As of this evening, pastor John MacArthur has passed away and is in the presence of our Lord. His ministry has been a blessing to a countless number of people both in the church and in the public square. May his endurance unto his death serve as a reminder to be bold in our proclamation of the gospel, never being ashamed.

Psalm 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”

Raising my Fresca to Jmac, who is no longer a dispensationalist.

Yes, Trump has absolutely mishandled the Epstein Files issue. Nothing justifies his behavior on this.

No, I don't think Trump is implicated. If there was serious dirt on Trump it would have been released by deep state leakers long ago, back during "Russiagate."

This reminds me of the "Access Hollywood" tape, when many evangelicals pointed to David as a biblical corollary to Trump in terms of moral issues.

I think the better comparison is Solomon. He was on the whole a good king, yet didn't have the militaristic discipline of his father. His personal moral failings compromised his ability to rule well.

The organ is a church staple for good reason.

1) It is the only non-portable instrument, one with the building itself. Its presence (and price) indicates permanence, stability, and a culture with a long time horizon.

2) It is one of the most difficult instruments to play (well), and a talented organists indicates a level of craft and excellence which can never be equalled by a teenager who strums four basic chords. The level of the clergy and church workers will be the baseline the congregants strive for in their own vocations.

3) It is an instrument designed to blend with the human voice. When compared with other instruments at a similar volume, brass, strings, and percussion (while named in Scripture and are acceptable additions) will all overpower human singing.

4) Practically speaking, the organ is capable of many sounds via the stop system, and solves the need for most other instruments.

5) Physically speaking, the organ is the only instrument designed to draw one's eyes (and therefore mind and spirit) upwards (except perhaps church bells, which are also staples).

6) Its sound qualitatively indicates a gravity and significance equal to no other. Even secular organ music such as Bach's fugues evoke a religious feeling, as he intended.

7) Finally, the church organ is the only instrument immediately and exclusively associated with Christianity. Even chanting, the oldest form of Christian music, is not so universally connected with Jesus of Nazareth. It is our duty to protect and preserve this connection until His return.

Megan Basham is yet another commentator repeating realizations the rest of us had 5 years ago but doing so while being a woman, thereby gaining popularity.

Why mainstream conservatives love having their opinions repeated by "minorities" I'll never get. But quite obviously, woman, opinion disregarded.

If anyone has positive experiences with blacks, I'd love to hear about it. And anyone who thinks our issues with blacks began with LBJ is retarded.

The Athanasian Creed

Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith.

Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally.

And the catholic faith is this,

that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance....

Winsome? Yeah I'm winsome, gonna win some battles against my enemies

Based and correctpilled take. Religious pluralism is no better (and indeed related to) ethnic multiculturalism.

I would note that pluralism =/= different groups of Nicene Christians. Any other standard of doctrinal unity will ultimately yield infitine division.

Gentlemen, eliminate filler words from your vocbulary. They make you sound weak and gay. Every unnecessary like or um = 10 pushups.

"Pull yourself up by your bootstraps" is good advice, not in that it's the template boomers used to succeed, but in that it's the only option left to younger generations.

“Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord." -- Jeremiah 23:23-24

The prophet reminds us that God is near at hand, and not just in order to support His people, though this is certainly an aspect of His presence, but also to judge. This Judge is in no need of witnesses for He witnesses all, and of course, He supplies the " 2 or 3 witnesses" His justifice requires.

God's nearness, as with all His attributes and actions, is most humbling, terrifying, comforting, and most glorious.

The Myth of the American Mutt

This trope is founded in the observable fact that most White Americans have a mix of European ancestries. This is often used to denigrate American nationality or to argue that nations are not tied to blood.

But this is wrongheaded. Every current European ethnicity is itself a product of previous groups, namely neolitic farmers, steppe pastoralists, Celts, etc.

The idea that an Englishman (with Celtic, Germanic, and Norse ancestry) is somehow more genetically pure than an American descended from a northern French settler (also Celtic, Germanic, and Norse blood) is obviously absurd.

Nor does this subvert the obvious reality that nations are defined by blood and soil -- mixing blood either destroys a nation or creates a new one. America's birth is a fine example of the latter, and her present is sadly an example of the former.

Roman Catholicism Is Not a Threat

In another 500 years, I predict Roman Catholicism will either be a defunct denomination like JWs or Mormons, or be essentially Protestant.

Roman Catholicism, while the nominal majority form of Christianity, is vastly overstated. To begin with, most non-European forms of Catholicism are unrecognizable. They are either forms of pagan syncretism or charismaticism. And of course, even in European nations Catholicism is more of a cultural artifact than a religious way of life.

Rome will undoubtedly continue to liberalize for a while longer, until Western civilization either demographically collapses or reasserts itself with new vitality. At this point, when Globohomo finally dies, Rome will either become a full-on Mary cult of syncretism (most likely in the collapse scenario), or attempt to recover a more historical stance. But in so doing, the decades of Globohomo subservience and sudden 180 will nullify the claims of infallibility and tradition she rests on.

Have American Evangelicals ever asked why there don't exist any "Israeli Friends of Christians" organizations?

Dispensationalists will frequently use the line, "The Jews are God's chosen people." It would be more appropriate to say, "The Jews were God's chosen people."

And God did not choose the Jews as a nation; rather, He chose their ancestor Abraham (then Isaac, then Jacob). But the promise was always, "I will make you the father of many nations" (Gen. 17:4), not just the Jewish nation.

Finally, when God made a covenant with the nation of Israel, it contained provisions for judgement, which they certainly well earned. And they have now been cut off completely beginning in A.D. 70. for their national murder of the Messiah.

Trent Was Not a Valid Ecumenical Council

Despite being numbered so by Rome, Trent was very much a local and provincial synod. The first sessions, which wrote the most high-profile canons on justification, the sacraments, and the Scriptural canon, were only attended by about 30 bishops.

In the final sessions 15 years later, the high water mark of attendance was ~255, with many papal representatives, and nearly all of the bishops Italian and Spanish.

No representation was given any French, English, German, Austrian, etc. Christians, and no Protestants were premitted to speak. Even the Council of Nicaea allowed Arius to state his case. Trent was just a politically stacked local synod at best.