One of Satan's Ministers in the Pulpit on Memorial Day

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/remember-to-remember-part-1/id1433823311?i=1000710247721

SermonAudio blocks anyone who is deemed 'woke' or who embraces too robust a view of works or sacraments. They are guardians of orthodoxy or so they deem - but then they allow this kind of heretical filth. Scudder's sermons receive no sanction or censorship.

Reflecting on Independence Day 2024 (II)

The original nation under the Articles of Confederation wouldn't hold together and so for many the revolution was betrayed by the creation of the Constitution and federalism. Some are aware of this to be sure but the masses of flag wavers are not.

Reflecting on Independence Day 2024 (I)

My criticism of the United States and its wars as well as expressions of patriotism are not meant to trample on personal feelings, nor am I trying to make people feel badly about remembering their forebears.

Flags in the Church

https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2021/11/the-history-of-national-flags-in-churches

The debate over flags in the Church is riddled with problems and clouded by false assumptions. There is a problem with the sanctuary model to begin with, the idea that a building is somehow a 'holy' place, a 'sanctuary' or that the front of the structure is some kind of focal point – a leftover of the unbiblical altar-theology of Romanism.

The Shadow State is Alive and Well

https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-inside-militarys-secret-undercover-army-1591881

The stage for all of this was set in the aftermath of 9/11 and increasingly as people no longer consider the surrendering of their privacy and data to be anything controversial, and as generations of lock-step, wave the flag, support the troops, my country right or wrong nationalism has come to dominate – this story isn't even controversial.

Afghanistan and the Fall of Saigon

In recent days while reflecting on Afghanistan and the US withdrawal, I have thought more and more of Vietnam and what happened there in 1975. I was prompted to revisit the 2014 PBS film Last Days in Vietnam which was aired at the end of April 2015 – the fortieth anniversary of the fall of Saigon.

The Kamala Harris Tweet, Memorial Day Weekend, and Right-wing Political Correctness

I had to laugh over Memorial Day weekend 2021. I happened to be someplace where I had access to television and so I couldn't help it – I took in some FOX news. It's like the ghost that hovers over the American Church, the proverbial elephant in the room. It's eye-opening to observe this channel which continues to wield such sway over the minds of many who are supposedly renewed in their minds.

The story of the hour was the Kamala Harris tweet.

The Burning of Bibles and the Evangelical Response

Reports have come out regarding street protestors burning Bibles. Already upset by the taking down of statues and monuments, this story has pushed many Evangelicals over the edge and while the imagery of the Scriptures being burned is troublesome, there is also cause for concern to be found in the Evangelical response.

A Heretic Born on the Fifth of July

As we are in high-patriotic season when it comes to the American liturgical calendar I thought it apropos to recall this speaker I heard being aggressively pushed on local Christian radio stations in 2019.

The Moscow Abomination, Sacralist Worldview and Memorial Day (Part 2)

From the anti-sacralist Two Kingdom standpoint of New Testament Christianity, the aforementioned thin line between Church and State is in fact an insurmountable wall.***

Christians do not celebrate war. They do not take up the sword. They do not seek revenge and they do not put themselves in service to mammon. As such, Christians are necessarily divorced from the cultural mainstream and cannot have any part in the political apparatus. Life of course is complicated and saints have at times found themselves in difficult situations and have been pulled into realms and spheres that they did not seek. These realities are part of life in a fallen world. But this is quite different from a mode of thinking that not only embraces these categories but sanctifies and glorifies them.

The Moscow Abomination, Sacralist Worldview and Memorial Day (Part 1)

https://www.rferl.org/a/inside-moscows-new-military-megachurch/30580784.html

I happened to turn to the website affiliated with Radio CIA and discovered this story. Radio Free Europe is biased to be sure but there are sometimes hints of interesting stories and in other cases messages are communicated that tell me more about the reporter than the subject being reported.

Most Westerners will find this Nationalist Orthodox Cathedral to be a disgusting thing and rightly so. It is offensive – but I say that not as an American or Westerner or someone committed to Liberal ideals. Rather I say it as a Christian. This cathedral represents Sacralism on full display.

Wal-Mart and the Library of Sodom

Once again I recently found myself in a Wal-Mart and as usual I perused the book section. It's instructive because of the fact that Wal-Mart is only interested in carrying a relatively small number of books that are guaranteed to sell. In other words Wal-Mart carries the best-selling books within certain categories and of course it also targets its demographics, the types of people that shop in its store.

Kromiadi, the 1944 Prague Manifesto and Contemporary Alliances

Constantine Kromiadi was a Greco-Russian nationalist who fought on the White side in the Russian Civil Wars. He eventually became a Nazi collaborator who wanted to see Stalin defeated and some form of traditionalist Russia restored.

Clark and Mefferd on Socialism: A Dog and Pony Show

https://heidelblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/7-25-18-Janet-Mefferd-Today.mp3

I rolled my eyes, but like the impulse to turn one's head to look at a car wreck, I had to listen. What are they going to say? Janet Mefferd and Scott Clark are going to break down Socialism for us. It ought to be a hoot.

And I wasn't disappointed, that is if I was looking for a fiasco. If someone is looking for good information, acumen and Scriptural wisdom on Socialism and how a Christian should think about it... they'll need to look somewhere else, because as expected, these two are a case of blind leading the blind.

Sasse: A Danger and Disgrace to Protestant Testimony

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sen-ben-sasse-calls-putin-murderer-trump-meet/story?id=56612481

If you're a Conservative or Evangelical Christian and you haven't heard of Ben Sasse, then you're probably in the minority. He's young, popular and part of a crop of politicians that has grown up and been 'properly educated' in so-called Worldview teaching. In many ways he's the candidate the Christian Right has been looking for. George W. Bush may have been the 'every-man' Evangelical, the omnibus candidate that could appeal to the wealthy and the working class but by all accounts he was an intellectual lightweight. His heart expressed the sentiments that resonated with the Christian Right but his tongue was unable to articulate the ideas. Time will tell if Sasse is able to have that kind of broad appeal but in terms of not just the lingo but the actual ideas, he's the one their looking for. He's the politician that can truly express the theology and social visions of intellectuals from Abraham Kuyper and Francis Schaeffer to RJ Rushdoony and even figures like Cornelius Van Til.

Cracks in the Atlantic Wall

What were once subtle signals of fissures in the Atlantic alliance are becoming more pronounced. I refer here to Atlanticism, the belief that Europe and America have a mutual need, values and destiny. This is a deeper and more pervasive concept that transcends military alliances like NATO. This relationship involves not just military but cultural and economic alliances.

The Leaven of Evangelical Sacralism: A Warning Regarding Judaized Politics and the Hypocrisy it Breeds (Part 2 of 2)

Recently I was visiting a Reformed Baptist Church and the pastor, a graduate of Liberty University continually invoked the name of Jerry Falwell Sr. in the pulpit. He obviously admires the man and it was clear listening to him pray and preach that he has fallen into the same idolatrous trap as Dobson, Jeffress, the Grahams, Mohler, Perkins and a host of other conservative and Evangelical leaders have fallen into. They think America is an 'exceptional' nation by which they (as Christians) mean it has been granted a holy or semi-holy status apart from other nations.

Hungary's Bitter Road Through Modern History

Viktor Orban is at this point all but a pariah to the powers that be in Brussels and Washington. He continues to resist the EU and has voiced considerable opposition not only to the policies of Europe but even the ideology of the post-war project.

The General and Luke 16.15

The recent racist incident at the USAF Academy was certainly appalling and is rightfully condemned but I'm afraid I cannot go along with the world's praise of Lt. Gen Jay Silveria, the Superintendent of the school.

His speech is almost ubiquitous at present dominating news feeds and newspapers and I'm sure he'll get a few feathers in his cap. Many are saying, "This is the speech we wish the president would give."

"This is the right response to racism."

This is insanity on display. These commentators as well as the general are blind. This is true in terms of our culture and its history but they are also spiritually blind and their moral judgments are askew. Allow me to elaborate.

Arlington Cemetery: Tribalism and Idealism, Propaganda and Reflection

It always impresses me when you cross the Arlington Bridge over the Potomac. After whipping around the Lincoln Memorial and skipping the right turn to Foggy Bottom and Watergate you cross the bridge and if you look up there's Robert E. Lee's house looming over you and overlooking Arlington Cemetery.