restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Our National Hubris: An Abomination Before God

 David Alan Black

The decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the causes of destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest. – Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

An inscription from the immortal speech of Patrick Henry reads: “Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

How strange these words sound today when physical pleasure has become the chief end of man, when we risk liberty for “security” and may lose both!

Charles Haddon Spurgeon once wrote of “sanguine brethren who are looking forward to everything growing better and better, until this present age ripens into a millennium.” He concluded: “Apart from the Second Advent of our Lord, the world is more likely to sink into a pandemonium than to rise to a millennium.” Spurgeon predicted that there would spring up in the church “a body of faithless men who profess to have faith, unsaintly men who will unite with the saints; men having the form of godliness, but denying the power.”

Today the church is busy with committees to study this or that and commissions to deal with this and that and campaigns to do this and that when we are overlooking the real issue. The one thing that is destroying America more than anything else is our godless pride and self-worship.

The Latin term for pride is superbia, deriving from the adjective superbus, itself formed from super, “above.” The superbus is a man who thinks he is a cut above others. To take a proper pride in one’s work or family because of their excellence, or to aim at such excellence, is to be in danger of becoming proud in the bad sense—of becoming superior to others, contemptuous of them, haughty, arrogant, and bossy.

The Greek New Testament has two main words that are rendered “pride”: alazoneia, which basically means boastfulness, and hyperephania, which basically means arrogance. In addition, there are phrases that include the word hypselos (“high”), such as “a high heart” and “high-minded.” These terms give us a succinct definition of pride: “the inordinate appetite for one’s own superiority.”

What makes pride the gravest of all sins is not the positive object aimed at in the sin (say, pleasure or power) but the turning away from God, what theologians call the aversio a Deo (the opposite of conversio ad Deum) that is involved in it. Pride means turning away from God by refusing to subject oneself to His rule. That’s why pride is not merely one of the seven deadly sins; it is rather, as Saint Gregory said, “the queen of vices.”

In Philippians 2:5-11, Paul takes us to Genesis by contrasting Christ’s obedience and humility with Adam’s disobedience and pride. The man Christ Jesus, though being in God’s perfect image, did not count equality with God as being something to be grabbed, but waited until it was given Him as a reward for taking the form of a slave and humbling himself unto death, even the death of a common criminal. Adam, on the other hand, with the assistance of Eve, had counted equality with God as something to be greedily clutched by eating the fruit that would open his eyes and make him like God (Gen 3:4).

Note that the first sin was not the sin of disobedience, of eating the forbidden fruit, but the sin of pride that prompted it, of self-exaltation to the extent of wanting to be like God, to be equal to God—a sin repeated on a universal scale a few chapters later with the attempt to build the tower of Babel: “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves!” (Genesis 11:4). Let us build a tower with its apex in the heavens, so that we can climb up and look God in the eye and say, “Look, God, we’re on a level with you! We can do everything you can!”

Dear friends, I ask you: Isn’t that the root sin of our contemporary American exceedingly skilled, technically brilliant, scientific, empire-crazed civilization? Do you recall the president’s remarks in his speech to the American Enterprise Institute? Had I not known who made these remarks I might have thought a petty tyrant was speaking, not the leader of the Free World. Read them and decide for yourself whether these are the words of an empire-builder or a public servant:

We go forward with confidence, because we trust in the power of human freedom to change lives and nations. By the resolve and purpose of America, and of our friends and allies, we will make this an age of progress and liberty. Free people will set the course of history, and free people will keep the peace of the world.

The president says “we trust in the power of human freedom to change lives and nations”? He speaks of “an age of progress and liberty.” This is liberal humanism, pure and simple! Like most politicians, Bush believes that social change, here and abroad, is the result of politics and state coercion. He believes that society can be radically altered by means of state-financed public education, health education, welfare programs, speech codes, etc. Conservative Christians, on the other hand, believe in regeneration (John 3:3). Men and societies are not changed by politics, but by God!

We Americans don’t just exercise our incomparable values at home, we’re happy to share them with the world. America is remaking the world in its image. The theorem is: Globalization = Westernization = Americanization. For instance, at LA’s Shadow Convention in July, 2000, Sen. John McCain said: “I believe in American exceptionalism. I believe we were meant to transform history. I believe that the progress of all humanity will depend, as it has for many years now, on the global progress of American interests and values. I believe we are still the last, best hope of earth.” All the while, opponents of the Americanization of the globe are treated as vermin. What vanity! Yes, it is vanity to court honor with worldly potentates and to be puffed up with visions of grandeur. It is vanity to trust in the “progress of humanity” and in riches that perish. It is vanity to wish for long life and to care little about a well-lived life. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, except to love God and serve Him in brokenness and humility!

Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Writing to the church at Rome, Paul said, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment” (Romans 12:3). Arrogant pride is despicable in the eyes of God. Only through God’s help can we be the humble people the Bible honors. As David prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23, 24).

A wrongful pride has wormed its way into American society on a national level. Even when our pride is not openly blatant, because we intentionally hide its presence, it still saps the spiritual life that complete dependence on God provides.

In an age of heady globalization, Americans no longer fear the Almighty. We prefer instead the axis of hubris, the officious strut, the Brave New World.

Too bad. 

July 18, 2003

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

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Our Magnificent Constitution

 David Alan Black

In a day in which tradition is in disarray (not least in our theological institutions) and a cacophony of ideological pragmatisms distorts our vision, a document is available for renewing the conversation of present with past in a responsible move away from Robert Bork’s “slouching toward Gomorrah.” Governors and governed, believers and unbelievers, learned and unlearned, the renowned and the unknown, seekers and cynics— all are invited through this document to become involved again—or for the first time in their lives—in what it takes to be and to stay free in America, by beginning at a critical and unavoidable beginning.

It is a superb document—at once timely and timeless! Its theme is the relation between the people and their government both in doctrine and practice, and its purpose is to safeguard liberty from those who would be tyrants. It provides an unassailable condemnation of state theology, recognizing instead the need for a prophetic theology as the authentic voice of the church in calling itself and the secular state to account and in taking responsibility for bringing justice and power together for the freedom, peace, and good of all.

The timeliness of this document is evident from its emergence from within the very eye of the storm as a response from American society to the crisis confronting church and state at home and ineluctably in the world. Its authors’ acute discernment and competent probing of the meaning of freedom has made available a guidebook of such reliable and succinctly formulated insight as to make it an indispensable manual for liberty-lovers worldwide. The cry of suffering that prompted it is a call to renewal and responsibility of church and state, both in themselves and in their dealings with each other throughout the nation.

In a time of social and cultural fragmentation, relativization, and bureaucratization of private and public values, a guidebook is at hand for the discovery of a path toward the rebirth of the American Republic as envisioned by our Founding Fathers. It deserves a major commitment of serious study, reflection, and conversation within the community of faith. Should church congregations and governing bodies take it up for repeated reading; should teachers give it frequent place among their curricular offerings at foundational and graduate levels; should the reading and searching of this document again become the companions of the reading and searching of the Scriptures—then at town hall meetings, in the workplaces of the land, in study centers, in the halls of Congress, and in the ongoing lives of citizens, it is to be hoped that the nation will find itself overtaken by a divine visitation for the renewal of its own faith and practice, of the society for which the church shares responsibility with the state, and thus also of the state itself.

Its message is vital because without understanding the nature and source of our problems there can be no solutions. Clearly we must discern causes from effects and then we must cure the cause if we, and our posterity, are to truly live in the Land of the Free. Many of its truths are being accepted as “self-evident” by hundreds of thousands of Americans across our troubled land today. It is a painfully hard pill to swallow as an awareness grows and eventually becomes self-evident that we have been cunningly deceived and coerced by myriad ways into contracting away our God-given rights in exchange for a pottage of privileges. We have got to wake up to the real facts or we will lose any traces of freedom that we have left.

True freedom bears a price tag, which is eternal vigilance, and our most dangerous enemy is our own apathy. Freedom is not a thing that is granted or taken away from a citizen at the whim of a destructive or benevolent government; it is a God-given right that no man or government has the right to control. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” says the Bible (Hosea 4:6), and we must get the knowledge out to the people now or we will surely perish. Either we put an end to Big Brother government, or Big Brother will put an end to our freedom.

You say, How can I possibly make a difference? First, read the Constitution. Secondly, make sure you understand the meanings of the words you have just read. Third, obey the law as written.

Freedom belongs only to the vigilant—and the informed. Now is the time for patriotic Americans to do what we should have done in the beginning of our nation, and that is to preserve, protect, and defend our Constitution and to be vigilant and conscientious that it is not violated.

And this we will do, so help us God!

July 5, 2003

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

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Our Jealous God

 David Alan Black

I wish I could put into words what I have increasingly felt about our nation in the past few years. I believe that when the Bible says that our God is a jealous God it is saying something far deeper than we usually realize. Our God is not only a jealous God (Exod. 20:5); His very name is Jealous (Exod. 34:14). He will share His glory with no other.

In the Old Testament, God’s jealousy was vented against idol-worship, which is a breach of the Second Commandment. Of Israel, God’s unfaithful wife who went whoring after other gods, the Lord proclaims, “I will judge you as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged” (Ezek. 16:38).

Likewise, I believe God demands from His covenant people today utter and complete faithfulness. John Calvin put it this way (Institutes, II, viii, 18):

As the purer and chaster a husband is, the more grievously he is offended when he sees his wife inclining to a rival; so the Lord, who has betrothed us to Himself in truth, declares that He burns with the hottest jealousy whenever, neglecting the purity of His holy marriage, we defile ourselves with abominable lusts, and especially when the worship of His deity, which ought to have been most carefully kept unimpaired, is transferred to another, or adulterated with some superstition; since in this way we not only violate our plighted troth, but defile the nuptial couch, by giving access to adulterers.

America today has “inclined to a rival.” We have transferred “the worship of His deity” to another – the almighty state. Uncompromising men are scarcely to be found. We love our political parties, our elected officials, our hallowed associations more than we love Him whose name is Jealous.

As long as we set up our little gods to which we must be loyal there will be the all-seeing God, burning “with the hottest jealousy.” We cannot escape this Flame of the Presence merely by going through the motions of Christianity. We must cry out with Peter, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

Lao-tze, the Chinese sage, said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a first step.” God desires to bring our nation back into a right relationship with Him, but this requires, first and foremost, that our sins be acknowledged and forsaken. The adulterers in our midst must be exposed and our nuptial couch cleansed.

Mark my words. No liberalism with its denial of the Bible as the Word of God could ever be worse than the conservatism that equates the warfare-welfare state with biblical Christianity. Modern day conservatism is so completely destructive of true biblical Christianity that I would not for a moment even seem to equate the two.

The only solution is to renounce our harlotry with the state – to say “Yes” to the right doctrines and, without compromise, to say “No” to the wrong doctrines of statism and neo-conservatism. Otherwise, God’s jealousy will surely lead Him to judge and destroy the faithless among His people who have fallen into idolatry and sin.

September 3, 2004

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com. His latest book is Why I Stopped Listening to Rush: Confessions of a Recovering Neocon.

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Our Goals for 2007

Becky Lynn Black 

(Ethiopia, December 2006 – January 2007, Part 5)

Our Lord has been gracious to us by allowing us convenient times to sit back and consider what He has done. The glory of His Name has been shown over and over in the work He’s allowed us (you and us and the Ethiopians) to do in the past 2 years. Desperate people have been helped. Christ has become the living Saviour to many. Lost ones far away have heard the good news that Jesus has come and is living still. Remote congregations have been encouraged as they have erected their meeting places. The physical and spiritual strength of evangelists has been revived. Church leaders have been encouraged in the work of our Lord.

All of these good things have been the work of our Lord Jesus. If you have seen any good in us, any strength in us, any courage in us, any wisdom in us, it is not of us, but it is of our Lord Jesus. He is a Master at what He does; He is a Master at building His Kingdom.

We have watched Him countless times arrange the circumstances of this work, so that just the right person with just the right skill or resource came to us at just the right time.  And how did they know to come? Somehow they heard of the work and of the need.

So in this final report of our Dec’06-Jan’07 trip, we would like to place before you a summary of the work as we understand His will to be. Someone once asked me, “Becky Lynn, what are your long-term goals? What do you plan to have accomplished in 10 or 15 years?”  Well, my answer is very simple: “I want to look ahead and behind, and be able to say with the song-writer, ‘Jesus led me all the way.’” Our long-term goal is to be obedient.

You see, our Lord doesn’t show us all the little things ahead of us. But He gives light for the next step. And He gives memory of the past steps. And when we put those two things together, we have all we need to trust Him with what Life holds in 5-10-15 years.

Let’s first quickly remember what He has done in past steps:

What our Lord has accomplished through us in the past year….

1. Personal assistance …medical, nutritional, and practical help has been given to persecuted orphans, war widows, and orphans.

2. Educational assistance… a scholarship was given for one student to Bible college; the “Through the Bible” cassette series has been duplicated for rural churches; the flannelgraph set on the Life of Jesus has been completed; in-person classes have been taught.

3. Meeting places…4 church buildings have been completed, 2 more are currently being built, and funding is in hand for the last 2 buildings in Alaba; the meeting hall at Burji is almost completed

4. Evangelist aid…evangelists have been given love gifts, medical help, protein bars, clothes, satchels, and a bicycle.

5. Bible distribution…approximately 1600 Bibles have been distributed; funding is in hand for an additional 1500 Bibles when they become available

Balance in hand after above:  approximately $1100.

What we believe God has appointed us to do next…

1. Expand aid for evangelists!!!…

These men are braving new frontiers for the Gospel. They are usually separated from their families because of the danger to their families, or because of lack of funding (so their families live with relatives). Most of these men are sent by the mother church to the rural areas; a very few remain in the town of the mother church. They travel from village to village by walking or by riding bicycles. While in the rural areas they may not know where they will sleep or when they will eat. Often they are chased or ambushed by Muslims or Orthodox fanatics. Most of them have been beaten, often to the point of being left for dead. Because they are usually malnourished, they often get sick with malaria, typhoid, and/or typhus. Because their life is difficult, they have a hard time getting a wife, and their children suffer in school.

It is important that aid be given with wisdom, so as not to disrupt the responsibility of the mother church or generate strife between evangelists. There are 4 areas of aid we feel led to give. All of these will be done through the mother church, and accounting will be given to us by them; aid will not go directly to the evangelists.

• Salary assistance. ..$50/mo for a single evangelist, $75/mo for a family.
• Medical assistance…a pool of funds to supply medical needs, hygiene/disease education.
• Training…$500/yr for Bible school or Bible college, on-site Bible teaching.
• Nutritional aid…protein bars/powder, multivitamins, water purifiers.

2.     Urgent:  Purchase land for the Zobechame church in Alaba.

This rural church is the only church for which we have needed to buy land. Eight of the nine church buildings we have erected have been put on land that was donated free of charge by a person in the congregation! Where can you find such generosity in American churches? Truly, this is the Lord’s doing!

The land for the Zobechame church is in the final stages of negotiation. It is a good, large land. (See Report 3b.)  Today we talked by phone with a church leader. They are hoping that the price will be less than 50,000 birr (which is only $5,600 in our money). The government is passing a new regulation, so it is important that the purchase price be paid as soon as possible after agreement. As you can see from the above, only $1,100 remains in the account. Is our Lord calling you to help with this purchase? Time is short.

3. Develop Bible training for rural leaders and congregations.

The current system of training is by traveling rural evangelists, and by removing the leaders to towns or cities far away for several years of training. There are huge problems with this strategy. If we can bring the training to them, it is much better.  And if we can bring it in a format that relieves the evangelists, it is much better.

At first we were planning to use cassette tapes and solar-powered tape recorders.  However, now we have found a much better way by using IPod technology. A ministry has developed what they call a Mobile School. Please pray for us as we explore this possibility.

4.      A 4-Wheel drive vehicle for the Alaba church.

The road into Alaba Town is mostly paved. However, outside of town, in the rural areas, the terrain is very rugged. Only 4-wheel drive vehicles can cope. It is not uncommon to have urgent situations arise that necessitate emergency transport of persons in the rural areas. Sometimes an evangelist has fallen ill. Sometimes a Christian has been attacked and needs medical care. Sometimes, as in summer of 05, a person is killed and there is no one willing to help bury a dead Christian. In addition to these situations, there is the matter of hauling equipment, like speakers and projectors to show the Jesus Film. This equipment is delicate; currently it is being hauled on the backs of people or donkeys.

In the past, when situations arose requiring a vehicle, the church has rented a vehicle, if they could find one, and if the owner was willing. The rent is usually higher than normal because the vehicle is usually owned by a Muslim.

We would like to gather funds to purchase a Toyota 4WD long bed with a luggage rack. The chairs can be removed to make it into an ambulance, or to haul equipment. By squeezing in, about 10-12 people can be hauled for Bible conferences, etc. Obviously, Dave and I will also use it, so we will be able to have more contact with the rural areas.

We have advertised to everyone possible in Ethiopia that we want to buy this vehicle. When our Lord provides it, we expect the price to be about $20-30,000. Yes, the price is high, but the need is also great. And in His time and way, He will provide. Perhaps His plan is for you to be a part of that provision.

Thank you! 

May our Lord bless you for your kindness and love for these brethren in Ethiopia!

February 19, 2007

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Our Family on the Hill

 David Alan Black  

Yesterday our church family, Bethel Hill Baptist Church in Roxboro, NC, enjoyed a meal together after the Sunday morning meeting as a fundraiser for our benevolence fund. It got me to thinking.

Today, most denominations (including my own) are undergoing a sea of change. Jesus is threatening the status quo. He is rocking our cozy little boats. As I read the Christian blogosphere, it is obvious that this phenomenon has captured our hearts and minds. We want to examine it, analyze it, understand it. But God asks us to enter the kingdom, not simply study it. Sometimes I think that all our debates about the future of our denomination lure us away from the simple teachings of Jesus. Talking becomes an excuse for shrugging off the claims of the Gospel in our lives.

The genius of the Gospel is that it transcends social and denominational loyalties. It calls different kinds of people together under a common Lord. In this kingdom, the externals don’t matter very much. In the kingdom-mindset, the communion table in a church sanctuary is no closer to God’s heart than the rest room, the Calvinist no closer than the Arminian. The hallmark of Jesus’ revolutionary teaching was His insistence that things should always be subservient to the assembly of believers, whose modus operandi is to be towel-and-basin service.

I say all this because yesterday at church I saw God’s kingdom, God’s power, and God’s glory. I saw it in an assembly of run-of-the-mill Virginians and North Carolinians whose pledge of allegiance is to a new and already-present kingdom that transcends all earthly allegiances. To be sure, it is a very imperfect family (after all, I am a part of it), but it is one in which we have all tasted God’s amazing grace. At the Hill I see a people generously opening their pocketbooks as well as their hearts, liberally forgiving, showing genuine compassion for the poor, refusing to take religious structures too seriously, flattening the hierarchies, vibrantly teaching one another the Word of God, and taking the Great News of the Gospel to the ends of the earth – in short, behaving like the brothers and sisters and radical Jesus-followers they are.

This is, I am humbled to say, my family. It brings me nothing but joy to serve the Lord within this family and to try to reciprocate the incredible cross-care they have shown to me and mine.

Thank you, Bethel Hill. Becky and I truly love you.

April 20, 2009

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

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“Our Doctrine Is Not Right”

 David Alan Black

Yesterday, Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, the top commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, made a startling confession during a Senate hearing on military detention facilities in Iraq. “Our doctrine is not right, it’s just not right,” Abizaid said. “What do the MPs do, what do the military intelligence guys do, how do they come together in the right way? And this doctrinal issue has got to be fixed if we’ve ever going to get our intelligence right to fight this war and defeat this enemy.”

The good general is absolutely correct. But let’s not stop with our policies on detention facilities. The entire Bush Doctrine is wrong.

Congress unwisely—and unconstitutionally—gave the president authorization to go to war in Iraq. Without such authorization Mr. Bush would not have been able to set in motion his doctrine of preemptive war. And now the administration is giving hints that Syria and Iran are next. But it’s too late to reverse the course as long as Bush is president. The precedent for preemptive war is set.

In his commencement address at West Point in June 2002, Mr. Bush called upon all Americans “to be forward-looking and resolute, to be ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and defend our lives….If we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long.” This theme was further developed in the National Security Strategy published in September of 2003, which argues that “the United States can no longer solely rely on a reactive posture as we have in the past…” and “We cannot let our enemies strike first….The greater the threat, the greater the risk of inaction—and the more compelling the case for taking anticipatory action to defend ourselves.”

In point of fact, the administration’s focus on unilateral action and its emphasis on military power to the exclusion of other policy options has seriously undermined U.S. security and made the world a more dangerous place. New policy initiatives in the Bush administration are now stating that contingencies might exist for the preemptive use of nuclear weapons or the use of nuclear weapons in retaliation to a non-nuclear attack. Such a first use of nuclear weapons by the U.S. should be unthinkable. It violates a central tenet of just war theory and our own military tradition. The Bush Doctrine is setting a precedent for others that may well come back to haunt us.

Contrast the position taken by candidate George W. Bush, who spoke about the importance of humility in international affairs. In the second presidential debate he stated:

If we’re an arrogant nation, they’ll resent us; if we’re a humble nation, but strong, they’ll welcome us. And our nation stands alone right now in the world in terms of power, and that’s why we’ve got to be humble, and yet project strength in a way that promotes freedom.

Indeed, it is this approach that is in our nation’s best interest and consistent with our standards and values. Yet because of the Bush Doctrine the United States has become isolated and overly dependent on its military to protect its interests and its citizens. Many people the world over view us as a rogue nation that refuses to listen to reason and that imposes its will on others.

The Bush Doctrine has taken us into uncharted territory without adequate reflection, without consultation with Congress, and without constitutional precedent. It will take decades to repair the damage Mr. Bush and his neocon advisors have done to our standing in the international community. The goodwill we experienced after the tragedy of 9/11 has disappeared and been replaced by distrust and hostility even among our closest allies, who are repulsed by our arrogance and intimidation.

The Middle East is now a laboratory for democracy-building, at the point of a bayonet. The region views us, not as a great and good power, but as a tyrant. 

With the Bush Doctrine, we have crossed the Rubicon.

May 20, 2004

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com. His latest book, Why I Stopped Listening to Rush: Confessions of a Recovering Neocon, will be released in June.

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Our Delinquent Generation

 David Alan Black 

In his latest essay, Chuck Baldwin again hits the nail squarely on the head. How often are we in error in our suppositions! We think that we can save our culture through our conservative movements and organizations. These are all pitiful, man-made solutions. The fact that we have removed the Ten Commandments or forbidden prayer in our schools is merely symbolic of a much deeper problem.

The cause of our culture’s decline is our failure to act as salt and light. According to Barna, over ninety percent of Christians lack a biblical world view! There is only one way to handle this problem scripturally and that is by yielding our unsurrendered selves, consenting to our crucifixion with Christ, abiding in the Word of truth, and walking in the Spirit. I know this does not sound big enough for modern Christendom and for churchmen who think we ought to cooperate with the world and with false religions to work out an acceptable compromise. The great Laodicean church of today is too busy to hear His voice and too smug and self-sufficient to feel any need of Him.

Someone has said that the modern Christian’s credo is, “Jesus is my Savior, but I am my Lord.” Our nations’ Founders had a Christian worldview, but today we have rejected God’s standards and have adopted the unbelieving view that men are “good.” Evangelicalism has been infiltrated by the surrounding culture to such a degree that this spirit of accommodation goes largely unnoticed. Religious mumbo jumbo has replaced biblical doctrine on every hand. Whether we disguise it as “seeker-sensitivity” or Christian fellowship, it is compromise with ungodliness.

As I leave for Ethiopia, I am deeply burdened for the church in America. Our delinquent generation will not get back on the right track until it experiences the love that chastens and rebukes. Perhaps then we will stop patronizing God and begin obeying Him. Christian love is devotion to Christ that is loyal at any cost.

It is high time we learned that Mumbo Jumbo Christianity is a great evil, whether in the church or in society.

May 11, 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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Our Country Home

 John Boquist 

A little over a year ago, I had not heard of Caroline County. In January, 2004, I was contacted by a small group from Cardinal Baptist Church asking if I would consider talking with them about possibly being their pastor. After a lot of discussion and prayer, I came to Cardinal on July 11 to preach in a worship service and spend time with the people.

Once we finished the usual Baptist potluck (yes, they had fried chicken and it was excellent), the congregation and I got down to business. In a lively question and answer session, we talked about the finer points of what I believed and how I worked.

One of the questions asked concerned how our family would deal with moving from the large metropolitan area of Newport News to the rural setting of Caroline County. I answered that it would certainly be an adjustment. However, that adjustment would be eased by the fact that Caroline County is close to the cities of Richmond and Fredericksburg, both of which have much to offer commercially and culturally.

But the greatest benefit of living in Caroline County is the people. About seven years ago, I came to enjoy Tracy Byrd’s rendition of I’m From the Country. You may remember the lines in it that say, “Everybody knows everybody, everybody calls you friend; You don’t need an invitation, kick off your shoes come on in.”

When I first heard that song, I doubted that a place like that really existed. Well, the only part of that song I don’t practice regularly now is kicking off my shoes. When I visit with people here, I do feel as if I am truly spending time with folks who have been our good friends longer than the few months we’ve lived here.

Speaking of “everybody knows everybody,” after being here about a week, my car was giving me fits. One of Cardinal’s deacons recommended a local shop, and I took my car there and introduced myself to the owner. This shop owner already knew who I was, thanks to our mutual friend. He helped me greatly by having the car fixed and running well inside of an hour.

I drove away feeling like I was now part of a community that really does know and care about their neighbors. I had a new friend. This is only one example of many about the people who have helped us out, sometimes with only a moment’s notice.

Buying our house in Lake Land’ Or marked our first time to live outside the city limits or to receive mail by rural delivery. The house we bought is good, but the neighbors are fantastic! One neighbor in particular is very generous with his time and incredible knowledge of how to fix things. Again, this seems to be typical of people here. They keep an eye on each other and help out when they can.

I’m honored to be part of a church that also cares deeply about this community and what it will take to make it a more wonderful place. The British writer C. S. Lewis said, “If you read history, you’ll find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were those who thought the most of the next world.”

Yes, we Baptists have definite beliefs about God, sin, heaven, and hell that may separate us from some of our neighbors. But our goal is to live those beliefs in a way that will make the place we are now a better place.

Whether you come to agree with us or not, we would be pleased and honored to meet you. We would like to hear what you think we can be doing to make Caroline County a better place to call home and enjoy life.

May 9, 2005

John Boquist married the former Yvonne Seymour in August, 1983. In 1988 and 1990 their daughters Patricia and Elizabeth were born. John spent much of his adult life in local church music ministry before beginning studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2001. He became the pastor at Cardinal Baptist Church, Ruther Glen, Virginia in August of 2004. He may be reached for comment here.

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   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Our Corporate Bribery System

 David Alan Black

This weekend’s brouhaha over campaign financing gave viewers a rare glimpse at the real force propelling the march to the White House: legal tender. Republican Party Chairman Ed Gillespie was on the talk shows vainly attempting to defend the president’s fiscal purity against charges from the Kerry camp. Notice I said “attempting.” Even P. T. Barnum couldn’t sell that line to a roomful of suckers.

Let me be blunt: both of our major political parties are equally deep in the muck and mire of corrupt campaign funds. Last week, Bush’s campaign posted a video ad on its website titled “Unprincipled,” reciting how much money Kerry’s campaigns have received from lobbyists. Kerry’s campaign responded with a web ad that said Bush has “taken more special interest money than anyone in history.” The Democrats can rail all they like against Bush, and the money-drenched Republican National Committee can get as pious as it wants to about Kerry’s financing, but the whining is pure “chutzpah,” as one New York newspaper described it.

Of course, the contretemps won’t last long, if only because of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Even Bush must know that the longer he keeps shooting at Kerry he will inevitably get caught in the crossfire. You see, like a royal marriage, a political campaign is not about love or natural affection; it is a power arrangement, pure and simple. Whether Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, the name of the game is “the money.”

It’s a sad commentary on the state of national politics, isn’t it?  Here we have a system in which both parties are equally adept at messing with the U.S. Constitution. Today’s two-party collusion with corporate profiteers is hardly surprising, though it continues to be appalling. What is surprising is that this subversion of our political system has been going on all these years with the full knowledge of We the People if not our out-and-out consent.

Friends, the bottom line is simple. If you’re interested in principle this election, forget it. Both parties stand on principal (no pun intended). It doesn’t take a very bright bulb to see that both Bush and Kerry know from personal experience what it is like to sell their souls to corporations and unions in order to become a candidate. Indeed, if fund-raising muscle is the measure of a successful candidacy, President Bush has nothing to be ashamed of.

Meanwhile, Big Business will continue to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into Election 2004, which is why neither party will be mentioning campaign finance reform any time soon. But there’s no one to blame but ourselves. The Bush-Cheney-Kerry-Edwards-Dean Republicrats have given us what we as a nation deserve: an immoral, unbiblical, and unconstitutional corporate autocracy, funded by a crude bribery system. Which makes me wonder: Shouldn’t this scam cause more Americans than ever to vote their consciences and go third party this year?

Stay tuned.

February 17, 2004

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com. His latest book, Why I Stopped Listening to Rush: Confessions of a Recovering Neocon, will be released this year.

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   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Our Church

 David Alan Black  

Yesterday our church family, Bethel Hill Baptist Church in Roxboro, NC, enjoyed a meal together after the Sunday morning meeting as a fundraiser for our benevolence fund. It got me to thinking.

Today, most denominations (including my own) are undergoing a sea of change. Jesus is threatening the status quo. He is rocking our cozy boats. As I read the Christian blogosphere, it is obvious that this phenomenon has captured our hearts and minds. We want to examine it, analyze it, understand it. But God asks us to enter the kingdom, not simply study it. Sometimes I think that all our debates about the future of our denomination lures us away from the teachings of Jesus. Talking becomes an excuse for shrugging off the claims of the Gospel in our lives.

The genius of the Gospel is that it transcends social and denominational loyalties. It calls different kinds of people together under a common Lord. In this kingdom, the externals don’t matter very much. In the kingdom-mindset, the communion table in a church sanctuary is no closer to God’s heart than the rest room, the Calvinist no closer than the Arminian. The hallmark of Jesus’ revolutionary teaching was His insistence that things should always be subservient to the assembly of believers, whose modus operandi is to be towel-and-basin service.

I say all this because yesterday at church I saw God’s kingdom, God’s power, and God’s glory. I saw it in an assembly of run-of-the-mill Virginians and North Carolinians whose pledge of allegiance is to a new and already-present kingdom that transcends all earthly allegiances. To be sure, it is a very imperfect family (after all, I am a part of it), but it is one in which we have all tasted God’s amazing grace. At the Hill I see a people generously opening their pocketbooks as well as their hearts, liberally forgiving, showing genuine compassion for the poor, refusing to take religious structures too seriously, flattening the hierarchies, vibrantly teaching one another the Word, and taking the Great News of the Gospel to the ends of the earth – in short, behaving like the brothers and sisters and radical Jesus-followers they are.

This is, I am humbled to say, my family. It brings me nothing but joy to serve the Lord in this family and to try to reciprocate the incredible care they have shown to me and mine.

Thank you, Bethel Hill. Becky and I truly love you.

April 20, 2009

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

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