FREEMASONRY: A timely reminder of a real threat from a day gone by!

Christianity Today's offering on Freemasonry is pertinent and timely for this blogger/observer ... ironically, I just put up a copy of a hundred-year-old address on the subject by the son of the Johnathon Blanchard mentioned below, Charles A. Blanchard.

Click over to The SHEEP'S CRIB - Inspiration to read the most pointed refutation of Freemasonry I've come across ... and that by a former 33rd degree Mason.

In CT's TIDINGS column they bring us ...

"The Freemasonry Threat - Faint echoes remind evangelicals of a nearly forgotten foe" by Ted Olsen; a timely reminder of things past ...
Family Life Church loves their new building ... except for one thing: The walls still bear symbols of its past as a Masonic temple. The suburban Chicago Daily Herald reported that Elgin officials barred the markings' removal because they "contribute to the overall character of the building, its history." The church argued the symbols conflict with Christian belief, but the government said the church can only cover them up, not remove them.

Family Life Church's effort echoes a long fight in Kenya's Presbyterian Church of East Africa over eradicating Masonic symbols in colonial-era churches and government buildings. "These symbols and artifacts must be removed and destroyed," PCEA head David Githii explained to The Nation as at least 30 stained-glass windows and other items were removed from Nairobi's St. Andrews Church. "They are anti-Christ." Githii sent demolition squads to other PCEA churches around the country ... .

Yes, there are still Freemasons, including a reported 1.8 million members in the United States. And if the unconfirmed anecdotes ct editors hear regularly are to believed, Masonic cliques still wield power in several places.

But membership is half what it was 50 years ago. It's hard to believe that Freemasons and similar secret societies were one of the top three social ills targeted by evangelicals of the mid-1800s, along with slavery and alcohol. In 1868, several prominent evangelicals, including revivalist Charles Grandison Finney and Wheaton College founder Jonathan Blanchard, created the National Christian Association (NCA) to warn believers that "all secret societies [are] deistical, antagonistic to Christianity, [and] tend to loosen moral ties."

Now Freemasonry is nearly forgotten, and the Christian campaign against "secretism" had little to do with the decline. ... The tough question is when to listen to William Wilberforce and when to listen to Gamaliel (Acts 5:38): "Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail."

Once you read Blanchard's charges you might want to reread Wilberforce.

Christianity, Christianity Today,
Cults, Freemasons, PCEA, Wheaton

CHARITY: How I envy this effort of love!

Dan Edelen of Cerulean Sanctum has linked to a neat Wall Street Journal story on philanthropy.

Marie Delahoussaye, a widow in Texas, asked for money to replace an obsolete hearing aid that “whistles.” In neat, black cursive script on green-lined memo paper she wrote, “Please consider helping me. I live very frugally. I don’t waste anything.”

Ms. Buffett paid for two hearing aids that cost about $1,800 total. Ms. Delahoussaye—who says she never expected to receive a response—says the devices have helped her reconnect with friends and her community. Before getting the hearing aids, “I couldn’t hear the phone ring,” she says. “I would go to church and couldn’t hear the sermon.” She says the experience has reaffirmed her faith in strangers. “This has made me realize there are still good people in the world,” she says.

Though the WSJ piece is worth reading in and of itself, its Dan's comments on the story that makes clicking over worth the trouble.

A story that makes the heartstrings sing, right?

But did anyone here catch the deeper issue? This elderly widow couldn’t hear the sermons at her church. She writes to Warren Buffett. Doris Buffett comes to her assistance. And this hearing-impaired widow gets her new hearing aids. She says it reaffirms her faith in strangers.

But at whose expense does that reaffirmation come?

You see it? I hope I’m not the only one asking, “Where was her church?” I hate to think that she mentioned this to people at her church and no one did anything. It seems that way, though, doesn’t it? [CRIB emphasis]

Back in the late 19th and the early 20th centuries the church abdicated her throne for social issues; relinquishing control of all sorts of Christian responsibilities to the government and the welfare state. We've paid a heavy price for doing that!

Paul taught this ...

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

Philippians 2:3-4

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HYPOCRISY: When will it ever end!

I'm sorry Lord, forgive me but my first thought was not to pray for this jerk; but on second thought he is just the kind of guy who needs our prayers.

A minister and Christian radio station employee has been charged with indecent exposure as well as DUI and violation of the open container law, the Kingsport Times-News reported.

Tommy Tester, 58, of Bristol, Va., was arrested last week by Johnson City police after they say he urinated in front of children at a car wash.

Police also said Tester, who was wearing a skirt, offered to perform oral sex on officers who responded to the car wash.

Well, in that case, perhaps I should send him some "Tommy Girl" by Tommy Helfigir ...

... or do you think the "Boy" version would be best. Did you know that these products are called Tommy Testers? No I'm not joking! Guess it's a girl thing!

I wonder if there's an "It" blend?

Station WZAP, in Bristol, Virginia, offered this ...

We do not know all the details and facts concerning the arrest; but for the time being Tommy has been relieved of his responsibilities at the station until such facts surrounding the case are determined.

Station owner Al Morris added this ...

Morris said Monday in a phone interview that Tester, known to listeners as "Tommy Tester," is also pastor of Gospel Baptist Church on Reedy Creek Road. "So far, they (members of the congregation) have rallied behind Tommy," Morris said.

Morris, who was on vacation when he first heard about the allegations and read the details in the Johnson City Press, added, "It's the biggest shock of my life."

Having since read the two police reports over and over again, Morris spoke of his desire to wait until all the facts are revealed in court before condemning Tester, "I know what the police report has told me and I know what Tommy has told me--Tommy has denied all of it."

I don't know what the circumstances were; or what Tester did or did not do ... but I do know this, HE WAS DOING SOMETHING THAT GOT HIM HEADLINES, BAD HEADLINES!

That, in and of itself, is enough to say Tommy your butt is in a wringer and it deserves to be! [See here for another embarrassment to the Bride and the Bridegroom. HT: Chrishansen Home]

I am so sick and tired of these lousy headlines and the reproach they bring upon the church that I could vomit ... puke!

Others feel the same in a tongue-in-cheek sorta way ...

Thanks, TT, for providing more ammunition to the despisers of the Church. But why oh why did you have to be a Baptist? Couldn’t you have been an Episcopalian? Your behavior would then at least appear almost normal.

Evidently Tester has some recognition as a gospel musician ...

Fans of gospel music likely know the name Tommy Tester well.

Unfortunately ... correct that! Fortunately he'll be singing another song now - a song of repentance!

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SANCTIFICATION: Living with A Split Personality!

Sanctification is, in its simplest terms, the hand-in-hand walk of the believer with the Holy Spirit ... we take one step while He takes one giant step.

Lately my Christian personality has been bifurcated to the extreme; on the one hand, I feel this world is hopeless, so Come Lord Jesus ... NOW! On the other hand, I constantly feel the power of God and His victory over all of life's challenges [Romans 8:33-39]. Yes, faith is my victory; it will overcome the world. [1 John 5:4-5]

Living with a half-empty, half-full bottle of sanctification is the pits ... but it is also a choice. Oh, Lord, teach my Thy ways.

Sanctification