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Posted by Doug Phillips on July 30, 2005 | Permalink
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 29, 2005 | Permalink
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 28, 2005 | Permalink
A dream begins with a hope for the future. It is birthed with careful preparation and planning, consecrated with prayer, and matured through the blessing of God on good old-fashioned hard work.
Our own dream for a building project for my boys and a greenhouse for my daughters to raise vegetables for our meals, flowers for our bedrooms, and butterflies just for the glory of it, finally became a reality last week.
After painting our frame, we opted to encase our greenhouse in a corrugated clear polycarbonate plastic because of its strength and durability.
The boys learned the joys of working with your hands and bringing a difficult task to completion.
Jubilee enjoyed painting the rafter beams.
Getting the details right was important. This thermostat regulates the temperature and the fans designed to keep a constant temperature in the greenhouse.
Accomplishment is a glorious feeling.
A local company custom built some simple, industrial-grade aluminum greenhouse tables. We opted for a four-level approach, with plants to be grown from the ceiling, from upper shelves, from tables, and on the ground level.
Evening time at the new greenhouse. May God make it fruitful in the weeks and months to come.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 27, 2005 | Permalink
Dear Readers of Doug’s Blog:
If you have not yet done so, please skip down and first read my blog from Saturday entitled “Harry Potter Meets the Mercury Radio Theatre of the Air” to understand the context for today’s blog. Also, to read the original article “Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade,” visit our newsletter section of this Web site.
Persevero,Doug
Husband and Wife Now in Unity
I don’t know if you will really read this reply, but I hope so! For years, my husband and I have disagreed with the Harry Potter series. (I hate them and he thought they were just ‘good stories’). Your article really hit the nail on the head in such a way that God has touched my husband’s heart, and he now agrees with me that these Harry Potter books are a bad thing.Thank you for this article...and may you pass it on!!! C.E.
Like the Spoofy Approach
What an excellent biblical argument. I can’t believe you got the responses you did (except from the lavenders themselves). I really like your spoofy approach (of course). THe Barr quote reflects, I think, main street evangelical bednobs to broomsticks thought. I will share your essay with the fam — they’ve heard it from me before but this will really get a buzz. B.P.
First Time to Write
I don’t ever reply to your emails but I just have to reply to this one. I just want to say THANK YOU for a wonderfully written “message.” God bless you and your family and Vision Forum.
Whew!
I join the many who said “whew! I thought he lost it!” I thoroughly enjoyed the newsletter, printed it to share. You are “dead on,” not dead wrong. We are thankful for your ministry as it not only helps us disciple our children, but also to influence others in our sphere. As far as your method of presenting the truth, keep it up! You got my blood boiling at first, until I realized the purpose, and then adrenalin was running high with excitement. Good writing. Period.
Principled Stand, But Compassion for Potter Readers
After reading today’s blog, I feel sort of depressed that so many of your readers were so easily thrown off by such a well-written, fun-to-read, perfectly-argued essay as the Lavender Brigade newsletter! I mean, don’t they know you well enough to know that the first part HAD to be written by someone else even before reading the parenthetical Jerram Barr ending part? I mean, really! And the part about the homosexual Potter... at no point did it sound like you liked the idea... you were just making a point, and a very good one at that! I read the first 3 Harry Potter books as they were released (not knowing any better at the time), so I have very strong feelings about them now, knowing how charming and fun they are to read. This helps me to understand the people who defend them, while still taking the same stand as Vision Forum, against anything that calls evil “good”. Thank you for an excellent article... I am glad you didn’t just give us bullet points! Keep up the great work!
Logical
Thank you so much for your wonderful article on the Harry Potter series. It was well written logical, and thoroughly biblical. I have sent it off to many friends and I hope that it gets many Christians thinking soundly regarding this issue - rather than just condemning it without giving solid biblical reasons. Thank you. Soli Deo Gloria, A.P.
Seven Things
Hard Hitting
I’ve read your blog and found that you have already received loads of responses, yet still wanted to give my own. Thank-you very much for giving your very articulate, bible-based, hard hitting article on Harry Potter. Such must be heard from them that profess Christ. I was very encouraged and built-up in the faith through the reading of your newsletter. May God grant you strength to keep up the fight. S.D.
Making Us Think
“Great Job on the article. You always articulate things so well...Thanks again for making us all THINK.”
Tears to My Eyes
Your recent email article brought tears to my eyes. We left a church in April for differences in both doctrine and practice. The elders have told the church to shun us for it, so we have had a sad time with that. We always find your resources and articles to be uplifting and encouraging. Most importantly, we appreciate that you point people back to the Bible for answers! When I finished reading your article I printed it off and gave it to my husband and two oldest children to read. They all were initially shocked also. .. But thank you for writing it. I’m sure it caught a lot of people’s attention. Also thank you for your ministry. sola scriptura! Blessings, J. A.
Former Student of Witchcraft Weighs In
[My] son just woke me up with the news that you endorsed Harry Potter! “How could this be true?” he yelled at me. “I don’t like Doug Phillips anymore.”
I was raised as a child with no faith. I was told only to call upon the name of Jesus when I was scared at night so that I wouldn’t keep anyone else awake. Yet Satan was spoke of openly as a thing that was real and to be feared. I was sexually abused almost my whole life. The product of broken marraige...yadda yadda yadda....poor me.
I have alway wanted to know the truth of my existance. Why was I created? I seemed to be a mistake, problem, lump of useless clay subject to others handling. When I reached my teen years this question became my only reason to live.
Who would have an answer for me? The Christians? I could not understand what they said. They all spoke of something that just didn’t seem real. They could not effectively answer my many inquisitions of the evil in the world. Until I met him.....
He was a witch, actually a warlock. He had been studying for many years and could answer ALL my questions in a way that made me feel like I had finally found the answer to life. Yet he did not tell me that he was a warlock. He waited until I had fully taken the bait and then he reeled me in.
I became a student of Wicca, the Druaditc Cult of the Wise, and embraced my new and only religion full heartedly. There were many things I learned that I will not share yet I will tell you of a few important details.
1) The very 1st thing that they did was to break down any predisposition to any Christian religion. If a person was a Christian before they had become a witch they would have to leave their patronistic ideals at the door. In a class of 10- 3 were Christians going to church, 5 were ex-Christians and the other 2 were never Christian. I was lucky, I had nothing to leave at the door.
2) At first they taught exactly what Harry Potter teaches: there is a good side and a darkside. Here are the spells, incantations, weapons and tools of a good witch. (We all wanted to be good witches whom cleared the universe of evil intentions) We advanced in stages going through initiations according to the five elements EARTH, AIR, FIRE and WATER. The last initiation was of SPIRIT. Before we were to be initiated into the SPIRIT we had to learn of the “Great Secret” What is this great secret? I will tell you: There is no good, there is no bad...everything just is.
We had to deal with the fact that we were like children this whole time, playing good witch/bad witch when the reality of it was we were all the same and nothing seperated us. Only those who could come to grips with this reality were allowed to proceed.
At that time God claimed me quite by supprise. But that is a different story. I did not take my final initiation, though I had fully intended on it. I am now a stay-at-home wife and [a] mother.... We are Christian and intend on defending our faith with everything we have, especially our lives.
You have been a means of deepening our faith, but we were ready to leave you in a moment if we had not read your email to the very end. I do beleive that your email was well planned and very powerful. I only hope those who were offended like we were did take the time to see that you were playing devil’s advocate at first. And to those who were offened the other way.....well, we are praying for them. ALL WITCHCRAFT IS BAD. In the heart of Jesus, S.C.
Done with Vision Forum
I was very disappointed to read your article on “the Lavender Brigade”. It is the stuff of Christian rumor...and does little to bring people to truth re: Harry Potter. Please remove me from your email list.
Will You Print Responses from Homosexuals?
Boy, what a busy weekend you ended up having!! Our family read the Harry Potter email you sent and, although we already agreed with your conclusions and felt just the same as you do about the series, it gave us a wonderful chance to talk through and revisit this issue with our children. We know that you mentioned that you would share the “other 80%” of the email that you got from readers,”except for the hate mail from the homosexuals”. Is it possible that you might reconsider and share some excerpts of THAT email too? We so appreciate the way that Vision Forum is out there on the front lines, standing for Truth, and we would really like to know the kind of hatered being directed your way so that we might be spurred to more earnestly uphold all of you in our prayers. It’s just a thought we had, and wanted you to consider it. All of you at Vision Forum are much loved by our family, and we will continue to pray for you as you stand strong for God’s truth in this crazy age in which we live!
From Doug: Regretfully, we can not print them. Those emails were obscene accusations directed at me and it would be defiling to republish them.
Wish People Were Not So Quick to Abandon Ship
I am utterly amazed, and somewhat saddened, to read of the negative responses you received regarding your Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade “analogy”. When I first began to read, I too was shocked. However, knowing Vision Forum’s position on issues relating to the Christian family, particularly in the area of what we expose our children to, I recognized almost immediately something was up! Sure enough, by the end of the introductory paragraph it was perfectly clear that this was the position of one Jerram Barr. While I can understand someone quickly scanning an article from a trusted source, I cannot for one moment understand anyone who would not take a serious second look when the position being espoused runs contrary to that which had been peviously stated. Christians must wake up, must be alert, and pay close attention. Those who responded so quickly to what they “thought” were your words were extremely careless. One can only wonder how often these brethren spout off thoughtlessly about one issue or another, possibly maligning the Word of God in the process. For the record, our 14 year old daughter recognized Doug Phillips could not possibly be the author of those words by about line 5 or 6. If one so young can be so astute, what does that say about the responses of some adults? A Canadian Friend, D.Y.
Standing With You
Thank you for a well written article in response to Harry Potter. Our stand has been and continues to remain the same as yours. The A. Family, South Carolina
Food for Thought for Our Family
Excellent analysis. It will be food for thought for my family of writers. If we have any interesting additional (or counter) thoughts, perhaps we’ll send them to you. T.R.
Still Unresolved, But Grateful
I wanted to thank you for your very thoughtful and intriguing argument on Harry Potter. I am at present unresolved in my view of it. But you have called us to prayerfully and biblically consider it, which of course it what we are to do with all. I know many who say that Lord of the Rings is acceptable and even good and Harry Potter evil. I never understood that arguement... When I read your pretend Lavender Brigade review, I must say I very definitively felt the appalling result of such a thing and it does fall in the same category biblically . So I again thank you for helping some of us to consider this more fully. O.G.
Necessary Ammunition
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was concerned when I began reading the article (not knowing the title of the current Harry Potter book). I thought you had gone off the deep end. How glad I was to continue reading, and find out your stand on the issue. You have provided me with the necessary ammunition I need to clearly state the problem with Harry Potter. I am grateful to you for this. As a teacher, (public school for 13 years, homeschooler for 14 years, and now entering my 2nd year as a teacher in an independent, private Christian school) I’m excited to be able to clearly articulate the problem with Harry Potter. Your article will be very beneficial. I would like permission to share it with others in printed form. Please let me know if I may copy your article. Thank you again for the article. Sincerely, T.O., St. Louis
Thanks for Evaluating World of Film and Literature
Doug and Team- Thank you for so masterfully addressing such a vital issue.I appreciate the breadth of your thoughtfulness in how to evaluate the world of literature and film making.Thanks. (Executive Director of a National Ministry)
Upset By Homosexuality Analogy
Doug, I appreciate your critique of the Harry Potter books but I have to say it was a big mistake to begin your recent email with the homosexuality analogy. Part way through it I was ready to give up reading and dicontinue receiving Vision Forum email...I wish there had been a disclaimer at the beginning to warn us. Please try to understand that with the large amount of email most of us receive we can’t take the time to read “all” of everything...” M.C.
Always Thought Something Was Wrong
Wow! At first I thought you were promoting HP! I couldn’t believe it. I have never read the books but my thoughts and checks have been that if everyone is “doing it” and public schools are pushing it - somethings wrong! I will keep this well written article to pass on to other Christians I know that allow HP into their homes. Thank you for shinning The Light on such wicked darkness. The R. Household
Giving Your Article to Teenage Daughter
Thank you so much for such a very thoughtful, logical discussion of this issue. I have struggled with this issue. My teenaged daughter would like to read the books. Instead, she is getting a copy of your article. Blessings, K.H., Texas
Great Analogy
...Your comparison of witchcraft with homosexuality is brilliant and I appreciate your thoughts on this issue. I have had them myself but often my words fall on deaf ears of those who really enjoy these books. Just glad to know you haven’t sold out on us! Thanks for all you do! M.B.
Your Analogy Was Terrible
I can’t stand it when Christians use very poorly thought out analogies when trying to make a point. But yours takes the cake! Look, I’ve got a minor in theology from a conservative “on fire” Christian university...My kids and I have read all three series - Narnia, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. We’ve used each to teach Godly principles and discernment. I knew when I read your email that there was something terribly wrong with your analogy. Here’s the real problem: the magic in Harry Potter is pure fantasy. It can’t and doesn’t happen. No one, witch, satanist, etc. can wave their wand and cast a spell...I’m really ashamed of your attempt here. Even if your right about Harry Potter, your analogy was poorly thought out. I think you should apologize. G.B.
Giving Too Much Attention to Potter
JK Rowling and her books do not deserve this much attention. I Dream of Jeanie, Samantha on Bewitched, the good witch in the Wizard of Oz, King Arthur and Merlin the good wizard, the fairy godmother in Cinderella and even the lovable Drosselmeyer of the Nutcracker ballet introduced the world to the happy, lovable, magical fantasy world of the witch and the wizard. Harry Potter is just our first post modern, literary example. There’s nothing new here. We need to guard our children’s hearts until they are able to discern fact from fantasy and have matured in their Christian faith. Asking our older kids to “critique” the book from a Christian perspective will make them stronger Christians - and better readers. M.G., Arizona
Glad Not to Be the Last Family Standing
I read the much anticipated email. THANK YOU for always standing for the truth! I was so concerned after reading your “tease” in your blog to stay tunned about Potter junk that you may be like lots of other believers we run into that the books are “ok” and to chill out, its “just a little fantasy”. Once again you have not dissappointed God or left little family here in Zeeland, Michigan “The Last Family Standing”. In Him, A.K.
Wierd and Confusing Message from Doug
This is the weirdest, most confusing message I have ever read from Doug Phillips!..Jill
Insightful
Very insightful message, I am forwarding to many. Thank you very much. M. L.
Appreciates the Unapologetic Biblical Examination
Thank you so much! Amen and amen to Doug’s careful critique of Harry Potter. We appreciate your clear and unapologetic examination of fantasy and witchcraft from the BIBLE. Excellent! Thanks again. J.T.
Thank You from a Vision Forum Critic
Brilliant. I will be using your Harry Potter piece as part of our up-coming family vacation devotional apologetics. Please forgive any unintended harshness but frankly, I view some of the vision forum expression as well-intended but potentailly misleading/regressive cultural romanticism...but not this expression. Simply loving and truthful “tough love” from the Word of God. Thank you David. An extremely well-thought through, sensitive and edifying piece. I will be passing on to my critical-thinking mother; a 30 year public library children’s librarian. C.W.
Homosexuality Analogy Was Convincing
Thanks for the Harry Potter article. Although neither I nor my kids have seen the movie or read the books I really had a pretty neutral stance. The homosexuality argument/example was powerfully convincing. Thanks for thinking that through scripturally and passing that on.
Resounding
I would like to offer a resounding thank you to Mr. Phillips for the provocative and scripturally impeccable article on Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade. What an on-target representation of the principles that we all believe, and a basis for us to be able to carry those beliefs confidently into the world around us. Again, thank you for providing for me a well-written and thorough overview of Harry Potter; I have already forwarded the article to some close Christian, homeschooling friends whose opinions differ with mine on the subject, and I look forward to continuing to shed light on the matter, using Mr. Phillips’ precise exposé as reinforcement of my position. I always appreciate Vision Forum’s courage in the face of culturally explosive topics, and this particular piece, I believe, as it chronicled the alarming progression towards carnality as seen in the world’s acceptance of sorcery and witchcraft, was one of Mr. Phillips’ finest. N.H.
Encouraging Christian Community to Think
We want to thank you all for your thoughtful response to the Harry Potter books and for encouraging the Christian community to think through and evaluate these things with the scriptures as our guide. C.S.
Well Said
Well said, from beginning to end!
You Put Our Feelings Into Words
Thank you for a wonderful, Biblical response to the Harry Potter movement!!! You have put into words exactly how our family feels about it! C.S., Alabama
Barr’s Article Gave Pause
I read the original speech by Barr this week and it gave me pause. I have not allowed HP for my children. Yet, we are hosting a Japanese student through Labo who arrives this week, whose application includes her beaming face over an English Harry Potter book. She hopes this will be a bridge between her and us. I considered, after reading the Barr piece, reading it aloud to her and my older children, and discussing our biblical worldview — how it compares with Scripture — as we go. There is some attraction here for me to do this. But personally I am repulsed by the witchcraft theme and didn’t think I could stomach this book, or justify feeding it to my young teens, especially since it is serial and begs to be continued.
Thanks from a Pastor
I just finished reading your work on “Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade” and wish to commend you on such a well-reasoned treatise. Ironically, I just finished writing a sermon on “Witchcraft” this week, which I plan to preach tomorrow (Sunday) morning. I believe your conclusions are spot-on and Bible believers need to re-evaluate just how seriously God takes sorcery and how we have let it permeate the culture to the point we deem it harmless (at least in some forms). W.D., Pastor, Texas
Bibidy Bobidy Booh
I just can’t thank you enough for standing firm on Biblical principles and being willing to take what comes from that. Our family is so incredibly blessed by your ministry! I really enjoyed your recent article on Harry Potter. I couldn’t agree with you more. Witchcraft is an abomination to the Lord and should be seen as such! I’m greatful to the Holy Spirit who prompts my heart as we filter through the plethora of videos and literature. Even the “fairy god mother” in Cinderella in her “bibidy bobidy bo” song- is really singing an incantation. It takes much prayer and a humble heart to seek that which the Lord finds acceptable. It takes a willingness to die to self, too. You did a fine job in gently exhorting in your article. C.B. Washington
Why Would We want a World Without the One True God?
Thank you very much for your article on Harry Potter. Amen. Another point - why would those who love God find pleasure in fantasizing about a world where the one true God does not exist? Or does someone think a world without God, or a slightly different God, would be a nice place to fantasize about? D.
Cleared Up Loose Ends
Thank you for your arguments — it cleared up a lot of loose ends for me. For the record, I think yours is the most thorough, logically sound and biblical discussion of Harry Potter I have seen. Blessings, R.H., Vermont
Three Times Thanks
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! What a great e-mail you sent out! At first I couldn’t believe what I was reading, that you actually supported the books, but I kept reading hoping for a twist. I’m so glad I did, I use the same defense but people just don’t get it! Even christians! Thank you again! M.M.
Forwarding to My Friends
Very well stated. Thank you for your efforts in this letter. I agree whole heartedly. God Bless your ministry. I will forward this to all my friends, both Christian and not. Sincerley, L.S.
Thanks for the Detailed Explanation
Thank you, Thank you for so eloquently responding to the (baffling) embracing of Harry Potter in the Christian community! I appreciate your careful and well detailed analysis of the arguments for and against the acceptance of this series. God’s word is and always should be our standard, though we easily twist it to suit our tastes.
Hooked on Bewitched
Unfortunately, I was hooked on Bewitched and I Dream of Jeanie as a kid. I SO wanted to be able to have those powers as the “good” witch/jeanie did. How did these shows (and Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, etc.) interfere with my understanding of God? Though I can’t claim to know the full answer to that, if I could have those powers, who needs God? If there are cute little beings that I can influence to give me what I want, who needs God? Again, thank you for the time you invested, the passion for true godliness, the concern for our children’s minds. The Lord bless you and your family. A.R. from Georgia.
Converted Away from Christiancounterculture.com’s Position
On the 18th I received the email from christiancounterculture with the HP article. Having always respected Jerram Barrs I decided that my avoidance of HP was unfounded. The next day I was at the library and decided to grab book 1. Later that evening for story time I started reading it aloud to my 7 and 8 year old. When we got to the part when Harry learned he was a wizard and would be going to Hogwarts to learn witchcraft I sort of mumbled the word “witchcraft.” I couldn’t believe I was reading to my kids about the glorification of satan worship. I was so conflicted in my mind because of what Jerram Barrs had said. I just couldn’t believe my eyes yesterday when I read on your blog that you’d be emailing about HP today. I was so anxious to get it! I quickly skimmed your email and have been quite convicted! I’ll be eager to read it slowly tomorrow. Thanks so much for your timely email!
Forwarding to Friends
I very much enjoyed reading this piece, and thank you for writing it. I have been against HP books since they first came out, and could not believe that some of my Christian friends actually bought them for their children. I will be forwarding this on to my friends and family. Again, thank you soo much for the extensive research, reflection, and explaination! J.P., Washington
Camaflauged Evil
Thanks, Mr. Phillips, for being willing to speak out on this controversial subject of Harry Potter, and to get right to the heart of the problem of allowing our children to feast upon witchcraft, however it is camouflaged. I’ve forwarded the contents of your letter onto our large homeschool group. I expect some will be offended, but if they are truly Christians, they MUST hold these books up to the standards of Scripture and examine their decision to allow their family to have “any part of the unfruitful works of darkness.” E.C.
Harry Potter as School Curriculum
I have to wholeheartedly agree with your article on Harry Potter. I must admit I was worried when I first started reading it; I thought you were defending Rowling’s work. It gave me quite a scare since I have been reading your on-line articles for some time & have come to trust your use of Biblical teachings on several issues. There are so many Christian kids that are engulfed in this “purely fantasy” book, and their parents defend the reading of such garbage. When my husband and I were public school teachers in Las Vegas, many of the elementary schools were using Harry Potter as their reading curriculum. Where’s the separation of church & state there? Anyways, thank you for taking up this topic. I have been sharing your articles with my friends. A.M., Alaska
Enlightened
I have 4 young boys and am really ignorant to the Harry Potter Series, but I now have been enlightened. I appreciate you taking time to write this. J.H.
Cleverly Presented
Very good article! Thank you for it! I was wondering where you were going at first. It was cleverly presented! I plan to copy it off and keep it for further reference and helping others that we may come across. G.G.
Strengthened My Analysis
Thank you very much for this well thought, informative letter. I just sent it on to some dear friends in the Lord who have a blind spot here. You helped me shape up my reasons for my position. I really appreciate that. God blesses and protects you. C.K.
Glad Not to Be the Lone Ranger
Thank you. I have felt like the Lone Ranger on this issue in Christendom. Blessings, J.L.
Reforming Literature
Boy you had me going at first. I was ready to rethink my whole opinion of YOU, Doug Phillips. My husband and I went through some major rethinking after our first “trick or treat” with our baby son nine years ago. Seeing sweet little children dressed as witches and demons disturbed us and we searched the scriptures. We ended up doing away with Halloween, even giving out candy. We didn’t know how to deal with the holiday so we pretended it didn’t exist. That worked until our children were old enough to start spouting what our hearts believed and we became black-listed at our church for being so rigid. My husband was even approached by the elders due to our not supporting the eldership by bringing our children to the Halloween party. They even suggested he give up his deacon position. God blessed us by bringing us to San Antonio. We still attend a church who has mixed views on Halloween but at least we are not the only ones. When we were asked about Cinderella, Snow White, and the other princesses and witch stories, I was forced to face my favorite childhood stories head on. It actually hurt to put them in the trash can. I couldn’t just give them away because they would encourage another in witchcraft. I love books, especially ones from my childhood. I cried over their loss and over my sin for hanging on to them. I have determined to re-write those stories in such a way to give glory and honor to God. I have already done so for Repunzel. My boys love it because it is from the perspective of three brothers, my three sons. Doug, you are and encouragement to faithful men and women everywhere. I know God blesses and enrich you daily. I will continue to pray for your ministry. K.M.
Bold
I would like to thank you for your bold, scriptural article on Harry Potter. It is refreshing to hear someone stand up for the truth, instead of compromising. Stay true to God’s Word. J.C.
Popular Not Principled
Thank God that some (not many) Christians out there believe that the Harry Potter books are evil. It amazes me how society is so quick to jump at the “most popular” books, etc. If only everyone would jump so quickly to the teachings of our Lord. I enjoyed your article. God bless you.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 25, 2005 | Permalink
Talk about scary!! I nearly had heart failure thinking that these were Doug Phillips’ own words. I was just about to call in my husband and tell him poor Doug had gone over the edge. Praise God it is not so. As I read the first section of your newsletter, that which followed the words “by Doug Phillips,” I nearly fell out of my chair in shock thinking that you had lost your mind. I told my husband that you had gone AWOL and that I was done with Vision Forum. Just before deleting your email, I scrolled down to see if anything else would jump out at me, and was very confused at the Lavender Brigade — and then “only kidding there’s no Lavender Brigade.” Then I realized the first paragraph wasn’t your thoughts but Mr. Barr’s.
As I read the first section of your newsletter, that which followed the words “by Doug Phillips,” I nearly fell out of my chair in shock thinking that you had lost your mind. I told my husband that you had gone AWOL and that I was done with Vision Forum. Just before deleting your email, I scrolled down to see if anything else would jump out at me, and was very confused at the Lavender Brigade — and then “only kidding there’s no Lavender Brigade.” Then I realized the first paragraph wasn’t your thoughts but Mr. Barr’s.
Some of you will recall the history of Orson Welles and the Mercury Radio Theatre of the Air’s 1938 Halloween broadcast of The War of the Worlds. Despite the fact that the broadcast contained a number of explanations that it was all a radio drama, those listeners who were not listening carefully at the beginning, or who tuned in late, or who did not listen to the entire show, became so convinced by the realism of the broadcast depicting a Martian invasion of America that widespread panic ensued. People ran into the streets, carried guns, hid in cellars, and even wrapped their heads in wet towels as protection from poison gas bombs from the little green men down the street.
On a very small scale, the Vision Forum feature article “Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade” had a similar effect on about twenty percent of our readers. (This estimate is based on the correspondence we received.) Some did not read the subtitle to the article or simply overlooked the indentation on the introductory quotation which was followed by the author’s name correctly noted at the end. Still others stopped reading after the first few paragraphs which presented a hypothetical Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade release, and my analogical use of an argumentum ad absurdum designed to show the implications of the “don’t worry, it’s just witchcraft” philosophy of the Christian Potterphiles.
Reactions included:
OK you really had me scared!! I was reading the beginning and had to keep checking to be sure this was REALLY from Vision Forum. I can’t tell you the relief I felt by the end of the article! Whew! I thought the last of the good guys had jumped ship! Keep up the good work! Wow, you almost lost me on that one. When I started reading your words, endorsing Harry Potter I got sick to my stomach. I wondered how everything that you stand for and all the books that you endorse could be so biblically based and yet you support Harry Potter. But, I hung on and was so relieved to discover that I was wrong...Thank you for presenting the truth in love. P.M
Wow, you almost lost me on that one. When I started reading your words, endorsing Harry Potter I got sick to my stomach. I wondered how everything that you stand for and all the books that you endorse could be so biblically based and yet you support Harry Potter. But, I hung on and was so relieved to discover that I was wrong...Thank you for presenting the truth in love. P.M
I am so saddened to read of your assessment of the Harry Potter books as “simply a part of the imaginative worlds.” Ask any former witch or warlock or Satan worshipper and they would emphatically disagree. The demonic is alive andwell. Though Satan and his cronies have ultimately been defeated by our Lord Jesus Christ, he is not yet thrown into the pit. Satan is an expert at presenting evil in a good light and in “picking his battles” so to speak — reference the encounter with Eve in the garden of Eden or his encounterwith Jesus in the wilderness. Please remove me from your e-mail newsletter as I no longer feel confident to recommend your company to my acquaintances. C.P.
How dare you call yourself a Christian and condone this Satanic Witchcraft movie. Its people like you that give Christianity a bad name. Take us off your mailing list because you sure are not going to get good press from any of our stations. (A Station Manager for a Christian Network)
What you said in the first part was making some sense to me — that it was not witchcraft that was being promoted, but morals and right living, etc. But you TOTALLY blew your credibility when you basically said the same thing about homosexuality and the proper and polite way to be a homosexual. Homosexuality is an evil that has imposed itself on thousands of innocent people who have not known how to resist it. It is like drug use, alcoholism, gambling, murder, dementia, and the like. There is no way to be a good and polite murderer. Murder is an evil. There is no way practice the debasing acts of homosexuality because it too is an evil. There is no “good” evil, and no way to properly or rightly practice evil.
Doug, thanks for clearing things up.... I was beginning to wonder if you’d gone off your rocker!!! I’m glad I stuck with reading this. I thought at first that you’d lost your mind!! :-) I am soooooo glad that I kept reading. I could not believe what I was seeing. You really had me going for awhile there. Thank you for your stand, and for providing a good argument against Harry Potter.
I’m glad I stuck with reading this. I thought at first that you’d lost your mind!! :-)
I am soooooo glad that I kept reading. I could not believe what I was seeing. You really had me going for awhile there. Thank you for your stand, and for providing a good argument against Harry Potter.
But there was a handful of friends and supporters who wrote urging me to “skip the fluff” and just give my bullet-point conclusions. Some made the case that life was just too busy to read a feature essay and that the bottom line is all they want to hear. This deeply troubles me. To these good friends, I would respectfully request a reconsideration of such a position. We will never win the day by accepting carte blanche the conclusions of others — truth must be personalized and hard fought through careful examination and prayer.
It is not my goal, nor the goal of Vision Forum Ministries, to resolve controversial issues by simply handing our friends conclusions. Our mission is not only to give glory to Jesus Christ by always making a presuppositionally biblical case for truth on issues which impact the Christian family, but to train families to think through issues on their own. This requires time. It requires thought, study, and meditation on God’s Word. (We provided twenty-four endnotes with citations and additional points of consideration so the reader would examine God’s Word.) I am far, far less concerned with whether my friends agree with me by reaching what I believe to be the “right” conclusion, than that they dilligently strive to think like Christians. To do this, we must be willing to do more than skim articles and offer viceral reactions. Screaming at Harry Potter will not win the day. We must do the work.
As to biblical principles of literature, there are rights and wrongs. But this fact should not diminish from our need to present nuanced arguments which reflect a carfeul examination of the facts and application of the biblical principles. My goal in the article was to clear away some of the debris that often clutters the public debate, to show what I believe to be inherent fallacy of the “witchcraft is okay in fiction” school of thought, to anticipate some of the side issues and counter arguments, and to proclaim four basic biblical principles which I believe go to the heart of the issue:
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 23, 2005 | Permalink
Tomorrow, Vision Forum will release a feature article which addresses biblical principles of literature as applied to the Harry Potter series. The fundamental question presented in the article concerns the legitimacy of presenting immoral behavior as moral within the context of fantasy realities. A sub-theme addressed is the legitimate and illegitimate use of witchcraft in literature. The article is hard-hitting and likely to be controversial, but I hope that readers will find it charitable, irenic, and thought-provoking. Most importantly, I pray that Christ would be glorified through a careful and honest presentation of the relevant biblical principles.
To read the article, you will need to sign up for our e-mail newsletter. If you are not currently a subscriber, you may click here to become one.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 21, 2005 | Permalink
Everybody has a test. The test may be clear and principled or ambiguous and pragmatic, but every President has a standard by which he selects nominees for judicial office. For some, the test is simply, “what nominee will gain me the most political leverage?” For others, the test concerns specific judicial objectives. The Democrats, for example, are honest about their litmus test — they only nominate pro-abortion judges. I believe that tests are not only valid, they are inescapable.
The issue, therefore, is not whether there should be a test, but which test is the right test. I would like to suggest that while there may be many secondary issues which may rightly be considered as part of a litmus test, there are two foundational, non-optional tests which always must apply to the selection of judges in the United States of America. The first test involves biblical requirements for judges. The second test concerns the Constitutional requirement of an oath of office to uphold the Constitution.
In my view, these tests are not in conflict with each other because American Christians are faced with the happy circumstance in which the guidelines established for the selection of justices by our national charter (the Constitution and its preamble, the Declaration of Independence) are not in conflict with what the transcendent Law given by “the Supreme Judge of the world”[1] declares concerning the duties and qualifications of judges. Thankfully, we are not faced with the choice of deciding between the revealed will of God, and the law of our nation when it comes to the selecting of justices.
It is important to note, however, that though the constitution indicates that denominational religious tests shall not be required, it does presuppose that office-holders will take oaths to God and enforce a document which acknowledges Him and is based largely on principles derived from His revealed law. The irony today is that Democrats and many Republicans have currently given us a constitution-denigrating religious test for Supreme Court nominees. It is this: “Men of faith who acknowledge the lawgiver need not apply.” This is a perversion of the Framer’s intent which was to prevent the Christian denominational tests found at the state level from applying to the selection of federal, God-acknowledging magistrates.
Test One: Publicly Fearing, Trusting, Serving,and Acknowledging God as the Lawgiver
The first test comes from God’s revealed Word, the Holy Scripture. It is found throughout the Bible, but is beautifully summarized in Psalm 2 which declares:
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.The test is this: Will the nominee publicly acknowledge and fear the God of Scripture as the lawgiver from whose revelation all valid laws of man are derived? It is important to note that Scripture, which communicates the transcendent law of God to all men at all times, reveals that all judges (regardless of their national background or preexisting law system) are bound to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ (the “Son”) and rule by his righteous commands. The First Commandment of the Ten Commandments is thus universally binding on men and nations. Judges are not only to acknowledge “the Son,” they are to have no other gods over the land than the God of Scripture.
While the Bible actually has much more to say about the proper selection of judges than the question of their acknowledgement of Him and submission to His lordship (including numerous character issues), the other requirements rest on this foundation. Apart from “kissing the Son,” no judge is truly qualified to serve, nor should a man who is defiant of the Son be nominated to the highest court in the land.
Test Two: The Oath of Office and the Acknowledgement of God
The second test pertains to the Constitutional requirement which demands that a Supreme Court Justice take an oath to uphold the Constitution.[2]
The test, therefore, is this: Will the nominee uphold his oath of office taken before God to uphold the United States Constitution as written, based on the text itself as interpreted in light of the original intent of its authors.[3] The oath is the foundation of legitimacy for a Supreme Court Justice. The ability to understand this oath and the absolute commitment to abide by it are non-optional prerequisites of qualification for serving as Supreme Court Justice. The commitment to the oath is what distinguishes faithful men from tyrants. The existence of this oath is what distinguishes us as a nation of laws, rather than of men. The oath presupposes that the Document is to be interpreted in terms of objective standards, not evolving mores.
Consequently, nominees who believe in evolving standards of interpretation, or evolving standards of truth, are inherently disqualified from serving because they do not understand the oath and will not abide by its terms. This disqualification would also apply to those who believe that the Constitution may be re-interpreted based on the laws of foreign nations. Legitimate debates may ensue about the objective meaning of the text as drafted by its framers, but those who reject the text, who change the meaning of the text to accommodate social change, or who interpret the text using standards foreign to our charter and system of government can no more rule wisely on the Constitution, than an Olympic tennis referee who is determined to judge the contestants in his sport by the rules of water polo.
Finally, those justices who will not acknowledge God as the “Supreme Judge of the World,” or who would inhibit the acknowledgement of God from public office, are inherently disqualified from serving as judicial nominees for the United States Supreme Court for two reasons: First, they cannot maintain a valid oath of office, being incapable of swearing “so help me God” without blaspheming the name of God. Second, such individuals cannot and will not enforce the very Constitution which formally derives its powers, not merely from the people, but from the God of the Declaration and the Constitution, who delegates to freemen the right to be self-governing under Him — a fact which was boldly proclaimed by the authors of our national charter.
America is bound by a charter which is distinctively (though not perfectly) Christian. The Founders established for our nation a charter which begins by acknowledging God as lawgiver, proceeds to reference Him and appeal to Him, incorporates the common law system twice by reference[4] (a system built on the Ten Commandments and the case laws of Scripture), and ends by declaring Him Lord in the important subscription clause of the Constitution.[5] Consequently, one cannot understand or interpret the Constitution apart from a one thousand-year English common law system rooted in the laws of Moses and built upon the foundations of Christianity[6] which the Framers specifically adopted.
Simply put, those who would divorce the Lawgiver from the law are not merely disqualified from holding the highest judicial office in the land by Scripture, they are disqualified by virtue of the constitutional requirement that they uphold their oath to enforce the Constitution which presupposes this same Lawgiver.
Alberto Gonzales Fails the Test
At this time, our prayers must be with the President as he selects a nominee to fill the seat of Sandra Day O’Connor. (In addition, late breaking news reports indicate that the resignation of Chief Justice William Rehnquist is imminent, thus giving President Bush the responsibility of placing two justices on the Court.) One specific prayer which Christians can offer with confidence is that the President would only nominate biblically and constitutionally qualified men. An example of a man who is being floated as a potential Supreme Court nominee, but who is both biblically and constitutionally disqualified, is current Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez.
Mr. Gonzalez has an unfortunate record of facilitating abortion[7] and endorsing the use of torture,[8] but the fundamental problem with the Attorney General is that he believes that the Supreme Court is a law unto itself, trumping both the transcendent moral law of God and the Constitution. Consequently, his beliefs are in conflict with the constitutional requirements that Supreme Court justices preserve the Constitution.
Gonzales is on record that Roe v. Wade should be upheld and enforced,[9] and that the Supreme Court, not the Constitution itself, is the Law of the Land. This last point was made crystal clear when he declared: “The constitution is whatever the Supreme Court says it is.”[10] This statement, often repeated by nominees for judicial office, is a declaration of war on the document itself by reducing our laws to the opinions of whatever group of tyrants and legal social Darwinists are in office at any given point in time. To put it another way, under Gonzalez’s theory of constitutional jurisprudence, were the Supreme Court to mandate child slavery, to require the forced euthanizing of people age thirty or older, or to legitimize marriage between man and animals, such declarations would be legitimate, accurate, and binding reflections of the Constitution, because the Supreme Court declared them to be so by fiat.
Our Moment in History
It is time for Christians to once again assert objective and transcendent standards for the selection of our highest office holders. We are not at liberty to improvise on those standards when they do not fit our political objectives and short term vision for “success.” Our goal must be obedience. We must be God’s people in this nation, a holy remnant who insist that men and nations must acknowledge Him and no other God. Political pragmatism is fruitless. Dogmatic partisanship is destructive. In fact, more important than who is ultimately selected for this position on the Supreme Court, is how God’s people represented His interests before the magistrates of this land. Taking a principled stand may, in God’s providence, result in a temporary political loss, but refusing to take a principled stand will result in the long-term comprehensive loss of the blessing of God in our land and the joys of political freedom for our children. Our hope is in the Lord, a hope which we have no right to claim if we fear men more than Him.
For more, read the entire article, “The U.S. Supreme Court’s War on the Sovereignty of God.”
[2] Article. VI. Clause 3: “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
[3] This would include the original signers and those who subsequently acted to amend the Document. The difficulty of this task does not nullify the duty to presuppose the integrity and coherence of the Document for purposes of interpretation and to be bound by the written text.
[4] U.S. Constitution, Amendment VII: “In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.”
[5] U.S. Constitution, Article VII: “The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same. Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names.”
[6] “No doubt there are many causes for this superiority; but in my humble opinion, the most important is that, while the Roman law was a deathbed convert to Christianity, the common law was a cradle Christian.” Fountain of Justice A Study in the Natural Law by John C.H. Wu Sheed and Ward New York 1955 Wu was a former Research Scholar at Harvard.
[7] As an associate Justice on the Texas Supreme Court, Alberto Gonzales voted to overturn a Texas Parental Notification law in 2000, giving a seventeen-year-old girl the ability to murder her child. (“Al Gonzales and Jane Doe” by Terrence Jeffrey, Human Events, 2001)
[8] In August 2002, as White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales helped prepare a memo from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, “advising that torturing alleged al Qaeda terrorists in captivity abroad ‘may be justified’ and that international laws against torture ‘may be unconstitutional if applied to interrogations’ conducted in the U.S. war on terrorism. Gonzales held a news briefing to distance himself from the memo after it became public, calling it, in part, ‘irrelevant and unnecessary’ and ‘overbroad.’” (“Gonzales Named to Succeed Ashcroft as Attorney General” by Dan Eggen, The Washington Post, November 11, 2004)
[9] As quoted in Human Events, posted July 6, 2005, an interview by Dr. Jack Willkie with Alberto Gonzales: “Q: Judge Gonzales, we’re hearing conflicting reports about your position on abortion. Can you tell us where you stand? A: As a judge, I have to make judgments in conformity with the laws of our nation. Q: Would you say that, regarding Roe vs. Wade, stare decisis would be governing here? [Note, stare decisis means that he would continue to uphold that decision because he would regard it as a binding precedent.] A: Yes.”
[10] Ibid. “Q: Judge Gonzales, it’s well known that the Clinton administration had a very clear and consistent litmus test in regard to judicial nominations. If that person was not pro-abortion, they were not nominated. In light of this, do you ask your nominees what their position is on abortion? A: No, we do not. We judge them on a very broad basis of conservatism and constitutional construction. Q: Many of us feel that the Constitution does not speak to permissive abortion. Would you comment? A: The Constitution is what the Supreme Court says it is.”
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 19, 2005 | Permalink
The message, “The Three Gifts of God,” is adapted and expanded from the text of some remarks I prepared for our local church’s couples’ retreat last weekend.
Marriage is among the three most beautiful gifts which the Lord gives to his children. Each gift is given only by God, and is accompanied by a mystery, a commission, and blessing. Each gift proceeds from the former gift. One cannot understand the gift of marriage without understanding its context in relationship to the other gifts.
New Life in Christ
The first gift is new life in Christ. This gift of regeneration and admission into the family of God is a mystery, in that it is an irresistible gift; it is given solely by God and without human merit; it involves the actual transformation of the recipient of the gift; and it is a gift that cannot and will never be rescinded. The mystery of this gift finds its ultimate expression in the fact that it is a gift of espousement to God Himself, meaning that the gift recipient is now joined with the blood-bought Church as the one, true, and spotless bride of Jesus Christ Himself, the second person of the Trinity. This gift is accompanied by a commission and the means to execute the commission, to love, glorify, worship, serve, and proclaim the glories of the Gift-Giver. It is a blessing because the gift is the source of all true joy, prosperity, peace, hope, protection, perseverance, and eternal happiness.
One-Flesh Covenant Unions
The second gift is the mysterious union which results from becoming one-flesh with the bride of your covenant. This gift is a great mystery, first, because two separate individuals become one-flesh and must henceforth view themselves not as individuals but as two who have been joined together, and second because this union is an explicit picture of the first gift — the union of the redeemed with their Spouse. This gift is given with an explicit purpose in the form of a commission to be fruitful, to multiply, and to have dominion over the earth. It is a gift bathed in the happy waters of blessing as the two discover that they are “better than one,” as the man learns that a “good wife is the gift of the Lord,” and as the wife is revealed to him who found her as a “good thing.”
The Reward of Children
The third is the gift is of new life which springs from the one-flesh union of marriage. Because so little is understood of this gift today, please allow me to take a little more time to expand the principles.
The gift of children is a great mystery for four reasons: First, it is a great mystery that the one-flesh union of a man and a woman results in the supernatural creation of a unique soul and a body. The soul produced is immortal and faces one of two eternal destinies. The body is mortal and will ultimately return to the dust from which it was formed. The wedding of this soul and body are present at the moment of conception and are of infinite value even in their original microscopic form. That man and woman, joined as one flesh, can be the instruments of creation is a mystery that should never cease to cause us to rejoice, to wonder, and to glory in the wisdom and mercy of God. Also mysterious is the fact that one-flesh couples are the God-appointed means for producing humans, the only creation in the universe which are made in the image of God Himself. But the most mysterious is the fact that this act of human childbirth was closely linked to the coming of God in the flesh, as the seed of hope was carried four thousand years in the chosen line of God, and that henceforth every covenant-keeping, one-flesh couple has the hope of seeing the miracle of spiritual new birth through their physical offspring, and this contributing to the very perpetuation of the Church and the glory of Christ by the fruit of their wombs. In this sense, the gift of physical new birth is a picture and daily reminder of the blessing of spiritual new birth. So wonderful is this mystery, that Scripture says of the woman, “she shall be saved in childbirth if she continue in faith, love and sanctification with all sobriety.”
Second, this gift is a great mystery because (notwithstanding the scientific manipulations of man) only God can create new life. The mystery of life-creation is and will remain just that — a mystery to man. Man cannot and will never be able to create life from non-life. The gift of children is a reminder of the mysterious, but wonderful, sovereignty, lordship, and creatorship of God over the universe. Third, this gift is a great mystery because, in the creation of a new child, mother and father impart elements of their own identity into the very make-up of this new creation. The child resembles them, carries their genetic make-up, and is uniquely connected to them through birth and blood in a way which is truly singular among all human relationships.
Finally, like other gifts of God, there is a mysterious relationship between human responsibility and the absolute sovereignty of God. Those one-flesh couples who receive this gift of new life in the form of children realize that God alone is sovereign over the womb. The Lord causes both the fruitful and the barren womb. However, God has appointed the means as well as the ends. Even as God appoints the foolishness of preaching to win lost souls, so too He appoints obedience to His marital commission as the means for bringing new life into the world. Those who shut up or pervert the normal function of the womb to separate love from life, will not (absent unusual intervention from the Lord) receive this third gift. The gift is given to those who act upon the explicit and binding commission of God that one-flesh couples use their marriage to actively and willfully seek to be very fruitful through procreation. This commission means that a man will “rejoice in the wife of his youth and let his fountains be blessed.” He will not “deal treacherously with the wife of [his] youth,” understanding that “for this cause did he make the two one, but to bring forth a godly seed.”
Finally, the third gift is a blessing of such value that it is part of God’s program to influence the life and very happiness of the one-flesh couple. God describes the gift of children as His true “reward” for the righteous man, and the absence of such rewards as a curse. This gift is a blessing that makes the righteous man mighty in the land, is the joy of his youth, and as well as the comfort of his old age.
Conclusion
Spiritual new life in Christ, the one-flesh covenant union between a man and a woman, and the creation of physical new life are the blessed trinity of gifts given by God to his children. Each gift has elements which remain mysterious to us. Each gift is accompanied by a commission. Each gift is surrounded by blessing. The first gift gives meaning to the second, which in turn gives meaning to the third, which in turn points back to the first.
All three gifts can be misinterpreted, perverted, or subverted by sinful man, but man’s sin does not diminish the glories of the true nature of each gift. Moreover, those who will, with their whole heart, receive these as personal gifts from the Lord, and who will understand that the value of these gifts lies not in and of themselves, but in the person of Jesus Christ (who alone is worthy of all glory, dominion, and honor), are capable, by God’s grace, of modeling before a cynical world the glories of our gift-giving Savior.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 18, 2005 | Permalink
On this happy day in which my beloved bride and I are celebrating that anniversary sacred to the memory of our nuptial vows, I am dedicating a portion of this week’s blogs to the subject of love and marriage.
There are still historic mysteries to be uncovered, treasures to be unearthed, and important antiquities to be preserved. And they are all around us. Here are a few personal anecdotes:
The Phillips family was amazed recently to discover the existence in our neighborhood of an old gold smuggler’s cave dating back to a famous incident which occurred not long after the time of the siege of the Alamo. It has been untouched for more than 150 years.
When I was a boy living in Fairfax County, Virginia, one of my friends who lived a block away from my home discovered revolutionary war guns in a hidden chamber of his home. (The estate had once been owned by the Lord Fairfax family.)
A restaurant in a nearby town was purchased by some family friends. Under the restaurant is an underground escape tunnel that crosses main street and dates back to the Civil War.
The last time I was at Scotchtown, the home of Patrick Henry, I spoke to the docent who told me that when she was a girl, the Henry home and lands were essentially abandoned and in disrepair. She told me that she played hide and seek as a child in Henry’s cellar.
After this year’s Highlands Study Center conference, my daughter, Jubilee, and I stumbled across a not-so-hidden sign indicating the existence of a famous cave where Daniel Boone’s dogs fought wolves. The cave was on a private residence and hidden by a large shed, but visible from the street through the planks of the shed. Make sure to visit it when you go to next year’s Highlands Study Center conference on the Fifth Commandment.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 15, 2005 | Permalink
Next May 5, Highlands Study Center will sponsor a historic conference featuring the father and sons teams of Drs. R.C. Sproul, Sr. and Jr., and the Honorable Howard Phillips and his son Douglas (yours truly). The conference is titled, “Generations: Giving Honor to Whom Honor is Due.”
I am simply thrilled to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring messages on the biblical doctrine of honor and multi-generational faithfulness with my father, R.C., Jr., and his esteemed dad. What a blessing!
R.C.’s welcome vision for this conference serves the body of Christ by addressing one of the defining issues of our generation. And the timing for such a conference could not be better. Either we will learn to follow what the Bible says about the Fifth Commandment in our capacity as sons, fathers, mothers, daughters, churchmen, and citizens — or it will never “be well with us” and we will not live long in the land which God has given to us.
As has been previously noted on this blog, we live at a time of tremendous antithesis:
On the one hand, movements external to the church to develp a culture of selfish radical individualism, and movements within the church to make the church relevant by eliminating distinctions with the world, have not only savaged the Christian family, but transformed the world-worshipping evangelical church in America into a generation which has actually made dishonor into a virtue. One need not look long or hard to see that we live at a time when the biblical doctrines of honor, multi-generational faithfulness, and Christian fatherhood are not only savagely under attack from the world, but openly mocked by professing Christians whose syncretistic quest for cultural relevency and open embrace of post-modernism has led them to dedicate tremendous time and energy belittling parents and children committed to honoring Christ through a proper application of the Fifth Commandment.
On the other hand, the last verse of the Old Testament and the Scriptures heralding the coming of John the Baptist in the New Testament, reveal the principle that when fathers do turn their hearts to their children and children to their fathers, we have reason for great hope that God is making a people ready for the Lord. The emphasis on generational fatherhood through principles of biblical patriarchy; the massive revival of parent-directed daily, walk-along, talk-along education; the recognition that children are a highly prized blessing and reward of the Lord, the happy return of the Christian father to his place of headship, and the Christian mother to her status as helpmeet and keeper of the home; when motivated by hearts desiring to please Jesus Christ, are indicia of a Holy Spirit revival in a Christian culture savaged by feminism, evolutionism, humanism, and the many other isms which began en masse to infect our nation in the nineteenth century, and dominated the twentieth.
Make sure to mark your calendars for this special event, and click here for more information.
Another testimony of multi-generational honor from the Faith of Our Fathers project:
For the family of Corporal Jake Lindsey, this year’s pilgrimage of honor to the tiny island of Iwo Jima had as its primary mission, the execution of a sacred duty long overdue. Sixty years after the death of this much beloved Christian young man, his family returns to leave a testimony of the way his sacrifice has affected three generation of Lindseys.
Corporal Jake Lindsey was killed on Iwo on February 28, leaving behind a grieving family and fiancée. In a letter to Jake’s mother, Marine Corps General Graves B. Irskine reflected on Jake’s death in light of biblical manhood:
Greater love hath no man than this, said our Savior that a man lay down his life for his friends. And the soldier who dies to save his brothers and to defend the hearth and alters of his country reaches this highest of all degrees of charity.
We came to Iwo Jima with one goal in mind if it all possible. And that was to bring a plaque with Jake’s picture on it, his rank, his name and so on, and inscribed under his picture are these words: “One man’s sacrifice instills courage and character to a family for many generations.” And I think that this speaks so very, very loud. And I don’t have time to tell you but I could tell ya that it’s been providential for us to be able to bring this plaque.... And I feel that this is a direct answer of prayer.
Coming soon to Vision Forum and Doug’s Blog:
How do we respond to claims of little green men and alien visitations? Why so-called objective scholars have self-consciously embraced a religious philosophy of evolutionary scientism specifically driven by faith in alien races, notwithstanding their own admission that there is zero evidence for the existence of such. Why NASA needs Hollywood to survive? Why the modern high priests of psuedo-science are able to bamboozle the average Christian Joe? The tragic effects for science and faith, of moving from a word-based culture, to an image-driven culture.
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 14, 2005 | Permalink
Exerpted from the larger article: Part 1
The defining political and legal issue of our generation is not the right to life or even the definition of the family, but whether the United States of America — through its laws, its charters, its magistrates, and its public institutions — can and will meaningfully acknowledge the God of the Bible.[1] The acknowledgment of God is the first principle of liberty, a fact which was recognized by the Founding Fathers who declared that “we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights.”[2]
Upon the acknowledgement of God and the recognition that He is the supreme lawgiver rests the legal principle which dictates the preservation of the life of the unborn and the integrity of the family. Moreover, it is only by publicly acknowledging and submitting to the lordship of the God of the Bible that America can enjoy security against international terrorism, the well-being of our people, and the hope that future generations will enjoy the liberties so dearly purchased by our fathers.
As we plunge further into the twenty-first century, with the very real threats of nuclear and biological terrorism looming large on the horizon, we are being presented with test after test as a nation to determine whether we will look to the God of our national charter and covenant as our guiding light and lawgiver, or whether we will continue to revile Him and His law as a matter of policy.
Dedicated Minorities, Not Half-Hearted Majorities, Will Win the Day
Though our courts and public officials may be in rebellion against the Lord, there is hope for America if only God’s people will be faithful to live by, publicly declare, and hold our leaders accountable to those objective and unchangeable standards declared by Jesus Christ in Holy Scripture and binding at all times for all nations.
Judgment must begin in the house of the Lord. The need of the hour is not for a strategy based on helping the majority to simply be a little less — well — wicked, but on helping the Christian minority to be a whole lot more righteous (and committed to promoting public righteousness). The answer is spiritual and practical obedience to the commission we have been given by our Lord (to disciple the nations, teaching everything God has revealed in the Bible). Herein is the source of political fruits and national blessings. The strategic hope for America’s future, therefore, is not in majorities, but in one dedicated minority — the people of God. God has always worked through the dedicated minority, and there is no reason to believe that our current crisis is different. To put it another way: God may save the city for the sake of the faithful remnant.[3]
In the context of our American citizenship, the Church of Jesus Christ has a duty to be God’s representative before the gates of our land. The duty of sounding forth a clear trumpet blast rests with the people of God. We are to be the most principled and the least pragmatic members of society. We are to heed President George Washington’s biblically sound advice by being above and beyond political partisanship, because our mission transcends partisan objectives. We recognize that our duty is obedience before the Lord Jesus Christ who alone determines outcomes.
When professing Christians place pragmatism and partisan interests above principled action, when they turn a blind eye to wickedness (ungodly judicial nominations,[4] the execution of innocent starving women,[5] the appointment of known homosexuals to positions of leadership in the present administration,[6] etc.) we do more damage to the soul and spirit of our nation than a thousand Planned Parenthoods. We must be more concerned with us than with them. Simply put — judgment must begin in the house of the Lord.
The latest test for the people of God is how we, as a people, will respond to the Court’s present rejection of God, and to what extent we are willing to encourage the President and the Senate to select future justices who will repudiate such wickedness, and to hold both accountable if they fail to act with principled courage to faithfully execute their duty to do just this.
The United States Supreme Court Breaks at Least Four of the Ten Commandments
It has been a busy fortnight. Two weeks ago, the United States Supreme Court renewed their declaration of war against the Creator — the same Creator to whom our Founding Fathers appealed as “the Supreme Judge of the world”[7] and who is recognized as such as a matter of federal law.[8]
By banishing the meaningful acknowledgement of God from the public sector,[9] which is explicitly required by Scripture and specifically applied to all judges and civil magistrates (for example by Psalm 2),[10] and by permitting only those public acknowledgments of God which are deliberately intended to present Him and His law as mere historical anecdotes,[11] the Supreme Court is guilty of breaking the First and Third Commandments.[12]
That same week, the Court played Jezebel to Naboth’s vineyard[13] by granting local governments broad and arbitrary powers to seize private homes and estates,[14] thus further destabilizing the American family. Here again, the Supreme Court is institutionally guilty through complicity of breaking the very Ten Commandments they have banished — in this case, the Eighth and Tenth Commandments which declare that man may neither steal nor covet another’s goods.[15]
Last week, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor announced her retirement, thus ending her two-decade reign of terror against the unborn, the biblical doctrine of marriage, and the United States Constitution. Now America awaits the decision of President George W. Bush. Will the President repeat the practice of his last two Republican predecessors of appointing biblically and constitutionally unqualified justices to the highest court of the land, or will he act to establish a legacy of hope by making a courageous nomination?
[1] This was the question posed by federal judge Myron Thompson to Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in the oral arguments of Glassroth v. Moore, 229 F. Supp. 2d 1290, when Judge Thompson asked, “Can the state acknowledge God?” The answer he declared was “No.” Bill Pryor’s rise to fame was also built on his declaration that Roy Moore was “unrepentant” for insisting that he would acknowledge God, even when another court told him not to. See So Help Me God by Roy Moore.
[2] The Declaration of Independence.
[3] Genesis 18:23-33: “And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake. And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake. And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.”
[4] President Bush has appointed former Attorney General of Alabama William Pryor to the Federal District Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
[5] See “A Cup of Water for Terri, Part I” and “A Cup of Water for Terri, Part II” by Douglas W. Phillips.
[6] “In 2001, President Bush appointed the practicing homosexual Michael Guest to serve as America’s ambassador to Romania, a largely Catholic country. The U.S. Senate confirmed Guest’s appointment without any debate. When Guest was sworn in as ambassador, Sec. Powell publicly acknowledged Guest’s homosexual lover, Alex Nevarez, who sat onstage with Guest’s parents. Today, the two homosexuals live in sin and practice sodomy at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, all at taxpayers’ expense” (Michael Cooper, The Remnant, February 28, 2003).
[7] The Declaration of Independence: “We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
[8] The Declaration of Independence has been declared part of the organic law of the United States by “U.S.C.A. The Organic Laws of the United States of America Westlaw.”
[9] McCreary County vs. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, et. al., No. 03-1693. Justice Souter, writing for the majority, said: “Nor do we have occasion here to hold that a sacred text can never be integrated constitutionally into a governmental display on the subject of law, or American history. We do not forget, and in this litigation have frequently been reminded, that our own courtroom frieze was deliberately designed in the exercise of governmental authority so as to include the figure of Moses holding tablets exhibiting a portion of the Hebrew text of the later, secularly phrased Commandments; in the company of 17 other lawgivers, most of them secular figures, there is no risk that Moses would strike an observer as evidence that the National Government was violating neutrality in religion.”
[10] Psalm 2:10-13: “Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”
[11] Van Orden vs. Perry No. 03-1500. Chief Justice Rehnquist, writing for the majority, stated: “This case, like all Establishment Clause challenges, presents us with the difficulty of respecting both faces. Our institutions presuppose a Supreme Being, yet these institutions must not press religious observances upon their citizens. One face looks to the past in acknowledgment of our Nation’s heritage, while the other looks to the present in demanding a separation between church and state. Reconciling these two faces requires that we neither abdicate our responsibility to maintain a division between church and state nor evince a hostility to religion by disabling the government from in some ways recognizing our religious heritage.... The placement of the Ten Commandments monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds is a far more passive use of those texts than was the case in Stone, where the text confronted elementary school students every day. Indeed, Van Orden, the petitioner here, apparently walked by the monument for a number of years before bringing this lawsuit. The monument is therefore also quite different from the prayers involved in Schempp andLee vs. Weisman. Texas has treated her Capitol grounds monuments as representing the several strands in the State’s political and legal history. The inclusion of the Ten Commandments monument in this group has a dual significance, partaking of both religion and government. We cannot say that Texas’ display of this monument violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is affirmed.”
[12] Exodus 20:3,5: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”
[13] 1 Kings 21.
[14] Kelo v. City of New London (04-0108).
[15] Exodus 20:15,17: “Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.”
Posted by Doug Phillips on July 9, 2005 | Permalink
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