinforcement and written guarantee that the powers of the U. S. Government would be limited only to those enumerated in the Constitution. This was a safeguard against the infringement of rights and powers retained by the States and their people. It was also a safeguard against the tyranny, despotism, and abuses, which have so frequently in history evolved from unchecked centralized power. The wording of the Amendment is very brief and to the point:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Thus the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches and subsidiaries of the federal government have only those powers and those powers alone that are delegated to them by the Constitution. All other powers are reserved to the States or the people and are thereby prohibited to the federal government except by Amendment to the Constitution, which would require not only Congressional approval including two thirds of both the U. S. House and the U. S. Senate, but the approval of three quarters of the States.

It is important to note here that the people of the States do not derive their rights from the federal judiciary, nor have they by any means since delegated that power to federal judges. The people of the States have reserved the power to determine their unalienable rights to themselves. The Tenth Amendment thus cannot be left to the federal government and its courts to ignore or interpret for itself. A defining characteristic of a constitutional government is that power must not be allowed to define its own limits. Power must be checked and restrained by equal or greater power.

Federal judges in their rulings ought to insist on rigorous compliance to the Tenth Amendment. Congress should further insist on not only its own compliance, but also the compliance of the Courts. However, it is ultimately up to the States to insist on their own rights and enforce compliance by every honorable means at their disposal.

Failure to honor and enforce the Tenth Amendment by the Judiciary, Congress, the States, and the People has spawned an ever-escalating abuse of power, social nonsense and evil, and political chaos.  In its misguided and unconstitutional zeal to impose a liberal and godless social agenda on the American people, the Federal Judiciary has over-stepped its powers so often that judicial tyranny is now accepted and defended as “The Rule of Law.”  There is quite a bit of difference between the Rule of Law, which in the U. S. is constitutionally based, and the rule of judges legislating their own agenda.  Federal judges who flout the Tenth Amendment, distort the First amendment beyond recognition, and create federal powers not enumerated in the Constitution are not upholding the Rule of Law. They are destroying law and have become tyrants.

Who will check such tyranny?  The American people have been lulled into complacent surrender of the principles we inherited as a constitutional and federal republic. The majority of our elected officials do not seem to possess the political and moral courage to defend our rights. Who will defend the Republic and our rights? 

There are historical, Christian precedents and traditions going all the way back to the Magna Carta in England in 1215 that call for “interposition” of civil magistrates against unlawful decrees and usurpations by rulers. This approach was endorsed by Calvin, Knox, Rutherford, and many others in the sixteenth century and provided much of the rationale for the American Revolution. 

The bottom line here is that when federal judges give decrees that are obviously unconstitutional or which overstep their constitutional jurisdiction they are acting unlawfully. It is the duty of other civil magistrates to say, “No, this must be contested.” This could be done by Congress or State governments. Again, the very essence of preventing tyranny in a republic is that power must not be able to define its own limits.  The federal judiciary must be kept in check by Congress and/or the States. The horizontal separation of powers in the Constitution between the Executive, Legislative and Coercing Virtue: The Worldwide Rule of Judges by Bork, Robert H.Judiciary is well known to most people. What is less known, but still very applicable is the vertical separation of powers between the federal and state governments.

Robert H. Bork has a new book, Coercing Virtue, the Worldwide Rule of Judges.  In this book Bork traces the transformation of American culture by liberal judges hell bent on imposing a radical and anti-Christian humanism on society by means of judicial fiat. This effort seems to have emerged in the 1950s and has been very successful in displacing the older American traditions with the new socially engineered leftist agenda.

The progress of this judicially imposed radicalism has been steady and is now gaining unprecedented momentum. It reminds one very much of the old Mark Twain story about boiling frogs in water. If you heat the water up slowly the frogs are cooked before they realize what happened to them. Around the world free or formerly free peoples have shown a tendency not to resist or even to recognize judicial tyranny.

Somewhere, some place, some civil magistrate or preferably many civil magistrates must stand up and say, “No.” Alexander the Great once remarked that the peoples of Asia were slaves because they would not learn to pronounce the word, “No.” Let that not be the epitaph of the American Republic, of religious liberty, or of the influence of Christian teaching in society.

In regard to the recent issue of the Ten Commandments in the Alabama Judicial building, there are those who say that this was not a good case to protest. It would have been better if the monument was ordered by the State Legislature, etc. Indeed it would have been better, but we will never find the perfect issue, the perfect man, and the perfect time, or the perfect circumstances to resist tyranny. Each victory of a wayward federal judiciary tightens the noose around freedoms neck a bit tighter. The frog has been heated a bit closer to the point of his being unable to resist. At this point, standing up and saying, “No” is far more important than what influence Judge Moore or others might have by staying on the bench and getting in a few just rulings now and then.  Otherwise just judges will find their ability to render justice increasingly hampered and overturned by a federal judiciary legislating a radical liberal agenda unfettered by reasonable constitutional interpretation.

In the face of increasing judicial tyranny it is high time more of our elected civil magistrates learned to pronounce the word, “No.”  It is high time we rediscovered the neglected and suppressed Tenth Amendment and the doctrine of interposition.

The Rule of Law is not the rule of judges.  It is the rule of the people through Federal and State Constitutions duly authorized by them in their respective states and interpreted according to their original and common sense meaning.  Judge Moore is right.  The federal government and its courts are constantly violating the Tenth Amendment and the true Rule of Law.  These transgressions against the Constitution and the people cannot be tolerated

Courage seems to be the critical virtue needed to save our Republic.  It would be well to remember the words of Samuel Johnson (1709-1784):

“Where courage is not, no other virtue can survive except by accident.”

 Let us hope and pray that courage will not be in such short supply among our elected officials that our Republic and our liberties should be suffered to perish and be swept into the dust bin of history.  Let us hope that the words of South Carolinian Henry Laurens (1724-1792) will prove as true of our time as in his:

“At a time when liberty is under attack, decency under assault, the family under siege, and life itself is threatened, the good will arise in truth; they will arise in truth with the very essence and substance of their lives;  they will arise in truth never shying from the Standard of Truth, never shrinking from the Author of Truth.”

Judge Moore is right on the Constitution and right on the Ten Commandments.  The Tenth Amendment is essential to our liberties and has not been repealed.  We cannot allow the First Amendment, guaranteeing our religious freedoms, to be turned upside down by black- robed tyrants.

 Judge Moore has raised a banner of truth and courage. To very roughly paraphrase the words of Robert Burns attributed to Robert the Bruce:

“Let those who would fill a coward’s grave turn and flee, but let the true and the brave join in striking a blow for liberty.”

More public officials need to pluck up their courage and defend the Constitution, our Christian heritage, and the liberties of the people who elected them. Otherwise our freedoms will soon be in extreme jeopardy.  May it never be!

February 17, 2004

Mike Scruggs lives in Birmingham, Alabama. He may be reached for comment here.

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Ten Best Books for Studying New

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Ten Best Books for Studying New Testament Greek

 David Alan Black  

For what it’s worth, I offer here a list of a few of my favorite books on New Testament Greek grammar. I hope this listing may stir some reader to an ambition to learn the language and learn it well. I fully realize that this catalog will be outdated as soon as it is published. I also exclude from it my own publications in the field, not because I believe them to be badly written, but because their author is hopelessly biased.

On, then, to the Ten Best Books for Studying New Testament Greek (in no particular order):

1. William Mounce,Basics of Biblical Greek.

Mounce’s beginning grammar remains perhaps the most widely used introductory textbook of New Testament Greek. Speaking as an author of a beginning Greek textbook, I am glad that Mounce’s grammar has had the recognition it so richly deserves and offer my best wishes for its continuance, since the book is a great service to students everywhere. No matter which beginning textbook you used, you will need to own this grammar as well.

2. Dan Wallace,Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics.

Wallace’s intermediate grammar is a tour de force. It is absolutely impossible to describe the profundity of this book. I prefer to recommend it to you and then let you discover its treasures. The pedagogical implications, however, are such that I cannot agree to them without compromising what is dearest to me as a teacher — simplicity. It would do good service if one day the book could be rewritten and placed on a slightly lower shelf. Oh wait — this hasalready been done!

3. A. T. Robertson,A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research.

I seldom felt so pitifully incompetent as when I first picked up this book. It almost counts as a “mental autobiography.” Robertson tried to show the effect, upon a growing new science, of the profound transformation that modern linguistics had brought in the way scholars approached the Greek of the New Testament. Most modern teachers of Greek give the book faint praise, then promptly ignore it. In my opinion, that is a huge mistake. I require the book in my Advanced Greek Grammar course, but even intermediate level students who are willing to work will benefit from it.

4. Robert Funk,Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature.

At the Amazon site, Dan Wallace writes:

BDF is still the standard Greek grammar of the New Testament even after four decades. It is in the process of being revised (by a revision committee of eight members), but the revision will take several more years to complete. We felt it needed revision because BDF presupposes that the average reader has had much exposure to classical Greek prior to working in the New Testament. This is part of the reason that BDF is so hard to use: most NT students have not had exposure to classical Greek nowadays. Another reason is its cryptic nature, Teutonic abbreviations, and omission of ‘normal’ grammar. Nevertheless, even with these shortcomings, every responsible exegete of the New Testament must own a copy of this goldmine of information.

Enough said.

5. Peter Cotterell and Max Turner,Linguistics and Biblical Interpretation. In a sense this book could be called a popularization. It seeks to bring linguistics within the grasp of educated people in general rather than leave it in the possession of a closed and mysterious community. The authors have selected the thinkers in the field who have good judgment, and their own comments are accurate and clear as well.

6. Moisés Silva,Biblical Words and Their Meaning. This book is a retreat from the radicalism of an earlier generation of New Testament teachers that believed in “Holy Ghost” Greek. Silva’s exegetical acumen fitted him well for writing a book on lexicography. This book inveighed me into actually delving into linguistics myself, and when eventually I produced my own book on linguistics it was Silva who agreed to write the preface.

7. Stanley Porter,Verbal Aspect in the Greek of the New Testament, with Reference to Tense and Mood. This book, which suffers from gigantism, deserves a prominent place in my list because it opened an important can of worms known today as the verbal aspect debate. You mustn’t expect clarity from Dr. Porter, but you must read this book. Porter impresses me as one who has his finger on the heartbeat of the problem, though I disagree with many of his conclusions.

8. Maximilian Zerwick,Biblical Greek. When I was in seminary I was introduced to this book and lived with it night and day. Despite its recklessly ambitious preface the book largely accomplishes what it sets out to do: introduce the reader to all the categories of New Testament Greek grammar in an understandable way. It really is a first-rate piece of work.

9.  Neal Windham,New Testament Greek for Preachers and Teachers. What a pleasant surprise when I first laid eyes on this book! It covers six different areas of reading one’s Greek New Testament, including morphology and the Greek cases. Why it has not attracted more attention is beyond me. I feel it is one of the most underrated books of our generation, and I’d dearly like to see it read by every student of New Testament Greek.

10. Rodney Decker,Koine Greek Reader: Selections from the New Testament, Septuagint, and Early Christian Writers. Having taught Greek for 34 years I can say with conviction that nothing is more important to the mastery of New Testament Greek than keeping our students in the text. Decker’s book is simply the best reader available today. The readings are all engaging, and the notes are both accurate and helpful. Decker will stretch your students without breaking them. The book is also very user-friendly for the independent learner.  

Addendum (updated 12/28/2018):

Here are five additional books that are well worth acquiring for your personal library.

11. Steven Runge,Discourse Grammar of the Greek New Testament: A Practical Introduction for Teaching and Exegesis.

12. Constantine Campbell,Advances in the Study of Greek: New Insights for Reading the Greek New Testament.

13. Andreas Köstenberger, Benjamin Merkle, Robert Plummer,Going Deeper with New Testament Greek: An Intermediate Study of the Grammar and Syntax of the New Testament.

14. Steven Runge,The Greek Verb Revisited: A Fresh Approach for Biblical Exegesis.

15. Stanley Porter,Linguistic Analysis of the Greek New Testament: Studies in Tools, Methods, and Practice.

Obviously, by composing this list of what I believe to be essential books for students of New Testament Greek grammar, I have no intention of imposing upon them harsh punishment. I can only speak personally, and — speaking personally — I have found each of these books to be a fascinating and helpful read. I surmise you will too. Like all books, they contain unforgivable omissions, and many pay far too little attention to English style. But they all have one thing in common: they will destroy your smugness. The sin of many seminarians is what the ancient Greeks called hubris — arrogance in the midst of prosperity. I am partly to blame if my students graduate with a head full of knowledge and a heart full of pride. I know of nothing that will dispel our inflated egos quite like seeing how much we don’t know. We are all imperfect teachers, but we may be forgiven if we have at least tried to warn our students against self-satisfied complacency.

At any rate: Happy Reading!

November 24, 2010

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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