Cal Thomas, with typical wisdom, offers an alternative to the government bailout of the auto industry:
Let them die a slow death, with the emphasis on slow. Tell workers (management always seems to land on its feet) that they have a fixed amount of time to look for new jobs. Government will help them with training and education, but government cannot prop up companies that no longer make products people want to buy in large enough numbers for them to remain profitable.
…Americans have benefited from capitalism. Our government should not be undermining an economic system that has produced more prosperity for its citizens than any nation on earth. It cannot forever prop up companies that make products not enough people wish to buy. If a growing number of people prefer cars not produced by GM and Chrysler, how will a government rescue plan make them more likely to buy them?
Last Sunday, I preached on John 15:16, where Jesus declared, “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
The idea that God sovereignly chooses some for salvation while bypassing others, and that this choice is not conditioned upon any future faith or works of the believer, is known as “unconditional election.” I believe in this doctrine because the Bible clearly and consistently teaches it…
Deuteronomy 7:7–8 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
John 10:3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
Romans 8:29–30 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Ephesians 1:4–5 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
Some wonder how God’s election can possibly be fair. Doesn’t God’s choice eliminate our sense of “free will” or human responsibility? Is it possible a person could want to be saved, but not be elected by God? There is much to be said here, but Charles Spurgeon answers this objection in a helpful way:
But there are some who say, “It is hard for God to choose some and leave others.” Now, I will ask you one question. Is there any one of you here this morning who wishes to be holy, who wishes to be regenerate, to leave off sin and walk in holiness? “Yes, there is,” says some one, “I do.” Then God has elected you. But another says, “No: I don’t want to be holy; I don’t want to give up my lusts and my vices.” Why should you grumble, then, that God has not elected you to it? For if you were elected you would not like it, according to your own confession.
If God, this morning, had chosen you to holiness, you say you would not care for it. Do you not acknowledge that you prefer drunkenness to sobriety, dishonesty to honesty? You love this world’s pleasures better than religion; then why should you grumble that God has not chosen you to religion? If you love religion, he has chosen you to it. If you desire it, he has chosen you to it. If you do not, what right have you to say that God ought to have given you what you do not wish for?
Supposing I had in my hand something which you do not value, and I said I shall give it to such–and–such a person, you would have no right to grumble that I did not give it to you. You could not be so foolish as to grumble that the other has got what you do not care about. According to your own confession, many of you do not want religion, do not want a new heart and a right spirit, do not want the forgiveness of sins, do not want sanctification, you do not want to be elected to these things: then why should you grumble? You count these things but as husks, and why should you complain of God who has given them to those whom he has chosen? (“Election,” Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol. 2, p. 75-76)
As an avid Star Wars fan, I was interested to learn last week that director George Lucas’ next film will be on the Tuskegee Airmen. The early title for this project is ‘Red Tails,’ after the fighter unit’s nickname. The story of these heroic men who overcame racial prejudice and the German Luftwaffe, combined with Lucas’ own love for action and his attention to detail, has the right stuff for a great Hollywood film.
Today only, Monergism is offering all New American Standard MacArthur Study Bibles at a 50% discount.
If you don’t own one yet, today’s the perfect opportunity to get one for yourself. Or, why not do some super-early Christmas shopping and get one for a friend?
I believe the MacArthur Study Bible, along with the ESV Study Bible, should be on every Christian’s bookshelf. Both of these tools offer a wealth of Biblical information, and much of their content does not overlap.
Proposition 8 was put before the people of California, and by a wide margin of 600,000 votes became a part of the California Constitution (Article 1, Section 7.5). Next Thursday, March 5, the California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments to determine whether the sovereign will of the people should be upheld, and whether marriage between only a man and a woman will stand.
This is the most important legal issue impacting families in a generation. The outcome of this case is “do or die” for traditional marriage. If the California Supreme Court were to overrule the vote of the people (for the second time) it would not be long before homosexual marriage is the law of the land across this country.
Please be in prayer for our Supreme Court Justices next Thursday as they hear arguments on this historic case. Pray for the legal team led by Ken Starr who will be making a case for the constitutionality of limiting marriage to one man and one woman. Pray for those who oppose this amendment, that they will understand our motivation is to affirm traditional marriage and preserve the traditional family, not to attack or offend any person or group. Most importantly, pray that no matter what the outcome, churches and individual Christians will be a gospel witness, showing obedience to God and love toward those who disagree.
Pinch Of Clay 