December 2004 Archives

We receive thousands of pieces of mail at the Vision Forum. Many are encouraging. Some are confrontational. This letter recently arrived on my desk.

[Mr. Phillips] Your poor wife must be sick of popping out kids? Stop overpopulation! Use birthcontrol for (expletive deleted)! Pitiful. Stop adding “freaks” to our society. Abstain. God would want you to (sic). ___.

Dear _, God bless you. This is Doug’s “poor” wife here writing to assure you that “popping out” kids, though challenging, is among the most glorious gifts that the Lord bestows upon a redeemed woman. Prolific mothers are not “baby machines” (as both Margaret Sanger and some very confused professing Christians), but blessed vessels of life from which the Lord brings eternal souls into this earth and fulfills his own command that man “be fruitful and multiply.”

For a Christian, having babies is not about birthing pains, changing diapers or baking cookies(though it includes all of these). Having babies is about transforming the world forever. This investment will last, not for thirty years, not for my lifetime, but f-o-r-e-v-e-r. The investment is realized on earth and pays dividends for eternity. On earth, we pray that these children will advance the very kingdom of God. But in heaven, the souls of every redeemed child will stand with me throughout eternity before the Lord Jesus. The pressures of today (be they financial, physical, etc.)that taunt Christians to self-consciously distort God’s fruitful purpose for the womb, and to separate life from love, will seem infinitesimally small as we look back upon this whisper of a life with our children beside us in eternity.

My children can have more far reaching implications for society and posterity than anything else I can do. Having babies and training children for Jesus Christ means my life work will last forever. I hurt for you and those sad, misguided souls who would think of prolific motherhood as reducing women to the status of “baby machine.” I refuse to accept the minimizing, selfish, materialistic, and limited vision of womanhood dispensed by the apostles of modernity and relevancy in this generation. My dream is far greater. I reject the options which the world offers. I want something bigger.

Though I have been blessed with seven children who are the delight of my soul, Doug and I fervently pray for more. While I am not sure what you mean by “freaks,” I can assure you it is my goal to populate the world with “fools for Christ” who view children as a blessing, the womb as sacred, and the calling of helpmeet and mother as holy before our Lord Jesus.

I understand that you and I disagree on these points, but I want to let you know that I am glad that your mother gave you life. I don’t know you, but I would never wish that you were not born, nor would I presume that the world would be a better place without you. In fact, I would be happy if perhaps someday we can meet unified in Christ and as friends. And yes, with more babies on our laps.

Sincerely Yours, Beall Phillips

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 28, 2004 | Permalink

I have just recently posted this last Sunday’s blog on repentance, the new year and the Lord’s Table. There are some wonderful quotes from Watson and Spurgeon, if you have not yet read it.

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 28, 2004 | Permalink

Today’s New York Times reports that “Survivors of the gigantic undersea earthquake on Sunday that swallowed coastlines from Indonesia to Africa - which officials now describe as one of the worst natural disasters in recent history - recovered bodies on Tuesday, hurriedly arranged for mass burials and searched for tens of thousands of the missing in countries thousands of miles apart. The toll from the disaster - with more than 25,000 dead and many unaccounted for - came into sharper relief on a day when it seemed increasingly clear that at least a third of the dead were children, according to estimates by aid officials.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 28, 2004 | Permalink

The darkest places and people on earth tend to be those which once burned brightly for the Lord but who have now forsaken their own spiritual inheritance for a mess of culturally relevant pottage. Such is the story of the Netherlands, (which once boasted such great Christian reformers as Abraham Kuyper) last week pushing the envelope of depravity by preparing protocols to protect doctors who murder infant children with congenital diseases, physical disabilities or malformation. Read more about it here:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42109.

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 27, 2004 | Permalink

[ Comment: The above image is of the review books sent to me over the last two weeks from various publishers. They await my return to the office. I receive about 500 review books a year. Though I can not read them all cover to cover, I skim as many as possible and try to read more thoroughly the books which catch my attention. Certain publishers have a track record for excellence, which means that I am more likely to read books which they send me.]

My favorite books in the world are those which I have received from my father. Throughout my library are hundreds (perhaps thousands) of books with notes in the front cover from my father. By the time I left home for marriage, my library contained thousands of books, many of which were gifts from my father dating back to my sixth birthday. Few of these were children’s books. Dad mostly gave me college level books in the hope that he would encourage me to think like an adult and build my resource library. I view the library my father built for me as a significant part of the inheritance he has bequeathed to me. My favorite books are the ones that contain a personal note from him in the inside front cover and which carry his underlines, markings, and notes from his own reading of the volume. Every week day I receive in the mail a 1-2 inch thick packet, with $4-$7 affixed in postage, from my father. It contains scads of newspaper and magazine article clippings which he has read and blanketed with notations. Sometimes he places books in the packages.

Dad’s choice of gift books is incredibly diverse and interesting. He purchases his books from any of the many book clubs to which he belongs, estate and library sales, and from friends. Dad rarely if ever gives me novels. 98% of the books I receive are histories, biographies, and theologies. Dad does not hesitate to send me “enemy propaganda,” and books which reflect viewpoints which diverge broadly from our own, especially where such books offer insights into the arguments and tactics of the opponents of orthodox Christianity.

Over the last two months Dad has sent me some of the following titles: Marriage and Love in England: 1300-1840, by Alan Macfarlane; Witchdoctors and Psychiatrists: The Common Roots of Psychotherapy and Its Future, by E. Fuller Torrey, MD; Consumer’s Guide to a Brave New World, by Wesley J. Smith; The Jews in Colonial America, by Oscar Reiss; Serfdom and Social Control in Russia, by Stephan L. Hoch; William James and John Dewey, by Gordon Clark; Noah’s Flood: New Scientific Discoveries About the Event That Changed History, by William Ryan and Walter Pitman; America’s Secret Aristocracy, by Stephan Birmingham; Crossed Fingers: How the Liberals Captured the Presbyterian Church, by Gary North, and The Church Effeminate, edited by John Robins.

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 27, 2004 | Permalink

It is time for all Christians to clean house. As we approach a new year, and are reminded that God has called us to “number our days” and to “redeem the time,” perhaps the most important thing we can do is to repent over sin. As one of our staff explained at the end of the year Thanksgiving party for Vision Forum: “Those who desire to be bold for Christ must remember that you can not be bold until you are righteouss.”

With these thoughts in mind, one of our local church leaders, Bob Sarratt, shared some of the following insights and quotes (edited and abbreviated for this blog)with our body this Sunday in preperation for taking the Lord’s Table. Please take the time and read these rich insights:

Biblical Repentance and the Lord’s Table

Each week as we approach the Lords Supper we should remember that we must come to the Table in obedience to our Lord with understanding, with faith, with reverence, and with godly fear. We understand that the Scripture’s teach that the Lord’s Table is for all who profess faith in Christ and who have demonstrated obedience through the waters of baptism. The Scriptures also teach that all who come to the Lord’s Table are to examine themselves. Even though redeemed, we are liars if we deny that we are sinful people regularly in need of repentance. The Apostle Paul said: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” Concerning the greatness of his mercy, Paul writes in Titus 3:3: “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”

A Confessional Testimony Concerning Repentance

Without faith (which is the unearned gift of God) a man can not even recognize his own need to repent! Our confession puts it this way:

“Whereas there is none that doth good and sinneth not, and the best of men may, through the power and deceitfulness of their corruption dwelling in them, with … temptation , fall into great sins and provocations; God hath, in the covenant of grace, mercifully provided that believers so sinning and falling be renewed through repentance unto salvation. This saving repentance is an evangelical grace, whereby a person, being by the Holy Spirit made sensible of the manifold evils of his sin, doth, by faith in Christ, humble himself for it with godly sorrow, detestation of it, and self-abhorrency, praying for pardon and strength of grace, with a purpose and endeavor, by supplies of the Spirit, to walk before God unto all well-pleasing in all things. As repentance is to be continued through the whole course of our lives, upon the account of the body of death, and the motions thereof, so it is every man’s duty to repent of his particular known sins particularly. Such is the provision which God hath made through Christ in the covenant of grace for the preservation of believers unto salvation; that although there is no sin so small but it deserves damnation; yet there is no sin so great that it shall bring damnation on them that repent; which makes the constant preaching of repentance necessary.”

Thomas Watson on the Doctrine of Repentance

The Puritan theologian Thomas Watson believed the two great graces essential to the believer are faith and repentance and that they should be exercised daily by believers. In his book “the Doctrine of Repentance”, he described six aspects of the biblical concept of repentance. They are: awareness of sin, sorrow of sin, confession of sin, shame of sin, hatred of sin, and turning from sin to God.

Watson makes a distinction between true and false repentance: “There is a type of false repentance called attrition. Attrition is an incomplete repentance motivated by fear of punishment. The sorrow in attrition is the sorrow for being caught and the desire to escape punishment. The sorrow is not motivated from a sense of sorrow for being disobedient, but from fear of punishment. True repentance or contrition is a godly sorrow for sin while false repentance is a sorrow of the world, which is more a regret for the consequences of sin. 2 Corinthians 7:10 ‘For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.’”

“The world sorrows over the inconvenience of sin and the trouble it produces. This grief is selfish. It is motivated by self-interest, not for concern about the offense against God. By putting his own interests above the honor of his Creator he only adds to his condemnation. The lost want to be free from the consequences of sin, not from the guilt of sin or from the offensive desires and acts themselves for God’s sake. Godly sorrow sees the evil of sin in its offense against God. The redeemed soul understands that sin is wrong, not just that it produces unpleasant results in his life and circumstances. He sees the fleeting pleasures of sin as having no appeal to him at all when considered in the light of God’s honor. His inner convictions reveal the moral weakness of his own soul which he wants changed. The regenerate want to be free from sin and its bondage, rather than just from its personal consequences. He sees his condemnation as just and only removed by the merits of Jesus Christ.”

“Repentance is not arbitrary. It is not left to our choice whether or not we will repent, but it is an indispensable command. God has enacted a law in the High Court of heaven that no sinner shall be saved except the repenting sinner, and He will not break His own law. Isaiah 55:7 states: ‘Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’”

“There are two sorts of persons who will find it harder to repent than others: Those who have sat a great while under the ministry of God’s ordinances but grow no better. Those who have sinned frequently against the convictions of the Word, the checks of conscience, and the motions of the Spirit.”

Repentance: A Daily Practice

Besides a person’s initial repentance in conversion, a searching of the heart, confession of sin, and a trust in God for forgiveness in Christ should be a daily practice of the believer. The promise of God is forgiveness and restoration for those who trust in Christ and truly repent.

In Psalm 51:10, 17: David prayed “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. . . The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.”

1 John 1:9 &10 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

Spurgeon on True Repentance

“When we are accepted of the LORD and are standing in the place of favor, and peace, and safety, then we are led to repent of all our failures and miscarriages toward our gracious God. So precious is repentance that we may call it a diamond of the first water, and this is sweetly promised to the people of God as one most sanctifying result of salvation. He who accepts repentance also gives repentance; and He gives it not out of “the bitter box” but from among those “wafers made with honey” on which He feeds His people. A sense of blood-bought pardon and of undeserved mercy is the best means of dissolving a heart of stone. Are we feeling hard? Let us think of covenant love, and then we shall leave sin, lament sin, and loathe sin; yea, we shall loathe ourselves for sinning against such infinite love. Let us come to God with this promise of penitence and ask Him to help us to remember, and repent, and regret, and re- turn. Oh, that we could enjoy the meltings of holy sorrow! What a relief would a flood of tears be! LORD, smite the rock, or speak to the rock, and cause the waters to flow! God loves to be longed for, He loves to be sought, for He sought us Himself with such longing and love: He died for desire of us, marvellous thought! And He longs for us now to be with Him above. Close fellowship with the living God is the calling and privilege of every Christian. Christians are beloved of him, and he of them, and their deepest desire is to commune with him in love. This is their right, purchased at the high cost of the blood of Jesus. A polluted sinner may love the perfect Savior, for there is no word in Scripture to forbid..Suppose yet once again that, though we loved, and rightly loved, and actually possessed the beloved object, yet our affection was not returned. Alas, misery, to love and not be loved! Blessed be God, we can not only sing, ‘My Beloved is Mine,’ but also, ‘I am his.’ He values me, he delights in me, he loves me!....The truth that Jesus calls me his, is enough to make a man dance and sing all the way between here and heaven. Realize the fact that we are dear to the heart of our incarnate God, and amid the sands of this wilderness, a fountain of overflowing joy is open before us. “

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 26, 2004 | Permalink

Today, Friday the 24th, was the coldest day of the year in sun-blessed San Antonio. The Phillips family was joined by Kevin Turley (Vision Forum director of operations) and his clan for an evening of family fellowship by our Riverwalk.

Beall with Providence, just hours before our official “shearing of the bear.”

Liberty, Jubilee, and Faith Evangeline cuddling near the Alamo.

We detoured for an hour into the Menger where I recounted to our team the history of this grand hotel from its beginnings in the 1850s, the famous visit of Robert E. Lee when he rode his horse into the front lobby and swooped up the owner’s daughter, the raising of the Rough Riders in May of 1898 by Teddy Roosevelt, to its famous Texas centennial celebration with FDR, and more. In this picture, Joshua Phillips takes aim with his replica revolver and points to a spot on the second story of the Menger Saloon where bullet holes remain in the wall from TR’s triumphant (but rowdy) Rough Riders speech.

Though my political views vary from those of TR, I will always appreciate his vigor and manly character of this man who left the Republican Party to run as a third party candidate for President. Take a moment and read this remarkable letter from the former United States Secretary of the Navy concerning TR’s Spanish-American war “folly.”

Roosevelt understood that armchair quarterbacks and pompous pundits would never change culture. This nation needs men of action. Yet the great modern need is not only for leaders of character who will refuse political and internationalist pressure for Americans to go to war unless such wars are biblically justified, but for leaders who will play the part of men and refuse to commit the moral abomination of sending girls and mothers into combat.

The children gather in front of the “Line in the Sand” statue of William Travis which guards the hall of the Menger.

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 24, 2004 | Permalink

Kyle Rutlege is no sissy boy. In the great ancient tradition of boys who defend women and children, fourteen year-old Kyle rose to the defense of his little brother and mother when his home was invaded and father beaten, tied-up and abducted by theives. Read the remarkable story here: http://www.komonews.com/stories/34497.htm

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 23, 2004 | Permalink

Iwo Jima Marine veteran Colonel Bill Henderson holds up his recent manuscript of his wartime memories from the Pacific. Colonel Henderson is a preacher, a home school grandfather, and one of the central figures of Vision Forum Ministries’ up-and-coming film, Faith of Our Fathers. Read more about his story.

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 22, 2004 | Permalink

She is no bigger than a cell phone, but at 8.6 ounces, Rumaisa Rahman is a testimony to the fact that all life is precious, regardless of size.

She is also a reminder that all who would snuff out the life of such tiny children in the womb are murderers of the worst kind and should be described as such.

Read about the story of Rumaisa.

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 22, 2004 | Permalink

Congratulations to home school hero, Rick Jore, who today won his recount battle for a seat in the Montana State legislature. This means that Montanans have three parties represented in their state legislature, Democratic, Republican and Constitution. With the Republican and Democratic parties locked in a near heat for control over the legislature, it means that the Constitution Party will hold special influence as a potential deal-make or breaker in the legislature. Rick is a very special man who has fought long and hard for biblical and constitutional freedoms in Montana. He is highly respected and has proven himself faithful as a father, as well as a legislator (he is a former Republican). It was my pleasure to once be an intern mentor at HSLDA for his son-in-law, Mark Springer.

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 20, 2004 | Permalink

A belated blog birthday mention of my thankfulness to God for Providence Mather Phillips who, last week, completed his first revolution around the sun.

Concerning “Providence,” the Westminster Confession reads: “Of Providence: God the great Creator of all things doth uphold,[a] direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things,[b] from the greatest even to the least,[c] by His most wise and holy providence,[d] according to His infallible foreknowledge,[e] and the free and immutable counsel of his own will,[f] to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.[g] References: [a]. Neh. 9:6; Ps. 145:14-16; Heb. 1:3 [b]. Dan. 4:34-35; Ps. 135:6; Acts 17:25-28; Job 38:1-41:34; [c]. Matt. 10:29-31, see Matt. 6:26-32; [d]. Prov. 15:3; II Chron. 16:9; Ps. 104:24; Ps. 145:17; [e]. Acts 15:18; Isa. 42:9; Ezek. 11:5; [f]. Eph. 1:11; Ps. 33:10-11; [g]. Isa. 63:14; Eph. 3:10; Rom. 9:17; Gen. 45:7; Ps. 145:7.”

To read an article on Providence Mather Phillips, click here.

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 20, 2004 | Permalink

http://www.visionforumministries.org/sections/support/faithofourfathers/

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 14, 2004 | Permalink

Young master Kevin (pictured above) from Overland Park, Kansas, is one of the four people who have found a nearly one-thousand-year-old solid gold coin in a Vision Forum Pouch of Ancient Coins. We received this photograph of him this morning. Congratulations, Kevin!

To learn more about the #1 Vision Forum learning and discovery gift of 2004, click here to read about our ancient Roman coins.

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 13, 2004 | Permalink

“I, being chosen to be Governor within this jurisdiction, for the year ensuing, until a new be chosen, do swear by the great and dreadful name of the everliving God, to promote the public good and peace of the same, according to my ability; as also will maintain all lawful privileges of this commonwealth; as also that all wholesome laws that are or shall be made lawful authority here established, be duly executed; and will further the execution of justice according to the rule of God’s word; so help me God, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 13, 2004 | Permalink

In the next few weeks, I will be launching a new book review blog featuring the reviews of several friends of Vision Forum, most notably Mr. Bill Potter. The blog will feature substantial, “New York Times format” reviews of significant and sometimes unusual books which we happen to find interesting.

Participants in the Vision Forum Ministries Faith & Freedom Tours will remember Bill as my faithful and most capable tour guide partner. Bill and I met about twenty years ago when I was attending college and a Presbyterian church in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he was serving as an elder. He and his wife Leslie have seven children: Davis, Dabney, Electa, Beall, Jackson, Lydia, Claire, and Brandon.

Until just about a month ago, Bill lived on an estate in Charles City County, Virginia, which dates back to 1630. It was the location of both Revolutionary and Civil War battles, and the trenches are still visible. Bill’s home was always a delight to visit, not merely for the great company, but also for the wall-to-wall books numbering in the thousands upon thousands.

Incredibly principled in his theology and history, Bill was the top Ph.D. candidate with high ranking grades at the College of William and Mary, but was denied his Ph.D. by the Marxist history chairman (a former “Weatherman” radical at the University of Wisconsin) because of his overt Christian and Southern perspective on history.

My own studies focused on American studies and philosophy of music, but I was able to sit under some of the same history professors as Bill. The history department was a real enigma, being divided between old south historians and Marxist revolutionaries. A few of these professors were reasonable men, and very distinguished historians in their own right, including Ludwell Johnson and the Marxist-turned-Christian, Eugene Genovese.

The greatest academic experience I had during my personal foray through collegiate Babylon was studying under, and being befriended by, President Reagan’s Jefferson Scholar, Forrest McDonald. Dr. McDonald is the author of dozens of books including the Pulitzer Prize finalist Novus Ordo Seclorum and E Pluribus Unum. Though he only visited the college for one year, his presence created an academic hornet’s nest. Even the college president took public opportunities to denounce Dr. McDonald for his belief that the Founders were Christian men. The most embarrassing part of Dr. McDonald’s visit was the intellectual poverty of the student body, some of whom complained that reading the Federalist Papers was just too hard.

I considered it an honor to be able to develop a nice friendship with Dr. McDonald, and enjoyed happy nights at his home discussing the Founding Fathers. His wife was especially brilliant and impressive. She accompanied him to every class and contributed to the lively discussions. Dr. McDonald was never able to persuade me to think like a Hamiltonian, but his encyclopedic knowledge of the Founders was captivating.

Speaking of Professors

In law school, I studied under two Supreme Court nominee rejects — Judge Robert Bork (who was very kind to me despite our fundamental disagreements on constitutional interpretation and the source of law), and Judge Doug Ginsberg. In both cases, my Christianity placed me so far to the right of the professors that I think I may have helped their image with the liberal student body. Both Bork and Ginsberg joined the faculty not long after reaching national attention. Both were viewed by the student body as radical right-wingers. My frequent comments and questions in class had the effect, I believe, of moderating the students’ perception of these distinguished gentlemen. (In Judge Ginsberg’s course on antitrust, for example, where he was perceived as a radical conservative for arguing for reasonable limitations on the government’s role in antitrust litigation, my argument always centered around the inherent and inescapable illegitimacy of antitrust law as a discipline.)

Keep in mind that, for some of my classes (criminal law being one example), I would literally come to class with three books — the textbook, a copy of The Institutes of Biblical Law, and my Bible. I found it exciting to be able to point directly to the biblical cases for the source of law on the various issues we would discuss. Gratefully, most of my professors were not adverse to this. Also, because of the heavy emphasis in my law school on the morally bankrupt Coase theorem, I distributed to every faculty member, and every student who would take one, a copy of Gary North’s brilliant book debunking Coase from the vantage point of biblical economic theory.

Thinking about College

There are two crucial components to every brick and mortar college and university setting: the first is the classroom and the second is the culture. In my view, the culture is the more dangerous of the two, though both must be critically examined through a biblical lens. Most Christians refuse to rigorously evaluate and view the rightness or wrongness of the educational choices before them through a presuppositionally biblical lens. If the question of college is before you, please get my recording entitled, Making Wise Decisions about College and Life After Home School. The series is not designed to tell you what to do, but how to think so you can make your own calls by evaluating the unique set of facts God has given to you, in light of non-optional, eternally binding principles.

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 13, 2004 | Permalink

Here is the church. Here is the steeple (actually a bell tower)....

These are the cars...Bringing lots of little people.

Note:

This picture was not staged. I shot it after service one Sunday. The vehicles in the picture are privately owned by different families.

In our congregation, we pray for the blessing of the fruit of the womb because we view children as a blessing. Some families have no children. Some have a few children. Some have many. We rejoice in every family regardless of whether they have zero, ten or twenty children. We do, however, obey the Scriptures, by exhorting our loved ones in Christ with the Scriptures to embrace the blessing of children as God providentially distributes these children according to His wisdom and perfect will. We also preach against the sin of abortifacient contraceptive technology. We recognize that the failure of preachers to address this subject has probably contributed to more abortions in Christian households than have ever been performed in American abortuaries.

When God does send the fruit to the womb of one of the members of our congregation, the entire congregation is genuinely excited. It does not matter whether the baby is the first or the sixteenth child to that family —- each baby is a victory, a miracle, and a blessed gift. Mothers and motherhood are viewed as extremely precious.

Because we live in the 21st century, our families hear many jokes about children. We are learning to “be always ready” to give men an answer of the hope that is within us when men demean parenthood or view temporary economic convenience as more important than the blessing of bringing an eternal soul into the universe. We are even learning to smile and pray for those vicious bigots and false teachers who call mothers baby machines, as well as those who ignorantly joke about cutting off the godly seed. We genuinely hurt for all those men and women who will reap the consequences (be they health issues from destructive drugs, loneliness in old age, judgment for abortion, unresolved bitterness stemming from the selfishness of their younger days, etc.) of taking their cue more from Margaret (Sanger) than Moses.

When I see these cars pull up to our little country meeting house, I can only thank God from the depths of my soul that He is turning the hearts of parents to their children, and children to their parents to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. One evidence of this is the revival of love for children (having them, raising them, training them), most notably evidenced in America’s home school community, but thrilling and beautiful regardless from what segment of Christendom it is manifest. Because of this we can without embarrassment offer the following blessing on all our young ladies as they pledge their troth in marriage:

Be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them. (Genesis 24:60)

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 10, 2004 | Permalink

Rusty Thomas must be one of the most passionate defenders of the unborn in America. Rusty serves as the Assistant Director of Operation Save America and the founder of Elijah Ministries. Elijah Ministries is dedicated to imparting a Biblical worldview to the Church of Jesus Christ that will provide the theological impetus to fulfill the Great Commission. Rusty is a self-sacrificing servant and prophet of the Lord. He is sold out to the gospel of Jesus Christ, a true champion for the unborn, and a voice crying in the wilderness for those who cannot speak for themselves.

Rusty and his wife Liz have 10 wonderful children who stand undivided with them in the ministry. They are home schooled through the Thomas family’s own (aptly named) “University of Righteousness.” The children stand faithfully with their parents on the streets as they defend the cause of the fatherless. They serve in the home and minister along side their father and mother in the various ministry opportunities that the Lord brings their way. Simply put, The Thomas family is a Christian army girded one to another in the bonds of love and the armor of invincible principle.

Last night I spent the wee hours of the night praying and weeping with my dear friend Rusty Thomas.

In one day, the Thomas family has had their world turned upside-down with the revelation that Liz is suffering from a life threatening ailment that is robbing her body of the ability to cleanse herself. Doctors have found a mass on her pancreas that the doctors suspect is cancerous. This mass has blocked off the function of Liz’s kidney, liver, and bladder by blocking the ducts to these organs. She has become jaundiced and is not even able to keep fluids down.

Rusty and Liz have prayed many times for those that were sick. The prayers of a righteous man availeth much. It is now our time to lift up Rusty and Liz before the Lord.

Please pray for Liz’s healing and for God’s provision to take care of their medical needs. Pray for Rusty and their ten children ranging in age from Shekinah (17 yrs.), Cassia, Destiny, Charity, Elijah, Micah, Josiah, Valiant Christian, Jeremiah, and baby Torah Grace (8 months).

Also, if you want to drop a note to Liz and Rusty, or even offer them a financial gift, please feel free to write them at:

P.O. Box 3126;
Waco, TX 76707.

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 10, 2004 | Permalink

Earlier this year I reported in my blog that some of the boys of Vision Forum, along with a hand full of friends from Alabama, sponsored a week of manly fellowship in the Old Dominion, with the goal of honoring and learning from one of the great octogenarian heroes of the faith — Mr. Otto Scott.

Mr. Scott is the author of The Great Christian Revolution, The Other Side of the Life Boat, The Secret Six, Robespierre, and other important books which present a unique and biblical perspective on subjects raising from manhood, to education theory to the historic progress of Christendom.

Though I was not able to attend the recent event, I look back with fondness on the numerous occasions I have had over the last twenty years to be with Mr. Scott. On my bookshelf sits a wedding present he gave to Beall and me thirteen years ago (a wooden clock with hand painted animals). Seeing it reminds me to pray for him, especially since his health is on the decline. Especially fond to me are the memories of old days when I could visit in person or listen on tape to Mr. Scott and Dr. R.J. Rushdoony (now with the Lord) as they would wax eloquent on subjects as diverse as the moral inadequacies of jazz, to the glories of haggis, to an exposition on the book of Romans.

The Vision Forum boys tape recorded their time with Mr. Scott and forwarded to me just a few choice comments concerning his friendship with Dr. Rushdoony and other subjects:

Below are some of the quotes:

Question:
[Mr. Scott] what was the greatest things that you learned ... from Dr. Rushdoony — the most enduring?

Answer:
There was no topic that I could raise that he didn’t find a response in the Bible for. It was a fabulous gift. He knew the Bible; he had memorized the Bible — actually memorized it from an early age.... I never found a limit in his knowledge of the Bible.

Mr. Scott on Rushdoony’s Humility:
He had a real admirable modesty.

Mr. Scott on Churchill:
The most impressive man of the 20th Century.

Mr. Scott on FDR:
They mistook him as a God.

Mr. Scott on the Importance of Being Honest as Men:
It is better that we show the scars.

VF Boys Favorite Quote of the Weekend:
A man’s end reveals his purpose.

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 9, 2004 | Permalink

Given the fact that education is an inescapably religious discipline, that no methodology or branch of studies is free on even the smallest level from religious implications, that God says that true knowledge only comes from the fear of the Lord of the Bible, that believers are commanded to both disciple and train children in The Truth and actively keep them from idolatry, false worship, and the education of the Devil, and that government grammar, elementary, and high schools are beyond the legitimate biblical jurisdiction of the state, I have five questions:

Is it wrong for a Christian to put his child in a government high school?

Is it wrong for a Christian to put his child in a Buddhist high school?

Is it wrong for a Christian to put his child in a Druid high school?

Is it wrong for a Christian to put his child in a Muslim high school?

What is the difference?

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 9, 2004 | Permalink

From his letter to daughter Mildred, as quoted from Robert E. Lee on Leadership:

The struggle which you describe between doing what you ought to do and what you desire is common to all. You have only always to do what is right. It will become easier by practice, and you will enjoy in the midst of your trials the pleasure of an approving conscience, That will be worth everything else.

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 8, 2004 | Permalink

The greatest man I have ever known is my father, Howard J. Phillips. Eternally optimistic, boundlessly self-sacrificing, principled and persevering, Dad has always been an inspiration to me. It is because of Dad’s vision, his supreme faith in God, his commitment to his children, and his aforementioned attributes that there is a Vision Forum today. I view my involvement in this work as an extension of His mission, expressed through the unique interests and passions of his first born son. If Vision Forum has been a blessing to you, remember to pray for God’s blessing for my father.

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 8, 2004 | Permalink

God is making my father and mother wealthy with scads of grandchildren. The above picture reflects about two-thirds of their third generation progeny.

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 6, 2004 | Permalink

When I was a college student I took courses in the St. George Tucker Hall. Tucker was the first American jurist to write a commentary on the U.S. Constitution (published in 1803). Tucker was a Revolutionary War hero, law instructor at William and Mary and a federal judge of Virginia. His most significant contribution was publishing an annotated edition of Blackstone’s Commentaries that “Americanized” Blackstone and was used by attorneys everywhere during the early days of our republic.

Last week our good friend Matt Chancey reminded us of St. George Tucker by forwarding the following quote:

Acts of Congress to be binding, must be made in pursuant to the Constitution; otherwise they are not laws; but mere nullity; or what is worse, acts of usurpation. The people are not only not bound to obey them, but the several departments and officers of the governments, both federal, and state, are bound by oath to oppose them; for, being bound by oath to support the constitution, they must violate that oath, whenever they give their sanction, by obedience, or otherwise, to an unconstitutional act of any department of the government. — St. George Tucker

Matt also wrote: This quote sheds a lot of light on the stand Roy Moore made in Alabama last year and shows the utter contempt our early American fathers had towards the notion that the federal government (especially the federal judiciary) is the sole determiner of the constitutionality of its own actions. Oh, for a handful of federal judges like Tucker today!

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 5, 2004 | Permalink

http://www.crosswalk.com/fun/movies/1297699.html

Crosswalk.com ran this article about comments made by Ron Maxwell at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival about Michael Moore.

Posted by Doug Phillips on December 3, 2004 | Permalink