Twisting the Scriptures, Undermining Biblical Principles, and the Supposed Stewardship of Voting (II)

Woods' appeals to New Testament limits on state power are also guilty of non sequitur. He confuses a Christian ethic and call to bear witness with enumerated powers. Likewise in his state of deception and delusion (32:00) he seems to find the Second Amendment in the Scripture - even when numerous passages in the New Testament repudiate the ethic of vengeance, self-defense, let alone the taking of life in self interest. His interpretations of Luke 22 and Christ's words regarding the two swords being enough are telling as he falls into the very same misguided interpretive traps as did the Pharisees who argued with him and the apostles in some of their worst moments of ignorance. The sword in Luke 22 has nothing to do with walking around with a gun strapped to you - or strategically placed under you car seat. And Christ made very clear in the garden that he was not calling them to take up swords and warned them against doing so. They were either an object lesson or a case of his exasperation due to their lack of understanding - which He knew would be clarified in short order. Woods completely misinterprets these passages as indeed he has demonstrated a repeated failure to grasp basic New Testament teachings and ethics.

Market Machinations, Wall Street, and the Ethics of Profit

The BBC recently interviewed a farmer in the American Midwest. He was upset over rising fertilizer prices connected to the Iran War. The markets have spiked due to petroleum and natural gas interruptions and 'supply chain' problems associated with the conflict.

The farmer contended that the US is energy independent. After all this is a point the Right has championed for a number of years - a point even associated with Trumpism. If the US becomes energy independent, it will be able to divorce itself from Middle Eastern instability and entanglements - or so it was argued. Not everyone agreed.

Christianity and Cynicism: Nonconformity, Dissent, and Defacing the Coin

Historians have long debated the relationship between the Cynics and early Christianity. There are some striking similarities to be found in the lives of the Cynics who emerged in the context of Classical Greece, a few hundred years before Christ - so much so, that some believe Christ may have been influenced by them.

The likeness is superficial. The Cynics rested their thought on a different epistemological basis and their ethics were also different - and yet similar enough at times to generate a lot of discussion. For those wishing to make direct comparisons or find some trace of lineage, it's a dead end. That said, the similarities can be striking and nevertheless generate some interesting reflection. The Cynics raise issues in terms of ethics and society that the Church can benefit from. And this is not something new or something that emerged in this era of comparative religious studies.

The Deceitfulness of Riches

https://petehurst.com/prosperity-the-big-lie-and-the-big-truth/

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-sweet-taste-of-vomit.html

I commented on Hurst back in December of 2025 but this article crossed my path and left me more astonished than usual. Does anyone actually read the Scriptures?

The Church in Dark Ages - A Call to Dissent and Nonconformity (I)

or,

An Examination of the Twin Sisters of Medieval Roman Catholicism and American Evangelicalism

Evangelicalism has moved much closer to Rome in recent years and unthinkable as it was just a few decades ago, many now consider Roman Catholics to be fellow Christians. In recent days this has been most evident with the way Evangelicals speaks of figures like JD Vance and Erika Kirk. These Roman Catholics who worship Mary, partake of the idolatry that is the Mass, venerate a tradition of false prophets that claim to speak in the place of Christ, and find salvation in a merit-based sacerdotal system, are deemed inspiring fellow believers. The term 'Christian' has itself has been run through so many filters and redefined to such an extent that theologically and even culturally it struggles to have any kind of actual meaning. The same is true of Evangelicalism which describes more of a cultural attitude and ethos (if not a political movement) than any kind of ecclesiastical movement, theology, or identity.

Piety and an Oversimplified Dichotomy

https://christoverall.com/article/concise/which-way-christian-a-contrast-of-david-platts-radical-and-michael-hortons-ordinary/

Chad Lawrence is keen to warn his audience against forms of Pietism and thinks he's found it hiding in the works of New Calvinist author David Platt.

Platt's 'Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream' was released in 2010 and made a splash in Evangelical circles. Platt's work has some problems to be sure - he rightly wants to counter American consumerist norms but equates the rejection with a model of piety which is expressed by means of the highly flawed and corrupt 'missions'-ministry approach common in modern Evangelicalism and a kind of missional approach which tends toward an agenda of social transformation. And for the record, a mega-church is hardly the venue for Pietism to sink roots.

The Usury Dilemma Revisited (II)

To me the issue is not about specifically paying usury or even enabling those who sin by taking it from me. I don't expect otherwise from the world - though I do admit I struggle with loving these people who right and left beat me down and steal the money right out of my pocket - money I literally earned by my own sweat. And unlike them I labour assiduously to be honest and fair in my dealings - to my own hurt if need be. I would rather have a clear conscience then shrug my shoulders and be like them.

My real issue is with those Christians who have jumped the fence and stand on the Babylonian side - exploiting not just society at large but fellow Christians. I expect the lost to engage in dog-eat-dog ethics - Darwin's survival of the fittest. This is as old as Cain and Lamech. But I do have a problem with the Christians who have entrenched themselves in the system and are right at home in these various industries and sectors of society - making money hand over fist on the basis of what is essentially legal extortion and Babylonian alchemy. I have a problem with Christians who have baptised this law of the jungle, this atheistic ethic that is completely opposed to New Testament religion.

A Parody of Socialism and Whitewash of Capitalism

https://juicyecumenism.com/2024/11/07/answering-socialism/

One need not be an advocate for Socialism to realize that Bernard Mauser is attacking a straw man. If Evangelicals want to offer a critique of socialism, that's fine but if their goal is simply to promote capitalism and to caricature the rival system - then we have a problem not only in the realms of fact and truth, but also with integrity.

Malachi Martin and Rich Church, Poor Church

Back in the 1990's I used to pick up some Malachi Martin works on occasion. He provides insider information about the Jesuits and the Vatican and while I've never agreed with him, I've always found him to be interesting.

I stumbled on his 1984 work 'Rich Church, Poor Church' in a pile of discount books and since it was only $1.50, I decided to pick it up. It was a work I had never encountered before.

A Wesleyan Triad of Errors - A Formula for Evangelical Disaster

 Wesleyan Methodists (and the related body known as God's Missionary Church) teach:

"That second, definite, instantaneous work of grace, subsequent to regeneration, wrought in the heart of the justified person through faith, by the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire, whereby the heart of the believer is cleansed from the original sin, and purified by the filling of the Holy Ghost."

Realms of Enchantment and Mystery

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/living-wonder/

I rather enjoyed reading this review though I have not decided whether I will pick up Dreher's book. The work in question is Rod Dreher's 'Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age'. I found myself disagreeing with both Dreher and Darville the reviewer, but there's a great deal of food for thought.

Conspiracies versus Conspiracy as a Worldview: The Epistemological and Ethical Rot of Libertarianism (I)

For some time I've occasionally listened to a podcast called Catholics Against Militarism. It's flawed – it is Roman Catholic after all, but interesting at times. Protestant Constantinians and Dominionists are quick to dismiss all such anti-war sentiments as 'Anabaptist' even while they ignore the long and fairly impressive 'peace' testimony found within the spectrum that is Rome.

The Collapse of Yellow and its Context

The collapse of the Yellow Corporation in August 2023 made a brief splash in the news cycle – probably a little too brief. Many individuals and analysts have reason to be concerned when considering the volatility of the US economy as demonstrated by not only this collapse but the numerous banks that have faced difficulty and near collapse over the past year or so.

Gothardism Under the Microscope and a Christian Parent's Response (I)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/2023/christian-home-schoolers-revolt/

The new Amazon Prime documentary on The Duggars (Shiny Happy People) is apparently one of the most popular shows of the year, even breaking all kinds of viewing records. What a sad thing. This is what they've brought on themselves – an on the larger Church.

Desiring to be Teachers of the Law (II)

The Great Commission of Matthew 28 is repeatedly invoked but with a Dominionist overlay that re-casts the passage in terms of a Christianisation that does not exist, that has no premise in the New Testament, is refuted by the New Testament, and in no way reflects Christ's imperative in the passage. He was exhorting His followers to make disciples of the nations – in other words the gospel message is not restricted to the Jewish nation but now goes out into the world and is open and available to all people – a point reiterated and reinforced by Pentecost and the Book of Acts. That offer did not include the Mosaic Law as Acts 15 makes clear.

Desiring to be Teachers of the Law (I)

https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=10922121435868

This podcast typifies the kind of confusion that seems to reign at the moment in Reformed and Dominionist circles. There is a Theonomic overlay to the conversation and yet the roundtable discussion is in the end rendered as something of the absurd – all but pointless. The assumptions of Theonomy are effectively invoked and yet the overriding ethos of the participants is that of Libertarianism. The fact that these two approaches are not only incompatible but antithetical seems to escape them. The topic in question is whether or not the government has the right or should be able to impose a regime of licenses and permits. In every case their impulses are effectively libertarian in their rejection of all such mechanisms – a point we will return to below. But there are other preliminary issues that must be considered first.

The Unity of the Brethren before The Thirty Years War

Through the efforts of my son I was able to read Peter Brock's The Political and Social Doctrines of the Unity of Czech Brethren in the Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries (The Hague, Mouton & Co., 1957).

Copies can be found but it's a somewhat rare and expensive book. This is one of Brock's early works and probably not his best known. Recognized as an authority on pacifism, he specialised by focusing on many of the groups in Eastern Europe such as the Unity of the Brethren or Unitas Fratrum.

Kids Leaving Home and Middle Class Assumptions (III)

In light of these struggles and the fact that money is not the goal – but to honour God and hopefully (if possible) find something you enjoy doing, we have wrestled with whether to encourage our children in terms of college and career, or simply to wait and let them live awhile, gain life experience, save some money, and so forth. For the most part I think we've opted for the latter.

Kids Leaving Home and Middle Class Assumptions (II)

This question of daughters seems especially difficult in today's context, all the more when you make something of a stand and yet no one else is doing so in your local congregation. In fact, not only will your daughters grow frustrated by all the 'exciting' things the other young women are doing, the other parents are likely to start raising eyebrows at you when your daughters (and perhaps your sons) aren't attending college and moving out. Once again, these assumptions are more about status and middle class respectability than anything else. For them, it's embarrassing to have kids not going to college – there's almost an unspoken assumption that you've failed and they're too undisciplined, dumb, or otherwise incapable of getting through a university programme.

Kids Leaving Home and Middle Class Assumptions (I)

As my children are all now in early adulthood and yet living at home, we have been forced to wrestle with some of the assumptions in the culture about kids leaving. These questions are coming from both within and without the Church.