The Letters Feature is Filled Up With Letters. Again.

Re the article “The Joy Juice of Democracy” Nov 6, 2023, and other work on Christian nationalism—I get the sense that you believe multi-ethnic/racial partnership in Christ is prohibitively difficult. Is that right? Why do you think this is not an ideal to be worked towards? Happy to have a call at some time to chat and further understand how you and your circle view things. I believe that your kind of resilience in standing against this crazy obsession with DEI is correct, but at the same time I think witness of the body of Christ would be made stronger in this age when people across ethnicities stand on the same firm foundation of the Scriptures, redeeming people to biblically-founded Christian ethics, and not some kind of simplistic racial harmony.

Gerald

On Sabbath rest, and those durn Puritans,

I’m a young husband and soon-to-be father. I finished Gary North’s “Sinai Strategy,” and the chapter and appendix on the Sabbath raised questions I hope you could shed some light on.

1. God commanded the Israelites not to pick up sticks on the Sabbath. Does this preclude us from using lights, cookware, central heating, etc? Of course we ought not to execute our electric company public employees because they “picked up sticks” for us! And, if this command was aimed at a pre-industrial agrarian society, how is this command fulfilled in Christ and applied today? Should future Christian lawmakers be permitted to regulate businesses on Sunday? And, does the pre-industrial Westminster answer this question?

2. North derides the Puritans and Scots Presbyterians for their strict regulation of the Sabbath, with no taverns, sports, and even Sunday schools allowed. You oft quoting Lewis where he says quite the opposite about the joy of the Puritan Christians. I presume there probably were Pharisaical Puritans out there, but were they really that bad? Or were sports games the moral equivalent to our pride parades today?

Thanks Pastor, God bless you.

Best,

Sean

Would you ever consider performing a wedding for two nonbelievers? And, would it make a difference if they were co-habitating?

Thanks,

CB+

On “Things That Go Bump in the Night” or “Angels in the Outfield” Given that Christians (Ken Hamm, et al) have done a fabulous job of debunking evolutionary theory in the realm of biology, geology, and the fossil record, I long for a set of smart AND Biblical Christians to make similar hay of evolution in the sphere of astronomy. We sheep are lulled into complacency by the lofty sounds of Carbon-14 dating, erosion strata, reptilian dinosaurs that weren’t dragons, and etc. rolling off the honeyed tongues of pontificators in white lab coats. But we also swallow string theory, galaxies, black holes, light-years in the billions and heliocentrism like warm porridge. Where is the healthy skepticism of those eggheaded Darwinists when Scripture plainly says the stars are messengers/angels placed in the sky for signs? I look at Orion and ask myself “Why did God put you there?” And I’d like to know.

I don’t accept, for instance, the scientism that says stars are billions of light years away, for to see them, they would have to be unfathomably enormous, and our Sun, which I also don’t accept is merely another star, would be this tiny pinprick of a thing in comparison. Ever-expanding universe because 17.5 trillion years ago it all went ka-boom? I don’t think so, and I think “red-light shifts” are just the astronomers’ version of Carbon-14 dating. They built something that gives the “evidence” they need to make us all sit back and wonder . . . not at God’s fantastic creation, but at their inventive genius.

Hogwash.

Do things go bump in the night? Yep. My wife’s piano gave off a loud crack a couple of nights ago because it’s 130 years old and not accustomed to cold, dry Idahoan winters. Do “supernatural” things bump around? Sure thing. There definitely are flying objects that haven’t been identified, and various sightings are routinely reported around the world. Are there angels in the outfield? Absolutely. Billions and billions of them, all marching around our world in perfect formation, giving us signs that we’ve forgotten how to read.

Perhaps one day we can talk through this a bit more. I would enjoy that.

Andy

My son has visited your schools because he has a friend who’s daughter and son attended them. (I think they graduated now) Anyway, we would like to look into starting a charter or alternate school here in P_______. He said you may be able to help with a type of blueprint of what is involved. This of course is under the radar right now, since the public schools would be in horror of such a thing. Anyway, may you be able to help?

Thank you for taking the time to read this,

Maureen

I have some questions about women in the home and ministry. I’m from Australia and part of a Pentecostal church, where women preachers and pastors is usual. In my personal studies, I have come to be concerned about this and would love some guidance on this. At the same time, my husband is not very interested in Scripture so I find it hard to get an educated opinion from him on this. I understand your view is complementarian. Is this the right place/way to get your thoughts on this?

Kind regards,

Allison

In Chapter 2 of Mere Christendom, you discuss the question of lawful taxation. However, you don’t seem to spend much ink on the passages calling us to pay taxes to whom they are due, i.e. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). Given how the Jews chafed under the Roman Empire, I assume the Roman taxes were considered oppressive in many of the same ways we would talk about our government’s taxation of us. Yet Jesus calls the Jews to pay those taxes—to render to Caesar what is owed him (even if it is oppressive). Jesus does not indicate that Caesar is stealing, otherwise the Jews wouldn’t be rendering what was “his.”

How can we reconcile this with your discussion of taxation as theft?

Caleb

I so enjoyed your conversation with Andrew Klavan this week! Nice to hear from a believer in Idaho that hasn’t forsaken the gospel or hope for humanity (seems like it’s one or the other with most people these days).

Can you recommend a church in the Treasure Valley? I’m in Nampa and haven’t had a community for some time (beyond online).

It’s hard to identify a church that hasn’t twisted the gospel to fit nihilistic ideology or that plugs their ears and closes their eyes when it comes to science, philosophy and culture.

Thank you for what you do!

Aaron

I watched your recent discussion with the Remnant Radio pastors, and I think before the theological debate there’s a semantic debate. Let me see if this correctly sums up the situation:

Just like there’s “Apostles” and “apostles” but the latter term is too confusing in most circumstances for usage, perhaps there’s room for “Prophecy” and “prophecy.” It seems everyone is in agreement that big-P Prophecy—the kind that writes Scripture—is done. And everyone in this discussion agrees that the Holy Spirit actively moves and does miracles (although I’ve met cessationists who do not). It seems there’s a category of miracle where God tells someone to tell someone else a specific Scripture. There’s no new word of God being said, just a reiteration/reapplication of existing Scripture. The Remnant radio people would call this a type of prophecy, and I think you would agree the Spirit can move like this but likely avoid the term just for the confusion, correct?

The theological debate comes in when the claim is something beyond a Scripture quotation. They would claim they see the Spirit move and say things like to wear a coat on Tuesday, and your point in the debate is that if God is saying things that aren’t written in the Bible, then that’s approaching big “P” Prophecy. Is that also correct?

Ian

Regarding the “Well, then, we succeeded” comic post on January 12, 2024, here is a modern proverb you may appreciate: “Meetings are where the minutes are kept and the hours are lost.” Blessings to you in 2024.

John

I have a question that I can’t seem to wrap my head around; hoping you could help!

What is the connection between alive, saving faith and good works? How does saving faith lead to good works?

Grace and peace,

Giuseppe

Re: An Old Coot Rants a Bit

I can’t believe there’s not a single remorseful comment about Dolly Parton’s stacks or Trump’s two Corinthians. What indeed is the world coming to?

Grateful for the serrated edge, Ol’ Coot style.

Doc

I’ve just recently come across your writings and video content over maybe the last year or so. I’m a bit of a new follower of Jesus Christ, with a proclivity towards what I call realism (while my wife calls it pessimism). In the years since my awakening, I’ve read through the Bible cover to cover twice—and the narrative of especially the NT and Revelation seemed to fit into my “pessimistic” worldview that things are falling apart at a continuing rapid pace and will continue to deteriorate rapidly until Jesus returns to “fix” everything. That is until I came across post-millennialism and preterism, and then I read Heaven Misplaced (as well as digesting much of your other content). This feels like the exact antidote I needed to believe that the viewpoint I previously held was flawed, and that there is much more hope and optimism in what a transformative set of events Christ’s earthly life, death and resurrection and 70AD, etc really were.

I state all of that to say that as a person whose occupation is an engineer (problem solver), and a mindset of “figuring things out,” I feel as though I have a million questions about the whole thing. I know it doesn’t change the main message of the Bible and what we are commanded to do, it’s just not my personality to brush what seem like major details aside. Because it feels as though those narratives frame how we view our current place and time, and without knowing it feels a bit like floating in the wind. But perhaps that is my biggest flaw and I’m overthinking it. I apologize this has gotten so long winded without really asking a specific question. I appreciate your content and your sense of humor, and I will continue to try to catch up so I can follow along with perhaps a bit more understanding of where you’re coming from. Thank you,

Mark

I was curious regarding your thoughts on how a board, either church elders or corporate, should talk about internal disagreements over policy (meaning no specific people are involved, so confidentiality is not at issue) when discussing it with the people under their care. Most groups I’ve dealt with at both church and work take the position that “even if we disagree, we will not openly do so and we will present ourselves as unanimous, even if we are not” as opposed to “if we disagree, we will be open with those under our care and be clear that even though we do see things differently, we have gone in a particular direction and will do so decently and in order.” Over the last few years, I had a church elder openly say things to me I know he didn’t believe so that the elder board could be seen as unanimous (even though they clearly weren’t). I’ve had the same thing happen at work, and this has hung more than a few employees out to dry as they make decisions based on what they know their manager wants, but then the manager won’t support them, because to do so wouldn’t seem a betrayal of decisions made by the group of managers.

I know that we should value unity, but my read on this is that it to not be honest in this instance is just plain cowardice. Is that too harsh? I personally wouldn’t mind if my elder said “I think this, but was voted down, so the church is going this way. Let’s help the church, pray, and come to me if you need to talk more. I’m here.” How is that a bad thing? All I can revert to is asking myself, “If my elder is lying to me about this, what else is he not being truthful about?”

I think that there is a conflation of unity and unanimity for the sake of not having to defend a controversial decision. A board can be unified even if they disagree, but isn’t it untruthful to say to one’s churchgoer “I agree” when one, in actuality, does not? What is the best way for a board to address disagreements of opinion to those outside the inner circle?

I’ve been struggling with this concept for the last few years and was interested to read your input.

God bless.

David

Hi Doug! Tonight I find myself searching and scrolling the internet looking for a Story Bible fit for our one and two year old boys. My husband and I subscribe to Cannon plus and listen to your content daily. Because of this, you were the first person that popped into my mind while searching. I knew you would have a recommendation that we would be able to trust. We are currently using a fantastic app on our iPad that has several Bible stories thoughtfully rewritten, but I am tired of sticking an iPad in his face before bed. I have tried reading him the Bible. Simple. He quickly loses interest and responds better to books with pictures. He’s 2. I can understand why. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

Shane and Lindsay

You wrote, “When I was but a callow youth, and election time came around the way it always did, everybody went to the polls, and marked their selection in the wet clay of the cuneiform tablets, and the votes were all tallied up and announced by eleven o’clock that evening, and that was even allowing for the time it took for the clay to be run through the kilns.”

That’s not true. The speed of national election outcomes is mostly related to how close the race is. Most of the time, the votes are disparate enough that a winner can be projected/announced well before all the votes have been counted. That was certainly the case for most of the elections of your youth. Most of them were historic landslides, with a notable exception being 1976. The media didn’t start calling the race for Carter until 3:00 the next morning, and it wasn’t until later that morning that Ford officially conceded.

As is typical, he didn’t concede because the votes were all counted and the tallies final. He conceded when the results that were in at that moment made it clear that it was impossible or extremely unlikely for the tide to turn.

Ken

Thank you very much for your Blog and Mablog posts. They have been encouraging in a time that seems pitch-dark to me. I have a question that has been laying heavily on me for the past several months. Any advice or prayers would be greatly appreciated.

I am a woman, single, and will be beginning my last semester at my local community college in a week. I want to teach young people about language, books, or history and I do not know where to go to finish my education. Over the winter break, I read John Milton’s “On Education,” Dorothy Sayers’ “The Lost Tools of Learning,” and your books “Recovering the Lost Tools of Education” and “The Case for Classical Christian Education.”

I have also been studying 1 Corinthians 7 this week, and verse 20 stood out to me: “Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.” There is no doubt in my mind that completing my education is the work that God has called me to, but I just can’t see the “where” part. Please ask God to open the right doors and that I would be wise enough to follow His lead.

Ariel

Should I read Bible commentaries written by women?

Matt