restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Moody’s Thirst for God

 David Alan Black 

The famous evangelist Dwight L. Moody had a favorite saying that he borrowed from Henry Varley. It was this: “The world has yet to see what Almighty God can and will do with, for, through, in, and by a man wholly and fully yielded to Him and to His service.” Moody would then add: “By God’s grace, may I be that man!”

I share Mr. Moody’s passion for God. Romans 12:1-2 teaches more than that we are to be nonconformed to this world; we are also to be transformed so that we may prove in experience (this is the meaning of the Greek term dokimazo) the will of God.

The first test of our commitment is right at home. I have made many mistakes as a husband and a father but God has graciously helped me to learn from them. I wonder how many of us would invite an unsaved person to come and dwell in our homes to determine by his stay whether or not he should follow Christ! Blessed are those who strive in the power of the Spirit to love their spouses and their children in a Christ-like way.

Then there is the test of faithfulness – to the Lord and to His word. I have learned, sometimes from bitter experience, that the availability of the word of God is one thing but the application is another. The word of God must be applied if we are to be made clean spiritually. For the Holy Spirit to make the Bible effective we must read and hear and heed it. It is always amazing to me how I can read the Scripture and somehow manage to keep it in one compartment of my life while trying to carry on my daily affairs! The last invitation in the Bible says, “Let him that is thirsty come” (Rev. 22:17). I must be conscious of my need, deeply conscious, for only then will I come to the only One who can satisfy my thirst.

Finally, may I note the test of obedience? We cannot live on good terms with both Christ and the world. I shudder to think how many times I have sung “Content to let the world go by” while wearing myself out trying to keep up with it. How often have I erected great edifices of wood, hay, and stubble that will all go up in smoke at the fire test of the Last Day! In building our new house I have discovered that you get the kind of house you pay for. Cheap materials produce a shoddy structure. True discipleship has its costs in prayer and work and sacrifice.

There is not one of us who has not failed these tests of commitment – whether in our homes, our daily walk with God, or our ministries. Should we not lift up our hearts and voices like Moody did and cry out, “God, make me a man who is fully yielded to Thee!”? Surely we should! But do we?

Just as it is true that the Lord loves us so it is true that He chastens and rebukes us. He is not a God who winks at our transgressions and apathy. Our delinquent generation will not get on the right track until it hears the love that chastens and rebukes and corrects.

True Christian living should be the outflow and expression of what we are in union with Christ. But, as D. L. Moody found to be true, it is in yielding that we experience the fullness of that union.

August 15, 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.

Back to daveblackonline

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Missions As Partnership

 David Alan Black  

The shift of the majority of Christians from Europe and North America to the Majority World (Asia, Africa, Latin America) has more than numerical significance. As Western missionary forces are shrinking in numbers (and possibly also in influence), I predict that the role of Western missions will undergo a dramatic shift away from leadership to a more modest (and healthier) goal of assisting local churches in foreign countries.

For many years now God has allowed Becky and me to work closely with local churches in the nation of Ethiopia. We have witnessed His mighty hand at work in the church there. Evangelical Christianity in Ethiopia is growing steadily (it is now up to 18 percent of the population), and in some areas the growth has been explosive (Alaba, for example).

Becky and I view our relationship with the Ethiopian churches as a partnership. Indeed, partnership is a very important word to us. Daniel Rickett, in his book Building Strategic Relationships: A Practical Guide to Partnering with Non-Western Missions (p. 1), defines partnership as “a complementary relationship driven by a common purpose and sustained by a willingness to learn and grow together in obedience to God.” Such is our desire everywhere we go in Ethiopia. Our goal is to establish partnerships between autonomous bodies in the U.S. and Ethiopia. This is one reason we prefer to work at the local church level rather than at the denominational level. A parallel commitment of ours is to develop a sense of interdependence among the churches we work with both in the States and in the Horn of Africa. We might call our work a joint venture between full partners.

As in all human relationships, partnerships have their challenges and problems. Both partners must be aware of cultural differences that exist. Communication can also be a challenge. Amazingly, today we can speak with the church elders in Burji directly by cell phone. Just a few years Burji had no electricity let alone mobile phone communications! Lines of accountability is yet another factor that must be taken into account. To achieve the goal of the partnership, each partner must do his job. Above all, love and trust must be established and maintained.

God has commanded the church to share the Good News with the world. It is time to unify the Body of Christ and work together as true partners to fulfill this plan. Such a partnership has great potential for mutual transformation both on the host country and the missionary.

Above all, it is the quality and depth of personal relationships that make or break a partnership. It is for this reason that Becky and I are spending 2 weeks in Ethiopia next month to revisit the churches and meet with our partners. Please pray for and with us as we seek God’s guidance in planning our mission trip in July of this year, when we will take 23 partners from local churches in America to Ethiopia with us.

February 25, 2010

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

Back to daveblackonline

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Missions As a Lifestyle of Worship

 David Alan Black  

In recent years I have come to view church in a vastly different way than I used to view it when I was a younger teacher. I have, in fact, adopted a new set of theological assumptions that color my theological world and the way in which I view church and missions. My former worldview was deeply shaped by twentieth-century evangelicalism. In my experience, to be an evangelical Christian was to be a good church goer. Christianity was fundamentally about us. What was lost in this view was both the missional dimension of the church and the cruciform nature of Christianity.

Today my definition of discipleship has shifted considerably from that of being “a good church goer.” Discipleship means following Christ in obedience. It means participating in God’s mission in the world in the power of the Holy Spirit. Discipleship is exercised primarily in the broader culture rather than within the church. Missional theology, understood through the framework of the book of Acts, invites us to express our discipleship not only in doctrinal formulations (though these are vitally important) but also in missional practices and concrete acts of service.

For this reason, I can’t be content any longer to talk about a missional theology without at least exploring its implications for its transformation potential. God’s concerns are much bigger than the typical church’s concerns. Take worship for example. Understood biblically, worship is not a gathering of individual Christians seeking an intimate experience with God. Rather, worship is the offering of our lives sacrificially to Him daily (see Rom. 12:1-2). Worship is not merely an occasional activity of the believer. Instead, it defines the core of Christian discipleship: We are called to be worshippers in every sphere of life by participating in the Triune God’s mission in the world. This can take place only through intentional “neighboring” practices and in relationship with non-Christians. The key is for ordinary Christians (like you and me) to develop their capacity to serve their neighbors in love. The work of the Spirit is crucial to this renewed participation in society. Christians are to embody the ethics of Jesus before a watching world, providing it with a limited but powerful glimpse of what it means to be a bearer of God’s image. The Gospels clearly present Jesus as constantly moving into unfamiliar territory across cultural barriers and social lines. And at the heart of it all is the cross – the profound need for reconciliation through Jesus Christ, in whom God has acted to overcome the enmity of human sin. True Christian discipleship always means taking part in Christ’s ministry in the world in a dynamic yet concrete fashion.

Thus, when we speak of worship today, a much wider definition is needed. The church does not gather in order to worship. Believers gather as worshippers who have found their vocation in sharing in the community of Christ as He sends them like sheep among wolves to minister to the needs of others. This, as I said, represents a major paradigm shift in my own understanding of Christian worship. As I see it, too much of what passes as Christian worship today is unaffected by the world. It stands aloof, isolated, and ingrown. The incarnation and crucifixion are sung about but the realties behind these truths are rarely put into practice. Rather than participating deeply in the life of the world, the church holds itself apart from the world. This leads, in turn, to a highly individualistic conception of discipleship – a kind of anthropocentricism focused solely on an individual relationship with Jesus that fails to take into account the wider fabric of the Christian community, not to mention the Triune God’s life and activity with all creation. What remains is a watered-down, emasculated version of worship in which the vocation of the church as a missional, worshiping Body is severely diminished.

One of the key trends in the world of seminary training today is the struggle to understand what a “missional” church looks like. I would suggest that a good place to start might be our understanding of New Testament worship. Such an understanding may well open up new possibilities of thought in matters such as congregational polity, leadership, and even missional theology.  

September 15, 2011

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

Back to daveblackonline

Ever feel you’re in the wrong place

404 (Page Not Found) Error

If you’re the site owner, one of two things happened:

1. 1) You entered an incorrect URL into your browser’s address bar, or
2. 2) You haven’t uploaded content.

If you’re a visitor and not sure what happened:

1. 1) You entered or copied the URL incorrectly or
2. 2) The link you used to get here is faulty.
3. (It’s an excellent idea to let the link owner know.)

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Miracles

Becky Lynn Black  

Miracles. From time to time, all of us consider them. What is a miracle? How is it accomplished?  Why is it done? When facing desperate situations, we reach for a miracle. It does not matter that we do not understand the nature of miracles. All we know is that we need the Power of God to touch our lives in a supernatural way.  By “supernatural,” I mean that sometimes miracles defy  the Laws of Nature, sometimes they expedite  the Laws of Nature. It does not matter to us in our desperation. All we know is: we need God to intervene!

Many times in recent weeks people have proclaimed their confidence that God is/has done a miracle in my body with regards to this cancer. I have found myself considering the matter of miracles, and here is a summary of my conclusions.

1. We must decide on a definition of “miracle.” Some people refer to any amazing thing as a miracle, like the landing of the airplane on the Hudson River. But to my way of thinking a miracle is not simply human skill or unusual expertise. Nor is it a phenomenal natural occurrence. In order to be a miracle, it must be a focused, supernatural, God-directed turn of events, such that witnesses are left knowing that only God Himself could have done this.

This does not mean that all miracles are outside the Laws of Nature. For example, I consider the parting of the Red Sea to be a miracle. It is a focused, supernatural, God-directed turn of events. But God used a strong easterly wind to effect the miracle. I have been in California and in Israel when strong easterly winds came. In a very short time, everything dries up!  This is according to the Laws of Nature that affect  water: H2O will move so that there is an equal distribution. The Red Sea miracle is also according to the Laws of Motion. A strong motion will overcome a weaker motion.  Hence, the strong wind overcame the flowing water of the Red Sea, and the dry air sucked up the moisture of the seabed.  The end result was a large dry area over which the millions of Israelites could easily walk.

And then the east wind stopped, and the motion of the waters again gained the upper hand, flowing back into their channel, thus destroying Pharaoh’s proud army.

All of this was according to the Laws of Nature, but because of its timing…at the precise moment of need, at the command of Moses as he raised his staff…it qualifies as a miracle.  It was focused, supernatural, God-directed. 

So my definition of “Miracle” is this: a turn of events that is focused, supernatural and God-directed, such that witnesses are left knowing that only God Himself could have done this.

2.  When considering the matter of miracles, the issue is not so much “Can God?” but “Will God?”  God is not God if He cannot do miracles. And if He chooses to do a miracle, the purpose for His miracle is not our agenda and our comfort, but rather it is His glory.  Although God has in the past “humored” complainers (like the Israelites in the wilderness) thru miracles, the New Testament repeatedly references that the miracles of Jesus and the apostles were for the purpose of pointing attention to God and His Kingdom. In other words, the occasion of focused, supernatural, God-directed events is to bring glory to God, to capture the attention of men for the purposes of God

The ultimate question, therefore, is this: In what way can God bring Himself the greatest glory…to do a miracle or not to do a miracle? Sometimes His glory shines the greatest when the miracle is done before a large crowd of people, where there are many, many people as first-hand witnesses. Examples in Scripture are when Jesus fed 5,000 people at once, or when several million people crossed the Red Sea on dry land, or when the sun stopped its journey for several hours so that a battle could continue to full victory.

Sometimes His glory shines the greatest, not when a large quantity of people witness the miracle, but when a few of special spiritual quality witness the miracle. Examples in Scripture are when the widow’s oil and flour was renewed daily during a time of great famine in Israel, or when Peter’s mother-in-law was raised from the dead, or when a military leader’s daughter was healed.

Since the purpose of miracles is to showcase His glory, I think there must be some consideration given by the Lord to the faithfulness of those who are touched by Him, a faithfulness to give Him glory and to tell the truth of His working.

3. The Lord’s desire is to use a miracle as a stepping stone to greater usefulness in His Kingdom. The miracle should produce greater worship, which should pour forth greater service to God and man. In this way, the greatest amount of glory is “squeezed” out of a miracle.

Look at the healing of the 10 lepers. How many were moved to worship & service? Only one. Look at the crossing of the Red Sea. Their songs of worship & joyful obedience to the Lord were short-lived; they quickly devolved into complaints and belly-aching. Look at Peter’s mother-in-law. The woman got up and served a huge number of guests in her home; she didn’t sit around drawing attention to herself.  And perhaps the observation of Peter laid the groundwork for his declaration of faith: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Look at the widow’s flour and oil. She served the prophet of God first. Her son lived thru the famine and I wonder what was the spiritual effect upon his life. Look at the feeding of the 5,000.  Initially they praised God, but then they wanted to make Jesus their King in order to receive free food the rest of their lives. They turned the miracle to their own selfish goals and became angry when Jesus warned them of sacrifice in His Kingdom.

So, considering the Lord’s goal of bringing glory to Himself, I suspect He chooses carefully the receiver of a miracle, preferring to choose a setting where the more glory (Kingdom-usefulness) can be “squeezed’ out of the miracle.

4. Not all miracles are “good.” Some miracles are judgment. For example, the King’s hand suddenly turned leprous….a focused, super-natural, God-directed event…to judge him for his pride and exaltation against God. And consider the sudden death of Ananias and Sapphira.  Their lying was judged by a miracle. Or how about the donkey’s speech to the prophet, chastising him for his ill-feelings and evil intent towards the people of God.

And the Red Sea….it was a “positive” miracle for the Israelites, but a “judgment” miracle for Pharaoh’s proud, stubborn army. Again, the goal of a miracle is to show forth the glory, the exaltation, the honor of God.  And sometimes that showing forth is done by judging wickedness in a supernatural way.  In such miracles, the glory of His righteousness and justice is shown to all the witnesses of the miracle.

5. There are those in our midst who say “God is going to heal you. All you have to do is believe that He has healed you.”  These imply that somehow the miracle is taking place in the mind, and to seek practical proof of the miracle is an evidence of disbelief.

But I am hard-pressed to find in Scripture where a miracle occurred, and there was no practical, visible proof of God’s focused, super-natural, directed activity.  A true miracle will stand up in the court of examination.  Family, friends, neighbors…medical tests…are invited by God to examine His work, and in that examination to affirm His work and give Him praise.

It is the observation of others that separates true miracles from mental delusion. The lepers’ skin cleared up and limbs long rotten away were restored.  The woman’s neighbors saw that she was no longer washing soiled under-rags. The King and his guards saw Daniel come out of the lion’s den whole; they checked Shadrack, Mishach, and Abednego closely for fire damage and could not even smell smoke on their clothes or hair! The chief guest at the wedding tasted the water-turned-to-wine and publicly praised its quality.

Today we have people who want to believe in miracles, but they are afraid. Their “faith” is a false faith if it is not open to the scrutiny of others, even non-believers.  Miracles are for non-believers, as well as for believers….to show the glory of the Living God.

6. It is for God and God alone to decide what situations yield the greatest glory to Himself through miracles. He is looking not only to the glory of the moment of the miracle (i.e., immediate witnesses), but also to the glory yielded thru a life of great service (i.e., faithful response of those witnesses).

Have you ever wondered why God saved Paul from the poisonous snake, but refused to remove his “thorn”?

Or what about Daniel….He saved him from the death by lions, but refused to heal him at his last deathly illness.

Peter was miraculously released from prison, but not from suffering a martyr’s death.

God miraculously healed the demon-possessed girl (through Paul), but refused to spare Paul the subsequent mob attack and beating.

So we must remember that one miracle does not guarantee subsequent miracles. God evaluates each situation.  Sometimes He gets greater glory through God-centered suffering than through God-restored ease of life.

7. A miracle is supernatural, God-power touching human life, in order to bring Himself glory and increase our service to Him.  His power is not only brute strength (as in stopping the sun or healing instantly). His power is also in the quiet, inner things of life.

His power is  spiritual, emotional, psychological strength…as in the ability of a victim to forgive, or a person to have patience in a trying situation that extends for years, or a person offering kindness and love to someone who slanders them.  These are great miracles that get little press or public recognition.

8. Sometimes His power is in the realm of knowledge. As humans, we are very limited in knowledge. Many things are poorly understood. God, however, as Creator, knows all things.  And often His miracles are matters of knowledge…knowing what needs to be brought together to produce the desired result.  In medicine, drug companies do many, many years of testing to try to find combinations that work.  In homeopathic and “natural” treatments, there is also much uncertainty. But with God’s knowledge base, there is no uncertainty. I sometimes wonder if the miracles that required action were not miracles of knowledge. For example, Jesus knew the clay in his hand was a special clay with the exact property needed for the eyes of the blind man. We know today a little of the healing properties of certain types of clay, but Jesus knew everything there is to know about clay and eyes, and He knew how to bring the two together to facilitate healing.

Here’s another example: God showed the prophet that some characteristic of the Jordan River was a match for the leprous condition of the King. Was it magnetism? Was it ions? Was it a chemistry combination coming from the dirt?  Only God knew what was in the river, and only He knew it was needed to heal the leprosy.

Lacking God’s knowledge, we spiritualize these requirements as only matters of faith. But I wonder if they are not more than that.  hey may be miracles (focused, super-natural, God-directed events) that are rooted in His knowledge base of His creation.

(In modern times, I parallel medical treatments with this. God’s healing through medicine is no less His work than instant healing apart from medicine.  Yet, we rarely give Him credit and glory unless it defies the medical community. In rural areas of undeveloped countries, the people have a greater appreciation of God’s role in medical healing; they have not become hardened to His work through medicine as we have become here in America.)

9.  Finally, there is ALWAYS proof of a miracle. Nothing is hidden. He is not glorified if His work is hidden from view. Our light is to shine before men. His work in our hearts, attitudes, and perspectives is to be openly shown to others, so that He gets the glory.  In the same manner, His work at the miraculous level is also to be shown. 

If I say “I am healed” yet refuse the CT scan proving the healing, by what right do I declare that He has healed me.  And where is His glory?  The “healing” has become only “proven” in my mind.

In every miracle I can find in the Scriptures, there was clear evidence of the healing….from release of demon possession to resurrection from the dead to healing from a dreaded illness.

Whether the supernatural, focused, God-directed event is “on the outside” or “on the inside,” there is always proof of His work.  It is in the proof that His glory is magnified.  And it is the recitation of the proof that composes the testimony in subsequent settings and generations, so that His glory continues to be magnified.

So in conclusion, let me review the main points that God has impressed upon me about miracles.

1. A “miracle” is a super-natural, focused, God-directed event.

2. The purpose of all miracles is to bring Him glory and magnify His person; this is accomplished through attention at the time of the miracle and also through increased faithfulness on the part of witnesses of the miracle.

3. Some miracles effect a “positive” outcome, but some are for purposes of judgment.

4. It is God and God alone who decides which situations yield the greatest glory to Himself through miracles; the question is not “Can God?” but “Will God?”

5. Miracles are always accompanied by proof.

6. Some miracles are of an inner (emotional, psychological, spiritual) nature and some are of an outer (Creation) nature.

7. Some miracles are outright, in-your-face events; others are God using His knowledge of Creation to bring together items needed for the desired event.

December 30, 2010

Back to daveblackonline

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Miracle in Alaba

 David Alan Black  

In the first century a handful of evangelists penetrated the entire Mediterranean world with the Gospel. Today the same thing is happening in the Muslim region of Ethiopia called Alaba. For the persecuted believers who live there, Jesus is Lord. He is their first love. Nothing else is so important to them. There is no missionary “method” beyond that. No gimmicks. No grand strategy. No seminars to attend. Just love Jesus, and (because you love Jesus) love others. And it’s working.

Remember Mohammed the murderer?* Well, he’s now Mohammed your brother in Christ. Becky and I went to visit him as soon as we arrived in Alaba. He had been reading the Bible I had given him last year, comparing it with the Quran. Christians from the Kale Heywet church had also visited him. There in that barbed-wire enclosure we had a wonderful reunion. Just before we left, Mohammed told us that he was “ready.” Ready for what? Ready to acknowledge Jesus as Lord – in a Muslim prison. As he prayed the words Geta Iesus (“Lord Jesus”) I witnessed a miracle, the miracle of redemption. When we had finished praying, I said to him, “Let me be the first to welcome you into the family of God.” Could joy ever be sweeter or happiness greater?

As we hugged and said our goodbyes he told us, “Please do not forget me. My family will cut me off completely. You are now my Mama and Papa.” He is right, of course, and we are honored to have him in our family. As we were walking back to Alaba town Becky said to me, “Honey, do you realize that we now have 10 Ethiopian children, and one of them is in prison for murder?” I went back twice to visit Mohammed since his conversion, and he is radiant in his new-found faith, reading his Bible faithfully, and fellowshipping with other believers there.

So what can we learn from the early apostles? Why were they so successful? Sharing the love of God was a priority for them. Simply put, they were radical about Jesus. That’s all. And that’s enough.

* Four years ago Mohammed murdered an 18-year old Christian. Two years ago I went to Alaba in order to pray with the victim’s family. Immediately the Lord impressed on me the need to visit his murderer as well.

January 8, 2006

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

Back to daveblackonline

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Michael Anthony Peroutka: Man of the Year

 David Alan Black 

As everyone who reads Dave Black Online knows, I hold a deep and personal commitment to the U.S. Constitution. Sadly, this bedrock of our nation has practically been demolished. The Constitution has been betrayed by both Democrats and Republicans. Never has America been led by such a reckless head of state. The challenges we face as a country, from within and from without, demand that “We the People” salvage whatever we can out of our Republic before the curtain falls.

Our national leaders ask for our trust, but their trust has been abused on a thousand occasions. Our government wields its power with arrogance and utter disdain for the Constitution. There is virtually no attempt to display that “modesty of true strength” and “humility of real greatness” that George W. Bush expressed during his presidential campaign. Smug and superior, the White House disregards the very future of the country while amassing power in blatant disregard of life and liberty.

How ironic that a Republican administration should threaten the very republican foundation upon which our nation was built. The roots of this corrupt tree run deep in the soil of our nature. Ambition has replaced virtue as the primary qualification for office. Presidents get away with their outrageous policies through the generous complicity of the populace. Mr. Bush’s world is comprised of “us” and “them,” his “friends” and his “enemies.” Even Nixon’s paranoia over his “enemies” pales with Bush’s disdain for dissent.

Of course, not everybody in the country is asleep. Yet only a pitiful few speak out. Even evangelicals stand passively mute, seemingly stunned by the sheer weight of events. Europe sees us as a Wild West bully – and they are right. We are reaping what we have sown.

Whether you like a particular officeholder or not is beside the point. It’s not a matter of personal taste. It’s a matter of judging people by their fruits – and holding them accountable to their oaths of office. As a DBO reader once put it to me in an email:

Elected officials are not our leaders, they are our employees. We are Americans. Americans don’t elect leaders. Our leaders come from among us as they did in the 1770s and the 1860s. Bush isn’t our boss, he’s our butler. Senators such as John Warner and Charles Schumer aren’t our generals, they’re the janitors of our system of government. Elected officials are the housecleaners, scullery maids, cooks, dishwashers, gardeners and toilet scrubbers of our society, not the bosses or supervisors they pretend to be.

We are indeed to pray for our leaders, but let’s first identify who they are. One good rule of thumb is that if they draw their pay from the public treasury, then they aren’t leaders, but employees.

If we really love our country, we will sometimes have to exercise “tough love” toward our elected officials. It is not unpatriotic to challenge the new imperial cult that has developed in America. It is not anti-American to advocate constitutional government. To be responsible citizens, each of us must speak out against the social engineering philosophy of the New World Order in Washington.  Forget, “My country right or wrong.” How about, “The Constitution, freedom, and limited government!”

If there is one man who possesses this devotion to God and country, if there is one man who is willing to stand for the “Constitution, freedom, and limited government,” that man is Mr. Michael Anthony Peroutka. Mr. Peroutka announced his candidacy for President of the United States statement with these humble words:

To say that I did not feel qualified to take on such a massive task is to engage in gross understatement. After prayer and serious consideration, I am convinced that the question of my qualification and competence is not solely within my power to judge. The uniqueness of this undertaking and the special demands that it requires, make it necessary to rely upon the judgment, experience and counsel of men who have trod this path before me. In short, if men like Howard Phillips and Jim Clymer are convinced that I can adequately represent the Constitution Party in such a fashion, then I must weigh their opinion and their vision as well as my own knowledge of the task and of my own strengths and shortcomings. In light of these considerations, and despite previous misgivings, I believe God has given me this duty to perform.  

Mr. Peroutka entertained no illusions that his path would be easy or “successful” in the world’s eyes. He was simply carrying out to the best of his ability the will of God as he understood it:

[T]here are at least two distinct tasks against which competency must be judged. One is the running of a legitimate and appropriate candidacy. The second is the serving in office in the event that God would grant the victory. About the first I know almost nothing except that it will be a challenge that will test my knowledge, patience, energy, and stamina. I expect to take punches and I need to do so with equanimity and maintain the course despite attacks and setbacks. I am committed to this. Regarding the second, I feel a little more qualified. Although I am not well-schooled on every important issue, I do feel that I have an overall grasp of what a Constitutional Republic of Sovereign States based on Biblical principles would look like and I think, with practice, I can express this clearly and concisely. Applying these principles to every question of current events in a rapid-fire interview with good sound bites may not be my forte but I think I could actually do the work of the office if God gave it to me to do. Moreover, I am confident that if He gave it to me He would give me the resources and the help to carry out His will for me.  

Thus, as voters in the 2004 election, we were faced with a valid and viable alternative to the two-party monopoly that dominates American politics. And it is all because a man named Peroutka identified himself with that which is required by the Bible and the Constitution. Here was an individual willing to report to Divine Headquarters for his marching orders. He led, not Gideon’s 32,000, but a dedicated 300 patterned after Christ and not after the crowd. He was willing to be God’s seed corn, dying to self (and make no mistake about it: a presidential campaign is no bed of roses). He proved, at least to this writer’s satisfaction, that when the situation is desperate, the saints are not.

Therefore, Dave Black Online is pleased to announce that Mr. Michael Anthony Peroutka is its Man of the Year for 2004.

December 20, 2004

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com. He is the author of Why I Stopped Listening to Rush and numerous other books.

Back to daveblackonline

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Message to Roy Moore

 David Alan Black 

The Honorable Roy Moore:

Professing with you a common faith, and affirming the importance of both law and Gospel, I proffer to you the words of a great theologian as an encouragement in your time of testing, remembering that the obligation to obey civil authority is measured by what the order of justice requires. For this reason when any government or regime holds it power not by right but by usurpation, or commands what is wrong, subjects have no duty to obey.

The wisdom of John Calvin:

But in that obedience which we hold to be due to the commands of rulers, we must always make the exception, nay, must be particularly careful that it is not incompatible with obedience to Him to whose will the wishes of all kings should be subject, to whose decrees their commands must yield, to whose majesty their scepters must bow. And, indeed, how preposterous were it, in pleasing men, to incur the offence of Him for whose sake you obey men! The Lord, therefore, is King of kings. When He opens His sacred mouth, He alone is to be heard, instead of all and above all. We are subject to the men who rule over us, but subject only in the Lord. If they command anything against Him let us not pay the least regard to it, nor be moved by all the dignity which they possess as magistrates—a dignity to which no injury is done when it is subordinated to the special and truly supreme power of God. On this ground Daniel denies that he had sinned in any respect against the king when he refused to obey his impious decree (Dan. vi. 22), because the king had exceeded his limits, and not only been injurious to men, but, by raising his horn against God, had virtually abrogated his own power….

And that our courage may not fail, Paul stimulates us by the additional consideration (1 Cor. vii. 23), that we were redeemed by Christ at the great price which our redemption cost Him, in order that we might not yield a slavish obedience to the depraved wishes of men, far less do homage to their impiety (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, IV, xx, 32).

May our Sovereign God bless, keep, and use you, Sir, in the days ahead.

Yours in the bonds of Christ,

Dave Black

November 14, 2003

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

Back to daveblackonline

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Merely Inconsistent Or Spiritually Dead?

 David Alan Black

It is a truism to say that healthy national politics depends on healthy spiritual foundations.

I have often hinted that the cause of our human miseries is a radical moral and biblical dislocation, a loss of balance in our relation to God and to our fellow man. As Christians we have forsaken the Scriptures; and as citizens we have forsaken the law of the land (the Constitution) and, as a result, we are no longer ruled by republican principles of civil government.

Whatever else the so-called Civil War was, it was most certainly a sharp change in the nation’s relation both to the Bible and to the federal Constitution. Essentially, salvation has now become the domain of government action and coercion, and the federal government has become a sort of fixed center against which everything else is measured. No longer can we even say “is” and expect to be understood. This is because when we speak of God we no longer acknowledge Him as the great “I am,” from whom everything and everyone else measures.

The moment we make up our minds that we are going to follow God’s ways we fall into the condemnation of the world. We find ourselves increasingly out of adjustment, as it were, to the ways of society and increasingly estranged from even our closest friends and relatives. We have broken with the cosmos, and the break is the direct result of our changed relation to God. We now proclaim “No King But Jesus!” with humble and grateful hearts. That place of lordship and dominion is His by every right in earth or heaven.

Set over against this are the claims of worldly potentates. If I understand aright what they are saying, it makes no difference to them whether one supports the slaughter of millions of unborn babies or condones “consensual” homosexual acts. The desire for honor and popularity among men has made truth irrelevant. What can all this mean except that we have as our nation forsaken our spiritual faculties given us by God for the purpose of knowing truth and exposing falsehoods?

That a saving work of grace must first be done in the hearts of our national leaders is presupposed here. Man may think he is spiritually alive and yet have never been quickened to active life by the operation of the Holy Spirit – “Holy” because a genuine Christian can never tolerate sins such as abortion and homosexuality. The relativists among us are not merely inconsistent. They are spiritually dead.

I hope it is clear that the only sell-out that can please God is when we sell out to Him. If we truly want to follow God we must become other-worldly fools for His sake.

August 27, 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.

Back to daveblackonline

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Men Who Will Lift Up Their Bleeding Country

 David Alan Black

During the darkest days of the American Revolution, George Washington exclaimed on one occasion: “Strip me of the dejected and suffering remnant of my army; take from me all that I have left; leave me but a banner; give me but the means to plant it on the mountains of West Augusta, and I will yet draw around me the men who will lift up their bleeding country from the dust and set her free.”

Beneath the shadow of Valley Forge, from whose sturdy sons the Continental Army was so largely populated, there came this past weekend a bugle call that even now echoes through America’s cities and towns. Two men – two humble but good and true Americans – have submitted to the will of God and affirmed before those assembled in the shadow of the Liberty Bell to lead the charge of freedom in the election of 2004. There is nothing in their demeanor to indicate that they consider themselves anything more than ordinary citizens. More than citizens, they are Christian men; and their piety sheds a hallowed luster over qualities naturally shining, investing them with a higher beauty than secular renown can bestow. If you will read their public essays you will see that they never fail, whenever opportunity offers, to call the attention of the people to the Great Disposer of all human events and to inspire them with gratitude and submission to the King of kings and Lord of lords. And now these men have taken upon themselves the vow to fight manfully as Christ’s soldiers.

Will you join this courageous band? John in his Gospel makes it plain that Jesus suffered much from those secret, timid, cowardly disciples whose fear of men gripped them as in a vise. Five times he mentions people who “believed” Jesus but cravenly feared to line up with Him. He even says that many of the rulers believed Jesus but that fear of the others drove them into the shadow when they could have helped Him the most. One of them “came to Jesus by night” – wanting to find out more about Him but shrinking back from exposing himself to criticism for his possible friendship with the young radical, as Jesus was regarded. Later he brought a box of precious spices with which to embalm the body of his dead friend. No doubt he loved Jesus, but he had no power for Him among men because of his timidity. He was so afraid of what they would think and say.

Is that the sort of Christian you are? Powerless for Jesus because of timidity – dare I say cowardice? Are you “a disciple secretly for fear of the Jews”? Today Christians have devised all sorts of ways to “fear the Lord” and still serve their own gods. The saints of earlier generations suffered loss of jobs, of property, of life itself rather than compromise with the spirit of the age. They refused to offer even a pinch of incense to Caesar.

We need a refresher course in the seventh chapter of Judges to straighten out our warped thinking when we measure political parties by quantitative, not qualitative, standards. Be not deceived by crowds or by popularity polls. Jesus often thinned out His followers, and when they departed He did not soften His message to hold them. The great tragedy today is that much of our activity, whether as Christians or citizens, is assumed to be of God merely because it is successful or well-attended.

Robert E. Lee once said, “Duty is the sublimest word in the English language.” Duty was the star that guided that great Christian throughout his eventful career – and it is duty that calls us today to forsake the path of ease and do whatever we can to defend the family and the American republic against her many enemies. The Minute Men of Concord are venerated for firing the “shot heard ’round the world.” The cause of Christ and liberty in these days needs “Last-Minute Men” who will stand like Gideon’s Three Hundred, ready for action, whatever the cost.

Michael Peroutka and Chuck Baldwin have set the example. They seek to “lift up their bleeding country from the dust and set her free.”

Will you join them?

June 28, 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.

Back to daveblackonline