The Braying of Asses and the Grunting of Hogs

Herewith Martin Luther on the divine gift of music:

Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. It controls our thoughts, minds, hearts, and spirits…This precious gift has been given to man alone that he might thereby remind himself that God has created man for the express purpose of praising and extolling God. However, when man’s natural musical ability is whetted and polished to the extent that it becomes an art, then do we note with great surprise the great and perfect wisdom of God in music, which is, after all, His product and His gift; we marvel when we hear music in which one voice sings a simple melody, while three, four, or five other voices play and trip lustily around the voice that sings its simple melody and adorn this simple melody wonderfully with artistic musical effects, thus reminding us of a heavenly dance, where all meet in a spirit of friendliness, caress and embrace.

A person who gives this some thought and yet does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God, must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs.

(Martin Luther, 1538, in his Foreword to “Symphoniae iucunda,” a collection of chorale motets)

Calvin Quote of the Day: The Spirit is More Excellent Than All Reason

Since for unbelieving men religion seems to stand by opinion alone, they, in order not to believe anything foolishly or lightly, both wish and demand rational proof that Moses and the prophets spoke divinely. But I reply: the testimony of the Spirit is more excellent than all reason. For as God alone is a fit witness of himself in his Word, so also the Word will not find acceptance in men's hearts before it is sealed by the inward testimony of the Spirit. The same Spirit, therefore, who has spoken through the mouths of the prophets must penetrate into our hearts to persuade us that they faithfully proclaimed what had been divinely commanded ...

John Calvin Institutes of the Christian Religion 1.7.5.

(HT: monergism.com)

Piper to Preach Through Gospel of John!

A cause for great rejoicing!

For those of you who haven't yet heard John Piper's sermons on Romans, you should. Pastor John preached 224 sermons on this book. The DVD contains all of them as mp3's and is worth its weight in gold.

How long will it take him? You do the math:

Hebrews has 303 verses: he preached 52 sermons on Hebrews.

Romans has 433 verses: he preached 224 messages.

John has 879 verses...

But, however long the Lord gives him to preach this tremendous book, don't miss it!

B. Hussein Obama Is Not a Christian

Here is the video of B. Hussein Obama slipping and referring to "my Muslim faith" before George Stephanopoulos helpfully -- helpfully, that is to Obama, but not to us -- corrects him:




Dear friends, there is no evidence whatsoever to support the claim of Senator Obama and Mr. Stephanopoulos that B. Hussein Obama is a "Christian." The fact that he says he is a Christian, and the fact that he is a member of a United Church of Christ are both meaningless.

Point No. 1: Saying you are a Christian does not mean you are one. You can look that up in Matthew 7:21 and elsewhere in the New Testament.

Point no. 2: Being a member of any kind of church does not mean you are a Christian. If you need proof, read John chapter 3 in the Bible.

Point No. 3: B. Hussein points to his membership in the United Church of Christ (the UCC) to support his claim. That denomination is widely referred to among Bible-believing Christians as "Unitarians Considering Christ."

For those of you in Rio Linda, that means it is not Christian even though it calls itself Christian. See Points no. 1 and 2.

And, of course, if further evidence were needed that B. Hussein is not a Christian, his support for abortion would surely provide it.


HT: Baylyblog

Martin Luther On False Religion

Martin Luther hit the nail precisely on the head:

All manner of religion, where people serve God without his Word and command, is simply idolatry, and the more holy and spiritual such a religion seems, the more hurtful and venomous it is; for it leads people away from the faith of Christ, and makes them rely and depend upon their own strength, works, and righteousness.

Is John McCain Pro-Life? Don't Make Me Laugh

Just because John McCain (who happens to be running for President) tells Rick Warren that life begins at conception, gullible evanjelly-fish leaders are falling all over themselves telling everyone McCain is "pro-life."

Oh really?

As Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin documents, here are the facts:

1. John McCain openly advocates embryonic stem cell research.

2. John McCain voted to confirm Stephen Breyer, the openly pro-abortion Supreme Court justice.

3. John McCain voted to confirm Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the former general counsel of the ACLU. It's a bit hard for him to say he didn't know how she would vote on abortion cases.

4. John McCain gave us McCain-Feingold, which prohibits pro-life groups from broadcasting any ad the mentions a candidate by name 60 days before a general election.

5. In a debate with George W. Bush in 2000, John McCain attacked Bush for supporting the pro-life plank in the Republican platform.

6. John McCain has repeatedly voted to fund abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood with federal tax dollars. In fact, along with President Bush, McCain has increase levels of federal funding for abortion providers above what they were under Bill Clinton.

7. And who can forget that John McCain was one of the main forces behind the "Gang of 14" that blocked President Bush from appointing pro-life judges to lower federal courts?

8. Last but not least, John McCain has been a tireless supporter of the United Nations, which has been responsible for more abortions than any other single entity in the world.

Chuck Baldwin has it exactly right:

"Tell me again, Mr. Christian leader, how 'pro-life' John McCain is. What a joke!"

Hypocrisy Alert: So-Called "Evangelical Leaders" Blow It Big Time On Bristol Palin's Pregnancy

Here is my rendition by memory of the letter sent today via email to Chuck Baldwin, Constitution Party candidate for President:

Dear Chuck,

As a Constitution Party supporter, I am appalled by the blatant hypocrisy on display in all its ugliness by so-called "evangelical leaders" such as James Dobson in the matter of the teenage pregnancy of Sarah Palin's unwed daughter. The incessant spin-spin-spin machine is in overdrive, and it makes me sick to my stomach.

What ever happened to SIN? What ever happened to genuine repentance? What about Our Lord's warning, in response to far greater perils, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish?" These get nary a mention. All we get from Dr. Dobson is that this teenager was "imperfect." This is bald-faced hypocrisy. It will surely be pointed out by our opponents, and they will be right.

This teenager's "imperfection" (the term clearly implies that all she needs to do is get a little counseling to get patched up), is not the issue for any genuine believer. The issue is that the righteous and just wrath of a holy God is even now being revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness of men and women -- including against Bristol Palin and her boyfriend in these very events as well as the hardships they will undoubtedly face in the future.

Of course all Christians will support them and love them throughout the raising of this child -- that is not the point.

The point is, without the conviction of sin, there is no Gospel and we perish. But how can there be conviction of sin, if sin is never even addressed? These people call themselves Christian?

I beg you to speak out against this.

Sincerely,

Your supporter,